Chapter 04

Dash frowned, pressing the eraser on his pencil into his chin as he stared at the problems in the textbook. Math was giving him a headache, but at least he was almost finished with his homework. His golden Labrador named Bruno lay at his feet under the table, waiting for Dash to finish his work. His tail wagged lightly, occasionally whacking Dash in the leg. "I'm almost done," he said quietly as he turned his pencil over and erased the last answer he wrote.

Bruno jumped to his feet and walked over to the backdoor. He whined as he scratched at the door. Dash sighed as he leaned back in his chair at the kitchen table and stared at his dog. Bruno glanced back at him and barked, wearing that pleading look in his eyes.

"You can't wait five more minutes?" Dash gave up when Bruno barked again. "Okay. Okay." He dropped his pencil as he stood. When Bruno wanted out, Bruno got out. Dash walked over to the door and opened it. Bruno immediately darted out into the backyard, racing into the darkness.

Dash shook his head as he closed the door behind him. He walked farther into the backyard, watching his dog race toward the tall tree near the fence. His tail was wagging excitedly as he sniffed at the ground. Then he turned around and barked loudly. What had gotten into Bruno? Dash frowned as he walked over to where his dog still stood, barking like there was no tomorrow.

"Shh! Hey, Bruno! Quiet!" Dash ordered sharply. With the way his dog was barking, Bruno would wake up the whole neighborhood. Since it was already stretching on toward midnight, Dash didn't think that would be a good thing.

He grabbed Bruno's collar and started pulling him toward the backdoor. But something caught his attention. The collar slipped through his hold, and Bruno nudged at the prone figure on the ground at the foot of the tree. Dash bent down and turned the body over. His breath caught, and he snapped his hand back like he was burned. What was Fenton doing in his backyard? And more importantly, why was he passed out?

"What is that?" Dash mumbled as he reached down and ran his fingers through the dark locks of Fenton's hair. Even in the darkness, a few strands of white shone brightly, almost like they glowed. Perhaps he did pay a little too much attention to Fenton, but Dash was fairly certain the man didn't have any white hairs. Now he counted at least eight strands the color of snow dotting through the raven locks.

Dash ran a hand through his hair. What exactly was going on here? He still had no answers. Fenton didn't have any reason to be in his backyard. When Fenton's brow furrowed, Dash almost shot away from the man. He was probably the last person Fenton want to see when he woke up after whatever happened to him happened. Eyelids fluttered open, a glimpse of brilliant blue glancing in his direction before they slipped closed again. The frown returned to Dash's face.

"Dash, sweetie," his mother called from the backdoor. "It's late."

"I know, Mom," Dash called back. "I'll be in a minute." He heard the door close as his mother went back inside the house. She would probably head straight up to bed along with his father. They always got up early in the morning to go to work. Dash turned his attention back to the problem at hand.

What was he supposed to do with Fenton? His parents would be pissed if he went driving around this late at night. He was supposed to already be in bed, if it wasn't for that math homework giving him trouble. Fenton didn't seem like he would be waking up any time soon either. Dash rested his chin in his hands. Fenton usually had a dopey expression on his face whenever he fell asleep in class. The thought made Dash's lips twitch in half a smile.

With a shake of his head, Dash made a decision. Maybe a dumb decision, he thought as he lifted the man into his arms. Bruno danced about him as Dash carried Fenton toward his house. He would probably get in trouble for this as well, if his parents found out, but if Fenton stayed out cold until morning, it wouldn't be a problem. Once he was inside, Dash paused and listened. He didn't hear his parents moving around and took that as a good sign that they were in bed already.

Bruno rushed up the stairs ahead of him. With a roll of his eyes, Dash climbed the stairs then headed down the hallway toward his room. His parents' room was to the left of the staircase, and they always closed the door to their room once they turned in for the night. Dash was thankful for that as he turned right after reaching the top of the stairs. His room was at the end of the hallway. Bruno was already in the room, laying over the foot of the bed with his head in his paws. When Dash entered, Bruno gave a wag of his tail, his ears perking forward.

Dash laid Fenton in his bed, throwing the covers over the man. "I'm an idiot, aren't I?" he asked Bruno as he stood up straight with his hands on his hips. Bruno only wagged his tail happily. Dash dropped into the chair at his desk and stared at the man in his bed. "Under other circumstances, I would have loved this," he mumbled and shook his head. He never imagined that he would have Fenton in his bed. "Why you of all people, Fenton?"

Fenton rolled over in the bed, drawing the covers with him. He faced Dash now, and his eyes were half opened. Dash's heart leapt into his throat, and his breath choked. Did Fenton hear what he said? It wasn't a real confession but might bring up questions. But Fenton only stared at him with that half asleep look. His eyes had a strange glow to them. Dash got to his feet and crossed over to his bed. Fenton's eyes didn't move, almost like he wasn't actually seeing the jock. Crouching down, Dash leaned forward to get a better look. He swore he saw green mixing with the blue of Fenton's eyes.

It wasn't until Bruno barked that Dash realized how close he was leaning toward Fenton. His lips were only inches away from pressing against Fenton's mouth. With a slow blink, Fenton turned his gaze up to meet Dash's eyes. The jock froze, his heart quickening. How would Fenton react to waking up to Dash practically about to kiss him? The corners of his mouth tugged upward, curving into a gentle smile before Fenton's eyes slipped shut again.

Dash released his breath, the warm wash ruffling Fenton's hair. "You seriously have no idea what you do to me," he mumbled and thought he saw that smile spread a little wider. And that only made him more frustrated. Was Fenton playing with him now? Dash returned to his seat at the desk. He rubbed the heels of his palms against his eyes. Nothing about this night was making sense to him. The weird white strands in Fenton's hair. The strange coloring of his eyes. His mere presence in Dash's house. Was this all some weird plot to torment him?

Fenton slept peacefully with Bruno curled up at his feet. He didn't look like he was hurt anywhere. He wasn't bleeding anywhere. So what was he doing out cold in Dash's backyard? The question continued twisting about in his mind, searching for some kind of answer, but nothing came. He could think of no explanation.

The creaking of the bed was the first thing that alerted Dash to the fact that he fell asleep in the chair. He sat up quickly, wide awake as his gaze snapped toward the bed. Fenton froze in the middle of climbing out of the bed. Panic danced in his eyes, and his skin looked paler than ever as he met gazes with Dash. Clearly, Fenton thought he would be able to sneak out without alerting the jock.

Dash glanced at the clock. "It's only four in the morning." He rubbed tiredly at one eye. "Go back to sleep."

"What?" Fenton's voice cracked, and he was clearly nervous and scared.

A grin tried to slip onto his face before Dash schooled his expression. "There's no point in sneaking out now. It's almost daylight anyway. You might as well get a couple more hours of sleep."

"Oh, I'm going to be grounded until graduation, probably longer." Fenton groaned as he settled back onto the bed. His head buried into his hands, his fingers seeming oddly long. "I was supposed to be home before eleven."

Dash frowned and couldn't help pitying the man. "I'll take you home and explain things." He had questions. So many questions. But would Fenton answer them? He could still see the random white hairs that dotted the man's hair, but when Fenton lifted his head, his eyes were solely bright blue like normally. Was Dash seeing things before? Was it a trick of the eye? Was he simply so tired that he imagined the whole thing?

"Explain what exactly?" Fenton's mouth turned down in a frown, a cute pout as he stared with confusion and fear at the jock. Fenton had no reasons to trust him. Dash was well aware of that fact.

"I'll figure something out when we get there. Don't worry. I'm pretty good at talking my way out of trouble."

"Of course you are," Fenton muttered as he turned his head away.

Dash didn't even question that statement. He knew exactly what got Fenton's feathers all ruffled. When it came to high school, Dash could get away with just about anything. The teachers all favored him for being a star athlete. So when it came time to dish out punishment for something that happened at school, the loser usually got landed with it while Dash walked away a free man. Fenton was usually on the receiving end of that punishment, especially in freshmen year. They sat in silence for a while. Then Fenton turned his gaze back to Dash.

"Why would you help me?" Fenton glanced around the room. "And why am I here?"

"Well, I couldn't just leave you passed out in my backyard." Dash watched the play of emotions on Fenton's face. Confusion, understanding, surprise, fear, something else that Dash couldn't identify. A light color rose to his pale cheeks as Fenton lowered his eyes. "And it's not like I'm a total jerk, you know. You're not the center of the universe. I have other things to worry about than pushing you around. You know, like passing all my classes."

"I get it," Fenton growled, snapping his head up with a furious glare.

Dash swallowed, rubbing sweaty hands on his pants. He never saw a look like that on the man's face. But the scariest part was the way his eyes glowed, almost seemed to change colors. This time, Dash was certain that he wasn't imagining it. Only unlike before, a different color bled into the blue.

"Hey," Dash raised his arms defensively, "I don't know what your problem is. I was just trying to say that I don't exactly go out of my way to push you around."

Fenton relaxed somewhat, his eyes returning to normal, much to Dash's relief. He reached up and ran a hand through his hair, drawing Dash's attention to the increase of white hairs. At least four new white hairs joined the rest. "Sorry," Fenton mumbled, not meet Dash's gaze. "I guess that's why you didn't beat me up in the storage room?"

"I thought we agreed not to talk about that again." Dash's body tensed at the memory. Fenton was here in his room, in his bed. It was tempting to lie down next to the man, hold him close as he slept, but Dash knew that would have only been asking for trouble.

"Agreed not to tell anyone. Never said we couldn't talk about it to each other."

"Nothing to talk about. We were locked in. That's all there is to it." Dash dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Now just crawl back under the covers and go to sleep." He gave Fenton a stern glare, one he remembered his parents giving him whenever they wanted him to obey them.

Fenton looked hesitant, like he was going to argue with him. But the glare stopped him. Frown with half hearted defiance, he laid back down on the bed. As he rolled over to face away from the jock, he threw the covers over him. Dash watched him to be sure the man didn't try to sneak out again. He missed the chance to question the man, he knew it, but he thought if he tried asking questions it would only spook Fenton and make him flee the house. Eventually, he would figure out the answers, even if it meant having to do it all on his own.