Chicago, Illinois (2012)

A knock came swiftly to her door and Danny sat up just as the door opened. 'Typical' she thought. Her mother never waited for an answer she always just opened the door. Trailing behind her was one of the maids with an armful of dry cleaned dresses. "Hey honey!" her mother chirped "We picked up a few things for you and had Julianne send some of your dresses out to be cleaned. You want to try them on?" an obnoxious smile seemed to cover her face. Danny paused for a moment trying to gather her thoughts but her mother pressed it again "Well?" "Sure" she said, forcing a smile. "Are you alright dear? It's not that Jonathan kid is it? I told you he was no good." Danny rolled her eyes "No mom. I'm fine. Please don't talk about Jonathan that way, you never really gave him a chance." "Don't talk to me like that young lady. He's from the other side of town and that's all I need to know about him. Now up! I want to see how these dresses look on you so we can have Julianne take them in if they don't fit."

Danny appeased her mother and tried on all 12 dresses that she bought. 2 of them had to be taken in and 2 of them "just wouldn't do"...according to her mother of course. Once she finally left her room, Danny quickly shut the door behind her and pulled out her phone.

"To: Ainsley
From: Danny

How did you put up with mom for so many years? P.s. I need to talk to you. I think you're the only one who will understand. Love you."

Aside from Jonathan, Ainsley was Danny's favorite person in the world.

[[OOC: sorry I haven't posted in awhile everyone! I just started school again a couple days ago, and i'm in the process of transferring schools, so bear with me! Thank you all for posting in my absence!]]

Zechariah's eye's widened as John explained the situation. His mind swirled with the memory of what was told about the abuse his friend was given. He just could not imagine John ending up like him, not one bit. It was not in his character. The thought otherwise made no sense to the blonde man.

What could be said to something like that? What words are there that would not upset John further? Zechariah wanted deeply to help, but how? What course of action could be considered a suitable option? Several questions raced through his brain, a fraction of which were unanswered. Still, one question had an answer: that of how John and Danny might be able to keep their child.

"John..." A smiled entered the blonde man's features so to cheer his friend up. "I happen to know some people at church who may be able to help with caring for the baby. Pastors, Bible school teachers, even some people in our age range who volunteer their time there. They would be more than happy to assist you however they can. Would you like for me to write down the phone numbers of the ones I have in mind?"

John looked up from the floor to Zech, smiling slightly and wiping away his tears. "No, that's fine, but thanks. I appreciate it. Maybe save them though. I might need them later." he looked back to his phone still on Zech's desk frowning again, "I just need to figure out... I need to figure out what to say to her, so you know, she doesn't end up hating me." he smiled weakly, looking off to the side, a pang of sadness hitting him at the thought of Danny actually hating him. With weary eyes, John's gaze was set on Zech, "At this point, would it be better for me to just... Leave her?" he questioned, a pang of guilt hitting him this time, "I mean, I've caused enough trouble for her already right? I was never good enough for her anyways. Her parent's always hated me and I hardly met them. Something has to be wrong with me." he stated, wallowing in his own self pity and grief. He felt absolutly horrible for ruining Danny's life. He stared down at the floor, waiting for Zech's response and day dreaming, mainly about a better world, where everything went how he wanted it to go.

Zech nodded when John mentioned he might need the numbers later. The queries, however, left the youth counselor in deep thought. What would be the best answer to them? This was such a difficult scenario to decipher, and Zechariah felt unprepared to tackle the problem effectively. He was not willing to accept defeat, though. Defeat meant failure, failure meaning uselessness. He hated being useless.

Laughing nervously, he made his response. "Yknow... the funny thing about running away from our problems is, they have a way of catching up to us. Not to sound preachy or anything, I'm just saying that from experience. I mean, if you were to just leave... let's just say, she would not like that very much." Zechariah took a deep breath through his teeth as he realized how that may sound to John. "Okay, I just made it worse, did I?" He let that breath out prior to continuing. "To be honest, there is not much else I can say to that scenario." Oh, no. Did you just accept defeat? He placed a hand on his forehead while blurting out, "Man, I feel useless..."

Jonathan grinned at his friend, laughing slightly, "You can't always have some sort of miracle success every time, right?" he stood, leaning over and patting Zech on his shoulder, "And you're probably right you know, with the thing about how problems have a way of catching up to us... And about the fact that Danny would be pretty sad if I just left." John muttered that last part scratching the back of his neck. For a moment he paced slightly, in front of the chair he was just sitting in. Finally he just plopped down in his chair, "I really need to do something... Anything actually. I need Danny off my mind, this is driving me crazy." he mumbled looking to Zech, "We need to go somewhere. I need a break from my life and you never give yourself a break from this place. If you want bring that girl I talked to earlier, she seems nice, I'll be waiting at the Arcade, you know the one. Don't waste time, chop chop, I need some hang out time!" He rambled, not letting Zech get a word in edge wise, and had already snatched up his phone and was out the door by the time he finished.

With a small smile, he walked out to his car, grinning as he drove to the arcade. He actually felt like an excited little boy again, going to the arcade with some of his friends. John hadn't felt this good in a while. Actually, this was the way he felt whenever he was going to pick up Danny. Aww crap, way to get her out of your head he let his head fall against the steering wheel, groaning as he did so. John pulled out his phone, finding no new messages, almost wishing Danny would text him first so he didn't feel so conflicted. A huff and 6 text ideas later, John had a text he found semi acceptable.

To: Danny
From: Jonathan

I hope you made it back home ok... Are you ok?

Quickly sending the message, John stepped from his car, walking into the arcade and getting some tokens. He made his way over to the skeeball machine, getting one hundreds practically every time. John was oddly very good at arcade games, well, skeeball at least. With another hundred he could practically see Danny standing next to him, bouncing in joy. John had taken her to this arcade for a date and won her a stuffed bear. It was a date right out of the movies, and John couldn't help but cherish the memories, no matter how much they hurt right now.

Zechariah shrugged when John patted him on the back and mentioned that success cannot come every time. "I guess not."

He felt somewhat better hearing his friend ramble on about the arcade and bringing Kellin. The youth counselor's chuckle was stifled enough for only him to hear. Well, this would probably be great for all three of us, anyway. Kellin could use some time away from the rehab center, every once in a while.

Remembering where he told the girl to go, Zech made his way to the elevator. With such a busy atmosphere in most areas of the building, the elevator usually contained several people at once, not that he minded. Although, the times when he could go to something low key and calming was sometimes preferable. For example, Zech always did enjoy going to one of the local coffee shops for a decaf mocha or latte, sometimes even one of the fruit smoothies available.

It did not take long to reach floor two. Once out in the hall, he took a right before shortly arriving at the door to room 231, where Kellin was staying. So to be polite, Zechariah knocked three times.