Chapter 16
"I'm sorry, little guy." Danny set the kitten down on the ground. Vlad allowed the kitten to stay for the night as long as Danny promised it would be gone when he returned from classes the next day. After he did a little tidying up to their room, he gave the kitten a bowl of water. Then he brought the kitten back to the place where he had found it.
Staring up at Danny, the kitten cried. Danny gave no reaction. The kitten rubbed itself against his leg.
"No, I can't take you back," Danny said sadly. "Vlad doesn't like you, and you don't like Vlad." He absently ran a hand over his bandaged arm. "And I like Vlad, so I don't want to make him ang-" Danny stopped and stared with wide eyes at the kitten. I just said I like Vlad, he thought, stunned by his words. Do I really? Well, I do like him as a person and a friend. I've really had the chance to get to know who he once was. But do I like him as anything more? He recalled the previous day when Vlad bandaged his wounds. He tried to kiss Vlad, and he enjoyed it when Vlad kissed him. A blush rose to his cheeks, and Danny buried his face in his hands. What is wrong with me? I liked kissing my archenemy!
He groaned and rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming. But it's not like he's my archenemy right now so there's nothing wrong with liking him. I mean, he has been really nice to me. And I did make that deal with Ben about considering the possibility of homosexuality. When Ben gave Digory a chance, things turned out all right. So the same could be said about me and Vlad, right? I just have to give him a chance. But what do I really feel toward him?
A chill ran up his spine, and Danny gasped, sending out a wisp of the blue mist that was his ghost sense. Standing, he spun around to see a young boy running toward him.
"You found my cat," the boy said with a bright smile and mischief in his eyes. The kitten released a hiss before it shot off into the bushes. "Ah! And when I had finally found her."
"You - Youngblood!" Danny almost changed immediately into his ghost form, but he restrained himself upon seeing the confused expression on the young ghost's face.
"Youngblood?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. He then glanced down at the outfit he wore and laughed. "I guess I forgot to change out of my pirate clothes after my friends and I were playing by the lake."
That's definitely Youngblood, Danny thought staring at the child ghost. But he's not going by that name yet?
A frown suddenly settled onto Youngblood's face, and he stared at Danny. "You can see me," he said, his frown growing deeper. "No one else I talked to could see me. They didn't even hear me when I started screaming at them to pay attention to me."
He doesn't know he's dead, Danny realized with a sense of dread. "What is the last thing you remember?" he asked hesitantly.
"Well, I was playing pirates with my friends," Youngblood answered as he tapped his chin in thought. "We were sword fighting when I… fell into the lake." The frown returned. "I can't remember what happened next."
Well, that explains his childishness and his pirate obsession, Danny thought dryly. "This might be a bit hard for you to take," he said, trying to think of how to put it delicately. "When you fell into the lake," Danny winced at the annoyed look on Youngblood's face, "I think you may have drowned."
Youngblood continued to stare then he burst into laughter. "You – haha – You expect me – haha – to believe that I'm – hahaha – dead!" He almost collapsed to the ground in a fit of giggles.
"I'm serious!" Danny stomped up to the boy and raised a hand.
Youngblood flinched as Danny's hand swung at him, but it never made contact. His hand passed right through the ghost's head. Shock played over Youngblood's face then anger swept over his features. Danny stepped back as the air around them grew colder and the wind picked up.
"I am not dead!" screamed Youngblood as ectoplasm blasts shot from his hands.
Danny instinctively raised his hands to protect his face while he switched to his ghost form and called up a shield of ectoplasm. The blast ricocheted off the shield. Youngblood shrieked his fury and continued flinging blasts at the shield. This is why I hate telling new ghosts that they're dead, Danny thought, surprised by how much strength Youngblood was putting into his attacks.
Concentrating on his powers, Danny split himself in two. It took him three years to master the cloning skill, and even then, he was still far under Vlad's skill. Vlad could make three clones of himself while Danny still could only make one perfect copy. Leaving the copy within the shield, Danny turned intangible and sank into the ground. When he popped up behind Youngblood, he blasted the child ghost in the back, sending him crashing to the ground. Danny called back his clone, letting the shield dissolve.
Youngblood sputtered, spitting out blades of grass, as he sat up. "How did you do that?" he demanded, turning to face Danny. He stared with awe at Danny who floated above him.
He got over that anger quickly, Danny thought as he frowned at Youngblood. What am I supposed to do with him? I can't send him to the Ghost Zone. "Many years of experience," he explained, not knowing what else he could say to Youngblood. But the line reminded him of something Vlad said to him once.
"Can you teach me to do that?" Youngblood bounced into the air in his excitement.
Danny hesitated. He didn't want to set the ghost into another fit of fury. "I really can't," he answered with a small wince.
"First you tell me I'm dead," shouted Youngblood. "Then you won't even teach me how to do anything now that I'm a ghost!"
"Hey, no one taught me how to – oomph!" A ball of ectoplasm smacked Danny square in the chest, sending him hurtling back until he regained control. When he looked to the ground again, he found no sign of the ghost. He heard a shout of "I hate you" and looked up to see Youngblood stick out his tongue before he flew off. Sighing and shaking his head, Danny landed on the ground. "I already knew you hated me," he murmured as he glanced around the area. No one was around to have witness the fight or to catch him changing forms.
Once he changed back to human form, Danny started walking toward the college campus. As he walked, his thoughts returned to Vlad and the kiss. Did it mean anything to him? he wondered. Or was he only trying to tease me? His chest tightened, and Danny quickly shook that thought from his mind. He reached up a hand and touched his fingers to his lips. I do want to kiss him again. But would he want to kiss me again? I should just ask him directly about it instead of assuming things on my own.
Danny let those thoughts subside as he entered the dorm building and climbed the stairs. When he entered their room, he found the man dominating his thoughts already returned from his classes.
"Vlad." Danny blinked. "What are you doing back so soon?"
"My teacher didn't show up," Vlad explained as he set down the newspaper he was reading. "So after twenty minutes, we all decided to leave."
"I see," Danny mumbled, looking away. He chewed on his lower lip as he thought, I wasn't expecting to talk to him about the kiss so soon. He wanted some more time to prepare himself. "Um, V-Vlad, we need to talk." His breath caught in his throat as Vlad stared and waited for him to continue. "A-About the k-ki – About what happened yesterday," he trailed off, seeing the smirk that spread onto Vlad's face.
"You mean the kiss," Vlad said as he stood up and approached Danny, who gulped and wiped sweaty palms on his pants. "What about it?"
"I, well, I," stuttered Danny. Having Vlad stand so close only increased his nervousness. "Why did you kiss me?"
"Wasn't that what you were trying to do when we knocked heads?" Vlad stepped closer. "You wanted the kiss, right?"
"Well, yes, but," Danny answered, trying to recollect his thoughts. "But why? Were you just teasing me? Or did you want to kiss me back?"
"What is it that you want?" Vlad touched a hand to Danny's face, making him gasp softly.
"What I want," mumbled Danny. He thought he knew what he wanted, but the words were hard to get out now that he had to say them. Vlad's hand caressing his cheek didn't help the situation. I do want to kiss him again, don't I? His heart began beating fast as his tongue slipped out to lick along his dry lips. What is it I really feel? he wondered. Was it merely nervousness that made his heartbeat quicken? Was it only a mild attraction that made his gut twist? Then he realized something as he stared at Vlad, who still waited for his answer. The only time I've felt like this is when I thought I was in love with Sam and Valerie. But this is different than that. More… intense, he thought, unable to find a better way to put it. He continued staring at Vlad then he finally reached a decision. "What I want is… you." He finished the sentence in a soft whisper.
"That doesn't sound very certain to me." Vlad took his hand away.
Danny grabbed the hand quickly. "I am serious!" His voice was stern, more certain. He pulled Vlad closer and seized his lips in a fierce kiss. Wrapping his arms around Vlad's neck, he leaned into the body before him. Hands skimmed down his sides, making his muscles twitch at the feathery touches. He prodded at Vlad's lips with his tongue and received entrance immediately. When the hands on his hips slipped up his shirt, Danny moaned deep in the back of his throat while he explored every inch of Vlad's mouth with his tongue.
When Vlad tore his lips away from his mouth, Danny released a whine and attempted to follow. However, Vlad held him back.
"That was better," Vlad said in a husky voice. He ran his hands up Danny's chest, gaining another moan from the young man. He jerked his hands out from under the shirt and received a confused look from Danny. Shaking his head, Vlad said, "If you're serious about a relationship, then it can't be based purely on a physical attraction."
"It's not!" Danny shouted quickly. "My feelings didn't develop simply because I think you're sexy." After realizing the words that had left his mouth, he blushed. Why do I keep letting embarrassing things like that slip out?
"Sexy, am I?" Vlad smirked at this new knowledge.
"Well, I'm not going to deny it now," Danny mumbled, looking away.
"You're so cute when you're embarrassed and pouting." Vlad pulled Danny's face back toward him and dropped a quick kiss onto Danny's lips.
This is so weird, Danny thought as he stared into Vlad's eyes. So why does it feel so natural? He frowned when another thought occurred to him. "What about Maddie?" Danny noticed a slight change in Vlad's expression and his gaze held a coldness not present a moment before.
"I do still like her," Vlad admitted. "Perhaps I'll always feel something for her." He slid his fingers through the raven strands of Danny's hair. "But lately, it's you that I keep thinking about. You're the one that I see in my dreams, that I enjoy waking up next to each morning." He chuckled lightly and shook his head. "I've never even seriously considered this kind relationship."
"Neither have I," Danny said, slightly saddened to hear that Vlad might always have some feelings toward his mother.
"Then I guess the next step is for us to actually go on a date," Vlad suggested. "I believe Jack will be out tonight, doing whatever it is he does when he goes out. So we can go out together without worrying about him suspecting anything."
"You want to keep this a secret from him?" Danny raised his brow in mild surprise.
"Just for the time being," Vlad answered as he walked back to the couch. "I know Jack's an open minded kind of guy. He wouldn't hate a person based on their sexuality. He might be shocked a bit at first, but it wouldn't stop any of us from being friends. As long as we keep our hands to ourselves at night, of course." He smirked at Danny, who blushed lightly at the implications. "I just don't want to announce our relationship to world. Jack isn't exactly the greatest person to ask to keep a secret."
Unless it's keeping his relationship with Mom a secret from you, Danny thought.
"I have to get to my next class now." Vlad grabbed some books from the table. "So I'll see you later tonight." Grinning, he walked back over to Danny and gave him a quick goodbye kiss before he left the dorm room.
"I can't believe I'm going on a date with Vlad," Danny whispered to the empty room.