Just after midnight Regina's guests were trashed, all except for Danny and Archie.
"This is some karma." Archie shook his head as he surveyed the group.
"We're in trouble." Danny muttered, watching as Lacey chugged god knows what at this point.
"If we can get them to stop now they'll be okay in an hour—" Archie suggested.
"I'm not letting Lacey drive."
"Can you still drive?" They were sober but Archie was trying to remember the terms of Danny's probation.
"Yes, I wasn't the one who smashed into the back of a police car while I was drunk—" Danny reminded him, "But Chief asked me not to drive while I'm here."
"I think this is a pretty good exception."
"You must be the bad boys?"
Danny turned around to see a perfectly basic middle aged woman staring back.
"Mrs. Crane?" Danny presumed.
"Call me Gloria."
Gloria Crane held her hand out but not in any way possible to shake, was she expecting him to kiss it? Danny shot a glance over to Archie who had no problem kissing it like the minion Danny always knew him to be.
"Having fun?" She dragged her eyes all over both of them, making Danny incredibly uncomfortable.
"Yes." Archie said
"Mhm." Danny lied.
"Not as much as everyone else it seems though, right?" Gloria smiled, "You're Daniel." Gloria let her eyes linger on Danny for far too long.
"Danny, yes ma'am."
"Regina has talked a lot about you this week. She never does that. I had to come down and see you for myself."
"I wish we were known for being some sort of outstanding citizens, but we're working on it. Thank you again for this—opportunity." He tried to joke through whatever cougar outreach program Gloria felt she was managing right now.
"Yes, well, if you ever need anything don't hesitate to contact me. Now, about the door to one of my bedrooms?"
"Oh, um—" Archie held his breath.
Danny knew that destruction of property could definitely land Archie in jail and probably himself as well. They seemed to be a packaged deal these days.
"This might be one of those times when I need you." Danny gave her his best pleading smile.
Gloria pondered Danny's words just long enough to scare them further, "Okay, well, I'm so sorry, those locks do stick all the time. You had to do what you had to do. I completely understand."
Danny and Archie both exhaled at the same time.
"Enjoy yourselves." Gloria smiled brighter and walked away.
"Holy shit dude, is it possible to be more than sober?" Archie held his chest.
"That's anxiety. Welcome." Danny gave Archie a slap on his back, "We need to get the fuck out of here before we end up owing her more than we want to give, if you know what I mean."
"It wouldn't be that bad, she's kinda hot."
Danny grimaced, "Find Jo and Rico and meet me at Lacey's car, we're leaving in ten."
Danny waded through the sea of now stumbling party guests. Something about being forced to watch those around him slide further and further away from sobriety made the charm of 'having a good time' dim a bit. Even so, he still wished he could be right there with them, to just be a normal person again.
Lacey was dancing around and talking animatedly with Regina, Sarita and a few other people that he didn't know.
"Hey Lacey."
"Danny!" She sauntered over and gave him a big hug.
"I'm sorry if I'm about to ruin your fun, but we need to go." He hummed near her ear while he held her in his arms.
Lacey pulled back and searched his face, "I screwed up." She nodded in agreement with herself.
Danny assumed that Lacey was realizing how much she had to drink. He was surprised but not upset, this was her graduation party after all.
"It's okay, I can drive."
Lacey pulled back a little, "Oh, what? No, I can drive—"
"You're not driving." Danny laughed a little, was she serious?
"Danny I have to be back at my house with my car—" Lacey paced side to side for a moment while she tried to get her brain to think, "If my parents knew you drove—" Lacey scrubbed her hand over her face.
"Look, you can't drive. I can call Chief and have him come pick us up if you don't want me to drive your car—"
"No, god no—"
"Then we need to fix this. It's been a long day for you. Let's go outside, call your parents and tell them you're having fun and that you're too tired to drive home so you're going to stay at the Masterson's. I'll drive us all there and you'll be good to go home tomorrow."
"Kyle is going to know what a crock of shit this is. He's the chief of police." Lacey pointed out.
"We'll frame it like old times. You and Jo wanting to have a sleep over, revisit your bond." He rolled his eyes, "Give me your keys."
Lacey handed over her keys and followed Danny outside. As their friends waited in the distance, Lacey pulled Danny to a stop before they got close enough for them to hear. Danny looked at her in confusion.
"You okay? Did you forget something?"
"I screwed up." Lacey repeated what she had told him inside a few minutes prior.
"No worries, Lace. We'll get you out of this, okay?" Danny smiled.
"No, I mean, I don't think we should have slept together tonight." Lacey's eyes teared up.
"Whoa, hey—it's okay." Danny reached out and rubbed the outside of her arms, not wanting to suffocate her with a hug when she was dealing with whatever she was feeling right now.
"I didn't plan to drink tonight, but after the Charlie news I just—" Lacey was way more emotional than she thought she'd be.
Danny started to panic a little, his mind racing. Their fling had the potential to get him into some huge trouble if Lacey wanted it to. They really didn't know each other at all. Why didn't he just wear the fucking condom?
Danny continued rubbing her arms, "We've only known each other for a week, it was fast. So, we'll slow down."
"D, we've gotta bounce!" Archie yelled after Jo showed him the clock on her phone..
"We've gotta go." Danny added before turning away and heading toward the car, Lacey trailing a few steps behind.
Danny went over the plan: call their parents, drop Rico off and drive the rest of them back to Jo's house. With any luck, the Mastersons wouldn't see who drove in and if they did they'd exaggerate their level of exhaustion.
"Hi Daddy, this is Lacey," Lacey giggled, "Of course you already know that—"
Shit, this was messy. Danny winced and turned to look at Jo who was having a similar conversation with Chief Masterson.
"It'll be like old times!" Jo gushed to her dad, also misjudging her emphasis and out of character positive energy.
In the end, their parents agreed to their shaky scrap of a plan. They all climbed into Lacey's car, Archie taking the passenger seat this time.
"Jesus Jo, all I smell is weed." Danny groaned worriedly and put the windows down.
"Seriously, there's no way your parents are not going to notice." Archie was now fully panicking.
"Relax, idiots. It's not like they're going to be waiting to smell me as I walk through the door." Jo grumbled.
"I don't think they'll need to." Danny nose scrunched up as her ever-skunky odor wafted into the front seat again.
"They're all awake now that you've called them. They'll definitely be looking at Danny and I, why not check the rest of us out." Archie guessed.
"I think I'm okay." Lacey smelled herself, starting to sober up.
Danny reached behind him and handed the three of them some mints.
They arrived at Rico's house about five minutes later, dumped him out and began their nerve-wracking drive to the Masterson's for the night.
Danny parked off to the side of the driveway and prayed that no one was watching them. It had rained hard the day before and where Danny had parked was basically on the edge of a large muddy area.
Lacey slid out of the backseat and turned to give Jo a hand to help her navigate the sloppy ground.
"Thanks." Jo said as she took Lacey's hand.
"Please don't be mad at me?" Lacey asked Jo as she was straightening out her sweater.
"Mad about what?" Jo asked curiously.
Lacey quickly tucked her leg in front of Jo's and dropped her straight into the mud.
"Ohhh, shit!" Archie was stunned.
"Oh my gosh, you tripped!" Lacey said almost believably.
Danny watched as Lacey reached to offer Jo some fake assistance with getting up and ended up pushing Jo down onto her back, completely coating her with the disgusting mud.
"I can't fucking believe you!" Jo's voice cracked. She tried to yank Lacey down with her but Lacey was much stronger and steadier on her feet.
Jo just sat in the muddy puddle, cold, slimy and defeated. Lacey squatted down, hand extended to really help her up this time. Jo didn't make a move to accept the offer.
"C'mon, now you don't smell like pot. You're welcome." Lacey pulled Jo to her feet.
"Wow." Danny said in total shock.
"I had to do something!" Lacey defended herself.
He wasn't sure where to begin processing that addition to their plan, but Lacey's MMA move just became one more thing they couldn't undo now. She really was always in charge, Danny smirked.
"Jo! What the heck happened?!" Tess was surprised to see her only child walk through the door dripping in mud from head to toe.
"Danny parked next to the mud puddle and I didn't see it when I got out—"
"Danny parked there?" Kyle surveyed the remaining members of their crew.
Fuck.
"I'm taking a shower." Jo ignored her mistake and waddled to the bathroom, Tess running around to get Jo clean clothes and then returning to her room.
"Yes, I drove us home. I know you don't want me doing that but everyone was so tired and I am the only one of us who got to take a nap earlier." Danny confessed.
"I told you to call me first if something went wrong." Kyle pushed back.
"There was nothing wrong really, just the short drive back. I didn't want to bother you just for that."
"I am sure Lacey was awake enough to make the short drive." Kyle looked over at her, "Unless she was impaired somehow?"
"I'm fine, just totally exhausted." Lacey's face hung, she really did look spent.
Kyle sighed, "Lacey, you and Jo will be staying on the couch in the living room for your sleep over, Tess set it all up for you two."
"Okay, thank you." Lacey said, "I'll just wait for Jo then." Fucking great.
"Can D and I go up to bed, Uncle Kyle?" Archie hitched a thumb toward the stairs.
"First, I'm going to have you blow into this." Kyle pulled out the small portable breathalyzer his officers carried around town in their cruisers.
"I didn't drink anything." Archie defended.
"Good, then we're establishing some trust here. Maybe I won't have to do it again." Kyle held the device up to Archie's mouth, "Just keep blowing until it beeps."
The tiny machine beeped and gave no reading. Kyle popped the mouth piece off and switched it for a new one.
"Good night, Archie."
Kyle tried to send him off to bed but Archie wasn't leaving without Danny.
"Let's go Danny." Kyle waved him over for his turn.
"I didn't drink tonight either." Danny said and looked Kyle right in the eyes, he wanted to be added to the trust list as well.
"Okay, show me."
Danny blew through the machine, weirdly worried he wouldn't pass even though he had nothing but water to drink all night. It was another zero reading. Kyle nodded, the three men and Lacey standing silently in the kitchen together while Kyle packed away the tester.
"Since we're being honest," Kyle crossed his arms across his chest, "Would you girls pass or not?" His eyes traveled to Lacey, all of them knowing she wouldn't pass.
"Like I said, they're just tired, Chief." Danny asserted before Lacey could say a word, calling his bluff and praying Kyle wouldn't challenge him.
"Guys, when the option shakes down to everyone being driven home by someone on probation, it's time to call me. Understand?"
"You make it sound like I'm worthless." Danny was upset, apparently they were getting into this now.
"It's about trust and respect."
"Chief, I do respect you, when do I get the trust and the respect back?"
"When you start making the right decisions."
"I'm sorry I didn't call."
"Apology accepted. Do you trust me?"
"I mean, I guess so—"
"I'm a dad." Kyle looked over at Archie, "Will I call your PO about Mrs. Crane's broken bedroom door? Nope."
Archie's heart stopped. Kyle looked back at Danny.
"Do I believe you drove everyone home because they were 'too tired' to drive? Also no. You're a good kid, Desai. I do see that."
"Thank you, Chief."
Jo slid out of the bathroom and headed toward the stairs.
"Jo, you're set up in the living room with Lacey tonight. I know how badly you wanted that sleepover." Kyle glared at her.
"Oh—well, that pull out bed isn't very big. Maybe I should just sleep in my bed tonight. I know how tired Lacey is."
Thank god, Lacey thought. The last thing she wanted was to spend a night on some shitty mattress sleeping next to Jo Masterson and worrying about eyebrow revenge.
"Actually Jo, you can't." Kyle stood weirdly firmer than he ever had with her, "Tomorrow we're going to be setting your bedroom up in the office down here for a bit."
"Why can't I stay in my room?"
Jo had goosebumps erupt all over her body, this conversation eerily familiar to the one they had when she found out the boys were coming for the summer.
"Another family has asked us to board their son for his probation period. I'm sure you girls will remember him, Charlie McBride?"
Lacey's jaw hung open, her eyes burning a hole through Danny's face.
"Wait, he's here now?" Jo asked and looked over at Lacey in shock.
"He is."
Danny felt sick.
"Why does he get my room and I have to be stuffed in the office?! I didn't do anything!" Jo was horrified for Lacey but mostly angry that this asshole was in her bed right now.
"This isn't up for debate. It's smarter to have the three of them up in the same place. Your mother and I will be able to keep a closer eye on them."
"Wow, we're running a halfway house now." Jo fumed.
Charlie descended the staircase and into the kitchen after being woken up by all the commotion.
"Is this when everyone normally gets up?" Charlie rubbed his face, "I know it's a farm but this just seems too early." Charlie looked around at the group, not recognizing the guys, eyes finally connecting with Lacey, "Lacey?!"
"Hi Charlie." Lacey smiled and the two walked over to hug each other.
"Oh my god, I've been trying to reach you." He held her tight, leaning back so her feet left the ground for a few moments.
Danny took stock of Charlie. They were the same height, roughly the same build. Danny wondered if his muscles were from working out in jail or if he had always been like that. Charlie's hair was longer, not as long as his, but long enough to piss Danny off. He wasn't a bad looking guy.
"Charlie these are your new roommates." Kyle presented, "This is my nephew Archie and his friend Danny."
"Nice to meet you." Charlie shook Archie's hand and moved over to shake Danny's, "You're Danny." Charlie shook his hand for a few moments longer than Archie's, "Nice to put a face with the stories I've heard." Charlie deadpanned, all hints of his smile fading to nothing.
"Same." Danny pushed back with the same intensity.
Lacey knew Regina and their other classmates had probably given Charlie an earful about her and Danny by now. She didn't want to deal with this.
"Okay, Charlie, to answer your question, it is too early to be up. Sorry we woke you. Danny, you should get to bed, you've only got about an hour before you feed the animals." Kyle chuckled at him.
"No problem. Thank you for letting us go to the party, Chief. I had fun."
Danny stared past Charlie and connected with Lacey, offering her a genuine smile. Maybe it wasn't fair to her, but Charlie needed to be reminded that he hadn't been around for the last year and that Danny wasn't going anywhere.
"Good night." Danny excused himself, Archie right behind him.
Charlie could read between the lines. He turned and connected with Lacey again, the struggle she was dealing with was obvious. Charlie nodded, she didn't need to say a word, he already knew.
If Danny wanted some competition, Charlie was game. He knew what it felt like to lose Lacey and he was not about to let it happen again. It was Danny's turn to take the L, Charlie would make sure of it.