I'm so sorry this took so long to update, I'm in the middle of madness right now with finals, works, and everything else :) Oh, Summer Break, you cannot get here soon enough.

Oh yes, a special welcome to all my new reviewers! Keep reviewing and let me know what you think :):):):)

Chapter Twelve

Once Danny had Allie safely inside the barn he sat her down in the nearest chair and began to look her over in the dim light that was coming from the only lamp in the barn. He would have taken her back to his house, but his dad was in another one of his drunken stupors and after what Allie had been through, he did not think that bringing her around his father would be such a good idea.

"Al, are you sure you're okay?" he asked, tilting her chin from one side to the other checking every inch of her, making sure there were no marks on her.

Besides her tear stained face and red eyes, she seemed fine, but Danny wanted to be sure.

"Yes, I'm fine." She pushed his hand away and wiped the old tears from her eyes as new ones began to fall.

Danny rose from his kneeling position in front of her and moved up so that he was sitting next to her. Without thinking, he slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him, letting her release her tears into his shoulder.

As Allie sat there, pouring her sorrow out in Danny's safe embrace, he fumed. He meant what he had said when he told Dean he'd kill him if he ever came near Allie again, in fact he had been more than ready to do it tonight, but Allie had needed him. He shuddered to think of what would have happened if hadn't of walked by when he did. If it hadn't of been for Allie's screams he never would have known they were there, but thankfully her voice had carried.

Allie, who's cries had now fallen into faint sobs, lifted her head and looked at Danny,

"Thank you." She replied in a half whisper.

"You don't have to thank me."

She wiped her eyes, "Yes, I do. If you hadn't of been there-" she began, thinking the same thing that he had only moments earlier, but he interrupted her, shaking his head,

"I know." He then paused, trying to muster all the strength he could to ask what he really needed to know, "How far did he get?"

She looked away when she answered, "Not very."

It was what Danny had suspected. When he had pull Dean off of her, they had both been dressed, but Allie's skirt had been pushed up to her waist and that was what had him worried and it was a comfort to hear that his worst nightmare hadn't come true.

"I suppose you're going to tell me 'I told you so' now. God knows I deserve to hear it." she said with a bitter laugh, but Danny shook his head,

"No, I'm not."

"You're not?" she asked turning to him looking slightly bewildered.

"No, I'm not going to. Trust me it wasn't something that I wanted to be right about."

"Why? You don't like him, you told me that yourself."

"I may not, but I know you did."

She sighed and for a moment, Danny thought she would speak, but she remained silent. He shook his head and lowered his arm, clasping his hands together in front of him.

"Allie, why him?"

"Oh, Danny, not now." she said, springing up quickly from her seat, wiping her checks with both her hands. She quickly made her way towards the latter that led up to the loft and stopped, pausing to take a breath, "I don't know why, all right…I just don't know." She added as she began to cry again.

Danny rose from his seat and moved slowly towards her. Once he was close enough to touch her, his hands were on her shoulders and she turned around and looked at him gratefully through her tears,

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

Danny looked down at her with a soft expression, "Allie, you know you don't have to ask."

She closed her eyes and shook her head, "After everything I've done to you in the past few weeks-"

"It's all forgotten." He said, attempting to hush her, but she pressed on.

"I didn't want to ignore you…well the first time I did, but the second, it was all him. He told me that if I was anywhere near you that he'd-"

"Allie, you don't have to protect me." He quietly interrupted.

Her eyes were glistening with tears as she looked deep into his eyes and replied, "Isn't that what you just did for me?"

"That's different." He said, "I did that because…because I care about you." He said, letting his gaze fall to the floor away from her, but she tilted his chin up, just as he had done to her only moments before,

"I care about you too."

"No, Allie…"he shook his head, torn between what he should do, "…you don't understand."

"What don't I understand?" she asked, but the confusion Danny expected was strangely absent from her face .

He bit his lip, hesitating before he once again told her, "I care about you."

To him his tone was unmistakable, but as he looked at Allie, he could see no shock or surprise from her. Kicking himself that he still hadn't managed to say what he really he felt, he sighed and began again, but Allie was in front of him quickly, her hands cupping his face and urging him to look her in the eyes,

"Danny…I care about you too."

Then he realized, he hadn't failed after all. Danny could feel his eyes rising in surprise, but Allie simply smiled, her whole face lighting up and wiping away the evidence of her experience that evening.

"How long-"

"A long time." She said still smiling.

He smiled back, relieved, "Me too."

"Why didn't you-"they both began at the same time and then laughed.

Danny was on cloud nine. Allie's eyes were saying all he needed to hear with her eyes as they looked at him with warmth and adoration. He pulled her into his arms, hugging her close to his body and for the first time, allowing every feeling he had kept hidden from her, take his emotions over. He held her tighter, holding her safely in the frame of his arms, inhaling her soft smell and feeling the waves of her soft hair wrapped around the tips of his fingers.

The world around them had stopped and Allie face was pressed into Danny's chest with her arms wrapped around his neck. She knew she was in heaven, there was no way should could be anywhere else. She felt the safety of Danny's arms and the unspoken love that she knew he had for her and she wanted nothing more.

Then a crash from outside pulled the two apart. Allie felt her heart leap into her throat as the thought of Dean coming in entered her mind. Then there was another, followed by a round of deep cursing that was unmistakable to both of them. Looking at one another, they both realized it was Danny's father and Danny was quick to usher Allie into one of the old horse stalls that was now used for storage.

He instructed her to keep silent by pressing his finger to his lips and she obeyed as he shut the door to the stall and then sunk down onto the hay-covered floor with her. Both of them felt the memory of so long ago when they had both hidden in the tall wheat of Shep Peterson's field.

The door to the barn swung open, slamming against the wall behind it and causing both Allie and Danny to jump. Danny's hand reached for Allie's and he gave it a reassuring squeeze as they listened to Danny's father move around only feet from them. He was obviously looking for something in the barn as he was quiet, except for his incoherent mumbling and only moments later he found what he had been looking for and the two held their breath as he walked by the stall and then out the opposite door.

Danny stood up first and looked around before he looked down at Allie and offered his hand. She took it and he pulled her up to her feet, bringing their faces close enough together to where they could feel the others warm breath on their skin.

Danny watched as Allie's eyes closed and her head tilted, expecting something that he really wanted to give. Ever since that night when he had seen Dean kissing her and he realized how he longed to do it himself, he had wanted her to be before him in this way. She was so soft, so beautiful…

As if an invisible force was pulling him towards her, he moved in slowly and stopped only when he had barely begun to brush her lips before he pulled away. He released her and took two steps back, calling himself an ass as he did so.

Allie's eyes opened and she looked at Danny with question, "Is something wrong?"

"No." he answered shaking his head, "I just think I should get you home."

"Oh." She said, trying to mask her disappointment, "All right, then."

"Yeah."

Twenty minutes later, Danny and Allie arrived at her house. They had walked from Danny's in complete silence, but kept close to one another in the dark fields that separated their homes.

As the house came into view, Allie saw that it was dark except for a lamp in the living room window. Tilting her wrist at an angle, she saw in the moonlight that her watch read 11:30, a whole half-hour past the time she had promised to be home. Her parents had been gone when she had left that night, but it was a safe bet that they were home now and probably upset with her.

Sighing, she began the short walk up the front steps and stopped short when she reached the door, turning around to face Danny who had followed her up on the porch,

"Thanks for walking me." She whispered so as not to alert anyone to her presence who may be lurking inside.

"No problem." His hands were stuffed into his pockets and his shoulders hunched uncomfortably as he looked at her and Allie turned away, unsure of what to do next. For the past twenty minutes she had been trying to figure out what she had done wrong in the barn. It seemed she had waited her whole life for that moment and when it had finally come he had pushed himself away.

She looked into his eyes, hoping to see something, anything to give her a clue as to what she had done, but there was nothing. She closed her eyes and took a breath, desperately trying to push away both the thought of Dean's harsh lips pressed against hers and then Danny's soft ones only slightly brushing against them. Shaking her head quickly, she looked at Danny once again,

"Night, then."

"Yeah, night." He muttered and turned to step down off the porch, but something snapped in Allie and suddenly she had to know, she had to know why.

"Danny!"

He turned around quickly, "What?"

"Why? Why didn't you do it?"

"Allie-"

"Is there something wrong with me? Is it what Dean did?"

He came to her quickly, "No, no, believe me that's not it."

"Then what?" she pleaded, "Why don't you want to kiss me?"

"Who said I didn't want to?

His answer was not what Allie had been expecting and she hesitated before she answered, "I thought-"she began, but Danny shook his head, silencing her. Her breath caught in her throat as his hand came up to caress her cheek, his thumb lingering for a few precious moments on her lips before he spoke,

"Do you know how long I've wanted to kiss you?"

Silently she shook her head.

"Years." He told her in a soft whisper that made her pulse quicken, "From that first time I looked at you and saw everything I needed and more in your eyes," he paused, his eyes staring right into her own, reminding them both of what he was speaking of, "To right now when you're standing right here in front of me and every moment in between."

"Really?" she asked, struggling to hold back the sweet tears his words had brought. He nodded as his face began to move slowly towards her. She watched as he neared, afraid that if she closed her eyes, he would pull away again, but when she felt his warm breath hit her skin, she found her eyes shutting on their own and was able to take one final breath before she felt the soft brush of his lips against hers.

He was gentle as he parted her lips with his own and Allie savored every movement he made. As the strokes of his lips against hers became quicker and firmer she found herself clutching to him, holding on tightly as they gave into the feelings they had shared for so long, but not realized until that very moment.

When he pulled away, Allie found herself gasping for air and desperately wanting him to come back to her, but all she could do was stare into his beautiful brown eyes as she attempted to tame her erratic breathing.

For a moment neither one of them spoke, they simply stared at one another, then from inside the house Allie heard her mothers clock begin its chime to signal the hour. Twelve times it rang, telling her that it was midnight and Danny smiled at her with a twinkle in his eye,

"Happy Birthday, Allie.