Frost & Flames | Soulmate AU 2 |

Twenty-Seven

The party starts to wind down about two hours after the cake is cut. Matt and Holly went to bed, or at the very least went to hide out in their respective guest rooms, about an hour ago. JD and Flint are mildly drunk, debating over something entirely insignificant, much to the amusement of Atlas and Maggie. [Derek and Alex leave first, pulling me aside to once again wish me a happy birthday, which gives me an opportunity to thank them for coming.]

"It was nice that you came," I had said to Alex as Derek was grabbing a few wrapped plates of cake for them to take home. "He's stupid over you."

"I know," she says, smiling fondly. "The feeling's mutual. I'm just waiting to take the next step."

"Next step?" I reply.

She rolls her eyes.

"Marriage, Lake, marriage."

"Oh, right, of course," I stammer. "Makes sense."

Derek comes back right then with plates of cake in hand. Alex takes some before he drops them all on the floor. I catch him as she's walking towards the elevator.

"You better move fast, big bro," I say into his ear.

"Move fast?" he parrots, staring back dumbly.

"Yeah, Der, it's about time you put a ring on it, no?" I saw slowly. "Especially if you two are trying for a kid."

"We—we don't need to be married to have a baby," he stammers, getting flustered.

"No, I agree, you don't. But she just told me she's looking forward to just that, so, like I just said, you should get a move on."

He stares back, eyes wide, and adjusts the grip he has on the plates of cake.

"Right, you're right," he agrees. "Happy birthday again, dude. And thanks for the advice."

I pat him on the back, steering him towards the elevator where Alex is, chatting with Max while she waits.

Danny pulls me aside a little while later. I follow him into the deserted dining room where we sit beside each other on top of the dining room table.

"Your boy is really something, Lake," he says, typing out a text to someone.

I snort.

"My boy?"

"Yeah, your boy," he replies. "He thanked me for taking care of you, what a guy."

"Oh, god," I say, embarrassment warming my cheeks.

"I don't really know what kinda taking care of you I ever did, but I wasn't about to argue with the guy," Danny continues, shrugging his shoulders and clicking his phone off. He tucks it back into his pocket before turning to look at me.

"Well, he's probably just happy that I had friends around that kept me from going off the deep end, and, well somebody who wasn't stupid with me when it came to sex and stuff."

His eyebrows raise a bit and I shift uncomfortably. The small bracket of time when I could've talked about sex with Danny, especially sexual assault, is long gone. Now it's just awkward and entirely out of place. There's definitely no love here anymore, and it's a relief.

He clears his throat. "Okay, well, in that case, I'm happy I was there," he says.

"Thanks," I say, swallowing and nodding my head. "You know what I'm happy about?"