Archive of Our Own ^beta

The halls of Casper High were decorated in conflicting messages. Red, pink, and purple hearts were taped to every locker. Flyers advertised a teddy gram, where you could buy your crush a teddy bear; anonymously if you were shy. Posters hung every few feet to remind everyone that the play Romeo and Juliet was being put on tonight and last minute tickets were three dollars. Next to and in between all of these were announcements reminding students that PDA was not allowed. Health posters warned against the dangers of the “kissing disease”, Mono, and various STDs. One lone poster by the stairwell recommended abstinence, though it wasn’t clear if it meant from kissing or sex.

     The whole school was abuzz with nerves, acting like a kicked beehive. Valentine’s Day was a popularity contest where everyone was hoping to receive big, flashy, expensive gifts in huge amounts from adoring classmates. Most people didn’t get anything at all and looked on at those who did with jealousy. The people who got the best gifts, and the most, were the A-listers; the popular kids. They were the ones who had to stuff all their gifts into an extra backpack brought from home.

     Seeing everything the A-listers got - and honestly, even the little gifts other people got - made Danny feel more like an unappreciated loser. Sometimes groups of friends would buy each other gifts but Sam and Tucker weren’t like that. Danny knew it was stupid to expect more from them - they gave him so much already - but Danny wasn’t immune to the feelings of inadequacy and longing the holiday brought on.

     Danny wanted someone to love him for him. Without the fate of Amity Park being involved. Speaking of which, while Danny Fenton wasn’t getting anything, Danny Phantom definitely was. Everyone loved Phantom and decided today was the day to show it. The offerings were currently being piled in a weird sacrificial shrine by the science lab. The offerings were beginning to impede hallway traffic. A few people - like Paulina Sanchez - hung onto their Valentine’s Day gifts for Phantom in the hopes of giving them to him personally.

     Danny didn’t touch the offerings and he didn’t sweep through the school as Phantom to collect. Phantom’s admirers only did this because he saved them. They didn’t know him or Phantom.

     Needless to say, Danny was feeling pretty bummed out as he walked the halls of Casper High with Sam and Tucker on either side of him.

     Sam was on his left, talking very loudly about how Valentine’s Day was a meaningless cash grab on Big Chocolate’s part and how it damaged the self esteem of losers. Not that she outright said losers but that’s what they were. Sam was scowling.

     Tucker was on Danny’s right...sort of. Every time they passed a girl, Tucker would stop to ask her to sit next to him at Romeo and Juliet and drop a heart-shaped chocolate into her palm. So far he didn’t have any takers. After being rejected, Tucker would rejoin them, coming up to Danny’s side and calculating how many girls he still had to ask.

     When they came to the stairwell, the trio paused. Somehow this year, two of their periods got switched so Sam and Tucker had class while Danny had a study period and Danny had class while they had a study period.

     “You should collect that chocolate so we can eat it,” Tucker said. He patted Danny’s shoulder.

     “What he should do is donate it. There are hungry people,” Sam began, launching into a new rant.

     “They don’t need chocolate. They need meat,” Tucker protested. The two kept walking, bickering, leaving Danny alone by the stairs.

     Danny sighed as he watched them go. Then he headed upstairs. The Casper High library was made up of two floors and accessible from both. The top floor was just a horseshoe-shaped balcony that overlooked the floor beneath it. The desks were just big enough for two people and there were no computers on this level so it tended to be used by people more interested in hiding than anything else. It was also a popular make out spot since the librarian would have to go all the way around to catch them.

     Hiding very much interested Danny. Though he wouldn’t mind making out too.

     A cursory glance over the railing told Danny that - including the librarian - there were only a half dozen people in the library. Danny had the top floor to himself.

     He went to the end of the horseshoe, dropped his backpack, and slumped to the floor with his back against the wall. Danny drew up his knees, rested his head in his arms, and seriously considered taking a nap. Yes, he should be using his study period to study, but Danny was so tired and unhappy. He just didn’t have it in him today. The other downside was that he might sleep through the bell and be late to class again.

     Despite this, he couldn’t bring himself to lift his head. Danny was half asleep, still debating whether he wanted to sink all the way into actual sleep, when the fine hairs on his arms rose to attention. He opened his eyes, lifting his head.

     Coming toward him with a swagger in his step and focused cobalt blue eyes, was Dash Baxter. Dash stood at 6’4 and two hundred pounds, with the kind of showy muscles that came from regular weightlifting. His blond hair had lengthened since Freshman year and now it curled around his ears. He wore a black letterman jacket with white sleeves and the name Phantom across the shoulder blades.

     If Dash was coming here, it could only mean trouble for Danny. Dash may have changed physically but inside he was still a bully. Danny was his favorite target and it had been a long time since the last incident.

     Dash stopped only a few feet away from Danny. He dropped his duffle bag and then his backpack. Both were stuffed to almost bursting; no doubt with the Valentine’s Day gifts he’d received. Dash sat down with his back to the bookshelf and unzipped his backpack. He pulled out a pink and brown bag of milk chocolates. Dash ripped open the bag and withdrew a single chocolate. He unwrapped it, read the wrapper, rolled his eyes, and popped the chocolate into his mouth.

     Danny couldn’t help but stare, caught like a deer in Dash’s headlights. He didn’t understand why Dash was sitting two feet away from him eating chocolate. If he was up here hiding, the least Dash could do was hide on the opposite end of the horseshoe. He was probably there to make fun of Danny’s distinct lack of Valentine’s Day gifts.

     Dash looked at Danny, an expression on his face like he’d just noticed Danny. Danny wasn’t fooled. Dash held out the bag in offering. “Want some?”

     Danny stared without blinking.

     “I’ve got like six bags of these,” Dash admitted, looking embarrassed. “I can’t eat all of them by myself and if the team eats them in front of Paulina, I’ll get my ass chewed out.”

     “Paulina got you six bags of chocolate?” Danny couldn’t hide his incredulity. That was a lot.

     Dash’s cheeks colored with a blush. “Honestly, I think she bought them on sale and just gave the extras to me.”

     Danny blinked. That was unusually truthful for Dash. Then again, Dash did have his moments of brutal, self-deprecating honesty. Slowly, Danny reached into the bag and took a single chocolate. It was vaguely heart-shaped, wrapped in pink foil. He unwrapped it cautiously, half expecting something gross instead of chocolate. But no, it was just milk chocolate beneath the wrapper. Danny took a tiny bite. It tasted like milk chocolate and didn’t seem to have been tampered with. He ate it slowly, taking small bites in case it was somehow a trick.

     Dash selected another one before setting the bag on the floor between them. He unwrapped it and ate it whole. After chewing and swallowing, Dash asked, “What’s yours say?” and indicated to the wrapper.

     “Find someone to accept you completely,” Danny read. He wrinkled his nose. As if that’ll happen. He snagged another chocolate, this time moving fast so that Dash couldn’t stop him. “You?”

     “Show someone what they mean to you,” Dash read. The blush returned full force. He read the second wrapper. “Share a sunset.” He laughed, sounding nervous. “What does that even mean?”

     Danny offered a small smile. His chocolate was melting in his cheek. “Haven’t you ever taken a romantic walk and watched the sunset with...um...who are you dating? Paulina?”

     Dash’s face reddened. “What about you? You and Manson ever watch the sunset?” Wow, he completely avoided Danny’s question.

     Sam and Danny weren’t dating. At least not anymore. They did for a while, until they realized they were better friends than romantic partners. It wasn’t a big thing and almost no one knew outside their circle. “All the time,” Danny said truthfully. He didn’t say that it was mostly because they were ghost hunting long into the night. “We’re still friends.” Then he shoved another chocolate into his mouth to shut himself up.

     Dash chewed his chocolate thoughtfully. Though he wasn’t the smartest person Danny knew, Dash was by no means stupid. “Did she break up with you on Valentine’s Day?” Well, he tried, anyway.

     “We broke up over the summer.” Danny didn’t really know what was going on here but he liked it. He and Dash never got along. They’ve never had a conversation without trading insults...or without Dash yelling in his face and pushing him around.

     Dash’s eyes widened, confirming that the news hadn’t spread despite being half a year old. He visibly struggled to think of something to say.

     The bell rang before he could.

     So much for sleeping through his next class. Danny grabbed his backpack and stood up. “Uh, see you around, Dash. Thanks for the chocolate.” He made it three steps.

     Dash blurted out, “Are you going to the play tonight?”

     Danny paused, half turning. “Yeah?”

     “Uh...cool,” Dash said lamely. His face was bright red. “Maybe I’ll see you there.”

     “Okay,” Danny said. This situation was weirding him out. He hurried away, wondering what that was all about.



On his way to his locker at the end of the day, Danny saw Dash by his locker. He didn’t know what Dash was doing but he looked like he was trying not to be noticed.

     Danny turned heel and walked away, unwilling to deal with Dash again today.



Later that night, Danny stole a long-stemmed rose from his neighbor’s yard and meticulously picked off the thorns. The rose was red like the color of blood, which Danny felt was appropriate considering who it was for. He changed into a nicer pair of jeans and paired it with a long-sleeve black shirt. Danny attempted to do something with his hair but it permanently had that just rolled out of bed look combined with windswept so it couldn’t really be tamed.

     When he was ready to go, Danny flew to the school. He landed in an empty hallway on the third floor to change back. Danny made his way down to the auditorium.

     There were quite a few people milling about and waiting in line, students, teachers, and parents. Danny got into line. He’d bought his ticket a while ago but they still had to punch it. After getting the ticket punched, Danny was allowed to enter the auditorium.

     It was dark, the lights turned as dim as they could go without being off. There were chairs set up in rows with a center aisle going down them. Even more people were inside, talking quietly and warming the space with their body heat. A lot of them were in their seats or finding seats, the room too dark to encourage standing around.

     Danny could see perfectly no matter how dark it was. He had excellent night vision. He made his way along the edges of the room, heading toward the side of the stage. There was a guard.

     Kwan stood solidly in the doorway, looking serious, and holding a clipboard. For once he wasn’t wearing his school letterman jacket, but was outfitted in a tight black shirt with the word SECURITY printed in big block letters across the front. Kwan spotted Danny and narrowed his eyes. His gaze flicked down to the rose that Danny held. “You aren’t on the list, Fenton,” Kwan said by way of greeting. He gestured with his clipboard.

     “C’mon, Kwan, I’ll only be back long enough to give this to Valerie,” Danny protested. This was a high school play, why did they even need security? “I promise I won’t cause trouble.” He flashed Kwan his puppy dog eyes.

     Kwan shook his head. “I’m not allowed -”

     “Danny!” Valerie suddenly shoved past Kwan, pushing him aside like he weighed nothing. She wore a period dress and her hair was pinned back from her face. Valerie slid her arm around Danny’s waist and glared at Kwan.

     Danny slid his arm around Valerie’s waist too and held out the rose. “This is for you. I just wanted to wish you luck before the show.” He and Valerie were ex-romantic partners too and Danny tried to stay friends with her...but her alter ego, Red Huntress, kept trying to kill Phantom and that made it hard to interact with her without tension on his part. But he was trying. Hence, the rose and agreeing to show up to this play to support her.

     Valerie took the rose and beamed at Danny. “Thank you. You’re the sweetest. Isn’t he?” The last part was directed to Kwan, accompanied by a look of annoyance.

     “Sweet or not, he isn’t on the list,” Kwan muttered, not meeting their eyes. He pulled his phone from his pocket and began texting on it.

     “Valerie! It’s your turn for makeup! Juliet can’t go onto stage without makeup!” someone yelled from backstage.

     “You’d better get going. I need to find a good seat anyway.” Danny gave Valerie a squeeze and released her.

     “Thanks for the rose, Danny,” Valerie said with a smile. Then she walked past Kwan and into the chaos of backstage.

     As dark as it was in the auditorium, Danny had no problem finding a seat. He located one in the middle of the auditorium where he would have a fairly decent view of the stage and planted himself. The seat on his right was taken by a parent with a camcorder, ready to capture the play on video. The one on his left was empty.

     When asked if she was going to the play, Sam had laughed and declined. Tucker said he would only go if he could find a date before it started. Since Danny didn’t see him in the audience, he assumed that Tucker hadn’t found a date.

     The seat next to Danny stayed empty for about ten minutes. Then, just before the play started, someone collapsed into it.

     Danny glanced at the person, then did a double take. “Dash?”

     Dash smiled at him. “Hey,” he said, voice pitched low.

     “Hi.” Danny gripped the armrests on his chair tightly. There were other empty seats. Why did Dash choose to sit beside Danny? “Why are you here?”

     The audience lights turned off completely, briefly leaving everyone in pitch darkness. Then the lights on the stage lit up. Silence fell among the audience.

     “Star’s playing Romeo. We came to support her,” Dash whispered back. Now that he said something, Danny noticed the football team in the front two rows closest to the stage. They were all big guys and even when the lights went down, they jostled with each other. Only Dash and Kwan were missing from the team.

     “I meant sitting next to me. There are other empty seats,” Danny hissed, anxiety making his voice harsh.

     Dash looked uncomfortable. “I want to sit here,” he said, almost making it sound like a question. He squirmed and tucked his hands between his thighs. “Why are you here?”

     “Because it’s an open seat?”

     Someone was talking on stage. The red recording light on the camcorder lit up.

     Dash smiled faintly. “I meant at the play. I didn’t see Manson or Foley.”

     “I’m here to support Valerie. She’s Juliet tonight,” Danny explained quietly. He couldn’t make himself relax, too tense with Dash beside him. Dash was no Vlad, but he had to be planning something to make Danny’s life hell. He was never nice just because.

     There was a rustle, a crunch of plastic. Dash put something on the back of Danny’s hand, something small and made of foil...or wrapped in it. “You two dating?”

     Danny recognized the chocolate. He unwrapped it and sucked on it, only mildly concerned that Dash had done something to it. The ones earlier hadn’t had any negative effects on him. The real concern was why Dash kept asking if Danny was dating anyone. He shook his head no. “You never told me who you're dating. Is it Star?”

     Dash shifted in his seat. He had that uncomfortable look on his face again. “I’m...not. I’m single.” He carefully smoothed out the foil wrapper, leaving it on his thigh. “You?”

     “Same,” Danny muttered. He wasn’t even pretending to watch the play - which made him feel a little bit guilty - because he was too busy watching Dash. If he could just figure out what was up with this guy…

     Dash gave Danny another chocolate, but because Danny was no longer gripping the armrests, he placed it on Danny’s thigh.

     A feeling like static shock, but not, prickled along Danny’s skin. His breath caught at both the sensation and Dash’s boldness. He fumbled for the chocolate. It fell.

     Danny and Dash reached down to pick it up at the same time. Their foreheads collided. Dash got to the chocolate first. “Sorry,” he whispered. His breath smelled like chocolate and mint as it ghosted across Danny’s cheek.

     Danny could taste him. His face burned as blood rushed to color his cheeks. He wasn’t sure if the flush was because of Dash’s proximity or the apology.

     Dash found Danny’s hand in the dark and pressed the chocolate into his palm. He curled Danny’s fingers closed around it. “Shoulda done that in the first place,” he sounded abashed. Dash’s hands were blissfully warm and lingered on Danny’s for longer than strictly necessary. Then he pulled his hands back into his own lap.

     Danny’s heart raced in his chest. He didn’t know what was going on at all. It was suddenly difficult to look at Dash headon, so Danny stared at the stage. He was kind of lost as to what was going on in this part of the play, but everyone seemed to be doing a very good and dramatic job. Their conversation and the bumping of their heads had gone unnoticed. Danny unwrapped his chocolate and shoved it into his mouth to distract himself from Dash’s presence beside him. It didn’t work, but the chocolate tasted good.

     When the chocolate was gone, Danny held his palm out for another one.

     Dash placed a chocolate on his palm.

     It went like that for long enough that Danny got almost comfortable with Dash at his side. He wondered why they weren’t friends. They should be friends, right? Look at how good they were doing together, when Dash was behaving himself. Danny was even able to pay attention to the play.

     Star and Valerie were really killing it in their roles as Romeo and Juliet.

     Then, the chocolate ran out. At least, Danny assumed it did, because instead of placing a chocolate in Danny’s outstretched hand, Dash placed his own hand there. He lightly laced their fingers together.

     Danny’s eyes widened. His breath caught. Dash...Dash was holding his hand. Oh, Ancients, he’s holding my hand. Danny couldn’t even pretend not to stare. His jaw wouldn’t shut, hung open like he was an idiot. He was so stunned that it didn’t even occur to Danny to pull his hand away.

     Dash was very obviously watching Danny from the corner of his eye and pretending like he wasn’t. After Danny didn’t reciprocate the hand holding, Dash turned his face to Danny. His expression was mortified and shy and scared and he was squinting so...so he probably couldn’t see Danny’s face and didn’t know that Danny could see his. “Is...is this too forward?” Dash said so softly that if Danny didn't have superhuman hearing he wouldn’t have heard Dash.

     A thousand responses crossed Danny’s mind but none of them passed his lips. He had no clue what was going on. He replayed the day's events, since Dash found him in the library, and wondered if he’d somehow misread the signs. No, he didn’t think so. Dash was being nice but not like...romantically nice. Danny took his hand back. “I...I’m going to get a water. You want one?” They were selling them just outside the auditorium. It was a good excuse to get away.

     “Oh, uh, sure,” Dash said, sounding very unsure.

     Danny got up, ducked beneath the parent with the camcorder, and hurried out of the auditorium. He bought two water bottles but didn’t return to the auditorium right away. Because he had a sneaking suspicion that Dash hadn’t just been hanging around his locker earlier in the day.

     When he reached his locker, Danny stood in front of it for a few heartbeats. It looked normal. A little dented but nothing out of the ordinary. After a quick glance around to make sure he was alone, Danny phased his arm through the locker door. There was something in his locker that wasn’t supposed to be there. Danny could feel the shape of it. He curled his fingers around it, turning the object intangible, and withdrew it. He could see himself even when he was invisible or intangible, as a faint blue outline. He could also see what he was holding.

     Danny let his arm go back to normal and the object popped into relief. It was white. And very soft. The teddy bear in his hand was a little weighted, but not too firm. Just the right consistency for hugging.

     This was not one of the teddy grahams. Those were cheap dollar store bears bought in bulk for the occasion. They didn’t tip the scale at three ounces because they were mostly filled with wads of cotton. The teddy graham bears weren’t very soft either, especially not when compared to the bear in Danny’s hand. Those bears were pastels; this one was pure white with little glassy black eyes. They were barely bigger than Danny’s hand.

     Someone had bought this teddy bear special from a store and it had cost a lot more than five dollars.

     Around the bear’s neck was a heart-shaped tag that read Dashing. It was handwritten, almost looking like calligraphy. A signature.

     Dashing.

     The whole school assumed that Dash’s name was short for Dashiel. But...but what if...it wasn’t. What if, when Danny saw Dash lurking by his locker, it was to put the bear inside? It wasn’t like the lockers had locks on them.

     But why?

     Dash didn’t even like Danny. Maybe it was a nanny cam? Danny tapped one of the eyes and peered at it, turning the bear this way and that. He tried to feel for a camera inside, some sort of wires or memory storage, even went intangible to feel the bear's insides. Just beads at the bottom to weigh it down and stuffing in the rest of it. The eyes were normal teddy bear eyes.

     Okay, so Dash put the teddy bear in his locker. Danny was reasonably sure about that, even if he didn’t know why exactly. Dash collected teddy bears, still did as far as Danny knew. Did he normally give them as gifts? Was this one part of his collection? Did he forget which locker was his and put the bear in Danny’s by mistake? Or...maybe it wasn’t a mistake and Dash was just unloading some of his extra Valentine’s Day gifts, like sharing the chocolate with Danny.

     That...almost made sense.

     Danny was focusing so hard on the bear, trying to figure it out, that he didn’t hear approaching footsteps. “Do you like it?”

     Danny jumped and twisted around, tensed for a fight. He barely relaxed when he saw it was Dash, standing a few feet away. “I don’t understand. You hate me. You’re a huge jerk.” With the notable exception of today.

     Dash flinched, ducking his head. He nodded, agreement and acknowledgement. “I know.” Determination crossed Dash’s face. That normally wasn’t a good thing. Dash hooked his thumbs in the pockets of his Phantom letterman jacket. “Over the summer, my parents split up. My mom kicked my dad out of the house.”

     Danny didn’t see what that had to do with anything. He hoped that Dash wasn’t about to give him a sob story because it wasn’t going to work.

     Dash continued, “Now that he’s gone, I can...I can go to therapy.” His voice was small, ashamed and defensive at the same time. He hunched his shoulders, reluctant to spill his guts, but opened his mouth to tell Danny more. “I, um, I’m gay. And I’ve got a crush on you. But I, um,” he trailed off, struggling to think of the words.

     Danny could only stare in shock, unable to believe what he was hearing. The thing was, he believed every word that had come out of Dash’s mouth. Dash wasn’t an actor, he was shitty at lying. And this was clearly making him deeply uncomfortable but he obviously felt like he had to say it. Danny clutched the white bear close to him, glad that it gave him something to hang onto so that his hands didn’t visibly shake.

     “My dad’s homophobic and I internalized it and took my feelings out on everyone else via violence,” Dash said, sounding a little bit like he was reading a script verbatim. His eyes were lifted toward the ceiling. Then his gaze dropped down to Danny. “I’m sorry, Danny. For all the crap I’ve put you through. I’ve been trying to do better. So that you’d know I’ve changed and maybe we could...maybe I could earn your trust and we could be...um...boyfriends.” Dash said boyfriends like he was going to faint at the very word. “Kwan and Paulina talked me into actually making a move and I thought, since today was Valentine’s Day, it would be kind of romantic...”

     This time when Dash trailed off, Danny didn’t think he was going to pick it back up. He was done talking. Now it was Danny’s turn. Danny didn’t immediately respond. He took his time thinking back over the school year, specifically the incidents with Dash. Now that he thought about it, there were less encounters between them that turned violent. Dash wasn’t seeking Danny out to use as a punching bag and while he wasn’t outright ignoring Danny, he also wasn’t going out of his way to talk to him either.

     Danny looked down at the bear he held instead of at Dash because it was easier. Most of the problem was that it was Dash and they had a pretty bad history. Not as bad as, say Danny and Vlad, but it was up there.

     The other part of the problem was that despite being nearly almost dead but not quite, Danny still had the hormones of a regular teenage boy and as far as he knew, he was the only bisexual boy in the school and the only boy who liked other boys, period. Apparently with the exception of Dash. So Danny had dated Valerie and Sam and almost dated Paulina, but they were all kind of his exes and had all happened Freshman year of high school. And Danny had never dated a boy. He wanted to know what it was like. How was it different from dating a girl? Now, Danny was finding out that he and Dash were the only two queer boys in the school.

     Danny ran his thumb over the Dashing tag.

     Dash waited, silent, hands in his pockets, anxiety written in his features.

     Danny deserved better than Dash, right? But there was no one else. And Dash was trying to make up for the past. His attempts today had been...sweet. If not terribly confusing. Did that mean Dash’s heart was in the right place? Did that matter? Was Danny going to hang onto the past and be unable or unwilling to let it go? He’s worked with enemies before but working and romancing were two different things. Right? Ancients, he should have stayed home tonight and just apologized to Valerie later.

     What would Sam do? She wouldn’t give Dash the time of day. She despised the A-listers. Even though she’d kissed Dash once. It wasn’t a fond memory of Danny’s. Danny was willing to bet it wasn’t a fond memory for Dash either. Okay, what would Tucker do? Tucker was basically willing to get with anyone who would have him. But that was because his self esteem was trash. Then again, he did seem pretty happy hooking up. But this wasn’t a hookup that Dash was asking for. Dash wanted romance.

     Danny tried to imagine coming to school and not hating it. He would walk through the doors and see his boyfriend. They could hold hands and kiss. Their friend groups could merge. Kwan already liked Sam and Tucker and Star was a nice girl. Paulina and Sam hated each other but maybe they’d become friends if given the right circumstances.

     Dash shifted on his feet, looking more crestfallen the longer that Danny stayed silent. But he didn’t break Danny’s concentration, didn’t plead or change his mind or get angry. He just waited.

     Danny tried to imagine going to football games and sitting on the bleachers, cheering for Dash. He tried to imagine bringing Dash home for dinner - which was actually pretty easy to imagine because when Jazz was tutoring him, Dash stayed for dinner a few nights - and late night movies on the living room couch. He imagined dating the quarterback, the instant status raise it would bring. No one would pick on Danny or his friends again.

     Danny remembered Dash’s hand warm against his and how good his breath smelled and the apology. The first apology that Danny’s ever heard from Dash. Getting two in one night was some sort of miracle, like a blue moon. But did it have to be? If they bickered or upset each other, if they accidentally hurt each other like when they bumped heads, would there be more apologies?

     Danny didn’t feel guilty for using both his head and his heart to make his decision. He always analyzed the benefits certain actions would reap. The seeds were sowed. If Danny cared for them, what would he reap? Would it be worth it? Yes, Danny decided, if Dash was serious about this and put the effort in, then it would absolutely be worth it.

     Finally, Danny lifted his gaze to meet Dash’s.

     Dash straightened up, looking like an eager puppy awaiting whatever Danny said. It was annoyingly cute.

     “There’s something I need to know first,” Danny began.

     Dash cocked his head to the side inquisitively, still looking like a puppy.

     “Is your full name Dashing?” Danny asked. He gripped the white bear tightly and hoped his palms wouldn’t sweat on it too much.

     Dash looked embarrassed. His face was red. “Yes,” he admitted. “It wasn’t my idea, obviously.”

     “I’ll be your boyfriend,” Danny said. He hoped he didn’t squeeze the stuffing out of the bear.

     “You will?” Dash asked, sounding way more surprised than Danny thought he should.

     “Yes,” Danny said simply.

     There was a moment, a pause where Dash seemed to be waiting for something. Finally, he asked, “Is that it?”

     Danny wrinkled his nose with annoyance. This was already going wrong. “What do you mean?”

     “I mean, no conditions or anything?” Dash almost sounded concerned, not like he wanted to avoid conditions, but like he thought Danny wasn’t taking this seriously.

     Oh. Well, Danny was normally the type to lay out the law and add stipulations to these things. Not this time, though...only because he was fairly certain Dash knew better than to repeat past behavior and that was Danny’s biggest concern. Danny shrugged. He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “Don’t be a jerk?”

     Dash smiled, small but happy and his eyes filled with unfiltered hope. The hallway was dark and Danny was once again reminded that Dash probably thought Danny couldn’t see that ridiculous, joyous expression on his face. “Deal.” A lot of relief was packed into that one word. Dash slowly closed the distance between them, making no sudden movements.

     Danny allowed Dash to come to him and stop just in front of him. He had to tip his head back to look up into Dash’s face. “I’ve never had a, well, anyone,” Dash admitted, nervousness in his voice. If he was gay, then that made sense. His girlfriends had probably just been for show and they hadn’t actually made any headway physically. “Can I kiss you, Danny?”

     Danny gazed into Dash’s dark eyes. He turned his face away, but lifted his chin to present his cheek to Dash. They were not kissing on the mouth. Not yet.

     Dash lowered his head and pressed his lips to Danny’s cheek. His lips were warm and soft. The sweet scent of his breath washed over Danny. Dash kept his hands in his pockets. It was a brief kiss, really, over and done with in a few seconds.

     It had Danny’s heart pounding in his chest. His head spun with the realization that Dash was serious. He really wanted a relationship with Danny. “The bear is nice, Dash.” Because Danny never answered the first question. “Thank you. I, um, didn’t get you anything.” Mostly because Danny had never in a hundred years expected anything like this to happen. Before this moment, getting Dash anything for Valentine’s Day was something laughable.

     Dash’s chuckle was nervous. “Dating you is more than enough,” Dash said shyly. Or, maybe not nerves. Maybe that was excitement making his voice breathy. His whole face was red again. “We should probably go back to the play now, though.”

     “Oh! Right.” Danny reached into his jacket pockets and produced their water bottles. The water was still as cold as when it had been pulled from the cooler. “Here, this is for you.” He handed Dash one of the bottles. As they walked back to the auditorium, they cracked open their water and drank. After drinking his fill, Danny asked, “So can I call you Dashing?”

     Dash almost choked on his water. He gave Danny a wide eyed look. “If...if you want to.” The idea clearly made him uncomfortable.

     Danny hip checked him playfully. “I was talking to the bear,” he lied because while Dash sucked at lying, Danny was very good at it. “That is what his name tag says.”

     “Oh. Yeah.”

     “I think Dashing is a good name,” Danny said generously, pretending to speak to the bear. He’d got his fun in. No need to torture his new boyfriend too much.

     Dash flashed Danny a smile.

     Then they went back into the dark auditorium. Danny forgot about the parent with the camcorder so both he and Dash walked in front of them, much to their annoyance. Danny didn’t care, flopping down into his seat. He settled Dashing on his lap and put his hand on the armrest between himself and Dash, palm facing up.

     After a few moments, Dash lightly placed his hand over Danny’s.

     Danny laced their fingers together.