Lacey composed herself as she gracefully accepted her crown. She searched for Justin in the crowd. Archie was crowned king, even in his absence. There was a group of boys wearing Free Archie tshirts beneath their suit jackets. Lacey rolled her eyes. He was nothing more than a glorified dirtbag. Lacey looked back to where she had just seen Danny and Jo swapping saliva. She couldn't believe he had gone that far. Maybe Danny really was serious when he said he wanted to be friends. Maybe Jo was the reason he just wanted to be friends. Lacey felt more hurt than she did angry.

"Can you call a cab?" Lacey remembered that she and her date traveled in the limo with a number of other people. She didn't want to ruin everyone else's homecoming, but she wanted to go home.

"What's the matter? You won!" He said enthusiastically before noticing that Lacey didn't share his excitement.

"I just, don't feel well." Justin kissed her on the forehead.

"Alright, I'm on it."

"Thanks," she murmured as he pulled out his phone and walked out of the gym.
...

After kissing Jo, Danny realized why he could never have feelings for her. He always thought of Jo as a little sister. Being with her would be wrong for him on so many levels. He realized he had never, even in their childhood, regarded Lacey as just his friend. He didn't understand it at the time, but he had always felt differently about Lacey.

"Lacey!" Danny exclaimed, running over to her. "Congratulations." He still didn't know Lacey had witnessed his rendezvous with Jo.

"Thanks Danny," she said sadly and turned to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Justin is waiting for me." She said finally, "I'm going home."

"But Lace-" Danny's voice broke, "you promised me a dance."

Lacey sighed, she didn't want to let him know she had seen him with Jo, especially since they were trying to be friends. Some upbeat pop song was playing on the speaker, so she figured one dance wouldn't hurt.

Just as they met on the dance floor, the DJ changed the song to a ballad by John Mayer. They both looked at each other awkwardly. Lacey considered walking away, but Danny quickly grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to him. The guitar intro was beautiful, and the song began.

It's not a silly little moment
It's not the storm before the calm
This is the deep and dying breath of
This love that we've been working on

Lacey tried to ignore how uncomfortable it was for her to be so close to Danny. She could feel his warm breath on her should as he leaned his head against hers. Lacey cleared her throat and created more of a distance between them. Danny allowed her the space she needed, he was just happy to be there with her. The song continued to play.

Can't seem to hold you like I want to
So I can feel you in my arms
Nobody's gonna come and save you
We pulled too many false alarms

"I can't believe I'm actually dancing with the queen Lacey Porter," Danny joked. "And in public." That part he meant to keep to himself. He offered a smile, to assure Lacey he wasn't speaking spitefully.

Lacey half-smiled back at him, then lowered her eyes. She thought about the day Danny returned to Green Grove after being released from juvie, how she had coined him the nickname Socio, which people were still referring to him as. She thought about how she'd let down her guard in front of him, when he invited her into his house after she drove him home from the party. Lacey knew then, they could never resume the friendship they had when they were young. The way he looked at her. She flashbacked in memory.

"I regret not growing up with you and Jo, ruining what we had. We had some fun, didn't we? I miss that. I think you miss it too."

"I thought the past was in the past."

Lacey knew that Danny wanted to kiss her then, she wanted it too. He searched her eyes for approval then concentrated on her lips, but she had leaned across him to grab the bag of Blue Ranch potato chips. After hours of reminiscing about the old times, Lacey had fallen asleep on the floor of Danny's room. The next morning, she rushed home only to be greeted with the news that her best friend, Regina Crane had been murdered. She didn't want to believe it was Danny but Danny did attend Regina's party and there he had gotten into it with Scott. There was a possibility that when she had fallen asleep Danny could have gone back to Regina's house. The thought was frightening. But good old folk hero Jo believed him from the start, she was there for Danny even then. Lacey regretted that she was not.

"So how is your date with Jo going?" Lacey realized that the distance between them was growing narrow.

"Who?"

"Jo."

"Oh right," Danny had been daydreaming himself. "Yeah, it's going great." He said, "but you know it's not a date."

"Right," Lacey said doubtingly.

"I'd much rather be here with you." He assured her, gazing into Lacey's glassy eyes.

"As friends?" She asked coolly. Danny held back the words he wanted to say.

We're going down
And you can see it too
We're going down
And you know that we're doomed
My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room

He grabbed Lacey tighter. She relaxed her head on his chest. Danny rested his chin on top of Lacey's head and lowered his hands. He inhaled her familiar scent.

"Lacey," he whispered to her softly. She looked up at him, her brown eyes gazing directly into his. He pulled a strand of hair away from her face and stroked her cheek. Danny's eyes drifted down to her plump, luscious lips. He stared at them longingly and-

"Lacey, the cab is here," Justin startled them both. The song was almost over.

"Can you give me a second?" Justin looked suspiciously at the way the two were looking at each other.

"Sure." He went to wait in the cab.

"Don't go with him," Danny plead. "Stay with me," he begged softly.

Lacey hadn't forgotten about his earlier exchange with Jo. "I'm done Danny," she said finally. Danny assumed that he must have misinterpreted the bond they had just shared, so he insisted, "I thought we were friends."

Lacey gulped, trying to hold back the tears that had already begun to form. She looked back at him as she headed for the door. "You and I both know we can never be friends."

Danny stood speechless.

"Lacey called out, "Jo's over there alone, why don't you go comfort her with your lips."

And with that, she was gone.

Go cry about it, why don't you?
My dear, we're slow dancing in a burning room