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 Thirteen

Hello.

It took a few moments for Danny's befuddled brain to catch up with the rest of him. He picked himself up and darted off after Sam. He was started gaining when Sam fell, the blood loss obviously taking it's toll. She buried her head in her hands and started crying. Danny hit his knees next to her and held her close.

He rocked her back and forth as Sam kept whimpering about him not understanding. They were both beginning to become numb by the time she started to calm down. "You don't understand," she said as she leaned against him heavily.

He brushed her dripping bangs out of her eyes. "I know I don't, Sam. I'm sorry, but your right, I'll never understand. I'm a crummy listener and a lousy best friend."

She shook her head, little water droplets falling onto her wet shoulders. "I'm the one that should have told you. You asked me what was wrong God knows how many times." She shuddered.

"Maybe this is just part of growing up."

She pulled back to look at him. "I hope not."

He smiled. It wasn't his normal grin but it as enough to make her feel slightly better. "But it's alright. You're okay now. You're not going to do it again, right?" Sam went quiet and didn't respond. Panic started to build in Danny as he watched her retreat silently into herself. "Sam, you're scaring me. Say something."

"I can't promise that," she whispered back meekly, scaring Danny out of his wits.

Danny was desperate. He grabbed her forearms careful of her tender wrist. "But, but you said this was a mistake."

She shook her head, suddenly looking much younger than fourteen. She looked tiny and vulnerable. "I said dragging you into this was a mistake. There's a difference," she murmured.

"No," he snapped, making Sam look at him. "Getting me involved was not a mistake. It was probably the smartest thing you've done. I don't think you realize what would happen if you died. You're my best friend, Sam. My best friend. I love having you around. You make all this crap I have to go through worth it. You're why I put up with bad day after bad day after bad day. I know you think. I can live without you and maybe I can but, I don't want to."

She shook her head mutely. "You don't need me. You're going to be happy without me."

"What if I don't want to?"

Sam glared at him, but he could tell there wasn't much anger behind it. "Stop being stupid."

"I will if you do," he said shrugging. Sam looked like she was about to scream at him again. "Tell you what. You promise to tell me if you ever think about doing this again and I'll stop being stupid."

Sam almost smiled. "Will your part of the deal be a permanent change."

"That's it, every one make fun of the poor little ghost boy. You've ruined my self-esteem now." He put his hand against his forehead in a classic Shakespearean pose.

The edge of her lip curled up but the thing he noticed was that the haunted look was gone from her eye. "So do we have a deal."

"You just want me to let you know. You're not making me promise that I'm going to be perfect again or anything, right?"

"Nope, you just have to promise to talk to me."

She looked into his eyes for a moment before replying. "I can do that."

He squeezed her shoulders gently. "I know you can. It's probably past dinnertime and you haven't had lunch."

"I haven't eaten for almost three days."

Danny recoiled. "Why not?"

She shrugged. "I was planning on dying. Eating wasn't exactly high on the 'to do' list."

"It's amazing you survived." He shook his head, trying to dispel the thought. Water dripped onto his tee shirt making the red appear crimson. "Come on. Let's go feed you." He started to stand.

She rolled her eyes. "You make it sound like I'm a dog."

He laughed and slapped his knees "Here, Sammy, that's a good girl. Let's go get you some dry food." He laughed as he offered her a hand.

"I'm glad the thought of me as a pet amuses you." Danny hardly noticed what she was saying because she wore the first real smile head seen in over a week. He couldn't help but grin back. And somehow even though they were standing in the middle of the rain in a playground half way across town from either of their houses, It was all right. As long as Sam was alive and willing to glare at him, everything was okay in his book.

He grabbed her hand and she squeezed his hand, almost as if reassuring herself that this wasn't a dream. "You ready to go?" he asked quietly. She looked over back at the dome-shaped jungle gym for a few seconds before turning to look at him.

She nodded briefly. "Yay, let's give life anther try." Danny squeezed her hand again and she squeezed back and with that Danny led Sam away from the place where they had met. But somehow it didn't seem so heartwrenching as it should have been. They were headed out into a world that both of them knew could be heartless. But somehow it didn't look that bad.

There we have it the last chapter. I think I'm going to cry. I keep telling myself not to be sad I can start Book Two as soon as I get back. I've managed to plot out the first five books. Book Four's plot is my favorite. I want to write it NOW. Oh well, I need to learn to be mature. Now for my wonderful reviewers: SailorV-Princess, Weeble Wobble Chic, style, Spice of Life, Akiko, Harvest Goddess, Sloane Miette, saikyo:the youkai priestess, q.t a.k.a spice, Dragon Blade5, Dragonslayer527, The Fuzy Llama, Moody Maud, Lone Wolfdog, soulful-sin, TinyXchamp, RainbowSerenity, and last but certainly not least, dannyphantomsgf. Wow you guys are awesome! I totally could not have done this without your support. Thanx!