Firstly, I need to offer my standard disclaimer in case any of you possibly forgot. I do not own Danny Phantom. Period.

Secondly, we don't know anything about Dash and his family, so of course I've made things up. I usually dislike it when people do this kind of thing, it's touchy. I hope you don't mind.

Thirdly, for all you Danny fans. There is no Danny x Sam in this chapter; there is Dash x Sam stuff. Please bear with me.

Fourthly (if there is such a thing), I blame the music I was listening to as I wrote this. You can, too, but I'm not going to tell you what CD it was.

Credit goes to my beta reader Nom de Plume, who really saves my grammatical rear end.

Chapter Seven

Danny chased Errol all over Amity Park. The ghost managed to stay ahead of Danny only because he bore with him an edge of desperation. They zigzagged through shoppers in the mall, whizzed through the park, and then turned and headed back to Fenton Works. Danny threw ectoplasmic blasts at him the whole time. A few hit their target, causing Errol to slow down almost long enough for Danny to catch him. Errol armed his bow—though, to be honest, he wasn't a particularly good archer; so, unfortunately, Danny was able to avoid every shot he threw. Fortunately, though, doing so slowed the ghost boy down.

Errol managed to make it through the Ghost Portal, but Danny was angry and he was determined to catch the ghost—so, much to Errol's horror, he followed. It was lucky for Errol that he had the loyalty of so many of the lesser and minor ghosts. They overwhelmed Danny to such an extent that he had to exit the Ghost Zone and close the portal.

Danny transformed back to his human form and frowned at the now-closed portal. He knew he'd have to be extra vigilant. He would eventually catch Errol, and then at least he would be able to hope that Sam and Dash's relationship would run its course and quickly burn out without ghostly interference…if that's really what the ghost was up to, though lately Danny had his doubts. After all, if both Sam and Dash had been under ghostly influence, why were they still carrying on in such a friendly manner? Danny could only hope the relationship would end soon.

Then what? What would he tell Sam? That he was he loved her but it wasn't until someone else whisked her away that he realized it? Would he be able to admit what a fool he was? Would she still feel the same? Would they even have any semblance of a friendship left after everything was said and done?

Danny was in the middle of agonizing over Sam when the doorbell rang. He rushed upstairs to answer it, hoping it would be Sam, but at the very least Tucker. The last people he expected to see were Paulina and Star.

"We need to talk to you, Danny," Paulina said in her lilting accent. Both she and Star were dressed in a trench coat, hat and dark glasses. Danny smiled in amusement as he stepped aside for them to enter.

"Let me be frank with you," Paulina said as she stopped in the Fentons' living room. She looked around a moment then took off her hat and glasses. "We want Dash back."

Star took off her sunglasses and pierced Danny with an angry look. "He hasn't been the same since this whole thing started with that girl…what's her name?"

"Sam," Paulina said as if it were a dirty word.

"Yeah," Star said. "That weird girl Sam. He's, like, not himself."

"You either do something about her," Paulina said forcefully as she poked Danny in the chest. "Or we bring in the big guns."

"There is no way Dash's father is going to approve of any relationship between…umm." Star looked at Paulina for second.

"Sam," Paulina told her in exasperation.

Star looked like she needed a moment to process the name. "Oh yeah, I just think of her as 'creepy Goth girl'." Both girls laughed then Star turned back to Danny. "So, like I was saying, Dash's father would never approve of him dating some weird, really unpopular Goth girl."

"You have to do something about her," Paulina demanded. "She's throwing off the whole balance of things. Dash has been so nice to everyone lately."

Danny looked at the girls in confusion. "But isn't that the way he should be?" he asked. "Instead of kicking everybody around making life miserable for everyone else?"

"No!" both girls cried.

"Dash is like our bouncer into the A-list." Paulina tried to explain. "He approves who comes in and keeps out who we want out. If he's hanging around with Sam, then everything is thrown off balance. She's totally corrupting him. And people have been talking to us lately who should not be talking to us."

"The next thing you know he'll come to school all Gothed out," Star said in distaste.

"All pierced and wearing tacky black eyeliner," Paulina added. Danny tried to imagine Dash with his ears pierced and wearing black eyeliner. The thought was laughable.

"You know," Paulina said thoughtfully. "He'd be kinda hot." Star gave her a weird look then turned back to Danny.

"Weird girl used to like you once," Star accused. "So maybe you can like, win her away from Dash."

"We'll help you," Paulina said.

"We have to break them up," Star added.

"For their own good," Paulina agreed.

"Wait," Danny said trying to hide his amusement. "You can't just break them up." Even though part of him really liked the idea, the rest of him knew it was wrong.

"Oh yes we can," Paulina said angrily. "Either you help us and it's done gently…"

"Or we see to it that Sam gets burned," Star threatened.

Danny frowned. "You seem to think that I have some kind of control over Sam. There isn't anything I can do for you. Maybe you should talk to Dash."

"He won't see reason," Paulina said unhappily.

"We already tried," Star told Danny. "He's, like, practically in love with her. He doesn't care."

Paulina put her hat and glasses back on and walked to the door. "You either do something about her, Danny…"

"Or we will," Star finished. The girls looked at each other then stormed from Danny's house.

"Oh great," Danny said. "Not only do I have some matchmaking ghost to deal with, but now Paulina and Star are on my case." He sat down on the couch and looked up at the ceiling. Sometimes, life just sucked.


"Hold still," Sam said to Dash as she carefully applied black eyeliner. She sat back for a minute and surveyed her work. She smiled and Dash frowned.

"Tell me why I'm letting you do this to me again?" he asked skeptically.

"Because you owe me," Sam answered as she leaned closer and began to apply the make up to his other eye. Dash swallowed hard as she pressed against him. He could see the pulse beating at her throat and wondered if being this close to him made her as breathless as he felt. He focused in on her eyes looking into his, her face was so close, all he had to do was tilt his face up a little and their lips would meet. It was the sweetest torture he'd ever experienced.

"If the guys see me like this," Dash said trying hard to keep his voice normal. "They'll never let me live it down.

"We'll wash it off before you leave," Sam promised as she finished then looked back at Dash. He looked roguish and a little dangerous. She ran her fingers through his hair to mess it up a little bit then smiled at the effect. He'd make a really cool sorta Goth.

"You're not going to put lipstick on me now are you?" Dash asked worriedly. "Or a dress? Because I don't do dresses."

"No," Sam laughed. "No dress. That would defeat the whole look I'm going for."

"Which is?" Dash asked as he watched her dig in her make up bag.

"Goth," Sam answered. "You're too tan though, so you look more punkish. Did you know that too much sun can damage your skin?"

"No," Dash answered as he continued to watch her. Sam looked up at him and smiled. She pulled out a tube of purple lipstick and he frowned.

"Please Sam," he begged. "Don't put lipstick on me."

Sam smiled wickedly. "It's not really lipstick," she said as she popped open the tube. She applied it to her own lips and Dash's heartbeat accelerated. He knew better than to think that she'd kiss him. They had been together for almost a week now, but he figured she thought it was too soon.

It was hard for Sam to believe that she was sitting in her house putting make-up on Dash Baxter. If someone had told her last week that she'd be in a relationship with him, she would have said they were crazy.

Dash watched in relief as Sam put the tube of lip gloss back in her make-up bag. She looked at him and smiled again, then leaned forward and kissed him. Dash wasn't one to hesitate, he pressed forward and kissed her back, not stopping to think that she had wanted to take things slow. She'd been driving him crazy for the last ten minutes as she applied the eyeliner and he didn't think he could hold back anymore.

He pulled her into his lap, feeling relieved that instead of pulling away, she simply relaxed into his arms. He left her mouth to trail kisses across her jaw and down her throat. He'd been aching to kiss the beating pulse point on her neck since she decided to put make-up on him.

Sam closed her eyes and tilted her head back as she threaded her fingers through his hair. Rationally she had told herself that she wasn't going to do this, but he had sat still so sweetly for her that she just couldn't help it. She shivered as his fingers caressed her stomach then side and back.

"My sweet Sammy," Dash murmured as he kissed her ear.

"Oh Danny," Sam sighed then froze as she realized her error. Her blood felt like it turned to ice. She thought at first that maybe Dash hadn't heard her, but he stopped kissing her and sat her up right and looked into her eyes.

"Wh-what?" he said shakily as he blinked at her, still in a daze.

Tears filled Sam's eyes and she pushed away from Dash. "You should probably go," she said. "Come with me and we'll take off the eyeliner."

"Sam…" Dash said in an upset tone, as he followed her to the bathroom.

She wiped away the tears spilling from her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said miserably. "So sorry." Dash watched her with his heart in his throat, as she wet a washcloth then began to clean the make-up off his face.

In the past Dash had liked to pick on Fenton simply because he was weak, smaller, and an easy target; never had he wanted to beat him up because he was truly angry at him—mostly it was a game. Now, he decided that the next time he saw the little geek he'd pound his face into the pavement, for real.

Tears continued to spill from Sam's eyes as she finished cleaning off Dash's face. He said nothing as she worked. When she was finished, she handed him a comb and let him fix his hair. He turned to her when he was done and observed her shame-filled face. She wouldn't even meet his eyes.

Dash didn't know what to say; he hoped the voice in his head would come back and tell him the right words to fix things.

"D-did you ever kiss Fenton like that?" Dash asked almost in embarrassment.

Sam shook her head. "No. We never really kissed. I mean we did, but it wasn't real or anything."

"Do you love him?" Dash asked, then watched Sam's face and feared her answer.

"He's my best friend," Sam said bleakly. "Nothing more." She walked back to the other room and gathered Dash's books together.

"I hope you do well on your test," she said, still feeling too ashamed to look at him.

Dash watched her for a minute. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do. "Does this mean we're through?" he asked.

Sam wiped more tears from her eyes. "That's up to you," she answered.

"I don't want us to be over," Dash told her with feeling. "But I don't know. Maybe if you want to be with me, you shouldn't, like, spend so much time with Danny."

Sam almost laughed. Since Monday she had barely seen Danny outside of school, but she could understand Dash's point of view. She didn't answer him, but simply walked him to her front door. He stood and looked at her, feeling sick, sad and bitter.

"He's hurt you though," Dash said. "Hasn't he?"

"No," Sam answered. "Never intentionally. I'm sorry, Dash. I've just been so confused lately. I should have talked to you before…" He gave her a questioning look and she sighed.

"Just go home," she told him. "We'll talk about this tomorrow when I don't feel so emotional."

Dash looked at her for a moment, then tilted up her chin so he could look into her sad eyes. He paused a moment, then bent down and kissed her softly, and knew that he still felt the same way about her as he had before she murmured Danny's name rather than his own. He even rationalized that it was easy to do, their names were somewhat similar. It was difficult, but he fought the urge to pull her close and make her completely forget who Danny was; he figured it would only upset her, so he let go.

Dash was learning that his first instincts were usually wrong, and that he had to put a little more thought behind his actions, thanks to the voice in his head. Regardless of all the rationalizing, he was sick with jealousy. If it had been anyone but Sam he would have walked away and not looked back, but somehow he didn't blame her—only Fenton.

"Is it okay if I call you later?" Dash asked, trying valiantly not to be angry. He wanted to know why she was pushing him away, when he was the one who had been wounded.

"Yeah," Sam said she sniffled a little then hugged him. He returned the embrace and sighed heavily.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sweetness," he said as he touched her cheek. He looked at her a moment then turned and walked away. Sam waited a moment then closed the door, ran upstairs, flung herself on her bed and cried bitter tears of embarrassment, anguish, and frustration.


It was rather unfortunate for poor Nathan that as he was walking home from the library when he ran into a very angst-ridden Dash Baxter. The jock smiled sadistically. The little geek was the perfect target, barring Danny himself, to take his aggression out on. He grabbed the weaker boy into a headlock, then teased him for crying like a baby to be released.

Nathan's begging for mercy only fueled Dash's hunger for violence and he would have beat the boy to a bloody pulp if he had thought he could get away with it. Instead Nathan walked away with little more than a huge wedgie and a very bruised dignity. Dash himself only felt angry.


"That's unbelievably funny," Tucker laughed as Danny finished telling him about his visit from Paulina and Star.

"What do they want you to do? Tell Sam she can't see Dash anymore?" Tucker continued.

Danny nodded his head. "Yeah. I think so." Tucker looked at Danny in surprise then started laughing. Danny gave him a look of exasperation so Tucker tried to stop.

"Are you going to tell Sam they came to see you?" Tucker asked.

"Do you think I should?" Danny replied doubtfully. "We've hardly spoken to her lately I feel kind of…" He paused looking for the right word.

"Abandoned?" Tucker asked.

"Kinda," Danny admitted.

"Me too," Tucker said. "If I didn't know better, I'd think that she was, you know, overshadowed or something. She's just not acting like herself."

"Yeah," Danny agreed. "But it's not likely. She seems so happy, though."

"But is she really?" Tucker asked.


The moment Dash walked through the front door he knew he was in trouble. Well, that's not true; he knew he was in trouble the minute he went to Sam's house without calling home—but at the time he felt the risk was worth taking. Sam made him feel happy in a way he couldn't remember feeling in a long time; that was, until she sighed someone else's name while being held in his arms. At the moment he felt burnt and ill-equipped to handle his parents.

"Daschle Maxmillian Baxter!" his mother yelled. "Where have you been?"

Dash walked into the living room where his mother sat drinking her evening cocktail. "I was studying with a friend," Dash answered. "I have a test tomorrow and I could use some help."

His mother shot him a sour look. "I hope your study partner was able to jam some information into that thick skull of yours," she said acidly. "You should have called. Your father is livid."

"I'm sorry, Mom," Dash said obediently as he stood before her with his head down and his hands behind his back.

"Don't apologize to me," she hissed. "Your father is waiting for you in his office."

Dash stood for a moment, waiting. His mother sighed. "What are you waiting for? A gold-engraved invitation?"

"No," Dash answered softly, then turned and walked into his father's office.


Dash knocked on the door of his father's office and waited for permission to enter. The moment he heard his father's voice telling him to "get in here", he took a deep breath, turned the knob, and pushed the door open.

His father's office was brightly decorated with an Art Deco motif. It always reminded Dash of a circus. He hated the circus.

Mr. Baxter was sitting at his desk typing on his laptop. He didn't look up as he addressed Dash. "Where have you been?" he asked coldly.

"At a friend's house," Dash answered. "Studying for a test tomorrow."

"Since when do you have friends who actually study, Dash?" Mr. Baxter asked, still not looking up from his work.

"Since last Friday, sir," Dash answered obediently.

His father paused and looked up at Dash. "Is it that same girl you defied me to visit on Sunday?"

"Yes, sir," Dash answered.

Dash's father surveyed his son for a moment then returned his gaze to the laptop on his desk. "Is she smart?"

"Yes, sir," Dash answered.

"Popular?"

"No, sir."

"So you are just using her to get good grades?" Dash's father asked, then looked up at him and smirked.

"No, sir," Dash answered. Mr. Baxter looked at his son in surprise.

"Then what are you using her for?" he asked almost angrily.

"Nothing, sir," Dash answered still staring straight ahead.

Dash's father stood and walked over to his son. Dash didn't wince, blink or give any evidence of any fear. "You're visiting with and risking your privileges for a girl you're using for nothing?" he sneered.

"Yes, sir," Dash answered.

"And she's not popular?" his father asked in disbelief. "Is she at least rich?"

"Yes, sir," Dash answered.

Mr. Baxter grinned. "That's my boy. Using the rich girls." Dash didn't answer. He couldn't let on to his father that he cared about anyone or anything.

"Life is tough, Dash," his father said as he walked back to his desk. "Only the strong survive. The weak will die. You have to be strong. You have to eliminate the competition or they will eliminate you. You have to make those weaker than you are fear you, otherwise they will overcome you by their sheer numbers. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Yes, sir," Dash replied as he listened to his father's personal mantra.

"I want to meet her," he said, and Dash betrayed for the first time a flicker of fear; a big mistake, as his father seized the weakness.

"You like this girl, don't you?" Dash's father asked.

"Yes, sir," Dash answered reluctantly.

"I want to meet her," Mr. Baxter repeated. "You'll bring her over tomorrow after school, and I'll decide whether or not you can associate with her." Dash said nothing.

"You're weak, Dash," his father growled. "Weak and small. It's disgusting. Get out of my sight."

"Yes, sir," Dash replied then walked from his father's office.


Dash sat in his room staring at the blank wall. He wished he could have lied to his father, but he had a way of finding out everything.

He decided that he needed to warn Sam about his father. He purposefully hadn't talked much about his parents, and now, he knew, he had a lot to explain. He hoped she would talk to him. He wished again that the voice in his head was back; either that, or that it had never bothered him. He would have been happier not knowing what he could have and couldn't keep.

Dash took a deep breath, hit the speed dial button on his cell phone, and waited for her to answer.


Sam lay curled up on her bed nearing sleep when her cell phone rang. She sighed heavily and tried to ignore it; finally, she picked it up and answered with a tired, "Hello."

"Hi, Sweetness," Dash said. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," Sam lied. "What about you?"

"I'm good," Dash answered. He paused for a moment. "I need your help, Baby."

"Don't call me baby," Sam warned him and Dash laughed.

"Okay," Dash conceded. "But I still need your help."

Sam rubbed her eyes tiredly. She didn't want to help, but then her conscience told her she owed Dash something. "What do you need?"

"My father wants to meet you," Dash answered. "But he's tough and he judges people by appearance…"

"If he can't accept me for who I am, then…"

"Sam," Dash interrupted. "It's not like that. You don't understand. I could get in trouble. He'll forbid me from ever even seeing you again."

Sam had a tough time imagining what Dash's father was like, or someone ordering the jock around. She sighed heavily. She'd been sitting for the last hour contemplating ending things with Dash. It would make her life a lot easier. She could go back to the way things were. Danny, Tucker and her. No worries, except that Danny would find yet another girlfriend to make her jealous over.

"Sam?" Dash asked. "Are you there?"

"Yeah," Sam answered. "What do you need me to do?"

Dash took a deep breath. He hated asking her. It felt wrong, but he felt like he had no choice. "Can you like maybe not dress so weird tomorrow? Maybe do your hair different? No black?"

"Do you have any idea what you're asking me to do?" Sam asked. "It's like you putting on eyeliner and parading around in front of your friends."

"Please," Dash asked. "It's only this once. I'll never ask again."

Sam snorted in disbelief. "I'll think about it, Dash," she said unhappily. "I'll let you know tomorrow."

"Okay," Dash replied. "I'll see you then, Sweetness."

"Goodnight, Dash," Sam said.

"Goodnight," Dash said slowly. "I love you, Baby."

Sam stared at the phone in shock. Dash had already hung up so she couldn't even yell at him for calling her baby. A rush of warmth flooded through Sam and she smiled slightly. She wondered if he really felt that way, or if it was just his way of trying to schmooze her. She laughed and knew. He was just trying to charm her, but she didn't think she minded that much. He had still made her feel good, and she reasoned that maybe that's all that mattered.


Again, I ask nothing but that you please review.