Any other day (Daniel Sharman)

Chapter 2

Daniel and I talked for hours. Finally we noticed the sun rising over the Thames. My friends had left several hours ago, so Daniel walked me back to my friend's place. As we reached the door, Daniel nervously tugged at the back of his hair. "If you and your friends aren't busy tomorrow, I'd love to show you around London?" This guy was making me seriously nervous. I wasn't even going to be staying in town for that long, and Daniel was going back to America at some point. This would never go anywhere, so what was the point? Nevertheless, I couldn't bring myself to say no. It was such a nice offer, and I figured if anyone knew which London sights to indulge in, it would be him. "Sounds good. Just pick us up here tomorrow whenever" I said smiling. I turned around to open the door. "Uhm.." He trailed off, as I turned around. "Yeah?" He looked away quickly. "Nothing, never mind. See you tomorrow". With that he turned around, while I went inside to be greeted by my friends, with interrogatory smirks on their faces. "What?!" I asked. "Since when do you stay out all night?" They both asked, noticing a blush creep to my face. "It's okay to like him, you know? You don't always have to distance yourself from people." They were clearly concerned. Here I was, falling for a guy I had just met, but I couldn't bring myself to do anything about it. The idea scared me. They knew this. They noticed the regret in my eyes, as I tried to change the topic. "So how was your night?" I asked, hoping they would just let it slide. "Alright, we'll let it go, but you know we're right. And we had a good night. Charlie here danced with a very good looking fella" Emily said smirking. Charlie blushed. "It was nothing, really. He got my number, though, we'll see if he calls" she said quickly. "You are too adorable" I said, noticing the blush. "Anyway, I'm going to go sleep. Unlike you two, I actually didn't sleep at all the whole night." They scoffed. "Well no one told you to stay out with that handsome Brit all night". My knees weakened at the mention of his accent, but I rolled my eyes at their remark. I couldn't help myself. I had to get to know this guy. The next day, I awoke earlier than usual, with butterflies in my stomach. It was only 8AM. I started stirring lightly, as I got more and more nervous about the day. My friends awoke to the sound of my duvet rustling. "You look terrified" Emily commented. "Well..." I trailed off, knowing they would understand that that was just what I was. Terrified. On one hand, I wanted nothing more than just surrender myself to him, let myself fall completely, let him break through my barriers, but on the other hand, I wanted to escape this tingling feeling, I wanted to simplify my life to an almost pathological extent, I wanted to forget that I ever met him. Emily took my hand in hers noticing my distress. "We are going to have to talk about this eventually. I mean really talk about it" she said with concern. Charlie chimed in. "I understand why this scares you, but just try to let your guard down. You'll be happy you did. I promise." I knew they were just looking out for me. But this voice deep inside was telling me to be careful. Not let anyone too close. Not even this beautiful, charming, sweet, loving British guy, who took an interest in me. "I'll try" I said as convincingly as possible.

A few hours later, there was a knock on the door. I flinched. Charlie skipped to the door, opened with a smile, and brought Daniel inside. He smiled at me sitting on the couch. "Good morning" I waved at him. He smiled. "Good morning. You look beautiful even in the morning" he said with his hand tugged in his pants, looking down at the floor, before shifting his gaze to me. I looked away when our eyes met, feeling the burn in my cheeks as they reddened. He chuckled lightly. "Alright, well we're ready, so let's go" Charlie said. "Yes, great" Daniel said and made his way to the door with us in tow. He brought us to a carnival that was in town for a couple of days. The weather was surprisingly good, considering it was now January, and we were in London. We were accustomed to rain and snow, especially during this time of year. I loved carnivals, so I was especially pleased with Daniel for taking us here. My friends looked at me knowing this was right down my alley. My friends went to the arcades, while Daniel and I walked around talking, just having fun. He won me a stuffed animal. It was a white dog holding a heart that read 'I wuff you'. Time passed so fast, and soon the sun was setting in the background, while the music was still blasting at the carnival. Daniel and I decided to stop by the arcades and catch up with my friends. As we walked in they noticed the stuffed animal I was clutching to my chest. They said nothing, knowing I wouldn't want them to bring it up in front of Daniel. He asked if we were hungry. My friends had already eaten, so I simply asked for a hotdog, and he left, saying he'd be back with it in five minutes. My eyes followed him as he walked out, and as he looked back, we locked eyes quickly, before he disappeared behind the door. I sighed. "Cute dog" my friends chirped with smug grins plastered on their faces. "Shut up" I replied. They laughed. "You can't deny that kind of chemistry" Charlie said with a soothing smile. I nodded slowly. I knew she was right. I had to stop pushing people away, and just grow up. But it's easier said than done. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Daniel returned holding two hotdogs, one for him and one for me. I thanked him, and quickly devoured the whole thing. He looked at me in astonishment. Had he never seen a girl eat before? I felt slightly self-conscious, as he kept his eyes on me, even after I finished eating. As he finished eating his hotdog, he asked my friends if they would excuse us for a little while, he wanted to show me something. They nodded, and gave him a smile. He grabbed my hand guiding me outside towards the Ferris wheel. It was pretty late, and people had started to leave, so we were the only ones in line. We got in the cart, and it slowly made it's way around, while we sat in silence. It came to a stop as we reached the top. I flinched slightly, nervous at the idea of being stuck there, not knowing why it had stopped. Daniel noticed this and took my hand in his. I looked at our interlaced hands, before meeting his eyes. "It's okay. I may have bribed the man down there to stop it for a little while. Allows us to enjoy the view" he said innocently. I laughed slightly. I looked over the city. It looked beautiful. "Wow" I managed to breathe out. We enjoyed the view for a while, before I broke the silence. "So, do you make a habit out of bribing people, or was this just a one time thing?" I asked with a grin. I turned my head from Daniel to take in the view from a different angle. "Only when the girl is worth the trouble". I quickly turned my head back facing him, stunned at what he had just said. "Daniel, don't..." I trailed off, turning to look at the ground. "I know. I shouldn't say this. Because I've only known you for roughly a week, and you're leaving in less than two. But I can't help it. This past week I've felt things I never imagined I could feel. Things that make me question everyother feeling I've ever had. Things that make me want to just stay here with you forever. And I know it isn't fair, and I don't even know where this is going to go. But all I know is that we're here right now, at this very moment, and I want to enjoy it as much as possible, I want to live as much as possible with you, while I have the chance.." He brought his hand to my chin and lifted my head to face him. He noticed my eyes glistening. I wasn't crying, but it was hard not to. "I'm falling in love with you" he said more sincerely, and more convincingly than anything I had ever heard before. My eyes met his. I felt a drop of rain hit my cheek. We both looked up as rain started falling. Our eyes locked again. "Now, I'm going to pull a cheesy move, and kiss you in the rain romantically while we're on the Ferris wheel, like out of some chick flick, unless... You tell me not to". He looked at me waiting to see if I would turn away, or ask him not to. I honestly didn't want him to. Not because I didn't want him to kiss me, but because I didn't want to face what would happen if he did. But no matter how hard I tried to convince myself to speak up, I didn't, and soon his lips met mine, as his hand grazed my cheek. We broke apart when the Ferris wheel started up again, as they had to get us down before the rain really set in. We left the cart, and went towards the arcade once again. As I was about to walk in, he pulled at my hip and turned me around. "I want to enjoy these next two weeks with you to the fullest. I don't want to think about us parting ways, or any of that. Will you do that with me?" He asked, hopefully. I bit my lip, and nodded. My head was spinning, and my stomach twisted, both with worry, but also happiness. My mind kept saying no, but all that was coming out of my mouth was yes. He pulled me into him, and I wrapped my arms around his torso. We were both soaked, but none of us cared. We just tried to be in the moment, and nowhere else.