Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Danny Phantom.

Chapter Four: Follow You Home

Neither Tucker nor Sam felt like skating after what had happened. They made their way back to the town, walking along in numb silence. Every now and then, Sam would lift one hand to her forehead, where Danny had kissed her, or to her shoulder where his hand had rested briefly. She knew she had felt the presence of both, it had been real, not a dream, not her imagination. Finally Sam as able to break the quiet around them.

"So, h-he's was there, right? I'm not crazy?"

"Yeah…" Tucker replied meekly.

"A-and he doesn't look like he's been starving or anything…" For some reason, Sam smiled faintly, remembering what Tucker had said last night on the phone about a piece of cake going missing.

"Yeah…" Tucker replied again, agreeing with her words.

"Plus he must be staying somewhere near town… then again, he can fly pretty fast and all…" Sam felt like she couldn't end any of her sentences fully, but rather have them trail off.

"Uh-huh…" Tucker was the same way. The shock of seeing his friend like that had affected him deeply.

Sam finally stopped walking, reaching out a hand briefly to make Tucker stop, and moving said hand away when he turned around. They stared at each other a moment, before Sam cleared her throat.

"So, wh-what do we do now?" Tucker shook his head.

"I really don't know. How do you find a guy like that? Looking for the human, he'd go ghost. Looking for the ghost, he'd return to being a human."

"His ghost form is different. His human-self would be different too." Tucker nodded slightly.

"So what does this all leave us with?" Sam turned her head to look down the street where they had come from, thinking a moment, before looking back to Tucker.

"He's alive."

Tucker and Sam continued onwards, still debating over the fact of what to say to Danny's family. Finally they went their own ways, promising to wait until later to talk to Jazz, then figure out what to say about this to Danny's mother and father. Reaching home, Sam, feeling a bit paranoid, pinched herself a few dozen times to make sure she wasn't asleep. She double checked the DVD case lying near the TV, making sure it was the same movie she had watched last night, as well as checking the dishwasher to make sure the glass she had used before was there. After all this she finally sat down slowly in a chair, breathing carefully.

Standing up again, she tossed away her jacket before going to call Tucker, even though she had seen him moments before, to confirm what time they would meet to talk to Jazz. After that she went back to her chair, pondering over a sudden factor she just remembered. Valerie.

Valerie had started to become friends with the trio a while back, thought she did still fight Danny's ghost side –on account of not knowing- with the high-tech ghost-gear she had. When Danny vanished, she was sad as well, but was recovering just a little faster then the others, most likely because she wasn't as close to him as they were. What if Valerie had figured out Danny and the ghost-boy were one and the same? They both did vanish at the same time. And if she hadn't yet, and Danny came back, and the ghost-boy made an appearance, would she realize then? And if she had, why hadn't she said anything?

"Maybe she finally started to get over her anger over the whole thing…" Sam mused. "Or maybe she just hasn't realized." She really wanted to believe the latter, but now that she debated the fact, she was really starting to worry.

A sudden cool breeze swept past her, making her look about wildly. Any other time, she would have shrugged it off, or gone in search of an open window, but this time, she bit her lip before almost calling out tentatively. However, Sam stopped herself, knowing Danny may run –if it was him- if he knew she realized he was there. She stood, thinking a moment. How to lure a ghost boy into showing himself? She then headed into the kitchen, opening the fridge and taking out something of her father's –neither parent was an ultro-recylo-vegitarian- and moving it to the front of the fridge, pretending to be trying to find something behind it. She stood, closing the fridge door and leaving the room. She stopped there, waiting a moment, before slowly peering around the corner.

After a second the fridge door cracked open, and the cold slice of pizza drifted out. Sam had to bite back a giggle at how absurd it looked, despite the serious situation. The pizza was slowly disappearing into thin air. After a moment it was gone, and the cupboard opened, and a glass floated out before the fridge opened again, a pitcher with juice in it being lifted a moment, poured, then returned to the fridge before the door closed. As the glass tipped back and the juice slowly vanished, Sam leapt into the room, flicking the light on –though it didn't really do anything, she just felt like she should- and glaring at where the glass was still floating.

"Danny! I know it's you! Either become visible or next time I'll borrow one of your dad's inventions to trap you with!" Sam shrieked out. There was a pause, where she continued to glare at the main area the glass was in mid-air, before it was tipped back and finished off. Sam lost here glare as she blinked a few times, the dishwasher being opened, glass put in, then shut again. Then he appeared, wiping the back of his mouth with one hand. His green eyes were oddly blank as he looked calmly back at her, blinking once or twice.

They stared one another down, Sam standing with her feet firmly planted, Danny floating a bit above the floor, watching her with a raised brow over his showing eye. Finally it seemed he was waiting for her to speak, so she took a deep breath.

"Danny, why? I don't even really care where you were, but I want to know, why." She took a step forwards, but he floated back slightly, as if unsure of letting her get too close. Biting her lip, she looked away. "I guess I should've seen it coming, how you were acting and all, I guess it was the stress finally catching up to you, but we're your friends Danny! Why didn't you talk to us!" Sam was aware tears were starting to fall. Suddenly she found a gloved hand brushing away some of them, and turned her head to find Danny standing in front of her, his glowing green eye showing sadness.

"What would have changed?" Danny's voice held a slight echo to it. It hadn't deepened over the past two years or anything, but sort of leveled out into a medium tone. "It was too late." Suddenly a bitter laugh left him. "Better I left when I did. If I stayed, I could've hurt someone." A frown suddenly graced his lips. "I was tiered of it all Sam. Of everything."

"Where have you been!" Sam yelped out, unable to keep the question back. Danny tilted his head to one side.

"Not far. I stayed in town. Notice there's no ghosts around? It gives me something to do." Sam noted he didn't mention protecting the town. "I actually hung around in your attic for a while, and Tucker's." He smirked suddenly. "I owe him some cake. Tell him that, 'kay?" Kissing her forehead again, he flickered from view. His voice echoing. "I'll come back to visit, Sam…"