Warning: M rated themes toward the end half of the chapter.

*Epilogue*

Tara: two more weeks until I see you!

Leslie: omg what is the weather like in amity for the summer? I don't know what to pack!

Leslie: and Gavin can say your name perfectly now, btw 3

I turned off my phone screen after reading the messages; I could reply later. Right now, I wasn't going to ignore the people I was with for a cellphone screen. I dropped the phone in my purse, and then I slipped my bag down by my feet. Jazz was sitting beside me, and she copied the action. We were sitting at a picnic table, outside of Amity's little ice-cream joint. Danny and Tucker were inside, ordering our desserts. The heat of summer had made the treat absolutely necessary.

"Your face is still puffy," I said to Jazz catching sight of her face.

Her cheeks were red and puffy, along with her eyes. Her make-up had disappeared though, cried off.

"You have eyeliner all over your cheeks," Jazz responded, her voice wavering the same way mine had.

"Dammit," I cursed, blindly rubbing my cheeks. "We probably look like such a wreck."

"No better than anyone else who was there," Jazz informed me. "Every other girl came out looking like a raccoon too."

"Danny cried," I revealed.

"So did Tucker," Jazz confided. "Although he was already emotional, he only finished the book yesterday."

"Both were such masterpieces," I gushed. "My love for The Fault In Our Stars has increased since seeing the movie."

"It was so good," Jazz agreed.

"Talking about our sex life?" Tucker asked, setting Jazz's sundae down in front of her before taking the seat across from her.

Danny froze, utterly stricken by the words. "Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew." He chanted. "Fuck no, I did not just hear that."

Jazz blushed.

"Sorry, man," Tucker shrugged. "But you had to realize."

"I never thought about it!" Danny shrieked. He finally came to sit down, giving me my cone. He sat on the opposite end of the picnic bench as Tucker, as far away from his best friend as he could get while still being seated. "That's just blech."

"All right," Tucker sighed. "Tell us something about your and Sam's sex life so we can be grossed out too."

"Tucker that is such a dumb idea!" Jazz squawked.

Danny ducked his head and I blushed. Since that first night, so long ago when he had been nothing more than Phantom to me, we hadn't had sex. Our relationship had progressed a long way since we had officially gotten together in January, nearly eight months ago, but we hadn't crossed that line again. I wanted to, but neither of us had broached the topic, and I was too awkward to be the one to bring it up first. Now, though, Tucker was staring at us, expecting one of us to say something, so I blurted out the first thing that came to my head.

"Danny has a tiny penis."

Okay, so it was probably the WORST possible thing that I could have said in that moment. Danny turned bright red, Tucker lost it, and Jazz hid her head behind her hair.

"Sam!" Danny cried. "I thought you cared about me; I thought you loved me."

"I – I," I stuttered. "I do love you … I just couldn't think of anything else to say."

He started to laugh, and so I started to laugh. My hair swept down across my eyes, and I batted it away, annoyed. My hair needed to be coloured and cut, but my hairdresser couldn't fit me in until two weeks from now. Soon, though, I was going to get desperate and start hacking at my own hair, letting her deal with the consequences later.

"You're a dork," he told me.

"I'm a dork? You're a dork."

"Don't call me names," Danny pouted, pretending to sulk.

I took a lick from my ice-cream. As I angled my head to catch the drips rolling down the cone, someone caught my eye; my breath caught, I thought I recognized who it was. I straightened my head, my heart sunk. I realized that I had been correct. It was Paullina Sanchez.

I thought that she might walk past our group without noticing any of us, but luck was not on our side. Jazz and I were on the side of the bench that was facing her, and it was my face that Paullina had spotted.

"Sam Manson?" She questioned, stopping. She placed her hands on her hips and faced me

Danny and Tucker turned at the sound of her voice. I winced as Danny turned to look; I didn't want him to look at her. Paullina was utterly beautiful. Everyone at the table knew that she was a little off her rocker, but that didn't detract from her physical appearance. She was wearing short denim shorts and a strapless top that showed off her considerable cleavage and toned stomach. I was envious; I still hadn't gained back the weight that I had lost while in the cell, not being able to bring myself to eat the way that I had before.

"And Danny, and Tucker, and Jasmine," Paullina finished off. "How … unexpected."

"Go away," Jazz grumbled next to me, and I saw Tucker nod in agreement.

"How have you been, Danny?" Paullina pressed. "Missing me?"

"Not really," Danny admitted. "Actually, not at all."

"How could you not be missing me?" Paullina asked, and I shook my head.

I thought there was a chance she would have changed, reformed her ways, grown a heart; all of those things. She seemed to be the same Paullina that I had met upon first arriving at Amity; pretty and shallow.

"I've got a better life now than I did when I was with you," Danny explained simply. "Come on."

He stood up, and the rest of us immediately followed his lead. Jazz and Tucker lead the way to Jazz's car. Danny put his arm around my waist, as he always did when we were walking together.

"Her?" Paullina shouted after us. "You're dating her?"

"I'm in love with her," Danny corrected, and then we got into the car.

Jazz and Tucker were heading to Tucker's house, but they dropped us off at FentonWorks on their way. Danny and I headed up to his room.

"Are your parents still at the university?"

"Yeah," Danny answered. "They're usually there until seven or eight at night. They absolutely love teaching paranormal classes. I think they're hoping the university is going to give them classes throughout the regular school year, beyond the summer."

"That'll be good."

I stretched out along his bed, staring up at his magnificent ceiling. I loved that I could watch the clouds float by from the comfort of his bed. The sun beat down through his glass ceiling onto his bed, and I squirmed from the warmth of it. Of course, the heat of the day was ruined for me as Danny jumped on the bed, his cold arms ensnaring me.

"I love you," Danny said, kissing me on the temple.

"I love you too," I replied, kissing him on the lips. "Was it weird, seeing Paullina?"

He shook his head. "No, I meant what I said to her. I don't think about her, and I'm much happier now that I have you."

"I'm happy that I have you too." I toyed with the collar of his t-shirt.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked me.

"About you." I answered immediately, because it was true.

"That's always a plus. What about me?"

He grinned, and I blushed, because I felt like he knew. He knew that I was thinking about having sex with him.

"Ooh, you're turning red," he taunted lightly, as if he were a grade schooler. "Thinking naughty thoughts, Ms. Manson?"

"And what if I am, Mr. Fenton?" I challenged, sounding more confident than I felt. "What are you going to do about it?"

Danny judged me for a moment, as if trying to figure out whether or not I really meant what I said. I nodded slightly at him, because I knew that I was ready for this. His expression softened, and he played with a lock of my hair before speaking again.

"Well, I might kiss you here," his lips slid across the sensitive spot on my neck. "Or here." I felt his tongue against my collarbone. He kissed along my jawbone. "Probably here."

His cold fingers worked up my tank top, gently brushing my scars. He touched the stab wound that Vlad had given me; he touched the scars from my dragon attack. Then, he slid my tank top fully away from me. I grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it away from him. There were marks on his body from our time with Vlad.

"You're beautiful," Danny murmured.

"You're just saying that because you want to get into my pants."

Danny glanced down at my lower body. "One, you're wearing shorts."

"Two?" I prompted.

"Two," Danny repeated, and then, without any warning whatsoever, he shoved his hands down the front of my shorts.

I yipped, squirming away from him. "You are cold and that was out of nowhere!"

I heaved for breath and shivered, although I was giggling over what had just occurred.

"Aww, I'm sorry," Danny apologized. "Do you forgive me? I mean, I think we've both accepted that my hands are going down your pants today, so you're probably going to have to be okay with it."

"Don't be a pig about it," I sniffed.

"I won't be, I promise."

I melted back down into his arms. "You need to warn me. Your hands are far too cold to be pulling stunts like that."

"I will," he mumbled, running his fingers along the top of my shorts. "Okay?"

"Okay."

He pulled at the top of my shorts and I lifted my hips. He slowly worked his hand across my underwear, not underneath of it, letting my body get used to the temperature of his hand. I rolled into a half sitting position, still allowing him access and reached for his fly. Danny shifted, moving so that he was gently holding my wrists down against the mattress.

"Ah, ah," he chastised me. "That's not for girls who think I'm small."

"Fine," I shrugged, pretending as if I didn't care. "Let me put my clothes back on."

"Nah," Danny denied me. "I like you better this way."

"Either we both get naked, or you let me put my clothes back on," I offered him my ultimatum.

"Naked it is," he declared taking off his own shorts.

He undid my bra and slid it away from me. He leaned over me, kissing his way from my collarbone to my belly button and then back up. He ran his mouth over both my breasts, and then he ran his hand over my underwear.

"Too cold for you?" He asked.

"Just right," I answered.

I slipped out of my underwear, leaving myself bare in front of him. But I wasn't nervous, even as he slid his hand between my legs. I wasn't afraid of being judged. I knew that he loved me. I knew that I loved him. But, I also knew that I loved myself. I wasn't afraid of loving him, because I no longer had anything to be afraid of. I was secure in my family, my friends, my boyfriend, and myself. I wasn't unscathed, and I wasn't whole again – not yet – but I would be.

"I love you," I told him; not even intending to. The words just slipped from my mouth.

"I love you too, Sam," he replied. "More than you could probably imagine."

"I can imagine," I assured him.

Danny slipped out of his boxers, and I rearranged myself so that he was between my legs.

"Ready?" He questioned.

I nodded. I was ready for this. I was ready for university in the fall. I was ready to become the person that I was meant to be all along.

He pushed into me, coming to kiss me. I held him to me, unwilling to let go.

This is where I was meant to be.

So, as always, there's going to be a companion to this story! There will be a one-shot called All These Lives coming out toward the end of December-ish (keep an eye out for it!) and the companion to Invincible called Superman will be coming out January-ish! Thanks for reading!

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

~TLL~