Hey all! This is my first one-shot, so be brutally honest. And it's full of DxS fluff! Yay! Fluffy, like marshmallows. I like marshmallows! They're fluffety, they're puffety, 1 2 3 4, 5! Put some in your pocket for secret eating! Hah, sorry. That's randomness for ya. So when you're all done reading this, tell me if I'm good at it or not, cuz I got more fluffiness lined up if this one works. R&R please! Flames will be ok, too. Oh, yeah, it's Christmassy. Just to let ya know.

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or any of the movies listed here. Or Hershey's chocolates. Only the story itself. So no stealie.

And Italics are mostly thoughts, the only exception being the Christmas card from Danny.

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It was Christmas Eve, and Sam Manson was sitting in her window seat, sipping hot chocolate. She had her grandmother's blanket wrapped around her to keep out the coldness of the empty mansion. The only other person in the house was her grandmother, who was fast asleep downstairs in front of the fire. Her parent's had to rush off to New York for another business meeting, Tucker was in Florida, and Danny had family over.

Sighing, she pulled her knitted blanket closer and took another sip of her hot chocolate. It was snowing outside, the soft white flakes slowly spinning towards the earth. The roads were all deserted, and the street lights were dim. A hard crust had formed over the top of the snow, the footprints of the rabbits barely visible. Lights were on in every house up and down the street, and Sam could see most of the families gathered around their trees, the little kids begging for an early present, the parents laughing and smiling. She wished she could remember a Christmas where everyone was home, but all of her memories were filled with sadness and loneliness. She envied those kids who had great memories of Christmases with her parents. She always spent hers with her grandmother, since their servants were all gone and her parents always seemed to have some sort of meeting. Sure they called Christmas morning, but the calls were always filled with her mother nagging at her to wear some hideous, frilly dress and her father telling her to behave herself. She'd never really had a real Christmas.

Each year, Danny and Tucker would invite her over to their house for the holiday, but she always turned them down, saying she needed to stay home and take care of her grandmother. They never pushed the issue, but she knew they could tell that wasn't the whole truth. It's not like her grandmother was even awake much. She always spent her Christmases sleeping, leaving Sam to her own devices. Truth was, she didn't want to impose on their family time. They deserved to have what she couldn't sand she knew it would be awkward for her. They would all be exchanging their gifts, and she would be left out of it. Danny and Tucker would probably get her something, but it just didn't feel right to her. She preferred to stay at home, lonely and depressing as it was.

She downed the rest of her chocolate and got up to heat up some more water. She couldn't even remember how many she'd already had; she'd just refilled her cup whenever it got empty. As the water heated up in her personal microwave, Sam turned her thoughts to happier times. Like the last day of school for the semester. She and Danny had gone to the park and had a ghost-free snowball fight. Tucker had run home right after school so he could pack for his trip to Florida. They had been happy and carefree for the first time since Danny had gotten his powers 3 years ago. There were no ghosts trying to make his life miserable, Dash had already left for his extended vacation, and the park was deserted. Danny cheated a bit, using his intangibility, but he still let her hit him a few times. They had stayed out there for hours, just the two of them, not stopping until the sun went down. They finally collapsed next to each other, laughing and exhausted and worn out, and laid in the snow to watch the stars come out. When it was finally too cold to lie in the snow, Danny flew her home. She had watched him fly off towards his house, finally accepting the feelings that had been stirring inside of her for the past few months. He was everything she could ever ask for; he never judged people, and did his best to be the hero, even when the whole town hated him. The only thing stopping her was his obsession with Paulina.

"Shallow little wench!" she muttered. Just the thought of her made Sam tremble with hatred. She toyed with people and their emotions, always knowing exactly which button to push to set them off. Especially Sam. The microwave pinged, indicating her water was done heating up. She grabbed a packet of cocoa mix and dumped it into her steaming mug, stirring in the powdery goodness. She walked back to her window seat and looked out at the snowy world. Looking into the sky, she saw a familiar figure darting around in the air. Danny was apparently having a good Christmas. She wished she could say the same for herself. He seemed so happy and carefree up there, spinning and diving through the crisp clean air. He hadn't gotten much time lately to just have fun without someone or something trying to kill him. Sam smiled at his retreating figure, wishing she could be out there with him, enjoying the peace and silence of flying through the air. He always took her someplace beautiful; someplace he knew would make her happy. She just wished she had been brave enough to tell Danny the way she felt before he had left last Friday. Sighing, she grabbed her cup and sat down in front of her TV. She hoped a corny movie would help her forget her sadness. She opened the shelf labeled "Funny" and started flipping through the movies.

"Spaceballs, no, UHF, no, Ghostbusters, hah, no, Elf, not in a Christmassy mood, ugh, isn't there anything I can watch here!" she yelled. She was just about to give up when one of the movies caught her eye.

"Hmm, Robin Hood Men in Tights, that sounds good. I'll try this one." She stuck the movie in and went back to her couch, plopping down on the cushions and pulling the foot-rest out. She picked up the remote and pressed play. At first the utter randomness of the movie wiped away all of her thoughts and doubts, letting her laugh at the strangeness and complete stupidity of it. But by the time Robin was singing to Maid Marian behind a sheet on the clothes line, her thoughts were yet again on Danny. I wish Danny would do that for me. She's so lucky to have the guy she likes like her back. Danny can only think of that stupid shallow idiot. I can't understand why he even likes her! Sure she's pretty, but there's gotta be more to a relationship than looks. Danny and I have been together since forever, and we are friends for who we are, not how much money we have or how good we look. Stupid Danny, he's so blind! Why can't he see what he's doing to me?

Sam started crying, her wet salty tears falling unheeded into her mug. He'll never think of me as anything but a friend, just someone to hang out with on weekends and after school. He'll marry some other girl, some pretty, shallow, everyday girl. And I'll have to just sit back and watch it. I'll be pushed out of his life, the second best. I'll be alone.

Sobbing, Sam didn't notice the figure that entered her room. She just didn't care anymore. No one seemed to have room for her in their lives anymore. Tucker had Valerie, her parent's were never home, and her grandmother slept most of the time. She started when a hand fell onto her shoulder.

"Sam?"

Whirling around, she saw the face she loved and hated the most.

"What's wrong?" Danny asked. She turned back towards the movie and pulled her blanket closer.

"Nothing, really, it's just, uh, just the movie! Yeah, I'm crying at the movie," she lied, wiping her face with her blanket. She frowned at the smeared makeup on the blanket. Danny gave her a funny look and walked around to the other side of the couch. Sitting down next to her, he confronted her again.

"Come on, Sam, it's one of Mel Brooks' movies, it's not going to make you cry. Especially Robin Hood. And you weren't even watching the movie. I was standing there for a few minutes." He turned her towards him. "Sam…"

She sighed and turned back to the movie.

"Well, it's just that—that—he—you—" she couldn't get her words out. Instead, she started crying again. Danny pulled her into his embrace, making her cry even harder. Why is he doing this to me? Can't he see that he's tearing me apart inside? I wish I could stay like this forever. Just him and me.

Danny started stroking her hair.

"Shh, Sam, it's going to be alright. It'll be alright, I'll make sure of it. I'm here for you, and I always will be. I promise," he said. Sam wondered if he would, if he could keep that promise.

Danny reached around and pulled a box out of his pocket. "Here, maybe this will make you feel better," he softly said. "Merry Christmas, Sam." She sat up and took the box. It wasn't too big, and the black and purple paper shone and sparkled when she moved it. Opening it up, Sam gasped at what she saw—the biggest Hershey's kiss she had ever seen.

"That is a lot of chocolate" she said. She turned to Danny and gave him a hug. "Thank you so much! Hah, just what I needed, more chocolate. You want some?" she asked. Danny shook his head.

"Um, there's a note, too, Sam. But you don't have to do anything about it, or anything. If you don't want to, that is. I'd understand." He pulled an envelope out of his pocket and gave it to her. She took it and started to ask him a question.

"Danny, what in the world are you talking about?"

"Open it and you'll find out." He blushed as she started to open the envelope. Ignoring his discomfort, she pulled out the card inside. On the cover were two little kittens sleeping together in a Christmas basket. Opening it up, she saw a note written in his familiar shaky handwriting.

Merry Christmas Sam!

I hope you have a great Christmas this year, even though your parents aren't here and you're kinda all alone. And I hope you like your chocolate. It's the dark kind, your favorite.

But if you want, you can have a real kiss instead of a chocolate one.

Sam gasped and dropped the card into her lap. She couldn't believe what she had just read. Picking up the card, she re-read it. Danny got up from the couch and started stuttering.

"I'll understand if you only want the chocolate one, Sam, but I had to tell you. It's ok if you don't feel the same, though, I'll just go home and we can forget this ever happened. You—we can—" Sam cut him off.

"Danny, wait! Don't go yet. You—you haven't given me the rest of my Christmas present yet." Danny turned back to the couch where Sam was sitting.

"So you're not mad at me?" he asked.

"No, why would I be mad for you telling me the truth?" she asked.

"I just didn't want to ruin our friendship by telling you. I was afraid I'd loose you as a friend if I did." He sat back down on the couch and looked up at Sam, who was chuckling to herself.

"Wow, we're pitiful, Danny, we really are. I was afraid of the same thing. I thought if I told you, you'd ignore me, push me away. I—I wouldn't be able to stand that, so I just tried to ignore it all. But—thanks. For everything." She smiled at him and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "So how about the rest of my Christmas present?"

Danny smiled at her and took her hand in his. "Anything for you, Sam," and he pulled her into a kiss.

This is the greatest Christmas ever. Sam thought to herself. She pulled away and looked into Danny's face.

"Merry Christmas, Sam," he whispered.

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Ida Manson walked down the hall to her granddaughter's room. She slowly opened the door and smiled when she saw her granddaughter curled up next to Danny, both of them sleeping under Sam's blanket. Silently closing the door, she pulled out her cell phone.

"555-1221" she said to herself. The phone rang, and a woman answered.

"Hello, Mrs. Fenton, this is Ida Manson, Sam's grandmother…..Yes, is it alright if Danny stays the night? He and Sam are sleeping, and I don't have the heart to wake him up. I'll send him back when they wake up…..Oh, thank you, Mrs. Fenton, and could Sam spend Christmas with you? I just found out that one of my friends is sick and needs me to take care of her for the next few days, and I don't want Sam to be all alone for Christmas……..thank you again, Mrs. Fenton. I really appreciate this."

She closed her phone and looked in on her granddaughter again. "Ah, young love." She closed the door and walked down the hall towards her own room.

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That's all folks! I hope you liked it, cuz it took forever to write. And yes, that is the Fenton's phone number, I got it off of TUE, when Lancer calls them to ask for a meeting at the Nasty Burger. And Sam's grandma is credited as Ida Manson, but I don't know if that's right, cuz they credit her dad as Jeremy, but in Control Freaks her mom calls him Thurston. So I dunno. But PLEASE review! I need to know how good it was and if I can keep doing stuff like this. And if people are actually reading it. Oh, and I can put up another chapter if you want, on Christmas day, where Tucker finds out and they go to Danny's for Christmas. But I can leave it here too. Whatever you want. If there aren't five people who want the second chapter, I'll just e-mail it to whoever wants it. Cuz I think it's good to end here, but I could go on. Yes. I'm rambling again, aren't I? Ah well. R&R!

the sleep warrior