"Hey, can you take this Thursday? I have an exam Friday morning that I would like to pass?" Valerie asked as she plopped down in front of Danny at the small corner table in the local coffee shop.
"Well, hello to you too, Val," Danny said. He already made himself comfortable with his bio lab homework covering half the table and a large cup of coffee on the side.
Valerie rolled her eyes; then, glanced back at the counter to see Sam was working tonight too. The goth was talking with a customer, not paying any attention to her boyfriend and Valerie.
Guess that was why he was early today, usually she was the first one here. However, Sam usually tried to get the Sunday night shift since Danny and her met this day and time to hash out the upcoming week's patrol schedule. Something she and her grades were very grateful for, especially with the ridiculous increase in ghost attacks recently.
"So, can you?" she asked again, getting out her planner and a pen.
"Sure," Danny said, already scribbling down the change on a random paper he fished out of his book-bag.
Valerie only raised an eyebrow at this. The boy definitely needed to be more organized if he was going to survive in college.
"Thanks," Valerie said, smiling. Thank goodness Danny was extremely easy to work with. "I'm already behind in psych."
"How are you already behind? The semester just started," Danny said as he started clearing the table of his school work to make room for her.
"Last week's patrol literally took forever—I filled two freaking thermoses—and I overslept and missed class," Valerie rolled her eyes. "Of course, I missed the class that he gives a pop quiz in."
Danny's expression turned sympathetic. "Yeah, that was me last night."
"What is with all of these attacks. I thought they were scared of you now," she glared at him playfully.
Danny laughed. "Guess not."
"Well, you're not that scary, so I can see why," she said teasingly. The thought was so funny that it made her think of how it used to be between the two of them before she knew his secret. She couldn't believe she once thought Danny's alter ego was evil. It was so strange that that was once the case that she laughed out loud.
"Okay, it's not that funny," Danny said, glaring at her with a pout on his face.
This only made her laugh again.
"Oh, before I forget, circle around to the docks when you're on patrol," Danny said. "Caught a lot over there last night."
"How the hell do they keep getting out so fast?"
Danny shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. Mom, Dad, and Vlad are trying to figure out why though, but all they could find so far were increased spectral energy spikes throughout the city. There really isn't any rhyme or reason with the locations though, and they can't pin down the reason behind the energy spikes because by the time we get there, there isn't any physical leads."
"And, what does Vlad think about this," she said, but she couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice.
She really didn't like him no matter how many times he said he changed or how many times he helped Danny. She still believed they should have outed him to the Fentons, but grudgingly accepted Danny's decision to accept Vlad's apology and give him a second chance, something she was never going to do personally. As of now, Danny and she were at an impasse about the man and tried not to talk about him as much as possible.
Danny shook his head. "He can't make it out either. But, he did say it almost looks like the energy levels when he teleports."
"That is not comforting." Despite her hating the man, Valerie had to admit he did have his uses. Vlad had twice the knowledge about the Ghost Zone and ghosts than Danny and her put together.
"I know," Danny said, groaning. "You know, I really miss the days when it was a simple as Technus screaming out his plans."
"That was annoying," Valerie barked. "But, helpful."
Valerie looked at Danny more closely. He was smiling at her joke, but she could tell he was troubled by all of this. She looked exasperatedly at him, finally taking in all the signs in the past few months. "You think they are planning something, do you?"
Danny sighed, looking to the side grudgingly. "I would be surprised if they weren't."
"But, what else are they going to do? It's not like they have been able to beat you before." She knew he knew what she really meant.
Danny had always been strong, even when he first became a half-ghost, but now, he was on an entirely different level. She knew he didn't like to talk about it, but Danny was now considered one of the strongest ghosts to ever exist with his energy levels alone, not to mention with his ghostly wail, a power Valerie had only seen once. She still couldn't believe the amount of damage it caused.
"They're getting stronger, though."
"You're talking about SkulkTech, aren't you?" Valerie glared at Danny, thinking about how he broke his arm during the fight. "You should have called me for back-up."
Danny groaned. "My phone was broken."
"Well, get it fixed, loser," Valerie demanded as she reached over and punched him in the shoulder.
"Hey," Danny exclaimed, batting her fist away. "I already got chewed out by Mom and Sam; I don't need it from you, Miss I-overslept."
"That was so not my fault," Valerie said, swinging her other fist at his shoulder.
Danny blocked her. "Neither was my phone."
Valerie pulled her fist away and smirked. "Okay, I'll accept that."
"Good, because I have enough bruises for today," Danny grumbled.
Valerie rolled her eyes. "You're such a baby."
"I didn't know you liked hitting babies, Val," Danny said with that dorky smile on his face.
"I should hit you again for that dumb joke," Valerie glared. "I swear, they are getting worse and worse."
Danny opened his mouth to respond, but Valerie swiftly held up her hand to stop him. "Don't you dare say a pun."
Danny raised his hands, either to placate her or to block her, she couldn't tell—probably for both reasons. "I wasn't going to say anything. I was just going to ask if you needed me to take any more days this week for patrol," he said, obviously lying. Then, he whispered to himself, "Besides my puns are freaking awesome."
"I'm just going to ignore that," she said. "But, could you also take Friday? Casey invited me to a party."
Danny laughed. "Yeah, sure. I have no tests this week." He scribbled the date on his makeshift schedule. "Sam and I can make it a date night."
"Actually, Casey invited you too," Valerie said, although she knew he probably wasn't going to come. Danny never really went to parties. She partly thought of the reason being he was so used to never getting invited, considering high school and all. "Just in case you want to come. You could get your parents to patrol that day."
"Nah, I rather spend that night patrolling with Sam," Danny said, glancing towards the goth's direction. "Hopefully, there's no trouble, and we can do something else after."
"Casey's going to be pretty upset about that," Valerie smirked, not at all guilty about that fact. She knew the girl's true intentions. After all the time she spent with the popular crowd in high school, she was very capable of sniffing out the Paulina's of the world. Besides, she liked Sam and found they shared more in common than either of them thought. She had her back, just like she knew her friend has hers. It was nice having another girl to talk to, especially one that did just as much ghost-ass kicking as her.
"Why?" he said, scribbling something else on the paper. Valerie couldn't read what it was since Danny's handwriting was practically chicken scratch.
"I think she is hoping I will convince you to come."
"Why would she want that?" he asked while keeping his attention on his scrap of paper, probably looking for any possible problems with the patrol schedule.
Valerie rolled her eyes. "So clueless."
Danny let out an exasperated sigh as he looked up to glare at her. "Why does everybody keep saying that?"
"Because you are," Valerie deadpanned, but couldn't help the smile on her face. "But, it's okay. It's one of your few endearing qualities."
"Few? You mean I have others?" Danny smirked.
"That wasn't supposed to be a compliment," she rolled her eyes.
"Well, from you, it practically is," Danny said, returning his attention to the schedule once more. "Are you going?"
"Probably," Valerie said.
Danny looked up at her again, with wide eyes and a questioning look on his face.
"Don't look that shocked," Valerie glared. "I used to have social life, you know."
Danny laughed. "I just can't picture it, really."
Valerie really couldn't help it. It was between Danny's infectious laugh and the sheer ridiculousness of imagining herself among a crowd of drunk normal college students.
"So, are you taking Tucker?"
The smile slipped off of Valerie's face. She looked to the side guiltily.
Her dating Tucker was already confusing and difficult of a subject without talking to Danny about it. She knew Danny was her friend and all, but she didn't want to put him in the middle of it. She usually could talk to Danny about anything—actually it was easy to because they were so much alike. They both had these responsibilities that nobody else had. She was grateful for their friendship, and she didn't want to mess it up by talking about his best friend.
"What's wrong? I thought you two were dating?" Danny asked, she appreciated there was no accusation in Danny's tone. He was just a friend that genuinely wanted to know.
"I just figured what's the point, you know?" Valerie said with a shrug, still not able to meet his eyes. She didn't want him to know how much it truly hurt her to say those words.
"What do you mean 'what's the point?'"
Valerie groaned. "Just what's the point of getting into a relationship with all of this going on."
Understanding crossed Danny's face. "You think that ghost hunting is going to come in between you two. You think somebody is going to get hurt because of our enemies."
Valerie looked at him, then. "Don't tell me you don't think the same thing about Sam because I know that would be a lie."
"I'm not going to deny that," Danny said, shaking his head in surrender. Then, he looked up at Valerie and smiled, "But, then, I tell myself I'm being dumb because I know that she can definitely take care of herself, and she's even saved me just as many times as I saved her."
"You still worry though," Valerie accused, not letting go of the fact. She knew he did because she did, and she didn't have nearly as many enemies as Danny. She already worried one day her dad was going to get stuck in the crossfires. She didn't want Tucker there as well, no matter how much she liked him.
Danny sighed. "Val, I've been where you are. You have to let yourself live your life because if you don't, well that really isn't much of a life, is it?"
"Yeah, but it's not fair to him."
Danny chuckled. "I think if he could survive all these years being best friends with the half-ghost freak, he can definitely hold his own in whatever happens if you decide to date him."
Valerie glared at the half-ghost. "I feel like there is a double meaning in that statement."
Danny laughed, but raised his hands up in mock-surrender. "Please, don't hit me."
Probably some errors. And sorry about the long wait, I'm not really consistent with this story because it mainly started out as a stress relief. But, I'll be having a lot more time-I hope-because I'm graduating nursing school this December! And will start my new job as a nurse in January. So, no more school!