The Things I Can Do Without [Karate Kid Fanfic]

To Move Forward

Danielle woke up first. After the night being as it was, she was both surprised and not surprised about her position between John and Terry. It gave her mixed feelings and she did her best to push them down and not focus on them. Instead, she gingerly left her spot and glanced over to the far side of the blanket bed to see Bobby sprawled out in his area, having all that space to himself. He was drooling a bit and had a goofy grin on his face, making her smile slightly.

She then turned her attention to the exit, where she knew would lead to the kitchen and her feet padded quietly on the floor as she headed there. Deciding to make breakfast, she began pulling out ingredients and the pans she would need, unable to keep her mind from wandering back to the night before and thinking about the way she had asked to hold their hands, had surprisingly agreed to sleep between them, and that she had actually not minded as she thought she would in the end. She thought she would be tensed all night, and even sometime then end up freaking out.

But she had stayed there and she had relaxed, and she had easily fallen asleep.

Danielle had felt safe and secure, and hadn't felt an ounce of fear, nor the urge to cringe away from them and their touch and closeness. Instead, she had welcomed it and it made her feel happy and hopeful for the future, and that maybe she wasn't as messed up (or at least she was healing).

"Morning," she heard John say quietly and she looked up from cutting onions to see him at the kitchen's entrance watching her.

"Morning," she smiled and she saw him relax and smile back.

"You alright?" he asked tentatively and she knew he was referring to last night.

"Yeah," she said honestly. "A lot more than I thought I'd be. I...I think I'm doing much better than before. I can do this. I can be around people more now, I think."

"That's good," he was grinning. He came closer and she shifted over to give him some space to be next to her. "Terry and I...we've got a long ways to go for you, but we're not going anywhere."

"Yeah? You mean that?" she asked. "I've got a lot of scars and Dr. Rosefield says these kind of things don't get fixed overnight. She and the support group I'm in say that sometimes they never really go away and maybe I'll have to deal with this...with me as I am now for the rest of my life."

"Terry and I are in it for the long haul," John reaffirmed. "We fucked up by you, you know? And outside of that obligation, we really like you and think that if we had met another way and things had been different, we'd have been friends sooner and none of this shit would have happened."

Danielle's lips twitched up sadly. "That would've been nice."

She saw John hesitate and waited patiently. He took a deep breath.

"That being said," he started, "I realized that I do like you. Like a lot. And fuck if I don't know that's probably really messed up, what with our history, but I do. And I don't know if this is the right time, or if there's a right time, or you're even okay enough or ready for it...but do you want to go out? With me. Like for dinner...maybe tonight?" he ended uncomfortably.

She stared at him, having not expected that. But, thinking about it, the idea of going out on what sounded like a date with John didn't put her off. She didn't feel like cringing or feel scared off, and maybe that was another sign she was going to be okay. And maybe, just maybe, it would be alright to go out with him.

"And this is probably a dick move of just asking you out without telling Terry, but I really like you and I couldn't help blurting it out –"

She looked at him in confusion. "Why would you tell Terry first?"