Restart My Heart

Time

hey! I'm back. This one is based on an imagine I found on tumblr. I had so much fun writing this, so I hope you have fun reading it, too.

If you do, be sure to leave votes and comments!! And a huge thank you to those of you who already have on the previous chapters, it means a lot to me :')

*WRITING PLAYLIST SONG: Rescue My Heart by Liz Longley (from Switched at Birth. In love with the song AND the show!)
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BRIEF SUMMARY: It's Danielle's one year anniversary with her boyfriend, Dean... except it doesn't exactly go as planned.
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Danielle is tiring of the unforgiving eyes shooting looks at her like she's some kind of hopeless damsel, like they feel bad for her or something. And why shouldn't they? she thinks to herself. She looks pathetic, sitting her alone with nothing but water in a fancy restaurant, staring at her phone, just waiting for a text from Dean.

She's definitely disappointed, but can she say she's surprised? No, the truth is this is the fourth time he's stood her up in the past two months. Not including all the times he's been late. "Stop being dramatic," Dean would tell her. "I'll make it up to you."

But Danielle is still waiting, forever waiting, hoping one day all of these IOUs would add up to something wonderful. And maybe just this once she actually is being dramatic, because it had only been an hour that she'd been waiting for him, but the waitress keeps asking if she can get her anything else, suggesting the check, and her self-esteem is wearing thin. Also, she's starving, and it's their one-year anniversary.

God, one year. It wasn't always like this. Dean used to be a workaholic who, while always coming home on time, disappeared into his apartment to work from home. He worked constantly, scarcely making time for Danielle on purpose unless she prompted it, and it was fine. Or it used to be. But at the time she was so dazzled by his good looks and humor and interest in her of all people that she gladly absorbed every bit of attention she received. And when he actually did finish with projects for a brief time, his doted on her like no one else. Spent every moment with her. And then a week later it was back to square one.

She kept playing that tango, the dance of give and take, except as the date closed in on today, she's realizing in retrospect that she's the one always giving giving giving and he's the one taking. Draining.

Just as she's starting to feel like maybe she should just up and leave, the waitress— beautiful, strawberry-blonde, probably not single— stops by her table yet again. "Ma'am," she starts with a sigh, "I'm sorry, but we have people waiting for this table. If you could—"

"Excuse me," a boy Danielle's never seen before, with high cheekbones and close-set, hazel-blue eyes scoots past the waitress and sits down at her table. "Sorry I'm so late, babe, traffic is crazy right now," he explains loudly.

Danielle doesn't know what to think, what to say, so she just stares at him with wide eyes and an open mouth. The waitress next to them raises her eyebrows and stutters nervously— either because she was nervous with the situation or because this guy was really attractive.

When the waitress eventually leaves without saying anything, he leans in and quietly adds, "I'm Zackary. Or you can call me Zack. Just go with it, yeah? Whoever didn't bother to show up is a jerk."

She smiles a small, small smile and her cheeks heat up. She's incredibly embarrassed. Here she is, pathetically waiting for Dean, looking like a sad mess, and here he is, the cutest thing she's ever seen, noticing she's been stood up. But she nods and coughs awkwardly, because he's being sweet and trying to save her from public humiliation. Even though she thinks maybe that ship has already sailed. "Thanks, Zack," she tells him. "I'm Danielle. Or... you can call me... Dani, I guess?"