Grace Housley sat nervously at the In-N-Out Burger table. She twiddled her thumbs and glanced at her phone. She pressed the home button to check the time again. Seven minutes to five. Why did I do this, she thought to herself before pushing her Buddy Holly glasses up onto the bridge of her nose. Responding to an ad in the paper was not like Grace at all. But something about it just felt good. The ad had said "Looking for Assistant to help with Hair/Makeup Tutorial Videos. Must be familiar with some computer/editing. No modeling experience needed." It had an email address to contact if interested and so Grace did. A meeting had been set for the next week at the fast food restaurant. The 28-year old young lady was incredibly nervous. Every possible heinous situation crossed her mind as she sat. She worried herself too much to eat anything; she had settled on a small chocolate shake so she wouldn't be loitering.

At five o'clock, nearly on the dot, a woman who may have been a couple years younger than Grace, and a man about her age walked up to her table with medium drinks in their hands. The couple both had brown hair, though the girl's was darker, and each had blonde streaks running through their hair. "Are you Miss Housley?" the girl's mellifluous voice chimed. Grace nodded with her lips pursed as the pair joined her in the booth. "I'm Suzy Berhow, and this is my husband, Arin Hanson. Do you mind if I start out by asking you some basic questions?"

"Sure," Grace responded before wiping her mouth with a napkin to make sure there was no chocolate lingering on the corners of her lips. Suzy pulled out a blank notepad from her purse, which somehow was very intimidating to Grace.

Suzy did not look up as she asked the first question, "What is your birthdate?" She clicked the black ink pen deliberately as she prepared to write.

"August 21, 1986," Grace responded, adjusting her spectacles.

"Do you wear makeup often?"

"I put it on every day, unless I'm not planning on leaving my house."

"Do you live with a boyfriend or husband or family that you care for?"

"No, I actually live by myself. I don't have a boyfriend or husband, and I don't have family nearby or anything."

"Hmmm," Suzy scribbled onto the notepad as Arin scrolled on his phone, both glancing up at Grace for a moment, "How free is your schedule currently?"

"Uh, completely, because I'm basically living off of some savings and inheritance and stuff. I do some babysitting for cash on the side, but that is basically all, but that's rarely for the woman that lives down the road from me."

After asking some more questions, Suzy gave a bright smile and Grace anxiously picked at her napkin. "Well," the married lady announced, "You seem to be perfect for the job, so I'm going to go ahead and hire you if you're up for it!"

Grace looked up and made eye contact with Suzy, then Arin, to see if they were being serious. Both were smiling. "Seriously?" the green eyed girl looked up from her muddy-looking milkshake. She was shocked. She honestly didn't think she was going to get the job at all.

"Yeah, in fact, you were the only person to respond to the ad. It's like a sign or something," Arin said, before slurping down some of his drink. He then leaned over to his wife and whispered something into her ear. Suzy nodded.

"That's a great idea. Why don't you join us for dinner tonight and we can kind of get to know each other a little better? We're already having some friends over for dinner tonight. It wouldn't be any trouble to make another plate for you!"

Grace thought it would be rude to deny their offer, but was not completely sure about going to the house of these strangers. She had taken the bus there since her car was so low on gas, so she was just going to get in their car and ride with them to their home. She quietly sat in the back seat and imagined every terrible scenario that could possibly happen, and then she thought about that show with the blond guy… what was his name? Oh yes, Hannibal. "Hannibal the Cannibal" was his name. They were probably going to have a rape-y threesome with her before they would kill her then chop her into bits and eat her for dinner. Why else would they have put such an ambiguous ad in the paper? She had told them that she didn't have any family or friends or basically anything in town… except her neighbors! She would have to use her elderly neighbor as an excuse to get out of this situation.

She felt obligated to walk into the house with them. Suzy hung her pea coat on the rack by the door before receiving a loving kiss from her husband. She smiled, and Grace felt even more uncomfortable. She didn't bother to take off her jacket. "I… uh… My… neighbor will… be worried about… me if… I… uh… don't get home," the nervous young woman stuttered. Suzy and Arin looked at each other.

"Why don't you call her and let her know that you're gonna be with us for dinner?" Arin suggested kindly, "We have a phone if yours doesn't get service out here." Was this some kind of cruel joke?

"No… I think… I think I should be … leaving," Grace backed towards the door when she heard something behind her. She chose not to stop and felt a body against her back. She turned to see a tall, lanky man with curly brown hair and some stubble. His eyes were a deep muddy brown and despite how incredibly attractive he was, he was pretty intimidating to a small girl like Grace.

"Hello there!" he greeted, a smile spreading across his face. Grace did not return the grin. In fact, a sickening grimace was the only term to describe the expression she showed.

"Please, God, don't eat me. I'm so sorry. I'm not tasty at all. I'm really small. My neighbor said that if I'm not home by a certain time she really is gonna call the cops and I gave her your email and everything so please don't rape me then kill me then chop me into bits then eat me as your next meal," Grace blurted with a cry. By this time, another shorter man had come in with some more facial hair than the first man but his face was rounder.

All four of the strangers stood and stared at Grace Housley with confused looks on their faces. She gripped at the couch to hold her up as she tried to strategize a way to escape when Suzy spoke, "You think we're cannibals?"

Grace chewed quietly on her lower lip. She replayed the scene that had just happened in her head and realized how ridiculous she sounded. "Uh… yes," the blonde girl muttered, looking down at the floor to avoid the eye contact of the other four.

Everyone laughed. "We're definitely not cannibals. Sorry if we seemed a little weird or creepy, we didn't mean to freak you out or anything," Suzy smiled, "We're having spaghetti for dinner, if that's okay with you." Grace looked around all eyes were still on her. She nodded and the married woman pulled her into the kitchen.

"I'm really sorry," Grace apologized, her face burning red from embarrassment.

"Oh, no worries, hakuna matata," Suzy replied before getting out all the supplies she needed for making the meal, "I can completely understand. Especially when you don't know anyone, it's hard to trust people nowadays. Wanna help me cook?" Grace nodded.

"So, who were those two guys?" the blonde young lady asked the hostess.

"Oh, shit! I forgot to introduce you!" Suzy exclaimed as she pulled a pot out of a cabinet, "Hey, boys! Get in here!"

The three men filed into the kitchen with a fourth smaller man with them. They were laughing as Arin pushed his phone into his pocket. He must have shown them something on his phone. "Yes, babe?" he beamed. Something about the way he looked at her was just so sincere and affectionate.

"I didn't get to introduce her to the guys. She was a little upset a few minutes ago," Suzy glanced sideways at Grace, "This is Grace."

The tallest one that Grace had backed into when trying to leave earlier stuck out his hand. "I'm Dan Avidan. You can call me Danny. Sorry if I scared you earlier. I didn't mean to add any unnecessary fear to your life," he joked. Grace smiled and shook his hand firmly. She couldn't take her jade green eyes off of his nut brown eyes. It wasn't until someone coughed that they realized that they were still shaking hands. They quickly withdrew their hands, the blonde turning a shade of crimson.

"I'm Barry Kramer. Dan and I are roommates," the gentleman who had come in right after Dan introduced himself and offered his hand as well. Grace shook it firmly and quickly.

"And most importantly, I'm Ross O'Donovan," the final man belted, shoving his hand into hers.

"Goddammit, Ross, don't scare her," Dan ordered. Ross looked up at the tan and gangly man before sticking out his tongue.

"Looks like you lot have already done a good enough job with that," he said with an international, but not exactly place-able accent, "I think you and my wife would get along nicely, but she had to do some extra work at her office tonight to get a project done by the end of the week. That's why she couldn't eat dinner with us tonight."

Grace smiled and felt better about being in the strange house. The boys went into the living room to play some videogame as Suzy and Grace worked on dinner together. The hostess cooked the pasta as the blonde prepared the salad and the bread.

Small talk filled the kitchen before Grace's curiosity began to spill out. "So, Ross's wife isn't coming. Are Dan's and Barry's girlfriends coming? Or are they… y'know?" Suzy nearly dropped the pot she was stirring the sauce in. She began to laugh.

"You're asking if Dan and Barry are gay?" she giggled. Grace blushed before tossing the salad to hide her humiliation. "No," Suzy responded, "Dan and Barry are pretty far from truly gay. And they're both single. But that's a good question." An awkward silence fell over the women as they continued to fix the food.

Grace finally broke the quietness, "I'm sorry. I'm… just really not used to social stuff. I'm super-awkward. Sorry." She put the bread into the oven as Suzy continued to stir the meat into the sauce. She smiled.

"You're fine," she assured the 28-year-old, "You probably think you're a lot more awkward than you are. I really just like having someone to cook with. A girl to spend time with, y'know? I spend time with the guys, mostly, and I don't get to really hang out with Holly, Ross's wife much because of her work and stuff. I mean, she's busy, and it's fine, and I guess that's another reason I put out that ad. I really do need a female friend. And you seem to be perfect for the job, as well."

Grace put the plates, silverware, napkins, and cups onto the dining table. Suzy placed a pitcher of ice water onto the table as the buzzer rang for the bread. "Gracie, will you please go ask each of the boys what they'd like to drink other than water?"

"Of course," Grace answered as she made her way into the noisy living room, where the boys were yelling at each other.

"No fucking way, man!" Arin yelled as a character flew off screen.

"Uhm, excuse me," the small young lady muttered, but to no avail. The guys didn't hear her and continued to catcall each other. "Ahem," she cleared her throat a bit louder. Danny turned his head and noticed her standing behind the couch.

"Oh, shit!" he belted, "Hey, pause it." The screen went still with several options on it. All the men turned to look at Grace and she could feel the pinkness traveling to her face. Dan smirked, "What do you need?"

"Uh, Suzy asked me if anyone wanted anything other than water. I think she made a fresh pitcher of lemonade, so that's an option, too, to let you guys know," she stammered.

"I'm just going to drink water," Arin answered.

"I'd like Pepsi," Dan replied.

"Lemonade actually sounds really nice. I'll take some of that," Barry said.

"I want lemonade, too, please!" Ross proclaimed.

"Okay, th- thanks," Grace breathed as she retreated to the kitchen. She prepared the drinks and everything was set for dinner. Suzy called the guys in and they sat down around the table. Grace sat between Suzy and Ross, across from Danny. They all began shoveling food onto their plates and were soon laughing and talking around the table as they enjoyed the exceptional pasta meal.

"So, Miss Grace," Barry started, "Where are you from?"

"Oh, I'm, uh, originally from LaFayette, Georgia. But, uh, I lived in Waverly Hall, Georgia for nearly all of my teen years. Then, once I was eighteen and old enough to move out, I had enough cash to move up to Alberta with my Auntie Corliss. She had a second home here in L.A. that she left to me when she passed away about a year ago," Grace responded as she twirled the spaghetti onto her fork. She knew everyone was looking at her, but she had no interest in acknowledge their pity for her.

"What about the rest of your family?" Ross asked, sincerely.

"Uh, we… don't talk much. We … don't see eye to eye on a whole lot of things," she mumbled before taking a mouthful of noodles to avoid further questions.

"We can't wait to get to know you better," Danny said. Grace looked up at him and his crazy hair. He was grinning from ear to ear before taking a huge bite of garlic bread.

How is he so charming? Grace wondered as she wiped her mouth with the napkin, even though there was no sauce on her face. They made small talk and asked about how Grace had liked L.A. so far. She mentioned that she really hadn't been anywhere outside of her neighborhood or anywhere of importance.

"Well, where are you living?" Arin asked.

"Oh, I actually live over on Franklin Avenue. Near where Peter Samson's Deli is."

"Seriously?!" Barry screeched, nearly spitting out his lemonade.

Grace frowned. Was that a bad part of town… or snobby? "Uh, yes, is that a problem?" she answered, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth.

"No way!" Dan exclaimed, "We live in the apartment building on Delano Street! We're only two streets away from you!"

"Are you kidding me?" Grace actually spoke louder than she had all evening, "I know exactly where that is! That's, like, two streets away!"

"Do you just want us to take you home, then, so you don't have to pay bus fare, and since we're headed that way anyways?" Dan requested.

A thump was heard underneath the table and Danny's face writhed in pain as Suzy spoke up, "She might not want to go with two strange men at night after thinking that we were cannibals, Dan."

"No, no, that'd be wonderful," Grace assured Suzy, "I really don't want to inconvenience you and Arin. They're gonna be going towards my house anyways, so there's no reason for me not to accept their offer. So, thank you Danny, I'd be glad to hitch a ride back with you guys."

Everyone finished dinner and they sat around talking for a little bit. "My turn for questions," Grace mustered up the courage to say, "What do you guys do? Or how do you know each other? Like, what's the deal here?"

The friends took turns explaining that they were part of some YouTube channels that did things different things, such as animation, music, videogames, and makeup tutorials. Grace found it really interesting that they made money by making entertaining videos and it suddenly occurred to her that she would soon be a part of all this.

After sitting around for a while, Suzy began to clean and Arin began to help. Barry gathered the stuff on the table and Grace began to get up to help with the washing of the dishes and such. "No, Gracie, you sit down. You helped make dinner. The boys can help clean," Suzy said, a tone of threat looming in her voice and Dan and Ross shot up to help as Grace lowered herself back into her chair.

"Can we play Pictionary after we're done getting everything put in the dishwasher?" Dan asked, a child-like manner in the way he asked, as if he was a kid asking his mom and dad. Suzy looked at Arin and Arin returned the gaze.

"Sure, but we'll have to draw names," Suzy answered. It had been forever since Grace had played Pictionary. Barry refreshed her memory on the rules as Ross and Danny went to find paper, a hat, and the Pictionary game. They all sat in the living room and gathered around the coffee table. After much discuss and debate, it was decided that the two ladies and Barry should be the ones to pull the names out of the random hat. Danny, Arin, and Ross each had their names written on a piece of paper, and then thrown into the hat. Since she was truly the guest, Grace pulled first. It took her a moment to grasp a piece of paper, but she pulled out the folded sheet and flattened it out. Big sloppy letters spelled out "Danny" on the small white sheet.

"Danny," she read, looking at the skinny man, who beamed at her before moving to sit next to her. Suzy pulled out Ross's name, which only left Barry to choose Arin. They began playing and Dan's inability to draw shone through to Grace as she giggled at his failed attempts. Her attempts weren't much greater, considering that each of the other teams had an animator on it, but somehow they managed to win in the end.

"What the fuck?" Arin asked when Dan reached across Grace to move their piece to the winning space. Dan offered his teammate a high five and she delivered. Everyone ended up saying good game to each other and the videogame console was turned back on and Suzy announced that she was going to make some coffee. They didn't play the same game they had been playing earlier, but they were just as competitive. The scent of coffee drifted into the room and Dan got up to fix himself a cup.

"Can I fix you a cup, Grace?" he asked, out of politeness, she was sure.

"Absolutely not. You'd either ruin my coffee or make fun of me for the way I take it," she teased lightly. As Suzy exited the kitchen, Dan and Grace went in and he pulled out a coffee mug for both of them. Danny poured his cup full of the black liquid as Grace filled the mug one fourth of the way with creamer before adding four packs of sugar and pouring the dark fluid into her cup. He took a big slurp before letting out a relieved sigh, as if the coffee had taken away any and every trouble he'd ever had.

"Ew," Grace moaned, "You drink yours straight black?"

"Don't tell me you're a coffee racist," he joked.

"If mine isn't the color of my skin, it's not perfect."

"Oh my God," he rolled his eyes.

They laughed as Grace stirred her coffee with a spoon. Dan set his coffee on the counter and pushed himself up to sit next to it. Damn, Grace mused, how the hell is he this smooth?

Her thoughts were interrupted by an earsplitting bang and Dan screaming "Fuck!" as he bashed the back of his head against a cabinet. This scared Grace and caused her to drop her coffee.

Almost in slow motion, the coffee spilled on her, and it hurt at first, but after she heard the crashing of the porcelain mug on the floor the pain was numbed by the anxiety attack that overwhelmed her. She flashed back to a childhood memory of her mother standing in front of her and seeing the broken coffee mug on the floor. She remembered the sound of her drunken father stumbling into the room, the sound of his belt coming off. "I swear," the slurred words of the horrid man echoed in her head, "if you broke my mug, it's gonna hurt like hell, bitch."

Grace was frozen in a state of panic. Dan was trying to ask if she was okay as tears streamed down her face. "Oh my God, Suzy, Arin! Get in here! I need help, NOW!" he screeched. They burst into the room to see the scene that had taken place and began to scatter in order to take care of it. Danny looked down to see the coffee stain down her pastel pink flower print mid-thigh skirt and saw not only burns on her legs, but also cuts from the porcelain that had bounced back from the floor. Dan placed a hand on Grace's face to make her look up at him. "Hey, are you alright?" he questioned.

The blankness in her eyes disappeared after a few blinks and she brought her hands to her eyes. "Oh, my God, I am so sorry. I… I didn't mean to break it. I am so sorry… it was an accident… don't be mad, please… please don't be mad," she whispered.

"Hey, don't be worried about the stupid fucking mug, are you okay? No one's mad about the mug. You're burned. C'mon with me," Dan murmured before he leaned down to allow her to put her weight on him. He led her to the bathroom where he made her sit on the toilet seat lid. "I'm sorry about your skirt, I'm sure Suzy has a remedy for it, let's see what we can do with this burn," he rambled as Grace whimpered. He pulled a washcloth out of a cabinet and wet it with cool water and gently placed it on the burnt areas. Tears gushed from Grace's eyes as the pain became more intense. "We need to get something on those cuts. I'm sorry," he mentioned as he squirted Hydrogen Peroxide onto another cloth. He dabbed the fabric across her legs and she physically flinched at the pain. "Oh, God, I am so sorry, Grace," he whispered as she grasped tightly to his bony shoulder.

She pressed her face into his chest and sobbed quietly as he continued to tend to her wounds. She finally calmed down a bit and was able to thank him for everything. He half-smiled and said that it wasn't a problem. "I'm seriously sorry about the mug, though," she uttered again, "I'll pay to get them a new one. I'll clean up the coffee, too. God, I'm so sorry."

Danny shook his head, the look on his face confused, "Why the hell are you so concerned about the mug? Arin and Suzy don't care. They're much more concerned about whether or not you're okay."

A sweet voice interjected, "Yeah, there's no reason to be upset. Oh, you got it all over your cute skirt. If you change out of that, I'll get those cleaned for you by tomorrow. Let me go find something for you to change into." The dark haired hostess turned from the bathroom entrance and went to hunt for some clothes for Grace to turn into.

Danny and Grace sat in silence for a few minutes as Dan began to place bandages on her cuts. "So… is that a normal thing?" Dan finally shattered the stillness. Grace cocked her head to the side in order to ask what he meant. "Y'know … that whole trance thing where you totally blanked out. It looked like you were having some kind of anxiety attack or something." Grace pursed her lips and looked everywhere but at Danny.

"Uh, well… I don't have attacks often, if that's what you're asking, because I'm not actually social enough to deal with any anxiety. But when I do have them, they're either that bad or worse," she breathed, feeling the blood rushing to her face. She held the washcloth in her lap and it felt relieving against her skin. The tall man put the last of the bandages on her legs silently. Suzy returned with a worn looking pair of men's pajama pants and an army green shirt. Dan turned his head to look at the young woman.

"Is that one of the Experience shirts?" Dan asked, a smile extending over his face.

Suzy nodded, "It's yours. Do you mind?" He shook his head and took the folded clothes from her to hand to Grace. "You can change into those, Gracie, and I'll wash your skirt here," the married lady added.

The two left Grace by herself in the bathroom and closed the door behind them. She locked it so no one would walk in on her. She didn't need any further embarrassment. She pulled off her top, which she noticed had a stain from dinner that looked like spaghetti sauce. She replaced it with the t-shirt that was allegedly Danny's. It definitely smelled like him. Once she got it on, she realized that it must have been one of their merchandising shirts. It had a cartoon version of his face on it with huge letters saying "I'm Not-So Grump". It smelled like him, though, so she suspected that he actually wore it around as well.

She slipped off her skirt with a bit of difficulty as she tried to avoid touching the burns. The pajama pants had to be Barry's that he had left over at some time because they were much too short to be anyone else's. They were only a little big on Grace (which was good because they were not tight against the burns), but they were the perfect length. She bundled up her skirt and shirt and walked out of the bathroom. Suzy met her and grabbed the clothes from her hands. "I'll take care of these!" she chimed as she floated away, "You go back and hang in the living room with the guys. You just relax." Grace nodded and made her way into the living room where the boys were playing a much quieter game. Grace sat in an armchair to watch. She felt so exhausted. She nearly dozed off when she heard her name.

"Grace, are you about ready to go?" Dan laughed as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She nodded. "What about you, Barry? You ready?"

"I actually need to stay over here tonight in order to finish up some editing. Arin and Suzy are letting me crash on the couch," answered Barry.

Grace stood up and thanked Suzy and Arin for their hospitality and said goodbye to Ross and Barry before following Danny out to his car. She got into his very average looking car and shut the door and he did the same. "I want to know your triggers," Dan demanded. Grace was shocked at how forceful he sounded. "You don't need to have any more anxiety attacks. Someone needs to know what triggers them. You might as well tell me. We've got time. It'll take us at least thirty minutes to get across town." He cranked the vehicle. The radio came on, but he quickly turned it down to give her the opportunity to talk.

"My whole story is a little long and pretty bitter. Basically, my parents were drunks, I was beaten, I ran away, I have anxiety attacks if something breaks or if there's yelling or loud noises. Does that answer your question?" Grace mumbled. Sympathy crossed over Danny's face.

"God… That's awful. I'm so sorry," he apologized.

"It isn't your fault," the blonde grumbled, "so don't pity me. It's all in the past. I haven't seen or heard from my mother, father, or two brothers since before the turn of the millennium. I don't care if I never see them again. The only memories I have of my parents are bad."

Dan pursed his lips as he kept his eyes on the road. The radio played softly as a quiet anger filled Grace, and suddenly she stated, "Fuck you. I don't need your goddamn pity. I didn't ask for this shitty fucking life. So why don't you just let me be and leave those stupid fucking looks at home next time or I'll punch them out of you."

Dan was surprised at her language and her threats. "Sorry," he muttered, "I didn't mean…"

"Stop being sorry."

He clenched his jaw tight. Grace could tell that he was pretty pissed at what she had said, but she was pretty pissed at the world. The feelings of being alone swept across her again. A sensation of nausea filled her stomach and she pressed her head against the window as she crossed her arms over her chest angrily. Slowly, her arms moved down to hold her stomach and she closed her eyes to allow tears to run down her cheeks.

"Is my driving making you sick?" Dan asked through his teeth. He was seething. He hadn't done anything wrong. Yet, this girl, this cute blonde girl that he would be working with for who knows how long already hated him for no reason even though he had been nothing but nice to her. He thought about how he had treated her burns and cuts and how he had offered to give her a ride home and about how he was letting her borrow his shirt and now she sat there an angry mess and somehow he was to blame.

"I-I'm sorry, what?" Grace responded in tears. She had been focusing on trying to not puke her guts out. His face relaxed as he turned on his hazard lights and pulled over to park on the side of the dark road; he turned the key so that the car was just running off the battery but the engine was not on. "W-why did you stop?" her voice was nervous and tense, and she was incredibly scared. Though she had been threatening moments ago, there was no way she could fight this tall man. He'd easily overpower her and take anything he wanted from her. She squeezed her eyes together willing the achiness to disappear so that she could at least try and fight back if he pulled anything on her. She clicked her seatbelt off to try to ease some of the tension off of her stomach, but it didn't have as much of an effect as she hoped. At least I'll be able to get away without the restraint, she thought.

"I think… uh… hold on…" he remarked before unbuckling himself and reaching over towards her. She moved away from him, but he was not reaching for her, but rather for the glove compartment, where he pulled out a bottle of Tums. "It says take two to four based on how bad you feel. They're chewable. Do you want some water or something? I think I have an unopened bottle of water in the back." He reached into the backseat to feel around after handing her the bottle. She shook out three tablets and he found the small eight ounce bottle of water that hadn't been opened yet. "It's warm though," he mentioned apologetically.

Grace chewed the fruity tablets before washing the powdery flavor down with the warm water. Dan tapped his fingers quickly against the steering wheel, as if he was trying to find some way to occupy himself. "I'm… really sorry," Grace whispered with regret in her voice, "I really shouldn't have yelled at you. You have been nothing but gracious to me all night. It's really hard for me to trust people. My past is not your fault, but I shouldn't scream at you for wanting to be nice to me. I just don't want to be pitied, y'know? Despite all the shit that I've trudged through, I'm here now. That's what matters. Everything that has ever happened to me is never gonna change. There's no point in crying over milk that was spilled in 1992, because it's either been cleaned up or it's spoiled by now."

They were both intent on looking at each other that they didn't notice the blue and red lights that pulled up behind them until the police officer tapped on the window. The two adults jumped as and turned to see the officer shining a flashlight in their faces and using a dated circular motion to signal Dan to roll down his window.

Dan was obedient and the officer inquired, "You two doing alright this evening?"

"Yes, sir," Dan responded immediately.

The officer looked at Grace, "And how are you, ma'am? Is this fellow bothering you?" Grace noticed her body language was still very shut down, her arms across her chest and her knees pointed towards the passenger side door.

"Oh, no, he's not bothering me. He's my boyfriend," Grace lied, "We just… uh… thought… we'd uh… pull over and…" She pretended to move her clothes back into the appropriate position as she laid a hand on Danny's thigh and moving towards him in her seat, "Talk about some movies." The cop was not buying the movie bullshit, but that is exactly what she wanted. She took Dan's arm and wrapped it tightly around her waist, letting his hand come to rest on this inside of her hip so that outer fingers were barely brushing her thighs. "Baby, it's getting, uh, pretty late. Maybe we should get back to the house so we can finish… uh… watching that movie…y'know… the one we were… just talking about?" Dan was utterly confused and the cop was buying into the idea that they had stopped on the side of the road to bang.

"Well, next time you pull over to 'talk about movies,' don't put your hazards on," the cop warned before tapping the top of the car and walking off.

"Thank you, officer!" Grace yelled with a nearly seductive tone before whispering, "Roll up your window and turn the hazards off." Danny obeyed and they sat silently until they heard the policeman's engine start. Grace pulled Dan into her neck and she put her face to his, grabbing the back of his head; as the officer drove by it definitely looked like they were kissing. Once they were sure that the officer was gone, both let out a sigh of relief and relaxed.

"I just saved your ass," Grace said, not realizing that her left hand was still on Dan's thigh and that his arm was still secure around her.

"How did you just 'save my ass' by lying to a cop?" Danny inquired, trying to be charming since she had already gone as far as to claim him as a boyfriend.

"He thought you had kidnapped me and that you were trying to rape me. He would've never believed a story about me being sick, especially with how my body language was. If I had said, 'N-no, we just pulled over because I wasn't feeling well,' then he probably would have called you in and tailed you home. Lord knows that my neighbor might have already called the police since she doesn't know I had dinner with you guys. So he might actually have been looking for someone of my description. But he would never arrest someone that I had affection for. And, viola! The story of how I saved your sorry ass from becoming a sex offender is revealed."

Dan smiled and abruptly they were simultaneously both aware of how close they were to each other. "You gonna take your hand off my thigh, or are you coming onto me, Miss Saved-My-Ass?" Dan teased with a killer smirk.

"Says the man whose hand is caressing my hip?" she retorted as she pulled her hands off of him and crossed her arms again over her chest.

"You put it there!" he laughed accusatorily.

"You kept it there!" she mocked in return.

He paused as a smile widened across his face. "I… can't exactly deny that," he chuckled, glancing down at Grace. She grabbed his right hand and flung it off of her.

"Shut the fuck up and drive," she spat, buckling herself into her seat.

"Yes, ma'am," he grinned. Danny strapped himself in and started the car. He turned up the volume on the radio and the station played a song they both knew. They started out singing it quietly, but by the second chorus, they were belting it out with the windows rolled down. Moments after the song ended, Dan turned onto Grace's street and so she had to tell him which house was hers.

"It's the fifth one on the left. You can just pull into the driveway," she remarked, still smiling from the high that the song had given her. Dan did so and turned the car off.

"Do you want me to walk you to the door?" Dan asked, although he was already getting out of the car to walk with her anyways.

"Well, we need to walk to Mrs. Pace's door and let her know that I'm home and I'm safe and not dead and that she needs to call off all the search parties that she probably has out," explained Grace. Dan walked close to her side as they made their way through her yard to the older lady's home. The blonde girl rang the doorbell and glanced up at Dan. He was leaning against the brick beneath the archway, thinking. Or, it seemed like he was thinking. For all she knew he could've been deciding on what he was going to eat when he got home.

He was thinking, though, about how one day he wanted a house with a doorbell. Maybe it would be in this neighborhood. Maybe it would be in Europe. He didn't really care about the details. He just knew that one day he wanted to upgrade from his shitty apartment (which, come to think about it, wasn't as bad as he made it seem) to a real home, like Arin and Suzy.

A young man, who couldn't be more than 22 years old, answered the door. "Hey, Grace," he said, a twinge of admiration in his voice, just like you would find in a schoolboy who had a crush on his teacher.

"Hi, Cameron, can I talk to your grandmother?" Grace asked, sounding more than a little aggravated. Danny could tell that she had not wanted Cameron to answer the door.

"Sure, come on in!" he pointedly said to her, ignoring Dan completely. Grace grabbed Dan's wrist and dragged him inside despite that he wasn't invited. Mrs. Marlene Pace, a woman of 72 years, sat in a rocking chair in the living room of the house nervously knitting some thick yarn.

"Hello, Mrs. Pace!" called Grace loudly, lugging Danny behind her. The white-haired elder looked up from her stitches and saw the young woman in front of the tall fellow and a look of relief washed over her face.

"Hello, dearie! I was going to give you until Midnight before I called the police," she creaked with a very stereotypical grandma voice, "You cut it very close tonight." She glanced at the clock, which revealed that it was nearly 11 o'clock. "Who is that handsome fellow behind you? Is he spending the night at your home?'

The three young faces burned bright red at the question. "N-no, Mrs. Pace, he is my new co-worker. He lives a few streets over and just gave me a ride home." The wrinkly woman became immediately uninterested as soon as there was nothing scandalous going on between the two of them. "Well, I need to get to bed, bye," Grace exclaimed before towing her friend out of the house as quickly as possible. They got off of the neighbor's property and were able to relax.

"He sure has a thing for you," Dan joked.

Grace groaned, "I know. He only visits occasionally, but it's miserable when he does." Dan and Grace walked to the door of her house and she got her keys out and unlocked it with ease. She thanked her newfound friend for everything and awkwardly shook his hand before retreating into her home. She closed and locked the door and went upstairs to her bed where she hit the pillow and instantly fell asleep after a very long day.