Thank God for Paul Hamm
Fandom: Sports Night
Pairing: Dan/Natalie
Rating: Either PG13 or R for the situation.
Word Count: 995
Notes: For michellek’s first lines drabble meme.
When he pulled out of her, he was as silent as he had been while inside her. Which, frankly, worried the hell out of Natalie, because what she and Dan had was built on talking. Not that she’d been so concerned with that seconds ago, because talking had been the last thing on her mind. As he rolled over and stood up though – granting her, it must be said, a rather nice back view – she was suddenly very aware of his silence, was terrified of what it might mean. His rising, picking his boxers up from the floor as he went, heading for the bathroom without a word to her, didn’t assuage her fears any, leaving her to lie on her side, looking at the clock, counting the minutes until he came back out.
She heard the toilet flush almost at once, but it was a long six minutes before he emerged, six minutes in which she’d had more than enough time to work herself up into a state, and she was in no mood to beat around the bush.
“Are you ever going to talk to me, Danny?” she asked as she sat up, pulling the sheet up over herself, taken aback at the rancour in her voice, as was he, if his abrupt blink was anything to go by.
“Natalie…” he began, but that’s all he got out before his voice trailed off, and he shook his head, for once at a loss for words.
Whether it was anger at him and the way he was acting, or at herself, over the fact that even in spite of his behaviour thus far, looking at him standing there, clad only in black boxers, she could think of nothing other than pulling him into bed, Natalie didn’t know, but either way, a flush of anger coursed through her system, loosening her tongue. “Would it make it easier if I hopped into the shower so you could sneak out and leave some money on the nightstand?”
She was shocked at the words, but nothing compared to Danny. Jaw agape, he looked as if she’d slapped him. “Nat-” he began, but she shook her head, standing up, intent on finding her clothes. No matter that this was her hotel room; she knew that if she had to stay here for much longer, look at this man, this bed, she was going to start crying.
“You don’t have to say anything Dan,” she
told him, finding a blouse, lightweight cotton to guard against the
She stopped talking abruptly when he gripped her firmly by the arms, turning her to face him. She dropped her clothes out of sheer shock, because he was holding her so hard that it was actually painful, and only the press of his body against hers kept the sheet from falling to the floor. What really made her gasp, though, was the look on his face; jaw set in obvious anger, eyes so angry that they were literally black. Well, that and the fact that, at this proximity, it was readily apparent that, for all his silence, his body was letting her know loud and clear that he wasn’t as indifferent to her as he appeared.
“Do you think that was all this was?” he demanded. “Do you seriously think that I’d risk everything we are for some Olympic sex?” Now it was she who was speechless, staring up at him dumbfounded, and he smiled, brushing a lock of hair back behind her ear. “Nat, if you knew how long I’ve wanted this to happen… you wouldn’t even think of asking that question.”
Her voice, when she spoke, was shaky, either from shock or some other emotion. “You wanted this?” He nodded, and her hands found the warm skin of his shoulders. “Why didn’t you say?”
“Because you were with Jeremy,” he reminded her. “And even when you broke up, we all thought it was only a matter of time before you got back together again… and even when you didn’t… you’re my best friend Nat. If I screwed that up…”
She laughed softly, amazed. “Danny, you could never screw that up.”
He smiled too, his hands tracing patterns on her back, the sheet slipping ever lower, and she didn’t really mind. “When you kissed me tonight… I wasn’t sure what it meant… I thought you were just excited about the result…”
“I was excited about the result,” she told him. “Also about the fact that it gave me an opportunity to test the waters…” Because the Sports Night control room had been in pandemonium when the final score went up, everyone trying to keep calm and do their jobs when all they really wanted to do was jump up and down screaming. Natalie, the ranking producer in Athens, had kept it together until she saw Dan, whereupon she’d run into his arms, and, with only half her brain aware of what she was doing, kissed him full on the lips.
When he’d kissed her back, she’d seen stars, and it had nothing to do with the Stars and Stripes being raised in the arena.
“Really?” Dan’s raised eyebrow and smug smirk brought her back to reality. “So tell me… what would you have done if Paul Hamm hadn’t stuck that final landing?”
Natalie gave a flippant shrug, because she had an answer for that too. “Let you take me out to drown my sorrows,” she said, and he threw his head back, pulling her closer to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her.
“I think I preferred it this way,” he said, and she couldn’t help but disagree.
“Actually,” she said, taking his hand and leading him back to bed, “I prefer it like this…”