What now?
A/N: late again, I know, I know I suck! At least it's only a couple of days late this time instead of a couple of weeks. Not a lot to say other than to ask again for a few reviews, not because it feeds my ego, because I feel like I really want to know if the interest is there to continue, if anyone wants to see more and if they do or do not like where I have gone with this story thus far….
Thanks again to my officially unofficial beta (Heavynstargleek101) who I am blaming for at least one of the days of lateness of this chapter. Simply because she was on my computer fangirling all day with her friends and not letting me on to post! Without further chatter, enjoy!
"Hi" he said softly.
"Hi", she gave him a shy smile. Neither was positive what they should do or say at this point. She approached him, slowly at first, until he opened his arms to her. She finished the distance to him in two large steps and locked her body into place within his arms. Both took a deep breathe, as if it was the first either had taken since they were separated a few days ago.
"How are you?" he whispered into her hair.
"I'm okay…I…ummm…remembered" she whispered, pulling back and looking him in the eyes. He nodded, knowing full well what she was talking about.
"How about we get out of here and get some real food and we can talk?" he asked looking down at her.
"Sounds good to me" she nodded, stepped back, and grabbed her bag from the bed.
Darren took it from her hands and walked her out the door. They stopped at the desk to complete the checkout process and then outside to Darren's car. He held the door while she climbed in and shut it behind her. She laughed a little looking around it, as he made his way back to his own side.
"What's so funny?" he asked as he slid into his own seat.
"Get that bored without my delightfully insane company?" she giggled lightly.
"You're not insane" he said very seriously and sternly. Then added, "a little bored though, yes" he added with a shrug and a sure grin. The car was spotless. It was detailed inside and out, not a crumb to be found. Entirely different from the first time she had gotten into it.
They made their way very quietly to the hotel, hands knit tightly together over the center console, each other's lifeline once again. When they reached the parking lot and got out, quickly finding each other's hands again, they made their way inside and to the elevator.
"I thought we were going to go get real food?" Liz asked, confused.
"We are, I'm cooking" he grinned brightly at her.
"Why do I feel like I'm risking my life more now?" she asked, panic stricken look on her face, with a grin threatening to bust out. He smiled back and pulled her into another hug as the elevator took it's time reaching their floor.
"You'll be okay, I promise" he laughed lightly as the familiar 'ding' signaled the doors ready to open. They walked to the door; he opened it and let Liz slide in, in front of him.
"Oh my god" she breathed as she walked and looked around. "Did you do all this yourself or did you finally let the staff in to do their jobs?" she asked, wide eyed at how immaculate the entirely of the room seemed. Darren blushed lightly and pointed at himself.
"It was all….THIS GUY!" he said with a grin.
"SUCH a dork!" she said, shaking her head, but still smiling. He smiled in return as he guided her into the kitchen, which was equally spotless, and sat her in a chair that he had pulled out for her.
He went to the refrigerator and pulled out everything he had needed to make a nice salad, along with a couple of chicken breasts to heat and cut into the salads as well. She looked impressed at the things he had done.
"Wow" she remarked as he got to work with the good.
"What?" he looked up at her face.
"Everything, I guess. I feel like in the last three days you must have been taken over by aliens and replaced!"
He laughed lightly as he continued to work with the foods.
"I just wanted to make everything, I don't know…good(?) for when I could bring you….home" he said carefully. Eying her every few seconds to gauge how she was interpreting what he had just said to her, she looked like she was thinking, maybe considering her next words. He opted to continue.
"I got you some things too. I figured if you're going to stay, you needed to have some of your own things" he stated. "It's mostly all set up in the bathroom. Shampoo, conditioner, that kind of thing." He looked up at her again as he finished putting the salads together and brought them to the table.
After a quick trip back to the fridge to get a couple of types of dressings and bottles of water for each of them, he came and sat next to Liz at the table. She thanked him for the food and eyed him a little cautiously as he nodded his 'you're welcome' back to her. She took a bite and moaned lightly. This was definitely better than the food she had been served at the hospital. She also had no idea what to really say to him at this point, about the things he had said, about this being 'home', buying her things, staying with him.
"Is it okay…that I did that stuff?" he asked with a nervous hint to his voice. "I just wanted you to be comfortable, safe. I wanted you to know I wanted you to stay" his voice trailed off a little at the end.
"It's, ummm, it's … nice…thank you" she said barely above a whisper, looking at him with sincerity in her eyes. "How long though? I mean this is a hotel Darren. It's not my home; it's not even your home, not really. You are going to have to leave soon yourself. What then?" she let out a breath she hadn't realized had been trapped in her lungs. "Wouldn't it be easier to just let all this go now? To not pretend that it's all real?" she looked hurt, confused. He understood, to some degree. He was offering more than she realized and he'd have to explain better. But not now.
"How about for tonight, we finish eating, we don't talk about anything important, we'll watch a movie or something and just go to bed. We'll hit the important stuff tomorrow. Would that be okay? Just one night off of the heavy stuff?" he asked, hopefully, giving his best puppy dog eyes. Who was she to say no to that?! She couldn't, so with a giggle and a shake of her head, she agreed to his terms.
They ate dinner talking about things of little to no consequential value. After they cleaned up the food and dirty plates, he led her to the patio to give her, her present.
"What's this for?" she asked looking up at him from her chair, holding the little well wrapped package in her hand.
"Cause I could!" he grinned again. That damn grin! "Just open it, it's nothing really" he added. He suddenly felt a little nervous that she may think he was trying to flaunt his wealth or something.
She started opening the paper, looking at him the entire time. When she felt the paper loosen enough she looked down and pulled it away.
"You bought me an IPod?" she asked, a little confused, surprised, and happy all at the same time.
"Well, I remembered you used mine when you were in the bath and so I thought you liked it. If you already have one we can take it back and" she cut him off with her own words.
"I don't have one" she said as she pulled it out of the box and turned it on. "It's already got….did you put music on it for me?" she asked looking up to him yet again. He nodded a yes with a small blush on his face. She scrolled through; she didn't know all of the songs but did know a few. She smiled and nodded her head a she looked with a grin on her face. She looked at Darren just after she realized he had put his own song, Not Alone, into the list.
"That song has saved me more than once you know" she said, tears in her eyes now. "You saved me before you ever knew me". She let out another labored breath as her tears started to fall more consistently now. He couldn't help but allow his to follow suit. He got down on his knees in front of her so he could put her back into the comfort of his arms. They stayed like that for a while until he straightened up again to look her in the face.
"What happened to nothing serious tonight?" he asked lightly. She giggled as she wiped her tears away, and then reached to do the same for him.
"It was your fault, ya big jerk!" she laughed. He smiled.
"Movie!" he stated matter of factly as he pulled her up and dragged her back into the hotel room. "I'll get popcorn, you pick a movie" he said, pushing her toward the living room area where she would find his DVD stash, now removed from his bag and stacked nearly by the television.
She picked a random romcom, only slightly surprised to have found it in his collection and slipped it into the DVD player. Darren returned with popcorn just as she was skipping through the previews to get to the main menu screen.
"Ready?" she asked as he sat on the couch next to her.
"Let's do this!" he grinned, setting the bowl on his lap and getting comfortable. She pressed play and the opening sequence began.
They watched the movie in near silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, just quiet. They laughed when appropriate, ate their popcorn, and paid more attention to the cheesy film than was necessary. It was the easiest way to avoid starting a serious conversation that neither one wanted to have tonight.
As the end credits rolled, Liz stopped the DVD and off the TV. She stretched as she stood, reaching out to pull Darren up from the couch as well.
"Bed" she said as matter of factly as Darren had earlier about the movie. She started pulling him toward that room. He followed quietly, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth as he went. She grabbed the pj pants and tee shirt she had worn before and went to the bathroom to change while Darren stripped down to his boxers and wife beater he had been wearing under his clothes. Putting his dirty clothes in a bin by the door, he climbed into bed. Liz walked in then, adding her own clothes to the bin, she made her way to climb into bed as well.
Darren didn't move to touch her, he felt like it might scare her now in some way he lay on his back staring at the ceiling, she lay facing the doors that led to the patio. He flipped the lamp by his bed off and they lay there in a dark silence. This time it was awkward, neither wanting to say it, but both wanting to cuddle like they had before, wanting the comfort from the other that they had previously enjoyed.
"So, serious talking tomorrow?" Liz asked, mainly to cut the quiet.
"We should, don't ya think?" he asked a little nervously. She thought he sounded cute, almost like a nervous child having to tell his parents that he had messed up. She nodded first, with a tiny grin, and then spoke her agreement.
"Yeah, I think we need to, too" she whispered. He nodded his agreement and satisfaction. Then the silence began to fill back in again. Tired of the awkward feel between them, Liz reached back, grabbed at Darren's hands and pulled him toward herself. He rolled to his side as she pulled his arm around her, snuggling down into the bed and backing slightly so her back was against his chest. He cuddled into her, returning to the comfort of being her big spoon again.
"Goodnight Liz"
"Goodnight…dork!" she returned smiling, comforted.