That same night, Danny and Katie were talking in her room about what he could do once her parents returned in four days. Danny thought he had enough money to rent one of those weekly motel rooms, but Katie questioned their safety.

"Katie, it's certainly a stretch from here, but I've lived in worse places. I have to go somewhere."

"Maybe I could talk to my parents. Maybe I could get them to let you stay here in one of the spare bedrooms."

"Are you forgetting that I met your mother? She's not going to let me live in her house. Trust me."

"My father is more understanding. He really has respect for people that work hard and overcome obstacles and, don't take this the wrong way, but he's very charitable. He always encourages me to help less fortunate people."

"Is that what I am? Less fortunate?" Danny teased. "I'm honored to be your charity case, Katie Mason, but I don't think this is what your father had in mind. And I'm pretty sure if he ever found out I was sleeping in your room, I'd be dead man."

Katie looked down and smiled. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"We've been in this room together for a week and a half, and you haven't once tried anything with me. You haven't even kissed me. I wonder why?"

"Katie…I…"

"Am I not your type? I think you know how I feel about you. I'm not as good as you are at hiding how I feel. And being this close to you…spending all this time with you…it makes me want…I just…I think about you a lot, Danny."

"I like you. I do. You're the nicest person I've ever met. And I do know how you feel about me. I feel so lucky to have someone like you care about me, Katie. I've never had anyone in my life that has cared for me so unconditionally."

"Is it because you think I won't sleep with you?" she asked timidly.

"No…no…I just…I don't want to screw this up. You're too special to me."

Katie nodded and then reached out to touch his face. Then she slowly leaned in just inches from his face.

For the first time in his life, Danny felt scared with a girl. He lightly brushed his lips against hers, and then he kissed her. He could tell it was her first kiss. He put his hand on the small of her back to pull her closer. And then she lay back on the bed pulling him on top of her. They made out on the bed for quite a while. Danny was careful not to go too far with her until he finally had to pull away. "We should stop," he whispered above her.

She looked up at him. "Yeah…I guess we should…but I mean…if you want too…."

"Katie…," Danny smiled slightly because he knew she really didn't want to.

"How can you want to be with someone like Payton, but not want me?"

"I never cared about Payton like I care about you. It doesn't even compare."

"I don't understand…"

"Look…we have time. I'm not going anywhere. I mean…eventually…I will have to stop living in your bedroom, but I'll still be around. We don't have to be in a hurry."

"I just…I want to be more than just your friend."

"We are more than just friends. And we can be that without having sex. It's not that I don't want to, Katie, but now is not the right time," Danny said knowing that he could get into trouble for being with her since she was only 16.

"Okay," she replied sounding relieved. "But can I ask you for a favor?"

"Name it."

"Will you sleep with me instead of on the floor?"

He gave her an uneasy glance.

"Please? I promise I won't try anything," she teased as she smiled and pulled him toward her for one more kiss.

That night, they slept in each other's arms. Danny never had a better night's sleep in his life.

The day before Katie's parents were due home, Danny was getting his stuff together in the locker room. Gym was his final class of the day. Most of the guys used the time for baseball practice, but Danny just ran a couple of miles around the track since he wasn't playing baseball.

As he turned to leave the locker room to go to work, he encountered Trevor and his two best friends.

"Danny boy. I hear you aren't going to grace us with your presence this season."

"No…sorry, guys…I…uh…I had to get a job," Danny answered uneasily. Trevor and his two friends were never particularly nice to Danny.

"That's too bad. But I guess you must be tired."

"Tired? I'm not tired. I just need the job."

"That's not what I mean, asshole. I mean it must be tiring trying to steal my girlfriend."

Danny laughed. "Dude…you're crazy. I don't know what you are talking about."

"Payton told me everything. She told me how you came on to her. I knew something was strange at Homecoming. She felt sorry for you, and you took advantage."

"You're wrong, Trevor. Payton's pathological."

"Why would Payton lie about a lowlife like you? You shouldn't even be here."

"I agree. I shouldn't be here, and I'll be gone before you know it," Danny responded as he tried to pass by the three boys. One of the boys grabbed his arm and the other pushed him into the locker.

"Not so fast, spic…" one of them said.

"Oh…great…very original. Pull out the racial slurs," Danny joked and then Trevor punched him hard in the stomach as the other two held him.

Danny doubled over, but still responded, "Look…I have no interest in Payton. I swear…"

Trevor hit him again in the jaw, and then again in the stomach. While the punches hurt, Danny knew he wasn't in too much trouble. These guys couldn't hurt him like Raffi's dealer hurt him. So he stopped talking and let Trevor finish. After about five minutes of punching, they threw him down. Trevor finished by saying, "Stay away from Payton. If I see you near her…it will be worse next time."

"No worries, man," Danny said from his hunched over position on the floor. "I'll stay far, far away from her."

After the boys left, Danny leaned back against the locker. He was fairly certain he didn't have any broken or cracked ribs. He remembered what that felt like. His mouth was bleeding and his jaw and eye hurt like hell, but he was fairly certain he would be fine.

He tried to clean up in the supermarket bathroom, but his face looked pretty bad. His manager sent him home. Danny didn't want Katie to see him, but he didn't have anywhere else to go. And he had to get ice on his eye or it would swell shut. So he called Katie from across the street to let him up to the apartment. When she saw him, she cried out, "Oh my god…Danny…what happened?"

"Apparently, Payton is still pissed. She told Trevor about us. And he defended her honor…I guess," Danny said with a wince-inducing laugh.

"We should go to a doctor. You need help."

"I'm fine. Really. I've been through worse than this. I just need some ice."

Katie led him up to the apartment and they snuck into her room. Then she brought as much ice and packs of frozen vegetables that she could find. Danny put an ice-pack over his eye. When he tried to lie back on the bed, he winced from the pain in his ribs. Katie unbuttoned his shirt and helped him pull off his undershirt.

She gasped when she saw the red bruises across his stomach. "This looks bad," she said as she press some frozen peas against his stomach. As she checked out the bruises, she traced her finger across the long scar across his stomach. It was painful just to look at it.

"It's really not. I promise. It looks worse than it is."

"She really is evil bitch. How could she…after all this time…"

Danny smiled. He'd never heard Katie call anyone a name before. "Let's not talk about Payton. She doesn't even deserve a comment."

Katie tended to Danny's cut lip and eyes, and then cradled his head in her lap as she ran her fingers through his hair. "It's going to be very hard to leave this kind of attention," Danny said on the verge of falling asleep.

Katie smiled. "I could run away from home and live with you in the motel."

"No way. I could never take you away from all of this. I couldn't imagine you sleeping on one of those nasty motel beds with ugly comforters."

"I'd sleep anywhere with you," Katie said softly.

Danny smiled. "Sure you would. One morning of taking a cold shower in a plastic tub…and you'd be out the door. And I wouldn't blame you…I've kind of gotten used to the marble and 300 thread count sheets, myself."

Katie laughed. And then they were silent for several minutes. Katie finally asked, "Are you still awake?"

"Barely…," he replied sleepily.

"How did you get the scars? The scars on your stomach and wrist? Did someone hurt you?"

Sometimes Danny forgot he had the scars. The one on his stomach was still fresh. As many times as he was in various states of undress with Payton, she never cared enough to ask him. "I'm not sure about the one on my wrist. My mother told me I got it when I put my hand through a window, but sometimes I have nightmares about it. I just…I don't think she told me the truth. The one on my stomach was courtesy of my brother's drug dealer…" Danny told her the whole story about his brother and parents. He even confided in her about Kim Wellman, his abusive foster mother. He had previously vowed to never talk about that with anyone. He wasn't sure why he opened up so much to her, but it felt good. It felt good to trust someone again. It felt good to let himself be loved by her.