This Is Home [Danny/Dash]

Chapter One: Singing in the Shower

"All right maggots, you've got ten minutes to rinse off." The gym teacher yelled at her class. Students began to scurry for the locker rooms, eager to get to the showers. It was a well-known fact amongst the boys at Casper High that only some of the showers had hot water settings, which caused a free-for-all run after most gym classes.

Dash was in no rush, however. He knew that he could just shove whoever made it to the good showers out of the way. Nobody would say anything to him after all, being as strong and popular as he was.

Confidently, Dash walked into the locker room to see everyone running around. As he walked down the row of showers, Dash could see that most of the warm showers were already occupied. Dash spotted the last open one in the very back and slyly walked over to it. Luckily he didn't have to fight to get it this time.

Meanwhile, Danny decided to camp out in one of the bathroom stalls. It had been his routine to wait until everyone was gone before he showered. He was a bit shy and self-conscious about his body. Plus there was the fact that he was covered in a mix of scars from ghost fighting and dealing with bullies. Well, it wasn't really dealing with, more like assuming the fetal position until help arrived or the boys tired themselves out. Either way, Danny was not showering when people could so easily move the curtain and embarrass him. Plus having the next period free was a bonus. He could take as long as he liked.

Ten minutes had passed and most people had already left for their next class. The remaining students were still packing up their things. Danny decided that this would be as good a time as ever to walk out of the stall. He opened up his locker and fished for a clean pair of clothes. After finding them, he headed for the showers. It seemed to Danny like nobody was left in the locker room, so he felt calm.

He stepped onto the damp floor of the hallway that leads to one of the warm showers. After hanging his clothes on the hooks outside of the shower, he walked in. Danny wished silently to himself that the showers had curtains on them. It would make more sense to have it that way, he thought. Brushing it off, he turned the knob and allowed the water to begin heating up. Danny stripped down to his boxers before pausing, taking a second look around, and then getting fully undressed.

Somewhere in Casper High, Dash Baxter was realizing that he forgot his jacket in the locker rooms. Groaning, though he knew he didn't really need to grab it, he also didn't want to lose it. Dash knew that he would be late for class, but nobody would say anything. Hell, he could skip and no reproductions would come his way. People gave him a lot of credit for someone who was just a high school football player. Taking comfort in those facts, he turned around and headed back to the locker room.

As Dash opened the door, he heard soft humming. Normally he wouldn't bother to pay attention to it, but the owner of the voice sounded so soft and sweet. He couldn't help but listen in. Dash quietly closed the door to prevent startling the hummer. He tiptoed around to look for his jacket. Looking in his locker and finding it empty, he came to the conclusion that he had left it next to the shower on the hook.

Facepalming himself, he crept over to the hall of showers. The humming became louder along with the sound of running water being sloshed around as Dash grew closer. Dash realized that the person must be showering. Dash skimmed the area and saw that his jacket was hanging on the hook next to the occupied shower. Now his jacket would be even more trouble to get to.

Carefully, he crept over to his missing jacket. He took it off the hook as quietly as he could. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, Dash began to hear words coming from the shower.

Now Danny, he was having a good shower. He lathered himself up in soap and was humming to his favorite song. After a while of hearing nobody enter the locker room, he became comfortable with his environment. Danny let go of his anxiety and started to sing. 

"Are you tired of me yet? I'm a little sick right now but I swear when I'm ready I will fly us out of here..." Danny song. The song brought back memories from his past. Memories he wanted to forget but knew that he had to accept sometime. With a sigh, he continued the song.

"Ooooh, I'll cut my hair. Ooooh, to make you stare. Ooooh, I'll hide my chest and I'll figure out a way to get us out of here." Dash listened in adamantly. The voice seemed to hypnotize him for some reason. He didn't know why, but he began to feel somewhat melancholic as he heard the song. The sadness being portrayed in the song waved over him.

"Get a load of this monster! He doesn't know how to communicate. His mind is in a different place. Will everybody please give him a little bit of space!" Danny belted out. It was only when he was alone that he really let his emotional side come out. With being half dead and all, Danny really felt like a freak sometimes. Sure he was a hero to Amity Park, but they didn't know the real him. They wouldn't care. They would laugh.

Sometimes Danny just wanted to get rid of it all. Stop being a hero. Stop dealing with all of this pain. Hell, Danny wanted to stop living sometimes. He had been battling depression even before he had the accident. But even being known as a savior didn't help that. He had fans who supported his other half unwaveringly, but that never gave him any satisfaction. He knew that they only cared about what he did for people, not who he was. And this made Danny extremely sad.

Dash was confused as to why the singing had paused. He felt like there was more to the song, and he wanted to hear it. The guy singing it sounded so passionate, so raw with emotion when he was singing. Dash couldn't help but think nobody else could sing the song as well as the guy.

Dash paused for a moment. His ears perked up as he heard some soft sobs next to him. A wonderful singer was inside crying, and curiosity got the best of Dash. He was so interested to see who was inside that he didn't even bother to remember that the person would be completely naked in front of him. He wanted to know who could be so emotional about a song. He wanted to know why.

Slowly, Dash peered around the corner, clutching his jacket. The boy was facing the showerhead away from Dash. He was rather slim, but muscular in most places as well. He had a rather attractive figure as well if Dash dared say so. But this wasn't what grabbed Dash's attention the most. No. His eyes were focused on the countless scars and burns tracing all over the boys' back and legs. The boy had damp black hair that was flipped in an odd way with soap suds covering it. The boy had his forehead leaning on the wall, one hand supporting him there. He looked... defeated. That was the only word that Dash could come up with.

Dash was trying to get a closer look so he could identify the boy when he heard him speak. This startled Dash so much he almost fell over.

"Why can't I just be a normal human?" Dash recognized the owner of the voice almost immediately. It was Danny Fenton. Dash was flustered, realizing that he spent so much time listening in on Fentons singing. But what was worse, Dash enjoyed it. Even knowing now that it was Fenton, there was something inside of Dash yearning to hear more.

Slowly, Dash crept away. He didn't want Fenton to know he was spying on him, much less overhearing his personal turmoil. But as Dash left the locker room he couldn't help but think.

I wonder what Fenton meant by 'normal human'?