Before leaving to go to Fall Fest, Danny took a detour and decided to go to the fort first. Upon entering he went to a small space next to a wooden stool. Danny removed a rock that was sitting on top of some soil and he began to dig. He removed a rusted tin box and opened it. Inside were the little love letters that he wrote Lacey when they were younger. He was going to give them to her as a gift. He drew his hand through his hair and tossed the heavy mass to the side of his head. It was then that he realized that he wasn't alone.
"Who's there?" Danny called out.
"Hey sexy," Regina cooed as she stepped out of the shadows. "So, this is y'all little Scooby cave, huh?"
Danny stared at her hard. "Regina why are you here?"
"I just wanted to talk before we went to Fall Fest." Regina's dress was elegant with a slit running down the center to showcase a lot of leg.
"I really don't have time to chat, Regina. I'm in a rush."
Regina smiled and threw her shawl onto a stump before sitting down. "It can wait."
Danny was getting agitated but he stood where he was with his arms folded. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I want to apologize to you Danny. I admit the role I played in undermining you. Archie of course had his own reasons. You just sauntered on in here and took his Lacey right from under him. You can't blame Archie for being pissed because of that and wanting to get back at you. I admit even though stealing your school records was clever, it was low. Even for him. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. And I wanted to ask you with everything that was done to you, how come you aren't upset about it? You had the power to get Archie, Brendan and Scott kicked out of school but you didn't. Why?"
"I accept your apology. And yes, being humiliated by people who don't even know me, is sickening and vile but it's totally not in me to get even like that. What sense would it have been to get them kicked out of school or implicate you? I just want to be me…I want to have a normal life. It's not easy going to a school in a town populated by people who have already drawn their conclusions about you. But, I'm a pretty determined person and I have dealt with far worse."
Regina shook her head. "I have never met a guy like you before. Are you sure you don't want to hang out with me sometime?"
Danny smirked then shook his head. "I'm sorry but I have to decline." Danny picked the box up and stood by Regina to help her up.
Regina gave him her hand. "You're so different than how I thought you would be. So different." Regina's eyes almost held regret. Almost.
"See you at Fall Fest," Regina's voice called after Danny but he didn't even break stride.
Regina smiled smugly. "Are you sure you heard Lacey admit that she and Danny would be having sex tonight?"
Sarita stepped out of the bushes with a camera. "Yeah, they were at Carmela's talking about it. They didn't see me but it's supposedly going down after Fall Fest."
Regina whipped out her phone and texted Archie what she just found out. "You have been most useful, Sarita."
Sarita looked around hesitantly. "I don't feel right about doing this, Regina. Lacey seems so happy right now and Danny seems okay."
Regina grabbed the camera from Sarita. "I'm not interested in what you feel. And since I didn't ask for your opinion, there really isn't a need for you to voice one, now is there?"
Lacey stepped into an abandoned tent to check the time on her cellphone. Danny had texted her saying that he was sorry that he was running a little late, he would explain when he arrived, but he was on his way. She smiled. She was over the moon excited for this night. She watched Jo having a good time with Tyler. They were playing ring toss. Rico looked on as he and Phoebe were munching on cotton candy together.
Suddenly Lacey felt arms go around her. A mouth gently nuzzled her neck. Lacey froze.
"C'mon baby. Just like old times, huh?" Archie said sloppily kissing up Lacey's neck.
Lacey whirled around quickly and slapped Archie across the face. "Don't touch me!"
Archie had obviously been drinking and his anger flared up quickly. He grabbed Lacey by the arm.
"Don't touch you? You sure don't mind that pyromaniac touching you, that's for sure. I know I wasn't the perfect boyfriend but you just dumped me out of the blue like that. That was shitty, Lacey!"
Lacey gasped. "I'm being shitty! Me? How about you sleeping with my former best friend behind my back from the very beginning of our relationship. Please don't give me that b.s. about being hurt because you're not hurt. You're just mad because I never slept with you so you had to go creeping to get it somewhere else. You're completely disgusting."
Archie went to grab Lacey around the waist, but she twisted out of reach. His arm shot out to grab her roughly by her forearm.
"Let her go," a voice said menacingly. Both Archie and Lacey looked up as Danny stepped into the tent from the darkness. Archie immediately dropped Lacey's arm and she ran over to where Danny was standing.
"Do we have a problem here?" Danny asked walking up to Archie. "When a lady tells you not to touch her, you don't fucking touch her. Especially this lady. Understand?"
Archie worked his jaw in frustration. He didn't want to get into any more trouble, especially since he was skating on thin ice with his parents. He was just happy that he wasn't expelled.
Archie nodded slightly.
That wasn't enough for Danny. "Tell me that you understand."
Archie looked into Danny's eyes. "I understand."
Danny smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. "Good. Have a good night Campbell."
Danny turned and in one motion grabbed Lacey's hand and left Archie just as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He cussed loudly when he found out that this very night Lacey had planned on sleeping with Danny.
"This ain't over, Desai," he muttered.
"Are you okay?" Danny asked Lacey as he peered into her eyes.
"Yes, thank you," Lacey said hugging Danny as they walked towards the main stage.
"I wanted to beat his ass," Danny replied with a smile but I don't want any more trouble. "Besides why would I waste a single moment being angry at him, when you look so delectable in that dress?" Danny eyed Lacey appreciatively. The lace covered just enough to be classy without being obscene and revealed enough, just so that the imagination could take over.
Lacey blushed and eyed Danny's black pin-striped suit. His hair was down flowing around his shoulders. He had trimmed his goatee she noticed. She was literally bouncing on her toes to kiss his lips but her mother had taken the stage to thank everyone for coming to Fall Fest.
"Let's go," Lacey said pulling Danny discreetly from the crowd.
"Don't you want to stay and see the drama play out with Jo and Rico?" Danny asked with a knowing smile.
Lacey shook her head, dimples peeping. "No, Jo will fill me in later. I have plans for us tonight."
Danny liked the sound of that and allowed himself to be led away in the direction of the parking lot.
"You look beautiful tonight, Ms. Masterson," Tyler replied as the couple danced to a slow jam.
"Thank you, Mr. Jeffries. You're looking quite dapper yourself."
"I do try," he replied with a big grin. "I'm glad that you agreed to come to Fall Fest with me. I was beginning to think that you didn't like me at all."
Jo laughed. "It's not that. I just…I like my friendship circle nice and tight."
Tyler nodded. "So, that would be Lacey, Danny and that kid Rico, right?"
At the mention of Rico's name, Jo's head immediately came up and her eyes scanned the crowd looking for him. She hadn't seen much of him or Phoebe in over an hour. She figured Lacey and Danny found one another and that they were probably eager to begin their evening.
"Yes, Rico and I are good friends but lately…lately we've been just ok."
Tyler seemed concerned. "Why is that?"
Jo didn't really want to discuss it. "I don't know why I'm telling you this but Rico was going to ask me to Fall Fest but you beat him to it so he's a bit hurt."
"Oh, I see. And how do you feel about the situation?"
"I told him that you asked me first and I'm not going to just not go with you just because Rico doesn't want me to."
"He likes you. And here's the thing. He knows you too. You've been friends forever and here I come, the outsider. All I want is a chance to get to know you better. If you let me."
Jo smiled and placed her head on Tyler's shoulder. "This is me letting you," Jo lifted her head to kiss Tyler gently on the lips.
Rico and Phoebe were walking out onto the floor when he saw Jo and Tyler kiss. He tripped but he recovered quickly.
"Are you alright?" Phoebe asked with concern in her eyes.
"Uhh…yeah I'm fine. Damned new shoes. I should have broken them in. Do you want something to drink?"
Phoebe smiled. "Sure, Rico. Thanks."
Rico quickly walked away to the beverage table breathing too fast and blinking hard.