The Honest Conversation

Darcy waited through the entire next day and even the day after. 

On the third day, when Cayden didn't reach out to her, distress settled in. 

Has he given up? Is he tired? Does he no longer find any interest in her? 

These questions plagued her thoughts, and despite telling herself not to appear desperate, she found herself at the Rollingspin Café. 

"Oh, hello!" Rose chimed in pure bliss as she saw Darcy. 

To her, Darcy was still the most amazing and badass woman she had ever witnessed in her life. 

Meanwhile, Jack, who was a bit intimidated by Darcy after witnessing the last encounter, sneakily slithered away to a safe distance, ensuring there would be no communication between them. 

"Hello," Darcy slightly smiled, her eyes scanning the back area of the counter. Rose caught onto the situation, well aware of the tension between Darcy and her boss. 

"Are you looking for our boss?" Rose asked with excitement. Darcy cleared her throat, shaking her head. Despite her attempt to downplay it, Rose went ahead to offer assistance. 

"Actually, he caught a cold two days ago. We thought it would go away in a day, but I guess it's a bacterial infection. He's still feeling under the weather," Rose shared, watching Darcy closely. 

Her gut feeling was right; Darcy had gone to the café to find her boss. 

Hearing that Cayden was sick put a worried frown on Darcy's face, and without saying anything, she left the café. 

Rose clasped her hands together and swung side to side. "Oh, to be young and in love," she stated, and Jack behind her scoffed. 

"She is probably at least a decade older than you," he commented as he had finally returned behind the counter. 

Rose gave him a death glare. "Can you stop referring to me as a child?" she said annoyed, and Jack chuckled, enjoying her reaction. 

... 

Doing something as minuscule as ringing a doorbell was new for Darcy; she'd typically either destroy the door to gain entry to her destination or have other people open the doors for her. 

When the door finally swung open, Cayden, with wide eyes, looked at her, utterly surprised to find her at his doorstep. 

"What are you doing here?" he asked through his mask, bewildered. 

Darcy, though worried, concealed her emotions well or so she thought. "Am I not allowed to?" she asked, tilting her head, and Cayden immediately shook his head, inviting her inside. 

"Is it really bad?" Darcy asked, pointing at Cayden's mask as they headed to the common room. 

"It has gotten better, but I think it still could be contagious, so that's why I wear a mask in front of people," Darcy slowly nodded her head, relieved that his condition didn't seem too severe. 

Now, they found themselves awkwardly sitting on a sofa, on opposite ends, as the tension in the air kept rising. 

"So," Darcy was the first one to break the silence. "I just went to the café and found out that you were sick." 

"It must be Rose; she does tend to overshare," Cayden nervously chuckled. 

"Did you come to visit me because I was sick?" he turned his head to Darcy, his eyes sparkling at the thought of Darcy visiting him out of concern. 

Darcy cleared her throat, looking away from him immediately. "I actually have been meaning to talk to you, and that too--" Darcy mumbled the last part, and Cayden's happiness soared. 

The red blush on his face was visible even with the mask on, and Darcy found it adorable. 

"Does it look like I am hesitant around you?" Darcy asked, directly jumping to her point, and Cayden frowned as he shook his head. 

"No, you look confident to me no matter the situation. Even last time you came to my house, you were so serious; your eyes were almost going gray," Cayden teased, and Darcy looked at him dumbfounded. She didn't know he could make fun of her like that. 

"Even when you're sick, you act like a cheesy brat," she said, squinting her eyes at him, and Cayden chuckled. He was happy that the tension in the air had decreased with the flow of their conversation. 

"I actually think I am very nervous around you," Darcy honestly confessed, and Cayden thought for a few seconds before speaking. "Isn't it a good thing for me? It means you think differently about me?" Cayden was expecting a favorable answer. 

"Maybe, maybe not. You know the line of my work does not allow people like you near us, so your behavior always catches me off guard," Darcy was following Gabriel's advice and speaking honestly. 

"Even if I pose no danger to you, it does not mean no one else would too. I would say I have a lot more enemies than allies who are behind finding a weakness that I would offer to them anytime, and till now, I had no such weakness. But if you come in the picture like this, you are practically begging to be killed." 

Darcy warned him, but this time she chose genuine words and spoke softly, matching Cayden's pace. It was unlike the last time when she was deliberately trying to push him away by scaring him and portraying herself to the danger. 

"So, you are saying that if we are dating, I will be in danger?" Cayden asked, playing with his fingers, and Darcy nodded her head. 

"Then does it mean that you are reciprocating my feelings?" he asked, looking into Darcy's eyes with anticipation, and it sounded ridiculous to her. 

"That is not the point I was discussing, though," she said and sighed in frustration. 

"But that is more important to me – if you like me back. After father from the orphanage, you are the second person who has given me a sense of protection." Cayden's voice grew hoarse as he spoke more because of his inflamed throat, but his emotions were raw, and it heightened Darcy's heartbeat. 

"People around me used to say that's what a family is about – they keep you safe. I have never known what it's like to have a family, so getting a chance to feel something like that is more meaningful to me than worrying about the dangers that may lurk around me." 

Cayden felt like he had opened up about the most vulnerable feelings within him, and Darcy was extremely touched. She, at least, had a mother who loved her, so she knew what a family was supposed to be like. But Cayden had never known something like that. 

"But it's not just this. Although I've never had romantic feelings like these before, it doesn't mean I've stayed away from men. I've had countless men in my bed, but I discard them right after I get what I want." Darcy observed Cayden's eyes carefully, and she could see that he was pretty surprised by the news. 

"There is always a chance that I am attracted to you for the same reason. It might be nothing but a fleeting emotion. And by how you are thinking of me as family, you are bound to get hurt," Darcy expressed, not enjoying the feeling of discussing her past as someone who basically was a fuckgirl, to Cayden but she knew it was a part of her and needed to be there. 

"If you're considering the possibility of me getting hurt, then doesn't that speak volumes already?" Cayden replied in his cheerful, albeit hoarse, voice, leaving Darcy puzzled. 

"I do think you care about me more than a fling. How many times have you gone and saved some guy like me or visited them when they were sick or just were curious about them?" 

Cayden's words made a lot of sense, convincing Darcy that her feelings were indeed stronger than she let on, even to herself. However, she was even more surprised by how spot-on he was about everything. 

"You're not as childish as I thought, I guess," she said seriously, noticing the change in Cayden's mood. It was as if he was pouting behind his mask. 

"I'm not childish at all," he mumbled, he definitely was pouting. 

But then, he completely changed his mood in a fraction of a second and he was looking at Darcy again with eyes that looked like there was stardust scattered in them. "So, does this mean we are dating now?" The smile behind the mask was way too obvious, his cheeks meeting his eyes. 

Darcy cleared her throat, trying not to sound rude, "Well, about that, I would like to keep things between us, at least for the time being. Your safety is the main reason, but I won't deny that suddenly having a boyfriend would give a heart attack to my people with the hard launching." 

To Cayden, she didn't sound rude at all. In fact, he even liked the sound of being referred to as her boyfriend. 

"No problem, I can wait," he said cheerfully. "Oh, I wish I did not have a cold. I want to hug you so bad," Cayden raised his wiggly hands in the air with frustration, and Darcy just smiled subtly. 

She hoped that everything would go fine, but she knew that it wouldn't be easy. She would have to be very careful from now on.