So her senior prom was as disastrous as her junior prom... of course. She just couldn't relive her freshman prom, could she? She had taken Elliot as her date, and they had a fantastic time. There were no expectations, no awkward conversations about what to do when prom was over. They had gone back to his house, and watched old movie musicals while eating popcorn until both of the passed out on the couch. That was a fun prom- why couldn't she relive that?

As it was, her date for the evening, wasn't as nice as he made himself out to be. They had met in the lunch room, and had bonded over her tutoring him in science. He was a very good guy... until now.

"You can't do that!" Linda yelled over the loud music.

"Who's gonna stop me?" Travis sneered as he took another flask out of his jacket pocket.

"Seriously, Travis, don't do that. It's not right!"

"Don't be such a prude!"

She stared at him for a beat, then at her date.

"Loosen up, Linda," Jesse the date told her. "Get a little drunk. Have fun!"

"I'd rather be sober than end up in someone else's bed."

"You're such a prude! We've got no place for frigid bitches who won't put out," Travis laughed at her.

She looked to Jesse, wanting him to say something.

"It's only a little booze. What could happen?"

She felt tears coming to her throat- and she really needed to get that reaction under control- before squaring her shoulders. She turned on her heel, and stomped out, the tulle on her skirt swishing all the way out to the parking lot.

Linda really thought Jesse was different. She thought he was a decent guy. Until now, he had never called her those names. She sniffed and resisted the urge to cry. If she cried, she'd ruin her makeup.

"You look like you need a shoulder to cry on."

She whipped around, her hair hitting her in the face. "What are you doing here?!"

"I owe you a dance," he shrugged simply.

"How did you get here?"

"There's this very clever and very conviene invention called an airplane." His voice was sarcastic, and his lips were quirked into a smug smirk.

She sniffed and smiled, "I know that. I meant how did you get here? You're supposed to be in Fallujah."

"Rest and relaxation, baby." Danny pushed himself off of his car. "Now who do I need to beat up?"

"No one," Linda shook her head. "Really it's just- guys being guys."

"That's no excuse."

She looked at him a beat, surprised. "I know."

"What did they do?"

"I caught Travis Travers spiking the punch bowl. When I told him to stop, my date told me to loosen up." She turned and moved to lean on the car. "I said I'd rather be sober than in someone else's bed... they called me a prude who wouldn't put out. They said that I needed the punch, because I had a stick so far up my ass it was making me an uptight bitch. They also said I'm frigid... I am cold, though."

He shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. "None of that's true, you know."

She crossed her arms and looked at the ground, toeing the pavement. "I know. It just stings to hear it. I'm not like you, Danny; insults bother me... really bother me."

"Can I make it up to you?"

"How?"

He motioned for her to move, then unlocked and turned on his car. He fiddled in the front seat for a while before music came through the speakers. He held his hand out as the first notes to NKOTB's Cover Girl started playing.

Linda smiled and bit her lip, "you hate this song."

"But you love it, and I love you, so..."

She laughed, ducking her head and hiding her smile behind her hand. She shook her head at her own bashfulness before opening her arms and practically jumping into Danny's embrace. "I love you, too, Danny. Oh, how I love you!"

He laughed, "I've missed your enthusiasm."

She leaned her forehead on his chin- even in heels, she was still quite shorter than him. She closed her eyes, wanting to tell him exactly how much she missed him, how much her life had changed since he left, how much she didn't feel like herself, like Linda. But before she could settle on an answer, he spoke up.

"You changed your hair."

"Hm?"

He stroked a hand over her hair, "you changed your hair."

"Oh. Yeah."

"It's brown now."

"Everything but the ends are natural. I was thinking of just snipping those off."

"I like it brown." He smiled, "and I like your dress."

Linda frowned, "I got it at a thrift store. I think it's from the '50s. My grandma had to alter it so it'd be more '90s."

"And she did an excellent job. You would've killed both looks though."

"Are just trying to get me to smile?"

"Is it working?" He pulled back a little to look at her.

When she smiled, his heart swelled. "Yes." She kissed him again, wrapping her arms tightly around him. The song ended, and a shiver ran down her spine. She wasn't sure if it was from the cold or from the feeling of Danny in her arms again.

"Are you cold?"

"A little."

"Come on," he guided her to the other side of the old car, and she climbed in. She watched as he rounded the front then hopped in the driving seat.

"Nonna isn't expecting me until 11:30. She'd think something was wrong if I came home this early."

Danny looked at the radio clock; they had an hour and a half to kill. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving, actually. I didn't eat a big dinner, because I thought I'd be snacking all evening."

"Where do you wanna go?"

"Potbelly." She said decisively, smoothing her pink skirt down.

"In that dress? You do remember your meatball sub falling apart on your white jean skirt, don't you?"

"Ugh, that was my favorite skirt!" Linda laughed a little. "I won't order it this time."

Danny smiled while shrugging, "whatever the lady wants."