Page 44 of Bad Daddy

Isabella ignored him and eyed Haru for a moment before saying, “Haru, you’re in charge of the bedroom. Lily, you’re assembling boxes and labeling them and then you can work on the bathroom. Once we’ve gotten going, we can reassess who’s working on what. Moving might be chaos, but we’re looking for organized chaos here. Everyone got it?”

There were various nods and thumbs-ups and sounds of affirmation as everyone pulled off their shoes and coats, gearing up to get to work.

“Wait,” Danny said, frowning at Isabella. “What about me?”

Isabella looked at him. “You’re moving out of your apartment today,” she said evenly. “Your job is to tell us how to pack stuff up and let us do the heavy lifting.”

“And eat a donut,” Manuel added helpfully. “I got them from that gourmet place on Evergreen.”

“Grand Azteca’s covering lunch for everyone by the way,” Luis called from across the room.

Danny bit his lip and did his best not to buckle under the onslaught of affection. “Okay,” he was able to say after a second. “Okay.”

***

Danny had figured that he and Haru would probably be able to pack up his whole place in a day, just that it would be a very long one. He’d already twisted himself into a guilty knot over knowing that Haru would be losing an entire Friday to helping him move out, and had been prepared to work as hard as he knew how to lift at least some of that burden from Haru’s shoulders.

With seven additional people, though, it was incredible how fast things happened. It no doubt helped that Danny didn't have a lot of stuff, but the entirety of his life was all boxed up by noon, stacked in neat piles, all ready to be carried down to Jacob’s waiting truck.

Marco and Luis ducked out for a bit while everyone took a break, and they returned carrying boxes of freshly prepared Mexican food. Everyone plopped down in various places on the floor to eat, and Danny took them all in, not quite able to believe this was his life.

Manuel enthusiastically complimented everything before he got sucked into what seemed to be a discussion about quantum theory in relation to sugar crystals with Jacob and Lily, as Antonio and Marco did their best to follow along. Haru, Isabella, and Luis had their heads bent together too, and Danny left them to it, not wanting to interrupt.

When Danny finished his food, he got up to throw his paper plate and stuff into a garbage bag, then went around with it to collect everyone else’s trash. The bag was full by the time he was finished, so he tied it off and set it next to the other garbage bags that needed to be taken outside to the dumpster. It was so weird to see three full bags of stuff waiting to be thrown away. It wasn’t a lot, Danny supposed, all things considered, but still. He managed to fill three garbage bags of stuff to dispose of, after packing everything else he had away into boxes.

Two of the boxes taped up in Danny’s little living room were labeled to sell. They were full of too-expensive clothes and shoes and jewelry he didn’t want, and they made Danny sick to look at them. Antonio, in the midst of packing up Danny’s closet, had turned to Danny, obviously about to make some sort of remark about the differences in the Armani suits and Danny’s ratty T-shirts. But he’d taken one look at Danny’s face, glanced back at the suit jacket in his hand, and then had said in quiet Spanish, “You could get some decent cash selling this stuff off. But I’m all for chucking it, if you don’t want to deal with this fancy shit.”

A lot of stuff said and not said. It had given Danny the ability to reply, “Like it didn’t just hurt your heart a little, suggesting that we throw it out. It’s okay. I’m all for selling it.” Every bit he was able to take back counted. “You can keep anything you want, though,” he’d offered.

Antonio had given him a downright offended look. “You think we’re anywhere close to the same size, Danito? Excuse me!”

“There’s watches and stuff,” Danny had interrupted, hoping to nip Antonio’s righteous indignation in the bud.

Antonio had sighed. “Buddy, if I let you give me a Weiss watch, I’d never forgive myself. We’ll pack it up and you can sell it, okay? Pay those college bills.”

“I’ll help you take out the trash,” Manuel said, appearing by his side. He was already wearing his jacket. “Between the two of us, we could take it all out in one go.”

“Oh,” Danny said. “Thanks. Okay, let me just grab my coat.” It wasn’t that cold, March having warmed up some, but there was enough of a chill to need a layer. On reflex, he grabbed the gray coat that was still hanging in the closet. Clint’s coat. Not warm enough for winter, but fine for a spring afternoon.

He stared at it a touch too long.

“You okay?” Manuel’s voice floated through him and Danny shook his head.

“Yeah. Yeah, sorry.” Danny put on the gray coat and wrapped Haru’s scarf around his neck before hefting two of the garbage bags. “Okay, ready.”

Manuel nodded and grabbed the third garbage bag, holding the door for Danny, and they made their way out of Danny’s apartment and down to the dumpster.

“I’m, uh, I’m not gonna ask,” Manuel said as they walked. “Since it isn’t any of my business or anything. But I just, um, I, you know, I wanted to like–let you know I’m here. If you ever wanted to talk about anything.”

“Thanks,” Danny mumbled.

Manuel nodded and they finished their walk in silence. Manuel slid open the door to the dumpster and tossed in the first garbage bag, stepping aside so that Danny could throw in the two trash bags he was carrying.

Danny was left wearing the gray coat he hated, shielding him from the spring breeze. The scarf Haru had given him was helping to keep out the rest of the chill.

He shrugged off the coat, staring at the dumpster.

“Hey, Danny?” Manuel shoved his hands into his pockets, and he sounded serious in a way Danny wasn't used to, in the time they’d known each other.

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