What you did next caused all the attention to turn to you.
You fell to your knees and lowered your head into the palms of your hand as you whimpered quietly. Minho was immediately by your side, panicking as he looked around at everyone around you, not knowing what to do, and not wanting to touch you since he just met you and didn't want to make you uncomfortable.
The NewJeans members looked over at the two of you, confused by the scene. Minji and Hanni were the first to go over and see what was going on, and then Hyein, Haerin, and Danielle followed suit. Minji knelt down in front of you and tapped your knee. You sniffled and gave no response.
She bit her lip. "Hey," She called out softly. "What's the matter? Are you new here?" She asked.
You wiped your tears with the sleeve of your sweater, before slowly lifting your head up and revealing your face. You immediately locked eyes with Danielle, nearly scoffing when you saw the look of bewilderment overcome her expression as her hand flew up to her mouth.
"You asshole," You seethed, crying harder. "How could you leave me like that?!"
And with that, you stood up on trembling legs and ran out of the room.
🌕
Two days later, you're still curled up on the sofa in the living room, a sad K-drama playing in the background, but that was drowned out by your sniffles. You blew your nose again for what felt like the hundredth time, and wiped at your watery eyes. You've been crying nonstop ever since you encountered Danielle the other day. Mostly because of how upset you were to finally see her after so long, only to find out that she's been living it up after leaving you, but partially because you were embarrassed of the way you ran out of the room and then the building like a child. Everything was just really overwhelming at the moment, and a part of you just wanted to go home to Australia.
When the doorbell rang, you made no move to get up and get the door. That is, until your uncle shouted from upstairs, "Y/N, get the door for me, it's important!" Knowing that you can't say no to your uncle's request, you stood up from the couch, preparing yourself for human interaction.
"Coming!" You shouted towards the front door, before running into the bathroom and splashing your face with cold water. You dried your skin, exited the bathroom, and then headed towards the front door.
When you pulled the door open, you weren't expecting to see Danielle Marsh standing in front of you. Both of your eyes widened at the sight of each other. You had that reaction because you weren't ready to face her just yet, and she had the same reaction because she was realizing that she's actually going through with her plan.
"What- What are you doing here?" You questioned quietly, your voice not above a whisper.
Danielle bit her lip pensively. It was silent for a few moments. And then, "Can I come in?"
You hesitated. Are you ready to face her? Not one bit. But are you going to be rude and tell her no? Absolutely not. As much as you hate her for leaving you like she did, you still loved her. You opened the door wider and stepped aside, closing the door after she entered the home.
You led her to the living room, blushing when you remembered the mess you made in there. "Sorry for the mess, I've been really... Uhm, sick." You lied.
Danielle didn't look you in the eyes as she responded. "You know you don't have to lie to me, Y/N. I know you like the back of my hand."
You clenched your fists. So now she's going to claim to know you so well, even after she went and left you like she didn't have a damn clue about who you were? You didn't find that fair.
"If you know me so well, then I'm sure you know how hurt I was-still am-that you left us. You left me." You countered.
She gasped lightly, and her eyes watered. "Y/N, I-"
"No," You interjected. "Do you know how angry I was? How lost I became without you? I didn't know what to do with myself. I didn't know anything. I had no idea why you left, where you left to, or even when you left. How could you do that to me? I loved you, and you ripped my heart out and stomped on it." You snapped.
She suddenly lifted her head at lightning speed and stepped closer to you. She set down the basket in her hand, which you hadn't even noticed until now. She discarded it and stood directly in front of you, far too close for comfort, but at the same time, you found yourself enjoying the close proximity, yearning for more. You hate that you still love her, even when you know she doesn't feel the same way.
"You- You loved me? You mean it?" She asked.
You furrowed your eyebrows, "Of course I loved you, you were my best friend." You stated, trying to suppress the blush creeping up on you.
She seemed to deflate with that statement, only serving to make your confusion grow. She looked down at her feet.
"Y/N, I came here because there's something I need to tell you." She started nervously. You picked up on her nervous habits that she still seemed to have. The way she tapped her sock-clad foot against the floor at a quick and steady pace, the way she avoided your eyes, the way she began to lightly rub her fingers together. You noticed it all. She is the most important person in your life after all.
"Go on." You deadpanned.
She took a deep breath in, and then reached forward to gently grab your hands and hold them in hers. You looked up at her (yes, up, you've come to realize that she is indeed taller than you now), shocked and thoroughly confused.
"I... I love you." She stated quietly. You almost didn't hear her. You froze, but she continued. "I've been in love with you ever since the night you came out to me. Gosh, it feels like so long ago that I realized my feelings and accepted them." She smiled fondly at what you can only assume is a good memory. "Over the years, I always doubted that you could ever love me back, and it made me really upset. So I started to distance myself from you, which is why you didn't see me for the few days before you must've come to my house, only to see that we were gone. Y/N, I know I hurt you, but I promise you, I never meant to. I- I wasn't thinking clearly. I was stupid, and I wanted to get rid of these unreciprocated feelings that I had, so I took the first opportunity to get out of there that I saw, and I impulsively made that choice. I'm so sorry."
That was it. An apology was all that you wanted. Besides wanting to see her again, of course. Her explanation made sense to you, and you could personally relate. Well, you didn't try as hard as she did to get rid of your feelings, but you can empathize with why she did what she did. If you felt as overwhelmed as she must have, you would've done the same thing.
You noticed that she was weeping. You felt your heart ache, so you stepped even closer to her and removed one hand from hers to wipe away her tears. The both of you looked into each other's eyes. You grabbed her hand again.
"Do you mean it?" You questioned. "You're really sorry?"
She nodded solemnly. "I am. And I love you. I never wanted to stop being your best friend, I just wanted my own feelings to stop hurting me." She explained.
You looked down momentarily, and when you looked back up, your eyes held something hopeful in them. It was worth a try. "Do you, perhaps... still love me in the way that you mentioned?"
She chuckled under her breath. "Of course I do. You're hard not to love." She stated as if it were obvious. "I'm truly sorry if this makes things awkward or prevents us from going back to what we used to have." She apologized.
You shook your head. "I don't want things to go back to the way they used to be, Danielle." You nearly teared up at the sight of her eyes widening and filling with fresh tears.
"I want more than that." You continued. "I don't know how you didn't notice, but I loved you back, dummy. For years. I guess I really was getting good at suppressing my feelings." You said.
Her eyes widened more, which you didn't think was possible. "You... You're not joking, right?"
"No, I'm being very serious, I promise, Danielle." You smiled sweetly.
She let a sob slip past her lips as one of her hands came up to cover her mouth. You guided her head to your shoulder and let her cry. And cry, she did. She cried loudly against your exposed skin, her arms moving to snake around your waist and hold you tightly.
"You- Y-You don't understand... how happy I am to know this." She whimpered. "I've been so miserable off-camera every time I thought of you and what I did to you, and now, to know that you've always felt the same way I did... It's hard to believe!" She explained with a trembling voice.
You smiled softly. You, yourself, were over the moon about this. It all seemed a little surreal to you. The love of your life just admitted she always had feelings for you, still did, in fact, and you returned them. Just the mere thought of that had a smile lighting up your face.
"Dani," You called her by that name, and just like you hoped, a wide smile stretched across her lips. "Don't cry-it makes me sad. Look, all that matters is that we're together now, yeah?" You lifted your hand and placed it on her cheek, wiping away some more of her tears.
She sniffled and nodded. Then you noticed her gaze dropping to your lips, before flickering back to your eyes, only to repeat the previous action.
You offered her a small smile. "Does someone want to kiss me?" You asked coyly.
Her face turned red as she averted her eyes to somewhere else. You giggled and pulled her closer by the back of her neck. "You have my permission." You whispered.
With that, after a few beats of silence, she slowly closed the distance between the two of you, pressing her lips against yours. This was your first kiss, so you weren't entirely too sure on what you were doing, but thankfully, Danielle took the lead, moving her lips slowly against yours.
When she pulled away, she remained close to you, and you could feel her breath against your lips. "It needs a little work, but I can take care of that." She mumbled with a grin. You laughed and hit her shoulder, before pulling her into a tight embrace. You nuzzled your face against the crook of her neck, and she did the same.
"I love you." You whispered against her skin.
"I love you too. You'll always be the moon in my night sky."