~ Chapter 14 ~

Take It Off

"I'm an asshole." he said and laughed slightly.

"Yes you are, and I'm a bitch. Conversation over."

Daniel watched her as she walked out of the door and went back to her seat in the garden. Beau pulled her closer to him and showed her a present, she hugged Nico, so it was obviously Nico's present. He stayed inside for a moment before he joined them again.

"Daniel." Beau saw him and smiled. Wilhelmina and him shared a quick glimpse which Nico saw very clearly and she lots of things going through her mind that time.

--

"Danny." he heard Nico's voice so he stopped in front of his bedroom door to talk to her.

"Nic, what is it?"

"It's been ten years Daniel, and I could still see how much you care for my mother. Are you just gonna let her go again?" she looked serious, then he tapped him on the shoulder before walking away to the direction of her bedroom. "Good night." He nodded towards her and smiled.

Daniel thought about what she said. Nico was right, after all that happened in the past ten years, geez - that was a long time. After all the scheming, plotting, hating, fighting - he still cared for her. Nothing had changed, especially not his feelings for her. Too bad she couldn't return all those feelings to him. Daniel thought of himself more as he leader the relationship before when they dated, she was easy going back then and he adored that.

Now, it seemed like the world has turned upside down. But then he thought about his feelings for her, surely his feelings would have stopped when she started hating him and trying make him jobless. He was quite sure that all her bad deeds would have covered all the good things she did to him. But he was wrong, it was always the good that came on top. That wasn't always the case for most people, but it was for him. Life had caused him too much pain already. Sometimes he tells himself that maybe he would never get his happiness, because he doesn't deserve to be happy because of what he did to all those girls. But if he was mean, what would you call Wilhelmina?

She was a devil, but she's got her happiness. Maybe she was his good luck. His way to his own happiness, or maybe even his happiness. That sounded so cheesy in his head, but it could be the reason why he hadn't found it yet. He might just be searching his happiness in the wrong person.

"Why are you still up?" he heard her voice behind him so he turned around.

"I was just about to go to bed.." he said crossing his arms. Wilhelmina nodded and then carried on to walk down the hall. Daniel saw that she went downstairs. He had a mental fight with his brain on whether to go to bed or to follow her down stairs. In the end, he followed her down, but first he took a sweater since he was cold.

Downstairs. He stared at her, sat in the garden again. Same spot where he saw her just days ago. He stepped out of the house and then approached the seat next to her. She didn't notice him walking towards her, but the noise he made when he sat down did. He cleared his throat, and she glanced at him and then bit her bottom lip.

"Hey." he said, sat down, hands in his pockets.

"This is like deja vu, don't you think?"

"I'd say so."

"I thought you were going to sleep?" she asked looking away.

"I don't feel like it."

"Hm. So instead you follow me..." she looked at him quickly and smirked.

"Willie" he sounded serious, like the tone he used when they were talking earlier that night. When he was kind of confessing to her, but she stopped it.

"Daniel?" she hugged herself with her hands and leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees, she looked over to Daniel who was taking his sweater off. She pulled her brow. Daniel stood up and handed her his sweater.

"Here."

"What?"

"Your cold, aren't you?"

"Not really."

"Just take it, will you?" he smiled.

Wilhelmina found the gesture a little sweet, it was kind of like those romantic scenes from the movies where the leading men offer their blazer slash jacket to their leading ladies, then the women would normally take it, after that, they'd make puppy eyes at each other, with their smiles going up to their ears, eyes shining with love. The complete opposite of her and Daniel.

"You're not planning to create a movie scene here are you Daniel?"

"What?"

"Never mind." she stood up and pulled the sweater on. They stood side by side, looking across the pool, nothing was really there, just the table they ate on.

"Thank you." she mumbled.

"Don't mention it."

"I guess this holiday is not really that bad even though you're here." Daniel smiled, "Good to hear."

He looked at her, admiring how vulnerable she looked wearing his sweater which reached up to her thighs.

"Nico told me some things."

"Do I want to know it?"

"Maybe yes, maybe no."

"Tell me."

"Well, first, she said she'd love to stay here with Beau and you, but she knows you wouldn't let that." Wilhelmina bit her lip again and gulped down.

"You alright?" she nodded and smiled lightly.

"Carry on."

"She said that after ten year, would I just let you go again?"

"Hmm, she said that?"

"Yes, you know Nico.."

"Unfortunately not as well as you do."

"Don't say that..." he touched her back and rubbed his hands on her back up and down.

"You still know me well Daniel." she took his hand off her, "You know what I mean.." she added.

"I really don't." he said confused.

"Your gestures and the way you speak."

"What about it?"

"Well firstly, you offered me your sweater, I could remember from our first...dinner together, you gave me your blazer. Then you're fighting with me about Nico, but you're fighting to prove me that my daughter cares for me, which she clearly doesn't." she looked down.

"Why do you think she's here then?"

"She's here to see you Daniel, you should have known that."

"No Willie, to see you. Please will you just take that stupid mask off for a bit and allow yourself to be human." he stared at her, he moved the hair out of her face and saw that her eyes were going misty and kind of watery. He slipped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her closer, but she stayed in the same position. She might have showed her emotions, but she was NOT going to take her mask off completely.

She felt Daniel's hand rubbing behind her back softly and it made her more emotional. Maybe that's why he hugged her, to make her show more emotions. And she thought comforting someone by hugging makes you less emotional. What a load of shit.

Daniel carried on stroking her back. "Wilhelmina, listen to me... Your daughter loves you." the way he said it sounded so real to her ears. She closed her eyes and let a tear, roll of her eye.

"When will you do things for yourself Daniel?" she asked not moving from his arms.

He understood what she meant even though he couldn't see her eyes.

"It's always for other people.. I know you've been out of your playboy character, but this is too different."

"Believe it or not, I am doing something for myself."

"Yeah?"

"This." he said tightening his arms around her, then she felt him push him a little, so he just stared into her eyes. He kept one arm around her waist and one slid down her arm to hold her hand.

"This, is for me. Me and my children."

"No Wilhelmina... This." he said referring to the both of them.

She shook her head. "This, is wrong."

"No. It's not. This makes me happy. This, I'm doing for myself no matter what it takes, because I can see that you want this too."

She pulled away strongly away from him. Daniel once again thought that it was to avoid his question. Avoid furthermore conversation with him because it makes her feel soft and emotional which she hates because she'd spent so many years building that mask of hers, and won't let Daniel break it off again.

Daniel grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him, he then cupped her face and leaned forward and kissed her. His eyes were closed while Wilhelmina's were open, you could see the shockness in her eyes, she was looking at him. Daniel deepened the kiss when she didn't pull away. And then she let him.

A/N: LOL, sorry again for cutting it here, I know, I'm horrible xD And OMG, I promise you, next chapter - we will have the romance & some of the truth. 3