The Aftermath Of You

Chapter Forty Five

The phone began to ring in the middle of her empty lounge. Checking her watch Toni was surprised by the time - twelve thirty. She quickly picked up.

"Fingers, hi," Danny's voice croaked sleepily. "Are you writing?"

"Nearly finished."

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes." She sniffed but the tissue wedged up her nose stopped her.

"Your grandmother rang and told me you're upset. I couldn't sleep."

"Can I bring something over?" she asked.

"I'd love you to."

She let herself out of the house and slipped through the hole in the fence, feeling the crunch of icy grass breaking under her feet.

Danny had turned on the heater and popped her armchair close to it. He took her manuscript silently and sat to read it. Toni quietly dozed in the chair, with no skeletons tormenting her.

She woke hours later when Danny started to move. Dawn was just beginning to break. "What do you think?"

"Good work." His voice cracked slightly.

"He looked so awful, Danny, just hanging there, with his tongue sticking out." She shuddered, feeling the nausea rising in her throat. "Why did he do that to me? He must have wanted to make me suffer." She started sobbing. "He knew that only I would find him." As she sniffled against the old blanket he'd put on her sometime during the night, he came to crouch beside the arm chair, gently stroking her arm until she calmed down.

"Sorry." She sniffed, and the paper wedged up her nose shot up a centimeter.

"Don't be. The only question on my mind, Ms Handcock, and it's a purely self centered one, is did you really mean that – that I looked like a model for a shaving cream advertisement?"

Toni blushed bright red. "Yes."

"So ..." His eyes were bright now, and Toni couldn't quite tell if it was because he was a little teary-eyed or if the sun was shining in. "From all those nice things you said, do you ... do you think you could fall in love with me?"

"I'm sorry, Danny. But that isn't quite as easy as it sounds."

"Oh." His voice broke.

"Because I've already fallen ... I'm head over heels in love with you."

"Oh God. Thank you," he whispered. "I've waited for so long to hear something like that." His lips were close to hers that she could feel his hot breath tickling her lips. Danny pulled away abruptly. "No more hunger strikes?"

"No more."

"And no more letting your mother control every single aspect of your life?" He leaned back, holding her gently, like he held a butterfly, afraid to crush its wings.

"I won't let her meddle anymore."

"And you'll see a psychologist?"

"Of course."

They were so close that their knees were touching and they sat quietly for some time, tension building in her stomach. Knots were being fastened and unfastened inside her. In the background she could hear the clock ticking merrily. "It's not like this in the movies," Danny complained.

"Well, I just feel a bit silly. You know-" and as she was trying to explain herself he leant forward to kiss her. Their teeth knocked and she felt a little bit like a crocodile. And then they kissed some more, and it was lovely and she felt strangely light-headed and breathless, and then she realised that the toilet paper that she had wedged up her nose was doing its best to suffocate her ... Dragging away from Danny, she had to sneeze the paper out.