Chapter 14
Danny sighed as he rested his chin in his hand and stared at Vlad. Ever since his run in with Ben, Danny couldn't get his mind off the topic of their conversation. Even when he tried to focus on other things, it would find its way back to the forefront of his mind. I am not gay, Danny thought with a frown. How many times have I said that in the last few days? It seemed to him that the more he tried to reaffirm that statement the less it convinced him of being true. This morning was the worst, he grumbled, recalling what had happened.
That morning, Danny woke up earlier than usual because of an odd weight upon him. He discovered the cause of this when he touched the weight and found it to be Vlad's arm wrapped securely around his waist. Danny gulped as his insides knotted. His mind panicked. He didn't know what to do. If he moved, he would wake Vlad. What's the problem with that? his mind wondered. Would Vlad even care that he was sleeping with his arms around the younger man sharing his bed? Danny didn't wish to find out.
The time passed slowly, and Danny felt the tug of sleep pulling on him. He found it strange that he wasn't freaking out more about discovering himself in Vlad's arms. It feels nice, comfortable even, he thought as he nuzzled his head into the pillow.
It shouldn't feel natural to be in the arms of your future archenemy! Danny's mind screamed at him. I'm not gay. And even if I was, why would I fall for someone who tried to kill my dad? Among other villainous acts.
"Are you listening?" Vlad asked, interrupting Danny's thoughts.
"Oh, uh, yeah," Danny said and restrained himself from jolting back when he became aware of their closeness. "I was just, um, thinking about the situation with Ben and Digory. I think they at least deserve a chance at a relationship. I know Ben said Digory isn't a hundred percent gay, but that doesn't mean he can't be bi, right? Ben could just be acting paranoid because he's afraid of being hurt. I mean, he actually thought I come off as gay." He laughed until he noticed the impatient look on Vlad's face. Danny bit his lip and dropped his gaze to the notebook on his desk. "Er, where were we?"
"Forget it." Vlad sighed as he leaned back in his seat. "Class is about to end anyway." A moment after Vlad spoke, the teacher dismissed his students. They packed away their things and left the classroom.
"I'm sorry about not paying attention," Danny said as they walked through the hallway toward the building's exit. "I kind of have a lot of things on my mind."
"What things?" Vlad asked, curiously.
"Just stuff." How am I supposed to tell Vlad about the thoughts that keep running through my mind? he thought with a mental growl. Why did Ben have to put the idea of homosexuality in my mind? Saying he thought Vlad and I were an actual couple.
Vlad stared at Danny like he expected the younger man to continue. When Danny remained silent, Vlad said, "My classes don't meet tomorrow, so I'll have the whole day free." He hesitated for a second as Danny stared at him in wonder. "So I thought we could spend the day together. Go somewhere off campus, maybe a movie or something."
Danny blinked and stared, replaying the whole thing over in his mind. Why does that sound like every time I asked out a girl? All nervous and afraid of rejection? he thought, finding it hard to think of Vlad in that manner. No, I'm probably just reading too much into that because of what Ben said. Like Vlad would ask me out on a date! Danny almost laughed out loud, but he stopped himself. "Yeah, sure, that sounds like a great idea," he answered with a bright smile. "I could use a day of rest." And a day out of that maid's outfit.
"Good." Vlad nodded. "Good. Well, I need to get to my next class now."
"Yeah, okay. I'll see you later." Danny stood and watched Vlad disappear among the crowd of students hurrying to their next classes. Sighing, he started walking back to the dorm. Vlad asking me on a date, he thought and laughed to himself. He would never do that. I mean, he's in love with Mom. There's no way he would like me like that. He frowned as he stopped and turned his head to gaze up at the passing clouds. I need to stop thinking of this.
"What did you think of the movie?" Vlad asked as they walked out of the movie theater near the college campus.
"Oh, it was good. Horror movies are always good," Danny answered, smiling. Though I've already seen that movie so it wasn't all that scary, he added to himself. His insides were twisted with anxiety, and a few times during the movies, he feared the popcorn he ate would make a return trip back out his mouth. The worst part of it all was when he noticed Vlad stretching and thought he would try to put his arm around him. Danny blushed at that memory. Why am I thinking like this based on stupid rumors and a comment from one person who knew me all of five minutes?
"I thought we could go there," Vlad said as Danny broke from his reverie. "That is if you would like to go there."
"Um, I'm sorry." Danny winced. "What were you talking about?" He noticed an annoyed look pass over Vlad's face before he sighed.
"It's past noon, and we haven't had lunch yet," Vlad explained. "I thought a nice sit down place would be good."
"Yeah, but 'nice sit down places' cost quite a bit of money," Danny pointed out. "Money that we can't afford to use on a single meal."
Vlad frowned at that, and Danny guessed that he disliked his response. "I suppose you have a point," he grumbled. "Then where do you want to eat?"
Danny thought on it for a while. "I'm kind of in the mood for pizza."
"Didn't we have that for dinner once this week already?" Vlad asked, and Danny got the impression that he was sick of pizza.
"No, we had it last week. But if you want something else, we can get something else."
"No, pizza's fine." Vlad led the way down the street toward the Pizza Hut located near the campus. When they entered the restaurant and found the place packed, Vlad muttered, "Looks like everyone got the idea to come here for lunch."
"I don't see any open tables." Danny frowned as he scanned the restaurant for some place to sit.
"There's about an hour wait for a seating," said a voice, making the two men turn.
"Ben!" Danny greeted, surprised to meet the man at the Pizza Hut. "What are you doing here?"
"Digory and I decided to come here for lunch," Ben explained. "He's waiting for our pizzas to be ready." He glanced between Vlad and Danny before an idea came to him. "Why don't you join us? We got a pepperoni and a vegetable pizza. We thought it would be nice to take the pizza to the park to eat them since it's crowded in here." He grinned at Danny. "Consider it making up for that rain check."
"That sounds like a great idea," Danny said, grinning at Ben.
"Great. Then I'll just go let Digory know about it." Ben walked through the crowd of people waiting in line.
"I never agreed to that," Vlad muttered.
Danny stared Vlad and wondered why he sounded annoyed. "What's wrong? We get a free meal out of this." Vlad grumbled, but Danny didn't hear him since he was too busy thinking about Ben and Digory. They're always hanging out with each other, Danny thought, trying to come up with a way to get the two men to talk about starting a relationship. And always flirting with each other. Well, Digory more than Ben. They act more like a couple than Vlad and I do.
"Let's go," Ben announced when he returned a few minutes later.
Carrying two boxes of pizzas, Digory trailed behind him. Ben put his arm around Danny's shoulders as he led the way out of the restaurant. Danny glanced nervously behind to find Vlad scowling and Digory looking quite angry. As they walked toward the park, they chatted, though Ben did most of the talking.
"So if you're not a couple," Ben whispered softly to Danny so that Vlad and Ben couldn't overhear their conversation, "then why does it look like the two of you are out on a date?"
"You know, I could ask the same of you and Digory," Danny countered as he narrowed his eyes.
"You didn't deny that it was a date." Ben smiled widely, like somehow the statement made him triumphant.
"You didn't either," Danny shot back, and the smile faltered. "I don't see why you don't at least think about having a relationship with Digory. What if he really does love you? You can't be a hundred percent sure that he'll leave you for a woman."
"Yeah, well, I could ask why you don't consider having a relationship with Vlad."
"Uh, for one thing, Vlad would never like me like that," Danny said. "For another, I'm not gay. For a third thing, I already know Vlad is in love with someone else."
Ben glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "That jealous look on his face says otherwise." With the smirk still on his face, he turned back to Danny. "I'll make a deal with you, since you're so interested in my love life. I'll give Digory the chance to prove his feelings for me if you give being in a relationship with Vlad a chance."
"You're expecting me to refuse this offer, aren't you?" Danny asked dryly.
"Of course." Ben grinned with a look in his eyes that made Danny frown. "You're straight, after all. Why would you accept this deal?"
"I'm not going to fall for that. I accept your offer." It wasn't until the smirk on Ben's face widened that Danny fully realized what he said. He gulped. "Uh, I didn't mean that."
"Nope. Too late." Ben shook his head. "You agreed and you have to stick to that."
Danny sighed as his shoulders drooped. "I can't believe I agreed to that."
"On the bright side, I'm sure you'll have made Digory very happy," Ben pointed out. "Even if it doesn't last for long."
"It'll last longer than any relationship between Vlad and me," grumbled Danny.
"We'll just have to wait and see about that." Ben patted Danny on the back before he dropped back to talk to Digory.
"What were you two talking about?" Vlad demanded as he fell into step beside Danny.
"Huh? Oh, nothing," replied Danny quickly with a small nervous laugh. "Nothing at all. Oh, hey, look!" He pointed ahead of him. "It's the park."
"You're hiding something," Vlad said, frowning.
"N-No, I'm not." Danny shrank away under Vlad's gaze. He heard Ben laughing and turned to glare at him.
Ben coughed and tried to appear innocent. "Let's find a place to sit," he suggested as he urged Digory forward to take the lead.
After they wandered around for a while, they found an open picnic bench. Sitting down, they opened the two boxes of pizzas and began eating. For some time, an uncomfortable silence reigned over them until Digory broke it by asking Vlad about his studies. Danny felt relieved to have the conversation change topics, though Ben smirked at him whenever their gazes met, and the nervous twisting of insides came over Danny again. He finally managed to relax after Ben and Digory had to leave to make it to their classes.
"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" Danny asked, turning on the bench to face Vlad.
"What was with those looks Ben kept giving you?" Vlad asked in a too casual tone.
"You're too concerned with that," Danny muttered with a sigh. "If you must know, I was trying to convince Ben to give Digory a chance. You can see why we had to whisper, right? Digory was walking only a few steps behind us, and we didn't want him overhearing."
"I assume you managed to convince him?" Vlad asked, and Danny nodded. "How did you do that?"
"Must you know every pesky little detail?" Danny demanded, a bit annoyed with the questions.
"Yes, I must." Vlad finally turned to face Danny. He sighed as he pulled out a handkerchief. "You seem to be in the habit of getting food smeared on your face." He wiped the tomato sauce from the corner of Danny's mouth.
"I'm not the only one," Danny said with a grin. He reached up and wiped away the cheese with his thumb from Vlad's face. Without thinking, he licked the cheese from his thumb. They stared at each other as Danny slowly drew his thumb out of his mouth, scraping the cheese off with his teeth. Vlad's gaze dropped, and he gulped as he watched. Letting his hand fall away, Danny thought it seemed like Vlad was leaning closer. Suddenly, Vlad jerked back, shock playing across his face.
"I think it's about time we get back to campus," Vlad mumbled as he gathered up the pizza boxes.
That was so stupid of me! Danny screamed at himself and blushed darkly. When he started to help, Danny brushed his hand against Vlad's hand. Quickly, he snapped it away while butterflies tickled his insides. This is all Ben's fault, he told himself. After they threw the boxes into the trash, they started walking back to their dorm.