"So, how was the second date?" Beth was waiting in the living room for Sam to get home. She was eager to get Sam to give her the rundown of her afternoon. "Did he kiss you this time?" she asked.

Sam hadn't even had the chance to digest what happened at the door yet. "I kissed him," she admitted, dropping her things on the table.

"On the lips?!" she exclaimed, standing up from the couch to meet her. "Oh, give me all the juicy details."

Sam let out a sigh. "No, not the lips. On the cheek. But I almost did. I wanted to. But when he was about to, he pulled away."

Beth gave her a disappointed pout. "Ah, boo! Why'd he stop?"

"I-I don't know. Nerves, if I had to guess."

"Does he not think you wanted to?"

"I don't know. Maybe? That's why I kissed his cheek, to hopefully get him to realize that it's fine. But, like, I get it. I know why he doesn't want to. It's the same reason I don't want to: you can't go back to being just friends after that."

"Do you think you could go back to being just friends? I mean, from the little bit you've told me, it sounds like you're head over heels for him."

"Well, I mean, I think I fell in love with him a long time ago and I've been able to push it aside for this long. I can go back."

Beth tilted her head down, offering a look of disbelief. "You really think that now that you have a taste of what it's like to date him and have him want to date you, you're really going to be able to bounce back as if nothing ever happened?"

"Yes," she lied.

"Uh-huh. And what happens when your midnight meetings stop because he can't go back?"

"How do you know about-"

"That's not the point, Sam. The point is that this can of worms has been opened. What's going to happen if you try to close it? If either one of you tries to close it?"

She had to think about it. She had denied the possibility every time she thought about it these last few days. If she and Danny couldn't go back to being friends, then what? He was her rock, her constant person. It was her biggest fear that things would become awkward between them and eventually drift apart if they ever did date. It was why she never instigated anything, never brought up dating or relationships about herself. Now that her guard was down, anything was possible. "Listen, it's going to be fine. We're too close to let something like a few dates put a wedge between us forever. And I'm gonna ride it out for now. Maybe I'll realize my fantasies aren't all they're cracked up to be."

Beth sighed but offered a sweet smile. "I really hope it works out in the end. Danny's a great guy, and you two would make for the cutest couple."

Sam blushed. "I hope it works out, too. Now, tell me, how did you know about our late-night hangouts?" She needed to be sure there weren't any secrets being revealed.

"Oh, come on. I know I'm not here often but when I am, I can hear you guys talking. And it's every night I'm here, so I think it's safe to assume he's here a lot at night."

Sam chuckled nervously. She held her hands up in surrender. "You got me."

"Hello?"

"Hey, you free to talk?"

"Yeah, not long, but what's up? Oh! Before I forget, guess who got the new Play Station!"

Danny had to laugh. Of course, Tucker would manage to get the latest gaming console. "Have fun debugging it," he joked.

"Well, actually, that was kind of part of the deal. You know that company that came to my mod and sim class that I told you about?" Tucker asked.

"No, not really," he answered honestly.

"Well, I sent them an email about potential video game testing and one thing led to the next and now I've got a PS5."

"Only you could manage to get a company to give you the hottest new system to test their games on instead of going into an actual office. You better keep in touch with them."

"Oh, I plan to. I'm just as shocked as you, dude. But, hey, could lead me to my forever job! Anyway, what did you call about?"'

Danny took a deep breath. "Don't be mad I didn't tell you."

Tucker scoffed on the other end. "Be mad about what? Did you do something?"

"Kinda?" He began pacing around his room, running his hands through his hair. "I may have taken Sam on two dates now…"

"Attaboy!" he said ecstatically. "Glad to hear you finally grew a pair! How long has it been now? Four, five years?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Well, good for you! How long has this been going on?"

"Well, two days. We went on back-to-back dates. Today just felt like hanging out like we used to and I didn't realize just how much I had missed it. I mean maybe I just don't know enough about relationships, but if it's anything like friendship just taken to the next level, then I'm all about it. I'm just worried she's not interested in that."

Tucker burst out laughing. "Tell me you're not serious!"

Danny rolled his eyes. "I am serious! If I wasn't worried she wasn't interested, I would have kissed her. But now I threw away that chance, too, tonight."

"Danny, how can you be so stupid! I mean, listen, you might not be the brightest bulb but come on!" He couldn't control the laughter.

"I'm serious, Tucker. I don't know if she's just doing it out of pity or if it's genuine." It certainly didn't seem to be pitiful but he wouldn't be surprised.

Tucker collected himself and let out a heavy breath. "Okay. Listen to me. You know Sam better than I do, and I know for a fact that if she didn't have an interest in you, she would have stopped after the first. And that's saying that she'd even agree to a first. So for you to be doubting her really just says you're doubting yourself."

His anxiety began to lessen while his regret began to grow. "I think she knew I wanted to kiss her tonight," he admitted.

"Why's that?"

He snorted. "She kissed me. On the cheek," he clarified.

"And you're still doubting?!" he shouted. "I swear to God one of these days I'm going to give up on being your wingman because of your stupidity."

"Thanks, Tuck, glad to know you'll always be there for me," he joked.

"I'm going to tell you this once and only once: You are the dumbest person when in love, and if you don't go and make this situation right from the start, you're going to lose your chance. Capiche?"

Danny smiled. He knew what he had to do. "Thanks, Tuck. You always know what to say."

"Yeah, well, I'm usually not blinded to reality when it comes to this stuff. Trying to rub that off on you but clearly, I'm failing miserably."

He chuckled. "Alright, well for now I'll just accept the advice, okay? I'll talk to you later."

"Go get her, it'll be worth it."

Tap, tap, tap.

"Come in," Sam called from her bed. She closed the lid of her laptop and put it on the nightstand.

"Hey," Danny smiled. "How'd that first date go?"

She giggled but continued with the bit. "It went really well. I heard you were the one to set it up."

"Yeah, you know, I got my connections." He rubbed the back of his neck while walking towards her. "I was talking to your guy about it and he is horribly clueless."

"Oh, one thousand percent," she smirked. "Did he send you to clear the air?"

"Something like that. He, uh, actually asked if I could give you something?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Give me what?" she asked with hesitance.

Danny was now standing next to her, their eyes locked on each other. "Well, before I do, he wanted to apologize for not giving it to you sooner." Yet again, he was standing before her and pushing back the hair that never seemed to stay in place. "And, hopefully, you won't hate him either."

"Why would I hate him?" Her heart was racing. She reached out to his gloved hand, sensing the nervousness in his voice.

"Things will change between you two. He doesn't want to ruin it."

"Well, if you see him, tell him that he doesn't have to worry, that whatever does happen we can work through. A decade-long friendship is pretty hard to break, don't you think?" She pushed his hair to the side, staring into his illuminating green eyes.

"Yeah, you guys are kinda unbreakable, aren't you?" he smiled.

"Very much so, yes."

He leaned in close, resting their foreheads together. "You promise?"

She nodded, letting her eyelids shut. "I promise," she whispered.

He made the move, pressing his lips gently against hers. Instantly, she kissed him back. He shouldn't have been as surprised as he was that she did. He sat down on the edge of the bed, wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her in closer.

She eagerly leaned into him, placing her hand on his cheek, then pulling away for a moment. "Now," she whispered, "give me that same confidence as the other guy."

Obliging, Danny transformed back into Fenton. "I'm working on it, okay? Sometimes it's easier with Phantom, I don't know."

She placed her index finger over his lips before he could continue. "Enough talking. I appreciated the gift," she smirked. "But I'm just saying, it would be a lot nicer coming from the you I've gone on dates with."

He rolled his eyes. "Consider the lesson learned," he smiled, closing the gap between them again.

I'm working on a coffee shop AU now. I want to get a few chapters written before I start uploading. Otherwise, I'll abandon it like so many other pieces. Hope you guys enjoyed it!