Take me back to where it all began.

The song 'Daughter' is not mine, John Mayer sang it. Lacey, Jo, Danny and Karen do not belong to me and they never will for the duration of this story; the story is mine but the show's story lines will simply act as a guide so as not to stray too far away from the characters which belong to ABCF.

So I know I said I'd stay away from doing a Dacey but here I am, a girl can't help it. I have to do something till Scandal, Greys Anatomy, VD etc get back.

I know a girl

Students in the hallway turned their attention to the almost harmless looking man-boy as he casually strolled past them. He could hear the murmurs, the snickers, the corners of his eyes caught a few eye rolls; he simply chose to ignore them.

He had one mission on his mind, he had to get his best friends back, he had to make them understand that he was the same kid them grew up with, had water fights with, and enjoyed sleepovers with. As for the small innocent kiss that happened, well! That he will always will always remember he would never let it go.

Growing up, he had been a semi-shy kid with a lot of courage in his heart; he would lay down his life for those he cared about and he would kill again to keep them safe. Whilst a part of him wanted people to see him as a regular teenager, he kind of relished in the fear that he instilled in some of their hearts and the panic that showed in some of their faces; he almost liked the idea of people seeing him as untouchable.

Psycho, loony, socio…..their voices grew a little louder. Truth be told, he kind of favored socio the most but he was not sure why but who cares? He kept his eyes solely focused on the two girls who had intentionally been talking with their backs against him.

The closer he got, the tenser the atmosphere became. He focused on the dark taller girl with long bouncy hair. "Boo," he said, then turned to the shorter blond one afterwards. What in God's name was he doing? He said it in an attempt to cajole his old friends. He almost scolded himself, was he stupid enough to think that they would throw confetti and a parade in honor of his return? Hell no! Neither of the girls could even look at him in the eye. "Sorry, I meant that as a joke." he quickly covered up his disappointment with a smile…he was always good at giving a convincing 'I'm great' smile even when was not.

"Lacey." He sang her name with a soft plea. He saw this coming, he knew she would always be the harder nut to crack, he just wished he was wrong. She looked at the ground and paid him no observance; her lips parted for a second and for the first time, he had faith that perhaps she would say something. He should have known better. She just slung her Gucci knapsack behind her and walked away, leaving him with Jo; it was then he knew that she took his absence the hardest. If he had been an ordinary boy, her action would have bruised his ego, but he is no ordinary boy, he is Danny Desai.

She knew he would be back at some point, she thought she could handle it yet she hated his guts for coming back. Just when she thought she would be okay, she remembered the last time she saw him.

She puts the color inside of my world

Boys were the ones who usually climbed up girls' windows just to make confessions, but Lacey was not a boy; she was just a girl with zero fucks to give, she didn't mind getting her hands dirty.

A few days before his trial, she had left home, trekked almost an hour, snuck in his room through his window with a tear stained face, grabbing unto him in his bed and holding on tightly as if he were a lifeline.

"Danny they are gonna send you away, you are going to leave me all alone."

"You don't know that. I have a very good lawyer, mom says he will win."

"My dad is a big shot lawyer too but he says Karen will never see you again till you become a man."

"Lace."

"We could run away. Lets run away from all of this?"

"We are kids, how are we going to survive?"

Her brown eyes went wild, they were bursting with ideas. It was as if that was the perfect opportunity she had been waiting for; she quickly emptied the right side of her jean pocket in between them and started counting. "I broke into my piggy bank; I have twenty-two dollars and five cents." She retorted in an excited manner.

He chuckled at the pampered girl, "you are not very nice to others but you are very nice to me," he pinched her cheek softly, "I like that I'm the only boy you are nice to but that's not enough. Besides, your dad will mad at us and Jo will miss us. Mom says we are going stay and fight. We can't run away Lace."

"I know." She cried as quietly as she could, she didn't want to alert his mom.

"I'm here Lacey," he comforted her and tried to speak like an adult. "I'm here. No one can take me from you…I swear."

It had been an hour since she had fallen asleep in his bed; they had been stupid enough to think that no one would notice her gone. She woke up to the feeling of being yanked out of his arms, they were both startled by the sudden disconnect of their reverie. The sound of their mothers arguing downstairs traveled across the stairs.

"No..daddy..no..this is Danny. you have to him please. Please, you can't let them send him away." She begged with angry juices streaming down her face, she looked backwards, starring at Danny as if he could do something about the situation.

The moment they got outside the Desai mansion, Lacey began to put more resistance into her father's pull. She was pleading, kicking and screaming on top of her lungs whilst Danny was in hot pursuit behind them. In between the struggle, she had been able to pull out of her father's sweaty palms, she ran to the young boy who had his arms open wide for one last embrace and slipped a note in his pocket, he felt it too. "Promise you are not going anywhere."

"I Promise. We are going to be fine Lace." He smirked with reassurance. Boys are not supposed to cry in front of girls they fancy, he had to be tough, even if it killed him, he had to be strong for the both of them.

Her dad had become angrier; he stumped over, reaching and carting her away from him while Danny's mom had begun to do the same with her son. As their bodies were being hauled away, their faces were still close to each other, they willed their lips forward, barely touching, and one could say that they shared a small first kiss.

Her father scuffed at the travesty that took place in his presence, continued to drag her away, threw her into the back seat and locked the doors. She turned around looking out, weeping and stretching her hand forward and trying to reach him through the rear window. As they drove way, Danny broke away from his mother's grip, he ran after the black Mercedes, he knew he'd never catch up but he pursued it until it was out of sight. That was the last time he had seen her.

Things had been so hectic in the days that followed, he had forgotten all about the note; he had been sentenced to juvie for killing his aunty. He was supposed to rot there till he clocked 21 but for some reason, they let him out early and it definitely was not for good behavior, there were times he had to be bad to survive.

But she's just like a maze
Where all of the walls all continually change

For the past five years, he's had a lot of time to think and he always wondered what she wrote in that paper. As luck would have it, his mother hated change, his room, his clothes, his bed and everything was right where he had left them. She couldn't touch them, they brought back too many memories.

Once he found the shirt, he nervously and hastily searched through it till the folded item fell on the floor of his closet. He opened it and saw the one sentence she had written on it and held it close to his palpitating chest. It read, "I know I'm only eleven, but I think I love you Danny." Those words brought a sense of relief and happiness to him.

He folded the piece of paper back and got ready for a day of hell in high school, he felt like if he kept it close, that would get him through.

And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands

Lacy had not been paying attention to her biology teacher, she looked distant, she had no idea her teacher had just told her Socio would be sitting right beside her for the class. She was trying to avoid him yet; there he was beside her, making her heart pound like a hammer on a nail.

Just when she thought things could not get worse, he slid an open note on her desk. When she saw her handwriting she almost smiled, she was almost happy that he kept it; but then she was also ashamed of whatever it was that felt towards him. She sought to push the letter back to him but he persistently pointed his finger a few lines down and away from where her ugly childish handwriting was.

She saw a neatly written sentence, declaring, "I know I'm only sixteen but I know I love Lacey."

Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it's got nothing to do with me

She shook her head in disgust and distrust. "That was five years ago, I hate you now, I actually hate myself more for-."

Just as she was going to say more, her teacher was situated right in front of them, snatching the note away from the high school socialite. Damn, Lacey's mind was in a wild frenzy, her teacher is notorious for putting students on blast, life as she knew it might just be over. Her teacher began reading the note out loud, "I know I'm only eleven but I think I….."

To Be Continued

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