Thanks to everyone who continues to read and like. In this chapter you'll find out who asks Anna to prom. Also thanks to decadenceofmysoul, monkeybaby, and tennisplayer1 for your reviews.
Contains scenes from to 3x20.
At dinner that Sunday night, it was peaceful right up until Danny came in, late. His case was discussed and for a moment, after reassuring Sean that it wasn't Linda's fault that the case went south, Anna thought things were settled. Unfortunately they weren't. The subject was only changed when Danny asked what Frank would have done if Frank had been Linda's position when Danny had showed up at the hospital. Everyone waited for what would essentially be Frank picking a side. Frank sat still for a moment before his eyes landed on Anna. "A little birdy told me someone's junior prom is coming up," Frank said.
"That little birdy needs to learn to keep her beak shut," Anna answered, glaring at her cousin.
"Wasn't me," Nicky answered. Anna switched her glare to her brothers who both tried to look innocent.
"You got a date?" Jamie asked.
"Not yet. You want to meet him first, right?" Anna asked.
"It'd be nice," Jamie said.
"I'm not bringing him to Brooklyn. If I get a date, you'll have to come to Staten Island to meet him. It's still two weeks away though," Anna explained.
"So what are you doing for your spring break?" Nicky asked.
"Sleeping, lots of sleeping."
"Don't think so," Linda said.
"Okay then, probably working," Anna corrected.
The day of the race was soon upon them. Anna was helping Sean get checked in for his race when Danny walked up.
"Dad," Sean grinned.
"Hey, bud," Danny said.
"What happened?" Anna looked up from the check-in sheet to see her dad looked real beat up, his arm in a sling, as well as multiple scratches and cuts. She could also tell there were several bruises beginning to form.
"Small scuffle. Today's about Sean though," Danny said.
"Yeah, we better get to the starting line, your race is almost up," Anna said to her brother.
"You'll stay?" he asked his sister.
"Till race time," Anna agreed.
"Dad?"
"Me too," Danny agreed. The threesome headed for the start line where they came across Sean's competition. Danny had a few words with the elder Bonniello as Sean wished the younger good luck. Then Danny focused on Sean and gave him a short pep talk to which Sean replied that this was nothing compared to his coma a few weeks prior. Sean put his helmet on and they looked over the car as Anna's eyes focused in on the green team. She noticed the kid being helped by their mom and recalled the name on the check in sheet. She smirked and Sean got her attention by handing over his jacket.
"You're going to be fine," Anna told him, crouching a bit to look him in the eyes, "just remember what I told you." She folded his jacket over her arm. Sean nodded. The three cars were pulled up onto the starting block and Anna and Danny joined the rest of the family.
The announcer counted down and the race was on. Anna cheered with the rest of the family as the cars flew down the hill. "Porter first, Reagan second, Bonniello third," the announcer called as the cars crossed the finish line in that order.
"Well," Linda said brightly, "at least he got second, you know?"
"Yeah, second is good," Nicky added.
"Yeah, out of three kids," Danny commented.
"Screw some smiles on your faces for Sean's sake," Erin commanded. "For guys there's nothing worse than losing."
"Except maybe this," Anna said, motioning to the track where the racer in green pulled off their helmet and shook out a mane of long, dirty blonde hair.
"The winner is number 13, Janie Porter," the announcer confirmed.
"Oh. Well. I stand corrected," Erin said.
"A girl?" Henry asked in disbelief, then he groaned.
"Hey!" Anna scolded. "You're always proud when I beat the boys."
Henry shook his head. "That's because you're my granddaughter. That car was unbeatable."
"Oh, relax, Pop. Even DiMaggio's streak ended," Frank answered.
Then Sean came over to be congratulated by the family. After they did, he turned to Henry and looked up at him. "Sorry I let you down, Pops," Sean apologized.
"No, no, no, Kiddo. You didn't let me down. I guess the Henry Special just finally ran out of magic," Henry said gently.
Sean still looked disappointed though. "Hey, what did I tell you?" Anna asked. "Win or lose, Pops is going to be proud of you because you're his great-grandson and you raced hard. Right, Pops?" she asked.
"Yeah," Pops answered, though it didn't sound as confident as it would have if Sean had won. The rest of the family congratulated Sean again and Frank was suggesting hot chocolate.
"Coming, Pops?" Anna asked at the rest of the family walked off.
"Yeah," Henry answered.
"You know, he may not have won the race but he still beat the stinky Bonniellos," Anna told him. Henry sighed but didn't say anything. Anna slipped her arm through his and they followed the rest of the family. They talked for a while as they enjoyed cocoa and cookies before they headed back to the track to pick up Sean's car. As they headed back there, Anna slipped her arm around Danny's left, the arm that wasn't in the sling, having given Sean his jacket back. "I don't know what happened to you today, but I'm really glad you're okay."
Danny pulled his arm from her grip and for a moment Anna wondered if she had crossed a line and he was more hurt than he let on, until he wrapped that arm around her shoulders. "Of course I'm okay."
"Really Dad, and about what I said the other day, I'm sorry."
"You were scared and it's easier to react angrily than to admit you were scared. Like your old man, you are."
"Yeah?" she asked hopefully.
"Yeah." He smirked.
"I hear that's not a bad thing," Anna told him. Danny's smirk grew.
"You really going to prom?" Danny asked.
"Week from Saturday."
"And the boy?"
"I'll get back to you on that." They walked in silence a moment or two. "Dad, were you ever nervous to ask a girl out?"
"Why?"
"Well, it's just that the first week, I had like eight guys ask me out and then last week, nothing. I'm just wondering if it's me or ..."
He looked at her. She could tell he was trying to decide if he wanted to tell her the truth. He sighed and smiled. "Teenage guys are idiots but they also talk. Trust me, I was one. It could be getting around that people have asked you out and you keep saying no. So they may be thinking that you're waiting for someone in particular and they're trying to figure out who it is. If there's a guy you really want to go with, I can't believe I'm telling you this, but maybe you should ask him, or at the very least let him know you're interested."
"Okay." Anna nodded. She hugged him then he kissed the top of her head. She thought over her dad's words for the next week as she went through boys in her class and the senior class but there wasn't a single boy she was that interested in and the more she thought about it, the more she convinced herself that nothing bad could happen from going with Jim.
Tuesday at baseball practice, Jim approached her as they waited their turns to bat. "Anna, would you go to prom with me?" Jim flat out asked.
She turned and looked at him confused. "Every other girl turn you down?" Anna asked. She wanted to be sure he wasn't breaking their deal and that no one would say anything about her stealing him from another girl.
"No one really caught my eye. It'll be fun. We'll get Chinese, talk about baseball and music on the ride to the school, have fun at the dance, hang at Crash's for a while afterward, and I'll take you home the minute you say so."
Anna turned to look at him. "You mean that?" she asked.
"No pressure, just a fun night of you and me hanging out. Just like we always do."
Anna studied him as their coach put a bat in her hands. The jv coach was also standing there watching. "I hit at least the outfield and it's a yes, infield it's a no."
"What if you miss completely?" Dave asked. He was standing behind Jim in line.
"When have I ever missed one of Drew's pitches?" Anna asked.
"Come on, Anna, just answer the question," Jim prompted. He wasn't real worried, Anna was the only player on the team that had never received an actual strike from Drew, she claimed as a pitcher and poker player she could read him, he adjusted his stance based on the pitch, but Jim was a little worried Anna would miss on purpose.
"If I miss, you find a more elaborate way to ask and I'm talking the whole nine yards," Anna told them before pulling on her batting helmet and stepping into the batter's box.
"Give her something easy!" Dave called to Drew. Almost the entire team wanted Anna to end up with Jim.
"Do it, and I'll take your head clean off. Or I just won't bat," Anna answered.
"Got it," Drew answered. He leaned forward to read the signs from Derrek before finally nodding and shifting his stance. Classic fastball slider. Anna took it in stride, shifting her grip on the bat and tuning out everything except the ball.
Dave meanwhile leaned over to Jim. "You know, word has it no one else has asked her because of Todd."
"Todd?" Jim asked.
"That Todd." Dave motioned to the boy filling his slot in the outfield. "When she turned him down, he got really angry and spread it around that she was his and she wouldn't go with anyone but him."
"If she knew that, she'd never agree to go with him."
"I guess that's a yes!" Derrek called over his shoulder, drawing their attention back to the field. Anna was turning from first towards second as their right fielder raced after the ball. It hit the ground two feet in front of him and Anna continued to race around the bases. Anna got to third before the throw was made to shortstop.
"Nice hustle, Reagan," the varsity coach called. "Those workouts are paying off."
"Smith, pick up the pace next time and you might catch it," the jv coach added towards the right fielder. "Way to go, Jim." He nudged his cousin.
Jim smirked and stepped up to the plate as practice went on. After practice, Jim fell into step next to Anna. "So uh ... what color is your dress?" Jim asked.
"My favorite color," she answered.
"That would be dark purple, correct?"
"Yes, like this." Anna showed him a close up of the skirt of the dress.
"I can do that."
"What color is your suit?"
"Black, white shirt, and as of now, dark purple tie."
"You bring me flowers, I'm going to kick your butt," Anna said.
"Got it," Jim said.
"See you Friday."
"I'll see you tomorrow, goof," Jim laughed. Anna rolled her eyes even though she knew he was right. Once she got home, she texted Jamie and Nicky both to let them know who she was going with.
"Anna, chair!" Danny snapped. Anna froze at the suddenness of this voice and his words. She looked up to see a chair nearly directly in her path. She nodded her thanks then continued towards the stairs still absorbed in her phone. "Freeze," Danny said.
Anna stopped again and turned towards Danny, lowering her phone and raising her eyebrows. "Hi," she said slowly.
"Who you texting?" Danny asked.
"Uncle Jamie."
"Gonna tell me about what?"
Anna sighed. All she wanted to do was escape up to her room and continue talking to her uncle, not be submitted to a thousand stupid, in her opinion, questions. Seeing no way out, she walked over to the couch and dropped down next to Danny. She thought about what to tell him and how to make this easy on both of them, deciding it was best to butter him up. She cuddled against his side and smiled. "You are the greatest daddy—"
"Out with it," Danny cut her off, instantly sensing what she was doing.
"So, prom is Friday night and I know that you and Mom talked and decided I could go. Got a pretty, new dress and everything too ..."
"But ...?"
"But nothing." Anna stopped and looked around the room.
"So what are you texting Jamie about?"
"You know how you asked who I was going with and I said I'd have to get back to you?"
"You have an answer?"
"You remember Jim?"
"Jim Miller? That boy you went out with?"
"Yes, but he's also my best friend. A guy I'm not romantically attached to."
"And yet you're going to prom with him."
"Would you like me to go to prom with someone I do like that way knowing what happens in situations like that?"
"No, but it's a little odd for you to go just as friends."
"I'll be safe, I promise, and I refuse to let him pressure me into anything."
"That's the thing about peer pressure—"
"True, but Jim has never been anything but a gentleman to me. You're welcome to question/threaten him again if you're home before six."
"Deal."
"Just try to be nice okay? It's Jim's senior year and I don't want to lose a friend because you've come off too intimidating about something that's never going to happen."
"Anna—" Danny warned.
"Dad, I've had The Talk with Mom just before homecoming and like twice before that. I'm not ready for that, plus I can't even think of him in that way. I know you're just worried about me and wondering if I'd do it because of peer pressure or to spite you, but you've raised a pretty good kid, one who only does things because she wants to and always within the law. Jim is like an overprotective brother. I've never done anything to fit in or spite you, not really. Trust me?" Anna finished.
Of course Danny trusted her when it came right down to it, but he also knew teenagers and how carried away they could get. She was his baby and he didn't want her hurt. "Of course I trust you and I know you're not going to do anything stupid, but Jim is still a teenage boy."
"The minute I feel uncomfortable or unsafe or pressured I'll call you or Mom or Uncle Jamie, okay?"
"Fine. Just ... be careful."
"I love you, Daddy," Anna said.
"I love you, too," Danny sighed hugging her close. Once he let go she was up and off to her room to continue her conversation with Jamie.