Maria's POV

"Mom, I swear to you that I am safe." I sighed loudly as I continued walking aimlessly through the park I'd been at all day for Summer in the City. Since I was in a totally different country alone, my mother was being more than a bit paranoid.

"Everyone has been super nice to me. I got to talk to Dan and Phil's fiance and girlfriend and they're so sweet," I told her as I turned to look back at the crowd of people all walking to the spot where we were going to stand to watch the fireworks.

I wanted to be down there but my Mom kept calling me so I'd walked away from everyone since so many people were talking and she couldn't hear me.

I leaned up against a random tree and listened as my Mom went on and on about something. I have no idea what because I wasn't really paying attention.

There weren't very many people around where I was. There were a few security guys around which did make me feel better.

But then I saw Dan and Phil. They were walking past me but were a few feet away so they didn't notice me standing there. They looked pissed off and I thought it was odd that they were alone.

"Mom. The fireworks are about to start. Yes. Yes. I'll call you when I'm at the hotel," I said quickly before hanging up.

I wasn't trying to be some some sort of stalker or anything but I decided to follow them to see if they were leaving or something. I was going to be seriously upset if I didn't get to say goodbye to them and the girls.

They stopped abruptly at the sidewalk and Dan looked down at his phone before looking both ways down the street. He and Phil stepped out at the same time and just as I took a step forward to follow along with them, I heard tires screeching against the road.

Dan and Phil both looked towards where the noise had come from but neither had time to react before the black car sped right into them.

I know that the scream that left my lips was probably deafening. Without thinking twice I ran towards the road.

The first person I got to was Dan. I dropped to my knees on the pavement which should have hurt but my adrenaline was pumping so hard I couldn't feel anything.

"Dan!" I screamed his name and reached out to touch him but then I realized his neck might be broken or something. As I was moving to stand up, I saw someone out of the corner of my eye and turned to see a girl standing next to the front of the car which had extensive damage to the hood because of hitting them.

She was wearing all black like she was trying to be some kind of spy in a movie or something.

"Oh God," her eyes were wide as she stared down at Dan and Phil lying on the ground not moving. "You weren't supposed to be here!" she screamed out of nowhere before slamming her hand down on the hood. I thought she was talking about me for a second but then I realized her eyes were fixated on Dan.

It clicked with me then. She had planned this. Obviously she didn't mean to hit Dan but it had been planned.

She turned around quickly and hurried over to the driver's door of the car. I could already hear sirens as I stumbled to get up as well. I don't know what really possessed me to do it but there was no way in hell she was about to just drive away.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" I yelled, grabbing her arm before she could sit down in the car.

She jerked her arm back and reached out to shove me out of the way. The open car door kept me from falling. "Mind your own fucking business!" she screamed at me, tears running down her face. She looked like a fucking lunatic.

"You just ran them over!" I yelled back at her. "You can't just leave. What the fuck is your problem?"

"Move!" she yelled at me because I was in the way of her shutting the door.

"No!" I yelled back.

She stepped up so that her chest was pressed against mine which freaked me the fuck out. "Do you not see what I'm capable of?" she asked, her eyes glancing towards where Dan and Phil were lying. "I think you should move."

I've never hit anyone out of anger in my life. Ever.
Until then.
I don't even remember thinking of it before my right fist connected with the side of her face.

She stumbled back against the door frame. I noticed that the sirens were getting louder and I could even see red and blue lights flashing in the distance.

Apparently so could she, because once she gained her composure and steadied herself against the car she looked to her left and then shoved me out of her way.

I lost my balance as I started to turn so I could chase her and I felt myself falling.

But I wasn't about to let her run away.

Just before my chest hit the ground I reached out and grabbed her pant leg, causing her to lose her footing and she fell to the ground in front of me.

She screamed loudly and started kicking her legs, trying to get out of my grasp. I had a death grip on her though. She wasn't going anywhere.

I crawled towards her until I was sitting on the back of her knees, her body flailing beneath me as she mumbled things I couldn't hear over the sound of the sirens, which were now right in front of us.

I turned her over to see that there was blood coming out of her nose and mouth and that she was missing a couple of teeth from where her face had met the pavement.

I settled my knees on her shoulders, pinning her against the ground.

"You are going to pay for this you fucking bitch!" she screamed at me.

With her broken nose and fat lip, the only thing she was missing was a black eye.

I happily decided to give her one. It's not like the cops would be able to tell that I did it.

I reared my fist back and punched her in the face again. And again for Cat. And once more for Leila.

Seconds later, two police cars which were where the sirens were coming from pulled up behind her car. I looked over just as two of the officers were running towards us.

"Whoa, Miss! What's going on here?" he asked as he bent down to pull me off of her.

"She ran them over!" I yelled, pointing at her as the other officer pulled her to her feet. "She did it on purpose and tried to run. I swear."

Oh fuck. The last thing I needed was to be thrown in jail in another country. My parents would lock me in the basement for life.

Leila's POV.

I stared at Maria and I'm sure I looked just as dumbfounded as I felt by what she had just explained to Cat and I.

It was 7am, I had nearly been up for 24 hours straight but I wasn't the least bit disoriented or even tired. I was wide awake, running off of adrenaline, fear, and about fifteen cups of coffee.

I still hadn't seen Phil, and we had not been given any updates on his or Dan's conditions. We knew nothing outside of what we had been told before Detective Brams and Detective Curtis had found us in the A&E waiting room about two hours ago; that was making all of this harder to focus on.

I can't say that I didn't care about knowing what had happened, and who was behind this - I just cared a lot more about knowing if they were okay.

I had gone numb after the first few hours in the waiting room, not knowing whether or not the man that I loved was even alive - and now I was being told that this person, this monster had hit him on purpose? How was I supposed to process any of this?

I felt Cat's hand smooth over mine and I snapped out of whatever kind of trance I had fallen into.

"Ms. Faust, are you-"

Cat cleared cleared her throat very loudly to stop Detective Curtis from asking the world's most stupid question.

Are you okay?

Of course I'm not okay.

Are you fucking kidding me? How could anyone be okay after this?

I wouldn't even be close to being okay until I saw Phil with my own eyes. Until I knew that he was okay.

I cleared my throat and picked up my styrofoam coffee cup and took a drink from it.

"Once we took the suspect into custody we had a look at her cellphone. The very first thing we discovered was the app she had open. Twitter," Detective Curtis spoke up without waiting for a response from either Cat or I. "There were several messages between she and Mr. Howell, which involved you, Ms. Radley, meeting her outside of the park. Were you aware of this?"

I looked over at Cat, shocked, yet again by what we had been told.

"What? No." She shook her head, a look of complete confusion on her face. "He and Phil said they were going to the restrooms before the fireworks began but obviously they didn't."
"When I saw Dan and Phil walking towards where they were hit, they both looked so strange," Maria spoke up. "They looked pissed off, honestly. I thought maybe you all had gotten in a fight or something."

"Okay so," Cat sighed loudly. "The person wanted to meet me outside of the park?" She pointed at herself and the Detective nodded. "Obviously it was someone Dan didn't want me around."

The detectives looked at each other before looking back at Cat. "We have reason to believe that this is the same person who broke into your homes at the beginning of the year," Detective Brams told us as he extended his arms towards us, offering both of us a piece of paper. "Those are the messages that were exchanged between Mr. Howell and who we have in custody as well as some of the messages she had been posting on her account. It also appears that she had a personal issue with Ms. Radley, as she specifically asked for you to meet her in the location of the accident."

"We believe she had imagined a different outcome," Detective Curtis said as he folded his hands on the table. "It seems as though she wanted you to be her victim," he looked directly at Cat.

Just when I thought I couldn't feel any more disgusted or nauseated.

"And it makes sense," Maria spoke up again, "because right after she hit them, and saw them, she started screaming about how 'he wasn't supposed to be there' and she was looking at Dan when she said it."

Cat hadn't reacted yet. Her eyes were glued to the piece of paper that had the texts between the psycho and Dan. I wasn't sure if she was even breathing. It almost startled me when she finally spoke.

"You're telling me that they are back there dealing with God knows what and-" she paused and closed her eyes as she shook her head. "He should've just told me. It should've been me." She was nearly yelling at that point and she slammed the paper down on the table before standing up and running her fingers through her hair. "Who the fuck is this person?"

"Cat, please," I said quietly as I reached out for her arm, but was too afraid to actually touch her. "Just, sit down." I could understand why she was livid - but I couldn't agree that it should have been her. It shouldn't have been anyone. No one should have gotten hurt. I couldn't imagine losing Phil. I couldn't imagine losing Dan. And I certainly couldn't imagine losing my best friend.

Detective Brams cleared his throat to get our attention and when I looked over at him I could see that he was holding another piece of paper in his hands. As I stared at it I noticed that it was picture paper.

He shifted his eyes to Detective Curtis and he slowly turned the picture around so that we could see it.

My eyes were so wide that they were nearly bulging out of their sockets.

"Her name is-"

"McKenzie!" Cat and I both screamed.

I could not believe this. That stupid, manipulative, crazy fucking piece of work is the person who was behind all of this?

The detectives looked so confused. "You know her?" Curtis asked curiously.

"Yes!" Cat yelled, not directing her yelling towards him. I think it was mostly the shock we were both feeling. "She lived across from us. She had a thing for Dan and tried pretty damn hard to break us up. We thought she moved back to the states." She turned to look at me and I'm pretty sure I'd never seen her so mad. "How could we not figure that out? That stupid fucking whore."

"We thought she was gone," I shrugged. I didn't realize it just then, but my entire body was shaking. "That fucking cunt! Oh my God. She better be glad that she's already in jail because I literally want to k-"

"Ms. Faust, we're on your side, but we're both still law enforcement," Detective Brams stifled a smile as he looked at me trying to remain as stern as possible. "She's in our custody and she's not going to be out of it any time soon."

"As far you thinking that she was gone," Detective Curtis spoke up. "She gained citizenship here last year, so we have no reason to believe that she ever left at all. I'm not sure if this is something she was conspiring to do or-"

"It is," I interrupted, looking away from him and over at Cat. "She's been planning all of this... It's so obvious now," I shook my head. "When she kissed Dan... Dan told me that entire story in detail. I specifically remember him saying that she told him 'I'll see you next year.' She was getting back at him, back at you, back at me, and Phil, even. She didn't want us to know that she was still around. Think about it. The video she posted, our apartments getting broken into, the photos she released... The video was obviously put up by her, but the rest? How were we supposed to know she was behind it when she was supposed to be gone?"

"I can't believe this," Cat said as she sat down again. "It all makes sense now. I feel so stupid for not putting more thought into the possibility that whoever was doing this shit could be her. I knew she was out there but I never thought she was capable of this insanity. She was going to try to kill me."

The Detectives questioned us about McKenzie for a good hour or so, asking us for every detail of every encounter we had ever had with her. We had to relive a lot of memories that I'm sure Cat and I both would have prefered to leave in the past; but it seemed to have been a bit of a distraction for both of us, even if it was a bad one. It stopped us from thinking about the horror that was our lives at that particular moment.

Though, once Detective Brams and Detective Curtis left us, we were left with the harsh reality.

Both of the men we loved were fighting for their lives because of her. Because of jealousy, or envy, or whatever the fuck it was that made McKenzie go to such a length to make herself feel better about the fact that Dan didn't want her.

We were in a different waiting room now. The one outside of the intensive care unit where Phil already was and where we were told Dan would be moved to once his surgery was over.

No one else was in the room with us which I was thankful for. We needed to be alone to process everything or at least make ourselves come out of being in shock.

"I feel like this is all my fault," Cat finally spoke and I looked over at her to see her leaning her head against the wall and staring up at the ceiling. "It's irrational and I know that but the fact that she was after me and they got hurt. I can't handle that."

"It wasn't your fault though," I said, sitting up a bit so that I could face her. "I understand why you feel that way but-" I sighed. "I know that you would never want Dan to get hurt over anything, especially not over you, but would you want him to be you right now?"

We both might have been physically well, but the mental turmoil from all of this was completely unexplainable.

"If it would have been you.." I trailed off because I could feel tears welling behind my eyes. The thought of Cat being in their place was just as devastating as what had actually happened. "Please, don't blame yourself," I wiped the tears away from my eyes and leaned my head onto Cat's arm before I wrapped my arms around her. "They're going to be okay. We're all going to be okay."

We had to be.

She wrapped her arms around me and I could feel her shaking a bit because she was crying. Part of me wished a nurse would come in and offer to medicate us into oblivion. I wanted to just wake up from this insane nightmare.

"Leila Faust?" A woman spoke my name and Cat and I pulled away from each other wiping our eyes as we looked over at her.

"That's me."

She was a middle aged woman with short red hair who had a very pretty smile. "Your boyfriend is asking for you."

I could feel more tears running down my cheeks as I stared at her like a deer in headlights. It felt like the elephant that had been sitting on my chest all this time had finally been lifted and I could breathe again. "He's - he's awake?" I asked.

The woman nodded at me, still smiling her sweet smile.

I looked over at Cat and grabbed her to hug her again. "Thank God," I squeezed her tightly then started pull back a bit so I could see her face. "Dan is going to be fine, okay?" I stared at her for a few seconds then took in a deep breath and moved to stand up.

The woman waited for me to get closer to her before she started leading out of the waiting room and down a long hallway to a set of double doors. She scanned her name badge against a little black box and the doors opened, revealing a very large room.

There were doctors and nurses everywhere coming in and out of the rooms in the unit.

"Here you are," she grinned and gestured towards the door in front of us. "He's on a lot of pain medication, so he might be a bit.. out of it," she laughed. "He's also got a lot of lines running in and out of him.. I wanted to let you know so you don't get scared when you see him. He just woke up, but he's very alert."

I tried my best to actually pay attention to her, but the anticipation of seeing him made it very hard to focus on what she was saying.

"If either of you need anything, I'll be right over there," she smiled and patted my shoulder before walking away.

With another deep breath, I pushed the door open and slowly walked inside. I tried to use those last few seconds before I rounded the corner of his room to mentally prepare myself for what I was about to see because I wasn't sure what to expect.

"Oh my God," I cried as soon as my eyes fell upon him. He was lying in bed and aside from all of the wires and things hooked up to him and the cast on his arm, he looked fine. He looked like my Phil.

I closed the space between where he was laying and where I was standing and I grabbed his uncasted hand. I wanted to latch onto him and squeeze him, but I didn't want to cause him any more pain. "You're okay. Oh my God, I'm so glad you're okay," I continued crying, burying my face against his arm as I sat down in the chair by his bed.

I felt his fingers move through my hair softly. "Sweetheart, please don't cry." His voice was hoarse and he sounded sort of drunk. "Wow. Your hair is so soft," he giggled as he began petting the back of my head. "Why the bloody hell did I get hit by a car? I don't remember thinking that was a very good idea."

I lifted my head up so I could look at him and I couldn't help but to laugh. "You're as high as a kite," I shook my head. The nurse had warned me that he might be a bit loopy, now that I think about it. "Well you didn't do it on purpose. You're smarter than that," I wiped my eyes on the back of my hand, still smiling at him. I didn't care about anything else right now. Phil was okay. Nothing else mattered. "McKenzie did it," I told him as I reached up and stroked his cheek.

"What?!" he asked in his loud, high pitched voice he randomly used. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He attempted to sit up on the bed but immediately winced and laid back again. "That was not smart," he sighed and rubbed the side of his face. "Are they sure it was her?"

"Shhh, please, try to relax. You've been through a lot," I said quietly , grabbing his hand again and lacing my fingers through his. "They are. Maria saw her.. she saw all of it. If it wasn't for her, she would have gotten away... They've got her though," I explained, unsure if I should tell him that McKenzie was also behind breaking into our apartments. "She won't be able to hurt any of us again."

He had a very confused look on his face. It almost looked like he was actually straining to think about something. Then his eyes got big and his mouth popped open. "Dan. Where is Dan? Is he okay?" he asked, obviously remembering what actually happened.

"He's in surgery," I shifted my eyes to our hands for a few seconds before looking at him again. "He had a little bit of swelling around his brain from the accident.. We haven't heard anything since they took him back for it." I hated having to tell him that. I didn't want him to worry, but I knew it was inevitable.

"What?" This time his voice was not high pitched or angry. He sounded more like a little boy. A very sad little boy. "No," he shook his head and I could see his bottom lip starting to quiver.

Oh God. I did not think I could mentally or physically handle seeing him cry in front of me.

"He's my best friend. If something happens to him I-" he stopped talking because his voice cracked a bit since he was getting emotional and he just looked down at our hands together.

"Hey," I spoke softly, reaching out again so I could cup his cheek. "He's going to be fine, okay? He's Dan... Nothing is going to happen to him. He's going to come out of surgery, and wake up and start talking about placentas and Maltesers," I laughed but it was very weak.

He nodded but didn't say anything for a few seconds. I think he was trying to get a hold on his emotions. He kept his eyes downwards and started at our fingers together. "Whatever they have me on has me feeling quite floaty," he finally spoke up, laughing lightly. "When can we go home? I want our bed. I want waffles."

"As soon as you get better," I smiled at him and looked down at the tube beside our hands. I wasn't sure if he had even noticed that it was there or not, but one end of it was hidden under his gown by his chest. I didn't want to know what it was for, or why there was blood inside of it. "When you get to come home I'll make you waffles and you can eat them in our bed," I looked back up at him. "And we'll have lots and lots of sex," I added in an attempt to cheer him up. I mean, I knew that it wouldn't take away any worry or any pain, but I - I don't know. I didn't want to see him upset. It was heartbreaking.

His lips curved into a smile and he tilted his head as he looked at me. "I love the sound of that," he sighed happily. "You're so beautiful. Seriously. I think you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen and you're aaaaaall mine," he grinned lazily. "I win."

I laughed and pulled our hands against my chest as I leaned in a little closer to him. "I love you," I sighed and kissed the back of his hand. I think all of this made me fall even more in love with him. If you think you may lose what's important to you, you cling to it even more.

I moved so that I could reach him better and pressed my lips against his, giving him a soft kiss before leaning back again. "You're feeling okay, right?" I asked. "Do you need anything, or want anything? Are you hungry? I can get you something."

"Something to drink would be wonderful but other than that I just want you here with me," he said as he lazily rubbed the side of his face. Well, he sort of slap and rubbed it. "Shit!" he slapped his hand against the bed out of nowhere. "I missed the fireworks. I was gonna-" he shut his mouth quickly and looked very frustrated.

I gasped a little as his outburst and looked at him with wide, confused eyes. "You were going to what?" I laughed. "It's okay that you missed them.. Everything is okay because you are," I told him. "But you do owe me a lot of kissing next time we're supposed to see a firework show," I joked, since that was supposed to be a new experience for me.

He gave me a little sad smile and nodded. "I will definitely give you as many kisses as you want whenever we get to see a firework show again. I promise."

Dan's POV

My eyelids fluttered open and I swear to God my head had never hurt so bad before in my entire life.

I saw a white blur in front of me and I lifted my hands to rub my eyes. I noticed that they were very cold and that my arms were very heavy. Actually, my entire body was heavy. And sore. I felt like I'd been hit by a bloody car -

And that's when everything started coming back to me.

I had been hit by a car.

I opened my eyes again and I saw a nurse at the foot of my bed writing something down. I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn't get a word out before her eyes met with mine and she gasped.

"Oh my God," she put her hand over her heart. "You gave me a scare!" she laughed as she moved towards the side of my bed. She pulled a pen out of her pocket that apparently had some sort of light attached to the end, that she thought would be a good eye to shine right into my bloody eyes, causing the pain in my head to intensify.

"Can you tell me your name?" she asked me.

"Daniel James Howell," I replied groggily as I moved to sit up but was immediately met with resistance in the form of horrible pain.

"Woah now, take it easy," she laughed again. "Do you know where you're at?"

"Mr. Grey's white room of pain?" I offered, laughing weakly at the joke she obviously didn't get. "I'm in a hospital," I told her, before she could think I had some kind of mental issue.

"And do you know what year it is?"

"2013," I answered.

She smiled. "Brilliant, very good. Do you know what happened to you?"

"I was hit by a car, but it feels like I might have been hit by a bus."

She laughed again then went on to finish examining me. Apparently, despite having slipped into a bloody coma for a day, I was doing quite alright. Gold star for me, everyone!

I noticed that I had a sling over my left shoulder, which is bloody great, since I'm left handed and all.

Oi, I'm such an ungrateful tit. I should be happy I'm alive. Which I am. But if I don't see humor in this shit situation then I might be reduced to tears because everything hurt and nothing was okay.

The nurse gave me some pain meds then asked me if I wanted anything. I told her I wanted a placenta sized Malteser, but she said she was fresh out of them then gave me a disgusted look, which wasn't surprising.

Though, after that, I asked if she could call my fiance, and she let me know that she was already at the hospital waiting to see me. She agreed to go get her for me, but I asked her not to tell her that I was awake already. I wanted to surprise her.

A couple of minutes later I heard the door open and then heard slow footsteps coming towards the side of my bed. I could smell her perfume so I knew for sure that it was Cat.
Her fingertips touched my cheek and I heard a little sniffle before she spoke. "Baby?" she whispered.

I slowly lifted my eyelids (because I had been pretending to be asleep) and looked in every direction but hers. When I saw her face I could see that she had tears in her eyes. It was hard to look at her like that and not show any kind of emotion, but I'm pretty sure all of the pain medication helped me through it.

"Wh- where am I?" I spoke up, hopefully sounding as confused as I looked. "What happened to me? Who are you?"

Her eyes, which I noticed were really bloodshot, got wide and she slowly pulled her hand away from me. "It's me. Cat," she told me, her voice starting to sound shaky. "You're in the hospital. You don't remember me?"

"Wait..." I raised my hand off of the bed. "Cat?" I tilted my head slightly then winced because the pain meds hadn't even began to alleviate that pain. "I think... I think it's coming back to me," I told her. "It's all coming back to me... I'm Dan.. and.. and I'm married to Delia Smith and I work in porn.. is that right?"

Her mouth popped open and her expression went from confusion to anger. "I swear. If you weren't lying in that bed right now I would beat the living shit out of you," she said as she brought her hands up to the sides of her head and rubbed her temples while sitting down on the edge of my bed.

Then she started laughing but tears started streaming down her face. "I don't know whether to laugh or cry," she managed to say. "I'm pretty sure this has been one of the absolute worst days of my life." She shook her head and then covered her eyes with her hand like that would keep me from seeing her cry. "I thought you were going to die," she whispered in the most devastating sounding voice I had ever heard.

I reached out so I could grab one of her hands, which was a lot harder than it normally was because all of my muscles and joints felt like they might have been on fire. "Hey.." I spoke up once I finally grasped one of them. I tugged it away from her face and offered her a small smile. "I'm fine.. Please don't cry. Please," I knotted my fingers through hers. That's why I had tried to troll her. I didn't want her to be upset. I hated seeing her upset. I broke my heart. "I'm here, baby, and I'm not going anywhere."

She took a deep breath as she wiped her tears away. "I'm sorry. I've been sitting in that waiting room mentally preparing myself to not cry when I saw you but obviously it didn't work," she laughed. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Don't be sorry," I pulled our hands closer to my torso, causing her to lean in a bit. I wanted her to be as close to me as possible because I knew that I was the only person who could give her any kind of comfort right now. I nodded at her before answering. "Yeah, I-" I froze, because until she asked, I hadn't really remembered everything. "Oh my God, is Phil okay?" I asked, suddenly remembering that he had been with me when the accident happened.

"Yes, baby. He's alright. Leila is with him now," she told me as she scooted closer to me on the bed so I could reach her more easily. "You both scared the living shit out of us though. They wouldn't even tell me and Leila if y'all were alive until your parents got here. Well, Phil's brother got here before his parents."

She bit her bottom lip and I could practically feel the tension rolling off of her. "We found out who did it though."

I was relieved to hear that Phil was okay. Had something happened to him, I don't know how I would have lived with myself. It was my fault that he was even out there at all.

I raised my brow at the last thing she said, "Who was it?" I asked sounding very serious. I knew that I had been hit by a car - but the rest of the details were unknown to me.

"It was McKenzie." She said that sentence like she literally had to just force the words out of her mouth. "She was behind all of it. The tumblr shit. The break ins. The photo leaks."

My eyes were huge because I was in shock. "What the hell?!" I shrieked, then immediately regretted it, because it made my already pounding head, hurt worse. I grimaced and brought my hand to it, only then realizing i had a bandage wrapped around it. "How did she even-" I stopped, because it all finally made sense to me. "She was the person tweeting us..." I shook my head. "How did you find out it was her?"

"Baby, please be careful," she said while looking at me like she was terrified I was about to shatter. "Well, remember that Maria girl that we met earlier in the day? She sat by us at the picnic. Anyway, she had walked away to talk on the phone and saw you and Phil walk by then saw you guys get hit. She ran over to make sure you were okay and well, long story short, McKenzie was going to try to run and Maria beat her ass and kept her held down until the cops came. Coolest fan ever if you ask me. I want to adopt her."

So first she tried to kill us - and then she tried to run? Well, I guess it made sense, since she had it planned but - Oh my God. She had it planned. She didn't want to kill me or Phil. She wanted to kill Cat.

I could feel my blood start to boil. I don't know why I was surprised. There was a reason I hadn't told Cat about the fact that we were going to meet up with her in the first place.

"I'm going to have to give Maria a massive hug if I ever see her again," I finally spoke up. I owed that girl a lot. We all did, I think. Had Maria not been there, McKenzie would have gotten off free.

"I'm sorry this happened," I looked up at Cat. "I can't imagine what you've been going through this whole time.. But I couldn't just - if I would have told you, and this would have happened to you?" I shook my head. "I just wanted to protect you, and finally end what was happening with her."

"I know you were trying to protect me. I just- It's weird to know that this happened to you guys but it was supposed to happen to me. Logically I know that it's not my fault but it's hard to not think of it that way," she sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. "I just can't believe that she was so obsessed with taking you from me that she was willing to actually kill me." She rolled her eyes as she looked at me again. "I swear, if I could just see her for 10 seconds she would be begging for what she got from Maria instead of what I was giving to her."

"I bet... I know what you're capable of, remember?" I laughed. "It's insane. She's bloody insane and this proves it, if everything else didn't... But," I paused to take in a breath, "she didn't get away with any of it. She didn't take you from me, and she didn't take me from you. We're fine and so is Phil and that's all I care about," I told her as I tilted my head. "Can I ask you for something?" I asked, but didn't give her a chance to say anything before I spoke again. "Can I have a kiss?"

Her face seemed to just light up instantly and she laughed. "Of course you can." She moved closer to me and carefully hovered over me before pressing her lips against mine. She lingered there for a few seconds before moving her lips from mine and kissing each of my dimples and then my lips again. Her lips tasted like sugary coffee.

"Good enough?" she asked, still hovering over me.

I shook my head as I grinned at her and raised my hand up to her face, cupping her cheek as I pulled her back towards me so I could give her a proper kiss. "Mmmm," I smiled against her lips and caressed her cheek with my thumb. "No matter how many times I kiss you it always feels like the first time," I said and pecked her lips again. And again. And again.

She giggled against my lips and returned each of my kisses. "Yeah, I still get those crazy butterflies like I got the first time you kissed me," she said as she pulled back enough so she could see me. "I will never ever forget that. I think I nearly died," she laughed.

"I won't either," I smiled at her. "It was after Phileila made us think Slenderman was going to kill us," I rolled my eyes and laughed. "And we went back to your, well, our, apartment, and cuddled up on the couch together," I'm not sure why I explained it to her, because I knew that she remembered it as well as I did. "I was quite nervous about that kiss."

She looked at me like I was crazy. "You didn't seem nervous at all. You looked like you were on a mission and you were very confident about it," she laughed. "I was nervous as hell. I think it took me 10 seconds to actually move."

"Well, the same goes for you, because I couldn't tell you were nervous," I grinned at her.

"What?" she laughed. "Holy shit, Dan. I was shaking like a leaf. The man of my dreams was moving in for a kiss. I still get flustered just thinking about it." She wasn't lying. Her face was turning a bit pink as she raised her hand to fan her face, the diamond on the ring I'd put on her finger almost a year ago sparkling even in the dim light of the room.

I grinned. It wasn't an easy feat to make her blush like that. She was always so calm and collected. That's probably exactly why I wasn't able to tell how nervous she had been that night.

I reached out and grabbed her left hand and pulled it back towards me, resting it on my chest, over my heart, which was beating faster than usual. "I still get nervous when I think about it," I admitted. "And I still get excited the same way when I see you. That's how I knew, that you were the one. That had never happened to me before and I take comfort in knowing that it will happen over and over again for the rest of my life."

She bit her bottom lip and I could tell she was trying to keep herself from crying. "My God, if you're saying stuff like this while we're just sitting in a hospital room then I don't know how I'll ever handle your vows," she laughed as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine. Her hand moved up to my cheek and she lingered there for a second before pulling back and looking into my eyes, smiling as she studied my face. "I look forward to getting butterflies from you forever, Mr. Howell."