Chapter 06
The alarm beeping at ten in the morning on Saturday made Danny want to throw the blasted machine out the window. With a sigh, he climbed out of bed, shutting off the irritating alarm as he passed the nightstand. He would have preferred to stay in bed and sleep more, as restless as his sleep was, but Dash promised to pick him up sometime around eleven. Danny wanted to take a shower before Dash arrived. Leaving his room, he crossed the hallway to the bathroom then stripped down as he climbed into the shower. The cold spray blasted him, shocking him out of the lingering sleep clinging to him.
Danny leaned forward, pressing his forehead against the smooth wall of the shower as the slowly warming water washed over him. Spending almost a whole day alone with Dash was a bit scary for him. Danny chewed on his lower lip, nervousness already buzzing under his skin. But what was he getting all worked up over? Dash was straight. Turning around, Danny slid down until he was sitting on the floor of the tub with his knees drawn up to his chest. His right hand wrapped around his waist, tentatively running over the wrinkled flesh on his left side. His eyes clamped closed as the memories flashed in his mind. Even the ghosting touch reminded him vividly of the pain. He held his breath, fighting back bile trying to claw its way out of him. His parents still didn't even have a clue what happened to him, and he made no plans to ever tell them.
The water seared down his back by the time he remembered why he was in the shower in the first place. He reached up and adjusted the temperature before it scalded his skin. When he climbed to his feet, Danny hurriedly scrubbed his body clean and washed his hair. When he was finished, he shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. He grabbed a towel, quickly drying himself off, then wrapped it about his waist before he left the bathroom. He never worried about his parents catching him half naked and spotting his scars. His parents were likely busy down in the basement already, working on some new invention or researching the supernatural or figuring out some way to track down a supernatural being. So far, nothing of the supernatural variety made an appearance, and that was a huge relief for him.
When he returned to his room, Danny glanced at the clock and found that he spent more than half an hour in the shower. He didn't want to make Dash wait, especially if it meant that Dash would be forced to talk with his parents. He preferred if people didn't find out that his parents were crazy. That was bound to happen eventually, but he hoped to at least become better friends with Dash first. Danny jerked open the door to his closet and dove into it, searching through all his clothes for something to wear. Tucker would probably laugh at him for panicking over what to wear like he was about to go on a date instead of simply hanging out with a friend. Abandoning the idea of dressing to impress, Danny grabbed a simple pair of jeans that fit him snuggly around the waist and a loose, long sleeved shirt. Everything in his closet was long sleeved. Danny hugged his arms around his body as he stared at his clothes. Short sleeves simply weren't an option for him anymore.
After putting on his shoes and grabbing his wallet, Danny left his room. The doorbell rang right as he was closing the door to his room. Danny hurried down the hallway, practically stumbling in his haste to reach the front door first. But his mother beat him to it while he was still only halfway down the stairs. She opened the front door with her usual fake smile as she greeted the man on their doorstep. That was the same smile that she usually gave Tucker whenever he came over to their house. Danny sighed, at least thankful that most of the mess was cleaned up from the front room. His parents carried off most of their hunter equipment into the basement, leaving behind only a few unmarked boxes. To anyone else, it merely looked like they weren't finished moving into their new house, which was somewhat true.
"I'm here to pick up Danny," Dash said, and Danny rubbed at his forehead, resisting the urge to groan in frustration.
"And what do you want with me son?" his mother demanded as she folded her arms over her chest. Her violet eyes narrowed at Dash, and her mouth pursed in an unhappy line.
"Mom, we're just going to hang out," Danny said, holding back a sigh of exasperation as he hit the ground floor. "Dash is just a friend from school."
"Just a friend?" Maddie turned her narrowed eyes upon her son. She was clearly not buying his claim.
"I think you should probably take a better look at that project," Jack said as he strolled out of the kitchen, wiping what Danny hoped was oil from his face with a towel. "It's still squirting gunk out like crazy."
Maddie sighed wearily. "I should probably take care of that." She hurried off toward the basement, much to Danny's relief. He could always rely on his parents' obsession to avoid awkward situations, most of the time.
When he finished cleaning his face, Jack glanced up in time to catch Danny trying to shoo Dash out of the house. "And who is this young gentleman?" He walked over, ignoring Danny's desperately pleading gaze as he glared down at Dash.
"Dash Baxter, Sir," Dash answered promptly, and Danny wanted to bury his face in his hands. He liked it better when his parents didn't know the names of his friends.
Jack crossed his arms, still giving Dash that hard glare. "I know young love can be a bit intoxicating, but I do hope the two of you will take things slowly."
"Dad!" Danny shouted, blushing darkly as he gawked at his father. "It's not like that at all!" He shot a glance at Dash, praying the embarrassing comment wouldn't scare him away.
Jack sent him a knowing smile, and Danny knew his father totally suspected there was more between him and Dash than simply being friends. "Oh, I thought you might like your phone back." Jack reached into his pocket and retrieved the sleek black cell phone that was confiscated from Danny three months ago. "Don't stay out too late." He dropped the phone into Danny's hands then headed up the stairs to clean up the rest of the oily substance coating his clothes.
"Yes!" Danny cheered and kissed his phone happily, ecstatic to have it back. Remembering he wasn't alone, he glanced at Dash as his cheeks tinged pink. "Sorry. It's been three months, and I haven't talked to my friends in Wisconsin in over a week."
Dash chuckled. "Three months without your phone? How did you ever survive?" His eyes twinkled with amusement.
"It wasn't so bad while I was still in Wisconsin," Danny admitted as he shoved his phone into his pocket. Pushing Dash out the door, he closed it, thankful that they could escape without further humiliation from his parents. "But I've missed being able to talk to them this week." He almost couldn't wait until later that night when he could call up Tucker or Sam. His gaze glanced over the top of the car before he climbed into the passenger's seat. But hanging out with Dash might take his mind off that. He worried his lower lip as he wiped his hands on his jeans.
"So," Dash said slowly as he started the car. "Interesting parents you've got there." He glanced over at Danny, who laughed nervously.
"Uh, yeah," Danny mumbled, feeling his nerves building up again. "Look. About what my dad said," he rubbed at one arm. After taking a deep breath, he continued, "Yes, I'm gay. My mom completely hates that fact and has been trying to force me into dates with girls, which is why there was all that glaring. I'll understand if that, like, freaks you out and stuff. But you don't have to worry because I'm totally not looking for any sort of relationship. I just want to be friends. That's all." He slapped his hands down on his thighs and refused to look at Dash. At his last school, being a homosexual only gave the jocks more of a reason to bully him.
Dash actually laughed, and Danny scrunched down into the seat like he might sink right through it and disappear from the car. "Danny, it's okay if you think I'm hot." He grinned widely as Danny sputtered, attempting but failing to respond. "And I'm not as straight as you're thinking I am." His blue eyes found Danny, and the look in them made Danny's insides twist, and he swallowed thickly. "But I don't mind keeping this completely a friend thing." Dash shrugged as he concentrated on driving. "Maybe somewhere down the road, we'll both want something more."
Danny thought his heart almost skipped a beat right into his throat. For a time, all he could think or hear were those words. Dash actually hoped they might become more than friends? With his arms wrapped around his body, Danny subtly pinched his arms, trying not to wince in response, to see if he was dreaming. Dash was pretty much his dream guy, and the fact that Dash seemed to like him back only made it all seem too good to be true.
"So where are we going?" Danny asked when his mind finally broke free from its shock.
"The mall," Dash answered almost like their prior conversation never happened. "I need to pick up something for Paulina's birthday, but I'm clueless on what to get her. I know she likes fashion." He parked the car in the lot at the mall. "But I'm not really big on fashion, and I would rather not get her something that's highly likely to be exchanged."
Danny thought about it, relaxing a little now that the discussion about sexuality and possible relationships was behind them. He climbed out of the car when Dash did the same. "There's jewelry," he offered, feeling less than helpful.
"I don't really know what size her fingers are, so rings are probably out." Dash led the way to the entrance of the mall.
"Plus giving a girl a ring? I'd reserve that for someone you're in a relationship with." Danny shrugged. "But maybe something like a necklace or a bracelet."
"There should be a store that sells that kind of stuff this way." Dash pointed toward one wing of the mall. "Paulina drags me there a lot whenever we come here." He rolled his eyes with an exaggerated sigh.
Danny walked alongside Dash toward the store, though he kept some distance between them. He noticed the strange look, the quirking of an eyebrow, that Dash gave him, but Danny pretended that he didn't see it. Hopefully, Dash wouldn't start pressing him for answers about his odd behavior. When they reached the store called Glitter, Danny glanced around at the racks and shelves filled with all types of jewelry. He felt awkward inside the overly pink and girly store. Even with Sam as one of his best friends, he never came to a store like this one. Sam wasn't exactly into all that girly stuff that other women liked.
"I think there are necklaces over there," Danny said, pointing toward the back of the store where he could see some necklaces hanging on hooks on the wall. He glanced about at the different jewelry as he followed Dash toward the necklaces. Only knowing Paulina for a few days, he wasn't sure what exactly the woman would like when it came to jewelry.
"I don't know," Dash said after he browsed the necklaces for at least half an hour. He went back and forth between the necklaces and the bracelets that were nearby. "I'm not really good at picking these kinds of things out, but I don't think any of these are something Paulina would like."
"Nothing at all?" Danny tore his gaze away from a display containing hairclips and frowned at Dash. "I'm sure she'll like anything you get her."
"While that may be true, I would like to get something that I know she'll like, not something she'll just say she likes."
"Girls are hard to get presents for," Danny agreed as he returned to looking at the different jewelry available. "I never knew what to get Sam for her birthday." He picked up one of the sets of hairclips. "What about these?" He held them up to show Dash. The hairclips were pink with little butterflies that were outlined with tiny gems. Paulina was always wearing pink, so he assumed the color choice would be liked by her.
Dash walked over to him and plucked the hairclips from his hand. "Hey, these are actually perfect." He smiled, and Danny chewed on his lip as he glanced away. "That went quicker than I thought." Dash led the way toward the cashier to pay for the present. "Do you want to grab a bite to eat?"
A growl from his stomach made Danny blush. "I could go for a bite." He laughed weakly, his arms wrapping about his waist.
Dash shook his head as he paid for the hairclips. "I'm going to have to keep an eye on your eating habits. You're practically skin and bones." He took the small bag that the cashier offered to him with his purchase. When he saw the awkward shifting from Danny, Dash chuckled. "Come on. The food court's not far from here." He grabbed Danny by the wrist, dragging him from the store. "So what sort of things did you do with your friends in Wisconsin?"
Danny frowned at the question as they walked toward the food court. How was he to answer that without lying? Getting tangled up with the supernatural didn't exactly qualify as a normal activity friends did together. "You know, the usual." Danny shrugged, thinking quickly about what that would be. "We went to the latest Dead Teacher movies when they came out." When they reached the food court, they debated for a while before settling on grabbing some pizza slices from a little pizzeria.
"I hope you don't feel bad that Paulina didn't invite you to her party," Dash said once they received their ordered. They walked over to the tables set up in the center of the food court and wandered around until they found an open one. "She wanted to, but she didn't think you would have fun with Skulker there."
"That's okay." Danny bit into his pepperoni pizza. "I don't really like parties. Not like I ever really had reason to go to parties with how much I move around. And being a loser doesn't exactly make me someone wanted at parties."
"How come you move around a lot?" Dash watched him curiously as he ate his Hawaiian pizza.
Danny almost choked on his mouthful of pizza and hoped he covered it well when he managed to swallow it. "Uh, you know, work," he answered with a shrug as he looked away. I so don't want him knowing my parents hunt the supernatural, he thought as he wiped his mouth clean with a napkin.
"What sort of work?" Dash asked with a certain amount of wariness that Danny missed.
"Oh, just, um," Danny mumbled, searching desperately for an answer that wouldn't involve revealing what his parents did for a living. As his gaze wandered around the food court, he paused as his eyes landed on a familiar face. "Hey, that guy is in my history class. He sits next to me." He pointed in the direction where he saw the dark haired man.
Dash followed where Danny was pointing. "You mean Wulf?"
Danny turned back to Dash as his brow furrowed. "Wulf? Is that another weird nickname?"
Dash laughed. "Something like that. His real name is Wolfram Keller, but everyone calls him Wulf."
"Well, at least that's not too far off from his real name." Danny smiled a little, his eyes drifting back toward the man as he disappeared around a corner of the mall. Then he shook his head as he faced Dash again. "I have to say, this place seems so different from all the other places I've lived." Despite being the most normal, he thought, picking up to take a sip of his soda. He hadn't encountered anything supernatural yet, but it felt like everyone had a secret to hide.
"It's not that surprising that people might have some parts of their lives that they don't want to share with others," Dash said, frowning down at what was left of his pizza.
Danny stared at the man across the table, failing to think of how to respond to that statement. He had plenty that he doubted he could share with anyone, at least not anytime soon. But Dash hardly seemed like he would have anything that he would need to hide. Licking his lips, Danny leaned over the table, his voice lowering as he spoke. "Is there a secret you're hiding?"
Dash lifted his gaze, and Danny could read the yes in his dark blue eyes. "And you're not hiding something?"
Danny leaned back in his chair, shoulders hunching as he dropped his gaze. "I am," he admitted softly. "But I can't talk about it." He twisted the hem of one sleeve. "It's," he closed his eyes as the words stuck in his throat for a moment, "not something I like remembering. Sometimes I think I would be happy if I could simply erase the memory from my mind."
Dash frowned as he watched Danny's reaction. "Do me a favor though. Never make a wish."
Danny jerked his head up, his expression confused. "What do you mean?"
Dash leaned back as he looked away. "You never know. Your wish might come true, but it might not be what you want in the end. You know the saying: be careful what you wish for. Just," his gaze returned to Danny, and he held the man's eyes, "don't make any wishes. Never out loud."
"Uh," Danny mumbled uncertainly as he blinked, "okay." He didn't really understand Dash's insistence on that point, but he knew when to follow a warning, especially if the supernatural were involved. After a tense moment of silence, Dash broke it, asking generic questions about Danny, his likes and dislikes. They fell into a more casual conversation, neither straying close to the topic of secrets. But that fact hung over them like a cloud. Neither of them could ignore that there was a secret the other was keeping, but they managed to enjoy the rest of the afternoon hanging out before Dash needed to drive Danny home.