Alright, if you notice the chapter count going down, don't worry! I've reached the point where my original chapters started getting shorter and shorter and as a result some of them are getting combined as I rewrite this story and I'm removing chapters that are just crappier versions of scenes I've already rewritten. The same storyline is still there and starting to grow, I promise!
Chapter rewrite complete.
We didn't have to wait long for Maddie to come get us. She was usually the better driver, but she could easily match Jack's speed when she wanted to.
"You kids wait in the car. I need to talk to Mr. Lancer."
She left us alone in the car, and somehow it was more awkward than the two of us sharong a room. Maybe it was because Danny had been so weird the day before, suddenly jumped back into being his usual over-protective self the second we got to school, and started to distance himself again as soon as the GAV had come into veiw. I could normally read him pretty well, but this time I couldn't get a read on him at all. He was wrestling with something, but I didn't have a clue what it was.
The driver's side door popped open as Maddie returned, a stack of papers in her arms. "Alright kids, I've got your work for the next week. Sam, Mr. Lancer is arranging things so that you can continue your studies from home for as long as you need to. He says that as long as the work gets done, your grades don't start to slip, and there's no evidence of cheating, he can work around the state attendance requirement due to the circumstances. Danny, with your grades and as much school as you miss, he can only approve one week of working from home. He understands the situation, but in the eyes of the schoolboard, you really don't have a reason to be missing school right now or in general. He's bending the rules to give you a week becuase he'd rather have you miss that than start a fight and get suspended for a month. He wanted me to inform you that if you keep skipping classes like usual, you're going to be in detention everyday until you graduate just to make up the hours."
"I kinda figured that was already going to happen," Danny said. "He doesn't even pretend to be mad at me anymore, he just hands out the slips and keeps a running tally of how many hours I need to make up."
"Mr. Lancer cares about you, Danny. He knows about as I do about why you're skipping, but he has made it his personal mission to get you to graduate on time even if he has drag you across that stage by the ear himself." Maddie laughed a little, we all did. Lancer was annoying, but ever since he gave up on getting Danny to actually stay in class, he'd become extremely persistent about getting him to graduate on time next year. I suspected it was at least partially so he could get Danny through highschool before a new chronic skipper appeared.
"Danny, how many hours do you need to make up right now? I forgot to ask while I was in there."
"25." Maddie inhaled sharply, I guess she really didn't know exactly how bad it was. "Believe it or not, I've actually been slowly whittling that number down. I was at 40 three months ago."
"I appreciate getting some honesty for once, but if you've been making up those hours for three months, how is it still that bad? Danny, you've been in detention almost everyday this year, and doing doubles at least three times a week! You're missing a minimum of one class everyday, and it sounds like you're missing two or three most of the time!"
"I'm doing the best I can, but I can't help it, mom. I've gotta miss class a lot and there's really no way around it."
"And you're still not going to tell me why," Maddie muttered to herself. She sighed. "Danny, no one can help you until you start telling us the full truth. I understand that you think it's necesary, but until we know why, we have to act like you're just skipping for the fun of it."
"I know. I'll tell you someday, but I can't yet."
"Okay. Well, I'm sorry, but you're grounded until you make up all those hours."
"Yeah, I know."
We finished our drive in silence. It was weird to hear all the mini-arguments Danny and his mom got into. Danny hadn't mentioned how much his mom tried to get the secret it out of him. I don't know if he just didn't want us to worry or if this was new behavior. There's no telling how long Maddie had been trying to fit the peices together or how much she had figured out on her own. They were in a constant cold war over it, both afraid of what would happen if they let it explode.
As soon as we came to a stop in front of the infamous FentonWorks, Danny and I jumped out of the car and ran up to his room. I heard Maddie laugh a little as we bolted up the stairs. It was a race we'd ran thousands of times ever since we were kids. Back then, it was just for bragging rights, but as we got older it became an old bond that held us together when we wanted nothing more than to escape the world.
Danny followed tradition and let me win. It had always been that who ever was having the roughest time got to win the race, just to make sure we had at least one little bright spot in the dark. I'd only won that race a couple of times since the accident, but we both knew that I had him beat for the time being.
We flopped lazily on the bed, the days of being winded from such a short run long gone. I just laid there for a while, thinking back to when life was simple. I missed the days when racing up the stairs was just a stupid, fun thing we did because we could. We'd all grown up so fast after the accident, including Tucker. I expected the next big thing in our lives to be moving out to live on our own, but life threw us another curveball.
I had planned on being a responsible teenager and waiting until I graduated before I came anywhere near sex, but that choice had been ripped away from me. I'd been introduced to it in all the wrong ways, and I wasn't even sure I'd ever be able to go about it the right way. It wouldn't matter whether or not I was with the right person if I started freaking out anytime someone touched me like that.
Feelings were complicated. I'd been saying it for years, but after Dash everything just felt like more of a mess.
A chill filled the air and I turned just in time to see a blue wisp floating up from Danny. I could tell he didn't want to go. He'd spent the weekend ignoring the ghosts so he could stay with me, but he couldn't keep doing it forever. "Go, Danny."
"Are you sure?"
"I'll be fine. The most danger here is your parents going off on another ghost rant. You need to blow off some steam anyway."
"Alright, I'm going." He transformed and floated out the window. I didn't want to see him get hurt, but I hoped it was someone stronger than Box Ghost. Danny was all for misplaced agression, but he had accidentally obliterated a ghost the year before and it messed with him for months. He really needed punching a bag, but he wasn't going to risk obliterating another ghost just to let off some steam. The ghosts had a right to exist, even if most of them excercised that right in the worst way possible.
There was a knock at the door and Maddie popped her head in, her smile quickly replaced with confusion. "Where's Danny?"
I glanced at the clock. We'd only been up here for a couple minutes and the bathroom door behind Maddie was wide open. I froze. I couldn't bullshit my way out of this.
She sighed, a sound I'd gotten used to hearing over the past few days. "He's out doing whatever he's always running off to do, isn''t he?" She enter the room and sat down at Danny's desk. "Asking you about it won't get me anywhere, will it?"
"It's not my secret to tell. I'm sorry."
"Well, that's something, I guess. He's got you and Tucker looking out for him and if you were worried for his life, you'd tell me something."
"I know it might be hard to believe, but he can take care of himself."
"Sweetie, I want to believe you, but I've seen some of his injuries. He comes home limping and covered in blood, but tells me he's fine. Then he comes downstairs half an hour later, all cleaned up with a smile on his face. I could swear I've seen broken bones sometimes. I've offered to help him, no questions asked, and he'll swear up and down that he's okay even though I can see how much it hurts him just to move.
"He's getting hurt out there, Sam, and I can't do anything to protect him. I've gone out looking for him more times than I can count, but I never see him until he comes home. I don't even want to think about the times he manages to sneak past me when he comes in."
Shit. We knew that Maddie had seen some of the smaller stuff, the things we could pin on high school bullies, but what she was describing was more than even I usually saw.
There were tears leaking from her eyes. I'd never seen Maddie cry from anything other than joy and suddenly I was faced with the realization of how many tears she must have shed from pain ever since Danny started ghost hunting. I'd always been of the opinion that Danny should tell his parents about his ghost half, but should suddenly became needed to.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. I shouldn't be piling my own problems onto you. You've got enough to worry about."
"It's okay. Distractions are nice." Sadly, that whole conversation was still better than dealing with my memories or the bullshit that happened at school.
Maddie stood to collect herself as we heard the front door slam shut. That wasn't a good sign. Danny had to be hurt pretty bad to use the front door and announce his arrival like that. I heard him slowly stumbling up to the room, his footsteps we uneven and every few steps, I'd hear him fall against the wall.
When he finally made it to the room, it was clear that he had picked up a limp. His face was swollen and he was covered in blood from head to toe. His arms were covered in cuts and gashes. I didn't even want to think about what he must have looked like when he started his treck home.
"Danny! What happened to you? We need to get you to the hospital!"
"I'll be fine, mom. It's not as bad as it looks." He kept his eyes down, hiding that green flashes that meant his ghost half was working to heal him.
"You're barely standing!"
"I'm fine. I'm not going to a hospital." He never would go. He was afraid of what doctors would find in his blood.
"At least let me look you over in lab."
"No!"
"Danny-"
"It's okay. I've got him. He'll be fine, I promise." I had to get Maddie out of there. As soon as Danny started to rest, his powers would go into overdrive. He'd start healing rapidly, but there was a fair chance he'd also flicker in and out of visability. We could bullshit our way out of injuries disappearing, but Danny turning invisible several times was not something we could just explain away.
Maddie stood there, just staring. I'm sure a part of her was wondering how many times I'd patched Danny up. "I'll go, but if it's as bad as it looks, call me. Please."
"I will, I promise. He'll be fine."
She sighed as she closed the door behind her. The fact that she was willing to leave at all was proof that she'd seen Danny this beat up or close to it before.
Danny hobbled over and hit the silent proof. "This is gonna hurt like a bitch," he muttered. He rammed his hip into his wall, crying out before turning to me. "Dislocated hip- one thing ghost powers won't fix."
"You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah. Most of this is just dried blood and bruises now. My leg healed on the walk over. Broken bones heal with no problem, but if a joint pops out of place, I've got to fix it myself." Danny collapsed on his bed. "You know, I really expected mom to freak out more the first time she saw me like this."
"It's not the first time, genius."
"Shit."He laughed a little. "I guess if I couldn't figure that out myself, then there's a reason people call me clueless." He shook his head and winced a little. "I may not be thinking clearly right now, so I need you help me, Sam. How bad is this?"
"Honestly? I think the only reason she hasn't figured it out is because she hasn't spent more than three seconds looking at Phantom's face."
"How bad would it be if she figured it out?"
"I mean, I know she would accept you, but your relationship would never be the same. She's a lot closer to the truth than we thougt, Danny. She knows you're getting hurt, bit she doesn't know why or how. Her only comfort right now is that me and Tucker haven't said anything. If she has to figure this out on her own, I'm not sure she'd ever trust you again. At least if you tell her, you have a chance to explain why you kept it a secret."
"I have to tell her and dad."
"I'm not going to tell you what to do, but yeah. I suggest telling your mom first. Your dad will accept and support you, but he might need your mom's help wrapping his mind around it."
"Alright. I'll figure it out. It's not like the ghost attacks are getting any better anyway." Danny threw his arm over his face. "I was really hoping to wait until I moved out."
"And how would that help?" I asked.
"If they rejected me after I moved out, at least I wouldn't have to choose between being homeless and seeing their disappointed faces every day."
"Danny, they won't reject you. You have good parents. Worst case, they get over protective and we have to get them to see how important you are to this town."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. My parents would send you off to boarding school to beat the ghost powers out of you. Your parents would turn on the ghost shield to lock you in and keep you from getting hurt. I promise, worst case senario is that we spend a few days fighting with them over how important your job is."
"Okay. I'm not going to run downstairs to tell them right now, but I'll figure something out."
"Good. Now go to sleep, you look like hell."
"Sleep isn't going to happen, Sam, but I will promise to stay right here for a while" It wasn't the answer I wanted, but realistically I couldn't actually force the boy to go to sleep.
"Fine, but I'm wiping that blood off you."
"Okay, but I am not going to help much. I hurt like hell. I've got some wipes stashed under the bed."
I retrieved the wipes and started to clean Danny up a little. I expected to find at least one open wound under all the blood, but I couldn't find any. There were just a few scratches left. It made me worry- I knew he healed fast, but not this fast. I could only imagine what kind of injuries he hid. Sure he was fine then, but what did he look like half an hour earlier?
I sat there staring at him after I cleaned him up. I'm not ever sure what all was going through my mind. I was proud of the work he did, but I was also worried. Suddenly, I never wanted to let him out of my sight, not because he was my safety blanket, but because I wanted to be sure he was safe.
Slowly, I started to lean towards him. I don't really know why the hell I did it, it just felt right. My lips touched his and I kissed him. It was quick, lasting only a second, but it happened. I kissed Danny, and it wasn't some fake-out make-out bullshit. It was real.
As soon as my rational brain caught up to the rest of me, I pulled away. "I'm sorry." I scrambled off the bed. That shouldn't have happened. I'd crossed so many lines in our friendship.
"Sam-"
"Don't. I'm sorry. Just forget about it." It's not like Danny could ever want me after everything that happened.
"It's okay, I promise."
"Just let it go. It didn't mean anything." That was a lie, and it hurt. I'd wanted to kiss Danny properly for years, but even if Danny liked me, the timing of it was terrible. Dash had raped just a few days earlier. I wasn't ready for a relationship with anyone, even Danny. I wasn't even convinced anyone could want me after what Dash had done.
Danny grabbed my hand. "I've never known you to do anything that didn't mean something."
"Just let it go, please." I didn't even want to know how awkward I'd just made things.
"Sam-"
"Please, don't Danny. I don't want to talk about it." I couldn't even bring myself to look at him. Why the hell did I do that? "I'm going to find something to eat. I- I'll be back later, I promise.
"Sam, I-" I didn't give him a chance to finish the sentence as I walked out and shur the door behind me. All I wanted was to get out of there. I'd kissed him, and I did not want to deal with the chance that it could have completely ruined our friendship.
So fun fact- I upped my work load by 10 hours a week and suddenly finding time to write got a hell of a lot harder. I'm still going to finish this though, even if it kills me.Comments and feedback are welcome as always.
Invisible One