Chapter 21

What was he even supposed to think about a comment like that? Kwan stood frozen, his face burning red. It didn't escape Valerie's attention, he knew it, though Danny seemed completely oblivious to the effect of his comment as he continued the conversation like they were merely talking about the weather. Thankfully, he managed to recover before Danny noticed or Dash returned to the room.

Kwan loved Dash. He would always love his best friend. But hearing the comment, he wondered: Did Danny mean it? If Hayley wasn't in the picture, would Danny be interested in pursuing a relationship with him? Kwan honestly didn't know how he felt about it. Flattered that Danny could potentially be interested in him? But would it ever be fair to Danny if Kwan was still in love with Dash?

Kwan raked a hand through his hair, shoving all those thoughts to the back of his head. He needed to focus on the game. They were in the bottom of the ninth, their turn at bat, and the score was tied four to four. Jeremy walked up to the plate, dug his foot in the ground, and lifted the bat over his shoulder. Normally, Kwan wouldn't break a sweat in worry about the outcome of the game with their best batter up. But lately, Jeremy seemed off his game. It worried him. Not because he cared only about winning the game, but Kwan worried there might be something going on in Jeremy's life. Unfortunately, Jeremy didn't seem to want to talk about it with him.

The pitcher brought back his arm then threw the ball, hard and fast down the line. Jeremy's hands squeezed around the bat as he watched the pitch. Kwan held his breath. Would he hit it? Would it be a strike? They only needed one run for the win, and they were already down two outs. A loud crack split the silence. The baseball flew high into the outfield. The opposing team ran to catch it. Tossing the bat off to the side, Jeremy raced toward first base. His teammate Henry, already on second base, ran to third. An outfielder fumbled and dropped the ball. Henry rounded third and shot toward home plate as Jeremy continued to second base. The outfielder threw the baseball with all his strength. The second baseman caught just seconds after Jeremy safely reached the base. Henry stepped one foot onto home plate. The crowd screamed out in victory. Kwan's breath rushed out of him. The team jumped up from the bench, whooping and high fiving and bumping chests in celebration.

"All right, all right." Kwan clapped his hands to draw their attention. He smiled proudly at the team as they fell silent and looked to him. "Let's go line up." Leaving the dugout first, he led the team onto the field to meet with the other team. He stopped in front of the other coach, a much older man with graying hair and an unshaven face. "Good game," Kwan said, holding his hand out between them.

The coach stared him down with his arms folded and an unpleasant expression on his face. Then he grabbed Kwan's hand with his own rough and callused one. His handshake was firm. "A well deserved win." The corner of his mouth twitched in the faintest of smirks. The two coaches stepped aside and allowed the teams to walk past, slapping hands with mumbles of "good game."

Kwan looked to the bleachers where the crowd was already dispersing as people left and headed for their cars. "Let's get back to the bus," he told the team. They jogged to the dugout to grab their gear.

"That was a great game," Valerie said, coming up behind Kwan and clapping a hand to his shoulder.

"Ah, thanks." Kwan ducked his head, scratching at the back of it. "I'll admit I was a bit worried for a while that we wouldn't pull out the win."

"That last batter?" Valerie stared at the dugout, scanning for said batter.

"Heh. Of course you'd spot that." Kwan shook his head. "I've been a bit worried about him. Thankfully, he pulled through tonight. If there were any scouts in the audience, I'm sure they took notice of him." His chest swelled a little with pride. A small punch to his stomach from Valerie quickly deflated him though.

"Should I take a taxi to the restaurant and get us a table?" Valerie questioned. "You know, while the rest of you do your whole coach thing."

Kwan considered then nodded. "That would probably be a good idea. Let me-"

"If you're going to try to give me money, I will smack you," Valerie stopped him as Kwan reached for his pocket.

"Sorry." Kwan winced. "You're a guest and all."

"A guest who turned up despite you saying it was unnecessary." Valerie's expression turned serious in an instant. "What Danny said earlier-"

Kwan shook his head. "He was probably just teasing."

Valerie didn't seemed convinced. "But if it were a possibility, would you have any interest in him?"

"Um." Kwan looked away, but Valerie would see through any lie he spun; just like she always did. He sighed. "It doesn't matter. Danny is dating someone, and I- Well, I have my own issue to work out." He shrugged. "Why entertain an idea that isn't going to happen?"

Valerie frowned, almost in what seemed to be disappointment. "You don't know how things are going to turn out down the line. I wouldn't be too quick to rule out any possibilities."

"Coach!" Patrick called out before Kwan could think of how to respond to her comment.

"I should get back to the bus," Kwan explained, and Valerie nodded. "See you at dinner." He kissed her on the cheek before he headed over to where the team was waiting at the bus. The comment Danny made that morning buzzed again through his head. Danny was good looking, smart, and they got along well. Maybe if things were different, something could happen between them, but it simply wasn't an option as things were right now.

Most of the team was already on the bus when he arrived. Kwan stopped short to watch as Jeremy hugged a younger boy. When he stood up straight again, Jeremy placed his baseball cap on the boy's head then tugged the duckbill down over the boy's face with a chuckle.

"Oh, hey, Coach!" Jeremy smiled when he looked up to see Kwan standing a few feet away. "This is my little bro." He dropped a hand onto the boy's head. "He's a troublemaker, but you don't have to worry about dealing with him for a few more years."

Kwan was a bit surprised. But when the boy lifted his head, raising the cap so his face could be seen, Kwan could see the resemblance between the brothers. He grinned. "I hoped you cheered really loud for your brother."

Jeremy laughed at his brother's shy nod. "Okay. I don't want to be the one holding things up." He patted his brother's shoulder. "Time to go back to Dad, okay?" His brother bobbed his head again. "Oh. And this," he dug into his bag, "is for Lucy." He held out a baseball to his brother. The baseball was in a box, like it came right from the store, but it was scuffed up and dirtied, clearly one of the balls used during the game.

"When did you take that game ball?" Kwan gave Jeremy a stern stare.

"Um," Jeremy sweated, "it's just- Lucy, my sister, she's in the hospital right now. So she couldn't come to the game. I wanted to give her something. You know, include her somehow." That explained the box. The baseball was covered in dirt and germs. Keeping it inside the box would offer some protection against the germs while his sister was in the hospital.

"Don't make a habit of it though."

"Of course, Coach!" Jeremy stood up straight, nearly saluting in response. Then he gave his brother a nudge. "I'll you see back at home."

"You don't need to walk him back?"

Jeremy shook his head. "Our dad is waiting right over there." He nodded his head to a man several feet away with a phone pressed to his ear. "He got a call and stepped away."

Kwan nodded, relieved the young boy wouldn't have to wander around alone to find their father. "All right. Time to go." He smiled down at Jeremy's brother. "I hope you enjoyed the game."

"It was very exciting," the boy said, grinning and showing off a gap in the bottom row of his teeth. He hugged his brother then jogged over to where their father waited.

Kwan climbed onto the bus after Jeremy and took the front seat behind the driver. Once the door was closed, they headed back to their high school. The team buzzed with excitement, eager to spend the rest of their Friday night celebrating their win. Kwan needed to get up once or twice to remind them not to get too rowdy while on the bus. When they arrived back at their school, the team rushed off the bus, but Kwan called for their attention before they could run off into the night. He oversaw putting away the school gear and making sure they didn't leave a huge mess on the bus. When he approved, the team was free to leave. Then Kwan headed to meet up with Dash and Danny.

His roommates didn't look too happy when he arrived at the car. Kwan hesitated in his approach. Did something happen to and from the football game? Did they get into a fight? Kwan braced himself, in case he was about to walk into an argument.

"What's going on?"

Dash turned to him, his expression grumpy with his brow furrowing and his mouth curving downward in an almost pout. "We lost the game."

"Oh." Kwan frowned, his excitement over the baseball team's win deflating.

"We totally had that last field goal, but the refs," Danny growled, grinding his teeth, "favored the opposing team the whole game. They did nothing but make bad calls all game long. We should have won."

Dash reached over and patted him on the shoulder in comfort. Kwan's gaze flicked back and forth between the two men. He wanted them to get along, of course, but for some reason, seeing them in that moment, he was almost... jealous. Usually, he was the one to comfort Dash when he got angry about unfair calls by the refs at a game.

"So how was the baseball game?" Dash asked as he glanced around the parking lot. "And where's Val?"

"We won." Kwan shrugged like it was no big deal. He didn't want to sound like he was bragging after hearing about the football team's loss. "And Val went ahead to get us a table."

"That's great!" Dash clapped him on the shoulder with a grin. "If you win the next game, you should be going to the championship, right?"

"Um, yeah." Kwan fought back the blush trying to rise to his cheeks.

"Congrats," Danny added. "That's really amazing. I hope I get to see your next game."

"Thanks." Kwan felt so fluster he couldn't think of any other response. "We probably shouldn't leave Val waiting too long though."

Danny chuckled. "Right. She can get impatient sometimes." He winced, perhaps recalling a time he was late for a date with Valerie back when they were a couple. He climbed into the backseat of the car, leaving the front passenger seat for Kwan.

When they were all in the car, Dash pulled out of the parking spot, and they drove toward Off the Hook, which was not more than a ten minute drive from their apartment. Dash and Danny eagerly asked for a play by play account of how the baseball game went. Kwan happily answered all their questions while asking a few himself about the football game. He relaxed against his seat. It was easier to set aside his feelings when their conversation focused on things like sports or work.

When they arrived at Off the Hook, they entered the restaurant and searched for Valerie, who was already seated at a booth by a window. Off the Hook had the whole nautical theme. Anchors and knotted ropes decorated the place, and paintings of ships and ocean life hung on the wall. Valerie spotted them walking toward her and slipped out of the booth to give each of them a hug.

"I hope we didn't keep you waiting long," Dash said before he slid into the booth.

Valerie shook her head. "Not at all." She took the spot next to Dash, which earned a furrow of Kwan's brow. "I ordered water for the table, since I wasn't sure what you guys would want to drink. The waiter only just brought them by."

Kwan eyed Valerie suspiciously as he slid into the booth next to Danny. Their elbows nearly brushed when they leaned against the table. "Did you have any plans?" he asked, accepting the menu Danny passed to him. "Anyplace you wanted to visit while you're here?"

Valerie shrugged. "I don't want to inconvenience any of you. Anyway, we've done all that sightseeing stuff when I came before." She scanned over her menu. "I'm fine just hanging out with all of you. We don't have to do anything special."

"Well, there's Danny's swim meet tomorrow," Dash said, picking up his glass of water. "After that," he smirked over the top of his glass, "it sounds like Danny has another date."

Danny blushed, fumbling to flip the menu. It was kind of cute to watch when he got embarrassed. "How much more teasing about dating someone can I expect?" He lifted a curious eyebrow as he stared across the table at Dash, who shrugged. Kwan knew his friend could keep up teasing about something until he finally grew bored of it, which could be quite a long time.

"Are you ready to order?" the waiter asked when he stopped by their table. They took a few more minutes to look over the menu before telling the waiter their order.

"I'm looking forward to the meet tomorrow." Valerie grinned as she leaned on the table with her chin in one hand once the waiter left. "Do you wear that little Speedo?"

The red crept across Danny's cheeks again. "I'm the coach. I don't do any of the swimming, so no, I don't wear a Speedo to the meet."

Valerie pouted. "Well, that's disappointing." Then she smirked with a wink. "I bet you fill one out very well."

Dash choked on his water. "New topic!" He patted his chest as he coughed. "New topic!" The other three laughed as Dash recovered, Valerie reaching over to pat his back.

Casper97: He's getting there. XD Even if it's only slowly.

xXRainbowCleoXx: It's one of my favorite things. 8D Plus, he doesn't have to worry about letting curse words slip out in front of his students. XD

jessiejr21: Danny, Mr. Oblivious to the way he affects others. XD

YumiStar: That's usually the way I head canon him. D8 But at least Dash can break out of that way of thinking! I always kind of feel like Dash has way too much aggression. That has to come from somewhere, right?

Some Weird Chick: I know! I know! XD I'm right there with all of you! I just want to shove them all in bed together and have them happy. XD

Kimera20: Thanks~ 8D Bonding is always fun!

Cabbit and the Weasel: XD Danny's friends are still around, I promise! He just doesn't see them as often when they live all spread out in different states.

Just Will: It's like the reviews don't want to show up on the weekends now. =| For the last two chapters, I've gone several days unable to read the newest reviews. I'm so sorry! XD;;; I couldn't think of a better space related word to insert there. orz Uranus just kept shoving itself to the forefront. The rumor mill is definitely in the works when it comes to talking about the "studly" teachers. XD But no one's gonna dare say anything out loud where any of the three might hear. Danny would probably be like "Are you sure he's not secretly dating anyone? He has to be dating someone!" Danny's glad Val is on his side because she could crush him in a second flat if she wanted to. XD

Tetractys: Dash and Kwan missed the memo on that trend. XD Dash probably thought he was too cool for it. All it takes is a spark for things to get going. 8D;;

LonelyCatAngelKaty: Just where I want everyone. 8D;; *shot* Gotta leave the readers wanting more though, right? Sam is probably like Jazz and worries Dash, especially, might be hurting Danny. Hard to change her opinion about someone she hasn't seen since high school.

SilverAxe: You don't have to apologize for being busy! That's certainly one of the big hurdles for Danny. XD If he never tells, then he has this huge secret which will only cause tension in the long run. Yup yup, Val and Paulina this time. 8D I don't think I've had them paired up together much? Dash's past isn't all sparkly rainbow sunshine getting everything on a silver platter as Danny might think. They're all a bit clueless, aren't they? XD;;;