A/N: So, apparently the document keeps duplicating partway through. I'm not sure why that's happening, and I keep fixing it. Hopefully the changes take affect, but I'm sorry if that is still something that's happening.

Dash took a deep breath as he glanced around the campus. It was late January and everyone was settling back in to the swing of school as they headed in to their spring semester. It was only his sophomore year, but he had quickly become familiar with a lot of the people on campus and easily fell in to the swing of college life. After an accident during his junior year of highschool, he was unable to make it in to the schools he had hoped to with a football scholarship. While he was still able to play casually, his opportunities for schooling had been drastically limited. He had originally been pretty horrified, but now he found that he didn't mind as much as he thought he would. After his first year at the small college he found that it was nice to settle down and focus on academics instead of sports. As much as he hated to admit it college actually helped him to settle down a bit in general as well. After he lost contact with everyone he had been friends with in highschool it made him realize how petty and stupid he had been. I guess that was all part of growing up. He sighed as he began to make his way to the dorms when he spotted a kid sitting on a nearby bench. By the way he was looking around nervously, it was obvious that he was new. While there were a handful of people that enrolled or transferred in during the spring semester, the amount was significantly lower than the fall, and to Dash it just seemed weird. However, the sight of someone new wasn't what stopped him in his tracks. What had caught his attention was not the fact that he didn't recognize him, but the fact that he did.

"Fenton?" Dash called out, still a little dumbfounded. No one from his class had attended this college as far as he knew. Most wanted to get as far away as possible from Amity Park and its ghost related freakiness.

The kid looked up from the papers that he had been shuffling through and glanced around for the source of the voice.

Dash felt his heart to begin to race as he watched him react to his call. No way, it really was Fenton. He felt as if a train had hit him as memories of highschool flooded back. Dash briefly considered leaving, but before he could act, a voice caught his attention.

"Dash?" Danny responded hesitantly.

Damn it. Dash mentally cursed. Well, it was too late to run off now and he made his way over the bench where Fenton was sitting.

"Hey loser, I didn't expect to see you here." Dash stated, trying to mask the fact that he was actually nervous. Was that guilt he was feeling? Or something else?

"I could say the same, Dash. I didn't take you for the small college type." Danny responded.

Dash shrugged. "Without a scholarship everything else just seemed out of reach. Not complaining though, this school has some killer parties despite it's size."

"Sounds fun." Danny stated bluntly while sticking the papers he had been holding in to his bag.

Dash briefly caught the words 'dorm assignment' on them, which meant Fenton wasn't commuting either. Dash didn't commute only because his parents didn't really want him home, not that he really wanted to be home either. The Fentons always seemed weird as hell, so Dash imagined he was probably trying to escape his parents.

"Not to be rude, but why are you here? I mean this is your first time, right? So you like, transferred or something? I know I haven't seen you around here before." Dash questioned.

Danny seemed to consider his answer for a moment before replying. "Well, no. To be honest I didn't go in to college right after high school. Kind of seems strange, I know, but there was a lot I had to work through before I was able to jump back in to school again. So I'm technically just now starting college."

"A lot to work through? Like, health issues or something?" Dash pressed.

"Err, yeah, something like that." Danny responded uncomfortably. To be fair, it was partially the truth.

Right before graduation Danny had driven himself past the point of exhaustion and collapsed on several different occasions and some instances resulted in hospitalization. His rapidly declining health and physical state began to become more and more apparent and his parents were beginning to assume the worst. To top it off his mental health was taking the worst plunge of them all. Jazz, worried about his well-being, ended up spilling his secret to their parents saying that she really believed his life depended on it. He never held it against her, like she had feared, because as much as he did not want to face it, he knew she was absolutely right. His parents, of course, were very accepting they were able to talk it out, but shortly after graduation his parents had him seek help through rehab. They locked down the portal and insisted if anything managed to get through from some other source that they would handle it. As much as he feared for them, and insisted otherwise, he knew that if he continued on he would never make it till the end of the year. After his rehabilitation, he began working part time and, unless there was a ghost problem, aided his parents with their work. Despite them being very education-oriented people, they feared the immediate return to any sort of schooling would affect both his physical and mental recovery. Danny did not object to the delayed education since all his goals and dreams for his education had been tossed out the window when he got in to the portal accident anyway. However, he eventually chose to attend physical college saying that he wanted a social life and needed to get out, especially now that Tucker and Sam had moved away to attend their own universities. But, you know, Dash didn't need to know any of that.

"Well, I'm glad you were able to work through them." Dash said while awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

Danny gave him a curious look. "Yeah, me too."

Dash shifted uncomfortably. God what was he thinking trying to talk to Fenton? He was probably the last person he wanted to be greeted by anyway. He had been so cruel to him and for what reason? Other than the fact that his presence drove him crazy and it was 'something to do'? Feelings of guilt bubbled up again. With that said, why was Fenton even giving him the time of day? Shouldn't he be telling him to piss off or something?

Dash glanced back over to Danny who was staring at him stupidly, while trying to also avoid eye contact. To be honest he actually looked pretty cute sitting there nervously. Dash felt his heart speed up at that thought. Wait, what did he just call him? Cute? God, he thought he had gotten over that. About this time, had they been in highschool, Dash would have gotten frustrated with his thoughts and shoved him to the ground and told him that he was being weird in attempt to force away the thoughts. Girls liked boys, that's just how it went; and Dash was no girl. If anyone had found out what he thought then-

"Dash, are you okay?"

Dash was torn from his thoughts and he looked at Danny who seemed to be a mixture of anxious and annoyed.

"Yeah I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" He scoffed, the response coming out a lot snippier than intended.

Danny rolled his eyes and put his hands in the air in mock surrender. "You know, I really should make my way to my dorm, I think I'm suppose to be meeting my roommate. You don't care for me anyway, so I don't know why you're bothering."

The feeling of guilt washed back over Dash as he watched him reach for his bag.

"Wait." Dash said while reaching to stop Danny from making a further move.

However, the gesture apparently came off as threatening because Danny reeled back and put an arm up in self-defense.

Dash was nothing short of horrified.

Fenton still saw him as a threat. He still saw him as that nasty kid out to do him harm. He still saw him as that petty jock with nothing better to do than to harass and abuse him. Why did that bother him so much? It had been true at some point. That's what he did all through highschool simply because he wanted to… what? Prove his masculinity? To keep himself on the A-list and impress the same friends who ceased contact with him after graduation? To try and cover up his true desires and thoughts because he couldn't stand the thought of being an outcast too?

It took a moment for Danny to regain himself, but his face quickly turned bright red when he realized what had happened. Oh god, he hadn't meant to do that. It's not that he actually thought Dash was going to hurt him, he had just associated Dash with "ass kicking" on too many occasions and it triggered a subconscious reaction.

"W-what do you want?" Danny managed to ask, while staring at his bag. There was no way Dash was going to let him live that down and he kept expecting to hear him laugh. However, it never came.

"Oh my god. I'm… I'm so sorry." Dash sputtered out.

Danny quickly glanced up at him, a bit confused by his response. Did he just apologize? Sincerely?

"It's fine, I guess. It was my fault, I don't know what I was expecting." Danny mumbled.

Dash found very little comfort in that response as his guilt finally got the best of him. "No, you know what? No." He said while sitting down next to Fenton who still seemed horribly embarrassed. "That should have never happened. You know why? Because I shouldn't have been such a dick to you in highschool. I was wrong, okay? And that shouldn't be your problem."

Danny just stared at him dumbly, unsure of how to respond. Was Dash really apologizing for everything? "I-I don't understand." He finally managed to spit out.

Dash sighed, unsure of whether or not he should continue, but he really just needed to clear this up. "My friends ditched me after high school, I don't play football like I intended, I really don't have many friends now, and the few I do have, none of them I can say I'm close to. College is great, but in just one year I felt like I was completely turned around. To be honest, I recognized that I had been a really shallow and awful person. I wanted to sweep it under the rug, pretend it never happened, but I don't know, I guess seeing you here just brought everything back to the surface. You deserved an apology, you did nothing to warrant my, or anyone's, abuse."

Danny was quiet for a moment and Dash half expected him to get up and leave, but then Danny did what he had never anticipated.

He started laughing.

Now it was Dash's turn to be embarrassed. Why was he laughing?

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I just can't believe this is even real right now. Like, who paid you? My sister? Is this some sort of bet you've made? A dare?" Danny let out another chuckle before growing really quiet. "I don't appreciate it, if that is the case." He informed in a very serious tone.

Dash could not believe the drastic change in demeanor and emotions. Maybe Fenton was a little crazy after all. Dash opened his mouth to speak, but Danny cut him off.

"Look, what happened in highschool is in the past. I don't know if you're serious or not, but regardless, I've moved on. You weren't my biggest problem at that time, and while hurtful, I had much more serious things to worry about. You were an ass, but I have always just accepted that fact. If you're serious about what you say, then you should know that I forgive you, and you should stop feeling guilty. However, if that's not the case, I would appreciate it if you never approached me again." The weight in Danny's voice was chilling and Dash had to resist the urge to just get up and flee.

Danny stood up and grabbed his bag; obviously Dash had nothing further to say.

However, before he could walk off Dash jumped up and blurted out, "I did it because I liked you!"

Danny froze. "E-Excuse me?"

Dash also stood there frozen for a moment, unable to comprehend the fact that he actually just said that out loud. But he had, so there was no going back now.

"I said… I did it because I liked you." He repeated, this time a lot quieter.

Danny's face scrunched in confusion. "So like, some sort of elementary school-boy type of mentality? But instead of pushing girls off swings because of a crush you would punch me and shove me in to lockers because you… wanted to be friends?"

Dash almost laughed out loud. What an awful way to put it. "I like how you assumed that it was because I wanted to be friends Fenton." Dash commented, barely aware of the subtle confession.

Luckily it went over Danny's head.

"I don't understand what you're trying to tell me then." Danny stated, a bit annoyed.

"No, just forget it Fent-"

"Danny. My name is Danny." Danny corrected curtly.

"Whatever." Dash waved his hand dismissively.

Danny rolled his eyes. "You started this, you know. Don't get pissed at me."

"You know what? Fine. Let me be as straight-forward as possible then." Dash began, annoyed. "I had a crush on you, Danny." The moment the words left his mouth he regretted it. What the Hell was he thinking? How did they end up here?

Danny stood there speechless trying to process what Dash had just confessed. This had to be a joke. There was no way Dash was being serious.

There was a long silence between the two of them as they both tried to find the words to say. Finally Danny broke the silence by clearing his throat and pulling Dash from his mental berating.

"So, like… how much are they paying you? Like whoever dared you to do this? I sure hope a lot because this is the easiest way to trash your reputation, I hope you know." Danny informed. Not that he would, he wasn't that type. Still, the opportunity was there.

Dash looked horrified for a moment before shrugging. "I would deserve it, wouldn't I? I mean how many rumors did I perpetuate that lead to you being cornered in the locker room?" He scowled. "But for the record, I am not being paid and it wasn't a dare."

"So, you mean to tell me, you had a crush on me in highschool and that is why you decided to beat the shit out of me every day?" Danny eyed him skeptically.

Dash could feel himself growing more and more frustrated. "Boys don't like other boys! Every time I saw your stupid face I would get pissed because I wasn't suppose to like you! So, if I couldn't rid myself of these feelings of… of… you know! Then I would have to hate you for them! I hated you. I hated you because I liked you. And every day I had to face you and be reminded of how I was different and how something about me wasn't right. That pissed me off, so I took my frustration out on the very person that was driving me crazy! And that person was you, okay?"

Danny adjusted his bag on his shoulder. "You're terrible Dash. What do you want? Me to confess I'm gay? Wouldn't that be something to talk about. I'm so done with this." Danny scoffed.

Dash knew very well Danny didn't owe him anything, but he wanted him to at least try and understand. He just did not want him to walk away thinking that his intentions were to always find ways to hurt him. He fucked things up so bad. How did this happen? There was no going back now; this situation was unfixable. So it didn't matter if he…

Before any thought of logic could shut him down, Dash found himself whipping Danny around. Danny cried out in annoyance before he was abruptly cut-off by pressure against his lips.

Lips against his lips.

Dash had kissed him.

The moment was brief and inelegant, but the point was made.

Dash pulled away, horrified about what he had just done. It was over. Not only was he going to end up with his reputation trashed, but his crush of 5 or so years was about to reject him. There was no doubt about that. He just hated being looked at like a liar and how else could he have proven it? God, he was an idiot.

There was a long moment of silence before Danny whispered, "I understand."

Wait, what? No yelling? No cussing? No disgusted insults?

Dash finally found the courage to look up at Fenton who was staring awkwardly at the ground.

"I really should go meet my roommate."

Dash simply nodded in response as he watched Danny quickly hurry off. He stood there for a moment only to realize that at least five students were staring. Fuck.

"What the Hell are you looking at?" He shouted seeing he was in no mood for their judgmental stares.

The exact stares he always dreaded ever getting, thus why he had always masked his feelings with violence and hurtful jokes. He deserved it. He let out an exasperated sigh as he turned away from the whispering people. Wait, Fenton running off reminded him, he really needed to get back to his dorm too. His roommate transferred colleges, so he should be getting a new roommate who was probably touching his stuff by now.

Dash quickly made it his dorm building, up the stairs, and to his door. He reached for the door handle to find it unlocked, which meant his new roommate was already there.

Fantastic. He thought sarcastically.

He opened the door and caught sight of a figure. "Hey, I'm Dash, I'm your new ro-"

He didn't have time to finish as he met the gaze of a very amused Danny Fenton.

"You know, maybe you should have checked who your new roommate was before you confessed your love." Danny chuckled lightly.

Dash's face immediately flushed with embarrassment and anger.

"So, where were we?" Danny questioned with a teasing smile.

"You are so dead Fenton!" Dash yelled with mock anger, before slamming the door.

This was going to be an interesting semester for sure.