Sam and Danny emerged from the dark movie theater. They had just finished a movie, a standard male-oriented action/adventure, filled with things blowing up and half-naked women, and were still adjusting to the sudden burst of light that came with their return to the real world.
"That was good," Danny remarked as they exited the building. The cold night air was a sharp contrast to the warm theater. Sam shivered slightly and pulled on her coat. It covered the shirt she was wearing, a black halter-top. She had long since abandoned the sleeveless purple shirt, plaid green and black skirt, and combat boots. Her wardrobe, though not much lighter, now consisted of many tight jeans and revealing shirts. The icy air was kept away from her skin by her jacket.
"Very," Sam responded with sarcasm. "I liked the part at the end where the guy and girl jumped off the boat." The girl smiled at this recollection; it was her favorite part in the entire movie. The end. Danny was her boyfriend, but that didn't mean that they had to like the same movies.
"I'll say!" Danny agreed, not catching her less-than-truthful response. They walked along a few more sidewalk squares in silence. "You want to head back to the house?" the halfa remarked, finally noticing the cold.
"Yeah!" Sam said, getting ahead of herself. Tucker had left halfway throughout the movie, much to his dismay, and she was dying to have some "alone time" with the dark-haired man to her right. But, realizing what she must have sounded like, she calmed herself and then quietly said, "Sure."
"All right." Danny grabbed her hand. It was something casual, and he'd done it many times before, but it still made Sam's heart flutter. Her love quickly looked around. There were no people in sight. He jumped up into the air, black hair fading to white and sky-blue eyes to ghostly green. Strong arms scooped up Sam, one hand under her knees and the other supporting her back, ignoring her squeal of surprise as they flew towards her house.
The shock eventually wore off and Sam smiled. She loved flying, ever since her first real flight with Danny almost six years ago, when it all started. Now, though, she didn't have opportunities like this nearly as often. Both were busy, what with their jobs and applying to colleges...there simply wasn't any time. Sam found she missed the sensation. She was focused on the treetops below, absently humming a tune. A distracted Danny didn't recognize it, but he was happy to listen to his girlfriend's melodic voice. When he turned his attention back to the flight path, he was startled to find himself only a few feet from brick, and it was only by instinct that he phased both of them through the building. And then he had to dodge several electric lines. A spooked Sam kept her gaze ahead of them now, eyes darting back and forth, seeking out upcoming dangers.
Finally, Danny's feet touched grass, and they had arrived.
"Home sweet home," Sam remarked cheerfully, reluctantly pulling her hand out of her boyfriends. She gazed up at the building that she and Danny shared, simple though it was, but with plenty of room. Her parents had practically forced it on her when she moved out, and no matter how much their daughter had protested, Jeremy and Pam stayed strong. Of course, they may not have made that decision had they known that, unwilling to be alone in her spacious new home, Sam had more or less press-ganged Danny into moving in.
"You got that right." Sam looked over to see him walk forward and open the door, holding it open for his girlfriend to pass through.
"Thanks." she said nonchalantly. Nowadays, especially after moving in with her, he had become somewhat courteous and proper, no doubt influenced by the chivalrous code infused inside most men's brains. She had become accustomed to it. Sam walked through the door and hung her jacket on the coat rack.
"You're welcome." Danny followed her inside, the door shutting behind them with a snap. He locked it, noting with satisfaction the ever-so-slight spark that jumped out from it's handle. It was a safety feature his father had insisted on installing last Christmas, and it kept out--or in this case, in--anything with an ectoplasmic signature. In essence, the house was ghost-proof. Good old Dad, Danny thought to himself with a small smile. He turned to look at the woman he had become used to seeing each day. "I hope you had fun."
"Don't worry." Sam's back was to the wall, arms crossed, a hardly-noticeable curve at the edges of her mouth. "I did."
"That's good to hear." Danny pulled off his coat and placed it on the coat rack.
"And besides," Sam continued, the smile turning to a smirk as he glanced over his shoulder at her, "I was with you."
Danny grinned. "Good point," he joked, with only the slightest hint of overconfidence plaguing his voice. Still, the sly expression that he now wore made Sam have to fight back very out-of-character laughter. She always seemed to go to pieces at the worst moments around him. She had gotten a bit more feminine since ninth grade, no doubt due to his influence...and his methods of persuasion. The thought of such methods brought a new giddy feeling out from within her, and she couldn't hold in a small chuckle.
"Made you laugh." Danny's amused grin got just the tiniest bit wider as he leaned in and pecked her cheek, evoking a smile from the girl next to him. He pulled away a bit too soon for Sam's liking, and she stepped towards him, beaming, determined to get him back by her side. The woman reached out for his wrist but he maneuvered out of the way.
"There's that wonderful smile of yours," Danny murmured as he looked upon the shining face that was all his, would forever be his if he had his choice in the matter. Sam turned crimson and laughed nervously. Even after all this time, she hadn't become used to his compliments, flattering though they were.
"Got you again," the halfa quipped. Sam seemed to be in a laughing mood...and wicked ideas were forming in his mind. He was going to enjoy this. "That's another kiss." Danny leaned down and pecked her cheek once more, again pulling away before his love could get him.
"Stop teasing me!" Sam said in a tone reminiscent of a whine. An amused laugh bubbled up from within her, and she wondered what was making her so giddy.
"Again!" Danny pecked her on the other cheek a third time. "You're just a fountain of mirth, eh Sam?"
Sam was not the kind of girl who would allow herself to be teased in such a way, so she defiantly turned away from him, bit her bottom lip, crossed her arms, and leaned up against the wall. I will not laugh, she repeated in her mind. I will not laugh. I can't laugh. I just won't-- Her eyes opened when she heard Danny clear his throat, just in time to see him make an overly goofy face.
"Shit!" Sam just couldn't help it, there was more laughter escaping her mouth as she braced herself on the wall for more support, not trusting her legs to hold her up.
"Ah ha!" Danny shouted triumphantly, moving close. His new target? Purple lips that were set off so brilliantly by her creamy white skin. This time he let the kiss linger, playfully brushing a hand through her hair, pulling it out of the loose bun that she had hurriedly put in this morning on her way to her job. Sam let out a relieved sigh and rested her hands on his shoulders. But her happiness was short lived, as suddenly her hands passed through nothing and the pressure on her lips was gone. When her eyes fluttered open Danny was a good six feet away, chuckling to himself and just barely becoming tangible.
After recovering from the slight shock, Sam set a mock-glare upon her face and frowned. "You're evil."
"No more laughing...why is there no more laughing?" Danny gave her his best wide-eyed puppy dog face.
Sam bit her lip again. It was tempting to give in and continue playing tonsil hockey, but she was determined to beat this unexpected foe's attempts to play with her emotions. "That won't work," she said, more to herself than to him. "You're not gonna get me to laugh again." Her voice was resolute, but both of them knew it had no backing behind it. She caught rings of light in her peripheral vision, and she glanced at Danny curiously to find that he had transformed into his jump-suited alter-ego.
His toes didn't even graze the floor; instead he hovered a few inches off the ground. "BEWARE!" he yelled, waggling his fingers around in a mockery of the Box Ghost. Sam bit her lip again, but by then she knew it was too late, especially when he flipped around so that he was floating upside-down and making one of the silliest faces she'd ever seen. A smile broke out onto her face. Laughter shook through her and she slid down the wall.
"Got you again!" Danny, pleased with himself, flipped himself right-side-up and dropped down, walking over to her. "You know what's next?" She knew, just by the mischievous grin, and the way his eyes sparkled. She was fully prepared when he braced himself on the wall behind her, one arm on either side of her head, and captured her mouth with his own. Sam's arms found her way around his neck. Finally, she thought, before most coherent thinking left her. Not that she needed to think. Danny was doing oh so wonderful things with his tongue...
She felt herself being pulled flush against him and hands trailing down to rest on her hips. Her own hands ran idly through the hair near his neck, marveling at how soft it was when it was white, in contrast to the coarse feel of his black hair. Danny's ice-cold mouth greedily trailed down to her neck. Sam shuddered, and not just from the chill. In response, he pressed her against the wall with more pressure than before, eliciting a gasp.
With a smile, and a slight pang of disappointment on Sam's part, he pulled away from her neck and gently nuzzled the edge of her ear. "I love you," he said softly, picking her up in his arms. Danny loved holding Sam in his arms. She wasn't too heavy, wasn't too fragile...in his mind she was perfect.
"I love you too," was the soft reply, though she didn't need to say it aloud. He already knew. Her happy sigh as she snuggled into his neck brought a smile to his face. Shifting Sam in his arms, Danny gently placed her on the couch. Eager, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him on top of her, silencing his protest with a chaste kiss.
This was what she lived for. This feeling she got when she was in the arms of this boy, this man, that she had known forever and wanted to know forever after. The love that radiated off of him like heat from the sun. The way his hands felt pressed against her back, her stomach, her face. The way his lips and teeth felt on her neck and shoulders and other areas that would make her writhe and moan and beg for more. What she would not give to experience this each day for the rest of her life.
"Someone's in a good mood today," a husky voice was saying above her.
"You don't know the half of it," Sam responded quietly, brushing Danny's hair back, only to have it spring into place at odd angles. She couldn't help but smile. An eyebrow went up on the man's face.
"Do I amuse you?" he asked, a playful tone detracting from the seriousness of the question.
Chuckling, Sam pecked him on the cheek. "Very much."
Somewhere behind them, perhaps from the house next door that housed the rowdy high-schoolers she had become used to, came soft music--and if it was soft to them, it must have been unbearably loud next-door. Or perhaps it was just a radio left on today when they'd left for the movie. But it was still there, and it was just the right kind of music to be heard at a time like this. The two on the couch were locked into the other's eyes, sharing feelings. It had always been rumored that they could share their thoughts--not true, of course. But sometimes...sometimes it felt that way.
Playfully, Sam ruffled his hair again, making the mess even worse.
"Hey," Danny said, pushing her hand away and smiling.
"Sorry," Sam said with a wink.
Ah yes. This was always what got her going.
Their little laugh fights.