Well, I know there's a group of people waiting for me to finish up Song of a Raven, but I found this stored away in the archives, so I typed it up and figured I'd put it up. I almost cried reading this because I wrote this not long after Sugarland's "Want to" came out, all I know is that this takes place after the "Flirting with Disaster" Episode, and more than likely before the third season started. I totally forgot about this until I found this just the other day. Here's a nice little Christmas present for my readers.

And just a little side not I would like to dedicate this story to my very very good friend Matt, who will never know how I feel about him. I think of him everytime I listen to this song which is probably out of all the undreadable one-shots I wrote back in the day this is the one I decided to type up for all of you.

~*XXX*~

It still seemed odd to Danny and Sam not to have Tucker around all the time, sure they had spent time alone before, but with Tucker gone for college already, and the two of them going their separate ways shortly it just seemed too final, as if things were changing all around them, and there was a new tension that hung in the air. Maybe not new, maybe it had always been there, but the couple seemed so much more aware of it now than they had before.

The sun was starting to set, they had taken advantage of the warm summer sun to waste the day away on the beach at the lake a few minutes away. Now with the sun going down, it became obvious of camp fires starting up around its edges as orange glow's jumped up at random. They sat on a large rock, their shoes lay in the sand behind them, and their toes danced on the surface of the water.

"This summer has gone by much too fast." Danny sighed, leaning forward resting his elbows on his knees, "Seems like just last Saturday we finally graduated, and here we are, just one week away from leaving this place forever."

"Bittersweet, is it not?" Sam chuckled a little. "Everything is changing so fast on us now." She leaned forward to match Danny's posture, placing her hands on either side of her legs on the rock, her hand brushed the cool bare skin of Danny's leg where his shorts had ridden up above his knee. He stiffened as she shivered at the contact, both blushing slightly as she moved her hand closer to herself, some things had not changed.

I packed a cooler and a change of clothes

Let's jump in, see how far it goes,

You got my heart and your daddy's boat

We got all night to make it float.

"Yeah, everything," Danny muttered, he looked around hiding the blood that had rushed to his face, "It's beautiful tonight," He finally said looking at her, she shot a startled look in his direction, noticing how his gaze had landed on her. "The sunset, I mean. Bet they don't get these where I'm going."

"Sure, they do, Danny," Sam replied, the air thickening around her, it was going to be tonight or never, there would never be another chance after this, she could feel it in her gut. "They have sunsets everywhere, I mean unless you're going to the south pole I don't think you have to worry."

"I mean, where else am I going to be able to sit on a rock, my toes in the water, with my best friend by my side, watching one of life's greatest natural gifts." There was that word again, 'friend' she always hated when he referred t her as her friend. She swallowed roughly to stop herself from tearing up at it. She managed to force a small smile for him, and nod with an 'oh'.

It was silent for a slight while longer, the beach where they were at was now completely clear, everyone had packed up their cooler and shook the sand out of their towel's and plodded off home. It was just Sam and Danny, completely alone. Finally with a sigh Sam turned to Danny and asked…

"Wanna go for a swim?"

We could sit on the shore

We could just be friends

Or we could jump in

"Sure," Danny shrugged in return, pulling his t-shirt over his head, shaking his shaggy hair back out flat. He tossed the shirt behind him and slid down the rock into the water, he shuddered at the sudden coolness of the water against his bare skin. Sam just sat there watching him, sure he had been shirtless all day, but now it felt different, she noticed him more, how he had traded the pre-pubescent look for a more adult shape, he didn't have the chiseled abs of a male model, even with all the ghost fighting he wasn't gonna get there, but he was lean, light lines marked where his abs would be, there was so much more muscle on him than their freshman year.

"You coming Sam?" Danny asked, splashing her slightly, waking her up from her day dream, "this was your idea anyway, I'm gonna freeze up solid if you don't get out here and keep me warm." Danny was surprised by the words that had just come out of his mouth, and so was Sam by the looks of it, as she was stopped in the middle of shimmying off her shorts. "O-or at least freeze up solid with me, o-or….damn that sound horrible too."

"Ha," Same laughed nervously, blushing slightly, looking up through her bangs to see he was flustered and blushing, "I get what your telling me." She said simply, although it was fun to see him so tongue tied, not that he was any sort of Romeo when he came to words in the first place. She giggled at the thought, attempting to pull her feet out of her shorts, when she started falling, her feet tied together in a cotton death trap called shorts, she was falling face first into the water.

She tightly closed her eyes, and was surprised when she felt herself grabbed out of the air by a pair of strong arms, that were now holding her against a cold hard, but welcoming chest. She opened her eyes to look up into Danny's ice blue eyes. She had never been so entranced by his eyes, and there he was staring straight back into her own eyes. He leaned down slowly to her face…

The whole world could change in a minute

Just one kiss could stop it spinning

We could think it through

But I don't want to, if you don't want to

But in one instant it was too much for the pair, both looked away blushing. Sam suddenly became aware that her while her top half was dry and safe in Danny's arms, his bottom half had still met the icy lake water, along with the shorts that were still around her ankles.

"Great, now my clothes are soaking wet." She complained to distract her from the slightly hurt look in Danny's eyes. She pulled the shorts from around her ankle, spinning them over her head, like a strip tease, smiling the whole time, trying her best to cover up the awkwardness that had settled between them. He lifted his head to look at her, he smiled back, bringing the life back into his eyes.

"Sam," he laughed shaking his head, his voice had that, are-you-really-trying-to-make-me-feel-better-by-acting-like-a-complete-dork tone. "What am I going to do without you….and Tucker." He added quickly. Sam had turned around and tossed her sopping wet shorts up onto the rock that they had been sitting on earlier. With her back to Danny she let the emotion inside of her come out for just a second, taking a deep breath before removing her shirt and laying it out to dry.

She didn't turn around in time to see Danny sigh silently, shaking his head. They both knew they had been denying themselves this very opportunity for all these years. Danny could feel an urgency tonight that he hadn't ever felt before. They could leave here and be exactly like they had been since grade school, but maybe with everything changing they could get a new opportunity.

We could keep things just the same

Leave here the way we came

With nothing to loose

But I don't want to, if you don't want to.

Sam turned back around to face him, her new found composure plastered on her face once more. The cold water came up to the smallest part of her waist, she shivered at the contact from its contact with her bare skin. Danny silently and indiscreetly looked her up and down, he wasn't the only one who had developed over the past years. Her waist was trim, it widened slightly before disappearing into the surface of the lake, above her rib cage widened her torso before he rested his eyes on her chest.

"What's that Sam?" He asked, her hand quickly flew up to her chest to cover what her shirt had previously hid. All that you could see was the gold chain.

"It's nothing," she said quickly trying to avoid eye contact and a blush on her cheeks.

"Seriously, what is that?" He asked, he knew he saw a familiar glint off her chest, he didn't think it was anything of importance until her reaction set something off in his head. She only proceeded to hug it tighter to her chest. "Sam, I'm going to get it one way or another." His eye's faced green for a second, until she got the point.

"Well, remember when you asked me to hold onto that ring?" Danny nodded. "Well, I'm holding onto it." She held the ring still attached to the chain. Neither knew exactly how to react. Danny just stared at the ring in her hand. "I kinda haven't taken it off since you gave it to me."

I got your ring around my neck

And a couple of nights I don't regret

You've got a dream of a degree and a shirt that smells like me

It was starting to worry Sam that Danny hadn't moved or said anything, does he think I'm creep? Why is he so quiet? Oh I'm so stupid, Why did I show him that? She stood there biting her lip just waiting everything going through her mind at once. Danny was standing there in front of her remembering the first time he had seen the ring, when he had sat at the table with his dad engaged what he thought had been an embarrassing conversation. He remembered his stomach flipping when he had seen Sam's name on the ring, that his own father even thought it was Sam, not that he had ever been the brightest crayon in the box, but Danny knew what he saw, it was the same thing everyone else saw.

He would be leaving in a week to go to school, if he was lucky he would see Sam on his breaks, they would be so far from each other. He couldn't let a girl stand between him and his lifelong dream. But she wasn't just any girl, she was his best friend, she haunted his dreams like no other girl had ever done before, maybe she was his dream.

"Danny?" Sam's soft voice snapped Danny out of his memories. He looked at her, her lip was still being held between her teeth. Her eyes filled with worry. She was irresistibly vulnerable, he just wanted to wade through the water between them and hold her in his arms and kiss her. It was that damn habit of biting her lip, he could never say no to her then, she just didn't know it.

"You're going to have to stop that." He said simply walking closer to her, her hand clasped over the ring in her hand as if defending what was hers.

"Biting you're lip it's driving me crazy," He answered, he was within a step of her, she drew back against the rock on the bank, where their clothes now sat. "It makes me want to do this…"

Yeah we both got dream

We could chase alone

Or we could make our own

His hands wrapped around her upper arms and pulled her into him, before he placed both hands on her jaw and lifted her face tenderly to his. When his lips met hers for the first real kiss they shared it was like nothing either had ever felt. Sam's arms had been trapped between their bodies and she managed to wiggle them out and grasp them behind his neck, she pulled herself closer to him increasing the urgency and excitement of the long awaited kiss.

At least four years of secret glances, little moments, and blushing at the tension that always seemed to arise between them all came to their peak in this very moment. Danny's hand fell from her face to her bare back, he felt as it brushed over the tiny string that kept her top up. He ignored to the best of his abilities and slid his hands to her lower back pulling her tighter to him. He couldn't seem to get her close enough in that very moment.

For Sam it was everything she ever wanted, sure it would have been better four years earlier, but she wouldn't trade any of those little moments, nor this moment for anything. He represented everything she wanted and couldn't have. Being able to hold him in her arms his lips pressed desperately to hers it was just a little piece of heaven.

The whole world could change in a minute

Just one kiss could stop it spinning

We could think it through

But I don't want to if you don't want to

We could think things just the same

Leave here the way we came

With nothing to lose

But I don't want to if you don't want to

When they pulled apart they were breathing heavily, their foreheads placed together slight smile's on his face. They were high on the euphoria of the moment. Her head was spinning, he was still in disbelief. He couldn't remember what was driving him in those few moments that he crossed the water to her. He placed a kiss on her forehead smiling into the wet hair on her forhead, he was finally here.

"That's been a long time coming," he snickered. "But like you said everything is changing." She just nodded still speechless. Then she began shivering, Danny tightened his arms around her trying to warm her up with friction. "Are you cold?"

"Not at all," she replied through chattering teeth

"Liar."

"Fine, I just don't want you to let me go yet," she said in a defeated tone. He just smiled down at her, shaking his head. He scooped her up into his arms and climbed out to sit back on the rock where they had been sitting earlier. He sat her down and reached for her clothes when he realized they were still wet, his hand reached over to his own shirt.

"Put this on," he said, almost forcing it over her head. She obeyed and stuck her arms out of the holes, she couldn't help but notice how strongly it smelled like him when she realized it was his shirt. He draped a towel over her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. She rested her head on his chest, closing her eyes.

Never waste another day wonderin' what you threw away

Holding me, holding you

I don't want to, if you don't want to

"Thank you, Danny" she said her eyes still closed, he kissed the top of her head with a smile.

"You're welcome," he replied, "but for what?"

"For taking a chance I would have never had the guts to take." He pushed her away momentarily but only to look her in the eye. He rested his lips on hers for a moment.

"We're leaving in a week, it's now or never," he shrugged, "plus you were just so god damned irresistible, I don't know what came over me, I just had to do it." They laughed a little at the last of his comment, both were too afraid to admit the fate that met them in just one week.

"I spose, now that you remember this you want it back." She replied unclasping the ring from around her neck, she held out the ring In her palm, looking sheepishly up at him. He smiled lovingly back, wrapping his hand around her fist enclosing the ring inside of it.

"I want you to keep it," he replied, "Take it with you this next year and remember me when you look at it, it was always for you anyway." Their eyes met and in that one moment they knew that they would be in for the ride of their lives.

We could keep things just the same

Leave here the way we came with nothing to lose

But I don't want to, if you don't want to

"I've wanted this for so long," Sam said reflectively, "now it seems like it's too late, we don't have any time to spend together, why do things have to change now, why can't they stay the same?"

"Sam, never wish that," Danny scolded, "if things had never changed for us, this wouldn't have happened now, I hate to sound like a fortune cookie but things happen for a reason, I don't ever want things to stay the same between us, I want us to grow and learn and create a happy ending for ourselves, but there's one thing that won't change ever, I love you, Sam, and I'm going to keep loving you.

"I love you, too Danny," She smiled, kissing him urgently again. He pulled her up and they linked their fingers together

"Well, what do you say we jump on in and take the dive?" He said and lead her back to the car, a blanket of stars speckling the sky above them.

But I want to

But I want you

~*XXX*~

I definitely want to emphasize that I wrote this prior to the first season, as I was typing this up I seriously didn't realize that there were so many things that I wrote that are creepy similar to lines in the third season. But anyway Merry Christmas. Review let me know how liked it, I wrote it a few years ago so be nice please!

Love you all!

GG