Hello everyone. This is the beginning of the end. As much as I hate to do it, I must say Goodbye to my babies. This story can't possibly go on forever. There will one to two more chapters and then the epilogue. I have so many other ideas that I want to put out. And it will be impossible for me to work on more than two stories at a time. Working on two is a challenge, but I'm working on Imagine as well. I guess adult Danny and Lacey took over. Either way, I'm happy that people like my stories. The fan base for this story is much smaller, but I love you all and both stories just the same. I hope the way that I end this story leaves you with a sense of closure and contentment. So enjoy the ending of the story that has meant a lot to me.
As totally expected, Danny leapt from his seat in the booth. Lacey desperately tried to grab him, but he moved too fast for her. Cole was instantly on his feet with his hands pressed against Danny's chest. Danny was walking towards the front door of the diner. He was pushing forward as Cole was trying to push him back. Rico and Lacey tried to help Cole contain Danny, but his rage made him stronger. People in the diner were looking at the teens in confusion, wondering what the commotion was all about.
"Come on Danny. Calm down man." Cole says.
"Danny, please. Please stop." Lacey begged as she grabbed his arm. Danny suddenly stopped at Lacey's touch and her pleas.
"Danny. Listen to Lacey. Don't do something you might regret." Cole says, with his hands still on Danny's chest.
"Cole, move." Danny says through clenched teeth.
"Danny. Please listen to us. It's not worth it. It's over. We're fine now." Lacey says as she tries to calm down the boy she loves more than anything. She understands his anger, but it's shocking to her also. She has never seen Danny this angry.
Danny stops dead in his tracks and looks at Lacey. He only stops because she asked him to. He'd do anything she asked. He loves her that much.
Lacey forces herself to smile. "It's fine Danny. Come on. Let's go to your house so you can calm down. Ok? I'll drive." Lacey says as she hopes he's listening to her.
"Ok." Is all Danny says.
Cole finally takes his hands off of Danny's chest and Rico gets Lacey and Danny's things to hand them to Lacey. They all leave the diner together, as Cole and Rico walk Danny and Lacey to Danny's car. Lacey pressed the button to unlock the doors. Danny just gets into the passenger side of his car without a word.
"Thanks guys." Lacey says as she hugs Cole and Rico.
"Do you want me to follow you to Danny's house?" Cole asks. He's worried about Danny and Lacey right now. And Joe. Danny looked mad enough to kill.
"No. I think we'll be ok. I just have to keep him distracted somehow. And his mom should be home. She can help keep an eye on him." Lacey says.
"Ok. Well if you need me, just call me." Cole says.
"Ok." Lacey says as he gets in the driver's side of the car and pulls off moments later.
Cole and Rico just look at each other and then head back into the diner.
Lacey is driving along to Danny's house and looks over at Danny every chance she gets to make sure he's ok. He seems to be in a daze. "Danny. Talk to me. Are you ok?" Lacey asks.
After a few seconds of silence, Danny answers. "Yes. I'm fine. Thanks for asking." He says as she forces a smile.
"Good. We'll just go back to your place and chill out. Watch a movie or something. We can fool around if you want." Lacey says as she grins at him.
Danny seems to perk up. "That sounds like fun." Danny says as he looks over at her. His signature smirk on his face.
Lacey nods and smiles. "Good." Lacey says as she continues to drive to Danny's house. She hopes that Danny really is ok like he says.
Danny was somewhere between reality and fantasy. He was paying attention to Lacey, but he had visions of how badly he would hurt Joe when he laid eyes on him.
Lacey pulled into the Desai house's circular driveway behind Karen's car. She and Danny got out of his car and went into the house. When Danny opened the door and they walked in, Sadie ran to the door and barked excitedly and wagged her tail at Lacey. The two really missed each other. The fact that Sadie was that excited to see Lacey, still warmed Danny's heart.
Lacey bent down to rub Sadie. Sadie practically knocked Lacey over as she jumped into her arms. She licked Lacey's face. Lacey forgot about Danny for a moment. "Hi Sadie! I missed you." Lacey says as she continues to pet Sadie. She puts her down and she and Danny head up the stairs. Sadie of course follows them. She wanted to be near Lacey. They enter Danny's bedroom and they both walk over to the bed. Danny just crashes his body to the mattress and lays there. He's mentally exhausted and it shows. Lacey puts Sadie down and climbs on to the bed to lay her head on Danny's chest. He just put his arms around her and they laid there in silence. Neither knew what to say. After just laying there, Lacey finally decides to speak. "Are you sure you're ok, Danny?" Lacey asks. "I know how hard it must be to find out the truth. And I'm sorry that your friend did that to you." Lacey says.
"I'm ok, but I'm not ok. Joe was like my brother. I don't get it, and I need to understand why." Danny says.
"If you find out why, what does that mean for you two?" Lacey asks.
"I don't know Lacey. I really don't. I've known Joe since I was 4 years old. I never would have done something like this to him. Never." Danny says.
"I know you wouldn't. It's just hard to understand why your best friend would do this. It was obviously to break us up, but why?" Lacey asks.
"I really don't know Lacey. Maybe it was jealousy. Maybe he didn't like how happy you make me. I need to know though." Danny says as he tries to get up, but Lacey holds him down under her.
"No, Danny. You're not going to talk to him until you've had time to calm down. We're back together, so whatever the reason, it didn't work." Lacey says.
"It did work for a while though, Lace. He violated and disrespected you. And me. He needs to pay for that." Danny says.
"Just promise you won't talk to him until you've calmed down." Lacey says as she sits up to look at him.
"I am calm." Danny says as he sits up. "What movie do you want to watch?" Danny asks as he tries to change the subject.
Lacey sits up further to pick Sadie up from the floor. "Something funny. We both could use a good laugh." Lacey says.
Danny walks over to his dvd collection and gets The Hangover and pits that on to play. They both sat down on the floor at the bottom of Danny's bed with Sadie sitting in Lacey's lap. They watched the movie and Lacey couldn't help but notice that Danny didn't laugh once during the movie. She understood that he was hurt and upset about finding out what his best friend did to him. Lacey just rubbed on his thigh to let him know she felt his pain.
Danny gets up from his seat on the floor. "Do you want a snack or something to drink? I'm a little hungry since we didn't get to eat at Johnny Cakes." Danny says.
"Sure. I'll just have whatever you get." Lacey says with a smile.
"Ok. I'll be right back." Danny says as he leaves his room and heads downstairs. Lacey continues to watch the movie with Sadie snuggled into her lap. She loved that dog a lot and just rubbed her on her head. It took Lacey longer than it should have for her to realize that it was taking Danny a long time to get their snacks. She had a bad feeling as she got up to go downstairs with Sadie following her. Lacey ran into Karen coming from the kitchen when she got downstairs.
"Lacey! I didn't know you were here." Karen says as she gives her a hug.
"Yeah, Danny, Sadie and I were watching a movie." Lacey says.
"Sadie missed you. So did I." Karen says.
"I missed you guys too." Lacey says as she smiles. "Is Danny still in the kitchen?" Lacey asks Karen.
"I didn't see Danny. I haven't seen him since this morning." Karen admits truthfully.
Lacey gets a really bad feeling. She walks to the door and looks out. She kept Danny's keys and expected to still see his car in the driveway. Danny's car was still there, but Karen's was gone. "Oh god, no." Lacey says out loud.
"Lacey? What's wrong?" Karen asks in concern.
"Danny took your car." Lacey says.
Karen walks over to the door to look out. She doesn't understand why Lacey is worried about that. Danny can take her car if he needs to because she and Vik have others in their garage. "Is something wrong with his car?" Karen asks.
"No. I have his keys. That's why he took your car." Lacey says as she runs up the stairs to get her purse.
Karen is startled and confused by Lacey's actions. When Lacey runs back downstairs, she questions her. "Lacey! What is going on?" Karen asks harshly.
"Ms. Karen. I just need you to trust me. I'm going to go and look for him. I'll explain everything later, I promise." Lacey says as she runs from the house and jumps in Danny's car and speeds off.
Karen is standing in her door wondering what the hell is going on.
Lacey drives around town frantically looking for Danny. She knows he went to look for Joe. She wonders where that could be. She first calls Cole because she knows she could use his help.
"Hello?" Cole says when he answers his phone.
"Cole, Danny snuck out of his house and I know he went to look for Joe. I need your help to find him." Lacey says in a hurry.
"Ok. I'll go to Regina's and see if he's there. I'll call you if I find him." Cole says as he leaves diner with Rico to go and look for Danny.
"Thanks Cole." Lacey says as she hangs up. She then dials Phoebe.
"Hello?" Phoebe answers in a cheerful voice.
"Phoebe. What's Joe's address?" Lacey asks hurriedly.
"What do you want Joe's address for?" Phoebe questions her friend.
"Phoebe. I'll explain all of that later. I just need his address." Lacey says shortly. She doesn't have time to discuss this with Phoebe right now.
"It's 713 Chandler Way." Phoebe says.
"Thanks Phoebe. If you see Danny, please call me. I promise I'll explain later." Lacey says as she hangs up. She put the address into the gps system and heads to Joe's house. She doesn't see Karen's car, and Lacey doesn't know if that's a good or bad sign. She runs to the door and knocks on it until Joe's mother, Tess answers.
Tess has never met Lacey, so she has no idea who she is. "Yes? Can I help you?" Tess asks.
"Hi. I'm Lacey, Danny's girlfriend. Is Joe here?" Lacey asks.
"No, he's not. Is there something I can help you with?" Tess asks.
"No. Thanks Mrs. Masterson." Lacey says as she turns to leave. Tess watched in confusion as the girl ran to Danny's car and sped off. She too wondered what the hell was going on as she shut the door.
When Lacey gets into the car, she thinks of places where Danny and Joe could be. She decides to call the person she should have thought of first. She dials Regina's number.
"Hello?" Regina answers.
"Regina, Is Joe with you?" Lacey asks.
"Yes, why?" Regina asks.
Lacey skips answering Regina's questions. "Where are you guys?" Lacey asks.
"We're pulling onto my property now." Regina says.
"Is Danny there?" Lacey asks.
Regina didn't have a chance to answer. All Lacey heard were her screams as Danny pulled Joe from the car.
Regina continued to scream and wonder what had gotten into Danny as he yanked Joe out of his car. She watched in horror as Danny just pounded on Joe. Joe was absolutely no match for Danny. She had never seen Danny that upset before. He looked like a different person. She wondered why Danny was that angry with Joe.
"Danny! Please stop!" Regina yelled in vain as Danny continued to pound on him. Joe was now on the ground and Danny was wailing on him. Joe's face was a bloodied mess, but that didn't stop Danny.
Cole and Rico pulled up and also watched in horror as Danny annihilated Joe. Cole ran over to them to try and pull Danny off of him, but it was no use. As strong as Cole is, his strength was no match for Danny's rage. Rico and Regina didn't know what to do. Regina was thinking that maybe she should call the police. There wasn't anything any of them could do to stop Danny. At this point, Joe was basically unrecognizable. It was a horrible thing to watch.
As if by chance, Lacey pulled up in Danny's car. She couldn't believe her eyes as she got out of the car. Regina was screaming. Rico looked horrified. Cole was desperately trying to pull Danny off of Joe, who was now unconscious.
"Danny! Danny! Please stop! That's enough! Please, stop for me." Lacey yelled. Lacey's voice pulled Danny out of his trance and Cole finally pulled Danny off of Joe. Danny's hands were a bloodied mess. Cole and Lacey just walked Danny over to his car in silence as they put Danny in the car, and Lacey drove off.
Regina was still screaming and crying as she was on the phone with the 911 operator. Joe desperately needed medical attention. Cole and Rico said nothing as they got into Cole's car and left. They didn't want to be there when the police arrived.
Lacey drove back to Danny's house in silence with tears in her eyes. Danny still seemed to be in a daze. That is until he spoke.
"I'm sorry." Danny says.
"I know." Lacey answers.
Lacey continued to drive to Danny's house. She pulled into the driveway and saw her mother's car and also Vikram's. That wasn't a good sign. Lacey got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side to open the door for Danny. From the look of his hands, she thought they might be broken. They walked into the house to find their parents waiting for them. They all were shocked at Danny's appearance.
"What in the hell happened?" Vikram demanded.
"Danny! What happened?" Karen asked.
Judy was speechless and couldn't believe her eyes. She noticed Danny's hands and felt like she needed to take care of them. It was a very good thing that Judy is a registered nurse. She left the house and got the first aid kit she keeps in the trunk of her car.
"One of you better start talking now and tell us what happened." Vikram says.
Danny and Lacey sit down on the couch as Judy walks back onto the house. She sits down next to Danny and takes care of his bruised hands. He winced when she touched them. "I think some of your fingers are broken, Danny. You need x-rays to be sure." Judy says as she continues to nurse his hands.
"We're waiting." Karen says.
"Lacey, one of you needs to tell us what happened. Now." Judy said sternly.
Lacey took a deep breath and started to tell their parents the story. "Joe didn't like me and Danny's relationship, so he figured out a way to break us up." Lacey says as she paused. She doesn't want to tell their parents this story.
"Wait a minute. Danny's hands are like this because of Joe?" Vikram asks incredulously.
"Yes." Lacey says truthfully.
"So what was the plan to break you two up?" Karen asks.
'They wanted me to think Danny only went out with me as a bet with the football team." Lacey says.
"They? They who?" Karen asks.
"Joe and Sarita." Lacey says.
"That girl you got into a fight with at school?" Judy asks while still tending to Danny's hands.
"Yes." Lacey says.
"Stop telling us the story in pieces, Lacey. We need to know everything." Judy says.
Lacey looks at Danny. "You might as well tell them, Lace." Danny says.
Lacey exhales before beginning the story. "My friend Rico, Sarita's twin brother is gay. He had a secret boyfriend that he told me was on the football team and that turned out to be Cole. Sarita threatened to out Cole if he didn't help her break us up. She gave Cole the video to give to Rico. Rico didn't know about it, but one day, Rico showed me a video of me and Danny having sex and told me that Danny had to get proof that I believed he really liked me. That's why Danny and I broke up. Cole felt guilty and came and told me the truth. We told Danny together. When Sarita found out Cole told me and Danny the truth, she outed him. That's why she and I got into a fight. We didn't know how she got the video, but we found out that Joe was the one that planted the device in Danny's room. And Danny beat Joe up because of it." Lacey says as she feels like all six eyes are bearing down on her. She really wants to avoid Judy's stare. She just admitted to having sex in front of her mother.
"So, a sex tape of you two was made, and neither of you thought to tell one of us about it?" Judy asks.
They both felt small. "Yes." They both say in unison.
"So, they went through all of that trouble just to break you two up?" Karen asks.
"I guess." Lacey says.
"Why would Joe do that? He's like Danny's brother." Vikram says.
"We don't know." Lacey answers.
"How many people saw that video?" Judy asks.
"As far as I know, just Joe, Sarita, Cole and Rico."
"No wonder you two were so upset and didn't want to talk about it." Karen says.
Vikram was about to say something else, when there was pounding on the door. Vikram walked over to answer it.
It was the police.