The Breaking Point

The next few days passed by like a blur. Ever since I found the photo of my grandfather, I couldn't stop thinking about what my life could have been like if my mother was still alive. She would have told me that I was special the minute I discovered my powers and I probably wouldn't have been involved with everything the year before. As great as those thoughts sounded, I knew they were selfish. I had a good enough life in New York. Sure, I got placed with the modern day Addams family, but I probably wouldn't have known Peter as well as I did.

Anyway, Cole and I put a slight pause on our investigation. We were still hitting dead ends despite the load of information I got by hanging out with Matt and Peter. Besides I had to start working on my application for NYU. As important as this investigation was, I had to think about my future as well. Considering we were already almost half way through the semester and applications were due in December, I thought I should start filling out a few applications. Not just to NYU though. I thought about some out of state schools, but as much as I wanted to get away from New York I just couldn't leave it.

But that turned out to be the least of my concerns as I was helping to construct the props for the upcoming winter dance. Ava was the head coordinator for it and you can guess how the rest of the story went. I personally wasn't a fan of dances. Too much drama happened in one night and there's the slight pressure to have a date. Granted, this year was obviously different but my opinion still stood. Last year's homecoming dance proved my theory and it wasn't even at my school.

"I think I've lost feeling to my fingers," Cole muttered beside me.

Cole got roped into doing it as well. He wasn't that hard to convince, but Ava got me to volunteer and that is a success in itself. We were at the papier-mâché station in the gym trying to put together snowflakes and their stands for two hours. Our hands were covered in papier-mâché at this point.

"Agreed," I nodded.

"Why are we doing this again?"

"For Ava, remember? She's in charge of this whole thing."

"That may be your reason, but she threatened to burn my comic book collection if I didn't come to help out."

"I worry about her sometimes," I mused. "She looks innocent on the outside, but she has a very dark mind."

"I wouldn't tell her that if I were you."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Great job, guys!"

I jumped at the perky voice behind me. I looked over to see Ava beaming at our work.

"At this rate we'll have the models done by this week," she continued.

"Ava, the winter dance isn't until—well winter. Why are we setting up now?" I questioned.

"Since homecoming got cancelled, I figured this would be a good way to combine the two. Besides with the work we have to do, it's better to be early."

"Where is this 'we' coming from?"

"C'mon, Danni I know you don't like doing this stuff, but I really need your help. Especially if I have to deal with Brooke as my co-coordinator."

Ava pointed to the poster station where Brooke was yelling at the confused freshmen.

I rolled my eyes. "And how would I help that situation?"

"You're really the only one who's put her in her place so…I hoped you could stop me from murdering her myself."

"Fine, as long as I get to do it then I'm okay with it."

"I second that notion," Cole said.

"I thought you were just exaggerating when you said that Brooke was crazy," Ava told me. "I never really talked to her in the debate team and yeah she did seem high maintenance from a glance. Then she's my partner for ASB and all hell goes loose. It has to be her way or no way."

"This is why I avoid student organizations," I said. "People like Brooke Hampton breed in that small group annoying the hell out of me."

"I'm trying to stay in ASB long enough so that I can put it in my college applications."

"You're taking more APs than I ever will in my lifetime, you've lettered in two sports and you've been in ASB since middle school. I think you're set."

Ava opened her mouth to reply, but Brooke interrupted.

"Ava, sweetheart," her voice sang bitterly. "Can you come over here and tell these children how to mix colors?"

"How do you not strangle her?" Ava hissed at me.

"I exercise restraint," I smirked. "Besides don't you believe world peace and no violence?"

"Ava, come over here now!" Brooke nearly screamed.

Ava clenched her teeth. "I'm about to reconsider my values." She took in a deep breath and put on a smile. "I'm coming!"

Cole let out a small chuckle. "I haven't seen her this irritated since Dylan put worms in her sandwich in fifth grade."

"I don't blame her," I replied. "I almost punched Brooke last year, if you remember."

"Very clearly." He paused. "So have you heard anything from Matt?"

"No. Even if he did, he would call Nathan and I haven't seen Nathan for the past few days."

"Do you know if he's still staying with you at mansion?"

"I highly doubt it. The usual bottle of beer he leaves on the counter has been full for a while now. Either he's had miraculous recovery in alcoholism, he's living somewhere else now or he's just plain gone."

"Have you tried calling him?"

"I did, but after the first few calls you realize they're trying to ignore you."

"Hold up, for a second. Are you staying alone in that house?" Cole asked me, concern in his voice.

"Yeah," I shrugged.

"Nathan just left you?"

"Yeah."

"Did he leave some kind of money or restock the fridge? Did he even leave a note?"

"We wouldn't be talking about this if he did," I said. "I don't see why you're overacting about this. This is Nathan we're talking about here."

"Look, I didn't think even Nathan was capable of doing that. You're seventeen years old and you don't have a job. He can't just leave you like that."

"I have a job, remember?"

He scoffed. "Yeah, babysitting for Matt who you haven't heard from for days."

I sighed realizing the problem. I was going to have to figure out how to get food once I ran out. Dance rehearsals didn't exactly make it easy for me to find the time for a job. My mom did give me money through her will, but since I was underage I couldn't access it without my guardians—both of which were gone. Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't really mad that Nathan left. I knew it had to be for a good reason concerning the recent murders and he wasn't going to drag me down with him. I knew it would be tough, but if I could survive two encounters with a serial killer I think I could manage making some sort of living.

"Guess I should start advertising myself as a babysitter," I sighed once more.

"If you need any help, or things get bad, I'm just a phone call away."

"Thanks." I smiled. "But I think I'll manage it on my own."

"If you say so…" Cole's eyes wondered to the wall clock. "So, since we're officially done with our shift, do you want to grab something to eat?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but a pair of hands covered my eyes. As an automatic response, I panicked.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" I tried to remove the hands covering my eyes, but they were surprisingly stronger.

"Eager, aren't you?" a familiar voice taunted.

I relaxed realizing who it was. "Chad? Geez, you could've given me a heart attack."

"Well it was supposed to be romantic."

I turned to him, smirking. "I think a few days ago, we agreed that your attempts to be romantic ultimately fail."

"How was I supposed to know your brother was going to walk in on us?"

Cole laughed from behind. "Nathan walked in on you?"

"Unfortunately," I answered.

"I can only imagine the look on his face—and yours."

"You didn't tell your brother that you had a boyfriend, didn't you?" Chad questioned.

I was at a loss for words. It was nothing personal to Chad. If it was personal, it was aimed at my foster family. But how I was going to explain that to Chad was a new issue all together.

"And this is when I walk away…" Cole mumbled.

"Why didn't you say anything to him about us?" he repeated. "Have you even mentioned me?"

"It's nothing personal to you, trust me," I told him. "It's just that we don't really talk about that kind of stuff. Nathan and I are…complicated."

"I got the complicated part down. I didn't realize how bad it was though."

"It just never came up and to tell you the truth, the past few months have been the longest Nathan and I have ever spent with each other. Plus most of the time we spent was to get him sober."

"What about your mom? I mean, I know she's secretive but how bad is it?"

I looked down. "Bad."

Chad lifted my head forcing me to look into his eyes. "Danni, if there's something wrong. You can tell me. I want to get to know you and in order to do that you have talk about it…whether it's good or bad."

I wanted to tell him everything. Everything that happened the year before, what I could do, and the recent mysterious murders. But I didn't think he was ready for that. I wasn't sure if I was ready for it. Leaving him in the dark wasn't easy, but it was necessary. I had to think of my words carefully.

"My foster mom, she…confessed to a crime that she didn't do so she's in jail right now," I began. "As for Nathan, I haven't heard from him for a few days. The last time I saw him he was going to try to prove my foster mom innocent."

"He just left?" he said incredulously.

"He wouldn't be the first brother that left me like that. I'll be okay," I reassured. "I'll need to babysit more, but other than that I'll be fine."

"If you need anything or somebody to talk to, I'll be there."

"Thanks. What about you? How are you doing?"

"Fine, I guess. So how did you end up one the Winter Formal Committee?"

"Ava. She needed help and she had certain threats against me so you can guess how that went."

He laughed. "I'm assuming you don't like going to social gatherings."

"You assumed correctly. I'd rather not get involved in the drama of it all."

"Drama?"

"You're guy so you don't really understand what girls have to go through with dances. First there's the pressure of getting a date, then there's paying for the dress and finding the right makeup and hair style. It's a whole ordeal."

"Ah, but I don't see the problem with you. As far as I can see, you already have a date."

"Really?" I eyed him suspiciously.

"Yep."

"Chad Parker, are you asking me to the dance?"

"Do you want a formal invitation?"

"Sure."

"Danni Petrelli, would you like to come to the dance with me?"

I bit my lip. "I don't know…I don't go to these things if you haven't noticed so how is this any different?"

"You'd be with me, we'll dance and I'm dying to see how you look in a dress."

I blushed. "It's not that impressive."

"It'll get your mind off of everything," he persisted.

"Okay…I'll go."

"Can't wait."

His lips crashed onto mine. I kissed him back for a few moments before trying to pull away. I wasn't used to displaying our relationship publicly aside from holding hands. But as I tried to pull away, Chad wrapped his arm around me preventing me from moving.

"Do we really want to do this now?" I asked him.

"Why not? It's not like it doesn't happen around school." He pulled me into another kiss.

I wanted to kiss him, but not like this. I didn't care who knew about us or not. As much as it felt good to kiss him, I felt naked kissing him in front of everyone. Especially the way he was going.

"Well, that doesn't have to be us," I stated as soon as I could breathe.

He stroked my cheek. "You're all about keeping secrets, aren't you?"

I knew he was somewhat bothered about me not saying anything about having a boyfriend to my foster family. At this point I couldn't tell him enough in order to understand what I have to go through.

"It's not the same thing and you know that," I said.

"Why is it that I feel like you're keeping something from me?"

I underestimated him. I knew Chad wasn't dumb, but I hoped that my lies would dodge him from figuring out that something was up.

"I'm not," I whispered.

Chad wouldn't take no for an answer. "Cole knows doesn't he? C'mon, there's something else I don't know about you, isn't there? Just tell me."

"I can't."

"I promise I won't laugh."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

He was about to argue once more, but Cole's voice stopped him. "Hey, is everything okay over here?"

"We're fine. Thanks for the concern," Chad said with a smirk.

Cole looked to me. "Danni, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I answered.

"So now that you know that everything is fine, Bowman, just go back to whatever you were doing," said Chad.

"It didn't look fine to me from a distance," Cole noted.

"Well, it isn't your business, now is it?"

"Actually it is."

Chad tensed as he walked over to Cole. "Really?"

"Yeah, anything that concerns Danni concerns me."

I could see the glare on Cole's face and the scowl Chad was giving Cole. It wasn't that hard to tell that something was going to happen if I didn't intervene. Cole wasn't a fan of Chad and as I spent more time with Chad I began to realize that the feeling was mutual.

I stepped in between the two boys. "Look, there's nothing going here. Cole, we did have a little bit of a fight, but it's nothing to worry about."

"You heard the lady, Bowman," Chad sneered.

"And Chad, I have other friends besides you. It's okay for them to question who I spend my time with. ¿Comprende?"

"Oh, so you don't mind sharing our problems with others but you won't tell me what's going on?"

"It's not like that, Chad."

"Then tell me. What is it that you're keeping from me?"

"I can't tell you."

"You can't or you won't?"

"Hey man, just back off," Cole snipped. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Again, why are you involved with this?" Chad asked, frustrated.

"Again, Danni is my friend. If she wants to keep whatever she's keeping from you then she has my full support."

"And you know about it?"

"I don't think that concerns you."

"I believe it does. Danni's your friend, but she's also my girlfriend. If there's something going on, I'd like to know about it."

Okay, when did I disappear from this conversation?

"Guys, calm down," I tried reason.

Both of them ignored me as they glared daggers into each other's eyes.

"If you cared about her, you would trust her on this," Cole growled.

"I trust her. But I need to know what's going on and I still don't see a good reason why you're still here."

"You're in way over your head asking about that. And if you did trust and care about her, you wouldn't be picking a fight with me."

Chad moved past me. "I wasn't." He gave Cole a small shove. "You were the one that came over here, the last I recalled."

"Danni looked uncomfortable. That's enough evidence to tell me that something is wrong."

I raised my hand. "Guys, I'm still here. If you have a problem, take it up with me."

Once again, I was ignored.

"That still doesn't give you the right," Chad scowled at Cole.

"I don't need a right," Cole replied. "If you're pushing her to the point where she doesn't want to be around you, you don't give a damn about her."

"And you do? Never mind, I already know the answer to that. The question is how much do you really care about her?"

"Both of you just stop!" I yelled. "Why is this argument even happening?"

"I don't know, ask your friend," Chad answered.

I looked to Cole. "What's going on?"

"Don't you see?" Cole said. "He's trying to manipulate you. He's trying to make me look like the bad guy here."

"Well if I remember our first conversation about this, you did your best to make Chad look like the bad guy."

"Yeah and I trusted your judgment. But I see what's really going on here: he's your distraction."

I frowned. "My what?"

"Distraction. You said it yourself, you want to be normal and he makes you feel normal. Your foster mom was put in jail and you decide to go on date with him that night. Face it, he's there to make you forget who you really are."

I stood there silently trying to let Cole's words sink in. They hurt, but trying to figure out if they were true was a challenge. Chad did make me feel normal. As for painting a façade, I had trouble processing that.

"You're really gonna throw that line, Bowman?" Chad scoffed.

I held my hand up to him. "Chad, let me talk to him please. Alone."

Chad was hesitant, but after exchanging a reassuring glance, he walked to the other side of the gym.

"Cole, I have known you for five years," I began. "And I have not heard you so angry in my life."

"I'm telling you the truth," he stated. "You're not yourself anymore."

"Okay, since we're being honest here, were you lying about accepting Chad for me? Because I sensing a lot of anger coming out from you."

"I'm not angry at him. I'm frustrated with you." Cole paused. "You're pretending to be someone you're not. What happened to the girl ready to take on whatever came at her? If these murders were going on last year, you would have never stopped investigating. What made you stop exactly? You're new boyfriend?"

"That's way out of our hands, Cole. Nathan's gone trying to figure out what it is and Matt is doing whatever he can. Neither of which have updated me on the situation. Plus life got in the way, you know. I'm filling out my application for NYU while I'm looking at other colleges. I plan to have a future beyond this."

"That didn't stop you from going to Kirby Plaza. Besides when was the last time you used your powers?"

"How is this important?" I questioned.

"You haven't used your powers since Kirby Plaza. The one thing that makes you special and you choose to ignore that gift."

"Yes, Cole, I have been ignoring my powers. Happy?" I bit out. "But do you want to know why? Because it killed Peter. He had too much power and he didn't know what to do with it. Then when Sylar was alive you had to worry about if he was around the corner waiting to take your powers. You have no idea what I've been going through. Chad's the best thing that's happened and you're just going to have to deal with that. And you can't speak about how special it is to be different when you've never stepped out of anything normal yourself."

"Don't turn this around on me," he snapped. "This is about you."

"Why do you care? If trusted my judgment so much, we wouldn't be here talking about it."

"Because you are special, Danni. When are you ever going accept that? Chad will never know that side of you. He'll never know that jumped over a car or that you can fly. He'll never realize how special you are."

"Unless I tell him."

Cole eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"I don't know how long I can keep it from him," I admitted. "I hate lying about it to him and he already knows something is up."

"I don't think you should do it."

"Why?"

"Unlike you, I know Chad. The minute he realizes what you can do, he'll use you."

"You don't know that," I argued.

"Well, do you?" Cole sighed. "Now you're being careless. How much do you really know the guy?"

"Enough to know he wouldn't do that. I took a chance on you, didn't I?"

"That's different."

"Different how? Because I am very confused as why Chad is being classified as the bad guy here."

Cole didn't respond right away. He was in deep thought, that much I could tell. I hated to fight with him like this, but I wanted to know what was going on with him. It wasn't like Cole to act impulsively. Cole was about to open his mouth when Chad returned.

"Unless that's an apology, I suggest you stop arguing with her," he told Cole.

"I just need a couple more minutes with her," Cole replied barely over a whisper.

"You had a couple minutes. Now you need to go."

"Chad," I hissed.

He ignored me and shoved Cole. "I said, go. You don't have any more business here."

"You're really gonna go there?" Cole shoved him back. "What's this going to prove, huh? How much of a man you are in front of her?"

"Watch it."

I jumped in between them. "Enough! Either you two work it out or don't talk to each other at all. While you're figuring that out, I'm going to find some air to breathe."

I stormed out of the gym without another glance at them. I knew that they were at odds but I didn't realize that they were mortal enemies. I was frustrated more than anything. Cole said he would accept us yet he seemed to not have lived up to his end of the bargain.

"Danni!"

I didn't have the desire to talk to anyone at that point, so I kept walking.

"Danni, wait!" the voice called again.

I turned to the voice. "What?!"

I instantly regretted my rueful tone when I saw Ava running up to me. "Oh, it's just you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Ava said. "I saw what happened between Cole and Chad. I wanted to see if you're okay."

"I'll be fine. I'm sorry for bailing, but I need to go."

"I'll go with you."

"You don't have to. Besides you have a dance to organize."

"Brooke has it under control, trust me. You, on the other hand, need a friend, some movies and ice cream, if possible," Ava gave me a weak smile.

"That sounds great, but—"

"It wasn't an option, Danni." She hooked her arm in mine. "I'll drive."

I clearly had no choice in the matter. Ava drove to her house first to grab her things and a few movies before we headed towards the Petrelli Mansion. She had done this plenty of times to me last summer. Whenever I refused to go out with Cole, she would come over and try to cheer me up. This felt different though. She was trying to get me alone, but why? There was something I was missing from the situation and I was determined to find out.

When we arrived at the Petrelli Mansion, we dressed up in our pajamas and settled in the living room. We sat on the floor with the movies spread out.

"Hm…" Ava mused thoughtfully. "John Tucker Must Die or Sixteen Candles?"

"John Tucker for sure," I smirked.

"But Sixteen Candles is a classic," Ava pouted.

"We can watch it after John Tucker."

"Fine."

I got up to my feet. "So refreshments. I have popcorn and I can check if we have ice cream. What about for drinks?"

"Oh, you don't have to do that. I can drive to the gas station and get a few things real quick."

"No, it's no problem. There's plenty of soda in fridge."

"Are you sure?" she questioned. "Cole told me about your situation. With your foster mom and brother gone and all."

So that's what she wanted to talk about. "Oh. It's okay. All I have to do is babysit more to earn a little more money since that's all I have time for."

"I'm pretty sure you've gotten plenty of this from Cole, but if you need anything I'll be here."

"Thanks." I smiled. "I'll go get the food."

I was able to find a bucket of ice cream and a package of popcorn to my surprise. It wasn't like there were any other kids in the house that required Angela to stock up on junk food so was shocked to say the least. After I gathered a couple of Coco-Colas and the food, I made it back to the living room where the movie was about to start. For a good hour, I was able to laugh at the girls' attempts to get back at the guy who was cheating on them. I almost forgot about the argument I got into with my boyfriend and my best friend. That is until Ava brought it up.

"So how is it going with you and Chad?" she asked curiously.

I shrugged. "It's fine. Why?"

"I'm just wondering. I barely see you nowadays and when I do, you're with him."

"Is there something you want to talk about because it seems like you're getting to that point?"

"I'm just curious and don't shoot me down when I ask this, but how do you feel about Chad?"

"I like him. Why?"

Ava bit her lip. "How much do you like him exactly?"

"If there is something you want to say then say it because I am very confused considering that you set me up with him."

"It's nothing concerning…it's just a theory I have."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "A theory?"

"Do you remember the first time you and Cole met?"

"Yeah, seventh grade. He ran into a pole and I went to help him. That's where I met you too."

"I was with him when it happened," she confirmed. "He wouldn't stop talking about you after that happened. He kept questioning which school you went to, what you liked, how you were like…etc. Then after your first class together, you two were inseparable."

"As much as I like to reminisce in those memories, why are you bringing them up?"

"I'm trying to prepare you for what I'm about to say. Cole hasn't been the same since you started dating Chad. He's been a little more…depressed lately."

I was taken aback. "Depressed? As in sad depression or I want to kill myself depression?"

"I can't tell. Everything's normal when I'm talking to him, but when you come up in the conversation he just shuts down all of the sudden." She sighed. "It's even worse when he sees you with Chad. He looks at you—no, stares at you and then gives some stupid excuse just to get away."

I opened my mouth to respond, but Ava continued. "I thought he was over it by the beginning of this year, but no! Apparently he had to see you with someone else to realize that he's too slow. Then here I am guilty about the situation considering I gave up on you two because he was so slow. I get that he's trying to be sensitive in your situation, but come on! If you feel anything about anyone, spit it out!"

"Ava!" I snapped. "What are you going on about? If you have anything to say, spit it out please."

"And you! How could you be so clueless all these years?! You're smart, Danni, but God, you're so stupid when it comes to relationships! Cole can't accept that you're in a relationship because he's in love with you!"

I wasn't sure if Ava was expecting a response to that or not, but I could barely comprehend what she just said. She can't be serious. Cole and I spent five years denying to everyone that we weren't involved romantically nor would we be in the near future. Now here's Ava, telling me that Cole's been in love with me since I moved to New York.

Ava took in a great sigh of relief. "Ah…That feels so good to get that off my chest. I thought I was going to explode."

"No, you planted a new bomb," I corrected. "Where is this coming from? Did he tell you?"

"If you're a third party in this situation, he doesn't have to tell you. I've seen him look at you with that puppy-dog face for years and it got worse this year."

"Then how do you know?"

"Simple. He's always there for you, he has that ridiculous smile when you show up and how jealous he's been of Chad."

"Jealous? I thought he hated Chad in the first place."

Ava shrugged. "Maybe it's both. But listen, what matters the most here is how you feel. So…what are you thinking right now?"

"I'm thinking that you're crazy," I admitted. "Cole himself denied having any feelings for me to everyone."

"Okay, but what about you? Have you ever asked him how he felt about you?"

I thought back to all of the times we joked about people assuming we were a couple. Cole told everyone that we were just friends, but we never talked about it amongst ourselves. Not how we felt about it anyway. If I asked him about it, I knew he would answer me truthfully. And thanks to Ava, I was scared to find out what he would say.

"No," I answered. "I just assumed that he didn't have any feelings for me."

"If he asked you if you had any feeling for him, what would you say?"

"I don't know. I'm so confused right now. I care about him, but I don't know how much and Chad…I can't do this to him. It wouldn't be fair."

"Do you love Chad?"

I shook my head. "I really don't know. I'm seventeen years old for crying out. I don't think I'm supposed to know what love is."

"I'm not telling you to go running into Cole's arms. I'm just telling you what I know because you deserve the truth. But you might want to talk to Cole about it."

"Why isn't he telling me this himself?"

"Because how much you like Chad. It wouldn't be fair on you if he put you that situation. Granted, he's been losing it but he's trying."

"What am I supposed do now? I don't want to lose either of them."

"I'd say give it a few days to think about all of it. Sort out your feelings and hopefully you can figure it out from there."

I nodded. "Is that you wanted to hang with me? To tell me I was stupid about my relationships?"

"That was a part of it and I was about to commit a crime if I didn't get away from Brooke."

I laughed. "In that case I would have helped."

"Hey, you're going to be okay. If you want to talk it out, you know I'm here." She gave me a half smile. "Now, if you don't mind, I think we should start eating this ice cream before it turns into milk."

We spent the rest of the night watching movies, gossiping about the girls at school and pigging out on junk food. It wasn't until Ava fell asleep that I remembered her confession about Cole's feelings. I didn't want to think about it, but I couldn't sleep. I tried to think if there were any signs that Cole might have given. He did smile a lot whenever I came up to him—that much I noticed. Then there was the year before. He risked his life to save mine at least two times. We were friends and we cared for each other, but now that I looked at it maybe there was more. Cole always managed to make time for me when I was grieving for Peter. He hardly left my side once.

But what did that say about me? I wanted Chad and Cole to be in my life, but that was proving to be impossible. I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want my best friend to love me while I was dating his enemy. Love was a little drastic though. For one thing, I didn't hear it from Cole. And until I asked him, I would be left wondering where I stood in the whole situation.

When I was finally close to falling asleep, I heard a tap at the door. I looked to the clock to see that it was three AM. I dragged myself off of the couch and walked to the front door. Why would I answer the door at that time of night, I still cannot explain that to you. I had a little bit of hope that I would be Nathan, but that was merely hoping.

Of course my hopes were diminished. I opened the door to see that no one was there. I looked around to see who had knocked on the door. There was still no one there. I glanced down on the porch. My eyes focused on the single envelope with my name written on top of it. I took the envelope and examined it. It was thick, but not thick enough to hold a bomb.

I opened the envelope at that. I froze at what it contained. Inside was a bundle of cash. I didn't know how much was there nor did I care. I was about to throw the envelope to the street until I saw a white piece of paper. I took out the paper and read it.

Dear Danielle,

Hope this pays for this month's groceries. I'll keep in touch.

-Adam


Thanks for reading! Good thing the world didn't end or else I wouldn't be able to update...Unless my quick updates are a sign of the apocalypse ;). Either way, Danni knows how Cole feels about her. Things are about to change the next few chapters or so between those two. Until next time.

~Emyrox567