I had Gavin settled on my hip. We were roaming around the resort while Leslie was confined to a hotel room, getting her 'practice wedding hair' done. Gavin and I were killing time until Leslie was freed and then we were going to the beach. Until then, we walked up and down the hallways of the resort. We went across the main lobby once or twice, and passed in front of the large ballroom area that was holding an event. I headed toward the entrance, where a hotel employee was loitering in front of the doors.

"Hi," I greeted her. "What's going on in there?"

She smiled brightly. "Twice a week some of our local merchants set up in the ballroom for guests that don't like to leave the resort. They sell everything from baked goods to clothing to jewellery."

That sounded interesting.

"Are just hotel guests just allowed in?"

"Absolutely!" The employee chirped. "They close down at about two in the afternoon!"

I thanked her and went on my way. Inside, there were crowds of hotel guests meandering about the large room. Individual stalls lined the walls with two straight rows going down the middle of the room. I readjusted Gavin in my arms and we joined the throng of people weaving their way around the booths. I bought a sweet pastry from the first booth I visited, and fed Gavin and myself little bits of it as I continued to walk around. I was going to look at some clothing items, when Gavin let out a squawk and stretched himself over my shoulder. I turned around, my eyes landing on what he was freaking out about: jewellery. Gavin loved things that sparkled.

Adhering to his request, I went to the jewellery booth. Gavin made unintelligible babbling noises as I inspected the assortment of things available. I was looking at beaded bracelets, when someone came bustling out from behind the stall.

"Sorry about that," the woman blustered, "I had to take a phone call. And … Sam?"

My head jerked away from the woman's wares to her face.

"Oh my …" I managed, my face twisting into a smile. "Valerie?"

In a place as big as Mexico, could it really be that easy to find her? But there was no disguising who she was; there was no denying that it was Valerie Grey standing in front of me. She'd grown her hair out, and I could see the hint of a tattoo on the underside of her wrist, although I couldn't read what it said.

"What are you doing here?" Valerie gasped, closing the gap between us.

I gave her a brief hug, and as we parted, Gavin tangled his fingers in her long hair.

"And …" Valerie added, "What's the story with him?"

I looked down at Gavin and immediately realized what she was getting at. "Oh no, no. He's my best friend's. He's not mine."

"Ah."

"His name is Gavin," I told her.

"Hello, Gavin," Valerie cooed, as she untangled his fingers from her hair. "How are you, baby?"

Just as Gavin had been with Tucker, he became fascinated with the colour of Valerie's skin, reaching forward and wanting to be held by her. Awkwardly, I wrestled Gavin back into my embrace, although he wailed over being thwarted. I fished his soother from my pocket and placed it in his mouth. He sucked on it a few times and then he settled down.

"So, what are you doing here?" Valerie asked again.

"I came with my friend, his mom." I nodded at Gavin with my head. "She's here for a wedding, and I'm here for a break."

"A break?" Valerie repeated and lifted her eyebrows at me. "Shouldn't you be heading back to university right now?"

I shrugged, glossing over the topic. "I took a year off."

"Oh, I see," Val shrugged. "Are you doing anything right now?"

"No …"

"Good, me either." Val said firmly. "Now that Maria finally decided to show up."

A girl brushed by me, mumbling in Spanish.

"Don't curse at me," Valerie chided her. "You're lucky I took over this long so you could go see your boyfriend."

"Whatever," Maria sniffed. "I'm here now, so you can go."

"Don't worry. I'm going." Valerie exclaimed. She faced me again. "You want to do something?"

"Sure," I agreed quickly. "But, I'm going to take Gavin upstairs to his mother before we do."

"All right. I'll be waiting here."

I hustled up to the elevator, vibrating with excitement as the floors ticked by. I had thought about what I would do if I ran into Valerie while I was here, but I couldn't imagine it actually happening. Mexico was a big place, and she hadn't told me specifically what part of Mexico she would be in when she left Amity. It was nothing short of a miracle that I had run into her so easily, but I was thankful that I had.

I knocked on the room door where Leslie and the other bridesmaids were getting their hair done. It was Leslie herself that stuck her head out the door.

"Hi!" She gushed. "Is everything going okay?"

"It's fine, but, uh, he's getting sleepy. And I ran into an old friend from Amity, and she and I want to go do something. Is it all right if I leave him up here?"

"Absolutely!" Leslie smiled, and she shifted Gavin from my arms to hers. "You have fun with your friend, okay?"

"Thanks. I'll see you later."

I bounded back downstairs to where Valerie was waiting.

"So," I said as I approached her, "What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, just a stroll around town?" Valerie suggested. "I promise, it doesn't look like it does on TV."

We strolled away from the resort, out into the town that Valerie now lived in.

"So, what's been new in your life?" Valerie demanded. "What's gone on in Sam-world?"

"Not much," I answered. I didn't want to tell her about my kidnapping; I was trying to forget about it, that was the point of this vacation.

"Come on," Valerie pressed. "There has to be something!"

"Boy troubles," I sighed before I realized I was saying it.

"Ooh," Valerie gushed. "Want to talk and eat?"

I nodded, and we padded into a little café.

"The boy troubles," Valerie prompted after we had ordered.

"Well, I'm just feeling really conflicted. And I've tried to talk to my friends, Tara and Leslie about it, but Tara hates him and Leslie thinks I should give him a chance, so I don't know what's going on."

"Tell Dr. Val! I'll help you sort it all out with this guy."

"We don't really have the best history," I began, wondering how much I should disclose. I knew that Valerie didn't have a good history with Danny, so I didn't want to bring his name into it. "He was really cruel to me. There was one point, in the past, where I thought we could be together, but I found out that he'd been lying to me, sneaking around behind my back. When I tell you all that, it makes him sound horrible, and he really is an ass, but there's something about him. He's so charming, and not to sound like a naïve little girl, but I think he's gone through a lot of changes recently. I think he's the person he always meant to be, before all of the other crap from his life got in his way … Am I making sense?"

"I think so," Valerie mused. "What do your friends say about him?"

"Tara thinks I should set him on fire and be done with it. Leslie thinks that there's a lot of unfinished business with him and I, and that I should talk to him at least to get closure."

Valerie studied me, and then she shook her head.

"What?" I pushed.

"Whoever this guy is, I don't think you're going to get closure with him."

"Why not?" I frowned. Leslie's explanation had seemed logical to me.

"Because even I can see you're in love with him."

I puffed out my cheeks, flabbergasted. "That's ridiculous. I don't love him. I stopped loving him a long time ago."

"Liar, liar," Valerie chanted under her breath.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes, wanting to drop the subject. "Tell me about you? What have you and your father been up to?"

"Dad's dead," Valerie said bluntly. "Heart attack, not long after we got here. I've been staying with my aunt and uncle, working with them. They own a couple of small businesses, so I go where I'm needed."

"What about your future?" I asked.

"I don't really have one … I mean, because of my mistake in Amity, I can't exactly go back there. I'll do my best here. Mexico really isn't that bad of a place."

"Are you happy? That's what matters in the end."

"Oh, pretty happy," Valerie told me. "You know how it is."

I did.

(-.-)

I laid in bed that night, trying not to think about Danny. But, of course, I couldn't get my mind off him. No matter what Valerie said, I was not in love with him. He'd hurt me and, while I didn't hate him anymore, I couldn't say I loved him. I had, once, when I thought he was someone else- but, he wasn't the person that I thought he was either. He wasn't Fenton; he wasn't the terrible monster that had hurt me. He was Danny and that person was totally new to me.

I rolled onto my stomach and groaned. All this was doing was proving something to me: I had to talk to him. If I couldn't get my mind off him, that had to mean something. He did mean something to me, I realized, although I didn't know what. All I knew is that thoughts of him wouldn't leave me.

At the prospect of talking to him again, my stomach fluttered in excitement. I immediately picked up my phone to text him, not thinking about time zones.

Me: hi

But he still answered me.

Danny: … hi …

Me: uh I think I made a mistake before

Danny: what do you mean

Me: I think we should talk

Danny: about what?

Me: idk … about all kinds of things, I guess.

Me: I just think we should stay in each other's lives

Danny: really?

Me: yeah. I probably seem kinda flaky, saying one thing and changing my mind days later but I really mean it this time

Danny: :-)

Me: but I need you to promise me something

Danny: anything

Me: no more lies. Not one.

Danny: no, never. You won't hear anything but the truth from me.

Me: good, because I have something to talk to you about

Danny: uh oh …

Me: why paullina?

Me: I need to understand that

Danny: okay

Danny: I thought that being popular would make me happy, and paullina represented that life to me. She was always the pretty, well-known girl and she seemed to have it so good. That's what I wanted. When she finally noticed me I was so fucking happy because it meant that I was finally winning the game of high school rather than not even being on the board. And she was still with dash at the time so I got to steal her from him … in a sense, I guess I knew they were still fucking. But to me she was a prize, a representation of what I thought I always wanted.

Danny: I mean I was wrong and it took me too long to realize that the popular life isn't what I wanted and that it wasn't right but at the time I was even dumber than I am now

Me: do you miss her

Danny: not even a little. She was horrible to people that I cared about and she helped me be horrible to the people I cared about. Im not going to blame all my behaviour on her 'cause im a grown ass boy who makes my own decisions but I don't know. Its hard to explain now…

Me: I think I get it.

Danny: why did you ask anyway?

Me: I was just curious, I guess. I was thinking about, you know, the first time we met when you were still technically with her

Danny: … dangerous thoughts

Me: I guess so but idk understanding is never a bad thing? I was trying to figure out what you were thinking the entire time

Danny: I wasn't. trust me

Me: a tall order.

Danny: eh, we'll get there

Me: :-)

I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my betas: Forever Sky!

~TLL~