Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

"'No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true."" Cinderella, Cinderella

Danny tugged on her cowboy boots, Nana wriggling and jumping around her feet. "Okay!" she said, laughing. "I'll take you on a walk! Give me a second!"

It had been a week since she had met the Mickeys, and while Danny had been texting J and Phillip all week, Eric hadn't sent her a single thing, aside from a cute picture of Tigger the Monday after the sleepover. Danny was trying to not let it get her down, but she was going over everything that had happened the past weekend. Had she done something to freak Eric out? Had she not been flirty enough? Had she somehow been too flirty? Was Eric just not interested, despite all of the hand-holding and suggestive teasing? Scarlett had told her that all signs were pointing to Eric being into her, but as a week passed, even she had to admit that maybe she didn't know Eric as well as she thought she did.

The doorbell rang and she ignored it, assuming it was some other adoring girl for John and Michael. Between the two of them, they had enough girls to fill at least one classroom, and she wasn't kidding. Their phones were always vibrating off the hook with messages from girls ages thirteen to sixteen. So Danny was surprised when she heard a male voice she recognized at the door...but it couldn't be who she was thinking of.

"Danny! C'mere! Now!" Michael yelled.

"Coming!" Danny scooped up Nana, then thought better of it and set the puppy down, allowing her to follow her down the stairs. Hustling out of her room, she paused long enough to see a head of dark brown waves talking to her brother then ran the rest of the way.

"Eric! Hey!" Eric Triton smiled and opened his arms for a hug. Michael rolled his eyes. "What're you doing here?" she asked, walking into his arms.

"I had some free time, and I thought I'd stop by." Michael's phone rang and he ran off to answer it. Covering up her disappointment—So I'm just a distraction when he has "free time?" I thought we had a deeper connection than that!—Danny scoffed at her younger brother's retreating back. "He is such a player, honestly; all the girls are all over him. He's such a little heartbreaker." Danny closed her door as Eric stepped in.

"Just like his sister..."

"What?!"

"Oh, nothing." Eric stuck his hands in his pockets.

"So, was your plan just to come over and bother me?" Danny teased.

"No, I thought we could go out."

"Go...out? Like, go out? Or go out?" she stuttered.

He considered while she crossed her fingers that it would be the second one.

"The second one. I think. If the second one is a date, that is." All the air seemed to have left the room.

"You're asking me out?" she gasped.

"What, you think I came over to ask your mum?" Eric cocked an eyebrow.

"John?" Danny called faintly. "Could you walk the dog? I'm a little busy." John yelled a form of assent and she could hear him corralling the dog.

For the first time, she took in what Eric was wearing, a blue button-down that matched his eyes exactly, with a black blazer and dark jeans. "I'm going to change. Hold on." She began to turn away, but his cool hand grasped her wrist. "I'll come. You don't know where we're going." He followed her up the stairs. Danny saw John standing by the front door holding Nana's leash, mouth open in shock at his sister and one of the UK's biggest popstars. She made a shooing motion; thankfully Eric didn't see.