Come Back For Me : Chapter Two
Danny Wanger x Melody (Fem OC)
Warnings: Fluff, a lot of uncomfortable situations, reminiscing on the past, Josh, Mild Anxiety mentions, and 'One Date Daniel' living up to his name.
Word Count: 3k.
Summary: Danny spends the day relaxing or trying to before having to go a shift at the bar. But nothing would have prepared him for the day he was about to have.
Author's Note: HEHE :) Enter Daniel. (I do love you, just remember that as you read this chapter)
This storyline is much more .. dramatic? and boy oh boy, it is fun to write, read, witness- all of the above! Happy reading!
Someone New - Hozier "Would things be easier if there was a right way? Honey there is no right way, And so I fall in love a little ol' little bit everyday with someone new."
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“Text me later?” She whispers against my lips, glancing up at me.
My hand holds the base of her neck, kissing her again before muttering back, “Sure.” Feeling her hands slide down my bare chest before backing up, I watch her eyes drift down to the waistband of my sweatpants before she looks back up at me.
“Bye, Danny,” she says, biting her lip gently as she goes to walk away. I watch her get into her car, sending her a little wave before closing the door behind me, leaning my back against it, and letting my head drop forward.
“No chance,” I breathe out.
She wasn’t the worst person I’ve ever gone out with, but there’s no way I’m going out with her again. Maybe hook up with, but nothing more than that. She was nice, definitely hot, but there was no real connection other than the fact she was more than ready to climb me like a tree.
I swear I’ve gone out with every last girl in this city and just have not found someone who piques my interest. Sure, it’s nice just to get to know people and at least get out of the house for a little bit, but it would be nice to find someone who was worth keeping around.
The truth is, I haven’t really dated anybody seriously since Melody. It’s been years since we broke up, and it feels like I’ve been cursed with something because nothing ever sticks like she did. We were friends as kids. She spent a lot of time around Sam and Me, which also meant with his brothers. Growing up in smaller towns in Maine typically meant keeping the same friend group for a while.
We all spent most of our free time together. She was never bothered by being the only girl unless someone had a girlfriend at the time— but even that was few and far between. It was less than shocking for everyone else to discover that we started dating at the time; I don’t think we were good at hiding our feelings for each other, but to be fair, we were also maybe fourteen years old.
She was the first girl I ever had feelings for like that. My first real kiss, the only date I had for school dances, who I lost my vir— you get the point. We were inseparable until it came time for college. She had bigger plans than I did, and I wouldn’t hold her back from them. I always wanted her to pursue her dreams because she deserved it.
Unfortunately, we didn’t last. But it’s fine because I know that even though it took a while to move on, it was probably for the best. I think. I try to not dwell on it too much, despite what Sam would tell you. I should call him.
“Well, hello there, Daniel,” his voice rings through the phone. We spend a few minutes going on about our usual banter before I fill him in on the girl who just left. Which is really just a lot of humming and hawing from my end about whether or not I think it would be worth it to see her again.
“I don’t think we would have anything to talk about,” I tell him.
Sam laughs before saying, “Your nickname is really showing right about now, One Date Daniel.” It’s a fun nickname that they’ve coined over the years—by they, I mean he started it, but naturally, the twins picked up on it, and now I hear it all too often.
“We’ve gone through this,” I breathe out. “I’m not trying to find the flaws in these girls; they just .. present them quickly.”
He’s quick to rebuttal with, “It seems like the flaw is always that they aren’t M—”
“Shut up, it’s not that,” I cut him off.
“Well, it just seems that you find something wrong with all of them, and she was the only one you never complained about.”
“Maybe I just need to stop trying to date in Portland,” I pitch. “I’m sure there are plenty of options outside of the city.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night, Daniel,” he sighs. “All I know is that when I met Birdie..”
And then I zoned out.
I love that Sam found someone and specifically someone who is willing to put up with his shit every day. She’s one of God’s strongest soldiers, for real. But dear god, the sheer amount of times that our conversations have segued into some lecture where he tells me about how great Willa is and why I should listen to his advice— despite the number of times I’ve heard her tell him to stop meddling in other people's lives.
He’s convinced that I find problems with any date because they aren’t Melody. I don’t think that’s the issue, personally, but I can’t seem to make him agree with me. I just know what I’m looking for in a woman, and they just don’t typically fit that, which is okay. Today wasn’t my best look. I try not to have too many one-night stands, but what’s a guy to do when he can’t find someone interesting enough to keep around? Sleep with the hot ones.
“Mhm,” I hum back to whatever Sam told me. I’m sure I’ve heard it all before.
He sighs on the other end of the call, breathing out, “Well, do you have to work tonight?”
“I do, why?”
“I don’t think Bird and I have plans later, so maybe I can swing by for a little bit.”
Laughing quietly to myself, “If you want, no pressure.”
Falling back into the couch, I scroll on my phone for a bit, before turning on the TV. Watching whatever mindless thing comes on because it’s too early in the day for it to be anything interesting.
Me: I should have told you to bring my favorite lady over
Sam: you know she’s MY dog right?
Me: she and I haven’t spent time together in a little while, I miss her
Sam: maybe you can keep her this weekend so birdie and I can go do something
Penny is the greatest decision Sam has made in a while, besides finding a girlfriend, apparently. She’s such a good dog, and I still personally believe that I’m her favorite human, but I won’t say that to Sam. I’m usually his go-to for babysitting her when he needs it, which I’d like to think is because she and I have fun together, but I’m almost positive it’s because the twins live together, and he doesn’t want to invade their space.
Regardless of the reason, I love it when I get to steal her for a day or two— not that I don’t enjoy being alone. Sometimes, it is nice to have someone else here, even if that someone hogs my entire bed when we sleep.
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Once I convince myself to get up, I know I need to run and do a few errands before going to the bar. I pull my hair up into a bun, high on my head. Pulling on a basic outfit since I’ll probably just go straight to work after I’m done. I stare at myself in my mirror for all of a few seconds before I’m off to be productive, hopefully.
I live close enough to the bar but just far enough away that I typically will drive to just spare myself walking home late at night. Not that the area is terrible, but two in the morning makes for a very tired walk home, especially when it could be a five-minute drive.
I find a spot close enough to the bar, leaving my car there to just walk to a few places, but starting with the local coffee shop I prefer. Working in this area has been a blessing and a curse because I frequent the same places enough that the employees know who I am, but living around here makes it uncomfortable sometimes. It’s not often that I run into someone I went out with, but every once in a while, they make an appearance, and I can’t even be mad because we both live around here.
Today is one of those days.
I keep my eyes locked on my phone as I pretend to look at something, but in reality, I’m just scrolling through my texts with Sam. But a girl that I went with a few weeks ago is sitting in the corner, and I can feel her stare burning a hole in the back of my head. It was another case in which she was very nice, but there just wasn’t anything there.
I ordered my drink and stood where I wouldn’t make awkward eye contact with her while I waited for my drink. I could just say hello. No, it would get weird.
Me: you’re not going to believe who’s here
Sam: 👀
Me: remember the girl from a few weeks ago?
Me: she was nice but literally nothing to talk about?
Sam: uhhh.. Sure
Me: she’s sitting 30 feet away from me and these baristas are taking FOREVER
Sam: LMFAO
“Danny!” one of the baristas yelled as they set my coffee at the end of the counter. Well, there’s no pretending it isn’t me now, grabbing it, glancing over to the set of eyes that I could feel staring the entire time, and shooting her a tight-lipped smile. I watch as she just rolls her eyes as I push open the door to leave. Oops.
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I spent a little over an hour running to a few shops that I need to pick things up from and then running everything back to my car. Sliding my phone from my pocket, I still have an hour and a half before I need to be there. Debating on whether or not I want to grab something to eat, I make the executive decision to stop at the bar; maybe the boys will want food, too.
Working in this area is definitely more fun than I anticipated. To be honest, anything is more fun than working at the shipyard. Getting to watch people stumble late at night on the cobblestone street across from us is one of my favorite things about having to linger near the door. Those poor girls in their high heels had no idea what would happen to them when they attempted to walk down that street.
The daytime is pretty calm. We just witnessed a lot of tourists during the summer, which has made a lot of evenings go by with a ton of people coming in because other bars were packed. Not that Jake didn’t do a good job with this one, but it’s not necessarily the most modern bar in the area. The aesthetic being very pirate and a bit dark because we are like half way into a basement doesn’t help.
Seeing the sign as I slowly make my way down the street. Pulling open the door to the bar, I immediately stop in my tracks.
Oh my god. Shit. Why is she here? Maybe it isn’t her.
I stand there quietly and watch her talk to Jake; everything feels quiet. It had been years since we’d seen each other, let alone spoke to each other. I guess I can’t blame her. It feels like hours that I stood there just watching them before I could convince myself to move. Walking closer to the bar, Jake looks over at me; his eyes widen a bit, bouncing his stare between the two of us like he’s trying to warn me. I just subtly nod my head to acknowledge it.
“Oh shit- Daniel?” Melody says as she’s turning around, immediately making eye contact with me.
I can’t describe the feeling that courses through my body hearing her say my name again. I don’t think anything could have prepared me for it. My eyes are fixed on hers as it feels like time has completely stopped. She looks good. I can feel the blood coursing through me as we stare at each other. The silence was deafening.
Finally, I uncomfortably choke out, “Hah, yes. How are you?”
“A little better now,” she tells me, smiling over at Jake. “Nothing like trying to find a job quickly.” No fucking way. Moving my eyes over to Jake, who looks like he’s just seen a ghost and would like to join them at this point.
“Oh? You uh- live here?” I ask timidly. “I thought you were still in Mass.”
“Yeah.. I just moved back in with my dad.” She says, glancing at the ground for a minute. Her voice gets much more quiet when she says, “My mom uh..passed away not too long ago, and it’s just not feasible—“
I cut her off quickly, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”
“No, it’s okay, why would you?” She waves her hand at me, dismissing everything. She taps the bar a couple of times. “Anyway, I need to get going,” she says, much more lightheartedly, glancing between Jake and myself.
“Oh yeah, uh-“ I spit out quickly. “It was nice to see you.” Forcing a small smile onto my face despite the pit in my stomach.
She smiles softly back at me, saying, “You too.”
Seeing her smile made me nauseous, but I couldn’t let her know that. My eyes shift to Jake, mumbling, “Josh is here?”
He just nods at me silently.
I start to walk out back, knowing I need to find him, but hearing her say, “Thank you so much, Jake. You’re a lifesaver.”
This can’t be real. She hasn’t spoken to me in years, but now we’re going to work together. What the fuck. I can feel my body warm at the thought, fighting the anger that is threatening to come out at this point. Not that it’s a big deal; it’s been so long, and I’ve moved on from it. It just feels like I should have known about this before she just waltzed back into our lives. She couldn’t get a job anywhere else in Portland, like how of all places she landed here– and then it hits me.
Josh told her. There’s no other way. This bar is not one to scream, ‘Women, come in!’ I tilt my head, feeling my neck crack slightly, before tilting it the opposite way so I can see the back room door.
“Josh, why do I feel like you’re behind this?” I ask, rounding the corner into the back room. There’s no chance he can’t tell that I’m irritated at this point.
He asks, “Whatever do you mean?” The sing-song tone of his voice isn’t going to save the situation this time.
“What did you do?” My voice is low as I question him.
He looks over at me, letting out, “She needed a job, and Jake obviously needs more help.”
My head rolls back as I let out a deep sigh. This can’t be real right now.
“So, she definitely works here now?”
The uncomfortable smile he shoots me is enough, but he weakly says, “.. is that a problem?”
It isn’t necessarily a problem, but we did go years without speaking and ended on not the greatest of terms. It’s a long story. To just resume life as if nothing happened and work together, I don’t know how I’m supposed to just be around her a few nights a week like that.
“No,” I breathe out. “It’ll be fine; I just wasn’t anticipating seeing her.”
We’re both adults now, and we should be able to function around each other without things being weird; I mean, it’s been so long that maybe she’s also past it.
I can hear the sound of Jake walking towards us, his boots will always sell him out; thankfully it sounds like only he’s coming, so that’s a relief.
“Hey bud,” his voice is just above a whisper. “I didn’t realize what time it was; I would have warned you.” The look on his face alone tells me that he feels incredibly guilty.
I don’t think a warning at this point would have even helped.
I mindlessly crack my knuckles, looking over to him, “It’s okay.”
“If it helps,” he starts. “She isn’t starting until next week.” The smile on his face seems uncomfortable as if he desperately wants to make things better.
At least I don’t have to work with her right away.
“Plus, she’ll be bartending with me. So, you won’t really have to interact with her much if you don’t want to!” Josh interjects in an attempt to make things better.
If I know anything about either of them, it’s that the last thing they want to do is watch a friend struggle. I’ve been close enough with their whole family to know this. I’m sure that whenever Josh spoke to her, he probably just felt for her and knew that Jake wouldn’t say no. I mean, shit, that’s how I landed my job here.
Even though I realistically don’t need to be here all that often, it’s not that kind of bar. Jake wanted to get me out of the shipyard because it’s a draining job and once he quit, I was left there to fend for myself. He practically created a job for me and managed to pay me enough to keep me alive. It’s incredible how much money you save when you’re single and depressed.
“That’s true,” I tell them. “It’ll be fine, I’m sure, but..”
They look at each other and then over to me.
“But what?” Jake caves, asking for the both of them.
It’s shocking to me that neither of them are considering the real issue here, and it’s definitely not Melody and I being in the same room. My hand finds comfort on the back of my neck as I look over to him, “Who’s going to tell Sam?”
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Chapter One
Chapter Three
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