Danny reached for his keys in his pants pocket and shook them on the chain until he had the one that he wanted in his hand. He walked up the short stoop to the front door of the brownstone and couldn't help the small smile that graced his lips. He pushed his glasses up on his nose as he thrust the key into the lock and turned. To his satisfaction, when he turned the knob, the door swung open and allowed him to enter the building. It was the first time he got to use this key.
As he mounted the stairs (in an old house like this, they would be the servant's stairs) and began his ascent to the second floor apartment. He swung the key ring around his right index finger as he cheerfully bopped his way up the stairs. God's honest truth, he was close to whistling. He stopped the keys and fidgeted until he found the next in the pair of keys to the place.
He stood in front of the door for a moment, listening to the blaring music coming from within. He smiled and whispered along with the words of the Muse song he recognized.
"Stars when you shine, you know how I feel," he whispered with a smile.
He turned the next key into the lock and a slight wave of panic washed over him when the door wouldn't open. The wave soon ebbed as he remembered that this lock must be turned the opposite direction of the first. He breathed a sigh of relief once the door was finally open.
Danny entered the kitchen and was greeted by the sight of a plump young woman with shoulder length hair and big brown eyes swaying her hips to the music as she washed the few dishes in the sink. She too was singing along to the radio and didn't hear Danny come in. He set his keys on the table without a sound and pulled out a chair to sit on so that he could watch her finish the washing up.
She was wearing a pair of white cali shorts with the word "Useless" printed in script on her behind and a lavender tank top. On her feet she wore a pair of slippers in the shape of Homer Simpson's head. Danny smiled as she exaggeratedly mimicked the voice on the radio as Yeah Yeah Yeahs came on with "Tick."
"You're not as sneaky as you think," she said as she turned to face him. She had a stack of plates in her hand and handed them to him to be placed in the cupboard above his head.
"I don't know how you can hear anything over the radio," he said as she turned the music down and began to fill a pot with hot water and dish soap.
After obediently putting the plates away, Danny stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and, brushing her hair from her neck, placed a soft kiss on the back of her neck.
"Aren't you gonna welcome me home?" he asked gently, his breath soft in her ear.
"Welcome home," she said, turning in her arms. She pressed her lips against his and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
She rested her forehead against his shoulder and breathed in his scent. He pressed his cheek against her hair and, for a moment, simply enjoyed the feeling of her soft body against him.
Home, he thought for the first time since she'd given him the keys to her apartment two days ago. I think I really am home.
Danny held her and remembered how she'd cried as she handed him the keys. She hadn't bawled at all, the tears had just been there suddenly. He remembered how soft her voice was as she spoke to him, just barely audible above the din in the coffee shop (Our coffee shop, he thought).
"I don't say "I love you" to anyone," she'd said, "because it's a joke. You can't just say that and have it mean anything."
Danny had agreed with her wholeheartedly.
"So, I try to show the people I love and make them feel wanted and more important than anything else in my life," she'd continued.
She'd dug into her pocket and fished out a pair of keys on a silver ring that had what appeared to be Grumpy Bear from the Care Bears on it. She'd held the keys out to him and smiled through her tears. The keys jingled lightly as her hands had shaken slightly.
"I, uh, I want you to have these," she'd said. "You can come and go anytime you like now," she assured him. "Treat my place like home, Danny. Where your heart is," she'd added hopefully, with a reassuring nod.
Danny hadn't known how to react. He had no idea that she'd felt so passionately for him; and he knew that it wasn't merely a physical attraction either. They'd shared so much: How many times had they merely shared a conversation in their coffee shop, walking to his place after a movie or a play, meeting in the bookshop where she worked?
He'd found himself tentatively reaching his hand across the table between them. He smiled at her, a heart melting smile that he tried to show all of his emotion for her in. She'd dropped the keys into his hand and he closed his fist tightly around them, the metal biting into his skin.
"Where my heart is," he'd repeated with a nod. The smile that had swept across her face stopped his heart. She had been so beautiful, so radiant in that moment. He took her back to his place and they'd made love for the rest of the afternoon.