Chapter 37: Complications
Danny and Ravina
"Are you saying 'no'?"
"No!"
"What does that mean?"
"Well, it means – it's not a 'no', Danny, I promise. I love you. You know that. But… there are complications."
"Oh, you're talking about your father. Everything's ok, Ravina. He gave me his blessing yesterday. I didn't even have to ask. He's come around."
"That's – oh, well, that does make it easier. But there are other things too. I just need some time."
"How much time?"
"I don't know. Don't rush this, Danny. It's too big."
A chilly breeze made the school guard shiver. It had almost felt warm when he had come out here, leading Ravina Hodges into the garden of the puckwudgies. By now, December, this area was more of a square field of dried twigs, but it somehow still managed to maintain its beauty amidst the gray of the world. Just like Ravina did. He stared down at the tiny box with the diamond ring inside it. He had thought…they were ready…
The young woman put her long fingers over the hand, and pressed gently until the box closed. She kept a tight hold on his hands until he finally looked up into her wide brown eyes. "I want to marry you."
He let her draw him into a hug. Her head rested just below his chin, and the smell of her floral perfume mixed with the crispness of the air. He'd thought he had grown a thick skin somewhere along his twenty-seven years, thought he was ready to fight crime out in the real world, but still, Ravina Hodges could melt him like butter. There was a time when he had only been able to dream of being able to do something like this – to be completely relaxed. It had been such a distant wish that he'd been about ready to toss it into the junk pile of forgotten dreams, but something had made him keep at it. Whatever divine power was up there, nudging the two of them together despite the many 'complications' that Ravina was speaking of, Danny just hoped it wouldn't abandon him now.
If he could have, he would have stayed like this forever, cold and all, standing so close to Ravina that the rhythm of her breathing matched his. But he'd put his fate in her hands.
It wasn't until after they finally broke apart, and he'd returned to relieve Rafael on post of the lower level, that he got to think about what she'd said. Complications? What other complications could there be besides his obvious unworthiness and her father's concern that they would starve on the streets? He thought he had spent enough hours pacing back and forth along the stone hallways to think about this from every possible angle.
Except one, Danny realized, as he watched some Second Year children rush to their class. He would have to face it now, just like he should have faced it before:
The Credence Barebone Angle.
A/N: Oh yeah. We are there. I have a little bit of regret for not showing more of this relationship, but I thought there wasn't much that could be shown that couldn't also just be implied, and I didn't want to slow the pace of the plot, but I would love to hear what you think! Do you think there needed to be more?