Disclaimer: do not own DP or "That was Then"

Danny had a record for being clueless.

In math he barely understood what they wanted him to do and what numbers he was to use. In English he didn't know who wrote what and he had no idea what things were symbolic or why things ended certain ways. And in French he couldn't even understand what the teacher was saying.

But what he was most famous for being clueless about was the feelings a certain Goth girl harbored for him and that they were meant for each other.

He had just been turned down again by Paulina, and he was ranting about it to his two best friends, Tucker on his right and Sam across from him. To an outsider it would seem as if they weren't paying attention to his problems, the male playing with his PDA and the other picking at her tofu, but Danny knew better than that.

"Paulina is in love with Phantom, but won't give Danny Fenton the time of day! On the other hand, Valerie actually likes my human half but she hates my guts when I'm a ghost."

Sam moved her food particles against her tray with her spork, brooding. She had been telling him all of that for ages now. And he chooses this moment to come to this discovery?

"If only I could find someone who likes Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom."

Her head snapped up and she felt like shouting. Hello? Right here. You got it. But she refrained. Instead, she stood, grabbed her tray and stormed off, getting ten feet before Danny called out to her.

"Sam? What's wrong? Where are you going?"

She turned with one stomp of her combat boot. "You are so clueless, Danny! If you weren't so wrapped up in stuff that is never going to happen, you'd see that you've already got everything you need!"

Danny turned to Tucker upon her departure and proving her point, asked, "Do you know what that was about? What did she mean by that?"

Tucker sighed. "You really are clueless. You just let the one girl who knows both of you, and loves both of you, by the way, walk away, and you don't even know that you did it."

His eyes widened. "Oh my gosh," he muttered. "Man, I gotta make it up to her."

"Yeah," Tucker agreed. "But how are you gonna do that, miracle-worker?"

Danny bit his lip and gazed in the direction that Sam had gone. "I have an idea," he conveyed. "But I'm gonna need your help."

Which is how Danny ended up back-stage as Mr. Lancer announced that the next performer was a last minute entry into the talent show.

"Well," Danny gulped. "Here goes everything."

He walked onto the stage and took the microphone from his teacher. "H-hi," he stuttered nervously. "This goes out to Goth 1, from, who used to be, Clueless 1." He found her with his eyes and gave Tucker the signal to start the music. "I'm not clueless anymore. That was then." He kept eye contact with her as he began, and he could have sworn he saw the makings of a smile on her face.

"Guess you never really know just what you've got/'till you finally realize she could be gone/I know that I've been taking you for granted/For the longest time/All you wanted was someone who really care/And I didn't even notice you were there/I promise that I'll never ever make that same mistake/Not twice …"

He still couldn't believe that he had been so dumb before. How could he not have seen how she felt about him? When he made his promise, he shook his head, closing his eyes. He went on that way, too scared to look at her any more.

"That was then … this is now/Took some time to come around/All I wanna do …/ Is try again … show you how/I know that it's all about/Giving attention to you/I was a fool for way to long/What you wanted, I could not see/That was then … this is now/Took some time to figure out/Love is all you need."

He opened his eyes when he professed himself a fool and went on looking into beautiful violet. Sam chuckled in the next verse when he said he was selfish and smiled widely throughout it and the next repetition of the chorus. He sang that he hadn't tried to figure out the truth and Sam knew it was a fact. I he had tried, he would have known, but he had been so caught up in make-believe that he hadn't seen the truth.

"I used to be someone/Who only really thought about themselves/And no one else, and you could tell baby/But that's before I understood/That when you've got something this good/Gotta let her know …/And I want you to know/You're always my priority/And I wanna give you more than all the love you need/Took a little time …/But now you know I finally see/That you're my world/I never want our love to fade ready, willing …/And I'm gonna do whatever it takes/No, I'm never gonna let it all slip away
'cause you're my girl."

The best part was that it was all true, especially his promise that, now that he knew, he would never let her go. Now he would do anything to hold onto her.

"Sam," he spoke when the song was over. "I'm sorry. I was stupid. I swear, from now on, I'll never take you for granted again. I can't lose you. I love you and…I'm sorry I couldn't see that."

"Apology accepted!" Sam cried out, and even those whose eardrums had been blown out by her sudden call applauded for the new couple. Even the A-listers joined in, because they were glad that the inevitable had finally come to pass.

They really were meant to be together, and nothing stood in their way. At least, not since Danny got a clue.

A/N: So I was working on my other one-shot and listening to this song and I figured, "Hey, I can do a songfic on that." I did the same thing I did for the Jimmy Neutron songfic: I put the song on repeat while in the car and listened to it over and over again.