"Im sorry" he breathes, puffing his cheeks out in a resigned exhale. "Im not-" he waves his hands in the air, as if the wild gestures could explain something his words could not. "Im not phobic" he finishes, and before I could respond he rushes on with a great inhale of breath. "I just- I just had a crush on Paul. At a moment. In time. And I guess it just sort of- it just sort of hurts that he told Luke and not me. That's all."
There's a moment that's painfully silent, the only sound the faint electrical buzzing exuding from the overhead lights.
"Let's go see a movie" I say softly, placing my hand on his shoulder.
"But what about-?" He asks, an edge of panic lacing his voice as he motions to the room where Luke and Paul now sat.
"Do you want to talk to him right now?" I ask, and Danny pauses for a moment, considering.
"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah" his voice rises with every word, as if he's convincing himself. "I do! I just, I don't know... What to say"
"How about, congratulations." Danny smiles quickly at that, though it comes out as more of a wince. "And then later, you can ask him why he never came out to you" he nods silently.
"Do you still have feelings for him?" I ask.
"No!" Danny says fervently, shaking his head. "No, I just-I was going through a rough time, you know. Because he was the first guy I ever realized I liked, and it took a while before I even realized it was that, so i had this whole questioning period and basically it sucked ass and it just would have been nice to know he went through the same things. Also, you know. 'What could have beens' always bite."
"Did you tell him about your sexuality?" I ask softly.
He pauses for a moment, his brow still knit, before his whole body relaxes in a giant slump, breathing a long sigh. "No" he says. "I came /this/ close" he puts two fingers millimeters apart. "But I never did. And, I guess, it may have been the same way with him" his eyes crinkle up in a smile of releif. "We're so similar"
"You really are" I smile at him, and he drags me in for a warm hug, wrapping his arms around me so far they almost could have touched his chest. "Thank you" he mumbles into the top of my head, and I smile.
"Anytime"
Danny heads back in to the room, me in tow, and there's a tense moment where Paul won't look Danny in the eye when I think that I may have screwed up, before Danny pulls Paul in for a huge hug, patting his back.
"Congratulations, man." He says. "I'm happy for you" And it seemed like he means it, from the bottom of his heart.
We do end up going to the movies, but it's a double date, two sets of hands entertwined and two sets of people standing too close to be platonic. Each couple gets a mega bin of popcorn, but Luke ends up spilling theirs all over the floor when Paul grabs his ass and whispers some unkown obscenity into his ear. We all end up sharing the one bin, reaching and tugging and pulling before the theater lights dim and the movie begins. Then, we settle in to a comfortable silence. I lean over, resting against Danny while he caresses my hair, and I notice Luke and Paul doing the same, cuddling in the dim lighting. Paul glances up at Luke, sheer adoration in his eyes, and he reaches up to kiss a bit of spilt popcorn grease off of Luke's cheek. Even in the darkened theater, I can see them both blush, and I ignore the way Danny tenses up beneath me as this happens. He soon relaxes, though, and I can feel the smile on his lips as he forgoes the movie and leans in to kiss me.
All is well.
YOU ARE READING
My Lover or My Enemy?
FanfictionA nobody around school, named Skylar Redmann, went to a local rock concert just at the right time, when she was there she thinks she almost dies, but instead meets the love of her life. Or she thinks so anyways.
