"Alright, I'm off," Daniel sighed, standing up from his desk and gathering everything.

"Take care" His partner patted his back as he massaged the cramp in his neck before nodding to her words and getting into the car.

He wasn't too keen on getting back.

Since the night Tessa and Xavier had kissed, Daniel noticed that the two were constantly together, either at his place or at Xavier's and if he wasn't mistaken, he could expect to find the two in his home today. The burning from the night never quite left him, it was constantly there and sometimes had him act on in ways very uncharacteristic of him, and sometimes the anger fits frightened the teen living with him.

Daniel could not tell Tessa he was in love with her, she wouldn't understand, so he kept it to himself.

He tried his hardest to act normal, and not some heartbroken teenager, but he supposed he wasn't doing a very good job because a lot of the time, Tessa would come to him and ask if he was alright, saying he wasn't acting like himself.

Sighing, Daniel sat in his car, parked underground and mentally braced himself to get upstairs.

Eventually, he brought himself to go up and then further down the hall, jamming his keys into the slot and pushing open the door, expecting the worse, but momentarily taken aback to see Tessa and Xavier setting up for a movie night. Both of them chuckling and giggling as he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at them.

"Daniel! Hey!" Tessa grinned when she caught sight of him, putting down the popcorn to walk over to him and wrap her arms around his neck, forcing him to hunch down to hug her petite frame. "How was work?"

"Same old, same old," He shrugged, tossing the keys into the bowl on the counter. "What about you? How was school?"

"Good," She nodded. "We got our exam syllabus,"

"And rather than studying you're watching a movie?"

"Oh, we thought we'd all come together one last time before we become hermit crabs," Xavier joked from the couch, looking back at the two, neither one of the couple noticing how his eyes darkened at the boy speaking.

"I see," He spoke in a monotone, pulling away from Tessa as she looked up at the lack of his warmth.

"Want to join us, Casanova?" She asked him with a soft smile, her hand against his arm as he looked down at it for a second before looking back at her.

"No, thank you," He began to make his way towards his bedroom.

"We're ordering pizza!" Tessa called after him. "You want some?"

"Not hungry!"

Tessa stared in confusion at the hallway leading to his room, wondering if something had happened, but before she could further think about it, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Xavier called, jumping up from the couch and opening it for the rest of their friends, all of them having brought one thing or the other.

They had just entered and were discussing a movie to watch when Daniel stepped out of his bedroom and made his way into the washroom, greeting the newcomers with a nod as the other's waved at him.

"So Harry Potter?" Clint confirmed as he settled onto the couch with his feet perched up, and nibbling on the popcorn in the bowl.

"Yeah, we'll start watching once the pizza is here," Xavier confirmed from beside Tessa who was pouring everyone some drinks.

"Feet off the table," Daniel's voice called and instantly Clint did as told, everyone looking up to see him standing in the washroom doorway, steam flowing out behind him as he stood in nothing more than a towel around his waist. His wet hair falling into his eyes and rivulets of water running down his toned body. Both Natalie and Valarie couldn't help from staring while the boys instantly squirmed in discomfort. "I don't want to see a single crumb on the carpet once you guys leave,"

"Yes, sir," The boys muttered as the two girls nodded.

"Daniel, are you sure you don't want to join us?" Tessa inquired once more.

"What are you guys watching?"

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows,"

"No, thanks,"

"We can change the movie if you want to join?"

"Thanks for the offer, but no," Daniel shook his head and made his way back into his room, closing the door behind him.

And the moment the doors clicked into place, both Natalie and Valarie sunk in their seats, fanning themselves as Bruce looked at his girlfriend with a raised eyebrow, shaking his head at their antics; none of them noticing the confusion etched across Tessa's eyebrows.

When the pizza arrived, all of them settled down, turning down the lights and watching the movie in silence, enjoying it. When it ended, everyone helped clean up before heading back home, Xavier giving Tessa a quick peck before heading off to his own apartment.

Sighing, she grabbed two slices from the pizza box, putting them into the microwave before pouring a drink and going over to Daniel's room. Knocking on the door, she stepped inside, finding a few files scattered across the mattress with him sitting cross-legged on the platform bed, his eyebrows knitted in thought and a packet of cigarettes thrown on the floor.

Placing the plate and drink on his bedside table, she moved around the mattress before settling on the other side, watching him grab a slice and bite into it, his eyes roaming over the file.

"I thought we agreed with no work when we're eating dinner," Tessa reminded, resting her chin on her knees, watching a small smile grace Daniel's lips before he straightened and put a pencil between the pages before closing it, munching on the pizza in silence. "Is everything alright, Daniel?" She finally asked him softly.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" He swallowed, looking at her in confusion.

"I just feel like there is something off with you,"

"Like what?" Daniel couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"Like the fact that you don't call me 'bambi' anymore or the fact that you stopped kissing my forehead, or that you seem so awfully distant every time Xavier is around or the fact that you don't seem to want to do anything with me anymore," Tessa spoke quietly, fiddling with her fingers. "I feel like you're cutting me out of your life, and I don't want to lose my best friend, Daniel,"

He fell silent as he put down the pizza, swallowing the bite he was eating before putting the plate away.

"What do you want me to say to that, Tessa?"

"Explain please," She pleaded silently. "Is it something I did? Did I upset you in some way? Did I say something-?"

"-No, it's not you,"

"Then what?"

"It's just that..." Daniel squirmed. "You have a boyfriend now,"

"So? Does that mean I have to lose my best friend just because I'm dating someone?" Tessa demanded. "If so, then I can go and break up with him right now-"

"-Baby, no," He shook his head, his heart swelling in his chest to know that if he were to say, she would break up with him in an instant, but he shunned the morbid idea before he would further develop on it. "No, I mean that now you have a boyfriend, and I fear that he would get threatened by your and my closeness, so I've been keeping my distance for his sake,"

"And what about my sake?"

"What?"

"I mean, we live in the same apartment, yet I feel like I hardly see you and I literally miss you, Daniel. I miss you, and our time spent together and our talks which have dwindled down to zero, we hardly even eat dinner together anymore, and if it makes things any better, I'll ask Xavier to come by less often, because I would rather have you by my side than someone else, just please don't cut me out of your life,"

"Of course not," He sighed, pulling her towards him and holding her against his chest. "I won't cut you out of my life,"

Tessa nuzzled into his chest, momentarily reveling in the comfort and warmth he provided before pulling away to look up at him.

"Can I sleep with you tonight?" She asked him from below her lashes.

"What?" Daniel's eyes widened as he choked on his air.

"Can I sleep in your room tonight?"

"Oh," He realized what she had meant. "Oh, yeah, sure,"

"I'll just get changed and then we can head off to bed, okay?"

"Sounds good," He nodded and watched her leave, slapping his forehead the moment she was out of earshot. "Get your head out of the gutter, Robertson," He grumbled at himself and cleared everything away, closing his curtains before pulling off his t-shirt and lay down on his bed, rubbing his temples.

Daniel looked up when Tessa stepped inside wearing a loose fitted white tank top with grey shorts, a cardigan over her clothes with her hair tied into a braid over her shoulder. Swallowing, he returned the smile she was giving him before she closed the door and peeled off the cardigan, coming to lie down beside him and turning off the lamp on her bedside.

Turning off the lamp on his side, he felt her shift in the dark and nuzzle into his chest.

"Thank you for always being there, Daniel," She murmured quietly, Daniel blinking at her words. "I don't know what I would do without you," She cuddled into his side and closed her eyes to sleep.

And her words made him realize that even if she doesn't love him, and even though she doesn't know that he loves her, it did not mean that he leaves her to be or take out his bitterness on her. After all, she was just a girl discovering the world for the first time and needed someone there to guide her, and if he was the one she chose to blindly trust, then he was content with that.

Love or no.

She was his Bambi.