I wake up on Monday morning to Danny stroking my hair. “Hi,” I say.

    “Good morning. Are you mad?”

    I chuckle. “Why would I be mad?”

    “Because I’m waking you up an hour early,” Danny says.

    “What?” I sit up and look over at the clock and it’s six thirty, the normal time I get up. “Danny! You’re such a jerk!” I smile. “Maybe one day you’ll learn to not freak people out like that.”

    Danny laughs. “I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” He laughs again.

    “I know of one way.” I lean forward and kiss him. “That’s better. Now get out so I can change.”

    “If you say so. I’ll be outside.” Danny smiles and walks out. When I leave my room, Danny’s leaning against the wall. “Isn’t it amazing that school is over in two weeks? No more getting up in the mornings, no more homework. I can almost taste it.”

    “Summer. It’s sounds like paradise. Sounds like escape.” I hold onto Danny’s hand. “Hungry?” He nods. “I’m afraid all I have is cereal and milk.”

    “My favorite,” Danny says. I roll my eyes.

    We eat breakfast and Danny drives us to school. When we enter school, I smell it. Eagerness. Summer. Freedom. I smile. Danny’s right. It’s almost here. “Ten more days, then we can do whatever we want.”

    “Now, don’t get too carried away. Ten days is still a long time. Let’s take it one day at a time,” Danny says. I nod my head. One at a time.

    The next week and a half slowly trickle by. The last day of school arrives and most of the kids don’t come to school. When the final bell rings, the halls quickly empty and the doors are locked.

    “What do you want to do now?” Danny asks.

    “Burn my homework. It’s something… Something Alex and I always did.” I sigh. Alex and Dad are living in Orlando now. Annie and Jackson are living with them for the summer. I remember the first year we burnt all our school stuff. We put it in the oven and set it on fire. The memory brings a smile to my face. That was five years ago.

    “You’ll see Alex again soon enough. He said he’d visit you.” Danny rubs my arm. “Let’s get you home.” We make our way out to his car and he opens my door for me and I get in.

    When Danny gets in I say, "After we burn everything, we should go to a movie. Or do something to celebrate." He starts the car.

    "We could just watch a movie downstairs again. It may not be a special something, but it's always nice." Danny pulls out of the parking spot. I smile. It's interesting how we say watch a movie, but really it means take a nap.

    "That sounds nice. Tomorrow we should go visit your horses." We haven't gone there since our date.

    "Don't plan anything too exciting next week. I've made plans for us."

    "What kinds of plans?" They must be something big to take up the whole week.

    Danny looks over at me longer than he should, since he's driving. "You'll have to wait and see."

    "You know I hate surprises. Can you give me a hint? Anything?"

    "It involves traveling."

    "But we can't leave the state."

    "Maybe I've planned around that. Just leave everything up to me." The remainder of the ride is silent, but my head is exploring every place Danny could be taking me. The zoo? For a whole week? No. The ocean? That seems like the most reasonable thing. We pull in front of my house. Danny gets out of the car and tries to open my door for me, but I open it before he can. "That's not the point of me being nice, Lucy. You're supposed to let me open the door for you."

    "I can open my own door, Danny." I should really just let him help me. "If I let you help me fall asleep will you feel better?"

    "Most likely. But first, we have a fire to start."

    When we get inside, we head straight for the fireplace. Danny pulls a lighter from his pocket.

    "Do you always carry a lighter?" I ask.

    "Usually. Can you hand me your backpack?" Danny sticks his hand out behind him.

    "Don't burn it. Burn what's on the inside." I slide my backpack off my shoulder and I carefully place it in his hand. "I've had it for years."

    "Okay." Danny pulls out all the papers and gives me half. "Ready?" I nod. He lights his stack and throws it in the fireplace. I take a deep breath and I throw mine in as well. I smile as I see my name engulfed in the flames. Danny stands and walks towards the stairs. "Are you coming?"

    "We can't leave the fire."

    "It'll be fine. The house won't burn down. Come on." Danny reaches his hand out. I look back at the fire. "Trust me." I take his hand.

    Danny and I sit next to each other on the couch. I rest my head on his shoulder. "I still don't feel safe with the fire burning upstairs."

    "Does this help?" He slides his arm around my shoulder.

    "Yeah." It really doesn't help much, but I don't want Danny to feel unsatisfied. I lift my legs up onto the couch and I pull them into my chest. Maybe they'll keep me safe from my fear. I slowly slip away.

    I fall over. Danny's gone. "Danny?!" He doesn't respond. All I hear are footsteps running down the stairs.

    "You were right, Lucy! The fire spread!" Danny yells when he reaches the bottom of the stairs. "We need to get out of here!" He pulls my arm and I stand up. He let's me go in front of him and I sprint up the stairs. I can't see anything. Smoke and fire is everywhere. "Go!" We hurry towards the door.

    The ceiling above me creaks. Danny pushes me out the door. When I turn back, the door has collapsed and Danny is still inside. "Danny!" I try to move the wood, but I can't.

    "Get away from the door, ma'am!" a voice instructs. I ignore it and keep trying to get Danny out. Someone grabs my shoulder and pulls me back violently. "We'll get him out." Firemen rush past me and they turn on their hose.

    "Lucy?" someone asks. I turn around and I see Oliver. I run over to him. I may not know him very well, but any familiar face is better than none. "What happened?"

    "We lit a fire in the fireplace. Then we went downstairs. The next thing I knew, Danny pushed me out the door. Is he going to be okay?"

    "We'll just have to wait and see," Oliver says. I nod. I like it when people are straightforward with me. It helps me trust them.

    A few minutes later, one of the firemen calls for the paramedics. My heart starts beating as if I just ran a marathon. They found him. When they pull him out on a stretcher, I run to his side. "Danny!"

    "He won't respond. He's unconscious. He has inhaled too much smoke."

    I feel tears on my cheeks. "Will he be okay?"

    "We'll find out at the hospital. Please stand aside." They lift Danny up into the ambulance.

    "But I'm the only one he has! Please let me come with you!"

    "Were you in there with him?" a paramedic asks. I nod. "Come along then. We need to test your breathing." I get in the car. I grab Danny's hand and he doesn't respond in anyway. I cry silently.

    When the doors are opened, I'm the first one to get out. They've already checked my breathing and they found small traces of smoke, but nothing life threatening, so they’re letting me go. When they wheel Danny into the hospital, a paramedic holds me back. "He's in good hands now."

    For the next three days, I don't go home and I don't see Danny.

    "Lucy!" I turn and Alex holds me in a hug. "Are you okay?"

    "Physically, I am. But Danny has been unconscious for three days. They won't let me see him or anything. I can't take this." I continue my pacing.

    Alex holds my arms. "Breathe." I do as he says. "Feel better?" I shake my head. Breathing doesn't help anything. It doesn't change anything. "Danny wouldn't want you out here, worrying all the time. He'd want you to rest."

    "Its not like I have anywhere to go. Or anyway to get there. I need to know if he's okay!" I break into tears again. "I can't..."

    Alex guides me towards the chairs and he makes me sit down. "You need to rest." Alex pauses. "Where is Mom?"

    "She came the first day, but she left after I refused to go with her. I don't know where she is now." I rest my head in my hands. "What if Danny never wakes up?"

    Alex places his hand on my shoulder and starts to say something, but is interrupted. "Lucy? He's coming to."

    I get over to his room as fast as I can. When I walk in, his eyes lock on mine. I smile. My weight shifts to the right so I'm leaning against the doorframe. "Hey."

    He smiles back. "Hey. How long have I been out?"

    "Three days." I walk over to his side.

    Danny's eyes widen. "Really? That long?" I nod. "I'm sorry."

    "What are you apologizing for? It's not your fault." I place my hand on the bed and he covers it with one of his. I can't believe how amazing it feels to have him respond to me.

    "You've probably been worried sick. Plus, you probably haven't gotten very much sleep."

    "Yeah." I shrug. "You've done the same for me."

    "Well, Danny. You can spend the night here, or go home now. Your choice," the nurse says.

    I hope he says yes. I miss him holding me. Danny looks up at me before he answers. "I think I'll go home." Danny sits up.

    "Just give me a moment to get you unhooked to everything. You might be a little weak when you walk, that's normal." We wait in silence as she pulls everything off and out of him. "Okay, you're good to go."

    Danny tries to stand, but his legs fail and he falls. I catch him. "I've got you." He's putting most of his weight on me, a little too much for me to easily help him. Without saying anything, Alex comes over and helps me with Danny. "We don't have a way to get home. Alex, how did you get here?"

    "Dad drove me," Alex answers.

    "Dad's here? Why didn't you tell me?"

    “Because he didn’t want you to know.”

My breath becomes fast and shallow. Danny comforts me by rubbing his hand over my back.  “Well. Go tell him we need a ride. I’ll stay here with Danny until you come back.” I focus on my breathing. Alex nods. We get Danny out into the waiting room and Alex leaves.

    “What can I do?” Danny asks.

    I sit next to him. “Hold me.” I get as close to him as I can and he strokes my hair like he always does. “What did I do? Why doesn’t he like me?”

    “I don’t know. Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.” He kisses my head. “It’s okay.” Alex comes back into the room.

    “Dad’s ready,” Alex says. I pull myself away from Danny and we help him stand. “How are you guys doing?”

    I don’t want to answer him. He asks the question as if we saw each other yesterday. But my mouth forces itself open. “You’ve been gone for over a month and all you can say is how are you?” I shake my head.

    “Lucy, I’m sorry. I had no choice. I needed to get help,” Alex says, defensively.

    “But you didn’t have to go live with Dad and support him leaving Mom and me.” I need to calm down. I place my hand on top of Danny’s at my waist. Alex doesn’t try to defend himself. He has nothing to say against me. “Let’s just go home. I’m tired. I slept a total of six hours in the past three days. I need a break.” We walk out the door and Dad is standing with his hands in his pockets. His hair is messy and his jeans are ragged. I straighten myself. Danny whispers something to me, but I don’t understand him.

    “Lucy.” Dad clears his throat. “Umm…”

    “Don’t try and flatter me. You’re just here to get us home. Then you will leave me again,” I say harshly.

    “Where am I taking you? Didn’t your house get burned down?” I shiver as he says your. He’s saying it as if he’s no longer my father.

    “We’re going to my house,” Danny says. It’ll be hard to go into his house again. Last time I went, I had to go to the hospital. “It’s just up the street from yours.”

    “Okay.” Dad doesn’t argue. He gets in the car and waits for us. Alex helps me get Danny in the car then he goes and sits in the front seat. I get in next to Danny.

    “We missed our trip, Danny. You said we were going to go somewhere this week.”

    “There’s still time. We can leave when I can walk again.” Danny holds my hand with both of his. He moves his fingertips over my palm and I laugh. Danny smiles. “There’s that laugh again.” I lean against him and he keeps my hand in his. When we reach our destination, Danny says, “Thanks for the ride.”

    “You’re very welcome,” Dad says. “I’ll see you later.” No you won’t. He doesn’t care enough about me to see me later.

    When we get inside, both Danny and I are tired. "We should sleep. It sounds like you need it," Danny says.

    "You bet I do. Come on." We make our way down the hallway and into his room. I stop underneath the doorway. The memory floods my mind. I touch my arm.

    Danny covers my hand. "My parents aren't here, Lucy. It's safe." He makes me move into the room. I lay down on his bed and he kneels in front of me, tucjing my hair behind my ear.

    "We should go tomorrow. To wherever you planned to take me. I need to get away from everything," I say.

    "You can get away whenever you want. Just think about other things."

    "What? Like you?" I smile.

    "That's what I was referring to." He kisses my cheek. "You need to sleep."

    "That won't be too hard. I just have to..." close my eyes. I fall to sleep.

    I hear a ringing noise. My phone. I reach to grab it, but Danny has it. "Hello?" Danny answers the call. "Oh, hello, Mrs. White." I perk my head up. "Lucy's right here... Why did I answer the phone? Because she was sleeping. But she's awake now, so here she is." Danny puts the phone to my ear.

    "Hi Mom."

    "Where are you? I've been looking everywhere!"

    "Calm down. I'm at Danny's house."

    "Yeah, that helps me stay calm. You alone in a house with a boy. I want you home."

    "There's no home to go to. I'll be fine up here."

    "Okay..." She doesn't believe me. "If you need me, or if anything happens, call me. I can always pick you up."

    "I'll be fine." I end the call. "Mothers. How long have we been sleeping?"

    "Not very long. Less than an hour," Danny tells me. "Are you hungry? I can make sandwiches. Or sandwiches."

    I laugh. "If you want to I'll eat one." Danny stands again from where he was sleeping on the floor and pulls me up. "Let me show you how to put on the correct amount of peanut butter."

    "I'm hurt. You don't like my sandwiches the way they are?" Danny teases me.

    "There's just a bit too much. Come learn from a pro." We walk out of his room. "But first, I need to know where your kitchen is." Danny smiles and he takes my hand. His legs are strong enough again that I don't need to help him walk, but he keeps his hand on the wall, for support. Danny leads me through another hallway. When I see the kitchen, I’m impressed. “This has to be the only part of the house without beer bottles everywhere, besides your room.”

    “Yeah it is. I’ve spent some time cleaning it up. The bread is on the counter. I’ll get the stuff,” Danny says.

    I open the bread and I pull out four slices. “I need a knife. Where are they?”

    “Right here.” Danny pulls out the drawer that I’m standing in front of. I grab a knife. He places the peanut butter and jelly on the counter next to me.

    “Thank you. Now watch and learn.” A bolt of energy spikes through me. “Danny…” He places his hands on my waist, where he just poked me. “Do you want me to make these or not?”

    “Yes.” Danny removes his hands and he sits on the counter. “How much longer?”

    “Be patient. Give me another minute or so.” I finish spreading the peanut butter and I show Danny. “This is how much you need. No more than this or you’ll choke somebody.”

    “You’ve survived. But there’s nothing on here.” Danny raises the bread to his eye level and examines it as if it’s some kind of alien.

    “Can you put it back down so I can spread the jelly on it?” I’ve already finished the other sandwich. “Here, eat this one.” I trade him the sandwich for the bread. After he takes a bite, I ask, “Isn’t that better?”

    “It sure is.” His eyes light up as he takes another bite. I think he’s trying to be over excited about this, because putting on less peanut butter doesn’t make it taste any better. “Maybe you should make all the sandwiches. I’ll never get this good.”

    “Now you’re sounding like me. It just takes time and practice.” I place the top on my sandwich and I take a small bite. “Nothing beats a plain pb&j.” Danny pats the space on the counter next to him and I hop up. “So, what do we do now?”

    “We can either go back to sleep, or we can go visit the horses.”

    “Or we could do both.” I take the last bite of my sandwich.

    “Oh, you’ve gone too far.” Danny teases. “That sounds good to me. Shall we go?” He gets off the counter and I do the same.

    When we walk past a car crash, I stop walking. Something feels weird about this accident. I take a closer look. I run towards the ambulance.

    “What are you doing?” Danny asks when he catches up to me.

    I don’t stop running as I answer him. “That’s my dad’s car.” When we reach the ambulance, I see Alex and Dad standing on the sidewalk. They don’t seem to be injured. I run over and hug Alex. He almost falls over. “You scared me.”

    Alex doesn’t return my hug. “How did you find out about this?” His voice is hard and cold.

    “Danny and I were walking by. Are you angry because I was worried about you?” I back up until I hit Danny.

    “I don’t want you here.” Alex stares me down.

    “Why?” I don't know why I asked him, I don't want to hear his answer. I grab for Danny’s hand, and when I find it, I walk away without looking back.

    “We’re almost to the building. Hang in there,” Danny says. I don’t know if I can. “Just one more block.” As soon as we get out of sight, I can’t fight the tears. Danny pulls me against him. “It’s okay. I’m right here.”

    “Why doesn’t anyone like me?”

    “I like you. All you need to do is ignore them.”

    “Everyone I thought I trusted, besides you, has turned away from me. I wish Emily was here. She wouldn’t leave me. Of course, that’s what I thought about Alex, too. Maybe everything’s a lie.”

    “I’m not a lie. You’re not a lie. Some people do things we wish they didn’t do, but there’s nothing we can do about that. All we can do is keep our heads high. Tomorrow everything will be different. It’ll be just me and you.”

    I smile. Me and you. “That’s all I need right now.”

    “Come on. Let’s go rest,” Danny says. I keep myself up next to Danny as we walk to our normal spot by the stable. Danny sits down against the stable and squeeze myself against him.

    "Can you promise me one thing?"

    "Anything."

    "That no matter what happens, you won't betray me." I know he's said yes to this before, but it's always nice to hear it again.

    "I wouldn't even dream about leaving you alone, Lucy." Danny places his hand on my leg. I smile. "You need to sleep. The past few days have been hectic."

    I mumble something, I don't even know what, before I close my eyes and sleep.

    When I wake up, Danny is still sleeping. I look at him. Everything about him tells me he's calm. It reminds me how life should be. I slip away from him without him noticing. I take a look at him again before I walk over the horses and I get on one of them. All I do is ride. When I tune out the cars, I hear the birds singing, their music is soft and quiet. I reach the fence and I turn around. I pass Danny many times and he still sleeps. After an hour, I return to Danny and he's awake.

    "There you are!" Danny walks up to me. "Where have you been?"

    "I've been riding around for the past hour. I didn't want to wake you up." I jump off of my horse and it walks away.

    "You scared me. I woke up and you weren't there." Danny wraps his arms around me. "Don't do that again. At least tell me."

    "I'm sorry, Danny. I'll tell you next time. I promise." I feel how fast Danny's breathing is. He was really worried.

    When Danny's breathing stabilizes, which takes a while, he releases me. I allow the wind to blow my hair in my face. His fingertips touch my forehead as he pushes it back. "I think we should get ready for tomorrow."

    "In order for that to happen I need to know where we're going."

    "We're going south. The ocean," Danny says. I knew it.

    "How long will we be there for?"

    "As long as we want." Danny holds my hand. "Let's get going." We walk home in complete silence.

    As we walk through his front door, I say, "I need a new swimming suit."

    "Why?"

    "Because mine got burned with my house. I just need a ride to the mall."

    "Okay. I'll take you tomorrow," Danny promises.

    And that we do. I don't let Danny come in with me to the store. I want to surprise him.

    "Can I see it?" Danny asks when I return.

    "Of course you can," I say. Danny reaches for the bag but I pull it away. "Tomorrow." He frowns. I can't help but laugh. "Oh, just be patient."

    We drive for an hour until we stop for dinner. "This must cost you a fortune," I tease him. It's not a fancy place. Some cheapy fast-food joint.

    "Yeah, well, do you want to eat or not?" Danny teases back.

    "I probably should," I say. We walk into the small building and thirty minutes later we leave with full stomachs. "How much farther to the hotel?"

    "Just another hour," Danny answers.

    I fall asleep in the car. When I wake up, I'm in Danny's arms. He's carrying me. I look around at the desolate scene. We're approaching a hotel. "Hey." I look up at him. "I'm going to set you down now," Danny says. I nod. "I need my arms." He carefully places me on my feet. He holds me up by wrapping his arms around my waist. I'm too tired to walk on my own. We continue on our way. As Danny arranges a room, I flip through a magazine. "Okay, Lucy, we're good to go."

    When we reach our room, I see two beds. "You pick first," Danny says and I choose the one farthest from the door.