N Y L A

"Why is my spatula in the toilet"

Danny woke up the next morning to a quiet house. He had nearly forgotten his house guest until... he smelled something burning. Hopping out of bed and frantically throwing on some black sweats he set out last night, he runs to the kitchen. The fire alarm's are blaring, the back door is open, and a thick cloud of smoke is coming from the stove. "What on earth are you doing?!" Danny yells as he runs over to the stove to move the smoking pan into the sink and running water over it to get rid of the smoke. "I wanted bacon and then I had to pee and I forgot the spider was still there and so I tried to kill it with the spatula but he got away and then I tried to find him but I fell off the toilet and hurt my foot and-" Danny covers her mouth. He removes it once she is finished rambling and takes the towel from her hands waving it in front of the fire alarm stopping it. When he is done his head whips back at Nyla. "I invite you into my home. I give you food-"

"Daniel-" Nyla tries to speak but is shushed by Danny.

"I let you use my shower, give you a room... and you try to burn the damn place down"

"I told you! It was the spider, I-"

"Sh"

"But-"

"No."

"Daniel-"

"Zip!" Danny says zipping his mouth looking at the girl in front of him. Nyla puts her head down to look at her feet. Danny sighs and turns around to see the rest of the damage. The pan is destroyed, the stove is full of grease, and he is missing his spatula. He turns to look at Nyla once again to see her studying his face. "You couldn't have tried something easier? Like, I don't know, cereal?" he says.

"For the record, I make pretty damn good bacon. I was preoccupied and fighting for my life in the bathroom" she says folding her arms.

"Alright. You wanna try breakfast again?" he says walking to his cabinet and taking out a fresh pan. Nyla nods her head and goes to the fridge to grab the bacon and eggs. Danny immediately grabs them from her possession. "Can you cook an egg?" he says looking at Nyla uneasy. Nyla rolls her eyes and snatches the egg carton away. "I think it's valid of me to ask, you did almost kill us" Danny shrugs. They begin to start cooking with Danny using the right side of the stove and Nyla using the left. "So... where is my spatu-"

"In the toilet. Do not ask" She says focusing on her eggs. Danny just stares at her.

"Why is my spatula in the toilet?" Danny groans.

"Let's just say the spider won't be a problem anymore" she says still not looking at him. Danny raises his eyebrows but doesn't say anything more, poor spider. Once they are finished with their breakfast they both sit in a comfortable silence at the table. "So, you gonna go find tiger?" Danny asks sipping his orange juice. Nyla rolls her eyes.

"Lion apparently is now a dad and moved to Colorado" she says. Heat running up her neck, something it does when she is stressed or embarrassed. Last night Nyla had sent out a message to the animal named friend only to learn that he is now married with twins on the way. His wife thought it would be best to move out of the toxicity in Los Angeles and start brand new. And to be fair, Nyla did not blame him. She was happy for Lion, Lionel, named after the famous singer. She remembers when he would come to the house every day and smoke weed in the basement with her brother. She would sit on the stairs until they were done and bring them snacks and they would all watch a movie. She missed that.

"So what is your next move?" Danny asks curiously.

"That was my move. I have no more, I made it here. That was the goal" She says.

"Do you have any family here? Distant cousins, aunts?"

"Nope, my mother was an only child and my father lost contact with his side of the family, it's great!" she says sarcastically. Nyla doesn't have many regrets, but at this moment she is regretting leaving home. What was she even doing here. In a strangers home, using his shower, eating his food. If her mother knew where she was she would have a heart attack. "You know, you can stay here if you want. Just while I'm here, I can't trust you not to burn it down when I'm gone" Danny jokes. A dry laugh escaped Nyla.

"I can't ask that of you Daniel" she says.

"The offer will be open, it's up to you but I hope you do stay" Danny says lowly. Surprising himself. Nyla looks at him, shocked. Danny rolls his eyes, "You are nice company when you aren't trying to kill me in my sleep."

"We don't even know each other, I could be an axe murderer or a hitman. You could be some creep who will lock me in his basement or something" she says.

"Firstly, you would be the world's worst hitman, ever. And it's a shed in the back, I don't have a basement" Danny winks.

"Shut up" Nyla laughs.

"Okay, we can do a get to know each other exercise. Basic 20 questions, ask me a question and I ask you one, simple enough for you?"

"Okay.." Nyla says, "What is your full name?"

"Daniel Tyler Hope, what is yours?"

"Hope? Daniel Hope. That is your actual name?" Nyla snorts.

"Grandpa Hope will haunt you, give me the name"

"Nyla...Hope...Johnson"

"Shut up-"

"I'm 100% kidding. I don't have a middle name. How old are you?

"Who doesn't have a middle name?"

"Don't judge me hope. Age?"

"26"

"24"

"You look like you're at least 15"

"So you kidnapped a minor-"

"Shut up"

"You said-" Nyla begins to protest.

"Favorite Color" Danny says quickly.

"Yellow, how many siblings do you have?"

"2, Jason and Kylie. Are you close with your brother?"

"I am, have not been that great of a sister lately though. Are you close with yours?" She asks tip toeing around the subject.

"Jason and I use to be really close, but I wasn't the best brother to him either"

"Shitty siblings club?"

"Are you the president?" Danny jokes.

"You're stupid." Nyla rolls her eyes.

"So, did you actually run away? And how can you run away, you're 24."

"It's complicated, I'll tell you the story another time. What is on your agenda today?" Nyla quickly says rubbing her hands together.

"Dinner with the family. Would you like to come with?"

"Is your mom judgy?"

"Yes.."

"Will your dad try to talk to me about sports?"

"More than likely..."

"Are you going to pay for my food?"

"Yeah, the kids meal shouldn't be too expensive"

"You are an idiot and if your mom asks if I'm your girlfriend I'm going to tell her we eloped and that I'm pregnant" Nyla says standing up.

"Why would you do that?"

"I like the drama" she says shrugging and walking to her room. Danny sighs and slumps in his seat. Bringing Nyla could be a good or bad thing, he hopes for the first but with her and his family a bad night may be inevitable.

A/N:

A little filler chapter.

Also I have been changing how Nyla looks in my head so the pic is who I am picturing now.

Still no Danny...