6/3/2021

Before we get started-This story has recently undergone a lot of rewrites and we are just now reaching the point of releasing all new material. That being said, if you have read this story in the past, then I *highly* suggest you go back to the beginning and read it all again. Over the course of the rewrites, storylines changed and a handful of new ones appeared.

Another note for anyone coming back to this story after after my years long disappearance, this story contains a lot of mature content and deals with trauma. It may be triggering for some people.

It had been weeks since Danny and I had admitted our feelings for each other. We'd still only shared that one kiss and only recently started telling people we were together. Things hadn't really changed much between us, but constantly being in his arms no longer felt like we were crossing some boundaries.

When Tucker found out, he started teasing us like we knew he would, until Danny threatened to overshadow him and make him run around school naked. Tucker shut up real quick after that. We didn't think it was possible, but apparently we just hadn't used the right threats.

Jazz was elated, though she definitely worried that I was jumping into things too soon. I could see her point, but I had to disagree. It was way too soon for our relationship to become physical, but the emotional support was something I needed. The nightmares were getting better and the flashbacks stopped coming on unprovoked. I was starting to have moments where my mind was at peace again.

Jack and Maddie apparently had a bet going on that Maddie won. As soon as we told them, Jack handed over a twenty. He didn't think we'd get together until after we finished high school. We got a long lecture about being responsible and not becoming teenage parents, but they let us keep sharing Danny's room. I guess they saw how much I needed it. Even though Danny spent half the night fighting ghosts, I needed to know he was next to me whenever he was home.

Danny had gone back to school after that one week at home, but I was determined to stay out for as long as possible. With the school year being in full swing, I knew I wouldn't be able to do it much longer. The workload was starting to get harder as we revved up for midterms. It was getting harder for me to keep up on my own, even with Jazz jumping in to help whenever she could. I decided that the day I couldn't keep up anymore was the day I would go back to school.

I actually threw a book across the room when I finally met a concept I just couldn't figure out. I spent a couple days trying to wrap my mind around it, but by the end of the week it was clear I wasn't getting anywhere. Jazz was good enough at math to ace it for herself, but not good enough to teach it. I had to go back or risk failing.

I refused to give my mother the satisfaction of knowing I failed a class after I moved out of their house.

As I packed up my bag to return to school, Danny asked if I was really ready at least a half dozen times. I knew things had gotten better at school, but Danny had gotten more protective of me after we got together. I didn't want to go, but it had to be done.

I pulled open the door to Casper High with Danny acting as my shadow. The halls were quiet. No one was screaming and the usual taunts the filled the halls were gone. Anti-bullying posters were plastered all over the walls, announcing a zero tolerance policy. This wasn't the same school it'd been when I left.

We met up with Tucker, who didn't have an A-Lister chasing him down for once.

"It's different, huh? The posters are still weird to see," Tuck said, as I stared at the walls in shock.

"Yeah. Have we really gone zero tolerance?"

"Eh. Kind of. If a teacher sees it, it gets dealt with. Student reported stuff still gets ignored. On the bright side, most of the A-List has gotten at least one suspension now."

"Well, it's something. Why did the school finally do something?"

"Things got really bad after you left, Sam. Once your story got out, some girls came forward about the shit Dash had done to them. At first, all it did was get more nasty rumours started, but you'll never guess who finally got people to listen."

"Who?"

"Paulina. She wouldn't say how she knew, but she said it was more than possible that you and all the other girls were telling the truth. Once she started talking about it, the teachers started dealing with the bullying problem and everyone else started coming around. Most people are on your side now, or at least not adament that Dash didn't do it."

"Damn." I never could have seen that coming, even in my wildest dreams. Maybe refusing to keep my mouth shut actually did some good for once. "How many came forward?"

"Four." There were at least four others that Dash had attacked. Honestly, it wasn't as many as I feared.

Then I remembered the suicides that had happened last year and over the summer. Seven of our peers had ended their own lives and five of them were girls, at least a few of which had been thrilled to get a date with Dash Baxter shortly before their demise.

Valerie had been one of them. Right as we started to trust her and veiw her as a friend, Dash had offered her a second chance on the A-List in exchange for a date. She'd taken that offer in a heartbeat and was found dead two weeks later. I'd never put the pieces together before. Even if Dash wasn't responsible for all of them, he had played a role in at least a few.

"Have you heard anything about Dash?"

"Yeah. I figured Danny would have told you. He's still comatose, but he's been stable for a while now and the doctors think he'll wake up soon."

The idea of Dash waking up was terrifying. There was no telling what he'd to do to me now that so much had come out. I wasn't convinced that he wouldn't hunt me down just to finish me off. The man already had blood on his hands- what was there to stop him from trying to get away with murder?

Danny must has sensed my unease. "Tucker," he growled.

"Grow up, dude. She asked, she deserves to know. You can't protect her from every little thing. It's not like he's ever coming back here anyway. If he does wake up, he'll find out he's been expelled and there are rumors floating around that the Baxter's are planning to move as soon as Dash is healthy enough for it."

"I'm fine, Danny, really."

"You sure?"

"She's fine dude, chill. You're going a little overboard."

Danny relaxed a bit. "Fine, but if you hurt her-"

"You'll make me run around the school naked and make me live in my misery for at least six weeks before you finally let me die of embarrassment. I know. Go to class, I've got her."

Danny sighed. "Alright, I'll see you guys later. You better take care of her, Tuck."

"I will. Go."

Danny left as Tucker and I started walking towards our first period.

"What the hell was that about?" I asked. I was used to Danny being protective of me, but he'd never gone as far as acting like even Tucker couldn't be trusted.

"He's been really overprotective of you since the event and it got worse when you guys became an item. Believe it or not, he's getting better about it. He blames himself for what happened to you, you know."

"Why would he blame himself? He saved me!"

"But he couldn't stop it from happening. Sam, protecting people is the one thing Danny's really good at, and he couldn't do it when you needed him the most. Now he's scared something else will happen to you and he'll lose you forever. He's definitely overcorrecting now, but I'm not too worried about because he seems to pulling himself back out of the spin.

I need you to promise me one thing, though. If he starts going too far with it and makes you uncomfortable, tell me so I can beat some sense into him. I know he means well, but he's got to let you stand on your own two feet. I don't want his stupidity to ruin your relationship. You know I've been trying to get you two together since middle school."

"Okay, just know you won't be the only one kicking his ass."

Tucker laughed. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Can I get a hug before we suffer through math class? I haven't seen you in ages."

Tucker held out his arms and I backed away. "Sorry, I'm just not okay with people touching me."

He held his hands up aplogectically. "I understand, no worries."

The bell rang as we sat down and a full day of learning commenced. I tried to stay focused, but my mind kept wandering to Danny being overprotective. I hadn't really noticed it at home, but thinking back I could definitely see it. He barely let me out of his sight at home and Jazz had to talk him out of coming along when the two of us went shopping to replace my clothes. He hadn't even let me take out some agression when the Box Ghost showed up.

Tuck was right. Danny felt like he failed to protect me and now he was overcorrecting. It was nice at first, but if he didn't knock it off soon, it would cross into the realm of an unhealthy relationship. I wasn't some fragile flower that had to be babied just to survive. I could hold my own in a fight, and he needed to back off enough to let me do it when I wanted to.

When I had class with Danny again, he seemed to relax a little when he realized I was still in one piece. By lunch, he was back to joking around with Tucker like they always did. He seemed worried about last period, the one class where I would be alone, but I didn't notice any signs that Danny had come to check on me.

It looked like Tucker was right and Danny was already starting to pull out of the spin. He was still a little jumpy whenever I left his sight, but he'd stopped trying to follow me absolutely everywhere. He just needed a little time to heal, too, and we were both starting to make some progress.

By Friday, Danny seemed to have gotten himself under control. I could still see how much he wanted to follow me around everywhere just to keep me safe, but he'd stopped trying to act on it. Someone had to have talked to him about it, probably Jazz. I had a feeling that she started worrying about it too after how stubborn he'd been about going shopping with us. There really wasn't any other reason for him to want to be with his sister while she picked out new bras.

We curled up in bed, watching some movie. I don't even remember what it was because my focus was somewhere else. We'd only shared that one short kiss that happened before we admitted how we felt. I wanted to kiss him, really kiss him- not just a quick peck like last time. I wasn't sure I was ready for it, but I still wanted to do it.

It'd been a month since Dash raped me and the idea of kissing Danny had started to feel less terrifying. I felt like maybe I could handle it. After all, a kiss didn't neccessarily mean other things were going to happen.

"You okay?"

"Kiss me," I blurted out, before I really even had time to process what he said.

He held his hand to the side of my face. "Are you sure? I don't want to push you." It felt so stupid that he had to ask that about something as simple as a kiss, but I had to admit it was appropriate given what had happened just a month before.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Okay." He leaned in and suddenly his lips were on mine. I had to remind myself that it was just Danny before I started freaking out over it.

I don't know how long we kissed, but I really didn't care. Once I was able to relax into it, all I could feel was joy. I thought I knew what it felt like to kiss someone from all the fake-out make-outs that had happened over the years, but I quickly learned that a real kiss felt very different. The action was the same, but the emotions behind it made everything better.

When we finally parted, all I could do was smile. It was real, all of it. Danny was my boyfriend and we'd actually shared a real kiss. I didn't freak out when it happened and I was flying high.

Moments later, a knock at the door threatened to pull me off cloud nine as Jazz popped her head in. "Sorry, but we need to talk. It's important and can't really wait."

"What's going on, Jazz?" Danny asked.

Jazz entered, closing the door behind her and turning on the silent proof. "Mom figured out that I know your secret. She spent the last hour grilling me trying to get me to crack. She's really worried about you and she's getting way too close."

"Shit. What does she know?"

"She knows it has something to do with the portal and the ghosts. She's pretty sure you're hunting. The only thing she can't explain is why she can never find you when she tries to follow you out of the house. I think it's time for you to tell them the truth. If you keep putting it off, she'll figure it out herself and you'll have a much bigger mess to clean up."

"What about dad?"

"I don't think mom's told him anything yet. You know her- she likes to be pretty certain about her theories before she shares them with anyone. That doesn't change the fact that you can't tell mom without telling dad. You can do it one at a time, but it's got to be one right after the other."

"Are you sure I have to?"

"Danny, I've been on board with keeping this a secret for as long as possible, but at this point you're doing more harm than good. It's time to let them back in, little bro."

"How do I even tell them? Finding out I'm Danny fucking Phantom might be too much for them. I mean, they've finally admitted he's at least trying to help, but we all know they still aren't the biggest fans."

"I don't know, Danny, but I think you need to give them a little more credit. It'll be a shock, but they'll get over it."

"What if I just show them my powers without transforming?"

I had to step in. "You can't do that. This is all or nothing, Danny. If you only tell then part of the truth and they find out the rest later, they'll think you're scared of them."

"Damnit. This would have been so much easier if I'd just told them in the beginning."

"That may be true, little brother, but I think it had to be this way. I mean, there is no way they would have let you start hunting ghosts and they may have even tried to turn you back to normal. I know I was scared when I found out. I spent weeks trying to decide whether to let it be or tell them. You weren't a great hunter back then. You were getting better, but it also took you two to three fights to finally beat one ghost and capture it. Now, you have a proven track record- even with their prejudice, they can see how much worse things would be if you weren't the ghosts back in the ghost zone. The town needed you to keep this a secret at first, but now it's time to come clean."

"Who gave you permission to be right?"

"It's my job, Danny, whether we like it or not."

"Uhg. Fine. I'll tell them tomorrow. I don't know how the hell I'll do it, but I will."

"Good."

"They're going to want to run all sorts of tests to make sure my powers aren't slowly killing me."

"Well, yeah. I mean, it's mom and dad."

"And they're going to kill both of you for not at least trying to do it yourselves."

I flashed Danny a sickly sweet smile. "Well, we've been a bit busy trying to keep you alive, sweetheart." I got a smile out of him and dropped the act. "You could probably take another day to figure out what to say to them. It might make things easier."

"If I don't do it tomorrow, I'll lose my nerve. I've planned to tell them three different times over the past month and always backed out. Just help me figure it out, please."

I grabbed Danny's hand. "We'll do our best."

And we're off to the races. I'm not going to set an update schedule because adulthood is not going to let that happen. Sometimes you may see three chapters in two days, other times it may be a couple weeks between chapters. I've got this whole thing mapped out though, even written some scenes that won't come up for a quite a while.

Comments and feedback are always welcome!

Invisible One