Sweet Perfection

Chris's POV

I study Dani closely as we walk down the street, headed to some unknown location. Her brown hair falls to below her shoulder blades. I wonder if it's naturally straight, or if she used a flat iron. She has a slender neck, and her head is held high with a sense of calm confidence. I wonder what she's thinking.

"Grr, I was so sure it was this way..." she mumbled.

I start to offer help, but she brightens suddenly and takes my hand, pulling me down the street. We veer to the right, toward the subway entrance.

"why are we going down here?" I ask.

Dani scowls and says, "I got us a little lost, so we're gunna read the maps in the station." she brightens suddenly at the sound of music floating up from the tunnel. "street performers!" she says happily and takes off down the stairs. I follow after her, surprised and somewhat warmed by her enthusiasm.

When I reach the performers, Dani is singing along with them to one of my songs. I stop and listen, a smile playing on my face. Dani is really good, and sounds spectacular. She smiles at me, and my heart leaps in my chest.

She sways a little as she sings. I take a breath and start to sing with her. She looks up startled by the sound, and I smile. She blushes and looks down, not missing a beat. Oh how I'm going to miss her at the end of the night. We finish the song and Dani drops some change into an open guitar case. We continue down the tunnel to a directory and Dani studies it intently. Then she laughs.

"do you know where we are?" I ask.

"hehe, yep," she responds, smiling ruefully.

"are we... close?"

"not at all!" I laugh and she says quickly, "I'm so sorry! I'm just horrible with directions! I have like no sense of direction."

"no worries," I tell her. "we can just hop on a train and get to where you wanted to take me. I'll even pay for you if you tell me where we're going," I add jokingly.

She smiles and says, "I thought we could go to this small Chinese restaurant. Their vegetable spring rolls are amazing, and they make heavenly lo mein."

I smile, and my heart soars. Dani is adorable. "I'm only telling you because I got us lost, and we probably won't be able to get a table by the time we get there. You dont have to pay for my ticket," she adds shyly.

"nonsense," I say and go to buy metro cards. She tries to object, but I keep on, not wanting her to have to pay.

"if anything, I should be the one paying," she mumbles and we sit to wait for our train. I laugh and ask her about herself.

I find out that she's seventeen, a senior in high school, and has three brothers. She is currently living with her older cousin in the city to finish her last year of school, that the rest of her family has moved away to some remote little town in the middle of nowhere. New York is the only home she knows. Her favorite color is purple. She loves animals and has two cats of her own, eggroll and midnight. Her favorite food is Chinese. She hates the cold, and loves the sound of thunder storms. She's afraid of spiders and sleeps with a stuffed animal that she's had since she was five. She thinks the city is loud, but doesn't mind because she loves the rush of it. She reads a lot, hates history class, and is set on becoming an author. Her favorite subject in school is math, even though she's not good at it. She listens to indie rock, and has been listening to nsn since it started on myspace.

"so much to learn in so little time," I say as our train arrives at it's destination.

She smiles and we walk onto the sidewalk. "the restaurant is just a block over," she says. "I know the direction. I grew up in that building over there," she points to an apartment complex across the street as she starts walking. I follow behind, looking around at her childhood scene. It's nice, for a neighborhood in the big city. There isn't much traffic, and the people look nice enough, though it's not very late yet so i don't know what it's really like.

"you said it's where you grew up, but I'm guessing you don't still live around her?" I ask out of curiosity.

"well, I don't live too far away, it's within walking distance, but not close enough that I'd visit the area often."

I smile and as we arrive at the restaurant, her face gets a longing look to it. "I kind of miss them though, you know?" she says. "ah, my family I mean." we're silent for a moment, and she asks, "is it hard being on tour all the time? Do you ever miss your family?"

"yeah," I say, trying to keep the sadness from my voice. I don't want her to be sad, for me or for herself. "but I mean, it's okay because I know that what I'm doing is something that they support, and that it's going to help them."

"I read that you were paying for your sister to go to college?" she asks. I verify and she looks at me adoringly. "you really are somethin else," she says and walks into the restaurant.