Game day.

It's the first thought on my mind when I open my eyes on Friday morning and it rides shotgun in my car on the way to school. It keeps my stomach tied up throughout my morning classes and I'm not sure why. I've never been nervous before a game. I've had my fair share of pre-game jitters and definitely during half-time when we're sucking ass but this is different.

Maybe it's because I know dad's coming tonight but my nerves are eating away at me and I can barely pay attention during my first few classes. I know biology is important to someone that wants to be a scientist or some shit but I just want to sleep so this is pretty useless to me.

Ms. Anderson calls on me twice because I'm not paying attention. After the second time, I think she gives up because I'm left to doodle in the margins of my notebook, not really hearing anything that's being said about the subject.

Every time the bell rings at the end of my classes, I'm the first one out the door and moving toward my next class. This is definitely more than pre-game jitters but I'm not panicking. I think this is just normal for someone about to play a game. Maybe…? Fuck, I don't know.

I sit with the guys at our regular lunch table and we're all discussing the game and everything. It's kind of making the whole nerves thing worse for me but I don't tell them that. No reason to bum everyone out.

The cheerleading team claims the table next to ours like they do every game day and then we're all talking. It's like nothing happened between Paulina and I as we both join in the conversation. We catch each other stealing glances at one another but I don't let my gaze linger on hers when they meet. I can't get caught up in that again. It's painful and we always somehow fuck it up. We're better off on our own. Or maybe that's just what I tell myself.


When algebra rolls around, my sadistic teacher decides to spring a pop quiz on us. It's really more of a test cause it has way too many questions but it's actually kind of easy. I don't know how the fuck I do it but I get through it alright. I'm the first one done and Jeff looks toward me with wide eyes, like he can't believe I'm already finished.

I shoot him a grin in response and carry my paper up to the desk. My teacher raises his eyebrows that I'm done already but he nods toward the door. I don't waste time getting back out into the hall. Last class of the day. Lancer's. As long as he doesn't assign us a paper, my weekend should be pretty fucking sweet.

There's only one other person in the hall and their head is bent low as they make serious tracks toward Lancer's classroom. It takes me a second of staring at their backpack to recognize all the space themed buttons tacked onto it.

"Hey, Danny!" I call out and he turns instantly. I hate the way his head ducks at the sound of his name and how his instant response is to clench his fists when he turns. Like some shitheads would call his name on purpose before doing something awful. Fuck, I still need to put a hurting on Blake for when he threw that ball at Danny's face.

His shoulders relax as I jog over to him. "Sorry man, I didn't mean to scare you."

Danny shakes his head, exhaling as he looks back toward the classroom. "It's fine," he blows out a breath and looks back toward me, raising an eyebrow. "Did you skip class or something? You're out pretty early."

I don't know why but I'm suddenly really fucking excited to share this news with him. "There was a pop quiz in algebra. I was the first one done with it." I know for a fact that he's the reason why I managed that but there's more to it than that. I kinda want him to be proud of me. "Pretty sure I aced that sucker."

It takes Danny a second before he realizes what I'm saying and then he's grinning too. "Dash, oh my god, that's great!" he says, stepping closer to me.

I'm not sure how it happens but I take a step closer to him and his arms slide around me as he laughs. I fit him against my chest and it feels right. Like he's the only person in the world I could never refuse a hug from. God, his arms wrapping around my back feels nice.

"I'm sure you did great, Dash, I'm so happy for you," Danny says, gently pulling away. He's quick to give me a smile and I guess we were both searching each other's face for signs that we overstepped. I can feel the heat on my face as I realize that for half a second, I was afraid he'd be upset with me for hugging him. I don't want to fuck this up so early. I guess we're kind of friends now. It's nice.

We make small talk about the game while we both wait for the class to end so we can go in. When the bell rings, I turn toward the door that opens immediately after the noise. Students file out and I lose track of Danny in the rush of them all.

Once everyone's filed out of the room, I start in, almost doing a double take when I catch sight of Danny already sitting at his desk near the front. How the hell did he get to his seat so fast? I could barely get through the door.

Danny looks up when I plop down next to him and I rest my forehead on my arms. Last night definitely wasn't the worst bout of insomnia but I wasn't asleep until almost two. A groan leaves me and Danny sits back in his chair.

"Something wrong?" he asks and when I turn my head toward him, he's angled his body toward me. He raises an eyebrow, sweeping his gaze up and down my frame. "You're not… sick, are you?"

I shake my head and exhale. There's still a few minutes until other people join us and even Lancer's exited the classroom. Probably to refill on coffee. If I were a teacher, I'd definitely fill up on the delicious caffeine after every period.

"No, I'm fine," I tell Danny and he seems hesitant to believe my answer. Whatever. It gets old saying I'm tired. Even if that's the truth and I'm really just fucking exhausted and nervous as hell that I'm gonna fuck up in the game tonight. I give him an over-zealous grin. "So, you excited about coming to the beach with us?"

Danny's gaze leaves mine and he sinks back in the chair. "I don't know if I will." He shrugs when I scoff. "Sorry. I just might be busy this weekend."

I sit up off my arms and he glances toward me at the movement. "Really? You weren't on Wednesday. Something change in the past twenty-four hours?"

He exhales and it sounds more irritated than I'm used to. He hasn't really gotten ticked off with me. Maybe a little at his house when I was trying to calm him down but other than that, he's been a hell of a lot calmer than I normally am.

"No, Dash," he puts emphasis on my name and turns toward me again. "Nothing's changed. I just don't know yet if I can make it. Besides… it's a football thing," he says like that decides it. He shrugs again and slouches in his seat.

"So?" I ask.

Danny rolls his eyes. "This is the first party after a game. I'm sure there'll be plenty others after this one and you're welcome to drag me to one of those." He looks away from me. "You should be with your friends after the first game."

I let out a breath that's a little shaky for no apparent reason. "You're my friend." I give him a hesitant smile when his eyebrows draw down. "And I may not know you that well but I still want you there. I don't give a fuck if you're not part of the football crowd, I'll make you part of it if that's what you want. Come on, I want you there."

He deserves a few days away. At least a night where he doesn't have to worry about the fucked up things running through his head. Or even what I've already put him through. This party's the perfect way to let him relax. No one to return to at the end of the night, just miles of sand to pass out on.

"You sure?" Danny asks, giving me a smile anyway. "I get pretty drunk from just a few beers. I don't want to ruin your night."

I roll my eyes. "Please. There's no way you're more of a lightweight than Jeff. Seriously, a sip of the shit gets him buzzed. You can't be as bad as him, trust me."

Danny laughs and he opens his mouth to say something else but his gaze darts past me. His carefree expression disappears and he looks away from me, seeming like he's gonna shrink in on himself. I hate the way sad looks on him and I turn to see what caused the change.

A couple of the guys from the team are making their way inside the classroom, messing around with each other and laughing loudly. Lancer's not back yet which means they're allowed to be as obnoxious as they want. Star and Roxane follow the guys in and I'm not sure which group is worse to put up with right now.

They both notice where I'm sitting at the same time and Jeff raises an eyebrow, immediately starting toward me. He claps me on the shoulder when he's near enough. "Lose your seat, Baxter?" he asks with a grin and feel bad for not returning it.

I shake my head, keeping my gaze on him, not letting myself look over my shoulder to see how Danny is. "Nah man. I'm sitting here today." I guess I should have expected a bit of surprise from the guys but it's actually the cheerleaders that get to me.

"What?" Roxane asks, practically stalking over to me. She glances between Danny and me before raising an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea what Paulina would say about this?" She crosses her arms and juts her hip out before continuing. "She'd kill you, Dash. You don't even remember what he did to her, do you?"

I can see Danny shrinking down in his chair out of the corner of my eye but I don't let myself look at him. I lean back in my chair and shrug. "Roxane, I really don't give a fuck what Paulina is gonna say about this." It only takes me a split second of hesitation to decide. "I'm guessing she didn't tell you that we broke up."

She narrows her eyes and scoffs. "You know what, whatever, I don't even care. Do whatever the hell you want to, just like always, Baxter." Roxane marches back to where we normally sit and plops down in a chair, digging her books out. I have no fucking clue how much Paulina's said to her but apparently, it's some shit about me cause she's way more pissed off than she has the right to be.

Jeff claps on me on the shoulder again, flicking his gaze toward Danny. "You sure you wanna sit here, man?" He nods when I do and passes by me to his chair. Blake joins him and Star passes by me with a questioning look. What-fucking-ever. I really don't care about this whole thing with Danny. What the fuck did he do that was so terrible?

I glance toward Danny and he's visibly shaking. His arms are so tense, he looks like he's about to explode. I want to say something to help him relax but I don't think there's anything I can do. His posture is rigid and I don't think he'd be as open to my shitty words of comfort as he was the other day in his kitchen.

Lancer breezes into the classroom and closes the door behind him. "Good afternoon, class. I trust you're all looking forward to the game this evening?" he asks, his eyes straying over me and my teammates. I don't know if he even goes to the games anymore but that kinda is the thing to do in this town. Maybe he's just bringing it up to make small talk.

A flurry of excited responses ripple through the room and the corners of Lancer's mouth quirk upward. "Good, glad to hear it. You'll all be writing on a timer today." He waits for the groans to pass before he nods with another smile. "I know, I know. Just be grateful I'm not giving you a paper to do over the weekend."

His gaze sweeps the room before landing on me. He smiles and beckons me forward. "Mr. Baxter, can you pass these out to everyone?" Lancer's gaze flicks above my head as he addresses the rest of the class. "Keep these papers face down until I tell you to flip them over."

I move through the room, sliding papers onto each desk I pass. I hand a stack to Jeff and even though he grumbles, he gets up and helps me pass them out. When we both return, I have two left – one for me and one for Danny. I deliberately touch his hand as I place the paper on his desk. It's hesitant and barely noticeable but Danny reacts to me. Not with his whole body and his head barely turns, but his eyes flick toward me. It's just a fleeting second but hey, at least he's looking at me again.

His gaze quickly drops to his paper when I give him a smile but by then, Lancer's started talking again so I force myself to pay attention.

"You may all flip your papers over." He waits for the rustling of papers throughout the class to die down before he speaks again, clasping his hands behind his back. "On your pages, you'll find each section numbered from one to three. You'll have fifteen minutes per section. At the end of each section, I'll tell you what to write in the next one."

Lancer walks around his desk again and slides open his drawer before sinking down in his chair. He scoots closer to his desk before extracting a timer from the drawer and sliding it shut again. "For section one, I want you to write about something you want to accomplish after high school."

He leans back in his chair and surveys the room, smiling at all of us. "You're all a bunch of bright, talented students. Write about your dreams, or your future career, or a great adventure you want to have after you've walked through these doors for the final time. Begin, you have fifteen minutes."

Lancer spins the timer and my classmates look down at their papers. I have no clue what to put down. What do I want to do after high school? Other than move out and keep my job at Alex's? Shit, I've got nothing to go on. I guess I could write about wanting to… well, shit, what do I write about?

I glance around the classroom and thankfully, everyone else is having difficulties with this too. Holy shit, what am I supposed to say? When I look to my right, I notice Danny's staring out the window, his gaze not focused on anything in particular. I wonder if he's thinking about what Roxane said. I don't give a shit what anyone thinks about him, he deserves at least the weekend off from everything.

A sort of eerie silence falls over the classroom as everyone begins to write out their dreams or aspirations or whatever the hell they're doing, but I'm left staring at the blank page. I rest my elbows against the desk and prop my head in my hands, staring down at the tiny number one, wishing it held the answers I just don't have in me. I've never had to think about my future, it's kind of always been set in stone. Moving out has been my only priority but I don't know if that works. Is that okay to put down?

My fingers hesitate when I grip my pencil again and I end up just tapping the tip against the line, waiting for something to come to me. Lancer said what we want to do after high school. Not what's actually gonna happen. Guess it can't hurt to dream a little.

After high school, I'll leave this town in my dust. Maybe I'll go pro with football, who knows? I could just play through college and start my own auto-garage after I've graduated. I could settle down after a while, start a family of my own… I have no idea where my train of thought is going so I stop. I consider erasing everything I've written cause no way am I ever accomplishing even half of that, but turning in a blank paper probably wouldn't go down very well with Lancer.

I don't know how long I spend staring at my words but it feels like the class should be over by the time the buzzer sounds. Shit, how has it only been fifteen minutes?

Lancer glances up at the noise and shuts it off, laying his book face down on the desk as he resets the timer. "For number two, what's one thing you want to have done by graduation day?" He hesitates a second before spinning the timer. "Put anything you want but keep it clean."

My classmates laugh and Lancer smiles, shaking his head before setting the timer down. "Your fifteen minutes start now."

I drop my gaze to my paper again, thinking over my options. I know what I could write. But fuck, I can't. I take a slow breath and catch Danny looking at me from the corner of his eye. When I glance his way, I'm surprised he doesn't immediately turn back toward the window. One corner of his mouth lifts a tiny bit and I think he's trying to encourage me. Fuck, is this as hard for anyone else?

Time passes slowly and I could swear on my life that it takes me the entire fifteen minutes to write my answer. When the timer finishes out again, I'm left staring down at five words, still warring with myself on whether or not I'm gonna erase them.

Stand up to my dad.

Lancer's talking again and I miss half of what he's saying. I glance up, trying to figure out what he said while my brain was on vacation but the timer's been set again and everyone around me is back to writing or staring down at their pages. I lean closer to Danny and he flicks his gaze up to mine.

"I-I missed the last one," I whisper, glancing toward Lancer. He's absorbed in his book again so I don't think he's paying us any attention. I'm just about to turn my head again but I feel Danny's breath on my neck as he leans closer. I don't know why but it makes me freeze.

"He asked what we thought would hold us back from our goals," he whispers, his breath hitting the side of my face. When he leans away, I can breathe again but it sounds a little strangled. He glances at me and I shoot him a thumbs up, effectively letting him know I heard him and that while it sure sounds like it, I'm not dying. Just really unsure of why the fuck my chest is pounding like I just ran a damn marathon.

I sit back in my seat and try to get my breathing back in check. It takes me probably half of our allotted time to even remember what the hell Danny said. What's gonna hold me back? Well, my dad could crush my skull and then death would hold me back. Or I could flunk out of high school and then bummer, I'd never get to go to college. But more likely than all of that shit? Sounds depressing as fuck but the only thing standing between me and hitting the road to get out of here, is me. I'll never let myself get as far as the interstate before my car's gonna be parked in front of Alex's, begging him not to make me go.

Shit, that's depressing. I can't put that. I can't actually write 'myself' as an answer, that's stupid. And Lancer'd probably accuse me of saying so just to get out of having to finish the assignment. I don't even know if I actually want to do any of the shit I put down, I can't really say that I'm not gonna achieve my goals if I'm not even sure that I want them.

The timer goes off and it's too late. I don't have another answer. I scribble my answer on the line and that's it. I'm the only one standing in the way of getting whatever the fuck I want out of life. Who knew my English teacher doubled as a fucking therapist?


When Lancer lets us free, Danny's the first one out the door. While my teammates are pretty quick getting to their feet, I move faster. I throw my backpack onto my shoulders and jog out of the door before anyone else can.

I start to call out to Danny but the breath is literally knocked out of me when Blake grabs me in a headlock, calling loudly down the hall about how our last first game is tonight. I try to shove him off but he's got a good hold on me. He can be so obnoxious when he wants to be.

Thankfully, Jeff is the next one out of the classroom and he gets Blake off me. "Let him breathe, man." He slaps my teammate on the shoulder and finally, I'm released. I draw in a breath and elbow Blake in the ribs. He laughs even though I know it had to hurt, and I jog after Danny.

He's spinning the combination of his locker and glances up when he hears my footsteps. I watch his shoulder slump as I approach him and he pops open the door to his locker, not bothering to look at me. "What?"

I slow to a stop beside him and lean against the lockers next to his, exhaling heavily. "Am I gonna have to keep talking you into coming with us tonight?" I shift my backpack, the strap digging into my shoulder. "Are you seriously gonna make me do that?"

Danny rolls his eyes, pulling something out of his locker. "I'm not making you do anything, Dash." He drops a pencil down into his backpack, open at his feet, and returns to digging into his locker. He spares a glance in my direction and shakes his head. "I told you. It's a football thing."

"So?" I hook my thumbs in the straps of my backpack, giving him a grin. "You can be my honorary cheerleader."

I'm surprised by the snort that leaves his mouth and he actually smiles, though he looks pretty begrudging. He exhales softly sliding a book about space into his backpack before swinging his locker door closed again. Danny locks it up again before zipping his backpack closed, swinging the latter onto his back with a sigh.

"Fine, I'll come." He rolls his eyes at the grin on my face and we fall into step beside each other as we head for the door. I don't know why I want him there so badly but something in my gut says he could use this break, same as me. Life just gets shitty sometimes and you gotta take a nice long weekend from it. Or in my case, get really fucking drunk and stop thinking for a while.

My teammates are already outside and Danny seems to slow his pace as we near them so I gesture to my car. "I'm heading home before the game. Eat my weight in chips." I grin when he laughs and we come to a stop where he's parked, two spaces down from where I'm at. "So, you still gonna come to the game, too?"

Danny nods, unlocking his passenger door and dropping his backpack on the seat. "Yeah." He slams the door closed again and crosses in front of his car. He comes to a stop by the driver's door and pushes his hair away from his face with an exhale. His gaze drifts out into the parking lot and it falls quiet between the two of us for a few seconds.

It's weird, but I don't feel the need to break it with him. I stare out where he's looking, trying to figure out what's running through his head. Is he thinking about this weekend and already regretting agreeing to come? Or is he thinking over what Lancer had us write about in class today?

Suddenly, he turns back to me, giving me a broad smile. "See you tonight, Dash." He turns to his car, opens the door and gets into the front seat. I move out of his way and he quickly backs out of the parking space. I watch the dust clouds settle down before I move to my own car.

Something tells me that this weekend is gonna be good for him. Help ease his mind, get rid of all the tension I can see lingering on his face every time we talk. And maybe it'll do the same for me. But first things first, the game.


A/N: Yoo! Thanks for reading this chapter, I appreciate it.

Woo-hoo, more Danny! I always love the chapters where he's in them more. Like, yeah this is Dash's story but most of the story is about him falling totally in love with the space nerd so like, I need more Danny. I'm guessing most of you guys feel the same way too.

So, Dash convinced the nerd to come on the beach trip and it'll be a good thing. Right? Heh, riiiight.

Any ideas on why the cheerleaders hate Danny? I'd love to know your thoughts, you know I enjoy reading those.

Warning for next chapter, I know nothing about American football and I won't pretend that I do. Despite extensive research, I'm still confused but I've done what I can? I don't know you guys, I tried. That's all I can say. Fair warning that next chapter is gonna suck majorly with the game parts cause my god, the sport is confusing.

Thanks for reading and reviewing, you guys make me smile!