The R Word (On Hold)

Chapter 22 - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Jane had just finished drying her hair, when the front doorbell rang through the house. With a smile, she threw the hairdryer onto her bed and skipped merrily down the two staircases; missing a step at a time.

Her heart beating fast, she unlocked the door quickly; her excitement for the day growing by the second. It had been too long since she and Danielle had spent any real time together, alone that is.

The door swung open and Jane laughed; seeing Danni's hands full of bags.

"What's all this?" she asked, reaching out to help her. In a instant, the bag fell to the ground, Jane shrieking at the sudden weight. "What on earth-"

Danni pouted, blowing a strand of hair out of her face as she entered and closed the door behind her.

"Its DVD's, not body parts. And maybe a few beauty masks and make up bags," she smiled, dropping her other two bags to the floor and leaping upon Jane. "Are you okay?" she said, the smile and happiness still very visible in her tone.

Jane squeezed her back, breathing in her familiar scent of vanilla and mint, and maybe a bit of mango. A strange concoction, sure, but on Danni it worked.

Jane hesitated in her reply. The night had been uneasy, once more and to her anguish. Having the sex talk with her mother had brought up those memories Jane had thought she had surpassed. She'd woken up sweating and groping the bed sheets again; whispering Alfie's name repeatedly to drive him away. It worked. Just.

Jane forced a smile, as she pulled back. "Yeah, I'm fine. You?"

Danni replied with an animated yawn. "Very late night. I kept hearing my parents talking next door."

"How are things? Are they any better?"

Jane took the bag of DVDs and led the way upstairs, back to her bedroom. Danni huffed and puffed behind her.

"They weren't arguing," she said. "Just talking through things calmly and quietly. I couldn't hear much of it, but I heard enough."

"What were they saying?" asked Jane, opening her bedroom door and throwing the bag on the bed. She started to remove its contents, smiling at the very girlie titles her best friend had selected.

Danni shrugged her shoulders, digging out the more than necessary make up bags. "I heard my name several times. I think, for my sake, they want to work things out."

"Well that's good, isn't it?"

Jane noticed how she didn't seem all that relieved at the prospect.

Danni sighed, looking at her. "Yeah, of course, but I just don't want them to make themselves miserable to make me happy."

Jane smiled, sympathetically and pat her shoulder. "Things will work out. I know it will. I'm always here if you wanna talk."

"I know," sighed Danni. She, then, cleared her throat and looked at the molehill of DVDs. "What are we gonna watch first?"

"You pick," giggled Jane, leaping onto her bed and creating a head rest with her pillows.

"Oh you shouldn't have said that," Danni sung, menacingly showing off her copy of Dirty Dancing. Jane laughed, rolling her eyes.

"Alright, but if you start singing-"

She shrilled, joyfully; jumping up and down."Oh and you don't."

"I don't," protested Jane, although her burning blush revealed her lie. Danni laughed at her, switching on the TV and inserting the disc into the DVD drive.