Mine (an African love story)

19. Reconciliation

1 month later

I'm so nervous right now. I don't even know what made me do this. One second I'm watching Pretty Little Liars, and the next, I'm at Danny's house.

It's been a month since I last spoke to him. After he came to my house and I hid from him, he hasn't attempted to speak to me again. I should be happy that there's space between us. That's exactly what I wanted. To leave him alone. But I couldn't do it anymore. Maybe it's my heart or maybe it's the fact that I'm 4 months pregnant now and my emotions are all over the place, but I just had to see him.

So, here I am. Standing right in front of Danny's gate, too nervous to even knock. Would he even want to see me? What if he's given up on me? I take a deep breath and knock on the gate. I play with my hands and wait for the gate to be opened.

When the gate opens, I see Danny's mom. Her face lights up and she pulls me into a hug.

"Eii, Anima. I haven't seen you around here for a long time. I missed you paa." she tells me and I hug her back with a smile on my face.

"I've missed you too, ma. Sorry I've been kind of... busy lately."

  "I understand. How are you coping, with the pregnancy and everything?"

"It's still weird but I'm fine. I think I'm handling it well." I tell her and she smiles.

"That's so great. I can't wait to meet my grandchild." she says with excitement and I hide my disappointment. How do I tell her that I'm not even sure who the father is?

"Yes, me too. Ma, I came to talk to Danny about something. Is he home?"

"Oh, yes. He's in his room. Go talk to him, we'll talk later." she tells me with her kind smile on her face.

I thank her and walk inside the house. I slowly make my up to his room. Each step I took, my heart beat faster. Why am I so nervous? This is just Danny. Just my first love that may or may not hate me right now. No big deal.

I finally make it to his room and stand there. I take a deep breath. Here goes everything. I knock on the door. I hear footsteps approaching the door, making my heart pound faster.

The door opens and I come face to face with him. I almost forget how to stand when I see him. He blinks twice, as if to make sure he was seeing correctly. The only thing that could be heard was the awkward silence around us. I decided to speak.

"Hi." I say, breaking the silence.

He blinks at me.

"Hi."

"C-can I come in?" I ask him, nervously.

He nods quickly and opens the door for me to walk in. I walk in and look around. His room looks like how I remember it. Neat but not too neat. He still has pictures of us from when we were kids hanging on the walls. I frown at the pictures. How did we go from that to this?

Danny takes a seat on his bed and looks up at me.

"You can sit, you know."

I listen to him and sit right next to him. I expect him to shift away but he doesn't. He lets me sit right near him.

"Why are you here?" he asks me quietly.

"You said you wanted to talk." I tell him, and he nods.

He doesn't say anything after and I don't either. We just sit next to each other and let the silence eat us. Finally, he bends on his knees.

"I-I don't even know where to start. I'm so sorry, Anima. I was honestly such a jerk and a fool. I don't know why I ever thought it was okay to hurt you the way I did. I can't even sleep at night knowing you're crying over my foolishness. I'm so sorry. Please, fakye me (forgive me)." he begs and I immediately pull him off the floor. I sit him down next to me again and look at him.

"Danny, you did nothing wrong. I'm the one that's sorry."

"No, let me apologize please. Lena means nothing to me. I was trying to get back at you for getting pregnant with Tyler. And I realize that I was so stupid. All the pain and heartache I put you through hurt me more than it hurt you, trust me. I hate myself for doing that to you. I don't love Lena. She doesn't even come close to you. What I feel for you is special and I can never feel the same way about any other girl. When you said you hated me, I felt like shit. But I thought I deserved it. Because why should beauty love the beast, right?" he says and I see his eyes welling with tears. Tears start to fall down my own face.

"No Danny. No, I didn't mean it. I said that to push you away. I kept hurting you and I thought the only way to stop was to push you away. I know, I'm such a terrible person." I cry to him.

"I deserve everything you said to me. I deserved it all. You're not a terrible person, don't ever say that. You're such a good person and I hurt you.  I'd rather you hurt me a million times than for me to hurt you ever again. That's how much I love you, Anima. Only you. I know I don't deserve your love--" he doesn't finish because I start sobbing.

"Danny, I don't deserve your love. Look at how much suffering I put you through. I'm pregnant and I don't even know who the father is. I swear I don't remember doing anything with Tyler, and I'm so confused. When I saw you crying, my heart broke. You've never cried before that. I did that to you. Why are you even talking to me right now? How can you say you love me?"

He grabs my hand and wipes my tears.

"Because the love I have for you is real. Pregnant or not, I still love you. I don't care who the father is, I only care about you." he tells me sincerely and I try to smile through my tears but I fail.

"I don't deserve you." I tell him again, and he cups my face in his hands.

"That makes two of us." he tells me, before smashing his lips against mine. I immediately react and kiss back deeply. I missed the taste of his lips on mine. This kiss was different from the first. It was filled with more passion and love, but it was slow and gentle at the same time. He sucks on my bottom lip gently and I wrap my arms around his neck. He pulls me closer to him and deepens the kiss. I felt so warm in his arms.

When we run out of breath, we slowly break apart. I hug him and hold onto him tightly, laying my head on his chest. He places a kiss on my forehead and pulls me closer to him.

"Please, be mine." he asks me quietly.

"Are you sure?" I ask him, feeling doubtful.

"I've never been more sure of anything else." he tells me, which causes me to break out into a huge smile.

"Then of course I'll be yours."

He lets out a breath of relief and gives me a big smile.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to hear you say that."

I giggle, and we both lay back in his bed. I place my head on his chest again, and he strokes my cheek.

"By the way, I know you were there when I visited a month ago." he tells me, which makes me smile cheekily.

"Why didn't you come in then?"

He shrugs.

"I wanted to give you time. I knew you weren't ready to talk yet."

"l'm sorry for the sass April gave you. I didn't even know she could do that." I tell him with a laugh.

"Nah, it's cool. I understand why she was mad. She's a good friend."

I nod and he continues to stroke my cheek.

"I meant what I said the other time. I won't give up on you. Not again." he tells me with certainty. I grab his hand and squeeze it.

"I love you."

He squeezes my hand back.

"I love you." he says.