A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Means a lot! :) L x
-x-
Unsurprisingly, Alice didn't sleep well that night. And what little sleep she did get was restless, as even her unconscious mind repeated Dup's words over and over again on a loop, swirling around her head over and over again.
'I think he loves you too.'
She didn't even know how she felt. She didn't think she loved Danny - there was an attraction, obviously - if she was honest there always had been. But love? And now Dup had told her, that he believed Danny loved her?
-x-
Opening her eyes and dragging herself out of bed the next morning felt like one of life's hardest tasks. Her eyelids were heavy and her body was beyond lethargic as she shuffled out of her room towards the bathroom. As she walked along the familiar hallway, she let her eyes close and she reached the doorway to the bathroom, feeling as though she was physically fighting sleep even as she stood upright.
The rest of the house was quiet - it usually was at half past 5 in the morning. Besides herself, Danny and Nomsa were the ones who would usually awaken at ridiculous hours in the morning. Alice felt her way to the door handle of the bathroom and twisted it, but it remained closed, as its occupant shuffled around inside. Sighing, Alice dragged herself to the kitchen table, where she fell into a seat, rested her head on the kitchen table, and before she could do anything about it, she was fast asleep.
-x-
She could feel a hand on her back, gently rubbing against her pyjama top, and she realised that she was awake. Alice was suddenly very aware that she had absolutely no idea how much time had passed. It could have been 5 seconds or it could have been 5 hours for all she knew. It was a strange feeling.
'Alice?'
As soon as she heard his voice her eyes peeled open, as she saw him looking down at her, a soft glow in his brilliantly warm eyes.
'Oops.' She mumbled against the hard wood of the table, and Danny laughed quietly.
'Are you alright?' he asked, his hand still placed mid way down her back.
'Mmmm.' Was all Alice could say, as she sat upright and peered up at him bleary eyed.
'You look shattered.' he smiled.
'I am.' She yawned, fighting the urge to place her head back on the table and go back to sleep. It had been surprisingly comfy.
'Look, why don't you go back to bed for a bit?' he asked her, removing his hand from her back and placing it on the back of her chair instead. 'We don't have a busy morning. I would manage fine.' he smiled gently.
Alice's rubbed her eyes sleepily and looked back to Danny, now seeing clearer than she had before. His short hair sat messily on the top of his head, still wet from his shower, his 2 day stubble untouched. She liked it when he let it grow a little bit. His t-shirt sat loosely against his obviously still damp body, and he had a towel flung over his shoulder. She realised she hadn't said anything in about 20 seconds. He was still watching her, humour in his eyes.
'Are you even awake?' he laughed in response to her lengthy silence.
'Of course I'm awake.' Alice laughed quietly, scraping her chair backwards to face him properly.
'Blown away by my beautiful appearance?' Danny joked light heartedly, now moving both his hands to his hips.
'Yes' Her mind screamed.
'Don't flatter yourself.' Alice laughed, standing slowly and hitting him playfully on the chest. 'And no I won't go back to bed. I'm up now, I may as well go and get ready. Are you finished in the bathroom then Mr Trevanion?'
'Indeed I am Miss Collins.' Danny beamed, stepping back to allow her to shuffle past him.
'You better not have used all the hot water.' Alice called as she made her way towards the bathroom.
All she heard was Danny laughing.
-x-
After a luke warm shower, and once she was finally clean and dressed, Alice sat out at the breakfast table on the veranda, the morning sun already high in the sky. As she did most mornings, she joined Danny and Dup at the table, as they were both usually there when she took her spot around it.
'Morning Alice.' Dup smiled cheekily, as if he had known that what he had said had kept her up all night.
'Morning.' Alice smiled to the pair.
Seconds later, Evan came darting out of the house, jumping down most of the front stairs, laughing.
'It's Saturday, woooo!' He laughed as she jogged down towards the animal pens, no doubt off to see how the animals were doing. He always got so attached to them.
The trio sitting at the table laughed as they watched him.
'Why is it that boy can never get up for school but is up at the crack of dawn at the weekend?' Danny mused, chuckling.
'Sensible boy.' Dup shrugged, 'I used to be like that too.'
'Oh God help him.' Alice laughed, as Dup leant back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head as he laughed softly. Alice watched him, and as he made eye contact with her, he glanced at Danny, indicating with his eyes, and then winked at her.
Alice blushed, turning her head away from Danny so he wouldn't see, and she heard Dup laugh softly again.
'Busy day Trevanion?' Dup asked his friend.
'Not really, was saying that earlier to Alice, pretty quiet all round today.' Danny sighed.
'Oh, have a little run into each other this morning did we?' Dup asked. Alice could hear the undertone in his voice and had the sudden urge to smack him. She turned back to look at him, and as she had expected, his was grinning stupidly. Danny seemed to miss the innuendo, and answered with possibly one of the worst answers ever.
'Yeah, saw her just when I was coming out of the shower this morning, she was waiting to get into the bathroom-'
'Oh really?' Dup asked. He looked positively delirious.
'-if you let Danny finish his sentence, he would tell you I had fallen asleep on the table.' Alice interrupted, and turned to smile at Danny, who she found was smiling back at her. 'Dup, can I talk to you for a sec?'
'Certainly my dear!' Dup called, beaming.
Alice stood up and indicated for Dup to follow her into the house.
When she was sure they were out of earshot, Alice hit him hard on the arm.
'OW!'
'DUP!' she hissed. 'Will you STOP with all your nonsense?'
Dup laughed, rubbing his arm. 'Trying to get a glimpse of Trevanion in the shower this morning were we?'
'No Dup! I wasn't! For all I knew it could have been Nomsa in the bathroom, okay? I never knew it was Danny.'
Dup just laughed.
'Dup I'm serious. Please, I don't want you to make it awkward between me and him - I know he misses most of it, but eventually he will catch on to all your wee jokes. Okay?'
'Okay okay I'll tone it down a bit.' Dup chuckled, still rubbing his arm.
Alice sighed. 'Thank you.'
The pair wandered out of the house together, back towards the veranda.
In the kitchen, Georgina stood with a tray of toast and bacon, completely baffled as to what she had just heard.
-x-
The day seemed to drag by. Alice sat down in the animal hospital, her head resting against the desk, furiously fighting the sleep that was constantly threatening to take over. When she wasn't trying not to sleep, she had been daydreaming about how Danny had looked fresh out of the shower that morning, and therefore was a bit distracted.
She heard Danny say something to her, but couldn't understand quite what it was.
'What?' Alice mumbled, lifting her head from the desk.
'Nomsa has dinner ready.' Danny smiled, walking towards her. 'And I think we're done here.'
Alice sighed. 'Aww good, was a slow day.'
'Far too slow.' Danny nodded, leaning against one of the solid pillars nearby.
'Anyway, lets go get some food, I'm starving.' Alice smiled, standing and stretching. Her shirt rose slightly as she did so, exposing her stomach for just the slightest second. She was sure she saw Danny's eyes flicker down to her skin for just a moment, and she felt the butterflies in her chest flutter furiously.
Pretending she hadn't seen anything, Alice smiled at him and he smiled warmly back as she walked towards him and the door. Was he just checking her out? Was that the confirmation she needed - did he fancy her? or have any feelings towards her? No, that wasn't enough to go on. Danny turned and walked ahead of her.
Completely wrapped up in her thoughts, Alice forgot that the vital signs machine she had used earlier had been moved, and so the wire from the socket on the wall was lying in a loose heap on the floor.
Danny noticed it before Alice did as he turned back to look at her.
'Alice!-'
Alice gasped as her foot caught the wire, and so in an attempt to steady herself she threw her arms out as she plummeted to the floor, her wrist slamming onto the table against the wall and pulling its contents down on top of her as she crashed onto the concrete floor.
'Oh my god!' Danny shouted, and he was instantly by her side, moving the plastic bottles and small metallic pieces of surgical equipment off her.
'Alice are you alright? Alice-?'
'I'm fine!' Alice told him, as she smiled reassuringly. Her other arm had managed to slow her fall, and so apart from a large bruise slowly growing on her elbow, she was absolutely fine.
'Are you sure?' he asked, quickly looking her up and down, and Alice knew he was expecting it to be worse than it was.
'Yes, Danny, I'm fine.' she said, sitting up.
Her cupped her face in his hands gently. 'Did you bang your head?' he asked. Her heart beat furiously at his touch.
'No! No honestly I'm fine, I fell on my elbow, honestly I swear I'm fine.' She smiled, and he seemed to calm down as he looked into her eyes.
'Well then, you're lucky. Look at the stuff that fell on you!' He said, pointing to the various surgical tools. 'I was expecting at least a couple of cuts and scrapes!' he smiled.
Alice laughed softly, and he moved one of his hands to her waist, helping her stand up. She held herself close to him as he pulled her to her feet, and suddenly found that she was really very close to him. Her face was almost resting against his chest, and he was looking down at her softly.
'Sure you're alright?' he smiled.
'I'm fine.' she smiled warmly back.
Time seemed to stand still. Alice looked up into his eyes, taking in the beautiful colours of green that stood out in the evening glow of the sun. She could still feel one of his hands at her waist. She placed one of her hands on his chest, and ever so slowly, he moved his other hand to her cheek once more. He held her softly, caringly, and she never took her eyes away from him. Her heard was almost bursting out of her chest, and she wondered if he could feel it.
He lowered his head to her slowly, and her breathing seemed to stop. His eyes flickered to her lips and she licked them anxiously. His face drew closer, and slowly, she began to rise up onto her toes, bringing her face to meet his. His hold on her waist strengthened as he pulled her towards him, and-
'Come on you two! Dinner!' Dup shouted from the doors of the animal hospital. Alice dropped her gaze and she felt Danny's hands fall back to his sides as they turned to look for Dup, who was now walking back towards the house.
'Dammit Dup!' her head screamed angrily. She wondered if he had seen what had just almost happened between her and Danny.
Danny laughed softly, and placed a hand on her back. He was blushing slightly, Alice noticed, as he led her from the animal hospital.
'Come on then.' he said simply, and Alice smiled at him reassuringly.
Maybe him checking her out meant nothing.
But Alice was pretty sure that a near-kiss meant something. In anybody's book, an almost kiss usually indicates that the other person likes you. At least a bit.
-x-
It soon became clear at the dinner table that Dup had, in fact, seen Danny and Alice's 'almost' moment. He couldn't keep the smile off his face.
And so, for the duration of dinner, Alice tried to limit the amount of times she even looked at Danny. She figured the less she looked at him, the less chance Dup would have to say some form of joke about their growing relationship, and she didn't want to embarrass Danny, or herself any more than she needed to.
-x-
The family were slowly beginning to move off towards their own rooms, saying their goodnights and wandering to the various parts of the house. Alice returned to the living room after making sure Charlotte was sound asleep.
'I'm gonna go down and quickly check on the lion cub, see how he's doing.' Alice announced to Danny and Dup.
'How's he doing?' Dup asked.
'A lot better actually.' Alice smiled. 'He is still in his pen but he was up and wandering around earlier, he has recovered from his surgery well so I think we could probably release him again tomorrow.'
'Definitely.' Danny stretched, picking up his beer as he stood. 'I'll come give you a hand,' he said to Alice, '4 hands are better than 2, we'll get it done faster.'
'Okay.' Alice nodded, and caught Dup smiling slyly into his beer.
'...Have fun!' Dup smirked at the pair as they left the room. Alice glowered at him, and for the first time, Danny raised his eyebrows at Dup, hearing the true meaning of what he was saying.
'What?' he asked, his voice slightly higher than it usually was.
'Ignore him.' Alice said, and took hold of his arm. 'Come on.'
She almost had to drag him out of the house.
'What was all that about?' Danny asked, and Alice dropped her hold on him to walk beside him.
Alice opened her mouth to lie, but the best she could come out with was, 'Oh, nothing. It's Dup, he's probably had too much to drink, just ignore him.' She laughed nervously, and as she looked at Danny, she saw his eyebrows still furrowed in confusion.
She sighed and looked down at her feet, biting her lip and blushing slightly. Until they reached the animal hospital, the pair walked in silence, the only sound was their footsteps against the dry ground and the tiny pop of air when Danny removed his lips from his beer bottle after taking a sip.
As they reached the door, Danny jumped up the small set of steps and held the door open for Alice - and the close proximity of their passing bodies made her blush. Although she really didn't mind, she loved how he held doors open for her.
Flicking the main switch on so the animal hospital was illuminated, Alice wandered towards the animal pen that contained the lion cub. Some of the other animals rustled in their cages as she passed.
'Wait, Alice.'
Alice turned around in surprise at the tone of Danny's voice - he sounded apologetic and really quite sad. He was leaning against the operating table, his beer bottle balancing against the steel worktop. She wandered back so she was closer to him, and leant against one of the large pillars, and smiled uncertainly at him.
'...What is it?' Alice asked after a moment of silence. His face was confused, he looked as though he was deliberating whether or not to say something to her, and he sighed quietly.
'I owe you an apology.' he started, and looked at the floor, as if he was ashamed of himself. He fell silent for another moment.
'...What?' Alice asked, her voice uncertain, wondering where he was taking this. 'Why?'
'For earlier.' He stated, and looked back into her eyes. The green was a startling shade of emerald in the bright lights of the hospital. They looked beautiful.
Alice was completely lost, but before she could say anything, he continued.
'For when I tried to kiss you. I shouldn't have done it, I'm sorry. I realised I must have upset you - and I really really don't want to do that. I...I'm not sure why I did it, I just-'
'Wait! Danny, that's not your fault at all! I was just as responsible for it as you were - and what makes you think that you upset me?' She asked, pushing herself from the pillar and walking towards him. She tried to smile at him to reassure him, but he didn't return the smile, as once again his gaze fell to his feet.
'...I could tell at dinner that you were upset.' he stated. 'I don't think you looked at me once.'
Alice sighed and held her hands in her head. 'Oh god no - Danny I wasn't upset at all. Believe me!' She looked back into his eyes. 'Listen, I need to tell you something, and it will explain it all much more clearly.' She replied, realising that she now owed him the truth to prevent him from feeling so guilty.
He looked up into her eyes, and she laughed softly. 'I promise you I wasn't upset.' She added, as she leant against the operating table with him. 'Okay...' she sighed, and turned her body so she was facing him and looking directing into his brilliantly green eyes.
'Dup thinks there is something going on between us.' She blurted out, her heart beating nervously in her ears.
Danny's expression gave nothing away, and so she continued. 'The other night, when I came down to check on the lion cub because I couldn't sleep, Dup heard me sneaking out of the house. But he said he also heard you sneak out about half an hour earlier, and so he thought that I was coming down here to...meet up with you. Which I wasn't, by the way!' Alice added, laughing slightly.
A smiled crossed Danny's face. 'Well the way you burst in here expecting a burglar, I think that much is clear!'
Alice laughed, picturing it all in her head again. 'And then this morning, he thinks I was trying to burst in on you in the shower or something.' She laughed, glad that he was seeing the humorous side of it all.
'Considering you were snoring on the kitchen table when I found you-'
'I was NOT snoring!' Alice laughed, and Danny laughed softly along with her. 'Anyway, for the past few days, any chance Dup got he was always saying something sarcastic with these little hints of sexual innuendo, winding me up, because he thought something was going on. And of course it just went straight over your head! But he LOVED winding me up, you know what he's like. And THEN, earlier, I'm pretty sure he saw us when we almost...' Alice trailed off into silence, but instead pointed to the place in the animal hospital where they had almost kissed. 'And so, when we were at dinner, I was pretty much avoiding even looking at you just because I didn't want to give Dup the opportunity to say something again. I asked him to calm it down, but I knew if he had seen us almost...kiss...he wouldn't keep his promise. I don't think he can control himself. Hence the smart arse comment he made when we were coming down here tonight. The one that you actually picked up on.' she chuckled.
The room fell silent, as they looked at one and other.
'So. I wasn't mad or upset at you, Mr Trevanion. Really.' Alice smiled, and pushed herself from the operating table. He laughed softly.
'Sorry.' He said simply.
'I'm sorry too.' Alice laughed, and he smiled widely. '...Is this the reason you came down here with me tonight? To talk to me about this? Or did you ACTUALLY want to help me check on the cub?' Alice asked cheekily, pointing to the sleepy cub who was now plodding around his pen after the arrival of his visitors.
Danny laughed heartedly. 'You know, I did actually think I would help. But yes I wanted to talk to you too.'
'Come on then!' Alice laughed, heading off towards the pen, and Danny followed her happily.
-x-
Alice closed the cabinet and turned to see Danny watching her, smiling.
'All done!' he stated simply, and raised his arms.
'Woooo.' Alice laughed sarcastically, raising her arms in the air mockingly.
'Tired?' Danny asked.
Alice smiled to herself. 'Actually, no! I really should be. I was shattered all day, but I feel fine now.'
'In that case, want to have a bit of fun?' Danny asked, raising his eyebrows as Alice wandered towards him.
'Ooooooh you intrigue me Daniel Trevanion.'
'Think Dup will still be awake?'
'No doubt.' Alice nodded, 'He's probably waiting at the table to see if we return! He's honestly so suspicious!'
'Perfect.' Danny laughed. And he headed towards the door.
'Danny! What are you gonna do?' Alice called after him, running towards him and grabbing his arm, turning him around.
'If I go back to the house to go collect some beers, it will wind him up a treat, he'll practically be bouncing up and down in his seat with glee! He'll think he has outsmarted us, caught us in the act, when really it's us having the laugh!' Danny beamed, pulling Alice towards the door.
'WHAT? Danny! No!' Alice screeched, laughing. 'Danny! Imagine the jokes we will have to put up with for the rest of our lives!'
'Oh come onnnn.' Danny laughed, continuing to pull her along.
'Don't you dare!' Alice pulled against Danny's arm, but he was much stronger than she was and made it too the door, the pair of them laughing loudly. 'I'm serious Danny!' Alice said, but despite her words she laughed heartedly as she pulled against him, 'I don't know if I could put up with the innuendo I really don't!'
Danny laughed loudly and instead of trying to escape out of the door, he leant against it. Alice still had a tight hold of him arm, her small hands wrapped around one of his biceps and they stood closely together. The pair of them were breathing heavily, the glint of humour evident in both their eyes and etched across both their faces. Alice looked up into his eyes, unable to pull her gaze away from him.
She knew, in the pit of her stomach right at that moment, exactly how she felt about Danny. She had been telling herself that it was just an infatuation, a crush, an attraction. She had been telling herself that to the point that she believed it. And she believed it, because she didn't want to get hurt. She had been hurt before, and knew all too well that giving everything you have to someone to be knocked back wasn't the nicest of feelings. And so she had hid her feelings, even from herself. And now, as she stood with Danny against the door, looking into his eyes, she knew that it was becoming impossible not to admit how she felt. To both herself and Danny.
Because of course she loved him.
She had the feeling that she always had.
She never removed her gaze from his. She beamed at him, realising that this is what she wanted. She wanted him. She loved him.
Waves of realisation washed over her as she gazed into him, and she felt her heart swell.
This was where she wanted to be. She wanted to be here with the whole family - even Dup! - and she wanted to live the rest of her life with the man in front of her.
She felt tears well up in her eyes, as the pair both stood close to one and other - Alice's grip loosened on his arm and his eyes burned warmly as he looked at her.
She knew that even if he didn't love her, there was nothing she could ever do to stop loving him.
The had been silent for a long time, both just staring into each other's eyes. One of Alice's tears spilled over and slid slowly down her cheek, yet she beamed at Danny, having never been happier.
She almost expected for Danny to look shocked, ask her if she was okay. Yet he just looked into her eyes, and he seemed to understand. It was as though both minds had just realised the same thing at the same time. Neither wanted to live without the other.
He lifted a hand to her face, and used his thumb to stroke away the tear.
'Alice...' he whispered, '...there's something I need to tell you...'
'...I know.' Alice whispered, a knowing smile on her face.
'You do?' he asked her, and she felt his other hand fall to her hip, where he pulled her even closer.
Alice nodded. 'Because I do too.' She beamed, and he returned his own dazzling smile.
'Alice Collins...' Danny whispered, pulling her body so it was completely against his, 'I think I'm in love with you.'
Alice smiled lovingly as she opened her mouth to reply. 'I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm in love with you too.' She whispered in return.
Dammit Dup was always right.
He pulled her face to his, and her lips met his, softly, for the first time.
It had been a euphoric moment. And it was beautiful.
-x-
Another A/N: Thank you if you read all that nonsense, it seemed to mutate as I went on and ended up rather differently to how I had planned, sorry haha. There are a few mistakes, I know, I'll have a look through it soon and fix it all :) And also, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! Hope its a good one for every single one of you. L x