Danny & Steve [Completed]

Part 2

Walking out of Pre-Calc class, Danny heard a familiar voice.

"Daniel Freeman, is that you?"

Danny snapped out of his thoughts to see Ben Stewart walking toward him in the hallway of the Mathematics building. Ben had been two years ahead of him in high school, and they'd never really hung out, but Ben was grinning, like he was happy to see him.

"Ben, hey," Danny said. He swept a hand over his short brown hair, then rubbed at the nape of his neck, still half-distracted by thoughts of the upcoming tailgate party (and those blue, blue eyes). "Wow, you're going here?"

Ben said, "Yeah, I transferred this semester. What's up, man?"

They fell into step side by side. Ben had been a basketball player in high school, and a good one despite only being 5'10". He hadn't changed a bit, except maybe his skinny frame had filled out a little, and his tight, black curly hair had been trimmed shorter. His dark eyes had that same keen wit in them, though. Ben was a quick thinker. It had helped him on the court.

"You playing ball here?" Danny asked.

Ben shook his head. "Nah, I mean yeah, for fun, but I'm focusing on my studies. I'm majoring in Physics."

Danny's jaw practically dropped. He had barely made it out of high school Physics alive. "What are you studying that for?"

Ben grinned. "Gonna be the next Neil Degrasse Tyson, baby."

Danny couldn't help but grin, too. "That's awesome, man."

Ben asked, "So what are you studying? Besides girls?"

Danny laughed weakly. Right, girls. "Just Freshman stuff, plus English Lit., and Spanish."

Ben nodded, then clapped Danny on the shoulder. "That's not bad. You should try a little science."

Danny held up a hand and said, "We're not all geniuses like you, man."

Ben favored Danny with another one of those easy grins. "Look, I gotta go, but we've got to hang out soon, okay?"

Danny nodded and said, "Sure."

As Ben headed down another hallway, Danny's heart sank. Someone with ties to his home town, who probably talked to his parents, who went to the same church as Danny's. Danny would have to watch his every move around Ben.

After dinner alone in the cafeteria, Danny went up to his room. Steve was already there, hard at work in his studies. His features were intense with his focus, and Danny paused to admire that cherubic face in profile. From the calculator on the desk, Danny guessed Steve was working on math of some stripe.

"Hey," Danny said as he dumped his books on his desk.

Steve looked up, and his smile made Danny's heart melt. "Hey, Dan," he said. "How's it going?"

Danny shrugged, and he mustered up a smile. "It's going." Thanks to Ben, Danny could only look but never touch. His gaze followed the lines of Steve's broad shoulders. It was heartbreaking. Danny told himself it wasn't as though Steve was single anyway. How could someone that good-looking and outgoing in a school this liberal not have a harem?

Steve's brows lifted as he caught Danny staring at him. "Enjoying the view?"

Danny's cheeks flushed, and he shook his head. "Sorry. It's just that... man, you must work out."

Steve said, "Yeah, not religiously, but I like to keep fit. You're not so bad yourself."

Danny sat on the edge of his bed and his voice fluttered with nervous laughter. "Thanks, I think. I like to run." Running cleared his head, and when his sneakers hit the pavement, he could pretend he was leaving all his cares behind him.