Demons

I woke up a few hours later to someone moving Belle to the foot of my bed before climbing under the covers next to me. Thinking it was Frank, I leaned over to place a quick kiss on his lips, noting the stubble on his chin seemed more prominent then it was this morning.

“Well, ‘ello to you too, love,” spoke a cheeky, playful voice.

I quickly reached my arm out to my lamp to turn it on to be face to face with none other than Danny Worsnop. “Holy shit, Danny,” I mumbled, laying my head back on my pillow. “I thought it was the British invasion or some shit.”

He giggled, brushing my disheveled bangs out of my face. “Sorry, Lex. I wasn’t trying to wake you.”

“Great job,” I grumbled, turning on my side to face him. “I missed you.”

“Good,” He grinned, his eyes drifting down to my lips.

I resisted the urge to kiss him again, the first one was an accident, and pulled my blankets up to my chin. "I thought you weren't coming home until tomorrow," I yawned.

"I got an early flight home," he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. "I couldn't wait to finally sleep in my own damn bed."

"Funny," I grinned, resting my head against his chest just under his chin. "You came to my bed."

"Yeah, I did." I could hear the smile in his voice as I drifted back to sleep.

The next morning, I woke to my phone ringing in my ear and an empty bed. Sighing, I grabbed my phone to check the text message Frank had sent me.

I probably won’t be home
tonight. Don’t wait up for me.
Love you. –Frank

Another sigh escaped my lips, as I tossed my phone on the bed. Sitting up, I ran my fingers through my tangled hair. I wasn’t sure if I was more disappointed that I didn’t get to wake up next to Danny or because my boyfriend sucked. I didn’t have time to dwell on it. Seconds later, Danny walked in my room with my fat, but happy chiweenie in his arms.

“Belle and I are hungry,” He stated matter-of-factly, receiving a scoff in reply. I should have known he wouldn’t leave without breakfast.

“Okay,” I smiled, pulling my hair tie out of my hair to readjust my messy bun. “I’ll be there in a minute.” I assumed he would leave the room, but he didn’t. Instead, he watched me climb out of bed and pull on a pair of sweatpants. Heat filled my cheeks, feeling his intense, intimate gaze. Everything seemed so intimate with him, more than with Frank. But it had to be only in my mind, because Danny did not date.

When I looked up to give him a quick smile, he was gone from my doorway. Belle wasn’t, though. She was sitting at my feet, happy as a clam, just waiting to be fed. Before walking into the kitchen, I took a pit stop in the bathroom to brush my teeth.

Danny was sitting at the table, his fingers tapping at the keys on his phone.

“What would you like for breakfast?” I asked him, walking over to the cabinets to see if I had any pancake mix. I knew he’d probably say bacon, and probably ham, too, but I really wanted pancakes.

“Bacon,” he replied, not looking away from his phone. He was distracted, his lips pressed together in a frown, and I could see his jaw tighten with annoyance or anger. I’m not sure which. All I could tell was he wasn’t in a very good mood anymore. “And some fruit.”

Nodding, I pulled the bacon from the fridge and started on our breakfast. I kept quiet the whole time, trying to decide if I wanted to say anything to him. It was so hard to decide how his mood would affect our conversations. He was worse than a PMSing girl sometimes.

“So where his Frank?” Danny finally broke the silence.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, sliding the newly formed pancake onto a plate with the others. “He didn’t come home last night, and he texted me not too long ago to tell me that he wouldn’t be coming home today.”

I knew he was rolling his eyes behind me, but it was the silence after what I said that made me turn around to look at him.

He was still frowning, and his jaw was still tight, but his features were softer, as if he was looking at me with sympathy. “I don’t know why you’re still with him. I can see what he does to you.”

He acted as if Frank abused me, which he didn’t, not physically. There really wasn’t even any emotional abuse. Frank could be a good boyfriend if he wanted, too. Although, I had some suspicions that he might have cheated on me once or twice, but I couldn’t really say anything about it. I’ve cheated on him, once or twice.

It only hurt being with Frank, because he wasn’t very open about how he felt. Plus, there was that one time when he admitted that our relationship was just supposed to be a summer fling. I think it was supposed to make me feel better when he said that it developed into much more. But I often wondered if it actually did when he disappeared and could go days without talking to me.

“Why don’t you leave him?” Danny asked, interrupting my train of thoughts.

Because the one I want doesn’t want me, I wanted to say, but I didn’t. Instead I forced out, “I’m happy with Frank.”

“Bull shit,” I heard him mumble under his breath, but I chose to ignore it.

“Anyway,” I shook my head, making two plates full of food and carrying them over to the table. “I’ve wanted to tell you something, but I didn’t want to say it over the phone.” He took a plate from my hands and grabbed a fork, digging into the food. “I got the job!”

He looked at me, surprised, with a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth. “The modeling job?”

I smiled, nodding my head, most likely over enthusiastically. “Yeah, the shoot is next week.”

“We’re having a party tonight,” he declared. “To celebrate for you.”

Rolling my eyes, I grinned. Leave it to Danny to find a reason to party.