Front Seat (Danny Phantom
Characters are aged up to be 18+! Also, no ghosts AU!
I remember past me when I first used Tumblr liked this post and was like "Hey, this is a good idea for a short story."
And now, like 5yrs later, I actually made a short story. Enjoy!
Dash Baxter did not like Danny Fenton. That much was obvious.
He tolerated the annoying bug for the most part because of his sister. Jazz Fenton helped him with work and made it easier for him to somewhat maintain his minimum GPA to stay on the football team. Granted, Dash's definition of "tolerance" was shoving Fenton into lockers or pushing him out of the way. It could be worse. He gives some other nerds swirlies or slam their faces into food, so Fenton should feel somewhat grateful!
One day, when it was snowing and cold, Dash's practice ended early and he needed to get something from his locker. So, after he changed and got dressed, he grabbed his textbooks from his locker and headed out the front doors of the school. As he stepped outside, he saw a none other than Fenton, reading a random book, slouching over as he did.
"What're you doing here, nerd?" Dash asked, not really caring but still curious.
Fenton looked over his shoulder, scoffed and went back to his book.
"Hey! Don't just ignore me!"
"Do you actually care?"
"Just answer, idiot."
The raven groaned, rolled his eyes, and sighed, "Jazz is tutoring some freshmen and I don't have a ride cause parents are busy with ghost work."
"What about that weird goth freak and tech geek?"
"That 'goth freak' and 'tech geek' have names." Fenton hissed, "Sam can't take me home, her parents are weird and don't like my parents and, therein, me, and Tucker is too far away from me. It'd be too out of his way and I don't wanna inconvenience him."
Dash hesitated before walking past him. He noticed Fenton was only wearing a jacket and pants, nothing to help him with the biting cold. Dash wore a scarf, a large winter coat over his long sleeved shirt, his letterman jacket, two pairs of pants, and two pairs of socks. How could Fenton stand this cold? He went to walk away, turned to face the raven, and took another step away. Am I really going to do this?
Dash looked over his shoulder one more time before he groaned dramatically, "Alright, come on."
"What?" Fenton asked.
"Come on, I'll take you home."
"Are you high? No, you don't smoke." The raven shook his head, correcting himself, "Are you drunk?"
"NO!" Dash hissed, groaning, "Listen, if you freeze to death, I am not going to be the last one to have seen you! If Jazz found out I saw you and left you to die in the cold, she'd kill me! And I am not spending my afterlife with you, Fenton!"
"I'm not going to freeze to death, idiot, I'm fine!"
"You barely have anything on!"
"So what?! I'm fine!"
"Nope, nuh uh, come with me, now!"
"Fuck you, I'm not-"
"If you let me drive you home and not make a peep, I'll stop messing with you for a day!"
Fenton's eyes widened before he narrowed, "Seriously? You're willing to do that just to get me to let you drive me home? You got something in your car I should be concerned about?"
"NO! JUST- UUUGH!" Dash pinched his temples, "Listen, recently, during tutoring session, your sister has mentioned how worried she is with you. She said she's afraid you're going to get hypo.... hyper...? The shit when you're too cold!"
"Hypothermia?"
"YES! She's worried 'bout that!" The blonde sighed, "She really cares about you and if she finds out I left you out here when it's freezing, she'd make me pay for it. I get not trusting me, but can you at least do it for her?"
Fenton seemed to hesitate before he sighed. He shut his book and stood up, "Fine. But I get bragging rights and get to say I won a bet if anyone sees and asks."
"Ugh, whatever. Just come on."
The two began walking to the blonde's car. Dash unlocked the doors and got in the driver's seat, Fenton getting in the passenger's seat. He sat, looking out the window, hugging his bag to his check, uncomfortable and awkward. Dash turned the car on, turning the heat up and pressing his seat warmer.
"You want yours on?" Dash asked, pointing to the seat warmer button.
Fenton looked at the button and shook his head, looking out the window again, "No."
Dash shrugged and looked over his shoulder. He reversed out of the parking lot, beginning to drive away. The ride was silent for the most part, awkward, on both sides. They stopped at a red light, silent, the only noise being from outside. The blonde was trying to think of something to say, trying to figure out if he should even say something. Suddenly, Fenton leaned over and turned on the radio.
"Hey, don't-"
"Hey, it's Ember's new song!" Fenton exclaimed, excitedly turning the music up a bit, "Don't ruin it!"
Dash looked at the raven out of the corner of his eye, confused, "You... like Ember?"
"Uh, who doesn't?" Fenton rolled his eyes, "You may think I'm a nerd or whatever, but nerds have taste too!"
Dash snorted a laugh, focusing on the road and beginning to move once the light was green, "Well, how was I suppose to know? We don't exactly talk."
"And who's fault is that?"
The blonde was silent, knowing he was right. The raven nodded his head along to the music, mouthing the lyrics, Dash watching out of the corner of his eye. He was... kind of impressed. The other wasn't as lame as he originally thought. Then again, liking Ember McLain is not necessarily anything to write home about. Like Fenton said, who doesn't like her songs? I guess it's weird coming from him. Dash thought, pulling up to the building with the large neon glowing signs and metal space ship looking thing.
Suddenly, green smoke started coming out from the top of the building.
"Ughhhh..." Fenton pinched his temples.
"Uhhhh, is your place... safe?"
"It is. My parents are too stupid for any of their shit to work." Fenton groaned, grabbing his stuff, "Thanks for the ride."
"Uh, yeah, no problem." Dash stared at the green smoke, "Uh, you sure your place is not on fire or something?"
"Dash, did you forget my parents are the crazy ghost fanatics?" The raven opened the passenger door, waving his hand at the smoke, "This is what they do. It's stupid, crazy, and annoying, but to the few who believe in fairy tales, it makes money."
The blonde snickered, "I guess that's what matters?"
Fenton shrugged, stepping out, "Thanks again." He shut the passenger door and walked to front door of his home.
He opened the door and immediately stepped out of the way, just in time for Mr. and Mrs. Fenton to run out of the building and going to the alley next to their home, holding what looked to be junk. The raven groaned and walked inside, slamming the door behind him.
Dash felt... weird. Bad, maybe? He can't imagine living with those types of parents.
Dash shook his head, beginning to drive away. He wasn't going to worry about Danny.
Fenton. He wasn't going to worry about Fenton.
***
For the next couple of weeks, the same thing had happened. Dash's practice was cut off early due to weather, he would "forget" his textbooks, and he would find Dan- Fenton sitting at the front, either reading a book, copying some notes, studying for a test, or just on his phone. Dash would offer him a ride and the other would agree. At first, it was reluctant, but over the next few days turned to weeks, he would put up less of a fight, to the point when Dash came out of the building, he would stand up and look at him.
The rides turned from Dash taking Fenton home, to Dash driving to the nearby fast food joint, offering to buy Danny some food. They would hang out, eating in his car, sometimes going inside to do some studying together. Over time, Dash noticed how Danny didn't prepare much for the cold, which made him a bit worried. Danny always said he was fine, but the blonde didn't always believe him.
One day, when he walked out, he shoved a small letterman jacket in Danny's direction, "For you."
"Huh?"
"Listen, you don't have a winter's coat and you're probably freezing your ass off. Just take it. It was from my freshman year, so it's too small. It'll just collect dust in my closet anyways."
Danny blinked and took it. He put the letterman on and hummed, hugging himself a bit, "It's... pretty warm."
"I know, why do you think I wear it all the time." Dash snickered, "Come on, we're going to the movies."
"Movies?" Danny was quick to follow him to the car, "Why?"
"Cause I wanna see that new horror movie that just came out and Paulina, Star, and Kwan are too chicken and I know you will enjoy it!"
"Hell yeah!" The raven exclaimed, "I'll pay for-"
"Nope, on me. I'm inviting you out."
They got in their seats, the raven looking at the blonde, smiling, "You don't have to."
"If I'm taking you, it's only right I pay." Dash began to reverse.
Danny chuckled, "You know, Dash, you're not a bad guy!"
The blonde chuckled, "You're not so bad yourself, Danny."
The raven widened his eyes.
"What?"
"I think that's the first time you've called me by my first name."
Dash blushed a bit and shrugged, "Well, uh, I figured I should."
The ride was silent to the movies, mainly because both we feeling a bit embarrassed and awkward again. Once they got to the movie theater, they hopped out, going to the ticket stand. Dash bought their tickets, a bag of popcorn, and their drinks before they went into the theater room. They sat down and whispered to one another as the ads played, laughing quietly and joking with one another. Once the movie began playing, they shut up and began watching. As it began, Dash thought Danny would get scared, but the other was fine. If anything, he got more excited and loved it. Danny leaned into the blonde, who wrapped his arm around the raven without even thinking.
Once the movie ended, the two stood up, hand in hand, walking out of the theaters, talking excitedly about the movie and how impressed they were with it. They got back to Dash's car and continued laughing, joking, and overall having a nice time as the blonde drove to Danny's home. By the time they got there, the sun had set. Dash walked Danny to the front door, the raven taking out his keys and unlocking the door. He peaked inside, seeing all the lights were off.
"Will you get in trouble?" Dash asked, "Like, do you have a curfew or something?"
"Probably, but where's the fun in that?" Danny snickered, looking at him, "What about you?"
"Meh, my mom's chill."
"Well, good." The raven faced him, smiling, "Thank you, Dash, for the nice time. I-I had a lot of fun."
"Me too. I-I like sending time with you." The blonde responded.
The two stood there for a second, silent. Danny took a step forward and stood on his toes to lean up and kiss Dash's cheek. The blonde grabbed his chin before he could pull away, leaning down and kissing his lips. It was a short kiss, nothing dramatic or otherworldly, but it didn't have to be. They stepped back and smiled at each other.
"Good, I wasn't reading that wrong, then." The raven chuckled.
Dash chuckled awkwardly, "No, you, weren't." He hesitated and stepped back, "So, um, see you tomorrow?"
"See you tomorrow, Dash."
From then on, everything seemed to change.
***
"Party time! Party time!" Paulina and Star cheered, both dressed in cute short party dresses.
Kwan laughed, wearing a nice button up and pants, holding the door opened for everyone, "Dash! Leo! Come on or we're leaving you!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, who's driving?" Dash teased, tossing a football towards him, also in a nice shirt, blazer, and jeans.
Kwan easily caught it with a laugh.
Leo, a new student at Casper High, easily integrated into the popular clique. He was a great football player, a bit of a class clown, smart, funny, and attractive. They easily accepted him both on the team and part of the friend group.
"I can drive you Kwan, if need be!" Leo chuckled, wearing a shirt with joggers, going for more casual than nice.
"Yeah, with what car?"
"Yours still, I'll just steal your keys!"
The group laughed and got to Dash's car, the blonde unlocking just the driver's side and getting in. He jokingly made them wait before unlocking the car, allowing everyone to pile in the back.
However, Leo opened the passenger door.
"Nah, nah, nah." Dash immediately stopped him, pointing to the back, "Backseat."
Leo laughed but Dash just pointed to the back again. The man stared, "Wait, seriously?"
"We're picking up someone else. You get in the back."
"Wait, why can't they sit in the back?
"Oh, riiiight!" Kwan exclaimed, "Leo, get in the back, you'll see."
"But-"
"Just trust us!" Paulina giggled, "Come on!"
Leo begrudgingly got in the back, thankful Dash's car could at least fit all four of them in the back. The group continued talking and laughing as Dash pulled out of the school parking lot, making his way to wherever they were going. No one told Leo what was going on, so he just waited to see what was going on.
They pulled in front of a large building with a glowing neon sign reading Fenton Works. Leo remembered hearing about the Fentons, how Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were crazy about ghosts and their kids did everything in their power to not be embarrassed by them. He heard their daughter was going to college and their son also went to their school. Danny Fenton, the kid who sat with a weird goth chick and tech geek.
"What're we doing here?" Leo asked.
No one responded, rolling down the windows. Dash blasted the music and honked the horn, Paulina, Kwan, and Star cheering. After a few seconds, Danny Fenton emerged from the home, wearing a shirt with the NASA logo, a letterman jacket, and some skinny jeans. He was clearly holding back laughter as he approached the car, the four cheering.
"DANNY! DANNY! DANNY! DANNY!" Kwan, Paulina, Star, and Dash chanted, the raven blushing, covering his face in embarrassment.
"Shut up!" Danny hissed playfully as he hopped in the front seat, "God, you all are embarrassing."
Dash rolled the windows up and turned the music down as Kwan spoke first, "How you doing man, you ready for the party?!"
"Hell yeah I am!"
The group cheered, but Leo stared at Danny in confusion.
"Oh, is Sam gonna be there? I have to return her mirror!" Star explained.
"She and Tuck are carpooling with Valerie."
"Perfect, I need to give Val her headband back!" Paulina explained.
"Oh, Danny, this is Leo." Dash pointed to the seat behind him, Danny turning to face him, "Newbie. Probably heard it around."
The raven smiled, "Oh, nice to meet you. Sorry about them, you were probably confused."
"It's cool, I'm more confused why you get front seat."
Dash glared out his review mirror, Danny chuckled, and the other three jokingly 'ooooh'ed.
"Oh, you are new." He looked at Kwan, Paulina, and Star, who smiled innocently, "And you three didn't tell. Nice play." Finally, the raven looked at Dash, "Dashy~ Can I have a kiss~?"
Dash blushed and nodded softly, leaning over and kissing his lips.
Leo widened his eyes as the other three cheered. Once they pulled away, the blonde quickly focused on driving, embarrassed.
Danny then looked at Leo, winking, "See, I always get front seat. Perks of being the quarterback's boyfriend!"
Leo blushed in embarrassment, looking away as the car erupted into laughter, the group beginning to joke and talk once again.
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