"Danny? Danny!"
Danny blinked against the intrusive overhead lighting. Was someone calling his name?
"Lacey?" He strained to hear who was talking.
"It's Phoebe. You okay?" She asked, Danny now able to focus on the worry that lived on her face.
"Ugh—" Danny struggled to sit up and tried to rub the pain away that was throbbing at back of his head.
Lacey was gone.
"He went down hard." The woman from the morgue said as Phoebe assessed him on the ground.
Phoebe had heard the sound when Danny passed out. Danny's head hit the unforgiving floor with a sickening crack. She shone her pocket light into each of Danny's eyes and was met with his swats.
"Stop it!" He snarled at her.
"YOU stop it. Look at me, you have to go upstairs, have the ED check out your head."
"I can't, I have to go help—"
Phoebe and the woman from the morgue who Danny finally realized was hovering over his other side adamantly shook their heads no at the same time. Their motion set off Danny's vertigo and sent the room spinning around him. He felt sick and closed his eyes.
"Would you excuse us please?" Phoebe asked the morgue woman kindly.
Once she was out of earshot, Danny gabbed hold of Phoebe and pulled her closer, "Just leave me alone, let me lay here." He begged her through unreleased sobs.
"You need to be seen." Phoebe basically begged back.
"Take me home." Danny eyes were pained, filled with profound sorrow.
"Please Danny—" Phoebe pleaded with him, "I know how much you're hurting, I know, but I'll help you get through this, please." She whimpered quietly, they were running out of time.
Danny felt the pulsing at the back of his head, he could feel the warmth under his scalp spreading slowly down his neck, he knew he had a very small window to make a decision.
"You're so good at your job, Phoebe. You're so smart. You should keep going and become a doctor. If I can't just stay here with her, please take me home. I want to go."
"This is wrong, there's still time." She tried again.
"No, it's too late." Danny closed his eyes and a single tear fell down each cheek, he knew what his decision meant and he just wanted to make it to his bed, "Please do this for me."
"C'mon." Phoebe held a hand out to pull Danny to his feet.
He was fuzzy, heavy, hazy.
"Dr. Desai, I need you to sign off on this ID so no one else has to—" The morgue worker requested as gently as she could.
Danny signed the form. He turned and looked back at locker 207. He wanted to see her again, to hold her, fix her. He wanted to climb in there with her so she wasn't alone.
His tears arrived then without warning. The women watched as Danny's face crumpled and he dissolved into sobs. Wailing.
Phoebe couldn't help but cry too. She was strong, but damn, Danny's grief was tangible. Phoebe pulled their lab coats off and handed them to the woman, trying her best to protect Danny and make him as anonymous as possible before she had to shlep him through the hospital and out to her car.
"You really want to do this?" Phoebe asked again as they reached the exit doors.
"She's alone, I want to be with her." He sobbed and forced himself to keep walking toward the parking garage.
Danny was both numb and feeling everything all at once. He couldn't tell you anything about the ride home. He didn't remember how he made it inside his house or who had brought him there. He didn't know how he had gotten undressed or how he made it into his bed.
He was alone now, at least in his bed he was. He stared up at the ceiling while the room spun around him. He could hear vague rusting coming from his living room. Was it Phoebe? His parents? A burglar? He didn't care. What was dying like? Could she see him right now? Hear him?
"Lacey." He tested her name, hoping she'd just float into his line of vision like in the movies.
He had stopped crying, his eyes swollen and raw. He couldn't remember this phase when he had lost Cole. The numb phase. Danny had lost his will to live, he had ceased existing. What was the point of anything?
"I miss you." He whispered.
Danny thought back to the night he had met Lacey. His memory ran through as many days with her as he could remember. Good ones, bad ones, they all mattered to him. She mattered. She was light and grace and kindness and love. She was life and now she was gone. She was death now too, and suddenly dying didn't seem so bad.
Danny let his mind keep going, the back of his head still pounding. He closed his eyes and just let himself run through his memories. Phoenix, modeling, the flight simulator. As he made it back to the night they first met, he fell into a deep sleep.
"Dude are you still asleep?"
Danny's eyes fluttered open, feeling very disoriented and groggy. How long had he been out? He sat up and rubbed his face a few times, trying to recall where he was. Cole's couch.
"I thought we were going out." Cole said as he pulled clothes on in the middle of his living room.
"Yeah, sorry, I am exhausted."
"Okay well nap time is over, get dressed."
Danny instinctively rummaged around in the backpack he recognized on the floor by the couch. He pulled on some dark jeans, a simple tee and his favorite bomber jacket. He threw his hair up into a bun and headed toward the front door to lace up his favorite boots.
"Jesus, you think that maybe one time you could dress like you were a doctor? I know you'd get all the ass as you wanted—"
"Yeah, that's not a problem for me." Danny laughed.
"Okay well maybe it is for me."
"You wanna wear my lab coat?"
"Can I?!"
"No, dude. Somehow lying about being a doctor does not sound like the way to start a relationship."
"I just want to get laid, something." Cole sighed.
"You can't force these things."
"Easy for you to say." Cole rolled his eyes and the pair headed out to their favorite bar.
They had a usual table. It was a tiny two top in the corner by the window. Cole always sat so he could watch the door and Danny always faced away because he couldn't care less about another hook up. Danny hated the role of the wingman so he tried his best to just stay out of it all.
"Shit dude—" Cole's interest was definitely piqued.
"Here we go." Danny shook his head and took a long sip of his drink.
"There's a blonde."
"They're people, Cole."
"I know, I know. Please help me?" Cole pleaded.
"Help you with what?"
"I can't afford the drinks—"
"Drinks as in plural?" Danny was not about to turn and look.
"Well she's at a table with other girls."
Danny sighed, "How many?"
"Three, including her."
"What do I get out of this?" Danny shook his head no.
"C'mon, man. Her friends are cute, I can't just buy her a drink, it'll be nicer if I send them all one."
"You're right. I just don't understand how that's my problem."
"I'm not on a scholarship like you, I have student loans—"
"Okay, okay, don't start with all that shit again. Send the damn drinks."
Cole flagged over their server and ordered some fancy cocktails for the girls. The blonde he was swooning over must have looked their way because Danny watched him light up.
"They're all fine, check them out—" Cole pushed and nudged Danny's foot under the table.
Danny glanced over his shoulder to scan for the table that Cole had a hard on for. He spotted the blonde first since her hair sparkled under the one shitty spotlight that seemed to be aimed at her head.
Danny's eyes scanned over to the smaller woman with ultra curly brown hair and blank look on her face. She seemed to hate this process as much as he did. Just as he was about to look away the third friend with her back to him turned around and they locked eyes. She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen.
He smiled at her like a big dumb idiot and she smiled back, revealing dimples and a radiance he had never seen before. What was happening?
Danny reluctantly turned back around to face Cole.
"Uh—what was that?" Cole asked with a big, knowing smile on his face.
"Blondie has some pretty friends." Danny shrugged like he hadn't just fallen in love.
Once the drinks were delivered and the server explained to the girls who they were from, Danny turned and watched dimples reject hers and head for the bar.
"I'll be back." Danny said and wasted no time following her.
He found her standing at the bar, waiting for the bartender to help her.
"I guess I messed up already."
Dimples turned to see Danny standing right next to her.
"Of course you'd think that." Lacey couldn't help it, she was tired.
She looked further over her shoulder at Cole who was now snuggled up to Regina at their table and Sarita giving her bored-as-hell death stare. She couldn't help but smile and raised one finger to tell her she'd be right back.
"I'm sorry?" Danny leaned closer as if he didn't hear her but Lacey knew that he did and just didn't expect what came out of her mouth.
"You think that buying a drink is some sort of grand gesture in this game you're playing." Lacey added rather than repeating herself, the bartender showing up just in time, "I don't play games."
"It is a game, isn't it." He asked himself and looked down at his own drink, "I wish it wasn't like that but I never know the right way to just start talking to strangers." He admitted, "We are strangers, right? I feel like I know you from somewhere."
Even though their first meeting had been pretty cold, Danny was in love. At the end of the night he had learned two things: her name was Lacey and she was different.
"Mum, can I talk to you?" Danny said, the lacking self-confidence in his voice put his mom on high alert.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I just, I met someone—I think."
"Like a celebrity?" Karen was so far removed from Danny's love life that the fact that he could have meant something in a girlfriend capacity hadn't even crossed her mind.
"No, at least I don't think so. She's just different." He tried to explain.
"She? Are we talking about a patient here?"
"No. I met someone at the bar last night."
"Ohhh, well—" Karen seemed to brush it off.
"Mum." His voice was different than any other time they had spoke on the phone.
"Danny you need to stay focused. We talked about this."
"I know, but I'm not in school anymore. I think I want to try dating seriously."
Karen exhaled, "What's her name?"
"Lacey."
"What does she do for work?"
"I—I don't know."
"Okay, is she in school then?"
"I don't know."
"Her name is Lacey. Is that all you know?"
"She drinks beer, not cocktails. She has dimples and she definitely doesn't need me."
Karen laughed as Danny explained all he knew about the woman that got him contemplating monogamy for the first time.
"What do I do?" He asked her for advice.
"First, you know I love you, but every time I visit there's someone different scrambling to leave your house."
"That's because you don't call first—" Danny giggled.
"You know what I mean." Karen scolded him, "You don't need to be hurting someone."
"You think I can't do it?"
"I think you can do anything if you really want to, but love is hard work. It takes a lot of time and dedication, just like becoming a doctor. It means something in your life will have to suffer in order to have both and it'll probably be her."
Danny nodded his head subconsciously, "Yeah, you're probably right."
Karen noted the disappointment in his voice, he was discouraged. She hadn't heard him sound so down in his whole life.
"Danny, if she is someone truly worth your time, write it down." His mom suggested, "Write down how you feel, write poems, stories, songs, letters, anything to tell her how you feel. If you start a life with her, give her what you've written. The moments when she's alone, the nights you can't come home, the mornings you get called in early—during those moments she can read your words and she'll know she's not alone at all."
Danny loved that idea.
"Thanks, mum."
"I hope it does work out, I can't wait for grandbabies!"
"Oh yeah, okay goodbye now." Danny chuckled and hung up.
Those perfect days
The ones when the sun is shining, and the breeze is just right?
Those are the days that I find soothing.
Those lazy days
The ones when you can lay there and listen to the birds for hours?
Those are the days when I feel anew.
Those rainy days
The ones when the water drowns out the noise of city and you can think a little more clearly?
Those are the days when I think of you.
"Wow. I suck at this." Danny smiled to himself and tried again.
"What do you want?"
"Uh, hello to you too." Lacey chuckled at her little sister.
"Hi." Clara rephrased, "What do you want?"
"I miss you. Come visit me and the girls? I'll take you shopping."
"First of all, your friends are lame. Second, I hate shopping."
"Fine." Lacey exhaled, her quick defeat something Clara wasn't used to.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"You suck at lying." Clara decided.
"You ever feel like things are about to change?" Lacey wondered.
"Not really."
"I think I like someone." Lacey confided in her sister.
Their age gap and Clara's complete lack of experience was something that didn't phase Lacey in the slightest. Clara was smart and opinionated and fiercely protective over her big sister. Lacey was sure she'd get some thoughtful feedback….and she also wanted an opportunity to say it out loud before she tried to tell her mom.
"Who?" Clara asked, completely clueless.
"A boy."
"Eww, Lacey, no—"
Lacey giggled, "Mom around?"
"Yeah—MOM!" Clara yelled for her mom, "It's Lacey."
"Lace?"
"Hey mom."
"Hey, what's going on? Why does my baby's face look disgusted?"
"I just wanted to say hi." Lacey lied, a little nervous to hear what her mom would think about her meeting someone new.
"Hi. Now tell me what's going on." Judy smiled, her joy from hearing her daughter's voice was clear and contagious, Lacey smiled too.
"Nothing is going on, but I would like your advice."
"Oh lord."
"Mama—"
"Alright, get on with it then."
"How do I—I mean like, do I just—?" It was harder to say than she thought it would be.
Judy hadn't heard her daughter this tongue-tied in forever.
"Who is he?"
"Um, I'm—I" Lacey continued struggling to put Danny in to words.
"You'll know when it's time."
"I'm scared."
"Good. Be scared. Don't accept a moment of time with another person who decides that you're second, you hear me?"
"Yeah."
"You deserve something fun, something wonderful. Did you find it?"
"I don't know yet, but it feels different. It feels big. Bigger than me."
"You've worked so hard to find a happy place again, be mindful of who you invite in that space, but don't miss out because of fear. Fear is a liar."
"You're right. Thanks, mom."
"Which pocket?" Danny shouted to Lacey as he rummaged around in her luggage.
"Uhh—like one of the smaller ones, I don't know." She shouted back, voice preoccupied as she relaxed under the hot spray in Danny's shower.
"Just use mine."
"I am not using your body wash."
"Why not?"
"I don't want to smell like wooden sandals by sunset spiced leather mountains or whatever the fuck scent you buy." Lacey giggled.
Danny had unzipped basically every pocket of her pro suitcase, freezing in place and stunned that he had just pulled out the old book of poetry he had gifted her so many years ago. It's cover was worn, well-loved. Danny could feel his heart flutter, his happiness grow. She had kept it.
He flipped through quickly and landed on a page that had a bookmark in place. It was a ticket stub from one of Regina's old runway shows. Danny flipped the pages a couple times, that was it. The picture of her and Archie was gone.
"Hellllooooo? Did you find it?!" Lacey sang, desperately wanting to wash off this day.
Danny juggled the book as if he had just been busted, sliding it carefully back where he had found it.
"Yeah! Got it!" Danny lied, frantic now as he doubled the effort of his search. He finally found it and dashed into the bathroom.
"Thank you." Lacey greeted him and took her time pulling the bottle from his hands, "Get your ass in here." She demanded, voice low, sexy.
"As you wish." Danny cooed into the side of Lacey's head before he threw his clothes off and greedily played with her sensitive nipples.
Danny massaged her like dough, every inch. Lacey relished in being over stimulated by his skilled hands and the too hot spray from the shower head across from her. He spent a lot of time washing her, slicking her up and making sure he rubbed out every speck of exhaustion from her body after her 14 hour round trip flight.
Lacey wanted to show him how good he made he made her feel, how much she was loving this attention. She also wanted to get laid in the worst way. She squirmed herself around to face away from him, ignoring his massive cock that had received zero love from her up until this point and yet still stood, rock hard and endlessly excited to see her.
Lacey arched her back a little and braced herself against the wall of the shower, her ass rutting backward and finally making contact with Danny's eager stud.
Danny leaned forward and trapped her in place, sucking on her neck and giggling in her ear as she tried to push back against him again.
"Lacey Porter, what do you want?" He purred and giggled again when she whined a little, "You need it?"
"Take care of me—" Lacey groaned, hoping that would be enough to get his ass moving.
"I've got you." Danny promised and worked to push himself inside of her from behind.
The angle was awkward and unforgiving. Lacey did her best to participate but Danny had her pinned. Danny was watching carefully and knew she was uncomfortable. Time to switch things up.
Danny wrapped his arms around her waist, marching them backward a couple steps. He slid his hands up and showed her nipples a little more love before moving this along. Lacey loved that.
"Bend over." He requested and gently pushed at her back until she flopped forward.
Lacey's hips opened up, her clit now exposed enough for Danny's body to make contact with. Danny gripped her hips and pushed himself inside of her, lifting her body up every time he snapped forward, the sensation new and decadent.
"Shit, D—"
Danny leaned forward a little and put his hands on the shower wall and fucked her hard and fast. Lacey's legs raised up in response like magic. How the fuck did he know so much about how this worked?
"Handstand time." He chuckled and plowed into her over and over.
Lacey couldn't help but smile as she struggled to keep herself from somersaulting, "Don't let me fall!"
"I got you."
Danny reached down for her ankles and nudged her forward, walking a few steps forward with her like a wheelbarrow until he reached the shower wall. He lifted her legs higher.
"Wha—" Lacey was super confused when Danny pulled himself out and kept lifting her legs up.
"Handstand time." He chuckled and lifted her legs until her back was almost against the shower wall and Lacey was in a proper handstand.
Danny wrapped his arms tightly around her waist and pressed a kiss to her upside down mound.
"Why am I upside down?" Lacey was still fighting this.
"Open up." He requested confidently, knowing exactly what was waiting for him and for her.
Lacey tried to squirm a little and noticed that Danny had a solid grip on her, she wasn't going anywhere, she was safe. Lacey relaxed a little and let her knees fall apart. Danny immediately shoved his face into her slit.
"Damn—" She moaned. Lacey had never wanted Danny's unique sex weirdness more in her entire life.
Danny ate. He knew exactly what to do and he did the work. His lips were persistent, thorough. He was enjoying this as much as she was. His breathing was erratic and his perfect junk sworded her chest and face repeatedly, obviously excited about the feast going on above.
Lacey relaxed her arms and reached up to guide Danny's throbbing dick into her own mouth, not able to really move her head, but providing the warm wet hole for Danny to pump himself into.
"Fuck—" Danny liked that and definitely took advantage of the opportunity, his hips pulsing forward, the force gently slapping Lacey's back against the wall over and over.
They came together, Danny carefully guiding Lacey's body into a crumpled heap on the shower floor so she could recover. Once she was down safely he leaned forward and rested his head against the wall to catch his breath.
"That was so good." Danny decided, his cock oozing and dotting residual come randomly all over Lacey's legs as she lay incapacitated on the shower floor.
It was a strange climax, most of her blood had gone to her head but Danny's mouth had her clit pulsing and the head rush she felt at her peak was unreal. Lacey was right, that particular version of a 69 was Danny's favorite. When Lacey felt comfortable enough to return the favor Danny found the reciprocation more than he could have ever asked for.
Danny opened his eyes and looked down, his forehead still planted firmly against the wall. Lacey was staring up at him, all loved up and satiated.
"You're my soulmate." He uttered randomly, "I love you."
"This one—" Regina wiggled the fingers on her left hand, an obnoxiously large engagement ring sliding from side to side, "It's crazy perfect."
Danny rolled his eyes, "You're not helping."
Regina sighed, "You're not fun." She took the ring off and nestled it back into its velvet cradle, "If I had your money—"
"That ring is ridiculous and I can't afford that."
"Yes you can."
Danny checked the tag on the stunning emerald cut diamond ring: $6M. He giggled and shook his head.
"I don't know what kind of money you think I make, but no, I can't."
"I know you own you home on the upper east side, drive a Jag and only wear designer underwear." Regina raised her eyebrows and smiled back.
"How would you know what kind of underwear I wear?" Danny squinted at her, honestly curious.
"Did you ask me to be here right now picking out a ring with you? It's a two-way street."
"You and Lacey pick out my underwear?"
Regina shrugged, "She asked for my professional opinion."
"I pay for things that are worth the money. My luxury underwear habit is worth every penny and, as a professional, I am sure you would agree."
"I do actually. Lacey's worth every penny too." Regina challenged.
Danny nodded and looked at the rings that had been presented to them. These traditional engagement rings weren't it.
"She never asks for anything but my time." Danny reflected, his mind very far away, "She never lets me buy her anything. She loves shitty coffee and never wears makeup." He picked up the ridiculous ring and slid it on his pinky finger to admire the diamond, "I'd buy her this ring—" He put the ring back and sighed, "But I know she wouldn't want it."
"Okay, you're right." Regina agreed, "I know she's no fun. I love being able to spoil her with the clothes I design. I've convinced her that she's helping me, but really she deserves every stitch and would never accept me fawning over her otherwise."
"You're a great friend."
"Listen, Lacey's my best friend. She tells me everything. If I thought that being here right now with you, looking at these rings, was not what she wanted then I would have already talked you out of it."
Danny trusted Regina. If she was telling him that Lacey wouldn't run screaming when she saw him with a ring, he believed it.
"Excuse me—" Danny signaled for the jeweler to return, "I was wrong." He confessed.
"Oh?" The jeweler waited patiently.
"The person I am buying for—" Danny shook his head no and looked down at the rings, "She wouldn't want these. She's—different. Unique."
"Certainly." The jeweler whisked the trays away, "In that case, I have a few other things I'd like to show you, Dr. Desai. I'll be right back."
Danny sat back in the lux chair he was in and rubbed his hands together absently.
"So what else do you know about me?" He wondered.
Regina flashed her giant smile, "She tells me everything."
"Yeah? I dunno—"
"Everything." She chuckled to herself, "She's so happy with you, Danny. She's happy."
Danny couldn't help but smile, his cheeks warm and his heart swollen with happiness.
The jeweler returned with three more trays. The one he set down first was filled with precious gems set in antiqued filigree settings. Danny said no before the jeweler could even set the second tray down. The jeweler took it away, replacing it with the second tray which was filled with lots of rings that were fashioned into flowers and vines and various other loud settings.
"No. She likes simple, clean. She knows quality. I'm not looking for a traditional engagement ring but definitely diamonds—" Danny rambled, trying to explain how Lacey would translate into a unique piece of jewelry.
The jeweler nodded and moved the second tray away, "Let's try these." He said and set down the third tray which was filled with simple diamond bands.
Danny and Regina leaned forward and scanned the tray, not hating these outright. They both reached for the same band, surprising each other, both of them feeling a jolt of excitement.
Regina held her hands up and shooed him on to inspect the gorgeous ring first. Danny pulled it out, diamonds sparkling and brilliant, as if the band was asking to go home with him.
He slipped it on his pinky and twisted it around as he had done with all of the others. Regina kept her mouth shut and waited for Danny's reaction. She watched him inspect it throughly, marvel at its perfect size and shape. It wasn't too much but it was an absolute stand out, just like Lacey.
Once he had his time with it he passed it over to Regina, something he hadn't done once today, not having been happy with anything really—until now. Danny kept his mouth shut too and took his turn watching Regina handle it.
Regina slid it on and made a fist. She slid it back off and ran her fingertip across the diamonds, it was insanely beautiful. It also didn't have a price tag.
"Wow." She said honestly, making Danny's heart race faster.
He licked his lips and reached to take it back for a second look.
"How much is this one?" Regina asked the jeweler.
The jeweler took the band from Danny and inspected it for himself.
"This is a six carat diamond eternity band set in platinum. With this clarity the cost is twenty thousand." He said and handed it back to Danny.
Danny seemed to be holding his breath as he heard the price. Regina couldn't read what was going through his mind.
"Can we have a moment, please?" Regina requested and leaned over to close Danny off from the rest of the sales floor, "That's her ring." She announced when the jeweler was out of earshot.
Danny nodded and took a closer look. The band had fourteen perfectly round diamonds in low-profile settings that made them stand out. He imagined how it would look around her finger. It was definitely Lacey's ring.
"Can I put it on you?" He asked awkwardly.
"Yes, yes, yes—" Regina all but squealed and stuck her hand out.
"Jesus, chill out."
Danny smiled and held her left, the stunning band clenched within his fingertips. He slid it on Regina's finger, confirming that the ring and the girl he wanted to give it to were not interchangeable in any way.
Regina was beaming and nodded as she brought the ring up to look at again, "Stunning." She declared and handed it back to him.
"What am I doing?" He asked out loud to no one in particular, his voice trailing off into a heavy sigh.
"You're buying a gift for your girlfriend." Regina tried to keep it simple.
"What if I just—" Danny took a deep breath and looked over at Regina, "Will she say yes if I ask her to marry me?"
Regina's mouth fell into an 'O' and she struggled with how to respond for a second too long. They both already knew the answer to that.
"Never mind, forget I said anything—"
"Danny, listen to me. You need to flip your thinking. You're putting too much pressure on yourself to do what you think is the next step. You already have her. This is a gift to show her how much she means to you, you picked an eternity band for Christ's sake. It says a lot."
"Thank you for doing this with me today, Regina. Your opinion means so much." Danny said, genuinely excited to have found a gift that he felt such a connection with. He flagged down the jeweler.
"Have we made a decision?"
Danny rolled the band back and forth a couple more times as he wrestled with parting with such a ridiculous amount of money. Outside of his car and his new home, he never spent money like this. Lacey never let him do a damn thing for her so Danny reasoned that it was a quality item and he'd probably never get another chance.
"I—um." Danny cleared his throat, still nervous about how to go about giving it to her if he bought it.
Regina reached out and ran a hand around Danny's back in support, "You're in the same place, Danny, I promise you."
Danny extended the ring back to the jeweler, "I'll take it."
"Very good, Dr. Desai. I'll clean this, box it up for you. It'll only take a moment." The jeweler said and scurried off.
"How many times have you been here?" Danny asked as he marveled at stars above them.
Lacey had dragged him to the rooftop of the building they were staying in to see the amazing view on their last night of vacation.
"To Greece? Like twenty-ish times maybe."
"Wow."
Danny watched her take in the vast open night sky, watched her hair swirl around as the wind danced its way through it, like even the air was happy that she was there. She was everything to him.
Danny knocked his knee into hers as they sat side by side on the slate roof. Lacey smiled and snuggled in closer, her arm circling around his back in a half-hug.
"Remember the night I met your dad?" Danny asked, swallowing hard.
"Uh, you mean the night you performed open heart surgery and saved his life? Hm, I don't recall—" Lacey giggled.
Danny smiled back, Lacey noticing his more reserved attitude, as if he was in deep thought about something.
"When I pulled him into the spare bedroom to talk, he thought I was asking for his permission to marry you." He revealed.
"Whaaat? That's—" Lacey's nose crinkled.
"I know, trust me, I know." Danny reached out and rested his arm around her knee, running his hand up and down her calf, "You know I'd marry you, right?"
Lacey's head snapped over to connect with him, his big brown eyes simply dazzling as the moonlight made them shimmer, his skin glow. She hadn't expected to talk about this and had no idea how to respond.
"You would?"
Danny licked his lips and gave a nod, "Would you consider getting married some day?"
"Are you asking?"
Lacey had never been proposed to before but she was pretty sure that this wasn't the way the question typically went down. Danny nervously broke eye contact with her and turned to look up at the stars for a moment as if searching for help. When he looked at her again his face was full of love.
"I have been thinking about life a lot. My life. You. Our life." He shrugged a little, "I would definitely marry you."
"My parents have been married for thirty three years." Lacey turned and looked out over the ocean, "They love each other so much, finish each other's sentences. I think a lot of the traditions are shit but I've definitely seen success too. It's romantic I think." She smiled and paused there.
Danny reached over, grabbed her left hand and pulled it closer to him, rubbing it tenderly between his palms. Lacey turned her attention back to him.
"I'm asking." Danny decided and gave her hand a squeeze.
Lacey's heart exploded into a flurry of butterflies that took off in all directions. She had never felt a burst of excitement like that in her whole life. It felt so right to be here in this moment with him.
"Danny—" She couldn't help but smile and giggle at her own astonishment.
"Maybe tomorrow, maybe thirty years from now, maybe never. I don't care. This world is—" He shook his head and glanced around him, "For all the time I have left, I want my heart with yours."
Lacey was crying at this point, Danny's unexpected proposal sending her into emotions she hadn't even known existed. This man made her love deeper at every stage they crossed together. Shit was wild.
She nodded enthusiastically before she worked out how to speak again.
"I would definitely marry you too." Lacey confirmed and Danny wiped her tears.
Danny kissed her, not remembering a single moment he had ever felt happier. He ran his fingers through her hair, cradled her jaw lovingly and kissed her with all the love he had to give. When he leaned back he rummaged around in his pocket for the little flat square box he had stuffed in there.
"Whether we go through the formality with our friends and families and walk down the aisle, or if we just end up promising each other, God already knows. Either way, I promise to be your partner for as long as you'll have me." He nodded, "And maybe I also wanted a reason to buy you something pretty. You never let me, so—" Danny chuckled and opened the small, unassuming box.
Lacey stared back at a perfect band of brilliant round diamonds. It was fucking spectacular, as were most things when it came to Danny.
"It's beautiful—"
Danny slipped the ring out of its pocket and held it between them.
"You're not traditional and that's absolutely one of the reasons why you're for me. This obviously isn't an engagement ring, it's an eternity band. Whether you say yes or not, I want to give you something that represents my commitment to you. Our lives together, forever." Danny teased the ring onto her ring finger, it's sparkle now dazzling both of them, "Lacey Porter, will you marry me?"
"Yes." Lacey was beaming as Danny slid the ring in place. She threw her arms around him and jumped into his lap, "I love you, Danny."
"Together wherever, forever." He said as he squeezed her back.
Lacey had hired a two person staff to help cater to these rich kids for her first round of spring break flights. The morning had been going so well. She slept well, had a delicious breakfast, said goodbye to Danny and headed to work to do what she loved.
Lacey felt calm, settled. She couldn't remember the last time things in her life aligned this way, no stress, no worries. She used her thumb to fidget with the new diamond band she was still getting used to wearing. As she rode to the airport her mind wandered to what she wanted in terms of a wedding. Maybe Regina would design a dress for her. Maybe they'd just keep things the way they were and continue traveling the world together. Both? Yeah both. Her heart fluttered, she was happy.
"Morning, Captain Porter."
"Good morning." Lacey greeted the usual security.
Lacey marched out onto the tarmac at JFK airport and up to her aircraft, her crew having already opened the plane and prepared the stairs. She greeted them warmly and pumped them up for a fun flight.
Lacey did her own pre flight checks and after welcoming her guests she secured herself into her cockpit to get this show on the road.
"Cabin crew, please take your seats for takeoff. Thank you." Lacey announced quietly.
"Captain Porter, runway 4R, cleared for takeoff." Lacey heard the air traffic controller say through her headset.
"This is Captain Porter, runway 4R, cleared for takeoff." Lacey repeated back.
Lacey took off down the runway, approaching the last third of the strip and ascending into the sky perfectly like she had done a thousand times before.
"V1, rotate." Lacey recorded the typical benchmarks as she worked to get up to her cruising altitude, "V2, gear up."
That's when she saw it. A flock of geese had suddenly appeared several feet in front of her plane, there was no time to avoid them. Lacey had trained extensively for this exact scenario and had flown with and through flocks before with no issues.
She held her breath as she rocketed through. Lights and alarms began flashing at the same time Lacey felt a dramatic pull to the right from the loss of one of her engines.
"Control this is Captain Porter, bird strike. Right leg down, right engine down." Lacey said calmly, preparing to turn around and make an emergency landing.
"Copy. Bird strike. Runway 4R for emergency landing, Captain Porter."
"Copy. Runway 4R."
Lacey kept control of the plane and began to turn to approach for landing. Just as she did, another bird compromised her left engine. She wasn't able to maintain much control any longer.
The plane was still traveling too fast and Lacey knew that if she didn't bring it down now that they'd end up somewhere in Long Island and would certainly take many more lives with them. She made the split second decision to bring them down now to save lives.
She was thankful for how loud it was, the sound drowning out any chance of hearing her guests who were surely screaming in terror as they realized they were crashing. Lacey did her best to find a clear spot, to not outright smash them into dust.
"See you later, Danny." Lacey said, knowing her words would be recorded and likely revealed to him and the world, maybe it would make it easier on him.
She braced for impact.
"Do you think they know that they're dead?" Sarita asked, flat as ever.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Regina sniffled as they sat together on the granite steps outside of the funeral home.
Phoebe and her husband joined them a few moments later. They all embraced, the sting of Lacey and Danny passing away on the same day still just as sharp on this fifth day without them.
"Are their parents here yet?" Phoebe wondered.
"Mhm, they're all inside." Regina confirmed, "What happened with Danny? Something about his head? I didn't want to ask them, they can barely speak as it is."
"Danny went to ID Lacey in the morgue by himself. He passed out and hit his head on the ground pretty hard, I wasn't close enough to catch him." Phoebe choked out, "He was completely heartbroken. He refused to get his head checked out, maybe he knew." Phoebe shrugged in defeat, "I put him to bed and he never woke up."
"So he was asleep?" Sarita asked.
"Yes, he died in his sleep. Brain hemorrhage."
That seemed to soothe the friends a bit, all four of them completely devastated.
The Porters and the Desais chose to bury their children in the same cemetery in side by side plots. Judy and Sam had debated on bringing Lacey back home to Green Grove but decided in the end that Lacey had found happiness in the city and with Danny. Her friends were here, this was her home now.
Regina, Sarita, Phoebe and her husband all spoke as part of the combined service to honor their friends.
Sarita was first, offering some snarky jabs at both of them and ultimately providing the raw and weepy masses some much needed comic relief.
Phoebe went next and offered her own unique take on her journey into befriending Danny and Lacey, weaving herself in and out and then in again. It was comforting to hear how much she cared for Danny after Cole's passing.
Phoebe's husband took a turn representing the doctors who had turned up to pay their respects. He brought the mood back up, eventually disclosing that although Danny had finally found his soulmate, he had still slept with half of the friend group that was currently on stage.
That got people laughing as they remembered how hands on Danny had been before Lacey came into his life. Everyone looked between the four of them, giggling and shaking their heads as they tried to guess who Danny had been with.
When Regina took over the podium, you could hear a pin drop. Everyone knew Regina. She was Lacey's best friend. She adored Danny when things were going well and was also the balance they both needed when things would fall apart.
Regina didn't take shit from anybody and was never afraid to tell Lacey or Danny when they were being ridiculous. She was well respected and beloved and everyone at the service wanted to hear what she had to say.
"I remember most of you from Cole Farrell's service. I wish we would stop meeting this way." She joked, her voice heavy, "I'm am not surprised how many more of you are here this time around. Their bond definitely brought people together."
Regina took a few moments to let her emotions settle down before continuing on.
"Cole and I were engaged to be married. We met at a bar, it was cliché but exciting, I was happier than I ever knew was possible. Cole was there with Danny the night that we met and I was there with Lacey and Sarita." Regina smiled over at Sarita, "I was definitely focused on myself. Lacey had always just been there for me up until then and that night was no different. Danny was Cole's best friend." Regina nodded, "I didn't know it then but Danny had fallen in love with Lacey the same night I fell in love with Cole. If you know Lacey, then you know how hard Danny must have worked to wear that woman down." She smiled, "But he did and I'm thankful for that. Danny and Lacey were both there when Cole died. They were there for Cole and they were there for me too. I couldn't have gotten through that without them—so when they broke up the last time and days turned into months and months into years. I was sad. I didn't want to lose Danny from our friend group. He had been the one to help my fiancée, made him comfortable in his final moments. Then, a few weeks ago, fate stepped in and crossed the paths of these two soulmates again. I'll never forget the joy in Lacey when she reconnected with Danny. They didn't dwell on the time they lost, they focused on the time they had now. Their love is something I will always strive for." Regina held up Lacey's eternity band, "I wanted to show you all something."
Regina passed the ring to her right and the guests began passing it around.
"None of you know this, but I spent some time alone with Danny recently. He asked for my help to pick out a ring for Lacey. That ring." Regina pointed to it as it made its way through the crowd and her chin quivered, "Danny and Lacey went on vacation last week, to Greece. Danny brought the ring and asked Lacey to marry him and she said yes. If you know Lacey you know that woman did not do things the way most people would." Regina giggled through her tears as Coach Chandler whistled, "But along comes fucking Danny Desai and he manages to get all in her heart. Lacey told me that he gave her some line about not caring when they got married or if they even did—just that he wanted her to have this ring a symbol of his eternal love. Danny passing on the same day that Lacey did was no accident. He knew where he wanted to be and that was with her, forever. He promised her that and that man refused to let her down." Regina took the ring back and held it up, "This ring will be buried with Lacey, but I wanted you all to see it, to hold it and understand how powerful words can be. In the end, Danny and Lacey just wanted to spend the rest of their time together, and they did."
Regina brought her hands to her mouth and pressed a kiss there before blowing it out and looking up to the ceiling as if sending her friends a goodbye kiss.
"Use your time and live your life the way you want to. There's not a moment to lose."
After the federal investigation into the crash, Lacey was heralded a hero. It had been obvious after reviewing the footage and listening to the flight recordings that this was a tragic accident and that once Lacey knew they wouldn't be able to land, her goal as captain was to switch to saving as many lives as possible.
Lacey's last words were broadcast as Lacey had hoped, only Danny was not around to hear them. Lacey and Danny's friends and family clung to her last thought, warmed that she was obviously so happy even at the end. They all knew they were together now, where they belonged.
Lacey and Danny's friends and family worked together to sort through all of their belongings at their respective homes.
Danny's will was up to date and crystal clear: he left everything to Lacey. Lacey divided her property up in her will to go to Danny and Clara. In the end, it was decided to let Clara choose anything she wanted from either of them, everyone knew they'd both want that. Clara ended up with most of Lacey's clothes, Danny's piano, all of his music and his other instruments.
Regina, Sarita, Phoebe and her husband divvied up all of their furniture, appliances, art and other things that any of them found useful or sentimental. The process was draining and when they were all done, it was Regina who ended up with most of Danny's writing.
Over the next several weeks, Regina poured over Danny's words, getting lost in several different books he had written. She found his work heavy and dark for the most part. She found a pattern where he would initial and date each page and the darkest pages were written during the time just before he had found Lacey again.
It's been awhile, love.
Endless nights alone.
I think about you.
Darkest hours, brightest suns.
Regina found that Lacey also wrote a lot but not in stories and poems like Danny, Lacey kept journals. Regina rifled through them, laughing through the ones she kept through college and during the time they were roommates. She cried through the pages where Lacey had loved all over her family, Regina and their other friends.
Regina felt like she was being intrusive when she made it to the details Lacey committed to paper surrounding her sex life with Danny and how he made her feel. Lacey had documented all of the sweet things he had done for her over the years and all of the times she wanted to run away from him due to her own fears and trauma from Archie.
Archie. They both wrote about him in their own ways. They were both scared of him, worried about what his ever revolving presence could do to each of them over time.
Overall they had a lot of the same fears, but some were vastly different.
Regina found that Danny was terrified of Lacey crashing her plane before their last and longest break up. Lacey was worried Danny was looking for ways out and documented lots of examples.
It took over a month before Regina's busy schedule allowed for her to make it to the point in their writing when Danny and Lacey crossed paths again in San Diego. Danny's lonely rants and dark poems flipped as if someone had turned the lights on in his head. Lacey's lost and rambling thoughts and woes were replaced by new and optimistic observations about herself, Danny, and their potential future together.
They both mentioned soulmate on the same day and it gave Regina goosebumps. Danny had even begun to write his own vows several weeks before he had even asked her to marry him.
Regina's heart ached as she made it toward the end of their words. Regina felt like she knew so much more about them, their inner most thoughts and feelings. She understood them and missed them now more than ever. She wished she could hug them, talk to them one last time, say goodbye.
They had each been writing the night before their deaths. Regina matched up the dates with those in Lacey's journal and read them in tandem.
Lacey made a small list of short term goals for herself as she managed her busy spring break schedule: hit the gym more, take one of Coach Chandler's sim classes, stop by Regina's to help with fittings for this year's fashion week, keep up the new sex life that she had written all about during their Greece vacation and to maybe start to plan their wedding.
Regina was thankful to have had a friend that kept her and her own passions a priority in their life. Lacey's life was so full and so busy, yet there was Regina's name listed in a journal that was never intended for anyone else to read and nestled amongst all of the most important things on Lacey's mind. Lacey was a real one.
The last thing in Lacey's journal read: I still remember Danny's eyes as we sat together on the roof in Greece. He saw me. He told me that he didn't care when or if we would get married, he just wanted me to know that his heart was with mine always. The eternity band meant more to me than I thought it would and he is right, regardless if we do the traditional bullshit or not, god already knows. Together wherever, forever.
The last thing that Danny had written was housed in a new book that was obviously written as a gift for his future wife. His book had been filled with poems and short stories about the depth and breadth of life and love as he had grown to know it.
Humbling is time.
Everyone wants it, always running out of it, never enough.
You make appointments, try to plan, the goal not to waste it.
Time doesn't wait.
You're late, bad day, sad day, time wasted.
Regret eats new moments,
Precious minutes you can't redo.
You can't go back, and so it goes.
Birds aren't meant to stay in one place.
It was never my intention,
To break those wings,
To make her stay.
So off she flew,
She soared away.
I prayed for her,
Every day.
I was wrong in the end,
Birds often stay.
Where the sun shines bright,
Where there's a nest to lay.
My bird flew back,
New strength, new feathers.
She checked on me,
Paper wings, lost, weathered.
The world is ours,
Not so I say.
We are the world,
Like night, like day.
I asked her quick,
To join our hearts.
She said yes,
And now we start.
Together we soar,
To heights unknown.
My heart is full,
No longer alone.
But time is a trick,
Waning and clever.
We were inevitable,
Together wherever, forever.