Good Trouble Fanfiction: Davia and Dennis

Closer Than You Might Believe

DISCLAIMER: These characters don't belong to me; I'm just borrowing them for a while. :)

The moment Malika answered the door at Dennis' loft, Davia felt as though she had been abruptly vacated from her body. Words escaped her, whereas she'd ordinarily be able to produce a spontaneous and snarky remark. This was an entirely different circumstance; her feelings for Dennis were nothing like she'd ever experienced before. She loved Jeff, but it was the same kind of love you have for a steady job and adequate income: periodically despised, yet necessary. It brought her security and comfort to know that someone like Jeff could love her exactly as she was.

While having an affair with a married man is hardly something to brag about, she reveled in the fact that even though he was married to someone completely opposite her, he consciously made the choice to be with her. But those strong feelings for Jeff soon dissipated once she became the gatekeeper of Dennis' secrets. She couldn't quite put the finger on when this all began; there were all these catalytic moments that accrued over time, thus drawing them further into each other's lives.

Everything began unraveling the moment she went to Dennis' loft to tell him how she felt. It was hurtful enough when she thought he was going to try to work things out with Jennifer; finding out that was a lie made his rejection sting that much more. She couldn't imagine any other reason than her size being the reason why; she knew he cared about her, but his history with women would never make anyone think he'd be attracted to someone more than a size two. This belief was excruciatingly drilled into her head after her mother's most recent visit.

Receiving the painting from Gael managed to provide her with a faint glimmer of hope she could repair everything that had recently been broken with Dennis. She felt strong, capable, and sure of the fact she wanted Dennis in her life. Even if this was just friendship, she loved him.

She decided to make an apple tart for a bake sale at the school she taught at. Since baking clearly wasn't one of her strengths, she was going to ask Dennis to help her. That was obviously not an option now, and she wanted to break everything in sight. However, all she could do was walk away after seeing Malika half-dressed at Dennis' loft. Somehow, she found herself getting out a bag of apples and slicing them up. Visions of what must have happened between Dennis and Malika flashed through her mind with each cut of the knife.

"Take it easy with that knife."

Davia was so irate while slicing up the apples that she didn't realize anyone had entered the kitchen. The voice she heard was Dennis', and a feeling of rage consumed her. She stabbed one of the apples on the counter and stormed out of the kitchen. While pulling off her apron, she went into her loft and slammed the door so hard she was surprised it didn't fall off its hinges. A mirror hanging on her wall fell to the ground and loudly shattered. Still unable to produce any words, she screamed as loud as she could and threw a glass across her loft, shattering after hitting the wall.

Although Dennis was in the kitchen and the door to Davia's loft was shut, he could hear everything. While he initially thought Davia was pissed he lied about Jennifer, he was now beginning to believe this was more. He now vaguely remembered Malika mentioning Davia knocking on his door when he first woke up. While nothing happened between them, he knew exactly what Davia was thinking. Malika passed out on his couch and he went to bed shortly after. Aside from being too drunk to think clearly, he also didn't want to wake Malika up because he knew she had an extraordinarily stressful couple of days. He debated for a minute whether or not he should try talking to Davia. After putting away the apples Davia sliced up, he decided to knock on her door.

Feeling completely defeated, Davia laid down on her bed under the covers. As she began to doze off due to pure exhaustion, she heard a knock on her door. She didn't even bother asking who it was, nor did she get up to answer it. The knocking continued until she heard her door open. Seeing as Dennis never hesitated to barge into her loft before, she wasn't surprised he did the same this time.

"Davia?" Dennis wasn't sure if she was awake since she didn't move. "Are you awake?"

I really need to start locking my door, Davia thought. She didn't move nor reply.

Starting to worry, Dennis came around to the other side of her bed. He saw her just staring at the wall. "Are you ok?" Dennis asked.

"Please go away," Davia droned. Whatever it was he had to say, she didn't want to hear it.

"We need to talk, and I'm not leaving," Dennis replied.

"There's nothing to talk about," Davia said, sitting up in her bed. Her anger began to come back. "By the way, how's Malika?" she blurted out impulsively.

Dennis sighed and shook his head. "That wasn't what it looked like. She was upset last night, and we ended up finishing off a bottle of bourbon. She passed out on my couch and th—"

"You know what, Dennis? I really don't care," Davia interrupted.

"It sure seems like you do," Dennis scoffed.

"Well yes, I care that Malika is with Isaac, even if he is pissed at her," Davia snapped back.

Dennis looked at Davia for a moment, his frustration mounting, then sarcastically asked, "Since when do you care about that?"

"Wow," Davia replied, "Okay, you seriously need to leave. Get out of my loft!"

Dennis was growing tired of this scornful exchange. "I'm not going anywhere until we talk."

"What is there to talk about, Dennis? I don't have anything left to say to you," Davia said.

Dennis could feel his jealousy and resentment building up. "Wow! So, you were never planning to tell me you lied about things being over with Jeff?!" he questioned her exasperatedly.

Davia at first looked at Dennis perplexedly, then realized what he was referring to; she did lie about things being over with Jeff when he asked her about it after coming home from the hospital. But how did he know? Alice wouldn't have told him. And Callie was drunk she gave her advice, plus she barely even spoke to Dennis. No one else knew.

"How did you know that?" she asked, feeling uneasy.

"I was in the kitchen the day he showed up here. I left after a minute, but heard what he said," Dennis answered.

Davia was dumbstruck. She didn't know what to say, and her eyes darted back and forth, looking for words to put together. She looked back up at him, eyebrows furrowed.***

"I was hurt that you lied about it. When you came to my loft that same day, I was feeling pissed off. And so that's why I lied about Jennifer," Dennis explained.

Still shocked that Dennis knew she lied about Jeff; she now began to feel confused as well. What did this have to do with lying about Jennifer? The only way that would make sense is if it turned out he did have feelings for her after all. However, her own fears and insecurities told her that couldn't be the case; she was mistaking his previous affection and care for something it wasn't.

"I'm not sure I understand. What does that have to do with you lying about Jennifer?" Davia asked. That was all she could come up with in that moment.

"When you came to my loft that day, I figured you wanted to talk about us," Dennis replied.

There was an 'us'? Davia thought.

"That was the same day Jeff showed up here. I was feeling hurt and jealous, and so I made up something that I knew would make you feel the same way," he continued.

"I'm sorry I lied, but why were you jealous?" Davia asked.

"You really don't know by now?" Dennis asked, trying to evade a direct answer. Expressing his feelings was never easy for him. And this time felt even harder than before.

"Know what, Dennis?" Davia replied, feeling frustrated.

"I'm in love with you," he quietly answered, finally admitting his feelings for her.