I posted this on tumblr last night as a submission for danphanwritingprompts, but I figured I should post it with my other fics sometime. I rushed this one so it's not perfect but I think I'm happy with it. Also I'm not good at the whole romance thing, I just think gray ghost is cute so I wanted to write it at least once.

...

Of all the places to find a ghost, Jack wasn't expecting to run into one at his favorite thrift store. He knew he could never let his guard down, but Elmerton was so rarely attacked, he had assumed... No. No matter what he had assumed, the device attached to his wristwatch had silently begun to glow a bright green. Without a doubt, there was a ghost nearby.

What surprised Jack was how quiet the store remained- there were no screams from across the room, nor was there havoc in the streets. If there was a ghost nearby- and Jack knew there was- they hadn't come to start trouble.

Jack lowered his goggles.

There weren't any ghosts, not even invisible ones.

He checked his watch one more time, and seeing it show the same foreboding green, he went further into the store, peering around the tall clothes racks and floor to ceiling display cases. The store was designed like a horrible maze really, and for the first time in his many years shopping here, he felt like a bull in a china shop. It wasn't until he got to the back of the store that he saw him.

The familiar ghost- the ghost that so often haunted Jack's dreams- was leaning on the jewelry counter, watching the door to the backroom swing closed.

He wasn't even invisible, merely hidden from Jack's sight behind a terribly placed rack

Jack lifted his goggles with his left hand, his right hand itching towards his gun. "You."

Phantom jumped and turned to face the hunter. Whatever color was left in his face faded away. "Jack," he breathed.

"What are you doing here, Phantom?"

Though he was obviously surprised, maybe even afraid, Phantom remained where he stood, not backing away. "What about you? Why are you in Elmerton?"

Jack noticed a human customer, angled just right to see both of them, eyeing them nervously. Especially Jack's gun. He shoved it back into his holster- he didn't want to make a scene any more than Phantom did, apparently.

"I asked first," he finally said. He pointedly looked to the jewelry in the case in front of them, and back into the ghost's eyes.

"I'm not here to steal those, I swear!"

Jack watched him skeptically, like a father waiting for his son to fess up- and it was working.

Phantom stared at the hunter, a strangled and embarrassed expression morphing over his face. Eventually he groaned and hanged his head. "The girl I like works here, okay?"

Jack's brain short-circuited.

Phantom. Liked a girl? A human girl? "What?"

"Don't say anything!" he stammered, buzzing with panic. "The manager could be back with her any minute and she hates me enough already!"

"The manager?" Jack asked.

"Valerie," Phantom corrected, his green blush darkening.

Jack shook his head, smiling softly. He held back his heartiest laugh. This went against everything his brain told him, talking so casually with a ghost, but ultimately, he was a romantic at heart. (It's what Maddie loved about him.)

"So, you're asking out a girl who hates you?"

"I'm not asking her out!" he hissed. "Just... I need to talk to her," he finished lamely.

Jack understood completely. He glanced at the door to the backroom, no sign of a girl or manager in sight. "Have you thought about what you'll say?"

Phantom hesitated, then shook his hand in a noncommital way. "I was thinking I'd explain what happened between us."

Jack raised his eyebrows and looked once more at the door to the backroom. He probably didn't have a lot of time before this Valerie girl showed up. He grabbed Phantom's wrist. "C'mon, you can talk to her later."

Phantom tried phasing out of Jack's grasp but failed each time. "What are you doing?" he yelped. "Did you upgrade your gloves?"

"We're going for a walk," Jack said. As they passed another customer, he addressed her. "When the manager comes looking for Phantom here, tell them that the great Jack Fenton captured him."

The customer, who seemed to be choking at the sight of them, only managed to nod in understanding.

...

Jack took Danny to the diner a few doors down. The waitress barely managed to take their orders, watching them with a combination of amusement and fear, but once she was out of earshot, they began to speak.

"So... what's happening right now?" Danny asked.

Jack leaned into the palm of his hand. "Kid, I'm gonna give you some advice about love."

"What?" Danny groaned, folding his arms and avoiding the man's gaze. He resisted the urge to say "Ew."

"Well you need it," Jack said. "At least, you need some advice about apologies. You can't explain things to this girl as if that's going to fix anything. Whatever happened, she's not looking for an explanation." He took a sip of his coffee.

"How am I supposed to say sorry if I can't explain what happened?"

Danny took a long swig of his coke in favor of saying anything else. Jack watched him pitifully. Sometimes he forgot how young and foolish the ghost boy was.

"Phantom," he started slowly. "Tell me what happened."

Danny hesitated. Shaking his head, he said, "I was tracking down this ghost at her dad's work and... there was a lot of collateral damage. He lost his job. They had to move to Elmerton and she even lost her friends because of me."

"Anything else?" Jack asked.

"Well, yes, but it gets complicated after that."

"Ah." The man took another sip of coffee and mulled the lover boy's situation over. "Alright, so you have some things to apologize for and a few misunderstandings you want to clear up," he said, making sure they were still on the same page. At Phantom's silent nod, he said, "Start with the apology. If she asks any questions after you apologize, then you can explain, but don't make excuses for yourself."

"Why?" Danny asked. "If she understood why it happened, wouldn't that fix everything?"

"It wouldn't fix anything. It already happened. Besides, she understands what happened just fine. What she's looking for is an apology, and no one wants to hear, 'I'm sorry but it's not my fault.' That's not really apologizing, and youare sorry, right?"

Danny huffed. "I guess you're right." He turned his head towards the kitchen, where the waitress was coming to deliver their food. Looking back down at the table, he said, "It just sucks, knowing I... ruined her life. I wish it hadn't happened. I wish it wasn't my fault."

Jack reached across the table to ruffle the ghost boy's hair. "No one likes feeling this way. And, hey, once you apologize, you'll start to feel better. It's the best thing you can do."

"Since when do you give good advice, d- Jack?"

The waitress silently placed the food in front of them and hurried back behind the counter before either of them could thank her.

"Since always. No one listens."

Jack didn't seem too bothered by what he had said, but Phantom certainly was. He opened his mouth to protest, but he couldn't find anything to say and the man was already happily downing his meal.

"Oh, well... Thanks," Danny said.

Jack shrugged. He should probably go back to hunting the kid soon, not giving him advice. And Danny, well, he should probably get going if he wants to catch Valerie before the end of her shift.

After taking a few bites, Danny stood, leaving a half-empty plate. "And thanks for the meal."

"No problem."

Danny scooched over in the booth and was about to phase through the window before he stopped. "Hey, while we're on speaking terms, what were you doing at the Elmerton store, anyway?"

Jack's big smile became soft, bashful. "It just always has better stuff than the Amity store. My family seemed to like the gifts I got them one time, so I kept going back."

Danny's heart skipped a beat when he heard that. He collected himself and managed a few words: "Uh, that's really sweet." With that, he phased himself from the diner and back towards the thrift store.

...

Jack met Phantom again about three months later. He never told anyone about his previous encounter with the ghost, carrying on as if it had never happened. The one change, he supposed, was that when he had the opportunity to hunt Phantom down, he didn't. He just didn't have it in his heart to hunt the kid anymore.

The difference between that encounter and this one, however, is that Phantom sought Jack out this time. He appeared suddenly beside Jack as he washed dishes, and if the man happened to let out a little yelp, that was his business.

"Sorry," Danny said, rubbing his neck bashfully.

"How do you always get past the shields?" Jack asked, impressed. He and Maddie always took their shields back to improve them, but nothing they ever did seemed to work on Phantom.

"I might tell you," the boy said.

"You might?"

""Yeah, in a hundred years."

Jack rolled his eyes. "So what are you doing here? Do you want to be caught?"

Phantom shook his head and plopped himself into one of the kitchen chairs. The same green blush from a month ago appeared on his face. "Things are going great with Valerie." Then he added, "And you were right about what to say."

The man grinned smugly. "Is that so?"

"Yeah," Danny said. He considered something, lowering his head in thought. "Uh, Jack?"

"Yes, Phantom?"

"Can you... Can you possibly give me advice on how to, you know," Phantom winced. "Ask her out?"

Jack sighed, remembering when he was in Phantom's position. It was cute seeing the kid so love-struck. It really was. He hung the rag he had been using over the cabinet door and sat next to the ghost. "Sure thing, kiddo."