Cloud Walking (A Find You in the Dark novella) (11 page)

     Daniel made a gagging noise and I looked up at him to make sure he was all right.  He was giving Maggie and Clay a look of annoyance.  “Ugh!  Can you guys get a room already?” he bit out.  Maggie pulled away from Clay and I saw the look of guilt flash across her face. 

     I couldn't resist being a bit of a bitch.  “Oh shut it, Daniel.  You're just jealous.  Just because Kylie has cut you loose...
again,
” I said a little hatefully.  Daniel's eyes met mine and they were anything but warm.  They were cold as ice as he curled his lip.  I smirked and he looked away.  Though my momentary sense of victory was lost as I realized how badly our friendship was suffering. 

     I had this horrible feeling that we might never recover from this nasty detour we had taken.  My feelings had morphed into nothing but bitterness and anger while Daniel seemed to be pulling away a little more each day.  I had never felt so far away from my friends.  We had been joined at the hip our entire lives and now we were like three separate spokes on the wheel.  Forever circling, never touching.  Was this the future of our friendship?  To drift apart until nothing remained of the bond we used to have? 

     God, what a depressing thought. 

     I barely listened as Clay piped up and mentioned going to some cabin.  Huh?  What was he talking about? 

    “Well, Ruby's girlfriend, Lisa has a cabin down by Franklin Lake.  Maybe we could go down for the night.  Like, say the Saturday after Thanksgiving?  I mean, it's really nice.  With satellite TV and a huge Jacuzzi tub.  It could be a lot of fun.”

     Ugh...a night in a cabin with the touchy-feely couple and Mr. Man of my Dreams/Nightmares.  I'm not sure I was up for that.  So I tried to get out of it.  And then somehow I ended up agreeing.  Well, this had the makings of a huge mistake. 

     Maggie proceeded to ream both Danny and I out over our lack of effort in making nice with Clay.  Whatever...I was trying.  Unlike some people (ahem, Daniel).   I was always nice to people, even the ones I wasn't so sure about.  But I could do smiley happy if I was forced to, I suppose.

     And then things just got crazy.  Jake Fitzsimmons sat down and started flirting with Maggie like he always did.  It was no secret he'd been trying to get with her for years.  Though it was partially Maggie's fault for hooking up with him so many times in the past.  Every time she threw him a bone, he amped up his efforts that much more.  And Jake wasn't one to care whether she had a boyfriend or not. 

     One minute Jake and Maggie were laughing and joking together.  The next minute they weren't.  And that was because Clay was freaking out.  And causing a major scene.  Daniel and I glanced at each other with mirrored looks of shock and outrage on our faces.  I tried to intervene but even I backed down a bit at the cold and angry look in Clay's eyes. 

     After Clay stormed off, Danny and I tried to reason with Maggie.  But all she did was defend him.

     “No, everything will be fine.  Come on, you guys would be pissed if you saw someone flirting with your boyfriend or girlfriend.  He was just surprised is all,”  she pleaded with us, trying to make us back off.  But how could we?  What we had just witnessed wasn't normal. 

     Daniel gripped the table and leaned forward, making his words pointed and clear. “ No, I can't say I've ever had that sort of reaction before.  I swear, if he ever puts a hand on you...” he began and I could see the vein bulging on the side of his neck.  He was really upset and I knew him well enough to know that it was taking a considerable amount of willpower not to go after Clay and beat some sense into him. 

     Maggie cut him off.  “That's enough, Danny.  Clay would never hurt me.”

     Daniel and I looked at each other again.  For the first time in weeks, we were on exactly the same page.  Maggie left as soon as the bell rang, while Danny and I gathered up our trays.  “I seriously want to kick that dude's ass,” Daniel seethed, dumping his trash out.

     He and I walked together to our lockers.  “Just calm down, Danny.  Using his face as your punching bag won't help anything,” I reasoned.  I understood that this had brought out his protective streak and it was going to be hard to rein that back in. 

     “That was some messed up shit, Rach.  What are we going to do?” Daniel asked, looking helpless.  I sighed and leaned against my locker, crossing my arms over my chest.  I knew Danny was looking to me for advice.  I always had the answer.  A way to smooth things over.  But this time, I didn't know what to do.

     “If we push her, it'll only make it worse.  But we need to keep an eye on things.  And if we have to...we go to her parents,” I said, feeling sick at the thought of betraying Maggie like that.  But I would do it in a heartbeat if things got any crazier.

     Daniel leaned into my personal space, looking down at me.  We were close.  Too close and my breath caught in my throat.  His eyes were soft as they caressed my face.  I felt that look as though it were his fingers on my skin.

     “Love shouldn't make you feel like that.  It should be as natural as breathing.  It should happen between two people because it grew there out of something beautiful.  And it should
never
make you feel the way Maggie is feeling right now,” he said, his eyes never leaving me.  I could tell he wanted to touch me and his eyes never wavered. 

     My face grew hot and my heart started to beat fast.  The moment that was building became too much and I had to shut it down.  We needed to be a strong team for Maggie.  And if I started caving to these out of control emotions that only Danny was able to stir up, it would create nothing but problems.

     I moved to the side, putting some distance between us.  I cracked a smile and let out a fake snort of laughter.  “Wow, when did you get so deep?” I joked, hoping like hell to break the tension that was mounting between us.

     Daniel blinked a few times and then seemed to snap himself out of whatever spell he had been under.  His mouth moved upwards in a half smile, though it didn't reach his eyes.  “That's me...deep,” he mused, the smile dropping as soon as it appeared.  He stared at me for another minute and then rubbed his face with his hand. 

     “I'd better get to class,” he said.  I nodded. 

     “Yeah, me too.”  Danny looked at me again and I thought I'd launch myself at him if he continued to stare at me like that. 

     “Okay then.  I'll talk to you later,” he said finally and with that, walked away.   But for a moment...there had been some serious cloud walking going on. 

Chapter Ten    

~Daniel~

     The evening wasn't going so great.  Sure, we were at this amazing cabin in the middle of nowhere, but Maggie had already jumped down my throat for being a “prick” to Rachel.  Which was ridiculous because it wasn't my fault Rachel was being so moody.  She had barely said two words to me since we had gotten there.  And it wasn't getting any better.

     But being the jovial fellow that I am, I was trying to make the best of it.  Hell, I'd even attempted some bonding with Clay when we went to the store for provisions.  When he wasn't up Maggie's ass, he was actually a pretty cool guy.  A dude I might even be friends with.  So that was something.

     But then he had to go and start being an ass to Maggie again, which, of course, made her upset.  She tried to hide what was going on, but I could see what was brewing.  It was the same shit that always went down with them.  And it was getting harder and harder not to intervene.  I knew Maggie would hate me for it, but this shit was getting out of hand.

    
And Rachel...God!  I wish I could do something, anything that didn't piss her off.  I missed her like crazy.  I missed the easy way we were together.  The way she always got me, even when I didn't get myself.  I missed hanging out with her while she watched her sister and laughing at some stupid television show. 

     Fuck me!  I wanted her back in my life so badly I thought I'd explode.  But things had changed so drastically between us I didn't think that would ever happen.  I had lost one of my best friends because of my own stupidity.  Because I was too scared to risk following my heart and perhaps getting something even better in the process. 

     Because I loved Rachel Marie Bradfield.  I realize now that I had loved her for a long time.  At one time, I was certain she had felt the same.  But now...I wasn't so sure.  She was so angry and bitter.  And I felt sure I was the cause.   

     So, yeah...I was losing one best friend because I was too scared to admit out loud that I loved her.  I was too scared of the possible rejection and fall out.  And I was losing my other best friend because her love was eating her alive. 

     Love definitely sucked. 

     I found myself going a bit overboard to try to make up for the fact that I was miserable inside.  I was too drunk.  Too loud.  My jokes too forced.

     Then my phone rang.  And it was Kylie.  She'd been calling me for days.  I had been stupid and let her come over last week.  She'd tried to hook up again but I had smacked that possibility firmly into the ground.  I thought she would have gotten the hint after the dance but she was anything if not tenacious.

     I was sure her attempts at getting me back had more to do with the fact that I wasn't as easily accessible as I had been in the past.  The whole wanting something you can't have thing.  I had been trying to be nice about it, but my patience had grown considerably thin.

     So after the shitty day I had had, I was ready to nail this coffin shut.  I excused myself from the group to answer the call, prepared to end this once and for all.

     “Kylie.  Seriously, this is getting old,” I said in way of greeting. 

     Kylie sighed on the other end.  “Please, Danny.  I've been so stupid.  I just want another chance.  With everything going on with my parents, it made me realize how great we are together,” she pleaded.  She was coming at me with all of her ammo.  But I wasn't having it.

     “We've been over this already.  What you and I had is over.  I'll always care about you, but I'm done.  If you need to talk about your parents, I'm here.  As friends,” I told her shortly.  Having this same conversation over and over again was exhausting.  I wanted to get back to my friends.  To the good time I had been trying to have.

     I could tell Kylie had started to cry and that made me feel like total shit.  Until I remembered that Kylie used tears like a weapon.  She knew I was a sucker for them, so she was going in for the kill.   “Kylie, come on.  Stop crying.  You'll be fine.  You'll get through this stuff with your folks.  But us...together...that didn't work so well.  So let's just shoot it and put it out of its misery,” I said, trying for humor to lighten things. 

     That only made Kylie cry harder.  “But I need you, Danny!” she wailed.  I rolled my eyes.  She was laying it on pretty thick.  I blew out a breath and decided enough was enough.

     “Give it a rest, Kylie.  You know as well as I do that the only reason you're putting so much effort into getting me back is because for the first time, I'm not running to you with my fucking tail between my legs.  You don't care about me.  It's the fact that I'm not grabbing the carrot you're dangling that's the problem.  So suck it up and move on.” My voice rose and I could feel the surge of anger. 

     The crying stopped instantly.  “You are a complete asshole, Daniel Lowe.  With everything I've got going on, I can't believe you're treating me like this.  I wasted so much time with you.  And just so you know, I've been sleeping with Logan for the last year and a half,” she threw at me. 

     It wasn't like her words were exactly a surprise.  I knew she wanted them to hurt.  Too bad for her, I couldn't give a crap.  “Well, go blow up his phone then,” I said just before I hung up.  I smiled down at the dark screen.  Damn, that felt good.  I shoved the phone in my pocket and headed back to the living room just in time to see Rachel heading toward the hallway. 

     “Where are you going? We've got a game to win,” I said jokingly, not wanting Rachel to leave.  I could tell she was upset and call it a hunch, but I knew that I was the reason.  I wanted to reach out and hold her.  To tell her to stop being so silly because I wanted her and only her.  But I was so damned scared to take that step.  To screw up things even more than I already had.