It's hard to keep a secret when you share a room- no, a bunk bed, with Jazz. (Inspired by a prompt on tumblr.)
Bunkmates
In retrospect, Danny knew he couldn't hide it for very long.
Immediately after the accident, he slept over at Tucker's house for a few days, trying to get a hold of his powers before returning to his own home, full of ghost hunters and his nosy sister who would almost instantly pick up on the fact that he was a ghost. He had only managed to stay a few nights, however, before his parents ordered him to come home.
Tucker pat him on the back, or tried to, wishing Danny luck as he packed his bag to leave. He grimaced, pretending his hand hadn't just passed through Danny's shoulder, because that's something that doesn't happen to perfectly healthy living human boys.
Danny blanched, but went over the plan Sam and Tucker had come up with one more time- He would have to avoid touching anyone or anything until he had it under control. If he felt that his powers were going haywire, he would hide away in the bathroom until he could calm down. And if his parents' equipment picked up on the fact that he wasn't exactly one with the living anymore, well, then he would have to bullshit his way out of it. There wasn't anything else he could do, really.
After getting the call from his mother that he would "get his butt home before sunset or so help me, Daniel," he spent the afternoon walking home. He insisted on walking home- he was afraid to be in a car at the moment, unsure of how long he could stay tangible. So he walked, and he managed to get home in under two hours, just before the sky turned a hazy shade of orange.
He hesitated at the door, but turned the doorknob and let himself in before yelling, "Hey, I'm home!"
"Finally!" his mother cheered from the kitchen, and Danny was relieved to see he wasn't in trouble as he had believed. She poked her face into the living room and grinned when she finally saw her son for the first time that weekend. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour. Why don't you wash up or relax before then?"
"Yeah," Danny said, glancing up the stairs. After a couple of attempts, he had managed to climb the Foley's stairs just fine, so he would be okay now, wouldn't he? He could only hope as he gripped the railing and pulled himself up.
When he got to his room, he knocked. Sharing a room with his sister, a closed door meant that not only was she in there, she needed privacy. She was probably studying or something, but after walking for two hours, he only wanted to lay down for the rest of the evening.
Jazz finally opened the door, silently letting Danny into their room before closing the door again. She watched, amused, as Danny set his bag at the foot of the bed and stared helplessly at the top bunk. He kept hesitating at the sight of the ladder before eventually giving up his internal debate and climbing up. When he got to his bed in one piece and without as much difficulty as he had clearly anticipated, he breathed out in relief and collapsed on the mattress.
"Uh, you okay?" Jazz asked once he was still.
She received a quiet shuffle of his head nodding into his pillow in response.
"You'll have to wash those sheets again soon. You're disgusting," she chided. And it was true, he was head to toe covered in sweat and dirt that was now soaking into his blankets and sheets. He nodded again.
Jazz almost turned back to her homework on the desk but looked back at Danny. "Are you sure you're okay? Where've you been this weekend?"
"Yeah, Tucker's," he muttered.
She hummed and accepted that, returning to her homework and letting Danny rest peacefully… until he fell off the top bunk with a cry and a thud.
"Holy shit, Danny!" Jazz yelled, grabbing his arm and sitting him up. At least he had landed on her bunk.
At least he had landed on her bunk.
"Danny, how did you do that?"
He groaned, rubbing his cheek and neck where they had hit the bed. "Um, what- what do you- what do you mean?" he asked, definitely not starting to panic.
Jazz gaped, looking back and forth between the bunk above his head and the bed where he had landed. "Did you just fall through your bed?"
Danny gawked at his sister. Standing to observe the bed, he gave the top bunk a scoff and he waved in denial. "No way, I fell off the bed."
"Yeah, onto mine," Jazz cried. "You can't just do that."
He didn't say anything- his mouth hung open in protest, but the words didn't come out. The words couldn't come out- there was nothing he could say. Instead he stared into his sister's shocked, concerned, accusatory face.
In return, she studied him too. He was disheveled and he was scared- and if his posture said anything, there was definitely something wrong and he knew more than he wanted her to think. She noticed when he flickered in and out of her vision, too.
Terrified, Jazz barely managed to hold herself together. She slowly turned the chair from the desk, and sat to face him. "What's going on?" she asked, hardly keeping her voice from shaking.
At first, Danny was simply staring at her, and Jazz was beginning to dread having asked the question, his dead eyes piercing her own. Looking away, Danny slowly dragged his hand across his face and sat back onto the edge of Jazz's bed.
"Promise not to tell Mom or Dad."
"What?"
"Promise. Whatever I say, you can't tell them."
"If something bad is going on-"
"They can't know about this," he said, speaking fast, his voice hoarse. "I'm still trying to figure it out and I can't tell them until I do. I just- I need to figure this out, Jazz."
He was serious, she realised. She wasn't sure if he was concerned about his own well being, or their parents', but Danny truly and utterly believed that someone would be hurt by his secret.
"Fine," she blurted suddenly, not sure if she believed herself. "I won't tell them."
Danny studied her one last time, trying to discern whether she was telling the truth or not. When he only found concern, he closed his eyes and began to speak.
…
Dinner was ready sooner than expected and the kids weren't at the table.
Maddie was about to knock on their door when she heard them talking and paused.
"You promised."
"I did promise, but. This is a lot. If you can't handle it-"
"I can handle it, Jazz."
"Okay, but if I think you can't-"
"I can handle it."
"I can't even see you right now."
"I'll be fine in a minute- see."
"Well, you don't look fine when I can see you, either, okay?"
"Can you just, I dunno, help me down the stairs?"
Jazz grumbled as she opened the door, coming face to face with their mother.
"Oh! Hi, Mom, how are you?"
Maddie raised an eyebrow but motioned towards the dining room downstairs. "Dinner's ready. Everything okay?" She peered into their room, a little disappointed to see that Danny was still in the sweaty clothes he had arrived home in.
"Everything's fine," Jazz answered, her worried expression melting into one of ease. She turned around and grabbed her little brother's hand. Loudly, she announced, "Come on, Danny, we're going to, uh, conquer this fear of heights once and for all!"
Maddie watched helplessly as Jazz dragged her brother down the hall and down the stairwell.
"Hold on, Danny. You're afraid of heights?"
Halfway down, the siblings stopped and looked back at their mother, their faces stricken.
"Um, maybe?" Danny answered.
Dumbfounded, Maddie followed them to the dinner table, Jazz gripping his hand as though he might slip through her fingers, and Danny stumbling behind her. She almost missed it when Jazz whispered to her brother, "And I'll be taking the top bunk, too."
She almost missed it when Danny whispered back, "Thank you."
A/N This one kind of goes everywhere, at least perspective-wise. Sorry about that- I wrote the first half months ago and then finally finished it tonight, but with a completely different mindset. I'm still pretty happy with the end result though.