A/N: Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.
Disclaimer: I don't own Band of Brothers and this is meant for fun. No disrespect meant.
Danica got to her feet and went to the sink to look out the window that rested above it. Mrs. Henderson was Derrick's mother. It was a surprising fact and caught Danica completely off guard. Of all the people to run into…
"Derrick wrote to me about you." Mrs. Henderson continued when the silence became too much to bear. "He was very much in love with you." Danica cringed, guilt clawing at her. "He was so impressed with the woman you'd become." More guilt came rushing through Danica. "When he wrote about his desire to propose I couldn't have been happier for him."
"I never gave him my answer." Danica interjected, trying to alleviate some of the guilt she was feeling.
"How could you?" Mrs. Henderson replied. "The Nazis made your answer unnecessary." There was bitterness in her voice and as Danica turned to look at her she could see tears in the older woman's eyes. Once again here was silence as the ghost of Derrick Wheeler hung suspended between them.
"How did you know who I was?" Danica asked softly.
"He sent me a picture of the two of you from your trip to Cairo." A brief smile flickered over Mrs. Henderson's face. "It's the last picture I ever…" She turned herself so that she was fully facing Danica. "When I saw you at the grocer I couldn't resist speaking with you."
"So you know who I was the moment you saw me?" Mrs. Henderson nodded. "Why didn't you just tell me who you were then?" A blush came onto the older woman's cheeks.
"I was scared." She admitted. Of all the emotions she could of ascribing to Mrs. Henderson on that day at the grocer, fear was not one of them. "And I wanted to get to know you before you knew who I was lest it negatively affect your opinion of me." Danica frowned, moving to retake the seat at the kitchen table.
"Why would you be scared of that?"
"Honestly I don't know. Maybe I'm just a silly old woman."
"You're not a silly old woman." Danica assured her. "But I wish you'd been honest with me from the start." Mrs. Henderson stared at her for a moment.
"I can see why Derrick loved you." Danica flushed and turned her head as guilt reclaimed her emotions.
"He was a good man." She offered, more weakly than she would've liked.
"He was and he didn't deserve to be killed." Danica cringed. She had recounted the story of Derrick's death to Mrs. Henderson not long ago and if she'd known the truth earlier she would've been gentler in her choice of words. As if reading her thoughts, Mrs. Henderson reached across the table to pat her hand. "You have nothing to feel ashamed for and I certainly hold nothing against you. You're as much a victim of the war as he is. And I don't want you to feel beholden to whatever happened between you and my son. He would want you to live your life." Danica nodded, but felt a depression settling over her. Both Jacqueline and Mrs. Henderson were suffering from their own miseries and yet they were both being unbelievably kind to her; this in turn made Danica feel unbelievably selfish and horrible. Unsure of what to say, but wanting to say something, Danica offered up the first words that came to mind,
"War is hell." Mrs. Henderson nodded.
"Indeed." This time when the silence returned neither woman made an effort to break it. Danica left not long after that after having made profuse promises to return soon. She stepped onto the street with a relieved sigh. She glanced in the direction of Jacqueline's house; mentally debating whether or not she wanted to return to the house right away. She had almost decided when her eyes caught sight of Ron heading directly for her.
"Danica," He began as soon as he was close, "We need to talk about last night." Panic washed over Danica like a tidal wave.
"No we don't." She countered. "I've had enough talking for today." Since she didn't want to talk, Danica promptly turned on her heel and started to walk away. Ron called after her to stop, but she refused. Narrowing his eyes in irritation, Ron jogged after her.
"Damnit." He growled as he grabbed her arm and whirled her around. "I have to talk to you and you're going to listen if nothing else." Once he saw she was listening Ron continued. "You caught me off guard last night." It was a weak beginning and Ron inwardly cursed himself. "I—″
"Wait," Danica interrupted, confused, "What happened last night?" Ron blinked, caught off guard again.
"What happened last night?" He repeated. It took him only another second to realize that the alcohol had made her forget. He felt like an idiot for not figuring that out sooner. "Of course you don't remember." He ran a hand through his hair.
"What don't I remember?" Danica pressed.
"It doesn't matter. I should go."
"Hey, wait." This time it was Danica who grabbed his arm and turned him around. "What happened?"
"It doesn't matter." Ron insisted.
"Obviously it does." Danica insisted right back. "Since you came to track me down." Ron scowled, more at himself than at her. A stiff silence fell between the two.
"To hell with it." Ron reached out and placed a hand on Danica's back, pulling her roughly up against him. He gave her no chance to protest; instantly pressing his lips to hers. Danica resisted him only momentarily before her body relaxed in his arms. When the kiss ended, both parties were still. Ron was the first to recover and he did so with a thin smile; his hand reached up to caress her cheek gently. "You're too curious." He commented lightly.
"So my punishment is a kiss?" Danica asked wryly. Ron chuckled.
"Are you complaining?"
"Not at all."
"I was going to say…" Ron murmured as he moved in for another kiss. But Danica put a hand on his chest to stop him.
"Not here." She explained when he sent her a questioning glance.
"Location is becoming an issue." Ron grumbled.
"Well buy a house." Danica replied, pulling free from his grasp. "We shouldn't be intimate anyway."
"Believe me," Ron murmured into her ear as he passed, "We haven't even begun to be intimate." Danica blushed as she asked him where he was going. "Walk with me." Danica hesitated. Ron rolled his eyes. "Come with me." He repeated. He held out his hand to emphasize the point to which Danica raised an amusedly surprised eyebrow.
"You didn't strike me as the type of man who held hands." She teased.
"I'm not, but I have a feeling that if I don't have a physical hold on you you'll change your mind halfway there and run in the opposite direction."
"Are you saying I'm indecisive?"
"No," Ron replied slowly as he grabbed her hand, "I'm saying you need reassurance. Trust me."
"It's not about trust." Danica mumbled as she reluctantly allowed him to lead her down the road. "Where are you taking me anyway?"
"Somewhere private." Ron replied vaguely. "Do you want to tell me what happened between you and Mrs. Henderson?" Danica could see no harm in telling Ron what Mrs. Henderson had revealed so she did. "And who's Derrick?"
"A man who wanted to marry me." Danica replied.
"Have a lot of those?"
"No; Derrick was the only one."
"That doesn't surprise me." Hurt, she shot him a glare.
"What? Am I not marriageable material?" Ron returned her glare with one of his own.
"Don't put words in my mouth. And what I meant is that you strike me as the type of woman who doesn't enter into relationships easily."
"Oh." Feeling a bit bad for jumping to conclusions, Danica offered up some humor.
"Well that and the fact that there weren't a lot of chances for relationships in the desert." Ron chuckled.
"True. And where's this Derrick now? Still in Egypt?"
"He was killed by the Germans."
"Oh. I'm sorry." Danica muttered a soft 'thank you' as they stopped before a clearly abandoned house. The vines had taken over the brick and the rope remnants of a swing dangled from a tree in the overgrown front garden. It was a house that had certainly once been charming, but was now just sad. "Since there are no hotels in Aldbourne; we can't go back to my quarters and Jacqueline's isn't—"
"Jacqueline." Danica groaned as she remembered her pregnant friend. "We shouldn't be doing this." Once again Danica slipped away from Ron's side and he ran a hand over his face in frustration.
"I thought we already covered that nothing romantic was going on between Jacqueline and—″
"I know, but you don't—″
"But what?" Ron interrupted her interruption. "Danica," He positioned himself in front of her, cupping her face in his hands, "You're making this more complicated than it has to be." Danica rolled her eyes but smiled thinly.
"You have no idea what you're talking about." She informed him calmly as she reached up and wrapped her hands around his wrists before lowering his hands from her face. Ron frowned.
"Is there something you're not telling me?" Panic briefly shot through Danica and she shook her head, sending him a quick smile for good measure.
"No." She headed into the wild garden. "I'm just…worried; about what the people of Aldbourne would say."
"You don't care what they think about you." Danica gave him a frown.
"You don't know everything about me."
"I know enough to know that you don't care what gossiping strangers say about you." Danica had to admit Ron had her there and she told him as much as she bent down to pick up a rose. Ron watched her silently for a few moments. He wanted to ask how she was doing in regards to her father's death, but he didn't know what words to use; he was also well aware that she was hiding something from him, but he wouldn't press her. If she wanted to tell him, she would. Slowly, Ron reached down and put his hand on the back of her neck, squeezing it gently. She turned her head to smile up at him before getting to her feet. He didn't need to be told to know that she wanted him to kiss her.
"Just give me today;" Danica thought to herself as Ron traced kisses along her jaw line, "Then I'll give him up tomorrow."
A/N: Alright, I know that to many of you Ron may be out of character, but I'm going for a different, less taciturn version of him; like this is how he acts with the woman he loves. He still acts all badass to everyone else, lol. Thanks!