"Prom is this week dude, and you still haven't asked anyone?"
"No, I haven't. The only reason I'm even going is because my parents already bought me a new tux."
"Aw come on Danny," Sam said, pulling on her large black army jacket. "Prom's one of those things all high schoolers go through; it's supposed to be fun."
"I thought you were into 'doing your own thing' and going against the 'expectations of society'?" Danny said with a pointed look at his ultra-recyclo vegetarian friend.
"I am, but it's just…" Sam blushed lightly and glanced at her boots. "I mean if we went, I thought it'd be fun, you know. Even with all the stupid dresses and suits and stuff…" Sam laughed nervously, glancing back up to gauge Danny's reaction.
Danny sighed. "Great, even you're into this…" he ran a hand threw his messy hair. "I guess you're right though. If all three of us go as a group, it won't be too bad."
Sam's smile fell but before she could say anything, Tucker cut in with an indignant, "Sorry man, but remember, I'm bringing Allison."
"You were serious about that? I thought you were just kidding," Danny asked, closing his locker.
"Hey, I can get a date! I may not have had as many girlfriends as you, Mr. Fenton but I haven't had as many failure in romances either." Sam and Danny glared at Tucker who flushed and asked, "Too soon?"
Sam elbowed Tucker in the ribs and turned to Danny. "So you wanna hang out with us today? We were planning on hitting the movies and then scour the park for any ghostly menaces. You know, like old times."
Danny shook his head. "Today's my day to go training with Vlad."
"Ugh, again? Dude, you've been over there all week because of Dani. When's Tucker and Sam time?"
Danny shrugged off Tucker's comment and started out the school.
"He's right Danny, one afternoon isn't going to hurt," Sam said helpfully, falling in line with the half ghost.
"What happened to 'Vlad's evil', 'Vlad can't be trusted', or whatever it is you two are always complaining about?" Danny said.
"It's all true," Tucker said, with a shrug of his thin shoulders. Danny scowled.
"But we miss you. You're usually busy on the weekends, and now even during the week you're constantly away," Sam said.
"Yeah…it's almost like you're leading some sort of double life…" Tucker mused suspiciously and then laughed. Danny knew he was just kidding, but he couldn't help the guilty churn in his stomach. Leading a double life as Danny Phantom was hard enough to keep secret from his parents and peers, but now adding this secret life as Vlad's boyfriend from the two people whom he was supposed to share everything with ate away at him all the time.
Maybe spending some time with them wouldn't be too bad, Danny mused. He did miss hanging out with his friends. And hanging out and just doing boring teen things would definitely distract him from—
"Vlad can hold off on his schemes for one afternoon. Just leave Dani and Vlad alone for a day and check on them tomorrow. It'll be fun!" Danny's mind whirled and his heart clenched. Leave them…alone? That was bad, way bad. Danny couldn't help it anymore; he was jealous! Which was completely ridiculous! Dani was his cousin! And she's only twelve! Well technically she was supposed to be like fourteen right now, which was the same age Danny met Vlad, and Danny was still a teen which didn't seem to bother Vlad much, so dating a little younger might not be too—
"AGH!" Danny exclaimed, putting his hands in his hair. He needs to stop thinking like this! Vlad loved him! No one else! He's just helping with Danielle, that's it!
"Uhh..you ok, man?"
Danny shook his head and then nodded quickly. "Yeah. I've been kind of off this week… hanging out with you guys today might actually be a good idea. I need the break, you know?"
"Awesome!" his friends exclaimed.
As they all bustled down the street, talking about which movie to buy, how much money they all had, what candies to buy…Danny was plotting.
I'll spend the day here in Amity Park. If nothing's going on, Vlad will call or text when I don't show up. I'll go over tomorrow and see that everything is normal. I'll relax and get these stupid feelings out of my head. Right, that's a good plan.
Danny smiled to himself and vowed to enjoy his day.
…
Danny was not enjoying his day. Well, he was. These were his best friends, hanging out with them was always fun, from Sam's arguments about animal rights all the way to Tucker's bragging of meat connoisseur-ism. The three of them went to the movies and saw an awesome action movie about a dude with a six pack and a handlebar mustache fighting an evil terrorist group. Afterwards they headed to Sam's house instead of the park to go bowling. Sam's grandmother beat them with a perfect score. Now they were all lazing it out on her couch, playing video games.
None of that was the problem. The problem was that Vlad hadn't called or texted. All day. It was driving Danny mad. The man couldn't be so busy that he couldn't bother to say hey. Or greetings. Salutations. I love you Daniel, come here now so we can make sweet love all night. But no, nothing. Not a single ring.
Danny tried to calm himself, he really did. He didn't want to become one of those obsessive boyfriends, always calling and panicking, getting jealous over the littlest things. He wanted to trust Vlad. But mixed with Danny's emotions, his slightly low self-esteem, the rocky passed with his boyfriend, the fact that Dani was an exact replica of Danny and his friends constant complaints that Vlad was evil…it was getting harder and harder to keep his head high and his thoughts calm.
"Danny, you okay? Tucker just creamed you for like the fourth time," Sam asked by Danny's ear. The ghost boy blinked and stared at the large screen flashing PLAYER TWO WINS! in bright colors.
"Oh…my bad," Danny said, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"Gimme that," Sam said with an exasperated smile. She took the controller from his hands and clicked replay. "You look exhausted. Rough day with classes or something?"
"More like a rough week…" Danny muttered.
"See, Vlad is still evil! He's keeping you busy all week, making you tired so when he lands his big attack, you'll be too exhausted to stop him!" Tucker exclaimed from the floor, furiously pressing buttons. "It's kind of brilliant actually. Teaching you all kinds of tricks and powers every week, but you'll be too tired to use them when it's really needed. Talk about irony…"
"Oh drop it Tuck, stop trying to freak Danny out." Sam said mildly. She inclined her head towards Danny, not taking her eyes from the screen. "What kind of stuff does he teach you anyway?" she asked, casually leaning against Danny as her character attacked Tucker's mercilessly.
The proper way to beg in bed, Make-out 101, Ghost sex, How to keep a secret boyfriend from your family and friends…the list goes on and on. Mostly just how to complete stress me out and make me completely jealous… Danny didn't feel like going into details.
"Just all the tricks he's learned over the past twenty-something years," Danny said vaguely. Probably not a complete lie…"But it's not the training that got me tired, it's just like whole thing with Dani. I'm worried about her. What if she can't get fixed?"
"Or what if Vlad actually is still evil and ends up experimenting on her?" Tucker said casually.
Sam kicked his back and paused the game. "Look Danny, all joking aside, we trust you. You trust Vlad, so we believe he won't hurt her. And even if the guy is crazier than the Mad Hatter, he's smart. He'll figure something out."
Danny blinked, surprised by his more protective friend actually saying something decently nice about Vlad. His mind itched in suspicion at her sudden trusting air, when Sam suddenly grabbed Danny's hand and squeezed.
Something in Danny's chest broke at the familiar gesture. It made Danny want to reveal everything; his relationship with Vlad, his worries about Dani and Vlad, his concerns, all of it. He was tired of lying and he wanted his friends to help him. He wanted them back. He wanted everything to be okay again.
Danny shook his head slightly and forced the lump in his throat down with great effort, forcing the feelings down with the effort of stopping a dam with your bare hands. Finally Danny was able to nod and squeeze Sam's hand back, smiling at her.
"Thanks Sam. That really helps," he said and his best friend smile broadly back. Tucker glanced at their hands a moment and then turned back to the screen.
"Unpause it girl, I was just about to destroy your fort!" Tucker complained. Sam blinked; she had been staring at Danny with a silly grin. She released Danny's hand reluctantly and unpaused the game. Danny laughed as ten seconds later Sam had managed to destroy both Tucker's fort and all his recruits, effectively killing his character and winning. It felt good to laugh again after so much teenage angst.
After a few rounds, Danny played against Sam. She beat him at first but now that Danny was in a better mood, he managed to beat her three times afterwards. She yelled at him in mock anger, accusing him of somehow using his ghost powers to cheat. He laughed and denied, though his eyes flashed bright green at her.
Danny didn't check his phone again that afternoon.
…
Danny sat down at his desk, scribbling furiously at his notebook, math book open beside him. He sighed. He wished it was the weekend and he were able to stay with his friends all night, just laughing and eating junk. But this weekend is the prom, Danny's mind reminded him and the teen groaned.
He stared at the numbers and letters on the paper. Nothing that he'd just wrote made any sense. Math was more of his parent's thing, something he obviously hadn't inherited from them. They were busy in the lab tonight, so he couldn't ask them for help. He glanced at his phone in the corner of the desk.
Still nothing from Vlad. He must be busy. He wouldn't have time to help Danny with silly math questions.
Something pulled in Danny's chest. He wanted to hear Vlad's voice suddenly. It was so physical, this longing, that Danny hadn't realized he'd already grabbed his phone and scrolled down to Vlad's number.
Now that he was home in his room, Danny felt alone again. He felt like this more and more often ever since Jaz left from college. His parents were always busy, his friends he only saw during the day…plus, with all the secrets, he had to keep them all at arm's length. For a while now, Vlad was the only one who could take all the loneliness away. And right now, Danny felt alone.
The phone rang once, twice and three times. Danny's heart beat with each ring, anxiety burning in his mind. Finally the rings ended and Vlad's voice mail answered.
Hello, this is Vlad Masters. I'm either in a meeting or watching a Packer's game. Please leave me a message so I can attempt to reach you again. Beeep.
Danny snapped his phone shut. He glanced to the window. It was dark already. Danny stood, throwing all his books and notebooks into his backpack. He threw it over his shoulder, transformed, and turned invisible. He flew downstairs and slipped passed his parents into the ghost portal.
"What's his deal?" Danny muttered to himself. "I just want to talk to him." A text, a call, anything. Usually Vlad would get to Danny by now. Was he being clingy and needy? He hadn't bothered Vlad all day, and this was a partially legitimate excuse. He didn't want to fail math. Just a few questions, solve an example or two so Danny really understood the problems, and then he'd leave. Maybe a little repeat of the other day under Vlad's desk…At the opening of the Master's ghost portal, Danny paused.
All this way, just for math troubles…Geez Fenton, a little desperate huh? Danny sighed. He was never good with relationships. After Paulina, Valerie, and Sam…he still didn't know how to act. He was clueless. But he came all this way…
With his heart pounding, he peeked his head in. Normally Danny felt so comfortable just stopping by Vlad's…now he felt like a nuisance.
Vlad was in the lab. Geez, does he ever rest? Danny thought, and then chastised himself mentally. He's doing this for Dani!
Speaking of which, she was there as well, holding her hands out parallel to the ground, her legs spread. Vlad stood by her, silently attaching wires to her wrists, neck, temples, legs, and neck. He walked over to the computer and clicked a button.
Danny watched silently, his head still invisible.
Vlad silently read the computer, his dark eyebrows crinkled in concentration.
"Well? What does it say?" Dani asked, her voice hesitant.
Vlad blinked and then sighed loudly. He banged his gloved hand on the computer and Dani jumped. Danny was about to fly in, thinking that in his anger Vlad might snap at Dani or maybe even hit her. Vlad could have a nasty temper.
But as Vlad whirled to face Dani, he yanked off all the wires and fell to his knees before her. Danny's eyes widen and so did Dani's.
"I'm so sorry, Danielle. This is much more complicated than it first seemed," he muttered, so low that if it wasn't for Danny's enhanced ghost senses, he wouldn't have heard it. "But I swear I'm going to fix you."
Dani nodded and Vlad threw his arms around the child, holding her close. "I love you, Danielle," Vlad whispered, his voice laced with grief and emotion. "…so much. I'm going to fix this…no matter what."
Danny gasped and flew backwards, his head retracting from the portal. He floated for what seemed hours, staring at the ghost portal before him that lead to Danny's worst nightmares. He blinked and trembled, his heart trying to catch breath.
Silently, Danny turned and flew back home, blinking rapidly and trying to erase those words from his mind. His heart felt like it had been swallowed in a cold blackness. He'd felt this before, this heart ache…but never like this. It was unbearable and shattering and numbing. What was Danny going to do now?
Oh wow, I'm so sorry. Its been way too long and honestly, i don't have any excuses. -.- Thanks so much for those still sticking around; finals are this week and then winter break, so i will be able to focus on getting this story finished for you guys! ^^ please comment and follow, honestly, the feedback helps me to get these chapters out faster! xD Thank you, have a nice night!