(Pre-story A/N: THERE IS A VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT IN THIS CHAPTER'S A/N. PLEASE READ IT!)

~Chapter 18~

She still watched...sort of. Honestly those little sleepy, dozy, on-the-line-between-conscious-and-unconcious spells were becoming longer. And lately, deeper. As determined as she was to stay right at that window continuing to scope out the outside world, trying to pick out anything that could remotely look like Danny, whether human or ghost, she simply couldn't hold out much longer. Under normal circumstances, staying up through one entire night wouldn't be so tiring, but given that she had two toddlers to care for, staying up late became that much tougher to accomplish. It felt like shew as reaching for something and got it, but could just barely hang onto it. Kinda like it could slip away at any second.

Her eyes started to close again, but this time they opened fully to the soft sound of her name. It was verbal, real. She swore it wasn't her imagination even though she knew it could very well be; she was that exhausted. She listened again, more closely this time, and held her breath to reduce any sound around her.

After just a few seconds, another brief and faint, "Sam!" was heard.

So it wasn't just her imagination. It had to be real. She wanted to believe it was Danny but she knew full well that it could also be someone or something else. Right now she couldn't distinguish who the voice sounded like. Please be him, please be him...

"Sam!" the voice called out to her again. This time it felt more distinguishable. It sounded a little like Danny, but just to be sure, she kept listening. Closely. Intently.

A few more seconds. And a few more. And a few more. No voice. No, "Sam!" What happened? Who was that? Could that have been Danny? Was he trying to find her? ...No, that couldn't be it. He knew where his own house was. Plus, he could be in any part of the city and even twenty miles outside the city, and could still easily find his way back. Patrolling the area and chasing down ghosts paid off when one was trying to find directions. To top it, he could simply fly higher in the air, get a bird's-eye view. Wouldn't be hard for him at all.

But after about...what, five, six seconds?...a form appeared right outside the window. She couldn't tell whether her eyes were playing tricks on her or if this was real, but she opened the window for an intangible Danny. He'd probably been flying through walls and such. She didn't know why exactly he was intangible and not phasing through the window, but right now she could care less. Danny was alive!

He flew in and reverted to his human form. She rushed over to hug him and smother him...and probably smack him for making her worry so much. Normally a boyfriend would hug his girlfriend back, and Danny always returned her hugs. But this time he didn't. This time he turned around and stared at the window, studying it, almost seeming to glare at it. It was odd and completely unlike him; was that window really so horrible?

It didn't take long for him to decide to spare the evil window, and he finally gave Sam her hug. Only it didn't seem like a regular hug, it was more of a protective embrace. This was weird. This was really weird. This boy fought ghosts, patrolled his city...but this was still weird and honestly, it was beginning to freak her out a little. He wasn't even checking on the twins, who were still slumbering in their crib.

"Sam," he whispered, "are you okay? Did you see anything strange? Did you hear anything strange? Did anything happen while I was gone?"

She pushed him away. He wasn't even looking at her, he was looking at that stupid window again. He didn't even seem to notice she was no longer against his body. Okay, now she was a little more freaked out.

"Wha-? Danny, what in the world are you talking about?!" she hissed in frustration. "You were gone for hours! Hours! Almost an entire twenty-four hours! Why are you coming home acting like this? What happened? Where were you?" She noticed there was a deep cut on his chest, still bleeding. "And why are you hurt...?"

This seemed to snap him out of it and he looked down at himself, as if just now noticing the gash on his chest. How did he not notice that before? Must've hurt like crap and he still didn't notice? Or was it that he didn't care before now? Maybe he had been put in a situation that required him to ignore it. Or maybe he had felt it but at some point forgotten about it.

He cleared his throat. "I didn't mean to be gone so long."

"What happened?" she repeated.

He sighed and smiled sarcastically. "Oh, you know, same thing that always happens. My ghost sense goes off, I become Phantom, I fly out to see where the ghost is. Except this time I didn't find the ghost and the Guys In White attacked me from behind. I don't really know what happened, but one second I'm floating above Amity Park, and the next I'm in a completely white room. It took a little time, but I escaped." His expression turned from the mockery of the Guys In White to that of a serious topic. "But while I was there, they ran my DNA through some kind of tester. They know I'm half human."

"What?!" she gasped, unable to believe the government was that smart.

He continued, "They got the wrong idea. They think one of my parents is a ghost and the other is a human. They tried to use me to find you but I escaped before they could. Problem is, I don't know if they know what my human form looks like. If they do, then they can track me down and find you. So far it doesn't look like they have."

She thought for a minute. "Danny, the government would've followed you back here if they were tracking you. You know how they are. They're pretty impatient, right?"

He nodded, still focusing on the window.

"If you led them here, they'd have already swarmed this place. Right?"

His eyes finally left the window and fixed themselves onto the twins. "I guess so. But still, I'm keeping an eye out. Is everyone okay here?"

"We're all fine, but-" She grabbed the collar of his shirt and forced him to look her in the eye. "-don't you ever make me worry like that again! I was starting to think you were lost, or even dead!" She held back the tears that were starting to form at the edges of her eyes and released him. "Don't do that again..."

He gently kissed her forehead. "Sam, I would never leave you like that without having a reason. I hope you trust me enough to know that."

She nodded and returned, "I do, but-"

"No buts," he cut her off, "I don't want any 'buts'. Don't doubt me like that."

She laughed. "Since when have I doubted you?"

He smirked, knowing he'd just made her unworried again, and flopped lazily onto the bed. "You always doubt me."

She followed his actions, except instead of just the bed, she flopped onto one of his arms, which conveniently happened to be spread out. She spread her arms too, making sure one of them was on his chest. The unlucky arm curled itself around her and he kissed her cheek.

She smiled and changed the subject to a much more lighthearted one. "I doubt you know what color your eyes are."

He blinked. "What? They're Fenton blue and Phantom green."

She laughed. "Nope. They're baby blue and girly green."

He looked away and laughed one of those laughs that told everyone you didn't know how to respond to that. And he really couldn't. He could gawk at her, but that was about it. She was clever, making those colors up like that. Baby blue? Girly green? Considering he was a guy, that was just demeaning. She was just trying to tear his eyes down. And what was he supposed to say back? What color were her eyes? What, velvet violet? Violent violet? She would actually like that one. Pale purple? Alright, that was just stupid. Great, so she managed to insult both colors of his eyes and he had nothing for one color. There were a lot of suckish things lately but he never thought his girlfriend's eyes could be one of them.

"You're stumped, aren't you?" she teased.

"My eyes are not baby and girly," he murmured, feigning offense.

"You keep telling yourself that," she playfully countered. "You know, I need to figure out something to call you."

He snorted. "Uh, well...my friends call me Danny. And when I'm in trouble my name is Daniel. So you just take your pick."

"Please, you know that's not what I mean."

He used the arm wrapped around her to flip her over onto his chest. It stung when she hit it and he remembered that he was still hurt, probably from when he was trying to cut off the rope and the door pushed the scalpel into him. He didn't notice it then; he was too focused on everything else. Bur right now his girlfriend wasn't worried about him and was actually laying on his chest. He still had that one arm wrapped around her.

She crossed her arms and rested her head on them. "Yup. I'm looking at baby blue eyes. Maybe I should just call you 'Baby Blue'."

He sighed in fake exasperation. "Alright, now you're just being mean. I don't really want to be called anything. Just use my names. Danny if I'm being a good boy, Daniel if I'm being a bad boy. Simple enough."

"My friends call me Sam. My boyfriend calls me Dove. Simple enough," she mocked. "You get to call a goth a white bird, why can't I call you something you're not?"

"What's so wrong with white? My hair is white when I go ghost."

"Yeah, but you also go negative when you go ghost. Besides, that's something you can't control."

"I happen to like my negative hair, thank you very much."

"Of course, because white hair is all the rage these days."

"Don't pretend you don't love it."

She turned her head to the side and laughed, knowing he wasn't going to let her call him anything beyond his name. But one day she might be able to think of something and then call him that, even if he didn't like it. And if he didn't like it, she would call him that when no one else was around. Sort of like how he only called her Dove when they were alone. She didn't know why he did that, but then again, she managed to hook a very shy fish and she never actually set him free. Party because 'free' meant fresh meat for the fangirls of Danny Phantom, and he had to go ghost at some point. And if she set him free, he might get snatched up by a different girl.

She knew this because if Paulina was flirting with him, even if she was desperate to get information, it meant she'd noticed his body. And she got the feeling that Paulina wasn't the only one who had been flirting with him. She could almost guarantee that there were other girls trying to catch his attention. She hated knowing that, but she trusted him enough to let him deal with those girls. She was the only one he was allowed to see in a romantic light.

She scooted forward until her head was hovering over his. "Kind of off topic here, but-... Danny...what are you doing?"

A look of confusion quickly swept his face, but instantly disappeared as he looked around her. His hand was a little too low on her back. As in, he was actually touching her butt.

He blushed hotly and quickly jerked his arm back. "Sorry! I'm sorry! I swear, I didn't do that on purpose, it was just, you moved forward and my hand didn't move with you! I swear, I swear, that was not on purpose! I didn't even know about that until you pointed it out! It was my hand's fault, it just- No, wait...that came out wrong. Okay, I should've just taken my hand off you when you moved. I'm sorry!"

"Woah! Woah! Calm down!" she chuckled. "I forgive you, geez. Just make sure you talk to your hand about where it ends up."

He looked away, the redness on his face refusing to subside.

"Okay, back to what I was saying. Did you ever forgive me?" she asked, oddly enough not blushing at all.

He looked back up at her. Her head was still right where it was before, not an inch to the left, not a millimeter closer. "For what?"

"For these..." she sighed. She took one of her arms out from under her head and used her teeth to roll up her sleeve. All those scars were revealed and all she could do was look at them. She never let anyone see them. Danny himself rarely caught sight of them. She was ashamed to know she did this to herself, and even more ashamed that she caused so much drama and so much trouble for Danny. All because of these scars. All because of her.

The arm that wasn't in trouble reached out and took up her wrist. He ran his thumb over the scars. They made her arm bumpy and textured. She always tried so hard to hide them from everyone; it was shocking that she would let him see.

She continued. "Is this how you see me every day?"

He furrowed his eyebrows, this time taking real offense. "No! Sam, what-? I mean- You have to be kidding me! Why do you-? Why would you even think that?! I just...I..." He let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Look, we're both tired, we should just go to sleep now."

He pushed the goth off him, not forcefully, but definitely enough to be a sign that he was angry. And he was. He had a right to be! After everything he'd tried to do for her, after everything she'd gone through... And she still thought he looked at her scars? Her scars? The same ones he looked past? The same ones he never even thought of anymore? She still thought that about him? He knew he wasn't good enough, he knew he didn't do anything to deserve her, but he didn't know he was this bad.

Sam quickly got up as Danny walked around to the other side of the bed. "Danny, wait!"

He shook his head, finding himself unable to look her in the eye. "Sorry, but Daniel's really hoping we can just drop the subject." He threw back the covers and didn't hesitate to jump onto the bed, turning over and facing the direction opposite of Sam. He certainly felt like crying-out of pure frustration and anger-but he wouldn't in front of Sam. He didn't want to be seen as a heartless jerk, but what did he do to deserve that? She could've told him anything, she could've brought up anything in the world. And she chose her scars. Of all that could be said!

She said she didn't doubt him, she said she trusted him. He still had a hard time understanding why she'd said what she did, why she'd asked him if all he saw was her scars. Granted, he failed a lot, but he tried to make her happy. He'd been trying for years, even before he knew she was pregnant. Maybe trying didn't cut it, but personally he thought it should count for something. And maybe it did, maybe it didn't. It was hard to tell with Sam sometimes and right now, it was especially hard.

She'd basically just told him he only saw a bunch of old cuts from a long time ago that came with a deep depression that he couldn't help her with. Now he was offended because it was the furthest thing from the truth, and she knew he was offended. That was why she told him to 'wait'. She wanted to lie to make him feel better. So all that and a lie. Should he just make a menu and order from that?

He felt the bed shake a bit as the goth got into bed with him. She moved closer to his body, until she was actually against his back. This time a kiss wouldn't resolve much; he hoped she knew that. And to be perfectly honest, it was a little embarrassing to feel her against him in light of the butt accident from earlier. But everyone was exhausted, and it really was a good idea that they slept. He still had school in the morning, and the twins would be asleep only for another few hours, meaning Sam would also have her work cut out for her.

A/N

Well, I'm hoping this was a fast update. Or at least faster. :)

I wanna thank those of you who took the time to vote on the poll. For those of you who didn't, you aren't out of time. YET. Come the next two or three, maybe four chapters, the end result will tell. I'm regularly checking up on this poll to see how things are going. Already a single option has taken 25% of the eight choices. So while you still have the chance, vote for what you want.

And on the topic of polls, I'd like to announce that I've put up another poll. It's on my profile page. Now, THIS poll is much different. It still focuses on this story, but...well, I'll let you find out for yourselves. You should check it out though, because this one will affect the story MUCH more than the first one. I've had the idea for awhile now, and I'm really hoping at least one of you will be willing to vote on the newest poll. It'll change the rest of the story, but won't stray from the storyline. It's a very big decision though, and I greatly advise you to vote.

Poll 1 will close at around the second chapter from now.

Poll 2 will close at around the third or fourth chapter.

But keep in mind that I might forget to check the polls right before I start those chapters, so vote quickly. Those chapters will sneak up on you. ;)

Now, because I finally DIDN'T make you guys wait so long, there'll be a review quota, and that would be two hundred sixty-seven (267) reviews.

And now for your review replies:

HeroAce- lol You are so crazy. :P Their glasses, really?

Zinnia99- Thanks. :D They DO say two heads are better than one. Except in this case it's a chapter so...I'm not entirely sure if it counts. :/ Hm.

Sammi- :D Yes, he does! lol

TheNinjaKitty13- They ish nutsh. :P Wow, really? Then you're way smarter than I am. XD

Looka'sMagicHell- I'm my own critic and I hate making you guys wait. It's not being hard on myself when it's put like that. ;) Well, you just saw how the reunion turned out. And how it ended. Thanks for voting! :)

Favorite Daughter Of Hades- Well it's fine if you don't want to vote. So far, on the first poll obviously, only a handful of those who red this story actually voted, but the votes I do have are pretty accurate.

AJ- ;) Once you see the new poll, you might change that last sentence.

I'm. Only. Human. Dude. - Surely you don't think I'd keep him locked up in there! :P I mean, I'm evil but I'm not THAT evil. I figured I'd give the poor guy a break for once.

sammansonrepilica- I reply to everyone who reviews. :) It's kinda like my way of saying thanks. And...voila! Here is what's next! Kind of stale, but for now it's all I got.

Inuyuke- Ummmm, to be honest, I didn't ever actually keep up with the time on this one so I'm not sure if it was a night or what. :/ Yeah...I dunno... Sorry. And at least right now I'm feeling better. :) No doctor/clinic/hospital is needed.

LittleBoomBoom- They aren't very good cliffhangers, if you can even call them that. I just have to end the chapter somewhere, so...yeah. But I'm glad you think they're good. :) Thanks for voting, and the whole reviewing thing is fine. So long as you like my story, that's what counts.

Altruis- lol Yeah, it's fine.

Once more, PLEASE vote on both the polls, especially the second one (now that the first one has a top answer so far, unless it's changed).