A few hours after sunrise on Friday morning, Sam awoke groggily to her alarm clock screeching at her. She quickly grabbed her phone from off her nightstand and was more than happy to silence the horrid thing. Sighing, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked around her room as her eyes adjusted. Another day, another dollar, she thought to herself as she rose from her bed.

After she had finished getting ready for the day she grabbed her backpack and went down to the kitchen, not shocked to see her parents weren't home, but what else was new. As she placed her backpack on one of the kitchen counters, she could hear what sounded like loud banging coming from the basement. Ida must have been in the middle of a bowling session, so Sam headed towards the basement door to see her. As Sam made her way to the bottom of the stairs, she could see Ida at the first lane just finishing up.

"Two hundred? Damn Grandma, you're killing it today," Sam said as she got closer to her.

"I was doing better before. Want to play against me?" Ida asked, but Sam shook her head.

"I can't. I'm leaving for work soon," she replied. On her scooter, Ida rolled over to a nearby bowling ball rack to place her ball in.

"Right. How's it going with the Fenton boy?" Ida queried as she moved closer to Sam.

"Better than I expected, actually," she answered with a smile.

"So you're making progress?"

"Yeah. I'm hoping I'll be able to talk to him tonight after his parents leave,"

"You know, if the boy likes space, I think I have some old articles and newspapers from after the first moon landing in a box in my closet. You can give him a few," Ida said, causing Sam to perk up.

"Really? I can just give them to him?" She asked to be sure.

"Of course. As long as you leave me some," Ida responded with a smile.

"I will. Thanks, Grandma," Sam leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the top of her head before running up two flights of stairs to get to Ida's room. She stepped into the walk-in closet and spotted a cardboard box on the floor in the corner filled with old clippings from articles about a number of things. She only grabbed one article and one newspaper about the moon landing and left the rest for Ida like she said she would. Folding them carefully, she returned to the kitchen and gently placed them in her backpack.

Once she got to Fenton Works, she was faced with the same routine. She arrived on time, started in the kitchen, but Jack and Maddie left for the country club later than last time. Nevertheless, it took the usual few hours to clean and vacuum everything downstairs and upstairs. When Sam was done, she messaged Maddie to let her know and would usually leave right after, but tonight was different. Although she told Maddie she had left, she had other plans. She jogged up the stairs quickly and stopped outside of Danny's door. It sounded like he was playing some sort of game inside, but the audio stopped after she knocked on the door.

"Hey, it's me," she said as she sat cross-legged in front of the door, assuming he would be able to recognize her by her voice by now.

"Again?" He asked teasingly from inside, causing Sam to roll her eyes playfully.

"You're the one allowing it, you know," she told him, hearing him chuckle at her response.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm guessing my parents left for the club already?"

"Yeah, like two hours ago. They really like it there, huh?"

"Well, yeah. It's really the only place where they socialize with others," Sam tilted her head to the side as she fixated her gaze on the white door in front of her.

"It's weird that we probably never would have met if it weren't for our parents and that stupid country club," she pointed out.

"Stupid? Sounds like you dislike it,"

"I do. I've only gone a few times and it wasn't fun. It's just a bunch of rich people in one place with their snobby kids who think they're entitled to everything, including me. I didn't find it charming," she added with a roll of her eyes, remembering how almost every guy that talked to her expected more than just a conversation.

"That's messed up. I've never actually stepped foot inside before. My sister has, though. If she had the same problem, she never said anything about it. On the other hand, maybe she didn't tell me because I would overreact... with my fists," he added, causing her to laugh.

"Well, you're a good brother for wanting to protect your sister. I respect that," she said to him, and there was a long pause before Danny asked her a question she didn't think she would hear for a long time.

"Do you want to come in?" It was almost as if she froze for a second, but she forced herself to rise from the floor and give him an answer.

"Only if you want me to," she responded, and she mentally prepared herself as the door swung open. With the way Maddie talked about him, she assumed he would have some kind of deformity, disfigurement or even some kind of IV or oxygen tank. To her utter surprise, he looked like a regular, healthy young adult. He had to had been at least six feet tall, and the tank top he wore showed he was lean and fit. He looked the same as the photo Tucker had shown her earlier, just a little bit older. His black hair was a bit overgrown, falling into a pair of icy blue eyes that pierced into hers. To say the least, he was the opposite of what she expected.

"Well, are you going to come in, or are you going to stand there all day?" He asked playfully, with a slight smile on his face. She realized she was probably staring at him and tried not to blush as she swiftly entered the room. The walls were plastered with posters of all different kinds, but above his computer desk was the drawing she gave to him. "I wasn't lying when I said I loved it," Danny commented, watching her stare at the piece of artwork.

"I know you weren't." She said back, turning to face him. "You know, I wasn't expecting you to look like... you." She finished lamely, causing him to flash her a small smile.

"There's a lot more wrong to me than meets the eye. My... injuries are more on the inside than outside."

"And you're alright being isolated from the rest of the world?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Danny was silent for a moment before answering.

"My parents say it's what's best for me. They're the ones who have my best interests at heart." He answered.

"You also have a mind of your own."

"And I agree with them... somewhat,"

"Somewhat?" She questioned.

"I sneak out sometimes. If they knew, they'd freak," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"Why is it so wrong for you to leave the house?" She asked, but he bit his lip as if he was holding back.

"It's complicated," he replied, and it was obvious he wasn't ready to tell her yet, so she changed the subject.

"So why did you decide to let me in? Tucker?" She queried. He sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the spot next to him, signaling that he wanted her to do the same to which she obeyed.

"Yeah. After he told me what you said, I get why you care so much. And I appreciate you sharing your secrets. I know why you did." She knew she was probably still staring at him, but she couldn't stop herself from looking into his blue eyes.

"Well, I'm glad you did. Your door was starting to get boring to stare at," she said jokingly, causing him to give her a crooked smile.

"So I heard you and Tucker had a good time at the arcade yesterday," he stated, making her nod.

"Yeah, he learned the hard way that I'm the master of all games. Video games included,"

"Oh, yeah?" He asked with an eyebrow raised as he rose from the bed. He walked over to his television set where two PS4 controllers sat and picked both of them up before tossing one to her, which she caught successfully. "Prove it." He said, and she looked up at him to flash him a smug smirk.

"You're gonna regret this," she told him as he sat back down next to her.

"Something tells me you're a trash talker," he inquired with a smile which Sam returned.

"The trashiest." She confirmed. The next half hour only proved their statements, and Danny found himself dumbstruck at her knowledge of every game they played. No matter how good he thought he was, she ended up destroying him at almost every turn. He turned his head to stare at her in amazement and with maybe even a smidgen of jealousy.

"How?" Was the only thing he was able to ask, causing her to laugh.

"Would you like me to use one hand?" She asked teasingly, causing him to snort.

"No need to rub it in. For a guy who's spent sixty percent of the last five years playing video games, I thought I was pretty good,"

"You're forgetting I barely had friends in high school. What else was I supposed to do besides play games? And you are good," she paused so he could look at her before she smirked, "I'm just better." He threw a pillow her way which she was able to successfully dodge before he stood up.

"Charming. Real charming," he told her sarcastically, yet there was an amused smile on his face. He turned to open the bedroom door and motioned for her to follow him. "Do you want a drink or something?"

"I'm good, thanks." She trailed behind him as they went down to the kitchen where he grabbed a water bottle from out of the refrigerator. Sam saw her backpack still sitting on the counter and remembered she had brought something for him.

"Oh, I have something cool you might like," she said as she went over to it to pull out the articles. Danny placed his water down on the kitchen table and walked over to take a closer look at it. "They're from 1969. Both about the first moon landing," she handed both over to him and he started to flip through them curiously.

"This is wicked cool. Where did you get these?"

"My grandma. She has a bunch of them all about different things. She wanted you to have these," Sam told him as she crossed her arms across her chest. He paused to look up at her and raised an eyebrow.

"You talk to your grandma about me?" He queried, and Sam tried not to blush in embarrassment.

"She's kind of the only person I talk to. She doesn't know much," she added, not wanting him to think she was exposing him in any way, but Danny only smiled.

"Only good things, I hope," he said, causing her to nod.

"Of course," he looked back down at the newspapers before folding them up gently.

"Well, thanks a lot for these. I can't wait to show Tucker," he fished his phone out of his pocket to message Tucker, but simultaneously received one from Maddie. He stared at the screen for a brief second before stuffing it back into his pocket. "My parents are on their way home," he informed her.

"That's my cue to leave," she stated, grabbing her backpack and hauling it over her shoulder. She and Danny both walked over to the door where Sam turned to say goodbye. "Will I see you Monday?" She asked, causing him to nod.

"Most likely," he answered, making a soft smile appear on her face.

"Good. See you then," he watched her leave before closing the door, leaving it unlocked for his parents. It wouldn't be long before they would be home, and he knew the drill once they were. He went up to his room and closed the door before he faced his dresser mirror. A flash of light appeared from his midsection and lit up the room. Two rings of light started moving in opposite directions, turning his hair white, his blue eyes a glowing green, and his regular tank top and sweats turned into a black and white hazmat suit. He looked over his form like he did thousands of times before. He didn't think something like this was possible when he entered that horrid ghost portal, yet here he was. Since then he and his parents would all go down to the basement where they would try out different scientific concoctions to try to cure his ghost half, finding it a curse rather than a blessing. Unfortunately, that's what Danny was convinced he was: a curse. Sighing, he tore his eyes away from the mirror and reluctantly headed to the basement to wait for his parents' arrival.


Ooooh-weeee that chapter was a lot longer than I thought it would be, but hopefully entertaining. Since I'm actually getting a lot of reviews, I think I'm going to start doing replies next chapter, so please r&r :D