A/N: Now we enter 1990… and the time of young Danny. Just thought I'd clarify.

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"Daniel! You are going to be late, son, if you don't get your ass out of bed. NOW!" Maria Messer wasn't kidding. She pounded on her youngest son's door forcefully. That was the warning: next came the strike. When no one answered, she sighed and jimmied the doorknob until the door swung open.

Danny's room, as usual, looked to be the result of a tornado. Clothes lay on the floor and his guitar was propped against his desk chair. The desk hadn't been used for sometime, and had become home to all sorts of interesting artifacts. General chaos ensued, and Maria knew that if she didn't invoke some order, loss of limb could quite possibly be the result. "Danny? Get up, child." A groan was the only reply. "Figlio. Imediatamente." She smacked the lumpy bedspread once.

"All right, I'm up, I'm up. Geez." A miffed eighteen year old emerged from his bed and blinked sleepily at his mother, then his alarm clock. A blue- eyed look of distress was directed back at his mother. "Ma. It's just six."

Maria nodded, noticing the open window that hadn't been there when she had checked on him last night before going to bed herself. "Yes, well, I'm not going to let you be late on your first day back. You're a senior now." She clucked her tongue and began picking up dirty clothes from the floor. Maria never bothered her sons during the summer, which was their time. When the school year rolled around, however, she upheld the belief that less mess meant more concentration. "It doesn't help that our last name is MESSer, Ma," her oldest son, Louie, had once quipped. Louie. That'll get him up. "Your brother wants to see you off before you leave."

She was surprised when a look of annoyance crossed Danny's handsome features. "Oh, he has time now? That's great." Noticing his mother's questioning look, Danny flashed her a brilliant smile. "I mean, great! I'll be down in a minute." He kept smiling until Maria left the room. Groaning, Danny threw himself back on his bed, pulling the covers over his head. "Shit."

"You'll want to watch your language. What if your ma came up here and heard you using such words? She'd hit you so hard your future heirs would feel it." A chuckle. "Come to think of it, she'd probably wait until you had kids and then kick your ass. Can't risk the chance of zero grandkids." Allie's voice was mocking and Danny removed the sheet from over his head to see her leaning casually against his doorpost, arms crossed. Her auburn hair was pulled into a high ponytail, giving her a look of mock severity, and she cocked an eyebrow at his sheepish face. Danny quickly rolled out of bed and stood, stretching. He was showing off for her, and she knew it. Allie's eyes quickly appraised his toned stomach muscles and strong biceps. Danny didn't miss the appreciation and he grinned cockily at her. "Like what you see, O'Brien? Maybe want a repeat of last night?"

Allie snorted, picking up a shirt from his abandoned desk. She tossed it at him, marveling at the speed with which he caught it. "You wish, Messer. Glad to see you're paying attention. Now, let's go before Mikey and Louie eat everything." She saw irritation on Danny's face and put her hands on her hips, biting her lip. "Just forget about last night. They both came back alive: isn't that what's important?" She grinned broadly. "Now, quit sulking and let's go."

"Okay, okay. I'm comin'. Lemme find my—" He grinned as Allie dangled his glasses from one finger, swinging them slowly. "Thanks." He took them carefully and placed them on his nose, pushing them up with a practiced thumb. "Okay, let's go." He grabbed a cap and placed it on his head backwards, giving him a whole new sexy factor. Allie rolled her eyes and pushed him out the door, inwardly sighing in satisfaction. Whole new year, whole new list of possibilities.

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"Hey! There's a senior! And there's another one!" Mikey pulled his sister into a quick hug, playfully uppercutting her chin. "God, I can't believe you're in your last year. Unbelievable, right, Lou?" He looked over to his friend for confirmation. Louie Messer nodded, smiling at his younger brother. "Yeah. It's somethin' else. Have a good year, yeah?" He held out his hand; for a shake or a hug, it was up to Danny. Danny studied his older brother in the kitchen the two of them had grown up in and realized that he barely knew Louie anymore. Three years ago, when Louie himself was eighteen, Danny idolized him for being the coolest person he knew. Now, Danny was practically on the same level as Louie, not quite an adult but not a child any longer, and the tables were turned. Danny was the popular one and Louie seemed tired, almost vulnerable.

"Dan? You okay?" Louie's voice snapped him out of his reverie and Danny pasted on quick grin and tackled Louie in a hug. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, bro." The Messer brothers threw a few quick punches, pure fun, until Allie noticed the time. "Uh, Danny, hate to break up the love-fest, but we gots ta go." She pulled free of her brother, kissing him briefly on the cheek. "Danny's giving me a ride, Mike. I'll see you tonight." She grabbed a piece of toast from the kitchen table and her backpack from where it sat, almost unnoticed, in a chair next to the table. "Let's go, boyo!"

'Yeah!" Danny grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter and was about to head out the door when a shout made both him and Allie turn around. Mikey and Louie stood with their arms crossed, surveying the teenagers. Mikey nodded his head, looking Danny in the eye. His hazel eyes, so much like his sister's, held no lies. "Danny, you make sure none of those punks at school even look at my sister, got it?" He looked stern and Danny nodded, ignoring Allie's groans of protest.

"Mikey! That's not even funny," Allie whined, rubbing her eyes with one hand. She shot Danny a Say-a-word-and-I'll-shoot-you look and he grinned. Not a chance, sweetheart. "No problem, Mike." Danny bit his tongue to prevent laughter as Allie's indignant shriek struck his ears.

"Oh, wait, Mike; aren't you forgettin' somethin'?" Louie nudged his friend, a smirk firmly in place on his lips.

Mikey pretended to contemplate for a brief moment before acting like he was receiving a great epiphany. "Oh, yeah!' He crossed the kitchen until he was face to face with Danny. The younger man kept looking him bravely in the eye, even when it was apparent Danny wanted to burst out laughing. Allie moved slightly, as though to come to her friend's rescue. Mikey bent over slightly, until he was looking over Danny's shoulder. "Keep your hands to yourself, Danny boy." He winked at the stunned teenagers and pushed them both out the door. "Play nice, kiddies!" The two older men burst into laughter as their younger siblings climbed into Danny's car and sped away.

Allie slammed her head against the headrest, furious. "Can you believe them? My God!" She covered her face with her hands, embarrassed. "I'm going to kill him."

"Don't worry about it, Al. They were just playin' around." Danny's hands clenched around the steering wheel as he thought of how Mikey's eyes had looked. Michael O'Brien had been serious when he had told Danny to be careful, and Danny had no wish to disobey him.

Allie saw his knuckles turn white and looked out the window. "Right. That's why you're going to do exactly what he told you." She ignored Danny's sigh of apology and rested her head against the window.

The rest of the ride was silent as each side contemplated the events of the morning and the night before. As they pulled into a parking spot in front of the school, Allie turned to face Danny after making sure no one could see them. He watched her, expecting her to rant and rave a little bit longer. There was no doubt about it: Allie had an Irish temper. Not that you're much better, Danny thought wryly to himself. Whenever he thought about it, it made him smile. The only culture difference between the Irish and the Italians, when you really thought about it, was that the Irish lived to drink while the Italians lived to eat. Everything else concerning religion, family, beliefs, and superstitions: everything was identical between the two heritages.

"So, I've been thinking." Allie looked at Danny for a moment before looking down at her hands. "About what Mikey said." Another glance up.

Danny sighed. "Allie, I told you, don't take him seriously. He was just—"

"And I say, screw it."

"What?" Danny's eyes grew wide before her mouth covered his and her hands were firmly tangled in his hair. Danny groaned and ran his tongue over her lips, demanding admittance. She granted it briefly, touching her tongue softly to his.

As soon as she had jumped on him, she pulled back, not bothering to wipe her mouth. She smirked at the stunned look on his face and placed a finger on the side of her nose. "We're going to be late." Laughing manically at a dumbfounded Danny, she bounded out of the car and ran to catch up with some of her newly arrived girlfriends. She never looked back and Danny watched her go with a sigh. He looked down at the bulge in his pants and slammed his head back against the headrest. "You really gotta stop doin' that, Al," he whispered to the wind, "It's not smart on either of our parts." Danny waited at least five minutes before venturing out of the car, trying to look cool as several of his baseball friends called his name. Pretending nothing had happened, he sauntered into the school before the first bell. He saw Allie on his way to class and she waved happily. He flashed her a sexy grin, charms turned on high. You want to play dirty? Let's play dirty. The girls around her giggled and she grinned back, cocking an eyebrow.

It was going to be an interesting year.