Three dates turn to four, which turn to five, which turn to ten, which turn to twenty. Occasionally, it's a double date, but as the months pass it becomes a less common occurrence.
The first time Danny calls me his 'girlfriend' sends a warm, electric feeling shooting through me, lighting all my nerve endings on fire. The three teenage girls in front of us, who had come up to Danny and introduced themselves as huge fans before asking who I was, adorned sour faces and wide eyes before they slunk off with giggly goodbyes. I throw my arm around him and kiss his cheek, muttering the words 'and you're my boyfriend' against his cheekbone. I feel his dimple bend beneath my lips.
The first time I meet his parents, I'm sweating a storm, pulling the ends of my sweater over my fingertips nervously and shooting Danny panicked glances out of the corner of my eye. He rubs his thumb in comforting circles accross my back with his arm wrapped around me, and when I leave his mother gives me a wet kiss. "You're just what our Danny needs" his father says, and Danny blushes red and nods.
The first time he stays over is about four months in. He shows up at the door with a blush on his cheeks from the bitter cold and snowflakes stuck to his eyelashes, grinning widely and toting an overnight bag. He comes in and sheds his layers, still shivering slightly. I make a huge batch of hot chocolate and bring the pot out to the couch with two mugs. We both curl up under an enormous patched quilt, drowning large amounts of marshmallows in our hot chocolate and talking for hours.
Eventually, the sun sets and the world goes dark, soft snowfalls illuminated by luminescent street lamps. We watch Lord of the Rings, and I nestle my head in the crook of his shoulder whenever the gore is too overwhelming. At around One am, we change into our pajamas and crawl in to my bed, quickly passing out with our limbs intertwined.
When I wake up, a phone alert tells me that three feet of snow have fallen overnight, and two more are soon to follow. News reports dub it 'snowmageddon', and Danny ends up stuck in my apartment with me for three days. We watch TV until the power goes out, and play board games under battery-powered lights when it does. Mercifully, we can still shower, and Danny borrows some of my looser and larger clothes. Luckily, I had heeded newscast warnings and bought plenty of food and water the day before.
When all the puzzles are solved and bored games played, we simply sit by the window, gazing out at the snow drifts with mugs of hot chocolate nestled in our hands. Eventually, the snow lets up and we run outside, wrapped in several layers with our scarves trailing behind us. We roll and compact the powder in to a snowman, and give it one of our hats. I quickly rush inside and return with a bikini and some sunglasses. I take the hat off and we dress the snowman up for the summer, laughing the whole time. We stand there for a moment, admiring our handiwork, before Danny spins me around to face him. He presses our lips together, soft and sweet, and I can still taste the chocolate on the edges of his lips. I push closer, and he wraps his arms around me. I sigh contentedly, feeling his hands move against my back, until I feel something cold and wet slither down my back. I gasp and pull away, and Danny grins cockily, pulling a snow covered hand out from my coat. I pick up a huge chunk of snow and chuck it at him, and he returns the favor, running away laughing. It's a fight that ends in a surrender spoken in between choked laughs and a sweet kiss.
The first time I spend a holiday with him is Christmas. His parents fly away to some tropical island for the break, trusting him with me for some unknown reason. I assume it has something to do with my sexuality and winning charm. I buy a small Christmas tree and dig out some old decorations from the mountain of cardboard boxes I have yet to work through. Finding the ornaments prove to be taxing: every one I pull out seems to have a story behind it, a reminder of a play I saw with my parents or the impulse buys my mom would always make. Danny finds me sobbing in the middle of a pile of ornaments, clutching a nutcracker in my hands so hard my knuckles have turned white. He picks me up and carries me to my bed, and I apolagize profusely before passing out. When I wake up, the ornaments are all on the tree, along with a string of Christmas lights and popcorn. There's mistletoe hung sporadically around the house and a wreath over my door, and it really does feel like Christmas. There are only five boxes and two envelopes under the tree by Christmas time, and only two are from me. December 24 comes quickly, and at around 9pm Danny puts a Santa hat on the edge of the television. I raise my eyebrows at him curiously, and he smiles, bringing over an eggnog.
"It's a drinking game" he explains. My face turns white for a second before he laughs. "I have found your alcohol stash" he starts "but it doesn't have to involve alcohol if you don't want it to" I tell him I'm fine with that and he brings out a bottle of eggnog and rum and then explains the rules. We watch a movie, and every time a persons head fits in the Santa hat we take a sip. An hour in to Captain America we're both slightly tipsy, cheeks red and glowing. We end up doing more kissing then watching, and fall asleep right there on the couch, still in our clothes with the TV flashing in the background. When we awake, he opens the presents from me. He finds a brand new camera and a framed photo of the two of us, Kissing at an ice rink. He tells me that two of the presents are from him and one is from his parents. He's gotten me an oversized band sweatshirt and several books, and from his parents I get a nice perfume that smells like baking cookies. I tear up, and he promises to tell them that I love it. I resolve to get them a nice present before they return, and buy them two tickets to a local play. I wander under the mistletoe several times,getting pulled in to a sweeping kiss. The world seems like a kind place then, warm and fuzzy, the walls of my apartment keeping out any negative thing that could even try to enter.
I was planning on a small New Year's Eve, but come December 31st, there's a know on my door at 1pm. I open to find Danny, Luke, and Paul, all smirking and buzzing with excitement. They tell me we're going to Times Square for New Year's Eve, and I allow myself to be dragged out to Pauls car and driven to New York City. We ring in the New Years with a sloppy kiss, slightly drunk from the small bottle of champagne Paul brought, with confetti flying around us. Paul and Luke get a hotel room in New York City (Danny winks profusely at Paul, who blushes and sticks his tongue out), and Danny and I camp out in the spacious car overnight.
The first time we fight is awful. We don't even seem to be arguing about anything in particular, but we're both equally angry and we're both screaming. He accuses me of never trusting him fully and being too obsessed with saving my own skin, and I tell him I don't want to meld in to one blob of a relationship. He turns white, and I start crying, and he ends up storming out of my apartment, leaving a suffocating silence in his wake.
The following morning, however, he shows up with a bouquet, and we both apologize, genuine and caring. From then on, I'm given space, and I open up to him a bit more.
I go to prom with Danny, and attend his graduation. I help him with College applications, and I'm the first person he calls when he finds out he got in to the same university as me.
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.
