Chapter 4

"So wait let me see if I got this straight" he says slowly, and she waits patiently for whatever snarky spin he's going to put on the description she just gave about her friends, "Lauren hates you because she likes Tyler, who likes Mike, but is pretending to like you because he's not ready to come out yet, am I following so far"

"Yep" she responds amused

"Ha, that's what she gets, biatch" he snarks childishly, and she likes that someone will voice these more negative thoughts about her so called 'friend', Angela's too kind and the boys just think she's hot.

"So anyway Jessica hate-likes you (seriously, you girls are so fuckin cutthroat, just hate openly like dudes) because she likes Mike who likes her back, but instead is focusing his attention on you (because he's a teenage guy and therefore a dumbass), am I still following?"

"All girls are like that, some just hide it better from you males" she said in a dry tone, before raising an eyebrow at the idiot comment "And you know you're a teenage guy too right"

"I'm a badass Iz, any idiocy exhibited just becomes part of the charm" she rolled her eyes, but a tiny smile still quirked at the edge of her lips; she'd been doing that lately.

"Right so, Angela likes you (thank god for that cause you needed some real friends, your current circle is just damn depressing) and Ben (a.k.a tool) does too because he does what his girlfriend says… and there's some guy name Eric who's just there, but nobody gives a shit about Eric (because fuck that guy), and that completes the list of people you talked to."

"I also talked on the phone to a sarcastic head case with a criminal record" she retorted back, then immediately cringed; for a moment there's no sound and she thinks she's gone to too far, when she hears him start snickering

"Oooh Izzy Fizzy Watts-"

"No" she interrupts, because seriously?

"-Has got some snark, *sniffle, sniffle* I'm so proud" he fake chokes up

"What does that even mean?"

"Nobody knows what it means! But it's provocative"

They've finally moved on to subjects that don't deal with the things she does when she gets home, Danny has asked what she does for the "Seven plus hours of hell on Earth", so she's decided to tell him about 'the old gang'

Part of her knows they're running out of 'safe' topics, worse, she has a terrible feeling that she's going to be the one to break their silent truce, her inability to leave a secret alone will drive this peace away.

She's always been observant, it's how she discovered (cold skin, hand on dented car, legends beautiful, dazzle) the Cul-them. Some things in Danny's stories don't all exactly make sense; she had no idea what town in the world has so many fights in broad daylight that would require him to leave during class in with no law enforcement taking action, or why his two friends who supposedly are aware of these fights never get directly involved but always help patch him up after, or perhaps most importantly why Danny is so adamant about keeping it all a secret.

Danny refused to tell anyone about it except his sister and friend, which was how she discovered he was so particular about his words; even jabbering on a mile a minute, Danny rarely gave out concrete details that could in anyway be traced. His dedication almost made her want to try something similar with Ed-

'NO' cue violent shiver, (don't say his name, don't think, let the blackness pass, too much pain)

-him.

She might think he was lying, but Danny has admitted to being a terrible liar (she's heard some of the excuses he's given to teachers- seriously the bathroom?), and they have an unspoken rule to tell the truth. They can avoid speaking and parse words till the sun rises, but they tell the truth.

"What did you guys talk about today" he asks, his tone like always is like he's testing ice; she's been incredibly vague about what it is that bothers her, but he's learned to avoid most of the taboo subjects mostly by listening to her silences.

"We don't talk" she replies evenly, it's not a forbidden topic, just an uncomfortable one.

"I haven't talked to them since… since before I… since before" she's not Danny, she can't think of a way to say a billion different things without saying anything.

He could go through a whole conversation about his workaholic parents and never say a negative word for her to know that they were negligent, he was terrified of them finding out about the fights, and that he had serious communications issues with them.

He was that good a conversationalist, which is why when she started stumbling he put her out of her misery.

"So you haven't spoken to them since the before" he said kindly, "you ever wonder what their up to?"

He didn't ask why she stopped speaking to them, which she was thankful for, but now that she thought of it, if there was ever a way to seem more involved fast it was to go out and do something with her old friends. She thought she had enough social interaction practice to at least start up a conversation with them; Angela at least would want to go on a social outing with her.

"…I can see tomorrow", it would be Friday

"Geeze, I'm not forcing you Iz, you can stay a gross smelly recluse if you want"

"Bella" she groused, more for the smell comment than the name, she didn't smell… did she?

"Iz" he corrected her on her name, "sorry I just always pictured you that way given how your voice sounds like sandpaper; just make sure you look presentable"

"I'm not a child Danny"

"I know, I'm just so proud of my baby girl going out into the world." He sniffled dramatically

"Shut up, it'll be the movies at most."

"… You ever seen FacePunch?"

Next Chapter Danny POV