This chapter is dedicated to Bluemyst19, because she dug me out of a hole with it!!

Chapter Six

Jazz looked at Sam as they stood outside the Nasty Burger. She was very aware of the eyes of their classmates on them, as well as the anger ebbing off of Sam in waves.

"This isn't the place to talk," Jazz told Sam calmly as the other girl turned on her.

Sam put her hands on her hips and assessed Jazz for a moment then took a deep breath.

"Fine," she said. "Walk with me." Sam started down the street, away from the Nasty Burger and Jazz contemplated playing the coward and running inside and hiding behind Tucker for protection, but she figured it would only make Sam even more angry, besides she really wanted to know what made the girl so upset.

"Are you coming?" Sam finally asked. Jazz said nothing as she followed.

"This is about Tuck?" Jazz finally asked as she followed Sam at a brisk pace.

"Yes," Sam finally said. "The first thing I'm going to tell you is that he doesn't know you called. I erased all your stupid text messages. I don't want you talking to him! I don't want you contacting him! I don't want you hurting him, Jazz."

Jazz took a deep breath. "Sam you're not thinking rationally, and that's hardly an ethical thing to do to your friend."

Sam closed her eyes. "You're right. But I want to kill you right now. You've hurt him and I want to tear you into a million pieces."

"Your feelings of anger are understandable," Jazz began calmly in an attempt to diffuse the situation. "But really, this is between Tucker and myself."

"It stopped being between you and Tucker when he came over to my house and cried his heart out on my shoulders," Sam hissed angrily.

Jazz bit her lip. She didn't want to ask questions. She didn't want to make Sam any angrier than she already was, but her mind was racing, worrying about Tucker, and hating herself for making him so upset, she should have known better, she should have done something sooner, she should have followed him, but she was so embarrassed.

"What? Nothing to say?" Sam sneered.

"No," Jazz finally exhaled. She didn't want to break down in front of Sam, but, it looked like it was going to happen anyway. "I have a lot to say. I know I've handled things badly. I didn't really suspect until it was too late that Tucker had feelings for me. I should have dealt with everything outright instead of trying to hid from it."

"That's why you've been trying to find him a girlfriend?" Sam asked as she folded her arms across her chest and glared at Jazz.

"I thought it would divert his attention," she said as she looked down at the ground.

"And Pete?" Sam questioned mercilessly. "I mean you started dating him not long after you and Tucker became really good friends. Is it because maybe you like Tucker too?"

"No!" Jazz said quickly then sighed as Sam's hands clenched. "Okay I do, but Sam we're all wrong for each other."

Sam took a deep breath as she looked at Jazz. "Why?"

Jazz shook her head and both girls sat. "He's two years younger than I am for one thing!"

"What does that matter?" Sam demanded. "It would be no big deal if he was two years older than you. Am I right?"

Jazz closed her eyes. "It's a matter of maturation, Sam. I am years and years ahead of Tucker in maturity. He's sixteen! I go away to college next year. It can't work."

Sam looked at Jazz a moment. "Does every guy you date have to be long term? I mean are you looking for a long term relationship? I wouldn't think that you of all people Jazz.."

"Of course I'm looking for a long term relationship!" Jazz said irritably. "I just don't want to date for the sake of dating!"

"Why not?" Sam asked. "It might be fun!"

Jazz stared her down almost accusingly. "All right fine," she said as she turned the tables. "Why haven't you accepted the dates you've been offered? Hmm?"

Sam laughed slightly. "Don't go trying to make this about me and my feelings for Danny. The circumstances are completely different."

"How?" Jazz prodded hoping she could embarrass the girl out of her anger by making her face her feelings for Danny.

"Because if Danny asked me, right now. I'd run away and marry him," Sam answered conviction pervading her every syllable. Jazz opened her mouth in shock and Sam smiled, knowing she'd outsmarted Jazz, there was no way she was going to be swayed from being angry.

"Well that would be dumb," Jazz told her. "I hope you're not…"

"Danny would have want me too," Sam said sadly. "So don't worry."

Jazz pinched the bridge of her nose as a headache bloomed behind her eyes. "Sam, are you blind? Danny is head over heels in love with you. He has been for a long time. I can't understand how two people can be so stupid. You're repressed. He's clueless. I don't know why I'm even worried, you'll both just dance around each other until the end of time."

"You're playing with Tuck's heart," Sam accused She was tired of playing this back and forth game with their argument's focus and wanted to settle it once and for all.

"Not intentionally," Jazz defended.

"You need to fix this," Sam told her. "I would tell you just to date him, but frankly Jazz, I don't think you're good enough for Tucker."

"You're right," Jazz admitted softly as she thought back to how much she enjoyed the thrill of knowing Tucker had a crush on her and she admitted his jealousy over Pete had been thrilling.

"Just don't hurt him, Jazz," Sam pleaded. "At least anymore than you have, because really I love Danny too much to have to have to beat the crap out of his sister."

Jazz nodded her head as she looked down at her hands. "Tuck's lucky, to have such good friends," she said softly.

"Don't try and patronize me, Jazz," Sam hissed as she looked around, not too many people were wandering about to witness their argument, or to stop Sam if she jumped Jazz and started pulling out her heir. She looked up at the clouds rolling in from the east. It looked like a huge storm was coming, she wished it had appeared earlier. They all would have stayed in and she could have cooled down a little before confronting Jazz.

"I'm not patronizing you," Jazz half growled in exasperation. "I'm simply looking for away to deal with my feelings. It's not easy being in my situation."

Sam looked at Jazz for a moment, watching as the older girl continued to fiddle with her fingers. "Just do the right thing and don't break his heart." Sam finally said tiredly.

"I always try to do the right thing," Jazz said as she wiped her eyes. Sam stood and Jazz followed.

"I know your heart is in the right place," Sam started. "But seriously…." She paused as she looked at Jazz's shattered expression then took a deep exasperated breath and moved to hug her. Jazz accepted the embrace with a sob and Sam tried to keep the pained expression from her face.

"Get your hands off of her!" an angry voice from behind Sam growled. Jazz and Sam released each other and Sam turned. Danny was standing before them, his jaw and hands clenched in anger.

"Danny?" Jazz asked in bewilderment. "What's your problem?"

"You," Danny growled as he advanced and moved to stand between Sam and Jazz. "First you try and take Tucker from me and now you're after Sam, especially when you know how much I love her! What do you want next, Jazz? My ghost powers? What?"

"Shhhh!" Jazz looked around warily then hushed Danny who was on the verge of hysteria. She looked at Sam a moment as she stood looking at Danny in shock, with her hands over her mouth.

"Danny," she began calmly. "What the heck are you talking about? You're not making any sense."

"You and Sam," Danny growled his face contorted in anger. "You broke up with Pete to be with her! You're in love with each other!"

"What!?" Sam shrieked. Danny winced, but didn't take his eyes off of Jazz, whose expression filled with amusement. His stomach started sinking and he began to feel as though he was in a bad nightmare.

"You think Sam and I?" Jazz started to ask then paused to giggle. "Oh Danny how can you be so stupid? I'm not in love with Sam!"

"But Pete said," Danny told her stiltedly, "That you're in love with my best friend, Sam and that she's in love with you and…" He trailed off as he looked at Sam who was glaring at him angrily.

"Tucker," Jazz corrected him gently. "Pete thinks I'm in love with Tucker."

"And he's right, I am in love with a Fenton," Sam said coolly. "But I think he's a little confused."

"Really?" Danny asked his attention now on the lilac eyed girl, ignoring how his sister quietly slipped away.

Sam's eyebrows lifted. "You're expecting me to own up to it after you accused me of being involved with your sister?" Sam's nose wrinkled in distaste. "How could you think that of me Danny? Jazz and me? Yuck!"

"I just know what I heard," Danny said softly as he began to realize he was in big trouble and there was no way out. "And then I saw you and Jazz leave the Nasty Burger together, and then you were hugging…I guess I just assumed."

Sam narrowed her eyes at Danny. "But tell me," she began her tone low and dangerous. "What other evidence do you have to support such a statement, other than hearing it from Pete's mouth? Have I ever hung around Jazz? No. Tucker has. Do I even talk to Jazz? Barely. Tucker talks to Jazz."

"Yeah you're right, it is Tucker and Jazz all the time," Danny half mused as he laughed then frowned. "Wait Tucker and Jazz? You mean they…you know they have a thing?"

"Sorta," Sam answered then sighed tiredly as she looked up at the now stormy sky.

"Wow," Danny laughed sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I feel dumb."

"You are dumb," Sam told him sternly. "And at the moment, I'm debating on whether to turn you full ghost or not."

"I'm sorry," Danny told her as he took her hand and looked into her eyes. His mind was running at ten million miles a minute, looking for a way to smooth things over with Sam, and his heart was beating twice as fast.

"You should be," Sam replied as she tried not to smile at the sweet look on Danny's face.

"I meant it you know," Danny whispered softly as he looked down at the ground, his courage failing for a moment. He was afraid to meet her eyes and still find anger there. "I mean I should have said something sooner, but…" He looked up at her, allowing his emotions to show through, unafraid.

"What," Sam asked, her heart thumping faster at the look he was giving her. Her heart flip flopped crazily as he stepped closer.

"I just want to clarify something," he began keeping his eyes locked with hers. He swallowed hard.. "When I accused you of being in love with my sister, you said wrong Fenton. Which Fenton did you mean?"

Sam rolled her eyes and started to pull away, suddenly feeling angry and a little disappointed. "I always, always knew you would make me say it first! This isn't fair Danny."

"Well?" Danny asked as he held tight to her hand and pulled her back to him. She went reluctantly.

"Well it's not Jack or Maddie," she told him sarcastically and he smiled.

"Really?" he asked, his gaze moving to her mouth where he watched the corners curl upward in a smile.

"Really," she answered. "Danny, I.." Before she could say anything more, Danny moved forward and captured her lips with his own. Sam froze in shock and he took the opportunity to pull her tightly into his arms, closing his eyes as he savored the feel of her mouth, warm and soft against his own. Her hands crept up his chest, over his shoulders and into his hair, pulling him down closer as they both trembled. The kiss, though it was not brief, was chaste and sweet and they moved away from each other, both smiling dreamily.

"Sam," Danny said as he took her hand again.

"What?" She asked a pretty flush blossoming on her cheeks.

"I'm really, really tired of this," he told her in exasperation and her eyes flew wide and she bit her lip.

"Tired of what?" she asked as her breath caught.

"You and me," Danny said. "And wanting to kiss you every chance I get, and not being able to!"

"Oh," Sam replied as her look of shock and worry melted into one of joy. "I know how you feel."

"Really?" Danny asked, but didn't give her a chance to answer as he kissed her again, this time deeply and more insistently. Sam squeaked in surprise then wound her arms round him, never wanting to let go and in utter and complete amazement about what was happening.

"I know this is kinda cheesy," Danny began when they finally broke away. "But I love you Sam will you consider…you know, being my girlfriend?" Sam's laugh pierced his heart but instead of rejecting him she lifted up on her tip toes and kissed him again.

"I love you too," she whispered against his mouth and he sighed in relief. "And yes that was cheesy, but yes, I'll be your girlfriend."

Jazz found Tucker, sitting on his own at the Nasty Burger, waiting patiently, as he always did for Danny and Sam to return. She paused for a moment, trying to decide if going up and talking to him was the best thing over all she decided it was better to get it out of the way and started forward.

"Hey," she said as she approached the table. Tucker looked up at her, his skin darkened in what she recognized as a blush and she sat.

"Hi," he replied. "Where are Danny and Sam?"

Jazz shrugged her shoulders then pulled a napkin from the dispenser and folded it neatly in front of her. "How was your date with Amanda?"

"I didn't go," Tucker answered.

"You should have gone," Jazz sighed in exasperation.

"I didn't want to," Tucker told her angrily.

Jazz shook her head in irritation. "But why not! It would have been…"

"Because I don't want anyone but you!" Tucker stated point blank. Jazz's eyes flew from his face and she looked at the napkin she was smoothing on the table. Her mind was racing, part of her was beside herself with joy and fought to blurt out that she wanted him too.

Jazz reached across the table and took Tucker's hand in hers. He was trembling on the edge of despair and hope as he watched her wrestling between reason and emotion. Finally she looked up. He wanted to run at that moment, and maybe he would have if her hand wasn't holding his, holding him prisoner.

"Tuck," she said softly as she held his jade green gaze. "You are so sweet and so wonderful. Really I am blessed and lucky to be wanted by someone like you." She looked down at her hand in his and lied. "But I simply don't return your feelings…I am sorry."

Tucker said nothing for awhile as he too turned his attention to their hands on the table. Marking the contrast between his dark skin and her long pale fingers. Her nails were painted with pink polish and he could tell she'd been chewing on her thumbnail. He smoothed his thumb along the inside of her wrist thoughtfully for a moment as he fought to control his emotions.

His first inclination was to run, but he had courage, and he thought it better to sit and face this situation, beside he figured he'd never have a chance to be so close to her again.

"Well," he said softly as he went into self protection mode. "I am the dork, inseparable from his PDA. It's not like I blame you. I mean you're smart, so naturally you wouldn't feel something for someone like me. It's stupid really for me to walk around feeling like I do. I'm just a techno geek."

Jazz bit her lip. She wanted to yell at him that he was so much more than he was giving her credit for. Sam was right, he did deserve better. She wanted to tell him. She wanted to just take it all back and tell him the truth instead she decided she needed to burn her bridges.

"We'll always be friends," Jazz told him as she began her voice rough at first, until she cleared her throat. He was looking into her eyes, the semi-happy self effacing smile fading from face was replaced by pained sadness "And I'll always be here if you need me, but maybe it would be better for you if we didn't spend time together."

If Jazz had realized how deeply she was hurting Tucker, she would have held her tongue and let him continue to talk himself away from her, he could believe that he all he needed was his PDA, but having her reinforce her feelings and take away the one thing he assured himself he'd be fine as long as he had, her friendship, was the final straw and he was surprised there was no actual sound as his heart broke.

Tucker pulled his hand away from Jazz's and reached for his PDA. He turned it on and attempted to calm himself, unable to look at her for fear he'd do something like cry or beg her to give him just one chance.

Jazz watched him a moment, interpreting his withdrawal from her as anger. "I'll see you later, Kiddo," she told him, in words that continued to sting. He suddenly wanted to yell at her and tell her to top trying to be nice and just be truthful. He was sure she thought he was a nuisance, a bother and was probably relieved to be rid of him.

Tucker didn't look up from his PDA. Jazz watched him a little longer then stood and walked from the Nasty Burger. She'd walked halfway down the street when everything hit her like a ton of bricks and she started to cry. She decided that what she did was for the best, but even so, it still hurt like hell.

Danny and Sam returned to the Nasty Burger, arm in arm. They were more than ready to share the news that they loved each other with anyone and everyone, most importantly with Tucker.

They both stopped as they saw him sitting at the table with his attention glued to his PDA. They recognized his posture immediately. He was upset and in pain. It wasn't easy to tell when Tucker was hurt, he hid things well, but Danny and Sam had known him too long and they knew.

"I hate Jazz," Sam said softly to Danny as she pulled him out of Tucker's line of sight.

"Why?" Danny asked in confusion. He was too wrapped up in Sam at the moment to think about anything but loving her.

Sam sighed. "Look at him, Danny. She came in here and broke his heart."

"What?" Danny asked in confusion.

Sam looked at Danny for a moment then said slowly. "Tucker loves Jazz."

"Oh," Danny replied softly then everything suddenly came into focus. "Oh! Yeah. Poor Tuck." Sam gave him a questioning look and Danny smiled sadly and shook his head, declining to clarify his statement.

"Danny," Sam started. "We can't tell him about us..."

"I know," Danny replied regretfully. "At least not right now."

"So we pretend like we're not umm...," Sam blushed. "Like we're not a couple?"

"Even though we are," Danny pointed out, they both smiled at each other happily.

"Just until Tucker feels better," Sam outlined. "I don't want to hide forever."

"Me either," Danny said then kissed her quickly. She smiled at him and he kissed her once more.

"You go first," he told her as he stroked her cheek. "I'll go get us something to drink."

"I love you," Sam told him sweetly.

"I love you too," Danny said cheerfully then kissed her one more time before turning her and pushing her out of the shadows and toward Tucker.