The sun slicing through the window pulled me awake. I stayed in Danny's arms and listened to his rhythmic breathing. He was so peaceful and young when he slept. His relaxed face revealed how close he still was to childhood. Reluctantly, I slipped from his arms to the shower. The warm water coursed over my face and down my body, hypnotizing my senses. Danny was still asleep when I stepped back into the bedroom. I headed upstairs to focus on the simplicity of making coffee. The machine hissed and gurgled in the morning's greyness. Steam danced on top of the mugs as I carried them downstairs.

Danny was awake when I got back to my room. The quiet moments of the morning took over. He drew himself up to lean against my pillows, his face still foggy from sleep. His arms beckoned me to crawl back to him. He took a long, slow sip of his coffee. I caught the edge of his lips turn up in a smile when he tasted the sugar. Sometimes the quiet moments make the strongest memories. His free hand traced little lines on my side, spreading a calm through me that almost silenced the thoughts screaming in my mind.

"Sarah thinks we're pretending to be just friends." My voice felt odd in the morning's still.

Danny brushed my hair from my face with a tender and contemplative touch. "Conner thinks I'm playing with you; bringing out a dangerous side."

"Are you? Playing with me?" The minute the words left my lips, I regretted them. Asking hurt him, but deep down, I needed the answer.

Danny was quiet for a long moment. I couldn't tell if he was trying to decide or being delicate.

"When I was 7, my mom split. My dad was already long gone. But then, she ditched me too." A grimace flashed across his face as he continued to run his fingertips over my skin absently. "She didn't even say goodbye. I woke up on a Sunday, and poof. Nana made pancakes." His voice was small, as though the memory froze him at 7.

He physically shifted as his mind moved to another memory. "My Nana and Pops would dance every night." A quick smile twitched his lips at the memory. "I'd sneak down a couple of steps so I could watch them. Blue Moon, they always danced to Blue Moon by Billie Holiday. Have you heard it?" He didn't wait for an answer; he didn't even look up from the floor where his eyes had settled. The memory absorbed him; he was a child and on the stairs. "Every time I feel whatever it is in me that rises and ruins everything, the first thought is Blue Moon. I don't want to be blue forever."

My eyes drifted to the moon tattoo on his arm.

He snapped his gaze straight into my eyes in an abrasive change of mood. "Every time I get somewhere good, I mess it up. Throw it all away. I know everyone assumes I'm an ass or selfish, but I can't stop it."

I held his gaze.

"I don't mean to hurt anyone, most of all you. I'm not playing with you on purpose. I'm trying to protect you." Danny's head drooped as though tired from the weight of the effort.

"From you?" The words fell from me absently as Danny's words swirled in my mind. "So, what? We see other people. How do we explain the sleepovers, the arms you wrap around me, that I let you wrap around me?" I was pretty sure I should get a say in how I'm protected.

"Is this because of Conner?" Danny's eyes were sharp.

"I'm just trying to understand. We're not together, but we feel like more than friends. You're pushing me away in the name of protection, but doesn't it matter what I want?"

He let out an enormous sigh and took another sip of coffee to deflect my words.

"Because I don't care. And I want you to stop protecting me." I wasn't speaking to Danny anymore; I was talking to myself. "I'm not looking for a boyfriend. I just..." the words were elusive. "I want people to stop thinking about what we are and just let us be. I want to stop thinking about us."

"Yeah, I know." He considered our situation for a moment before he began again. "But Conner... He doesn't like me staying with you."

"Fuck him." I couldn't help but blame Conner for all the tension I was feeling.

Danny's expression didn't seem as committed to the sentiment.

I tried to shift the air by changing topics. "I have to study; two finals tomorrow and then one on Wednesday. Then, I'm done with high school and this kind of bullshit. Can you stay while I work?"

"No, I'll distract you. I'll call Conner to pick me up."

I winced; Conner was always going to be around. "Why? I have a car; I can drive you. It's early; we can get breakfast on the way."

"I can't; I have brunch plans." He was already calling Conner.

When he flipped his phone shut, I teased, "you brunch?"

"Yeah, I brunch every Sunday. Nana makes pancakes, and it's my favorite day of the week." His tone was a matter of fact, but there was an innocent shrug to him. "Maybe, if you're nice and things remain copasetic, you'll score an invitation one of these Sundays. But not today."

"Fine." I folded my arms and let my lower lip puff into a pout as I thought about how copasetic was such a Danny word.

"Well, that's just adorable." Danny flung an arm around me and kissed the top of my head in a moment that temporarily relieved the pent-up tension.

"I love it when you do that," I smiled.

He looked at me, a bit confused.

"When you kiss the top of my head or forehead. Sometimes it's my temple. One time it was the tip of my nose." My mind wandered through the greatest hits of Danny's pecks.

"I love it when you press against my chest, so your head is in the perfect spot for me to rest my chin on." He smiled to himself, his lop-sided smile, and then flashed his sparkling blue eyes at me.

"Yeah, that neck must get tired lugging that colossal head around all the time."

Danny scrunched his nose in distaste at the joke as he leaned in, burrowing his face into the side of my neck. His breath tickled as I let out a giggle.

"Brunch next week," he promised as he pulled away.

"I'm in." Genuine and pure excitement bubbled in my chest.

We stayed tangled in each other until his phone rang. He didn't bother answering; he knew it meant Conner was there. I walked him to the door, eager to capture even a few more moments with him. We lingered close to each other, my heart pounding loudly in my ears as I fixated on his tempting lips. He dipped his face dangerously close to me, digging his fingertips into my hips. But he paused just shy of my lips. He knew what he was doing, driving me crazy. He kissed my nose before giving a final pinch to my hips and ricocheting off. As he paced away, I thought maybe Conner was right; maybe Danny was playing with me.