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dannystattoo · 4 years

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‘tis the damn season

Pairing: Jamie x Dani (The Haunting of Bly Manor)

Word Count: 7,191

Warnings: None, other than it’s a little cheesy. Also, I haven’t written anything in five years, so if I’m a little rusty, sorry ‘bout that.

AU, Dani and Jamie broke up, Dani goes back to America and finds herself back in England for Hannah and Owen’s wedding (this is my AU and I refuse to let Hannah die). Of course, the au pair and the gardener cross paths and hometown yearning AU comences. Loosely based on the song “tis the damn season” by Taylor Swift, but it took on it’s own life after a bit. Also, image above is not mine

It had been years since Dani had set foot in the countryside near Bly Manor, let alone anywhere in England. Her au pair job hadn’t worked out, so she’d gone back to America. Then again, to say the job itself hadn’t worked out was a bit of a misstatement. The job had always been fine and the kids had been, as Flora would say “perfectly splendid” (after the whole possession thing, anyway). No, the real problem was she had been foolish enough to fall for someone else who worked at the Manor alongside her.

After everything that happened with the Lady in the Lake, everyone had understandably left Bly Manor. Henry took guardianship of the children, though Dani still helped care for them quite often. Owen and Hannah finally gotten their chance to move back to Paris for a time before coming back to the countryside to be closer to Owen’s mother. Owen had also finally opened the restaurant he’d always dreamt of, which had been a massive success. This left Dani and Jamie, who moved closer to town, specifically to Jamie’s apartment over the “boring old pub”. Some might say things moved a little quickly, but given everything that had taken place over the summer, it seemed like the logical next step. Staring death in the face really has a way of bringing people together after all. They’d opened The Leafling after sometime and everything seemed perfect, at least for the first year anyway.

While it was true the events at Bly Manor had brought Jamie and Dani to realize how strong their feelings for each other truly were, dealing with the aftermath of those events presented some challenges to say the least. Despite having escaped the Lady in the Lake, Dani had a constant, nagging worry she was going to come back for her at any moment. Try as she might to move on with life, to enjoy her newfound romance with the gardener, she simply couldn’t. She was always sleeping with one eye open, looking behind her everywhere she went, constantly fearing Viola would come not only for her, but possibly Jamie as well. Or worse yet, knowing that Viola could possess her victims, what if she caused Dani to bring any harm to Jamie? In the end, her fears and worries caused her to distance herself from Jamie. Jamie did everything she could to let Dani know she didn’t need to do this, that whatever happened, they were in it together, but Dani couldn’t bring herself to listen.

One night, Dani dreamt that Viola had overtaken her completely. Viola used Dani as a vessel to continue unleashing rage and carnage on the world, and forced Dani to strangle Jamie in her sleep. Even after waking and being assured by her girlfriend numerous times it was only a dream; she was fine, they were fine, everyone was fine, it didn’t matter. Dani broke things off a few days later, not giving any explanation even though they both knew the reason. The two had gone their separate ways, both completely heartbroken. Dani convinced herself everyday she’d done the right thing. She tried to continue living in Essex for a while, but in the end, she went back stateside, trying her hardest to leave all the trauma of Bly behind.

That was two years ago. Now here she was, driving back into the town she’d run so far to get away from. Hannah and Owen were getting married after how many years of pining after each other. Despite knowing she’d have to face Jamie again after cutting contact two years before, there was no way she would miss out on the wedding. As she rode in the back of the car Henry had kindly arranged to come pick her up, she began to pick up on familiar sights through fogged up windows. Then she saw it: the pub, and if she saw the pub, that meant Jamie’s apartment was just above it. Well, what had been her apartment anyway. It had been a while and it was entirely possible she’d moved out of there by now. Was she even still in Bly? Why did she care so much? She was the one who had broken things off and had convinced herself that both she and Jamie were better off.

Her question was answered pretty quickly though; at least she thought it was. While she couldn’t see her face, Dani saw the silhouette of a woman with dark shoulder length curls, dressed very similarly to how she knew Jamie to dress. Dani felt a longing ache the second she made the connection. The woman looked back at the passing car and for a second, Dani could have sworn the two of them made eye contact. It was almost certainly Jamie, and this was proof that Dani wasn’t truly over her despite pretending everyday.

At that very moment, Jamie was indeed heading up to her apartment. The flower shop had been closed for the day, a little early due to the obligations that went along with Hannah and Owen’s upcoming wedding. She was leaving the store in the complete care of one of the associates she’d hired on after Dani left - it was the first time she’d left the store in someone else’s hands for more than a day or two and she couldn’t stop overthinking through the list of things she’d dreamt up to go wrong. Her anxiety over the upcoming wedding wasn’t helping any either. Owen had given fair warning that Dani would be invited to the wedding, and a few weeks ago she’d received confirmation that Dani was coming over from America just for the occasion.

Jamie would be lying if she said she didn’t still have feelings for Dani. She tried every god damn day to remind herself of all the pain the au pair had caused her, running out when Jamie wanted nothing more than to be there for her. It never worked though; she’d remember everything Dani was going through at the time and Jamie would find herself justifying her actions, justifying her distancing herself, justifying her leaving as abruptly as she did. Jamie had tried going on a few dates since their breakup, but no one had ever caught her attention beyond a few dates and that regrettable one night stand shortly after Dani left. It also didn’t help that the lesbian population of the town was almost non-existent. That’s how she found herself being set up with one of Hannah’s friend’s sisters a while back, who was now her plus one. If she was being honest, Jamie would have much preferred to go alone as she didn’t see this relationship going anywhere. However, the conversation of going to the wedding together had come up months ago, Jamie had mentioned it to her way too soon, and now here she was stuck in this predicament. God, how she wished this weekend would just be over already.

As Jamie began to ascend the steps to her apartment, she saw a car pass by, one with a woman who looked suspiciously like Dani in the backseat. She experienced such a longing ache, not unlike the one Dani had experienced at the same moment. She swore they made the briefest eye contact, but she couldn’t be sure. It was probably her imagination playing tricks on her. Seeing as the rehearsal dinner was in just a few hours, she’d have see Dani sooner than later anyway.

When Dani arrived at the Wingraves, who had offered to host her on her stay, no one was home - Henry would be at work for a few more hours and the kids were still a little while out from being finished with school. There was a spare key left under the mat that Dani used to let herself in. She dropped her stuff in the spare bedroom she’d used on numerous occasions before while watching the children and decided she didn’t want to sit in the house and think about how much she was dreading seeing her ex again after the way things had ended. She decided to change and walk to the quaint downtown area to grab some food, seeing as she was starving after the long flight. Dani should have realized that going downtown would only make her more likely to run into Jamie. On some level, maybe it’s what Dani was hoping for. Within minutes, the two ran into each other.

“Pop-Dani, that you?”

“Um, yeah, yeah it is,” Dani said awkwardly, clearly not expecting to run into Jamie so soon.

“What brings you out this way?”Jamie asked after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

“I just got into town a little bit ago. Figured I’d come and get some food before the Wingraves get back to the house - you know, after the long flight and all.”

“The kids will be happy to see you, I reckon.”

“I sure hope so, it’s been a while,” Dani paused for a moment. “So what about you? What are you doing out this way?”

“I mean, I still live in the same apartment just down the street, but I was getting everything ready for tonight, realized I needed to run to the drug store and pick up a few things.” Dani simply nodded.

“Would you, um, would you want to -“ Dani gestured to the restaurant, her mouth clearly working faster than her brain. It took Jamie a second to register what she was asking, especially given the last time they’d seen each other.

“Oh - no, much as I’d love to, I really need to freshen up before tonight. I think I may be having drinks with a…friend of Hannah’s before dinner. A friends she’s been trying to set me up with for ages.”

Dani nodded, having no idea how to respond. Not that she hadn’t expected Jamie to move on after their breakup, but she was more upset about her mentioning this than she could have anticipated, especially as casually as she did. She knew she was overreacting, but if Dani had wanted to know what was going on in Jamie’s love life since she’d left, she would have asked.

“Ok. Well, I hope that works out for you,” Dani finally said after a moment. “I guess I’ll um, I guess I’ll see you at dinner tonight?”

“Yeah, i’ll see you at dinner.”

The rehearsal dinner was painful, much more painful than Dani could have imagined. Sure, it had been wonderful to see Owen and Hannah after so many years, but as always happens with weddings, it’s impossible to see the couple for more than a few minutes. She tried her best to enjoy her time with Henry, Flora, and Miles, but it was hard to do seeing Jamie there with another woman. The restaurant was small and there was nowhere to get away. It also didn’t help that the kids, too young to really understand that the two would not want to see each other, had a way of continually calling Jamie’s attention over to their table. Both women were doing their best to act as though they weren’t both horribly uncomfortable. Thankfully the second the food was served, all the mingling came to a halt and the gardener and the au pair were seated on opposite sides of the room once again; and once dinner was through, the party dissipated rather quickly as they would be losing the event space soon -thank god.

Dani was beyond ready to get back to the house, but she stupidly offered to stay and help clean up the banquet room. She tried to look on the bright side, telling herself it might afford her a few more minutes to catch up with her old friends. Clean up was quick, and before they knew it, they were dumping the last of the loose ends in the back of Owen’s car.

“Dani! Glad I caught you before you left,” Hannah approached as Dani, who was trying to wrestle an usually large gift bag into the trunk. “Any plans for the rest of the night?”

“Can’t say that I have any- why, what do you have up your sleeve?”

“Nothing much, we thought it might be fun to have a small nightcap at the pub downtown. It’s so disappointing you traveled all this way after so long and I’ve barely been able to chat with you. It’s absolutely expected, but still.”

Dani thought on it for moment, nearly declining as she knew Jamie would likely be invited too and there’d be no getting away from each other in the pub. However, her desire to spend some time with those who had become like family to her over that summer at Bly won out, and she accepted the invitation.

“I think I could swing that. Are you heading straight over?”

“Yeah, there’s nothing that needs to go back to the flat right away. Will you need a ride there? I think there may be space in the backseat as long as you don’t mind wedging yourself in there,” Hannah offered.

“That would be great. I left my jacket and my bag in the banquet room, do you mind if I run and grab them? ”

“Take your time, I think Owen has to take care of another thing or two.”

Dani headed back inside and who should be standing in the middle of the banquet room but Jamie. She was alone though, something Dani hadn’t expected.

“Hey,”Jamie greeted her.

“Hey…I’m just coming to grab my stuff,” Dani said, making her way over to her belongings. She knew she shouldn’t ask, but her curiosity go the better of her.

“So what happened to your date?” she ventured.

“Oh, she left,” Jamie shrugged. “To be honest, I would have been fine doing the whole weekend alone, but you know how it is. Friend tries to set you up with one of their friends, you casually mention the wedding you’re both conveniently invited to, and before you know it, you’ve committed to be her date even though it’s pretty clear nothing’s ever gonna happen between you two.”

“Drinks tonight was just…I don’t know, giving her another chance, I guess,” Jamie explained after noticing Dani’s inquisitive look. “I can’t say it hasn’t been lonely around here since you left. Anyway though, what about you? Anyone waiting over in the states?”

“No, can’t say that there is. I mean, my mother’s been trying to find me a nice boy since i’ve been back but she doesn’t know about the whole gay thing,” Dani explained. “Anyway, I’m assuming you’re going to the nightcap down at pub?”

“Wouldn’t miss it, especially since I live right upstairs. Do you have a ride out that way?”

“Owen and Hannah offered to take me, but I’m not sure they actually have room for me in their car.”

“I can drive you over if you want?” Jamie offered. Dani knew it was probably against her better judgement to accept, but in that moment everything felt just as it had years before. It was comfortable.

“Yeah, that would be great actually.”

From the minute the two women got in Jamie’s pickup, it was as though the last two years had never happened. Once the ice had been broken, it felt like home, though neither of them would admit it. To Dani, it felt even more so once she was at the bar, finally able to chat with Hannah and Owen, hear about their adventures in Paris, and everything they’d been up to since the au pair had last seen them. At that moment, surrounded by her found family from Bly, Dani had no idea why she’d left. Despite everything that had happened here, she couldn’t say she’d ever felt more at home than with these people. For the first time since she’d returned, Dani actually felt at ease. The copious amount of alcohol she’d had since arriving probably also had a bit to do with that.

As the evening wore on, Dani noticed that she and Jamie seemed to be gravitating closer and closer in the small both their group was seated at. All night though, Dani reminded herself it was probably just the alcohol and nothing more. After their long and complicated history, nothing good could come from rekindling their connection. She also had to remind herself she didn’t live here anymore; she had to go back to the States next week. Despite everything she was telling herself, after a few strong drinks and out of instinct, Dani found her hand brushing Jamie’s thigh. Exactly how she used to. Once she realized what she was doing, she quickly recoiled her hand. Jamie looked over at her, though she didn’t look upset.

“I’m so sorry,” Dani quickly apologized.

“You know, I really don’t mind, Poppins.” Jamie was just getting confirmation of what she’d known all along, even though she tried to pretend it wasn’t the case: she’d never moved on from Dani and honestly, she didn’t want to. Now it was her turn to act against her better judgement. She reached her hand out, fingers grazing Dani’s. She immediately began to think about what a terrible idea this is, but before she could think about it too much, she could feel Dani’s fingers intertwining with hers. Sure, Dani would be leaving next week. Jamie knew she was setting herself up to get her heart broken all over again. In that moment though, with the love of her life back, if only for the weekend, she didn’t care.

They hadn’t planned it, but Dani, Jamie, Owen, and Hannah stayed at the pub until they were kicked out at close. Some of the other folks who had been invited trickled out earlier, but those four could have stayed for hours more if they were able.

“It’s a damn good thing the wedding isn’t tomorrow, huh?” Jamie laughed.

“You can say that again,” Owen agreed. “Putting a day between the rehearsal and the wedding was one of the best decisions we could have made. Then again, it was fully Hannah’s idea and she known to be full of good ones.”

“Oh stop,” Hannah laughed. “Are you all ok to get home?”

“I just have to go upstairs,” Jamie said. “What about you guys? I know you don’t have far to go, but is one of you able to drive back?”

“I stopped drinking ages ago, I’ll be fine to get us home. Dani, do you want a ride back to the Wingraves?” Owen asked.

“If you don’t mind. I know they live really out of the way but -“

“Did you want to stay here?” Jamie volunteered. The other three looked at her, all equally shocked.

“It just seems easier, is all. I mean, the Wingraves are what, almost thirty minutes away now? It doesn’t make sense for you guys to drive all that way when you’re only five minutes down the road.”

“Jamie, if you’re sure, that sounds great,” Dani said. After saying their goodbyes, the pairs parted ways.

Dani and Jamie made their way up the stairs, stumbling slight as neither of them had sobered up yet.

“Where am I gonna sleep? Your place isn’t that big,” Dani pointed out.

“You good on the sofa?”

“I mean, yeah, I’ll take it but that sofa’s terrible.”

“For your information, I’ve got a new one since you ran off. ‘is better, I swear.”

“I guess it’ll do,” Dani playfully rolled her eyes.

Being back in Jamie’s apartment - what had once been their apartment - was weird. It was slightly uncomfortable, as she couldn’t stop replaying the last time she’d set foot in this house. On the other hand, just like so many other things over the past few hours, she felt at home. She could still remember all the details of the apartment, noticing what had changed and what had remained the same. Sure enough, there was a new couch in the middle of the living room. Dani plopped down on the sofa, not even bothering to take her shoes off.

“You want to change into something a little more comfy, Poppins?”

“Huh?” Dani looked up at Jamie, already half asleep. She looked down and realized she was indeed still wearing the dress and heels she’d worn to dinner. “I would, but I don’t have anything here. I’ll survive til tomorrow morning.”

“Nonsense - that dress looks amazing on you, but please don’t try to sleep in it. Come ‘ere, let me get you something else.” Jamie led Dani to her room and went into her dresser drawer. She pulled out a baggy t-shirt and tossed it over to Dani.

“Will that be ok?” Jamie asked.

“This is perfect. Is the bathroom still where it used to be?…I’m sorry, that was such a dumb question, of course your bathroom’s still in the same place. I’m still drunk, I’m sorry. I’m um, I’m gonna go change.” Dani disappeared to the bathroom. Jamie couldn’t help but chuckle to herself. God, she’d missed Dani.

“Damn it, she ran out on you,” Jamie muttered to herself, trying to stop herself from getting too attached to the idea anything might happen between them this weekend. After Jamie changed, she sat on the bed and waited for Dani to finish up in the bathroom.

Oh, fuck, Jamie thought as she looked up and saw Dani emerging from the bathroom. She forgot how good Dani looked wearing her nightshirts and how much of a turn on it was. Unbeknownst to her, similar thoughts are running through Dani’s head. The two sat and stared at each other, clearly both wanting to make a move, but neither having the courage to do it.

Dani moved first, crossing to the other side of the room, grabbing Jamie’s hands and pulling them to her waist. Before Jamie could process what was happening, Dani’s lips were on hers and she found herself leaning into it. After moment though, she forced herself to pull back.

“Dani, we can’t.”

“Ugh, god I’m sorry. I don’t know…I don’t know why I did that. i mean, I do, but I shouldn’t have -“

“No, it’s not that I didn’t want you to,” Jamie sighed. “I’ve been wanting that since you got here. We’re both drunk though, I can’t do this while we’re drunk. Not to mention we didn’t exactly end on good terms, but that’s not a discussion for right now.”

Dani was silent, though nodding in agreement. After a moment of awkward silence, she started walking towards the bedroom door.

“I’m just um, I’m just gonna go in the living room. I saw some blankets out there, I’ll make myself comfy. G’night, thanks for letting me crash with you.”

“Wait, Dani - would you…would you want to stay in here tonight? I know I shouldn’t do this and I can’t help but think I’m just going to end up getting myself hurt, but god Dani, I’ve missed you.” Dani started at her for a moment, shocked by Jamie’s offer.

“God, I’m sorry, I just made this weirder than it already is. Please, you can say no.”

“I actually wanted to say yes. Are you sure it’s ok?” Jamie nodded, shifting over so there was room for Dani on the bed with her. She made sure to stick to her side of the bed, not daring to cross to Dani’s side right now. Her body fought sleep for a little while before she eventually faded off.

It took the au pair even longer to fall asleep. She had started sobering up and couldn’t stop overthinking the events of the evening. She’d had an amazing time, but this was a mistake. Not only was she clearly going to hurt herself, but now that she knew Jamie hadn’t been able to date anyone since their breakup, she knew whatever happened would likely hurt them both. The more she thought about it, the more she just wished Jamie would have just been dating that other woman. Sure it would have sucked, but at least she wouldn’t have found herself in the predicament she was in now. After what felt like an eternity, Dani eventually fell asleep, her mind still racing.

A few hours later, the sun started poking in through the curtains. Dani woke up, nowhere near rested. It couldn’t have been more than a few hours since she’d finally fallen asleep. It also felt she’d been hit by a train. She saw the clock on the nightstand said it was just after 7:00AM and while she wanted to go back to sleep, the pounding headache from her hangover wasn’t allowing her to do that. Dani tried to roll over and make her way to the bathroom to see if she could dig up any pain reliever. She knew where it was once upon a time, hopefully Jamie hadn’t reorganized her bathroom. It was a struggle to get up though; while they had been sleeping, both Jamie and Dani had migrated towards the middle of the bed. Legs were completely tangled and Jamie’s arm had ended up around Dani’s waist. She tried to move it away gently, trying not to wake Jamie in the process.

“Babe, come back to bed,” Jamie said, still very clearly half asleep. Dani sighed when she heard that.

“Sure, call me babe for the weekend,” Dani said under her breath, quiet enough Jamie couldn’t hear her. She returned to bed, hoping that with some relief for her hangover, she’d be able to get a little more sleep. Once again, her mind wouldn’t let her sleep. Watching Jamie sleep, all Dani could think of was the constant regret of running away. The road not travel looked real good now.

Jamie woke up a few hours later to an empty bed. God, how had she slept til noon? She supposed staying out until the wee hours of the morning had something to do with it. She momentarily forgot Dani had stayed over, but as soon as she remembered she got out of bed to see where the au pair had gone.

“Dani?” she called out.

“I’m in the kitchen! Did you want breakfast? I made eggs and coffee.”

“Sounds great, thanks. How’d you sleep?”

“Pretty well,” Dani lied. “I woke up with a pounding headache around seven though, and couldn’t get back to sleep.”

“So that’s why I heard up and about so early. Do you need anything?”

“Nah, I found some ibuprofen and I’m feeling a lot better. The coffee helped too. Do you still take yours with a lot of cream, a little sugar?”

“Uh, yeah,” Jamie was surprised Dani still remembered that after all this time.

“What about you? How did you sleep?”

“Really well once I fell asleep. So what are your plans for the day?”

“I need to get back to the Wingraves. I told Flora and Miles we’d spend the day together today. I should actually go start getting myself presentable again and get going.”

“Do you have a ride out there?” Jamie asked. “I can take you if you need.”

“Only if it isn’t too much trouble. I talked to Henry this morning and he said he can come out here if I need, but I know he has to bring the kids with him if he comes out -“

“It’s ok, Dani, I’ll drive ya. I don’t have anything else going on.” The gardener wouldn’t admit this was also a ploy to spend more time with Dani.

“That would be great if you don’t mind. I’m going to go freshen up and we can go whenever you want.” With that, Dani headed to the bathroom, leaving Jamie alone with her thoughts.

She couldn’t believe how easily she and Dani had just fallen back into it as if the last two years hadn’t happened. The last twenty four hours were something Jamie could have only dreamt about: falling asleep and waking up with Dani beside her, enjoying breakfast together, the domestic monotony she’d taken for granted before. Jamie found herself longing for things to be like this again all the time; even after Dani leaving how she did, there was still no one who could make Jamie feel the way she did. She would have loved to have been able to just ask Dani to stay- hell, she wished Dani would ask her to go back to Vermont, where she’d learned Dani had been for the last two years. She would have considered it. But neither of those things would happen and Jamie knew it was probably for the best. Either would be a mess. Her musings were interrupted by the bedroom door opening, Dani emerging looking as put together as she had upon arriving at dinner last night.

“Well you clean up pretty nice for someone who was nursing a hangover all morning,” Jamie said, perhaps a little more flirtatious than she’d anticipated. “Let me just brush my teeth and throw on some pants and we can go.”

The pair went downstairs, loading into Jamie’s truck. This time it was Dani reminiscing about the past, thinking how right all of this still felt to her; sitting in the comfortable silence, the radio playing in the background, the countryside winding out the window. Even after all this time, Dani still felt right at home. Now that she was back, she couldn’t help but think that in trying to do right by Jamie, she’d ruined everything.

“You know, I don’t know if I’ve said it yet, but I’ve really missed you,” Dani broke the silence. Jamie didn’t immediately respond, trying to figure if now was the time to pour her heart out.

“Dani, I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve missed you, but I can’t just pretend like you didn’t just push me away for months and then run off to another country with no explanation.”

“You know why I did what I did. I know that doesn’t make it any better, but I couldn’t live with the thought of possibly hurting you.”

“Don’t you see that’s exactly what you did anyway?”

“You know what I meant. I was scared, still convinced the Lady of the Lake wasn’t done with me yet. Do you now how many I times I dreamt that she would take over me and hurt you? Would take over me and kill you? I couldn’t live with myself it that happened!”

“If you’d have talked to me about any of this, I would’ve helped you.”

“I did tell you.”

“No, no you didn’t. Well you did, but you mentioned it and then you pulled away from me.”

“And trust me, if I could change that now, I would. I can’t though, and the most I hoped to get out of this weekend was that you didn’t absolutely hate me.”

“I don’t think I can hate you. By all accounts, I should hate you. But here I am, getting drunk with you, letting you stay at my apartment, letting you sleep in my fucking bed. I have tried, trust me I have tried to date other people, but it always just come right back to you and I know the only heart I’m breaking the entire time is my own,” Jamie felt her voice crack and took a breath, determined not to get into this conversation right now.

“I know there’s nothing I can really say, but I do just want to let you know I’m sorry for what I did, for leaving you how I did. I mean it when I say if I could take it all back in hindsight, I would.”

“Well, you can’t. Listen, Dani, I don’t want to get into this conversation right now. Last night was amazing, we’ll have a great time at the wedding tomorrow, and then you’ll go back home, I’ll be here, and it’ll be like this whole weekend never happened. I can’t ask you to stay and even if I wanted to, I can’t go back with you. So where does that leave us? Things are already getting messy as it is and you know it.”

Dani just sighed, knowing Jamie was right. They sat back in silence after this, except it was no longer comfortable. Both women had finally gotten to speak the words they’d been holding onto for the last two years, both knowing it wouldn’t change anything.

After what felt like hours, though it couldn’t have been more than 20 minutes, the pickup pulled up in front of the Wingrave’s home.

“Here’s your stop. So I’ll, um, I’ll see you for the wedding tomorrow I guess?”

“Yep, I guess so,” Dani said as she headed towards the house.

“Dani!” Jamie called before driving away.

“Yeah?”

“I just…i have to ask, did you ever see her again?” Jamie couldn’t help herself, she had to know.

“Huh?”

“Did you ever see her again? After Bly?”

“Oh,” Dani realized she was asking about Viola. “No, actually and honestly that just makes the fact I left hurt even more.”

Jamie nodded before saying a quick goodbye and the two parted ways until tomorrow.

The next afternoon, Dani rode out to town with the Wingraves. The mood was overall very light, everyone excited to see some happiness come from their hellish time at Bly Manor. Dani should have been excited too, and she was - excited for her friends at least. After yesterday, she’d been feeling pretty shitty about things with Jamie, even more so than usual. Maybe it was finally learning exactly how much pain she’d caused, maybe it was the fact that Jamie seemed to put the final nail in the coffin with their conversation yesterday. Then again, what did she expect? That Jamie would just ask her to come back to England for good? That Jamie would be willing to leave The Leafling and come back to Vermont with her? The more she thought about it, the more laughable it seemed. The other night was beginning to feel like a drunken mistake. For a few hours yesterday morning, she stupidly believed any of the above could have been possible. A distant possibility, sure, but a possibility no less. She tried to put it out of her head and try her best to have a good time. It was a happy day after all.

Dani had finally gotten in a little bit better headspace upon arriving at the small church where the ceremony was taking place, but that changed quickly when she realized where they were. This was a part of town she knew well, one she was in almost as much as the area near Jamie’s flat and all the memories came rushing back. Right next to the church was the school where Flora and Miles had gone for a year before Henry found a more permanent home for them in the country. She’d attended a fair number of school plays and sporting events there that year. A little further down was the gas station she distinctly remembered stopping at with Jamie when they had taken a road trip a few hours out into the country for their first anniversary, right before everything went to shit. She remembered stopping to stock up on junk food, the euphoria of finally having some time just the two of them after what she remembered had been a hellishly busy month. There was the restaurant they would end up at quite often after both of them had worked a full day and didn’t feel like cooking; the video store they frequented. God, everything in this area reminded her of what she and Jamie had, what they could have continued to have if she hadn’t fucked it all up.

“Dani, are you coming?” Flora’s voice broke her thoughts, Dani hadn’t even realized she’d been zoning out.

“Yeah, sorry. I was miles away, but here I come!”

“Doesn’t it all just look perfectly splendid?”

“It does Flora, it really does.”

The ceremony was small and short, but beautiful. Once everything wrapped, Hannah and Owen disappeared for more photos while everyone else began to migrate towards the venue that would be hosting the reception. Dani noticed Jamie wasn’t placed at the same table as her and the Wingraves, which she had expected, especially after the other night. The au pair hadn’t seen the gardener yet, at least nothing more than making eye contact across the church. Dani did take note that Jamie didn’t appear to be with a date like she’d said. Just as Dani was thinking this, Jamie appeared at the table.

“You lot don’t happen to have room for one more person here, do you?”

“Eh, I guess we can find a place for you,” Dani joked, knowing full well there was more than enough space.

“Thank god. I forgot to update Hannah on the whole date situation and how after things ended at the rehearsal dinner, I would not be attending with Morgan after all. However, since she was unfortunately invited to the wedding before we agreed to go together, we were still sat at the same table.”

“Yikes. Well, we’re happy to take in a stray.”

“Jamie! I’m so excited to be able to sit with both of you tonight!” Flora exclaimed after seeing there was one additional guest at their table. “Oh this is splendid - does this mean Dani’s back and you’re together again?”

“Not quite, squirt,” Dani laughed, “but it’ll be good for us all to spend some time together tonight, I think.” Flora nodded, content with that answer,

“Ah, if only it were that easy,” Jamie mused.

“Yeah, if only. You wanna go find the bar?”

“Please. I thought you’d never ask.”

The entire rest of the evening was wonderful. Dinner and dessert were delicious, but with the team from Owen’s restaurant catering, who would have expected anything else? The toasts were lovely, the music had been perfectly chosen with wordless melodies to set the mood while dinner was happening and some great dance music for afterwards. Before everyone knew it, it was nearing midnight and people were beginning to trickle out.

“So…is this it?” Dani asked.

“I reckon it might be,” Jamie sighed. “Listen, I would be lying if I said I hadn’t been dreading seeing you since Owen told me you’d bought your plane ticket and would be coming, but this weekend has actually been a lot of fun.”

“It really has. Thank you for still being willing to spend time with me. After everything I wouldn’t have blamed you if you wanted nothing to do with me.”

“Like I said yesterday, I don’t have it in me to hate you, Poppins. Thank you for an unexpectedly enjoyable weekend.” The two stood in silence for a moment before Jamie spoke up again.

“I know it’s completely against my better judgment, but would you want to come over again tonight? Honestly the company the other night was nice.”

“I shouldn’t,” Dani declined. “Trust me, I would love that more than anything, but I can’t. I know we had that conversation about it never working out between us yesterday and it’s not fair to either of us if I come over tonight and who knows what happens from there. Plus you’re still a little drunk. If you were completely sober would you have asked me to stay the night?”

“Probably,” Jamie shrugged.

“How are you getting home, by the way? Don’t tell me you’re driving?”

“Nah, awkwardly enough, Morgan still gave me a ride here today. Even though we weren’t going together anymore, she still offered to drive me. You know how much I hate being DD for weddings, so I still took her up on it. Though she uh, seems to have left the party already.”

“Let me find Henry, I’m sure he would be willing to give you a ride back home if you needed.” Dani ran off and returned a few minutes later. Henry was saying his goodbyes to a few other folks from around town, as well as trying to separate the kids from their newfound group of friends that consisted of the few other children who had been at the reception.

“He said it’s fine, he wants to know you get home safely too. Before we get ganged up on by kiddos who are on an obscene sugar high, I wanted to ask if you have any plans for the rest of the week?”

“Just work as far as I can think,” Jamie said.

“Good. I’m sure I mentioned it before, but when I said I was coming over for the wedding, the Wingraves asked if I’d want to stay for a little bit longer, spend some time with the kids. Thing is, if you happened to have any more free days, I’d love to see you another time or two if it worked out.”

“I would love that,” Jamie said. “Do you still have my phone number, maybe we can hash out details tomorrow?”

“It’s very possible I still have it memorized.” Dani stuck her hand out, fingers grazing Jamie’s for the second time in three days. Jamie grabbed her hand right back. They both knew this felt right, maybe their relationship could be salvaged after all. They also knew it was too soon to know, but there was hope. Jamie pulled Dani a little closer, about ready to go in for a kiss, when she was interrupted.

“I thought you said you weren’t dating anymore?” Miles asked.

“We’re not,” Dani said, not wanting to give the kids any false hope that they’d be seeing significantly more of her in their lives again.

“But you were going to kiss, weren’t you?”

“Miles, none of your business,” Henry interjected. “Everyone ready to head out?” Everyone nodded in agreement and made their way out into the chilly evening to the car. Dani could hear that Flora and Miles were walking a little farther behind the group and apparently hadn’t dropped the conversation of Dani and Jamie dating once again.

“Wasn’t that night just so much fun, Miles? I just love weddings. Well, I loved this one, I haven’t been to any others. What if Jamie and Dani get married next? We could all go to their wedding and it would be perfectly splendid!”

Dani and Jamie both overhead this and exchanged a quiet, knowing laugh. If only the rest of the world could be as accepting as these kids. While they couldn’t be sure what the future would really look like and they knew there’d be countless challenges to work through. It wouldn’t be easy, but maybe their love, like the moonflower, might be worth it.

A/N - if you made it all the way through, thank you and I hope you enjoyed it! If y’all want a sequel, lemme know because @90smallaesthetic has already asked for one 🤣

#the haunting of bly manor #thobm #thobm netflix #dani x jamie #damie #jamie x dani #dani clayton #jamie taylor #jamie the gardener #jamie vermont #amelia eve #victoria pedretti #thobm jamie #thobm fanfic #thobm dani #my fics #mystuff

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