Phoebe hashed things out with her very social and exceedingly confident girlfriend. Whitney had pled her case for the thousandth time, unwilling to say sorry for the fun she found within Lacey's lips. Phoebe basically gave up and left for work. Whitney went back to sleep, Danny and Lacey doing the same a few feet away.
A little after noon an ambulance driving by the building, alarm blaring, startled Lacey from her sleep. Her eyes popped open and her mind worked to validate where she was and what she was hearing.
She looked over at Danny, still sleeping peacefully next to her. She heard fumbling in the bathroom and then the squeak of the shower knobs turn on the shower spray. They were alone.
Danny had been right several hours ago, Lacey loved mornings with him. She began kissing Danny's face, his neck. She bit his shoulder and got a groan from him just before his unconscious mind connected with the now.
"Morning." Lacey croaked, in a tone Danny was relieved to hear leave her mouth.
"Morning."
Lacey wriggled her bottoms off beneath their sheet and then continued pressing kisses into Danny's flesh.
"Mmm—" Danny enjoyed her attention, soaked in her love.
Lacey knew they didn't have long and rolled herself on top of Danny's body. Danny accepted her deeper kisses and the pair worked together to wrangle his awakening junk out of his pants.
Lacey immediately slid him inside of her, knowing he never needed any real pregaming. Her center was overheated, their body heat turning their awful bed situation into a little oven as they slept.
Danny couldn't remember her ever feeling so warm, his hands now pawing at Lacey's thighs and moving to wrap around her ass as he encouraged her movements.
"Damn."
"Shhh—" Lacey whispered quietly in his face, "Shhh—" She said again and smiled before capturing his lips with her own and moving even faster.
Danny typically liked to participate whenever they made love but this morning that was not an option. Before he could even try to help her move Lacey was already there, dominating and predicting every want and need he may have. He just lay there, so thankful for her energy.
It was two minutes in when their mutual need for oxygen made them unable to continue kissing. Lacey laid on top of Danny while she worked her grind, both of them with their faces smooshed in next to each other while simply breathing together.
"Fuck, Lace—"
Danny's eyes rolled closed first which thrilled Lacey to no end.
"You're incredible." Danny whispered in her face, "I'm done—I'm done—" His voice trailed off and Lacey felt his body pulse below, his words melting into soft, blissful grunts.
Lacey could feel the sudden gush of fluid start trickling out around their union and circled her hips to catch some near her clit before grinding down harder.
"So good." Lacey purred quietly and continued rocking against him through her own orgasm.
"I have plans for you tonight." Danny said a tad ominously.
"Yeah?" Lacey loved when he tried to be darker than he ever could be.
Danny nodded and massaged her ass enthusiastically as she remained laying along the entire length of his body, something he knew that if done long enough would start her back up again.
"What plans?"
"I'm eating everything." Danny announced huskily, the sudden deep tone to his voice making her quake a little.
Lacey buried her face into Danny's neck and just smelled him. He was very talented with his mouth and it had been so long. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't excited about it.
Lacey slid her core over to straddle Danny's thigh and continued grinding against it gently. He would need time they didn't have to be ready for another round but the throbbing between her legs was overwhelming.
Danny helped her grind, saying all of the things he knew always moved her finish line up. She loved when he would hold her hips like that, say those things.
"Up." Danny said simply when he heard Lacey's breathing hitch and become erratic.
It was his hand wedging it's way down to seek her clit that was her second undoing. Danny's muscular leg was just fine, but the controlled, direct pressure from his hand was exactly what she needed. She ground against his talented fingers until he felt her stop breathing, face still buried in his neck.
"Yes—" Lacey groaned softly, too tired to come up with any other words.
"You're so sexy." Danny admitted, his hand still trapped between his thigh and Lacey's incredible body.
Whitney flung the bathroom door open and glanced over to her friends to see if there were up yet. When she saw them under their blanket and laying up top of each other she looked away fast.
"Morning, sorry if I—interrupted." Whitney grumbled as she continued on to the far end of the apartment to get ready for the day.
Lacey and Danny pulled themselves together and Lacey dashed off to the bathroom.
"Hey, you okay?" Danny wondered as he covertly bagged up the soiled cushions around him.
"We're rocky. She's pissed." Whitney sighed and pulled on jeans and some bullshit top.
"But what about you?" Danny paused to focus on her.
Whitney sighed and flopped her hands down at her sides in frustration, "I don't know. I guess I just imagined my first relationship as feeling more—right—or something."
"Do you even want a relationship?"
"I thought I did." Whitney squinted in thought as if she could only see better she'd find the answer.
"I'm just saying, you've always been more fluid with things, free. Like last night." Danny said gently, "Maybe Phoebe is not the right match for you."
"Well what am I supposed to do now?"
"To be fair she was only looking for a roommate."
"So you think we should go back to being roommates?"
"I'm not suggesting anything, but you're not happy and I hate seeing that after everything you've gone through."
"Right now I just want to help her with this fucking play so we can all move on with our lives."
"I have no choice, Lacey already volunteered me so I'm right there with you." Danny grumbled.
"Maybe this is just how Phoebe is when she's stressed." Whitney reasoned, completely ignoring Danny, "I mean maybe this is just how she is before a show—"
"Maybe, but maybe she never expected you'd kiss anyone else while you were a couple?" Danny said assuming the more obvious reason was the real and likely scenario.
"It was a game." Whitney defended, irritated with knowing that Danny was exactly right.
The three friends comfortably coexisted for the next hour before heading out for a walk around the city. Danny dragged the bag of cushions out with them and dropped them off at the laundromat to have cleaned.
Danny knew of a deli he used to go to all the time with Whitney and Archie in high school and brought Lacey there for lunch.
"Holy shit." Lacey nodded in between bites of the best sandwich ever.
"Right? I told you."
"You should bring one of these back to Johnny and help him with his menu—" Lacey said absently.
She had been adding in those little suggestions for weeks, subliminally trying to get him to come back to Green Grove. Danny wasn't sure why it bothered him, but it did.
Maybe it was because he felt needed here, like he knew Whitney was always one bad night away from being homeless again. Lacey was in school, she had family there, friends. Whitney didn't have that. Danny struggled thinking about building his own life.
Danny was also worried about Archie coming back to the city after rehab. At least he could help his best friend stay on track if he was involved with his day to day. There were always reasons why it made more sense to stay here, but Lacey made it clear that she needed him too.
"Maybe someday." Danny settled with an opened ended response, trying his best to manage her expectations but not completely shut them down.
The three took a ride share to a home goods store and Lacey navigated the foam mattresses, pillows and blankets for Danny before they returned for the cushions and headed back to the apartment.
As Whitney reluctantly cleaned up to try and make things less volatile between her and Phoebe, Danny and Lacey happily worked together to set up Danny's new bed. Just as they had all found their groove, someone's phone began vibrating wildly.
Danny slapped around his own pockets and found his quiet phone. Whitney walked over to the pile of hoodies on the floor and wrangled out Lacey's phone.
"It's you, Lace." Whitney shouted over the music they had blaring, "Says Jack?"
"Jack?" Lacey's face squished up as she reached for her phone.
"Your lawyer?" Danny asked as he turned the music off.
Lacey nodded yes, "Hello? Hi, yes—oh, really?"
Danny shot Whitney a look and tried to figure out what was so important.
"Are you serious?" Lacey's eyes were huge, she looked at Danny in surprise, "Wait, hang on, hang on—" Lacey fumbled with her phone and quickly opened an app before putting the phone back up to her ear, "You're right, it's there, wow, wow—okay. Yes, thank you. You too! Bye-bye."
"What is going on?" Danny held his hands up.
Lacey looked at Whitney and dragged Danny to his corner for some privacy, trying to reel in her excitement, "The judge decided on how to split the settlement money from Gloria's estate!"
"Really?" Danny checked his phone again, no missed calls.
"Check your account—" Lacey encouraged.
Danny logged in to his bank account: $537.28 down $100.00 after lunch and the trip to get the new bedding. He probably wouldn't have enough for his part of the rent this month. His face registered his disappointment.
"Nothing? I'm sure they'll call you soon—" Lacey shrugged, "Want to know how much?"
"Yes."
"Guess."
"Couple thousand?"
"Nope."
"Couple hundred?" Danny aimed lower.
"Colder."
Danny's face got super serious, "How much is it?"
Lacey pulled up her account and clicked on the most recent deposit: $10,000.
"Are you kidding me?" Danny checked his phone again, nothing.
"Oh my god, think about what this means—we can get our own apartment! You can get a car, go to college with me—" She squealed, her fast, hopeful smile shrinking when she noticed Danny's energy didn't match hers.
Danny's eyes were glued to the floor while he tried to digest the news. Lacey watched as he wrapped his arms around himself, subconsciously trying to protect himself, something he did when he felt like things were out of control around him.
"D—" Lacey stepped closer, "Hey, this is a good thing—"
"Yeah, I know, I know." Danny finally looked up at her, "It's going to be complicated for me, my parents are probably gonna find out, I'll have lawsuits for years. I'll never see that money." Danny began to pace, his grip on himself even tighter.
"Hey, hey—" Lacey stopped him and pulled him close.
Danny melted against her, one of the only people in his life he could literally lean on when the bad or the unknown would weigh on him.
"I just can't get excited about it yet, but I'm happy for you. I really am. You went through a lot with Gloria's whole operation and you deserve it."
"Danny things are moving, life is moving again, for all of us. Get on board, you deserve to have the things you want too."
"We don't even know if I'll get the same amount. I was allowed to keep the other stuff Gloria had given me, all the clothes, I just—I might not even get anything."
"Hey you two okay?" Whitney had tried to figure out what was going on. She watched Lacey get excited and Danny crumbled with worry, to Whitney this could only mean one thing, "I'm sorry to eavesdrop over here, but am I about to be an aunt?"
Danny and Lacey were both dumbstruck at first, an aunt?
"Wha—no! No." Danny shook his head emphatically, "No."
"Aww, really? I kinda would really like that—"
"We're just processing more news about the case." Lacey said matter of factly, surprised that Danny was so quick to deny she was pregnant with such enthusiasm.
Danny's phone began vibrating, it was his lawyer. He looked at Lacey for strength and she lit up.
"Answer it!"
"Hello? Hey—yeah no worries."
He was quiet for a bit while he obviously listened to whomever was on the other end. Whitney picked things up and put them back down, pretending to be doing anything other than listening intently. Lacey just brewed on standby in front of him, wringing her hands in anticipation.
"I'm sorry?" Danny said as if he hadn't expected to hear what the person was saying. He turned away from Lacey, "I don't understand." He squished himself further into the corner and Lacey stayed put, deeply concerned for him but wanting him to have whatever space he was trying to create between them, "What about my parents? Right, okay. Thank you."
Danny hung up and turned back around as if he wouldn't have the girls staring him down.
"What did they say?" Lacey had snuggled up beside him, she couldn't wait anymore.
"He said, um—he said that it'll take a couple days for it to show up in my account."
"See? Of course you still got something. Was it a lot lower? What did he say about your parents?"
The amount wasn't lower, in fact it was higher beyond his wildest dreams. How was he going to tell her? Should he tell her? He had seen how wild her mind went knowing they each might have $10K, how would this sudden massive wealth change things? He needed help with this.
Danny's lawyer had explained that the judge had reviewed everything that Danny had endured and had overcome this summer at the hands of either Gloria or an associate all culminating in Gloria's take down. Danny had experienced the most trauma and the least amount of justice. Danny was awarded $12 million dollars.
"Like I said before, I am sure my parents will tie it up so I'm not going to waste my energy on making plans just yet."
"Nice of you to show up." Phoebe sort of greeted the three of them as they stumbled into the theatre together later that afternoon.
"We're not late—" Whitney griped back and stormed away to help backstage.
"Lacey we could use your help with lighting." Phoebe suggested.
"Lighting?"
"Yeah, up there." Phoebe turned around and pointed up behind her, "In the booth."
Lacey cocked her head to the side and nodded, "Okay."
Danny and Phoebe watched Lacey climb the thousand steps to the A/V booth at the top of the theatre.
"She's the one who actually wanted to help you tonight, remember?" Danny defended.
"That was before she made out with my girlfriend." Phoebe reminded him, "No shade, okay? I really did need her on lights." She shrugged, "Let's go."
Phoebe introduced Danny to the rest of the cast and got him set up running lines ahead of their rehearsal. He was pushed through make up and wardrobe while he continued to study the script that Phoebe had written.
Whitney hadn't found a significant niche for herself, instead adopting a lint roller and walking around to the cast to make sure they were fuzz-free before show time.
At rehearsal time Danny took everyone's breath away as he seemed to fully commit to the character he was given. Phoebe was thrilled and only had a few corrections for him.
"Thank you for helping tonight Danny, we're going to be packed with agents and critics tonight, this means so much to me." Phoebe gushed as she praised the unlikely actor that Danny had become.
"No sweat. You've got this."
The thought of people of certain statuses watching his performance didn't do a damn thing to him. He wasn't an actor, he wasn't there to impress anyone. Danny was here only because his girlfriend volunteered him to help.
Just as the audience began filtering in Danny threw a blind wave up toward the A/V box hoping he would connect with Lacey before show time. A single light blinked beside him and made him smile.
Once everyone was seated, Phoebe introduced herself and her play, effortlessly cracking jokes and pulling it back together to show just how fun, serious and truly professional she could be. As soon as she stepped backstage it was show time. The curtain rose and Danny's character took over.
The stress of suddenly becoming a multimillionaire and worrying about how to tell Lacey had weighed heavily on him for the entire day. Danny found relief in escaping himself for a bit. He took control of the person Phoebe had created and truly poured himself into it. He wasn't pretending. Tonight, just for right now, he wasn't Danny.
As the cast lined up for the curtain call and the curtain rose again, the audience was on their feet. They all took a bow and waved as the curtain came down a final time. Most of Danny's cast-mates circled around him, all of them eager to get to know the talented new actor Phoebe had found for their lead.
"Danny, I'd like you to meet a few people." Phoebe smiled and took his hand, dragging him over to a group of people.
Lacey had found her way back downstairs and made it backstage just as Danny was absorbed into the group of strangers.
"What's up with that?" Lacey asked when she found Whitney sprawled out on a pile of stage blankets.
"Agents, producers, blah blah blah." Whitney groaned and leaned back further.
"Let's clean up—" Lacey held her hand out to help Whitney up off the floor.
"Noooo, Layceeeee—" Whitney whined.
"C'mon, the sooner we get this done the sooner we can get out of here and get some drinks." Lacey reasoned.
Whitney grabbed Lacey's hand and the two of them put stuff away and swept the floors together like their lives depended on it.
"Do you already have an agent?" One of the random adults that Danny didn't know and therefore did not trust asked him.
"My lawyer is my only representation."
The group all laughed together and Danny realized that they thought he was joking.
"Alright I get it, call me when you're ready to start your career, okay?" One of the agents pushed, "What's your thing?"
"My thing?" Danny squinted in confusion.
"Text, Insta, Twitter, what?" The agent unlocked their phone and began scrolling through their apps.
"Oh, well, I don't really—"
"No social media mistakes yet either? You're a fuckin' dream. You got a phone at least, right?"
"I do."
"Good. Take my number then."
"Mine too, Danny—" Another agent piggybacked.
"It was very nice to meet you all, but I'm not looking for an agent right now—" Danny wanted no part of this.
"I'll take the numbers and if Danny's interested I'll have him call you." Phoebe said, problem solving like always.
Danny politely said goodbye while Phoebe collected their numbers. He tried not to sprint away to the wardrobe room to pull off his costume. Phoebe finished up, spying Whitney and Lacey laughing and stacking chairs together. Phoebe stormed off toward wardrobe without being noticed.
"How do I get over this?" Phoebe blurted out to a startled Danny standing in just his underwear.
Phoebe didn't seem to notice, taking a seat on the vanity top in front of him before pulling off her own sweater, exchanging it for the shirt she wore from home.
"Whitney is right, you're overreacting." Danny said as he threaded his legs through his pants.
"They like each other."
"They're friends, of course they like each other."
"You know what I mean."
"Lacey's my girlfriend. Jesus, is this what it's like to be on the other side of an insecure person?" He asked himself, "Remind me to apologize to Lacey again later because this sucks the life out of the other person—"
"I'm not insecure."
Danny gave her a sarcastic look and pulled his shirt on.
"I'm not!"
"Phoebe. You're awesome. You're talented and smart and beautiful—you and Whitney are great together. We got drunk and they kissed. It wasn't innocent I'll give you that." Danny giggled as he remembered how hot their kiss was, "But it was harmless. She loves you."
Phoebe sighed heavily, defeated.
"Your girlfriend is—she's—" Phoebe found describing Lacey very difficult.
"Yeah, I know." Danny smiled, "She really is."
"There you guys are! Can we leave now please?" Whitney begged, Lacey trailing right behind.
"Yeah. Thanks for your help tonight." Phoebe said sincerely and leaned around Whitney to address Lacey, "Both of you."
"It was fun. Danny you were amazing!" Lacey gave her handsome partner a huge hug.
"Yeah, seriously D, who knew?!" Whitney agreed and gave him an awkward high five, as she would. She turned around to face Phoebe, "Are we good or am I about to go pack up all my stuff?"
"Stay."
"You sure?"
"Please stay. We'll talk about it." Phoebe said sweetly and pulled Whitney in for a kiss.
"What happens now?" Lacey said wondered, "Did I hear about an after party?"
"Cast party at the bar." Phoebe confirmed, "Twenty-one plus."
"Our bar?" Danny's eyes grew in size a little.
"Yeah, it's the only place I can afford—" Phoebe laughed, "You can come but don't get caught, understand?"
Danny, Lacey and Whitney all exchanged glances. They'd prefer to just head home and not risk getting arrested and having the bar shut down.
The group exited together and made the four block walk to the bar that Phoebe and Danny worked at. Along the way, Danny and Lacey found some time alone to talk.
"What's bothering you?" Lacey decided to just jump right in.
"Hmm? Oh, no nothing, I'm just tired I guess." Danny lied, a classic form lie to someone he should have known wouldn't accept his answer.
"You just found out you're getting a settlement, you had amazing sex this morning, you have a new bed waiting at home and you just gave the performance of a lifetime. So I'm asking again, what's bothering you?"
Danny dug his heels in, "Exactly, like I said, I'm just tired."
Lacey didn't challenge him further after that, assuming he just needed more time to process whatever it was. She'd try again after they had a few drinks.
"Phoebe!" The other bartenders greeted as she walked into her scene. These were her people.
Danny got some attention as well, the buzz from the play already having trickled in to their coworkers.
"Danny!" A young woman came bouncing over and threw her away arms around him, "Hey! I didn't know you'd be here tonight." She shouted playfully.
Danny pulled away first and cut the reunion short.
"Hey, yeah I didn't know either. My girlfriend she surprised me actually, came all the way to the city—" Danny pulled Lacey beside him, "This is Lacey." He said proudly.
"Ohhh—HEY!" The girl said as if they were on the same team (they were not).
"Hello."
"Wow." The girl couldn't make her mind up about how she felt or what to say next.
Lacey knew this level of awkward had to mean it was the woman Danny kissed when they were on their break.
"Are you working Phoebe's room?" Danny tried to move it along.
"Yeah, I—yes. What can I get you?" She stumbled, still looking at Lacey and thankful for Danny's help with a new direction.
"I'll have a beer, surprise me. Lacey?"
Lacey was busy studying the bartender too. She was pretty enough, yet painfully basic. Lacey couldn't find a single thing unique about her. She was just, there. That must have been exactly the reason they kissed that night. She was there.
"Lace—" Danny tried again.
"I need nothing from you." Lacey said fiercely.
"Oh, okay." She was not expecting that, "I'll be right back."
Lacey watched her drag herself away and rush around to order Danny's drink.
"That's great." Lacey chuckled and walked away from him.
Danny sighed and just watched her go, again. This weekend wasn't going so well.
Lacey walked up to the bar and ordered herself a drink from one of the other bartenders so she could make sure nothing was done to it. Rum and Coke tonight. Time to let go for a little bit.