I gulp and press the phone to my ear, hoping that my intuition is wrong about this phone call. I have a really bad feeling about it. But not all bad feelings are right. "Hello?" I ask nervously.

   "Yeah, is this (Y/N) (L/N)?" a deep, masculine voice asks me. My stomach drops to my feet. Last time a stranger called and asked what my name was, it didn't end too well.

   "Um...yes, sir," I respond. "What can I do for you?"

   The man clears his throat, hesitant to tell me what he's about to tell me. "This is the Glendale police once again. Um...we neglected to inform you that we have found the killer of your parents and that we have arrested him."

   My face lights up. I have no idea why the policeman seemed so hesitant to tell me that. That's great news! "Oh, that's great!" I say, bouncing up and down. "Thank you so much for catching him!"

"But, there is some bad news," the policeman says, stopping my bouncing immediately.

"What bad news?" I ask.

"Well...um...he escaped shortly after we took him in..," the policeman says, laughing nervously to himself. "And during his questioning, he revealed that...you're his next target. So he's...coming for you, (Y/N). But don't worry! We'll catch him before he can do anything to you, okay?"

That last part is nothing more than a background mumble for me. I feel like I'm gonna vomit. Now my life is at stake. Maybe even the Grumps' lives as well. How unprofessional is this police station? God.

Tears are flowing down my face and falling onto my shirt. "Thank you for letting me know," I deadpan into the phone, hanging up.

I notice Allie coming up to me, her face filled with concern. "Hey, what's wrong? What's with the tears?"

When I don't answer her and continue to cry, Allie rests a hand on my shoulder. "Okay...you don't have to talk. Just know that I'm here, all right?"

She gives me a look. It's like she can see who's embrace and comfort I'm really craving. She smiles softly. "Do you want me to get Dan?"

I slowly nod, wondering how she knew that he's the one I want.

   She nods, then runs to a bathroom door not far away from where we were just standing. I can hear the shower running. I can also hear Dan...singing? It's a lovely song. Just not lovely enough to calm me down at the moment.

   Allie bangs on the door.

Dan sighs from the bathroom. "What?" he asks, annoyed.

"(Y/N) needs you," Allie simply says.

There's a bit of silence on Dan's end. The only thing that can he heard is the steady stream of water that's spewing from the shower's head. Then Dan says, sounding less annoyed and more concerned, "Do you know why, Allie..?"

"No," she responds. "She doesn't feel like talking to me. She says she wants you."

"Okay, I'll be right out. I was just finishing up anyway," Dan tells Allie.

"All right," Allie says as she guides my crying self towards the couch, sitting down next to me. She hugs me briefly before saying, "Just know that the rest of the Grumps and I are here for you, okay?"

I nod. "O-okay. Thanks, Allie," I choke out.

   She nods with a sad smile.

   I then hear the bathroom door open. I look up, and Dan is running towards me, his hair flat due to the water that had weighed it down while he was in the shower. He notices how I'm bawling my eyes out and sits next to me, hugging me tightly. "Are you okay, (Y/N)? What happened?"

   I begin to cry harder, hugging Dan back. I know that I'm soaking his Rush shirt, but I don't care. And I don't think he does either.

   Allie clears her throat awkwardly and says, "Um...I'll let you guys do your thing alone."

   Dan and I don't respond to her. Or even look up. We just keep hugging in silence.

   I hear Allie walk out, and soon as she does, Dan pulls apart and says, "So...what happened? If you don't feel like talking and just wanna hug or something, that's fine too."

   I look down, trying to muster up the want to share what happened to Dan. A few more tears fall down my face as I think about me getting murdered.

   Dan sighs, making me look up at him. He's staring into my tear-brimmed eyes. He wipes a tear that is rolling down my face, a sad smile on his own. "I hate seeing you cry..," he whispers.

   Not knowing what else to do, I give a small smile.

"So? Do you wanna share what happened, or..?" Dan prods.

I gulp, nodding. "Yeah. I-I do. Um...the police ended up catching the person who killed my mom and dad—"

Dan cuts me off before I can finish the story. "Really? That's great! So those are happy tears?" he asks, smiling and wiping another one that's falling down my face.

I shake my head. "No...I wasn't done..."

Dan nods and goes quiet, ready to listen to me and comfort me.

   "Well, the guy escaped from prison...and...I'm his next target..," I finish, studying Dan's facial expression.

   Dan's facial expression shows sympathy and sadness. He embraces me once again and says, "Don't worry. The Grumps and I will protect you. Nothing bad'll happen to you. I promise."

   "You don't know that," I mumble, hugging him back.

   "Yes, I do," Dan says. "Because I'd rather die than have to see someone hurt you."

   I smile into the hug. It's nice to know that he cares for me. Hell, his words show that he might love me.

   That thought sends a bit of color to my cheeks.

   Dan squeezes me, and I squeeze him back. It's an oddly intimate exchange. Like we're having a romantic conversation without any words.

   Dan kinda pulls apart. I'm saying "kinda" because we're now able to look into each other's eyes, but his hands remain on my waist. And my hands remain wrapped around his neck.

   Dan gives me a small smile and lets go of me. Not wanting to be weird, I let go of him also. "How about this," he says. "If you're not comfortable with going back to your place by the time we leave the office, you can hang out at my place for as long as you need to. You can sleep there too, if need be." He added that last part kinda awkwardly.

   I smile. "I like that idea."

   Dan smiles back. "Good."

   Now we're just awkwardly staring at each other.

   So, to avoid the awkwardness, I get up and walk to the bathroom, quietly telling Dan that I'm gonna clean up a little. I then begin to wash my face. That makeup that Arin put on is running, and I wanna make myself at least semi-presentable for Dan. Once it's all gone, I wipe the nail polish off my nails with a cotton ball and some nail polish removal. Then I wash my hands to get rid of the nail polish that Dan put on my fingers.

   I come back and sit next to Dan, still at a loss of what to say. He seems to be at a loss too, since neither of us are talking.

   Arin breaks the awkwardness by walking into the room we're in. He looks at us and goes, "What's going on here?"

   Dan glances at me, silently asking "should we tell him".

   I nod at Dan and look up at Arin, who's hair is wet. I also notice he's wearing a Starbomb shirt. A pretty good shirt choice. "So...I received some news from the police."

   Hope lights up Arin's face. "Did they catch the killer of your mom and your dad?"

   I just realized that everyone has been assuming that my dad's dead. Well, the police did confirm that a little bit ago, but before that. I assumed that too, even though the only thing we had heard was that he was "nowhere to be found". That's the negative Nancy in me. And everyone else, I guess.

   I nod. "Yes, but—"

   "THAT'S AWESOME!" Arin yells.

   "Arin, let her finish," Dan growls. He sounds very ticked off, and his tone startles both Arin and me.

   Arin looks confused, but shuts up anyway.

"Anyway," I continue, "he escaped from prison, and now he's coming for me."

Arin's face drops. He sighs, shaking his head. "Why do such bad things have to happen to such good people..?" He shoves Dan out of the way and sits down next to me, patting my knee. "Us Grumps will never let anything happen to you, okay? You've barely been in my life for a day and I can't think of what life would be like without you." Then Arin hugs me.

A few more tears squeeze their way out of my eyes as I hug back. "Thanks, Arin."

"Don't mention it," Arin says.

   He pulls apart and smiles at me. "I have an idea. How about all of us Grumps go out to dinner? It's about that time, anyway."

   I smile back, wiping my tears with the back of my hand. "I'd like that."

   Out of the corner of my eye, I see Dan smile. He grabs my hand and stands up, pulling me to my feet. "Everyone!" he calls. "We're going out to dinner! You guys coming or not?"

   All of the Grumps that haven't already left the office begin filing into the room. They all nod. "Of course! I can't resist food!" Ross says, looking the happiest out of all of the Grumps.

   I smile, happy to have such nice people to hang out with. This'll be a good distraction from the news I found out today.

   I now notice that Dan still hasn't let go of my hand. I look up at him, and he's smiling at me, stroking my hand with his thumb.

   I blush and smile awkwardly.

   Arin sees that Dan and I are still holding hands. He smirks at us, making me want to let go. But Dan's still holding my hand, and who am I to stop him?

   "Anyway! Let's go!" Arin says, rushing to the door.

   Dan finally lets go of my hand to follow Arin, smiling at me one last time before he does.

   I walk to the door also, and I happen to be right beside Suzy. "I'm so thankful to have met a person like you," she says. "You seem awesome."

  "I'm thankful to have met a person like you, too, Suzy," I respond as we walk outside. "You have no idea."

~~~

   Ok what?! We have over 100 reads now! Thank you guys so much for reading this trash where things happen way too fast! I just don't like filler chapters, so I try to avoid those as much as possible. That's why the plot has escalated so fast. But anyway, I digress. Thank you guys for reading this!