Dani watched Brian through the glass doors of the house, hidden behind the sheer curtain that covered it; peering between the thin space where the curtains joined each other,  parted only slightly by her shaking hands.  Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to push the  memory of everything that had been said and done the night before out of her thoughts.  She held back every urge to cry as she watched him standing  not twenty feet away, but tears escaped her eyes never the less, spreading mascara slowly down her cheeks.

    Matt and Deanna's wedding was starting soon, but she couldn't bear to go sit outside, closer to Brian.  He stood at the far end of the yard,  wearing a black tuxedo just like the other four guys standing with him, a smile on his face that was reflecting out of his eyes as he laughed and joked with them.  I cannot believe this is happening, she thought to herself with a slight shake of her head, letting the tears slip slowly down her face and neck, staining them with a faded black trail.  He looked so carefree and content, the exact opposite of everything she felt today.  It didn't seem fair that everyone appeared to be so happy when she was torn between wanting to scream, cry and just run far, far away, until there were no more people, no more confusion and definitely no love to have, or to lose.   Screams built deep within her, but they only sounded in her head, not daring to come out of her mouth.

    How could I let this happen? I shouldn't be feeling this way today, it isn't fair to anyone.   Her eyes fell to the ground with the disappointment she felt in herself.

        "Why did I ever come back home?" She asked herself, as she walked away from the window, a lingering touch remaining as the curtains closed.  Wishing she could turn back the clock and start the past few months over again, or even just the past twenty four hours.  Dani pushed past the people who milled about in the house, going into the nearby bathroom.  She wiped the mascara from her cheeks and tried to regain her composure, she didn't think it was going to be this hard to see him, but all she could picture was last night's Brian; the one who told her she looked beautiful, the one who made her promises and the friend who was becoming more.    She wasn't a stupid girl, she knew the kind of promises guys made and then broke to get what they wanted, she also knew that she wasn't the type to usually fall for it, but it was different with Brian.   Even now she still believed he meant what he said, maybe that makes me even more stupid, she thought with another shake of her head.  Dani left the bathroom and made her way outside, she had to sit before the wedding started, even though she would have been happy not to be here at all, all day she had thought about packing up all her stuff and going home, but she didn't, she had put on her dress, done her hair, put on a happy smile and left the hotel room ready for the lavish ceremony at Matt's parents estate.  As she sat down she gave one quick look towards Brian, catching his eye.  Brian smiled at her and gave a small little wave, but she quickly looked away pretending she hadn't seen, hurry up and start the wedding, she thought, and as if on cue the music began to play and Dani breathed a sigh of semi relief.
 
 

    "I don't know what's wrong with her." Jody said at the head table, looking towards Dani who sat near the back of the room all alone.  "She keeps saying she's fine, but just look at her.  She obviously isn't."

    "I can tell." Brian said, his forehead furrowed in worry over the conversation he and Jody had been having about Dani.  "Is she hungover or sick or something?"

    "That's what she says it is, but I think something happened.  I mean she didn't stay in the room last night, and when I let her in this morning she looked like someone died." Jody exclaimed.

    "Well where was she?"

    "I don't know, she won't tell me.  But I get the impression she was with someone."  Brian cringed at the thought.

    "You don't think she was...." He said, spinning back around to face Jody, sudden worry and panic overwhelming him.

    "No, I asked." She quickly responded.  "I don't think that was it, but I can't be sure."

    "I was talking to her this morning.  She seemed fine to me, a little quiet, but I didn't think there was anything wrong.  I just thought she was as sick as everyone was."

    "Well all I know is that all she did this morning was cry.   Cry and yell at me that she was fine."

    "She isn't fine." Brian said, his gaze returning to Dani, who hadn't moved.  "I'm gonna go talk to her."

Brian left Jody and walked around the room of round tables and white table cloths towards Dani.  She didn't look up as he sat down across from her, she just continued tracing an invisible pattern with her finger on the table top.   Brian didn't know what to say, he didn't feel comfortable asking about what had happened the night before, mainly because he didn't know if he could handle the answer.  Just knowing she may had been with someone last night made him freeze up with jealousy.

    "Wanna dance?" He finally asked.  Dani shook her head 'no'.  "Please?"

    "I don't want to dance Brian." Dani stared down at the table top, she had yet to look him in the eyes.

    "What's wrong?"  Brian asked, pulling a chair next to her and leaning in close.

    "Nothing, just having a bad day, that's all."

    "C'mon," He said, standing up and taking hold of her hand.  "Just one dance and I'll leave you alone."

    "Brian, I don't want to dance.  Would you please just go away."

    "What's the matter?" He said more forcefully, sitting back down and putting his arm around her, an arm that was immediately shrugged off.

    "Nothing."

    "Then why is everyone worried about you?"

    "Who's worried?"

    "Jody, me.....all of us."

    "I'm just not feeling well Brian, would you please let it go."

    "Not until you dance with me." He said trying to change the tone of the conversation, getting her mad wasn't going to help, he's known her long enough to know that.

    "Fine." She said standing up.  He pulled her out onto the dance floor,  just as the song that was playing neared it's end.

    "Song's done, I'm leaving." She said pulling back from him.

    "Wait Dani.  I at least get a full song, that one didn't count." Dani rolled her eyes and turned back towards him as the next song began.

    "I haven't heard this in a long time." He said nostalgically as Def Leppard's "Have you ever needed someone so bad" sounded in the reception hall.
 
 

        Dani bit down hard on her lip to avoid crying, her chin resting on Brian's shoulder and her arms wrapped around his neck, all she could smell was the faint scent of cologne, the same cologne he had on last night, the smell that always reminded her of him.  Dani felt like she were in a movie, the surrealness of the whole situation swam in her head and  she swore he could feel how fast her heart was racing, or how much her body was trembling.  Slowly, and with each word of the song she tried so desperately not to listen to, the tears started falling from her eyes, and she carefully tried to wipe them away with her hand, unable to stop them from falling.
 
 

    "You know Dani." Brian said into her ear.  "This might sound a little weird coming from me, but you look really beautiful tonight." A flash flood of memory from the night before hit her hard, she heard every word he said to her over and over again, and heard the words of the song he sung so quietly into her ear as they danced.  She felt every kiss, every touch and every part of what he was the night before in his hands on her back, in his chest pressed against hers.  And all she could do was cry, part of her wanted to tell him what had happened, to just stop dancing and shake the memory back into him, but she couldn't.  At least this way she still had the "what if" factor.  What if he really thinks of me as more than his friend, what if he meant everything he said last night.  Finding out he didn't would kill her, not knowing was better, even if she was forced to live in solitude with the knowledge of what had happened between them.
 
 

    "Dani, what's wrong?" He asked when he finally felt her body shake hard with tears, tears that grew more violent with every word of the song, with every passing thought she had.

    "Nothing." She tried to say, he voice cracking with emotion, Brian held her at arms length, her eyes now blood shot and her face white and pale.

    "What's the matter Dani?  What happened? Why are you crying?" All she could see was worry plastered on his face,

    "Just leave me alone." She said pulling away from him.  "and forget about this too." Dani turned away from him and walked out of the huge ball room of the hotel, not even trying to hide her tears anymore.  She didn't look to see if Brian was following her, but she didn't see him as she got into the elevator and  the doors shut.  Dani slid down the mirrored walls of the elevator and sat on the floor, her face buried in her hands, her knees pulled to her chest.

    "Why can't he just love me?" She cried in desperation.  "Why did any of this have to happen?"
 
 

        Brian finished packing everything in the room, Trevor had left early in the  morning catching a flight out of Atlanta at 6am and checkout was soon.  Jody had stopped him from going after Dani when she bolted out of the reception last night, convincing him she probably needed some time alone, he still hadn't spoken to her, but he was looking forward to the drive home.  Maybe she'll tell me what's bothering her, he thought as he hunted around the room to make sure he had everything.  He picked up Trevor's key card off the floor and quickly looked under the beds for anything else that may have  been left behind.  Satisfied he got everything, he picked up his bags and left the room, going downstairs to wait for Dani and to check out.  He contemplated knocking on her door as he passed her room, but didn't, I have plenty of time to talk to her on the way home.

Brian looked around in the lobby when he got out of the elevator, scanning for her face, but she wasn't there yet.

    "Room 523." Brian said as he reached the checkout counter.

    "Perkins and Littrell." the young woman said as she punched his room number into the computer.  Brian nodded.  "Okay, the bill has been paid by the Robertson wedding party and Mr. Perkins has already checked out, all I need is your key and we're set." She said with a smile.

    "Oh." He said pausing for a second.  "I have two keys though, are you sure he brought his back when he left."

    "Yes, I have it right here.  Maybe he needed a duplicate."

    "Maybe." Brian said with a shrug handing over the keys.  She looked at them for a moment, and punched in the numbers on the bar code.

    "Well, here's your problem.  One of these keys isn't for your room.  It's for 517, I'll let them know it was turned in.  Thank you."  She left the counter with the keys and walked into another room behind the desk.  Brian turned around slowly, confusion swimming in his mind as he sat down in the lobby to wait for Dani.  He knew Dani and Jody had been in room 517, and he couldn't think of any time either of them had been in the room.  At least with me, he thought.  Brian tried to rack his mind about something Trevor had said to him yesterday morning, he had said he had company when he came back from the club. Something about it was bothering Brian, he knew he and Trevor had gotten into a fight, was it over Dani? he thought, the overwhelming feeling that it was sat heavy in his stomach.  She wouldn't get involved with Trevor would she? Maybe Jody did?  Why was their key in my room?  Brian looked up as the elevator dinged open, Jody and Dani emerging with their luggage.  Brian got up and went to help them, Dani's gaze was planted firmly on the tiles of the lobby, and Jody went to the counter to checkout, passing in one key and informing the woman that they couldn't find the other one.  She politely told them it had been found, not saying anything about who had found it or where it had been found.  Brian cursed silently, hoping that one of them would say something if they knew it had been found in his room.

    "Ready to go?" Brian asked Dani.

    "Yeah.  Oh and Jody's getting a ride back with us, you don't mind do you?" Dani said, pulling her small suitcase towards the door.

    "No, not at all.  Ready to go Jody?" he asked, frustrated that Jody was coming with them, he'd have to wait until they got home to ask her about it.

    "Yeah, let's roll." She replied as they loaded their stuff into the car.  Dani immediately crawled into the back seat, giving Jody shotgun to Brian's growing annoyance.  Before they had even gotten onto the highway Dani was curled up in the back seat, her head resting on a balled up sweatshirt, sleeping silently as Brian and Jody talked up front.

    "So, did you find out what was wrong yet." Brian whispered to Jody about an hour into the drive home.

    "Nope.  When I got back from the reception she was all packed and fast asleep.  She hasn't said two words all morning."

    "This might be none of my business, but by any chance did you come back to my room with Trevor the night before the wedding?"

    "No, Rose helped me back to our room and I passed out cold.  Why?"

Brian looked into the back seat, to be sure she was asleep and looked back to Jody.  "You know that missing key to your room?"  Jody nodded.  "I found it in my room this morning."  Jody's eyes went a little wider and she sat back into the seat, seemingly pondering the whole situation.

    "Dani was never visiting you or anything?" She asked.

    "Nope."

    "You don't think......with Trevor?"

    "I don't know, but he told me he had company with him when he came back, and the key thing was there and Dani's acting so weird."

    "You know, now that I think about it, Trevor was at the club when I left.  I don't know if he was with Dani, but I know he was there.  And I had to let her in when she came back that night because she didn't have her key.  I just can't see her doing that, ya know...especially with Trevor, you don't think he'd ya know, be forceful." Jody said worriedly.

    "I think we had a fight about Dani when we were out." Brian said.  "But no I can't see him being like that, especially with me in the bathroom.  Dammit I wish I could remember." He said in frustration, both of them growing silent in ponderance, Brian adjusting the rearview mirror to watch Dani in the back seat.  She wouldn't, would she?  With me in the next room?  With Trevor?  He drove her nuts at that dinner we had, she couldn't wait to get away from him.  Brian suddenly remembered telling Trevor that Dani had thought he was an idiot.  That's how the fight started, Brian thought, Trevor said he wanted Dani and that she was flirting with him.  Did she really fall for his crap?  Brian and Jody stewed over it the whole trip, and Dani slept the whole time so he couldn't ask, even though he knew he wouldn't have the guts to do it anyway.
 
 

Lyrics Taken From:
"Have you Ever Needed Someone so Bad" Def Leppard
Written by: Collen/E/L
© 1992 Mercury/Polygram