Danny & Steve [Completed]

Part 3

It was Friday, and the air was filled with enthusiasm for the big game. Danny had lunch with Ben, and they talked about stuff back home, like who at school was pregnant, who had dropped out, and which new business had come into the area. It was good to catch up.

Later, Danny got a call from Mandy, who needed to vent about the latest unfair thing Mom and Dad had done. This time it was being grounded after staying out two hours past curfew. Danny wanted to tell her it was her own fault, but he wasn't that guy. He was the guy who listened and soothed.

Then he got a call from his mother about what Mandy had done. Two hours past curfew! Danny did try to play Devil's advocate for his sis. She was sixteen, she wasn't a baby anymore, and all her friends got to stay out later. It fell on deaf ears. Young ladies who stayed out late got into trouble, and Mom didn't plan to be a grandmother any time soon.

Danny sighed when he got off the phone and wished his mom would have a little faith in Mandy, who cared more about horses than boys anyway.

The calls took an edge off Danny's homesickness, but they also emphasized for him just how much he could never have a relationship, at least not as long as he went here. Maybe after Ben graduated? Except Ben had talked about going to grad school here, too.

There was nothing for it. Danny was doomed to a life of lies and celibacy.

On his way to Spanish, Danny passed through the quad. There was a demonstration in full force, the LGBTQA Union had students carrying signs and chanting. There was another anti-trans law coming down the pike that would strip trans people of yet more bathroom rights. It was disgusting, and Danny wished he could protest with them.

He was unsurprised to see Steve there with his friends (maybe a boyfriend?), and Danny smiled when he waved. There was a guy standing with Steve who had sleek black hair and dark eyes that watched Danny as he walked past.

"That's him?" the friend asked.

Steve said, "Yeah."

His friend snorted. "I thought you said you didn't go after closet cases."

Danny hurried on. He was going to be late to class, and besides, he didn't want anyone to see him blushing.

During class, Danny poured over those handful of words and what they could mean. Was Steve telling people about him? And what did the friend mean by going after closet cases? Maybe they were talking about someone else, in which case Steve really was off-limits because he wasn't interested in Danny at all. The thought should've brought Danny relief, but he felt like a knife was twisting in his stomach. He looked down at his notes and noticed he'd been drawing little hearts in the margins. He quickly scratched them out.

After class, Danny walked right out of the classroom and into Steve, scattering books and papers everywhere.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," he said as he knelt to help gather up Steve's books.

Steve grinned at him as he knelt as well. "Don't worry about it." He offered over Danny's books to him, and their hands met. Steve slowly withdrew, and Danny's heart beat a mile a minute for those few seconds where they touched.

Steve bit his lips, then took his books from Danny and said, "Thanks, man. I gotta get to class, but I'm looking forward to the tailgate party tomorrow."

"Yeah," Danny said, head in the clouds. Steve's touch lingered in his mind, and it killed him how electric it had been, like the two of them were live wires coming together.

The rest of the day went in a haze. The energy of the coming game and everyone itching for the weekend made classes a little chaotic, and Danny's mind was a million miles away, lost in the memory of blue eyes and a pearly white smile.