�Road To Nowhere� Chapter 11: Nobody's Watching

Dan finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher before making any attempt to answer the door. 'Whoever it is can wait,' he thought to himself. When the last bowl was safely tucked away, he dried his hands on the dishrag and walked calmly to the door. He opened the door and proceeded to slam it shut when he saw Courtney standing on the other side. He put his back to the door and took a deep breath.

Courtney knocked softly on the door. "Dan? Are you okay? It's just me."

Dan reopened the door and felt chills running up his spine. He felt the goose bumps forming on his arms and legs. That warm feeling swept over his body. He was so glad to see her standing at his doorstep. "Hey Courtney. What are you doing here?" he asked nervously.

"I needed someone to talk to," Courtney looked away from Dan's face. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure! Come on in!" Dan held the door open for her. He led her to the couch and they sat down. "So..."

Courtney looked around at the humble surroundings. She couldn't imagine living somewhere like this. "I, um, my dad, well, yeah," Courtney managed to get out.

Dan wiped his hands on his pants. His palms were sweating just being alone with Courtney. He wanted to impress her so badly, but there seemed to be something else on her mind. "Courtney? Is there something you need to talk about?"

"My dad brought home this skanky hoe home with him and got her way drunk. I was like 'what the hell?' and she was like 'don't talk to me like that'. And then I left. I got in my car and drove. I just drove. I wasn't planning on coming here; I was going to go to Chelsea's. But she wouldn't understand so then I was going to Matt's. But I didn't want to hear his response. Then I ended up on your front porch. I didn't know whether to ring the bell or not, but then I rang it and no one answered for a while so I figured you wouldn't understand either. And I had this overwhelming feeling that nobody cared about me, and it was just too much," Courtney paused. She looked up at Dan's face, which was staring at her, listening to her every word.

She hadn't meant to lay everything out on the table like that. It wasn't his fault that her dad was never there for her and she sure didn't need his sympathy. He had his own problems to worry about, she was sure. She looked down at the baby blue Nikes on her feet. She looked at her Tommy jeans. She felt so stupid coming here and burdening Dan with her problems like that. She knew that she had it so much better off than he did and he probably couldn't care less who her dad brought home. The tears burned her eyes, but she couldn't cry.

"No, Courtney, I care," Dan said almost reading her mind. "I'm glad you came here." Dan moved closer to her.

In a moment of weakness, vulnerability, and passion, the two kissed. In the middle of the gray living room, they shared a moment of intensity. Courtney let go of all her fears. Dan felt his heart race as he finally showed Courtney how the world was supposed to be. They only pulled away from each other when the taste of salty tears entered their kiss. Neither knew whose tears they were, but once they had pulled away, they realized that they were both crying. So deeply moved by the kiss and revelation that things could be good, had brought the tears to their eyes.

"Dan, I've got to go," Courtney said brushing the tears off her cheek.

"Court, it's okay. Nobody's watching, no one will know you cried over a kiss," Dan said wiping away his own tears.

"Dan, it's not that. I just don't trust myself right now," Courtney got up and walked to the door. Before opening the door she turned around and faced Dan. "Thank you."

Dan watched as Courtney opened the door and walked to her car. Words couldn't express how deep the 'thank you' went. Dan had shown Courtney how life could be if she tried. Courtney had shown Dan that the best things in life were not in possessions but rather in feelings. And while nobody was watching, they had both grown in so many ways that no one would ever be able to explain.

* * * *

Courtney awoke the next morning feeling better about the world and herself. She hadn't gone straight home after she had left Dan's house the day before. She had driven around and ended up at the mall. Shopping for shoes always made her feel better. Spending her dad's money made her feel a lot better.

After she took a long shower, she dressed in khaki pants, a baby blue tank top, and black knee high boots. She put light blue eye shadow on and snuck out the door before her father could question her about yesterday. When she was safely in her car, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She made it to school a half hour before any of her friends would arrive. Sitting in her homeroom working on last night's homework, she thought of the perfect way to repay Dan for his kindness. She would invite him to go shopping for her new outfit for homecoming with her. She knew that he wouldn't know what to wear, so she would just help him along. Plus she could spend more of her dad's money. What could be better?

Courtney smiled to herself as Matt came racing into the classroom. "Court! There you are!"

"Hey Matt, what's going on?" Courtney asked confused as why Matt was at school so early.

"Your dad called me this morning. He wondered why you didn't come home last night," Matt sat next to Courtney. "Why didn't you go home last night? And where were you?"

"I went home. I was in bed. I left before he got up. Did you hear a woman in the background?" Courtney asked coldly, angry that her father would accuse her of staying out all night when he was doing who knows what with Cynthia.

"Actually yeah. What is going on with you and your dad?" Matt asked equally confused.

"We had a fight after he brought home some slut last night," Courtney closed the topic. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Aww, Court. I'm sorry about that. Why didn't you come over or at least call me?" Matt asked with sad puppy dog eyes.

"I went over to Dan's house," Courtney said flatly.

Matt's emotions washed away with the mention of Dan's name. He had wanted to hook Courtney and Dan up at first, but things were going way too far. He cared about Courtney and he knew Dan would break her heart. He couldn't bear to see it happen.

"Just be careful with him, Court," Matt said as he got up and left.

"Whatever," Courtney muttered as she watched in confusion as Matt left the room.

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