Sorry it has been so long. But only one more chapter after this so I'm kind of trying to drag it out because I'm not ready for it to end. Then maybe an epilogue if I feel it needs to be wrapped up more neatly, we'll see.
I would also like everyone to read and review "We're the Young, We're Alright" By McSteph because she is bummed no one is reading and wants to stop writing it. But I think it is funny and cute and really want it to continue, so please review for my sake, haha. Thanks Everyone.
I couldn't help myself. I tried but I really couldn't. He said he loved me and even though I knew that wasn't enough, even though I told him it wouldn't be enough, I had to kiss him anyway. I missed it. I loved the way we worked together. Besides I knew he was too drunk to remember anyway. Our lips pressed together gently at first, then a lot more hungrily. Before I even realized it, I found myself perched on his lap, legs straddling either side of him. The intensity between us was undeniable, even if Danny was so drunk this would be a memory only I would hold. Maybe it was better that way.
His tongue was massaging mine and his hands had pulled me so close that I was plastered against his chest. We work so well together, my subconscious kept reminding me. I was getting hooked. I wanted to give into him and I knew that was a bad idea. We weren't right together, not yet at least. I pulled away from him and heard his small groan at the missing contact. I lifted myself off of him and sat next to him on the sofa, grabbing my water from the side table to keep my hands and mouth occupied.
"Max," Danny began softly, "I…" he paused and suddenly bolted from the sofa to his bedroom. I heard retching sounds coming from where he had ran to and sighed. Trust the guy I'm snogging to end up tossing it, I thought to myself before pulling myself up from my seat and heading to Danny's bathroom.
I stood in the doorway watching Danny heaving into his toilet and wondering how I got myself into messes like this. I knelt down beside him and held one of my freezing cold hands against the back of his neck. With the other hand I slowly pushed the sweaty curls off his forehead. This was probably partly my fault and one good thing that results from basically being a parent to a younger sibling is that things like this are not that much of a problem for me. It just doesn't bother me the way it does most other people.
When he had finally emptied his stomach, exhaustion overtook Danny. I pulled him up, forced him to brush his teeth, and splashed cold water on his face to clear his head a bit. He was wreck and I knew the best thing to do would be to get him to bed, but that he would sleep much better if he wasn't covered in sweat and goodness knows what else. I carefully helped him undress down to his boxers, all while he was apologizing to me for being a bad friend and whatnot. I ignored all that because you really can't take what a drunken man says to heart because they probably either don't mean it or won't remember it in the morning. I turned on the shower, making sure that it wasn't so hot that he would burn himself and told him to take a shower and closed the bathroom door behind me.
At this point I was actually fairly worried about his ability to stay conscious and kept my ear close to the door waiting for a thud telling me that Danny had finally passed out but thankfully it never came. I grabbed a clean pair of boxers and his warm Christmas pjs from his mother from his dresser and set them outside the door when I heard the water turn off.
"Danny I left your pyjamas outside the bathroom door," I called into him. "Change and then come and get me from the sitting room, ok?" I didn't hear an answer. "Danny, can you do that?" I repeated through the door. I heard a mumble and took that as a yes so I stepped out of his bedroom. I know I'd seen him naked before and I shouldn't really care all that much, but under the current circumstances it just didn't seem right.
I heard a lot of bumping and banging coming from his room and hoped he hadn't hurt himself too bad. The door swung open and I could see he had managed to get his boxers and pants on but was struggling with his shirt so I took pity on him and helped him pull it over his head.
"Thanks," he muttered as I led him back to his bed. "I don't want to go to sleep yet," he whined like a small child. I rolled my eyes remembering that he could act like this when he had drunk too much. I think it only happened when he got sick to. Probably because that made him feel like such a child to begin with.
"Then don't," I figured it would be easier to placate him at this point. "Just get into bed so I don't worry about you any more."
"Aww, you were worried about me," he gave me a cheeky grin, but his far off gaze and slightly slurred speech told me that he still wasn't all there. In fact, he was still really drunk and definitely wouldn't remember any of this in the morning.
"Sure Love," I said in a placating manner as I helped him slip into bed and tucked him under his comforter. "Of course I was." I was about to turn and walk away from this childish Danny wrapped tightly in his covers when his hands reached out and grabbed my wrist to stop me. He pulled back on me to get me to return to him. I wanted to fight it but knew I would get away faster if I just went along with him for now.
"Stay with me," he said. It wasn't a playful tone or a harsh one, but it was a demand. I sat down on the edge of the bed not committing to what he had asked. Suddenly his arms were around my waist and he pulled me over him so I was lying on the opposite side of the bed, right next to him. I would normally have been able to stop that without so much as an afterthought but he had moved much quicker than I would have expected from anyone in the state he was in right now. He giggled softly in my ear and remembering how much he had to drink, I knew that if I gave him a couple minutes he would be out and I could just get up and leave. At least, leave the room and go to the sofa, because I wanted to make sure he was ok through the night. Not that I would ever let him know that.
Danny's arms were still around my waist and, since I had already decided that fighting it would be a waste of time, I allowed myself to settle in a bit and wait for him to fall asleep.
Then I had a realization. If Danny hadn't been drunk, this would have been a perfect moment. I was so comfortable with his arms wrapped around my waist and his fingers playing with the bottom of my shirt. I wanted to settle down with my head on his chest and listen to his deep breathing and his heartbeat. I wanted this kind of perfect moment before I went to bed every night.
Then I had another realization. It wasn't the right time in my life for this yet. I could let myself fall in love with Danny and spend about a year in a perfect relationship with him before everything came crashing down around us, or I could convince myself that it was a bad idea and move on for the time being. I wasn't ready to do this and I knew that in the long run this wouldn't make me happy. And forget about just me, Danny wasn't ready for this either, the British public can attest to that. I'm not ready to have to constantly think about someone else in my life and my decisions right now.
Then I had a third realization. I would never be happy being this close to him and not being with him. But there was no way I could be happy with him either, because I'm just not ready for it yet. That kind of only leaves me with one option.
Danny's eyelids had begun to droop and his grip on me had loosened considerably.
"Danny," I whispered softly, turning in his arms so I was facing him and not the ceiling.
"Mhm?" came his soft mumble from the dark. I knew he wasn't listening and even if he had been he wouldn't remember, but I had to tell him first.
"I have to tell you something really important so just listen, ok?" He didn't even move so I took that to mean he was paying close attention, even though I'm pretty sure he was asleep. "I got this amazing opportunity from a team in the States." Still no movement. "They want me to play in L.A. for this team call the Sol. I've basically been offered a starting position and I'd be paving the way for American women who play the game. The guy that called said they want me to help bring recognition to the sport and make it big in the States like it is over here."
I paused thinking of how I wanted to phrase this. It was important to me even though I knew he had no idea what was going on. "I've decided that I have to go, even though I'll miss you and Bells. You have to promise to take care of her for me, ok?" I brought up a hand and brushed his damp curls away from his face. A soft sigh escaped his lips and I had to fight to continue on with my little speech. "I love you, Dan, but we're not ready for anything serious yet and it would destroy both of us, not to mention our family. We have to be apart for a while and this is the best way I can think for that to happen. I know you're not listening to me now, but I hope you can understand why I made this decision when I tell you about it again." I climbed out of his bed and circled around to where he was sleeping. I brushed a small kiss across his forehead and squeezed his hand before walking out to his sitting room and getting out blankets and a pillow so I could settle myself down upon the sofa.
Now that my decision had been made I would have to call Bridget and I would have to tell Bells when I went home tomorrow. As I fell asleep I found I was excited about this new chapter in my life and wondered if Bridget had made a decision as well.
*****
Danny woke up around six the next morning and realized that 1) he had definitely not made it to midnight for the New Year last night, 2) he was not really sure how he had ended up in his own bed, and 3) he had a splitting headache and his mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton. The only one of those he could do something about was the third so he slowly moved from his bed not making any sudden motions so not to make the hangover worse and made his way to the kitchen. A tall glass of water and two painkillers later he realized how early it was and wondered if he would be able to get back to sleep.
Walking back through his sitting room he noticed a figure sprawled across his sofa. Max's wild hair protruded from the top of the blanket and he realized that he had just figured out realization two. He had a vague recollection of Max hauling his ass back to his house and pushing him through his front door. Did they kiss last night? No- that didn't make sense. He must be thinking of some other girl, which got him thinking that he really hoped that Max hadn't seen him kissing whoever she was.
He quietly tiptoed past her and, once in the kitchen again filled another glass of water. He walked back past the sofa and set the glass on the side table next to it for Max when she woke up. He laid back down in his own bed and took slow gulps from his own glass hoping to ease his acing head, but at the same time knowing he deserved the pain he was in. He couldn't even begin to guess how much he had to drink last night and, when he was being honest with himself, he really didn't want to know.
He had almost fallen back to sleep when he heard his front door open quietly. He jumped out of bed to stop Max from leaving and realized to late what a mistake that fast motion had been. His head seared and he stumbled before hearing the door shut. He knew Max had left but knew there was nothing he could do to stop her as he felt a fresh wave of nausea sweep over him and bolted back to his bathroom just in time to stick his head in his toilet before being sick. He was not going to have a good day he could obviously tell that right now. Suddenly, he felt cool fingers wrap around the back of his neck and a soft hand move slowly up and down his back. He felt the nausea slowly subsiding and turned to face his best friend in the world.
"You didn't leave," he said, making sure his face was far enough away from her so she wouldn't be subjected to smelling his putrid breath. She was wearing the same jeans she had on the night before and a t-shirt he was fairly certain she had swiped from his drawer. Obviously she had dealt with at least a minor amount of discomfort last night in order to stay with him and make sure he was alright. For some reason he had the distinct feeling that she had been upset with him last night and appreciated that she had stayed in spite of that.
"I heard you fall and came back to make sure you were ok," she replied, a laughing smile flitting across her lips. "Clearly you are not."
He made a feeble attempt at a laugh but didn't want to force it so that whatever might be left in his stomach didn't feel the need to come back up.
"Brush your teeth," Max demanded of him before slowly standing and pulling him up with her. She walked out and, fearing she would leave, Danny hastened to brush his teeth and gargle with mouthwash before bolting, or at least moving as fast as he could without triggering another gag reflex, back to his front sitting room. She was gracefully moving about his home returning all the bed clothes she had used on the sofa to their proper places. He watched her move and wanted to hug her, but he didn't because of that nagging feeling that something was wrong between them, although he could not for the life of him remember what it might be.
"I'm going home," Max announced when everything was put away. He didn't even bother trying to stop her because he knew it would never work. "Let's get together tomorrow and play some ball," she smiled at him. "It's been a while."
Danny smiled, "sounds perfect." And he watched her retreat and close his front door behind her.
*****
I pulled out my phone the moment I was out of his house and went to dial the number of the coach who had initially called me to invite me to the team. But when I got a good look at the actual time I paused. It was only 8am here, and as LA was 8 hours behind that meant they were only now calling in the New Year, so I would have to wait until late this afternoon to make that particular call. So instead I phoned Bridget who I knew had gotten back into town yesterday to have a quiet New Year's celebration with her little boy. No doubt Christopher was already up for the day and I knew Bridget was definitely an early riser so I didn't think twice about dialling the number.
"I'm coming over," I told her the moment she picked up. I think she must have heard the urgency in my voice and told me I was more than welcome.
Knocking on her door I was nervous to tell her my decision and equally worried about what hers might be too. The moment she pulled the door open I blurted out without preamble, "I'm going."
Her face broke into the largest grin I have ever seen, "Me too."
I shouted my elation as I entered and found Chris skidding into the front hallway to hear what all the noise was about. "Me and mum are moving to America," he told me with excitement, but also a bit of wariness as though he was worried what my response would be to this news.
"Max is coming with us," Bridget told him picking him up in a huge hug and spinning him around.
"Really?" his eyes widened further as he squealed in delight.
"Sure thing," I told him as he made the usual move from his mother's arms to my own. "I couldn't let you go and have all the fun."
We discussed our plans further and both of our stories slowly came about. Bridget had spoken to her parents about the move and they had seemed so thrilled for her she realized how much she had always wanted to do something like this. It just took those people who loved her most to remind her of that. When she later spoke to her ex-husband he played it off as though it were all about him. I think the real deciding factor for her was when Aaron asked in a panic if she was taking Chris with her. Mistaking his worry for concern she said maybe they could work it out and Chris could stay with him to begin with. To that, the jerk answered that it was defiantly best that she take Chris along from the start. He had been panicked that Bridget was going to leave Chris with him, not that she was taking him away. Seriously, what man feels that way about his own son?
I told her that I had thought about all she had told me when I first told her about the offer a couple weeks ago. I wasn't ready to discuss the whole Danny thing right now, but I knew I had to bounce the reasoning off someone and she would be the one to understand. After listening intently to the whole story, and I do mean the whole story, she breathed out deeply. I was worried about what she would say for a moment but she cracked a smile at me.
"I think you're right," she told me, causing me to sigh with relief. She laughed. "You are the one person that I believe knows herself and what is best for you better than anyone else. If you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you will not be happy with him yet and that you will be happy playing for this team in LA, then I will back you 110%, always," she added at the end to emphasize how much she really meant it.
"You gotta be happy in life, Max," she grinned again. "I know that better than anyone. We have to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy. It'll be an adventure."
Alexis Gage – I'm glad you thought it was cute, but I feel like you might feel a bit differently after this chapter. Mostly because being sick from drinking too much is never cute, it's gross, haha.
McSteph – I know you said you wanted them to be together and now I'm really afraid you'll be upset with me for having her decide to leave. And I'm glad you don't want this fic to end, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but every thing must come to a close.