Jon

He'd forgotten Dani was sleeping on his couch when he woke up that morning. Jon walked into his living room wearing the same jeans, t-shirt, and hoodie he'd worn the night before, patting the pockets for his pack of cigarettes. He noticed Dani sitting up on the couch, her pretty blond hair a mess all over her head, her phone pressed against her ear, an annoyed look on her face. Jon walked over to the couch, standing above her, and dropped a cigarette in her lap. She looked up at him and smiled a laborious smile, reaching back to pat his arm in a thank you.

"There's a patio," Jon pointed. "That way, if you don't wanna go out front."

Dani mouthed her thanks at him and returned to her phone call. Jon walked into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and headed out to the patio room. It was still a little cold outside but the screened in patio was a space he used for smoking all the time. He dropped into one of the chairs and lit his cigarette, his thoughts drifting back to the girl in his living room.

Dani was an interesting girl. He hadn't expected her to ever say yes to his offer to stay. In all reality, he still didn't know why he'd offered to begin with. He'd really expected her to turn and go running when he'd thrown the glass at the wall, and yet she was still there. Sitting on his couch, talking on her phone like she belonged there. And, of all things, she wanted to be friends with him. That was uncharted territory for him, being platonic friends with a female wasn't something he did. It wasn't something he'd done in too many years to count. The last girl he'd been "friends" with had gotten close to him over a few months then went on to steal a large sum of money from him, leave the shittiest note on his kitchen counter, and he never saw her again. Dani didn't seem to be a vengeful gold-digger like that girl had been, but then again, she hadn't seemed that way at the beginning, either. He didn't know Dani well, but he also didn't trust her. Trusting people wasn't something he made a habit of doing. After being kicked around and shit on by the people he was supposed to be able to trust the most all of his life, he didn't have much of that left in him.

The other dilemma that plagued him about Dani was her face. Her pretty, fresh face that reminded him of his dead little sister. Kelsey had been the brightest light of his life. The only thing he'd ever vowed with everything in him to protect. From the day she was born, to that faithful night that he snatched her out of that shit-pile of a house their broken little family lived in when she was ten-years-old, to the day that drunken asshole took her from him, Jon had promised to protect her. The fact that she died before she'd even seen twenty years on this Earth made him feel like a failure of an older brother. No one had ever told him it wasn't his fault, quite in fact, Vix had once blamed the whole thing on him. And he believed her, he carried that guilt with him everyday.

But maybe... maybe he could protect Dani? Maybe he could keep her safe like he hadn't been able to do for Kelsey. Maybe this was his second chance. But all of that came with a risk. The risk to trust her, to care for her, to love her. No, that was absurd. Absurd and out of the question. He wouldn't walk that road with her, he couldn't. He'd only fail her like he'd done so many times in the past, and he couldn't, wouldn't bear that type of guilt again. Yet somehow he felt, when it came to Dani, trying to get her out of his head was like fighting a losing battle.

Jon had just lit his second cigarette when Dani walked out into the patio room. She'd tied her hair up in a ponytail wore and shorts and a tank top. Jon bit his lip when he looked at her, so comfortable and cute, walking barefoot around his house.

"Do you always stare at girls like that?" She teased.

He blinked, composing himself. "You're funny."

Dani laughed and sat in the chair across from him, taking his lighter from the table. She lit her cigarette and sat it back on the table, sighing.

"So, rough call?" Jon said.

"Mhm. My sister." Dani frowned.

"Older?" Jon asked.

"Yup."

"Older sisters seem to be real dickheads." Jon said, taking a drag from his cigarette.

Dani sighed. "She's a little overbearing sometimes but... she's a Mom. And an older sister, she just wants to know I'm safe and stuff. I might have let slip a little about the hotel debacle and she freaked out some and asked where I was."

"I bet she's not super impressed that you're staying with some random guy you hardly know." Jon said.

"Hmm, not really," Dani said, frowning again. "I told her about you, when I first met you. She may or may not think you're a jerk."

"She may or may not be right." Jon retorted.

"I still don't think that's true," Dani said, exhaling smoke. "I don't think you'd have invited me to stay if you really were a jerk."

Jon shrugged, snubbing his cigarette out in the ashtray on the table. "Look, I'm not the nicest guy on the planet. Just, believe that, okay? But I'm not so much of an asshole that I'd let you get stuck somewhere without a place to go."

"I'm sure there were plenty of places for me to go, Jon," Dani said. "Why'd you invite me over?"

Jon crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. "I dunno."

"You're a really confusing guy. You know that, right?" Dani giggled.

"I've been called worse," Jon said. "But really... I don't really know why. I guess... I just thought it was the right thing to do."

"See what I mean. You can't really be that much of a jerk," Dani said, dabbing her cigarette out. "Can I ask you something?"

"Doesn't mean I'll answer, but yeah, go ahead." Jon replied.

Dani bit her lip. "No, never mind. I don't want to upset you."

Jon raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "No, go ahead."

"Your sister... the one you said I look like," Dani paused, chewing on the corner of her thumb. "How did she... what happened to her?"

Jon stared at her for a moment, considering. He shook his head, getting to his feet. "No."

Jon stepped around Dani as he walked to the door leading back into the house. She jumped up behind him, following him into the house.

"Jon wait!"

"No! I'm not fucking talking about that," He snapped, turning to face her. "It's too close and you won't fucking make me."

Dani held her hands up. "No, no, no! You don't have to! I'm sorry I asked."

Jon glared at her, turning away and walking over to the couch. He dropped onto the cushions, annoyed. In his reverie outside about all of those things about Dani, he'd managed to forget exactly how close it was to the anniversary of Kelsey's death. Dani asking about it brought all of those guilty feelings rushing back to his consciousness. It made him angry that she'd asked about her, even if she didn't know how egregious her mistake was. He shouldn't have invited her to keep talking, another stupid mistake on his part.

"Jon," Dani said, somewhere beside him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Jon looked over at her, sitting on her knees on the couch beside him. There were tears ringing the bottoms of her eyes and Jon sighed heavily. He couldn't stand it when girls cried around him.

"Stop it," He said. "Don't fuckin' cry."

"I'm sorry. That was really awful of me." Dani said, wiping the corners of her eyes.

"I get it, okay? You're sorry, I know. Remember how we talked about off-limits topics? That's one of them." Jon said.

Dani nodded. "Okay. I won't ask again, I promise."

Jon sighed. "Alright."

Jon got up from the couch, walking into the kitchen. He was going to be in a bad mood for the rest of the day after this. Dani being around for the last day and a half had been a distraction from wallowing in his guilt and sadness. But he truly realized how awful it still made him feel, and that he wouldn't have Dani, after today, to distract him anymore.

He felt her touch his back, gentle hands through his hoodie. He turned around and she'd put on a pair of jeans, a sweater, and her shoes. She still looked sad, but apologetic.

"I should go," She said, finally. "My flight leaves at noon... and I think I just made things really awkward."

"Just a little." Jon said.

"I'm sorry, Jon. I really am," Dani sighed, standing on her tiptoes and kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you for being so sweet and having me here."

She smiled sadly at him and turned away. Jon watched her as she grabbed her suitcase and keys, heading for the door. He'd hurt her feelings and he knew, somewhere down deep, that he should go after her and make an apology of his own, but he didn't. He stayed standing in the kitchen, watching her walk out his front door. Somewhere inside, Jon knew he should at least have seen her out the door, helped her put her bags in her car, but he was frozen. It was a few long moments before he unstuck his feet from the floor and walked towards the front door. He cracked it open and saw Dani, still sitting in her car in the driveway. He watched her wipe her eyes, and take several deep breaths before she situated herself and turned the car on. Jon blew out an agitated breath, stepping out the door. He jogged down the driveway as Dani started to back out, catching her before she reached the street. Dani stomped on the break, her car jerking to a stop. Jon tapped on her window and she rolled it down, looking at him with a confused expression.

"Jon..?"

"Sorry for being an asshole," He muttered. "Uh... I'll see you up in the air, I'm sure."


Dani had left her phone number on a piece of paper on his coffee table. The little note she'd left along with it had said that maybe she was crazy for wanting to get to know him, but if he felt the same, to be in touch. He'd shoved the note in the pocket of his hoodie and forgotten about it until he took it out of his suitcase to put on when he arrived in Boston the following morning.

"What is it?" Colby asked, biting into his bagel.

Jon chucked the paper across the table at him, but Joe picked it up. He unfolded the little scrap and read it loud enough for the three of them to hear.

"When did this happen?" Joe asked.

"Yesterday." Jon shrugged.

"The better question is," Colby said around a mouthful of food. He chewed, swallowed, and said: "Where did it happen?"

Jon sighed. "She stayed at my house this weekend."

Dramatic as ever, Colby choked into his glass of milk. Even Joe, the quiet one of the group, made a noise of surprise. Jon picked up a grape from his plate and whipped it at Colby's face, hitting him in the corner of the eye. The younger man frowned at him, draining his cup.

"What?!" He whined.

"Stop being a dick." Jon said.

"Guys please," Joe rolled his eyes at the pair of them. "Why did she stay with you?"

"She was going to some wedding and one of her friends botched up the hotel info," Jon said. "I was waiting for Vix to come get me from the airport cos my car crapped out again and I saw her. I don't know why I did it, but I invited her to stay over. Where she was going was close to my house. I didn't expect her to actually say yes, but she did."

"So did anything happen?" Joe asked.

"Like what?" Jon said.

"Did you sleep with her?" Colby asked.

Jon glared at him. "No. I didn't."

"Just asking!"

"I was gonna ask you the same thing, honestly," Joe said. "No offense but I'm pretty surprised."

"Jesus, what kind of scumbag do you guys think I am?" Jon said, but he knew they had every right to think that way.

"So are you actually into her?" Joe asked.

Jon frowned. "No."

"Then what's the deal?" Colby asked. "You have her stay at your house, you don't have sex with her and she leaves you her number before she leaves. This girl has to be something kinda special."

Jon shrugged. "I was kind of an ass to her. Before she left."

Joe shook his head. "What did you do?"

"We were talking... she asked about Kelsey. It made me kinda mad," Jon sighed. "So I shut it down. She kept apologizing to me and then was like, I should go, so she did."

"And you just let her go?" Joe said.

"No. I stopped her before she left," Jon admitted. "I told her I was sorry for being a jerk, and then she really left."

"She must actually mean a little something to you, deep down," Colby sucked the cream cheese off the side of his thumb before continuing. "You wouldn't do something like that if she didn't, would you?"

"And don't say it's because of your sister that you're not into her," Joe said. "Be honest."

Jon scowled at the both of them. "I don't know. She's a pretty girl, and she's sweet... but I don't know. She said she wanted to be my friend. I don't know how to feel about that. I don't have a whole lot of friends, and even less that are girls."

"Can I make an obvious observation?" Joe said.

"You're gonna fuckin' do it anyway." Jon said.

"She's not Kelsey, Jon," Joe said firmly. "Regardless of how much she may resemble her, or what you feel, she's not your sister. She's a totally different person, and I think you might feel something towards her, whether you want to acknowledge it or not. But if you're doing some pretty uncharacteristic things when it comes to her, then maybe that should be a sign to you, bro. I don't think there's anything wrong with making friends with her and getting to know her. She seems like a nice girl, and if she'd witnessed your bullshit and still wants to talk to you, maybe she's a keeper."

"Joe the wise old owl strikes again." Colby chuckled.

Joe kicked Colby under the table. "Shut up."

Jon, however, stayed quiet, leaning back in his chair. It wasn't more than twenty-four hours ago that he'd thought the same things in his patio room. Maybe Dani came into his life for a reason. Maybe Joe was right and his behavior when it came to Dani was for a reason.

Dammit he hated when Joe made sense.