It was still early when we got to Sean's. He'd already moved most of the furniture to the walls and locked anything significant in his parent's room. After Chris', I wouldn't even think of having a party, but I knew I was the minority in my introverted ways. It was just the three of us in Sean's room. Sarah flopped down on his bed, clearly comfortable.

Sean got up from his desk and gave me a big hug. "I'm sorry you had a bad day." He offered with a kiss to my temple as he pulled away.

"Thanks." I swallowed the tears before they spilled over. "Is Conner coming?"

"Yeah, he just left to get the keg. He's been helping me move things around this afternoon." Sean had such a welcoming way about him.

Sarah mentioned he hadn't had the most comfortable high school experience, didn't fit a mold very well. But somehow, he came out of it knowing who he was. I envied him.

"What can I do to help?" I offered as Sean settled back in his desk chair.

"I think we're set," he shrugged as he tucked his laptop into his desk and locked it.

"Hey," Sarah shot up from the bed. "I forgot; I heard that Chris and Kel broke up."

"What? Oh, no, why?" I couldn't help but feel for them; they seemed into each other.

"I don't know because he's a pancake?" Sarah shrugged. "But I bet she shows, and I bet she goes straight for Conner."

"Huh," Sean said, sitting back in his chair, lost in thought. "We should give him a heads-up. So, he can figure out what he wants."

"Why did Conner and Kelly break up?" I asked innocently enough, but watched Sean and Sarah exchange a loaded look. "What?"

"You and Conner never talked about that?" Sarah pressed.

"No, why?" I stammered in disorientation.

"That's not our story to share." Sean gave a nervous smile as he spoke and ended with a shrug.

It was a respectful answer, not letting it become something of gossip fodder. I just gave Sean a nod and an appreciative smile. There was an awkward silence before Conner himself broke it.

"Hey, all," he flopped down on the bed next to Sarah before his eyes fell on me, and he shot back up. "Emma?"

"Hey," I gave him a weary smile.

"Oh, no," his head tipped to the side as he spoke; I just gave him a shrug back. "I'm sorry, Em," his voice was hushed with sincerity.

I could feel the tears filling my eyes. Conner's face made it real. He gave me a strained smile back.

"This doesn't mean you are going to get drunk and make me beat up a crackhead in a Denny's parking lot again, right?" Conner offered to lighten the mood.

I let out a laugh that helped to relieve the tension. "No, no drinking for me."

"Um, that was an oddly specific question; anyone want to fill a girl in?" Sarah was picking at her nails as she spoke.

"No," I laid back across Conner's and Sarah's legs as I spoke.

"Hey, if you aren't drinking, we can be pong partners. You can drive my car home... with me in it," Conner beamed.

"Yeah, it works for me, but you may want a different partner tonight." I lifted an eyebrow at Sarah.

"Kel and Chris broke up," Sarah spoke very matter-of-factly, as though she had not just offered it up as teen gossip moments before.

"Oh, that's too bad." He looked around at the faces in the room. "But Kel and I are over. I'm not interested."

"Well, if that's the case, then we need to practice." I pulled myself off the bed, eager for the next distraction. "Two on two?"

"Seems as good a time as any." Sean agreed as he pulled himself up as well. "I hope this stays small."

"How many people did you invite?" Conner asked, as we headed down the stairs.

"I invited the usual suspects from the weekend, but you know how these things can go."

"Yep." Conner then turned his attention to me, "you look pretty."

"Thanks, Sarah is a miracle worker with concealer."

"It's not Sarah's work."

Before we even finished the first game of pong, people began to arrive. I recognized most of them from Kyle's, including Kyle himself, who set up shop on the couch with Lily. Lily sent stabbing glared at me from across the room.

"Just ignore her," Conner murmured. "You're crushing pong."

Since I wasn't drinking, Conner drank all our beer-filled cups, forcing me to focus twice as hard to win, so he didn't have to drink as much. We quickly cleared Sean's and Sarah's cups, especially once Conner explained a bounce would mean 2 cups, but they can block. If the other team blocks, then the bouncer would have to drink 2 cups. I found I was not only good at stopping a bounce, but also at the bounce itself. I had a knack for bouncing low. At one point, Sarah knocked over 2 cups just trying to block, meaning they cleared 4 cups in one toss. That elicited a loud cheer from Conner that ended with picking me up in a twirling hug and a kiss on the temple. Conner only drank 4 cups before we won, and we reset for our next match.

The crowd grew more, but seemed to pause at a reasonable level. I couldn't tell how many people were milling around the first floor, but it wasn't packed, and Sean didn't seem alarmed. The setting suited me. When I looked around, I could see several people I felt comfortable with, so my anxiety level didn't rise, and focusing on pong seemed to help as well. Sean and Sarah were terrible, but Jacob and Chrissy were up next. Our skills matched our teams evenly, so it dragged longer than the first match. No one at the table seemed to mind, though, as we were having fun teasing each other. Jacob sank the last cup, taking the game.

Conner chugged it as he wrapped an arm around my waist. "We had a good run, kiddo." He smiled as he kissed my forehead.

"Thanks, guys. Good luck," I added to Jacob and Chrissy as we vacated our side of the table. As we turned away, we almost ran directly into Kelly. I felt Conner's fingers dig into my hip.

"Hey," I said, a little too loud.

"Hey," Kelly's gaze landed on Conner's arm wrapped around me.

"Hey," Conner spoke in his low voice that was lost in the surrounding party, and kept his arm locked tightly around me. I was a shield for him. "Sorry to hear about Chris," he added.

Kelly nodded as she pulled her eyes up to his. "Yeah, I was sorry to hear about you and Emma, but I guess I got bad info." There was a growl in her voice.

"No, we broke up. Just friends." I slipped to the bobblehead I had pretended to be in the store with Brian.

Kelly just gave them a skeptical nod before moving past them.

I grabbed Conner's hand and dragged him through the party to the back deck. "What the fuck was that?" I erupted as we bust through the backdoor.

"Sorry, I panicked."

I could see that he was sorry, but an immediate apology was not enough. "What if..." I stopped short.

"What if Danny had seen that?" Conner didn't need to say it; it was already hanging in the air.

"We just broke up like an hour ago. What would Danny think if he saw me in his best friend's arms?" My mind was racing.

"Gee, I couldn't imagine what that would feel like." His voice was flat as he investigated the woods of the backyard.

"Conner..." But I had no words.

"It's fine, Emma. I'm just a little buzzed. I'm not mad, but I'm sorry I used you. I just didn't want to get into it with Kel." He tapped his pockets, looking for cigarettes that weren't there. He had quit when he moved in with his dad.

"What happened between you two?" I needed to know why people who care about each other break up.

"She cheated on me." His head swiveled like a teeter-totter, "tried to cheat on me." He qualified further.

I felt shock roll through me. "Tried?"

"Yeah, she tried to get with Danny when she was drunk. He stopped her, but..."

I felt the horror fill my face, and bile rose in my throat. "You were with her for two years."

"Yeah, it was pretty easy to tell when you were in love with him. No sense in setting myself up for that twice."

I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Conner. You deserve better than that than both of us."

I felt his arms around me, and his head dropped to my shoulder. "Your taller and smell like grape soda." He was eager to change the subject, and I let him.

"Oh," a trill of a laugh slipped from me. "Sarah insisted I wear wedges, and the smell is my lip gloss."

He pulled away and slipped his thumb across my lower lip before bringing it to his mouth, "not terrible."

"Un-fucking-believable," Danny was leaning on the doorjamb. "You are truly terrible at being alone, aren't you, Em?"

Conner and I separated at his words.

"We're just friends, Danny; you know that." My tone didn't mask my annoyance. I wouldn't be branded a cheater at another party this summer.

"Like we were?" Danny shot back.

"Hey man, be cool," Conner offered. "Don't say something you'll regret." Conner clapped Danny's shoulder as he passed, leaving us alone on the deck. Conner's apathy seemed to cool Danny.

"I'm a little surprised to see you here." Danny floated to the railing beside me without looking at me.

"I guess we both have something to forget," I offered as I looked back into the woods.

"I'll never try to forget," he whispered to himself. "You drinking?" He was trying to mask it, but the unmistakable tone of concern crept into his words.

"No, I'm driving Conner home."

Danny nodded at my answer.

"You?" I pressed.

"Just a couple; I have to work tomorrow."

"Do you still enjoy it at the garage?"

"Yeah, I do." He looked down at me sideways before adding, "thanks for asking."

"I bet Nana is proud."

"She's been packing me lunches every day. I'm trying to convince her she doesn't need to peel my oranges for me."

"That's adorable."

Danny let his childlike smile cross his face in agreement.

"Danny..." I wanted to say something to make it better, us better, but no words came to me.

"I know, Em. Me too." He continued to gaze into the woods. "I'm not okay with you leaving, but I can't ask you to stay." His head wavered from side to side slightly. "I don't want you to stay."

"It's only an hour away." The tears welled in my eyes.

"It's not the distance." His voice was calm and even.

I stared at the side of my face, wishing he would look at me. When he did, I felt small. His eyes were piercing with intensity.

"How am I going to compete? I'm just the townie whose name you won't even remember in 20-years."

"What? How could you even think that?" I reached out to his arm, but he jerked it away.

A nasty laugh slipped from him. "How could you think I'm not attracted to you?" He countered.

"I just figured..." My voice gave out.

"I know what you figured; all I want is sex. That's who I am right; a good time."

The tears formed again behind my eyes, one slipping down my cheek as he spoke. I recalled Kelly and what she had said about Danny. It felt different knowing what had happened between her and Conner and her and Danny.

I missed his hand lifting, but felt a gentle fingertip wipe away my tear.

"I don't think anyone has ever cried over me before." His eyes felt far away when I met them, but the corner of his mouth tipped up a bit.

"I love you, Danny. I don't know what else I can do or say to convince you."

He continued to look over me as his hand slipped to my chin.

"I didn't want to break up, but I missed you and thought maybe we could go back," I continued to explain.

His lips flicker to a smile for a moment, and his head drifted to an angle as he studied my face while letting his hand drop from me. "Have you been drinking grape soda?"

"Oh." I cleared my throat from the mounting sobs and focused on my trivial lip gloss. "See, that's what you saw with Conner and me. I got a new grape soda flavored lip glossed." I took a deep breath to shuffle the tears further down and pulled the tube out.

Danny watched me apply another layer. "You smell like Sammy." He was shaking his head at me as a full smile spread across his face.

"I know. That's why I got it. I figured I could use a little Sammy-power tonight." I shyly looked up at his face.

His expression filled with apprehension. "May I?" His slender pointer finger tucked beneath my chin again.

I would agree to anything if it kept him near, "sure."

He lifted my chin as his thumb landed just below my lip, causing it to puff out. He paused as his eyes skimmed over my lips. Then he dipped his head, allowing his lips met mine. He started soft, almost a tickle that tasted like the herbal flavor of beer.

"Not bad," he murmured without pulling away.

He leaned in further as his lips became more urgent on mine. They felt rough on my soft lips but blended. There was a union between us, sharing the same breath and sensations. His arms moved around me, pulling me close to him, as my hand moved up to cup his face. The rough stubble on his chin burned against my tender skin as we continued to move as one. His lips grew firmer, searching for the energy that was coursing through us. Then, as quickly as it started, he pulled his lips away from me. He gazed down at my face for just a moment before he leaned in and kissed the top of my head. Wordlessly, he headed back into the party.