☆☆☆ Chapter 16 ☆☆☆
The Daniel Fever
If Daniel solely passed out from his body taking in the Deep Feelings then he should be up by now, right, and... somewhat better than sickly? Teresa looked pretty normal (just emotional) so Daniel shouldn't be any more different. Walking back into Daniel's room was nerve-wracking, especially when I noticed that Daniel was no longer lying on his bed. It was quiet, too quiet. Is Daniel even in the room anymore? The bed was neatly fixed as if nobody had ever touched it. I sat on his bed and slid my hand under its soft sheets. Daniel's warmth still radiated out of them, and it welcomed my hand.
"Hey there, Ane." It was Daniel's, but there was something soft 'bout it, not just his tone (was it a little more meek, more soft, maybe more feminine?). I've only heard his voice like that when we were in his car on our first date, when I got that feeling of getting too hot (I now pronounce it the Daniel Fever). I like that voice, but exactly 'cuz of that I didn't dare to look in his direction.
"So, can you tell me why you're blushing?" I could feel his presence right behind me, as he threw himself onto the bed from its other side. "Well?" The pressure on the bed shifted to my right. As soon as I noticed a single strand of his hair I snapped my head the other way. "It's cute, by the way, how you're avoiding me. It kind of reminds me of the old times when you used to get annoyed with me and pressed me to talk to your hand."
"If you're talkin' 'bout us as kids, I told you many times that I never met you before working here."
He giggled to himself. "Sure, okay, sure. I'll remind you someday of the little old Daniel." It almost felt as if his voice was floating along with the clouds outside, it was just so light. "So, why are you blushing? Am I doing anything to you?"
Why! Why and how does he know I'm blushing?! I don't frickin' understand I'm a whole dark-skinned Black woman!
"No," I said, hoping he wouldn't notice my slight voice crack. "Not really."
"Ah, I get it." He placed one of his hands on my shoulder and swiftly brought his face close to my ear. I felt a wave of air come out of his nose and it almost made me jump, but nothing prepared me for what he whispered into my ear: "You like my voice right now, don't you? Are you feeling the heat of a million degrees? If you are, I know how to fix it, if you want me to."
"And what if I don't want you to?"
"Meh, nothing I can do about that," he said, as I felt a shrug. "I respect you, not just because I love being with you, but because you're a person." Oh man and there he goes with his smooth talk, still making it worse for me even though my eyes were far from his face. "Ane, you do know I care for you, right? I know things didn't start out the way a regular relationship works, but trust me when I say that you mean a lot to me."
"I know. It's obvious, Daniel. You hardly even breathe when you touch me."
Daniel almost squeaked from the bomb I dropped. "Oh my macaroni," Daniel coughed out. "Holy macaroni."
"Yeah," I chuckled. "It's cute, but please take care of yourself."
"Then, can I say the same to you?"
"Huh?" Right then and there Daniel began to point out several things 'bout me that I never thought I actually did, and I felt so exposed. I was confused on whether I was blushing from embarrassment or from the much attention that Daniel had dedicated to me. Would he have otherwise dared to say those things? I almost think so, but not as boldly as how he's saying it now, right? By the end of it I felt my heart skip several beats. "Fine, Daniel, I'm worse than you when it comes to stuff like that, alright?"
"What? No, you're adorable," he cooed. "Like an angel." Oh man, what am I gonna do with him? Anything that he does right now only makes things worse for my heart── it just couldn't calm down!
"I can't believe this is happening," I mumbled to myself, but I knew Daniel heard me. The passionate, gushing glow in his charming eyes said it all.
"Neither can I," he gasped. "Ane, I wholeheartedly... ch-cherish you, but how about you? Do you... like me?" Oh no, it's that heat again. Yes, it must be the Daniel Fever. All of my feelings swelled everything within, encouraging the fever to continue on. I felt Daniel's weary hands make contact with mine, and right then and there I made a huge mistake: I found myself lost in a trance with his beautiful eyes. More than ever before, I noticed just how focused they were on my own. It truly felt as if I was the only woman in the world to him. "At this point there's no way I'm pushing it. I've been watching you for a while, Imani Ane Mayflower, and I can read you fairly well. You like me." My heart lost it with those last words, it barely kept up with my breathing.
"Okay, okay, to be fair Roger also pointed it out, how your voice gets a little high-pitched when I'm around and how you subconsciously lean towards me── " I immediately moved away at that. "Did you know he's the best there is in the whole wide world to point those things out to me? Oh! He also gave me tips on how to confess── oh gods, wait, haha, oh no, to think I'm following his terrible advice on what to say! I mean, not like it's terrible, it's just not for me. It fits better with him. Always has." He giggled to himself for a little bit, as if he were lost in his own world, but he came back around as soon as I tried to breathe like a regular person.
"Don't you worry Ane, I'll make sure your heart gets the love it deserves." I held on to our gaze, speechless. "But... wow, you can't even say it? That's crazy, but it's okay, I understand. It's hard to say it out loud. It took me years of courage to tell you, and an odd feeling of ease today."
I couldn't help but scoff at that. "You're calling me crazy? How 'bout you, you dirty, perverted freak. You stalker, you creep. You── "
I was shocked by the news, more shocked than the first time he ever did it. He kissed me. He... he kissed me. Wait, he kissed me? He kissed... me (did he even want to stop)?!
We have gone on several dates, but it didn't mean that he dared to do it, and neither did I. Teresa's drug must be what's giving him the spine to do it, but it's not like I minded. His lips── they were soft, gentle to the touch, enticing me to continue exploring their world and everything within. How the heck did I not feel them before, as they are? They're so goddamn tender, so goddamn soft! Who in the bluest of hell would hate their touch?
I didn't push him away, and when he finally (tried to) let go, I yanked him right back onto me, demanding more. "Ane... ah, gods... f-fuck... " I heard him sigh, sometime in between our canoodling session. His face was completely flushed, and it made me want to scream. Obviously he wasn't breathing, but hot damn. How the heck did I win the love lottery so goddamn well── by apparently being nice to him during our childhood? Heck, I don't even remember that!
"I... " My hands reached out to his cheeks, which felt as warm as my own body, but honestly I couldn't tell the difference between it all. Everything just felt oh-so-very hot. "I... I really like you, Daniel."
I heard myself say those words clearly, and felt every vocal cord in my throat follow through with what my mind had pinned, but I never thought I would have to give a voice to those feelings so soon. I never even expected myself to properly say them to him either, ever. Regardless of my thoughts on that though, I brought his lips back onto mine again, but this time Daniel stopped it midway, rubbing his thumb on my chin and backing off so quickly that I thought somethin' had spooked him.
"The feeling is more than mutual; my heart is with you, my angel, but... this is a little too much. Your breathing... um, it's a little too... exciting." His voice felt choppy, enough so that I could easily hear a knife cutting it every time he paused. A nervous giggle followed right after.
I looked away for the first time in a while, to try and let my head wrap itself 'round what just happened. Didn't work much. I still couldn't believe it, even after our handful of dates and after hearing myself say it, that I── Imani Ane Mayflower, like a creepy pervert that has stalked me since god knows when (but he's a respectful one, at the very least).
"Fine, then can you at least hug me?"
Daniel fiddled with his hands. "I... um... n-no, I can't... I'm too... uh... no, I just can't."
Something 'bout the way he sat down, along with his sudden, nervous attempt at tryin' to hide his lower torso, made me feel an extra pang of heat right into a place that it shouldn't be in. It felt... different, but not in a bad way.