A/N: I'm so sorry that it took me so long to post this chapter. I accidentally sliced a part of my finger off...I talk about it more at the end if you wanna know the tea.

Chapter Five: Confusing Thoughts

She makes a bee line to her room, not even acknowledging her parents greetings. She walks in as if on autopilot, closing the door behind her, she stares down at her school bag. What did she just do!? What possessed her to steal, and from the Fenton's of all people! She clutches the bag to her chest and squeezes her eyes shut. It all happened so fast, she just grabbed it without thinking. She sighs, she'll return it as soon as she can work up the nerve and apologize to them. For now she'll stuff the incriminating evidence in the very back of her closet where nobody will find it. And pray to God that they don't need it.

She grabs her pjs and heads to the bathroom to take a boiling hot shower to clear her thoughts. As the water starts running her mind wanders back to the park. More specifically, Danny. That little moment caught her way off guard. Why did he suddenly look so...cute? It was probably the kitten helping him out. She thinks about everything she knows about him, as a student, as a person, as a friend. She runs through all of their interactions since she's known him. Truth is he's just an ordinary guy, there's nothing overly special about him. Sure he's clumsy and has a borderline unhealthy obsession with astronomy, but he's also very nice and thoughtful. She catches herself smiling at the thought.

Why was she acting so weird around him today? She shakes her head and dismisses it as overexposure to Fenton weirdness. No use in stressing out when there's nothing to stress over. She turns off the water and dries herself down. However she still can't get his smile out of her head. Getting dressed she walks out, preparing herself to do some homework, but it seems life had other plans for her evening.

Upon walking out she is blasted by cold air, not expecting the drastic change in temperature she squeaks. At the same time, something, or rather some one, jumps in surprise.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have just come in, even if you said I didn't have to ask. I should have waited outside. Um...I can come back later...?"

"No! It's ok, really...I just wasn't expecting the sudden temperature change...haha..."

Phantom was floating cross legged in a corner of her room, studying one of her sketchbooks she left open. They agreed that he would stop by whenever he had time to spare to help her on her "project" but she didn't expect him to come over so soon. She's thankful she decided to get dressed inside the bathroom this time. He gives her this odd look, like he's trying to figure something out. He meets her eyes and immediately looks away blushing. She's a bit amused by that, not sure what to make of it. He clears his throat.

"So, what's your project about again?"

"Oh, um...I'm basically writing a paper on ghost biology and behavior. But since you're my main example I'm going to be asking you more specific questions about yourself. N-nothing invasive or anything just simple things!"

He chuckles at her frantic arm waiving. She doesn't want to scare him off if he thinks she's going to ask him deep intrusive questions. He smiles at her, a warm kind of smile that even reaches his eyes, and for a second she is reminded of Danny at the park again. She laughs nervously at the whole ordeal.

"Ok...so what do you want to know?"

"Well, last time you had told me that ghosts can eat if they wanted to right?"

He nods and reminds her of his favorite foods. He goes a bit into detail about a ghost's insides and what they can and can't eat. She's just slightly grossed out but listens anyway. She asks if he's allergic to anything and if that allergy transfers over when becoming a ghost. He tells her he's allergic to peanuts and depending on how strong the allergy was in life then it can transfer over. She makes a note to stay away from peanut butter when making his offerings.

"Oh and don't go anywhere near a ghost with blood blossom flowers"

"Ive never heard of them before...how come?"

"Umm, well they're like ghost cryptonyte. It literally destroys ghosts from the inside out. Anyway it's painful as hell...like when you wave garlic near a vampire."

"Ohhhh ok got it."

She listens intently, taking notes on everything, not wanting to miss a single detail. She wants to absorb as much of his essence as she can to translate into her shrine. He also shares his preference for milk chocolate as well as his giant sweet tooth. When asked about his favorite fruits he shrugs and tells her he doesn't really have a preference. If he had to pick his top three it'd be blueberries, apples, and cherries. He hates pineapples because it stings his mouth and watermelons have too many seeds. She jots it all down, making notes of foods she can make and things she should substitute.

Just as she is about to ask his age and favorite flowers his cellphone rings? She didn't know ghosts had phones. He scrambles to take it out of his pocket- his jumpsuit has pockets too?- and with one look at the screen he visibly tenses up. Could it be an emergency?

"What's wrong? Are you ok?"

"I have to go."

He looks at her apologetically for a moment longer then zooms through the window, down the street and out of sight. She's a bit disappointed by his hasty exit but understands that a hero's work is never done. She goes over her notes and decides to flesh out the foods and arrangements of the shrine, she'll worry about designing it after she knows more about him. For now she can work with what she's got.

The next day she's rummaging through her locker trying to find her English textbook when someone walks right into her. She whirls around, about to tell them off when the words dry up in her throat.

"...Danny...are you ok?"

The poor boy looks like he hasn't slept in months. Hair more disheveled than normal, clothes dirty and wrinkled, even his bags have graduated to luggage. He doesn't even register her question, he just stands there, swaying slightly staring off into space. The most disconcerting thing about him though, is the stormy look in his eyes. The self loathing is practically visible, and the untamed rage swirling around in his green...GREEN!?

"...Danny...why are your eyes glowing green?"

"What? No they're not. Sometimes in the light my eyes have a green tint, it's totally normal. Don't worry about it. Just a trick of the light. Heh heh..."

That seems to have snapped him out of whatever he was thinking of. She's seen him spaced out before but this was a bit scary. It was like his body was on autopilot, and his consciousness was somewhere else. Something inside her told her she shouldn't ask but seeing as Manson and Foley aren't here today it didn't feel right leaving him alone. They're probably sick from the flu that's been going around. Her friends are all sick too, even Valerie is coughing up a lung.

"Come on or we'll be late to Lancer's class, and lord knows you of all people can't afford another lateness."

She grabs his arm and drags him all the way, garnering a few stares along the way but nothing outrageous, she's hung out with Danny and his crew before. She can feel a slight resistance on his part but he gives up almost immediately. They get to class with seconds to spare and sit side by side. He gives her an odd look, questioning their seating arrangement with an eyebrow raise.

"It's obvious that you don't have your textbook and since your gang isn't here today I'm going to share mine."

His eyes grow wide as he stares at her speechless, however at the mention of his friends his eyes dim and a kind of sadness takes over. He mumbles a thanks and faces forward as Lancer announces the start of class. She feels bad for him, he must be worried about them. She's worried about her friends too but the trio has always been super close so they must feel that much more strongly about each other.

As they share the book, she can't shake the confusing fluttering in her stomach. She knew having leftovers for breakfast was not a good idea, that has to be it. She glances over at Danny and notices that he's a bit pinker than the start of class. He glances over at her and immediately averts his eyes, having been caught. Her heart beats just a bit faster at his reddening face that he's trying to cover with his shoulder. He's always been an awkward boy so she doesn't think much of it. But that doesn't explain her heart rate...maybe she should stop having heavy breakfasts.

She chances another glance at him. He's starting off into space again, with that sad, self hating look in his eyes. Danny's always been the quiet kid that keeps to himself, and his two friends. But he's never looked this depressed before. She doesn't like seeing him like this, not one bit.

The day is finally over and after packing her things she jogs after Danny, grabs his wrist and drags him along and out the school doors.

"Umm...what are you doing?"

"It's weird to see you so gloomy, that's Manson's job, so we're going to do something about that."

"W-w-what? N-no that's ok you don't have to-"

"Shut up Fenton, we're going to hang out until you stop looking like a kicked puppy"

So sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter up. As I said before, my dumbass shaved off the top of my finger with a mandolin slicer because I refused to use the finger guards. Half of my fingernail is gone and I really hope that it grows back eventually. I'm healing up nicely now so that's a plus. As I post this it's been about 5 days since [The Incident] it's still gnarly looking and hurts like a bitch but at lest the bleeding has stopped.

Out of all the fingers I could have sliced it was the middle one on my right hand. And since I'm right handed, this means that until I'm fully healed I can't draw either! The inability to draw is honestly killing me.

Thank you for your patience and please review!