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Leaving Daisy in that room alone with Nicky was something that pained Karen until no end.
After the doctors had been and gone, they decided Daisy was stable enough to stay at the hotel instead of spending a night in the hospital.
Nicky had mysteriously come back from god knows where and had promptly kicked both Karen and Graham out of the room. They both tried to put up a fight but once their yelling woke up Daisy, they decided it was probably best to leave.
It was an argument Karen wasn’t at all okay with losing. She wanted to scream at Daisy’s poor excuse of a husband until she lost her voice but when she heard the pained groan leave her girl's mouth as she struggled to open her eyes, she knew she had to leave. It was much easier to go when she realised she was causing more pain than solving.
The walk back to her room felt like miles. Karen’s face was sticky and puffy as her eyes still harboured tears that had yet to fall. She didn’t know what to do with herself. Graham offered to sleep in her room with her tonight, just for the purpose of comfort but she wanted to be alone.
She knew sleep wasn’t going to be an option. All she could see once she closed her eyes was Daisy’s limp body on the floor, unmoving and pale. What if they hadn’t got there in time? What if Daisy had just one more line of coke? Karen's head was spinning as she felt her stomach churn. For a moment, she thought she was going to throw up the contents of her stomach but once she took a deep breath, the feeling began to dissipate.
Karen sat on the edge of her bed, her head in her hands as she stared aimlessly at the floor. It was as if thousands of thoughts were running around her mind so fast, she could only make sense of a few.
Her chest hurt. It was pain that almost felt surreal. A slow stabbing feeling that had yet to go away, slowly sending pulsing waves of agony through Karen’s body. It had started as soon as she saw the state Nicky was in as he opened the door, it was almost as if her heart knew what had happened before she did.
So Karen kept her focus on her breathing, one of the only things she had control over. In. Out. In. Out.
And then it was light outside. The sun had come up, showering the small hotel room in a yellow light.
Karen’s back almost screamed when she sat up fully. Her whole body ached from sitting in the same position for god knows how long. She knew the aches would fade eventually, but she wasn't so sure about her heart. It was still sending slow pulses of pain throughout her whole body.
Being so close to losing Daisy was something that hit Karen right to her core. She had dealt with loss before but it never felt like that. Like the whole world would lose its only light if she died.
She needed to see her. Needed to see with her own eyes that she was okay.
Just as she was about to rush out the door, a shaky, out of breath Daisy burst through it.
"Dais? Are you okay?" Karen spluttered, surprised by the sudden entrance of the dishevelled girl.
With make-up smudged around her face, she walked up to Karen and gripped either side of her arms, ignoring the question.
“I need you to tell me what happened”. She sounded so broken, scared and confused all at once. And the keyboardist was pretty sure she heard her heart audibly break.
Pounding from outside the door became apparent to both girls as Nicky’s desperate voice pleaded on the other side. “Please Daisy. Let’s talk about this”. When the auburn haired girl ignored it, Karen did too.
With a glance at the door, she tentatively asked “How much do you remember?”.
“I remember you were there. I remember that you sat with me, held me in your arms”.
Banging from outside the room became increasingly louder, as did Nicky’s shouts. “Daisy! Open the fucking door!”.
“Um… Graham called the doctor and he..um got the drugs out of your system” Karen stumbled quietly, not quite ready to relive the story. “We had left by then, Nicky came back and kicked us out. We thought it would be better to let you rest than cause an argument”.
Daisy’s eyes brimmed with tears as her shaking hand pointed towards the door. “And where was he the whole time? Did he leave me there?” the broken girl's voice shook as she spoke, her green orbs never leaving Karens.
The taller women didn't even need to say anything. The look on her face was enough.
In an instant, Daisy was walking towards the door, opening it to reveal the face of Nicky in disbelief.
“Pack your shit up” Daisy shouted as she didn’t spare him a glance, walking right past him down the hall. The sound of their stomping feet continued as Karen stood frozen in her room.
“Daisy... Daisy you wouldn't listen, I wasn’t sure what to do!” he said, as if his words meant anything at all.
“SO YOU LEFT ME IN THE FUCKING SHOWER?” she screeched, coming to a halt as she stared at Nicky’s shocked expression. Blue eyes watered as her hands shook by her side. So many thoughts and feelings were running through her head that she didn't notice the rest of the band leave their rooms, staring at the scene in front of them, unsure about what to do.
Once she heard Daisy scream, Karen snapped out of her haze and rushed to where the sound came from in an instance.
She stood with Graham at his door as she saw the scene unfold, wanting nothing more than to beat the living shit out of Nicky and his stupid face.
Daisy rushed back into their room, grabbing Nicky’s already packed bags from last night. “I SAID PACK YOUR SHIT UP AND GET OUT OF HERE” her voice cracking as she threw both suitcases at him.
“No” he chastised.
The girl scoffed in his face, turning around and grabbing the closest thing she saw. Which happened to be a fancy looking ornament on a cabinet placed behind them. She threw it at him, much like the suitcases and briefly missed him as it shattered across the floor.
Everyone was stunned into silence, except Daisy.
She rushed forward, grabbing handfuls of Nikcy’s shirt in her fists as she shoved him backwards. Clearly he wasn't getting the message with her words, so shoving him was the next best thing she could think of.
But Nicky reacted almost just as aggressively as he shoved Daisy in return, raising his fist to hit her but before he could do anything, all three boys rushed in front of him, shoving him backwards and away from Daisy.
“You heard the lady" Warren said as he pointed at Nicky, eyes glaring at the man before them.
“You’re making a huge fucking mistake, do your hear me Daisy?” Nicky growled as he angrily grabbed his bags and stomped off. But not before he turned around and singled Daisy out with his sneer, “You will regret this” he snided, finally walking out of their sight.
Eddie layed a reassuring hand on Daisy’s shoulder but she was too overwhelmed to be touched right now, so she shrugged him off as she moved forward, away from the rest of them.
She could feel herself coming down, her anger turning into sadness. Realisation hit her of what had happened and she was crushed.
Words couldn’t describe her relief when she smelt the familiar scent of rose and cigarettes and was being tucked into Karen’s shoulder, sobs brokenly pouring out of her as she sagged against the other girl.
“It’s okay baby. Let it out, I’ve got you”. The taller womens hand stroked the back of Daisy’s hair as the other one rubbed down her back. Karen slowly swayed them side to side, almost mirroring the position they were in less than 24 hours ago.
Leaning down, Karen laid a kiss right next to Daisy’s ear, whispering “I’m here Dais, it’s okay” over and over again, trying to get the other girl to calm down as her legs were slowly giving up on her.
The smaller girl was so out of it she didn’t even notice that the bottom half of her body was so shaky she couldn't stand anymore.
Karen briefly looked up, seeing the boys standing there, looking helpless but desperately worried for their friend and wanting to help. She met Graham’s eye and nodded her head towards her room, signalling for him to open the door.
She didn’t want to move Daisy’s face from her shoulder as she seemingly found comfort in the act of hiding her face in the crook of Karen's neck. So instead, she quietly whispered, making sure only the girl in her arms could hear over the sound of her own heart wrenching sobs.
“Dais, I’m going to move us into my room now. Do you think you can walk?”. Not surprised that she received no reply, she continued to whisper to the smaller girl. “Would you mind if I carried you?”. Feeling a small shake of the head against her skin, she lifted Daisy up, wrapping her legs around her waist.
Karen’s eyes almost bulged out of her head when she felt how light the girl in her arms was. It was not a healthy weight and definitely not the weight a fully grown adult should be. She noted it down in her head to keep an eye on what Daisy eats, as she is sure she has never seen the girl eat more than one meal a day.
The pair walked into the room, Daisy clinging onto the material of Karen's shirt, as three sets of eyes followed them, still slightly unsure of what to do.
When they got to the door, Karen turned around to face the boys. Warren lifted his thumb in the air as if to say “Is everything okay now?” and Karen nodded, mouthing ‘thank you’. They helped the best they could, now it was up to her to make her girl feel better.
They all went back to their rooms as Karen kicked the door shut. Daisy was still crying into her neck, much less violently than before but enough that her shoulders shook each time she took a breath.
“Shhh, it's okay baby. It’s just us now.” the taller girl soothed. It was almost like talking to a scared child, not wanting to speak too loudly to upset them.
Not bothering to put Daisy down, she moved over to bed and slowly monovered them both in. Settling the crying girl into her side, still tucked into her neck.
Karen continued to make shushing sounds as she stroked Daisy’s back, feeling as her cries slowly dissipated. It took about 30 minutes before the shaking stopped and slow breaths were hitting Karen’s neck.
The poor girl had exhausted herself to the point of sleep, which clearly she desperately needed. Karen was just happy that Graham had shut the curtains when he had opened the door for them, obviously getting the hint Daisy needed rest.
They laid there for hours, Karen listening to the soothing sounds of Daisy’s rhythmic breathing as she played with the girl's ginger locks. Twirling it around her fingers and raking it through her hands as she became lost in thought. It felt nice…It felt right, being cocooned in their own little bubble away from the world, where Karen can actually protect the smaller girl from all the horrible things that seem to haunt her.
Sleep never came to the Karen, she was too worried that Daisy would wake up in a panic and she wouldn't be awake to help calm her down. So she just soaked up the time they had together, enjoying the slight weight and warmth from Daisy’s skin on her own.
The blonde leaned her head down until her lips rested on Daisy’s head. She breathed in softly, her senses being filled with a smell that was uniquely Daisy. It was quickly becoming Karen's favourite scent as it reminded her so vividly of the girl she loved.
When Daisy’s legs flicked under the blanket, Karen stilled. The ginger girl grunted as her face turned from the blonde's neck, sighing heavily.
Karen tentatively started stroking Daisy’s back, moving slowly as she let the other girl properly wake up.
The two lay in silence for another moment, just breathing each other in. Until Daisy cleared her throat and slightly shifted away from the tangle of arms and legs.
"I'm sorry" she whispered, her voice cracking as her throat felt raw from all the crying.
It took Karen by surprise as her breath hitched. It felt like a punch to the gut to physically see the amount of abuse Daisy had suffered through her life that she felt the need to apologise for crying.
"For what Dais? You did nothing wrong."
Daisy just lightly shrugged her shoulders in response, clearly not wanting to verbalise her answer.
Karen softly put a finger under the other girl's chin and moved it so green eyes met brown. "Listen to me when I say you have absolutely nothing to apologise for. Your reaction was completely normal baby, please don't be sorry for showing your emotions".
Instead of responding, Daisy lent up and pressed her lips to Karen's. Their kiss was extremely tender and conveyed all the emotions that had been swirling around them.
"You never cease to amaze me," Daisy sighed. "You have such a beautiful soul, I have never met anyone who understands me as much as you".
"I love you, more than you will ever know". Blonde and ginger hair mixed in a blend of amber as they both leaned in, soft pecks turning into longer heartfelt kisses. Silence slowly became filled with low giggles as they both smiled into each other's mouths.
"Do we have to get up yet?" Daisy whispered as she laid her head back on Karen’s chest.
"Of course not" the other girl whispered back. "We can stay here for as long as you would like".
"Karen?" the younger girl questioned.
"Yes?"
"Why are we whispering?".
Karen couldn’t help the bubbly laughter that escaped her throat. Her heart warmed as she saw the slight amusement and confusion on Daisy’s face. She reached up and swiped some of the other girls ginger locks away from her forehead, revealing a small white scar.
"Where'd you get this?" Karen asked as she lightly ran her finger over it.
Daisy’s eyes closed lightly as she nuzzled into the blonde's shoulder. "Being an only child is quite lonely, especially when both of my parents didn't care what I was doing or where I was. So I dressed up one of my teddy bears and had planned out a very tedious ballet piece".
"You know ballet?".
"Knowing and thinking are two very different things. I thought I was amazing, upon reflection I was probably just throwing myself around the room." They both chuckled as the mental image of 8 year old Daisy 'dancing' was very amusing. "It was coming up the part of the dance where Mr.Teddy bear was supposed to lift me up in a beautiful ending that would amaze my crowd of barbies. I must have forgotten he was made out of stuffing and smacked my head right on the corner of a dressing table."
Karen grimaced as she could imagine the pain.
"I remember sobbing as blood ran down my face and ran to my mother. She sent me away with the flick of a hand without even looking at the gash. I had to put tissue on it and just hope I didn't bleed to death, which thinking back was a very irrational fear".
Silence followed as Daisy seemed to be stuck in the memories of her childhood. Karen didn't even know what to say, she knew the other girl's relationship with her parents was basically non-existent but hearing it first hand was shocking.
"It was fine though. It wasn't deep and it stopped bleeding after like 10 minutes" Daisy reassured.
Karen lent down and placed a soft kiss on the thin scar.
"I love you," Daisy whispered. "Thank you for last night".
"No need to thank me Dais, it's my duty as your girlfriend". Karen’s face went red as the younger girl's shit eating grin grew.
"Your girlfriend huh?".
"Um, do you want to be?".
"It would be my honour baby".
Their lips crashed against each other, smiling and giggling as Daisy climbed on top of Karen.
"I think this is our queue to leave," Warren whispered as he leaned away from the door. Eddie and Graham began walking away, Warren slightly behind. "At least we know she is okay. If I ever see Nicky, oh he better run away cause I will beat him to a pulp".
"Really? The most you would do is throw a drumstick at him" Eddie laughed.
Graham rolled his eyes as he listened to the two bicker between each other. He was happy that Daisy was alright. With Karen looking after her, he was sure that she was in the best hands.