NERTHUS
“Danny, hi.” I move my hands in my pockets questioningly, opening my jacket with the movement. “What are you doing here?”
He shrugs, smiling slightly. “You didn’t come to game with me.”
“Oh, sorry, baby. I was so busy with the events that I had to go to with Arawn that I totally forgot.”
He nods, shifting on his feet. “It’s okay. That’s why I brought a movie.”
“Awesome!” I say, inviting him up with me.
“I hope there are a lot of funny scenes in it.”
He chuckles as he gets in behind me, following me to the elevator. “Actually, it is full of it.”
“Nice!”
As his usual bubbly self, he talks non-stop until we are in my apartment.
“Just feel at home. You know, as usual!” I snicker and turn around just in time to see him jumping onto the couch.
“Sugar or salt?” I ask as he is putting the movie on.
“Sugar! Sugar! Sugar!” He says funnily as if he was rapping it.
I laugh, putting the corn into my popcorn machine. “Sugar it is.”
As I settle into the couch next to him, I feel like wanting to fall asleep. Still, I’m surprised at how happy and at ease I feel with him as if I was doing a sleepover with my little brother.
We start watching the movie in silence, munching on the popcorn, but it doesn’t take long for Danny to drop the first comments.
And he is even more hilarious than the movie.
“Can I ask you something?” He asks, suddenly seeming serious.
I swallow the popcorn in my mouth as I look at him. “Aren’t you already?”
“Argh, you know what I mean!” He says, shaking his head from side to side.
“Sure,” I laugh, “You can ask me anything you want.”
He clears his throat, being obviously uncomfortable at asking the question. “Did you and Arawn break up?”
“No,” I answer dryly. “You can’t break up if you are not together.”
He looks at me with a duh expression, and I chuckle.
“I mean, Arawn and me. We were never a thing, Danny. And sometimes, when you are not a thing, these liaisons just dissolve themselves.”
He distorts his face, looking back to the screen. “You seem to just lie to yourselves and make it more complicated than it is.”
“Maybe,” I lean my elbow against the backrest of the couch and lean my head against it. “But that’s what adults do. Why did you ask me that?”
“Well, he was supposed to go watch the game with me, but then he said that he had a date. And I thought, oh, Amber.” He shrugs, while my freshly and just provisorily amended heart breaks back into tiny little pieces.
“And?” I ask, fearing the answer.
“I wanted him to say hello to you, but he just grunted at me about not seeing you. And so, I decided to see you for a movie. And you really came back home all alone.” He sniffs, looking at me sadly.
Holding my hand out to him, I squeeze his forearm with a smile. “Thank you so much, Danny. You really cheered me up tonight.”
“You are welcome, sis.” He grins and returns to watch the movie.
As the movie ends, he gushes over the fact that it was amazing and asks me if I want to see another one. Not wanting to be left alone even if I’m about to collapse, I agree to it, and he celebrates it by throwing his hands up in the air.
I’m still laughing as he is about to start the next one and gets a call. I’m able to read the caller ID from the phone, and my blood freezes.
“Don’t tell him that you are here!” I say in a wave of panic, making him look at me confused.
“What?”
“Don’t tell him that you are here.”
Taking the phone at the last ring, he distorts his face cutely. “Hey, Arawn.”
My heart hurts as I hear his deep voice streaming out of Danny’s phone unintelligibly.
What I would give to hear his voice again.
“What? No. Me?” Danny looks at me helplessly, and I shake my head. “No, no. I’m at Ronny’s.”
“What! No, no! I’m for real!” I see him struggling as he suddenly halts and holds the phone towards me.
I take the phone from him with a shaky hand, nearly experiencing a heart failure as I hold it up to my ear.
“Nice job, Rachel. Making my men lie to me.”
I suppress a moan as his deep baritone travels through me. “Me? I didn’t do anything!”
“Why are you so incredibly annoying?”
Asshole.
Getting up from the couch, I turn my back to Danny as if I could hide our conversation from him this way.
“You have no right to talk to me like that! I’m not your stupid plaything anymore.”
He clicks his tongue, sighing deeply. “Don’t get all heated once again. Just stop bothering my men.”
“What is your fucking problem, Arawn! Didn’t your fuck of the night not satisfy you enough?”
“Oh,” He chuckles, his mocking tone breaking my heart even if it should make me want to burn him. “No, she was quite alright.”
After thinking about something to say, I go for the most pragmatic approach. Without any other word, I hand the phone back to Danny. “Want more popcorn, baby?”
“Oh, erm. Yes! Please!” He says before he takes up his conversation with Arawn.
I smile at my popcorn machine as I gather that he must be pissed at me for just retreating from the conversation.
“I have to go.” Danny tears me out of my thoughts, flashing me a sad smile. “He will pick me up.”
I nod, hugging him tight. “It’s alright. Let’s redo it soon, alright?” He nods, and I cross my arms as I watch him put on his shoes. “And let him take you to watch the silly game next time.”
He laughs, and as he pulls on his coat and is about to open the door, he turns around. “You say that you didn’t break up. But you sound a lot like my parents before they got divorced.”
“Aaw, I’m sorry about that,” I say lowly, getting one last shy smile before he is out of the door.