Chapter 02

Dash frowned, watching Kwan wipe down their dining table. "He's coming to stay for a month. You don't need to clean the whole place just for him," he called from where he sat on the couch in the living area of the apartment. He still hated the idea of Fenton coming to live with them, but there was no talking Kwan out of this plan.

"I don't want him coming here and seeing we're complete slobs." Kwan finished with the table and looked around the apartment, trying to find anything else that needed cleaning or straightening before Fenton showed up at their door.

"We're not complete slobs." Dash rolled his eyes as he flipped his book shut. After placing the book on the side table, he stood and stretched. "I think we keep the place relatively tidy." He snorted a laugh. "Better than how my room was before college." It was a miracle he could find anything in his room with how much junk he had lying around and clothes thrown all over the place. His desk barely had enough clear space to allow him to do his homework there.

Kwan was basically the complete opposite of him. His friend liked to keep everything neat, and he never had trouble finding something because of misplacing it among the mess in his room. When they went to college together, Dash thought rooming with his best friend was a great idea. What could possibly go wrong? He laughed now, remembering how they clashed when stuck sharing a small dorm. Living together took time to get used to, but they figured it out by their second year.

"Is it really such a bad thing? To have Danny move in with us?" Kwan folded up the towel then dropped it on the kitchen counter. "He probably hasn't been in town for very long so he doesn't really know anyone. It's gotta be nice for him to have some familiar faces around."

"I doubt our faces are the ones he wants to see." Dash walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a cold beer. "Think about it. We weren't exactly all that great to him. Well, not so much you. But he has to hate me." He twisted the cap off the bottle. "He'd probably be happier if I wasn't in the picture."

Kwan shook his head. "I can't imagine Danny being the type to hate you forever because of that. Yeah, you did some awful things to him, but you've changed a lot since then. Just show him the new, mature you."

"Easy for you. He has no reason to hate you." Dash walked back to the couch. "You might have done some bully stuff, but you were still basically nice to everyone. I almost feel like I need to sleep with one eye open with him in the apartment just in case he decides to enact some revenge plan."

"He isn't going to try to get revenge." When someone knocked, Kwan walked over to answer it while Dash took another, long, gulp of his beer. He didn't feel prepared at all for living with Fenton. "Danny!" Kwan greeted cheerily once he opened the door. "Come in!"

"Wow," Danny breathed when he stepped into the apartment and took a look around the open room. "How did you ever find a place like this?"

"Having roommates to split rent helps." Kwan chuckled as he closed the door. "Though it has been a bit strained with just the two of us. That's why we've been looking for a new roommate."

Dash caught Fenton glancing his way with a nervous look in his blue eyes. "I guess we should show you to your room so you can-" He frowned slightly. "Is that all you have?" Fenton was loaded with only three large duffle bags.

Fenton shook himself. "Ah, no. I have some other stuff, but since I was hoping to move out of that crummy apartment I was in, I decided not to bother taking all that much out of storage after shipping stuff here from Amity Park."

Dash nodded, seeing the sense in that. Why get everything unpacked if he planned on moving as soon as possible? "Well, your room is this way." He led the way to the relatively empty bedroom. "Obviously, you can do what you like with the room. I," he rubbed at his chin, "might suggest a new mattress though. That thing," he waved to the bed left behind by their previous roommate, "was already pretty much garbage when Brad dragged it in here."

Fenton's nose wrinkled slightly when he looked at the bed. "So I'm definitely bringing my bed." He walked farther into the room, dropping his bags near the closet door so he didn't have to keep lugging them around. "This place makes my room look like a breadbox. I'm starting to wonder how I managed to survive in such a cramped place. Or even have room for anything."

The size of the bedrooms was definitely one of the reasons Dash and Kwan liked this apartment out of all the ones they looked at when they first arrived in town. With all their furniture, a cramped apartment simply wouldn't do. The rent cost was, however, a problem. They could manage it, with some sacrifices, but not for too long without a third roommate, with an income to contribute to the rent. At least they could be sure Fenton wasn't some bum who wouldn't be able to keep up with rent.

"If you need any help with moving stuff in, we can help," Kwan offered, and Dash had to roll his eyes. Of course Kwan wouldn't hesitate to lend a helping hand.

"Uh, yeah," Dash agreed when Kwan nudged him with an elbow. "It'll go faster with three of us moving stuff." He would have laughed, thinking about Fenton moving a bunch of heavy furniture and boxes, but Fenton had bulked up over the years since high school. Dash shook his head. The transformation was almost unbelievable. If he had looked like this in high school, Fenton would have easily gotten into the A List, especially if he had joined the football team.

"Sure!" Fenton relaxed, the tension melting out of his shoulders. Perhaps he realized the two former bullies weren't about to beat him up. "I'll probably leave most of my stuff in storage. Just take the important stuff that I'll need. So it might not be a whole lot."

Fenton was thinking in temporary terms again. Kwan obviously hoped this was a sure thing, like after a month of living together the three would be best friends and nothing would come between them. He was sometimes too eager to make friends and do everything to please them to keep them as a friend. Fenton seemed to share Dash's thinking that this may not be a permanent living arrangement, and in a month, Fenton may choose to move out and find a better place for him. Dash could respect his way of thinking.

"Well, it's a Saturday night," Kwan announced with a clap of his hands. "What say we go out for some drinks to celebrate Danny's moving in?"

Dash caught himself before pointing out that Fenton staying past a month wasn't set in stone. "Sure," he agreed with a half hearted shrug. Their nights of going out for drinks were few and far between ever since they became teachers, and he decided not to pass up the excuse for a night out.


jessiejr21: Yup! New story!

RedHeadsRock1010: Aw thanks! =D

Kimera20: Thanks! =)

potato fanic: I hope this chapter was good too!

FallingNarwhals: 8D And there shall be more to come!

Tetractys: Danny's still half ghost in this, so there should be some supernatural occurrences happening. Eventually. XD;;

Simplegayme: Thanks~ 8D It should be fun watching these dorks fall in love. XD

Newspace19: I sure hope it will be! =)

Cabbit and the Weasel: Woo! Hopefully I'll have some more stuff to post soon.

Lam Baka: I believe it's being called Jock Sandwich.

Some Weird Chick: Hopefully a mistake that turns into something great though. XD I'm surprised I didn't write anything for the three of them earlier. But Ghost Chicky did a really cute art piece of the three of them, and I couldn't resist the call to write something for them.

LonelyCatAngelKaty: 8D Yay!

LoveMuffins: Thanks! I'm interested in seeing where it goes too! XD