Kiss Me

PART II, chapter 4

- IV -

January 18, 2005

___________________

Danny looked up at the suddenly sunny sky and snorted. The day was almost perfect, and he hated it. He was back where he left off. He spent every night with Stephanie again. The only difference this time was the fact that now he would actually help her study for the first couple of hours or so.

"Danny, wait, man!"

He stopped and whirled around, his eyes becoming mad slits behind his dark sunglasses.

"What do you want?" He asked evenly, and Tyler blinked at his unexpected hostility.

"Tough day?" he asked carefully.

"What do you want?" Danny repeated unemotionally.

"I just need my refill," Tyler pulled money out of his jeans' pocket.

Danny shook his head.

"No," he said shortly.

"No?" Tyler frowned. "What do you mean? You don't have any...?"

"I do," Danny said calmly. "I just don't want to sell you any."

"Is this your way of raising the price?" Tyler laughed in bewilderment. "Just say how much and..."

"No," Danny interrupted him. "Not the price. I just..." He smiled. "I don't want your business anymore."

"I don't understand..." Tyler said slowly. "Did I do something to you? If I did, I am sorry, man..."

"No," Danny said again. "You didn't do anything to me," he lingered on the word 'me' a little longer than he wanted and Tyler blinked rapidly.

"Then who?" he frowned. "Look," he continued when Danny didn't say anything. "I am sorry for whatever I did, Danny! I really am!"

"No, you are not," Danny smiled again. "Leave me alone, Tyler," and he started to walk away.

"Wait!" Tyler grabbed his shoulder, and Danny immediately span around.

"Let go!" He barked, and Tyler let go of his shoulder and took a step back.

"Jesus," he said in disbelief. "Are you hooked on your own stuff, man?"

"I don't do drugs," Danny said tightly. "Leave me alone, Tyler."

"Just explain it, goddammit!" Tyler shouted angrily and grabbed his shoulder again.

This time, Danny turned around and punched him in the face so hard that Tyler almost lost his balance.

"God..." Danny muttered. "I wanted to do this for a very long time..."

"What the hell?!" Tyler wiped his face and stared at the blood on his hand in disbelief. "You son of a b***h!"

He lunged at Danny, and suddenly, Danny couldn't think anymore. Everything around him turned dark-red and the only thought that was left in his mind was chanting nonstop, "Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"

...He shook his head when somebody pulled him away, and the world slowly went back to its normal colors.

"Stop it! Stop it!!" He heard someone shrieking, and turned his head.

Laurie was kneeling next to Tyler, wiping blood off his face, her hands shaking.

"Jesus, Danny!" She looked at him with horror. "You almost killed him! What the hell?!"

Danny shoved away two guys that were holding him.

"Nothing," he said shortly.

"Mr. Jordan!" the principal's bark was so sudden that it made Danny jump. "My office! Now!!"

...Danny sat on the chair, his face indifferent. The principal looked at him with very tired eyes.

"What happened?" he asked slowly.

"We just got into a fight," Danny shrugged.

"Why?" The principal asked patiently.

"He grabbed me, and I hate it when people grab me," Danny said, his eyes suddenly dark.

"So you decided to kill him?" the principal asked. "Yes, that makes perfect sense... Danny," he took off his glasses. "Off the record, okay? What the hell happened?"

"I told him to leave me alone," Danny said unemotionally. "He wouldn't listen."

"Fine," the principal sighed. "You are suspended until the end of the week."

"Okay," Danny nodded. "May I go then?"

"Yes, Mr. Jordan, you may go," and he put his glasses back on. "Danny," he called when Danny was almost at the door. "You are a bright kid, good student... Don't let your temper to waste you."

"Right..." Danny muttered and left the office.

...He was smoking by his car when Stephanie finally walked out of the front door. She was walking alone, her face buried in a book. Danny flicked away his cigarette.

"Palmer!" He called and she looked up. His heart skipped a beat when her face immediately brightened when she saw him.

"Danny!" She said, quickly walking towards him. "What happened today? There is some wild story floating around that you almost killed Tyler..."

"Pffft," Danny snorted. "I just punched him in the face, that's all."

"Why?" Her eyes flew wide open.

"He kept pestering me about drugs after I told him that I wouldn't sell him any," Danny shrugged and swung open the door of his car. "Get in, let's go eat."

She slowly slid into the front passenger's seat.

"How come you wouldn't sell him anything?" she asked after Danny got inside as well.

" 'Cause I don't feel like it," Danny grinned, and suddenly, he saw Tyler who was looking at him in disbelief. Then his expression slowly changed as if he was hit by a sudden revelation. Danny gritted his teeth and started the car.

...Stephanie absent-mindedly poked her food with a fork.

"What are you going to do until the end of the week?" she asked, and Danny shrugged.

"Probably hang out somewhere. I am not telling my parents that I got suspended," he chuckled. "My Dad will kill me for sure," he finished lightly.

"Do you wanna stay at my place?" she asked casually, and suddenly, he wasn't hungry anymore.

"What are you going to tell your parents?" he asked carefully, and she laughed.

"They are hardly even home anymore. Dad wouldn't be back until the end of the month," she rolled her eyes. "Extended business trip, which translates into, 'Two Weeks in Hawaii with Freeman's Wife'... And my Mom..." She shrugged. "She is always with Tony."

"What about your brother though?"

"Eric?" She grimaced. "Remember how I told you that he was a computer game freak who didn't care about anything else?"

Danny nodded.

"Well," she put a forkful of food in her mouth. "Turns out, I was wrong... Came back home early yesterday, and found him on the couch. He was making out with a girl from his class..."

Danny burst out laughing.

"Go, Eric!" he cheered, and Stephanie snorted.

"He is eleven!"

"Good for him!" Danny nodded. "Sure, I'll stay at your place if that's okay."

"Are you kidding me?" She smiled slyly. "Of course, it's okay!"

Danny briefly thought that he probably would be better off if his father actually killed him for real, and that he was an amazing i***t for getting into this even deeper than he already was, but he simply didn't care anymore.

...He followed Stephanie into her house and was immediately greeted by Eric's cheerful, "Oooh! You brought your boy-toy home!!"

Stephanie threw him a dark look and said:

"Do I even have to remind you that your tongue was in Lizzie's mouth yesterday and that I filmed you?"

"You are a very mean person," Eric said thoughtfully. "Mean and conniving... I like that!" and he disappeared in his bedroom.

"Filmed him?" Danny asked in disbelief, and she grinned.

"Yup," she grinned. "Got the whole thing on my phone camera!"

"Bravo," Danny said seriously and bowed to her.

She laughed, and he marveled at how good her sincere laughter had made him feel.

"If Eric starts pestering you, just tell him to get lost," she said meanwhile.

"Nah," Danny said carelessly. "He seems cool."

"The words 'cool' and 'my brother'..." She shook her head. "They just don't mesh."

...The next three days flew by so quickly that Danny thought he was dreaming. He would spend an entire afternoon at Stephanie's house, and when she came home a little before two, they wouldn't climb out of bed until almost nine in the evening. They would even do their study sessions in bed. Eric tried to pester them at first, but after Danny showed him a couple of tricks that got Eric very popular within his gaming community, he left them alone, and treated Danny as his own personal God.

...On Saturday evening, when they were almost done with the books, Danny's cell phone rang.

"Hello," he said after he flipped his phone open. "Oh, hey, Mom..."

Stephanie looked at him quizzically, and he shrugged.

"What?" He suddenly sat up on the bed. "When? Aw, man," he winced. "Do I have to go...? Yeah, yeah, I know... Fine, fine, Mom! I'll go! When are we leaving...?" He winced again. "Ugh, okay. Let me finish my study session, okay? I'll be home by eleven, I promise. Okay, later," and he hung up.

"Well, crap," he said, looking at Stephanie.

"You are leaving?" she asked with a frown.

"Yeah," he growled. "I'll be back at the end of the next week."

"What happened?"

"Ugh, my Grandmother died," he said unwillingly, and Stephanie winced.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, and Danny shrugged.

"I never even knew the lady," he said. "I have no idea why they have to drag me along..." He sighed and threw the book aside. "Okay, stop wasting time on useless questions," and he pulled her close to him.