Danny says to give myself some more time but I force myself to start driving after another couple of minutes. There's no point in wasting his whole goddamn night while I try to pull myself together. Jesus, what the fuck is wrong with me?

We finally locate the car that needs towing in the area Anastasia texted me about and I park the truck, twisting the keys from the ignition. The silence is heavy between us and I wish it wasn't so awkward. I'd love to be able to just talk with him. Not have any of this damn awkwardness between us.

"So… uh… you want me to show you how to tow a car?" I ask, jerking my thumb toward the car behind us. Danny glances toward me with a smile, nodding. It eases the tension in the pit of my gut but I don't really waste time thinking about it. I unlock my door and step out onto the pavement, scratching at the back of my head with one hand.

Just as Danny opens the door, I remember what I said about the door sticking sometimes but thankfully, he's not focused on that. He just gives me a smile so I slam my door closed and start for the broken down car.

Danny follows me over to the car and I kneel in front of the bumper, pointing to an area just out of view. "They're kind of hard to see but there are two tow hooks under there. That's what you hook up the arm to so you can tow it." As soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize how stupid I sound and I exhale, running a hand through my hair.

Thankfully, he's kinder than I would be to someone that sounded like that much of an idiot. "Right, that makes sense." He kneels next to me, placing a hand on the bumper. "So, can you tell what's wrong with it before you bring it into the shop?"

I shrug, rising to my full height before I turn back to the sling bar, positioning it under the front of the car. Danny helps me lower it when he realizes what I'm trying to do. I'll need to back the truck up a little more but I can handle that in a minute. "At this point, your guess is as good as mine. I mean…if it was banged up, that'd probably be the reason. But, for all we know right now, this could be as simple as a dead battery or some shit like that."

Danny nods, retreating back a few steps to lean against the truck. He folds his arms over his chest as I continue to move around the car, inspecting it for any kind of obvious damage. "Could also be a couple of blown tires or something," I call over my shoulder. I crouch on the side of the car, checking for any kind of tire damage. "Could you give me a hand?"

I stand again, moving toward him as I dig the keys out. "I need to back the truck up until the sling bar is underneath the car as far as it can go. Can you watch and tell me when it's under there?"

"Yeah, sure," he responds, moving away from the back of the car. I climb into the driver's side and start the car, rolling my window down as soon as I turn the engine on. Danny gives me a thumbs up when I poke my head out of the window and I slowly ease the car back, watching to make sure I'm not about to hit the car. When I see Danny's hand raise higher in the air, I stop, turning the engine off again.

I slam the door closed behind me and shove the keys into the depths of my pockets. "Thanks." I pass by Danny and move back to the car. I grab the J-hook off the back of the truck and secure it around the axle of the vehicle. "So, you see, this bar here's gonna help lift the car but you want to make sure you've actually got this car secure so it doesn't go rolling off while you're hauling it in. Last thing you wanna do is cause an accident with a towed car. The owners would probably kill you."

Danny laughs and it makes me hesitate in my work. I don't think I've ever heard him laugh. Or if I have, it's never sounded like that. It's a free kind of laugh. One that people would normally hush up in the presence of others. I don't know why but it makes the back of my neck feel hot.

My fingers are clumsy as I grab the chain from the J-hook and secure it to the left side of the sling bar. I don't think this shakiness is the same kind I experienced on the drive over. This one is more nervous because I'm around Danny and I don't know why the fuck he makes me nervous. I thought it was the other way around.

"A-Anyway," I mumble, gesturing to what I just did. "Y-You see these hooks behind the bar? That's where you're gonna secure this chain."

I get another nod from Danny and he folds his arms over his chest as I finish up. I could explain but I'm kind of losing my nerve to talk. I don't really want him to pick up on the fact that he makes me nervous. That's not really something I'm interested in exploring right now.

Once I've finished with the car, I gesture to the truck again. "Now we just gotta haul it back in to the shop. From there, we can diagnose what's wrong with it and figure out where to go from there. Though we'll be waiting until tomorrow to fix this cause we gotta talk to the owner first."

We climb into the truck again and we're both settled before I turn the car on. Thankfully, I'm not as nervous on the drive back and Danny suggests putting the radio on. I let him fiddle with the dial until he finds a station he likes. Something playing makes him grin and he gestures to the speakers.

"I love this song!" he says, pointing wildly as the music builds. I don't recognize it but it sounds like some kind of country song. Or something old as dirt. Either way, with the grin on Danny's face, I wouldn't touch that dial for anything.

He makes me laugh when he starts rocking out on the air guitar and singing loudly off-key. "Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry! Them good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singing this'll be the day that I die!"

Something about the lyrics sounds familiar but I'm too caught up watching Danny's impromptu performance to pay them any kind of attention. God, the look on his face is hilarious as he continues to rock out, singing out the only part I can remember.

"We started singing bye bye miss American pie," he croons out, his fist a fake microphone in front of his mouth. He throws his all into what I guess is the chorus of this song and I can't help but laugh along. I can't remember the last time I had this kind of carefree interaction with anyone. Part of me is so fucking glad it's with Danny.

Once we get back to the shop, I get out to unlock the front of the garage and have Danny back the truck inside. He parks it in the spot I indicate and kills the engine once the car's inside the lines. He climbs out of the truck and I take the keys from him, dropping them onto the nearest surface I can find.

"So you just kinda reverse the process of hooking it up to get to off the truck?" Danny asks and I nod, stooping down to do that. He leans down and I show him where to unhook the chain. He gets it on the first try and I have to admit, I'm a little impressed. For the first couple of times Alex let me do it, I had to hunt for the damn hooks to take the chain off or put it on. Damn, first try.

He turns toward me with a triumphant grin and I can't help but return it. "So that's it then?" he asks and I nod, gesturing toward the truck.

"Yeah, after this, you just pull the tow truck around to the back again. But I'll get that in a little while," I tell him and he nods, glancing around the shop. Evening's really set in now and the sky's losing the light. It creates shadows on Danny's face when he turns toward the open door to the garage.

I want to ask him if this was okay. If this counts as teaching him shit about cars. Even though I panicked on the way over. Even though there wasn't much to tell him and even though I really suck at explaining things. I want to ask, but I don't.

"Thanks, Dash," he says before I can come up with something to say. He turns toward me, giving me a smile that's half stolen by the dark of the garage. "I had fun today."

He had fun? Even after putting up with my shit? I don't really know what to think. Ordinarily, I'd call bullshit but he has the biggest fucking smile on his face. I don't want to watch that disappear. "Alright man, cool. I'll come by your place after practice?"

There's a flash of discomfort that crosses Danny's face but it disappears almost instantly and he smiles, nodding. "Yeah. I'll see you tomorrow, Dash."

I make a fucking incredible score during practice on Wednesday and it keeps me fired up even throughout my shower and putting up with the guys shit in the locker room. It makes it easier to pass by the cheerleading team without looking at Paulina. Well… not entirely. I do glance her way for a second but that second's all I'll let myself have. I don't think about the things she said to me in the garage or the way her hair feels between my fingers or the fact that her kisses are the best when we're both drunk and hazy and… fuck.

Whatever. I can deal with all that shit another day. Right now, I've just gotta drive to Fenton's place and not lose brain cells working through this homework. I swear, my teacher hates me this year. He had to know it was game week, he laid it on thick on purpose.

Danny's house is pretty far from the school and I guess I figured it'd be in some kind of neighborhood but it's not. It's a nice place but there's nothing around it. Not for at least half a mile on either side. It's literally in the middle of a stretch of land and I'm not sure what I was expecting. This definitely isn't it though.

I triple check the text Danny sent me to make sure I've pulled up outside the right place before I get out of my car. I glance around the area one more time before I slam my door closed and sling my backpack onto my shoulder, walking the stretch of sidewalk leading to the front door. This is weird. Who the hell decided to build a house out in the middle of nowhere in a tiny town? Is his family rich or some shit?

Danny appears at the door after I ring the bell and he pushes open the screen. "Hi," he says, a smile hesitant on his lips but at least it's there. I give him one back and it actually doesn't feel forced. I like seeing him smile. It makes me want to. Which is weird as fuck but whatever.

"How were your classes?" I ask more out of the fact that I can't think of anything else to say. But there's a part of me that's curious. I want to know how his day's been.

Danny shrugs, running a hand through his hair with an exhale. "They were fine. Pop quiz in history but I think I did okay," he says, leading me further into the house. I kick my shoes off near the door before he has to tell me to and he's still got that smile on his face when I look back at him.

He glances behind him before gesturing toward the stairs. "Um… I-I've just gotta grab my books. You can come up with me if you want to…" Danny fidgets for a second and I drop my bag by the door.

"Sure." I follow after him up the stairs and from half-way up, I can see the size of the living room. It's bigger than the dining room and living room put together in my place. Holy shit. His family's gotta be rich.

Danny leads me onto a landing. "That used to be my sister's room but it's just kind of got stuff shoved into it now," he says, pointing toward a closed door. "My room's through here." He twists open a door handle and we continue down a short hallway before we're in front of his door. There's a faded sticker of a rocket in the center of it and I guess that should really clue me in to what's on the other side.

His room is nice. Nothing like mine. Where mine is bare and full of shit I don't even use anymore, his place looks like he takes care in choosing what to display. There's a map of the galaxy on the wall above his bed and I'm willing to bet that at some point in his life, he had glow in the dark stars on his ceiling.

A miniature replica of the Hubble Telescope stands on one corner of the bookshelf closest to his bed and I wonder if he built that. It doesn't look like something you could buy anywhere. He seems like the kind of person that would spend his free time putting shit like that together. I can picture him in his bedroom during the summer with the window's open so the breeze can reach him as he pours over instructions squished onto a piece of paper included. I can see him pushing his bangs out of his eyes as sweat runs down the back of his neck, his gaze flicking from the pieces spread across his bedroom carpet and the instructions.

"I-It's kind of obvious that I'm interested in astronomy, huh?" Danny asks suddenly, startling me out of my inner thoughts. He looks apologetic when he realizes he startled me but I shrug it off.

"Kinda, yeah," I respond, finally sweeping my gaze around the rest of his room. There are a lot of books about space crowding his bookshelf and squished into various places around his room. I can see one tucked underneath the edge of his pillow like he reads it before he falls asleep or something.

Danny rifles through his backpack to find his algebra notebook before he gestures to the door again. "W-We should probably study downstairs."

I don't really question it, I just follow him out of his room and back down the stairs. His uneasiness is obvious to anyone with eyes and I feel weird about taking up his time right now. I mean… I know we planned this day but I feel bad. There's probably a lot more shit he could be doing instead of tutoring a dumb jock.

"Listen man… i-if you don't want to do this anymore, I can ask Kwan for his algebra notes. He'd give them to me no problem," I say and Danny's already shaking his head before I finish.

He plops down at the kitchen table and flips open the notebook without another word. So I leave the kitchen to get my backpack. There's definitely better things he could be doing with his time but if he wants to spend it tutoring me, who am I to say no? Plus, I could really use the help this time. My teacher is definitely a sadist.

Within the first twenty minutes, I get completely turned around on the first two problems and I've clearly forgotten everything he taught me last time. This should be easy but of course, I make a mess of it and end up scribbling all over my page doing various addition. Danny repeatedly tells me that it's okay but I doubt he's ever had to explain the basics again to the same person within a week. I'm just a fucking moron. I scrub my eraser against the paper again, hoping I don't accidentally go through it.

"Okay, how about I try something else," Danny says, abruptly flipping the page of the notebook. I look up at him but he ignores me, spreading the notebook open again. He quickly doodles out an image of what I guess is a football field with a couple of players scattered across it. "So. Let's say you're playing a football game, yeah?"

He marks over several of the stick figures, asking me how many points my team would need to score if we were two touchdowns behind the visiting team. Every time I respond, he marks it down and adds little notes next to it. When I'm finished explaining about the PAT and the touchdown versus getting several field goals in order to catch up, I realize he's marked all of it down and the answer's basically staring me in the face.

Danny beams when I scribble down my answer. "That's right!" His fingers brush by mine as he points to part of the equation. I think he starts explaining how to apply that same logic to future problems but I don't hear him. I'm distracted by the sensations running through my fingers and my mind is wondering if he's feeling them too.

"Dash, did you get any of that?" he asks and I can finally hear him again. His smile is kind but there's worry in his eyes. Like he's afraid maybe what happened in the truck the other day is happening again and judging from his hesitancy to touch me, that's probably exactly what he's thinking.

I shake my head, mostly to clear away everything running through my mind, and wet my lips with my tongue. "S-Sorry. Kinda blanked, can you say that again?"

He starts to explain it again and I catch the first part of it but someone clears their throat from behind us. We both turn in our chairs at the same time and I watch Danny's shoulders fall. He looks like this is the last thing he wanted to happen and I'm trying to figure out if that's his dad or just an older brother. Holy fuck, he's huge. This guy could probably snap me in half. And that'd be impressive cause I'm pretty built.

Danny exhales shakily, leaning back in his seat. "S-Sorry, dad. Are we being too loud?"

The guy, his dad, shakes his head, glancing between the two of us. "You didn't tell me you were having friends over." He looks at me with an oversized grin. It feels misplaced next to the slight scowl on his kid's face. "Hi, I'm Jack Fenton."

Suddenly a hand is extended toward me and I shake it without hesitation. I glance toward Danny halfway through, expecting him to be wearing an expression akin to betrayal but he's not. He's just looking between us like he's trying not to care.

"Dash Baxter, sir," I tell his dad, watching as he tries to work out where he's heard my name from. "I'm the quarterback for the Ravens."

Everyone in this town knows the football team and he's no different. His face lights up with recognition and he easily bobs his head in response. "Ahh, that's right! How's that going this year? There's a game on Friday, right?"

I nod, stealing another glance toward Danny. His gaze is focused on the table and I feel guilty. There's got to be a reason why he looked so dejected when his dad came into the room, right? This guy may not be anything like my dad, but there's gotta be a reason for the way Danny's acting.

"It's going well, sir," I respond before gesturing toward the books spread across the table. "It'll continue to go well if I keep my grades up."

Jack's gaze finally falls onto the books on the table and his grin is almost concerning. Especially with the way Danny shrinks down in his chair. Like he knows what comes after that grin.

"Ahh, Danny's a genius. Just like his sister." His dad takes another step toward us and leans over to tousle Danny's hair. I catch the way Danny leans away from the touch and he seems to shrink further into his seat when his dad withdraws his hand but Jack doesn't seem to. Danny's obviously uncomfortable, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. I can tell by the way his leg's started to tremble under the table. At the angle his dad's at, he probably can't see it. But our legs are close to each other's and I can feel the vibrations as his knees bump mine every few seconds.

Jack looks between the two of us again and I can feel the awkward tension in the air. I used to be good at small talk with people but I think I've lost the ability. Or maybe I just want him to get lost so Danny will stop shaking and I can ask him what to do to make him feel better. I want to make him feel better and I don't even care anymore if my homework gets done.

"Well, I'm headed back downstairs. You boys let me know if you need anything," Jack says, passing by us again. He glances over his shoulder and gives us both a smile, his gaze flicking toward Danny. "Love you, kiddo."

He's gone just like that and I watch the doorway for a few seconds until I look toward Danny. His gaze is on mine but he quickly looks away from me. His other leg has joined in the tremor party and his breathing is a little shaky. God, I wish I was good with words. I'd know exactly what to say to get him to relax. Just like how he always knows how to help me. I haven't been keeping count but he's gotta have saved my ass at least three times.

"Danny-"

He scoots his chair back abruptly, cutting off what I was still trying to figure out how to say. Danny's gaze sweeps around the kitchen and lands on the fridge. "You want something to drink?" he asks, not waiting for an answer before he's stalking across the kitchen. His hands shake as he turns the faucet on and sticks his palms under the spray. The water splashes up onto his wrists and he can barely shut the water off, his fingers are twitching so much.

My chair is quiet when I leave it. My footsteps are light but I know he picks up on it. He doesn't look at me when I come to stand next to him and slowly, I place my hand over top his, shutting off the flow of water. His hand trembles beneath mine and I can hear his breathing in the quiet of the kitchen.

I'm not good with words. I'm bad at telling people that things are gonna be okay cause I barely believe it. But Danny's trembling and I don't want him to be. I hate that he experiences that same fear in the pit of his stomach that I do.

"What can I do to help you?" I ask him, keeping my tone gentle. I don't want to speak too loud or quickly and risk scaring him off. Even with the extra caution, he still flinches away, pulling his hand from under mine.

He's shaking his head but no words are leaving his mouth. He keeps opening his mouth and closing it again but he doesn't say anything. His eyes are wide and god, he looks fucking terrified. What do I do? What would I want him to do?

"I-It's okay," I tell him, keeping my voice soft as I take a step closer to him. His wild-eyed gaze meets mine for a split second and he's shaking his head again. His hands go to his head and he's grabbing handfuls of his own hair, his eyes squeezed shut like he's in pain.

Danny sucks in a lungful of air but it sounds choked. Like if he breathes in too deeply, he'll break apart and his pieces will scatter across the kitchen floor. God, I'd fucking sweep them up if he needed me to. I can't take this – I hate seeing him in so much pain.

"It's gonna be okay," I tell him and he shakes his head, a pained gasp leaving him. His eyes open and he meets my stare, shaking his head.

"N-No, it's not," he says softly and looks away from. His hands are still shaking but he drops them from his hair and takes a step away from me. There's distance between us again and I want to close it. I know what it's like to push everyone away while you quietly break down. Fuck, I don't want that for him. I don't want him to think that he has to hide his pain.

Danny turns his back to me and opens up a cabinet over his head. His fingers tremble as he takes down two glasses and sets them on the counter. His breathing is still erratic and if this were anyone else, I'd let him pretend. I'd laugh along to every joke he made and neither of us would bring up the fact that his fingers are twitching and he's breathing like he's dying.

But I feel like maybe I could help him. Danny's definitely not as fucked up as I am and I wouldn't wish that upon anyone. But he's hurting and I know what that feels like. I can help him. If he wants my help, he can have it. I don't even want anything in return. Well… that's not true. Seeing a smile on his face would be nice.

"Danny, it's okay. You don't have to pretend that you're okay," I tell him, unable to move toward him. I want to brush my fingers against his again and make him forget about his dad. Or whatever's clouding up his mind. I don't want whatever's in his brain to terrify him this much. "I get it. More than anyone. It's so much easier to pretend that you're okay but – god, Danny that never works. You just get good at lying to yourself."

He shakes his head and lets out a shaky breath before turning back toward me. He shifts from foot to foot before gesturing toward the fridge. "There's s-some soda in the fridge, l-lemme show you what we have."

I can't stop myself. I grab his arm as he passes by me and his gaze meets mine again. His cheeks are flushed pink and I wish he wasn't embarrassed by this. I get it. I fucking get it so much and it's okay. I don't care if he panics or if he trembles or if he's too terrified to tell me what's on his mind. I just want him to feel less alone.

"You don't have to do this," I say and he slowly draws in a breath. "Something's fucking with you and you don't… you don't have to pretend with me."

Danny's face colors even more and I let go of his arm. If he still doesn't want to talk about it, that's his decision to make. But at least now he knows the door's open if he ever needs to talk to me. I'm someone that gets it and I hope he remembers that.

We almost dance around each other in the kitchen as he points out the different sodas he has in the fridge. He drags the Mountain Dew out and pours us both a generous amount, twisting the cap back onto the bottle before putting it in the fridge again.

His hands are still shaking but his breathing is slowly returning to normal. I don't think caffeine is the best thing for him to have immediately following that but who am I to judge? I do that shit all the time.

"S-So, we were on problem three," Danny says, sinking down into his chair. I join him, setting my glass down before plopping down into my chair with an exhale. I don't really care about my homework anymore, I just want to make sure he's okay. But if this is a good distraction for him, I'm in no rush to take it away.

Danny explains the rest of my math to me over the next hour, occasionally referencing football to explain something. The first ten minutes are painful because I just want to ask him if he's okay. Multiple times, I have to force myself to focus on what he's saying and not on the way his fingers still tremble around the pencil's he's holding or how his right leg is twitching just slightly more than his left.

Eventually, I start to grasp everything again and he's patient with me as I do. Thankfully, it doesn't take me too long to be able to answer the problems on my own and by then, his shaking has stopped. He's smiling widely every time I give the correct answer and he only has to help me work through the second to last before we're done.

I sit back in my chair, tossing my pencil onto the book with an exaggerated sigh. Man alive, it feels good to be done with that shit. It's been tormenting me since last night and my teacher will probably dump more on us tomorrow. Whatever, I can deal with that when it comes. Danny said it was cool if I texted him for math help.

"Damn. Thanks man, I wouldn't have gotten this without you," I tell him and it's the truth. There's no way I would have been able to figure out even one problem without Danny. Guy's a fucking genius and I'm beyond jealous. I wish I could whiz through math like he can.

Danny smiles, nodding as he folds the notebook closed again. "Any time really," he says softly. He pushes the notebook toward the center of the table with an exhale and neither one of us make a move to end this tutoring session. The work's done now and I'm starving. I should just tell him I'll see him tomorrow but I don't want to leave. And not just because of his shaking earlier. I just don't want to leave him yet. It's nice to have someone that doesn't think I'm an idiot when it comes to math.

I shift my pencil out and close the book, cracking my neck. "Seriously, you make it look easy, Danny. I really appreciate your help." I glance toward him and he nods again, resting his chin on his arms. His eyes are sad. Really fucking sad and I wish I could help him.

He turns his head away from my gaze and exhales heavily. "You should probably get going… I'm sure you have stuff to do before the day's done," Danny says and I don't think I've ever heard someone sound as empty as he does now. He's clearly not okay and I don't want to leave him like this. Like maybe next time we see each other, the sadness will be just under the surface of his skin, etched forever in his bones. I can help him. I know I can. I just don't know how.

"You wanna grab a burger or something? I'm starving," I say and he exhales softly.

Danny shakes his head when he looks back to me. "Thank you. But there's leftover's in the fridge. Probably some stuff I could make if I feel like it," he tells me and the smile he gives me isn't convincing at all. I wonder how many people are fooled by that smile. How many people see that shape to his lips and assume it's happiness. If they looked at him long enough, they'd know it's a mask, cause his real smile is like he harnessed the goddamn stars in one expression.

He only lets me analyze his facial expressions for another second or two before he rises from his chair with a sigh. "Come on, I'll walk you out."

Danny waits while I put my shoes on and follows me out of the house after I pick my backpack up. His arms are crossed and his steps hesitant but still, he follows after me. I deliberately slow my pace until we're walking side by side yet we both stay quiet. At this point, I can't think of anything to say that I haven't already second guessed myself on a million times so I stay silent.

The sky's lost most of the light and the sun's already gone. I don't even know what time it is, I just know that I'm hungry and yet, I don't want to leave. I wish I could help him. Make him see that it's okay to panic or whatever the hell he needs to hear. He's fucked up like me but he's not hopeless. Danny could never be hopeless.

"So, I'll uh… I'll see you at the game, right?" I ask him and he nods, his gaze shifting from me back out into the empty acres of land. I want to ask him about this place, why they bought it out in the middle of nowhere, but I don't. I hate that faraway look in his eyes cause I know he's thinking about painful shit. The kind of stuff that keeps him up late at night and stains his pillow with teardrops. I hate that he has that kinda shit to think about. I don't know why I bring it up but I do.

"Bunch of us are going down to the beach after the game," I tell him and that draws his attention back to me. He blinks, I guess trying to figure out why I'm mentioning it, so I plunge on. "You should come. We're gonna spend the night at Star's beach house and get really hammered."

Danny smiles. Although it's hesitant, he still gives me a smile and I don't think it's forced. He looks like the idea of getting drunk and forgetting his problems is one he's entertained before. "Yeah?" he asks, flicking his gaze back toward his house, his eyes lingering there as he speaks. "Are you driving down there or are you guys stealing a bus again?"

There was an incident in my sophomore year involving the football team and a bus from the school. We're not really supposed to talk about it. Unofficially, it was a fucking wild night. Officially, no one could ever prove it was us.

I scratch at the back of my head, holding back a grin. "Nah… I mean, my teammates might steal one but I'm driving." There's no use fucking up so early in the year. I'll save that shit for later. I let out a breath, turning my gaze toward the sky as well. "I definitely won't be taking the bus with them."

Danny laughs and the sound draws my gaze back to him. He's smiling again and it still looks sincere. "Maybe I'll come with you," he says softly, like he's still hesitating. It makes me want to convince him all the more. Fuck whatever his parents want him to do this weekend, he just needs to get away. Spend some time outside of this town.

"If you decide to come, let me know. I'll give you first dibs on shotgun," I tell him with a grin and he laughs again, nodding.

His gaze shifts to the sky again and he's quiet for a few minutes before looking at me with another smile. "Okay then, I'll come. It sounds like fun, Dash."

I don't know why I don't get into my car or why we stand there staring at each other and grinning like two idiots but we do. And I don't make a move to end the moment. God, seeing that smile on him was worth suffering through my math. Seeing him happy makes me happy and I don't really know what to make of that.

A/N: Yooo! You guys have a good week?

Danny's so adorable isn't he? But alas, even he doesn't escape the angst that plagues this story mwhaha... yeah, he's got some shit going on, poor thing. I mean, obviously he has anxiety, that was established earlier. But this poor child has shit going on that Dash could never imagine. What do you think about Jack? Any speculations on the interaction with him? I'd love to know what you're thinking.

What about Dash though? Trying to deal with the shit he's dealing with and really having no idea what anxiety's all about. Somehow, everything feels ten times worse when you don't know what it is you're dealing with. And once you're educated about it and recognize signs and shit, it's more like "okay yeah, that's a thing I have". I don't know, maybe that's just me.

The title of this chapter comes from the song Danny and Dash heard in the tow truck, 'American Pie' by Don McLean. If you've never heard it before, you should. It's one of the classic songs that everyone needs to hear at some point in their life. It's just iconic, and I usually don't give a shit about classic songs but this one is so... it's just great, okay? If you haven't heard it, go hear it. It's worth it, trust me.

Thanks for the reviews you all keep leaving, I super appreciate it. I keep meaning to respond to some of you because you all have really fascinating opinions and insights to this story, but I always forget to actually respond. Thank you all anyway, I really do love reading what you all think and have to say with this.

Shorter author's note again cause I gotta get some actual shit done today. So, with that, I'll sign off and look forward to seeing you guys in the next chapter!