*sighs and puts earplugs in my ears to block out the inevitable screaming that will come from people when they read this chapter*
All night Dash had been nervous about what he had learned. Danny was going off to fight off a huge threat to that Ghost Zone place and from what little he learned it was a pretty bad situation. He had wanted to work on his comic more but after hearing all that he couldn't actually focus enough to draw anything decent. He thought about going over to hang out with Kwan but with everything that was going on he knew his friend would ask questions about how he was acting that he couldn't honestly answer and he didn't want that. So Dash did the only thing he could do: he worked out on his punching bag, lifted weights, and played some video games to try and distract himself.
The next day couldn't come soon enough for the young man; he got up, ate breakfast, took a jog, and watched the clock. Time seemed to hate him as he nervously waited for 1 o'clock to roll around. He didn't know how the battle last night went and he actually feared that Danny might have gotten seriously hurt.
Finally when it was 12:30 he grabbed some of his stuff and headed out the door. Choosing to walk towards his place Dash tried to calm himself thinking about what could have possibly happened that made Danny need to ask for help. From what the jock could tell, Phantom had always been pretty strong and it seemed like there was nothing that he couldn't handle. If what he had said was true though then whatever had happened must have been bigger than what Dash could have imagined.
Finally arriving at Fenton Works, the blond walked up to the front door when he heard something coming from behind the house. Thinking it was likely Danny he went around and had to cover his mouth to keep from screaming at what he saw. Standing in the back yard partially hidden amongst the few trees they had was a strange glowing plant like thing with red eyes and a beak talking to Danny. The jock just stood there in wide eyed shock before the creature took notice of him and looked at him. Danny turned around to see what the thing was looking at and smiled before motioning Dash towards them.
"Hey, Dash," Danny smiled once he got closer, "This is Undergrowth, he's staying here for awhile to recuperate from his home being attacked. He's a ghost who can control plants."
The blond stared dumbfounded at the sight of the ghost before him. He looked menacing with the spikes on his shoulder and the glare from his eyes, but if Danny wasn't afraid of him then maybe he wasn't an evil ghost like so many others they'd seen over the years.
"Um… pleased to meet you, I guess." He held out his hand hesitantly unsure if he should shake the claw like hands the ghost had or not.
"Is he one of those humans who would cut down and pillage forests for their own selfish needs, or is he like that Goth girl who I had chosen to help take care of my garden when I tried to take over the world?"
That sent off warning bells in the jock's mind and he instantly pulled his arm back in terror. This guy had tried to take over the world and now Danny was just standing there talking to him.
"You know there's more than two types of people, Undergrowth, but Dash here's a good guy. Anyway I just wanted to keep you updated and make sure you're doing ok. I'll be back to water you later."
"Very well," with that the ghost crossed his arms and closed his eyes as the sun shined down on him. As Danny started to walk back to his house Dash quickly followed behind, not caring too much for the ghost behind him.
"Sorry about him, he's kind of a jerk and doesn't like humans too much. He doesn't like that many ghosts either from what I've seen but who knows."
"And you're friends with that guy?" Dash looked back one last time before they entered the house, "He tried to take over the world and he seems like a bit of a jerk."
"Well to be fair most ghosts are like that as are a lot of people," the ghost boy smiled back with a knowing grin that made Dash scratch at the back of his head in embarrassment, "I tend to find first impressions of people are wrong, but Undergrowth is slowly coming to realize that not all humans are jerks out to destroy the earth and a lot want to preserve it so if he learns from this maybe he can be a good guy one day and haunt a rain forest somewhere."
"If you say so. But how was last night? I mean you look alright and all but I have no idea about what happened and you could have a huge bruise or wound under your shirt or something."
"Nah I'm fine," The pair walked into Danny's room and he took off his winkled shirt and showed his bare flesh to him, "Not a new bruise or wound to be seen, see?"
Dash did see, and what he saw he almost couldn't look away from. The definition of his torso combined with the few lingering scabs and bruises from earlier battles brought out the look of a warrior in the young man. Letting his eyes glaze over his body Dash saw the abs that were developing on Danny's stomach. Between his time at the pool and his time hunting ghosts it seemed that Danny had gotten quite a nice looking body, and now up close and having it shown to him, the blond was having a hard time looking away.
"Dash?" The jock shook his head and looked up to the blue eyes of the teen before him, "You ok? I asked if you wanted to sit down while I take a quick shower and then we can talk if you want."
"Uh, yeah sure, go on ahead. I'll just sit and look through my sketches some." Dash turned away quickly before Danny left for his shower and went to sit on his bed. He took out a few notebooks and started to go through them one at a time, examining his work and trying to figure out ways to do it better. It didn't take long for the youth to get so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't hear when Danny came back, towel around his waist while drying his hair with another.
When he looked up he had to gulp at the still slightly damp skin that he saw as it was slowly covered again by boxers and then a pair of baggy shorts and a shirt. These feelings that Dash kept having come up on him were starting to drive him crazy and he felt that if he didn't get a handle on them soon he'd really screw things up with Danny.
"Sorry about making you wait and all, Dash, but it was a crazy night and I slept in 'til about 11 today and then I had to go give Undergrowth a report that the immediate threat is over." He sighed and sat at his desk before shaking out his hair and trying to push it back into some semblance of order.
"Right… you mentioned something about going off into that Ghost Zone place and having to fight off some invasion or something. Mind going into some details about that?"
"Yeah, sure." And for the next half hour Danny recounted the entire adventure he had been going through since meeting Headliner up until the part where they got back late last night.
"And that was it, the bugs have all stopped attacking everyone and whatever was there likely controlling them is gone. Add to the fact Headliner's paper has changed to show a mass of portals opening up between the worlds because of some planet being in retrograde or something I'd chalk it up as a win for now," he shrugged.
"Wow… well after all that the least I think you deserve is a good lunch. C'mon it'll be my treat." Dash smiled and stood up trying to keep an even face about his growing feelings for his new friend.
After slipping on his shoes, the duo headed off. Danny felt like going to the chicken franchise they had in town today instead of pizza and so after walking the couple blocks there they walked in ready to eat. As they stood in line looking over the menu though a sudden voice caused them to turn their heads.
"Dash? Fenton? Hey you guys!" The two teens turned to see a familiar Asian jock walking up to them with his signature big grin across his face.
"Kwan?" Dash smiled as his friend walked up to them, "What are you doing here?"
"Came here to get something to eat, duh. Felt like getting some chicken for lunch and then maybe heading to the mall for a bit. Mainly just killing time, ya'know?"
"Yeah, we just came here to grab a bite to eat and then head back to Danny's place and hang out or something." Dash tried to be casual about what he was saying but he caught a sly grin on Kwan's face that could only mean trouble.
"Oh well then, mind if I join you guys? After all I haven't seen Fenton here all summer and I want to hear a bit about this bike he's building."
Dash wanted to object to Kwan inviting himself over but he really had no good reason to dismiss his friend other than the teasing he'd get later. So resigning himself to being subtly teased he agreed and they all placed their orders before grabbing their drinks and sitting down to wait for the food to be ready. As they waited Kwan started to talk with Danny about all that he'd been doing, how his swimming was going, how his bike was turning out, and showed a lot more interest in him than Dash thought he should have. It wasn't like he was doing anything wrong, but Dash wouldn't have called the way Kwan was hanging onto every word Danny said 'right' either.
When their order was finally called Dash was the one who was sent to get it for them all. He had thought his friend would come up with him but he just asked for some napkins and continued to listen to Danny talk about finally getting ready to get the engine onto his bike.
By the time he got back with their food, condiments, and napkins Kwan had his arm on Danny's shoulder and was laughing about something the smaller teen had apparently said. He tried not to let it get to him as they both seemed to be at ease with the gesture but it still irked him in a bad way, though he tried not to show it. Once he sat their food down they started to eat and talk some more about what had been happening in their respective lives. Dash knew that Danny was censoring his summer vacation activities because of Phantom but there was still enough for Kwan to comment on.
Through it all, though, Kwan kept on paying more and more attention to Danny and though the raven haired teen didn't seem to realize it, Dash could see that Kwan was flirting with him. He didn't know what was going on in his friend's head but by the time they were almost done with their food he was about to blow his stack.
"So how about I come over and see this bike of yours?" Kwan leaned against Danny almost putting his arm around the smaller man after he finished off his lunch. Danny gave a small smile while looking a bit uncomfortable but before he could reply Dash slammed his fists on their table and stood up.
"Kwan, can we talk?" Not waiting for a reply he grabbed hold of his friend and dragged him outside where they wouldn't be heard.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, man?" Dash shoved his friend against the side of the restaurant.
"Nothing," the sly grin on his face however spoke of something that was anything but, "I just figured if you're not going to put your moves on him or ask him out then maybe I would."
"But you're not even gay or bi, Kwan!" Dash felt his temper getting the best of him now and he didn't know why his best friend was suddenly acting like this.
"Well you know what they say: what's good for the goose is good for the gander. I figure I try things out with him and maybe I might just end up liking it."
"Kwan, I'm warning you back off," Dash growled out suddenly feeling tense and on edge.
"What's wrong?" Kwan chuckled and leaned against the wall, "I thought you didn't even like him? I mean if you don't then you shouldn't mind if I can see if I can score with the lil' guy, right? I mean he does have a cute little butt."
Dash couldn't control his fist as it connected with his friend's stomach. He couldn't even talk he was so upset with what he had said. Barely able to even think through his anger Dash stomped back inside to where Danny was sitting, grabbed his hand and pulled him along to walk out with him. Of all the things he was feeling the first things to come through the cloud of fury was a sense of betrayal and feelings of protection. Dash just couldn't let Kwan mess around with Danny like that and he wouldn't either if he could help it.
"Dash, what's going on? What happened to Kwan?" Danny looked up at the blond as he was pulled along.
"Nothing, he was just being stupid and nosey and stuff." Dash huffed as he continued to pull the shorter teen back to his house.
"What kind of 'stuff'?"
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." The blond nervously bit his lip as they walked across a street, Fenton Works only another block away.
"Dash… Whatever it was that Kwan said or did was enough to obviously upset you. C'mon tell me I thought you guys were friends and I want to be able to help if you two had a fight."
"He said he wanted to ask you out, ok?" A blush came to the jock's face as he pulled his hand back. He couldn't even turn his head around to look at Danny after his outburst; saying it aloud made it all sound so silly.
"Oh, was that it?" Dash turned around, surprised at the uncaring tone of his voice like it was nothing, "Well if he was serious about asking me on a date I guess it couldn't hurt, unless…" This time Danny looked up into Dash's face, "Do you have a problem with that?"
He wanted to say no, but the jock couldn't stop the blush that came to his face. He tried to hold his tongue from saying anything but he shook with so much tension that it had to come out.
"Yes! Yes, I have a problem with that! Kwan's not like that! I've known the guy for years and he's never been into guys like that I don't even know what's going through his head thinking of asking you out when I know he's not interested! And what's worse is that I've been wanting to ask you out but I know you'd never consider dating a guy who used to bully you and make your life hell and just… GAH!" Dash couldn't look at the smaller teen anymore and turned away. His face felt like it was on fire and he couldn't bear to look at how Danny had taken the news. He just stood there waiting for the rejection to finally come and to hear that he never wanted to talk to him again or something else as stupid.
"Well what if I told you I wanted to ask you out too?" Dash spun his head around and stared at Danny in amazement. He looked a bit flustered and slightly embarrassed but nothing along the line Dash was feeling now.
"Y-You wanted to ask me out?!" The raven haired teen just nodded with a slight grin spreading across his face.
"Yeah, I mean you've been really cool lately and it's been nice hanging around with you and all at the pool and the garage, and I gotta tell ya having someone know my secret is really a huge load off my shoulders. I mean now that you know I can be honest with you if I have to suddenly run off in the middle of a date and not have to make up some outrageous lie."
The blond couldn't move from what he had just heard. He looked at him for a moment more before he reached up to scratch at the back of his head. He felt nervous now and the small crocked smile that Danny had on his face was making a warm feeling bubble up in his chest at prospects of things to come.
"So…," Danny tilted his head and started to take the lead back to his place, "Are you going to ask me out or do I have to here?"
Dash smiled as he took the next few steps to join Danny feeling a huge weight lift off his shoulders. After all his fears and doubts all it took was his best friend pushing a few of his buttons to get the courage to do what he wanted.
"Okay… so Danny," Dash stood before the other and rubbed his neck nervously, "You wanna go out with me Friday night? Catch a movie and get some dinner? Like a date?"
"Sure, Dash I'd love to." Danny chuckled and Dash didn't even try to fight the blush that came to his face at how cute he found that sound to be now.
As they made the rest of their way towards Danny's house, Dash suddenly felt his phone vibrate telling him that he had a text message. Pulling it out he read the message and rolled his eyes at what it said.
'So did you ask him out and did he say yes or what?' –Kwan
Dash just chuckled and typed 'yes' before he pocketed his phone again, smiling at his friend's antics.
...Will make you go for it.
Ok so I hope this chapter works well this time. It seems that something here has been causing my documents to not copy over right and that's causing a few errors so hope this reads fine. If not just tell me and I'll fix it... Again...