Temporary Bliss [boyxboy]

27: Wave of Nostalgia

When Matt announced the next day that he had to go back to class, the sound of Danny's stomach dropping was almost audible.

While Caleb would be at work, I'd be alone with him, and honestly, I was dreading it.
I didn't dislike Danny, that wasn't it - I just felt like it'd be extremely awkward.

Matt left shortly after Caleb and as soon as the door was closed, the tension in the living room was almost unbearable.

After the first one and a half hours, I realized that I'd been wrong.
Being alone with Danny wasn't awkward - it was torturous.

We'd sat on opposite ends of the couch in silence, both making a point not to look at each other the whole time.

During a commercial break I decided I couldn't take it anymore. I shifted so that I was facing Danny, and he shrank even more into the couch, if that was even possible.

"You don't..." I started, "You don't have to be so scared of me, you know? I won't hurt you."

My voice was nervous and unsure, which probably wasn't doing anything to comfort the blonde boy across from me.

He nodded and swallowed thickly, "S-sorry."

It was the first thing I'd ever heard him say, and I hated that it was an apology. His voice was deeper than I'd expected and a little raspy, as if he had cold.

I smiled, "Don't apologize. I know you have a good reason to be tense it's just... I'm not like Caleb. And not even Caleb is like Caleb anymore. He's different now, or at least he's really trying to be."

Danny nodded again, "Sorry."

He blushed at the realization of having apologized again a second later, but I only laughed lightly.

"So, do you want anything to eat? I'm making myself a sandwich," I offered.

Danny just shook his head again.

"Come on," I urged, "Matt will be upset if I tell him you're not eating anything."

And that seemed to be all it took, because a shy smile made its way onto Danny's face and he cleared his throat, "Yeah. A- a sandwich would be great. Tha-thanks."

I gave him a grin and skipped into the kitchen, feeling giddy.
Danny was actually talking to me!

When I came back with our sandwiches, I sat a little closer to him and he thanked me again.

We continued watching some shitty daytime TV, but the silence was much less awkward now. Every once in a while I would comment on whatever was happening on screen and Danny would agree or chuckle.

I knew immediately that I would like him. Much like Matt, he was someone you just had to love.
And I was really glad that he was back now, because Matt and Danny definitely deserved each other.

---

Over the next few days I spent a lot of time with Danny. He didn't have a job and I only worked a few days at week at night.
So, we had a lot of time to ourselves while Matt was at college and Caleb at work.

We spent it lounging around on the couch mostly, and I noticed that not only was Danny getting more talkative by the day, his eating habits were really improving. I barely had to convince him to have a sandwich now.

It was making me happy, that he was at least getting more comfortable when I was around. He still tensed up and went silent whenever Caleb entered the room, but he was making progress.

"So... How did the whole thing with Caleb going after you even start?" I asked him finally, a few days later as the question had been bothering me for a while.