As promised, a knock came at her front door 15 minutes later.
"Hi," Elise opened the door, feeling shy all over again. She felt silly about the whole thing. Calling him so late. Inviting him over. Like a scared child in the middle of the night asking a parent to come sleep with her.
"Hey," Danny kissed her forehead before standing back to present his gift.
"I brought donuts. I didn't know what kind you liked, so I got donut holes. Everyone likes donut holes, right?"
"Donut holes are my favorite," she smiled weakly, taking the box.
"Come. Sit," she motioned to the couch. Elise set the donuts down on the coffee table in front of it before sitting. Danny sat down, leaving space between them. She had finally gotten her tears under control before he arrived, barely, but she could no longer hold them back now as the empty space between them stared her in the face.
"Elise, what is it?" he scooted towards her. Her pulse seemed to slow some once the blank space was gone, feeling his body against hers. She buried her face in his chest.
She felt neurotic, to say the least. She seemed to be feeling that way a lot lately. Danny stroked her hair as she cried, which calmed her significantly. Elise felt safe, relieved, as he held her close, waiting until she was ready to talk.
"I swear I don't cry all the time," she turned her head to the side just enough for her voice to not be muffled against his sweatshirt.
"It's alright. It's good to cry sometimes. Reminds you you're alive."
Elise scoffed.
"I feel too alive right now, then," she finally started to calm down.
"Why do you say that?" she could hear the genuine curiosity in his voice. It caused even more chinks in the wall she felt like she had built up around her emotions.
"Everything is too real. My feelings are too strong. Us. The whole "us" thing is scary," Elise spilled her guts.
Danny took a moment before answering.
"I know you said what you're afraid of earlier too. But can I ask why?"
She thought about how she wanted to word it. Hell, it scared her to even say it out loud. It made her feel too raw, too vulnerable, too exposed. Elise shook her head "no" against his chest.
"Elise, you asked me to come over in the middle of the night. You might as well tell me what's bothering you. I'll just keep bugging you," he poked her playfully in the ribs.
"Stop," she giggled, batting his hand away. What she was about to tell him was important, but she just couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes, no matter how comfortable she had become with him.
"I love you too much," Elise paused between each sentence, not wanting to speak the next out loud.
"I'm scared to death something will happen. That things won't work out. It's stupid, right? We've only been dating, what? 4 months? I just...I really, really like you. I'm afraid I'll do something to mess this up. That you'll get bored. That you'll leave. I, I can't go on without knowing how serious you are too," silent tears fell down her cheeks and her shoulders shook. She felt like she was giving him an ultimatum, which was not what she had intended at all.
"Think about it, Elise," he stroked her hair. "Again, do you think I would be here in the middle of the night if I wasn't serious? If I didn't care about you so much that I didn't want you to be alone till morning? Elise, barring you trying to kill me or sleeping with another man behind my back, I don't have any intentions of leaving you. Hell, even then I might forgive you. For the latter one, I mean. I don't know. I have some trust issues of my own from past girlfriends, to be honest." Danny took a breath.
"How can I prove it to you?" he spoke more softly.
"Stay," Elise turned her head to the side, her tears slowing.
"Of course. That's what I'm trying to tell you."
"No. Stay with me. Tonight," she blurted, finally sitting up and looking him in the eye.
"Are you sure?" Danny didn't look convinced.
She nodded her head, fighting back more tears, irrationally afraid he would say "no".
"Of course I'll stay," he took her face in his hands and kissed her. "All you have to do is ask. I'll do damn near anything for you if you just ask. Ok?" he looked in her eyes intently. "The sooner you get that through your head, the better," he tapped lightly on her temple. Elise nodded, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hands.
"No more crying, ok? I hate when you're upset," he used his thumbs to wipe away the wetness at her eyes as well.
"Now let's go to bed. These donut holes will still be here in the morning," he smiled.
"I'm just glad you'll be here in the morning," she smiled back at him.
Elise woke first, sunlight already brightening the room. Either it was a lot later than she expected or it was actually going to be a nice, sunny winter day
She desperately needed some sunshine. It hadn't been an overly harsh winter as far as snowfall was concerned, but the sun's appearances had been few and far between for months, it felt.
Elise rolled over, facing Danny, who was still sleeping peacefully. His lips were parted, just barely, giving him a child-like quality. She suddenly tried to imagine him as a child and hoped she would be able to see pictures of him as a kid some day...Though the thought of meeting his parents terrified her.
Danny had made his mom out to sound like a kindly woman, warm, giving. His father, on the other hand, was an ex-Marine, strict, to an extent, when he was a boy. Elise forced herself away from thoughts of meeting his parents some day, enjoying the moment at hand.
She felt an indescribable amount of happiness just from waking up next to Danny and even just being able to watch him sleep. In fact, Elise couldn't remember the last time she had felt so happy. This thought disturbed her some. Had she really been that unhappy before she met him? Or had she just become too comfortable in her routine? She liked to think it was the latter. She had been single long enough that she knew she was fine without a man in her life, never had she been one of those girls that thought a significant other equaled happiness.
An overwhelming desire to touch his face, waking him with a kiss, overcame her. She resisted, but didn't have to wait long before he woke on his own. Danny stretched his arms above his body, stretching and yawning, then seemed to remember he was not in his own bed and rolled over toward her.
"Good morning," he squinted with a sheepish smile.
"Hi," Elise smiled back.
"How long have you been up?"
"Not long," she spoke quietly, unable to wipe the silly grin from her face.
"What?" he laughed.
"Nothing," she tried to dismiss his question, but he never let things go easily.
"No, really. What are you thinking? You can't stop smiling," his facial expression mirrored her own.
"Neither can you!" Elise pointed at him. "I could ask you the same thing!"
"Yes, but I asked first," he reached forward and tickled her ribs.
"Stop, stop!" she laughed, trying to smack his hands away. "Fine!" she cried uncle, barely able to breath.
"I didn't know you were so ticklish," Danny smiled. "I'll have to use that to my advantage in the future," he raised his eyebrows up and down. "Now, back to the point."
"Fine," she feigned exasperation, scooting closer to him, running her hand up his bicep. His skin was smooth, but firm. She fought a cold chill. Just his closeness and the fact that he was in her bed was causing her to have inappropriate thoughts.
"I was thinking about how glad I am you're here."
"Mmhmm," Danny waited for her to go on.
"And how much I enjoyed waking up next to you," she inched closer to his face. The longing to touch him was outweighing her previous shyness.
"What else?" he leaned forward too.
"And how handsome you are and how much I want to kiss you," Elise bridged the gap between them, kissing him slowly on the lips. He stroked the side of her face, kissing her more hungrily before withdrawing.
"Why'd you stop?" she whispered.
"I hate to ruin the mood, but I have to pee. Be right back. Hold that thought," he kissed her quickly on the lips again before rolling out of bed and heading to her adjoining bathroom.
"Where were we?" Danny asked a minute later, flopping back on the bed next to her.
"Right about here, I think," Elise touched the side of his face, feeling the coarseness of his facial hair, kissing him with more need than before. He ran his hands through her hair and she felt like melting. Her breath quickened as his tongue found its way inside her mouth, dancing with her own. Elise felt the need behind his kiss, almost tangible, as great as her own. Danny's hands roamed her body, the only thing she could focus on, lost in his touch. Her heart raced as she drowned in the sea of emotions and sensations taking over her, a willing victim.
"I love you," Danny spoke the words first, he and Elise still entwined together after making love for the third time in 12 hours.
"I love you," she replied nestling her head in the crook of his arm. They laid there, catching their breath for a few minutes.
"You know, we got too *ahem* busy before I got to make you tell me what you were thinking about earlier," Elise finally spoke.
"Yes, we did," Danny chuckled. "It was basically the same things you said. I was thinking about how beautiful you looked in the morning light," he ran his fingers through her hair. It felt so good she almost wanted to fall back asleep. Elise's parents used to play with her hair as a child to help her go to sleep. Until Danny came along, no one had done it in years. She didn't realize how much she had missed it until now.
"What else?" she tilted her head up to look at him.
"And how glad I am you let me spend the night," he kissed her forehead. "And that I'm glad you're feeling better this morning." This made Elise frown.
"I'm sorry I've been so crazy," she looked away, facing his chest, absently playing with some of its hairs.
"It's ok," he squeezed her, kissing her forehead again. "No need to apologize. I get it. I do. I'm willing to go as fast or slow as you want this thing to go, but you have to know I'm not going anywhere."
"Ok," Elise nodded in agreement, accepting his words as truth. And she did believe him. He hadn't given her any reason not to. They laid in comfortable silence again, Elise on the brink of sleep as he continued running his fingers through her hair.
"Are you falling asleep on me?" Danny chuckled.
"Maybe," she slowly looked up at him, eyes feeling heavy. "I know you couldn't have known, but I love having my hair played with."
"I can tell," he smiled and continued.
"Will you do me one more favor?" Elise asked.
"What's that?"
"Will you spend the day with me?"
"I would love too," he kissed the top of her head.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
