Author's Note: Here's Chapter 7, I told you guys, I wrote up to Chapter 10, working on Chapter 11 :) Enjoy

Chapter 7: It's Nice To Dream

" All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." ~Anatole France

I moan, turning my head into the pillow, but it doesn't feel like any pillow I've laid on before. It's smooth, warm, and it smells slightly of cologne. I open my eyes slowly, realizing that it isn't a pillow I'm laying on at all, it's Michael. I lay there for a minute, curling into the warmth of his arms. I close my eyes knowing just how easy it would be to fall back in to sleep, Michael made everything easy. Yet the voice of my mother comes into my mind.

' Daniella, what will people think about Michael Jackson's assistant being a single mother.' I open my eyes, the memory of her words burning into me. What people think didn't really matter, what mattered the ,ost to me in this moment is what Michael thinks? Was my entire employment based on some sort of pity? Were Carly-Ann and I some sort of charity case? I groan deeply, rolling out of his arms. I turn back to look at him as he sighs in his sleep, rolling over, one hand placed over where I had just been. I smile softly, reminded of a sleeping child. I roll my eyes at myself and slip from his room quietly. I walk slowly to my room, my body aching as I go. I slip into my hotel room, closing the door lightly behind me.

" Morning," Siedah says, and I whip around quickly, my body aching violently.

" God, you scared me," I whisper, noting that Carly-Ann is still in a deep slumber. " How'd she do last night?"

" Just fine once Michael came and talked to her. He sang her to sleep," Siedah says, and I smile. Typical. If Carly-Ann had her way, Michael would be with her twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.

" Thank you, for staying with her. I don't want her to see me like this," I say, motioning to the ripped and blood stained shirt that I was still wearing. " Could you stay, just until I get out of the shower?" She simply nods at me, waving me towards the bathroom. I stop at one of my suitcases, picking out a long sleeved black shirt and a pair of jeans. I grab the itinerary and walk into the bathroom locking the door behind me. I scan the list, finding that today we'll be traveling to Austria. I smile, starting the shower, letting the steam billow through the room. I strip off my dirty clothes, dropping them into a bag that I tie up quickly before Carly-Ann get's a chance to see them. I step into the shower, the hot water streaming over my body, and I sigh bracing my arms against the shower wall letting the water stream over my body. I recall the night before, all the good parts that is. Dancing in front of a sold out audience, the thrill of the moment, Michael kissing me. On the last thought I snap the water off.

" Get it together Dani, the kiss didn't mean anything," I say to myself. I say it out loud, somehow thinking that by saying the words so I can hear them, makes them true. But the kiss did mean something. It just sealed the deal on the whole being in love with Michael Jackson predicament that I'm in. if I had any sense at all I would pack me and my daughter up and leave, before things become out of hand. Then again, who ever said I was a sensible person? I wipe a hand over the mirror, removing the condensation that had built up. I look at myself, pressing my fingers lightly to my swollen lip. A small bruise had formed where someone's elbow caught me unexpectedly. I drop my towel, taking stock of my injuries. Large bruises bloom over my rib cages, and I wince when I lightly brush over them. I pick my towel back up realizing that I had forgotten to grab a pair of panties and a bra. I groan, wishing to all that is Holy that Carly-Ann is still asleep. I open the door slowly, popping my head through the doorway finding my room strangely empty. I walk towards my suitcase, kneeling down slowly to pick out my undergarments, when the noise of someone clearing their throat behind me has me jolting upwards, my pink bra and underwear clutched tightly to why chest as I whirl around. I feel my blood race to my face when I see that it's Michael standing before me, a lazy smile on his lips.

Michael's POV

I knock on Dani's hotel room door, freshly showered and changed. Last night had been one of the longest nights of my life. The last thing I remember was laying down next to Dani as she slept, sighing with contentment she curled her body towards me, her hand resting over my heart. My smile falters when Siedah answer's the door, Carly-Ann on her hip.

" Mikey," Carly-Ann squeals, reaching towards me, and I smile taking her fluidly into my arms.

" Good morning sweet pea, how did you sleep? Any good dreams?" I ask, hugging her closely. She nods her head quickly, blushing slightly.

" Wonderful dreams, but they are a secret," Carly-Ann says, and I roll my eyes dramatically making her sigh.

" Fine, you don't have to tell me. I bet your hungry though, why don't you and Aunt Siedah go to the kitchen, I bet the cook will let you help him with breakfast, maybe you can talk him into making you some yummy pancakes," I say, setting her on her feet.

" Ooo, that sounds so good," Siedah says, kneeling down in front of Carly-Ann. " Run and get your slippers." She waits until Carly-Ann is out of ear shot, before straightening to look at me. " I assume your hear to talk to Dani. She doesn't look so good Mike, just thought I'd give you a heads up." Before I can respond in anyway Carly-Ann bounces between us taking Siedah's hand.

" Come on Aunty Siedah, I'm hungry," she wines, pulling Siedah away from me, giggling the whole time. I smile at the sound of her laughter echoing down the hallway, closing the door behind me. I walk around Dani's room, pacing as I try to find the right words to say to her. I enter the small sitting room, watching the city beyond the windows. I get lost in my own head for a while, until the sound of the bathroom door being opened catches my attention. I smile, walking back to the bedroom, where DanI is kneeling down rifling through her open suitcase in nothing but a towel stops me dead in my tracks. I swallow deeply, my breath catching in my throat at the sight of her creamy skin glistening from her shower. Her long blonde hair cascading down her back, dripping wet. I smile lazily, clearing my throat to get her attention. I watch as she whirls around, clutching pink material to her chest.

" Oh, Michael, you scared me," Dani says, smiling softly at me.

" Sorry," I stutter out, seemingly unable to come up with something better to say.

" It's no problem, just uhm, let me go get dressed," she says, retreating slowly to the bathroom. I watch her close the door part way, and I wish that I could call out to her, tell her not to get dressed, tell her exactly what I want to do to her, with her. I shake my head. 'No, no. Dani is special, she deserves romance,' I think to myself, looking up from the floor seeing a flash of pale skin as she puts on her shirt. A few seconds later she comes back out of the bathroom, running a towel over her hair.

" So, how are you doing?" she asks, and I look up to her smiling.

" I should be asking you that, you're the one who got trampled, not me," I say, sitting on the arm of a chair, watching her as she pulls a brush through her hair.

" I'm well enough. A little sore, but the shower helped," she says, setting the brush down on the dresser.

" Listen Dani, I wanted to talk to you, about everything that happened," I say, running my hands over my jeans, looking up at her, and I cant help but grin when she rolls her eyes at me.

" I know that I was kind of out of it last night, what with the whole being on trampled on by crazed Michael Jackson fans muddling my brain, but I could have sworn we had this discussion already," she says, laughing as she starts folding up clothes putting them into her suitcase.

" I know, I just, I cant help but to feel like I somehow could have avoided all of this. Besides, I need to warn you now, the story is all over the place, I'm talking tabloids, media stations," I say, and I watch when she drops her clothes sighing, shaking her head at me.

" I don't care. I honestly don't. The tabloids were going to start in on me sooner or later. Face it Michael, you hired a single mother for your assistant. A single mother who also danced with you in front of thousands of people in a slinky, black dress, and kissed you at that," she says, her eyes lighting up with something I cant quite pinpoint.

" Actually I kissed you," I correct her, smiling when the blush creeps along her cheeks, creeping up her slender neck.

" That's neither here nor there. I know you by now Michael, and I know that you came in here fully prepared to tell me your taking the number out of the show. Of course your coming from a very good place, wanting to protect Carly-Ann and me. The truth is, that isn't your job, its mine. Your job is to give the best damn performance you can, and having that number in the show does just that. I told you last night that I knew what the risks were when I took this job," she says, crossing her arms across her chest, her eyes sparking with flickering anger.

" I don't know Dani, if you heard the things they were saying," I start saying, and I am stunned into silence when Dani picks up a pillow, hurling it towards me.

" Will you just shut up? I don't care what they say about me. I have heard worse in my life. I had Carly-Ann when I was sixteen years old, Michael, I have been called every name under the sun, and then some. I'm an adult, for God's sake, so please spare me the 'knight in shining armor' routine, and get over it. I have," she says, her words cutting into me. I know that Dani is an adult, but she isn't as strong as she thinks she is. I can see it. The frailty of her spirit, though she keeps it well hidden, unless you know what it's like to feel completely lost and alone.

" Okay, okay, calm down Dani, I'm sorry. I just, I worry about you. I care about you," I say, reaching forward to hug her, and I'm slightly hurt when she pulls away, her body vibrating with anger.

" Just, just go Michael, just go. I have to finish packing, then I have to get Carly-Ann ready, then we have a train to catch," she says, walking to her hotel room door, opening it for me. I groan, wishing that this had turned out differently. " Bye, Mr. Jackson." She shuts the door quickly, all walls put up between us, and I listen as Dani weeps, pressing a hand to her door, my heart screaming to comfort her.

Dani's POV

I slide against the door, putting my head on my knees, crying uncontrollably. I lift my head, running my hands over my face, trying to stifle the tears, but they come too quickly for me to keep up.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," I say, banging my head against the door. What the hell got into me? Why couldn't I just accept what Michael had said, why did I snap? Why were my emotions so messed up? I know that he had meant well, but the truth is, I don't need or want anyone looking after my well being. Who cared what other people thought of me? The only people whose thoughts mattered to me are the ones who are close to me. I worry what my Mom thinks, and my brothers, Michael's crew, but most importantly what Michael thinks. Was it such a bad thing that people assume that he and I were a couple? Maybe I read into things completely wrong, maybe there was nothing between us. Perhaps the spark I have felt between us was nothing more than the product of an over-active imagination. I curse rabidly when my phone rings, and when I answer it I half expect it to be Max telling me to pack my things and go, instead it's the angry voice of my Mother.

" Daniella Isabelle James, what do you think your doing? Up on stage with Michael Jackson, with next to nothing on," Mom screams, and new tears form in my eyes. " Strutting around like, like a hooker. Do you have any idea what people are saying, what people are thinking about you? Your name and pictures are splashed across every magazine, you've been on the news all morning, I knew this was going to happen, you should have never gone, if your Father were." I start sobbing uncontrollably, cutting her off.

" You think I don't know what people are saying Mom? I don't have to hear it from you. I'm a big girl, and I can handle myself," I sob into the phone, clutching the front of my shirt tightly.

" Don't you dare take that tone with me," she says, and in an instant I feel like a child again, being punished for sassing back. " You say you know what's being said about you, that you don't care. What about your family Daniella. Your brothers, me, Carly-Ann. I have had twenty calls about this already, and they keep coming in. What were you thinking?"

" I wasn't okay Mom. I wasn't. I got on that stage, and everything came back to me, all of it, the feelings, the excitement, I didn't think it would be such a big deal, but don't worry, I wont be dancing anymore. Ever again. I'm sorry that I let you down Mom, I have to go" I say quickly, hanging up the phone. I sit on the corner of the bed, dropping my head to into my hands. How exactly does someone apologize to the 'King of Pop.'

Four hours later, my heart races harshly in my chest, surrounded by a million people at the crowded train station. You would think, when someone as big time as Michael Jackson was traveling with hundreds of employees the least they could do is shut the place down for a few hours. Max's arms encircle Carly-Ann and me firmly, keeping us safe from the people swarming around. We get on the train unscathed, and I follow Max to my compartment.

" Here you go m'lady. Now I will be off, have to make sure everyone else gets on in one piece," Max says, and I smile at him before turning to get everything settled. I sop in my tracks when I notice Michael sitting, his leg propped lazily on his knee, his eyes watching me.

" Oh, sorry. Max told me this was our compartment, maybe he got things mixed up," I say, looking at my ticket, though there really was no point in doing so, I couldn't understand the damn thing to save my life.

" No, your in the right place. I asked that you and Carly-Ann be with me, I like the company," Michael says, and I nod my head, taking a deep breath as I turn to tuck Carly-Ann into the sleeper bunk. I pull a blanket over her shoulders, nuzzling her neck sweetly.

" Night Princess, sweet dreams," I say, tucking her smiling hippo under her arm. I take my seat, turning to look out of the window. Complete silence befalls us, and my heart aches for a way to talk to Michael. To just tell him I'm sorry. To tell him that I understand if he never wanted to talk to me again. To tell him that I love him. With the last thought I close my eyes slowly, falling into a deep sleep, being chased by my nightmares.

It's a familiar nightmare, yet so unfamiliar at the same time. A nightmare I hadn't had in forever, yet it was one that could still make my blood run cold. A more youthful me stands at my father's grave sight, my stomach expanded from the life growing inside of me, one hand laying over my unborn child. It's a beautiful day, sunny, cloudless, and in the blink of an eye the clouds roll in and rain begins pouring incessantly. And before me stands my father, my hero, his once joyful green eyes lit with anger.

" Daddy," I say, backing away from him slowly.

" Your no daughter of mine, no daughter of mine would be so free with herself, you're a disappointment Daniella, and disappointments need to be dealt with," my Father growls out and I back away from him, turning on my heels trying to run as fast as I can. I fight through the mud, and wet, slipping to my knees as I claw up a hill, my ankle caught in the bony grip of my Dad's hand. I look back at him, and in an instant he transforms from my Daddy to the father of my daughter, Nathan. His eyes lit with fury. I'm not in the wet and dreary cemetery anymore, now I'm in the dimly lit room that I had run away too. Thinking that my mother was being unfair in telling me that I couldn't see him anymore. I regretted it now. Regretted leaving home, regretted falling in love.

" You'll never get it right will you. Your trash, your scum. Your nothing," Nathan screams, smacking me forcefully. The taste of blood in my mouth has me cringing as I try to curl away from his abrasive hands.

" I'm sorry," I scream, and my eyes flash open, finding a pair of dark eyes staring at me, coursing with worry.

" Dani?" Michael says, grabbing my shaking shoulders between his hands. " Dani, what's the matter?"

" Nothing, it's nothing. Just a dream, a bad dream," I murmur, trying to reassure him, but in reality I'm trying to reassure myself more.

" Must have been some bad dream, your as white as a ghost. Hold on," he says, taking the jacket he had carelessly thrown onto one of the sleeper bunks, laying it over my shoulders. I shake furiously, wishing I could just banish the memory away.

" It was nothing. I'm sorry," I say, and he reaches his hand towards me, I shrink away from him, throwing my hands up to protecet myself from the blows I'm expecting.

" Oh baby," he whispers, his voice filled with sorrow, and I cringe, curling into myself. " Damn it Dani, what the hell happened to you?"

" I cant, I wont. Just please, don't tell anyone. I'm fine," I say, grasping for some sense of clarity and control.

" You can, and you will. Come with me," he says, grasping my elbow firmly in his hands. I follow him limply, shrinking into myself. I have never seen the anger flicker in his eyes before, and I didn't know just what would happen. Michael stops walking, causing me to bump into him lightly. I keep my eyes trained to the floor, not daring to look up.

" Max, can you go sit with Carly-Ann, Daniella and I have to, talk," Michael says, pushing me into an empty compartment, shutting the door roughly behind us. I stay turned towards the window, my arms wrapped around myself. I can see my reflection, my eyes a little to big, a little too dark. I watch as Michael snaps the curtains closed before turning to stare a me.

" Okay, out with it. You know it was one thing this morning for you to completely snap at me for caring about you, and what people might say, but I brushed it off. Everyone is entitled to one moment to kind of lose their cool. But I wont be lied to, Daniella. I have never seen anyone look as scared as you did when you woke up from that dream." I close my eyes, trying to forget what I had been reminded of, but my bodies reaction was instantaneous. I turn around, my breath hitching as I try to speak.

" Mi, Michael please, just let it go," I beg, my heart racing brutally in my chest, my bruised ribs aching with each beat.

" Dani," he says, taking my hand in his, sitting down across from. " We're friends, hell we are practically family. I trust you with everything. Why cant you do the same with me?" I close my eyes, squeezing them tightly shut. Wishing that the memory would be hard to recall, but the truth is, its so fresh in my mind, it takes my breath away.

" I was fifteen and a half when I first saw Carly-Ann's father. I was waiting outside of school for Brandon to pick me up after practice. He was, breathtaking. Tall, rugged good looks, sandy blonde hair, brooding, he looked slightly dangerous. I couldn't take my eyes off of him, and as if something told him that I was looking at him, he looked over at me. A cocky smile forming on his lips, and I couldn't help but fall in love. Right then and there. One look is all it took, and he had my heart. After that I noticed him coming around more and more. So finally one day my friend Rebecca convinced me to talk to him. So I introduced myself, and he just smiled, leaning forward, and he whispered in my ear that he knew who I was. I should have been known in that moment that he was no good. I should have run away as fast as I could have, yet, the heart wants what it wants. It wasn't too long after that he asked me out for a date, and I fought with my Mother mercilessly to let me go. She made valid points, of course. After all he was nineteen years old. There had to be something off about a mostly grown man to want to be with a girl just shy of sweet sixteen. Yet the night he came to pick me up for our date, he said all of the right things, had all the right answers. By the time we left, my Mom was all but pushing us through the door. By the time my sixteenth birthday came around though," I pause in the middle of my story, I get up, my arms still wrapped tightly around myself as I walk to the window, staring out into nothing. My eyes blinded by the tears and shame of my memories. " My mother was trying anything and everything to break us up. Grounding me, banning him from the house. 'You have forgotten everything that was important to you Daniella,' she'd say, and for an answer I would scream at her that he was all that was important to me. So finally, one day I got so upset and angry with her, and the way she talked about him, about me. She made me seem like some sort of love sick puppy, hanging off of every word and command of Nathan, that I packed a bag and I left. Ran away. I showed up at Nathan's tiny apartment, and he took me in. He promised me he loved me, that he would take care of me."

'I'm your family now,' Nathan's voice reverberates through my head.

" A month later, Nathan had left early in the morning like always, leaving me alone all day. That was normal. I spent a lot of lonely hours in that cramped one-bedroom apartment. I had been a wreck the whole day, because I was a week late. I hadn't taken a test or anything, but something inside of me, an incredible stirring in the pit of my stomach told me something that I didn't need a test to tell," I say my voice almost whimsical as I lay a hand low over my stomach. " When Nathan came home, I made small talk, nervous chatter until finally he sat me down and asked me what was going on. I started crying, I was afraid of what he would say, how he would react. It was almost as if something inside of me was telling me that something bad was going to come of all of this, but I ignored any and all red flags, and I told him that I was late. And I was never late. He sat calmly for a minute, his eyes searching mine, and then, as if some switch inside of him was flipped, he snapped. He pushed up from the couch so fast and with such force I had to clutch onto the cushions so that I wouldn't fall off. He started screaming at me, stalking around the apartment angrily. 'This cant be happening. What did you do? Why are you doing this to me? I thought we had a good thing going. You stupid slut. I should kill you,' he screamed, and the look in his eye had me shrinking away from him, trying to find anyway that I could to get out of the apartment unharmed. He was quicker, and stronger. Sometimes I swear that I can still feel his hands yanking my hair. He pushed me down onto the couch, and began hitting me. And for a minute I thought I was going to die. I actually wondered what they would say about it in the paper. And as quickly as his rage ignited it went out. He calmly stepped away from me, and I rolled off of the couch falling to my knees. I started gagging on the blood that was in my mouth, finally spitting it out. I looked up at him, the man I thought I knew, the man whose child was growing inside of me, and he just looked at me as if nothing had happened. The last thing he said to me was that he wanted nothing to do with me or the bastard inside of me. I didn't even grab my things. I stumbled from the apartment, grasping the stony walls for support. I don't know how long it took me to walk home, I do remember that it was raining though. And I stood shivering and swaying on my mom's doorstep, trying to work up the strength to lift my hand and knock. I was so ashamed when my mother cried. When she held me close to her, rocking me in her arms. She had tried to warn me, but I didn't listen. I told her of course, about me thinking that I was pregnant, and sometimes I think if it wasn't for the fact that I was beaten so badly she too would have turned me away. I never saw Nathan after that. Never wanted too. Of course people speculated, made their own decisions about my situation. So instead of explaining to them that I left after he had beaten me brutally, I let them believe what they wanted to believe," I say, turning to look at Michael. His face is the picture of calm, except for his jaw, which is tightly clenched.

" Why Dani? Why didn't you tell anyone? Things could have been so different for you. People would have thought of you as strong for leaving that pitiful excuse for a man," he says, his eyes soft with sadness.

" Honestly? I didn't tell them Michael for two reasons. One I didn't want their pity, and two, if he didn't tell me that he never wanted to see me again, I probably would have stayed. I was that naïve, that in love. I would have forgiven him, and I would have stayed," I say, sinking down into the chair, pulling my knee's up. A weight was lifted from my shoulders and I sigh slightly. " Its hard enough now Michael, to listen to Carly-Ann, to hear her fully understand that her father walked away from us. It would kill me if she knew what really happened."

" I wont tell her Dani. You have to know, that what happened wasn't right, I'm just so sorry," he says, and I roll my eyes, growling angrily.

" That's why I don't tell people Michael, I don't want people to be sorry for me. I don't need their pity," I say, hot tears sliding down my cheeks. " I don't want people thinking any different about me." Michael moves noiselessly towards me, taking my face in his hands forcing me to look into his eyes.

" Cant people care and admire the woman you are today Dani, but still grieve for the scared girl you were?" he asks, his eyes filled with so much emotion I fear he'll burst from it all.

" I, I don't know," I say, crying softly, covering my face with my hands. Michael presses a soft kiss to my forehead, resting his head against mine, murmuring softly as he strokes my hair. Michael grabs me carefully, pulling me into his lap, holding me closely while I listen to his heart beating rhythmically in my ear.

' Save me, Michael. Please,' my heart begs silently. I close my eyes, knowing that will never happen. For now, its nice to dream.