Hurting Those We Love
Disclaimer: Alas! I wish I could claim it but Danny Phantom belongs to Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon Studios, not me.
Summary: Danny ponders his relationship with his best friend and why he can't pursue it the way he wants to
He sat at the window staring out at the setting sun and sighed. Why? Why did all of this happen to him? Why was he the one "gifted" with these powers? They sometimes seemed to be more of a curse to him. His grades and his social life suffered because of them. His social life- that was what was bothering him, specifically his relationship with his best friend. He knew Sam liked him, but because he did not want to put her in any more danger than she was already in just being around him, he ignored his feelings and adopted his "Clueless" act. He felt like a coward. He wanted to protect her from being hurt by his enemies, but was hurting her himself. He knew he was hurting her by fawning over Paulina and Valerie, but the way the ghosts acted towards them while they were going out with him confirmed his suspicions that the girl he was with was indeed a target. While he could not deny that he was not attracted to the other girls, he knew it was just teenage hormones taking over. His lo- feelings for Sam went beyond that, and on some level he knew that if given half a chance they could have some much more than a close friendship. Others could see it too. They weren't known as the "Lovebirds" for nothing.
He sighed again. "Lovebirds." He knew full well why they called him "Clueless" even though he denied it and struggled to hide his feelings for her. He often wondered if others noticed his act. Tucker seemed to have seen right through his act, even prodding him to 'go for it' after the 'Gregor' incident. Ok, so maybe his cover story about the Guys in White didn't fool Tucker, but it seemed to be enough to fool Sam. The fact they were after him was serious, even if it wasn't connected with Gregor. Even though it was not Sam's first kiss, the one with Gregor had deeply affected him. It was however, her first non fakeout-makeout, and she actually seemed to enjoy it. He didn't know how many times he had dreamed the exact thing happened but he was the one with Sam in his arms, not Gregor, and it hurt to know that it would probably never happen.
He knew that he would eventually be able to defeat Vlad and shut down the portals, allowing him a somewhat normal life, but until then, he would wait, wondering what could have been if he did not carry the burden of being the underappreciated town hero. He could only hope that in the future, when the threat was gone, Sam would still be there waiting for him and would understand why it had taken so long. He also hoped that he wasn't hurting her too much. Maybe he should just explain things to her...
He thought of the many ways he could approach her about it as a blue ectoplasmic mist escaped his lips. His pondering would have to wait. Right now he had a job to do. He transformed, grabbing his thermos, and phased out of his room and into the night, ready to protect his town and Sam from the menacing specters that plagued them.
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AN: Please let me know what you think. I have been writing for a long time now but this is the first time I have submitted anything here. Your reviews, both positive and negative, will be appreciated. They will also convince me to continue posting. I am in the middle of my first Danny Phantom multi-chapter fic, so I will post a preview on my profile. I will try to get the first chapter posted in the next few days.
Please review and thanks for reading.
