Chapter 10

I woke up alone.

I sat straight up in the darkness, my heart pounding, and the rest of my body starting to shake. Where was he?

"Danny?" I whispered into the darkness. My voice cracked, and I immediately felt the tears rush to my eyes.

A hand appeared from the darkness, and slipped around my waist.

"Shh..." he whispered.

I realized he hadn't gone anywhere, but had let me stretch out on the hay, with his button down shirt draped over me.

I pulled myself off the ground and towards him. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and his skin was soft to the touch. I tucked the shirt around us, and slipped my arms around his waist.

In the darkness, I almost fell asleep again, until I saw a light coming down the road.

It was a car, driving quickly, but what seemed to be as quietly as possible.

I shook Danny awake, and together we listened, barely breathing.

We heard the car stop, and then watched someone open the huge barn door. Thank god there was bales of hay all around, and no one would see us. We were tucked in a corner near a window, but stationed so a bale of hay hid us from the moonlight.

The car (actually more like van) pulled into the barn, and someone shut the door again.

Someone got out of the car, and we heard two people go to the door, and open it. A woman started screaming as she was pulled from the car.

There was a slapping sound, and a soft moan.

The moan was echoed in Danny.

To my questioning look, the painful expression on his face deepened.

"Mom," he mouthed.

There was a small shout, and another slapping noise.

"Dad," he mouthed.

There was scuffling of feet, and then the trap door opened, and the people disappeared inside.

Shortly later, someone returned through the door, opened the barn door, got into the car, pulled out, and reshut the door before driving off.

It was quiet, except for Danny's breathing.

It was choppy and stifled, every once in a while with a sharp intake.

I looked up to find tears streaming down his cheeks.

I felt a sympathetic look come onto my face.

I took the edge of the flannel sleeve, and wiped the tears off his face.

His eyes looked different than they had in a long time.

They were full of pain.

There was no hatred, instead there was love. And this love was obviously causing him some pain. I found his hand with my other, and squeezed it tight. I put my arms around his neck, and pulled myself to him.

He didn't tense, but relaxed into my arms, pulling me as tight as he could to him.

The next thing I knew, his lips had found their way to mine, and he was kissing me softly.

There was something about the way I felt when I was kissing him ... it was different from how I had ever felt. And trust me, I had had enough kissing experience to know when I was really feeling something.

Um yeah ... aren't we supposed to be in the middle of a kidnapping crime, not a love story? We're gettin' there! Will you just let me enjoy this über important and significant moment as I hook up with the guy I used to want to kill? Thaannk you!

Eventually, I pulled away and looked at my watch.

In the moonlight it read 4:30.

"Should we go?" I whispered to him.

He nodded.

He slipped back into his shirt, we climbed down the latter, and he took my hand as we slipped out.

We wandered away from the road, and in the direction of the city.

Soon, we could barely see the warehouse, and the sky was just beginning to brighten.

"We should call my parents," I eventually spoke. We had barely said two words since we left the warehouse/barn.

He nodded. I knew what was going on in his head.

"Danny, it's okay ... they're going to be fine. They found us, we're going to find them and get these guys..."

He nodded, and again I noticed the glisten of tears starting to fill his eyes.

"Oh Danny..." I murmured and stopped, pulling him towards me.