A/N: I have been trying to update every week since I started this fic but I'm not sure how well I'm going to be able to do that anymore. My other Phan fic has been a lot more time consuming, but I'm going to try to find a balance so I don't have to stop working on either one. Again, thanks for the reviews on the last chapter :) they made me smile. And I would really appreciate any feedback on this chapter as well.

Dan joined me again on Monday. It was nice having him there while I worked, even if we didn't talk that much. Though I wouldn't have minded studying alone, having him there was much better. It was like when I was 8; I didn't need my teddy bear, but it was a lot more comforting having him with me. Now, however, my teddy bear was warm and smelled nice and had an adorable dimple and a breathtaking smile.

"What are you working on?" I asked, peaking over at his laptop during one of my study breaks.

"Just going through emails for the our Spooky Happenings on the Super Amazing Project. Its mental how many submissions we get. A lot of them are funny but some of them are such crap, you wouldn't believe it."

"Have you found any good ones so far?"

"Yeah. There's this girl who found a closet of decapitated dolls in the back of her English teacher's closet."

"That's really disturbing!"

"Yeah. Her pain, our pleasure though," he laughed, causing that adorable dimple to appear.

When Dan left that night, he gave me a long, deep kiss before leaving the apartment. This effectively derailed my studying so I went to bed, trying as hard as I could to make my heart rate return to normal.

Later the next day he called to let me know that he would stop bugging me for the next few days so that he couldn't be held responsible if I failed my exams. I studied as hard as physically and mentally possible. It was the first exam that I was dreading the most. It was Chemistry. I had always loved the sciences, but for some reason or another, I was struggling to understand what was going on in class. I could have been due to the fact that the professor was terrible and I spent the entire class doodling in my notebook, but right now the reason did not matter. All that I cared about was cramming as much of it into my head as I could.

Wednesday morning came too quickly. I jerked awake when the alarm on my phone went off and realized that I had fallen asleep on the couch. I tried to cram some last minute studying in while I ate my breakfast but it was pretty ineffective. I got to class 10 minutes early and fidgeted nervously in my seat until the professor handed out the exam and said, "You have two hours. Ready, begin."

Flipping the paper over, I looked at the first question. Not even recognizing the figure there, I immediately looked at number two. I groaned inwardly. That one was almost as confusing as the first. By the end of the two hours, I had managed to work my way through most of the questions but I hadn't been sure about practically any of my answers. The only hope I had left was that everyone else did just as poorly as I had so the curve would end up in my favor. I thought that was unlikely.

*How did it go?* Dan texted me after I had finished.

*It could have been better :/* I responded.

*I'm sure you did better than you think. Don't think about it anymore. You can't change it so just focus on what's ahead. I'm sure you will do fantastic tomorrow!*

*Good advice. Thanks, Dan :)*

*Any time. I'm here for you.*

My linear algebra exam on Thursday did go a lot better. I was good at math and I breezed through the exam. I laughed as I saw my friend Tina's shocked expression as I turned in my test early. I felt a little bad for her; she was struggling in the class, not because she was bad at math, but because she was hardcore crushing on the professor. I had to admit that he was fairly attractive. But he had nothing on Dan.

On Friday, I could not wait to get my last exam over with. It was English Literature and all we had to do was write an essay. I took my time, not wanting my desire to have it behind me cause me to make careless errors or leave out important information. When I finally dropped the paper into the pile, I felt as though a giant weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I could not help but smile a little to myself with a sense of accomplishment as I walked out of the door. I had not taken more than three steps out of the door when I heard my name being called in an unmistakable voice. I turned to see Dan walking toward me.

"Dan!" I squealed as I ran up to him, throwing my arms around him.

He picked me up and spun me around in a circle. "I thought we should celebrate your being done with your exams. Want to go get some ice cream?"

"I could never say no to ice cream," I said, taking his hand.

He took me to a small ice cream shop that had the best ice cream I had ever tasted. We sat there chatting and people watching, just enjoying each other's company.

"So why did you quit your job," he asked me suddenly.

I chewed on the tip of my spoon for a bit before answering. "Because of Jake. I didn't want him to come find me after what happened. I was afraid he would come back and hit me again."

"Oh. I see."

"How did you know I quit?"

I saw a hint of color creep into his cheeks and he looked down. "When you didn't call me, after a few days I went back to the store to try to find you, and they told me."

"Oh." Now it was my turn to blush. "I'm sorry I didn't call you."

"Why didn't you?" he asked, looking straight into my eyes.

The intensity of his gaze threw me off. In his deep chocolate brown eyes I saw a mix of emotions: confusion, curiosity, anxiety… hurt. "I don't know…. I—I guess I didn't want to be a burden. I didn't think you would really care," I said, hoping he would believe my white lie. What I said was not untrue, but I knew that the real reason I had not called him was because I was scared. Scared of falling for him. Scared he would leave me alone and hurt like my dad had done to my family.

Dan slid his chair over next to mine, picked me up, and put me on his lap. "Marley," he said, wrapping his arms around me, "I cared more than you will ever know. From the moment I saw you in that store, you brought something special into my life." Reaching up, he tucked a lock of hair behind my ear and stroked my cheek with his thumb. "Okay?"

My blue eyes met his brown ones and I leaned in and kissed him in response. His gentle response quickly turned into a passionate kiss. I was vaguely aware that we were probably making the other people in the ice cream shop uncomfortable, but right then I did not care. It felt good to be there in Dan's arms.

But I just hoped that he could not taste the doubt on my lips. I knew that he meant what he said now, but that did not mean that tomorrow he would not wake up and realize that I was not worth it. Even I knew I was not worth it. If I were, Jake would never have hit me. If I were, my dad would never have left.