Sara groaned as she pulled shirts and pants from her duffle and threw them on the floor. She had nothing to wear. Everything was either wrinkled or not good enough for a date with Brian.

"Sara," Dani said entering the hotel room. "Did we have a burglar or something?"

Sara turned to face her and burst into tears.

"Sara, you have to quit crying," Dani said giving her best friend a hug. "For one thing, there is nothing to cry about."

"Yeah there is!" Sara exclaimed. "I have nothing to wear, and even if I did, what if he took me someplace where the outfit would be out of style?"

"What's really wrong with you Sara?" Dani asked losing patience with her. "Your'e never this down on yourself. You get on my case when i'm down on myself."

Sara sighed before laying down on her bed. "I don't know. I'm so unsure about everything. Myself in particular."

Dani sat beside her but didn't say any thing for a minute. "Sara, you remember in tenth grade when you told me how one day you'd be rich and famous and married to the man of your dreams before you're thirty."

"No," Sara said confused.

"Oh right, that was me," Dani said smiling. "You were the one to tell me that you didn't dream of fame and money. I still think you are wierd about that." Sara rolled her eyes but Dani caught the smile that lit her face. "You said that all you wanted was a romance. A true romance. One that would make you weak in the knees adn the one guy that would, was your soul mate."

Sara grimaced. "I was a very cheesey romantic."

"No, Sara, you may be a romantic but there's nothing cheesey about it," Dani said sternly. "I like that about you. Your belief that there is one person out there for everyone seems a bit foolish but every thing else is cute. It's you."

"Yeah well, now I have met reality. THe guy I described doesn't exist," Sara said staring at the ceiling.

"Sara LyLeth Grosfield! That's it!" Dani yelled glaring at her. "You are going to quit moping right now and get ready for your date. Cuz I believe Brian could be that guy, the guy for you."

Sara turned to look at her. "No he isn't."

"I'm not going to argue with you," Dani said standing up. "Get dressed."

"What do I wear?"

Dani growled at her before digging through the clothes.

"Ya know, I heard a rumor today," Sara said slyly.

Dani froze. "Um...really. And what would that be?"

"Taht you and AJ are...you know...a couple," sAra said smiling. "What's up with that? I'm your best friend and you didn't bother to tell me you like AJ instead of Wade."

"Wea re not a couple! We are friends and barely that right now," Dani said sadly.

Sara held up her hands. "Sorry, I didn't know. Then why does everybody think you are a couple?" She asked confused.

"Because, well...we're pretending to be a couple to make Kayla jealous so she'll admit she likes him," Dani said quietly.

Sara nodded. "I, um, okay. WHy are you barely friends?"

Dani shrugged her shoulders. "I dont know. I am ignoring him right now because of everything."

"THen you know what you have to do," Sara said seriously.

Dani nodded this time. "Well, I'll most likely be asleep when you get back but I want to hear everything. Do not leave a thing out."

"Okay, I'll take notes," Sara said sarcastically.

"Good idea," Dani said smiling. "Have fun!"

Sara watched Dani leave and looked around. THe room looked like a tornado had run through her clothes once again.

Dani paced in front of AJ's hotel room. She had no idea what to say to him. How to start the conversation, or even how to act? AJ was a friend, possibly one of the best she oculd have. He understood her.

Dani raised her hand and before she could changer her mind, knocked three times quickly.

AJ knew as soon as he saw who it was that Dani had somehting on her mind. She had been ignoring him since her talk with Wade. He had watched them together and knew, even from twenty feet away, that there was something there.

"Hey," she said quietly.

AJ just smiled before grabbing her hand and pulling her into a hug. HE felt her shudder and knew that she was near tears.

"What's with the tears?" he asked patiently once they started to fall. He gently wiped them away with his pointer finger.

"Alex, do you like me?" Dani asked catching him off gaurd.

"Yes DAni but as a friend," AJ said only slightly confused. He had a hunch where this going.

"You never could think of me as anything more," Dani said softly. She made her way to the farthest bed from AJ.

"Dani, yes there was a time I saw you as something that possibly could be more," he said walking over to her. "The first time I saw you I was attracted to you. To your temper. You remember that first day."

"I was such a bitch," Dani said embarrassed. "How did you stand me?"

"Barely, I wanted to wring your neck so bad," AJ said nodding his head. "Yep, you were a bitch."

Dani opened her mouth to yell at him but froze when she realized her was teasing.

"Dani not to dredge up bad memories but why did you hate us so much?" he asked praying he wasn't overstepping his boundries of being a friend.

Dani satred at him for what seemed like an eternity but in actual reality, it was a couple minutes. Her eyes never wavered from his. Her face was devoid of emotion and it looked like she was in another place.

"Four months prior to that meeting, I thought my life had ended," Dani began in a voice that trembled with hurt.

AJ listened as Dani described that period of her life. He couldn't even begin to process the kind of pain she had gone through. She had gone from an over-confident person to some one that doubted her every move. And she felt herself going back to that place.

"Dani," AJ said after she had finished. "If I were you, I'd be wary of men too. Neil sounds like an ass."

"See, I'm not wary of men. I'm wary of commitment," Dani said smiling. "And yes, Neil is an ass." A moment of silence passed. "That story leads to this question. When I first met you, you seemed interested in me but all of a sudden it was Kayla."

AJ sighed. "I was attracted to you both. But in different ways. I was...wel...sexually attracted to Kayla. But I'm attracted to you as you are to me."

What if I said I was sexually attracted to you?" Dani asked staring at her hands.

"I'd call you a liar because we both know all we'll have is friendship," AJ said lifting her face so they were looking at eachother's eyes. "And besides, you like Wade."

Dani opened her mouth to protest but once again knew it would be pointless. AJ already knew she liked him, and if she said she didn't, she'd be probing him right.

"A little," she mumbled finally.

AJ chuckled as he layed down on the bed. He opened his arms and siad,"come here." Dani let herself be held by the one man who she truly trusted. AJ made her feel better and for that he deserved far more than her gratitude but that's all she had to offer.

Dani closed her eyes. She was so tired and emotionally unstable. All she needed was asleep and she smiled to herself as the consious world faded away.