chapter one
Oh my god. Oh. My. God.
Either that was a terrifyingly big spider on the fourth step of my stairway, or I was being delirious from lack of sleep. If this is what jetlag did to you then I was never coming back to England again. Spiders frightened me. It didn’t help that I was, regrettably, a self-confessed drama queen at times. I’d been gone from this house for six months and already it had been taken over by big creepy bugs. Loosing myself in my own thought track, I was snapped back to reality when the spider scuttled across the stair, causing me to squeal and jump back in fear. I pulled my mobile from my pocket. I had no other option.
I had to call for help from my older brother.
Wow, my life is so dramatic. It’s like an episode of the OC.
I found his number and pressed the green button on my phone and put it to my ear and after three rings, he answered.
“Harry?” I whispered down the phone, not taking my eyes off the spider.
“Hannah? Are you okay?” he asked, hearing the fear in my voice.
“No,” I began, “I need you to come over right now,” I told him.
“Why? What’s going on?” he questioned, sounding worried.
“There’s the biggest most ungodly creature on the stairs,” I said slowly. I heard him sigh in frustration.
“A spider?” he asked knowingly.
“Yes,” I confirmed, narrowing my eyes at the intruder in front of me.
“Gods sake Hannah. Can’t you just whack it a few times with a shoe or something?”
“No, Harry! That means going near it. Please come over and kill it, I’m only across the road?” I pleaded with him.
“I’ll send Danny,” he said finally.
“Who the hell is Danny?” I asked, running a hand through my hair. I was so behind in my brothers life since I moved out to America that I had no idea what he was talking about when he started speaking about a band called McFLY that he was in when I’d seen him the day before when he had picked me up from the airport. Danny could be his gay lover for all I knew because Harry’s voice got very boring when he rambled on for hours on the phone. I tended to just switch off.
“You know, Danny. The one I told you about yesterday. My band member?” Harry reminded me. Oops. I don’t recall listening to that part of the conversation.
“Oh, right yeah, Danny.” I lied, trying to sound convincing.
“He won’t be keen on killing it though- he’ll probably take it home or something. He’s very pro-life, you see,” Harry said, beginning to drone again.
“Great, tell him to hurry,” I said cutting him off and hanging up. I loved my brother but he needed to learn when to shut his mouth sometimes. I sighed, sitting down on the first step, eyeing the spider from the corner of my eye.
“Don’t move,” I told it firmly, getting up and making my way into the kitchen for a drink. The only thing I wanted to do was get into bed and preferably not come out again until next week. Not to mention that I’d forgotten how cold England was- even in summer. And I hadn’t paid my bills and my heating was off. I began making a cup of tea, my eyes growing more and more tired as I shuffled around the kitchen before I heard a knock on the door and I abandoned my mug to go and answer. I didn’t expect to be faced with a curly haired freckled man with the most amazing blue yes I’d ever seen and the warmest most contagious smile ever to have existed. But lucky for me, I did.
“Er, hi,” I said, taking in his gorgeousness. If that’s a word. “Danny, right?”
“That’s me,” he said, his word coming out in a thick northern accent. I could have melted right there. But luckily I didn’t. Because that would have been quite weird. “You’re Hannah, Harry’s sister, yeah?” he asked, holding out his hand for me to shake.
“Yeah, that’d right,” I grinned, taking his hand, noticing his freckles on his knuckles as I glanced down.
“And, would I also be right in saying that I’m here to get rid of a spider for you?” he said, raising an eyebrow and chuckling as I stood aside to let him in. I felt embarrassment flood through me. Thank you for sending your ridiculously good-looking band mate round, Harry, to tend to my childish needs- NOTE MY SARCASM. You never fail to make me look like a fool.
“Um, yes. That’s right. It’s through there, on the fourth step,” I told him, motioning towards the door that led to the stairs and he made his way over, peering up the stairs before letting out a low whistle.
“That’s big,” he said, pointing out the obvious.
“I know, I’m terrified of them,” I said, walking back over to my tea which was getting cold and taking it up in my hands and leaning back against the work surface. Danny returned again, his hands clamped together, presumably with the spider inside, and he shot me a cheeky grin.
“You should try and face your fears, you know,” he said, putting his clamped hands out towards me and taking a few steps forwards. I was so scared I nearly split my tea everywhere.
“NO, don’t come near me, please, just get rid of it,” I squirmed, moving away from him as fast as lightening, causing him to laugh and shake his head. I loved his laugh, at was contagious. I smiled at him nervously before he walked to the front door and I watched him set the spider down on the path outside and walk back inside to the kitchen sink where he began washing his hands.
“What if it finds it’s way back in?” I asked shakily, “you didn’t put it very far away.”
“It’s a spider, not a dog,” he laughed, “besides, it’s more scared of you than you are of it.”
“I think it’s safe to say that that’s debateable,” I nodded.
“Mhmm, you have a point,” he agreed, drying his hands on a tea towel. “Anyway, I best be getting back. It was good finally meeting you. No doubt I’ll be seeing you around,” he smiled. I nodded.
“Thanks, Danny,” I said, following him towards the doorway.
“Glad I could help,” he said with a wave as he walked out onto the path and down the road towards where Harry lived. I think Harry may have said that he shared a house, or something. I have no idea. But if Harry’s other band mates were even half as good looking as Danny, then I was going to be enjoying my stay a lot more than I thought I would…
DANNY ♥
myspace.com/sofiesunshine