A/N: Time for an update already? Then are y'all all ready? I sure am! We need to see just what Tucker is going to do about all of this—especially about Valerie. So, here is Chapter 45, IDNOAC and enjoy!

TrueHeart—Chapter 45—Heart-to-Heart

Tucker snapped out of his panic and knew he didn't have much time. He quickly dove right to where he thought his PDA was thrown. He sighed in relief when he found it shortly after digging through the newly fallen snow and soft sand. He shook as much of the wet dirt off and wiped the snow from it as much as he could. Then as he jammed it into his pocket, he uttered, "Nothing that won't come off with my electronics vacuum cleaner. Now, where's Valerie? And I have to check on Sam! And somehow get to Danny!"

He pulled himself out of the pit and searched through the heavy snowdrift. His gaze first went to where he had left Sam. He gasped when he saw that she was gone. "She woke up? But she wouldn't have gone home!?" he gasped in disbelief. "Or did she see what happened to Danny and went after them? She would! But she wouldn't have gone without…duh! She wouldn't have seen me in that pit! Maybe she's looking for me! But what about Valerie?"

But, of course, he didn't know that Sam had also been captured by Spectra.

He then scanned the sky and the surrounding area for Valerie, but had a hard time seeing through the thickening snowfall. Then he saw her! She was already partially covered in snow and was still lying against the building nearest the pit. He gasped in worry this time, and darted right to her.

Just as the boy got to her, he heard her groan and saw that she was starting to get up. She had yet to look up and hadn't seen him, nor had she heard him since the snow had softened his steps.

Tucker didn't want to startle her, but was also anxious to see if she was all right. While trying to hide his concern, he said as softly as he could, "Valerie, are you all right?"

He immediately offered his hand to help her up when she did look up upon hearing his voice. But she angrily shoved his arm away and continued to struggle to get back on her feet on her own.

He stood helplessly by.

Finally, she thought she was successful; but then, she slipped on some of the snow that had fallen off of her and lost her balance. This time, Tucker lunged forward, catching her fall. He didn't care if this would get her upset or that her blood from her still injured arm had gotten on him.

Still, once she had regained her balance, she pushed him off, wincing from, but ignoring the pain shooting through her injured and now cold right arm. And her head was still spinning slightly, which made her feel nauseous.

However, she managed to growl through it all, "Leave me alone! As if you care how I am! I don't need you—or your help!"

And then, the next angry thoughts totally cleared her mind. Pointing a fuming finger at Tucker, she seethed, "And how dare you show your face to me again after all of this! Now everything makes total sense! How could have I been so stupid? You lied to me! And he lied to me! All of you lied to me! You pretended to be my friends and you lied to me! You knew all along that Danny Fenton was Phantom and you never told me! And all those times when I tried to dust Phantom, when I ranted on and on about how much I hated him, you never told me the truth!"

She hadn't realized that her breathing had already increased and her face was hot until she saw that her face mask was beginning to fog up. She grunted and activated the switch to lift the face mask, and, ignoring the cold, snow-filled wind that had suddenly blown up and screamed at her face, glared at Tucker, adding, "And you took me for a cruel ride all along, didn't you? How many times did you three creeps snicker behind my back, knowing you had one up on me and thinking me as a real dope? Looks like you three had hours of entertainment with that, and all at my expense!"

"Now listen here, Valerie," Tucker slowly began, already getting more agitated; only to have the steamed girl rudely cut him off.

"No, you listen, you jerk! And now I get it! You three were just using me all that time for your own sick joke, huh? So, what was in it for you, Tucker? Did you get the biggest laugh after you told your icky friends about all of those times when…" But she suddenly couldn't say more. She didn't want to show him how much he had hurt her. She gritted her teeth, trying to steel herself.

"That's not it!" he firmly objected, only to have her interrupt him again.

"Oh, isn't it? I bet that's why you ran off after the party, huh? You had to…to keep yourself from laughing yourself silly after seeing me make such a fool of myself in front of your jerky friends! Right?"

Valerie was having an even harder time controlling her emotions, and her breathing had increased. She was so angry, hurt and mortified about all of this that all that she could do was lash at Tucker more. And with each word, her voice became angrier and louder as her embedded hatred for everything that had ever hurt her, had ever torn her heart open, took command of her feelings. "So, tell me then, Tucker. How much did you tell your creepy friends about us? Did you give them all the intimate details? Or, since those details weren't quite juicy enough, did you make up more lurid details just for the fun of it? And did they enjoy hearing about all those times when the Red Huntress was so vulnerable, so stupid and silly with letting her guard down? That just makes me sick!"

"Now, wait—" Tucker growled, rightly taking offense to that. But she harshly interrupted him.

"No, you wait! All of times when I thought you cared about me…all those times when I thought I could be friends with Danny and even Sam…when I could…finally trust someone…You all were just faking me out! And all just for fun! All of it was just an act, wasn't it? And in the end, you broke up with me when I finally upset your despicable little game by coming clean about being the Red Huntress, huh? …I just blew a hole right in your plans to sucker me into making me look even more like an idiot in front of you and your creepy friends, didn't I?! Oh, I see now! So, all three of you really had a great time at my party and probably for days afterward, didn't you?!"

She could feel her heart pounding at the same rate as her breathing. She hurt so much right now that she wanted to just jettison away. But that same heart somehow wouldn't let her do that right now.

The snow was coming down harder now. But Tucker ignored the white coldness that suddenly enveloped them both. He didn't even try to pull his jacket around him. He was now too riled up himself from how unfair Valerie was being and from what she had said. But, he had really no time for this. And he didn't want to take the time. His best friend was in danger, Sam was missing, and Valerie would never understand anyway. So, he wasn't about to let Valerie box him in with this.

Thrusting his fisted hands to his sides, and ignoring the angry frost pouring out of his mouth, he growled back, "Okay! You're right, Valerie. I did lie to you all this time! We all did! But not for the despicable reasons you accused us about. We never had 'hours of entertainment at your expense' as you said! And I never told them anything about us—ever!—because they're great friends and,…and, for your information, it never even crossed their minds to ask about those kinds of things! In fact, now that I think of it, they were more supportive to me about you than you deserve now that you said all those nasty things about them—and me! But you want to know something? We didn't lie just so that we could have 'hours of entertainment' to mock your self-absorbed, putrid ego! We lied so that we could keep Danny's secret safe. And why did we do that? Because he asked us and because it helped him! And so, Miss Red Huntress, it wasn't my secret to keep from you! It was his! And I would do anything for Danny, even if it meant keeping his secret from you, my parents or anyone else he wanted me to!" His breathing had now become as rapid as the angry thumping of his heart.

At first, Valerie was taken aback by his anger. She had never seen him like this before. She had no doubt that she had hit a definite nerve.

But before she could say anything, he continued, now getting in her face.

Again, she cringed a little at his boldness, as he seethed, "And you want to know something else? I've always known you were the Red Huntress! Really, we all did, since the very beginning! But I—we—kept that secret, too, and you wanna know why? Because you hadn't ever given me—or us—permission to tell it yet, either! Until that other night. And I wouldn't even tell the world even now about it if you said it wasn't okay, because I would…do…anything for you, too!"

He suddenly caught his breath from what he had just let slip out. He still felt that he would do anything for her! But he threw that thought quickly away. His face and emotions were still too much on fire.

His last statement floored Valerie. Did he just say what she thought he had said? Suddenly, her heart was seized with confusion—and remorse.

"Tucker—," Valerie tried to say, but this time he was the one who was doing the interrupting.

"I'm not finished!" he yelled, throwing his hands up into the air before fisting them and shoving them to his sides. He then pulled up his right hand and jabbed an angry index finger at her this time as he hotly growled, "And I won't stand for you calling Danny and Sam any more names, you hear? You got it all wrong about them, about all three of us. And you got it way wrong why I left your party! But just so you know, even when they knew your secret all along, and knew how you were, Danny and Sam have bent over backwards trying to get along with you for my sake; and believe me, especially for Sam, that says a lot! It hadn't been easy for any of us, since none of us really ever knew if you would all of the sudden go off on one of your 'I-hate-Danny-Phantom' rants. I'm glad that I can tell you the real truth now! I really had always dreaded that you would go on one of those despicable rants, because I know that Sam would have wanted to claw your eyes out if you ever did! But, you know, even if she wanted to do that, I guarantee that she would have first eaten her insides out not to—just for me! Geez! Don't you ever think about others? It's about time that somebody told you how darn selfish and stubborn you can be!"

She frowned in irritation at his remark, but he didn't give her that inch to object.

"And whether you want to hear it or not, I'm going to tell you the brutally honest reason why I took off from your party! It was about Danny and his secret. But more than that. It was 'all about you'—the real you! And what I mean is the vile person inside the Red Huntress. The one who ruined a good thing…who ruined everything!"

"Wait a minute—" she growled, angry at all his affronts. How dare he say those things to her! But she stopped herself at her next thoughts. Wait! What did he mean by a 'good thing'? She angrily threw that stray thought away and glared at the boy. The only 'good thing' was that she had finally found out about all the lies, and they could finally tell it like it was! And what? He had the audacity to accuse her of ruining things? That Ghost Kid had ruined everything! She practically gnawed on her next words, "What makes you think—"

But he interrupted her again. He had had enough. It was time for him to make up for all those times when he had been silent, when he only listened to her long, spiteful rants about any and all her frustrations—especially the big one about Danny Phantom. Listening to all that vileness thrown at his best friend had been hard for him to do all along; and all her hate-filled words thrown at Danny Phantom really stung him as surely as if they had been physical blows aimed at him instead. But, he had taken it all because he had wanted to help her to work through her hate. But now, it was different. Even though she had been wrong all along, he had let it slide before, hoping that she would have changed. But he had been wrong. And he would not hold back or silently take her lashing any more. He had to get it off his chest before he would explode.

"Let me finish!" he firmly yelled, now shaking violently with his anger. "You've been gunning for my best friend for a couple of years now and did you know that he never ever once asked me to help him keep you from doing that, even after we started dating?! And he never has ever tried to hurt you during all those times even though you were way bent on way more than just hurting him!"

He threw up his hands and shook them in frustration as he forcibly continued, "Had you ever noticed that? Or were you so selfish and busy hating Phantom's guts that you were blinded to anything decent that he might have done, like actually helping you?"

"He never helped me! He always—" she firmly objected before Tucker angrily completed the sentence for her.

"He always helped you! And, trust me, if he didn't want to help you….if he ever had gone after you with the same vile, putrid intentions as you had going after him, you wouldn't be here right now! He knows he could've wasted you with his little finger if he wanted to, but he also knows that would have been worst than wrong. It would have been despicably evil!"

She blinked in shock at his heart-felt words as they drove themselves right into her own heart. That was it! It would have been despicably evil if Phantom had done that! She paused a bit at another thought that had suddenly captured her. She hadn't thought that it was possible for Phantom to waste her for an entirely different reason. Then, lowering her head a little, she offered her slow, almost apologetic, response, "I just had always thought that he was a coward!"

"That is something I would never call Danny Phantom!" Tucker spat back, not noticing the change in her voice. He was just too upset to notice.

Thrusting his shaking index finger and its angry fisted hand toward her again, he growled, "And I'm lucky enough to have him as my best friend! And that's only one of the reasons why I finally broke up with you! I thought you would change even when I knew your feelings about Phantom. I had felt sorry for you way back then when I first started to go out with you. I thought, somehow, if I helped you with your frustrations, it would all be different. That you would…change...That you would see what a hero he is. That he's always trying to do the right thing, even when all the bad things were sometimes stacked up against him. And that somehow, when you realized all that, you would be different…that you wouldn't grow up being bitter and full of hatred…that you would be that person who I lo—" He abruptly interrupted himself this time, trying to stay on track. He frowned at his weakness and growled, "But you never tried to give him a break! You were too selfish and ruined everything!"

Valerie wanted to object again. No one had ever talked to her this way and gotten away with it! But then, his last words—'ruined everything'— suddenly shook her heart, flagrantly flogging it with the realization. That's how she felt about that…that man that night… That's how she felt about her own actions that night that had put her mother there, in the wrong place and at the wrong time, only to have that…that man tear her from her…Her whole life had been ruined; her whole outlook on life had been ruined. It had never occurred to her like that until now.

She felt a sudden drain when her mind finally comprehended something else that her anger had blinded her to. What Tucker had slipped out saying—more than once. And somehow, she now knew that he had meant another kind of 'good thing', not the kind she had twisted it into. And she thought that he had almost said that he….he…. She swallowed hard and couldn't make herself balk at his words this time. She even couldn't deny that Tucker had some very good points, even when it stung to hear it. She wondered why she would admit that, why she let all of his words hammer right into her. But what particularly struck her was all that stuff he had said and almost said that had nothing to do with Danny or his secret. In fact, she now knew they were as vivid in her mind as the cold, bright whiteness blanketing them at this moment. She looked at him, now clinging more earnestly to everything he had to say.

Tucker swallowed hard when he saw the sudden change in her eyes. They were…less angry. But he pressed on nevertheless, trying to control his breathing. "I shouldn't be all upset about this anymore, but I still am! I thought I was just doing you a favor by wanting to help you. I thought it would be simple."

He paused a moment, catching his breath. And then slowing his rate a little, he said, "But something happened that I didn't expect through all of this. I started to…care about you. I don't know why, but I did. And then, all of the sudden, I didn't want to lie to you about anything anymore. About how I had started seeing you at first because I felt sorry for you, about how I knew your secret, and about how I knew Danny's and had to protect it. But when you finally told us your secret, I felt that I should tell you about Danny. I had really wanted to for awhile now, but I couldn't. And then…"

He couldn't go on. He was no longer angry. He was feeling sick inside. He couldn't help feeling the pain. Something inside was dying. And his heart ached at his next thought. He had wanted to tell her about Danny for longer than he had originally thought. And he had thought that if he could ever tell her Danny's secret, she would have understood. But now, since she found out accidentally anyhow and was just as hateful, selfish and angry about it, she obviously didn't understand. He was wrong for hoping otherwise, even though he hadn't wanted to stop hoping…. But he jolted a little at his next thought. Sam was so right! Valerie would never change.

He resisted the pressure in his eyes and finally grumbled, "Oh, what's the use with you, anyway? Hate and bitterness have eaten you up and you fed them willingly, just like so many others like you! You'll never change."

He turned from her and started to walk away, his entire body and soul crushed with the realization and for having to say it. But he knew he had to.

But then, suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and it gently persuaded him to stop and turn around. He obliged it, though he didn't know why, and knew he couldn't look her in the face.

It was Valerie, of course, but she was now out of her Red Huntress suit. She felt the sudden cold, but she didn't care about that at that moment. All the while when she had stood there taking in his angry verbal assault, she suddenly realized how much he had been suffering with everything: about keeping Danny's secret—and hers; about his lies—and knowing and still keeping all of hers, including all about her hatred for Phantom—and his gallant guardianship and loyalty to his friends. And how understanding and patient—and even affectionate—he had been with her the entire time. He was so right about her and now she knew that she had been so unfair to him, especially when she was even guiltier than his lies were. She had never told him the truth about it all…

She had grown more than bitter; she had been getting more selfish and eaten up by hatred. And now that she thought about it, it really wasn't about Phantom…it was about all the hurt and anger she had felt and kept bottled all these years…the hurt and anger over how her mother had died…And how so unfair it was to her that life had cheated her out of having her mom then and now…especially for all those times when she needed her…"

She felt the tears well up but she fought them back. She suddenly realized something that she should have figured out years ago. She had grown more demanding and selfish shortly after her mother's death. It had been all about her…her need to have a hole inside filled, to always be the center of attention.

And now she realized that was one of the reasons why she had wanted so badly to be part of the 'in' crowd. But she had to fit their mold…and she did by demanding that her father get whatever it took to be considered 'cool'. She hadn't realized it until now, too, that she had taken all her hurt out on her father as well…That in his grief, her father obliged her and worked very hard to give her the material things that he felt might fill her empty heart. He had tried to make it all up to her, even if none of it had been his fault, either.

But then, when all of that was suddenly taken away, when her life was ruined by Phantom and that dumb ghost dog, all her hurt and anger had nowhere to hide. So, she redirected them at Phantom—and all other ghosts. She suddenly, yet mentally, gasped. She was talking about Danny! Someone who had been special to her once, and from what she had known about him, he wouldn't have wanted to ruin her life. And she had wanted to destroy him just as much as that drunk driver had destroyed her!

And with that eye-opener, she suddenly did think of all the times that Phantom actually did help her—like now, against those two ghosts. And when she was in the Ghost Zone just the other week with that ghost gang. Even then, when she had attacked and almost wasted him, Phantom had rescued her from a terrible fate. One that she had…deserved…And then, what about those other times, like when they had actually worked together when they were kidnapped by Skulker or when they rescued Danielle? And then there were the times….she stopped. Tucker was right! She had been so unfair to Danny Phantom, too! She felt crushed with shame. But she had to let Tucker know how she now felt…

"Uhm, I-I t-think people can change, can't they?" she then choked out with a pleading and sad frown. "I have been so unfair to you, Tucker. And you were so right. I have been so awful, so selfish…and despicably evil." She paused in sorrow and sadness. "And all these…these evil things I did were all because of another selfish secret I hid from you…" She paused again, suddenly frightened on how he would take that. But she pressed on, "But that's a very long story and, really, from how terribly I treated you all this time, it doesn't really matter anymore, because…."

She suddenly choked on her words. She didn't want to say what she had to say, but for once, she would make herself do the right thing. She ignored her cracking voice as she pressed on, "B-Because I-I r-really don't blame you any more, you know, for wanting to break up with me. I deserve it for all the crap I threw at you …and Danny."

Tucker didn't respond at first. He was having major déjà vu about what Valerie had just said. That was almost exactly what his mother had told him about her and his dad. Just like Valerie now, his mother had also told his father that she had deserved their break-up because of her selfishness.

He finally looked up at her and their eyes met. Somehow, he could see that the pent-up hatred he usually saw in her eyes had somehow melted away, and had been replaced with a yearning to be forgiven by him.

The sharp pain in his heart eased a little.

But Valerie took his long pause as his agreeing with her about their break-up.

She sadly muttered, "Well, okay, I understand. But just so you know, I think I'll still always….love you, even after all of this. I still do. Crazy, I know. But maybe it'll help me when I can somehow, one day, stop hurting about all of this, and know I won't be able to hurt you, or Danny, or even Sam anymore."

She let her head drop; and this time didn't try to fight her hot, sad tears as they pushed against the cold. She wrapped her arms around herself, now that she realized how freezing and numb she was.

Tucker looked at her, jolting a little when he did. Did she just say what he thought she had said? And something clicked inside of him. Something he could finally put a finger on and why he had been so upset about this whole thing, too. He had loved her, too. More than anything. But then, suddenly, he felt—No! Crazy as it seemed, he knew— that he still did. And with that thought, he suddenly felt blanketed by a wave of warmth, and the pain in his heart totally melted away.

Before Valerie could turn away, she felt a warm coat drape over her shoulders and a soft voice say, "Uhm, Valerie?"

She looked up through her cold tears. And with hope in her voice, replied, "Yes?"

As his warm hand cupped her cheek and his thumb wiped her tears away, he smiled weakly and softly said, "Uhm, it can happen, can't it? People changing, I mean."

She didn't think a smile could get any bigger than hers right now as she jumped into his arms, knocking off the coat he had put around her. She groaned slightly in the next instant when bringing her injured arm up to embrace his neck, but she ignored it as her mind whirled with his in their healing and reconciling kiss.