I'm Addicted to the Thrill

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Patrick's POV
Dani looked out the windows as we drove. I offered to give her a ride home since I knew that Jonny and Niki would prefer to be able not have anyone with them. She wouldn’t talk to me now. I wondered if I would ever be able to get her to talk to me again, but I doubted that she would want to talk to me.

“This isn’t the way to my place.”

I looked over at her surprised. Well, she was right, but I figured that I would talk to her rather than take her straight home. I would make her listen. She never let me explain what I meant when we had spoken outside of the restaurant, and now she had to if she wanted to get a ride home from me.

“Yeah, you’re right. Dani, do you think your parents will like me at some point?” I asked her sheepishly. The question probably didn’t matter to her, but I wanted to know what she thought. Everything that I had told my family about her so far had made them like her as far as I knew. They were more surprised at the fact that I was trying to make a relationship work than anything.

“Maybe, but right now I don’t know. I think they’d like you more if you hadn’t left the other day,” she said. Dani sighed. I parked and just stared at the scene in front of me. All I did was park in a random parking lot to talk to her. I figured this way she wouldn’t run or walk away when I tried to talk to her. Hopefully, she would listen to me now.

“I was angry. Your family hates me. I don’t want to face them yet,” I admitted. Her laughter filled the inside of the car and infuriated me. She had no reason to be laughing at me right now. Dani stopped laughing once she saw the look on my face.

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. Silence was almost worse than her laughing. I decided that I would just take her back to the one place I could consider talking to her without any trouble: my place. She wouldn’t be able to leave, and if I was lucky, things would end in a positive way.
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As he parked in the garage for his building, I glared at him. What the hell was he thinking? I didn’t want to be there. I would rather be back at home as the fifth wheel being miserable as my parents tried to convince me that finding a guy like Zach than here. Okay, maybe that was a lie. This was much better than that.

“Come on up. I’ll take you home when we’re done talking,” said Patrick quietly. I shrugged. What harm could it do?

Deciding this wasn’t a horrible idea, I followed him to the elevator. As we ascended, I stood there quietly figuring that it wouldn’t be long before I could go home and curl up on my piece of couch before falling asleep.

He walked out to the little bit of balcony he had on the place and leaned on the railing. I decided that for the temperature it wasn’t worth going out there with him. I sat down on the couch and waited for him to come back indoors. Patrick walked back into his apartment and sat down next to me.

“Do you even want me to try to make your parents like me?” asked Patrick. I looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. The question had to be a joke. He should have known the answer to that already.

“They probably already like you, but they’re not going to show it. I’m their daughter. They’re only girl, too. Out of three. You’re protective of your sisters. Think of it like that,” I told him. Okay, maybe the first bit of that was complete and utter bullshit, but I wanted him to feel like he didn’t have to hate my family or feel as though he was hated by them. That would be counterproductive almost.

“You’re seriously comparing my sisters and their lives to you and me? Wow, Dani, just wow,” laughed Pat. It was the first time he had smiled because of anything I had said in a while. I was glad that we were having this opportunity to talk. I was happy that I actually decided to not sit in the car being miserable when we were talking. This was a good step.

I nodded. We were back to being something. We never called ourselves as being in a relationship, but everyone around us knew that there was something there. I knew though that right now wasn’t the time to be discussing this particular topic.

Patrick put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into him. As I tried to pull away and sit up, he made it evident that I wasn’t allowed to move. The same thought that had passed my mind when I came here for the first time was there again. How many girls had he brought back to this place? I don’t know where it had come from, but I wanted the thought to go away. I wanted nothing to do with that image.

“So, it’s getting pretty late,” I started speaking after our silence. The quiet of the apartment was making me cringe at the thoughts that made me wish that I hadn’t come into this apartment those weeks ago.

“Yeah. Do you wanna crash here? Some of your things are still in the guest room.”

The offer wasn’t what I had exactly been looking for. I murmured into his chest as we stayed on the couch. He laughed and lifted my chin. The smile on his lips travelled and was reflected in his eyes. Sure, not too long before we had been fighting, but everything with us was like this. We would fight then share a moment like the one we were currently having.

This was what I had been after ever since the incident with Anna the other day. Since he was being accommodating, I wiggled my way out of his arms and kicked off the shoes I was wearing while walking to the room that was his. Patrick laughed and followed.

I changed into one of the shirts that I found in his closet and got into bed. I felt him wrap an arm around my waist. The feeling was just what I wanted.

-x-

My phone had four missed calls the next morning when I actually managed to look at it. One, surprisingly, was from Patrick. He hadn’t been there when I woke up, and I realized that I was stuck at his place with no ride home. Sitting there in my clothes that had been left in the place last time I had stayed there, I stared at the walls.

The phone began to ring again, and I answered it hoping that the person on the other end would come get me soon. Patrick was at practice, and I didn’t know who would come and get me if it wasn’t him. My parents couldn’t drive me anywhere nor would they be pleased to know whose place I was staying at. Niki could have been helpful, but it was Madi on the line.

“You know, I’m not sure how things are with you and Patty, but I need your help with something,” she said. “His birthday. It’s coming up, and Niki said that you could help.”

I made faces on the phone and looked around the room. How was I supposed to say no to her? Niki must have set this up without making things between me and Pat happened. I wondered what she played into this. There had to be something that she was getting out of the relationship that the boy and I had. It was something, but I figured that it may have just been a friend. Just another girl to spend time with while the boys were out doing their thing.

“I can help. What is it?” I inquired. I thought about the time and things that could be coming up.

What had everyone told me in the past week? The team costume party after the game and the games that were coming up. Someone, probably Patrick hinting at gifts, had mentioned his birthday. A sinking feeling in my gut formed as I thought about the options.

“Well, party planning. Rumor has it you’re good at it. Also, we need someone to help out with the preparation for tonight. Anyway, Patrick’s birthday. Your help is wanted,” said Madi. I thought about it. What could the harm be?

“Yeah, I’ll help out. Okay, tonight though is tough for me. My family’s in town, but I’ll be at the party. What time do you need set up help?”

The discussion carried on, and when Madi told me she would ask Niki to come get me, I hung up. Everyone knew that it was going to be interesting to see what we did for Patrick’s birthday. I gathered my things and used Patrick’s things to get ready for the day.