"Thanks for the ride Blake" I said, some minutes into the ride.

"Anytime" he replied, glancing at me.

"How's your eye by the way?" I asked, recalling the incident at the gym.

"Well, I can see clearly now that's for sure, so I'll say it's fine now" he said, making me chuckle "But I'm sure that as soon as my aunt gets to know of what happened, she'd force me to go see an ophthalmologist tommorow. Wanna come with?"

"Actually, I have this thing" I said, hoping he would brush it off but unfortunately for me, he didn't.

"What thing?" He asked, glancing at me.

"I'm hanging out with André tomorrow"  I replied, suddenly tense for some reason.

"With André?" He asked, also getting tense as his hands gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"Yeah, he asked me yesterday" I replied, shrugging.

"Like...like a date?" He forced out.

"No, no, it would be just like two friends hanging out, nothing more" I clarified.

"Oh" he said, visibly relaxing "Just two friends huh?"

"Yep"

"Alright then, I'll tell you how my date with the eye doctor goes" he said, making me laugh. We were silent for some minutes, before he spoke up.

"It's just my opinion, but I don't think it's safe to 'hang out' with someone you just met like a week ago" he said.

"Don't put airquotes around hang out, it is just that" I laughed "And besides, I thought so at first but what could it hurt, he's a nice guy and he's sat with us like three times at lunch, so I'd say I know him quite a bit" I looked to see that he had a frown on his face now. What was wrong with him all of a sudden?

"Okay then, if you say so" he hesitantly replied.

Soon, he pulled into my drive way and I got out. I picked Tyler up from the backseat, being careful not to wake him up.

"Bye, thanks for the ride!" I said through the window and walked up to the front door. I unlocked it, pushed it open and just before walking in, I turned to wave at Blake, who was yet to leave. I walked in to see my mum pacing at the bottom of the stairs. As soon as she noticed us, she practically ran over to us.

"Dani, are you okay? Is everything fine?" She asked, taking Tyler from me and going to lay him on the couch.

"Yes mom, did you get my text? You look worried" I asked, holding her shoulders.

"Yes I did and that's one of the reasons why I'm worried right now"

"One of the reasons?" I asked "Is there any other reason to be worried?"

"I don't know, I'm probably just being paranoid, it's nothing"

"No mom, tell me what happened" I pushed.

"Okay, so when I was coming back from the office, I noticed a car was following me. Luckily, I diverted and parked in the driveway of a grocery store and it parked just outside. I went into the store and roamed around for a while and then after some minutes, it drove off. It might not have been following me, but I've been feeling a bit uneasy since this morning, I don't know, I think the Vipers have found us" she explained.

"That's not possible mom, if they had, dad would have found out and we'd have moved by now" I refused. I didn't want to think about the Vipers finding us, that would be goodbye to the life I had now and hello to a new and most probably boring life. I was honestly tired of running. Also, my mum still didn't know about the chip lying in my locket just around my neck.

"I really hope so dear" she said, but I could see that she was still worried.

"Okay let's do this, let's call dad alright?"

"Okay" she replied and we both went into the living room. We took our seats and she dialed my dad's landline, that being the only way we could contact him except he called. He picked up after the second ring and my mom put it on loudspeaker.

"Hi honey, how are you?" said my dad's voice from the other side of the phone.

"I think the Vipers have found us" my mom said, going straight to the point.

"No, that's not possible. If they had gotten any info on our whereabouts, Robert would've informed me" my dad said, sounding serious now.

"That's what I said!" I exclaimed softly "But please can you maybe call uncle Rob because mom keeps worrying over here"

"Alright, hang on a sec" he replied and put us on hold. After some minutes, he was back.

"Catherine dear, you worry too much" he said, picking up the line again "I just spoke to Robert now and everything is just fine"

"Are you sure?" She asked, relaxing now.

"Yes Cath" he replied "Now stop worrying and go back to acting like everything is normal. I really don't want to see your face wrinkled up due to stress, the next time I see you.

"Oh, shut up" she replied, laughing now. My dad had always been quite the joker so he always knew how to make her smile.

"Alright, bye dad" I said into the phone.

"Hold on! Dani, can I speak to you in private?" He asked, just as I was about to hang up.

"Okay" I replied, immediately knowing what he wanted to talk about. I stood up and went over to the door.

"Yes dad?"

"Hey, please do me a favour, don't tell your mother that the chip is with you. I also told her that I lost it cause I knew she'd freak out if she ever found out that it was with you" he said.

"Are you sure she shouldn't know about it? I mean I haven't told her but I was planning to" I replied.

"No, don't tell her. That'd be best" he refused.

"Okay then, bye dad" I said and hung up.

I walked back to my mother and returned her cell phone. I was on my way to the stairs, the thought of sleeping in the next day already making me smile, when we heard a knock on the door and immediately, Blake walked in.

What the hell? When did he get here? Please tell me, he didn't over hear our conversation. My mom and I exchanged frightened looks and then I walked over to him.

"B..Blake? What are you doing here?" I asked carefully.

"Uh, you forgot your purse in my car" he said, handing it to me.

"Oh. I didn't even notice, thanks a lot" I said, collecting it.

"Yeah, goodnight" he said, turning to leave when I stopped him.

"Hey Blake" I called, making him turn around "Whatever you might have heard, please -"

"What was I supposed to hear?" He asked, looking confused.

"Oh, so you didn't over hear our conversation?" I asked, anxiously.

"Was I supposed to?" He asked, narrowing his eyes and then gasped dramatically "Were you gossiping about me?"

"No Blake, I wasn't" I replied, laughing. He was such a clown.

"So you were declaring your undying love for me then?" He asked, a smug smile on his face.

"No Blake, nothing of that sort" I said, rolling my eyes as he feigned hurt, making me laugh again "Goodnight Blake"

"Goodnight Dani" he chuckled and then turned to leave.

I watched until he pulled out of the driveway and then I shut the door. My mum immediately came to meet me.

"Did he hear anything?" She asked anxiously.

"No he didn't" I replied.

"Are you sure?" She asked, not quite convinced.

"Yes mom" I assured her "Besides, even if he did hear something, I wouldn't really mind, I'm getting tired of keeping my secret from people I call my friends  and I would still have to tell them someday so"

"But what if -" she started again. She was anxious but I couldn't blame her, after the incident that happened on her way back from the office, she had every right to be.

"But nothing mum" I said cutting her off "Go and get some rest, you need it"

After that, I kissed her goodnight and made my way to my room. What a long day I just had. Mom didn't know about the little incident at school, neither did she know about the chip in my locket and I was going to keep it that way. She was already dealing with a lot, we all were....well except for Tyler who only had to worry about nuts in his food and what name to call me.

*  *  *  *  *

Hey guys! How are you doing?

The last two chapters feel short, sorry about that, it's because the next chapter after this is going to be a special one, so get ready to be surprised!

Okay, so you're not supposed to be ready for a surprise 😂😂 but whatever!

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