Notes; Much thanks for the continued feedback! Sorry for the delay. Brace yourselves, the next part will probably be the last. I hope you enjoy this!
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Danny groaned as he rolled over in the soft bed. His arms reached out and searched for the missing warmth that had blanketed him all night. Finding the space next to him cold and empty, his eyes popped open.
"Mary?", he grumbled.
When he heard no response, he sat up too fast causing his head to throb. Danny moaned as he shut his eyes tightly to keep the pain at bay. He carefully got out of bed.
Maybe Mary was in the shower, he thought to himself as he walked towards the bathroom. He knocked on the door. "Mary?" Nothing. No sound of water running, no Mary. He began to panic a bit. Had she fled? No, she was probably in the kitchen making breakfast for them, he thought with a small smile. He made his way to the other room and nothing again. No smell of food cooking, no Mary.
Danny picked up the phone to dial Mary's cell number. After a few rings it went to her voicemail. He cursed and darted back to the bedroom, despite his hangover, to get dressed and find her.
-
Mary had been jumpy all morning. She thought it had to do with the six cups of coffee she drank since she got to work early that morning, but it was something far more than that.
Last night, she had went out on a date with one guy then ended up sleeping with another.
She knew sleeping with Danny had been a mistake. He was drunk and she was vulnerable. But she couldn't help her feelings, no matter how often she cursed them. Every day of her life since she was no more than a kid; she loved Danny, she wanted Danny, she desired Danny.
She sighed when she heard her cell go off. Looking at the number of the caller she panicked. It was Danny. She wasn't quite ready to talk to him yet, so she rejected the call. She knew she couldn't dodge him forever, Danny wouldn't let her. But she needed some time to get her thoughts straight and figure out what last night had meant.
-
Danny had gotten to the Montecito in record time, breaking every speed law known to man in his pursuit of Mary. He crashed through the doors of the hotel and casino, causing some patrons to stare as he looked like a wild man on the hunt for something, and ran into Mike.
"Hey, man. You look like Hell. And aren't those the same clothes you had on last night?"
Danny ignored his remarks. "I'm looking for Mary."
The bald man smiled. "What else is new? She's in her office."
"Thanks." Mike watched his friend run off and shook his head. "Something's goin' down."
-
Mary started at the knocking on her door. She closed her eyes and blew out a breath. She knew it was Danny, she didn't even have to ask who it was. "Come in."
Danny walked in and their eyes immediately connected. "Hi".
"Hi. You look terrible."
"So I hear. I feel terrible, too." He stepped as close as he could get to her with the desk seperating them.
"Hangover?"
He nodded. "But that's not why I feel terrible. Why did you leave this morning?"
Mary licked her lips. "Look, don't think I left because of you. I didn't. Melissa called in sick and asked if I could cover her early morning shift. So I've been here since five this morning."
"Why didn't you leave a note or something?"
Mary shrugged. "I wasn't quite sure what to say."
"So you did leave because of me."
"No-", she stopped herself as he looked at her with doubt. "Well, maybe it was partly because of you."
Danny sat down in the seat across from her and ran his hand through his short hair. "I'm sorry, Mary."
She closed her eyes at his mumbled words. She didn't want to hear him apologize for what happened between them last night, but she was expecting it. "Just forget it."
"I can't. I'm embarrassed about the way I acted last night. Showing up at your place drunk, being rude to Jeff. Even if I don't like him, he hasn't really done anything to deserve that, except of course take you out." She briefly smiled at that comment. As tired as she was of Danny's jealousy at times, there was also a part of her that enjoyed it. Call it an ego thing, but it felt good to know that he cared. "And I practically forced myself on you."
"You did not. You came on a little strong, but... I kinda liked it", she admitted shyly.
Danny smirked. "You did?"
Mary rolled her eyes. "Don't let it go to your head, McCoy."
His smirk turned into a small grin. "So... what did I do wrong last night that made you leave?", he asked with caution.
Mary frowned. "It's not what you did last night. It's what I thought you'd do this morning."
"Which was?", he urged her to continue.
She sighed. "The usual rejection. You know, last night was great Mary and I care about you, but I'm not ready to settle down blah, blah, blah", she waved her hands in the air wildly during her impersonation of Danny.
"You really think a lot of me, don't you?", he asked bitterly.
"It's not like I haven't heard it before, Danny", she said matter of factly.
Danny pursed his lips and nodded. "I know. And that's my fault... for making you doubt me and feel insecure about my feelings for you." Danny paused as he got up from his chair and stared deeply into Mary's brown eyes. "Mary, I have never had doubts, not about my feelings for you. I've always known how I felt about you. But there was always a part of me that didn't want to feel for you what I did", he confessed as Mary's brow wrinkled in confusion. "I was scared... scared of things changing between us, scared of losing you. I don't deserve you, Mary, and there are times when I don't even know why you love me. So I tried to fight it, deny it. But I can't anymore. Because I'm not gonna stand aside and let some jerk off like Jeff Cooper take you away from me."
"Jeff's not a jerk off. He's a good guy."
Danny shrugged. "Maybe so. But I still stand by what I said."
Mary licked her lips after processing Danny's words. "Last night, Jeff and I decided to just be friends."
"Huh?" He wasn't expecting that.
"Yeah. We had a great time last night, but when we kissed... it was nice and it brought back all of these old memories. But it also made us realize that our chance has passed. So we've decided to just be friends. Good friends."
Danny blinked, "oh", then scowled, "you kissed?"
Mary pressed her lips together, trying not to smile. "So you see, you don't have to worry about Jeff taking me away from you and this was all pretty much for nothing."
Danny shook his head. "No, not for nothing." He looked down and scratched the back of his head before looking back up. "I'm actually kind of glad Jeff came to town. Because he made me realize how stupid I was being. It's not like I've thought it was impossible for you to find someone else. But Jeff gave that possibility a face and made it very real. The idea of you marrying another man and having children with him that should be ours... I couldn't handle that", Danny's voice broke on the last line.
Mary's eyes began to tear as Danny's confession became emotional. "So what are you saying?", she asked with slight hope.
"I'm saying that, I love you and I want to be with you... forever. And I'd give anything just for one more chance, to prove to you that things are gonna be different now. But I won't blame you if you don't want to give me that chance" he mumbled sadly.
Mary stayed silent as she rose from her seat and crossed over to Danny. "You said before that sometimes you don't know why I love you." She ran her hand down the side of his face and smiled. "This is why", she said right before she kissed him. Pulling back breathlessly after a few minutes, she whispered against his lips, "you should probably go home and change. If Ed sees you looking all disheveled, you'll get in trouble."
"I don't care", he responded and claimed her lips once more. As if on cue, his cell phone went off. He and Mary froze and they gently pulled away from each other. "It's Ed", Danny said as he checked the caller. He looked at Mary and smiled. She was giving him another chance. He wasn't gonna put his job ahead of her anymore. "Let him wait", he remarked as he rejected the call.
Mary's eyes widened in panic. "Uh, Danny, I think it's very sweet that you're choosing me over Ed. But do you think that's such a good idea?"
Danny thought about it. Ignoring his boss's phone call. Ignoring Big Ed's phone call. The man who could have his nuts mounted on his office wall. He gave Mary a quick kiss on the lips. "Maybe I should freshen up a bit. I'll be back."
She sighed in relief and nodded as she watched the love of her life hightail it out of her office, not wanting to, understandably, suffer their boss's wrath.
