"She totally overreacted!" Danny threw his arms up in the air for emphasis.

He'd arrived at Sam's house earlier that day.

Some days had passed since his fight with Paulina and neither one had spoken to each other—Danny because of the ludicrous amount of ghost fighting he'd been doing, and Paulina because of, well, what was her excuse?

Despite her power, Paulina didn't fight ghosts on a regular basis and, from what he gathered, her responsibilities included acting as a pseudo mother in a household that lacked one.

Although Paulina took on a great responsibility, Danny knew the Latina had plenty of spare time on her hands, especially now that they were on school break.

Danny had been secretly hoping she'd call him so they could talk and possibly mend their relationship.

Unfortunately, he hadn't heard so much as a word from her, neither had she a sent single text to him.

The silence was frustrating him, and it was eating at him the entire time they'd been apart.

Team Phantom and Huntress had been spending every waking hour battling ghosts. Danny was relieved he finally had the time to talk to someone about it.

Sam sat at her desk, patiently listening. Her finger was tucked between the pages of a closed book, serving as a temporary bookmark.

Danny felt somewhat guilty for interrupting her 'alone time,' especially since this was also her first time in nearly a week that she could spare a moment to read and enjoy the momentary tranquility from ghost hunting.

The young goth gave him a pointed look. "Maybe you shouldn't have lied to her."

"But, technically, I didn't lie to her." Danny protested.

"Actually," Sam countered, "from what you told me, it sounds like you did. And, on top of that, you were keeping secrets. Secrets that had everything to do with her."

Danny turned and glared at her, baffled by her response. After all that wait and that insanely long speech about Paulina, this was the response he got?

"I can't believe you're taking her side!"

"I'm not." She calmly replied, setting the book aside.

"Need I remind you she caused a mini earthquake? And she exploded all the street lamps in her neighborhood, which," he added, "will probably have to be fixed with the taxpayers' hard-earned money!"

"So she overreacted." Sam shrugged. "This is Paulina we're talking about. You're damn lucky she didn't do worse. Old, high school freshman Paulina probably would've put a curse on you now that she's got all her witchy powers." Sam rose to her feet, stretched, sat back down, and continued. "Besides, I think you're just mad that she's right." Sam paused, pensive. "Or maybe you're mad at yourself for screwing things up with someone who's way out of your league."

Danny felt his cheeks burn with anger and embarrassment.

"Just go talk to her," Sam suggested, re-opening her novel. "You obviously miss her. She probably misses you and is just too stubborn to admit it."

Danny felt all the anger drain.

"You really think she misses me?"

Admittedly, Danny didn't have much high self-esteem when it came to Paulina. The girl really was far out of his league, and he doubted she'd miss someone like him as often as he wondered what a high-ranking A-lister was doing with an outcast like him.

His thoughts must've shown on his face because Sam was quick to dampen his worries. "Danny, you're a kick ass superhero who fights ghosts on a daily basis. Stop being a little sissy and go talk to her."

Danny felt an enthusiastic grin stretch across his face.

He knew he could always count on Sam to push him in the right direction.

"Thanks, Sam." He pulled her into a half hug and squeezed her.

"Ow!" She hissed, though she wore a pleased smile on her face. "Go get her, ghost boy."

"You're right," he smiled. "I'll go right now."

He paused, an icy breath involuntarily escaping his mouth. "Or not now."

He growled, glancing at the open window. "What the hell is up with all these ghosts?"

"You focus on Paulina." Sam patted him on the shoulder. When he looked at her again, she had an ecto weapon in her hands. "I'll call Tucker for backup."

:~:~:~:~:~:~:

Paulina stopped in front of the door to her house.

She sighed and pressed her forefinger and thumb to her temples. It had been all of four days already and that hole she'd felt after her argument with Danny was still there.

"Time heals all wounds," she muttered to herself. She had a feeling this wound would take an awfully long time to heal, which was ironic, considering she and Danny had been dating for only a few short months.

A soft vibrating sound emitted from her bag.

She opened it and looked inside. There, at the bottom, lay Danny's sweater—the one he'd given her during the night of her first kiss.

The deep blue of the fabric was nearly hidden away by all of the junk that lay over it.

Her phone vibrated again, pulling her out of her musings.

She snatched it up and glanced at the illuminated screen.

Valerie's name appeared and beneath it, in smaller font, the words: "Stop being stubborn and call him!"

Her phone vibrated again. This time, a message from Star replaced Valerie's. "Pushing away the people you love out of fear of getting hurt will only…"

Paulina turned it off, not bothering to read the rest.

She'd had enough of their incessant rantings and reprimanding those past couple days.

The only good thing she had experienced that week was having her car returned to her, good as new.

She had thought it beyond repair after the beating it had received from Skulker and his lackies, and now she wouldn't have to lie to her dad about where it was anymore.

She hated lying, but she didn't want her father worrying for no reason.

"It'll get better," she muttered to herself as she entered her extravagant home.

The sound of voices arguing echoed from the kitchen, serving to further upset the already tightly-wound Latina.

"Or not," she ground her teeth together.

It was clearly her grandmother and her father.

The bickering between her two relatives was a common event in her household, but Paulina was immensely grateful that, this time, Stephanie was at her Kids' Arts and Crafts program, away from her elders.

Paulina was tired of constantly worrying about how these constant, usually pointless squabbles affected Stephanie. After all, growing up watching her parents' hate-filled quarrels had really messed her up, and she didn't want the same to happen to her sister.

Angie had the loudest voice in the entire family. It was shrill and threatening and, oftentimes, terrifying.

It seemed short temper was another common trait in the family of women.

"-your fault! If you had taken better care of it, none of this would be happening."

"Damn you, Angie." Her dad. "No one else knew about it except for us! Besides, it's you're locking spell that didn't work."

"It was a seal," the old woman countered. "A seal which shouldn't have been needed in the first place because you claimed to have a safe place for it. You're a fool, and my daughter was a fool for letting you guard it. Now the girls are in danger. They can't protect themselves! Eres una idiota por-"

"Why are we in danger?" Paulina demanded as she stepped through the archway of the kitchen.

The adults suddenly fell silent, both of them looking at her like if they'd seen a ghost, which ironically, despite having lived in Amity for some time, neither of them had seen up close and personal.

"Amor," Angie's expression immediately softened. "We didn't hear you come in."

"Why are we in danger?" Paulina repeated.

"Paulina-" Ernesto cut himself off, fear and guilt swirling around in his eyes.

Where Angie seemed unusually calm, Ernesto seemed unusually anxious.

Paulina hadn't seen her dad so shaken since the incident with her mom.

"Es nada," Angie replied. "We're just concerned about this city's unusual ghost problem."

Lie, Paulina read.

"Pa," she turned to her father, "tell me what's going on."

"It's like your grandma said," her father frowned. "Ghosts."

Paulina furrowed her brows. "Why are you two lying to me?"

"Paulina," Angie began. "Your father and I think it would be best if you went to live with your Tia Marta for some time. You may have to be pulled out of school when it starts again-"

"No!" Paulina countered. The prospect of leaving was totally unnerving.

Amity Park was her home. School was starting up again in a little over a week, and she didn't want to miss, especially with all the upcoming cheer practices.

On top of that, she and her friends had only recently discovered each others' unusual secrets and were becoming closer than they'd ever been.

And there was Danny, whom she wouldn't see for likely an indefinite amount of time, although she wasn't sure she didn't want to.

The thought only served to infuriate her. She hated that her stupid emotions were all over the place.

"I'm not going anywhere," she argued, defiantly, "especially not when you two are lying to me."

"We're not lying," Angie futilely denied.

"Ay, por favor!" Paulina shouted. She turned on her heel and sauntered out into the hall.

"Paulina-" Ernesto began.

"Dejela, Ernesto." Angie stopped him. "They're both leaving this place regardless of what she wants."

Paulina ran up the stairs and angrily barged into her room.

There was no way they were dragging her to another country, especially not when there was an unknown threat looming over them.

The lights in her room flickered upon her stormy entrance. She ignored them, throwing her bag on the bed.

Before she even had a chance to sort through her myriad of emotions, a figure flew in through her closed window and crash landed on the ground.

The ghost pulled her curtains with him, bringing the rod and the blinders with him.

Paulina blinked.

Her heart kicked up its pace. She could feel the electricity harmlessly crackling in the air.

Not now, she thought. Everything was happening much to quickly.

"Oh, shit!" Danny scrambled up, untangling himself from the window's decor. "I'm sorry," he muttered, glowing green eyes boring into her.

Apology flowed from his eyes, but beneath that swirled guilt, joy, sadness, and maybe a hint of fear or anxiety.

She couldn't quite tell which, and she wasn't interested in finding out.

"Get out!" She shouted at him.

The boy flinched but stepped closer.

He was at arm's length now, and the closer they got, the more she could feel his presence affecting her. "Paulina, I just wanted to talk-"

"Well, I don't!" She shouted, marching up to him. "There's way too much going on right now and-"

"Paulina?"

The unexpected sound of the third voice pulled both their attentions to the door.

Ernesto appeared at the door. "Is everything oka-"

He stopped abruptly, eyes zeroing in on the ghost hybrid floating in the middle of her room.

"On second thought, let's go." Paulina reached out and grabbed at Danny.

"But-" the teenager looked down at her then at her dad, hesitantly.

Ernesto's face contorted into palpable anger. His eyes gave off a glare that could kill.

"Danny!" Paulina frantically shook his arm.

Ernesto lunged at them.

Danny turned them both intangible just before the man's fingers could curl around Paulina's arms.

Caught off guard, the man stumbled through them.

Paulina shuddered. The feeling of phasing was highly unusual.

Danny grabbed Paulina and pulled her against him.

She felt her cheeks heat up in response.

"Paulina!" Ernesto shouted angrily.

And then, Paulina was airborne.

:~:~:~:~:~:~:

A/N: My apologies about the long wait.

This chapter was supposed to have been updated some time ago, but I'd completely forgotten to post it.

So, here it is! Several weeks later than originally intended.

As always, I greatly appreciate any and all reviews or feedback or constructive criticism.