Talk about time flying by. A few weeks had past since the boys left New York and now they were in Lexington. It was the last concert of the tour and although they would miss it, they were glad it was coming to an end.
The next day, Brian decided to drive over to Danielle's appartment. He sat in his car and looked up at the building. Light rain tapped on his wind sheild. It had been raining lightly off and on all day. Brian took a deep breath and got out of the car. He wanted to hit himself for not calling first. To late now, he was already here.
~
Danielle twirled the ring around on her finger as she sat on the couch. She could hear Richard clanging dishes together as he put them in the dishwasher. She was afraid he might shatter one because he seemed to be banging them pretty hard. She rolled her eyes. He had no common sense sometimes.
Richards parents had just left and the night went better then she thought it would. To Danielle, it always felt like they thought she wasn't good enough for their son. Telling them the news that they were getting married wasn't easy. But for some reason they seemed happy.
Danielle sighed. It seemed like it was just yesterday that she returned from New York. When she opened her appartment door he was down on his knee waiting for her. Although it wasn't the most romantic way to do it she still said yes. When Danielle told Gina the news she said she was happy for her but Danielle knew that Gina had been dreading that moment for a long time. Danielle bit her lip and continued twirling the ring around her finger. She thought about Brian. She never told Richard about what happened and didn't intend to. She figured that what happened in New York should stay in New York. She didn't know exactly when they were coming to Lexington, but she knew it would be soon and Brian would be calling her.
Just as Danielle was about to get up and join Richard in the kitchen, she heard a knock at the door. Richard poked his head out towards the living room. "Are you expecting company?" He asked. Danielle shook her head and went to answer the door. She almost jumped out of her skin when she saw who was on the other side. Brian nervously ran his hand through his hair. "I, um, I'm sorry I didn't call first. Lately I've been out of it." He said with a chuckle. Danielle smiled slightly. "It's okay. I need to talk to you. Do you think we could in the hallway?" She asked. Brian nodded and stepped back so she could come out.
Danielle sighed and looked down at the ground. "This is hard for me. I never want to hurt you but I think I'm about to." Brian's body tensed. Danielle continued. "Richard asked me to marry him and I said 'yes'." Finally Danielle looked him in the eyes. Brian didn't say anything. They stood their silently for a moment and then Brian spoke lightly. "Okay. Well I guess I got my answer. I gotta get going." He turned and started walking down the hallway. Danielle watched him as he got in the elevator. "Brian, wait." She said, but the doors closed. Danielle sighed and quickly ran down the staircase that was next to the elevator.
She saw him walking out of the lobby and she chased after him. She called his name when she got outside and he stopped in the middle of the street. It was raining a little harder then before. The sky was dark and the cold rain made the wind feel chilly. "Danielle, go back inside. Its cold and its raining. I'm leaving. I'll see ya around." Danielle walked up to him shaking her head. They were both getting soaked. "No, Brian. I'm sorry. Okay? But this is what I want." She told him.
Brian shook his head. "This is not what you want." "Yes it is!" She yelled. Drops of water ran down her body. Her hair clung to her face and her clothes to her body. Yet, to Brian, she still looked beautiful. "No it isn't!" He yelled back. "Do you want to stay home and take care of kids while he goes out everyday? You don't want to stop teaching. You sure as hell don't want to stop writing." Danielle sighed. "I'm horrable at it anyway. What's the big deal?"
"Is that what he tells you? Just because he isn't into what you write doesn't mean everyone else in the world isn't. From one writer to another, believe me Danielle. You are an amazing writer!" The rain was pouring down now. Danielle stayed quite and Brian decided to keep going. "You could never be fully happy with him. That night in New York I saw inside you're soul. You were truely happy. I told you that I love you and I know you love me too. I'm not leaving here until you can look me in the eyes and tell me different."
Danielle moved closer to him. Her heart was pounding furiosly. She was so sick and tired of people telling her what she wanted. Without any emotion she simply staired into his eyes and said, "I don't love you." As if on commond lighting struck and made Brian jump a little. He thought at first it was the rain fogging his vision but when he looked in her eyes he didn't see the love that was once there. It seemed like they were empty and the love had been sucked out of them.
Anger rose in the pit of Brian's stomach. He felt like punching something, anything. Danielle continued to stare at him. He turned on his heel and walked towards his car. "I still want to be your friend." She said softly. She was suprised he even heard her over the loud rain.
Brian turned to face her again. He never felt so mad in his life. "I can't be friends with someone who I'm in love with, don't you understand that? How could you do this to me? I never did anything to you but give you my heart and all you can do is through it back in my face! Have a nice life! When you finally realize what a huge mistake you've made don't dare come running to me. I will just slam the door in your face." With that, he got in his car and drove off.
Danielle's heart shattered. Hurting him was the last thing she ever wanted to do. Losing him was the last thing she ever wanted. Chosing Richard was supposed be the right thing, so why did it hurt so much?
