Something Gained

Chapter Seventy-Seven

We had so much stuff delivered for England, we set the house up and it was perfect, made sure the security was tight and left for LA. Daniel roped Michael and Blake into helping me pack up my house. Since they were both here and would all be going back to Australia at the same time.
"Just be clear, I hate packing" Michael mumbled
"Yeah but you love me" I said as I hopped around sorting things out
"Hm debatable to be honest" he laughed and threw a cushion at me
"Right, that's not on" I laughed at him
"You're leaving us! I'm mad" Michael moaned
"What's going on?" Daniel asked joining us in the bedroom, Blake following.
"He's moaning because he's acting like I'm leaving the country and checking into a nunnery" I laughed
"No chance of that" Daniel smirked. I turned and gave him the rudest look I could muster
"Anyway, I'm not leaving. I'm still team Papaya" I smiled "and if you think you're getting rid of me, you're sincerely mistaken. You are locked in for life" I laughed and sat down on the bed
"Oh great" Michael laughed
"Does he not know I can influence his job?" I laughed turning to Daniel and Blake
"Apparently not" Blake laughed. Blake was Daniel's friend, and manager, and before the last couple of weeks I hadn't really spoken to him, but was incredibly nice, funny and I could see why he was a friend of Daniel's, we got on so well. Michael picked me up and threw me over his shoulder and spun around
"Michael!!" I yelled, I was very very very dizzy, he laughed and put me down and I clutched his arm to steady myself "Hate is a very strong word... and I hate you Italiano"
"Yeah yeah Walker" Michael joked back.

We finished packing up as much of the small stuff as we could, a lot of the furniture was staying in the house, some was already here when I bought the place, some I had added but I had no need for it so it was staying, plus it was adding value to the apartment so I wasn't complaining. Daniel had everything I needed in his house so there was no point. Blake got into Daniel's car he had driven here, I got into mine with Michael and we drove to Daniels house, the moving truck following us, we had to unload it all on the other side but that was a lot easier, it was clothes, shoes, work stuff, pictures, all sentimental stuff, fairly easy. All my cushions and throws of course, Daniel had no idea what he had taken on that's for sure, that bed would be made perfectly every single day, looking like a show room, he'd get used to it.

"Dinner?" Michael asked. We had all sat down exhausted from the day. But I was grateful for their help.
"Yesss, but my treat" I said smiling
"Nope" Daniel said
"Please? You helped me, let me get dinner?" I asked. I was laying on him, my head on his lap, my legs outstretched across one of the sofas. I looked up at him and he smiled down at me and rolled his eyes
"Fine" he sighed. I smiled and ran his hand through my hair, stroking softly
"Where do you want to go?" I asked the other two boys
"Nobu!" Blake yelled. We all liked Nobu, we often went there together when we were in LA, I smiled. That meant dressing up.

I dug through my clothes and pulled out some jeans and a nice jumper, it was colder now. I dressed it up with nice shoes and jewellery. Daniel came out from the bathroom and I smiled.
"It always makes me laugh when you wear high shoes" Daniel said, he went to his wardrobe
"Why?"
"Because as soon as you take them off you're so short"
"I'm still shorter than you in them" I sighed. I didn't mind though, we had set the bedroom up nicely, he had his wardrobe, I had mine. Dressing table by the window where I could get ready, the bed was made up nicely by yours truly, there was so much space in this house, it was nice. He got ready and the guys were ready as well, we all left the house in two cars to go to Nobu, Daniel drove myself and him. I liked being in LA, but I couldn't wait to get to Australia. To see his family again, to see him truly at home, especially at Christmas.

"Wakey Wakey" I heard in my ear. I groaned and turned over, I heard Daniel chuckle before he pulled me back. "We're going out today" Daniel said
"Where?" I groaned
"Meeting some friends, Michael and Blake and a few other people I know here. Ever heard of Scotty James?"
"The snowboarder?" I questioned, I turned to face Daniel. He was relentless, his energy never diminished and once he was awake that was it.
"Indeed"
"What about him?"
"He's a friend of mine, we're going out for the day, some of our friends including him. He's Aussie to" Daniel smiled, he had pride in his heritage
"I don't live under a rock Dan, I know who he is" I laughed at him
"His girlfriend well fiancé now, she's coming. You won't be alone"
"Maybe he can give you some tips on proposals" I laughed as I got up, I was teasing him
"How do you know I don't already have a plan of how I'll do it?" He teased back
"Well played Danny Ric, well played" I laughed, we could easily wind each other up and tease each other, it was one of the reasons I loved him. Because he wasn't serious all the time, he had fun. He laughed and jumped up, kissing me on the forehead before racing to the bathroom, I wanted to shower and he had now beat me there "hey!! That's not fair" I yelled out
"You're welcome to join me babe" he yelled back
"Not if you're going to call me that I'm not" he knew I hated that word, it was so icky. Thankfully it wasn't a word he liked using. Nonetheless I jumped in the shower with him.

"Hold on, we're not doing some extreme sport are we?" I sighed as I wrapped the towel around me after the shower, we were in their longer than expected and I felt like a shrivelled prune.
"No" Daniel laughed, "well we're probably going to surf and stuff as we're going to the beach but you don't have to" Daniel smiled and squeezed my shoulder as he passed me, a towel wrapped around his waist, water dripping from his curls
"And what time do we have to leave?" I asked him, I bit my lip watching him, the muscles in his shoulders and back flexing with every move
"We don't have to leave specifically at any time" he mumbled, pulling clothes out of his wardrobe. I nodded
"Good to know" I said, I walked behind up and my arms round him, playing with the hem of his towel.
"Are you okay?" He chuckled, I rubbed my hands across his chest, down his arms and then back to the towel "was the shower not to your satisfaction?" He asked
"It was, but" I started to speak, but Daniel turned round and faced me, my hands now running over his back as he looked down at me. I ran my hands up and round to the sides of his neck, one of them tangling through his hair, he shuddered slightly, his brown eyes staring down at me
"But what?"
"But you come out looking like this, if we're going to the beach, that's going to be a struggle" I mumbled.
"Then we can sort that out" he smiled before picking me up and throwing me back onto the bed, I giggled, my towel slipping down. "That makes it nice and easy" he smiled, he put his lips on my neck and started trailing kisses down.

"Where do you get your energy from?" I groaned as I pulled on my clothes for the day. We may be going to the beach but it wasn't exactly peak summer heatwave, these people were mad, I'm sure of it.
"High performance athlete" he chuckled
"Wait, isn't Scott with Lance Stroll's sister?" I asked suddenly connecting the dots
"He is indeed" Daniel smiled, I nodded. Small world it was indeed. Fellow Australians grouping together, dating people from the formula one world, it was funny.

"Danny boy" I heard someone yell as we stepped on the beach. It wasn't the warmest it could be, but it was sunny, the sea was good, waves ready for a good surf but not dangerous, it was a nice day in all fairness. The man calling Daniels name was also Australian, and I recognised him immediately, sport fan and all. Michael and Blake walked along side me as Daniel walked ahead to greet everyone else.
"Scotty" Daniel greeted back
"Let the bromance begin" Blake said to me
"That bad huh?"
"Honestly they're ridiculous together, but it's funny. Heads up, Scotty likes it to Instagram and TikTok a lot" Michael said, I shrugged, I didn't mind that.
"Michael, Blake, hello" Scott said hello, before turning to me, I was about to speak but he beat me to it "You must be Alex, please explain how a girl as beautiful as you is with DR" he laughed
"I like you" I laughed at him. We walked over to the rest of the people on the beach and I was introduced to everyone, including Chloe, Scott's fiancé. She was really nice and we started chatting immediately.

We spent the day chilling out, laughing, eating and surfing, more for the guys than Chloe and I. But it was a good day all round. Daniel loved his downtime and always wanted to be doing something different and I loved that about him, I knew he'd planned a couple of bits to do in Australia with some of his friends which he was looking forward to, so it was going to be a great time.