Chapter Seven

Tucker waited for Danny and Sam in front of the school Monday morning like he always did since they were eight. He spotted Danny walking alone towards him.

"Hey Tuck."

"Hey, Danny!" Tucker replied, cheerfully. When Tucker looked carefully to Danny he realized the boy wasn't in his best shape. He had dark circles around his eyes and he looked slightly paler than normal. "Are you okay, man?"

"I don't know." Danny sighed.

"Where's Sam?" Tucker asked.

"She wasn't home when I stopped by. Her parents said she had left early." Danny replied quietly, sitting down by Tucker's side.

"What happened? I thought you'd be in a good mood today." Tucker said.

"Maybe I should tell you something that happened…" Danny started, feeling nervous and depressed at the same time.

"What is it?" Tucker asked, worriedly.

"Let's go somewhere anyone can hear us." Danny said picking up his school bag and walking away from school, not minding if he was going to skip classes, he wasn't in the mood anyway.

Tucker followed him, not knowing what to expect. Danny finally stopped when they reached the park; they sat down underneath a tree very distant of other people.

"Did the practicing turned out to be a bad idea?" Tucker asked. It had to be about the practicing, there was nothing else that could have brought Danny down, was there?

"It stopped being just 'practice' a long time ago." Danny sighed. Tucker cheered silently, but didn't interrupt his friend. "It's serious Tuck." Tucker didn't say anything. "Sam and I… we… crossed the decency line."

"Whoa! Wait!" Tucker was alarmed now. "I remember you telling me several weeks ago that you were making out quite heavily, but that is just it, right?"

"No Tuck we… gosh, we had sex, okay?" Danny blushed, frustrated. Why was he telling this to Tucker anyway? "It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did. She looked beautiful…"

"Okay… I agree being a good friend and listen to you as long as you don't give me ANY details, okay?" Tucker warned. "That's just disgusting. My two best friends. Ewww."

"Fine. It happened! That's it!" Danny cried out, frustrated.

"You two made it clear it wasn't practicing anymore, right?" Tucker asked.

"Well, we didn't talk about it… it's more like a silent agreement." Danny answered. "I think she knew it wasn't practicing by the time we kissed in the school closet."

"Well, yeah, she noticed and she walked away!" Tucker remembered. "You went after her, obviously." Tucker sighed. "Man, you have it bad. You should tell her how you feel before you end hurting each other."

"I was going to, but things got messed up before I had a chance." Danny leaned his forehead on his knees.

"I don't understand."

"It shouldn't have happened, but..." Danny sighed "When I saw her laying there, messy hair, without makeup, with her eyes closed… I realized it wasn't just about having fun… somewhere along the road I fell for her." He sighed, trying to describe exactly what he saw in her eyes that night. "Next morning she greeted me like everyday, like nothing had changed."

"Danny, listen to me." Tucker said, sitting up straight. "She likes you a lot. I know she does, everyone can see that, maybe she's just confused. She wouldn't have agreed in helping you practice if he didn't like you in the first place."

"Girls are so complicated…" Danny sighed. "I just wish I wasn't thinking of her all the time; I'm tired, I really need some sleep."

"You better eat, too, you look thinner."

"Yea… I don't remember last time I ate."

In fact, Danny had realized that it wasn't all about physical contact that made him want Sam over and over again. Just being by her side brought enough enjoyment, he knew now that he had felt that for years, the way he was feeling right now. He understood why he called her late at night just to hear her voice; he understood why he couldn't bear a day without talking to her. With her he was happy.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

When you're sad, you work on a smile and go out, pretending everything is great. On the first day it actually feels good, almost refreshing. On the second day you wish you don't have to work so hard to smile. On the third day you don't bother smiling anymore.

Sam didn't want to avoid Danny so they hang out together with Tucker like they always did. Every time Tucker tried to leave them alone, she made an excuse to go away before they had the change to discuss anything. She was scared to talk to him and if he was hurt, it was her fault in the first place.

One month passed… he turned seventeen. The second month passed… she turned seventeen. They were okay again. Danny didn't look hurt anymore and when Tucker excused himself Sam and Danny would just hang out like nothing had ever happened.

That night Sam was asleep on her bed, cuddled with her cat when a storm started, waking her up. She stretched out and when she rubbed her eyes she realized she had been crying. She had never cried in her sleep, she had never felt lonely and she had never being that girlie to care about feelings and all those mushy stuff.

She stood up by her window to close it, but the hold wind that blew inside her room reminded her of her halfa. She had lost those warm arms because she didn't want to be on his way, but she was really hurt and it was almost unbearable. She finally realized that it was time to go talk to him.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Danny saw his clock pointing out that it was midnight and that he should go to sleep. But it had been long since he could sleep, he had been through months sleeping like four or five hours at night. He couldn't get Sam out of his head.

He sat up on his bed when he heard a soft tapping sound on his window. It was raining heavily outside and nobody would visit him so late at night. He stood up and was ready to fight any ghost that dared to disturb his peaceful night when he saw that it was Sam who standing there.

He quickly opened the window and she stepped inside. She was breathing heavily; like she had been running for hours and her clothes and hair were dripping on the floor, forming a small puddle where she was standing.

"I'm going to get you a towel." He said quickly, before she had a change to do anything. Suddenly he felt his room warming up, it was cozy again. He didn't mind having to stand up all night because Sam was there and she gave him a look that made everything be better again.

He returned to the room and locked the door behind him. Sam didn't move, she looked ready to fall in pieces right before his eyes. He watched her gently, giving her a welcoming smile and placed a tower over her head, drying her hair while she stared at him in confusion.

"It's warm in here." She whispered, looking into his eyes.

"It is because you've been standing in the rain. Really Sam it's cold outside to do that, you're going to get yourself sick." He whispered back. The last thing he wanted was to wake his parents. He stood up and opened his wardrobe, picking out a shirt and one of his shorts. He blushed when she saw it "Do you mind?"

She didn't say anything; just picked the clothes he offered and stood there, waiting for him to leave her to her privacy.

"I'm going to make some tea." He said. "You get under the blankets when you're done." He didn't know if he was comfortable in the same room her best friend was changing. He wasn't allowed to see her so in little or touch her again. His heart gave a small pang.

He made her favorite tea with two spoons of sugar, just the way she liked it and walked up to his room again, silently, making sure nobody was awake. He locked the door again. He saw Sam standing over the window, looking at the rain.

"You should warm up." Danny said, making her jump in surprise. He handed her the tea and made her sit down on his bed, covering her with the blankets. "I don't want you to catch a cold."

Sam was looking down at the cup of tea on her lap. She refused to meet his eyes, her breathing wasn't normal; it was like she was measuring it. She was working up the courage to talk to him. It was like she hadn't known him her whole life. It wasn't supposed to be that hard to talk to your best friend.

"What's wrong?" He whispered, cupping her chin, bringing her eyes up to meet his.

"I have been thinking," She dropped her gaze and took a small sip of her tea. "I wanted to see you." She said, keeping her voice in a whisper.

"We see each other at school everyday." He grinned, trying to make it easier for her to talk. He knew what she was trying to talk about and he really wanted to hear what she had to say.

"You know what I mean…" She kept her eyes on her tea. Her lack of words was making him worried, but he kept patient. It there was only one thing he was sure at the moment was that she wasn't acting like herself. She wasn't as confident as she had always been.

"Why won't you look at me?" He asked.

"I…" She closed her eyes, turning her head in his direction; he could see the tension growing on her features like she was struggling to keep something to herself. "I miss you... you know... the way we were before..." She opened her eyes and Danny saw that they were shining with tears.

"I miss you too." He said, smiling and tucking her hair back. Finally, he knew he was allowed to touch her again and leaned towards her lips.

"And I'm scared." She said quickly before he kissed her and she forgot why she was there in the first place. She could see the confusion in his eyes and decided to continue. "I'm scared because… I was happy with you as friends, but things changed and no matter how much I struggle I can't get satisfied with just friendship." The tears she had been holding finally ran down her cheeks. "There is something inside me that only you can reach." She sobbed, "I don't want to lose you if this relationship doesn't work out."

"You won't lose me." Danny said, gently. He picked her cold teacup and put it on the table beside his bed, freeing his way to hold her. He held her tightly letting her cry her fears until she got tired. She was stressed, drained emotionally and anxious. Danny decided he wouldn't say anything, he just held her until she fell asleep.

My head is great now! Well, it's still has a bruise, but it doesn't hurt that bad anymore. And my short animated movie project was approved, which means I'm going to finally be a Director! I have one year of hard work ahead of me, but it will be worth it! I'm in that time of life when you say 'I'm finally becoming what I've always dreamed of…' Thank you so much for the reviews and I promise you I'll keep posting as long as you keep reading.