Hey all Sparkling Patronus here once again! Dunno why, but I was struck by inspiration today and wrote an entire chapter. So now I'm updating early, yay! This chapter happens to be a very important one, so I really hope you guys aren't disappointed with it. Thanks so much for the feedback by the way, you know I really appreciate it! So, without further ado, the next chapter:

Danny couldn't believe what he was seeing. There he was, lying on the sidewalk, fully exposed, with none other than Sam and Tuck standing over him. This was the type of thing he'd been planning and waiting for, but at the same time dreading, since he'd returned. It seemed as someone had frozen time as he stared up at them

In his daze, Danny noticed that there was a Fenton Thermos clutched in Sam's right hand, which she was currently clutching so hard her knuckles were turning white. Skulker was no where to be seen, so Danny assumed Sam had caught him with a spare thermos.

The three just stood there, mixed emotions running through each of them. It seemed as if they were the only three left on the planet, and none of them would ever move. Finally, however, Sam seemed to awaken from her trance.

At first it was only her expression that changed, moving from one of shock to some other unreadable emotion. Then she began to whisper, and though it was very soft, the sudden sound made both boys jump and look at her.

"No," she said, so softly it was barely audible. With that, she began to back up, slowly at first, repeating the word over and over. Danny was quite shocked by this reaction, but he could do nothing about it. It was as if he was watching the scene from somewhere else. He felt like this was happening, but he was not a part of it.

Sam just kept repeating, "No…no…no" shaking her head as if she had a headache and turning backwards to retreat. Finally, she just turned tail and fled, leaving two stunned boys in her wake.

Now Tucker was the next to move. After Sam fled, Tucker looked back to Danny, an odd expression that resembled Sam's also implanted on his face. However, he said nothing. He then looked back at the place where Sam had retreated, and then back to Danny again, as if he could not make up his mind whether he should continue standing there or chase after his friend. Finally, he chose the latter, and he spun on his heel and took of down the sidewalk in the same direction Sam had gone only moments before.

It took Danny several minutes to process what had actually happened. In fact, he spent a ten minutes lying on the cold pavement in the same position, though time seemed irrelevant to him at the moment. He didn't know what on earth to think of the sudden and strange reactions he'd received from his friends. He also hadn't the faintest clue what he should do about it.

Danny figured he had two options now. The first being that he could take off toward Sam or Tucker's house and see what they were doing, and possibly even try to resolve some issues. The other, less favorable and actually more so at the same time, was to turn around and pretend that this encounter had never happened. He wasn't sure where he would go if he chose the latter. He didn't know if he would leave Amity, or whether he would stay and just quietly and anonymously observe the town for the rest of is life. Heck, he couldn't think of that right now, he couldn't even think far enough ahead to whether he should stand up or not.

However, he was soon forced to move as one of the pedestrians finally seemed to notice the ghost boy lying on the sidewalk. Shocked from his comatose state by this sudden development, Danny suddenly took to the skies, glad something had finally made him move.

Now flying through the air, he felt his thoughts clear a bit as he began to relax. Flying always seemed to have a sort of calming affect on him, and it was helping him greatly. Finally, he decided that the only smart decision was to confront the problem. He'd come back to prove he wasn't a coward, and he wasn't about to back down now.

Resolve strengthened, Danny decided to set off for Sam's house first. He didn't know why, it just seemed right to go there, especially since her reaction had been the more drastic. He wasn't quite sure whether or not it was wise to see her again so soon, but right now he decided it was a chance he would take.

Once again becoming invisible, he floated to her window and peered in. As always, Sam was in her room. It was the only part of her entire vast mansion where she ever stayed. She said every other room was so neat and ornate that it sickened her. She preferred to stay in her darker, and slightly messy, room.

Taking a deep breath, Danny feebly attempted to calm his frazzled nerves. He had no clue how he was supposed to just walk in there and reveal himself to her. This would probably be one of the most important moments of his life, and that thought scared him to no end. However, telling himself it was now or never, he slipped inside her room and, taking only a few seconds to compose himself, became visible once again.

This time however, Sam's reaction to him was not nearly as rash. She slowly lifted her head up, staring at him with dulled eyes that were puffy around the edge, signifying the fact that she had been crying. She held his gaze for only a moment before she dropped her head back down.

Taking a deep breath, he began, "Sam, I-"

However, she didn't allow him to get any further, cutting him off with a slow and weary voice, "Don't say anything Danny. You know, you really had me there for a second you know that," she said, giving him a weary chuckle, "But now I've figured out what this really is. It's just another one of those dreams. I'm sick of them by now you know. I've been having these dreams frequently since you left, and I've stopped believing in them. I thought they stopped last year, but I guess I was wrong. I lost my head back there for a moment, but now I'm just going to sit here and wait for myself to wake up so I can just tell myself it wasn't real. It's never real…"

Danny could only listen to her words, feeling as though his heart would snap in half. Here was Sam, his best friend. Sam, who was tough; who had never let anyone see her cry since she was three years old. Sam, who had always been there, good or bad, now lying broken on her bedspread. Danny didn't know how to react. The very sight of her was making him want to drop to his knees and cry.

"No Sam," he choked, trying to get the words out, "I'm here, I swear I'm-"

But once again she cut him off, this time a hint of anger flashing in her violet eyes, "No you're not. No matter how many times you say that to me I know it isn't true. You haven't been here since you left two years ago, and neither have I, and neither has Tucker, or Jazz or your mother and father! When you left you took something away from all of us, and now we just have to put up this façade and pretend like nothing matters for the never ending fear that someone will start crying. Nothing's been the same since that day"

Now she paused. Her breathing was becoming heavy and ragged; as if she was fighting with everything she had to not cry. She had not looked at him again over the entire period of time she'd been talking, and she did not do so now either. After a moment she began again, "I don't know how you could have been so selfish, how could you have done this to all of us? How could you just leave without a second thought? Where we really that worthless to you?"

At this, she finally brought her eyes up to him again, and Danny could have sworn the look in them almost physically knocked him over. He didn't believe he'd ever seen so many emotions openly displayed in Sam's eyes before; she'd always tried to keep them to herself. However, now there was a questioning expression that held sorrow, anger, fear and so many other unreadable emotions. Danny would never believe this from what he'd seen at Casper High on his first visit; she'd seemed so carefree then. Yet here she was, pouring her heart out to him though she didn't even believe he was really there.

Once again, Danny felt the strong need to say something to her; though he wasn't sure his emotions could be put into words. He opened his mouth to speak again, but she beat him to it.

"Enough," she said, lowering her eyes once again, "I can't keep doing this. I can't keep saying the same thing to you every time. I can't keep on feeling like I've said everything that needed saying, only to wake up and find you were never really there to hear it. I keep talking to you when I know you're not here, and I think I'm beginning to doubt my own sanity. Just go away Danny, go away before I wake up in the middle of a sentence. It's too much for me to handle this anymore. Just leave…"

At this, Sam pulled that covers over her head, and Danny could see her form curl into a ball from beneath them. Feeling that she wouldn't interrupt him this time, he bravely readied himself for his explanation again.

However, he'd barely said two words before he saw the doorknob begin to turn from across the room. Not even stopping to think, he turned himself invisible as the door swung open.

And there you have it, he's actually talked to Sam. OK, so she doesn't actually believe he was there, but I swear the actual realization draws ever nearer! Well anyway, hope you liked it and please leave a review! I'll update soon, cya next time!