"Also… I hate to tell you to do this, Danny, but turn around."

Danny looked confused, but he turned around and saw someone marching in his direction.

"Shit." Danny groaned. "Of all the people in this world, Kwan. Of ALL the people. You're still friends with him? You do know he hates me, RIGHT?"

"Missed me, FENTON?"

"Sorry man." Kwan said, hoping the two wouldn't fight.

"For the love of GOD, Kwan. You invited DASH here?!" Danny got quiet once his archenemy was standing over him.

Kwan said nothing. He knew Dash was still the same. All he could do was cross his fingers and hope for the best.

"Move it, Phan-tonio. You're in my spot." Dash Baxter spoke with the same smug tone as usual. Danny hated it, mostly because Dash has been bullying him for so long.

"Sheesh. Dash has become more and more aggressive since I became friends with Kwan. I wonder what's going on with him?" Danny thought. "Yeah… I'm gonna go… uh…"

Danny sprinted away. Once he was out of sight, and hidden of course, he screamed. "Going ghost!" He transformed into Danny Phantom. "Time to see what's wrong with Dash…"

Danny flew over Kwan and Dash, turned invisible, and listened in to what was being said.

"Dash, I know you hate him, but lighten up. Did you ever stop to think about how much… uh, fear you really put in the kid?"

Dash just slumped over. "Kwan, I have some bad news. I'm getting so much of a rush out of bullying Fenton that… I'm starting to… starting to…" Dash closed his eyes and thought about Danny. How hard he tried to get away from his grip, how much he began to shake every single time they got close, how…

How scared he was.

"...like him."

Danny read Dash's thoughts something like this:

"Dash hated Danny. A lot. On a daily basis, he would pick on Danny and bully him, along with the rest of the football team. Even when they were in class together, he'd mess with him. There was one time in particular, though. A few weeks ago. Danny was with Sam and Tucker at his locker, per usual, when Dash stormed over and grabbed Danny by the collar and shoved him against the locker. More likely than not, Dash was angry about a test. When their eyes locked, Danny looked very frightened in Dash's grip, almost powerless. He felt weaker than ever, and all he could do was look at Dash and hope that he wouldn't have to go home with a black eye, again. The blond quarterback noticed that Danny didn't fight back, didn't make any attempts to, nothing. He just… looked. Dash felt bad all of a sudden. He let go of Danny, who immediately took off, leaving Sam and Tucker behind. "What was that? Oh wait. Fenton looked really… scared."

Danny flew to his exact spot where he transformed to switch back to Danny Fenton. He walked near the table Dash was at, making sure he was still hidden but able to hear the conversation still.

"Dash, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Kwan questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Please let it be true. Please, for the love of PHANTOM, be true." Danny muttered quietly.

"I'm saying…" Dash started. He leaned up and opened his eyes, just in time to see Danny starting to walk past.

"Great," Danny thought. "THIS ought to be good."

'...that Fenton's a freak and a weirdo!" Dash laughed, along with the rest of the crowd in Nasty Burger, and tripped Danny. "See you later, loser."

Danny picked himself up and ran away. He turned to look at Dash's eyes, and when their eyes locked, that scared, helpless puppy look on Danny's face returned. He quickly turned back and kept running.

Dash stopped laughing and blinked. "That look… I got to follow him." He got up from the table and took off on Danny's trail. He had to apologize, and fast.

18 HOURS BEFORE THE FIGHT

Danny was walking home when his ghost scent was triggered. "Which one today…?"

He turned to the side store and saw boxes flying out. Then, he heard that annoying voice.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE!"

"Oh great." Danny rolled his eyes, transformed, and flew into action. "This guy."

After a brief fight, which was fairly easy for Danny, he stopped moving. He turned to the setting sun and smiled. "Man, for all the things that go on in my life…" He transformed back to his normal self as he landed on the ground in front of his home. "...I still have the greatest family I could ever ask for."

What he didn't realize was that Dash saw everything. "Hey, Fenton!"

Danny turned around and panicked. "Uh, Dash! What are you, uh, doing here?" His eyes narrowed and started to glow green. "Are you following me? What are you going to do, push me again? Humiliate me?"

"Uh, I…"

"Well, I'm tired of you bullying me!" Danny screamed. Dash stepped closer to Danny, forcing him to calm down and start shaking.

"Well, uh… about that. I kind of want to talk to you about that." Dash answered, searching for anything in Danny's eyes that didn't make him want to punch himself. All he saw was anxiety, fear, and... hurt? Why was Danny hurt?

Danny relaxed a little. "Huh? Okay…"

Dash started. "I, uh… I know I've been a little aggressive lately. And I know that I've made you look like a punk today. I guess, uh, what I'm trying to say is…"

Danny looked into Dash's eyes. "One thing I'll give him credit for is that he can be vulnerable and have a heart. When he wants to, at least. I've always found it… intriguing. Just like him..."

"I guess I'm saying that I'm sorry for being an asshole to you."

"Wait, why are you-"

"I thought about what I did a few weeks ago. I shoved you against the lockers, but while I looked at you, you wouldn't look away from me. Not only that, but you had this look on your face. Almost as if you were…"

"Really… scared of… you. Like I am now..." Danny replied, looking from the door to Dash.

"Exactly. I immediately felt like how I made you feel, and watching you run off and start… crying, it triggered something in me."

Danny blinked. "I… don't know what to say. Dash, I-I thought you hated me. You-" Danny's eyes began to water. "You humiliated me day in and day out. You shoved me into a locker almost every day in the last 4 years. You even went as far as to… to have me jumped by the football team. What makes you think I can TRUST you? Dash, you literally…" Danny was hyperventilating at this point. "You literally had the team… you had them jump me six months ago… DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT FEELS LIKE, DASH?

"I…"

Danny took a deep breath and continued. "NO, you don't. Dash, your team attacked me while YOU stood and watched it all happen. With the same STUPID GRIN ON YOUR FACE. Did you EVER think to stop them? Did you EVER think to stop them? Did you think to stop them from punching me in the ribs? From kicking me? Did you-" He chuckled. "Did you ever think to… to help me?" Danny couldn't hold it in anymore. He sank to his knees and started crying. All the pain from what the football team did to him came rushing back. Dash couldn't believe it. He had no idea that Danny felt like this, or that what he did caused this much pain.

"Oh man. I feel like a real asshole now. Danny is a nice kid, and he's put himself at risk for this town a lot, especially me. What should I do?" Dash felt terrible. Danny was literally in front of him, a broken soul who just wanted to be treated well. Danny soon stood up and stared at Dash, still crying.

"Dash, you hurt me so much to the point where I wanted to kill myself. That's why I broke up with Sam, because YOU didn't do something that could've saved me that day."

"Fenton."

Danny turned his back on him.

Dash was pleading at this point. "Fenton, please. You know that even though I bully you, I would NEVER, NEVER IN MY LIFE, allow anything like that to happen to you. I-"

Danny turned around sharply and slapped Dash. "Dash, you fucking stood there and watched me get brutally and violently attacked. Not only that, but you humiliated me in front of the entire school."

Dash looked at Danny. He had seen a fire in his teary eyes that had never been there before. He couldn't blame Danny for being angry, he had every right to be. Dash could've done something that day to help him, but he didn't. He stood there and watched it all happen. He knew that now, he had to be honest with Danny. He knew that now, if anything, was the perfect time to be.

"Fenton, I didn't set you up. It was Foley."

Danny was shocked and his tears started to stop. "What?... Tucker?..."

"He came to me with the idea of having the spotlight all to himself. He said that he was tired of being the sidekick and wanted to figure out how to get you out of the picture. So, he set up a fake ghost trap and told me to stick with the plan, or else he'd tell Lancer that I was the one who incited the attack. He also told me to not get involved and play the "innocent jock" part. I should've known that this would catch up to me. I didn't want to, man. I really didn't."

"You son of a-" Danny rose his hand to strike Dash again, but he was blocked.

Dash lowered the hand and pulled Danny close to him and uttered the words he thought he'd never say.

"I'm sorry... Danny."

He shut his eyes and hugged Danny. Danny didn't move, he didn't flinch, he just looked in shock. Then, his eyes glowed as Dash let go.

"Dash. Did you just…" Danny, still recovering from his meltdown, with slightly irritated eyes still glowing, questioned Dash's actions. "Did you just… hug me? And did you just call me... I-I mean, it's okay, but did you just call me..." He blushed slightly. "Danny?"

"Yeah, I should've also told you. I like you. Like, more than friends. I... have a crush on you."

Silence.

A light flashed and Dash covered his eyes. When the light faded, Danny was in his Phantom form. Danny revealed himself to Dash for the first time.

"So..." Danny started to calm himself and blushed. "You... like me?"

"I didn't think I did, but I guess it's because of how close we always were. I always thought you were cute, too."

"I thought you liked Paulina. Or girls in general." Danny tilted his head.

"Yeah well, that's the thing. I'm bi. I never saw myself getting anywhere with the girls anyway, but you're different. It's something about you that I'm just drawn to. So, yeah. I like you and I'm sorry for being a jerk." This was a different Dash that Danny had never seen. A more vulnerable Dash. A more mature version of him. It was honestly a sight to behold.

Danny hugged Dash and responded back. "The pain will take time to fade, but consider this a start. Just promise me that this stays between us. Okay?"

Dash, for the first time in forever, smiled at Danny. "I promise."

"Also, before I forget." Danny switched back to normal and looked towards the sunset, which had faded. "I love sunsets." He smiled as he dried his face. He walked into his home, leaving Dash stunned, happy, and also… guilty.

"Danny's given me several chances to get it right, even when I really fucked him over. Now, it's time I start to change." Dash said to himself as he started to walk home.

Danny stood at the door and knocked. He stood in the doorway where he was greeted by his sister. He looked up to Jazz and started tearing up again. "Jasmine… something happened… to me. I'm so sorry I never told you, but…"

Jazz pulled Danny into a tight hug and listened to her brother pour his emotions out (for the second time that night). It broke her heart to hear it, especially because she knew everything that Danny had been through over the last few years. Danny never called her Jasmine unless it was something serious, so she knew she had to be strong for him. "It's okay, Danny. It's okay. Whatever it is, I'm here for you. I'm always here for you."

Danny knew he could tell Jazz anything. She kept any secret he told her and he could consider her his closest friend. He couldn't stop crying in her arms; he felt safe, currently, at this moment. He felt like everything was perfect in her warm embrace, his home, and in a place where he knew he was safe. Nothing could change that for him.

"You want to tell me later?" Jazz asked, fighting her own tears from how her young brother was feeling.

Danny slowly started to calm down. The feeling of having Jazz was all he needed. "Yes." He said sniffling.

"Jazz. There's something I want to… to tell you. Well, two things. I have been trying to figure out how to deal with it, but I can't hold it in anymore. I…" Danny thought about telling her what happened as she sat in the living room with him. What the football team did to him that fateful day. What…

What Dash didn't do to save him.

When Dash didn't stop them.

Dash hurt him the most.

He did the most damage to Danny mentally and emotionally.

Danny didn't forget.

He could never forget.

It was stuck with him.

It scarred him and ate him up.

He almost killed himself afterwards.

But now, he was tired of running from his fears. He was tired of feeling like it was his fault. He had enough of being scared and destroying himself from the inside out. Now was the time to confront his fears the same way he confronted ghosts, head-on.

And he was no longer angry at Dash.

"Around Valentine's Day, I broke up with Sam. We broke up because of a situation, but we're still friends. I just needed time to come to terms with it." Danny said, slightly twitching. He knew he was withholding information about why they broke up, but he couldn't tell his parents yet. Why? They would think it was Dash's idea, and worse…

They would try to kill him.

"Why am I trying to protect him? He literally tortured me for years, but…" A lightbulb clicked in Danny's head. "I gave him another chance."

He continued. "I kept this from you because I wanted to deal with it on my own. Unfortunately, I couldn't but now you know."

Jazz looked concerned for her brother. "What situation?"

It all came rushing back to him. Getting shoved in by Tucker, being held down and unable to move, and then… being attacked in that locker room. He could hear the laughs of the whole team, he could feel the weight of the guys pinning him down, and all the voices surrounding him…

But then he heard someone calling out to him.

Trying to stop what was happening.

Trying to help him.

Trying to save him.

It couldn't have been Dash though, right?

Danny took a deep breath and told Jazz the truth. "I was hazed by the football team. And Tucker was behind all of it."

Again, it couldn't have been Dash that tried to help him...

...

...

...

...

Right...?