Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Danny Phantom.

Note (9/22/2020): I won't spoil it for you guys but now that we're this many chapters in I want to bring in a couple of my ghost oc's into the story pretty soon either as a full character or just a cameo, but in either case I feel like I need to liven things up again so to speak with some action. But before that I just have a couple other loose ends to tie up I'm hoping to get done by chapter 30, though that's only an estimate. Either way, there's a lot of cool things in store so I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

P.S. Just to be on the safe side, sorry in advance if this offends anyone for some reason but since I know Sam is a vegetarian and not a vegan I wanted to explore other things she might enjoy eating from time to time besides just salad and tofu which was a running gag in the show. The difference between vegans and vegetarians is that vegans avoid meat and all related animal produce while vegetarians only avoid meat which still leaves a lot of food options open. Mind you this all depends on personal preference too. And ok I know Sam has outright said in the show that she doesn't usually cook her food at all but now that she's a little older I wanted Sam to explore more interesting meals.

Chapter 28: Isn't Friendship A Beautiful Thing?

"Compromise is not about losing. It is about deciding that the other person has just as much right to be happy with the end result as you do." ~ Donna Martini

Valerie's POV

By the time I finished first period I was still trying to figure out whether I should tell Sam and Tucker that Danny's awake or let Jazz do it since they might take it better coming from her. Either way, I also wanted to find out how they feel about their friendship with Danny now that they've patched things up with each other at least. And I know the whole reason they were even fighting to begin with is because they were jealous about how much time Danny was spending with me before he had to leave Amity Park.

But that's just it, Danny wasn't 'hanging out' with me just for the sake of it. He only wanted to help me, show that he still thinks of me as a close friend, and believes that I'm a good ghost hunter. I'm sure Sam and Tucker have done their share of helping him catch ghosts or figuring out their weakness, but those two have never had to go toe to toe with a ghost before either because Danny wouldn't let them so he could keep them safe or they're pretty much only any good at problem-solving and pointing an anti-ghost weapon at the enemy. Danny's always been here to protect them, and when they tried to hunt ghosts on their own there was only so much Sam and Tucker could do on foot with only the weapons they had already 'borrowed' from Fenton Works.

Anyways, I still had some time before my next class started so I decided to go look for Jazz. This whole mess between me and Sam got way out of hand and even though I apologized I feel bad for dragging Tucker into our fight so I wanted to ask what she thinks I should do. If Sam, Tucker, and I couldn't be friends, I'm hoping we can at least stop being...whatever this is. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Star's still my friend but honestly, I kinda know how Danny feels about not having anyone to talk to about ghost-related problems besides my dad. Like I said he's been very supportive of my ghost hunting and everything once I convinced him I can handle it, but sometimes he worries too much as my dad and doesn't quite get what I'm talking about when I bring up certain ghost problems.

I suppose I could be friends with Jazz since she has done a lot for me, but it still feels weird being around Danny's older sister after I found out the truth about him which she was also hiding from me after finding out herself ages ago. Sam and Tucker have known Danny's secret from the beginning since they were there when he became half-ghost and they've done everything they could to hide it from everyone, including me, so even though I know what he is now it's not like they have any reason to trust me...

Danny might trust me, but Sam's right, I did use to be a pretty big jerk but how am I supposed to show her I've changed if she keeps painting me as someone who used to be gunning for Danny just like Vlad and his parents? Today I have another day of cleaning duty with Sam too and I have a feeling if I don't do something to change her mind about me before we finish up on Friday, I'll always feel this way whenever I pass her in the hallway. It's not like I feel like I need to avoid her, but it'd be nice to be able to give Tucker a friendly wave without Sam giving me a dirty look.

We don't have to be friends if she doesn't want to be, but I'm sick of Sam hating me just because I said I liked Danny and gave her an ear full about what a jerk she's been to him because someone needed to after the stunt they pulled. At least Tucker owned up to it. That said I really don't want to be the bad guy here and I know I got angry at them but it's only because I was upset about how much they emotionally hurt Danny since he's been through something so utterly terrifying that neither of them can possibly imagine how deeply their words cut him to the core.

Anyways, not wanting to dwell on those thoughts too much as soon as I spotted Jazz at her locker I took a deep breath and began walking over when Star startled me by leaning over in front of my path and I jerked in surprise. Giving me a curious look she teased, "Oops, did I startle you, Val? I didn't mean to, promise! You were just staring off into space so I thought I'd bring you back to earth for a second."

Shaking my head I smiled back and shrugged, "You did but only a little. Don't mind me, I'm just a bit more tired than usual this morning since we've been packing non-stop for the past few days getting ready to move into the new place."

"Well, ok, if you say so. Oh, and speaking of surprises..." she beamed, waving an envelope gleefully in my face, "Since you can't go to the dance on Saturday Kwan and I got you a gift! No need to thank me, after all, I still want you to have a good weekend so go ahead and open it!"

Raising an eyebrow I reached inside the envelope and saw two express pass tickets to the amusement park and my eyes widened as I blurted out, "Star we talked about this! Look I really appreciate the thought but I-"

Clapping her hands together to cut me off Star shushed me and continued, "Wait, before you say no just hear me out. You don't actually have to ask anyone out a date or anything, but will you at least think about treating yourself this weekend so you're not holed up at home like some kind of sad little hermit? And just so you know, Kwan's actually the one who suggesting buying a spare ticket in case you decided to make it a date after all. Also, I'm not trying to set you up with any losers when I know you can do better but, I dunno, you still seem to like Foley so why not ask him...?"

Blushing I stammered, "Star! It's not like that! We're just friends, or well..." my shoulders dropped, "At least I hope so. I dunno, ever since Danny left things have been so weird between Tucker and me after I got into that fight with Sam..."

"So? Is she his mom or something?" Star jeered, rolling her eyes then adding seriously, "Anyways if you wanna be friends with Foley, then be friends with him and she'll just have to deal with it! I just wanted to give you those before I forget so I'll cya around Val. Don't be a stranger!" Waving cheerfully as she strolled away like a runway model, Star left me with those tickets which I put back inside the envelope and when I looked up, yep, sure enough Jazz was long gone so I guess I'd have to try to catch her before she left school to work at her part-time job since she only has half-days now.

Either way, I couldn't help but smile a little because I think it was really nice of Star to do this for me even if she was being a bit pushy about the whole date thing even if giving me the extra ticket was Kwan's idea. That said, I could always decide to give Sam and Tucker the tickets as a peace offering since I don't really feel like going to the amusement park by myself and I could only assume they're planning to hang out this weekend since Sam isn't allowed to go to the dance either. And not to be mean or anything, but I seriously doubt Tucker's bad luck finding dates is going to change any time soon even with the new look he has going on which I'll admit does look pretty good on him...

His biggest problem is that Tucker tries way too hard to please whoever he's trying to ask out and goes a bit overboard with the flirting which he mistakes for 'his charisma' and makes him come off as a bit too desperate. And while some girls like the attention sometimes the whole lost puppy act gets old and it's like Tucker doesn't know how to actually connect with any other girls besides Sam and myself. But when I dated him I was one of those shallow girls that just used him like I've explained before which isn't fair to him either. He deserves someone who will actually take the time to get to know him as a person, not just someone to carry her books or pay for all their dinner dates. Not that we ever did the latter.

Anyways, my point is that even I never bothered to get to know Tucker either and while I want to now at least as friends it's kinda hard with Sam acting all possessive of him now that they've repaired their own friendship. But maybe she's just scared I'll 'steal' him too and then she wouldn't have anyone left so I can't exactly blame her. When it really counts I know Sam is really loyal and protective of her friends so that's one of the few things I do admire about her.

I just wish she'd give me a chance, that's all...

A real one.

Sam's POV

The end of the day couldn't come nearly fast enough because I was dreading another day of cleaning duty with her and getting sick of covering for Valerie whenever a ghost gets too stubborn and decides to try taking down the ghost shield around Casper High. I mean seriously, when are they going to catch on that Danny's not here anymore? The only ghost hunter they've encountered all week is Valerie so you'd think they'd catch on sooner or later. Or is it BECAUSE she's the only one here that they're getting cocky and trying so hard to get in just to prove they can without a more formidable enemy...?

Well whatever, it's not like that's my problem.

I'm just glad I finally fixed things with Tucker this weekend. He's actually the one who called me first and asked if we could talk just when I was about to cave and call him since my parents have been driving me insane ever since Danny left by telling me I should 'make new friends' as if Tucker was already never going to talk to me again. We both kinda laughed about how we called each other at the same time and from there Tucker and I talked about what he said because in the end I know he's right. After all, this isn't exactly the first time we've pushed Danny away and he deserves to be treated better by his best friends.

I mean, the fact that Danny felt like he could trust a former enemy and bully more than us still stings, but then I realized that I've been forcing my feelings on him instead of asking Danny how he's holding up. We heard what happened, but that doesn't mean we actually KNOW what Danny went through with Dan. And I never knew the guy scared Danny that much, neither did Tucker. We just assumed that Danny could handle anything since he's faced everything from huge monsters to a literal army of ghosts. I should have realized sooner that Danny has limits just like the rest of us because he's still a normal teenager too like Tucker and me deep down.

As for Valerie, maybe...I've been too hard on her too. I can't imagine how I would have felt if a ghost threatened my parent's lives right in front of me and mocked everything I am or how powerless I was. And if Danny went through that with more than one person being threatened, like say having the whole world's future threatened, I can only imagine how much pressure he put on himself to make sure no one got hurt because of him. He's just selfless and brave like that.

So what I'm saying is that as much as I hate Vlad no matter how good of an act he puts on playing nice, Tucker's right. Danny deserves a chance to get away from all the horrible things that happened and the pressure to protect everyone all by himself when he's just a teenager too. And back then, we were his only supporters. At least Valerie has her dad and Vlad backing her up if for no other reason then he wants to make sure Danny has no reason to come back here if the town is going to be fine without him.

I just don't know if Tucker and I are going to be fine without him because it's obvious how much we miss him. When we went back to my place on Sunday to hook up the new game system I bought for myself after getting him the handheld one as an 'early birthday present' the two of us were playing this one game when Tucker reached over with his controller out of habit and said 'Ok dude, it's your turn now. Let's see if you can beat our resident demon queen' and we both just stared at the empty spot on the couch where Danny used to sit as long he hadn't accidentally fallen fast asleep after fighting too many ghosts in one go.

I don't think I've ever seen Tucker look so sad before. Not even after Danny left the first time because at least we felt like he'd see reason and come back home when he was ready. It was pretty heartbreaking actually because while I've at least had a good cry about it Tucker's been dealing with missing Danny and the stubborn way I've been acting too. I wanted to cheer him up somehow until Tucker took a deep breath and smiled at me, laughing at himself and saying old habits die hard then suggesting we take a snack break and I for one was happy to have an excuse to step away from the game for a bit since I almost started gloating about some of my moves in Danny's direction too.

We both really miss him, that much is obvious, but at the same time, Tucker and I both know we need to give Danny time to reach out if he still wants to be friends with us. Because even though I have a restraining order on me, that doesn't mean Danny can't contact US as long as Vlad doesn't block our numbers. Then again I'm pretty confident with Tucker's hacking skills which is one of the few things he might just be on par with even with that evil genius. So until that happens, I've decided to listen to Tucker's advice and wait this whole mess out since we still don't know if Danny's even awake yet. And even if he is, I want to make sure I tell him how I really feel and not make the same mistake of pushing him away for good this time.

Anyway, once my mind drifted back to what we were actually supposed to be doing in class, I smiled to myself when I saw that it was nearly lunchtime. If I was going to have to stomach another day of cleaning with Valerie after school I wanted to make sure I had plenty of energy whether she'll be able to stick around before running off the fight a ghost or not. That's why I made a really great lunch if I do say so myself.

Most people tend to think that because I'm an ultra-recyclable-vegetarian -which isn't a real thing by the way and is just a self-proclaimed term I call myself- that all I eat is salad and while that is true I also enjoy other meals and yesterday for fun Tucker and I made rice balls, otherwise known as Onigiri in Japan. Originally we made them together just for a snack but Tucker and I had such a blast making different flavor combos with the rice that I brought them with me for lunch today. Obviously Tucker had to take care of his own meat craving when we grabbed some ingredients and other snacks after finishing up at the mall but even he was surprised how much I enjoy Japanese food.

Even though we eat totally different things it was nice to actually talk about it without fighting like we used to, or more specifically when I got a bit too carried away with one of my 'quality of life' changes at school and pressured Casper High to change the lunch menu. Looking back on it now I guess I did go a bit overboard making everyone else eat the same thing as me and the backlash meant the teachers and Dash really gave Danny and Tucker a really hard time because of it. As for Tucker, we kinda have this agreement now where we don't argue about each other's personal tastes as far as food is concerned.

We still tease each other sometimes but I don't let things like that get as intense between us anymore. That's part of why we were trying to find a good middle ground and hope that will translate into how we're going to talk things out with Danny. If I want to stay his friend I need to start trusting him more like I should have from the start and not be as stubborn about certain issues...

Oh, I'll still give him grief about Vlad and if he ever shows his true colors again I have an ectoplasmic gun stashed away with his name on it, but from now on I want to be a better listener. And more importantly, I want to be a better friend to Danny AND Tucker. After all, they're my best friends. Sure I have friends in the goth community but that's more of a casual thing and I'm not close to any of them. It's just not our style anyway. That's why I'm glad I didn't screw things up with Tucker for good because if I lose him too, instead of just acting like I'm in a dark place I probably would have ACTUALLY gone to a dark place and shut myself off from absolutely everyone to protect myself.

I guess that's part of why I act so tough too. I want people to think they can't get under my skin when I'm actually scared of what might happen if anyone else found out my family is loaded. The only reason we live in what my parents consider a 'small house' is because of my grandmother since she came from humbler beginnings before marrying my grandpa. I'm actually really grateful for that because I hated growing up with maids and butlers and the whole cliché rich girl life where my mom treated me like a dress-up doll which she still tries to do even now.

It was easy to pretend I was pretty normal besides just being a goth when Danny and Tucker came to my house as long as we stayed in my room and didn't go downstairs where the entertainment center and the bowling alley are. Then there's my parent's room too, oh my god, it looks like something out of a high-end catalog since it's so disgustingly bright and colorful. The only reason the rest of the house isn't like that is because it even makes my grandma nervous when surrounded by so many different colors shoved in her face. She and I even have an inside joke about it being because she was born in a black and white movie world too, it's part of why we get along so well.

Well, that and because she never shies away from playing practical jokes even in her old age just to make my dad sweat and she loves acting like a rebel in her own quirky way. I guess that's the whole point. I like my friends when they don't just mindlessly follow the crowd but at the same time, maybe I tend to take it too personally when they keep doing things that I feel are wrong or bad for them. Like this whole thing with Danny and living with Vlad and about trusting Valerie when she was just as bad as his parents when it came to trying to shoot his face off.

I need to start letting go a little because even though I want to protect him, Danny has the right to make his own decisions, and the tighter I hold onto him the harder it is not to hurt both of us in the process. So yeah, if you can't tell I've been doing a lot of thinking this past week and realized a few things about myself. I still don't trust Valerie but now that I've calmed down I have to give her credit for trying to be a better person. And even Tucker seems to have changed his tune about her and wants me to give her another chance.

I don't know if anything will come of it. But since I heard Valerie encouraged Tucker to patch things up with me too just as much as with Danny when I thought she didn't care one way or another, I figured the least I can do is take my friend's original advice about giving her a second chance too. What she does with it though, is all on her...