Rosie stood peeking into the surgery window. Danny and Alice were in there by the pens, he was smiling while motioning with his hands and Alice was laughing. Rosie had never seen such a look on her sister's face before… Alice shook her head and Danny shrugged her off. Alice then rolled her eyes and Danny imitated her causing more laughter from Alice. Rosie had a feeling earlier that Danny had been messing with her when he told her he and Alice were having a fling but watching them right now she didn't know what to believe. It was like when the two of them were together there was something tangible in the air which always gave her cause to pause and wonder. There were also times when she caught Danny or Alice looking at the other when they thought no one was watching and well, she had never seen anyone look at someone with so much feeling before.
Danny was only here for a few more days and Rosie didn't want him to go. He was the one father figure she was likely to ever have. If he and Alice decided to try again then they could adopt her. It wasn't that she wanted to stay with Alice; she was just the lesser of two evils. For a big sister she was pretty cool, she had too many rules but at least she wasn't constantly worried when she was here! Any day their mum wanted she could turn up here and demand her back, Rosie couldn't see Alice giving her up willingly without some sort of fight but all mum had to do was call the police! At the very least Alice could end up with a fine, at the worst she could get arrested and charged with kidnapping!
As she was lost in her thoughts she missed Danny walking out of the surgery. He spotted her and grinned.
"You spying?" he asked.
Thoughts of being taken away were vivid in her mind so she was unable to think of a quick retort like she usually would.
Danny could see that something was wrong by her expression; he cocked his head a little and lowered his voice. "Rosie, are you ok?"
Rosie frowned and kicked a stone towards the bushes shrugging her shoulders.
"Ok." He said on a breath giving her time to order her thoughts, if she was anything like Alice she would formulate an answer eventually.
"When do you leave?" she asked looking up at him.
"Couple of days' time."
"Do you plan on coming back?" she tossed back at him immediately.
Danny made a face, "I hadn't really thought about it."
"I thought you and Alice…." She trailed off not wanting to put into words what he had implied just in case it WAS true.
Danny smiled and for a moment Rosie could see why Alice fell for him. His smile transformed his face.
He was shaking his head, "Me and Alice aren't….I was kidding." He pushed his hands into his pockets and scuffed the toe of his boots on the ground. "Don't get me wrong, we still care about each other but it's not love and love is the only reason to have a physical relationship." He had learned that the hard way after he and Alice split. He had a few one night stands trying to forget her and every time it happened it left a bad taste in his mouth. He just wasn't that type of man.
"Oh…." Rosie's spirits sank lower and she turned and made the trek back towards the house.
She was hurrying but Danny could up to her in no time having significantly longer legs than her, "Rosie, I know something is wrong, you can talk to me if you need to."
Rosie raised her face to the sky with her eyes closed. "It's about mum coming back for me." Her brow furrowed and she sighed. "If she decides to come here and take me back Alice can't stop her can she? It wasn't easy living with her the first time and I don't want to go back to that and what makes it harder is I know Alice will try to stop her taking me and get in trouble with the law."
Like last time Danny mused, "I see."
"So my options if mum comes are willingly go into a bad situation or get my big sister arrested….I know for a fact she'll swing for mum too."
Danny shook his head and patted her arm, "It will never happen."
Rosie raised an eyebrow, "You don't know Alice very well if you think she won't swing for mum!"
"Not that, Alice would take her out in a second." he sighed. "She'll kill me for telling you this but Alice has applied for a temporary custody order for you with a view to making it permanent. She didn't want you to know."
"Why?"
"In case it got denied, we don't always have the best results in that area." He added softly. "One thing I know about your sister if that regardless of how much you drive her up the wall she loves you and wants the best for you, she would never let you get into that situation not without a fight, I think she'd even going as far as taking you from the country!"
Rosie exhaled in relief.
"Feel better now?" he asked.
Rosie nodded looking at him, she inhaled deeply, "Still I was hoping you would come back, I….see…." she shook her head, "Ignore me."
"What?" he coaxed gently. "Whatever it is can't be that bad."
Rosie just decided to go for it, "Well Dupe is old and most likely I'll be married before Alice and…" she rubbed the back of her neck, "Its boys and stuff…."
"Ah." He smiled, Alice was gonna have heart failure by the time Rosie was married, "Tell you what I'll give you my phone number and email and you can ring me or whatever when you need advice."
Rosie smiled widely and hugged him tightly, "Thanks."
He hugged her back patting her head softly. "It's no problem at all; I'm practically your big brother anyway."
THE NEXT DAY
Alice stomped into the house feet squelching loudly with each step. Her shoes had the consistency of sponges they were so saturated and the smell coming from her wasn't all that pleasant….she was gonna kill Danny and Rosie, DAMN THEM! As she walked on she could see that her shoes were leaving footprints down the hallway indicating a trail for those 2 to follow if they fancied any more amusement! There was no need! None at all! She had a face like thunder, anyone said a word and they died! She heard muffled laughter and knew that Danny and Rosie must be following her inside.
Ok so she had fallen into a ditch, ok Danny had warned her and yes she had been trying to prove she was clever….but still it wasn't THAT funny! It was all their fault anyway! Did they have to bond and be all sweet together? Really? Didn't they know the effect it had on her? She seen their little moment yesterday! When she saw the hug how real it was her heart immediately took flight and she'd been chasing it all afternoon….and she bloody followed it into a ditch!
She entered he kitchen leaving her sister and ex laughing in the hallway. Nomsa spotted her and yelped in surprise when she saw her covered in the brown sticky fluid. "Alice…."
"One word and I snap your spoon!" Alice warned.
"Ignore her Nom…" Rosie declared swanning into the kitchen setting Alice's teeth on edge. "She misjudged the depth of the swamp." Tugged some of her sister's hair as she passed. "That teaches you for showing off!" and began rooting through the fridge.
"Do you want to live to see your next birthday?" Alice asked.
Rosie ignored her and took some juice from the fridge.
"And for your information it was not a swamp it was a rather large puddle!"
"Alice." Nomsa began "We are in the middle of a drought, how could it be a puddle?"
Alice glared at her darkly. "Your spoon still isn't safe!" she muttered and put her gun down on the table with a thud, a brown fluid leaked from the end.
Rosie laughed even louder, "Look at yourself sis, it was SO a swamp!"
"Do you plan on living to next week?" Alice amended.
"WHY is the swamp gonna get me next time?" Rosie smiled, "But seriously Alice, this new look suits you, nothing says style like oozing….
Alice stood up sharply and Rosie dashed out of the back door.
Danny entered the kitchen just as Alice thought she was free, "Now now children." He chided playfully.
Alice sent him her best death glare as reply.
"Now Alice you know that look doesn't work on me. We were together that long that I built up an immunity."
"Try not to push that immunity huh?" she told him a smile peeking through, "This glare grows in potency and you haven't seen it for over a decade!"
Danny sat opposite her at the table and smiled at her. "I have to thank you for an entertaining trip out. Me and Rosie enjoyed the drive a lot. And you're tracking was brilliant until the swamp…."
"IT WAS A DEEP PUDDLE!"
"You keep telling yourself that." And he smiled mischievously.
She began to reply that stopped knowing he was trying to get a reaction, "I am going to shower." Grinding her teeth together, "Before I take you to see a real African swamp, men have been known to disappear without a trace…." Smiled at him with faux sweetness and stood up.
Alice had turned and started to walk down the hallway when she heard Danny thrown down the gauntlet, "Is that a threat?"
Alice looked back and saw his eyes shining with mirth. She raised an eyebrow, "Do I have to make it one?"
"Possibly, you know me; nothing ever penetrates my head first time without a threat."
Alice took a step towards him. They shared a quiet loaded moment and this time when she smiled at as real, "How about I put it like this, I'll dunk you head first in the Limpopo river! Is that clear enough?"
"Crystal." he assured. "Anyway you should really go shower, you don't want swamp sludge drying in your hair. Mind you it is very becoming."
Alice narrowed her eyes but it didn't work as the smile on her face and amusement in her eyes gave it away. She turned and walked down the hallway mind flittering. Since when had Danny been so playful? When they had been much younger, Kids growing up together she had saw that side of him often, it was one of the reasons she fell for him, but then responsibility had sort of robbed him of that. After the pregnancy Danny had become very serious and although they'd had fun times together after she announced they were having a baby she hadn't noticed that it was different then the past….and that saddened her.
As kids they had so much fun together and it was really nice seeing him like that again. and it was great to see that even after all the heartbreak and torment of losing their son and the divorce and just even the process of growing up that deep down he was still the happy smiling boy she'd known. She walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower then headed for her room to collect her things. As she passed the kitchen she saw Danny in the kitchen with Rosie juggling oranges, Rosie was laughing as he fumbled with the fruit, his eyes alight with fun like they'd been so much in the past….
"TADA!" he declared catching them then made a face at Rosie.
Alice couldn't look away… she could watch him like this forever.
Alice felt like she was floating on air all day, she finished her round in the surgery then she'd then had a flying visit with Vanessa in Mara and came home early to make sure she didn't miss tea. She had sat across from Danny and as conversation had swirled around her she'd been struck on how natural this all felt….she had also been aware of Dupe's concerned expression as she sat smiling at Danny…..Alice knew that she probably resembled a love struck teenager but she honestly couldn't help it, any time she was near to him her common sense abandoned her and her instincts kicked in and right now her instincts were finely attuned to him. …damn them!
Leon had thankfully arrived and asked Danny if wanted to go to Fatanis for a few drinks. Dupe went too and now the house was blessedly quiet and Alice was trying to muster some sort of detachment. He's your EX husband Alice, you two are divorced for a reason. It didn't work the first time around!
The night was quiet and she was sat in the kitchen with a gun cleaning kit by her side trying and failing to clean the gun which had went down into the swamp with her. since she was alone she had no qualms with admitting that yes, it was a swamp. The gunk she had to wash out of her hair had the consistency of plastercine! She dipped some wadded up kitchen roll into the dish of warm to her left and wiped it slowly down the barrel. When she finished that she perused all the brushes and tools to her right. After deciding to take the gun apart she picked up a Phillips screwdriver to loosen a bolt. Almost immediately it slipped. She grimaced, pursed her lips and pressed down hard when a voice drifted from behind her. "Need a hand?"
Alice literally jumped in her seat; she turned to see Danny behind her smiling good naturedly.
"I don't think you should be doing something like this when you have been drinking." She replied and returned to her job.
"What about you?" he asked bending down low to speak in her ear, "I may have been drinking, what's your excuse?"
Alice shivered when he felt his warm breath float across her neck.
Danny meanwhile rounded the table resting his hands on the back of the chair unaware of the effect he'd had on her. "Well?"
"I'm fine." She managed to say with a level voice. "If you're tired you can go to bed." She knew when he drank a lot it usually made him feel quite drowsy.
Danny just continued to look at her with that intense expression, "If you don't mind very much I'll stay."
Alice nodded and gestured to a chair, something in his voice making her heart beat that little bit faster. "Take a seat."
Danny did as she requested and sat opposite her as she worked. Silence fell in the kitchen, the only sound the ticking clock and scraping as the screwdriver slipped from the bolt time and time again. Alice focussed all her concentration on the job at hand trying to block Danny out.
It seemed to work until she felt his warm hands encircle hers, "Here, let me help you." He murmured taking the seat beside her, "This is why it's slipping….."
Alice closed her eyes a moment when she felt the contact, "What are you doing to me?" she breathed without thinking.
"Sorry?" he asked her voice so low he couldn't quite hear what she said.
Alice shook her head quickly, logic returning, "Nothing, I can do it."
He readjusted his hands around hers, "Look." He murmured. "Like this." The screw caught and slowly began to turn. And even though he knew that now Alice could finish the job still he continued to turn it, he knew he should be letting go now but he couldn't. He hadn't even meant to come and talk to her, never mind touch her but the alcohol he had consumed made him feel bold. he had just planned on saying goodnight to her but then he had saw her sitting at the table hair hanging around her shoulders, fresh from her shower in pyjamas looking so clean and fresh and young and he'd been lost. Wild bulls stampeding through the kitchen and he'd have still been stuck, just like when he'd first set eyes on her all those years ago. The biggest mistake he had made tonight had to be touching her, but he'd felt this pull….he had never been rational when it came to her. His brain often told him that doing certain things wasn't smart but when it came to Alice he never listened, he did what his feelings told him….even if it meant getting hurt.
Meanwhile Alice was in hell, this was pure torture. "I…I can do this myself Danny." She told him softly, her voice not quite sure.
Their eyes met and held.
"I….." Danny began then stopped. He had almost told her that he didn't want to let go but instead said, "Just making sure…." Then he released her hands, but instead of putting his hands down he found one raise to move a strand of hair out of her eyes to behind her ear. He had no idea how she was going to react…her face changed and immediately, his fingertips brushed her cheek and her head moved a fraction towards it. That gave him confidence and he moved his hand slowly his fingers tracing her cheek bone as he stopped to cup the area gently.
Danny heard her breath catch and her blue eyes were looking at him with a look so familiar but at the same time new. Her eyes were a liquid misty blue and he could read exactly what she was feeling in their depths. When he was sat here touching her so gently he forgot it all, how she had left him, how he'd missed her, how alone he'd been. When he was like this with her touching her so innocently he felt like he was exactly where he belonged…..
"Danny…." She whispered voice shaking.
He shook his head wanting to prolong the moment, "Sssshhhh." He coaxed. "It's alright." He knew when common sense returned that this would be over but for right now it was right. He saw her swallow thickly, in the next moment the fight seemed to drain from her.
"I…I've missed you." Alice said hesitantly like she didn't want to voice the admission.
Danny felt his heart swell at the words, "I missed you too, so much." He ran his thumb slowly down her cheek, "Do you know how much I have struggled not to do this recently?" he asked, voice low full of passion. "Not to touch you like this, to…."
"What's stopping you now?" she murmured voice quivering, granting permission, unable to refuse, unable to think…
Danny smiled a wry smile then began to lean in slowly; a kiss seemed inevitable...when a crash resounded from behind Alice. The creak of a door indicated somewhere was approaching. Danny moved quickly and refrained from touching Alice. Everything looked normal when Rosie swanned into the kitchen carrying the remains of a broken glass.
"Bloody Beatrice found her way into my room again. I swear she's like bloody Houdini, the door was closed and the windows were locked and she still got in there!" she said binning the glass and fetching a fresh one. "Honestly Alice I think we have spooks! How else could she be getting in there?" completely unaware of the tension between her sister and Danny. "Hi Danny." She added as she poured fresh juice.
Alice's eyes were wide and she was dragging air into her lungs like they had been starved of it. Rosie spotted it, "You alright sis?"
Alice regained at least some of her composure and nodded, "I'm off to bed." Then Alice stood up and left the table abruptly. Rosie followed after uttering at goodnight to Danny; she briefly stopped at Alice's bedroom but obviously decided against any course of action and entered her room once again.
Danny palmed his face scrubbed it then ran his hands through his hair, "Dammit!" he sighed then began to pack up all the things Alice had been using to clean the gun. Dupe walked in scowling, he walked down the hallway halting in the middle glaring at Danny coldly, leaving Danny with no illusion that he had seen what happened.
"I won't have you playing games with her." Dupe growled, "I may not have been there first time around but I'm here now!"
"Dupe I'm not playing any….."
"What about Sarah?" Dupe snapped. Leon had filled him in on all the details of their relationship after Danny had left. It had been that which had prompted Dupe to come home early and lo and behold he found Danny in there making a move! "You are going home soon and if she's stupid enough to develop feelings for you again then she will be left here alone and hurt!"
Danny shook his head, Dupe was misunderstanding…..come think of it, was he really? Was Danny going to stay? No, he'd go back to Sarah and no doubt work things out, what good does him kissing Alice do anyone except making a precarious situation even messier! "Look Dupe…."
"NO!" Dupe almost shouted looked in the direction of Alice's room and lowered his voice, "I want her left here in the same condition as when you came, if that is even possible now!" Dupe took a step towards Danny, "Don't you understand? You're dangerous to her! She can't think straight around you but I can and I'm warning you hurt her and I'll make what the lions will do look like child's play!" and with that final statement the older man left Danny alone with a lot to think about.
Alice walked into her bathroom, leaned back against the door and exhaled loudly, what the hell had just happened? WHAT. THE. HELL? She hadn't just told him he could kiss her had she? She closed her eyes and pounded her head against the door. Stupid Alice! Just stupid, this isn't like when you were kids! Nothing will ever be the same between you two; nothing will change what has already happened between you two! Do you actually think it could work? No because something massive was always going to come between them! She opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling, as her eyes moved upward she caught her gaze in the mirror in her room. She approached it and studied her reflection, her eyes glittered and her face looked younger. She could see the teenager she had once been. She dropped herself onto the seat and buried her head in her hands hiding the image from her sight, why was she doing this to herself? How many times did they have to hurt each other before they learned their lesson?
"I don't know why I feel this way." She whispered wrapping her arms around her head, the silence of her room offering no solution.
Even if she did know would it change anything, she wondered. Maybe it wasn't that at all maybe was it something else? Was it because of their son? Was she hanging on to Danny in some vain kind hope of reconnecting with Thomas? She sighed and un-wrapped her arms from her head, looking at her reflection ordering the glitter in her eyes to dull. None of this mattered now anyway, he was going home soon and she refused to allow any hurt to exist within her. They were different people now and they were being swept away by the nostalgia of old feelings. They were divorced for a reason! They weren't kids anymore! By tomorrow night he would be gone. Everything had happened earlier had been a mistake all she had to do was tolerate him for a few more hours, to ignore the feelings coursing within her. When he was gone the feelings would disappear and they could go back to their separate existences. Messing around like this wasn't clever, someone always got hurt in the end and she wasn't going through any more pain than she had already endured.
Alice snapped shut the file she had been making notes in and looked out of the window of her surgery office towards the house. She saw Danny and Leon on the porch and slid lower in her chair. For the remaining hours Danny spent at Leopards Den Alice had went out of her way to avoid him. He probably knew this but to be honest Alice didn't really care! There was no need to discuss what happened between them. It's understandable that there would be an attraction; they had been married for God's sake! All they had to do was make sure that the spark didn't ignite like it almost had last night. He was leaving anyway so they had nothing to worry about…..but just to make sure she had did her rounds in the surgery earlier, did the callouts then hidden in the bush for the remaining time.
The time was here that Danny and Leon were leaving and she couldn't chicken out on this goodbye, this could be the ending they were too hurt to have the first time around. Everything they needed to say had been said. Apologies had been given and received and finally they could draw a line under their messy marriage and focus on getting along if their son ever chose to get into contact. Any future contact at least wouldn't be fraught with the tension that seemed to plague it this time.
She stood up quickly, walked from her surgery and began the walk up to the house. She saw Danny chatting with an upset Rosie, he hadn't noticed her yet and she schooled her features to appear nonchalant. Alice exhaled softly before climbing the stairs, her heart pounding erratically. Rosie's expression told her that she too had grown used to having Danny around in such a small amount of time. She was nodding every so often Danny's voice soft and low so that only Rosie could hear. Rosie spotted her over Danny's shoulder and nodded saying her name.
Danny turned slowly offering her a wry smile. "Hey."
Alice nodded her greeting, "You saying your goodbyes?"
"Yeah." He breathed. "Well kiddo." He told Rosie and opened his arms. Rosie walked into his embrace. Alice could hear Danny murmuring to her sister but it was indistinct. Danny patted her back as she pulled away. "Trust me Rosie, you won't even notice I'm gone. Plus you still have your sister."
"Oh God!" Rosie declared dramatically shooting a playful half glance in her sister's direction.
Danny patted her head, "Take care of yourself ok? And take care of this one too." He added nodding to Alice. "She needs some help in that area."
"Don't I know it." Rosie drawled then after a last smile she walked in the house.
In the distance a car was making a slow approach.
"Here's our car mate." Leon said.
Danny nodded and turned to Alice. "It was nice seeing you again." he told her.
"It was." Alice agreed. "I hope you enjoyed your stay, both of you." Danny and Alice shared a smile as they both remembered her dismissive greeting when he arrived.
"Well I did!" Leon spoke up breaking the moment. He picked up his cases and carried them downstairs towards the approaching car.
"I did too." Danny assured.
"Take care of yourself will you?" Alice murmured her face half concerned.
"You too."
They both looked at each other wondering what to do or say next. The car pulled up and Leon was loading the cases into the boot. Alice smiled a little and extended her hand to him. He took it and shook gently.
"Take care." He murmured.
Alice nodded and released the breath she hadn't known she was holding.
Until she sighed Danny had been ready to release her but when he heard it he was inspired to do something, to make this less impersonal, less formal and more like the goodbye the teenagers they had been would have if not approved of but agreed with. So without thinking of the consequences he gave her hand a gentle tug and pulled her to him. His arms circled her before she could protest, he had fully expected her to! Surprisingly she didn't neither did she tense up. Instead she softened and followed his lead wrapping her arms around him too.
He closed his eyes expecting to get lost in a memory, it didn't come though. She was different now, she was slightly taller, not by much but he noticed it, the curves which had been hinted at in their youth were there now too. For a brief second he had this feeling of homecoming and he wanted to hold onto that, it felt like had been chasing that feeling for so long…
Alice stood there in Danny's arms enjoying his hold, allowing herself this one small nugget of weakness. She hadn't even known she missed this until his arms were round her and the scent she was so used to surrounded her making her feel almost drugged. It had been an impulse to offer her hand she was so glad she did. She was glad they had this one last chance to be close to him again. "Stay in touch yeah?" she whispered, "Let me know how you are."
"Only if you do the same." He negotiated.
She nodded slowly; Danny felt it against his chest. They stood there still holding each other until a loud beeping resounded.
"C'mon Danny we're gonna miss our flight!" Leon called.
Danny and Alice parted reluctantly. He looked at her sadly one more time then turned and collected his cases. "Goodbye Alice." He murmured.
"Goodbye Danny." She replied unable to look away as he placed his cases in the back of the car. "Rosie Danny's taxi is about to leave." Alice called.
Rosie appeared as he was climbing into the back of the car. She waved sadly, Danny did too.
All too soon the car started and drove away. "Well that's it." Alice said as they disappeared from sight.
Rosie nodded saying nothing and walked inside. With Nomsa, Caroline and Dupe absent Alice was alone.
And as she had watched him go she couldn't help but wonder whether this was how Danny felt when she walked away from him all those years ago…..
A/N alot happening in this chapter confusion, pain, sadness with the eventual leaving of Danny. Hmmmm not that they are once again parted what will bring them back together? Will it be what you think and will it be in the situations you may assume...hmm...much to think about! One thing i can say is that in coming chapters is that alice gets worried that rosie is more like her big sister than either one of them feels comfortable admitting!
Got to admit i go through stages with this fic, sometimes i can write it no problem other times i sit and come up with nothing...to be quite honest i am quite close to abandoning it, I hate doing that though as you readers deserve to know what i have coming! Gonna try and stick with it. I have a few chappies done, its just doing my head in that i can't write...
Anyway to get myself out of the writers block with this fic i am thinking of starting another, the one i'm planning directly following S8 and not AU at all literally the day after dupes death and so on, it has been called How Could You (provisionally, could change). I have even went back and watched WAH from S1E1 and i have some ideas flowing... Thanks for reading x