A tossed class ring.

Despite all of their grievances and their dizzying relationship, Danny was always true to his word. As such, he wasn't late. He was sitting outside Sam's favorite coffee shop with two coffees in hand.

It had been months since Sam had seen him last.

She took in all the changes critically as she moved over to where he was seated. California had tanned his skin. His hair was its usually unruly self - despite the fact that it looked like Danny had attempted to wrangle it with gel, but strands of it were falling out of place, only making him look even more dashing. He was an inch taller and wearing black pants and a loose white tee shirt that draped along his lean muscle. Sam frowned. How dare he look this good.

When she got a few feet away he looked up, blinking at her. Green. His eyes were a glowing green– not blue. That caught her off guard for a moment.

"Sam," he greeted, standing up.

"Danny." As long as they were pointing out the obvious.

"You look great."

"Thanks." You too.

He pulled her chair out for her and Sam nearly winced at the stiff chivalry. Certainly things weren't this awkward between them?

"I take it black now." Sam mentioned, swirling the coffee around in the glass before taking a sip, "Ever since midterms last quarter."

"Right." Danny breathed, no doubt sensing the open hostility radiating off of her. For a moment he looked unsure as to how to proceed.

His eyes were blue. Sam frowned, wondering why she had mistaken them for green earlier. They were their normal blue now, and peering intently at her. She was suddenly glad she had spent the extra time to pick out a suitable outfit and put on her makeup with greater care than normal. He was giving her a look. Not quite the puppy-dog look he used to give Paulina, but related. It was something deeper though, there was a level of serious intensity to it. Almost... inhuman. It was almost like he wasn't looking at her. He was looking through her. After a moment he cleared his throat, "It's good to see you."

"So." Sam placed her coffee down on the table, "Why the sudden interest in me again?" She was never one to beat around the bush.

Danny finally tore his gaze away from her, down at the table.

"I've always been interested in you, Sam." He said quietly. His voice had a sad note to it.

"Shut it, Fenton." Sam frowned, unwilling to deal with his bullshit, "I can't believe I'm even talking to you right now. So tell me, why are you here?"

"Regardless of if we are dating or not, I need my best friend. I came to apologize."

"You're the one that broke it off with me." Sam reminded, sipping her scalding hot coffee and letting it burn her taste buds. She gritted her teeth, rolling her tongue along the ridges. "You're the one that said you needed space. I tried everything. I even almost boarded a plane to San Francisco to see you, but you shoved me away."

"Shit, Sam. I don't know what I'm doing. These last few months have been hard - I thought breaking things off with you was the right answer. I was wrong."

"What does that even mean?" Sam snapped, frustrated.

Danny, predictably, quieted.

Sam paused, watching him curiously. Most people thought Danny was incapable of dishonesty, but Sam knew better. Danny was a remarkably confident liar when he needed to be. How else did he keep his other persona a secret this long? But, she had seen guilt on his face enough times to recognize it instantly. Didn't mean she wanted to forgive him, but it made the blow of their breakup sting a little less.

"So, what happened?" Sam asked bluntly.

"What?"

"I mean, why did you break up with me? Isn't that what this meeting is all about? You explaining yourself?"

"I did it to protect you."

Sam rolled her eyes at the typical Danny answer. It always somehow came down to this. When would he ever learn Sam didn't need or want his protection?

"I'm perfectly capable of defending myself. And, if you haven't noticed, ever since I've left Amity Park the rate of life-threatening ghost attacks has dramatically dipped."

"No, Sam," Danny said quietly, tapping his fingers along the outline of the ceramic cup. "I needed to protect you from myself."

"What?" Sam asked, deadpanned.

Danny said nothing for a long moment, taking a small sip of his coffee. Distantly the sound chattering of students moving two and from across the adjacent lawn drifted across them, but it wasn't comforting to Sam. She frowned and peered at him again. He looked.. tired. He usually looked tired from his late night ghost hunting., but this wasn't the same.

He looked like brittle bones. Ancient. It wasn't a feeling that came to pass. It hung around like gum on a shoe, no matter how hard you tried to shrug it off. Sam told herself she didn't care if Danny didn't look okay. It wasn't her problem. It used to be her problem. She had liked when it had been her problem, because she had known she meant something to him. But, he had forcibly taken that from her.

"You don't get off just saying that and not explaining." She prompted.

"I know. Just- give me a second." Danny pinched the bridge of his nose for a long moment, "I had this all planned in my head."

"Danny." She warned after he made no further move.

"Alright." His fingers paused their drumming along his cup, "I think- At least.. I'm pretty sure... That... I'm the reason for all the ghosts, not the portal."

His eyes flicked up from his cup seriously.

"What are you talking about?"

"Listen. When did ghosts start attacking Amity Park?"

Sam felt that sinking feeling begin. She hated when he did this.

"After you turned the portal on."

"And...?" There was a little twitch of his mouth curving into an amused smirk. Sam knew what he wanted to her say. Irritation flashed through her. Her first instinct was to tell him he was wrong. It didn't make sense. But it did. Of course it did, in a weird way.

"...And after you became half ghost."

Danny nodded solemnly.

"But that doesn't prove anything." She leaned back away from him.

"How many ghost attacks have there been in Amity Park since I left?" Danny asked softly.

"I don't know."

"C'mon Sam. I know you still talk to my sister. She would have told you. Hell, she would have told me and I would have gone home."

"Fine," Sam conceded, "None. But that's because your parents promised to keep the portal locked up while you were away."

"I thought so too. For a while." The 'and then' hung in the air. Sam plucked it out from the space in front of them.

"And then?" Sam prompted. Not that Sam really knew much about paraphysics or multiple dimensions, but this whole portal thing seemed farfetched, even to her.

"And then ghosts started popping up in Berkeley." Danny stated.

"What?" Sam frowned. It was the first she had heard of this. Worry flashed through her at the thought of Danny by himself all the way across the country. She squashed it down inside of her and shoved it into a distant corner of her mind. It wasn't her job to worry about Danny anymore. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Danny waved a hand distractedly. "It was nothing I couldn't handle. But still, it made no sense to me."

"There could be a natural ghost portal. Maybe someone at the college even invented their own ghost portal."

"Ghost portals can't be made. There's only two portals that exist at this moment."

Sam's mouth dropped open. Had Danny lost his mind?

"What are you saying? You lived with one in your basement! Your own parents made it."

"Yes, but we never knew if it worked or not. Not for sure."

"It created you. Or, at least Danny Phantom. Isn't that proof enough that it works?"

"It's only proof that it electrocuted me, killed me for about ten minutes, and then shocked me again, reviving me."

"Isn't that enough?"

Danny shrugged, looking away from Sam for a long moment. She suddenly felt the vast chasm between them. There was something important that he hadn't told her– wouldn't tell her. At least not now anyways. Not for the first time she wondered if she truly knew him at all. She shivered suddenly as she felt his presence, like the night he had been zapped in the portal, drift across the table in a slow impending fog. Its weight and intensity made her uneasy. Danny turned to look at her as if he could read her like an open book. He almost looked like he was... was he sniffing?

"Whatever it did - I became half dead, half alive. A walking paradox and the bridge between two worlds that should never have been connected. I became something that shouldn't exist... at least not naturally." Danny said almost apologetically. Suddenly Sam felt guilty. It was just he gave off this feeling that sometimes took her off guard. It was always stronger when Danny felt threatened, angry, or... sad.

"Don't say that." Sam mumbled, anger leaving her for a moment, but she knew it was true. There was a certain kind of... unnatural unease that followed Danny wherever he went. Usually the feeling was masked. Danny hid it well from others except in moments of vulnerability, but still. Sam felt her heart ache at the implications of Danny's train of thought. He should exist. If anything his whole ordeal was her fault anyways. She had asked him to go inside. She had made a deal with him, that she would be there for him - no matter what - that they would figure it out together. But then he had gone off to California...

She swallowed, changing the subject. "So you think you're a living, walking, ghost portal?"

His eyes were looking into hers with such raw intensity it took her breath away. Green, glowing green again. There was no mistaking it this time. They were two pinpricks of neon acid.

"Yes." He answered succinctly. There was no trace of doubt.

Sam was silent for a long moment.

"Think about it, Sam. Why did ghosts always, always, show up wherever I was? Why wouldn't they go terrorize someone else in town? Hell– why even stay in Amity Park? How come no matter how many times we put them back in the portal, the next day they showed up again? How did they always escape? How is it that all ghosts already know who I am before we've ever met?"

"Maybe because ghosts tell other ghosts about you when they're in the portal? Maybe because the ghost portal in your house tethered them, kept them on a leash so they can't leave Amity?"

"The Fenton portal can't make ghosts manifest in-" Danny stumbled over his words for a moment, "the physical." He finished weakly.

Sam could feel them slip back into their bickering as easily as before. There really had been no time lost, she thought to herself.

"Danny, have you told your parents?" She snapped, the 'because we all know they're the experts' was implied.

"It doesn't matter if I tell them or not, it doesn't make it any less true. Nor is it controllable. At least, I don't think it is."

"Maybe you should tell people these things."

"Here I am. Telling you."

"So what? So what if you're a portal? We fought ghosts all through high school. Why does it matter if you're the reason they're here or the Fenton portal is the reason?"

"Yeah we fought ghosts through high school." Danny grated with a tinge of ire, "And you and Tucker nearly died– multiple times."

"Are we back to this argument? Danny– we had an agreement." Sam gritted her teeth, "Or have you forgotten? We're a team."

"Sam–" Danny shook his head lightly.

"Is this really the reason why you broke off from me? What were you afraid of? That if you kept seeing me ghosts would start attacking D.C.? Would that really have been so terrible? Besides, you have no proof."

"I have a lot of coincidences."

"Last time I checked coincidences weren't proof."

There was a moment of silence in which the pair of them glared at each other from across the table, hands clenched tightly around each other's coffee. Sam ground her in her mouth. She hadn't ground her teeth in months. Not since the last time she had seen him.

"How can you be a portal?" Sam said tiredly after a long moment. Really, if she was being honest with herself, Danny being a portal didn't bother her. What bothered her was that he still wasn't telling her the whole truth. He had only given her a bite.

"How can I be both alive and dead?" He countered sharply, the anger in his voice rattled the air around them. The liquid in Sam's hand trembled. Her coffee grew cold and she felt a thrill rush through her. It was enough to make her heart gallop wildly in her chest.

His gaze softened, green fading to blue as he gave an exhausted sigh, the tension rushing out of him.

"Sorry. I'll get you another one." He looked down at his own coffee, which was now frozen solid. When his hands came off of the cup there was the soft pop and crackle of ice breaking. He rubbed his fingertips together to dust some crystals off of the tips. Sam shivered, despite herself. Her tank top and jeans had been perfect for the almost-summer sun, but they did little to protect her against Danny's anger.

"It's fine." Sam stated stiffly, "Iced coffee is good."

Danny shook his head at himself. Sam had never seen him lose control like that, not over... irritation. Sure, he had nearly shattered the windows during their biggest fights, but it usually took a lot to rile him up to the point of his powers leaking out.

"So, you thought you would just run away. You thought you would lie to all of us instead of trust us to believe you. Is that really why you went to California? Over this?"

His eyes hardened.

"I went to Berkeley because they have one of the best astrophysics programs in the country." He said evenly.

"Convenient that it's hundreds of miles away." Sam retorted, "What a coincidence."

Danny peered at her for a long moment, eyes calculating, inhaling a breath.

"I really hurt you." He realized as he let the breath out. God, could he be this stupid? She felt emotion fill her and her eyes started to water. No– she would not cry.

"Of course you hurt me you stupid, dense, obtuse, ignorant boy! You broke up with me without any explanation!" Sam nearly yelled. The force of the accusation caused several people to glance up from their books and their magazines, coffee halfway to open mouths to stare at the two of them in surprise. "I almost– I thought I–" She stammered for a moment. That four letter word got stuck somewhere in her throat, choking her.

Danny didn't tell her to shut up, though. All his attention was, deliciously, on her for the moment. He was almost was enthralled by her anger. His eyes were wide and focused.

"And now you have the audacity to just come back and ask if, after everything, we can be friends again?" Sam slammed her iced coffee onto the table, "Well, Fenton, maybe I don't want to be friends with you. Maybe I don't want to see you ever again."

Sam knew that this was her chance to dump her remaining coffee right in that handsome face of his. It was perhaps her only shining opportunity thus far in her life to reenact that kind of triumphant moment. She wondered briefly what kind of look he would have moments after the impact. Would it make her feel better? She knew, without a doubt, that it would make her day– hell, it would make her week. But, she still cared about him. They were inexplicably intertwined, despite her cutting words.

In the end she pushed the cup towards him and stood, spinning on the heels of her boots, and stormed off along the walkway. It seemed silly that her own stubbornness and wounded pride would have her walking from the very person she longed so piteously to see. Some weaker part of her hoped he would follow her.

She had made it a good fifty feet down the walkway before a cold hand grabbed her by the crook of her elbow.

"Sam— wait."

She spun, curling her hand into a fist, prepared to smash it right into his face– but it passed through. She almost fell when the force of the punch had met nothing but air, but Danny caught her.

"Give me a fair fight," She hissed, but the venom in her voice was dulled. She felt much of the anger whooshing out of her at the feeling of his hand against her skin.

"Okay, fine." Danny gave her a soft grin, "Punch me."

He let go of her arm and Sam felt it turn into a noodle, lying uselessly at her side. Her body betrayed her and she just stared at him blankly, all the fight gone.

His smile seemed to falter as he watched her, taking in her teary eyes and her dejected stance. "I fucked up, didn't I?" He asked her.

For some reason this statement pissed her off more than anything. Suddenly Sam was flung out of her depressive coma. She gritted her teeth and shoved him in the chest away from her, hard.

"Shit—" He stumbled back a few times.

Sam glared at him. He stared back. They were at a standoff. Around them students looked at them strangely and went about their business. The world kept turning.

Finally, Danny raised his hands up in front of his chest. It should be a sign of retreat, but Sam knew that Danny could blast her apart if he wanted to.

"You're still wearing it?" Danny asked after a moment, pleased.

Sam looked down at her hand, still clenched in a fist, class ring shining in the sunlight. She reached down and tugged it off.

"Been waiting to give it back." She muttered, not looking at him as she tossed it over.

"Sam.." Danny whispered, hurt and guilt mixing as he ran out of words to say and plucked the ring off of the grass.

Sam avoided his gaze.

"Friends don't give other friends class rings." She stated softly.

Danny was silent as he watched her, but she didn't leave. She finally looked up at him pointedly. Sometimes he could be so freaking dull. She watched the gears whirling around in his head, the confused look on his face. He had assumed she would have left by now, and this time he wouldn't have gone after her. But she stayed, and she was watching him expectantly.

"Friends don't give friends class rings." He repeated, realization dawning as he gave a small sad smile, hope flickering in his eyes.

"I missed you too, Danny." Sam whispered, "But I swear to god, I'm through with your hero bullshit. I'm through with all the lying. We are all supposed to be in this together. I promised you that night that I'd be there for you, no matter what, that we'd figure this out. I'm done dating you until you realize that, until you start trusting me enough to tell me what's going on."

"There's..." Danny paused, picking his words carefully, "A lot of things I need to tell you - and Tucker. Things I should have told you guys years ago."

Of course there was. Sam wasn't so stupid to know that Danny wasn't telling the whole truth.

"I'm still fucking pissed at you. Don't think this makes things even." Sam continued, her hands balling into fists again. Danny glanced down at them, as if expecting a punch. With a little bit of satisfaction Sam realized he would let her - if she wanted to. Not that she wanted to.

"Rightfully so." Danny nodded.

"I can't believe I'm even giving you another chance." She whispered to herself. From the look on Danny's face she could tell that he couldn't believe it either. But really, who was she kidding? Danny and her had been nearly inseparable since kindergarden. Despite the fact that their romantic endeavors almost always ended in spectacular emotional explosions, they were undoubtedly two halves to a whole. She hadn't even realized the hollowness she had been feeling - not until he was there to fill it up.

"Friends." He whispered, wanting to hear her say it in a non-cryptic way.

She nodded exhaustedly.

"You're going to be the death of me." She mumbled.

She didn't notice the odd look that passed across his face at her words.

Jules spun in her chair as Sam and Danny moved through the front door of the apartment. Her long blond hair flowed around her and her smile was bright, expectant, before she noticed Danny's presence and it fell right off her face as quickly as a bowling ball from a sixty foot building.

"Hello." Her expression was guarded, but the waves of hostility were impossible to miss. "Danny, isn't it? I didn't expect to see you here. Its been what - six months?"

Sam felt Danny shift awkwardly behind her. Jules affixed Sam with a very intense searching look, clear disapproval shining behind her light brown eyes. Really, it was none of Jules's business if Danny and her were on semi-speaking terms again. Then again, Jules was over protective to a fault.

"Jules." Danny greeted politely, wisely knowing when to bow out.

"I was just going to the library," Jules said breezily, getting up and collecting her things, throwing them haphazardly into her backpack with enough force to break apart the bindings of the books. "I'll be gone for two hours." She gave a pointed look to Sam.

Sam internally groaned at the terribly veiled threat. Jules was like one of those small dogs that didn't quite realize their own size in comparison to others. Of course, Jules didn't even know the half of it. She had no clue what Danny was fully capable of. Sam winced as Jules pushed her way past Danny, bumping into him with her small shoulder. She stormed out of the apartment, the door giving an ominous rattle as it clashed shut.

"She's going to be mad at you for a very long time for the way you broke up with me." Sam noted.

Danny was gazing at her, eyes troubled.

"So, when are you heading home?" Sam moved across the apartment and into the kitchen. Danny followed her almost like a puppy. This whole situation felt unreal to Sam. Here Danny was, after six months of ignoring her he had returned, and she had just let him waltz right back in with no repercussions. Well, not exactly no repercussions, she noted, looking at the class ring in his hand.

"I'm done with finals," he said distractedly. "I'm on my way home."

"On your way?" Sam asked, settling down into one of the barstools. Danny leaned against the counter. Sam watched as Danny picked out his words.

"I'm actually stopping by Vlad's before I go back to Amity Park."

Sam felt her back stiffen at the casual way Danny mentioned seeing his archenemy.

"Vlad?" She felt alarm bells go off, "Why?"

"I need to ask him a few things." Danny shifted uncomfortably the way he often did when he was holding back vital information. Still, he was omitting the truth.

"About you being a portal?" Sam guessed. Danny nodded tiredly.

Sam quickly thought through what he was saying.

"Because, if you're one, then he's one as well." She remembered what he had said before. That there were only two ghost portals in existence at this moment of time. Of course. Danny and Vlad, both two half-ghosts.

"But what good would that do you?" She frowned, "If you knew he was one or not?"

"It would help me better understand what's going on." Danny frowned, clearly not entirely happy with the idea of intentionally going to Vlad for help, "To regain more control over it. Maybe he already knows about it and has more information."

Danny's face was pale and he was silent for a long moment. Sam knew better than to interrupt this train of thought. She could see that Danny had something else he needed to say - something that was harder to say, but in the end he slumped.

"I have a lot more I need to explain to you - and to Tucker and Jazz. But it can wait until after we're all back home and together again."

"No more secrets, Danny." Sam reminded him, "Or else I'm done. I promise you that the next time I tell you I'm never seeing you again I'll mean it."

"I have no doubt." Danny smiled wryly.

Sam grinned a grin fit for a vampire.

Danny shivered and couldn't help but believe her. Sam was a wonderfully scary woman.

"I actually need to take off. My flight leaves in a few hours." He frowned. "I'm sorry, Sam. I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. That was the whole point of... the last six months. I promise I'll explain everything and answer all your questions when you get home."

They both stood there awkwardly in the kitchen before Danny stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her. Not tightly, but his muscles were tense and impossible to try and fight. Sam knew that if she tried to push him off though, he would back off instantly. It wasn't a romantic hug at all, it was a I'm so glad that you're here kind of hug. There was a small ounce of desperation in it.

Despite herself she found her arms looping around his slim waist. She was surprised to feel he had gained some weight. Usually Danny was skinny as a twig– almost unhealthily so. He was tall enough that his nose was buried into the top of her head and she felt his lungs expand as he breathed her in. She felt the shiver run through him before he let her go and stepped away.

As she gazed up at him she saw his pupils contracted, swallowing his irises, which were a strange swirl of blue and green. She made a mental note to ask him about that. That and a billion other questions she had for him.

"See you soon?" He asked, his voice hopeful, almost disbelieving that she was even speaking to him again.

"Yeah." Sam breathed, "But you have a lot of explaining to do."

He nodded in agreement. Finally, Sam thought to herself, some answers.

And then she was showing him to the door, watching his retreating back walk down the across the paved avenue until he vanished. Her heart pounded in her chest as she stared at the spot he had been in. Had this entire day been a dream? Sam looked down at the white tan line where the class right once had been on her right hand - the only solid proof that the last five hours had actually transpired.

Despite everything, she felt elated. She rubbed the spot where the ring hand been over and over as she shut her door. Sure, Danny had disappeared from her life for months, he had hurt her feelings, but he had come back. She had seen the honesty in him when he had apologized. He was truly remorseful– and conflicted about something. He had wandered from them, but Sam couldn't help but accept him back into her life. After all - she didn't know any differently.

More importantly - she didn't want to know what life would be like without him in it. She had had a glimpse of it for sixth months and it had been utterly boring.

Edited November, 2014