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atths--twice · 1 year

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Chapter Six

An impromptu movie night seems like the perfect thing for a Thursday evening.

“Any big plans for this Thursday evening?” Fox asked Dana as she held a cup of coffee and joined him when her shift was over.

“No. Not really.”

“No more of the book to read?”

“Oh, there is that as I certainly didn’t read it all last night. I couldn’t and I also forced myself to go slow.”

“Any of the special treats left?” he teased and she smiled behind her coffee cup.

“Two.”

“I’m impressed. I would have eaten all of them.”

“Well,” she said, setting her cup down and sighing. “I almost did, but then…” She sighed again and looked around the diner.

“What?” he asked.

“I’m hardly ever on my own and for the past two nights, I have been. It’s been nice, don’t get me wrong, but… I miss Ivy so much.” She looked at him and he nodded, understanding completely. “Usually when I buy those treats, we share them and… it felt wrong to eat them all on my own. So, I’m saving the last two for her, for when she comes home. Or, actually until tomorrow night. My sister got me a train ticket to go up after work tomorrow and I’ll be staying with her for the weekend.”

“That’s great. For both of you. Well, all of you, I suppose.” He smiled and she nodded.

“What about you? Any plans? Or more writing to do?” She picked up her coffee cup and took another sip.

“No plans,” he said, shaking his head. She nodded as they stared at one another. “Would you… would you like to come over to my place and watch a movie? Anything you like.”

Her eyes widened and she cleared her throat, licking her lips as she set down her cup and clasped her hands together.

“You don’t have to,” he said hurriedly. “I don’t want you to feel you have to do anything you don’t-”

“I’d like to,” she said, looking down at her hands. “I… I like spending time with you.” She raised her eyes to his and he smiled slowly.

“I’d say the feeling is mutual,” he said and she drew in a deep breath, biting her lower lip and clasping and unclasping her hands. “How about we get some dinner and bring it back? Not sure if you’re hungry now, it’s pretty early, but… Or we could order in? Your choice.”

“Could we… could we get Italian? Something super rich and heavy?”

“Sure,” he chuckled. “Whatever you want. There’s a great Italian place a couple of blocks from here. But it doesn’t have an Italian name… it’s called um…

“Fiona’s,” she said and he snapped his fingers, pointing at her with a grin.

“Fiona’s, that’s right. Let’s call it in and pick it up on the way.”

__________

“This is your apartment?” Dana asked, standing in the entryway and looking around. “It’s…”

“I know. It’s… not as homey and warm as your place,” he apologized, setting the bags of food onto the kitchen counter and turning back to look at her. “I uh… I’m not here much.”

“Not at all, it’s beautiful. So… oh my God, look at your view.” She stepped further into the apartment and then glanced back at him. “A balcony? Can I… can I go out there?”

“Of course,” he said, setting his things onto a dining room chair, but keeping his coat on, he followed her to the balcony. She opened the door and stepped out, taking in a deep breath.

“Wow… it’s… it makes the city seem so peaceful and calm.” She stood at the railing and looked down at the city lights below, smiling as she did. “You must sit out here all the time with a view like this.”

“Uhh… no, not really. I’m not here much, like I said. Truthfully, I see more of the diner than this place.” He shrugged when she looked up at him.

“You don’t find it inspiring? The crisp air, the view, the furniture you have set up out here, and the quiet around you?”

“Funny thing about that…” he said, standing at the railing and leaning on his elbows. “I find the quiet and lack of people around me to sometimes be a hindrance. I get distracted when I’m here on my own. I’ll… reorganize the linen closet or clean out the fridge and then wipe down every shelf. Oh, one night I spent hours, hours, arranging my cd’s according to my music preference and then I had to get out of bed to put them in their proper alphabetical order because it was not sitting right with me.” She laughed and nodded, looking back out over the city. “I’m a menace to myself sometimes when I’m alone here.”

“It’s a beautiful view.” she said, laughing again. “But, I can see why you need to be away from it. Or you’d never get any writing done.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Hmm,” she hummed. “I wanted a place with a balcony, but with a child… I was worried for many reasons. I’ll have to visit you again when I have a hankering for relaxing on a balcony and gazing out at the city.”

“Anytime,” he said hurriedly. “You can come over anytime.” She looked at him and he began to stammer. “I… I mean… if… it’s just…” She laughed and he exhaled loudly. “I just meant, I’d… I’d like that.”

“Save you from alphabetizing your spices?” she teased and he looked away from her as he cleared his throat. “No! You haven’t!” She giggled and he smiled, glancing back at her.

“No. But see what you’ll be saving me from?” They both laughed and then headed inside, taking off their coats and laying them on the back of the couch.

He gave her a tour and she shook her head at the sight of the washer and dryer in the apartment.

“That would have been handy for me to have a few days ago,” she said with a sigh and he nodded in understanding.

They sat down to eat, the massive amount of food shared between them, along with a bottle of red wine.

“These are nice glasses,” she said, holding up a stemless blue wine glass. “I like them like this as there’s less chance of them being knocked over.”

“IKEA,” he said with a nod. “Most everything in here is from there.”

“Really?” she asked in surprise.

“Oh yeah,” he answered. “Makes it really easy to move when everything comes apart.”

“You move often enough to have that as a prerequisite for your furniture?” she teased, taking a sip of her wine.

“Not exactly,” he laughed. “But it comes in handy. Plus, it’s inexpensive and it all looks good together when you add pieces here and there.”

“You know,” she said, setting her glass down and reaching for a breadstick before looking around. “Now that you mention it, this room does look nearly identical to page 127 of the catalog.”

He let out a huge laugh and shook his head as she smiled and took a bite of her breadstick, after dipping it into her extra container of alfredo sauce.

They cleaned up, putting the leftovers in the fridge, when her phone rang and she excused herself to the balcony. He watched her through the glass door, smiling as she spoke to Ivy. She showed her the view from the balcony and though he could not hear her words, he saw the love for her daughter expressed on her face.

Not wanting to push his way into her call, he went to his bathroom, used the toilet and washed his hands. He considered changing his clothes into something more comfortable, but knowing Dana did not have that option, he vetoed the idea.

Hearing the toilet flush from the other bathroom, he felt it was safe to assume she was no longer on her call. Leaving his bedroom, he went to the living room to turn on the television and find a movie for them to watch.

She joined him and smiled as she refilled their wine glasses and brought them over to the coffee table.

“Ivy says hello and to tell you that she’s made more pictures to add to your fridge,” she said as she sat down cross legged on the chaise section of the couch.

“Excellent. I’ll take all I can get,” he said, picking up his glass and sitting down, smiling happily at her.

Settling on a movie, he jumped up to pop some popcorn and grab a couple of blankets.

Twenty minutes into the movie, he turned his head to ask her a question and found she had fallen asleep. Shifting somewhat, she was now half sitting, half lying down, her head on one of the large couch pillows, the soft gray blanket covering her.

He smiled as he watched her sleeping, his question forgotten. Turning the movie down slightly, he continued watching it until the credits began to roll and he picked a new one. Crossing his arms and setting down the remote, he exhaled and got more comfortable on the couch.

“Oh!” she said, about fifteen minutes later, stretching under the blanket. “I fell asleep.”

“You did,” he said with a soft chuckle.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, burrowing further into the pillow and sighing as she continued to stretch.

“No need to apologize.”

“It’s not even that late, so I can’t use that as an excuse,” she whined, her voice muffled and he laughed again. “I’m a terrible movie watching partner.”

“No,” he said, smiling at her and pausing the movie. “You’ve had a lot going on the past few days. It’s understandable that you’re tired.”

“No,” she said, sitting up and yawning. “I’m notorious in my family for doing it.” She smiled sleepily at him and sighed. “I don’t suppose you would want to rewind it?”

“This is a completely different movie,” he told her and her eyes widened.

“Jesus. I missed the whole thing?!” She whined again and shook her head as he laughed.

“I think you saw about twenty minutes of it. Maybe?”

“Oh…”

“I wouldn’t mind watching it again.”

“Fox, no. I was joking,” she said, looking at him and scoffing.

“Dana. Yes,” he replied, already going back to the previous movie and getting it ready. She sighed and he smiled at her, not minding in the slightest that he had just watched it.

Glasses were refilled again, the bottle now empty, and the leftovers were brought out. They finished them off as they watched the movie, talking and laughing.

She took her hair out of the bun, placing a small pile of bobby pins onto the couch, before then unbraiding the two braids. Running her fingers absentmindedly through the long soft waves they had created, the sweet scent of coconut hit his nose and his mouth went dry.

“Oh, he’s in love with her. I knew it,” she said in a singsong voice and he felt his cheeks burn, quickly looking away from her.

“Well,” he said, clearing his throat. “I knew that already, having recently seen the movie.” She laughed, glancing over at him as she twisted her hair around her fingers.

“Touché,” she said, smiling at him before looking back at the movie.

When it was over, she sighed happily and stood up, leaving the blanket on the couch as she stretched. Her pale blue sweater rose up her back slightly, a thin bit of her skin showing, and he forced himself to look away.

“Now it is late, hmm. I should be getting home.” She started gathering up the bobby pins, glasses and containers. He stood up to join her, leaving his own blanket on the couch.

A few minutes later, they left for her apartment as snow began to fall.

“Oh, I hope it sticks around. Just enough to be enjoyed, but not to be a nuisance,” she said, smiling as the flakes fell on her, clinging to her hair, hat, and coat.

“Supposed to have a storm soon, I think. Maybe you’ll get your wish,” he replied, smiling at the happiness on her face.

“Hmm, a storm that’s not too inconvenient. That’s what I wish for. One that stops the city for like a day, but no one is hurt or affected too much by it.”

“A good wish, indeed.”

“Yeah,” she said, sliding her arm through his and bumping against him. He smiled as he once again smelled the scent of her hair, closing his eyes briefly as he breathed in deeply.

People hurried past them, cursing the snow and she pulled closer to him, laughing at their annoyed words.

“How can people not love the snow? Especially when it’s just falling and things feel peaceful?”

“People are idiots,” he answered and she hummed in agreement.

Too soon, for him anyway, they had reached her apartment building. She wiped snow from her face and smiled at him.

“Thank you for dinner and the movie. I’m sorry you had to watch it twice.”

“Nah. It was better the second time.”

“Sure,” she laughed. “I’ve watched and immediately rewatched enough movies with Ivy to know that’s not exactly the truth.”

“I got to spend more time with my new friend, so it was worth it,” he said, shrugging his shoulders and smiling.

She looked down and then up at him, her blue eyes shining and a crooked smile on her lips. Nodding, she took a deep breath and quickly kissed his cheek, her own cheeks rather flushed when she stepped back.

Was it from the cold or her bold actions? He did not know and he did not care.

“Goodnight, Fox,” she whispered and he smiled with a nod.

“Goodnight, Dana.”

She took another deep breath and stepped toward the door. Another resident was leaving and held it open for her. She caught it with a quiet thank you and then looked back at Fox.

“See you tomorrow,” she said softly and he nodded.

“You will. Goodnight.”

“Night.”

She stepped through the door and waved goodbye as it closed. He waved back, turning to leave once she started towards the stairs.

“This snow,” a woman grumbled as she passed him.

He smiled and shook his head as he lifted his face, the cold sting of the flakes unnoticed as he could only feel the warmth of Dana’s lips as she pressed them to his cheek.

#the x files #xf fanfic #alternate universe #modern setting #movie night #hanging out together #dinner and a movie #laughter #getting to know each other #new friendships

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