Imaginary

Summary: Everything has a consequence now Sam has to learn to live with hers. All Danny can do is hope it doesn't kill her.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Imaginary, Evanescence does.

Chapter One

Cannot cease for the fear of silent night.

"So you think you're pregnant?" Danny ran a hand through his hair, obviously uncomfortable about having this conversation.

Sam sat on the floor leaning up against Danny's bed. She pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them. "I dunno. I just don't know." With that lost pleading look on her face she looked so vulnerable that it scared him. They sat in silence for an eternity, him staring at Sam, who was staring at nothing. "I'm scared," she whispered almost too faintly for him too catch.

He walked over next to her and plopped to the floor. "I am too."

"At least I'm not the only one. I hat facing this stuff alone."

There was a hollowness to her voice as she said it that scared him. He draped his arm around her small shoulders. "You never have had to be alone and you never will be."

She sighed and leaned slightly against him. "If only that were true." Danny opened his mouth to argue and she shook her head. "I know you're there for me, but I still have to go through this myself. I'm the one who has to deal with it."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck as his eyes wandered about the room before settling on Sam. "I know. I just wish I could help."

Sam turned out of his grip and turned so she was facing him. "You are. I totally wouldn't be here without you. But this is something I have to do."

Danny smiled at her. "Anything I can do to help, just—"

"Let you know," she finished for him. "I know. That's why I told you."

He stared at her. This was the worst thing that he could imagine. Sam had finally realized she needed to move on with her life and now she couldn't. This would haunt her for the rest of her life. She would never be free from it. The thought made breathing difficult. "I really don't know much about that sort of thing. I mean being pregnant. I mean the whole baby thing. Why is this not coming out right?" He snapped, getting flustered. Sam almost doubled over laughing. "It's not that funny?"

"You're too funny, Danny," she said, wiping the edge of her eye. "All I was going to ask is if you'd go with me back to the crisis center."

"The crisis center?" He arched an eyebrow. "If you are pregnant, don't you want a real doctor?"

She tucked her hair behind her ear. "If I am pregnant is a different issue. I've resolved not to worry bout that bridge till I come to it."

"So you don't think you're pregnant?"

She seemed to sink into the side of the bed. "Knowing my crappy luck I probably am, but if I sit around thinking about it I'm going to drive myself crazy again. I'm trying to get better not make everything worse," she stated. She sighed. "If I'm not making any sense tell me to shut up."

Danny shook his head. "You're fine. And I know what you mean. I'll go just stop by beforehand and we'll walk to it together."

She gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks. You're the greatest."

Danny shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, I try."

"You can tell," she laughed.

"Hey!" He grabbed her wrist and before she could figure out what he was planning, he reached up and grabbed his pillow and hit her in the head.

Sam yelped. "Abuse!" She giggled as Danny pinned her to the ground and tried to suffocate her with the pillow. She struggled back and managed to shove the pillow up into his face. It continued for a minute before Sam cried that she gave up. They lay there for a moment on their backs staring at the ceiling.

Danny was the first to break the silence. "Sam? Am I the only one that knows what happened to you?" She remained silent for a minute.

"Why does it matter?"

He turned over towards her, leaning on his elbow. "You didn't report it?"

She sighed. "Danny, I didn't even tell my parents."

"I don't get it."

She finally turned to face him. "Of course you don't. I love you, but you're not the brightest crayon in the box." He didn't say anything in hopes that she would continue. "I didn't plan on being around for two much longer. Them knowing would mean they would watch me and make sure that something of that nature didn't happen."

"But it's been a month and a half. Are you just never going to tell them?" He watched as she rolled back over, her eyes losing focus. "Sam?"

"Probably someday. But it still hurts. I mean it's still hard to talk to you about it. I think it'll be awhile before I can tell Tucker. And if I can't tell Tuck there is no way I can tell my parents."

He waited for a moment debating whether or not to ask the question that he wanted to ask so badly. "Then how come you could tell me?"

She was silent for a minute or so and the lost look again settled over her features. "I don't know. I can't really explain it. I don't know why but something said that telling you was safe. It still hurts to think about it," she trailed off. She seemed to withdraw into herself.

Danny reached over and squeezed her shoulder. She snapped her head over to look at him. "I'm glad you told me."

"I don't know if I am." She must have caught his concern cause she continued. "Sometimes I'm so grateful that it feels like I'm going to die out of sheer gratitude. Then sometimes it seems like I would just be better off not being a burden to everyone."

"You're not a burden, Sam. We all care about you."

She sighed, searching his gaze for something. "Then why do I feel like one?"

Yay. New story. I'm very excited. I'm glad to see so many people are still reading. I was worried I'd lose everyone in transition. And I know that the first few chapters are going to seem like I'm leaving out a lot but I want to get to some actual meat in this story, not the generic everyone-does-this-plot sort of stuff. Thanks to my reviewers: Sakura Scout, Akiko, Moody Maud, Ryoko Lover, autumngold, q.t a.k.a spice , Rieki, Silverflare07, Weeble Wobble Chic, Jessi, Coldplayer813, RavenForever, and RainbowSerenity. All my reviewers deserve the biggest thanks in the world. Out of 222 Danny Phantom stories there is only one that has more reviews than Hello. And that's nothing I did, it's all you guys. You're all totally awesome.