Danny bought earbuds and a fan.
It had been a solid month and he and the girls had found a comfortable existence in their tiny shared apartment.
Phoebe's family lived on the west coast of Canada and Whitney and Danny's families had basically abandoned both of them, so they pulled each other close to create a little family of their own.
They had a few drunken nights together, the kind when you reveal details about your life you wouldn't normally share. Whitney found a job serving at the restaurant across the street and the three of them were finally saving money.
No one had heard from Archie. Kyle kept in touch and told Danny that Archie was doing well but it had only been a month and he still had a long way to go. Jo and Danny texted often. Jo and Lacey began to hang out more once college started and helped each other study.
Danny and Lacey checked in with each other weekly via text, they kept things superficial and light. Danny threw his energy into his new job and gave Lacey the time they had both asked for.
There were distractions. Lots of them. Danny was extremely popular at the bar. He found that the more he was chased after, the less interested he was in pursuing anyone.
It was almost as if the level of love and the type of exclusivity he had with Lacey over the summer was now the threshold with which he measured the rest and no one compared so he left them all alone.
It had been a difficult month, but Danny was finally feeling better about his new normal. Maybe this recovery time was really the best thing for all of them.
Danny and Whitney had given their statements over the phone to the FBI as requested. With the questioning complete, the trial dates loomed. Whitney was excluded as a witness but Danny would have to travel back to Green Grove in a few days.
Danny, Archie, Lacey and Jo were subpoenaed to testify at the trials for Regina, Charlie, Scott, Cole, Rico and Doug which were all scheduled consecutively throughout the week.
The last obligation Danny had to tie up in Green Grove was for the civil suit against Gloria's estate that was filed on behalf of all of Gloria's victims. This civil lawsuit included everyone who was impacted by Gloria's drug operation.
Kyle made sure to hire an attorney and get Danny's name on the list along with Lacey, Archie and Jo. No one knew what the settlement amount could be and who exactly it would be split between, but it was worth a try after everything they had been through.
Danny's lawyer warned that the amount would likely be low and with the appeals he expected, it would also take a long time to reach his bank account. Gloria had taken her own life to avoid facing the consequences of the damage she caused for so many. The civil suit against her estate was more for the principal of it, for some sort of justice.
"I want a hot dog." Whitney whined after her fourth spritz, masterfully curated by Phoebe in their tiny kitchen.
"You would!" Phoebe laughed back, convinced her girlfriend still pined for the D from time to time.
"Let's get one!" Danny stood, sucked down his second drink and stuffed his feet into his shoes, "C'mon, I'm buying this time." Danny smiled.
Whitney sprang to her feet, "You coming?" She asked Phoebe.
"No, I need a break from you two." Phoebe laughed, "I'm taking an extra long shower."
Danny and Whitney took off down the stairs, doing their best not to lose their already twisted balance and fall. The more successful they were at not falling the louder their giggles became. By the time the made it to the front door they were both silently belly laughing for no reason they could remember.
"I have to pee." Whitney said when she finally caught her breath.
Danny looked up at their apartment window, "There is no way we're making it back up there right now. You should have thought about this before we left."
"Danny—" Whitney did the pee dance.
He dragged her into the alley next to their building and shielded her as she squatted beside a dumpster.
"OH YEAH—" Whitney moaned in relief, "Mmm, so good—"
Danny had gotten used to her weirdness again, her quirks were something he had long forgotten once they had gone their separate ways. Whitney's visceral remarks any time they were out doing anything were one of those quirks.
"Better?" Danny chuckled when she walked up behind him and gave him a reverse hug.
"So much better." She muffled into his back, "C'mon!"
Whitney pulled them out of the alley and over to the hot dog vendor. Danny paid and they took their hotdogs on a walk around the block.
"That was the best hot dog ever." Whitney groaned.
"You say that every time."
They had walked another block in a direction they didn't normally go. As they rounded the corner to start heading back, Whitney caught sight of a neon light coming from the second floor of the building across the street.
"Oh shit."
Danny looked across the street and back at Whitney, "No."
"Dann—eeee, you're no fun! Come ON—"
Whitney pulled a very reluctant Danny across the street and toward the building with the flickering sign: Fun City Tattoo. On the sidewalk was an easel that read: Walk-ins welcome.
Danny followed Whitney inside and together they poured over the different tattoo books and portfolios of the artists that worked here. He marveled at their talent.
Danny had several of his own tattoos by another artist in the city and knew the first rule before commissioning an artist for a spontaneous piece was to not be drunk.
"Oh look at this one! Oh, no forget that, look at this one!"
Whitney was in no position to get a tattoo at the moment and Danny would not hold back in snitching on her if the artist didn't recognize how tipsy she was right now.
"Welcome, what can I help you two with today?" A heavily tatted woman approached them.
Whitney hadn't heard the lady and pointed to a huge lower back tattoo with enormous hot pink butterflies, "I think it's about time to get me a tramp stamp!"
Danny had to giggle at her and shook his head.
"My friend does not need a tattoo today. She's had a few—"
"Danny!" Whitney whacked him, "He means I'm just looking."
"What about you?" The woman asked him.
"Me? No, I—" Danny began to object before something caught his eye.
He was thumbing through one of the books and had flipped to a page with different simplistic drawings. The one staring back at him was a small, single line maple leaf. He thought about Lacey, how they wanted to get a matching tattoo like this way back at the start of the summer.
All of Danny's tattoos had meaning to him. They were a collection of different things that made him feel like himself in his own skin. Even though they were no longer getting some cutesy couple's tattoo, this leaf represented a profound time in his life. He may never find his way back there again, but it still happened and would forever be part of his story.
"Actually, how much for something like this?"
"One fifty."
"Oh my god are you getting one?!"
"Yeah, actually. I want this one."
About an hour later the tattoo artist was going over Danny's after care instructions for the simple, coin-sized maple leaf that now lived forever on the inside of his left wrist.
Whitney had sobered up by now and fawned over the fresh ink.
"It's so cute! Why a maple leaf?"
"Reasons."
"You owe me another hot dog."
"Hi Danny." One of the servers at the bar greeted Danny as he clocked in for his shift that weekend.
"Hi." Danny said politely while he tied his apron in place.
"A couple friends of mine are having a party after work, you should come by."
"Thanks, I'll try to stop by."
Danny began stocking the bar for the night while the server hovered, something that Danny was used to by now, especially by this particular server.
"Well don't you want to know where it is?"
"Oh, yeah, of course—"
"You have no intention of coming, do you?" The server asked with obvious disappointment.
"Probably not." Danny confessed.
"Why didn't you just say no? I'm a big girl."
"Like I've said before, I'm not looking for anything—"
"I remember. Neither am I." She shrugged, her eyes begging him to just say yes and come out for a good time.
Danny was supposed to be getting back into the swing of things. Why not go to a party and make some new friends? Lord knew the ones he had were sparse at the moment.
"What's the address?"
The server perked up, scribbled the address down and shoved it in Danny's apron herself.
"You'll really think about it?"
"I'll go, I'd love to." Danny committed.
This server was one who had chipped away at the wall that Danny had shown up with on his first day. She was about the same age as Phoebe, maybe a year older, brunette, big brown eyes. She always seemed confident and positive, two traits Danny had always found attractive. There was a lot to like.
Danny followed her to her friend's apartment after work.
The party was pretty standard, random drinks, random people, a typical city party. It wasn't his party this time so he tried to relax.
Danny and the server accepted shots from someone else there that they worked with. They knocked their shot glasses together and threw them back, chasing it down with the cheap beer they had scavenged.
"Oh god, that's horrible." Danny huffed.
"The worst. Want another one?"
"Absolutely."
Three shots and two beers later and Danny and the server were dancing uninhibited to the random music that filtered through the apartment.
She intended not to miss this very rare opportunity to engage with Danny. Everyone at the bar knew he was single, straight and yet he had turned everyone down so far. What made this time different? She didn't care. He was here now and she wanted him.
Danny watched her grow increasingly fond of him. She grabbed his hips and pulled him so they were almost grinding with each other as they swayed to the music. She slid her hands around and tested him, grabbing his ass gently.
Danny closed his eyes, it wasn't Lacey but the attention felt good, he felt wanted. He was also way too buzzed for this. His sober mind pleaded with him to stop now, but Danny's body declined the concern.
Their faces hovered very close to one another, the heat growing between them. Danny kept his hands resting on her lower back with just enough pressure to hold her there, to show her that he didn't want her to go anywhere.
"How are you with sleepovers?" She got right to the point.
"I'm a fan of sleeping. Over, under, I'm not picky." Danny said, surprising himself with the garbage innuendo he was vomiting.
She reached up and stuck her fingers into Danny's hair, pulling his face toward hers. Danny leaned down and all of a sudden they were kissing. They continued on for several minutes, the darkness in the apartment making it easy for them to blend in, escape for a bit.
When they pulled apart, Danny was deep in his drunk feelings. His sober brain feeling unsettled and beginning to override the wants of his crotch.
"Hm, I liked that." She bit her lip, she wanted more.
"You're beautiful." Danny complimented her, it wasn't game, he thought she really was beautiful.
"So are you. Let's get out of here." She suggested as privately as possible, lips lingering by his.
Danny didn't say yes, but he allowed her to pull him along, through her friend's apartment and around the corner to her own. She had roommates too, they stumbled past them and into her bedroom. Once inside, their make out session resumed.
She slammed Danny against the back of the bedroom door, her hands becoming more and more brave as she felt Danny's body respond to her. She reached for the button on his pants, one hand slipping lower to outline his awakened junk through the fabric.
"Please tell me we're doing this." She gushed after feeling what he was working with, but also very aware of his lack of participation at this point.
Danny accepted kiss after kiss, his body doing its best to learn what she liked while his mind continued desperately to try to slow this down. She rubbed his junk again.
"Shit—" He liked that.
Danny kept his hands off of her, only running them along the outsides of her arms a few times. His tenderness and general respect surprised her, imagining Danny would be a lot more physical with her based on the longing within his kisses.
"Mm, damn you're such a sweetheart. It's okay to touch me—"
Danny let his eyes drop to look at other parts of her besides her face. He kept his hands where they were. She tried again to push him into opening up, touching her, something. Her fingertips now inched their way into the top of his waistband.
"What are you into?"
Lacey.
She squatted down in front of him, making it clear she intended to suck the skin off his dick.
"I'm—" Danny reached for her hands before she could move them along any further, "I'm not ready for this."
She pouted, "It's okay Danny, let me make you feel good." She stayed on her knees.
"I can't—" Danny helped to pull her back up.
"You're teasing me tonight then?" She smiled sweetly but she was disappointed.
She could see him struggling with whatever it was that always made him seem so mysterious to the rest of their crew.
"I'm in love with someone else."
"You have a girlfriend?"
"No, we're taking a break, but I'm not ready to—"
"—to let her go." She finished his thought.
"I'm not ready." Danny didn't want to get into it.
"Whoever is on your mind is very lucky." She smiled at him, "Advice?"
"Sure."
"You deserve to be happy too."
"I'll try to remember that." Danny put some space in between them, "I should get going."
"Danny—If you do ever let her go, you know where I live."
"Thank you for dragging me out tonight, honestly." Danny pulled himself back together, "We should hang out again."
"I'd like that."
"Goodnight."
"'Night."
Danny checked his phone as he began his tipsy walk home.
Whit: Where are you big guy? Phoebe says you left with some ho from work
Whit: You better be alive or I will kill you
Whit: How dare you not invite me to whatever you're doing
Danny smiled at his friend's concern, he was so lucky.
Danny: Calm down boss I'm on my way back
Whit: Did you get it in?!
Danny: I went to a party and she's not a ho, be nice
Whit: That's a no
Danny: It is a no. I'm saving up.
Whit: Saving up to make a deposit into the First National Bank of Lacey
Danny: Why are you the way that you are?
"Dad says you can stay here during the trials." Jo announced over FaceTime.
"Cool, thanks I'll be there sometime tomorrow." Danny accepted the offer, walking in circles around the apartment as they spoke, "Whitney's letting me borrow her car for the week."
"What's up, why are you pacing?"
"I'm nervous."
"You're not the one on trial, all you have to do is show up and answer questions."
"Yeah, no, I'm not nervous about that." Danny looked down.
"She's probably nervous to see you too." Jo tried to comfort him.
"Did she say anything?"
"No. Did you talk to her?"
"No."
"Start there—"
"Is she seeing anyone?"
"I don't want to be in the middle of this."
"Do you know the answer?"
"It's not my information to share."
"Please Jo."
"What difference will it make? Are you planning on telling her about the party?"
"Of course."
"Just talk to her—"
"I'm trying to figure out if she's looking for someone—or if she's found someone that makes her happy or if—if she's still thinking of me."
"She's been out, a couple of times." Jo said simply to try and stop the bleeding for Danny.
"Damnit." Danny said out loud to himself.
"I've gotta run."
"Bye."
Jo hung up the call and looked over at Lacey who had been standing in front of her eavesdropping the whole time.
"You two are driving me nuts." Jo rolled her eyes.
"You shouldn't have told him that—"
"Why not? It's the truth! You've been out twice."
"Yeah, but they weren't dates."
"Look, if you want him to know more then you tell him and leave me out of it!"
"What party were you talking about? Did he sleep with someone else?"
"I've helped as much as I can stand. I gotta go."
Lacey whipped around in front of Jo and almost body checked her. Jo rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat.
"He's popular. All I'm gonna say is that you should go get your man before he's gone." Jo slid away from her and took off.
"Popular? What does that mean?!" Lacey yelled after her.