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Sarah has been Ross's PA and a backup editor for the past two months. It was an unexpected dream job. She had been a fan of the Game Grumps for the past few years, particularly a fan of Danny and Arin and Ninja Sex Party. While Ross loved to torture his friends, he was an undemanding boss and Arin was pretty laid back as well. In all the time she's been there, she had yet to talk to Danny. He was always busy and never alone. She couldn't bring herself to try. After her first couple weeks Ross caught her watching Danny across the office while he was talking with Brian. "Have you talked to him yet?" Ross asked. Sarah turned around startled. She didn't hear him come up behind her. "He's always busy, I don't want to bother him" She tried to turn her attention back to organizing their weekend camping trip. Arin, Danny, Ross, and Holly were due to have a four day weekend at a cabin by the lake. It was the middle of winter, everything was snow covered and frozen over. After double checking the list she had, she turned back to Ross. "Everything's packed from the office. All that's missing is your laptop. I know Holly took care of her own stuff. Is there anything else you need for the day?" "No, i think we're good. Plus it’s getting pretty late. Tomorrow's a short day so we can get to the cabin while it's still light out. I'll see you in the morning for the normal last minute stuff." "If you're sure that's it. Night Ross." After one last glance at Danny, she grabbed her own stuff and headed home for the night.
Once Sarah was out the door, Ross hurried over to Arin to pull him aside. "Hey Arin, do you have a sec?" "Yeah, what's up?" Ross made sure no one else was within earshot. "Holly doesn't really want to go on this trip, she doesn't want to leave her birds. You mind if Sarah comes instead?" "Your PA? I guess if she's up to it. Why her?" Ross got a stupid grin on his face. "Danny's still single right?" "Yeah. He's had the occasional date but nothing for a while now. Why do you ask?" "I keep catching Sarah watching him but she won’t go talk to him. I know she wants to.” Arin’s face went flat as he glanced back at Danny real quick. "Are you fucking serious? He's been wanting to talk to her for the last month but she’s always busy. I just saw her leave, go catch her before she gets to her car. Give her time to pack something tonight, if she wants to come." Ross took off and ran out the office, down the stairs, and out the back door to the parking lot.
While Ross was off outside, Arin went over to Dan and pulled him away from Brian, into the privacy of the recording room. "Dude, what the hell?" "There's a change of plans for this weekend. Holly can’t make it so Ross is asking his PA, Sarah." At that, Dan's face lit up a bit. "Really? I mean..really?" "Yeah, you'll finally get a chance to talk to her. Four days out alone in the woods, miles from civilization. More or less alone." "You made that sound really creepy." "I try."
Outside, Ross caught up with Darah. "Hey, Sarah, wait up!" Sarah turned to face Ross just as she sat down in her car. "What’s up? Did I forget something?" "No, no, just a change of plans for tomorrow. I just got a call from Holly. She can't make it tomorrow and I asked Arin about you coming instead. He okayed it. This way anything we record can get edited faster. If you don't mind." "I've got nothing going on this weekend so I'm free." "Cool. See you in the morning with your stuff." Ross caught the start of a blush before she closed her door and headed home.
When he got back up to the office, he spotted Dan and Arin through the recording room window. He made his way over there and let himself in. "She agreed to come. Did you tell him?" he asked Arin. "Yeah, that's why we're in here." Dan looked back and forth between them then turned to Arin. "Wait ,did you tell him?" "Yes, but in my defense, he told me first that she's been wanting to talk to you too. Both of you are too chicken to do anything first. This would be a good opportunity. You're not seeing anyone now, right?" "No, not for maybe a year. Too busy honestly but it has been lonely at my place since Barry moved out." Ross sat down on the arm of the couch. "She doesn't talk a lot but she’s been good around here. She has this knack for knowing when she’s needed." They all continued talking about the trip out in the main office for a while before splitting up and heading home.
Sarah drove home with her heart racing. She never got invited to things, not for years at least. She really didn't have anything to do this weekend but her thoughts still raced. While both her boss's would be there, Dan would also be there in a lot smaller setting than the office. She hoped she'd finally get a chance to talk to him. The first thing she did when she got home was pack. Normal clothes, check. Outside winter wear, check. Pj's, bathroom stuff, check. Looking at the clock, she skipped her gaming for the night, took a quick shower and went right to bed.
The next morning, work went by like normal till noon. While everyone else broke for lunch, Ross announced he wasn't going and Suzy was going to take his place. He didn't want to leave Holly alone for the long weekend. Arin and Danny were fine with this and a little relieved. They'd still be able to work on some Starbomb material, and not having Ross around to pester them would be a good thing. Without Holly around to keep him in check, sometimes he went a bit far in torturing his friends. By 1230 Arin’s SUV was packed with him and Suzy in the front seat, and Danny and Sarah in the back.
The four hour drive was uneventful. Arin and Suzy switched off driving every hour while Danny fell asleep with his lyric notebook on his lap. Sarah had her headphones on trying very hard to not watch Danny sleep. It was hard to see his face through his hair but he looked so peaceful. Unknown to her, Suzy saw this in the mirror and caught Arin’s attention with her elbow. After sneaking a look himself, they just smiled at each other.
Once they arrived at the cabin, Sarah was the first out of the car. She needed the fresh brisk air to clear her head. Arin woke up Danny by opening the door he was leaning on. That brought a curse out of him but the seat belt kept him from falling out. Sarah and Suzy began unloading the car while the boys took to starting a snowball fight. Within fifteen minutes everything and everyone was inside. Sarah wasn't sure who won the fight. They were both equally soaked with chunks of snow matted in their hair. Sarah volunteered to make dinner while Suzy ushered Arin into their bedroom to warm up and Danny went to his room to change. The cabin consisted of two bedrooms on either side, the living room in front with a hall going back to the kitchen and one bathroom.
Sarah was so occupied in the kitchen making grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for everyone, she didn't hear Danny come around the corner. "Can I help with anything?" She was so startled she nearly dropped the can of soup she was about to pour in the pot. "Thank you, but I’m just about done." She turned to face him and couldn't help but stare. His hair was tamed back in a poofy ponytail and he was wearing a unicorn shirt with multicolored stegosaurus pj pants. She couldn't stop staring at him. "N-nice pants." "Thanks. A fan sent them to me a while ago. Arin says they look the floor of an eighties arcade." "That they do. Can you let them know foods up? They've been in there for a while." She felt her cheeks begin to flush and turned back to the pot. After he turned and left, she grabbed a bowl and grilled cheese for herself and headed out to the living room. She left the large sofa open for them and made herself comfortable in the single recliner in the far corner of the room.
Being the newest Game Grump hire, she still felt like an outsider in this tight knit group. She was okay with that though. She had been by herself for so long, real human contact was foreign to her anymore. She felt it was safer that way though for herself. She was hurt once and didn’t want to re-experience that again. But a small part of her longed to be able to be that close to Danny.
After everyone was done eating, Sarah volunteered to do the dishes before it got too late. While she was in the kitchen, should could hear Arin and Suzy arguing whether they should watch or play something. Suzy ended up winning by putting on Futurama. Danny came up behind her in the kitchen again but this time she heard him. "Can I help with the dishes? Not fair that you're stuck doing everything. I can dry." "There's a dishwasher but thank you. I'm almost done already." She turned to smile at him and he returned it with one of his own. "When they go to bed, i’m gonna borrow Arin's switch to get some Mario Party practice in. if it's not too late for you, would you like to play with me?" "Sure but dibs on Shy Guy. I always take him in when he's an option." "You play games?" Danny obviously got a bit happier, he had finally found common ground to approach Sarah on. "Yeah. I own pretty much every mainstream system from Atari 7800 up through the Switch. Don't have the Xbox One or PS4 though." "You can't possibly be old enough that that's your Atari." "Technically, no. It was my dads. I’m thirty-four. I played it when i was old enough to understand it." "Did you bring your Switch?" "No, but I brought my laptop. I have some games on Steam i was going to play." Danny still managed to help with the dishes by adding the detergent and closing it up to start it. Sarah made her way back to the living room and unpacked her laptop.
When Danny saw her with her laptop out and headphones on, he plopped down on the large couch next to Arin. leaning over towards him, he whispered, "Finally talked to her. I need your Switch when you guys go to bed. We're gonna play some Mario Party." "It's about time. And yeah, sure. I'll get it out of my bag before we pass out." Suzy looked looked around Arin to Danny. "It's about time you talked to her. She's obviously interested in you." "You think so?" Arin just laughed at him. "Dude, Danny Sexbang you are not sometimes." "Give me a break. My last girlfriend was a bit on the crazy side." Suzy shook her head and shifted her attention back to the tv. Arin patted him on the head then looked over at Sarah. "What do you think shes playing?" "I don't know. She said she had Steam but there's a thousand games on that." Danny looked around the living room to the two side bedrooms. "Where is she sleeping? I was originally going to sleep in your room Arin, and Ross with Holly." "I talked to her this morning about that. She's okay with sleeping on the couch. She did it a lot in her college days."
By the time ten pm came around, Arin and Suzy decided it was bedtime. Arin came back out for a moment to give Danny his Switch case. "You know how to plug it in?" "Yeah, just an HDMI cable." "Night man. Good luck." He clapped Danny on the shoulder as he went back to the bedroom. Dan looked over to Sarah, still engrossed in whatever she was playing. She didn't see him come over and lean over her shoulder to watch. When she saw movement to her left and looked over, she almost dropped her laptop. She wasn't expecting him there that close. She yanked her headphones off. "Uh, hi. What’s up?" “What are you playing?" "Spellforce 2. It’s an RTS-RPG." "The guys went to bed, you ready for Mario Party?" "Yeah, let me save and shut this off." She saved her game and shut down and packed her laptop up for the night. She then joined him on the couch, sitting on his left.
"Which controller do you want?" He asked her while holding up the blue and green one. Sarah chose the green one, knowing blue was his favorite color. He finished setting up the game and started a fifteen round game in the Megafruit Paradise map. She had her shy guy character and Danny was naturally playing Luigi. Within two rounds, Sarah had a lead with the first start. She was trying so hard to concentrate on the game but she couldn't ignore that Danny was sitting inches from her. She could feel the heat from his body. Part of her wanted to flinch away, it had been so long since she'd been that close to anyone..but..it was Dan. After she got her star, she decided to break the silence. "You know, I was at one of your concerts earlier this year." "Really? Which one?" "Houston. I was in early for the Q&A. You actually picked me to ask a question." He paused the game and turned to look at her, searching her face for something. "I knew I saw you somewhere before you came here. You were the girl with the blue Yoshi shirt. You asked about Granny Sexbang." She nearly dropped her controller as she stared at him. "Yeah..how do you remember that?" "Your eyes and earrings. Didn’t you have a lip ring in?" She unconsciously touched her lower lip. "Yeah, I did. I don't wear it most of the time. Sometimes on the weekend to keep the hole open." "I'd love to see it again. What were you doing in Houston?" "I was finishing up some personal stuff. I left some things unfinished before I moved out here." "Why'd you move out here?" At that question her face clouded over a bit. "I had to get away. the last few years there were real bad." Danny wasn't sure if he was about to cross a line but he felt the need to comfort her. "What happened?" Sarah looked down at the controller in her lap. "I had a boyfriend for a long time. Things were going great. But then I got into a car accident. Some guy ran a red light, crashed into the left side of my trunk. The injuries i got from that, he had to stay home from work for a few months to help me. Because he was gone from work for so long, his office decided he wasn’t needed there anymore and let him go. He blamed me for getting fired and left me. I tried to turn to my one good friend for help but she was busy with her own family and couldn’t make time. Most of my own family was gone, old aunts and uncles that never had kids. Parents were already gone at that point. All I have left is a piece of shit brother and i haven't talked to him in years." Danny wanted nothing more than to hug her tight in that moment but it didn't quite feel like the right time. "Things were dark for a couple of years. I finally hit a point where I just had to leave. Start over. I moved out here a year and a half ago." "Do you have any friends out here?" "No. I haven't gotten close to anyone since he left. That was four years ago." Dan reached under her chin so he could see her face and was immediately sorry he had pried. Her eyes had kind of a vacant look and there were a couple tears down her cheeks. "I am so sorry. I never should have pried like that. Listen to me. You’re a Grump now. We're your family now." He pulled her to his chest to hug her tight. "Even if you're the quiet little sister sitting in the corner, you're still family now." She let herself lean into him and squeezed her eyes shut. she took a second to collect herself then pushed his hands against his chest. "Sarah, please, i'm really sorry. I shouldn't have asked." She got up off the couch and grabbed a small bag from her suitcase. "No, it’s my fault. I've been alone for too long. I shouldn't have said anything. I don't know what came over me. I’m sorry. I need to go take a bath before bed." With that she disappeared down the hall into the bathroom.
Danny leaned against the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling. He couldn't believe how much he screwed up his first chance with her. He knew he needed some way to fix this. For the next twenty minutes he went over his lyric notebook while he waited for her to come out. When she did come out, she froze at the sight of him waiting on the couch. She expected him to go to bed. As soon as he heard her come out, he dropped his notebook and stood up to stare at her. Her hair was wrapped up in a messy bun and she was wearing a noodle strap black satin shirt with long matching pajama pants. Her eyes were still red and puffy. He took a few quick strides to her and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Can you please forgive me? This isn't how I wanted this weekend to start." It took her a moment to wrap her arms around his waist. "It's not your fault. I shouldn't have brought it up. I don't know why i did." They stood like that for a couple of minutes before she pulled away. He didn't want to let her go but he did. She went back to the couch and sat down. "Do you want to finish this game or watch something or are you going to bed? It's getting pretty late." "I’m okay to watch something if you are. I keep terrible hours normally so this is still early for me. Did you bring anything to watch?" "I have Game of Thrones on my computer." He agreed to watch that so she switched the HDMI cable from the Switch to the back of her laptop.
After Sarah sat back down next time him and the first episode began to play, Danny put his arm around her shoulder and lightly pulled her to lean against him. She didn't resist and laid her head on his shoulder. After a little while her eyelids began to grow heavier and she leaned more into his side. "Ignoring earlier, this is nice. I've forgotten what it's like to be this close to someone." He looked down at her and saw her eyes closed. "We can finish this tomorrow night. You should sleep." "I’m okay to finish this episode." She murmured. "Let me scoot over so you can lay down at least." He shifted over a bit then she rested her head on his thigh. He had to concentrate to ignore the proximity of her face to him and the current scene playing out on the TV was making that difficult. Within a few minutes he could feel her breathing slow and her muscles relax. He gently slid out from under her head and placed a pillow underneath. He found a blanket and laid it over her. After kissing her forehead, he paused the video and closed the lid on her computer to put it in sleep mode and shut the TV off. After one more glance over his shoulder at her, he went to his bedroom and closed the door.
The next morning dawn came too early. Danny's window faced the east and he was startled awake by the bright sunlight in his face. He groaned when he looked at the time. 6 am was way too early for him. He got up and poked his head out the door. Sarah was exactly how he left her on the couch and Arin and Suzy's door was still closed. He took the opportunity to get an early shower in. His scruff was coming back be he decided to forego shaving today. There was a music video shoot coming up and he needed it to be at long. He then took it upon himself to make breakfast for everyone, scrambled eggs and bacon. The smell of bacon frying brought Arin out of his room, shortly followed by Suzy. They both saw Sarah still asleep on the couch so they quietly made their way to the kitchen. Arin began helping himself to the food. "How'd last night go?" Danny took a moment to answer. He didn't want to tell him everything. "It could have started better but it ended well. We ended up watching some Game of Thrones till she fell asleep."
He made a plate for Sarah then headed over to her to gently wake her up. He hated to disturb her but there was work to do today. She rolled onto her back and did a full body stretch. She got up and folded the blanket up and tossed it onto her single chair she was on yesterday. She took the plate from him graciously and set it on the small table next to her chair. She turned back to him and hugged him tight. "Thank you for last night. I didn't realize how much I needed that." He cupped her face with his hands so she would look up at him. While staring into her eyes, "Want to continue it again tonight?" "I’d like that." she breathed out. He began to lean down to kiss her but turned aside at the last second. At that moment Arin and Suzy came around the corner from the kitchen with their plates. "Later, i promise." He whispered in her ear. She let out a shuddering sigh but turned to go back to her plate. Danny wasn't sure if they knew what they were interrupting. If they did, they were being polite about it.
The rest of the morning was uneventful. Sarah helped Arin set up some recording equipment so they could record a few episodes for Game Grumps. Today's game was Subnautica. Sarah had played and beaten it already but didn't say anything. She already knew how these episodes would play out. Danny would be creeped out and Arin would get mad at it for some reason. Within a few hours she was proven right. Her and Suzy sat behind the boys at the couch and tried to keep quiet while recording was going. It was nearly dinner time by the time they finished. This time Suzy volunteered to make dinner while Sarah got the recording hard drive attached to her computer to begin the editing and rendering. Fortunately it needed little editing aside from adding the intro and splitting it into a bunch of episodes. By recording most of today, this left them free to do whatever tomorrow, their last whole vacation day, before driving back the following afternoon.
With Sarah's computer busy, she wasn't sure what to do with herself for the night. Danny saw her fidgeting. "I saw your Steam list open last night. Did i see Subnautica on it?" She glanced between him and Arin. both were watching her. "Um..yeah. I've beaten it twice since the full release came out, once cheating, then again not cheating at all." That had Arins attention. "How close do you think i got?" "Honestly, not even close. You hardly left the shallows. There's at least six other biomes you have to go into and through to get to the end." Danny just shook his head. "I don't think i can play that again. Doesn't it creep you out?" "The deeper you get the more alien it gets. To me that's less scarier than the more realistic stuff near the surface. If you look at it that way, eventually, the whole thing isn't scary at all. Aside from the Reapers and Warpers." After a moment she began to smile. "Hey Danny, you should play for a min. I want you to do something in it." "Why?" "Cause it'd be funny. Please?" He slumped down on the couch. "Fine but if I have nightmares it's all your fault. The ocean sucks." Arin got a new game started for him. "All right. What do i have to do?" Sarah sat down next to Danny. "Grab a couple of those Peepers. They are the orange eyeball fish. Good, now swim out to the Aurora." With a brand new game, it took a minute to get out there. At a low loud roar, Danny froze up, His character floating at the surface. "What the fuck was that?" "That's what you're looking for. Swim down." Danny practically whimpered but did what he was told. Within seconds a huge serpentine shape came into view with another roar. "What the fuck is that?!" Danny and Arin both yelled. Danny instinctively began to swam away from it but he was too slow. The Reaper Leviathan caught up and ate him. Both boys screamed. Then the reaper spit him out. The peepers from his hand and inventory were gone. "I’d get out of there now or he'll come back and actually eat you." "Nope. I’m out. I’m done. Here you go." He passed Arin the controller. Sarah couldn't help but laugh and Dan just glared at her. "That was cruel." She only smiled in response.
At that point Suzy came out dinner was done. Tonight it was fried chicken and corn on the cob. Everyone ate dinner together in the living room. This time Danny and Sarah sat on the couch eating, and Arin and Suzy sat nearby on the floor. After everything was cleaned up, Sarah checked her laptop. Everything from today was done. She disconnected the recording hard drive and gave it back to Arin to pack away. Sarah was glad to have her laptop back. She brought her headphones out and got in some more Spellforce 2 time. Suzy worked on editing some of her own videos and the boys worked over Danny's lyric notebook. They were working on their third Starbomb album. After a couple of hours the took a break to plan their free day for tomorrow. Suzy joined in on the planning. "There's a lake down the hill. I brought skates for everyone if you want to go down there. It's been in the twenties here for the last few weeks at least. The lake should be well and frozen enough." Everyone agreed that would be fun except Danny. Frozen or not it was still a body of water. In the end he agreed to at least try. With plans firmly made Arin and Suzy took their turns in the bathroom to wash up for the night then went to bed.
By that point Danny and Sarah had changed into their pajamas for the night. She had already hooked her computer back up to the TV. "Do you want to watch more Game of Thrones?" "Of course." This time when she sat back down next to him, she immediately sidled up next to him and he put his arm around her. "Are you going to last the whole episode this time?" He asked her while looking down at her. "Yeah, I’m okay for a while." He kept looking down at her and he reached up to cup the side of her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. "I still don't understand how you could want me. Of all the women..." Danny shook his head to interrupt her. "There haven't been that many and no one in the last year." He finally lowered his face to hers and their lips met. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. His hand moved down from her face, down her arm and to her hip. Still kissing her, he gently pushed her over onto her back on the couch and leaned over her, his hand moving to her thigh. Her arms wrapped around his back and he moved to her neck. Her breath began to shudder and she held his head against her chest. He could feel her heartbeat. "I don't know what’s gotten into me this weekend. I'm usually not this fast to make a move." "I've only been with one other and that was years ago now. This isn't normally me either." She could feel him press against her. She wanted nothing more than for him to take her now but stopped his hand moving on her thigh. "I don't think here's the best place for this." "Agreed." And he scooped her off the couch. Closing the laptop on the way, he carried her to his bedroom.
After laying her on his bed, he went back to half laying on her with his mouth on her neck. As his hand moved up her side to under her shirt, she had to stop him. He looked up at her. "I’m sorry, after last night, I shouldn’t-" "No, it's not that. I want to. I do, but I don't think here's the best place. Arin and Suzy are right there. Don't you have your house to yourself?" He rolled off her and sat up, a bit embarrassed. She pulled him back down and laid her head against his shoulder with her arm across his chest. "It’s okay. This is good too. Just being close to you." "No, you're right. I want to do this right. When we get home, dinner, maybe a movie, then we see what happens." She looked up at him. "That sounds nice." With their arms around each other, they both fell into a peaceful sleep.
Come morning, the sun woke them both up early. They had shifted in their sleep so Sarah's back was pressed up against Danny's chest with his arm draped across her stomach. She stirred first and it took her a couple seconds to figure out where she was. When she remembered the night before she smiled and rolled over to face him. That movement got him to open his eyes. He went to angle his hips away from her but she pressed herself against him. "It's a guy thing, don't worry about it." He pulled her tighter against himself. "God you’re making it hard to wait. I can't wait till we get home." "Me too, but it'll be better with some privacy." They began kissing again, and she tangled her fingers in his hair. When they heard rustling out in the living room, they both paused to listen. That's when they realized that had left the bedroom door open last night. Arin came in like nothing was going on. Fortunately they were still dressed. "I'm making breakfast this morning. Mac 'n cheese with bacon okay for you guys?" Danny made a futile effort to cover his waist while Sarah hid her face in his chest. "That's fine man now please get out." Arin really wanted to mess with him some more but Sarah was too new of a hire to feel comfortable with that. "Next time remember to close the door." He turned and left them alone, closing the door behind him. Sarah gave a weak laugh then immediately turned her attention back to Danny to pick up where the left off.
It was another half an hour before they came out of Danny's room. He was already dressed for the day but Sarah had to go out to retrieve her bag to change. Arin snuck in a high five to Danny and Suzy cornered Sarah later in the kitchen. "How was he? I've heard all his stories but I've always wondered." Sarah's face immediately blushed. "We didn't really do anything last night. We both agreed a proper date night was needed." "That's sweet. Any plans yet?" "No, just sometime after we get home tomorrow." "I'm glad he finally got you out of your shell. Ross has nothing but good things to say about you but you've never socialized with the rest of us." "Yeah, I usually get absorbed in my work. I don't do well in large groups. I think i can try if he's there." Suzy smiled at her. "He's a good man, just makes bad choices sometimes when it comes to women." "Yeah, I've heard most of the stories. I was a fan before i joined you guys. I think that's why i was afraid to talk to him. I didn't seem like his type." "Well he obviously likes you. Be good to him." By then everyone had finished their breakfast and had cleaned up.
After everyone was bundled up, they spent the early afternoon goofing off outside, making snowmen, having snowball fights. While breaking for an early dinner, they took some time to warm up, then immediately headed back outside. Daylight was just starting to fade when Suzy brought out everyone's ice skates. They all made their launching point from a dock that went about twenty feet out towards the middle of the lake. Danny was reluctant to go out on the ice but Sarah coaxed him out onto it. With her help, he was able to get going pretty well. He knew how to skate but ice skating wasn't quite the same. Within an hour, everyone was pretty much ready to go back in. It was getting colder. All were on the shore but Danny, who was about fifty feet out and slowly making his way back in. On his way back, his right skate caught a branch frozen on the ice’s surface that was hidden by the snow. He quickly fell down to his hands and knees. Everyone turned when they heard him fall. The cracking of the ice was audible all the way to them. Arin was the first to respond. "Move slowly, try to spread your weight out!" Danny was in full panic mode and froze. He couldn't bring himself to move. The cracking quickly spread and in the blink of an eye, he broke through and disappeared under the surface. "Dan!" Sarah screamed. She quickly threw off her coat and skates to get rid of the weight and grabbed the top of a coiled rope she had seen earlier on the dock. "Someone grab the other end!" She took off at a full run and dove into the hole in the ice.
The ice cold water was a shock to her system and disoriented her for a moment. Then she spotted Dan sinking and struggling to get his coat off so he could swim. He looked up when he heard the splash and saw her coming to him. He stopped struggling and reached his hand out to her. She swam down and grasped it as quickly as she could and pulled herself closer to tie the rope around him. When it was secure she gave a few tugs on the rope. She grabbed the back of his coat so she would get pulled up as well. It only took a moment for them to get to the surface. It took a few tries with them pulling the rope for him to find solid enough ice to get out on. It took another minutes for Sarah to get out without ice cracking beneath her hands without the rope. Both their lips were blue and Dan was already shaking uncontrollably. "Get him in the hot shower now. I'll be right behind you guys." Arin and Suzy were able to get him up on his feet and back up to the cabin fairly fast.
Sarah paused just long enough to collect her coat and skates but after a minute she regretted it. The cold air affected her faster than it would have Danny. Even wet, his coat protected him from the icy wind. Her vision began to shift, breathing became painful, and she fell to her hands and knees halfway up the hill back to the cabin. She made it a few more feet but collapsed onto her side. She had enough strength to roll onto her back before everything went black.
Back inside the cabin, Arin helped Danny out of his near frozen clothes while Suzy got the shower going on full hot. The water heater was in a closet in the bathroom so it only took a few moments for steam to begin to fill the bathroom. They helped him over the rim of the tub and he laid down and curled up under the hot spray. After a few minutes he was able to sit up, his normal color returning. After maybe ten minutes he was able to get out and start drying himself off. Arin had a shirt and some pants waiting for him. He quickly dressed himself then looked around. "Where’s Sarah?" At that Suzy and Arin looked at each other. They were so occupied with helping him, they had forgotten about her. Suzy looked around, panicking. "She said she was right behind us."
After a quick check of the living room and other bedroom, Dan grabbed Arin’s coat, threw it on, and tossed open the front door. Halfway down the hill to the lake he spotted a white lump that wasn't there before. It had started snowing pretty heavy sometime while they were inside and there was a thin cover of snow over her already. "Sarah!" Barefoot, he took off running to land at her side. Her lips were so blue, her eyes were closed and there was no movement. A small shallow stream of breath in the cold air was the only sign that she was still alive. He tried shaking her but she wouldn't respond. He was able to lift her and carry her back up to the cabin. Suzy saw them coming and got the shower going again but it was no good. That hot water was all used up. He laid her on the floor in between the fireplace under the wall mounted tv and the couch. “Arin, collect all the blankets except one for you guys tonight. I’m going to get the fireplace going. Suzy, can you get her clothes off?” They set to work on their tasks. By the time Suzy got her down to her bra and underwear, all the blankets were collected, the fire was going and Arin wrapped her hair to try and dry it a bit. Dan laid one blanket over her and with an apology Sarah couldn’t hear, reached underneath and removed the rest of the garments. They covered her with the rest of the blankets and sat on the couch to wait. There was nothing else to do.
After an hour, Dan was still chilled but Sarah hadn’t stirred at all, her skin way too pale yet. He leaned down to feel her forehead and neck. Her skin was still cold but she was breathing. She wasn’t producing enough of her own body heat to warm the blankets and the fire wasn’t much more helpful except on her hair which was dry now. He knelt on the floor beside her and made a decision. “Can you guys give me some privacy? She’s still cold. I don’t think there’s any other way.” They nodded and got up to head to their bedroom. Arin turned before he closed the door. “Holler if you need anything, or when she wakes up.” Dan faced Sarah and rolled her so her back was to the fireplace than stripped his clothes off. He pulled a pillow off the couch, laid it under her head and kept his eyes raised as he lifted the covers and laid down facing her. He maneuvered one arm under her neck and the other around her back and pulled her close to his so they were chest to chest, her head tucked under his chin. “Sarah, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me for this.”
Over the next couple of hours, he watched the fire burn down to embers while he held her. She was finally warming up but hadn’t moved at all. He had his face pressed against the top of her head and his eyes stung from trying not to cry when he heard a door creak open. Arin came out and saw Dan was still awake so he sat down on the couch. “Anything?” Dan could only whisper. “Nothing...Arin, I’m afraid. What if she was out there too long. What if she can’t wake up?” “She’ll be okay. Come morning, the roads should be safe then we can drive her to a hospital if need be.” Arin excused himself, went to the bathroom then back to bed.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed but just as he was starting to nod off against his will, Sarah’s breathing deepened a bit and he felt one of her legs move against his. “Sarah? Can you hear me?” She didn’t answer right away but moved her arm to wrap around his back and pressed herself close to him. “Dan?” “Yeah, it’s me.” She caught herself as she woke up more and felt skin on skin. She pulled away from him and immediately regretted it, the cool air coming in from her moving gave her the chills but she didn’t want to move again. “Sarah, I’m so sorry. The hot water was out and you were too cold to warm yourself. This was the only way. I know you’re still cold. Do you trust me?” After a few moments, she nodded then leaned into him again. Neither could see much in the dark, the top of the coals went cold some time ago. He furiously rubbed her back to warm her back up. “I thought I was going to die. I was so cold, I couldn’t move. I tried.” “Shh...it’s okay now.”
She moved enough to look up at him and her lips found his. There was an urgency in their kiss and he felt it. She pulled him so he was laying half on top of her and one of his hands wandered across her breast and down to her waist. She squirmed under his touch and she wanted more. He was quickly ready and spread her legs with his knees. Still laying on top of her so she wouldn’t be cold, he began, a little rough at first then slow, burying his face in her neck. Almost freezing to death changed both their priorities. Her fingers gripped the back of his shoulders desperately, probably leaving marks. They were able to remain quiet except for heavy breathing until they were both done. He spotted a box of Kleenex on the end table and quickly snatched some to clean themselves off before they got too cold. He then tossed the used tissues into the fireplace and prodded the coals with the poker until he found a few deep ones that weren’t quite out. They flared up quickly then it was dark again. No more words were spoken that night and she fell asleep how she was before, with her head tucked under his chin and their arms were wrapped tight around each other. Their flushed cheeks the only sign that anything had happened. Neither of them heard the click of a door from Suzy.
Come morning, most of the blankets had been kicked off and the one that remained only covered up to their chests. Their arms were still wrapped around each other. When Arin and Suzy came out of their room, they came over to check on their friends. “Do you think they’re okay?” Arin whispered. “I’m positive. I was up in the middle of the night. They were...occupied. The fire was out so I didn’t see anything but they’re definitely okay.” It took a moment for it to dawn on Arin what she meant then he saw the nail marks on Dan’s back. “Oh…” She took his hand and pulled him towards the bathroom. “Come on, let's take a shower and give them a few more minutes.”
Dan was the first to stir. Last night came back to him when he felt Sarah’s warmth in his arms. He buried his face in hair and hugged her tight. That woke her and he pulled away a bit. “Morning. Please tell me you remember last night or I’m about to feel awful.” “I remember. You don’t think they heard us do you?” “Right now, I don’t care.” He tilted her head up and kissed her hard then moved to her jaw then her neck. She closed her eyes and let him move where he would. As his hands began to wander again and his lips were on her neck, they heard the bathroom door open and Suzy came out. “Arin will be out soon if you want to sneak out to the other bedroom to get dressed. We need to get moving if we’re gonna leave on time. You okay Sarah?” Sarah hid her reddening face in Dan’s chest and mumbled, “Yeah, I’m okay now.” Suzy left them for her room and closed the door behind her. They could hear Arin’s shower going yet so Dan got out from under the blanket and helped Sarah up. She wrapped the blanket around herself, grabbed her suitcase and followed him into his bedroom. With the sun up lighting his room, they were able take each other in. He did indeed have scratch marks down his shoulder blades. She sat on the bed still wrapped up and watched him get dressed for the day. When he was done, he sat next to her and looked over her exposed skin. Most of it was red and cracked from exposure. Particularly her face and arms. “Did you pack any lotion?” She shook her head. “ I’m gonna ask Suzy if she brought any. I’ll be right back.
He came back in a minute with a bottle of aloe lotion and sat behind her on the bed. She let the blanket fall and they took turns with the bottle to get lotion everywhere it was needed, which was pretty much everywhere. They both behaved themselves, there wasn’t much time to do anything else anyways. “How do you feel?” “Like someone rubbed sandpaper all over me.” “I didn’t thank you for saving my life. My coat was pulling me down.” “I think you thanked me this morning.” She turned and leaned into him for a hug then got up to get dressed. With everything packed, they headed out into the living room together.
Arin was immediately there to ambush them. "Are you guys okay?" Danny wrapped an arm around Sarah's waist and pulled her close. "We're okay. Is everything packed up?” “Yeah, we were just waiting on you guys. Suzy recovered your coat last night after you were brought in and hung both of them against the furnace in the closet. They should be dry by now." "Thanks man." Suzy came out with their coats and they put them on. After Sarah was bundled up, Suzy immediately pulled her into a hug "I'm so glad you're okay. You had us so worried." "I’m okay. We're both good. How much time do we have?" Suzy let her go. "About ten minutes. Everything's packed and loaded except your guys' stuff." "It'll just take me a minute to get everything together." Within minutes everything was in the car. They all did a final sweep of the place to make sure nothing was forgotten. Danny was the last one out. "Next time, we go someplace warmer for our vacation." Everyone agreed as they loaded into the car.
Arin and Suzy switched off driving again. Danny and Sarah were comfortable in the back leaning against each other. No one said anything until they were close to the office. Arin looked in the rear view mirror. "You guys aren't gonna be all lovey dovey in the office now are you?" Danny answered first. "No, we can be professional." Sarah nodded her agreement. "Have you told anyone what happened yet?" "No, we haven't talked to anyone yet." "Can you not mention any of what happened? I don't want a big deal made." Arin and Suzy agreed to that. When they got to the office parking lot, Arin dropped them off and him and Suzy went home. Danny helped Sarah load her car. "Where do you live?" She gave him her address. "Really? That's not two blocks from my house. Do you want to go home then come over? I'll find something for dinner and put a movie in. We can have that proper date night." "That sounds nice." He gave her his address. "Give me an hour and I'll come over." They parted and went to their own homes.
When Sarah got home, she dropped her bag in her bedroom and sat down on her bed. Finally alone she was able to collect her thoughts. Her mind raced over everything that had happened the last few days. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She decided to try and forget the lake and focus on last night. She lit an incense cone, amber fire, and and just sat on her bed and crossed legged for a good twenty minutes to collect her thoughts. With a glance at the clock, she made sure the cone was burnt out cold and packed a small overnight bag, with work clothes for the office tomorrow. Back in her car, she made the couple minute drive to his house.
Meanwhile at Danny's house, after ordering Thai for delivery, he made a mad rush to clean up what he could in his house. It was more stuff everywhere than messy but still. He focused on the living room, bedroom, and his bathroom. As he picked up and put things away in the bedroom, he found a few condoms in his nightstand. That made him pause and remember last night again. It had all happened so fast. His heart began to beat hard in his chest. He would need to talk to her about that. It was during those thoughts he heard a car door out front then his doorbell rang. He picked up a last couple of things then went to answer the door.
Sarah stepped inside and he ushered her into the living room. "Can I put your bag in the bedroom or is that being presumptuous?" "Bedroom's fine. Thank you." "Let me give you a quick tour, sorry about the mess." He showed her all the rooms in the house, and his sports man cave in the basement. He ended the tour with his bedroom. "I need to ask you something personal." "Anything." "Last night things happened pretty fast. I didn't pack anything and i don't know if..." he felt really weird asking her this but she put her hand on his leg and interrupted him. "I have that arm implant. It’s less than six months old. Everything's fine." "Okay, good. When I saw my condoms in the nightstand, I had a brief heart attack." He grasped her hand and held it up to kiss it. Before releasing it he smelled the back of her hand. “What is that smell?” “My incense. I had to sit and collect my thoughts before coming here.” He let her hand go and reached back into his nightstand. He pulled out a small clear bag with some incense cones labeled amber fire. “These?” “Yeah. I’ve been using them for years.” “I found these last year and got hooked. Small world.” Before anything more could be said, the doorbell rang again. "Right. Dinner. I ordered Thai." He left her bag on the floor next to the bedroom door.
The rest of that night and the next two months were bliss for both of them. They were able to keep work separate from their personal lives. No one in the office besides Arin and Suzy knew about them in the beginning. Brian found out after just a couple of weeks when he decided to drop by unannounced to work on some new lyrics and she was on his couch in pjs. He saw how happy they both were so he kept their secret. After those two months they finally got busted by Ross of all people. They were in the hall outside of the grump space office. They thought they were the last ones out for the night but didn't know Ross had forgotten something and was heading back up the stairs. He overheard them making plans for the coming weekend. After that everyone in the office knew but they were all cool with it. That just made life easier and more relaxed around the office.
When spring came, Danny and Brian were busier than normal trying to plan out their summer/fall tour. Ross gave her leave to help them whenever they needed it. During those few months of planning, Sarah had moved out of her place and into Danny's house. Since he had his sports cave, he helped her turn Barry's old room into her office. When the time for touring came around, it was a hard three months for both of them. They hadn't spent time apart yet. Two weeks abroad and one week home was going to take some time to get used to. During that one week home, she made sure he got everything he needed physically and emotionally. If the house got lonely while Danny was away, Arin and Suzy were more than happy to come over or invite her over to spend some time at their house.
During the last leg of the tour, for their final show, Danny was able to make arrangements for her to be there in the audience, right up front. He convinced her to dye her hair blue for the event. He promised her she wouldn't be the only one with blue hair. After the VIP Q&A she was waiting for him backstage in his dressing room to help him with any last minute things. By the time Planet Booty was on, Brian was already in his outfit and Dan was just beginning to change after doing some stretches. He pushed Ninja Brian out of his room and asked him to stand guard outside the door. With the door closed behind him he turned to Sarah. "Wanna do it on the couch?" "Tactful, but yes." Brian tried to ignore the sounds coming from inside the room.
By the time Planet Booty was done and TWRP was almost done, Danny was waiting backstage in full Danny Sexbang mode. Security helped Sarah make her way to the front of the standing room only area of the stage. She got some looks for this but she ignored them. Brian turned to Danny while he stuck something in his sweatpants pocket. "You ready to do this? All of it? Nothing's going to be the same after this." "I’m ready." TWRP finished their last song and the crowd began to chant 6969 over and over. Brian entered out onto onto the stage with Danny right behind him carrying his own microphone stand. The crowds roar was deafening. Sarah was cheering just as loud as the rest of them.
Near the end of the show between songs, Danny pointed at Brian. "Ninja brian! You have a special mission in this city. Remember what it is?" Ninja Brian shook his head. Then nodded. "Go! Run like the wind!" Ninja Brian disappeared backstage. "Okay everyone. I know some of you have been to other cities on this tour so you know what's normally coming. This time there's a slight change of plans. Brian and I have been working on a new song for the past six months. We just finished recording last week. We'd like to play it for you tonight. You'll be the first ones in the world to hear it before the music video comes out next week." The crowd exploded in cheers and screams. Danny quieted them down a bit. "Most of you probably know this about me but I like to keep some aspects of my personal life private. This might upset some of you but I've had a girlfriend for almost a year now. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me and if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here. I don't mean that metaphorically, I mean that literally. While on a vacation I almost froze to death. She risked her own life to save me. That whole ordeal made me realize how short our lives are and how stupid I've been. I'm almost forty now for fuck's sake. Well, she's in the audience now and Brian is off to collect her for me. This next song is for her.
Meanwhile when Ninja Brian ran off backstage, he found a security guy and asked him to go and fetch the girl upfront with the long blue hair, showing him a picture. He explained she was Danny's girlfriend and he wanted her up on stage. By the time Danny's speech was halfway over, Sarah was back with Brian wondering what was going on. He gave her an earpiece so she could hear everything, and a blue satin mask to cover around her eyes. They were all certain this was going to be quickly posted on YouTube and Danny wanted her identity kept a secret for as long as possible. While she appreciated this and donned the mask, she couldn't help casting a murderous glare to rival Ninja Brian’s out towards the stage. The ear piece was in just in time to hear him say that this next song was for her. Brian pulled her out onto stage and the cheer was like a wall of solid sound.
"Hey sweetheart. Don't murder me later for this." Sarah knew it was pointless to try and say anything so she just shook her head at him. When they met up he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a quick kiss. The crowd erupted again. "Can you hear me okay?" She nodded. "Okay. This song's for you." As the music started, he began dancing with her across the stage.
When I first looked in your eyes
You were more than just a beauty to me
All my senses shot straight up
I was rock hard emotionally
The fact that you and I could plow
Is something I haven’t even thought about...starting now
I’ve got a heart boner for you
I stand before you stiff and true
I wanna blast a load of feelings onto you
This heart boner’s for you
You’ve helped me grow into a man
My shallowness is a thing of the past
I want to slam you with my empathy
And then I’ll rail you with my class
You’ve helped me find maturity
I’ll be your wiener king, tee hee
I’ve got a heart boner tonight
Feel my love pants growing tight
I wanna plug you with respect all through the night
I’ll bust a nut of joy and light
He dipped her back into a deep kiss for a few seconds before the next lines started.
Heart Boner
Got a heart boner
You are the love that I pursue
Do you feel the feels I feel for you
There’s so much we have yet to do
Now jump me like a kangaroo
This heart boner’s for you
I stand before you thick and true
I’ll shoot a wad of gleaming romance just for you
This heart boner’s for you
It's all for you
As the song ended, Lord Phobos continued playing his acoustic guitar and Brian snuck something into Danny's hand behind his back as he kneeled down to one knee in front of Sarah. "Will you marry me?" He opened the box with the diamond ring and held it up to her. She immediately began to tear up and looked quickly at the audience. The crowd was going nuts. She looked back and him and nodded. He slipped the ring onto her finger, stood up and pulled her into a tight hug to kiss her. Dr. Sung went to his mic. "Just to be clear everyone, this is not a bit. This is real. We knew we were doing this song tonight of course but we didn't know about this part till this morning. Give it up for Danny and the future Mrs. Sexbang!" Brian came up behind Sarah and joined in the hug. Danny pushed him off her. That's when Brian noticed that Lord Phobos was still playing. He walked over to him, yanked the guitar out of his hands and unplugged it. Danny let her go as Brian came back over to escort her back down onto the audience floor. She kept her mask on, as everyone nearby was now cheering her and yelling congratulations.
The last few songs finished and NSP and TWRP bowed out saying good night. As the floor audience began to thin out, security let her back to the backstage. When she was safe out of sight she removed her mask. Dan ran up to her and they quickly embraced again. Sarah whispered in his ear. "That was ridiculous. How were you able to hide that from me?" "It was very hard. There were only a few people who knew. Arin and Suzy of course. She helped me find the right ring, and Ross was able to keep you a bit extra busy for me when needed." TWRP and Planet Booty came up and congratulated them both. Then they went back to the privacy of his changing room. She helped in undo his cape and peel the spandex off him. There was a small bathroom with a shower off on the side of the room. He quickly cleaned himself up and dressed. Though the official tour was over, there was one more stop they had to make for a book signing of Brians.
It took a bit of time for everything to be loaded into the bus and trailer. Danny and Sarah made themselves comfortable in his bunk on the bus and mostly closed the privacy curtain. As TWRP boarded, on the way to their own bunks, one of them knocked on the rim and said, "Don't make the bus more bumpy than it already is." Brian called out from his bunk. "I'm pretty sure they got that out of their systems already earlier in the changing room." Danny stuck out his arm and gave him the finger. They were both completely dressed and she was snuggled up against his chest in the small bunk. They had no intention of trying anything with so many people nearby.
After a several hour drive, they arrived at their hotel and their last stop. Everyone spent the rest of the morning in solid unmoving beds. Brian, Danny, and Sarah in one room with two beds and TWRP in another room with two beds. Brian had to get up early for his book signing which left Danny and Sarah alone in their room. They slept in until noon. The rest of that day was spent saying goodbye to TWRP, who continued north home to canada, and exploring the shops in the nearby blocks around the hotel. After a nice dinner with the three of them, they headed to the airport to go back home to California and the rest of their happy lives.