Danny laughed at Vera's sour expression the following morning, she looked like a child throwing a tantrum. "Vera, you did not honestly think I would hurt you like he's hurt you. You are not like other women and I am not like other men. Kissing was enough, Vera," his gaze turned serious as he reached out to tuck away a stray strand of hair falling on Vera's face, "it should be enough."

“I’m going home.” Vera said, the frown still evident on her features as she reached down to grab her bag from the floor.

“Why?” Danny mused delighted and disappointed at the same time.

“My Dad’s coming home…” A glint of a smile made its way to her eyes before looking downcast, “… and… I’m going to clear things up with my boyfriend… you know… break up with him… Besides I have school tomorrow…” Her words were feeble as if attempting to make an argument to convince herself. “I don’t know when I’ll be back…” She trailed off, her eyes lifting to look at Danny, half expecting Danny to convince her to stay.

Danny only smiled; a kind and warm treasuring smile, and reached his hand up to brush against her cheek. “Take as long as you need, I will wait and be ready to listen, you may come at any time you desire, I will be here.” Hidden shock crossed Vera’s features and she turned her head away from him. “Go,” he urged quietly, “ so you will have the opportunity to live again.” She still did not budge. “Go, this will always be a place you can return to.” She turned in a rush, gone from the mansion with the swish of her hair.

Danny fell back into a newly furnished wooden chair, a sigh of content slipped through his lips, wishing her all the luck in the world. “Haven’t I told you yet?” Danny whispered quietly, his smile suddenly ashamed, “You can take it at your own pace, you can take it a day at a time… I’m not forcing you to do anything… you are the one leading this dance and I can only be taken along.” And the unspoken words remained at the tip of his tongue.

Days passed, Danny closed up the ballroom waiting for her return, his attention turned towards the grounds. Overgrown grass, weeds, unkempt gardens, dead plants and more littered the grounds, another grand task for one man. He kept his mind and body busy, only taking breaks to eat, sleep, and sketch a familiar face, convincing himself Vera didn’t need him.

On the ninth morning of Vera’s absence Danny woke late, his exhaustion catching up with him. He stretched his sore muscles, changing into a white long sleeve and jeans, hiding his bed hair beneath a faded and worn baseball cap. With a glance at a large canvas in contempt he threw a sheet over it and jostled down the stairs gulping a glass of orange juice before heading towards the grounds.

Danny’s gloved hands wrapped on a large weed, almost as thick as a pole, grimacing as the prickling hairs poked through his gloves and pulled with all his might. He felt the roots beneath his feet struggling to stay put until he managed to yank it free with a sudden whoosh. He found himself staring at the sky, a large weed in one hand; his feet had slipped from beneath him. The wind whistled through the tall grasses emitting a familiar giggle of a girl he knew. Danny shook his head as he stood up, throwing the weed onto a large pile of even larger weeds.

“Three more and I can finally mow this thing.” He muttered to himself. Danny ignored the sounds of a car driving up the dirt road, probably another retailer, he convinced himself.  He yanked on a thinner weed, pulling it up with ease compared the last one. Standing up at the same time a car door slammed, he stretched his back and wiped the sweat off his brow, squinting despite the shade the hat provided. Unseeing Danny threw another weed to the pile only to be forcibly knocked to the ground moments later, a voice filled with laughter giggling above him.

“Surprise!” The laughter in the voice sent Danny’s heart racing. He looked up at the sun outlined figure, recognizing it instantly.

“Vera!” Danny said, surprised. He sat up with a sudden burst of energy, accidentally pushing Vera off in the process. He apologized while brushing off the dirt of his dusty shirt. “You look well, have things at home…?” Danny trailed off.

“Well? Yes. Dad’s off again, he has an exciting commission down in California, he’ll be gone for months, and my siblings are doing well, they’re happy I’m happy.”

“And your boyfriend? Or should I say ex-boyfriend?” Danny raised a brow. Vera sighed, her smile saddening only a bit.

“I broke up with him but somehow I found myself back into his arms. He’s like a drug.”

“Heroine?” Danny offered.

“I thought you said no Twilight business here?”

“I did.” Danny smiled feebly.

“But nevertheless, I got back with him, I mean I love him. I do and he promised he wouldn’t do it again.” She looked towards the sky, as if trapped in a daydream. “And what of you? Have you finished the ballroom?”

“No, I was waiting for your return. The ballroom is waiting for you. The home needs so much care I decided to help elsewhere until the ballroom was welcoming again.” Vera nodded, understanding.

“Then how are you?” She asked, staring at him with expectance. “Are you okay? Are you fine? Don’t you have school and other miscellaneous things?”

“I don’t have school, I’ve graduated long ago.” Danny smiled kindly as he wiped his brow. “I am okay, I am fine, I am. It is as simple as that. I am. It is simply saying ‘I exist’ however I am not just existing, I am causing this mansion to exist.”

“You are. You are, as in you exist… as in you are many things and you are doing many things.” Vera said slowly, comprehending his words. “You beat around the bush, Daniel,” Danny flinched slightly at the name, “couldn’t you just’ve simply said yes? Or no? Couldn’t you have said ‘I am lonely’? Or ‘I am happy’? Or ‘I am busy’ or something simple?”

“That would mean I would be getting into specifics. I am. When I leave as that it means I am happy, I am busy, lonely, content, livid, egotistical, sophisticated, or any other word I could be. I am, Vera, I am.”

“You’re so frustrating!” Vera laughed. “Oh, I’ve missed this! You’ve only been a part of my life for two weeks and I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

Danny chuckled. “I tend to do that.” He stood, his back erect as he glared at the challenging sky. “I would like to stop however I need to pull two more weeds and I will finally be able to mow the final overgrown piece of ground. You may relax inside the mansion or you are welcome to help.”

“Pulling weeds and mowing? Sounds boring, I’ll raid your fridge.” Vera laughed again, getting up and jogging inside. Danny smiled bitterly to himself as he bent over to pull another weed. So much for not thinking, Danny smiled to himself.

“What do you do for a living?” Vera asked as Danny walked into the kitchen after a shower. The sun was beginning to set, the pile of weeds was separated into several different bags with recycle stickers out by the driveway, the grass was mowed, and Danny felt clean. He rolled his shoulders, working out his imaginary kinks, as he headed towards the stove where dinner awaited him. He didn’t answer, hoping she would forget. “C’mon Danny, you don’t really tell me anything.”

“What I do for a living got me kicked out of my house.” Danny replied in his rare unwelcoming voice, hoping she would get the hint to stop.

“So… you’re a drag queen?” Vera continued, unfazed. Danny turned around quickly to stare at her with disbelieving eyes as she sat innocently at the table. “Kidding. It’s just kinda weird,” Vera cocked her head as she looked at Danny, “you’re this boy who can do anything but you won’t say how you do it or why you can do it… It’s all secrets with you.” She leaned back in her chair eying him suspiciously. “You’re not Beamon, are you?”

“Pardon?” Danny asked, surprised. Vera’s expression seemed assured. “Who is this Beamon?”

“You know,” Vera waved her hand as she leaned forward to rest her arm on the table, “My English teacher’s husband. He can do anything, his name is Beamon and he’s sort of like Superman…” Vera blinked. “I mean, he was a truck driver when my English teacher just had her kid so he could pay the bills, he was valedictorian of his class, he’s a national champion in fencing, boxing, he’s been a senator, he’s been a lobbyist, he’s been an accountant, a computer guru, and a bunch of other stuff. I mean, what hasn’t Beamon done? So what about you? Are you Beamon or are you just like him?”

Danny laughed. “I’m a little young to be your English teacher’s wife, I am too young to run for senator, I have never driven an 18 wheeler, and even more so, I was the Salutatorian.”

“So you’re not Beamon?”

“No and I don’t believe I am just like him but I have done many things.” He leaned against the counter, taking a bite of his dinner. “Delicious, by the way.” He said moments later, raising his spoon in praise.

“Thank you but you are superman, right?”

“Absurd, I don’t wear glasses.” Danny grinned after another bite of his dinner. “And I don’t have a telephone booth.”

“No cape of wonder? No heat vision? No super strength or speed?”

“Alas I have the cape of wonder, I doubt I have obtained heat vision, strength is in the eye of the beholder, and my speed is extraordinary. I was the top sprinter in the nation but forgot to try out for the Olympics.”

“Idiot.” Vera scoffed with uninterested eyes. “A chance to show off to the world and you forget.”

“Who is the real imbecile, Vera? You, the young woman who runs back to a unfaithful male time and time again? Or I, the young male who lacked the incentive to grasp worldwide fame?”

“Most definitely you.” Vera nodded, scowling at Danny’s choice of words. “Okay, before we get into a hefty argument lets forget our ongoing conversation as I ask you this: Will you come to a concert with me? My boyfriend will be there and he said I could bring anyone I wanted but Alice was busy… you know from the double date?” Danny nodded. “And well, it’s harder to get sucked into a mosh pit if there are more people protecting me.”

“And if I get ‘sucked’ into one?”

“You’d be able to take care of yourself, remember I’m the ‘little ol’ damsel in distress’.” Vera snickered as Danny’s lips thinned into a grim smile.

“A damsel in distress indeed.”

Half an hour later Danny was driving from the mansion, Vera beside him, more comfortable than the last time she sat in his truck. He remembered her with her hair down, her shoulders hunched, but now she was laughing and talking about her friends at school or the things she believed he missed out on. She fell silent after a few minutes, just as they reached a stoplight, listening to the music on the radio. “Turn it up please.” A soft murmur emitted from her lips and he saw her reverting slowly into the broken girl he first met. Danny followed her instructions turning the volume to the radio up, noticing as he did so Vera’s arms were slowly wrapping around herself.

I wouldn’t be beating on the dash
Screaming out her name
To the windshield
Tears streaming down my face
If I’d love her this much all along
Maybe, maybe, maybe she wouldn’t be gone.

“How awesome would that be?” Vera turned to look Danny in the eye as the light turned green. Danny accelerated, turning away from her burning eyes. “To have a guy love a girl that much that he’d be going to great lengths just to find her, to want her back so much he’d throw away his dignity for her…” Vera thinly smiled. “But, what guy would be such an idiotic sap?” She laughed half-heartedly. “Never mind.” She shook her head and suddenly grinned, “I heard lilac is an ideal color for calming rooms, you should paint a few rooms in that color.”

“Smooth transition.” Danny chuckled. “Perhaps, I’ll think about it.” The car was filled with silence for a few moments before Danny breathed a heavy sigh. “Perhaps I’ll paint a few rooms pink too, we’ll make the mansion a prison where the pink rooms will at first calm you but then later drive you insane.”

“Make it black. No one can see anything in the darkness and yet it’s what they need to calm down or lose themselves.”

“White then, nothing can hide in the light, black hides everything.” Danny challenged. “White would drive me mad.”

“We’ll paint the walls pink and white and when Valentine’s Day rolls around we can celebrate it together ‘happy single awareness day’ ‘cause I’ll probably be single again.” Vera laughed bitterly.

“No, no pink. When guests come to my home I want them to think I am somewhat sane.”

“What guests?” Vera snorted. “I’m the only one who comes to your house.” A pause. “Turn left here.” She pointed at a street.

“You will know. Many people want me to make my grand appearance, a receive an infinite amount of mail every day begging for me to appear and why shouldn’t I? I am waiting until I finish the mansion before I face the world again, it’s sounds like a grand plan, does it not?”

“What exactly do you do for a living Danny?” Vera asked, suddenly unsure. If so many people wonder where Danny is, Vera wondered exactly how famous Danny truly was. Danny parked the car in front of a club, climbing out of the truck as soon as he pulled out the key. Vera hopped out; he would have to answer her eventually, and ran to buy the tickets.

It should have been obvious by now, Danny thought, watching Vera’s every step as he leaned against his beaten truck. How he gazed at everything with importance but then again, that wasn’t obvious at all. His knowledge of the artist she wanted to see was uncanny but for all she knew he was just a big fan, not the actual artist himself.

“I’ve got the tickets!” Vera yelled in delight, running back over, her lips curled into a satisfied smile. An arm wrapped around her waist midway and jerked her back by surprise. Danny shifted, ready to run towards Vera after seeing the expression of alarm and pain on her features for a miniscule moment. He gritted his teeth watching Vera laugh as her arms wrapped around the neck of her captor as the captor kissed her. Of course it would be that man, Danny looked the other way in annoyance. By the time Danny turned to look back at Vera he saw her gaze trapped in her boyfriend’s gaze whispering soft words to him. What seemed like hours later Vera was released and she waved Danny over, her fingers intertwined with her boyfriend’s.

Danny hung towards the back of the crowd as Vera and Jared dived right in, pushing their way to the front of the crowd. The place was crowded, the stage a distance away from where Danny stood. He could see heads bobbing and multiple mosh pits starting because of the opening band. The air was thick and filled with sweat, Danny struggled to breathe. Surely this was not his ‘scene’. He listened to a few bands, attempting to determine if he liked the style.

Minutes later he found himself at the merchandise table, purchasing CD’s of all the bands performing that night. He bought a couple shirts, more for appearance than the bands themselves. The music could be helpful later on, he convinced himself, and perhaps the shirts would help him blend in more.

“There you are!” A hand grabbed his forearm. Danny turned around to see Vera laughing. “The main band’s gonna start in five minutes, we’ve got to hurry and worm our way to the front again!” She tugged on his forearm, tugging him into the crowd.

The two had barely managed to push their way to the middle of the crowd when, “Vera, look over here!” Danny shouted over the music playing and the constant chatter. Vera glanced at him for a brief moment in confusion before turning to push ahead once more only to freeze. As several people pushed against her in excitement Vera witnessed Jarred kissing another girl, his hands wandering to multiple places.

“Lets just go home, I hear the band’s not that good anyway.” Vera turned to Danny, finally understanding the purpose of his words. She smiled fondly, tugging Danny towards the exit.

“You’re trembling.” Danny whispered the moment the two managed to get outside.

“I know.” Vera gripped Danny harder and the two continued to walk. “Promise me one thing.” Vera continued to drag him in the parking lot.

“Anything.”

“When I go home again, come with me, so I don’t get tempted to run back to him. I don’t think my heart can take it anymore. Nothing lasts forever…”

“I promise.” Danny swore, stopping briefly to kiss her forehead before opening the door to his truck for her. As he helped her inside Vera was reluctant to release her hold on him. When she was seated and buckled in, the concert music playing distantly, she gazed at Danny with unsure eyes. He stared back, attempting to figure out her expression. In a split second she released his arm and promptly threw her arms around his waist, jerking him into a tight hug. Danny wrapped his arms around her, her body trembling like crazy.

That night Danny rested in an armchair in the ballroom, looking over papers and requests, while keeping an eye on Vera as she painted the walls. She had insisted on painting the whole night, listening to her favorite band who, coincidentally, was the band she missed out on that night. She had also insisted on painting alone so Danny looked over his paperwork and Vera, making sure things couldn’t go from bad to worse.