Upon returning to the dorms after the holidays, Danny was immediately ambushed by Krystal and Ralph in his room.

"Soooooo, I saw your Snapchat stories," she smirked from her position on his bed. "Got all cozy with your fancy pants on, I see."

Danny busied himself with his suitcase and all of his extra clothes. Vlad went all out with his new wardrobe and insisted he'd take it back to campus. "Yup," he said, emphasizing the 'p' with his lips.

"Was it nice with your fancyman?"

Danny looked up sharply. His hands tensed, gripping his new shirt. "Okay, how did you know I was with him? I was discreet about it in my photos."

Krystal and Ralph shared a smug look. "We took a nice little tour around the place at the Christmas party. We're quite familiar with his castle."

The look on Danny's face was disturbed. "Did you guys fuck in every room or something?"

"Not every room," Ralph said. "Just a couple."

"Like the kitchen where you posted that ice cream Snap," Krystal added.

"Dude, we ate there!"

"Sorry."

"No, you're not," Danny rolled his eyes. He shoved his jacket into the little closet by his bed. "I don't know what I expected, honestly."

Ralph shrugged. "Don't ask if you don't wanna know next time."

"That should be the official disclaimer for our friendship."

Krystal smiled and rolled over in Danny's bed, hugging the pillow close to her body. "So, did you enjoy your time with him?" She asked gently. "Was it everything you hoped for?"

At this, Danny stopped and leaned against the bedpost. He should've complained that it was a rough ride, filled with angry parents and a disappointed sibling and a fight with his old friends just around the corner. But all he remembered was Vlad's lips curved into a smile as they wandered through the streets while doing last-minute Christmas shopping. The spicy cologne Vlad wore as he hugged Danny closer on new year's. The scratchiness of his goatee against his cheek as they kissed. The warm weight of his fingers in his hair.

"Yeah," Danny smiled softly. "I had a great time with him."

It was the best Christmas vacation he had in a while.

Danny's head was swimming in anxiety as he stared at the text from Sam.

Hey liar, want to tell me why the fuck are you at Vlad's place?

His grip on his phone tightened as a shuddering sigh passed through his lips. Arguing with Sam always gave him premature heart palpitations, the same conditioned response he'd have before going into battle in his ghost form.

If pushed, he'd rather pick the latter. Talking with his fists was just so much easier.

He went to go sit down in front of his laptop. Ralph was in class, which meant the room was all his for the next hour and a half. Danny braced himself and hit the call button in their private chatroom. Like ripping off a band-aid. Quick and easy.

"Hey."

Sam looked stone-faced. "Hey."

Tucker looked like he wanted to die inside. "What's up, Danny? How you've been?" He said weakly.

"Ah, yeah, I've been okay," Danny said and swallowed nervously. "Missed you guys though."

"Did you?" Sam snorted in derision. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

Danny barely suppressed a groan. "I guess we're getting right into it then."

"It's just a little unexpected, Danny," Tucker tried to explain gently. "I mean, you told us you were too busy to come home."

"Oh yeah, I bet he was busy, alright," Sam mumbled.

"Sam, please," Danny begged. "Can we not with the passive aggressive tone? I get it, I'm in the doghouse. I feel bad enough already."

"Good. You should feel bad," Sam frowned, her voice harsh and unforgiving. "You've never lied or flaked on us like this, and every time you do, Vlad's involved. What's going on between the two of you, Danny?"

Danny opened and closed his mouth, the words stuck in his throat. Was this a sign? Danny wondered, the urge to say the truth clawing at his brain. Sure, maybe the circumstances could've been better. Maybe Danny could've chosen a day where Sam didn't look like she was about to flay him alive. The words churned in his gut, threatening to spill over. He wanted so badly to just be out with it. Be an honest man with himself for once. He could practically taste the impending fallout, like equal parts of relief and dread. This wasn't something Sam and Tucker could just accept and get over. He should. He shouldn't-

"We're dating."

Or that. That works too.

For a full ten seconds, the chat was so quiet that Danny thought the program froze. Sam and Tucker both stared back at him, wide-eyed and mouths agape. Then...

"I beg your fucking pardon?"

Danny was frozen to his seat. "Uh, yeah," he said and cleared his throat. "Yeah...Vlad and I. We're dating."

Oh. That felt good to finally say.

"Dude," Tucker said softly with an unreadable expression.

Sam busted out laughing. It sounded cruel and grating to Danny's nerves. "You're so stupid, Danny." She shook her head, her shoulder quaking from hysterical laughter. "All of the lying and the excuses and defending him. All of this is because of a stupid little crush? Aw, did Vlad say the right words? Showed you a good time? Fulfill your daddy issues by being a stand-in?"

Danny narrowed his eyes, which were turning an impressive shade of green. "Shut the fuck up, Samantha."

"No, fuck you, Daniel," Samantha seethed. "I swear to God, I never thought you would stoop so low to be his personal boot-licker. I bet he has you practically trained at this point, since you're so in love with him. Just what is this hold he has on you?! What?!"

Danny's knuckles were white as he gripped the table. "Don't you dare demean our relationship like it's nothing-"

"A relationship?" Sam said incredulously. "You think what you have with him is a relationship?"

"Yes, Sam!" Danny roared. "We like each other. We agreed to date. It's what people do all the fucking time!"

"He's using you!" Sam yelled. "The man's twice your age with years of experience and more money youcould ever dream of. What would someone like him even see in you?!"

"Wow."

"Is this about your ghost powers?" Sam pressed. "He found a new way to keep you on the hook, didn't he? What, threatening you didn't work, so he's using sex as bait? He fucked you to keep you going back for more?"

Even Tucker looked shocked at that comment. "Sam! Too far!" He interjected.

Danny's fringe fell forward, engulfing his eyes in shadow. He was beyond furious. He was now pure spite. "You know what, Sam?" He said softly. "Maybe he did fuck me. Maybe I liked it-"

Tucker made a choking sound in his throat. "D-Danny!"

"-Or maybe I just like spending time with him way more than I ever did with you. Maybe he gets me. Maybe I like that about him. Maybe he doesn't fucking judge me every time I go off script and act a little less predictable. Maybe I like that. Maybe I want that, and you would've known that if you spent more time talking to me than talking at me." Danny's voice was cold like steel. "But at the end of the day, is it any of your goddamn business who I date?"

Sam and Tucker were struck speechless.

"Danny," Tucker said and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Sam's just being-she didn't mean it like that. But a-are you sure that you're not...y'know, being influenced?"

Danny wanted to scream. "No, Tuck," he exhaled sharply, urging himself to calm down. "Vlad's not brainwashing me. I'm aware of the choices I'm making. I know what this sounds like-"

"Do you?!" Sam hissed. "Do you have any idea what goes on in his head? He claimed to like you, so you just accept it?! How do you know he's not doing this because he wants Phantom?"

"I-" Danny gritted his teeth. His blood pressure at an all-time high with Sam's accusations flying into his ear, distorting this precious little secret he was brave enough to tell. Crushing the warm feeling in his chest whenever thoughts of Vlad surfaced in his mind. Destroying them. "I just-"

Vlad kissing his forehead because it was so easy to reach. The scratchiness of his goatee on top of his head because he liked to hold him like that.

When you're ready to tell your parents about Phantom, I'll tell them about Plasmius.

Snow in their hair as they walked down the street, the breaths of their laughter fogging up the air. Vlad's hand on the small of his back, the crook of his arm, around his shoulders. Always touching him.

I'd do anything for you.

Vlad joking and kissing him within the span of one conversation. Sending his pulse sprinting with a smile. Holding him close all the time, in every way. Possessive, protective, gentle. I love you, I love you, I love you.

Daniel, you are it for me.

"I just know," Danny said quietly. "I just know, Sam."

Silence. Tucker shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

Sam shook her head. The light on the screen illuminated the features on her face. She looked tired. "I don't believe you," she said softly. "He can't-Danny, he's not a good person."

"It's not that simple, Sam," Danny frowned. "Vlad is...He's more than you think he is."

"How can you say that?" Sam balked at the idea. "He hurt you."

"And I've hurt him back too many times to keep score," Danny argued. "I don't want to do that anymore. Both of us...We've had enough."

"Maybe for you," Sam said. "You're not fourteen anymore, Danny. You can't afford to just call it quits, especially with what you can do. This doesn't stop just because you had enough."

It was Danny's turn to look tired. "I didn't ask to go into that portal, Sam," he said softly.

"Don't pretend you didn't like being the hero, Danny," Sam retorted and looked away. "I know you did."

"I know." Danny gripped his hands into the fabric of his jeans. "But I want to be more than that. I'm allowed to be more than that."

"Can you even afford to?" Sam said brusquely. From across the screen, Danny flinched. "Whether you like it or not, you have a target on your back. And I don't believe for a second that Vlad has your best interests at heart."

That. That hurt.

Danny crossed his arms in an effort to protect what's left of his feelings. "Are you done? Did you say everything you wanted to say?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "I said what I said."

"So did I."

The call was silent for a while.

"I guess...we're at a crossroads, Danny. This isn't something I can get over."

He didn't have the energy to keep fighting anymore. "I understand," he said curtly. Something about this conversation felt oddly final, but all he could feel was relief.

Sam smiled bitterly, her finger on the 'end call' button. "Yeah, I bet you do," she said before promptly hanging up on an eight-year friendship.

Call ended. 20:37.

Time of death? 8:36PM.

[Tuesday, 9:19PM] Tucker: its a lot to take in...its giving me whiplash.

[Tuesday, 9:19PM] Danny: that's fair...its really fine tuck.

[Tuesday, 9:20PM] Tucker: sooo who else knows?

[Tuesday, 9:20PM] Danny: jazz. not by choice!

[Tuesday, 9:20PM] Tucker: oh shit...this is like a secret-secret...

[Tuesday, 9:21PM] Danny: yeah i really didnt think this through...

[Tuesday, 9:21PM] Tucker: u should probably up your snapchat game cuz its weak af.

[Tuesday, 9:21PM] Danny: bruh.

[Tuesday, 9:22PM] Tucker: its true youre terrible at hiding things...

[Tuesday, 9:22PM] Danny: lol.

[Tuesday, 9:22PM] Danny: are we okay?

[Tuesday, 9:22PM] Tucker: …

[Tuesday, 9:22PM] Danny: it's fine tuck you don't have to be okay with it.

[Tuesday, 9:30PM] Tucker: honestly...

[Tuesday, 9:30PM] Danny: yeah?

[Tuesday, 9:30PM] Tucker: I don't know how I missed it...

[Tuesday, 9:30PM] Tucker: I think you finally helped me put a finger on why your relationship with him makes sense...

"If your goal is to distract me from asking why you're so upset, then I have to say it's working," Vlad whispered, his hands shamelessly fitted over Danny's butt, tugging him nice and close.

"Shh," Danny hushed and smiled, his teeth gently scraping Vlad's lower lip. "No talking. More kissing."

Vlad was very on board with that idea.

They made out against the kitchen counters, desperate and fervent to make up for not seeing each other during the week. There was a little too much teeth for it to be entirely enjoyable, but neither of them had any complaints. Vlad eventually coaxed Danny into slowing down, just enough so he could walk the younger man backward towards the dining room. He could totally do this without breaking their lips apart. He was that talented. More importantly, he wanted Danny on that table.

A slight bump of the table edge against his hip made Danny pause. Reluctantly, he pushed Vlad away just enough to turn and look at the piece of furniture.

"What is it?"

"I would...clean some of the surfaces before you put me on them." Danny winced as he recalled the conversation with Ralph and Krystal. It was amazing how gross those two could be. "They may have already been used for nefarious purposes, if you know what I mean."

Vlad was silent for a moment as he put the pieces together, and then gave a frustrated sigh. "Daniel, tell your friends this is my house, not a brothel."

Danny just laughed nervously.

With the mood thoroughly broken, Vlad eyed his furniture suspiciously and dragged Danny into the adjacent greenhouse instead. It was a long and narrow part of the mansion, more of a never-ending walkway than a real room. Vlad had it designed and integrated into the house when he was going through a life crisis in his mid-thirties, an existential panic so rattling that it could only be soothed by accumulating and nurturing an insane number of plants. It worked. Somewhat.

It really was beautiful. The afternoon light streamed in through the glass windows, dusting the greenery with beams of sunshine. If Danny squinted, he could see soft particles floating through the air, weaving in and out of the wintery sunlight. Outside, snow flurries fell sparingly onto the ground, but it was warm behind the glass and in Vlad's arms and Danny felt at peace for the first time in a week.

He walked slowly, enjoying the tranquility of this small piece of preserved evergreen. One of his arms was wrapped around Vlad's waist closely while the other one reached out to pet the soft petals of a rare orchid. "Can I confess something without you judging me?" Danny asked, his gaze fixated on the violet shade of the petals.

Vlad gave a raised eyebrow in response, as if to confess that he would be last person on Earth permitted to judge anyone about anything. Danny huffed out a quiet laugh.

"You know what I mean," he said softly. There was a pause. "Sometimes, I wish I never got these ghost powers."

Vlad watched Danny patiently, silently giving him the space to continue.

"Just sometimes," Danny shrugged. His fingers brushed against the glossy leaves of a Calathea. "When I miss having my old life, y'know? A life where I can make my own choices and mistakes, and it's totally fine because no one really notices."

Vlad nodded. "You don't like people projecting their expectations onto you," he said.

Danny frowned thoughtfully. "I thought I did once," he said. "Because it's like, 'hey, I expect this from you because I care and I know you can do it'. It was nice, especially since mom and dad didn't really expect anything from me. It made me feel useful. Like I mattered."

From beside him, Vlad tightened his grip on Danny's hip.

"But lately, I've been feeling suffocated," Danny said and laughed to himself. "What a problem to have, huh, Vlad? Complaining about people expecting things from you because you're capable."

Vlad stopped abruptly, his hands coming up to grasp both of Danny's arms. He tugged the boy close to look at him. Really look at him. "Just because you're capable, does not give people the right to expect anything from you," Vlad said firmly. "Right or wrong, your choices are yours."

Danny gaped at him, opening and closing his mouth as Vlad's words wiped his mind blank. It did feel reassuring to hear those words out loud, like a mountain that refused to yield to the storm of doubt in his mind. Vlad had packed such confidence into those words, into him, that it was hard not to hear them and not feel encouraged. And yet, a smaller, uglier part of him reared its head and extended its sharp little claws, tearing into his affections for the man in front of him.

Oh. Danny's eyes widened. He was jealous of Vlad.

"I guess, it was always easy for you, isn't it?" Danny wondered out loud. "I mean, you've never cared for anyone's expectations but your own."

There was a flicker of...something in those dark blue eyes, and then Vlad was shifting away. They kept walking through the garden, arms secured around waists and keeping each other close. Danny was reluctant to fill the silence, unsure of whether he touched a nerve with what he said. It was obvious that Vlad was keeping something from him, and for once, Danny wasn't sure if he wanted to push his luck and find out.

A sigh. "Sometimes, I get so angry I can watch the world burn and I know I would feel nothing," Vlad uttered quietly into the space between them. "So, perhaps it's good that I'm so dismissive of what people want from me. The less I care, the less angry I become. It hasn't always been the case in the past."

Danny glanced at Vlad, hoping the lull would prompt him to elaborate. But no luck. The man was done sharing, his wall built back up brick by brick.

"Vlad," Danny said, suddenly curious. "If you could trade everything right now for a normal life, would you do it?"

Vlad glanced at him. "Would you?"

"I-" Danny hesitated. "Hm..."

"Exactly," Vlad smiled. "There will always be days when you wish for normalcy. But then there are days when you're glad you're the exception. It isn't always an easy balance to maintain, Daniel."

"But don't you sometimes get sick of it all?" Danny asked and leaned heavily into Vlad's side.

Vlad just tugged him closer. "I do."

"And lonely?" Danny added quietly, digging his fingers into the folds of Vlad's sweater.

"Hm..." Vlad breathed and folded Danny into his arms again, keeping him close to his heart. "Yes. But it makes a world of difference with the right person by my side."

Danny flushed, pink blooming across his cheeks. "Yeah?" He asked, hope bleeding into his voice. Vlad leaned down to meet him, lips on lips. Winter could melt into spring. Summer could blend into fall. But they were evergreen. No matter what, Vlad hoped this –them- would never change.

"Yeah."

To be continued...