Wow, that last Twisted episode was just...wow. But, I promised a new chapter before the week was up and here it is! To be honest with you, I wrote this a while ago and I'm not totally happy with it but I'll just leave it be. Hopefully, you guys enjoy. xx
Their conversation was supposed to be quick. Lacey vowed that after she finished eating, she would leave, but there she was with an empty plate of fries and still laughing with Danny. "I'm telling you Ms. Gander and Mr. Roberts have a thing!" Lacey tried to convince Danny. "You've only been at the school for like three days! You haven't seen their connection!"
Danny rolled his eyes, taking a sip of Lacey's melted milkshake. She didn't know when he first started to drink from it and she didn't mind; it felt natural. "Is their sexual tension too much to bear?" Danny joked, pushing his hair to the side.
"It is!" Lacey vouched.
"Does it make anyone around them all hot and bothered?" Danny wiggled his eyebrows coyly.
Lacey took her drink back and sipped at it quickly. "Let's just say it's like walking into a Trojan commercial." She purred.
"I'll have to check out this action. Pun intended." Danny said, leaning into her. "So what's going on with you, Lace? Do you play sports or anything?"
"When have you ever known me to play sports?" Lacey questioned, laughing at him over her shoulder. "Try something else."
"How are your parents?" Danny tried. His fingers brushed against hers as he took the drink from her.
"Same old," Lacey shrugged. She didn't feel like talking about her parents and Danny was quick to pick up on that.
"How's Archie?" Danny questioned as if he knew that Lacey came from his house.
Lacey looked over at Danny and he was staring at her intently with curiosity, concern, and something else she couldn't quite identify. "I don't want to talk about that." Lacey answered rigidly.
Danny nodded his compliance. "I get it but I mean, who else can you talk about your boyfriend with? Sarita probably doesn't want to be bothered and I bet your parents are too keen on you dating."
"My parents actually really like Archie." Lacey snapped, knowing full well that Danny was right. It wasn't that they didn't like Archie specifically; they hated any boy she ever brought home even on a platonic level.
Danny looked shocked. "I guess...he seems friendly. He made a lasting impression on me." He flashed her a cheeky grin and Lacey punched him on the arm but quickly laughed.
"He has a way with first impressions." She noted.
"Yeah? How'd you guys meet?" Danny inquired. Lacey didn't know why he was so interested in her relationship. Maybe he was just trying to help her. If she had someone to talk to, it would make her life a bit easier...even if it was the Socio.
"Uh," Lacey started. "It was the summer before freshman year and I was all nervous about going into high school. Regina had an older sister, who was a senior, and she said she would get us into this kickback party. I went to Regina's house a few hours before and her sister dressed us up to the nines, like we were wearing heels and skimpy dresses that you could practically see through. But, at the party, I was at the keg, getting my first drink ever, and some guy slapped my ass. It was Archie." Lacey frowned.
"How romantic," Danny deadpanned.
"Very," Lacey laughed at the memory. "Regina was jealous because no one slapped her ass. But anyway, I avoided Archie like the plague for the rest of the night. It was around eleven and I wanted to head home but Regina was trying to work her magic on some senior goalie so I walked home by myself and I saw Archie walking. He noticed me and came over and apologized and said his friends were questioning his male bravado or whatever. He asked for my number and then he kissed me up against someone's Chevy pick-up truck." Lacey recalled. "God, this is so embarrassing." She covered her face, feeling her cheeks grow hot.
She looked over at Danny to gauge his thoughts on the inception of her relationship but his face was stoic.
"Chivalry is really dead." He finally said.
"Maybe," Lacey replied. "But I mean what would you have done?"
"Well, with someone like you, I would handle things differently but chivalry is awfully hard at teenage parties."
"No, no, how would you have approached me if you didn't know me?" Lacey was suddenly curious.
"Well, I'd try to be suave and introduce myself by pouring you a drink from the keg. Have some polite conversation, compliment your outfit, win you over with my immense charm, get you to dance with me, then I'd walk you home and pray you'd give me your number and if you didn't at least, I know where you live." Danny joked.
Lacey threw her head back in a genuine laugh. "Very smooth," She said, smiling at him. "Have you ever been in love?" She asked abruptly, immediately regretting it since the question was wildly inappropriate. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer." Lacey recovered, though she sort of wanted to know. Were there girls at juvie? Lacey didn't think so and if that was the case, how did those guys let out all that pent up sexual frustration? Lacey's eyes widened. "Are you gay?"
Danny let out a chuckle and shook his head. "No," He answered. "And yeah, I have been in love. I just didn't know it at the time."
Lacey nodded; his answer pounded in her brain. She didn't know why she was so interested. "So there were girls at juvie? Or did you guys have, like, mixers or something?"
"Mixers in a juvenile detention center!" Danny repeated in awe. "That would have been great." He lifted the straw in the milkshake glass and stirred the chocolate mess at the bottom. "There was a center for girls next door and we were connected by a courtyard so we would see them whenever we had free time." Danny explained. Lacey gauged his tone; it was far away, almost in a dream state. "And there was this girl, Raina, but I always called her Rae. She was probably the most interesting girl there. She didn't talk to many people and she said none of the girls liked her. Rae only talked to me because she saw me reading a book she loved and wanted someone to talk to about it."
Lacey was hanging on his every word. It was interesting to find out what kind of girl Danny liked because they missed that in their friendship. Lacey never got to meet any of Danny's possible girlfriends or crushes and with his rep on Green Grove, she never would.
"She reminded me of you." Danny stated. "She never let anyone in but when she did, Rae was this beautiful person: caring, funny, passionate, but headstrong and resilient. I loved it." Danny pushed his hair from his face to reveal a troubled, yearning countenance. Lacey couldn't decipher if he was lamenting his relationship with Rae or if he was yearning for something Lacey didn't understand. However, the intensity in his voice made Lacey believe that Danny was craving the attention and satisfaction Rae gave him. He wanted it back but Lacey didn't know where he would get it from. "Talking to her, gave me hope. She was like this reflection of what I left behind or who I left behind." His eyes went to hers and held her gaze intensely. "It was like I was talking to you."
Lacey smiled to herself. With everything happening in life, she hadn't thought of how Danny felt. He spent five years in a juvenile detention center with boys much older than him. Lacey heard stories about the abuse a young kid could get from the older kids. Being in such a hostile environment, Lacey assumed he would need some sort of salvation and Lacey was his in the form of Rae. She assumed that there was someone there that reminded him of Jo…"Did you love her?" Lacey asked, tucking her hands under her chin and gazing at him.
"Yes," He replied in a cavalier tone. "But there's a difference between loving someone and being in love with someone. I loved Rae. She helped me a lot in that place and I will always appreciate that. But, I was in love with someone else." Lacey gulped in a meek response. She didn't know how to go about this situation but she wanted to know more; she had to know. Danny shifted his weight over and cleared his throat. "Are you in love with Archie?" He diverted.
Lacey nodded, wordlessly. Of course she loved Archie. That was a dumb question for him to ask. "Yes, y-yeah, I do. I love Archie."
Danny bowed his head and grinned, not pleasurably but condescendingly. "But are you in love with him?" He pressed.
Lacey opened her mouth to agree but she knew she wasn't thinking things through. She had no reason to lie to him. What would Danny do? Lacey loved Archie. He was the typical, high school dreamboat and she got him. Archie was Lacey's ticket to normalcy after the destructive Desai five years ago. "How can you tell? You said you were in love? How do you tell?" Lacey whispered. Her voice sang of desperation and curiosity.
Danny glanced over at her, almost as if to see if she was being serious. His tongue ran over his lips as he prepared his answer. He drummed his fingers against the white countertop and shrugged. "I don't know." He replied.
Lacey let out a laugh of frustration. "Bullshit." She said getting a shocked response from Danny. "Pardon my French…but come on, you said you were in love so you know what it feels like, you know how your mind works under it. Just tell me." She was desperate to know. All her life…after Danny's departure from Green Grove…Lacey struggled with normalcy so her outlet was sappy, superficial teenage driven versions of perfection. Her view on love was based on reading confessionals in Seventeen magazine or seeing some girl pine over the boy on the football team in movies. Lacey wanted to know, firsthand, if her idea was right or if she was fooling herself for five years.
"Lace…" Danny started off; his voice was an apology saying, 'Sorry but every chick flick and hopeless romantic view you had was wrong'. "What do you want me to tell you? I knew I loved her when she handed me a crayon in kindergarten? If you haven't noticed, my life isn't exactly cookie cutter." Lacey sighed in a silent protest. She couldn't fight him on this because she knew she was asking too much. Lacey plastered a grateful, insincere smile on her face that she's learned to master over the years and ordered another plate of fries with the flick of her finger. "See, now you're mad at me." Danny pointed out, leaning over to examine her and poking her with his index finger.
"I'm not." Lacey brushed off. "I'm tired."
Danny rolled his eyes. "I'm not your boyfriend, so don't give me that stereotypical answer." He replied nonchalantly. Lacey didn't know why Danny so freely said things like that without thinking how it would make Lacey react. Danny picked up a fry from the fresh plate in front of them and wiggled his eyebrows like he was mocking her. "Lace, are you going to give me the silent treatment like for real?" Danny questioned. The thought never crossed her mind but now that he mentioned it, she wanted to just to see if his methods of getting her out of it changed. Danny narrowed his eyes and slid his stool closer to hers. "Lace," He whispered by her ear. "Lace…" Danny cooed, poking her in the rib causing her to twitch. "You're still ticklish." Danny nearly purred in her ear like a playful threat. "I'll tickle you in here in front of all three people if you don't open your mouth and say something to me." Danny warned.
Lacey arched her eyebrow and reached over him to take a fry and popped it in her mouth and smiled. "Are you testing me, Porter? Are you going to test the all-powerful Desai?" Danny questioned, raising his voice and glancing at her for her answer. He lifted his fingers and wiggled them by her ribs. "I'm going in for the kill right now, Lace." Danny said one last time getting a shrug from Lacey even though inside she was hoping Danny was just faking.
He wasn't, however, and Danny started to tickle Lacey and she wiggled and twisted under his touch. "Mercy!" Lacey shouted. It was their old word whenever something like that happened. When he stopped tickling her, Lacey hadn't realized how close he was to her. Her face was inches from his and his breath tickled her skin icily. Her breath hitched when he removed his hands from her waist, feeling the void of where his touch used to be. Her eyes searched Danny's for something…anything. She needed to know that he was feeling the same way. She couldn't be alone in this. She couldn't be the crazy one, yearning for his touch.
She licked her lips instinctively, knowing what she wanted now. Danny's lips quirked into a smirk and he leaned in closer, wiping something from the side of her mouth. "You had a little…" Danny started. Lacey gulped and bowed her head, embarrassed. "It's gone now." He ended, all while keeping that devilish, mocking smirk on his perfect bad boy face.
"Hey, do you want to come over?" Danny asked, pushing his hair behind his ear to get a better look at Lacey. "I won't lure you with blue ranch potato chips but I do happen to have Twinkies." Danny's lips formed that cute, little half smile as he looked at her cautiously, nervously.
"Danny, we've covered a lot of ground tonight but I feel like if I talk to you any longer or go to your house, I may fall in love with you." Lacey joked. Danny furrowed his brow in confusion. "Yeah, I can't tonight even though Twinkies sound delightful after two plates of fries and a milkshake. It's late and I should be home now." She apologized, watching as Danny nodded his understanding.
"Let me walk you home, at least. I know how scared you are of the dark." Danny reminded her. "Do you still sing that jingle?" He smiled knowingly. Lacey balanced on her heel and dropped when she caught sight of his smile. There was something about the way that he looked at her; it was like she was the only person he saw when he was near her. She bit down on her lip and nodded. "Some things never change, huh?" He said, nudging her. His fingers left a burning, electric line down her shoulder and she knew she wanted Danny to touch her again. She moved closer to him as they walked in the direction of Lacey's house. She could feel their fingers grazing along each other's as they walked wordlessly.
"Remember when we would sneak out to the swing set after the street lights came on and Jo never went with us." Danny said.
Lacey couldn't forget. She would tell her parents that she was going to sleep early and lock her bedroom door and climb onto the tree by her window and shimmy down onto the grass, all singing her little jingle. She would meet Danny by the swings and he usually brought candy or cookies or something because Lacey's parents hated when she ate junk food.
"I'm surprised you went…seeing how you're all afraid of the dark." Danny teased.
"Well, I knew that after that dreadful walk, I'd be with you…you know, my friend." Lacey replied, stealing a glance at him.
Danny took Lacey's hand and she nearly lost her breath. His hand was warm in her cool one and it made her feel secure. She remembered when Danny used to hold her hand—along with Jo's—on their way to school and she felt that nothing bad could happen to her when he was with her. "Is this okay?" Danny questioned. "I don't want to overstep any boundaries."
Lacey shook her head, flipping her hair to the side so she could get a better look at him. "No, you're fine. It's a friendly handhold, you know." She caught a glimpse of him staring at her lips and she felt herself gravitate towards him. Danny stopped under the cloak of an oak tree a few houses down from Lacey's. "Because we're friends and friends can do things like this," Lacey rambled. She was straying further away from the topic of handholding and moving towards something different…something that would overstep boundaries but Lacey didn't care. Both of their eyes were trained on the others' lips and Danny's hand moved from hers to her waist.
"Without overstepping boundaries…" Danny whispered, his facing inching closer to hers.
Lacey's breath hitched and she couldn't muster a word but only nodded helplessly but ready. Danny pulled Lacey into him with a sudden assurance and his hand rested on the small of her back while she wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's fine," Lacey whispered and closed her eyes and Danny pressed his lips against hers. His nose brushed against hers as he tilted his head to situate himself better. His kiss was loving and sweet but that wasn't what Lacey wanted right now. She wanted to feel loved by the person who used to love and protect her before she became Lacey Porter.
He was nervous and Lacey could tell as she broke apart from his slightly. "It's fine," Lacey mumbled, pulling him back into her and peppering kisses on him. "It's fine, Danny. Kiss me." She breathed.
Danny's eyes flickered up to hers and she could see the moonlight reflected in his dark eyes and he moved back into the kiss, more passionate than when he first initiated it. His lips were sweet from the chocolate milkshake he devoured not too long ago and she could feel them parting under hers. His hands travelled up and down her body as he began to take control of the situation. He pinned her against the trunk of the tree and pressed his body against hers. It wasn't as tense as she expected, in fact she had more rigidity in her body than he did. Lacey's hand worked through his hair and she extended her neck as he trailed kisses on her collarbone. Her groan received a satisfied laugh from Danny and he silenced it by kissing her on lips once again.
He was kissing her with a passion that was unparalleled. Lacey felt herself digging her nails into Danny's back as he toyed with the hem of her shirt. She desperately wanted Danny to continue but he stopped, leaving her waiting for his lips to return to his. "You should be home." Danny said, smiling as his thumb traced over his lips.
"So should you." Lacey replied coyly.
"Hey, my mom's going to start throwing her Tex Mex Thursdays again and I'd love it if you could stop by." Danny said nonchalantly like he never had her pinned against a tree.
Lacey shrugged. "I don't know. I'll see."
"If you do go, make sure you wear that cute sombrero." Danny teased. He took her hand and kissed it. "Now, go home. I'll wait here until you're home."
"Promise?" Lacey questioned, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. He was playing up that protector role that Lacey always loved about him.
Danny nodded. "Always,"