Everything had been a mess since the moment the new year began, and it was a heavy load on Dani’s back that was slowly trying to bring her down inch by inch. It had been one thing for some unknown person out there to have ruined her life and caused her mother to not only kick her out but stop speaking to her, but it was a completely different matter knowing that it had been Sebastian Smythe. It was different because he did things for fun and just because he could. He had hurt Santana so Dani had decided to get back at him by wrecking his car, and it still fucked Santana over, and there was nothing Dani could do about it all. It had been driving her crazy because all she wanted was to keep her friends safe. To keep them somewhat happy if she could. And he was untouchable. Then the party. She had known something was going to happen, but she never could have imagined what went down. To Marley. Her sweet, Marls. The little girl who used to bandage all her wounds when they were young, who wanted to kiss Dani’s boo-boos and bake her cookies. The girl that didn’t actually hate anyone as far as Dani could tell. And Dani was convinced that Sebastian was behind it, because why wouldn’t he be? So she had to defend her. She had to defend all of them. As good as it had felt to finally get a hit in on the smug bastard, her moment didn’t get to last. Not when the world crushed down on her lungs and made her freeze. Because he did it. He made her lose her home. And why? Because of where she had been born. She hadn’t been able to focus since that moment. Dani felt like she was walking through a series of foggy days where she tried her best to act normal and couldn’t quite do it. It was all killing her inside, and she knew she should talk to someone, but she never was good at things like that. So she kept it buried and did her best. Her best of course meant getting high whenever she could. It was only the second day back of school and she couldn’t have cared less about staying out of trouble. She’d already punched a locker earlier that day and she didn’t care what could happen. Instead of going back to classes after lunch, Dani stayed right where she was. Outside, under the bleachers, with a joint in her hand. She figured the higher she got the less thoughts would plague her mind.

Dani knew she needed a better idea of who all, and how many, were in the library with her. She moved from her hiding spot behind the desk and crawled again, slowly. She went towards the back of the library and kept close to any corners she could quickly get behind if needed. She looked up and down the aisles taking in all of the other cowering and scared students. The sight hit her hard as she wondered again how this was actually happening to them. In real life. But then something caught her eye. Or someone. She saw a familiar crop of hair wedged between a chair and the wall. Elliott. A sort of relief flowed through her. Something familiar, someone she cared about that she could actually see was okay. She launched towards him and pulled the chair away enough to throw herself into his lap and hug him tightly around the neck. It wasn’t just a relief in her panic of saving everyone; it was comfort. It was a comfort that she had needed from the beginning of it all. A moment where she felt momentarily safe. “Ell..” Tears prickled her eyes and she just kept hugging him. Safe. Familiar. 

It had been barely thirty minutes, if that, but to Dani it had felt like so much longer. It felt like hours of panic and fear, of worry for those she cared for most. She had a terrible habit of reacting in defense of her friends in ways that she shouldn’t without thinking. There was surely some psychology behind that, but nothing that Dani wanted to hear. Dani didn’t really have family and her friends were that. Sam, his brother and sister, Kurt and Finn...Santana. People that mattered more to her than her own life. People she saw as more worthy. And people who were out there somewhere -- terrified. Sure, she was getting texts of where they were and that they were okay, but for how long? How could she sit there and wait and not know? How could she let something happen to them? She couldn’t. It had been back and forth in her mind from the moment she realized what was happening, and she suddenly couldn’t take it anymore. She bolted to her feet and ran for the door, beginning to pull one of the big chairs away. She had to go to them.