Chapter 17: Quiet
"Dani, wake up," Nico said as he shook her slightly by the shoulders. They had just landed in Barcelona and Dani had fallen asleep during the flight, using him as her personal pillow.
"We're already there?" she mumbled and sat up, stretching her arms over her head.
"Told you it was only an hour." He slowly got up and made her stand up in the process. Once he was sure she was staying upright he quickly got their small suitcases from the back of the plane. He led her out of the plane and down the stairs while Dani slowly woke up fully. It was only nine in the morning but the sun was already high up in the sky and it was very warm. She was glad she wore the short summer dress and wondered how Nico could stand this heat in his black slacks and dress shirt. At least it was short sleeved and he had taken the suit jacket off by now.
"Do you own a car in every city in the world?" Dani snarked when she saw the black Mercedes standing on the runway, motor running and key most likely in the ignition.
"No, not in every city," he simply replied, opened the door on the drivers side and popped the trunk open a second later.
"But in this one?" He stored the suitcases and closed the trunk before coming around to the passengers side of the car, holding the door open for her.
"It's a rental," he said quietly when she slid into the car, making it sound like it was a huge secret.
"And this rental magically knew when to appear here on the runway?" she smiled when he was sitting next to her, fiddling with the navigation system.
"You mean like Kit in Knight Rider?" he cocked his head to the side as he looked at her for a second, a small smile on his lips. "No. I have an app on the phone that I used while you were snoozing away on the plane."
"Aw, there goes the mystery. An app, how trivial," she teased him.
"You will find that most things are. No magic, no secret gimmicks or superpowers. Usually it's just a mixture of connections, preparations and common sense."
"And with common sense you mean scary big guys in black suits who are trained in martial arts and spy for you."
"Sometimes," he shrugged and then started their drive to Jeanette's place with the navigation system guiding them.
"How do you know Jeanette's address?" she asked when he pulled out of the airport areal. He looked at her without saying something and simply lifted one eyebrow like he wanted to ask 'Seriously'?
"Ok, rookie mistake on my part," she shook her head. "Connections, preparations and common sense, right?" she repeated.
"And the fact that you said it out loud about fifty times on the phone last night until you finally got the spelling of the street right," he deadpanned and earned himself a punch on his right upper arm.
"I'm just gonna call TK real quick, now that you're mean to me," she decided then and pulled her phone our of her handbag. Nico nodded and pressed the bluetooth connection and Dani confirmed the sync. They didn't even need to talk about it, they both knew that Dani wanted this call on speaker and so did he.
"Hey Dr. D! What's up?" Terence greeted her when he picked up his phone.
"Hello Terrence. I just wanted to check up on you. How are you?" she asked him.
"Good, always good, Dr. D."
"How's your shoulder?" Nico spoke up, making use of the phone on speaker.
"Nico is that you?" TK asked surprised.
"No, my secret twin," Nico remarked and rolled his eyes at the unnecessary question. Dani was amused by his lack of patience and wanted to playfully slap him again, but he caught her hand this time and kept it in his. The stern look he gave her didn't match the gesture of lacing his fingers through hers.
"Where are you two? Now that I'm thinking about it, I haven't seen either of you in a couple of days," Terrence was catching on.
"In the car," Nico spoke the truth, but it made Dani laugh anyway.
"Dr. D?"
"We're in Spain, Terrence. We just landed in Barcelona and are on our way to see my friend Jeanette and her baby," she supplied the information he wanted.
"And you need Sneako there because…" Terrence was having a blast with this, Dani could tell by his voice. She glanced over at Nico, who seemed as amused by Terrence's behaviour as she was, even though he tried to keep his usual pokerface on.
"Why I am needed here, Terrence, is none of your business," Nico said sternly, but ran his thumb over Dani's knuckles. His tone was hard, but his touch was gentle.
"Oh, I know why you're there. Bet our good doctor needs some relaxation and workouts that only you can provide," TK laughed his loud, booming laugh that filled the car.
"Terrence, if you don't stop with the inappropriate comments I'll kick your ass when we get back," Dani threatened. In the corner of her eyes she could see Nico trying to stifle a chuckle.
"Now I am shaking in my boots, doctor," TK laughed even more.
"And I'll bring Nico to help," she went on. While Terrence stopped laughing right then, Nico's chuckling could be heard this time.
"Come on, Dr.D, you know I don't mean no harm. I just want you to be happy," TK was pouting now. Dani looked at Nico, asking silently how much she could tell TK. Nico just shrugged, then placed a kiss on the back of the hand he was still holding.
"Thank you, TK, " Dani started, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. "And yes, Nico and I are in Spain together not because of some situation, but because we want to be… together," she finally said.
"I knew it! Finally!" TK yelled and Nico turned the volume down when TK kept laughing loudly. "You know, you could have got your act together when I was still with the Hawks. Would have made me a rich man with all the money I had on you two in the betting pool."
"There is a betting pool about us over at the Hawks that you participated in?" Nico asked and TK fell silent for a moment. The laughter was gone.
"Uh, Dr. D, Nico it was nice talking to ya but I have to go… uhh… therapy. Bye" TK stuttered and then hung up.
"You know you can't let a whole football team and staff disappear, right?" Dani asked with a smile and turned sideways in her seat so she could see him better.
"You're sure about that?" Nico asked with one lifted eyebrow. Dani just giggled and placed a kiss on his hand this time.
"Girlfriend!" Jeanette was out the door with a screech and hugged Dani tightly before she was even really out of the car. "I missed you! It's been way too long," she gushed.
"I missed you too," Dani replied and hugged her friend tightly.
"You actually made me cry when you said you wouldn't come a few days ago. And then when you called me yesterday and said that you would be here today, you made me cry again," Jeanette still hadn't let go of her.
"Yeah, there have been some interesting changes recently," Dani replied just as Nico got out of he car. Jeanette caught the movement and her eyes widened, as did the smile on her face.
"It's certainly looks like it," she grinned, giving Dani another squeeze, while her eyes never left Nico, who got Dani's suitcase out of the car.
"Hello Miss Fiero," Nico greeted her and handed Dani her bag.
"Tall, dark and mysterious, who would have thought," Jeanette smirked, even though she knew what had happened between Dani and Nico, at least up to the point when Dani had met him again at V3 and he seemed less than thrilled about seeing her again. The rest had been too loaded to tell over the phone with a newborn wailing in the background.
"I usually go by Nico," he gave Dani an amused look.
"Well, Nico, so nice to finally meet you again. And here in Barcelona of all places," Jeanette wasn't done yet. Dani realised the curiosity that was written all over her friends face was making Nico uncomfortable. Or maybe unnerved? She wasn't too sure, but she knew he didn't like it.
"And I can't wait to meet little A.J. Where is he?" Dani intervened.
"Inside with his father making siesta." Jeanette took Dani's suitcase from her and started for the door. "Come on then, I can't wait to introduce you and then get all the news." Dani followed her for a couple of steps, but stopped when she realised Nico wasn't moving. It also hadn't escaped her that he had not got his bag out of the trunk either.
"Can you give us a second?" she asked Jeanette quietly and walked towards her boyfriend when Jeanette disappeared into the house.
"Nico?"
"I'm just gonna go and check into the hotel. I'll be back later," he told her like she knew that already.
"Oh no no no no. Rewind please. What hotel?"
"The hotel where the room that I booked is in."
Dani let out a loud sigh, then took a step closer and brought her hands to his chest. "Nico."
"I am not gonna stay here tonight," he stated the obvious.
"Because…"
"Because I don't know your friends very well and they were not prepared for me to stay here. Then there's the fact that they have a baby in the house, which usually doesn't make for a good night's sleep," he let her know. When he stopped and she was sure there was more she just quietly looked at him and played with one of the buttons of his shirt. "And there's no way I can keep my hands off you and having your friends in the next room and I would have to, sounds even worse than the crying baby."
"We could be quiet." She smiled in a sultry way as she said it. This time Nico raised both eyebrows. Dani slapped his chest. "I can be quiet! Two kids, remember."
"I remember," he nodded, "two kids. But a different man." The shit eating smirk on his face made Dani erupt with laughter.
"Oh, the ego!"
"You can always prove me wrong," Nico pointed out, then pulled her flush against him and kissed her in a way that made her eyes roll back in her head. She got lost in his kiss and couldn't get enough of him. When he gently tugged on her bottom lip, a move he knew drove her crazy, she couldn't help but moan. He broke the kiss then, pulled back and grinned at her. "You can be quiet?!"
"Shut up," she groaned, slightly ashamed over her lack of control. She tried to hide the blush on her face by burying her head in his chest. She could feel his quiet laughter against her cheek and breathed him in. "There is no way we are sleeping apart," she decided and looked up at him. "Think there's space for me in your hotel room?"
"There's always space for you," he assured her and kissed her, gently this time.
"Good, go, get us checked in and then hurry back."
"Might be better, before your friend breaks her window by pushing up against it too hard. These wooden frames are not that resistant," Nico replied and when Dani quickly turned her head, she caught a glimpse of Jeanette pressed up against a window, spying on them.
"Guess a hotel room isn't a bad idea after all. There are things I really don't want her to see," Dani told Nico, kissed him again and then made her way to her friend's house, while Nico drove off.
"Oh my god! That was so hot! What a kiss!" Jeanette greeted her inside with an overexcited hug. "And now tell me all about it!" her friend pulled Dani by her hand into the kitchen, where two glasses of wine were already waiting. "It's evening somewhere, right?" Jeanette shrugged when she saw Dani's look of surprise. "And now spill!"
Dani did just that and told Jeanette everything that had happened, both with V3, Connor and TK and most importantly with Nico. There were moments when both of them laughed so hard they nearly cried and times when Dani felt herself getting angry. And there were tears. Not many, but some for Carl and a couple for the nearly missed chance with Nico. Once the glasses were empty and the tears were dried, Dani got to meet AJ, who just woken up and tried to exchange a few words with Augusto, but sadly his English hadn't got much better, because Jeanette was basically fluent in Spanish at this point.
Around three in the afternoon, when Dani started to check her phone, Nico came back to the house. He brought some Spanish pastries with him, much to Jeanette's delight.
"Oh my god. These are the best! How did you know?"
"I've been to Barcelona before and my hotel is just round the corner from Las Ramblas," he let them know and slung his arms around Dani's waist when he reached her. She was standing in the kitchen, holding little AJ, who seemed taken by her necklace.
"Oh, you're really not staying with us?" Jeanette asked him.
"I wouldn't want to intrude," he shook his head and smiled a bit when the baby held both arms out. Carefully he lifted him out of Dani's arms and sat him comfortably on one of his forearms. "And who are you?" he asked the little boy.
"This is Augusto Junior, AJ for short," Dani told him.
"So, you're the poor guy who had to listen to these two catch up?" Nico kept talking to the baby.
"He was asleep," Dani rolled her eyes at him just when Augusto came back into the kitchen. Nico walked over to him with the boy still in her arms, then introduced himself and the two man started chatting in Spanish. Dani didn't understand a word, but she could see that Nico actually liked Augusto and he looked adorable with AJ in his arms. When the men left the kitchen Dani snapped out of her daze and realised that Jeanette had placed a cup of coffee in front of her and one of the pastries.
"The way you stare at Nico with AJ makes me wonder if you really don't want another one of those little humans, who looks like Mr. Mystery," Jeanette wiggled her eyebrows as she spoke.
"Oh no, I really don't," Dani laughed and took a sip of her coffee. "It just makes me want to drag Nico to that hotel room and have my way with him."
"He is hot, I give you that," her friend nodded.
"You have no idea," Dani shook her head with a dreamy smile. "No idea."
TBC