Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom… credit goes to the talented Butch Hartman. The song "She's No You" doesn't belong to me either, credit goes to Jesse McCartney.

"She's No You"

Chapter 2

"Tucker!"

"Happy Birthday Sam"

Sam smiled and said thanks as she hugged him and invited him in. Ok, he wasn't the guy she was hoping would be at her doorstep but she was happy none the less. Tucker's surprise visit seemed to have cheered her up somewhat and she was slightly in a better mood than she had initially been. At least she would have some company.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked after she closed the door and turned to face Tucker.

"Do you actually think I'd leave one of my best friends alone on her birthday?"

Sam sincerely smiled her thanks "Well, now that you're here, what do you want to do? Watch my favorite horror movies down stairs for the whole day?"

"Nah, let's do something else. We already did that on your previous birthdays. Besides, I don't think I could handle your relentless attempts to scare me after the movies are over this time."

Sam laughed "What? That's the fun part about it! We should make it a tradition." Sam joked. One of the many things she enjoyed was scaring Tucker right after a block of horror films. He tended to become very gullible after one horror movie after the other. "Unless you have any other suggestions, scaredy cat." Sam challenged with a raised brow.

"Actually… I was thinking about going to the park today. Since we all usually just stay at your house watching movies on your birthday I thought, since it's your sweet 16, it should be special so we should do something different." Sam's parents, especially her mother, had wanted to throw her a huge sweet sixteen birthday party however, much to Sam's relief and joy and her mother's disappointment, a last minute business trip had been arranged. She actually considered it as some sort of hidden blessing because if they did manage to throw a huge party, a formal party, for her then she would have to spend most of the day hiding from her mother who would be chasing her all over the place trying to persuade her to wear a frilly, pink dress.

"Oh, uh… ok…right now?"

"Yeah… it is your birthday today isn't it?"

Sam rolled her eyes at his sarcasm "I know that! I was just asking because when you arrived I was about to go and eat lunch since missed breakfast this morning."

"Oh I see… I'll just wait for you then. I wouldn't want ya to faint from starvation for anything while we're at the park. You go ahead and eat err… whatever it is you vegetarians eat." Sam rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Whatever… Uh…what about Danny? Do you mind waiting for him to get here while I go eat?" She was wondering how come Tucker came alone because whenever he came over to her place he was usually accompanied by Danny.

"Uh… a-actually Sam, about Danny… he told me to tell you he couldn't make it and that's he's sorry." Tucker replied sadly but attempted to put on a small smile for Sam.

"Oh…alright then…" Sam's initial teasing and carefree tone became soft and quiet. She stared at the clean carpet below her feet 'I… I guess he really did forget… I was just hoping…' she shook her head and painted a smile on her face, acting as if she wasn't affected by what Tucker had just told her. "Um… I'll just go and grab something to eat then change. Do you mind waiting in the living room? You can watch some T.V. or something."

"Sure"

While Sam went into the kitchen Tucker waited a few minutes before he went to the window. He looked outside and saw a head of black hair attempting to hide inside the bushes that grew next to Sam's house…

After eating Sam went upstairs and changed into a pair of tight black pants that were tucked inside her black boots that had purple edges at the top. Her purple shirt was a V-neck, sweater type of shirt that ended mid forearm. Since her hair was still somewhat damp she left it down for the wind to dry.

She walked inside the living room and found Tucker walking around as if he was observing the room. 'Guess nothing interesting was on…'

"Tucker?" she called however she got no response or a reaction that he had heard her "Tucker?" Sam said a bit louder but still no response. "Tucker!"

He quickly turned around "Oh! Heh sorry, Sam."

"Are you feeling alright? Your voice sounds kind of… different and you seem kind of spaced out."

"Oh, heh heh no, I'm fine. Really" he said while scratching his head in embarrassment. "Uh, you look nice."

"Thanks…" Sam raised a brow staring at him skeptically "Are you sure? We don't have to go to the park ya know. It is pretty chilly outside and-"

"No! Um… really, I'm fine."

"O…k well, if you're sure…"

"Yep, I'm sure."

"Ok… well then, let's get going." When she opened the door she called out to her maids "I'm going out! I'll be back later!" Then they left walking towards the park.

When they reached the park they just continued walking and talking about whatever came to mind.

"So why'd you want to go to the park anyway?"

"Oh, nothing really. Just wanted to do something different and a walk in the park seemed like a good idea."

Sam raised a skeptical brow at him "Uh huh…"

"What?"

"Well… it's just I'm getting this feeling that you're not yourself today…"

Tucker laughed nervously. 'Don't blow this!' A voice in his mind scolded him "W-what makes y-you say th-that?"

Sam rolled her eyes "Never mind, forget it. It's probably just me"

…

"I'm sorry Danny couldn't be here." Tucker said suddenly, after a few moments of silence. Sam looked at him, surprised that he brought that subject up.

Sam didn't reply for a few moments, just kept walking slowly but this time she was avoiding eye contact. When Tucker thought that she wasn't going to say anything she spoke up…

"I-it's alright, really… He probably wanted to, to get ready for Paulina's party or something…" she plastered a smile on her face and hoped he believed it then bowed her head down, suddenly finding her boots interesting. She didn't want to start crying again, especially not in front of someone.

"But Sam, I-" Tucker started to say but stopped when he realized what he was about to say. After a few more minutes of silent walking Sam suddenly disappeared from his side and started to run towards the swing set. He sighed and smiled sadly then checked his wrist watch.

When he reached Sam she was swinging herself on a swing. Tucker sat in the swing next to hers just watching her swing herself, trying to go higher each time just like a little kid would do. He smiled at her childishness but Sam didn't notice. She was too busy just staring straight ahead trying to go as high as the swing set would take her. The cold wind brushing her face helped dry her moist eyes.

"Hey Sam!" he called after a few moments "Come down for a minute, I have to give you something."

When she eventually slowed down and stopped next to him she asked "What is it?"
Tucker pulled out a book sized gift from his jacket that was wrapped in beautiful wrapping paper. Sam gasped, she wasn't expecting a gift.

"Aww thanks Tucker but you didn't have to get me anything you know." He handed her the gift after she hugged him.

"Yeah I know, being the spoiled brat that you are, what more could you need, right?" This earned him a soft slap on the arm from Sam.

"Please don't tell me this is some sort of hi-tech gadget or something"

He feigned insult "Sam, you know full well technological stuff is my sort of thing." He referred to the time when she had helped him discover that his 'thing' was technology, all those state of the art gadgets he possessed and cherished, which inevitably earned him the nick name "techno geek", and that her 'thing' was being Goth.

"Could I open it now?" Sam asked after turning it in her hands a few times.

"Sure, go ahead."

She slowly opened the gift and when she finally got all of the wrapping paper off she gasped. In her hands was a beautifully made book of some sort. It was black and the entire cover felt like cloth except the edges which had designs that were a silvery metal. Engraved in the center of it was the shape of some sort of metallic encircled symbol of some sort that had a strap on each side which made it look like a lock.

"You like it? Tucker and I were just browsing around in some random store that had small statues of mythical creatures like dragons, wizards and all when I found that. The moment I saw it I knew that you would like it since you love writing so much."

"Like it? I love it! Thank yo-… wait a minute… what did you just say? Don't you mean 'Danny and I'?" How could Tucker get that mixed up?

'Tucker' smiled then closed his eyes. A few seconds later he shook his head. Sam started in surprise as Danny Phantom appeared next to Tucker.

"Danny?" She knew there was something different about 'Tucker'.

Danny smiled as he transformed back to Danny Fenton, just in case there were any people passing by.

Tucker put a hand to his forehead "Man, that's the last time I'm letting you overshadow me."

She got up off the swing and stood in front of the, now two boys, in front of her "Wait, so… Danny was overshadowing you this whole time?" Sam asked Tucker making sure she understood everything.

"Well, actually after you went to get something to eat I told Danny that you left then after that he overshadowed me." Tucker clarified.

"Surprised?" Danny asked with a triumphant smirk. Everything had gone according to plan so far… that is until…

"You big jerk!" Sam hit him on the arm. He knew that she would be surprised, but he wasn't expecting for her to get even angrier with him than she probably already was. The purpose for this whole thing was so he could surprise her and so she would forgive him. After all, he hadn't really forgotten about her birthday.

"Ow! Sam?" Danny exclaimed as he rubbed the spot she had hit him. "I thought you'd be happy?" He had no clue as to why she was angry.

"Happy? Danny, to be honest, I haven't been very happy since the day you accepted Paulina's invite to go to her party and made me think you forgot my birthday!" Deep inside she truly was overjoyed that Danny was there but she was also fuming because he had played a trick on her that made her depressed for almost a week already.

"I'm sorry that I made you think that I actually forgot your birthday, Sam. I know that I shouldn't have done that to you and that you're probably really upset because of it, but you've got to know" Danny stepped closer to her "that my purpose for doing all this was to make you happy," he held her left hand, while her other hand lay limp at her side holding her gift "and to apologize as well" Danny added.

"Sorry to interrupt the moment Danny, but… I think it's almost time for that, thing you've got planned." Tucker said after checking his wristwatch.

"Oh, right. Thanks, Tuck" Danny turned back to Sam.

"Time for what?"

"You'll see…" Danny pulled out a bandana from his pocket then unfolded it "Here Sam, put this on first."

Sam raised a brow at him but allowed him to tie the blindfold on her none the less, all her anger forgotten.

After checking if anyone was passing by he transformed into Danny Phantom and carried Sam bridal style then took off flying invisibly. They left Tucker smiling and shaking his head, staring at the direction that they were headed.

'The things love does to ya…'

It wasn't long until Sam and Danny were on the ground again because he hadn't gone that far. They were still in Amity Park, just in another area of it. When Danny landed he put Sam down so that she was standing again but didn't let go of his hold on her waist.

"Can I take the blindfold off now?"

"Not yet…" Danny's left hand held her by the waist while his other hand held her right hand. When he began to lead her somewhere he felt her hand grip his tighter. "Don't worry Sam, I gotcha. Just take small steps." She relaxed her grip on his hand a little but still held it firmly.

Danny led her up a small hill then when they reached the top he told her to sit on the blanket that was placed on the grass. She slowly bent her knees and used her left hand to touch the ground blindly searching for the blanket before completely sitting down. Sam felt Danny let her go and when she didn't hear him for a few moments she wondered if he had left her all alone.

"Danny?" She was about to remove the blindfold but gasped when she felt warm hands stop hers.

"Don't worry, I'm right here" he whispered right next to her ear. Sam felt her heart skip a beat.

"Ca-can, can I take this off now?"

"Mm hmm" he untied the blindfold and pulled it away from her eyes. Sam rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times to help her eyes get adjusted to the light again before she looked around her surroundings. They were situated on a hill in a relatively open area that was surrounded by trees and bushes that seemed to form a circle around them. The grass was littered with yellow, brown and gold leaves some of which were moved by the soft blow of the wind. Sam noticed that the hill that they were on seemed to be the only spot in the entire area that was void of any twigs or leaves. Like a lone island out in the middle of the ocean surrounded by nothing but salt water.

"Danny? Where are we?" She turned to find Danny sitting on the blanket as well.

"We're still in Amity Park but just… in a more secluded area. Don't you recognize this place Sam?" he asked as he smiled at her.

Sam looked around a bit more then her eyes widened in recognition.

"Isn't this the hill we were on when Valerie started to hunt you down because you accidentally got her dad fired when you were chasing that ghost dog?" He laughed then nodded "Um, but what are we doing here, Danny?"

He checked his wrist watch then smiled. "Just lay back and watch the sky, Sam."

Sam looked confused. "Huh? What for?" Surely Danny didn't bring her all the way here and surprise her for her birthday just to lie on the ground to watch clouds pass by.

"Trust me."

Sam sighed before lying down on her back supporting her head with her hands next to Danny who was still sitting, knees straight and arms supporting him from behind.

"Danny, what exactly are we looking for? There are barely even any clouds in the sky today." All she could see was a relatively clear murky blue sky and a few birds flying by.

"The second part of your birthday present" Danny replied simply while smiling, watching the sky as well.

Sam furrowed her brows in confusion and looked at Danny from her position on the ground. Before she got a chance to ask him what he meant, he pointed to the sky all of a sudden.

"Look Sam!"

She looked up and saw letters being written in the sky by at least five planes. So far, they had written the letter 'H' in the sky. Both continued to watch the sky in silence as the planes continued to write their message. Danny kept taking glances at Sam trying to read her expression but so far, all he could tell was that she was confused and that she was concentrating on what the planes were writing.

A few minutes later they finished their message. Though the first words were starting to fade they were still fairly legible.

Sam smiled as she read the message.

'Happy 16th B-day Sam'

She had to force herself not to cry again, but this time, they were tears of happiness. She looked over at Danny with tear glossed eyes and was speechless. All this time she had been upset at him for forgetting her birthday but he had been planning to surprise her all along. Not trusting her voice Sam settled to thank him by hugging him which Danny willingly accepted. She used one of her hands to wipe away a tear that had managed to trail down halfway down her cheek.

Danny smiled as he hugged Sam back. He felt so happy he didn't want to ever let go of her. He eventually did let go of her though, when he remembered something else he had to do…

"Sam?"

"Hmm?" She felt him softly push her away causing her to sit back on her legs that were underneath her. She looked at him as he held both her hands in his causing her to blush slightly.

"I have something else to give you" Danny said with a sly smile.

"There's more? Danny you've already given me enough gifts. I think this is the best birthday that I've ever had and I'm so happy so if you still think you need to make it up to me for making me upset, you don't have to. I forgive you and I'm sorry for ever even thinking that." Sam said in a rush.

Danny chuckled "I'm happy that you've forgiven me, Sam, but there's still one more gift I have to give you."

Danny let one of her hands go and slid it into his coat pocket. He pulled out his fist and held it in the air a few moments before letting the object fall however kept it suspended in the air by holding onto the chain. Sam's mouth slightly dropped in surprise as she stared at the necklace that Danny held in his hand. The object that was dangling from a thin silver chain was silver as well. It was some sort of encircled symbol that had a few diamonds in the circle which made the necklace shimmer even more as it rotated in the air.

Speechless for the second time that day, Sam barely noticed when Danny put the necklace on her.

When she finally came to her senses she attempted to take it off.

"D-Danny, thank you, but, this is too much already." Danny stopped her from removing it from her neck.

"Sam, c'mon… it's your birthday, can't I spoil you and shower you with presents for one day?" Danny added with a teasing smile "even though you're already a rich, spoiled brat." This earned him another hit him on his arm but not as hard as the first one. Sam stuck her tongue out at him then smiled.

Danny chuckled "Just kidding"

"Seriously, Danny, you didn't need to get me a necklace too."

"Of course I needed to get you that. You do need it for your new diary." Danny chuckled as she saw a look of confusion cross Sam's face. He reached for the charm on her neck and held the object with his thumb and pointing finger as he continued "Have you seen this shape anywhere before now?"

Sam thought for a few moments before her eyes widened in realization. 'Is that the same shape that's engraved in the cover of my diary?'

She picked up her diary, she had brought it with her when Danny carried her and placed it next to her when she sat down, and placed it on her lap.

"This necklace," Danny continued as Sam brought her attention back to him "is the key that opens that diary." Danny explained as he grabbed Sam's hand and placed the charm in her open palm. "Just place it on top of that" he motioned to the engraved spot on the cover "and push it down then it'll open."

Since the necklace's chain was pretty long she didn't need to take it off. She did what he had just told her and smiled when she heard a small click indicating that it worked! The diary unlocked and the straps that held onto the center fell to each side. Sam opened it and flipped through a couple pages then looked back at Danny.

"That's pretty clever, ghost boy." Sam joked with a smile. "Thank you" This was probably the best birthday she ever had. "But I still have some questions…like, how did you afford to do that whole, writing in the sky thing? And, what is this symbol suppose to mean anyway?" Sam held her necklace as she asked "And, why did you go through so much trouble… just for me? Just to surprise me? I mean, I know we're best friend and all but you really didn't need to all of this just for-"

"Whoa, Sam, breathe." Danny laughed. He should have expected that she would ask tons of questions by the end of all of this. Mainly the question 'why?' "Ok… first of all, I didn't exactly pay the ones who wrote that message in the sky. I asked them to do me a favor and all I had to do was tell them what to write," Sam opened her mouth to say something but Danny continued before she had the chance to say anything "AND, before you start the 20 questions again, Tucker has an aunt who's a pilot who does those sorts of things. She and other several pilots who work with her are the ones who wrote it. Since Tucker was her nephew and I was his best friend, she agreed to do it for free."

Sam nodded in understanding. "When you overheard our conversation the other day during lunch," Danny continued "we were talking about that. I was just making sure that Tucker had asked his aunt and that she had agreed to do it."

"Oh…" Sam remembered day clearly, especially how she had reacted when they attempted to cover it up by using Paulina's party as an excuse. Guilt began to build up inside her. Not a very smart move on their part, but never the less she understood now… Sam placed her diary back on the blanket that they were sitting on top of just before Danny reached over and grabbed both her hands and held them in his. Try as she might she couldn't fight back the persistent blush that crept to her face by his actions. Why was he being so… touchy-feeling all of a sudden? It was as if he couldn't stop himself from touching her; mainly her hands which didn't do so well with her heated face.

"D-Danny? What ar-are you-"

"Sam," she began to feel even more nervous due to the seriousness in his voice. Deciding not to push him she waited silently and patiently while he thought of what to say. "I… I've got a… confession to make." Danny looked at their joined hands and softly caressed her knuckles with his thumbs. Sam sat there quietly wondering what he could be trying to tell her. It seemed as if she was relaxed by the expression on her face but inside the anxiety was causing her heart rate to accelerate gradually.

"Y-yes…?"

Danny looked into her beautiful lavender eyes before sighing and looking back down at her hands. "I…well…you see…" Gosh, why was this so hard for him? He practically just wanted to burst right then and there. To just tell her how he truly felt about her but something was holding him back from saying it… it was fear. The fear of rejection…of losing a friendship that he cherished dearly… the fear of losing someone who was important to him. 'If I don't tell her now… I might not be able to tell her ever again…' The memory of the time when he fought his evil 24 year old self came into mind as well as the image of his family and friends being taken away from him by just one explosion. Strangely this gave him the extra push he needed to continue…

"Sam… I…" Sam looked at him the suspense almost choking her. "I… did, all this for you because…" Gosh, just say it already! It isn't that difficult! Just a few more words to go and… "…I…care about you" Ok… not the exact words he wanted to say but it was a start.

Sam smiled sadly "I care about you too, Danny. You should know that, you're my best friend." 'It's not like I was expecting a declaration of undying love or anything…' She let go of his hands, grabbed her diary and stood up.

"No! Wait, Sam, that's not what I meant to say, I… I mean," Danny stood with urgency and was it… panic in his voice?

Sam let out an exhausted sigh "Danny, you're not making any sense. Why don't you just take me home and-"

"No, ok… everything I did. I did it because…"

Sam stood facing Danny with her diary in her left hand waiting for him to continue. She wished that Danny would just say what he wanted to say and stop stalling.

"…because I wanted to make you happy. You're…" Danny closed the distance between them and held Sam's free hand in both of his. "…you're important to me" he paused before he continued "All this time, I've been trying to figure out a way to make your birthday special because I know how you get depressed every time your parents miss your birthday, despite the fact that you always act and say you're fine and that it doesn't bother you." Danny touched her left cheek with his left hand. "I don't like seeing you sad, Sam… because it hurts me."

Sam smile was small as she forced her blush down that was fighting to resurface again. "Why me?" it barely came out as a whisper she wondered if he heard her. "I know I'm your best friend and all but you really didn't need to do all of this. We could have just watched a movie or something. Why'd you go…" Sam struggled for the right words "…go 'all out'? You didn't do this last for my last bir-"

Danny cut her off mid-sentence by placing a small gentle kiss on her lips.
When he pulled away from her Sam was staring at him in complete shock, suddenly at a loss for words.

Danny's lips formed into a small smile "It's because I love you. I always have."

Sam looked down and she seemed to be smiling. "I must be dreaming… this can't be real."

"This is real, Sam. Why can't it? I love-"

"No…" Sam took a step back "No, you can't…that's…impossible." If this was a dream she wished that she would just wake up from it before she started to cry. Before she started to cry and would wake up with tears in her eyes.

"Why is it impossible for me to love you?" Danny took a step forward. When he saw that she didn't move away he closed the distance between them once again and held her elbows so that they were in between his hands and her sides. "Sam…why won't you believe that all of this is real? That I really am in love with you?"

Sam finally looked at him with tear glazed eyes "Because it seems surreal. Danny…" tears dropped from her eyes and Danny used his thumb to wipe them away but only for more to come cascading down her face. "I've been in love with you for the longest and… hearing you say that you feel the same, it… It just seems unreal because you've only said those words to me in my dreams." Danny loosened his hold on her when he heard her confession but she didn't make a move to move away from his hands. "I know I'm not gorgeous like Paulina. When she passes by you I don't even dare look at you because I was afraid that if I saw your reaction… then, my heart would just break then and there. I knew that I couldn't ever make you react like that to me… I knew that you're head-over-heels in love with her so I just settled for being your best friend. Just your best friend…because…" Sam looked down and paused for a moment causing tears to fall onto her shirt then looked back up into Danny's blue eyes "…I knew that I would never be anything more to you."

Her admission shocked Danny but it also made him feel partly happy and partly angry. He let out a small chuckle "Sam, don't put yourself down like that…" He wiped more tears that managed to make it down to her chin. "Sam, I don't love Paulina. I've gotten over my, silly little crush on her. For a long time now actually… because, I've come to the realization that…" He gently held her shoulders trying to make her understand. "Sam, you're the one I love, not Paulina. I never loved her. I could never love her… you were the one I loved all along." He took hold of the necklace that she wore and brought it up to meet her eyes. "You see this charm, Sam? It means love in Japanese. I chose to buy this diary and necklace for you because I wanted to tell you that I love you. That's why I wanted this day to be special for you…"

Sam's tears had stopped by the time Danny told her that he didn't love Paulina. She looked at the charm that was attached to the necklace she was wearing and smiled then wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him. After a few moments of just holding each other they let go and Sam placed her diary back down on the blanket. She looked up at Danny and just looked into his amazing blue eyes as he began to lower his head, closing the left over distance between them. Before their lips made contact Sam spoke in a soft voice "But… Danny, I'm not Paulina. I'm not like her" Sam said referring to Paulina's appearance which was what obviously earned her, her countless number of fans, mostly among the male population of their school.

Danny smiled "That's just it, Sam. That's why I could never love her…she may look like she can be a supermodel on the cover of magazines or even like those girls who dance in all those music videos, but in comparison to you…" he inched closer to her leaving only millimeters left in between "…she's nothing. She's got nothing on you. She's just a picture on a magazine." Sam smiled a true smile and felt like the happiest and luckiest girl on the planet. "No other girl could mean more to me than you do." Danny closed the last bit of space that distanced them and placed a soft and tender kiss on her lips. It was not long before Sam responded and began to kiss him back trying to express how much love she held just for him. Danny moved his hands and placed them on her waist bringing her closer while Sam wrapped her arms around his neck. After for what seemed like eternity they parted for air, their foreheads still touching and smiled at each other while he wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.

"She's no you, Sam. She's no you."

To be continued...

Always, Mina