Chapter 4
"Dani, whats going on?" Matt asked, sounding worried. He was still approaching and Dani could tell her couldn't see her yet. If he could, he'd be way more concerned. She quickly tried to fix her shirt, but the bra was another issue, and she knew she was probably just a mess in general.
"What the hell happened to you? Crap, are you okay?" Matt was right in front of her now, and he was definitely worried, and angry.
Why is he angry? Dani wondered, He doesn't need to be mad.
But Matt was furious.
"Did he hurt you? What did he do to you? Who the hell was that guy anyways? God, Dani, what they hell is going on? Dani! Look at me!"
Dani reluctantly looked up at him. He was trying to stay calm, but his face was red and she was still too dazed to understand why.
"I don't know… we were talking and he was really cute… and then Parker was there… and I'm not sure…" Dani mumbled.
"Parker? You saw him? Fuck, I knew that wasn't going to be good." Matt ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes. After a deep breath, he opened them again and looked Dani over. "What happened to your shirt?"
"I don't know… I tried to get him to stop but he wouldn't listen. I think it's broken."
"Who is this guy? I'm going to go find him and-" That caught Dani's attention.
"No Matt don't. Seriously, can we just go? It's not a big deal-"
"It is a big deal. Jesus, Dani, if I hadn't come out here right then…. I don't even want to think about what would have happened. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine! Nothing was going to happen. Lets just go, take me home. Please."
For a moment Matt just stared at her, reluctant to give in so easily. Finally he said, "Okay, okay, if you're not hurt then we can go."
"I'm not hurt, I promise. "
"Okay, come on. We'll go around the side. I don't want you walking through the house with your shirt like that."
Holding on to his hand, Dani followed Matt around the edge of the house and through to the front yard. When they made it to the car, Matt opened the passenger side door and helped Dani in.
"Do you feel okay?" He asked, "You're not going to be sick?"
"No, I don't think so. I'm good."
Matt shut the door and walked around the car and got in. As he drove home, he tried to get Dani to tell him who the guy was.
" I don't remember Matt, I swear. I think his name was Taylor or Tyler or something. But either way it doesn't matter. You're not going back to that party to find him and you're not gonna see him ever again. Just let it go, okay?"
"Fine." He muttered. But Dani could tell her wasn't satisfied. He didn't speak the rest of the way back to her house. When they pulled up, Matt turned off the car.
"Are you coming in?"
"Yeah, is that okay? I wan't to make sure you get to bed safely."
"Yeah, do you wanna spend the night?"
"Only if you want me to," Matt said cautiously.
"Yeah, I do. I don't really want to be alone right now. Unless you're mad at me."
"Dani, no, I'm not mad at you," Matt's voice softened. "It's not your fault. He took advantage of you."
"Yeah but I let him."
"No," Matt said, sounding angry again. "You had way too much to drink, and he had no right to do what he did. It doesn't matter if you couldn't stop him. You were drunk. You probably still are, actually, and we're not going to argue about this anymore."
Dani unlocked the door, and the two of them crept inside. The chances that Dani's dad would wake up were slim, but neither of them wanted to explain anything so they stayed quiet until they made it upstairs to her room.
Without thinking, Dani pulled off her shirt to change. Matt had seen her in her bathing suit before- it was the same thing right? But Dani had forgotten that her bra was unhooked, and Matt hadn't noticed until now, when it came off along with her damaged top.
"Crap," Dani muttered. "Don't look, okay?"
It was too late though. Matt pulled his eyes away, trying impossibly to not think about what he'd seen. This was going to be a long night.
"Are you okay?" Dani asked nervously. Matt had been acting oddly formal since she'd accidentally flashed him. A few minutes after Dani had decided it would be best for her to shower before she went to sleep. She'd taken her time, and when she came back Matt was on the phone with his mom explaining that he was sleeping over a buddy's house. After he'd hung up, he didn't move from his position at her desk. She was in her pajamas now, and she sat on the bed waiting for him to say something. Nothing came.
"I'm fine," Matt finally responded quietly.
"Okay…" Dani had sobered up most of the way, but her head was now pounding a bit. "Should we go to sleep then?"
"Yeah… um, should I just sleep on the floor?"
"Why? My bed is plenty big enough for both of us."
"I know but…" Matt didn't finish his sentence. He just started fixedly at the floor. Dani wasn't sure what to do with herself, and after a moment the tension got too thick.
"Okay, well I'm going to go get some Advil… you can borrow an extra t-shirt to sleep in if you want, and I think there are a pair of your old gym shorts in my bottom drawer. I'll be right back."
With a sigh,Matt quickly changed once she'd left as he fought with himself over what to do.
Calm down, you're being ridiculous, part of him was saying. So you saw her without a shirt on- big deal. Stop thinking about her that way. You've shared a bed with her a million times, it's Dani remember? You can't go there.
The rest of his head fought back. You know if you share a bed with her tonight you're not going to be able to stop thinking about it. Just sleep on the floor. You have to get over this stupid crush and if you let her keep putting you in situations like this it's never going to happen.
But the first half of him won. He could just suck it up, couldn't he? Dani would think he was crazy if he kept acting like this. He would just act like nothing happened. It wasn't a big deal if she was okay with it right? And besides, he didn't want to sleep on the floor.
He moved over to sit on the bed just as Dani returned. She'd brought two glasses of water with her and she handed one to Matt.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. Ready for bed? You're not sleeping on the floor are you?" Dani said teasingly.
"Nope. Bed time."
Dani climbed in first, taking her spot closest to the wall, and Matt slipped carefully in next to her. Then he reached over, and switched off the lamp behind them so they were in the dark.
After a few minutes Dani said, "Matt?"
"Yeah Dani?"
"Thanks for helping me tonight."
"Anytime, you know that."
" I know," she whispered. "Good night." Her hand found his and just a few minutes later she was asleep, still holding on tightly.
