Chapter Text
“We need to work out a better schedule.” Lacey grumbled as she walked with Phoebe toward their first classes of the day.
“I’m sorry my dollar store bullet isn’t silent like your fucking Mercedes clit rabbit bullshit thing is. I do not have the funds to get myself off silently you bougie bitch.” Phoebe grumbled back.
The pair fell in line at the shitty coffee stand, neither of them particularly pulled together.
“I’m just saying, your nighttime activities kept me up and from the sound of it, I didn’t have as much fun as you—“ Lacey didn’t handle sleep deprivation well.
“I didn’t realize I was so repulsive. Trust me, I’ve watched you fidgeting around in your bed before and I wasn’t mad about what I was seeing.” Phoebe shrugged.
Lacey giggled, “Jesus, I can’t deal with this shit every time they leave.” She said to herself.
“I’ll save my hobbies for when you’re otherwise engaged, Queen Porter.” Phoebe fake bowed to her half-awake roommate as the line progressed, “What time are they supposed to be back?”
“Before lunch I think. I have so much to do today, I probably won’t get to see him until tomorrow night—“
“Yeah, okay—“ Phoebe laughed out loud, “Danny’s going to come looking for you, are you kidding me?!”
Lacey and Danny could not FaceTime because of the roommate situation for both of them. They resorted to sexting, which at first hadn’t been as fun as anticipated, both of them smart enough not to start sending each other the kind of pics they so desperately wanted to see.
Eventually, Danny put his creative writing skills to use and blew Lacey’s socks off nightly. They took turns writing each other elaborate stories about what they wanted to do to each other, the details helping both of them through their time apart.
They went all in as they had done with every part of their special connection so far. Danny was blunt, yet strangely detailed. Explicit, yet his words were dripping with all of the natural love and respect he always gave her.
Something about the absence of touch, sound, taste and superficial sight set them both on fire. It was all up to their imagination and Lacey’s imagination had always been vivid. After getting to know more of Danny in this unique way, her imagination was now also wild and open, craving more.
Lacey couldn’t keep the smile off her face as she remembered the pretty intense story Danny had sent her only a few hours before now.
“Good lord, keep it in your pants.” Phoebe nudged Lacey and gave their order to the barista as they finally approached the front of the line.
Once their coffees were in hand, they said their goodbyes and headed off in different directions. Lacey wrangled a new canvas and her coffee, thinking back to her second day when Danny had run over to help her out with carrying everything. Damn she missed him.
******
Lacey stayed in the studio through lunchtime, completely in the zone with her latest painting. She took breaks often, her eyes pulling her to the giant nightmare mess that resulted after a night when everything had connected so seamlessly for them.
Lacey knew there would come a time when she would have to deal with Regina again. Her and Danny were still friends after all, she must have something to offer that Lacey just couldn’t see yet.
As she thought about how to continue with their painting, she decided that instead of trying to fix it, to erase the chaos, she’d keep it. She would hone in on it and show that there is still beauty in life, even when someone else tries to mess with it. There was something beautiful there before and it will be beautiful again after. Different, but still beautiful.
“Miss me?”
Lacey nearly jumped out of her shoes, the familiar voice coming from just a few feet behind her.
“Oh my—Danny! Jesus you scared me.”
Lacey was beaming and walked right up to him for the hug she had wanted for the last fourteen days.
“I did miss you.” Lacey answered, squeezing him tight.
Danny smelled like he always did, a mixture of mouthwash, and some sort of spiced campfire. It was difficult to explain, but it was a smell she couldn’t get enough of.
He hugged her back, their connection not quite as sexual as it typically was, more of a formality, reserved. The hesitation, Lacey quickly realized, was coming from him. She collected herself and reeled her emotions in carefully, trying not to show how deeply rejected she felt.
They weren’t a couple, this was just a sexual friendship and now was not the time. Still, a sweet hug was a normal gift to give after missing a friend for a couple of weeks. Lacey pulled back when Danny did and looked everywhere but in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.” Danny said simply as he slid himself up to sit on the table next to him, “When you’re in it—“ Danny nodded to her new painting, “You’re in it.”
Lacey stared back at her painting, trying to reconcile Danny’s cool demeanor against the flaming hot, smutty trash that flowed into her texts from him last night. She needed to keep her face focused on something other than her raging paranoia.
“I guess.” Lacey shrugged.
She went back over a complicated spackling of multicolored smears she had introduced to her new canvas an hour ago, when her mood was still electric with anticipation, hopeful. This time, Lacey took a spatula and swiped the happy corner of paint blobs clean off.
Was she this far off? Lacey began rethinking and questioning herself and their interactions over the last two weeks. That was Danny she had been texting, right? She wasn’t imagining this. Lacey furiously mixed the colors into a baby poop green and slimed the new hue back into the corner with zero grace.
Danny watched her intently, she was no longer painting, she was mad. He smirked to himself, not sure how long he should torture her before revealing the stupid idea he had concocted over the three hour bus ride back to Syracuse.
After that first night of falling into comfortable, on-the-road make out sessions with Regina and Archie and then shutting them down, Danny was starved. Starved for affection, touch and most importantly the bond he had crafted in his friendship with Lacey.
His sexual connection with Lacey had always been hot and deep, but this time apart had them finding new ways to connect. Both of them working together to transcend far past the limitations they had by being apart. Danny wanted to pursue this new way of being with her through until the end. Kink number six thousand and fifteen for Danny, give or take.
If he was being honest, their last several nights of storytelling had elicited some of the longest and most powerful finishes Danny had ever experienced.
“You’re mad.” Danny said softly, carefully.
He was blunt about it, as always, but he didn’t want to sound accusatory or make it seem like she was being irrational.
“I’m not mad, why would I be mad?” Lacey replied like he was crazy.
Danny slid off the table and walked up to hover just behind her, hands to himself. Lacey faced forward, trying unsuccessfully to control her breathing.
“You expected me to hunt for you.” Danny said matter-of-factly, walking around to face her slowly, “To track you down like prey and eat you up—“
God yes. That was exactly what she had expected.
“You’re wrong.” She lied, unable to avoid his stare now.
“I’m not wrong.” Danny challenged.
“I did not want you to eat me up—“
“No?” Danny smiled, the tiniest giggle escaping his perfect mouth. Fuck.
Lacey sighed, “Listen, I’m pretty sure we both wanted for nothing these last few nights. I just thought—you know what, never mind, I got it wrong—“
She was done if he was, no sense in dragging this out. Maybe fourteen days was too long, maybe he had slept with a bunch of people and so he didn’t need her, she’d never really know either way.
Danny stepped in closer, still not touching her. His proximity making it very difficult for Lacey to think clearly.
“I missed you too.” He said sincerely, sending butterflies into her chest and an electric throbbing between her legs, “Come over tonight?” Danny asked hopefully.
This was different. This wasn’t him asking for a booty call, this was Danny legitimately inviting her to his house.
“What’s in it for me?” Lacey joked back, trying to add some lightness to Danny’s weird, heavy behavior.
“Hopefully more than you ever thought possible—“
“Um—what?” Yes please, Lacey thought.
“Dinner, drinks? Come by at seven?”
“Okay.” Lacey smiled back.
“Okay.” Danny gave a single nod and stepped away, throwing her a wave as he headed out of the studio.
******
“He’s totally going to tell you about fucking someone else. Think about it, he’s going to try to get you back before he even loses you.” Phoebe was fuming.
“It wasn’t like that—“
“He’s worried he’ll lose his smokin’ hot sure thing. I bet he smashed Regina the whole fucking time.”
“Okay, you are not helping!”
“Whatever. Don’t put up with any bullshit, okay? You’re way too good for this spirit cooter junkie—“
“Okay, okay, that’s enough—“
“I would not blame you if you hit that again though, one more time before you rolled the fuck outta there. He’s so hot—“
“Phoebe! Shut. Up.”
“Is that what you’re wearing?” Phoebe finally connected with Lacey’s outfit and squinted.
Lacey looked down quickly, “What—what’s wrong with this?”
“You wanna make that boy fucking cry, that’s what’s wrong with it. Pants, hoodie? No, no, no. Here—“
Phoebe went into her closet and pulled out a maxi dress. It appeared flowy, but as Lacey held it up further she realized that there wasn’t enough fabric to make anything flow.
“This color is so pretty.” Lacey admired the bright emerald green dress, “I’m not looking to make him cry, Phoebs, It’s just dinner, I want to be comfortable.”
“Just try it on.”
Lacey stripped down and threw the dress on, the light crepey fabric draping and hugging her body like it was made for her. She turned to find the dress was ass-approved. She felt hot.
“I knew it.” Phoebe have her a clap, “It’s way too long on me. It fits you perfect, it’s yours.”
Lacey admired the casual, body hugging dress. It wasn’t super girly but it was totally flattering and surprisingly comfortable. The color was her favorite, she was glowing.
“Wow. Thanks Phoebs, I owe you.” Lacey smiled and fished around for her gold sandals, “Don’t wait up.” She said as she shuffled out the door.