AFTER JOSÉ HAD COME TO the table several times to stress that it was time for Dakota to get to work again and Rebecca had left, it was just Dakota and Darren sitting at a table in the back of Juice. She was looking at him with glittering eyes, shining brighter than he'd ever seen them shine before.

"So?" she asked.

"So?" he repeated.

"Was this worth coming to Juice's for?"

He nodded. "More than." When he'd left the McCosta home, he had never expected this to happen.

Then, his joyful expression faltered, and he decided to ask her something in a serious tone. The long conversation with Rebecca hadn't been able to answer this question for him. "Does this mean..." He bit his lip and looked Dakota in the eyes. Hers stood honest, curious, and they invited him to continue. "Does this mean you've forgiven me?"

She was quiet and took her eyes off him. She stared at the grooves in the table, very well aware she was playing with his emotions every second she remained quiet. Then, she laid her hand on his. "Yes." Then, she laughed.

He let out a relieved breath.

"I wanted to tell you," she said. "It just wouldn't be cool if I did it over text. It needed to be bigger than that, and since you were in Scotland, I figured I would wait."

"And this was spectacular enough?" Darren asked, gesturing to Juice and referring to the whole scene that had just gone down here.

"I think so." She smiled. "Don't you?"

He could only nod. It would take him a few more days to let the shock of this moment subside and take the reality of it all in.

"Actually, I was really surprised when you came to me yesterday," Dakota continued. "Here I was, planning this whole thing for when you'd come back – and you know how bad I am at planning – and then you just show up at my doorstep?" From her theatrical tone, he knew she was faking her disappointment. "I didn't know when you'd come back, but I figured today would be as good a day as ever to pull off my plan. I decided not to tell you anything besides the instructions to come here, and I called Rebecca right after you left to get here to come here."

"She came here just for this moment?" Darren's jaw dropped. "Isn't Seaside really far away?"

She nodded. "A four-hour car drive. But she's done it before, and I figured if I planned the meet at noon, she had enough time to get up here."

"She didn't have to do that just for me, though..."

Dakota waved his comment away. "Don't be silly. She's been talking about you every day that we got together. She couldn't wait to meet you – she was probably more excited to meet you than me."

Darren rolled his eyes. "Sure she wasn't. You're her daughter, I'm a stranger."

She tilted her head and stretched out her arm across the table. "Are you aware you just changed two lives for the good?"

He blushed. That had been his intention.

"We're thankful for it," she continued. "I might not have shown it until now, but I am. And Rebecca certainly is."

He smiled. "I'm glad."

Dakota hesitated a while, as if she was mulling over her next words. The moment stood out to him, as Dakota didn't seem to be someone who needed time to think something over. She said things first, then thought about if it had been a good decision to say it.

"You know, I didn't..." She bit her lip and looked away. "When you first told me you talked to Rebecca, I really didn't understand why you had. I had told you not to, after all."

"It was wrong," he admitted.

She shook her head. "Maybe it wasn't. Back then, I just couldn't see why you had done it. All I felt was rage, and I lacked understanding of why you did what you did. In that moment, it was as if you had shown me you were like all the others." She sighed and seemed to doubt saying the next words. "I don't think of you this way anymore, just for the record. But back then, I felt like I couldn't trust you anymore. Nothing you would do, it seemed, could repair the trust you'd broken."

Darren remained quiet and listened to her. She'd never opened herself up this much.

"For me... It's really difficult to trust someone. I tend to keep people out and not get too personal. That's why not many people know I was an orphan and I just tell them Dom is my brother." She took a deep breath. "Dom was the first person who proved to me he was worthy of my trust. He was always there, showed himself to be reliable and willing to help me at any time of the day. He's never broken that trust since I met him.

"You reminded me of Dom when I met you. You were calm, a bit withdrawn, but always open to adventure. Your presence added something to the adventures we went on: you made me look around and appreciate the adventures. I wasn't just racing through life, but I was living it."

She raised her hand to pass it through her hair when she seemed to remember her hair was in a ponytail. The realization made her chuckle, and she freed her hair from the hair tie. The light, almost white hair stood voluminous from her head.

"But then you wrote to Rebecca. You'd earned my trust, I had told you about my parents, and you violated that trust." She bit her lip and looked away, to the entrance of Juice. "You were just like the others, I thought. I blamed myself for trusting you and... I was so mad." She looked at him again, and her light blue eyes seemed to look right through him. "I don't think I even tried to see it from your perspective.

Of course, you wanted me to get to know my family. You have this amazing family that loves and supports you. You wanted that for me too, and I know that now." She smiled and fell quiet.

Darren didn't know if her silence meant she was done talking or was thinking of what to say next, but he decided to speak up for the first time in a few minutes. "So, we're good?"

A hearty laugh was her response. "Yes, we're good." All sensitivity and seriousness had vanished from her voice, and instead, the Dakota he'd come to know seemed to return. "I'm not going to kiss you though, if that's what you were thinking," she added.

"Not even once?" he joked.

Now they both laughed.

"It's more fun to do spontaneously," Dakota said once they were done laughing.

He snickered. "Fun. That's one way to call it."

"What would you call it?" she dared him.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack that day!"

She laughed. "You should've seen your face. The heart attack would have been worth it."

He shook his head. At the same time, he thought back to that moment. He didn't like it then, but the stranger would become one of his best friends that would guide him through life in the United States. He should be grateful that kiss cam happened.

"I'm happy you're back," he said quietly.

"I never left," she joked, referring to his trip to Scotland.

He didn't go along with her joke. "You know what I mean."

She did.

He straightened his back, and with confidence, he continued, "This year is going to be great. I got you, and there will be no drama..."

"Can you ever really expect there to be no drama?" She raised one eyebrow.

With her in his life? "No." But at least they could put their fight behind them.

As if the word "drama" had attracted them, a group of teenagers came walking into Juice, chatting loudly and drawing attention. Dakota looked over her shoulder and sighed.

"What's wrong?"

She pursed her lips. "I guess that's that. I really gotta help José out; he freaks out whenever a bunch of people come at once."

Darren checked his watch. It was three p.m., so Dakota had taken a three-hour break. He almost started feeling bad for José, who had been keeping the place running for that time on his own. "We can talk another time," he said. He shouldn't keep her off her work any longer, he thought.

She got up from her seat that was opposite his. "We will," she said. She started tying her hair into a ponytail again.

He got up too. "So, I'll see you at school then? Next week?"

She started walking away and shrugged in response. "Maybe." Over her shoulder, she threw him a mysterious look and a wink. He laughed; she was back.