A couple days had passed since Eddie's run in with Katie, and he hadn't seen her around school. After arriving home that afternoon, no more than five minutes had passed before the doorbell rang. Eddie had already made his way up the stairs, so Dana was the one who was forced to answer it. She opened the door and blankly stared at the figure in front of her. Only one word managed to escape from Katie's mouth. "Hey," she sent Dana a small smile.

"She speaks! And with no accusations whatsoever!" Dana jokingly taunted Katie.

Dana's teasing pulled a small smile out of Katie. "I know, I know." She rolled her eyes, making fun of herself. "Sorry about that."

"Don't apologize, Katie." Dana chuckled slightly. "Fix it."

It had only been a week since Katie and Dana last spoke, but it had been over four weeks since they really talked. Katie would have made an effort to speak to Dana Friday night at the concert, but Dana was too busy working.

Katie didn't like the awkward silences that were shared between her and Dana. They were the kinds of awkward silences you experience when there's so much to say, but no one is actually speaking. It was the kind of silence where Katie could hear her thoughts screaming to get out, but her mouth wouldn't open and those thoughts couldn't escape.

"I've been a jerk lately, I know that." Katie finally heard herself confessing. "Look," she sighed, her words refusing to be spoken. "Can we just go somewhere and talk?"

Dana thought about Katie's proposal for a second. "Sure," Dana felt herself sigh. She didn't want to go somewhere, and she didn't want to talk. All she wanted to do was forget about Katie and move on. But there was something about Katie. Something about her kept pulling Dana in, no matter how hard she tried to push away. "Where?"

Katie smirked at Dana's question. "Anywhere," she answered with a smile.

"I'll go get my keys."

"So..." Dana's voice broke through another one of their awkward silences.

Dana and Katie were leaning against the front of Dana's car, watching the world below. Katie smiled to herself, remembering the last time she was there. Dana had her arms crossed out of discomfort and awkwardness.

Dana turned her head to look at Katie. "Is there something you wanted to tell me?" Katie shrugged. Dana waited for a response, but had no such luck. "Okay then," she mumbled, uncomfortably nodding her head slowly and returning her gaze to the town below.

Katie and Dana stood in silence for a while, watching the sun set over the western mountains across town that somehow managed to feel so close to them. Dana's uncomfortable feeling disappeared and she released her hands from across her chest to bury them into her pockets.

"Why can't I stop thinking about you?" Katie's voice hit Dana like a ton of bricks. Dana shifted her eyes to Katie who was now staring at the ground, gently kicking dirt with her foot. Katie lifted her gaze to meet Dana's, but remained quiet. Dana clenched her jaw, holding back words. "I can't read your mind, Dana, so just say it. Tell me whatever you're thinking. I can handle it."

Dana prepared herself to speak, but only managed to release a small chuckle and shake her head. "You don't understand how much I hate you right now." Another chuckle escaped Dana causing Katie to furrow her eyebrow in confusion. Dana looked at Katie, clenched her jaw once more, swallowed and spoke up. "We meet and you act like you want nothing to do with me. You even told me to stay away from you, and then you kiss me out of nowhere and tell me you want to be with me, and then you turn around and treat me like I don't exist. I just don't get it. And the worst part is you make me so angry and you push me away, but then you say one thing, just one, and it's stupid and cliché but you pull me in again...wanting to believe you and trust you and..." Dana cut herself off.

"And what?" Katie asked out of curiosity.

"And I can't." Dana shrugged. "I just can't do it." Dana collapsed on the hood of her, buried her face her in hands, and groaned out of frustration.

"You just...don't understand."

"Don't understand?" Dana shot back into a sitting position and gawked at her. "Katie, me of all people should be able to understand!" Dana could feel her voice crack out of irritation. "You're afraid. I get that. Okay? I'm afraid of my dad. The one person who is supposed to be there for you and love you unconditionally and want the best for you, I am terrified of." Dana clenched her jaw again, but this time not out of anger towards Katie. This time, Dana clenched her jaw in an attempt to hold back tears.

Katie's eyes widened slightly at the sight of Dana's watering eyes and choked up voice. She had never witnessed Dana experience any real emotion before. It was bizarre, but Katie found a tiny smile trying to escape from the corner of her mouth. She wasn't happy that Dana was in pain. She was just happy that she could witness a real side of Dana. The tears forming in Dana's eyes brought out a new brightness in them. Her hazel eyes had never appeared that green to Katie before.

"Look, I-I get that you're afraid." Dana's voiced yanked Katie out of her thoughts. "But that doesn't mean you should stop yourself from being happy."

"Even if I did break up with Jesse, what point would there be?"

"Excuse me?" Dana's eyebrow rose.

"I'm just saying!" Katie innocently shrugged her shoulders. "There's no guarantee, right?"

"What the hell are you talking about right now?"

"I...I saw you kiss Marissa."

"What?" Dana's mouth dropped open in shock.

"I came by a couple days ago to talk to you, but I left after seeing you with her." Katie explained.

"You didn't see everything," Dana mumbled.

"What do you mean?"

"You couldn't have seen everything. Otherwise you wouldn't think there was 'no guarantee.'" Dana slouched and clenched her arms into her body. "If you had stayed just two seconds longer you would know that I didn't kiss her back."

Dana wasn't lying. She didn't kiss Marissa back. When Marissa kissed her, Dana was caught off guard and pulled away with disdain and guilt. She didn't know why she hated it so much, but she really did hate that Marissa kissed her. As soon as Dana pulled away, she apologized to Marissa and begged her to understand. Dana felt guilty and like she had led Marissa on, but she couldn't help that she only had one person on her mind – Katie.

Dana hated that Katie witnessed her kiss Marissa. Kissing Marissa wasn't what Dana had wished it would be. Dana would have been okay with the kiss if she felt anything, but she didn't. That only made it harder to move on from Katie. Marissa was perfect for Dana, and Dana knew that. They would be perfect together, but kissing Marissa felt like a fairy tale to Dana. Why was a fairy tale such a bad thing? Because Marissa and Dana were perfect together on paper, and they could have had their fairy tale kiss and happy ending, but that's not what Dana wanted.

To Dana, fairy tales were just that: a fairy tale. Perfect didn't exist for a reason. So yes, Dana kissed Marissa. Was it perfect? On paper, maybe. Were there fireworks? Not in the slightest sense. Dana never expected fireworks. Katie on the other hand felt like a volcanic eruption. It was fireworks, excitement, and heat all rolled into one perfect reaction.

Dana never wanted perfect. She just wanted Katie.

Dana was now lying on the hood of her car, staring at the sky. She felt Katie lie next to her, but she didn't budge. They were silent for several moments. Not the awkward silence they had gotten used to sharing, though. This was a silence that was almost blissful.

"I don't like it." Katie's hushed voice broke through the air. Dana looked at Katie who, in return, looked at her. "Watching you with someone else." Katie studied Dana's face for a moment before continuing. "I know I don't have any right to say that but...every time I see you with Marissa – her making you laugh, you two smiling at each other the way you do, you kissing her – it causes this gut wrenching pain in my stomach. And I-I hate it." Katie was the one to clench her jaw this time. "I never got butterflies when I looked at you, Dana. They were always killer bees... eating away at me, begging me to feel something for you...something I never wanted to feel."

Katie felt something on her hand. She glanced down and watched as Dana's fingers gracefully and effortlessly intertwined themselves to fit perfectly with hers. She looked back at Dana, who was still silent. They stared at each other for a moment before Dana moved slightly to kiss Katie's forehead.

"I don't want to think about it." Dana's whisper cut through the silence like music to Katie's ears. "I don't want to think about tomorrow. I don't want to worry about school, or dealing with Marissa, or you being with Jesse. I just want to be here, in this moment. Not forever, but until life slows down enough for us to catch our breaths."

Katie gently shook her head and reassured Dana, "I'm not going anywhere."

Dana and Katie embraced the silence for a short while before Dana spoke up with a sarcastic comment, making Katie laugh at her stupidity. After that, they just talked; about everything and nothing all at the same time. And throughout the time they spent talking, Katie never once gave Dana the chance to let go of her hand.

"Whoa," Katie was distracted by the sky. She had failed to notice how late it was getting, but once she looked up the stars captured her attention.

"Yeah up here, the mountains help block out the city lights."

"It's incredible. I've never seen anything so beautiful before."

Dana looked at Katie and laughed to herself. "Man, I could be so cliché and cheesy right now."

Katie smiled, looking back at Dana. "What? Tell me." Dana shook her head and Katie started to plead for Dana to tell her.

"Fine." Dana finally agreed. "What were you saying?"

"I said that I had never seen something so beautiful." Katie repeated herself, smiling.

Dana attempted to speak, but only laughter came out. "Sorry, I can't. I'm cheesy, but now I just can't stop laughing." Katie jokingly pouted at her. "Oh shut up." Dana teased, gently pushing Katie's pouting face away. "Just watch the pretty lights in the sky."

Katie laughed at Dana again. She glanced back at the sky for a brief moment, and then back at Dana. "Hey Dana, you seem to know a lot about random stories and facts. Got any constellation stories? Which one is your favorite?"

"Actually, yes. I love Greek mythology and a lot of the constellations are stories of the Greek gods." The two laughed at each other. "But I'm always the one with a story. It's your turn. What constellations do you see?"

Katie broke her gaze with Dana and returned her eyes to the sky. Dana could see a saddened look appear on Katie's face. Katie hesitated, but then decided to speak. "I see the big and little dipper. Those are the only ones I ever see." Katie smiled to herself, causing Dana to smile at Katie. "When I was younger I just saw a bunch of twinkling lights in the sky. They never had any meaning to me other than the fact that no matter how high I reached, I could never take one and claim it as my own. Then one night, my dad gave meaning to the stars.

"He pointed out a small group that connected to make a spoon shape. Then he continued to point out the little dipper. He told me they were called Ursa Major and Ursa Minor which meant 'great bear' and 'little bear.' My dad told me that the way to find those constellations was to find Ursa Major, and then its head would point to the tail of Ursa Minor. He said it was because the parent was always looking after its cub."

Dana could see Katie's eyes begin to water. "I've never heard you talk about your dad before."

"It's because I don't. I haven't said a word about him in four years."

"What happened?" Dana couldn't help but ask.

"He passed away." Katie quickly answered. "He got really sick, really fast." Katie struggled to hold back her tears, but never broke her stare with the stars. "The worst part... It's that he was the guy who was always there. People thought he was crazy because he would blow off huge business meetings just to make it to his kid's recital or soccer game. He'd just explain to them that there would be other business meetings, but you'd never get to experience your daughter's first goal or fall on stage or moment in the spotlight again.

"He cared so much about his family that he kept his illness a secret for a while. Until he couldn't keep it anymore. He didn't want his family to stop looking at him like he ruled the world and start looking at him like an injured puppy. But when he told us, it was too late. Him leaving was inevitable. And suddenly all of those recitals and soccer games and everything else was spent staring at the crowd, searching for the empty seat that I knew he was supposed to be in. And anytime that seat would be empty I just started to worry about what could have happened. The first thing I'd do is worry about what the last thing I said to him was, if I told him I loved him...

"And then one day, he left. He left me for good. And I tried my hardest to remember the good times, but all I could do when I thought about it is regret every moment I didn't hug him and tell him I love him and remind him that he was the most amazing person in the world. It took a while for me to realize that he always knew. Even when I forgot to say it, he knew I loved him. And suddenly he became that constellation in the sky watching over me reminding me that even when I can't see him, he's there."

Dana released her grasp of Katie's hand and, without saying a word, pulled Katie into a gentle hug. Katie couldn't help but bury her face in Dana's arms and start crying lightly. Dana kissed the top of Katie's head, and Katie gripped on harder to Dana's shirt. Four years of bottled up tears and feelings about her father and she was finally letting them all out.

Once Katie's tears began to stop, she pulled away from Dana's hug and sniffled. Dana smiled at her and wiped her tears away saying, "That's it," Dana smiled softly, "That's my favorite constellation story."

Katie smiled at her and wrapped her arms around Dana. She rested her head perfectly between Dana's shoulder and neck. Dana then wrapped her arms around Katie and they stared at the stars, lying in each other's arms on the hood of Dana's car in silence.

That special kind of blissful silence.