Chapter Nine

It was Tuesday afternoon and Danny was sitting on the Manson's roof, looking at the street. He had been sitting there for three nights and had barely slept. His heart was crushed by each second that passed by without a sign of his beloved friend.

Why would she go away for four days with a man she barely knew? Worse: with a man she knew was trying to marry her! Danny hated Kyle. He hated Kyle for being able to get Sam away from him. He hated Kyle for being gentle after kissing her. He hated Kyle for making her forget he was jerk.

Kyle must be a ghost; he must have some sort of hypnotic power to convince Sam to spend time with him. Sam wasn't shallow; she wouldn't go for a pretty face… and wasn't falling for that pretty face until very recently and Walker had said something about a ghost that had escaped!

She had spent two weeks avoiding Kyle, and then she suddenly becomes friends with him! Danny was going insanely jealous. His head hurt and his conscience was telling him that it had been his fault somehow.

But the worse thought that crossed his head was the one that came to him when he was looking at that empty street, imagining he would never see her again. He wondered what if he hadn't been enough for Sam, if she had gotten tired of just being friends with two boys who were fighting over another girl and let her aside. He wondered if his silly crush on Valerie had somehow made Sam realize she needed more than a boy in her life, maybe she needed a man and Kyle was older than he was almost two years. He was scared that she had given Kyle a chance because she had no one else.

Once she returned (if she returned…) would they continue pretending?

He stood up and his heart skipped a bit. In the end of the street he saw Kyle's car arriving. So she hadn't lied. She really returned on the promised day. He fought the urge to jump in the car, phase in, grab Sam on his arms and fly as far away as possible. But he waited until Kyle parked in front of Sam's house.

Sam walked out with a handbag, looking completely adorable in a small red dress. Wait. Danny panicked. Sam never wore red dresses before.

She smiled to Kyle who gave her a tight hug.

Danny saw green. He had to take Sam away from Kyle.

He flew down to a corner and transformed himself back to human and called out her name, seeing that he had successfully made them break the hug.

He ran to her, waving a hand.

"Where have you been, I was so worried!" He said, embracing her and pulling her to a deep kiss.

"Danny, what are you doing?" She asked, trying to move away from him.

"I was worried!" He repeated, not really faking his concern. He was really happy to see that she was okay.

"I think you two have a lot to catch up…" Kyle said, giving them a small smile. "I'm going inside, Sam."

"I'll be right there." She told him, turning around to face Danny, completely confused. "What's up with you?"

"What do you mean?" Danny asked. "You ran away for four days with a man that forced a kiss on you. Now you suddenly decide to go out with him!"

"Just because I thought he'd be a good friend it doesn't mean I'm going out with him." Sam answered angrily. "And what about Valerie, huh? Have you finally murdered Tucker to be with her?"

"Tucker and I are talking again!" Danny defended himself. "I like Valerie, but he likes her more, I decided to give it a rest. Anyway, he subject here is YOU not Valerie." He insisted.

"What about me?" She asked. "I can go out with whoever I want!"

"I know, but I was worried. You ran away in the middle of the night! What happened?"

"I was feeling down and decided I need a quick break, that's all." She said, 'I needed a break from you and your obsession with Valerie, Danny.'

"Did he try anything?" Danny asked, looking her all over. "Did he touch you somehow? Was he impolite?"

"No, Danny, he was a perfect gentleman." She smiled. "Actually, we found out we have a lot of things in common."

Danny could have died on the spot. It was impossible! Sam couldn't be start getting interested in that jerk. There was only one plausible explanation: Kyle was a ghost from another dimension and he was hypnotizing Sam.

"It can't be true." Danny said incredulously. "You can't start liking someone else. Are you sure he likes you? For real?"

"What?" Sam suddenly felt a wave of anger wash through her. "If he likes me! What is it, Danny? Is it impossible that someone would like me? Am I that disgusting that a human wouldn't take interest on me?"

"Sam, you know I didn't mean it like that."

"I know you're only making things worse!"

"I don't want you to be with him!"

"I didn't want you to be with Valerie, but I didn't intervene!"

They both shut up, looking at each other, their cheeks flushed and emotions going raw. Danny shut his eyes, trying to think. Sam watched him carefully, noticing every detail of his face.

"Sam… are you going out with him?" He asked, calmly.

"No, we're friends." She answered simply.

"Good…" Danny sighed in relief.

"But he's interested in me..." She said. "Have you talked to Valerie?"

"No, I gave up. Tucker got her, now she's on forbidden ground." He gave a small smile.

"I'm glad you put your ego aside." She grinned, finally accepting that the bickering had come to an end.

"Are we still going to pretend?" He asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"It would be nice." She said, shyly. She couldn't look at him in the eyes when she said that. There was no point pretending anymore, Kyle wasn't trying to marry her he was just fooling his father.

"Because… you see… the Valentine Ball... Do you still want to go with me?"

Sam smiled the sweetest smile. That one smile that was so rare to see. It was the kind of smile that she'd give only for him and he completely turned to pudding everything he witnessed such beauty.

"Sure." She was going to say something else, but was interrupted when Danny put a hand on her neck, brushing her hair away and bringing her lips to meet his in a soft and sweet kiss. He broke the kiss about a minute later and realized that she was looking up questionably at him. "Why?"

"I saw someone looking at us from the window. I think it was him…" He sighed, saying the first excuse that came to his mind.

"Okay…" She smiled again.

"And I think he's looking again." He grinned, capturing her lips once again. This time he didn't care if she noticed he was making a random excuse. He wanted to kiss her.

And so he did.

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Unfortunately for Danny, his parents had returned home after the two weeks they had planned. Maddie was still suspicious of her son's relationship with his best friend. It wasn't like she didn't approve, it was just that she was concerned about how serious they were becoming.

So, Danny didn't invite Sam to sleepover again, as much as he wanted to keep her away from her house these last days (who knew what Kyle could do!) he couldn't risk being alone with her in the same room with his parents inside the same house.

He lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. Now he had completely accepted that he liked Sam, that he wanted her every second of his life, and that he could do anything to be with her. He had to tell her that soon. He was going to run out of excuses to kiss her on the ball and it was just three painful days away.

He smirked. Maybe he had to use the pretend excuse while it lasted. He was going to make it the best three days of his life.

Suddenly, as if she had heard his thoughts and yearnings, Sam quietly knocked on his window.

"Well, my beautiful pretend girlfriend just invaded my room during the night. I wonder what she wants." Danny said out loud, making Sam blush slightly.

"I wanted to stay here." She said, making Danny's eyes wide. "Kyle and I… we… I heard him fighting with his father and decided to spend the night out. I didn't want to hear it."

"It was about the wedding again, wasn't it?" Danny rolled his eyes.

"Just forget about it." She sat down, very uneasy.

Danny looked at her, confused. He saw that she was wearing an elegant diamond ring. His stomach sank. She couldn't have accepted him, could she?

"He said he had kept a ring to give his wife all these years and that he'd want me to keep it even if we didn't end up together." She said, quietly, looking at the beautiful jewel on her finger. "He said I was perfect for it…" Her voice broke and a small tear ran down her face.

Danny didn't know what to say. He just stood there, not daring to touch her.

"I think it would be easier if he turned out to be a jerk." She sniffed. "He said he liked me so much he couldn't keep seeing me, that it hurts to know that I belong to someone else. He's going to leave for good."

"If you like him, you should go after him." Danny said, feeling his heart bleed. Now he understood what Sam had put up with when he was obsessed with Valerie. He knew how it was to push your feelings away so the loved one could be happy.

"No, I don't like him like that. It's just that he was the very first friend I had in a while, you know…" Danny didn't need explanation. He knew what she meant. Somehow, Sam wouldn't move on and make new friends like he and Tucker had. She was stuck with them since she was a kid.

"Are you going to keep the ring?" Danny asked, casually. His heart was burning with jealously. He stared out the window to avoid her eyes. The ring she was wearing was much more expensive than the one he had asked her to keep, the one her name was craved in.

"I am." She nodded; she never doubted she would keep that ring forever. "He was the first man who took interest on me. I can't throw the ring away like that."

"Not that I mind, but…" Danny tried to change the subject slightly. "Why do you want to stay?" He opened his wardrobe, taking some extra blankets and preparing a bed on the floor (which he was going to take.)

"I can't see him." She said simply. "Might do something I'll regret."

Danny decided to not speak anymore; every time she opened her mouth he would be even more disappointed. But Sam could read his silence just as well as she could read his eyes.

"Why are you making another bed?" She grinned, brushing her tears away. "Aren't we 'pretend' dating? We can 'pretend' to share a bed."

Danny stopped moving and looked back at her in shock. Was she flirting with him? He saw her smile and decided that he didn't mind it at all.

"Come on, then." He smirked, jumping on the bed beside her, making her laugh like a little girl. "But if my parents get us tomorrow morning, it's your fault."

"I'll take the risk." She yawned, snuggling close to him and falling asleep.

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Maddie Fenton was going to call her sleepyhead son for breakfast the next morning, but when she opened the door and saw that he wasn't alone.

She considered waking them up and giving a lecture about manners and respect, but when she saw how cute and innocent they looked together, she decided against it. They were holding each other like they were fluffy pillows. She turned his alarm clock off and left the room, closing the door silently to not wake them up.

After she left, it took Danny half an hour to open his eyes. He smiled at himself when he realized last night had not been a dream and that he had Sam on his bed with him. She was holding him against her like he was a teddy bear.

He fought the urge to kiss her because there was no way he could explain his actions to her if she woke up. They were pretending. He couldn't risk it now.

"Rise and shine…" He whispered in her ear, enjoying the slight shiver it caused her.

"Uhh… I hate mornings." She said, stretching and arching against him.

"I just thought you'd like to wake up before my mother came wake us." He laughed, glancing at the clock. He groaned when he saw the time, immediately understanding what had happened. "Scratch that, my mother already came to wake us and turned the clock off…"

"She did?" Sam asked, still too sleepy to make sense. "So we missed school… and we can go back to sleep."

He propped himself up in one elbow to kiss her forehead and look at her face. He could wake with that sight every day for the rest of his life.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yes…" She said, finally opening her violet eyes to meet his blue ones.

"Did you sleep well?"

"I never slept so well in my life." She smiled, kissing the corner of his mouth. "I think I better go home…" She said, sitting up. "I'll see you in the second period."

Danny watched her leave and stood up, sighing. He was going to need an ice-cold shower…

And again, a big thanks to my friend Rae who checked the spelling and grammar for me. Here is chapter Nine and the fanfic ends in chapter ten (there will be a chapter 11 with an epilogue) so don't miss the chance to tell me what you think about it.

Sam's back and Danny's adorable; I think I deserve some reviews… hint.hint.