The last five minutes of school felt agonizingly long, each tick of the clock felt like a year off the collective lives of the students and faculty. When the bell rang, the hallways erupted with voices, cheers and conversations, accented by the squeak of shoes colliding with the linoleum floors, metal lockers being slammed shut, cell phones beeping, trying to squeeze in a last minute plan. Sam met Tucker at her locker, giving him a mixed look. She opened her mouth, but paused.

"I'm worried about Danny." She finally managed to say. Of course she was worried about him, they were like siblings. They shared a connection, much like the ones people say two twins share. It was for that reason that she somehow felt responsible for this.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Sam, this is Danny we're talking about." Tucker said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as she shut her locker. He knew she felt bad, but he couldn't agree that their getting together had caused this. After all, it was Danny's idea for the two to stay friends.

Sam let out a sigh, easing a bit, feeling her tension melt away. Tucker's personality was so reassuring; it made even the bleakest situations seem like mere pebbles to step over in the path of life. She had to admit, maybe her quickness to ease up around him meant they were less likely to take action, but she always felt so anxious around Danny, even when his spirits were high. It was so nice to finally be able to silence the nagging voice in the back of her head, and damn it, she was going to enjoy this vacation.

"But still, maybe we should at least go check on him?"

"And what good will come of it? He didn't answer the last half dozen times we tried."

"I suppose that you're right, but what if he just wants someone to talk to?"

"Look, Sam, it's nice that you care about him, I do too, but if we bother him, we'll just make it worse", Tucker paused, thinking. He looked at her and smiled, thoughtfully, "Besides, I'm sure all he needs is a week off to get him back to his old self."

There was that smile again, and despite her best efforts, Sam felt herself agreeing.

"Yeah, alright. So what SHOULD we do then?" Sam eyed her boyfriend, waiting for his suggestions to pour out. He chuckled, surprised at how quickly her mood could change sometimes.

The clock read 3:45pm. Danny was still shut up in his room, deep in thought. He couldn't understand why seeing his friends so happy as a couple made him so torn up inside. It wasn't that he felt something more, not for Sam, not for either of them really. It was more of what they together represented. Danny was jealous, not of their relationship, but of the relationship itself. He longed for someone; he wanted more than just his two best friends. He could've possibly had it with Paulina, but after two years of being ignored by her, he realized that he truly didn't feel anything for her, indifference at the most. He grabbed a pillow, bunching it in his clenched fist. With a violent jerk, he flung it against a wall, which it bounced off of, doing nothing more than flop to the floor. He fell back onto his bed and let out a groan. On the bright side, if there was one, he would have a school free week to begin digging deep into the roots of his emotional instability. When we awoke again, the clock read 9:30pm. The red numbers glowed, intensified by the sheer blackness of the room. He glared at the clock through barely opened eyes. Falling asleep had made him even more irritable, his head ached, and he still felt emotionally exhausted. He couldn't do this, he couldn't lie in bed for a week, he had to do something to take his mind off the swirling typhoon inside his brain.

Sam was awoken by her phone ringing. Without even opening her eyes, she groped for it on the bedside table. Cracking her left eye open, she saw the time, 9:15am. Both eyes opened fully when she saw who it was. Without missing a beat, she answered it.

"Hello?"

"H..hey Sam."

"Danny! Tucker and I have been worried sick about you."

"That's nice, I'm sorry I made you worry."

"Hey, hey, don't apologize. So what's up?"

"Um, not a lot really."

"Oh. So, uh, do you maybe want to hang out with me and Tucker?" Sam heard him make a stuttering noise on the other end; she must've caught him off guard. She remembered that part of it was their fault, and she started to feel bad.

"I guess it couldn't hurt. It'll be like old times, right?"

"You make it seem like we haven't seen each other in years." She heard Danny chuckle on the other end and it make her feel a bit relieved.

"So how about we meet at the Nasty Burger around noon?"

"Sure, I'll tell Tucker and we'll meet you there."

"Alright, bye Sam."

"Bye Danny." Sam sighed as she hung up the phone. Part her felt like this was going to end up in disaster, but the newer, more optimistic part of her did its best to convince her it would all work out.

Noon came quickly, and soon the trio was sitting it their usual spot. They had just gotten their food and sat down.

"You know," Tucker started, "This feels good, just like old times."

"That's what Danny said when he called this morning. You act like you haven't hung out since middle school."

For the first time in what truly did feel like forever, the three teens were together, laughing, smiling, and picking on each other again. Then something happened. It's hard to know where exactly it happened, or what specifically had caused it, although it's more of a combination of events. It started with an overly affectionate couple claiming the table directly across from them, passing up questionable fast food for what would best be classified as a public make out session. Both Sam and Tucker could see Danny get uncomfortable, a little antsy. It got worse when a group of football players from their school started throwing comments about how Danny was just a third wheel, a cock block, dead weight. Danny was getting visibly upset, which was just what the jocks wanted. Sam knew this would happen, she should've listened to herself, this always happened when she didn't. She cursed under her breath as she pushed Tucker out of the booth, grabbed Danny out of his seat, and brought the two of them outside.

"Danny, I'm so sorry. I should've known that…" Sam tried to apologize, but Danny raised his hand, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"Sam, just, just forget it. I knew this was a bad idea, I should've just stayed home."

Danny began to walk the other way, but his friends protested, grabbing onto his shoulders. He phased his shoulders through their hands, and broke into a sprint, hell-bent on getting back home and out of public as soon as possible.

"Worst vacation, ever." Danny muttered. Then he realized, the vacation had just started, he still had a week to suffer through, and suffer he did.

After that, the weekend went by without a hitch. Sam tried to get a hold of Danny, and boy was she persistent. Short of bursting through his wall, she tried her best to talk to him. Even Tucker called once or twice, but Danny was convinced that Sam had made him. By Tuesday he realized just what had set him off. That feeling of being alone, that feeling of living alone, dying alone. He hated that feeling, the feeling of not having someone to call his, to spend time with, do the intimate activities that couples are known for. Part of him was relieved that it wasn't because of his friends, but then he realized just how much worse that made it. His high school was very loose about enforcing rules about public displays of affection. Going back to school would be like a giant 'Fuck You'. Danny always felt that there was someone out there for him, he even had someone in mind, but he knew that there was no way in hell that the other person would be interested in a relationship. He took a minute to think about the person in question, shuddering when he thought about what they may do to him is he came clean about his feelings. He let out a groan, at this rate he felt he would end up miserable and alone forever.

Of course, Danny wasn't the only one who realized he was lonely. It took Sam a whole of maybe 27 minutes after the incident on Saturday to realize Danny was lonely, and loneliness was a powerful emotion to play with. Of course she was relieved that it wasn't strictly her and Tucker's fault, but at the same time she was at a loss. She had no way of helping Danny, and she knew that as long as she and Tucker were a couple, which she hoped would be a long time, there was no way the three of them could hang out together.