Danni woke up the next day with Chloe in her embrace, breathing softly, looking so beautiful, so peaceful, a hushed body with a beating heart and aesthetic features. Chloe stirred a little, getting closer to Danni and wrapping a leg around hers. Danni heard the door knock twice and figured it was her uncle. She slowly, gently and quietly escaped from Chloe's grip without waking her up and went to get the door.
"Morning" said Josh.
"Morning" She rubbed her eyes and let him enter.
"You just woke up?"
"Yeah" She yawned. "How was your date?"
He grinned. "Perfect. We had a cup of coffee then I took her to a pastry shop, had some cakes and we shared a kiss"
"I hope that's all the details I need to know" She joked and he chuckled.
"It was just our first date; we are taking things slow. Where is Ben?"
"Still asleep"
"You going to work today?"
"Just Avery's"
"Okay, I'll babysit Ben till Yo-" He stopped in his sentence when he saw Chloe emerging out of the room, running a hand through her hair, Danni noticed her uncle's silence and turned around to see Chloe.
Chloe's eyes widened when she opened her eyes completely, seeing them staring at her. "Oh! Sorry, I was just... I'm gonna head back!" She left embarrassed and when Danni turned to her uncle, he had this smirk on his face that says 'Busted'
"Isn't that your shirt?" he asked.
"... It's not what you think. She spent her night here but nothing happened. It was my idea" she said.
"I hope that's all the details I need to know" he replied what she said earlier. "Anyway as I was saying while you are out, I will babysit him"
"Okay"
"And I'll take him to the park or something"
"Good idea. He needs something fun and the doctor said it's best if he practices a sport or take a walk"
"Works for me" He smiled.
"Why don't you wake him up while I go check on Chloe?" He nodded approvingly.
*******************************
Danni entered her room and saw Chloe biting her nails from the embarrassment and her face was already red.
"Danni, I'm so sorry, I had no idea your uncle was gonna be here"
Danni chuckled and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her closer. "Relax" She kissed her lips. "It's okay, nothing happened and you weren't naked or anything"
"Yeah, I know but I'm wearing your shirt and I'm in my underwear, Danni" she said with red cheeks.
"Which looks good on you by the way" She kissed her again, grabbing the back of her head and this time Chloe drew more into the kiss and wrapped her arms around Danni's neck, kissing and biting her softly on the lips. "This is how I say good morning"
"I like that" she said softly leaning her forehead against hers.
"Hey Danni!" Josh's voice called out.
"One sec" She pecked her lips. "Don't go anywhere" She gave her another kiss then went outside.
"Morning, champ" she said as she ruffled her brother's hair.
"Hey"
"Wanna make you breakfast?"
"Yes, please"
"What do you wanna have?"
"A toast will be good"
"Okay"
She went to the kitchen, preparing his breakfast and she made extras for Josh and Chloe. As she was serving the plates, Chloe came out of the room wearing her yesterday's clothes.
"Hey" she said to everyone.
"Hey, Chloe" said Ben beaming at her.
"Come, join us for breakfast" said Josh motioning for her to come.
"Thanks. I wish I could but I must go now. My dad just called me" She turned to Danni.
Danni nodded understandingly at her and walked by her side. "I'll walk you to the door"
"I'll see you today" She kissed her goodbye and left.
*****************************
Avery was heading downstairs to have breakfast with her mom, it's time to move on and accept the facts, she was now feeling better after Danni's soups.
"Morning, mom"
Her mom raised her eyes from the magazine she was reading and smiled at her daughter. "Morning" Avery sat across from her and played with the table cloth.
"I'm sorry" she said. "I'm sorry that you and dad are divorced"
She gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry too, honey" She reached for her hand, stroking it.
"So, what are you gonna do now?"
"Nothing" She shrugged. "Just moving on"
"Aren't you seeing someone?"
"I'm and of course I want you to meet him but I have to make sure that you are ready"
"I have to admit it's gonna be hard... but not impossible" She gave her a small smile. "All in all, I'm willing to meet whoever he is"
She smiled at her. "His name is Carter Reed"
"The name made me intrigued" She chuckled softly and her mother joined her. "What about dad? Is he seeing someone too?"
"Yes and you'll meet her soon too"
"Well, I'll talk to him later then" She stood up, grabbing her bag. "I'm leaving"
"Okay, sweetie" She nodded.
Avery went to the door and when she opened it, she saw Danni taking off her helmet and adjusting her curls. She flashed her, her usual smile that seems to brighten her day.
"Hi" said Avery as she walked to her.
"Heeeyyy. Off to college?"
"Yeah, someone has to learn something, right?"
She nodded. "How are you today?"
"Better, thanks" She blushed a little and played with the books in her hands. "I better go now"
"Yeah, Of course"
"See you later?"
"You know where to find me" she said confidently.
"Alright"
She walked past her to her car and Danni entered the kitchen from the back door, seeing Robert and Abigail talking with each other.
"Morning, guys" she said.
"Hey, Danni" said Abigail and Robert nodded. "Did you hear the news?"
"What news?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Carlisle are officially divorced"
"Yeah, I know about that, Ave told me"
"Ave?" asked Robert and her eyes went wide.
She rubbed her neck. "Yeah, we are friends now"
"Ah, that's good, she needs a friend like you in her life, you are a good person Danni"
"Hmm, I'm not so sure, I'm that good"
"Why not?" asked Abigail.
"Let's just say nobody is perfect. Now, what do we have to do?"
"Mrs. Carlisle's usual breakfast"
"Okay, so we've got one omelet and...?"
"Nothing else, I already made her the coffee and you have the omelet to be done and she likes bread"
"Okay"
She grabbed the ingredients and started making the perfect omelet for her. Robert went to the garden to water the planets and Abigail went to clean the bedrooms. The back kitchen door opened and Chloe entered smiling when she saw Danni so engrossed in her cooking.
"Hey, sexy" she said.
"Hey, beautiful" She looked over her shoulder smirking.
"What are you doing? It smells delicious"
"Not more than you, I'm sure" She muttered under her breath and Chloe heard her.
"I heard that" She kissed her cheek leaving a lipstick mark on her cheek and she rubbed it for her. "Ready to tell my dad?"
"Yeah, just gimme a sec to finish this and I'm all yours"
"Good" She smirked. "I want you to be mine" She gave her a kiss on the lips and pulled away before anyone could see them.
"You owe me. That kiss was too short"
"Don't worry, I'll make it up to you" Her eyes lingered on her lips again and as she was drawing into another kiss, the door behind them swung open and came in Robert but he didn't see anything.
"Chloe! What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you, dad"
"Lovely as always" He kissed her cheeks and Danni finished.
"And it's done"
Robert took the plate and headed to Meredith, as he stepped out of the kitchen, Chloe held Danni's hand and looked down at their interlaced fingers then up to Danni.
"I'm ready" she said.
"Me too"
Robert came back and Chloe took a step towards him, feeling nervous and anxious but not as much as Danni.
"Dad, I need to tell you something"
"What?" he asked.
"Umm... Danni and I are dating" She offered her hand to Danni which she gladly took. "We've been dating for days and we weren't ready to tell you back then but now I want to know what do you think? Is it okay?"
He looked back and forth between them rubbing his chin. "I've got to say you took me by surprise dear but..." He looked at Danni then to Chloe. "I don't see why not"
She smiled widely at her father's word and went to her father hugging him which made him laugh as he was rubbing her back.
"Thank you, thank you" she said repeatedly.
"Danni take care of her or..." He showed his biceps.
"I know, I know. I was a teenager once upon a time" She chuckled and he smiled at her.
"I'll go water the garden and you better not mess around" He winked at both and left the kitchen.
"I can't believe this!" She jumped on Danni who was able to catch her in her arms, and gave her a passionate kiss, which made Danni's arms weak, letting Chloe's feet touch the ground.
******************************
After finishing her classes, she was walking down the hallway with her friends, clutching her books to her chest but her mind seemed to drift away from her surroundings. A hand waved in her way that made her turn to April.
"Hello! We were talking here"
"Yeah, sorry, what were you talking about?"
"About you. We asked you how you've been in the last few days and I can say that you are still sick"
"I'm thinking about my project with professor. Grey, I really wanna achieve something in my life"
"You got this, bro" said Steve. "Hey, how is Danni?"
"She is fine, she has been very helpful when I was sick and she helped me to overcome my parents' divorce"
"Yeah, that's my girl" he said. "When I was sad that April had a boyfriend at school, she kept pushing me to tell how I feel, even though she was with someone else and when they broke up she encouraged me to seize my chance before it's too late..." He looked at April. "And I did"
"That's really sweet. Danni is a matchmaker" said Avery.
"She kinda is and I hope she will find someone soon"
"What time is it?" asked Avery.
"It's 4:00" said April.
"Okay, I've to go. Bye" She waved at them then left to see her professor.
Professor Gray was on his laptop, watching something and when Avery came to the room, he quickly closed his laptop and smiled at her.
"Was I late?" she asked.
"No, you are always on your time. Now since you are here, today we won't take any pictures but we will write an article about these" He pointed at the scattered pictures on the table.
"I can do that"
"Yeah but we have to finish them tonight"
"Tonight? But these are a lot"
"You said you can do it and don't worry I'll help you" She beamed at him and nodded.
******************************
"I think I'm done here" said Avery handing him the last paper.
"Okay, I'll read them tomorrow. Thanks Avery" he said and held her hand, at first she tensed and looked at his hand on top of hers and moved it gently away from him, when he noticed her change of attitude he said. "Sorry, I didn't mean to"
"It's okay, you are exhausted as much as me. You weren't focusing" She looked away from him for a split second. "Anyway, I'm heading home. I'm glad we finished earlier than we thought"
"I told you, you can do it" He smiled at her and she grinned at him.
"Okay, see you tomorrow"
"Indeed" he said to himself.
She went home exhausted and leaned her back against the door, closing her eyes and letting herself take a deep breath.
"Long day?"
She opened her eyes and saw Danni wearing her leather jacket. "Yeah, you have no idea. I just had to stay with professor Gray and write some articles" She sighed. "It was exhausting"
Danni was silent for a minute and Avery noticed. "Something wrong?"
"No... Yes, actually there is something bothering me that I need to get it off my chest"
"What is it? Is it about Ben? Do you need more money?" She started to get worried and she stepped closer to Danni.
"No it's not about Ben or money... it's about professor Gray"
"What about him?" Her brows knitted.
"When I was at college, I heard a bunch of students say some stuff about him like, uh... he sexually assaulted one of his students... I don't know if it's true or not but I just wanted to say take care"
Avery smiled at her. "Thanks for worrying about me but you don't need to worry. Professor Gray is a very decent man"
She nodded. "Okay, if you say that. You know him better than I do"
She gazed at her again and slapped herself in her mind. "You are leaving?"
"Uh, yeah. Do you want to eat something?"
"No, just asking out of curiosity"
"Okay..." She locked eyes with her and their hearts started beating fast and Danni broke the gaze, leaving Avery disappointed. "Bye"
"Say hi to Ben for me please"
"I will"