Hello

Summary: Walking home from Danny's one night, something horrific happens to Sam. Now Danny's left to try to put the pieces of his best friend back together.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom. Butch Hartman does. And I don't own Hello, Evanescence does.

Chapter Twelve

Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping.

Danny stared up at the sky and the cold rain stung him. He looked down and noticed let water droplets clinging to the tips of his bangs. Sam had been out for two hours. He had bandaged up her wrist using one of his socks and the razor blade he found on the ground. He had pocketed it. He didn't want her to find it.

And now they sat with her tucked under the little awning by the girls bathroom he sat next to her but outside the protection of the rain. Sam needed it more than he did. It wasn't much of a shelter but she was more out of the rain then he was.

He didn't want to risk moving her. Besides where would he take her? His parents were waiting for him to go home and receive the eminent lecture he was sure they'd come up with. He heard Sam whimper and twisted around and watched her shiver. She wasn't coming around yet but she was getting much closer.

Danny turned back around and ran a hand through his hair, pushing water droplets onto his already soaked shirt. He leaned heavily against the rough brick of the wall. How could he have not noticed something was wrong? This was his responsibility as a friend. Not just a friend, her best friend. He was not only a lousy super hero, he was a rotten friend.

Why Sam didn't tell him something was this wrong was beyond him. She knew she could tell him anything. He sighed heavily. He was dwelling again. But suddenly there didn't seem anything so wrong with that. Sam losing her life was worth dwelling over.

He could have jumped out of his skin when a hand reached out and latched onto his shoulder. He whirled around his face ending up about three inches from Sam's. There was a little more emotion in her eyes. Maybe everyone was right, that things always look better in the morning. "Hey, " she whispered softly sinking back to her heels to put some distance between them.

Danny managed a small smile. "Hi. How are you feeling?"

Sam rubbed her back, which was probably sore from lying on the concrete. "Been better," she stated simply.

They both sat there for a moment, neither one quite sure what to say. Sam finally broke the silence. "You might as well come on out of the rain. No sense in you getting sick because of me." She tucked her semi-dry hair behind her ears. Danny scooted over next to her and Sam pulled rested her forehead on her knee.

They both stared out into the rain for awhile, the mutual silence stifling. "I'm sorry," Sam finally whispered.

Danny gawked. "Sorry? For what?"

"For everything. For getting you involved. Making you skip school." He looked over at her. He was surprised to see the tears clinging to her eyelashes.

"Don't be," he said calmly, shrugging. "I'm glad you got me involved. I would be sorry if you hadn't. And as for school, you didn't make me skip. I chose to skip."

She still stared out into the rain, where the mud beneath the teeter-totters was quickly becoming standing water. "You're dad's going to kill me when he finds out."

"My dad's going to kill me before he ever has the chance to get anything out of me," he muttered.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you skipping was going to be such a problem."

Danny sighed and leaned back against the wall. "It isn't. I got suspended today."

Sam whirled around and gazed at him open-jawed. "You what!?"

He rested his forearms on his knees and hung his head. "I'm suspended tomorrow."

"Why'd you get suspended?" Sam turned to face him exposing her back to the rain, but she didn't appear to notice in the slightest. She appeared concerned. If Danny hadn't been so emotionally drained the irony might have struck him as amusing. Here was the girl that had been willing to throw away her life and all the promise it held concerned because he had to spend a day at home.

Danny stared her directly into her eyes. "Why'd you do this?" He picked up her hand and turned it over so her wrist was up. She looked down at the blood-soaked sock and dried blood that caked her arm and hand.

"Something happened to me. I just couldn't live with it anymore." She looked up at him and there eyes locked again.

Danny swallowed. "Sam, I've had vaguer responses from a magic eight ball," something flited across her face and she broke eye contact.

"I asked first. What did you do that got you suspended?" She still did not look up.

"I got in a fight with Dash," he was amazed at how casual that ended up sounding.

Sam's jaw literally dropped. "Please, tell me this is a joke."

"Nope," Danny closed his eyes and waited for the retort.

"You're an idiot, sometimes. You know that?" She sounded so defeated it stung. Danny physically cringed.

"Yeah, but I still want to know what made you do this to yourself," he was changing the subject. He knew it and she knew it.

Her reply was muttered and her head turned away from it. "Sam, I didn't hear you."

She turned around to face him. Sam looked like she was going to cry. "It was hard enough to say the first time," she said softly. Danny had never seen her look so vulnerable before.

He reached out and gently laid a hand on her knee. She tensed but didn't draw away. "You can tell me anything, Sam. You know that."

She nodded meekly, the tears starting to leak out now. "I was raped," she barely breathed the words, but Danny caught them none the less he went completely numb and had no idea what to say.

"God, oh God, Sam. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. When?" He knew it sounded stupid but in moments like this whatever came to mind was what you said.

"Last Friday night," she said softly, praying he wouldn't figure out when.

"Walking home from my house," he said finishing the unspoken thought. "That's why you never called. Oh man this is all my fault."

Sam's head jerked up. "How is any of this your fault?" She asked bitterly. "If it's anyone's fault it's mine. Don't you see? I'm useless to even stand up to worthless jerks like them. I don't even deserve to live any—"

"Stop it!" Danny almost screamed at her. "You do deserve to live! Stop beating yourself up like this!"

"Beating myself up?" she whispered in disbelief. She laughed cynically. "You don't even want to spend a second in this mental Hell I've spent the last week in. You have no idea how violating this feels. No matter how long it takes I don't think I'll ever feel clean again. But you don't have to deal with this. You never will. I don't know why I thought you would understand." She choked back a sob as she stared at him. She darted to her feet and ran out into the rain before Danny could stop her.

Only one more chapter after this. I know that this news is depressing, I'm sorry. I'm also sorry that this update is a day late. I'm such a disappointment. But on to my lovely reviewers: Piezo, The Fuzy Llama, RainbowSerenity, q.t a.k.a spice, Weeble Wobble Chic, Moody Maud, danny&sam, zoe, aeris9919, Sakura Scout, Akiko, Sloane Miette, ahhelga, Spice of Life, dannyphantomsgf, Dragon Blade5, and Coldplay813. Kudos to you all.