The Aftermath Of You

Chapter Thirty Two

As it turned out Danny couldn't keep the Toothless Wonder at bay for long. After ten minutes of delicately tapping her dancing devise this way and that, and slowly going through the moves, the Toothless Wonder approached with the flirty forty year old woman safely ensconced in his arms. "Hey there, how's your foot?"

"Broken," she told him with an overly bright smile.

Danny was busy staring in shock at the Toothless Wonders lack of – well - teeth.

"Looks pretty bad," the Toothless Wonder cried out. "I didn't think I'd see you back here!"

"Yeah, well ..." Toni pinched Danny's hand.

'Sorry,' Danny mouthed. He tried to lead her away quickly, but the woman in the Toothless Wonder's arms called, "Yoo hoo!" to Danny. She stepped from the Toothless Wonder's possessive grip and leant close to Danny.

"Do you do Rock 'n' Roll a lot?" she asked, her hand lightly resting on Danny's arm.

"No," he told her. "I'm here to support Toni."

"You should come to the RSA open night; it's only a dollar. We dance all night." She lifted her arms above her head and swayed her hips in a drunken manner.

"Great," he said politely. "Right then."

As the Toothless Wonder pulled Toni further and further away, she glared back at Danny. He was supposed to be here to protect her, and yet with the very first single woman that came along he left her stuck with the Toothless Wonder. She glanced at Danny who was smiling and laughing with his new companion.

They left the hall half an hour later, Danny's crazed dancing partner giving him her number.

"Don't even speak to me!" Toni hissed.

Danny laughed. "What do you mean?"

"You were supposed to save me from that dithering idiot and you abandoned me the moment another woman came along."

"I'm sorry, Toni," he said in shock. "I just didn't know what to say to her, she was so forceful! I really didn't have a choice."

"Did she have an AK47 to your head? No. You had choices."

Danny reached his hand out to catch her dress at the small of her back. "Toni, calm down." He tugged her forward. "I'm sorry, I was an idiot. I just saw you wander off with him and you were dancing so well – I thought it was what you wanted." He lifted her chin up with his finger. "Sorry a thousand times?"

Suddenly Toni couldn't breathe and she had the odd sensation of being on the verge of tears. "Danny ..."

He was leaning closer, his lips near hers. Her heart wanted to explode.

"Audrey Hepburn," a man's voice called out, breaking the spell. Toni spun around. "See you next week," the Toothless Wonder said with a leer before jumping into his car and driving off.

Awkwardly, Danny and Toni broke apart and got into the car to drive home. As they pulled up in the drive way Toni lurched out of the car and hobbled inside as fast as her legs could carry her. She. Her heart was racing. This is it. She could tell by the silence on the drive home what he was thinking. She scrubbed her teeth until she couldn't delay it anymore. As she put her brush down she felt hands snaking up under her t-shirt, coming to rest on her tiny waist.

"Toni, don't run off," Danny whispered, pulling her body back against his. He kissed her sweetly down the neck and dragged her around and kissed her on the lips. Lifting his head he stared into Toni's eyes. "That's what I wanted to do since I first met you." His eyes burnt into hers, and his lips were on hers again as he kissed her again.