Danny & Steve [Completed]

The Beginning, Part One

This is the old version of the story in larger chunks. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, so it remains for posterity's sake.

Danny looked up from his coffee to see his roommate walk into the cafe. It was Dan's first time away from home, and Steve had been quite the dash of cold water to the face for a small town boy with a firm idea of how things were supposed to be. Dan's side of the room was decorated with a track and field theme. Steve's theme was football, only the players had their shirts off and stood in suggestive poses. In fact, Danny wasn't sure they were real footballers at all. They were all so perfect, like models.

Steve spied Danny and smiled. After getting his coffee, he wandered over to Danny's table. "Hey, s'up, Dan. Do you mind if I sit?"

Danny gathered up his books and set them out of the way, "Sure, please do. How's it going?"

Steve shrugged a shoulder and said, "It's going." Steve had blond hair, a little on the long side, only it looked intentional instead of in need of a trim. His blue eyes were full of mirth, kind of like he always knew some sort of delightful secret, and when he looked at Danny just then, Danny felt like he had been let in on it, like it was some kind of shared joke between them.

It made Danny's guts go all funny. He knew he felt a way about boys he shouldn't. He was also aware of the fact it was the 21st Century, and not everyone felt the way his religious community did. He had never met anyone like Steve before, someone who just wore it on their lapel. Literally, Steve had a tiny rainbow button pinned to his jacket. Danny stared at it, and it wasn't until Steve was halfway through his sentence that Danny realized he was speaking.

"I'm sorry, what?" he said, "I got distracted."

Steve glanced down at his pin and his lips twitched. "No problem. I was just asking if you're going to the game this Saturday? A bunch of us were going to have a pregame tailgate party. You should come."

Danny swallowed and said, "I don't have a truck." He didn't even have a car, just a ten-speed bike.

Steve grinned, flashing pearly white teeth. "Don't worry about it. My brother's doing the grilling. Just show up with a couple two-liters of coke, North Gate, three hours before kickoff."

Danny found himself nodding before he gave it any thought. "Sure, I'll be there." Hey, his dad had told him to meet new people and make friends. He just didn't think his dad had people like Steve in mind.

Danny couldn't think of anyone else he'd rather go with.

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. "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.