Swagger Bishie oneshot for Quishaphantom, the first winner of my fanfiction giveaway!

Warning: Homophobic language

The door crashed opened. Danny flew up, limbs flying everywhere, and promptly rolled right off the edge of his mattress. He hit the ground hard and relented to his defeat against his tangled sheets, groaning as he sank into the wooden floor.

Dash stood at the doorway, hand still poised to open the door. He felt heat rise to his cheeks as he surveyed the scene. "I—uh—sorry, your mom let me in. I didn't realize—uh…"

Danny grumbled in response.

Dash blinked. "Anyways, today's the day of our hiking date! Aren't you excited?"

Another unintelligible grumble.

"Aw, don't be like that! I know your past experiences with the great outdoors haven't been great, but trust me on this one. There's nothing like hiking. You're going to love it."

Danny finally picked his head up off the floor. He gave Dash a weak smile. "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say."

A renewed sense of excitement filled Dash. It had taken weeks of prompting in order to score this adventurous date for his home-bound boyfriend. Two years of being targeted by ghosts, hunted by the government, and a decade of bullying had instilled a level of anxiety in Danny that Dash was desperate to undo. Having dealt with a fair share of mental health issues himself, Dash instinctively knew that some time away from Amity Park, deep in the wonders of nature, could at least alleviate Danny's anxiety. Even if Danny didn't believe him.

"Alright then!" Dash allowed his enthusiasm to seep into his tone. "Get up then, Fentino! We're leaving in fifteen minutes. And don't worry, I already wrapped your breakfast in tinfoil. You can eat in on the way to the mountain."

Danny allowed his head to fall back down to the floor with another groan. But out of the corner of his eye, Dash could see a faint smile on his boyfriend's lips.

"Your such a dork," Danny said.

"Says the guy with NASA posters and model rockets in his room."

Danny's only response was a sluggish middle finger pointed nowhere in particular.

Dash choked down a laugh and headed for the door. "Meet you downstairs in ten, alright?"

Danny cursed as he forced his hands under him, pushing his lithe body off the floor. He blinked a few times, his face twisted in confusion. It was as if his brain hadn't figured out he was standing yet.

"You good?"

"Mm." Danny ran his fingers through his untamed hair. "Yeah. Okay. I'm good now. See you in ten."

"Can't wait!" Dash said, giving his boyfriend a final thumbs-up before closing the door behind him. He walked down the hallway with renewed confidence in his step. Yup, this was going to be the perfect date-day. Even if Danny couldn't see it yet, this was going to be perfect.

He was going to love it.

"This is horrendous. You said people do this for fun?" Danny asked incredulously. He stumbled over yet another tree root.

Dash stifled a giggle. "Babe, I don't know how many times I have to tell you that the woods has trees in it."

Danny rolled his eyes, attempting to save face. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. You know, there's a reason why Danny Phantom protects the city and not the general wilderness."

"Well maybe Danny Phantom needs to broaden his horizons more"

"Ugh, no thank you. The trees can go protect themselves. I've got more than enough shit to deal with back home."

"Babe, relax, I was playing," Dash said, sensing a growing irritation from his boyfriend. He frowned. "You know, if you really disliked hiking this much, we didn't have to come."

Danny's head shot up. "No, no! It's okay!"

"No, really. I love hiking but if you don't like hiking we could have done something else. You know, you don't have to pretend for me. I already like you, Danny. There's no need to try to impress me or anything."

"No, it's not like that. I promise. I…" Danny paused, halting in his tracks. "The last time I was in the woods it was because Plasmius lured and trapped me out here and then set some reanimated animal carcasses to attack me. It...wasn't fun. At all."

Horror cut through Dash like a hot knife. He froze, turning around to face Danny, his jaw tight with worry. Of course, Dash knew about all of the conflicts that were broadcasted on the news. But he wasn't stupid. Even he knew that there were other things, things that happened behind closed doors, that Danny was tight-lipped about. While Danny had begun slowly opening up to Dash over the past few months about troubling events he'd undergone as Phantom, Dash knew he was still clueless about too much.

Still, actually hearing about these hidden events was much more horrifying than he could have ever imagined them to be.

"Danny...I'm so sorry. If I had known—"

"No! That's just it though!" Danny stepped forward, closing the gap between him and Dash. His fierce blue eyes met Dash's, his expression strong and determined. He raised a hand up, letting its cool touch fall on Dash's shoulder. "I don't want to let those experiences stop me from doing things. I just can't keep letting myself think of Plasmius every time I go into the woods. I'd rather think of you, okay? I just need this. Even if I hate it."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry if that seems selfish. I know today was supposed to be a nice day together and I'm making it all about me and my issues. I'm sorry. I honestly wasn't going to tell you about this."

Dash shook his head. "No, Danny, I'm so glad you told me."I'm just proud of you for having the balls to come out here with, despite your past. And I'm really honored that you chose me to be your new memory of the woods. That's really sweet of you, babe."

"Oh—well, uh," Danny stammered, breaking eye contact. His hand dropped to his side. "You know. You're pretty great."

"Am I?" Dash said. He flashed a cocky smile. "Yeah, I guess I am pretty great, huh? If I'm good enough for Danny Phantom to go into the big old wilderness with, than I must be—"

Danny snorted. He pushed Dash's shoulders until he was facing the dirt path once again. "Ugh, why do I like you?"

"Because I'm awesome," Dash said, flipping his imaginary hair as he started leading the duo up the mountain.

"You wish, you dork."

Dash and Danny fell into a natural silence as they trekked up the path. It was, by all accounts, a perfect day outside. The sun beamed down overhead, cooled by the slight breeze in the air. Birds chirped excitedly from the distance, hopping on and off of branches and ruffling the hanging leaves. The scent of blooming flowers wafted from the edges of the path, heightened by the evaporating dew.

Dash didn't understand how anyone could be surrounded by this sheer perfection and not love every second of it.

Then again, Danny wasn't exactly a normal teenager. He didn't have normal experiences, like hiking. But Dash did have these normal experiences. He grew up an average human. He played football, he went to the gym with his best friends, he parties on the weekends. He was, by all accounts, an average all-American teenage boy. And goddamnit, if Danny hadn't experienced the joys of normalcy yet, then Dash was going to show him exactly how amazing it could be.

"Oh. here we go." Dash turned to his boyfriend, cutting him off mid-story about a horror movie analysis between Dead Teacher and Dead Teacher II. The trees were beginning to thin out, and more and more rocks were jutting out of the soil. Squinting ahead, Dash could almost make out the exact moment the tree-line stopped. "Wait, Danny you go in front of me."

Danny raised a sweaty eyebrow. "Oh? You trying to check me out or something?"

"No, Fenflirto. I mean, not that I don't find you hot. Especially out here, in the wilderness, with pine needles in your hair and dirt on your arms because someone keeps forgetting that there's rocks and tree roots on the ground because we're on a mountain—"

"Okay, okay! I get it!" Danny waved him off and moved in front of Dash. "Why do you want me to go first then? It's not like I know my way up this stupid mountain."

"Look." Dash pointed up the trail. "See? The trees are thinning. We're nearing the tree-line."

"So?"

"So, I want to see your reaction when we get to the best part of hiking a mountain. The first viewpoint above the tree-line!"

"You're crazy," Danny said. His words held no venom. "You know I'm part ghost, right? I can fly?"

"Yeah, but just wait for this!" Dash said, not caring how much his excitement resembled a five-year-old on Christmas.

Dash knew he was a bit unobservant at times, but he wasn't outright stupid. He knew Danny saw the town from the skies every day he flew to Caspar High in the morning. But Danny had never seen the view like this. There was a world of difference between looking at the ground from an airplane and looking at the ground from the edge of a cliff after sweating for three hours uphill, climbing over rocks and fallen trees, over creeks and rivers. There was just no comparison.

Dash playfully nudged him. "Come on, Danny! You're so slow."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm telling you, Dash, I see Amity Park from this high all the time."

"Yeah, okay, you keep telling yourself that."

"I just don't wanna disappoint you."

Dash puffed his chest out. "Hah! As if anything could disappoint the Dash Baxter! You wait, Fenton. This is going to be the best thing you ever agreed to do with me."

Danny whipped head around and Dash made it a point to give him the biggest shit-eating-grin he could manage, eyebrows dancing up and down for show.

Snorting, Danny turned back around. "I'm just prepping you is all. I hate to keep reminding you, but I fly higher than this all the time, so—"

"Do me a favor and climb up this rock for me." Dash put his hand on a particularly large stack of boulders next to them.

"Climb?" Danny froze.

"Yeah, climb climb. No flying. Just like this," Dash gripped the jagged shelves of the rock and began hoisting his body up the stone. He glanced down at his boyfriend's shell-shocked expression. "Well, pretty boy? Don't tell me a lowly human is going to beat you up this chunk of granite."

Danny's face flushed red, and he began scaling the rocks as if he were made of air. "In your dreams, Baxter."

Danny moved fluidly, bouncing from rock to rock as if he'd been climbing and hiking for years. Dash tracked him upwards, awe hitting him once again at how exceptional his boyfriend was. Danny was Danny, there was just no other way to describe him. He was clumsy and stumbled his way through life, but when his focus was on he was on. Dash's eyes followed Danny until he pulled himself over the top of the small cliff, disappearing from view.

A nervous energy filled Dash. He wasted no time catching up to his boyfriend, and it didn't take long for him to reach the top of the rocks as well. With practiced strength, he gripped the the ledge with grimy hands and hoisted his body onto it. If his shirt wasn't dirty before, it definitely was now.

He stood, wiping his hands on his pants, and turned around to see Danny looking into the distance. He was picturesque with his still posture and gently ruffled hair. The sun was shining down on him in just the right way that made his tan skin glow. Danny was gorgeous, and it took everything Dash had in him to tear his eyes off of Danny and onto the valley of trees, rocks, and the tiny buildings that populated Amity Park in front of them.

"Whoa," Danny breathed. "Damn."

"It's cool, huh?" Dash asked, moving to stand behind Danny.

Wide blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight. "I guess I just never stopped to really look before, you know?"

"Yeah, hiking will do that to you."

"I mean, I see this view all the time," Danny said. He raised an arm out, pointing to Amity Park. "That town? We live there, Dash. I didn't even realize."

"Yeah," Dash said, not knowing else to respond.

Dash's lack of input didn't seem to matter to Danny, though. "This is so trippy. I'm usually so focused on saving the town that I didn't even realize what the town looks like. Or what everything else around it looks like, you know? Who knew that we had so many trees around us, right? Hey, look! Is that Elmerton? Oh, wave to Valerie. Hi Val! I hope she's home right now or else that would be really awkward."

Dash slung his arms around Danny's waist, resting his head on Danny's shoulders. "I'm sure she says hi back."

Danny giggled and glanced over at Dash. "Thanks for taking me out here. This is...actually cool."

"Well thanks for coming out here with me. You make a great hiking buddy. Even if you trip over tree roots every five minutes."

"Hey!" Danny lightly whacked Dash's arm. "Not my fault the trees didn't know I was coming."

Dash tilted Danny's head up to look at him. His eyes glittered like gemstones, and Dash could see a few faint freckles peering out from under his skin. "You're such a dork." Dash said. He leaned in, his lips just barely brushing Danny's.

"Your dork," Danny said. He gently connected the kiss, his lips soft and cool, reminding Dash of a calm winter night by the fireplace. Dash pressed his body closer to Danny, running his fingers through the soft strands of his black hair. Danny's body fit perfectly into Dash's arms, as if the universe had purposefully pulled the two together.

Dash had kissed Danny in both forms. Phantom was cold, like a blizzard was trapped under his skin. He was exciting, with so much raw power spilling from his core it made Dash's breath catch in his throat. But Danny Fenton was different. He was a calming sea breeze, a cool summer night, a crisp autumn day. Kissing him made Dash feel safe, loved, wanted. Kissing him in human form was unlike anything Dash had ever experienced.

Danny represented safety.

But that didn't stop Dash from glancing around to make sure no one had seen them kiss as they continued up the mountain.

"You heard about Fenton?" Kwan asked lightly.

Dash pushed his locker closed and hoisted his backpack over his shoulder. He kept a cool mask on and responded with, "No. Why?"

"Brent and a few others cornered him after gym today." Kwan said, his voice disinterested as he tapped away on his phone.

Dash's heart stopped. "What do you mean?"

"I dunno, but Brent was bragging about it to me a few minutes ago. Was going off about how they beat the shit out of him. Figured you might want to know."

Dash's nonchalant attitude was incinerated almost immediately and replaced with hot skin and narrow eyes. He growled, "Where is he?"

"Who?" Kwan asked, eyes glued to his phone.

"Fenton. Where's Fenton."

The corners of Kwan's lips twitched upwards. "Hmm, probably still in the locker room."

Dash wasted no more time prying information from Kwan and stormed off, his ears ringing with rage. He elbowed any loser that dared to get in his way as he plowed through the hallways. If any of his friends tried to flag him down, he wouldn't have known. His vision was completely red.

It felt like hours before he reached the gray door to the boy's locker room. As soon as he placed a hand on the offending door, every bit of rage was sucked out of his body and replaced with a sense of dread. He pressed his ear up against the door, desperate to hear anything to indicate the status of his boyfriend. But the door was silent.

Dash took a deep breath and gently pushed open the door. He slipped through the doorway and gently eased the door shut behind him. He held his breath as he listened to the room. The tap was running in the background, but otherwise there were no footsteps, no voices, nothing to indicate that there were other people still in the locker room.

Still, Dash slowly crept forwards, using the rows of lockers to shield him from view. He didn't want Danny to hear him, freak out, and slip through the walls in escape. He wanted—no, needed Danny to know he was there for him.

He peered around the last row of lockers and caught sight of his boyfriend. Danny was a mess. Blood splattered his face, his hands, and bruises were forming on his body. His clothes were wrinkled and dirty, and his hair was reminiscent of someone who just went toe-to-toe with a hurricane. He stood by the sink, dabbing at his nose with a bloodied paper towel.

"Danny?" Dash stepped out from behind the locker.

Danny's head jerked up, and Dash watched a wave of emotions flicker across Danny's eyes: Surprise, fear, relief, and then finally hurt.

Danny turned back towards the sink. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard about what happened," Dash said. He tried to catch his boyfriend's eyes in the mirror, but the dull blue irises refused to look up from the tap.

"Great. Perfect. Now they're gloating about it to everyone? Awesome."

"No, I...that's not what I—"

"Well then what are you doing here?" Danny snapped. He turned, tearing a paper towel square off the roll as if he were trying to rip the whole plastic container down from the wall. "What do you want, Dash?"

"I just wanted to see if you were alright," Dash said, his voice quiet. "And if there was anything I could do for you."

"Well, I'm obviously fine. So...whatever. There's your answer. Happy?"

Dash felt his eyebrows creasing. Was his boyfriend nuts? Danny wasn't fine. He was bleeding all over the floor. How was that fine?

He stepped forward. Trying to keep the tremor out of his tone, he said, "No. Why would I be happy about this? Danny you're...you're bleeding."

Danny turned on the tap, but made no move to wet the new piece of paper towel in his hands. "So? Not the first time you've seen blood on me. Won't be the last time either. I'm fine. I'm used to it. Just go."

Dash set his jaw. "Danny, nothing about this is remotely okay. You're not fine, and I'm not leaving."

"Go away."

"No. Danny, This isn't up for debate. I can't just leave. Are you kidding me? My boyfriend was just hurt. And he's still hurting. You can't expect me to just go. So please come over here? Let me help you?"

"No. Just leave me alone!"

"Danny, stop being difficult and let me help you."

Danny gripped the edge of the sink, allowing the tap to continue its waterfall down the drain. "Dash! Just go!"

"No."

"Why are you so stubborn?"

Dash snorted. "Well, why are you?"

"You don't know a thing—"

"Well maybe I would if you—"

"Goddamnit, Dash! Will you please—"

"No, I refuse to leave you—"

"Shut up!"

"Danny, I'm not—"

"SHUT UP!" Danny roared. He ripped his hands off the sink and, before Dash could so much as blink, a BOOM resonated throughout the empty bathroom. Dash stared in horror at his boyfriend's tense body, his eyes trailing up to see Danny's fist in the wall. Cracked tile falling to the floor like raindrops. The eerie glow of Danny's eyes reflected mutely on the damaged bathroom around him.

The glow died, and Danny's bloodied fist loosened from the dented wall. He dropped his arm to his side. "Shut up."

Dash held his breath, his eyes wide with shock. In the four months him and Danny had been officially secretly dating, he'd never seen his boyfriend lose control like that. Sure, they'd had their petty arguments, but Dash had never seen Danny truly upset. Dash had gone to him a few times needing comfort, times when his dad's traditional values were too much to bear, but Danny had never reciprocated those emotions. On a few occasions Dash had tried to get his boyfriend to open up so he could see what really went on in his mind, but Danny always played it off the same way: a shrug of the shoulders, a roll of the eyes, a comment about how sentimental Dash was, and then some dorky pun that would make Dash blush and lose his train of thought.

No, Danny was not deep or emotive. At least, not outwardly. All the years of bullying and hiding his halfa status from his parents taught him just how dangerous his inner thoughts could be. And now, the wax seal over his emotions was done. Disintegrated after this one event.

And Dash had no idea what to do.

"Danny…" Dash tried, raising his arm as if to reach out to his boyfriend that was right there, goddamnit. "I'm so sorry."

Danny's head ducked down. "No."

"I'm sorry."

"I don't care. Shut up."

"I like you too much to do that." Dash said. "I'm just…"

"Yeah. I know." Danny said.

Dash braved another step closer to Danny. "No. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I just...I can't believe those assholes would do this to you."

Danny flinched. He whispered, "I can."

"Huh?"

There was a distinct pause, before Danny said, his voice hollow, "You think this was the first time? They cornered me like this?"

"I...I don't...uh—"

He let out a bitter laugh. "Are you really this blind, Dash? Are you? Come on, they're your friends!"

Dash winced. "Danny, they can be assholes, sure. But come on! They're not bad people. I know them. They're not bad people."

Danny whipped around. "Oh? So if they're such great people, then why hide your relationship with me from them to begin with? If they're so caring and trustworthy, surely we can go up to them holding hands and it'll be just swell and dandy, right? Because they're so great. Huh, Dash?"

"No, that's not the reason why—"

"Oh then what is, Dash? Maybe you're just embarrassed to be seen in public with loser Danny Fenton. Maybe that's it?" he pressed.

"I can't believe you honestly think I give a damn about all that social bullshit, Danny! You know my dad. If he finds out…"

"Whatever, Dash." Danny pushed past Dash, heading for the exit.

"Danny, wait!" Dash reached for Danny's shoulder, only for his hand to pass through his boyfriend's skin. "Danny! Come on! Listen to me!"

"No. I'm done with this. And I'm sick of you turning a blind eye to all this bullshit. I'm just...done."

"Danny! Come on, if this is about us being secret I'll tell Kwan! Come on, don't walk away! See? I'm getting my phone out right now. I'll text Kwan. Danny. Danny! Don't walk away. Please—"

Danny stopped in his tracks. He spun around, eyes blazing. "This isn't about us being a secret, Dash! What, do you really think I care about that shit? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Dash lowered his phone. "Oh. Then what is it about?"

"This! It's about this." Danny swept his hands out in front of him. "It's about the fact that you hang around with those fucktards who beat the shit out of me, and then after school you come over and pretend like nothing is wrong! Like nothing happened! Just because the bruises disappear by the end of the day doesn't mean they didn't happen, Dash!"

"I—I'm sorry. I didn't think—"

"No! Of course not! Of course you didn't think, because why think about something when you can just ignore it from existence? Because weak Danny Fenturd isn't going to tell a soul, so why should you care?"

A pang of anger shot through Dash. Did Danny seriously think he didn't care? Really? "I care!"

"Yeah? Do you really?"

"Of course I do!" he insisted.

"Then why, Dash?" Danny yelled, his eyes piercing. "Why haven't you done anything? W-why haven't you...why do I...why am I s-so alone here in this? I—I have no one. I have no one right now. And y-you...you're supposed t-to be there. For me. But...I just...but…"

"Danny…" a lump was forming in Dash's throat. "I'm so sorry."

Danny lowered his gaze and sniffed. A hand traveled up to his eyes. "No...no...I can't...I c-can't do this…" His feet began moving away from Dash. Backing out of the locker room slowly, hesitantly, like Dash was pointing a knife at his throat. "I'm sorry, Dash, I can't do this anymore."

Despite his brain telling him to move, goddamnit, Dash's feet were frozen on the floor. He reached a desperate arm out to Danny's darkening figure. "Danny, wait!"

Danny pushed open the door. "I'm sorry, Dash."

"Danny!"

The door shut with a resonating click.

"Danny…"

He stood there, alone, his body numb. Everything was just going so well. Everything was great. He was finally happy. But of course, he messed it up.

The shadows of the room creeped up to Dash, wrapping their spindly arms around his waist, legs, and arms. Dash didn't try to fight them. He didn't have it in him. He could only stand there, watching the shadows pry into the depths of his mind.

Alone.

"Look at that. Gross," Brent said in a low undertone. He nudged Dash, his finger pointed towards a small black haired boy. "Look. Faggottron at two o'clock."

Danny walked by their lunch table, head up and pointedly keeping his eyes forward. Not even sparing a glance in their direction.

Dash was closeted. Danny understood—oh God, he understood—And for that, Dash was beyond grateful.

So they'd developed their own secret method of communicating at school. Their own way of signaling "Hey, I'm right here. And I see you. And I'm thinking about you. I hope you're having a great day!" The glances, the nudges, the smiles that would flash just long enough for the other person to see but no longer. They were subtle, yes, but they were everything to Dash.

And now Danny was walking by Dash. Head forward. Eyes stoic. As if Dash wasn't standing right there.

Before he could even think, Dash's mouth was moving for him. "Hey! Shut up, Brent."

Danny slowed down.

Brent whirled around, bewildered. "What?"

Dash was acutely aware of the halting conversation at his lunch table as everyone turned around to look at him. His heart thudded in his chest, but years of practice taught him how to not show his true emotions. He continued on, confidence unwavering, "Yeah, dude. Come on. That's so lame."

"Who? Me?"

"Nah, dude." Dash picked up his slice of pizza off the lunch tray. He tried to play it cool. "Those insults lame as fuck. Come on, get with the times."

"Wait, wait, wait." Brent dropped his slice of pizza on his tray, his eyebrows lost in his hairline. "Are you seriously siding with gaylord over there? Are you retarded?"

Dash took his time taking a massive bite out of his pizza, making sure it was chewed to a paste before clearing his mouth of the flavorless school lunch. He rolled his eyes, making sure it was comically obvious to the entire table, and said, "Brent, do you get your insults from the comments section of pornhub? Because that's all I'm hearing right now."

Brent's face turned scarlet. "Fuck off, Baxter."

"Not my fault you have the mental capacity of a twelve year old on 4chan."

"Have fun sucking Fenton's dick, Baxter. I'm done here." Brent tore his lunch tray from the table and stormed off, flinging his food into the trash like it was made out of poison.

Dash shrugged and took another bite out of his pizza. He kept his eyes trained on the ceiling, blatantly ignoring that look that Kwan and Paulina shared between them. Ugh, how did those two losers even figure it out anyways? He wasn't that obvious, was he? Of course, those two and Star were his closest friends. It was dumb of Dash to think he could slip anything this big by them.

He looked back down at his try. That was, after glancing over at Danny one last time. He didn't miss the way Danny's lips were just barely tugged upwards, or the faint bit of red on Danny's cheeks, and the way Danny ducked his head down to try to shield these features of his face from view.

Dash wasn't a perfect boyfriend. He wasn't even a perfect friend. He was cocky, hotheaded, insecure, and snapped easily. But he was working on that. Sometimes he messed up, slipping back into his old habits, and causing the people he cared about to become upset with him. But he tried. He really tried. And, judging by the look on Danny's face, Dash had done right.

Maybe this wouldn't be enough to fix the mess he'd made by ignoring Danny's bullying problem for all this time. Maybe Danny would need to see Dash stand up for him several more times before he would feel comfortable enough to embrace Dash with open arms again. But Dash was going to do that. Because yes, he did care about his boyfriend. And no, seeing Danny get bullied did not sit well with him, even if Dash used to partake in it himself.

So no, this wasn't a magical moment that had cured Danny and Dash of their issues like all the movies seemed to show. Things weren't okay still. They probably wouldn't be okay for a while.

But this was a start.

And Dash wasn't going to mess this up again.

As always, thanks for reading! And thank you to Quisha for giving me this awesome prompt!