Author's Note: Here is the 4th addition to Blue Ersatz! :) I have great fun writing this story—because it's one of those ones that I really can just let my fingers fly over the keyboard and write up exactly what I'm thinking. I have so much ideas for this! :D

I hope you enjoy this chapter! Hopefully it'll be better than chapter 3—which was just horrid. LOL

Thank you so much for the reviews! I never expected that many for this one. xD ily all! (:

I posted this chapter at first-but the FF system of sending emails to "alert" the users of the chapter was down-and so I took it down. Now it's up again. :3

| ~ | ~ | B l u e . E r s a t z | ~ | ~ |

4
"You and Me"

-SuzieQuaKes-

"One of the things that I want to say, just aren't coming out right. I'm tripping on words, you got my head spinning, I don't know where to go from here."

T A U R U S:

(April 20 - May 20)

Today will bring new adventures-be willing to step outside your more quiet nature. Don't be risk-averse-it's time to seize what you want. Others may be nervous with this new you, but stay the course and they will come to appreciate you more.

I wanted to go for the record by saying that I had a perfectly good reason for running away like this. Laura had parked the car at the gate of the park and before she could drag me to meet Danny; her little phone started to scream for attention. It was probably either Dawn checking up on me or her on-off boyfriend, Matt Digiovanni. Whichever it was, I wasn't going to be sitting around, waiting for her to finish chatting to lead me towards my sealed fate. I mean; come on! It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance that I had to take!

So I ran. Just as Laura was getting into a heated argument with Matt. Turned out that it was him after all. I ran as fast as my clumsy way-too-high heels would let me. Which wasn't much speed. Not to say that I would go pretty fast if I were wearing the best running shoes in the world. But that was another story.

It was hard to run in a dress and heels and not look utterly stupid-as well getting stared at by random cyclers in the park. Don't bump into the trees, boys.

In the little bit of conscience I had in my brain at that moment, I knew I was probably doing the wrong thing. I shouldn't have been running away like that. Not when my entire life of agonizing over an ex could be changed. But it was a "spur of the moment" kind of thing and I just couldn't resist the urge.

I was nearing the big metal gates, about to run out of the park and hide somewhere-when I saw something that made the air whoosh out of my lungs as if somebody had punched me in the guts. I'll give a hint as to what it was that made me feel this way. As much as I know you'd all like it to be (not to say I would mind either); it wasn't someone with green hair.

"May! Hey!"

Oh crap; I thought to myself with a silent groan. So there you go. Try as I might; I just couldn't escape Danny. I guess either fate really wanted to humiliate me that day or I was destined to be with Danny. Well in the end, it all came down to the same thing anyway. I would have to confess.

The sandy-haired man stared at me with a queer look on his face. Like he had seen something that was out-of-the-world hilarious but couldn't laugh out loud. I guessed that something was me. But I really didn't understand why though. So I let it pass my mind.

He was just entering the park, while I was trying to get far, far away from it. Excellent. And I thought I had to be the one to arrive "fashionably late". Well Dawn, the guy beat me to it. Danny held a bouquet of white lilies in his hand and twirled his car keys in the other. He wore a clean and pressed white shirt with jeans. I wondered what the flowers were for.

I paused for a second to catch my breath. I was already trapped. Might as well try to calm myself down. I'd admit, I wasn't exactly the best runner in the universe. Let's not go back to high school—when I was tricked by my enemy into joining the track team. Oh boy. Since then I have completely detested the sport—if it was even considered to be one. Would that explain why I was puffing for my dear life just because I ran a little less than fifty meters?

"H-hi." I was still breathless. Not from the run anymore though. No, no—it was Danny's eyes that sped up my heart-rate. I couldn't get over how perfect and warm they were. Pardon me for emphasizing so much on the detail. But they were far too surreal for me not to.

Danny chuckled and one of his brows arched up. "What? Are you trying to jog around in the park with . . . those shoes?"

"Uh." I swallowed. Think of something smart, May! "Actually, yes I was. I love to run. And running in heels . . . strengthens your tendons. I read it somewhere."

I stood up as straight as I could in my wobbly heels and grinned.

"If it doesn't tear them first." Danny shook his head and laughed. "You're an odd one May." Then he looked as if he just remembered something. "Oh, did you say you loved to run?"

I bit my lip and breathed out: "Yeah."

Danny looked impressed. Oh no, no, no! What had I gotten myself into this time? "Really? It just so happens that I love to run too!" he exclaimed, looking really excited. "I could have never guessed that you ran, May-o. You don't seem like the type." With that he smiled. "Maybe we could jog together in the morning or something."

"U-um." I stuttered, not knowing what to reply. He looked so keen on this—and I had just told him that I loved to run. When it was the complete opposite. What do I do now? Tell him that I said a lie to save my dignity? Or would that just make things worse? I figured it was most likely to be the latter. So I smiled. "Sounds . . . great."

"Awesome." He grinned, before handing out the bouquet of lilies over to me. "I got these for you."

Oh, oh. Charming, are we? So the flowers were for me. I accepted the blossoms gratefully and stared down at them. The sweet and light scent of the flowers was enticing. The blossoms were fresh and blooming and they really were beautiful. Well . . . this was certainly a change after receiving red roses and nothing but. White lilies were . . . pretty. Although the roses might have been more romantic. Oh, what was I saying anyway? I should be thankful of his thoughtfulness rather than comparing every little thing to Drew.

"Earth to May?"

A good-natured laugh suddenly caused me to wake up from my thoughts. I looked up with a quirk of my brow and stared into the big brown eyes that held confusion. I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry." I cleared my throat, remembering my manners. "And thanks for the flowers! They're lovely."

He beamed, quickly tangling his fingers in the belt-loops and tipped on the edge of his feet. "Glad you like them."

For a moment though, I was beginning to believe that Laura was right. Maybe Danny did like me. Oh, that would make things so much easier!

We looked at each other in silence. I guess he was probably wondering why he was here—and I wasn't to blame him. I mean—I had absolutely no idea what Dawn had told him on the phone. Suddenly it occurred to me that I probably looked like a mess. Just like I always did when I run. My hair was everywhere, my dress was crooked and my knees were shaking in those six-inch heels. Yeah, that probably was why he had that look in his eyes when he first saw me.

"Um." I started to break the ice. But before I could do that, I heard the sound of somebody calling out my name and whipped around. I faced Laura jogging up to us. But unlike me—she wasn't puffing by the time she got to me. Laura had always been a star athlete. And me? Not so much.

"Where the hell have you been?" she asked me with a scowl on her face. "I turn away for one second and you were gone. Gosh, May! Were you trying to run away or somethin'?"

I squeaked. Oh Lord. Danny is right behind me, Laura! "Erm . . ." I gave her the "Look", hoping that she would actually get it. Confusion crisscrossed over Laura's face before she looked over my shoulder. And her eyes widened. Just like I had expect them to.

"Oops."

"So what was it that you wanted to tell me, May? Dawn told me over the phone that it was something important—but I just couldn't figure out what it is."

I stared down at my cup of decaf coffee. There was the moment of truth coming up. So where were we? Laura had quickly apologized and then left us to ourselves. It was kind of awkward after her . . . not-so-slight interruption, but Danny quickly suggested that we go talk somewhere else. He recommended the nearest Starbucks from the park—and so there we were. After getting the orders; I guess I really couldn't stall anymore.

I didn't move my eyes away from the cup of steaming hot liquid. "It's just really stupid . . ."

"Stupid is good." I looked up with a confused expression and he smiled gently with a shrug. "You know," the brown-haired man said thoughtfully. "There are thousands of people out there wondering whether what they have to say is stupid or not. But when they finally say it—they find out that all the hesitations were for nothing."

I returned the smile and looked down at my coffee again. "That's deep."

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "So . . . the point is: let it out. Unburden yourself. I swear I won't think you're stupid."

I sighed, biting my lower lip. Oh God. My heart was beating so loudly and my fingertips were growing colder by the second. I suddenly remembered my horoscope for the week which I read earlier that day in the magazine. "It's time to seize what you want." I guess it really was time. Drew had found someone else. Why would I still hang on to something that was . . . gone? Gone like a cool breeze in the middle of a heat storm.

It was time to seize what I wanted. I glanced up at the waiting face of Danny Parker. "You've heard about my . . . ex-fiancé, yeah?"

He blinked, baffled a little I guess. But nonetheless, he complied. "Yeah . . . Max was talking about him the other day at the pizza place, right?" When I nodded, Danny tilted his head a little to the side. "So, what about him?"

I ran my tongue across my lips that had suddenly gone dry. My fingers closed in on the Starbucks cup, absorbing the warm heat it gave out. "Well . . . you might as well know that I haven't really gotten over him yet."

"Did you really love him?"

I blinked. "Yeah . . ." I whispered and then sighed. "A lot of people warned me that he wasn't good for me. But—but I didn't believe them. I guess that's what all girls feel when a 'bad boy' shows interest in them . . . She believes that her love can, well, change him. And I'm so stupid—but I still feel that way. That he'll be coming back for me someday."

He nodded slowly, still taking in the information. His brown eyes glanced up and looked into mine with reassurance, before whispering: "I can tell."

I was surprised at that. He could? How? Danny seemed to have read my expression because he began to explain himself. "You're a beautiful girl, May. And I'm sure there are thousands of guys out there that want to date you. Somehow I noticed that you must be single all these years because of some ex." He then shrugged, pulling his lips together. "I guess I was right."

My heart rate sped up. Did he just—in some indirect way—call me beautiful? Okay, maybe this discussion was leading somewhere. Taking advantage of a sudden bold moment—I blurted out: "Are you in it?"

Now it was his turn to be confused. "What?"

I clenched my fist so tight that my nails dug into my skin. Butterflies flapped wildly in my stomach. "Are you one of those 'thousands' of guys that want to date me?"

Danny looked up from sipping the black espresso. His movement was so immediate that the coffee almost spilled a little. I winced. That couldn't possibly be a good sign. Oh God, help me. "May, are you suggesting—"

"I'm sorry," I murmured, cutting him off. "I . . . I just want to get rid of this love-sick feeling that I still have for him. I don't know! I-I always had this hero-worship kind of thing for you . . ."

I broke off my pointless blabber, feeling so humiliated that I wanted to cry. Danny was still silent. He looked so deep in thought that I began to grow really scared. And really embarrassed. Please say something; I felt myself thinking as the seconds ticked by. Silent treatment was the worst thing in the world.

After a moment, Danny looked up. His chocolate eyes were glazed and he said softly: "You must really trust me, May."

I looked away with a sniff, but he still continued to speak. "I mean—after all that heartbreak . . . Aren't you scared that you'll get hurt again?"

I stared down at my lap. I felt sick. Like throwing up. I felt as if the walls were starting to close in. Nausea swept over me again. "I-I am. But there's nothing more horrible than what I'm suffering from now. Even if it's only for a minute—I want to get rid of that feeling. I know it's probably too much of me to ask. But can you help me, Danny?" I breathed out. "Please?"

He looked into my eyes. And then smiled. So gently but yet so surreal. "I'm not sure if I'm able to heal broken hearts." Danny whispered softly and reached out to take my hand. "But I'll try my best not to make it worst. Okay?"

I was left speechless. Absolutely speechless. I almost felt like a ton of bricks were eased off of my shoulders. So light . . . But I still could feel that not all the bricks were entirely gone yet. It'll come; I thought to myself. This was the first step anyway.

Tears started to spring into my eyes. I nodded eagerly and laughed, blinking them away. "Thank you."

Danny looked at me, his face showing sincerity. An earnest smile plastered onto his face and he brushed some hair away from his eyes. "Glad to help." Then he diverted his gaze, releasing my hand with a laugh. "Well, you wanna get going?"

I nodded and stood up; wiping my eyes carefully as not to smear the eye-makeup that Dawn had so skillfully applied. I grasped the white lilies in one hand and the other taking Danny's—we walked out of the bustling place. I guess I was too caught up to notice—but there were sure a whole lot of people. Danny was talking about an incident at his work, and I nodded along as we reached the glass door.

Suddenly, somebody barged in the door, bumping me hard in the process. I held onto a pole to keep my balance. Pain jolted down my side. "Ow! Watch where you're going!" I exclaimed and glared at that person—only to catch sight of a lean figure in a black sweatshirt, his head covered with the hood. He was walking away, with his back to us. Completely ignoring the fact that he had just bumped into me.

"Some people are just bastards." Danny rolled his eyes and looked at me. "Are you all right?"

Rubbing my shoulder, I frowned. "Yeah." My head tilted at the sight of something on the floor. It was folded, leather, and black. And it was just the same place where that person had been. I reached down to pick it up, my eyes searching for the black-hoodie guy. To see about a thousand of people wearing the same attire.

"Come on May," Danny said, obviously not noticing my finding. He was already out on the road. "Let's go."

I nodded, slipping the wallet into my bag and stepped out of the glass door, joining his side. As we walked through the busy street, curiosity got to me and I discreetly opened my bag—taking out the folded leather wallet. Opening it, my eyes traveled to the ID card. And there; I found something that made my heart skip a beat. Because there, in that little white card was a name I knew so, so well.

State: Wictownshire City

Date of Birth: February 12th 1983

Name: Andrew Hayden

Author's Note: Can you believe that I actually felt pretty much what I described May to feel in that moment of confrontation with Danny?

I almost cried and this nausea drove me nuts. I got so deep into the story! How cool is that!

Anyway, review! Please and thank you. :3

-Suzie x

Edited: 4th September '10