Danny and I parked several streets away from the zoo and went by foot the rest of the way. It was a little after midnight and the full-moon hung lofty in the sky. We kept to the edges of the parking lot as we made for the entrance.

A padlocked, chain-link fence blocked our path, though it wasn't particularly high. Danny wasn't one to let fences stop him anyway. Without so much as a pause to gauge his route, he grabbed the fence and began pulling himself up. I hauled myself up none too gracefully after him while he spotted me from below on the other side.

The cold metal bit into my unprotected hands and my toes burned in protest as I shoved them though the too-small footholds. I paused briefly at the top, wobbling dangerously as I swung one leg over. I sucked in a hard breath when the jagged edges jabbed my leg, but managed to keep my hold to begin the easier descent.

Danny steadied me as I made my way down, his fingers grazing my hips where my sweatshirt had ridden up. We hadn't even gotten to the tiger's den and my heart was already crashing against my ribs.

"Ready?" he asked as soon as my feet touched the ground. His eyes were lit with a feverish excitement. "Let's go."

It was a clear night, cold even for late October, and I zipped up my black hoodie a little more. Our shoes crunched on the gravel pathway as we followed the signs to the tiger's cage. Danny had his phone out, the light of the screen illuminating the ground just in front of our feet so we wouldn't trip on the loose rocks.

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" I whispered. The zoo was eerily quiet. Surely something had to be awake? Zoos had plenty of nocturnal animals.

"What's life without a little danger?" replied Danny.

"What about guards?" I tried.

"Ben said the night guard always plays video games in his trailer after midnight," said Danny. We reached another fork in the path and he tilted his phone up slightly to illuminate the next sign. The tiger's paws pointed to the right. He set off again at a brisk walk.

I quickened my pace to keep up with his long strides. I didn't want to get separated in this place.

"Should I waste my breath and tell you again what an incredibly idiotic idea this is?" I asked.

"You just did," he chuckled.

The trees rustled in the breeze, shaking a few more leaves loose. I picked one out that had tangled in my hair and threw it aside, feeling goosebumps rise on my arms.

"Can't you prove your stupidity a different way? It's just a stupid dare. You don't have to say "challenge accepted" every time someone provokes you. What's so great about this frat anyway?" I grumbled, drawing level with Danny. He had stopped outside of a chain-linked enclosure; only this fence was much higher. It soared above our heads, black against the starry sky.

"Dash, relax," said Danny, turning to smile at me. Now that we were out of the trees, I could see him better. He too sported a black hoodie and jeans similar to mine. His brown hair, cast silver in the moonlight, was mussed from the wind, dripping into his eyes. I reached up to brush it out of the way; his eyes were still bright and eager.

"Does anything faze you?" I asked. My heartbeat, which had calmed during our walk, had picked up once again.

"I know you don't get it, but Ben said if I did this I wouldn't have to go through rush or hazing or anything next fall. It's not a real frat anyway. The guys in this group are people like me; some of them have done even crazier shit than I have. And they have connections I could only dream about before; I'll be able to do whatever I want after graduation," he said.

"Which is what, exactly?" I asked. Danny seldom talked about what he wanted to do in the future, preferring to live in the moment. And he was always vague when the subject was broached.

Even now he shrugged off my question. "I'm not sure yet, but now I have options."

I shook my head, knowing I wouldn't be able to reach him this time. When he got an idea in his mind, he was like a dog who didn't understand the command "release."

"Hey," Danny said softly. He placed two fingers under my chin and raised my face up. Our eyes locked. "Everything's going to be fine. I promise."

"I just don't want to see you get hurt," I snapped, jerking my head away.

"Have I died yet?" he asked with a grin. "Besides you'd never forgive me if I did."

You're right, I thought, I wouldn't.

"Don't worry, Dash," he continued. "I plan on being around to stress you out for a long time. Now let's do this."

He gave my shoulders a squeeze and turned to survey the tiger compound; I followed suit. The large enclosure was washed out in the moonlight. Piles of strategically placed boulders cast long, black shadows and felled trees and branches were bleached white as bone. It looked like the surface of a foreign planet. The tiger was nowhere to be seen.

"How do you plan on getting in?" I asked.

Danny dug in his pocket and pulled out a small silver key. "Before Ben quit working, he made a couple of copies of all the keys he had. He thought it would come in handy someday."

I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Danny's older brother to be behind this. "No wonder this was what they chose for you to do."

We skirted the edge of the enclosure, making for the back side where the gate entrance for zookeepers was. I checked my breathing, which was too fast and too loud, but there was nothing I could do about my racing heart. I wondered if Danny felt the same way and was just better at hiding it. I wondered if the tiger could smell my fear even from here.

All I could smell was animal dung drifting on the wind. I wrinkled my nose.

Danny inserted the key into the lock and slid the bolt backwards. He opened the gate slowly, trying to keep the chains from rattling. He turned to pass me his phone and the key.

"Remember, just me and the cat, same frame. We'll be in and out in no time."

"Don't tigers hunt by night?" I hissed as he slipped into the enclosure. Sweat beaded on my forehead and rolled down my neck despite the cold. Gritting my teeth, I followed him in, keeping close to the door even as Danny kept walking.

I unlocked his phone and opened his camera, training it on him as my eyes darted from side to side. Even in the dim light, I could see the tension in his neck. I could feel how taut his muscles were. Nothing but him moved in the enclosure.

"Here kitty, kitty," Danny whispered.

I edged a couple more feet in, trying to keep Danny in sight. My jaw hurt from clenching my teeth.

"He must not be home," I said under my breath. Dust disturbed by my feet coated my throat and I struggled not to cough.

There was a scraping sound and both our heads snapped to the right. From the gloom of a rocky overhang, a pair of yellow eyes watched us, tracking our every move. My heart jumped into my throat. Every cell in my body wanted to call Danny back, but I was too afraid to startle the tiger.

Damn it, Danny. Why?

The eyes rose slowly as the big cat got to its feet and stepped out into the light. It was massive. Hard muscle rippled under a thick orange and black coat, tipped silver in the moonlight so looked almost like a painting. Its mouth was open slightly, showing long, yellow fangs. It stopped just outside the cave, watching Danny.

Danny stood stock still.

My hands trembled and I remembered the phone in my hand; the whole ludicrous reason we were in a fucking tiger's cage to begin with. I moved the camera between the two, making sure to linger on each for a few seconds. They were too far apart to be in the frame together.

The tiger took a few more steps towards Danny and I swallowed hard against the scream rising in my throat. Only twenty yards separated the two; Danny still hadn't moved.

As big as the cat was, I noticed that it moved stiffly and one of its eyes was clouded. But neither of those things mattered if it still had its claws.

All of my nerves endings were on fire. Danny seemed to second guess himself and began to move backwards one step at a time, eyes still locked on the tiger. The cat moved forward again and Danny froze. Seconds, agonizing seconds, crawled past as they stared at each other, sizing the other one up.

Danny took another step, toes first, then heel. His fingers twitched at his sides. Another step. The tiger swished its tail. Another step.

I gripped the phone tighter, my hands slick with sweat. Both of them were finally in the frame, but my hands were shaking too hard for me to see if it was a clear shot.

I mirrored Danny's movements, backing up in time with his steps, until my free hand grazed the gate. I slowly pushed it wider so I could pass through backwards. Danny was still fifteen yards from the door.

"You're almost there," I whispered.

The tiger pricked up its ears at the sound of my voice.

Shit.

The tiger started moving forward in earnest, eyes gleaming and mouth open. The moonlight caught its paws and I saw my imagination hadn't exaggerated; they were curved, yellow spears. And it was headed straight for Danny. The distance between them shrank at an alarming speed.

Instead of running, he charged the beast, waving his arms and letting out a horrible yell.

"ARGHHHHH!"

"Danny!" I shrieked.

Confused, the tiger faltered and momentarily slowed.

Danny turned on his heel and bolted. I threw the door shut with a clang as he came barreling through and slid the latch home. I was yanked backwards off my feet as Danny jerked me away from the fence. Both of us crashed to the ground and skidded across the asphalt, the impacting knocking the wind from our lungs. Ten feet away, the tiger bared its teeth at us through the fence; its one good eye glaring. With a lash of its tail, it padded away.

I struggled to get back the air that had been forced out of me and my elbows stung where they had broken my fall. I spat hair and dirt out of my mouth and sat up.

Danny laughed between gasps of air. He had lost a shoe and there was a hole in his jeans but he was laughing.

I started punching every inch of him I could reach. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" I yelled.

He feebly covered his head from my attack, still laughing too hard to really defend himself. I pummeled him, blind with rage and fear and a hint of nausea. He didn't seem to feel any of it.

"Okay, okay," Danny said finally, pushing my fists away. He sat up and began to brush me off, ignoring his own dirty clothes. My head pounded as the adrenaline slowly worked its way out of my system.

"You jackass," I snapped, wincing as he picked debris out of my bloody arms. "I can't believe I let you talk me into this."

A long scrape highlighted his cheek and his knuckles were bleeding slightly, but the energy and life radiating off of him was palpable. He was someone who had just had the thrill of his life, not a near-death experience.

It annoyed the hell out of me.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, pulling my hoodie up where it had slipped off my shoulder.

"Fuck you." I threw his phone, which now featured a large crack across the screen from the fall, into his lap.

Danny glanced down at it, thumbing the dirt off its screen but not bothering to check the video. He placed the phone down and looked back at me. A huge smile still lifted the corners of his mouth. There wasn't a shadow of fear or even a flicker of relief anywhere on his face.

"I think you're certifiably insane," I added.

"I think you're beautiful," he said.

It took a second for his words to register.

"What?" I asked.

Danny answered by reaching out and brushing the hair away from my face. Gently, he placed his hand on my cheek and leaned in to press his lips against mine. He tasted like salt and adrenaline, like the wind and freedom.

He kissed me, sitting in the dirt in a deserted zoo after midnight, with the tiger as our only witness.

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Okay, so now I'm really, really interested to see what you guys think. Did you like this chapter? Was it realistic? Anything I could improve and things I should change? I did a lot of rewriting with this one too, so any feedback would be wonderful! Thanks for reading!!

Dedicated to  teamKr1s10 for being one of my very first readers and sticking with this story from the very beginning. Thanks for being wonderful :)

Update 1/20/16: I've been collecting a list of songs that either inspire chapters I am writing now or I find go well with certain scenes I've already written. Recently, I've stumbled across the song "Youth" by Troye Sivan, which I think fits well at the very end of this chapter after Danny kisses Dash. What do you guys think? :)