The Suave and the Awkward

by Dream Trance

Danny splits himself to practice kissing, and while it is as awkward as you would expect kissing yourself to be, circumstances keep arising that are easier to deal with apart than as one. With so much time apart, the question sets in: who has more right to exist if Fenton and Phantom are no longer fragments of a whole? Character Study. Established Gray Ghost, slow burn Pitch Pearl

26. Assumptions

Thank you for your patience and understanding. Last year was a really bad year for me; I'm trying to pick up the pieces.

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Chapter 26
Assumptions

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"Tension is who you think you should be, relaxation is who you are." - Chinese Proverb

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A smile. The smallest hint of a smile graced Fenton's lips. He smiled with his eyes, in the softness at their corners, the shine of his pupils, the depth of emotion more sensed than seen.

And he was directing that smile at Sam's phone.

Phantom landed on the grass behind Sam and Tucker. He kept his invisibility in place as he walked forward, his steps light, barely touching the ground. The sun had begun to descend in the sky. The change was by no means vast, but the sunlight had a softer, warmer feel to it than earlier that day when Fenton had shared his lunch period with Phantom.

Perhaps that was the reason Phantom looked upon Fenton and found he could not look away. That small change caused the sunlight to strike Fenton a certain way, adding a depth to his eyes, his barely-there smile. Phantom tried to draw in a breath, but his chest felt tight. Restricted.

Tucker was reading something printed on paper, but at Sam's nudge, he joined her in looking across the table at Fenton.

The wind blew across the lunch area, whispering through the leaves and stirring Fenton's black hair in the breeze. Tucker coughed. Fenton's gaze didn't waver from the phone. Phantom's gaze never wavered from Fenton. His core thrummed like an engine, energy sparking beneath his skin.

The online users had said Fenton had been smiling at his phone a lot; was that the smile they had seen? Had Fenton been smiling at Phantom's text messages like this all day?

Sam reached across the table and snapped her fingers twice in quick succession. Fenton jolted in place and looked up. Tucker shifted uneasily on the bench beside Sam. The paper he had been reading fluttered in the breeze, held in place beneath his hand but otherwise forgotten.

"Huh?" Fenton asked.

"My phone?" Sam said pointedly. She turned her hand over on the picnic table, palm facing up. "Can I have it back now?"

Fenton ducked his head, staring down at the phone again. "Oh. Uh. I need to delete a few more messages, hold on."

Phantom finally managed to draw in a breath. Me, he thought. He was smiling because of me. I did that. Something I said made Fenton smile like that.

"Why do you need to delete them?" Sam asked. "I'm the only one who will see them. It's not like you have anything to hide."

Fenton tipped his chin down and allowed his hair to fall over his eyes. He shrugged. "It's. Private."

Phantom stepped around the picnic table, moving to stand behind Fenton. Ever since his fight with Spectra, Phantom had consciously poured ice from his core to keep his touch from being uncomfortable to his human partners. It had worked, allowing him to hold and touch Fenton far more comfortably than they had during practice, but it made the air around Phantom much colder. Sam and Tucker would notice such a change, experienced as they were with ghosts suddenly attacking.

For that reason, Phantom stopped releasing ice from his core and instead allowed it to build-up inside his body. It was uncomfortable after so long, but he was no longer half human; he could endure cold temperatures much easier without Fenton as his other half. It was worth it to keep Sam and Tucker from noticing a sudden chill in the air.

"You were smiling again," Tucker added into the silence.

Fenton frowned, definitely no longer smiling. "So? Is that a crime?"

"Well, no," Tucker said slowly, "but…what are you smiling at?"

"Does it matter?"

"How are we supposed to know?" Sam asked before Tucker could respond. "You deleted the messages that made you smile before anyone else could see what they said."

Fenton wore loose clothes, made all the baggier by his hoodie, but Phantom sensed his rigid posture, the unease constricting his muscles, stiffening his shoulders. They were no longer one, they no longer shared the same body, but some things were simply intuitive after spending two years bonded to someone.

Phantom reached out and slid his hand onto Fenton's shoulder. For a brief moment, he felt Fenton's body tense further, the shoulder beneath Phantom's palm jerking in instinctive reaction. Then Fenton's shoulder noticeably lowered, sinking as he relaxed.

No other sign betrayed his reaction to Phantom's presence.

Phantom floated into place on the bench beside him and slid his legs beneath the table. Only once he was in position did he slowly—carefully—lower his weight onto the bench. He let his hand fall from Fenton's shoulder and allowed his arm to brush against Fenton's instead.

The heat was immediate and startling so close to his other half. It soaked into Phantom's right side, almost burning his cold skin as it had when he and Fenton first separated.

Fenton shivered, but he didn't pull away. Phantom felt the other boy relaxing into him, briefly leaning into his side as if seeking the stability he offered. Phantom closed his eyes and savored the feeling, brief as it was. He opened his eyes again when Fenton straightened. Fenton set Sam's phone on the table and looked from Sam to Tucker. Phantom should have done the same, but Fenton's blue eyes were captivating within such a serious expression.

"Okay," Fenton said. "Something is obviously bothering you two. Just spit it out. What's wrong?"

"Shouldn't we be asking you that?" Sam countered.

At her tone, Phantom finally managed to look away from Fenton. Sam's neutral expression gave little of her thoughts away, unfortunately. If Fenton was ready for trouble, Sam appeared calm and patient, ready to weather the storm.

"You stomp out of school, waving Mr. Lancer's suggestions aground like he had personally offended you, then you get a couple text messages, and it's like a switch is flipped. You go from irritable and looking for a fight to…"

"Smiling," Tucker supplied.

"Yeah."

Safely invisible, Phantom allowed himself a shy grin. His cheeks chilled a little, hinting at a blush, but that too wouldn't be seen by anyone. He could look as ridiculous and happy as he felt.

Fenton blew out a harsh breath beside Phantom. His shoulder jerked against Phantom's as he shrugged. "Phantom said a joke. What's the big deal? Am I not allowed to have fun now?"

"I tell jokes all the time," Tucker protested, "and you don't look at me like that."

"I wasn't looking at anyone," Fenton shot back, "I was looking at a phone."

Phantom pushed against Fenton's shoulder. Fenton nudge his elbow against Phantom's ribs.

"Sure," Sam said, sarcasm dripping from her tone, "but I thought Tucker was the only one weird enough to have feelings for technology."

"Hey!" Tucker objected. "I have never looked at my tech like that."

"Guys," Fenton groaned, hissing the word out from between his teeth. "Why does it matter?"

"Because everyone is trying to tap into Phantom's love life," Tucker explained. "And that's you! Phantom loves—uh…"

Fenton flinched and jerked his arm away from Phantom's.

"I mean," Tucker scrambled, eyes wide behind his glasses, "that's, uh, what everyone is saying, anyway. I don't. I don't think that. That would be crazy!"

"Tuck—"

"Funny if it was true, though!" Tucker blurted. "If everyone was right about you and your ghost half having feelings for each other—or just your ghost half! Falling in love with you. Him falling in love with you. Phantom. That would be f-funny, right?"

Sam slapped a hand to her face.

"Um." Fenton's blue eyes darted from Tucker to Sam. "No? That. That wouldn't be funny at all."

"Oh, yeah, no!" Tucker squeaked. "Good! We're on the same page."

"I don't even know what fucking page you're on."

Tucker dropped his head onto the picnic table and stretched an arm around himself to hide his face from Fenton—and Phantom.

Fenton looked worriedly at Sam. "Is he okay?"

"No," Sam sighed as she dragged her hand down her face. "He's having a meltdown. He'll get over it."

Without lifting his head, Tucker twisted his wrist and flashed Fenton a thumbs-up.

Phantom frowned at his friends. They know, he thought.

He didn't know how much they had figured out or what had pushed them over the edge, but it clearly wasn't just a matter of them being suspicious anymore. They had finally connected the dots. Which meant they had called Fenton here for answers. Fenton. Not Phantom and Fenton both. Just Fenton.

Why?

Phantom glanced at Fenton, but although Fenton had suspected this all along, he only looked baffled by Tucker's behavior…and perhaps a little tense. The tightness in his shoulders was back, and his head was angled just slightly away from Phantom.

What are you thinking? Phantom wondered.

His gaze lingered on Fenton's profiled face, tracing the line of his jaw, the sharpness of his nose. It was hard to remember Phantom's own face was supposed to mirror those features. Harder still to understand why that should matter when his attraction toward Fenton felt no different from Phantom's attraction to Valerie or Paulina. The shy look in Fenton's blue eyes and the gentle sweep of black hair over his ear held Phantom's attention just as easily. Fenton was captivating. Wonderful.

Phantom's fingers twitched. The urge to brush those black strands behind Fenton's ear was strong.

"Danny, look." Sam set her hands on the table between them. "Something is obviously going on. Tuck and I just want to help."

"Then why isn't Phantom here?" Fenton asked. Blue eyes flicked to Phantom's invisible position and away again just as fast. "Why me?"

"Because he is the one causing problems, right?"

Fenton pinched his eyebrows together and thinned his lips, but he didn't contradict Sam.

Just like that, Phantom once again took all the blame. Phantom couldn't resist thinking Fenton looked pretty even in that moment, though. Symptoms of a crush, he supposed.

"He didn't want to merge with you Sunday morning. Instead, he went off and," Sam waved her hand, "played hero in the spotlight. Valerie had to get shot before he would agree to merge. He was obviously avoiding it, but why?"

Fenton winced. "He just…he liked being a full-time superhero?"

Phantom winced as well. That excuse wouldn't work.

Tucker laughed into the picnic table. "Maybe the celebrity part of being a hero!"

Sam wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, no. Look, you couldn't even go one day before he was trying to make you two split again. Or was that your idea? How much of that decision was yours and how much was Phantom's?"

Fenton grimaced. "I don't know. The merge is—it was fucking confusing. He…he thought we were dying."

"You've been half ghost for two years. If your ghost powers were killing—"

"The merge was killing us," Fenton interrupted firmly, "not our ghost powers."

Tucker lifted his head from the table and gave Fenton a dubious look. "How is the merge supposed to kill you? You're just fusing back together. Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Fenton huffed a quick laugh. "You would think so, right? But it, uh…it does. Feel a little bit like dying. Or maybe like…fading. Who we are as…well, not people, but…individuals? They—we. We fade away. Which is the same thing as dying to a ghost. Makes sense Phantom felt that way." Fenton looked down at his hands and watched the nervous twitch of his fingers. "I don't know. I might be a little bit scared of the same thing. I'm not looking forward to going through that again."

Phantom pressed his shoulder against Fenton's. The other boy hesitated a moment before he leaned against Phantom in turn. He glanced at Phantom again, but this time his eyes lingered a while longer, nearly meeting Phantom's eyes despite his invisibility. Fenton looked away and clasped his hands together.

"Wait." Sam leaned forward, her eyes narrowing. "Your ghost half mentioned something about that during lunch yesterday. He asked if I would be willing to sacrifice my individuality to become half ghost. I thought he was just trying to manipulate me by using my ideals against me."

Fenton snorted. "Yeah. I can see that. He's a manipulative jerk sometimes."

Phantom nudged Fenton with his elbow. Fenton's foot shoved his ankle.

"If he was just scared of merging with you, I could understand," Sam said. "But that's not all it is, is it? He's the lover half."

"Yeah?" Fenton said, trying to sound casual. The tightness in his shoulders betrayed his unease. "So?"

"So," Sam echoed as she leaned forward, "what would you expect from a split version of yourself that thinks of only romance?"

Phantom scowled. Not this again.

"He'd be all over his girlfriend," Tucker piped in.

"He thinks about more than romance," Fenton objected. Phantom appreciated the effort, but Fenton's voice was too soft to make an impact.

"And if that girlfriend was a ghost fighter he absolutely could not get close to on Sunday no matter how hard he tried?" Sam pressed. "What then? Would he find someone else, or would he keep pining after Valerie? At what point does he start developing a crush on someone he's in closer contact with? Someone shy, adorable, and totally off limits but still someone he shares an undeniable connection to? How long did it take him to start developing feeling for you, Danny?"

Fenton opened his mouth, but the only sound that emerged was a croak. Sam had hit the bullseye and stolen Fenton's voice in the process.

Except…while Sam's aim had hit the target, her trajectory was completely off.

Phantom pressed his palm over his eye and fought back a groan.

"It makes total sense!" Sam shouted.

"Yeah!" Tucker echoed. "Even the bit about you being a fighter! Like, of course Phantom became interested in you! You're just like Valerie! Except for being, you know…a guy. And white. And, like, really shy."

Fenton made another distressed sound. "I'm—he doesn't—because of Valerie? I'm not like her. I'm not—he…"

Phantom slid his hand up his face until his fingers could tangle in his hair. He pulled back his lips in a grimace. Fenton wasn't like Valerie, he absolutely wasn't. There were qualities in Fenton that were lacking in Valerie, important traits that attracted Phantom to him in unique ways.

"Well, you both like to fight," Tucker pointed out. "Prone to anger. Surprisingly competent fighters. Clearly, Phantom likes a challenge, am I right?"

Phantom wanted to explain the attraction was different—very different—and that Tucker was only looking at the surface, but all he could do was grit his teeth and hope to set the matter straight with Fenton later.

"That's the part you're concerned about?" Sam asked Fenton. "That your ghost half only likes you because you remind him of Valerie? Not the part where he likes you? Not the part where he's a boy?"

Fenton stiffened. "First of all," he said, regaining his fiery attitude, "his name is Phantom. Secondly, I—that is, we are—we might be…"

Phantom glanced sharply at Fenton, but whatever boldness had bolstered Fenton's confidence seemed to diminish beneath Sam's expectantly lifted eyebrows. Fenton's shoulders started to slump.

"It's probably just the split, right?" Tucker said hesitantly. "He's the lover. It probably just screwed with his sexuality, making him all confused about who he finds attractive. It doesn't mean anything…unless you…like boys too?"

Fenton opened his mouth but slowly closed it.

Tell them, Phantom silently urged.

"I like girls," Sam said offhandedly.

Fenton jerked his head up again. "What?"

Sam shrugged. "I like girls. Remember that all girls party I crashed a few months ago? It turned into a bi-awakening thing for me. Paulina kissed me as part of a dare, and I had to share a bed with Ashley. I am so totally not straight. Trust me."

Fenton gaped at her. Phantom almost lost his invisibility, several questions leaping to his lips. Sam and Paulina kissing was exciting, and he wanted to know details, dang it. Tucker seemed to think the same because he turned his head from Sam and bit his knuckle, eyes pinched shut.

The potentially sexy image went right over Fenton's head, however. When he spoke, his excitement came from a different quarter.

"I—" he started, blurting the word, "I—You do? I—I'm bi too! I mean…I—I don't like Phantom like that, the way everyone is saying, that—that would be crazy, but I like guys!" He cringed. "Er. I'm not. Like. Crazy about them or anything. Dash is still an asshole, but Kwan, uh…he's…"

"He's hot," Sam finished for him, smiling, "and he's an idiot. Idiots are fun."

"He's still an ass," Fenton said quickly, "but…yeah." A blush darkened his cheeks. "He, uh. He's been really physical since this whole thing came out."

"Oh." Sam's smile widened. "I noticed."

Phantom shifted on the bench. Better Kwan than Dash, but a sick feeling took root in Phantom's stomach all the same. Like Sam, Kwan was someone Fenton could develop feelings for. Fenton could allow a crush to form for the jock. It was a bad idea given Kwan's willingness to bend to peer pressure, but Fenton wouldn't have to confront his past or question his own identity when he started feeling things for Kwan. He could just…have a harmless crush.

Phantom pulled on his hair and pinched his eyes shut.

"So, Phantom is crushing on you, you're crushing on Kwan, and Valerie is your girlfriend?" Tucker asked. "Gee, no wonder you look so stressed."

Fenton's hesitant smile froze on his lips. "I don't have a crush on Kwan. Just because I'm attracted to him doesn't mean I like him."

"Yeah, but…it's better to have feelings for him than your ghost half, right?" Tucker laughed uneasily. "Maybe you can move Phantom's attention off you and onto him!"

Before Phantom could react, Fenton snapped, "We have a girlfriend! Phantom likes Valerie! He's crazy about her! You don't need to throw Kwan or some other boy at our feet just because we're not one hundred percent straight! We're bi, not gay."

"But—"

"If your ghost half is so crazy about Valerie," Sam interrupted, "then why does he have feelings for you?"

Fenton laughed. The sound was harsh, loud, and so clearly forced Phantom winced. "He doesn't. That's ridiculous."

"Is it? Isn't he the lover half? Danny…" Sam reached across the table, but Fenton slipped his hands under the table before she could grab either hand. "You can tell us anything. We're your friends."

Fenton snorted and jerked his chin at Tucker. "Sure. No judgment whatsoever here, huh?"

"What did I do?"

"Danny." Sam leaned forward on her elbows. "Are we right? Does your ghost half have a crush on you?"

"Why are you asking me?" Fenton demanded sullenly. "Go ask him."

"No offense, dude," Tucker said dryly, "but Phantom is doing just fine. You're the one who looks like he's about to shatter if he doesn't get some help dealing with all this. Whatever this is."

Fenton groaned and dropped his forehead onto the table. Aside from revealing himself, Phantom wasn't sure how to help. It wasn't like the diner; there were no conversations to keep his whispered words from being overheard. There was only the soft breeze, the distant traffic, and the occasional, faint shouting from the football field to disturb the silence. If he spoke, Sam and Tucker would hear him too.

Sam reached across the table. Phantom watched her fingers touch Fenton's hair. He clenched his hands into fists, but then Sam hesitated. She withdrew her hand, retreating several inches back. Tucker watched as well, his expression sad. Phantom's feelings were harder to define. Fenton may find Kwan attractive, but Sam could easily steal Fenton's heart away before Phantom even had a chance.

"Say it was the split, Danny," Sam said, speaking gently. "Your ghost half became the romantic one, and what's more romantic than finding the one that completes you? But, Danny, it was just the split. We can fix this."

Phantom sucked in a quick, sudden breath. That wasn't why he had feelings for Fenton. That couldn't be why. How could Sam even suggest it was only the split messing with their minds?

Then again…

Phantom almost groaned. Of course Sam had reached that conclusion. Given how adamantly she and Tucker had clung to Fenton and Phantom fitting into their neat little boxes, what else was she supposed to think? She thought this split was no different than when Fenton and Phantom had split into the fun and superhero selves. The possibility that Phantom could have legitimately developed feelings for Fenton—and Fenton for him—would fracture that belief.

It wasn't so surprising once Phantom looked at it from her perspective, but it still hurt.

"So long as he's just infatuated and not…you know," Tucker said, "actually in love with himself."

Fenton groaned. Phantom bit his lip.

"Tucker…" Sam said warningly.

"What? It's a valid concern! I don't want Danny's heart broken either, but if it's not a love spell and it's not just a crush, snapping Phantom out of whatever has him so messed up could take more than Danny kissing someone else in front of him, right?"

Phantom reached blindly beneath the table. He didn't know where Fenton's hands were. He found his knee, his forearm, and then finally the knuckles of Fenton's left hand, balled into a fist. At the touch of Phantom's fingers, Fenton's fist opened, fingers spreading. Phantom slipped his fingers between Fenton's and squeezed.

He wanted to be ecstatic that Fenton had understood, that Fenton was letting Phantom hold his hand, but all Phantom felt in that moment was sick.

And a little bit…resentful?

They hadn't even spoken to Phantom about his feelings, yet they were already trying to find ways to "fix" it.

"Guys," Fenton said, "just. Drop it. Okay? Let us—me. Let me deal with this."

"Then there is something going on?" Tucker pressed.

"I've had enough people poking and prying into my life today," Fenton grumbled against the table. "I don't need you two doing it too."

Sam bristled. "We're not prying, we're—"

Tucker placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. "Worried," he said. "We're just worried about you."

"Well, don't be. It's fine. Everything is fine."

"Fine?" Tucker picked up Lancer's paper. "Mr. Lancer wants to put some sort of tracker on Phantom that will let the teachers know when he's on school grounds. What do you think that will mean once you're back to your old self? You don't think this is maybe getting a little out of hand?"

"Weren't you the one saying I needed to find the funny side of all this?"

"Yeah! Before I thought it was true!"

"Why?" Fenton jerked his head off the table and glared at their friends. "Why are you so convinced it's true? Just because Phantom and I are bi doesn't mean—"

"Danny!" Sam said firmly, cutting over Fenton. "We saw it, okay? We saw what happened in the locker room, we saw your ghost half save you from Dash and Kwan."

Phantom glanced quickly at Fenton's face, but Fenton only looked annoyed. "What were you two doing in the locker room? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Does it matter?" Sam leaned forward over the table. "Danny, the way your ghost half looked at you is dangerous. I know you're clueless sometimes, but he's crushing hard. If we don't fix this, the only way you'll be able to merge on Friday is by breaking his heart."

Phantom stiffened, every muscle in his body tensing.

Fenton leaned back in his seat and glared at her and then Tucker. "You were spying on me? Again? So, not only are people taking pictures of me and stalking me online, but my best friends are invading my privacy too?"

"I get what you mean, dude," Tucker said quickly, "but maybe we could deal with that another time? Your ghost half is, uh, he's definitely feeling something for you."

"And that freaks you out?" Fenton said, spitting the words like an accusation.

"Yes!" Tucker shot back."Doesn't it freak you out?" He threw up his hands and waved them frantically above his head. "That's your ghost half, man! It's you!"

"I'm fucking aware, Tuck!"

"We can help," Sam pushed. "You don't need to deal with this alone."

Fenton forced a harsh bark of laughter. "Alone? I'll never be alone again, even after we merge."

Phantom squeezed Fenton's hand, but instead of squeezing back, Fenton wiggled his wrist. He began trying to subtly tug his hand free from Phantom's, and a cold, heavy weight took root in Phantom's chest.

"It's not a good thing," Fenton said, glancing at Phantom from the corner of his eyes. "It's…nothing will ever be the same after this."

Is that so bad? Phantom wondered. He wanted to hold onto Fenton's hand, but he couldn't force Fenton to return his grip; Phantom could only refuse to let go. What was the point if all Phantom would receive in the end was a limp hand that wouldn't offer him support, comfort, or anything he truly wanted from Fenton?

Phantom spread his fingers and allowed Fenton to slip his hand free.

"Because one half of yourself fell in love with the other?" Tucker asked. "Pretty sure you'll get over that once things go back to normal and there's only one you again."

Fenton rubbed his freed hand over his cheek. "How? How will things ever go back to normal? Half the school is convinced Phantom and I are…close. Hell, you guys do too! That isn't going to just go away!"

"Well, I'll find it a little harder to believe you're in love with yourself when you're the one and only Danny," Tucker said, trying on a crooked smile.

Phantom grimaced. Tucker had a habit of trying to lighten the mood with (usually bad) jokes whenever he got stressed or uncomfortable. Phantom had asked Tucker to leave out the jokes for a reason, but apparently the situation had changed and Tucker was no longer abiding by Phantom's request.

Phantom didn't think it would work to lighten Fentons' mood. If anything, the jokes would have an opposite effect.

Sure enough, Fenton didn't smile back. "Wow. Thanks."

"What other people think isn't important," Sam insisted. "If Paulina and those guys think you're dating yourself, that's on them for being so stupid. What I care about is you, Danny. If he's in love with you…"

"What?" Fenton demanded. "Spit it out. Does it gross you out? Need to go scrub your brain clean of the images?"

"I might need to," Tucker chipped in.

Sam kicked him.

"Ow!"

Phantom clenched his jaw and pinched his eyes shut. In lieu of squeezing Fenton's hand, he clasped his own together. The painful crush of his fingers holding onto each other warned him he was squeezing too tight, but he didn't ease the pressure.

"If your ghost half is in love with you," Sam repeated, glaring at Tucker, "then what happens on Friday?" She sighed and looked back at Fenton, her eyebrows lifted in concern. "If he still thinks he's in love with you, he might try to get out of it, and who knows what will happen then. We need to fix this, and the first step is to admit there's something wrong."

Phantom bit his lip. He had told Sam once before he could just fly away to escape the merge. He could still do that—but at the cost of betraying Fenton's trust. The temptation was stronger than he wanted to admit. If they "fixed" him now, he would just…leave. Nurse his broken heart in the Ghost Zone or some other human city and try to begin a new life.

"Phantom wouldn't do that," Fenton said quietly.

"How sure are you of that?" Sam asked. "I don't want you to get hurt, Danny…"

"But you have no problem with Phantom getting hurt?" Fenton shot back. "What do you want me to do, exactly? Bind him in Fenton Fishing Line and force him through the merge?"

"I don't know," Sam replied, her concerned tone hardening. "You're not telling us anything, so how am I—we—how are we supposed to help figure out a solution that doesn't involve you or your ghost half or the whole you getting hurt somehow?"

"By trusting us to do the right thing!"

"And if the right thing breaks your heart once the two of you merge back?" Sam demanded. "What then? You want me to just sit by and watch that happen?"

"Oh, that's what you're worried about?" Fenton placed his hands on the table and stood, towering over the three of them. "What the fuck, Sam! We've been hunted, killed, shot at, cloned, and treated like we're special for two fucking years, but now is when you draw the line? Now?"

"Yes, because you're hiding something!" Sam tried to stand, but she winced and sank onto the bench almost immediately. Her second attempt was more careful, her uninjured leg bearing all her weight. Her face met Fenton's in the middle of the table, the two glaring eye-to-eye. "We're your friends! We've always had your back, no matter how bad things got. You shouldn't be keeping secrets from your friends, Danny!"

"Why not?" Fenton snapped. "I keep secrets from literally everyone in this city! Why should I tell you about Phantom? The only reason you two even know about the accident is because you were there when it happened! If you hadn't been there that day—"

"Then there would be no Danny Phantom," Sam interrupted. "Desiree proved that already, so don't even try to act like I was just an observer that day!"

"Okay, yeah, great, thanks for killing me and making me responsible for an entire fucking city!" Fenton erupted.

Phantom hissed in air through his teeth.

"It doesn't change the fact that I never told you guys anything you weren't already involved in," Fenton continued. "And—and this thing with Phantom is just—it's personal shit I need to work through on my own. But everyone keeps trying to nose into my life. You guys are just the latest to assume they know what's going on between me and Phantom when, newsflash, I don't even fucking know!"

"That's where we can help you!" Sam said. "Stop pushing everyone away and maybe you won't feel so lost!"

"I'm not pushing everyone away!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Okay!" Tucker stood up and placed a quelling hand on Sam's shoulder. "I think you two need to chill."

Sam scowled at Fenton. Fenton scowled back. Finally, Fenton turned and lifted his leg over the bench, stepping free of the picnic table. He stomped a few yards from the picnic table and began pacing back and forth. Sam's angry expression faded, replaced by a pained grimace. Tucker grabbed Sam's arm and helped her sit down on the bench again. Phantom watched his friends then twisted on the bench to watch Fenton.

Often, he and Fenton paced when they were anxious and frustrated, but instead of blowing off steam, Fenton's steps came down with greater and greater force as he stomped up and down an invisible line. Phantom frowned and levitated above the bench, worried.

Fenton's hands balled into fists at his side. His lips pulled back in a snarl. An explosion was incoming. Phantom could see the storm gathering in Fenton's eyes. If Phantom caught Fenton's shoulders in time, allowed his cold aura to cool Fenton's rising temper, he was sure he could head it off, but Phantom forced himself to sink onto the bench again.

Sam was, perhaps, being a little unfair about Phantom's feelings, but that was no cause for Fenton's outburst. Heck, Fenton likely agreed with a lot of what she was saying.

He needs this, Phantom realized as he watched his human partner stalk up and down his imaginary line.

"Why should I tell you guys anything?" The words burst from Fenton's mouth, too quick, like there was no thought behind them, only emotion. "I already know what you'll say! It's the same thing you always say. I should be happy to be half-ghost because having ghost powers is so fucking cool, right? Being a superhero is fucking awesome. Never mind that my parents want to rip me apart, my grades are failing, I'll probably never achieve my dream, half the ghosts in the Ghost Zone want to kick my ass, and if the human world knew my secret I would be picked apart and studied like a lab rat! I'm saving people. I'm unique. I'm special. I should just embrace that and stop wanting to be like everyone else! Because," he laughed bitterly, "being normal is so overrated, right, Sam? You think I'm cooler like this—like that—and, Tucker—fuck—you just want to be in my shoes or something."

Phantom glanced over his shoulder at their friends. Tucker had grimaced, but Sam's expression looked stormy.

"Do you have any idea how isolating it feels?" Fenton demanded. "I can't tell my mom I rescued some kids earlier that day when she starts scolding me about failing a test. I'll never hear her say she's proud of me for being a hero! All I am is a disappointment to her! I can't tell Mr. Lancer I fell asleep in his class because I stayed up all night last night hunting escaped ghosts. I can't tell my classmates I'm the one they were cheering five minutes ago because now I'm back to being loser Fenton, and no one cares about him. I get a beautiful girlfriend who finally sees me, and she makes me the laughingstock of the whole school because I don't know how to kiss! I never had a chance to learn! No one ever wanted me, they wanted Phantom."

Sam bristled like an angry cat, but she only narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw. She didn't interrupt. Perhaps, like Phantom, she understood Fenton had been pushed too far today.

Fenton ran a rough hand through his hair. "My life was a fucking mess long before Phantom and I separated, but I tried. Both of us tried. If my life was miserable at times, I was at least protecting people, doing the right thing. But now it—the abuse, the hunting, the failure after failure—it may have all just been built on a misunderstanding? Like, I didn't have to go through all that? If Phantom's right, I was never alone—I never had to be alone."

Phantom looked at Fenton sharply. Fenton's voice had started to wobble. He was breathing faster than he should. Phantom quickly snatched Sam's phone off the table, spreading his invisibility over it.

"It wasn't only me; it was us, and now that we're two instead of one, I don't know what I'm—what he—it's so fucking confusing! How is anything supposed to go back to the way things were when he fucking kissed me!" Fenton grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled. Hard. Phantom shot up from the table and flew toward him. "I can't get him out of my fucking head! The what ifs, and his stupid eyes, and his stupid voice, and his—"

"Fenton, stop." Phantom grabbed Fenton's shoulders and held him still. He allowed the ice from his core to pour from his pores again in a gentle burst of cool air. Fenton gasped, shuddered, and swayed a little toward him. "Breathe. Just breathe. You're revealing too much."

Fenton didn't reply at first, only breathed heavily for a moment as if drawing upon Phantom's presence. Slowly, Fenton's hand slipped out of his hair. His back straightened. His shoulders uncurled.

"Danny?" Sam called.

Tucker stood up from the table.

"I'm—I'm fine," Fenton called back over his shoulder. "I just. Uh." Phantom slipped Sam's phone into his hand, and Fenton lifted the now-visible device up to show them. "I, uh, got a text?"

"Seriously?" Tucker demanded. "One text, and you drop everything?"

"You took my phone?" Sam complained.

"Shut up! I just—I need to talk to Phantom."

"We were talking to you first!"

"Just give me five minutes!"

Tucker sank into his seat again with an annoyed huff. Sam crossed her arms and glared at Fenton's back. Fenton took their silence as assent and pressed Sam's phone to his ear, miming a phone call.

Phantom had deliberately caught Fenton when his back was to Sam and Tucker so they wouldn't see Fenton's expressions, a precaution he was thankful for as Fenton's blue eyes desperately searched the invisible air in front of him.

"Phantom," Fenton whispered. "Shit. I'm sorry, I—" Fenton closed his eyes and forced himself to breathe for a moment. "I—I need to talk to someone about all…that."

"Me?"

Fenton hesitated.

"Not me, then," Phantom said, disappointed.

"I was thinking Jazz," Fenton admitted.

"Why not Sam and Tucker?"

Fenton wrinkled his nose. Phantom found it adorable. "They don't care how difficult our life was before," Fenton grumbled. "They won't want to listen to your theory."

"Fine. The theory is mostly for us. I doubt anyone but you would understand anyway. That isn't—"

"But that's what I need help with!" Fenton interrupted. He didn't raise his voice or gesture with his arms, aware as Phantom was aware that Sam and Tucker were watching him. "It's—it's huge, Phantom! It changes everything! And—and I need someone to help me figure out what the fuck I'm supposed to do if you're right."

Phantom's heart—or core or…whatever he had in this form—lifted. He had hoped his idea would linger in the back of Fenton's mind, but Fenton wasn't just letting the idea linger; he was actively thinking about it. He was taking Phantom's fears and ideas and insane hope seriously. Fenton clearly found the possibility uncomfortable, but he wasn't dismissing it out of hand.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

Fenton's cheeks colored. Just a little. "Don't. I'm not saying I believe you, I just…I can't ignore this."

"Nor would I want you to." Phantom stopped and breathed out slowly. "But perhaps you should save that conversation for Jazz. For now, I…Fenton, I need your help."

Fenton eyed the air in front of him, futilely searching for Phantom's eyes. "My help?"

"They know we like boys." Phantom slid his hands down Fenton's shoulders to his biceps. "They know how I feel about you."

Fenton flinched. "They don't know everything. They just think they know about your feelings."

"They should know how they developed, then, don't you think?"

Fenton's muscles tensed beneath Phantom's palm, the human stiffening in place. "When you say 'how they developed' do you mean…"

"From the beginning," Phantom confirmed. "Starting with our very first practice."

Fenton couldn't shake his head, but his face paled and he opened his eyes wide. "Phantom…"

"Sam and Tucker don't understand how real this is for me." Phantom gave Fenton's arms a brief squeeze. "So, make them. Please. They think this is all because of the Ghost Catcher. They won't understand unless they know the full story. They will never understand why I feel for you the way I do unless you explain how my feelings have grown."

"But why me?" Fenton asked, almost begging. "It's—why can't you tell them? They're your feelings, not mine!"

"Because they didn't ask me, they asked you. And…" Phantom forced his hands to slide away from Fenton's arms. "They're right. You are the one who needs to be heard this time. I can't help you; I only seem to make it worse. Sam and Tucker have been with us every step of the way. If anyone can understand where you are coming from, they can. Especially when it comes to my feelings."

"You understand me better than they do," Fenton pointed out. "You're my other half! Even if you're right about us being…different, you were still a part of me."

Unseen, Phantom smiled crookedly. "I have an unfair advantage, yes, but you still take me by surprise. Sam is brilliant. I bet she will see right through us both."

Fenton might not have seen Phantom's smile, but he must have heard it because his lips formed a tentative one of his own. "She is pretty clever. But…" His smile pulled tight, turning into a grimace. "She's—I don't know what her problem is."

Phantom raised an eyebrow. "Her problem? I thought she was being pretty understanding about the whole thing. A bit narrow-minded about where my feelings stem, perhaps, but…"

"That's exactly it, though!" Fenton objected. "She's smart! She cares about people being themselves! She knows better, or she should. It's not like her to dismiss someone as irrelevant, but that's exactly what she's doing to you and your feelings! It's not fair! She shouldn't be treating you like a nuisance, she should be trying to get to the bottom of who you are!"

Phantom swayed forward, wishing to press his forehead to Fenton's. His tail coiled loosely around Fenton's legs, but he stopped short of bringing his face any closer to Fenton's. "You're defending me…"

"No," Fenton said quickly. "I'm—it's just not fair. I don't…It's just not like her."

Phantom glanced behind Fenton. Their friends were staring worriedly at Fenton now. Phantom had a lot he wanted to say, but this conversation was taking too long.

"Let me worry about that," Phantom said, looking into Fenton's eyes again. "I need to talk to her later, anyway. Just…focus on yourself. They're on your side, Fenton. Let them help you."

"On my side," Fenton echoed distantly, "and against you."

"As are you."

Fenton frowned.

"We want opposing things," Phantom reminded him. "They want the same thing you do, remember? They want the two of us to merge and for everything to go back to normal. That's not what I want, but we both can't get what we want. One of us will have to lose."

Fenton's frown deepened.

"Remember what I said in the locker room?" Phantom said gently. "There's no shame in accepting help. Stop trying to fight them."

Fenton looked down at his shoes. "I don't want them to think less of me. Or you. Either of us."

"They're our friends," Phantom insisted. "They won't."

"They don't like that you have feelings for me."

"Because they don't understand. You can change that."

"Understanding isn't acceptance," Fenton mumbled.

"No, but it is the first step. At the very least, I—I'd be able to talk to them about what I'm feeling. As it stands, they would tell me to just…get over it. And I can't! I've tried! It's not just a side-effect of the Ghost Catcher. I need help dealing with this just as you do, or Friday is going to be," Phantom paused, searching for a word that wouldn't reveal too much. He sighed and it let it go. "It will be a really bad day for me."

Fenton sucked his lower lip between his teeth and stared down thoughtfully.

"Danny?" Tucker called. "Seriously. Are you okay? You can't just leave us hanging like this."

Fenton half-turned then stopped. "Phantom…I asked you to be here in case I needed you, but…"

"I know," Phantom breathed out in a low sigh. "I won't eavesdrop. I promise."

Fenton smiled. It was more hesitant than the first, but the grateful light in his eyes made all the difference. He pulled the phone from his ear and acted like he was ending the call. His lips lost the smile as he turned away from Phantom, but his eyes carried that small spark all the way back to Sam and Tucker.

Phantom lost his own smile.

In this small space, three of his most precious were gathered. His two best friends, Sam and Tucker, and walking away from Phantom, Fenton, his…something. His crush, his other half, the source of all his confusion and hopes. They were there, here, together. If Phantom could just drop his invisibility, walk beside Fenton as he returned to the table, if Fenton would hold his hand, if together they could tell Sam and Tucker what had developed between them, it would be like coming home, like finding where he belonged.

What would existence be like if it was full of such moments? Chasing acceptance wouldn't be easy, but Sam's and Tucker's approval was worth any challenge, especially if Fenton was at his side.

Fenton wasn't ready, however, and Sam and Tucker probably weren't either.

If there were to ever be a time where Phantom and Fenton stood hand-in-hand against opposition, it was not today.

"So," Tucker drawled, "what was that all about?"

"Which part?" Fenton responded in an equally drawl tone. He shook his head before either of them could answer. "Wait, no. It doesn't matter. I need to talk to you guys about something."

"You don't think we maybe need to unpack that whole rant of yours?" Sam said dryly.

"We can unpack my problems, or we can focus on Phantom and what's been going on," Fenton said. "Your choice."

Sam and Tucker shared a look.

"Phantom," Tucker decided. "That other stuff can wait until you're back to normal, half ghost Danny, yeah?"

Fenton sighed. He wearily sank into his vacated seat and stared down at his hands for a moment, restlessly brushing his fingers together. This was likely the moment Phantom should leave, but he lingered off to the side. Fenton had been running from their actions and Phantom's feelings for so long, Phantom could hardly believe Fenton had agreed to tell their friends their story.

It was the right move. Phantom fully believed Fenton needed their friends' support more than ever, but Phantom wondered if that was truly the reason Fenton had agreed to do this.

"I…" Fenton cleared his throat, "I mentioned Phantom wanted to talk to me about something during lunch," he said, glancing at Sam. "Remember?"

Sam nodded. "He confessed, didn't he? You've been out of sorts ever since."

"Yeah, man," Tucker chimed in, "even the people online were talking about it."

Fenton rolled his eyes. "Why is everyone so damn focused on his feelings…"

"Want us to ask about yours?" Tucker asked, making a joke of it.

Fenton made a face at him. "No."

"So…he confessed?" Sam repeated.

"Was it magical?" Tucker added, his fingers tight on his PDA. "Intense? Did he sweep you off your feet? Call you more beautiful than his own reflection?"

"Yeah!" Fenton snapped. "He did! What of it?"

Tucker's mocking grin faltered. "Wait, really? That's weird, dude. Your own reflection?"

Fenton tried to kick him under the table, but Tucker pulled his legs away in time, regaining a more sincere grin.

"I mean he confessed, you ass!" Fenton said. "This is already weird, stop making it worse!"

"Just calling it like I see it," Tucker chortled.

Sam rolled her eyes. "What did you say? Did you tell him no?"

"I didn't say anything. It wasn't like I didn't already know how he felt. I've known since Sunday."

"What?!" Sam and Tucker exclaimed together.

"The merge, remember?" Fenton snapped, annoyed. "I might be clueless, but there's no way I can miss that when our every thought and feeling is shared. It doesn't just stop when we're one, you know. He's still there. Still, you know…feeling things. About me."

Tucker made a strangled noise. "That had to be…weird."

"Very."

Phantom didn't take his eyes off Fenton even as his feet left the ground. He floated higher into the air, reluctant to turn away, but it was like the website all over again. This conversation was about him, but not for him. As much as Phantom wanted to hear Fenton admit what they had done—or begin to—he owed Fenton his privacy.

"Wait," Sam held up a hand, "this has been going on since Sunday?"

"Duh," Fenton grumbled. "You were the one suggesting that was why Phantom didn't want to merge, remember?"

"I thought he didn't want to merge because he wanted to spend the day with Valerie and liked flirting with you when he couldn't be with her! This isn't a new development? This—his feelings for you—this all started yesterday, right? After he saw you get hurt?"

Fenton grimaced. "Um…not…exactly…"

Sam and Tucker shared another look.

"It…" Fenton paused to draw in a deep breath. "It started about two weeks ago."

Phantom turned and fled into the sky before he could hear more.

Sam's incredulous shout chased after him, "Two weeks?"

"Shit," Sam whispered within the cradle of her arms, "shit, shit, shit."

Tucker's warm hand squeezed her shoulder. He had offered her silent support sometime around Danny's recounting of the meteor shower, and he had yet to pull his hand away. Sam didn't have the strength to brush him off even though she wanted to. She wasn't some weak, emotional girl who fell apart over her crush moving on from her, she wasn't.

Her heart was pounding a brutal rhythm against her chest, though. She felt sick. Sweat had broken out over her skin. She was either jealous or…something else. She had felt jealousy so often in the past month she could—mostly—recognize its effects.

This felt different. This felt like finding Danny bleeding in an alley.

"So," Tucker said slowly, "it wasn't the split?"

"No," Danny answered in a firm, exasperated voice.

"You just happened to punch him because he tried to overshadow you, and boom. He's in love?"

"No," Danny groaned. "I told you, that's just when he started seeing me as…me. I don't think it was just the punch, either. I called him out for being an ass to me after I punched him. You know, for making me go through all that practice, and then treating me like I'm—like I was…in the way. I was pissed, and…hurt. I was hurt. That was when he started seeing me as a person and not just his human half."

"Which you are," Sam pointed out without lifting her head from the safe shadows her arms had built around her. "You are his human half."

"Well, yeah, but I'm a person too, right?"

That sort of question was more suited for a rabbi to answer than someone like Sam, so she refrained from answering in the hopes he would drop it.

"Half a person, anyway," Tucker said.

"Phantom doesn't see it that way," Danny insisted. "I'm real to him. He's real. That's how he's able to, like…look at me and feel things for me he shouldn't. He doesn't see us as the same person. I don't think he has since Saturday night."

"Because you punched him," Tucker repeated.

Danny groaned.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

It made far more sense than her and Tucker's theory that Phantom had started crushing on Fenton after they collided in the cafeteria, though. The palpable longing in Phantom's eyes during the locker room exchange suggested it had been going on longer than a single day, but that could have been explained if Phantom was letting his lover personality lead him into doing and feeling crazy stuff up to that point. If it had just been the split, his infatuation would have made perfect sense.

If it had been the split.

Two weeks, Sam thought bitterly.

Sure, they had been merged for that first week, but according to Danny's stammered explanation, their feelings and actions from that first disastrous, idiotic kiss hadn't been forgotten. It plagued him that whole week. That was why he had been behaving oddly leading up to his date with Valerie, not the ridicule at school. Danny didn't share the full details of what had happened between his two halves that first time, but his flushed face and the fact that a hickey had resulted from the whole stupid affair painted the image Danny couldn't speak.

And they had done it again the following week.

What had they been thinking? Had they really thought they needed to practice that much, or had there been something else pushing them to split? Danny was a teenage boy; it didn't take much to make him stupid. Provide a little attraction, an excuse to make-out, and boom, you have two boys testing out their sexuality.

It was so stupid and yet so predictable Sam felt an urge to slap her own forehead, but it wasn't worth leaving the safety of her arms.

It still would have just been an embarrassing story Sam and Tucker could have teased Danny about for years, it should have been, but…

"He's really falling in love with you," Sam said quietly.

"That's what Phantom says, yeah," Danny agreed uneasily. "I don't. Uh. I don't know if he really is or if he's just, er, crushing on me. I'm not. I'm not sure if it makes a difference?"

Sam curled her hands into fists as she latched onto that phrase 'That's what Phantom says.'

What if it was all just a trap? Danny—the real Danny—may have been unable to pull it off, but his ghost half was certainly suave enough to make a more clueless version of Danny believe Phantom's feelings were genuine. It was working too. As uncomfortable as the topic clearly made Danny's human half, Fenton was defending Phantom's feelings.

I saw it too, Sam's traitorous mind whispered. I saw the way he looked at Fenton. I recognized how much it was going to hurt to let him go. I only convinced myself it wasn't real because I don't want it to be. Stupid. Get a grip, Sam.

"How, though?" Tucker asked. "Maybe he's got it all twisted in his head, but you're still…you."

"Asking the wrong Danny," Danny muttered. "He's…I don't know. He's distancing himself from our identity as one person. He's even got this theory." He laughed uneasily. "That's what Phantom wanted to discuss during lunch. He believes we might…" He stopped and started over. "The accident. I might have…" Again, he stopped.

Sam tilted her head until one side of her face was exposed to the light. She peered at Danny with her one visible eye. "The accident? You mentioned that before too. What about it?"

Danny closed his eyes and tipped his head down. For a few seconds, he only breathed. Then, "Did you two hear a second scream when the portal went off?"

Sam jerked her head off her arms. Tucker squeezed her shoulder, but when she turned to look at him, his blank expression told her he hadn't caught the significance. Sam frowned and returned her gaze to Danny, studying his tense posture.

"It happened pretty fast, dude," Tucker said, "and the machines were really loud. I don't remember much."

"But you heard me screaming, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Did you hear someone else screaming?" Danny pressed.

Sam sucked in a harsh breath, her heart pounding. "You mean Phantom," she said harshly

Danny bit his lip and looked down at the table.

"Uh," Tucker's eyes bounced between Danny and Sam, "am I missing something?"

"Danny's suggesting Phantom merged with him during the portal accident," Sam explained. She managed to keep her tone rigidly neutral, but her voice sounded tight despite her efforts. "As in, Phantom existed before Danny got his powers. He wouldn't be Danny's ghost half in that case, he would be a ghost that bonded to Danny during the accident. They wouldn't be the same person."

Tucker's mouth dropped in an "O" of surprise.

"It's Phantom's theory," Danny protested weakly. "He suggested it during lunch." He sighed and swept his hair back from his forehead. "It's his way of explaining why our memories are…disjointed. Even the ones before the Ghost Catcher split us. He thinks the longer we're apart, the more our original personalities are reasserting themselves."

"Whoa," Tucker breathed. "That's…"

"Ridiculous," Sam finished for him. "You know it's ridiculous, right?"

Danny frowned at her, his lips pulling tight. "I don't like it, but it's not that stupid."

"Uh, yeah it is." Sam rolled her eyes and held up one finger. "First of all, you were still you after the accident. You had trouble adjusting during this latest merge, right? You didn't have that problem after the accident. How is that possible if the accident started it all? If you had that much trouble after being separate people for a weekend, how much more should it have affected you when you were never merged in the first place?"

Danny opened his mouth but hesitated. A moment later, his mouth closed.

"Second," Sam continued, holding up a second finger, "why are you only now realizing there might be something going on? If there were two of you vying for control, we would have noticed long before you two separated."

"Well," Tucker said hesitantly, "Danny did struggle with his powers a lot during those first few months. He lost control of his transformation more than once and kept phasing through things. Remember?"

Sam waved that off. "He had just gotten his powers. Of course, he struggled. That doesn't mean there was someone else there with him."

"But it was a lot like what Phantom and I experienced during our last merge," Danny said. "On Sunday night and Monday, I kept losing control of my powers. I randomly transformed into Phantom or back into Fenton. Except it wasn't random at all. It was me and Phantom struggling to meet in the middle."

"But you were aware of what was going on," Sam countered. "You knew you and Phantom weren't in sync. That's different from the time after your accident. Those really were random occurrences with no explanation for why or when they might happen."

"I don't know," Tucker said thoughtfully. "A ghost would find the physical world confusing, right? Phantom might drop a beaker or fall through his chair if he was trying to be human for the first time, just like Danny was trying to understand how to use and control his powers."

Sam rounded on him, narrowing her eyes. "You believe this crap?"

Tucker pulled his hand off her shoulder and held both palms out to her in a defensive gesture. "Hey! I'm just saying! It's worth considering at least, don't you think?"

"No!" Sam snapped. "It's not worth considering at all!"

"Why not?" Danny demanded. He leaned across the table, his blue eyes glaring into Sam's. "Why are you so against this?"

"Why aren't you?" Sam countered. "You know why he wants you to believe you're not the same, right?"

Danny didn't respond, but he bit his lip and lowered his eyes.

"It would make his weird feelings for Danny less weird?" Tucker asked. "That would be my bet."

"That," Sam agreed reluctantly, "yes. He probably wants that too. But if he can convince you the accident didn't just grant you ghost powers, Danny, you'll stop trying to go back to normal. It's easier, right? That's what you two said. It's easier to just be Fenton and Phantom instead of being both at the same time. He wants you to believe you two are separate individuals so you'll give up on merging, and you can't give up!"

"Give up what?" Danny demanded, his eyes returning to Sam's face. "Give up being unique? That's what you want, Sam, not me."

"Give up being a hero," Sam corrected. "That's what I always admired about you. No matter how hard things got or how powerful the enemy, you never gave up or turned a blind eye."

"Yeah, well, I—" Danny ran a rough hand through his hair. "I never wanted to be a hero. I never wanted to be the person protecting everyone! It was just something I had to do because no one else could!"

Sam felt her heart swell, her lips trying to smile. "Exactly. You couldn't sit on the sidelines. So don't give up now."

"I'm not," Danny said emphatically, "but even if I was, Amity Park would still have a hero."

"Valerie isn't—"

"Not Valerie; Phantom. He's doing something he doesn't feel qualified for because he's the only one who can right now. Just because he's not also Danny Fenton doesn't mean he isn't putting everything he has into keeping us safe."

"Until someone he cares about gets hurt," Sam said dryly. "I won't always be around to distract the ghost while he fusses over your injury."

Danny grimaced. "He—that's not fair. Valerie didn't want to leave my side either."

"Valerie isn't the half hero you were before you split yourself in half," Sam protested.

Danny shook his head. "But—but that's just it! Phantom is—he's a better hero than we were as one person. If you had seen the news, heard what happened, seen how broken up he was about what he saw as failure…He cares, Sam. He discovered how to heal people! He stays to help after a ghost attack, and he wants to do the right thing. He's getting more involved than I ever could because I was so focused on protecting our secret when we were one."

"Yeah, great!" Sam snapped sarcastically. "And the next time he needs to get through a ghost shield? Or escape the Ghost Zone? When he needs access to your parents' tech? What about when he needs to escape detection by ghost hunters, and he can't turn human? The two of you together is what makes you such an effective hero. He can't do it all by himself."

"I'm not the Fun Dude anymore," Danny retorted, sounding disgusted. "If Phantom needs help, I'll help him. I just won't be staying up all night or risking my life doing things no human can handle on his own. That's the point. No one can do this by themselves, but that's exactly what I—we have been doing since the accident!"

"You had us!" Sam snapped back. "We've always had your back! We help you study, we help you patrol, and we protect your secret from everyone! You're not the only one who's lost sleep!"

"She's right, dude," Tucker chimed in. "Your secret has been hard on us too."

Danny looked incredulously between her and Tucker. "Are you guys seriously saying you had it just as bad?"

"No!" Tucker said quickly. "Just. You know. It's not easy for us either. Remember how hard it was to stand in the crowd and watch Phantom deal with that ghost yesterday? The worry was pretty bad, right? I'd do anything to be able to fight at your side sometimes instead of watching you get thrown around, but it's all we can do when we don't have powers of our own. It sucks."

Danny hesitated, for a moment looking uncertain.

"You don't want to be down here with the rest of us mere mortals, do you?" Tucker pressed. "You're the fighter, right? You should be up there, fighting, keeping everyone safe. Do you really want to give up on being the protector of Amity Park? Sit on the sidelines like Sam said and let someone else deal with it?"

"I…" Danny ducked his head, letting his black hair fall over his eyes. "No, I—of course not."

"Then what's the problem?" Tucker pushed. "Why are you trying to convince us Phantom's right?"

"I'm not," Danny mumbled, but the words were quiet. They lacked any force behind them.

"Maybe you want him to be right?" Sam suggested. She crossed her arms over her chest and eyed Danny's withdrawn posture. "You've been wanting to give up being half-ghost for years now. You finally have the opportunity."

"Give up." Danny's lips curled back from his teeth. "You keep saying that."

"That's what you're doing," Sam pointed out, some of her annoyance sneaking into her tone. "Or what you will be doing if for some romantic reason you let Phantom convince you to give up the merge on Friday."

Danny jerked his head up, his blue eyes flashing. "Romantic reason?" His defensive attitude vanished in an instant. He stood, towering over Sam again. "Phantom has this idea we were never one person to begin with, and the only reason you can see us staying separate is for romance? Do you even hear yourself, Sam? Why are you—why won't you just listen?"

Sam didn't stand to meet him over the table. Not again. This time, she held her composure, lifted her chin, and met Danny's glare from her seat. "Do you like him?"

Sam watched his face intently, but aside from Danny's cheeks turning a little red, Danny's expression didn't waver. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"You went on and on about Phantom developing feelings for you, but I noticed you left out important details about how he made you feel."

"He's my ghost half," Danny said in a low, quiet voice. "What else do you want me to say? And!" he said loudly, as if just then thinking of it. "I have a girlfriend! So even if we did stay separate for…that reason, nothing would come of it. I would," he grimaced, "I'd still be dating Valerie."

"Not looking too thrilled about that possibility, fighter dude," Tucker said. "You sure you don't want to breakup with Valerie and date your ghost half?"

Danny bent his fingers under his palms, curling his hands into fists on the table.

"That's probably the outcome your ghost half is aiming for," Sam said, letting tone turn sarcastic, slightly mocking so Danny would understand how ridiculous he was being.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Danny demanded.

"It means he's manipulating you, you idiot. He's pushing you in the direction he wants you to go, and you're falling for it! He says he loves you, and when he doesn't get the response he wants, he makes you doubt the reason you're saying no. If you start believing in this stupid theory of his, he wins. You two won't merge back. You might even give him a chance when you would never consider it before. You're falling into his game, Danny! This is stupid and you know it!"

Danny opened his mouth. Closed it. He shook and then bowed his head. His black hair swayed in front of his eyes, but it couldn't hide how tightly he pinched his eyes shut, the skin at the corners wrinkling. His forehead furrowed. His lips twisted. His expression screamed his pain, and Sam ached to see it, but she couldn't take it back. She wouldn't. If there was a possibility Phantom was manipulating Danny's emotions so he wouldn't make the two of them merge back, she needed to call Danny's attention to it.

"If Phantom is pushing this idea we're separate because of his feelings for me," Danny said softly, slowly, letting each word roll off his tongue one syllable at a time, "then what about you?"

Sam faltered, taken a little off guard. "What about me? This is about you and Phantom."

"And your feelings for me," Danny said in a low voice. "Or should I say, all of me." He lifted his head slightly and peered at her through his hair. "Do you want us to merge because it's the right thing to do? Or because Danny Fenton isn't enough for you?"

Sam's mouth dropped open.

Tucker drew in a sharp breath. "Dude! That's not fair."

"Isn't it?" Danny's narrowed eyes slid to Tucker. "She questioned my reasons for listening to Phantom and outright accused Phantom of manipulating my emotions to get what he wants. Turnabout is fair play, isn't it?" His eyes cut back to Sam. "So, what is it? Is Phantom's theory that we were never special stupid, or do you just hate the idea of us choosing to stay like this? Or maybe it's Phantom's feelings you take issue with. I keep wondering why you're being so narrow-minded all of a sudden, but you know what? Maybe it's not so strange after all. Your crush is on the line, isn't it?"

Sam braced her hands on the table and used it to stand, careful to keep her weight off her injured ankle. She met Danny eye-to-eye, glare-for-glare above the picnic table. "If you think," she hissed in whisper, "for one moment this is all about some crush I had on you when were frehsmen, then you're even more self-absorbed than I thought."

Tucker pressed his hands over his eyes and groaned. "You guysssss," he whined.

"Self-absorbed?" Fenton laughed bitterly. "I'm self-absorbed?"

"Why not? Half of yourself has a crush on the other half. How much more self-absorbed can you get?"

"Gee, I don't know, maybe if I changed the menu so that everyone at school had to eat what I like to eat, or if I let the last remaining animal of an endangered species out of her cage, or if I joined a beauty pageant just to make fun of everyone there, or if I—"

"I was trying to help!" Sam snapped. "I do stupid shit sometimes, but I do it to help people! When you do stupid things, it's just because you're being selfish!"

"Yeah, but I never pretended otherwise! You act like you're better than everyone else!"

"Excuse me?" Sam shouted.

"Stop!" Tucker stood and leaned across the table between them. He pushed Danny back by his chest and pulled Sam' back by her shoulder. "Cut it out, both of you!"

"No!" Sam snapped. "Say that again, Fenton, I fucking dare you!"

Danny brushed Tucker's hand off his chest. "I said get off your fucking high horse!" he shouted. "Stop pretending you know better than everyone else just because you're not like everyone else!"

"When have I ever said I was better than anyone?"

"You didn't have to say anything, it's in your fucking attitude!"

"Danny!" Tucker shouted over them. "Take a deep breath and calm the fuck down! And stop giving him a fight, Sam! That's what he wants. He's Danny's fighter half, remember? He wants to fight."

Danny's glare transferred targets, and he snarled at Tucker, "My name is Fenton."

"That's exactly why I want to hear him say it." Sam spoke to Tucker, but her eyes remained fixed on Danny. "He's finally saying what Danny has been thinking all along, right? Is that why I was never good enough for you?"

Danny refocused on her. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Why did you start dating her?" Sam jerked her arm out in an unfocused gesture. "After Nocturne, I thought we were—you were finally looking at me, but no. Of course not! Valerie hates your ghost half. She's mean, and angry, and so fucking quick to assume the worst, and yet the moment she asks you out, it's like I don't exist anymore! If you knew how I felt about you, why did you never say anything? Why was I never fucking good enough for you? Am I just not pretty enough for you? Or do you just have a thing for assholes? Why was I never good enough?"

"You were!" Danny shouted back. He leaned forward until his face was inches from her own. "You're fucking amazing, Sam!"

"Then why?" Sam demanded. "Why did you never say anything?"

Danny sucked in a hard breath and let it explode out of his chest in a frustrated shout, "Why didn't you?"

Sam faltered. "What?"

"Why didn't you say anything?" Danny repeated hotly. "Why did it have to be me?"

"I—" Sam looked at Tucker for help, but Tucker's eyes were locked on Danny, his expression dismayed.

"Dude, Danny," he said gently, "you might need to elaborate on that."

"What's so hard to understand? I'm—" Danny brushed a hand roughly into his hair. "I'm obviously not very good at hiding how I feel. Everyone knew I liked you, Sam—even my dad! But you never said anything! We—I gave you chances and…nothing. You never said anything about how you felt about me. I've made enough mistakes in my life I wasn't about to risk losing you too when being friends meant more to me than having you as a girlfriend."

"You…" Sam shook her head, something cold and painful settling in her chest. "What are you saying? That you were the one waiting for me?"

"I—I don't know! Half my memories are in Phantom's head right now. I don't feel that way now, I just…why did you never say anything? You pushed all the blame onto me—us—me and Phantom, but you could have said something too." He laughed, the sound bitter and pained. "It's never your fault, though, is it?" He shook his head before Sam could do more than open her mouth. "I tried, but you—you never put your fucking heart on the line with me. After Ember's spell, and right before my fight with Pariah Dark…you just…you never met me halfway. What was I supposed to think?"

"Danny," Sam said softly, "I…"

"I lost hope, okay? I thought we were just friends. Maybe I hoped dating Valerie would finally push you to say something. Maybe I was just tired of waiting for you to stop holding back. Or I was finally moving on, and that's why I don't—didn't—Fuck!"

Sam sat down heavily, the strength sapped from her legs. That was the answer then. The one Phantom couldn't give her last night. Nothing had come of her and Danny because Sam had been too afraid to make a move. Just like Valerie had warned her last year.

"You could have just asked her out," Tucker said. He sat down beside Sam and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You could have talked about your feelings. There were other options. You didn't have to give up."

"Sam could have too!" Danny protested. "It's not like I could read her mind. We didn't know she felt anything until Nocturn! Is that what the clueless thing was about? You could have just said something instead of mocking me behind my back!"

"I wasn't mocking you!" Sam objected.

"My codename was 'clueless one,'" Danny snapped. "How the fuck was that not mocking me?"

"She was hurt, Danny," Tucker said, squeezing Sam's shoulder.

"Then she should have said something!"

"How?" Sam demanded. "How was I supposed to say something when you were head over heels for Valerie?"

"You could have said something when I gave you the ring at least! Didn't you see your name engraved on it?"

"My name?" Sam repeated. "My name isn't Wes."

"Oh, for fuck's—" Danny slapped a hand to his forehead. "How am I the clueless one again?"

"Yeah, it's starting to sound like you're both really bad at this," Tucker joked, trying to lighten the mood with a smile.

Danny scowled at him. "You could have helped instead of taking Sam's side all the time."

"Hey." Tucker held up his hands. "It looked like you were moving on to someone who hated your ghost guts. I went with the more rational friend who was obviously hurting. I just assumed you didn't know."

"Is that why you guys were so pushy about Phantom having a crush on me too?" Danny asked. "You thought I didn't know how he felt, so you wanted to warn me?"

"Well…" Tucker said slowly, "maybe?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "He told me how he felt. I don't need you guys protecting me from him. He isn't slamming me up against walls or trying to make out with me, he's just being honest about how he feels. It's overwhelming sometimes, yeah, but it's nice to not have to guess all the time."

Sam made an unhappy sound.

Tucker skipped past the dig on Sam and grasped what Danny wasn't saying. "Valerie too. She asked you out."

Danny made a face and shrugged. "I mean, yeah, probably. She asked us out instead of calling me clueless for not realizing she had changed her mind."

"No," Sam agreed bitterly, "she just laughed at you because you had never kissed anyone before and didn't know how."

"And Phantom never made fun of me at all!" Almost immediately after voicing the words, Danny flinched. "Shit. Damn it. I don't mean—that isn't what it sounds like."

"No?" Sam asked. She swallowed and hid her clenched fists beneath the table. "Because it sounds like you think Phantom would make a better date than Valerie."

"I'm—I don't!" Danny objected.

Tucker picked up Lancer's paper and held it out to Danny. A teasing smile crossed his lips. A weak one, a small one, but it was better than the grimace he had shown at the start of their conversation. "Here; I think you might need this after all."

"Damn it! This isn't funny! I'm—" Danny twisted and stumbled free of the bench in wobbly, jerky motions. "I'm late for ghost hunter training. I'm—" His ankle caught the lip of the bench and he fell. Tucker rose quickly, but Danny was already on his feet, and in the next moment, he was running toward the road.

"Danny!" Sam half rose in her seat. "Wait!"

"I'll go after him!" Tucker assured her. He slipped his own legs out from the confines of the picnic table and took off after Danny.

Sam sank back down, wincing. She watched Tucker chase after Danny for several distressing seconds before she dropped her head onto the table. She curled her arms around herself, blocking out the sunlight. Her chest hurt. Her head hurt. She wanted to chase Danny down and argue…but what was the point? He had already said everything that needed to be said. Everything that Danny—the real Danny—had been holding back.

Why? Why had Danny never indicated he was waiting for her too? Why had he kept it quiet instead of showing how frustrated he was getting?

He didn't want to hurt me, Sam thought, biting her lip.

Danny wasn't perfect, but one thing she admired about him was how much he cared. He never would have shouted those words. He would have understood why she was so scared to lose what they had. He always forgave someone once he understood where they were coming from. He would put his own emotions aside rather than speak angry, hurtful words that had no real purpose except to hurt the one he was arguing with. He would have let her down gently.

Like Phantom had tried to do.

Except Phantom apparently didn't feel anything for Sam and Fenton did, and it was Fenton who had thrown her feelings back in her face and Phantom who had tried to soften the blow.

She missed her friend. Danny, the real Danny who was both Fenton and Phantom combined.

Her phone began ringing, vibrating against the wood grain. Sam groaned but lifted her head and checked her phone. She fully expected it to be her mom, calling to demand where she was and if she needed a lift home because of her ankle.

The last person she expected to be calling her was Danny.

Her heart jumped as she stared at his number and picture, but then she remembered Danny's ghost half had his phone. The illusion of Danny reaching out to her just when she needed him most was just that: an illusion.

Sam's shoulders slumped, but she connected the call and placed her phone against her ear. "Hey, Danny."

There was a moment's pause, then Danny's ghost half said, "It will be better and less confusing if you just call me Phantom."

"I don't want either of us to forget who you really are, Danny."

Danny sighed. "I'm not going to fight with you, Sam. What happened?"

"What makes you think something happened?"

"The tone of your voice, for one, but I saw Fenton yell at you and then storm off just now. Something must have gone wrong."

"Saw?" Sam looked up and glanced around her, paying special attention to the trees and the nearby rooftops "Where are you? How much did you 'see?'"

"Not much aside from Fenton losing his temper. I was waiting for the conversation to be over." Danny paused. "Sam, we need to talk."

"About what?" she asked warily. "About that phone call you and your human half had? We were finally going to get somewhere if you hadn't interrupted."

"No, not the phone call. Fenton told you about my feelings and how they developed, right? I need to talk to you. I need help figuring this out."

Sam gripped her phone tighter. "How do you know about that? Were you eavesdropping? Or did you tell him to explain everything during the phone call?"

"I didn't tell him to do anything, I asked him. I can explain later. Let me fly you home, and we can figure this out together."

"Why me?" Sam demanded acidly. "Sounds like you would rather be talking to your human half."

Danny laughed softly. "No. Fenton distracts me. It all makes sense when I'm with him. What I want and what should be feels so clear, like everything is falling into place. But I'm not blind to what it will mean for us, Sam. I'll lose Valerie, my parents, my identity… There's a lot more at stake than my feelings for him, and yet I can't deny what I feel, and not just about him. Who am I now? Should I listen to my instincts? My fears? My hopes?"

"You're Danny," Sam said firmly. "You're still Danny."

"Am I?" Danny sighed again. "Sam, look. I'm not coming to you for answers. I need support and understanding from the one person who has always encouraged me to be myself."

Sam braced her elbow on the picnic table and dropped her forehead into her hand. "Danny…I can't. I don't like what's happening. I'm hurt, angry, and…"

"Scared," Danny finished for her. "I can hear it in your voice."

Sam let her breath out slowly. "Yes. It feels like we're in an out-of-control car that's about to drive over a cliff."

"Do you hate me?"

"A little," Sam admitted. She twisted her lips. "You jerk."

"Sam, this is…we have never faced a situation like this before. I really think we can help each other."

"And why should I help you?" Sam whispered, letting the pain in her chest resonate in her voice. "You're working toward a goal I can't accept."

"Why not?"

"Because I want Danny back!" she shouted. "The real Danny! My friend!"

"Sam—"

"You're pushing this idea he never existed, and for what? So you don't have to merge with Fenton? So you can live out some twisted fantasy where it's okay to date yourself?"

"No!" Danny said sharply. "Well. Partly yes, but, Sam. That's not what this is about."

"Then what?" she demanded. "What do you want? What do you gain from breaking yourself?"

"A life of my own," Danny said, his voice so deep and powerful Sam fell momentarily silent. "I want to exist. I want to matter. I want those same things for Fenton, and I—I don't care if he chooses to spend his existence pursuing someone else." His voice wavered, losing confidence with each word spoken. He obviously did care. "I want him to see what we could have because I can't make this choice without him, but I—" He stopped and audibly inhaled. "If Fenton wants you, I won't pressure him to change his mind so long as he doesn't insist we merge. I just want us to exist. I'll take friendship over completely losing him."

Sam rubbed her hand tiredly over her face. "Damn it, Phantom…"

"At least you're using the right name…"

"Shut up. You're making this so fucking complicated. Why can't you just—"

"Fade?" Danny interrupted smoothly. "Hm, yeah, very strange of me to fight so hard against that…"

"You're not dying!" Sam snapped. "You're just—"

"Becoming someone else. Giving up who I am to be who everyone needs me to be."

"Stop," Sam said firmly. "Don't use my ideals against me."

"Why not? Accepting who we are is what you have been trying to help us understand from the start."

"I meant for you to accept your ghost powers!" Sam protested. "I meant for you to accept being unique as good! I didn't say abandon being unique as soon as it became too difficult!"

"And you think that's all I'm doing? You think 'be yourself' doesn't apply now of all times? Just because you don't like the outcome, doesn't mean you get to stop believing in your own words. Whether I'm half-human or full ghost, I am still unique. Everyone is, right?"

"Danny…" Sam groaned.

"And that means, I get to choose who I am. I don't have to let others pressure me into being someone I'm not. Even my friends."

"You're not—" Sam grimaced and pushed her hand into her hair. "You're twisting it. You're only half of yourself. Staying separate is giving up who you are, not the other way around."

"How can you be so sure?"

"How can you?" Sam shot back.

"Because I'm falling in love with Fenton. That has changed everything, Sam."

Sam clenched her jaw. She stared down at woodgrain on the table and breathed heavily through her nose as she thought. She wanted to argue it wasn't real. The split had made Phantom a lover, so he fell in love easily, like a type of puppy love. It should have been an easy thing. It should have just been Phantom's fractured personality latching onto Fenton because he was there. It wasn't supposed to be anything deeper than a misplaced infatuation.

Instead, what Danny Fenton had described sounded eerily similar to how Sam's own feelings for Danny had developed, albeit compressed and intensified into the span of almost two weeks. A fake kiss had also led Sam to seeing Danny in a different light. Events had pushed them together until Sam couldn't stop thinking about him. She could easily see how Phantom's feelings had developed because she had been there.

But was Phantom's love real?

And if it was real, did that really change anything?

Her heart said no, but her beliefs and her understanding of the world whispered back, yes.

She didn't want to listen. She didn't want to accept what Phantom was saying.

"How can I go back to the way things were when I can't let him go?" Danny asked in a small voice. "I tried once, and it was a mess. If I felt this way about you or Valerie, perhaps I could conceivably merge with Fenton at the cost of my independence, but losing him hurts. That's why the merge failed last time. I couldn't let him go."

"It didn't fail," Sam argued absently. "You two gave up instead of dumping Valerie and telling your parents to get lost."

"Yeah, sure," Danny said dryly, "that's what we should have done. Dumped Valerie the moment her secret was exposed. Because who cares how much that would have hurt her."

Sam grunted. She didn't really care to argue the point. She drummed her fingers on the picnic table and frowned in the direction Danny Fenton had fled. It was a mess. It was a huge, tangled mess. And as much as Sam wanted to get to the bottom of things, Danny's human half wasn't the source of that confusion.

It was his ghost half.

"How can you help?" Sam asked. "Nothing you say can change what's happening."

"But I can change how you see me—and Fenton by extension. We aren't just making a huge mistake for no reason. Please, Sam."

Sam breathed out a quiet sigh. Maybe that was what she needed.

And this time, Sam wasn't going to let her feelings distract her. This time, she was going to get her answers, no matter how much it hurt or how much she wanted to refute what Phantom was feeling. She hated it. She wanted to dig in her heels. But Tucker was right.

If there was a chance Phantom was his own person, she had to hear him out. It was the hard thing, but it was also the right thing. She should listen—she would listen.

Some of the pressure around her chest eased, and Sam breathed a little more easily. She had been fighting herself. She almost laughed at the irony.

She smiled instead, and relief at her decision washed over her. Her muscles relaxed one by one. That was how she knew she was finally on the right track. Some part of her must have known all along she would need to hear Phantom's side of things. She closed her eyes and summoned the vision of Phantom gazing at Fenton in the locker room. She remembered her fear for him, for Danny, and allowed it to wrap around her heart, sealing the still bleeding wounds with concern for her best friend, whatever his form.

"Alright," she said. "Maybe we do need to talk. At the very least, I could definitely use a lift home."

Danny's ghost half sounded relieved as he joked, "One ticket to Air Phantom, coming up."

---

I hope no one is too disappointed with Sam. There was an outpouring of hope when she recognized the heartbreak potential in Phantom loving Fenton, but the same problem remains from earlier chapters. She was worried about Danny's heart breaking, not Phantom's. She hasn't accepted Phantom as his own person. He's only Danny's ghost half to her, the lover half of his personality, the version of Danny that loves flirting and the attention. So, she's having a really hard time seeing their situation. Fenton is frustrated because Sam should be on Phantom's side, supporting his efforts at establishing his own identity. Unfortunately, Sam's ideals are hitting are hitting a wall that is her feelings for Danny.

I wanted this conflict for Sam because it adds a lot of depth to her character. She's a bit of a hypocrite, she's strongly opinionated, and she thinks she's always right, but she is also a very loyal friend, and at her center she is someone who cares very deeply. It's going to take a little nudging to get her out of her own way. Her feelings for Danny are strong. This is her FRIEND. Her crush. She can't just let him go. She can't just watch the Danny she has loved for years vanish while two incomplete, split egos take his place.

At the same time, once Phantom proves he isn't just pretending to be a true individual who fears his own death, how can she force him to commit a form of suicide? She'll get her half-ghost friend back, but at what cost? I want to capture that conflict of love versus ideals and get her to the point where she understands this is a choice that has nothing to do with her. It is a hard line for a friend to walk.

Oh! And that is a personal HC of mine Fenton uses for why Danny and Sam wait three seasons to get together. I wrote a whole post on Tumblr about how their relationship progressed throughout the series, and it's actually pretty interesting. Danny wasn't oblivious in the first season. Ember's love spell frightened Sam into trying to suppress her feelings because she wasn't ready for romance to overtake their friendship, and Danny respected that. But then Reign Storm happened. Danny gave her a chance to say there was something more, and Sam, daunted by Valerie, rejects that chance.

Fenton's half (shy, insecure) gave up. Phantom's half (romantic, confident) took over as Valerie took center stage. Idk if you've noticed, but Danny's flirtations with Valerie are much smoother compared to his flirting with Sam ;) He's always blushing when he does something romantic with Sam, but he's confident around Valerie. By the third season, Phantom's half was rebounding on Sam and Fenton's was cautiously hopeful but wary of a second rejection. This is why they don't have strong romantic feelings for Sam. It's only when they are combined that their feelings for her are strong.

Tucker...I love him, but he's having a real hard time grasping his best friend is into guys lol. What matters is he's trying to be supportive, even when he's not comfortable with Phantom's crush. Tucker will understand and embrace Phantom's theory more readily than Sam for that reason, and one other. He has his own thing going on, though. I'm hoping to dive into it soon.

Alright, enough rambling hoaijdslkfj

The rough draft for the next chapter is nearly finished. I won't make any promises because the rewrite will take however long it needs, but it shouldn't take as long as this chapter. I'm not fully recovered, but my brother's death isn't dragging me down quite so hard...okay, that's not true, but I'm working through it. Little by little.

Thank you so much for reading and sticking with me this long 3

If you have the time, please let me know if I'm doing alright with Sam. I'm trying to portray her as flawed, but not to the point where she's dehumanized. Friends can disagree. They can even fight. But I'm hoping you can still feel how much she cares about Danny (and how much she'll care about Fenton and Phantom once she understands what they're going through). The next chapter will explore this a little more, so I'll be taking notes on whatever advice you can give!