Homeless

Chapter 10

Derek's POV

"So tell me about you," I say to Danielle.

"Well, I guess the basics are I'm from California. I came out here when I was 18 to go to business school at NYU and I fell in love with the city. I opened the bakery as soon as I graduated and it's been a nice little life ever since."

I nod as Danielle tells me a little about herself and I can't help but admire her. She has in fact built a nice little life for herself. Not only is she extremely successful as a person but she's also just incredibly kindhearted. Those kind of people are rare.

"I know I kind of said it before when I was crying like a baby upstairs but you're an awesome person Danielle." I've never really expressed this to her but she deserves to hear it. "You're extremely kindhearted and a beautiful soul. Thank you for everything. For letting me stay with you. For the job at the bakery. For your kindness. All of it."

Danielle's eyes start to water and she smiles. "I'm just happy to help in any way I can. I just think the world needs more kindness."

"Well you've definitely brought a lot of kindness to my world."

Danielle smiles at me. I smile back then start to feel my face get a bit hot. It's been awhile since I've been even the slightest bit vulnerable with someone, let alone a woman.

"Are you done with your plate?" Danielle asks, motioning towards my now devoured cheesecake.

"Yes," I respond. "But I can get it. I'll take yours too." I take Danielle's plate and take both our dishes to the sink.

When I come back to the couch, she's turned the tv on and is scrolling through Netflix.

"How do you feel about a movie?" she asks. "Might be a good, rainy evening activity?"

"A movie sounds good," I say, taking my seat on the couch. I'm sitting on one end and Danielle is clear on the other end. I'm trying my best to make her feel comfortable and I think the physical space is good.

As we are scrolling through the movie titles, there's a loud clap of thunder and Danielle nearly jumps out of her seat.

"Sorry," she says. "I'm just... a bit scared of thunder. And lightening."

She tries to laugh it off but I can tell she's shaken. There's another loud clap of thunder and she drops the remote.

I bend down to pick it up and scoot a bit closer to her. "You okay?"

"Ehh," she says softly. "Maybe we can put a movie on. That'll help. I've just always been terrified of thunder and lightning."

"I understand," I say. I use the little remote to click through some more titles. "When I first got on the streets, I used to be terrified of it too. More so lightning. I always had a fear of being struck for some reason."

"Me too," Danielle giggles. "And I know it's a bit irrational but I'm still scared of it."

"Just come live on the streets for a few weeks," I joke. "You'll be over it."

Danielle laughs and it's a sweet sound. "I'll think about it."

We scroll through a few more movies before I finally get to the romance category.

"Ooh, how about The Notebook?"

"I've never seen it."

"You've never seen The Notebook?"

"Yeah, romance has never been my cup of tea."

"Well we definitely need to watch it then," Danielle says. "It's a classic for one and it's not your typical romance movie. You might like it."