This chapter's a little longer, but I hope you like it! BTW: Wasn't Twisted 1x08 Docu-Trauma, those masked pranksters were creepy. Plus we got some really good intense Dacey moments, and that ending…Gosh! Congratulations to us on our back order for more episodes! More Twisted In January! Wohoo…It's only going to get better (:

After a successful weekend of finding dresses for the homecoming dance, Regina was still intent on getting Danny's attention when they returned to school on Monday. She reminded Lacey of her plan to come to the library during their tutoring session and ask Danny to the homecoming dance. The idea of watching Regina basically seduce Danny was sickening, but she had to at least pretend to be ok with it. She was relying on her belief that maybe Danny would turn down Regina's advances.

Lacey and Danny were working on equations when Regina walked over to them. Danny kept working because he thought Regina was there to see Lacey.

"Hey Lacey how are you, what's up?"

"Nothing Reg, just helping Danny with some math work. Danny you know Regina Crane, right?"

Danny was confused, but he turned to Regina and answered the question anyway. "I've seen you around."

"I'm Lacey's best friend, but we're more like sisters. So, Socio are you liking it here at Green Grove High?"

Lacey was upset that she even dared to address him using that name. "Regina, his name is Danny."

Danny looked at Lacey, because he was surprised she was getting all defensive and he wondered why she seemed so uncomfortable.

"I know his name is Danny, but Socio is so much hotter. So Desai, are you hooking up with anybody around here?" Regina was looking at him with eyes full of lust.

"Um no Regina, I've only been here for a week. I don't think I plan on having sex with the first girl I see. It's not really my style. Besides, I plan on saving myself for someone special." Danny stared at Lacey out of the corner of his eye and her current facial expression practically screamed uncomfortable.

"Well aren't you cute. Listen, how about you go to homecoming dance with me? I'm running for homecoming queen and I'll probably win, so it'll look good if you show up with me."

Danny saw the Regina Crane posters all around school, but he also saw Lacey's posters as well. "Are you so sure you're going to win? Lacey's running too."

"Well of course it'll be between the two of us. So anyway, what do you say? Want to go with me?"

Danny was and never would be interested in someone like Regina Crane, but he was wondering if he could use this date to his advantage and make Lacey jealous. Without giving it another thought, he accepted. "Yeah sure, what would it hurt? It's just one date."

"Great, I'll get your number from Lacey later and we'll talk. Bye Guys."

Lacey watched as Regina left the library, while Lacey was busy trying to hide her shock. Danny actually fell for that. She really didn't want Danny to become a pawn in Regina's Sex games. She could tell herself that it was about anything but her jealousy, but she herself knew the truth.

Danny broke the silence. "Why didn't you tell me your friend had a crush on me?"

"She only mentioned it once, you didn't tell me you were interested in her," Lacey fired back.

"Is that a problem? Do you not want me dating your friend? Is she too good for a convicted murderer?

Lacey couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. "Danny – what are you—that has nothing to do with it. Just be careful ok. Regina likes to have sex, lots of it, and I just don't want to see you hurt."

"Thanks Lacey, but I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself."

"You're right, let's get back to equations." What Lacey really wanted was for this day to be over with? She couldn't believe she actually wanted the homecoming dance to be here and gone already.

Danny got exactly the reaction from Lacey that he was expecting. It helped that he could read Lacey like a book; otherwise he wouldn't have known how to interpret the moment. She was definitely jealous. He had no plans to see Regina after the homecoming dance, and he definitely didn't plan on having sex with Regina. If things worked according to plan, Lacey would be admitting her true feelings for him in to time.

….

On Wednesday, Danny decided to stay a little later at school to help Jo and Rico study for the PSAT. He tried, but failed at convincing them to attend the homecoming dance. They had decided they were going out to the movies, and while Danny knew that would be more fun than hanging out with Regina, he couldn't abandon his plans.

They finished studying, but instead of walking home with Rico and Jo, Danny had to go to his locker. On his way back, he spotted Lacey in the gym. He looked in the door window, and he saw Lacey on a ladder hanging some decorations, that he guessed were for the homecoming dance. She was alone, so he decided to go in.

All of a sudden, Lacey started dancing and singing to the song Here It Goes Again. It was him, Jo, and Lacey's favorite song when they were younger. He smiled watching her move her hips and sing along. She had the most beautiful voice, one that he could listen to all day long.

She was dancing a little too much and she lost her footing on the ladder and she fell back and Danny ran up just in time to catch her fall. He saw the look of fear and embarrassment in her eyes as she snatched her earphones out and held onto him as if she were still falling.

"Lacey it's ok, I've got you." Danny couldn't imagine the thoughts running through her mind.

Lacey didn't know what she was more shocked from, almost falling to her possible death or Danny catching her fall. To top it off, she was really embarrassed. "How did you-Where did you-?"

Before he could answer, Archie stormed into the gym just as Danny was setting Lacey on her feet.

"Lacey what hell is going on here with this freak? Why'd he have his hands all over you?"

"Hey man calm down, I was—"

"Look Socio, I wasn't talking to you!" Archie's anger was apparent as he moved closer to Lacey.

Danny wouldn't sit back and watch him yell at Lacey, so he said the first thing that came to mind so he could turn Archie's attention to him. "Hey Archie, are you sure I'm the socio. You look pretty crazy yelling at your scared girlfriend."

Lacey saw Archie's anger and she knew what was about to happen next, so without thinking she ran to step in between Archie and Danny. Before she knew it, Archie's big fist was colliding into her nose. She grabbed her face and felt blood. Archie tried to get near her, but Danny wasn't having that. He stood in front of Lacey protectively and stared at Archie with threatening eyes.

"Don't take another step towards her, just go."

Archie was still in shock, and Danny guessed he was trying to come to terms with what he had done. Surprisingly he took Danny's advice and he left the gym.

Danny turned around and he was worried to see so much blood flooding from Lacey's nose to her shirt and the gym floor. He tried to help, but he was met with his own shock when she pushed him away. "Lacey let me help you. There's blood everywhere"

"I can handle it Danny. You should go too. You've done enough."

Danny couldn't believe her words right now. "Are you seriously blaming me for what's happened here? You egotistical, jealous boyfriend hits you and I'm to blame."

"Danny it's not your fault. It's not anybody's fault. It's my own fault."

Danny was more than shocked by her words, he was disappointed that Lacey was blaming herself and making excuses for Archie. "At least let me help you get to the hospital, your nose could be broken." He was really pleading with her to let him help her.

"I don't need to go to the hospital. It's just a little sore, it isn't broken. I can tell the janitor my nose started bleeding and he'll come clean the floor, but you can't be here. You have to go."

He started to plead with her some more but she stopped him. "Danny I took care of myself for five years without you, I'm more than capable of doing that now, so please go."

Danny realized there was nothing he would be able to say to change her mind and even though it was the last thing he wanted to do, he left.

Lacey sat in the chair, crying as she realized how fast the scene unfolded. She was scared for her and for Danny. This was the first time she was able to breathe or think since she fell off the ladder. She used her shirt to dry her face. After her nose stopped bleeding, she got one of the janitors to come clean the floor and finish hanging decorations for her.

She left school at around 7 p.m. and realized home was last place she wanted to go right now. Her face was still a little red and her mom would just ask her hundreds of questions. She thought of how rude she was to Danny in the gym and she hated herself. He saved her from her fall, and protected her from Archie and she pushed him away. Suddenly, she knew where she headed, but first she made a stop at the store.

Danny was home alone tonight, because his mom was working late. He was in the kitchen cooking, partly because he was hungry and partly because he was angry. Cooking was one of his favorite things to do and he always felt better after doing so. He was putting spaghetti onto his plate, when he heard the doorbell ring. He wasn't in the mood for unexpected company, and he was prepared to turn them away.

He opened the door to Lacey, who was standing there with a box of doughnuts and a remorseful look on her face. She acted as though she was waiting for him to speak, so he did "Well the doughnuts can come in."

She smiled at his statement, but then her face grew serious. "Danny I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier. I'll explain if you let me come in. He looked reluctant so she spoke again. "Choose your next words carefully, me and the doughnuts are a package deal."

He laughed lightly and said "Well when you put it that way, my house is your house."

Lacey came in and she saw spaghetti on Danny's plate and she suddenly realized she hadn't ate dinner. As if on cue, Danny offered her a plate, which she gladly accepted and they settled in at the table. This felt like a date as they sat across from each other, but Lacey was quick to kill the awkward silence.

"So I guess I should call you Chef Desai now. This spaghetti tastes pretty awesome."

Danny smiled, but his good mood was ruined by clear view of Lacey's small bruise. It looked even worse in the light and anger rose inside him, as he remembered the events that happened earlier today. He would've killed Archie, had Lacey not been in need of his attention.

Lacey knew why he grew quiet. "Danny it's just a bruise. I haven't iced it yet, I'll do it when I get home. I'm fine really. But I'm sorry again for making you leave. It's just that I was already scared from the fall and I was trying to squash the impending fight between you and Archie but instead I got in the way. I just didn't want him to hurt you."

"Lacey I appreciate what you tried to do, but I don't want you to do it again. It hurt me a hundreds time more to see your face like that than a punch from Archie ever could. I can take a hit, I've been to juvie, and you learn a few things in there."

Lacey didn't need to hear that. She always worried about what he went through in there but she didn't think she'd ever want to hear the details. "I won't do it again, but there's another reason I didn't want you to be there if a janitor or someone came. She took a deep breath before she continued, "Your past—it's led people to make a lot of baseless assumptions about you. I guess I was worried that if someone came and saw, they'd assumed you hit me, even if I said otherwise. The day Archie pushed you in the cafeteria and you didn't do anything back, I knew you were trying to change other people's opinion of you. You're not Archie, you never will be. I don't want people to think anything else bad about you. I was just trying to help."

Danny had never felt such a rush to his heart. Lacey was opening up to him, but he didn't like the circumstances under which she had to do it. He could see that she was about cry so he grabbed her hand from across the table, but that wasn't enough for him. He needed to be closer to her, so he got up, went to her side of the table and moved her face up to look at him as he spoke. "Thank you for looking out for me. It's nice to know that you can see the real me, if others can't. Your opinion means the world to me Lace."

She always did feel a certain way when he called her Lace. It felt different coming from his mouth and she'd missed it when he left.

Danny knew what he wanted to do, but he wondered if she would be offended by it. He didn't want to lose progress in gaining her trust, but he didn't want to waste this moment either. Without thinking any further, he kissed her. She was ok until she winced in pain at the slightest touch of his hand on her face.

"I'm sorry Lacey, I was being too rough."

"It's ok I—" She was interrupted by her vibrating phone and upon pulling her phone out, Archie's face was flashing on the screen.

What a Mood Killer, Danny Thought. "Are you going to answer?"

"No, what I have to say to him needs to be done face to face. But I do have to go Danny. I need to get home and get some ice on my face. Thanks for Dinner and thanks for today."

"I'm always here for you Lacey."

Lacey smiled and she left. She knew his words were sincere, and she felt that in their kiss. She was still scared because she wasn't sure how long before something threatened to take him away again. What she did today was only a small part of what needed to be done to keep Danny out of trouble.