So I had this written and I wasn't TOTALLY sure if I wanted to post it, but someone (CrushedCoppelia!) thought it would be good to have a Danny P.O.V. So here you go lmao.
AMAZING guess work, my friend. That was great =]
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[Danny's POV]
Another wave of guilt washed through me as her eyes, so full of anger and hate, appeared in my mind. I rolled over in my bed, frustrated beyond belief with myself and her.
My eyes flickered to the red digital clock on my night stand for the hundredth time that night, the bright 12:30 staring over at me as though laughing at my weakness.
I had nothing to read... nothing to watch... nothing to do in order to get my guilt off my mind. My bed was too hot and open, leaving me to think unhelpful thoughts all alone. Why did I always get myself into these kinds of situations?
I pulled back my duvet, unfolding it from between my bed and box spring and dragging it behind me out to my couch. The mindless routine had been going on for nearly a week as her angry, disgusted eyes kept me awake night after night.
But I'd caused it. It was like I fed off her anger.
I ran my hands angrily through my hair as her words filled my mind, causing the adrenaline in me to fire up and keep me awake. It was always like this when she came to visit her brother. I would be a royal asshole to her, like she deserved, and then the regret and guilt would keep me awake for hours on end.
In frustration towards my circling thoughts, I flicked on the television trying to find the most boring channel. The Spanish channel always helped me sleep with their fast conversations flooding and overwhelming my mind. It would aways overthrow whatever was bothering me in the first place.
I slowly drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep, unwilling to fully succumb to unconsciousness. Whenever I went far enough to dream, my thoughts would just return to her.
It was totally unnatural for me to feel this way. I hated her! Hated her for having such a hold on me. It had always been this way, ever since we first met when she was only sixteen years old. I'd always felt something for her. Even when she screamed at me, spilled something on me, or even (on the rare occasion) hit me, I'd always felt something for her.
But I could control it. As long as the fiery hatred I felt for her remained, I could control it.
It was easier to handle when she was far away at school, her presence absent from my daily life. Whenever she came to visit I seemed to loose everything I'd worked for when I'd put a indestructible wall between us. When she came home it would come crumbling down around me, so easily destroyed I could nearly cry.
My mind continued to reel in small circles, never allowing me to fully sleep as the unrecognizable Spanish fluency drawled on around me. I was slightly comforted, and slightly annoyed, as I thought about her sleeping soundly at her brother's house, unperturbed by our never ending fight. She never let it get to her... it never affected her the same way it affected me.
Some other part of my mind recognized rapid knocking coming from some outside area. I groggily pulled myself awake, listening for something to explain the unreasonable sound. Again, I heard the sharp knock come from my door sounding impatient and alert.
I sat, unmoving for a moment, trying to sort my overtired thoughts. Who on earth would be at my door now? If it was one of the guys they would've just walked right in.
I suddenly realized that the person, or thing, was waiting for me to answer. I unhooked myself from my couch, stumbling slightly through my living room to hit the light switch. I could see the shadow of a girl outside on my porch, quickly moving back and forth in the cold weather.
In haste, I unlocked the door and swung it back, my eyes unable to fully focus from lack of sleep.
She stood on my porch. The girl who kept me awake night after night stood looking at me desperately with her hands shoved deep into her pockets. How could she be here?
"Ella?" My voice croaked, unable to completely comprehend this new development. I must've been dreaming...
She began to speak rather quickly, too fast for me to understand in my tired state. I continued to stare in confusion down at her, unsure of what to do. How was i supposed to react?
"It's cold out here..." She finally sighed, her head bowing down in defeat as she finished her quick explanation. It was so unlike her to just give up her pride so quickly, especially to me. I'd never seen her like this before.
"Come in..." I sighed, stepping back to allow her enough space to enter, hoping that the cold air would remain outside.
She met my stare for a moment before taking a few proud steps into my house. I self consciously looked around, praying that I hadn't messed the place up too much. Her eyes were scanning the apartment as though everything around her wasn't quite real. I was starting to grow anxious and agitated as her eyes continued to analyze my possessions.
"You can sit..." I mumbled, trying to distract her from looking too closely at the piles of bills I had scattered across the table, or the unclean dishes that I still had in my kitchen sink. She glanced over at me before swiftly moving towards my couch, sitting very conservatively at the far end. I took my original seat, accidentally sitting on top of my pillow and blanket. I was too tired to care...
"Why are you watching this?" Ella asked after a few moments of complete silence. I noticed that I was staring rather unseeingly at the television, not really taking in the pictures on the screen. I looked over at her, unsure where she was going with her question. I really was just too tired for a fight...
"When I'm having a hard time sleeping, I play it. It helps," I mumbled in response, pulling my blanket out from underneath me to cover my bare chest. I'd forgotten that I wasn't wearing anything...
"You don't sleep in your bed?" She continued to ask as she spied my blanket across my abdomen. I couldn't look at her any longer as embarrassment seeped through my pores. The television held no interest to me, but it was much easier to look at.
"When I can't sleep, I come out here," I replied, trying to hide the weakness in my confession. She couldn't know that the only reason I was unable to sleep was because of her.
"You weren't sleeping?"
"Yeah, I was actually. I'd just fallen asleep," I sighed, hoping to push her questions away. They were approaching unspeakable territory. "Why are you asking so many questions?" I shot back, hoping to wound her slightly.
"Um... I was just curious..." She trailed off irregularly. It was unnatural for her to let me win such an easy confrontation. Under normal circumstances she would have me pinned against the wall in less than a second. Why was she letting me talk her down so easily? It caused more guilt to wash through my entire body. She had to know the pain it caused me... otherwise she wouldn't react as she did, right? She knew just how much it hurt me whenever she let me win.
"My friend was able to learn Spanish from only watching the Spanish channel for a year..." Ella spoke after a large block of silence between us. My head swiveled in her direction, unsure if she was holding a polite conversation, or just speaking to fill the silence.
Either way, I jumped at the opportunity for some peace.
"She could speak it?" I asked, urging her to continue.
"Pretty much. We went to Spain together and she could get us from place to place with no problem," She replied, her eyes never really moving from the television.
"I can kind of understand what they're saying... but I can't say anything back. My accent is rubbish..." I spoke, hoping that our conversation wouldn't die. The guilt would slowly subside from my mind whenever she seemed at peace. Maybe I could catch a few moments of nice, quiet sleep... "I watch this stupid soap enough, I might as well be able to understand them..." I pulled my blanket up higher over my body, soaking into the comfortable warmth.
"Do you have trouble sleeping?" She asked after a short moment of silence.
I peeked my eyes open in her direction lightly, slightly nervous with the turn of the subject of our conversation. I could lie to her. I could tell her that tonight was just an off night. She would never know the difference...
"Recently I've been having trouble. It depends..." I answered truthfully, unable to completely stop myself. "I'll be able to sleep better soon."
"Why?"
"You ask a lot of questions, you know? Especially because you're supposed to hate me." I needed to get the conversation off of me. It was much too close for comfort...
"I do hate you," She responded quickly, as though needing to reassure me. "I just have to stay on your good side right now, though. You could chuck me back out into the cold." She added thoughtfully, causing me to chuckle lightly to myself.
"Nah, I'm too tired to fight with you right now. That's probably the only reason I didn't put up a fight when you showed up at my door," I responded in the exact same tone as she had used, though we both fought for completely different reasons.
"So even if I called you a spoiled, bratty pop star who can't tell a snake from a monkey, you'd still let me stay?" She asked, her tone teasing.
"Watch it, Cruella." I barked, my eyes sliding shut again as sleep welcomed me.
I felt her shift on the couch next to me, sliding into the same position I had adopted moments before. Our legs were bent up onto the cushions, allowing our back to lay vertically on the couch cushions. It was weird knowing that we were laying in the same position.
"Shoes off the couch," I mumbled out of habit, unable to stop myself.
"Jeez, you're worse then my mom..." She grumbled, her shoes noisily falling to the floor. "Now my toes are cold..."
"Getoverit..." I was so close to sleep...
From her end of the couch I felt something skim the bottom edge of my blanket.
"Don't touch my blanket..." I grumbled, pulling it away slightly. I had to stand some kind of ground. I couldn't go from royal asshole to prince charming in one night. It would be too weird.
"What am I supposed to use?" She remarked, sounding slightly angry. That was the Ella that I knew.
"In the cupboard... I've got more..." I responded, pointing in the direction of my cupboard and glancing at her quickly before my eyes shut again. Her impatient face clouded my mind, blocking any type of sleep that had been closing in on me before.
"Don't mess 'em up..." I grumbled, slightly angry that she'd stolen away my ability to sleep. Why did this always happen?
"Everything is in order, your majesty." Ella replied, sliding back onto the couch and wrapping herself in the warm blanket that she'd stolen from me. I watched in amusement as she wrapped the blanket around her like a sleeping back, the top of the duvet falling over her shoulders and face.
"You look like an Eskimo..." I commented, laughing slightly as her eyes fixed upon my own.
"You're lucky I'm trapped in this blanket, otherwise I'd come over there and show you a piece of my mind," She laughed as well, wiggling into her small end of the couch.
"You should invest in the Snuggie. That way you'd be warm and able to punch me at the same time." I offered, liking the sound of her laugh.
"Hm... I'll have to look into it. Maybe I should send the guy who invented it a Thank You card,"
"He's in jail, I think. For beating up a prostitute or something crazy like that," That's what was on the news right? Actually...
"Really?"
"Actually... that may be the ShamWOW guy..." I reconsidered, thinking of the overly enthusiastic man who sold ShamWOW's on the television. I'd heard that the super absorbent washcloths weren't that WOW-like anyway.
"Danny..." She sighed, smiling contently and kicking my leg from underneath her cocoon. My heart nearly stopped beating as she said my name with no tone of hate or anger. I chuckled as well, kicking her back lightly as sleep welcomed me once again. It was almost euphoric how happy I was...
"You know... you're not as evil as I thought you were..." I mumbled, needing her to understand that I didn't hate her. I couldn't hate her... but I had to.
"And you're not quite as arrogant when you aren't trying to impress other people..." She retorted quickly, sighing contently. I listened as she matched her breathing with my own, long breaths and allowed whatever sense of sleep I had to overtake me. I'd been so long since I'd had a good nights sleep...
I awoke a few hours later, a light ray of sun streaming through my windows and glaring through my eye lids. I peeled my eyes open, unwilling to let the warmth that I'd had move away. I'd just experienced one of the best nights sleep of my life. I didn't want it to end.
But I knew it must. The clock on the wall read that it was nearly 9:00. Ella probably hadn't told Harry where she was going, so he would soon be worried, right? I glanced around the couch, trying to find her face in the tangles of blankets that we'd created.
I nearly gasped as I spotted her head right next to me, curled happily between my arm and my chest. When had I moved to her end of the couch? How had I not noticed her there in the first place?
Oh god, I hope she hadn't woken up yet. We couldn't do this. I couldn't do this!
I gently pulled my arm out, praying that she'd remain asleep. Her face pulled into a pout, her eyebrows bunching together as her lips frowned. I nearly stuck my arm back under her head just to make her happy again. But I couldn't do that... that wasn't me.
I slid my entire body away from her, standing up and stretching lightly.
"Ella? Ella, wake up. You should be getting back to Harry's now..." I nudged her, hoping that she was an easy person to wake up in the morning.
"Five more minutes..." She mumbled, pulling her blanket closer around her body. I smiled lightly, unable to stop myself. It was... well, it was kind of cute.
But I couldn't let that happen.
"No, Ella, now. Really, he'll start wondering where you've gone..." I added, standing up and pulling a bunch of her blankets with me.
"Oh... alright..." She mumbled, untangling herself from the majority of the duvet before handing it over to me sleepily. I gave her a small smile before walking over to the door with her, praying that she wouldn't expect things to change between us. Our relationship had to stay this way, no matter what. I couldn't let her close to me. It just wouldn't work for us.
"Um... well, thanks," She mumbled awkwardly, glancing up at me briefly before looking away again.
"Yeah, no problem..." I trailed off, nervously scratching the back of my head as I tried to get her to leave. I needed some serious alone time.
I opened the door and felt a huge gust of freezing air enter my flat. She shivered lightly, shoving her feet back into her boots and stepping out onto my porch. Her hair short brown hair floated around her head in the wind, almost halo like, as she folded her arms over her chest to hold in some of the warmth.
"Bye," She whispered, meeting my gaze before spinning around and descending the short staircase up to my apartment.
"Bye, Ella..." I replied quietly, unsure if she could hear me or not as she reached the bottom steps. I closed the door, blocking her from my view and groaning in frustration.
Things were totally going to get worse.
