Without You Around

The next morning I was rudely awoken by the shrill ring of my cell phone from somewhere on the floor. I untangled myself from Danny’s arms and searched through the mess of clothes. I finally found it under my mask, and hit the receive button before placing it to my ear.

“Hello?” I asked in a semi raspy voice.

“Hey Addy, it’s Reegan,” i heard my younger sister say in a somewhat chipper tone, “Did I wake you?”

“Hey sis,” I said sitting back on the bed, “And yeah, but I needed to wake up eventually. And not to sound mean, but is there a reason you’re calling? I usually don’t get the pleasure of an actual call.”

“Actually, yeah,” she said letting out a nervous laugh, “I’m in charge of telling you that since you have a day off in Denver that we’re having a family dinner that afternoon. Mom said she wants you and Danny to be there.”

“Uh, okay,” I said restraining a yawn, “I’ll call her later for details and such. Love ya Reegs. Bye.”

She gave me her goodbye, and I dropped my cell phone back onto the ground. I slid back down under the covers and was surprised when Danny wrapped his arms around me.

“Morning beautiful,” he said kissing me softly, “What did your sis need?”

“She was telling me about this family dinner when we’re in Denver,” I said snuggling into him, “And that my mom demands we be there since we have the day off. I told her we’d go, is that okay?”

“Sounds perfect,” he said stifling a yawn, “I guess we should get up, yeah?”

“Probably, before anyone bursts in here and see’s us like this,” I said laughing, “Shower?”

He agreed and we both grabbed a change of clothes from our bags before making out way into the bathroom to shower.

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The week leading up to the dinner at my parents passed in a blur. The shows seemed to be getting more intense, and the parties were getting crazy. While the rest of the tour stayed at the various hotels we had booked, Danny and I made our way to my parent’s house.

I slowly turned the car off and shifted towards Danny, who was almost staring at my house. He tore his glance from the house and turned towards me shooting me a smile.

“Ready for this?” I asked returning his smile.

“Of course babe, let’s do it,” he said leaning over and pecking me.

I unlatched my seatbelt and Danny followed suit before sliding out of the car and fixing my jeans. I straightened out my black cardigan, which was over a plain purple shirt, before grabbing my purse and closing the car door. I walked around the car, the fresh snow crunching under my booties and latched hands with Danny.

We were almost to the door, when it swung open and Reegan was on running to hug me.

“Addison!” she said hugging me tightly, “I’ve missed you so much!”

“I’ve missed you too Reegs!” I said returning her hug.

When she released me she gave Danny a quick hug and lead us up to the door. Once inside, I could smell my mom’s fresh bread baking and I couldn’t help but to smile. I set my bag down on the bench by the door, and could hear footsteps coming from the kitchen.

“Addison, dear, I’ve missed you so much,” my mom said before pulling me into a soft hug, “And you must be Danny. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Bell,” Danny said as my mom hugged him lightly.

“Oh do call me Christina dear,” she said before smoothing her apron, “Your father, Michael and Kelly are in the den if you want to go join them.”

She gave us a smile, before disappearing into the kitchen again, and I turned to Danny expectantly.

“Ready to meet my dad and brother?” I asked shifting my weight, “They can come off as mean, but I swear they’re nice.”

“I’m sure I can handle them,” he said pecking my cheek, “Let’s do this.”

We made our way down the short hallway, and could hear the conversation coming from everyone in the den. As soon as we walked in, all eyes were on us, and the conversation came to a close.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend, Danny,” I said clasping his arm, “Danny this is my father, my brother Michael and his wife Kelly.”

Danny said a quiet ‘hi’ and received greetings from everyone. We sat down on the loveseat, which was right next to my fathers chair, and I scooted into Danny resting my hand right above his knee.

“So, Danny, I’ve heard quite a bit about you,” my father said shifting towards us, “And how you basically broke my daughters heart.”

“Yeah, I did,” Danny said before clearing his throat, “But when I did that I realized that I had made a huge mistake. Addison means a lot to me, and I couldn’t bear to leave her again.”

For the next half hour Danny was hounded with questions, and I couldn’t help but to feel a bit sorry for him. Luckily, my mom saved us when she called us in for dinner. I stood up, lacing my fingers with Danny.

The dinner was ten times less awkward than the initial conversation, and I could tell that my family truly liked Danny. Every now and then I would just sit back and watch them laugh together, and I could feel myself smiling.

“Addison, dear, would you help me take these plates in and then we can bring out desert?” my mom asked as she stood up from her seat.

I gave her a small nod, and stood up grabbing the plates that were closest to me. I shuffled into the kitchen, and set them in the sink before turning to my mom to ask her what all she needed me to get.

“I mainly brought you in here to tell you how happy I am to see you this happy,” my mom said as she grabbed the forks out, “You two seem to be working perfectly together, and you guys have my blessing to do what ever it is life brings you to do.”

“That means so much mom, you have no idea,” I said leaning in for a hug, “I honestly believe that I’m in love with him, but I don’t want to scare him by telling him.”

“Honey, I’m pretty sure you’d make him the happiest man if you told him, not scare him,” she said passing me some forks and plates, “Now we better get out there before they come looking for us.”

I walked back into the dining room, where conversation was still flowing and distributed the plates and forks. My mom soon dished out the pumpkin and pecan pies, and our conversation was soon replaced with the clinking of forks.

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I walked into the hotel room, slowly followed by Danny and plopped down onto the bed. My booties were now killing my feet and I was stuffed to the gills from the large amount desert we had ended up eating.

“I don’t think I’ll be hungry for days,” Danny said as he sat next to me.

“Ugh, me either,” I said kicking my booties off, “That’s one thing I miss about living here. My mom’s amazing meals.”

“I can see why, she’s an excellent cook,” he said as he started unbuttoning his shirt, “We should probably get to bed, it’s almost 1 am.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” I said standing up and getting pajamas.

We both changed into our pajama’s and did our nightly routines before climbing into our surprisingly comfortable hotel bed and cuddling together.

“My mom told me that she really likes us together,” I said while tracing random patterns on his bare chest.

“I really like us together too,” he said kissing my hair, “Actually, I love us together. I love you Addison.”

I felt a million butterflies erupt in my stomach and couldn’t keep the smile from growing on my face.

“I love you too Danny,” I said before leaning up and catching his lips.

The kiss was the most passionate we had ever shared, and I could tell that we both truly meant what we had just said. I re-snuggled back into Danny’s side before drifting off into the happiest sleep of my life.