The insatiable duo headed back to their respective study arrangements, smiling and happy. Danny's sex in random places kink turning out to be better than Lacey could have imagined it to be.

Lacey set her earbuds and got back to work. Just before lunch time, Danny's group headed for the exit. Lacey could feel his presence and looked for him, this beautiful man smiling with his friends.

She noticed how many other people checked Danny out as he progressed through the room. His body was all hers she thought to herself and couldn't help the excited smile that moved across her face.

Their eyes connected as he passed by. Danny tipped his chin up at her and walked out. Lacey was sad to see him go, but happy that she could now have some space to work without him in such close proximity, fogging her brain.

Just before 1 pm she hauled all her shit into the art studio for some much needed creative time. As she entered her painting space she stopped short, recognizing a version of the painting her and Danny had created together leaning against the wall next to the easel she typically used.

Lacey walked over to it, seeing some of the red and orange circles she had painted and Danny's clever horizontal lines. What was different was the trauma. Lacey studied the chaos that now lived within their original piece.

Their painting hadn't been calm to begin with. They had contributed a balance of passion, excitement and harmony. Now, however, streaks of their color choices had haphazardly run together.

Bold reds and oranges mixing with pale pinks and purples creating dismal brownish-green streaks that dripped in awkward directions. Their two painting styles now connected by a third, but not bringing them closer together, instead it broke their cohesiveness altogether.

Lacey was an abstract painter and always painted from feeling. She was no stranger to chaos and sadness and painted those feelings often. This piece, however, had been about the unity in their differences. She felt sick seeing it's current state.

"That is an incredible piece." A woman's voice interrupted Lacey's sorrow at the sight of this mess.

Lacey turned around to see Jo standing by the door to the studio, arms crossed over her chest. She had her eyes on the huge canvas, still lost in her critique.

"What do you see?" Lacey was curious about her evaluation.

"Interference."

Lacey looked back at her piece, now armed with a key word. She braced for a deeper explanation.

"The top layer to this wasn't man made. The style is not congruent with the original flow of the piece. It's an absolute nightmare. An incredible capture, really."

A nightmare.

"You're Jo, right? Lacey—" Lacey introduced herself and held her hand out for a shake that Jo reciprocated.

"That's right. Nice to finally meet you."

"You too. Do you know how this got here?"

"Yep. I brought it in. Danny had it drying on the roof back at the house and asked me to drop it off for you."

Lacey nodded, "Thanks."

"I'm a fine art major too and I'm telling you, that," Jo pointed to Lacey's giant painting, "is something else. It's not done yet though, needs an update, if you know what I mean."

Lacey stared at it again. It was their road to where they were as of Friday night. So much had changed for them since then. Jo was right, she needed to keep working on it.

"I don't know you well, but Danny's wild about you."

"Yeah?" Lacey smiled.

"Yep. Don't let the others make you feel bad, they're just an intense group and super jealous of you—" Jo laughed.

"How did you meet Danny?" Lacey asked, setting up her paint station in an effort to hide her raging irrational need for more information to quell her own jealousy issues.

Jo walked over to the stool in the abutting work station and took a seat. Lacey glanced over and got a closer look at the short blonde. Her hair was wild, not curly, not straight, just a mess. Every time Lacey had seen Jo in passing, she was wearing a knit beanie, today was no different. Giant shirt, leggings, boots. Every damn day.

Jo's style was in such stark contrast to Regina and the other cheerleaders, but Lacey understood that Danny was stuck with them most often due to his athletic schedule so it made sense that they made up Danny's main pool of 'friends'.

"We met at orientation last year. I was having a major anxiety attack and he just knew and stayed with me, talked to me until I was feeling better. He had just found out that he didn't get placed for housing and his parents were not able to afford a separate apartment for him so he was basically homeless. It was either go back home and lose his scholarship or commute like four hours one way every day. I was a pledge at the sorority last year so I got him a space at the frat house. We've been helping each other out ever since. He's a really good friend."

"Sounds like Danny." Lacey's heart warmed hearing more about his caring nature.

"I feel like, if Danny is this invested in you, you must be someone incredibly special. Seems like you and I have a lot in common with the art, Danny, maybe we can hang out some time?"

"Sure, sounds good." Lacey placed two smaller canvases on her easel and began prepping them with black primer.

Jo had expected more of an exchange with Danny's new partner. Lord knows she had to do battle with all of the others to make her presence known in Danny's life. She suspected Lacey wasn't really this easy going.

"I'm not one of those friends for Danny, you know?" Jo offered.

Lacey was thankful for her assertiveness with this, she hadn't wanted to just come right out and ask.

"No?"

"We both needed that one constant. That one base friend that you can come back to over and over who has no expectations other than having your back. We confide in each other, help each other. We've never slept together, never will."

"Okay." Thank god, Lacey didn't need any more awkwardness.

"That being said, I have to go straight into the whole 'if you hurt him I will kill you' speech." Jo said, dead serious.

Lacey giggled, "You do know that Danny and I are not in a relationship though—" She wanted to clarify.

"Lacey, Danny's sexuality and his sex life are the largest parts of his life. Last year was intense, he tried so many things with so many people. He was just searching for what it takes to be human. This year—" Jo shook her head, "You're it. You two may not have some possessive title that Danny would rebel against, but you're his partner. He's never been about monogamy, so I hope you know how important you are to him. Like I said, if you hurt him—"

"I hear you. Danny's the only one on my radar, and if that ever changes, he'll be the first to know." She promised.

"Okay." Jo stood, "Don't let Regina get to you. She's intense and that's exactly why Danny pursued her. I've talked to him and you've been his only hook-up recently. He's not messing with any of them, don't let them tell you otherwise because they probably will."

"Really?" Great, Lacey thought.

"You can trust him. I'm telling you, they'll do anything to keep him in their rotation."

"Thanks, Jo. You're a great friend."

"I'll see you."