It's us {Dani and Jamie}

Magnet

6
-  Jamie's Perspective  -

I swear, this goddamn Nanny Mcfee is going to be the end of me. Shows up, out of the blue, looking like that and she just expects me not to fall for her? Nuh uh, it doesn't work like that, Blondie.

And just when I get hope that something is there, that something's happening with us, she turns around and snatches it away from me. Like she's the bone and I'm the bloody golden retriever.

So I stopped trying. Stopped getting my hopes up. And I know, I know, I should be nicer since she's obviously going through some stuff, but I just hate being treated like a dog.
   
"Oi!" I cried, struggling to step my way through the dark weeds below, "Wait up, will you? You've got the flashlight, I'm about to trip and fall to my death back here."
   
"Sorry," Dani muttered, slowing her pace, "I tend to walk fast when I'm... nevermind."
   
"Why are we going all the way to the greenhouse to get firewood, anyway?"
   
"There's a bench in there. I thought we could... you know... talk."
   
"And what's there to talk about, Poppins?"
   
Dani shot me a look through the darkness, "I think you know."
   
My heart did that annoying flippy thing, "Blimey, we're doing this now?"
   
"No time like the present," Dani sighed, opening the glass door and motioning me inside.
   
We took a seat on the wooden bench after moving my pots of ferns and wiping off the stray dirt. Not much room, but close distance was probably good for the current circumstances.
   
"So," I began, "Am I supposed to start?"
   
"No," Dani said, facing me, "No, I'm the one who's been messing things up. You ask me what you want to know and I'll... I'll tell you."
   
"Alright," I said, taking a deep breath, "Why don't you tell me why you jump back every time I get close to you."
   
Dani pursed her lips and nodded once. Right into the hard stuff... I imagined her to be thinking. She had to turn away and face forward, not able to look me in the eye, "You remember my fiance? The one I told you about?"
   
"Yeah," I sighed, "I was hoping we'd get around to him at some point."
   
"Eddie, his name was. We were best friends growing up. His family practically raised me, so when he asked me out it seemed like the natural thing to do was say yes. I loved him, I did, so I just assumed that was the same thing as being in love with him, you know?" Dani swallowed hard, forcing herself to continue, "While we were going out I had... feelings. Feelings about..."
   
A pause.
   
"Girls?" I whispered.
   
"...Yes," Dani managed, "But I ignored them - barely even realized they were anything at all. And then Eddie and I were engaged, so there was no point in thinking about them anymore. But as the wedding got closer I started to feel... to feel like I was drowning. Like the life I could have had was going on above the water and I was trapped below just... sinking."

"Jesus, Dani." I breathed, placing a tender hand on her thigh.

"So I broke up with him," She said, eyes far away, "I broke it off. 20 years we knew each other, 20. Pretty much my whole life. And then he... then he died, straight after. Straight after."

"Not the same day?" My eyes widened.

"Same moment, actually. He stepped out of the car and got hit by a truck."

A long pause.

"I don't-I don't know what to-"

"You don't have to say anything, Jamie," Said Dani, turning to face me for the first time, eyes serious, "The point is I've been scared. Scared of my own feelings and guilty about how things ended with Eddie and I've been making both of us miserable because of it."

"Well I haven't been miserable," I grinned faintly, "Just frustrated that the girl I liked wasn't returning my affections."

"You usually have better luck?" Dani smiled.

"Yeah, I'm quite the player. You really stumped me."

"Well I think your luck is about to change," Dani teased, leaning forward slightly, almost involuntarily, like she was a magnet.

"Yeah?" As my lips stretched into a grin, she closed the space between us, letting a slight whimper escape from her lips.

The inside of my chest did somersaults. Apparently I had been wanting this harder than I let myself believe.

I felt myself deepening her timid kiss with confident lips, breathing into it and stretching an anchoring hand towards her neck. She was soft. So, so soft and for a moment that was all I could focus on. The only things in the world were she and I and the all encompassing softness.

And then something happened that I don't remember too clearly. Fear will do that to you, I think: make the memories fuzzy.

A cold breeze wafted through the air. At first I just thought it was from the open window, but the cold... lingered.

Like I was suddenly standing in front of an open freezer. I could feel myself start to shiver, and Dani's soft lips were suddenly chapped against mine. She didn't seem to notice and continued in our rhythm, but I found myself opening my eyes, just a bit - barely a sliver.
It was enough.

Now here's where things get a little foggy in my mind. I saw a person. Standing in front of me, behind Dani. A fully real, life size person appeared out of thin air. At the time, I was absolutely certain she was real. Later, after I thought on it, I concluded that she was just a figment of my imagination. A dumb thing my mind made up because of Owen's stupid ghost stories.

But at the time, I jumped back from Dani like she was on fire, biting her lip in the process. I sat frozen in terror for a millisecond that felt like an hour. It was the woman from the ghost story, I was sure of it.

Wet, faceless, dreadfully dead.

Somehow, I knew she didn't like me. I felt the hatred shooting out of her like lasers, trying to burn me with her mind.

When I blinked she was gone.

"What the hell?" Dani cried, clutching her mouth with her hand, "I'm bleeding!"

I turned to her with wide eyes, feeling extremely disoriented, "Sorry, I... I don't know, I thought I..."

"What?" She said, examining her red stained fingers.

I looked at what I had done and felt dizzy, "I just... I'm sorry I need to go," I got to my feet and stumbled my way out of the greenhouse.

I can't remember what happened after that. I got in my car at some point. I drove home - by some miracle I didn't crash. I got into bed and tried to sleep my nightmares away.

••• Hi! So this one was in Jamie's perspective because I thought it worked better for the story. I like how it turned out. Tell me what you guys think! If you like the Jamie stuff I'll do some more :)