Little Red

SIXTY FIVE

Dani's eyes opened with a heavy sigh as she was met with the sun shining through the curtains in her bedroom. Frankie slept next to her with one hand holding onto her shirt tightly as Mikey slept in the guest bedroom across the hall. She had spent the entire night thinking about what Dylan had done at the restaurant...and it made her feel just as guilty as she had after it happened.

Mikey had always talked about how he was the one who hadn't deserved her...when in reality, Dani knew she was the one who hadn't deserved him. When she had gone to visit him some months after he'd first gone to rehab, she had made it clear that she would wait for him no matter how long it took, because she had loved him that much. Though she had made it difficult for them to get back together the first time, the only reason she had done so was that it hadn't felt right for her to be with him knowing what she had done.

Blinking away the tears that had formed in her eyes, Dani carefully pried Frankie's hand from her shirt and quietly got up from the bed. Heading to the bathroom, she sighed softly as Mikey's sleeping figure was on full display through the opened door. Tears formed in her eyes again at the thought of what she had to tell him as she sank to the floor with her knees up to her chest.

"I just don't understand," Dani mumbled while scowling down at her cup. "What's the big deal? This doesn't taste very good."

Dylan chuckled as he watched her. "I told you it was a good mix, not that it would taste good."

"Did Mikey like the way it tastes?" she asked as she looked up at him.

Dylan's eyes glazed over with a hidden emotion before he blinked and said, "Yeah...Obviously."

Dani frowned at the meaning behind his words and looked back down at her cup, and noticing her mood change, Dylan slid over on the couch to move closer to her.

"Hey...I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry," he said. "That was really stupid of me."

"It's fine," she mumbled with a shrug. "I don't even care anymore."

"He's an ass for doing what he did to you, Dani...You deserve so much better."

Tears formed in Dani's eyes as she said, "Mikey was my better."

"No, he wasn't," Dylan said. "Why can't you see that? You're literally so perfect in every way."

"No, I'm not," Dani said with a shake of her head. "I'm far from it, actually."

"I don't believe that," Dylan said with a small smile."I believe you're the most beautiful girl in all of Storybrooke...Anyone would be incredibly lucky to have you, and those who are stupid enough to ever break your heart are just that...They're stupid."

Dani laughed softly before furrowing her brows as she looked up at him and asked, "You really mean that?"

Dylan nodded. "All of it," he said. "You're amazing, Dani. Don't let him make you think otherwise just because he failed to see what was right in front of him."

Dani smiled at his words, which caused Dylan's smile to grow before they slowly leaned in to each other until she felt his lips on hers.

Every bit of it was wrong. Dani knew that perfectly, but she couldn't help having his words repeat in her head. Maybe it was the slight buzz of the little alcohol she had in her system. Or maybe it was the showing of affection that her body had so desperately craved since her break up with Mikey. Whatever it was, it helped with convincing her that she had the right to do what she wanted. And as the overwhelming pain in her heart she had been feeling for the past few months slowly began to numb for the time being, Dani convinced herself to like the feeling of Dylan's lips as he pulled her into his lap.