Chapter Text
So the thing about the car, Dash’s car, is that it was his uncle's car. He’d watched as Uncle Isaiah rebuilt most every piece of the car, reupholstered the seats, redid the paint and decals.
Dash felt like his uncle's soul was in the car at this point. So he’d always felt a sort of bubble of calm around the car, like a safety net of sorts, even if the radio went a little wonky sometimes or the lights would flicker. It was probably old wiring anyways so Dash didn’t mind, just put it on the list to be looked at. The car did sit in storage until Dash could drive it so there had to be some issues that Uncle Isaiah didn’t fix yet.
He loved having this car.
“So, Dash…” his mom sets her hand over his while he’s sitting at the breakfast nook one morning and it gives Dash a bad feeling right away. “You father and I were thinking about… about getting you a car.”
“But I have a car. I have Uncle Isaiah’s old car.” Dash shrugs just shoulders and continues to eat his breakfast.
“Yes, but that’s an old car. Wouldn’t you like something newer? Something that… that runs? We were thinking that it would be a car to practice on and not keep. It’s… it’s not a car to keep, Dash.”
“What? That’s… no. I can’t get rid of the car, mom.” Dash feels an icy grip on his heart, like fingers wrapped around it and squeezing as tight as they could.
“It’s not your choice, son.” The cold that washed over Dash after hearing his mom’s voice in that stern tone she used. It made Dash’s spine go rigid and the hair on his arms stand up. “The car isn’t even in your name. We’re selling it and we’ll get you something better. This is a good thing so at least try and act grateful, son.”
“But-“ Dash tries to speak up about how unfair this is and how he’d already put so much work into the car already. He feels the vice grip on his heart tighten and his lungs freeze over, he can’t speak with all the emotions he feels right now.
“No ‘buts’. You better get to school now. You can’t miss any days if you wanna graduate with that Asian kid.”
“His name is Kwan.” Dash mumbles out as his mom turns her back to him. She’s humming a song as she makes breakfast and it’s happy tune settles like a lead weight in Dash’s gut even as his dad comes down the stairs and sets a hand on Dash’s shoulder.
“You want a ride to school?” He smiles and it makes Dash feel better, even as he mourns the car he put so much work into. “We can stop by the coffee place you like.”
“Sure, pop. That’d be nice,” Dash grabs his backpack and is out the door with his dad calling goodbye to his mom.
——-
He’s sipping at his caramel frappe when they pull up to the front of the school and Dash spots Danny sitting near the front steps.
His chest explodes with those moths and worms and all other kinds of feelings.
Dash hesitates to open the door and his dad grabs his shoulder lightly. It’s a tense moment as he looks back and sees the gentle smile on his dad's face.
“Talk to him. He looks like he’s waiting for you.”
“I-I don't… what-no.” Dash gives a nervous chuckle and feels his stomach rollover with emotion. “Is… is it okay?”
“Of course, Dash. Of course,” the squeeze on his shoulder makes Dash swallow his pride and hug his dad hard before stepping out of the car. His dad gives him a thumbs up before driving away and it makes Dash smile stupidly even though he feels like puking at the thought of talking to Danny.
Dash sets his shoulders and walks over to Danny, who is watching him with curious eyes and a frown. He pulls headphones out of his ears when Dash is standing right in front of him and waits for Dash to speak.
“I… I don’t want you to misunderstand me anymore. I want you to know… I like you, Danny. A lot. As in, I want to take you on dates and hold your hand and kiss you a lot and talk about stars and planets,” Dash takes a breath before continuing and ignoring the rolling in his stomach. “I’m gonna mess up and be a dick and say the wrong thing sometimes but I just… you make it so… you make me nervous and dumb and angry but-“
“Dash. Shut up for a second.” Danny stands up and Dash can’t tell what’s going to happen next, if he’ll get punched or ignored. “Just… talk to me. Don’t walk away when things get hard or weird, don’t ignore me or shut down. I'm going to try to not walk away from you either. We're both pretty stubborn so… I want this to work between us though."
“What, uh, what do… are you saying you like me too?”
“I’m saying that I wanna give it a chance, maybe. I… I like you too. So yeah.” Danny has a dark red blush on his cheeks and Dash is staring at his chapped lips and watches Danny bite his bottom lip before smiling up at Dash.
“Can I… can I hold your hand?”
“Can I have some of your frappe?”
“Okay,” Dash hands it over and watches Danny happily sip at the coffee while he shoves his own hands in the pockets of his jeans. Dash can’t hold back the smile as Danny holds a hand out and opens and closes it a couple times until Dash pulls his hand out of a pocket and grabs it. “Ready for class?”
“Mm, sure. Although I’m not looking forward to the test later on…” Danny gives a dramatic sigh and swings their joined hands between them for a second. “Though, if I bomb it, you can just comfort me.”
“And if you don’t bomb it?”
“Well, then I get a reward, don’t I?”
Dash’s heart stutters for a second as Danny smirks up at him with the straw between his lips. He’s pretty sure he’s never going to get tired of that smirk.