Confrontation, Part 1

Dan & Libby

In town Dan pulled his car to a stop in front of Libby's apartment. He was probably lucky that Sheriff Biebe hadn't been around to catch him driving after drinking (and probably luckier that Ben hadn't caught him doing it!), but he wasn't thinking about any of that right now.

Taking the stairs to Libby's apartment two at a time, he knocked at the door hard. In spite of his attempts to calm down, he'd still been thinking about her and that Italian at the barbecue. The more he thought about the guy touching Libby, the angrier he became. Impatiently, he knocked at the door again.

Libby was startled awake by the loud knocking. It was getting late and she'd been in bed already. She'd begged off spending the night with March, explaining that she had to get to work early in the morning and she needed some rest. March, of course, had been sweet and gentlemanly, as he always was. He'd kissed her goodbye and told her he'd see her the next day. Had told her to come to the restaurant for lunch and he'd fix her something special. He was almost too good to be true, except for the part about being married, of course.

Rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands, Libby went to the door. "Who is it?" she asked, in the middle of a yawn.

"Me." The answer was hard, short, and clipped. Dan was in no mood for niceties. It never even occurred to him that he was acting exactly the way Ben Wade would have acted. Doing exactly the kind of thing Ben would have done.

Recognizing Dan's voice, Libby bit her lip. Did she really want to talk to him right now? "It's late, Dan. I have to be at work early in the morning, and I'm tired. Can we talk tomorrow?"

"No." He was still angry. "I need to talk to you right now, Libby. And if you don't open this door, I'll open it for you. Locked or not."

Libby recognized his anger and it sparked her own. Who did he think he was? Pounding on her door this late threatening her! When she'd first met Dan, she'd thought him so nice. What a mistake that had been.

Her blood boiling and sleep forgotten, she clicked open the locks and jerked the door open. Dan stood outside it, looking dark and intimidating in his usual black. His eyes had the most brooding and intense look in them she'd ever seen.

"Look here, Dan Evans!" Libby began, as he stepped across the threshold and slammed the door. "I don't know what you're here for, but I can tell you-!"

Before she could finish, she was stopped by Dan's lips on hers, his hands gripping her upper arms with bruising force.

TBC