Missed (Daniel Garcia x Reader)
word count: 1,671 | this is a repost from 2021
summary: a series of missed phone calls, missed opportunities
It wasn’t always easy being his friend. Daniel tended to get stubborn, and so were you, so whenever you were at a disagreement, it felt like a stalemate. It could take days until one of you apologized, but at this point, you were used to it with Daniel. But you didn’t expect this one to sting so much. You weren’t sure why Daniel was getting so irritated any time you wanted to hang out with Dante Martin. It’s not like Daniel didn’t have other friends, so why did it bother him that you were starting to hang out with Dante more? You weren’t ignoring Daniel, so why was he upset?
“Hey, wanna get something to eat after the show?” Daniel had asked you, right before your match.
“Oh, sorry, I already made plans with Dante, but you could come with us, we were just-”
He groaned, “Do you really think I want to third wheel for you and your boyfriend?”
“Who said he was my boyfriend? Why won’t you give him a chance? You know, I really think you two would get along well,” you said.
“No one had to tell me, it’s completely obvious. Whatever, I have to get ready for my match.”
You sighed, grabbing his arm, “Daniel, what’s-”
“I’m busy! Cry about it to your boyfriend,” he yanked his arm out of your grip, glaring at you. You said nothing as he walked away, but you could feel your mood drop, right before you were called for your match.
You weren’t focused during the match. Maybe if you hadn’t been distracted, you wouldn’t have completely missed your opponent, landing outside on the barricade harshly. You groaned in pain, struggling to get up, the pain in your leg was almost unbearable. The match was called off, and you had to limp backstage. You tried to hold back the groans of pain, forcing yourself to bite down on your lip to quiet down.
The first person you saw backstage was Daniel, his brown eyes wide with concern. You could see Dante behind him, reaching out for you. Daniel stepped forward, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. You pushed him off of you, choosing to let Dante help you instead.
“Thought you were busy?” You stubbornly asked Daniel, as Dante pulled you into his arms. As you passed Daniel, you could see the deep frown on his face, sad brown eyes watching Dante help you.
“What was that about?” Dante asked you, once he got you to medical.
You sighed, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You always want to talk about Daniel,” he teased.
“Would you shut up?” You blushed, happy he could take your mind off of the pain, even for just a second.
You were happy Dante stayed with you while you got your leg examined, but part of you wished you would’ve just let Daniel help you instead. Your feelings for Daniel weren’t a secret to Dante, especially since he was the only person who knew about your feelings.
You wanted to cry when you were told you had to take two months off of wrestling until your leg healed. But your friendship with Dante was still so new, you didn’t want to freak him out by being so emotional, you just tried to hold it back.
“Do you want me to get Daniel?” He offered, “He was really worried about you.”
“He hates me right now,” you frowned, unable to stop picturing the broken look on his face when you pushed him away.
Dante rolled his eyes, “You both are so dumb.”
“Thank you, Dante. That’s really so kind of you!”
“I’m gonna go find him.”
You tried to protest, but he didn’t care, leaving to go find Daniel. You weren’t even sure if you wanted to see him, still annoyed with how he had brushed you off earlier. Even if you were dating Dante, why would he care? Surely your friend would want to see you happy, right?
When Dante came back into the room, he pouted at you, “He’s not coming.”
“Oh,” you whispered, feeling your frown deepen, and you could see the pity in Dante’s eyes, “It’s fine, really. You don’t need to look at me like that.”
“Are you sure? I could ask him again, maybe he’s just-”
“Just stop, please. I told you he hates me right now.”
Dante sighed, “He does not! He’s just upset. He asked me about you, so trust me, he cares a lot.”
“Whatever,” you mumbled.
You had to limp everywhere on crutches, and it was rather annoying for you. You had to limp your way through the airport just so you could get home the next day, and all it did was drag your mood down. You weren’t scheduled to make any appearances for at least two months now, and the time off was going to suck for you.
Daniel had tried calling you after you landed home. You didn’t answer, you didn’t even let it ring for too long either. You almost instantly declined, and you knew that must’ve hurt Daniel, but he didn’t even bother to see you yesterday when Dante tried to get him. You wished you didn’t feel so hung up about that, but it stung you.
Two days later, you felt a little guilty for not picking up his call, so you decided you’d call him this time. You needed to patch things up. All you could do was listen to it ring, frowning when it finally went to voicemail. Deciding to call him again, your eyes watered when the call immediately ended, meaning he declined your call. He definitely hates you now.
Daniel called you the next day, and out of sheer stubbornness, you blocked his number. You were still pissed that he ignored your calls the day before, you just weren’t in the mood. You couldn’t keep this routine up, the missed calls and ignoring each other. It hurt you more than you wanted to admit.
You unblocked his number the day after that, but you weren’t brave enough to call him. Daniel didn’t try calling again after that. You debated with yourself about calling him, but you didn’t think he would pick up.
Finally on Tuesday, you were fed up. You needed to talk to him, you’ve never gone almost a week without speaking to him. Maybe it would be a little over the top, but you had to go see him. Looking up the flights to New York, you quickly bought yourself a plane ticket, despite the fact you only had an hour to get there and find the gate. Daniel was worth the rush. You didn’t even take any belongings with you, just your ID, and you immediately called for an Uber to take you to the airport.
You don’t know what you expected.
Clearly you hadn’t thought it through, because once you had finally gone through airport security, you had to go all the way to the gate, which was very inconveniently at the back of the giant airport. And your flight had already started boarding. Trying to get through, you weren’t as quick as you liked, the crutches and the injured leg holding you back. You cringed through the pain, desperately trying to get there as fast as you could, but once you finally arrived at the gate, you wanted to scream when you saw the flight had already departed. You groaned at the pain in your leg, you’d agitated your injury for absolutely nothing. It would’ve been worth it if you just got onto the plane, but now you just felt defeated.
You sat down on one of the chairs at the gate, too lazy and too tired to stop yourself from crying. Now you felt miserable. You missed your chance. Daniel had to be at Dynamite tomorrow, and you didn’t want to be there, it’d be too painful of a reminder of all the things you couldn’t do for two months.
“Hey?” His voice was too familiar, and you felt your jaw drop as you looked at your best friend.
“Danny, what the fuck are you doing here?” You asked him, trying to discreetly wipe away your tears, but Daniel had already seen them. He sat down beside you, eyes drifting to your injured leg.
“I really needed to see you,” he said, his cheeks heating up, “What about you? Why are you crying in the middle of the airport?”
“I missed my flight to Buffalo. I had to go and at least try to talk to you. I’m sorry I was so stubborn, I overreacted and I wish I could just take it back, I shouldn’t have pushed you away like that.”
He grinned, “Well, I’m kind of happy you missed it. Otherwise I’d probably be sitting outside your apartment all night.”
“What the hell is wrong with us?” You asked, letting out a sigh, “I miss you, dummy.”
“Why am I the dummy? You’re the one who missed your flight!” He joked, “I really missed you too. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been such an ass. I guess… I got jealous of Dante and I do want you to be happy, I really do! But selfishly, I just don’t want to see you with anyone else.”
You frowned, “But why were you jealous in the first place? Danny, you’re still my best friend-”
“Because I thought that maybe you liked him, and you’d probably start dating and I’d be the loser who missed his chance.”
“Missed your chance for what?”
“This.”
His hand cupped your chin, and you felt your heart race when he leaned in to kiss you. You closed your eyes, pulling him even closer when you kissed him back. Daniel was quick to wrap his arms around you, holding you closer. When he pulled away, you blushed, unable to hide the smile on your face.
“Took you long enough!” You teased him. He rolled his eyes at you before leaning in to kiss you again.