The Heart Never Lies

Danny and I entered the hospital around six after grabbing a bite to eat an hour before.

"Do you know what room she's in?" Danny asked me.

I looked at my hand, "She in 3038. That's the third floor."

"Okay! Let's go see your grand-mum!"

Chuckling, I pushed the up elevator button and listened for the quiet ding of an arriving elevator. The one on my left opened seconds later, allowing Danny and I to step in and take the short journey up.

"I'm warning you now; My dad's side of the family are super weird and will voice their opinions openly. Thankfully all of them are sweet," I brought up.

Danny gave me a cute look, "Like you?"

I blushed and looked at the floor just as the elevator doors opened again.

We walked out silently, but loud chatter reached our ears instantly. Once I came into my loud family's view, many of my aunts rushed over to hug me.

"How have you been?" each one asked me, which I replied with a simple, "Pretty good."

My Aunt Mary glanced at Danny and whispered to me. "Is that your boyfriend? He's a cutie."

I shook my head, "No, he's my friend, Danny Jones.

She nudged me with her elbow, "He's still a cutie."

Blushing, I motioned for Danny to come over and say hello. He happily stood by my side and waved at everyone.

"Hiya! I'm Danny! One of Syd's friends!"

Instantly my family began asking him questions about himself and whether or not he was dating me.

"Guys!" I exclaimed over everyone, silencing them. "He's just a good friend. Quit pestering him. We're here for Grandma; not my love life."

"Sorry, but when you walk in with a cute boy like him, we get curious," Aunt Mary apologized.

I ran my hand over my face and shook my head. "Way to make his ego bigger."

Danny scoffed, "She was simply pointed out what I already know."

"Whatever, Danny." I looked at my aunt, "So how's Grandma?"

"They're thinking about doing a triple bi-pass on her on Thursday. They say it should be around nine or ten," she answered.

"Okay," I nodded. "Can she get visitors now?"

Mary nodded, "Yeah. Right now, uh, Carol and Larry are in there, but you and your friend and go say hello."

I looked at Danny, "Let's go then."

Danny smiled and then followed closely behind me as I made my way to Grandma's room.

My family began to whisper about us and I rolled my eyes.

"You've got a big family," Danny stated.

"Yeah. I think I have like four living aunts just on my dad's side. I already have third cousins."

"Wow. That's cool."

I shrugged, "It's hard to remember who's who though."

"True," Danny agreed.

Room 3038 came into my view and I smiled a little. "That's her room. Time for you to deal with her questions now."

He smiled at me," That's fine. It is curious seeing you walking in with a cutie like me."

"Oh shut up."

I got an innocent look from him, making me roll my eyes as I walked closer to the hospital room.

"Grandma?" I called in, slowly moving the curtain out of my way so we could walk in. "How ya feeling?"

My grandma smiled from her hospital bed, "I'm okay."

My Aunt Carol and Uncle Larry said a quick hello and then curiously studied Danny.

"Who's your friend?" my grandmother asked.

"This is Danny. I've been living with him and his band mates in England for about a year now."

My grandma gave me a disapproving look, "You're living with only boys?"

I rolled my eyes for the third time, "Grandma, they're good guys. All of them are sweet and they take great care of me. They watch out for me."

Danny grinned at me and nodded at my dad's mom. "We promised her mum and dad that we would take care of her and we got her a job."

Grandma studied Danny some more and smiled softly. "Okay." She looked at me, "I approve of him, too."

"Grandma!" I whined. "This is not about my love life! We're here for you."

Danny chuckled, "I've gotta say, your family sure knows how to make a guy feel good."

"You two gonna get together?" my Aunt Carol questioned.

"It's up to her," Danny answered before me, looking at me. "Syd makes the call on that."

Carol awed and I shook my head ashamed at them.

"You guys are ridiculous..." I muttered.

Grandma smiled, "He seems like a good guy, Sydney. Maybe you should think about dating him."

My face went flat as Danny laughed and began a happy conversation about me.

I was never going to be left alone...

"You're family's nice," Danny said as we drove home that evening.

"Not to mention embarrassing," I mumbled, rubbing my temples.

"Like you said, they voice their opinions."

"You're just happy they like you and want us to be together."

"Well," Danny smirked, "Don't you want to be with me?"

"Quit being a pest, Danny. I have too big a headache to talk about this, right now."

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

"Not while you're driving!" I exclaimed, frowning as my head throbbed.

"But you want me to?"

I waved him off, leaning my head back and closing my eyes. "I don't want to talk about it."

Danny snickered, but kept his mouth shut and allowed my headache to diminish slightly.

Eventually Danny pulled into my driveway a half hour later and cut the engine. No other cars sat in the driveway since both my parents and brother were still visiting my grandma.

Silently, Danny and I climbed out of the car and entered my house where two barking dogs greeted us.

I immediately went to take some headache medicine and I got into my pj's while Danny went to his room and got ready for bed as well.

After I finished, I went straight into my bedroom and climbed into my warm bed. Then I laid there and stared at my wall in wonder.

"Syd?"

I lifted my head to look at Danny poking his head in my room.

"Hm?"

"How's your head?"

I shrugged, "It still hurts, but I took medicine for it. I'll be okay after I sleep it off."

Danny nodded and then looked down, noticing Tucker at my door. He let my dog in and Tucker jumped on my bed, curling up at my feet. Danny smiled and then let himself in my room. He came to my bedside, kneeling on the floor and then ran his fingers through my hair.

I stared at him in the dimly lit room until my eyes began to droop.

When my mind became stuck between my dreams and reality, Danny planted the softest of kisses on my temple, then my forehead. That's what I needed to slip into a calming sleep.