Loving Mr. Daniels (43 page)

I stood in front of the school building for the longest time, staring straight into his classroom. He was smiling toward his students, sitting on the corner of his desk, probably begging them to interact with him. His hands were waving around the classroom, and he stood from the desk as he began to write on the whiteboard. He’d cut his hair and had facial hair. He looked so…grown up.

My cheeks heated up just as they had the first time my eyes had spotted him. He laughed at something a student had said as he was writing on the board and shook his head back and forth. When the bell rang, I watched the students pack up their backpacks and start heading out of the classroom. The spring breeze picked up, and I held my arms tighter across my body. When I took a step backward, I watched Daniel’s body turn toward the window, and when he looked up, our eyes locked. Everything inside of me froze over, and my lips stayed parted.

His dark eyes were confused at first, but then he held up his hand toward me and mouthed, “Hi.”

My heart was shattering at the simple word and small gesture. I bit my bottom lip to keep from tearing up, and I held my hand up to him. “Hi,” I whispered.

He wiped his hand across his mouth and then rubbed the back of his neck. I stepped forward, and he did too, until we were standing face to face, only a glass window separating us. He rested his hand against the glass, and I placed mine against it. My eyes fell to his fingertips, which were almost resting against mine, and I smiled.

When I looked up to him, I saw the water in his eyes and he smiled back my way. “Tea?” he asked. I nodded my head, a tear rolling down my cheek. He slid his hands into his pockets. “Don’t cry.”

My shoulders shrugged. I couldn’t help it. He’d told me to wait for him, and I couldn’t help but chuckle because I would wait for him always.

It wasn’t long until he gathered up his things and met me outside of the school building. We stood in front of each other for the longest, just smiling like children. I went to hug him, and he must have had the same thought because we stepped on each other’s shoes. A nervous laugh happened and I felt like that same teenager who was meeting him for the first time at the train station.

When his arms finally made it around me, I breathed in his scents, tugging tightly on his jacket. He didn’t dare pull away anytime soon.

“You look so grown up,” I whispered into his shoulder and he laughed, rubbing his hand against my back.

“Ditto.” He pulled away and stared at me. “You have bangs.”

“Your face is hairier.” I laughed.

“Yeah,” he frowned, rubbing his chin. “I need to shave.”

“Don’t. I love it.” Changing the subject, I ran my finger across my red nose. “I stopped by your place last night, but—”

“I moved.” He gestured for us to start walking down the sidewalk and I followed his lead. “I spent some time fixing it up with Jace, and then I sold it.”

“But it was—”

“My parents’ dream. Not mine. I got a new place not too far from here. A big kid’s apartment,” he joked. 

We stood in silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. “How is Jace?”

He smiled. “Clean. For the first time in a while. He’s staying with Randy. He’s back in the band.”

“Good for him. Good for both of you.” Daniel just smiled. “You’ll have to show me this big kid’s apartment someday.”

“I have tea there now. I mean, if you want to see it,” he offered.

Of course I agreed. We walked to his apartment and talked about anything and everything.

You know those people you could go years without seeing and when you finally get together it felt like no time had passed? Hold on to those people.

When he placed his key in the lock, he turned to say something to me, but nothing came out of his mouth. Because I placed my lips against his. It was rushed and suddenly imposed, but I had to remember his taste, I had to remember him against me.

He didn’t hesitate to kiss me back. His hand wrapped around my lower back, and I sighed against him, drunk on Daniel.

I pulled back and stared into his blue eyes. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.” I blushed as I stepped back. “I don’t even know if you’re seeing anyone! And here I am just slamming my lips against yours as if this is some kind of—”

He shut me up, pushing his mouth against mine again. He separated my lips with his tongue and slowly deepened our kiss.

I sighed again, my eyes closed. “You don’t have a girlfriend, right?”

He chuckled. “No. And you don’t have a boyfriend?”

I felt his body against mine and was a little surprised at how much it still felt like home.

“Uh, Ashlyn?” he questioned, snapping me out of my mind.

“Oh! No. No boyfriend.” I slightly rocked back and forth in my shoes. “But you can tell me, you know. If there was another person in your life. I haven’t dated, because…well…how could I after this? But I mean, three years is a long time to wait and I completely understand if you moved on I mean—”

His fingers landed on my lips. “You’re rambling.”

I nodded. “I’m nervous.”

He stepped in close, our noses brushing. His fingers combed through my hair and he stared into my eyes. “There was never another woman, Ashlyn. There can never be another woman.” Putter. Putter. Heart. Heart. I watched his eyes smile. “Come inside.”

When I stepped into his apartment, I smiled. It was very much Daniel’s apartment. He had musical instruments in his living room and bookshelves packed to the corners with books.

I wandered over to the bookshelf, laying my fingers against it, feeling the covers of the books. So many Shakespeare plays. So much history.

“I have green tea and chai tea. And this weird boxed tea that one of my students’ Mom gave me for Christmas last year. What can I get you?” he asked, moving to his kitchen.

No words came to mind. Because right between
Hamlet
and
Much Ado About Nothing
was my novel.

To Find Juliet.

Not just one copy, but two.

“Daniel,” I whispered.

He looked up and walked over to me. “It’s brilliant,” he said, crossing his arms across his body. “I mean, the lead hero could be a bit of an asshole sometimes, but everything about it is perfect. I loved it.” He cleared his throat and picked up both copies of it. “I loved it so much that I bought two. Just in case something happened to the first copy.”

A tear fell down my cheek and I nodded in understanding. “A double problem?”

He moved in and kissed my tears away. “We need to set up a signing for them.” He moved over to his living room coffee table and tossed everything onto the floor. Grabbing my arm, he led me to sit down on the couch. I giggled as he placed a pen in my hand and walked up to the table as if he were my biggest fan.

Which he might have been.

He placed the first book down on the table. I opened it and gasped. “Daniel…”

Inside the book cover was the promise ring Bentley had given to Gabby. And the book had already been signed. It read the words, “Will you marry me, Ms. Jennings?” signed by Mr. Daniels himself.

The tears fell down my cheeks and I smiled up at him. He nudged me gently. “You have to write your answer and sign your name.”

Of course I wrote the word yes.

And then I autographed it with who I would be for the rest of my life.

Mrs. Daniels.

We love.

~ Romeo’s Quest

Ashlyn went back to school, finishing off the last two years of her college degree. We made it our job to visit each other as often as possible, and when she came back to Edgewood, Wisconsin she moved into my big kid’s apartment. We spent the next year falling more in love, finding out more facts about one another. She kept writing, only growing stronger at her craft and decided she wanted to get a Master’s degree—but she stayed a lot closer to home for that program.

Home.

That’s what we were… We were home.

And today I wasn’t nervous. My hands were just sweaty and the damn bowtie wouldn’t tie. “Breathe, Daniel…” Where the hell was my best man? Wasn’t he the one in charge of the damn bowties that wouldn’t tie? Of course not. Jace wouldn’t know how to do it either.

My hands rubbed against the back of my neck before giving up on the tie and moving to the cuffs on my shirt.

“How are ya doing?”

I looked up to see Henry standing in the doorway, his tuxedo fully put together, his tie perfectly crafted.

There was a slight hesitation when I looked at him, my fingers shaking from some weird feeling—but it wasn’t nerves!

Well, maybe it was nerves.

“This damn bowtie is killing me and Jace is nowhere to be found.”

“Let me,” he said, walking over to me. His began helping me out and I sighed. Now I was extremely nervous. Henry always made me feel that way. “She’s something else, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she is.”

His hands worked as if he had been a professional bowtie expert in a past life. “If you hurt her, I will kill you and make it look like an accident.”

I laughed out loud until I looked into his scary, stern eyes on me. Swallowing hard, I felt him tightening the bowtie. “Henry,” I coughed.

“Dan.”

“You’re choking me.”

A sly smile found his lips and he loosened the bowtie. He stepped back and nodded toward me before he held out an envelope to me. “Be good to her, son.”

The word son hit my ears and I nodded, taking the letter from him. He turned to walk away and I called after him. When he looked back, I smiled. “Thanks for your help.”

“I just tied a bowtie. No big deal.”

But we both knew he had done so much more than that.

He left me alone with the envelope and I opened it, finding two letters inside. I pulled out the first one and began reading Ashlyn’s words.

Mr. Daniels,

The answer to where I want to be in five years? Simple.

With you.

P.S. I saved a letter from the fire.

Forever Forever,

Ashlyn.

I’d never known it was possible to love someone so much. My hand reached into the envelope and pulled out the second letter, and I pounded my fist against my lips, taking it all in.

To Whom It May Concern,

Hi there. I’m not sure if we have met, but since today is the day you’re marrying my sister, I thought I would say hello. Since I can’t stand up in front of everyone to give my maid 0f honor speech, I’ll give it to you.

When Ashlyn and I were seven, she found a spider in our room, and instead of smashing it, she wanted to take it outside so it could live a nice spider life. It later crawled on her and she killed it by mistake. She cried for three days straight.

When we were fifteen, she dated a total loser, and when he broke up with her, she cried for four days straight.

When she found out I was sick, she cried more days than I could count.

She has the biggest heart in the world, and I know you have seen all sides of it. It takes a strong man to love my sister. And you are a strong man. So here are some twin-tips for you from yours truly:

Read her Shakespeare when she cries.

Take walks in the rain and jump in the puddles with her.

Don’t mind her when she calls you an asshole during ‘that time of the month’—she’s a total bitch at those times.

Buy her flowers because it’s Tuesday.

Make her do things that scare her.

Don’t be a pushover—we don’t like that.

Don’t be a dick either—we hate that.

Smile at her when you’re mad.

Dance with her in the middle of the day.