Be Mine - Completed

Chapter 22

"What did Daniel say about the note from the secret admirer?" Viv was sitting at the table on Monday morning, eating breakfast while Penny made coffee. They were the only two away since they were the only ones with early classes. Penny just sighed, pouring herself a cup of coffee before joining Viv at the table.

"I haven't exactly told him yet," she mumbled, looking down at her cup of coffee.

"What do you mean, you haven't told him yet? Didn't you promise him on Friday that he would be the first to know if the gifts ever got a little weird?"

"I mean, yes. I did. But I don't know, I feel like telling him that the gift I received right before I told him that was concerning just proves him right. I don't even know how concerning the note was. I think this guy's just not very good with words. God, I wish I knew who he was. I feel like knowing him in person would make this so much easier."

"It definitely would make it easier, but it probably would make it a little less fun, too. I know I wasn't fully on board with this from the beginning, but I feel like it's been good for you throughout all of this. At the end of the day, he's been nothing but sweet and considerate of you. I don't think he's a bad guy. Just, be careful with how you approach it with Daniel. I don't want you to lose that friendship because you kept this from him right after you promised you wouldn't."

"Yeah, okay. I'll tell him today." Penny sighed, knowing she had to tell him what happened because she made the promise. She finished her mug of coffee, filling a to-go cup with more before turning to Viv. "You ready to go?"

Penny spent the majority of her morning zoning out in class and trying to figure out the best way to tell Daniel about what happened. The last thing Penny wanted to hear was Daniel saying I told you so and she definitely didn't want to admit that her judgment may have been off, especially when she can't decide if her judgment was wrong.

She sent Daniel a text during her second morning class, asking if he wanted to grab coffee or lunch. She secretly hoped that he would say no so that she didn't have to do this, but he responded with a confirmation. Penny gave herself a mental pep talk on the way to meet Daniel, trying to plan what to say and imagining the different ways the conversation can go. Best case scenario, he says thank you for telling him and warns her again to be careful, and they move on. Worst case scenario, he decides that they can't be friends anymore because she didn't tell him about it right away.

"Hey, stranger! I know it's only been a couple of days since we last saw each other but I feel like it's been forever." Daniel gave her a hug, scrutinizing her when she only gave him a shy smile back and hmm'd in agreement. "What's going on?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Why do you ask?" She chuckled, trying to hide her nerves. The closer she got to having this conversation, the more nervous she became.

"Something's going on." He narrowed his eyes at her, hoping she'd elaborate on her own but realizing she wasn't going to. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just have to tell you something and I'm nervous about what your reaction's going to be." Penny chewed on her bottom lip, twirling her hair around her finger.

"Hey, whatever you need to tell me, I promise I'll try to understand. Okay?" He reached out and squeezed her hand, nervous about what she was about to tell him.

"So remember how when you were over on Friday, the girls came in and they had that gift from my secret admirer and you were telling me that you don't like it and you were concerned and I said there's nothing to be concerned about?"