I Promise (Clean Version)

~Chapter Fourteen~

"Thanks, Juls," I said, eating my lunch very quickly. A phone started ringing.

"Oh, that's me!" Darren announced, picking it up. I heard a lot of talking from the other line. Darren suddenly froze. "Luna, would you mind going somewhere else?" Darren asked me slowly. I nodded and ran upstairs, where I could still hear Darren. He seemed upset, but mainly worried. Knowing I shouldn't, I still eavesdropped.

"Clark Alan Baxtresser, you listen to me. You can date my sister or wha-," Darren began. He was interrupted. "Yes, I know that you want to avoid talking about dating, but you said you liked kissing her. That is dating if you want to do it again," Darren sighed. I covered my mouth to hide a gasp while Darren kept arguing. I guessed that Clark was on the line.

"That was the main message. To quote, 'It was great and I would like to do it again sometime. And I would like to ask her out, but you're the equivalent of two older overprotective brothers. And then she has Chuck and Robert,'" Darren said, satisfied. Clark said something else that I didn't hear.

"You know, I'm going to talk to her. I'll call you back," Darren said. He raised his voice. "Luna!"

"What's new?" I asked him, running down the stairs.

"Okay, so I have a hypothetical question. This is all hypothetical. If you hypothetically got asked on a date, right now what would be your reaction?" Darren asked me.

"Um, I would panic. Remember, I've never had a love life before. After that, I would probably say yes. And then I would panic because I can't really do anything with my wrist," I said.

"Okay, that's all I wanted to know. Go back," Darren said. I ran back upstairs to my listening perch. I could hear Darren paraphrase what I said. "There's a ton of panicking and worrying. You need to remember that you were her first kiss." Silence from Darren. I started fidgeting with the carpet.

"Yeah. So, nothing without her consent. Don't even think about getting her home late. Break her heart and I break you. Take things super slowly. She's not super fragile, it's just her past and our dad. He used to be actually really cool, but then we learned that he abused my sister and somehow got her to the other side of the earth," Darren said. He paused for a few seconds. "Make sure you have her to Brian and Mere's by eleven thirty," Darren said, "I need you to promise me this."

I waited until Darren called me back. After five minutes, I went into my room and started unpacking. I didn't have too much, since I moved pretty much everything when I came from Australia. I just overestimated what I needed in Chicago. I heard Darren call me back, so I ran back downstairs. "What's up?"

"Well, I just wanted to let you know you can stay here. I just had a stressful phone call," Darren said as his phone started ringing. Again. He groaned. "Okay, well, it's my boss."

I nodded in understanding and ran to my perch. "What do you mean, right now?" Darren spoke. He paused as a reply came through. "Yes, it's an emergency. I used all my days? Well, I'm sorry, I never knew what happened to my sister. Two decades!"

I could tell Darren was getting angrier, when I heard Julia calm him down and presumably take the call. "Yes, I'm his wife. Can he call you back, or better yet email? It's been a hard few months," Julia said calmly. "I'm aware, but this isn't a good time. Our entire two extended families are here and are about to-Janice, one sec- disown us."

I assumed Julia hung up. "What happened?" Darren asked.

"Fake family reunion. Got you a week," Julia said.

"I love you," Darren said. He yelled at me to come back down. I ran downstairs (good cardio day) and he opened his arm for a group hug. I snuggled in with my family before Sophia started crying.

"I got her," Julia said, bustling to pick up Sophia.

"How was it with your boss?" I asked Darren, looking up at his tall form. He suddenly became stiff. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No. He's just in a bad mood. I told him about you and he wants me to go last-minute to film something a week early. I've used all my sick days. So, I have to go back at some point. Juls got me a week, but he's not happy," Darren explained.

"You can always go. I've been studying maps. I know how to get to the hospital," I said.

"Yeah, but they aren't letting you alone. Juls has Sophia and I have work. Maybe after this one. Just settle in today and I'll sort it out," Darren said, seeming to have calmed down.

"Okay," I said cheerily. Darren called someone, his boss I assume.

"Hi, yeah, I need a break they're insane," Darren said. I made knocking noises until he gave me a thumbs up to be quiet. "I'll be right out! Yeah, so I can go tomorrow from one onwards. Why? Right, right, I forgot to tell you. She broke her wrist, but lives part-time in Chicago. I can try to come more. Yeah? Two weekends? Cool. Thanks. Bye!"

Darren seemed really relieved. "Well, I had to tell my boss the entire story. I just go back on two weekends to film the scenes. But hey, do you want to come on set with me tomorrow?" Darren asked. I grinned.

"It would be an honor. I'll go," I said.

"Cool. It'll be a," Darren took a sharp inhale as he thought, "Sibling day!"

"Okay," I smiled. I wandered over the kitchen where Julia was preparing dinner. "Do you need any help, Juls?"

Julia seemed to be balancing a squirming Sophia on one hip while making dinner. "Would you mind taking Sophia?" She asked me. I shook my head.

"Not at all," I said, taking Sophia.

"Let her crawl in an open area. Not in here," Julia said. I nodded and let Sophia crawl around in the living room. She looked up at me and giggled. She made a bunch of random noises (mainly positive), and I just smiled and nodded.

Disclaimer: This whole story is fictional and I only own Luna and the plot line. Everything else belongs to the respective owners.

Sorry about not uploading in a week. I meant to, but I forgot. Thanks for 200+ reads! So, November is going to have  spotty updates because I'm doing NaNoWriMo! Yay! Tomorrow is Halloween, and I'm very excited. I'm a small person, so I can still pass as someone younger for a while. I'm going trick-or-treating as Tatiana from Spies and I'm very excited! Are you doing anything for Halloween (if you celebrate it)? Let me know! Have a great time 'till I update!

--Luna :D