Matt's eyes skidded from roadside to roadside as he traveled down the highway in a daze of conglomerate emotion, his hands clammy against the warm leather steering wheel, his heart pulsating and burning like acid in his moist throat. Such an immaculate mixture of hate, love, and relief prickled like needles through his veins and bones, it was hard to concentrate on the thin lines on the road. Yet, he felt noble, worthy of Alana now. Dream Street had just finished practice early in anticipation for a radio interview when Matt got the call from Alana. He was so shocked to hear from her so soon, let alone at all, he almost dropped his $200 cell phone. He was even more shocked when she revealed that she actually went through with her plan, traveling to New York City; a vulnerable, pretty foreign girl without a friend within 100 miles, and hadn't been mugged, raped or worse... 'Never doubt what someone will do when they're in love,' Alana told him; his heart faltering a few beats with that truth. Her voice sounded galaxies away instead of miles, the static air between them electifying with every spoken syllable. He had to rescue her, had to save her from the giant monster of herself that kidnapped her to the 2nd City of Sin. He had to....

"Where are you going, Matt?" Claudia asked in suspicion, grabbing her black gym bag and running after Matt like a chicken with her head cut off.

"I have to go to the city," Matt gasped as he clawed the door handle, a shield of sunlight blocking Claudia temporarily from restraining him.

"What's going on?!" Jesse enquired, him and the rest of Dream Street spilling out of the dance studio's wide window on their tippytoes, trying to make sense of this situation.

"Matt probably realized that he can't dance. Poor guy!" Chris presumed in wry remorse, bowing his head down as if to pray.

"This is serious, Chris," Greg scolded him, Greg leaning further from the window to catch some over-shot responces between the two of them. "Did you see how off he was today?...I mean, more off than usual?! Well...that's not the point! Something's wrong."

"It's gotta be about a girl," Frankie surmised, leaning his head against the side of window.

"Says who?" Jesse asked with curiosity, tucking his hands into the pockets of his yellow UFO pants.

"You know how messed up Chris gets when a girl dumps him or whatever," Frankie responded, his eyes fixed on Claudia and Matt's chase in the maze of the parking lot, a small smile sliding on his lips. "He probably acquired his traits somehow."

"This isn't 'Bashing on Chris' day, Smarty!" Chris yelled as everyone blew up with laughter.

"Are you kidding?" Claudia yelled with a doubtful chuckle, fighting with blindless sight toward his car, "You have the radio interview in an hour!"

"I have to do this, Claud," Matt told her sternly, slamming the door and locking it before she could grapple the door handle.

"Why are doing this, Matt?" Claudia asked quietly, flashing back to his combustable stability during practice, his face tight in anger and eyes dull and lifeless, "This isn't like you."

"I'm in love," Matt announced, turning the key and the engine purred in delight, "and I have to save my princess........."

Matt smiled, something that seemed foreign and strange to him the past 18 hours, smiled because he stood up for what he believed in, the magic and glory of love.

As P.O.D.'s song about being alive rolled throughout the car, Matt wondered what he was going to say, what she was going to say. He knew what any sensible guy would do, smack her and ask her why she made him worry so, why she almost gave him a heart attack. Her words would slurr in remorse and sorrow, her eyes would tear and knees weaken. And then, in the cloudiness of intense passion, lay a kiss on her lips so sultry, it would melt the coldest hearts and minds. He wasn't like that, he was so much different.

As he took the last turn toward the city, his car bustling up a steep exit ramp, he wondered what made her change her mind about running away. She mentioned briefly about a guy who helped her around the city; Maybe that stranger straightened her out. He was thankful. He couldn't fathom not being able to sneak off to the woods, the moon the only thing knowing of his intentions to see a girl fabricated from the complexity of his dreams. It was impossible.

Faceless people strolled past him, people with no identity or status. He turned everything surrounding him off accept the idea of arriving at his princess's side. She told him that she went to Sly's current residence, the homeless shelter on the corner of 22nd and 49th. Any normal ...boyfriend would be concerned with his girl going to some unknown place with a stranger, especially in the vitrolic shadows of NYC, but there was nothing left to lose and everything to gain. He wished he could fly over the cars ahead of him, fly through the red light jeering at him and smash it into yellow powder. That would teach time about testing him. He tapped his fingertips against the steering wheel irritably, a new song starting on the radio, the words of Puddle of Mudd's "Blurry", a fitting song, softly falling from his tounge. Green was go as he grilled his foot to the gas, only minutes, from his beloved...........

"Looking out the window won't make him come faster," Sly reminded Alana as she became distracted from their game of Goldfish. Only a few of Sly's kind shuffled about the small cafeteria, late risers skipping breakfast and heading straight for lunch, their faces somber and stomachs churning. The noon sun toppled through the row of windows, giving each small rectangular table their own share of golden sun and light.

"I know," Alana sighed, every passing second forcing a weight down onto her heart that could explode any moment. She curled her fingers around her Poland Spring bottle and let the water slither down her throat like a hundred liquid snakes, drenching her parched throat. Her eyes were becoming heavy; she assumed it was because she'd been staring into the busy Manhattan life for too long, a life she now couldn't believe she wanted, searching for Matt's valiant black steed and her eyes needed a rest. She flipped her blonde hair behind her shoulders laggardly, a yawn crawling up deep from her throat.

"Why don't you lay down in one of the empty beds for a while?" Sly suggested, noticing her involuntary descend into sleep, letting his cards fall to the worn table top and rising to his feet, his head almost clashing with the low ceiling. "He'll come faster that way."

"Good idea," Alana responded, groggerly straightening up from her seat and retreating to the back room, dozens of well-kept cots appearing so welcoming to a sleepy princess. She randomly picked one to the right and snuggled under the warm sea green sheets, her mind wading in the black water of her subconcious as Matt drove closer to her.........

His mouth ejected a small gasp as he saw the "Parkson's Homeless Shelter" sign hanging by rusty nails above an open grey door. Eyeing an unoccupied parking space directly in front of the shelter, his car dashed after it like a madman, spewing gaseous vapors in victory as the spot was claimed. Matt whipped his car door open, seemingly hundreds of car horns yelling at him as he stepped into traffic, his heart banging inside his ribcage like a jackhammer knowing Alana was only immesurable feet away. With a hustled closing of the door, he darted through the ocean of pedestrians and into the drab, destitude building.

His eyes search frantically for Alana as he stepped in cautiously as if he could be blown away at any moment. He saw a tall boy with black hair approach him, Matt backing away slightly as a natural proclivity. The boy wore a sympathetic smile on his tanned face.

"You Matt?" the boy asked, leaning on the back of a wooden chair belonging to one of the scant dining tables. Matt peered at him mezmorized, blinking to assure this wasn't a dream. "Relax, man," the boy responded with a slight chuckle, patting his shoulder. "I'm Sly. Alana's told me a lot about you."

"Where is she?" Matt asked abruptly, his mind speaking before his mouth.

"She's sleeping in the back," Sly responded nonchalantly, pointing toward the slightly ajared door with a dirty thumb.

"Maybe I should let her sleep," Matt thought out loud, his eagerness to hold her and kiss her subsiding with the thought of what she had been through. "She probably had a tough day."

"The toughest part of the day was convincing her to call you," Sly informed him, slipping into the chair and rubbing his nose briefly. "She was afraid she hurt you too badly for you to come." A tiny bubble floated through his blood to his heart, heating it a few degrees. "You should wake her if you get my drift," Sly finished with a mischevious wink.

Matt nodded and thanked him as he slowly walked to the back room, viewing dozens of unoccupied cots from his perspective. He eased open the door and stepped in, his heart jumping like an excited, energetic child toward his eyes as he saw Alana napping in a bed to the right, her soft waves tumbling over her peaceful face, her lips rosy, her hands cradeling her head as if it was as fragile as china. Matt crepted next to her, one toe at a time and knelt to her side, just as Greg did to his ailing Railyn in a classic story. His hand gingerly skimmed over her cheek as if it was the finest silk. Licking his lips and swallowing, his head bent toward hers and their lips softly met, just like Prince Charming kissed the beloved Sleeping Beauty, his thankful and long-awaited gesture stimulating Alana's eyelids to slide open as if reenacting that classic olden tale.

The sleep crawling away from her face and gave birth to wide eyes and a wider smile, oozing with bewilderment. She leaped up into his arms, her face sinking into his strong shoulder, her arms taut like ropes around his back. Matt rocked her gently in his arms, placing a small kiss on her shoulder as she bursted into tears, jabbering on about anything and everything she was feeling that moment, jabbering about how sorry and stupid she was. He told her it was alright with a sealing kiss. Those would be the last tears shed for a long time in this fairy tale...........