Right in Time (21 page)

Caleb. 

She dropped his hand like it was on fire and ran in the direction of Caleb, who only turned and exited the ballroom.

“
Caleb!” she called nearing the door.  All eyes turned to her, and then back to Danny who was left standing on the dance floor alone.  All he could do was watch her run out the door.

Chapter Forty Seven

“Caleb!” Maggie called, out of breath from performing and chasing after him.

“You hate him?!”
Caleb yelled back, finally turning around to face her.

“Yes!” she answered him immediately.  “No.” she said, correcting herself, causing
Caleb to cock an eyebrow at her.  “I dunno.” She finally managed out in a childlike whisper.

Caleb took a deep breath to steady himself.  “You know what?  Honestly?  I would expect something like this from him.  Yes, he is a great guy, but he doesn’t let anything stand in the way of what he wants.  You?  All I had been hearing since he took over was how much you hated him, how cocky you thought he was.  You just went on and on!  And then you go and kiss him in front of everyone!”

“I don’t know how that happened.”
Maggie answered, still maintaining a hushed tone, like a child being scolded by a parent.

“You don’t know how that happened?!  You were an equal party in that,
Maggie!”

“I know!” she finally yelled back.  “It’s just the dance and everything and the emotions...
You know what it’s like.”

“No, no, don’t you put this on me.  Yes I know that dance is about emotion.  Yes I know that sometimes there is passion behind the moves and the routines, but it is called ‘acting’
Maggie!  I’ve never just gone and kissed my partner for the heck of it!”

A silence had grown between them, one unlike any of the others that they had experienced before.  This one was uncomfortable.

“I don’t know what happened.”
Maggie finally replied.

“You kissed him!”

“I know!” Maggie yelled back.  “That’s not what I mean though.”

“Am I just blind?  Or stupid?  Did I miss the signs?  I don’t know what the hell is going on, Maggie!”

Maggie took a deep breath, her voice regulating.  “I meant I don’t know what happened between me and Danny.  Yes, I hated him. I couldn’t stand him most of the time.  I guess something just shifted one day.  And no, you are not stupid.” She said, reaching out to touch his face, but he recoiled.  “I tried to not let it happen.”

Caleb moved to sit on a bench outside of the hotel that housed the ballroom.  He looked so hurt, so defeated.  Maggie raised a hand again to touch his cheek in comfort, but retracted it quickly, before he could this time, realizing that she was the reason behind his pain and that she had no right.

“Remember when we had that big storm and the power was out in the city for like, hours?  Well, we were stuck at the studio and we got to talking.  I mean, there wasn’t anything else we could do to pass the time.  Anyways, I just got to know him and...” Maggie let the end of her sentence drift off for her and Caleb both knew where she was leading with it.  It was her getting to know Danny, by really talking to him that led her to develop her feelings for him.  “Nothing happened before today.” She added in a barely audible tone.

Caleb
held his head in his hands.  “I find it funny how you were so worried that I would turn out to be like Thomas, when it was you who did, in the end.”

Th
ere was no anger in his tone, only sadness and disbelief that all these events were taking place.  Maggie opened her mouth to retort, but all she could do was let the tears start to fall.

“
Do you want to be with him?” he questioned, not bothering to raise his head.

“I...”
Maggie started, not knowing how to answer.  “I love you.” She stated simply and truthfully.

“But do you want to be with him?” he questioned again, stressing the
last word in his sentence.

Maggie couldn’t help but look away from him.  She loved Caleb, she knew that was a fact, but there was something about Danny.  Something about the way she felt about him that was different, more powerful than anything she had ever felt before.  She darted her eyes around, trying to look anywhere but at him and also to try and divert any more tears from her eyes.  Her eyes fell upon the glass hotel doors to her left.  Just beyond them stood Danny.  He was looking right at her and her at him, and she felt herself not able to look away.  She knew she had her answer.

“Yes.” She said quietly.

Caleb raised his head slowly from his hands to look at her.  Maggie felt his eyes on her and had to break away from Danny for that moment.  Turning her attention to Caleb and seeing his face caused all those tears to start flowing.

“I am so sorry for hurting you.  I never meant for any of this to happen.  I tried to fight it, I tried so hard, but...”

“I know.” Caleb replied softly.  “It was similar for me with you.” He said with a quiet smile.

Maggie
’s hand went for his cheek again. She ran her hand down the side of his face to his chin.  Caleb leaned down and kissed her palm removing her hand from his face, kissing it one more time before getting up and walking in to the parking lot and away from her.  Maggie brought her palm to her mouth as she saw him head away until he was one with the darkness and then she fully broke down.

Danny watched from inside
the hotel as Caleb walked away.  It wasn’t until he saw her break down that he knew they were through, but whether that had been her choice or his remained unanswered.  Whoevers it was, Danny was certainly not able to stand there and watch her cry all alone.  He exited the hotel and headed straight for her, capturing Maggie in his arms.  She spun around and buried her head in his chest.  Breathing deeply, as if to take him in, she said three words that made his heart melt; “I chose you.”

Chapter Forty Eight

Maggie stayed curled up into Danny outside of the hotel for what seemed like hours.  He stroked her hair out of her face and brought it up to look at him.  With his thumb, he dried he tearstained cheeks while she tried to catch her breath.  She looked at him intensely and suddenly she pulled away.  “No.” was all she said before she turned and walked away, leaving him there alone.

Maggie headed straight for Taylor’s apartment.  In her “good luck” message, she let her know that Callie, along with Jake and Scott were coming over for drinks and to hang out so she knew she would find some people to tell her what to do. 

When she entered the apartment, her eyes puffy from crying and still wearing her performance dress, everyone knew something was wrong.  The guys excused themselves and went to hang out on the balcony, leaving the girls alone.

“
Maggie?” Taylor asked cautiously.

“I chose him.”

“Who, sweetie?”

“
Danny.  I chose Danny.  Ugh, I’m so stupid!” she cried out.

“Wait, what?” Callie asked, unaware that
Maggie was developing these feelings for Danny all along.

“I’ll fill you in
later.” Taylor said quietly to Callie.  “Maggie, what happened?”

In response to her question, Maggie went through everything that had happened that evening, ending with her leaving Danny outside of the hotel.

“You want him though, right?” Callie asked, trying
her best to catch up.

“I do.”
Maggie replied quietly.

“Then why aren’t you with him right now?”

“Because!” Maggie yelled.  She looked at her two friends who were urging her to continue.  “I’m mad at him.  He made me fall for him.  He made me break up with Caleb who was so amazing.  I broke his heart, you know that?  I did to him what Thomas did to me and that makes me an awful person!  At the beginning of everything he told me he would never do anything to hurt me.  Looks like I should have been the one trying to do that!”

“
Maggie, you are not a bad person.  And neither is Danny.  Yes, he put you in an awkward spot by admitting his feelings and everything to you knowing you were with Caleb, but he was just following his heart.  And that is what you did too when you let Caleb go.  Whenever there are feelings involved; be it with friends or people who are more than that, there is always going to be hurt.  And sometimes you’re on the receiving end, but sometimes you’re the one doing the breaking.” Taylor said, reasoning with her.  “Go to him.”

Maggie looked up at Taylor and then over to Callie.  They were both offering her reassuring looks.  Despite it all, she knew what she had to do.  Hugging both of her friends tightly before leaving, Maggie headed straight to the place she knew she would find him.  When she entered the halls of the darkened dance studio, she saw light peering out of Studio Three.  She opened the door slowly and there she saw him, dancing what she recognized as the routine from earlier today.  Catching her reflection in the mirrors, he stopped what he was doing and turned to face her.  They stood in silence a good ten feet away from each other, neither of them sure if they should, or could, make the first step.

“I’m angry at you, you know.” She said firmly.

“I know.”

“And the idea of being with you scares me.”

“Me too.” he replied honestly.
  “I don’t do relationships.  I mean, I’ve never done a relationship.  Hell, I’ve never even really dated.”

“
I hate mess and this is going to be a lot of that.” she said, pausing.  “But I think I might love you and I guess that means I’ll learn to deal with it.” She said, flashing a small smile before noticing a bigger one form on Danny’s face. 

The ten feet that had separated them were quickly closed as Danny came bounding towards her and picked her up in the air, spinning her around.  When he finally put her down, he cupped her face with his hands, his thumb tracing along her lips.  He slowly moved towards her and kissed her softly.  He pulled away and rested his forehead on hers before leaning down again and capturing her lips, this time with more passion than before. 

Maggie met his lips at each movement, hungry for him.  She didn’t second guess anything.  There was no overthinking.  Her lips knew what they wanted, her tongue meeting his pass for pass before he gently closed his teeth over it, causing her to groan and her body sink further in to his with the exhale.  Being here, kissing him, she knew that this choice, as hard as it was, was the one she needed right now and it felt right.

Chapter Forty Nine

“How’d you know I’d be here?” Danny asked quietly as he and Maggie sat in the studio, much like they did before when the storm hit.

“I knew where you wouldn’t be.”
Maggie said, referring to Caleb’s apartment where he had been staying.  Danny just nodded in agreement.  “And you’re like me; when you’re stressed or something is bothering with you, you do what makes you happy.  For me, that’s baking, and for you that is dance.”

“Oh really?” he asked.

“I may or may not have enough baked goods to feed an army around my apartment from the other night.” She said with a laugh.

Danny
just sat there watching her, the laughter coming from her made her even more beautiful.

“So,” she started, suddenl
y fascinated with the tab on his pants, “when do you go back to New York?”

“Hey,” he said, pulling her face up to his, “don’t worry about that right now, okay?  Besides, I’m my own boss, so it’s really an open-ended visit.” He said with a smile.

“But I thought you didn’t like Vancouver.” Maggie replied in a mocking tone.

“Ha ha.” He said sarcastically. 
“I don’t.  But you see, there’s this girl...” he trailed off, taking her mouth with his and stopping the need for words and explanations.  All they needed right now was this.

Danny didn’t know how he ended up here, with her, but his whole life was a whirlwind; going wherever the wind took him, whenever the spirit moved him.  He ended up here for a reason, he was a strong believer in that and all he could do was embrace (literally and figuratively) what was right in front of him.  Despite the fact that he felt like a little girl with the amount of butterflies in his stomach, the minute Maggie so much as touched him, they built up to so much more before finally disappearing and the feeling that followed he knew as comfort.