Chapter Rewrite Complete

Danny phased us back into his room, setting me gently on his bed. I fought the urge to hide under the covers again, feeling like that would be a step backwards. I settled for just sitting on his bed. I knew seeing my mother again wasn't going to end well, I just never thought it could go that badly.

I really thought there was at least a chance that she would come around after the initial shock wore off, but it had become clear that was never going to happen. Maybe I should have seen it coming. The Baxter's were one of the high-class families that mother had been striving to emulate for years, while I had spent my time around average people and adopted more of their habits than mother would ever approve of. In her eyes, I had lost my status- given it up, really. Mother would always see me as less-than just because I didn't care about money and popularity the way she did. She wasn't against throwing me under the bus for her own personal gain.

Mother was still alive, but I was mourning the loss of the mom I never really had. She'd been better when I was younger, but even then she still had gaining and maintaining her social status at the top of her priority list. The only difference was that back then, she didn't have anywhere near as much of it to protect. Her fear of becoming an average, everyday citizen had gotten worse as she started clawing her way up the social ladder. I'd never realized how bad she'd gotten until I had become the biggest risk to her high-class lifestyle.

Dad would be the only one capable of talking her down, but he stopped defying her when she reached the point of screaming every time something wasn't just right. Granny said he was taking care of the Dash problem from behind the scenes, but he hadn't actually done anything without mother's approval in years. The last time I remembered him at least trying to talk some sense into her was when I was 10 and he told her that she didn't get to veto my friends just because they weren't as high up the social ladder as we were.

It felt like my whole life had fallen apart when Dash attacked me. He stole my innocence, my mother had basically told me that my word didn't mean nearly as much as his. My house no longer felt like it was a safe place to sleep, and while I knew I was welcome to stay with the Fenton's, Danny was acting weird. He had stayed by my side, but there were no comforting words or attempts to distract me. It was like he was trying to put some distance between us. How could I stay in his room if he didn't even want me there? It was hard to blame him, though. I was a mess. I was constantly either hiding, crying, or lost in the memories of the event. I didn't want to be around me either.

"Danny? Are you back yet?" I looked to the clock. It was after 6. I hadn't even realized how long I'd been stewing in my depression. Time flies when you're hating your existence.

"We're up here, mom!" Danny called back and Maddie joined us.

"How did it go?"

"My mother found out I was coming and hung around just to see me. Granny believes me, but my mother..." I didn't even know how to finish. It was clear that she didn't believe I was attacked, but I felt like it was so much more complicated than that. The simple answer didn't feel like enough.

"Is going to find herself on the business end of my bazooka," Maddie finished for me. I guess it didn't matter how complicated the situation felt, she was still on my side. Yet another sad fact of my life was that Maddie had always been more protective of me than my own mother. Maddie had welcomed me with open arms the day I met her and had treated me like on her own ever since she found out who my mother was. "I'm so sorry, sweetie. What about your dad?"

I sighed. "I didn't see him. Granny says he's up to something, but I doubt it. He never does anything without mother's approval."

"Okay. Well, we're all here for you. You're safe here and your parents won't be coming back inside this house unless you ask for it. You know Jack isn't afraid to enforce that by any means necessary."

"Thanks. I don't know how I'd survive this without all of you."

"I'm sure you would have figured something out, but I'm glad you don't have to. This is a lot for anyone to go through, and it breaks my heart that you have to deal with it so young." She looked over to her son. Danny had been quiet throughout this exchange and he was still keeping his distance from me. "Danny, can you take all the trash for me?"

"Why? It won't get picked up until Tuesday."

"Just do it, please. It won't kill you to do one chore before the last minute."

"Fine. I got it." I couldn't tell if he was moody or just realized his mom wanted to talk to me alone. It was pretty obvious to me, but Danny had always been pretty clueless.

"Sam, I want you to know that I'm always here to talk, whether it's about everything going on or the local clueless wonder." I caught a smirk as I blushed and turned away at the mention of Danny. I didn't realize how obvious it was that I had feelings for him. How was it that he was the only one who hadn't figured it out. Maybe he had and that's why he was keeping his distance. "He really does care for you, you know. He's not taking care of you just because you're his friend."

"I know," I said, even though I didn't really believe it. Enough people had said something that I had started to wonder, but I didn't think he would want me anymore after everything that happened. "He's been acting so weird today. It's like he's trying to put some distance between us all of a sudden."

"He's just like his father. Jack did the same thing shortly before we got together. I'm guessing he's spent a lot of time pushing down how he feels instead of dealing with it. Now it's coming back up and since he doesn't know what to do he's pushing you away. It won't last long, he just needs to get his head on straight again." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Tucker had told me he knew Danny liked me before, but I always thought he was bluffing and trying to win a bet. Maddie had no such motivations for it though.

"It's not like I could handle a relationship right now anyway." Life really hated me. I'd been dreaming of really kissing Danny for years, but now that I was sure enough he liked me to act, the idea of kissing anyone was terrifying.

"I know, sweetie. I wouldn't think you'd be ready for that for a while. I'm just saying he'll be there when you are ready. You'll probably have to tell him outright though. If he's anything like Jack, you'll have to hit him over the head with it for him to get the picture." She paused for a moment. "Just don't do anything until you're sure you're ready for it. I don't know how long it will take you to heal, but I do know that nothing is going to go right if you try to rush things."

"Am I allowed to come back yet?" Danny called up the stairs. I guess he had figured out the real reason he was sent away. I wondered how long it took him to figure it out. Maybe Jack or Jazz had told him.

"Yes, I think we're done up here."

Danny plopped back down on the bed. "You could have just asked me to step outside for minute."

"It's called tact, dear. Something women excel at, but men never seem to get."

"Dad was halfway through a lecture about leaving the trash out for the ghosts to get into before Jazz figured it out and stepped in."

Maddie laughed. "It's not like he grounded you or anything. You're fine."

"He was about to! I think he's still considering it."

"I'll talk to him. It's not like grounding works on you anymore anyway. The last time we tried it, you pulled one of your disappearing acts."

Danny put his hand on the back of his neck, looking sheepish. "I'm sorry, but I had to go. It was important."

"It was important and you can't tell me about it, right?"

"Well, yeah."

"You're making your life so much harder than it needs to be."

"Mom, I-" Danny started, but Maddie cut him off.

"I don't want to fight over it anymore today. I know I can't make you talk to me, I'm just saying your life would be easier if you would."

"Okay."

True to her word, Maddie let it drop. "Alright, Sam. If you want, we can try to dig out one of the old cots so you don't have to share a bed with Danny, but those things were not designed for long term use. It's going to get uncomfortable pretty fast. Honestly, given the state of the other bedrooms, you really are best off staying in here and sharing Danny's bed, if you're comfortable with that."

"It's up to Danny. I don't want to make things awkward."

"I don't mind sharing, Sam. It's not like we haven't fallen asleep together in that bed before."

I'm sure I turned bright red. It happened on accident months ago and my lovesick teenage brain had used it as fodder for fantasies. "Okay, then I'll stay here." I hoped that sleeping next to him regularly would help with the nightmares.

"Okay. Since your room is actually clean for once, I think we can fit an extra dresser in here for Sam. Danny, you'll need to help your father with that. He really shouldn't be moving something that heavy on his own anymore, and if you don't volunteer he'll try to do it himself and throw his back out again."

"I'll go find him," Danny said, heading towards the door.

"The one in the room next to Jazz's will probably be the easiest one to get to!" Maddie called after him. When Danny didn't respond, Maddie turned to me. "How much do you want to bet they're going to ignore me and spend half the night trying to dig one out of some other room?"

I wanted to laugh, I really did, but when I tried, tears started coming out instead. "Sam, honey, what's wrong?"

"I- I don't know." I stuttered. "I just- my family would never go through all this effort for me."

"I know, but that's not your fault. We're happy to do it and you've basically been part of this family for years."

I sniffled, trying to at least slow the flow of tears. Of all the reasons I had to cry, I didn't think this would be one of them. I wanted to get myself back under control- too many people had seen cry over the weekend and I didn't like feeling so weak. I'd always known my family wasn't great, but I never really realized just how bad things were.

These rewritten chapters are getting shorter and shorter because that's what the original ones did and I'm trying tp stick to the same plot points to limit the confusion as I work through this. Sticking to the same plots points may not be sustainable long term, but I'll do my best to limit the opportunities for confusion.

Comments and feedback are always welcome!

Invisible One