The Grounding
By Lacey52

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

A note: Enjoy. Day two of the fourteen days of Sam's grounding between AOS and AOW. Pure fluff and DannyxSam of course.
Not as cute as the first, but it'll do...

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

Day Two:
A Picnic Sorta' Day

.o.O.o.o.O.o.

"Samantha, open the door young lady," Jeremy Manson, who was normally a patient man, stood tapping his foot as he heard his daughter trudging slowly, ever so slowly, towards her door to unlock it. The door swung open moments later, showing his daughter's sleepy form swiping at her eyes, "You know the terms; you are not supposed to lock this door."

"Sorry Dad," a half grin was sent his direction as she lifted one shoulder in a shrug, "Force of habit."

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again," he returned the half smile, reaching out to ruffle her already bed-ruined hair, "Now, your mother and I wanted to let you know that we'll be leaving in a few moments, as it is nearly time for our luncheon. The staff have already been informed of your punishment, so don't even think about sneaking out."

"No problems there Dad," Sam's eyes rolled, as though she thought the entire conversation silly, "Have a good time."

"Of course," her father replied, then turned to go, shaking his head at his daughter's attitude, 'How she can be so apathetic about being grounded for two weeks straight, I shall never know.'

Sam simply shut her door and started getting ready for the day. It was unusual that she would sleep so late, or, as she caught sight of herself in her mirror, so hard. Her hair was a mess, her eyes looked puffy with dark circles under them, and she had several red lines running across the left side of her cheek where she'd had the blankets bunched beneath her.

"You know, not many girls can pull off the 'I just woke up and still look cute' look like you do Sam," Danny's voice caught her off guard and Sam whipped around to find the boy sitting on her computer chair, holding two drinks and a to go bag from Nasty Burger, "Good job."

"You smart-aleck," Sam grabbed a pillow from her bed and threw it as hard as she could, not caring about the drinks or food precariously balanced in Danny's arms. She was slightly amused when she watched him try to dodge the projectile and keep everything in order. He ended up on the floor, but everything was fine, with the small exception of his pride, "You so deserved that."

"Yeah, well you are so going to deserve when I take this," here he hefted the bags and drinks with a slightly wicked gleam to his eyes, "and leave you here to suffer what they're making you in the kitchen."

"You know what they're making?" Sam raised an eyebrow, torn between believing his threat and calling his bluff.

"Nothin' but broth," his grin widened as he saw Sam pale. Floating up into the air, Danny took a long sip from one of the straws he'd already put in the drinks, "Mm…strawberry milkshake…"

"Fine, you win," Sam folded her arms from her position on the floor, heaving a sigh as she gave in and apologized, "I'm soooo sorry. I'll never dare to insult the greatness that is Danny again by throwing soft things at him."

Of course, no one said she couldn't be sarcastic while doing so. Danny simply laughed, figuring that was as close to an apology as he was going to get from Sam. He did sneak in and startle her after all, and no girl really liked being caught so undone in front of a guy. Setting the bags down, he turned to hand Sam her own milkshake, soy of course, and then leaned in for a little peck.

He was surprised when Sam pushed him away with a hand over her mouth, eyes wide as she blushed and moved towards the door, "Hey, where are you going?"

"Brush teeth," Sam mumbled as she hurried out her door, turning brighter red as she continued, "Morning breath…"

Laughter followed her down the hall, and Sam was thankful that no one was in the hallway right then. She would be dead meat if anyone ever caught Danny in her room.

"Morning breath my foot," Danny murmured to himself, setting out his own burger and Sam's salad, figuring if they couldn't have a real picnic, a fake one in her room would have to do, "We're just going to eat, which makes your breath bad again any ways…"

"Maybe yours," Sam reappeared, looking a little fresher and definitely neater as her hair was combed and her pajamas had been replaced with more appropriate attire, "Sorry about before."

"What? You mean refusing to kiss me?" Danny's eyes were sparkling as he knelt on the floor and finished setting out the plastic silverware, "Hey, it just broke my heart is all. You do have a right to refuse…"

"I didn't refuse," Sam turned his chin up towards her and gently laid a kiss on his lips, "I just…delayed it a little."

"Sounds good to me," Danny's hand sunk into her hair and pulled her in for another kiss, sighing as she slipped away from him again, "Morning breath come back already?"

"No," Sam lifted an eyebrow, sat down on the floor where the mini-picnic had been set up, and reached for her food, "I'm just hungry."

"Saaaam," Danny let himself fall backwards, chuckling as another pillow landed on him, "Okay, okay, let's eat."

And thus came to pass Sam's first indoor picnic, which both teens enjoyed greatly. They laughed, ate, threw fries in a fast paced food fight, and talked. The talking was Danny's favorite part, which actually surprised him, 'I like talking to Sam, but there's just so much I haven't learned about her. I like…the other stuff too, but this is…this is different. This is Sam.'

"So yeah, that's why everyone thought I let the purple backed gorilla out," Sam shrugged as she twirled a fry between her fingers, "I never figured out how she actually got out…and didn't you figure out she was a she?"

"Heh, yeah," Danny leaned back against Sam's bed, licking the salt off his lips before taking another slurp of shake, "I was there that night too, you know. It was the first time I ever met Skulker. We ended up fighting in the pen, and eventually it got so bad that we busted the door…the gorilla was just trying to help me out though. She was kinda' close and leaning over me to protect me…which is how I found out…"

"Oh," Sam was surprised that the gorilla would want to protect the boy, though it did make some sense. Most animals, though suspicious, wouldn't mind a human's presence, "I suppose she was feeling those 'maternal instincts' or something."

"That's what Jazz thought," Danny laughed, reaching over to slip his hand into Sam's, "I knew you didn't do it because I saw you standing there watching the gorilla wander around. You looked like you were about to faint."

"She was out of her habitat," Sam shook her head, "She could have been killed if I didn't report it and let them think I did it. I told them I just wanted to see her up close, that the gate broke off somehow, and they let me off with a warning. Thought the gate was faulty or something."

"Well, it wasn't ghost proof that's for sure," Danny chuckled, watching Sam thread his fingers with her own, "Now-a-days, everything in Amity is at least partially ghost proof…which makes it a little easier for me. If I can't get in, then other ghosts can't either…but I have the advantage of being human too."

"Comes in handy, huh?"

"Something like that," Danny risked a glance at the clock, wincing when he found that two hours had passed, "Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you enjoy this?" he gestured, indicating their little meal and the time they'd spent together, "I mean, it wasn't too…cheesy for you was it? I know you're not exactly the type of girl who falls for just anything bu-"

"Danny," Sam cut in, trying to keep the smile off her face as she spoke, "You're right, I'm not the type of girl who wants a typical romance. But…I figure since I'm practically living in a fairy tale, with dragons and ghosts and heroic rescues, I might as well enjoy it. I think it was cheesy…but even girls like me need a little cheesiness in their lives."

"Good," Danny swooped in for a quick, unexpected kiss, crowing inside at the breathless state he left his girl in, "So you might not possibly kill me if I said that I had to leave, like, right now?"

"Ghost?"

"No, just another family thing before Jazz gets ready to leave for school again," Danny leaned in for a slower, shorter kiss, pulling Sam up with his as he stood, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Sam rolled her eyes, pushing him towards the door, "You saved me from a lunch of broth, I think you're good on the brownie points."

"Brownie points?" Danny raised an eyebrow, intent on teasing her, but thought better as he had to duck yet another flying pillow, "How many pillows do you have?"

"Too many," Sam answered as she approached, then pecked the corner of his mouth, "You'd better hurry."

"Right," he nodded, ready to slip out when another thought hit him, "You know…if you don't eat that broth now, you'll probably get it at dinner."

"Yuck," Sam stuck out her tongue, wrinkling her nose as the thought washed over her, "thanks for the thought."

"So…," Danny drifted up, letting himself slip into invisibility, "Dinner? About…eight-ish? Here?"

"Sounds good to me," Sam smiled, sitting on the window seat, "See you then Danny."

"See ya' around, Sam," and with a very cold kiss delivered right under her ear, sending two very different types of shivers skittering down her spine, the halfa set off, leaving his girlfriend smiling to herself.

This whole two week grounding thing seemed to be working for his relationship rather than against it, and he was using it to his advantage as best he could. It didn't hurt that he was enjoying getting to spend time with her; that time including only him and Sam. He could definitely get used to that.