Chapter 14
Dash dumped the two book bags into his backseat before he climbed into the driver's seat. He sighed tiredly as he stared at the steering wheel. Football season was over for the year, and he would be graduating soon, which made him happy after the way he was treated by the rest of the team. He wouldn't put it past his other teammates to try injuring him during practice, "accidentally" of course, to bench him for the season if he had another year here. Calvin Williams looked like he was waiting for the perfect moment to try beating the crap out of him. The man alone didn't scare Dash. He was a bit smaller in size, and Dash definitely had the upper hand in strength and skill. But Calvin had a following, and Dash didn't want to be caught alone with eight men all looking to crush him into the ground.
Dash shook his head as he started his car. Thankfully, none of them thought to trash his car. Yet. And he was glad Fenton was out of school for the day. He wouldn't put it past Calvin to go after Fenton, who would be an easier target to take on alone. If only he knew who Fenton really was, Dash thought with an amused curve of his lips. Fenton could have escaped all of his bullying easily with those ghost powers. But the amusement fell as he frowned, thinking of all the terrible things that Fenton allowed him to do to him.
Why would Fenton let him do those things if he could fight back? Obviously there was the risk of exposing his secret to the world, but he kept it well hidden so far. Dash thought Fenton probably could have figured a way to use them without exposing himself to escape bullying. Maybe it had something to do with not abusing his powers. Simply because Fenton had the ability to do something, it didn't mean he had to. That was a lesson Dash didn't learn easily. He had the strength and power to beat up losers and nerds, so he did it. Only later he realized that being a bully was a wasted effort, and he wanted to break that image even more after he finally allowed himself to admit his feelings for Fenton. He didn't want to be a bully in Fenton's eyes.
Fenton was Phantom. The thought flickered through his mind more than a hundred times during the course of the day. It was still hard to digest, even knowing the truth and seeing how much sense it made. He still wanted to know exactly how Fenton ended up that way, but he couldn't figure out the answer on his own. Fenton's parents came to mind. They were the resident ghost nuts and always inventing stuff. A sickening thought passed through his mind. What if his parents did it to him? What if his parents turned him into Danny Phantom? It was terrible idea that he wanted to banish from his mind, but it lingered.
Then he remembered Fenton's parents fighting against Phantom. Why would they fight against their own son? They acted like they didn't even recognize Fenton when he was fighting ghosts as Phantom. They don't know! The realization hit him as he parked his car. It made obvious sense, but it only occurred to him right then. Fenton was keeping this huge secret from his parents. The sick feeling returned as he stared at the big Fenton Works sign bolted to the side of the house. What if his parents found out about his ghost powers? They were ghost hunters. Would they look past Phantom to see their son? Dash felt a brick drop through him. Somehow, he didn't think they would.
With dread settling over him, Dash grabbed one of the bags off the backseat as he climbed out of the car. He was almost scared to approach the house. But he forced his stiff legs to keep walking until he stood before the front door. After a deep breath, he pounded on it. Several agonizingly long moments later, the door open, and Mrs. Fenton blinked at him.
"Uh, I brought Danny's bag that he left at school," Dash said, trying to keep his usual charming mask in place. He didn't want Fenton's parents thinking that there might be something wrong. "I put a list of the homework we got in class in there too, in case he's feeling up to working on anything." He held the bag up in one hand as he smiled at her.
"I'm so glad Danny has such a thoughtful friend." Mrs. Fenton smiled pleasantly as she took the bag from him. If she suspected anything, she was very good at hiding it. "Unfortunately, he's still feeling a bit under the weather. I really wouldn't want you catching it. I hope you don't mind coming to visit him another time when he's feeling better."
"Of course, ma'am," Dash answered, but fear coiled inside him. He was really hoping to see Fenton, to see that he was all right. He didn't want to leave Fenton here, even though a little voice in his head tried to assure him that Fenton's parents wouldn't do anything bad to him. Lifting his hand, he offered a small wave as he said goodbye. He turned around and walked back to his car, fighting every step of the way not to charge right back up to the house and burst through the door to see Fenton. "He's going to be fine," he mumbled, but it didn't convince him even a little.
When he arrived home, his friends were already there. He saw Jordan's jeep sitting right outside and sighed. Right now he didn't want to think about homework, but he couldn't let his grades slip simply because he was worrying about Fenton. Kwan grabbed a ride with Jordan, leaving a note in Dash's locker to let him know. He even left a big smiley face on it, probably thinking he was giving Dash the chance to have some nice alone time with Fenton on the way home. Dash rolled his eyes as he entered his house. His friends were already gathered in the kitchen, snacking on whatever his mother made them before she disappeared somewhere else the house to give them privacy to study.
"Hey, where's Fenton?" Jordan asked when Dash entered the kitchen alone.
Dash caught the worried frown on Kwan's face. "Not coming," he announced grumpily as he dropped into an open seat. "He went home sick today."
"Aw, man!" Zane said. "I hope he'll be all right."
"Probably just a bug." Dash shrugged like it was no big deal. He pulled out his books to start studying. "He'll be fine after some rest." How many times did he tell himself that now? It didn't help rid him of his growing fear.
With some disgruntled mutterings, they all buckled down to start going over their homework. Dash almost smiled, seeing how upset his friends were about Fenton's absence and their concern about his health. Fenton somehow managed to fit right into their group, and his friends accepted him easily like they were all old friends. His head shook as he thought about old friends. Sometimes, that all felt like a dream.
The time seemed to drag on forever. His concentration wasn't the best, and Zane had to go over some points about their physics homework more than a few times before Dash finally got some understanding of it. His mind kept wandering back to Fenton, wondering if he was all right. Was he feeling better now? Would he be at school tomorrow? Did his parents figure out his secret? If they were keeping him home, then maybe his illness wasn't that serious. But if they knew, maybe his parents had him down in some crazy laboratory preparing to do experiments on him. Dash scrubbed at his face, trying and failing to force that image from his mind.
It was getting dark out by the time Jordan, Zane, and Peter left his house. Dash sat outside, watching Bruno run around the backyard. His gaze found the tree where he found Fenton what now felt like a lifetime ago. He wished he never figured out Fenton's secret. Now he couldn't help feeling worried all the time about the man.
"You're really worried about him, aren't you?" Kwan asked, picking up an old tennis ball that lost most of its fuzzy neon green coloring over the years. He gave it a short toss, and Bruno went racing after it.
"You weren't there," Dash muttered with his eyes still on the tree. "He looked really bad. Blood dripping from his nose, body burning up, vomiting. I think it's more than a simple bug." He snapped his mouth shut to stop from saying more. He trusted Kwan with everything, even feelings he didn't expect anyone to notice. But he couldn't tell Kwan the truth about Fenton. Kwan would keep the secret. He was good at that. But Dash didn't want to burden him with this secret, and it wasn't his to tell. So he kept silent, chewing on his lip.
"If it was something serious, wouldn't they have taken him to the hospital?" Kwan wrestled the ball from Bruno's mouth before he toss it across the yard again.
"Yeah," Dash agreed tiredly. "But it doesn't stop me from worrying."
Kwan sighed as he took a seat next to Dash. He ran a hand through his dark locks, and they stuck up in some spots. "I still think you should just come out and tell him how you feel."
Dash snapped his head around and gawked at his friend. "Yeah, I don't see that going well," he said when he could think of a response. "You saw. He runs away from me at the first opportunity. He's still scared of me."
Kwan gave him a flat look, like he wasn't buying any of Dash's excuses. "I do see. I probably see better than either of you idiots." He rolled his eyes at Dash's glare. "You really don't notice the way he gets all flustered around you. Or when your eyes meet, and his cheeks turn this soft pink and he has to look away again really quickly. I don't think he runs away because he's scared of you. I think it's because he's scared you won't feel the same."
"And I think you see too much that isn't there sometimes." Dash shoved Kwan, who only grinned ridiculously at him. Bruno dropped the tennis ball on the ground at his feet. With a keening whine, he bumped his nose against Dash's chest. "Yeah, yeah," Dash said, rubbing the dog's ears. "I already know you like him too."
"See? Even your dog thinks you should just tell him."
"I don't think telling him while he's suffering through some weird illness is the best time. How will that go? Oh, hey, Fenton! I just wanted to tell you I like you, and then he vomits all over my shoes?" Dash shook his head. "That will go over well." He picked up the tennis ball and tossed it away. Bruno darted off after it. "Do you want me to give you a ride home?"
"No."
"Do I want to ask?"
"No." Kwan gazed out over the yard, refusing to meet his friend's eyes.
"Now you're worrying me." Dash frowned at his friend, who was pointedly ignoring him. He sighed as he leaned back against the side of the house. "Well, I do have some of your clothes still. But this can't keep happening."
"It's not that long until graduation."
"That's not the point, idiot."
"Can we please just not do this?" Kwan buried his head into his knees.
Dash hated seeing his friend like this. It made Kwan look more like a child than an eighteen year old man. "Just stay here then. Don't go back." He put an arm around Kwan, dragging him into a sort of hug. "My parents won't mind having you around. You're like a second son to them anyway."
"I hate being a burden to them." Kwan's voice was soft, and it wavered.
"You are so not a burden. Besides that other bedroom is practically yours anyway. And my mom pretty much thinks you're some perfect little angel."
Kwan managed a laugh. When he lifted his head, his eyes looked a little red. "I'm so making sure you tell Fenton before graduation." He laughed more fully when Dash shoved him.