Danni stood there for what must've been a solid minute, just staring at the spot where Lucas' face had been, dazed. Tears shone in her eyes, and not just because of the pain that the bright read handprint on the side of her face was causing her. Lucas had just hit her. She didn't know what to do, what to say; she just stood there, unmoving, as he walked away.
"Don't lie to me Danni, please."
His words brought her back to her senses, and the fact that he'd had the audacity to turn round and say something like that triggered her reaction. She went for him, grabbing his shoulders and shoving him roughly into the wall; she flinched as his head connected with the brick with a resounding crack, but didn't slacken her hold on him. "How dare you!" she spat through clenched teeth. "It's hard, it's painful - I get that, but God, you have to stop doing this! Your father is dead, Lucas. He's six feet under the ground, has been for days, and he's going to stay that way. He's dead." She stopped herself, marvelling at her snap decision reaction, and sighed. She'd never responded like this to anything before, and she was kind of horrified with herself - but then again, the boyfriend turning round and slapping her part was new, too.
She sighed again, and released him slowly, taking a step backwards. She tried again. "Now I'm trying to help you work through this, and I really want to be here for you like I said I would, but I can't stick around if stuff like this is going to happen. This--" She gestured to the rapidly swelling mark on her face. "--This isn't you. Darren wanted you to live with him so he could bring out the wolf in you. Your dad said no because he knew just as well as I do that that's not who you are, and now he's dead. If he'd said yes, if he'd let Darren turn you into some monster, he'd still be stood here. Difference is, you wouldn't."
She looked down, briefly taking his hands in hers. "I know you've been in some pretty crappy places lately, but your dad believed in you - I believe in you. So please don't prove us wrong by pulling crap like this." She let go of his hands and walked away from him, heading for the kitchen; she just couldn't be around him right now. Lucas was hurting, she knew that, and she wanted to help him more than anything else, but she just couldn't let herself be around someone who could backhand her into the wall without a second glance, no matter how much she loved that someone or how much she knew he didn't mean it.
How did it ever come to this? She reached the kitchen and looked around it for a moment, feeling her chest already starting to constrict. Crossing the room quickly, she clung to the counter on either side of the sink and was promptly violently ill; she didn't move afterwards, she just stood there as before, but this time allowing her body to shake as painful sobs reverberated through her.