I can smell something cooking before I leave Alex's bedroom but I spend longer than necessary replying to a text from Kwan just to avoid the both of them for as long as possible. Eventually, the smell drags me out of Alex's room and I enter the kitchen again.

Alex is standing in front of the stove, whistling quietly to whatever's playing out of a radio he has set up on the counter next to him. Anastasia's beside him, slathering butter onto an obnoxious pile of biscuits. She looks up when I step into the room and gives me a grin.

"You look more awake now," she says, stepping over to the table to set the plate down. She nods toward an empty chair on one side. "Have a seat, breakfast'll be finished in a second."

I don't know if she's lying just to keep me from having to help but I take a seat, automatically sliding my phone out of my pocket to have something to fiddle with. There's no response from Kwan yet but there is one from Danny.

From: Danny Fenton

If I had a free day, I'd just spend it sleeping ;p

On an ordinary day, I'd probably want the same thing but I slept like a rock almost all night. It'd feel kind of pointless to sleep any more. Instead of sleeping, I could probably get some of my homework done… though I'm sure there are plenty of better things I'll get around to instead.

"Am I allowed to work today?" I ask, glancing up from my phone to look at Alex.

He pauses in his whistling but continues to stare down into the frying pan before shaking his head. "No. I don't want you under a car today. Or tomorrow, either," he says, glancing up when I start to argue. "Seriously. No."

I groan, looking at my phone again as he turns back to the food. It's not like I was seriously hurt, it was just a small scrape. After a second or two of silence, he starts whistling again and I tap out my response to Danny.

Anastasia sets three plates on the table along with a fork and drink for each of us. I occasionally glance up at her as I write and rewrite my response to Danny before eventually just pressing send. I chew on my thumbnail as I watch the message appear on the screen, already wondering what his response is gonna be.

To: Danny Fenton

I may actually get shit done. Fuck my homework though, I'm not interested in that at all

Alex starts dividing the food between the plates and I slip my phone into my pocket before either of them can ask who I'm texting. Anastasia teases Alex about how much food he gives himself versus me and her and he elbows her away from stealing bacon off his plate.

They argue over who did more work and therefore deserves more bacon as they settle down to eat and it's so surreal to watch them. Whatever the hell they were talking about before I got in the shower seemed so serious but they're just elbowing each other and laughing like it was nothing. And hell, maybe it was nothing. Maybe I overheard something that's so awful, I can't even begin to imagine what it is. Or maybe I overheard something simple and I'm worrying over nothing. I won't know until Alex tells me and I doubt that's gonna be any time soon.

I clear my throat and fix them both with a grin when they look my way. This situation might be completely surreal but I like the feeling of being around them when they're like this. When it seems like the biggest problem in their lives is deciding who gets to eat the bigger portion of breakfast.

"If anyone deserves extra bacon, it's the guy who almost caught a car with his skull," I say with a laugh as they start arguing again. This might be surreal as fuck but for now, I'll take it if it means they both keep smiling the way that they are.


Alex deems me okay enough to go home and I end up leaving not long after we finish breakfast. As nice as it is to be around them, I don't want to overstay my welcome. Even though I know they would never make me feel like I have to go home, I still like to get the hell out of there before that happens.

The house is in the same state I left it in and when the door sticks as I try to open it, I decide what I'm doing today. I shouldn't have to fight the damn door just to get inside the house. If Alex won't let me work at the garage today or tomorrow, I might as well take today to get some other shit done.

It only takes me about twenty minutes of searching the internet to figure out what tools I'll need to change the lock. I double check some of the information and grab my wallet before heading out of the house again.

No one's really on the road so getting to and from the local hardware store is pretty easy. I'm back at my house before noon and I start working immediately, wrestling the old lock off and putting the new one on. It works like a fucking charm and I'm ridiculously proud of myself.

After I spend a few minutes twisting the key in and out to make sure it actually works, I pull my phone out and open snapchat. I take a photo and send it off to Danny, captioning it, 'be impressed with my lock changing skills.'

I move into the kitchen and wash the few dishes I left in the sink on Sunday, even putting in the effort of drying them and putting them away. Normally I'd just leave them lying on a towel to air-dry but I'm feeling unusually productive right now. No telling how long it'll last but hey, I'll go with it for now.

My phone vibrates on the counter as I put the last plate away and I pick up the device, glancing over Danny's response with a grin. He's sent back a photo of the lunchroom, with a circle drawn around the table my teammates are at. His caption is, 'ur not here and I feel awkward asking to sit with them'.

I don't really like the idea of Danny eating alone but it might be better than him hanging around my teammates without me there. I can't exactly jump in and stop them if they start acting like idiots. I almost offer to meet him for lunch instead but I don't, simply responding with a photo of myself sticking out my tongue without a caption.

As soon as I ditch the towels in the laundry basket, I leave the house again, admiring my handiwork on the lock before I do. I consider cleaning my room before I go but I tell myself that I'll take care of it when I get home. I need to get the key copied first. I don't know when dad plans on coming home again but I doubt he'll appreciate it if he can't even get in the door when he does.

It's not really my problem to worry about but I'm getting a copy of the key regardless. I don't know if I want dad to come home soon or not but I try to pretend that I don't. As long as he stays gone, I don't have anyone to check in with, I can just come and go whenever I want. Part of me tries to pretend that the thought of that doesn't make me feel so fucking lonely.


Danny and I spend most of the day snapchatting and it's around four thirty when I get the balls to invite him over to my place to study. I've never offered for him to come over before cause it just made more sense for me to go to his place after practice rather than him waiting around for me. But I could really use his help tonight.

His response is almost immediate and I'm trying to decide what the hell he means with the one emoji he responds with when another text comes through.

From: Danny Fenton

:(

From: Danny Fenton

I wish I could. Raincheck?

He doesn't offer an explanation why he can't and that bugs me more than it should. Ugh… of course he's not just waiting around to hang out with me. I wish we didn't have to raincheck at all cause I was actually looking forward to seeing him again but I'm not gonna be that pathetic, whiny friend.

I type back 'okay' before I decide to call today a success and head upstairs. I'll find something for dinner whenever I get hungry but for now, I'll binge on Supernatural and forget that I'm alone for however long it takes dad to show up again.


Whatever god or force that was looking down on me when I was at Alex's is still hanging around cause I'm out like a light by nine and I'm practically bright eyed when I wake up at five. I send Danny a couple of texts, hoping he's still sleeping, before I open up Kwan's conversation.

I text him about going for a run but he doesn't respond so I head out by myself. It's weird running without a partner but after a few minutes of silence, I turn on some music from my phone and it doesn't seem so weird anymore. I recognize the song playing but I can't name it. It has a decent beat so I leave it playing as I continue down my street.

No one's out at five in the morning and I'm more surprised by the fact that I am. I usually hate the mornings cause it means school but today, it doesn't seem like such an awful thing. At least when I'm at school, I'm around my friends.

I still don't know if Danny fits into that category and it's terrifying. I like girls. I have a girlfriend for Christ's sake. I don't like him like I do Paulina… he's just… not only a friend to me. He's special. Guys can have friends they're really close to, right? Then again, Kwan kinda staked claim on that long ago… fuck, none of this makes any sense.

After I've spent way too much time reflecting on my inner gay panic, I head home cause the clouds hanging overhead look ominous as fuck. And the distant thunder sounds louder the closer I get to the house. The rain refuses to break and I have a feeling that it's waiting for the perfect moment.

I set the coffee pot on before I get into the shower, the warmth of the spray making me want to skip school for the second day. But once is already dramatic enough, I can't imagine what my teammates would say if I was out for more than a day.

Like I predicted, the rain starts as soon as I'm jogging out to my car, travel mug in hand. Thankfully, at the last minute I decided to grab my letterman jacket so at least I won't shiver my ass off in class. Even if the rain is determined to soak me to the bone.


No one's hanging around in the parking lot when I pull into a space cause the rain's coming down in sheets. My coffee is still hot and there's over half of it left so leaving it in the car isn't exactly my first choice. But whenever I run with my travel mug, I'm always focused on that instead, trying to make sure that nothing spills out of the little fucker while I'm hauling ass. My only other option is to casually stroll up to the front doors and pretend like getting drenched doesn't bother me. It saves me from having to run so that's the option I go with.

One of the doors swings open before I'm close enough to reach for the handle and Jeff's hanging on the inside of the door, holding it open for me. He grins when I jog up the steps and he ushers me inside as soon as he can.

"Dude, you're fucking soaked," he says with an overzealous grin. Way to state the obvious.

I roll my eyes and flick some of the water onto him and he jumps away, flipping me the bird as he does. Star laughs, making a few teasing remarks to Jeff, and I sweep my gaze around the hall before I turn back to her.

"Paulina not here yet?" I ask, taking a sip from my travel mug. I don't know if I'm ready to see her yet but things between us have been good. And as long as I don't think about the fact that I might possibly have feelings for anyone else, then everything'll be fine.

Star slides her hand into Jeff's before shaking her head. "Nope. She told me last night that she might be running late." She leans her head on Jeff's shoulder with a sigh and he turns his head just far enough to kiss her. I guess they're no longer denying the fact that they're together and I smirk at Jeff when he looks up at me.

I turn away from the PDA going on and sip from my mug again, looking around the hall. A lot of my classmates are here already and I catch sight of Danny down the hall. I don't think I've ever seen him wear a baseball cap before but he's donned a light blue one today. His NASA t-shirt is clinging to his skin from the rain and I try not to focus on how good it looks on him.

Danny doesn't notice me until I'm standing next to him and I lean against the locker beside his. "Yo." I take another gulp of coffee and he turns his head in my direction. I can tell he's smiling by the tone of his voice but he doesn't look up any higher than my chest.

"Hey, how'd you sleep?" he asks, his voice soft on the question. I guess that's gonna become our thing now since we both suck at sleeping.

I shrug, turning so my back is against the locker. I lean my head against it too but glance toward Danny after a few seconds. "Really great actually. I don't know what kind of force is looking out for me but I was out like a light last night," I pause to sip from my mug before I continue. "Tuesday night, too. I'm sure Alex would say it's cause I almost died."

Danny laughs softly, shoving a few things into his locker. It doesn't take me long to recognize that his fingers are trembling just slightly with each of his movements and I have no clue why he's shaking now. I usually don't know why I'm shaking when I do either and I don't know if it's okay to mention it if he doesn't bring it up first but…

"You okay?" I ask, making sure to keep my voice soft when a group passes by us. It's no one's business but Danny's why he's shaking. If he decides to tell me, I'm not letting some jerk-off overhear us and risk somebody giving him shit for it.

He shrugs, pulling something out of his locker. He pauses, running a finger down the spine of the textbook once before dropping it to the bottom of his bag. I don't know if there's any way that I can help him but I'm willing to try. Anything to stop him from trembling as he moves.

"I don't think Alex is gonna let me back at the garage until sometime next week," I say, sipping coffee again. I've only seen Alex that freaked occasionally but I guess it was more obvious this time cause I almost kissed the underside of that car. Ugh, I doubt he'll let me around the garage for the rest of the week.

"Can't say I blame him," Danny responds. He wrestles something out of his locker and a pencil drops to the floor. We both kneel down at the same time to get it and for once I'm barely paying attention to the fact that my fingers brush by his. Because the state his face is in stops me from focusing on anything else.

We're frozen for a few seconds, staring at each other as I take in the dark bruises littered on his face and the small scrape along his jawline. He avoids holding my gaze but doesn't turn away from me. I can't stop staring at the damage that's been done to him. I don't give a shit who did this to him, I want to deliver the same to them.

Danny breaks our staring contest and rises to his feet again, his hand around the pencil. "It's not as bad as it looks," he says, ditching the pencil in his bag. He goes back to rummaging around in his locker and I'm at a loss for words. I don't know what to say or even what I should say. I didn't have any words when I saw the bruises painted across his chest and stomach when we were at the beach together and I sure as hell don't have any now.

He continues moving stuff from his locker to his backpack and vice-versa while I'm left trying to figure out how to talk again. I don't know what to tell him or what to ask and I wonder if this is how Kwan feels every time I come to school with my face all busted to hell.

I don't know why I do it but when Danny turns toward me a little, I put one hand on the side of his face. He meets my gaze instantly and a shaky breath leaves him. I've always been shit with words and right now isn't any different. I'm not suddenly over my inability to say the right thing or anything at all just cause Danny looks like he's gotten the shit kicked out of him.

Danny's breath hitches when I move my hand a little higher, cupping his ear and cheek in my hand. He blinks once, his bottom lip disappearing between his teeth. Oh fuck, I want to feel that lip between my teeth. I don't know what I feel about guys in general but I can't fucking deny it anymore. I want Danny, regardless of the fact that he's a guy and I don't like guys. I like Danny and I don't care what that makes me.

"D-Dash…" he whispers, his eyes finally closing. I should pull away from him but I don't. I can't.

My other hand is clenched around my travel mug but if it wasn't, I'd put that on him too cause fuck, I hate how bruised he looks. I hate that something happened and he can't talk to me about it. I want to know what's going on with him even if it's fucking awful.

There aren't a lot of people in the hall but those that are have noticed us now and the only reason I put distance between us is cause I don't want their attention on Danny for too long. It's none of their fucking business what happened to him.

A couple of girls are darting glances between me and Danny but they hurry down the hall when I shoot them a look. I don't want anyone stopping to talk to either one of us. Danny doesn't need anyone staring at him and I probably just made it worse for him.

"Before you say anything, no. It wasn't either one of my parents," Danny says, stooping to grab his backpack. He slides a binder out of his locker door before shutting it. He spins his locker combination and slings his backpack onto his shoulder before he meets my gaze again. He offers up a shrug and starts down the hall and I can only follow after him.

Danny stops beside a classroom door before turning back to me. He clutches the binder to his chest with a sigh, shaking his head as he looks away from me. "Seriously, Dash. I can already tell where your mind's going and trust me, I'm fine. I'm more than fine, okay? I promise, it has nothing to do with my parents." He looks back at me when he stresses the part about his parents and I can't tell if that's because he wants to make sure that I get it or if it's cause he's lying.

"Then who did this to you?" I blurt out before I've thought it through. He hasn't brought up who it is, only tried to clear his parents name. If he wanted me to know, he would tell me. He doesn't want me to know, he-

Danny sighs, dropping his gaze to the ground. "I can't… really explain…" he trails off and looks down the hall. He bites his lip for a few seconds and the silence eats at me. His face looks fucking awful and I can't take it. I can't handle the thought of anyone hurting him.

"Does it have anything to do with stopping that car?" I ask, my voice low with the question. He instantly looks back to me and his eyes are widening as he shakes his head. Bullshit. If the state of his face had nothing to do with what happened at the garage, he wouldn't look so freaked at the mention of both.

I should really fucking learn at some point not to push Danny because he already distanced himself once but I can't stop myself.

"You can tell me, you know," I say, placing my hand on the wall he's standing in front of, my palm just behind his head. I'm suddenly reminded of how similar this is to the way shit went down after I drove him home from the beach. "I'm not… trying to scare you."

Danny shakes his head, drawing in a staggered breath as he collapses against the wall. He keeps looking up at me and shaking his head before dropping his gaze back to the ground. I don't know what to say or what to do in the silence but I don't want to see him go away again. I don't want to push him. Not just cause I'd miss the fuck out of him but cause I can't do that to him. Not a second time. He deserves better than someone that pushes for answers, so I stop.

I drop my hand from the wall and take a step away from him. He looks like he's breathing easier but he also looks confused, his brows furrowing down as he looks up at me. I give a shrug in response and fidget with my coffee cup before I speak. "S-Seriously, you can tell me anything… at any time."

He doesn't say anything at first and I mentally repeat what I just said back to myself. It doesn't sound too awful, it's just… ugh, anyone else probably would have said something better. It's not like he needs to hear who he can talk to. He already has people he trusts. Like his friend, Tucker. I'm sure he tells that guy everything.

"You…" Danny looks up at me when he speaks but something stops him from finishing whatever he was gonna say. Instead, he just exhales out and gestures toward the classroom. "I-I should probably just get ready for class."

"Yeah, okay," I reply, taking another step away from him. He holds my gaze for a few seconds before he steps closer to the door. Neither one of us bring up the fact that the bell hasn't rung or that most of the teachers aren't even in yet cause of the weather. We just go our separate ways with promises to see each other at lunch. I can only hope that I manage to not ask questions then too. Pushing Danny away is the last thing I want to do but… I have to know. What the hell is so bad he has to hide it from everyone?


A/N:

Helloooo readers! Welcome back to another week of this angsty shit

If you don't normally read my author's notes (no judgement, they can get quite lengthy), you should read this one.

So. Remember a few weeks back when I said that a couple of chapters should be read as one instead of two separate chapters? Well… I gave this fic a lot of serious thought and decided that the best thing to do was to rearrange the chapters until the events were less spread out. So, instead of getting 3-4k length updates, you'll get 7k-14k+ chapters.

I decided to go this route when I realized that some chapters were over 10k words while others were barely 2k. The lack of uniformity was really crushing me and I feel a million times better now that all the chapters are relatively the same length. (The only downside to this is that I probably won't post as often.)

For reasons I can't discuss yet, chapters 45 and 46 are still fairly short – but after that the chapters get longer and longer. (I'll definitely talk about why I didn't touch these two chapters when I update with 46 cause holy crap, you guys are definitely gonna wanna talk about that one ;P)

Now… about this chapter… [coughs] Any speculations as to Danny's bruises? And I know how much you all love stubborn!Dash so I had to give him some time in this chapter ;p (feel free to rant about that to me lmao your thoughts are always great to read)

Secondhand Serenade's "Fall For You" was the inspiration behind this week's title. I wanted to find something that represented Dash pulling back from Danny, in the sense of "I'm not gonna push him anymore" cause the quarter-back is finally taking the hint that if he pushes Danny, he might as well be talking to a brick wall. I don't know if this song sums up that feeling that well but I also think it's a very Stay song anyway so, there you go.

Thank you for reading this week's update. Your continued support means the world to me. I'll see all of you next chapter! (Follow my tumblr jaeger-soul for updates about this fic in the weeks I don't post)