Daydreams - Night Terrors Sequel

Chapter 5 {NATE}

Dani seems frozen in place for a moment, not daring to look at me. My heart slowly sinks and my face flushes red.

She never wanted to be found, did she? She wants to be left alone. The last five years have been a mistake.

"Sorry," I mumble. "I thought you were someone else."

My shoulders fall and I go to step away, however I'm quickly stopped by her grabbing onto my arm and stopping me.

"Nate?" She breathes out, standing from her seat and facing me. 

For a moment I'm frozen. My eyes glued to her beautiful face. It's her.

I found her.

Her big brown eyes begin to well up with tears as she stares up at me, even more beautiful than I remember. I'm afraid if I look away, she'll disappear. Afraid it's just a dream or some wild hallucination.

All at once, she breaks down sobbing and throws her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. I hug her back, tight. Afraid that if I let go, she'll runaway again.

She smells different than before, but her hug feels the same. The feeling of her holding me feels the same. It's her. She's here. She's real.

Tears begin to prick my eyes, and I shamelessly let them fall as I squeeze onto Dani even tighter, if possible. I guess you get emotional when you spend 5 years searching for someone and now here they are, in your arms.

"I got you." I whisper against her shoulder. There's ten million things I want to say to her, but it's all I'm able to get out. "I got you."

"Holy shit," I hear Joe mutter. "Is that..."

I quickly let go of our embrace and pull out my wallet, throwing a 50 on the counter. I don't know how much her food costs, and I don't care to spend the time asking. I just care about being with Dani.

"Keep the change." I mumble before grabbing Dani's bag and her arm closest to me, practically running out of the pizza place, dragging her with me.

The door slams shut behind us, and while we're not totally alone, it's still more private than in there.

I pull Dani towards the brick building behind us and finally look up at her again. I wish I can find my words, but truthfully, there's too much to say to say anything at all.

My feet urge me forward closer to her and I take her face in my hands, studying her as she stares up at me with tears and snot streaming down her face. I look like an idiot, I know I do, but I want to take in every inch of her face.

Dani's features are more defined and structured now. Shes always been a woman in my eyes, but now... now I'm questioning everything I've ever known because this is a woman in front of me. She has the face to make a man sick with just one look. The kind of face that turns heads in a busy street and has men crawling on their knees. She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen with her high cheek bones and perfectly structured nose and perfect lips.

And her hair, well, that awful haircut doesn't look so awful now that it's on her head. In California, her hair was still brown, but it was sun kissed and had these little blonde streaks running through it. Now it's just dark brown.

I bite down on my bottom lip, fighting the urge to kiss her. I don't know if kissing her would be out of line after five years. I don't know. I don't know anything.

"You're really here?" Dani asks barely above a whisper.

I don't say anything as she reaches out and places her hand on my cheek, running her fingers along my jaw, then my lips.

"Oh my god." She whispers once more before pulling me in for another hug.

We remain like that for what feels like eternity - just hugging on the sidewalk of New York City, not saying anything, just drinking in each other's presence.

When we finally let go, I glance around the dark street and grab her hand in mine.

"Will you come to my apartment?" I ask with pleading eyes. Truth be told, I don't think I'm willing to take no for an answer after 5 years of searching. "It's just right down there."

She nods, allowing me to pull her through the streets and up the million flights of stairs until we finally reach my apartment. My hands shake wildly as I fiddle for my key, but eventually I get the door open, pulling her inside and closing the door behind us.

"Dani," I start, trying to find my words as I turn to face her in front of the door. "Dani, I--"

"—I'm so sorry, Nate." She cuts me off, her eyes falling to the floor. "I'm sorry I left. I... I was wrong. I'm sorry."

She doesn't understand that I never wanted her apology, I just wanted her. I've always just wanted her. I still want her.

"Don't do that." I order, cupping her face in my hand, wiping the tears off her stained cheeks with my thumb. "I don't care about any of that, I just care about this moment right here."

It's quiet for a second before I grab her hand and start pulling her towards the couch.

"Come sit down." I say. "I think we have a lot to talk about."

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So they finally reunited and if you read the old version then I am so sorry I edited out the reunion kiss🫣 don't worry, it's coming, just not now🤭 

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter though, feel free to leave a comment/vote if you did.  thank you for reading❤️❤️