Picture Perfect | Daniel Ricciardo

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The sun had slowly set while the barbeque was still going for some of them. Dani had already given up a long time ago with eating and was now just enjoying the company of the rest. Daniel's next-door neighbour, Lucas, that was just a little bit younger than Dani was, also sat down with them, just like Chrissy and Eva who also lived in the same street as them. 
'Oi, do you want half of this?' Daniel asked as he tried to get Dani's attention back to him. She looked back at him and saw him already cutting a piece of his chicken.  
'Noo! no, Daniel,' Dani warned him as he was already trying to put the piece of meat on her plate. 'Share it with Kurt,'
'I don't want to share it with Kurt,' he said back with a pout as he was still trying to put the piece of chicken on Dani's plate. They got interrupted by Karen, Dani's neighbour that lived across from her. Karen was an older lady that loved to keep talking and talking. Dani liked her, but you couldn't escape her when she started a conversation. 
'Dani! How great to see you!' She started as she stood between Dani and Daniel. Karen looked over to the man sitting next to Dani and started to smile. 'It's so good to see you two together again. It's been so long. How are you two doing?'
'Hey Karen, We're doing great,' Dani laughed as an answer for both Daniel and herself as she greeted the lady back. 
'That's good to hear. And are you finally dating? Your mom and I keep going back to your prom picture together. Gosh, such a cute couple and what a great story to tell your kids later!' Karen kept ongoing. Dani looked with big eyes at Daniel who started to grin, making Dani blush as she looked back to Karen.
'We're not uhm... dating,' Dani mumbled, but still tried to keep a friendly face on for Karen. 
'Yet.' Kurt said extra hard. They all gave him a look while he just had the biggest smirk on his face. Until Will slapped him at the back of his head. Karen could feel she hit a soft spot but still kept on smiling at the two friends sitting together and being very close with each other. 
'Well, being friends for so long is something you should treasure. Goodnight my young people,' Karen said as she patted Daniel's shoulder before leaving the table. Dani had put her right arm on the table and was leaning with her head on it, mostly to avoid Daniel's eyes. She could feel his eyes burning on her skin but still felt too embarrassed to meet his eyes. 
'Well, at least Karen still knows how to make things awkward. Daniel, if you're not eating that last part of the chicken then I will.' Kurt was the first to speak up. 
'Here, take it.' Dani heard Daniel mumble to her younger brother. 

When Will and Gina decided to go home, Kurt decided he had enough of it too. Which automatically made Dani agree with him as there were mostly only the older people still here, like their parents. Daniel decided to walk with them, but mostly because he wanted to talk with Dani in private. He could see something was bothering her since Karen talked about how cute of a couple they were. 
'I'm upstairs if you're looking for me,' Kurt said immediately when they got to the front door and opened it. Dani nodded at him and both she and Daniel wished him goodnight. Dani turned around and finally looked Daniel in the eyes. 
'I'm going to bed too,' she said, giving him a short smile before avoiding his eyes again. Daniel took her hand, knowing that this way she would give her attention back to him, which she did.
'Wait,' he said. 'Can I come in first?' She looked at him confused but still nodded as she stepped aside to let him in before her. She closed the front door behind her as she saw Daniel made his way to the kitchen. He still felt like this was his second home and Dani was kind of glad he still felt that way. When she made it in the kitchen too, Daniel was already leaning against the kitchen counter, waiting for Dani to arrive. 
'What's up?' she asked trying to sound casual, but even she knew where this conversation would go to. 
'I think I could better ask you that question. You kept ignoring my eyes since Karen left our table, why?' Daniel asked, staying where he was while he kept his eyes focused on the woman in front of her. 
'I don't know,' she sighed, which wasn't a good enough answer for Daniel.
'Was it the dating question? Or about the; we look like a cute couple comment?' Daniel asked further, making Dani shrug. She couldn't give Daniel an answer, mostly because she herself wasn't sure about why she was trying to avoid his gaze the whole time. Perhaps it was because her two brothers were there when it happened, or perhaps it was just her own insecurities about the pain of prom that still seemed to be at the back of her head even when she knew it was just a miscommunication.  
'Who cares anyway what others think we are?' Daniel talked further as he realised that she kept her answer with just pushing her shoulders up and down. 'We know that we wanted to be friends again like we were before. That's enough, right?' Daniel really was trying to figure out what Dani's reaction was to his comment, but either she got more skilled in using a poker face, or he really did lose the ability to read her mind like he could as a child.  
'Right,' Dani finally said with a smile. 'But... I am really tired, Daniel. I should go to bed,' Daniel nodded slowly, accepting that this was all he would get from her. He stood up straight and gave Dani a short hug while wishing her a good night rest, before leaving the house.