New Cuts, Old Wounds by Shea K.

5: What familiarity breeds

Nicole was sitting at the table, reading the paper while Danny worked on breakfast. The older woman had tried to help, but Danny insisted on doing everything that morning. She said she wanted to make up for her bad attitude about Nicole accepting the invitation to dinner because she genuinely enjoyed seeing her nephews.

"Danny, you know, you're very good with kids," Nicole commented as her girlfriend sat down their breakfast plates.

"Nah, just Luke and Thomas. And they're easy because they like music," Dane replied nonchalantly.

"Untrue. You were good with my cousins too," the redhead pointed out.

Dane thought on it and then shrugged. "They liked music too. Just like the couple of kid students I have. I'm not that great with kids."

"How often do you encounter children to make that statement?"

"Uh..." Danny opened her mouth and then closed it as she realized what she was about to answer. "Doesn't matter," she replied. The last thing she wanted to do was unintentionally prove Nicole's point.

"It does matter and you know it. You're very good with children. Have you ever thought about having one of your own?"

Dane eyed her girlfriend very carefully, trying to gauge what the conversation was truly about. Nicole took a sip of her juice, not appearing too serious about the matter, so Danny felt it was safe to assume that the discussion was not a lead into them having children. So, she figured that it was all right to be honest, but she had to make sure she was not brutal. There was no telling when the conversation would shift and she would be unaware of the change because of a few misplaced words.

"It never occurred to me to have kids. I always thought one of the great things about me being gay was that I wouldn't have to worry about any accidental pregnancies. I mean, remember I told you I wasn't responsible enough to take care of a dog? I knew I wasn't responsible enough to take care of a kid," Dane explained.

Nicole nodded; that was an acceptable answer. "Well, as I said, you are good with them."

"I don't think so. I don't think I've got what it takes to have a kid. I had a very screwed up childhood and I think I would just screw my kid up."

The redhead smiled a little, but shook her head. "I disagree. I think you are a decent human being and you would take your negative experiences and turn them into something positive for your child. You know what hurts, so you would go out of your way to make sure that did not happen to your child."

Dane nodded. "But, that doesn't mean I know the limits. I could always go in the total opposite direction of what happened to me, which would be just as bad. I could end up spoiling the child or smothering the kid with too much attention. It works out best for me if at the end of the night, I don't have to take the kid home."

"I guess you make a point. Do you think that maybe you'll grow and be capable of knowing when you're doing too much or smothering the child?"

The question caused the copper-toned brow to wrinkle. "Nick, are you going somewhere with this? Do you want to have a baby? If so, I don't think I'm ready for that," the guitarist stated honestly, putting her hand through her hair.

A chuckle escaped the lawyer. "No, Danny, that's not what I'm trying to say at all. I think it's much too early in our relationship to discuss having a child," she assured the younger woman.

Dane breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, okay...Um...do you want kids?"

"Eventually, I would love one or two. But, like I said, it's too early in our relationship to discuss a child. We can revisit the topic in a year or two. How's that?"

A small smile worked its way on to Dane's face. "Okay, but I can't make you any promises that I'll be better in a year or two."

"Danny, you're good now, but you just don't have the faith in yourself. Besides, you wouldn't be doing it alone. I would be there with you every step of the way. This would be our child and I would like to think as a team we would do rather well together," the redhead commented with a smile of her own.

"You maybe, but I'd probably mess up all your good work."

"Danny! I don't want you thinking like that. I can't believe the Great Dane is sitting here with such low self-esteem!" Nicole declared, green eyes wide with disbelief.

"Nick, I told you what kind of parent I think I'd be..."

"I disagree. Listen to me, sweetheart, you might not recognize it, but you are more than capable of caring for another life. Look at how well you take care of me. Now, I know I'm far from a child, but think of all of the things that you do for me. You always make sure I get enough attention, a hearty meal, and most importantly you make sure I am loved and that I know it. I am more than certain you would do the same for a child. But, please, don't think about it for now. We're not in the best shape for a child."

Grey eyes glanced away. "You think there are problems with us?" The question was asked in a low, almost scared tone.

"No, baby!" Nicole swiftly reached across the table and took her beloved's hand in her own. "I think we're doing just fine. More than fine, but at the moment, I'm in school and trying to get another degree while you're still picking up clients and trying to establish a schedule of some type with your music lessons. Once we settle down, then we can start thinking about children."

Dane nodded. "I get it. I get it. Okay, that makes sense to me. But, I'm not sure if I'll ever be ready for it."

"I told you, Danny, it's not going to happen tomorrow. You don't know how you might feel a year from now. After all, a year ago, you didn't think you'd be living with your girlfriend who you are madly in love with and teaching people music, did you?" A smart-aleck smirk appeared on Nicole's face.

The younger woman laughed and put her hands up in defeat. "Okay, okay, you're right. If you have faith in me, I guess I could try. I'll take time to wrap my mind around it too."

Nicole smiled and they ate the rest of their breakfast in peace. Before Dane could get up to clear the table, Nicole came over to her side and eased into her lap. All attention went right to the redhead that was making herself comfortable.

"Honey, I want you to know that you are very responsible. I'm not sure what I would have to do to prove it to you, but you have grown so much from the person you used to be," Nicole said.

Dane sighed, wrapping her hand around her lover's waist. "There's nothing for you to prove. I do understand I'm not the same person, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for something like that. Most of the time, I still feel like a big kid. Maybe that's why I get along with kids so much."

"We all have our childish qualities about us, baby. You are responsible and I'm going to make you see that one day."

Dane arched an eyebrow. "You're being so forceful with me lately," she noted. Her tone was light, but the observation was true.

Nicole blinked hard in surprise. "Am I? Is it bothering you?"

"No, I guess not. I mean, I didn't like going to that party really. I was happy that you were happy, though."

The olive-toned forehead wrinkled and green eyes searched Dane's face for more. "Is the party it?"

"I guess. And even that sorta worked out since we found out about the dinner and I got to see Thomas and Luke. I was so surprised that they remembered me."

A light laugh escaped the attorney. "You're hardly forgettable, baby. Where is all this low self-esteem coming from?"

"Dunno." Danny ran a hand through her hair. "I guess just seeing them silently judge me starts bothering me. Sure, nobody came right out and said I was a fuck-up, but I felt like their eyes were saying it. It was like I could read their minds as they watched me. And...it bothers me..." she admitted in a low, somewhat frustrated tone. "It bothers me that they don't like me and I have to see it. I mean, not seeing, I'm fine, but seeing it seems to fuck my head up."

"Hmm..." Nicole leaned in for a brief kiss. "Well, I don't like that one bit. I honestly feel like if you give them some time and give them a chance to see the real you, then they'll start to change. They'll know what a great person you are, Big Dog," she declared confidently.

The ebony-haired woman decided not to argue that point. Nicole was such an optimist and she did not want to take that from her. So, instead of continuing the conversation, she kissed the redhead, deeply and passionately. Pulling away, they rested their foreheads against each other.

"Cuddling on the couch today?" Danny requested.

"I do love cuddling, especially with my pudgy puppy," Nicole teased, poking around her lover's soft abdomen. Dane actually giggled; she would never live it down.

---------------

Dane was sitting on the front porch of the house, eating out a carton of takeout Chinese food. Crow, her only friend, was sitting with her, also eating her own Chinese food. They were watching cars go by, not really saying anything. Time spent like this manner was slowly coming normal for them.

"I finally figured out why I always think this place seems familiar the couple of times I've been out here," Crow said out of the blue. The pale, Goth woman had trouble with silence, especially around Dane, so she always made it a point to start a conversation after a couple of minutes of silence. She found that she was slowly learning more about Dane as their young friendship continued on and she enjoyed that. Dane did too, but she never said anything.

"Why?" the guitarist asked, finding herself a bit surprised that she cared. Ever since she admitted to herself that Crow was at the least trying to be her friend, she found herself actually caring about someone other than Nicole. It was weird, but she found that she liked Crow. She hoped their friendship continued to flourish, but she knew for that to happen, then she was going to have to be more open with the Gothic woman.

"I grew up in a neighborhood just like this," Crow answered, waving her hand a bit. Dane shot her a skeptical look that caused the rock fan to chuckle. "Hey, don't look at me like that Miss Inheritance!"

Dane's mouth curled up. "For that to happen, I would actually need to inherit something, which we both know I'm not."

"If you say so. But, no, I grew up in a regular middle-class family. They live in the next state over, though. I try to drive out there every couple of months and see how everybody's doing. They're pretty nice people. My style still freaks my mother out some, but they all accept me and we're all happy with each other," Crow reported with a small nod.

Dane nodded. "Cool. I just saw my family the past couple of weekends."

"Yeah? How did that work out?" Crow inquired curiously. It was very rare that Dane talked about her family.

"As expected. I was talked about as if I rode in on a black steed, both of breathing fire, and planned to kill everybody. They didn't seem totally hate Nick, though."

"Oh, you took the princess?" Crow remarked with an amused smile. "I bet she fit right in."

A shrug. "She knows how to work a party. She engaged people and talked to them with no real problem. So, the people at the party seemed to like her well enough. My family was a little harder to gauge. I didn't really care, as long as they didn't try to lie to her about me."

"Yeah. Well, that's good. Everybody should have a family, even a lone wolf like you," Crow joked.

Dane shook her head and snorted. "Doing fine on my own."

Crow rolled her eyes, but she did not argue things. They fell back into the silence of before. Sometimes, these silences made Crow anxious because she did not know what to do. She had known Dane for years and most of their interactions then had been at clubs or concerts. Dane was always aloof, but there were distractions that kept her from dwelling on it. They also kept her from getting to know the musician she considered a friend. The last few months, she learned how wrong she was in considering herself Dane's friend before.

Looking beyond the rock goddess, Crow saw there was a world that she did not know about Dane. It was only when sitting alone with the former rock star, some place where there were virtually no distractions, she was able to see the layers. Only now was she able to really get Dane to peel back the layers, even though it took a lot of time. She supposed by the time she died, she would know about half of the layers, but she hoped that eventually Dane would trust her and they could be truly close.

One of the things that she was learning about was Dane's trouble with her family. Of course, she did not know much beyond Dane came from a wealthy lot that did not care for her and Dane did not care for in return. There were hints of child abuse that she was picking up on, but nothing was confirmed. She dared not ask about it, not now anyway. Eventually, she figured. Her thoughts were disturbed by her friend speaking, though.

"Crow, if a girl starts talking about children and shit, what do you think that means anything?" Dane asked out of the blue. Her conversation with Nicole was still kind of bothering her as much as it kept popping up in her mind. She kept thinking that she missed something in that discussion, even though it did not seem like she did.

"Huh?" Crow blinked, caught off-guard because Dane almost never started conversations. "What do you mean, just randomly out of nowhere?" she asked as the question finally reached her brain.

"Naw, like after spending time with some little kids."

Crow nodded and took a moment to eat some shrimp. "I guess it would make sense, especially if the kids were cute. The princess talking about babies with you already?" she inquired with a teasing grin.

A hand with through short, black hair. "Not really, but she left me with something to think about. I mean, eventually, she probably will want one or two or maybe even more. Trying to figure out if I should panic," the musician commented with an uncomfortable half-smile.

"Don't panic, especially if she's not talking about having one now. I doubt you'd be a terrible parent."

Dane gave her friend a sidelong glance. "Thank you, that's very encouraging. You're better at this pep talk crap when you try to get me to pick up my guitar."

"I don't know what else to say. I could see you with a little one. A little you or even a little princess," the Gothic woman said, nodding to herself.

Slate eyes blinked in shock. "Really?"

Crow nodded vigorously. "I totally see it. Now, the old you, I couldn't see it, but the Dane I know now, I can see it."

"How?" Dane inquired, sounding beyond bewildered. She could not picture herself taking care of a houseplant, let alone a child. Never mind the fact that she sort of took care of houseplants already since Nicole had several of them in the house. Sometimes, she took care of them, but most of the time Nicole liked to care for the plants because it gave the redhead a sense of peace.

"Well, you're a lot calmer now. I mean, you were always laidback everything, but you used to be pretty selfish. If it wasn't about you or your band, you could give a fuck back then. Hell, sometimes, it didn't even seem like you gave a shit about the band. You're definitely not that anymore. You just do stuff now that I see moms do, like going grocery shopping and making dinner and junk. You like kids too, you know?"

Dane shot her friend a curious look. "I do?" she asked. News to me!

"Yeah, you do. You watch 'em when we sit together like this or in the park. It kinda surprised me when I noticed, but you didn't think anything of it, so I didn't mention it."

The taller woman nodded to show that she understood, but she was not too sure if she agreed just yet. Searching her memory, she quickly realized that Crow was correct. Whenever she went to the park, she watched the children. Much of the time, she thought it was out of envy, thinking about the happiness that she rarely experienced as a child and maybe a little of trying to live vicariously through them. But, now that she really took the time to look at things, she knew that was not the case.

"They're cute, like puppies," Dane said. She liked the way that children did things. Most of the time they went in wholeheartedly and with innocent curiosity or a tame mischievousness. She loved how everything seemed so new to them and how they seemed like they were trying to understand the world, but not really. They found joy in simple pleasures while wishing for the moon and thinking they could achieve it.

Crow burst out laughing. "Only you would compare kids to puppies."

"No, no, think about it. They both have all this energy and if they're taken care of they both have this love of life. Happiness with them both is so pure and it shines in their eyes. Even when they do something bad, it's not for the sake of being hurtful or trying to hurt someone. It's like a prank, but they don't totally understand it as bad and they don't mean it to be malicious. They have all this heart to love with and be loved in return. They feel love unconditionally, return it in the same light, and trust wholeheartedly if they're properly cared for. I can't even imagine what that must feel like," Dane explained.

Crow smiled. "You do still have a way with words, but you're such a romantic now!" she teased.

The musician smiled a little, her eyes making it clear that she was amused. The silence returned and they finished off their meals. Dane felt a bit better about herself now.

---------------

The day had arrived when Dane would see her nephews again. She found herself looking forward to it, making sure to get out her guitar and think of some clever rhymes that she could tell them. By noon, she was dressed in her usual shorts and a tee-shirt that was covered with a full island at sunset scene; a gift from her girlfriend.

"Nick, you ready to go yet?" Dane asked almost cheerfully, marching into the library.

Nicole was sitting at the desk, reading a book and looking over her notebook. She was clearly studying and still dressed in her pajamas. Dane blinked in confusion.

"Hey, angel, did you forget we're going to see Thomas and Luke today?" Dane inquired, even though she doubted that. It was all the younger woman could talk about that morning, but then again, she had not spoken much. She did not want to appear overeager to see the children. After all, she was known for being laidback.

"I haven't forgotten. I merely have finals to study for. I got caught up in your moment and completely forgot until I checked my schedule," Nicole admitted, looking a bit sheepish at her own absentmindedness. She had been so pleased that Danny was happy and possibly going to reconnect with her family that she forgot her semester was ending and there were exams that she needed to prepare for.

"Oh..." The younger woman glanced away and ran her hand through her hair. "Not going then?" she asked curiously, unaware that she was pouting.

Nicole turned her attention to her sweetheart, smiling a bit when she noticed the slightly sulking expression. Pushing away from the desk, she got up and approached the taller woman. Dane did not move as Nicole pulled her into an embrace, which she returned as soon as Nicole was pressed against her. She thought it was an apology hug.

"Didn't really want to go anyway," Dane lied, mumbling as she spoke.

"Baby, since when do you tell such stories to me?" Nicole inquired, sounding a little melodramatic.

"Well, I mean...if you don't want to go..."

"I need to study for my finals, but you can still go. I'll drive you there, even pop in for a moment to say hello to whoever's there, but I think I would study best while you're there."

"What do you mean? I wouldn't bother you when we got back home, so you could study," Danny pointed out.

Nicole smiled a bit, but looked saddened. "Oh, honey, it's not about you bothering me. I'm going to be tempted with you, like I always am. Sitting in here, knowing you're right out there in the living room, listening to music, watching TV, or even sleeping beckons me to be close to you. So, I would work better if that temptation, i.e. you, were out having fun while I study for my final Monday," she explained.

The pout persisted. "But, I thought you would come along..." She felt safer with Nicole around, even if there was a chance that her family put a bug in Nick's ear.

"Danny, you don't need me along to supervise you with your own nephews!" the lawyer chided her. She had not done anything when they saw the boys before, after all. It was Danny's show then, so she did not see the problem with it being Danny's show now.

"Yeah, I do! I don't know what to do with them except for pretending to play in a band!" the younger woman argued.

Nicole laughed, even though she could tell her lover was serious distressed. "You'll be fine, sweetheart. They're children. They're not too hard to entertain."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I do have small cousins. If you spend more time with them, you'll be just as comfortable with your nephews and you'll be more sure of yourself," Nicole stated, but noticed that Danny still appeared skeptical. "Baby, if you want to get to know your nephews better, you have to be able to get along with them without a buffer around," she added.

The younger woman nodded. That did make sense. But, then again, how does something Nick says not make sense?

"I guess you're right," Danny conceded.

"Of course I'm right. You just need to get your confidence up around your nephews and you'll see that there's nothing to be nervous about. Now, let me go get dressed since you're ready and I'll drive you there. How long do you think you'll stay?" the redhead asked, starting toward the door.

Dane shrugged and followed her beloved. "I don't know. Like an hour?" she guessed. That seemed like a bit much to her, but she wanted to see the boys pretty badly.

Nicole whipped around, staring hard at her lover. "An hour? Danny how much playing do you think you'll get done in an hour? If you're not serious about this, then don't go and tease those boys with your presence," she scolded Dane.

Dane scratched the end of her nose. "More than an hour?"

"Yes, more than an hour. They're going to want to run, jump, talk, and play. They're going to want to be around you and an hour is going to seem like nothing to them."

"See, Chem, this is why I need you to come! I don't think of this stuff!" the musician argued. She had no clue how children really worked as far as how they spent their time and things like that.

"I can see that, but you have to try. Look, baby, do you really want a relationship with those boys?" Nicole inquired and Danny nodded without hesitation. That action caused Nicole to smile. "Good. If you do, then you're going to need to open yourself up and things will come to you. It's like when you opened up to me. Once you did that, you took an interest in me. Then my interests became your interests and we were able to connect. Correct?"

Dane nodded. "I guess," she answered, not sounding as sure as she thought she should.

"It started with a little step. One small step."

"I thought it started because Tyler's a dipshit."

Nicole laughed. "Well, yes, there was that. But, the small step was trusting me enough to stay at my house. Just like my small step was inviting you to stay in the first place. A year later, look at us." She motioned between the two of us. "We didn't imagine this that first day, but this is where we ended up. If you take a small step toward your nephews, imagine the possibilities."

Dane nodded. "Okay. I'll try for an afternoon, but I can't make any promises if my father's going to be around. He goes out of his way for me sometimes and it never turns into a good thing."

"Try to ignore him if necessary, sweetheart. Don't let him take this gift from you."

The guitarist nodded again. Was she going to let the specter of her father ruin her time with her nephews? She honestly and sincerely enjoyed being around them and she would like to do it as much as possible. So, hell no, she was not going to let her father get the better of her yet again. He had run and ruined her life enough.

"So, you gonna get dressed or what?" Dane asked with a lopsided grin.

Nicole chuckled and dashed off to get dressed. They were off less than ten minutes later. Dane was not sure how long she was going to stay, but she was determined to stay as long as she wanted to and not leave just because her father ran her off.

They arrived at the house; Dane told the valet to leave the car out front since Nicole was not planning on staying. The young man nodded and the couple moved to the backyard without bothering to go into the mansion. Childish laughter quickly caught their ears and the source rapidly came into view.

Thomas and Luke were running around chasing bubbles. The thing that caught Nicole off-guard was the fact that they were doing it in what appeared to be their Sunday best. They were both in dark slacks and oxford shirts. Hell, they were even wearing fancy shoes. Luke had on a tie! Nicole had never seen anything like it and it honestly looked wrong. She wondered if the boys did not have play clothes.

Glancing over, the attorney saw that Adam was blowing bubbles and he was dressed just as formally as they were. He was actually wearing a suit and tie to stand in the backyard and blow bubbles with his children. Nicole felt like she had seen it all.

"Dane!" the boys cheered as soon as they noticed their aunt. Their attention went from the bubbles to the limping woman in less than a second. Charging her, they hugged her tightly around the legs. To her credit, Dane did not look uncomfortable with their actions. Also, she did not grimace when they hit her bad leg.

Adam turned, seeing his sons wrap Dane in their tiny arms. While his baby sister did not look uncomfortable, she did appear to be perplexed by the attack. But, since she did not ask for saving, he let them be.

"Dane, glad you made it. And you brought the lovely Nicole," Adam noted with a smile, approaching the couple. He shook Nicole's hand, but did not bother with Dane. He had noticed sometime ago that she shunned physical contact and he remembered that fact most of the time.

"Nice to see you again, Adam," Nicole said civilly. "Unfortunately, I cannot stay. I have so much work to get done. I was only dropping this one off," she informed them, patting Danny on the shoulder.

"Oh, that's too bad. Maybe next time?" Adam offered.

"I'm sure of it," Nicole answered. Of course she would want to get to know Dane's nephews, especially if they were going to be a part of Dane's life. If they were a part of Danny's life, then that would make them a part of her life too.

Nicole took a few minutes to engage in conversation with the boys, mostly about schoolwork. It was something that they had in common, which amazed the boys. This was their first time hearing about an adult going to school. But, after just a few minutes, Nicole could feel the clock ticking and wanted to get back home to study. Danny walked her girlfriend back to her car since there were no other family members around for the redhead to address.

"Call me when you want me to come back for you, okay?" Nicole informed her lover.

"I will," Danny promised.

The couple exchanged a brief kiss before Nicole drove off. Dane went back to the backyard, hoping things would go as well as Nicole seemed to think. When she re-entered the yard, she could see the boys were chasing bubbles again.

Dane was somewhat amazed that her nephews found such an asinine task fun, but then again, she had witnessed children in the park enjoy the game too. Sometimes, she thought that kids just liked destroying things because they always seemed so happy when they popped bubbles, her nephews included. She doubted that she would ever know since she had never done such a thing.

"Hey, you want to do this for a while? My lips feel like they're going to fall off," Adam said, looking to pass the bubble bottle and wand to his little sister.

"Uh..." She had never blown bubbles in her life either. "What do I do?"

Adam arched a perfect eyebrow, baffled by the question. "You blow, what else?"

Dane snorted, but took the bottle. She decided against cursing her brother out for trying to make it seem like she was an idiot. It was not her fault that she had never touched bubbles in her life.

Blowing the bubbles proved to be a simple task and Dane shocked herself by enjoying it thoroughly. Before long, she was blowing them to the left and then quickly to the right to overwhelm her nephews' senses. The boys giggled wildly as they chased their soapy prey. Danny probably would have giggled too if her brother was not standing a few feet from her.

"So, how are things going, Dane?" Adam asked to make conversation.

Dane glanced at her brother before turning her attention back to the bubbles. "Fine."

Adam waited for an elaboration that did not come. "So, I'm guessing you settled down with Nicole. No one's talked about seeing you for a long time now. You sure you're okay?"

"Better than ever."

Adam nodded, already guessing the conversation was going to be like pulling teeth. It was always like that with Dane. He had been told that she was just difficult all the time for no reason, but most of the time, he just felt she was like that toward him because they did not really know each other. He was almost ten years older than she was, after all. By the time she growing into a person with a personality and all, he had already had a life of his own and like most teens did not have time for a younger-very younger-sibling. Sometimes, the guilt of not knowing her, not even trying ate at him and now he was trying to move forward with her. Unfortunately for him, she made it damned hard to get to know her.

"So, do you live with Nicole?" Adam pressed on.

"Yeah," Dane answered.

"Do you like it?"

Grey eyes glanced over, briefly questioning his sanity. "Yeah."

"Are you going to give me more than one word answers at any point in time?"

"Dunno."

Adam sighed and gave up, as Dane expected. She often wondered why he bothered feigning interest in her. It was annoying. She already knew where she stood with him. He made that loud and clear when they were younger.

Eventually, the boys got tired with the bubbles and wanted to know what Dane had attached to her back. She had brought her guitar with her and all they wanted to do was touch. She allowed it; her students touched it all the time, so she doubted the boys could hurt it. The brothers took turns plucking the strings and strumming it. They laughed as they tried to produce something that sounded vaguely like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." Luke came close, but even that meant that all he did was brush his fingers across the strings to that rhythm.

"Play it, Dane, please," Luke requested, handing the instrument back to his aunt.

"Yeah, play it, please!" Thomas chirped in too.

Dane smiled; that was something that she was very happy to do. Her left hand plagued her as always, but she could play for over a minute before that started to bother her; less than six months ago, she would have been lucky to get over thirty seconds out of her hand. If she really forced herself to, she could play through a whole song, especially if she placed clever pauses in the song, singing unaccompanied by the guitar for a few seconds. Her nephews did not notice her hand as she began to play and her brother did not say anything. Adam was aware that her hand had been injured in that horrible incident that put her in the hospital for weeks.

Adam did not know many details about the accident. He had not seen Dane while she was in the hospital. His father had just informed him that Dane had gotten herself into trouble, like always. Shrugging, he had accepted that without asking any questions.

"Okay, free style now, Dane. Please!" Luke said, clasping his hand together as if begging her.

Dane smiled and nodded, happy for a moment to put her guitar down. She loved playing, of course, but her fingers needed a break. She started off simple, doing her own versions of nursery rhymes. Adam chuckled a bit at her antics, but noticed that his sons were completely engaged. He decided to slip away for a moment, wanting some time to himself and a snack.

"Lemme try, lemme try!" Luke implored her with delight shining in his eyes.

"Okay, no problem. Let me give you a beat," Dane replied. She then started doing a beat-box for him, making noise with her mouth as if it was an instrument. She found it a bit funny that this "talent" of hers was something that only her nephews knew about. She had never even told Nicole that she dabbled in making her own hip-hop music.

"Hi, my name is Luke, people treat me like a duke..." he started and Dane just wanted to laugh. She knew that he liked rapping and he was good at it, as good as one could expect of an eight-year-old.

The session did not last long. From inside, the trio could hear Sharon barking at Adam. They could not hear the whole argument, but it sounded something like "How dare you leave our sons out there with that damned hooligan!" and "Go get our boys before she does something to them!" Dane actually laughed a little before her eldest brother returned to the backyard.

"Here, guys, your mom wants you for a moment. She has goodies for you," Adam informed the boys, waving them into the house.

"But, Dad!" the boys whined.

"Go on inside and use that tone with her. It might actually work," Adam remarked, giving his sons a teasing smile. They growled and stomped into the house. Adam turned his attention to his sister. "We'll be right back. Sharon just wanted to give the kids some candy or something," he lied.

Adam disappeared back into the house before Dane could respond, not that she was going to bother with that. Shaking her head, not caring if he saw, she frowned. She hated being lied to and it was a constant with Adam whenever they interacted. He did not have the guts to just tell her that Sharon disliked her and did not trust her-with anything. It was not like Sharon made it a secret.

"So, you are here," Russell commented as he stepped out onto the veranda. Dane did not even bother to look at her father. He looked around. "You didn't bring Nicole with you?" he asked curiously.

"She had business," Dane stated coldly. Part of her wondered if her father actually liked Nicole. That bothered her because it meant that he might try to break them up, thinking he was doing Nicole a favor.

"Business?" he echoed and nodded. "I could believe that. I hear her parents keep her very busy. As much as her parents annoy me, especially that mother of hers, I am surprised that they would allow her to date a scoundrel like you."

"Her parents no more control her than you do me," Dane said.

Russell laughed; it was a hearty sound straight from his gut. He even put his hand on his stomach for a second as he chuckled. "Dane, Dane, Dane, you and I both know who is in charge between the two of us."

She rolled her eyes; eyes so similar to his. "You want something?"

"I'm just curious as to how you feel about stealing Tyler's fianc�e? Could you be any more immoral and disgusting?" he inquired with his lip curled in complete disgust.

"It's inherited," she remarked.

Russell glanced over at her. "You think you're so clever and so intelligent. So intelligent that you landed yourself a nice rich girl."

"It always comes back to money with you. You stay with your wife for the money?"

He frowned and cuffed her upside the head. Ebony hair flew as her head jerked to the side from the blow. She straightened up pretty quickly. Seconds later, it did not even seem like she had been slapped at all.

"You stand here and try to act so cool, but we both know how worthless you are, Dane. There never has been a bigger waste of oxygen and space than you. You might say it always comes back to money with me, but we both know that's merely another one of your shortcomings. You hemorrhage money," he pointed out. "A rich girlfriend is just what you need to keep all of your foolishness up."

"My foolishness?" she echoed and then decided to dismiss her father's ramblings before she let him in her head.

"Of course. You need someone to bank roll your habits and get you out of trouble, just as you have used me and Christine," Russell informed her.

"Used who?" Dane inquired in disbelief. The fuck kind of bullshit does this man get on?!

"Used us. You have done nothing but take from us, been a burden, especially when you went into the hospital. For you entire life, all you have ever been is a burden to whoever has the misfortune to be around you, but me and Christine especially. Do you know how much that cost and you haven't even attempted to pay any of that back," he huffed, seriousness and anger seeping into his tone.

"You want me to pay you back...?" Dane asked in a tense tone. She could not believe what she was hearing. He wanted her to give him money for a hospital stay? She knew most other parents would never say such a thing, especially not from the way that she had been beaten, not from the way that she looked when she was in that hospital. No, most parents would never ask for that money back. Most parents would have just been happy that their daughter lived, but she had been blessed with such atypical parents that sometimes it hurt her brain just to think about it.

"Yes. Do you think money grows on trees? You think you can just leech off of everyone and never owe them anything?" he demanded, growling down at her.

Trembling, Dane tried to hold in all of the raw, negative emotions that she was feeling. This was the one drawback to finding her soul-mate. Nicole brought feeling back into her body and just as she experienced pleasure from Nicole and her nephews, she experienced pain from her brother and now her father. How could this man-her own father-stand there and make it seem like her being beaten and left for dead a burden? Why not just tell her he wished that she died back in that warehouse?

She bit her lip before speaking. "You're serious, aren't you? While I was lying in that hospital bed, all you were thinking about was how much it cost. When I lived here, I'm sure all you did was calculate how much it cost to house, clothe, and feed me. You're a heartless fucking bastard, you know that?" she stated, not surprised at all when he smacked her again, harder than before. A ring on his hand scratched the side of her face. She did not move, did not even wince.

"You watch your mouth. You're only still alive because I paid for it. Now, do the decent thing and pay the money back, you wretch," he growled.

Slowly nodding, she swallowed. "You want your fucking money? Send me a fucking bill. I'll give you back everything I owe you. Everything."

"How? By begging your whore for money?" he asked.

Growling, Dane turned and snapped back at her father for the first time in her life. She put her palm on his cheek with ease, almost knocking him to the ground. Grey eyes glared down at the sorry excuse for a man as he crouched over in agony.

"You don't fucking talk about her like that. Now, I'll get your damn money and then you can consider my debt paid in full. After that, we don't have any business left to ever discuss."

Dane marched away after that, shouldering her guitar as she left. She doubted that her father would call the police on her, which he would have done in the past. She showed signs of his assault, after all. Plus, she could get some pretty good lawyers to defend her if he wanted to play that way.

Marching off of the property, she regretted not telling her nephews goodbye, but she needed to get away from there before Russell hurt her any more. The feeling of being unwanted and despised devoured her insides like rabid, ravenous wolves. No one in the family wanted her, so why even bother?!

She walked on, exiting the posh neighborhood and surprised to find that she was still emotionally wounded by the fact that her father was an asshole. Finding a bench, she sat down and tried her best to compose herself. After several long minutes, she felt under control enough to call Nicole, needing a ride if she wanted to get home sometime that week.

"Hello?" Nicole answered the phone sounding slightly puzzled. She did not recognize the number on the caller ID.

"Hey, angel," Dane said, leaning against a nearby wall.

"Hey, baby!" the redhead's voice perked up considerably. "You must have had a good time. You made it almost the whole afternoon. But, where are you calling from? This isn't the number you left with me."

"I know. Chem, I'm at a corner store close to the mall. Come get me, please," the musician requested in a tired tone.

"Honey..."

"Please, Nick, just come get me."

"Okay, okay," Nicole said, understanding now was not the time to badger her girlfriend. After getting directions, she was off to pick Danny up. When the younger woman got in the car, Nicole could see that it was still not the time to ask questions, even though she was burning with them. It was just the tense, distraught look on Danny's face told her not to ask anything just yet.

Grey eyes looked out of the window, but focused on nothing. There was something off about Danny's aura, but Nicole was not sure what. Everything around Danny just seemed hot, and not in a good way. It was as if Danny was radiating furious heat. Not bothering to ask, even though her girlfriend was sporting a scratch on her face, Nicole just drove on, wanting to get her beloved home and offer whatever comfort she could.

---------------

6: A new lease on life

Dane went through the motions of her usual tasks once they got home. Nicole watched for a while, thinking it might be best to leave Dane alone and let her deal with whatever was weighing down on her mind. But, when it was clear that Dane was not as much dealing it as she was allowing it to fester and darken her smoke-colored eyes, Nicole decided that it was time to step in.

"Sweetheart, come sit with me, please," Nicole requested, on the sofa with a book in her hands.

"Nah, you're studying. I'm not going to bother you now," Dane replied.

"I'm not studying anymore. This is a leisure book," the lawyer stated, holding the tome up a little as if showing her lover.

"You sure?"

"I am."

Danny sighed and marched over to the couch. Her limp was much more pronounced, which Nicole noticed and it troubled her. Emerald eyes made it a point to wander to avoid staring at the scarred leg and injured knee.

The ebony-haired woman slowly lowered herself to the sofa. As soon as she was down, Nicole moved closer and pulled caramel-toned legs into her lap. Dane did not object. In fact, a smile worked its way onto her face as Nicole massaged her calf. Before long, she was purring and her leg was starting to feel better.

"How do you feel?" Nicole asked in soft, tender tone, just like her delightful touch.

"...You want to know why I was at convenient store at the mall instead of at my parents' house?" Dane inquired, knowing that her girlfriend was bursting with questions. She was not sure how much she wanted to talk about now.

"I do, but I understand if you're not ready to talk about it. I can see you're troubled, but I don't want to push you," Nicole said. She recalled that Danny commented on her being forceful lately, so she was going to try to calm that down. She knew if she was too pushy, she would scare Dane off.

Dane nodded. "Just had a little round with my father. Nothing to worry about. Just how things are."

"Oh, okay. Are you all right from this little round?" the redhead asked, even though she knew the answer to that. Molten steel eyes told her that Danny was far from fine, but again, Nicole was not going to push. Even though, the scratch on Dane's cheek made her want to push and have answers, but still, she held off. Danny would tell her when the time felt right to Danny, she silently assured herself.

"Yeah. He doesn't faze me none."

A beat of silence passed between them before Nicole tackled the other elephant in the room. "He did that one time..." she noted, referring to the time that Danny left her with no explanation and utter heartache for almost a month.

"I'm still so sorry about that, Nick. This is why I can't let him bother me now. I refuse to do something that stupid again," Danny proclaimed. She then shifted, so she could look her beloved in the eye. "Listen to me, angel, I'm not going anywhere. I don't care what he says or what he does. I'm not going to let him affect me. You are the greatest thing to happen to me. The GREATEST. I won't let him come between us again," she stated with a heavy intensity that touched inside Nicole and crept through her like a liquid leisurely warming her soul.

"Danny..." Not sure what else to do, Nicole leaned over, careful of her lover's leg, and gave a gentle kiss to very willing lips.

The kiss got a small smile out of Danny. She reached out and caressed Nicole's cheek. The lawyer blushed; she actually liked that her girlfriend still had such an affect on her. Dane liked seeing Nicole blush.

"I know you're worried about me walking away from the house and everything, but it got to a point with my father that I needed to leave or it was going to go really bad really quickly. I did have a lot of fun with my nephews, though."

Nicole grinned. "I had a feeling you would. Did you panic when you were alone with them?"

"Adam stayed out there the whole time, so I wasn't really alone with them," Dane answered, her voice a bit disappointed and a quick frown graced her features for a moment. She did not want to get into the issue of Sharon not wanting her alone with the children and Adam bowing to those wishes. What-the-hell-ever. "But, after a while, I didn't notice that he was there and I don't think they did either," she informed Nicole.

"So, you didn't panic? That's good," the redhead said.

"I didn't and it was fun. We blew bubbles for a while. I had never blown bubbles before. It was so much fun," Danny reported with a bright smile.

For a moment, sorrow rushed through the redhead. Her baby had never blown bubbles before? That reminded her that Danny had never painted or hunted Easter eggs either. It was so tragic. What else had her lover missed out on? She shook that away since Danny was happy to have finally done such thing. The attorney considered that Danny might be able to catch up on childhood things by spending time with her nephews and maybe even spending more time with Nicole's younger cousins.

"See, sweetheart, I knew you had it in you. Did you make another play-date?" Nicole asked, a teasing smile dancing across her lips.

Dane chuckled, but shook her head. "No, the moment me and my father had our round, I left. The boys weren't out there at the time, so I didn't even get to say bye to them. I'll glad they weren't out there to see that crappy moment, though."

Nicole nodded. "Do you have a phone number to reach your brother? I know you want to keep up with your nephews."

"I don't, but I do," the musician answered. She figured that short response would make sense to Nicole, who was used to how she tended to speak in clip sentences.

The lawyer's eyes widened a bit, looking curious and confused at the same time. "You seem like you and Adam are close and you don't have a phone number?" she asked incredulously.

Dane's brow furrowed from her girlfriend's tone. "Close? What gave you that impression?" she inquired rather baffled.

Nicole opened her mouth, thinking that she had an answer, but quickly realized that she did not. She had assumed that Danny was close to Adam because she was looking for him at the party and Danny did willingly introduce her to Adam. He and Danny did not seem to have the same tension as her other siblings.

"I guess I thought you were close because there did not seem to be any visible animosity. You guys even conversed politely with each other," Nicole pointed out.

"Nick, we talk like two people who see each other on the bus every now and then. You didn't notice that?" Dane countered, forehead wrinkled from her confusion. She and Adam were far from friends and she was certain that they came across as such.

Pausing for a moment, Nicole thought about it. "I just thought..." Trailing off, she put her hand over her face, feeling like an idiot.

"Hey, it's okay, Chem," Danny cooed. She did not want Nicole to feel badly just for assuming that she was close to her brother. It was not like it was something horrible.

"I'm sorry. I figured since you know, you like his sons so much that you probably sent enough time around him to like him too and you didn't seem put off talking to him like you did with your other siblings."

Dane shrugged. "Adam isn't so bad, but he's also nine years older than I am, Chem. By the time I had a personality and shit like that, he had a life and was about to get ready to be out of the house. He never paid me any mind and then he was gone."

Nicole nodded. "I guess I get that a little. I just figure with my little cousins, I'm always involved and have always been like that. I love being around them, but you've seen that."

"I know, but you've got a huge heart and you understand the world extents beyond you. Adam wasn't like that. Like everybody else in the Wolfe family, he used to think the world revolved around him. In fact, I don't think he realized that wasn't true until Sharon had Luke. So, no, we've not close."

"Do you think you could become close?" Nicole asked curiously.

Dane shrugged again. "Who's to say? You're the one that likes to imply I don't know what the future holds. I will concede Adam isn't a complete and total fuck-head, but right now, we're not that close. I just happen to get along well with his kids."

Nicole nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry again that I assumed you were close to Adam."

"Don't worry about it. Because you thought that, you got me some time in with Luke and Thomas. You're just looking out for me," Dane said and they left it at that. She was thankful for that. She was starting to realize that she would do a lot of things and put up with a lot of crap if she could spend time with her nephews. Now, she had to figure out how to raise a bunch of money as rapidly as possible without doing anything illegal or totally embarrassing. A couple of things came to mind immediately.

---------------

Going to the park after doing most of her chores, Dane found a location that was frequented by joggers, dog-walkers, and young children. Tossing her worn, heavy guitar case on the ground, she leaned down to open it. It was empty; her guitar was in the vinyl case on her back. With the heavy case open, she then took out her guitar and started playing.

"Is this legal?" Crow asked curiously as she made herself comfortable under a shady tree.

Dane shrugged. "Fuck if I know. I see people do it often enough to figure it can't be that illegal if it is," she answered. She brought Crow along for another set of eyes in case someone considered robbing her, not that she expected that to happen in the rather safe neighborhood. But, better safe than sorry, she figured. She needed every nickel that she could earn.

"Why don't you just work a club if you need money?" the gothic woman inquired curiously. Having seen Dane practice enough, she thought that Dane was ready to get back into what she considered Dane's real element-playing clubs. Yes, she was aware that Dane's left hand acted up, but she had also seen Dane cover for it in different ways.

"Don't worry about that. I already made a couple of calls. Now, the problem is telling Nick that I actually have a show on Thursday."

Crow's face fell. "A fucking Thursday? They booked you, the Great Dane, on a Thursday?" she asked in sheer disbelief. Blasphemy! Dane should be playing on Fridays and Saturdays at night, rocking throngs of people, making them intoxicated with her music.

Grey eyes rolled at Crow's outrage. Right now, she would play any and everywhere she could whatever time she could. "Look, I'll take what I can get. I need to get my fucking father off my back. Bitching at me about money that's not even his."

"You mean your mom paid for your hospital stay?" Crow asked with a bewildered expression. The details of why Dane was in the hospital a few years ago were still quite hazy. Dane was not willing to share what happened and Crow did not try to speculate on what it was because she could not begin to imagine why Dane was beaten so terribly. What she did know was Dane had not been able to afford a hospital stay and Bryan made it seem like Dane's parents had footed the bill. But, then again, now she was not too sure what she could believe from Bryan since it was clear that he and Dane were not the best of friends as they had been years ago.

"Don't know, honestly," the musician admitted. She never cared or thought about it before. Usually, she just assumed that expensive things came out of her mother's pocket, even though her father was rich in his own right. If she ever stopped and thought about it, she did not understand why either of them would pay for anything in regards to her. Her father made no bones about his hatred for her and she assumed that her mother felt the same as her father did.

"Does it matter?"

"Hell, no. He's going to get his money and I don't want to hear a fucking thing from him or about him again. I learned the other day that listening to his bullshit now might force me to an edge that I don't want to fall over," Dane replied. Ever since she had hit a former fuck-buddy, Dane had found that violence left a bad taste in her mouth. She was not proud of hitting her father, even if he was asking for it. She feared that if she could hit him without thinking now, things might get worse, especially since he had diarrhea of the mouth. For her, it was best to sever all ties to the man to the save herself from trouble that might be lurking in the future.

Crow shrugged, not too sure what Dane meant there. She let it go as Dane began playing. She wondered how much money Dane could make playing in the park. She made no bones that she thought this was beneath Dane, who even now was popular, even though she did not play in a band anymore. Hell, even though she did not play anymore! People still talked about the Great Dane and longed for her unique, passionate, fiery, and fierce style of music. Dane touched people through her songs, her lyrics, her voice, and of course her guitar. To Crow, even with the changes to Dane's personality, the musician would always be a rock-n-roll goddess.

Listening to her playing now, Crow was sure that Dane could still control a crowd with her music alone. Even though she was not playing anything to head-bang to, Crow found herself swaying with the tune. As always, she felt like Dane's music became a part of her, touching her somewhere deep inside and loving her through the song. She was certain that other people felt that way about Dane's music. Soon, Dane was singing softly and passersby were dropping money in the case on the floor.

She's still got it. I hope she figures it out. She could still be a star, Crow thought.

While watching the "show," Crow did notice something that she never bothered to think about Dane. The mellow woman could really sing! Dane had a very soothing, smooth, and rich voice. It seemed that others agreed with her too because quite a few people stopped to listen. Crow could hear compliments and awe in some of the whispers among them. Crow thought it was funny that she never thought about Dane really singing until now; she preferred listening to Dane's rock still, though. Nothing topped Dane screaming like some heavy metal star.

Crow stuck around for a couple of hours, but eventually had to get back to the city for her job. It surprised Dane when she first found out that Crow had a job. It never occurred to her that anyone that used to hang out with her might work for a living. They never seemed like the type. But, Crow worked rather hard at a local bookstore in the city. Dane had promised to go check it out one day; it could prove to be a good place to buy books for Nicole. She considered there might even be a book or two in there for herself.

Eventually, Dane had to pack up and go because she had a lesson to get to. When she had a spare moment, she counted how much she made that day and considered that earning money might be a bit harder than she anticipated. But, that did not matter because she was going to keep on earning. She was going to pay her parents back and get that man off of her back.

"I am going to have to explain some of this to Nick," Dane muttered as she worked on dinner. She was not sure what she wanted to say to the lawyer, but she did not want it to seem like she was doing anything out of the ordinary. She did not want Nicole to know that she was up her eyeballs in debt...and to her father no less. She was disgusted with herself and she did not want Nick to end up being disappointed in her. Not like I can help that Russell is an asshole or that I was hospitalized, though. Nick knows that. Still, this might be too much.

Dane was not in the mood to shake Nicole's faith in people either. Her lover was happy to give people the benefit of the doubt when it came to believing in them, even though that mindset had come to bite her back in the ass numerous times. She liked that about Nicole, though. The world needed people like her, so Dane did not want to add one more thing to rattle Nicole's whole mindset.

Not to mention, she was very aware that Nicole had her big belief that family should be close, like Nicole's family. She could see how Nicole reached that point; her family was very nice and together. They were downright wonderful. Dane did not want to shake that belief either. If Nicole knew that she had it in her to hit her father, Nicole might think that she was not so family-oriented and that could cause trouble in their relationship.

"He deserved that shit, though. Not going to let him talk shit about Nick," Dane growled, anger igniting again as she recalled the disrespectful words her father used in regards to her precious Nicole. Okay, she knew that hitting Russell was not going to solve anything and like she told Crow, it scared her a bit that she raised her hand to him, even though he hit her first. She definitely did not want to get into the practice of hitting people, no matter what the circumstances.

Willing herself to forget about the whole thing, she finished making dinner and flopped down on the sofa, waiting for Nicole. It was a late day for Nicole, who had her final today. Dane had planned to go into the city and surprise her lover, wanting to take her out to dinner, but she figured that would be better to do on Wednesday when Nicole had her other and last final.

"Maybe I'll call Mina and Clara and invite them to celebrate too. Nick would probably love to have them there," she figured. And she decided to make the call while she was still alone.

Mina and Clara loved the idea, so that made Dane happy and she felt like she was doing something good. By the time the phone calls were up, Nicole was walking through the door. She staggered into the living room and collapsed on Danny, being careful of her leg of course. Dane smiled as her lips were peppered with short, but sweet kisses.

"I take it your final went well," Danny commented.

"Well, first off, I am just glad to be home with you. The day is so long when I have school and I miss you so much," Nicole replied, putting her arms around her girlfriend's neck. She snuggled closely to Dane's body.

"I missed you too," Danny stated quite sincerely. "Now, tell me how the final went," she requested with a smile.

"It was fair. I think I did very well. I am very certain that this is the start of a very good school career," Nicole said, coming in for another kiss. As she pulled away, she noticed a delightful smell in the air. "Baby, dinner smells wonderful!"

"I aim to please. I hope it tastes as good as it smells," Dane remarked with a cheesy grin.

"I'm sure it will. Let's go eat, please. I hadn't had anything to eat since lunch."

Dane nodded; Nicole had lunch at around noon and it was past eight now. Nicole eased off of the musician and walked over to the bathroom, wanting to wash her hands. Dane went to go setup the finishing touches to dinner and then waited for Nicole to return. They went into the kitchen, seeing what type of feast lay on the table.

"Oh, Danny," Nicole muttered in shock. Dane had set up a candle-lit meal with a small bouquet of flowers waiting too.

"Congratulations on this huge step toward your goal, love," Danny whispered, leaning down to kiss her girlfriend's cheek.

The couple sat down and green eyes scanned the hearty meal, already set up on her plate for her. Seasoned chicken-breast with rice and beans, broccoli with melted cheese (a favorite of hers), and even a salad on the side. A glass of what Nicole suspected was sparkling cider flanked the plates. There were hot biscuits in a basket between the pair and the dim lighting of the two candles. It was like being in a restaurant made for two.

Dinner was eaten in silence, but a lot of smoldering glances were exchanged between those candles. When the food was gone, Nicole blew the candles out and Danny walked their empty dishes to the sink. As she was about to start washing them, Nicole pressed up against her back. A sharp inhale from Dane echoed through the house as she felt lush, full breasts against her and loving arms wrap around her waist, playing with the hem of her shirt.

"I need to go wash up and get ready for bed. Do you think you could help me?" Nicole asked in a seductive whisper.

Danny nodded. "I think I could manage that," she muttered.

"Good girl." Nicole pulled Danny away. The musician smiled all the away up to the bathroom.

---------------

The next day, Danny decided to tell Nicole about her show on Thursday since everything had gone so well yesterday. As they sat down for breakfast, she actually had to go over what she was going to say because she felt a little nervous. Nicole had never seen her play in front of an audience and she had never played with a girlfriend watching, as she knew Nicole would want to do. Added to that, she was not too sure if her hand would be able to hold together. Yes, she knew a few tricks to get through a show, but she was not sure if she would be able to remember them due to nervousness if Nicole was sitting in the audience.

"Hey, Nick," Danny said, running her hand through her hair.

"Yes?" Nicole inquired, looking curious. She doubted that they had ever had a conversation over breakfast that started in such a way and she did not like that Danny was putting her hand through her hair so early in the morning either. They had not been up long enough for Danny to have a problem yet, she thought.

"What do you think about me playing my guitar in front of an audience? And you know, singing and stuff, too?"

"I think it would be an amazing thing, especially since your hand is stronger now." She was unaware that Danny's hand was strong enough for her to play for a long time, but she figured if Danny was ready to play in front of people again, then it was wonderful.

Dane nodded, a small smile working its way onto her face. "So, you would think its a good thing if I took a gig?"

A perfect auburn eyebrow arched. "Why, Danny, have you?"

Dane outright smiled now. "Maybe."

"So, if you may have taken a gig, what day might it be on?"

"Thursday. About eight at night."

"Good. I might be there, if you do happen to play a gig," Nicole replied.

The answer got a huge grin out of Dane. "Good! You can bring Mina and Clara if you want. I wouldn't mind a little cheering section in case something goes horribly wrong," she joked. Like I forget all the words to my songs because I haven't done this in so long!

"You'll be fine, honey. It will be so good to see you on stage, playing your heart out. Thank you for saying I could bring Mina and Clara too. They haven't heard you play and they think I am making things up when I tell them how good you are."

Danny just smiled, pleased that her girlfriend was so proud of her and confident in her. Breakfast after that was the usual routine, which they both enjoyed. Dane sent Nicole on her way to work with a passionate goodbye kiss. When she was alone, Danny went to wash up the dishes from last night and that morning.

The phone ringing took her from her task. Checking the caller ID, she did not recognize the number, but answered anyway. Sometimes, Nicole's family or friends called her and Dane took messages because Nicole would leave her home voicemail unchecked for days at a time. The curse of being busy.

"Hello," Dane greeted the caller.

"Dane," the cold tone of her father spoke back.

She was tempted to demand how he got the house number, but she knew that he had resources. It probably took him less effort to order lunch than it did to find her. Although, she was certain that he detested wasting his talent and resources on locating her, not that she gave a damn.

"Yes? What do you want?" she asked, even though she knew the answer.

The conversation was brief. Russell informed Dane just how much money she owed thanks to not only her hospital stay, but every little thing that she used growing up. Making matters worse, he sounded very business-like when he told her that he expected it at the close of the business week. When the call was over, Dane had to resist the urge to bash the phone against the wall. Swallowing hard, she found herself holding back tears.

"Stupid motherfucker. What kind of man makes his child pay back the money it cost to keep her alive and keep child services from being on his ass? Fine, you want your fucking money? I'll give you your precious money and then I don't have to worry about dealing with you ever again!" Dane hollered.

She would get her father every single penny that he asked for as long as it meant never having to see him again. But, that did pose a problem. She did not have close to the amount of money that he was asking for. She definitely would not be able to collect it by the close of the business week either.

A hand went through short black hair as she tried to figure out what her next move was. Really, there was only one thing that she could do and she hated to do it. But, she would rather be in debt to Nicole for the rest of her life than to her parents.

"Damn it. How pathetic am I? Begging Nick for money. So fucking worthless," she growled. And then she caught herself, shaking that off. "No, that's what that bastard wants me to think and the last time I listened to him I fucked my life up! I will not let him get in my head again. I'll get that money and then put all of this shit behind me. I'll work my ass off to pay Nick back as soon as possible. If she loans me the money anyway."

Danny was pretty sure that the money was not going to be a problem. Between her salary and investments, Nicole had plenty of money as far as Dane knew. What would be a problem was Nicole would want to know what she needed it for. She imagined saying, "Oh, just need to pay back my father for being born and having the nerve to stay alive all these years" would lead to an intense discussion that she did not want to have. Not to mention, it might take a little of the twinkle that she adored out of those emerald eyes because it would lead Nicole to realize not all fathers were warm and caring like her own was. She would be damned if she was going to let that happen!

No, she needed time to think of way to explain the money without harming Nicole. She supposed that would have to wait. First, she needed to get the money or she knew that her father would be on her back until she did. She was in no mood to deal with him anymore.

"Move on with my life, my life with the greatest woman on Earth," Dane said, nodding in agreement with herself.

Going about her day as usual, she came home and waited for Nicole. They cuddled on the sofa, watching a game show. They were having one of their trivia contest, but it was clear that Danny was not as into it as she usually was. Eventually, Nicole turned it the television off because she felt like she was playing by herself.

"Hey, why'd you do that? Mad that I was kicking your butt?" Dane forced out a teasing smile.

"You would have to be playing to be kicking my butt. You weren't playing. You're a million miles away tonight, baby. What's wrong?" Nicole asked, her voice laced with concern. She did not like these moments when Dane seemed so distracted. Doubt crept into her mind and heart and she wondered if Danny was getting bored with her. "Have I done something?" she added in a quiet voice.

"You? What? No!" Danny wrapped her arms around the attorney and held her tightly. "No, no, angel, you haven't done anything wrong. I love you."

Nicole smiled at that response. "Just because you love me doesn't keep me from doing something wrong."

"No, it has nothing to do with you."

"Are you nervous about your show?" The redhead supposed that was possible since it had been years since Danny had been on stage.

"Nah, that isn't bothering me. Doing a show is like riding a bike for me."

"Then what is it?"

Dane sighed and her hand went through her hair. "Nick, I need to ask a huge favor of you and I need you to know it's not something bad. I can't explain it very well right now, but I promise you it's nothing bad."

"Okay..." Nicole said, not liking where this was going already. The pensive look that Danny was sporting did not help matters.

"Nick, I need to borrow some money from you," Dane announced, hoping she did not sound as awkward as she felt.

Nicole breathed a sigh of relief. "Is that all? I thought it was something bad!" she chuckled.

"Uh, babe, you have to let me finish. It's not small change. It's a lot of money," Dane said. She hated that she even knew that Nicole had enough money to loan her, but she had access to Nicole's accounts because that was what Nicole wanted. The redhead felt secure knowing that Danny had access to money in case of emergencies and also for every day things. No one on Earth had such trust in her.

"Danny, my money is your money. Take what you need."

"Can I at least tell you how much I need?" Dane felt like she would feel better if Nicole was aware of just how much the lawyer was giving.

Nicole nodded and Dane took a deep breath. She needed to fix her mouth and wrap her mind around the amount that she was about to say. When she finally got it out, it came out as a whisper that sounded like an eruption to Nicole when it reached her ears.

"Oh, my god, Danny, why do you need that much money?!" Nicole gasped, fear causing her mouth to tremble and eyes to go wide.

"Angel, calm down!" Danny implored her lover as she held onto Nicole tightly. "I promise you, it's nothing bad. It is nothing bad."

"Then what? Why?" Nicole begged to know. Needing that much money could not be for something good!

"It's nothing bad. I'm not in trouble, angel. I'm not in danger and neither are you. No one is going to come after me. I won't end up in the hospital again or anything like that. I promise," Dane vowed as deeply as she could.

Nicole was very aware that Danny's long-lasting injuries to her hand and leg were because of money. Dane had vouched for the wrong person, who was in debt to some gangsters. The snake-in-the-grass Bryan had left Danny alone on the day they were supposed to pay those gangsters off, left her without his half of the money, even though she only got involved and collected the money to help him. She had been beaten severely by the hoodlums and then Bryan poured salt in her wounds by not caring what happened. Danny suspected that he set her up, not just to take the fall, but to buy him time and also to make sure that her music career was all but over.

"Are you sure?" Nicole asked with a whimper.

"I'm sure. No one is going to hurt us. It's not bad, angel. I would never get caught up in something that bad again. Please, don't worry," Dane replied, nuzzling her girlfriend with the hope that would ease her concern.

"You promise?"

"I promise, Chem."

"Are you going to tell me what it's for?"

"Eventually. It's not going to make much sense right now," Dane replied. Hell, it only made sense to her because she knew that her father could be one hell of a bastard.

"Okay, but I am holding you to that," Nicole said in a stern tone, teasing a little, but mostly very serious.

Danny chuckled a bit, even though she knew for a fact that she had to come up with a story soon. She had spent too much time lately keeping things from Nicole or asking Nicole not to ask questions. She was almost certain that was no way to continue a relationship.

"Nick, I am sorry I cause you so much trouble," Dane whispered.

"Nonsense, baby. I am happy to help you and I want to keep you safe. If this is what it takes, then so be it," Nicole answered.

"I will pay you back." It might take a few lifetimes, but she was determined to pay her lover back.

Nicole smiled a bit. "I wish you would stop thinking like that. I can make it back. I just want you to be safe and sound, okay?"

Dane nodded, even though she knew that Nicole was trying to make her feel better. Those savings were Nicole's hard earned money and she had saved quite a bit. The money came from being good at her job and making good investments and Dane felt like such a deadbeat for asking for it. She was not sure how or when, but she was going to pay Nicole back.

"You ready to play now?" Nicole asked, picking up the remote. Dane forced out a smile that looked almost genuine and turned her attention back to the television.

The game was back on. By the end of it, Dane was declaring herself the winner, even though they did not keep track of such a thing; they never kept up with who won. Everything seemed quite normal between them and as they were settling in to go to bed, Dane felt better about herself. Not by much, but enough to sleep easy that night, dreaming about a freedom that she was very much ready for.

In the morning, the couple decided to hook up when Nicole was free, so they could get the money that Dane needed. Danny would feel better about moving the money with Nicole there. She also thought it would give Nicole a chance to see just how much money she was parting with and give her a chance to change her mind. That did not happen.

Dane had her father's account number in order to transfer the money, even though she was tempted to just take the money out and deliver it to him, letting him think about strolling around with that much money on him. But, she did not want to take that chance. It would be her luck that in trying to be vindictive, she would get robbed on the way to him or something just as horrible, she thought. Besides, it was better to be the adult in the matter; it made things easier on her by getting him out of her life expeditiously.

Nicole did not know whose account the money was being transferred too, but she felt better knowing that things were going to a bank, especially one in the country, which Dane assured her was what happened. Things felt less sketchy that way. No criminal would want a large lump sum of money transferred to an account so obvious as they were doing.

The whole process took more time than they expected, but Dane was so happy to get it out of the way. She went with Nicole back to the firm, even though Nicole tried to insist on driving Dane back home. Dane waved the offer off, saying that she had other things to take care of and would make it back home on her own.

"Okay, baby, be good," Nicole said and then she shamelessly planted a kiss to Dane's lips in the middle of the lobby.

Dane was left in a shocked daze, still needing to get used to Nicole ease with showing affection in public. With a dopey grin on her face, the ebony-haired guitarist staggered out of the building. High on love from her girlfriend and the joy of new found freedom, she marched to the nearest payphone, which was hard to find in the city nowadays. Chuckling to herself, she dialed her father's cell number, going so far as to call collect. She did not expect him to accept and only said "we're done" when she was supposed to say her name. They were done. He was out of her life.

Smiling to herself, she called Crow, requesting a ride home. Crow was very happy to oblige. They made small talk for the trip. Crow dropped Dane off and had to go right back to the city to go to work. Dane took care of a lesson and then went to get ready for dinner.

She wanted to dress nicely, something to make Nicole think about peeling her out of the clothes later. Starting off, she actually put on pants. Nicole was the only person she wore pants for and generally that was upon request because they were going some place formal.

"She likes when I wear light colors," Dane muttered to herself, going through her half of the closet. Well, more like her quarter of the closet because she did not have that many clothes.

A pair of cream-colored slacks caught her eyes and she yanked those out. There was a matching vest with it, which was the staple to all of Dane's dress clothes. Lastly, she pulled out a black shirt and thought that she did pretty good at picking out her outfit without any help.

After a hot shower, she brushed her hair a bit and massaged some oil into her scalp and her hair. It ended up as wild as always, but it did shine and it smelled nice. She threw on her clothes after that and picked up her shoes. Checking herself out in a body-length mirror, she smiled to herself, thinking that she had done a very good job. Confirmation on that came as soon as she left the house to meet up with her ride to the city.

"Oh, my, oh my, Danny girl, you are looking too fine," Mina called out, going so far as to whistle when the younger woman climbed into her car.

Grey eyes rolled. "Please, don't ogle me. My girlfriend's the jealous type," she remarked with an amused smile.

"I know she is!" Mina laughed as she shifted gears and pulled away from the block. Dane was jerked back and Mina laughed again. "Do you forget I live for speed?" she teased the younger woman.

Dane quickly reached for her seat belt. "This is why I never ride with you. Why didn't Clara come get me?"

"She had to get her son from soccer practice. He's getting pretty good and she wants us at his games. And, yes, you are included in the 'us,' so don't even ask that," the lawyer commented.

"How am I included in the 'us' but I know your husband isn't?"

"Because he's good at figuring out how to get out of these things. Typically, he points out that he's a guy and doesn't want to be around a bunch of women that don't want him. Besides, anything that involves Clara's son, I wiggle him out of that one. The man sees the boy and then I have to hear how we need a son for weeks on end," Mina griped, but she was still smiling as she did so.

"You don't want kids?" Dane asked curiously.

"I wouldn't mind them at all. I just love teasing him."

Dane chuckled because of the devilish smile on Mina's face. Danny liked Mina, especially since she stopped taking advantage of Nicole once she realized that she was doing it. Mina tended to look out for Nicole as best as could and Mina was all for Nicole dating Dane.

"Now, you want me to drop you off at her school?" Mina asked to be sure, wanting to get the plan correctly.

"Yeah. I'll find her and then bring her to the restaurant. Okay?"

"I know you will, Danny. I am so happy you thought about this and celebrating her first term. She made it! I wish you knew her in college because chemistry was her favorite subject hands down. I love that you talked her into going back."

Dane smiled. "I just want her to be happy."

"Me too. Oh, I want to thank you for the invitation to your show tomorrow. I can't wait to hear you play."

"I'll try to make it worth it to you."

"I'm sure you will."

They pulled up to the parking lot of Nicole's college. Dane glanced around the campus. It was not huge campus, but it extended a few square blocks. Dane figured that one day she would explore it, but right now, she needed to find Nicole's car. Having radar for many of Nicole's things, Dane easily spotted the sedan and opened the trunk with her key. She had to move a couple of things, but found what she was looking for. A single red rose that she stored in the trunk.

After that, she started figuring out poses against the car. She knew that she did not have that much time because Nicole would be out about two hours after the test started. Well, Dane arrived at about that two hour mark too. Snickering behind her let her know that she used up too much time trying to find the perfect pose.

"Baby, what are you doing up here?" Nicole asked as Dane spun around.

"Waiting for you," Dane answered, holding out the rose in presentation to her beloved.

Nicole accept the flower with a smile. "And what is this for, smooth operator?"

"You'll see. Now, I know this is going to kill the romance just a little, but I need you to follow my directions instead of going home."

"I'll follow you anywhere looking like that. I mean, you even wore pants for me!" the redhead squealed. Dane just hoped that there was no one in the parking lot to hear that.

They quickly entered the car and Dane gave Nicole directions to a nice little Greek restaurant. Nicole was all smiles when they walked in and were told their table was ready. The graduate student was ready to burst from excitement when she saw her friends waiting for them at the table.

"Danny..." Nicole breathed, clutching her sweetheart's arm.

"Come on, we want to celebrate your first term of graduate school," Dane replied. She pulled out Nicole's chair for her and then sat down.

"Nicole, you have one smart girlfriend. You better watch out before I add her to my harem," Mina quipped.

"Harem?" Dane echoed, forehead wrinkling in confusion. Although, she was starting to believe that she should not be surprised by anything Mina uttered anymore.

"I collect people to help my husband along. He's not great in the romance area, so that would be your job," Mina said with a playful smile.

"To hell with that. My slipshod romantic gestures are all for Nick," Dane proclaimed with a wide grin. This earned her a hug and a kiss from her lover.

"You two disgust me so much," Clara commented, pretending to be offended by their open affection.

Nicole shot her friend a mock sneer. They then ordered some champagne to toast Nicole's first term of graduate school; Dane used water. The dinner was lively with plenty of smiling and laughing. Through it all, Nicole shot Dane some glances that made her feel overheated and she wished that they were alone. She hoped that Nicole planned to do something about that later.

After a couple of hours, everyone decided it was time to get home. They were quite pleased with everything, especially the food. Clara wanted to know how Danny knew about the restaurant and Dane smiled.

"I know how to eat, Clara," the musician remarked. She then glanced at Nicole, who easily got the message there.

"She'll give you a list of places later, Clara. Goodbye and see you tomorrow," Nicole said to her friends. She gave them quick hugs and Dane offered them a wave before they hustled over to the car.

"That was subtle," Dane remarked sarcastically, but was shut up by a simple smothering look from her lover.

The ride home was full of heated looks and brief, teasing caresses. Dane thought it was cute until they crossed the threshold of the house and Nicole was on her like never before. Small hands were tugging at Dane's vest and hot lips were attacking her own while Nicole kicked the front door shut.

"Do you have any idea how good you look right now?" Nicole hissed, hands working the buttons on the vest. She took a juicy nip at Dane's bottom lip, preventing her from answering for a moment.

"Can't be too good. You're tearing me out of my clothes," Danny quipped, somehow managing a teasing smile.

"Damn right I am because you look so good."

"Should dress up more often," the younger woman said before her words were swallowed by her lover's hungry mouth.

Dane moaned as Nicole's tongue pretty much took control over her whole mouth, devouring her and she loved it. The redhead finished the vest buttons quickly and yanked the cloth from Danny's body. Her hands then worked the shirt buttons just as swiftly and pulled the shirt off almost violently. When Dane started reaching for Nicole's shirt that brought a halt to things for a moment.

Nicole pulled away. "Uh-huh, baby. You keep your hands to yourself tonight," she ordered.

"But, I thought we were celebrating. Shouldn't I be the one doing things to you?" Dane inquired with a very naughty smile.

"No, my celebration, so we do it my way. Tonight, I want you to keep those talented, heavenly hands to yourself. I have plans for you. Will you comply?" she asked in a seductive whisper.

Dane had to nod because of that tone and the intense, molten look in her dark jade eyes. Nicole backed her lover into the stairs and Danny actually stumbled. Nicole smirked like a happy cat, deciding to gently shove Danny down on the stairs. She then leaned over Dane, coming in for another smoking hot kiss to keep Dane from asking what she thought she was doing.

Nicole pulled away a bit, just to let Dane catch her breath. As the musician continued panting, Nicole moved on, placing open mouth kisses to Danny's now exposed torso. When she got to the swell of Dane's right breast, she caressed the heaving mount through the plain, black bra Danny was wearing.

"Oh, it seems my friend is paying attention to me today," Nicole commented in a light tone as the center of Dane's bra started puckering up. Nicole leaned in and ran her tongue along the cloth-covered gem.

"Nick," Dane hissed, arching her back for more contact.

"Hey, Big Dog, this my show tonight," Nicole pointed out.

Before Danny could say another word, Nicole pushed the troublesome material out of her way and took ownership of chocolate-colored jewel. Dane moved her arms, wrapped them around Nicole, wanting to pull her infinitely closer. Nicole responded by taking as much of Dane in her mouth as she could and caressing the other globe, teasing the other gem into a rock-hard stone. Dane was now holding on dear life, clutching Nicole as if trying to pull the smaller woman into her body.

Small mewing noises filled the ear and Danny was vaguely aware that it was her making those sounds. It felt like she was going to spontaneously combust as her beloved worked wonders with her skillful tongue. A nip to her sensitive flesh got a louder moan from her and she knew that Nicole was reveling in the noises that she was making. She was quite correct and Nicole wanted to hear so much more, to feel so much more.

Nicole eventually switched sides, making sure to pay the opposite pearl the same attention. Her lips and tongue worked the sensitive flesh as if it was a piece of candy. Her hands tenderly kneaded both of Dane's breasts, massaging and caressing both soft hills. Her vigorous efforts earned more pleased sounds from her lover.

Eventually, her mouth had to leave twin jewels, seeking more delicious skin. Soon, Nicole was back to covering Dane's body in steamy, wet kisses. Her fingers danced around Dane's navel and traced one of her many tattoos before resting against the fly of Dane's slacks. The younger woman let out of a long whine and bucked her hips against the teasing touch. Nicole continued her exploration with kisses while her fingers lightly brushed up against Danny again and again. After a while, she thought that she could feel Danny's wetness seeping through the material of her pants.

"Nick, please, now," Dane begged, dying for the intimate attention. She was pretty sure that she was leaving a mark on the stairs thanks to the redhead's vicious, toe-curling assault.

"Now? Here on the stairs?" Nicole pretended to be scandalized.

Dane ignored that, not wanting to point out that she had done it in some pretty foul places before. But, that had been about fucking. This was different. It was always different with Nicole. She made love with Nicole and that was something to be respected. But, she was pretty sure it was still respected if they did it on the stairs.

"Here, the bedroom, anywhere with you, anywhere you want," Dane answered in a breath.

Nicole smiled, feeling touched by that for some reason. Moving a bit, Nicole rested her knees on the stairs and worked her way out of her shirt in an agonizing slow manner, as far as her girlfriend was concerned anyway. Daring not to look away, smoke-colored eyes locked onto the olive-toned flesh as it was slowly revealed to her. Danny whimpered when Nicole's torso was revealed to her.

Dane's hands reached out, having a mind and desire of their own, wanting to touch every inch of her love. Nicole playfully slapped them away before getting rid of her shirt. When the hands came out a second time, they were once again knocked away. Nicole reached behind her back, unclasping her bra. When the caramel hands returned a third time, they were allotted their wishes to touch all they wanted.

"You feel so good," Dane said in awe while Nicole growled from the pleasure. The growls got deeper when Dane's hands started squeezing the responding flesh, causing sheer ecstasy to shoot through the redhead. When Dane's lips were thrown into the mix, Nicole collapsed against the taller woman, pushing herself further into Danny's mouth, making the guitarist one happy woman. A long, drawn out moan escaped Nicole's throat as Danny's tongue and lips pulled at her nipple.

Since she seemed to have the upper hand, Dane tried to more control of the situation. Shifting her body as best she could without sliding down the stairs or throwing Nicole off of her, she moved her left leg in between Nicole's thighs. She then brought her leg up to Nicole's center, almost causing the attorney to moan loudly and then collapse.

Catching herself on one hand, Nicole clutched Dane's shoulder with the other. She managed to push herself away enough to give Danny a glare. Dane shot back an innocent smile; well, as innocent as she could muster anyway with raw lust coloring her flushed features.

"Bad, Danny. You're supposed to keep your hands to yourself," Nicole scolded her lover as best she could while fighting down another moan.

The redhead managed to move Dane's hands and pinned them over Danny's head. Danny allowed it because she was enjoying this uncharacteristic session with her rather conservative girlfriend. Dane had been under the impression that Nicole thought sex happened in the bedroom or the shower or on very rare occasions in the living room, not that Danny was complaining. She always enjoyed making love with Nicole, and now was no different.

With Danny's hand secured, the older woman decided to move forward and realized the position that she was in. Nicole moved herself Danny's thigh before she undid Dane's pants and then unzipped the fly-with her teeth. Dane cried out from the sight alone and all thoughts besides the erotic scene before her flew from her mind. A light slap to her side, which sent even more pleasure through her senses, told Dane to lift her hips. She did so all too merrily and Nicole removed Dane's trousers. While she was down there, she pulled off the shoes and socks of her lover too.

Danny did not even have time to realize that she was nude before Nicole's enthusiastic mouth was on her. When that eager, loving tongue hit her, Dane could only holler Nicole's name, not caring if the heavens heard it. Forgetting the commands to keep her hands to herself, Danny's hands wandered into Nicole's hair. Suddenly, all of the sweet attention ended.

"No, Chem, no!" Dane objected, looking down at Nicole as if she had done the worst thing ever!

"Hands," Nicole reminded the younger woman.

Quickly Dane's hands retreated and the attention was back. Not sure what to do with her hands, Dane clutched the stairs as her hips rocked on their own, moving in time with Nicole's mouth. Dane was sure that she had never felt anything as incredible as being loved by Nicole. Her hips started moving faster as she actually started thinking about other things that Nicole had done to her.

Nicole noticed Dane had increased her pace and upped the ante by introducing her fingers. Dane's head snapped to the side and she snarled as she felt the very welcomed intrusion of the two visitors. Her hands held onto the stairs even tighter as Nicole worked her inside and out, turning her around and making her world converge into one key point. Delicious tension built and Dane's chest started to heave as she was certain that heaven was coursing through her body. And then, it all exploded so hard that Dane bit her lip to keep from screaming and actually broke the skin while her body convulsed.

Nicole knew that was enough for Danny at the moment and waited for the trembling subsided. Once Danny calmed down, Nicole kissed her way up Dane body, settling her weight on Danny's chest. When she and her lover were face to face, she kissed Danny's bleeding lip.

"How was that?" Nicole asked with a teasing smile.

"Can I subscribe to your newsletter if that's the type of service you give?" Dane joked, still catching her breath.

Nicole laughed while Danny pulled her close, enjoying the way their skin felt against each other. Nicole snuggled into Dane's body. The younger woman sighed, feeling very good. Eventually, they worked their way upstairs to start another session. Dane felt good through out the night, though. Yes, she was in debt once again, but it was to Nicole, someone she was more than determined to pay back. And her father was off her back. Her whole life was ahead of her, a life with Nicole. Life was good.

---------------

7: Skip a beat

Dane was in a good mood as she practiced for her show later that night. She easily planned out how she was going to make it through an hour, even though her left hand was still a problem. She could play for a few minutes without the hand acting up now, thanks to that damned demon physical therapist Nicole insisted that she see. It was nice to know all of the torment and torture was not for naught. She figured for the most part, she would sing unaccompanied for a while to rest her hand.

The musician was reclining in what used to be the den, but was gradually turning into Danny's music room. There was not much in there to show that it was going to be a music room, except for her guitar being stored in there. There was also her pad that had new song lyrics that she had written. A few magazines that she had picked up over the last few months were also in there, resting on the floor because she and Nicole tossed out the broken coffee table that had been in the room. The light had also been fixed, but there still was no door.

The couch had been replaced, so the one that Danny was sitting on had no chance of attacking her with dust like the old one. She liked the sofa, especially since she could fit on if she decided to lie on it. It was not the best piece of furniture on the planet, but it was one that she bought with her earnings, so it had sentimental value to her. Thinking about that, her mind went down a dirty road.

Maybe one day Nick will want to christen this thing like we did the stairs last night. A lecherous smile crept onto her face. She doubted that something like that would happen anytime soon. She was still surprised that Nicole took her on the stairs last night. That was crazy! A great crazy, but still crazy for Chem. Although when we finally made it to the bed, she didn't slow down any.

Dane then shook those thoughts off, trying to concentrate on practicing her guitar. She worked out what songs she wanted to sing, reminding herself of the lyrics and the notes in each song since it had been a while. She also had to think about her song list. Then there was calculating what songs she could do in between playing the guitar since she would need breaks for her hand. Plus, she really wanted to show off to Nicole and her friends.

Deep down, Dane was quite the showman. She loved to impress and she loved to hear praise, even if it was from people that she did not know. Even without ever looking up the word psychology, Dane knew her desire for attention went back to her screwed up childhood. But, then again, she was sure that most parts of her psyche and personality could be chalked up to not getting enough attention at home or the abuse that she suffered back then.

Don't think about that anymore. Done with those people, so I don't need to think about that anymore. I just need to keep my focus on today and tomorrow and forget that there ever was a past. I have a future and that's the important thing. A future with Nick, my angel. That line of thought put a smile on her face.

Spending the day in the den, Dane worked out exactly how she wanted to spend her hour on stage. She could not believe that she was only getting an hour, especially at a club that knew her well. Despite everything that she told Crow, she felt a little insulted, even though an hour was probably all she could handle with her hand right now. But, the club managers did not know that and they did know her. She was the Great Dane and they should have offered her more, she thought for a moment. But, in a new life, she figured that she had to build a new reputation. Even with the tiny slight against her, she felt like this was a good opportunity. It was a great chance to start building her new life.

"I should've bought that man out of my life a long time ago," Dane said to herself, referring to her father as she packed up her guitar. Honestly, she felt like a whole new person, knowing now if he popped up in her life, it had nothing to do with her.

By the time she was done, Nicole was coming into the house. She met Nicole at the door and before any words were spoken, their mouths met in a short kiss. A small "smack" noise escaped their mouths, which made Nicole laugh.

"That was you," Danny blamed her girlfriend, not wanting to believe that she would ever make such a weird sound.

"I think that was you, but you just want to keep thinking you're the tough girl," the redhead teased.

"I am way tough," Dane grinned, flexing her bicep. She had a pretty good muscle on her arm, especially compared to when she first arrived at the house a year ago, looking like a skeleton.

"I will say you have more muscle there, than you do here." Nicole poked her lover in the belly.

"Hey! I thought you liked my soft, chocolaty center!"

Nicole shot Danny a look that made the younger woman's knees wobble. "It's the other soft, chocolaty center that I like," the attorney purred.

"Nick..." Danny whimpered.

"I think I have figured out your weakness, my dear Danny. You like it when I talk dirty and when I take control," the redhead declared.

Dane grinned because she could not dispute that. In fact, she hoped her silence was taken as an admission and Nicole did it more often. Nicole shook her head and laughed a bit.

"You are so bad, Big Dog. Are you ready for your big show?" the lawyer asked as she started toward the stairs. She paused for a moment, just as she had done that morning and thought about last night. She was not sure if she would ever be able to use the stairs again without thinking about how she had taken Danny on them or how she wanted to do it again.

"I am. Driving me?" Dane countered, following right behind her lover. She teased Nicole a little by pressing up against Nicole's back. Nicole hissed in pleasure and sensual memories flooded her. Her knees shook for a moment, threatening to buckle, but she kept standing.

"Of course. I need to change. Maybe have a shower."

"Do you think you'll need help in the shower or maybe before the shower?" the musician proposed, a lascivious smile curling onto her face.

The older woman had to let out a long breath, trying to stay in control. "Unfortunately, no. We don't have time for that if we want to get you there on time," she pointed out, wishing that was not the case.

Dane let loose a loud, pretend huff, forcing out an exaggerated pout. Nicole ignored the noise as well as the expression and went about her night to get ready. She decided on having the shower just because she felt better about going out after having a shower. By the time she was ready to go, Dane was asleep on the couch. Nicole chuckled a bit.

"Baby, I think you need to wake up if you really want to make it to your gig," the attorney pointed out, rubbing the top of Dane's head, massaging her scalp.

Smoke-colored eyes fluttered open thanks to the divine touch. As soon as her vision cleared, Dane's mouth dropped open and she sat up straight. Her arms then went out wanting to grab a hold of Nicole, who was wearing another sexy dress. Nicole stepped out of reach very swiftly, leaving her sweetheart to take hold of air.

"Damn it, Chem, why do you always do this to me? We need time for me to get you out of this damn thing and put you back in it later on," Dane said.

Nicole only smirked at Danny and hurried her out of the door, so they could get to the small club on time. Dane did not even notice that they got in the car, let alone into the city. Her eyes stayed pinned to the form-fitting, body-hugging black dress Nicole was wearing. For a brief moment, her hand even went out, ready to keep Nicole's breasts company, but thankfully her mind caught her and pulled her hand back. She doubted that Nicole would be happy to be groped while focusing on her driving.

Instead of focusing on how the dress showed off Nicole's body, Dane turned her attention to her lover's face. The redhead was wearing subtle makeup, bringing out her eyes even more than usual. Realizing the vision before her was all for her, Dane was ready to melt into a puddle for the goddess across from her.

Luckily, Dane regained control over herself by the time they got to the club. She went to set up while Nicole kept a lookout for Mina and Clara. When they showed up, Dane was already on stage and into her second song.

"She's not playing the guitar?" Mina asked curiously as she and Clara said down. They looked around, noticing the club had a nice sized crowd on hand and they all seemed to be focusing on the stage.

"She'll either start playing it soon or into the next song. She needs to give her left hand a break every few minutes," Nicole answered in a whisper.

The late pair ordered drinks and then turned their attention to Danny. Mina's eyes went wide as she listened to the younger woman sing. It was crystal clear that she did not expect that voice to come out of Dane's mouth. Clara was just as surprised, but she managed to hide it a little better...even though her mouth was parted just a little bit. Who would have guessed that the punk rocker had a powerful smooth voice that probably belonged in a church choir?

"This song is beautiful," Mina muttered with awe in her voice as she listened to the lyrics as well the tone.

"It really is. Did she write this herself?" Clara asked the redhead.

"Everything that she does is original," Nicole informed her friends, her pride shining through and causing her eyes to twinkle.

The friends turned their attention back to Dane, who was strumming her guitar now. She started a new song, accompanying herself with the guitar. Mina rested her chin in her hand and leaned forward somewhat, as if that was going to help her hear it more. Clara's eyes glazed over, showing that the music was touching her emotionally. Nicole glanced around and noticed most of the audience was just like her friends.

My baby has such talent, Nicole thought. The music moved her and she could feel Danny's emotions as she played and sang. And she knew it was not just her that felt it. The melody was reaching everyone there.

"Nicole, is this song about you?" Clara inquired as she listened carefully to the lyrics.

The redhead shrugged. "I don't ask Danny if I inspire her music. Sometimes, she shares and other times she doesn't. It could always just be a regular love song. It doesn't have to be about me."

"Come on, Nick, cut the crap. You know she writes for you," Mina stated with a smile. "That girl is a keeper. Writing beautiful music in your honor, cooking and cleaning, making you go back to school, and best of all, not getting in a twist when you hang out with us. I suggest you propose and put a leash on her before I take her."

Nicole smiled and chuckled somewhat. It was tempting, what Mina said, but she was sure that she and Danny needed more time before she entertained the thought of proposing. Proposing was something for down the line when she was done with school and Danny was perfectly happy with where she was in life. Right now, they were both still growing as individuals and she did not think that was the time to put pressure on Danny for marriage.

The music continued on for an hour. Most of the songs did seem to be directed toward Nicole, sending pulses through her body because of the sensual, loving lyrics. The song that finished the show practically left Nicole feeling like her insides were made of warm goo as Danny made it clear that she was singing and playing to Nicole, openly professing her love in each bit of the song. Dane locked eyes with Nicole through out the whole song too, letting her know it was for her. By the end of the song, she was standing in front of Nicole and placed a small kiss to glistening lips. The audience erupted from the show of affection and then the lights were turned down, so Dane could make a quick escape.

"Whoa..." Nicole whispered, suddenly her whole body felt more like it was on fire than anything else.

Mina laughed. "That girl knows how to close a show too!"

"That she does," Nicole agreed, licking her lips, wanting to taste Danny, but tasting her lip-gloss more than anything else.

"Well, what should we do now? Take Danny out to dinner to celebrate?" Mina suggested, even though she could tell that was not going to happen. Nicole's face was too flushed and her eyes were looking positively wanton.

"I actually have to get Richie from his father's house, so I will have to pass on that," Clara said, referring to her son.

"He didn't give you any problems about watching Richie two nights in a row, did he?" Nicole asked, showing concern for her friend, even though she was ready to grab Danny and run home. Her concern was genuine as always, though.

"No, believe it or not, as soon as Richie learned how to go to the bathroom on his own, Pedro turned into his best friend. I guess it wasn't so much that he didn't want a child, but he didn't think he would be able to take care of Richie. He has no problem with watching Richie now and they have loads of fun together," Clara informed her friends.

"That's good. He used to be such a butthead, especially about Richie," Mina commented.

Clara nodded in agreement since it was quite true. She then said farewell to her friends and took her leave. Mina considered sticking around for a little longer, wanting to tease Nicole about being such a groupie, but she actually decided against it. With that performance, Danny deserved her work to remain in tact and untouched by any commentary. She would taunt Nicole about it tomorrow at work during lunchtime.

"I'll see you later, girly. I have a husband that probably wants to see me sometime this week," Mina remarked, giving Nicole a quick hug.

Nicole barely noticed Mina leave as she waited for Danny. She felt the musician behind her before she saw her. Dane wrapped her arms around Nicole and placed a soft kiss to her neck. Nicole purred from the attention.

"What do you say we go home for an encore?" the grey-eyed woman whispered before kissing the back of Nicole's ear.

"Sounds wonderful. You're clear to leave?" Nicole asked just to be sure.

"Indeed I am. So, let's get home."

The couple got into the car and Dane seemed to be trying to cause an accident because she was stroking Nicole's thigh, teasing and tempting the lawyer. Nicole swallowed hard she felt her dress slowly creepy up her leg and Danny's fingers began touching skin. Honestly, Nicole did not know how they made it home in one piece, but she was quite pleased that they had.

Nicole rushed to the door, opening it in record time. Dane was more leisurely about it, walking at a pace so slow that Nicole glared at her for taking so long. Danny pretended to not notice.

"Danny," Nicole whined. "Will you get in here?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she replied with a smirk. She hoped that Nicole took that line and ran with it.

"No, you will be when you get in here, though."

Danny chuckled, very pleased that Nicole had indeed took it there. Still, she took her time getting inside of the house and she turned to close the door, so that Nicole was looking at her back for a moment. As soon as she turned around, Nicole was on her and giving her a blazing hot kiss. A moan echoed through the house as Nicole turned to turn up the heat, but Dane was looking to slow things down. It was her turn tonight.

"That show was phenomenal..." Nicole whispered against her lover's lips.

"It was all to you, Nick. Every song, every note, everything was for you," Dane replied, wrapping her arms around Nicole. Her embrace went beyond a usual hug, like she was holding Nicole for all eternity and beyond, like she was holding Nicole for the older woman to feel everything inside of her and understand that love did not began to cover the depth of her emotions for Nicole.

"Danny..." the name was whispered in a low breath, like a wish.

"Chem, I was so glad that you came tonight. I was so glad you saw me and liked the show."

"You're talented, baby. So very talented. Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything," the taller woman vowed.

"Sing to me as you take me upstairs."

Dane grinned and nodded. Clearing her throat and taking Nicole's hand, she made her way to the stairs while starting her song. She made sure to keep her voice low, giving her an excuse to sing into Nicole's ear. The redhead shivered as Dane's hands lightly wandered her body and sweet lyrics caressed her ears.

The bedroom seemed like it was a million miles away, but Dane refused to pick up speed. As much as she liked last night's spontaneous lovemaking session, she wanted Nicole to know that she also enjoyed when they took their time. By the time they go to the bedroom, Nicole's skin was flushed from the tender stroking and divine singing.

"Sit down, babe," Danny said, turning Nicole to the bed.

Nicole did not say anything, merely obeyed the order. She could tell that Dane wanted control just like she had last night. She had no problem with letting go, just like Danny had no problem with it. Besides, it might prove just as fun as being in control.

Danny leaned down, running her index fingers over both of Nicole's cheeks. The redhead trembled from the gentle touch and then Danny captured her lips into a kiss that felt almost sacred. As they lost themselves in the taste of their mouths, Danny's hands rubbed Nicole's bare shoulders, unable to get enough of the feel of her sultry flesh. Pulling away for a moment of air, Danny also unzipped the dress at a very leisurely pace.

Silver eyes met emerald, showing a devilish spark before Danny gently moved the dress down to Nicole's waist. A heady exhale escaped Dane when she saw that Nicole was not wearing a bra. Before Nicole could fathom that there was a pause in their activities, Dane's mouth was on hers again and their tongues were dancing together once more while questing hands fondly explored Nicole's torso.

Nicole moaned and that seemed to be a signal to Danny that it was time to pull away again. They caught their breath before another burning, amorous kiss was begun and Dane's hands were getting a little more personal. Danny was almost sorry that she did not have larger hands as she took Nicole's breasts into her palms, earning a deep, passionate hiss from the redhead. Nicole then cried out into Dane's mouth as her hands got even more personal, rolling and lightly pinching Nicole's nipples.

The attorney could not take it anymore. She needed more contact and grabbed at the back of Dane's shirt. She pulled it up in bunches and Danny had to step away in order to get out of it. Nicole whined at the loss of all contact as Danny yanked her shirt off over her head and tossed it behind her.

As Danny stepped back, she tapped Nicole on the thigh, silently telling Nicole to open her legs. The redhead obeyed the unspoken command and Danny settled herself in between the lovely limbs. Leaning down again, further than before, she placed hot, wet kisses to Nicole's neck as her hands went back to the area that they so coveted before. Surprising Nicole, she moved her mouth and nipped Nicole's earlobe. Adding to that surprise, she began singing.

"Hold on tightly," she instructed Nicole in her low, mellow tone, dragging out the last word. Nicole obeyed, clutching onto Danny's broad shoulders. "And I will take you back to Heaven, angel."

Oh, god, she's singing to me again! The sound of Danny's voice, singing to her made it feel like Nicole was going to burst into flames. It made her desire increase exponentially, and she had not thought that was possible. She was not sure how long she would last if Danny was going to sing to her while loving her.

"Please..." Nicole hissed, pressing herself deeper into Danny's hands.

Danny continued to take it slow and she continued to sing. "You know I won't let you fall, but take you to the highest high..."

The older woman nodded, liking that idea. She began placing adoring kisses to whatever part of Danny that she could reach as she felt Danny's hands moving further down to her waist. Danny also took a step forward, letting Nicole know that it was time for her to move back. The redhead did so, easing back onto the bed. As she moved, Danny held onto the dress, so that it was peeled away the more Nicole moved away. Eventually, Nicole was at the middle of the bed and the dress was on the floor. It did not register to her mind that Danny had left her heels on her.

The musician crawled back onto the bed, but halted at Nicole's feet. She placed a sweet kiss to Nicole's left ankle before running her tongue along the toned calf. Nicole squirmed from the attention, eager for more, but willing to let Danny continue on without begging. She liked it when things were done leisurely like now and, even though it was pure, sweet torture, she wanted Danny to stay at the speed she was going now.

Danny placed a tender kiss to Nicole's knee before dragging her tongue up to Nicole's thigh. There was another kiss placed to the inner thigh and her hands moved up Nicole's form, going back to play with bouncy breasts. Loud kisses were showered down onto Nicole's tense abdomen, rivaled only by Nicole's moans. Wanting more, Nicole's hips moved on their own, but did little for her increasing desire.

Subtly, Dane's fingers moved from kneading and pinching creamy mounds, edging their way back down. First things first, she placed her hands on those rocking hips and stopped their movement. The redhead let loose a disappointed mew, which turned into a moan as Dane caressed her thighs for a few seconds. Danny's amorous hands eventually moved on. Her thumbs hooked onto the inside of Nicole's black, lacy thong and began nonchalantly moving the piece down Nicole's legs. Once those were gone, Dane turned her attention to Nicole's right ankle and gave it a soft kiss. From there, she made her way back up the limb with her lips and tongue. The redhead's hips started up again and Dane halted her journey in order to stop the grinding.

"Please, Danny, please," Nicole implored her sweetheart as Dane hovered right where she wanted her the most, but the musician just stared at her.

"Angel, even when you fall, I will make you fly," Dane sang to calm her girlfriend down, right before vigorously kissing her lover's core with fond eagerness.

"Oh, yes, baby!" Nicole moaned loudly as a hungry mouth devoured her.

Soon, all words escaped the usually articulate lawyer as her hands lost themselves in Dane's inky mane. Her hips rocked forward, trying to take in more and more of Danny. Soon, the slow, almost methodical passes of Dane's tongue were driving Nicole to the brink of madness. Her hips surged with greater purpose, wanting to go over the edge. Danny refused her with each caress becoming lighter the more demanding her hips became. Understanding that the more she pursued her end, the more likely she would go insane, she did her best to calm herself. As soon as she ceased moving, Dane gave her exactly what she wanted.

"Oh, god! Danny!" Nicole gasped as she arched up off of the bed. She then collapsed back on the mattress, wanting rest. Her lover had other plans.

Suddenly, Dane left the redhead, but she did not have time to gripe about it or inquire what was going on. Dane moved up Nicole's body, pressing their nude forms together. Nicole purred from the delightful contact and forgot that she wanted to rest for a moment. Soon, they were face to face and Nicole smiled, knowing that the night was far from over.

"Sorry. I wanted to be up here tonight for the rest of this," Danny explained.

"No problem. I don't think you'll ever know how much I like feeling your body against mine," Nicole honestly replied. "This is actually one of my favorite positions," she admitted. It was rare because Danny could not support herself on her leg for long and then she would start to favor her left leg, merely tiring it out too.

Danny nodded, storing that information away for later, more frequent use. Leaning down, careful of putting her whole weight on Nicole, she started a prolonged, soul-stirring kiss. The unhurried pace was sweet and Nicole savored it, tasting herself all over Dane's mouth. She let out a long moan into Danny's mouth when she felt long, blessed fingers parting her and caressing her core. Slowly, she moved her hips in time with the strokes. Another moan was swallowed by Danny as her fingers sunk into Nicole's soul. The redhead ended up breaking the kiss, whining as she did so.

"Yes, baby, just like that," Nicole groaned, clutching onto Danny and trying to pull her closer while her body tried to take the musician deeper.

Danny did not respond, just starting a fresh kiss. The next time Nicole let loose a loud moan, breaking their kiss again, Dane just started kissing her throat. Nicole whined and tilted her head, giving Dane better access. In her pleasure-fueled haze, Nicole realized that she could be touching Danny too.

One hand had to stay on Danny's shoulder or Nicole was sure that she would fly off the bed. Her other hand slithered in between their bodies, first playing with Danny's swaying breasts. But, as she was drawn higher and higher, she realized that she would need to work fast or she was going to be too far-gone to do anything. Her hand reached its destination, feeling hot, sleek heaven as far as she was concerned.

With no preamble, Nicole pushed into Dane, earning a seemingly endless moan from the guitarist. Her pace was faster than Danny, wanting to get Danny to the same point as she was as soon as she could before she fell over the edge again. Danny moved her head close to Nicole's ear.

"Go slow. It's okay," she promised the lawyer.

Nicole followed those instructions and they were soon moving together at the same pace. The room then filled with their cries of pleasure and the sounds of their bodies meeting. Dane then curled her fingers and as if pressing a button inside of her lover, Nicole screamed and dug her nails into Danny's back. A groan escaped Danny and she could feel her reality shifting while trying to maintain her hold on Nicole. In the end, it was too much for both of them and they slid out of each other as Dane collapsed onto Nicole. It took her over a minute to figure out that she might be crushing her girlfriend.

"Sorry," Dane said, pushing herself up.

"Don't you dare apologize and don't you dare go anywhere, you love machine," Nicole declared, wrapping her exhausted arms around her lover to keep her in place.

"Not hurting you, am I?" Danny asked to be sure.

"No. You really have no idea how much like feeling you against me, especially like this. I love this solid weight," Nicole said, somewhat massaging Danny's shoulders.

Dane smiled a bit. "I aim to please."

"Then you always achieve your goal."

Eventually, Dane rolled off of Nicole, knowing her weight was getting too much. It was then that Nicole realized that she was still wearing her shoes. She gave Danny a curious look, but decided not to bring up the shoes for the moment. She kicked off her shoes while Danny pulled back the comforter. They crawled until the covers; vague thoughts of changing the covers in the morning and washing them went through both of their minds. Curling up close, Nicole practically used Danny's left side as a mattress. Dane wrapped her left arm around Nicole to keep the redhead in place. They were sleep right after that.

The shrill ringing of the house phone cut through the sated silence of the night and disturbed the peaceful slumber of the couple. Nicole whimpered, keeping her eyes close in the hope of staying asleep. Grey eyes fluttered open, first glancing over at the body clutching onto her own.

"Shh, I've got it," Dane whispered to Nicole, kissing the top of wild auburn locks to help relax the redhead.

Nicole settled down while Danny grabbed the bothersome phone. Wanting to hurry up and cease the ringing, she did not bother to check the number to see who was calling. She just answered.

"Yeah?" Danny greeted whomever it was that was calling at...2:30 in the morning according to the clock. Damn, who the hell is calling here at fucking two in the morning? In another time, another place, in another life, she would not have thought anything of it, but she knew in a normal life most people did not get phone calls at two in the morning. Well, she was about to learn the circumstances that people did get such phone calls.

"Dane...?" a quiet, almost familiar voice questioned her.

"Yeah. Who is it and whaddaya want?" the musician grunted, frowning as she spoke. She wanted to go back to sleep before she woke up Nicole.

"Dane...I need your help... It's your father..."

"What about the bastard? And once again, who the fuck is this?" Dane inquired. Damn it, just when I thought I was free of this bastard, he manages to interrupt my new life two days into living it!

"Oh...it's Christine..."

"Mom? What the hell? Why are you calling me and what the hell do you need my help with?" Dane demanded, forgetting that Nicole was curled against her and trying-unsuccessfully-to get some sleep.

"Russell..." Christine sniffled. "...He got up to get water...and when he didn't come back to bed...I got worried...I looked for him..."

"Mom, can you tell this story just a little faster?" Dane inquired with impatience overflowing from her voice. It earned her a pinch to the side from her girlfriend. She glared down at Nicole, who wiggled a reprimanding finger at Danny.

"He's lying on the floor and he's bleeding so much!"

Oh, goddamn it! "Well, did you call the fucking police? Or a goddamn ambulance?! Do you know if someone's in the house?!"

"I didn't...I couldn't..." Christine sounded so lost and confused that Dane almost felt sympathy for her mother.

"Oh, fuck. Hold on, Mom," Dane sighed and she clicked over, dialing the police. She explained the situation as best she could and then clicked back over to her mother. "Mom, an ambulance is on the way. The police too. Just cool out. Don't make a bunch of noise in case someone is in the house. You don't want to attract attention to yourself. The police should be there in a couple of minutes."

"Are you sure? I don't know what to do and I didn't know who to call!"

Obviously, which explains why the hell you're on the phone with me. "Just be easy. They're on their way. All you have to do is stand there and be quiet."

"Rachel is on vacation and Michael is away at a business conference! I couldn't call Adam or that would've frightened the children!" Christine continued to rant, apparently missing Dane's order of being quiet in case someone was in the house.

Oh, yeah, so call me in the middle of the night when there are no other options left. Fuck you so hard. Fuck you in the ass! Despite those thoughts, Dane found herself unable to say the words to her mother. She was not sure why. If it was her father on the phone, she would have been able to curse him out six ways to Sunday, but not with her mother. She guessed it was because of the type of relationship that she had with her father. She did not have any relationship with her mother.

"Mom, you don't have to explain this shit to me. Help is coming, so you can hang up now," Dane stated. Really, she could have and probably should have hung up herself, she knew that. But, for whatever reason, she did not. She did not dwell on why that was.

"What do I do when they get here? What if he's dead?!"

"Oh, god. And what if someone's in the house that did this to him and can hear you screaming like that? You need to calm down. Is he lying on his back?"

"Yes."

"Is his chest rising and falling?"

"I...I can't tell!"

"Damn it, Mom, are you really this fucking helpless?" Dane roared, hating that it took something like this for her mother to have the nerve to talk to her and now talking to her like she was supposed to give a damn. She had been treated like shit by these two people her whole life and now she was supposed to play the concerned daughter? To hell with that!

"Danny, give me the phone," Nicole ordered. She did not have to say it twice. "Hello, Mrs. Wolfe, this is Nicole, Danny's girlfriend," she reintroduced herself just in case the hysterical woman did not recall her.

Danny watched as Nicole patiently spoke to her mother in a soft tone, obviously soothing the frantic female. Honestly, Danny could care less. She settled down to try to go back to sleep, which did not work because Nicole was talking too loud for her. After a few minutes, the call was ended. Nicole put the phone on the stand closest to her and then moved to get out of the bed.

"Where are you going?" Dane asked curiously.

"Come on, get up and get dressed," Nicole replied.

"What? Why? It's two in the morning!" Dane pointed out, as if her lover could not read the time.

"Danny, your mother just called because your father was hurt and she was scared. She was so panicked, so we're going to meet her at the hospital."

Dane arched an eyebrow. "What the hell for?"

"Because they need you. That's why she called you."

"She called because she didn't have any other options! Everybody else is out of town or have kids that she didn't want to freak out! Hell, she probably isn't even in her right mind and that's why she called here!"

"That's even more of a reason. She needs your support."

"So the fuck what?" Dane said. "Where the fuck was this woman when I needed support?! Now, she snaps her finger and I'm supposed to jump? Fuck that!"

"Danny!" Nicole screamed, half in horror and half as an order.

"What!" Dane shouted back in a voice that she almost certain could not have been hers. The anger that she hollered with could not have been directed toward her precious Nicole, but she knew it was her voice and those were her emotions. It scared her so much that she could raise her voice to Nicole that she did not need to hear anything else from her lover. Of course, Nicole did not know that.

"How can you be so cold-hearted? These are your parents!" Nicole huffed, eyes blazing from fury and disbelief that her sweetheart could be callous and hold such a grudge.

Dane did not respond to that, stomping out of bed. She quietly got dressed, putting on her usual gear of tee-shirt with a sleeveless shirt on over it. Next came her favorite pair of shorts, black cargoes with a torn pocket on the side and on the back. Nicole was tempted to tell her to change, but they did not have time for that. They needed to get to the hospital.

"You want to wash your face or anything?" Nicole asked her subdued lover. She was in the bathroom, cleaning up as best she could in a short amount of time.

Shaking her head, Dane moved toward the door. She did not give a damn how she looked and she would not care if anyone smelled Nicole's essence all over her. Nicole shrugged, grabbing the keys. They were off with Dane guessing that Nicole knew what hospital they were going to.

When they pulled into the parking lot, Dane blinked and then shuddered. She remembered the lot, the building, the smell, the way her stomach turned as she listened to them set her broken bones, the way she vomited from the pain, and how she shed tears when they told her that her left hand was close to unsalvageable.

"Danny, come on. Why are you just standing there? We should get to your mother and find out what happened to your father," Nicole pointed out.

A snarl tugged at Dane's lip, but she did not say anything. She followed behind Nicole like a lost puppy. Nicole found out that Russell was in surgery and went to the waiting room. Christine was sitting there, still in her pajamas and robe, her head bowed and her hands clutched as if she was praying. Nicole went and sat down next to her while Dane went and stood behind a chair, as if needing a barrier from the whole scene.

"How are you holding up, Mrs. Wolfe?" Nicole asked.

Christine glanced over at the lawyer with tired eyes. "You're Nicole, right?"

"Yes, I am. Are you all right? You sounded all out of sorts earlier," Nicole pointed out in a gentle tone. She then gave her lover a glance as if scolding her for her actions when her mother was in need.

Dane rolled her eyes, having conflicted emotions ripping through her at the moment. One, she was pissed that Nicole would judge her for how she treated a woman that pretended she never existed until, of course, the fucking woman needed her help. But, she was also touched that Nicole could feel compassion for a woman that she barely knew. And then there was also the fact that deep down in a pit that she hated existed, she felt sorry for her mother. In that same place, she had been concerned about her mother's safety, thinking that someone could have broken into the house, attacked Russell, and might have harmed Christine too. That was why she had continuously ordered her mother to be quiet over the phone, but Christine was too far gone to heed that simple advice. Or maybe Christine just thought she was not worth paying attention to when it came to advice, Dane considered. She was starting to long for those days where she was numb, the day that she walked out of this very hospital, not caring what happened to her or the rest of the world.

Underneath it all, Dane hated that she could somewhat understand why Nicole was upset with her, but she actually did not care. Nicole was siding with her mother as far as she was concerned. So, what her mother was in pain and sick with worry? She knew that Nicole felt like she should put the past aside because Christine was her mother. Well, fuck that. Christine was not Kate. Sure, they both hated her guts, but Kate was a decent mother that gave a damn about her daughter. Christine, sure she gave a damn about her daughter, just not the one that she called.

"Do you want me to call anyone for you? Your other children maybe?" Nicole offered, her tone gentle and kind.

"Thank you...but..." Christine wanted to object, say her children were all busy, but she really wanted them there...just in case.

"It's fine. They should all be made aware that their father is in the hospital," the redhead said, easing any guilt that Christine might feel from disturbing them.

Christine nodded in agreement and handed Nicole her cell phone, so that she could make the calls. Nicole scrolled through the phone, seeing Adam was first. He was the easiest to speak with, needing only the barest of information before declaring that he was on his way. She smiled a bit, wishing that Danny's response had been like that.

"Adam says he'll be here in less than ten minutes," Nicole reported.

"I hope he doesn't hurt himself. Did he tell the boys anything?" Christine asked.

"No, they were asleep. I'm sure he explained to Sharon what was going on, but you can get the details from him soon enough," Nicole replied.

"Thank you."

Nicole then went back to the contacts in the phone to make the next call. Scrolling through the names, she found Dane's name there. She smiled a bit before continuing on her way and coming to Michael's name. He was grumpy about being woken up so early in the morning and cursed a bit, but was on the move too when he found out what was happening. He said that he would try to be there in an hour; he was actually in a city that was a two-hour drive away, but that did not matter to him.

Rachel was the hardest one to talk to. She whined endlessly while trying to figure out how she could get home as soon as possible. Nicole had no answer for that, but she was glad when the woman finally hung up. With that out of the way, she handed the phone back to Christine.

"Any word on Mr. Wolfe?" Nicole asked.

"They said he had a stroke, but that was about all. The reason for all of the blood was because he hit his head on the corner of his desk and knocked himself unconscious. He had a huge gash on the side of his head and there was so much blood..." Christine shuddered as she recalled the scene.

"It's okay. He'll be okay," Nicole assured her, putting her arm around the distressed woman. Green eyes glanced at Dane as if beckoning her over. Dane turned her head, wanting no part of that disgusting scene.

It seemed like an eternity that they were there, but Dane was happy when the cavalry arrived-Adam. She thought with the entrance of the first son, she and Nicole would be allowed to be on their way. But, when Nicole did not move, she knew that was not going to be the case. Instead, Nicole remained where she was, comforting Christine, who sat there praying the entire time.

Dane was starting to seethe and she could not figure out why. It was just the more she watched her lover with her mother, the more she wanted to put her foot through a wall. Not usually one to analyze herself too deeply, she figured it was jealousy that her mother would pay attention to yet again someone who was not her and some anger that Nicole would side with this bitch of a woman that hated her. She just wanted to forget the moment, but it only got worse.

Michael showed up in less than an hour, explaining that he had actually caught a flight to get home. He had obviously been in a rush, his clothing wrinkled and his hair wild, but his appearance did not seem to matter to him or anyone else for that matter. He noticed Dane in the corner and glared at her. She did not pay him any mind. He was going to question what the hell Dane was doing there, but then he saw that Nicole was comforting his mother.

"You know, you can go home now and get some sleep. I'm sure you have work in a few hours," Michael said, speaking to Nicole. His voice was not harsh and his eyes were not hard, but still, he might as well have said "get the hell out."

The redhead was very aware that she was being dismissed and she was not entirely sure how to respond to it. "Mrs. Wolfe, are you going to be all right? Your sons are here and Danny is standing over there. They're here for you," Nicole informed the distressed woman in a hushed, sensitive tone.

"Actually, you should take Danny with you," Michael chimed in before his mother had a chance to answer. "Don't want her to do anything to upset Mom, after all," he added in, sneering a bit at the musician.

"Michael, you can't force Nicole or Dane to leave. She has as much of a right to be here as we do," Adam pointed out.

"Why would she even want to be here? No one cares," Michael declared.

Dane nodded with that. She was very aware that no one cared, yet there she was and there she stayed since Nicole refused to leave. Once again, it seemed like an eternity passed and then Rachel rushed in with her husband. They had chartered a plane to get back. Dane rolled her eyes because her sister announced it like it was an accomplishment. Duncan backed his wife up by looking smug when she made the announcement.

"Is Daddy all right?" Rachel begged to know, turning back and forth from her brothers. Her mother's sullen expression was not helping her anxiety.

"He's still in surgery. The doctor came out to give us an update a few minutes ago. Apparently, he had a bunch of mini-strokes or something like that," Adam informed her. "The doctor says everything is going fine and they should be done with him in a little while."

Rachel nodded to show that she understood, even though she did not fully comprehend what he meant. The important thing was that their father was still alive and everything was going to be fine. She glanced over to where Dane was. "What the hell is she doing here?" she demanded, pointing at Dane as if she was a foul creature.

"He's her father too, believe it or not," Nicole stated.

"If you think so, why don't you tell him that?" Rachel snapped.

Dane wanted to tell Nicole to stop trying to defend her. She did not care if the man was her father or not. She did not care what they thought, but she was not in the mood to talk to Nicole right now. She was not in the mood to deal with anything at the moment. God, she really wished that she could just walk away right now and never look back. Unfortunately, she just could not leave Nicole, no matter how upset she was at the moment.

An argument was halted when the doctor returned. He was smiling slightly, so the family took that as a good sign. Dane moved, waiting to grab Nicole as soon as she could, so they could go home.

"The surgery was a success. He's still unconscious right now. Now, there is one problem that we would like to address," the doctor informed them.

"Oh, god, what?" Christine asked.

"His blood pressure is very low. He lost a lot of blood and it could cause complications. We'd like to do a blood transfusion, but he had a very uncommon blood type. We were wondering if any of his children are a match. For him and possibly to donate blood to the hospital."

Everyone was silent. All eyes turned to Christine. They figured she would know if they were matches because none of them knew what their father's blood type was. Christine looked up at the doctor and then glanced over to the side.

"Dane is a match," Christine informed them, pointing over to the guitarist.

All eyes went to Dane, watching her expectantly. She rolled her eyes. This is such bullshit!

---------------

8: Lovers' quarrel

Dane shook her head when she saw all eyes on her. Everyone was looking at her as if she was supposed to jump up and offer her arm to the doctor right away. To hell with that!

"Are you sure that Dane is a match?" Rachel asked her mother, disbelief echoing in her voice. She had always grown up believing that Dane was not related to their father at all, just as he wanted everyone to think. What were the odds of that being true if Dane had a matching, rare blood type?

"I am quite sure. We ran into a similar problem when Dane was in the hospital," Christine answered. "Several times when Dane was in the hospital actually," she added, as if in jest. No one laughed.

Dane had gotten active during her adolescence and spent more than her fair share of time in the hospital. Usually, it was this very hospital. None of the memories were fond. When she was ten, she had been brought in for drinking bleach; Michael had dared her to do. At eleven, she had broken her arm after falling down the stairs; she had only herself to blame for that one. When she was fourteen, she had OD'ed on her first taste of cocaine and they just barely saved her life. Having no learning curve apparently, she did cocaine all the way up until her next visit to this very hospital where after sustaining a horrible beating, she had almost every bone in her body broken or bruised. Even there, there was talk that she might die, but they had saved her life again. At the moment, she really wished that they had not done so.

"Dad gave blood to Dane?" Adam asked, sounding so incredulous that it crushed Dane's chest. Everyone knew how he felt about her and they all knew that he would have let her die rather than give something of himself to save her.

"No," Christine answered in a quiet, somber tone, shaking her head. Nicole watched and thought that the woman looked pained from that admission, but she did not have time to dwell on that.

"Well, that doesn't matter. The point is that Dane and Dad are a match. Dane, give blood for Dad," Michael ordered, pointing at her as if that would make her suddenly give a damn about what he said.

"Excuse me?" Dane asked, offended by the size her brother's balls to give her such a command.

"Dane, now is not the time to act like a bitch. Daddy needs you, so give blood," Rachel chimed in.

"Come on, Dane, you're not just going to leave your father to sit there and possible die, are you? The man needs blood," Adam said, even putting some force in his tone. Honestly, he could not believe that they were even discussing the issue. This was their father, for crying out loud!

"Yeah, well, if you guys are all concerned, why don't you give your fucking blood?" Dane snapped, glaring furiously at them all.

"Danny," Nicole chimed in softly. Dane growled, taking it as a reprimand and she ignored her lover for once. Nicole did not get a chance to say anything else because Danny's sister decided that she was not done yet.

"We would if we matched, but we don't! You do, so stop being the mega bitch we know you are and help Daddy!" Rachel huffed.

"Oh, you mean all of a sudden Dane should jump when you all snap your fingers for me? Not even five minutes ago, you were glaring over here for me to fucking leave! Well, you know what? That's what I wanted to do for the last three hours! I don't need the bullshit from you! All of a sudden we're such a close and concerned family and Dane should be the good little girl when barely a week ago this same man would sooner spit on me than save my fucking life?! Fuck all of you for everything! Eat me!" Dane declared before rushing off, unable to run because of her injured leg.

No one moved to chase after Dane, even though everyone seemed shocked by her outburst. Eyes tracked her movements and Christine's begging gaze went to Nicole. The redhead walked over to the doctor.

"I'll bring her back. When do you need the blood?" Nicole inquired.

"As soon as possible. His body is weak and this would help boost his strength," the doctor answered.

Nicole nodded and she went off to track down her girlfriend. She tried to quell her anger while searching for the musician. She could not believe that Danny would say such things and then run off rather than helping her father. Granted he would never win father of the year when it came to Danny, but he was still her father. The only one that she had and she had condemned him to illness or worse. Beyond that, he was a human being, a human being that needed Danny's help.

"Such selfishness," Nicole hissed in a fury that was rising within her for every second that she did not find her wayward lover.

---------------

Dane growled as she wandered into the cold, pre-dawn morning. Her feelings were boiling out of control and all she wanted to do was repeatedly put her foot through something. The range of emotions that she experienced were so bad that as her stomach twisted, she was not even sure what she was furious with. The world seemed like an adequate target.

Only in a screwed up world like the one she occupied would she be ordered to give blood to help save a man who had taken great pleasure in making her feel three-inches tall her entire life. Only in a world like this one could she be called up to recognize Russell as her father because they had the same blood type and the hospital did not have enough to spare for that bastard. God, she did not even really consider him her father! She only called him that because she knew that he despised it!

He was not her father because there was no way that a father would have treated her the way that he did. No real father would have abused her like he did. No real father would deny her just because of the color of her skin!

Her guts twisted as she realized that she had just walked away from helping someone in need. Forget the fact that it was Russell. He was a human being that needed help. He actually needed her to survive and she had been able to run off. She did not think that she would do that for anyone else. Hell, if that had been Kate in there, she would have offered her arm with no problem and Kate openly hated her just like Russell! Had that been a stranger that she did not know from the next faceless person on the street, she would have given, but not him. How is that even possible? She growled to herself.

She knew why it was possible. She was poison, she reminded herself. He had made her poison. He was toxic and he had seeped so far into her that she could do something so heinous as to leave when a person needed her to live. Is that why he hates me? Because I am him? Poison just like him? The thought hit her like a punch to the stomach and she hunched over, leaning against the building wall to support herself.

"This is bullshit. It's all bullshit," Dane snarled in a low tone.

"Danny!" The name was called with some distress.

Dane growled again when she heard her name being shouted. She had no desire to see Nicole at the moment and she did not want to hear anything from her either. Unfortunately, she could not flee fast enough and she knew that Nicole would be on her in mere seconds. So, she took a deep breath and silently assured herself that she was not going to do anything that she did not want to do. She also tried to get control of her emotions, so she did not say something that she would later regret.

"Danny," Nicole's voice was closer now.

Dane pushed herself off the wall, trying her best to stand on her own. She was only partially successful. Cramping in her stomach kept her hunched over and she really wanted to vomit. Nothing was coming up, though, just a burning sensation stuck in her throat.

"Danny, baby, how could you just run off like that?" Nicole inquired, her voice soft, but her tone was bordering on scolding and judgmental.

"It was easier than you think," Dane replied as she shifted her body, falling against the wall again. Grey eyes searched the dark sky for a sign of any kind. None came. It was too easy. It was easy to leave when he needed me. Just like he does to me.

"Danny, sweetheart, I know how you feel about your father-" Nicole started, but was cut off by a loud scoff.

"No, I don't think you do if you're really about to stand here and lecture me on giving blood to the man. You really need to just back away from the whole situation," Dane advised her girlfriend, trying very hard to avoid speaking through gritted teeth. She knew if they had to talk about what happened, she was going to say something that she probably would not be able to take back.

"Baby, you really need to be the bigger person right now-"

"I don't want to be the bigger person! I want to be a fucking dickhead right now! I want to be spiteful and vengeful and hate him so much that he could fucking die and I wouldn't even want to know the details of the funeral!" Dane roared, eyes wide with so many emotions blazing inside of her that they hurt her chest.

"Danny..." Nicole whispered, not sure what else to say.

"I want to...I want to forget that I ever knew that man...and that he ever bothered me..." Dane said, her voice much lower now. "I want to just be able to let him die..." So, why the hell am I not walking away? Why the hell am I just standing here? It was so easy to run before!

"But, you can't, can you?" Nicole asked tenderly, reaching out and caressing her lover's shoulder.

"I want to..." Tears welled in Dane's eyes.

"But, you can't, baby, because you're not like that. You might not do this for him, but you would do this because you're a good person. You could do this because deep down you know it's the right thing to do. You would do this because you know you shouldn't let someone die if you can do anything to help them," Nicole cooed, pulling Danny to her. The musician burst into gut-wrenching sobs immediately.

"I feel so horrible, Nick! I just want to throw up! I hate that they did this to me! That he did this to me!"

"What did they do, honey? What did he do?" Nicole asked, holding onto Danny tightly and rubbing her back in the hopes that it would comfort her.

"They made me like this... They made me someone who is capable of walking away, even if it means my father might die...even if it means a person might die! I know I shouldn't be like this..." Dane paused to hiccup and then went right back to crying, burying her head in Nicole's shoulder as if that would make everything better.

"You're not like this, baby. All you have to do is go back in there-"

"No, I don't! Aren't you listening?!" Dane hollered, reeling back, moving away from her lover.

"Sweetheart, please, calm down and just talk to me," Nicole requested, putting her hands out as if that would lower her girlfriend's mood.

"Don't you get it?! I'm disgusted that my first reaction to this was to run! I'm disgusted that I can stand here and seriously consider not going back in there! What kind of monster am I?! I'm actually capable of standing out here to spite him and let him die if he has to! I can stand here and let a man die!" Pointing to herself, Dane hit herself hard in the chest. The pain did not register to her mind.

"Danny, you are far from a monster. You say I'm not listening, but I think you're the one not listening. If you were this monster that you think you are, you would be gone right now. You're not. Baby, you don't have to do this for them. You don't even have to do this for Russell. You need to do this for you," Nicole stated, and she thought that was obvious. While it was horrible to her that Danny had run off, it was clear that if Russell did die, it would tear Danny apart to know that she just stood there while he needed her. After all, Danny was already having an attack of conscience and she was barely out of the hospital.

"Me?" Dane croaked, wiping her face with the back of her hand, knowing that she looked quite the terrible sight.

"Danny, look at yourself. Do you think you'd really be able to deal with anything if your father got seriously ill or even died because you didn't want to give him blood? You're practically ripping your hair out just because you feel bad for running out just to gather you thoughts!" the redhead pointed out, motioning to her poor, distressed girlfriend.

Coughing from such heavy bawling, Dane went back to gazing at the sky, searching it for any kind of answers. How would she react if Russell ended up worse off than he was and she would have been able to help him? She liked to think that she would dance a jig on his grave, or maybe throw a party to celebrate. He had put her through so much and made her so fed up with herself, with him, and with the family.

Part of her asked, "Why help him?" No answer other than the obvious "he's your father" and "he's a human being" came to mind. She could go down a long list of why that meant nothing to her. But, once she got down that list, she started to think a little more clearly.

Her brain told her that it was not about him. It was about her for the reasons that Nicole stated. She could be the bigger person. Besides, she really would not be able to live with herself if something happened to him that she could have prevented. For some reason that she did not think about, she could not admit those things to Nicole yet.

Inhaling and taking in as much air as she could, Dane tried to calm herself down. It took all of her willpower to force herself to stop crying. It caused a huge hiccup and then she coughed some, but the sobbing was done and over. Rubbing her face, she let loose a long exhale. She knew that she more than likely still looked awful, but did not care as she marched back toward the entrance. Nicole trailed behind her.

Dane did not even bother to make eye contact with anyone in her family. She made a beeline for the doctor, who was still standing there. Her eyes were on the floor for a moment as she took a deep breath. With that out of the way, she put her head up and offered a weak smile to the medical professional.

"Take what you need, doc. Just leave me enough to make it back home," Dane remarked, tapping the inside of her elbow.

The doctor laughed and clapped Dane on the back. He led her away, but before she was totally out of earshot, she heard Michael make a comment about testing her blood for drugs first. Snorting angrily, she turned to the doctor to assure him that she was clean.

"They were telling me about your drug history," the doctor said.

"I'm clean. I promise. I would never do this if I was still on drugs. Hell, I wouldn't have been here if I was still on drugs. They wouldn't have known where to find me and my dumb mother would still be crying in the study about how Russell fell and hit his head," Dane huffed.

The doctor nodded. "You do seem to have quite the family."

"Wait until the guy in charge wakes up."

The doctor was not looking forward to that thanks to the family drama that he had already witnessed. He suspected that security was going to end up having to escort at least one of the Wolfes out. He was happy that he would be able to get some blood before that happened.

"Hey, doc, do you guys give money to people that donate blood?" Dane asked curiously.

He nodded. "Not much."

"I figured. I just need every little bit I can get. Tutoring people in music doesn't pay well."

The doctor nodded. Dane was not planning to ask for money now, but she figured that she could come back later and donate blood. Every cent counted for her to pay Nicole back as soon as she possibly could.

---------------

The hospital floor had the same sickening smell that Dane remembered. Standing outside of her father's room, she could almost see herself in there, lying in bed, bandaged, and broken. She could feel the isolation and despair that coated that room over two years ago. And in the back of her mind, she could hear Bryan laughing at her misery and Russell asking how much longer he had to be there because he had a golf game he wanted to get to. She could even vaguely recall Russell telling Christine, "Dane is not more important than my meeting." His meeting had been a haircut, but at least "meeting" had sounded official.

Shaking her head, ridding herself of the thoughts, Dane stepped into the room. Inside, her mother, brothers, and sister were crowded around the bed. Her father was lying there, IV in his arm, bandage on his head, looking drawn, piqued, and weak. And for a second-a second longer than she liked-she saw herself in that bed. The very idea caused her stomach to flip.

Suddenly, Nicole was at her side. "How do you feel?" she asked in a low voice.

"A few pints short, but otherwise fine," Dane quipped, rubbing the band-aid on her arm.

Nicole glanced down to check the wound and noticed the bandage. "Nice choice," she said with a smile. The band-aid had puppies on it.

"Thought you'd like it."

Nicole sighed in relief, pleased that Danny seemed to be somewhat normal. At least Danny was not screaming at her anymore. She did not like that one bit and prayed that it never happened again.

"Come, sit," Nicole urged her lover, guiding Danny to one of the chairs in the room. It was close to the bed.

Dane eased away from Nicole, going to a chair on the other side of the small room. The redhead sighed again, shaking her head tiredly now. Throwing her head back, Dane ignored the words of encouragement from her family to her father get well, wake up, and all other kinds of things.

"Danny, don't you want to say a few words to him?" Nicole asked, nodding toward the unconscious Russell.

"Other than 'fuck you in the ass,' no," Dane answered. In all honesty, she just wanted to go home, but it was clear that Nicole was not in the mood to make that happen. No, Nicole wanted to keep her trapped there with people who had never bothered to thank her for her blood or the fact that she had been the one to call for help in regards to Russell. Her mother had not even said a word to her in person.

"Danny," the redhead hissed.

Dane ignored the reprimand and closed her eyes. She was thankful to fall asleep within seconds. Nicole noticed and was tempted to wake her lover up, but decided against it. She feared that it would only cause a fight between them.

It troubled Nicole greatly that she could feel she and Danny were on their way to their first real fight. Danny's attitude was rubbing her the wrong way and it seemed that everything that came out of her mouth suddenly irritated her girlfriend. She could not believe that Danny could be so callous. Yes, she knew that the Wolfe family had not been particularly kind to Danny in the past, but they seemed to be making steps toward her, inviting her into the family home, for family gatherings and to play with her nephews. Danny did not want to recognize the effort, it seemed. She also did not seem to recognize that now was not the time to be pity when her own father was seriously ill.

Nicole did think it was a bit odd that Danny's family had not said a word to her aside for the snide comments when she did not readily give blood to help Russell, but she could understand that. They were all concerned about Russell right now and they were on edge with concern and raw emotions. If it was her father in that bed, she knew that she would have little words for anyone. In the back of her mind, she was aware that it was unfair to compare her father to Russell, but right now, all she could think was that he was Danny's father and Danny did not care that he was ill.

Nicole could not fathom the harsh indifference of her lover toward the fact that her father almost died. And she could not piece together that it might be something due to Russell and Danny's relationship, partly due to stress, but mostly because she was not able to separate Dane and Russell from any daughter and father. Right now, it was all the same to her. All her mind could think about was a daughter should care about her father. It was just natural. That was how families were.

The redhead was left to her thoughts since the Wolfe family did not pay her much mind. She could understand that. Occasionally, she glanced at Danny and tried to will her to wake up and join them. Danny remained asleep for several hours, awaking only when her stomach started grumbling.

"Breakfast..." Danny mumbled, pushing herself out of her chair and wandering off without glancing at anyone.

Nicole was not too sure what to make of her girlfriend's bizarre actions. Minutes later, Danny returned with two cups of tea. She handed one to Nicole. The generous action took Nicole by surprise.

"Thank you..." Nicole muttered.

Dane shrugged in response before flopping back into her chair. She did not even cast her family a look. Sipping her tea, she pulled out a granola bar from her pocket and handed it to Nicole. Once again Nicole expressed thanks, which was acknowledged with another shrug. Going into her pocket, Dane pulled out another bar and pretty much swallowed it. Nicole was not surprised by that; she practically did the same thing.

The day was quiet for a while. Danny was tempted to ask Nicole if she called in, letting her job know that she would not be in today, but was not in the mood to talk to the attorney just yet. Nicole was responsible and anal to a certain degree, so she was sure Nicole handled her business properly. If anything, she should worry about herself and wondered if she should cancel her afternoon lessons. She did not want to since she really needed the fifty dollars the two lessons would generate, but if Nicole was not ready to leave by then, she was out of luck.

She was very tempted to request to go, but she had a feeling that Nicole was not going to be ready until there was some response from Russell. She hoped he woke up soon just so she could get out of there. Of course, she got her wish.

Russell groaned, sounding groggy and sedate. His wife and three acknowledged children pepped up, going as far as to grin; yes, they all grinned, including Rachel's husband, Duncan. He groaned again as his eyes fluttered open. Christine quickly took hold of his hand with both of hers, letting him know that she was there. Turning his attention to her, he smiled a bit, knowing who she was even though his eyes had not focused completely yet.

"You had me so scared, Russ," Christine muttered, leaning down to kiss his knuckles.

Weakly, he reached over and patted her hands. Glancing around the room, he got a pretty good idea of his predicament despite the medication that was sort of slowing his cognitive functions. He then turned his attention to the others by his bedside and smiled a little more. And then his eyes spotted the couple on the other end of the room. A fire ignited his gaze that Dane could have spotted from down the street. Rolling her eyes, she sighed, knowing what was coming.

"Get out!" Russell's voice thundered, but also sounded like his tongue was swollen and too big for his mouth. He pointed at his youngest as if he was condemning her.

"Russell," Christine said, patting his hand again. "You really shouldn't get so worked up," she cautioned him.

"Get her out!" he hollered. His voice still sounded thick, almost like he did not know how to talk, but the message was loud and clear.

"Dane, just leave," Rachel said. "He shouldn't get worked up and he obviously doesn't want you here anyway."

Figures. Fuck you all so hard, Dane's eyes said. Out loud, she said nothing. Shrugging, she shoved her hands in her pockets and started for the door. Nicole stared between her and her family, not believing what she was seeing. Everything was so wrong, she thought. She could not believe that no one was standing up for Danny or explaining what happened, but she did not voice that yet. Instead, she chased after her girlfriend.

Catching Danny was no problem, figuring out what to say to her was another matter entirely. Nicole was not too sure what to make of anything, so she decided not to say anything. It was a wise decision since Danny had no desire to talk to her right now.

The ride home was spent in silence. When they got home, Danny went straight for the shower. She fell into the bed right after getting clean and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Nicole made herself some tea and sat alone for a while. Before letting her thoughts wander, she called into work, just to make sure her message was received that she would not be in; she had called earlier, but no one was in the office yet. With that out of the way, she was trying to figure out everything that happened that morning, but she was much too exhausted to come up with anything that she could make sense of. Eventually, she gave up trying to make heads or tails of things. She took a shower and curled up into the bed too. She pressed herself into Danny's back, wanting to feel some closeness to the musician since she knew that there was some distance between them now.

Danny was not surprised that she woke up first. Nicole had been up all morning, after all. Carefully, she eased away from the redhead, making sure not to wake her up. She was not too sure what to do with her life after that, but figured making something to eat would be a good start. Undoubtedly Nicole would be hungry when she woke up.

Not sure when Nicole would be up, Danny made simple tuna sandwiches, knowing how much her girlfriend loved them. Afterwards, she sat at the table, feeling like she had the weight of the world pressing down on her shoulders. Eyes focused on her sandwich, she did not eat and was not sure how long she sat there.

Nicole seemed to appear before Danny. The younger woman was just so dazed that she had not noticed Nicole enter the kitchen. The redhead eyed the sandwich that seemed to be waiting for her; Dane forgot to put it in the refrigerator. Her stomach growled, begging her to eat it. She was tempted to leave it be, but she was more hungry than anything else. As she ate, Dane took the hint and did the same.

The meal was eaten in silence. Nicole was finished first for once. Glancing over at Danny, she saw that her lover had only eaten half her sandwich. By now, usually the younger woman would have inhaled two sandwiches and stolen bites of Nicole's food too.

"Baby..." Nicole said. Grey eyes remained unfocused, pointed at the table, but more than likely not seeing it.

Nicole sighed, knowing that she needed to do something. Moving quickly and without much thought, she got up and then made herself comfortable on Dane's lap. She had lots of practice in doing that, so she easily adjusted her body to avoid putting any serious weight on her lover's leg. Thanks to the move, Danny turned and looked at Nicole. Blinking several times, Danny seemed surprised that Nicole was sitting on her.

"Baby, are we fighting?" Nicole asked curiously.

"Fighting?" Danny echoed, her hands going automatically around Nicole's waist, but she was not holding the older woman as tightly as she usually would.

"Yes, fighting. And if we are, please, explain to me why we're fighting. I don't like this at all," Nicole admitted, hugging Danny close to her, wanting to feel close, but it still felt like they were a million miles apart.

"I don't think we're fighting. We're just taking a cooling down moment."

"And why do we need to cool down?"

Dane gave her lover a rather incredulous, wide-eyed look. "You haven't been paying very good attention and that's a feat for you. Details are usually your bread-and-butter."

Green eyes widened from shock and pain. "Danny! That's just hurtful!"

"Angel, you asked and I answered. This has been a long fucking day and you and I haven't seen eye to eye on it much. I'm having a bit of a crisis here and all of I've gotten from you were a scolding and judgmental looks from the moment this bullshit began. You practically condemned me as the devil when I was on the phone with that annoying, screaming woman. Do you realize I was seriously tempted not to give blood? To tell them all to go to Hell? Do you realize that?" Dane inquired. She hated what type of person she thought that made her. She was willing to let her father suffer-maybe even worse-just to get back at him for being a heartless bastard. How does that make me any better than he is?

"You did the right thing in the end, though. You didn't condemn him or punish him. You stepped up and did the right thing."

"But, I didn't want to. I didn't want to bother with any of this crap. Do you know how that feels? Wanting to just walk away when you know someone's counting on you?"

"Danny, you did the right thing in the end. You didn't just walk away. Yes, you thought about it and you realized how it made you feel, so you did the right thing in the end," Nicole stated, sounding as firm as she could with the hope that she was getting through to her lover. Maybe they were not fighting, but Danny was having a crisis and Nicole realized that she had not helped much.

"But, I didn't want to do the right thing!" Danny roared, lightly slapping Nicole on the rear as a signal for her to get up.

The lawyer swallowed down some sorrow, but did as was silently requested. For some reason, being made to get up felt like a rejection to Nicole. Trying her best to keep the hurt out of her eyes, she stood in front of her sweetheart, hoping to mend whatever rift was coming between them and whatever trouble was eating away at Danny.

"You did, baby. You're a good person. You were the bigger person, you did the right thing. You wanted to do it, even if you don't think so. I know you did. It's in your nature. I understand that the man put you through torment when you were younger, but he is still your father and you recognized that," Nicole insisted, thinking that she was saying the right thing.

"It's not in my nature! I didn't recognize a damn thing!" Dane hollered, standing up and starting to pace. "Didn't and still don't give a damn actually!"

"Danny, he's your father!"

Molten steel eyes glared down at Nicole as Danny's voice roared through the house. "No, he's not! Sure, we have that blood relation and he provided fifty percent of my DNA, but outside of that, he's done nothing for me! Not a-fucking-thing! From the moment I took my first breath, he saw me as a blight on his fucking life. I don't give a shit about him and I don't care for him. So, don't tell me I did this for him or recognized that he's my father."

"Danny, he is your father," Nicole repeated, as if it made sense that time around.

"No, you know who's a father? Raymond is a father and had that been him, I would have happily given blood. No one would have had to ask or order. The doctor would've said, he needed blood and my arm would've been out. Same had it been Kate because despite her feelings toward me, she's a damn good mother to you. But, it wasn't them. It was Russell and he's not the same goddamn person, so stop acting like he is!"

"He's your father..." Nicole's voice was tense and heavy. Who the hell is this and what has she done with Danny?!

"And you're still not listening. Russell is a monster and he turned me into one, but you just want to put him on this fucking pedestal because he happened to accidentally get Christine pregnant twenty-five years ago. Being a father doesn't wipe away your sins. If anything, it enhances them considering what that fucking animal did to me. So, stop fucking screaming at me that he's my father. He's a jackass." With that stated, Dane turned and headed out of the kitchen, not caring to hear Nicole's voice anymore.

Nicole fell back into her chair, not sure what to make what just happened. Instead of thinking on the matter, she cried. It hurt her so much that Danny had spoken to her like that, with such venom and near-malice. The look in those beautiful grey eyes had been furious, fury directed at her. She did not know how to even begin solving the problem.

Eventually, she pulled herself away from the table, thinking that maybe she and Danny could try talking again. That dream was dashed when she found Danny in the den, ears covered with her huge headphones and head-banging to whatever was playing loudly in her ears; this would be Dane's retreat until she had to go teach her lessons in a couple of hours. Not even bothering to disturb Danny, Nicole turned around and retreated to her own space-the library.

The redhead tried her best to read a book, but that did not ease her mind. She gave up and tossed the book at the wall as if it offended her. Crying again, she grabbed the phone and dialed the one person that she thought could help.

"What's up, Nicole?" Mina asked as she answered her phone.

"Danny and I are fighting," Nicole answered automatically. Usually, it would not occur to her to just blurt such a thing out without first going through polite conversation, but she was all out of sorts thanks to her current predicament.

"Fighting?" Mina echoed as if she did not know what such a thing was. She did not think the couple was capable of doing such a thing. She knew early on in their relationship something had happened, but she doubted either of them likened it to a fight. "Is it bad?" she asked for lack of a better question.

"I...I think so...I guess. She sort of screamed at me and then ran off."

Mina was quiet for a moment. "Danny actually screamed?" She could not even picture that. Her images of Danny were of someone so mellow and laidback, sometimes to the point that she thought that Danny was asleep.

"Several times..." Nicole's lip trembled as she remembered Danny raising her voice.

"Oh, sweetie, you don't sound good at all," Mina noted. She could imagine how hurt Nicole had to be. The redhead thought the world of Danny and for her to have less than polite words were probably crushing her dear friend.

"I don't feel good..." Nicole admitted miserably. In fact, she felt sick to her stomach with emotional turmoil.

"Get out of the house for a while. Meet me somewhere."

"I've just had lunch and you're at work. I shouldn't have even called you," Nicole just realized, sounding horrified that she had done something so unprofessional.

"Nonsense! My best friend is in pain and needs help! How about I meet you at the park? You like walking through there, right?"

Nicole muttered a "yes." She liked walking through there with Danny, though. She shook that away and agreed to meet Mina at the park in about an hour. Now, she would just need to figure out what to do for an hour without upsetting Danny further.

She went and took a long, hot shower, which did help relax her. Taking time to dress and then she checked in on Danny. The ebony-haired woman was still listening to music and playing the air-guitar to whatever was banging in her ears. Nicole decided to just leave her a note. With that done, she left the house and walked down to the park.

The fresh air helped calm Nicole down and by the time that she made it to the park, she at least knew that she would not cry again. Finding a quite spot by the field that people usually played with their dogs in, Nicole sat down on a park bench. She watched some of the dogs and owners run around. A smile worked its way onto her face. They're cute.

She watched them until suddenly Mina was sitting next to her. Mina was more interested in watching Nicole than watching the pets. Nicole sighed, knowing that Mina was waiting for her to start talking.

"I'm sorry I called you at work," Nicole said first and foremost. She felt somewhat bad about that, but she really needed someone to talk to right now.

"I'm not. It lets me know just how serious this is. If you're this distressed, you should be able to come to your best friend," Mina replied.

Nicole nodded. "Thank you for being here. I don't know what to do."

"Okay, so explain to me what the problem is."

"This morning we got a call from Christine Wolfe, Danny's mother. She found Russell Wolfe, Danny's father, on the floor. Danny called the ambulance, but she was so rude to her distressed mother. Who had a very good reason to be distressed since she found her husband bleeding and unconscious. Turns out he had a stroke...or mini-strokes. Something like that. The point is, he had to have surgery and he needed blood afterward. He has a rare blood type, but Danny was the perfect match. They asked her to give blood. Instead of just doing it, she ran out of the hospital. Can you believe that? Ran right out of the hospital. She claims she didn't want to give blood, but I think she was more upset that she knew she would give, but still didn't want to. I don't understand how she wouldn't want to. This was her father, after all. I talked to her about it, told her she should do this for her father, and eventually she went back in. I couldn't believe it took talking to her to get her to do that. I mean, this was her father."

Mina nodded. "The same father you've seen physical abuse her with your own eyes?" she asked curiously.

"He's still her father. She couldn't just leave him lying there ill and in need."

Mina arched a very skeptical eyebrow. "So says you. So, this led to the argument?"

"Danny accused me of scolding her for the whole time and being judgmental toward her. She was acting childish, though. She was being rude to her mother and this was her father we're talking about. Her father needed her and she acted like that meant nothing to her."

"You say father like that's a privilege or something. Just because you have a child doesn't make you a father. What type of father is he? I mean, I imagine he won't be winning any father of the year awards if he has abused Danny."

"Probably not, but he is still her father. I mean, if it was my father-" Nicole said, but she was cut off.

"But, it wasn't your father. They are two different men. Has your father ever raised a hand to you in anger?"

"Of course not!"

Mina nodded, knowing that was the case. "Doesn't sound like Danny's father follows those same guidelines. And if he hit her in front of people, imagine what he might have done behind closed doors. Imagine the things that you don't know about. It sounds like you were being a little judgmental."

"Hey!"

"Nicole, I think you're being very unfair to Danny if you're upset with her over this. This wasn't your father needing something from her. This was a man that she has a long history with that you probably know very little about. But, I think I know why you're upset with it."

Nicole gave her friend a curious sidelong glance. "Why?"

"Whenever you talk about Danny it's in very glowing terms. You almost always say she's the kindest, gentlest, sweetest person you've ever dated."

"She is! ...Or at least I thought so," Nicole muttered. That idea was shaken by what was going on now.

"Now, most people you date start off with moderate expectations, which you lower as time goes by because they always turn into jackasses," Mina explained. "Danny has not offered you such a problem, so your expectations went up. You have high standards for Danny. And you, little Miss Perfect, have decided that Danny needs to be just as immaculate as you are."

Nicole's eyes went wide. "What! No!"

"Yeah, you have. You would have given your father blood without a problem and you're perfect. Well, you think that Danny's perfect too, so she should have given her father blood with no problem," the chocolate-eyed woman reasoned.

Nicole blinked and thought about it. "Shouldn't she have just done it because he is her father? How could she hesitate like that?"

"Maybe because he's an ass. You don't know what type of parent he was to her, Nicole. You don't know what was going through her mind. You don't know what that man might have put her through."

"You know, she was screaming when I caught her. Not really screaming at me, but screaming because of her frustration. She said he was a monster and he turned her into a monster."

"Nicole, I think you might want to step away from this. It's something she needs to sort out with him and you coming in, chiming in on whatever isn't going to help. This is her issue and probably something she wants to carry alone," Mina said.

Green eyes gave another sidelong glance. "But, we're partners. We should be in this together and work things out together."

"Sadly, some things you need to work out alone. You pulling her around, trying to get her to accept this man, this family, isn't helping any, obviously."

Nicole sighed and whimpered. "But...she deserves a family."

Mina nodded and took Nicole's hand, holding it tightly. "I think she deserves one that doesn't make her think she's a monster. This is beyond you, Nicole. Step away from it."

Nicole nodded, just to show that she heard. She squeezed Mina's hand, acknowledging the comfort and friendship. Emerald eyes went back out to the pet owners and dogs. There was not much activity, but enough to keep her attention.

"I don't understand how they could treat her like that..." Nicole muttered, sounding so lost and bewildered.

"Nick...May I call you Nick?" Mina asked with a smile, obviously teasing since only Danny used that nickname. She was doing her best to lighten the mood, not wanting to leave her friend feeling reprimanded and demoralized. She continued on without an answer. "Some people are just assholes. You should know this by now. Look at who the hell we work with, after all. Danny seems to have a family full of them, her father especially. It's not your family, so don't push. She gets along with your family, so be thankful for that. Obviously, it's them, not her. Do you really want your first fight to be about Danny not getting along with her own family? It's really not your business is it."

Nicole sighed, ducking her head for a moment. "No, I suppose not. I just wanted her to have a family. I mean, she seemed to get along so well with my family. She deserves that with her own family."

"That's not your decision, Nicole. It's hers and she doesn't seem to agree with you. Let it go. It'll save you both some stress from what I can tell."

The redhead nodded. She supposed Mina had a point. She had to step away from things if it was going to cause so much stress in their relationship. Losing Danny was not worth all of that crap.

"Thanks, Mina. You know the right thing to say most of the time," Nicole remarked, smiling a bit.

"Aw, why'd you have to add that last bit? I was feeling really good for a second," Mina replied, chuckling.

Nicole smiled more. "Seriously, thank you. You're a great friend."

"Hey, considering all the times you've saved my ass and talked me down from the ledge, I need to return the favor once and a while," Mina commented, smiling too now. Nicole was always there for her and it felt good to be able to do the same for Nicole once and a while. "Now, before I head back to work and make up a lie as to why I left, I do want you to know that as far as your relationship goes, you should continue to hold Danny to high standards. You deserve the best. But, as far as her very personal life goes, that's where you should back away." The last thing that she wanted was for Nicole to start holding Danny to the acceptable level of former lovers. Danny was above that and she needed to stay above that.

"Understood."

The pair of friends hugged as a farewell and Nicole made her way back to the house. Swallowing hard, she considered that Danny might not even be home anymore. Her heart beat increased as she shut the door and then peered into the den before anything else. There was no sign of Danny.

Next, she checked in the living room. Danny had relocated there, taking a nap on the couch. Nicole did as she would always do in such a situation, sitting down on the sofa and putting Danny's head in her lap. She caressed Danny's head, getting soft mews of delight from her lover.

"Nick..." Dane purred.

"Baby, I don't want to fight anymore," Nicole whispered before playing a gentle kiss to Dane lips. Warmth raced through her when the smile was returned.

"Not fighting. Just disagreeing," Danny muttered before going in for another kiss. It was difficult to stay upset with such sweet kisses being showered on her lips. She hoped this meant the whole thing was behind them and Nicole would be done with pushing her family on her. She did not need them and they did not want her. She just wanted to move forward in life, forward with Nicole.

"I love you. Please, don't doubt that," Nicole said.

"Love you too and I don't doubt it. Don't doubt my love for you," Danny replied. "You mean everything to me. You are everything to me and I don't need anyone else," she stated, wanting for Nicole to understand that she did not require that mess of a family. She was happy with what she had. Nicole smiled and kissed Danny again.

Everything seemed normal again.

---------------

Next time: the Wolfe family comes back.