Author's Note: Hiiii :D. So, its really been a while since I wrote something, and this idea just randomly came into my head. Its more like a little short fluffy thing that I needed to write, so yeah xD.

This is set in Sam's POV. Enjoy! x

Balloons

He gave me a balloon.

We were just walking down the steps out the front door after a long day at Casper High School, our backs still aching from sitting in desks and looking interested in what the teachers had to say. Then, as if it was the most normal thing in the whole world, Danny Fenton, my best friend and town infamous hero Danny Phantom, had zipped up his backpack, and the balloon came floating innocently out, hanging by a thin thread.

"Um, Danny?" I'd asked, eyeing the balloon with a raised eyebrow. "Why is there a balloon inside your bag?"

"Yeah," fellow Team Phantom member and techno-geek, Tucker Foley, had added, an amused smirk tugging at his lips. "Have you been hiding that the entire day?"

Danny'd rolled his eyes. "Of course not! I just found this thing floating around when I was chasing after the Box Ghost after lunch."

"And you just felt compelled to take it?" my amused look hadn't wavered, but I could feel a smile starting to form from how absolutely ridiculous and kind of cute it was.

Danny'd just shrugged, and after eyeing the balloon for a few seconds, he had held out his hand towards me, a small smile on his lips. "Here," He'd said. "You take it, Sam."

I hadn't wanted to be rude, or at least I hadn't wanted to make that smile disappear, so I tentatively reached out and took it, but not without quirking, "What the hell would I do with a balloon?"

Danny'd just shrugged, making up an excuse about how a balloon would be even more useless to him than to me. So after a few minutes of trying but failing to trick Tucker into taking it, we'd headed our different ways towards our houses. When I came back home, I just tied the balloon on the handle to my closet and tried to ignore it for the rest of the day.

But something about it was… distracting. Even after I'd changed, ate something and was currently on my bed trying to do my Algebra homework, I still couldn't help stealing glances at it. Its color was purple, and it was innocently floating up against the door of my closet.

Since when was a balloon so distracting? I thought, tearing my gaze away from it and focusing back on my homework.

Since it was Danny who gave it to you…

I rolled my eyes at the voice inside my head. I could go on and on and explain about the pathetic little crush I had on Danny, but it'll probably just bore you. Well, I wouldn't just call it a little crush, more like… something a bit stronger – but it was ridiculous even thinking about it because he doesn't and will never feel the same way. He was my best friend. Period.

Of course, that never seemed to make me stop thinking about how his messy onyx hair fell in his face, or the way he'd rub the back of his neck when he was nervous, or how his eyes – his pure, blue eyes – could just make you want to drown in them –

I shook my head as if shaking those thoughts out. Really, I would rather think about Danny than doing my math homework any day, but if I was going to start forgetting those feelings, then that meant not thinking about him in that particular way. It's kind of freaky.

So I just got back to focusing on my homework. A light breeze entered the room from my open windows, and I could smell the apple pie my grandmother was baking downstairs. The house was silent, since mom and dad were on a business trip.

I still couldn't focus. My gaze flew back up to the balloon, and I gave a frustrated sigh before I removed myself from the bed and headed towards the dressing table. I grabbed a needle, and walked towards the closet. I gave the balloon one last look before popping it.

I put the needle back on the dressing table and was about to get back to homework when something white caught my eye on the floor.

Furrowing my eyebrows in confusion, I crouched down. It was a surprise I hadn't seen it earlier, since the whiteness was crystal clear against the contrast of my dark purple rug. Eyeing it wearily, I picked it up with tentative fingers. At first I thought that maybe whoever owned the balloon had stuffed this in or something, but when I brought the note close, my name was written on the top of it.

What the hell? I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at the note. Could a ghost have left this and lead Danny straight to it, knowing he was going to give it to me so that I'd read the note that contained a threat?

No, I didn't think so, that was too smart and well-planned, even for a ghost. What if a kid had had this balloon and had written a self-reminder for themselves or something?

I realized I was only stalling and being ridiculous. If the balloon came from Danny, then the note was from Danny.

Shrugging, I opened it. In messy handwriting which looked very familiar to Danny's, the note read:

I don't think there would've been an easy way to say this, in person or just in a note. I would just chicken out if I tried to tell you in person. But I need you to promise that after you finish reading this note you won't hate me and our friendship wouldn't be too awkward. I never would have even tried saying something if our friendship was threatened, but I have to tell you. So here goes.

I love you.

-Danny.

Attached to the note was something I missed at first. Pulling it free from the string it was attached to, the class ring gleamed at me, the letters Wes still inside like the last time I saw it.

I think my heart stopped a little, and I may have even passed out. I don't remember much about what happened after I read that note, except that I'd bolted up, ring and note in my hand, and raced downstairs. I don't remember opening the door or running, but somehow I ended up in front of Danny's house, the Fenton Works sign looming over me. Heart still racing, my head in a jumble, I knocked on the door softly.

I wasn't even thinking. All I knew was that I just had to see Danny.

His mom opened the door, her goggles strapped on and some weird green goo on her blue spandex suit. "Oh, hi Sam," she greeted, smiling gently.

"Hey, Mrs. Fenton," I was too anxious to get inside the house and to Danny to ask how she was doing. "Is Danny home?"

"You just missed him," she said with a huge smile on her face, as if me missing Danny was such a delightful thing, but I guess Mrs. Fenton just liked to be cheerful about some things – excluding ghosts, of course. "He said he was going to the park. Would you like me to–"

"No thanks, I'll just meet him there!" I was already halfway down the street when I yelled that to her, my mind set on going to the park.

When I arrived there, I started searching everywhere. Since today was a Friday, some parents were outside with their kids, playing with Frisbees, having picnics, or people just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. But I tore through every bench, every tree, every bush, but there was no Danny in sight. It then hit me that maybe he'd come out here chasing a ghost or something, and felt utterly stupid. He could be anywhere, and since, like an idiot, I hadn't brought my phone along, I couldn't contact him.

Trying to catch my breath from all the running, I chose a small bench to sit down on. I was disappointed. The only thing I wanted right now was to find Danny, but I didn't feel like going all the way back home to get my phone. Plus, I needed time to think.

Danny likes me… more than a friend. He loves me. He loves me.

OhMyGod. The realization of what was happening washed down on me like a bucket of cold water, except it was a nice bucket of cold water, which smelled like lavender. OhMyGod. Danny loves me. And we weren't talking about just any Danny here. We were talking about the same Daniel Fenton, who was my best friend, who was half-ghost, who I was secretly in love with, and who turned out to be in love with me too.

My head was starting to ache. I tried focusing on the ring instead, brushing my fingers against it and feeling its soft surface. I still didn't understand why Danny would give me this ring, much less with Wes written on its inside –

Wait just a red-hot minute. Wes looked different when I held it at a specific angle. Frowning, I tried to focus my eyes on its shape, trying to pull the name out of my head long enough to see the other shape taking place. My eyes blurred out a bit, then I refocused them, and another name was written there.

My name.

I sucked in a breath and looked at the ring in wonder. Had it been my name engraved on the inside this whole time? How had I not noticed?

I heard a small grunt coming behind a tree a few feet away from me. Distracted, I stuffed the ring onto my finger, got up, and headed towards the tree. Behind it, hidden by large bushes and the tree's looming branches, was the Box Ghost, with an exasperated Danny trying to pull it back into the thermos.

"How is it that I just catch you this afternoon and you still easily escape?" Danny asked in frustration.

The Box Ghost beamed at what he thought was a compliment. "Never question the methods of the Box Ghost, master of everything cardboard and–"

"Square, yes, I noticed," Danny rolled his eyes, bemused, and held out the Fenton Thermos. Catching the Box Ghost off guard, he sucked him into the thermos, but not without yelling protests from the Box Ghost about how he 'cheated'.

Floating back down to the ground, I heard Danny murmur to himself, "I have got to put a leash on him."

He changed back to human and seemed completely unaware of my presence. Gulping the lump in my throat and taking a deep breath to steady my racing heart, I cleared my throat loudly.

Danny turned around at the sudden sound. Seeing it was only me, he visibly relaxed, and a lazy smile slid onto his face. "Oh, hey, Sam…" I slowly trailed off when his eyes trailed down and found me clutching the note, the ring slipping onto my ring finger. His Adam's apple bobbed as he gulped nervously.

"So, I just wanna ask a few questions," I said.

"Okay." He winced at the lack of emotion I was showing, which was exactly how I planned.

"Is this note real?" I raised said note for emphasis. "Or is it some kind of joke?"

"It's real," he said softly. "Every bit of it."

My heart did a little excited flip, and I tried to fight off the grin that was trying to form. "Okay," come on, Sam, you can last two more questions without jumping up and down. "The ring. It has Sam engraved in it, not Wes, right?"

He just nodded, afraid to say anything, I guess.

Another flip of my heart. "One last question," I said, and I could already see some dread in his eyes. Letting a small smile of pure happiness slip onto my lips, I asked, a little annoyance evident in my voice, "What took you so long?"

Danny only had time to look up with a confused expression before I lunged at him and crashed my lips onto his.

The good news is, I think I shocked him as much as he shocked me. After a few seconds, he finally came to and his hands snaked around my waist, pulling me close as he started kissing me back.

I heard that some people said that when you kiss the person you love, you feel fireworks. This wasn't just fireworks, I tell you. I felt as if a million cannons, candles, and yes, fireworks, were set on fire in my entire body. It was almost as if sparks were igniting from my body. I played with his hair, as our mouths opened to each other and our tongues had a fight for dominance.

We broke apart, breathing hard, hearts pumping. We just stood there for a minute. You know that time when you stare so hard into someone's eyes, it seems like his entire soul was opening up right in front of you?

Yeah, looking into Danny's eyes made my soul tear right open, and I was drowning in his eyes. As cliché and cheesy as it may sound, it was just happening, just… right.

"So," Danny said conversationally, as if we were sitting at our lunch table in school and having a normal conversation. "Does this mean I can start calling you my girlfriend?"

A laugh bubbled up inside of me, and I said, "Well, only under one condition."

"And what is that?" we were both full-on smiling now.

I leaned in close so that our noses were touching. "I get to call you my boyfriend."

The most ironic thing was that when we leaned in for another kiss, I saw a lone balloon floating up towards the sky.

A/N: Yeah yeah yeah, so its cheesy, but I thought, hey, what the hell xD.

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