DannyMay 2021. Day Seven

"Illusion"

Danny smiled as the people around him clapped and cheered him, even his parents.

No one hated him, no one wanted to strap him down to a table and vivisect him. They cheered him. They loved him.

Some more than others.

Sam threw her arms around his neck, looking at him with soft eyes and smile. They were so close, and this… this was…

This was wrong.

He laughed awkwardly, putting his hands on his friend's shoulders, taking a step back whilst the crowd kept on cheering and clapping and smiling.

"So, ah, we should go back home. Where's Tucker, anyway? We gotta celebrate this! What about some Nasty Burgers?"

Sam –what the fuck– giggled, and now he could see a blush in her cheeks. "He's probably busy, what with now being the major and all."

"The- the major…" He said slowly, remembering that development, and wondering how could he have forgotten THAT. "Yeah…"

He looked around them again, at the people still cheering, clapping, smiling.

His gaze fell on Valerie, going along with the others, and saw in her eyes that there was no fire in them.

That should have been good. It meant she wasn't angry with him, that she didn't hold any resentment towards him for… everything; her home, her dad's job, lying, keeping secrets whilst they were together.

And here she was, smiling, forgiving, so, so easily, the fire in her eyes gone, her drive and determination with it. She was happy for him, the ghost that ruined her life.

This was all wrong.

Sam almost kissed him.

What the hell was going on?

Tucker was major at fourteen- seventeen, they already were seventeen

"This isn't right."

Valerie accepted him being Phantom, no questions asked, not even a punch thrown.

"What's happening here?!"

The people cheered and clapped and smiled at him, their hero, their saviour-

"This has to stop!" Danny yelled, unexplainably overwhelmed all of a sudden, and everything froze. And then there wasn't anything.

And Danny was falling down

down

down

Danny woke up with a jolt, gasping for air he didn't need as he looked around himself, trying to assess the situation, what had happened.

He found metal pieces scattered where his head had been a second ago, and began remembering, and grew angry.

"Nocturne."

This could be read as a continuation of this: s/13208973/26/DannyMay-2017 (just add the fanfiction and the dot and the net)

or not :]