A New Life and Healing

Disclaimer. I don't own Monsters, Inc or any of the characters in the movie.

Now to understand it is very wise to read Lost then Found but not Healed.

Third chapter yay!

WhipOfLightHeartOfSword is such a wonderful person.

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I will talk to him tonight...I will talk to him tonight…those were the thoughts running through Danielle's mind as she washed the dishes. I had said I was procrastinator, but this is sad. She sighed and rinsed the coffee mugs.

It was two days after she had talked to Liss about her meeting Randall. So much could go wrong… and Danielle could lose Randall;something that sent a sharp pain through her chest just thinking about it. She had never thought she could grow this attached and be this much in love with a man. She curled her lip in a half smile. She could only hope that it didn't make her brain like mush.

"Danielle?" Randall had softly padded into the kitchen behind her.

"Yeah?" she looked up from the dishes as he slid a few arms around her waist, spinning her around. Danielle gave him an annoyed look and flicked water and soapsuds at him from her wet fingers. "Washin' dishes here!"

"Don't you mean 'warshing'?" he teased.

"No…I mean washin'….I mean washing! Stop it Randall… I'm not in the mood," Danielle turned partway away but Randall didn't let her completely turn away.

"What's wrong? You have been rather lost in your thoughts, and not in a way that has anything to do with your studies." Randall's large green eyes stared at her.

Danielle looked away and then back at him. "Liss wants to fully met you…."

She saw a flicker there, the flicker of uncertainty. She stood very still, not quite pulling away, but not leaning comfortably into his embrace either.

"Do you want to meet her? It's, like, one step away to branching out…?" she asked softly.

"Well…we did talk about this…and I want…" the words froze in his throat but he swallowed hard, pushing past the fear. "I… I want to take this—us—further… No more hiding."

Danielle smiled briefly "Randall…really?"

He nodded, his fronds bobbing slightly.

Her smile faded. "I…" She laid her hands on his warm scaly chest "I want you to, but…"

"But what?" he strove to keep his voice steady. "Tell me why you don't want me to meet 'em. Are… are you ashamed of me? Ashamed to be with a monster?"

"No!" Her response was so fervent he believed her. "It's…"

"Danielle…we've got to talk this out. Why don't you want to me to meet her, or possibly your family?"

"I want you to, but..." she turned, feeling at a loss for words to tell him her fears. She was supposed to be strong and not need a man to lean on.

He came up behind her, and put his hands on her shoulders. They felt tense and hard under his fingers. He drew her close to his chest but she didn't relax, just held herself stiff. He tried rubbing her shoulders, massaging them with firm strokes, but she twisted away. Randall let his hands fall to his sides and sighed.

"Danielle, what's wrong?" Pain and anger rose in his chest, making him want to lash out; making him want to hurt. "You're pushing me away. You say you care about me, but when your friends and family come up you avoid it all costs! You are ashamed to be with me."

"That's not true!" she spun around to face him, stung.

"Why the hell not then" yelled Randall. "We've together for, like… six months! Two, as a couple. Why don't you trust me?"

"It's not you, Randall," her hazel eyes stared into his, pleading for understanding.

"Obviously it is me," he snapped, turning away. "Asking to meet your friends and family? Talking about going deeper; the future? I thought you loved me," he whispered, hating the pleading, the weakness in the way he said it. They were both still new to this, each having pasts that only contained failed relationships. They loved each other, but the 'species' differences were proving to be a strain.

"I do," her voice was quiet and serious. "Randall, I love you. You know you're more than a friend to me…You're more and mean more then anythin' I have evea known… but…" her careful way of speaking was slipping and her Cajun backwater accent was slipping through more as she grew more upset.

"Then tell me why."

"I…" her hesitation was too much and he fired at her.

"Is it because you are ashamed?! Because you want me to stay hidden out here—your own personal pet monster?" Randall snarled.

Danielle's eyes widened as the words stung her and her own rare temper rose. "Dôn be so coo-yôn! Ah nevea forced ya to come! Dônya blame dis on me!" she snapped.

Randall's eyes narrowed. "Then why don't ya? Don't I matter?"

"Of course ya matta! Is just…"

Randall snarled and in a huff turned toward the door. He pulled it open and then glared back at her, his own temper pushing away all reasoning and listening ability.

"No…dat dôn matta at all!" his Northern-accented voice mocked her. Then he stormed out and slammed the door.

"Ah dôn want ya to meet them cuz ah afraid ya'd be taken away from me..." Danielle whispered, and then began to sob. Bread, her old dog, came up to her and licked her bare feet.

Randall stood for a moment on the porch. His ears just caught the sound of her muffled sobs as he broke into a run, heading toward the barn—to the cold metal he always felt at home tinkering with.