"C'mon Clara, get the lead out!" Lacey yelled up the stairs, "Whitney, tell your father I said thanks again for his truck."
"No sweat, he's probably still passed out from his binge last night." Whitney rolled her eyes and taped another box shut.
"Knock-knock." Archie said after walking right in without knocking, "Came to see if you need some help?"
"I'm leaving the big furniture, sell it, whatever. The place we're going is furnished." Lacey grumbled, fussing with finding the beginning of a new roll of packing tape.
"You don't want to store it?" Archie asked.
"It's part of the past I'm trying to move on from."
"Ouch."
Lacey dropped her hands to her sides, "You know what? Everything I say is not always about you, okay?!"
"Okay, Archie, let's get you carrying some of the boxes over by the pantry shall we?" Whitney held her hand out and guided Archie away from Lacey to diffuse the tension in the room.
Clara dragged her big suitcase down the stairs, "I got it all in here." She confirmed as she reached the bottom step.
"Great, go put it in Whitney's truck."
Archie came out with a double stack of boxes from the kitchen, "No worries Clara, I'll grab it—"
"Are you sure our tree will fit in Danny's place?" Clara wondered as she pulled off and packed up some of the ornaments.
Archie stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes darting from Clara to Lacey.
"Danny's?" He hitched his ear toward her as if he hadn't heard right.
Lacey rolled her eyes. It wasn't a secret, but she definitely had not planned on telling him about it. When she didn't say anything back he slid the boxes down his body and set them on the floor.
"This is bullshit." Archie said softly.
"Archie, just leave." Lacey requested, she had no energy to deal with this.
Archie closed the gap between them, conscious about Clara being nearby.
"You're moving in with him?!" He whisper-growled.
"We're just going to be roommates until I find the right place—"
"Oh, roommates sure. Nice." He shook his head, "Three fucking years I respected you, I played your games your way, you never let me in like that. You've known this guy for what, three weeks and you're already moving in?! What is it, huh? Money? He got a thirteen inch cock because I know you don't like ballet that much—"
"Watch it." Lacey growled back, hers not quite a whisper.
"Clara, come help me in the kitchen?" Whitney pulled Lacey's little sister along and away from these bickering exes.
"He's stealing my fucking family!" Archie held his hands out like he was showing her something obvious.
"YOU asked US to LEAVE!" Lacey matched him, throwing her own hands up.
"I didn't think you'd ACTUALLY LEAVE!"
"Get out. This is over, it's been over. Where I'm going and who I'm going to be living with when I get there is none of your business." Lacey pointed to the front door.
Archie's nostrils flared and he took off.
"That's everything." Lacey rubbed her hands together.
"Really? You guys travel light." Danny walked up beside her and threw his arm around the back of her shoulders.
Lacey shrugged him off gently and took a step away. At this point she was overwhelmed and ready to crawl into bed and cry.
"Hey when can we set up the tree?" Clara asked impatiently.
"You know, it's been a long day. How about I take Clara with me out for dinner while you two clean up? I'll bring some pizzas back with me and then you guys can all decorate the tree together while auntie Whitney goes home and drinks a whole bottle of wine by herself?"
"Thanks Whitney, I owe you." Lacey sighed in appreciation.
Danny closed the door after watching Whitney and Clara climb up into the truck and drive away.
"I think that went well." Danny said, the happiness in his voice making Lacey smile softly, "I got you guys new towels, yours are the fluffy white ones, I got purple for CC, I think she likes purple, right?"
"How'd you know that?"
"Her bag is purple, she wears purple to class more than any other color so I just assumed—"
Lacey followed Danny upstairs, stopping at the entrance to his room. Danny yanked his shirt off.
Lacey was stunned by topless Danny and barely collected her thoughts before realizing he was about to drop trou right in front of her. She quickly turned and stared at the door frame.
"I'm hopping in the shower. Coming?"
Lacey laughed like he as insane, "Uh, no—"
Danny pulled her over toward him before he further disrobed. Lacey bit her lip and wrapped her arms around him to mirror his embrace.
"You don't have to be shy around me."
"I'm not shy, I just didn't expect to see you naked right now—" Lacey looked down, unabashedly soaking in a closer look.
"I apologize if I made you uncomfortable."
"I'm not uncomfortable." Lacey whispered before kissing Danny's cheek, "I just kinda wanted to unwrap you for the first time all by myself."
"I can put my shirt back on if you really want to take it off of me—"
"Don't you dare." Lacey smiled.
Danny leaned forward and kissed the tip of Lacey's nose gently before going for more of the kisses Lacey gave him so freely in the studio several days ago. Lacey could feel his interest growing as their bodies remained pressed tightly against each other.
"We're alone." Danny panted when they finally broke apart.
"You remember the rules."
Danny rested his forehead against hers and tried to control his raging hormonal body.
"I'm not asking you to join me in my bed, I'm asking if you want to take a shower—" Danny defended lightly.
"I'm not there yet."
"Okay." Danny pouted and pecked her lips again softly, "I'll be out in a few minutes."
Danny forced himself to peel away from her and Lacey looked away again, hearing him finally shuck his pants off and toss his clothes into his hamper.
Danny disappeared into his bathroom, Lacey sneaking a peek at his backside before he closed the door. Danny's ass was perfect.
Lacey slid into her new room. It was smaller than her place at Archie's, but thankfully felt no less safe and comforting. She had been so emotional packing up the first place that had felt like home since her parents had left them in two very different ways.
Seeing Archie help her pack up and then him getting upset with her when he found out about moving in with Danny only heightened her emotions and pushed her to snap back at him. At that moment, she had wanted someone else to feel how she was feeling. To understand the pain she had inside. Now she just felt guilty.
Lacey: I'm sorry I got upset with you Arch
Archie: You're forgiven. I'm sorry I wasn't more sensitive at the time, I really wanted a goodbye hug. You all moved in?
Lacey: We are
Archie: Safe?
Lacey: Danny's a good guy Arch, promise
Archie: You think I could still get that hug sometime?
Lacey: I'd really like that
Archie: I love you, Lacey
Lacey: Good night
Archie: Sweet dreams
"Can you lift me up, Danny?" Clara asked, star tree-topper in hand.
"You got it!" Danny lifted Clara like he would any other ballerina.
Lacey smiled at Clara's giggles and Danny's obvious love and kindness toward her little sister. As with Archie, this adoration was genuine and not some ruse to impress Lacey. She was happy that Clara could find that sense of family and happiness from more than one person now.
"Nice!" Danny exclaimed and plugged in the lights, "There we go, tree is decorated, ready for Santa."
"I know Santa's not real." Clara raised her eyebrows in challenge.
"Not real? What are you talking about?!" Danny pushed back.
"It's just Lacey." Clara pointed at her sister.
"No, Santa is the magic. He shows us how to believe in something and wish for good things for yourself and for others. It's inspiring to think that one person can bring so much joy, and when you embrace him like Lacey does, it'll become your turn to take on his mission."
"Jesus is the reason for the season—" Clara informed him.
"Okay, there's that too." Danny laughed and went back for another slice of their very late pizza dinner, "What did you ask for this year?" Danny wondered out loud in between bites.
Clara stayed quiet and just fiddled with the tree. Danny realized this must be a sore topic and looked to Lacey for some assistance.
"C why don't you go try out the bathtub? It's bigger than our other place—" Lacey smiled.
"Bubbles?"
"Of course, your soap is out already and Danny bought you some new purple towels.
"Thanks, Danny." Clara said and skipped away.
"You bet."
Once Clara had gone upstairs Danny probed further.
"I stepped in it—"
"She asked to see our dad." Lacey revealed.
"Shit."
"It's the only thing she asked for."
"Do you have a way to contact him?"
"I did. He said he didn't want to further disrupt her life and asked that I don't contact him again."
"Does she know that?"
"Hell no. She thinks that his heart was broken after our mom passed and that he moved away with his friend because seeing us reminded him of her and it was too painful to stay, which is kind of the truth. Enough for a grieving ten year old anyway."
"So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know. She's older now, she's seen what happens when you lose people that you love. Gifts really don't matter to her like they did before. She just wants her dad."
"Can I talk to him?"
"Wha—no? Why?"
"I'm not trying to start anything, I'm just wondering if talking to someone who's on the outside looking in might help shape his perception of what he's really doing to his family."
"I don't think you should get involved—"
"Clara deserves people looking out for her. Let me try to help."
Lacey tossed her crust down and wiped her mouth, "Yeah, okay. Can't hurt."
Lacey pulled out her phone and sent him the number. Danny wasn't sure what he could do, but at least it was something.
"So, can we talk about this date?"
Lacey's mouth hitched up on one side, "Well, Clara got an invitation today to a Christmas party for one of her friends."
Danny literally inched himself to the edge of his seat.
"When?"
"This weekend, it's a sleepover."
Danny threw his fists in the air silently and made Lacey chuckle, his enthusiasm when it came to them was so cute.
"It's my last weekend before I have to do back to back shows for a while. This is perfect. Please? Please go out on a date with me?"
Danny plopped off the couch and crawled over toward where Lacey was sitting. He stayed on his knees and laced his fingers together to beg further.
"Wow, this is all very sad." Lacey pointed before Danny pulled her onto the floor with him, "Hey!" She squealed.
Danny rolled her over and pinned her gently, dipping his face in close and kissing her tenderly. Lacey responded and reached up to hold his beautiful hair out of their faces.
He rolled them again, this time with him in a seated position with Lacey's legs wrapped around him and sitting on his lap. Danny brought his hands to her ass and slid them down gently as their kiss continued.
Lacey could easily rock her hips forward and drive this man wild, but why start something you know you can't finish. She wasn't about to start torturing either of them for some first base dry humping bullshit while her little sister was just upstairs.
"Down boy." Lacey scolded and pulled his hands off of her.
Danny pulled back and rested both hands behind him, still balancing Lacey's perfect body in his lap but giving them both space to breathe, "Is that a yes?"
"Yes. I'll go on a date with you."