daisy

She bit her lip and stared down her opponent with what she believed was an unreadable poker face. Without breaking their eye contact and with him adorning a quizzical expression, Daisy pushed the wooden castle forward a space.

Owen shook his head in silent laughter before casually knocking over her second to last remaining chess piece, putting it directly in line with her King. "Checkmate," he said smugly.

The girl huffed and folded her arms with a pout on her lips as she glared at the chess board, silently reprimanding the Queen that had gotten herself captured early in the game. "I-I think you cheated."

He rolled his eyes at her and began to set the board up again. "Don't blame me just because you suck at chess."

"You're j-just bad at teaching," she countered playfully. It was times when Seth was away that she really appreciated having a friend such as Owen. Innocent conversations of common interests took her mind away from the bad things her boyfriend was doing.

"Whatever, Princess." Owen snapped but with the amount of time they spent together, Daisy could now easily hear the humour in his voice. "So where's the devil then?"

She feigned obliviousness with a tilt of her head. "I d-don't know who you're talking a-about."

Again, the guy rolled his hazel eyes from behind his thick rimmed glasses. "Your boyfriend. The love of your life. Your sweet Sethy bear."

"Hey!" Daisy immediately yelled, unfortunately attracting the attention of an older, ornery looking prisoner, which caused her to give an apologetic smile at his scowling face. "I only called him that once in front o-of you," she said animatedly with her finger wiggling in his face.

"Only because he told you not to do it again," he said, to which she mumbled, "didn't have a problem with it in private."

Ignoring his confusion at her inaudible words, she said louder, "he's doing secret things."

"Do you know these 'secret things'?"

Daisy didn't like the judgmental tone in his voice but decided against commenting about it. She simply replied, "of course I do. He tells me all his secrets." And it was true. He didn't really keep secrets from her and told her whatever she wanted to know. Only, she found that ignorance was in fact bliss and it helped her to sleep a lot easier when she wasn't aware of the dangerous activities he was doing.

Seth was currently trading chocolate for more pillows as they planned to make a pillow fort for Christmas. They realised getting a Christmas tree in their cell wouldn't be possible.

"Well, as long as he's looking after you," Owen said with a surprising amount of care that made her heart warm in her chest.

"Aw Owen," she gushed as her face melted at the sight of a blush rising up her neck. "T-this is why you get the best Christmas p-present." Actually, he got the fourth best but she wasn't going to let the details ruin their moment.

At least, she thought it was a moment until a sadness took over Owen's face. "I- I'm not going to be here at Christmas." He sounded just as shocked to be saying it as Daisy was hearing it.

"A-are you dying?" She asked. Her eyes were already stinging with tears as she looked at her first cell mate twiddling his thumbs in front of her in his orange jumpsuit and signature round glasses.

"No. I'm getting out early. Good behaviour apparently." He smiled sheepishly at her gaping expression.

"H-how come you didn't say anything? And- and what about Christmas?" She felt so guilty that she wasn't as overjoyed as she knew she should've been. Daisy really tried to mask her sadness but knowing her inability to hide her emotions, it probably didn't work.

"I only found out yesterday. But do you know what this means? I get to spend Christmas with Sarah!" Owen's face lit up when talking about his girlfriend. After being so opposed to talking about his personal life for so long, Daisy persisted in getting him to open up and when he did, the guy wouldn't stop talking about his childhood sweetheart. It was the only time Owen openly talked with a relaxed, comfortable smile.

Realising this, Daisy jumped out of her seat with her arms wide open and thankfully, Owen was too caught up in his excitement that he wasn't too shy to meet her in the middle where they embraced each other with enormously large grins on their faces. "That's what you've always wanted, Owen. I'm so happy for you." She gave him a tight squeeze to express her point and he squeezed her back.

"I can't believe this is finally happening," he said croaked, clearly feeling emotional and Daisy didn't blame him as she too was getting teary eyed.

A forced cough broke them apart. Masculine hands lay on the curves of her waist and pulled her to a hard chest where she met angry yet beautiful eyes.

"Everything good here?" Seth asked while he swiped the pad of his calloused thumb under her wet eyes, sparing a warning glance at Owen.

She sighed happily and rested her head on his chest. "Everything's perfect."

~~~

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Daisy squealed happily in Seth's ear but then yelped when he flipped them over so he was lying over her with his head on her breasts.

"Few more minutes," he said, his deep voice raspy with sleep.

"But it's Christmas now." She weaved her fingers through his hair before attempting to tug his head away from her but he just groaned and nuzzled his head further into her chest, sending heat straight through her body like an electrical current.

"Comfy," he mumbled tiredly.

As eager as she was to start the day, Daisy felt bad for waking him up so early and she knew the reason he was so tired was because she kept him up so late with reading Christmas books together and singing carols to get them in the festive spirit. He was a really good sport.

Looking down at his peacefully sleeping face, free of frowns and scowls, she loved the way he didn't even hesitate to let his guard down in front of her. When he was with her, Seth took off the mask that earned him the name of a devil and was completely vulnerable, resting in her arms like an innocent baby.

How did I get so lucky?

She brushed the hair away from his face to kiss the top of his head lovingly and whispered, "I guess we can have a few more minutes," before being lulled to sleep by his calming, rhythmic breaths.

~~~

With a full belly of turkey and pudding, Seth's large warm hand was on her stomach thumb, rubbing soothing circles under her shirt. Daisy was snuggled comfortably on his lap at the very back of the room with Nate and Levi at their side. Their eyes, along with a room full of other prisoners, were on the film being played on the wall from a cheap projector.

Although the room was still bleak and very gloomy, the prison clearly made an effort and possibly much more than other year if the surprise of the prisoners were anything to go by. There was a small poorly decorated tree in some of the rooms and a few fairy lights were glued onto the highest ceilings. In the morning, they even handed out Santa Claus hats, which Seth wore all day.

Around her, Daisy heard the sound of people still nibbling onto their cookies. Despite all jobs being cancelled for the day, she insisted on spending an hour baking and decorating the multiple different shapes of cookies she had planned on a little piece of paper. In the end, there were trays and trays of trees, snowflakes and mittens, all carefully drawn on with plain white icing. One she was most excited about was making the gingerbread men look like inmates and prison officers, though she did hope they didn't take offence. Luckily, every single person loved them and even with the large amount she made, all the cookies disappeared very quickly.

A week prior to Christmas, Daisy had to ask the Governor's permission to make something she deemed would brighten the low spirits of everyone as it wasn't part of the regular meal plan. Thankfully, he granted it and she was free to make her cherished special recipe of hot chocolate, adding all sorts of spices and creams to the drink with a candy cane straw.

She had never seen so many people happy in one place and the gratefulness she felt from some of the prisoners was clear. Many were missing their families and were depressed about spending the most wonderful time of the year confined in the worst place in the world, but apparently with Daisy's help, it was much better than it would've been.

The film ended with many sad sighs as they were ushered back to their cells. Daisy let out a tired yawn and wrapped her arms around his neck, making no move to stand up and face the bitter cold. Unfortunately, they had to leave. So with the strong arms she appreciated so much, Seth stood up with her still in clinging onto him like a koala bear, supporting her with his hands on her bum as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Daisy wasn't even fazed by the movement as he gracefully and carefully carried her away. She hid her neck in the crook of his neck after waving goodbye to their friends and wishing them a merry Christmas.

"Is this a piggy front?" She whispered as the thought suddenly came to her head.

Her boyfriend paused in his steps before chuckling lightly and continued walking. "I guess it is, you weirdo." Seth teased. In response, she bit his neck and licked the reddened area before giggling evilly in his ear. He hoisted her up and tightened the grip on her bum, muttering, "little devil."

Their cell was still covered in paper decorations, though less than there was originally due to Seth's head hitting most of them off. Now they had an extra sheet hanging off the top bunk bed, creating a cozy hideaway with fluffy pillows lining their bed.

"Going down?" He asked, kissing the crown of her head. When he received no reply, he slowly lay her on the abundance of blankets and climbed in after her. Her hands clasped onto his shirt as whined from the loss of warmth so he gingerly pried her fingers away and kissed them, putting a giddy smile on her face. "My angel's feeling snuggly today isn't she?" He cooed, running his fingers through her hair as she nestled herself into his side.

After the hectic day, they spent the rest of it in the quiet and peaceful ambience of their home-made fort. Seth read to her The Christmas Carol, a present that Dave had given the day before, and he did so much more enthusiastically than he anticipated. She had to stifle her laughter every time he changed his voice for a character and then later forget which character had which voice.

"Thank you for the best Christmas ever," she said, leaning closer to his lips for a kiss, having missed them touching her own for the short time they were apart.

His lips brushed hers as he huskily replied, "thank you for being here with me."

Their lips met in a passionate dance, moving in sync with each other as a burning fire travelled between them and fizzed in their veins. Everything they were doing felt natural. It felt right, as if while they were together, they could do no wrong.

When she began to grind against him in a confused effort to get rid of the feeling inside her, he pulled away and rested his forehead on her while a hand rested on her hip and the other on the curve of her neck. "F*ck. We need to stop," he groaned with his eyes still closed.

"Why?" Daisy asked, breathing heavily as she wiggled her hips a little.

"Stop, Daisy. You're killing me here," he rasped, looking pained.

"Sorry." She giggled and then pecked his lips quickly. "I-It was supposed to be your present." Daisy said quietly, now feeling embarrassed by her actions.

"What was?" He frowned.

"You know," she drawled. Seth shook his head slowly, making her roll her eyes. "Doing it."

"Doing what?"

Daisy narrowed her eyes at his confused expression but obviously in his line of work, he had learned to hide his emotions so she didn't know if he was just messing with her or not. With a loud exasperated sigh, she reluctantly whispered, "sex."

She pout when he guffawed. "You're bloody adorable."

"W-well, I take it back now."

"As much as I'd love to 'do it' with you," he sniggered at her glare before continuing, "I don't want our first time in prison. I don't want Dave running in here thinking I'm murdering you." He smirked and she blushed brightly but understood where he was coming from. Apparently, there was a time and a place and prison was not it.

It didn't mean she wasn't disappointed though. After all, the entire week consisted of her mentally preparing herself for losing her virginity in a prison cell on Christmas day - something she never thought would happen.

"Since you gave me such a thoughtful gift, which I will hold you to once we're out of here, it's only right I give you a gift in return as it is my duty as your lovely boyfriend." Seth declared before reaching in some sort of secret compartment of the cell. If she went looking for all his hidden things, she would probably find them easily but Daisy didn't like snooping and more often than not, he'd randomly have surprise presents for her too.

From behind his back, he presented a small brown cow stuffy. The animal was completely random but it reminded her of the ones she had before prison and Daisy knew it must've taken tooth and nail to get a stuffed animal. She took it from him shyly and whispered a thanks, feeling like it was a grand moment that should be cherished and not broken with loud sounds. This is the first gift from my boyfriend!

"I-I got you something too." She said quietly and brought it out of her own little secret compartment.

"Thank you, angel." Seth took the origami flower from her and held it delicately in his hands. "Is this what you've been doing while I was away?"

She nodded with a proud smile. Since she couldn't go out and buy gifts, she decided to make some and it turned out that Nate knew origami. With little persuasion, he agreed to teach her thus came the origami flowers and animals.

"Nate treat you ok? He wasn't too much of a harsh teacher was he? You can tell me, angel," he said seriously.

"He was a great teacher, Seth." She found his constant worry extremely cute and it made her laugh.

Suddenly, he groaned and ran his hands over his face with an exasperated sigh. "You deserve so much more than some sh*tty cow toy."

She gasped and held the cow close to her chest, patting it's soft head. "It's not poopy."

"I just wish I could be a proper boyfriend," he grumbled.

Daisy's eyebrows creased at his frustration. She pecked his jaw several times to loosen the tension in it and even made the cow kiss his face in an effort to make him laugh. "But you are a p-proper boyfriend."

"I just wish I could take you out on a date. I want to watch a movie with you and without being surrounded by prisoners and guards and 10ft stone walls. I want to take you out for dinner at a fancy restaurant where we'd split the bill because I'm unemployed and I can't afford both of our lobsters." He said with a boyish grin but it didn't meet his eyes as he looked genuinely upset he couldn't do all the things he desperately wanted to do.

Daisy looked at him, expressing all the love she had through her eyes. She wanted everything he said and she definitely wanted a future with him outside of the prison but a part of her knew that it wasn't possible. So without being able to comfort her boyfriend and reassure him with false promises, all she could say was, "I'm yours. With or without fancy dinners and movie dates, I'm yours. I'm more of a spaghetti person anyway."

He closed his eyes at her words and smiled in content. "I love you so f*cking much," he chuckled deeply as he confessed.

Her mouth was wide open in shock along with her eyes. The sentence was over so quickly she thought she imagined it. Daisy waited for him to register what he said and take it back, or maybe look shocked as well. Only he didn't and continued smiling, probably sensing her thoughts.

Once she grasped the fact that someone just said they loved her for the first time in her life, she cried. She sobbed and in the midst of her wailing she managed to say, "I l-love you t-too."

"I know," Seth replied. He grabbed a tissue and wiped her snotty nose and her streaming waterfall of tears while she began to feel mortified at what she must look like. Seeing the embarrassment on her, he pressed his lips on her hair and said, "don't worry. I still love you even if you look gross right now."

~~~

Thank you for reading!



^ what Daisy made ^

I have to stop pushing the boundaries where instead of "that's cute" I get "why's she acting like a baby" lol.

Innocent prisoners reached 500K! Thank you for being such amazing and active readers. All your lovely comments mean so much to me.



Chapter 15 is available on Inkitt! Click the link on my profile to join. x

WORD COUNT: 3046

Much love <3

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