Chapter Fifty Seven

"I'm not taking no for an answer,"

Stefania laid on the sofa of Danielle's trailer, staring up at the ceiling. It had been a couple of hours since Danielle went onto set and she was still struggling to wrap her head around who was just stood in front of her. She was prepared to meet Caterina and just feel jealous but suddenly, she was brought back to a time she didn't think she'd ever go back to. Not even Gio knew about her, she was so terrified to tell anyone.

Stefania wanted to just go home to be honest. She felt trapped in this little trailer and wanted to be able to zone out with her headphones in the comfort of her bed. She really thought life was going to be on her side this week. Curveball! She knew she couldn't just leave Danielle though, no matter how much she felt constricted.

Another half an hour passed and Stefania still hadn't moved from the sofa, she was sure her neck would be sore when she moved but she couldn't find it in her. Too many  memories and thoughts were rushing back to her.

"Hey," Danielle said as she walked into the trailer, sipping a bottle of water. "Stefania?"

"Hi," Stefania didn't even move her eye line slightly. She felt drained. Too many thoughts and too many memories too quickly.

"I have a break for a bit. Do you want to get food? You can come on set after as well,"

"I'm not really hungry," The thought of moving felt like an impossible task.

"Stefania?"

"Yes?"

"What is it?"

"I'm tired,"

"You want to go home?"

"No,"

"So what do you want?" Danielle was starting to get a little irritated. Her girlfriend was really feeding her nothing here.

"I don't know,"

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

"I can't,"

"You can't or you don't want to?"

"Both," Stefania looked up at the ceiling and felt her eyes start to fill with tears. She couldn't stop them even if she tried but Danielle wasn't looking at her so didn't see.

"You have to give me something else here," Danielle sighed. "Why can't you? Why don't you?"

"Because..." Stefania trailed off as her voice cracked, making Danielle look at her. "This will happen," She laughed helplessly and wiped away the tears but they kept falling.

"Stef..."

"No, no. I'm fine," She held her hand up to stop Danielle from hugging her because she knew that would make her completely break down.

"Clearly not," The blonde crouched down by her girlfriend and tried to turn her head.

"Danielle, not now. Please," The please sounded so tired and it broke Danielle's heart.

"How am I meant to just leave this when you're like this? That's not how this works. I care about you too much to not ask and listen and hold you when you're like this. I don't know what's going on here. You used to date Caterina? You might have been in love? What else, Stefania?"

"Please can this wait until we're home?" Stefania couldn't even be bothered to wipe the tears away at this point as they started to dampen the sofa cushions under her.

"Okay," Danielle sighed and pressed a kiss to Stefania's cheek. "Do you want to just go home now?"

"No. Because... I want to be with you.... still. I just... don't want to talk," Her words were broken up as tears continued to fall from her eyes. "Get food. But stay here until you have to go again please,"

"Okay," Danielle didn't bother asking any questions and kissed Stefania's forehead as she stood up then quickly jogged to Craft. She grabbed a couple of bits for her to eat and a drink and snack for Stefania before jogging back over to her trailer. "These are for you," She said, placing the bottle and little packets on the table.

"Thank you," Stefania said and held out a hand for Danielle. She took hold of it and the brunette brought it to her mouth to kiss. "I'm sorry. I promise I'll explain later," Danielle nodded as she sat on the floor and rested her head on the sofa and took a bite of the sandwich she had picked up.

"Did you have time to eat at work today?" Danielle asked. Her girlfriend was always one to get so caught up in work and her students that she would forget to eat.

"No," She whispered in response. "But I'm not hungry," Danielle held the sandwich up above her head and moved it towards Stefania's mouth.

"Take a bite," She demanded, twisting a little so she could watch her girlfriend.

"Danielle, honestly-"

"Take a bite, Stefania," Danielle repeated herself, waiting until Stefania ate some. "I know you have a lot going on but you need to eat," She said, turning around fully and looking up at her girlfriend.

"My appetite just disappears,"

"I know because I have to remind you almost every day,"

"And I love you for it," Stefania added. She did feel kind of bad. She had never had someone care about her this much before. "I'll have something when we get home,"

"I'm making sure of that," Danielle said as she ate some more of her sandwich. "Are you going to be okay when I'm back on set?" Stefania nodded her head and finally turned on the sofa so that she was looking directly into Danielle's eyes. The tears had stopped, at least for now.

"What time are you meant to finish?"

"Scheduled for eight thirty but as you know..."

"It can run over,"

"It can run over," Danielle nodded in confirmation and dusted off one hand before gently touching Stefania's cheek. "You know I love you, yeah?"

"Stop. You're going to make me cry again," Stefania let out a shaky breath as she looked into her girlfriends eyes.

"I just need you to know,"

"I know, Danielle,"

"Good," They sat quietly for a little bit as Danielle finished off her sandwich and drank some more of her water. She reached behind her and grabbed a packet of gummy worms and happily put half in her mouth then leaned forward, waiting for Stefania to grab the other end with her teeth. She pulled a little bit and managed to kiss Stefania before biting it in half, smiling proudly as Stefania just laughed. The brunette watched as she did it again. The simplest things seemed to make Danielle happy.

"This is how you know I love you because I don't even really like gummy worms," Danielle dropped the one she had in her hand and looked up at her girlfriend in disbelief.

"You... what? Why didn't I know this? This is- gosh I need a minute," Danielle stood up and paced the length of her trailer, shaking her head.

"Alright Miss Dramatic, bring it down, bring it down," Stefania laughed as she sat up and sure enough, her neck was a little bit sore but it wasn't too bad.

"Bring it down? Stefania. This is relationship changing,"

"Oh, stop it! I just ate a couple for you! Just because you eat them like there's no food left in the world doesn't mean they're the best," Danielle crossed her arms over her chest and eyed her girlfriend up and down. "What are you going to do about it?" The blonde squinted her eyes as she put another one in her mouth and chewed it obnoxiously loud.

"Danielle! Two minutes!" Stefania pouted when she realised just how much she loved her girlfriends company but she also knew that she would not be able to handle going on set and seeing her with Caterina of all people. It's a very odd triangle they were in.

"Okay. I'm going to make my way back. You sure you don't want to come with?"

"I'm sure," Stefania nodded and held out her hands.

"If you need me, I'm going to leave my phone on the side of the set and I'll text you where exactly I am in case you do want to come on. Someone is always around for directions anyway,"

"Okay," Stefania nodded as she sat up on her knees and linked her hands around the back of Danielle's neck. "I need a hundred kisses before you go,"

"A hundred? Sounds good to me,"

A/N: A little later update than usual so apologies to everyone in a later time zone