Cloud Walking

get with her for years. Though it was partially Maggie's fault for hooking up with him so many times in the past. Every time she threw him a bone, he amped up his efforts that much more. And Jake wasn't one to care whether she had a boyfriend or not.

    One minute Jake and Maggie were laughing and joking together. The next minute they weren't. And that was because Clay was freaking out. And causing a major scene. Daniel and I glanced at each other with mirrored looks of shock and outrage on our faces. I tried to intervene but even I backed down a bit at the cold and angry look in Clay's eyes.

    After Clay stormed off, Danny and I tried to reason with Maggie. But all she did was defend him.

    “No, everything will be fine. Come on, you guys would be pissed if you saw someone flirting with your boyfriend or girlfriend. He was just surprised is all,” she pleaded with us, trying to make us back off. But how could we? What we had just witnessed wasn't normal.

    Daniel gripped the table and leaned forward, making his words pointed and clear. “ No, I can't say I've ever had that sort of reaction before. I swear, if he ever puts a hand on you...” he began and I could see the vein bulging on the side of his neck. He was really upset and I knew him well enough to know that it was taking a considerable amount of willpower not to go after Clay and beat some sense into him.

    Maggie cut him off. “That's enough, Danny. Clay would never hurt me.”

    Daniel and I looked at each other again. For the first time in weeks, we were on exactly the same page. Maggie left as soon as the bell rang, while Danny and I gathered up our trays. “I seriously want to kick that dude's ass,” Daniel seethed, dumping his trash out.

    He and I walked together to our lockers. “Just calm down, Danny. Using his face as your punching bag won't help anything,” I reasoned. I understood that this had brought out his protective streak and it was going to be hard to rein that back in.

    “That was some messed up shit, Rach. What are we going to do?” Daniel asked, looking helpless. I sighed and leaned against my locker, crossing my arms over my chest. I knew Danny was looking to me for advice. I always had the answer. A way to smooth things over. But this time, I didn't know what to do.

    “If we push her, it'll only make it worse. But we need to keep an eye on things. And if we have to...we go to her parents,” I said, feeling sick at the thought of betraying Maggie like that. But I would do it in a heartbeat if things got any crazier.

    Daniel leaned into my personal space, looking down at me. We were close. Too close and my breath caught in my throat. His eyes were soft as they caressed my face. I felt that look as though it were his fingers on my skin.

    “Love shouldn't make you feel like that. It should be as natural as breathing. It should happen between two people because it grew there out of something beautiful. And it should never make you feel the way Maggie is feeling right now,” he said, his eyes never leaving me. I could tell he wanted to touch me and his eyes never wavered.

    My face grew hot and my heart started to beat fast. The moment that was building became too much and I had to shut it down. We needed to be a strong team for Maggie. And if I started caving to these out of control emotions that only Danny was able to stir up, it would create nothing but problems.

    I moved to the side, putting some distance between us. I cracked a smile and let out a fake snort of laughter. “Wow, when did you get so deep?” I joked, hoping like hell to break the tension that was mounting between us.

    Daniel blinked a few times and then seemed to snap himself out of whatever spell he had been under. His mouth moved upwards in a half smile, though it didn't reach his eyes. “That's me...deep,” he mused, the smile dropping as soon as it appeared. He stared at me for another minute and then rubbed his face with his hand.

    “I'd better get to class,” he said. I nodded.

    “Yeah, me too.” Danny looked at me again and I thought I'd launch myself at him if he continued to stare at me like that.

    “Okay then. I'll talk to you later,” he said finally and with that, walked away. But for a moment...there had been some serious cloud walking going on.

Chapter Ten
    ~Daniel~

    The evening wasn't going so great. Sure, we were at this amazing cabin in the middle of nowhere, but Maggie had already jumped down my throat for being a