Danny blinked and opened his eyes. The room was dark and unfamiliar to him. Immediately alert, he sat up and scanned his surroundings. As his eyes adjusted, Danny could make out shapes around him. He breathed a sigh of relief. He was in Sam's room. So that on the floor must be Sam.

Feeling guilty for having to do it, Danny reached out and woke his friend. She sat up so fast that the ghost boy had to quickly pull back, or risk a broken nose.

'Danny!' Sam gasped. 'Don't do that!'

He smiled sheepishly. 'Sorry. Could I get a glass of water?'

Sam rolled back over, away from him. 'Of course. You didn't have to wake me. Just be quiet- my parents don't know you're here.'

'I'll be dead silent,' Danny joked. 'They won't hear me.'

He felt energized, ready for anything. He could get a glass of water, easy. Going intangible, Danny floated down through the bed and started looking for the kitchen. It took a while- Sam's house looked different at night- but he eventually found the room he was searching for.

Deciding not to open any cupboards, in case the hinges made a noise, Danny reached through the doors and grabbed a glass. He turned it intangible, also, then brought it out. Staring at the tap, Danny thought about how he was going to get water.

Oh, the fridge. He smiled, glad to have thought of the solution, and then reached through the fridge door. Soon, he was back in Sam's room, thoroughly hydrated. His throat no longer felt like sandpaper.

The bed, when he lay down, was soft, but Danny couldn't seem to get comfortable. He wasn't the least bit tired, and that caused a problem. Now, at night, with nothing else to do, Danny thought and remembered.

That was the last thing he ever wanted.

Why am I back? He wondered. What can I do here? The whole town hates me.

He sighed softly, reflecting. Should he go home? That probably wasn't such a bad idea, maybe if his mother saw that he was okay, she would leave Phantom alone.

Danny mentally snorted, unwilling to wake Sam. As if she will ever leave Phantom alone, not after what I did.

Still, his heart cried for him to go home. It longed to know what had happened since he left. Maybe his father had woken up, which Danny severely doubted from the questions Maddie had asked him. He shuddered, recalling her treatment of him. Several uncountable hours, locked in that dark van, then what seemed like an eternity strapped to the lab table, keeping silent through all of the questions asked of him.

Danny rolled onto his side and gazed down on the sleeping figure on the floor beside him. A soft smile touched his lips as he looked at her peaceful face. He knew the reasons for his disappearance, but, right now, Danny couldn't believe that he had ever left her.

DPDPDPDP

'I'm sorry.' The doctor finished, leaving Maddie to her thoughts.

She nodded numbly, indicating that he could go. She needed to sort something out.

The ghost hunter had always noticed a familiarity about Phantom. She had put it down to all those hours spent chasing after the elusive ghost. Only since her husband's accident, Maddie had noticed little quirks in her son's behaviour. They had been there before, of course, his unwillingness to go near the ghost hunting equipment, always disappearing when a ghost was nearby. In fact, the only time that she remembered seeing both Danny and Phantom together was when Fenton Works was being attacked by a ghost called...

Oh, what was it? Maddie thought in frustration. Technus! Of course.

That had been a very confusing night, with Danny acting strange, and Jazz claiming to have seen two Danny's at the same time.

A thought entered, uninvited, into Maddie's mind. What if she really had seen two Danny's?

She banished the thought. It was impossible- but then so were many other aspects of the Fenton's lives. Was it easier for Maddie to accept that her daughter was, as Jazz had stated, 'nuts'? Probably, but there was something strange going on with her son, and Maddie was fairly sure that she had figured out his secret. She just needed to work out a way to prove her hypothesis.

DPDPDPDP

Sam woke up to the sound that she had immediately grown to despise. Her parents walking down the hallway to her bedroom. Didn't they know that Goths liked the dark?

Sam rolled over to wait for the inevitable, but then dread filled her as she noted her surroundings. Swearing quietly, she launched herself off of the floor and onto the bed. Startled blue eyes opened hurriedly, shock evident on Danny's face. The footsteps were getting closer to her room.

'Sam! What are-' Danny exclaimed quietly.

'Shh!' Sam warned. 'Quick- you have to hide. My parents!'

The door opened, but Danny was gone, hiding invisibly under Sam's bed.

'Good morning!' A cheerful male voice greeted. The voice turned inquisitive. 'Sam? What are you doing?'

Sam stared at her parents. The blanket and pillow that she had slept with were thrown across the floor, she sheets underneath her also tangled.

'I, uh,' Sam stalled as she tried to think of a reasonable excuse. 'I... fell off the bed?'

Both teenagers winced as they heard the question in her words. Luckily, her parents didn't seem to notice.

'My poor darling,' Mrs Manson gushed. 'Are you ok?'

Sam pushed away her mother's advances. 'I'm fine,' she growled, then glanced at the clock. Her expression turned incredulous. 'Six o'clock? It's Sunday, why did you wake me up so early?'

Mr Manson walked over to the window, opening the curtains and allowing the pale orange light of dawn to seep into the dreary room. 'We wanted to know if you wanted anything- your mother and I are going for a walk.'

'Yes,' Sam yelled. 'I do want something! I want to sleep!'

Her heart rate still hadn't gone down. She couldn't imagine what could have happened if her parents knew that Danny was here- they hated the Fenton's. Well, she could imagine, but that didn't mean that she particularly wanted to do so. Sam needed her parents out of her room fast. If that meant being a little rough, so be it.

The look on her parents' faces killed Sam, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

I'll make it up to them later, she vowed. Verbally, no one spoke. Mr and Mrs Manson left silently, only the click of the door closing to mark their absence.

Sam sighed and leant her head in her hands, sitting up straight in the edge of her bed. She almost screamed when a cool arm wrapped around her shoulders.

Danny, she realised. A wave of embarrassment broke over her. He heard everything.

'Danny, I-I mean, it's not usually like-'

He interrupted her with a chuckle. 'Doesn't matter. Sounds like me and Jazz.'

'Jazz and I,' Sam sighed and fell back onto the bed, letting out a strange noise of agreement. Danny looked at her in amusement, but instead of laughing, his face dropped.

'Is it really Sunday?' He asked. Sam nodded. 'Great. School tomorrow.' His voice held no joy for the prospect of learning.

Sam looked up at him in surprise. 'You mean that you're actually coming to school?'

'Sure, why wouldn't I?'

She could thing of many reasons not to go, but knew that her list would just upset him. She sat up and looked down at her feet.

'So... When are you going home?'

Danny smirked. 'Getting rid of me?'

Sam punched him playfully. 'You can't go back to school without going home, first.'

'Oh, yeah. I hadn't thought of that.' He rubbed the back of his neck. 'That is going to be a tough conversation.'

Sam agreed. They sat in silence for a few moments, then Danny clapped his hands onto his knees and stood up.

'Well, I'd better go,' he smiled crookedly. 'No use procrastinating.'

''Procrastinating',' Sam teased. 'That's a big word- for you.'

Danny's expression was unreadable as, in one smooth motion, he morphed into Phantom and flew out the window. Sam stood and closed the curtains before going back to sleep.

AN:

Hey! pale-blue11 here!

Had to upload this before we go out- it's my little sister's birthday! And also another great friend of mine :) I don't know if she wants the internet to know, so I'm not saying her name :) Happy birthday to you both!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited and/or followed this story! Thanks!

And as always: please review, favourite and/or follow if you liked this chapter! This story already has the same amount of reviews as my first one- and this isn't even finished yet! :D

Oh- a side note: this is going to slow down soon. Next update will be usual time, but I'm not sure after that. Sorry!

Have a good week!

pale-blue11