“I'm not trying to give you hassle,” Danny said, putting his hand in his head, “I'm just...god, I don't want to argue about this. Let's just forget I said anything.”
“Yeah,” she said. Then her phone buzzed. She opened it and a smile curled on her face. Speak of the devil. Danny scowled and finished off his drink, and immediately ordered another.
“I have to get going soon.”
“Ordered you back did he?”
“I'm in a relationship, we like to spend time together. It's called being courteous, something that you would know little about. Adult relationships are a lot different to the one night stands that you're used to Danny, so don't go judging me for something that you don't understand,” she said, and followed it up by draining her glass of wine and sending it back down to the table with a loud crash. Danny shifted his body so that he was looking away from her. She hung her head.
“Why do we always end up like this lately?” she asked.
Danny knew what he wanted to say but he thought better of it, and remained silent. Interrupting them was a group of three men that came up behind Carrie and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to face their smirks.
“Hey, I've always heard that fat chicks are better in bed because they try more, you want to try and prove that right?” Carrie flushed crimson and found her arms folding across her body, trying to hide it, just as she had done when she was younger. Danny stood up and flung his glass on the floor. It smashed and everyone turned to face them.
“What did you say?” he growled, stepping in between Carrie and the men.
“Are you her boyfriend?” the leader asked. Each of the men tensed and raised themselves to their full height but Danny was not intimidated by anyone. He stared back at each of them in turn, sizing them up and thinking about how he was going to hurt them.
“No.”
“Then it's not really your fight, is it, I was talking to the lady.”
“You're done talking,” Danny said, pushing the man's shoulder.
“Danny leave it, it's not worth it,” Carrie said, trying to pull him away, but once Danny felt the heat of anger rush through his blood he went into a red haze and there was little that could shake him from it. The bartender tried to calm them down but his words just echoed around them. It just so happened that on that night a cop had stopped into the bar for a drink after his shift, and he walked up to them.
“Is there a problem here fellas?” he asked, with a tone of voice that let them know they'd better not do anything stupid. Danny snarled.
“No, there's not officer, we were just leaving,” Carrie said, having to use all her strength to drag Danny away.
“I'm not bailing you out of jail again,” she said as they walked out of the bar. As they left Danny continued to look back at the men, glaring at them.
Chapter 2
When Carrie got home she kissed Martin on the cheek and smiled at the idyllic life they had built together in just a short few months. Things had changed dramatically ever since she had met Martin, and sometimes it scared her to think of how quickly her life was moving forward, but she reminded herself that it was what life was supposed to be like, and it was what she had wanted ever since she was little, or at least that's how she remembered it.
“Did you get those files sent off today? Jodie was on at me about them,” Martin said without looking up from the TV.
“Yeah, it was the last thing I did before I left,” Carrie said, dumping off her stuff and grabbing a yogurt from the fridge before settling down beside Martin, dragging his arm so that it rested around her curves. “What are you watching?”
“Oh, I don't know really, just some cop show. I'm not really paying attention. How were drinks?”
“Yeah, they were good, had a bit of trouble at the end though.”
“Oh, what's up?”
“Just some stupid guys making stupid comments. Danny was ready to blow up at them.”
“But you're okay?”
“Oh yeah, there was a cop there so he came and defused the situation, which was great because it's hard to stop Danny when he feels like he wants to be a hero.”
“Well, I'm just thankful that he was there. I hate the thought that anything could happen to you.”
“I was fine. They weren't the first stupid guys I've had to deal with and I don't need people to fight my battles for me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of things myself.”
“No, but it's always nice to have someone in your corner, especially someone as strong as Danny,” he said. Then, after a few moments of silence he added, “But don't you think it's a little strange that the two of you are so close?”