"Kill me now."

"What was that sweetie?" Cece looked up at him from under his arm, which was (forcefully) wrapped around her shoulder. "Did you just say-"

"I️ said "kiss me now"," he quickly covered up, before attacking her lips with hers to distract her. She squealed in delight at his surprise kiss but more than welcomed it.

But as soon as he looked up, he met with the soft brown eyes of the girl who his heart really belonged to.

Grace and her friends had just walked into the diner when she spotted Daniel and his white friends on the other side. With the law really pushing racial desegregation, the town they lived in had permitted diners, movie theaters, restaurants, stores and public transportation to be used by both blacks and whites, much to the dismays of the whites. So this was Grace's first time stepping foot in the town's diner.

And apparently she picked a bad day to do it.

"Grace, come on," Joseph gently tugged on her hand, leading her to a booth on the other side of the diner. Sitting in between Josie and Joe, Grace tried to focus on the menu in front of her but her eyes flickered up and unexpectedly met with Daniel's, making her quickly avert her eyes.

"So what are you getting?" Joseph asked, catching her attention.

"Just a strawberry milkshake," she says. "I'm not that...hungry," she tells him. She then catches the jukebox in the corner and noticed nobody was using it. "Can I️ have a quarter, Joe?" She asked him. He quickly fished one out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Thanks," she smiled, getting up and walking over to the jukebox. She picked a couple of songs out and before she knew it, Elvis played through the speakers, making everyone cheer.

Grace ran over and pulled Joseph up by his arm. "Come on snake, let's rattle!" She giggled.

Everyone got up to dance, including Josie and her date, to Elvis's smooth rock & roll. Grace happily spun around in his arms, her skirt billowing out from the momentum until she stopped and laughed against his chest.

Daniel refused to get up. At first. But as soon as he spotted Grace dancing with some other guy, he stood up and held his hand out to her. "Wanna dance?" He proposed.

She smiled widely and said "I️ thought you'd never ask!". Pulling him up by his hands and leading him to the middle of the diner that was also working as a makeshift dance floor. But as hard as he tried to keep up with her, his focus was still on Grace.

Grace felt Daniel's jealous gaze on her and her date, and it definitely confused the hell out of her. She mostly tried to ignore him and enjoy her night, but it was proving difficult. Joseph decided that was enough dancing and pulled her back to the booth so they could both sit down and take a break. "Do you know anybody else that's here?" He suddenly asks her, grabbing her attention from her milkshake to his face.

"What? What do you mean?" She panicked.

"That white boy over there," he points to Danny now has his attention on his date, focusing on spinning her around a couple of times. "He keeps looking at us. And I️ don't know him so-"

"I️ don't know him either. He just must be curious," Grace quickly dismissed. She then pushed her milkshake towards him. "Want a taste?" She asked him. He nodded and opened another straw to stick in. Both started drinking up the milkshake, slightly giggling at each other. "Joe, I️ just asked if you wanted a taste! You drank the whole thing!" She jokingly complained.

"I'm sorry. I️ swear, I'll get you another one," he laughs alongside with her. Their laughing soon died down and they both started to lean in, slowly.

"Grace, stop!" Daniel's deep voice yelled out, causing everything and everyone to freeze in their place. Grace looked up at him in shock while Joseph was confused. Josie gasped beside her and Cece looked pissed.

"Daniel?" She whispered, confused as hell.

"Don't- just don't-" He stammered.

"You know him?" Joseph asked. "Thought you said you didn't," he looked at her.

Grace was at a loss for words as she looked in between both boys. "I️-"

"You told me she was nobody!" Cece screeched, turning towards to face him now. "Why do you care they these two niggers kiss or not?" She stomped her foot.

"Danny boy," Johnny now shook his head, as if saying "don't be stupid now".

Everyone's eyes were on him now, including Grace's. His eyes flickered around a bit, until they finally landed on her.

And suddenly, everything clicked.

Daniel rushes over and holds his hand out towards her, horrifying everyone and even making Cece faint in the arms of Johnny. Grace looks down at it, unsure. She looks over as Josie, who also shakes her head "no". "Danny..."

"No." Joseph stands up, shoving Daniel away from her. "She's with me Clyde, and right now, you're cruisin for a bruisin," Joe sounded angry now.

"Yeah well, she was my girl first alright?" Danny publicly claimed, now making everyone burst into hysterics. "Yeah, I️ said it!"

"Daniel!" Grace yelled at him, although she sounded more scared than she was angry. That was enough to make Joe take a step forward. "Joe, stop it!" Grace stood up now. "Nobody has to fight-"

"Is this true Grace?" He looks down at her.

She paused for a moment. Unable to tell the truth but not being able to lie as well. The words got stuck in her throat as she tried to speak up. "I'm sorry," she started to tear up.

"I️ can't believe this," he shakes his head, bumping her shoulder as he passed her by, leaving the establishment. Grace looks over at Josie, who just gives her a sympathetic look.

"Oh my gosh..."

"He's in love with a Negro?"

"She shacked up with a white boy..."

Grace suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. Too many things were happening at once and all she knew was that she had to get out of there.

She ran out of the doors of the diner without a second thought, leaving Daniel in the dust as he calls out after her. She runs off until she's a safe distance away, slowing down to a walk as she catches her breath and makes her way home.

But it wasn't long until Danny's familiar black car pulled up beside her and he's yelling at her to get in. But once he realized that that wasn't going to happen, he pulled over and quickly got out. "Grace! Gracie, please, stop!" He ran over to her and stopped her in her tracks.

"Do you know what you just did?!" She yelled at him, tears escaping her eyes. "You humiliated me Daniel!" She scoffed, tears running down her face. "Now the whole town knows about us! That's not what I️ wanted!" She angrily shakes her head. "You keep breaking my heart Daniel," she sobs, covering her mouth.

"I'm sorry-" he tried to apologize, but she just wasn't having it.

"Oh screw you!" She roars. "I️ don't want to hear it, I'm done with you!" Danny pulls on her arm to stop her, only to receive a harsh smack across the face in return. "Don't touch me!" She hisses. "You broke up with me! You got a new girl! What the hell was that in there?" She demands.

"I️ was being blackmailed Grace!" He yelled back, making her quiet down. "Johnny knew about us, said if I️ didn't go steady with Cece, he'd expose us. I️ didn't have a choice, I️ didn't want you to get hurt."

"It's too late for that asshole."

"I️ know, I'm sorry. I'm a thousand times sorry," he pleaded. "But when I️ saw you with that guy, I️ lost all control and it made me realize that I️ love you Grace," he admitted, making her look at him with wide eyes. "And I'm tired of hiding," he stated.

Grace wiped her tears, but they kept flowing. "Danny, I️ love you too," She sniffled. He took a step forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer and kissed her hard. It felt so good to be able to kiss each other again after so long. But as soon as she pulled away, he knew something was wrong. "What?" He asked her.

"We can't be together," she says disappointedly, shaking her head, "not in this town. They'll harass us and our families right to hell," she tells him.

"Then we'll run away," he proposed. "We'll go somewhere where people don't know us. Where it's legal for us to be together."

Grace frowns sadly. "Danny," She lets out a choked sob. "Come on. Be realistic."

"We can make it work," he says determinedly. "We'll go to California. I'll work in a garage and you can star in movies," he joked, making her giggle slightly. "I️ know much you love Dorothy Dandridge, maybe you'll follow in her footsteps, you know?"

"Danny..."

"Don't give up on us Grace," he held her face in his hand. "You said you wouldn't," he reminded her of their vow for a couple weeks earlier.

Grace lets out another cry. "I'm sorry Danny," she shakes her head, pulling away from him.

"Grace, if you do this then you'd be breaking my heart," Danny's voice cracked.

Grace takes his hands into hers, looking up at him. "It's just too hard Danny. It's too much," she exclaims.

Danny closes his eyes and sighs. "You're giving up on us?" He asks her. She just stood there, not saying anything at all and he wasn't sure if the silence was confirmation or not.

"You don't get it-"

"I️ get it!" He blows up on her. "I️ get it Grace! We'd get weird stares, get called names and get kicked out of places and denied services but you know what, none of that matters to me as long as we're together damn it!" He expressed. "I am all in," he says, looking her in the eye. "All in."

Grace frowned at him. "It wouldn't be just that. You would be risking everything. Your relationship with your family, your job, all of it," she brought it up. "And I️ can't ask you to give all that up for me," she backed away from him.

"Grace, where are you going?" He started to panic now. "Grace!"

"We're over," she says, turning her back on him.

He called her name, over and over again in the hopes that she'd turn around, wrap her arms around him and tell him that everything will be fine, that they can do anything as long as they had each other.

She didn't.

_______________________________

Well, that's the end of THAT.