Guess who has returned from the depths of not updating? Me, yay!

Heres the newest chapter which I'm assuming has been long awaited, but lets face it, you're all probably used to it by now. Sorry about that.

A small warning for this chapter, there's a few angsty parts in it, so if thats triggering for you, best to not read.

Enjoy!

To be honest, Dash knew that confronting Danny had probably not been the best idea. As he waited by the doors to the cafeteria, the boy thought of all the times Kwan had attempted to talk sense into him. Moreover, he thought of all the times it had gone badly, the yelling, screaming, and at points even tears. He didn't have long to think about it though.

Danny walked nervously towards the cafeteria, his two friends at his sides. Dash had expected it, he wished he could have brought Kwan, but he didn't want to make the boy feel any more anxious and threatened than he would already be. After all, having the cruelest person in the school know a secret alike Danny's must be

bad enough.

"Fenton" he said when the boy got within ear shot. He attempted to choose his words carefully. "I was hoping we could talk alone," he explained as calmly as he could manage.

Tucker stepped forward, "Yeah not going to happen buddy. But nice try. Actually no, not even a nice try."

Dash tried to stifle a sigh. Did this guy have any idea of what was happening? If so, he most definitely did not understand what it was like. "Danny. Please. Its important that we talk about this. Alone."

This time it was Sam to step in, leaving Danny to look awkwardly from behind his friends. "Since when do you use his first name?" She didn't wait for an answer. "Since he became somewhat convenient to you?" She raised her voice to a yell causing attention to be drawn to them, "What's your plan? Blackmail or some shit?!"

"Shh!" Both Dash and Danny said in unison as they attempted to not make eye contact.

"Listen," Dash said in a hushed, frustrated, tone, "I don't want to blackmail him, this isn't a threat!" He took a deep breath. "I just wanna talk."

"Sam, Tucker" Danny began. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. Dash says he just wants to talk, so I believe him alright?" He sounded confident but there was an underlying sense of unease. Of course, Dash couldn't blame him, his kid was probably lying through his teeth. Dash guessed that he friend's caught into it as well. as there seemed to be a silent argument going on between the three friends. It made Dash smile to think of how best friends can fight with nothing but their eyes. Lord knows how many times he and Kwan had done it themselves.

It seemed they had come to an agreement and Sam and Tucker reluctantly walked away to the other end of the hall. "You've got some good friends Fenton," Dash said as he watched the two.

"I know," was the curt reply. "Now what do you want Dash?" Danny said, fiddling with the hem of his white shirt. Dash had to give him props. The could definitely fake confidence in his voice, his demeanor however, gave way his true anxiety.

"I just wanted to talk to you," Dash began. "We've been at odds for so long, I figured maybe we could start being...friends?"

Danny was silent, obviously caught off guard. Of course he was, Dash himself would've been.. What had he been thinking? It was a bad idea from start to finish. His eyes met the smaller boy, who seemed to be searching for some kind of hidden motive. How had Dash never noticed how icey his blue eyes were? There was something chilling about them... something dead.

"Uh," Danny started, drawing Dash's attention back to the situation at hand. "Friends?"

"Yeah," Dash coughed, "I was just thinking that you know, uh, me and you may have more in common than we realize."

"What do you mean 'more in common'?" he snapped in response. "Listen Dash. I don't know what you think you know, but I can guarantee that you don't know anything. So I'm just gonna go."

He started to move away as Dash grabbed his arm, causing the younger boy to flinch. "Shit, sorry" Dash exclaimed, relaxing his grip. "Fenton-Danny. Listen to me okay?" He tried to make his voice sound soft. "I do know, alright?. I know whats going on. I saw your bruises and it isn't that hard to put it together. But they don't have to hurt you anymore. You don't have to put up with it."

Danny froze, his face drained of colour. "I don't know what you're talking about" Danny stuttered.

Dash took a deep breath before speaking. "Seriously I'm tired of this. You don't have to do this on your own Danny. People will help you. All you've got to do is ask." It was obvious that he was begging. He needed to help this kid. He needed to make sure that he didn't turn out like Dash himself did; hardened and cold, angry, violent... he had to stop it.

Once again Danny opted to lie. "I seriously don't know what you're talking about, now leave me alone!" He yelled it loud enough for everybody around to hear before pulling away aggressively, and storming towards his friends.

He was good at faking it when given time, Dash had to give him that, but however prideful and angry his stride, Dash couldn't miss the unmistakable limp in his left leg.

Shit shit shit. He knows. Fuck he knows. What the fuck am I going to do?! Danny thought to himself while internally screaming. He fucking knows I'm Danny Phantom and he's gonna tell everybody, fuck fuck fuck.

Danny knew he had to think of something fast as he spotted Sam. "Where's Tucker?" he asked her.

She pointed to the boys washroom. "Said he felt sick. Probably from all that meat he eats."

Danny glared at her.

"Anyways" she continued. "What happened? It looked pretty heated and you seem really freaked out, I mean you're white as a ghost."

"Not. Funny." Danny growled.

"Sorry, my bad." She continued, "come on Danny, It's not like he actually knows." This was followed by Danny's silence. "I mean, he doesn't know, right?" He looked down. "Oh fuck!" Sam shouted.

"Shhh!" Danny hushed her. "I don't want to make myself anymore noticed than I have already." Before she could talk, he spoke again, "I'm not going over this twice. Give me a second to grab Tucker."

Danny walked down the hall and into the boy's washroom. It was awkwardly quiet.

"Tucker?" he called into the echoing room. The stall furthest from the door was closed, he walks towards it. "Dude not funny, I need you right now." There was still no reply. He knocked on the stall before peaking under, if he saw anything, it wouldn't have been the first time.

"Dude serious-" he didn't get a chance to finish. Tucker was laying on the floor, blood trailed from the toilet seat, along with the distinct smell of vomit. That time he swore out loud.

Dash sat on a swing a few blocks from his house a few minutes later. After the drama that occurred, he had decided to skip the afternoon. The wind gently blew a cool breeze as the leaves began to change colour. It wouldn't be long until football season ended, meaning Dash would have one less reason to stay out of the house after school. He sighed as he ran his hand through his blond hair, his mind drifted to different thoughts. He figured that he should probably messages Kwan, he'd be wondering where Dash went, and worrying over what had happened. He always worried. Dash sighed and let his mind drift to different thoughts, these more dangerous that the last.

He thought about his life, the sleepless nights, the stupid worries, and random bullshit. Most of all, he thought about how maybe he should just end it. It'd be better for everybody after all, not just him. No more failing classes and teachers wasting time on him, no more disappointing his dad or receiving stupid beatings. He could avoid the sad fact of his life, that this was it. It was all downhill from there on out. After all, what did he really have going for him? He was just a shitty angsty teenager with a bad temper and daddy issues. No talent, no brains, nothing going for him. and didn't victims of violence often turn into abusers themselves? He was already close enough to one, nothing but a worthless bully...Once again he sighed. Those thoughts came and went, but lately, they were coming more often than ever before. Dash shook his head, he has better things to deal with that lamenting over his worthless life. Besides, what would Kwan think?

Forcing himself to think of different things, he began to ponder Danny. What the hell was he going to do about him? It was obvious that the boy didn't want help, he wouldn't even admit his own abuse. He wondered how long the boy had been suffering at the hands of his father. How long has Dash been adding to that pain? Did Danny share the same midnight thoughts as him? The thoughts of death and ending it all? How bad was the torment?. Could that be the real reason his mother had left? Mothers... That had always been Dash's weak point. He took in a deep breath as he relived his first memory.

Mommy! A small, four year old, boy screamed as he ran towards his mother. It was late spring and the sun already beat down with long missed heat. The boy gave a childish giggle as he ran next to the freshly blooming tulips planted in the park near his home.

"Mommy look what I found!" he exclaimed as he held up a chihuahua puppy. "Can I keep it?" he asked.

The woman smiled at her son. "Its so cute Dash. But how do you know it doesn't have a home?"

"He" Dash corrected, "He doesn't have a collar! All puppies have collars if they belong to people"

The woman's smile faltered a little, her true distain barely showing. "Well why don't you bring him over here, he can eat some of our lunch" she said as she took Dash's hand, leading him towards a small blanket covered in food.

"When's daddy gonna be here?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Any minute. He said he was going to come right after work." She stopped for a moment. "If we let you keep him," she motioned to the dog, "would you stop complaining that you're lonely?

"Yes!" Dash shouted with glee, not understanding the cruelity of the question.

"What would you name him?" she asked.

"Hmmmm" he thought. "Pooky!"

That was the day his dad lost his job, and all because of fucking budget cuts. The man quickly fell into a destructive cycle of alcohol and abuse. Three years later, Dash's mom left, never to be seen or heard from again. Thinking back, he guessed that she always hated him. He had kept that dog for a long time too. Until around two months before actually, when he gave her, yes, it really was a her, away to his younger cousin. Pooky would be safer with her anyways, and it's not like he never got to see Pooky, his cousin would always bring her when she came to visit.

Dash was so engulfed in his own thoughts that the ambulance speeding by went almost unnoticed.

"I'm home!" Kwan called as he walked through his front door.

"Aren't you home a little early?" his mother replied from the kitchen, more curious than angry.

"They let my class out early today, Lancer was needed for some kind of medical emergency." He walked into his white and yellow kitchen, the smell of fresh cookies and cooking meat drifted to his nose as his mother stood stirring something on the stove. "What are you making?" he asked her.

"Your favourite, Spicy Chicken," she handed him a cookie. "Is everybody okay?"

It took Kwan a moment to realize what she meant, her train of thought had always been a little scattered, Kwan thought it was part of her charm. "I think so, but I'm not really sure what happened. They kept it pretty tightly under wraps. Not sure why though."

"Privacy reasons hunny." She fell silent for a moment. "Your friend Charlotte's parents called."

Kwan flinched. Star's parents calling was never a good sign. "What'd they want?"

She sighed and stepped back from the hot stove, obviously to let the sauce simmer. "Is there something you need to tell me about your friends Kwan?"

That came as a surprise, "What do you mean?"

"They asked me if I knew if she was a lesbian. Something about sinning and being against God's will," she replied dully. "Now you know I don't care, and I'm not asking you if she's gay, because if she is, it's her choice to tell." She was quiet for a moment, as if she were trying to find the words. "But I'm afraid they may be hurting her. And Kwan, if you know anything about that, or about anybody being hurt, you need to tell me okay?"

That time it was Kwan's turn for silence. Of course Star's parents thought she was gay. And of course they called his mom, considering Star had told them she was dating him. He honestly wouldn't be surprised if Star's parents were hurting her, but she never mentioned it. Then again, neither did Dash, unless it was completely unavoidable. He figured they weren't though, mostly because Dash would've noticed it, he was good at that.

"Kwan?" She asked, a hint of concern in her voice. "Hunny, you know you can tell me anything right?"

Dash. He had to tell her about Dash. He had come to these crossroads before, where he had the choice to tell her. Where he could change Dash's life forever. He almost always thought about it, how telling his mom could save his best friend.

"I know mom, but I don't know anything," he said, silently cursing himself. He wanted to tell her, he really did, but it wasn't his secret to tell.

Seriously Kwan, just solve all our problems and tell your mom, but then again, why go the easy route? What kind of story would that make?

Little foresight into next chapter, we're going to see Danny at home and freaking out. That means Jazz and Danny sibling stuff, along with more insight into the drama at the Fenton household.

Please favourite, follow, and review! If you seen any spelling/grammar mistakes please let me know so I can fix them ASAP!

Until next time my lovely readers!

PS: Thank you for putting up with my crappy update waits, writing unfortunately does not come easy to me most days. Feel free to follow me on tumblr, theres a link in my profile.