Googledocs You Are Getting Awfully Uppity For Something That Can’t Differentiate Between “its”

Chapter 2 is done!

Of All The Stories In The Stars, Ours Has Yet To Be Told (13344 words) by StarsWhisper Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Danny Phantom Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Dash Baxter/Danny Fenton Characters: Danny Fenton, Dash Baxter, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Paulina Sanchez, Kwan (Danny Phantom), Valerie Gray, Pookie (Danny Phantom) Additional Tags: Aged-Up Character(s), on the way to college, mentions of child abuse, Mentions of homophobia, Redemption Arcs, Bisexual Danny Fenton, everyone becoming good friends, learning how to live, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Second Chances, lots of classical literature references, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst, Lots of Crying, Some hurt/comfort, almost everyone has shitty parents, More tags to come as I think of them Summary: It's the end of senior year and Dash and Danny are having the worst time of their lives. Dash's father finds out he's queer and tries to kill him. That lands him in prison with divorce papers. Dash goes to therapy to cope and learn how to change his behaviors while taking some time off from school. He now needs to learn how to navigate the world and figure himself out. Danny fears he'll never figure out what he wants for his future beyond being the hero of Amity Park forever and he's running out of time to figure it out as he watches everyone he knows move on without him. Plus there are always the people hunting him down that he has to worry about on top of that.

~

“You’re sure your parents aren’t going to mind us reversing their bio-engineered poison in their own lab?” Sam asked, squeezing a few drops of the Fenton Venom onto a microscope slide.

Danny was swirling a vial of solvent and venom over on the next table. “They won’t even know we’ve been down here. They’re visiting Vlad in Wisconsin.” Danny scrunched his face up, wanting to vomit.

“Your mom is visiting Vlad?” Tucker quirked his eyebrow, setting up the monitor to receive images from the microscope Sam was working on.

“My dad wanted to show him the progress they’ve made with the Fenton Venom. I think she just went to make sure Vlad doesn’t kill him. Or maybe she’s just putting up with it. My parents rarely go anywhere without each other.” The liquid in the vial turned blue. Danny sighed, placing the vial in the holding rack with all the other blue ones. This was getting him nowhere.

“So that’s why you’re so insistent on finding an antidote for the Fenton venom, you’re worried Vlad is going to steal some from your parents and use it against you.” Sam secured the slide in place, motioning to Tucker to begin capturing the photos.

Danny switched his gloves, careful not to touch the outside of them even the slightest bit, and grabbed a new vial. He only had one solvent left before he was out of options on his end. “Of course, he’s going to steal some. But mostly, I just wanted to get it done while I have full unsupervised access to the lab. That shit hurts. I’d rather not deal with it again. If Dash hadn’t been there, I probably would have lost my arm.”

Tucker saved the images in a folder labeled ‘slide one’ and motioned for Sam to switch slides. “Danny, we know all about your big, brave jock saving your life. You can stop bringing it up at any time.”

Sam filled the next slide up with the venom, this time also adding a bit of Danny’s blood. She slid it under the microscope. “Oh, Sam, Tucker,” She wistfully sighed- Danny frowned at her-, “he was my hero. He’s the Perseus to my Andromeda and I-”

“Whoa!” Tucker interrupted her. “Guys come look at this.”

Sam locked the microscope knobs into place and walked over.

“Hang on. I have to finish-” the vial turned blue, -“okay.” He set the vial down, threw his gloves in the trash, and leaned against the back of Tucker’s chair.

“Okay, so these are the photos from the first slide.” Tucker opened the ‘slide one’ folder, slowly clicking through them. “This is what the structure of the Fenton Venom looks like by itself. Nothing out of the ordinary, right?”

“Hang on,” Danny pointed at a dim little rod shape on one of the photos, “what’s that?”

“It’s the mitochondria,” Sam snickered.

“Ha-ha,” Danny tapped the screen again, “very funny. Can you not see it?”

Tucker zoomed in on where Danny was pointing. He squinted at the monitor. “There’s nothing there dude. But, funny that you say that because of what’s on the second slide.” He minimized the folder and clicked on one labeled ‘slide two’.

“Wow, that’s freaky,” Sam whispered.

“Those!” Danny wildly tapped the screen again, pointing at the shapes. They were brighter now and congregating around the drop of blood. “What are those?!”

“You’re saying you saw these,” Tucker drew a red circle around a few of the creatures, “on that last slide?”

“Yeah, there weren’t as many and it wasn’t showing up as well, but they were definitely there.”

“Interesting.” Tucker pulled up the first file again, aligning the two images side by side. “Sam, can you see them in the first photo?”

Sam leaned in. “Point at it, Danny.”

Danny pointed.

“Nope.” She popped the ‘p’.

“Very interesting,” Tucker added to the notes area on the image. “Can you guys check if it’s the same on the actual microscope?”

Sam peered through the microscope at the second slide, making sure to take her time and really look. “Is this the spectral microscope?”

“It should be.”

“Okay, then no. I don’t see them.”

Danny stepped up, looking in. They were there. But, they were flickering; like ghosts. “I see them. They’re phasing in and out of the blood cells.”

“Very interesting,” more notes were taken, “now look at the first slide.”

Sam switched the slides out and took even longer to study this one, making absolutely sure she wasn’t overlooking anything. “No, I don’t see them.”

Danny took her place. “They’re still here, but they look dead. They’re not moving and they’re kind of shriveled up.”

“Extremely interesting.” More typing, “So they come alive when introduced to ghost energy and then they consume and destroy it and so far only ghosts can see them without the help of the spectral camera.” Tucker placed a hand on his chin, studying his notes. He turned to Danny. “You said you couldn’t use your powers at all while the venom was on you, correct?”

“Correct.”

“Would you say it was almost like the time when Vlad used The Plasmius Maximus to lock your powers away? You know, when he basically kidnapped you and your mom?”

Danny thought for a moment, recalling the memory. “Actually, yeah. It was almost exactly like that!”

“Tucker,” Sam intoned, “are you saying Danny’s parents made an ectoenergy-eating bacteria based off one of Vlad’s inventions?”

“It’s a possibility. We don’t know for sure it’s just ectoenergy that it affects though. Did any of it get on Dash and burn him in any way?”

Danny shook his head. “No, he was really careful about it.”

“So, we just gotta test it.” Sam grabbed her syringe full of Fenton Venom and walked over to the sink.

“What are you doing?” Danny screeched.

“I’m testing it.”

“Are you crazy?! It could literally melt your flesh off!”

Sam rolled her eyes at him. “Calm down, drama queen. It’s one drop and I’m right by a sink. The second it stings, I’ll wash it off. Unlike you, I don’t need a Prince Charming to heroically save my entire arm.” She turned on the sink, moving the faucet to the side so it didn’t immediately splash on her arm.

Danny squeezed his eyes shut, turning away from the sink, queasy at the thought.

“What the hell.” Tucker quipped.

Danny peeked one eye open. Sam’s arm was fine, the poison sliding off her arm with no issues. He breathed out, relaxing.

“Where would your parents even get the technology for a poison that only affects ghosts?” Sam washed her arm off, making sure to clean the sink out as well in case Danny accidentally touched anything.

Danny frowned, looking back at the monitor. “I have no idea. But it can’t be good.”

Tucker pushed off from the counter and wheeled his way over to the microscope. “Well, we can’t really make a vaccine for bacteria, so we’ll just have to stick with cleaning and antibiotics.”

“Ugh,” Danny whined, “no! I don’t want to deal with it again.”

“Then don’t get hit.” Sam teased.

“Well, what about the other ghosts.” Danny gestured to the portal.

“What do you mean ‘what about the other ghosts’?” Tucker asked.

“Will antibiotics work for them?”

“Why would we care if they get hit?” Sam crossed her arms and leaned against the counter.

“Because, it’s- they’re not- they don’t deserve that.” Danny dropped his gaze to the floor, frustrated that he couldn’t find the right words to make them understand. “Not all of them mean harm, and even if they did, they don’t deserve to have every inch of their being eaten away. We don’t even know what happens to the ghosts if they disappear.” His heart twisted as he thought about ghosts like Young-blood getting hit.

“You want us to mass produce ghost-antibiotics so you can distribute them to the entire ghost zone?” Tucker questioned in disbelief.

Danny hugged his arms to his chest, hand rubbing the spot on his shoulder where he’d been hit. He spoke in a voice so soft he wasn’t sure Tucker and Sam would hear him. “Could we?”

Sam and Tucker shared a look. It would be hard and they’d have to steal Danny’s parent’s credit card, but it was technically doable. Sam shrugged. Tucker sighed, swinging his chair back to the monitor. “Let’s get started.”

“All right, I’m gonna need more of your blood for testing, ghost savior.” Sam dug under the cupboards for her phlebotomy kit. “And you owe us some Nasty Burger for all the labor.”

Danny smiled, letting the tension drop out of his body. “Thank you.”

“Careful, Danny,” Tucker giggled, “saying that might make her fall in love with you.”

“I am not in love with Dash!” Danny huffed as he plopped down in the chair Sam was by. He lifted his arm so she could tie the medical band around his upper arm.

“Uh-huh,” Sam snickered, “says the guy who was staring at him for all of Financial Lit.”

Danny’s face burned. “I was not!”

“Okay, Danny,” Tucker spun around, arms playfully crossed over his chest, “then tell me how the stock market works.”

Danny flinched at the cold wipe Sam moved over his arm. “I wouldn’t know that even if I wasn’t staring at Dash.”

“Ah-ha!” Tucker cheered, throwing his hands in the air and promptly spinning back to his computer.

“You sure walked right into that one.” Sam laughed, pushing the needle into his skin.

“Ow, warn a guy!” Danny slumped in his seat, admitting defeat. “Okay, fine. I was staring. But not because I like him. He just looked so sad and I was trying to figure out a way to invite him to our graduation party without sounding desperate.”

“You are desperate, Danny. You’re acting just like you did with Valerie.” Sam took the needle out, covering the wound with a cotton ball. She walked the blood vial over to the storage fridge and washed her hands. Danny didn’t need bandages since his smaller wounds healed quickly.

“That was different! I’m not trying to date Dash, he just needs some friends right now-”

“Yeah and what happens when he inevitably falls back into his old habits and tries to string you up from a flag pole again?” Sam scolded.

Danny scowled, throwing the cotton ball in the trash. “What’s going on with you? You’re usually extremely pro-change.”

Sam rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, but come on, Danny, people like him don’t change.”

“And what people can change, Sam? Or do you really think people are defined by the mistakes they’ve made?” Danny halted his lab activities, crossing his arms.

Tucker glanced between the two of them, trying to decide if he wanted to step in and calm them down, or just let them hash it out. He decided on the latter and got up to grab a drink from upstairs.

“I’m not talking about you, Danny. You don’t need to take this so personally. Your scary eyes are showing.” Sam leaned against the sink, gazing directly into Danny’s glowing green eyes.

“He’s my friend now, Sam.” He ignored her comment, too mad to care. “I am going to take it personally. Look at how hard he’s trying. He checked himself into therapy, you know? That was his idea. He wanted to get better.”

Sam scoffed. “Great! Let’s applaud the bare minimum!” She clapped her hands, hard, the sound echoing around the lab.

“You should when it’s a step up from what they were doing before. People can’t change without encouragement.” Danny closed his eyes, counting to ten. He needed to calm down. Or scream. “What happened to trusting me on this?”

“I do trust you! I always trust you!”

“No, you don’t!” Danny lost it, the anger exploding out of him, fingernails digging into his arms. “Unless it’s something you’ve directly asked me to do, you question every decision I make!”

“Name one time I’ve ever told you not to do something you wanted to do.”

“Danny you can’t like Valerie, she’s literally hunting you for sport!”

“Well that was-”

“Danny, you can’t go to the museum tonight, I need you to sneak me into the administrative office so I can cancel the order of frogs to the biology lab! Don’t you care about the lives of these amphibians?!”

“The protest-”

Danny didn’t care that he was cutting Sam off at this point. He’d been bottling this up and going along with it every time because that’s what friends did, but he’s reached his breaking point. “Danny, you can’t pull pranks on Dash, that’s using your powers for evil! Danny, don’t use your powers to make yourself look cooler in front of the cute waiter! Danny, you’re overthinking that fight, just forget about it! Danny, I wish we’d never met! Danny, calm down, this could be the thing that turns you evil! Danny, don’t-”

“Okay!” Sam stomped her foot and threw her hands in front of her. “I fucking get it! What do you want me to do? I can’t go back and change any of that?”

“Start trusting me!” Danny’s lungs were heaving in air by the gallon, trying to reclaim every ounce he’d just spat into the air. “You’re one of my best friends! Why can’t you trust me and just give Dash a chance!”

“Why do you need him to have a chance!? Why is it so important that he change?!” Sam was raving now, unwilling to back down no matter what point Danny made. She was doing all of this- fighting ghosts, making antibiotics, playing sidekick- for him, wasn’t she?! Why couldn’t he be grateful!?

“Because it proves people can! And if he can, then I know I can too and won’t end up evil!”

“With the way you’re acting maybe you can’t!”

Danny froze like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him. The anger faded, replaced by a chilling numbness as he stared at Sam, her hair falling out of her buns, cheeks flaming red, and venom on her tongue.

“Jesus Christ,” Tucker uttered, stopping on the last stair.

“Glad to know you believe in me, Sam.” Danny changed into his ghost form. “I’m gonna get some air.” He flew up through the ceiling and out into the sky, speeding away from his house. He didn’t really care where he ended up, as long as it was away from there.

Tucker stared at Sam as she heaved in lungfuls of air and pulled at her hair, screaming under her breath. Yeah, he should have intervened. “That was frigid, Sam.”

“Oh, fuck off, Tucker!” She stormed over to her lab station and started throwing everything back into its spot. She was done. Forget making the stupid fucking antibiotic.

“So, you’re not gonna go after, Danny?” Tucker sat back down at the computer, sipping on his juice.

“Why should I?” She slammed a drawer closed, letting the stuff inside rattle around. “He just thinks I’m some smothering, controlling monster.”

“Would he be wrong if he did?”

Sam whirled on him. “You think so too?!”

“I didn’t say that. I’m just saying you should think about it. Using his ghost powers for personal gain is only okay when the gain is yours. Whenever you have some agenda or some point you want to prove, you expect him to drop everything and be at your beck and call. But if he wants to push something, it’s suddenly wrong and evil because it doesn’t align with what you want.” He leaned back in his chair, not surprised when Sam’s anger turned toward him.

“Like you’re the model version of a perfect friend.” She spat.

“I’m not trying to attack you, Sam.” He circled around to the computer, saving all his files. It didn’t look like they were getting any more work done tonight. “And, no, I’m not. I’ve had my fair share of arguments with Danny, where I’ve snapped at him or asked something unfair of him. Nobody’s perfect.”

Sam didn’t respond. She threw herself down into one of the chairs. She glared at the floor like it existed solely to offend her.

Tucker took a deep breath. “You wanna know a secret?”

Sam shook her head.

Tucker continued anyway. “I’m absolutely terrified of the things I’m capable of. Every single time I have a chance at even a fraction of the power Danny has, I become this power-addicted version of myself that I hate. And it’s not just whatever power the ghosts use, it’s these intrusive thoughts I have all the time, and power just makes me act on them without thinking of the consequences. The part of me that wants to take advantage of Danny and his powers is always gnawing at the back of my mind and that scares the shit out of me.”

He paused, taking a deep breath to steady his voice that was on the verge of shaking. He wiped his palms on his pants. “Apologizing doesn’t make you weak, but doing the same shit over and over again and refusing to look at yourself does.”

Sam let the room fall into silence. She sat deep in thought, going over every incident Danny had mentioned, replaying the look of anguish on Danny’s face. He hadn’t been blaming her; he had been pleading with her.

And she’d been too blind with rage to see it. She dropped her head into her hands. “Oh my god, I suck.”

“No, you don’t. You’re learning.”

“He’s never going to forgive me, Tucker.”

Tucker laughed. “We’re talking about the same Danny, right? You know, the same one who forgave Dash just because he put a band-aid on his boo-boo? The same one who just asked us to make ghost medicine for the same guys who have been beating the shit out of him for the last 5 years? That’s the Danny we’re talking about?”

“Well yeah, but I basically just told him I thought he’d grow up to be evil no matter what. That’s so fucked up of me.”

“Do you believe that?” Tucker sighed, stood, and grabbed a broom to busy his hands with.

Sam took a deep breath, wiping away the tears she knew were forming. “No. At least, I don’t think so.” She took a moment and a few breaths before continuing. “I think I just get jealous of the new people in our group because they change the dynamic. I like it when it’s just the three of us.”

“Is that the truth?” Tucker hummed, looking around for the dustpan. “Or is it just an excuse you’re using?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, even if it is an excuse, I can tell you it’s bullshit. After the last time I got possessed, you know the one with the Nordic amulet junior year, I thought Danny was going to boot me to the curb for sure. I mean, how many times can a friend get power and try to force you to do things for them before you get tired of it? But he didn’t. He asked if I was okay and I broke down crying. I told him he should just toss me into the ghost zone for being such a hypocrite and for every other awful thing I’ve done. You know what he did?”

Sam shook her head.

Tucker dumped the dust in the trash can, putting the broom back where it belonged. “He started crying and hugged me. He couldn’t believe he’d missed how upset his friend had been. He reassured me that he wasn’t going anywhere and that people learn from their mistakes, but that he did appreciate the apology. And that was that. As long as you apologize, you’re not losing Danny anytime soon.”

“You’re right.” Sam stood up and gave Tucker a hug. “Thanks Tuck. Sorry, for being a big idiot.”

“It’s chill. Now go find Danny, he’s the one you need to apologize to. I’m gonna take this opportunity to play some games on the high-processing computer.”

“Classic. I’ll be back.” Sam hurried up the stairs and out of the house.

Danny set his feet on solid ground and slid down the nearest wall, hugging his knees to his chest. He was too tired to keep flying around aimlessly. He just wanted to sit here and cry.

The wall behind him and the sidewalk he was sitting on were cold to the touch; it was comforting, easing some of the ache in his muscles. His shoulders shook as the tears fell silently. Maybe Sam was right? Really, who was he to think he could change anything about Fate? It was only by Clockwork's will that he wasn’t destroying everything he knew and loved.

He was starting to think he should have died in that portal. Maybe everyone would have been safer that way.

Manic barking startled him. He looked up just in time to see a little rat dog charging at him. He had just enough time to throw up a ghost shield before the dog could start chewing on his ankles.

“Hey! Go away!” Danny yelped. The dog’s leash was rattling as it scratched away at the shield. It must have run away from whoever was walking it. Lucky for them. “Down!”

“Pookie! Get back here!”

Danny looked over to the voice to see Dash sprinting in their direction.

“Get down!” Dash picked the dog up, struggling to keep it in his arms. “Quiet, Pookie. Sorry about that, I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”

Danny dropped his shield. He wiped the tears away from his eyes. “Your dog’s name is Pookie?”

“My mom named him,” Dash lied, still breathing hard. He looked Danny up and down. “Was there a ghost attack around here or something?”

Danny frowned, confused. “Uh, no, I don’t think there was.”

“Oh,” Dash shuffled, adjusting his hold on the dog, “it’s just that no one really sees you around unless you’re fighting off an attacking ghost.”

Right, Danny glanced down at his jumpsuit, he was Phantom right now, not Danny. “Uh, yeah. I was just-” he looked around for an excuse, “patrolling?”

“Right,” Dash drawled. “Are you okay?”

Danny pressed back against the wall, dropping eye contact. Dash’s voice was incredibly genuine, but there was no way he could tell him anything. He pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes. “I’m just trying to get some air is all.”

Dash smirked at him. “Not crying?”

“Not anymore.”

Dash’s smirk fell. “I have some cake inside. I mean, I’m not really sure if ghosts can eat or if you even personally like cake, but maybe it could help cheer you up?” Heat flooded his cheeks as he held his breath and Pookie for dear life.

Danny squashed the urge he had to accept immediately. Cake sounded sick right now. And being alone wasn’t doing him any favors. He shook his head. Bad idea, Fenton. “How far is your house?”

Dash pointed to the building Danny was leaning against.

“Oh.” Danny really should have realized where he was sooner.

“It really wouldn’t be any trouble.” Dash rushed. “You could consider it your official thank you.”

Alarm bells blared in Danny’s head. Getting close to Dash as Phantom was a dangerous game. Especially now that Dash was hanging out with Danny Fenton; it would be easy for him to start to notice the similarities. “I shouldn’t, your parents might not appreciate a ghost in the house. Especially this late at night.”

Dash drew in a breath. “Actually, it’s just me and my mom. And she happens to be at work right now. But, if it makes you feel more comfortable, I have a balcony out back.”

Absolutely not, Fenton. You should go home to your probably empty house and deal with your emotions in a more constructive way, like blowing shit up in the ghost zone. He made eye contact; Dash was bouncing on his toes like a toddler who’d just asked for his favorite chocolate bar. Sam would be so mad at him.

He caved. “Okay.”

“Really?” Dash blurted, coughing to cover his eagerness. “Yeah, okay. Uh, I’ll go grab that and meet you out back.” Dash practically sprinted for the door, taking one last glance at Danny like he didn’t believe he was even there before closing the door behind him and Pookie.

Danny took a deep breath. Okay, he could be so chill about this. He flew around to the back, immediately spotting the balcony Dash was talking about. It must be new, he didn’t remember it being here the last time he’d been to a party here. It was a simple sitting balcony with low rails. He dragged one of the chairs over to the edge so his feet could dangle between the bars while he sat.

He sighed, laying his head over his crossed arms on the railing. Dash had a surprisingly good view of the stars from here; very little light pollution reached this far into the rich kids’ neighborhood. Andromeda glittered overhead, mocking him. He stuck his tongue out at her.

The glass door behind him slid open, Dash slowly stepped outside, two plates of cake in hand. He visibly relaxed when he saw that Danny was in fact sitting there. “I was sure you weren’t actually going to be out here.”

Danny smiled up at him, accepting the plate being handed to him. “How could I not be? You bribed me with cake after all.”

Dash dragged a chair over next to him, chuckling. “If I knew that was all it took to get the town hero to hang out with me, I would have done it sooner.”

Danny let out a sad chuckle, taking a bite of cake. It was delicious. “Wow, is this homemade?”

“Yeah, I made it with my mom last night.”

A rueful smile crossed Danny’s face. He used to bake with his mom too. “You talk about your mom a lot. You must really love her.”

Dash shrugged his shoulders, embarrassment creeping up on him. “I mean, yeah. She’s the only good parent I have. She stood up for me against my dad and was my biggest supporter when it came to therapy. She went with me to my first appointment cause I was so nervous. I think I got pretty lucky in the mom department.”

Danny felt a twinge of jealousy creep over him. He squashed it down. “That’s really cool, Dash. I’m happy you have her. And your baking skills cause this is amazing. I might have to get you to make me cake more often.”

Dash’s heart leapt right into his throat. “Thanks,” he wheezed. Real smooth, Baxter.

Phantom took a deep breath, oozing melancholy, and took another bite of cake. His gaze was fixed on the stars, eyes not glowing as much as they usually do. His eyelashes were still wet with the tears he’d been crying before Pookie had found him.

Dash twiddled his thumbs, sweating like crazy. What did one even do in this situation? Should he ask what’s bothering him? Did he not want to talk about it? How long had he been crying there? Dash exhaled, setting his plate on the table behind him. “Can I ask what’s wrong?”

Phantom closed his eyes, letting his shoulders slump forward. His fingers were shaking where they held onto the plate. He didn’t say anything for a long time.

Dash panicked. Had he overstepped? He wasn’t leaving so maybe he was just hoping Dash would get the hint and ask something else.

“I got into a fight with a friend of mine. She said some things and I snapped at her then stormed off.”

“What kind of things?” Dash gripped the edges of his chair, leaning forward to try to catch a glimpse of Phantom’s face.

Phantom was silent again for a moment. He sighed, placing his plate down and dropping his head into his arms again. “She thinks I’m inherently evil and no matter what I do I’m gonna end up destroying everything I love because apparently, people can’t change.”

Okay, so not at all what Dash was expecting. He blinked. “Didn’t you just fly into a burning building to save some kids last week?” Dash asked, stupidly.

Phantom shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe she’s right. I am a ghost after all. It could only be a matter of time before I lose control of myself and make some stupid mistake I can’t fix.”

“I don’t think so,” Dash spoke way too quickly and confidently for someone who by all intents and purposes should not be having this conversation. “I don’t know a whole lot about ghosts and I sure as hell don’t know more about you than your friend does, but I’m pretty sure I’m looking at someone that doesn’t have an evil bone in his body. Seriously, you’ve been protecting this town, mostly on your own, for over five years now. You’ve beaten back ghost kings and ancient plant ghosts bent on devouring the world and you still make time to save people from a literal burning building. And no one had even stopped to thank you! Everyone can make bad decisions, but not everyone can selflessly save the world day after-” Dash yelped as Phantom pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. Holy fuck he was cold!

He hugged the hero back, mourning the loss of his body heat as it was sapped out of him.

Phantom was crying again, this time directly into Dash’s shoulder. “Thanks,” he whimpered.

Dash tightened his hold, determined to not let go until Phantom did; his grip was tight enough that Dash was worried he’d come out of this with bruises and he wondered when the last time Phantom had been comforted was. “No problem,” he whispered.

“Twice actually. I forgot to thank you for patching me up the other day.” Phantom’s voice cracked and shook. He wasn’t even trying to conceal the tears this time.

“It’s no big deal.” Dash’s heart was pounding. He had entirely expected the hero to let go by now. His shoulders were shaking under Dash’s hands and all Dash could focus on was how toned the hero’s back was.

He was the worst.

Danny was honestly scared to let go and see what expression Dash had. Really, what kind of hero just falls apart in front of the first person they see like that? But, Dash was shivering now so Danny pulled back.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to completely break down on you.”

Dash shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Anytime, really.” Dash looked like he wanted to throw himself off the balcony, pink dusting his cheeks as he avoided eye contact.

Danny thought it was a good look for him; it softened the hard edges of worry on his face. Looking closer he discovered that Dash had freckles. It made sense with how much time he spent outside, but it was amazing how he’d never noticed them before.

He let his eyes roam over the guy in front of him. His hair, which Danny had thought was a buzz cut was actually just really short and gelled back. He kind of wanted to mess it up to distract from the fact that he’d been crying. His eyes fell back to Dash’s, who was not looking at his eyes but rather somewhere on his chin.

Oh.

Oh.

Dash had a crush on Phantom. And he certainly was not helping to make that seem like an impossibility.

Danny cleared his throat and backed away entirely, picking up his piece of cake again to keep his hands busy. “Have you ever thought of becoming a baker?”

Dash startled, scooting back in his chair and keeping his gaze firmly fixed anywhere but on Danny. “Uh, no. I’m not nearly good enough for that.”

“I wouldn’t sell yourself short.” Danny shoved the last bit of cake in his mouth and set the plate down on the table. “I should get going. There could be ghosts about. Thanks again.” Danny stood and stretched.

“Yeah, anytime.”

“Careful,” Danny teased, “if you keep saying that, I might take you up on it. Goodnight.” Danny waved and flew off, feeling a lot better and calmer than he had before.

Dash was so screwed. Oh, where was Paulina when he needed her?

Sam was sitting on the stairs in front of his house when he returned. She looked like a mess; her hair was down, makeup smudged, and her shoes were sitting on the stair next to her.

She was crying.

Danny ducked into an alleyway to change back and take a few deep breaths before walking over to her. “Hi.”

“I was looking for you,” she muttered weakly.

“Oh.” There was an awkward pause. Danny opened his mouth, “I’m-”

“Don’t you dare apologize to me, Daniel Fenton.”

Danny snapped his mouth shut. He sat down next to her, pulling one of the hair ties off his wrist and holding it out to her. She took it wordlessly, pulling her hair back into her famous half-up ponytail, exposing the purple half. He could see smudges of purple on her coffin earrings; she must have re-dyed it recently.

Sam took a deep breath, the cold air stinging her lungs. “I’m sorry.” She finally spoke. “You’re right. I’ve been incredibly overbearing, hypocritical, and judgmental. I haven’t been fair to you and I’m sorry for even bringing up the idea of you being evil. I’ve done a lot of thinking while I was out looking for you. I think, deep down, I’ve been trying to live vicariously through you. For so, so long, I have been trying to prove to my parents, to myself, that I am my own, unique individual. I’ve taken control of every little niche thing I can get my hands on just to say ‘look, I can control things too, you’re not special.’ And where has that gotten me?”

She threw her hands in the air, standing up from the stairs and kicking a rock down the road. She took a few deep breaths before continuing.

“When you got your ghost powers, I think some part of me saw it as another way to prove to my parents that I had control over something they didn’t. Well, my fucked up proof has turned me into someone who can’t even give her best friend the most basic respect. I’m sorry.”

If Danny wasn’t dehydrated, he would have started crying again. He tried speaking again.

“I’m not done. As for how I’ve acted with Dash and to an extent Valerie, I think I’ve always just been afraid that you’d stop being my friend if you found someone cooler. People who have it more together than I do. So, I thought, if Dash couldn’t change, you couldn’t leave. And that wasn’t fair of me either. I’m really, really sorry.”

There was a bout of silence.

“I’m done now.”

Danny stood, opening his arms for a hug. Sam didn’t hesitate to fall into it. “I didn’t know all of that stuff with your parents was affecting you that badly. You’ve been carrying that all by yourself?”

Sam cackled into his shoulder. “I didn’t know until today when you called me out on my shit and I had to do some reflecting. I should probably take a page out of Dash’s book and talk to a professional about that huh?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner. You can always talk to me, Sam. I’m not going anywhere and I’m sorry I ever made you feel that way.”

“I said not to apologize to me.” She squeezed him tighter, just because she could.

“I’m so terrified all the time.” He whispered, feeling the tears start to well up in his eyes again despite the lack of water in his system. “Because you were also right. If cheating on a test was all it took in that timeline, what other little mistakes could lead to me destroying everything? Logically, I know I’ll do everything in my power to never, ever end up like that. But, sometimes, I start to think that if it happened once, it can happen twice. I would rather be obliterated than ever end up hurting anyone. That’s why I kind of clung onto the idea of people like Valerie and Dash changing for the better because it proves to me that I don’t always need to be that scared, I just need to trust myself to make the right choices. I’m sorry I blew up at you- and for using the scary eyes on you.”

“God, Danny, I’m so sorry I’ve been contributing to that. I forget just how much you have to carry because you never share it with us.” She pulled away from him, looking him in the eye. “From here on out, I’ll tell you when I’m feeling like shit and you tell me, and we can drag Tucker into it, and that way we don’t all bottle up our emotions and explode on each other. Deal?”

Danny let out a deep, hearty laugh. “Okay, deal.”

“And if you really want to indoctrinate Dash into our group, I’m okay with that. You’re right, he is trying really hard and is almost an entirely different person than he was freshman year. I’ll do my best to stop shoving people into little boxes.”

Danny sighed, relieving tension in his body. “And I’ll do better at talking with you guys before jumping the gun on decisions that affect the group.”

Sam ruffled his hair and bent to pick up her boots. “Alright, nerd. Let’s go kick Tucker’s ass at some games.”

“Tucker’s still here?”

“Yeah, he’s really capitalizing on free high-speed computer time. Race you and loser has to clean up the lab?”

“You’re on.”

Okay, guys, it's time to come clean. I've been distracted lately. I've sunk over a hundred hours into Coral Island. I might be a tiny bit obsessed. Anyway, I did a watercolor of Wakuu. I love him. 🥰🥰🥰

I love drawing Danny with the stars

Eeeeeeeee! This is co cutesy!

A scene from @starswhisperwritershear chapter 4

This one is for grammarly.

I see you.

I see you after all you've done to me.

You come in, sweep me off my feet, correct my comma usage and wrap me around your little finger making me dependent on you.

You taunt me with your premium features, making me wish I had just a little more money to fully commit to you and you never go on any good sale.

Then you drop me into a filthy hole with the rest of the garbage by incorporating ai that can't tell the difference between its and it's and leave me to rot.

So I move on, I find something better than you could ever be. Just for you to flash a 50% off sale in my face like we were nothing. Like I never meant a goddamn thing to you.

Now you want me back?!?!

After all this, this how you want to wine and dine me back into your arms?

Well, I won't play your game. I've grieved our parting already and now I feel nothing but utter indifference toward you.

My little sibling showed me this website, oh my god is it so helpful. So, I made a chart with what I headcanon everyone's heights to be. The website is https://www.heightcomparison.com/ it will save lives

I built a cutesy little frame to put all my comments in and now I need to find some cutesy ribbon to decorate it with

Alright grammarly this is the final straw. Do you even know what context is? Or how different words have different connotations to them? You're correcting a language that uses nothing but subtext and connotation and tone and you can't even figure it out?

This one is for grammarly.

I see you.

I see you after all you've done to me.

You come in, sweep me off my feet, correct my comma usage and wrap me around your little finger making me dependent on you.

You taunt me with your premium features, making me wish I had just a little more money to fully commit to you and you never go on any good sale.

Then you drop me into a filthy hole with the rest of the garbage by incorporating ai that can't tell the difference between its and it's and leave me to rot.

So I move on, I find something better than you could ever be. Just for you to flash a 50% off sale in my face like we were nothing. Like I never meant a goddamn thing to you.

Now you want me back?!?!

After all this, this how you want to wine and dine me back into your arms?

Well, I won't play your game. I've grieved our parting already and now I feel nothing but utter indifference toward you.

Yall were not quick with this one so I yapped at a friend for three hours and he gave me something better

Quick,

I need a non awkward way to tell your mom that your best friend has moved into boyfriend status.

Chapters: 9/? Fandom: Danny Phantom Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Dash Baxter/Danny Fenton Characters: Danny Fenton, Dash Baxter, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Paulina Sanchez, Kwan (Danny Phantom), Valerie Gray, Pookie (Danny Phantom) Additional Tags: Aged-Up Character(s), on the way to college, mentions of child abuse, Mentions of homophobia, Redemption Arcs, Bisexual Danny Fenton, everyone becoming good friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Second Chances, lots of classical literature references, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst, Lots of Crying, Some hurt/comfort, almost everyone has shitty parents, More tags to come as I think of them, Suicidal Thoughts, This is heavily inspired by marichat, stealing lots of headcanons from tumblr, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, not entirely canon compliant, I stole the pieces I like and combined them with fanon to get what I wanted, this was supposed to be a slow burn, Dialogue Heavy, some spooky shit will be snuck in here, Mutual Pining, Dissection, Bad Parents Jack and Maddie Fenton, lots of astrology references, Inspired by Orpheus and Eurydice (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), horror aspects will be in here, but also cute fluff, Asexual Character, Mentions of previous eating disorders Summary:

It's the end of senior year and Dash and Danny are having the worst time of their lives. Dash's father finds out he's queer and tries to kill him. That lands him in prison with divorce papers. Dash goes to therapy to cope and learn how to change his behaviors while taking some time off from school. He now needs to learn how to navigate the world and figure himself out. Danny fears he'll never figure out what he wants for his future beyond being the hero of Amity Park forever and he's running out of time to figure it out as he watches everyone he knows move on without him. Plus there are always the people hunting him down that he has to worry about on top of that.p

Tucker laughed so hard he choked on his spit, hacking into the speaker.

Dash pulled the phone away from his ear, embarrassed. "Are you done?" He grumbled.

"Never!" Tucker cackled, still choking on his laughter. "Just, just let me get this straight. You, Dash Baxter, are calling me because-" another laugh- "because you want advice on how to woo my best friend?"

Dash sighed, running a hand through his hair and glaring at the notebook in front of him; its front page was covered in scribbled-out ideas and tap marks from his overthinking. "Yes, Tucker, that's exactly what I'm doing."

"Right, right," Tucker murmured sagely. "Are you an idiot?"

"What?" Dash deadpanned, an irk of frustration nipping at his stomach.

"Listen, I mean all offense when I say this," there was a shuffling noise and then Tucker's voice came through more clearly than it had before, "You're blind. And, normally, it's my duty as his best friend to take his secrets to the grave, well, my grave not his since he technically already has one, but this is where I draw the very thin line where betrayal turns into being a good wingman."

"Can you get to the point?"

"Touchy, touchy. What does he see in you?" Tucker chuckled. "The point is that you have him wrapped around your little jock finger. Have you seen how he looks at you?"

Dash swallowed his annoyance at the name-calling. "How does he look at me?"

"Like you hung the stars in the sky just for him. You don't need my help. Whatever you're doing is working just fine."

Dash sighed, his face burning. "It's not- okay, that's cool, but…" he ran a hand down his face, mumbling into the phone. "I don't need help getting him to like me. I need help asking him out."

Tucker was quiet for a moment. "I don't get it. Isn't that the same thing?"

"I should have called Sam," Dash muttered. "Okay, listen… um, we almost kissed yesterday, so I-"

"Holy shit!" Tucker cheered. "Who initiated it? Sam and I have a bet going right now."

"I'm not telling you that." Dash huffed, rolling his pencil around on the desk and readjusting his grip on his phone. "I just need to know if he's ever talked about his ideal first date or anything like that."

"It was you, wasn't it? Danny's too scared to make a first move after Val. Sam totally owes me twenty bucks." There were some typing noises on the line and then Tucker was shifting his focus back to the actual conversation. "Okay, so you want to be all romantic and sappy about it? I don't think he's ever mentioned his ideal first date, but if you need inspiration his favorite romance movie is Pride and Prejudice. Well, Mr. Lancer turned him into a classical literature nerd so any classic romance should be good inspiration. He just likes to have fun. It shouldn't be too hard to pick something he'd like."

Dash scribbled a note on the last blank space on his page. "So, according to Pride and Prejudice, I just have to write him poetry, apologize for being an asshole, get on his family's good side, and then take him somewhere special where I spew more poetry?"

"You can see why you have him so whipped. You've done half of that already." Tucker laughed again, hearty and mixed with snorts. "But, you're putting too much thought into this. He might pass away on the spot, again, if you write him poetry. Just tell him you like him. That'll be enough."

Dash sighed again, rubbing the tension from his forehead. "I don't want it to be enough. I want it to be special, romantic."

"Oh my god!" Tucker guffawed. "It's not like you're taking his virginity, Dash. This isn't complicated."

Dash wrinkled his nose. "You're terrible."

"So I've been told. And yet, you still came to me for help."

Dash sighed, flipping to a clean page in his notebook. "And you kind of did. Thanks, Tucker."

"Just remember to invite me to the wedding."

"What, just so you can steal him from the alter with your cheesy pick-up lines?"

"I am a master at them. You're lucky I'm straight or you probably wouldn't have a chance. Danny is not immune to my charms."

Dash rolled his eyes. "See ya later, Mr. Charmer."

"Later, Sappy Romantic."

Dash laughed and hung up. Okay, he could do poetry. How hard could it be?

After several minutes of staring at a blank page, he sighed and picked his phone back up, dialing Kwan's number.

"Hey bro, what's up?"

"I need you to talk poetry to me."

Danny felt apprehensive before he got to the last stair. Something in his house was wrong. It was colder than normal and he couldn't shake the itch under his skin that someone was invading his space. He could smell something cooking; an odd occurrence for the middle of the day. He stepped into the kitchen and resisted the urge to immediately turn and walk right back out.

Vlad sat at the table, grinning smugly at him. "Oh, good morning, Daniel. How nice of you to join us."

Danny rolled his eyes and ignored him. His mom, who was cooking bacon with a frown, turned to smile at him.

"Hi, Danny!" She beamed. "You look nice today! Are you going somewhere?"

He glanced down; he'd put on some boots Sam had bought him instead of his normal, worn down, red Converse, some black fingerless gloves, pants chains and a planet necklace, and Dash's jacket. "Um." Admittedly, he was psyching himself up to ask Dash on a date and had wanted to look as attractive as possible. He did not want to tell his mom this; especially in front of Vlad. "Sam and I are going to see a movie later."

"When are you going to ask that girl out, Dan-o?" His dad cheered, his mood was always better when Vlad was around. It looked like he was cooking pancakes, but their shapes were anything but a typical circle.

"She's just a friend, Dad," Danny said at the same time Vlad said:

"Odd, I thought you were dating the boy from last night." He curled his lips into a deceitful smile.

Danny glared at him.

"Danny," his dad chided, flipping the pancakes over a little harder than necessary. "How many times have we talked about having people overnight without telling us?"

"Calm down, Jack," His mom hummed, shooting a withering look at Vlad. "It's not like he can get a boy pregnant."

"Dash wasn't over last night," Danny protested, rolling his eyes. "We ran into Vlad at the park."

"The Baxter boy?" His mom asked, her voice all high-pitched and excited.

"At such an odd hour," Vlad mused, talking over his mom. Really, how did he expect to win her over if he couldn't even show her basic respect? "Children can get into such trouble that late."

"I'm not a child," Danny grumbled, walking over to the pantry. It'd be better just to grab a to-go cereal cup and get out of there before he ended up getting in a fistfight with an old man.

His dad grabbed him by the shoulders and steered him back over to the table, forcing him to sit in a chair. "What trouble was he getting into Vlady?" He grabbed the plate of pancakes he'd made and put them on the table. Danny resisted the urge to swat it off the table like an irritable cat.

"Oh, Jack, I'm surprised!" Vlad guffawed. "What is it they say about snitches?" He leveled a keen, evil stare at Danny. "I mean, really, you remember what we were like at that age."

His dad frowned at him. "Danny, do we need to have a talk about drugs?"

"Jack!" His mom chirped as she sat down next to him. "Danny's not like that."

Danny drew in a deep breath through his nose- an anger management tactic Dash had taught him- and crossed his arms, digging his nails into his palms. "No. We were just walking  Dash's dog." He turned his withering glare on Vlad, the next sentence rolling off his tongue coated in venom. "What were you doing in the park so late, Vlady?"

"If you must know, Daniel, I have insomnia."

"Oh, Danny has that too, so I'm sure he understands the struggle." His mom said, nudging him and narrowing her eyes at Vlad.

He gave her a forced, pinched smile. "Hmm, that's funny. Cause it seemed more like you were making idle threats at people."

"Oh, my, didn't anyone teach you to mind your business?" Vlad's voice was smooth like carmalized honey. It made Danny want to punch his teeth in. Vlad stood, probably to be intimidating, and straightened his suit jacket.

His mom cleared her throat. "We," she emphasized the word by reaching out and griping his dad's arm to tug his attention away from the enormous pile of pancakes and bacon on his plate, "taught him everything about how to be a good person. I'm sure Danny has a reason to be concerned."

"Oh, Maddie, I meant no harm. It's just, well, curiosity did kill the cat."

Danny bit his tongue, not wanting to take Vlad's side in any manner, choosing to focus on his response. He also stood, using his height to his advantage. "Sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you down there."

Vlad simply smirked, clicking his tongue. "Jack, it was nice catching up, but it seems I'm not entirely welcome here."

"Nonsense! Danny!" His dad boomed. A small spark of fear ran down Danny's spine and he tried his best to squash it. "What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing." He ground out. He pushed his chair in with his foot and turned to leave the kitchen. "I've got to go anyway."

"Wait!" his mom called. She stopped to wrap some bacon in a paper towel before chasing after him. At least take some food with you."

"Why do you put up with him?" Danny hisses back, begrudgingly taking the peace offering.

She smiled sadly, glancing back at his dad. "He's your father's best friend. Look at how happy he gets when he's around. We can't take that away from him."

"Even with all he's done?" Danny was angry he couldn't tell her the truth; angry that she was the reason he couldn't tell her; angry that because he was scared of his parents, Vlad could get away scot-free.

"Forgiveness is a virtue." She shrugged, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to stay for breakfast? I'm making monkey bread~!"

"Not if he's here." He brushed her hand off, sighing through his nose. He turned before he could see the smile disappear from her face. "I've got to go."

"Okay, bye, sweetie! I love you!"

He didn't answer, shoving his hands in the pockets of Dash's jacket as he shut the door behind him.

He paced the sidewalk behind Dash's house, his nerves buzzing with anxiety and anticipation.

He could do this.

He'd nearly done it yesterday, the words had almost practically fallen off his tongue. He just had to cough them back up.

What if yesterday was a fluke? Oh, god, what if Dash just liked Phantom better? What if he'd already fucked this whole thing up? What if-

His phone rang. It was Tucker. He exhaled a breath and answered. "Hey."

"Stop freaking out and just tell him, you coward."

Danny frowned. "How'd you know?"

"I've been watching the tracker on your phone pace his house for the last twenty minutes."

"That tracker is for emergencies only." He huffed, sitting on the grass between Dash's fence and the path to the park.

"This is an emergency." Tucker insisted. He could practically feel his grin through the phone. "You're both driving me crazy with your relentless pining. Just kiss him already. For real this time. He might not survive another fake out."

"Both of us?" Danny wheezed, his mind only catching half of those sentences. He twisted his fingers in the grass, ripping a few pieces out. His heart squeezed in his chest.

Tucker hummed. "I have been sworn to secrecy."

"How secret are we talking?" His nerves were jittery; he felt like he needed to run a mile just to burn the excess nerves off.

"I might be persuaded to share. For a price, of course." He teased.

Danny jokingly rolled his eyes. "Next Nastyburger run is on me?"

"You think the price on this kind of information is a simple Nasty Burger? This here is confidential, top secret. You gotta start the bidding higher than that."

"I'll buy the new Doomslayer game for you when it comes out." Danny laughed.

"Make it the deluxe edition and you've got a deal."

"You drive a hard bargain," He exaggerated a sigh. "Alright, deal."

"Yes!" Tucker cheered before clearing his throat. "Okay, so he called me a few hours ago asking me for advice."

Danny wrinkled his nose, tugging up more grass than he meant. He was glad not a lot of people walked this way and wouldn't have to explain to people why he was lurking behind Dash's yard. "He was asking you for advice?"

"I know, crazy, right? Anyway, he wanted to ask you out. But, in his words, 'it has to be special and romantic'. So he wanted to know if I knew what your ideal first date was and-"

"What did you tell him?" He interrupted, heart pounding in his ears.

"All your filthy secrets, naturally. He knows you're a sucker for Jane Austen now." Tucker schmoozed. "The rest you'll just have to find out. You don't want me to spoil all his big plans. Just know he wants to kiss you so bad he's driving himself insane."

"Thanks, Tuck," he wheezed. He wanted to giggle and kick his feet and scream all at the same time. He settled for releasing all the air in his lungs to take a slow, deep, hopefully calming breath.

"Anytime. Now go get your guy so the rest of us can find some peace."

"Har har." Danny laughed as he hung up. He shook out the rest of the nerves from his limbs and peeked over the fence.

Dash was sitting on the balcony, scribbling in a notebook; his brows were furrowed and he was chewing on his lip. He sighed, running a hand down his face, turning the page, and starting over.

Danny smiled softly, a warm feeling settling in his chest. A scene from a play swept through his mind and he grinned, half an idea forming in his mind. He composed a few sentences in his brain, letting each one roll around for a moment before tossing them out. He cringed.

Get it together, Fenton.

"C'mon, just pick something that isn't stupid." He muttered. His phone buzzed.

Tucker: Coward

Danny: I'm going!!!! Tracker is for emergencies only :(

Tucker: Coward

Danny didn't respond. He took a deep breath, turned intangible (and invisible), and walked through the fence. He slowly made his way across the yard, trying a few more sentences in his head, before stopping under the balcony. His hands were shaking ever so slightly; he shoved them in the pockets of Dash's jacket. He returned to a tangible, visible state, putting on his best, fake confident smile.

"Do you work for NASA? Cause your beauty is out of this world." And he promptly wanted to bite his tongue off and disappear forever. That was probably the worst thing he'd ever said out loud. So much for not picking something stupid.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Dash jumped, bumping his knee on the table and dropping his pencil. It rolled across the floor and dropped from the balcony. He stood, tiptoeing to the edge, and glared down. "Danny? What in the fuck are you doing down there?"

"Oh, I was just… in the neighborhood and decided to stop by." He could feel his face burning as he bent down to pick up Dash's pencil.

"Uh-huh," Dash mused, his face also a pretty shade of red. He leaned on the rail, head resting in one hand as he stared down. "Dressed like that and spouting pick-up lines?"

Danny couldn't help the nervous giggle that bubbled up his throat. "Ha-ha, is, uh, is the way I'm dressed a problem?"

Dash's eyes slid across his form, making him feel like he was about to catch fire. Dash hummed. "Mixing the emo aesthetic with a jock jacket is kind of out there. But I guess you make it work."

Danny's heart stuttered. So far so good. "You guess?"

Dash cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. "So, what had you in the neighborhood? Ghost attack?"

Danny shook his head. "I just wanted to see you."

"Oh," Dash's voice trembled. He leaned back, white-knuckling the railing.

Feeling brave, Danny floated up to the balcony, nearly tripping from the added effort of ghost powers in his human form, as he stood on the edge and planted his hands right next to Dash's- their skin brushing. He tried his best not to show how out of breath he was from such a simple action. The narrow railing was the only thing separating them. He tucked the pencil behind Dash's ear.

"I have it on good authority that you wanted to see me too." His bones felt like jello, weak under the pounding of his nerves.

Dash frowned, the red on his face deepening. "That snitch."

"I like you," Danny breathed, unable to contain it any longer lest his nerves get the better of him. "I like you a lot."

"Oh," Dash squeaked, his breath hitching, lungs refusing to work.

Danny pushed the rest of his words out, easier once he'd started. "I like your smile."

He trailed a finger over the back of Dash's hand. "I like that you're funny. I like how determined you are."

He pulled at Dash's hand until he let go of the railing and turned it over, threading their fingers together. Dash inhaled, his eyes firmly glued on Danny's lips.

"I like that you're stupidly brave. God, I love your laugh-"

Dash silenced him, placing a finger over his lips. "Danny," he breathed, "I might die if you keep talking."

Danny grinned, pulling Dash's hand away from his face. "We don't need to talk."

"God," Dash dropped his hand, burying it in Danny's collar, "shut up." He yanked him down, pushing up on his tiptoes, and smushed their lips together.

It was gentle, a small, heat-filled press of lips against lips; it was drastically different from the panic-induced frenzy from last time. Danny sighed, dragging their lips together again; and again because he could; and again because he wanted to.

He let go of Dash's hand, bringing his hands up to cradle Dash's face. He pulled him closer, giggling as he almost lost his balance. Dash grabbed him by his sleeves to keep him from toppling onto the lawn below. Danny gently, slowly, without breaking the kiss, pushed him back so he could phase through the railing and lean back against it. He was dizzy, head over heels, his mind blank of coherent thought. A bright, happy feeling bubbled up his throat, forcing him to giggle again.

"I can't kiss you if you keep giggling," Dash breathed against his mouth, sliding his hands up Danny's arms to wrap them around his shoulders.

He giggled again anyway. "Sorry, I'm just…" He kissed him again, reveling in how Dash held him in his arms. The heat behind his eyes and in his throat was almost too much, he felt like he was going to implode. "…happy, is all."

Dash blinked his eyes open, afraid to miss Danny's smile. They were still incredibly close, pulling away only far enough to catch their breath. "Is that new for you?"

"It's rare." Danny traced his hands down Dash's neck, brushing his thumbs over his jaw. "Lately, I feel it a lot around you."

"Shut up," Dash groaned, tugging him down into another kiss. The longer they kissed the more Dash's neck started to ache from reaching up; he couldn't stand on his toes forever. "You're too tall," he whined.

Danny laughed. "I don't know how to fix that."

"I do." Dash steered him by his shoulders toward one of the chairs and pushed him down. Danny's hands found his hips as Dash pushed forward between his knees, kissing him again now that he didn't have to strain his neck as much.

"Better?" Danny whispered, a hint of a giggle still on his lips.

"Better," Dash sighed into his mouth. He buried his fingers in Danny's hair.

If he was being honest with himself, Danny didn't have a ton of experience with kissing- kissing for real and not just to keep his parents from finding out who he is. Not that he hadn't kissed someone for real; a few with Valerie their freshman year, but those were mostly pecks, and he'd made out with Tucker once when he'd figured out he was bi and Tucker was most definitely not. It was the only time he'd kissed someone with his tongue.

Until Dash was coaxing his mouth open, letting his tongue linger on his bottom lip. He gasped, digging his fingers into Dash's hips. This kiss was different, unpracticed, and sloppy- like neither of them really knew what they were doing. But, Danny was happy to explore; to find out what Dash liked and didn't like. He wanted to learn everything that Dash would let him learn about loving him.

Dash hummed, wanting to melt into the fire that burned behind his eyes, across his face, in his chest, under Danny's hands. God, Danny's hands were everywhere, on his hips, trailing over his arms, cradling his face, scratching his back. It made him dizzy.

It made him nervous.

He'd never kissed anyone before. Besides the last time in the alley, this was his first kiss. He was running purely on instinct (and the limited knowledge he had gleaned from shitty romcoms). He trailed his hands down Danny's neck and shoulders, catching every breathy noise Danny made; every sigh, every tug of his lips added fuel to the fire in his chest.

He pulled away to breathe, heart jumping when Danny whined and chased after him. "I like you too." He huffed, dragging air into his aching lungs.

Danny blinked his eyes open, dazed and grinning. "Yeah, I kind of guessed by the way your tongue was in my mouth."

Dash wrinkled his nose, laughing. "You're impossible."

Danny pushed their foreheads together. "I'd like it there again."

"Gross." Dash softly shook his head. "I just need to catch my breath."

Danny gave him a lazy smile, pressing a kiss to his cheek, followed by another one on his jaw. And then one right under his ear. And on lower down his neck.

"Oh," He breathed.

Danny tugged him closer, his fingers curling in his short hair. "Is this okay?" He murmured against his skin.

"Yes." Dash melted into him, bracing himself with his hands on Danny's hips. Another kiss at his pulse point had him completely weak in the knees. He made a startled sound in the back of his throat when Danny caught his flesh between his teeth. Any coherent thoughts he had slipped from his mind. "Hey, I, um," He muttered, almost incapable of speaking at all, "I wanted to, to say, um- fuck."

He could feel Danny's smirk against his neck. "Distracted, Dash?"

He dug his fingers into Danny's hips, the sound of his name dripping from his lips made his toes curl. "Danny, I'm serious." His voice was shaking. Danny hummed, tracing his lips back under his jaw. "I like you. A lot. I really, really, really like you."

He dipped his head, catching Danny's lips again. He pushed every fervent, soft, extreme feeling he felt for him against his lips. He whispered against them as he gasped for air again. "I was going to-"

The balcony door clicked open. "Sweetie, what's with the basket in the…" Dash's mom froze, blinking at them for a long moment before she sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I owe your grandma twenty bucks now."

"Mom!" Dash squeaked, pulling away from Danny who nearly fell off the chair. "What are- um- I can exp- what are you doing home?!"

Danny cleared his throat, waving. "Hi, Jessica."

"Hi, Danny." She chuckled. "They sent me home because they were overstaffed. A once in a lifetime event. You two are being safe out here, yeah?"

"Mom, we talked about this!" He spluttered.

"I know. It's mostly a joke. If you change your mind you do know how-"

"I won't. Just, please, stop talking." He sighed, covering his face with his hands. He wanted to sink through the floor and hide for at least a century.

Danny placed a hand over his heart. "I swear on my grave that there will be no hanky panky tonight or any other night." He couldn't resist the tiny laugh that escaped him.

Scratch that- he wanted to hide for two centuries. "I hate you both."He muttered. "Yes, Mom, I paid attention in health class. No, I will not be needing that information. Thanks for the concern but please just drop it."

She jokingly tossed her hands in the air. "As long as you know, that's all that matters. Well, I wanted to ask you what the basket in the fridge was all about?"

"You know, most parents who walk in on their kids making out, leave, like immediately." Dash huffed. Danny was having a hard time not laughing.

"Alright, pushy. Sorry, you two can get back to it." She waved and disappeared back inside.

Dash didn't even have time to wallow or contemplate his death before Danny was cackling so hard he almost couldn't breathe. He turned and shoved his hands over Danny's mouth. "Oh my god, shut up."

"It's just-" Danny laughed between his fingers, "it's just hilarious."

"It's really not," Dash huffed, trying to shove every bit of embarrassment he felt down. Neither his mom nor Danny would ever let him live this down.

"I can't breathe!" Danny reached up to tug Dash's hands off, twining their fingers together, still shaking with laughter.

"I thought you didn't need to breathe?" Dash questioned, distracted by the way Danny's eyes lit up.

"As Phantom, I don't. But my human lungs still need oxygen." Danny pulled him closer again, shifting the mood the tiniest bit.

Dash swallowed nervously, unsure how to navigate this situation now that he wasn't running on excitement and adrenaline. He couldn't shake the anxiety from his limbs. "What, um, what am I telling her later?"

"What do you mean?" Danny fidgeted with their fingers. His eyes held uncertainty, an emotion Dash had never seen there.

He drew in a breath. "I mean… what are we now?" His voice squeaked a little and he wanted to jump off the balcony.

"Well," Danny's eyes flickered to the side, tension coiling in his shoulders, "I was hoping… boyfriends? Is… is that what you want?"

"Yes." Dash exhaled, feeling lightheaded. "Yes, I want that."

"Cool," Danny breathed, all the apprehension falling from his form. "Then that's what you tell her.

Dash felt unsteady, like he was standing on a ship that wasn't used to being on the ocean. He wasn't sure how to, but he wanted to get back to kissing him again. Was that even something you could do after being interrupted by a parental figure? He wished he had more experience with relationships. "What about your parents? Do you want to tell them or should we keep it a secret?"

Danny bit his lip, averting his gaze again. "I'm not… against telling them. I just…" He sighed. "They're a lot. Like, a lot. They can say things that are, mean, and I don't want to overwhelm you or-"

"Danny," Dash murmured reassuringly, leaning their foreheads together, "I handled them almost killing you, twice, and then trying to ground you over it. If you want to tell them, I think I can handle whatever boyfriend rules or insults they have." The word was tantalizing on his tongue; boyfriend.

Danny smiled at him, not the blinding grin he usually wore, something smaller and more genuine. "Okay. I'll tell them when they're in a good mood."

"Is there anyone you don't want to tell?"

Danny shook his head. "No. You?"

"No." Dash wasn't sure what else he was supposed to ask about a new relationship. He knew there was probably a lot that he was forgetting. Thankfully, Danny didn't seem to be as tongue-tied as he was.

"I didn't know you wore chapstick." Danny licked his lips, a teasing glint in his eyes. He leaned up, capturing Dash's lips again.

"Uh, yeah," Dash's brain was fuzzy. It was hard to focus or speak as every word dragged across Danny's lips. "Um, sports can be… uh, dehydrating, so… I, uh-"

Danny giggled, silencing him with another gentle kiss. "Can I take you on a date?"

Dash blinked his eyes open, startled. "Right now?"

Danny shrugged. "If you're not busy."

He let his gaze drop back to Danny's lips, quirking an eyebrow playfully. "I might be a bit busy."

Danny laughed; Dash's favorite laugh, the one that was deep and nothing but pure joy. Dash kissed it off his lips, because he didn't have to crush that urge anymore; because he liked him back. The thought made him dizzy.

"You know you're kind of a dick, right?" Dash said as he pulled away to breathe.

"What?" Danny startled. "What did I do?"

"I was going to ask you first. I called Tucker and everything." He gestured toward his notebook, forgetting that his hands were woven with Danny's.

"Oh," Danny glances over, the red on his face almost glowing. He leaned back, untangling their fingers. His smile was blinding. "Go ahead."

Dash froze, chuckling nervously. He grabbed for the notebook; this was a lot scarier when Danny was looking at him like he held the world in his hands. At least he knew what Danny's answer would be. He cleared his throat, clutching the notebook to his chest as Danny tried to peek over the edge. "Someone kind of interrupted me. So, it's not finished, just," he took a deep breath as he passed it over, "Just keep that in mind as you read."

"You wrote me a letter?" Danny asked, accepting the notebook tenderly.

"Uh, it's more of a poem, actually." Dash's stomach churned and his nerves felt like they were going to combust as Danny's eyes scanned the page. "Kwan helped me with most of it so don't go thinking I'm some kind of epic poet. I had to google a lot of words that rhymed but still made sense-"

"You wrote this… for me?" Danny whispered, his eyes watering as they moved over the page a second time.

"Yeah, it's not done yet," he tittered, "but I was going to give this to you and then ask-" He was cut off as Danny placed the notebook on the table, stood up, and enveloped him in a crushing hug, burying his face in his neck. His fingers tightly grasped Dash's shirt; he was shaking.

"Thank you," He whimpered.

Dash didn't hesitate to hug him back- though he did nearly laugh as a memory of consoling Danny on his balcony before flashed through his mind. He held him just as tenderly as he did then, not daring to let go before Danny was ready. He was perfectly content to stay in his arms as long as he needed. The chill of his skin didn't even seem to bother him anymore.

"No one's ever written me poetry before." Danny sniffled, his arms squeezing him tighter if that was even possible.

"What?" Dash scoffed jokingly. "You mean no one's ever compared your eyes to stars before?"

Danny sighed. "Not in iambic pentameter, and not both of them in the same breath. Usually, people just look for green."

"Both of them are you." Dash pulled away to look into the very eyes he was talking about. "And I like you, Danny, no matter if your eyes are blue or green. You've bewitched me-"

Danny cackled, pure and uncontrolled, pulling away enough to wipe the tears from his eyes. "You are not about to quote Pride and Prejudice at me!"

"Tucker said it was your favorite." Dash simply shrugged, a loving, gentle smile on his lips. "Will you go out with me?"

"Yes." Danny closed his eyes, leaning their foreheads together. "Sorry, I ruined your really cool plan."

"I'm not." Dash chuckled. "A bad pick-up line is a good way to ask someone out too."

"Oh my god," Danny groaned. "Can we please forget I said that?"

"Not on your afterlife."

"In my defense, I didn't have a plan."

"Wearing my jacket and impersonating Romeo was improvised, huh?" Dash tugged at the bottom of the jacket before cradling Danny's face; he brushed his thumbs over Danny's cheekbones, marveling at the faint freckles that lay there. They were less prominent when they weren't glowing green, but they were still enchanting nonetheless.

"I think it's my jacket now," Danny murmured.

"Really? I think it's my name embroidered on there."

"Mmhmm," Danny hummed, "and I get boyfriend privileges now. That's like the biggest perk of dating a jock."

"You've had that since before you received those privileges."

"You never asked for it back."

Dash didn't answer, his face burning. They both knew why he never asked. Danny leaned in, crushing their lips together again. Dash kind of loved how easy this was becoming for them.

This kiss was different. It was heavier, carrying the weight of a message they were trying to communicate. It left him reeling, his head swimming, butterflies making tornadoes in his stomach. Danny tugged his lip with his teeth as he pulled back.

Dash made a strangled sound in the back of his throat, chasing after him. Danny huffed a laugh, dropping his hands to Dash's hips and holding him in place. "You had a whole date planned?"

"Yeah," Dash huffed, catching his breath. "There's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight, so I was thinking a picnic? On that hill behind the observatory?"

"Poetry, the stars, and your cooking all in one day? Are you trying to kill me?" He squeezed his hips.

Dash wanted to melt on the spot. "I was trying to woo you, as Tucker puts it."

Danny smiled, leaning down to press one more lingering kiss against his lips. "Consider me wooed."

"Cool," Dash sighed, like an idiot. He cringed, taking a step back to clear Danny from his personal space so he could start to think again. "Um, I have a picnic basket in the fridge." He turned to head back inside.

"Hey," Danny whispered, "You forgot something."

Dash turned around, eyebrows raised. Danny was holding out his hand. "Oh." He reached back, intertwining their fingers.

Danny was absolutely giddy as Dash rushed them out of the house to avoid the teasing from his mom. He placed the basket on Danny's lap as they settled into the car. He slapped Danny's hand away when he tried to peek inside. "No peeking. It's a surprise."

"Well, now I just wanna peek more." Danny teased, feeling lighter than he had in weeks.

"Contain yourself. It's only like a five-minute drive." Dash playfully rolled his eyes and pulled out of the driveway.

"Aye, aye, captain." Danny put his seatbelt on and settled into the semi-comfortable silence that blanketed the car.

After a moment, he turned to Dash, leaning on the armrest. "What's your favorite color?"

Dash huffed a laugh, raising an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously." Danny playfully protested. "I know a lot about you, but I don't know everything."

"And my favorite color is that important?" Dash flicked on his blinker. Even though he was dodging the question, Danny could tell he was super nervous. Which he thought was odd considering how not nervous he had been on the balcony.

"Yes. I know some of your greatest worries. I know your favorite hobbies. What I don't know is what your favorite color is. Or what your favorite drink is. What if I'm in the checkout line at 7-Eleven and I don't know what to get you? What kind of boyfriend would that make me?"

"The kind that gets their partner a generic Pepsi product and hopes it's right." Dash grinned.

"Exactly. And what if you didn't like Pepsi? What if you were like Sam and you'd murder me on the spot if I even thought of bringing you a big corporate anti-earth plastic bottle?" He had the urge to reach out and hold his hand again, but Dash seemed to take driving extremely seriously and didn't want to distract him.

Dash rolled his eyes, his smile still plastered on his face. Danny liked his smile. "If you must know, I'm more of a Gatorade person."

"That's a very jock answer." He teased.

"Do not dis the advantages of staying hydrated. You could probably use more electrolytes since you lose a lot when you bleed everywhere."

Danny's smile didn't waver. "I think you're dodging the original question."

Dash turned onto the observatory road. "Orange."

Danny let his eyes wander over him. "That suits you."

"What does that mean?" Dash parked in the same spot they had parked in last time.

"Orange is a brave color."

"I'm not brave."

"I think you are." Danny opened the car door and stepped out, carefully holding the picnic basket so it wouldn't spill anything it was carrying. He leaned against the car, dipping his head back inside to check on Dash. "Are you coming?"

Dash spluttered, his face that pretty shade of red again. "You really think I'm brave?"

"I think you'd be braver if you got out of the car and came over here." He grinned.

Dash climbed out of the car and took his time walking around to the passenger side. Danny's heart lept as he approached; he pressed his back against the car, grasping the basket for dear life.

Dash leaned closer, his hand winding around the basket handle, gently prying it from his fingers. He pushed up on his tiptoes, his lips right next to Danny's ear. "You're gonna have to try harder than that." He pulled away, turning to lead the way up the hill.

Danny released the air he was holding in his lungs, his knees weak. He took only a second to collect his thoughts before chasing after Dash- who had stopped to make sure he was following. He took the hand he was offering.

"What's yours?" Dash asked as they climbed the hill.

"What?" Danny breathed.

"Your favorite color." Dash laughed.

"Oh, right. Dark blue."

Dash hummed. "Like space?" They reached the top and Dash let go of Danny's hand to pull a blanket out of the basket and smooth it across the ground.

"Yeah, actually. I guess I'm getting a bit predictable, huh?"

Dash scoffed. "You? Predictable? Please, that's as likely as the tennis team actually winning a game."

"I know you said you weren't super into football anymore," Danny started, sitting next to him, "but you were on pretty much every sports team we had. Is there another sport you like better?"

Dash thought about it for a moment as he pulled out paper plates and cups and Tupperware full of chicken salad and croissants. "Yeah, I mean, I really liked track and baseball wasn't bad either."

"Do you think you'd do either in college?"

"Amity Community doesn't have a baseball team. But, yeah. I might try out for track. I hadn't really thought about it. What about you? Are you doing any extracurriculars?"

Danny sighed, his shoulders slumping. "I mean, the NASA club might be cool, but being a part-time superhero doesn't really leave a lot of room for time commitments."

"Oh, right." Dash frowned. "I keep forgetting about that."

Danny chuckled weakly. "At least one of us can."

"I had a question about that actually." Dash passed him a plate full of delicious-looking picnic foods.

Danny found himself a little tense, though he had no idea why. Dash had more than proven trustworthy. "Yeah?"

"Dani, your cousin- which is odd that your family did that with the names- mentioned that she'd been in space. Since you're such a space nerd, does that mean you've gone too?"

All the tension drained from him. "Yeah. I have. A lot actually."

"How does that work? Is it because you're dead so you're not going to have your sweat glands explode or anything?" Dash poured them both some juice before closing the basket up.

"I'm not actually sure. I think so? This," he gestured to the sandwich he was eating, "this is fucking phenomenal."

"Thanks." Dash smiled. "How'd you even find out you could survive in space anyway?"

"Uh, that's kind of a long story." Danny started from the beginning of his and Valerie's story; from when she got kicked out of their group because of him, to the rivalry he accidentally started, to Vlad basically grooming her, to the fight with Technus.

"She chased you into space? How did she survive?" Dash gasped, his pasta half-forgotten.

"I think it was something Technus did to her suit. I'm not sure ghosts are purely scientific. Sometimes the things we create and touch alter the way physics works. I don't want to say magic, but it's like a different set of physics." Danny had not forgotten his food and was half chewing as he spoke.

"Huh, okay. And how'd she take it when she found out? I mean, you guys are friends still-"

Danny shook his head. "It took her a long time to forgive me. To say she was pissed is an understatement. I think she wanted to kill me even more if that was possible."

"Is it because her and Fenton were dating and her and Phantom were mortal enemies?"

Danny took another bite and finished chewing before answering. "Kind of. But it was more that everyone in her life at the time was betraying her, her friends, her boyfriend, her mentor. It was like everywhere she turned she found more people she couldn't trust."

"And that's why you guys broke up Sophomore year?" Dash took a sip of juice, mostly for something for his hands to do.

"Yeah. At least she had stopped shooting at me." He chuckled weakly.

"So, how did you guys get to be friends again?"

"Ah, well. That's another long story." Danny glanced at Dash. He was always looking at him like every word Danny said deserved to be tattooed on his skin. It made him all the more worried that there'd be a line that he'd cross and Dash would decide he wanted nothing more to do with all this crazy ghost stuff.

"You promised me you'd tell me all the long stories. Don't tell me my boyfriend is already going back on his first promise." Dash teased.

Danny sighed, a giggle on his lips. "Okay, you're right. Well, she met my cousin." He finished the story by telling him how Vlad had hunted Dani down using Valerie and when Valerie had seen her begging for her life she made a deal with Danny to save her in exchange for handing him over. But then they'd exposed Vlad and she dropped everything just to hunt the man who'd been lying to her and putting her in danger the whole time.

"Dani and I eventually talked her out of hunting him to the ends of the earth. And somewhat out of ghost hunting. She's channeling all that energy into college now. She's going to be a resource officer for kids in situations similar to hers. It's really cool of her."

"Wow, I had no idea she was going through so much. Or you. I mean, I've never been forcibly cloned but I can't imagine that was a fun experience."

Danny shrugged. "It's not, but I can hardly remember it. I've been tortured so many times, it starts to get hard to keep track of anything but the feeling of pain, you know." He'd meant it as a form of a dark joke, but one look at Dash's face had him regretting it.

"I'm sorry you ever had to deal with that much pain," Dash uttered, his voice shaking.

Danny reached for his hand. "I try not to think about it. It's just part of the job."

"That doesn't make it okay."

Danny shook his head. "No, it doesn't. But, I can't change it. I can only do my best to prevent more of it."

"Can I help?"

"Dash you don't have to-"

"But, I want to help you. I know you have Tucker and Sam, and Valerie, and your cousin, and Jazz, but I want to help too. I mean, you're my partner now and I don't want to be useless if you need me-"

Danny squeezed his hand. "Dash, you're not useless. You've saved my life twice. You don't need to be a fighter to protect me."

"This isn't about my feelings. I want to be able to help you so you don't have to go through any more torture. Or at the very least I want to be able to protect myself so that it doesn't put you at risk when you have to worry about me."

Danny sighed, crawling over to pull Dash into a tight hug. "Okay. Okay, can we talk about this later? This is a date and I refuse to bring down the mood. It's your turn."

"My turn?" Dash asked, voice still shaking.

"Yup. You need to tell me one of your tragic ex stories now. It's only fair." Danny busied his hands with picking up their plates and tucking them on the other side of the basket. He shoved the melancholy and memories of pain away.

Dash forced a breath out of his nose. He kept his eyes glued to the blanket. "Uh, I don't have any tragic ex stories."

Danny stopped, glancing over at him. "Not even pre-coming-out? I know I saw you flirting with Paulina a lot during Freshman year."

Dash shrugged, his ears turning red as he avoided eye contact. "Yeah, uh, she could tell I never really meant it. But, I've, I've never been in a relationship. I've never even kissed anyone before you. It's kind of why I didn't tell you how I felt for so long. I wasn't sure how."

"Oh," Danny breathed. "Oh! My bad. I didn't mean to make your first kiss a life-or-death situation." His heart didn't know how to feel about the confession.

"Really? You could have fooled me." Dash teased, distracting himself by fidgeting with the edge of the blanket. It was starting to get chill out as the sun finally dipped beneath the horizon. "It's fine. I think you made up for it on my balcony."

"Can I… ask how long you've liked me?" Danny's nerves were buzzing again, the pounding in his ears drowning out the sounds from the field around them.

"You or Phantom you?"

Danny shrugged, his lungs feeling gooey. "Both."

"Well, I don't think it's a secret that I've liked Phantom for a long time. Hell, that time Skulker was chasing us around your house I thought I made it pretty obvious. You hanging out with me as Phantom recently did nothing to help me get over my celebrity crush. As for when I noticed I liked Fenton as well, I think it was senior ditch day but I threw myself into a deep trench of denial." Dash forced the air from his lungs like he was pushing the weight of his words off him. He looked up and made eye contact for the first time since the question was asked. "You?"

Danny was about to turn into a giggling mess again. He couldn't believe how blind he'd been. "Whatever trench you were in, I'm sure mine was deeper. I hate to admit it, and if you ever tell them this I'll deny it, but I think Sam and Tucker were right. That day you saved me from my parents, when they shot my arm, was probably when it started. I think it's what drove me to basically force you to hang out with us."

"You didn't force me to do anything." Dash leaned closer, his eyes dropping to Danny's lips. "I'm so glad my therapy session ran late that day."

"Me too." Danny sighed, sliding his hands over Dash's arms and tugging him closer. His heart was beating too fast and with too many feelings for him to keep contained. "You should kiss me."

"We might miss the meteor shower if we get… distracted." Despite his protesting, Dash brought his hands up to cradle Danny's face.

"I don't mind." Danny leaned back, nearly pulling Dash into his lap. He wanted to get as close as possible; as close as Dash was comfortable with. "Please, kiss me."

Dash kissed him; kissed him sweetly, with just as many uncontainable feelings. He kissed him with such tenderness that Danny had a hard time believing him when he said he'd never kissed anyone before. Dash's arms and lips were quickly becoming Danny's favorite place to be.

They missed the meteor shower.