Lindsay looked at her clock anxiously. It was 7:30 and Danny's shift finished at 6. And she knew for a fact it didn't take him an hour and a half to get to her place. She had changed out of her work clothes and was now wearing track pants and an old T-shirt of Danny's. He had lent it to her once when she walked to his place and it started pouring on the way. She didn't wear it, because she was afraid it would lose his smell. She loved his smell.
Finally, there was a knock at her door. When she opened it, there stood Danny with 3 paper bags.
"Sorry I'm late," he said as he walked past he into her warm apartment, "Your neighbour thinks I've moved in permanently."
"Mrs. Stanlake?" Lindsay quizzed. She was an elderly lady who had nothing better to do than know everyone else's business. But she made really good blueberry muffins.
"The one and only," Danny smiled at her.
"Well, you're the one who has come here four nights in a row. You can't blame her."
"It's not my fault your place is warmer than mine! And she never stays up late enough to see me leave." Danny placed the grocery bags on the counter and started unpacking two of them.
"So why are you late? How long does it take to get takeaways?"
"I decided the sick lady deserves more than takeaways. So I'm making you the Messer Family Special," Danny laughed. He turned around for a brief moment to turn on the stove. Then returned to finish unpacking the ingredients.
"Oh, and what's that?" Lindsay smiled, whilst think how unbelievably sweet that was of him.
"Pasta with homemade sauce made out of readymade ingredients."
"Sounds perfect," Lindsay laughed when she eyed the third paper bag that Danny had left untouched. "What in this one?"
"Movies." Danny had his back turned to her, he was boiling the water needed to cook the pasta.
"Movies? You know I can't trust you with that! Last time you went to the video store by yourself, you rented Date Movie," Lindsay whined.
"It wasn't that bad!"
"Maybe for teenage boys."
Danny nodded towards the bags, "Just open it. I think I may have regained my trust."
He watched Lindsay's face turned from suspicious to shocked as she pulled the four boxes out of the bag.
"Danny! These are all my - "
"Favourites? I know."
"And you're gonna watch any one of these with me? You hate chick flicks!"
"Any one you want," Danny grinned at her and Lindsay couldn't help wondering whether he had a secret plan.
"Wow, Danny all this is…"
"Sweet? Kind? Thoughtful? Friendly? Selfless? Stop me any time you want."
Lindsay watched him cooking in her kitchen, and for second thought that she wouldn't mind seeing that more often. "Actually… It's kinda romantic."
Danny shrugged, "That's good too." He wasn't going to tell her that's what he was ultimately going for. He eyed her standing there, next to the counter and noticed she was wearing his T-shirt. "You gonna just stand there or what? Lets get some music going. And you could help me. If you wanted."
"Can I chop?"
"Sure." Just as she got out a board and a knife, he tossed her an onion.
A few minutes later Danny turned to see Lindsay with tears on her cheeks.
"Hey, hey. You okay, Montana?"
Lindsay nodded and smiled, "Onions make me cry"
"Come here," Danny pulled her closer and wiped away her false tears. "I thought girls from Montana were good with vegetables." She could feel his breath on her face, and loved it. But she just smiled, and turned back to her vegetable. At least it wouldn't give her butterflies. He stood there for a second, watching her, then went back to his sauce.
Several hours later Danny and Lindsay found themselves sprawled on her couch. Danny was leaning back and Lindsay had her head somewhere between his shoulder and his chest. It felt like it fit perfectly. He had his arm around her. On the TV, the credits were rolling after one of the movies.
"I'm gonna take a risk and say something, ok?" Lindsay suddenly broke the comfortable silence.
Danny held his breath, "Shoot."
"This, right now, right here, feels… perfect," she whispered. She was scared of his reaction. But she felt so safe in his grasp, she couldn't not say it.
Danny let out a breath of relief. Now was the perfect time. "In that case, I can imagine something better."
Lindsay sat up suddenly, "Oh?" For a second she had a disappointed look on her face, then she shook it off and replaced it with a suspicious smirk. This was Danny she was talking to. "Do I wanna know?"
Danny scooted over to where she had moved, and , while slowly leaning towards her, whispered "I hope so."
When they're lips met, Danny's body felt like fireworks were going off all throughout it. It was so much better that what he had imagined numerous times. It was real.
When they finally pulled apart, Lindsay grinned at him.
"You were right."
