Romance in Darkness

Pairing: Dash x Danny

Warnings: Homosexual relationships. Main DP characters of the story are in 19 years of age. Violence. Foul language.

Disclaimer: Danny Phantom is a product of Nickelodeon. All characters in this story are imaginary.

Summary: After Dash left, Danny tried to move on, to no avail. As the gang gathers again in Amity Park, new threats lurk in the shadows. Can Danny defeat them before it's too late?

Originally Written: January 2013-March 2013

Chapter 01

The summer night was warm, but his breath came out in puffs of sheer white that curled and faded as it rose through the night sky. Not a cloud lingered, revealing thousands of twinkling stars winking at the quiet world below. No sounds reached his ears as he sat upon the stone ledge of a tall building that overlooked the sleepy town of Amity Park. It was quite unusual for such little activity to take place here when usually ghosts came out to play. Amity Park still maintained the title of most haunted town in the world despite the recent decline in activity.

A sigh fell from his lips as glowing green eyes watched the brief life of the blue wisp twisting on the warm air. He leaned forward upon the leg drawn up to his chest as his mouth closed in a frown. Another ghost finally made its appearance, floating over the rooftop until it paused at his back. His eyes didn't flick away even once from watching the town that lay below his perch. The ghost that arrived was no threat to him.

"It's coming." Despite his efforts, his body tensed, every muscle in him urging him to fall into the usual battle stance like the threat was right before him. He took a breath to calm the feeling as white gloved hands gripped the ledge tightly. This wasn't their first meeting, but he wished it would be their last.

A jingle of sound filled the air, making his ears twitch as he winced. No words were spoken by the other ghost, but he still understood the meaning quite clearly. He stood suddenly, refusing to turn and face the other ghost.

"I'm well aware of what it means!" His voice came out more waspishly than he meant. He had no reason to get angry at this ghost, though the constant nagging was wearing thin on him. This wasn't the way things were supposed to happen, but he could never have predicted the turn of events. How could have known back then where his actions would lead him? "I may be young." His eyes narrowed, fists clenched, and jaw tightened. "But I've taken care of myself this long. I think I know what I'm doing after all this time. And in case you forgot, I didn't need your help back then."

The jingle repeated, amusement entering its tone.

He twisted around, floating half an inch off the ledge as he landed a glare upon the ghost, hidden in shadow despite the clear night. "It's not my fault he knows nothing!" He sneered at the ghost, struggling to keep control over his emotions. "This has never gone exactly the way we expected. He doesn't even know anything. I'll handle it just like last time, and you can all go back to your happy little afterlives and leave me in peace." Not waiting for another jingle of conversation, he turned and flew away, speeding over the town. He would hear no more of this and refuse any further requests to have little meetings like that one. Why must they insist on drawing him back in?

The irritating beeping of his alarm clock woke him up early in the morning. A hand shot out from under the blankets, groping around at the nightstand beside his bed until he found the clock. Hand, curling into a fist, pounded down on the clock, cutting the beeping short. The arm disappeared under the blankets again, and the lump shifted, drawing the blankets tighter around him. He groaned when sleep refused to come to him. Dragging his body out from under the warm blankets, Danny stretched his arms over his head as he yawned widely. Despite a full night of sleep, filled with weird dreams, he still felt exhausted. If not for the plans he made for the day, he would have happily slept half the day away.

After a quick shower, Danny searched through his closet for clean clothes. He huffed a sigh when he didn't find anything he liked. But who was he trying to impress anyway? He tugged on a pair of slim fit jeans and a navy blue T-shirt. When Dash made the decision to graduate early from Casper High, Danny was crushed by the news. In the short time that he dated the jock under the guise of Danielle Masters, Danny fell and fell hard for him. He still couldn't even understand why Dash captured his heart so fully before he even realized it happened.

Danny scrubbed his hair as dry as he could with his towel before he tossed it into his laundry basket. Even a brushing wouldn't tame all of his unruly raven locks. He tried to move on from Dash. He really did! His secret identity of Danny Phantom was kept safe after the incident at the dance, but word about his cross dressing escapade spread like wildfire through the school. With Dash out of the picture, some of the men took interest in him, and he even dated a few of them. They were attractive. He couldn't deny that. But they weren't Dash, and despite his best efforts, the relationships fell apart. The whole affair was Dash was public knowledge at their school, and the men he actually went on dates with could tell he still wasn't over the jock.

"I'm so pathetic," Danny mumbled, shoving his wallet into his back pocket as he left his room. Sometimes, he almost wanted to go to Desiree and make a wish to forget all about Dash. Maybe he could be happy if he never met Dash from the beginning. But he couldn't do it. There were times when he would stand before the Portal in his parents' laboratory, willing himself to enter the Ghost Zone. But in the end, he clung to even the smallest memory of Dash.

When he hit the bottom of the stairs, he was swept into a hug that nearly broke every bone in his body. He gasped, head feeling light from lack of air until he was released and staggered back a step.

"There's my college boy!" Jack said cheerily with his large hands on Danny's shoulders, steadying him somewhat.

"Dad, you don't have to be so excited about it," Danny mumbled, glancing away. He already heard all the "I'm proud of you" speeches from his father on the car ride home from the airport. It was his first full day back in Amity Park, and he didn't plan to spend it lazing about the house listening to his father blather on about his great achievement of getting into college until his brain went numb. "And I'm going to be late. I made plans with my friends."

"All right, all right." Jack grinned widely as he patted Danny on the shoulder. "I'll let you go. We'll have a big family supper tonight to celebrate."

"You didn't do this when Jazz came home from college," Danny grumbled with a frown. But it was always expected that Jazz would get into a great college. It was uncertain for a while that Danny would even graduate high school. He had Kwan to thank for that really. The jock really buckled down and helped him catch up on his shaky subjects. Danny barely scored a passing grade in French, but it was enough to allow him to graduate with everyone in his class. Some thanks went to Vlad who put Amity Park as an off limits zone for all ghosts so that Danny could put all his focus on studying without any ghostly interruptions.

"I'm just really happy for you." Jack wore a watery smile. Graduation was probably one of his most embarrassing moments of high school as his dad cried joyously when Danny got his diploma. The crying wouldn't have been quite as embarrassing if it weren't for the accompanying blowing of his nose that sounded like foghorns that echoed through the auditorium. Or if Jack hadn't stood up with a shout of "that's my boy!" Danny felt his cheeks heat the memory.

"Thanks, Dad," Danny mumbled awkwardly.

Jack placed a hand on his son's head and ruffled his hair. "Have fun with your friends." With that, he turned and headed for the kitchen.

Danny rolled his eyes as he left the house. He really hoped his father wouldn't be like that all summer, or he would regret returning home. Jazz decided to stay in New York this summer after getting a job there, which left Danny to deal with their parents alone. He was glad he planned on getting a summer job to keep him out of the house for most of the summer. He simply needed to find one, and he hoped he didn't get stuck with a job at the Nasty Burger. As much as he liked eating there, he had no desire to work there, especially after the time that he filled in for Valerie as the mascot.

A quick walk led him to Sam's house, where they planned to meet bright and early today. Danny rolled his eyes as he rang the doorbell. They would have the whole summer to hang out, when jobs allowed it. He knew Sam didn't plan on seeking out a job for the summer, but Tucker was already looking at some tech stores to apply for a job. Danny wasn't sure yet where he would start looking for a job. Maybe if Tucker got a job somewhere, he could put in a good word for Danny, though he really didn't know even close to as much about all the latest tech gadgets as Tucker did, unless it was related to ghost hunting.

It took only moments for the door to open wide, and for the second time that day, Danny was swept into a crushing hug, though this one wasn't nearly as bone breaking as his father's hug. As soon as the arms pulled away from him, he was yanked into the house. Danny laughed as Sam dragged him through the house and down into the theater. He was about to comment on her strangely over eagerness, but the words caught in his throat when he spotted Paulina and Kwan waiting in the cushy theater seats along with Tucker. When Sam sent him the message about meeting up, she left out the part about Paulina and Kwan coming as well.

"Danny!" Paulina hopped out of her seat to draw him into a hug.

If everything that happened senior didn't, Danny probably would have melted with happiness to have Paulina willingly hugging him like this. "It's good to see you too, Paulina," he said with a laugh. He nodded his head over Paulina's shoulder. "You too, Kwan." The jock lifted a hand in a small wave as he smiled. "You never said everyone was meeting up."

"Well, not everyone," Tucker noted.

Danny noticed tension filling the air as everyone looked away awkwardly. At first, he thought Tucker was referring to Dash, and his heart squeezed painfully. He was trying not to bring those memories to surface, even though he kept thinking about the man whenever his mind started to wander. But after another glance around the room, he asked, "Where's Abner?" The short blond man that helped him with the cross dressing and posed as his cousin senior year wasn't present. He never actually heard from the man after they graduated high school, despite a promise to keep in touch with each other.

"He wasn't sure if he was going to make it back this summer," Sam answered when no one else did. "He's apparently having the time of his life at fashion school."

"So," Paulina clapped her hands, "what were the plans for today?" She smiled, clearly trying to bring things back around to a happier topic. Even though they spent the rest of senior year hanging out as friends, Danny still thought it was strange having Paulina and Kwan as part of their gang. Only a few weeks before graduation, Paulina admitted that the reason she didn't agree to going to the dance with any of the men that asked her was because she was hoping to meet Danny Phantom at the dance. She still had a lingering crush on the ghostly hero, but after learning his true identity, she knew she didn't stand a chance of winning his heart after seeing how madly in love Danny was with Dash. When Danny asked about why Kwan didn't have anyone else to go with, Paulina didn't have an answer. Kwan apparently never told her the reason.

"I just want to relax," Danny said as he collapsed into one of the theater. "My finals were hell, and I have no idea how I managed to pass them. I just want to not think for the whole summer."

"You know," Tucker said as he leaned back in his seat, "you've never really told about what happened when you disappeared all that time during junior year."

"Do we have to talk ghosts?" Danny pulled a face and nearly groaned at the thought. He was ghost hunting free for a little over a year now, and he was actually enjoying that fact. With Vlad having talks in the Ghost Zone, fewer and fewer ghosts were breaking out of the Ghost Zone. A few criminal ghosts liked to sneak over to the human world and cause havoc, but Danny was no longer the only one that stood against their harassment of humans. Thanks to that, his freshmen year at college was relatively peaceful, and he actually had the opportunity to attend an out of state college instead of feeling trapped in Amity Park because of the Portal.

"You've been carrying around the secret for two years now," Sam pointed out, frowning at him.

Danny sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. He really hated thinking back on those memories, even more than he hated when Dash slipped into his thoughts. "It was a war in the Ghost Zone," he said with his eyes toward the ceiling so that he wouldn't see any of their faces. "I won't go into the details, but Warder Walker wanted to assume control, and you know how he is." Then remembering he wasn't alone with Sam and Tucker, he added, "He was a major stickler for 'the rules.' Any law breaking received harsh punishment. His prison was one of the most feared places in the Ghost Zone. Vlad and I managed to rally together an army of ghosts to fight against him. He was tough, but Pariah Dark still has him beat." He closed his eyes for a moment. "I thought we wanted happy topics."

When a hand squeezed his hand, Danny glanced over to see Paulina offering him a small smile. "I don't know a whole lot about the Ghost Zone and all that," she said, "but those must be hard memories for you to carry with you."

"I have a lot of memories like that," Danny mumbled, hopefully too soft for any of those present to hear.

"Okay. You're right. That's enough with the depressing talk," Sam admitted, throwing her arms up in defeat. She leaned over the back of the seat and wrapped her arms around Danny in a hug. "Movie marathon? We've got a popcorn and a cotton candy machine and a soda fountain."

"Can we watch the new Sayonara Pussycat movie?" Paulina asked hopefully.

Sam gritted her teeth but agreed, making the attempt to keep things friendly among them all. They were better friends than they were in the past, but sometimes, Danny could tell Sam still clung to those first impressions of Paulina as a shallow girl. Danny was still surprised that Paulina was attending law school. She never struck him as being interested in becoming a lawyer, but he only really got to know her toward the end of their high school career.

What might have been five or six movies later - he lost count - Danny checked the time on his watch. "Ugh, I have this family dinner thing I'm supposed to do. My dad's still on that whole crazy pride kick." He rolled his eyes. "If this keeps up, I might have to beg you all to hide me." Laughing, he climbed out of his seat and stretched after the long hours of mostly sitting around. It was nice to actually do nothing for a change after the hard year at college.

"I should probably head out too," Kwan said as he got up too. "I'm supposed to work an early shift tomorrow."

"Next time, we should go to the beach," Paulina suggested as the two men headed for the stairs. "I saw just bought this really cute bikini that I'm dying to wear."

Danny laughed when he heard Sam's groan. They were out of the house before Kwan grabbed his arm. "Uh, hi," Danny said awkwardly as he blinked up at the jock. He realized for the first time how quiet Kwan was the entire time they were watching movies. In fact, he couldn't really remember hearing the jock utter a single word.

"I wish I could tell you something about Dash," Kwan confessed with his gaze cast to the ground. "I've tried to get in contact with him almost every day since he left, but he won't respond at all." He reached up, hand threading through his dark locks. "I was really hoping I could get through to him."

Danny looked away, his heart sinking. Not only did all his lying destroy anything he had with Dash, but he ruined Kwan's relationship with his best friend. Nothing he did seem to be without terrible consequences. "I'm really sorry about all of this," he mumbled, hanging his head. "I keep thinking it would be better if I hadn't been so stupid and told Sam no when she brought up the suggestion of cross dressing. Looking back, it was so stupid." He closed his eyes, tears burning at their edges. His throat felt tight as he spoke, and his heart continued to feel like it was dropping a thousand feet downward. He made a mess of everything.

Kwan surprised him with his next words. "Dash is the idiot."

Danny snapped his head up, eyes staring widely at the jock. "But I'm the one that screwed everything up."

"And Dash is the one being stupid and overreacting." Kwan shook his head. "If I knew where to find him, I'd punch him in the face." He patted Danny on the shoulder. "I'll see you around." With a wave, he wandered away from Sam's house.

Sighing, Danny shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked toward his house. Now he felt like punching Dash in the face too for making his best friend miserable by cutting him out like that. What was Dash even thinking? Simply because he was mad at Danny didn't mean he had to terminate his friendship with Kwan. Danny almost wished there was a rogue ghost around so that he could relieve some of his frustration and anger and misery by fighting it. He took a deep breath as he approached his house and buried all those feelings to keep his parents from suspecting anything.

What was Dash doing now? The question lingered in his mind.

Author's Note: I'm admittedly terrified of writing this sequel after all these years. XD;;;