Captivated Ch2 (formerly Capi)
Valerie rolled her eyes as she stared up at her boyfriend. She had not signed up for this, not at all. "Danny…" she whined. She hated it when he was in his ghost-form; lover or not: she could not help but resent him still. Valerie had trouble letting go of grudges.
Danny flashed her one of his trademark smiles and waved her off. "In a minute, Val-honey," he tapped on the window of the house he was hovering in front of. "Sam!" He called for what Val deemed the millionth time. "Sam! Are you in there?"
"Danny, please," Val begged, "she's probably out on a date or something!" She was fast becoming extremely exasperated, "You promised! You promised me! You promised me that today would be just us. No ghost hunting. No Jazz. No crazy parents. No Tucker. And especially NO SAM!!!!"
"I know, Val-baby, I'm really sorry, but I called her this morning and she didn't pick up, she usually does and I just wanted to check. You know how Sam is." Danny couldn't seem to get Sam off his mind lately and it was starting to worry him. He guessed that it was his intuition telling him something was wrong with her and he had to find out what it was. He had a compulsive need to know where she was twenty four hours a day. She was Sam, his delicate little flower, fragile and pale, though resilient only with proper care and attention. Nothing like Valerie, who was brash and unreasonable and often times a weed, headstrong and defiant, often crude and ugly in her demeanor.
"Yes, Danny. I know VERY well how Sam is. She's moody and selfish," Danny growled under his breath at that, "and she hates me, you do know that, don't you?"
Danny grinned at her again. "Sam doesn't hate you…" he told her and turned back to the window, "she just hates me for dating you…" he knocked harder on Sam's window. "Sa-AM!" He called. "SAM!"
"Danny, someone will see you! Come down now!" Valerie ordered. The tensions were rolling high between them lately. It was easy to see that Danny's thoughts were centered on someone other than Valerie and it was even more obvious that his heart did not belong to her at all.
Danny rolled his eyes at Valerie's command. No one was around. Sam's parents' mansion was very secluded. He had not signed up for this, not at all.
"Come down or just go in there!"
"No, Sam hates it when I do that!" He froze and wondered for a second if Valerie would figure out his dirty little secret. Danny, sometime during sophomore year of high school, had developed the rather… inappropriate habit of watching Sam while she slept. He'd never been able to stop himself, let alone try to give it up. But Valerie didn't seem to notice… It didn't matter anyway. To Danny, just watching Sam sleep peacefully in her bed was infinitely better than holding Valerie in his arms as she slept.
"She's probably still asleep, the lazy gothic bitch," she mumbled so she thought Danny couldn't hear.
Danny's eyes flashed and he swooped down to Valerie, face mere centimeters from hers. "What did you say?" He demanded. Danny didn't need this today. He didn't need another excuse to be angry with Valerie. In fact, one of the reasons he'd planned this day was to determine if they should stay together or not. To see if it was worth making it work. So far, it didn't seem to be worth the effort it was to tolerate her.
"You heard me."
Danny's eyes flashed bright green again. "Look Valerie," he said with strained calm, "I know that you and Sam don't get along. For whatever reason, you don't like her. I know she doesn't like you either, but at least she tries. When we started dating, she said she would try and I know she has, but you are always cold to her and I want to know why! Why, Val? What'd she ever do to you?!"
Valerie glared at him with supreme resentment. "She stole your heart," she spat bitterly.
Danny was taken aback. He blinked for a moment, trying to process what Valerie had said. "She… no… Sam and I are just-" As much as he thought about her, he still had trouble accepting that his feelings for Sam might run deeper than the simple, strong friendship they'd had since they were little.
"Just friends?" Valerie asked sardonically. "Puh-lease, Danny. You and Sam have never been just friends. Maybe before you hit puberty, but that's it!"
"Actually, when we were eight she kissed me on the cheek and called me her boyfriend for a few days before she declared I was contaminated with cooties," he pointed out, mindlessly recalling the happy memory before he could stop himself.
Valerie screamed. "You… agh! Danny, you have to choose. You have to choose right now, I can't take this anymore. It's either me-your girlfriend-or Sam."
"You're giving me an ultimatum," Danny stated blankly, still hovering with his face inches from hers. "This is it? If I don't choose correctly then it's over."
"Yes," Valerie glowered, "me or Sam."
"I see. You don't think I can have the both of you in my life. You think I can't make it work."
"You haven't been."
"I've been spending ALL of my time with you, Valerie. I haven't seen Tucker more than a few hours this past month, I haven't seen my parents except for Thursday dinners. Jazz won't talk to me at all because she doesn't trust you. And I haven't seen Sam in WEEKS. If I'm not hunting a ghost, I'm with you. Don't you get it? I haven't seen anyone I love because of you."
"Then why are you still here?!"
"Because I thought I loved you… and I thought you loved me too!"
"Yeah. I thought the same thing. Just because you don't see her, Danny, doesn't mean she's not always there."
"It's not just that, ever since you found out I was Danny Phantom, you haven't trusted me. Or is it that you don't trust her?"
"Both," Valerie said curtly, "Now decide Danny, me or Sam."
"Sam," Danny answered immediately. "That isn't even a choice. It's Sam. She's the one who stood by me, the one who helped me, the one who didn't try to BLAST ME TO SMITHEREENS!" He bellowed. "Even after you found out I was Phantom, you STILL TRIED TO KILL ME! I had to force you into a truce! You thought I was possessed!" He continued screaming, before taking a breath, "It's Sam. It'll always be Sam."
For just one moment, Valerie looked like she would kill him right there and if she could have killed him with her glare, she would have. "She can have you, Danny, she can fucking have you. We're through."
"THANK GOD!" Danny shouted back at her. Valerie turned and glared at him.
"You know this means that the truce is over, Danny Phantom. I'll send you back to Hell, where you came from."
"Go get laid, Miss Red Hunter, you need it."
"I wouldn't need it if my stupid ex-boyfriend could've stopped thinking about his best friend for FIVE MINUTES!"
"I would have if you weren't an evil witch hell-bent on BLOWING ME UP!"
"Don't think I won't. Vlad Masters will be very pleased if I do."
"Yeah, go back to Vlad. Maybe he'll fuck you," Danny sneered smugly. "He's desperate enough."
Valerie's eyes filled with rage, "I will waste you," she muttered lowly.
Danny's veins blazed with anger. He'd been right; she'd wanted to kill him the whole time. Valerie always did keep her enemies closer than her friends… "Try," he dared.
Valerie made a move for her gun, but ended up turning on heel and storming off again.
Danny didn't have the time nor the desire to care that his girlfriend of five years was now not his girlfriend anymore. All he could think of was wasted time. He could always tell when something was wrong with Sam and something was wrong. He pounded his fists against the glass. "SAM! OPEN UP!!!!" He sighed. If she was in there, and he hoped to God she was, she was going to kill him for this… he phased through the window pane. "Sam?" He called out tentatively. "Sam? Are you decent? It's just me… just Danny… just your best friend…"
Ah, the story of his life. Even when his infatuation with Valerie had been strong, he'd still wanted Sam more. But she wanted nothing to do with him. That became clearer and clearer as the got older. She withdrew. If they needed her in a ghost fight, she was there, but if Danny and Tucker wanted her to hang out, like old times, she would merely ask if Valerie was going to be there. The answer was usually yes. And Sam would promptly make up some random excuse to not go. It drove Danny crazy. He could watch her slipping away from him and it wrenched something in his heart.
It was like being stuck in some horrible nightmare. He could watch his best friend and true love walk away from him, but his feet were stuck in the ground, held there by the hands of a thousand demons and no pleading or struggling he did would free him from their grasp.
Sam wasn't there. He'd even dared so far as to check her bathroom, almost praying to walk in on her bathing. Roaming though the big empty house calling for her, his face began to pale. She wasn't there. She would have told him if she were leaving. She still gave him that much courtesy. Mostly so he'd know why she didn't show up during ghost fights, but generally, she told him if she was leaving town. He grudgingly considered what Valerie said, that Sam might be on a date. Or worse, still tangled somewhere in the arms of a lover; it was still early enough to be basking in the warmth that came after a night of passion. But Sam didn't date and she didn't have a boyfriend That he knew.
That he hoped.
No, something was wrong. Something had to be wrong. He could sense it.
He took a deep breath to try and keep the panic at bay. Tucker would probably know where she was. If Danny didn't know, then Tucker usually did. Sam and Tucker were closer than he and Sam were. It hurt a little bit. He missed the days when they were all close. He missed being close to Sam and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't jealous of Tucker and Sam. There were days he feared there was something going on between them, but since he had no concrete proof either way, he kept his theory to himself.
In any case, Danny headed for Tucker's house, hoping that he'd come home for the long weekend like everyone else.
"Oh hey Danny, what's up?" Tucker smiled brightly when he saw his friend enter his room. His smile quickly faded when he noticed flashes of panic in Danny's eyes. "Dude? Is everything okay?"
"Do you know where Sam is?"
Tucker stared at him blankly. "Uh… no, I don't. I haven't seen her all week."
"She didn't say she was going to go anywhere or anything?"
"No, man, not that I remember. She would have told you."
"She didn't…" Danny gulped, "she didn't… she hasn't mentioned a boyfriend or anything?"
Tucker blinked for a second. "No, dude, but even if she did, that's not really any of your business. You have Valerie."
"Not anymore," Danny answered flatly. "We broke up."
"WOAH! When?!"
"Just now, but I don't care. Tuck, please, if you know anything about where Sam is… I'm worried." Danny began pacing around Tucker's room, almost muttering to himself.
Tucker spoke, only to stop Danny from talking to himself. "Dude, I'd tell you if I knew anything, but I don't."
Danny's mouth set into a grim line. "We have to find her. We just have to."
Please review! Sorry it's short! I made it a little longer…