Hello and welcome to the next chapter! I found out how to use this site's awesome line breaks, so no more awkward dotted line! Yay!

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or anything else you recognize.

Danny's POV

I jumped awake, shocked from my slumber by a loud noise. I wasn't sure if it had been thunder or something else, but whatever it was had caused my ears to ring. I rubbed them, trying to clear up the stuffy feeling. At least I felt a little bit less tired now.

"Hey!" came the noise again, this time distinguishable as a human voice. Wait—who was yelling in my bedroom? It didn't sound like Jazz. I blinked my eyes a few times, trying to focus as I remembered where I was. The hard wood below me did the trick—I was half-lying on a branch, slumped against the thick trunk of the willow tree just outside Sam's window.

I sat up straight and looked into her room, alarmed by what I saw. Sam was standing at her window, eyes looking straight at me! She had one hand on the windowsill, her posture tense. I gasped, and then clamped my mouth shut, hoping that she hadn't heard. She couldn't be looking at me—I was always careful to stay invisible when I was spying on her. I relaxed against the tree again as I realized that she must just be looking out the window.

"Hey," she said again, this time a bit quieter. Was she talking to herself? "Can you hear me?" The way she seemed to be looking at me gave me the creeps, so I decided it was time to leave for the day. I stood up on the branch and prepared to fly away, when Sam spoke again, "Don't leave. Are you a…a ghost?"

"Huh?" I said stupidly, shocked into speech by the mention of the word 'ghost'. "You can see me?" I looked down at myself and quickly realized two things—I wasn't invisible, and Sam definitely could see me. And now I'd gone and talked to her! A well of panic began to rise within me as I wondered how I had gone visible in the first place—I must have drifted into a deep sleep at some point during my nap and lost control of myself. Thank goodness I hadn't reverted back to my human form at least!

"Obviously. What are you doing outside my window?" she asked. Her voice wasn't harsh, but she didn't exactly sound scared either.

"Uh…nothing," I muttered. What could I say? Oh, you know, just dropping by to spy on you for awhile! So, how's it going?

"Are you a ghost?" she asked again.

"Uh…yeah?" I replied, hoping my brain would kick into gear at any minute and come up with something brilliant to say that could explain all this away. She looked at me silently for a moment before going on.

"What are you doing in my tree?" she asked, rephrasing her earlier question.

"Napping," I replied, still feeling like an idiot.

"Ghosts nap?" she asked, and I thought I heard a hint of laughter in her voice, but it was probably just sarcasm, or maybe even fear. I hadn't heard Sam laugh once the whole time I'd been watching her.

"I was tired," I said.

"Of course," she said. "And since this is just a dream, I think I'll invite you into my room. You can resume your nap in here, if you want," she offered, her violet eyes contrasting harshly against the dark bags under them.

"Dream?" I asked, echoing her words. Was Sam actually inviting me into her room? Did she really think she was just dreaming? Maybe this was the get-out-of-jail-free card I was looking for! I could just fly away now and let her think I was the product of a crazy dream.

"Well, now that you mention it…" she pinched herself on the arm. "I don't really think this is a dream. I just don't know what to think."

"Me either," I replied honestly. If she didn't really think she was dreaming, why wasn't she afraid? What should I do? Why hadn't I left when I had the chance?

"Ghosts aren't real," she said, her voice almost a whisper.

"I should go…" I stuttered.

"You don't have to," she said, seeming to come out of a daze. She began talking quickly. "I just wanted to know what you were doing. Was this your old house? Were you just coming by to see how it's being treated? Or do you haunt it or something? A haunted house in this boring old town! I haven't really thought of this house as being old or creepy, but I haven't been out of my room much, so…" she trailed off.

"No, I didn't live here and I don't haunt anything," I said. Then I winced at my stupidity. She'd just given me the perfect excuse to be sitting in her tree and I hadn't even realized it!

"What, are you Casper the friendly ghost or something?" she asked, beginning to look a little more sure of herself.

"No," I replied.

"You weren't sitting there, planning to come in and kill me or possess me then, were you? Can you even do that?" she asked.

"Uh…no. Well, yes. I mean…" I stuttered. It was so strange to actually be talking to this girl that I had been watching for weeks now. It almost didn't feel real.

"Which one?" she asked, her eyes widening a bit.

"No, I wasn't going to kill you or anything like that," I replied. "Yes to the second half of that question—I could over take over someone's body if I wanted to."

"Don't you want to?" she asked. "You're like that headless horse guy, except out to get a whole new body or something, right?"

"No!" I yelled, really wishing that I had left. "I was just taking a nap. Your tree is…comfortable."

"Comfortable?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "It doesn't look very comfortable."

"Well it is. Look, I'll just leave now. I'm sorry that I bothered you," I held up both hands in a defensive gesture.

"No, you don't have to go," she said again, suddenly looking sad. What was wrong with her? I just looked at her, feeling more confused by the second. Suddenly, she extended her hand. "I'm Sam. It's short for Samantha, but hardly anyone calls me that."

"Er…Danny," I said, offering my hand in return. "Short for Daniel, but no one calls me that." The corners of her lips turned up a bit as she tried to grip my hand, surprised when hers just passed through.

"I guess that's not going to work," she said.

"Oh, hold on," I replied, pausing to make my hand more solid. "Try again." I extended my hand again, and this time she shook it for a few seconds before letting go.

"That's weird," she said. "The way you can be…solid or not?"

"Intangibility," I offered. She nodded.

"And you're cold," she said.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Do you feel cold, like to yourself, or…"

"A little bit," I said, which was true.

"Come in?" she offered again, stepping back from the windowsill, and I still didn't know what to say.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah," she said. "As long as you're sure you're not going to possess me or something."

"Okay," I agreed after a minute. I floated through the window and came to rest next to her on the plush carpet.

Sam's POV

I had a ghost in my room, standing next to my windowsill, and I didn't know what to think. I knew I wasn't dreaming—everything felt too real to be a dream, but half of me thought I must be hallucinating. I remembered reading somewhere that a lack of human contact will eventually lead to insanity; I just thought it would take a lot longer than a month and a half to set in. The other half of me hoped that I wasn't imagining him. That part of me thought it was kind of…neat that I had a ghost standing in my room. I'd always been interested in the paranormal, and I'd read plenty of novels about ghosts; now here was my chance to actually talk to one. I just never would have suspected Amity Park of being haunted, not even in my wildest dreams.

On that thought, it was stranger still that this did not appear to be the ghost of a football star or bodybuilding prep. The ghost…Danny, looked more like the skinny, nerdy type. After all, he was wearing what appeared to be a black laboratory hazmat suit, and his white hair had an Einstein-esque look about it that made his green eyes stand out. He looked young, probably around my age.

"How old are you?" I blurted, unable to control the verbal diarrhea that I seemed to have picked up after seeing him in my tree.

"Uh, fourteen," he replied, looking nervous. The ghost looked nervous!

"Fourteen? Really or is that how old you were when…" I clamped my mouth shut, alarmed by what had almost come out. What kind of question is that to ask someone?

"When what?" he asked, looking confused. A second passed, and I was unsure of what to say, but then he seemed to get what I was asking and went on, "Oh. Oh. Uh, no. I'm really fourteen. You?"

"I'm fourteen too," I replied.

"Oh. Do you have cancer?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" the question alarmed me. "No. Why? You're not the ghost of death or something, are you, here to bring me bad news?"

"No…" he replied, though it looked as if he were considering the idea.

"Good. Then why'd you ask me something like that?" I asked.

"I…I don't know," he stammered. "You just don't look so good." He visibly cringed as he spoke.

"You're not exactly Mr. Hotstuff yourself, you know!" I couldn't help but retort. Who was he to tell me that I looked bad? Anger flared within me, and I no longer cared that he was a ghost and could possibly hurt me if he got mad.

"No—I, I didn't mean it like that!" he said. "It's just… Never mind. Sorry."

"Good," I replied, my anger dying down a bit.

"It's just the dark circles under your eyes, and you sleep a lot, and…"

"What did you say?" I asked, mad again. "I sleep a lot? How do you know what I do?"

"Um…well…" he mumbled.

"Have you been watching me?" I asked, furious. All those times I'd changed clothes in my bedroom, the private stuff I wrote in my journal, the conversations with Mac… A ghost had been watching all of that?

"Kind of…" he took a step back and put his hands up again.

"Why?" I asked, almost hoping he'd have some kind of valid reason so I wouldn't have to try out my hand-to-hand combat skills on a paranormal being.

"I don't know. I heard about your family moving in and I guess I just wanted to see what you were like," he replied. His voice sounded pleading, and a new thought formed in my mind: what if he's just as lonely as I am? I certainly hadn't seen any other ghosts around, and what human in their right mind would befriend a ghost? The way he'd asked me if I could see him earlier made me wonder if maybe most people couldn't. Maybe I was the only one who could see him. A sudden surge of sympathy came over me and I didn't know what to say.

"Oh," I finally replied after a minute.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

"It's okay," I replied. "So…you've been watching me for quite a while now?"

"Uh…I guess so," he said, looking guilty.

"How did you come up with the conclusion that I have cancer?" I asked.

"Why don't you ever leave your room?" he asked, avoiding my question.

"None of your business," I snapped, feeling a bit defensive again. "I mean… I don't know. I just don't like this town."

"How do you know, if you've never even set foot outside since you moved in?" he asked.

"Trust me, I know," I replied.

"Okay," he said.

"Did you live here, or did you come here from somewhere else?" I asked, curious.

"I live here," he replied.

"Did you like it?" I asked.

"I guess so. It's alright," he said.

"Are you the only ghost in Amity Park?" I asked.

"Uh…kind of," he said. "Ghosts are usually only in the ghost zone, but once in the while one gets out and then…"

"Then what?" I asked.

"I don't know. They have to go back," he said.

"But not you?" I asked. "What is the ghost zone?"

"Are we playing Twenty Questions or something?" he asked, beginning to look annoyed.

"No," I said.

"Seems like it. Anyway, it's getting late. I actually need to go now," he said, slowly inching toward the window.

"Can you come back?" I asked.

"Um, maybe. I don't know…" he replied.

"Please?" I asked, feeling pathetic, but I was so lonely and he was kind of interesting, in a ghostly, creepy, and apparently stalkerish way.

"Well, I—I guess so," he said.

"Tomorrow?" I asked.

"Okay," he replied.

"Bye Danny," I said.

"Bye." He looked at me for a minute, and then flew out my window. I looked out and watching him go soaring into the distance. Another chill ran down my spine at the sight of him, though this time not necessarily from fear. Maybe I'd finally found the one person—ghost—worth getting to know in this horrible town.

... … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Danny's POV

When I landed in my room and changed back to human form, my heart was racing a million miles an hour. I'd got to meet Sam! And I'd made a complete idiot out of myself: I admitted that I had been spying on her and I asked her inappropriate questions. Do you have cancer? Come on!

But she wanted me to come back. I didn't know if I should or not, but I'd said I would, so I would definitely think about it. First, I had to decide what to tell her. I certainly couldn't admit that I was a halfa. I knew she wouldn't tell anyone, but still…I couldn't take that chance. As far as everyone in the world apart from Tucker and me knew, there was no such thing as a ghost-human hybrid. At least if it leaked that a ghost had been visiting Sam, it wouldn't blow my cover. Some people believed in ghosts, after all, just look at my parents. A ghost sighting wouldn't bring any extra suspicions on me or the town, but talk of a half-ghost would.

I sat down on my bed and went over the events of the day, silently mulling over what to tell her and making sure I would have my story straight in case I did go back to see her again. I'd started the day exhausted, but now I was wide awake and practically a nervous wreck. I sighed. It had been a hard, exciting day.

Please review. I hope you don't think Sam and Danny were too out of character even for my AU in this chapter. I wanted them to be friends, but at the same time I know Sam probably wouldn't take too kindly to a ghost spying on her. I hope it was okay. Ugh, I had a hard time with this chapter. Hopefully the next few will be easier to write! Thanks again to all of my reviewers so far! :)