Sam unlocked her apartment door, whilst trying to hold up a nearly dormant – and much taller – Danny Fenton. The weight on her shoulder was starting to bother her and gently moved Danny's head so he would ease the strain on her sore deltoid muscle. She sighed exasperatedly when Danny moved back into the position that cause the most pain. She rolled her eyes, walking through the door once she managed to put her keys away.

Carefully trying to move out of the way of the door before closing it, she turned on the light to a small, cream-colored kitchen area, cozy enough for Sam's likings. To her right, a small coffee tamp held up a lamp where she set her bag down temporarily. Next to the coffee table was a computer desk and chair and cross from that was a dark hallway that appeared vacant. In front of the computer desk was a beaten up couch with most of the exterior burnt away and some of the skirt gone. The pillows were small and thin with some threads sticking out. The couch came to its fate just a few weeks ago when Danny Phantom was fighting with one of his arch enemies, Skulker. Danny just happened to be in front of her apartment when Skulker fired his ecto-energy gun – which of course – missed Danny and hit her furniture instead.

Sometimes I wish Skulker was actually good at ghost hunting so I wouldn't have to pay more money to fix my shit. Sam glanced at Danny, who was about to crash at any moment and quickly shook him awake.

"Danny, for god's sake, just keep your eyes open for a little while longer," she said, a more than a bit annoyed.

"But I'm tired," he whined rather childishly.

"Well, then, if you're so damn tired, then why don't you go find a bed to, you know, fall asleep in?" Although Danny was a drunken idiot, the least she could do was distract him while she could relax for the time being and get help. She couldn't handle an intoxicated guy like Danny on her own… not when he was being this unpredictable. She was about ready to yank out a good chunk of her ebony hair from the little amount of time she spent with him.

"Okay, fine," Danny complied, getting off of Sam's shoulder and unsteadily started walking. Sam, seeing that he had the confidence to do things on his own, practically collapsed out of exhaustion on the chair by the computer desk. She watched with amusement at Danny's attempts to do things by himself. His vision was blurry and could only see double. His lack of balance didn't make his situation any easier. The unstable movements caused him to instinctively grab onto a nearby chair that was closest to the kitchen table.

"Danny, do you need some-?"

"I ca do it!" he snapped, making him sound even less like an adult. Taking a tentative hand off the chair, he lingered in his standing position for a few moments and began walking toward the hallway that was just around the corner. Sam didn't want to deal with his insanity anymore.

God, it's about time….

"Time to get Tucker," she said, forcing her hand into her back pocket, she grabbed her cell phone. She scrolled through her recents and picked out Tucker's name, waiting for him to pick up.

Tucker lived not too far from Sam; his apartment was just a little further down the street. She would have just walked over, had it not been for Danny's current state.

After three rings, it went to voicemail. "Of course," she hissed.

She looked over at the computer and a thought occurred to her. "I swear, if you're gaming and just not answering…." She sat down at the desk and turned on the PC. When it finally booted up, she typed in her password and Skype popped open, revealing that Tucker was indeed online.

She used the video call option and waited for him to pick up. After a few seconds, Tucker came on the screen, rubbing his eyes. "Hey Sam… What's going on, besides giving me a heart attack?"

"You okay?" she asked, despite most of her concern for Danny occupying her mind. "You look like you're about to drop."

He yawned before replying. "I have a huge essay due for English tomorrow, and I've been working on it all night…."

"Procrastinating 'til the last minute again?"

"Yeah… pretty much," he said sheepishly. He looked down at the time on his computer. "Oh my god, it's almost 12!"

"I know," she said, trying to rub the sleep out of her own eyes.

"I've been working on this for five hours!" he yelled. Tucker began to notice the way Sam's eyes were redder than usual and the way she was avoiding looking directly at the camera.

"Hey… Are you feeling alright? You look about ready to bawl." he asked with sincerity.

It didn't go unnoticed. Sam glanced back at Tucker who had a look of concern, and she knew she had to go ahead and tell one of her other best friends what had to be said.

"Tucker… I was walking home earlier since my boss let me out late, and… I found Danny drunk and following me down the street. I finally managed to get him back to my apartment after a long hour, but I need someone's help, like, now…."

She paused, sighing, feeling pained to even tell Tucker her situation. "I can't do this on my own, not when Danny's like this, and I can't stand to see him in this state. It really breaks my heart that he's gotten this despondent enough to start drinking like this. I just…." She couldn't seem to finish her sentence, her eyes glancing away from the computer screen, licking her lips apprehensively as Tucker started to feel even worse than Sam.

Since being told of his father's death, Danny had been starting to drink heavily and only told Tucker of his new habit. Danny and he both agreed to not speak of it to Sam… for her and Danny knew that she'd be completely horrified. She would have lectured the two about the dangers of alcoholism, which probably would have stopped Danny's drinking right then and there. But it wouldn't have stopped his depression. And then Tucker couldn't bear to watch his best friend fall apart, so he had left him to his unhealthy devices.

Tucker wanted to smack himself silly for letting something he thought was so small turn into something nearly impossible to stop. Danny could develop an addiction from this because it was hitting him at his weakest moments. Tucker had wanted Danny to make his own decisions, but he knew now that his friend was about to make some really awful ones for his future.

Tucker finally spoke up after a long minute of silence. "How bad is he?"

"He's really smashed, but I think he'll be okay," replied a now-disheartened Sam. "I'm still worried about it, though…."

Tucker's guilt was starting to eat away at him. "Sam, look, I didn't know it would turn into something this awful, but I knew about this already… Danny's drinking like this…."

Sam looked at him with wide eyes. "You already knew about this?" Her voice pitched with a mix of shock and anger.

"Yes, and I'm sorry!" Tucker was quick to respond, hoping Sam wouldn't beat the living daylights out of him. "We knew you would overreact about it and try to stop him, but he really needed a distraction. Nothing was working for him, and the stress was killing him. I couldn't change his mind and let him decide. Please, try to understand…."

"Oh, I understand, Tucker," Sam's voice began to crack, about ready to cry but also ready to take a sledge hammer to Tucker's apartment. "I understand that you wouldn't want me to interfere with his troubles because what do I know about helping a friend make the right decision? I understand that I overreact about certain issues my friends deal with because I give a shit. I understand that you don't involve me, since I apparently don't matter to Danny and his life. I understand just about every single goddamned thing you said, Tucker Foley!" Sam began to hold her mouse in a death grip, nearly crushing the plastic.

"Sam, please, listen to me!" Tucker said, trying to calm her. "I know it wasn't the right thing-"

"Oh, you bet it's not!" Sam began her rage once again, making Tucker wince. "If he continues this bullshit, then it's going to be impossible to wean him off of his habit! I could have at least offered him some coping mechanisms and stop it before it would become a major issues, but instead you let him do his own thing and he wound up making the wrong choices."

With a long sigh, Sam breathed out of relief that she finally got her bottled up emotions off of her chest. She glances again at Tucker who looked like a deer in headlights from her outrage.

Summoning his courage to finish his sentence, Tucker continued his story. "The only reason why we agreed not to tell you was because your lecturing would stop his only source of comfort. He has us, but what could we do? If not drinking, what would he have done? There's a lot worse of things than alcohol, and you know that."

"In a way, you're right," she admitted. "Even though it wasn't the best thing to let him do it, you did the right thing by standing by him. I just wish we could have made him get better help…."

"Yeah…." replied Tucker. "I'm really sorry that it came to this, Sam. Do you want me to come by tomorrow morning to check on you two?"

"That would be awesome," Sam said. "Thanks a lot, Tuck. I just needed to talk and get this off my chest."

"No big," obliged Tucker. "I wish you luck with Danny."

Sam shrugged, a nonchalant expression on her face. "Pft. Yeah, okay…."

Logging off of her computer, Sam rested her head on the computer desk, too tired to even get ready for sleep. She looked at the clock to see that it was around quarter to one, which made her even more miserable. "I'm gonna be exhausted for work tomorrow…."

Finally having the energy to get up, she walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face to get rid of her dark make-up. Throwing away a make-up removal pad, she washed her hands and made her way into her bedroom, expecting to find Danny doing something stupid.

She was – in fact – right. Lying on her bed was a sleeping Danny Fenton, under the covers and snoozing like a newborn. He just had to be in my bed, didn't he? Sam sighed at her own ignorance to let him roam around alone.

Sam knew that she needed to fall asleep somewhere comfortable, but with her couch destroyed and the chair not being a great alternative…. Her pondering led her down a strange path and the realization of another alternative practically hit her in the face.

"I can't believe I'm going to do this…."

Sam stared at the only empty spot on her large bed, pajamas on and ready for sleep. Danny was fast asleep on the other side of the mattress while her side was left wide open for someone else to lie down… which she knew had to be her.

Gulping any fear she had, she gingerly got onto the bed, trying not to wake Danny up and slowly started to lay her body against the mattress, sighing peacefully. After a long, painful day of work and having to come home with a drunken best friend, sleep was wanted both mentally and physically. Her muscles relaxed, her mind eased, and she shut her eyes, turning off the light beside her and pulling the covers around her form. With another deep sigh, Sam focused on the endless darkness when her eye lids shut, trying to get rid of any other thoughts besides the fact that she was home, in bed, and going to sleep… even if her best friend was beside her in that particular moment.

Sam suddenly felt Danny shift on the bed and change positions. She could hear him groaning, or mumbling, or saying some sort of gibberish. Opening one of her eyes sluggishly, she growled to herself that a sleeping male wouldn't even let her rest for at least five minutes. Danny, however, started moving his arms against the pillow and the sheets that were covering him, making an irritating noise against the blankets. Sam tried ignoring his noises, despite how difficult it was.

For the moment, Danny was finally silent, making Sam wonder if he'll start making noise again in another few seconds. She waited about half a minute to see if he would move around or mumble something anonymous, but he did nothing.

Knowing that he wouldn't make any more disruptions, she smiled approvingly and snuggled into her warm bed, inhaling the smell of the lavender detergent she loved. Suddenly, she felt something hit her nose hard, making her jump out of surprise. It turned out to be a masculine hand, which she knew belonged to Danny.

She glared at him, getting his hand off her face. Once she pushed his hand away, she suddenly stopped to notice his peaceful state; his other unthreatening arm drooped over the side of the bed, his mouth was open slightly, and his dark hair hung over his face. As he breathed, she noticed the rise and fall of his chest.

She blinked a few times to clear her head. She attempted to resume her angry demeanor, despite her brain's longing to stare again. She shut her eyes once again, hoping – praying – that she would get some much-needed sleep.

Then – out of nowhere – Danny grasped onto Sam's body, hugging her torso and resting his head on her chest area. A smile seemed to form on his face, as if he was comfortable with position was in. However, Sam's reaction was more than surprised, for she was fully aware of the little amount of space there was between the two of them, or lack thereof. She knew he was probably dreaming, and his movements just mimicked his imagination; nevertheless, she needed to get him off of her or she's go mad.

The scent that drifted to her nose was the culprit of her sudden serenity. It was a pleasant smell, not too strong, and not too weak. The particular smell reminded her of the fresh air in nature and maybe spice of after a rainy day. What was the culprit? To her own surprise, it was none other than Danny's hair in her face.

Sam shook her head to clear it once again. She glanced at Danny's position, trying to find a way to move him without waking him. If he woke up, she'd have to deal with the whole process of his buffoonery all over again. Sam grasped his hands that were holding her waist and put them at his side and then took his head into her slender hands and set it down gently beside her.

Sam finally felt at peace again, knowing that her nerves were calmed and that her endorphins weren't rushing as quickly as they were before. Even though Danny was sleeping, his actions made her body feel warm. She couldn't help it; it was exhilarating.

Danny thankfully turned away from her, making her feel a bit better now that there was a bit of space between the two of them. She turned away as well making her feel even more at ease that she wasn't watching him again. For the final time, she shut her eyes and ignored all other sounds around her… drifting into a peaceful slumber at last.