Chapter Nine ♥
*
The music was sufficiently loud that Bardot didn't hear anything until it was already too late. By the time she heard the knock at the door, she had missed her opportunity to turn the radio off and hide. But, that didn't stop her from trying.
She flicked the radio off, ran into her room, and pretended she hadn’t heard anything. She kept pretending, and the knocking continued. She even kept pretending until she heard the voice outside calling in. Her taxi wasn't supposed to be there for an hour.
"Bardot, I need to talk to you!"
Bardot gritted his teeth Bardot gritted her teeth, to keep herself from calling back out. She'd been avoiding him for weeks, and he still hadn't gotten the message? She wasn't about to piss off her brother, and she figured out a way to get up out of this town without his help. Now all she had to do was get out of his this town without his knowing.
"I talked to Fable!"
Bardot's hand slapped into her forehead. The news forced her to rethink the entire situation. If he’d already talked to Fable, what did he already know? Did he know she was leaving? Did he know about the baby?
Bardot took a deep breath, and stepped outside. She undid the bolt on the door, and opened up.
"What?"
"I came to see you," Dane said.
It was unusual for Dane to be out of breath, Bardot thought. She'd never seen him out of breath, and he'd always been one of the fitter people in school. He likes sports, worked out all the time, and as far she knew, was as fit as a fiddle. He was a trainer, for Pete’s sake! Which meant, he must either be stressed out, or he’d practically sprinted the fifty yards between his car and her door, and hadn’t to manage to recover yet. Either one seemed almost cute for him.
"What you need to talk about?"
"I told you," Dane said, "I've been trying to talk to you for weeks. And I told you it's important."
"Well, I'm here now," Bardot said.
"I know," Dane said. He looked nervous. Even as his breath started this without, and he started to get control of himself, he still looked nervous. That was cute, too. There were sites to Dane, Bardot is beginning to realize, that she hadn't even realized. It was almost as if he was human. The butterflies in her stomach refuse to let up.
"I'm sorry," Dane started. Then he stopped. There was a long pause. He stood there with his mouth open, like he was about to say something, but nothing came out for 10 seconds. 20 seconds. "I'm sorry, I'm not good at this. Can I come inside?"
"Dane… I'm leaving. I'm going to Seattle."
They looked at her, as helpless as she'd ever seen him. "I know."
"All right, then," Bardot said. She took a step back and gestured towards the living room. "Come on inside. We'll talk."
Dane been inside the house 1000 times, but this was the first time she'd ever seen him look nervous doing it. He came inside like he was entering the hall of the King.
"Listen… I'm sorry if I didn't respect your feelings," Dane said. "And if you don't want talk to me, I get it. But just let me finish what I have to say, and I will… I'll get out of your hair. I'll let you go to Seattle and, if you never want to see me again, you don't have to. Okay?"
"I'm listening."
Dane sucked in a breath through his teeth. He seemed to be thinking hard about what he was going to say next. Whatever it was, it ate at him. Apparently, it had been eating at him for some time now. Otherwise, why was he there?
"When we… Made love, I wasn't… I didn't know how you felt. I guess somehow I just hadn't seen it. And now, I know that I probably should've seen something. The signs seem to have all been there. But I just didn't see them. Well, now I see them. Now that it's a too late to do this properly. But I just what you to know that I never intended to hurt you."
"If that's all you had to say, you have you shouldn’t have bothered. I didn't think you were trying to hurt me. I knew who you were with me started. You’re not going to suddenly surprise me Dane."
"That's just it," Dane said. "I know that. You're a smart girl. You know who I am, and I know who you are. If it was just a question of whether or not I thought you could handle a little one night fun, then I wouldn't say anything. But the thing is, that's not all I have to say. That's just the start of it. Bardot… I think I love you."
The silence in the room was palpable. You can also cut the tension with a knife. Dane didn't seem to think it was as funny as Bardot did. She didn't mean to laugh, not at first. It just happened that way. But once she started, she certainly couldn't have stopped. It was just so funny. Was some kind of prank? He looked so serious. She knew Dean. Just like she said she knew him, she knew him. And she knew that Dane didn't settle down, and he didn't fall in love.
"Are you joking?" The words barely came out through her laughter. "Do I look like some kind of idiot to you?"
Dane looked at her sullenly, waiting for laughter to die down. That long wait was what convinced her that maybe he wasn't completely joking; then, Bardot only laughed harder.
She started to feel bad when she finally realized that she couldn't explain the joke. Dane sat on the couch with his head in his hands, looking as miserable as she felt. As miserable as she'd ever been over him. She felt bad, but at the same time, she almost wanted to leave him like that for a little while. It would give him just a little taste.
The cute irony of it all added up in her head the funniest joke she never heard. The joke she wasn't sure she wanted to repeat again, but eventually, she would have to explain it. That, or she just give up on having any relationship with him at all. And, if she did, then it would just mean that she had to start this whole dance over again.
"I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you," Bardot said.
"No, of course not," came the bitter reply.
"It's just," Bardot paused, trying to get herself under control, but it was difficult and she wasn't used to having to stop herself from that sort of uproarious laughter.
"You're so anxious about it. You do you know how long it was that I was waiting for you to say something like this? And now… Now, you're just here worried about whether or not I'm going to accept you or something? Oh, how the tables have turned!"
Bardot kept laughing, even as she saw his face get more and more red. She tried to stop. Really, she did, but it was just so funny. Everything was coming together, and she just wasn't sure what she was going to do with that at this point. The relief that was flooding her was overwhelming her. And all she could do was laugh.
"If you think it's so funny —"
Bardot cut his response off with a kiss. Her lips pressed against his, hard enough to bruise between their teeth. It hurt, but it felt good. It felt as good as anything they've done that first night, when the pair of them were both a little bit too drunk to really think anything through.
Everything else, for a long moment, was forgotten as their mouths dueled. He tasted good, like a man was supposed to taste. He hadn't shaved recently enough, so the stubble scratched at her cheeks while they kissed, it's the scratches reminding her she was kissing. That part, at least, felt good. In the other parts… Well, good didn't quite describe.
His arms wrapped around her chest, pulled her in tight, molding her body against his. Bardot pulled back for air, took a breath, closed her eyes, and bolstered by Dane’s own confession, she said the words that she been dreading for the past month.
"Dane… I'm pregnant."