Guardian Angel

Chapter 16 - Daniel

Melody was glowing like never before. She had the kind of smile on her face that could brighten up the entire world even in the middle of the night. She had the kind of look in her eyes that could make even the grumpiest man happy. And while she was sitting behind a computer in the library she was humming along to the song playing on the radio.

Daniel had not known that it was even possible, but she was even more beautiful than she had already been. He took a deep breath while he grabbed the seat behind her. He had never touched a computer before, but if he wanted to compete with the boy who could make her glow like this, he would have to do a lot of things for the very first time in his life. "Melody..." Daniel looked over his shoulder, but Melody was too occupied with the articles on her screen to notice that someone was talking to her.

For someone who had barely slept for four nights straight she was surprisingly awake and for the first time since she had overestimated herself she was actually making progress on this school project that would grant her her certificate.

"Melody?" Daniel raised his voice a little and he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry to bother you, but can you help me with something?"

"Daniel?" Melody raised her eyebrows while she turned around. "I haven't seen you for weeks!" She realised a little too late that she was in the library and she bit her lip while she noticed the angry glances around her. "What are you doing here?"

This time Daniel was prepared to answer this question. "Do you remember that friend I've been talking about?" He cocked his head slightly and he whispered. "I think he's thinking about doing something to himself he's going to regret."

Melody's eyes widened and immediately she turned her chair around completely.

"I am looking for a way to help him." Daniel stared at the screen. He had his hand on the mouse, like he had seen Melody do countless times before and he moved the cursor to what he believed was the internet browser.

"You don't want to use the internet for this." Melody shook her head and her hand touched his while she took the mouse from him.

Daniel felt a shiver rolling down his spine and the skin she had touched started tingling. He had to concentrate on the most horrible thing he could come up with to make sure he wouldn't start thinking about how it would feel if she would touch him in more sensitive places.

"We actually have a great database with information on this topic." She moved the cursor on the screen to another icon and opened a complicated looking program. "I'm not sure if you really understand any of it, but I can always try to explain."

Daniel smiled and for a moment he just stared straight into her blue eyes. It was only when she cleared her throat that he remembered that he had to answer something, had to say something. "That would be great."

"So...." Melody acted like she had not noticed his moment of hesitation. "Here you type in the words of what you're looking for. I'd suggest to select articles who aren't older than five years and I assume your friend is human, so you should select that too." Melody clicked a few boxes and Daniel nodded as if he had heard a word of what she had just said.

"Thank you." He licked his lips and Melody shrugged her shoulders.

"It's no problem. That's what I've studied for, right?" She smiled once more. "If you find something that seems useful and you need some help with the technical terms, I'm here and not going anywhere until I've read those four articles myself." After her last word she turned around again and Daniel sighed.

There had been moments that he had thought that maybe he would stand a chance if he were human. Maybe he had stayed away from her too long. Maybe he had simply given Max her heart on a silver platter with no chance to ever gain it back.

"I'm happy to see you again, by the way." Melody looked over her shoulder once more and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I knew you had a thing for disappearing, but I was afraid for a moment that you were going to stay away forever."

Daniel grinned and he shook away the thoughts he had had a few seconds ago. He did still stand a chance. He only had to show her that he was a serious competitor. He was not entirely sure how to do that, but that was why he had shown up in the library in the first place. After searching the entire database, he would act like he had not been able to find what he had been looking for and he would ask her if she would want to go to the old library in the city centre. While she would think he was searching for a way to help his best friend, he would search for information on guardian angels and any myths that could tell him if there has ever been an angel who chose to become a human so they could live a human life. "How could I stay away from you forever?" Daniel raised his eyebrows and he cocked his head. "I would miss you way too much."

She blushed slightly while he said those words and quickly she turned her head back to her screen.

Daniel knew the look in her eyes though.

She was uncomfortable. She was uncomfortable because she was feeling something she was not supposed to feel. Maybe she believed he had not noticed, but he knew her better than she realised. She was feeling something for him and he would make sure it would grow.

He would make sure it would grow that much that she would get rid of Max and would want to share a life with him. But only if he knew for sure there was a chance he could live a human life with her.

She deserved that. She deserved the happiness she was feeling right now. She deserved a boy who could make her skin glow with his mouth and fingers. She deserved a boy who would make sure the twinkle in her eyes would never fade.

Daniel sighed. He knew he could be that guy, but to be that guy he had to change that one part of him that was holding him back from proving her. He shook his head. Even though it was way more pleasant to think about the life he could share with the girl he had fallen in love with, he had to focus on the here and now to make sure that imaginary future would become reality.

"And?" After almost two hours Melody turned around and stared at his screen filled with titles and open tabs. "Did you find something useful?" She had closed all her articles, but her notebook was filled with almost unreadable writing.

"No, actually I didn't..." Daniel sighed, like he had seen others do so often. He leaned back in his chair and he made sure not to smile too brightly. "It all seems too complicated for me to do or I can't see it working for him."

Melody nodded understandingly and she licked her lips. "I really have to go home now." She took a deep breath. "I overestimated my own abilities a few weeks ago and I don't want to do that again, but..." She shrugged her shoulders. "I've done all the research I had to do here, so if you want we can meet up in the big library in the city centre tomorrow?"

To make sure he wouldn't give away how relieved and happy he felt right now Daniel bit his lip. "Are you sure you can work there too? I don't want to be a bother." He wanted to add that he could always go there himself, but he didn't want to add more lies to the fake base their relationship was already build on. Especially not if he didn't have to.

"A library is a library and maybe a change of scenery might do miracles for my research." Melody smiled and she stood up from her chair.

While she put her notebook and printed papers in her backpack Daniel tried to avoid looking at her delicate hands and tried to stop thinking about what they did night after night to Max' body and how much Daniel wanted them to do that to his.

"I think I can be there at ten." She put on her jacket and threw her backpack over her shoulder. "Can you be there around ten too?"

Daniel nodded and his lips curled up into a smile. "Yes, of course." His eyes met hers again and for a second too long he stared straight into them, almost drowning in the lights glimmering like the most beautiful stars in the universe. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Melody nodded once more before she turned around and Daniel closed his eyes praying she wouldn't look over her shoulder while walking through the door. Maybe a part of him would be flattered, but she would only see an empty chair and a computer screen with unclosed tabs.