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Chapter 23
Danielle's View
I opened the door to the bathroom quickly and stumbled in blindly. Tears blurred my vision as I made my way over to the mirror. I looked at myself and just started to cry harder. I took a deep breath and turned around facing the bathroom stalls. I went to one of them and slammed the door behind me. I took a seat and put my head in my hands and just started to cry my eyes out.
"Dani?" I heard Colleen's voice say softly. I heard a couple more footsteps on the marble floor and then the door close.
"Go away," I said.
"Dani, come on girl, it's not the end of the world," Darlene said softly.
"It just feels like it!" I exclaimed.
"Come on, open the door," Colleen said. I shook my head and drew in a shaky breath.
"No, I wanna go home," I said.
"Danielle, you have Jason. What's this all about?" Darlene asked. I looked at the floor and wiped some of my tears away.
"Danielle...come on open the door. Lets go back to the hotel and talk about this," Darlene said. I sniffled and then got to my feet. I unlocked the door and then opened it slowly. Darlene was standing in front of me and Colleen was over sitting on the sink. They both frowned when they saw me.
"Oh gosh," Darlene said wrapping me in a hug.
"It's gonna be OK," she said softly. Colleen jumped off the sink and came over to us.
"What? Are you like in love with Brian?" she laughed jokingly. I looked at her and then looked down at the floor. Darlene's arms dropped to her sides and Colleen just stood there.
"Wait..." Colleen said. "You are?"
I just stood there and crossed my arms over my chest. I looked up at her and Darlene and found them looking at me shocked.
"You are aren't you?" Colleen asked. I licked my lips, wiped some more tears away, and then nodded.
"Oh my God," Darlene said and then smiling widely.
"Danielle! And you didn't tell us!?" Colleen smiled.
"What was I supposed to do!? Just go up to you guys and say hey guess what? I'm in love with Brian!" I said.
"Well, yeah! This is so cool," Colleen said.
"Cool? It's not cool! I can't love Brian! There's just no possible way! I love Jason!" I exclaimed.
"I so knew you did," Darlene smiled. They were totally ignoring what I was saying.
"I know! I noticed it like the second day we were here that something was going on," Colleen said to Darlene.
"Huh? The second day? Wait...nothing's going on! I didn't even like him then!" I exclaimed. They just both looked at me and smiled.
"What am I going to do?" I asked walking over to the mirror and fixing my hair. Colleen and Darlene came over and looked at me in the mirror.
"Tell him how you feel," Darlene said simply.
"No, I'm not going to do that. It's too late," I said putting on some lip gloss.
"He might feel the same way," Colleen pointed out. I looked at her and then shook my head vigorously.
"No, he doesn't think of me like that. He could never! Plus, he just got done proposing to Beth. He's engaged! If he felt the same way about me he would have told me!"
"Don't be so sure," Darlene said. I packed my make-up back in my purse and then looked up at the mirror. I looked exactly like I did before I started to cry.
"I'm just gonna forget what happened in here. I shouldn't have started crying. There was no point. I was crying over pretty much nothing right?" I said. Darlene and Colleen just stared at me. I smoothed out my dress and then said, "Come on. Lets just go back to dinner."
Later That Night
I got finished brushing my teeth and then pulled my blonde hair up into a high pony tail. I turned the bathroom light off and then sat on the bed cross legged. I looked around the room and my eyes landed on the teddy bear I got from Jason. I picked it up and looked at it. I hugged it to myself and then looked out the window into the night sky.
I was all confused. I didn't know what to do or what to think. I do love Jason...but I also love Brian. A reasonable person would just go with the man she already had but for some reason it just didn't seem that easy for me. I wanted to be with Jason, I was happy with him, but I couldn't help but want to be with Brian.
"Girlie girl?" I heard AJ's voice say.
I turned my head toward the door and said, "Come in."
The door opened slowly and there stood AJ, Howie, Nick, and Kevin.
"Woah, why are you all here?" I asked shocked.
"We wanted to talk to you," Howie said. They all came in and AJ shut the door behind him. They all came over and sat on the bed.
"What do you want to talk about?" I asked.
"About what happened tonight," Kevin said.
"Oh," I said.
"So...spill," AJ said.
"Why do you wanna know?" I asked.
"Because we're worried about you," Nick said.
"Well, I'm fine," I shrugged.
"No, you aren't," AJ said shaking his head.
"Yes, I am!"
"No...you aren't," Howie said.
"Why do you guys have to know everything?" I asked.
AJ smiled and said, "We know more than you think."
"What do you mean?" I asked. All the guys just stared at me.
"Come on guys, you're freaking me out!" I said.
"Dani, come on. Tell us what's bothering you," Howie said.
"Nothing is bothering me Howie, I'm fine," I said.
"What about Brian?" Nick said. I looked at him and said, "Huh?"
"We know all about it," he said.
"Know what? Did Colleen and Darlene tell you?" I asked.
"No," Kevin said shaking his head.
"Ugh! Will someone please tell me what is going on here!?" I exclaimed.
"We know you like Brian," Nick said.
"No, not like..." AJ said. "Love."
"Wait...where did you hear this?" I asked looking at all of them.
"No where," AJ shrugged.
"Then how do you know?" I asked.
"Ah ha! You just admitted to it!" Kevin smiled. I smacked his arm and said, "You tricked me!"
"No, we just got you to admit it. We already knew," Howie said.
"How?"
"We could tell. It's noticeable you know. Everyone knows. We were talking to Lenny and Ray earlier and they brought you and Bri up and said how you two seem to like each other."
"Oh...everyone noticed this?" I asked. They all just nodded.
"Oh gosh," I groaned putting my head in my hands.
"Don't be embarrassed. We think it's cute!" Nick said.
"Shut up," I mumbled.
"Hey, we came here to help," AJ said.
"Help?" I asked looking up at him.
"Yes, help! Just tell us everything," AJ said.
"Well...OK," I sighed. "I'm in love with Brian...and I don't know what to do. I mean I don't even know how I did fall in love with him! We were fine just as friends and me not liking him but now things are just so complicated. I usually would be so happy for him and Elizabeth but I can't help but want to be Elizabeth. I feel horrible because I'm not supposed to feel this way for another guy when I'm with Jason. I don't want to break up with Jason cause I love him but...gosh I don't know! You would think things would be solved because I have Jason and Brian has Elizabeth but it's more complicated then that!"
"So you wanna be with Bri?" Howie asked. I looked up at him and thought for a moment. I finally nodded.
"Does...does Brian know I like him?" I asked looking at all of their faces. They looked at each other and then back up at me shaking their heads and shrugging.
"No, he doesn't. Well, not that I know of anyway," Nick said.
"Oh, all right," I said.
"OK, Danielle, I would seriously just tell him how you feel. You never know, he might feel the same way about you," AJ said. The rest just nodded.
"Could you find out for me? Cause if you do and he does like him back, it would be easier for me to tell him," I said.
"I'll ask him tomorrow morning," Howie asked.
"Thanks Howie."
"No problem," he said.
"But, wait, no I can't tell him!"
"Why not? I think it's a good idea," Kevin said.
"But if I do it'll ruin our friendship if he doesn't feel the same way and then if he does like me back it'll ruin his relationship with Elizabeth and what about Jason? I can't do this to Jason!"
"Dani, it's good to be thinking about Jason and Elizabeth through all this but...you need to do what is best for you and where you will be happiest," Kevin said.
I sighed and said, "I don't know."
"Tell you what, just see how things go for about a week and if things are still the same come to me and I'll work something out OK?" AJ said.
"All right, thanks AJ," I said quietly. He kissed my cheek and said, "Get some rest and try to think about things."
"Yeah, you'll feel better in the morning," Howie said.
"To be honest, we were hoping you two liked each other. You two would make a good couple...and we kinda don't think him proposing to Beth was such a good idea," Kevin said.
"You don't?" I asked shocked.
He shook his head and said, "No."
"Why?"
"Because he doesn't love her..."
"What? How do you know that? He told me he did," I said confused.
"I know my cousin...and he's not in love...with her anyway," Kevin said simply. I just looked at him. They then all got up and started to head out the door. Before Nick closed the door behind him he turned around and looked at me.
"Hey Dani?" he said. I looked up at him and said, "Yeah?"
"If it means anything to you...I think Brian likes you too," he said. I smiled at him and said, "Thanks Nick."
He smiled back at me and said, "You're welcome. Good night."
"Night," I said. He smiled at me once more and then closed the door. I hugged my teddy bear to myself and smiled. I bit my lip and then laid back on the bed. I was hoping Nick was right...and I had a good feeling he was.
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