It made sense the longer she thought about it, his past still held a lot of weight to it for him. Danni wasn't abusive when she got drunk, she only wanted to sleep, but she did understand what trauma did to the mind. If anything she felt only more guilty but she would push that aside, she wouldn't pity him because she knew he wouldn't want that. He needed understanding, and she needed those pain meds. She reached over and poured two out of the bottle, popping them into her mouth and taking a long sip of water to make sure they went down. An apology would have to wait until later when she was sure that she wouldn't vomit upon standing up, or go tumbling to the floor. The drunk were not very coordinated. She sighed and laid back against her wall since her pillow was somewhere on the floor from when Zachary threw it, putting another cracker in her mouth. So she wasn't stupid, she had a moment of weakness and that was okay despite the impression that it wasn't. Drinking oneself stupid wasn't the best option but when you hit that wall sometimes it was the only option. For a few hours she had forgotten all of her problems, and for that she was grateful. It could be worse, she could have chosen to go out and do some drugs but she was highly against that. "I know."
"If you know, then why do it? You could have come home with us and dealt with it in a better way." It was easier said than done, Blake knew that, but it needed to be put out there. Hopefully thee pain medication would kick in and she would start to feel at least a little better. It was likely going to be another uphill battle for both Danni and Zachary, especially since Danni fell so hard again. At least she was slowly eating more than just one cracker and listening to him. "I don't think you should spend the rest of your day hiding in your room. I'm not saying you have to go out or anything, but at least consider hanging out with us here." He knew Elliott was convincing Zachary, slowly but surely; probably with the promise of being able to play his games. Their original plan from the night before had been to have the others come back to the apartment and all of them spend the next day together; Blake wasn't going to give that up so easily when it would help both of them.
"I meant I know it's been two years." Danni knew it wasn't a good habit either but she was still being a little bit difficult at the moment. He couldn't just win her over right away, not when she still felt like she had been hit by a bus. The meds would need a few minutes to kick in before she would feel better even a little bit. Drinking without control was never a good idea but sometimes she just wanted to let go and they were lucky she's only let go twice. After Connor's accident it could've been a lot worse, she could've become a full blown alcoholic. Luckily her love for dance had saved her, she didn't want to lose that part of her life. Dance was important to her, it kept her stable even in the most difficult of times and that's normally how she got her release. Unfortunately last night she hadn't been able to get to the studio to fit in a session, the bar had been a lot closer in her time of dire need. That was her secret though, she's crashed more than they knew and she would never tell them that. "As long as I can keep my blanket..."she was cold, another side effect from "drinking herself stupid."
"Of course you can keep your blanket. No one's going anywhere," Blake said, a small smile crossing his lips. Finally, a breakthrough. Even if it was small, it was still a victory. "Maybe you should shower too. I hear it does wonders after a bad hangover." He made sure that she would take care of herself to feel better, he always did for the two of them. He pushed himself up, stretching a little. "If you do, do it now. Because I'll keep coming back in here until you get out of bed and be somewhat productive," he told her, giving her the 'I'm watching you' gesture as he headed for the door. He and Elliott were going to have their hands full today, but it would work out. It had to. As he came out of her room, he ran into Zachary in the hallway. No words were spoken, and Blake didn't need them; he'd been friends with Zachary long enough to understand. He offered him a smile as he watched Zachary pick up his cat, reaching to ruffle his hair a bit before letting him go back to Elliott. He went into the kitchen to make himself something quick to eat; he was starving, the entire time he had been regretting going to talk to Danni without any food.
Danni was sure that she smelled just as bad as she felt, knowing that alcohol wasn't a very good deodorant. A sigh left her lips and she pushed herself up off her bed, keeping the dark gray blanket wrapped around her comforas she searched for a clean pair of sweats. Sweats had become a part of her attire in the past couple of years, they were simple and comfortable. They kept warm too and that's exactly what she was looking for. She grabbed what she needed and slipped out of her room, eyeing Zachary's door with a dizzy gaze before moving into the bathroom. A shower would help stabilize her surroundings and would warm her up some too. The door closed with a soft thump, the blanket fell to the floor and she unsteadily undressed herself. If the doorhandle wasn't right there she had a feeling she would be om the floor right now, how hadn't she thrown up yet? Maybe it was the crackers. She shook her head, regretting it instantly at the pain that suddenly took over her head, and shuffled her way into the shower turning the water on to hot.
Once Zachary had gone back into his room, satisfied to have his cat, he took his spot back on his bed next to Elliott. He let Rave run free, though he simply curled up in a ball next to him. He felt even more drained now that he'd had that breakdown. His body unfortunately still ached from how tense he had been combined with the way he hadn't been able to stop the violent trembling. He rested his head on Elliott's shoulder, absentmindedly watching whatever Elliott had put on to keep himself at least somewhat occupied. This was normal after intense moments like that. Despite already being quiet, Zachary grew even more so around Elliott and let him do little things to keep him stable. He appreciated that Elliott didn't push for him to talk once it was over, knowing they could deal with it when he was in a better headspace. I wonder how Danni is...
Danni stepped out of the shower, wiping the steam from the round mirror above the sink. There were dark circles underneath her eyes and her skin was a bit more pale than what was usual. That could be from a lack of sun since she was always working, or a lack of sleep. She struggled to sleep since Connors accident, but it was getting somewhat better than it had been. No longer did she wake up in the middle of the night screaming, having used to have nightmares that ravaged her mind. Nightmares about seeing Connor die, seeing Bailey standing over him with a knife or a gun. A shiver ran through her as she waved away those thoughts and got dressed, they wouldn't help her feel any better. The shower however did help, she was still hungover but she didn't feel like she was on death's door anymore. She picked up her blanket and wrapped it back around herself, slipping out to the livingroom where she huddled up on the couch. Blake would drag her out if she went back to her room and he did say she could keep her blanket so it was a compromise.
"There she is!" Blake called as he came out of the kitchen, grinning Danni's way. He'd just finished up cleaning his dishes and headed over to the couch to sit with her. He reached for the remote so he could put something on in the background. "You dont look like death anymore, so I would say that's a major improvement. Just a bit more burrito like." He settled back into the couch, letting the random movie he'd stopped on start. About ten minutes in, he heard two sets of footsteps come down the hall and was pleasantly surprised to see both Zachary and Elliott headed their way.
"Hey, Danni," Elliott said, smiling softly as he headed to sit on the other couch with a silent Zachary who was clad in one of his hoodies. He didn't bother asking about what had happened, smoothing right over it. "Take it movie night started early?"
As Blake commented on what Elliott said, Zachary silently sunk into Elliott's side. He wasn't fully following the conversation, briefly watching the screen before he looked back down at his switch to finish the level he was on. He could watch after, or at least try to.
Danni had wrapped herself up until only her face was showing so the burrito comment was correct. She was snug, she wouldn't get out of this position if she could help it, they couldn't make her and she would fight them if they tried. All three, she could totally take them all on. Maybe not, but she was kind of amusing herself with these lighter thoughts. Her gaze moved over as she heard the other two coming in, reaching out of her face hole in her blanket with her hand to wave at Elliot. Acknowledging them was the nice thing to do although it seemed like Zachary was still in a mood. Since she didn't want to make anything worse, she just huddled further into her blanket and looked at the television with a blank stare. Hopefully they didn't pick anything too scary, she wasn't sure she could handle that at the moment. She was fine now, but her heart was still a tad jumpy from the alcohol. Maybe something funny, they all could do with a good laugh or even a smile from herself and the other moody soul in the room.
Normally, Zachary would have quietly voiced his opinion on what they should watch since he was the movie buff out of the four of them. Though this time, he opted to stay quiet and let Blake pick something off his shelf to turn off whatever random movie he'd been watching off. He just didn't have it in him right now; maybe by the time the others got there, even though right now he wasn't exactly thrilled about that. He was still just trying to readjust and get to a point where he could handle the level of exhaustion he was feeling without it being something that could make him snap at any moment. He kept the volume on his game low so he wouldn't disturb anyone, pressing the side of his face against Elliott's shoulder while he played. This was supposed to help both of them, and by the end of the first movie he'd put his game onto the coffee table; a sure sign to all of them that Zachary was in a better mood as they chose another movie when Blake got up to let the other three in. None of them made any comment towards Danni or Zachary about the night before, making themselves comfortable to watch alongside them.
"I can't believe you started this one without us," came Chad's dramatic voice, followed by agreement from Mae.
"Hush. Watch the movie," Elliott said, kicking him lightly to get him to shut up.
Danni barely noticed when the others got there until she heard Chad's voice, he was louder than the others but not annoyingly so. He was just vibrant. They all settled in like they just belonged there and for once she didn't feel so out of place with them surrounding her. She was grateful they asked no questions, she didn't really want to go into the explanation about seeing her dead best friend and flame again. Telling two people had been hard enough, maybe when she was fully sober she would think about it. Yet she was beginning to feel even more embarrassed by the whole situation, if that had been a complete stranger they probably thought she was insane or something. I can never show my face in that restaurant ever again. In a city this big what were the chances she would run into the guy again? Hopefully slim, and if she did see him again she would run the other way while hyperventilating. Not that she did that often but who knew what she would do in the moment? She bit her lip and looked back at the television, trying to focus more on the movie then anything else.
By the middle of the third movie, Chad had become restless. Sitting for nearly four hours was starting to get to him. "I'm starving, can we go get food?" He asked, sprawled out across Mae's legs on the floor.
Elliott reached for the remote to press pause, knowing all too well that Chad wouldn't give it up if they ignored him. Well, movie night was definitely done now. "We can do that. I don't think anyone wants to listen to you whine for the rest of the night." He ignored the offended look he received along with the middle finger, turning to Zachary. He and Danni would be the ones that needed the most convincing, and he wasn't going to go anywhere without them being okay.
Zachary glanced around the group, his gaze ultimately landing on Danni on the other couch and silently asking what she wanted to do. He wanted to avoid another outing like the night before as much as he could, no one needed a repeat of whatever catastrophe that was. Though, he knew as well as Elliott that they would have to listen to complaining if they didn't go get something. "I don't know, maybe?" He asked quietly, though his eyes were still on Danni. She needed a real meal and looked a thousand times better than she had hours ago, at least there was that. He knew both Blake and Elliott would be on top of him to eat too, and the thought was one he was dreading; it was how most days were lately. He knew he was outnumbered here.
Danni looked up, hearing Chad whine from somewhere in the livingroom; she wasn't exactly sure where he was. This wasn't unusual behavior for him when he was hungry, he was very vocal when it came to food. She looked at the others as most seemed to agree on going out, a small sigh escaping her lips. Staying in would be more preferable, she was comfortable, but they would force her out one way or another. As long as they didn't go back to that place with that waiter she would be fine, she too wanted to avoid another incident. The stress would tear her apart. "Where?" She asked quietly, unsure anyone would hear her over Chad, her gaze landing on Zachary. It was the first time she noticed that he had looked at her since that morning, questioning what she wanted to do. She made it clear she would rather stay in, but threw a quick look at Blake and Elliot as if to say they would make them go out anyway if they didn't just agree. Blake and Elliot really didn't take no for an answer, the whole group was like that when it came to them. They were all convinced she and Zachary would go insane if they didn't go out sometimes, maybe they were right.