Chapter Two
AN – This chapter has mature content.
The next day, Sam called a taxi to drive her to work. She exited her house one hour after Danny had left, and she was taken by surprise to see that her flowerbeds had been fixed. She wasn't sure if it meant he wasn't angry at her anymore or if he just wanted to show her he was angry, but still nice.
The taxi driver met her half way to help her inside the car. He seemed to be surprised when he saw the cut on her lips and on her hands, but didn't say anything. Sam closed her eyes painfully. She knew he thought she had been beaten up by her husband. That was so humiliating!
It was like that every day for two weeks. Finally her hands and her lips healed and she was able to go to work with as much dignity as her broken foot allowed her. She had only three more weeks to go before she took the stupid plaster off.
It had been the worse two weeks of her life. She had avoided Danny and he had avoided her. He worked on the old Mustang Sundays afternoon while she worked on her garden on Saturday mornings when she knew he liked to sleep until late. She tried to paint, but didn't have the patience for it so she found a new hobby, growing plants inside her house as well.
And finally the doctor allowed her to take the plaster off. Her foot still felt a little sensitive, but finally she could drive again. Also, she got a call from the women's clinic telling her they found a good match and that she could make an appointment within the next weeks to try the artificial insemination.
She made an appointment to the following Friday. That made her day brighter and put her in a very good mood. She made up her mind that she'd also apologize to Danny. Enough of being stubborn. She missed him like hell and she wanted to share her news.
She came home from work early that day. His car wasn't on his garage when she arrived home so she hurried inside her house and baked him some cookies. He had told her more than once that he loved her cookies more than anything else.
She heard him arriving and looked out of the window. He had his head bent low and one hand over his eyes. Her heart felt heavy, knowing that he was crying. She knew what it was about. Emily had probably dumped him. She hadn't been over in the past three weeks as often as she did before and Sam had heard them fighting the night before. Actually, the whole neighborhood had heard that fight.
She decided to finish the cookies before going there to ask for forgiveness and let him cry on her shoulder before telling him the great news. Sometimes she wondered if she was more like his mother than his best friend. She was always comforting him and that felt ridiculous. It took two hours for the cookies to be ready and she put them in a beautiful plate and crossed her garden to his house.
She knocked once and he immediately answered it. He had his shirt open, his belt unbuckled and his hair messier than usual. One look and the stench of whiskey were enough to tell Sam he was beyond drunk.
'Oh hell, he looks handsome even when he's drunk.' She thought.
"What you want?" He said, glaring at her completely drunk.
"I came to apologize." She said quietly. He let her walk inside and she was shocked. She had never seen so many beer bottles together in one place and two empty whiskey bottles. "Oh my gosh, Danny." She put one hand over her mouth, in shock. "How come you're not in coma?"
The room was also trashed. He had beaten up the wall as far as she could see and also he had a chair turned upside down and the couch out of place.
"You sit down." She said, guiding him to the kitchen. She opened his fridge and found a coke can. "Drink this and eat the cookies, I'll clean your living room."
"You sit down here with me." He said angrily. He was drunk, but he managed to grip her arm tightly enough to make her sit down. "I know what you want to ask so go on and ask me."
"What happened?" She sighed.
"Lemme see. My best friend almost got rapped and blamed it on me. Then Emily decides that either I marry her or she'd walk out. I let her go and she's not coming back and that damn Mustang won't start!"
He buried his face oh his hands. Damn, what a horrible week.
"Danny," Sam sighed, taking his hands on hers. She noticed how big his hands were near hers. Hands that built rockets in between hands that painted and cared for plants. "I wish I could say she's coming back, but... you know, sometimes breakups happen for something good. Maybe you'll meet someone new who's better than Emily."
"How can you say that?" He snapped, trying to hurt her as well. "It's not like you even know my pain right now!"
"I know more than you care to imagine." She answered quietly. "I had a loved one once, but that didn't make me go nuts, drinking my head off."
"Well, he probably didn't deserve you." Danny said, finally lowering his voice.
"What?" She gave him a half a laugh.
"I doubt there's someone out there for you. You're too good for those asses out there. Maybe you're right for not going on dates. Nobody's worth you."
"I wonder." She smiled up to him. He stood up and she put her hands under the table to stop herself from reaching to him.
"You're beautiful." He told her abruptly, after looking deeply to her. She had a baby skin as white as ivory and her hair was shiny and she looked so small and defenseless.
"Thank you." She answered quietly, biting her lip. "Won't you eat the cookies?" She looked away from his gaze, feeling naked when he stared at her like that. Suddenly, all the chills and sleepless nights he had given her when they were fourteen returned to her. She hadn't felt like that in nearly nine years, why she suddenly blushed like that?
"I'm not hungry." He said quietly, reaching out to caress her cheek with one gentle finger. She breathed heavily when she noticed that his eyes were now staring hungrily at her mouth.
"You should eat..." She whispered. "You'll get a hangover."
"I'm not hungry for food." He lowered his head and kissed her neck hotly as his finger lingered over her bottom lip. Where the hell did that just come from?! Even drunk, Danny had never done that, ever!
"Danny, let me go." She pushed him away, but that wasn't enough to take him off her completely. He put one hand behind her neck and pushed her close, nibbling her jaw sensually.
It was so unfair. She loved him more than she was willing to admit and there he was, looking all manly, sexy and touching her like that. He had calmed down just by touching her and she was glad she would relax him so much, but it wasn't right what he was doing. He was playing with her and he had just broken up with his first girlfriend!
"Yummy." He breathed out on her ear, making her shiver with the delicious sensation. He noticed, even drunk, that she fit in his arms perfectly, as if she was designed for him.
"Danny stop it." Sam said, but this time she didn't push him away. He wasn't attacking her without her consent anymore. He was treating her in an incredibly gentle manner.
"If you don't like we'll stop." He answered quickly before covering her mouth with his. He picked her up and sat her up on the table, knocking the cookies and the coke can to the floor, making a mess. He kissed her so hotly that she completely lost herself. It was so pathetic and so wrong. She felt tears pooling out of her eyes. She didn't want it. Not like that.
Danny was crazy about her at the moment. He had never imagined she would taste so heavenly. He let his hands explore her body, locking her tightly against his as she gasped in surprise. She quivered innocently under his mouth. Never before she had been kissed like that. Hell, it was so pathetic; she had never been kissed at all, except for a few lips pressing with Gregor, Tucker and Danny himself.
Tears slipped down her cheeks as she thought that he was just kissing her like that because he needed comfort, that he didn't love her. Before she even knew what was happening, he unbuttoned her business blouse and unclasped her bra. She tried to speak, but her voice wouldn't come out as he cupped her breasts as if they were the most fascinating things he had ever seen.
He had climbed with her on the table and lowered her to the cold wood, holding her tightly against him as he trailed kisses downwards, and working on her skirt. Now, Sam was beyond words, she couldn't stop him anymore; he could touch her and take her right there. At that moment, she completely lost her sanity.
He got rid of her skirt and touched her, making her wonder how much more she could take before she would break apart. It took ten torturously minutes until he finally decided it was enough of foreplay.
"Danny, just be gentle, you know I'm a-" But she never finished talking before either he didn't know she was a virgin or he didn't care, because he pushed against her quickly and didn't stop when she cried out in pain.
"Just relax, will you?" He cried out, not stopping, but obviously worried when he saw her tears. "You'll like it, but first you have to relax."
But she didn't like it at all. She just felt pain from the moment he started to the moment when he collapsed on top of her. She froze under him and once again sadness was the reason why she was crying.
As he drifted off to sleep, cuddling against this soft female against him, he tried to remember who she was, but nothing came to his mind. And just like that, he passed out.
Sam cried as she pathetically tried to move from under him. She wanted to vomit. She was feeling terrible physically and mentally. It was the most humiliating moment of her life and she had been familiar with those lately.
She managed to sit up, rolling him off to the side a little. Oh my goodness, she had almost forgotten they had done it in the kitchen table. After ten minutes struggling, she managed to get off him fully and stared at his kitchen. It was a mess and the evidence of their activities was all over the floor and the table.
Was that blood? Oh my, she was bleeding too much to be normal. Okay, Danny won't remember a thing so... maybe it was for the best to encourage him to think that nothing happened. Everything could change between them!
Mindlessly, pressing her hands to her belly, she sat him carefully down in a chair. Gathering all the guts she had, she cleaned him and tucked him inside his pants, zipping it up. That was so sick. She ran to the bathroom and emptied her stomach on the toilet. Then she washed her mouth and returned to the kitchen, cleaned the table and set it as it was before. She picked the broken plate, cookies and coke can from the floor and put them in a separated trash bag, but she thought it was a good thing to leave his living room the way it was so he wouldn't think someone had been over.
With a heavy heart, she picked her discarded clothes, still scared about the blood and ran back to her house, closing his door quietly behind her. She immediately got in a shower and cursed herself for using tampons instead of pads. Maybe from now on she was going to wear pads.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Three hours later, Danny woke up not remembering how he ended in the kitchen in the first place. He felt weird. Relieved. He looked around, recognizing the sensation of being satisfied after sex, but Emily wasn't around
He vaguely remembered a warm body and soft arms. His mind was foggy, but he could taste her on his lips. But the odds were against him. There wasn't any trace of sex near him, not in the kitchen and not in the living room and he was fully dressed. His belt was buckled.
Maybe Emily had paid him a visit and went off already. He had to clear his head so he went to his bathroom and showered, shaved and felt amazingly happy for some reason.
He cleaned his living room. He even turned the radio on while doing so. As soon as he finished cleaning he heard the door bell and his heart raced. He quickly opened the door to see a fresh showered, timid Sam standing there, biting down her lips.
"Hi... are you alone?" He nodded and smiled at her and let her step inside. It had been so long since he had heard her voice that it soothed his soul. He took a deep breath, taking in the perfume he had missed so much in the past month. She smelled like flowers. He froze, recognizing it.
"You didn't come down here earlier, did you?" He asked her suspiciously.
"No." She smiled sheepishly at him and put a plate of cookies on his hands. "I was still mad at you, but it's over now. So I decided to bake these as an apology."
"Apology for what?" He asked her, completely lost.
"For how I've been acting. I was a real bitch. I'm sorry." To see his baby blue eyes looking at her so happily almost broke her down. She bit back her tears and tried to move past him before he noticed, but it was too late. He reached for her shoulders and held her tightly against his chest.
"I was the jerk and I should be the one apologizing." He kissed her forehead. "I missed you like hell and I felt like an ass every time I watched you climb in that taxi with those stupid clutches. I should have helped you."
"Does it mean you forgave me?" She asked quietly, her voice muffed into his chest. "Because if not, I'm taking those cookies back and ruining my diet."
"Still that diet?!" Danny let her go, frustrated about what she had just told him. She opened her mouth to speak, but he quickly shoved a cookie there to shut her up. "You're sharing those with me and I don't want to hear a word about it."
"That wasn't fair!" She said, almost choking. He laughed and took the cookies to the kitchen as she followed him, pretending to pout. Then, she stopped, thinking that it would be a good idea pretend to be surprised. "It smells like beer here. Have you been drinking?"
"More than you'd like to know." He opened the fridge and couldn't find anything to drink. "I could swear I had a coke can here. Well, whatever, we'll drink milk."
"Are you and Emily okay? I heard a lot of yelling last night." She asked quietly, watching him closely.
"No." He answered in a whisper, but still much more cheerful than normally. "But lately I've been wondering if I love her or if I love the idea of her." Since he still had his back turned to her, he didn't see her stiff and her eyes widen. By the time he looked at her face she was just looking at him waiting for him to continue. "By the way, did you see if she came by?"
"No, I didn't see her, but then again, I spent the whole afternoon sleeping." She said in a bored tone that made Danny smile.
So it had been just a dream.
oOoOoOoOoOo
"Hey, Sam. I was sort of lonely so I thought about coming over and watching the game here, what do you think?" Danny said with two bottles of beer on his hands. He had walked into Sam's house, finding the door open as usual. "I brought one for you. Sam?"
When she didn't answer him, he took two steps backwards and checked the garage. Her car was there. He shrugged and decided to explore the rest of the house. He placed the beers on her new tea table in front of the TV and headed upstairs, calling her along the way.
He entered her bedroom and saw several clothes around and also several bottles of cosmetics he didn't know she used. He crossed the room and opened her suite's door. He had to smile at the sight. She was lying in the bathtub, bubbles surrounding her like a blanket. She had a champagne bottle on the floor and a flute that remained untouched. She was sound asleep.
Danny thought about going away and leaving her alone, but he remembered Jazz saying something about how dangerous it was to sleep in a tub, the person could drown. So he decided that even if he got slapped for it, he was going to wake her up.
"Sam?" He called her once, but she didn't even move. That girl was a heavy sleeper. Her mother used to joke that she wouldn't wake up even if the house fell down. Danny stepped into the bathroom and crouched by her side, chuckling softly as he brushed her hair out of her face. "Hey, sleepyhead." That got her. She yawned and her eyes fluttered open.
"Danny, what are you doing here?" She sat up and was glad that there still were enough bubbles to not make the situation more awkward than it already was.
"I wanted some company, but when I called and you didn't answer I was a little worried." He stood up straight again. "I'll watch the game downstairs, if you don't mind. Join me when you're done, will you?"
"Well, yeah... sure." She answered, still a little dazzled from sleep. When she had fallen asleep in the first place? She felt tired, but... it had been the middle of the day, she had just gotten home. She came home early because she felt a little faint and had this bad case of chills the whole day.
She brushed the feeling off and stood up, wrapping herself in a towel and unplugging the tub. She got dressed and met Danny downstairs, carrying the full bottle of champagne down so they could drink it. He had called pizza and was just closing the door when she showed up.
"Hey, I got your favorite veggie pizza." He smiled. "But the game is over so I thought that maybe you'd like to watch a movie."
"So you're really feeling lonely tonight." Sam laughed, amused at how much he wanted to spend time with her.
He didn't answer her; he just put the pizza down on the tea table in front of the TV and Sam turned around to go to the kitchen to grab them some plates. Danny watched her go, for the first time seeing something he had never seen before on her. Because of the small shorts she was wearing, he noticed how curvy she really was. How come he had never noticed it before?
He shook his head slightly to brush the thought away. Then he heard a crash in the kitchen and stood up to see what she had broken that time. She broke dishes at least once a week. She was such a clumsy girl. But then he stopped at the threshold seeing that she had dropped a tin of fruits and she was leaning against the fridge with her eyes closed, holding her stomach.
"Sam!" He ran up to her and lifted her face to see her closely. "You're so pale. What are you feeling?" He touched her forehead, but she didn't have a fever. His worry increased when her knees buckled and she almost fell on the ground. He caught her before she hit the floor and carried her to the living room (she complained the whole time about how she could walk on her own), laying her down on the couch.
"I think I just need to eat something." Sam said with a hand pressing against her stomach. "And I better get some sleep."
"You just woke up!" Danny said, obviously scared. She had never gotten sick before; the last time she had a cold was three years ago! Sam never got sick! And then she laughed softly, looking up at his face. "What's so funny?" He asked, feeling insulted.
"I forgot to take my medicine. I should've known." She smiled at him with humor. "Would you mind getting it for me? It's in my bathroom."
"Medicine? So, you're really sick?" He asked, frowning slightly.
"Not really. That's normal." She smiled. "The pills, please?"
"What pills, Tylenol?" He asked, already half way through the stairs.
"That will do." Sam shouted after him. Half a minute later he returned with two pills and a cup of water. She took them gratefully and smiled at him, but he didn't offer a smile back, he just sat there, staring at her suspiciously. She had forgotten to tell him about her treatment to get pregnant. Well, she hadn't had the courage to talk much to him after what had happened between them and after all she hadn't gone to the clinic, yet. She decided to wait more six months. "I had to stop my birth control pills half a year ago. The pills helped to stop these disturbing side effects I have during my period."
"Oh." Danny visibly relaxed, sitting back on the couch, by her feet, with a heavy sigh. "You scared the hell out of me. Is your period always like this?" He asked, taking her feet and placing them on his lap, so he had more space to sit down. She nodded, blushing and he continued "Why did you stop taking those anyway?" When he asked that she got quiet and bit her lip, hesitating. She avoided his eyes and looked down at the pizza.
"It would be better if we eat the pizza. It's getting cold." She reached out to grab a slice, but Danny gently held her chin, making her look at him.
"Answer me."
"It's embarrassing and you wouldn't understand." She said quietly.
"Try me. C'mon Sam, we're best friends, remember?" Those words... once comforting now hurt more than a thousand knives. Yes, best friends, that's all they were ever going to be even after what they shared. Oh, she was glad he had forgotten about it! She really was! She had to be!
"I had to stop taking them because... I..." She pushed his hand away and looked at the floor. "I applied for an artificial insemination program."
"You what?!" Danny literally jumped off the couch, his eyes as wide as sausages. "Are you fucking nuts?!"
"Maybe I am." She answered him, ashamed. She knew he was going to react like this, but she wasn't going to change her mind just because he didn't like it. "But I've wanted a child for so long. I can't wait anymore."
"So you're going to have a stranger's child?" He yelled, grabbing the champagne in front of him and taking huge gulps.
"Stop drinking like mad when you're upset, Danny, you're going to get yourself killed!" Sam said angrily, taking the bottle from him. "And I don't have a choice. This is the only way to get a child and that's how I'm doing it!"
"Have you ever seen the place where they get the sperms? That's disgusting, Sam!" He had to point that part out, thank you very much! "A child should come from love... not... like that!"
"A child needs love and that's what my child will get here, either you like it or not." She answered.
"Shouldn't you..." He sighed and after a moment he flushed. "You know... do it in the traditional way?"
"Oh really? With who?" She dared him, hoping he'd say something about them. It had been a month since they had done it and he still didn't remember a thing.
"There must be someone in your life, Sam." He tried. Finally, they stopped shouting at each other. Danny leaned forward and grabbed two slices of the pizza, giving one to Sam.
"He doesn't love me back." She said quietly.
"Oh? So there's someone?" He grinned; pouring her some champagne, the beers he had brought remained untouched.
"Yes and he doesn't even know I exist." She grabbed the pizza and looked at it, disgusted. "I shouldn't eat crappy food."
"Forget the stupid diet already. How long has it been? Two months already?" He asked, throwing his arms up in defeat. He seriously couldn't hear her talk more about that diet. "And answer me, who is he?"
"No one important." She snickered at him, trying to make it sound as if it didn't matter. "I'm over him. I don't need anyone." And before he could reply she decided to start talking about him. "And why are you here in the first place? I thought you never got lonely."
"I missed spending a night with you. Besides, I had to ask you a favor."
"Ha! I knew it!" She said sarcastically.
"Very cute. Anyway, I'm getting back to Amity Park for a few days to get a new pack of filters to the Ghost Portal. And on the way I'll pay a visit to Tucker and Valerie." He sighed heavily.
"That's very nice of you, Danny." She smiled at him sweetly, like she was finally seeing him grown up. "Take something to give them. A gift for the baby, perhaps."
"I wanted to know if you wouldn't like to come with me." He asked quietly. "You never visit your parents."
"I can't leave the gallery right now, there's this new artist work I'm sponsoring and he needs a lot of marketing or else I'm not getting any cash in return." She explained finishing the only slice of pizza she was eating.
"Then, in two weeks when I return, can you pick me up at the airport?"
"Sure." She smiled, stretching. "Just tell me the time and I'll be there."
"You're the best." He said, jumping on her and hugging her tightly. When he held her tiny body in his arms, he had a small flash in his mind. He felt her naked body against his sweaty one, her honey lips on his. He sat back far away from her as quick as possible. Had he just imagined Sam like that? "So, which movie will we watch?"
"I think you should pick one. You never like the ones I choose." She half laughed, hearing her heart beating wildly inside her chest. He hadn't held her since that day. It felt so good when he did that. "Oooh I just remembered that I need your help with something, too!"
"What is it this time? Another broken shingle in your roof?" He rolled his eyes.
"Nope." She grinned. "There's a leaking in the kitchen."
"I knew it."
It's complicated to be an adult, isn't it?