Vanessa paced nervously. Danny would be here in about ten seconds, and she was a walking ball of nerves. Every since the bullet he'd taken for her, they'd been pretty much inseperable. But then again, if someone almost dies for you, then you do sort of owe it to yourself to get to know them, right?

The fighting started right as he made his way up the street, wearing a tux and carrying his skateboard. Van's own parents had no idea that she was even going to prom, much less with Danny, a former Skinhead. And the fact that he was once what he was, and that her parents, (namely her father), were downstairs drinking and fighting, had her wary now, of letting him come here to pick her up.

But, he'd insisted, and true to his habits, he'd eventually worn her down. Making a snap decision, she climbed out onto the roof next to her room, and lifting the vintage dress she was wearing, she threw her heels down into the yard, then shimmied down the drain pipe.

Danny heard shouting, then he looked up to find Vanessa sneaking out. Her father must have seen the heel, because before he could do anything, Vanessa was being snatched up and dragged back up the sidewalk while her father, who was obvously drunk off his ass at the moment, swore at her in Spanish.

From some of his older brother's time in prison, and some of his brother's Spanish friends from the roofing crew he'd went to work with, Danny could make out a few of the words and his anger rose.

Being a little bit of a hothead, and protective of Vanessa, he finally realized just why she kept putting him off about her bringing him home, meeting her parents. The bruises, her flinching it all made sense now.

Before he could stop himself, he'd caught up to her father and he'd tapped him.

"Hey padre! Why don't you hit me? Since you want to hit someone." Danny suggested as the angry man turned, swore at him and lunged, while shouting something at Vanessa in broken Spanish about having a Skinhead in his house, then accusing her of sneaking him in at night or something.

Vanessa looked down at her feet a moment, biting her lip, but when her father went to choke Danny, she jumped on his back, screaming at him, crying, trying to get him to stop fighting, trying to explain to him that Danny wasn't a Skinhead anymore.

Her mother glared and spat angrily, "You are dead to me. Not my daughter. This not good Spanish boy. He trashy white one!"

Vanessa glared at them both and helping Danny off the ground she said quietly, " Fine. I'm leaving. And I'm not coming back here, ever. Mami, Papi, he loves me, and he took a bullet .. for me. Remember how that boy came for me, to get even with our familia? This is the boy who got shot instead. And I don't care if he's purple or pink, I love him."

Danny blinked. He'd had no problem telling her how much he loved her, all the time, and he did so often. Not once had she said it back. He was beginning to wonder if she did have feelings for him, because she was so complex to read a lot of the time. But she'd just blurted it out, she'd just stopped her father from trying to choke him.

Her father grabbed her, dragging her up the stairs, whipping her with a belt as he shoved her into her room. Then he glared at Danny and spat "Off my lawn nasty white boy."

Danny skated down the street and stopped at the stop sign. Knowing what went on in her house now, he couldn't just leave her there. Not with every word she'd just said ringing in his ears.

He'd turned around, was about to go down the street to a payphone and call his older brother, but soft hands covered his eyes.

When he turned around, he saw her standing there in her dress, her face red, a handprint across her right cheek, with a bookbag slung carelessly over her shoulder.

Vanessa leaned in to kiss him and then said quietly, " Back there. I meant it, Danny. I love you. Even when you make me so mad I want to kick you. And it's not just because you saved my life. I loved you before that.. My parents, their really old school about things... "

Danny nodded and then said quietly, " I don't think you should go back there tonight, your dad was pretty pissed just now." as he bit his lip, fixed intent eyes on her reddened face, wincing.

" We go to the prom, and after, I figure something out. I don't want to go back. I know this might sound childish, but I'm not giving you up because he doesn't like it." Vanessa said quietly as the two of them headed towards the high school, holding hands, Danny having taken her bag, slung it over his shoulder.

As they walked into the gym, he caught his brother, who was chaperoning, and took him off to the side.

" Man, you gotta cover for me.. This is for a good cause, Derrick, trust me." Danny said as his brother studied him intently, then his eyes caught on Vanessa's face.

" You two don't run away.. Bring her home tonight, I'll cover for you with Mom and Davinia if she asks."

Danny nodded and said " She wants to leave that house."

" I know. Let me make some calls, and see if I can do anything, Danny. Now, stop worrying and go dance." Derrick said as he shoved his brother towards Vanessa who he smiled, let pull him out onto the floor, even though he grumbled about his tie, the music played and the whole idea of prom in general.

But when the slow song started, and her head found his chest, he smiled and pulled her closer as he muttered, " You look so hot tonight. Really, you're the most beautiful girl on the planet."

" Am not. I still say that that bullet affected your eyesight also." Vanessa muttered as she slid her arms up, around his neck. Neither one of them knew what lie ahead after tonight, but tonight just felt like the beginning. It wouldn't always be easy, not by a long shot, but they both just felt that they could stand up to whatever came at them, as they had a few weeks ago when Danny took the bullet for her, and then tonight, when she'd stood up to her parents, and taken the beating, for him.

( Eeee! I love all the feedback! I wasn't ever going to go beyond a one shot, but I had to write this chapter when I got the muse for it ! I'm so glad you guys all loved the story!)