First protection, then affection
"Hi dad!" exclaimed Rosie as she spotted him from across the school's playground waiting for her.
"Hi love, did you remember all your books?" Danny replied as he made his way towards her, wrapped up in his long grey over-coat.
"I think so… hold on I'll check." She rested her bag on the ground and started rummaging through it. "Damn it! Sorry Dad won't be a minute" Rosie shoved the bag into Danny's chest and quickly ran back inside to find her missing book.
Danny let out a small chuckle at his daughter; she was so like her mother. Same eyes, same smile, same fiery but loving personality; it actually hurt Danny to look at her sometimes, when he was at his loneliest. Danny shook his head gently to clear his mind of the grief filled memories that threatened to engulf him. He turned and went to place Rosie's bag onto the back seat of his car.
As he pushed the door shut, he caught a glimpse of a boy with shaggy blackish hair and bright green-blue eyes, who couldn't be more than ten years old, with panic and fear written all over his face. He was running as fast as he could from a group of thugs, who obviously found this poor boy's fear amusing, as they howled with laughter.
The boy turned briefly to look behind him at the advancing pack, only to suddenly trip over a stray root of a large oak tree, and fell to the ground hard. Danny winced as he saw the boy fall over, a pang of empathy ripped through him, and he suddenly found himself striding over to help dishevelled young boy. The older boys were now towering over him, laughing. Like a pack of Hyenas surrounding and tormenting a young, frightened Gazelle.
"What's wrong loser? Too weak an' helpless 'cos you ain't got a dad to run cryin' to no more?" jeered the leader, laughing as he kicked the young boy's books into the dirt. The young boy attempted to gather his books back, his bright eyes moist from the threatening tears that he was determined not to show his intimidators. Danny was filled with a sudden rage, and strode faster over to the pack. He shoved some of them out of the way and grabbed the leader by the collar, bringing his enraged face down to his level. The leader suddenly looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Leave this boy alone! Do you hear me?! I better not catch you tormenting him again, or so help me God I will personally see to it that you never come within 100 yards of this boy again! Do you understand?!"
The leader nodded his head frantically, his eyes wide with shock and fear. The moment Danny released him the pack ran as fast as their legs would carry them, away from Danny and the young boy. Danny took a deep breath to calm himself down, and turned to the young boy who was still sitting on the ground, his eyes wide, mouth agape, completely in awe of what Danny had just done for him.
"Th-Thank you!" he said barely above a whisper. Danny smiled down at him and offered his hand to help the young boy get up.
"You're welcome, son. Trust me; I know what it's like to be bullied. Are you alright? That was quite a fall you had …erm…What's your name?"
"Evan, Evan Adams. Yes I'm alright, thanks to you Mr..?"
"Danny Trevanion. Just call me Danny." Danny smiled, reached out and shook Evan's hand. Evan smiled a genuine smile at Danny, still in awe of him.
"Ok, Danny… I think I've seen you before. You're Rosie's dad aren't you?"
"I am indeed, do you know her then?" he queried, feeling an odd sort of warmth towards Evan. He had felt it when he first saw him running away from those bullies, like he had a sudden need to protect him. He was also surprised at the sudden flare of anger towards the older boys when he saw Evan trying not to cry, like he would have felt if someone was bullying Rosie, like he should be almost fathering Evan.
"Yeah I know her. She's always really nice to me… She says 'hi' to me and my sister Olivia whenever we see her and, like you, she tells those bullies to leave me alone…But normally they just laugh at her too, and they bully me even more." Evan looked down at his feet, an obvious sadness and desperation emitting from him, sending another rush of parental protectiveness through Danny.
"Well, it looked like they took my warning more seriously than Rosie's, so let's hope that it works!" chuckled Danny, trying to lighten the mood. And it worked; Evan burst into laughter, the happiness dancing in his eyes.
"D-Did you see h-his face?! He l-looked l-like he was going to w-wet himself! Haha!" Evan roared with laughter, clutching his stomach, tears of mirth running down his cheeks, it was infectious. Danny laughed along with him, glad to see him happy.
"I think he probably did wet himself!" Danny exclaimed, both of them struggling to keep their laughter under control. Their laughter died down after a while and after a few more minutes of talking, Danny heard a woman's voice call for her son.
"Evan?!" she called. Both Evan and Danny turned round to look for the source of the voice. Danny took a double take at her, his eyes widened, and he became frozen to where he was standing.
Oh. My. God! She was incredible. She had long curly golden blonde hair that flowed down over her slim shoulders, reaching down to her petite, curved waist. Dark, warm, chocolate brown eyes that held so many different emotions within them, warmth towards her son, a sudden shock at seeing Danny, and a hint of something darker and sadder was evident in them. Danny wondered what she was sad about, and felt a rush of sympathy go through his entire being, as well as other emotions that he couldn't quite place.
"Hi, mum. Sorry about being late…those bullies were chasing after me again…I'm alright though don't worry. Danny stepped in to save me." Evan gestured towards Danny who laughed nervously, and reached to scratch the back of his neck, something he always used to do as a teenager, when in the presence a pretty girl that he fancied.
The woman looked at Danny, also looking a little nervous too. "Oh, well, thank you Danny, that was very sweet of you," she said a little breathlessly, a small smile gracing her features, which left feeling Danny weak.
"N-No worries, I know what it's like to be bullied, and I don't stand for them picking on young lads like Evan here," he said quietly. He smiled and ruffled Evan's hair, making him look even more dishevelled. Evan smiled his genuine, boyish smile up at Danny again. This obviously took the woman by surprise, and Danny knew that Evan probably didn't smile all too often with what he had been going through.
"Evan, why don't you go and get in the car? I'll be there in a minute," she asked softly. Evan picked up his bag, and now dust free books, and turned to Danny.
"Thanks again Danny. I owe you one."
"No problem, son. Happy to help." Danny ruffled Evan's hair once more, and watched as he ran past his mum and into his car. Danny turned back to the beautiful woman, and his heart started to beat rapidly. She was looking at him with gentle admiration warming her chocolate brown eyes.
"That's the first time he's really smiled ever since his Dad left us. Thank you Danny," She said with a voice that was pure velvet.
"Like I said, no problem," he smiled. Then he realised that that was the reason for her sadness; he instantly hated the man who had hurt her and her children, the rage fired up within him, only to be completely distinguished when his green eyes met her chocolate brown ones again.
"I'm Sarah by the way," she held out her slender hand to him, and Danny struggled to keep his breathing even when he took it, and felt the soft skin under his palm.
"L-Lovely to meet you Sarah," He stuttered, finding it difficult to speak to her.
"Likewise…um…I'm sorry, I need to go and take my kids home," She said as she lowered her eyes to the ground. Danny felt his heart sink as she spoke, 'No! Please don't go,' he thought. But he didn't show his disappointment to her.
He smiled at her and said, "Of course, I'll let you go then…" 'Although I don't want to,' he thought desperately.
"Maybe…erm…Maybe we could meet up for coffee sometime; get to know each other better…I mean, I'd like to get to know you better, and I'm sure Evan would like to see you again…His new protector," she giggled nervously, he words rushed.
'Good Lord she's charming when she's nervous,' thought Danny affectionately, his hopes significantly lifted.
"Yeah, of course…That would be great!" He smiled broadly.
Sarah smiled back and said, "Great! Hold on, I'll just give you my number," she rummaged through her bag and found a small notepad and pen, wrote her number down, ripped out the page, and handed it to Danny.
"Thanks again for defending Evan, Danny, I owe you one too," She said softly. Suddenly she placed her hand on his shoulder, and reached up to kiss his cheek, making Danny's heart thrash wildly around in his chest.
When he opened his eyes again he watched her feminine form drift away from him. He held a hand to the cheek that she had kissed, and stood frozen, watching her drive away, knowing that his life was about to change drastically…