Prague

Super sappy 1 shot I did based on the song "Prague" by Damien Rice. My first Dacey fic! Lol. :P

The pale sky was a bitter blue and the sun shone no more. It was autumn when everything began to fall.

Danny begrudgingly forced his body out of the bed in spite of himself. He could hardly stand or so much as think straight. His head throbbed so viciously, but that pain seemed to pale in comparison to the jolting anesthetic of his heart. He stumbled out of bed, kicking over bottles of vodka that he'd enjoyed the night before, and the night before that, as he did every night since that night. The night that changed everything.

Unsteadily, he made his way to the bathroom where he splashed his face with cold water hoping to revive himself, to awaken his soul, but it seemed there was no use. That same cynical expression refused to be cleansed.

He stared blankly ahead, his eyes simply dead – a reflection of the way he was feeling inside.

…

It was a quarter till 1 when they met again. And it was a peculiar thing to see her after all those years, but what was even more peculiar was that they'd allow so many years to pile up since the last time they met.

"Lacey? Lacey Porter?" Danny called out from across the parking lot outside of the Greengrove Mall.

"Danny?" The caramel-skinned beauty squinted to assure that her eyes had not deceived her. "My goodness, it's been years!"

"Come 'ere," he pulled her into him, taking in the familiar scent of her cherry blossom shampoo. "How have you been? How is medical school?"

"Med school has been incredible – difficult, but I manage." She smiled.

"You always do," he responded reassuringly.

"Yeah, I'm preparing to do my residency at UC in San Francisco."

"Wow, California girl. I always figured you'd leave New York, but not for the likes of sandy beaches and bikinis year around," he said jokingly.

Lacey grinned, shifting on her feet slightly. "No, I uh. I'm actually moving there to be with—"

"Hold that thought!" He pressed his finger to her lips. "You'll never guess what I just got." He fumbled for his keys, unlocked his car door and pulled out a tin pan wrapped in foil.

Lacey stood there a bit confused. "Do you want me to…"

"Yes, open it! Take a whiff." He nudged her with anxious anticipation as she unwrapped the foil to reveal a warm Dutch apple pie that was still fresh from the oven.

"Oh my gosh, is that—"

"Johnny Cakes' specialty, compliments of the chef."

"Are you serious? I thought that place closed down years ago?"

"Well it did, but old man Johnny's still around. I refused to go another Thanksgiving without one of these bad boys, so I found his number and literally begged like you have never seen a grown man beg before."

They laughed together.

"Mmm, it smells so good," Lacey bit down on her lip.

Danny couldn't take his eyes off of her. He glanced at her face which was still young but a bit more mature. She had her hair cut into a curly long bob that almost brushed against her shoulder, but not quite. He could see a glance of her neck beneath her cream-colored scarf and he imagined tracing his finger along her collar bone like he used to. He tried not to linger on those plump lips that once gave him his first kiss.

God, I've missed you, he wanted to say, but he figured he settled something more subtle. "I got a few pies to take over to my mom's house for dinner tomorrow, but I honestly I thought I'd steal a few bites. If you'd like you could come over. We'll catch up."

"I don't know, I'm supposed to do some early Christmas shopping with Clara," she looked into his deep brown which made her weak, the way it did when they were teenagers. "But for you, one of my oldest friends, I'm sure she'd be willing to hold off."

…

Fuck, Danny looked at the time. It was 12:30. He was supposed to have left an hour ago. Right on cue, he heard a monstrous banging on the door. He already knew who it was, and considered ignoring it altogether, but he knew she wouldn't go away.

"Danny, open this damn door. I know you're in there!" Jo continued knocking impatiently.

He stumbled his way to the door which he opened with an unpleasant "WHAT."

"Danny, why are you not dressed. I've been calling for the last 30 minutes."

"I'm"—he struggled to form words—"not going," he held up his finger. "I'm not gonna go okay. I wasn't even invited" he said bitterly and tried to shut the door in her face.

Jo proceeded anyway. "Danny, come on. Don't be like that. You were invited."

"Yeah, after the fact. It was a big fucking surprise for me and no one, not even you, who knew about it the whole time, clued me in on this shit."

"I figured she'd already told you."

"Really?" He looked at her blandly, clearly unconvinced.

"Okay, I thought she may have told you but if she hadn't I didn't want to make things weird."

"A head's up would have been nice before I made a complete fool of myself."

"No one thinks that," Jo pleaded with him. "Danny she's one of your oldest friends."

"Ha," Danny dropped his head, "Lacey and I were never really friends."

…

"Remember when you first came back from juvie? The entire school was tense, forebodingly awaiting your arrival and you just walk up to me and Jo casually like 'boo.'" Lacey fell into hysterics "I would have never admitted it to you then because I was so mad at you, but that was actually really funny."

"What I was just lightening the mood? Everyone swore I was Jeffrey Dahmer fresh out of the chopper and ready to slash some bodies."

Lacey cracked a smile. "Is it morbid that we can laugh about this?"

"I think the only appropriate response is to laugh about it, otherwise it becomes too difficult."

"Emotions, gross," she cringed playfully.

Danny smiled softly, his gazed fixed on hers.

Lacey squirmed in her seat uncomfortably. "You haven't changed a bit. Still rocking those long luscious locks," she ran her fingers though his hair with unintentional flirtation. "How does that hold up in the office?"

"If you don't think that the man bun can be professional, then check out Jared Leto at the Oscars. It works for me, okay?" He said with playful aggravation.

"Okay, relax. I would never diss the man bun. You've got my vote." She giggled like a school girl.

Danny watched as her dimples became pronounced. "I miss that little laugh of yours." He looked up at her shyly and then turned away.

"Danny, there's something I need to tell you," she fingered the ring in her pocket. "I'm getting—"

"More wine?" He quickly changed the subject.

…

"Seriously, Danny more alcohol? Your house reeked of vodka before you even opened the door."

"I like ethanol, so judge me," his response was non-chalant.

"Look, I know you guys had a thing in high school, but I thought that you'd at least pretend to be happy for Lacey. I mean, she's getting married! This is biggest day of her life."

Danny stood shaking his head. "It was not a 'thing' we had in high school, Jo. I loved her!" He protested. "Love her."

"Danny," Jo felt badly for him, but was unsure of what to say to console her friend.

He wandered over to the kitchen where he poured himself a small glass of liquor to help counteract the effects of the hangover.

"The night before Thanksgiving, Lacey and I were just talking and I thought I'd let go of her years ago. But I don't know, feelings started to resurface, and I…we couldn't control ourselves."

…

"What's one thing that you've never told me that you wish you had?" Lacey sat not far from him on the sofa. She'd had about as much to drink as he and was one of those people who likes get emotionally raw when she's drunk.

Danny hesitated. He didn't want to reveal too much, but his tongue had no filter. "That I waited for you although you told me not to when you left for college." He avoided making eye contact and instead stared into an empty glass.

"I waited. I didn't want to pressure you, because I knew that you were off making new memories and gaining new experiences. I didn't want to take that from you, Lace. But I sat by the phone hoping that you'd call, text. Hell, I would have even settled for an email. There were so many times when I wanted to march onto NYU's campus and just grab you by the waist and kiss you to remind you that I'd be here when you decided to come home. When you were ready to build a home …with me, but I knew better than to push anything." He looked up at her shyly.

"Danny, I didn't know—"

"Don't worry about it." He tried to shake off how exposed he felt in that moment.

"If I would have known— I thought that you moved on. You were spending so much time with Jo."

"Jo is my best friend. She's always been my best friend, but you? I'm not stupid, clearly you've moved on and I have too…mostly," he lied to himself. "But Lace, you were the love of my life," Danny uttered with such conviction.

"And you were mine," she replied softly and pressed her lips against his.

Danny pulled away just to look at her, to take in the moment he'd been longing for for so long.

Their mouths connected again and he slid his tongue into her mouth as he ran his fingers through her curly black hair. Lacey began to unfasten her blouse for him. She slowly undid the first button which revealed her long neck, and then the second which revealed her cleavage that Danny eyed with a devious smile. He planted quick kisses on her neck and then back to her lips before picking her up off of the couch.

Danny pinned his old flame against the wall licking and sucking on her chest as he proceeded to take off her shirt and and then his.

Lacey slid down the wall as she pulled down his pants. Danny's chest tightened when she cupped his penis with her hand and when he felt her mouth around it, he sighed pleasure and relief.

"We only have tonight, Danny," she muttered breathlessly between kisses. "I mean it, this can only happen this once," she said beneath her breath, and then moaned as he reached inside her panties. Danny didn't hear a word she said, because he was so anxious, so lost in her eyes and between her thighs that he did not want to acknowledge anything else. Danny picked her up and carried her, half naked into his bedroom.

Both of them yearned for the other. He pinned her down, panting and breathing heavy and then traced her body with his tongue. Inch by inch he traveled, savoring every bit of her as he made her way to the garden of Eden to taste her forbidden fruit.

He did not indulge right away. He teased her with kisses along her inner thigh and he sucked on her outer lips, dancing around her clit with his tongue.

Lacey's back arched when his mouth found the right spot, her toes curled as she gripped the sheets. She pleaded.

Danny grinned sheepishly, wiping his mouth as he did. He traced her womanhood with his cock, teasing her mercilessly. "You feel that? Tension, angst, anticipation, insatiable desire. You want me right now, don't you?"

She just looked at him, frustrated and puzzled by the monologue.

"Just tell me you want me. Tell me that you've been waiting for me too."

"Danny…"She trailed off. The moment was gone.

"Lacey, I'm not emotional. You know that. I just, I've been waiting so long for this. So…god-damn long. I just want to know that when we wake up tomorrow morning, you won't call this a mistake." He searched her eyes for solace, but he found none.

Lacey closed her legs and sat up straight.

"Danny, I—" he could tell that she was not prepared to say the things that he needed her to say.

"You have a boyfriend, I know, but we can get passed that. "

"Fiancé," she announced abruptly. "He's my fiancé," Lacey's voice cracked at the revelation. "I'm so sorry, Danny. I wanted to tell you the moment we met in the parking lot, but I was scared of how you might react. And then I was gonna tell you earlier, but you changed the subject, and the wine. I haven't drunk this much in a while."

"So this …has already been a mistake for you," he trailed off.

"No, I didn't say it was a mistake. I'm just confused."

"Confused," he burst into laughter. "You think I didn't know you were engaged to be married?" He pretended to be non-chalant.

"You—you did?"

"Of course I did! Greengrove is a small town."

"So why didn't you say anything?"

"I brought you here to see how far you would go, to see if you're the same fucking whore that you've always been." He grabbed a pack of cigarettes from his night stand and then lit one.

Lacey furrowed her brows at him. "You're drunk and angry, but don't say things that you don't mean."

"No, I mean every bit of it," he grew louder. "Do you even remember how our relationship started? All those years ago, you cheated on Archie…with me. You kissed me. You couldn't resist me, because you've always wanted me even more than I want you."

"You broke up with me, Danny. Don't you forget that," she scurried for her clothes.

"Yeah, and that's why. I knew you'd be screwing around with those rich college guys because you can't control your hormones."

"You know what? I'm not going to sit here and take this."

Lacey stood up, piecing together her outfit.

"Yeah, you're right. I did make a mistake tonight, and it wasn't that I kissed you or almost had sex with you. No, my mistake was allowing you to create doubt in my mind that Aiden is the man I should be marrying in a month."

"What are you talking about?" He snarled.

"We've been engaged for over a year now and only just picked a date. You wanna know why? Because even after all these years, I was still holding out the slightest bit of hope for you and me." Her voice was shaking as if she were on the verge of tears.

"But you're not the person that I thought you were, Danny."

His expression softened when he realized how badly he'd hurt her. "Lacey, come on. I didn't mean it, I was just frustrated."

"Frustrated? Oh you were frustrated so you called me a whore. Well, gee as long as it was only out of frustration, I guess it's okay" she barked sarcastically.

"Lacey," his eyes fell to the ground from remorse. Danny felt that nothing he said would change her current opinion of him, but still he tried. "You don't know how much you mean to me." He placed his hand on her cheek, and his eyes, those sad brown eyes projected the most sincere devastation and pain. Danny pressed his forehead against hers. "Please," he muttered weakly.

"I do know how much I mean to you," Lacey pulled away. "That's the problem."

He frowned at her.

Lacey continued, "I could mean the world to you and that still wouldn't be enough. Danny, as much as you try to hide it. You throw on a suit and play son of the year with your fabulous pies, but beneath it all you are still the same, reckless, self-destructive, and abusive criminal that you always were."

Her words struck him heavily.

"And I don't say that to be rude to you, okay?" Lacey wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. "No one has ever loved me the way that you love me. I don't think two people could've been happier than we were." She kissed him on the lips one last time.

"Goodbye, Danny" she said softly as she exited the room and his life, forever. He knew then there was nothing he could do to stop her. Oddly enough, he felt no desire to stop her from leaving. He just let it happen though it tormented him.

…

Danny stared aimlessly into an empty bottle of gin. "Crazy, isn't it? How easy it is to just fall into old patterns. She was right about me," he looked intently into Jo's direction, but not directly at her. "I I haven't changed a bit."

And amid his pondering Danny found himself in a suit, still thoughtless, still numb. Jo was no longer there. In one hand he carried a suitcase in the other, a bouquet of roses. He turned off the light of his apartment in an almost mechanical motion. He glanced around the room, so unfamiliar to him now and prepared himself for a battle-less war. Danny closed the door behind himself, slowly. He gripped the roses in his hand so tight, and then he let them fall at the foot of his door, as he headed off.

I could wait for you
Like that hole in your boot
Waiting to be fixed
I could wait for you
What good would that do
But to leave me pricked?

Cheers darlin'
Here's to you and your lover
...darling
I got years...
Pack my suit in a bag
Pack myself in a bag
Pack my suit in a bag
All dressed up for Prague

Pack my suit in a bag
All dressed up for
All dressed up for
All dressed up for