Chapter 17
As they walked down the street side by side, Danny felt waves of nervousness and paranoia wash over him. He kept sensing eyes upon them, watching their every move. He knew it was silly because no one gave them a second look.
I'm just freaking out because this is my first date with a guy, Danny decided. A guy who happens to be my archenemy in the future. He shook his head. Stop thinking like that. This Vlad isn't completely like that Vlad.
"I'm afraid I can't really afford to take you some place nicer," Vlad said, disrupting Danny's thoughts. He held the door open to the McDonalds.
"This is fine," Danny said and grinned. At least he didn't try taking me to some fancy restaurant, he thought as they entered. I actually know what I'm ordering here will taste good.
"Why don't you find us a table and I'll order the food?" Vlad suggested when he noticed the long line.
Danny almost argued – did he look like a girl, who needed her date to order for her? – but he decided against it. Vlad probably just wants to make sure we get a table, he told himself. He left Vlad to stand in line and went in search of a free table. Many other people had the same idea. Danny noticed most tables claimed by a single person. The remaining free tables were in the back near the restrooms. Danny plopped into a booth seat and waited for Vlad.
When he arrived, Vlad carried a tray with two large sodas, two Big Macs, and two large French fries. "I hope you don't mind my ordering for you." He gave a sincere apologetic look.
"I don't mind," Danny said despite his dislike of Big Macs. He would have preferred a plain cheeseburger, but he didn't want make Vlad feel bad. I could have always told him my order before look for a table, he thought and mentally cursed his stupidity. Vlad passed out the food, and they began eating in an awkward silence. Danny nibbled on his fries, not sure what to do now. He noticed Vlad fumble with the ketchup bottle and almost sprayed himself with it. I guess he's just as nervous, Danny thought as he hid his laughter with a hand over his mouth.
Vlad scowled at Danny's reaction. "I'm so glad you find me so amusing," he grumbled as he squirted a small amount of ketchup onto his fries.
"I'm sorry," Danny said, getting his laughter under control. "I just never imagined seeing you fumble with a ketchup bottle." He grinned and reached over to dip his fry into the mound of ketchup.
"I – This is just all new to me," Vlad mumbled.
Danny raised a brow at the un-Vlad-like manner in which he spoke. A smile slid over his face. "You're not the only one who's nervous and uncertain about this whole date with a guy thing." He took a bit of the fry and munched on it. "Maybe I should have talked to Ben about this. He's dated guys before."
Vlad frowned. "You've been speaking with Ben a lot lately."
Is that jealousy? Danny wondered. Shrugging, he used a napkin to wipe the salt from his fingers. "We've just been talking about stuff," he said vaguely and grinned at Vlad.
"Stuff?" Vlad's frown deepened.
"You know, stuff." Danny caught a twitch of Vlad's eye and decided teasing the man further might not be the best idea. "We were talking about our love interests, if you must know." He picked up his soda and took a long sip from it.
Vlad wore a smug smirk. "And what did you say about me?"
"Mostly I was trying to deny having any feelings for you. But it got harder to believe myself each day." He grew flustered under Vlad's stare. "I mean, I kept wanting to believe I was a hundred percent straight, but day after day, I found myself slowly growing more and more attracted to you, so it was getting harder to tell myself I had absolutely no interest in guys. And why am I still talking? I can be such a spazz." He wrapped his lips around the straw in his soda and looked away.
A scream interrupted the awkward silence that fell over them. Danny and Vlad's heads snapped around to the source. An elderly woman, who just walked out of the restroom, stood pointing a finger at Danny. Terror danced in her eyes.
"Demon! Child of the devil!" shrieked the woman, drawing the attentions of more customers. She reached her free hand into her purse and pulled out a cross and rosary. Holding the cross out toward Danny, she mumbled prayers.
"What are you shouting about?" Vlad demanded, frowning at the woman who disturbed their date.
"He's not human!" screamed the woman.
Danny swallowed nervously. Did she see me earlier? Fear coursed through him, freezing the blood running through his veins. But I didn't see anyone around to catch me changing.
"Is there a problem?" the manager asked when he arrived at the scene.
"What right do you have to point at someone and claim they aren't human?" Vlad shouted furiously.
When Vlad stood to tower over the woman, Danny shot out his seat. He grabbed Vlad's hand and dragged him away from the woman, who began preaching scriptures. This is just what we needed on our first date, he thought as they exited the McDonalds.
"This whole date thing already had me nervous, I don't really need the whole restaurant's attention directed us," Danny muttered. "And I don't need you to defend me."
"What exactly was that about?" Vlad asked as he folded his arms and glared at Danny. "Why was that woman saying that stuff about you?"
"I don't know!" Danny shouted, throwing his arms up in frustration. "I've never even seen that woman before in my life." He pondered, searching for some excuse to give Vlad. "Maybe she leapt to the assumption that we were on a date and she's completely against homosexuality."
"She only called you demon and child of the devil," Vlad pointed out, and Danny winced.
"I… have no idea what was wrong with her then," Danny said. "Can we just say she's crazy and move on?"
Vlad stared at Danny for a moment before his arms dropped to his sides. "All right," he agreed. "I wouldn't want to go back in there and try to ask her what her deal is."
I really hope she didn't actually see me transform when I fought Youngblood, Danny thought, relieved that Vlad agreed to drop the subject. "So now what?"
"Well," Vlad mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced up at the darkening sky. "I was planning on taking you up there after we finished eating. I guess there's no reason not to go there now." He started walking down the street.
"Where are we going?" Danny asked as he followed Vlad, who grinned and kept silent. He played through different scenarios as they walked. The longer they walked Danny wondered if Vlad even had a destination. "You enjoy keeping me in the dark, don't you?" Danny finally asked.
"No." A smirk twitched at Vlad's mouth. "Well, actually I do. But I wanted to have this be a surprise." He turned down a small pathway almost hidden by a dense forest.
"Are we at least getting close to whatever it is?" Danny jogged to catch up with Vlad.
"Yes, we're here." Vlad pushed aside some bushes to reveal a small cliff overlooking the college campus. "I like coming up here sometimes to get away from the hectic life of college. I haven't been up here in a while though."
"It's a nice view." Danny walked over to the cliff and started to sit.
"No sitting." Vlad grabbed Danny's arm and hauled him back onto his feet. "The view isn't the only reason I brought you up here." He walked over to a tall tree to their left and reached up to retrieve something hidden within its branches.
"A boom box?" Danny raised his brow as he watched Vlad set the boom box on the ground and turned it on.
"A little music to dance to," Vlad explained. "I leave it up here for when I want to listen to a little music while I relax."
"Dinner and dancing." Danny shook his head. "Why didn't I think of that? I hope you aren't expecting me to be the girl in this."
Vlad frowned, and Danny realized he had. "We can alternate," he suggested, though it looked he had to force himself to say it.
Danny almost laughed, but he held it in. He couldn't imagine Vlad dancing the woman's part. "I guess that works." After a moment of hesitation, he added, "And I guess I can be the girl first."
Vlad placed his hands on Danny's hips. At first, their dancing was awkward, and Danny kept stepping on Vlad's feet. Danny was surprised by Vlad's patience toward teaching him to dance properly.
This is really nice, Danny thought, not even noticing that they went through quite a few songs without switching roles. I really like living here in this time with this Vlad. Do I really have to go back? If I go back, Vlad and I will be enemies again. I don't want that. I don't want to go back to a time where Vlad and I are enemies and where Vlad wants to kill Dad and take Mom away. I want to stay here. I want this Vlad. His hands tightened around Vlad's shoulder, but he didn't notice it until Vlad stopped their dancing.
"What's wrong?" Vlad asked concerned.
"N-Nothing." Danny forced a smile to his face.
"You're crying." Vlad cupped Danny's cheek and wiped away the tears from one eye with his thumb.
Danny quickly wiped his other eye. "I don't know what's wrong with me," he mumbled. I must seem really silly. Crying over this. The Proto-Portal still hasn't been fully built yet and I'm worried about having to make the decision to go back or stay here. As long as the Proto-Portal remains incomplete, I don't have to worry about that. But if I stay, the effect that would have the present – No, I don't care about the effect. I don't want to leave this Vlad.
"Maybe we should go back," Vlad suggested. He left Danny long enough to turn off the boom box and hide it behind the tree again.
"No, I'm fine," argued Danny. "Let's continue dancing."
Vlad closed the distance between them. "What were you thinking about before?"
"I-" Danny gulped. He met Vlad's gaze and realized that he was making him worry. Sighing, he looked away and mumbled, "I was just thinking about how I didn't want to leave you."
"Why were you thinking about that?" Vlad asked puzzled by the strange turn of Danny's thoughts.
"I have no idea," answered Danny, laughing a little.
"Well, this certainly has been one of my more interesting dates." Vlad took Danny's hand. Then he led Danny down the pathway, and they walked back to their dorm.