Hey guys, sorry for the late updates; I haven't been able to think of a decent plot line until recently. Thanks so much to everyone who's given me a review and read my story; I really hope it's satisfactory. If you guys have any suggestions, anything you want me to add to it, or ideas for future stories, send me a private message and I swear I will message you back as soon as I get it. Thanks so much!

Chapter 6: Let's Be Friends

I spent the entire day dazed out of my mind. I remembered that most of the day was just Nicole, Chloe, Emma, Annie, all of my friends just hounding me for details about the date. In my dazed state, I ignored them all and just thought about Daniel all day. I'd booted the cold thought about Arsenio out of my mind, despite knowing that I would have to think about it some time. For the time being, I just wanted to enjoy having Daniel to myself; bad times would come later.

Daniel found me at break. "Hey beautiful," he said, leaning against the locker next to mine. I raised an eyebrow, looking at him. His hands were in his pocket, and he had a lazy smile on his face. He leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek, letting his lips linger on my skin. By the time he pulled away, I was beet red.

"Hey yourself," I whispered. My heart was beating so hard it was hard to hear myself over the thumping of it. And if it was hard to hear myself, imagine how hard it was hear him!

He laughed and pulled me into a hug, "What are you so embarrassed about?" he whispered in my ear.

"I'm not embarrassed, I'm just…" I glanced around at all the students looking at his public display of affection and blushed even more.

He smiled a knowing smile at me, probably knowing what I was thinking. I was jealous of him in that moment; he had so long to get used to all the attention, but I'd only had a few days. "It's alright; you'll get used to it. I plan on being with you for a long time if it's my choice to make, so you'll have plenty of time to get accustomed to it." He bent close again and whispered in my ear, "But if it were my choice, I'd rather you not; your blush is so cute."

I blushed even harder and he grinned, "Yes, exactly like that."

Daniel was so good to me. He took my books and carried them to my next class for me, holding my hand with his free hand. He smiled at everyone, tossing greetings here and there. I felt so nervous standing next to him like that; what if I wasn't pretty enough? What if my hair was messed up? What if I stunk from P.E? All those thoughts badgered me non-stop as he walked with me.

When we got to my next class, he gave me my books to put down, but told me to come back out, saying he had something for me. I took my books and came back out, curious as to what he had for me. He took my hand and led me to the hidden stairwell where he'd asked me out. I looked and him curiously, but he just held me close to himself.

"You don't have to worry about what other people think," he breathed, "I don't want you to feel like you're obligated to change because you think you're not good enough for me. The truth is that I'm not good enough for you; you're an angel to me already, and that's all that should matter. I don't want you to change, Elena, not for me, not for anyone else; only for yourself. I…I love the way you are now, and I would still love you if you changed, but the way you are now, it's perfect to me."

My heart stopped beating for a second, I swear it did. First and foremost, I was so touched that he would even tell me that. He told me I never had to change, for him or for anybody else, because I was me and no one could tell me what to do unless I allowed it. Secondly, did he say he loved me? I swear I heard it. My heart fluttered at the very thought, and I blushed deeply again. Thirdly, how did he know I was even thinking that?

"You looked so nervous on the way here," he whispered in my ear, his arms pulling tighter around me. "I want you to be feel comfortable around me; I wish I could protect you from everything, but I know I can't. I wish you had no burdens ever, but I also know I can't do that. Please, Elena, just relax."

I studied him, puzzled. How the hell did he know what I was thinking? But I pushed the thought away; the timing was not right to think about it. I leaned into him again, "It's just hard," I confessed, "I've never had this much attention, and it's intimidating."

He wrapped his arms even tighter around me, "I'd say I understand, but I know I don't. I want to do things for you, but I don't know what to do!" He seemed so frustrated, so upset that he couldn't do anything for me.

I was touched that he would feel this deeply about me, especially after so little time together. "Daniel," I whispered softly, "Don't feel bad; it's not something we can stop. I'll learn to deal with it; just stop worrying."

He sighed and kissed the top of my head lightly, "I can't help it; what guy wouldn't be worried about the girl he loves?"

I looked at him again, my heart stopping, "The girl he loves?" I repeated slowly. If my cheeks didn't calm down soon, I would stay blushing forever; I just know it!

He blushed in return, "I'm sorry, am I being too forward?"

I shook my head rapidly, "No, I'm just, kind of surprised; we haven't been going out that long."

He blushed even more and pulled me closer, "I thought I already told you? I've been watching you for a long time, Elena; I knew I was in love with you the very moment I saw you. Love at first sight. Cliché, isn't it?"

If this boy kept talking like this, I was going to die from lack of oxygen in my body. He was being so romantic and so humble about it at the same time; it was hard to resist kissing him. So, I didn't resist. I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned up.

He seemed to understand where I was going, and wrapped his arms around my waist. He leaned down, and I leaned up. We met up in the middle, our lips brushing each other's slightly.

Warmth spread throughout my veins, and it made me want him, need him all the more. Maybe he felt the same, because he pressed into me, holding me closely and kissing me harder. We pulled away at the same time to breathe and just looked at each other, panting.

He spoke first, and he said something that made me blush harder than ever, "You taste like sweet mints. They're yummy, do you mind if I taste them again?" He pulled me closer, leaning in.

I let him kiss me again, this time as sweet as the last. My heart was pounding loudly in my chest, almost bursting with the happiness. We kissed a bit more, until the first bell rang, pulling us apart. "That was intense," I whispered, touching a finger to my lips.

He smiled and placed a finger and his own, "I know it was. It was better than I ever imagined it would be." That guy took a very sick pleasure in making me blush, didn't he?

"We should head to class," I whispered, pulling away gently, "You don't want to ruin your perfect attendance record do you?"

He smiled and reached for my hand, "I would break it any day for you. And yes, I do take pleasure in making you blush; it's cute."

I groaned, laughing. "You are pure evil, Daniel, I swear you are."

His eyes seemed to darken a bit, but his smile stayed firmly in place, "Being called evil in my family is a major insult," he teased.

I covered my mouth, "I'm sorry!"

He shrugged, and gave me a hug outside my classroom, "It's fine. I'll see you later, beautiful." He gave me one last kiss on the cheek before heading off to class.

I spent the rest of the day in a complete daze, replaying the scene over and over again in my head. Every time I inspected it, I wondered how he had known what I was thinking, and every time I pushed the thought from my mind, thinking I had just shown my emotions too much on my face. There was a part of me that knew it didn't make sense, because I had been blushing too much, and he hadn't even been looking at me when we were walking to class. However, the greater part of my brain didn't particularly care, and was still squealing inside from what he had said.

That day after school, I managed to evade everyone. I wanted to just go home and crash for a while, take some more time daydreaming about Daniel. But nope, things refused to go my way. When I got home, I walked right into my room without saying a single word and just looking right at my room. I ignored everybody and everyone, dazed as I was.

I just fell onto my bed and lay there for a while, not feeling like doing anything else. My eyes were open, but they saw nothing.

"Do you plan on just lying there for my entire visit?" a deep voice asked, interrupting my fantasies.

I sat up so fast I almost hurt my back, looking wide-eyed at Arsenio, "What the hell are you doing here?"

He shrugged, leaning against my doorway, his hands in his pockets. "I need to talk to you."

I gazed at him warily, trying as hard as I could to ignore his looks. It was hard though; the way he held himself, the confidence in his stance was so alluring. I promise you, if Winsey saw him, she would probably jump him first thing. Well, she wouldn't; she was too poised for that. Or maybe she would… she seemed to have changed a lot since we got to high school…

I shook the thought from my mind and sighed. Patting the spot next to me, I scooted over so he could sit. "What are you doing here?" I asked again.

"I need to talk to you about yesterday."

"Yesterday?"

"Do you remember what happened when you came to my house?"

As fast as I could, I swept through my memories of the previous day, ignoring the ones of Daniel and concentrating on Arsenio. "I went to your house to ask you why you were behaving like a girl. We were arguing, and then… I think I blacked out, because the next thing I remember, you were standing over me concerned. You asked me the same question as today: what I remembered. I told you, and then you told me the reason you were acting girly, and told me to stay away from you. You told me bad things were going to happen to me if I stayed close to you, and then you told me you didn't feel that way about me. After that, I asked you what you were calling me A-something, and you told me Alana. After that I left."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "That's what I thought. Listen, Elena, there are some things you don't remember, some big things. I can't tell you right now what they are, partly because you wouldn't believe me and partly because I don't even know how to tell you. I will tell you eventually, please trust me on that. I…I was lying, when I said I didn't feel that way about you. I said that because I knew that despite what you say, what you do, you still have some lingering affection for me. I've done all that I can to push you away, but I can't anymore. There's something going on here, I don't know what it is, but I want to protect you from it. I need to stay close to you now; I can't ignore you anymore. Also-."

"Now wait right there," I snapped. "There is no I'm-going-to-do-this, because you're not doing anything unless I allow it, understand? You tried pushing me away, and now you're coming back just for no reason? I think I deserve an explanation, whether you want to give it or not. I deserve to know what's going on, Arsenio."

"You will have your explanation," he snarled, "but you need to be patient! Please, Elena! I know I've done a lot of things wrong, and I know I was wrong to play you like that, and I am so, so sorry about that. If you don't mind, I'd really like to be friends. I want to be near you, I want to protect you, but only if you let me. Can we give it a shot? Please?"

"Why did you try to avoid me at all, Arsenio?" I whispered.

He swept a hand through his hair again, "I told you: I'm a bad person; you don't want to mess with me. It just isn't smart. I tried to stay away to protect you, but, well, you can see how that turned out." He shrugged lightly, then stood, stretching.

"Please, consider my offer; I'd really like to be friends if you don't mind. Also, I don't like rushing you, trust me, I don't, but I really need you to hurry up and decide, or you might get into some trouble, and I won't be there to protect you."

His words were sweet, and his tone was sexy. I looked in his eyes right before he turned away, and I saw such a strong emotion there. It wasn't possession, it wasn't protectiveness; it was something soft, something sweet. He waited for a second, but when I didn't say anything, he turned to leave

Then, "Yes." He looked at me, eyebrows raised. "Yes," I repeated, "I'd really like that."

He turned to face me, a weird hope in his eyes, "You mean it?"

I shrugged, "As long as you agree to stop lying to me and to tell me what's really going on, then yeah, definitely."

He smiled brilliantly at me, showing off his perfect white teeth. My breath caught in my throat as I looked at him, he was so damn handsome. I mean like, drop-dead handsome. At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to run my hands through his hair and kiss his full lips. I wanted it so much I almost stood up and walked towards him.

He must have noticed my motion, because he looked amused, "Would you like to share?"

I rolled my eyes, trying to hide my blush, "Not really, man."

"Come on, tell me, in honor of our new-found friendship," he teased, smiling brilliantly.

I laughed, "No! Arsenio, come on!"

"How about I take a guess then? If I get it right, you have to tell me, okay?"

I hesitated, and then nodded, "Fine."

"Were you thinking that you really wanted to kiss me?"

My eyebrows shot right up, "Either I'm very unlucky, or you are psychic."

He made shadows with his hands, "Wooh! I'm a ghost! I can read your mind!"

I laughed at his stupid imitation, thinking about how nice it was to share this with him. He was being a lot better than he was before. That is, until I heard what he said next.

"So, would you like to tell me why you were thinking about kissing me?"

I blushed deeply and ducked my head, "Dude, you have no idea how sexy you look when you smile at me like that. I'm not kidding; it drives me half mad with need." Why am I saying this? Why am I talking?

He laughed. It was a rich sound, like silk on my skin. It caressed me; it made me want things not even Daniel had produced within me. I shivered with need and tried to fight it off. "You have a boyfriend damn it! Don't be a slut!" "That's quite flattering, Elena; I'm touched. And I believe you know as well as I do that I am going to hold this over you for a very long time."

I let out a groan, "I should stop making promises; they never turn out well for me."

He smiled once more at me, and then looked at his watched, "We've been talking for a long time; it's time to go home, or Dad will be worried. We'll talk later, okay? I think I still have your number."

I blushed again, wondering why he'd kept it when he'd wanted me away from him so badly just a while ago. "Sure; I look forward to it."

He smiled, "We have a lot to talk about Elena."

I nodded my agreement, thinking about Alana, whoever she was. "Yeah, we do. See you later, Arsenio."

"Same to you." He moved towards the door, and paused just before he went out. "For the record, I really am glad you decided to accept my offer." Arsenio gave me one more smile before leaving.

The moment he was gone, I sighed happily and fell onto my bed. It'd been a good day today, and I was so glad. Arsenio was finally starting to make sense, kind of, and Daniel was being as perfect as he ever was. Life was starting to look good for me. Hell, I should have known it wouldn't last long. If this were a story, I'd be the heroine, and for the heroine, peace never lasts nearly long enough before they get dragged into trouble again. I wasn't sure what the trouble would be this time, but I had a feeling it would take place in the form on Arsenio Rivera.