A/N: I think I update so rarely just to make everyone whine. I find it a little fun being evil, making you wait. So the ending of the last chapter was probably a little rushed and confusing. At least I thought so. Hopefully this chapter will make it a bit easier to believe and explain a few things. I think it does, but I'm the one writing it. Thank you for all the reviews and lovely comments. Please leave another review after reading and tell me what you think.

Thanks for reading. Lots of Love!

Chapter Six: A Complicated Involvement

The week was winding down slowly. Class was over for the day and there was literally nothing to do. Danny wasn't too happy about that. He was downright upset because at that moment he was begging for homework. He'd take anything that'd keep him from thinking. It was becoming a frequent occurrence for him, over thinking. And of course, as always, it was about his maybe-maybe not with Vlad.

Danny hadn't spoken to Vlad directly since their dinner, and he wasn't sure how to feel about it or what to think. It was confusing for sure and just a bit embarrassing. He'd gone to dinner with a teacher which was a first for him. He'd never done that before and definitely didn't think he would. At the time Danny wasn't thinking about that. He was just going with it, and couldn't have been happier. Danny enjoyed his time with Vlad immensely and hoped he felt the same way.

Now he was just feeling nauseated.

Danny was worrying a lot more than he'd like to be. It irked him and made him second guess everything.

His uneasiness increased during class the other day. Vlad acted, for the most part, like nothing had happened between them. This wouldn't have surprised Danny at all if Vlad hadn't paused in the middle of class just to smile at him. Danny was speechless. When no one else seemed to notice what was going on he returned the smile, right before Vlad turned away to finish putting up notes on the white board. It had been completely unexpected and it got Danny's hopes up far too high. When he had gotten no further attention all week Danny sank into a small depression, feeling just a bit rejected.

Of course he knew better than to just assume things about relationships but he couldn't help himself, but it felt way too good not to. It was a bad habit that he let his feelings get the better of him. Actually, it was quite rare for Danny to ever think with his head. He was stubborn and usually jumped into things without thinking things through. It was one of the reasons he got beat up in middle school. Now being older, Danny didn't see this bad habit going away. He could acknowledge it being a bad quality in himself but he wasn't doing anything about it. So Danny sulked to himself for a few days, by the time lunch rolled around on this particular Thursday, Danny was ready to take to the bed and never leave.

He and Sam sat on the bleachers outside eating lunch. It had been a long week for the both of them and decided to screw cafeteria food for something with a little more flavour. Cafeteria food tended to be under or over cooked and gross. Danny being in his current funk wanted some good old junk food. Yet, he was more interested in the dark clouds rolling over the football field than the fast food burger sitting in his lap.

Sam munched on a veggie wrap, pleased with her lunch. The cold didn't bother her or Danny. They were bundled up in multiple sweaters today. Neither of them was getting out their winter coats just yet. Winter coats and there's no snow? No teenager does that.

"If it starts to snow I'm going to be really pissed..." Danny said off headedly, popping a french fry into his mouth. It had gone cold from sitting out but he really didn't care. Sam looked over at him. Danny sighed and leaned back against the seat, ignoring the weird look he was getting.

"What'd snow ever do to you?" She asked as a joke.

"It's too Christmassy..." Danny might not hate the holiday as much as he use to, but it still made him little down in the dumps. Christmas use to involve his parents bickering like children, leaving him and his sister to celebrate alone. Danny never understood the argument but it had something to do with Santa Clause being real or not. Obviously Danny didn't give a shit about it, but his dad sure did.

"That's not what's bothering you, is it?" Sam asked him.

"No it's not," was his short answer.

"Then what is? You've been acting really miserable."

Danny paused for a minute. He didn't want to say anything that would give his little secret away. So he went with something he could say was the truth and a lie all in one.

"I'm having teacher issues."

"That 'Masters' guy again?" Sam asked. "Haven't heard you bitch about him in a while. I almost started to miss it."

"He hasn't been so bad lately; nothing to complain about until now."

"What'd he do now?"

"He uhmm... hasn't been available for extra help." Again, it was a lie and the truth all in one.

"Sucks," Sam said. Danny nodded and ate another soggy french fry. "Why don't you go over to his office right now? He should be there if not teaching a class. You could get some help, or tell him off. Either one's ok with me."

"I know it'd be ok with you. If I told him off I'd get into some shit with him. He might fail me on purpose." He grumbled bitterly.

"True... He seems like the kind of guy to do that. Never mind. Kiss his shoes."

Danny smirks. There were a few places he'd like to kiss Vlad, but his shoes weren't one of them. "You wouldn't mine me taking off in the middle of our lunch?"

"Who's having lunch? I finished a while ago and the dead cow in your lap is going to waste. It died for nothing because you haven't eaten it."

Danny looked at her tiredly. "Do you want it?"

"Ew! No. Keep that away from me."

Danny smirked and scrunched up his lunch in the bag it came in. "I'm going to go talk to him... I'm going to go talk to him."

"Yeah, you said that twice."

Danny face paled a bit. He was agreeing to go talk to the guy he went on a maybe-date with, and his teacher. This was going to be so embarrassing. No he could live through it. The worst Vlad could do was turn him away, right?

Danny got up, determined face on.

"I'll see you later. I'm going to go talk to him right now."

"Yeah, sure. I'll be around." Sam said, pretty much indifferent and clueless.

Danny jumped down the bleachers. He saw nothing wrong with paying Vlad a small visit. There was more to them than just a student teacher relationship. There was something better. Or at least Danny sure as hell hoped there was. He was nervous but that wasn't slowing him down. Danny was booking it across campus.

The nagging twinge of doubt kept kicking Danny in the ass the whole way but he wasn't stopping for anyone. He was a boy with a purpose. He ran faster with each step and only stopping when he stood outside the main building. Looking up he could see the window of Vlad office. Danny hoped he was up there. It'd be a complete let down if he wasn't there.

Walking inside he was hit with the warm bliss that is central heating. Danny undid zipped his sweater and headed for the stairwell. Again his feet seemed to be moving all one their own because by the time Danny got up the stairs he was at a full on sprint. His heart was pounding and he was a little sweaty, but he didn't stop going. His shoes made hard thumps on the tiled floor as he bolted down the hallway. Danny skidded to a stop, almost falling over into the wall. However, he managed to pick himself up and catch his breath before knocking on the closed office door. There was light under the door so Vlad was in. Danny could feel his heart swell.

The door was opened a moment later by a boy not much taller than Danny, with red brown hair and an angular nose. Danny scrunched his eyebrows. Feeling uncomfortable Danny shifted on his feet, rocking onto his heels. From inside the small office the familiar voice of his teacher called to him,

"Wait out in the hall please. I'll be with you in a moment."

The door was closed a second later not giving him any time to react. Danny stood with his mouth open. That really wasn't what he had been expecting. But after all, Vlad was a professor and had many students. This fact didn't make Danny feel any less embarrassed. He leaned on the opposite wall and watched the door intently. The door remained shut for a good long time. It made Danny really restless. He'd tap his foot, drum his fingers on the wall, or walk in circles. He was willing to do just about anything as long as he was moving.

It felt like forever before Vlad's office door opened again. Danny watched the other boy leave with his books before even thinking of taking a step forward. With a deep breath Danny walked to the door. He poked his head in, unsure of himself.

Vlad was sitting at his desk still, putting some papers away. When he looked up he eyed Danny curiously, as if he was waiting for something. It made Danny blush from embarrassment. He looked down.

Stepping in shyly, Danny ran his fingers through his messy hair. He nudged the door shut quietly with his foot. Suddenly the floor by his feet seemed very interesting because Danny did not want to look up. His concentration would only stay by his feet or right in front of him.

What made him look up was his teacher's voice addressing him. Danny didn't hear what was said but it caught his attention immediately. Looking up he saw the puzzled expression on his teacher's face. Vlad had gotten up from his chair and stood in front of his desk.

Danny cleared his throat, feeling nervous. The intense stare of his teacher was hard to meet. It made Danny look elsewhere, in this case, at Vlad's broad chest. He could see the even breathes the man was taking in and out. It'd be so nice to be pressed against that chest. Danny licked his lips before swallowing. He breathed out shakily. His mind was wandering again...

"I wanted to...talk t-to you..." He didn't exactly come up with anything to say on the way there. So now he was at a loss for words and didn't know what to do.

"Daniel, are you alright?" Vlad interrupted. "You look rather pink."

Danny looked up at his face, eyes shifting over him in interest. "Yes..." He lied. "I'm ok."

Vlad raised an eyebrow. He didn't believe it, Danny knew that. He should learn better than to lie to this guy. Vlad saw right through him for some reason. There was something about him that left him impervious to anything. Vlad seemed indestructible. Danny could see it in his eyes; those gorgeous, conflicting eyes.

He must have been staring for a while because Vlad was looking at him funny. It took a moment to even notice that but Danny picked up on the resounding silence around them. The only actually sound came from the slight hum on the florescent ceiling light. Danny blinked and looked away quickly.

"Daniel, sit down please." Vlad said, breaking the strange hush.

He did. Danny sat quietly and tried to avoid eye contact all together. An anxious blush crossed his face and he was sure if he met Vlad's questioning look again he was going to say or do something stupid. By 'stupid' he meant, blurt out an uncalled for Fuck me!

So Danny sat quietly, keeping his mouth glued shut. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Vlad shift and move closer to him. Danny's back stiffened. Vlad was making it a little hard to ignore him. Not intentionally, Danny guessed but it was. Neither spoke, both waiting for the other to make the first move. Of course Danny was sure of immediate embarrassment if he did talk so it was up to Vlad.

"Daniel, you wanted to say something." Vlad leaned against his desk, arms crossed. "Please continue."

He waited another moment to answer.

"I'm not sure how to say it really. I came up here without thinking this through. I probably could have thought of something but I didn't... which was dumb... I do this a lot, come to think of it."Danny rambled. "But right, why I'm here. I needed to ask you... I mean, I needed to know if maybe... if there was a chance that..."

"Allow me to stop you there." Vlad interrupted politely. Danny looked up at the older man, a little confused.

"I thought you wanted me to continue." He said quietly.

"Yes, but I have a feeling that I know what this is about." Vlad pointed out. Danny nodded and waited for him to go on; he should have expected this. "Does this have anything to do about what went on Monday evening?"

Again, Danny nodded his head. Luckily Vlad was covering the conversation for them both.

"I understand how you could be confused. While I believed my actions spoke for themselves," Vlad let himself pause for a second. "I'm sure you are aware, we have gotten closer than a usual 'professional relationship'."

"I know that. I just want to know what that means to you."

"I was getting to that." Vlad interrupted.

"Sorry..." Danny looked up at him. "Go on."

"Thank you," Vlad smirked. "But to answer your question, I shall need to know your impression of me."

"Would that change anything?" Danny asked. He had been hoping for an answer, but no. "I guess my impression of you is that you're a very confusing guy. You won't give me a straight answer about anything. Other than that... You're really nice, and smart, and comes off and an arrogant prick. BUT I still like you?"

Danny made a face that read like 'why the fuck did I say that for?' Apparently Vlad was taking the comment well because he didn't even comment on it. He merely smiles a little and said,

"I was genuinely concerned about you after you hit your head. You looked as if you were going to pass out and I figured you shouldn't be left alone. So, I took you to dinner. It wasn't planned to turn into anything more than that."

"So it was something more than just a pity date thing... right?" Danny asked.

"Yes, it was not a pity date."

It couldn't have been just Danny's ears playing tricks on him; Vlad sounded a bit hesitant answering.

"So what was it then?" Danny asked.

"You may call it whatever you wish."

Danny shook his head. "I want to know what you'd call it. That's why I'm here. If you give me the option to call it something it's not, I'm only going to get hurt and I will blame you." He didn't have a serious tone but it was completely true.

"You are stubborn." Vlad commented casually. Danny gave him a pleading look. He really wanted to know how Vlad felt and being kept in the black was making him very restless. His leg started to bounce involuntarily. "Alright... I would consider it to be more than what it primarily way. If you wish, you may call it a date. It would be classified as that..."

Danny watched him with interest. He had gotten one question answered, albeit obscure. There were a few things he still would like Vlad to clarify. He slid forward in his seat.

Danny sighed and started to fidget, "This is weird..."

"What is Daniel?"

"Well, if you haven't noticed Vlad, I kind of had a crush on you for a while now."

"I've noticed." Vlad said. It was fair; Danny didn't exactly hide the needy looks he gives his teacher.

"Thanks well... Vlad you said something that night. I didn't notice at first, but thinking back on it I don't know what to think. I said something about how I felt, and you did too, but you were anything but clear about it. So do you care for me or not? I just want to know."

"Yes." was the reply he got.

It was blunt and exactly what Danny wanted to hear.

"Then why didn't you just say that?" Danny blurted. "You knew I liked you and you were 'hoping' for that? What's that suppose to mean? You could have just said so."

"I implied that I appreciate your feelings towards me." Vlad informed him. "And I have similar feelings towards you."

"You are way too cool with all this." Danny stood up, not planning on going anywhere but too squirmy to keep sitting. "I'm eighteen. I'm a teenager. I'm barely legal and you 'appreciate' how I feel? Ok, no, you like, right?"

Vlad chuckled.

"What?" Danny demanded.

"I apologize, Daniel." He said.

"This isn't funny." The amused smirk Vlad had going was not helping anything. He seemed to think Danny's stress was amusing.

"I understand. You are serious about this, as you should be." Vlad stood up straight. "While I may have similar feelings for you, it would be inappropriate for anything to come from this."

"Hey! That's unfair!" Danny frowned, feeling a little dumped.

"Daniel, volume please," He pointed out.

"Is that because you're my teacher? I get that really. I don't care about that."

"Maybe not, but it will reflect badly on us both to have a relationship other than a professional one. At best I would lose the respect of the head of the university, and at worse I could be fired."

"Well, I don't find that fair to me." Danny said, flailing his hands a bit. "We don't have to call it a relationship. We can call it a... a complicated involvement."

"A complicated involvement? Daniel, you do know that is pretty well the same thing." Vlad raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah but it sounds better than, 'dating a teacher'." He was trying to argue his point but it didn't look he was getting very far. Vlad called him stubborn, Danny was proving that true. "You said I could call it what I wanted, so I am. That is if that is what this is... And if so, I say that I'm an adult and I can make my own damn choices. I have my own opinion about all this and I think you're smart enough to get that."

"Are you going to insist on pulling me into a 'complicated involvement'?" Vlad asked.

"Like you said, I'm stubborn. I came to find you because I wanted to know how you felt and what I meant to you. Now that I know, I'm not going to just leave that easily. And you know what Vlad? Being with you would change nothing about how I'd act in class."

"Very well,"

"I expect nothing from you, no benefits or anything like that-what did you say?"

"I said, very well. You need to listen more carefully." Vlad reached out and places his hand on Danny's shoulder. It sent a warm tingle right to his chest. It made Danny smiled brightly. For a moment or two he was at a loss for words. He did manage a flustered snicker.

"So you're serious then?" Danny asked, getting over his shock. Vlad smiled at him. He looked so amused.

"Yes Daniel, I'm serious."

"Ok!" Danny smile couldn't be bigger. The next thing he did couldn't have been helped. Out of nowhere Danny threw his arms around Vlad's neck and hugged him tightly. It took them both off guard, but that didn't seem to matter. Vlad returned the hug, letting Danny nuzzle into the strong shoulder under his cheek. This was the second time Danny was able to get inside Vlad's personal space. It was perfect there. The older man was warm and made him feel safe. If it was possible to stay there forever he would have, but fate had other plans today. Just as Danny was getting cozy cuddled up to Vlad there was a knock on the door. Danny let go of Vlad reluctantly and stepped away.

"We'll finish this later Daniel, I promise." Vlad said calmly. He ruffled Danny's hair and gave him a sweet smile.

"I'm holding you to that." He was sure his face couldn't be redder.

Danny moved over to the desk and scribbled down his cell number while Vlad took care of the person at the door. The new comer was another student, a third year by his age. Danny smiled, not bothered at all. He left his number for Vlad and went to the door. "I'll see you in class then."

"Yes, you will." Vlad said as Danny made his way out. "Thank you for stopping by."

"Bye."

Danny left with the desire to skip down the hallway. After a few steps he gave in completely and started to do a little dance of joy. Danny spun and took off jumping and running down the hall towards. If he leapt any higher his head might have gone through the ceiling.

Danny kicked the door open to the stair well and all but flew down to the main floor. He did stop running like a freak when he got out side. He didn't need to get any weird looks. Danny was weird enough, dancing across the school lot like a mad man wasn't going to help him with that. On his way out the building, his cell buzzed. He'd gotten a text. Danny zipped up his sweater before taking out his phone.

'It's laundry day Danny. Hurry up while there's no one here'

Danny snorted a laugh.

Some time past three, Danny found himself lying on top of a row of washing machines. They rattled and shook under his back and were starting to make him feel sea sick.

"Whoa..." Danny said, his voice vibrating. He felt like he was going to throw up.

Sam looked up from putting clothes in the drier. "What the hell are you doing on there?"

"Nothing," Danny laughed. He was pretty sure he was going to fall off the machines soon. Yeah he wasn't technically suppose to be up there but who cared? Danny was over the moon, somewhere orbiting Mars.

At the time Sam and Danny were the only two in the laundry room for their dorm building. Each building had one laundry room with about a dozen washers and driers each, divided between a couple hundred people. So being alone in the room was pretty rare unless it was 2am or mid afternoon. Even now there were a few machines with loads going, which other people had thrown in and left. But Sam was ready to throw those piles of clothes into the hall. Danny wouldn't put it past her.

Today particularly, Sam wanted to avoid contact with anyone other than Danny. For their laundry day she brought all her clothes, towels and bed sheets to try and do as many loads of laundry as possible. She even convinced Danny to do the same. So they shoved everything they could into all the washers, making it impossible for anyone else to do any laundry for the next hour at least. It was inconsiderate but neither of the two teens cared very much. As a matter of fact, Danny was too happy to care about anything.

Sam must have noticed because she looked at him and asked,

"You seem happy."

"I do?" Danny asked trying to sit up on a moving washer, and having trouble.

"You look like you could throw up a rainbow. What pixie dust have you been huffing?" Sam joked. It made Danny laugh and slide off onto the floor. He straightened himself trying to feel a little less wobbly. It was an odd sensation.

"Don't be daft, I'm fine." He unzipped his sweater and threw it in with Sam's load of laundry. "I'm just in a good mood."

"I can see that," She said frowning at him for putting his sweater in with her clothing. "But there's a difference between happy and shitting unicorns and sprinkles."

"I am not!"

Sam crossed her arms and looked at him.

"I'm not." Danny defended. He picked up his laundry basket off the floor and tossed it up on the washers. "I just might have gotten a lucky break today with this guy..."

Danny knew better than to tell Sam everything about what happened with Vlad but he was so happy he wanted to say something. He did trust Sam though so telling her a little hint couldn't hurt.

"Oh my God, you had sex!" She shouted faking shock.

"What? No." Danny said with exhaustion.

"I'm kidding."

"You're nuts... And why did you sound do stunned at that thought?" Danny asked, genuinely offended. "I might not have had sex before but so what? Do you think I can't get laid?"

"Or something..." She looked at him funny. "What? You've never been that close to someone before. It's hard to imagine you doing it."

"I could." Danny said with a pout. As a matter of fact, he'd love to, with his gorgeous teacher.

"Well when you do, let me know."

"You want to know about my sex life?" He asked, not taking her seriously for one second.

"It's not high on list of things to learn," She pointed out. "But you'd be able to rub it in Tucker's face."

"Maybe I don't want to tell you now after being made fun of. I finally meet a nice guy and I get abused."

"Dramatic much? And I was hardly making fun of you. I was teasing."

Danny stuck out his tongue at her. "Well you can suck it. I have a boyfriend and you will never meet him."

"Now that's mean. Are you ashamed of him or something? I want to know who he is." Sam complained.

"You'd scare him off. Besides, we agreed to keep it quiet." Danny obviously wanted to tell her but he didn't think she'd take it very well. Sam could be judgmental towards... everyone and everything.

"So he's ashamed of you then." She said.

"No he's not. He's... oh how to say this without begging hit... he's older." Danny finally offered. "And it's a little weird."

"How much older is he; a few years older or 'silver fox' older?"

"Oh I'm not telling you that." Danny said shaking his head. He'd give away a few clues but not the whole thing. And furthermore, it was entertaining to make Sam have to guess. It drove her insane. Likewise for Danny but this was his own secret. "So, do our laundry and be happy about it."

Sam laughed and fed the drier quarters. Once again Danny flopped on top of the machines. It was such a dumb thing to do that he received a sock to the face, a dirty, old, floor sock to the face.