Chapter 25
"Grab the gun! The gun! Shoot him! Shoot! Now! Okay, hide. I got your back."
"Man, he punctured holes in my newly forged battle suit. You're going down tin-face!"
The building exploded and bits of flesh and blood splattered across the screen.
"Boom! FireTuck one! Zombies zero! YEAH!" Tucker dropped his game controller and hooted.
Danny joined in the making of victorious sounds only male gamers could produce in the midst of an adrenaline-rushed, zombie-killing epiphany. He high-fived Tucker and threw a punch in the air. Their party died down after they grabbed their controllers again and focused back on the game.
"So what happened?"
"Argh! He threw a lightning bolt at me! Did you see that? A freaking lightning bolt! What kind of zombie throws a lightning bolt? What is he, the Zombie Zeus?"
Danny grunted, shook his head and punched a combination of buttons, his character delivered a deadly maneuver that knocked out his zombie opponent. "I meant the date."
"Oh."
"That bad?"
"Mmm…" Tucker's gaze was fixed to the screen.
"Tuck rea—Shit, grenade!"
"Cover me." Danny steered his character and his shoulders jerked to the left.
"Got it. So… tongue?" He shot two zombies straight in the head.
"No." Tucker baited his character self and veered left, the mob of zombies trailing after him crashed to an old oil tanker. Danny snapped open a lighter, tossed it to the tanker and it blew up, debris and rotting flesh rained down the screen.
"Smack then?"
"No."
"Let me guess, you got a literal smack."
Tucker cringed, "You could say that."
Danny chuckled. "Ooh, I'm curious. What happened?"
"Nothing."
"Right. How's her birthmark on the left cheek?"
"There's no birthmark on-" He froze and trained bulging eyes on Danny. "Dude!"
His jerk of a best friend let out a teasing guffaw. "It was just a trick question, Tuck."
Tucker snorted and returned to his attention to the game.
"The fact that you're saying nothing means something happened."
Tucker punctuated his dramatic sigh as he let the game console slip from his hands. "We're playing for the past two days. I'm permanently embedded in your bed. I'm spending every second of my life with you. What do you think happened?"
"Sorry, man. Just wondering if you want to talk about it."
"No."
Danny took a deep breath. "Alright. Want to bomb that castle?"
"Yep. And eradicate everything that moves." He picked up his console. They continued ramming and killing lightning-wielding zombies for the next half an hour, exchanging grunts and hoots along the way.
Tucker paused the game and threw away his controller again. He sighed, a habit he mastered within the past two days. "Danny, have you seen that movie about the loyal dog?"
"No, what loyal dog?"
"Big. Brownish. Beautiful. Japanese dog." Tucker used hand gestures but Danny only watched him blankly. He exhaled and dropped his arms. "The one who waited for his owner at the train station for years until he died waiting?"
Danny tilted his head and stood. "I think I've heard of it. You're into drama now?" He walked toward the screen and switched off the game.
"No!" Tucker hesitated then added, "What happened with you and Sam?" He leaned and spread his arms on the top of the headboard and smirked at Danny.
Danny immediately turned to his DVD collection. "Let's watch that movie."
"You're into drama now?"
Danny flicked his middle finger in the air and Tucker burst out laughing.
"Wanna bet who'll cry a pail of tears?"
"You're on." Danny jumped up and dashed to the door.
"Where are you going?!"
"Living Room! DVD!"
"Okay!"
He was back in a flash, clutching the plastic DVD case. He kneeled down in front of the TV, switching the DVD player on.
"How many times have you seen this?" He pressed a button and put the DVD in.
"About two or three."
Danny transformed to Phantom and sank through the floor. A second later he reappeared with a bucket of fresh popcorn. He grabbed the remote and floated back to the bed. He reverted back to his human form and plopped beside Tucker."And?"
"I might have shed a little tear." Tucker shrugged.
"On the first time?"
Tucker cleared his throat. "Uh, might be all two or three times."
Danny groaned. "Fuck, we're stuck in a chick flick."
Tucker straightened. "It is not a chick flick." He grabbed the bucket of popcorn from Danny. "And where's the bourbon?"
Danny's eyes widened. "I didn't own a liquor cellar, last time I checked." He blinked then a grin tugged at his mouth. "Unless you'd settle for ice cream?" He wiggled his brows at him.
"No way! I'm just looking for something to drink. You didn't bring sodas."
"Open the third drawer on your right." Tucker reached an arm and pulled the drawer on his right. Several bottles of sodas rolled to greet him. He nodded approvingly and grabbed two bottles. His lips curled down in dismay. Danny arched a brow at him. "They're not cold." He grumbled.
Danny snatched the bottles from him. He gripped them in his hands and concentrated, soon the sodas were encased in ice. "Dude!"
"What?" Danny dropped the sodas on the bed.
"I can't drink ice!" Tucker turned back to the open drawer and chose two other bottles. He was about to close it when he noticed a piece of paper sticking out. He pushed the bottles in Danny's hands. "Medium cold." He ordered then returned his attention to the paper. He glanced at Danny, he was focusing on cooling the sodas down to the right temperature.
Tucker turned his back on him and yanked the paper out. His eyes widened.
It was a detailed sketch of Sam sitting in a classroom. The angle was from behind and it pictured Sam turned sideways like she was talking to somebody beside her. Tuck noted the spark of anger in her eyes, the restrained muscles in her curled fist, the shadows dancing on her nose and cheek, the light and dark shades of her hair, everything was drawn down to the smallest detail. He was amazed.
He knew Danny could draw and he had seen most of his works. Sketches of twilight skies, spaceships, his family, Tucker himself, even a picture of Skulker's head hanging on a wall as Danny's idea of a joke. The sketch of Sam was something he hadn't seen until now and the clarity and beauty took his admiration of Danny's talent to new levels.
"Tuck?" In a blink of an eye, the paper flew from his grasp. He spun around and was met by Danny's narrowed blue eyes. Tucker opened his mouth to say something but Danny gave him the evil eye and he immediately decided not to push it.
Danny punched in Play and they sat in an awkward silence.
"Beautiful dog," Danny commented as the movie rolled in, munching in on popcorn.
Tucker released a breath and made up his mind. Yes, he was going to push it. "Beautiful sketch."
"Let me guess, you're the dog." Danny took a swig of his soda.
"And you're not even going to show it to her." Tucker popped a handful of popcorn in his mouth.
"Patiently waiting at the train station…."
"Creepily hiding drawings of her in your cabinets." Tucker mimicked in a sing-song voice.
"But you're still waiting."
"And you're still planning."
Danny shrugged. "Still going to stalk Valerie."
Tucker grinned. "Still going to draw Sam."
"Love her from afar."
"Hope she loves you back."
"I don't hope." Danny frowned and finally acknowledged Tucker's train of conversation.
"Wish I—" Danny shot him another look and Tucker rephrased his answer. He cleared his throat. "Well, I am waiting. And I cannot not hope." Tucker grabbed a pillow and flipped on his stomach. "You're not going to tell me what happened that night."
"You're not going to tell me what happened to yours." Danny opened another drawer and pulled out a bag of chips. He tore it open.
Tucker chuckled. "That's a nice little supermarket you got there."
"It's handy when I don't want to socialize downstairs."
Tucker quieted for a moment. "Maybe I'll tell you about her someday."
"If you don't want to, it's fine. I don't want to relieve it by talking so I wouldn't put you in the same situation."
Tucker shook his head as if he didn't hear him. "Maybe not."
They both continued to gobble down their snacks in silence as the movie played, choosing to indulge both in the movie and in their hopeful thoughts.
"Yeah, I will definitely tell you!"
Danny let his gaze slid to Tucker for a moment before returning to the screen. A challenging curl made its way to his lips. "Really? When?"
Tucker chuckled. "On my death bed, possibly on the ground at the train station."
Danny stilled. His face fell but Tucker didn't notice. He wasn't looking at him, he was busy watching the film. He didn't like it but he let it go. For now.
A few minutes after the movie was done, they were still staring at the screen. If anybody saw them, they'd think the boys were just having after-thoughts about the movie. But a closer inspection would reveal subtle sniffing and tear-wiping.
Danny crumpled the wrappers, creating a cracking sound that pierced their eardrums. Tucker cringed and he took the time to compose himself. Danny kept on cleaning up the bed from bottles and wrappers until he was certain Tucker collected himself. Danny set aside the trash and his eyes glinted.
"Tuck?"
Tucker moved to turn but he was too slow for Danny's craziness. In a flash, Danny grabbed the remote and threw it toward his best friend.
"OW!" It hit him right on the side of the head inches from his temple with a big thud. He jerked and clutched his head. He finally, fully turned to Danny, a bit slower now, then shot dagger eyes at him. "Fuck . You . Danny."
"I won't leave you. No matter what." Danny Fenton declared solemnly then broke into an annoying smirk.
"Fuck. You." Tucker hissed in pain, still holding his injured head. "Fuck you, Danny."
"I just wanted to make a point." He crawled forward and Tucker would have eased back if it weren't for the burning agony. His palms glowed and he raised it in level with Tuck's head. His best friend looked worried but his glare at Danny wasn't diminishing.
"You made a fucking hill on my head." Tucker gritted his teeth but he removed his hand and let Danny form a cold compress with his palm.
A second later, the bump was gone. Not even a hint of red and purplish skin left.
"You're fucking insane, man." Tucker shoved Danny.
"And awesome, man. Awesome. Don't forget about that part." Danny laughed as they shoved each other. He injected a little dose of supernatural strength as he gave Tucker the last 'push' and his best friend almost toppled off the bed if not for Danny's hand that grabbed him.
They froze in mid fall but the sheets slipped and both of them hit the floor face first. They recovered laughing.
"You've proven your point." Tucker grinned and clamped Danny on the shoulder.
Danny nodded and pulled Tucker toward him. He executed the one-arm, man-embrace.
"I'm your best friend, Tuck. Nothing's going to change that."
A/N: Thanks to MarkTheTinyGiraffe, Thedarkgirl1121 and Lightning Streak for the previous chapter's reviews. I'm not going to get tired of saying, I really appreciate it! Because I really do.
Thank you for reading! Every review brightens my day!
~T.E