Taking Over Me

Summary: With Sam gone, Danny has enough to deal with. At the same time he runs into the first ghost he can't beat, and that's Danny Phantom.

Rating: PG-13 for mature themes and language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Butch Hartman does. I do not own Taking Over Me, Evanescence does.

Chapter Twenty-two

I believe in you.

It had been sixteen days since he'd left her standing there. Since she'd basically thrown away everything he'd had. But yet he couldn't hate her for what she'd done. He hated what she'd done. That he would admit. Part of him felt it was his own fault for going to her. He'd known that he had already said goodbye, going back could just hurt them but he'd done it. And they'd both gotten hurt. Behind the harsh words he could see it in her eyes. He'd hurt her. That's why she'd said them. So why didn't that knowledge make it hurt less?

But the one thing he did find himself hating was the way she'd been so upset when he'd told Chris she didn't want to go. Why would she be upset? He knew the answer to that but somehow it was just easier to pretend that he didn't. It hurt because he wanted her to not be interested. It wasn't that she was, it was the way she hadn't seemed to care either way. It hurt. Over the past year it seemed like they were drifting closer and closer to something more than friends, and every time either one dropped a hint at that, it took a few steps back.

But it really hadn't bothered him too much but up until this point there hadn't seriously been anyone else in the picture, possibly Paulina but even in the middle of his crush on the Latino girl, he had still had little moments with Sam. Tucker had joked with told them at sixth grade graduation, saying they would be dating by eighth grade graduation and engaged by their High School one. Danny hadn't known what to do or say but Sam had just laughed it off and he followed suit.

When he thought about it, everyone instantly assumed when Sam was pregnant that it was his child. In fact, Sam had even asked him if it was his child. If that wasn't a blaring sign he didn't know what was. And now suddenly there was Chris. Chris Bailey was probably the biggest obstacle their 'relationship' had come up against. If Sam wasn't pregnant at the time, he could have blown it off but Sam was two years younger than the jerk and pregnant. It wasn't something normal high school seniors went after.

In fact he had no idea why Chris had gone after her in the first place. But over the past week somehow it seemed that everything could have been all right if it wasn't for Chris. And Danny decided that, was something he needed to change.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Bailey, I think your mind's been somewhere else lately." Chris shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He deserved this. He had missed dozens of easy shots at practice. Some of the worse JV players could probably have taken him on tonight.

The senior shifted his gym bag to his other shoulder. "I know, Coach. I just have a lot going on at the moment."

The gray-haired man gaze intensified. "All I'm going to say is that, it better all be taken care of before the game against Rock Ridge on Wednesday or you may find Atason playing your starting position. Understood?" The gray-eyed eighteen-year-old nodded. "Go ahead and go."

Chris trudged out of the gym into the freezing winter air. It was almost Christmas break. Finals were this week. He couldn't stand to be losing his focus like this. Chris flung open the door to his car, tossed the bag into the passenger seat. Why had he even made this deal? It was stupid. It was taking his focus away from school and the game. He turned on the car and threw it into reverse, backing up faster than he should have. He turned back around and spun out of the school parking lot.

He popped in his Nickelback CD and cranked it up as loud as his CD system and headed off towards the edge of town. He lived just on the outskirts about three miles outside of town. He slowed down and turned of onto the gravel road that led down to his house. He hit the gas petal a little harder than he should have throwing some gravel out onto the main blacktop road to Dimsdale. He was going faster than he should be but wasn't worried at all about spinning out. It wasn't like he hadn't gone faster than this.

That's when it happened. Suddenly the wheel was jerked hard the other way. "What the--" But it was too late. The car spun out of control before going into the ditch. There was a sickening crunch as the car hit plowed into a sycamore that stood at the bank. The sound of tearing metal and shattering glass tore through the night. The blonde head fell limply against the steering wheel with a sickening crack. Blood poured from his temple, oozing a slow path down the wheel. Grey eyes were shut. And the whole scene was eerily quiet.

The figure of a garnet eyed specter appeared grinning maliciously in the passenger seat. "Now, wasn't that fun?" He laughed, the sound chilling. He reached out and picked up the older teen's head in his gloved hands. Holding the limp face in one hand, he laid two fingers against the side of the eighteen-year-olds neck. He didn't feel anything. The blood leaked down over the blonde's cheekbone to stain the stark white glove. The white-haired figure tossed the limp head back against the wheel. He then turned and gazed out the windshield. The glass was almost entirely gone on the left half but on the right it was so shattered it was almost opaque. Suddenly he glanced back to the limp figure. A demonic grin spread slowly across the darkened face. And with that he disappeared again.

Is that plot, I smell? I wouldn't know. It's been so long…Just kidding. Note to self: don't make ghost hybrids mad. Well I hope you liked it. Here's to the people who have reviewed in the past few hours: Mrs. Granger-Weasley, Ryo's destiny x2, cheerin4danny, WormmonABC, Moody Maud, q.t a.k.a spice, Spice of Life x4, Chibi Millenia Phantom, Random Reviewer, The Good Girl, Danielle Phantom, and Airie-Chan. Hope you guys aren't getting lost!

P.S. If all this doesn't make sense that's alright. Alot of this is set-up for books five and six.