Allie awoke in a flurry of things happening all at once. First, the sun was shining in her eyes. Second, someone's arms were wrapped around her waist and she couldn't move to discover the owner of the hands on her belly. Third, the neighborhood was waking up on a new day and Maria Messer was chewing out her eldest son over a cup of coffee. Allie identified Maria's voice first, followed by Giovanni Messer's deep baritone, and then, in one heart stopping moment, Louie's indignant protests, his Staten Island drawl contrasting with his parents' Italian accents. A sigh ruffled her hair and she smiled as the boy behind her listened in on the conversation below them.

"G'morning sunshine," she quipped, trying to lighten Danny's already sour mood. It was scary, how much they had deepened their bond in the night. She could tell by the way his arms tightened around his waist at his brother's voice and the way his chest muscles constricted that he was upset. A slight chuckle made her breathe an internal sigh of relief. "Mornin'," Danny mumbled, kissing her shoulder. "Didja sleep okay?" He rested his chin on her arm and Allie shifted in his arms so she could see his face more clearly. She nodded, biting her lip. "The sun woke me up." She grinned. "You really should think about investing in some curtains or somethin'."

Danny shrugged, an impressive feat since he had little to no access to arm movement. "Why? I'm leavin' in a few months anyway."

Allie rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah, but it's not like you're not gonna come back. Right?" His eyes didn't meet hers and she pulled away to look into his face better. "Right, Danny?"

He bit the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. "Well, I'm not really plannin' on it, Al. I mean, sure, to visit, yeah. But I ain't never gonna live here again. In fact," he rolled away from her to lie on his back. "I don't wanna come back until I can get completely independent. Not have to rely on my old man for nothin', you know?"

Allie rolled over until her chest was resting on his and she was looking into his face. "What about me?"

"I'm takin' you with me, of course." Danny smirked and pulled her fully on top of him. "We'll get away from all this shit and be incredibly famous. I'll play baseball and I guess you can be a dancer, if you're good enough."

Allie let out an indignant gasp, staring at Danny in disbelief. "If I'm good enough? Good luck gettin' into the majors with that arm, bud."

He sat up, his face suddenly serious. "What's the matter with my pitching?"

"Nothing." Her reply came entirely too fast for Danny's liking and he growled playfully, pulling her into a bear hug. "God dammit Allie, what's wrong with my arm?"

"Nothing, I promise! I just said it to get a rise out of you!" Her face being pressed into his collarbone muffled her voice. Danny smiled and pressed his nose into her hair. "I think I knew that."

Gasping for breath, Allie mustered all of her strength and pulled away from him. "You're an idiot." She blew her hair out of her eyes. "What time is it?"

Groaning, Danny turned to look at the alarm clock that sat on a chair within his view. "Uh, seven."

"Shit!" Allie vaulted out of the bed, her eyes wide. "My ma's gonna kill me, I told her I'd help with the store today! I am so late!" She scrambled into her shorts and shirt, grabbing her underwear in one hand. Danny watched her with a bemused expression on his face, one eyebrow cocked in amusement. "You goin' home like that?"

Allie shot him a dirty look as she struggled to open the window. "I got no time. I'm gonna take a shower when I get home anyways." She blew another strand of hair out of her eyes and glared at him. "Danny! Quit lying there like an ass and help me!"

"Right…" Danny rolled out of bed, quickly pulled on a pair of boxers and crossed to where Allie was struggling with the stuck window. He gently moved her and took over, widening the gap that Allie had managed to start. She bit her lip in silent appreciation of his strength and smiled as he stepped back, hardly even breathing hard. "There y'are."

"Well, aren't you handy?" She made to climb out the window, stopping at his hand on her arm. Her eyes rose to meet his and she was taken aback when his lips met hers. "I'll call you," he whispered when they broke apart and she licked her lips before smiling. "I'll hold you to that. Only, not tonight: I may be busy."

"With what?" Danny cursed himself for not trying to get back on her good side sooner. His plans were being screwed around with her other plans, and he didn't like it.

"Nothin' important, just some stuff I gotta do." She grinned at him again and then she was gone. Danny could hear her climbing down the fire escape. He could also hear his mother's angry footsteps on the stairs and Danny shut the window quickly. He vaulted over the mess on his floor and pulled a shirt off a chair, smelling it to make sure it could pass for clean. It passed the test and he pulled it haphazardly over his head, snatching his glasses from where Allie had lay them the night before. He opened the door before his mother could knock and smiled. "Mornin', Ma."

Maria's eyes were red with crying and anger as she glared at her youngest son. "Did you know your brother was headed to Atlantic City last night?"

Danny felt the anger of being rejected boiling in the pit of his stomach, threatening to cause a huge eruption of emotion. Of course he knew: he was supposed to be with Louie, but apparently that wasn't what Louie had had in mind at all. "Sure, I knew." Danny opted for the easy answer. The worst thing for him to do would be for him to start something now, when his mother was clearly very angry. You and me both, Ma.

She surveyed him with narrowed eyes for a moment, suspicious. He must have passed her inspection, for Maria nodded and sniffed. "Out 'til all hours of the night, can't even bother to call…" she mumbled, and Danny shifted uncomfortably, not sure if he should be hearing his mother's angry rants or not. Finally, Maria turned and left, muttering and shaking her head as she went. Danny shut his door quietly, releasing a deep breath. He leaned against the door, resting his head against the solid wood. Across the alleyway, he could see into Allie's room, but she must have already been in the shower, for he saw no sign of her. Sighing, Danny began to pick up the clothes on his bedroom floor. If he wasn't gonna talk to her again for a while, he was damn well gonna make sure he didn't live in a dump.

---

Danny was lying on his bed, throwing a baseball up at the ceiling and catching it with both hands, alternating hands every so often, when the phone rang. His father was out looking at a new construction site and his mother was off visiting some aunt or another. It took Danny a moment before he remembered that he was the only one in the house. Chucking the baseball at a hole in his wall, he scrabbled off his bed and clumped down the stairs to pick up the receiver before it stopped ringing.

"Hello?"

"Dan? S'at you?"

Louie. Danny hoisted himself up on the countertop, holding the phone between his ear and shoulder. His fists clenched in anger. It had been three days since Giants' Stadium, and he wasn't in any hurry to talk to his brother. What reason could Louie have for calling him now?

"Yeah. What d'you need? Ma's not here and the old man's out with Zio Tony, looking at a new place."

"No, no, I don't need them. I wanna talk to you." An awkward pause and then, "How ya doin'?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Fine, I guess. Why?"

"What, your brotha can't ask how you about your life?"

"Sure, my brotha can. I didn't think we was related anymore."

There was silence on the other end and Danny knew he had taken it a little to far. However, the smug bastard rooting for his boldness currently replaced his voice of reason, and Danny was more than ready to take on his brother.

"Listen, asshole, we dropped that kid off in a bad neighborhood. He was alive when I saw him last." Louie's voice was tight with anger. "That's all you need to know."

"Right. Sure. Whatever."

"I'm serious! Look," Louie paused, taking a deep breath, "I didn't call to argue with youse. I called to apologize about Tony and Vinnie. What they did was…"

"Stupid? Yeah, we figured that out?"

"Would you just shut up? Dammit, you don't stop for a minute, do you?" A sigh. "Listen, the thing with Allie, that wasn't planned. Those two idiots don't have enough sense to find a rat in a trashcan. But there's talk of somethin' goin' on tonight, down in Pelham. I just thought I should tell you, since she's your girlfriend and all that."

Danny slid off the counter, suddenly intent on what his brother was saying. "What? What the hell are you talkin' about?"

There was a voice in the background and Louie mumbled, "Yeah, okay, shut up. I gotta go., Dan. Don't let Allie go to Pelham tonight, 'kay?"

"Wait, Louie…" The dial tone in his ear stopped Danny short. He placed the phone back on its cradle, staring at it for a moment. The full force of Louie's words hit him and he looked up in panic.

"SHIT!"

---

Cliffhanger! Mwahahahahaha! I just wanted to leave you all with something before I left on our family vacation…