My Little Bird

Part Five

A/N: The song at the side is the one that Daniel is playing, but he's not singing so it's just the piano sound :)

“Scared?” Daniel sneered after a few painfully silent moments.

I composed myself, ushering the momentary shock away, and headed over to him. “Why would I be scared of you?” I muttered, but the harshness I had intended sounded more like uncertainty.

Daniel laughed and opened the door. He turned to me, sweeping an arm forward, and for a second I believed that he could actually see me. “Ladies first. Assuming, you do want to see me again.”

Ignoring his words, I walked into the room and headed for the chair near the piano. He followed a second later, walking with ease this time as if he knew the exact placements of everything in the room. As he sat down at the piano, I noticed the smirk playing on his lips.

“Can’t resist me, can you?” He was certainly more arrogant than anybody I’d met before. I frowned and ignored him again.

“How did you know I was there?”

He paused for a second, and something flashed across his face. Then the smirk was back. “For a start, you breathe really loudly.” I flushed. “And you also have this... smell.”

“What!?” At my outrage, he burst into laughter.

“Don’t take it offensively, sweetheart. I was going to say you smell like pineapples.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. I wore perfume every day, but it definitely smelt nothing like pineapples. In my moment of confusion, Daniel turned his whole body to face me, his eyes lingering around my face even though they weren’t focused on it. I was transfixed by them once again.

“Are you here for anything?”

My eyes widened. “You’re the one who invited me in here!”

“Now, now.” He leant forward – something I was beginning to notice that he did a lot – and placed his chin on a hand. “C’mon. Harper. Just admit you couldn’t resist being away from me.”

I scowled, crossing my arms in defiance. Okay, so he wasn’t wrong, but he sounded too sure for my liking. “For your information, I’ve just had a seminar in the music department and I was on my way out when I noticed those guys approach you. I wanted to see how you’d handle it.”

“Didn’t want to swoop in and be my superhero?” he teased, still grinning.

“I’m not a superhero,” I deadpanned.

He chuckled, leaning back again. “I like you.”

“You said that yesterday.” Woah, where was this bravery coming from and why hadn’t I used it to my advantage in the café? Perhaps I was quickly getting used to his pride, and finding some deeply-rooted retorts of my own.

“I know I did,” Daniel snickered with a raised eyebrow. “Just thought I’d remind you.”

My mind wandered off at his words and I frowned, the defiance fading. “Why are you so interested in me?”

“Why are you so interested in me?”

I hadn’t expected him to shoot that back in my face as quickly as he did. As I stared at him in a daze, wondering how the hell to respond, he clearly brushed off the conversation and turned away from me, to his black piano. I was a little dejected at first,  but then he started playing.

My God, I had never heard anything so beautiful.

Every rational thought and witty comeback left in my brain was immediately replaced by awe as I watched Daniel’s fingers skitter effortlessly across the keys. The music he produced was clearly a well-rehearsed song, but it was one that I didn’t recognize. It was the intense concentration held in his expression as well as the gorgeous sound produced from the piano that really left me speechless. Breathless, even. I just continued to stare in admiration as he played, losing himself in the music, as if it were him and only him in the entire world. I was intruding, and I couldn’t find it in myself to care.