Manipulation | D.S
Summary: When Daniel gets a girlfriend, Y/n finds herself distancing from him due to threats from his new girlfriend and the weight of her feelings
Warnings: swearing, angst
A/n: So this has been one of my most highly anticipated imagines since I posted the upcoming masterlist so I really really hope it reaches your standards! It’s kinda bad idk. Thank you so much and I’m sorry if you have the same name as the rude gal in the story! Also sorry there’s a bunch of little time skips
You and Daniel had been best friends before either of you were even able to walk. With moms who were best friends, the two of you were basically inseparable from the moment you knew each other, and that never changed.
As the two of you got older, your feelings towards Daniel began to alter from simply platonic, to something more than that. You never mentioned it to Daniel, not wanting to ruin anything you had, but you longed to be with him, even if it seemed unattainable.
“Are we still going out today?” you asked Daniel over the phone, your legs up in the air as you lay on your bed, a small smile spread across your face.
“Oh shit, I forgot I said we would do something!” Daniel remarked quickly, your smile faltering slightly.
“Yeah, what are you doing instead? Band stuff?” you inquired, wondering what he was doing that prevented him from seeing you.
“No, uh, I’m actually going on a date,” he muttered under his breath, “remember Vanessa? I think you met her.”
“I know her,” I confirmed, my teeth grazing over my lower lip briefly. “have fun then. I’ll see you at some point.”
After you said your goodbyes and hung up, you couldn’t help but feel a slight sinking feeling in your heart.
Vanessa was one of the last people you ever thought Daniel would be interested in. She was so different from him, almost too different. As much as you wanted to feel happy for him, the only thing that kept running through your head was the fact that it wasn’t you, and you wanted it to be.
Maybe one date is where it will end.
“Where’s Daniel?” you wondered as you entered the Why Don’t We house, your best friends huddled around the TV as they invested themselves in a video game.
“He’s with Vanessa,” Corbyn answered, pausing the game to turn around and acknowledge me.
“Vanessa? They’re still talking?” I asked, sitting down on the couch as I tucked my feet under me, resting my elbow on top of my knee.
“Yeah, they’re official,” Corbyn nodded, “he didn’t tell you?”
“No,” I mumbled, looking down at my lap, “he doesn’t seem to really tell me anything anymore I guess.”
Daniel sat on your floor, legs sprawled out in front of him as he sat on your carpet, head titled up to look at where you were sitting.
He had come over to spend time with you before you met up with the boys to go out.
“Look at this,” you chuckled, turning your phone screen to face him to show him a funny video you found on Twitter.
“Vanessa showed me that yesterday,” he laughed, “it’s pretty funny.”
You tried not to feel jealous, or upset, but every mention of her name just made you feel worse, like your importance in Daniel’s life was decreasing.
He already blew you off constantly to be with her, and when he wasn’t with her, he was still talking about her.
You tried not to think about it, and live your life even if Daniel was with another girl, but the thoughts kept intruding, breaking your heart more and more. Every time you pretended you didn’t care, it just reminded you of how much you really did.
I have no right to be upset. I’m the one who didn’t tell him how I felt when I should have. It’s too late and I need to suck it up and move on.
“Ready?” Daniel asked as he stood up, brushing the front of his jeans before the two of you made your way to the front door, leaving to meet with the boys.
After going out for dinner, you all made your way back to the house to go swimming and just hang out in the backyard on the warm summer day.
The night was almost perfect, except for the fact that Vanessa came along, shooting you the side eye and sucking Daniel’s face every opportunity she had.
You sat with your feet in the water, Jonah next to you as everyone else swam.
Daniel came over to you, flashing a mischievous grin as he reached his hands to your ankles, tilting his head.
“You better not,” you warned, your eyes narrowing as you looked at your best friend, his eyes matching the color of the pool below him.
“Or else what?” he asked, lifting his eyebrow.
“Or else I’ll burn the friendship bracelet you gave me when we were 5,” you threatened jokingly, lifting your wrist and shaking it, the bracelet dangling.
“You wouldn’t!” Daniel gasped, placing a hand over his heart in exaggeration, the matching friendship bracelet attached to his wrist.
“Oh I would,” I said, nodding my head as I attempted to free my ankles from the grasp of his hands.
“Well, I guess I’m willing to risk it then,” he winked, and before I could even register what he had said, I was under water, the shock of the cold on my body making me tense up before rising to the surface, wiping the water from my eyes.
“You little shit!” I exclaimed, swimming over to him and splashing him, pushing his shoulder playfully as I laughed.
“I had to, it’s what best friends are for,” he shrugged, grabbing you and putting you over his shoulder before throwing you into the water again, making you squeal.
After getting out of the pool, you scurried inside and up to Daniel’s room to get changed into dry clothes. You put your shorts back on but pulled one of Daniel’s hoodies from his closet and over your body, the warm fabric hanging loosely, feeling protected from the slight chill that had appeared in the air.
You walked out of the room to head back outside but gasped as Vanessa unexpectedly appeared in front of you.
“You scared me,” you chuckled, your hand over your chest. You noticed her staring at the bracelet on your wrist before averting her gaze back up to meet yours.
“What are you trying to do?” she asked harshly, making you furrow your brows.
“What do you mean?” you asked, feeling really confused.
“Trying to steal Daniel. It’s obvious you’re flirting with him. Just back off, he likes me, not you,” she replied.
“Daniel has been my best friend since childhood, I’m not trying to steal him from you,” I scoffed, laughing at how ridiculous she was being right now.
“I know you’re just a slut. All over all the guys. You’re not as great as you think you are. Just back off Daniel, or you’ll regret it,” she said.
“Yeah very threatening, you don’t control me,” you snapped back, suddenly feeling angry by the way she was speaking to you as if she knew you at all.
“Trust me,” she whispered, “I can ruin you.”
“Hey guys,” Daniel grinned as he turned the corner.
“Hi baby!” she exclaimed, a fake smile brightening her face as she kissed him quickly.
“What are you guys talking about?” he asked, moving his eyes between you and his girlfriend.
“Oh nothing, just girl stuff,” she said in a high pitched voice before looking at you, her smile dropping, the nastiest look you had ever been given.
You knew there was something off about her, and part of you thought that maybe, despite it being crazy, she could do something to ruin your friendship entirely.
Maybe taking the chance wasn’t even worth it anymore.
After receiving more dirty looks and threats from Vanessa, you decided maybe it would be better to keep your distance.
You didn’t want to cause problems, and quite frankly were more fed up of Vanessa than anything. You just wanted her to stop talking to you and belittling you every time you spoke to Daniel. She clearly had personal issues and was probably capable of spreading lies about you to all the boys, not even only Daniel.
You wanted to tell Daniel about what she was saying, but she was so good at putting up a front that you knew he would never believe you and accuse you of trying to ruin your relationship.
You would just rather him be happy, nothing else really mattered.
Avoiding him allowed you to not think about him so much. Allowed you to forget the strong feelings you had for Daniel.
Maybe forgetting and moving on was what you needed, but at this point, you weren’t entirely sure what you needed.
You heard a knock on your door and you jogged towards it, opening the door. You assumed Daniel would walk in, taking his usual spot on the couch, but he stayed at the front door.
“Why have you been ignoring and avoiding me?” he asked.
“You haven’t been answering my calls, we haven’t hung out in forever, even with the boys you hardly ever show up. What’s going on with you? Did I do something wrong?” he said, his voice cracking slightly as he looked into your eyes.
“No, Daniel, you didn’t do anything. I’ve just been busy,” you lied, looking down a your feet.
“You’re lying,” Daniel accused, “I’ve known you forever, I know you’re lying. Tell me what’s going on.”
“Vanessa told me to stay away. She threatened a bunch of shit and I figured it’s just easier if I stay out of the way and let you be happy without any added bullshit from me,” you explained truthfully.
“She wouldn’t do that,” Daniel defended.
“I knew you would say that. Danny I’m happy you’re happy, I wouldn’t lie,” I added.
“Vanessa isn’t like that though. She told me she loves you and thinks you’re great. You must have misunderstood or you’re making it up,” he said.
“Daniel I didn’t misunderstand,” you snapped, “since when do you question whether or not I’m telling you the truth? What is happening to you I feel like I don’t even know you sometimes.”
“You’re the one pushing yourself away, I’m not the one who’s changed,” he accused again, taking a step forward. “Besides, since when do you care what people tell you? If she threatened you, when did you become the type of person to just back down?”
“Because I didn’t see that it was worth fighting for,” I muttered, “it gave me an excuse to avoid you.”
“Why do you want to avoid me?” he asked, his eyebrows lifting on his forehead, concern washing over his face.
“Because I can’t stand to see you with her! I can’t stand seeing you change and become this ‘make out in public’ guy with a superficial girl. It’s not you, Daniel!” I exclaimed.
“Why do you care so much?” he asked, an edge to his voice.
“Because I don’t want you with her. I’m in love with you, Daniel, okay? I said it. I don’t want you with her because it hurts me that it’s not me!” I confessed, my voice raising.
He stumbled backwards slightly, his lips parting as he stared back at you, unsure of how to respond.
“Why did you wait so long to tell me this?” he asked.
“Because it’s just easier to pretend it’s not there,” I mumbled, avoiding Daniel’s gaze once again.
“Y/n, I’ve loved you since I was 12 years old. All this time I have been waiting for you, waiting for some sign that you might like me too, waiting for the courage to say something. Why do you only wait until I finally stop beating myself up over you to tell me this?” he asked, his voice raising as well, something that almost never happened.
“So it’s my fault?” I asked.
“I’ve waited for you for years, Y/n. Years. Only now you decide to tell me this. It’s like you’re purposely trying to keep me from letting you go!” he accused.
“Daniel I was tired of living a lie. I’m sorry you think I’m doing this to ruin things but it’s just how I feel. How I’ve been feeling this whole time,” I replied, lowering my voice in hopes he would lower his as well.
“I don’t want you to let me go,” I muttered.
“I hate you for making me be so in love with you,” he said in a low voice, taking a step towards you as he roughly smashed his lips against yours, all the anticipation and love between the two of you being felt.
Words didn’t even need to be spoken, it was all either of you ever wanted.
