A/N: Okay, first things first before I say anything else, this is NOT a VLAD IS A VAMPIRE STORY! Chapter one is titled vampire but he is not one. He bites Danny, yes, and there is a response to said bite, BUT IT IS NOT BECAUSE HE IS A VAMPIRE! I just wanted to get that out in the open in case any of you are fans of the whole Vampire Vlad thing, just don't want to get your hopes up. (I don't mind that idea or stories that use that, this just isn't one of them.)

I have this entire story already written, so no worries of not being finished or not posting. I plan to post one chapter a week, though with the holidays coming up it could be every two weeks for a short time. BUT THEY ARE ALL WRITTEN! THIS IS A SLASH, MXM, POMPOUS PEP! Unlike my other story Love Me Do, I took more care and time and effort in this story. Not to say I don't love LMD and haven't put time into it but that one is more of a free-writing practice piece. I wanted to see where the characters would take me with very little planning or expectation for the ending. Also, I WILL BE FINISHING LMD, JUST POSTING THIS TO GET IT OUT OF MY BOX!

This one was planned from A to Zed. That being said, I am also starting each chapter with what is essentially a Journal Entry. This Fic will also have medium to long amounts of time (within the story) that pass. One chapter maybe October, the next maybe December. Keeping that in mind is a must because this is a very short story and though it may feel like there was no allowance of time for Danny to change his opinion of Vlad, I hope I wrote it well enough to give you an idea of how long they actually spend together as their relationship changes and grows.

Also, please note, in this story when Chapter One occurs, Vlad has already spent time trying to change himself. He does not start evil and then become good. I am writing this as if Vlad took multiple years to get himself on the right track so when the plot of the story starts at the end of Chapter One, Vlad is already "not evil" and more explanation of his changes will come as he communicates with Danny and their relationship grows. So, if you only like redemption arches, this might not be a story for you, though I encourage you to give it a chance. Vlad already went through his metamorphosis into a good guy.

Finally, this story starts when Danny is seventeen and I give a...well...basically it's a sort of explanation of what has happened between Danny being 14 and Danny being 17. Each Entry and Chapter gives snippets so you can piece it all together. I made Danny's birthday in the fall, so every time the fall season passes he is a year older. It helped to keep track of pacing for the story.

Alright, too much talking, time for reading. Read, review if you so choose and enjoy, warnings below.

WARNINGS: Scene of a sexual nature between two males, mildly descriptive fight scene with mention of blood and minor wounds, attempted murder-suicide and intoxication from alcohol. Danny is 17 in this chapter only, after this he will be eighteen or older. So, yeah...just so you know!

Entry I

The night it happened was a terrible night. As I look back on it now I realize that what happened was something close to fate but really just inevitable. I remember I had just graduated from High School, it was June, much too hot and I was seventeen. My two best friends and I had successfully navigated our way through the trial and error that was the majority of our teenage years and had taken the final steps towards starting our next big adventure.

College.

We had planned and agreed that all three of us were going to take one year off before moving onto our final stage of higher learning. We wanted to spend the summer after graduation traveling, we wanted to visit all the college campuses we were interested in going to. Our little trio would then spend the remainder of the year setting up a network that would allow us to keep in contact with each other as well as allow us to monitor ghostly activity at whatever universities we ended up in.

I knew I wanted a future outside of ghost hunting and being a hero, but even so, I wasn't near ready to give it up. I think back and wonder how things would have been if I hadn't wanted to check out the campus at UW. That's the University of Wisconsin for those who might not know. It was my parents Alma Mater and my dad had pressed me to go as if I would be some coveted legacy student. What he didn't know and could never understand was that as much as I admired and respected both of my parents and had no real issues with following in their collegiate footprints; Wisconsin held more than just school for me.

It held my rival, a man who over time I learned to respect and understand the danger of. While things had changed between us at that point and true power struggles were few and far between, I still retained a certain level of weary nervousness about stepping foot into his territory. Much like a lone wolf crossing over the boundaries of another pack.

When I had turned sixteen Vlad had slowly started to become a less common figure in my life. He pulled back a little and schemes and plans seemed less grandiose and threatening. My friends and I often joked about how he was losing his edge. When I turned seventeen he seemingly disappeared altogether, choosing to move back to Wisconsin and leave his plans for both me and my mother behind.

I didn't complain.

Save for a select few unplanned meetings in the Ghost Zone, I rarely saw the man. Those fights never left me more than winded, feeling reminiscent of a good workout than an actual battle. Vlad never really tried and let me get in too many shots far too often. Our conversations, on the other hand, grew more complex and in-depth every time we had one of those impromptu meetings. After a while, I started to wonder if I would see my counterpart in the Ghost Zone the next time I went and a sort of unspoken truce began. Our banter and casual conversations over ecto-blasts were almost enjoyable.

Even so, It had been several years before those red eyes stopped haunting my nightmares and before his voice didn't blare like a mocking record player in the back of my mind. Going to UW would be me stepping willingly into the lion's den and not me simply just "going to school". And while I had no intention of trying to start anything nor did I want to poke the proverbial hornet's nest, it went without saying that we would inevitably meet. Once he knew I was there, all bets were off as to how long it would take for him to encroach upon my life.

Still, it was the third school on our list and despite the fact that it was a bad idea, my friends and I went. We planned to spend two days in Wisconsin. One day to check out the city of Madison and one to look at the campus. It was the second night, the terrible night that it happened. I should have known to stay in bed, or at the very least I should have woken up my friends. If they had been there things would have probably ended differently.

I would be turning eighteen in October and as I was one of the younger teenagers in my class so too had I grown up with a thirst to prove myself. I hadn't seen Vlad in a long time, as even our sort of friendly sparring in the Ghost Zone had stopped. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious as to what he had been up to. I was overly confident that night. Having won so many battles, both in my personal life and against many spooks of all shapes, sizes, and power levels. I didn't think twice when my ghost sense went off. I am stronger now, I had thought. But it was just overconfidence and I am sad to say, far too much cockiness for my own good. I left without telling my friends because I had recognized the sensation. I recognized the ghostly signature. My rival wanted to play and I didn't want to spoil the fun….

CHAPTER ONE

Vampire

Danny sat up, his back rigid and sweat on his brow. Lighting struck, followed by a loud clap of thunder as the wind outside howled. Blue eyes landed on the sleeping form of his friends. Tucker, on the cot near the door, could sleep through anything and a storm like this was nothing but a lullaby to Sam. While storms didn't generally bother Danny, something about this one made his skin crawl and his hair stand on end.

That's when his ghost sense went off. He recognized it instantly. In fact, it was the only spook he recognized by his ghost sense alone. "Vlad." the young man whispered as a wicked smirk came to his face and his eyes grew sharper. Those baby blues locked onto the hotel window as his hands gripped tightly at his blanket. Another flash of lightning was followed by a close rumble of thunder as the wind continued to gush up against the window.

"Alright, old man. You want a fight, I'll give you one." and the young man turned intangible before floating up from his bed and phasing through the wall. Once outside he transformed and shot up into the dark night sky. He didn't have to search long as following that known sensation of his arch-enemy was commonplace to him now.

He found Vlad Plasmius on the outskirts of the city, floating over the rolling farmlands below and waiting in silence. The wind was strong and the lighting was far too close for comfort. But Danny remained poised as he floated twenty feet from the man who was essentially his evil counterpart.

"What do you want, old man!" Danny called above the din of the storm, his arms across his chest and brow furrowing as he waited for Vlad's cocky reply.

Normally when the pair met on the battlefield, whether it be in their human form or as ghosts the smarmy know it all look Vlad sported was a giveaway to his mood. But tonight, as Danny eyed him through the dark, the glimpses he caught as the lightning flashed showed no signs of his trademark smirk. But Danny had dealt with this man many times, and his fear of Vlad's anger had lessened considerably over the years. No smirk simply meant the man was angrier than usual and would respond accordingly.

"Why are you here, Phantom?" Vlad yelled and his voice was laced with an acidic hatred that spoke volumes of his mood.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Danny taunted, more than ready to start the verbal sparring that had become a rather enjoyable addition to their often harsh roughhousing. Danny waited for the man to speak but in a flash of lighting, Vlad had disappeared and reappeared in front of him, eyes bloody red and fangs bared as his fingers dug painfully into Danny's neck and his grip tightened.

"This is my city, the only thing I have that I hold dear. I was born here and you can't take it from me!" Before Danny had a moment to retort the man was spinning around and powerfully throwing Danny straight towards the ground. The young halfa had no time to react or to slow his descent.

When Danny connected he felt the ground explode around him creating a small crater that he had to climb out of. It wasn't the shock of landing that stunned Danny as he made his way out of the hole on shaky legs, but rather the strong stench of alcohol that had hit his nose while Vlad had spoken.

The impact into dry soil had knocked the wind out of him but the fact that Vlad was currently drunk threw him for a loop. In all his years of knowing Vlad, he had never seen the man drink, nor had he ever smelled it on him. Vlad always smelled of cigars and aftershave, with hints of the ghost zone and fresh leather from his many fancy cars.

Shaking his head to clear away the haze Danny looked through the inky night sky in hopes of spotting the man but he wasn't near fast enough. Before Danny could react a pair of feet speared into his back, once again shoving the young man down into the dirt of the surrounding farmland.

Thanks to his ghost powers, Danny had greater resistance to such things, his body handling the wear and tear of fighting much better than a normal human body could. Still, that little trouncing session had hurt and as he once again pulled himself up the groan that escaped did little to help his disorientation.

Fingers suddenly gripped into his hair, dragging him out of the second hole before holding him in place to face a near snarling Vlad. Danny panicked, shoving his hands into the man's chest as he released a blast of bright green ecto energy, "Let go!"

Vlad went flying back and collided with a tree, Danny standing ready and watching as the thick trunk snapped in half. It was a hard hit but even so, he knew it wasn't over. He waited, trying to spy movement in the dark as the impregnated sky finally released and rain began to pour down from the heavens.

Between the thunder, lightning, wind and now rain, Danny's hearing was officially impaired. Though his ghostly eyes did aid him more so than his human eyes for seeing in the dark the storm was thick and his sight limited. Only seconds after the rain started a yell cut above the noise of the storm and Danny was hit square in the chest with Vlad's shoulder. The man tackled him and the pair went rolling across the muddy ground. Fists flying, feet kicking and tempers flaring.

Vlad eventually got him by the throat again, fingers squeezing as he hissed out, "This is my state, my city, and my home! You aren't allowed to come barging in! You're not welcome!"

The smell of alcohol was near overpowering and once again Danny found himself in a fit of panic, not at all sure what had put Vlad into this mood. There had once been a time when Vlad would have been giddy at the idea of Danny being so close to him while his parents were far away.

Apparently, things change- Danny mused. He threw a punch that caught Vlad off guard and allowed Danny to get his legs between them. With a powerful kick, Vlad went flying, rolling quite a ways before stopping.

"What's the matter, Vlad? Don't like the idea of some ghostly competition? Can't handle another halfa on your turf?"

Vlad stood and ripped off his cape, the soiled thing falling with a sickly squash to the ground, "You-" he slurred out in righteous anger, "You, boy, are asking for a very serious beating." His voice trembled as he talked, whether from fatigue, anger or tears Danny couldn't tell.

"I will kill you before I let you come here!" and the tone of his voice should have told the brash young man he was moving into dangerous waters. Vlad sounded crazed yet calm but Danny was not hearing it.

The youth smirked, "Hey, turnabout's fair play. You came to my town, hell, you were Mayor of my town! All I want is to go to college. Seems more than fair if you ask me."

"I didn't," Vlad said right before he charged.

Danny didn't know if it was the alcohol, Vlade's own rage or a mix of both but the man was particularly vicious tonight. It wasn't until a very painful hit to Danny's eye that the young man noticed he wasn't getting the upper hand.

Normally, after a while, Danny was able to out strategize the older man before him. But tonight, despite being drunk, Vlad was somehow quicker, stronger, and outmaneuvering him at every turn.

The fight continued to rage through the storm, their bodies flying and colliding with the ground, trees, rocks and even farm equipment. Both grew more damaged as time went on but neither seemed to be wearing out. Danny was bleeding green ecto goo from both his nose, mouth and above his left eye, which was now nearly swollen shut.

Cuts, scrapes, and bruises littered his arms, face, legs and torso, his uniform more of a shredded fabric then an actual outfit. Panting hard, his remaining good eye never left Vlad. The man was also on the ground, standing across from him, looking just as wrecked.

The thunder and lightning still clashed but the wind had eased and the rain was now nothing more than a gentle drizzle. The pair continued to glare at each other, Danny wiping the neon blood away from his swollen eye.

"Vlad, I think you are taking this a little too seriously! I was just looking at the college campus! Honestly, it had nothing to do with you!" Danny urged, finally allowing his pride to take a backseat to the need for survival.

"LIER!" Vlade screamed, "You're here to ruin my life! To take even more from me! Just like your father! You want me to always suffer, to live in this brutal hell of an existence! To never be happy!"

Danny let out a puff of air as his brow worried. There were so many things he could say to that. So many truths he could speak about how Vlad's misery was his own doing. But Danny had had this conversation with the man many times before. Danny knew Vlad would never take responsibility for his own actions, for the choices he alone made.

So instead of enticing the man to continue this pointless fight, Danny simply sighed and shook his head, "Go home, Vlad. You're drunk and I am too tired to do this with you tonight."

Danny shouldn't have turned his back, he honestly knew better. But over the last few years, Vlad had chilled out. They had fought sporadically but it had almost seemed good-natured. Vlad had moved back to Wisconsin and aside from a few run-ins by chance, Danny had not had to foil a single evil plan.

Vlad had essentially been quiet and the few times they had fought it had been more like playful banter and a difficult training session. It wasn't trust per se, so much as mutual unspoken respect that made Danny let his guard down.

"Don't you turn your back on me, Daniel!" and Vlad had attacked, shoving Danny face-first into the mud. The man straddled his back and gripped at his head. He started to twist sideways, growling as he did so.

"V-VLAD!" Danny managed as he strained to keep his neck straight, "S-STOP! Y-YOUR GOING TO BREAK-" and panic erupted inside him, He's going to break my neck!

Shoving his fingers through the mud he fired a powerful energy ball from each hand into the ground, which successfully propelled him backward and caused Vlad to lose his grasp. Once again the pair went tumbling but this time Danny scrambled up, staggering back as Vlad rose and glared at him.

To say Danny was shocked was a rather large understatement, he was suddenly terrified. He continued to stumble backward, much squelching under his feet as he slid on the soupy ground while holding his arm which felt like it had been twisted loose from his shoulder. Vlad had stood, slowly advancing on him with those red glowing eyes and bared fangs.

"Y-You actually tried to...you really tried to kill me!" Danny stammered. It wasn't the first time Danny had nearly been killed by Vlad but it was the first time the man had tried to kill him with his own bare hands. It wasn't like Vlad to be so clumsy. He was the hands-off type, preferring to leave the dirty work to his minions.

"I d-don't understand...I thought...why are you doing this!" Danny yelled, the rain still coming down as his now traumatized body seemed to be quitting on him. Whether from fatigue or the damage to his body, at this point, it didn't matter, because his powers started to fluctuate. His rings appeared but Danny fought to keep from returning to human form.

"You are a fool boy. You think after all this time you have been fighting me at my full power? You're just as stupid as your father."

"What? You mean, you've been holding back?" Danny asked as he pressed away from the open area of the field and into one of the thin stands of trees that had been left behind. It grew darker in the shadows of the trees and Danny felt marginally safer though he knew he needed to get out of here sooner rather than later.

"Imbecile! I've always held back when it comes to you! How much a fool do you take me for? Destroying the only other one of my kind? Our species is limited, Daniel! We've got none like us but ourselves!"

"Not true, we have Danielle too!" Danny offered, continuing to slink back further into the darkness. He had tried to keep his eyes on Vlad but there was no light and as he was currently limited to one eye he had lost the man once Vlad too disappeared into the shadows.

"No...we don't." Vlad's voice came softly.

Danny spun around in the dark of the trees, rage, and pain suddenly shot into his chest, "What did you do?" Danny called out viciously.

"Why must I have done anything! I did nothing to her! She went into the ghost zone, she brought it upon herself! You blame me for her own foolishness! I didn't kill her, another ghost did!"

"I don't believe you! I don't-" but Danny was cut off as Vlad was suddenly in front of him. Out of instinct, Danny turned invisible but he did not turn intangible and Vlad was able to grab him by the arm and slam him into a tree.

Danny lost his focus from the brunt of the hit and reappeared as the man pressed him against the bark, a hand coming to his neck while the other seemed to clamp something around Danny's wrist, "There! No more phasing, fighting or turning intangible. No worries of that nasty little wail of yours either. It's time to put an end to you, my one true weakness." Vlad slurred as his alcohol-laden breath brushed over Danny's face.

"Vlad! Vlad, wait! I'm sorry okay! I won't go to school here! I won't ever come to Wisconsin again, I'm sorry I picked a fight I'm sorry-"

Vlad covered the young man's mouth with a hand as his fingers began to squeeze, "Everyone's always sorry when it's too late." and he gently pressed his forehead to Danny's.

"It's over. For both of us. Our species is done." and then he started to squeeze in earnest. Danny thrashed, he kicked and screamed into Vlad's hand, but after several seconds he realized he couldn't use his powers. He was still in his ghost form but his core felt like it was somehow muted. His vision started to blur, tears coming from his eyes as his lungs begged for oxygen and his heart hammered. From behind the man's hand, he managed to get out a rather desperate and tearful, "Pleeeease-" and as those red eyes glared at him Danny thought this was it. This was how he was going to actually die. Killed by the only other being in the universe who was like him, broken and bloody and left to rot in this lone stand of trees.

Just as his vision went black the hand left his mouth and fingers stopped squeezing his throat, though hands came to his shoulders as he was repeatedly shaken and smashed into the tree, "Why can't I kill you! Why can't I end my miserable life, why can't I stop? I just want to stop….let me stop. Please help me stop this madness."

The cold night air had rushed into his lungs and Danny had coughed and hacked as Vlad shook him, his hearing catching the man's words but not registering them until the last part. He heard the man whisper it, the words that seemed so foreign coming from his prideful mouth.

"You are my weakness, I can't raise a hand against you, I can't kill you but I can't have you and I can't stop loving you. It's the worst torture of all and I just want it to end." the man drunkenly sobbed.

Danny was in shock, his entire being numb and his body too wrecked to fight back. He simply stood there, pinned against the tree and under the weight of Vlad who was sagging against him and blubbering these strange and frightening truths into his ear.

"Must we always carry this burden alone? Can you really not share this with me, must we forever be enemies and taunt each other, hurt each other, is there no salvation for me? No meaning to this wicked life of mine, no chance that we could ever….ever...just enjoy each other's company? Must I spend the rest of my days suffering alone when I tried to be so good? I stopped, I stopped everything...I changed for you...so that you might consider giving to me your friendship. So that I might have someone to talk to. Two years, I've done nothing, hurt no one, been nothing that would make you look upon me as your enemy. Yet you still mock me with your presence, so far away and yet so close. I left to escape you, and now you follow me. You cruel cruel thing you-"

His brain was finally calming down enough to register the words, and while he had expected to feel anger and resentment, a twisted sort of hatred for this utterly screwed up man all he felt was pity and a sudden stint of understanding.

"Vlad-" Danny offered quietly, raising his hands to cup the man's face and draw it up to look at him. Those red eyes were no longer angry but filled with a monumental amount of regret and sorrow. Danny had always known it was there, hidden away beneath nearly twenty-five years of rage and hatred but he never thought he would ever see it.

"Why did you get so drunk tonight?" Danny asked softly.

"Because I hate you." the grown man whined, "and I love you and I hate you for making me love you. You're putrid. I just want to be with you. You understand so many things, I'm lonely and only you can understand that loneliness...only you.."

"I understand you're wasted." Danny sighed. He wasn't taking much of the love talk seriously as while being drunk tended to bring out certain well-guarded truths Danny also knew those truths from a drunk mouth could be miss leading. Vlad's concept of love had always been a very misguided and possessive thing. And Danny had a feeling that the love Vlad was blathering on about was somewhere along the lines of wanting to own and control Danny rather than what love actually meant.

While he knew it was a horrible idea, just as his decision to come out here alone had been, he understood what this had all been about. So, he moved to place Vlad's arm over his shoulder and prepared to try and fly the man back to his mansion on the other side of the city.

However, things didn't go as planned for as Danny was about to take off Vlad shifted and shoved the young man back into the tree, "No! Stay-" and then he was pressing his lips to Danny's.

Danny near squealed in shock both from the kiss and from feeling a sudden jolt of energy pass between their lips. It was as if small pulses were phasing through their joined mouths and even though the feeling was pleasurable the fact that Vlad was kissing him over-powered the strangely alluring pulse.

Danny pressed at the man's chest and as their lips parted the young man cursed, "Dammit Vlad! What the hell are you doing!" he near shouted and the man groaned, "I love you." before he wrapped arms around him and pressed him harder into the tree. Danny tried to turn intangible and phase backward through the tree but nothing happened.

"Stop!" Danny yelled as the man's tongue licked along his throat. Once again there was a strange energy that pulsed as their skin touched and Danny tried to wiggle out of his grasp. Pressing his hands against the man's chest he tried to fire an ectoblast but once again nothing happened.

"Why the hell aren't my powers working!" he cried in panic as Vlad pressed against him harder and started to suck on his neck.

"V-VLAD!" Danny shouted, and the man murmured against his neck, "Bracelet. A nice little modified piece of your father's Specter Deflector. No shocking, but it does mute all your powers and makes them far less reliable-" Danny instantly shoved a hand up between them to look at the wrist he had felt Vlad clamp something on. To his shock, it looked like a smaller version of the Specter Deflector and the boy cursed loudly, "Fuck you, Vlad!"

"Oh, can we? Please? I want to, do you?"

"Oh gross! Stop it you drunk ass hole! Stop! I said STOP!" and Danny's other fist came up, colliding with the underside of Vlad's chin but Danny knew the punch was weak and that's when it happened.

Vlad stumbled only a second, seemingly unphased by the blow before he leaned down and hissed, "Stop fighting me!" and then he bit into the soft area between Danny's neck and shoulder. His canines sunk deep and Danny screamed bloody murder.

He thrashed and twisted but the more he fought the harder Vlad held him and after several seconds his body seemed to lessen its struggles, intermittent spasms came as he whined out into the darkness of the night.

The initial pain had been brutal but as Vlad gently sucked, his teeth remaining deep in the boy's skin and muscle, something started to happen. Vlad gave a rather confusing grunt as Danny slowly stopped jerking, his body eventually going slack as he stared into the darkness and he felt the pulsing energy from before filling his body. Danny's eyes dilated, his heart slowed and as one of Vlad's hands came up to cup his jaw and gently tilt his head to the side he felt a connection, unlike anything he had ever felt before.

He could feel Vlad's core, all of Vlad's emotions and his arousal. There was so much anger and rage, so much hurt and pain, but, rolling and swirling between it all was the emotion that Danny had taken for granted. The love Vlad had spoken of, what Danny had assumed was just a wicked man's lust for power and control, was real and it was currently spilling from Vlad into Danny.

"V-Vlaaad-" came Danny's voice, laced with a love and lust that was not his own but seemed to catch the older man's attention. He released his hold on Daniel's throat and pressed his lips to the young man's temple, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, don't be mad, I just...I don't know how to...I just wanted you to stop fighting me...I thought the bite might...I'm drunk...it sounded like a good idea in my head-"

Danny felt a pull, almost like an instinctive want for Vlad to continue. He managed to fight it for only a few seconds, the man trying to explain that the bite had been out of frustration and whatever was happening was not his doing. Without Danny realizing his hand came up to the back of Vlad's head and pressed the man's mouth back to that spot.

"Bite-" Danny breathed and Vlad quickly complied, once again sinking his teeth into Danny's flesh and this time the pain wasn't near as brutal.

Those feelings flooded him again, that tight hot arousal rolling through him, that overpowering feeling of love wrapping around his core. It was strong now, more clear and bright.

"God, can you feel it? It's you, I can feel all of you-" Danny whispered and Vlad's hand latched gently into his hair, turning the boy's head to look at him as he once again pulled away.

"Daniel, I don't know what is happening, I feel it, whatever it is, all of you, everything but-"

"More, do more-" came Danny's incoherent words and Vlad reluctantly returned to his spot on Danny's neck, sucking gently as his fangs sunk back into his skin. This time, Danny could see images from memories that were not his own. It was as if he was watching himself through Vlad's eyes over the last few years. Feeling every emotion that came with the view. Everything Vlad felt.

The excitement of watching Danny battle, the pride in seeing how he had improved. Testing him in hopes of growing closer, teasing him and baiting him to try and entice him into playing Vlad's little games. Admiration, respect, desire, lust, and love. Burning brightly as Danny walked across the stage during his graduation. So much love, pride, desire...so much ...so much.

"Touch me-" Danny whispered and it was an instant response as Vlad's hands came to hold Danny's sides, "Skin, on my skin, your skin on my s-skin-" Danny gasped, the push to do more, feel more and become more was overwhelming. Vlad was yanking at the boy's already shredded uniform, ripping it clean off before he removed his own gloves, teeth still rooted in Danny's shoulder.

When Vlad's hands touched Danny's skin they burned, truly felt hot as fire and Danny winced and gasped. Still, he latched onto those hands and guided them over his chest, stomach and then around to his back.

"More, I need more!" The excitement Danny suddenly felt, the rushing of desire and want, a need to show his love came forth and as Danny was pulled to the ground he knew these were Vlad's feelings, the man was eager to comply with whatever Danny wanted and the young halfa received the message loud and clear. He was so lost in the feelings, in the utter raw emotions that when his pants were being torn off it didn't even phase him.

"Daniel, are you sure, we can't take it back, we can't undo this once it's done," Vlad whispered against his ear.

"Could you stop now if I asked?" Danny countered, drawing fingers down Vlad's back.

The older halfa shivered at the delicate touch and stammered out, "N-No, the pull is too strong and I don't want to stop," Vlad moaned out in delight.

"Me either," Danny pressed the man's mouth back to his shoulder, not wanting to lose the connection, not wanting to stop.

He felt the man press into him, didn't know when Vlad had removed his own pants but it was fire and ice joining in the moment as that pulsing pleasure and the transfer of such raw energy exploded and suddenly there were no images in his mind, simply raw emotions, overwhelming thoughts, and an unstoppable happiness. The feeling of finally being rewarded after failing at so many things. A bursting heart. The anger, and hate disappearing and being replaced by an unknown feeling, something that resembled contentment and compassion.

His body was moving in slow rhythmic jerks, the sound of Vlad grunting over and over and the pleasure suddenly building, heat rushing through his body and those fangs seemed to sink deeper and then a moment of pure ecstasy. A blinding bliss and rapture of souls as cores temporarily joined and pure energy flowed between them.

Danny let out a guttural moan, Vlad near sobbing into his neck as he seemed to finish and fall near limp on top of Danny. A shaky hand came to Danny's wrist, somehow flicking open the bracelet and both the halfa's transformed into their human self.

The rain had stopped but the night air was cool. Danny's cold core gave him protection from such things and Vlad's hot core kept him warm but still Danny gently shivered. Vlad moved off him before pulling the boy against his chest, holding him as they lay naked in the darkness of the woods.

Vlad's mouth licked and kissed gently at the wound on Danny's throat, saying nothing as he did so and Danny simply rested, half-lidded eyes staring off into the dark unsure what just happened to them and what it would mean for their future.

It was another few minutes before Vlad's lips pressed to his ear, "Come to Wisconsin. Go to the University. Stay close to me. Stay with me." Vlad whispered but Danny said nothing. His own feelings were coming back, Vlad's overpowering emotions retreating. He was somewhere between numb and utterly lost.

"I've never felt such happiness, are you always...have you always been...so happy?" Vlad whispered in his ear, arms holding Danny tighter, "And that fragile hope, that excitement for tomorrow...how can you feel so satisfied with your life?" Vlad whispered to him.

Danny said nothing, unable to form the words needed to explain to Vlad how utterly lacking the billionaire's own life was in regards to reaching a point of self-satisfaction and contentment.

It wasn't the sex, that didn't actually bother him. Perhaps it should but Danny had not felt any pain, no trauma or discomfort to the lower part of his body. In fact, Danny had asked for it, wanted it to happen. He had been so caught up in the overwhelming flow of Vlad's emotions that sex had seemed the next logical thing to happen.

It was the fact that Vlad Master was capable of real love. And his brand of love, like all things related to the man, was powerful and determined. Even though Danny couldn't feel it anymore, the sensation of Vlad's emotions finally leaving him completely, Danny found himself wanting desperately to feel it again.

Vlad gently brought a hand to Danny's face, turning his head to look at him, "Won't you come here?" the man asked so softly. He brought his lips to Danny's, a gentle kiss that was so tender and sweet and Danny felt that gentle pulse of energy, that small connection between them spark to life again and for just a split second he felt Vlad's fear and dread, a nearly uncontrollable desire to take without thought, only being stopped by that potent love that knew doing so would get him nowhere and only damage their already damaged relationship.

Danny couldn't say anything, he just stared into those human eyes through the darkness, feeling the warmth of Vlad's body but not understanding how it all came unraveled so fast. Their dynamic had just changed, their entire existence of being apart had just turned into a temporary moment of being together. How that togetherness would solidify was beyond Danny's grasp.

Finally, a word came but it came without thought and Danny simply said, "Maybe." Vlad gave something close to a whine or moan before he buried his face in Danny's neck and let out a rather exhausted sigh, "Let's take you home, Daniel."

The rest of the night was a blur and when he laid down in the hotel room, his friends still blissfully sleeping and unaware of his little run-in, Danny stared at the ceiling, his mind still circling around what had happened, what he had felt and what he was going to do.

A/N: There was Chapter One, I hope you enjoyed it.