I nodded my head.
"Does my honesty scare you?" Darcy asked.
Scare me?
No.
Thrill me?
Yes.
"No, I'm just a little... shocked? I don't really know. I never expected you to say anything like this to me, Darcy."
He nodded his head. "Trust me, I never planned on it, but it just feels right. I don't know why, but it does."
I gnawed on my inner cheek then said, "Maybe you have cabin fever and the isolation it starting to drive you mad."
Darcy looked at me and burst out laughing.
The tension that built up in the room fled within that moment, and I was very grateful for it.
"Be serious," he chuckled and nudged me.
I cleared my throat. "Deadly serious?"
Darcy nodded.
"Okay, it does feel right. I think because it's just us here together and we don't have our families around us trying to force us to be nice. We're being nice on our own terms, which is sort of a miracle in itself. I mean, did you ever imagine us ever being even remotely friendly to one another?"
Darcy grinned. "No, but I hope today is the first day of many we're friendly?"
I turned in Darcy's arm and raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you suggesting an indefinite truce between us?"
"Would that be so terrible?" Darcy asked.
I thought about it and could only come up with one answer.
I smiled. "No."
"Then yes." Darcy beamed. "That is what I'm suggesting."
"Say it," I chuckled.
He playfully sighed, "Neala Clarke, can we live out the remainder of our lives in peace?"
I pretended to think about it and Darcy shoved me making me laugh.
"Yeah," I giggled. "We can be friends."
"Friends." Darcy nodded.
Wow.
Talk about a strange turn of events, Father Christmas himself couldn't have predicted this.
"So we're friends... What do we do now?" I asked.
Darcy slumped down a little and said, "I've no idea."
I looked at him at the same time he looked at me and we both laughed.
"I'm sorry, too," I said and watched him smile at me.
I wanted to burst with excitement, but I somehow kept my cool.
"Our ma's are going to be so happy," I said, amused.
Darcy snorted. "I'd bet money they'll cry."
I nodded my head in agreement. "That's an easy win, they'll sob for weeks."
Darcy snickered, "Our brother's will be delighted, they won't have to break up our fights anymore."
I grinned. "They were getting too old for it anyway."
Darcy shook his head, smiling. "And our da's? I don't even think they'll notice."
I gnawed on my lip. "They'll at least high five, it means they don't have to listen to our ma's go on about us anymore."
Darcy mouth curved in a grin. "I think the entire village will rejoice. Birds will sing, Mothers will weep, cripples will walk-"
I cut him off with my laughter.
He hugged me tightly to him. "Does touching my penis creep you out so much now?"
Really?
Did he have to bring that back up?
"Darcy!" I whined and covered my face with both of my hands.
He cackled, "I'm only teasing."
"Well, don't. I've never been so mortified in me entire life than I was this morning."
Darcy had both his eyebrows raised when I looked at him.
"Really?" he asked. "Touching me hard on was worse than walking home naked from the Elite Swimming Pool after we graduated from school?"
I flushed crimson.
"Oh, my God. That day was all kinds of horrible, and you... you caused that!"
Darcy winced. "That prank did go a little too far."
I growled at Darcy, it went more than a little far.
The horrible indecent he was referring to was the day I graduated secondary school. It was the year after the situation with Trevor. I wasn't into drinking or acting a fool so I tagged along with a few lads and girls from my graduating class. We all decided to go to the local swimming pool, one of the lads in class got keys to it because his father was a lifeguard there. We had the pool all to ourselves, and it was a brilliant night - that was until Darcy, my brother, Justin, and some of Darcy's stupid friends showed up.
Once I saw Darcy at the pool in his trunks I knew I had to leave. I couldn't make Darcy leave because he just graduated school too so he had as much right to be there as me. I wanted to leave because Darcy would probably try to drown me, but if I was honest with myself, the main reason I wanted to leave was because it was the first time I saw Darcy in a new light, and it freaked me out. Darcy usually turned my stomach when I caught sight of him, but I'd never forget the moment looking at Darcy made me feel something other than ill. He made me feel... hot. I put this down to being shocked at seeing Darcy's body in his swimming trunks. We both would be turning eighteen in the summer of that year and it was around that time Darcy stopped being skinny, he started to fill out and I noticed.
Every girl noticed.
I tried to discreetly leave the pool, but it was never that easy with Darcy. The dickhead followed me into the girls changing rooms and whilst I was showering, he stole my clothes and swimsuit. He tossed them into the pool, and laughed his head off when I went out to the pool wrapped in a towel with a furious look about me.
"You and Sean flanked me the entire walk home and threatened death upon anyone who looked at me twice," I mused.
Darcy leaned his head back and laughed. "That was a bad day. The prank seemed like a good idea at the time, then I saw your endless legs in that tiny towel. God. I wanted to kill everyone who looked at you, even your brother which is saying something because he socked me one when he found out what I did."
I smiled to myself as I asked, "Why did you want to hit people for looking at me?"
Darcy looked at me and rolled his eyes. "You know why."
I really didn't.
"Nope, you'll have to enlighten me."
He groaned, "You enjoy torturing me, don't you?"
I sadistically smirked.
"Devil woman," Darcy growled.
My insides jumped at the delicious sound.
"Fine," he muttered. "I fancied you. There, I said it."
Darcy fancied me?
Me?
What the ever-loving hell?
This was huge news to me. Darcy fancied me! I thought the strange attraction that developed over the past few days was one sided between us. I thought I was crazy for thinking he was good looking, and feeling the way I was, but it turned out he was just as mad as me and I was bloody delighted about it.
"Past tense? You don't fancy me anymore?" I asked, and then flinched when redness stained my cheeks.
Oh, hello boldness.
Darcy look at me, and he looked as shocked as I felt.
The poor lad.
"I do," he said then cleared his throat. "Do you... do you fancy me? Or like me in that way?"
If he asked me that question last week I would have said no, even though I always thought he was attractive.
I never put a lot of thought into it because we always fought, but now if the butterflies and rush of heat when I saw him were anything to go by, then I would go with a definite yes.
"Yeah... I do fancy you," I admitted.
I couldn't believe I said it.
I couldn't believe it was the truth.
"Are you serious, Neala?" Darcy asked, his tone rough. "Because if you're playing with me it's not funny."