Nothing.
That’s what his father gave back to his entire life, nothing. Sadly, as much as Danny wanted to hold in his heart that his father was the man that gave him life, that was where the relationship began and ended. And that was something Danny would just have to face. In that moment, alone in the cabin waiting for Liv, Danny felt a little sting of jealousy flow through his body. He wished he could be more like Johnnie, able to just let it all go and walk away.
Liv came from the bedroom a minute or so later with her hands behind her back. She walked with a little kick in her step and the way her eyes shined at Danny he had the hint that perhaps his life was about to change. In his mind, he jokingly wondered if Liv was going to pull out a box with a ring and propose. Danny had to smile because the thought was that ridiculous.
When Liv brought her hands forward, she was holding a box. The box, however, was far too big to hold an engagement ring. It was something Danny had been looking for. Something he dreamed about finding someday. Something he honestly never expected from Liv.
It was a shoebox.
A shoebox with a picture of black heels on it.
“For you,” Liv said.
“Are they my size?” Danny asked.
Liv laughed and Danny took the box. He turned and sat down, placing the box on the table in front of the couch. He lifted the lid and stopped right there. He closed his eyes and bit on his top lip.
How could one woman be so perfect?
Liv sat next to Danny on the couch, so calm and relaxing.
“I went to college,” Liv said. “Almost right after you left. It was the closest I came to actually leaving this town for good. But it brought me back. While I was at college, you were passing near on tour. I saw a picture of the band on a green piece of paper hanging up in a grocery store. I took it. That’s kind of where it started...”
Danny was afraid to touch the box.
It was full - beyond full even - with newspaper articles, magazine articles, interviews with the band, everything. There were even the ones from the year Danny and Davey wrote a how-to-play-this guitar article once a month for a large magazine. Any Chasing Cross tablature that had been published was in the box. Even down to the smallest pieces of information, a two question interview that was put onto the first page of a newspaper. The release dates for the Chasing Cross albums. The tracking of the albums on the charts.
“The only thing not in there is a concert ticket stub,” Liv whispered. “I could just never... do it.”
“You kept a shoebox,” Danny said. “Of the band. Of me.”
“Of course I did,” Liv said. “How couldn’t I? Danny, you’re the love of my life. You’ve always been the love of my life.”
“I don’t know what to say right now,” Danny said. “This is... what I’ve been looking for. Just in the wrong place I guess. I really thought I’d find some kind of secret of his, you know? Something hidden that showed...”
Liv stood up. “I’m not done yet.”
“You’re not...”
Liv walked away again. Danny turned and saw her going back into the bedroom. Danny then faced the box of memories alone. Each time he touched an article or an interview or a picture of the band, he felt more and more stings of regret surging through his body.
By the time Liv came back to the couch, Danny wasn’t sure how he felt about anything. It was like watching his life being played before his out eyes, and while it was an amazing life, it had been documented by someone on the sidelines of it all. Someone left behind. Someone who deserved so much more than a shoebox of memories.
“I found this one too,” Liv said.
She handed Danny another box. It was all black. When he opened it, it had articles about Chasing Cross too.
“At Dad’s,” Liv said. “When we sold the house and I moved him in with me, I found this.”
“He followed the band?” Danny asked.
“Up until everything started to get really bad. He always talked about you, Danny. Of all things, you.”
Danny looked at Liv, in disbelief.
“I’m sorry your father was the man he turned out to be,” Liv said. “But people care about you, Danny. And not because of the band and the music. They care about you, the person.”
Danny nodded. He put the box on the coffee table. He’d seen enough. His hands touched Liv’s face, his fingertip, memorizing the slightest turns or curves, the feel of her jaw, the tip of her nose, her lips.
“I love you,” he whispered.
“I love you too, Danny.”
His lips touched Liv’s, a gentle kiss. A gentle, romantic kiss to bring reality and, hopefully, normalcy to his life, but Liv had nothing of it. Her hand touched the back of Danny’s head and she held him tight. Her lips parted, and as she turned her head, she moaned. When she offered her tongue to Danny, he accepted it, the kiss throwing out all gentleness and replacing it with the burning passion that had been waiting for years.
Liv pulled at Danny some more but Danny resisted. Instead, he slipped his arms around Liv and slowly stood, taking Liv with him. They continued to kiss as Danny walked through the cabin. He suddenly felt very thankful he had navigated the cabin once before in the dark. He made it to the bedroom without crashing into a thing.
As he placed Liv down on the bed, he broke the kiss and stood up. He admired the beautiful woman before him, her arms now above her head, the mess of hair behind her. Her eyes looking at him, showing him a life he never thought he’d experience. The desire for love had always come and gone for Danny. The music, the road, the fans, they all helped to cover it up.
But no longer could he cover it up.
It was exposed and would never be hidden again.
Danny came down at Liv, thrusting himself forward, his body touching hers. She moaned as he kissed her again. Together, their hands moved fast, grabbing at any piece of clothing they could find. Liv sat up on the bed with her hands tight on Danny’s shirt. She lifted it until Danny took over, taking his shirt off. Her hands then slipped around to his back and held him in place as she kissed his stomach. Danny’s fingers crept down Liv’s back before pulling her shirt up too. Her hair fell all around her. Liv looked up at him as Danny unsnapped her bra. Liv let it fall off her body and then slowly climbed back on the bed, balancing on her elbows.
A minute later, Danny climbed the bed after Liv, completely naked, wanting her more than ever in his life. He touched Liv’s pants, hurrying to strip her. Each move he made caused Liv’s perfect breasts to move, torturing Danny. When he started to take Liv’s pants off, she lifted her lower half, moving with sensual desire. Danny took no prisoner as he grabbed both her pants and panties. In one swift move, she was naked too. Danny then kissed her left knee and began to kiss her leg all the way up her body. His hands touched her back, holding her with his strength. His nose and lips took turns, nuzzling and kissing all of Liv’s body he could get to. At her breasts, his tongue flicked at her tender nipples, suckling and feeling the need growing between them.
Liv lowered herself to the bed and put her hands above her head. She had one leg bent and smiled at Danny.
“You’re going to be the death of me,” Danny whispered as he kissed Liv.
“Probably,” she replied. “But what a way to go...”
Liv thrust up, allowing her wet body to touch Danny.
Danny groaned and slid his hands up Liv’s arms until his fingers touched hers. They interlocked their fingers and both squeezed and held tight. With a single thrust, Danny entered Liv. Her back arched as she cried out, acting as if she had never been with Danny before. The intensity soared as Liv lifted herself as hard and as fast as she could, prompting Danny to move harder and faster too. With Liv’s hands over her head and Danny’s hands still held hers, their bodies were together, touching and rubbing in a way that drove Danny wild.
When he tried to move his hands, Liv squeezed tight.
“No,” she whispered. “Don’t move...”
Her voice was light and begging.
Danny began to kiss Liv’s neck, all the way to her ear where he nibbled and grunted as he moved at her harder.
The entire bed began to move. Danny and Liv breathed heavily at each other. They finally ended up staring at each other, the tips of their noses touching, bouncing off one another. It was the most romantic moment of Danny’s life and the look in Liv’s eyes told him it was the same for her.
He knew then he didn’t just come back to put his father to rest. And he didn’t find Liv to apologize or to have that one more night of pleasure with her. He came for Liv... to give Liv his heart again... and this time he would never take it back.
**
Liv looked at her right hand. Seeing Danny’s big strong hand on top of her hand, their fingers still interlocked, made her blush as she drove the car. Now anytime now she saw her their hands interlocked it would make her think of the cabin. The way it felt. The way it sounded. The way Danny held her before, during, and after. The feelings... oh, the feelings...
Liv had to turn her head as she let out a shaky breath.
She was actually a little afraid.
To fall this hard for Danny. It was more intense than before. This was real life now. This was reality.
“You know, you could come with me,” Danny said.
“What?”
“You could come with me. We’re going to Colorado for a little bit. Quiet little town where Davey has a place. To unwind and write some music. We’re going to try to take it easy before the tour starts again. And when we’re on tour... you can be there...”
“Danny, you know I can’t,” Liv said. “Not with Dad.”
“He can come too. I don’t care.”
“I can’t take him that far out of this elements. He’ll...”
Liv felt her throat tighten. She couldn’t say the words as the tears filled her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Danny asked.
“He’s getting worse,” Liv said in a broken whisper. “I haven’t talked about it. Not even to Lorraine yet. But the doctors... he’s just getting worse.”
“I’m sorry,” Danny said. “I wish there was something I could do.”
“Sometimes... I don’t know, I just wonder if he’d better somewhere. There’s a place not far from here where he could live a little easier maybe.”
“You too I bet,” Danny said.
“But then I’d feel like I’m leaving him. Shipping him away... to die.”
Liv’s chin quivered. She felt Danny’s fingers moving on her fingers.
“It would never be like that,” Danny said. “I know you, Liv. You’d be there all the time. To visit. To be with him.”
“And I’d have my own life too,” Liv said.
“Just take it one day at a time then,” Danny said.
“Speaking of which, what are your plans now?”
Liv took Danny’s sudden silence as bad news.
Liv thought about what to say next, but those thoughts were quickly stripped away when she turned to go down her driveway. The sight of the flashing red lights made her hand squeeze so tight on Danny’s hand, he cried out and slipped his hand away.
“Liv...”
That’s all Liv heard. She sped down the driveway and put the car in park while it was still moving. Everything jerked forward. She threw the door open and ran from the car.
The back of the ambulance was open but nobody was inside it.
Was that good news?
Was that bad news?
Liv tore up the steps and through the open front door to her house and saw the medical scene unfolding before her eyes. She saw her father on the floor, paramedics next to him. She opened her mouth, dead set on letting out a scream that had been building inside her for years now, but she couldn’t find the breath or power to do so.
Lorraine came at her a second later, hugging her and pulling her aside.
“Liv, it’s okay,” she said. “It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay,” Liv said.
“I’m fine!” Charlie called from the floor.
Liv wiggled away from Lorraine and rushed to her father. She was on her knees and saw... nothing wrong with her father. Each morning Liv woke up she mentally prepared herself for the worst. Somewhere inside her heart she to accepted that she was destined to find her father passed away.
“What happened?” Liv asked.
“Missed a step,” her father said. “Went to check on the fence. Dave was supposed to check, but he didn’t.”
Liv felt her muscles tighten.
Her father was there.
But he wasn’t.
Lorraine grabbed Liv’s shoulders and pulled her back. Liv stood and turned.
“He’s okay,” Lorraine said. “He missed the second to last step and twisted his ankle. I heard him yell and ran to him. He tried to keep walking on it and he broke it. When he fell, I called the ambulance just in case. But he’s fine. They’re going to take him to the hospital to get a cast.”
“I went away for the morning,” Liv whispered as the emotion overtook her.
“You couldn’t have prevented it.”
“I wasn’t here.”