Finding The Answers

Chapter 4- Problems From The Get Go

After the heat Alexia and Danielle shared together things have been relatively cold. During dinner it was strictly silent, no jokes or laughter. Danielle believes Alexia regrets it but what Alexia really feels is guilt. She doesn't do things with married people, it's against everything anyone had ever told her.

The tension in the air overwhelms Dani, she wants to ask Alexia about it but she doesn't confront others. She's much more of a sit in your discomfort rather than change it. What she didn't expect was for Alexia to be the one to break the silence and she also didn't expect what she said.

"You never told me you were married." Alexia whispers eating some of the dessert she made. Danielle's eyes widen and in Alexia's mind it confirms exactly what she thought. But instead Dani reaches for the ring on her finger only for it to be missing. Alexia slides the ring across the table, the engraving facing Dani.

"You looking for this?" She asks, her voice rough and carying something else. Something different, something small yet greater than anyone could imagine. Betrayal. Dani breathes out in relief, it's her most important piece of jewellery and she couldn't live with herself if she lost it.

"Alexia, it's not what you think it is." She scoffs, setting her fork down creating a crash of metal against glass. Danielle doesn't like how annoyed she looks, how hurt she looks. They've only known eachother for a maximum of ten hours and yet Alexia has never felt so connected to someone before.

"Oh really? Well it looks to me like you lied, who is this mysterious CQ hmm? Do they know you're here in my house?" She mumbles something in Spanish that resembles curse words or something similar to them. Danielle's eyes burn, not with anger but instead with tears.

"My brother." She mumbles and Alexia's face drops, anger no longer hardens her features. But instead guilt clenches at her heart.

"What?" She whispers, voice calm and soft. Danielle can't look at her, her eyes are fixed on her hands but her mind is some place else. In her memories. Flashes of a girl and a boy playing tag, of the boy breaking his arm standing up to a boy twice his height who was picking on the little girl. A boy handing the girl two notebooks and pushing her in the opposite direction.

"My brothers name is Christopher. Christopher Quinn. It's a sibling ring, he had the same ring too." She whimpers and Alexia feels like a complete dickhead. Her eyes soften and she sets her head in her hands. How could she be so inconsiderate? She knew she had a brother. She knew he died and yet she still confronted her so heartlessly.

"Dani I'm so sor-" she cuts in, raising her eyes. They're glossy and not there usual colour. Her lip quivers and she mutters her words, words that cause Alexia even more pain.
"Don't. You didn't know his name and I don't expect you to walk on eggshells around me. Leave it, please." She whispers desperately forcing tears back. No tears, no emotion.

"Yeah, sorry I mean. I'll just shut up." Alexia rambles shoving another fork full into her mouth, Dani can't help but let out a small laugh. She feels different around Alexia, like every minute she's with her she feels fuzzy. Like she's sitting in front of a fire with a blanket and hot chocolate on a snowy day.

Every person she's ever had any relationship with has always been about one thing and it sure wasn't love. The rest of dinner was unusual, not like the fiery moment earlier on but also not like the coldness at the start of dinner.

When the dinner finished Dani excused herself after having a mini debate over who would clean the dishes and went upstairs to study the books. Making sure the door is closed over she grabs the bag and unzips it. Starting with Christopher's she flips to the first page, inside is a log of each experiment.

She traces her finger over his familiar handwriting, it was always a running joke that he had doctor's writing and so to her parents it was no surprise that he would become a scientist. They assumed Dani would just end up doing the same. Her eyes water again, he's gone, it sinks in this time. She can't ever ask him for help again. Who is she without him?

She turns to the first experiment and frowns, the scribbles aren't English. They're something else, gibberish. She scratches her head and mumbles the letters under her breath. Symbols are littered across the page and she internally screams at how much of a mess this is.

A secret language, really Chris? She searches her brain for some sort of code that they used when they were younger but nothing reveals itself. Sure they had secret handshakes but a language never was something they used. She flicks through the rest of them and they are all the same apart from the last page. It's not an experiment but it also is in the other language.

She screws her face up again and runs a hand through her hair. What does this mean? How can she solve this without understanding it? She looks up and watches the sun set and sighs.

A knock on the door startles her, she throws the book under her cover and rushes towards the door. Opening it slightly she meets the eyes of Alexia who has the most genuine smile on her face. She bites her lip and looks Dani up and down. It's the most series thing she's ever seen and Dani melts under her hazel eyes. She clears her throat and mumbles a squeaky hi.

"Sorry, I got distracted. Do you want to go to the movies?" Alexia asks and Dani raises her eyes. The movies. That is old world stuff, surely the movies is long gone. Alexia answers her confusion.

"We've got a couple of films on DVD and a projector, it works. I just want you to feel involved and stuff." She shyly responds, her eyes move to her shoes and Dani grabs her arm, squeezing it slightly. Alexia's blood rushes by the simplest touch and she feels like the luckiest person on earth. These last few hours the only person in her thoughts is Dani, not Aurora. Maybe she's finally getting over her.

"What's playing?" An inquisitive voice snaps her from her thoughts and she thinks hard about what the English name of the film is.

"Something Marvel. Captain America and the something?" Dani gasps and grabs Alexia's hand. She shuts the door and stumbles into her.

"Come on, we've got to go. Marvel is like the best franchise ever." Alexia sheepishly chuckles and Dani snaps her attention to her. They haven't moved much to her disappointment.

"I've never watched any Marvel movie before." This elects another gasp out of Dani as she grabs a pair of shoes and slips them on. She hasn't let go of Alexia's hand and neither of them are going to mention it.
"Okay, I'll give you a low down on everything. So basically during World War Two.....