Into the Starry Night

Fourteen - Part Two

For the first time, I noticed that the room was completely silent save for the whirring of the unseen air conditioner.

"This is fucked up," I breathed.

"I agree," I turned to find that Daniel had taken a seat in front of the window, his legs drawn up and his black and white Nikes tapping out a steady beat on the linoleum floor. "But at the same time, I don't blame him."

The tone with which he said it brought a frown to my face and inspired my indignant tone. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

To his credit, he didn't flinch under my intense stare. "Where were you Wednesday? We waited for you all night and Harry kept calling and calling and calling but you never once picked up the phone."

"I was busy."

Tired of standing in my heels I looked for a suitable place to sit far away from Daniel. Thankfully the room Harry had picked was large enough that there was enough space between the corner I'd picked and where Daniel sat.

"And after that? You didn't bother to call back or even try with an excuse. There was just silence."

The guilt was back and it this time it had settled fully into a hard ball in the pit of my stomach.

"And what's your point?"

"You're a horrible friend and you deserve to be locked up in a sterile room."

I gave a listless chuckle as I crossed my legs in front of me. "Well, Mr. Greatest-Friend-of-All-Time, guess what? We're stuck in the same sterile room together. Next time I suggest you get off your high horse before you come for me."

I shot him a fake smile and felt a twinge of victory when his eyes narrowed. I was slowly getting under his skin and suddenly I wanted to see just how far I could push him before he lost his cool.

Unfortunately, it seemed Daniel had the same idea because the blasted idiot broke into a grin that nearly stopped my breathing.

"I bet that doesn't happen very often."

"What?" I bit out.

"People coming for you. Tell me is it because you're generally unapproachable or do they just get frozen solid when they get within a five-mile radius of you?"

I tried to keep my expression cool and stoic but the jab managed to slip past my defense and lodge in my heart.

It wasn't like I hadn't heard it before - if you googled me there's more than a good chance that a fair amount of blogs describe me as 'Miss Ice' - so I didn't know why hearing it right now stung a lot more than I cared to admit.

Maybe because this time it was delivered by a smooth, honeyed voice that even after all these years still made my skin thrill.

"It doesn't happen very often because I'm generally right. And I would rather freeze everyone around me solid than smile in their faces one minute then push them off a cliff the next."

With that retort we were equal.

After a moment of silence, Daniel stretched his legs out in front of him and clicked his tongue.

"Clearly those rom-coms Harry's been watching have given him the wrong idea of what's supposed to happen here because this isn't working."

"Clearly," I agreed.

"So what now?" He leaned his head back on the window and I watched his Adam's apple bob in a way that made my fingers itch to touch him.

"I have no clue and I have somewhere to be right now."