Benny's Birthday

Author's Note: Fred O'Bannion cares for the character Danielle Morrison (aka Dani) very much. Dani is an original character. Prior to the relationship between Dani and O'Bannion, Dani had gone out with Benny O'Donnell. At that time Dani and Benny were each other's first girlfriend and boyfriend. They dated for awhile, but later broke up.

The music was turned up so loud that the walls of the large house were shaking. Dani held the cup of beer in her hand as she walked from one side of the room to the other. She was starting to get tipsy, but she continued to drink. After all, she had a reason to celebrate. It was her ex-boyfriend and best friend's 19 birthday. School was out. It was time to party.

Pickford was huddled together with a large group of guys, including Don and Slater. They were all getting high, and talking about the government. Dani stopped and waved, and then moved on. "Hey, Dani," someone shouted. "Over here!" She turned around to see arrogant O'Bannion waving at her. He, too, had a cup of beer in his hand, and was standing with a group of seniors whom she didn't know very well.

Dani pushed through the crowd of drunk and high seniors, and made her way over to O'Bannion and his friends. "Hey, O'Bannion. What's up?" she asked with a smile. "Ah, not much," O'Bannion said, moving closer to her. "What have you been up to?" he inquired. She could smell his cologne and the faint odor of smoke and alcohol. She was surprised when she felt herself begin to blush. "Uhm, I've been walking around and chatting with some of our friends," Dani said, looking down at the floor.

"Have you seen Benny anywhere?" O'Bannion nodded and pointed outside. "He's back there. He said that he just needed some air. He wasn't feeling too well a few minutes ago," he leaned in closer to her and whispered, "He had a little bit too much to drink." Dani nodded, and then took a few steps backward. She was blushing even harder now, and she knew that O'Bannion noticed it by the way he was smiling. "Anything wrong, Dani?" he asked, still keeping that smile on his face. "Uhm . . . no," she replied, turning away and pretending to look into the crowd.

"Well, I think I'm going to go find Benny. You know, see what he's up to and if he's feeling any better." He nodded. "I'll be seeing you later," he said with a wink. Dani blushed again. Some of the guys started laughing quietly. Just as she started to walk away, O'Bannion slapped her behind. "O'Bannion!" Dani cried and turned around again. "What?" He shrugged. "I just wanted to say goodbye."

She was thankful to get outside and away from O'Bannion. Still holding onto her cup, she stood on her tip-toes and looked around the property. Benny was sitting on the hood of Pink's black El Camino, staring into space. "Benny!" she called, waving at him. He looked up, gave her a smile, and waved back. Once she made her way over to him, she slid her purse off her shoulder and slid across the hood and sat beside him. "Hey," Dani said. "Are you feeling any better?" Benny sighed. "Yeah, the nausea passed. Thanks for asking. So why are you out here?" he asked, leaning forward and resting his arms on his legs.

"I just wanted to see how you were. I've been looking for you the whole time," she replied, wondering if her presence was annoying him. "Am I bothering you?" Benny shook his head. "Of course not!" After being silent for a few moments, he turned to her and said, "You know, I've missed you. And not just here. I've missed you for the longest time now." Dani turned and faced him, a confused look on her face. "You've missed me? I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand." "Ever since we broke up I've been missing you. I miss everything we used to do. I'm never going to get over you, you know." he said, looking down at his hands. Dani was quiet for a moment. "Aw, Benny, I'm sure you'll get over me. It's not like I'm anything special. I'm just like any other girl here." she said, laughing. "Don't even say that. You are a thousand times better than any one of these seniors. And you should know that. Don't you see how all the guys act around you? They all want you. Believe me. I would know, since I'm one of them." She shook her head. "Are you serious? Out of all the girls, I'm the one everyone wants? That doesn't sound right to me."

"Trust me, Dani. I've been around enough guys to hear what they say about you. You should only hear what O'Bannion has to say about you," Benny smiled and laughed. "But then again, some of the stuff I don't think you'd like to know." Dani laughed along with him. "Well, thanks." Benny nodded in response. For a few minutes they sat there with an uncomfortable silence surrounding them. He then leaned toward her, with his eyes closed. Dani knew what was about to happen and just did what was natural. Once Benny's soft lips met hers, everything else around them faded. She felt the familiar feeling of heat rushing through her body. After a few seconds, he started to pull away, but he leaned in again and gave her another kiss. This one lasted a few seconds longer. "I still love you, Dani," he whispered once he pulled away. "I want you to know that." She looked straight into his brown eyes and saw the sadness in them. She noticed how serious he looked. "I do." Dani whispered back.

She felt tears begin to form behind her eyelids, and she shut them tight. But it was no use, hot tears began streaming down her face. Behind her closed eyes, memories of years past flashed before her. "As soon as I get more money, I promise you that I'll buy you that diamond ring you've always wanted." Another flashback. "We'll be together forever, I swear." Then the breakup. "But you promised me! You swore that we'd be together forever. You should know not to make promises like that if you can't keep them!" Dani's eyes flickered open.

Benny moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. Dani rested her head against his muscular chest, and let her tears fall. There was no sense in holding them in. "Why aren't we together if we love each other so much?" he asked, his voice starting to shake. She knew he was about to cry. Tears streamed even more now down her face. "Remember everything you promised me? You never did any of that. Believe me, I want to be yours again, I really do, but I'm afraid everything will happen all over again." Now he was crying. "What if I swore to you everything I said will happen?" he asked, grabbing a hold of her hands. "I don't know." she sobbed, closing her eyes again.

"That isn't an answer!" Benny cried, squeezing her hands tighter. "I want to be with you. I need to be with you. I swear to God I'll keep my promises! Everyone single one. I'll buy you a ring like we planned on. We can be together forever and never have to go through times like these again." "I'm sorry, but it's the only thing I can say now! I don't know." Dani sobbed harder, and moved closer to him. Both of them sat in complete silence, Benny holding her close.

After what seemed like forever, Dani spoke. "I better go. It's getting pretty late and people are leaving." Dani told him, pulling away. "Oh. Do you need a ride home?" he asked, pulling out his keys. "No thanks, O'Bannion is taking me home." Benny frowned. "Oh," he said, wiping his eyes. "So I guess I'll see you later?" "Yes, definitely." Dani said, mustering a slight smile. Benny looked relieved. "Great. Hey, before you go, I just wanted to thank you for this party. I couldn't think of a better way to spend my 19 birthday than with all my closest friends. I loved everything." "Oh, good, I'm glad. I was nervous that you wouldn't like it," she said softly, pulling her purse onto her shoulder. "Goodnight."

Just then, O'Bannion came outside and was headed towards them. Dani stood up, and smoothed the wrinkles of her skirt. "Dani, I'll meet you in the car when you're ready. Happy birthday, Benny! Later." He said, doing his unique handshake with Benny, then he walked off towards his car. "Please promise me not to tell anyone what happened between us tonight." Dani whispered, facing him. "I promise. It's just between us." He vowed. Dani nodded. Then he took a step closer to her, closed his eyes, and kissed her one last time. "I don't want to leave." she told him once their kiss ended. "Then stay with me." Benny whispered back, kissing her once more. "I wish I could," she said, "But I still don't know what to do." He sighed. "Please let me know." He had this pleading expression on his face. "I promise. Happy birthday." And with that, she started to walk away, leaving Benny standing where he was before. "Goodnight. I love you." he called after her quietly. Dani stopped walking. "Goodnight. I love you too."

As soon as Dani sunk down into the passenger's seat of O'Bannion's car, he began asking her questions. "What took you so long?" he asked, sounding irritated. "I needed to say a few more things to Benny before we left." she said, smoothing down her hair while looking into the rear-view mirror. "I saw everything that happened." he said, not letting his eyes wonder off her. Dani turned and faced him, shocked. "You . . . you did?" she asked, her mouth dropping open once she'd seen him nodding. "You have to swear to me that you won't tell! That's private, and no one needs to know."

O'Bannion just laughed. "Yeah, well it isn't too private now." he said with a laugh. "I mean it, O'Bannion! Promise me." Dani said, dead serious. He just stared at her for a few moments. "Fine. It's just between us three." "Good. And no bringing it up, alright? I'll talk about it when I feel like it." She pointed a warning finger at him. "Yes. That too." he said, and then started up the car.

Looking out of the window, she could see Benny sitting on the hood of the car again, his head in his hands. She felt horrible to leave him all alone there. She was almost tempted to tell O'Bannion to stop the car and go running over to him. But she didn't. Instead she kept to herself the whole ride home, reliving everything said and done a few hours ago.

When O'Bannion finally pulled up to her house, he turned to her and said, "Goodnight. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" She nodded. "Thanks for the ride." He was about ready to kiss her when she drew away. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I just don't feel comfortable kissing you when I still have no idea what's going on between Benny and I." O'Bannion looked hurt. "Fine. See you tomorrow."

Closing the door quietly behind her, she flicked on the light of her bedroom. Without even changing she flopped down onto her bed, and analyzed everything that happened that night. Her eyelids began to feel heavy, and she slowly closed them, drifting off into a deep sleep.

Riiing. The telephone was ringing on the end table next to her bed. Riiing. Opening up her eyes, she saw the bright light of her room and quickly closed them again. She rolled over, mumbling to herself, and picked up the receiver. "Hello?" she said groggily.

"Hey, it's O'Bannion." The voice on the other end said. "Oh, hi," Dani replied, sounding surprised. "What's up?" "Nothing. I just wanted to apologize for my actions earlier. And also for waking you." "Oh, don't even worry about it! It's not a big deal." she said, closing her eyes again. "Okay, well, I guess I'll let you get some sleep. Goodnight." "Goodnight."

Click. The line went dead. Thanking God she had the chance to catch up on rest and think things through later on, she stood up and shut off her light. Once she got back to bed, Benny's new promises kept playing in her head. Everything can wait until the morning, she told herself. And without another thought she drifted back to sleep.