A/N: Who's ready for alone time with Danny? XD

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"Come on Minnie," Daniel called from the doorway. You were still putting your books into your bag.

You made a face at him. "I'm coming."

Daniel winked at you, holding out his arm. "I believe I am your for today, Milady," he said in a British accent.

You giggled, hooking your arm through his. "You know your British accent is terrible? Your LA accent is too strong." Daniel shrugged with a good-natured smile on his face, guiding you out the door. At the entrance though, you were surprised to see Simon waiting. You looked to Daniel for an explanation.

"Oh," he said, realizing. "Simon's my neighbor so we usually just walk home together. You don't mind, right?" His eyes searched yours anxiously. If you did mind, he wouldn't hesitate to tell Simon to go on without him. And that probably went against the whole 'Bros Before Hoes' saying some guys seemed to live by. But you definitely weren't a hoe, so Simon could go jump off a cliff for all Daniel cared.

"It's fine," you assured, though you had tensed up.

Simon's eyes flickered to you, his gaze lingering on your and Daniel's laced arms. *Damn. I used to do that. I used to hold her hand too, and we never cared what other people thought of us. We never minded the taunting other kids gave us, didn't care if they sang that horrible 'Kyungmi and Simon sitting in a tree' song. I miss that.* He let his gaze drop.

"Hey man," Daniel greeted. Simon nodded once in acknowledgement. "Well...off we go." He smiled at you, holding onto your arm tighter.

The three of you walked, Daniel happily chatting the entire time like usual. You responded with a smile or nod at the right times even though you were only half-listening. Your eyes were on Simon, walking just a little bit ahead of you on the other side of Daniel. He hadn't said one thing today around you. One of his hands was in his pocket, the other clutching onto his backpack strap. His eyes were on the ground so you couldn't read his eyes, couldn't see any emotion that he might be trying to hide. And it drove you insane.

"Hey Danny," you said suddenly, cutting him off mid-speech.

"Hm?"

"Is Simon usually this quiet or is it just because I'm here?"

"He's usually pretty quiet," he told you with a one-shoulder shrug. "It's nothing to worry about. I promise it's not because of you, okay? Don't let him get to you just because he's a meanie." Daniel glanced at Simon from the corner of his eye. Simon was defiantly looking the other way, his jaw rigid.

"Okay," you muttered quietly, looking away from him. Daniel looked at you worriedly. Upon seeing your dejected expression, he shut up for once. He chewed on his lip in thought. *Is Simon ignoring her really bothering her that much? Or is something else wrong? Gah, I hate not knowing what's wrong. It annoys the hell out of me.* Then suddenly, he stopped. You looked up at him in confusion.

"This is my house," he explained, gesturing to the pretty blue house in front of the both of you. He smiled at you, nudging you lightly. "See? No broken windows, no crime scene tape."

You stuck your tongue out at him. "I don't judge a book by its cover thank you very much."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it," he chuckled. "And Simon lives right there," he added, pointing to the yellow house beside his. "Bye Simon."

Simon just lifted one hand in farewell, continuing onto his house without a word. 

Shrugging that off, Daniel pulled you to his house. "Come on. Mom should be back in about an hour."

You found Daniel's house to be very bright and cheery with light pastel walls and plenty of windows to let sunshine filter through. The house was spacious, with two floors plus a basement. He led you to the kitchen, signaling for you to sit on a barstool that sat behind the island. "Sit. You hungry? Thirsty?"

"A little thirsty," you said quietly, politely.

"Me too. What do you want? OJ? Diet Coke? Water? A martini?"

You made a face at him. He just had to add that last one, didn't he? You rolled your eyes. "Oh yeah. I so totally want alcohol. An apple martini and studying just sound so good together."

He chuckled. "Okay then. Let me guess what you want." He studied you for a moment. "Eh, you're boring. Who wants just plain ice water?"

You blinked at him in surprise. "How'd you know I wanted water?"

He shrugged. "Your personality is all. Doesn't surprise me. You were probably the child that ate all her vegetables and never asked for seconds on chocolate cake, right?"

You rested your chin on your hands as he got ice and water from the fridge dispenser. "And I suppose you were what kind of child? One who pushed down girls on the playground and gave teachers grief?"

"How'd you know?" he asked with a wink, sliding the glass to you before sitting next to you.

"Your personality is all," you shot back, using his terminology.

"Mm," was all he replied with, taking a drink from his glass of orange juice. He set it on the table and looked at you. "Well then. Shall we start the project?"

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"I love you," Daniel declared as he went through all your stuff from your old Civil War project. "The assignment is pretty much done now." He met eyes with you. "I feel like bowing at your feet right now."

You smiled, giving his arm a light shove. "I know. I'm awesome. Here, you type now." You handed the laptop to him. The two of you were sitting close beside each other, legs and arms touching, in front of his couch so you would have access to the coffee table.

"Dang you type fast," he complimented. "We're almost done."

Just then the door opened. "Daniel?" called a voice. "I'm home."

"In here Mom!" he called back.

A middle-aged woman peeked her head around the corner, then smiled brightly when she saw you. "Ah, I assume you're Kyungmi?"

You nodded, bowing your head a little. "Yeah."

"Nice to meet you. You can call me Mom! You kids hungry? I bought snacks~"

"Bring them in here please," Daniel requested, hands flying as he typed.

A few seconds later his mom came in with a plate of dukbokki. "Study hard kids. Daniel, I'll be in my office. Yell if you need anything. Fighting!"

You smiled as she left. "Your mom's nice."

"I know. I'm lucky like that." He reached for one of the dukbokki, stabbing it with a toothpick and putting it in his mouth. He stabbed another one and held it out to you. "Open up. Ahh~"

"I can feed myself, thank you very much."

"Don't give me that whole speech on female independence and just let me feed you Minnie. Now say 'ahh'." You made a face at him before opening your mouth but refusing to say 'ahh'. He smiled, popping the dukbokki in your mouth then pinching your cheek as you ate. "You're really cute. Did you know that?"

You felt yourself blush and started wondering why. *I have nothing to be embarrassed about. It's just Danny. He's my friend, it's not like I like him. I liked Simon. Wait. Liked? Don't I still like Simon? Like, the real Simon? Yeah.* You glanced at Daniel as he held out another dukbokki for you. *Then why is it that when I'm with Danny, I think about Simon less and less?*