It's almost three in the goddamn morning but I can't convince myself to go back to my room and get in the bed. I make up a thousand excuses about not wanting to wake my teammates or not being tired enough to sleep, but somehow, I convince myself to at least go back inside the hotel.

The receptionist at the desk gives me a funny look when she sees me and I do my best to ignore her. I pace through the lobby a few times before eventually heading for the elevator. I drum my fingers against my phone as I wait for the elevator and on the ride up to the floor my room's on. The nervous tension is still in my gut and I'm afraid it'll overtake me the second I lay down.

No one's in the hall before my room and I gaze at the number on my door for a few seconds, trying to psych myself up. It isn't until I try to twist the doorknob that I remember that I didn't grab the key on my way out. Fuck, I left the two copies of the key on the nightstand in between the bed Kwan and I are supposed to share and the one Jeff and Blake are sharing. Shit, I did that on purpose so no one would forget it if they got up in the morning before anyone else.

I debate on going back to the lobby and asking the receptionist for another copy of the key but I decide against it. She'll judge the hell out of me for losing my key already, even if I try to explain that I didn't lose the key. I just forgot to take it with me.

Coach's room is only a few doors down and I could go to him… he has another copy of the key… but it's so late at this point, he'll kill me for interrupting his sleep and not getting any of my own. I could say that I stepped out for just a minute and that I've been sleeping for a while… but fuck, no way he'll believe that.

There aren't a whole lot of options for me to choose from and I try to shove my pride away, considering the receptionist again while my gaze drifts aimlessly around the hall. The room across from mine is closed but I was in there just a few hours ago.

Danny. If anyone's awake, it'd be him. And he's not likely to either judge or scold me.

I tap my knuckles against the door softly, waiting in the silence for a few seconds before I repeat the noise. A small bit of rustling happens on the other side before it goes quiet again. I draw in a breath and hold it as I knock a little louder this time.

The door opens after a few seconds and I let out the breath I've been holding. Danny's standing in front of me, wearing only a pair of red plaid pajama bottoms, the tattoo on his right shoulder standing out in stark contrast to his bare skin. Holy shit… I didn't realize someone could be this fucking hot. Fuck, I really shouldn't be thinking that.

He rubs at one eye sleepily before it registers who I am. He drops his hand, a tiny yawn escaping him before a smile takes over his expression.

"Hey." He leans against the doorframe, his smile turning sleepy the longer he stares up at me. "What are you doing?"

Right now? Wanting to fucking kiss you.

"Uhh…" I scratch the back of my head way harder than necessary, trying to keep the flush from completely taking over my face. It's a lost cause and I end up having to look away from him before I can respond. "Nothing… really. Just couldn't… sleep."

Danny yawns again and I fucking love the way it sounds. God, I actually love the way something sounds coming from someone else. I love someone's fucking yawn. Not someone's. Danny's. Fuck.

"Hey, you okay?" he asks, putting a hand on my arm and it surprises me into looking at him. His eyes widen and he drops his gaze to my arm, his thumb gently grazing over my skin. "Shit, you're freezing…" He looks back up at me, his eyebrows drawn down. "Dash, are you okay?"

I push out a breath, feeling like it's the only thing I can do. There's still a fuckton of tension in my gut but it's not the same one from earlier. This is more cause I'm talking to Danny and I don't understand why the fuck I can't feel normal when I'm around him.

"I-I was outside," I mumble, unable to meet his gaze. I end up staring at his collarbones which isn't helping the situation. The tension is starting to pool lower and it'll be awkward as fuck if I get a boner just by staring at his chest. Fuck, don't think about his chest.

Danny's eyebrows are still drawn down as I flick my gaze away from him and I jerk my thumb toward my room. "Um… I kinda… forgot my key. I can't really… get back inside and I thought you'd be awake. S-Sorry, I-"

"It's okay," Danny says, putting a hand on my chest. Fuck, don't do that to me Fenton. He gives me a smile when I manage to meet his gaze before he drops his hand and takes a step back. "You're welcome to crash here."

He starts back into his room, leaving the door open for me. It's almost a full thirty seconds before I'm able to follow him inside and I softly close the door behind me. I lean against it for a few seconds, trying to get my breathing to sound less like I'm in the room with the boy I've got a fucking crush on.

"Do I need to set an alarm for you to be up by? I thought your coach said something about meeting in the lobby before breakfast." Danny glances over his shoulder at me, his hand already typing something on his phone. He raises an eyebrow and I realize I'm supposed to give an answer.

"Oh, uh… n-no, I've got one set," I mumble, holding up my own phone.

He glances from it back to me, a breathy laugh leaving him. He folds his arms over his chest, leaning his hip against the end of the bed. "Really? You remembered to get your phone but not your room key?" He laughs again when I shrug and leans away from the bed.

"Come on, just get some sleep and I'll tease you in the morning," he says, a certain look in his eye that lets me know he'll make good on that threat.

The last time I slept beside Danny was the day he took me to his place cause I couldn't handle school. I was thinking about touching him then and this time isn't any different. I get beneath the covers next to him and after a few minutes of rearranging and shifting around, we're both settled and I can finally feel my heart pounding. Danny's turned away from me and I'm on my back, staring up at the ceiling like it has the answers for me. Hey ceiling, how the fuck do I handle this crush?

Danny glances over his shoulder at me and the moonlight filters in through the window, illuminating his face for me. His eyes are fucking stunning and the gentle expression he wears is one I wouldn't mind seeing again and again and again. I want to wake up to that look and I want to fall asleep to it, too. I want every one of my days to begin and end with Danny. And I don't think I'll be happy with just wanting it… I have to tell him what I want or I may never get it. I don't want to live in a world where I don't get to hold Danny's hand or kiss his cheek or admire his fucking collarbones.

"Night, Dash," he whispers softly, holding my gaze as he smiles.

I wonder if I even have a chance with someone as beautiful and perfect as Danny. Someone that's so kind and sacrifices a bit of their sleep to let me into their room so I have a place to sleep too. Someone that sees me and doesn't think I'm a complete fuck-up. I'd give anything to have a chance just to tell him the shit that's running through my head but I don't know if I ever will. Cause I want him all to myself but I'm fucking terrified of losing him. And I don't think this will be the last time my fear keeps me silent.

"…night, Danny."


Something or someone really fucking loud drags me from sleep and I let out a groan as I open my eyes to stare up at the ceiling. I briefly glance toward Danny, trying to see if It's woken him up too, before I roll over onto my side, grabbing my phone to check the time.

My alarm isn't supposed to go off for another thirty minutes and a sigh escapes me as Danny's eyes flutter open. He blinks at me, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. Sleep is pulling at him and he groans softly as the noise starts up outside the door again. It sounds like everyone in the world is gathered in the hall and I shove the covers off me, swinging my legs off the mattress as I sit up.

"Whaa…cha doing?" Danny blearily asks.

I glance over my shoulder at him before I stand from the bed, stretching my arms over my head, feeling all the appropriate pops and cracks my joints make with the movement. I release a breath, shuffling forward a few steps before I respond. "I'm just gonna see what the fuck's going on."

Danny groans softly, his eyes falling closed when I look back at him again. I bite back the smile that's threatening to take over my expression and cross the room over to the door. I run my hand down my face, trying to wake myself up before I tug the door open.

Most of my teammates and a couple of the cheerleaders are standing in the hallway and they all start at the sound of the door. I glance between them and though they all exchange glances, none of them offer up any explanation as to what the hell they're doing. "What's up?"

Coach suddenly appears from down the hall, giving me a glare that holds most of hell's fury. I've been on the receiving end of that look before and right now, it kind of makes me want to crawl into a hole and die.

"Where the hell have you been, Baxter?" he demands, stopping in front of me with his arms folded over his chest. He apparently doesn't need an answer cause he keeps going. "Your teammates have been looking for you all morning, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Uhh…"

Coach waves me off like he doesn't want to hear my response. "If you're going to leave the room, text someone where you'll be so we don't have to create a damn search party to find one of my players!"

His shout bounces off the walls and more than one of my teammates duck their heads and wince. Almost all of them have had a little taste of Coach's anger this past season but I haven't fucked up like this since freshman year.

"S-Sorry, Coach," I mumble, rubbing the back of my neck.

He glares again, all of his frustration aimed toward me alone. "I don't want an apology, son. I want you to think before you act and remember that there are other people counting on you. Don't just take off like that without telling anyone. Where have you been?"

I glance back in the room toward Danny, who's now sitting up in the bed, watching the exchange. When I look back at Coach, I realize he's seen where I've been while everyone was searching for me and for some reason, it causes a jolt to run through my chest.

"Um… I stepped out of my room last night … a-and I forgot my key," I mumble, feeling my face heat up with the look Coach gives me. "D-Danny was still awake and he offered to let me stay with him." It's only half a lie. He did offer but I sort of woke him up first.

Coach exhales out, shaking his head as one hand reaches up to adjust his hat. "I don't care where you sleep, Baxter. But let someone know in the future or this'll feel like a polite conversation compared to the one we'll have next time."

He fixes me with a glare that makes me gulp and I quickly nod. He glances at the others gathered in the hall and claps his hands together. "Come on, do your primping and whatever else you need to do this morning. Asses downstairs in the lobby in fifteen minutes, now!"

My teammates part like the Red Sea for Coach as he storms off down the hall toward the elevators and slowly, everyone turns to look at me. For a second, no one says anything until Jeff starts cracking up.

"Dude, if you think that was bad, you shoulda heard what he was saying about you," he says, a shit-eating grin taking over his features.

Kwan comes from somewhere in the back of the crowd of my teammates, giving me a sympathetic smile as he stops next to where I'm standing. "Yeah… you really had him worried. I think he was imagining you passed out on a bar-stool somewhere or something."

"Nah, that's what he'd imagine if Blake was missing," Keith interjects, giving Kwan a smile when my best friend looks his way.

Blake flips us all the bird before his gaze drifts my way, his eyebrows drawn downward. "You crashed with Fenton last night?" He glances at the others gathered in the hall before he lets out a breath and flicks his stare toward me. "You know what people are saying about him, right?"

I couldn't give any less of a fuck about what people are saying about Danny. I cross my arms and lean against the doorframe, giving Blake my best attempt at a 'fuck you' stare. "No. And I don't care," I say, watching as he glances at the others again.

He scratches the back of his head before he shrugs. "Fine, whatever. But just so you know, everyone's probably gonna assume that you guys are fucking if they hear you spent the night in his room," he mumbles, rolling his eyes when I don't say anything. "But whatever. Have fun putting up with that."

Blake leaves us and I think we all breathe a collective sigh. Blake's a decent player but that's about as far as my teammates and I can tolerate him. His opinions about girls or food or life in general are usually horrible and I can only handle him in small doses.

Kwan's expression is almost unreadable but I can tell what's running through his head. Probably going over again how Danny let everyone think Jared was his ex-boyfriend so the attention wouldn't be on my best friend.

"I'm gonna take a shower. I'll be downstairs in a couple minutes," I say to my teammates, glancing Kwan's way. He meets my gaze for a second or two before he nods and slowly, the hall starts to clear. I step back into the room with Danny and push the door closed a little, hesitating a second before I turn around to look at him.

He meets my gaze for all of three seconds before he drops his stare to his hands, folded on top of the covers. He lets out a heavy breath. "Sorry…"

"For what?" I ask, crossing the room to grab my phone from the nightstand before I sit down on the edge of the mattress. When he doesn't respond, I offer up a shrug and glance down at my phone. "It's not your fault. Coach… is right, I probably should have said something."

I switch my alarm off and mourn the twenty minutes of sleep I lost before I open up my text messages. There's a couple unread ones from Kwan, asking where I am and letting me know that Coach is looking for me, along with two from Alex but the third one catches my eye. It's from a number I vaguely recognize as mom's.

The breath I push out is staggered and shaky as fuck and I don't know if Danny picks up on it but I barely pay him attention as I open the message.

From: Unsaved Number

Can you give this some more thought, Dash? Or is this your final decision?

Fuck, I can't breathe. I can't think about this right now. I have a game tonight. A shower I need to take. I can't give this more thought. She sent it just under an hour ago and if I don't respond now, I'll have to later. Fuck, I don't want to respond at all.

"I gotta…go take a shower," I mumble, getting up from the bed. Danny looks at me at the movement and I'm able to meet his gaze for a second before I jerk my thumb toward the door. "I'll… see you for breakfast?"

Danny slowly nods, his eyebrows drawing down as he watches me. I feel his gaze on my back all the way to the door and I glance back at him before I turn the handle and step out into the hall.

The door to my room is open a crack and I push it open fully, stepping inside. Kwan's on one bed, his 3ds in his hands as he stares down at the screen, his tongue poking out one side of his mouth in concentration.

He looks up when I close the door and briefly glances at his screen before setting his handheld to the side. "Hey," he says, leaning forward. I want to sit on the bed with him, tell him about the text from mom or the call last night or how fucking cute Danny looked in nothing but his stupid pajamas but I can't. I don't have time to waste talking about my shit again.

"I'm gonna take a shower," I mumble, crossing the room to get my bag from where I unceremoniously dumped it upon arriving in the room. I dig through it for a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, tugging a sweatshirt out along with it. The hotel is pretty warm but I'll be outside today at some point before the game and Livermore is already seeing the colder temperatures that Amity Park has been.

As soon as I'm alone in the bathroom, I tap out a response to mom and don't allow myself to think it over before I press send and get in the shower. I let the hot water and steam take away every single thing that's stressing me the fuck out. I don't let myself think about the way my heart pounds around Danny, or the game tonight, or the homophobic shit that Blake said, or my fucking mom. Even though my phone is sitting on the counter, waiting on a response from her. But fuck it, part of me hopes that she never responds.

To: Unsaved number

It's my final decision


Coach has all of us in the lobby as he runs us through the playbook a couple times to make sure that we're ready for this. He repeatedly says that if we're not back in the hotel lobby by 5, he'll skin whoever's late and make them into a rug for his office.

He looks pointedly at me when he says that last part and I guess he's still thinking about the makeshift search party they managed to gather while I was "lost." It's not like I expected anyone to be worried about me. I just wanted to sleep and I didn't want to have to wake anyone up to do it. Even though… I did end up waking Danny.

When Coach sets us free for the day, he calls out to me and motions for me to stick around. Though Kwan glances at me, he's easily distracted by something Keith is saying. He hurries off to follow our teammate and I watch his retreating back for a few seconds.

"You want to explain what the hell happened this morning?" Coach asks as soon as we're alone. He raises an eyebrow like he expects a serious reason why I wasn't in my room and he had to drum up a search party.

"Uhh…" I palm the back of my neck, trying to come up with something that'll convince him I'm not a total moron. "I… couldn't sleep last night s-so I went walking for a while and I just forgot my key. S-So… I ended up crashing with Danny and… well, yeah."

Coach gives me a look like he doesn't believe I'm really that stupid but I shrug and he huffs out a breath. He shakes his head, and his expression softens a little. "Dash… a lot of people are coming to see this game. To see you." Coach puts his hands on my shoulders, gently shaking me. "A lot of coaches, son. They want to be impressed and I want you to impress them too. But you've gotta bring your A game and slacking off is not the way to do it."

A lot of coaches are here just to see… me?

Fuck, even though Coach said otherwise, I thought DALV was the only college that was gonna be interested in me. How the fuck have I gained the interest of other places? Coach said he's been sending out tapes of me for months now but… how are they interested in me of all people?

"Are… there any here for anyone else?" I ask, wondering if anyone's approached Kwan yet. Or Keith. Dale. Someone that's been chasing after this instead of me. I never thought I'd get this kind of opportunity and yet… some of my teammates are pushing to get what I have. A chance.

Coach's eyebrows draw down. "Don't worry about your teammates, Dash. This is about you. And what you're capable of. When you're on the field today, give it all you've got and I know you'll impress them. Can you do that?"

I weakly nod, not sure why I suddenly feel that familiar tension in my gut. I want to impress the people that are here to see me play but… I don't know if I can. Or if I even want to. I still haven't decided if I'm taking this thing with DALV. It sounds fucking sweet but… leaving Amity Park? I only ever dreamed of that, I never considered it as a real possibility. And now that it's here… I have no fucking clue what to do with it.

"Attaboy," Coach responds, clapping his hands on my shoulders. He gives me a grin and I do my best to return it. Maybe after this game is over, I can talk to him about my options and try to figure out where the hell I go from here. And thank him for believing in me of all fucking people.


I still don't have a key to my room and no one's inside when I knock on the door so I head down the hall toward Danny's. I could text Kwan or Jeff but I don't feel like tracking them down. I feel like clearing my head and Danny's the easiest person to talk to. And… the only one I want to.

My knuckles tap softly against his door and it takes him about a minute before he appears. He smiles instantly and it makes me too. The tension is still in my gut and I feel vaguely like throwing up but it's finally starting to hit me that what Coach said is a good thing.

"Hey," I breathe, stepping inside his room when he opens the door wider for me. He closes it behind me and crosses over to the end of his bed.

"What's up?" he asks, tugging on his faded red Converse before he glances over his shoulder at me. "You wanna get some breakfast with me? Or are you going out with the guys?"

I slide my hands into my pockets and shake my head. "No, I'm… I'm totally free," I tell him, with far too much of a grin in my voice that he looks up at. I can't help it. He makes me happy. And the championship game is tonight. And coaches are coming to see me. And I feel like every-fucking-thing is falling into place.

He finishes lacing his shoes and I wait while he gets his phone. He checks over the screen, frowning at whatever's on it before he puts it away and looks up at me with a smile. "Ready. Are we taking your car?"

"Unless you like the idea of stealing a bus, yeah," I mumble, unable to hold back the snort at the look Danny gives me.

"Oh shut up. You and your teammates are never going to live that down." He rolls his eyes and pushes me toward the door, following me out into the hall. We pass by Dale, who nods at us, and Star, talking softly on her phone, before we're in the elevator.

Danny stretches his arms over his head and I hear every crack and pop his joints make. He drops his arms with a contented sigh and looks away from me, making it all too easy for me to watch him. He's got the same look about him that he did when we spent the weekend at Star's beach house all those months ago. He seems lighter somehow. Like he left every fucked up thing behind. In Amity Park. I know the feeling.

"So, I kinda want McDonalds," he says, catching me staring at him when he turns to look at me. I know my cheeks flush but other than a raise of his eyebrow, he doesn't say anything about it. "Is that okay with you or would you rather find somewhere else?"

"N-No, that's fine," I squeak out, tearing my gaze away from him. God, I can't believe he caught me staring at him like that. Like I want to kiss him. Fuck, I want to kiss him.

The elevator doors open before I have time to make any move – not that I have the fucking balls to. Danny surprises me by gently poking his elbow against my rib and the breath I drag in isn't entirely out of surprise. I'd almost forgotten that my rib still aches. Still twinges every now and then, reminding me that no matter how far away from Amity Park I point my car, I'll never leave my shit behind the way Danny can.

He shoots me an overzealous grin as he darts out of the elevator. "Race you to the parking lot!" he calls over his shoulder as he takes off like a shot. He maneuvers through the lobby around my teammates and a few of the cheerleaders, as well as some really confused hotel guests. He doesn't look back and I hear his laugh echoing down the hall after he almost plows into Jeff.

My teammate looks back at me for an explanation but I don't have one to give him. But goddammit, out of all the options in Amity Park, I had to get a crush on the cutest, most childish fucking nerd I've ever met.


Danny insists that I'm not reading my GPS right and I kindly tell him to shut up because I've never gotten lost before. Even when I let him roll his window down to ask someone on the street, I still know exactly where we're going. Mostly.

I apparently went down the wrong street a couple turns back but I find the right direction to the McDonalds that's not too far from the hotel. Danny pokes fun of me all the way until I'm pulling my car into a space in front of the entrance and by then, even I can't help but snort.

I put my car into park before I turn to look at Danny, the nerves flaring up in me again. He shoots me a smile before he undoes his seatbelt and I watch him for a second before I follow him out of the car.

Danny stretches his arms over his head with a soft groan, using his hip to close the passenger door. "Last night was so good. I haven't slept that well in a long time," he mutters, more to himself than to me, but I can't help wondering if he slept better because he wasn't alone. Or… maybe even, he slept well because he was with me. Stop it, Baxter. That's the worst thing to think of right now.

He reaches the front door to McDonalds before I do and he tugs it open, letting me in first as he starts to argue that he's going to pay for breakfast. I follow him up to the counter, arguing back with just a look, and when someone comes to take our order, I start with two coffees. One thing that I order – a breakfast sandwich or something – comes out garbled, more evidence that my brain has yet to fully turn on this morning, and the cashier asks me to repeat it.

Danny hesitates a second while I try to remember what the fuck I messed up saying before he takes over the order. He gives the girl waiting on us a bright smile as he orders our food and I fall silent, breathing just a little easier for some reason.

We step out of line when the cashier hands Danny the receipt and he gives me a side-long glance as we move down to the end of the counter. He hesitates a second, putting his wallet away and sliding the receipt into his back pocket before he looks up at me.

"You doing okay?" he asks softly and I nod, offering up a shitty smile.

"Yeah. Guess I just haven't fully woken up yet. Coffee should help with that," I say, just as the cashier returns to our end of the counter to put the two cups down. I step past Danny to grab them and nod toward the condiment bar.

Danny follows me over and he adds in sugar and cream into his coffee along with me. He's silent as we both stir our coffee and it feels weighted. Like there's a lot he wants to say but he doesn't know how to voice it.

"Fuck, good call with this. I rarely have breakfast anymore," I mumble, blowing across the top of my coffee for a few seconds before I take a tentative sip.

I almost choke on the sip of coffee I've inhaled when Danny looks up at me. Because his brow is furrowed downward and he looks like he's warring with something I'll never understand but I want to. God, I want to.

"What is it?" I ask, gently taking a hold of his elbow before I even realize I'm doing it. I guess it's just a natural reaction for me. If he's hurting – if he's scared – I want to put a hand on him. Touch him. Remind myself that he's still here and not far away from me, trying to solve this by himself.

Danny exhales out heavily, dropping his gaze from mine with a shake of his head. "I'm sorry… I guess I just… got worried about you. When you weren't talking at the counter?" he asks, looking up at me like I've forgotten already. A simple shake of my head lets him know that I know what he's talking about but I have no fucking clue why.

He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip. "It's just… you looked really out of it. And your voice was kind of… trembling a little. I guess… I guess I just couldn't tell if you were struggling so… I tried to make it easier on you," Danny says, an apology on his face. "I'm sorry if I overstepped."

I didn't realize that my voice sounded shaky to him. Or anyone, really. I don't know what to tell him as I hold his gaze but he definitely didn't overstep. I'm okay though. At least… I think I'm okay. I think this is what okay is supposed to feel like. With opportunities around the corner and the boy of my fucking dreams staring back at me.

I manage to shrug but I know that doesn't convince him. He stops biting his lip and my gaze is instantly drawn to the indents his teeth have made in his skin. And I hate myself just a little for the way I think about running my tongue over the indents until I have them memorized. Until every time his teeth graze his lip, he'll think of me. And the way I taste.

Danny looks like he wants to say something but the cashier is back. She hands over our food on one of those ugly plastic trays and I take it before Danny can. He hesitates only a second before he grabs my coffee for me and we leave the counter, quickly claiming a table near the back.

The place is mostly empty, save for a family out for breakfast too and I let my stare drift over them for a few seconds, remembering when that was me. When Saturday mornings meant my mom and dad took me out for breakfast. It didn't matter how many bruises I was secretly nursing those mornings. All that mattered was the feeling of family that I managed to soak up and pour into my open wounds all week long just from having one meal together.

Danny's quiet as he unwraps his food and it takes me a few minutes to tear my gaze away from watching that family effortlessly interact with each other. It takes me another minute to look at Danny but I finally manage to do it and he looks up at me instantly.

"I'm fine," I respond, dropping my gaze as I start to unwrap my own sandwich. "You didn't overstep at the counter. I'm just tired. And I've been thinking about shit all morning. Guess it's got me a little fucked-up right now."

He meets my gaze for a second or two before he takes a small sip of his coffee. He makes a face at the cup and reaches across the table for more of the sugar packets. "Good kind of shit or…?" he asks, glancing up at me as he tears the top of the sugar packet off using his teeth.

My heart jumps into my throat at the sight and I hate myself for the way a shaky breath escapes me. Stop fucking thinking about him. Stop fucking thinking about him. Stop thinking about fucking him. Fuck.

Danny grabs another stirrer and pops the lid off his cup, delicately licking the few droplets of coffee he swipes from the rim. He adds the sugar in slowly before he looks up at me again, that concern on his face again. All because I'm not talking. Because I'm thinking about fucking him. I'm in so fucking deep with this stupid fucking crush.

I tear my gaze away from him and stare outside instead, watching all the cars that pass by the parking lot but don't turn in. The championship game might be all that my teammates and I can focus on but it's just an average Friday in Livermore right now. People showing up for work. Stopping by coffee places for their morning dose of caffeine. Anyone here that's interested in seeing the game tonight still has the day to get through and I'm no different.

"A few college coaches are coming to watch me play tonight," I say, lifting my own coffee to my lips. It's not what I wanted to say but it works. It's one of the things that's running around in my head, scratching at me. Reminding me that I have to be good tonight. I have to be better than good. Not just for me anymore. For Coach too. For Alex. For everyone that's ever believed in me. For everyone that still believes in me even when I'm… like this. Even when I can't give my order at a fucking McDonalds.

I hear Danny's stirring pause momentarily before he slowly picks it back up again. I swallow down a few gulps of coffee before I set the cup on the table again, tracing the rim with my index finger. I stare down at my coffee instead of looking up at Danny like I want to. "I've already… had an offer, too. Full-ride. To the university of DALV." I hesitate a second longer before I look up at him, pushing out a breath in the silence. "They have a fucking amazing team and they want me on it. Next fall, I could be playing for DALV University, you believe that?"

Danny's eyebrows are practically in his hairline as he stares back at me and a slight flush paints his cheeks. I guess he's not used to good news from me cause he doesn't seem to know how to respond. His mouth opens and closes half a dozen times before he finally squeaks out a response. "Y-Yeah?" he asks, his teeth sinking in to his bottom lip again. Oh fuck. You're killing me.

I clear my throat, trying to push the thoughts of kissing Danny from my mind, and surprisingly, they slip away easily enough. "Yeah. Coach thinks that I'm gonna get a lot more after this game. So, I kinda have to work my ass off tonight and impress the people that Coach thinks I'm capable of impressing."

"That won't be hard for you… you'll d-definitely be able to impress them." Danny ducks his head and sips from his coffee. His gaze darts around the mostly-empty tables before he sets his cup down and looks at me. "I'm… really proud of you, Dash."

Oh fuck. He really is going to be the death of me.

I can't stop the grin from stretching across my face and I awkwardly rub the back of my neck in the silence. Even though most days, I don't feel like I deserve it, I'm glad that someone's proud of me… and my heart's fucking ecstatic that the someone right now is Danny.

"Thanks," I mumble, sipping from my coffee again before I start in on the food. God, my chest is so filled with hope. I don't know how my teammates and I are gonna do tonight and I have no fucking clue if these coaches are even gonna want me after the night's up. All I know is that right now, I'm having breakfast with a boy who makes my heart pound just by being proud of me.


Danny and I hit up a few places in the city – including an arcade where he kicks my ass in Space Invaders and Pacman – before we get lunch from a local deli and head back to the hotel. It's not even four yet but judging from the way Coach was talking earlier, if I'm even a second late getting to the lobby, he really will kill me.

I try my door again but no one's in so Danny offers for me to hang out with him for a while. I'm more than okay with that and I follow him into his room, sitting on the bed when he does. He leans back into the mattress, groaning softly.

"Honestly, I could go for a nap," he mumbles, his voice muffled by the pillow he's turned his face into. I bite the inside of my cheek at the image, slowly letting out a breath through my nose. God, why does he have to be so fucking cute all the time?

Danny turns to look at me, one eyebrow cocked upward. "Are you laughing at me?"

Without warning, he lunges across the bed and pokes me in the stomach, attempting to tickle me. Even though I could easily give in and probably end up in a tangled mess with him like all those stupid romantic flicks Kwan's made me watch with him, I don't let this escalate. Mainly cause I don't know what I'd do if I was tangled up with Danny on his bed. And because my rib is still aching from when he poked me in the elevator earlier. I scoot out of his reach and he gives up, groaning softly as he dramatically throws an arm over his eyes.

"I always knew this day would come. Dash Baxter, mocks friend," he says, a shit-eating grin taking over his features. He can't stop from grinning and I decide that I can't let this opportunity pass by. Fuck my rib and my pain. I want to end up tangled with him. I lunge for him, to try to tickle him or something that will end up with my chest flush against his and might invite my lips to brush his, but he grabs my wrist without even looking.

I stare at him in a state of what I guess is shock until he lifts his arm from his eyes and looks toward me. We hold each other's gazes in silence for a few seconds until he gives me a half-smile. "Have you forgotten when I pulled you from under that car? I've got lightning fast reflexes."

Danny lets go of my wrist and sits up, cracking his joints as he stretches. His gaze flits around the hotel room while I try to think of something to say. Some way to bring up that topic with him. The phantom stuff. He's never really talked about it since the night he told me and considering how hysterical he was when he did, I haven't had the balls to bring it up since.

"So, listen," he says, turning toward me with a smile stretched across his lips. I try to meet his gaze but his smile captures my attention almost immediately. God, if I could trace the outline of his smile…

He parts his lips to say something but he's interrupted by an obnoxious, but thankfully, muffled ringtone. I glance toward the hallway, wondering which of my teammates chose such an awful sound, when Danny groans softly.

"Sorry." He shifts on the mattress and after a second of fumbling through the covers, the annoying ringtone sounds louder. He steals a glance toward me before he swipes his phone up from the bed and answers the call. "Hello?"

Danny draws in a breath that hitches and he slowly lets it out again. His eyebrows draw down and his expression is pinched as he slowly rises from the bed. "Y-Yeah, mom." He runs a hand through his hair, glancing over his shoulder at me as he speaks. "No, I'm… yeah. With? U-Um… Dash. Yeah."

He turns his back on me then and walks to the windows, staring out of them as he keeps a death grip on his phone. His shoulders tense up more and more the longer the conversation goes and I wish I could put my hands on him right now. Run my fingers down his spine until all the tension he feels just melts away.

"Mom, I'm fine," he insists, emphasizing the last word as a groan slips from him. "No, it's not… l-look I can't really talk right now, okay? I'll call you later." He mumbles his goodbye after a quiet 'love you' is passed between them.

I wait a few seconds in the silence that follows the end of his call before I stand from the bed, making my way over to him. I come to a stop next to him, keeping my gaze out the window that overlooks the city. This view reminds me of the outlook Danny showed me and part of me is wishing we were back there right now. If we were, maybe he wouldn't look so stressed out.

"Everything okay?" I question, surprised by how steady my voice is.

Danny half-turns from the window and chucks his phone onto the bed. "Yeah…" He exhales out a pent-up breath, rolling his shoulders with the sound. "It's just my mom… can sometimes get a little protective. A lot protective, actually," he says with another sigh. "She didn't want me coming to this game and I think she's gonna kill me when I get back."

"Why?"

He draws in a tentative breath, chewing on his thumbnail as he stares out the window. "It's… complicated," he mutters, softly letting out a breath in the silence.

Danny glances toward me like maybe he wants to say something else but whatever bravery he tried to draw upon simply floods from him when he looks at me. His shoulders drop and he turns away from me with a quiet exhale. He stares out the window, chewing on the inside of his lip, and I return to watching the city, too, though my mind is miles beyond the view below us.

I want to look at him, figure out what he's thinking just from the expression on his face, but I don't. I keep my gaze out the window and try to decide what to say. I keep thinking of his voice the night he told me about being the phantom and I can't get it out of my head. How scared he sounded. How long I'd pushed him for answers and how terrified he sounded when he finally gave them to me. I don't want to push Danny again. He deserves better than that.

"And your parents… still don't know about… phantom?" I ask, chancing a look toward him to make sure I'm not taking this too far. That I'm not blinded by my curiosity. He's stiffened at my question but after a few seconds, he exhales out and relaxes a little, and I take it as a good sign.

"No." He runs a hand through his hair. "That's not why… forget it. No, they don't know anything about that."

Danny keeps his gaze on the window for a few seconds after I turn to face him but he finally looks at me. He hesitates a second before he mirrors my position with a sigh, leaning his shoulder against the window. I can't tell if he's frustrated at me or the situation. I hope it's not me. Because I don't want to push him but I don't want him to pull away again either. I want to help him but I don't know if he needs my help. If he wants it.

"Let me help you."

It comes out before I can stop it and I drag in a breath that's more than a little shaky. Danny meets my gaze and he raises an eyebrow, giving me a look like he's either surprised or confused. I'm guessing the latter considering that he shakes his head slowly, like he doesn't understand.

I let out a breath, shoving my hands into my pockets as I shuffle forward a step. "Let me help you… like your sister used to."

Danny's eyebrows rise on his forehead as realization dawns on him. "Are you kidding me?" he asks, his voice loud in the quiet we've been slowly moving toward since that phone call from his mom. His gaze darts around like he's worried that someone's listening. That someone's around to hear this. "No. I-I hurt you, remember?" he asks, his voice softer now – barely above a whisper – and we both know it's a pathetic excuse.

"Come on, what have you got to lose? It'll be easier if you have someone else there. I mean, that's what your sister was there for, right? To make it easier on you?" I unconsciously take a step forward that he immediately matches with one backward. I get a sinking feeling in my gut that this is gonna end up like the day I drove him home from the beach. And I instantly want to back off and leave him alone even though he could use somebody's help.

Danny sucks in a breath, shaking his head as he takes another step backward, stopping only cause his back is against a wall on the other side of the window. "No. I-I'll hurt you," he murmurs, running a hand through his hair as he looks away from me.

I decide to test the waters a little more and take another step toward him, even though I'm screaming at myself not to. Danny looks up at me at the movement and his bottom lip disappears between his teeth. Fuck, that still kills me.

"Wouldn't you rather have a cop's son on your side while you do something illegal?" I ask, hoping that he gets the joking tone. Something in his eyes tells me that the humor isn't lost on him but he watches me carefully as I somehow manage another step closer to him. "C'mon, you won't hurt me."

Danny shakes his head, color rising to his cheeks. "You don't know that."

"Yeah, I do. I know everything, Danny, didn't I tell you?" I ask with an overzealous grin despite the butterflies that have awakened in my gut. The joke gets the reaction I was looking for and he relaxes just a touch as he rolls his eyes with a snort.

His gaze flits around the room again, like he's still checking that we don't have an audience, before he looks at me, swallowing hard as a pink flush creeps across his face. "I-I don't know…" He chews on his bottom lip as he trails off, looking away from me.

God, he has no fucking clue how adorable he is. Or how he can kill me with the smallest of actions. I want to back him up against that wall until my lips are against his. Until I'm licking his collarbones. I imagine him throwing his head back before dragging me into a needy kiss. Biting my bottom lip with his teeth, making me forget my own name.

My hand shakes and my breath sticks in my throat as I reach a hand out toward him. I use my fingers against his chin to turn his face back toward me and I can feel the heat rising to my own cheeks at the movement. "It's… w-worth a shot, right?" I mumble, my heart pounding in my chest as he stares up at me.

Danny draws in a breath and the butterflies in my gut are dancing at the sound. Fuck. I want to kiss him. But it'll change everything between us. …Fuck, I want everything to change.

"Just... think… about it or something?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper as I lean closer to him. I brace my palm against the wall, just above his head, my other hand still holding his chin. My fingers tremble but I let go of his chin and drop my hand to his chest. He lets out a small breath at the movement and I know I'm taking this way too fucking far. But my fingers are tracing his collarbones through his shirt and I can't stop myself. Fuck I need to kiss him already.

Danny blinks up at me, a hesitancy in all of his movements that's just screaming at me to back off. But he slides his hand onto my shoulder, letting out a breath that I feel against my lips, and I couldn't back off if I even fucking wanted to. Oh, fucking hell. I want to push him back against the wall and cover his mouth with my own. F-Fuck the game tonight. I'll just stay in with Danny wrapped around me, my lips trailing down his stomach and across his collarbones and-

A knock on the door jerks me harshly from my thoughts and at the same time, we both realize how close we really are to each other. I don't know which one of us moves first, all I know is that we practically jump away from each other. We both turn to look at the door and he exhales out before slowly meeting my gaze again.

"I should… probably see who that is," he mutters softly, pushing away from the wall. His face is still stained my favorite color and he awkwardly scratches the back of his head as he walks away from me. God, I fucking hate that I'm stuck watching the movement of his hips with every step he takes.

Danny glances over his shoulder at me before he tugs the door open, turning to face whoever's on the other side. I drop my gaze down to the carpet, letting out a low breath. Fuck, I was really close to kissing him. I was ready to throw caution to the fucking wind and kiss him. Everything would have changed if we'd only had a few seconds more.

"Paulina, h-hi," Danny stammers from the doorway, turning to look back at me. I meet his gaze and take in his blush again before I take a small step forward. Danny bites his bottom lip before he turns back to Paulina. "You looking for Dash?"

I cross the room then, giving Paulina a shitty grin as I come to a stop, leaning against the doorframe. My shoulder is against Danny's at the position I've taken and I feel the electricity between us but neither one of us makes a move away from each other. "Hey. What's up?"

Paulina's gaze shifts from Danny to me and a smirk lifts one corner of her mouth. "Nice search party this morning. Coach is really gonna remember this game, huh?"

I roll my eyes. "What happened this morning is nothing compared to the shit that Blake's done in the past," I say, grinning when Paulina smiles. "And have you forgotten the last away game? When Jeff got drunk and threw a party in Coach's room while he was out for dinner? Coach nearly skinned him."

Paulina laughs softly and Danny smiles, glancing between us before he steps backward. "I'll give you guys some space," he says, softly, and I turn to watch him as he starts away from the two of us.

"Actually," Paulina says before he manages to get too far. "I was… looking for you, Danny." She gives him a smile and he blinks slowly, glancing at me with a confused expression. He glances between us but looks a little lost on what to do.

He looks at me again like I can somehow make his decision for him as he lets out a hesitant breath. After a few awkward seconds of silence, he turns back to Paulina. "Um… okay. One sec." He crosses over to the bed and moves the blankets out of his way to find his phone. He stares down at the screen for a second before he sighs and pockets the device, grabbing his key off the nightstand before crossing back over to us. A hesitant smile passes over his face when he meets my gaze again. "Um… Come find me before the game if you can?"

Danny's smile brightens when I agree and then the door's closing behind the two of them. I stare at nothing in particular for about thirty seconds before I go back to the bed and collapse onto it, groaning softly.

I have no idea why Paulina was looking for Danny or why she had to show up when she did. A few seconds later and I would have… would have what? It's not like I would have suddenly grown the balls to kiss him. That kind of bravery doesn't exist in my soul and I'm an even bigger idiot than I thought if I let myself believe that it does.

A groan leaves me and I roll over, muffling my obnoxious sounds with the blankets. I wanted to kiss him so badly. If Paulina hadn't interrupted us, I might have actually acted on it. I have no fucking clue if Danny would even want me to kiss him… fuck, why do I have to like him so much?

My phone vibrates in my pocket and I twist in every direction I can to reach my phone without actually getting up. It takes me twice as long to get the damn thing but fuck it, I'm saving up my energy for moving later tonight in the game.

From: Valerie

YOOOOO!

I got today off work and I just drove like 4 hours to watch you play. You better get your ass down to the lobby so I can see you!

Also, I'm feeling nice so I might even offer to buy you a coffee :)

Leave it to fucking Valerie to be able to convince me to get my lazy ass up before I have to. Though I'm happy to see her, I'm really only leaving the room cause of the promise of coffee. And I'll make sure she knows that. Cause if she thinks I'm only coming downstairs to see her, that head on her shoulders is gonna swell twice the size it already is and I can only tolerate her like that when we're playing video games.


Valerie holds true to her promise of caffeine and we leave the hotel to find it. I mention being at McDonalds this morning but she makes a face and says their coffee sucks. Which I take as a personal insult because hey – all coffee is good coffee.

There's a café across the street that Valerie practically drags me over to despite my playful protests of wanting McDonalds instead just to see that look on her face. Considering I have just over an hour left until the game, we decide that the café is a better idea anyway. I need to stick close to the hotel so Coach can't skin me for not showing up on time.

I've just finished telling her about the impromptu search party that Coach formed for me when he couldn't find me this morning and Valerie is snorting into her coffee. She sets her cup down, rolling her eyes as she mumbles something along the lines of, "the shit you get up to sometimes."

"Seriously, you should have seen his face, it was priceless," I grin, sipping from my own cup.

Valerie matches my grin. "I bet." She shakes her head at my idiocy again, her gaze drifting around the café when she looks away from me. The café is actually a pretty cool place. I thought it was gonna be pretentious and hipster just from the outside of it. But they've got some cool music playing and the art hanging on the walls isn't too hipster. Except for the fucking deer painting hanging just outside the men's bathroom.

I take in another mouthful of coffee, exhaling out a warm breath. "I didn't realize you planned on coming," I say, shrugging when she meets my gaze. "It's kind of a long drive out here just for one game. I would have texted you the highlights after," I joke and Valerie shakes her head.

"Why wouldn't I have come?" she asks, raising an eyebrow when I open and close my mouth without a response. "Of course I was going to come support you." She gives me a smile. "Plus I have to be here to insult you in case you start getting an ego."

I drop my gaze down to my coffee with a snort. "Thanks, Val. Good to know I can always count on you to keep me humble." I lift my cup to take in another mouthful, my mind wandering further and further from the game.

Valerie turns to stare out the window and exhales quietly. I find myself watching the barista wiping down the counter, the other patrons, the steam rising from Valerie's mug… but my mind is wandering far away from this coffee shop.

I start thinking about Danny – cause what else would I fucking think of? – and it keeps my mind far away from how fucking nervous I am about tonight. I don't think it's hit me just yet but… I have coaches coming to see me play tonight. Coaches. More than one person believes in me and I don't think that'll ever really sink in until after it's all over.

Valerie looks back at me and chews on her lower lip like she wants to say something but I beat her to it.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask before swallowing down a mouthful of coffee. Valerie arches an eyebrow and nods. I set my cup down on the table again, tracing my finger along the lid. "I know that last time we talked about this, it caused some shit between us but… I was wondering if we could talk about your work. Just a little," I promise, lifting my gaze up to hers.

Valerie lets out a breath, leaning back in her chair. She lifts her cup to her mouth, taking in a long pull of coffee before she looks up at me with a nod. "Sure."

I rub the back of my neck awkwardly in the silence before meeting Valerie's gaze again. My hands fumble for my cup but I manage to grab it without spilling any coffee. "I know you said that some of this shit is classified but… how much can you tell me about the…ecto stuff you study? Like… the creatures?"

She gives me a funny look and leans forward to set her cup down again. "Well… what do you want to know? How they come into existence? What they're capable of? The experiments we've run on them in the past?"

"Um… start with that first thing? How they… come into existence?" I ask, keeping my gaze on my coffee cup as Valerie studies me. I know she's inwardly questioning the sudden interest in the topic and I'm really hoping she doesn't ask me about it.

Valerie sighs, shifting her gaze to the window again. "Ecto-entities come into existence in one of two ways. The first is from a death of a human. A lot of people believe that ectos are the reincarnation of a human's soul while others speculate that the ecto is merely an imitation of the human's soul. It hasn't been proven either way but both sides have made fairly convincing arguments."

"The other way is more heavily speculated as there's very little evidence at the moment to support scientists claims." Valerie takes another sip from her coffee before she looks at me with a shrug. "Certain scientists and individuals within this field believe that ectos aren't derivatives from a pre-existing soul. There's a strong belief between those that have studied this in-depth that instead of mere imitations, ectos are their own beings entirely."

She draws in a deep breath, dropping her gaze down to her coffee as she continues. "The thought alone brings up a lot of questions – especially about how an ecto might come into existence otherwise or how different they are to humans. If they can experience emotion and logic similar to that of a human's, then the world as a whole would have a lot to learn from these ectos."

Valerie shifts her stare out the window as she continues to talk, only pausing occasionally to sip from her coffee. "Within the second set of beliefs – about ectos having their own identities, some scientists believe that ecto-entities are born similar to the way a human child is born. But that in turn begs the question of whether or not these entities are sentient enough to have the instincts to reproduce or whether these births are merely coincidence. There were a number of studies done in the eighties on a few ectos that had been captured but the findings of the experiments performed on the ectos conflict with previous findings of studies done by scientists believing that ectos exist purely through a lost soul of a human."

She finally tears her gaze from the window, offering up a shrug as she looks back at me. "There's a lot of unknown information right now but that's about all I can tell you." She fidgets with the lid of her cup before she lets out a breath. She looks like she wants to ask why I'm interested in this so I talk before she can.

"Y-Yeah? What if it was a combination of the two theories?" I ask, feeling like I'm betraying Danny with every word I speak. "Like… a human soul that somehow attached to an ecto? Or like… a human and an ecto had a kid together?"

Valerie gives me a weird look, slowly shaking her head. "I highly doubt that would ever happen. Or work, more like it. Odds are, the kid's biological makeup wouldn't be stable enough to live in either the ecto-realm or our world. They'd end up self-destructing in a matter of weeks – if they were able to survive even that long."

"What… if their biological makeup was different from the beginning? Like somehow… something happened during their birth that made them different a-and more stable?" I ask, my voice garbled to my own ears. God, I really hope she doesn't ask why the fuck I'm getting this into a theoretical situation.

"I guess…" she says, her eyebrows drawing down. "Why? You have a specific theory in mind?"

I chew on the inside of my lip before I busy myself by draining a few sips of coffee. "Not really. Just kinda throwing ideas out there cause I've been looking a few things up. You know… since those guys came to our school and all." I drag in another sip of coffee, watching Valerie's expression shift, before I decide to push it just a little more. "What if… someone wasn't born in… the ecto's world or ours? What if they were born somewhere else entirely, like space for example. Would that change anything?"

Valerie lets out a soft 'hmm' noise and I can practically see the cogs whirring in her mind as she considers my words. A hot flush runs through me at the long stretch of silence that passes between us as she works out whatever's in her mind. Fuck, I shouldn't be talking to her about this. It's too close to Danny. She's gonna figure out what the fuck I'm talking about. I've just fucked everything up for Danny.

"Honestly, I don't know," Valerie finally says, shrugging. "It would most likely alter how the ecto-realm would affect the individual and gravity might not play as big of a role on earth, either." She sips from her coffee, nodding at me. "That's a cool theory though, that'd be interesting to look into in the future."

I nod a few times in the silence before I drop my gaze to my coffee, trying to understand what she's saying. It barely makes any sense to me but I need to know more about this shit for Danny. Cause I don't ever want to see him cry as he has to explain this shit to me.

"Why do you ask?" Valerie questions, arching an eyebrow when I look up at her. I wish I could tell her. I wish I could say that Danny is that theory and that I'm way out of my fucking element here. I want to help him figure his abilities out and see him practice but if I don't even know what the fuck I'll be seeing, I'm afraid I'm just gonna make it worse on him.

I shake my head, tracing the lid of my cup again. "I was just curious." I look up at her with a forced smile. "I saw a couple of crack-pot theories online and thought I'd pitch one or two at you to see what you thought."

Valerie snorts, shaking her head, and I turn my gaze out to the café again. Other people have come and gone while we've been talking and a few kids we go to school with have made their way over here too, probably in search of caffeine too.

"Kwan told me you've been talking to your mom," Valerie suddenly says, her expression hesitant when I meet her gaze. What? Fuck, I wasn't ready for anyone else to know yet. I'm barely handling the fact that I let Alex into this pain, now Valerie knows the truth, too?

I drop my gaze down to the table, quietly sipping my coffee again. It's still slightly too hot and it burns on the way down but I think I need it. Some concrete feeling to keep me grounded in this moment instead of letting myself ignore an awkward conversation like I always do.

"Yeah?" I run my index finger along the rim of my cup, letting out a pent-up breath.

Valerie's expression is worried as she nods and I wish I could do something to change that. This thing with mom is… a really shitty situation but it's not like it's gonna break me. I don't think I'm gonna let it.

I run a hand through my hair and force another scalding mouthful down my throat before I start. "It's… a bunch of shit, Val." I tentatively take another sip of my coffee, hoping for that burn to help me stay in the fucking moment instead of reliving the stupid conversation I had with her last night. "She… wants me to talk to her attorney… pretend that I was a witness to the shit that dad did, instead of experiencing it myself, y'know?"

Valerie puts her hand on top of mine, frowning when I look up at her. I only let myself have the contact for a second or two before I'm pulling my hand away. A few agonizing seconds pass by in silence before a frustrated grumble is dragged from me and I tug my phone from my pocket. My fingers shake as I type in my passcode and navigate where I want to be before I slide my phone on the table toward her, my screen on the texts I exchanged with mom. I chew on my thumbnail while Valerie looks from me to my phone, her eyebrows drawing down.

She takes a fucking decade and reads them over probably five times before she finally looks up at me again. "Shit," she says softly, continuing when she sees the expression on my face. I'm sure it's somewhere between confused and really fucking sad. "She… really shouldn't ask something like that from you."

I swallow past the lump in my throat, trying to burn out the sadness with another gulp of coffee. I want to drown out this feeling that's threatening to choke me with every passing second. I don't want to be sad anymore. But that shit's gotta be ingrained in my fucking bones by now.

"Yeah," is all I manage to push out between my gritted teeth. I don't want to try to be strong right now. I just want to admit how much this sucks. Cause it does. It sucks so fucking much and I hate that it's just another shitty situation I have to deal with.

Valerie reaches for my hand again and I quickly pull mine away, offering up a shrug as I down the remainder of my coffee. "It's cool, I'll get over it," I say, passing the cup back and forth between my hands. I should just get up and throw it away, convince myself to head back to the hotel, but I don't. I barely move a muscle and I think Valerie can tell how much I'm fucking warring with myself.

"I'm sorry. I know how hard that must've been to do," she says, not making a move toward me, though she looks like she wants to vault over the table and grab me in a hug.

I shrug, pushing away from the table. "It's okay." It's not. But for now, it needs to be. Cause I've got a game to play, and coaches coming to watch, and teammates to celebrate the win with. I don't have time to deal with mom's shit. For once, I don't give a fuck about what either of my parents want from me. Tonight has to be about what I want.


Valerie tries to talk to me on the way back to the hotel but I don't add much to the conversation and we eventually fall silent again. We're in the lobby of the hotel, passing by my teammates when I finally speak, tugging my phone from my pocket. "Technically, Coach told us to have our asses here by five but Danny wanted to see me before the game, so," I explain, hitting send on a text to Danny to find out where he is before I pass by Keith, clapping him on the shoulder.

Keith starts a little at first but he grins when he realizes it's me. He starts to ask me something but he's quickly pulled back into a conversation with Blake and Jeff.

I glance around the lobby again, checking my phone for a response. Maybe Danny's back in his room already. I don't know what Paulina wanted from him but I hope whatever it is wasn't horrible. And I hope that she's done with him by now – I think I could use a taste of the easiness Danny always manages to pour into my veins whenever I'm around him.

He hasn't responded yet but I wander over to the elevator anyway and I hit the up button, drumming my fingers against the back of my phone as I wait for the elevator doors to open. Valerie has followed me over to the elevators and lets out a pent up breath, leaning against the wall closest to me. "So. You've been… seeing Danny a lot, huh?"

She's giving me a sly look, a grin threatening to explode on her face when I meet her gaze and I carefully shrug before looking away again. I can't imagine what my face looks like but I'm pretty sure my expression is some cross between 'yeah-he's-really-fucking-great' and 'please-don't-ask-me-about-my-gay-panic.'

"You don't talk about anyone else the way that you talk about Danny," she says softly, the teasing tone a little gentler in her voice now. It still feels like a shout in the silence. Shit, she's picked up on my not-so-straight talk about someone that's supposed to just be my friend.

The elevator comes and goes without me in it and I let out a controlled breath. "He's my friend," I manage to say around the vice wrapped so tightly around my chest I can barely breathe. God, please don't make some kind of connection between this and the shit I was talking about at the café.

Valerie tsks softly, trying to catch my eye but failing. When I don't look her way or say a goddamn thing, she pushes away from the wall and puts a hand on my upper arm. I can feel my strength leaving me almost instantly.

"But that's not what you want him to be, is it?" she asks, all teasing gone from her. Fuck, she really wants me to tell her the truth but I can't. She wouldn't get it. I'd have to explain to her the way that I feel isn't just strictly for Danny or that it's not as simple as only liking guys now and I'll have to-

Fuck, why can't I tell her the truth? She's asking. She wants to know. She's not trying to make fun of me, she's genuinely fucking curious about what I want. Cause she's one of my best friends and actually gives a shit about me. Why does this have to be so complicated, why can't I just fucking say it?

"Yeah," I practically whisper, completely unprepared for the hug that Valerie pulls me into. Sh-Shit, was this really that easy?

Valerie holds me gently, like she expects that confession to break me. It doesn't. It just makes the butterflies in my stomach go fucking nuts. The familiar tension joins the butterflies after a few seconds and I do my best to ignore the general sensations happening in my gut right now.

"It's okay," Valerie says when she pulls away, immediately giving me a smile. She brings one hand up to cup my face, her thumb brushing over my cheekbone. "Hey, it's okay to like him, Dash. This changes nothing to me, okay?"

I nod before dropping my gaze, not cause I don't believe her but cause this is embarrassing. I can feel the heat rising to my cheeks and I'm doing my best to ignore it. Which is pretty fucking unsuccessful.

"I kinda had a feeling to be honest," Valerie continues on, the smile still on her face when I look up at her again. I can sense the teasing in her expression but she speaks before I get the chance to tell her not to say anything. "Don't think that I'm not going to tease you about this cause it's adorable."

I give her a glare. "Shut it."

She takes this as some kind of challenge and grins. "Sooo… how often do you think about kissing him, huh? What like… two or three times a day? A minute?" she teases and I let out a groan, covering my face with one hand. I mumble 'fucking hell' under my breath but it only makes her laugh again.

"Anyway," Valerie says, tugging my hand away from my face. She gives me a grin that lets me know that her teasing is far from over. "You'd better go if you want to find him before the game. I doubt you want Coach to have your ass for being late."

She keeps grinning at me and I flip up my middle finger at her before I take the elevator. As soon as the doors close, blocking Valerie's stupid, grinning face from my view, I tug my phone from my pocket and glance over Danny's response.

From: Danny

Just got back to my room. Where'd you disappear to?

I don't bother responding, feeling the nervous tremor starting in the tips of my fingers. I pocket my phone again and nervously chew on my fingernails until the elevator comes to a stop. It takes actual effort to appear casual as I stroll down the hallway and stop in front of Danny's room. My hand is shaking as I rap my knuckles gently against his door. I can hear shuffling on the other side and I hold my breath as his footsteps get closer.

Danny swings the door open, a look of confusion on his face that's quickly replaced by a smile. "Hey, I was just looking for you," he says, gesturing to his phone. There's a second of silence and his cheeks flush. "O-Oh… guess you saw the text."

The breath leaves me and the smile that I give him is only partially forced. The other part is because I'm so fucking nervous just looking at him. "Yeah… um… y-you wanted to see me? Before the game?"

"Oh yeah! I have something for you." Danny gestures for me to follow after him and starts across the room. He stops at the end of the bed and drags his bag onto it, quickly digging through it. "Hang on, I gotta find it. I know it's in here somewhere."

I push the door closed behind me and follow him over to the bed, returning to chewing on my thumbnail in the silence. His hair falls into his eyes and though he pushes it back with one hand, it almost immediately returns. I have to bite the inside of my cheek and dig what's left of my fingernails into my palm to stop myself from reaching out and pushing his hair back for him. Cause I wouldn't be able to stop there. I'd kiss him and I have no fucking cluehow he'd react if I did that.

"Ah-ha!" Danny suddenly exclaims, pulling me from my thoughts. He spins around to face me and reaches for my hand. He frowns at the state of my nails and flicks his gaze up to me for a second before he deems whatever he's got for me more important and drops my hand. "Close your eyes."

I hesitate a second and he cocks his head to one side, a playful smile highlighting his features. That look on his face stands out in stark contrast to all the times I've seen him in tears and I want to remember this moment forever.

"Come on, humor me," he says and after I let out a stuttered breath, I close my eyes.

He takes a step closer to me and my heart jumps into my throat when he touches me. And then his chest is flush with my own as he leans forward, likely leaning on his tiptoes to reach me and I almost completely fucking lose it. I suck in a sharp breath and it's deafening in the silence. He pauses his actions for a second before he's suddenly looping something around my neck. He leans away from me letting out a quiet exhale, and I instantly miss the warmth of his chest against me. "O-Okay," he mutters. "Open your eyes."

Danny is looking up at me with an earnest expression, shyly biting his lip. I only let myself watch him for a second before I look down at what he put on me. There's a black cord around my neck, a dark pendant dangling from it. The pendant looks like some kind of ancient symbol but I don't recognize it. I want to ask what it is but my mouth won't work. He seems to get that because he talks before I can.

"I… wanted to wish you good luck and this… pendant has been that and… so much more for me for a long time. My dad gave it to me a few years ago and I-I've… carried it around with me since." He's beaming when I look at him and he continues like he never stopped for a response. "I want you to have it for the game tonight."

My chest feels tight when I stare at his smile. I don't know what to say and in combination with the butterflies and tension in my gut I end up spewing word-vomit at him.

"Danny…" I trail off, his name fucking with me more than I'm willing to admit. I can feel the heat creep across my cheeks and I drop my stare back to the pendant to avoid looking at him. "You… shouldn't give me this," I mumble, only chancing a look up at him when the silence has stretched on long enough to become awkward.

Danny's frowning at me, his eyebrows drawn down. I can tell from his expression that he was hoping I'd just take it without question but…

"This is really important to you. And I don't want to take it from you," I mumble and I reach to take it off but he stops me before I can. His touch is like electricity against my skin and I drag in a harsh breath as he shakes his head.

"Give it back to me when you win," he says with a smile, and I can't resist him. God, he looks so fucking happy when I nod. How am I supposed to resist the one person that makes my heart skip beats and ache like I'm head-over-fucking-heels in love with him?


I force myself to leave Danny's room after that, all too aware that if there isn't distance between us, I'll kiss him. I won't be able to talk myself out of it or even consider how he would feel, I'll just kiss him and everything will change.

The lobby's filled up since I was last out here. Keith's parents have just arrived and they're hugging him, already talking about how proud they are of him. He's alternating between hugging his parents and his sister, grinning at whatever she's saying, and I step past the scene, feeling the pangs of jealousy stabbing at me.

I pass Blake next. He's standing just behind his dad, listening to his mom, as his dad talks to Coach. I catch snatches of the conversation they're having and the look on Coach's face easily screams annoyance but I do my best to ignore all of them as I shuffle past Blake.

One glance across the lobby lets me know that Kwan's mom has arrived now too. God, she's going through a fucking divorceand she's still here for her kid. I'm happy that she is cause Kwan could use that support whether we win or lose tonight. It just… it sucks that I'm the only one with no one here. Valerie came to watch me play but… is it so wrong to want more than just Valerie cheering for me? I know that there are coaches here to see me play but... I wish one of my parents showed up too. Well not my parents. Some other version of my parents. The version that gives a shit about me. Can't I just have someone here that wants to support me?

"Yo, squirt!"

Anastasia is a few paces behind me when I turn around, grinning as she waves. Alex is trailing behind her, giving me a smile that I'm quick to return. She starts my way and I match her pace. But I falter when I see who they've brought with them. A woman with dark brown, curly hair – just like her kids – and the kindest eyes I've ever seen, is following after the two of them. Tatiana. Fuck, they've… brought their mom with them.

This is the same woman that basically stitched my broken pieces back together after my own mom left. She took care of me when I fucked up my calf back in the spring and god, she's here. Probably dragged along by Alex or maybe Anastasia but fuck. She's here.

"Jeez, your eyes look awful. How much sleep have you had, kid?" Anastasia asks, buffing me on the arm when she's close enough. She must see my stare trained behind her cause she turns to look. "I'm guessing Alex didn't tell you we were coming."

I shake my head, words failing me as I swallow past the lump forming in my throat.

"Dash!" Tatiana says, suddenly close enough to scoop me into one of her famous bear hugs. She squeezes me and rubs small circles in my back and I fucking choke. On every shitty emotion I've felt these past few hours and everything my mom said to me on the phone last night, and the fact that Valerie knows about that fucking shit now, and what dad's done and the way I feel for Danny and-

Tatiana pulls away, giving me a sympathetic smile as she pats my cheeks. "Don't cry, dear." She brushes her thumbs under my eyes and I'm ashamed of the noise that leaves my mouth. God, she's actually here.

"Hi," is all I can manage to squeak out but she seems to understand how rattled I am right now.

She smiles at me, a genuine sort of happy smile that isn't forced and I have to drop my gaze. It's been so long since I've seen her. The ache in my chest lets me know that it's been too long. "You been taking care of yourself? Has estado durmiendo bien?" she asks and the language is lost on me.

"English, mama."

Alex's voice pulls me out of my trance and I step away from Tatiana, her arms falling to her sides. She shoots a worried look my way, like maybe she should have held onto me longer, and I almost reach for her again. Cause she's so gentle and kind and I've really fucking missed her. Too much time has passed since I've seen her and I ache to tell her how much I appreciate her coming here. Her and her kids.

"Ahh, I always forget. I'm around so many people that speak the language and most of Alex's friends do too… I never remember that you don't speak it," she apologizes, looking up at her son. He leans down to plant a kiss to her cheek before she turns her focus back on me, her warm smile returning in an instant. "Have you been sleeping well, dear?"

The words stick like treacle in my throat but I push them out anyway. "Y-Yeah, as much as I can."

"You look less like hell than the last time I saw you, so I'm gonna take that as a good sign," Anastasia says, winking when I meet her gaze. "It's a good look for you."

I barely have time to give her a smile before Coach's booming voice sounds over all of us. My teammates and I turn at the sound and Coach announces that the families of players need to clear out of the lobby and go down the street to the stadium. The game is growing closer and I can feel the excitement finally start to ripple through me.

A final round of hugs are exchanged between my teammates and their parents and I turn back to the family that's not my own but has come for me today and I don't have to force the smile on my face. I'm really fucking happy that they're here. And I promise myself that I'll tell them exactly how much this means to me once the game is over.

"I'll see you guys at the game," I say, hoping they know how happy I am that they're here. I'm not good at saying shit but I hope they can see it in my expression.

I let Tatiana squeeze my hand before I start for Coach and my teammates, the lobby quickly clearing of all the families here to support their kids. I practically have to fight them to get across the room but I manage to get a few paces closer to Coach and my teammates. When I get a couple steps farther away from the Moreno's, my head and heart buzzing with excitement, Alex calls out to me.

He quickly pushes through the crowd and meets me, not waiting for me to respond before he pulls me into a hug. "Do your best out there, okay? Don't think about anything other than how much you love this game. You don't even have to think about winning if you don't want to. Just focus on the game." He pulls away, surprising me by ducking down to brush a kiss to my hairline. He's practically beaming as he holds my face between his hands. "Give em hell, kid."

Believe me, Alex. I intend to.


My teammates are obnoxiously loud after Coach leaves us in the locker room to change into our uniforms but it doesn't scratch at me the way it usually does. I'm vibrating with excitement – thinking on the same frequency as everyone else in the room. I can't wait for my team to get our hands on the ball and show Livermore what the Casper High Ravens are made of.

Even though my mind is tied up endlessly with thoughts of the game and just getting out there on the field already, I manage to get dressed faster than any of my teammates. But that might also have to do with the fact that most of my teammates are playing around.

Jeff is tossing a football from one end of the locker room and a few of my teammates are taking turns catching it. Dale's up this time and he makes a dive for it, accidentally tackling Mitchell in the process. The two fall onto the floor of the locker room but they're both laughing and I can't help but grin as I turn away from them.

A quick glance over my shoulder lets me know that no one's paying attention to me and I easily slip out a pill bottle from my gym bag. I still have a couple more of the painkillers that the hospital prescribed me when I was therebut I've only got two in this bottle. When I was packing my gym bag at the house yesterday, I imagined this bizarre scenario where Coach found the pill bottle and thought I was on some kind of steroid so… I decided to play it safe and only put in what I'm gonna take now rather than the whole bottle.

I pop the cap off my bottle of Gatorade and I shake the two pills into my hand. Painkillers always make me a little more sluggish on the field but without them, I might as well surrender the trophy to Livermore now.

Across the room, Jeff's throwing the football again and just as I tip my head back to drop the pills into my mouth, Keith dives to catch the ball. His shoulder knocks into mine with the movement and I stumble forward just a little. Just enough to lose my balance. And the only two painkillers I have with me right now tumble from my open palm and hit the ground.

I'm frozen in some weird state of shock as I watch those two pills roll across the floor and though I move to catch them – stop them from rolling away forever – I'm not fast enough. The painkillers I need to survive tonight roll right up to the drain beside the showers and fall in.

There's something scratching in the back of my mind as I stumble forward a few paces to look down into the drain. It isn't until the silence catches up to me that I realize I spoke. I yelled something – maybe Keith's name, maybe just 'no' – and everyone in the locker room has gone silent.

"Just got a look at your own reflection, Baxter?" Dale asks from behind me, laughter spilling over into his tone and I know he didn't see what happened. No one did. And I can't tell them now. Because one of them would tell Coach and I'll never get to play if they do. This game is gonna be hard without painkillers but I can't sit it out. I can't let what dad did take that from me.

I let out an exaggerated groan and stoop down, sliding my phone out of my pocket just out of view with the movement. "I dropped my fucking phone," I lie, standing up again. I run my phone down the front of my jersey and glance over the screen. "Looks like it's gonna live another day though."

Dale's watching me from where he's still laying on top of Mitch on the floor and I turn away from him, focusing my attention back on my locker. It stays silent around me for another second or two before Jeff calls out for someone else to catch the ball.

Jeff readies himself to throw the ball to Seth but he doesn't get a chance to before the door opens and Coach steps inside. Almost none of my teammates are in uniform and most of them scramble to get dressed to avoid Coach's lecture.

Coach steps further into the locker room and glances around, his eyebrows drawing down as he starts to speak. "What the hell is the matter with you guys? Your asses are supposed to be out on the field in five minutes and you're in here playing around?" he demands, his gaze shifting to Dale and Mitch, his eyebrows rising on his forehead. "What the hell are you two doing? Get your asses up and in uniform. You can cuddle after the game is over."

Mitch's ears turn red as Coach talks and he quickly shoves Dale a little, wriggling out from under him before he stands up. Dale watches him for a split second before he pushes himself up off the floor and starts for his own uniform.

Coach stands by the door, watching to make sure my teammates actually do what they're supposed to, but I'm done already. I just grab my helmet and head for the door, giving Coach a nod as I pass by him. He easily lets me go and though I've been itching to play this game for so long, I almost wish he knew what just happened. Because he'd stop me from getting out on the field and I'm almost scared to go out there. But no matter the amount of fear that's been poured into my bones, I have to get out there and play this game. My teammates are counting on me. Coach is counting on me. My future is counting on me. It doesn't matter how much pain I end up in by the end of this game, all that matters is the game. And I'm playing in it even if it kills me.


The roar of the crowd sticks in my head from the second our team steps onto the field after my teammates have gotten their act together. The chill of November is reaching me through my jersey but I don't think that's the only reason shivers are running through me. I'm so fucking excited and terrified at the same time.

Up in the crowd, I can see Alex and his family sitting with Valerie and Danny. Anastasia is leaning back, grinning at whatever Valerie's telling her but Danny's nodding as Tatiana speaks, their heads close together. I can only imagine what kind of conversation they're having but for some reason, seeing Tatiana and Danny talking makes my chest squeeze and warmth spread through me despite the anxiety that's been swirling in my gut since I dropped my painkillers. Seeing them talk makes me think about something else entirely. Tatiana, meet the boy who has my heart. Careful with him, I don't have his yet.

"Baxter, you with us?" Blake asks, clapping me on the shoulder as he passes by. His gaze strays up into the crowd and he makes a face. "Stop paying attention to them. We've gotta focus on the game or we'll lose."

I nod, easily going with him after I spare a final glance at the crowd. Blake's right. If I want a chance of us winning this thing, I've gotta focus. And focusing starts by keeping my attention far away from the boy up in the stands and the bruises littered underneath my jersey.

Keith claps me on the back when I join the huddle and I'm practically fucking vibrating from excitement. I've only played in one championship game before, in my sophomore year and we lost. I remember Coach took that loss pretty hard but this feels different than it was then. This feels like we could win.

"Alright, boys." Coach claps his hands together, mirroring our expressions with a grin of his own. "You've practiced hard and played harder this year. Every single moment you've spent on the field and off has prepared you for this moment. The moment when you charge out onto that field and you show Livermore what you're made of. That alone is enough to be proud of." He glances around at all of us in turn. "No matter what the score, when you leave the field tonight, you leave as winners." He claps Jeff and Kwan on the back cause they're standing the closest to him but judging from his expression, I'm guessing he wants to go around the circle and pull us all into a hug.

He puffs out his chest, letting out a heavy breath, that grin never leaving his face. "You are all winners, do you hear me? Years from now, you'll look back on this night and remember the feeling of tearing up the field and your pounding hearts. You go out there tonight and you play hard. You fight for this victory because it belongs to you. You've worked harder than any other team out there and tonight, you get to prove to everyone how much it's paying off." He beams at us, putting his fist out into the center of the circle. "Come on, Ravens on three."

I think I go deaf from how loud my teammates and I scream our name back at Coach and then we're barreling onto the field. I slide on my helmet, fitting the mouth guard into place before I take in a deep breath. I feel the necklace Danny put on me slide a little underneath my shoulder pads but I don't pay it any more attention than a second. Coach is right. This is our night. And that victory already belongs to us.

Bring it, Livermore.


By halftime, I'm dying. Every time one of Livermore's players tackles me, it gets harder to breathe. And I've blinked back tears of pain more than once before I join my teammates in a huddle. I'm better at masking my pain than I thought I'd be and no one picks up on it. So I keep putting in my all out there on the field but when the halftime buzzer sounds, relief floods through me.

My teammates and I pile into the locker room together and we're all fucking exhausted. The game is grueling and we're up against a harder opponent than we've ever had to face but the struggle has done nothing to dampen my teammates spirits. Every person in the locker room right now is still keyed up and fucking ready for this. It feels like this win has been a long time coming and I wish my body didn't ache so much. Because the excitement I can feel rippling in my chest would be explosive if I wasn't in too much pain to let it out.

I'm sandwiched between Kwan and Keith, both chugging Gatorade like I should be doing. After a few seconds of me not moving, Kwan nudges my hand and nods at the bottle clutched in my hand that I've barely had more than a sip from. It hurts just to lift my arm but I disguise the wince as a short laugh.

"I can't believe we're fucking here," I mumble when Kwan glances toward me at my noise.

Kwan grins at me and I force myself to chug back a few swallows before I roughly swipe at the back of my mouth and shoot Kwan a grin in response. I might be in pain but my disbelief at this situation is real. We're here. We're doing it. I'm actually playing in the championship game with some of my best friends as my teammates.

Coach whistles at us just before halftime is over and signals for me to come over to him. I ditch my half-empty bottle on the bench with Kwan and jog over to Coach. As soon as I'm close enough, he puts an arm around my shoulders, talking quietly. "Listen, change of plans. Last play of the night, we're running play nine after all."

I let out a breath, glancing back toward my teammates before I look back at Coach. "Uhh… that's kind of a risk. Jeff's timing was still off by a second. And if I'm off, it gives him even less time… I don't know if running that play is the best idea." Especially considering I'm moving so much more slowly than I would have been on my painkillers.

"Not if we change it," Coach says, lowering his voice as he pulls me closer to him. "Instead of passing to Jeff at the end, I want you to take it all the way to the end zone, alright?" He squeezes my shoulder, glancing up as the rest of my teammates start getting up from the benches, prepared to take the field again.

"What….? I-I thought you said the reason play nine works is cause it has an advantage of-"

"Forget the advantage," Coach says, clapping me on the back. "Trust me, alright? Omit Jeff from the equation and run the play. Keith's going to clear the way for you," he says, pulling away from me as my teammates start for us and he puts his fist into the center, calling for us to yell out Ravens again.

My teammates are quick to place their hands on top of his and I'm slower at reacting. Coach wants me to run the play differently cause… it gives me more time. The crowd'll be watching what I do instead of Jeff. Coaches will be watching what I do.

"Baxter, come on." Coach reaches out to tap me on the shoulder and for a split second, I've forgotten that this game isn't over. That we're still in the middle of it. And that there's so much expectation on all of us and that this time, there are people in the crowd here for me and coaches are watching what we do and I-

"R-Right!" I clap my hand on top of Keith's and holler out my team's name once more, feeling like it'll be the last time I say it for a long time.


We're down by three points. Twenty seconds on the clock. No way do I have time to do what Coach wants me to. I've run fast before but fucking sprinting down the length of the field? I can't do that. No way can I do that. I'm gonna have to default back to the original play. Coach knows that. He has to. Fuck, what do I do?

The whistle sounds, signaling the start of the play again and I'm sprinting down the length of the field, my every breath wheezing and strained as I move. Fuck, I don't know if I have the strength to do this.

I pass Dale without handing off the ball like we'd originally planned. He still pretends that he's got it but the other team isn't fooled for long. They're on my ass in a second and I barely avoid a tackle move made by one of their linebackers.

15 seconds left.

Up the field, Keith's doing exactly what Coach said he'd be doing – clearing the way for me. He's distracting Livermore's players by running a tackle play that we've practiced a lot but never perfected. And in every scenario, Keith always ends up at the bottom of the pile.

I wince for Keith and for myself, my breaths coming in short pants as my feet pound against the field. The sound of the crowd gets lost somewhere between my pounding heart and the footsteps barreling behind me.

I've never been the fastest one on the field and I'm definitely not that now. Jeff's faster – always has been. He's a little leaner than I am but he can surprisingly withstand a beating. He's the one that should be taking this ball to the goal. He should make the winning shot.

Jeff's almost in position. Got Livermore's other tackleon his ass but he's there. He's open. The timing's perfect, he stretches his arms out, I tighten my hand around the ball. I don't have time to make it there myself. Jeff's closer. Fuck what Coach said, I gotta do what's right for this team, I can't be this selfish and take this victory away from them cause I wanna make myself look good.

Ten seconds.

I turn toward him as I run, just like we practiced. I'm in position now to throw the ball his way but he's overtaken by the linebacker on his ass and he goes down, hitting the field hard. I only watch my teammate for a second, until I can see him moving, before I snap my attention back to the game. Fuck, I can't do this.

I cradle the ball against my chest and barrel down the field like I'm the only person running. That linebacker splits away from Jeff and starts charging my way instead and I have no fucking clue how I manage to dodge him. Livermore's center is right after his teammate and he almost knocks me down. I stumble and almost lose my hold on the ball but the goal's right there. I'm so fucking close. I-I can do this!

The necklace Danny loaned me is slamming against my chest with every pounding step I take and I know there's no way I'll be able to get through the players in front of me. I can practically feel the clock ticking down faster and faster with each step. Fuck, what am I supposed to do? I don't have time to get through these guys and there isn't a way around them.

5…4…3…

At the last possible second, I dive onto the ground and slide past them. They both land on top of me and the pain is almost blinding but their tactic didn't work. They tried to stop me from getting here but the ball is still in my outstretched hand, past the white lines of the end zone. The buzzer sounds and I feel like I've gone deaf.

I barely hear the noise of the crowd. I feel it instead. Every scream and cheer is a pound of my chest. Every whoop and holler changes into a shaky laugh despite the pain rumbling through my chest. The commentator's voices become goosebumps and Coach's screaming chants are swells of my heart.

The crowd and my teammates are going fucking nuts and I can't move from my spot. Not cause two of Livermore's players are still pinning me to the field or because of the pain still radiating through me with every breath. I can't move cause I'm frozen, just staring at the football in my hand. All that talk about this victory being ours and leaving the field as winners earlier felt like just that. Talk. But we're more than just winners. Tonight, my teammates and I are fucking champions.


A/N:

Goooo, Ravens! ;p

I feel like I've been working on this chapter for a lot longer than it's actually been. I started editing this on Tuesday or so of last week and I finished up all the edits Sunday night. But oh man, you guys. When I edit these chapters, I don't mean that I just change a word or two every couple of scenes – when they need to be heavily edited, I tear these chapters apart and piece them back together in order to create the best, most cohesive chapter I can. And this one was no different

Before I started editing this chapter, it was just over 13k words. Now, you guys are looking at 18k. EIGHTEEN. I put in an additional 5k on this chapter because it needed it. And I'm really glad that I did because I like this chapter a lot better now. But that's enough behind the scenes stuff, on to the actual content of this chapter

Quick note before I get into the specifics of this chapter: I had Alex's mom talk in Spanish earlier and like I've said before, I don't speak Spanish but according to my translation program, what she said in Spanish should have been, "Have you been sleeping well?"

I really hope that part didn't come across as "I forget to switch back to English around non-Spanish speakers!" cause that's not what I meant at all. She's just literally around people all day long that can speak both languages so most of the time, she easily switches between the two languages from sentence to sentence and everyone she's around does the same. So… sometimes she just forgets that Dash isn't one of the people around her that can speak the language… I hope that makes sense

Onto the rest of the chapter though. First up, Dash and Danny sleeping next to each other again, huuuuuh? And please don't kill me for that almost kiss in Danny's room, I had to do it

What do you think about Dash asking Valerie for more information about her work just so he can help Danny? Was he smooth or were you nervous that Valerie was going to guess why he was asking? Also… I know you guys haven't seen her for too long but what do you think of Alex's mom? You'll get to see more of her next chapter but I'm curious what you guys think of her right now

Danny giving Dash his necklace for good luck… I'd love to know what you're thinking about that. I can already guess that some of you will probably be wondering if there's something magical or ghostly about that necklace and I'll go ahead and spoil that for you: No, there isn't. It's just a regular necklace and Danny's just a sweetie that wants to wish Dash good luck. The necklace will come back up again, don't worry. You'll get plenty of information about it later if you're curious

Any thoughts about the final play of the game and how Coach told him to play it? Or what about Dash playing in the game without managing to get his painkillers? Any idea how much that's gonna fuck with him next chapter? Spoiler: it's a lot ;p

A little disclaimer here: I know nothing about American football and I won't pretend that I do. I spent hours researching the playbook that Coach Brimfield references in this chapter but… I couldn't understand it for the life of me. So rather than try to understand the proper term for the play that Coach told Dash to make at the end of the game, I just called it "play nine" and moved on. Sorry if that disappoints any of you but I honestly don't understand this sport. I can write endless scenes of Dash or Alex fixing cars but football? No chance in hell of that happening

The title of this chapter comes from The Unstoppable by The Score. As soon as you're finished reading my A/N, you need to go and hear that song. It's like THE championship game in my head. When I first heard this song, I was like "yup, that's gonna be used for the final game chapter" because it's too perfect!

Anyway, thanks for checking out this update, I really appreciate it! Let me know what you thought of it either on here or on my tumblr (jaeger-soul) – I love hearing from all of you! I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you guys next update!