"So," Danny started, as the movie began to roll credits. "The other night you sounded pretty upset. How are you feeling now?"

I flashed back to the night of the party. "I try not to let what happened to us overwhelm me. Like, I try to be stronger than it - but sometimes I can't. Sometimes it just gets to me, you know? And then I freak out."

Danny toyed with the corner of his blanket. "You want to know what I think?"

"Yeah."

"Well, first off, I think you are stronger than anything that life could possibly throw at you. That being said, I think that trying to pretend nothing happened would be a mistake. If you try to stuff it away, then it's only going to be worse when it comes back up, right?"

"I can see your point," I admitted. "But who can I talk to – other than you - about the truth of what happened? We even have to lie to the police, I can't exactly go see a therapist."

"Anybody here, I guess. I mean, Jazz is nearly a real psychologist, and she's who I talk to."

"I might try that."

"Mom will always listen if you need to talk to her about anything," Danny expanded, "but she's very mom-ish, if you know what I mean."

I did.

Then Danny blurted, "But not Dad, 'cause when you ask him for help, he'll just offer you fudge. He's not very good with advice stuff."

I nodded, but then I realized something. "Your parents don't know about your other half."

He smiled, but there was a certain hollowness behind the expression. "What do you think I was doing while you were in Mexico?"

"You told them?" I clarified, shocked. He nodded. "Aw, how'd that go?"

"About as well as you can expect," Danny said grimly. "But I haven't been kicked out or strapped to a lab table yet, so we're doing good."

"Maddie seemed normal when I walked in," I commented. She hadn't acted like she'd just heard major news about her son.

"That's because Mom's still in denial. Bet you didn't see Dad?"

I shook my head.

"Neither have I. It's been days."

"That's harsh."

"No, I mean, I get it. It's a lot to take in. Especially since they're ghost hunters and they've tried to uh, terminate me before."

I reached out and placed my hand over his. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. They love me. We'll figure it out."

"That's good. It wouldn't be fair for them to disown you because of something you can't control."

Danny chuckled. He flipped his hand so that our palms were touching. I slid my fingers through his and held his hand.

"When I told them I said I was more afraid of being disowned than dying."

"I think we escaped that that particular fate." I inched over a bit so that my shoulder was pressed against his.

"Well, there's that," he agreed. "I'm really glad that you came over."

"I'm glad too."

I looked up at him, into his thoughtful blue eyes. I thought of Tara: "You shouldn't have anything more to do with him". I thought of Leslie: "Personally, I think that you should speak with him again". I thought of Valerie: "Because even I can see you're in love with him". And then I thought of me. I thought of what I wanted out of my life and who I wanted in my life.

That's when I kissed him. I stretched up, connecting my lips to his. His hand slipped to my waist as we softly kissed.

I wasn't kissing him because of anyone else's opinion. I was kissing him because I wanted to. I believed that I knew him; I had seen his soul like never before, and I wanted to be close to him. I wanted him to be close to me. I wanted to fall in love with him the real way; the proper way. I wasn't worried about the past, I wanted the future. I wanted to live in the present and I wanted him next to me while I did that. I didn't know where this kiss would take us, but I was sure of one thing: I wanted to go.

He pulled away from me, his head dropping onto my shoulder. Confused, I put my arms around his middle, crossing over his back. He was shaking slightly. I moved one of my hands up to run through his hair.

"I can't do this," he whispered. "I can't risk hurting you again. I won't do it."

"What if you don't hurt me again?"

"I'm a fuck-up, Sam. It's not a question of 'if' but 'when'."

His self-doubt made my heart ache.

"But consider this," I proposed. "When you hurt me the first time, I didn't know the truth about you. I didn't really know who you were. When two people enter a relationship, they know there's a risk of getting hurt, because life isn't sunshine and daisies all the time, you know? But the two people know one another and they evaluate each other's character and decide if it's worth the risk of getting hurt. The first time, I didn't have the chance to think about that, because I didn't know you. I know you now. I'm not saying I'd be okay with getting hurt again, because that's not it. What I'm saying is, this time I know the truth about you. This time, I know you. And this time, I accept the normal risk of being hurt in a relationship. I don't know if I explained it well … does that make sense?"

He nodded against my shoulder.

"And," I added. "I honestly don't think you'd hurt me again."

Danny lifted his head up so that he was looking at me. "But, Sam, we both know that I'm not a good guy and that you deserve so much better. I just don't see –"

I held up my hand. "Do you like me?"

He closed his eyes. "You know it's more than that … I just can't put you through that again."

"You won't," I whispered, believing it with every fibre of my being. I reached out and took both of his hands in mine. "If you want us, and I want us, why hurt us by running away?"

Danny smoothed his thumbs over the back of my hands. He didn't look me in the eye as he said, "You're amazing."

"I know," I answered smugly.

Danny smiled shyly and looked up at me. "Can I kiss you again?"

I nodded and leaned forward. Danny moved with abnormal speed. He seized my arm and my side, flipping me faster than I could process. When I finally caught my breath, I was lying along his lap, one of his arms under my shoulders, holding me up. I blinked a realized that he had me in a mini dip.

He peeked at me.

"Sam."

"Danny."

"Be my girlfriend?"

I pretended to ponder it, and then I answered with, "Only if you ask me in a cheesier way."

"Roses are red, violets are blue, I want to be yours … please say you'll date me too." He frowned as he finished. "That rhymed, right? I think it rhymed."

"You're cute," I laughed. "And yes, it rhymed."

"Good," Danny exclaimed, and then he kissed me.

His lips touched mine again, and I felt a jolt of ecstasy run through my stomach. The icy coolness was familiar, but it was no longer painful. Rather, I embraced the chill. I pulled his head down, tightly to mine. What had started out as an innocent kiss became more heated as our bodies remembered how to move together. We clicked, like puzzle pieces that were destined to fit. He twisted me upward.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "but you were putting pressure on my leg."

"Are you calling me fat?"

Danny shook his head. "You're thin."

"Too thin?" I elaborated, and I touched my waist. "I know."

"You're perfect," Danny told me, and he kissed my jaw.

I readjusted myself more so that I was settled on his good leg, and wrapped my arms around his neck again. His lips had just brushed mine when his bedroom door crashed open. I immediately bumped myself off of Danny's lap so I was just sitting next to him. As I readjusted myself, Tucker hurtled into the room, dropping heavily onto the bed.

"Sam! Jazz … said you were here."

"I'm here."

He looked at Danny, and then he looked at me. Then Tucker raised his eyebrows. "And canoodling."

I immediately began to protest, but then Danny dropped forward so that he was half on top of Tucker.

"I would never cheat on you, my love."

"Oh, my honey pot!" Tucker cried.

"What did I tell you about that?" Danny admonished.

"But you're my honey pot." Tucker's bottom lip quivered.

I slid from the bed, going over to stand beside Jazz. She'd just appeared in Danny's doorway, and was leaning heavily against the wall. She was shaking her head at the scene in front of her.

"Do they always hit on each other?"

Jazz shrugged. "It's gotten worse since they made up after their big fight. They weren't always this touchy feely."

"Or maybe you just started noticing it more."

"That could be," Jazz agreed. "Did you and Danny kiss and make up?"

"I-"

"And don't lie to me."

"We did," I confessed.

We turned our attention back to our boyfriends. Danny let out a mild shriek as Tucker attempted to do something to his ear.

"Well, if they ever decided to leave us for one another, I say we get revenge by dating each other."

"I could be down for that," Jazz joked. She put her arm around my shoulders and began to steer me out of the room. "Danny, Tucker, once you're done with each other, the girls will be eating."

We reached the top of steps, and I commented, "They're going to yell 'food' in a minute, aren't they?"

"Oh, I'm waiting for it." Jazz laughed.

We'd just reached the bottom of the stairs when we heard the cry.

"Foooood!"

(-.-)

"Yes, Mother, I'm home." I said into the phone.

"Is the house okay? Don't be afraid to call someone if you need to, Samantha."

"The house is fine and I'm not scared. Everything looks all right. It's safe."

"I am worried about you," Mother said. "I don't want you to feel alone. You can call me if something comes up. Make sure you call me if something comes up."

"I will. I'll see you in the morning, all right?"

"Okay. Our flight lands at quarter to nine. We'll be home by nine-thirty, ten at the latest. We'll bring home breakfast, all right?"

"Okay. And coffee."

"And coffee," Mother agreed.

"The fancy kind," I added.

"I know what you like, little miss. Now off to bed."

"Night."

"I love you."

"I love you too. And Daddy."

"Love you too!" Dad shouted in the background.

"Goodnight," Mother told me firmly.

"Night," I repeated, and then I hung up the phone.

I crawled straight into bed, because it really was late. I placed my head on my pillow, and was instantly launched into a dream. It was a dream bursting with pain; of faces that resembled Vlad and Elliot, but they looked so much more grotesque in my dream. I could feel pain rolling around in my body, but I was unable to move. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I felt as if I were drowning, and then the pain would come back through me, shocking me to the core.

I woke up, screaming, my voice raw from the amount of noise that I had been making, tears streaming down my face. I was drenched from head to toe in sweat, but the first thing I did was grab at my ankle to make sure that I was no longer bound. I shook all of my limbs, and then I took deep cleansing breaths, assuring myself that I could still breathe. I wasn't hurt. I was in my room. I was okay.

I didn't feel okay.

I picked up my phone and called the first person I thought of.

"Hello."

"Did I wake you?"

"No," Danny answered simply. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

"Come over, please."

"Already on my way."

I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my betas: Forever Sky.

~TLL~