OOM: A brief pit stop

[ami_imperfect]

It had been Sam's suggestion - her insistence, really - that the Fenton family (plus three) stop off at some warm location before returning to Amity Park. Fortunately everyone else had had as much of the Antarctic temperatures as she had, so there were no objections to a brief stop off in Chile on their way home.

Standing on the beach and watching the sunset, Dani still finds it hard to wrap her head around. She associated herself with Amity Park solely because Danny was there (then later because of Vlad because someone had to keep an eye on the fruit loop), but for the past two years "home" had meant Milliways. Eating meals down in the bar, being subjected to sudden wardrobe changes on holidays or for other reasons, training outside...being able to see Enzo whenever she wanted (or as often as his schedule would allow).

They hadn't even returned to Amity Park or begun moving her things out yet, but already Dani finds herself feeling homesick for Milliways.

Comments

[a1enzo]

He nods emphatically. "I... yeah. I didn't know it at first, but..."

[ami_imperfect]

"I- you... Wow."

You've just rendered your girlfriend speechless, Enzo. Congratulations.

[a1enzo]

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too."

[ami_imperfect]

There's more silence as Dani processes this new development.

"You...you're not just messing with me, are you?"

[a1enzo]

"No! Why would I do that?!"

[ami_imperfect]

"I- I dunno." She shrugs. "I guess...I was just so surprised..."

Dani sighs. "I've always wondered if you felt that way about me. 'Cause I feel the same way about you."

[a1enzo]

Enzo's breath catches.

"You... really?"

[ami_imperfect]

She nods.

"I just...didn't know how you felt. And then everything with Vlad and the asteroid, and telling Jack and Maddie...I thought it was too late to say anything."

[a1enzo]

Enzo utters a tiny laugh. "I was scared of that, too. Not now, I mean, once you're in Amity Park, and I'm back in my world..." He shakes his head. "Remember about Bob getting stuck in the Web? Him and Dot didn't tell each other before that, and then they didn't get to see each other for five years. I couldn't..."

[ami_imperfect]

Yes, let's not follow Bob and Dot's example there.

"Jeez... Now I'm glad we said something!"

[a1enzo]

"Copy-and-paste that!" He laughs. "I was... I think I was too scared to say it before... but I was way too scared not to say it now. Maybe that's why my mouth worked this time."

[ami_imperfect]

"Well, I'm glad it did," Dani grins.

[a1enzo]

"I'm glad yours did, too," he says, and leans forward to establish just how well their mouths are working.

[ami_imperfect]

Dani's pretty sure that her mouth is working fine, but she wouldn't mind testing it. Y'know, just in case.

[a1enzo]

Regular testing is important for proper maintenance of one's equipment, hur hur hur.

They must, alas, breathe at some point, but it's almost worth ending the kiss just to be able to say it again.

"I love you. I love you so much."

[ami_imperfect]

"I love you, too."

Which is only going to make their inevitable separation worse. Mentally Dani crosses her fingers that there's truth to that whole thing about absence and the heart growing fonder.

"But we'd better not mention this to Danny for a while. He might pop a vessel."

[a1enzo]

"I don't want to keep this a secret," Enzo declares giddily.

Beat.

"But I don't want to die, either. Okay."

[ami_imperfect]

"Well, maybe we'll tell him when there are more people around," Dani suggests. She's fairly certain that Danny wouldn't commit murder in front of witnesses.

[a1enzo]

And lying in wait in a dark alley is not really his style.

"Good call. Him and your parents," he says with a faint cringe.

[ami_imperfect]

"We'll have to make sure Jazz is around. And Sam," Dani decides. "They'll make them behave."

[a1enzo]

Enzo nods. "And Tucker... nah, he's having too much fun with the reporters."

The older boy vanished into a crowd of paparazzi in the hotel lobby several hours ago. Between the press's inability to leave people alone and Tuck's inability to shut up, he's the main reason the rest of the group have been able to get some rest and privacy. They'll probably be keeping each other busy for days.

[ami_imperfect]

"Yeah. We just have to be careful that it doesn't get blabbed to the reporters, 'cause then it'll be all over the newspaper."

Which the two of them probably don't want.

[a1enzo]

"That doesn't sound so bad," Enzo teases. "Then the other boys will know you're already taken."

[ami_imperfect]

"Yeah, but what if they ask a lot of questions about you?" Dani points out, all serious again.

(Okay, mostly serious.)

"I don't think we worked out your backstory for here as well as we did mine for when I visited your world."

[a1enzo]

"Ooh, yeah. And they already saw me as a ghost, but even with Vlad there're only supposed to be three halfas in the world, so they'd really want to know about another..."

Shoot. This is difficult.