Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or "What a girl wants" by Christina Aguilera. I don't even own the idea of a guy suddenly being able to hear women's thoughts. That idea is actually from the movie What Women Want.

A quick note: Notice how they never tell you the actual birthdates of cartoon characters? Anyway, this is my birthday gift to myself. I made Sam's birthday the same as mine: July 5th. This is just a big thing of fluff for those of you that really enjoy fluff.

What a Girl Wants

Danny had been mulling the all too famous question for weeks now: what do girls want? Sam's birthday was only weeks away, and she had decided not to tell him what she wanted. He had to figure it out for himself. Unfortunately, Sam had also paid Tucker not to help as well. Danny tried asking Jazz, but she'd only said he was completely clueless and that this was one thing she could not involve herself in. Now, he was standing in a goth bookstore trying to find something for his friend while other goth teenagers stared at him. He was dressed in his usual baggy blue jeans and white tee shirt with the red oval in the center. He stuck out like a vampire in the sunlight.

"Read that one," Danny muttered, setting a book aside. "She has at least twenty copies of that one last I checked." He set yet another book aside. "Hmm, this one looks okay." He read the summary on the back. "… or not." He growled setting the book back on the shelf. "Why couldn't she just tell me what she wanted?"

"Because its fun to watch the clueless suffer," a female voice said very close to his ear.

The poor halfa yelped, tripping over his own feet, and landed on the floor. "Sam," he whined, looking up at her pitifully as she laughed at him.

"Big baby," she muttered, holding out her hand to help him up.

He took it gratefully, pulling himself back up onto his feet. "Hey, am not with what I face everyday."

She rolled her eyes, laughing slightly. "A little hint for you: I own almost every book in this bookstore." She waved to him as she headed for the door. "Have fun."

He stuck his tongue out at her before leaving the store and walking in the opposite direction. "What do girls want?" he kept muttering to himself, looking intently at the sidewalk.

It was the end of June, and Sam's birthday was in exactly five days. He chuckled to himself, thinking how funny it was that someone that hated the sunlight as much as Sam did had been born in the month that had the most sunlight out of any of the summer months. Of course, he was too busy staring at the sidewalk to notice the person walking out of the store and ran right into them, managing to knock both of them down.

"Hey!" the person said, snatching up their packages.

"Oh, sorry." Danny picked up one of the packages and handed it to her, finally looking up. "Hey, Valerie."

The African American girl turned and smiled. "I should've known it was you that ran into me. You're such a klutz."

"I resent that," the poor boy muttered, having been insulted twice in one day already. His ego wasn't much to begin with, and the insults definitely weren't helping. "Wait a second… I could ask you!"

Valerie blinked as the blue-eyed teen grinned at her. "Ask me what?" she asked, brow raised.

The two of them had already had a talk about where they stood. Both of them were obviously in love with someone else. Valerie had admitted that she had a crush on Tucker, but Danny hadn't said.

"Sam's present. You know, her birthday's in a few days."

"Sorry, Danny. She paid me off too," the ghost hunter said with a grin.

The boy groaned, falling back so he was lying sprawled out on the sidewalk. "She's paid off anyone that could help me! I bet she even paid off Lancer."

"Like Lancer would be helpful," Valerie said, laughing. She stood with her packages finally retrieved, looking down at the depressed boy still lying on the ground. "Come on, Danny. This is Sam we're talking about. You know her better than anyone."

"And unfortunately, that's not helping me at all at the moment," Danny muttered as Valerie left with a wave. He sighed and reluctantly sat up, glaring darkly at nothing in particular. "What the heck would a girl want?" he yelled at the sky.

Unfortunately, it didn't answer. He sighed and got up off his butt, stalking down the sidewalk to the next store. He skipped the clothing stores since he didn't know Sam's size nor was he about to ask her. He searched every store window, trying to get ideas. He finally stopped in front of a jewelry store, an idea hitting him. Sam liked jewelry, didn't she? She was always wearing that dark choker and those bracelets, but he wasn't thinking that kind of jewelry. He was thinking more along the lines of the small bit of gold he was now staring at in the window.

It was simple gold band with an emerald heart. There was no way he had the money for that. Working at the Nasty Burger didn't exactly pay for that kind of bling, and fighting ghosts didn't pay at all. Well, except for the athletic body he now possessed. He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. The real question was would Sam like it? In fact, that was only one of the questions running through Danny's mind. Would she understand the meaning behind the ring? Would she kill him for it? He shook his head, walking away sorrowfully. What was the point of lingering around a present he couldn't even buy?

"I wish I knew what girls wanted," he muttered as he passed an alley.

A figure floated out of the alley, watching the boy leave. She smiled, raising her hands over her head and saying, "So you have wished it, so shall it be." Then she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

The next day, Danny headed out into the world to find Sam's gift. He needed to find it soon because he'd feel bad if he showed up at her party with nothing. Oh, God, there he is! He's so cute… Stupid head. He looked up, glancing around him. There was no one near enough to have been speaking to him. He caught sight of Sam in the goth bookstore he had just passed. There was no way she had said that. He knocked on the glass to get her attention and waved. She smiled and waved back.

He must still be having trouble finding my gift. Poor guy, maybe I should let Tucker help him. Danny tried not to freak out. That was Sam's voice except it was her thoughts… in his head? He groaned, looking heavenward as he realized he'd made a wish yesterday… and Desiree probably heard him! Okay, either he's freaking out, or he's really, really desperate to find my gift. He nearly jumped when Sam's voice entered his mind again. There had to be some way to block it out, right? Why is that boy just standing there? What a weirdo. That definitely wasn't Sam.

He growled and stuffed his hands in his pockets, stalking off. "This is not what I had in mind!" he muttered.

"Danny!"

He sighed and stopped as Sam ran to catch him. "Yeah?" he asked, not looking at her.

She set her hand on his shoulder. Aw, I didn't want to torture him this much. I just wanted to see if he would find out… "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he muttered, running a hand through his hair as he kept walking, but he was curious as to what Sam had wanted him to figure out. Maybe this would be good as long as he could get rid of the other women's voices.

Yeah, right. "Oh, come on, Danny. You look like you could use a little bit of a pick-me-up." And I really, really want to spend time with just you. He shot her a glance, but she was looking forward. "Chocolate shakes at the Nasty Burger? My treat," she tried to entice him. Please, please, please, please, please…

"Okay, okay," he said, laughing. "You talked me into it." That and he was sick of her broken record of "please."

The two of them headed for the Nasty Burger, talking about nothing in particular. Danny, meanwhile, was listening to her thoughts and every other females that they passed. Some of them were things he'd rather have never known while some of them were actually pretty interesting—especially Sam's. When he grabbed her hand to stop her from passing in front of a speeding car, Sam's thoughts revealed just how much of a hero she thought he was. When they had to squeeze really close together to get past a crowd of people, Sam silently commented about how much she loved his scent. When he held open the door for her, her thoughts revealed her inner swooning. Danny was starting to think that maybe what Sam really wanted for her birthday was… him.

Oh, great, here come the love birds, he heard Paulina think. God, can they be any more sickeningly sweet? Star thought. I can't wait till Clueless One figures it out, Valerie's thoughts chimed in. Danny was just glad they weren't all speaking at once or he was sure he'd end up with a headache. He and Sam went up to the counter, ordering their chocolate shakes. Sam moved to pull her money out, but Danny beat her to it. Valerie and Sam both inwardly sighed at his gentlemanly behavior, missing his smirk. He never knew Sam was such a romantic.

They sat at a two-person table, chatting about how things were going so far with Danny's search. Danny proudly announced that he was almost sure he knew what she wanted, and Sam's thoughts teasing disagreed. They fell silent after a while, simply enjoying each other's company. Danny was startled out of his own thoughts when Sam's said, Oh, no, I was doing it again! I'm so glad Danny's not a mind reader, or he'd swear I had a nasty mind. Danny glanced at her to see her blushing at her chocolate shake. Must stop imagining about Danny… wearing nothing at all. Ah, I did it again! This time, Danny blushed too but quickly pushed it down.

"Hey, Sam," he suddenly said, trying to break her thoughts away from him, "what's your favorite flower?"

She blinked, brow raised. "Danny, after all these years we've known each other, this is the first time you've asked me this, and you know I'm not going to help you with your gift." But her mind told him what he wanted: lilacs and bluebells because it makes me daydream about you and me.

Danny suddenly had a strange desire to find Desiree and thank her. Instead, his hand disappeared. Sam stared at the missing body part pointedly, and Danny laughed nervously. "Um, oops." He concentrated on calling it back while struggling to think of something to excuse it on. Please don't tell me he was drooling over Paulina or Valerie again… "Oh, hey, I didn't tell you: Tucker's planning to make a move on Valerie finally."

Sam was silent for a moment, just watching him. And you're okay with this… why? "Well, that's good I guess…" she said slowly.

He played dumb for a moment then started laughing. "What, you think I still have a crush on her?"

"I said no such thing!" When the heck did he become so observant?

He smiled, shaking his head. "Sammy, Sammy, Sammy… I'm not as clueless as you think I am anymore," he said.

Oh, God, that sent shivers down my spine… "Wow, you've graduated to Mr. Annoying because I have no idea what you're talking about."

He just smiled deviously before glancing at his watch. "I better go. I've got to be somewhere." He stood. "Thanks for the shakes—"

"—that you paid for," she reminded him, but he ignored her.

"And thanks for the talk. I'll see you on the fifth, okay?" He headed out the door with a final wave. Sam waved back before groaning. What does he know that I don't? Danny grinned as he headed for the floral shop. "Wouldn't you like to know?" he whispered under his breath.

Danny knew he was going to be late, but he needed to find Desiree and ask her to remove the wish before going to Sam's party. He flew to the park, dropping down beside the fountain. He glanced at the coin in his hand then back at the fountain. "Um, I wish I couldn't hear girl's thoughts," he mumbled, tossing the coin in the water.

Desiree appeared out of a pink smoke. "So you have wished, so shall it… Hey, you're already getting rid of it already?" She crossed her arms over her chest, pouting. "I specifically didn't mess with that wish just to help you out."

"I know, and it did," Danny said with a grin. "That's why I'm going to let you stay at the fountain for a few days. Just try not to mess with people's wishes and make me work today, okay?"

She sighed with mock annoyance. "All right, I'll try." She smiled then waved her hands. "Now, you're going to be late to her party, but I'm guessing it'll be worth it."

"Of course it will," Danny said as he took off.

He didn't go to Sam's party. Instead, he left a note for her on her pillow, asking her to meet him at the park at five. At the park with nearly an hour to go till five, an apprehensive ghost boy was sitting anxiously on a bench. Beside him rested a bluebell and a lilac, tied together with a black ribbon. He was sure Sam would kill him for missing her party, but this wasn't something he could give her with everyone else around. Five minutes to five, he was on his feet, pacing.

"All right, Danny, where are you?" a familiar voice called out. "And you better have a good reason for missing my party too."

Danny carefully picked up the flowers, making certain they were still tied together. He smiled as she entered the clearing. "Happy Birthday, Sam," he said, handing her the flowers.

She blushed, taking them from him almost shyly. "These are my favorite," she mumbled.

"Sorry I wasn't there at the party. The store in town didn't have bluebells." It was true; he'd found both flowers in an open field about fifteen miles away from town. He stepped forward, taking her hand in his. "That's only part of your gift." He went ghost without calling out his catch-phrase. "Come on," he said, tugging at her hand.

Sam stepped closer to him, and he picked her up bridal-style, startling her. She wrapped her arms around his neck, still holding her flowers, as he took to the skies. "Where are we going?" she asked. He didn't answer, nor had she expected him to. "Okay, guess I don't get to know."

He smiled at her before picking up the pace, making Sam tighten her hold on his neck only slightly. She rested her head against his strong chest, sighing as she breathed in his familiar scent even while he was in ghost form. She closed her eyes, simply enjoying her flight with Danny. She opened them a few minutes later when she felt him descending.

"We're here," he said, setting her on her feet.

She looked around her, gasping. They stood in the middle of a field filled with nothing but lilacs and bluebells. "Danny, I… It's beautiful," she whispered.

He smiled as he returned to human form, obviously glad that she loved the field. "It took me forever to find it."

"The field?" she asked, glancing at him. He shook his head, stepping closer to her. She turned to him fully, hoping he couldn't hear the beating of her heart. "Wh-what couldn't you find?" she whispered, now that they were only inches apart.

"The perfect gift," he whispered back, "but then I realized I already had it."

Sam thought her heart was going to stop beating as his hand slowly raised to stroke her cheek before entangling itself in her hair, pulling her closer to him gently, slowly. He leaned toward her, eyes searching hers. Her eyes closed on their own accord as she leaned up toward him, meeting his lips with hers. His lips were so warm, so inviting. It was like kissing… the one you would love for the rest of your life. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he pulled her closer—if that were possible—and one hand fisted in his raven hair.

She parted her lips as she felt his tongue against them, inviting her to deepen the kiss, which she did wholeheartedly. Their tongues were locked in a dance, tasting and loving the other like they had never done before. This definitely wasn't "just friends" behavior. Sam could only hope that it wasn't an accident. The kiss broke off slowly, her lips glistening in the fading light from his treatment of them. He didn't stop there though, kissing her forehead then each cheek then her nose before setting a light kiss on her lips.

"I realized," he whispered slowly, eyes still closed, "that the best gift I could give you was my heart." He opened his eyes to gaze into hers. "Because you already gave me yours."

She smiled, her eyes shining brightly. "Danny," she whispered, shaking her head before reaching up and touching his cheek. "Thank you," she whispered. "This is the best gift I could ever ask for."

He smiled too, his forehead resting on hers. "I love you, Sammy."

She giggled, a light blush crossing her cheeks. "I love you too, Dannykins, and I'll love you forever."