Fight for Me

Author's Note: Thank you everyone for the comments and feedback on Chapter 1. I loved reading the comments you guys left. I hope you all like Chapter 2. I know I'm probably going too slow for some but I really want to pace the story right and not rush it. Try to be patient with me.

-Deanna

Chapter Two: Truths and Lies

"How's it coming Jay?"

I turned from my computer to look over at Danny. He was leaning against my bedroom doorframe wearing a lazy grin on his face. I wanted to smack him. It was late Sunday afternoon and I was working on my history paper that was due in a few days. I'd been working since I woke up, and I'm pretty sure I was about to collapse.

"I think my brain just exploded." I replied.

Danny chuckled as he came in to sit on my bed. "No one told you that you had to work on a history paper for..." he glanced at the clock on my dresser. "Seven hours straight. I think my brain would explode too." he said.

"Yeah well, I wanted to get this done." I replied turning back to my computer. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the full truth either. I did want to get my history paper finished, but really it was a way to keep my mind off other things. More specifically, it was to keep my mind off Gavin. When I woke up that morning, I decided to just try to forget about ever seeing him. It was easier said than done; I hadn't been able to stop thinking about him since I saw him last night.

"Aren't you going to ask me about my day?" he asked bringing me out of my thoughts.

I rolled my eyes. "So how was your day Danny?" I asked him in mock enthusiasm.

"Well if you must know..." he said making himself comfortable. "It was pretty boring actually. Remind me to never agree to go shopping with Laura ever again."

I couldn't help but laugh at his pained expression. Danny has this unfortunate ability to attract girls he's not attracted to. And he doesn't know how to get rid of them. In this case it was Laura Chanley. He met her at a party a few weeks ago, and he hasn't been able to tell her that he's just not interested. I wasn't sure if it was because he didn't want to hurt her feelings or if he was just an idiot. Either way I loved to tease him about it.

"Aw you guys went shopping together? You know, that's a very important step to building a strong relationship."

"Ha-ha very funny Jamie." He said glaring when I started laughing. "Actually, it's not funny at all; it's pretty sad.

"You better hurry up and do something about it, or the next time you two go out it'll be to shop for engagement rings." I said still laughing.

Danny smirked at me, and his brown eyes sparkled with mischief. "What about you Jay?"

My laughter immediately stopped. I should've known he would turn the tables on me. "What about me?" I asked him warily.

"Don't you think it's time for you to start dating again? It's been over a month since that Brad guy; I know you weren't heartbroken over the breakup so..." he looked at me expectantly while I squirmed in my computer chair. 'Damn him', I thought irritably.

I cleared my throat nervously. "Well, I was thinking I would take a break from dating for a while to focus more on school; I don't have time for guys right now." I felt proud of myself because it was at least half the truth.

"Bullshit, you have plenty of time for guys. It's not like you have to work hard to find them. If you came out with me more, all you would need to do is stand there and they would come to you." He replied.

"Yeah right, I'm going to just stand around and wait for some guy to come sweep me off my feet. What a great idea." I said sarcastically. I tried to stop it, but I couldn't keep the image of Gavin coming in and doing exactly that from my mind. I shook my head trying to clear it of the unwelcomed thought.

"Actually, my idea was for you to get laid." Danny declared.

Before I could hit him, his cell phone began to ring. Danny sat up from his reclining position and smiled at me. "Hold that thought." He said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He looked at the display and then glanced at me. "I'll be right back." He said as he got up and left my room. 'I guess he doesn't want me to hear his conversation' I thought shrugging.

After a few minutes he came back. "So where were we...?" Danny said sitting down on my bed again. I glared at him. "Oh yeah, we were talking about getting you-"

"We're not talking about this anymore Danny" I said cutting him off. "It's really not any of your business anyway so drop it."

"Fine, but if I can't tease you, then what am I supposed to do for entertainment around here?" he replied before sighing dramatically. "Come on; you need a break. Come watch movies with me."

He got up and stretched. I agreed that a break sounded good so I saved my work and followed him downstairs. Danny walked into the kitchen and started getting snacks together; I went into the living room and looked through our collection of DVDs.

One thing about me and Danny is that we can never just watch one movie. So we ended up watching four in a row. It was during the fourth movie that I glanced at the clock and realized it was seven o'clock already. I looked over at Danny and found that he had fallen asleep; I picked up the remote and turned off the movie. After stifling a yawn, I shook Danny awake.

"Hey I was watching that." He said yawning.

I chuckled as I stood up and started cleaning up our mess. Danny stood up too and helped me bring our dishes to the kitchen. After we got done cleaning up we decided to call it a night; we both had school the next morning. 'I guess I'll have to finish my history paper later.'

"Good night Danny" I said as we both headed to our rooms.

"Good night Jay..." he said back. I walked down the hall to my room and was almost there when Danny spoke again. "Hey Jamie," I turned and looked at him expectantly. "You can't wait around forever you know." He said before going into his room and closing his door. I stood there for a moment confused by his words. 'What does he mean by that?'

I shrugged and just went to bed. Danny was just being Danny. However, as I lay in my bed letting sleep take me, I couldn't help but think it was more to it than that.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Monday morning classes were always the worst. Amazingly, I got through most of them before I started zoning out.

After classes were over, I decided to go to the school's library to study. It was better to go there than back to my apartment because Danny likes to blast music while he paints, and I needed peace and quiet. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen when I ran into Laura just outside the entrance. We'd only met once, but she recognized me right away. 'Just what I need' I thought miserably.

"Hey Jamie, long time no see." She said cheerfully. I had to force myself not to turn and run.

"Hey Laura, what's up?" I said hoping my smile didn't come out as a grimace.

"Nothing really, I just thought I'd say hello." She replied smiling too sweetly. 'Yeah right.' I nodded and started to go inside but she stopped me. "But now that you mention it, I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

I stifled a sigh. "And what would that be Laura?" I asked even though I already knew.

"I need you to put in a good word for me with Danny." She said flipping her blonde hair. "I know you're his best friend, and I know that he'll listen to you."

I wasn't in the mood to have this conversation. Laura wasn't the first girl to come asking me for this particular favor. "Honestly, I don't think I can help you with that Laura. Even though Danny and I are best friends, when it comes to his relationships it's basically his choice." I said trying to keep my patience.

Laura's smile faded. She dropped her sweet, friendly act completely when I said that and started glaring at me. "Look Jamie, all I'm asking you to do is help me out a little. What's so hard about that?" she said angrily.

It was obvious to me now why Danny wasn't attracted to Laura. Even though she was pretty, her attitude was her downfall. She was all sweet and nice at first, but the second something doesn't go her way she snaps.

I didn't have the same problem Danny had with getting rid of people. "It would really hard Laura, considering the fact that Danny isn't interested in you. So if you'll excuse me..." I stepped around her and quickly made my way inside the library.

'Geez, what a psycho,' I thought. 'Danny better do something about her soon.' I glanced behind me to make sure she wasn't following. It was the wrong thing to do because I collided right into someone. The person dropped their books on the floor, and I immediately crouched down help pick them up.

"I'm so sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was going." I said feeling a little embarrassed about running into someone.

"It's okay, I wasn't paying attention either." My entire body froze at the sound of that voice. 'It can't be.' My eyes snapped up to the person's face and then widened when they confirmed that it was indeed Gavin crouching down right in front of me. Gavin's eyes widened slightly too, but he recovered before I did. He smiled. "Wow, I was hoping to run into you again but I didn't mean literally."

I got back up to my feet and he did the same. My heart was pounding so loudly in my chest I was sure the whole library could hear it. "What are you doing here?" I suddenly blurted out before I could stop myself.

He looked caught off guard by the question. "Oh, I was getting some books I needed for my-"

"No, I mean what are you doing here in New York? I asked interrupting him.

He started to answer but then he stopped and glanced around. It was then that I remembered that we were standing in the middle of a library. "Do you think we could go somewhere else and talk?" he asked. When I didn't answer right away he quickly added, "Please Jamie, just to talk I promise."

I wanted to say no but for some reason I couldn't. The initial anger I had felt when I saw him at Jake's party was nowhere to be found. The hurt was still there but there was something else I couldn't name. What was it that made me hesitate? I looked into Gavin's blue eyes and suddenly I knew. I wanted answers. I wanted to know why he hurt me. I wanted closure. And once I got it I could move on.

I gathered my courage and said just one word to start it all. "Okay..."