Just a thing I'd try. Whoo!

She remembered reading somewhere that distractions help with nervousness. She decided this was false as she intently watched the obnoxiously colored water bottle label she held in her hands, attempting to avoid the conversation that awaited her. No matter how many times she tried, she couldn't bring herself to focus on the words that the water bottle label contained. She could, however, count the amount of times she tapped her foot in a minute. 63. Perhaps she was a rabbit in a past life.

Giving up, she began sloshing the water around in the bottle and she tried to bring her attention to the ripples her movements made.

"Hey" he spoke cautiously, holding his abdomen. Slosh slosh. She avoided his eyes and shifted in her seat, trying her best not to feel uncomfortable. She couldn't look at him, she decided. She would fall weak and break right in front of him and she wouldn't have that. She couldn't have that.

"We need to talk" ignoring him; she cut a part of the label with her fingernail before ripping the whole thing off. She could feel him watch her as she relentlessly tore the water bottle label to shreds.

"Sam, what's going on? Seriously?" he asked desperately. "Look- I know something's up and-" she held her index finger in the air, signaling him to stop talking, and took a sip of her water. He closed his eyes and sighed in exasperation, running his hand through his hair.

"Stop stalling" he deadpanned. She resisted glaring at him as she brought the water bottle to her lips and chugged all of the water at once. She smiled a smile a victory smile as she knew she had definitely irritated him, even though irritating him wasn't in her intentions. She was always a prideful one.

"Good! Now that you're done with that, we can talk." Her smile immediately fell and she felt caught. Not only did he know her game but she swore she could hear him smirking.

This is not going well, she thought. She set her water bottle down and took a look at it. She cocked her head to the side, decided the glue the label left behind on the bottle was annoying and started picking at it. He groaned loudly and she felt a quick twinge in her stomach.

Against every fiber in her broken being, she looked up at him as she heard his quick footsteps march towards her. She was sure that somebody had stolen her breath because she couldn't find it when she saw him kneel in front of her, put his hands on her legs and looked at her desperately with those pleading icy blue eyes.

It was funny, she thought, how he didn't even have to use his ice powers to make her stand still as if already completely frozen. However, it was odd to her that even though she was frozen solid in her seat, she felt completely warm all over with his gaze piercing into her and his hands making her legs feel like fire. Only Danny would make her feel like a contradiction; ice but also fire, avoiding him but yearning his touch, not being able to talk to him but also wanting to say everything to him.

But then again, Danny was no secret to contradictions. Dead but also alive, courageous and brave but can't even get the chops to ask a girl out, ridiculously brilliant but clueless. Oh, so very much clueless.

He furrowed his eyebrows at her in confusion and his concerned voice brought her right back to reality.

"Sam, please. Talk to me" She ignored him. Well, at least not purposely. She took her time observing him, counting the little flecks of green in his piercing blue eyes, the way he was clenching his jaw, the way he was tightening his lips- she shut herself up on that one. She wanted nothing more than to lift her hand and touch his face and run her hand through his hair. But as she noticed several little cuts on his cheek and forehead, she realized she also wanted to lift her hand just to slap him across the face.

He closed his eyes and dropped his head before he sighed in defeat. He took his hands off her legs, leaving it cold and had her wishing for warmth again.

"I guess I'll"- she heard his painful groan as he stood up and she swore she could hear her heart stop- "talk to you later, Sam" he said, as she felt tears brimming her eyes when she finally saw him in full view.

His jumpsuit was torn up in several places around his arms and legs. She could see the slices on his stomach and chest didn't need stitches but they were about as long as her forearm. Patches of his jumpsuit were singed off on his arm and she saw the burn on his shoulder with tinges of green.

She felt her heart beating faster and she gripped the water bottle tighter as he transformed to Phantom, turned around and started walking towards her window.

"You could've gotten killed" she whispered, as she looked at the bottle again, suddenly not feeling strong enough to continue staring at him. He stopped in his tracks abruptly, almost in shock that he actually heard her speak, and turned around slowly.

"What?" he asked, as he walked towards her. She felt her heart beating faster and louder with every step he took. She was ready to melt in his arms until she saw the look of pain he was trying to hide from her and she felt her anger rising again.

"You could've gotten killed" she repeated, raising her voice just a little louder. He winced and she was unsure if he did it because of the pain he felt or the sharpness of her voice. When he finally faced her, he kneeled down to meet her eye line with his now green eyes.

"Sam… I'm okay" he assured her, with concern washing over his every word and syllable. She cocked an eyebrow in bitter amusement and chuckled darkly.

"Sure, Danny. Yeah, you're completely fine. Never mind the fact that you have gashes all over your body and second degree burns on your arms and-"

"I've had worse, you know" he reminded her. She gripped the water bottle tightly before she stood up and started pacing around her room, trying to focus on anything other than the anger she was feeling from the nonsense that her best friend was spitting out.

"Yes but I've been there to help you. Or Tucker. Or Jazz. You could've gotten killed, Danny. What then? What would I do if-"

"Sam, this is part of the job"

She stopped walking and looked right at him with wide eyes and shaking hands.

"What.. what did you say?" She could tell he was trying to backtrack now. He stood up straighter, ran his fingers through his hair and cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Um. I just said this is part of the job"

Sam slowly walked up to him and pointed her index finger at him. She wasn't sure when she started acting like his mother but she'd accepted it.

"No", she enunciated, "You acting reckless is not part of the job!" she threw her hands down and the water bottle slipped out of her hands, hitting the floor.

"Do you not care?! Why didn't you come to me before you left? You just went by yourself like an idiot and put yourself in danger!"

"Sam was I supposed to do?" he asked desperately, reaching out to her and putting his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down.

"You were supposed to come to me! I am your friend! You come to me! Not go out and get yourself killed"

"Sam, I'm fine." He repeated but now sounding less convincing.

"No, you're not fine! Did you ever think about what it would do to me? If something happened to you and I wasn't there to help you?" She felt tears filling her eyes again and she looked down, avoiding him again. He lifted his hand and brought it to her chin, making her look at him. A tear fell down her cheek and his gaze softened, remorse flooding him and he wrapped his arms around her, forgetting for a moment about the pain he was feeling. She hugged him back as tightly as she could, just to make sure that he was there with her and not a ghost floating away. She buried her face in his chest and sobbed silently as she reassured herself that he was okay and alive. Well, for the most part.

"I'm sorry" he spoke softly. He held her head with his hand and laid his head on hers. She wondered for a second when he got taller than her.

"I should've come to you." He acknowledged, letting her go slightly to look at her. Trying to avoid looking at the cuts on his face, she nodded solemnly at him, feeling her eyes water again.

"I won't do it again. I promise." He assured her, sounding matter-of-factly. He wasn't lying, she decided, and she gave a small smile for that.

"But hey", he announced, with a little more life in his voice, "I barely lost". She looked at him, absolutely stunned, not saying a word. He suddenly changed his posture and got uncomfortable again.

"Oh, crap. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have made a joke about that. I- Sam?" He stopped speaking and looked at her questioningly. She continued staring at him until she bit her lip and against all good reason, she threw her head back and started roaring in laughter. It was now his turn to look stunned as he watched her in hysterics, with one hand clenching her stomach and another holding on to a table so she wouldn't topple over. After what seemed like five minutes of what Danny could only describe as "Sam losing her shit", she slowed down laughing and was attempting to catch her breath.

"Clearly. You sure won that fight" She said with little pants in between words as she wiped a laughter induced tear from her eye. He was looking at her in amusement, not wanting to break the moment and relish the fact that he got to hear her laugh. He hadn't heard her laugh like that since they were kids and he was going to make damn sure that he heard that sound again.

She finally evened out her breathing and she smiled at him before she launched at him and hugged him again, grateful once again that he was tangible.

"I'm glad you're okay" she spoke softly.

"Well, for the most part. You are squishing me and I can't breathe" he said, his pitch getting higher with every word. She let go of him slightly and chuckled.

"Sorry."

"Hey, don't worry about it" he smiled at her brilliantly "I prefer this over the payback you're going to reap upon me once I heal"

She laughed again and shook her head, but also making a mental note on payback. She quite liked that idea. He smiled at her warmly before he leaned down and kissed her head, making her feel warm all over. She looked down in slight embarrassment when something caught her eye- she let go of Danny and walked over to the messed up water bottle and picked it up from the floor. She turned it around in her hand, observing it.

I really did a number on this piece of plastic, she thought to herself before walking over to her garbage can and dropping the water bottle in it.

"So", she announced as she turned around to face him, "want to get something to eat? You know, after we do some serious first aid on your cuts. My treat"

He nodded furiously and she swore she had never seen him smile wider than he did at that moment. He sat on her bed and she went to get the first aid kit from her closet. Once she got back, she moistened a cotton pad with rubbing alcohol and started patting the cuts on his forehead. He winced slightly but didn't complain. They sat in a comfortable quietness until Danny smiled sheepishly and broke the silence.

"So about that payback- think you can warn me in advance?"

She paused her patting and she looked deep into his eyes before she smiled wickedly at him.

"Now, Danny. Where would be the fun in that?"

And there we go! I hope you enjoyed it- it took me forever and a half to write. If you did, please leave me a review- it makes me very happy to read them ^_^

-reading and stuff