Luke stops in front of Danny and I as we enter the building. Danny stands up taller and he puffs out his chest. Boys. "Hey, Lucy. I was wondering if I could talk to you alone for a moment, before class starts?"

I look up at Danny and he slightly shakes his head. "Yeah. Sure. I'll see you in class, Danny." He sighs and he slowly walks away. I'm glad he's stopped arguing with me, he knows he wouldn't win if he did. "What do you need?"

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me the other day." Luke hooks his foot around his leg. I remember this motion. It's the same motion that Danny used to get me to trust him and to feel bad for him. My heart rate increases.

"Luke, it was nothing." I watch his movements. Every time he shifts position is another thing that stresses me out. He wants to get closer to me.

"It was more than nothing. You kept me calm," Luke says. I bite my lip. I look over Luke's shoulder and I make eye contact with Danny. I knew he wouldn't leave my sight. He stands and starts walking over to me. Luke quickly kisses my cheek. I swallow. When he turns around, Danny is standing in front of him. Luke shrivels and he lowers his head as he walks around him.

Danny doesn't remove his eyes from Luke until I hug him. "Are you okay?"

I nod. "Thank you." I match my breathing to his.

"Now do you see why I don't like him? Guys can tell when other guys are hitting on girls. How did you know that something was up?"

"He put his foot behind his other one, like you did when you asked for a ride. The signs were the same. I knew what he was trying to do." I relax my shoulders and I form against Danny.

"I'm sure he'll stay away from you for a while. I think I scared him off. Come on, let's go." Danny keeps his arm around my shoulder as we slowly walk to class. I'm sure he won't leave my side until Luke gets the idea. Who knows how long that could take.

For the rest of the day, everytime we see Luke in the halls, he takes a different path to avoid rubbing shoulders with Danny. It's times like these when I need others to protect me.

Luke stays away from us until Friday. Danny pushes me behind him."I just wanted to say sorry. I should've known better," Luke says.

"Yeah you should have. Just stay away from Lucy," Danny says. I feel a hand grab my arm. As they pull me away, I do anything I can think of to alert Danny. I kick my leg out, but I'm already too far to hit him. I scream but Danny keeps scolding Luke. It must be too loud for him to hear me.

I get thrown against the wall and I look at the two of them. The first thing I notice is that they are older. Old enough to be in and out of college. "You've been mean to Luke. We don't like that." One of them cracks his neck. I look over at Luke and he's staring at me. Luke. I narrow my eyes. The man on my right throws his fist at me. I duck in time and he hits the wall. "Trying to be smart? I think you should just obey us. We're older and there are two of us. You don't have much of a chance."

"Danny!" I yell. They kick my legs and I fall. "Danny!"

"Stop calling for your boyfriend, wimp." He kicks me again. I hold my head as I prepare for a second hit, but I only hear people running away. I look up as Danny kneels next to me.

"I'm right here,"Danny says. I sit up and wrap my arms around him. "Unfortunately for them, there's a camera over there. Shall we go turn them in?"

I turn my head and I kiss his neck. "Thank you."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm just doing what I do best?" He laughs against my ear and I smile."Let's go visit Dr. Elliot."

"What's wrong?" Dr. Elliot asks when we enter his office.

"Check your camera in the commons from a few minutes ago," Danny says. Dr. Elliot does what he says. I don't want to watch the reenactment of what happened, but I want to know what Danny did, so I glue my eyes to the screen. When I see one of them puch Danny, I gasp. But when I see Danny punch him back, I stop breathing. Only when Danny rubs my back do I force my lungs to expand and contract. I turn away from the screen and I face Danny. He turns towards me. Neither of us say anything.

"Why did they hit you? What did they say to you?" Dr. Elliot chews on his pen.

"They accused me of being mean to Luke, which I'm not. He brought it onto himself by... by..." I break off. I don't want to seem like a coward because he kissed me.

"By kissing her. I got mad, but I didn't touch him or say anything." Danny crosses his arms.

"Seems like I should call Luke in here to apologize. Mrs. Small can you call Luke Smith in here please?"

I look at Danny. I don't want to see Luke after everything that has happened. He holds my hand. "I'm not letting you out of my sight."

I relax. As long as Danny and I maintain physical contact, I know I'll be safe. "This is why I need you around," I say. Danny smiles.

When Luke comes in, I hold onto Danny's hand as tight as I can. I bite my lip when Luke turns to me. "I guess I'm supposed to apologize." I hear him gulp. "I'm sorry." I nod in return.

"Thank you, Luke. The three of you need to go to class now." Dr. Elliot pushes out of his office and into the hallway.

As we walk down the hallway, Danny stands between Luke and me. I'll have to thank him later. "Why don't we just start over?" Luke suggests. Danny keeps his eyes straight forward. "Come on, it'll be easier on all of us."

Those words must have exploded a bomb inside of Danny because he thrusts Luke against the wall. "Daniel! Stop!"

Danny glares at me. "What? You don't want him to pay for everything he's done to you?"

"Daniel, let him go. You're scaring me." I keep using his full name so he knows that I'm angry. "Just let him go," I repeat.

He pauses a moment before he backs away from Luke. "Next time you touch her, you're going to pay."

"Daniel!" I tap my foot on the ground. He comes towards me. "Why can't you be nice? He's trying to be friendly."

"He is trying to get to you again!" Danny yells.

I hold my hand up. "I think you need some time to cool down. I'll be in class when you're ready to be nice. And stop yelling at me." I walk away from him without looking back.

After thirty minutes of listening to Mr. Thomas talk, Danny comes in. He seems to have calmed down. As he sits down, he sets a paper on my desk. I read it. 'I am sorry, Lucy. I completely messed up. Can you forgive me?' I write two letters and I hand it to him. I see his shoulders droop. He writes something else and gives it back. 'I know how mad you must be, but why can't you forgive me like you forgive everyone else?' I wait until class is almost over to write my response. 'Because I expected better of you.' When the bell rings, I walk past him and I place the note on his desk. I walk out of the room and past my next class. It takes me a few seconds to realize where I'm going. Home.

School has been out for thirty minutes when the doorbell rings. I know it's Danny. I open the door anyway. "Lucy..." I walk into my living room and I sit on the couch. I wish I would have sat in the chair. That way he wouldn't sit next to me, which he does. Danny places his hand on mine and I pull away. "I'm sorry, Lucy."

"I know you are." I look at him. His eyes tell me everything. They say how sorry he really is, how hurt he is that I pulled away from him. "I'm just disappointed. I thought you were better than that."

"I am. I don't know what came over me. Please forgive me."

I want to forgive him, but something in me is still angry at him. A single tear slips out of my eye. I let him wipe it away. I smile. I think I just forgave him. "How about that date?"

"How about a hug first?" Danny puts his arms around me. We stay motionless for a few minutes before I pull back. "Shall we go?" He pulls me up and we walk out the door.

"Don't we need to bring something?" We had talked about a picnic earlier. Maybe he's changed the plan.

"It's all over there already. I left school early to set it all up."

"So you were counting on me forgiving you? Good thing you know me." I smile at him.

When we reach the horses, Danny covers my eyes. "Just follow me." I do as he says. After a minute he allows me to look. I don't see anything except a few blankets and a basket. It's not much, but Danny spent a lot of time putting it together, so I act as if it's a five-star restaurant.

"It's perfect. Thank you." I slide my arm around his waist.

"Do you want to ride horses? Or do you want to lay down?"

"Let's ride horses and save sleeping for later." Danny whistles and two of the horses come trotting towards us.

When we're both situated, Danny whistles again and they start walking. Before too long, I've mastered my balance. We ride for hours, until the sun starts to set.

When we reach the blanket again, Danny says, "I brought chips and sandwiches. Nothing too fancy."

"Good because I don't smell like I should be eating anything fancy." I sit down on the blanket. It's not very comfortable, but I don't say anything.

"Nonsense." He kisses my cheek and I smile. Danny opens the chips and gives one to me. I take a bite. Salt and vinegar. "Your mom told me these are your favorite." I nod. I've always loved these chips. I eat another one as Danny hands me my sandwich. I know that it'll have too much peanut butter, like it did last time he made it. When I bite into it, my suspicion is confirmed.

Danny finishes his before I do and he lays down and puts his hands behind his head. I quickly finish mine and I lay next to him. "Maybe my life will start getting better. I can feel it."

"Maybe. But if it doesn't, that's okay, too."

"Why? You want to see me suffer?"

"No. I'll be able to protect you," Danny says.

I turn into him. "You can always protect me."

"True, but you need it more when you're sad, and that's when I like it most." Danny turns to me, too. I move myself closer to him until I can wrap my arms around him, and I do. "Tired?" Not really, but I want to sleep, so I nod. "Cold?" I know I will be so I nod again. Danny grabs a blanket and throws it over both of us.

"Tell me a story, Danny." I close my eyes.

"I can try. Once upon a time there was a girl named Lucy," Danny says. I smile. I knew he'd use my name. "She was the prettiest girl in school. Everyone who was anyone wanted to be her friend." The last thing I remember is Danny's hand stroking my hair.

"Lucy, you'll want to see this," Danny says, softly. I look at the sky. I can see millions of stars. He pulls me to a sitting position. "Isn't it beautiful?"

I nod. "I didn't know how amazing the night sky could be. There are so many stars." As I turn my head, I see the full moon. It's weird to think that something could be so bright in the middle of the night.

Danny looks at me and I look at him. He smiles and I smile. He leans forward and I lean forward. He kisses me and I kiss him. Everything is perfect. We fall asleep in eachothers arms.

Danny and I are woken up by water. Rain? No, it's too early for rain. I open my eyes and I hear the sprinklers. I let out a playful scream. Danny covers me all the way with the blanket. He pokes his head under. "We should probably go home. We've been here all night."

"Yeah. My parents are probably freaking out." I slip the blanket over my head. Danny stands and he picks up everything. "I can carry something, Danny. I'm not weak." I grab a blanket from him and I wrap it around me.

When we get home, Mom and Dad rush to my side. "Where have you been?!" Mom asks.

"We've been out," I say.

"All night?"

"Yes... We went out and fell asleep. Now we're back."

"Lucy, can we talk to you?" Dad asks. He walks away without waiting for me to answer. I don't follow him. "Now!" I cringe. Danny pushes me forwards and I keep going. "What were you doing all night?"

"I told you, we fell asleep. Danny took me out and we fell asleep. Nothing happened!" I fold my arms together. I hate being accused of things I didn't do.

"You need to be more careful when you do stuff like that. It may have been innocent this time, but next time it might not. Just watch out from now on," Mom says.

"Whatever." I walk back to the living room and I don't see Danny. "Where'd you go, Danny?" I find him in Alex's room, packing. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going home."

"Why?" I place my hand on Danny's shoulder and he looks at me.

"Because I don't need to be here. And it'll make everything easier for you and your parents."

"Easier for me? No. It might be easier for my parents but not for me." I walk out the door and into my room. I know he'll come after me so I face the door with my arms crossed.

"Lucy." He turns into my room. "I'm trying to do something nice for you. Why can't you let me?" Danny takes a step forward.

"I don't know. I just don't want you to leave me."

"Lucy, sometimes I fear you're too attached to me. That's why you need to let me do this. You need to learn to not depend on me all the time." Danny tucks my hair back.

I look up at him. His blue eyes are reflecting the light in a certain way that I can see myself in them. "Okay. You're right. I'm sorry. If you want to go, you can go. I can't force you to stay here. But if you ever want to come back, you're more than welcome." I give him a hug. "Just don't leave me forever."

"I'll never do that. You should know that by now. I need to finish packing. Want to help?" Danny asks. I nod. "You don't have to. You can just sit and watch." That sounds like a better plan.

I sit on Alex's bed as Danny puts the last things in the grocery bag. "How do you put up with me? I'm always moody I'm always complaining. I'm not fun to be around."

"Lucy, stop being so hard on yourself. Everyone has faults. One of mine is protecting you." Danny ties the bag and places it next to me.

"How is that a bad thing?"

"Because I'd do anything to keep you safe. I'd die for you. I'd rob a bank if it would keep you safe."

"If only every man had that fault. But for some reason I wish you didn't. I don't want you to die for me." I grab his hand.

"I should go home."

"Won't you be lonely?"

"You can call me, then I won't be."

I stand up and I kiss Danny on the cheek. "I love you." That is the first time I've said that to him. I hope he knows how strong that word is.

"I love you, too," Danny says. I smile. We stand, hand in hand, with our eyes locked on each others. Danny brushes his hand across my cheek. "I wish I could stay here forever."

"Me, too. One day, we might be able to." I wrap my arms around him. "I'll walk you home."

"No. Then you'll have to walk back alone. I'll be fine on my own."

I step back and look at Danny. "I know you will. I'll see you later, then?"

He kisses my forehead. "Monday. I'll be here to wake you up." I laugh. Only Danny would come to wake me up. "You think I'm joking?"

"No. I'll see you then." Danny walks away and I don't follow him. I hear the door close. I spend the rest of the day in my room.