I had walked only a block in fifteen minutes. I was halfway through the next block when I checked my phone for the hundredth time since leaving the school. The dance wouldn't be finished for over a hour. Was I a worse person by ditching my friends? Was I weaker than I thought in all this?

There was no way I could put up with this. Things with Lucas had to stop. My mistakes were making him look like a fool.

Running steps echoed through the night, but I thought nothing of it until I heard his voice.

"Daisy?" He called breathless, "Daisy--wait!"

No, no, no. Please, not him. Anyone but him!

He ran in front of me, so I couldn't walk any further. A streetlight was a yard away, and I was thankful for the darkness. For the fact he couldn't see my face as clearly.

His hands reached for me and I moved away and started to step around him.

"Hey, hey, hey," He said soothingly, stepping in front of me again. "Don't walk away from me."

"I'm not in the mood, Lucas." I muttered weakly, "Just leave me alone." I tried to walk off again.

"I won't. I'm not going to ignore what happened. Not this time." His hand grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

"Don't you have your super-perfect-fashionista girlfriend back at the dance to take care of?" I spat back at him angrily.

"The minute her dad came to pick her up I was out the front door of the school and running to your house. But you're here and--" He pulled me back when I tried freeing my hand. "Daisy, will you stop trying to run off!"

He brought his hand up to touch the side of my face. He tried to turn it toward him, but I wouldn't--I couldn't look at him.

"Come into the light. Come on, let me see you."

"No! Leave me alone! I don't want to!"

"Daisy, stop! Just stop it!" He gently tugged me toward the light. "You trust me, right? Trust me now."

He slowly dragged me into the streetlight and then let go of me and stood still.

"I wish I had a mirror so you could see yourself." He said and my heart seized up. Why had I let him drag me into this?

"I know how bad I look, you don't have to remind me." I said as he shook his head.

"You look beautiful."

"Don't say stuff like that! You have a girlfriend!"

He reached out and held my hand. "I haven't been honest with you."

"Lucas, I really can't do this--"

"I never wanted to go to the dance with Lydia. I wanted to go with you. And I've tried to love Lydia, and I thought maybe I did, but then I got to know you and realized--"

"Stop! I can't hear any more of this! I won't!" I yelled, my heart was heavy and my head felt as if it were spinning out of control.

"Why not? Daisy, there are so many things that's caused me to fall in love with you."

"I'm so weak..." I fell to my knees and couldn't help the tears fall down my cheeks.. I was a total mess. I never cried in front of people.

His voice was soft as he knelt in front of me. "Yet you're the strongest person I've ever met. I never asked you to put up with this. I didn't want you to, but you did." He tilted my head up to look into my eyes. His hair and eyes shone brightly under the streetlight.

"Can I... Can I get out of the light now?" I choked out and he face turned to one of adoration.

"But I love looking at you." When he saw how much I was shaking though, he helped pull me up and out of the light. "There. You're alright."

I fell against him, and he wrapped his arms around me tight. At feeling my chilled skin, he took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around me.

"Thank you..."

"It's nothing." He hugged me again. "Did you know when you left, Sara almost tried beating Lydia to a pulp? Patricia also talked her into not calling your mom. Said you'd want to keep it secret from her to 'save her from stress'. Your cousin seems to know you pretty well, huh?"

"Yeah..." The night was silent for a few minutes until I finally pulled away. I cleared my throat. "I haven't been honest with you either."

"You don't have to say anything, it's alright."

"I lied to you. I wanted to go to the dance with you too. I felt as if something was missing and it's been you. I didn't want to leave you, but the gossip at school was bringing you down slowly with me. We've been hiding from our friends the fact we've been spending time together. I want to be with you without the lies and secrets." I pulled the jacket around me tighter. "This entire time, Lucas, I've been missing... you. Yet I never truly had you."

He was speechless for a long time. I began to walk off, knowing he'd follow me when he was ready. My prediction was right and he jogged after me a few moments later.

"Oh," Was all he said. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him stick his hands in his pant pockets. It was a nervous habit he had, I'd come to realize over the weeks I got to know him.

We walked in silence to my house, my eyes staring up at the sky as I started up my driveway. The front porch light was on and before I got too far, Lucas pulled me aside into the dark. His fingers shook a little as they held onto my wrist.

"Wait," He looked down and pressed a button that lit up the screen of his watch. "You still have fifteen minutes before you're supposed to be home. I'm pretty sure you can find a reason for walking and returning home a few minutes early, but I think fifteen minutes is a little soon..."

"Oh, yeah. I suppose you're right. We should move farther from the house so she doesn't see us then."

"No. Let's move out of sight completely, come on." He pulled me along slowly, but urgently.

We ended up going back a quarter of a block and hiding behind a bunch of trees. He was silent for a few seconds, moving around restlessly. I touched his arm, hoping to calm him down and he surprisingly relaxed a little. The quick pounding of my heart, however, didn't.

He shocked me by bringing his body closer to mine and wrapping an arm across my back. His free hand traced a line down my tear stained cheek. He brought his lips close to my ear.

"Do you love me?"

"I-I don't know."

"It's just a yes or no question. Do you love me?" He was silent for a second or two. "Okay, let's try this. Do you want me to kiss you?"

"What do you want to do? Don't let people control your life. Think about what you want and I'll be happy with whatever choice you choose."

Whoa, where did that even come from?

"What I want?" He murmured. He looked me in the eyes and then he leaned forward and our lips connected. My whole world exploded. My body felt as if it was literally floating. Every worry in my heart was lifted and I wrapped my arms around his neck as he leaned into our kiss more.

His lips were full of passion against mine. His hands were in my hair. And I was kissing him back like there was no tomorrow. We were breathless, probably minutes later, when Lucas pulled away an inch, enough to look at his watch.

"Time to go?" I asked, sadly.

"Nah, we're good." He said quickly, starting to kiss me again. What felt like only thirty seconds later, but was probably more than five minutes, he slowly pulled away. "Time..."

"Oh. Yeah," I leaned up and kissed him once more and he almost didn't pull away.

"You have to go now," He said, gracefully picking me up in his arms and walking to my house. He smiled down at me. "You're as light as a feather."

He set me down on the front porch and squeezed my hand.

"Sleep tight... my flower." He whispered, reluctantly letting go of my hand.

"Bye..." I whispered softly, handing him back his jacket. He shook his head.

"You can keep it for now. I'll get it back later." He said, his eyes didn't leave mine until he was at the end of my driveway.

With a smile plastered on my face, I ran into my house, his touch still lingering on my skin.