Daniel seemed tense during the walk back. "I know you don’t want to, but I am here if you need to talk", I said. "He was just someone I didn’t think I would see again”, Daniel said and again i wasnt sure if he was angry or sad about that. “Did you not want to see him again?”, I asked. “He’s a part of a past I’m trying to move on from”, Daniel said. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know everything. But from the look on Daniel’s face, it was clearly something he didn’t want to talk about.

“She moves really well”, I said when we got back to the bike. “Do you like bikes?”, Daniel asked. “Well this was the first time I’ve ever been on one, but I always wanted to ride one”, I said. Daniel handed me the keys and I looked at him stunned. “I don't know how”, I said. “I’ll teach you”, he said. “It might end badly”, I said. “You trusted me to lead you through the darkness”, Daniel said, “Now I’m trusting you to not kill us”. “No, don’t trust me, you shouldn' trust me”, I said, handing the keys over to him. 

Daniel smiled and pulled me to the bike. I sat down and started panicking. “I can’t do this”, I said, “I will die”. Daniel sat down behind me. He took a hold of my hands and placed it on the handgrips. Okay now I really am going to die, before I even ride this bike. He gently pressed down on the fingers of my left hand. “Clutch”, Daniel said. Why did that sound so y? He did the same on the other hand. “Accelerator”, he said before moving my hand higher, “Break”. He was so close to me, that I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. His hands were soft and warm and covered the entirety of mine.

Daniel let go of my hands. “Try”, he said. I pressed down on the clutch but accelerated a bit too hard and the bike jerked. Daniel put his hands on my hands again and moved it down. “You have to be gentle”, he said making my heart skip a beat. I tried once again and the bike moved. Daniel grabbed the helmet and placed it on my head before putting his own on. “Let’s take her for a test drive on the road”, Daniel said. “I feel like you shouldn’t be sitting on the bike for this”, I said. “It’s okay, the roads are empty, we will take it slow, I trust you”, Daniel said. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you if this ends badly”, I said. “I’m not that fragile” Daniel said putting his hands around my waist. Maybe you aren't fragile, but my heart is, due to your hands on my body.

“I slowly pressed down on the accelerator and the bike started to move. “See you are a natural”, Daniel said when we entered the empty road. “Yeah, the first person in the world to ride a bike at 10 km/h”, I said. “Press down harder, if you want to go faster”, Daniel said. Okay he really needed to stop saying words like that, when his hands were around me, because controlling this bike was the last thing I could think of. “I don’t think I can”, I said, Daniel leaned into me again and put his hands on mine. I didn’t think I could breathe anymore either.

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