LONDON NIGHTS: A DANFIC

Chapter 8

The trio headed into a little curbside restaurant to grab some lunch – Phil had been raving about how fantastic their pressed sandwiches were the entire walk over. Almost as soon as they sat down, a tall guy with shaggy auburn hair and pale green eyes that were situated under a pair of big, black-framed glasses bounded over, exchanging excited hellos with Dan and Phil.

"Lydia, this is our friend PJ," said Dan.

"Very pleased to meet you," exclaimed PJ, sticking out his hand for Lydia to shake, which she did. "Any friend of these two idiots is a friend of mine."

"Why don't you sit down?" asked Phil. "We haven't seen you in ages, what've you been up to, mate?"

Phil and PJ began a long, animated conversation, catching up with each other. Dan leaned over to Lydia and whispered into her ear, "want to get out of here to give these lovebirds their space?" Lydia giggled as she glanced over at PJ, who was eating up every word that Phil was saying. She rolled her eyes at them and nodded at Dan, who was already gathering up his things to leave. "Well, you two," Dan announced, standing up and gesturing to Lydia, "we're going to head out. You guys seem to have some catching up to do." Without waiting for a response, Dan and Lydia bounded out of the restaurant, consumed by laughter. They didn't even notice PJ rolling his eyes, or the concerned look Phil was giving them as they walked out the door together.

"Well, you were pretty eager to get out of there," said Lydia, after regaining her composure. "Where are we headed?"

"I was thinking we could hit one last stop on that Tour de London from the other say," Dan replied, hailing a cab simultaneously. One pulled up, and he held the door open for Lydia to hop inside. He jumped in behind her and rattled off an address to the driver, too quickly for Lydia to catch what he said or have any idea of where they were going.

The cab wove through the streets of London; the urban, touristy spots that Lydia was becoming used to passed them by, slowly and seamlessly transitioning to suburban sprawl, until the large front yards in front of mansions became fields with the occasional old stone house or barn passing by. Lydia looked at Dan curiously. "We're almost there," he said, gazing out the window, not even noticing Lydia's eyes on him. She shrugged and returned to watching the countryside whir past them on the empty, winding road.

They pulled up to a little stone house with green vines growing up the sides – it looked like something straight out of a Brothers Grimm story. Dan paid the driver and told him he'd call when they were ready to be picked up. The cab drove off and Dan turned to face Lydia, who was staring at him curiously. "Come on, I'll explain inside," he said, gesturing to the house. "It looks pretty run-down on the outside, but it's a lot nicer inside than you'd expect." He reached into a space between two stones in the wall and pulled out an old brass key, unlocking the front door and pushing it open for Lydia.

The pair walked inside and Dan instinctively walked across the room (that's all the house was, one big room), and opened some curtains, allowing light to flood the space. It was actually pretty nice: a stone fireplace on the left wall (which Dan was in the process of lighting), a large, red throw rug over the worn hardwood floor, artwork plastering the walls, a few potted plants on windowsills (that Lydia assumed did not need to be watered that much, considering they were still alive), and a surprisingly spacious bed, covered with blankets, in the corner.

Once Dan had gotten the fireplace lit, he sat down on the floor in front of it and gestured for Lydia to join him. She sat down next to him and waited for him to explain what this trip was all about. "Jen showed me this place," he muttered, gazing into the fire. "I figured, after what happened the other day, I owed you an explanation."

"You know you don't have to talk about it if you don't –"

"No. You deserve to know what happened – why I shut down like I did the other day." Dan took a deep breath. "Jen and I met at the record store Phil and I showed you. She was like no one I'd ever known – smart, funny, adventurous… She had this serious wanderlust and she was always getting into trouble.

"I don't know why she was into me – I guess she was as fascinated by my shut-in life as I was by her crazy one – but we just clicked. Like how they say opposites attract, we were the proof of that concept.

"We were together for almost a year when she was just gone. I went to her place, I called her, I texted her, and nothing. It was like she just disappeared off the face of the earth. The other day at the record shop, that was the first time I'd seen her in almost a month. She told me she was sorry, but she had to get out. She said she loved me, but love held her back. She said she wasn't made to settle down and she hoped I was doing well…" Dan trailed off and stared into the crackling fire.

Lydia reached out and held his hand gently in hers. "Sometimes, people are put in our lives to intertwine our paths with others'. That's how I've taken to thinking about Eric. I can't possibly hate him, no matter how much I may want to – he led me to you."

Dan locked eyes with Lydia – his eyes had a fire in them she'd never seen before. He took her face in his hands and brushed her cheek with his thumb. "This is fucking crazy…" He leaned in and kissed her, hard. All of the tension in the air snapped as their bodies fused together, their hands desperately running over each other's backs, grasping at each other's hair in a passionate attempt to release their pent-up desire.

They made their way over to the bed in the corner, dropping clothing on the floor along the way. They collapsed onto the plush mattress, kissing each other all over, igniting the fire that had been kindling for so long.