Links in the Chain
By Lacey52
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
A note: Oh man, I'm all tingly with anticipation…are you? It's continued from right where we left off last chapter…
Some things to remember:
They're in fifth grade so they're all relatively scrawny…all about the same size.
People at the school, both children and adults fear and dislike the 'link' that Danny and Sam have.
Things have gotten out of control. Go re-read the dream chapter called Interlude: Calling you.
People can truly be this cruel, though few people hear about it.
Please note: All OC's (otherwise known as Original or Other Characters) have been created by myself. Any similarities to people or names were unintentional and not meant to parody anyone. If I have offended you in any way, I am truly sorry, please let me know, and I'll see what I can do to make amends.
Ahem, be forewarned there is 'language' ahead…
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Chapter Forty Seven: Belligerence
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Of course I remember Danny," Sam's face softened slightly, "but that doesn't mean that it's going to happen again!"
"It won't happen again!" the halfa felt his eyes shifting color, his anger starting to override his need to hold back, "I'm not going to let it happen again, and if that means keeping you away from the people who started it in the first place then that's fine with me."
"Danny, stop worrying!"
"They're looking at you again Sam!"
And in the instant their eyes locked, memories that were more nightmare than anything flooded back over them from a doubled point of view, freezing them for only a second, but lasting for the rest of their lives in their minds.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
They had been looking at her lately, and Sam knew why.
They would follow and poke and prod and tease and do anything in their power to get her to 'call' Danny. She was the easier target after all, as she was a girl, but she had grown so tired of her role.
That had been her biggest mistake.
"Hey guys," Sam looked over to Tucker and Danny on the monkey bars, "I gotta' go to the bathroom, I'll be back after while."
"Okay!"
"See ya'!"
The two happy replies sent Sam on her way, conscious of the eyes that were on her. The teacher who gave her the hall pass and the students around her both didn't know what to think about the strange little girl who liked dark colors and wrote strange stories. They didn't know what to think about the oddity that walked before them who had a special connection with a bubbly boy of the same age.
As Sam opened the doors to the school to go to the girl's restroom, another group of students started to head inside, eyeing her as they followed her path with quick, sharp steps. Entering the building the small group of five children quickly caught up with Sam and made their presence known.
"Stupid dark girl," Jessica Creely said snippily to her back, "She doesn't know that you can wear brighter colors or something."
"Why're you following me?" Sam stopped where she was to turn and face them. She wasn't about to let them intimidate her into calling Danny, especially when there were no teachers around to break up a fight.
"No reason," Jason Dillinger frowned at her, before smiling and adding onto his sentence, "freak…"
Getting a good laugh out of it the others began to circle in around the girl, backing her against the row of half lockers present in the hallway. Erin Sanchez took a step forward to snatch the hall pass from her hands, "Yeah, we just wanted to see how your magic works…"
Sarah Grayson, flipped her long blonde hair back over her shoulder, "You think you're so special. We just wanna' know why."
Sam glared at the girl, "I don't think I'm special and I don't do magic."
"Yeah?" Jason let out a rough, disbelieving laugh, "Our parents told us to stay away from you. You're doing bad things and so is Danny Fenton."
"We think it's kinda' cool," Erin smiled maliciously.
"What?" Sam voiced her disbelief, leaning further against the lockers to gain some form of support for her failing nerves.
"Yeah, it's cool how we can mess with you," Jessica pointed a finger at the girl and then turned to look towards the door, "and Danny will come running right to you!"
"Fenton's like a dog," Dash Baxter finally put his own two cents in, content to just stand right outside the circle and watch the show.
"He is not, and he's not gonna' like this," Sam glared at the five of them as she straightened once more, "Leave me alone, I just want to go to the bathroom you jerks."
"Ooo, we're jerks now," Erin backed away from the girl, pretending to be frightened, "Better watch out or she'll put a curse on us."
"I think she's just stupid," Sarah bit out, "She's unnatural, that's what my Mom said. Things like what she does are unnatural."
"I bet she doesn't want to call him," Jessica said right after her friend, "She's just being a bitch about it."
"I don't call him," Sam lied through her teeth and glared at the girl in front of her, wanting to knock her teeth in but knowing five on one weren't very good odds.
"Then how does he show up?" Erin got in her face, "You two are freaks. My Aunt says it's the occult. That you should be taken care of."
"It's not occ…"
"Shut up," Jason cut her off, "Maybe it's good she won't call him. It's like a challenge…it just makes it that much more fun for us."
Cracking his knuckles, Jason shot forward and grabbed Sam's shirt, nearly tearing it, Erin quickly joining him as they frog-marched the girl the rest of the way to the girl's bathroom. Jessica placed herself right outside the door, acting as the small group's lookout.
Dash paused for a moment right outside the door, watching Sam struggle with the two boys. Her face was twisted in slight pain and Dash looked extremely unwilling to walk a step further. Shaking his head, he soon joined the others, "What the hell are we doing in the girl's bathroom? This is so lame."
"We're gonna' get Sam to talk," Jason roughly pushed her against the wall and watched her slam her head against the tiling. As her vision swam and a tickle grew on the back of her scalp, Sam sent a mental shout and brought her hand to the back of her head. Drawing it back she found blood staining her fingertips.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
On the playground Danny froze, ignoring Tucker as he tried to get him to hurry up so they could play tether-ball. He had felt the tiny tug, had seen blood on fingertips, and knew that Sam needed him.
Turning to Tucker he began his search, "Has Sam got back from the bathroom yet?"
"No," the boy shook his head, "Why?"
But Danny took off like a shot, ignoring the strange looks he was getting as he began to ask several people where Sam was at, 'I have to find her…'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Dash frowned as he watched Sam look up at them through tear glazed eyes, "I'm not playing today," he stubbornly crossed his arms and leaned against one of the sinks, "This is getting stupid, Jason."
"You're just sore 'cause it's the girls' bathroom," Sarah laughed and shook her head, "You know you want to play with us Dash."
"Alright, Sam," Erin pinned her to the wall with a hand on her shoulder, pushing roughly and as hard as he could, "How do you two do it?"
"I don't know," Sam stated firmly, though her resolve was cracking, 'If I tell them maybe they'll leave me alone, but I can't tell them anything because I promised Danny I wouldn't. Danny…where are you? Please find me…'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Danny stopped speaking to the teacher in front of him and jerked his head towards the building. Throwing a quick apology over his shoulder, the boy ran as fast as his legs would carry him as Tucker looked on curiously.
Something was happening to Sam, and if it had Danny in that much of a panic, then it was in no way good.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Tired of trying to get it out of her Erin slammed his other fist against the wall by her head, "You're a liar…you're a bloody, little, lying slut!"
"I. Don't. Know!" Sam shouted back at the boy, worry etched on her face, "I already told you that I don't know, what else do you want me to say Erin?"
Shying away from the glowering boy, Sam closed her eyes and prayed that Danny would make it to her soon.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Danny thundered down the hall, desperately searching for his best friend, though to the few teachers that witnessed his race, it appeared that he was running for his life from some monster hot on his heels.
'I have to find her, where are you Sam?' he was nearing frantic now, her emotions finally beginning to lap at his mind, 'Why are you so scared? Show me where you're at!'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"You know, Danny's kinda' cute and all," Sarah peeked around Erin's shoulder as he backed off, "but why choose him to do this weirdo psychic thing with?"
"It's not like I picked!" Sam was tired of standing there and having questions shot at her that she couldn't answer. She finally slipped up, "It just happened, alright?"
Dash, however, stepped in before anyone could comment, "C'mon guys. If she ain't called him yet, she probably won't. Let's just leave her alone."
"What?" Sam glared at the boy standing off to the side, "You suddenly remember you were friends with me?"
"I ain't friends with a freak show like you, Manson," he spat back at her.
"Aw," the other boy glared at her, "You sound mad, Sam…"
"Just leave me the hell alone," Sam said miserably and held her head in her hands, the pain from getting slammed against the wall starting to take over.
"Heh," the blonde boy laughed slightly, "She's cussing now…"
"I bet she really is a witch," the only other girl in the room, stopped twirling her hair and stepped forward, hostility written across her countenance, "Is that it, that how you do it, witch?"
"You're an idiot," Sam worked up her nerve again to fight back a bit, "You're all stupid if you think I'm going to tell you anything or do…ah!"
Sarah had slapped Sam firmly across the cheek, disgust and loathing clear in her eyes, "Don't you ever talk to me like that again."
Sam's cheek stung and for a moment took over the pain that had been induced by her head injury. The stinging gave her another prompt to call out to Danny, this time a clear picture of the bathroom forming in her mind as she pushed it to him.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Danny skidded to a stop in the second wing of the elementary school, cursing himself for not checking the girl's restroom first, 'That's where she was going in the first place, you idiot!'
Thundering down the hall Danny was about to round the corner when another wave of fear washed over him, causing him to stumble slightly.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Didn't feel good, huh, witch?" Jason loomed over her, "Shut your mouth or it'll happen again."
"I…" Sam tried to press herself back into the wall, desperately wishing she could sink through it or the earth would open and swallow her. As the others started to laugh at her plight, anger began building and boiling in her, the emotion that Danny was feeling right then pushing her to finally lash out, "Get out of here and leave me alone! Don't you dare ever touch me again, any of you!"
"What?" Jason grabbed the collar of her shirt and drug her towards him, "You mean…don't do this, you freak?"
Another hit to the side of her face, but this was more of a backhanded punch than Sarah's slap had been. Reeling from the blow, Sam's arm slammed into the sink at an odd angle as she fell back; a sickening crack and a quick pop were heard right before she hit the floor. The girl started crying then and curling around her damaged arm. Tried to hide from the world.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Danny rounded the last corner, spotting a very nervous looking Jessica pacing outside the bathroom door. Ignoring her completely, the boy pushed past her and headed straight for the door handle.
Jessica took off running for the principal, yelling about a fight in the girls' bathroom in the second hallway. Danny couldn't have cared less in that second as he went for the door, 'I'm here Sam!'
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
Sam heard Dash step between her and the rest of the group, "That's enough."
She saw it all happen in slow motion. He reached down to help her up, but grabbed the wrong arm. She twisted away from him in pain, but his grip was tighter than she thought, causing her arm to pop again, a strangled scream working its way from her throat.
"Sam?" Danny burst in the door, frantic and desperate to find her.
"Sam," he saw her being held up by her arm, he swore he saw red that day, "Let her go."
Dropping Sam's arm and watching her pull it back to herself, Dash turned to face Danny, "I'm not the one that…"
Dash found himself to be cut off as Danny's fist found his nose and blood started to dribble down his lips and chin.
Situating himself between Sam and the rest of the people in the bathroom, Danny found that his only opponent was an extremely angry, and slightly larger Dash. A punch to the stomach had Danny doubled over, giving Dash the opportunity to grab him.
The boys engaged in a wrestling-like scuffle that only lasted a few seconds and earned Danny a long cut across his right cheek from Dash's watch and a busted lip from an elbow that had flown his way. Seizing the opportunity when it came, Danny managed to slam his knee right into Dash's groin, sending the boy down. At arm level, Danny pulled back his fist and let fly right into Dash's face. A black eye started forming nearly instantly as Danny shook his hand from the pain his punch had shot up his arm.
"Don't you ever touch Sam again," Danny wiped the blood from his cheek, eyeing the others and watching Dash as he scooted away from him and held his nose, "You alright, Sam?"
The others in the room could only watch Danny, too stunned that he had actually gotten in a fist fight and won. Sam was looking up at Danny's back, desperately trying to get her tears under control, "Y…yeah. I'm okay…"
No one knew quite what to do. The tension in the air was thick, blanketing them all and leaving an oppressive heaviness to the situation. Danny didn't dare move away from defending Sam to check on her…there were too many people in the room who might try something if he did.
Just as it looked that Jason and Erin were working up the nerve to take on the boy in front of them, a harried looking old man burst into the bathroom with Jessica and a few teachers in tow, "What is going on in here?"
The five already in the bathroom stared gape mouthed at the principal and the others assembled there, "You five," the man gestured to Danny, Erin, Jason, Sarah, and Jessica, "report to my office immediately. Baxter, Manson, to the nurse's office, now."
"But Danny…" Sam cuddled her arm to herself as Danny gently helped her to her feet, "he need's to go to the nurse too."
"He looks fine to me," the grizzled principal turned his nose away, muttering about 'odd children practicing dark magic' and 'lawsuits for letting fights go unattended.'
"Sir," Dash piped up bashfully, "He got hit in the head and stomach."
"Don't you defend me," Danny turned to Dash and looked ready to kill, "You're the one who hurt Sam!"
"It wasn't me, you idiot," Dash got in his face, "I didn't hurt you're little witch!"
Sam shook her head, trying to keep the tears down as the principal escorted four children to his office, "I'm not a witch!"
"I don't care!" Danny ignored Sam's murmuring, leveling an icy glare on the boy in front of him, "You could have stopped it Dash!"
"Please just stop it," Sam cut in as a teacher stepped forward to take care of the situation, as the principal was far too apathetic for her taste.
"Stop, right now," her voice commanded their attention, "All three of you to the nurses office. Now."
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"When I got into that bathroom and saw your face swelling and your arm bent the wrong way," Danny shook his head angrily, "I thought it was my fault for not noticing them sooner. They were watching you, and they've been watching you again, haven't you noticed?"
"People watch people all the time!" Sam stated clearly back to him, "Maybe they like the way I look?"
Danny stopped his retort on the tip of his tongue and turned away. He was getting bent out of shape, and it was happening way too quickly, 'I really need to cool down…I gotta' get out of here before this gets any worse.'
Walking away, he slammed the cafeteria doors open, leaving a worried Sam, and a stunned cafeteria in his wake. Tucker didn't know what to think as he watched Sam grab her things and head out of the cafeteria in the opposite direction.
Deciding Danny could probably take care of himself, Tucker dropped his sandwich and headed after Sam. This little incident had too many people staring after her for his taste and he'd be damned if he let her walk anywhere by herself for a while.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"I wish that stupid accident had never happened!" Danny slammed his fist into the nearest locker, leaving a decent sized dent, but also leaving a throbbing hand, "Agh, not smart! God, that was not smart!"
"If you would kindly stop destroying school property, as you do it enough as things are," Mr. Lancer pulled a frown as he eyed the dented wall locker, "perhaps you could share with me what accident has you so upset? Has something happened to one of your family?"
Following Mr. Lancer back into his office as he led the way, Danny sank into a chair and held his head in his hands, bending over to rest his elbows on his knees and support his upper body, "No, it was that accident me and Sam told you about…the one that gave us our connection."
"Something has happened between you and Ms. Manson then?" Lancer's eyebrows raised, "I had gotten a call that two students, a male and a female, were having a rather disruptive fight in the cafeteria and was on my way over to resolve the situation. That was you, Danny?"
"Yeah," he shook his head, "And it's Valentine's Day…it's supposed to be a good day…"
"Care to tell me what happened?"
"Not really," Danny sat up a bit and clasped his hands between his knees, "The more I think about it, the more I realize how stupid I am. I'm surprised Sam didn't slam a chair into my head."
"You made Sam upset?"
"More than upset. Our connection has it's downsides," Danny frowned, "Sometimes we end up getting influenced by the other's emotions. So when she's upset and I'm upset, we just keep making it worse and worse…like we get stuck on repeat and the volume goes up a little more each time."
"So you were upset about something and Sam was also."
It wasn't a question. Edward Lancer had come to know the trio well enough that he could read between the lines with them.
"Yeah," he frowned and then winced, "Sam got upset that I read her diary, then I got jealous because she was ignoring me to talk with Dash, and then I said something really, really stupid."
"What did you say?" Lancer leaned in, curious as to what Danny would have possibly said to Sam for the situation to have escalated so much in such a short period of time.
"I told her that she couldn't sit with her other friends because I didn't trust any of them…" he winced again, "and that was really, amazingly stupid…because some of the people at the table were my friends too."
"It appears that you have a problem," Lancer blew out a breath he was holding, "What are you going to do?"
"I don't know," Danny shook his head, "I've got a lot of people to talk to though…"
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"That arrogant, overprotective, stupid, moronic, overbearing, snotty, jerk!"
Tucker had no problem finding Sam standing by her locker, trying to open it , but clearly too upset to turn the dial correctly. The poor girl was only growing more and more frustrated as she tried and failed and tried again.
"A little upset, huh?" Tucker gently pulled her away from her locker, "What started all that? Danny was in a bad mood when he I came in and then you came in and he looked even more upset."
"We got in a fight," Sam winced as she leaned her forehead against the cool metal of the locker door, "We never fight…we haven't fought in a long time and now I remember why…"
"The link right?" Tucker dipped his head down to look into her eyes, "You two just make each other more and more upset with your emotions right? It happened that one time in fourth, but took us a month to figure it out."
Nodding, Sam took a deep breath and tried to open her locker again, forcing herself into a state of calm as the tiny piece of her mind that she identified with Danny seemingly started doing the same, "All he did was read my diary, and I shouldn't have gotten so upset, but I did. It all just crashed and burned from there."
Wincing and drawing out the folder she needed for her next class, she turned to her friend, "How much did we say?"
"Not enough to let anyone onto anything other than you getting hurt," the young man shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned his back against the locker beside hers, "There were a few people who were watching you that would know what happened…Jason and Sarah were at the table right next to yours…and Dash was sitting next to you."
"We didn't…" she swallowed hard at her next thought, "We didn't say anything about it being back did we?"
"No," Tucker answered her gently, "Just take a deep breath Sam, the day's almost over. Me or Danny are in all the rest of your classes at least."
"You two aren't going to be stuck to me like glue again are you?" Sam sent Tucker a halfway amused grin, "I remember when my arm was in that cast I couldn't even blink wrong or Danny'd freak out. You were just as bad…I swear if I had a little bell to ring every time I wanted something I could have trained you two like Pavlov's dog."
"Oh ha ha," Tucker smiled, "but you know we only did that because we were worried. Danny especially."
"I don't really think I should talk with Danny right now," Sam turned her head away, "We'd just get all worked up again and blow up. Would you mind talking to him for me?"
"No problem," Tucker smiled as he looked down at the PDA he had drawn from his pocket, "But first, on to next period, the bells gonna' ring in three, two, one…"
And as the bell ring, students shuffled out of classroom, the library, the cafeteria, all too busy going about their own lives to notice Sam and Tucker making their way through the mass of bodies to their next class. Tucker and Sam, while inseparable, was eerily silent and many of the teachers took note, generally leaving them to their peace as the rest of the day passed without incident.
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Dash," Danny had finally caught up with the boy after school. He had only gone to the class in which Tucker didn't have with Sam, and had gotten a firm talking to from the younger boy in the hallway about Sam not wanting to talk with him right then, the rest of his time had been spent wondering the school halls invisibly. Sucking it up he had agreed with Tucker and went the rest of the day trying to figure out how to apologize to two people, "I wanted to apologize."
"For what," the larger boy ground out angrily, "For blaming me for something I didn't do, again?"
"Yes," Danny looked off to the side before looking back up to his friend, "I'm the biggest ass in the history of mistake making right now. I know you didn't hurt Sam. It was fifth grade and we were all a bunch of little, idiotic, punk kids."
"Whatever Fenton," Dash slammed his locker close and zipped up his backpack, "I'm not the one you should be talkin' to. Sam's probably pissed."
"You have no idea," Danny slammed his forehead into the locker, "She doesn't even want to see me let alone talk to me right now. I'm an idiot, and I shouldn't have brought up…bad memories."
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Dash cut him a scathing glare, "You don't trust me obviously, why should it matter if we're cool or not?"
"Because I do trust you," Danny frowned, "I've been really stressed out lately, alright? And I was mad about something and Sam was mad at me, and she's right, I am paranoid, but wouldn't you be too if you saw someone you really care about on the floor like Sam was?"
The blonde jock studied the teen standing beside him, matching him look for look, searching for something…and then realization swept over his features, "You were jealous in the hall this morning."
Taken aback Danny opened his mouth to form an answer but nothing came out. Shutting it and settling for turning away and blushing he shrugged his shoulders.
"You were, that's what started all this," Dash turned him around and slammed him against the lockers, "When Sam sat by me, it was the last straw wasn't it? God, you're a bigger idiot than I am!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny pushed Dash off of him, "You don't even know what you're talking about."
"I mean that you're an idiot if you think anyone could take Sam away from you," Dash replied calmly as he straightened his letterman, "Duh, Fenton, she's madly in love with you if you hadn't noticed. The whole time you were fighting she had that stupid little blue flower you gave her in her hand. She even took it with her…she could have ripped it up or trashed it, but she didn't."
"She…she what?" Danny felt his heart break a little more, 'I am the biggest asshole!'
"Yeah," Dash grimaced for his friend, "Look man, I understand that you're all freaked out, but Manson's right, it ain't gonna' happen again."
The tone in Dash's voice made it clear to Danny what the other boy meant. There would be no one getting hurt if he could help it. Hand extended and determination in his eye, Danny nodded thankfully to his friend, grasping his hand and giving a firm, slow shake, "Yeah, not again."
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"That stupid little prick," Sarah slammed her books onto the table in front of her at the Nasty Burger, "I can't believe he looked at us when he mentioned that. He's such a little jerk!"
"Who're you talking about Sarah?" Paulina sank into the booth beside her, "You've been stewing all day. Stress isn't good for your complexion you know."
"I know," she wanted to tear the stupid girl's hair out, "I'm so mad that Danny Fenton looked at me when he was fighting with his little Goth, freak, girlfriend. I didn't do anything!"
Star frowned over her burger, moving over to make room for Valerie, "I remember you saying you were there when you got back to school after being suspended. You said that you slapped her."
"I did," Sarah pouted, "and I got suspended for two days for it."
"Everyone else got suspended for two days," Star shrugged, "Which doesn't seem very fair to Sam, even if she is freaky, I mean her arm had broken in like two places."
"So?" Sarah picked at her fries, glancing over to where Jason stood, "We didn't do anything that bad."
Surprise washed over Star's face, as well as Valerie's and Paulina's. Valerie stood up with her burger, "I'm done."
"You didn't even eat," Sarah gave her a worried look, "Are you dieting?"
"No," Valerie shot back coldly, "I just realized that there was something disgusting sitting in front of me and I got too sick to my stomach to eat."
Dumping the untouched burger on the guys' table, Valerie headed out the door, not even looking back to see Sarah's shocked expression. Star sat silently at the table, wishing all the while that she had the guts that Valerie had to just walk away…but she couldn't. Where else would she go?
.o.O.o.o.O.o.
"Mom?" Danny edged into his kitchen, hearing the clanking of pots and pans as he mother got ready to start another dinner, hopefully without any mutations, "Can I ask you a question?"
"I'm a little busy honey," Maddie said over her shoulder, too busy searching the cupboards for a can of something or other, "Your father's in the lab, why don't you go ask him?"
"Alirght," and that's just where Danny headed, "You down here Dad?"
"Danny!" Jack turned in his seat to face his son, "What brings you down here…something ghost related I hope?"
"Not really," he replied miserably, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot!"
"I kinda' messed up today," Danny's hand shot to his neck, rubbing slightly, "Like, really messed up. With Sam. And I need to figure out a way to apologize to her."
Setting down the latest invention he had been tinkering with, Jack took a hard look at his son and saw the stress and worry and fear etching their lines across his face. He saw them in his movements and in his posture and heard it in his voice, and pondered silently for a second on what exactly he had done to make him so upset, "What happened?
"I told her about reading her diary," Danny winced as his father frowned at him, "and then I got really, uh jealous when she started to ignore me and talked with Dash…"
Taking a second to try and get the burning blush off his cheeks, Danny had to look down in order to continue. He didn't think he could look his father in the eyes right then, "And then I kinda' told her that she couldn't sit with anybody else at lunch, and we got in this huge fight in the cafeteria with everyone staring at us."
Sliding down the wall to sit on the floor, Danny stared miserably at the ground, "I royally screwed up and have been named the world's biggest jerk, I'm sure."
"Sounds like you certainly worked yourself over," Jack leaned forward, "Danny, I'm very disappointed in you for doing all that. It was uncalled for, especially reading her diary and telling her where to sit. I remember one time in college I read your Mother's diary and she caught me. I was in so much trouble…Danny, why haven't you apologized?"
"I uh," he looked up at his father, "I was going to but she told Tucker to tell me that she needed to cool off first so we didn't just get into another fight. She doesn't want to talk to me…"
Nodding slightly, Jack Fenton sat further back on his stool and thought over what he had just been told, "Flowers."
"What?" Danny's face showed his confusion.
"I had to buy your mother a huge bouquet of flowers before she forgave me," Jack smiled to himself as he reminisced, "It cost me forty dollars, but no amount of money could compare to the smile she gave me."
"Yeah, I already um," Danny was blushing again much to Jack's amusement, "I already gave her a flower today…for Valentine's Day…"
"Then you should at least make the effort to talk to her," Jack nodded sagely before a sparkle came into his eyes, "I was saving this for your mother, but I think you could use it more."
Handing Danny a small white and green object, Jack happily started to explain, "It's a Fenton Disk. Not only does it find and attack ghosts when activated, it also double as a CD…it has the largest memory capacity on the market!"
"Heh," Danny gingerly held the disk away from him as his father took it back, "Thanks Dad, but maybe you should keep it…I'll figure out something. Thanks for the advice."
"Anytime son," he smiled happily, "I hope everything works out between you and Sam."
"Yeah, me too," Danny sighed as he headed back up the stairs, 'Sam…geeze, I really messed up. After dinner…I'll talk to you after dinner, and if you hate my guts I don't blame you.'
But walking up the stairs Danny realized that a sense of melancholy was the only thing he could feel coming from the young woman in question…that and affection towards him…it was still there, 'She's not upset anymore…she's,' and a small picture of him smiling flashed across his mind as well as a feeling of nostalgia, 'she's thinking about me…'