Well, after going out of town for 10 days, and then a bit of lost motivation when I got back, I update! All it took was seeing that Fanning the Flames was going to be shown. uu

Chapter's longer than I expected it to be. Thanks to all the reviews, which I had fun reading on public internet during that 10 day absence. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 5: Memories♥ by dj samm

Sam shut her eyes leaned her back against her locker. Tal hadn't told her the physical pain that came along with playing that stupid game! And he had already roped her into playing with him tonight and tomorrow afternoon. At least she was progressing quickly...or, at least he said she was. She just hoped that this would pay off for her, and this hope was intensified when she stood up straight again, and winced. She could have sworn she felt a blister pop.

"Hey, Sam!" Tucker yelled, as he and Danny walked up to her. Sam quickly turned around as he spoke to hide her grimace; she didn't want them to start asking her how she was doing – if Tucker found out her legs were feeling like they'd aged 90 years, he'd never shut up since she couldn't do anything to him. And if Danny found out...well, she didn't know what he'd do. She'd finally decided that was jealousy she'd heard in his voice the day before, but what did it mean? Surely he didn't like her, one of his best friends, like she liked him...or did he? And what about Paulina?

"Sam?" the boys asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, hi!" she welcomed, turning around. She cursed inwardly, her tone was too cheerful. And she wasn't the only one who noticed.

"Is something wrong?" Danny asked. The blush from yesterday morning was plaguing his cheeks this morning too. Apparently, Sam was too preoccupied to notice, which suited him just fine. He did not want to try and explain why kept blushing in her presence, she'd never speak to him again and Tucker would never let him live it down.

She gave a small chuckle, which told him to pay attention. "I'm fine guys."

"Are you sure?" Tucker pressed, which earned him a death stare from the girl.

"I'm fine, Tucker," she growled. Tucker stepped back. "Don't hurt me!"

"How was the arcade?" Danny asked quietly, his hands in his pockets and his gaze towards the lockers. Sam froze up. Tucker stopped cowering and looked to Danny, then Sam, then Danny, then Sam.

"Oh, it was a lot of fun..." she replied airily, her voice a bit higher in pitch. "I'm going back to play tonight and tomorr--" she continued, before stopping as she caught what she was saying. Another awkward silence filled the air, drowning out even the other conversations all the other kids in the hall were having.

"Why did I say that? Now he thinks I like Tal, and now he's depressed even further; he was depressed enough when he found out I was going to the arcade with Tal last night..."

"Why did I think I even have a shot with her? Figures, I finally figure out all the emotions in my head that have been buzzing around since high school started, and some other guy already got to her... And now my chest hurts. This is a great day, it really is..."

"Why are they so bad at reading each other's feelings? This is pathetic; it's plainly obvious that each of them like the other, but THEY DON'T NOTICE! But hey, it keeps me amused."

Danny finally spoke, snapping the three out of their thoughts.

"I think I need to use the bathroom," he whispered, his voice quivering with something. He ran off.

Sam bit her lip. That quiver...she could tell he was on the verge of tears. But that would be absurd! She turned to Tucker, who was looking off to the bathrooms.

"Sam, you don't have a crush on that guy you hang out with, do you?"

"No, he's just a friend," she replied. "And besides..."

She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she wanted to reveal that. In that moment, she realized that if she didn't, she might never get a chance with Danny.

"...he'd be more attracted to Danny than to me."

Tucker's head whirled to face hers, a look of surprise and amusement crossing his face. "You mean that guy you've been hanging out with for the past two days is as straight as a circle!"

Tucker seemed to have yelled that, which drew the stares of everyone in the hall to Sam. She frowned.

"There's nothing wrong with that!" she yelled, before storming off to class, infuriated at what she felt was the blatant bias against people like Tal.

Tucker stood in the hall for a moment, before running off to the bathroom.

"Why didn't she tell us!" Danny yelled, kicking the wall tiles in the bathroom.

"You've been really violent these pa—," Tucker began to comment. Danny's livid, puffy-eyed gaze silenced him. Tucker thought a moment, before speaking again.

"Why are you so angry? You still have a chance with her!"

"That's not the point, Tucker! Why didn't she mention that yesterday at lunch? It's almost like she wanted us to think he liked him, with all that attention she's giving him!" Danny fumed.

"Like what we did on Monday when we stared at Paulina?" Tucker retorted. After he said it, he went quiet. He didn't mean to, but he actually had a point. A thoughtful silence hung over the two

Danny swore under his breath. "Of course... this is all just revenge for all those times we ignored her...how could I have been so blind?" he muttered. Not giving Tucker a chance to reply, he stormed out of the bathroom.

Tucker blinked. "He has it worse than I thought!" he remarked, before heading back to class.

The three kept to themselves during class. During lunch, Tucker was the last to arrive at the lunch table. He walked over to see Sam and Danny eating in silence, their heads in their food.

"Did either of you understand the math lesson?" he asked while sitting down. His answer was more silence.

"...Fine, don't talk."

The three ate quietly. The lack of talking at their table soon drew the attention of the gremlin, who had a knack of spotting trouble like this and then making it worse.

"Oh, Danny!" Paulina called out in a sing-song voice while walking over to him.

"What." he replied bluntly, no inquisitive tone in his voice.

"Oh, I was wondering if you'd like to go out to eat tonight with me!" she asked sweetly, standing too close to him for Sam's liking. The said goth girl buried her face in her salad.

"No."

"...Excuse me?" Paulina snapped, her tone one of shock and rage. "D-did you just reject me, Danny?"

"Yep."

"But...but..." she stammered, not understanding what was happening. Fenton always went gaga for her! Always!

"Obviously Danny doesn't want to take a dip in the shallow ends of both the personality and gene pool, Paulina," Sam retorted, finally turning to face the scene with acid in her voice.

Paulina looked like she had just been slapped. Dash lumbered over, cracking his knuckles. "Keep your girlfriend's mouth shut, Fentina, before I flatten you," he threatened thickly.

"She has the right to speak the truth, Dash," Danny shot back, now standing up to protect Sam/himself. Dash walked up close to Danny, looking down at the boy like he was a piece of vermin. He started to pull his fist back, but stopped as Sam stood up and pulled Danny back. He looked at her, a look of surprise on his face.

"Don't fight him, Danny," she whispered, although in the dead silence of the cafeteria it could be heard in every corner of the room. Danny stared at her. Noticing this, she smiled. "I don't want you to accidentally contract failure from him." Danny's expression slowly turned to one of amusement, and he sat down. This left Dash quite confused; he ended up sitting down as well, since now teachers were starting to pay attention and if he attacked, it would be assault. Or something.

Paulina, infuriated that she had been shown up by the two, gave one last murderous glance at Danny and Sam, before walking back to her table. Sam then sat down and waited a few moments before asking a question.

"Danny, why did you reject her?"

Danny looked at Sam, and smiled. "I've been thinking these past few days, and I decided that I don't like her anymore. I...I guess I've realized there's things more important than looks, or something." He blushed.

Sam beamed back at him in pride, her cheeks cherry red...and then stood up and ran off, feeling no pain in her legs at all. Danny was left in confusion, his smile fading. "...What just happened?"

Tucker was confused as well, but didn't let Danny see that. "I dunno, Danny, but I think you scored some points with her." he jabbed

"Tucker!"

Sam burst into the old science lab, grabbed the junior who was walking to the back of the room, and forced him to dance merrily/ram into lab tables.

"Ow, stupid ta—Sam, are you feeling all right? You are acting so out of character it isn't funny." Tal mentioned, breaking away from her so more pain wasn't inflicted on him.

"He doesn't like Paulina! I still have a chance with him!" Sam wailed happily.

"Did you hear that the school was going to an all-meat lunch menu to save money since not enough students are eating the vegetables?"

Sam blinked. "What!"

Tal smirked. "Good, you're back to normal."

Sam glared at him.

"In any case, Manson, I take it you're going to make a move?"

Sam looked at the ground. She hadn't thought about that yet...well, she hadn't thought about it since she found out Danny didn't like Paulina anymore. "I wasn't planning on it."

"If you don't, somebody will. Word gets out fast around here that someone's single and looking."

Sam looked at him. What he said sounded familiar. She conceded, though. "I want to...but it's awkward just thinking about it. What if--"

"--Don't finish that sentence, Manson," Tal interrupted, looking at her critically. "You will not think about rejection. You will not think about what ifs. You will make a move before anyone else, such as, say, Valerie, tries to. You will invite him and Tucker to the arcade on Thursday, I'll keep Tucker busy, you will ask him out."

Sam frowned. "I don't appreciate being told what to do."

"Do you have a better idea?"

She looked at him. "...Fine."

"See you tonight, then?"

"Yeah."

Sam walked out and back to class. As she sat down, it clicked. "Valerie said that to me! But...he wasn't there, how did he know that?"

Danny lounged in his room, milling over his homework, ghost fighting, and Sam.

Okay, mostly Sam.

...Okay, only Sam.

His thoughts were interrupted by the phone. He picked up, and immediately perked up when he heard the voice at the other end.

"Sam! I thought you were going to the arcade!"

"I am," she replied. Danny's excited mood faded. "I'm about to leave, but I want to know if you and Tucker want to meet at the arcade with Tal and I tomorrow afternoon, after the half-day. Can you come?"

He jumped at the chance. "I'll be there."

"And you'll tell Tucker for me, right?"

"Oh, yeah, sure."

"Okay...see ya, Danny!" She hung up.

Danny stared at the ceiling, letting the phone fall to the floor. Well, even if he had to spend it with Tucker and whoever Sam was seeing, he would at least get to spend some time with her.

"Heh, look at you. Sunday night, you were still crushing on Paulina, and now you're head over heels in love with your best friend! You should listen to me more often." Danny's "voice of reason" was back, apparently.

"I guess I should..." Danny replied, preoccupied with other thoughts.

On the roof of the place next to the Fenton household, Mental blinked in surprise. He didn't expect that reply. The two had it bad for each other, it would be such a shame when, after he hooked the two up, Danny would soon be killed. He'd never see it coming, him being blinded by rage from Sam's dea...

The ghost was flying in the air as he thought about this, and he didn't notice the billboard he flew into. As he picked himself off the ground, he went back into deep thought.

"First off, the kid gets stronger when he's angry, I witnessed that for myself. And secondly...but if it doesn't happen, the Council will have my ectoplasmic hide."

Milling further, he flew to the arcade.

Thursday morning rolled around. The three friends were back to normal. No awkward silences today, no blushfests by Danny or Sam (Danny's went away in the first few minutes of talking to her). The student body waited restlessly for the bell, when school would be out for the week. Time went soooo...o...o...o...o slowly.

Ring

Teens burst from the front doors of Casper high. Freedom! Hallelujah! I bet you really don't care and want to know what Danny/Sam/Tucker are up to!

Danny and Tucker were waiting at the flagpole. Sam said she was going to get her friend Tal, and he'd drive them to the arcade. Soon, she and the lanky guy walked up.

"Danny and Tucker, correct? Your reputations precede you. Tal Marylin," he introduced, holding out both hands for a handshake.

"We have reputations? Awesome!" Tucker said as he shook Tal's hand left hand. Danny just said "hi" (he was still jealous) and shook the right hand...and was promptly zapped by a joy buzzer.

"What was that for!" Danny yelled angrily as he shook his hand. Tucker and Sam hid their laughter.

"I'm a bit of a prankster. Sorry!" Tal apologized, before turning around and walking to a small white car. Turning around hid the grin on his face; the buzzer worked perfectly, distracting Fenton from his ghost detection breath, just like Danny's thoughts had been distracting him throughout the week. "C'mon, sooner we get there, sooner we can start!" he called out.

The three walked over to the car. "Foley, you get shotgun."

"Why do you want me to have shotgun?"

"Because I want Fenton in the back since he can't break anything in revenge for the buzzer back there, and Sam's preferred music is dark and depressing and not what I want to hear right now. Note that shotgun gets radio control."

Tucker quickly took the seat. As Danny got in the back, Tal winked at Sam, before taking the driver's seat.

"In and buckled everyone? Yes? Good, because I'm going."

And they drove off. Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up to the arcade and got out of the car. They walked inside, trying to stop Tucker from singing to the song that had been playing on the radio. As soon as they were inside, the illusion that had been placed on the arcade building fell, revealing the true, old, and dilapidated exterior.

"So, what exactly have you two been doing here the past two evenings?" Danny asked as the group meandered through the quiet arcade.

"This!" Tal yelled, stepping up onto the DDR pad, beaming. Danny and Tucker just looked him, before breaking out into fits of laughter.

"You guys! Yeah, I thought it seemed a little geeky at first too, but it's really fun! Just watch for one game. Please?" Sam asked. Danny shut up. Tucker did a bit later, after Danny stepped on his foot.

"I think we can handle one game. Show us what you got, Sam." Danny replied, giving her a sheepish smile for his behavior.

Tal had already set up the game, and within moments, a song had started playing. Arrows came soon afterward, and when they did, any thoughts Danny and Tucker were having at the time stopped as they were captivated by the players.

Danny just watched Sam with admiring eyes. Even in combat boots, she hit the steps with grace. Her movements were controlled and flowing; she actually looked like she was dancing, and Danny couldn't get enough of it.

Tucker, on the other hand, was watching Tal. The lanky boy didn't look nowhere near as good playing as Sam, but how the kid was hitting all those steps so quickly and accurately, Tucker didn't know. It was, in his opinion, scary Tal whats-his-face could do that.

The song ended, and the boys applauded.

"You two are scary good."

"You were awesome, Sam!"

Sam blushed, Tal took a bow. Then, the next song, which went over the same way -- Tucker gaping, Danny smitten, Sam blushing.

Tal hit the Roulette option. "And for the last song, Sam will pick it from the roulette."

Sam hit the button. The four had a split second to see the song was called "Memories♥", and it was by someone by dj samm. The background screen was a simple black, with MEMORIES♥ in the middle in white. Then the music played.

A sweet, slow, soulful melody escaped from the speakers. Clearly, this melody could have only been composed by someone with passion, intelligence, and individuality, since the melody switched keys quite often. On Tal's side of the screen, a enormous mass of arrows slowly crept up the screen, while Sam's side still had nothing. Finally, Tal did the L/R jump, and the music froze. Then, things started to get a little creepy. Danny's voice played from the speakers.

"If there's anything you wanted to say to me, now might be an excellent time to say it."

Then Sam's. "I...I..."

At this point, Danny, Tucker, and Sam were all frozen in shock. Something was seriously wrong. Tal was just frozen because the music hadn't started yet.

The quote, however, was then finished by an echoey version of Sam's voice, almost as if she had thought the end.

"...I love you."

And then everything went to hell. The sides of Sam's pad, as well as the middle part dividing Tal from Sam, sprouted glowing green walls, encasing Sam inside. Her scream could be heard for a brief moment, before a fifth wall formed above her and a sixth wall under her feet, sealing her inside a glowing green ghost cube. The tempo of the soulful melody, which had returned, was quadrupled, and Tal was on the other side moving like a madman.

"SAM!" Danny yelled. He started to run to her, before he was held back by Tucker.

"Get off me, Tucker! Sam's in trouble!" Danny shouted over the music, his temper flaring.

"I know, but look at the screen!" Tucker shouted back in panic.

The halfa did so, and his eyes widened as he looked. On the screen, various scenes of what appeared to be Sam's life were popping up, before exploding into black. But they weren't just any scenes.

Danny, who was on the roof of a building, walking towards Sam with lovestruck eyes.

Danny, who was dancing with Sam at the school dance.

The two fake-out make-outs.

Danny and Tucker just watched in shock as hundreds of moments like these flashed on the screen. They didn't notice that every time Tal hit an arrow, the scene disappeared, like it was being deleted.

The said boy then did another L/R jump, and the arrows ceased. As the music dwindled off, the walls vanished, and Sam's unconscious body fell to the ground.

Danny ran over, his face pale, his expression worried. He kneeled down and held Sam's head in his arms.

"...Sam..." he whispered, his body shaking madly as he did so.