One and a half months before the gym incident
There was no big change between Dan and me, I realized now. There were, however, tiny moments that made me wonder a little about what was going on with him. They came in irregular waves, like a hundred little tsunamis. One moment, I was breezing through my new–old routine; the next, I was pulled under by a riptide, scrambling for air, only for everything to snap back to normal in a single heartbeat, leaving me to wonder whether the shadow beneath the surface had just been my own, or whether there had really been something in the water all along.
"Come on, Carly, playing a superhero will be fun," he'd said. "You'll get ripped and strong," he'd said. "It'll be so worth it," he'd said.
I punched Dan on the arm as he passed me, hard enough to make him wince. The others glanced over at the noise, but before anyone could comment, Quinn's bark echoed across the gym.
"Hey! No fighting yet. Back to your machines." His eyes landed on Raph, who was already smirking at the weights section.
"Sorry," I called back, trying not to grin as Dan rubbed his arm and stared at me like I'd lost it. "That was for convincing me to become an actress in the first place. I'm so sore, I don't even know what hurts most." I wiped down the leg press, my personal nemesis. God, I hated leg day. I was a runner, not a bodybuilder. I gladly left that to the guys.
Dan chuckled as he adjusted the load on his machine. "Aww, struggling to keep up again? I seem to recall you laughing at me not too long ago when the roles were reversed."
"Uh, yeah? Because you started this mess years ago when I joined the cast," I shot back, dropping to the floor to sneak a break while our personal trainer's attention was elsewhere.
Dan sat down nearby, watching me in silence. For once, no quip. Just a steady, curious look that made me fidget. He'd been doing that a lot since I came back…falling quiet, almost distant. Dan, of all people. Normally he couldn't shut up; his mouth forever running him into trouble. But lately, the jokes cut off mid-sentence, and something slipped into the silence instead.
Ben's arrival snapped the moment. He offered me a hand, pulling me to my feet. "I'm finished at the abductor…Uhm – do I want to know why you two have a weird-ass stare contest in the middle of training?"
Dan blinked like he'd just woken up. Fully ignoring Ben, he said cheerfully to me, "Well, payback's a bitch. But don't worry…training's already paying off. You look better than ever."
I laughed, brushing it off, and followed Ben across the room. Still, the back of my neck tingled. Behind me, Ben muttered something that made Dan snort, but I didn't dare to turn around.
Only when I sat down at the abductor machine did Dan's words replay. We weren't training for strength, not really, it was about looking strong, camera-ready. Which was why his comment made it sound like he'd been… noticing?
Through the mirror, I caught him watching again. Our eyes met in the reflection. He winked—playful, mischievous, exactly like he was supposed to.
I stuck out my tongue, forcing myself back into the grind.
Quinn finally showed mercy after two more hours but at least I had managed to clear my head. The space was empty; the others had already left to shower and change. After retrieving my water bottle from the weights station, I shoved my shoulder against the heavy swinging door, only to find Dan leaning against the opposite wall, clearly waiting for me. At the sound of my struggle, he looked up, chuckling.
"Don't you laugh at my misery," I huffed, throwing my sweater over my shoulder.
Dan pressed his lips together like he was trying not to. We walked down the empty hallway, our footsteps echoing off the bare walls of the private training centre.
"Uhm…" he began, voice hesitant enough to tug my attention. I raised a questioning eyebrow. His hands were buried deep in the pockets of his gym shorts, his usually calm eyes flickering everywhere but at me.
I stopped abruptly, crossing my arms to block his way. He drew in a sharp breath at my sudden halt, barely slowing down in time not to barrel into me.
"Fuck, Carls," he muttered, exasperated.
I just threw him a look.
Dan grumbled but finally began to explain. He stepped back a little, putting distance between us.
"So I just wanted to clear up that comment from earlier…"
He looked so adorably unsure of himself that I couldn't resist playing dumb. "Huh? What do you mean exactly?"
He rolled his eyes, instantly seeing through me. "You are so…! Urgh, okay, doesn't matter. What I wanted to say is, I didn't mean what I said earlier to come out quite so…" His voice trailed, and I swore his cheeks went faintly pink. Christ, I never thought Dan could look cute.
"Flirtatious? Aw, Danny, it's fine! I know you were just running your mouth, it's all good!" I shoved him lightly and started walking again.
I heard him snort before catching up with me. "Okay, that's good. But just to clear up…I wanted to say that you really don't have to worry about how you look. Uhm…I'm not sure if it's okay for me to talk about that and please just kick me if I'm being insensitive…"
A warm smile spread over my lips at his nervous rambling. "You're not," I cut in, and he nodded with relief.
"Phew, okay, good- 'cause Ben threatened to cut off my dick if I upset you. But I thought just in case you were worrying, you know, since you're always worrying about something…"
I rolled my eyes.
"You look uhm- healthy! I mean- well-trained-I mean, urgh!" Dan scrubbed a hand over his face, looking like he wanted to slap himself.
I couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, I get it, I think. Thank you." The words slipped out easily, and Dan blinked, surprised.
We reached the door of the women's change rooms, and I paused, waiting for his usual stupid remark to cover the awkwardness. But he didn't say anything.
I chuckled softly. "When did you get so bad at giving compliments?"
That made him laugh, low and genuine. His hand went to the back of his neck, his gaze dropping to the floor between our gym shoes before directing it carefully back to me.
"Probably at the same time you got so good at accepting them…"
"Yeah, well," I shrugged, pulling the door open, "I told you I am better."
His expression softened even more at that, a rare gentleness that almost startled me.
"But for the record," I added quickly, "it does help if the compliment is sincere and not just to butter me up."
"Me butter you up? Never!" Dan's sarcasm flowed easy again.
I laughed, slipping into the change room. "Uh-huh…so don't think that'll get you Frankie's cookie recipe, not now, not ever!"
Just before the door closed, his voice echoed after me:
"We'll see about that! One day, Carly-cat. Mark my words - one day I'll charm you so hard, you won't know what hit you!"
Oh, sure you will, I thought to myself.