Bleed me Dry

chapter twenty-four

♡

"Brrr." Danny shivered, as he rubbed his hands together. Goosebumps rose on his skin as the harsh breeze gushed through his thin cotton t-shirt. By now it was around nine and we were back at the school, not so quietly sneaking our way back home. Whilst the school wasn't entirely bothered by what we got up to, a guy and a girl hanging around outside at dark — alone — was going to look weird, for sure.

"The weather sure is changing." I whispered in response to his grunts, hugging myself a little tighter. Our bodies found themselves moving closer together as we plodded across the squishy grass and up to the wide double doors, gently glowing from the dimmed lights inside.

After I'd told Danny about the bar, we'd walked around a small lake with a surrounding forest and watched the sunset together. Sitting on the bench that overlooked a rusty old park, Danny told me he came to this spot when he wanted some alone time. His bar, if you like — except he didn't get drunk and stagger home without any recollection of it. The fact that he'd shared a very special place with me made me a little calmer about sharing mine, even if I had more to lose. And, as much as my mind kept telling me to not open up, my heart poured with affection for the soul in front of me. He listened, he knew how to dress and of course, he made the meanest grilled cheese. How could I not?

"The only thing keeping me slightly warm right now is the fact that I'm so full from all the food." Danny laughed, rubbing his bloated stomach like a pregnant woman. But it was true; we'd stopped off at Stacy's, our local fast food place, and grabbed enough food to feed a family of rhinos — and yes, it was totally worth the stomach ache. We were filled to capacity, two human burritos staggering home without a care in the world.

"Me too." was all I said as I gazed up at him. Yes, gazed. There was something wrong with me, I was sure of it.

Now finally at the entrance to the school, we pulled at the doors to release us from the hateful chill and thankfully, with a hard yank, we were in. The doors shut slowly as we wandered through, Danny still close to me even now we were warm and it was heart racing to try and keep myself composed. But then he pulled me into an alcove, put a finger to my lips and peered around.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, my voice wavering in a mix of laughter and confusion.

Danny smirked, looked again and then turned to face me. "Someone's down the hall, a teacher I think. Be quiet."

"Okay." I nodded, holding onto his back as I peered around him. I couldn't see anyone, but if I listened hard enough, I could hear a faint clip-clopping of shoes disappearing down the hall before the noise completely vanished with them.

Pausing for a moment, Danny cocked his ear towards the sound. "Alright, they're gone." Turning to me, he stared at me for a moment. A flick of mischief crossed his eyes as he stared down at my eyes, and then my lips.

Then, he carefully leaned in. Danny's breaths became longer and more drawn out in thought as his nose brushed against mine, and my heart felt like it was going to jump right out of my chest. Calming my nerves, I batted my lashes as I looked back at him, refusing to break eye contact with his toffee swirls. He smiled then, a little more nervous than usual and it was almost as if he was scared to move, scared to disturb whatever this moment was.

A deep hum came from the back of Danny's throat eventually, irritated with himself for being frozen with fear before he closed the gap. But just as we were about to kiss, the clip-clopping sound came back, much louder than before.

"Hey! What are you doing, young man?" asked an old woman, a broom firmly grasped between her small wrinkled hands. Danny's eyes widened in fright as he quickly turned around, shielding me from sight between him and the wall.