Awkwardly, Danny circled his arms around the wounded warrior (although he didn't know he was defending him- yet) and patted his back. "Uhhh. Well… okay. Do you need help walking?"

Dash blushed, embarrassed to appear so vulnerable in front of the smaller boy. "No, I can get there on my own." He stood up and limped down the sidewalk.

"Um, Dash."

"Yes."

"My house is in the opposite direction."

"…"

DF/DB/DF/DB/DF/DB/DF/DB/DF/DB

"So how did you manage to get banged up so badly? Most ghosts don't attack unless you get in their way, or something."

Dash, still in total awe of the close proximity of him and his crush could only clumsily dodge the questions with lies that made his chest ache with every word.

"I guess I was just in the wrong place at wrong time."

Danny raised an eyebrow, leaning in to adjust the bandage. "You guess?"

"Who knows why ghosts do anything?" Dash silently pleaded with every deity he ever heard of that Danny would not notice his excessive nervous sweating.

"You know what. I think I was completely wrong about you."

"Excuse me?"

"I was convinced that you were some kind of airheaded jerk, but I think now that you were just misunderstood. Or you just changed."

Danny motioned to Dash that he was done and could move off of the kitchen counter where he had been perched for the last twenty minutes. Uncomfortably, the jock rubbed the back of his neck. "Thank you."

There was a tense pause. Neither one of them spoke. Neither one of them looked at each other, effectively avoiding the others eyes.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Dash clapped his hands together. "So. I should be… I should start getting home."

"Oh! Yes of course." Danny nodded, with the enthusiasm of one who didn't know what else to say. "Soooo I'll see you tomorrow? At school?" He added the last part as if it was an afterthought.

The blonde headed towards the door, turned around, and (without thinking, finding just enough bravery to ask one question he would later freak out about) asked, "Do you want to meet me at the Nasty Burger tomorrow?"

Needless to say, Danny looked surprised. "Um, sure. That sounds like fun."

"Really!?" Dash tried to pass it off as cool (which Danny secretly liked), "I mean, I think it sounds fun too. Let's meet at five."

"Okay. See you there." The raven smiled.

"Okay. Cool."

DF/DB/DF/DB/DF/DB

"Why THE HELL did I do that! That was such a stupid thing to do! I- I don't think I can follow through with this." Dash swallowed hard, mouth dry. "Maybe I should cancel."

"Oh, no. You are doing this." Paulina was irritated, something that didn't happen very often. She was used to people catering to her every whim. "You like him, and he likes you- at least, he likes you enough to say yes to a date…"

Dash, who was currently in full freak-out mode visibly perked up to the idea. "A date! Is this a date? Oh god, what if he doesn't think this is a date? What should I wear!"

The cheerleader, fed up with her friends ramblings, slapped him across the face.

That shut him up.

"W- what?" The blonde looked so lost, as if he was the most innocent being in the world; which of course, is strange in of itself, as he had amazing accuracy with weapons and had been a bully for the longest of times.

"Just be yourself. Wear what you would normally wear, okay."

"Paulina, sometimes it's more difficult to be yourself than pretending to be another person. I'm afraid it's just not as easy as you think."

The Latina, for her part, was so shocked by his very adult advice, stayed quiet.

DF/DB/DF/DB/DF/DB

"I shouldn't have said yes." Danny was lying on his bed, stomach side down.

Sam and Tucker where trying to talk him out of cancelling and skipping school out of embarrassment, something that the distressed teen was leaning on doing.

Tucker sighed. "Dude, if you didn't like the guy, then you shouldn't have said yes in the first place."

"I do like him."

Sam tilted her head back and rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Then what's your problem?"

"I- I don't know. I guess it's not as easy to explain as you'd think it is."

Tucker pulled out his PDA. "Try us."

"Look, what Dash and I have is… different than a lot of other high-school relationships. He used to bully me but now I like him and I see him every day and-"

Sam threw a pillow at Danny's head. "Slow down. You're acting like a love sick girl."

The raven haired boy blushed a deep red and Tucker laughed at him. "Aw. Our little Danny is smitten."

"Shut up. What Dash and I have is just-"

The goth cut him off again, something that she was making a habit of doing lately. "Chemistry?"

"Yeah. Chemistry sounds about right." Danny stood. "Soooo, what do you think I should wear?"

VPVPVPVPVPVP

Vlad Masters stroked his pet cat's back gently. Although it didn't show on his face, he was very much irritated. This wasn't supposed happen. Danny and Dash were supposed to resent each other. Not date.

But the pictures on his computer screen were proof enough that that was not what was going on between the two. And the audio that what with it just disappointed him even more.

"Do you want to meet me at the Nasty Burger tomorrow?"

"Um, sure. That sounds like fun."

"Really!? "I mean, I think it sounds fun too. Let's meet at five."

"Oh, no. That just won't do. That won't do at all."

Cackling evilly, the twisted man picked up his phone and called Valerie.

"Hello, my dear! I have some new information for you. A ghost is plotting to attack the Nasty Burger tomorrow at six. He's not planning on taking hostages."

The girls voice crackled on the other end. "Really? Who is it, and why would they attack that horrible place?"

"I don't know. And his name is Plasmius."

Putting the phone down, the deranged man transformed in a flash of white light into his alter ego.