Hey, everyone! I am so sorry in the delay in last week's update. Things have just been so busy at home that I haven't had much time to finish writing this. I'm hoping that I can make up for it before I have to go to bed today (I work overnight, so like Sam I am kind of a creature of the night) with chapter five, but we'll just have to wait and see. If not, it'll definitely be out by Friday.

So, I kind of remember saying somewhere that I expect Kaleidoscope to go on for 10 chapters, but I realize that at this pace it'll probably be around for so much more than that... Especially considering we're already four chapters in and it is still the same day. But don't worry, a time skip will occur eventually. In all honesty, I just really want to keep this story at a slow pace. Nothing irritates me more than a good story that rushes to the end.

ShadowDragon357: Haha, I am so glad that I'm not the only one to like bartender/owner Sam. I feel like she's probably spent all her life hiding from her parents and looking for a place to hang out, so it would just come naturally to help other people find solace at her bar, in all its dark glory. Jazz and Sam will definitely butt heads a lot, but it's only because Jazz is overprotective of Danny and expects a lot out of him. Sam, on the other hand, is pretty lax about certain things, though she's still pretty responsible. Don't worry though, I like the idea of Jazz and Sam eventually getting past their differences like they did in the show.

elnine27: Aw, I hope I can do this story justice then. I have a soft spot for fluff, too.

Also, I have been going back and forth in deciding whether or not to keep this story rated T or M. Obviously with a bar-au, there is going to be drinking and I don't want to promote that for young readers. Drinking does not solve problems, but it can definitely make new problems. I just don't want to send the wrong message out. Besides that, my other concern has been the language because there's definitely going to be curing going on. Aside from that, I don't really plan on this story becoming sexual - for now, at least - and so I am on the fence on which rating works best. I honestly feel like T should work for now, considering how so many other fics are rated T and are much more "adult" in their own ways. I guess until I possibly, eventually, feel comfortable enough with writing out an explicit scene, the rating for this story will remain as T. Feel free to let me know your own thoughts on the matter.

"Life is an ever-shifting kaleidoscope – a slight change, and all patterns alter." – Sharon Salzberg


"Now, you want to tell me what's really bugging you?"

Had it not have been for Sam's question – or, more truthfully, the answer to said question – Danny would have found humor in the cliché scenario the two had found themselves in. Danny, a troubled guy dealing with personal stresses and not being sure how to handle them; and Sam, a pragmatic bartender ready to lay out advice while serving drinks. He probably would have made some sort of sarcastic or goofy comment about it, too, if not for all the responses swimming through his head.

Sam must have noticed his pause, as she leaned forward slightly on the counter and once again crossed her arms.

"Look, you don't have to answer that. You just seemed like you needed to vent about something that pissed you off, and I doubt it was just your sister marrying some jerk."

Danny refused to look at the woman before him. There was not a chance in hell that he was going to get that look from a complete stranger. Instead, his gaze remained on his drink, which was now sitting on the counter as his fingers tapped against the glass tentatively. He tried and failed to keep the small frown from his face as he was once again thinking about everything that had happened.

"It's nothing new or important, so don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried about it," the amethyst-eyed woman replied matter-of-factly.

He hadn't expected this type of response, and the slight surprise was enough for him to glance up just in time to see Sam move away to assist another customer with a re-fill on their beer.

Great, Fenton, just keep pushing everyone away. First your family, and now strangers that just want to help you. How immature can you be?

While Danny was busy chiding himself, he failed to notice that Sam had made her way back to her spot and was once again speaking to him. It wasn't until she nudged his shoulder that he looked up and saw her standing in front of him. He expected her to have that look, full of pity and concern, but instead her expression was one of irritation.

"Jeez, do you always space out and ignore people?"

"Uh, no, sorry. I just have a lot on my mind," he lamely replied while lifting his glass for another drink.

"Obviously. You were so zoned out that you completely ignored what I was saying."

"Yeah, sorry…" Danny one again apologized after taking a sip of his third – wait, fourth – drink.

Part of him was waiting for the buzz to kick in. Maybe then he'd be able to focus on something other than the mess he called his life. Placing the glass back on the counter, Danny waited for another refill from Sam. Instead, she stared at him expectantly, irritation clearly growing. It was then that Danny realized that Sam had said something before, and was probably waiting for him to snap out of it and respond. Awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, the halfa decided he'd rather find out what she was saying than to further her aggravation.

"Right, so what were you saying?"

The goth rolled her eyes while grabbing the glass and scooting it towards her side of the counter. Danny watched as she began sliding it back and forth on the counter between her hands, almost like a cat playing with a ball of yarn.

"I said that I'm not worried about it because I doubt it's that big of a deal. You're either overreacting or overthinking whatever is going on. Nothing is ever as bad as we make it out to be."

Danny wasn't sure to call her ignorant and be angry because she didn't know his struggles, or to relent and agree with her words because they actually made sense to him. However, being the stubborn guy that he was, Danny chose the former and his anger once again erupted as he growled under his breath and turned his head away.

"You have no right."

"Excuse me?"

"You have no right to downplay things when you don't even know what's going on."

"I'm not downplaying anything, Danny. I just think you should chill and realize it isn't even that bad. We all have the tendency to overreact sometimes. It's just another depressing part of being human."

Try being half ghost, he bitterly bit back before shifting his gaze back towards her amethyst eyes while narrowing his own blue orbs at the bartender.

"I'm not overreacting," he began while gripping the counter with his hands, "how would you feel if you flunked out of college TWICE and had to move back in with your parents – who, might I add, treat me as if I'm a child - at 24?! Not to mention that I don't even have a damn job and my bank tellers are probably laughing at me every time they see my bank statement."

Danny huffed in a rough mixture of annoyance and aggravation as he turned in his seat and continued. "Now I find out that my sister is marrying my childhood bully, on top of all this other shit. I'm just a loser waiting for one of those cartoon anvils to fall on my head – then I'd be all set."

While he planned to just slam some money on the counter and storm out, Danny soon found himself stumbling towards the floor and feeling slightly disoriented. Oh yeah, the vodka. Greeeeaaat. He barely managed to catch himself from faceplanting the ground, though with a little help.

"Easy there, tiger." Sam said as she made her way to him and allowed the slightly taller male to lean on her for support. "Man, you barely had anything and you're already tripping over your own two feet. I'm guessing that either you're extremely clumsy, or you just can't handle your liquor."

Danny only mumbled under his breath in response and got back to his seat. He could almost feel her eyes watching him, but he kept his head low and stared at the counter.

"Look, I know that this may go against my whole goth image, but with every grey cloud comes a silver lining. You just have to look for it." Normally the raven-haired male would have scoffed at such a cheesy and overused statement, but stopped when he felt a slender hand grabbing his own. He still refused to look up, but he also didn't interrupt her or move his hand away. Instead, he simply waited to see where she was going with this.

"So what if you flunked out of college? There's still so many things and opportunities for you in the world. Besides, if you really wanted to then you could always go back – maybe even do part time classes online. But if not, who cares? It's not the end of the world. Tons of people choose to not even attend college. I didn't, and I'm not a loser for it. Neither are you for flunking."

Okay, so that made Danny feel kind of better. He knew he could always go back, but he didn't see the point of it. Still, even though what she was saying made perfect sense, part of him wanted to just hold on to that anger and argue that without the proper education, he'd never be able to follow his dreams of working with NASA. Before he could even bring this up, Sam continued on with her speech.

"And besides," she began bitterly, "I doubt your parents are nearly as bad as mine… I know how lame it might feel to be stuck moving back home, but it's no big deal. You all just have to talk things out and get on the same page about some boundaries. They'll probably always see you as their little boy, but I doubt they're blind to the man you've become. Hell, maybe they just want to give you some sort of normalcy with this transition. And it's not like it's permanent. You have all the time in the world to save up and move out."

Once again, Sam's words were making sense, though Danny still refused to look up at her amethyst eyes. He just knew she'd probably be wearing that look, and he wanted not another person's pity. He was so damn tired of people looking at him like he was a wounded animal whenever he had to tell them about school and life in general. However, that didn't mean he would stay silent.

"Again, no job. How am I supposed to save up and move out when I don't even have a job to support myself with?"

Danny could hear many things in the bar, from the sounds of people chattering to the pulsing beat of the song that had just started playing in the background. Glasses clinking together, almost like windchimes on a breezy summer day echoed all around. Despite all these noises, Danny felt as if it had become too silent and finally looked up. His eyes started from the delicate hand that was still covering his, and trailed upwards to finally be met with those of a deep purple. He would have found it strange for Sam to suddenly become quiet in the middle of her speech, but he stopped himself from questioning her as he noted her thoughtful expression.

"You could work here."