An Angel

A/N: This is what I think will happen when Jo eventually finds out that Danny kissed Lacey, or more appropriately, what I *hope* will happen when she finds out.

*Jo's Point of View*

I sat in our booth at the diner, my Calculus book in front of me and my notes spread out. Rico was in front of me, facing the back of the diner. I had just finished working the last problem for the homework when the bell on the door jingled. I didn't look up to check who it was.

"Are you still not talking to Danny?" Rico hissed, glancing up and then looking at his notes.

"Yes," I replied, pulling my sweater sleeves down over my hands out of habit.

"Well, he's coming this way…" Rico's voice trailed away as Danny appeared in my peripheral vision. I didn't look at him.

"Can I talk to you?" He asked and I looked up at Rico, who was gazing from me to Danny.

"No," I said shortly, picking up my homework and putting it into my notebook.

"Jo, please can I at least have a chance to try and talk this out with you?" I stared down at my hands, not looking him in the eye. I knew if I looked at him, I could be convinced to do almost anything by those big brown eyes. I hated that.

"Can I talk to you, Danny? Then, maybe Jo will talk to you," Rico said. I was astonished enough to look up at Rico, perplexed.

"Okay," Danny agreed, but he sounded surprised. Rico got up and gave me a look and walked off with Danny, leaving me wondering what he could possibly tell him that would make any difference.

*Rico's POV*

I walked with Danny outside the diner. He had his hands in his pockets and he looked like he felt bad. I just wanted to make sure he understood what he'd done. I didn't care if it made him feel worse, because in my opinion, he should feel bad.

"What did you want to say?" Danny asked, hunching his shoulders.

"Look, Jo told me why she's mad at you. It's because you kissed Lacey the night of the Fall Festival and didn't tell her about it, right?" Danny nodded.

"Did Jo tell you why that made her so mad?" I asked and again he nodded.

"She said that she's mad that I lied to her about it, because I told her… I told her that I wouldn't lie to her."

"She's mad because you made her look like an idiot, Danny. She's mad because she trusted you and you knew that she and Lacey had some kind of falling out, but you went and did it anyway. She'd never admit that to you, but she doesn't trust you anymore. Honestly? I don't know why she ever did in the first place, considering what you've done to her. And before you interrupt to try and charm your way out of what I'm about to say, just stop and listen for a minute," I felt the anger that had been swirling around finally come to the surface.

"She doesn't know what I'm saying to you right now, but I'm going to tell her everything. Including this part," and for some reason, courage I didn't know I had convinced me to get into his face, very closely, and say, "If you hurt her like that ever again, I will personally make you wish you were dead because your miserable existence of a life won't be worth living after that. Do you understand me?" Danny looked up at me, and sure I was scared, but at this point, I was willing to do whatever it took to get him to understand I wasn't playing with him.

"I understand," he said quietly.

"Don't underestimate me, Danny Desai. I definitely care more about Jo than I do about you or any murder mystery. If I had to choose between you and her, I'd choose her every time." I walked past him back into the diner after that, not letting him get the last word.

*Jo's POV*

Rico came back into the diner, packed up his things and said,

"I'm going to go to the library. If you want to come when you're finished with this conversation you can. I'll tell you what I told him later, after you two talk." I nodded.

"Do you want to talk to him?" Rico wondered. I looked up. Danny was standing in the doorway, but he wasn't coming any closer.

"I don't know, I suppose," I said reluctantly. Rico left and when he exited Danny approached and sat in his spot. I stared at the table, not looking at him.

"Jo, I'm sorry," Danny said quickly, as if he were afraid I'd cut him off. I looked up at him. He certainly looked sorry; his eyes were huge and sad. When he saw that I was going to sit and listen rather than talk, he said,

"I know it doesn't excuse me for lying, but, I want to be clear that she instigated it. I wasn't expecting it at all because I was mad that she wouldn't meet me in public." I wanted to say something, but I held it in, letting him speak.

"I don't know what came over me. It was a stupid impulse and then I got nervous. I didn't know what it meant, what Lacey wanted, or if it would change anything. She still won't talk to me at school and acts like I don't exist and reminds me that she has a boyfriend every chance she gets. I've spent the last five years in juvie and all I have to go on about teenage girls is what I saw on TV." I didn't know what to say. I was sympathetic, in a way, because he was right. He had no experience with teen girls, but did that excuse what he did? A not telling me about it until I found out for myself?

"Do you like Lacey, Danny?" I asked, afraid of the answer. Danny was silent and I took that to mean yes, he liked her. I felt a knot well up in my chest. I took a deep breath, waiting to see if my silence would get an answer out of him.

"I'm attracted to her, yes. She's pretty," he said finally. I clenched my fists under the table, letting my nails dig into the flesh.

"Do you like her as a person?" I asked and he sat back, tilting his head as if he were thinking.

"I…" he paused, frowning slightly, "I don't really know her anymore, so I don't know. All I have to go on is what I've seen so far."

"Based on what you've seen so far, then," I replied. Danny ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh.

"What I've seen so far has been confusing, she acts one way in private and another way in public," he said.

"So if I told you that actions speak louder than words, what would you conclude about Lacey then?" I asked and he gazed at me curiously.

"Lacey wants something," he said slowly, "she wants answers about Regina's death."

"Do you think Lacey would do anything to get those answers, including manipulate you?" I wondered and Danny's breathing grew more rapid.

"Yes, she would," he admitted, "and her actions say that she's trying her hardest to keep her place on the social ladder."

"Where do you fit into that ladder?" I asked. I had stopped drinking my Italian soda and was now focused only on him.

"I don't. She would have to give up Sarita and Phoebe and Archie and Scott to include me in anything."

"How likely is it that Lacey will give up all her hard work, making herself into who she is now, only to dismantle it for you? Has she shown you that she cares about you enough to do those things? Has she turned in the one piece of evidence we have that someone else had a motive to hurt Regina?" I asked. Danny closed his eyes and rested his forehead into his hands, sighing again. We didn't say anything for a while, and I knew Danny was thinking about these things. He'd probably already thought them on his own.

"Jo, I'm sorry. I know I hurt you by not telling you, by letting you find out on your own. I guess I just let my instincts go. For what it's worth, I think what Lacey did to you in middle school was pretty terrible." I looked up into his eyes, and he was smiling sympathetically.

"It's probably nothing compared to what you went through," I said softly and Danny's eyes widened in surprise.

"This isn't just about me, Danny. It's about you too. You deserve to be with someone who cares enough about you to be seen with you in public, who listens to you, someone who doesn't invent clever nicknames for you on Twitter to make your life coming back here more difficult than it needs to be. You didn't want to come here in the first place and you should've been given a chance to start over," I said, "but instead, you got someone whom you used to consider a friend calling you 'The Socio' all over the internet and then you got me." I slumped in the seat, feeling better. I was angry at Lacey, at Danny in some ways, and even mad at myself.

Danny stared down at his hands quietly. He was taking deep breaths. I took a sip of my drink to calm myself down and Danny murmured,

"What do you mean, all I got was you?" I put my drink down.

"I'm not much of a help to you, am I? I'm just as much a social outcast as you, except I put myself there on purpose," I replied. Danny shook his head,

"No, I chose to be an outcast the day I committed my crime. I accept that because I did it and it was my fault. No one else's fault, mine," his eyes burned, "and it was my mistake in assuming I could somehow recreate our childhood friendships. Don't ever say that all I got was you. Jo, you have been my lifeline in this town, without you I would have no one. Not even my own mother. You are my best and only hope and you are…" he stopped talking and stared at me for a long time. I felt my cheeks flush pink.

"…you are an angel," he said. I gasped. He reached out and grabbed my hands, holding them tightly.

"You let me back in, even when you had all the good reasons not too. You gave me more than half a chance, more than I deserved, really, and then I went and screwed it up because I was thinking with something other than my brain," he muttered. I grinned helplessly and he smiled.

"We'll be outcasts together," I said softly, holding in a laugh.

"No, we'll be a homicidal outcast and his guardian angel."