Danny

"-and so then I said to her 'It would be weird of you not to at this point', you know what I mean?"

The inflection in Sally's voice indicated to Danny that a question had been asked, though he had stopped paying attention to the conversation for some time now. He started to panic, not eager to have an argument in the middle of a crowded restaurant on a Saturday night. Danny especially didn't want to argue about whether or not he'd been listening to yet another one of her stories about her awful-sounding friends. It was only a matter of time before she'd expect him to meet them. The thought made him scowl.

Danny looked up at Sally, ready to give some generic, faux-enthusiastic response like "Of course!" or "Crazy, right?". She was still plowing through the story though, eyes closed and wildly gesticulating with her fork and knife. She hadn't even noticed that he wasn't listening.

That was fine, really. Danny sighed and took a sip of his water. It served him right, considering that he was using her as a placeholder. It was only fair that she was as self-absorbed as he was. Dating Sally was his lame attempt at a distraction to convince himself - and the few others that would notice or care - that he'd moved on. It was exactly what he deserved.

Sally continued to drone on about her friend's dilemma. Or good news? He had no idea. She stopped only to tear a shrimp from its shell with her teeth, chewing noisily and smacking her lips. He focused on her mouth, the pinkish shade of lipstick she wore smeared and shiny with butter from her scampi. She talked so much. Just thoughtless, mindless rambling. Mindy liked to talk too, but she wanted to talk with you, not at you. She'd never let him get away with disengaging from the conversation the way he had tonight, not that he'd have reason to. "Danny! How dare you?" she'd cry, punctuating her outrage with a pinch on his person. He smiled at the thought and was immediately overcome with a wave of sadness. He remembered that the icy awkwardness that had settled over what was left of their relationship was his fault. He'd ruined everything. It meant that he'd probably never be the victim of one of her pinch attacks again.

He began to saw at the half chicken splayed out on his plate with more force than necessary, scraping the plate loudly. "Whoa, did they leave the brick?" Sally asked with a graceless chuckle.

"What?" he snapped. The harsh annoyance in his voice startled him. Dial it back, man. Relax.

She tapped at the edge of his plate with her fork before raising her hands in mock surrender. "Jesus! Chicken under a brick? Your meal? I was making a joke, was all! What crawled up your butt and died?"

"Really, Sally? Bathroom humor at the table? Come on." He tried to say this in a softer tone and threw in a strained smile for good measure.

She rolled her eyes at him and twirled her pasta around her fork. "God, you're so uptight. It's a good thing you're hot." Sally slurped the pasta loudly and licked her lips, winking at him. Danny hoped he hid his grimace behind his water glass as he took a long drink.

An awkward silence settled over their table, finally. Danny carefully dissected his chicken, trying with all of his might not to think of the last time he ordered the entree. He failed, of course, and felt his heart tighten as he removed the crispy skin with surgical precision.

"Ooh, easy access! Thank you, babe!"

"Min-"

"What! It's the best part! And in some cultures, chicken skin is a delicacy."

"It's all fat. It's not good for you."

"Well, thankfully, I have the delicate bone structure and high metabolism of a hummingbird, so this will have no effect on me whatsoever." Mindy popped another piece of the chicken skin that Danny had cut away into her mouth and closed her eyes, letting out a soft moan of pleasure. "So salty and crispy and perfect. Ugh, it's so worth the clogged artery, babe."

Danny smiled brightly at her and shook his head. He adjusted the napkin in his lap so that his physical reaction to her enjoyment of his meal wasn't obvious. "What am I gonna do with you, Min?" His voice came out lower and softer than he intended. He was a mess, and dinner had just started.

Danny frowned at his plate as the memory was filed away again. He glanced up at Sally and speared a piece of skin with his fork. "You want some?" he offered, uncertainty creeping into his voice.

"Ew, chicken skin? No." She waved him away, her nose turned up in distaste. "I didn't even eat that when I was fat."

"You know, in some cultures, chicken skin is considered a delicacy" he said, before eating it himself. Mindy had been right: it was delicious.

They continued to eat without talking, without eye contact even. Danny tried not to glance at his watch, knowing that would only make the night feel like it was never ending. The restaurant was packed and the piped in music seemed loud now that Sally wasn't saying anything. Some kind of bubble gum pop was winding down as he chewed on an artichoke heart. He was prepared for another song he'd despise when the mournful sound of an accordion caught his attention. Alright, maybe some grown-up music for a change.

Once the guitar and vocals began, Danny perked up. "This, uh, this sounds like Jeff Buckley."

"Who?" Sally was gazing into the mirror of her compact, touching up her lipstick. Danny rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Jeff Buckley. He did a cover of 'Hallelujah'. That Leonard Cohen song?" Sally shrugged her shoulders. Danny cleared his throat and sang the first few bars to jog her memory, nodding his head and raising his eyebrows, because come on, who doesn't know "Hallelujah"?

"Oh yeah! 'Shrek'!" she cried.

Danny groaned, and hoped she didn't hear it over the music. "Yeah, well, he was a good kid. Really talented. Died tragically. I think this is him. I'll ask the waitress when she comes back; maybe she can check the CD case for me."

Sally reached out to stroke his cheek, openly laughing at him now. "Oh, Peepaw. First of all, this is probably satellite radio. Second of all, there's an app for that; duh!" She reached into her handbag and pulled out her iPhone.

"Wait, what do you-" Before he could finish his question, Sally pressed a blue, swirly icon on her screen and held her phone up in the air for a few moments before looking at it again. "'Lover, You Should've Come Over'," she purred. She smiled at him; some of the pinkish stuff she wore on her lips was smeared across her front teeth.

"I, I don't-" He shook his head, worried that she wanted him to go home with her tonight. He was regretting dinner (and the other couple of times they'd had sex); he just didn't want to feel so terribly alone, especially if there was no chance of-

"Your song, Danny. Good Lord, I'm signing you up for Genius Bar workshops and getting you an iPhone for Christmas." She shoved her phone at him while Danny gaped at her like a goldfish, terrified by her declaration about Christmas. Christmas? That's eight months away, there's no way, no freakin' way-

"I'm going to the little girl's room. Be back soon." He nodded silently and wiped his now-drenched hands on his jeans before fiddling with Sally's phone. So he was right; it was a Jeff Buckley song. Danny smiled to himself; he had a good ear, even in a crowded restaurant on a very uncomfortable date.

A little box in the lower right corner said 'Lyrics', so he pushed on it clumsily with his fingers. The words filled the screen, white letters superimposed over an image of the late Buckley's face. As he read the words and listened to the man's impassioned singing, he felt his chest tighten again. If he were a layman, he'd probably think he was having a heart attack, but Danny knew better. This song. This fucking song.

I feel too young to hold on

I'm much too old to break free and run

Too deaf, dumb, and blind

To see the damage I've done

"Shit. Mindy. Shit." Danny felt his chin tremble as he took in a ragged breath. He scrolled back to the top of the screen and read the lyrics again, letting out a sound that hovered somewhere between a sob and a sharp bark of laughter. He set the phone face down on the table and took a few deep breaths in an attempt to compose himself.

A strange sense of calm flooded him then; being a good Catholic Danny'd always had a secret belief in signs and angels and other such spiritual, mystical stuff. Who knew they could come in such a secular form: a long-dead, 90's era pop star playing on satellite radio in some nondescript restaurant while he's on a date with the wrong woman? He chuckled and shook his head, the waitress choosing that moment to come over.

"Everything okay, sir?" She smiled, but eyed him with a hint of suspicion. He was, after all, trembling and sweating, practically crying, and now, suddenly laughing, all while he was alone and in public. Oh god.

"Everything is wonderful. Or at least it will be. I mean, I hope it will be. I mean- Uh, just the check, thank you, sorry." He dabbed at his brow with his napkin and gave her his best apologetic smile while she went to fetch the bill.

Danny sighed, this time one of relief and clear-headed focus, and folded his hands as he waited for Sally to return, certain of what needed to be done.


AN: This story would not have been possible without tumblr user sednarb, as she introduced me to what is now one of my favorite songs, Jeff Buckley's "Lover, You Should've Come Over" from his "Grace" album. It is recommended listening for this chapter. A very special 'thank you' to you! Extra special thanks to the-omniscient-narrator aka Calliope_Soars for being my first beta ever! And of course thank you to phunkybrewsterspen and alittlenutjob for Operation: Tonic Water on tumblr!