"Kris, I…" Danny trailed off and instead crouched down to her. He pulled the broken girl to him and simply held her in his arms as she cried.

"I don't deserve him, Dan… I don't." Kris finally sobbed out as she clung onto her cousin for dear life.

"What are you talking about, Kris?"

"I'm… I'm dirty, Dan… How can I make him marry me when I can no longer offer him my virginity?" Her voice was so small and full of emotion that Danny could not help but feel her pain as well.

"No, you're not dirty, Kris. You're not and you never will be. What happened to you… it was terrible but it doesn't make you any less of a person, ya' know?"

"I don't know anymore, Danny… I don't know…"


Tantalizing deep blue eyes stared off into space as meaningless chatter filled the bar. With a sigh, Don Flack took hold of his beer and took a gulp.

"Easy there, cowboy." Stella greeted as she sat down beside the desolate detective. "Dan told me you might need a friend to talk to right now."

"He did, did he?" Flack took another chug of beer before motioning to the bartender for another one.

"Flack, what happened?" Stella queried, worry evident in her eyes.

Uneasy silence fell between them as Flack drained his fourth beer of the day. With that, he finally turned to face Stella. Pain swam in his piercing blue eyes, his face slightly flushed from the alcohol. "Kris… she had it tough growing up, ya' know? Her parents were always out at work and always expected a lot from her. She grew up used to doing what they wanted and pushing herself to her breaking point just to make them happy. Thing is, dancing kept her sane. Her parents had entered her in New York Ballet Academy since she was three and it was the one thing that she loved as much as they did, and yet they never watched a show. Not once did they take the time to see her dance. It killed her- and yet she loved them like anything.

When she was fourteen… her parents died on a business trip. Their private jet got caught up in a storm and crashed on the way to Europe. Kris found out on her birthday.

Imagine that? Turning fifteen and finding out that you are now the heir to a billion dollar law firm that encompasses the country, Europe and Australia. Then, before she knew it, she was living with Danny and his parents. "

"Flack, I…" Stella started.

"Stell… I love her, I really do." Flack's eyes connected with hers. "But I don't know if I can save her…"


"You okay, man?" Danny greeted as he steadied Flack. Flack's face was flushed; he had obviously had too much to drink.

"Yah, yah; I'm aryt. How is she?" Flack pulled away from Danny and plopped onto the couch, his head spinning.

"She fell asleep so I put her to bed. You need anything?"

"No, I'm fine. Thanks, Messer."

"Flack, I…" Danny trailed off as Flack's soft snores filled the room. With a sigh, Danny pushed the rest of Don's tall frame onto the couch and draped a blanket over him. What was he to do know?

His head swimming with questions, Danny left the condominium and drove back to his own apartment. There he was met by the site of Montana cooking spaghetti.

"Evening." Danny grumbled into Lindsey's neck before kissing her collarbone.

"How's Kris doing?" Lindsey replied as she turned off the stove and faced Danny. He pulled away from her and ran a hand through his spiked hair before leaning against the counter.

"She's falling apart, Linds…"

"How so? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I dunno… It's just…" Waiting for Danny to continue, Lindsey kept her silence. "When Kris first moved in with me and my family… she seemed okay, you know? She always put up a happy front around us and we all thought she was dealing. Ma and Pa were never really home to supervise us and when they were, Kris was at school busy with all her extra curriculars or at the ballet academy.

But a month later… we started noticing that she was losing a lot of weight. She always made excuses and, well… we believed her. We just didn't think that she had actually been falling into depression.

Then one day…" Danny stopped and composed himself once more before continuing. "Kris and I… we'd become close within that month. She was always so full of life and we'd always spend boring family gatherings together. So when she moved in with us… we took full advantage and would go out together. But then… that night… I never knew she was going through so much pain…"

"Dan… what happened that night?"

"I dunno, Monroe. It had been a good day." Danny's eyes connected with Lindsey; him using her gaze as a form of support. "It was around 6, and I had gone up to call Kris for dinner. We hadn't shared a meal with her that whole week, so we were determined to have her sit down with us and narrate how her week had been. I knocked on her bedroom door but no one answered, so I let myself in. I figured… ya know, that she was asleep or something. But she wasn't… The door to her bathroom was ajar so I called out her name.

"Kris? Can I come in?"

No reply… I noticed that steam was filtering out so I started to worry. I mean, she wasn't answering. So I entered and… She was so thin, Linds. I could see her spinal cord through her thin white tank top… I could even see each rib.

And the blood… she had cut herself so deep that a small pool of blood had formed around her prone form. All I could do was shout for help. I thought I had lost her… and now… I'm afraid that I'm losing her all over again."