A/N: Wow. Long time no update.
Well, I suppose this'll make up for this. Or not. I don't know.
I think this is my longest chapter so far. 8 pages, in case you were wondering.
Anywho, I do not own DP.
The sound of voices coming from downstairs caused Danny to wake up. He released a sigh as his eyes fluttered open.
The teenager pushed up on his elbows and sat up. Surely enough, he felt reenergized. The nausea had completely dissipated, his breathing had returned to normal, and he no longer felt like his insides were burning with fire. He blinked as he curiously glanced at the blue blanket draped him. The fabric was soft and cool.
He glanced up and took in the sight of the room. To his right, he found a nightstand, a large lamp, and a few picture frames hanging from the wall.
To his left was the door and, across from that, a study desk was situated against the wall.
To his amusement, Paulina was sitting at the small desk, head resting on an open textbook, her eyes shut.
Danny carefully slid off the bed, glad to see he was strong enough to walk.
His gaze flickered to the completed homework Mr. Lancer had assigned their class before focusing on a sleeping Paulina.
Her full, glossed lips were parted slightly and her breathing was slow and rhythmic.
Her dark locks, he noticed, were sprawled across the rest of her homework papers.
"Paulina?" He questioned as he placed a hand over her shoulder.
The Latina's mouth snapped shut and her brows furrowed, but she never opened her eyes. "What?" She grumbled, sleepily.
Danny jumped as someone knocked on the door. "Paulina?" A familiar voice rumbled out from the other side of the walls.
Danny leaped away from Paulina, automatically turning invisible.
The Latina's head snapped up; she woke up immediately.
"It's dad. I'm coming in."
Paulina's eyes, now completely alert, swiftly swept across the room. Her gaze paused at the spot where Danny floated. The ghostly teenager froze. His heart lurched.
There was no way she could see him, right? He bit his lip. The notion was ludicrous. No one could see an invisible ghost...right?
Both of their attentions were immediately drawn to the door as her father poked his head inside.
"Hey, honey. I heard you didn't go to school today?"
"Oh," Paulina smiled and stretched. "No. There was some sort of teacher meeting thing today, so we didn't have to go in."
"Ah, okay. Just wanted to make sure you weren't skipping." Her father smiled. "I also wanted to say that your soup came out deliciosa, mi hijita."
"Thanks, daddy." Paulina replied.
Her father beamed. "Alright, well, I'll be in the office if you need anything."
"Okay." Paulina replied with a grin.
Her father's eyes cynically swept around the room before he shut the door. The two teenagers waited until they no longer heard his footsteps before speaking.
Paulina's eyes immediately snapped to Danny as he returned to visibility.
She let out a sigh of relief. "Oh my goodness. That was a close call."
She placed a hand over her head before glancing at the hybrid.
"Phantom, what the hell are you doing up and about?"
"Oh, uh, I feel better." Danny confessed as he sat back unto her bed.
"Yeah, I can tell," she replied, brushing back a strand of dark waves behind her ear. "But, just to make sure, mind if I take your temperature?" She inquired, eyes flickering to the ground.
"Uh, I guess." Danny replied.
The Latina moved over to sit beside him. She placed a hand over his forehead, her gaze wandering to a spot above his head. She smiled slightly.
"Well, you're not warm anymore and your aura's gone back to normal." She pulled her eyes away from the silver glow that outlined his body and hesitantly looked into his eyes.
"So, um, you want to tell me what you were doing in my neighbor's lawn?"
"Oh," Danny smiled sheepishly and let his gaze fall down to his hand. Her stare was making him uncomfortable. It almost seemed like, by staring into his eyes, she was peering into his very soul, seeing things she shouldn't be seeing. "Honestly? I was supposed to be staying at home, but there was a ghost fight and I had to stop it before someone got hurt."
"Hm," Paulina murmured. "Must be because of that hero complex of yours."
"Well, I just wanted to thank you for helping me out. By the way," his eyes moved to study her face, although he kept himself from looking directly into her blue-green orbs. "How did you know about the remedy?" He paused. "Actually, how did you know about the flu in the first place?"
"Oh, um," she hesitated and rose to her feet. She casually strolled over to her tall, brown bookshelf and intently studied the titles. "I have my ways," she replied vaguely.
"You...have your ways?" Danny shifted nervously. He really didn't like the sound of that. He knew from experience that when people spoke in ambiguous tones it usually implied that people knew way more than they let on.
"It's none of your business," Paulina calmly replied glancing over her shoulder to look at him. "I have my secrets, and I know you have yours."
"Yeah, well," Danny's gaze hardened as he glared at her suspiciously. "Being a hero is part of my job description. I take care of all the ghosts and, even though I fight them on a regular basis, it's also my job to protect them on a daily basis, too. I have an obligation to both humans and ghosts, so if there's a threat to us, I need to handle it. That means, like it or not, you have to tell me where you got that information."
Paulina immediately spun around to glare at him.
In all the years they had known each other, people around school noticed that Paulina was slowly but surely losing her Spanish accent over time. It was rumored that she had been taking language classes with a private tutor.
When Paulina spoke, Danny noticed, her years of virtually flawless English broke down, and her Latin accent slipped out in little spurts, especially when she placed an angry emphasis on certain words.
Her eyes had narrowed and she folded her hands over her chest. Her lips were puckered in annoyance. "You think I'm a threat? What the hell, Phantom? I just saved your fucking afterlife. If it weren't for me, you'd be puking your guts out right about now. I'm sorry, but I don't remember inviting you to stay over my house, much less take the time to give you a remedy."
Danny's gaze guiltily fell to the floor as she continued. "Now, all of a sudden, I'm a threat? And what do you mean you 'need to handle it?' Are you threatening me?"
Danny's eyes snapped up to her the moment her words hit him. "Look, I didn't mean it like that-"
"I'm sorry," Paulina interrupted angrily, "but you need to get the hell out of my house."
Danny's eyes widened and his eyes snapped to Paulina. There was no way he was leaving without them coming to a resolution.
After all, he was genuinely grateful for her help. "Look, I'm sor-"
"Now," she hissed, pointing towards the window.
Danny opened his mouth, closed it, and frowned. Without another word, he floated out, immediately dashing towards his home.
The sky was clear; the sun was shining. People in Amity happily bustled around the town, the birds chirped below him.
Danny soared away from the Paulina's house, guilt overwhelming him.
It was a beautiful day. The only reason he had the opportunity to enjoy it was because of the Hispanic girl who had taken the time to care for him. If it wouldn't have been for her, he probably would've been discovered by someone else. He could've been exposed to the media in his fragile state.
Remorse coursed through him—remorse that was soon replaced by curiosity. He already knew Paulina meant no harm. She was obviously a better person than she was three years ago. But where could she have gotten the information about the virus? Better yet, where did she find a remedy?
Mystery enveloped the teen cheerleader and, as memory served, she had outright admitted to having a few secrets.
Danny shook his head.
He decided that, so long as she didn't hurt anyone, he wouldn't delve into it, but the newly discovered information was gnawing at him.
He reluctantly focused his attention towards home. Unfortunately, his mom had known about his being ill and he prayed, for all that was holy, that Jazz had prevented Maddie from coming into his empty room.
:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:
By the following morning, Danny already had a nice apology completely formed in his head.
Fortunately, Maddie hadn't been aware of his absence, but Jazz was. And she was pissed.
It had taken some time to explain his whereabouts, but she eventually admitted that he was glad he was okay, although she urged him to go apologize to his former nurse.
As they had scheduled, Danny eventually met up with Teresa, Paulina, and Tony. They practiced Salsa dancing, which—to his thrill—resulted in him impressing everyone. He got the beat down rather quickly and was soon spinning Teresa around the room.
The Hispanic trio was buzzing with excitement and astonishment.
Paulina had stepped towards Danny, and taken his hands. He immediately swept her into the dance. In return, she stunned him by showing off her skills, challenging him to keep up. She was an impressive dancer and the revelation of her magnificent ability made the hybrid wonder what other secret talents she possessed.
He found himself craving to find out.
In honor of his success, Paulina treated him to a meal, which he was delighted to accept.
His ghost sense went off at that moment.
He accepted but with the excuse that he needed to go home and change his attire. He offered to stop by her house later on and she agreed.
It took a while, but he finally defeated yet another ghostly adversary, went home, changed, and made it back at Paulina's in record time.
It had been a little more than half an hour since he danced with her, and he found himself grateful for having obtained the power of flight. It made long trips all the more brief.
He knocked on the large door and was mildly surprised when Stephanie greeted him. "Danny!" She shouted gleefully, elatedly clapping her hands.
He bent down to her height and accepted the gentle hug she gave him. "Hey, kiddo. Where's your sister?"
"Upstairs getting ready." The little girl paused and grinned. "She said to tell you to wait in her room until she comes out."
"Thanks squirt," he replied and chuckled as she hobbled into the living room. She propped herself in front of the television, her attention focusing on cartoons.
Danny grinned and obeyed the toddler's orders.
He waltzed into the same room he had slept in just a day earlier. With nothing to do, the teenager took a seat at the Latina's study desk.
He also took the opportunity to absorb the details of the room. There was a large overflowing bookshelf leaning against the wall, indicating that the Latina read a lot in her free time. There were a few photographs hanging around the room. Most of them, he noticed, were of Paulina and Stephanie; one of the photos included that intimidating Sanchez father that Danny made a point of avoiding.
He spun his chair around and peered down at a picture that was perched on the desk.
He picked up the frame and inspected it.
There were two people in the frame.
One of them Danny recognized as a six-year-old Paulina. He smiled. She was absolutely adorable, and the resemblance to Stephanie was absolutely remarkable. The smiling child had her hands wrapped around a stunningly beautiful woman who had an equally brilliant smile plastered on her face.
Danny blinked.
This young woman—undoubtedly in her early twenties—had features that mirrored Paulina's. The mouth, he noticed was the same, as Paulina's—plump and red. A faint pink hue coated her cheeks, and her familiar sparkling aqua eyes radiated mirth. Her tan body was equally as voluptuous as Paulina's, if not more so.
Although her curls were identical to Paulina's, the older woman's ebony-colored hair contrasted with Paulina's chocolate colored locks.
She was radiant and absolutely breathtaking. It was strange, though. Danny couldn't remember ever having seen her around town. Or even at Paulina's home, for that matter.
He briefly wondered where she was, what had happened to her.
He set the picture down and glanced up at the sound of the knob turning.
Paulina stepped inside.
She wore a tight, black sleeve-less shirt that revealed a peek of her bosom. A pair of dark blue jeans hugged her curvy thighs. Her brown waves tumbled down to her back, framing her lovely, oval face.
Danny rose to his feet when she entered.
Paulina blinked, noticing him. "Danny, you're already here."
She walked past him and stood in front of the mirror, analyzing her reflection.
"Yeah, um, your sister let me in." He blushed profusely. He was suddenly bashful about having thrown on a casual jacket over a white tee and his traditional baggy jeans. "You look amazing," he blurted out.
She glanced away from the mirror. "Really? I was thinking about putting on some make-up, but-"
"No need." He blurted. "You look beautiful." He snapped his mouth shut and glanced down at his sneakers as his face was engulfed in flames. He silently cursed himself for not shutting up.
Unbeknownst to him, the Latina had a smile on her lips and a faint pink hue that blossomed across her cheeks. "Thank you."
She moved over to the closet and opened the doors. Until now, he hadn't seen her closet and, boy, was it enormous. His eyes widened as his gaze fell upon neatly organized shoes and purses that were categorically stacked on shelves.
She shuffled through the myriad of shoes, and Danny wandered how she could keep track of the seemingly hundreds of items that were stored in there.
She got down on all fours and rummaged through a pair of stilettoes found at the bottom of the closet. She waved her butt in the air and Danny blushed as his gaze travelled there.
Paulina stopped abruptly and turned to look at Danny. "Are you staring at my ass?" Paulina accused, amusement evident on her face.
"N-no." Paulina's unbelief caused Danny to blush even more profusely. "S-sorry." Danny stuttered out. He rose to his feet and busied himself by walking around the large room.
Everything else seemed as organized as her closet. There was almost nothing out of the ordinary and, were it not for Danny's keen observation, he wouldn't have noticed the one thing that shouldn't have been found in Paulina's room.
On one of her little stands, there was a lovely flower encased in a cubic glass case. fingered the little golden hook that, if opened, could cause disaster.
The lovely, vibrant, blood red petals seemed fresh and deceitfully innocent.
"Holy shit," he muttered.
"What?" Paulina inquired, turning around.
"Paulina, where did you get these?" Danny held case up in the air for her to see.
"What?" Paulina immediately rushed over to him. "Don't touch that! Those are extremely rare."
"I know. With a family of ghost hunters, it's impossible to not know how lethal they can be. How on earth did you get your hands on blood blossoms? Do you have any idea what they're capable of?"
"Of course I know what they're capable of!" Paulina exclaimed, snatching it away from him.
"Well, why...who...I mean-"
"I have connections." Paulina answered. "And, as for why they're here, that is none of your business." She immediately opened her dresser, gently placing it over her clothes before slamming the drawer shut.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to pry. It's just—I know how rare those things are. And how dangerous."
"Believe me, I know." Paulina sighed and pulled a small smile onto her face. "Now, uh, you still up for some dinner?"
"Definitely," Danny grinned, though inwardly he was struggling to keep down a million questions.
:~:~:~:~:~:~:
Paulina treated Danny to some fast food. They chattered and laughed at Stephanie's silliness. Then Paulina suggested they go for a walk to which Danny readily agreed.
They walked and talked, completely at ease with one another. Their little expedition caused Danny to momentarily forget about the mystery shrouding the Latina.
At dusk, they passed an ice cream stand.
Stephanie begged Paulina for a cold treat. "Please, please, please, please, pleaaaaaase!"
"Okay," Paulina agreed with a slight chuckle. "But after this, we're going home. Okay?"
"How about you girls take a seat somewhere. I'll get it for you." Danny smiled down at the two females.
"You sure?" Paulina queried.
"Yeah. I'll be right back." Danny gave them a slight wave and took to the opposite direction.
Paulina and Stephanie sat down at a bench further along the road. Stephanie eventually ran up to him, informing him what it was that she and Paulina wanted.
"Alright, one vanilla, one mint, and one chocolate with extra rainbow sprinkles. That'll be six fifty," the ice cream man informed.
Danny smiled he handed him a twenty dollar bill. The friendly man smiled. "Out of twenty. Here's your change and the ice cream will be just a moment, young man."
"Thank you." Danny smiled as he accepted the cash, shoving it in his pocket.
A small tug at his jeans drew his attention to little Steph. Her little buttoned nose was scrunched up and her brown eyes emanated worry. "What's wrong, squirt?"
"Big bully is being mean to Paully." She explained, glancing towards where her sister was.
"What?" Danny followed her line of gaze and, to his dismay, found the source of the youngest Sanchez's source of fear.
A familiar, bulky blond was hovering over Paulina. He gazed at her with lust; she was glaring up at him. From his perspective, it seemed like Paulina was arguing with the much-loathed Dash about something.
"Stephanie, wait here. I'll be right back."
Danny approached the bickering couple, anger bubbling up as he caught snippets of their conversation.
"Come on, babe. You know I always loved you. Why don't you come back to my house?"
"Because you're a cheater and you're drunk!"
"And you are so sexy when you're mad."
Dash grabbed her arm, earning a furious shout from her. "Let go of me, bruto! Pendejo!"
"Hey! Let her go!" Danny shouted as he moved closer. He stepped in front of the larger teenager.
Dash smirked and shoved Paulina aside. She stumbled to the left, catching herself before she tripped. "Well, if it isn't Fen-toenail. What'cha gonna do, huh? Beat me? I'll crush you like a bug." Dash stepped forward threateningly, raising his fists as if preparing for combat.
"No!" Paulina jumped between the two boys, poising herself in a defensive stance. The action caused Danny to smile a bit. "You leave him alone or I swear I'll make your life a living hell."
"Move away, bitch." Dash snarled. This time, instead of just shoving her, he grabbed her and tossed her to the ground. She sat up, fury lighting her eyes. Before either of them could react, Danny did the unexpected.
He swung his arm, fist colliding with Dash's broad face. The impact caused Dash to stumble back a few steps. For the briefest moment, the older teen didn't react, but when he did, he glanced at Danny shocked and mortified.
He stomped forward, ready to return the attack. "Why you little shit-"
Danny once again struck the other teen, this time sending him to the ground.
Danny moved over to stand over a groaning Dash. He ignored the blossoming bruises on the teen's face. "You don't ever treat women like that. And if I ever see you bothering Paulina, I'll beat the shit out of you."
He spun around and moved to focus on Paulina.
She was lying on the ground, the upper half of her body held up by her small hands. She blinked, utterly stupefied by the events that had played before her.
Danny held out his hand and helped her to her feet. "Did that really just happen?" Paulina blinked.
"You mean me finally standing up to Dash? Yes."
"Wow," Paulina whistled. She peered up at Danny and grinned. "Who knew you had it in you."
"Well, he shouldn't be treating you like that." Danny smiled and unconsciously raised his hand. He lightly brushed her cheek with his fingers. She smiled shyly as he beamed down at her.
"Wow! Danny's a hero!" The loud squeal caused the duo to turn and look at Steph who was hugging the three cups of ice cream to her chest.
Danny chuckled and helped her with the other cups, handing the vanilla to Paulina.
"You did poosh, poosh." She swung her free fist twice, jubilantly mocking the one-sided fight.
"Yes, but I only did that to save Paulina, so don't go around hitting people, okay?" Danny warned, patting her head.
She nodded in understanding, peering over at Dash who was already staggering off in the opposite direction, shouting drunken curses.
"How about we go home?" Danny suggested.
"Fine by me," Paulina smiled, linking one arm around Danny's.
The hybrid blushed lightly, but didn't shrug her off. He happily escorted her all the way back to her car.
Prior to dropping Danny off at his home, Paulina badgered Danny, reminding him about the countdown to her cousin's party. After all, the worst thing possible was if, the day after the next, he would forget about the party and she would be forced to spend the rest of the night with that imbecile warlock named José.
Danny had smiled and assured her that he would definitely be attending. And with that, he'd gone into his anomaly of a house.
She went home, put her exhausted sister to bed, and dashed into her own room. It was late. The clock informed her it was past ten.
She made an effort to fall asleep—she did.
Unfortunately, her excitement—for what, she didn't know—kept her awake.
She threw the covers off and decided that she may as well be progressive and make use of her temporary insomnia. She gathered together a few of her Craft supplies and sat cross-legged on the floor.
Paulina half-smiled as she placed a hand over the spot where Danny had lightly stroked her. She shivered as the warmth spread from her cheek to the rest of her body. Her heart leaped and her stomach flipped.
The girl shook her head and snapped out of here trance. She reprimanded herself for acting with such folly and once again focused on the items before her.
She had every intention of keeping the raven-haired, blue-eyed boy out of her mind.
A/N: Finally got done with this effing chapter. Now, on to finish homework.
Reviews would be much appreciated.
