~ A short break ~

Thanksgiving break came quickly, as everyone was busy studying for classes, they were all kinda surprised it was already there. Blaine and Chris and Danny's sister, Jamie, all piled into Danny's car to head back home. They stopped at the gas station on their way out of town to fill up when a car pulled up behind them and honked. It was Zane and Thi and Jenn in Zane's mustang.

"Hey guys!" Jenn called out through the open window.

Zane slid his card and started filling up and walked over to Danny's car.

"Headed home, I see."

"Yeah, looks like we both got our cars full..."

"Is that your sister in the back there? Wow, I haven't seen her in years..."

Zane then smiled and waved, and Jamie, shocked at first, smiled slightly and waved back.

"Hey, you wanna drive there together, just in case something happens to one of our cars?"

Danny finished pumping his gas and gave a curious look to Zane.

"It's like four hours away, how much trouble could we get in?"

"Oh, famous last words, my friend."

Danny laughed, "Ok. If we'll do it, but only if you can keep up. If you run into any problems, you have at least my phone number, right?"

"Yeah, and you've go mine?"

"Sure do."

Danny got back in the car, started it up, reset his trip odometer and mentally calculated how many miles to the gallon he got on this last tank, and then didn't go. He looked in his rear view mirror and saw Zane get in his car, and wave that he was ready to go. So Danny pulled out and got on the highway with Zane following close behind.

"What was that all about? Are you and Zane planning on driving us out into the woods to brutally murder us all?" Chris asked from the back.

"You know me too well. I really want to kill my best friends and my sister all in the same day. That would be something positive..."

"So...?"

"So, he's following us just in case one of us has car problems, the other can help out."

"Because it's so far from here to there..."

"See, that's what I said, but really, I feel safer knowing he's back there, just in case."

Chris then muttered "I bet you would" under her breath, and Danny shot her a look. Chris had developed this thing where she could mutter anything under her breath and no one would ever hear it or understand. Except for Danny. He always could hear what she said. It rarely was directed at him, and often got him in trouble for laughing inappropriately. So no one else but him understood what she had said, but he shot her the look anyway. For good measure.

At one point, Danny's phone rang, so he tried to answer it, but it was promptly grabbed by Chris who answered it.

"Hey!"

"No phone talking while driving. I'll communicate."

She then talked on the phone, and it was readily apparent that the conversation wasn't an emergency, but just a conversation between friends; probably with Jenn.

Danny looked in his rear view mirror to see a concerned look on his sister's face. He knew what she was going to ask, and instead of waiting for her to gather the courage to speak, he took a preemptive strike.

"Yes, Jamie?"

"I...didn't say anything..."

"No, but you certainly look like you have something to say."

"This is Zane we're talking about here, right?"

"Yeah."

"The one who beat you up pretty regularly; shoved you in lockers and the like."

"The one and only."

"And now you're carpooling and Chris is chatting with them?"

"Yeah."

"So, y'all are friends now?"

"Yeah."

"Huh."

"What? Why is that so hard for people to understand?"

"Because I tended to your cuts and bruises. I know how he hurt you."

"He's not the same person anymore. He's changed a lot since coming to college. We all have..."

"Well, I'm glad. I was kinda worried when I found out you were all here together again. I was hoping you would get a break from that and start fresh. Get a good fix on who you are and who you want to be."

Danny thought about that for a while on the way home.

The rest of the trip was fairly standard, with a stop for bathrooms and snacks halfway home. Once they reached the edge of their suburban town, Zane and the others pulled off in the direction of their homes. They all waved. Zane lived close to Danny, but both Jenn and Thi lived on the other side of town. Chris and Blaine both lived near Danny too.

After dropping everyone off, Danny and his sister headed towards home.

"Danny, I really am glad that you and he got past whatever it was and can be friends..."

"Are we still on that?"

"Yes we are! I'm really proud of you, and I want you to know that. Most people harbor stuff like that forever. Or at least have a passing disdain. But you actually seemingly forged a friendship out of it."

"Yeah, well, we're still working on him."

"He still picks on you?"

"No no no... He just doesn't talk about stuff much. It kind of worries me sometimes..."

"Danny, he's a boy. That kind of comes with the territory." Danny rolled his eyes. "But when it does come, make sure that you're there to listen."

"Alright."

"Anyway, how is your first semester going?"

And the rest of the trip was talking about classes and essays and finals, which professors to avoid, the best places for coffee and study time and things like that. Danny and his sister had always had a close relationship, but it kinda had been put on hold when she went to college, simply because she wasn't in the next room anymore.

They finally pulled up to their house and pulled out their stuff and headed into their house. They were instantly overtaken by hugs from their parents. They finally battled their way through to put their things in their rooms.

Danny shut the door behind him and looked around the familiar room, set his bags down, and fell on the bed, staring at the ceiling. It was good to be home again, even for a short while.



Thanksgiving in the Elliot family was always a huge production. And it always happened at Danny's house. They were centrally located, and had enough space for his moderately large family. Danny used to hate it, but now he didn't mind so much. In fact, it was becoming one of his favorite times of the year. Though, this year was filled with all of his relatives asking Danny what his five year plan was and about his major and why he hadn't gotten married yet. It was the first time this had happened to him and he was a little bit overwhelmed by it all. At one point, his sister came to save him and pulled him back into the kitchen.

"Sorry... I forgot to warn you... Our relatives are vicious about future plans if you don't have them. Your best bet is to just make something up, and then once you get it all figured out, you can change your mind."

"They are vicious!"

"They really are. I remember my first Thanksgiving back. I had a major, and they were still giving me crap about not being married or having a job yet. Anyway, it's probably too late for you now, but next holiday, you'll know what to do."

"Any suggestions on surviving this one?"

"Um, just lay low for a while. They'll get into a political argument and forget all about you. Or dessert will be served and they won't care about anything but pie."

And true to her word, dessert was served and immediately afterward, a fight broke out amongst the warring political sides of the family. Danny used this to slip away outside undetected. It was already dark, which caught Danny off guard a little, and cold. The cold felt good from being in the house that had been perpetually warmed by all the ovens warming casseroles and the influx of people throughout the day.

He had been sitting out there avoiding being called back in for a while, when he noticed someone walking by his house. He instantly thought of Zane, and then was taken aback by why his thoughts would go straight to him. But then he realized that it was because it was Zane who was walking by. Danny hopped up, probably a bit too quickly, hopped over the rail on his porch, and walked to the edge of his yard.

Zane, who noticed something flying over the rail of a house, stopped to see what was happening. He was pleasantly surprised to find he had wandered by Danny's house, and it was actually Danny who was coming over to him, smiling.

"Hey Zane."

"Hey Danny, what's going on?"

"Just avoiding relatives and their annoying questions about my lack of a future. You?"

"Oh, just out for a stroll..."

"You trying to avoid relatives too?"

"Well, it was just me and my parents, like always, and yeah, I needed to get out of there."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing... My mom burned the turkey, and my dad got drunk and passed out..." and then continued under his breath, "amongst other things."

"So, you didn't really have a Thanksgiving..?"

"Nah. It's generally how holidays go at my house though..."

Then Zane's stomach growled loud enough for both of them to hear. Zane blushed. Danny smiled.

"Dude, c'mon. Let me show you a proper Thanksgiving feast."

"Oh no. I couldn't impose on you and your family."

"Entirely not an imposition. They're already done. And it'll save me from having to talk with them."

Zane looked down the street before letting his hunger getting the best of him. He smiled and started following behind the dark haired boy into his house.

Danny found his mom and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and he waved him over to the kitchen. Most of the food was still out. Others had been covered in plastic wrap and put in the fridge. Danny picked up a plate and handed it to Zane who had a look of what was a combination of being lost and overwhelmed and being really really hungry.

"Go for it man." And with that, Zane started putting stuff on his plate.

But, he was only putting a tiny amount of stuff on there. Danny saw, and looked at him.

"Look, we've all eaten. This is going to be sent home with crazy people if you don't eat more. You're not taking from anyone. Go to town, man. You know you want it..."

So Zane started putting more stuff until it was a nice pile on his plate. Danny then took the plate from him and Zane gave a really sad look as his food went away. But he was only putting it in the microwave to warm it up.

"Now, what would you like to drink? We have regular tea, peach tea, lemon tea, lemonade, and any kind of soda you can think of, and water. But I'm not going to let you get water. So don't even try that."

Zane laughed. "Uh, ok. How about peach tea?"

"Good choice. This is an Elliot family secret recipe and it is world famous."

"Really?"

"No. Not really. But it is dang delicious."

Danny poured a glass, and the microwave dinged. Zane got his plate, and Danny led the way into the family non-formal dining room and set his glass down and sat in the place across from it. Zane sat down.

"Silverware." Danny said, before getting up, and returning with all the utensils and a napkin.

"Thank you, Danny."

Zane ate and Danny just smiled at him and let him eat. About the time he was finishing, Danny's mother came into the room.

"Oh, well here you boys are! Hiding from everyone... Now, William, did you get enough to eat this evening?"

"Oh, yes ma'am. And thank you so much, everything was delicious!"

"Oh, you are so welcome. Now I would be remissed if I didn't offer you some dessert."

"Oh, no ma'am, I couldn't..."

"Nonsense! You must try Danny's grandmother's world famous chocolate mousse pie."

Zane looked at Danny and raised an eyebrow.

Danny looked at him, "No, really, this one is. She won some contest back in the 50's for it. She met some famous chefs and stuff. It was even featured in some famous cookbook. And my mom won't take no for an answer. And it is really delicious."

"Ok, sure, I'll try it then." And Zane stood up.

"Oh, no, let me get that for you. You finish eating."

So Zane sat back down and finished the bit that was left on his plate.

Then a voice came wafting out of the kitchen, "Now, William, would you like whipped cream on top, dear?"

"Uh..."

"Yes he would, mom." Danny called out to her. "It's better that way," he said to Zane.

Danny's mother came back in and set down a smaller plate with pie and a fork and asked if Zane was finished with his other plate. He said yes, so she took it for him. He looked like he had violated some manners law, but she was already gone, so he couldn't really protest.

"Try your pie." Danny said to get him to focus on something else.

Zane took a bite, and his eyes got huge. He then took several more bites. Danny just laughed.

"I told you it was good. But you should slow down before you choke."

Zane then mumbled something, muffled by the pie.

"Swallow first, then speak."

Zane swallowed. "Sorry. But this is the best pie I've ever had!"

"I wasn't kidding. And no one yet has made it just like hers."

About this time, some of Danny's relatives wandered through and noticed someone new in the house and started asking questions. Danny answered most of them efficiently, and they wandered off to their original destinations.

"Oh crap, they've begun to notice you."

Zane's eyes got big as the plate he was eating off of.

"Finish your pie first..."

Zane pulled the fork out, chewed, and smiled.

After he was finished, Danny took his plate and put it in the sink. He motioned for Zane to follow him. They went up the stairs and into Danny's room that faced out towards the front of the house.

"You know, your house is deceptively large. It really doesn't look this big from the street."

"Yeah, we get that a lot."

Zane walked in and sat down on the couch Danny had confiscated and stuck in his room from the last time his parents remodeled the house.

"I don't think I've ever been in your room..."

"Yeah..."

"I like it. It's pretty much exactly how I imagined your room to be."

"Um, thank you?"

Zane just chuckled to himself.

They were startled to hear a knock at the door.

"Uh, come in?"

The door opened to reveal Danny's sister.

"Hey Danny, they're about to... oh, hey... Zane..."

"Hi Jamie."

"I...didn't know you were here..."

"He kinda snuck in when no one was looking."

"Huh. Anyway, they're about to start playing their card game and wanted to know if you wanted to play. You're invited too, Zane."

"Uh, not a chance."

"Can't say I blame you. See ya!"

Jamie walked down the hallway leaving Danny's door open.

"Um, you sure you don't want to play cards with your family?"

"I'm sure. They don't actually play cards. That's just a ruse; a clever disguise. Basically, it's an annual excuse to have a rivalry that ends with everyone furious at everyone else. If you value your life, stay away from the card game."

"They seem harmless to me..."

"They only look harmless so that they can use that to their advantage. I'm telling you, they are vicious."

Zane chuckled.

"Anyway, you wanna go play a game or something? I mean, I know how much fun sitting in my room can be..."

"Ha ha. Sure, what do you got?"

"C'mon."

Danny got up and left his room and headed down the hall. Zane followed behind until they got to what looked like another den. It had an old couch, a few mismatched chairs, an entertainment center with an old, small-ish television in it. Danny pointed to a shelving unit that had some video games on it. Zane walked over to examine and to choose one while Danny found the proper controllers and unwound the cords and plugged them in. Zane picked out a game and crawled over on all fours to plug it in. Danny couldn't help but stare at the boy, slack-jawed. He caught himself, cleared his throat, and tossed down the chord ends for Zane to plug in to the unit. Zane looked back at Danny and chuckled to himself. He plugged them in and turned on the television, which instantly popped and the screen went black. Both boys eyes got huge as they looked at their darkened reflections. Zane then turned around and looked at Danny with the most guilty of look. They both got really close to the TV to see if anything they could do could fix it. Once they realized how hopeless the situation was, they both started laughing.

"I'm so sorry man..."

"Oh, hey, it's not your fault. This thing is about as old as I am. I salvaged it when my parents got their new one downstairs. Actually, everything in this room is salvaged from when they got new stuff for themselves."

"Yeah, but..."

"Not your fault. And I'm so rarely in here anymore. Don't worry about it."

"You know I'm going to feel guilty anyway, right?"

"And I will keep reminding you that it isn't your fault. Anyway, I guess... you wanna go back to my room?"

Zane laughed, "I guess..."

They walked back to Danny's room, and Danny looked around and got an idea.

"Hey grab your coat, and meet back here."

"Um, ok?"

And they both took off down the stairs. Zane found his coat in a coat closet downstairs amongst an overabundance of what he assumed was Danny's family's coats. He ran back up the stairs and walked into Danny's room, but no one was there. But a chair was now directly under the window, and the window was open.

"Uh, Danny?"

Danny's head peeked around the corner of the window from outside.

"Hey, I'm out here! C'mon!"

Zane got a half-smile and climbed up on the chair, put both hands on the window panes and leaned out to see Danny sitting on a flatter part of the roof not far from the window. Danny was smiling at him and holding out his hand to help Zane out the window. Zane took it to steady himself on unfamiliar ground. He then sat down next to Danny, who smiled and passed him a black mug of something that had whipped cream on the top.

"What is this?"

"Try it"

So he tried it, and his eye lit up and he looked back at Danny.

"What IS this?!?"

Danny laughed and said, "It's my family's mulled cranberry apple cider."

"It's delicious!" Zane then tried to take a big sip, but then quickly realized just how hot the beverage was. Zane tried to recover, but failed, and sheepishly looked over at Danny, who was just watching. Zane tried to look away, but realized it's futility, and looked back. Danny then laughed a little, and reached over and wiped off some whipped cream off of Zane's nose, and Danny instinctively licked it off his finger. Zane's face turned a dark shade of red, and he rubbed the rest of it off with the cuff of his jacket. Both of them would take a moment to realize exactly what had just transpired, but neither of them said anything of it.

They sat up there for a while, when it began snowing. Danny noticed it, and stuck out his hand to catch some falling snow, to see it instantly vanish into a small amount of moisture in his hand. Danny then stood up to stretch his legs, and Zane shifted a little, but neither boy spoke, just trying to absorb this exact moment as it was happening, to remember, and to savor later.

After the snow picked up a bit, Danny sat back down, and saw that his extended family was all leaving.

"Hey, goodbye all of you!" He called out from the roof. They all turned around and looked up to the roof and Danny waved. Zane tried to shrink away from being noticed.

Some of the family waved. Others called out their goodbyes.

Danny's grandmother, who was being helped to her car by Danny's uncle turned and said "Goodbye Danny! Goodbye Danny's friend"

Zane then, without really thinking about it, said, "Goodbye Danny's family." To which he was instantly mortified, but got a good round of cheers from Danny's family and Danny chuckling.

After all of them piled into their cars and left, Danny looked over at Zane who had begun shivering after finishing off his warm beverage.

"C'mon, let's go back inside." Danny said.

"Actually, I should probably get back... Not that I'm particularly missed, but they will get mad if I stay out too late..."

"You sure?"

They climbed back in his room and shut the window and continued their conversation as they descended the stairs.

"Yeah. But thank you so much for everything... This evening has been... wonderful..."

"Hey, anytime."

Zane then stopped in his tracks, thought for a moment while looking at the floor, then looked back at Danny, who was caught a tiny bit off guard and was anticipating what was coming next.

"Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Uh, well, in the morning, I've got to help my dad hang Christmas decorations, but nothing that night. Why?"

"Um, you wanna, uh, get dinner or something? ...with me?"

"Yeah, sure. Um, you want me to call you when we get done tomorrow?"

Zane smiled and said "sure." Then he looked around a bit. "Hey, where's your mom?"

"Uh, I don't know... MOM!"

"What is it, Danny?" Danny's mom said as she came around the corner from the kitchen.

"Iunno... He was asking where you were..."

"Oh!"

"Yeah, I just wanted to thank you for everything tonight... It was really great... Thank you."

"Oh, sure thing darling..."

At this point, Danny's father came into the room. Danny's father was large in both height and in weight, and frightened most people. Until they heard him speaking. Then everyone loved Danny's dad.

"Zane, my boy! I heard you had snuck in but I hadn't seen you yet! How are you?"

"I'm good! Danny and I were just hiding out upstairs... How are you?"

"Great! I won!"

"Oh, congrats..."

"Actually dad, Zane's gotta get home..."

"Oh! Well, don't let me keep you..."

"Oh, it's no problem. And again, thank you so much for everything this evening."

"You are sure welcome."

And Danny and Zane walked to the door, and Danny opened it for him.

"Danny, thank you."

"Hey, no problem..."

"No really, I mean it."

"I know." And Zane smiled at him and Danny continued, "now get home before you get in trouble..."

Zane smiled, and walked out and Danny shut the door, smiled, and went to help his family clean up.

~ Comings and Goings ~

Danny was all done with classes for the day and was headed back to his room when he heard someone calling out his name. He turned to see Chet, an older kid who was in one of his classes. He was jogging over to Danny, so Danny waited for him to catch him before walking on.

"Hey man, how are you?" Chet said, breathing slightly heavier, either from the cold or from running, but Danny didn't know which.

"Good. Tired. You?"

"Yeah, about the same. But I've got to finish this article before I can rest."

"Article?"

"Yeah, I'm the sports writer for the Dalton Daily."

Danny laughed a little before asking his question. "Why do they call it the Dalton Daily when it only comes out twice a week?"

"Iunno. It's always been called that..."

"Yeah, but it was once a week before it went bi-weekly."

"I guess they just liked the alliteration."

"Anyway, sorry. So, article?"

"You're friends with Zane Atkins, aren't you?"

"Um, yeah. Why?"

"Well, my article is about why he quit the football team."

Danny stopped walking. "Zane quit the team?"

"Yeah. That's...common knowledge, I thought..."

Danny just looked at him, so he continued. "Well, common enough, I guess. Anyway, I'm trying to figure out why."

"Why he quit the team?"

"Yeah. And I was kinda hoping that you'd have some insights into that, you know, being his friend and all."

"Chet, this is all news to me..."

"How long have you known him?"

Danny thought about it for a moment. "I guess I've known him pretty much my whole life..."

"And he didn't tell you he was quitting the team?"

"Let's just say up until recently, we haven't really gotten along very well."

"Really. Hmm. I never would have guessed that, with how you to act together..."

Danny gave him a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"I just mean I see you guys together all the time, I just assumed y'all were really close."

"Hmm..." Danny started walking again.

Chet followed and continued talking. "So you have no idea why he would quit the team. No inclinations at all on his reasons...?"

"Chet, what are you getting at?"

He thought for a minute before grabbing Danny by the elbow and dragged him into a space behind one of the buildings where they could have a little bit of privacy. Danny didn't really have time to react before Chet started whispering to him.

"Well, Zane does really well at the game he played. Pretty much won it for us. His star is on the rise, and then he quits? That doesn't make sense. It's the kind of chance guys like him dream of. So I start poking around, and all I get is vague answers and slammed doors. So, I think I've hit on a nerve. The only problem is I can't get anyone to talk. Not even him. All I know is that he seems to be a new force on the team, then he gets a black eye, and quits the team."

"So what are you thinking happened?"

"Ok, this is just between you and me. I don't want you running off and telling some other reporter and have them steal my story."

"I don't know any other reporters. And I would never do that to a friend..."

"Alright. What I think is that he was victim of hazing. Some sort of initiation gone wrong. And that some lines were crossed. And he got too hurt and quit the team. But I also think that he's being threatened, and that's why he's not talking."

Danny thought very hard before continuing. "Ok. This is what I know. I know that whatever reason Zane had for quitting is a very good one. And I don't think it's because he's being threatened. That's not his style. And really, it could be one of a thousand different reasons why he quit. College ball isn't like High School ball. Maybe the pressure of performing well and trying to keep up with his first year in college got to him. Maybe he just didn't want to play anymore. Maybe he got tired of being 4th string. And the black eye could be from something completely unrelated. The truth is, I really don't know why he quit."

Chet looked kind of disappointed, and they left their alley and continued walking the short distance to Danny's dorm.

As they entered, Danny started talking again. "Look man, I'm really sorry I couldn't be more help..."

Chet smiled at him. "Hey, it's ok. It's the life of a reporter. How are you doing in class?"

"Ok. Though, every time I think I've got it all down, everything changes..."

"Yeah, it's rough. But hey, if you ever need help, give me a call, and we'll meet up somewhere, ok?"

"Hey, sure! Thanks, man."

At this point, someone else called out Danny's name from somewhere in the lobby. Danny turned and saw Thi and Jennifer sitting at on a couch hunched over some book on the table in front of them. They were waving him over to them.

"Hey, I gotta..."

"Oh, yeah. Don't let me keep you. Oh, and Danny, if you hear anything, please let me know..."

"If I can. I mean, what's to say I'm not in on the conspiracy?"

Chet gave him a genuine look of shock and sadness.

"I'm kidding. You're my first call..."

"Ok, see you later!" Chet waved as he headed out the opposite door, back out into the cold.

Danny walked over to Thi and Jenn.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"We are trying to figure out all this crap from class today. But we cannot make sense of it. Can you help us?"

"Sure, I'll try."

Danny sat his bag down and sat on the couch next to them and listened to them and tried to explain things the best he could. At one point, Jenn needed to read something for herself, so he took the book and started reading. So Danny took the opportunity to talk with Thi.

"So Thi. Zane quit the football team?"

"Yeah, like Monday morning."

"Why?"

Thi just kind of gave him a look of 'um, duh'. "Why do you think?"

"I just... didn't know..."

"Yeah, it was really hush hush. Even the guys on the team weren't really talking about it. And they talk about everything. They're like little girls..."

Danny thought about this for a moment.

"I almost quit with him..."

"Really? Why?"

"Well, I didn't want to be on a team that did that to its players. Also, in support of him. But we had a long talk about it, and he says I have a real shot at going further with this, and he feels he really doesn't. And he doesn't want to be around those guys anymore. For good reason. It's really hard to not try and take them on myself, but that would just be suicide. It's weird at practice with him not there..."

"I bet."

"We see so little of each other now; we're just so busy."

Then Jenn joined the conversation again. "Ok, so Danny, what does it mean when..." And they were back in their studies.

A little while later, Zane came in the door from class and started walking towards his room, not seeing the three of them sitting there. Thi was the first to notice him and called him over. But before he could get to them, Danny hopped up and ran over to him, getting him off into a corner of the lobby to talk.

"Hey, I got stopped by a reporter today about you."

"Oh, yeah? What about?"

"About you quitting the football team."

"Oh."

"Yeah, kinda wish I'd known that beforehand..."


"Sorry... I meant to tell you, but..."

"Hey, it's ok, I understand... We've only been friends for what, 5 months now?"

Zane looked kind of hurt, but that really wasn't Danny's intention. "Aw, c'mon Danny..."

Danny smiled and tried to lighten the mood. "Hey, I was just messin' with you..."

Zane smiled again.

"So, tell me what's going on..."

"Um, well, I quit the team."

"Because of what happened?"

"Yeah... You didn't tell him about that, did you?!?"

"Woah there tiger... I was purposefully vague and gave him some misdirection."

Zane took a deep breath. "Ok, good. Sorry about freaking out on you."

"S'ok. So you really quit because of what they did? I mean... doesn't that seem like they won in all of this?"

Zane got a wicked smile and laughed quietly.

"What?"

"I wanted it to seem that way..."

"...But?"

"But they're now kinda screwed."

"How so?"

"Well, think of it. Who's gonna be the quarterback for them?"

"Um, one of the other three?"

Zane smiled and shook his head. "One is ineligible and the other two are pretty badly injured."

"Um, then I don't know."

"Exactly. They're going to have to get someone else from the team who hasn't really done it, at least since we've started."

"Do the coaches at least know what happened? Or do they think you're just quitting for no reason?"

"No, they know. And they're going through the proper channels to punish them. But they're really trying to keep it quiet to avoid a scandal. And really, that's fine with me. Plus, the coaches were very understanding about the whole thing. We had a very long talk about it all."

"Well, that's nice, I guess..."

"Plus, I've been thinking about quitting for a while now."

"Really?"

"Yeah... It's not the same anymore. It's not fun like it used to be... And this really just gave me the perfect excuse to do so."

Danny smiled at him.

"So what are you guys doing out here?"

"Oh, just studying. I'm trying to explain probably the most confusing professor in the world to them..."

"Ah."

"You're more than welcome to come hang out with us, though, I'm not sure how much fun it'll be..."

Zane's eyes lit up. "Ok. Just let me go drop off this stuff first..."

"Sure, we'll be here."

Zane took off towards his room, and Danny went back to the study session. Thi and Jenn both looked up at him.

"So, what's going on?"

"Nothing, but Zane'll probably be hanging out here after he drops off his stuff in his room."

"Ooo! I need to get something out of there! Be right back."

Thi jumped up and ran towards his room. Jenn looked at Danny and gave him a knowing smile.

"What?"

"So Danny. What's going on with you and Zane?"

"What do you mean?"

"Danny, I'm a girl. I know that look."

"What look? There was no look..."

"Oh, there was a look."

"What is it with girls and looks?"

"Danny, it's the same look you used to give me when you thought I wasn't paying attention. I know the look."

"...oh."

"Yeah, see."

"Except that I wasn't giving that look to Zane..."

"Yeah, ok, sure you weren't..."

"You really noticed me?"

"It's smeared across your face, Danny."

"No, not now. In high school..."

"Oh. Well, someone had to point it out to me, but yeah, I noticed."

"Huh. That's news to me. I thought I was pretty invisible."

"No, not invisible. Just..."

"A social casualty?"

"Yeah... Sorry... As much as I hate to admit it, that's what it was..."

"Meh. I'm kind of used to it now."

"Well, except that you've changed. You're not nearly as awkward as you used to be."

"Really? I feel the same..."

"I don't know... maybe we've both changed..."

"C..can I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure."

"What happened between you and Zane? I mean, we all thought you were going to hook up..."

"Yeah, so did I. But something happened over the summer."

"Yeah, that's what he said."

"We ended up having a really long talk, though, so that's good. No loose ends or anything."

"What did y'all talk about?"

"Why he couldn't date me."

"It was his choice?"

"Sure was."

"Hmm... What was his reason?"

"That's not my place to say... You'll have to ask him."


"I did, but he changed the subject."

"Then I really can't tell you."


Danny's face fell.

"Trust me. He'll tell you in his own time."


About that time, the boys came back, laughing about something, each carrying two drinks. Thi handed one of his to Jenn and Zane handed one to Danny. Danny looked up from his chair and saw down the strong arm to the warmest smile he'd seen in a long time. Danny smiled back and took the drink. Zane then looked at Jenn, who smiled then shot a knowing look at Danny, who blushed and opened his drink.


Jenn, Thi, and Danny continued studying, and Zane was initially interested, but quickly got lost and subsequently lost interest. About the time that he was getting really bored, Blaine walked through the front door, carrying a plastic bag of something. He saw the four of them and walked over.

"Hey guys."


"Hey Blaine, what's in the bag?"

"New game. Suppose to be amazing. Wanna go play?"


"Can't now... We're trying to figure out all this junk. Maybe later, though."

"Zane, you studying too? You wanna play?"


"Oh, I would love to!"

"Sweet!"


So Zane and Blaine left the others to their studies.


An hour or so later, Danny felt something hit him. So he looked up and saw Chris standing there, looking impatient.


"Do you just not answer your phone anymore, or is that reserved just for me?"


"Huh? Oh, it died, so it's charging in my room. I haven't had it with me all day."


"So I noticed. Anyway, pack it up, we're going to dinner. Blaine and Zane are on their way down and they're bringing you a jacket."


"Hey, you guys have fun..." Thi said, almost sounding sad.


"You guys can come too; we're not limiting this..." Chris said.


Thi turned to Jenn and they discussed for a moment.


"Well, ok, if you're sure..."


"Please! I need someone to save me from all the boy-talk!"


"Well, let me grab my jacket and her a sweatshirt..."


"Hey, Thi, can I leave my bag in your room so I don't have to haul it all around?" Danny asked, putting his stuff away.


"Yeah, sure! C'mon."


They walked down to Thi's room, walked in, and Danny set his bag down on the floor by the door. Thi went and grabbed a jacket and a sweatshirt. He put the jacket on and grabbed his keys and they left the room. When they got back to the lobby, Blaine and Zane were already there. Thi handed Jenn the sweatshirt and Zane walked over and handed Danny a blue sweatshirt with the Atari logo on it.


"You used to make fun of me so hard for wearing this in high school, yet out of all the things, you choose this one?"


"Yeah, I was really secretly jealous that I couldn't pull it off like you did... But I really do like it."


Danny pulled on the sweatshirt and all of them walked out the door.

~ Perchance to Dream ~

Dreams always have had a way of unsettling Danny. And it rarely had anything to do with what he had dreamed, but more of how they made him feel when he woke up. Like how his dreams would shift seamlessly from one thing to another in such a way that Danny would just take it for granted. But in waking life, he would try and remember how he got from point A to point B and it all got hazy. And that would frustrate him to no end.

This dream, however, was not like that.

The dream started on a hill. The grass was high and wild and blowing in the wind. Danny remembered running through the grass, away from something or someone, but not in fear. He remembered smiling. After running down the hill, he came to a forest. He stopped at the edge and looked in. It was dark, but not menacing. He looked behind him to the sunny hillside, smiled, and entered the woods.

There were animals all around, peeking their heads out, then running away. Rabbits, squirrels, foxes and such. Sometimes all he heard was them running.

The grass here was short, but very soft. Almost like moss, but not quite. Danny wasn't wearing shoes all of a sudden, and later he would try to remember if he had been wearing shoes at all ever, or if they had just vanished then. But at that moment, it didn't matter. He liked how soft everything was. And green. The ground was covered in a vivid green, and all the trees and such seemed to have a green tint to them as well. Danny felt the overwhelming urge to touch everything. So he did. Everything felt exactly as it should, but almost more so. It was almost too perfect. Danny kept walking

He came to a cave in the woods. He stood at the entrance and peered in. It wasn't dark, and it wasn't very deep. It was cooler in there, but not cold. Danny walked in and let his eyes get used to the shade. There was no grass in here, but it still was very soft ground. He saw a large rock and he went over and sat on it.

He sat there for a while, but for exactly how long, he couldn't be sure. When he woke up, he would remember it feeling like both only a moment had passed and a large portion of time had passed. But he looked up and out of his cave to see all the green outside, and it began to rain a soft rain. Danny stood up and walked to the edge of the cave and peered out, smiling. It seemed that all the greens seemed to get darker; more intense.

He then felt someone come up behind him, quietly, and put their arms around his waist. Danny closed his eyes and relished in the sweet, warm embrace. He realized this had to be the person that had been chasing him earlier. Though, he had yet to see who it was, and doesn't recall when they got into the cave to get behind him. But at that moment, it didn't matter, and Danny backed up slightly into the person. He felt a head on his shoulder. He opened his eyes again to see the rain had stopped.

He turned his head to see who it was who was standing behind him, but all he saw were the bluest eyes. He stared into them for a time and noticed that one of the eyes had a dark spot in it.

Danny never saw to whom the eyes belonged. But he did feel the other person leaning in, and then start to kiss him. And Danny kissed back. He closed his eyes and felt the pressure on his lips and the feeling of security of someone holding him close from behind. Someone strong, yet someone Danny couldn't ever look at.

He woke up with the same feeling on his lips and feeling like someone was lying behind him. But the feeling quickly passed and he realized it was just a pillow behind him. For a moment, Danny felt very happy at the feeling of security, and being lost in someone's arms. But that soon turned to sadness when he realized that he was really alone.

He got dressed and grabbed his stuff and headed to class. On the way out of the dorms, Zane called out to him, and they started walking to class. But no matter what, Danny couldn't shake the melancholy of the dream. Once they got to the quad, Danny felt something hit his shoulder, so he looked up and it started to rain.

Danny smiled, and then looked at Zane who was using his coat to hide from the rain.

Zane looked at Danny with a confused smile. "What?"

"Nothing... I just dreamed it would rain today..."

And Danny fell into Zane's soft blue eyes as they stood in the rain in the middle of campus.

~ Football ~

Winter came hard and fast at Dalton. It did every year. It was almost a school tradition. One day, it's nice and brisk, and the next it is cold and dreary. Midterms had come and gone and Danny, Chris and Blaine had done pretty well on their first major college exams.

It was now the lull after the storm, where there wasn't anything majorly pressing due soon; where all the projects were assigned, but not taken seriously for at least four more weeks.

It was also a Saturday, and Danny, Blaine and Chris were out eating lunch at some cheap fast food place. Their conversation turned to their plans for the rest of the day.

"We have to go to the football game."

Chris and Blaine just looked at Danny like he had said something like "shoot space dinosaurs with gum drop bullets".

"No, I'm serious... This is the game to go to. We haven't won against this team since 1977, so it's become a huge rivalry between us and them. Also, the main quarterback is injured and one of the second strings is on probation and can't play. That means that Zane has a fairly decent shot of playing his first college football game."

"No offense, Danny, but when did you get interested in football?"

"When a friend of ours could be playing his first game ever. We need to be supportive."

"Oh, right. Because he'll be so supportive of us..." Chris said

"Look, I'm just trying to be nice to him, ok. And I'd rather not go sit at a football game by myself... I mean, we get in for free, we can drink hot chocolate and eat powdered cheese nachos, what's not to love?"

"Powdered cheese nachos..." Chris said and Blaine laughed.

"Ok, you know what... I'm calling out a solid you owe me. How many things have you dragged us to that were absolutely boring?"

"He has a point there, Chris..." Blaine said

"Traitor."

"What can I say? He had me at powdered cheese product."

"Fine. What time does it start?"

"7:30, but we don't have to be there right when it starts..."

They then went shopping at the shopping center in town. For a mostly small town, they had some pretty new stores. And they had three stores right in a row that catered to each one of them. They had a pattern for going to the stores. They would start with Blaine's computer store to get it out of the way quickly. Then on to Chris' art supply store. Finally, to Danny's entertainment kingdom. This store had everything; movies, music, games, books, you name it. They all really liked the store, but Danny could go and be in there for hours and not know any better. In fact, he'd done it a couple of times. His friends went with him to pull him out in case of emergency.

After being in there a while, Chris found Danny and Blaine and told them that if they were going to go to the game, they needed to leave so she could change into something warmer. So Danny drove them all back to the dorms, the changed, and met back at his car and were off to the game.

They could see the stadium lights on and could hear the crowd long before they got to the actual stadium. All three of them were in awe of the huge stadium. They were use to their small hometown field with bleachers, but this place was huge; especially for such a small school like Dalton. A fact that Chris pointed out as soon as the initial awe wore off.

They found a parking spot way out in the middle of nowhere and started the trek to the stadium. About half way through the parking lot, Chris stopped and realized and said she had no cash to get in.

"Do you have your student i.d. with you?"

"Uh, yeah."
"Then you get in for free."

"This is free?"
"Yes. Do you really think I'd make you pay to go to a football game?"

"For a minute there. Yeah. I really did."

Danny then started running to catch up with Blaine, who had wandered off because he had his head buried in his coat and couldn't hear the conversation. Anything stronger than a breeze made Blaine cold, so he was usually pretty bundled up. Chris caught up with them and the entered the stadium.

The game was already in full swing; almost halftime. They found some empty seats in the student section and sat down. And instantly Blaine got up and left. He came back a little while later with his arms full of wonderful stadium food goodness.

"Dude, we just ate, how are you hungry already?" Chris said, giving a disgusted look.

"I'm always hungry, you know this. Plus, anytime there's food like this, I have to partake. It's a tradition."
"A tradition that will make you fat."

A gob of cheese product was then flung at her.

Halftime came and went, and the band played and did a fairly decent job. For a smaller band, they could make a big noise. Then the second half of the game started, and Blaine went and got more food.

Blaine and Chris were sitting on either side of Danny, and Danny was mooching off of Blaine while they watched the game. Every so often, Chris would ask a football question, most of which Danny actually knew.

"When did you learn all this football stuff?"

"I am a boy from the south; it's kind of ingrained into us from a very young age."

"Yeah, but you never had to go."

"True, but every family gathering, football was discussed. And if I wanted to have any sort of conversation with anyone, I had to learn very quickly. Also, if I didn't want to get made fun of in my family..."

"Your dad doesn't really seem the type..."

"To like football or to make fun of me? Because I'm pretty sure that he does both..."

"Well, yeah, but not maliciously. Also, I'm pretty sure that he doesn't really care if you like football or not."

"True, but my extended family is a little less forgiving. They are your typical southern family. Go to church every Sunday, watch every football game, vote Republican, and make you feel guilty for not doing the same. So, in part, this is me being able to say that I went to at least one college game here."

"And in part to watch Zane in tight pants."

"And to watch a friend, who unfortunately has to wear tight pants."

"Who said unfortunately? This is great for me. Speaking of, where is Zane?"

"On the sideline. He's number 4."

"Oh, there he is! So when does he get to play?"

"Well, they're playing their 3rd string quarterback now, because first string got injured and second string failed something. So, the third string needs to either suck really badly or get hurt."

"So, suck more than he already is?"

"Or keep it up, and sooner or later, they'll send him in."
And then, almost as if on cue, the quarterback got sacked, and once the defense got off of him, he didn't get up. The crowd was silent and on their feet. The coach and the trainer ran out to him and were out there for a good little while before helping him to his feet. He needed both of them to hobble off the field. The crowd clapped for him.

It was at the end of the third quarter when Zane took the field. He only had time to run a few plays, and they were disastrous. Before too long, and before any real substantial damage could be done, the quarter was called. Dalton was down 45 to 21.

During the break, the coach was giving instructions and trying to get them all rallied to somehow pull out a miracle. During this, Zane looked up and started scanning the crowd. He caught Danny's eye and smiled. Danny smiled and waved a little, and Chris jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.

Something happened to make them all click in between the quarters, because they were on fire. Very early on, Zane found a receiver open and threw for his first touchdown. The defense held them back, and they had to punt the ball, which their kicker couldn't hold on to the ball, so that set the offense up with great field position. Zane didn't even need four downs to score again. The scored the extra point and set up to kickoff.

Dalton did an on-side kick and regained possession of the ball, but couldn't quite score again, but they got the field goal to put them soundly one touchdown behind the other team.

The other team had a really good run that brought them to fourth and goal, and instead of kicking a field goal, they decided to go for a touchdown. But the defensive line held them, and they didn't get to score. With four minutes left in the game, Dalton has possession of the ball on the 1.

Slowly, they crept across the field with Zane at the helm. Their defense dug their heels in and put up a great fight, but Dalton got within scoring distance. When they got within the 30 yard line, Dalton was frantically trying to score. They got a burst of energy from somewhere; probably from being so close to a victory against their rivals.

They got within 20 yards with one minute to spare. Zane got a first down that brought them even closer. Then, with less than a minute remaining, Zane found an open man in the end zone and threw a touchdown. They were one point behind, with an extra point waiting for them. Dalton called a timeout.

They came out, and lined up, but not for a field goal. This threw the other team off, just a little. The play starts, the whole line basically collapses into a giant pile on the end zone. Zane hands the ball off to Thi who uses one of his teammates as a springboard and leaps over the pile and rolls into the end zone for the two point conversion.

The stands roared.

Dalton kicked off, but with less than a minute left, there wasn't a whole lot the other team could do. They tried a near-impossible field goal, but fell short. The crowd was going wild.

As the team was jumping around with excitement and moving towards the locker room, Zane looked into the crowd, found Danny, and gave a huge smile and waved. Danny, Chris, and Blaine waved back. Zane saw, but was being pushed away by a wave in the form of an excited football team.

The parking lot was a mess. People cheering and screaming and celebrating. Horns honking. People just being crazy. The three of them made it to their car and got to sit in traffic, but none of them really cared, they had had a good time.

Once they got back to campus, the realized an impromptu party had started on campus in celebration. Danny really wanted to go, but Chris was tired, and Blaine didn't want to be out in the cold any longer. That, and he had some work he needed to get done. So, he dropped off Chris and took Blaine back to the dorm and started walking around campus. It was pretty late when Danny got to the quad, and a lot of the people had left to do more serious partying off campus. But there were still enough people and music and beverages for a good time to be had. Someone had strung the small bulb string lights all around the trees in the quad.

The party started to fizzle out, but Danny wasn't ready to go back to the dorm yet, so he started walking around the campus. As he got further and further away from where the people were, it got colder and colder, and the wind picked up a bit. Danny turned up his collar and pressed on for a little while longer, but gave into the cold, and started heading back, but realized in the dark, he didn't really know where he was going. He didn't really care, though, he just kept roaming.

Then, in a fairly remote part of campus that Danny hadn't ever been to, he heard what sounded like a moan. It sounded like someone in pain, so Danny decided to go explore. What he found stopped his heart. He saw someone tied to a tree. He ran over a small hill to get to the person, to see if they were ok. It was a guy, and he wasn't wearing any clothes that Danny could see. His head was down, and there was blood everywhere.

"Hey, are you ok?" Danny gently lifted up his head to see if he was conscious, and froze. It was Zane. He had a black eye and bruises all over his body. He was shivering violently. He coughed and his eyes rolled in his head a little.

"Oh God, we gotta get you down!"

Luckily, whoever tied the knots didn't know what they were doing, and Danny got them undone quickly. The ropes loosened, and Zane fell to the cold ground with a thud. Danny took off his coat and came around to him and put it on him. All he was wearing was a torn pair of underwear.

"Wh..what? Danny?"

"Hey, stay with me... Can you walk?"

"I th...think so..."

"Ok, let's get you some place warm."

Danny got under his arm and helped him to his feet. They made their way slowly back to the dorms. Zane shivered the whole time. His legs also gave out a few times, which Danny was unprepared for the sheer mass of the boy. They got back to the dorm, and tried getting into Zane's room, but the door was locked, and Thi wasn't there, so Danny helped him up the stairs to his room. He threw open the door, and scared Blaine, who jumped up to see what was going on.

"Oh my God... What happened?"

"I don't know, but we need to get him warm quickly!"

Danny put Zane down on the futon, and grabbed his blanket off his bed and wrapped it around Zane. He also grabbed a big blue plastic cup and tossed it to Blaine and gave him instructions to fill it up with water in the bathroom sink, and bring it back and microwave it for 90 seconds. Blaine nodded and left. Danny went over to their air conditioner/heater, and cranked it up to get it warmer in their room. He went back over to Zane, who had curled up in a ball on the futon to try and get warmer. Danny started to rub his limbs to get the blood flowing better. As soon as Danny touched him, Zane flinched. Zane looked at him with pain in his eyes. His eyes were also pretty bloodshot, probably from crying.

"Hey, stay with me, Zane... Are you ok?"

"I should be..."

He was still tense. Blaine came back and nuked the water.

"Hey Zane, coffee, tea, or cocoa?"

"Um... no, I'm good..."

"Not a choice. You need to get warm, and this will help."

"Then cocoa..."

Danny smiled and grabbed the mix and poured it all in his black coffee mug. He threw in some marshmallows and handed it to Zane, who looked in it, and then back to Danny, who was sitting down next to him.

"You put marshmallows in my cocoa..."

"Yeah, is that bad?"

"No... It's just... never mind..."

Danny and Zane sat in silence, and Blaine stood silently, leaning agaist their dressers that held thier television.

Zane finished his beverage and had stopped shivering. Danny was almost sweating with how warm their room was.

"You want another one?"

Zane thought about it, looked in the cup, but declined.

Danny turned to Blaine and asked him to get another cup full of water to nuke.

"I...didn't... want more?"

Danny smiled. "It's not for you to drink... I need to check out your injuries and get you cleaned up."

"Oh, Danny you really don't..."

Danny interrupted him. "Once again, this isn't up for discussion. The nurse is closed for the weekend, and you really don't want to go to the hospital, do you?"

Zane looked at the floor. "No."

Danny smiled at him, looking through drawers for a medium sized bowl and a clean hand towel. Luckily he had gotten one for graduation and hadn't yet found a use for it.

"Don't worry, my mom's a nurse, and I've learned a few things about cleaning wounds from her."

Blaine came back with the water and warmed it up, but not as much as he had for the cocoa. Danny poured it in the bowl, and put the end of the towel in it to let it soak. Zane looked at him, then looked at Blaine and looked nervous. Danny picked up on this, and turned to Blaine.

"Hey, Blaine, Thi wasn't in their room when we tried earlier, would you go down and check to see if he's there? We need to get him some clothes to wear..."

"What if he's not there?"

"Well, it's getting close to curfew, so he should be there soon. If you get impatient, you can try and find him."

"Alright."

And Blaine left, and Zane relaxed a bit.

"Ok, now let me see you..."

And Zane unwrapped himself from the blanket and took off Danny's jacket. He was a mess. There was dried blood, probably from his nose, and cuts and bruises all over him. At first, Danny washed the blood off of him. He could see where they had tied him to the tree; where the ropes had burned him when he was wrapped, and where they cut him as he struggled to get down. Zane winced as he cleaned his chest.

Danny, not looking at Zane's face, wondered aloud, "Who did this to you?"

Zane just looked away.

Danny looked up at the boy from his place on the floor in front of him.

"The older guys on the football team."

"What?"

"They... said that I needed to learn my place in this school. That it wasn't fair that I had stolen all the glory at the game today. That it should have been one of them that won the game. So, the dragged me out there, ripped off my clothes, beat me, and tied me to the tree."

"Oh my God..." Danny said in disbelief.

"Danny, you can't tell anyone about this."

"What? Why?"

"I don't want any more trouble. And... I don't want to hurt the team..."

"Zane, they beat you. They left you to freeze tied naked to a tree. They need to be punished!"

Zane looked down at Danny with sad eyes.

"Danny... please..."

Danny thought about it. "Ok. But I don't like this."

Zane gave a small smile. "Understood."

Danny finished cleaning up the blood and started checking wounds next. None were too deep, but a few would probably scar up. He got some hydrogen peroxide and used the dry end of the towel to clean them. Zane winced again, but didn't complain.

Danny then started to press gently on his ribs, and he winced more.

"Your cuts aren't too deep, so they should heal fine. And your ribs don't feel broken, but they're probably bruised. You should probably take it easy on them for a few weeks to let them heal up."

"Danny... I'm really sorry..."

"For what?"

"For all the crap I put you and your friends through in high school."

"What?"

Zane didn't even look at Danny, but continued talking.

"I... know now what I put you guys through. You, especially." Zane looked at Danny with new tears in his eyes. "Danny, I was wrong. I was so wrong to you..."

"Hey... what you did to us pales in comparison... You never got this violent with me..."

"Yeah, but what I did..."

"Zane..."

"No. Danny, what I did was inexcusable. I never should have treated anyone like that." Then he spoke much quieter. "Least of all you..."

Danny sat silently for a moment before speaking. "Yes. What you did to us, to me, was terrible. But being picked on kinda is par for the course with me. And I have a thicker skin that you realize."

"Yeah, because of me!"

"Probably a little."

Zane just looked at Danny, so Danny continued.

"Look, Zane, I'm not going to lie. Some of what you did really hurt, but I got through it with the help of Chris and Blaine. And really, I don't even give it a second thought anymore. You've changed; you're different now than when you were in high school. I know it's only been like six months, but still."

Zane still looked at Danny, but this time he spoke.

"How can you be so forgiving?"

Danny smiled. "It kinda comes with the territory... Oh, and if you ever bully someone again, I will seriously kick your butt, got it?"

Zane smiled with his bloodshot eyes. "Yeah, got it."

Danny reached up and dried his eyes, and the door opened and in rushed Blaine and Thiago, who was holding a nicely folded set of clothes for Zane. Thi rushed to the side of his friend, and Danny stood up.

"Oh my God! Are you ok? What happened??"

Zane smiled, "I'm fine. Really. Danny cleaned me up real good."

"Ok, let's let him get dressed in private." Danny said, grabbing the clothes from Thi and pushing Blaine and Thiago into the hallway. Danny handed Zane the clothes. "We'll be outside, if you need us."

Zane smiled again, "Thank you, Danny."

Danny smiled as he backed out of the door and shut it in front of him.

He turned around to a two concerned faces.

"Danny, what happened to him?"

"He got the crap kicked out of him by your football friends, Thi." Danny said, more indignantly than he intended, but it got the point across.

It took a minute to process with Thiago.

"Wh...what?"

"The juniors and seniors decided that they didn't like him doing so well today at the game, so the stripped him, beat him up, and tied him to a tree in the freezing night. And that's how I found him. Mostly naked, and tied to a tree. Great team you got there..."

"Danny..." Blaine said, trying to get him to ease up. Danny just gave him a look of "what?" that Thiago didn't notice.

He let all the information sink in, then he punched the cinderblock wall.

"I can't believe..." Then he uttered something in Portuguese that neither of them understood, but got the meaning. He then turned to leave, but Danny caught his arm and pulled him back.

"Zane doesn't want any more trouble, so he's not pursuing this. I probably shouldn't have even told you that much..."

"WHAT??" Blaine and Thi said at the same time.

"He doesn't want THEM to get in trouble?"

Danny just nodded. "That's what he said..."

"What is he thinking??"

At this point, the door opened, and a smiling and sore Zane stood, fully dressed.

"Hey, I'm really tired, I think I'm gonna go to bed now..."

"Yeah, I bet... Thi, you wanna help him?"

"Oh, sure!" Thi rushed over and got under his arm, and they were off down the hall towards the stairs.

"Oh, Thi, you might want to stop off at the ice machine for a baggie of ice for his eye. And take tylenol for any pain tomorrow, Zane..."

Thi waved at them without turning around. Blaine and Danny turned and went back into their room. Danny looked, and saw that Zane had put his blanket neatly back on his bed, and folded up his jacket and laid it out on the edge of the bed for him.

Danny smiled as he and Blaine cleaned up the various bowls, cups, and towels that were on the floor.

~ Down Time ~

Autumn had come, and the heat had finally dissipated. The leaves were starting to change colors. And it was finally bearable to be outside for more than ten minutes. The freshmen were finally starting to feel comfortable with their schedules and what they could and could not do with their time.

It was Friday afternoon at Dalton and kids were all over campus. Some were new faces visiting old friends. Others were loading up into cars for weekend road trips. Danny and Blaine had met up after their last class and had been hanging out all afternoon. They had tried calling Chris, but she wasn't answering. Which meant that she had locked herself into the art building. Which was the only place on campus that had terrible cell phone reception. It was as if they administration had implanted cell signal blocking things in the walls and ceiling when they built the building in order to keep their students isolated and focused.

Or it was just in a dead zone.
Either way, the boys started making their way across campus to the art building to find her. Once there, they realized the doors were inexplicably locked. But some students carrying tackle boxes with their names painted on them walked out and held the door open for them. They walked through the dark hallways. Danny showed Blaine where he was twice a week that he would come home covered in mud. They kept walking and found her in a computer lab and tried to go in to find that those doors were locked too.

"What is it with this place and locked doors?" Blaine asked as Chris hopped up and hit the wall by the door, which made the door make a popping noise, and the boys could enter. They walked in and saw that she had hit a big, round, red button on the wall with the word "exit" written in white letters on it.

"This place is like a military base." Blaine said as he looked around inspecting all the computers and other electronic equipment in the room. Danny sat down at the station next to Chris and scooted over in the roller chair to see what she was working on.


"What are my boys up to on this wonderful day?"

"We're done with class and were trying to find you to see what you were doing."


"I'm working on a dumb project. I have no idea how to use this program, so I've been up here for three hours now just trying to figure this crap out."
"When's it due?"


"Not for a while, but we have to use this program all the time, so I figured I'd play around now before I really have to know what I'm doing."

"So you can go hang out with us?"


"I can't believe you're running all macs in here! How are they networked?" A disembodied voice came from beneath a table. Chris and Danny gave each other a concerned look and then went to see where Blaine had buried himself.

"Please don't break anything. I really can't afford to pay for you to piddle with everything in here."


"No, I know. I don't think the three of us together could pay for it. But I'm pretty sure this system is destined for failure."
"Look, just because you hate Apples, doesn't mean they're bad computers."


"Except that I hate them because they're bad computers, not the other way around."
"Bad for you. Good for me."


Danny butted in at this point. "Aaaand we're done with this argument. Blaine, come out from the cord jungle and let's talk about what we're going to do tonight."
"Ok. Ow!" Blaine hit his head on the way out from under the desk.


"Well, wherever we go, it has to involve food. This girl skipped lunch and she is starving!"

"Hey! Why don't we go the Cosmic Digital Zone?"


"No offense, Blaine, but Danny and I would also like to have fun tonight..."
Danny laughed and Blaine gave him a semi-dirty look.


"No, it's not just for me. They have an arcade and laser tag and food and coffee and, yes, computers, but it's like a grown up version of Chester's."

"How do you know of this place? Did you go without us?" Chris inquired.


"No, I would have known about it. He's either been in class or in our room."

"No, some of the guys in my classes were talking about how disappointed they were in it; how they were mislead to find out it was just a place for people to play."


"Disappointed?"
"Yeah, they were hoping for a quiet internet cafe, but were wrong. But it sounded fun to me, so I looked it up online. It's also open pretty late, so we can hang out there for a good, long while."


Danny and Chris looked at each other and shrugged.
"That's fine, but I'd really like to work some more on this before leaving, and I'd like to get ready. How about you pick me up at my dorm lobby at 6?"


"Yeah, that's fine. See you then!"
Danny and Blaine picked up their bags, and tried to leave, but found the door to be locked from the inside too.


"Hit the exit button first."

"It's like you're in prison."

"No joke. See you guys later."
The guys walked back to their dorm. Blaine walked over and turned on his computer, like always, and Danny set his stuff down and started taking off his clothes. He grabbed his shower stuff, and headed to the bathroom.


After Danny finished, he came back to their room, and turned on the tv and started watching in his towel.
"Are you becoming a naked boy? Because I may have to switch roommates if you are..."


"No, just drying off. Plus, I still have my towel on."
"Yeah, leaving the towel on is just the first step on a long journey ending in walking around everywhere naked."


"Don't worry... I'll only watch my cartoons naked when you're gone..."

"I'm never sitting on that futon ever again..."


After that, Danny went back to his television. He quickly fell asleep on the couch. He was awoken by Blaine telling him he needed to get dressed if they were going to get Chris on time. Danny sat up and his head was swimmy. He blinked a few times and got his bearings before getting dressed. He grabbed his jacket and he and Blaine opened the door to leave. And there stood a despondent Zane about to knock on the door. All three looked at each other awkwardly.

"Um, hi... Zane..." Danny said, with Blaine behind him with his mouth slightly opened.


"Hey guys..."
"...What's... goin' on?" Danny said, still trying to figure out what was going on. Blaine still had his mouth open.


"Um... I was... coming... to see what you guys were doing." Zane sounded like he was already regretting asking.

"We were about to pick Chris up and head to Digital... something or other..."


"Oh..." Zane looked mildly disappointed. "Well, I guess I'll let you be, then..." And he turned to leave.
"Hey Zane, if you want, you could go with us..." As soon as Danny said this he felt a sharp jab in his ribs. But Zane turned back around, almost beaming.


"Yeah? Ok, Well, let me go grab my coat. I'll meet you in the lobby in 5!" And Zane took off down the hall and into the stairwell.

"Danny, what are you doing?"


"What do you mean?"

"Do you know who you were talking to? Zane Atkins. The boy, who up until just recently made our, more specifically your, life hell. He picked on us, degraded us, threw you into lockers and trash cans."

"And?"

"And you just asked him to go hang out with us."

"Yes."

"Why?"

Danny had to think about this for a moment. "It's something in his eyes... He doesn't seem like the same guy we knew back then. He seems broken, somehow."

"Broken."

"I can't explain it. He said he did some soul searching over the summer, and I think he's really changed."

"When did he say that?"

"A few days ago at lunch."

"You ate lunch with him?"

"Yeah, well I was sitting there reading for my lit class, and he came up and asked if he could eat with me. I said yes. We had a good hour long chat."

"You ate lunch with Zane. On purpose..."

"Yes. What is your deal?"

"My deal is that I can still remember the torment he put you through. And how he consistently got away with it because he was the schools golden boy. The bruised arms, the black eyes, the being confined to tight spaces for long periods of time..."

"Ok, I get it. You don't like him. But do me a favor. For one night, cut him some slack. Please? For me?"

"Fine."

"Good. Thank you. And if you still hate him after tonight, I promise you won't have to hang out with him ever again."

"And I reserve all 'I told you so' rights for in the future."

"Fine."

At this point, they had made it down stairs and were waiting by the front doors when Zane walked around the corner putting on his jacket. He looked at the two boys and smiled, and they were off to get Chris.

At the dorm, they all got out and waited for her to come down to the lobby. She came down stairs and was taken aback by the fact that their former rival was standing there with them.

"We have found a stow-away." Danny said to ease the tension.

"So I see..."

Once outside, Chris claimed her girl shotgun rights, and Blaine and Zane climbed into the back seat. And they were off.

On the way, Danny and Chris chatted about mostly nothing, as friends often do. Danny kept checking his rear view mirror. Blaine was trying to keep as far away from Zane as he possibly could. Zane was more just watching the others interact. Though, one of the times he looked back, he caught Zane's eye and Zane had a huge grin on his face for no reason. Danny caught himself staring. He then looked back at the road and was glad it was dusk out, so no one could see him blushing.

Just then, a song came on and Chris freaked out and cranked up the volume and screamed "I love this song!" And all three of them started jamming out in the car to the song. Zane initially was shocked at the sudden outburst found himself moving almost involuntarily.

After the four minutes and forty-three seconds of song were over, Chris calmly turned down the music. All four had huge smiles on their faces.

"Who was that just then?" Zane asked, leaning forward, between the seats.

"Company of Thieves... you heard of them?" Danny answered, looking at him in the mirror.

"No I haven't... are they new?"

"Well, kinda... not really... why?"

"Well, I just hadn't heard them on the radio yet. That's generally the reason why."

The three kids snickered. Zane looked around, wondering if he had said some faux pax.

"Most of the stuff we listen to won't get played on the radio." Chris said, explaining.

"But...why? They're really good..."

"There's a lot of great music out there that won't get played on the radio."

"But... how do you find it all?"

"That's kinda the point. Finding great stuff and sharing it with friends."

"But why isn't it on the radio?"

"Well, some of it is because they are unsigned bands, or just really underground. Some choose to go about it in non-traditional ways. Though, a lot of them wouldn't really be understood by the average radio listener. Though, there are some really good stations that play obscure music, but you gotta know where to find 'em."

"How do you find them?"

"Um, usually the internet. Or live shows. I think Danny's the one who found them, right Danny?"

"Uh, yeah... A friend from Idaho tuned me into them."

"You know people in Idaho?"

"Well, not in real life. But I know internet people from all over the globe."

"And you all talk about music?"

"Amongst other things, yes."

Zane sat back to absorb all of that information. A few minutes later they arrived at a giant neon warehouse with deep bass resonating through the parking lot. The four of them stood with mouths open, basking in the bright, colorful lights.

"Blaine, what have you brought us to?" Chris said in awe.

"Someplace amazing!"

And the two of them headed to the door. Danny noticed and nudged Zane, and they followed behind. Once inside, there were no normal lights. Everything was either neon or black lights. There was a ramp leading from the door up to the main level made out of glass bricks, with running lights that looked like water running. The hand rail would glow wherever someone touched, then would fade away.

They got to the top of the stairs and Chris turned around and stopped them. She had a very serious look on her face, which quieted down the three boys.

"Now, boys. First things first. We eat. Blaine, you lead us to the eatery."

"I don't know where it is. This is my first time here, too. Though, it smells like it's over that way." And pointed behind Chris' left shoulder. Danny laughed.

"Ok, Toucan Sam. Follow your nose to the cantina."

Blaine shot him a look, but took off in the direction of the restaurant. It was self-seating, so they found themselves a big booth covered in planets and lightning bolts. They looked over the menu that was full of normal foods with terrible names. It quickly became a contest of who could find the worst name ever. Then the server came over. He was tall and skinny and his uniform looked like a soda jerk from the 1950's. He looked less than thrilled to be there, until he saw that it was a bunch of kids his age sitting at his table.

"Oh, thank God you guys are normal."

"Um, you're welcome?" Chris said.

"No, it's just... I'm tired of dealing with children and their obnoxious parents all day long. It's nice to serve someone I could have a conversation with."

"Ah yes." Chris said as well.

"Anyway, you guys need some more time with the menus?"

"Um, I think we're good... but only if we don't have to use the actual names of the stuff in here." Blaine said. "Like, for instance, I want a cheeseburger. Maybe some fries..."

The server boy got this look on his face of absolute relief. "I'll get you free drinks and possibly a discount if you can order your entire meal without using those names."

So the four of them tried their hardest to order without using the terrible names, but it was a lot harder than you'd imagine. They sat around and talked a bit, but the music kinda made it difficult to hear, so they had to keep repeating themselves in order to be understood. Though, the misunderstandings made for interesting conversation as well.

Then the food came, and they ate, mostly in silence. Once they weren't absolutely hungry any more, they started chatting again. They finished, and paid (which had been reduced, and no drinks added), but sat at the table for a little while longer trying to let the food settle before taking on the massive game room. They all stood up and started walking around, seeing everything there was to do, and trying to figure out how big the place actually was. There were two levels of games, but no stairs. It was all ramps that looped around each other. Every path was some sort of incline, but all the gaming machines were on level surfaces.

Beyond that, was a big chamber that looked like a cover for a combat/warrior video game. Blaine and Zane's eyes got huge and they both said "laser tag..." in unison. Chris and Danny just looked at each other.

They went and paid for laser tag, and registered their names and were standing around waiting for their round to come. Then they noticed that there was a flock of little kids waiting with them. The parents of the kids were also standing around looking at the four older kids, and started whispering to each other.

A little while later, before their round started, another employee, who looked like death warmed over, came over to them and pulled them aside.

"Hey guys. It seems the parents of the kids are complaining..."

Chris was the first to be indignant. "Complaining about what? We were only standing there!"

The employee just looked at her. "They say that with you guys in there, it won't be fair for their little brats. They're asking for you to be removed from the game."

All four of them gave shocked looks.

"So, if you're ok with this, we're willing to let the four of you go in alone after them, for an extended game and another free game after that."

They were ok with that.

So, while they sat and waited for the little kids to finish their game, they talked about teams. Instantly Blaine called Chris, and Zane shot Danny a confused look. So Danny explained.

"Chris is insanely good at this game. Whoever has her on their team is almost guaranteed to win. No one can touch her. And she can hit someone across the room. She... defies physics. It is the most frustrating thing to be against her."

Zane nodded and looked at Chris who was basking in the compliment. Mainly because it was true.

Then their group was called and they went into the chamber to get their guns and vests and to go through the instructions. Then the gate opened, and they were released into a giant smoke filled chamber. Like outside, there were multiple levels with ramps going up and down to each. It was basically a giant maze inside with mirrors and smoke and little hiding places. And the game was on.

After what seemed like an eternity, the buzzer sounded, and four hot, sweaty, and tired kids emerged from the chamber. They all had to sit down on a ledge while they waited for their scores. Then the employee came around with four sheets of paper with their stats printed on them. Of course, Chris won by a landslide. Zane and Blaine started comparing scores. They were very close, but Zane came out the victor by a few points. Danny, of course, was last. He enjoyed the game, but never got too high of scores. But he was ok with that. And so were his competitors.

The employee also gave them four small, round, wooden tokens for another free round later.

"By the way, most of these little kids will clear out after 8, and this place becomes a lot more fun, I promise."

They said thanks for the advice and free game and headed over to a smaller refreshment stand to get some water and sit down for a bit. Blaine and Zane continued talking about the game and how they had seen the other performing something amazing. Danny was only half paying attention. He was more just lost in the moment and enjoying the company.

They sat down at a table with their waters and sat in silence for a while. They were all pretty hot still and trying to use anything within reach to cool themselves off; like using a stack of napkins as a fan. Zane took off his coat to help him cool off. His shirt, moist with perspiration, clung to his body. Danny noticed, probably for the first time, how athletic his build really was. He realized he was probably staring, so he looked quickly at the table and blushed slightly. He looked up to see Chris giving him a strange look. He blushed and smiled at her. No one else seemed to notice.

After a while, Blaine started getting restless. "Ok, time for round two of laser tag?"

Zane got excited, but then Chris said "Danny and I are gonna sit this one out, you guys go on without us. We're gonna go to the cosmic coffee bar, so meet us there when you're done."

"Alright, c'mon Zane."

Zane then turned to Danny and asked if Danny would watch his coat. Danny found it difficult to speak, but nodded and took his jacket. Zane ran off to find Blaine. Chris grabbed Danny by the arm and dragged him to the coffee line.

They ordered, got their beverages, and sat in secluded and semi-quiet place.

"So start spilling!" Chris said, out of the blue.

"About what?"

"About Zane, ya goof!"

"What about him?"

"Well, you can start with why he's here, but really, if you want to jump right to the part where you're making goo goo eyes at him, that's fine too."

"Was not making goo goo eyes at him. I don't even know what goo goo eyes are."

"Yes you do. You used to get the same look on your face when Jennifer walked into the room."

"Whatever."

"Ok, fine. Go about this the hard way. Why is he here with us?"

"Because he asked to go."

"From what I heard, it was more of an invitation to come."

"When did you hear that?"

"During laser tag, when we were kicking your butts. Blaine told me the story of him showing up at your door, and you invited him to come."

"Ok, so I asked him to come along, so what?"

"So what? You forget what he did to us? To you?"

"Yeah, that's what Blaine said."

"And it's not bad to keep it in mind."

"Yeah, well, I think he's different."

"Different? It's been a month..."

"Yeah, I know, but..."

"But...?"

"I had a conversation with him about a week ago during lunch. He wanted to sit with me. He was nice to me. He told me personal stuff that he'd really rather not talk about, especially to me. I think he's lonely... I mean, with Thi and Jenn hooking up, and him not fitting in with the football team, I think he's looking for friends."

"You do know you have no reason to be nice to him. You could let him suffer like we suffered."

"Yeah, but honestly, having gone through that, would you wish that on anybody?"

She thought for a minute. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But still..."

"Look, if this ends badly, Blaine has already reserved 'I told you so' rights and you are more than welcome to invoke them too."

"Oh, I will. Though, I doubt I'll use them."

They sat for a moment and enjoyed their coffee.

"Ok, now on to goo goo eyes."

"There are no goo goo eyes!"

"Oh, there are goo goo eyes..."

"Ugh. Whatever."

"Look, I saw how you looked at him when he took his jacket off."

"I did no such thing..."

"Oh, right. You blushed, you lying, lying cow."

"Whatever, I was hot and flushed."

"...about seeing a boy."

"About... we just got out of playing laser tag."

"Ok. Then explain why you kept staring at him in your rear view mirror..."

"I was not."

"You looked back there like 14,000 times..."

"Yeah, checking traffic. He just happened to be in my line of sight."

"There were no cars behind us the whole time. And I know your driving, you never look back. Ever."

"Whatever."


Chris sat there, and stared at her drink intently trying to find the right words. Danny was kinda nervous about where this conversation was heading. But the anticipation was worse.

"Ok, Danny. Tell me straight up. Do you like Zane?"

"What?"

"Are you attracted to Zane?"

Danny just looked at her, trying to choose his next words very carefully.

"I......don't know..."

Chris smiled at Danny and he felt a little better.

"If it makes you feel any better, he's been staring at your ass all night..."

Danny gave her a look of "that's not funny".

"No, I'm serious! Though, I don't know his motives for it, but he did look a bit guilty..."

Danny pondered this for a bit and audibly said "hmm...".

"You do like him!"

"Shut up..."

"Danny, it's ok... If you like him, you like him."

"If only it were that easy..."

"Danny, it is that easy... either you like him or you don't. Let everyone else worry about everyone else..."

"Because that's possible."

Chris chuckled. Then continued. "So, does this mean you're playing for the other team, now?"

"It doesn't mean anything. I don't like him."

"But you're open to the possibility of liking him?"

"I...don't know..."

"Well, that's a start..."

They sat there for a bit, and Chris started putting pieces together.

"Is this why you gave up on Jennifer?"

"Is what why I gave up on Jenn?"

"The fact that you don't know if you like boys."

"Um, no?"

Danny tried to pass that off, but Chris just gave him a look.

".....not entirely."

"Explain."

"I... just realized that if it comes down to me and Zane, she'd pick Zane. And if it came down to me and just about anybody else, she'd pick anybody else. And I couldn't keep wasting my time pining over something that'll never happen."

"So, you switch from Jennifer to Zane? Because that's so much more likely..."

"I don't like Zane!"

"Sure you don't."

Danny gave her the look this time.

"What? He's cute. I mean, sure, he spent most of high school cramming you into uncomfortable spaces, but man, is he ripped..."

"Uh huh... who likes Zane now?"

"Hey, a girl can look, but not touch."

They both finished their coffee, but wanted more, so they both went back and ordered again. Once they got their drinks, they sat back down again.

"Danny... what's keeping you from knowing?"

"Knowing what?"

"You said you didn't know if you liked boys or not..."

"Oh. Why do you care so much?"

"Because, Danny, you're my best friend, and I hate to see you in turmoil. Even if it's usually mostly self-inflicted."

"It is not self-inflicted."

Another look from Chris.

"Ok, it is mostly self-inflicted. But I don't know... I mean, this isn't exactly 'what am I gonna wear today?' This is life altering stuff, here..."

"Its life altering only if you make it life altering."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one."

"On what grounds?"

"On the grounds... that you should really hear what people have to say about gay people when they think no one can hear them. Or what my family says. Or what my church says... If this is true, then I'm gonna lose a ton of friends back home... probably be disowned... I mean, the list goes on."

"Ok, if they really leave, they aren't really your friends in the first place. Second, families can be harsh, but I know your parents, they won't disown you. And if they do, you can be in my family. I know they will love you regardless."

"Thank you."

"So?"

"So what?"

"Do you?"

"This isn't going to be something decided one night in an arcade..."

"Fair enough. And we should change topics, because look who's back..."

A sweaty Blaine and Zane sat down and were looking at their scorecards and comparing stories. They also both took turns going and getting cold drinks from the coffee bar. And they came back and started talking about the game and how much they dominated. After the two boys had cooled down, they were ready to take on the arcade.

At first, they found a big four person shooter game that they quickly took hold of. But after a while, once they all died off a couple of times each, they decided to call it quits on that one, and see what else was available.

Chris and Danny started playing some sort of RPG, but lost very quickly, and gave up to look for Blaine and Zane. They found the two of them playing another shooter game. They were actually doing pretty well, so Danny and Chris sat back and watched them play. They were doing really well, but then Blaine started getting cramps in his shooting hand, so he asked Danny to take over to work it out. And, as it turns out, Danny and Zane made a pretty good shooting team. So Chris and Blaine slowly backed away and watched them playing from a distance. The two playing didn't even realize it. Pretty soon, though, Blaine came up and started talking to Danny. It was during a cut scene, so Danny was free to listen.

"Hey Danny, did you want to play your free game of laser tag?"

"Um, why?"

"Well, Chris wanted to play, and if you weren't going to use it, I was wondering if I could..."

"Oh, sure."

Danny pulled out the wooden token and handed it to Blaine, then grabbed his gun to shoot more zombie invaders. The two others left to go play leaving the boys to their game. Zane ended up dying a little while after that, and had run out of money on the card that you had to get to use the gaming machines. But Danny was on a roll, so he flew solo for a while, with Zane right there cheering him on.

While playing the game, Danny felt a little pressure right above the small of his back. He couldn't figure it out at first, but then realized that Zane had shifted and had inadvertently put his arm around Danny. Danny felt the blood drain out of his face, and he couldn't concentrated. And then he got slashed up by a zombie, and his game was over.

"Hey man, you were on a roll! I didn't know you were so good at these games."

"I'm usually not... I guess I just got a winning streak going."

"Hey, look! You got the #9 high score!"

Zane was really happy about that for some reason that Danny couldn't comprehend. But for some reason it made him happy too. So he put in his initials and they walked away.

"Hey, looks like I'm out of money on my card..."

"Yeah, me too... It's why I couldn't join you at the end of the last game..."

"I wondered why you left. So what's the game plan? You wanna go reload our cards, or... something else..."

Zane smiled at Danny, and Danny realized how much he like his smile for some reason. He then blushed and tried to play it off.

"Actually, I kinda want to get out of the noise for a little bit. I'm kinda getting a headache. I mean, if you don't mind..."

This time Danny smiled at Zane.

"Oh right. I'm going to make you stay out in the loud noise with a headache. Let's go back to that cafe... It was pretty quiet in there."

And off they went. They sat at the same table as before, when Chris and Danny were there. 

They sat in silence for a good long time before Zane broke the silence.

"Danny, I really want to thank you for tonight. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun."

"Hey, sure man. No problem. I'm glad you came."

"I'm...actually... kind of surprised... your friends are so pleasant with me..."

"Yeah, well, they were kind of surprised I asked you to come."

"Why...why did you?"

"Ask?"

"Yeah."

"Um... well, honestly, it just seemed like the right thing to do at the time..."

"Oh." There was a long pause. "Wait, out of all the things you could have done, that was the right thing to do?"

"Um, yes?"

Zane gave Danny a funny confused look, so Danny explained further.

"Well, I figured that Thi and Jenn were probably out somewhere making out, and you didn't really want to see that again. And these places are a lot more fun with even groups that odd, so..."

"Then how come you didn't ask Christine's roommate to go?"

"...well, we weren't originally planning on asking a fourth, but since you were there, and needed a place to go, it just seemed right."

They both sat there, drinking their respective beverages, content to sit and say nothing. Except they kept looking at each other, and for some reason, it felt kind of awkward, so they kept looking away and laughing. It was about this time, that he realized that they were being watched from behind a fake topiary shaped like a rocket.

Danny leaned over and spoke quietly to Zane. "Don't look now, but we're being hunted..."

Zane looked around and saw what Danny saw. "Maybe their vision is based on movement. We should stay as still as possible..."

And so they froze in their position, and watched the bush shake a bit, and Chris and Blaine emerged from behind it and sat down, laughing.

"Damn. My idea of sight-based movement was just off..."

Chris and Blaine laughed a little, though, not knowing what he meant. But Danny laughed just the same.

They sat and talked for a while longer, then played more video games. And once they were sufficiently tired, they decided to call it an evening and head home. They dropped Chris off first, and she gave Danny a big hug, and whispered "We'll talk later" to him, and was off to her room. The boys ended up at their dorm and slowly made their way in the front door. Zane started walking towards his room, turned and said, "Thank you. For everything..."

Danny smiled sleepily at him. "No problem man. It was fun."

"See you guys around!" And Zane was off to his room.

In the stairwell, Blaine looked at Danny and said, "You were right. He has changed. He was fun tonight. I'm sorry for doubting your judgment."

Danny smiled and punched Blaine in the arm.