Author's Note: Yay, update! Would have uploaded faster, but my computer was having problems. -eye twitch-

Now, this is really important to know in the story. Otherwise, it won't make sense. Jazz is sixteen (16), Sam is eighteen (18), and Danny is nineteen (19). So, Danny was born before Jazz. I had a really hard time trying to make Jazz older, like she is in the series, but it worked out better this way. Hope you don't mind!

Thanks again to Defender of the Light! You really do have a quirky way of making my day.

Now, here's Chapter Four!

Lovesick

Chapter Four

Ten minutes later, Sam was riding in the passenger seat of Danny's Skyline. The seats were black leather, and as she leaned into hers, she could smell a waft of different fragrances coming from it. It was like a lot of different perfumes mixed together, giving Sam the impression that she wasn't the only girl who had ridden here before.

Sam looked out the window, enjoying the scenery rush past. As she was watching a small cherry tree fade into the horizon, she felt eyes on her back. She turned around. Danny was giving her a strange look between amusement and admiration.

"Aren't you going to scold me?" he asked teasingly, one hand on the wheel. When Sam gave him a blank look, he explained. "I told you we were going to walk, not ride in my car."

Sam shrugged. "When your car wastes gallons of gasoline and we have to stop at a 7-Eleven to buy more gas, but you realize you can't because gasoline prices have gone up, so you'll have to walk or call your mom to come pick us up, don't blame me."

Danny laughed. "Not exactly an answer to my question, but I'll take it."

Sam smiled, and the rest of the car trip was spent in silence.

-DP-

When they arrived at Liberty Park a few minutes later, Sam was pleasantly surprised to find only a few people there, and those few were either asleep on blankets or heading for their cars. In the event that she killed Danny here, there would be practically no witnesses.

Danny smoothly parked between a black BMW and green Audi. He opened the sunroof so the interior would be cool when they returned, then opened the door and walked outside. Sam copied his action, undoing her seatbelt and walking outside.

Sam inhaled the cool, crisp evening air joyously. She hadn't been outside, much less breathe in fresh air since her toddler days. The sun was just about to set, casting wondrous shadows of beautiful reds, golds, and oranges around them.

She caught up to Danny, who was already entering the gates of the park, until she fell into step beside him. He smiled as she appeared, but said nothing, enjoying the comfortable silence around them.

After a while, he spoke. "So, you never told me your name."

Sam turned to look at him. She shivered. What was odd to Sam was that the closer she got to Danny, the colder she felt. She assumed his body temperature was simply a bit different. She cleared her throat. "Sam Manson."

Danny immediately froze. He turned to look at her, malice gleaming in his eyes. "You don't happen to be related to Jeremy and Pamela Manson, do you?" he asked softly, his voice hinting that the only right answer was 'no'.

Sam was surprised. How his mood could change so suddenly was a mystery to her. And how did he know her parents? She had never known them. She thought quickly. "No, of course not!"

Danny's eyes softened, the hatred dimming, then fading away. He smirked. "I didn't think so. You dress and act so differently than they."

He walked over to a large tree and sat under it. The fresh, green leaves offered instant shade from the heat, and he patted the ground next to him invitingly. Sam walked over and sat next to him. She leaned against the trunk of the tree, her tense muscles relaxing.

"Why did you ask about my parents?" she asked curiously.

"It's a long story, but if you want to know," he paused there, giving Sam the option to listen or not listen. Sam turned her attention to him as a sign she was willing to listen.

"Okay," he said, and began the story.

"My mom, Maddie, had been dating my dad for around two years. They were planning on getting married, so when they found out my mom was pregnant, they were thrilled.
Pamela also like my dad, though. She loved him, and wanted nothing more than my mom out of the picture so she could have him. So, naturally, when she found out my mom was pregnant, she was enraged.
She followed my mom everywhere, until one day, she cornered her in a grocery store. She told her that my dad didn't really love her, and that he was just using her. She also threatened to kill the baby, which was me. My mom, who was eight months pregnant with me at the time, panicked and fled.

"She found sanctuary at my grandparents house. She stayed there for days and wept. Wept for the baby, for Pamela, for my dad, and for the mess she had gotten herself into.
Meanwhile, Pamela found my dad and told him Maddie was gone. She said they could finally be together. My dad was disgusted, and worried for my mom. He searched the entire state until he found her, curled up in a ball, crying.
My mom refused to hear him out, thinking that he was just using her.
Then Pamela came along. This time, she was accompanied with a man. The man, Jeremy, was going to be her new husband, she said, but she still wanted my dad. She slipped out a knife and advanced on my mom, screaming that she was going to pay for stealing my dad away from her.

"My mom cowered against the wall, thinking she was doomed. Just as she was about to tear the knife down on mom, dad tackled her. He knocked her to the ground and the knife slashed a large cut down his arm.
Then Jeremy took out a gun and aimed it at my dad. He was about to fire when my grandparents came into the room. You can just imagine the terror they thought when they saw my dad bleeding and my mom weeping, and two unknown strangers standing there, one of them holding a gun.
Jeremy panicked and shot them instead. My mom cried out as she saw them fall to the floor, lifeless. Jeremy accidentally dropped the gun when he saw what he had done.
My dad, still bleeding horribly, used the distraction to get the gun. He aimed it at Pamela and Jeremy's heads, ordering them to leave Amity Park and never come back.

"They left, but before they did, Pamela turned and told my mother that she would get revenge. That she would still kill the baby someday, somehow.
She got pregnant about a year later, then died in labor. Jeremy was so heartbroken that he committed suicide. Last I heard, the grandmother had been raising the baby.
So now, the mayor, Vlad Masters, has put protection on our family. If anyone related to Jeremy and Pamela Manson enters the city, they will die."

Sam felt dizzy. Her entire tounge and mouth felt dry. She was suddenly extremely thankful that she was leaning against the tree. "How do you know about that?" She asked weakly.

Danny gazed up at the stars, which had come out a while ago and were shining and twinkling brightly above them. "My mother told me. It's a bit of a legend here in Amity Park, actually."

Sam nodded mutely. She stood up and felt the world tilt beneath her. Danny noticed her wavering and stood up, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"It's okay," he whispered softly in her ear. "They're never coming back."

Sam pulled away from him but smiled, showing that she was thankful for his concern. She took a test step, then decided she could walk without help.

Danny turned around, his back to her, and gazed up at the stars, marveling that he could even see the celestial heavens out here in the city.

Sam noticed a large boulder sitting beside her. She crouched down and picked it up. Maybe now was the perfect opportunity...

Danny then turned around and smiled down at her. Sam's grip on the boulder loosened. No, she wouldn't kill him. Not yet.

He held a hand out to her, and she took it and let him help her up. Then, hand-in-hand, they walked together across the empty park to the car, the eerie darkness protecting them along the way.