~ 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.