You Know What? I'm Sick of This
Sam Manson became best friends with Danny Fenton in the second grade when the meanest boy in class Dash Baxter pushed him to the ground during recess. Danny's other friend Tucker Foley was being held back by Dash's friends. She stomped over and pushed Dash to the ground herself yelling at him to back off. The others stared at her in surprise. In their young minds it was almost inconceivable that a girl could be stronger than a boy. Sam knew she'd only caught Dash by surprise, but she didn't let on for a moment. She just turned around helped Danny up, scared off the boys holding back Tucker, and that was that. They were best friends.
She was best friends with him in the third grade when they all had to be a part of the school play. Danny had by some strange twist of fate gotten one of the most important parts. She knew he had terrible stage fright and even when they were older she often wondered how he'd gotten the part in the first place. Tucker had tried to help by telling Danny to imagine the audience in their underwear. This had worked until Danny couldn't say his lines without laughing. Sam had told him to imagine there wasn't anybody in the audience except her and Tucker. It worked. Danny received the loudest applause out of anyone when he stepped forward to take his bow at the end of the play. And that was that. They were still best friends.
Sam was best friends with Danny in the fourth grade when he broke his arm, just before they started doing archery in gym. He had to sit out and the meaner kids teased him about not being able to participate. (Dash Baxter was still one of the worst offenders.) She knew Danny was sad even though he didn't say it, so she went to their gym teacher and asked if they could try something. Their teacher let them stay for an hour after school to practice archery. Sam would hold the bow while Danny held the arrow and stretched the string, and then they would switch jobs.* Tucker stayed after with them, but always insisted he was fine just watching. They were always confused about the strange look he and their gym teacher would share when he said this. But that was that. They were still best friends.
The pair was still best friends when they were in the fifth grade and Sam's parents were thinking about moving away. Sam appeared at Danny's house practically in tears and Danny knew it was serious because Sam never cried not even when she tripped and hurt herself badly enough that she started bleeding. She ran straight up to his room and threw herself onto his bed. When he finally got her to tell him what was wrong, Sam noticed he had a strange expression. He told her to stay there and left the room. She didn't see him for an hour and a half. When he came back he was smiling and he promised her that she wasn't moving. He refused to tell her why then, but years later she found out he'd walked to her house and begged her parents to stay in town. They still ended up moving, but to a different house, rather than a different town. She could hardly believe they listened to him, but they explained that when Danny Fenton looks at you with his big blue eyes filled with tears and begs, even if you don't like him very much it's really hard to say no. And that was that. They were still best friends.
Danny was still best friends with Sam when they were in sixth grade and it became weird for his parents to be ghost hunters. Well, more weird. He was often teased about it by the meaner kids in their grade. (Dash Baxter was still one of the worst offenders.) Danny, being the way he was, simply accepted the name-calling and other verbal put-downs. Plus he secretly thought the other kids were right, it was weird. Then came the day when Dash went too far. Danny didn't usually step in where Sam was concerned because even in the sixth grade she was independent and had no problem standing up for herself. More than that, what other kids considered an insult ("You're so different!") she often considered a compliment. But nevertheless when Dash made the comment that her parents must be ashamed to have a daughter like her, and he saw hurt flash across her face, Danny intervened. With the most serious expression anyone had ever seen on his face he listed every single fault Dash had, from his sloppy appearance to his tendency to bully those smaller than him. Dash was shocked and shamed speechless, and Danny grabbed Sam's hand and led her away. And even though he got in trouble for "verbally abusing" another student, and even though Dash started spreading all kinds of rumors about him including one about him and Sam being together, and even though Tucker would not shut up about the incident for days, Danny thought it was all worth it for the thankful smile Sam gave him as they were walking away. And that was that. They were still best friends.
Danny was still best friends with Sam when they were in the seventh grade and their group went to their first school dance. He stuck by her for most of the night, as she refused to dance, while Tucker tried his luck with the other females in their grade. (If he had tried to pick up even one more girl, he probably would've gotten his future nickname Bad Luck Tuck that very night.) Danny really didn't mind just talking with Sam, but he was curious about why she didn't want to dance. When he asked her, she leaned in very close and told him that she didn't know how. He matter-of-factly informed her of his resolute belief that she could do anything she set her mind to. She blushed, but still refused. He offered to teach her how. (His nosy know-it-all sister had insisted that knowledge of how to dance was essential, and had taken it upon herself to teach him.) Just as he volunteered to be her teacher a slow song came on. Sam glared at the DJ as if he'd done it on purpose, but when Danny smiled at her and held out his hand, she took it. He led her to the dance floor, and led her through the dance, and led her back to their seats. When he asked how she felt about her first dance, she shrugged and said it wasn't that bad. And that was that. They were still best friends.
Sam was still best friends with Danny when they were in the eighth grade and went to an amusement park for their end-of-year class trip. Their teachers let them roam freely; only telling them to keep their cell phones on, but Sam couldn't help but dislike the place. It was all loud crowds and fatty foods and rides that could break down at any second. Most people would have been irritated by her attitude, like Tucker who disappeared after her thirteenth snide comment, but Danny just smiled and shook his head and tried to get her excited. First he helped her forget about being irritated by the stifling crowd by having her people-watch, coercing her into making up stories about their lives. He bought her some cotton candy, which he shared with her because she refused to eat it herself. He convinced her to go on the largest roller coasters at the park, and soon Sam was having too much fun to make snarky comments… until they went on the Ferris wheel. Sam was reluctant to ride on something that looked like it could topple over at any moment, but Danny looked at her with those big blue eyes and she caved. (Her parents were right! And he hadn't even been crying!) They got on the ride and went around a few times before it stopped… at the very top. The conductor used a megaphone to tell them they would have the ride up and running in just a few minutes. Just a few minutes turned into a half hour, but Sam barely noticed. When she went silent instead of immediately starting to rant, she knew Danny knew she was scared. Thankfully he didn't comment on it. He just put all of his energy into making her forget about their situation. When he made her laugh for the fifth time in as many minutes, Sam realized that she liked him as far more than a friend. But the ride started moving again, and he gave her a nudge and reminded her that he'd told her it was no big deal. And that was that. They were still best friends.
Danny was still best friends with Sam when they were in the ninth grade and she convinced him to go into his parents' ghost portal. He didn't really want to, but she'd looked at him with those big amethyst eyes shining with excitement, and he'd caved. He was amazed when she and Tucker stayed friends with him even after the accident that gave him ghost powers. He was even more amazed when they started helping him. They fought ghosts with him, covered for him, helped him in his classes, and bandaged him up when he needed it. He was very grateful of what both of them did for him, but he was especially grateful to Sam. He'd become mature enough to understand that he needed her to remind him to use his powers for the right reasons and to never give up fighting for the safety of those who couldn't properly fight for themselves. (Though while he was mature enough to figure that out, he wasn't yet mature enough to do those things without her.) He began to notice little things about her: the way she flipped her hair away from her face, the way her eyes narrowed when she was irritated, the way she smiled when she knew something it would take him awhile to figure out, the way she scoffed when he tried to end an argument between her and Tucker about meat. It took almost the entire freshman year to realize what it meant, him noticing all these little things about her, but eventually he did. It was a night that had been particularly busy; he'd had to fight Skulker, Johnny 13, and Technus each and the Box Ghost seven separate times. (He was sure his dad had been playing with the Fenton DNA Portal Scanner when he'd left.) He'd flown over to her house to get patched up. When he phased into Sam's room and almost fell over just from landing, she unintentionally gave him the sad, worried look that always made him feel guilty. She'd led him to her bed and gently cleaned and bandaged his wounds. Once she'd put away her stash of medical supplies, Sam carefully slid into her bed next to him. Danny shifted into his human form and rolled over. Sam was sitting up so his head landed in her lap. She stroked his hair and sang him a lullaby. As he hovered on the edge of consciousness, Danny wished he could fall asleep in that exact way every night. When he woke up the next morning they'd shifted positions so that they were face to face with his arms wrapped around her and their legs tangled together. As Danny stared at Sam's face, peaceful and relaxed in sleep, he realized that he liked her as far more than a friend. But her amethyst eyes opened and when they focused she asked why he was watching her sleep. He replied that she was beautiful and she laughed as though he'd made a joke. She told him to stop being silly and get going so they could both get ready for school. He shifted into his ghost form, phased through her wall, and flew home. And that was that. They were still best friends.
The pair was still best friends when they were in the tenth grade and they tried to date other people. Sam started dating Gregor, a European Goth that shared her interests but was always letting her pay for things. Sam thought she could deal with it; she thought it would be better than pining after her best friend when he would never feel the same way. But eventually she realized that Gregor wasn't at all what he said he was, and he'd only pretended to be so he would have access to her family's money through her. She broke up with him. Danny started dating Valerie, a girl who had fallen from the top of the social pyramid to the bottom, and was really nice except for her extreme hatred of Danny Phantom, Danny's ghost fighting alter ego. Danny thought that he could deal with it; he thought it would be better than pining after his best friend when she would never feel the same way. But eventually he realized that Valerie would always hate his other half and would always work as hard as she could to destroy it. He broke up with her. Though they'd spent only a slightly less amount of time with each other during their relationships, Sam and Danny felt like they were meeting after a long separation when they were each single again. They told each other why they were suddenly single and didn't speak of it again. And that was that. They were still best friends.
Danny and Sam were still best friends when they were in the eleventh grade and they realized that the crush they had on each other had developed into love. Not the puppy dog kind of love that most teenagers experienced, but real, true love; the kind of love fairytales were written about and movies were made of. They both expressed their feelings to Tucker…in school… out of school…daily…constantly…until one day Tucker got tired of their stupidity. 'You know what?' he thought, 'I'm sick of this.' If he hadn't been so frustrated he would've taken the time to make a more elaborate plan, but as it were he spoke when it was most convenient. The group was sitting at the Nasty Burger and Sam and Danny were sitting next to each other doing the flirting-disguised-as-friendly-banter thing they always did when Tucker suddenly spoke. With the least amount of words necessary, he told Danny that Sam was desperately in love with him. He then turned to Sam who was staring at him in complete shock and growing anger and promptly informed her that Danny was just as desperately in love with her. For several moments his two friends simply stared at him. Then they turned to each other and simultaneously asked if what Tucker had said was true and simultaneously replied yes. When they both leaned in and started kissing each other Tucker decided it was time for him to take his leave.
Danny and Sam dated for the rest of their high school careers. They went to separate colleges but had a long distance relationship that was made much easier due to Danny's flying abilities. Danny eventually made a truce with the ghosts which made it possible for him to leave Amity Park for more than weeks at a time. Danny graduated college with a degree in photography and Sam graduated with a degree in journalism. Together they traveled the world, Danny taking pictures and Sam writing articles about them. In time they returned to Amity Park to settle down and have children. They had four children: Danielle Madeline Fenton, Aiden Jack Fenton, Lilith Pamela Fenton, and Jason Jeremy Fenton. Their children grew up around Tucker and Jazz's children who were equal in both number and age. Sam always swore she saw that relationship budding a mile away. Their children grew up happy and healthy and eventually graduated high school, and then college, got engaged, and had children of their own. As they sat on the porch of their house watching their grandchildren play Sam and Danny smiled.
Sam spoke the words that had become Danny's favorite to hear over the many years they'd been together, "I love you."
He smiled down at her and replied with her favorite words in kind, "I love you too."
And that was that.
They were still best friends.
A/N: So this is my fourth story posted on this site. It's my third Danny Phantom story. I would be really grateful if anyone would review and tell me what they think. Constructive criticism is welcome, flames are not. Review please ^_^