***UPDATED***I had to tweak this chapter a little bit, cause yall, that love scene was wack. Lmao. I'm not the best at writing love scenes, even still, but I changed a little bit of language. The idea behind this chapter is the same, so you can re-read it or not, the story remains the same.
It was getting late. Lacey had invited Justin over to her house to discuss the details of Archie's party – who was invited, who could have been there, and whether or not Cole could have actually killed Archie.
"I didn't go, but I did get the text, "Justin admitted. "I thought about going, but I was kind of upset over…things."
"Oh, um. Right," Lacey suddenly felt badly for having ditched Justin at homecoming. They hadn't talked about it much, but she could tell that she'd hurt him.
"Why would you suspect Cole anyway? He seems like a pretty decent guy."
"Because," Lacey explained, "Cole was angry with Archie for poisoning him, and even more so because he tried to blame Danny for it."
"But that was a while back, right? Why would he have waited to kill him now?" Justin reasoned, "Plus Cole and Danny are friends. Do you really think he would let Danny take the heat for something like this?"
Lacey groaned. He was right, as usual. She walked over to her bed and threw her hands over her face feeling defeated. "Danny is right, maybe I should just give up, and let the police do their jobs – even if it means wrongly convicting an innocent person."
"Hey," Justin sat down beside her. We are going to find the guy who did this, for Archie, and Danny." He wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her closer to him. Lacey never allowed herself to feel vulnerable in front of other people, but she managed to shed a single tear. She pulled herself away from Justin, wiping the tear from her cheek as she smiled.
Just then, they were alarmed by a loud thump.
"What the hell is going on here? Danny questioned furiously as he climbed through Lacey's window.
"Danny!" Lacey exclaimed nervously, as she jumped to her feet. "It's not even like that."
"Yeah man, we were just talking." Justin threw his hand in the air to surrender.
"Talking?" Danny asked sarcastically. "Taking about what? About how comfortable your bed is? Or how you'd like to screw each other on top of it?" He scorned.
Lacey stood speechless. There she was doing everything within her power to defend him, and he was so quick to accuse her of something.
"Don't talk to her like that-"Justin jumped in at Lacey's defense.
"How about you don't talk to her at all!" He barked back.
"Whatever man, I'm out of her." Justin headed out of the door. "Lacey, I'll call you."
"The hell if you will," Danny scolded him.
When Justin left, he firmly shut the door behind him. Lacey stood still in contemplative silence, boiling with anger, but trying to maintain her composure for the sake of their new and fragile relationship.
She spoke slowly, and as calmly as she could given the circumstances. "What in the hell was that? She demanded an explanation.
"I'm sorry, Lace." Danny knew he was in hot water, "I shouldn't have blown up like that." He rubbed his eyes in disbelieve. He wasn't one to allow jealousy turn him into raging asshole. "It's been a rough day." He begged for forgiveness with his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Lace?" She spat his words back at him, "I had a rough day? So the hell what, Danny? That gives you the right to accuse me of trying to sleep with someone?"
"I didn't mean it, I swear-" He tried to convey, but she would not allow him another word.
"You don't think that I have had a rough day as well? I just had to attend a ceremony that supposed to be honoring my ex-boyfriend, but nobody else cared, or even seemed to be the slightest be mournful except for me. And I couldn't even express that, because I was too busy chasing around Cole to see what else he knew about the party, so that I could help, you clear your name!"
"What party?" Danny narrowed his eyes at her. "You went behind my back? Lacey, I told you to stay out of it!" She did not understand why he was upset with her, when she was only looking out for his best interest.
"Don't you flip this on me. While you were at home sulking all day, I found out that Archie had held a party on the night of homecoming, the night that he died. Cole was invited too, and so were a lot of other—"
He cut her off. "Cole has nothing to do with this Lacey! For fuck's sake!" He hollered, but when he noticed that Lacey was on the verge of tears, he comforted her. "I'm sorry." He embraced her with wide arms. "I'm so sorry, Lace. I shouldn't have accused you of doing anything with Justin. I know you would never-"
"Are you sure, Danny? Her voice was broken and weak, "I mean, I did cheat on Archie." She broke free from his arms.
Danny knew how much she must have been hurting, and he wanted to be sensitive to that. He did not want to make her feel any worse than she already did "That was different, we-" As much as he tried to rationalize the way he and Lacey behaved while she and Archie were still together, he could not bring himself to an honest conclusion. "We only kissed like twice, and the second time was my fault, not yours."
"Like that makes it any better." She sat back down on her bed, feeling so disgusted with herself, feeling disgusted in general, and nauseous. Danny sat down beside her, placing his hand on her knee.
"It wasn't your fault. I should have never have come on to you. It certainly would have made things easier for us if we never-"
"Do you regret it? Do you regret falling in love with me?"
"Sometimes," his brutal honesty surprised her. "Sometimes I wish that I never met you, that we never became friends, never fell so helplessly in love with each other. I wish that I could take back what I did, the lies, the way that I hurt you, how I just keep on hurting you. And you just love me harder. I regret endangering you and your friends, Archie, and Regina."
"Danny, don't blame yourself."
"Who else is there to blame, Lacey?" He almost broke a tear, almost. Danny took a moment to process the magnitude of the whole situation. He was so uncertain about many things, but his feelings for Lacey were not among those things of which he was unsure.
"Danny, don't do this to yourself. Don't allow yourself to be consumed with guilt. It isn't going to help you."
"I know," he looked away from her, "It will be the death of me." Danny tried to change the subject. "So what was sparkly tooth, Mr. Perfect doing here anyway?"
Lacey forced herself to smile. "He uh, was just trying to help me figure things out. He doesn't think that Cole had anything to do with it either."
"Oh," he said simply, grabbing her hand as he did. "Lacey, I've been meaning to tell you something." He paused, remembering his promise to his mother, which he had failed to uphold, meaning the psychiatric hospital would be his fate. Danny's search for answers was not an entire loss though, he suspected that his father was still alive, but if he was the one responsible for all this, it was unlikely that anyone would believe the story. Especially without a trace that Vikram was still alive. Danny knew if he told Lacey these things, she would try to track down his father to prove his innocence, and if the man was as dangerous as he suspected, Lacey would be the one he wound up getting hurt or worse, killed.
"What is it, Danny?" He looked so lost in his thoughts that he was puzzled by her question. "You said that you've been meaning to tell me something."
"Right, I've been meaning to tell you that—I um, I'm going away for a while." He started.
"What?" Lacey was devastated. "Where to?"
"To Arizona," Danny said abruptly, immediately regretting his decision to lie to her yet another time. "My mother think it would be best if I got away for a while, just until things clear up."
"But,-"Lacey's face grew warm as she fought every urge in her body that wanted to break down into tears. She knew all of this had to be hard for Danny, and she wanted to be strong for him. "But what about us?" Was all she could muster up to say. Lacey looked down, trying to hide her moistened eyes that were sure to bear a stream of tears if she looked at him.
"It's only going to be for a little while." He inched closer to her, "Hey, Lace, look. Look." He held her chin up when she did not have the will or power to keep her head up herself. "You and me…we're forever."
"You can't just say these things, Danny. I need you to promise! Promise that you will come back to me!" Lacey felt vulnerable and exposed, like an open wound.
"Of course," Danny did not know what possessed him to make such a promise. It was not guaranteed that he would ever be released from the institution, especially if Archie's murder was never resolved. He looked deeply into her eyes, and whispered in to her ear gently, "I promise." Sometimes the truth isn't what people need. They need comfort. They need something to believe in even if it is nothing more than a beautifully-dressed lie. "I promise," he reiterated.
With tears streaming down both of their faces, their lips met in a heavenly collision. Danny traced the insides of her mouth with his tongue as he fell down on top of her. He pulled himself away, for a moment, capturing her face, the rawness of their love. Lacey unbuttoned her shirt as he unfasted his belt.
Danny kissed her lips which tasted like an odd mixture of salt and sugar. He slid her panties off as he anxiously dove in, kissing right beneath her naval. Then he teased her as his fingers traveled down to her womanhood. He inserted one finger, then two, then three, giving her insatiable pleasure. And then he entered her with his body, groaning just slightly as he did, and breathing heavily has he kissed her nibbled on her neck.
Lacey re-positioned herself on top where she kissed a trail from his mouth to his neck, down his slippery abdomen, and with several thrusts, giving Danny the most memorable moment of his life. He watched as she bounced, and she moaned in complete euphoria. He caressed her thighs. Every sound she made, every movement, almost took him over the edge. He pulled out to prolong the moment. His mouth found her moist most pussy which he licked and nibbled at until she came. And then he entered her again, slowly this time, with controlled movements. He kissed her on the mouth, pounding her, pleasing her, and pleasing himself as the moment faded to its inevitable demise.
When they were finished, Lacey drifted gently to sleep in her lover's arms. A deceived sense that everything was going to be okay, made allowing herself to rest so easy for her. She believed in Danny, in his promise that he would not be gone long. He held her until he was certain that she would not wake. Then in the middle of the night, Danny rolled her over and planted a wet kiss on her forehead. He retrieved his clothes and then he left. "Goodbye, Lace" he whispered into her inattentive ear, and with that he was gone, indefinitely.