Chapter Sixty Five

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"What do you say then, Andy? Excited that you won't have to wake up early for a whole two months?"

"I'd be more excited if you didn't feel the need to wake me up by sitting on me." Ha, Andrew could complain all he wanted, but Danny knew the other was hiding a smile into his pillow. "Is there a reason for this horrible way of waking up?"

"It's the last day of school!" Squirming to get more comfortable, Danny braced his hands on Andrew's shoulder blades, getting a bit distracted by the warm skin before he was leaning down to place a kiss between them.

"Works better on Randy," Andrew hummed, melting under the touch anyways. "And should I take this excitement as an insult to my classes, then?"

"Hey, I'm going to miss your classes," Danny said, hiding a pout against Andrew's skin, and grinning as he felt the other shift and stretch. "It was fun to watch you teach and imagine your reaction if I stood up and asked you to fuck me against the desk."

"I'm rather certain we've done that a few times." A sharp turn had Danny scrambling to catch his balance, whining when Andrew trapped him with a hug and pinned his arms to his side. "Do I need to bring up the incident on Valentine's day?"

"I remember Valentine's day. It was a really nice day." They had gotten together with Randy, Danny had fucked Andrew in an empty classroom on the floor, and he had eaten lots of chocolate. Good day.

"You are incorrigible, I hope you realize." Squirming around, Danny pecked a kiss under Andrew's chin, grinning at the burst of laughter. "Oui, oui, je t'aime aussi."

"I really love hearing you speak French, you know." Pushing himself back up, Danny looked down at Andrew before leaning in to steal a kiss. Andrew returned it at once, pressing back against him before he was jerking away with a hiss that startled Danny. "Andy? Hey, what's-"

"Main." Oh- Oh! Right. Slipping off to sit at Andrew's side, Danny grabbed the bandaged hand and channeled ice energy into his own hands as carefully as possible, smiling a little when Andrew relaxed. "Merci beaucoup."

"I can't tell if that was because I just said I like hearing you speak French or if it was just instinct where you're hurt." Andrew blinked up at him, looking surprised before frowning. "You have no idea, do you?"

"It's mostly the second one." Startling at Randy, goddamn former assassins, Danny shifted over as Randy settled beside them with bandages and one of his healing tonics. "How you feeling, Andy?"

"Like shit," Andrew huffed, smiling a bit when Randy tossed his glasses over before sliding Danny's own on and oh, that was much better, actually. "How much longer until this heals?"

"Another few days. Speed healing doesn't work on blood blossom burns. Danny, want to keep icing that up while I do this?"

"Can do," Danny nodded, cupping Andrew's hand and placing two fingers near the outside edges of the wound, wincing at how the skin was still blackened. "That's not normal, is it?"

"No, it's not. It's like… It's almost like it's poisonous to ghosts." That didn't sound good. Andrew seemed to agree by his pale look, Randy quickly shaking his head. "Don't worry, don't worry, you only touched it briefly." As he spoke, he smoothed one of the creams on, rubbing it into the skin. "Like I said, you should be okay in a few days."

"I'd rather it be now," Andrew grumbled, Danny leaning over to kiss at his cheek. And then kiss at his smile. And then maybe-

"If you're going to start making out on the bed then don't freeze his hand off." Glancing down to see a few ice crystals, Danny let his hand go before moving, maybe flying, to sit in Andrew's lap and pull him back into their kiss, thoroughly distracting him as Randy wrapped a bandage around the burn.

"I seem to have a very bad habit of getting burned," Andrew mumbled between kisses, Danny trying not to laugh as Randy snorted and tied the bandage off with a flourish.

"That's okay, we'll always be here to make it better." Danny kissed him one last time before flying off of him, knowing if he didn't then they would end up being very late to school, but then, mm, maybe he should make sure Randy didn't feel jealous or anything like that.

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After a late start to the day and almost being late for class, everything seemed to just about fly by. After the haze of testing, classes had been getting easier and easier and most teachers didn't seem to care what their students did as long as they didn't set the school on fire. Andrew seemed to be in the second category, furiously typing on his laptop and shaking out his bandaged hand every so often during Creative Writing.

"The burn is still that bad?" Sam frowned, adding another mark to their tic-tac-toe board. Danny raised an eyebrow at the bat on their new board, shrugging and adding a ghost to the next spot.

"Yeah, and that's after some of Randy's healing cream went on it, too. It's getting better, but it's been a few days now and it's still black."

"Jeez those vines are even more dangerous than we thought- I win." What? How the hell?

"You're cheating. You have to be cheating because I've been trying to cheat." That earned him a whack to his knuckle's with Sam's pen, Danny pouting as he clutched his hand to his chest. "There's no need to be mean about it."

"Didn't we learn a lesson about cheating?" It spoke volumes that a comment like that had Danny laughing rather than feeling afraid. "What are we gonna do about Section 13?"

"I don't know… Those weapons looked ready to go and they had enough for a couple hundred people. Whatever they're about to do they're going to do it soon. We need to keep an eye out and try to get back in those databases."

"Tucker's working on it. I've been talking to my parents about this, a little. Maybe they can buy out the company or something. Mom was so pleased I was initiating conversation with her again that she agreed she'd look into it. We also went to dinner and it wasn't horrible."

"Was your dress black?" At the offended look, Danny smirked. "Dark purples?" Ah, she never changed. Danny was happy to hear her teenage rebellion phase was calming down, though. "I'm glad, Sammy."

"Yeah, well, I could only be a little shit for so long." Sam started a new board, doodling a ghost this time. Danny drew his DP symbol. "Clockwork still can't see?"

"Not a thing. Jazz and him have been trying to look into the people around them to figure something out, but so far nothing, really." There was muttered swearing over from the teacher's desk, Danny glancing up and oh, he was looking for a word. "What's another word for like, beautiful- Like slutty, but not slutty. Attractive slutty?"

To Sam's credit, she didn't look at him like he was crazy, only frowning for a moment, "Hm… Alluring, maybe?" Looking back to Andrew to see he now had a beaming smile and was typing much more happily, Danny nodded.

"Thanks." Hm, alluring. That must have meant he was working on that new manuscript of his. Queen's Gift? "Hey, have you heard anymore people speaking Ghostspeak?"

"Way more. It's spread all over the school at this point. And you know that theory about ghost radiation or whatever?" Sam cleared her throat, sitting up a little. "I think you might be right."

"Oh- Oh. Well, fuck." That probably couldn't be good. "I guess it'd hit you guys harder because all the ghost fighting and time in the Ghost Zone?"

"Definitely. Not to mention we've literally had ectoplasm on us and probably in us," Sam shuddered, Danny fighting off a laugh. "Why did we agree to that blood pact?"

"Because it was an awesome idea and you suggested it."

"Semantics," Sam waved off, Danny giving in to the laugh.

"Okay, okay, so we have ghostly behavior in adults, Ghostspeak in teens and younger, Section 13 riding our asses, and it's our last day of school. Anything else world ending?"

"Hey, Danny?" Looking up to see Star, Danny shot Sam a look. Sam looked just as baffled, giving a small shrug. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, Star. What's up?" He… He couldn't really remember the last time he had really talked with Star. That lunch in the library, yeah, and before that- Oh, right. "And, uh, sorry if I was rude to you before spring break, by the way."

"Oh, that's okay, I know you were just sorting through your emotions." Oh, right. The proposing rumor. Well, she hadn't been wrong.

"H- Ha. Yeah- Yeah, right, emotions." Ignoring the no doubt shit-eating grin Andrew had on, Danny cleared his throat. "So, uh, what's up?"

"Right. Right, well, um, it's less talking and more I have a question for you, I guess." A glance showed that the other A Listers were listening carefully and oh, jeez. It was the last day of school so they were probably going to ask to confirm the rumors- "You- You are Danny Phantom?"

For a moment, a single moment, Danny was worried by just how fast they were learning Ghostspeak. Then he realized what she had just asked. Danny stared into wide blue eyes that looked as surprised as he- No, he wasn't even surprised. Horrified, maybe? Terrified? Fucking scared out of his goddamn mind- "Oh," Star said softly.

Stumbling out of his seat fast enough to knock his chair over, Danny backed away from Star as if she was dangerous- But, she was, wasn't she? She had no obligation to keep his secret. None at all. And if she knew, then that meant the A Listers knew. How long? How long had it taken for them to figure it out-

"Danny- Danny, oh, no, it's okay. It's okay, Danny-" Star babbled as she stepped forward, Danny skittering back and only staring at her. He couldn't see Sam's expression and he didn't even glance to Andrew. He could only shake his head.

"No- No, don't you dare tell me this is okay." He thought he was ready. He thought he was ready for people to find out who he was, but- He had spent years hiding and now suddenly everyone was figuring it out- "This isn't okay."

"Danny-" Staring at them all, Danny swallowed before he phased through the door and flew. He didn't know where he was going or what he was doing or what he was going to do, but he just- He had to get out of there. He couldn't- He hadn't been ready. He thought he had, but he hadn't been ready to deal with this.

Familiar energy rushed through him, Danny breathing unsteadily as he wildly looked around as arms captured him and brought him close. Struggling for only a moment, he calmed at the purple cloak that was wrapped around him tightly.

"Oh, Daniel." Near crying at the familiar voice, Danny curled close to Clockwork at once, bringing the cloak even tighter around him. "You weren't ready."

"Cl- Clockwork. What is- What's happening." The language of the dead was being spoken by the living, students were seeing who he really was, and Amity Park was something different. "What's happening to my home?"

"It's… It's going to take a while to explain, Daniel. Will you be patient as I do?" That… Yeah- Yeah. Danny could be patient. He could be patient.

"Tell me everything." Everything he could use to save his town.