I felt drunk from Danny's kiss as I stumbled back through the party. I found Sarah on a couch with Sean and Conner. Danny had pulled a chair up to join them. He nodded to me when I joined the group.

"Hey," Sarah slurred, obviously buzzed. "Sit on my lap," she offered.

I slid on her lap.

"Find any boys to flirt with?" Sarah continued.

"Yeah, I found one." I kissed her on the cheek.

"I don't count, Emma." Sarah rolled her eyes, but the effort made her head droop.

"Ugh, you and your rules," I shot back.

"Aw, you two are so cute; I love you." Sean gave us both a side hug. "I want your grape soda lip gloss," he expectantly held out his hand.

Sarah shook her head, "give it to him. His charms are too strong to resist."

"That must be a nice superpower," I conceded as I passed Sean my lip gloss.

"Hey man, we're up," Conner tagged Danny.

"What? I'm your partner!" I protested.

"Sorry, Em, I have about 15-years on you." Danny's eyes crackled with electricity as he flashed his flirtatious grin.

"Are you sure you two broke up?" Sarah whispered into my ear as Danny and Conner headed to the pong table. "I haven't seen him look at you like that in weeks."

I just sighed and gazed after him, not sure what to say. Sean shifted down to Conner's seat, so we each had a spot on the couch.

"So, let's find someone for you to flirt with." Sarah rubbed her palms together as she looked around the room.

"I think it is too late; everyone is too drunk to understand inconsequential flirting." I deflected; I was done flirting for the night.

Sarah slumped into Sean's side in defeat. "It's too late for incons...." Sarah got lost in the word and mumbled to herself.

"Well, someone is done for the night. She's staying with you tonight, right?" I asked Sean over Sarah's head.

He nodded a yes and gave Sarah's temple a protective kiss, making me long for the comfort of Danny's arms. My gaze drifted to him; his arm stretched over the cups as a ball sailed through the air, landing with a plunk in one of the remaining cups. He caught me looking and gave me a wink.

I watched the rest of the match from the couch. I knew Danny and Conner would have to leave the table after this round. It was already close to 11:30 pm, and I had to get Conner home by his curfew. It was a moot point, as they lost. Conner chugged the last couple of cups before they headed back to the couch.

"You ready, Em?" Conner held out a hand to me, but I was sure he would topple over if I took it.

"Yes, dear," I teased, heaving myself up without his help. "Bye, Sean."

"Bye guys, thanks for coming," he murmured over Sarah, who was asleep on his shoulder.

I turned to Danny. "You want a ride?" I offered, hopefully.

"No, I'm heading out too. I have to work tomorrow." He stretched, and I couldn't help but glance at his flexing arms.

"Another day, another peeled orange," I teased.

Conner threw his arm around me. "Okay, we have to go because that made no sense to me, so I must be too drunk."

"Don't break her," Danny shifted Conner's weight to him as he spoke.

The chilly air outside seemed to sober Conner up a bit, and he could make it to his car himself.

"Night, Em," there was a singing in Danny's voice again.

"Night, Danny," under my breath, I added, 'I love you,' but didn't dare speak it aloud.

As Conner and I pulled out of the driveway, he rolled his window down to give Danny a holler as we passed. Then he turned to me, "I know you broke up, but that dude is crazy in love with you."

I smiled to myself as Conner slumped back in his seat and zoned out to the passing scenery.

I was happy as I drove home from Conner's. I left the keys tucked into the visor so Conner could pick the car up the next day if I was already at work. When I got home, I slipped the wedges off and let the cool grass hug my feet as I walked around back. For the first time in a long time, I didn't feel tired. Tossing my shoes to the floor, I flicked on the radio as I entered my bedroom. I lingered on washing my face, brushing my teeth, and even putting on the satin nightdress that made me feel pretty. I looked in the mirror at the lace that lined the top between the spaghetti straps before heading to bed, flicking off the stereo as I went.

The sheets were cool, like slipping into a pool. I flipped open my phone to make sure there were no missed calls, but as expected, there were none. I sunk into the bed and closed my eyes, letting myself get pulled back to the deck, feeling Danny's fingers on my chin and his lips dancing with mine. It was the best kiss of my life. I rolled over to glance at the grape soda lip gloss and smiled to myself. As I moved back to my pillows, I saw a glow in the doorway. His eyes caught the light of the moon.

"Hey," slipped quietly from my mouth.

"Hey," Danny crossed the room, and I could hear the buckle of his belt fall to the floor.

I slid over, giving him space to drop to my side. An arm snaked around me as his free hand smoothed across my stomach.

"This is nice," he murmured as he surveyed my nightgown.

I curled into his chest as his grip moved to my hip, pulling me closer to him. His other palm floated down my back, stopping when he got to the lacy hem of the nightdress.

"We broke up," I spoke as I braced myself on his chest, pushing myself up to meet his gaze. He sunk deeper into the pillows.

"Yeah, we did," he murmured as he pushed forward and stole a kiss from me before I pushed him back into the pillows. A mischievous smirk curled his mouth. It set my entire body on fire. "How did forgetting me go tonight?"

"Pretty well, what's your name again?" I swatted his chest as I teased.

"For the record, I will never want to forget a single thing about you," he murmured as he tucked a tendril of hair behind my ear.

I moved to straddle him as his fingers clung to my hips. "This is the part where you push me away," I reminded him.

He let out an "mmhmm" without breaking his stare.

"What's gotten into you?" I giggled.

He lifted his hands from my hips and tucked them behind his head, "tell me again what I think."

"You think I'm not coming back, and you aren't attracted to me." I knew I was walking into a trap.

"Right; you're hideous." A calm passed his face as he let the back of his knuckles glide over the torso of my nightgown.

I wished I didn't think I knew all the answers, "tell me what I feel."

"You're annoyed at how irresistible I am. And scared to leave because what if you don't come back?"

At his words, I deflated to his side.

After a moment of silence, his soft, smooth voice came close to my ear; I could feel the warmth of his breath. "Emma, I'm sorry. I told you I was bad at this."

"You aren't always bad at this; most of the time, you're sweet and gentle." I let a finger glide over the contours of his neck.

"Most of the time," he agreed.

"But you get this twisted sense of how to protect me from you." I let out a sigh. "You don't need to protect me from you."

"I do, Emma. You don't see me clearly," Danny's voice was pleading.

"I do, Danny. I don't think you are perfect. I know you can be impulsive."

"Impulsive." Danny let out a laugh. "It's more than impulsive."

"I'm listening." I let a hand flow down the front of his t-shirt and settle on his chest.

"I have bad days and try to burn them from my brain, but..." Danny's voice trailed off.

I held my breath, waiting for Danny to continue, but I couldn't hold it long enough. "What do you mean, try to burn them from your brain?"

Danny kissed the top of my head. "Why do you think I pop so many pills?"

"But, they're prescription," I was trying to calm myself.

"Sure, someone's." Neither of us laughed at Danny's joke.

"How can I help?" It was all I could muster; the panic was paralyzing me.

"Emma, it's not your job to help me." Danny bundled me up like a child in his arms.

"But I love you. If it's not my job, who's job is it?"

Danny shook his head, causing his hair to tickle the side of my face. "A professional; a team of professionals," he offered.

"And you're seeing these professionals?" I felt my chest unknot a bit.

"Yeah, the clinic has people on staff."

"That's good." I used the strength returning to my arms to push myself off his chest and inspect his face.

"It is, but it's not an exact science. That's why..." His voice tapered off. He pushed another tendril of hair from my face. "How could you choose me over Conner or some college boy?"

"It was pretty easy." I sunk into Danny's chest.

"This isn't a joke, Emma. You can do better than me."

"Can I? Danny, I'm in love with you. I've chosen you every day since Chris' and I have every intention of choosing you every day for the rest of my life."

Danny scrutinized me. I took a moment to study Danny as well. In the moonlight, the shadows clung to the hallows of his face.

"Danny, how are you?" I let a finger glide over the purple beneath his eyes and the depressions of his cheeks.

"I'm good." His hand slipped to cradle the back of my head. "When I'm with you like this, I'm good."

"So, we'll stay like this forever." I resisted the urge to lean into him further.

"Forever," Danny sighed. "You leave in a month."

"Here isn't a physical place; it's the feeling and the understanding. I promise to ask you how you are every day if you promise to tell me the truth. That's how I can help." I shifted myself back on top of him. "And, when you visit, I'll peel your oranges for you."

"And when you visit, I promise to dance with you every night, just like Pops and Nana."

He pulled me to him as he asked, "But Emma, how are you?"

All I could get out was "happy" before I crashed into him.