Danica��s heart was beating faster, even though she was talking to her only friend there, Richard Allias. She understood that Troy was near her room, which was the only reason for her to get the dej�� vu.
��Okay, so will everything fall in place once you return to New Jersey, Dani?�� questioned Richard, through the phone.
Sensing that Troy heard whatever she was talking about with Richard, she decided to explain it to him. He must be hurt, she thought. ��I will talk to you later, Richard.�� With that, she cut the call. She was in comfortable capri pants which she wore with a white t-shirt. She rushed to Troy��s room, without knocking. ��Troy, are you fr���� her words were left forgotten as her eyes fell on Troy��s fine abs.
He was shirtless��more like he was changing clothes when Danica burst into his room without knocking. He looked at her and instantly, took the nearest white t-shirt, putting it on. ��Is everything okay?�� He walked to her, fearing that she was hurt or something.
Danica averted her gaze. ��I should have knocked. I am sorry for not knocking. It just slipped from my mind.��
He gave a faint smile. ��It��s okay. Not that you haven��t seen me shirtless. Remember, in high school, when you spilled water on my shirt and I had to change, and both of us were stuck in the library for the night?��
She remembered that incident back in sophomore year. She spilled water on Troy��s shirt when they were alone in the library. They had received a punishment to do their homework in the library instead of detention in class. But it was late and there was a power cut in the school, so the janitor locked the library, unaware of two students doing homework. As Danica was scared, Troy handed her some water, which she spilled on his shirt. At that moment, the electricity returned, and he had to be shirtless just to avoid catching a cold. The library had a heater, so it didn��t create a problem and by morning, his shirt had dried up. That night, they slept on their respective chairs, but Danica��s head was on Troy��s shoulder.
She laughed and said to Troy, ��I still wonder why we didn��t call anyone through our cell phones. We were so dumb.��
��I know, right?�� He chuckled.
Danica noticed Aziel sleeping on Troy��s bed. She arched a brow at Troy. ��Did Hernan carry him here?��
��Yes.�� He told her, ��Let��s have a cup of hot chocolate, shall we? Talking here will disturb his peaceful sleep.��
She noticed Aziel��s face looking a little bit pale. She shrugged off the thought of Aziel being sick and agreed to Troy��s offer. ��Will you make it?�� she asked curiously.
��I might,�� he responded and grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to him. ��But the ChocoVivo Caf�� is open twenty-four hours.��
___
��Why are you working on the night shift, Stacy?�� Danica asked Stacy from the counter, being worried.
Stacy smiled softly. ��I missed a shift, so this is how I am covering up for it. Otherwise, the boss would cut off money from my payment.�� She looked at Danica and Troy, before giving a teasing look and said, ��Never knew it all would happen so fast, but I was expecting it.��
Danica rolled her eyes, while Troy winked at Stacy saying, ��Long time no see, Stace. Give us the usual one.��
��This boy would never change,�� mumbled Stacy. ��Have a seat and your hot chocolate will be there soon. Late-night dates are more romantic than the normal sunny day ones.��
��True. I love them,�� agreed Troy.
��Same,�� said Danica and they made their way to a table. Troy pulled a chair for Danica before sitting on his chair. ��You don��t have to pull a chair for me. It seems so formal.��
��This is courtesy,�� and my love for you��he wanted to add it, but he refrained himself from doing so. ��Dani, I���� he was interrupted by Danica.
��Richard is the only friend I have there. We are just friends and he is into boys,�� she said at one breath.
��Why are you clearing it out? I didn��t judge.��
She placed her cold hands over his warm ones. ��I know. I just wanted to let you know.��
He looked deeper into her hazel eyes, trying to unfold all the secrets she didn��t share with him yet. She would open up by herself, just like she did right now even though I didn��t even utter Richard��s name, he thought to himself.
��Coffee,�� a waitress announced and placed it next to them, not wanting to disturb the ��Tronica�� moment. The waitress could��ve given them coffee a few minutes ago if she wasn��t busy clicking pictures of Troy and Danica just to post it online. She was one of the die-hard fans of the couple after all.
��Dani,�� he took a deep breath and further spoke, ��I am sorry you got pulled into this mess for me. I know you came to enjoy the vacation with Aziel. You didn��t want to be an overnight celebrity. I am really sorry. It was me who wanted to prank Gabrielle, and then it ended up being like this. I feel so guilty. I know I cannot change the past, but we can cherish the present and see what our future holds.�� He wanted to say all these for quite a while but didn't know how to bring it up.
Smiling warmly at him, she rubbed Troy��s hands, comforting him. ��Hey, it��s okay. I didn��t stop you from apologizing because I wanted you to let it all out. I am slowly adjusting to this celebrity life, so don��t worry. I am happy as long as Aziel is happy,�� and as long as you are happy��she wished to add it to her words, but she didn��t; it would make Troy sure that she likes him, and she didn��t want to lose her best friend once again. Danica claimed it as a crush, but she understood that it was definitely that she liked Troy. If she didn��t, the crush wouldn��t have lasted. Besides, who wouldn��t like the adorable Troy Kingston?
��Really?�� he questioned, still amazed by her answer and how understanding she was.
She nodded.
They talked for a while, enjoying the time together. Once they reached home, it was already midnight.
��Well, do you want to say goodnight to Aziel?�� Troy asked, standing in front of the door of his room, while Danica in front of hers.
��I will just mumble goodnight and kiss his forehead. I can��t sleep until I do that to him,�� she answered biting her lips lightly.
The two of them entered Troy��s room. As soon as Danica kissed Aziel��s forehead, she realized that his forehead was burning and that he was shivering in the cold.
Aziel had a high fever.
