Someone
Description: A nightmare prompts Sam to tell Danny her worst fear and her true feelings for him. A little fluff. One-shot. Please R&R.
Dedication: This is dedicated to all the fans of "Ghosthunting" because you guys rock my socks off! A new chapter will be up tomorrow, possibly tonight, if I finish typing it, promise!
Danny Phantom crashed to the ground, landing face down on the sidewalk. White hair became ebony and blue eyes green as his strength gave out. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath. He coughed and red-black blood spattered the grey concrete.
"Danny!" cried Sam, rushing to him. She dropped to her knees next to him and touched his shoulder tentatively, resisting the urge to scream as he spat out another mouthful of blood. This was by far the worst fight he had gotten himself into. He looked awful; a purple bruise covered most of his left arm and his hair was matted with blood. Plasmius' newfound powers were too much for the fifteen year-old boy.
"We have to get you to a hospital or--or--or something!" Said Sam bordering on hysteria. Danny shook his head slowly.
"I have…to get…Plasmius." He panted.
"He'll kill you!" she practically shouted. Danny ignored this and struggled to his feet, clutching his side and wincing in pain; Sam wouldn't be surprised if he had a few broken ribs too. He tried to "go ghost", without success; the effort took even more out of him. He slumped against the trunk of a tree and slid to its base.
"I think he already has." He murmured, his eyelids flickering. Sam clenched her fists so tightly; she could feel her fingernails digging into her palms.
"Don't say that!" she protested, her eyes starting to water, nonetheless. He was fading fast and they both knew it. Sam was going to have to sit here and watch her best friend die.
"Tell my parents…" he gasped, his breathing becoming more labored. "About my ghost powers."
"You're not going to die!" she whispered fiercely, her eyes sparkling with tears.
"Sam." He said softly. "Please." She looked into his darkening blue eyes and nodded involuntarily and let out a strangled sob. Danny took her hand and smiled weakly. "Don't cry, Sam." He closed his eyes and was gone.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Manson awoke with a terrified scream. She started to cry into her comforter as the light went on in the hall. Her mother's face appeared in the doorway and she hurriedly dried her tears.
"What's the matter, Sammy?" she asked, putting on her "concerned face".
"Nothing." Sam replied, forcing a grin as fake as her mother's concern. "Just a nightmare."
As soon as her mother had vanished and the light flicked off, Sam slid out from under the red comforter and crossed to her window and looked out. A full moon was rising over Amity Park, washing the town in a silvery moon-glow. But even the beauty of the night sky couldn't distract her right now.
This was the third time she had waked from the same dream, screaming for her best friend. Because of mounting piles of homework that related to being a sophomore, Sam and Tucker had been spending less time helping Danny ghost hunt and more time doing quadratic functions and studying Ancient Greece. Sam hated it. She would rather fail every class than leave Danny to fend for himself. Unfortunately, her parents didn't feel the same way. She was under threat of another restraining order against him, if she was caught with Danny before her homework was done any night of the week.
But as bad as abandoning her best friend to battle malevolent spirits was, it was nothing compared to realizing her true feelings for him. Sam had suddenly fallen head-over-heels for the bright eyed little boy she'd known since pre-K. Now she was not only worried about his safety, but what he might say if she ever got up the courage to tell him how she felt.
She shook her head; she couldn't tell him that; if he didn't feel the same, it would ruin their friendship. That was the last thing she wanted to be responsible for.
A light tapping on the window brought her to her senses. Danny was floating outside the window, wearing a nervous grin. She pulled the window open and he flew in and landed, turning back to his human form.
"What are you doing up so late?" she asked him. He smirked, obnoxiously.
"I could ask you the same thing." He remarked. She brushed away the comment and planted her hands on her hips.
"Well?"
"I fly when I have a lot on my mind." He said, becoming suddenly serious. Sam knew there was something more to it than that; his eyes were oddly bright and he kept rubbing the back of his neck. Though she had no idea what it was, she could find out; Danny was a lousy liar.
"That's the only reason you showed up here at two in the morning?" she questioned innocently.
"No---I mean yes!" he sputtered. She grinned triumphantly. But her victory was short-lived.
"Then what are you doing up this early?" he countered. "Watching the grass grow?" She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again; they knew each other far too well.
"I was thinking." She defended.
"What about?" he asked swiftly. She winced, as if the simple question were a blow. She didn't want Danny to know she was having nightmares about his death, and definitely not that she liked him. He must've seen something in her eyes, because he came closer, his eyes softening. "What's the matter, Sam?" She shook her head and sat down on the edge of the bed. He sat next to her and gave her a concerned look, with one big difference from her mother's: he meant it.
"I don't want to talk about it." She muttered, avoiding his eyes. She hated the concern in his baby blue eyes.
"I've been your best friend since before we were in school and now you don't want to talk to me?" he said, trying, unsuccessfully, to keep the hurt out of his voice. Sam immediately felt bad, but she still didn't say anything. A silent tear slid down her cheek.
"Don't cry, Sam." He pleaded.
"Don't say that!" she said sharply, remembering her dream. He looked surprised, but only for a moment. Then he got up and crossed to the window.
"I better go." He said softly. He transformed into a ghost and was about to fly out the window, when Sam grabbed his wrist.
"Wait." She said, "I don't want you to leave." She pulled him away from the window and looked at him imploringly. He sighed and went back to human. They sat back down and Danny looked at Sam attentively.
"I had a nightmare—about you dying." She started in a shaky voice. "It scares me." She gave him a troubled look.
"I'm not going to die, Sam." He consoled. She still looked close to tears. "Besides, you could replace me if I did die." He added, trying to make light of the situation.
"I could never replace you, Danny Fenton!" she whispered harshly, her face grave. "Never think that."
"I was joking," he assured her. "I don't really think that."
"I'm scared, Danny." She said in a hushed voice. "You are always fighting ghosts and you're all alone. What if you get hurt or something?"
"I'm not going to, I promise.' He said, confusedly. She had always been worried about him getting hurt, but somehow this was bigger than that.
"You can't promise that." She responded in her normal pessimistic fashion.
"What do you want me to do, then?" he said tiredly. "I can't stop fighting ghosts."
"I know." She replied, biting her lip. She started picking at a hole in the blanket, not looking at him. Danny was silent for a long moment, trying to figure out what Sam was thinking. Finally, he spoke again.
"Where is all this coming from, Sam?" She looked up, almost unwillingly, into his eyes. His breath caught as her stared back into her amethyst ones; he had never realized how pretty her eyes were before.
"Everything is changing.'' She muttered. And it was. Not just her feelings for Danny, but her classes, her teachers, her parents, the ghosts and (if she'd known it) Danny's feelings for her. "I guess it stresses me out."
"Is all change bad?" he asked cautiously. He had come here to tell her something, but he wasn't sure if he should now. If she didn't like change she certainly wouldn't like what he wanted so badly to tell her.
"No!" she practically shouted. Then she calmed down. "Not all of it."
"What isn't?" Danny wondered, his curiosity getting the better of him. But Sam seemed incapable of saying more. "Come on, Sam!" She didn't answer.
"Well, then I guess I won't tell you what I came here to tell you." He told her, knowing exactly what response he would get. Her head shot up and she looked at him, her a questioning glance in her eyes.
"Danny!" He shook his head stubbornly. She grimaced at him and smiled back as sweetly as he could. Her shoulders sagged. "Fine." She said her voice flat.
"I really care about----someone." She started. Danny felt his heart sinking.
"You mean you like 'someone'?" he asked. She nodded slightly. "As in, like like?" She nodded again.
"And I'm afraid someone doesn't like me." She continued.
"That's how sure you are someone does not like you?" he asked. She shrugged. "That you won't ask them?"
"I don't think someone acts like they do." She answered, starting to feel anxious.
"Who is 'someone'?" Danny finally asked. Her face reddened and she didn't respond. How was she supposed to figure out if "someone" liked her back without reveling to him that he was "someone"?
"Well," Danny said, getting an idea. "If it's any consolation I lo---like someone that I don't know likes me too." She observed him closely.
"And you don't tell someone because you don't want to ruin your friendship?" she asked.
"Is that why you don't ask your someone?" he returned. She nodded for a third time. "Don't you think it's better to take that chance than wonder forever?" She knew he was right. He smiled at her and got up to go, but she called after him.
"Hey, someone!"
Danny turned to look at her, a startled look on his face. He had not expected that. He looked at her nervous face and tried to get his thoughts in order. Sam's face fell when he didn't respond, but he was suddenly standing next to her, pulling her to her feet. "You called, someone?"
Sam broke in to a wide grin and fell into Danny's arms. She looked into his eyes and suddenly found her lips pressed to his. They pulled away from each other after a moment and Danny looked at her expectantly.
"Okay.' She conceded. "Taking chances is definitely a good thing."
