The Best of Me (A danisnotonfire fanfic) ✅

Part 22: Swings

"Lee,"
I was awoken by someone who were whispering my name and shaking me the slightest bit.
"Lee, wake up. It's Christmas today!"
I groaned at how exited Dan was.
"Leave me alone," it felt like a few elephants were jumping on my head, and I pulled a face.
"What's wrong? Do you got a headache again?"
I nodded into the pillow, Dan's pillow.

Dan had asked me that question probably like fifty times within the last week. Why did he care so much anyway?
"Okay, stay here and I'll bring you some pills,"
"Thanks Dan," I croaked as he ran out of the room. As I turned over, I tried my best to ignore the pain my empty stomach provided. Apparently, judging from the mattress and messy sheets, Dan had slept on the floor.

When did that happen? Why hadn't I woken up? At least now I knew he didn't really care if I ran away from his family, crying. I felt my stomach drop as the familiar loneliness crept up on me. Okay, I'll just have to bite my teeth together and try to survive this Christmas. In fact, I didn't really care if I survived or not.

A flustered Dan, short of breath, appeared moments later.
"Here," He handed me the painkiller and a tall glass of water. I dutifully swallowed it with big mouthfuls of water, feeling strangely exposed under his gaze. "Better?"
"Yeah, thank you."

Dan's pov
"The others just went out, and my mom threw out Max this morning," I filled her in as I dragged on a pair of skinny jeans I found on the floor. "So I can make you breakfast, and I'm willing to take in suggestions."
Really, I'd be fine with making anything as long as I could get Leah to eat it.

I turned around to get a response, and instead found her staring at me. She hastily looked away though, but I couldn't help but noticing the faint blush in her cheeks. I mentally facepalmed myself.
You're still shirtless!
It probably made her uncomfortable, so I slipped on a jumper. I wasn't used to being stared at while getting dressed, but I definitely could be.

"Turn around," She ordered me.
"What?"
"Turn around, I'm getting dressed!"
Oh.
I did as she asked me to, turning to face the wall. I mean, I have seen her in nothing but a t-shirt before, but I should perhaps start to respect her privacy more. It felt weird listening to another person getting dressed, and may I say slightly hot.
I jumped as Leah grabbed my arm.
"Let's go!"

After all my convincing in trying to pursue her into choosing a more advanced option, we still ended up with cereal. I love cereal, but it felt a little weird eating it as a Christmas breakfast.

"So regardless of whether or not you wanna stay, the dinner is served at 5pm," I started. Hopefully she'd choose not to leave, but after last nights events, I wasn't so sure anymore.
"What do you mean 'whether or not I wanna stay'," She asked me, obvious confusion seeping into her words.
"I totally understand it if you don't want to stay here anymore, and I'm just letting you know: it's up to you. I can even drive you to the train station."

The thought of her leaving was painful, even though how much I tried to convince myself it wasn't.
"You don't want me here anymore, do you," Leah sounded really upset. I looked over at her, sitting and pushing the cereal up against the edges of the bowl, before pushing it down again and repeating the process.
Way to go, you idiot!
"What? No! I really want you to stay!"

"Really?" God, Leah. Can't you tell how much I love to have you close?
"Yes, Leah! I have been looking forward to this since you agreed on it. I'm sorry this came off to a bad start, and that I wasn't there for you last night. You have no idea how bad I feel about it," I shifted in my seat to reach over and wrapped my arms around her waist. Leah flinched noticeably and completely froze. Something inside me broke.

Why must it be like this? Doesn't she realise how precious she are, or how much I genuinely care about her? It took me a long time to get her out of her shell, and now she's crept back in, possibly beyond my reach. I only tightened my grip, imagining I could glue all her broken pieces together if I held her hard enough.