Hello! Lateraina back with what seems like the billionth update. Probably isn't. Anyway….Just so you know….this story was just a test, to see how you would like it. I wasn't sure if it was going to last, so I'm glad you like it. I'm starting to have fun with it….. if that brings you any future head to what's coming up.

This is another long chapter, but I actually included a sneak peek down at the bottom, like I've done with the other stories I updated, so I hope you like that.

These episodes have been cancelled for this story.

Mystery Meat: If Sam wouldn't have changed the menu, the cafeteria lady would have never came.

Parental Bonding: If Paulina hadn't tried to lure Danny away from Sam…

One of A Kind: Same- no gorilla obviously

Attack of the Killer Garage Sale: Same

Splitting Images: Same

What You Want: Same

Bitter Reunions: Same

Prisoners of Love: Same

My Brother's Keeper: Never happened for this story- but has nothing to do with Sam

Shades of Gray: same

Fanning the Flames: never happened

Teacher of the Year: Same

13: Same

Public Enemies: Same

Lucky In Love: Same

Maternal Instincts: Same

Life Lessons: Same—Tucker paired up with another girl

One more note, for all of you who have read Flash, you'll see a familiar band name and a song reintroduced. Yes, I made up the song, but it's the only one. But I like it, and I hope you do to.

Thanks to my reviewers! Oh, and to all of you that asked…Karissa is the daughter of Spectra, not Spectra herself.

Blondedevil: Danny doesn't want Sam to react the same way Jazz did.

Anne Camp aka Obi-quiet (x5): Sweet and simple, really? Probably right. But I was just trying to get into the whole desire aspect. And yeah, I did move Sam a little fast. I'll try and slow it down if I get the chance.

Caz33, mish, Sahira Flame, The Fuzy Llama, cakreut12, LaBOBuren, the Druidess, Danny Phantom Lover, SashaTheSheWolf, fatlazikat, NickelbackxDannyxLover, ChibiSess, Penguin, Mr. BB, Dannys-Ghostlygirl, Hopeless Forever, Yayfulness, kitty00240, Divagurl277

Disclaimer: I don't own the song Broken, Seether with Amy Lee do./ I don't own "Bring Me To Life," Evanescence does.

Claimer: I own the song "Take Me Away."

Chapter Six

One of these Days

Sam's hand went numb and she dropped the black pen. IT clattered against the table, seeming to be super loud suddenly in her ears.

"What?" she managed to choke out. Fear gripped her. Karissa had always gotten the guy she wanted. She felt stupid for not telling her the truth and was about to when her fire red haired friend spoke in answer to her question.

"He's just…..so fascinating, compelling. Rebel, rocker, knows how to make a girl laugh. And he's totally gorgeous. Those intense blue eyes…oh, I could go on. Besides that, did you check out that six pack he's got? Umm….give me a taste of that," she said, licking her glossed, shiny lips.

"He has a girlfriend," she blurted. She wasn't going to lose him now. Especially not to her best friend.

Karissa shrugged, wiggling her eyebrows. She didn't seem to notice Sam's sudden outburst. "Not for long…"

"Why do you do that?" she snapped angrily. A fire red fury had awakened inside her, and now she couldn't hold her thoughts in.

She was apparently taken aback. "Do what?"

"Steal other people's boyfriend? They find a love, their hearts join, and you come in and just tear them apart," she said.

"Sam, what do you mean?"

"You're a slut, that's what I mean," she said. She gasped at her daring. How harsh the words had come out.

Karissa's eyes narrowed angrily and she sat back, pulling away from her. "What did you just say?"

"You heard me," Sam said.

"You like him, don't you?" she asked. "That's why you don't want me to have him. You do know that little puppy dog kiss you shared last night was probably just some spur of the moment thing. I've seen the way he looks at me, it's nothing compared to how he looks at you."

"Maybe I do," Sam admitted.

"Exactly. But….I just want to try him out for a while," she said. "Then, if I don't like him, you can have him."

"That's not going to happen. Danny and I are already a couple," she said.

"Yeah, right," Karissa smirked. "Like you've ever had a boyfriend besides Mark."

"Leave Mark out of this," Sam said, feeling anticipation in her heart at the name. Mark had been her first boyfriend….one she had loved until he had tried to kill her.

"You just can't get him out of your head, can you?" Karissa tormented. "How compassionate he was, how beautiful he was….and then he just—"

"Shut up!" Sam yelled.

Before she knew it, anger was coursing through her, and she had leapt on top of her best friend, pinning her to the ground.

Karissa shrieked, landing hard on the ground. Sam lost her balance, and she seized the chance to throw her aside. They crashed, rolling on top of each other, around and around, right into the table, and it fell over them, but they didn't care.

Soon they heard shouting in the background, and someone was pulling Sam off of Karissa, but she wouldn't allow it, and fought back. Karissa did the same, picked up a piece of broken wood from the table, and threw it as hard as she could towards the struggling girl, while Sam, elbowed her holder.

The two hands holding her let go immediately, and she felt whoever it was collapse beside her. She turned around, and gasped.

It was Danny.

He looked up at her, his blue eyes filled with pain. She leaned down, salty tears already streaming down her face.

"Danny, I'm so sorry," she said, hugging him tightly. He stroked her hair gently, and she pulled back. "Are you alright? Oh!"

She saw blood streaking his arm, where a small piece of wood was lodged. He tugged it out, and grimaced in pain.

"We need to get you to a hospital," she said.

Karissa broke free of her captor, and tumbled to the ground on the other side of him. "What happened?"

"Jazz left, so I came down here to find you, and you were fighting," Danny said, answering the easier question. It wasn't like they didn't know what had just happened.

"We need to get him to a hospital," Sam said again.

"I'll be fine," he said. Already he could feel tingling within his wounded arm. "I'll go clean up real quick." He stood up, and a wave of dizziness came over him, but he shook his head and it cleared.

"Danny, you shouldn't be standing," Sam said gently, her hand in his.

"He'll be fine. Let him do what he wants Sam," Karissa ordered, staring at her darkly.

"I'll be right back," he said, taking off.

"I'll go with you," Sam said.

He thought about it a minute, and then nodded. She took his hand again, and without a backwards glance towards Karissa, they began walking.

Danny tried to hurry, but he knew Sam would question if he raced, so he let her lead him to the bathroom.

"I'll wait out here," she said.

Danny stared back at the reflection of himself and felt another tingling sensation in his left arm—as it healed itself. It was a power he'd received less than two months ago. However, blood still caked his arm, and he wiped it off with a paper towel. It was the same reason he no longer had the scratch from his bike's accident yesterday.

But how on earth was he supposed to explain that his arm was suddenly fine to Sam? He supposed he could hide it, but it was too far down to hide beneath his sleeve.

In the end, he tore off a piece of his shirt near the bottom, and tied it to a fake spot. Then at least it wouldn't be too obvious. He was glad no one was in there. He walked out of the bathroom, to find Sam still waiting for him.

He smiled and she tried hard to smile, but it didn't work.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

He pulled her to him, and she leaned her head against his chest. "It's okay. I don't think you did it anyway. However, you did elbow me pretty hard," he joked.

She laughed. "I was just so angry, and I didn't know it was you."

"What happened?" he asked, stroking her hair again.

"Oh, Karissa was just being herself. I guess I just lost it," she said. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.

"You seemed to be okay last night," he said.

"I know. But, she just made me so mad," she said. She pulled away a few inches so that she could look into his eyes. His beautiful….baby blue eyes.

"I'm so sorry," she said again.

"It's okay," he assured her. He kissed her gently on the lips, and she smiled, giving in. She wrapped her fingers around his neck and kissed him this time, making it last longer.

When they pulled away, Sam giggled.

"I can't believe we just met yesterday. It seems such a long time ago," she said.

Danny was surprised. It did seem like a while ago that they had met. So many things had happened since then. Now they were in love….and were showing it.

"Yeah," he said, stupidly. "Are we going to go catch a movie?"

"Sure. It sounds good," she said. Going somewhere with Danny. Sounded really good.

"Oh, yeah, we were going to go sign up for that band job," he said, remembering.

"We can do that afterwards, or we can do that now. But Wake the Dead stays open longer," she said.

"Good point. Okay, movie—"

He stopped when there was a sudden high pitched noise echoing from behind them. They turned around to see a guy wearing a long, black trench coat over black jeans and a black turtleneck. His hair was raven colored, his eyes a deep brown. In his hands was some sort of small PDA looking object, that was making the beeping noise. The man glanced over at them, then returned to staring at it, a look of disbelief on his face.

"What's his problem?" Sam whispered.

"Don't know. He looks creepy," Danny said.

"He's probably from that Sci-Fi convention they're holding," Sam said. "Maybe he's one of those bounty hunters that kills werewolves, vampires, and ghosts and stuff like that."

Danny faked an uneasy laugh. He prayed that she was wrong.

"Let's go…" he said, trying to sound calm.

"Okay," she said.

They started walking, and Sam found Danny's hand in hers, and interlaced her fingers with his. He grinned, looking away to hide his blush.

God….he really hadn't ever felt this way.

"Hey!" shouted a voice.

For a minute, they didn't realize they were being called as they were too busy staring into each other's eyes, but then they heard chanting.

"Heretero nemoa!" he shouted.

Something hit Danny hard and sent what felt like thousands of nails piercing him all over his body. He cried out, and collapsed to his knees.

"I knew it! You are one of them!" the man that had been watching one of them. "If you were normal, that spell wouldn't have affected you!"

"Danny!" Sam said. She stood up angrily. "Who the hell are you?"

He came up to her, breathing heavily, and staring at Danny who was twitching on his knees in disgust. He glanced over at Sam. "Come with me and get away from him."

"Hey, back off!" she said.

He glared. "You're one of them too, aren't you?"

"One of what? What in the hell are you talking about? Who do you think you are?" Sam's anger flared again and she threw out her fist and punched the stranger in the face.

Danny felt slightly relieved of his pain as the guy reeled backwards. Standing up, pinpricks still etched in his skin, but they were duller.

"Why are you protecting him?" he asked, holding his noise. "He's dangerous."

There was a moment of silence, and Sam dared to turn her head slightly to face Danny. "What is he talking about?" she asked in a barely audible whisper.

"I don't know," Danny said, not taking his eyes off the man.

"Of course he knows. He knows exactly what I'm talking about," he said, staring up at him darkly, his vision blurry.

"Look, I don't know who you are, and I don't care. Leave us alone," Sam said.

"Whatever. You just wait… you just wait," he said. With his words, he whipped around, and there was a flash of silver metal near his belt, and stalked off the other direction.

Danny felt the pain totally dissipate, his body returning to normal. But now his head was a mess. There had to be ghost hunters…now. And Sam was probably suspicious of him….now.

"Shall we?" Sam asked, smiling at him.

Danny was surprised. He'd been expecting distrust….anger…..even fear, but there was no trace of either on her pretty face. In fact, she looked quite happy.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, coming over and hugging him.

He nodded, enjoying the warm embrace. "We should get to the movie. Get away from here and these weird people, whoever they are."

"Cool. I think I've had enough adventure for one day. Nearly getting kicked out of a hotel, getting into a wrestling match with Karissa, and now…this, whatever it was," she said.

They started walking again… He could sense the danger was gone, for now, but he still couldn't help but look over his shoulder as they exited the lobby.

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"Catch!" Sam said, tossing a piece of movie popcorn to him. He opened his mouth just in time, and he caught it. She giggled, latching onto his arm and shoving a handful into her own mouth.

"So you liked the movie?" he asked, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her closer. She squeezed him tightly, both arms (one of which was carrying a bag of popcorn) around his waist.

"Cursed is awesome. I've wanted to see it since it came out," she said.

"You mean yesterday?" he asked, laughing.

"I rest my case," she said.

They walked in the parking lot, and Danny got the first sight of her Mustang parked lonely in the darkness.

"I still can't believe you have a Mustang," he said incredulously.

She shrugged. "I mainly wanted it because of the color and the sound system." She looked over at him curiously. "What do you drive?"

"A motorcycle. Tucker calls it a crotch rocket," he said. "It's in the auto shop right now."

"A crotch rocket?" she asked. Her turn to laugh. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"He thinks it's funny…" he stammered. "How it sits…..you kind of lean forward, and for guys…well you catch my drift."

She laughed. "I knew what it meant, I just wanted to hear you say it."

"Oh, thanks," he said, sarcastically.

She laughed hard, and gasped when a red Ferrari pulled up in front of them, barely missing them by an inch. They both jumped backwards, right in time.

The tinted windows rolled down and Karissa poked her curly red hair out. There was another guy inside with her, sitting in the passenger seat. Both couldn't figure out why he looked so familiar, but they'd seen him before.

"!Hola!" she greeted, glaring at Sam and then focusing her gaze on Danny. "Coming from the theatre?" she asked.

"Yeah, we just watched Curse," Danny said shortly. He noticed the looks the two girls kept giving each other, and he really didn't want a showdown here in the parking lot.

"Curse? She got you into that werewolf, Satanist crap?" she asked.

"I like it," he said. He felt Sam go rigid with anger, her grip on his waist tightening. "It was a really awesome movie."

There was a sudden noise in the background, and then someone's muffled voice. Karissa glanced backwards quickly, and nodded her head for whoever it was beside her to take care of it.

"See you later baby," she said.

Karissa pulled off, and they heard a thumping in the back of her car, but nothing seemed to be broken on the outside of her car.

Sam seemed to be ignoring it at least. "Oooh, she's getting on my last nerve."

"She does seem kind of harsh suddenly," he said.

"She'll be the one to apologize first. She always does. I never apologize. I hold grudges," she said bitterly.

"Okay…" Danny said gently.

"Not on you," she assured him. "You haven't done anything." She stepped closer so that she was right in front of him. Leaning up, she kissed the tip of his nose. "I could probably never be angry at you." She took his hand, and led him over to her car.

He climbed in the passenger seat and she turned on the engine, pressing the gas so that the engine made a purring noise. She enjoyed the look she saw on Danny's face.

"Wake the Dead?" she asked.

"Wake the Dead," he said. He made sure his guitar was still on the backseat, and smiled. He hadn't heard her sing before. He betted it would be great.

"Danny?" she asked, her knuckles flexing on the steering wheel as she turned left.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"The guy that attacked us. What did he do to you?" she asked.

He swallowed nervously. This was the conversation he'd been expecting. But it wasn't like he could keep something from her….save for his ghost powers. He wanted to wait a while before he told her about them.

"I'm not sure," he replied honestly. "All of a sudden, it just felt like I was being stabbed everywhere, except there wasn't any marks."

"What was he talking about? He said you were dangerous, and I don't believe him of course, but I'm just confused on what he was talking about."

"I'm not dangerous. I could never hurt you or anyone else," he admitted.

"I didn't think so. But still….he said, "you were one of them." What did that mean?" she asked. He suddenly appeared to be uncomfortable and she realized she was prying too much. Maybe he did have a secret. Maybe he had a different religion, like her, and that guy was some Christian obsesser. That would explain why the strange man had accused her of being one too. She shrugged. "If I'm being too personal, you don't have to answer. It's really none of my business."

"No…it's just—" he stopped, collecting his thoughts.

She waited for him to finish, and at the same time, pulled into a parking spot at Wake the Dead. He took her hand as she was reaching for the keys to turn off the ignition. Staring into each other's eyes, his blue eyes were desperate.

"Listen…there is something I have that I keep secret. I promise I'll tell you, but not right now. I have to work out a few things first," he said.

It was not the statement she was looking for, but he was being honest, so she'd be patient. She gave him a smile and nodded. "I'll wait as long as you need."

He looked out and saw the dark building looming ahead of them, rock music blaring from inside. Nerves began to catch up with him. He watched as two Gothic girls walked into the building.

"Ready?" she asked. God, she was so nervous.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he said.

He took her hand and kissed it and she titled her head and they leaned across the console and kissed shortly, twice.

"Let's go," she whispered in his ear. She pulled the door open and he did the same, and together they began walking inside.

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"Test run," Naomi said. They'd signed up for auditions, and Naomi was the head. Age twenty three, she had long, curly, black hair, a nose stud and several random tattoos. Her outfit was the usual Goth. Black, one sleeved shirt, short black shirt and black pantyhose. Knee high boots and heavy makeup. Chokers and bracelets adorned her, and she even had several ear piercings. "What can you sing?" Her voice was misty and deep.

"Evanescence, Switchfoot, 3 Doors Down, Seether, Avril Lavigne—" Sam began.

"And what can you play?" she asked, switching to Danny.

"The same thing, except no Avril Lavinge and more 3 Days Grace," he replied.

"Sing Evanescence's song Bring Me To Life, and we'll see how the crowd reacts," Naomi said. "If they like it, you're on."

Sam nodded, slightly overexicitedly, but smiled all the same. Danny grinned and picked up his guitar. That song was the best one he could play for Evanescence.

"You're on in twenty minutes, after Gothito," she said, referring to the band performing, singing a slow ballad called "Take Me Away."

"You might want to change clothes, get ready, etc.," she pointed out.

Sam had brought black leather pants and a lilac shirt that had flames etched onto the bottom that reached up towards the center, and was split at the sleeves near the shoulders, then connected at her wrists. Danny had brought black jeans and a black t-shirt.

Before they headed to separate bathrooms to change, they kissed once, and then ten minutes later appeared for each other to see.

Danny's eyes widened upon seeing her. He had to admit….Sam looked hot.

Sam couldn't find intelligent words even to think. The black tee shirt he was wearing outlined his skinny, but muscular frame, and made him seem deeper….stronger. She turned away before she would do something extreme she would regret.

"Who did Naomi say this band was?" Danny asked, tapping his foot along with the beat.

"Gothito," Sam said. "I've heard of them, but I haven't actually heard them. They're good." She listened to the music. It was already on the second verse.

"When the night fell, the stars dancing around me. I saw you for the first time. All I thought about was you. I knew you were the one. We were lovers, we loved each other. Then there was a change. You looked at me different, you had changed. I couldn't breathe with you… But then again…. I feel the rush….every time you're near….it seems that I get lost…..inside my fear……of loving you. It seems that I must break the spell…… you're pushing away…..and I can tell…..that you need some space. So I go away and you always come back…..haunting me…..Making me feel like I was forgotten, rotten, I know you never got it, Beaten, mistreated, You know I never need it. So I thank you, for taking me away…(Guitar solo) Taking me away….."

The crowd burst into applause and Sam felt her nerves jangle. One more song, and then they would be up.

Music started and she recognized it as Seether's Broken. A guy took one mike, and a girl took the other.

"I wanted you to know…that I love the way you laugh…I wanna hold you high and steal your pain, away. I keep your photograph…and I know it serves me well…I wanna hold you high and steal your pain," the guy began. The girl placed her microphone up to her mouth and began to sing harmony.

"Cause I'm broken….when I'm lonesome….and I don't feel right, when you're gone away. You get away….you don't feel me….anymore. The worst is over now. And we can breathe again. I wanna hold you high and steal my pain…away…there's so much left to learn…and no one left to find. I wanna hold you high and steal your pain. Cause I'm broken….when I'm open….and I don't feel like…I am strong enough…Cause I'm broken…..when I'm lonesome….and I don't feel right…when you're gone away…."

They repeated it two more times, the last chorus shorter like the first, and then ended, and the crowd clapped and cheered again.

The girl and guy smiled and walked off the stage with a manner of pride. They stopped when they saw Danny and Sam.

"Good luck guys," the girl said. "You new here too?" She had black dye covering over her original blonde hair and pretty blue eyes.

"Yeah," Sam said. "I'm Sam."

"I'm Jade. And this is my boyfriend, Seth," she said, pointing to the guy, who had black hair with red streaks and green eyes.

"This is Danny, he's my boyfriend," she said. She loved the way that sounded. My boyfriend. She almost laughed out loud with delight.

"What are you singing?" she asked.

"Bring Me To Life, by Evanescence," Danny replied. He whispered something over to Seth, and he nodded. The girls finished their conversation.

"Ooh, cool. We'll be watching… good luck, and Goddess bless," she said.

"We're Wiccan," Seth explained.

"I figured," Sam said, smiling. These two were friendly. She didn't need to be a wallflower anymore. That's how Karissa had always made her feel. Now she could do her own thing.

Naomi walked up on stage. "Please, welcome our next performers!" she said.

"Ready?" Danny asked. Sam nodded and took his hand. He grabbed his guitar one handed, and they walked up on stage.

The crowd cheered, a huge encouragement. Danny plugged in his guitar and turned the tuners, making sure they were on key.

Sam glanced over at Danny, and he smiled, and she nodded. He began strumming, and at the right time, began to sing.

"How can you see into my eyes, like open doors. Leading you down into my core, where I've become so numb. Without a soul…my spirit sleeping somewhere cold…until you find it there…and lead it back home…. Wake me up inside…wake me up inside…call my name and save me from the dark…bid my blood to run….before I come undone.. save me from the nothing I've become. Now that I know what I'm without….you can't just leave me…breathe into me…make me real… bring me to life. Wake me up inside, wake me up inside…call my name and save me from the dark….Bid my blood to run.. before I come undone…save me from the nothing I've become….bring me to life….frozen inside without your touch without your love…darling, only you are the life, among the dead—"

Sam froze. She hadn't remembered about this part. Did Danny know this was a guy's part? Then she heard deep singing and turning her head quickly, saw Danny playing guitar…but his mouth wasn't moving… but the words were there…so she had to sing.

"All this time I can't believe I couldn't see, kept in the dark but you were there in from of me."
"I've been sleeping a thousand times it seems. Got to open my eyes to everything."

"Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul."

Sam heard an eerie echo behind her next words. "Don't let me die here…"

"There must be something more—"

"Bring me to life….Wake me up inside…wake me up inside…call my name and save me from the dark. Bid my blood to run…before I come undone…save me from the nothing I've become….bring me to life...bring me to life (I've been living a lie…there's nothing inside) Bring me to life……."

She took a deep breath at the longest note, and finished nicely. The crowd erupted into cheers and Danny stood up, wiping sweat from his head. She looked at him questionably, and he grinned, raising his eyebrows.

Naomi stepped up to them and Sam handed over the microphone. "Give it up for Sam Manson and Danny Fenton!" she said. The crowd cheered and she couldn't help but smiling. Danny took her hand and kissed it, and carrying his guitar, they walked off stage.

"That was awesome!" Jade said, coming up to greet them. She and Seth had come from the side of the stage.

"Thanks…but I'm totally lost. Was that you singing?" she asked Danny.

"Me sing? Ha," he said, laughing. "No, I asked Seth to back you up, cause I forgot about that part."

"I was doing the echoes. We wanted to make your first time up there great," she said.

"Wow, thanks," she said.

"You were totally awesome dude," Seth said. "Where did you learn how to play guitar?"

"I actually taught myself, and my friend Tucker looked up ways how on the internet," he said.

"And where did you learn how to sing exactly like Amy Lee? That was awesome. But I'm not saying you copied her, cause you had your own rhythm, but wow…what would I give to sing like that," Jade said.

"You do sing like her. At least you did in Broken," Sam said.

"Really?" she asked. She stretched her arms over her head, and looked between them. "Wanna go eat somewhere?"

"It's almost eleven o'clock," Sam pointed out.

"Steak and Shake is open twenty four hours," Jade said.

"Oooh, I'm in the mood for a chili 5 way," Seth said. Danny cracked a smile over at Sam and she felt her heart beat faster.

"Okay. Sounds good," she gave in.

"Sam, Daniel," said a voice.

Naomi walked over to them, holding something in her hand. Danny ignored his real name once again. She stood next to Sam, and handed her something.

"Congratulations, you did it," she said proudly.

Sam opened it up, one of the ends was taped together, and her jaw dropped. "Fifty dollars? For our first night?" Danny's eyes went wide.

"You made a great first impression," she said. "Come here Friday night, and you can expect that to be tripled," she said.

"That's our night too," said Jade.

"Thanks," Sam said, amazed.

"No, thank you," Naomi said. She walked back over to her office and they could see her talking to someone in black. (Figured)

"So let's go celebrate," Seth said. "You in?"

Danny looked at Sam. "We're in."

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"This calls for celebration," Sam said, curving her hand so that it was resting on his shoulder. He strengthened his grip on her legs, as she was sitting on his back, piggy back style again.

Now that it was nearly one o'clock in the morning, they were just now getting into the hotel. Jade and Seth had bought food for everyone, and they'd made new friends. In a way, she was happy. She could make friends without Karissa. She just couldn't believe she'd waited this long to realize it.

"As in?" he asked, smiling.

"Want to see what I have in my suitcase," she asked giggling.

His hand slipped rapidly and he just about dropped her, but managed to recover just as fast. Still walking, he chanced to turn his head for a millisecond to look at her face. "What?" he asked.

"It's just a vial of Vodka, what's wrong—" she began. She raised an eyebrow and burst into laughter. "Danny Fenton, get your mind out of the gutter."

"I've been hanging out with Seth and Tucker too much," he said, thinking about how Seth had been so humorously perverted while they were playing Truth or Dare. Of course, that had been twenty minutes before they'd been kicked out and told to go home. He laughed, blushing.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing. He followed her finger to the floor where there was something tiny and gold resting near the edge of the wall.

Sam jumped off of him and walked over to it, picking it up gently.

"Jazz," she whispered." She handed it to him. "Isn't that your sister's name?"

He took the object from her hand carefully and saw that it was a golden chain with a pendant the same color, spelling out, "Jazz" in cursive.

He automatically knew it was his sister's, considering he'd been the one who had given it to her on her seventeenth birthday. He'd had it special ordered, since Jazz wasn't a common name, and his older sister had treasured it, and had even worn it to the Homecoming Dance—two weeks before the accident.

He noticed the clasp was broken, as if it had been ripped from her neck and a surge of anger shot through him. Was she really so angry with him that she'd done it on purpose? He decided it was probably true.

Well, if she wanted to break him so easily from her life, then he'd do the same to her. But—he pocketed the chain anyway and swallowed hard.

"You alright?" Sam asked, taking his hand.

He nodded and pulled her close, feeling his anger melt away in her embrace. "What were you saying?" he whispered in her ear.

"I snuck a little bottle of Vodka when I ran away," she said. "I figured I could got get us some Virgin Bloody Maries from the bar and then we could party."

"Vodka huh?" he asked. "'Tis good."

"Why Mr. Fenton, have you been drunk before?" she asked.

"No, but that doesn't mean I haven't had alcohol before," he admitted. "You're not planning on getting drunk are you?"

"You're just expecting the weirdest things tonight aren't you?" she teased. "I don't have that much to get us drunk."

"Well, I know that, I just—" he stuttered.

"Uh….huh," she said sarcastically. "I tell you what. I'll go get the drinks if you start a movie up for us."

"Deal," he said. He wasn't a people person anyway.

She gave him a quick kiss, then another before smiling. "I'll be right back. Don't start without me."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said.

She laughed, kissed him once more, then started skipping down the hall before disappearing around the corner.

Danny remained in the hallway, staring after her, dazed, then shook his head, grinning. He took his key from his back pocket and walked into the room after unlocking it.

Taking a leap onto his bed, he threw off his coat and picked up the remote control. Then he pressed the buttons to get him to the Movie Menu, trying to think of what they might want to watch.

The door clicked open and he leaned his head up, still staring at the tv.

"Back already?" he asked.

"You know I'd never leave you baby."

Danny nearly jumped off the bed. Sitting straight up fast, he stared into Karissa's pretty face.

"The door was open," she explained.

"God, you scared the hell out of me," he said, standing up. He walked over, brushing his hair away from his eyes.

"Sorry," she said, almost sincerely. "Looks like you're doing better." She nodded with her head towards his raised arm.

He'd forgotten that he was supposedly injured when he had last seen her. He put his arm down quickly and she gave him a look she couldn't identify.

"What, do you have healing powers?" she teased, stepping closer to him.

He laughed nervously and tried to keep his voice steady. "Yeah, it's a family inheritance." He tried to put as much sarcasm as possible into the statement.

"Sure about that?" she asked.

"Sam isn't here," he blurted, trying to chance the subject.

"I'm well away of that," she said, taking another step towards him.

"So, so…if you'll come back—" he began.

"You miss her don't you?" Karissa said suddenly.

"What?"

"Your sister, Jazz," she said.

"How do you—what are you—what?' he stammered, too many questions in his head confusing him.

"She's nice. Likes to talk though. But she's really upset. You hurt her Danny, you really did," she said, placing an arm on his shoulder.

In an instant, a wave of dread and depression settled over him like a cloud, smothering him with the memories and reality of all that had happened to him the past two days.

The fact that Jazz wanted to him to get rid of his ghost powers, that she was literally thinking about getting him off her mind by turning on him. How he couldn't tell Sam about his ghost powers; that bounty hunters were swarming the hotel, one of them had already discovered his secret.

It was as if he couldn't remember anything happy. Without knowledge that it ever happened, he had backed up into the desk near the tv and was leaning against it, overwhelmed by emotions.

Through clouded eyes, he saw Karissa take a deep breath, like she was relaxed.

"You should come back later," he pleaded, desperately.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said, placing her other hand on his knee. She leaned closer. "Do you know what the best thing in the world is? Misery. And you're swimming in it…now," she whispered into his ear.

"How much do you really know about Sam, sweetie?" she asked. "Did you know she has a boyfriend?"

He looked up and she nodded sadly. "Yeah, his name is Mark. They've been together for about a year now. Haven't you ever seen the necklace he gave her? Oh, I forgot. You probably haven't. She takes it off in water, otherwise you would have seen it the other night. The rest of the time she keeps it hidden under her shirt."

"You're—you're lying," he said. His head seemed to be splitting in two. On one hand, Karissa knew a lot about Sam where he didn't. On the other, the two girls were fighting, about what, he wasn't sure, but he didn't know how vengeful Karissa was. How far would she go? Was this all some trick.

"Why would I lie to you? I want you to know before you get hurt anymore. That's what we were fighting about earlier. I told her off and she got angry," she said.

Danny stared at her coldly. "No offense Karissa, but I trust Sam, and I don't know whether you're telling me the truth or not, but I'm going to let her decide."

Karissa pulled her arm away from his shoulder, but kept one hand on his knee. "You're right. You're right. I shouldn't be the one to tell you this. She should."

"Okay," he said. He started to slid off, but she sighed and stopped him.

"And I really hoped I wouldn't have to do this," she said. "Then again, screw that. I do."

"Do what?" he began.

She pressed on hand roughly against his shoulder and he smashed hard into the wall behind him. "Hey-"
"Danny? Shut up," she said, taking one hand and cupping it around his cheek. With a sudden urge, she kissed him passionately on the lips, pressing both hands to his face so he couldn't move away.

And that's when Sam walked through the door.

ttttttttttttttttttt

I'm bad. Cliffhangers! Ha, I'm evil. Please R&R. In fact, I think I'll give you a sneak peek! Enjoy!

Lateraina Wolf

Chapter Seven—

Sam rubbed her arms against the cold that suddenly hit her. Jeeze, was the hotel always cold? For God's sake, it was winter.

Maybe she would go up to the room. She just hoped he wouldn't be there. That way she could pack her bags, and leave without a huge confrontation.

She sighed and opened the door to the stairs and stepped inside. She almost gasped, but clapped a hand over her mouth just in time.

Danny was standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking around for something, but didn't see her. She didn't dare move. Maybe if she just backed out quietly….

Then something happened she never expected.

The stairwell was filled with a flash of blue-white light, and the room grew even colder. She turned her head carefully, expecting to see Danny playing with some flashlight.

Except it wasn't Danny she saw.