Chapter Three
Danny sat on the couch at Sam's parents house. She'd spent the last few nights with them in preparation for Jazz's wedding, and Danny had missed her. She appeared at the top of the stairs dressed in her normal clothes, a black tee shirt with a purple logo of her own design and some rather distressed and paint splattered jeans. She looked at Danny and then at the piles and piles of bridal magazines on the coffee table and grimaced."They're a gift from Jazz," Danny told her as he noticed her line of vision.
"How about we elope?" Sam asked as she threw herself on the couch beside Danny. "We could head out to Vegas for a few days. Catch a few shows. Have fun."
"And then when we got back our parents would skin us alive." Danny half sang as he shook his head. "Nope you're going to have to do the whole big wedding thing just like Jazz did."
Sam laughed as she cuddled up in his arms. "But Jazz didn't."
"But she would have if she'd been marrying the right person," Danny defended as he put his arms around his friend..no amend that, best friend, no not right either; his girlfriend. Danny smiled. The boyfriend girlfriend thing had never really resolved itself, the edges between best friend and romantic partners had blurred over time. They knew they loved each other. They knew they were friends, but to call them boyfriend and girlfriend well, they both usually denied it, though there was no denying it now.
"Fiancée," Danny said as he buried his face in Sam's hair which was still curled and smelled like roses.
Sam turned and looked at Danny. "What?" she asked in amusement as she searched his face thoughtfully.
Danny blushed slightly. "You're my fiancée!" he announced in a pleased tone as his eyes fastened on her lips.
Sam looked at him then laughed, "You're such a goofball Danny." Danny grinned at her then bent down then claimed the lips he'd been watching, marveling at the taste of her and wondering as he traced her bottom lip with his tongue as she tangled her fingers in his hair, why they'd never really kissed like this before.
"You know," Sam said, as she pulled back and looked at Danny who was giving her one of his classic goofy, I've been kissed by a pretty girl smiles. "You're going to have to talk to my parents." Danny's face went ghostly white so suddenly that Sam had to make sure he didn't transform into his ghostly self. She surveyed him quickly. His hair was still black, eyes still blue. Face? Ghostly pale. She laughed and he blushed.
"Eloping sounds really good," Danny told her very seriously.
Sam began laughing she shook her head "Sorry, Danny. It's too late. I already have my heart set on a great Gothic wedding dress."
Danny blinked at her in confusion. "Okay. When did that happen? About five minutes ago you were talking about running away to Las Vegas and now suddenly you have your dress picked out?"
"Yeah!" Sam told him excitedly and then her expression changed to one of pure devilment. "Of course, I'm going to make Jazz wear the most awful Goth thing I can come up with as punishment for that pink puke dress I wore today. In public!" she shuddered.
"You're wedding dress. It's not really black is it?" Danny asked as one eye twitched Sam watched him a moment and considered letting him wonder.
"No," She finally sighed almost regretfully. "It's purple. Well, mauve fading into dark purple and….I'm not telling you anything else. It's bad luck." She smiled softly at Danny as he relaxed, but only slightly.
"Will you protect me when I talk to your dad?" he asked nervously looking at the door, as though he expected Sam's father to rush in and start strangling him at any moment..
"You can fight big scary ghosts, but your scared of my Dad?" Sam asked as she traced her finger along Danny's ear, delighting at the goosebumps that dotted his arms in response.
"Well I'm more scared of your mom," Danny admitted as he shivered at Sam's continued tracing of his ear and neck. "But yeah. Oh yeah I am!"
"Big baby," Sam scolded as she pinched his ear lobe.
"Yes I am," Danny said breathlessly. She was driving him crazy. "Hide me!" He grabbed Sam and kissed her again and the couple was lost in a sea of giggles, kisses and caresses.
XxXxXxXxX
"Hey Maddie!" Jack called as the phone rang and he raced to look at the caller I.D.. "Wisconsin calling. That can mean only one thing!""Oh joy," Maddie said in a sarcastic tone of voice from downstairs. She could be heard muttering something about fruit loops, and Jack paused, thinking that maybe she was making a grocery list.
"Vladdy!" Jack boomed as he answered the phone. "How goes it my main man?"
"I called to inquire about Jasmine's wedding," Vlad said his usual silky tone. "Did it all go off without a hitch?"
"Without a hitch." Jack replied as he laughed "That sums it up. It went off without Jazz getting hitched. She called things off."
"Oh my," Vlad said in what seemed to be shock. "Why forever more, would she do such a crazy thing?
"Well Vlad, because she's in love with someone else." Jack answered as he switched the phone from one ear to the other. "It was all a big shock!"
"So who is the lucky man who won Jazz away from my…From Todd?" Vlad asked smoothly.
"Tucker Foley," Jack said proudly. "You remember Tucker. He's a good, good friend of Danny's."
"Yessss," Vlad answered with a hiss. "I remember Mr. Foley. Technologically obsessed, skirt chasing, fashionably challenged. Yes. I remember him. How strange that Jasmine would run off with him of all people."
"True love knows no bounds," Jack boomed jovially. "After all look who Maddie married!"
"Yesss," Vlad hissed again. "I do get your point Jack. No need to rub it in."
Jack's eyebrows furrowed in confusion but he shrugged it off. "In other news Danny proposed to Sam and she accepted."
"Miss Manson?" Vlad asked blandly. "Dark haired, dark humored, Goth girl?"
"Yes," Jack answered. "She's the sweetest thing. Maddie and I are beside ourselves with joy!"
"I can imagine," Vlad said distractedly. "Hasn't Miss Manson become an artist of some sort?"
Jack frowned as he picked at the frayed cuff of his hazmat suit. He was going to need to replace it. There was nothing more embarrassing than a frayed sleeve on his hazmat suit. He hated to replace this one though, it had grown very comfortable in all the right spots, plus it had the perfect pocket for hiding cookies and fudge lots and lots of fudge.
"Jack?" Vlad growled. "Are you still there? Are you listening to me?"
"Oh yes," Jack replied. "She has a big show next weekend. Not that her work really appeals to me, but we're proud of her anyway!" Vlad smiled to himself and thought that perhaps he would have to invest in a few pieces of Miss Manson's artwork.
"Please send Jasmine my best wishes," Vlad oozed. "Tell her that I'll be calling again soon to speak with her personally."
"Sure thing V-man!" Jack said his mind already occupied by the thought that Maddie had made some fresh ghost shaped cookies and if he was lucky he'd be able to raid the cookie jar to his hearts content before she hid them away and began rationing them out ever so slowly.
"Maddie," Jack called as he hung up the phone. "Do you need me to bring you anything?"
"Stay away from the cookies Jack!" Maddie yelled from in the basement. Jack started toward the kitchen. "I mean it Jack!" Maddie yelled.
"Oh darn!" Jack grumbled then headed back down in the basement to work.
XxXxXxX
Danny felt like he was on his way to the executioner as he wiped the sweat off his forehead as he took a deep breath and knocked on the door to Sam's parent's study."Come in," Sam's mother called and Danny entered rather tentatively. Both Sam's parents looked at each other for a moment then turned their eyes on Danny. Both sets of eyes widened in shock.
"How are you this afternoon?" Danny asked nervously as he shoved his hands into his pockets.
"We are well Daniel," Pam Manson said as sat knitting and eyed Danny for a moment. "How was your sister's wedding?"
Danny sputtered for a moment, not sure how to respond. "It was successful," he said. It wasn't a lie. He did consider it successful Jazz hadn't married that awful fiancé of hers and was now in discussion with Tucker about their feelings for each other.
"I um.." Danny started then paused as Jeremy Manson looked at him sharply. "Asked Sam if umm…." Pam opened her mouth and dropped her knitting. "She would marry me." Danny finished. A long laps of silence followed.
"And what did she say?" Jeremy asked in a very curt business like tone.
Danny swallowed hard. "She said yes. But I thought that it would be best if I asked for your permission. I know I should have talked to you first but…"
Both of Sam's parents just looked at him. "What do you have to offer Sam?" Jeremy finally asked coldly. Danny gave him a clueless expression. "What do you bring to the table?"
"Oh Jeremy it's not a business merger," Pam tittered. Danny looked down at the knitting needles in her hand and wondered if he would need to defend himself, she was holding them so tightly that her knuckles were white. "And we can be assured that he's not after her money."
"You're right, Sam doesn't even know about the trust fu…" Jeremy started then stopped he looked at Danny again then said, "I don't suppose there is anything to do to prevent it. If we said no, Sammykins would marry you anyway. So yes you have our blessing."
Pam sighed. "Besides you've managed to keep her in line all these years. Who knows what trouble she would have got into if not for you." Danny nodded as he managed to keep a straight face. If they'd only known the trouble she'd been in thanks to him they would have locked Sam away in horror to keep them apart forever.
"When do you propose these nuptials take place?" Sam's father asked. "Seeing how you're already living together."
Danny felt the heat rush up to his face. Most people assumed that since they shared an apartment that they were actually living together, as in sharing a bed amongst other things. "We're roommates Mr. Manson." Danny said shakily. "We live under the same roof, but that's it. I would never…um.." Danny stopped looking for the right words and blushed an even deeper shade of red.
"We understand," Pam said softly. "But maybe one of you should consider moving out. Since you are soon to be married it might not be advisable too…."
"Pam," Jeremy said in a chastising tone. "Give the boy a break." Pam smiled slightly.
"Date?" Pam asked sharply. "I need to know when so I can begin planning."
"Mom!" Sam called from the hall where she'd been eavesdropping. She stomped into the room and stood behind Danny. "We're probably going to wait until we're done with college. And even then. I don't need you to go crazy with some big society wedding."
Pam sighed. "I was just hoping that you would be traditional for once Sammykins. You wore that darling pink dress for Jazz and I was hoping…"
"No," Sam said sharply as she put her arm through Danny's.
"But," Pam began hopefully.
"No," Sam said again and shook her head and folded her arms across her chest.
"All right," Mr. Mason said as he stood and moved forward to shake Danny's hand. "You have our blessing. Congratulations. I hope you are as happy together as we always have been."
"Thanks Daddy," Sam said as she left Danny's side to hug her father and then her mother. "We need to be getting home. It's a long drive back to the apartment."
"All right," Pam sighed and tried not to smile.
Jeremy sighed then looked at Danny once more. "I'll call you later next week. Maybe we can play golf or something."
"Uh. Sure." Danny said brightly then looked at Sam who rolled her eyes and sighed.
Pam and Jeremy Manson watched their daughter and future son-in-law leave. Through her smile Pam said. "I thought the question would have come a lot sooner than this. We're now going to be related to those nut cases the Fentons."
"It's not all that bad," Jeremy said. "I'm sure their children will be like us." Pam laughed.
XxXxXxXxX
Not many people understood the living situation between Danny, Sam and Tucker. Jack often called it, "Three's Company in reverse. You know that old sitcom from the 70's?" He repeated the same phrase each and every time he visited, which elicited much groaning from those around him.The three friends had shared an apartment since the beginning of their university days. In the beginning it was mostly in the interest of protecting Danny and his secret identity. As his powers grew stronger, ghost attacks changed and became more Ghost Zone based, and of course there had always been Vlad throwing spanners in the works. He seemed to always want to test Danny's abilities or to do something which would win his hearts desire, Maddie. Yes, even after all these years, Vlad was still fixated on Maddie Fenton, Danny's mother. But things had changed, Danny formed a truce with the Ghosts of the Ghost Zone and Vlad had been so quiet for so long, they were all hopeful that he'd forgotten them.
In the beginning, Sam had talked her father into paying for the apartment, and even though he had serious reservations, he knew Danny and Tucker would keep Sam safe. Little did he know the danger she was periodically thrown in due to her association with Danny.
All three decided to seek after higher degrees after their initial four years. Sam's theory was that they couldn't bear to part with each other, a theory Danny believed in, though Tucker was constantly threatening to move out and live life on his own.
"Face it Tucker," Danny said smugly after one particularly hilarious rant and threat from Tucker. "We're going to all be in the same retirement community together someday."
"Raising hell," Sam added jubilantly.
"You two old geezers can live in a retirement community if you want," Tucker had replied. "But I intend on living out my old age on a nude beach or something."
"That's just gross," Sam said as she laughed. "I don't even want to conjure up the visual of your eighty year old naked butt being baked by the sun." Tucker simply gave her a look that said, "You just don't understand do you?"
Luckily, Danny and Sam had talked him out of leaving and they continued their existence. Happy and unchanged.
XxXxXxXxX
Sam hit her room and her bed the minute she and returned home. She was tired and had a lot of preparation to do on Monday for her painting exhibit debut on the following Saturday. She knew that neither Danny or Tucker would disturb her, especially if she was on the hunt for inspiration, so she was looking forward to a long nap and maybe a good bath and a book afterward. Tucker of course wasn't home which left Danny to rustle through the kitchen searching for food and to audibly complain that the fridge was empty. He knocked on Sam's door and told her he was going to the store. She'd been tempted to get up and kiss him good bye, but simply told him to be safe instead."Engaged," Sam said as she looked at the ring on her finger. "To Danny." She smiled happily and hoped that nothing would mar their current happiness. She knew it was too much to ask, but she still had a hopeful heart. She smiled at the ring. She knew it couldn't be the exact ring from oh so long ago. Sam still had that ring locked in her jewelry box. It was funny how many tears she'd cried over that one piece of jewelry, always living in fear that Danny would ask for it back so he could give it to someone other than herself.
Sam looked at the ring thoughtfully then climbed out of bed and picked up her jewelry box on the dresser. She unlocked it and lifted the tab to the little compartment where she kept the ring. It was gone! A huge smile lit Sam's face. "Mua ha ha ha," she laughed as she hugged herself. "It's mine forever now!" She then, climbed back into bed and fell into a peaceful sleep.
XxXxXxXxX
Sam woke to the sound of laughter, not just any laughter but that Jazz and Tucker. Sam sat up and listened for a moment. She could hear Tucker and Jazz talking from the kitchen. She smiled to herself as she ran her fingers through her hair then got up. She checked Danny's room as she walked down the hall. He wasn't there. How long had she been sleeping?Sneaking into the kitchen found Tucker and Jazz engaged in a kiss. Sam blushed a deep shade of crimson then stepped back into the living room for a moment wondering were Danny was. He should have been back from the store already. She thought about going back into the kitchen and ask if he'd been back, but she wanted to give the lovebirds some space.
Admittedly it was really weird seeing Tucker and Jazz together. Yes, Sam knew all about the crush Tucker had fostered for Jazz over the years, but it had never really hit home with her until now. And it was weird. They suited each other though. They were both scary smart, both incredibly funny and both took themselves too seriously sometimes.
Sam sat in her favorite chair then turned on the television and began flicking the channels. She stopped at a local station which had a big "Late Breaking News" banner flashing across the top of the screen, and another that read. "Hostage Stand off" she was about to flick the channel out of boredom when the screen shot to the supermarket down the street. Sam's heart sunk and she knew. Danny was one of the hostages.
"What we know now," the woman in front of the camera said. "Is a lone gunman entered the store carrying a hand gun and demanding money. When police arrived on the scene he began issuing threats to shoot hostages unless the officers gave in to his demands."
Sam closed her eyes. "Please don't let Danny be there. Please don't let Danny be there."
The news woman continued. "The stand off has been going on for the past two hours with all the hostages released but one, who has been identified by one of hostages as college student Daniel Fenton."
"Tucker!" Sam screamed. Not normally the hysterical type. Sam suddenly felt like she was going to faint.
Tucker and Jazz hearing Sam's panicked cry ran into the living room to see Sam sitting on the couch with her hand over her face. She pointed at the television.
"Danny's a hostage?" Jazz said in shock. Tucker started laughing.
"It's not funny!" Sam and Jazz said together.
"Guys," Tucker said as he pointed to the television. "Hello. It's Danny. Half ghost? Danny!"
Jazz and Sam looked at each other then Jazz said to Tucker. "Hello! Only half ghost! Gun wielding maniac! My brother! Hostage!"
Sam jumped up and ran to the hall then yelled. "Where are my car keys?
"Danny took your car to the store. It's not in the drive way. We didn't even think you were home," Jazz said calmly as she blushed. "We can take Tucker's car."
"Wait!" Tucker said. "What makes you think the cops are gonna tell you anything anyway?"
"Hello!" Sam said as she waved her left hand and wiggled her finger. "Fiancée!"
Jazz raised her own hand. "Sister here!"
Within three minutes they were in the car and on their way to the supermarket. To do what? Tucker wondered. He seen Danny through enough tough situations to have faith that he could take care of himself. Jazz turned on the radio then insisted that Sam buckle her self in. Tucker being the calmest of the three, and owning the car was given the privilege of driving.
They were half way to the store when the grim voice on the radio said, "This is hour two of the Stand off at Morton's Corner Market. Police are reporting that multiple shots have been fired from inside the building. No other information is available at this time."
"Oh my gosh!" Jazz cried. Sam covered her face with her hands and Tucker stepped on the gas.
"Danny's going to be fine!" Tucker said again. "He's always fine!" Tucker really hoped he wasn't wrong this time.