Daniel blinked. He let out a small sigh and then pressed his lips together.
“I’m sorry I ran off yesterday. And I’m sorry I gave you the silent treatment all day today. It’s just that I know you’re lying about where you were the other night. And on top of that, I couldn’t believe how you didn’t back me up with Gabriel. But I’m over being angry now. I was done in religion class, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to you because of the service project.” And then I spent the next two hours alone with another guy—but I didn’t think now was the best time to tell him about Talbot anymore. “I just want to understand why you’re acting this way. And I don’t want you to be mad at me. I can’t handle it anymore.”
“I told you already. I’m not mad at you, Gracie. I’m worried.”
His words startled me. Hadn’t Jude said almost the exact same thing to me once? Back when Daniel first returned to town and Jude had wanted me to stay away from him.
“Worried about what? Tell me, please?”
Daniel gripped the handlebars of his bike. The engine rumbled between us. He leaned his head back and stared up at the crescent moon hanging in the sky, his deep, dark, mud-pie eyes unblinking. The walnut tree—illuminated by the porch light—just beyond him made the perfect background for his silhouette. If this had been any other moment, I would’ve pulled out my sketch pad to capture the beauty of the image. But now, seeing Daniel this way only made my heart ache for him.
I bit the inside of my lip. “I know something’s wrong, Daniel. Beyond lying to me, I can see it in your eyes. You look like you did that night when I kissed you for the first time under the walnut tree. The night I told you I loved you, and you ran away because you thought you could never ask me to save you.”
Daniel closed his eyes. I swear sometimes he looked just like an angel.
“But I did save you. In all of this pain we’ve been through, that’s the one thing that’s made it worth it.” I touched his shoulder. “So what’s going on? Why don’t you want me to train anymore? And where were you the other night? What happened that you think you can’t tell me?”
Daniel shook off my touch. “Do you think I had something to do with hurting that Tyler kid? Is that what you think?”
“No. That thought never once crossed my mind.” I held my hands out by my sides. “But I know you weren’t home watching TV like you told the police. And I saw a motorcycle just like yours outside a bar downtown when I was on my way home from The Depot. It was a place called Knuckle Grinders, I think.”
Daniel flashed a look in my direction. Did he know exactly what I was talking about?
“Why would you tell me you’re sick and then go to a bar? Do you have any idea how worried that makes me?” I’d defended him with April—said he wouldn’t go back to who he used to be—but I almost didn’t know what to think anymore.
“I was looking for information,” Daniel said.
“About Jude?” Relief washed through me. “Why wouldn’t you just tell me that?”
Daniel bowed his head and closed his eyes again. He looked almost like he was praying. After a moment he let out a long breath and dropped his hands from the handlebars. He looked at me with his dark eyes and swallowed hard. “All I’ve ever wanted is a normal life, Grace. You know that. I want a normal family. I want Trenton. I want you and me, and a normal future.”
“I know, Daniel.…”
The only problem was that I didn’t know how I fit into Daniel’s picture of normalcy. Not anymore, anyway. Not with my messed-up family. Not with my close-to-zero odds of going to college. And especially not with my superpowers, which weren’t just going to go away. Daniel could never have a normal life with me. He’d need someone like Katie Summers for that.