Dedicated to Aisha_1901 =)

Thank you so much for your support through out the story. It really motivates me to write better. I am so grateful to have you as a reader :)

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There are two kinds of people in the world, those who're imbecile enough to agree to do whatever Daniel Cohen says, and those who lie their asses off!

Because it was a world known fact that if you knew Daniel Cohen, then he would get you to do anything against your will, and in my case to get me to smuggle a hamburger into a fraking hospital at an ungodly hour.

I bet everyone in the school had their own version of 'Daniel got me to do this' story, only their degree of severity varied.

From the corner of my right eye, I looked at Daniel, who was now lying on the bed with a grin so wide that I could actually feel his amusement radiating from him in waves and travelling towards me.

He had already finished his burger. Well actually, he had done that within the first minute of starting and had got me worried that he was going to ask for another. Fortunately, he didn't.

"You can sleep, you know?" Daniel suggested placing his right arm under his head.

Knowing that the school's hottest guy is lying so close to me? Yeah, no thank you!

"No, I don't feel sleepy," I replied, re-positioning myself on the uncomfortable couch. I could feel the hard springs poking my back.

"You don't sleep much anyway, do you?" Daniel asked as if he already knew the answer.

"And you do?" I retorted back. I had noticed that half of the time he really looked tired and sleep deprived.

"I've other things to do at night. If you get what I mean," he said with an obnoxious.

"Please keep the details of your filthy lifestyle to yourself," I said rolling my eyes. He chuckled.

I heard someone passing in front of the door and immediately became alert. I couldn't see who was outside since the blinds were on for the window. But when nothing happened, I settled back on the couch which was a tad bit tiny for my height.

"What if someone comes in?" I asked feeling fidgety.

"Then we'll tell them that you're my girlfriend and just couldn't stay from my amazing body so you sneaked in to get some," he asserted as if that was the obvious thing to say.

"No, thank you but I would rather admit of the burger thing than that," I said taking my phone out of my back pocket.

The screen lit up, with its sudden brightness assaulting my eyes which had grown accustomed to darkness by then. The clock on the screen blinked 2:48 am.

I still had a lot of time to kill.

I hoped that dad hadn't noticed my absence; otherwise I was going to be in a trouble deeper than the Marina Trench.

I clicked on the tiny bevelled 'Instagram' icon and logged in.

I started to go through profiles of random people, some I followed, some I didn't. I looked through the recent images. One of them was of Chad's in a bathroom mirror. His shirt was 'accidentally' raised, revealing his abdomen while he looked into the phone camera, obnoxiously.

I snorted.

"So this is what you do at night? Ogle pictures of half-naked guys and judge them?" I turned towards Daniel who was looking at my phone screen.

"Yes, it's only the whole purpose of my existence," I countered happily. "What about you?"

"Making wet dreams of girls come true," he answered jokingly.

"More like for cougars and desperate ones," I sang.

Daniel laughed at my response but then winced. "Oww! Don't make me laugh. It hurts."

"Sorry," I drawled. It was bad seeing him like this when there was a constant nag at the back of my mind that I was responsible for his current state of being.

I tried to continue our previous conversation, "Do you have an instagram?"

I was actually a little bit curious to know that. I mean it wouldn't exactly be a torture to drool over some of his shirtless selfies.

Shut up my perverted self! You're sickening me!

"I did. But then they had to shut down the account. Said they were getting reports of screen melting from several users who saw my pics. What a tragedy," he said in a discouraged tone.

"Right. Sure, I believe that," I said in a dry voice.

"Well, it's true," he said in a 'duh' tone and then sighed. "It's so tough being blessed with a fantastic body."

"You know, you should really get yourself checked for Narcissistic personality disorder." I sat up on the couch looking at Daniel. "Though I think it's too late now. Your symptoms belong from the last stage."

"Says the poster child for Obsessive Stalker Disorder," Daniel snorted.

I placed my hand on my mouth, letting out a squeal and acting like I was insulted. "I am hurt! And just so you remember, you're the one who asked me to come. Guess you should get checked for short term memory disorder too."

That made him laugh again. "True. Though I didn't think you'd actually come," he said moving a little on his bed to face me better.

"As if you gave me much of a choice," I shrugged.

He nodded lightly with his lips pursed, keeping his eyes on me as if analyzing something deeply. "Did you tell Sebastian you were coming here?"

I shook my head. "He would be really furious when I tell him though."

"Now that will be worth watching." Daniel's eyes shone with a smug expression which was visible even under the dim lights of the room.

I scowled lightly. "What do you have against him anyway? Why don't you like him?"

"It's not like that I don't like him." He shrugged and then shifted on the bed again to face the ceiling. "I just hate him, that’s all."

"Hate is a strong word, Daniel," I said in a patronizing tone while pulling my legs up on the couch and resting my chin on my knees.

"Apparently not strong enough," he mumbled to himself but it was still audible to me.

I didn't reply realizing that there wasn't any point in carrying forward the topic.

As the room got filled with silence once again, the thought that had been there in my head for the last couple of days returned.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked tilting my head to the side.

"I've a feeling that my answer really doesn't matter and you're going to ask anyway," Daniel replied keeping his eyes closed. He looked really handsome with the shadow resting on half of his face.

I had to remind myself that I had asked something. "So is that a yes?"

Instead of replying verbally, Daniel nodded his head. I sat up straight.

"Why didn't you tell me that you got hit trying to take my call?"

Daniel's eyes shot open immediately as the question escaped my mouth but he still didn't look at me. I rolled my bottom lip inside, waiting for his reply.

I heard him curse under his breath but wasn't able to get the words. All that I understood was that they were directed at Liam.

"So? Why didn't you tell me?" I was getting too anxious for the answer.

He took a sharp breath and then exhaled. "Liam told you, didn't he? That little prick! He just can't get anything through the thick head of his!"

His voice was rising and with every word it was becoming more of a spat but it didn't affect me.

"It's not his fault. I made him to tell me and besides, that's not the point! You should have told me instead of him. So then why didn't you?" I was becoming short of breath due to nervousness.

"Because I didn't think it would have made any difference, okay?" He tried to lower the volume of his voice down but it wasn't working.

"Of course, it makes a difference!" I shrieked in disbelief.

I felt a lump form in my throat because I couldn't help but hold myself responsible for his condition and all of that brought up memories of mistakes of the past.

"In the last 2 weeks, you've been involved in two life threatening situations and both of those times, I was somewhat responsible for causing them," I said with my quavering voice.

Tears stung in my eyes as I tried to hold them inside but ultimately failed. I didn't know why I was crying but I was.

"Norah, are you crying?!" Daniel asked with disbelief and concern covering his voice. He tried to sit up on the bed but ended up in a reclined position.

"No, I'm not," I replied running my thumb under my eyes to get rid of the tears.

"Dear God," he breathed to himself and rubbed his forehead with his right hand.

I diverted my gaze to the ground feeling extremely childish and stupid that I was crying in front of Daniel. That was not what I had planned to do.

"Norah, come here," I heard him say softly. I shook my head and preferred not to say anything because of being afraid that my voice might come out raspy and shaky.

"Can you ever try not to be stubborn all the time?" Daniel said in a tight manner. I didn't like it.

"Don't talk to me like that," my voice sounded odd to my own ears but I was proud that it didn't come out weak.

He sighed. "I'm sorry. Now can you please come over here?"

I got up and plodded to the bed. I sat on the ending edge, careful to maintain all the distance from Daniel that I could.

"It wasn't your fault, alright? So don't hold yourself responsible for it," Daniel began, keeping his voice low and his blue eyes fixed on me.

"But I called you at the-"

Daniel cut me in mid sentence, "I would have gotten hit anyway. I was driving with no head lights! It was even more demented than it sounds. It was my stupidity and the blame is mine to take, okay? Not yours," he breathed out the last part. I kept a straight face not letting myself cry again.

Of course I wasn't convinced. Words are never enough to get you rid of a guilty conscience but I still nodded my head in agreement.

I wanted to ask him that if he knew that it wasn't a bright idea to race, then why did he do it anyway. But once again, I remained silent, knowing that he won't tell me.

"What's your favorite song?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" I was confused at his irrelevant question.

"What's your favorite song?" Daniel repeated, his face holding a tiny smile.

"No, I got that. I mean why?"

He shrugged. "I'm tired of always having serious conversation with you. Let's have a normal one for once." His smile was now much more prominent. "So what's your favorite song?”

Without thinking much, I answered, "Macarena."

Daniel face instantly contorted up in disgust as if my favorite song was worse than the Nazi official anthem.

"Macarena!" he reiterated my answer in a manner as if it was physically hurting him to say the word.

I silently laughed at his bewildered expression. Macarena wasn't my favorite song but my sister used to love it and she never left a chance to declare it the greatest hit of all times.

"That is a joke for a song," Daniel rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Please! The song is absolutely top-notch to break into some killer dance moves. I'll show you some day," I said dismissing his argument.

"No, thank you, I think I can manage to live without seeing that," Daniel said chuckling and I could see his shoulders shaking because of it.

And just like that, he managed to re-route our conversation from the most important subject.

"For how long have you been living in this town?" I asked pulling my legs up on the bed which was much more comfortable than the rock hard couch.

"Are we playing 20 questions now?" He raised an eyebrow.

"You started it and besides what else can we do until morning," I replied shrugging.

He nodded. "I moved here when I was 10."

"From?"

"Fairbanks, Alaska."

"Alaska?" I said out loud in the same manner that he had said 'Macarena'.

"Geez! I said Alaska not Pandora. No need to use that tone." He narrowed his eyes at me but I could tell that he really wasn't offended.

"No, I didn't mean it in the bad way. It's just that I've never met anyone from Alaska before," I replied offering him a small smile. "So you must have seen the northern lights then?"

A big smile spread across his face and his eyes looked to be reminiscing about some memories but then his smile faltered and a strange emotion crossed his eyes. I couldn't pin point it exactly but it looked like some kind of mix of fear, anger and sadness.

"Yeah, I have," Daniel replied in a timid voice while clearly being lost in some other thoughts.

I just silently observed him, not mentioning anything about his expression.

"I want to see it one day too," I added to our conversation which was fizzling out.

"It's really worth experiencing," he said in a distant tone.

I nodded slowly. "What's the place that you'd like to visit before you die?" I asked in a hope to change his mood and continue whatever kind of tête-à-tête that we were having.

He thought about it, furrowing his eyebrows together and then answered, "Machu Pichu."

"Really? Why?"

"Cause it's really fun to say Machu Pichu," he replied happily and then kept repeating, "Machu Pichu, Machu Pichu."

I chuckled at his childish behaviour and his cute way of saying ‘Machu Pichu’.

For the next two hours or so, we kept shooting each other with long list of random questions and coming up with idiotic answers for them.

"What did you want to be when you were younger?" he asked with a yawn. I had asked him to go to sleep countless number of times he had dismissed my advice every time with a flick of his hand. I knew that suggesting it again would just be a waste of my breath so I continued our little questionnaire game.

"A Power Ranger. Still working on it." I crossed my fingers. "Hopefully one day. What about you? What did you want to be?"

He looked at me and then simply uttered, "Happy"

"Nice answer." I gave him a thumbs up and he slumped on the bed some more.

It felt nice to have a normal talk with Daniel not always pervaded with sad questions and interrogations but I knew that they were necessary to be asked too.

"Dan, where's your mom?" I asked trying to sound casual but that caught him off guard. His eyes snapped up to me and then wandered off in every direction.

I had noticed the absence of her mother the day that I had come to visit him in the hospital. I mean what kind of mother leaves her son's side when he has just suffered injuries from an accident?

"Why do you wanna know?" Again the sans emotion voice of his came out.

I shrugged even though I could see that I had touched a nerve. "No reason, just curious. So where is she?"

Some kind of darkness took over his face and his eyes hardened as his jaw got tensed.

"Dead. She killed herself."

The way he said those words felt like a huge boulder had just been dropped on my chest from the sky and while being suffocated under it's weight, all I said was an "Oh"

I breathed in and out rapidly, thinking that some oxygen might help my case.

"When?" I asked gently."

He rolled his bottom lip inside and then heaved an exaggerated sigh. "I think you should go now," he said in a cold tone that spent shiver down my spine.

"But I-"

"You should leave Norah," he pressed each word more firmly than the previous and at the end it felt like more of a warning than a suggestion.

I looked at the time.

5:54 am

How convenient, I thought.

With slow movements, I got off the bed and with heavy steps I dawdled over to the door.

I didn't want to leave on such an abrupt note but I was being given no choice. If I had stayed, then it would have just led to another heated discussion and one of us would have lost their cool so it was better to leave.

I knew I couldn't stay but I wanted him to know that this was not the end of our discussion. So holding the door partially open, I looked over my shoulder and said, "I'll be back soon."

And with those words as the final conclusion, I left.

The shift of the nurses had indeed changed and there were no one at the station so that helped me get out of the building safely. The way out of the hospital seemed easier and much shorter than the way in but that could be because I was lost in my thoughts and that had dampened my sense of alertness.

The roads outside were deserted as the day was still in its early hours.

Last night I had decided to not take the car as I had thought that would awaken Dad from his sleep so now I had to walk all the way to home with numerous thoughts floating around my brain and I didn't like to walk alone but I had no option so I continued walking.

I kept turning one corner after the other while trying to come up with things to say to Daniel regarding the loss of his mother.

When I had taken it as my priority in life to save Daniel and help him, I didn't have a plan on how to do it. I was still short of one.

Experience teaches a person a lot of things and in one of those lesson I had learnt that no set of words in the whole world could ease away the grief of losing someone. So sometimes it's better to leave it to the situations and just go with the flow of things instead of trying to fasten the healing process with the help of the words. And at last of all the thinking that's what I decided to do again.

Reaching up to the porch of my house, I unlocked the front door with my key and peered through to see if my way was clear. The whole living room felt silent and Dad was not in the vicinity.

I smiled at my triumph. Removing my shoes, I hid them near the door and then stealthily tip-toed over to the flight of stairs. When I was at the top stair, I let out the breath that I was holding, knowing that I was safe now.

"Ha! Caught you!" A sudden voice caught me by surprise and made me loose my balance. My arms flailed wildly as I tried to hold something to regain my balance but found nothing.

I was about to fall backward down the stairs on my head when my Dad caught me by my wrist.

Both of us exhaled in relief.

"What the hell Dad?" I shrieked, still in my awkward diagonal position, hovering over the stairs.

My dad narrowed his eyes at me. "Where were you all night?"

"In my room, where else? I just got out to get some water," I lied effortlessly. It was like second nature to me now.

"I didn't know we had to go out to get water now," Dad tried his hand in sarcasm. "Don't lie. I was waiting for you all night."

Okay, so no point in lying, 'I told myself.

"Were you doing any of the things that we have talked about that you shouldn't do?" His voice was now concerned and worried.

I knew what he was talking about. We had a deal in which as long as I don't get involved in a list of activities, I don't have to go to the therapist.

"No, I wasn't. Trust me," I replied strongly and in a convincing tone which judging by Dad's expression had worked.

"Now are you going to pull me up because as much fun this is, my arm is kind of dying right now," I said.

In a swift motion, Dad pulled me to standing position and then turned back to his room, yawning.

"Sleep well Dad," I sang and then paced towards my room but Dad's voice stopped me once again.

"Norah?"

"Yeah?"

"You're still grounded."

I groaned.

 Dang it!

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