Notes: I hope I didn't lose anyone with my foray into soapiness. Please let me know if I do. I know it seems like all the world is against Danny, but it's fairly obvious that he has to hit rock bottom before he can really turn his life around…as we know he does in the actual series. Hope you like this chapter.

Danny left the library and was annoyed when he realized a cold rain started to fall. He really felt like he had the worst luck in the world. He started to jog toward the subway entrance when the rain started to come down harder. Right as he was about to go down the stairs, he heard a voice call out. "Danny…"

He turned around to find Katie standing in the rain. It looked to him like she was crying, but it could have been the rain. They just stood there for a moment taking each other in. He didn't know what to say to her. It turned out, he didn't have to say anything. Within seconds, she was closing the distance between them. He met her halfway, and their lips connected. Four years of waiting and wanting flowed through them. They seemed to forget about the rain beating down on them, and the scads of people holding umbrellas passing them on the sidewalk. In that moment, they were the only two people in the city. Danny held her face in his hand as he kissed her deeply while pulling her closer with his other hand at the small of her back. They must have kissed like that for five minutes before Katie had to pulled away to catch her breath. They looked at each other intensely as they breathed each other's air. Danny felt her shiver in his arms from the wet cold.

"You want to get coffee…or…"

Katie shook her head. "Your place."

And then Danny hailed a cab. They got in and he gave the cabbie his address. Then, instead of talking…instead of finding out why she acted so coldly to him in the library, they continued to kiss passionately in the cab. It was like they had both been starving for each other for the last four years. Once they made it up to his apartment, Danny tried to slow things down, but Katie didn't want to stop. Within minutes, they undressed each other and made it to his bed. The heat was barely working in his run-down studio, but it didn't matter. They were creating a heat between them that overpowered everything.

He asked her if she was sure, and she nodded without a doubt in her eyes. So he finally made love to her. He could tell she'd been with someone else. This wasn't her first time. That realization that she moved on stung him. He wasn't surprised, but there was part of him that wanted her to be completely his forever.

After they finished, she lay against his chest as he softly played with her hair. Neither wanted to be the first to speak and end their moment together. But then he felt her tears as they fell from her cheek. He reached down to wipe them away, but she stopped him and turned away breaking contact with his body for the first time since they embraced in the rain.

"Why are you doing this now?" she asked quietly but with full emotion as she clutched a pillow and stared at the window.

He turned on his side and pulled her against him. "I just…I just wanted to explain. After I saw you, I realized that we left so many things unsaid."

"Explain what?" she responded. "You made a choice. That's it, Danny."

"No…no…I didn't choose Payton. Nothing happened with…"

"I know. I know you weren't sleeping with her while I was at boarding school. I knew it that night when you denied it. That's not the choice I'm talking about," she said as she sat up in the bed and pulled the sheet around her.

"What are you talking about? What choice?"

"You chose this over me," she said as she looked around the tiny apartment. "I would have gone anywhere with you. I would have run away. I would've kept our relationship a secret. But you didn't want to take that chance."

"Your father…"

"We could have fought him, Danny. We could have won. But you didn't even want to try."

"This isn't one of your plays. This isn't a fairy tale. Life isn't like that, Katie. I've been fighting my whole life. I couldn't settle…"

"You couldn't settle for me?"

"Look at us now. It's only four years later. I'm about to graduate. It's not illegal for me to be with you anymore. We can be together now. It's not too late," Danny pleaded.

Katie sighed and rose from the bed. She started to gather her still damp clothes.

"Don't leave. Come back to bed. We can talk…"

She looked at him on the bed with his arm propping him up on the pillow. He was still the most beautiful person she'd ever seen. Everything about him…his eyes…his body…invited her to come to the bed. It took all her strength to tell him the truth. "It is too late, Danny. I'm engaged. I'm getting married in a month," she stated sadly as she sat on the edge of the bed.

Danny felt like he'd been punched. He had no idea. "You're twenty, Katie. Why on earth would you get married?"

"It's a long story. But it's happening. When I saw you today at the library…I…I…just wanted you to go away. I couldn't deal…but something made me go after you. Something made me do this," she replied as she looked at the tangled mess on the bed. "Maybe I just needed to get you out of my head. I…I…should have told you before…"

He sat up and put his hand on her bare back. She leaned into him to feel his warmth. "Look…I never expected for you to wait for me, but you're not married yet. There's still a chance…"

"Danny…it's complicated…"

"You love him."

Katie bit her lip, and finally had to stand up to break contact with him. "I…I…yes…I love him."

"If you love him so much, then why did you just let me make love to you?" he asked her in earnest.

And in the moment, she could barely look at him. He looked like a little boy with sleepy, pleading eyes and messy, unkempt hair. "Because…because…in that moment at the library…and catching up to you in the rain, I was still that 16 year old girl who wanted nothing else than to be with you. I just wanted to live that moment a little while longer."

Danny nodded and then whispered, "I guess I did to."

"I need to get dressed," Katie said quietly as she slipped into the bathroom and shut the door.

Danny lay back against the pillow. This was just his luck, he thought. He got up and put on jeans and a sweatshirt.

When Katie stepped out of the bathroom, Danny said, "I'll…uh…I'll walk you down." He didn't want to put anymore pressure on her. He knew this was hard on her.

"You don't have to. I'm okay."

"It's late. I'll get you a cab," he insisted.

And then they silently walked downstairs. When the cab pulled up, Danny opened the door for her. He didn't want to say goodbye to her. Before she got in the cab, she practically jumped into his arms. He held her tightly until she finally pulled away. "I won't ever regret this," she whispered quickly right before she slid into the cab.

That night, Danny couldn't fall asleep. He kept thinking about her…the way she looked at him in the rain…the look in her eyes when they were having sex. She still loved him. He knew it. And he knew that he still loved her. So he started to devise a plan for winning her back.

He decided the first thing he had to do was find out as much about her fiancé as possible. And so, he found himself at the NYU library the next day scouring the society pages for an engagement announcement. He figured if Katie's mother was booking the Ritz ballroom, it must be a big wedding. He eventually found the announcement. Katie was marrying a man name Eric Mathews. According to the announcement, they met through mutual friends. Eric Mathews was from a wealthy family just like Katie's. His father owned a powerful Manhattan law firm, and Eric was one of the firm's most successful attorneys. Danny was surprised to read that Eric was 30. He couldn't imagine why Katie got involved with someone so much older.

Armed with the new knowledge, Danny planned on accidentally bumping into Katie again. He wanted to find out what exactly she saw in Eric Mathews. He thought if he understood that then maybe he could let her go. Three days after she left him, he followed her when she left her apartment building. She didn't go far. She went into an upscale boutique. At first, Danny was going to wait until she came out, but after waiting twenty minutes, he grew impatient. He entered the boutique to look for her. He ducked into a hallway to avoid being spotted by a salesperson. And then he heard her voice coming from one of the private fitting rooms.

"I think this turned out well, Erica," Katie said.

"You look stunning. Keep it on for a few more minutes and let's try it with the veil. It was just delivered from Italy today," the seamstress said.

Danny watched the seamstress leave. Then he quietly walked into the room. She quite literally took his breath away. She was a vision in the in the long, white gown with bare shoulders. He noticed the tears in her eyes as she looked at herself in the mirror.

"No one who looks as beautiful as you do should be so sad," he said as he walked towards her.

She turned quickly as she wiped her eyes. "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here."

"I wanted to see you. We need to talk."

"No…no we don't. I thought I made things very clear the other day."

"No…actually, you didn't. I still don't understand the rush to walk down the aisle. After what happened the other day, can you honestly say you are ready to take this step?" he asked as he looked her up and down in the elegant gown.

Her first instinct was to say no, and let him whisk her away. Part of Katie hoped that sleeping with him would make her feelings go away. She would get Danny Taylor out of her system once and for all. But it was three days later and he was all she could think about. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him above her, kissing and touching her. She could still feel him inside of her. So…she lied to him. "Yes…I'm ready. Look, I'm sorry that I misled you. But there is nothing to talk about. You have to leave, Danny. My moth…"

Just then, Katie's mother walked in the room. "Katie, dear…how does it look?" And then Mrs. Mason saw Danny. The last time she'd seen him was in Katie's bedroom when she caught them in bed together. "What…what is going on?"

"Nothing, mother. Danny and I just ran into each other."

"You ran into each other at a wedding boutique?" her mother asked skeptically.

Katie looked down not knowing how to respond. So Danny saved her. "I was across the street at the coffee shop. I saw her walk in. I wasn't even sure it was her after all this time," he said as he looked at Katie. "I just stopped in to say hello. Congratulations, Katie. I hope you and your fiancé will be really happy." And then he walked out without another word.

After seeing Katie again, Danny wasn't sure if she was worth pursuing. She was obviously set on marrying Mathews. And maybe she was right. He missed his chance when he chose to focus on college. And then there was his lifestyle. Would Katie really want to be with someone who couldn't get through a week without getting wasted? She would also have a problem with his history of casual relationships. And what if he couldn't change? He could never subject Katie to his hard-partying lifestyle.

He went home that night and was studying for a major exam the following day when he heard a knock at the door. When he opened the door, he was very surprised to see Katie standing there.

"What were you thinking…coming into my dress fitting like that? Why are you doing this, Danny? You can't walk back into my life after all this time and just expect to turn on the charm and I'll fall back in love with you. It doesn't work like that…"

Danny tried to listen as she went off on him, but all he could think about what how great she looked and smelled. In mid-sentence, he dipped down and connected his lips to hers. She made no move to push him away. Instead she responded to his kiss by raising up on her toes. Danny closed his door and backed her against it. As he trailed kisses down her neck, she let out a sigh. "I'm really starting to hate you…"