Magical Sunset || Nicole

Nicole watched Danny as he said that to her. There was nothing she could say at the moment that would help him. Nicole reached down and gently took Danny's hand in her's as she sat there with him.

"Y'know... worst part is that she never said a word. Never complained." he said quietly, looking down for a moment.
He was finally talking about it, to someone other than his mother. She had suggested that he'd talk to someone, just to get over it. He just didn't find the right person to do so before. And yet, it was still hard for him to talk about Anna.

"Can't say I'm really over it, yet. I want to be, but... it's hard to let the love of your life walk out the door without giving me a chance to fight."

Nicole nodded a bit, "Danny.....I'm not even going to act like I've been there or know what its like to have someone you let get close to you leave, but its in the past." she said to him honestly.

He gave a small, sarcastig laugh in reply.
"It's easy to say. But it's not easy to forget, let alone get over it." Daniel said to her. As much as he wanted to get over it, stop thinking about it, it wasn't like he could really control it. Unconsciously he was reminded of that pain, whenever he met someone he actually liked. It was holding him back. Not as much as it used to shortly after she left, but still.

"Don't get me wrong here, I'm not one to dwell on negative things, or on past events, but it's just not that easy to get over it. It'll take time, but... the reason I told you wasn't to dwell on it."

Nicole listened to Danny as he said that, then nodded. "Point taken" she said to him in reply, her tone gentle as she said that. She looked back to the stars as she sat there, letting what Danny said to her sink in.

He sighed a little and looked into the flames of the fire. It was somewhat comforting, but also sad. Once again he let those memories bring him down, when he actually wanted to be happy and maybe a little more brave tonight. He had the perfect chance, being all alone with Nicole.

"I do want to move on with my life, like she obviously has with hers. But she was a big part of my life and you deserve to know." he said quietly, after what seemed like an eternity of silence. "I just don't want to be hurt like that again."

Nicole looked at Danny when he said that, then nodded. "And thank you for telling me.....I get that you don't want to be hurt like that again." she replied honestly. "But you need to make peace with what happened.....from what I see, you keep letting get you, which is understandable, but its keeping you from being happy. Its in the past, nothing can be done now." she said to him.

Danny looked up at Nicole, his warm brown eyes connecting with hers. The fire was reflecting in them, giving them a somewhat sentimental glint.
"I know." he said quietly. "I never really talked about it, wanting to forget the pain it caused to even think about it, but... I feel a lot better after talking about it. Part of me will always love her, I know that, but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't be out there looking for someone who can put up with me and my work schedule. Someone who's willing to come out and say what's bothering them, instead of going behind my back."

Danny kept his eyes on Nicole, but the sentimental glint was gone as he now looked at her. Instead the warmth was back there, a glint of love even. "Someone like you."

Nicole smiled when Danny said that to her. She leaned up and kissed Danny's cheek after he said that. "So what does this meen for us?" she asked honestly after kissing him. Nicole looked him in the eye as she said that, wanting to know what he would tell her next.

He could feel his heart beat faster as Nicole kissed his cheek and he couldn't help but smile a little. He was watching her and after her question, Daniel looked into her eyes, looking for the answer to his own question whether or not to kiss her.
He wanted to, but he was a nice guy, so he would make sure that he wasn't crossing a line she wasn't ready to cross. But he felt confident and a little brave, too.

Without saying another word, Danny softly put his hand on her cheek, only his fingertips touching her soft skin. He let his fingers slowly move down her cheek to her jaw and up to her chin, then gently pulled her closer and placed a soft kiss on her lips. His heartbeat so fast he thought for sure, Nicole could hear it.

Nicole heard it as Danny touched her cheek, then lifted her chin. At the same time, she felt her heart pound just as hard. Her military woman side was replaced with the giddy school girl. "Answers that question" she said to Danny after he kissed her.

A small, yet loving smile appeared on Danny's face. His brown eyes were filled with warmth and happiness. Happiness that hadn't been in his eyes for a long time. He was glad that he took that risk, took that step he wanted to take many times before. The feeling of his heart beating against his chest, was something he rather enjoyed. It made him feel alive again.

"Good." he said softly.

Nicole smiled in reply when Danny said that, she was just as happy as he was. "I hope this works out for us." she said honestly while looking at Danny. It was clear that she wanted it to and was willing to go all out to make sure that she didn't hurt Danny like his ex did.

Danny nodded a little in reply. He was feeling content and right now hopeful for the future. He didn't think too far ahead though, but he hoped that this time he would do it right and things would finally work out. After all, he was a family man and having a family of his own, was something he had yet to accomplish. Not that he thought about children, yet. He just hoped that Nicole might be the one. The true one for him. But he didn't dare to think that far ahead.
A day at a time, Danny. he thought to himself.

"Me, too." he said to her. "As long as you make sure I won't neglect you we should be fine."

Nicole nodded in reply to Danny's comments. "Don't worry about that part Danny." she said to him, smiling a bit as she said that to him. Being a former army Sergent, she knew how to use her voice and how to hold people to a higher standard. Nicole put her hand on Danny's cheek before kissing him again.

He gave Nicole an honest smile in reply, that remained on his lips even as she kissed him again. Danny put his hand on her back, softly letting it slide up to her neck, his fingers getting lost in her long, brown hair. He closed his eyes, enjoying the moment, enjoying the feeling of her lips on his, wanting this moment to last forever.

The soft sizzle of the camp fire gave that moment a magical touch. He finally let go of the thoughts holding him back. He pushed the memories of Anna to the back of his head and concentrated on making new memories with Nicole. He was finally ready to move on.

Nicole knew he was ready when she felt his hand go up her back and to her hair. A smile came to her lips as he did that to her, it was clear that she was happy and ready to take the next step with him. "Such a gentle touch, mate." she said to him honestly as she sat there with him.

He gave her a small smile, the stars sparkling in his warm brown eyes. The soft flicker from the fire reflecting in them, too. They added a magical touch to the moment.
"Always with a lady." he said, his voice sounding different. There was actually much more emotion in it, than he even noticed.

Nicole giggled a bit when Danny said that, noticing the change in his voice when he spoke to her. "Your mum teach you that?" she asked while looking back to the campfire, a big smile on her face. He's a keeper Nicole she said to herself.

Danny quietly shook his head. Her question brought back some memories that he didn't want to have right now, but he had to deal with it now, anyway. He sighed quietly.
"Actually I taught myself that. My mom wasn't around long enough to teach me that properly." he replied, those the tone of his voice changed again. His childhood and family story was something he never spoke of to Nicole, now it seemed though that he might have to, at least to some degree.

Maybe he wouldn't mind talking to Nicole, though.

Nicole nodded her head a bit when Danny said that to her. "Thats ace" she said gently. "I'm sorry your mum didn't get to teach you any of that." she said in the same tone.

Danny looked into the fire, a somewhat sad look on his face. He was lost in memories for a moment, before he sighed a little.
"Yeah, me too." he said quietly. "I know she still beats herself up for not being able to take me with her, but... being around my father taught me how I did not want to be."

It wasn't easy to talk about it, because he didn't want to think back to those times, but then again, it wasn't as hard as he thought it was.

Nicole looked up to Danny when he said that. "All I know is that your an honest bloke who would never hurt a lady." she said to him honestly. It was clear that Nicole was falling for him more and more.

"Exactly." he replied with a small nod, still looking into the flames of the fire. It was somewhat relaxing to watch the fire grasp the wood and slowly burning it down to ashes. He used to love camp fires as a kid and he still did. Just that he didn't have time for fires anymore.

"Y'know... my childhood wasn't the type I'm proud of." he then said quietly. "I used to be angry at my mother for leaving at first. I was just three years old, didn't understand half the things going on around me. But it didn't take too long for me to realize that she did what she had to do. And she paid a price for it. She got out, but had to leave me behind..."

And that was the first time he ever spoke about it to Nicole. He only told Anna once and some of it to Catherine, but only bits and pieces. Now he got the chance to talk to someone again. It wasn't as hard as he always thought it would be. And maybe it gave him some kind of peace to talk about it, instead of just pushing it out of his mind whenever something reminded him of that time.

Nicole listened to Danny as he said that to her, letting it sink in. "Danny.....I'm so sorry that happened to you." she said in an honest tone while looking back up to him. It was clear that she cared about Danny and what he just told her.