AN: I'm off to visit my family tomorrow; so I won't be able to get on my computer for a couple of weeks. So it'll be a little bit of a wait till the next part. Hopefully I'll get the chance to work on it while I'm away so I'll be able to post it when I get home. I hope everyone has a good couple of weeks, and that you enjoy this part. Take Care

Part 2

Mary bit lightly on her lip as a silent tear fell from her eyes as she stood watching Danny's chest rise and fall. His breathing telling her he was awake but his eyes were fast shut. She'd driven them both back to his place in his car. The alcohol his mind had told him hadn't taken affect was obvious to her as soon as he'd try to step away from her. She breathed in deeply and stepped into the room. "Drink this" She said offering him a mug of coffee, and putting her own down on the cabinet next to his bed.

"Thanks" Danny answered quietly sitting up. The first word he'd spoken to her since they'd left the playground.

"How you feeling?"

"Honestly?" He paused "I don't know." Both their eyes were trained on the wall in front of them, their breathing sounding heavy in the quiet room. "I don't miss him Mare" Danny said after a few minutes of silence.

"What do you mean?" Mary asked shifting so she was on her side looking at Danny. His position not changing.

"My dad, I don't miss him."

"It probably hasn't sunk in yet sweetie" She moved over so she could lay a hand on his arm reassuringly

"When it was my mom I missed her right away. I can remember feeling as though a huge part of me was missing from the moment I was told." Danny didn't look at Mary but she could feel his muscles relax a little at her touch, as she began stroking his arm up and down

"When we're children we just readily accept what adults tell us as the truth. You've been through so much; seen so much since, that now you don't believe everything you're told. You need proof. We all do as we get older."

"Hmm" Danny looked over and gave Mary a small smile. "You have a habit of doing that, you know"

"Doing what?" Mary said smiling back, glad that Danny seemed to be opening up

"Knowing exactly what to say to make me feel better when I do something I feel terrible about."

"Well, I'm only being honest, and I don't think I've ever known you to do anything that ever deserves you to actually feel terrible." Danny gave her a look that read disbelief and Mary leant over and kissed him forehead. "Sometimes, you're much too hard on yourself Danny McCoy"

The pair gazed into each others eyes. Their faces only inches apart as Mary drew back from the small kiss she'd placed on Danny's skin. Both their minds were telling them to look away but their fast-beating hearts were pulling them closer together. "Danny I…"

"Shush" Danny lifted a finger and placed it on Mary's lips stopping any further words escaping. He placed a hand on the small of her back pulling her closer toward him.

Ring Ring

Mary leapt away from Danny and into the other room, following the sound of her ringing cell phone. Not looking back and trying to ignore the seemingly ever present tears which were swelling in her eyes.

Danny grunted in frustration and threw his fist into the pillow Mary had been leant against. Once the room was quiet again his attention was drawn by the sound of Mary's voice floating down the hall.

"No, I didn't hear the landline, I'm not at home" Mary said sitting down on the couch, absentmindedly twisting a strand of hair around her index finger. "I'm….." Mary hesitated not knowing how her answer was going to be taken. "I'm at Danny's, Jake." Danny, who had made his way from his room to the doorway of the living room, watched Mary's body tense. His own following suit as he heard her utter Jake's name "I need to be here right now Jake….his father died……..No, I don't think I'll be flying out tomorrow" Danny shifted against the doorway the sound causing Mary to look up. "Look Jake, I don't want to discuss this right now I'll call you in the morning. I'm sorry."

Mary flipped her phone shut, her eyes not leaving Danny's as she motioned for her to join him on the couch. She picked up a picture on table in front of her. "I took this didn't I?" She asked as she felt the couch shift with Danny's weight as he sat down.

"Yeah. My fifteenth birthday" He answered looking down at the picture Mary held. Danny stood grinning next to a beat up looking camaro, his father looking on proudly from the other side of the car. "He promised me we'd do it up together, and it'd be perfect by the time I got my licence."

"And he was right. A month after your sixteenth birthday you picked me up for school in it. God you were so smug driving into the parking lot that day."

"That's because I looked so cool. A hot car, and a hot chick riding next to me" Mary just laughed

"Yeah; and Greg and Kymberly Jenkins making out on the back seat"

"Ah, I'd forgotten about that" Danny joined in with Mary's laughter for a minute. "We were so close while were doing up this car you know?"

"I remember." Mary said sweetly, softly crying again. "You idolised your father in those moments, watching him work on that car. Showing you what to do, how to do it. You loved watching him. And I loved watching you, watch him. That look of adoration on your face. I was so jealous. Of you being able to look at your father like that, and of him being on the receiving ends of those looks" She gave Danny a sad smile.

"Why didn't you go?" Danny asked putting the picture down on the table

"What?" Mary asked confused as Danny's question brought her back from her memories

"With Jake" Danny's teeth grated slightly as he spoke Jake's name. "Why didn't you leave tonight?"

"Oh, that" Mary sighed and shifted; lying back against the arm rest of the sofa. "I was scared" She responded honestly

"Of what?" Danny watched as Mary ran her fingers through her hair, tugging on one strand and wrapping it around her finger. He remembered being able to watch her do that for hours. It was a habit she'd had as far back as he could remember. A comforting motion she'd do without even realising. Whether it be trying to decide what to make for dinner or talking about something she didn't feel comfortable with.

"Oh you know, flying" Mary tried to joke it off

"Mary…." Danny moved so that he could look Mary directly in the eye. His tone was low and comforting and he took her hand in his; stroking her palm lightly with his thumb.

"You know sometimes I think that this life-long friendship thing is a really bad idea." She gave a small smile which Danny reciprocated "You know me much too well sometimes." Mary sighed and took her hand away from Danny's. "It didn't feel right. Leaving."

"You deserve a vacation Mary. You'd of been back in a couple of weeks."

"I know but…" Mary started and then stopped herself. "I feel incredibly selfish talking about myself tonight."

"You're hardly a selfish person Mary"

"Maybe so, but I just don't feel comfortable talking about this tonight. And anyway" Mary glanced at the clock, and Danny found himself mesmerised by the way the moonlight came threw the window and lit up her face. "It's nearly 4am. Maybe we should both just try and get some sleep."

"Maybe" Danny answered reluctantly, he really wanted to know what was going through Mary's mind. She may think he knew her too well, but lately, to him, it felt as though he didn't know her at all. "Why don't you go threw to the bedroom. I'll stay here"

"Don't be silly. You go to your own bed. I'll be fine on the couch" Mary felt a sadness sweep over her, as she thought about how until quite recently there would have been no discussion of where she would have been sleeping. "You've had a long day Danny, and I won't hear anything otherwise. Now go to bed. I know where everything is. Sleep well Danny" They both stood up and hugged

"Night Mary" Danny said placing a soft kiss on Mary's forehead.

Danny lay back on his bed and sighed realising how tired he was. Mary was right, today had been a long day. There were very few days in his life when he could honestly say that everything would be slightly different from then on. As he lay there thinking his life over, he realised Mary had been there every time. If not in person she'd been the main thing on his mind through out. He thought over the day, from when he'd gone into work that morning, the way his heart had sped up sat next to her in Bella Sera, to finding out his dad was dead and the playground. Right up until the nearly kiss and the way he'd felt hearing her utter another mans name, and in that moment as he gave into the tiredness, he promised himself one thing. He wasn't letting her gett away.