Nevermind [90s fic]

Chapter 13: An Exchange of Secrets

Kendall, Miami - 1995

The heights from atop the monkey bars used to trigger a deafening red alarm in Lauren's head and bring out the worst of panics, as she was positively certain that being this high would only result in two outcomes: 1. she'd accidentally fall off and break an arm or her neck 2. she wouldn't know how to get down without breaking her ankles or landing on anything but her feet. Before Danny, relaxing was a foreign concept for her. Even when having fun, who was to say it wouldn't end horribly? Because isn't that what usually happens more often than ending the day peacefully with kept laughter and feeling satisfied when recalling all events the minute your head hits the pillow?

The older boy had some tricks up his sleeve to achieve ultimate relaxation and trust in Lauren. He'd first get her to laugh. Be it through a joke, a funny story, or him doing something stupid, it didn't matter how he'd get her there, it only mattered that she got there. From then, he'd keep her distracted and talk her head off while engaging her in what she was so scared of; Lauren didn't have the time to pay attention to what she was doing or to complain about what she was doing if Danny was asking her a gazillion questions extremely difficult to leave unanswered. And finally, he'd wait some moments before making her aware of what she accomplished. If she freaked out, the magic words to get her to snap out of it almost instantly: "every bad thing that you're worried about happening WILL happen unless you start trusting that it won't, I promise you."

Now, the monkey bars were her favourite part of the park. She loosely gripped the edge and the bar behind her as her legs hung in between the bar she sat on and the one in front of her, chatting animatedly with her boyfriend who sat across from her, a little bit to her left for optimal space for his legs. Their gaze often wandered to the lightning bugs floating in the air, or to the direction of the distant sound of the park's critters scurrying across the grass or up a tree. It wasn't late enough for the park to be completely deserted but the people who were left were just beginning to part ways. Now they could do whatever they wanted under the stars with no one to bear witness.

"You think anyone's ever got it on here before?" asked Lauren, leaning back.

Danny raised his eyebrows and leaned in. "It'd be pretty difficult to do it on the monkey bars but probably not impossible. Wanna test it out?"

"No. I was just curious."

"Ah," he scratched his face. "I'm curious about some things, too."

"Like what?"

"Likeeee...do you really enjoy spending time with me?"

"Why do you look so unsure? Of course I do, babe, you're the bees knees," she softly punched his arm.

"Don't talk like Julian. It's weird."

"Sorry. Momentary British Invasion of the mind. Blaaaah, forget I said that. No but honestly, babe, you're amazing. I love being around you and I love having you by my side."

Danny seldom met her eyes. He looked down at his nose or at the lightning bugs playing hide and seek in the stiff trees. "How come it don't show? I've been meaning to ask you lately but I didn't wanna be a drag or sound insecure. I'm not, honest to God. I just don't understand you sometimes. Feels like we're on totally different pages compared to where we first started, you know?"

Lauren frowned and clenched the bars tightly. "But I asked you to hang out today, just the two of us. And we've spent all this time enjoying ourselves, haven't we? You don't feel how much I like you when we kiss?"

Danny's smiled made its shy return. "And that meant a lot to me. I was so happy you made us ditch our friends, you have no idea. But that's rare, Laur. You avoid me most of the time or you act so annoyed with me like I killed your cat or something."