A/N: Aww thanks LBF! And a special thanks to you Sharpie-Marker1101 for your continued reviews! :D :D :D You guys, and all of my readers!, are fantastic! :D :D

--

Adam smiled at her, "It was great meeting you. We're going to head back to the hotel now, do you want to join us and hang out for a while?"

Mia paused – more than a little taken aback – before responding warmly. "We'd love to," she said as she slipped an arm around Danny.

"Great, we're at the Plaza. Just tell them you're here to see Mr. Bambi and they'll take you straight up."

She raised an eyebrow at the name, and laughed when he blushed slightly. "We like Disney characters," he answered her unspoken question.

"But Bambi?"

"Bambi's the best of them all," Jesse asserted.

"Well, I think Mulan kicks Bambi's butt," she ribbed playfully.

"What?" Jesse gasped dramatically. "That's blasphemy, that is."

James stepped in front of Jesse and rolled his eyes, "Ignore him. He's a bit nutters about Bambi." He winked and mock-whispered, "It's a little bit of an abnormal fascination actually…"

"It's Bambi!" Jesse countered, shoving him to the right and stepping forward. "And Mulan would only win if she had her little sword thingie. Unarmed? Bambi would totally win."

"Right. A deer could take on one of the greatest female warriors in history?" Mia scoffed.

"Key word being female," Jesse deadpanned.

Mia gasped, and pouted when the rest of the band burst into laughter.

"He's just kidding," Adam reassured her.

"I knew that," she flushed.

"Sure," Jesse laughed.

"Jerk."

"And damn proud of it," Jesse retorted.

Mia couldn't help but laugh at that. She looked up at Danny who had been surprisingly quiet throughout the whole exchange and nudged him lightly. Startled, he jerked a bit before glancing down at her. He smiled crookedly in response to her questioning look and shook his head slightly. She nodded, and turned back to the conversation.

"And how many times have you seen Bambi?" Mickey prodded.

"Not that many," Jesse argued.

"If not that many is twenty times," Matt muttered.

"I have not!"

"You've already made us watch it like ten times," James exclaimed.

Adam sighed as the squabbling became more heated, "Really guys? You're going to argue about Bambi? Here?"

The four band members ceased, and reddened at the realization that Mia and Danny – well, Mia at any rate – were watching amusedly. They all turned and glared at Jesse.

"What?" he said defensively, "It's not my fault! She challenged Bambi's honor."

Mia smiled innocently at the band, and stuck her tongue out childishly at Jesse when the rest of the band turned away.

He narrowed his eyes and glared at her.

She smirked.

The four other members of the band were walking away to finish packing up their instruments, a fact Jesse was painfully oblivious too. Mia waited until they were out of sight before remarking idly, "I think you've been ditched."

Jesse huffed, "They'd never," he whirled around and gaped soundlessly. "What…they…"

She cracked up hysterically at his confused expression.

"What'd you do with them?" he said accusingly.

Holding her hand up, she laughed harder, "I…" she took a deep breath, and calmed herself. "I ate them," she answered seriously.

Jesse paused. "You…" he snorted. "Yum," he grinned.

Mia waggled her eyebrows. "Yum, indeed."

He chuckled deeply and cocked his head before saying mischievously, "You think they're done packing my stuff, yet?"

"Nice."

"I know," he said smugly.

"You know they'll probably leave without you."

"They would not," he said indignantly.

"If you say so."

"They wouldn't!"

"Okay."

He blinked. "Damn, they probably would," he realized slowly. "Damn," he muttered as he turned to hurry away. Stopping suddenly, he asked, "I'll see you at the hotel?"

"Yeah, probably," she slipped her hand into Danny's.

"Cool. We'll see you later then," he waved before running after his band members.

Mia looked up at Danny. "Hi."

"Hi."

"You're awfully quiet."

He slipped an arm around her shoulder. "Not much to say."

"We don't have to go over to the Plaza. We could just go out and grab some ice cream," she offered.

"Or we could do both," he returned with an easy smile .

"You sure?"

"Of course. So what kind of ice cream were you thinking?" he asked, pulling her closer to him.

"Red Mango!"

"Okay," he grinned widely down at her. "Whatever you want."

**

"Mmm," she sighed around her frozen yogurt. "God, this stuff is good," she mumbled as she chewed contentedly on a strawberry.

"How is this different from any other ice cream?" he asked again.

"It's not ice cream!" she cried plaintively.

"I dunno…"

Mia pouted. "You're just screwing with me now."

"Maybe a little," he grinned.

"Mean."

"Would you have me any other way?" he joked.

"No. No, I wouldn't," she replied seriously.

"Good, then you won't mind if I steal a bite."

"What?" Mia protested, yanking her yogurt away from his searching spoon, "I retract my previous answer."

He frowned in mock-outrage and suddenly his hands were tickling her sides.

"Mercy," she gasped. "Mercy!"

Danny pulled her into his arms, and murmured, "What was that?"

"Mercy," she giggled.

"Hm," he paused thoughtfully, "for a bite of your ice cream, I might be lenient."

"It's not ice cream!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Fine. Yogurt."

"Nope!" she said, bouncing away from him and taking a bite of her yogurt teasingly. "Eat your own!"

"But mine isn't as tasty as yours," he sulked.

"You ordered the exact same thing! The only difference is who's eating it!"

"Exactly."

Mia bounded back over to him and slyly dipped her spoon into his dessert. She withdrew a spoonful and held it to his lips.

"Much better," he said around a mouthful.

She wrinkled her nose, "That's attractive."

"What, you don't like the way I eat?" he said, opening his still partly full mouth.

"Nope."

"That hurts me," he sighed dramatically.

"Good."

"Now who's mean?"

"Still you," she beamed, sticking her tongue out.

"You're lucky I like you so much or you'd be in big trouble," he replied, slipping his arm around her.

She stilled, but he pretended not to notice and they kept walking. Her mind was racing, and she was unsure whether to revel in his words or panic. How do I respond? What should I…

Danny stopped suddenly and turned her to face him.

"Wha?"

"I want another bite of yogurt," he announced.

Mia let out a nervous chuckle.

"Are you going to let me starve?" Danny asked petulantly, his eyes sparkling.

"Child," she replied even as she spooned him a bite of yogurt.

"Yum."

"You've got a bit of something right there," Mia laughed, pointing at his mouth. She reached up and gently wiped off the drop of yogurt with her thumb.

"Thank you." He caught hold of her hand and lightly pressed a kiss against her knuckles.

They walked together in silence, hand-in-hand, and Mia inwardly sighed at how safe she felt – despite the fact that she was strolling the streets of Chicago at night. A feeling she was sure had nothing to do with the three protective presences she knew were watching from somewhere.

"Did your father send men to watch you?" she wondered aloud as the thought struck her.

"Why? Are you planning to drag me into some dark alleyway?" he teased.

She didn't know why, well she did, but the joke bothered her and she couldn't bring herself to tease back. "Did he?" she reiterated.

"Probably," Danny shrugged nonchalantly, but his tone was serious now. "There are always people watching me. Did yours?"

"Yeah. There are three of them skulking around somewhere."

"Does it bother you that I brought guys?"

"I don't know," she responded honestly. "A little, I guess."

"I'm sorry," he apologized.

"Don't be. It's not like I don't have them too. It's just…," she trailed off.

"Just what?"

"Just," she twisted to look straight into his eyes. "Do you ever wish it was different? That we didn't need guys following us around and… I don't know," she lifted her shoulders helplessly.

"Of course I do. But, it is what it is."

"Yeah. I suppose it is," she sighed tiredly. "I just…I don't know how to feel about it all anymore." This business…it's our past and our present and our future. But how can we have a future amidst it all? Our families are allies today, but what about tomorrow?

Neither of them needed to voice those unspoken thoughts which hung heavily between them.

"We don't have to be our fathers," he spoke quietly.

"Maybe. But we don't get to be ourselves either."

Danny didn't answer, just drew her in closer to him.