The Heart Never Lies

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." -1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Thankfully, Danny was gone when I finally decided to get out of the shower. I really didn’t feel like facing him then, let alone in a towel.

I locked my bedroom door and then slowly got myself dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Silently, I left my room and went downstairs, but not without glancing at my bed for a second.

When I entered the kitchen, I was greeted by Tom and Harry. Harry was leaving the room while Tom was munching on some cereal.

“What did you guys do last night? From the mess in the living room, it seems you two had a good time,” Tom noted after Harry left.

“We had an ice cream fight.” I sat at the table with an apple in hand, “I’ll clean it up today after breakfast.”

“Good morning you beautiful people!” Danny exclaimed with a huge grin on his face when he entered the kitchen, keeping Tom from speaking.

Tom nodded at him and I shyly looked up at him. I saw something new in the way he looked at me and then he stood by my side.

I have expected him to start kissing me like he did the night before, but he simply kissed my forehead and brushed my hair with his fingers.

“How ya doing?” he asked sweetly.

I knew what he was really asking about and I shrugged, looking at the table in embarrassment.

He kissed the side of my head and whispered in my ear. “We can talk later, okay?”

Slowly I nodded, getting a gentle hug from him before he grabbed an apple like me and left the room.

Tom watched Danny leave and then he smirked at me.

“It looks like something else happened last night,” he teased.

My cheeks flushed and I took a small bite out of my apple.

His smirk disappeared and he moved to a seat right next to me. “Did you two really…?” he trailed off.

I looked down and nodded slowly.

“Did… Did you use a–”

“No,” I interrupted, staring down at the table top.

“What…” he hesitated and lowered his voice. “How do you, um, feel about it? I know you believe in the whole ‘wait until marriage’ stuff…”

“I… I’m confused and… I wish I could go back and keep it from happening.” I sighed, “I mean, I really like Danny and I can deal with it being him… but it shouldn’t have happened… at all…”

I felt Tom wrap his arm around my shoulders and hug me comfortingly.

“I don’t think you should feel so guilty about it. From what I just saw between you and Danny, it looks like he understands how you must feel about it and wants to be there for you. If anything, it helped you guys more.”

I sniffled, “My parents are going to be so disappointed in me though. I can’t help but feel guilty about it… It really shouldn’t have happened, Tom.”

“But it did,” Tom replied. “You can’t go back and stop it from happening. It’s done and it’s easy to see that Danny is gonna make sure you’re okay with everything. He doesn’t want to hurt you.”

There was silence as I thought about what Tom said and then I voiced my thoughts.

“W-What if… if I get… p-pregnant,” I choked on the word, “and… and we end up… splitting?”

Tom smiled kindly, “Danny has waited to be your boyfriend for about two years and now you two are finally together. I don’t think he’ll let you go even if he has to be responsible for a kid.”

I nodded slowly, looking at my apple and then setting it on the table. I stood up carefully, “I think I’m gonna talk to Danny now… Get this all cleared up… Thanks for talking to me about it.”

He smiled, “It was my pleasure. Now go find Danny.”

I nodded curtly and I left the room in search of Danny. Luckily, he was in the first place I looked: his bedroom.

He was lying on his back and staring at the ceiling in thought. I was almost curious about what he was thinking of.

I knocked on his door frame, “Penny for your thoughts?”

Danny lifted his head to see who spoke. Seeing it was me, he instantly sat up and grinned. “Hey!”

“Hey.”

I stood there awkwardly in the silence and he tilted his head to the side.

“You need to talk?”

I nodded, “Yeah…”

He cautiously got off his bed and came over to me. He grabbed both of my hands in his and stared at me intensely. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Hesitantly, I answered. “Last night… It… It shouldn’t have happened…”

Danny squeezed my hands and kissed the top of my head. “I’m sorry. I should have thought about how you’d feel about it today.”

“It’s not entirely your fault… I mean,” I paused and blushed, “I never told you to… stop.”

Danny giggled a little, making me narrow my eyes at him.

“What?”

“I don’t think you would have asked me to stop if I kept kissing you like I was,” he teased.

“You wanna bet?” I retaliated too fast.

“Right now? Isn’t it kinda early? I mean, twice in, what? Nine hours? I don’t think your parents would smile at that.”

My jaw was to the floor by the time he quit talking and then I silently turned to leave.

He quickly grabbed my hand again and pulled me back, keeping a little space between us. He touched his forehead to mine, “I was kidding. I wouldn’t do that to you again unless you wanted to.”

I blushed, “Um… thanks?”

Danny smiled and gave me a short kiss on my lips. “I love you,” he whispered, putting his forehead against mine again.

I opened my mouth, but no sounds came out. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t just tell him I loved him and then not mean it, but I didn’t want to just leave him hanging.

He chuckled at me, “You don’t have to say it if you can’t. I just want you to know that I love you and that I care about you, okay?”

“Um… okay,” I smiled shyly at him, feeling bad for not saying ‘I love you’ back. I just had to mean it if I was going to say that to him. I didn’t want to hurt him in the end.

Another short kiss was placed on my lips and then Danny hugged me tightly. My arms wrapped around his waist and I put my head on his chest, listening to his heart beat.

Each beat said the same three words he voiced and I began to wonder… Did I love him back?

There was no doubt about it… I did.