Chapter Five ;

Protect Her, Protect Me

Dani was sitting at the top of the jungle gym, the very top, she was sitting on the bars above one of the slides, the ones you probably aren't supposed to sit on. Adam was sitting on the plastic part that went around the opening of the slide, which was beside Dani. Then Dani's cell phone started ringing.

She got the phone out of her pocket and looked at the Caller ID, 'Home.' "Hello," she answered.

"Hi," Sara's voice came through the phone, she paused because she knew the question wasn't one people usually asked. "Do you think Adam could sleep over at our apartment tonight?"

Dani scrunched up her face, "…Why?"

"Well," Sara started then paused, she didn't want to worry Dani. She wasn't sure what to say, or how to explain it. Adam had never slept over before, for the obvious reason that he was a boy and Dani was a girl. "I just have a case, and I'd feel safer if Adam stayed over."

Dani giggled, "You trust us?"

This made Sara laugh, she pursed her lips, which Grissom saw. "Is there a reason I shouldn't?"

"No, I was just joking," Dani said, more serious now so Sara would believe her.

"I know, I know," Sara said and smiled.

"I'll let him call his mom and then call you back," Dani decided.

"Okay, where are you?" Sara asked.

"Just at the park."

Shivers went down Sara's spine. She had had countless cases where kids were kidnapped from parks, then raped, then murdered. She let out a sigh of relief as she remembered Adam was there with her. Usually kidnappers targeted kids who were alone.

"Sara? Hello?" Dani said into the phone. Sara snapped out of her little daydream of wandering thoughts.

She heard Adam's voice in the background, "Did you get cut off?"

Dani turned to him and shrugged.

"Sorry, I was just thinking," Sara finally said.

"Okay, well, Adam's going to call his mom, and then I'll call back," Dani said.

"Okay, bye," Sara said and hung up. Dani did the same and passed her cell phone to Adam. He looked down at it, and then looked up at her.

"Ask if you can sleep over at my apartment," Dani said simply. Adam raised an eyebrow. "Sara's worried, case-related." Dani didn't need to explain further, after being best friends with her and knowing Grissom and Sara, Adam knew that some cases got to them.

"Well, this will be fun to explain to my parents," Adam commented and dialed his phone number. After explaining everything to his mom, and then assuring her more than twice that Dani and him were just friends, his mom finally gave in. He gave the phone back to Dani, who placed it back into her pocket.

There was a silence, and Adam let out a laugh. Dani turned around and looked at him. He smirked. "They kept making dirty jokes," He said and smiled. Dani rolled her eyes and leaned back and put her head on his shoulder.

Adam looked down at her, and for a brief moment, thought about their friendship. He thought about his feelings, he thought about her feelings. He pondered the thought of the two of them becoming more than friends, and for some reason, became scared of the idea.

It wasn't that he didn't want to, but it wasn't because he wanted to either. It was just that becoming too close left nothing to fall back on. That was what scared him. Of course, it would also make their friendship awkward, which also made him scared.

Adam wasn't supposed to be the scared one, he was supposed to be the one protecting Dani from everything she was scared of. He had done it many times before. A lot of times, when they went to the movies, Adam would have to put his arm around her so that she didn't get too scared when they were watching a horror movie. The gestures they did, such as putting their arms around each other, hugging, or even resting their head on the other's shoulder, was common and didn't make things awkward. They were just that good of friends, that they knew it was so they both felt safe, that they both felt protected, mainly Dani.

Dani was staring up at him, wondering what was going through his mind, what he was seeing in his eyes. She sighed, then when Adam came back to reality, he stared down at her.

With them both staring at each other, if this was a romance movie, you'd think that they were about to kiss, but they weren't. They were just staring into each other's eyes, probably reading each other's minds, actually.

Dani sat back up, and got her phone out of her pocket, remembering that she had to call Sara back. Adam stared into the distance, mostly across the park, still thinking about his thoughts earlier. Dani opened the phone, then looked back at Adam briefly, and found him to be lost in thought. She didn't bother to ask, and turned back to the phone and called Sara.

"Hello," Sara answered.

"Hi, it's me, Adam can sleep over," Dani informed her.

"Okay, but he's sleeping on the couch," Sara said.

"Aww, but if I get scared, can he sleep in my bed with me?" Dani asked and made her voice saddened and pretended to pout. This made Adam laugh hysterically. Dani listened as Sara laughed on the other line. "I'm joking."

"I know. Okay, talk to you later," Sara said, concluding the conversation and hung up the phone. Dani closed the phone and put it back in her pocket. She turned to Adam, who was staring out into nothing again. She sighed.

"What's wrong?" She asked him. He turned his head towards her, then looked away. They were best friends, the kind that could tell each other almost anything, but Adam didn't want to say his thoughts out loud, because the whole point on contemplating them would have no point at all if he told her. Since, that was what he had been contemplating in the first place.

"Nothing," Adam answered and sighed.

Dani tilted her head. "I know when something's wrong, Adam, I'm not dumb, and I'm not some random person that has never talked to you before," She said and laughed.

Adam smiled, "Sorry, I forgot."

Dani's mouth gaped open. She play punched him. They jumped down from the top of the slide and started walking back home. On the way, Adam put his arm around Dani, and the thoughts about his feelings still wandered his mind.