After Danny and Dash's little reveal, the rest of the calendar year went by painlessly. The teachers cranked up the amount of homework they were assigning, and with Dash's commitment to football, the two barely managed to scrape together any time to see each other. Danny, of course, still had a surprising amount of free time, so he tried to find something to do with it by getting a job. Not to his surprise, he couldn't, so he just opted to hang out at the school and watch the football team practice. A majority of the team either ignored him or cast him hateful glances, but a few of them actually waved, and not just Dash or Kwan either. Naturally he still hung out with Sam and Tucker on occasion, but they were more content spending time as a couple, just as Danny was more content watching Dash practice. Slowly he sat closer to the field, and he even began to gain an interest in the sport, something he had lacked for the longest time.

Soon the leaves began to change colour, and the cooler weather was welcomed with open arms. Amity Park had seen its hottest summer in decades, so when the cool autumn air finally settled in, everyone was in much better spirits. But seeing that Danny was naturally stubborn, the decrease in temperature was not a good enough reason for him to start wearing a jacket. This not only resulted in him getting colds frequently, but on days where he and Dash got to spend time together, Dash usually finished the night without his jacket, since he would more than willingly let Danny wear it the first time he thought the smaller male was cold, which happened very quickly. Danny's thick-headedness worried Dash, which, considering the thickness of Dash's skull, was saying something.

This night in particular, however, was different.

It was a Wednesday in October, one of the rare days that practice was not scheduled for whatever reason. Dash had asked Danny to go for a walk in the park where they had initially mused over their feelings for each other, and Danny happily obliged, but refused to wear a jacket, despite the fact that it had been the coldest day of fall so far.

"You sure you don't want to bring something in case you get cold later?"

"Dash, I'll be fine."

"But the weather said"

"The weather reports are wrong all the time. Besides, it really isn't that cold."

Dash shot the boy a questioning look.

"I'm fine, really."

"If you say so."

Danny wouldn't admit it, but he did notice a drastic drop in the temperature from the past few days. His first clue was when he had woken up and fogged up the bathroom mirror with his own breath, which he could still see on his walk to school. He tried to think about the warm summer they had just had, but it didn't do much good. He tried to suppress the shivers, but as soon as Dash felt the small tremors against his side he was removing his right arm from its sleeve. He pulled Danny in close and wrapped the jacket around his right shoulder.

When they had gotten back to Danny's house after walking around for a few hours, it started to snow. The storm was a freak fall blizzard, dropping about 6 and a half inches and cancelling school for the next two days. The snow was so heavy the first night that Danny's parents, albeit reluctant, had more or less forced Dash to stay overnight.

Before everyone knew it Halloween had come and gone, and soon they were all preparing for Thanksgiving. Dash had suggested going out early to shop on Black Friday, but Danny outright refused, saying he wasn't willing to be trampled at Wal-Mart over some ridiculous sale on something he didn't need.

"Besides," He felt the need to point out, "I don't have any money to spend anyway."

December crept in slowly, and soon school was out for the holidays. Danny was actually glad to see Jazz, apologizing to her for being a difficult shit as soon as he was able to. She was surprised to say the least, and, over the course of the semester away, had managed to think about her little brother's relationship and was more than supportive, which was still more than Danny could say about his parents. The whole holiday season, which was usually an uncomfortable time for Danny to begin with, felt even more awkward this time around, to the point where Danny had come close to sneaking out and climbing into Dash's house through the upstairs window.

Dash had convinced his mother, with very little effort on his part, to let Danny spend the next few days over. She was more than willing to let him spend as much time as he wanted, but his parents weren't as easy to convince. Not only were they still skeptical and unaccepting, they were intrusive and a bit judgmental as well. They didn't trust Dash or his mother, and only after Jazz pleaded Danny's case did they unwillingly give in to the boy's request.

The first night the power went out around 8pm. The cause, like back in October, was snow. The wind was unfathomable, knocking over trees all over the town. One came crashing down a mere few inches from Dash's house, but luck had been smiling on them that night, and it fell just to the left, crushing the neighbour's swing set instead. The whole town was bombarded, essentially shutting it down for a few days. Danny was stuck at Dash's house, not that he minded, lately he felt more at home there then he did at his actual home. Jazz called every now and then to make sure he was doing alright, not to worry about their parents, and not to risk his life to come home. Danny would reassure her that he would be fine and that he would wait until it was safe to even consider going home. Even after it was possible, Danny continued to stay at Dash's house through New Year's Eve. The winter break ended within the next few days, so he would most likely return home the day before it, but he had never been in a relationship for the new year. And naturally he and Dash shared a kiss as the ball dropped, Denise smiling to herself from the other room, content with the fact that the two would be starting the year with a clean slate, a whole year to be together without drama. She eyed the photo of a blond male in a police uniform from across the room and sighed, eyes filled with loneliness and longing. Both of those, however, were washed away by the overpowering emotion of sadness that surrounded her.

"If only you were here right now, to see your son, you'd be so proud of him."