The festive season is here! As a celebration for my winter break starting here's a nice little oneshot!
"Now, are you sure you'll be alright on your own?" Maddie Fenton asked as she packed up the RV, "It is Christmas Eve."
Danny just smiled at his parents, "It's no problem mom, really. You guys just go and do your thing."
Maddie just sighed and got into the RV, "Alright, we'll be back late so don't stay up and wait for us. We'll make it back for Christmas tomorrow alright?"
"Bye mom, bye dad," Jazz waved from beside her brother. Their parents waved back before setting off down the snowy road. Danny and Jazz turned and went back into the house. "You do decorations, I'll handle the ghost weapons," Jazz said to her brother. He nodded and turned to make his way down to the lab.
He transformed into Phantom and pulled out the Christmas decorations he had hidden in the wall and began to decorate as fast as he could. This year was apparently his year of hosting the ghost's truce Christmas party. He actually didn't mind that much, considering he wouldn't be fighting anyone and the only thing he needed was to get his parents out of the house. Fortunately, they got some call outside of town from Jack's side of the family, taking them away for the night.
Danny paused for a second when his phone rang. He answered it and put it between his shoulder and his ear, finishing up the decorating, "Hello?"
"Danny, hey," Sam's voice came through, "I was just calling to make sure it's still cool we have the marathon at your house. My theatre is still not fixed."
He stopped for a second, "Sam, I have the turce party today."
"I thought that was only on Christmas."
"I had to ask for an extension," Danny joked, "My parents wouldn't have been out of the house on Christmas. But it's cool if you and Tucker wanna hang with ghosts on Christmas Eve."
Sam raised a brow, "We're cool with it. But I invited Elsa, remember? I'm not sure how she'd feel."
Danny froze and nearly dropped the phone. Elsa Arendal had been a part of their group for about a year now. She had no idea about the whole half-ghost thing. He always felt kinda bad when he, Tucker, and Sam had to rush off into a ghost fight, leaving Elsa on her own or when Danny would be late for a project or study meeting and Elsa would call him out. And he didn't want to not invite her, that would just be mean. Especially considering the ghost boy had been developing feelings for his friend.
He touched down on the ground and changed back, "I guess we'll have to keep it on the down low."
"Roger that," Sam said, "See you later Danny."
Jazz walked down the stars as Danny said goodbye and hung up. "Everything all set?" she asked.
"Yeah, only one problem," Danny said sheepishly, "I may have overbooked myself. Which is fine. The only thing is… I may have invited Elsa over and she doesn't know about the whole ghost thing yet. I was wondering if you could help manage the party?" he asked hopefully, "Only when I can't do it myself. Try and cover for the noise in the lab and I'll try and keep her from coming down here."
She opened her mouth to say no and that she had better things to do but stopped when her brother pulled a pair of puppy dog eyes. "Stop that! You know I can't say no when you do that!" she huffed, "Fine. But only cause I think you and Elsa make a good couple and I want it to happen."
"You're the best," Danny smiled and guests, the ghostly ones, began to arrive.
"Merry Christmas dipstick!" Ember smirked as her, Skulker and Walker arrived at once. More and more ghosts began to come into the lab through the open portal.
After a while, Danny heard the doorbell ring. He glanced at Jazz and she moved to take his place in welcoming and mingling with ghosts while Danny went to answer the door. "Hey guys," he smiled when he answered the door, stepping aside so they could come in. The trio took off their coats and boots and brushed the snow out of their hair.
"Hey man," Tucker smiled before running over and plopping on the couch.
"Sup," Sam smirked before walking over and grabbing a soda from the coffee table and sitting down.
"Hi Danny," Elsa smiled at him as she stepped out of her boots.
Danny smiled back at her as he closed the door, "H-Hey, Elsa."
Tucker turned to Sam, "Hey, where's my greeting?"
"Grow blonde hair and pretty blue eyes. Then you'll get one," Sam smirked knowingly as Elsa sat down next to her. Sam handed Danny the DVDs. After deciding an order, Danny put the first movie in: A Christmas Story. It was about to begin when suddenly, Christmas music started blaring from the basement.
They all jumped but Elsa was the one to ask, "What was that?"
Danny's eyes widened as he realized that most of the guest from downstairs had probably arrived. He made quick eye contact with Sam and Tucker before shrugging nervously at Elsa. "It's just Jazz. She likes to listen to music when she studies," he lied.
Elsa raised a brow, "Studying on Christmas Eve?"
Danny sat down next to her on the couch, "This is Jazz we're talking about."
"Okay, fairpoint," Elsa smiled softly as the movie began. Sam and Tucker both left out a soft breath of relief before focusing on the movie. They all soon began to laugh and make fun off the movie while talking about how classic it is. "Hey Danny?" Elsa asked as the movie ended, "Where's your bathroom?"
"Through the kitchen and to the right," Sam answered before Danny could.
Elsa smiled at the fact that Sam instinctively answered, finding it kinda funny. She stood and moved towards the kitchen. "Don't wait for me guys," she told them before going through the kitchen and using the bathroom.
When she came out, she was greeted by an extremely pale boy who was only wearing black and white. "Oh," Elsa made a sound as the boy surprised her, "I-I'm sorry, were you waiting for the-"
"No, not at all," he replied before giving her his version of a "dashing" smile, "So, what's your name muffin?"
"Muffin?" Elsa raised a surprised brow.
In the living room, Danny's ghost sense suddenly went off. "That's not good," Danny sighed as he stood to go check on whatever was going on. He moved to the basement stairs but stopped when he heard voices.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Elsa asked.
Danny turned to find Poindexter talking to Elsa, who honestly just looked really confused. "Poindexter!" Danny yelled before realized how weird that was and lowering his voice as he moved towards the pair, "I thought you were supposed to be helping Jazz study. You'd better get back downstairs before she comes up looking for you." Danny simply shoved the ghost towards the lab as he started to protest.
Elsa raised a brow, "Did you just call him Poindexter?"
"I-uh," Danny thought for a second, "Yeah, he's um… he's my cousin. Yeah, he's visiting and loves school work. It's something we call him in the family."
"Huh."
"Come on you two! You're missing it!" Tucker's voice came through the kitchen.
Danny silently thanked the distraction and the avoidance of mentioning his cousin Poindexter again. He stepped to the side and bowed jokingly, "After you, milady."
Elsa's confused thoughts quickly left her mind as she laughed at Danny's teasing. She pretended to pick up her skirt and did a small curtsy, "Why, thank you good sir."
After sharing a laugh, the two returned to the living room, Sam and Tucker gave Danny a look, as if to say they think they know what happened. Danny frowned and shook his head before pointing to the floor. His friend's eyes widened and they glanced at Elsa, who was just watching the movie. They relaxed when they saw no hints of a freak out from her.
They watched at least two more movies before they ran out of snacks. As the credits for It's a Wonderful Life played, Danny stood, "Alright, time to replenish."
"You need any help?" Elsa offered.
Danny froze but smiled, "S-Sure." She smiled back and stood to follow him into the kitchen. Comfortable silence settled in the room as they refilled the bowls of popcorn and other snacks. Danny turned to hand the bag of chips to her but stopped when he noticed Youngblood above her, about to drop a Christmas ornament on her head Danny quickly reached out and grabbed her, pulling her away as the glass ball fell and shattered on the floor.
He breathed out a sigh of relief before meeting Elsa's surprised eyes. He quickly let go of her, "Sorry, my-uh… dad really likes decorating. There's Christmas stuff everywhere."
"Your dad really likes Christmas huh?" she lightly teased, with a slight smile.
Danny was about to make crack at his dad's expense but paused when Youngblood appeared behind Elsa, popping out of the fridge this time. He breathed in deeply, as if to yell "Boo!" but Danny rushed forward and shut the door to the fridge.
Had he not been in such a rush to get rid of Youngblood, Danny would have maneuvered around Elsa. Instead, he now had her pressed up against the fridge. "H-He um…" Danny stammered to find an excuse, "He-He also doesn't like when the fridge is left open." He tried to offer an apologetic smile.
Elsa just laughed at him. His bright red face was too adorable to not appreciate. After a moment of laughter from her, she stopped, realizing how close they were to each other. But she didn't move and neither did he.
The moment was ruined by the fridge rattling behind them. Danny sighed in annoyance, "Would you mind taking these back into the living room. Uh… mom and dad's ecto samples are acting up again."
"Sure," she answered before a thump from the fridge made her glance at it warily, "You sure you don't need any help?"
"I got it," he reassured her. She shrugged and grab the snacks, eyeing the fridge one last time before she went back to the living room. Once she was out of earshot, Danny opened the fridge and glared at the ghost kid, "Not. Funny."
Youngblood just raised a brow with a smirk, "Who's the girl?"
Danny froze, allowing Youngblood to whiz past him and down to the basement. Danny quickly changed into Phantom and phased through the floor down into the lab. His eyes easily found Youngblood, "Don't you even-"
"Hey guys! Guess what?" Youngblood called out to the other ghosts with a big mischievous smile, "Danny's got a girlfriend!"
"What?" most ghosts responded.
A large hand clapped Danny on the back. "Way to go welp," Skulker smiled.
"So, is she cute?" Desiree asked.
"She is not my girlfriend," Danny clarified, sending a look Youngblood's way.
Ember offered a smile, "Then she won't mind if you hang with us for a little while. You've been gone all night." Ghosts agreed with her before encouraging Danny to stay with them.
Danny, not only a little flattered, didn't really want to anger all of his enemies on their one night of truce. "I guess it couldn't hurt to hang around for a little while," he shrugged, which resulted in a few cheers.
The movie was coming to the halfway point when Elsa asked Sam and Tucker, "Are you sure we shouldn't go check on him?"
"He's fine Elsa, probably just fixing up something in the lab," Sam answered before sharing a worried looked with Tucker.
Tucker stood, "We'll go and check on him just to make sure. You stay here cause… um… you already were up to get the snacks." Sam nodded in agreement and together, they hurried into the kitchen.
The credits were just starting to roll when Elsa finally stood up. "Okay, where did everyone go?" she asked herself as she walked to the kitchen, "It's not like they disappeared into another dimension." She went down the steps into the lab and her jaw dropped to the floor.
All around her were ghosts of every kind, from blob-like to humanoid, mingling, eating, and partying like there was nothing strange about the situation. Over in the corner, Tucker was talking to a few glowing medieval looking girls. Sam was talking with some giant polar bear-looking ghosts.
Elsa suddenly spotted Poindexter as he, well, floated up to her. "Oh, hey Elsa," he smiled, "How's it hangin'?"
"Uh, fine?" Elsa answered tentatively, "Ha-Have you seen Danny?"
"Sure, he's right over there," Poindexter pointed to a crowd before calling out, "Hey Danny!"
Danny Phantom's head popped up and he flew over without a second thought. "What's up Poin-" he stopped when he noticed Elsa staring at her with wide eyes, " … Dexter…"
Elsa blinked back at him and suddenly, the pieces clinked in her mind and she narrowed her eyes at the ghost.
"Danny?"
"Wow," Elsa breathed as Danny had just finished explaining his predicament.
"Yeah," Danny said awkwardly. They both sat on the couch in the living room alone as Miracle on 34th Street played in the background. He glanced over at her warily, "Are you mad because I didn't tell you?"
"What?" Elsa gave him a look, "No, of course not Danny. This is a very personal secret. It was your choice whether you wanted to tell me or not," she looked away sheepishly, "I'm sorry I put you in a situation where you had to explain yourself before you were ready to tell me. I shouldn't have been snooping."
He shrugged, "I was the one who lost track of time and left you up here. But, uh… you won't tell anyone right?"
She shook her head, "No, never. And it's just us four and Jazz that know?"
"Yeah," he nodded, "And I-um… I didn't not tell you because I didn't trust you. I-It was just… uh…"
"It was a big secret," Elsa shrugged, "You don't have to explain yourself Danny. I understand," she then offered an apologetic smile, "I only wish I wasn't so hard on you when you were late for school and tutoring."
Danny let out a small laugh, "You were pretty adamant about my school work."
"I was trying to help you," she argued with a smile. There was a small silence before Elsa stood and started to make her way towards the door. "Well, I'll get out of your hair. It's obvious this party is important to you and I wouldn't want to get in the way again."
Danny stood up and followed her, "Wait, you don't have to go." She stopped and turned back to him. He smiled, "There's a perfectly good party downstairs."
She smiled back at him and let him lead her back downstairs into the lab. It was kinda weird, seeing all the ghosts that normally would attack Amity Park mingle and drink eggnog. Danny was, hilariously, in his element and Elsa knew he was not the party type. He was like a celebrity and everyone wanted to stick to him like glue.
"Danny," Jazz came up to him at one point, "Mom and Dad are calling."
He turned to Elsa with an apologetic smile, "You mind?"
"I can survive a few minutes on my own," she reassured him with a smile. He nodded and went to go answer the phone. She mingled a little more. She listened to battle stories and some revenge plots that villians were saving for another time.
She eventually ended up talking with Johnny 13, who was in Elsa's eyes a try hard. "So the halfa huh?" he asked her.
"Halfa?" she asked before realization dawned on her, "Oh, you mean Danny?"
Johnny shrugged, "Eh, kid's got some fight in him," he launched a smirk her way, "If you ever wanna ride with a full ghost, you let me know."
Elsa just blinked back at the ghost before offering a sheepish smile. "Uh, yeah, thanks but no thanks," she glanced behind him at the ghost girl who was currently stomping over to them, "I think you have your own full ghost to worry about."
She left those two to fight for a moment before Danny came back. "So, anyone cause any trouble?" he asked, half joking, half serious.
"No," she shrugged in response. The two then settled by the starwell, just talking to each other. Elsa asked questions about his powers and the ghosts at the party and Danny was surprisingly willing to let Elsa into this part of his life. They laughed and joked for a little while before a little movement was seen above their heads.
They both glanced up to see mistletoe growing out of the metal wall, glowing as it grew. Danny scanned the room and found the culprits to be Desiree, Skulker, and Tucker, who were all smirking at him. He glared at them and shook his head, "Guys, stop. I'm not gonna-"
But he was cut off when a soft hand turned his cheek back to Elsa, their faces closer this time. Her hand never left his cheek as she took a deep breath, gathering up her nerve, and leaned up to kiss him.
As their lips touched, whoops and hollers sounded from the room around them. They pulled away from each other and Danny watched as Elsa's face turned red, a dumbfounded expression on his face.
She looked back at him with shy eyes before shrugging and offering a smile, "Merry Christmas?"