Without You Part One

"Mary! Please wait!" He screamed.

The searing heat made it hard to breath but she made it to her car before Danny could catch up.

"I'll figure this out. Don't go!" he smacked his hand on the glass of her car door, trying in vain to stop her but she already had the key in the ignition. She jammed the car into reverse and squealed out of the garage ignoring Danny's cries to stop.

Four months later….

Danny sat on the edge of his bed feeling his eyes burn as he read the letter for the hundredth time. It was all he had left of her and when he was feeling lost he would read her beautiful words and remember their last night together.

The night had started when he had gone to stop her from killing her father, neither knowing Frank had done the job himself. When they had both approached his car, guns drawn, the horrifying scene that greeted them sent Mary straight into his arms and ultimately into his bed. Since her father's trial he had spent a lot of time with the beautiful redhead and old feelings quickly resurfaced. When he had gone to Mike for advice his friend spilled the beans about Mary's true feelings.

He had just broken up with Delinda the day before over her 'misrepresentations' and his desire to be with Mary. Delinda had tried to talk to him all day but when he finally gave her a moment he had spent it questioning her about Mary. Danny's disinterest in what she needed to tell him and her jealousy over Mary had sent her into what Danny now knows was a hormonal rage. During the infamous confrontation she had admitted everything from knowing Mary's feelings about him to rubbing it in that she knew her father was keeping their apartment under surveillance. He still hadn't forgiven the man he thought of like a father for his lack of trust and faith in him. Delinda knew how hurt and violated he had felt and used that against him.

Danny gently folded the letter when he heard Delinda's footfalls on the soft carpet. Mary had made him promise that he would try. Try to be the man who could live with the consequences of his actions no matter how heart wrenching it was.

"It's her birthday," she offered quietly.

Danny barely acknowledged her statement with a slight nod before getting up off the bed.

"I'll be late." Danny paused in the doorway and kissed her on the temple.

Delinda watched him walk down the hall, dressed in jeans, t-shirt and work boots. She longed for the days when he would hold her in his arms and make love to her. Delinda thought back over the past months trying to decide where to go from here.

Pregnancy had become like a truth serum for Delinda and she cringed remembering the day Danny learned he may not be the father of her baby. They had been at her parents for a family dinner; the weeks of living with a man who could barely look at her let alone touch her had taken its toll. Her parents had offered to build them a dream home just as they had planned for her and Derek. When Danny rejected the idea Delinda had gone off on another hormone-induced rant. Before she could stop herself she had screamed at him that he might not be the father of her baby. Crying hysterically she tried to take back the words but it was too late. The worst part was the look on Danny's face when he discovered Jillian and Ed had both been aware of the possibility. Danny had been so hurt by their betrayal and in that moment all three Delines knew the facade of being one big happy family was over.

Danny had left only to return two days later, never mentioning the incident. They continued living together, almost as strangers. The baby talk quieted around him and there was no longer any pressure for marriage or his return to the Montecito. No more complaints that he wasn't trying hard enough to bond with the baby. Life had gotten a little easier as he became numb to anyone and everything around him. Danny acted like an outsider in his own life, resigned to a future that held little hope. He was aloof but polite to her parents and Delinda knew he was only with her trapped by his sense of duty.

---

An hour later Danny sat at his desk inside the trailer parked at the construction site. He rubbed his eyes wishing the nagging headache would go away. When the pain first started he had almost enjoyed feeling something — anything- but now it was just making it difficult to concentrate on the blueprints before him.

Sometimes when he became overwhelmed with his life he would close his eyes and dream of Mary, of a future that would never be. He would picture them together as a family, what their children would look like. Even though she was gone now she was still giving him comfort.

He closed his eyes and let his mind drift back to his last night with her. After making love the two had spoken freely for the first time about the past and what had happened to them. They were brutally honest with each other having nothing to lose and everything to gain. He had felt so loved and for the first time in his life he did not try to protect himself in any way. Danny remembered the tears of joy, regret and even anger from that night but took comfort in the love they still felt for each other.

In the weeks that preceded that fateful night Danny had become disillusioned with Ed as well as Delinda. The sun was just beginning to come up when they had finally fallen asleep in each other's arms. Lying with Mary he felt like he was home again. The memory of that night, of their love, would have to sustain him for the years to come.

When the trailer door opened Danny was surprised to see the leggy blonde with the protruding tummy walk in. Looking at her with reproach, he noted her blotchy face and swollen eyes. She had obviously been crying but the determined look on her face indicated she had regrouped from the latest crying jag.

"Here." Delinda said solemnly.

"What's this?" Danny took the paper warily.

"It's your get out of jail free card."