Something in the Way You Move [O'J]

Bringing Home a Stranger

Jessie's POV

I hear the door bell ring as I'm putting on a coat and some shoes. I fling open the door to find Danny standing there. He grins weakly at me, and I guess he must've been having a night out with the boys when he found her. "Hey," I greet him.

"Hey," he murmurs. "I guess we're off to get her, then..."

"So how'd you even find her?" I ask him.

He shrugs. "I heard her crying and went to investigate."

"That's a pretty big word for you, Dan, especially this early in the morning!"

He laughs quietly as I close and lock the door behind me. I love his laugh; I've missed it in the past few weeks since The Voice finished up. "Let's go," he says, taking my hand and leading me through the streets. After a few minutes, he stops in front of a pitch-black alley way. He nods towards the alley and murmurs, "She's down there."

We wander into the alley, and Danny calls out quietly, "I'm back with my friend. She's agreed to let you stay there..." When the girl doesn't respond, he points to the gap between two garbage cans and tells me, "She's over there, if you want to talk to her."

I nod and walk over to the gap. I immediately see the young girl, and Danny's right---she can't be more than ten, poor dear. I kneel down and whisper, "Hey, love. I'm Jessie. You can come stay at my house if you want." She turns and looks at me, fixing me a stare with her brilliant green eyes. She tries to stand up, as if she was going to walk with me, but she's not strong enough---or awake enough---and falls back down. "Oh, poor dear..." I whisper. "C'mon, I got you." I wrap my arms around her and lift her up. She's extremely light, probably no more than sixty pounds. I hurry out of the alley. Danny offers to take her from me, but she flinches and curls up into me. "Don't worry, I can carry her---she's probably not even sixty pounds."

"Oh God," he whispers. "I'll see if my sister can come by tomorrow to take a look at her; she's a nurse." We continue in silence until we reach my flat.

"Hey, could you get the door?" I ask him, shifting the girl so he can reach my pocket. He does so and lets us in to my house. I hurry into the guest room and set the girl down gently on the guest bed. "It's okay, you'll be safe here, don't worry about a thing, love," I tell her. She nods.

"Will he be staying here?" she whispers.

"Danny? If he is, he's sleeping on the couch, don't worry," I tell her. She looks skeptical, so I add, "Besides, he's not scary. He's just big, but he's really a big softy." She smiles slightly, and I ask her, "What's your name, love?"

"Callie," she murmurs. I can tell she's already drifting off to sleep; she must be exhausted. I tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear before I get up and slip out of the room, shutting the light and closing the door behind me.

"Is she okay?" Danny asks as soon as I enter the living room. He's so caring.

"Yeah, she's fine. She's sleeping now. Her name's Callie," I answer.

I watch as he stumbles over to the couch. He flops down and asks, "She's really scared of me, huh?"

"Yeah," I say. "I had to tell her that you'd be sleeping on the couch if you were staying."

He grins and yawns. "I'm gonna take you up on that offer, if it's alright with you."

"Sure," I reply. "Let me get you a blanket." I hurry away and grab a blanket from the linen closet. When I return, I'm startled to see Danny in just his boxers. I can't help but look him up and down; he is so...fit.

He must notice me staring, because he smiles flirtatiously and asks, "Like what you see?"

I laugh and feel my face heat up. I toss the blanket at him and say, "You'll never know, will you? Anyways, good night. I'm going to sleep because somebody woke me up."

He flashes me a smile and replies, "C'mon, don't deny that you were thrilled when it was me. And good night."

I shake my head and walk into my room. Although Danny was kidding when he had said that I was thrilled when he called, he had been right. I had been thrilled---well, thrilled isn't the right word; I'd go with pleased that it was him at that time of night over somebody else.

And then it hits me.

I like him. As in, more than friends like.