Hey guys! This is my new story and this one is a little different from my others. (I swear, I say that at the start of all my stories). But either way, I hope you like it. Just so you've got the bsckground for the story, Zoe and Dan have been together since Sternum. Usually I don't like to do that, but this time I'm making an exception.

Zoe woke to someone whispering her name in her ear as the heavy weight of another body pressed against her own. She roecognised it as a male body - their chest was too flat and the body was too lean to be female. Zoe recognised the cologne the guy was wearing and bit back a smile. Of course Dan would be the only one to have the bravery to come into her room in the morning and wake her up by laying on top of her.

"Dan." Zoe moaned, squeezing her eyes shut. "Go away. I'm tired."

"Zoe . . ." Dan whispered, his mouth against her earlobe as he talked. Zoe shivered but opened her eyes to find Dan's face inches from her own as a small smile played on his mouth. She paid no attention to it - although she wasn't immune to his charms, she knew how to make him believe that he didn't have an effect on her.

Zoe placed her hands on Dan's shoulders and pushed, trying to get him off her. "Dan, get off. You're heavy."

She didn't have to lie about that. He was, in fact, quite heavy. It wasn't that he was fat, he was quite fit - in all possible definitions of the word. He wasn't the same boy who hadn't quite grown into himself yet - he was much taller than she was and she noticed that he moved with a more prominent sense of purpose. He'd started wearing his hair shorter and in Zoe's opinion, it suited him better.

"Zoe . . ." Dan breathed, pressing a kiss to Zoe's neck.

"Dan." Zoe whispered. "Rose is just downstairs."

"We're not doing anything." Dan said, his mouth pressing against the spot were Zoe's neck met her jaw.

"Yeah, but we have school. You know, that place that you go to so you can learn?" Zoe asked.

'"Fine." Dan said. He started to get up, but then Zoe pulled him back down and climbed over him, smiling as she pressed her mouth against his. She felt Dan's mouth smile against her own as he placed his hands on her waist.


"And here comes Romeo and Juliet." Aneisha said, smiling as she watched the pair walk into the school.

"They're not shy or subtle about it." Tom said.

"Would you be?" Aneisha asked. "Tom, they've been pinning after each other for a year. I think Dan's the only thing that keeps her going half the time."

"Why would he be? She's not sick."

Aneisha sighed. "Mastermind, Tom. She's having a hard time dealing with it all."

Tom shrugged. "She looks fine to me."

Aneisha sighed. "Tom, my job is to pretend. Trust me, she's a lot worse than she's lettng on."

Tom sighed, but he didn't say anything as Zoe and Dan neared them. Zoe broke away from Dan and hugged Aneisha, who whispered in her ear, "It's okay to cry, Zoe."

Zoe pulled away and nodded, blinking away unshed tears. "I've got to go see Mr McNab about our assignment. I'll be right back."

Dan watched her as she walked off, his blue eyes worried.

"How is she?" Aneisha asked.

Dan sighed and sat on the table they were gathered around. "Not good."

"Ha!" Aneisha said, glancing at Tom.

"What?" Dan asked.

"Thomas here thinks that Zoe is just fine."

"She is so far from fine you wouldn't believe it." Dan said. "She is . . . She's trying to be strong about it, but it's hard. It's hard for her, but she's coping the only way she knows how. It's the same way she coped when she was at SKUL - one day at a time."

"But she has you." Aneisha said. Dan grunted and Aneisha raised her eyebrows. "What was that for?"

"She won't talk to me." Dan said. "I wish that she would. But I guess that she's so used to not having anyone there when she needs someone that she just keeps it bottled up."

Aneisha sighed as she saw Zoe walk up, but something seemed . . . off about her. There was a spring in her step that even on her best day, Zoe would never have had.

"That was quick." Dan said as Zoe slipped onto the table beside him. "Usually talking to McNab about assignments takes close to an hour."

"Son of a bitch was busy." Zoe replied, earning her three sets of raised eyebrows. Out of the four of them, she was the one that was least likely to have foul language.

Aneisha studied Zoe carefully, trying to figure out what was up with her. Normally, she would have written it off as Zoe still trying to deal with what she'd found out about herself, but she couldn't keep doing that. Zoe had been acting out of character over the past week or so, since they'd rescued her from Sternum. It had all of them worried.

"I've got to go talk to Frank." Zoe said, getting up.

Dan watched her go with a puzzled look on his face. As the door closed behind her, he turned back to Aneisha and Tom. "Okay, it can't just be me. Did anyone else find that strange?"

"Yeah." Aneisha said. "Something's up with her. She's been acting weird since Sternum."

Dan shrugged as the door opened and Zoe walked out. As she slid back into place beside Dan, Aneisha noticed that the little bounce in her step was gone.

"All good?" Dan asked, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to the side of her head.

"Yeah." Zoe replied. "It's fine."