It was now the next morning and Danny woke up in a not-so great mood. He thought he could forget about yesterday's events in his sleep, but instead, they played in his head the entire night. Danny looked at his alarm and noticed that he beat his alarm by about 15 minutes, which was another benefit of a lack of ghost attacks. He remembered when he would only get 5 to 10 minutes of sleep a night, due to ghosts never leaving Amity Park alone. That was something he didn't want to experience ever again.
Danny rubbed his eyes and said, "Okay, new day. Just ignore what happened yesterday. That was yesterday. That was the past. It was a bad moment. I just need to focus on today and nothing else."
Danny then got out of bed and went downstairs to get some breakfast. He entered the kitchen and saw his big sister, Jazz, eating some cereal while reading a book. Jazz noticed Danny's briefs-only attire and looked at him in disgust. For the past few months, Danny spent the morning in nothing but his underwear. He wasn't sure how it happened but what started as an accident turned into a habit. His parents didn't care too much but Jazz hated it. And while he loved Jazz, he also liked pulling the 'annoying little brother' card and this was his way of annoying her.
"Danny, come on." said Jazz.
"What?" asked Danny said while getting some milk from the fridge.
"Can't you put more clothes on and have more decency?" asked Jazz.
Danny set the milk down on the table and said, "No. I like spending the morning like this and I'm not changing it for you. Besides, I don't get why you complain so much about it. It's not like I'm naked.", before getting himself a bowl and a box of cereal.
"You're close enough to it!" Jazz yelled in annoyance.
With the bowl, milk, and cereal on the table, Danny sat down and grabbed the milk first. Jazz looked at Danny and said, "Danny. No. No. Don't do it."
Danny refused to listen and poured the milk in the bowl first and poured the cereal in afterwards. All Jazz could do in that moment was facepalm.
"You are such a degenerate." said Jazz.
"I know." Danny said with a smile before eating his cereal.
After a moment of silence, Jazz asked Danny, "So, are you ready for your date tonight?"
"Yes, I am. I'm more than ready." said Danny.
"I don't know. You're not exactly the king of romance." said Jazz.
"Okay, so Sam and I didn't work out. Whatever. But Valerie and I are going strong right now and I think it might last." said Danny.
"Well, I hope it does, for your sake. Oh, I heard you use the Ghostly Wail last night. What was that about?" asked Jazz.
"I was dealing with Skulker. He said some shit about Valerie, and I snapped. That's it." said Danny.
"You snapped? You're usually in control of your emotions. Is everything okay?" asked Jazz.
Now, it was Danny's turn to get annoyed as he said, "Yes, everything is fine, Jazz. I had a bad moment yesterday, but Skulker had it coming. It's not a big deal."
"Okay. Whatever you say. But you know you can talk to me if anything is wrong." said Jazz.
"I know, Jazz. I know." Danny said before he continued to eat his cereal.
Eventually, Danny washed up, brushed his teeth, got dressed, and left the house for school. And the rest of the school day was a blur for Danny, since all his focus was on his date with Valerie tonight.
For the longest time, Danny and romance were about as compatible as ketchup and ice cream. Meaning they weren't compatible at all. Any crush Danny had when he was younger was always for a more popular student that he knew he had zero chance with.
But the one crush he did have that accepted his feelings was Dash of all people. Yep, Danny didn't just like the ladies, he liked guys too. He was bisexual and Dash was his first major crush. The two were really good friends in elementary school and spent a lot of time together. Danny even told Dash that he 'liked-liked' him, and they became 'boyfriends'. For a while. It turned out that Dash's dad got into his son's ear about how being gay made him girlish and weak and soon enough, Danny and Dash's friendship came to a crashing end. Dash became Danny's bully and that's where they're at to this day.
His next crush was Paulina and Danny fell head over heels for her in record time. For a few years, he thought she was literal perfection. He even set his computer password to "Paulina Fenton". That's how hard his crush was to Paulina. But over time, he learned her true character and he wanted nothing to do with her. She was spoiled, shallow, vain, and thought she was above everyone else. And when Danny found out that she and Dash were dating, he wasn't surprised at all. In his mind, they belonged together. Garbage belonged with garbage, and he wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
After Paulina, there was Sam, Danny's long-time best friend, next to Tucker. Danny knew Sam always had a crush on him, even when they were kids, and it took a while for Danny to feel the same way about Sam. After the Dark Danny' incident and the many 'fake-out makeouts' the two had, Danny decided to take the plunge and ask Sam out on a date. Both Danny and Sam were convinced that they were destined to be together. Destined to be a couple. Destined to fall deeply in love with each other. And then the date happened and…something was off. It didn't go as well as either of them thought it would. It was painfully awkward, and the romantic chemistry just wasn't there. They tried a few more dates but they both realized that they were better off as friends. It was disappointing but it could've been worse.
And now there was Valerie. Originally, Danny didn't like her very much. She was a member of the A-Listers, and she was just as shallow and shitty as the rest of them. But when her father lost her job and was forced to live in a rundown apartment (due to an accident that Danny inadvertently caused), her personality changed for the better. She became more humble, more likable, and she actually became interested in him. Knowing that she had to work two jobs to pay for college because of the accident made Danny feel awful and his dislike of her quickly went away. Danny soon became interested in her and their instead eventually turned into romance. And now they were a thing, and it was great.
As long as Danny wasn't Phantom.
When he was Phantom, Valerie wanted him dead. In her anger, she was manipulated into hunting all ghosts by the evil Fruit Loop himself, Vlad Masters. He gave her a ton of ghost weaponry and she went by the name, "Red Huntress", due to her black and red ghost-hunting suit. And like everyone in the town, she didn't know that Fenton and Phantom were the same person, so she and Danny literally had a love-hate relationship.
But even though she wanted to kill his alter-ego, Danny still cared for her and he wanted to be with her. He knew he had to tell her about Phantom at some point, but he chose to put that on the backburner because he didn't need anymore drama in his life right now.
Later that day, Danny stood outside the Nasty Burger, waiting for Valerie's shift to end. When she exited the fast-food restaurant, she saw Danny and smiled.
"You were waiting for me, weren't you?" asked Valerie.
"Yeah, I didn't want to be late. I'm late for literally everything else in my life and I didn't want to give you the same treatment. You're way too important." said Danny.
"Really? Aww, I appreciate that." said Valerie.
"Thanks. So, you ready to go?" asked Danny.
"Yes, please." Valerie said before she and Danny held hands and walked away from the restaurant, officially starting the date. Danny took Valerie to a late-night movie and purposely chose a super low-budget movie about ghosts, so they can laugh and mock it for an hour and a half. After the movie was over, the couple sat on a bench at the local park and talked.
"God, that movie was awful. Whoever wrote that clearly has no idea how ghosts work." said Danny.
"I know. A sheet with two holes for eyes? Like, talk about amateur. They didn't even have the budget to make the ghost look like something from Ghostbusters. That would've been more realistic." said Valerie.
"I know. But you did have a good time, right?" asked Danny.
"Absolutely. Being with you makes me forget about the Nasty Burger and dealing with asshole customers." said Valerie.
Danny was about to say something but that dreaded blue mist came out of his mouth.
"Oh no. No. No. No. I am not doing this. Especially not now." Danny thought to himself.
Then, the Box Ghost had to show up and make his presence known.
"I am the Box Ghost!" said the Box Ghost.
Normally, Danny would roll his eyes or mock the Box Ghost for being so incompetent. But not this time. Like what happened with Skulker, he started shaking in anger. He was tired of ghosts interfering and ruining his life and he wasn't going to take it anymore.
He turned towards the Box Ghost, his eyes turning bright green in anger, and said, "Buddy, I'm getting really tired of your shit. You control boxes. You're weak. You're pathetic. You're a joke. No one will ever respect you. So, I suggest you get out of here or I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET YOUR WORTHLESS EXISTENCE!"
Box Ghost was frightened by Danny's rage and said, "Okay, I'll leave. I'm sorry. Beware!", before flying away as fast as possible.
When it came to Danny's attitude, Valerie was both surprised and concerned. She'd never seen him this angry before, not even when he was bullied by the A-Listers. She put her hand on his shoulder and asked, "Danny, are you okay?"
And if she couldn't get more surprised, Danny turned around and kissed her. Once the initial shock wore off, she embraced the kiss.
After about 10 seconds, Danny broke away from the kiss and said, "Sorry about that. I wish you didn't have to see that. And sorry about the abrupt kiss."
"It's fine, Danny. I'm not mad about the kiss. Just warn me next time. And I completely understand why you got angry. Ghosts are annoying as hell and since your folks have to deal with them daily, it's easy to get upset at the sight of them." said Valerie.
"Yeah, it feels like it's getting easier and easier to do that." said Danny.
"Don't worry, soon enough, Phantom and the rest of those ghosts will be out of Amity Park and out of our lives. Permanently." said Valerie.
Danny gave a nervous chuckle and said, "Yeah, I sure hope that happens."
After a few more seconds of silence, Danny quickly said, "Well, I think it's time for me to go. This was a good date, right? It was derailed a bit at the end, but it was still good. I'll see you tomorrow and we'll plan for something next week. Sound good?"
"Sounds good to me." said Valerie.
"Great. Love you. Bye." Danny said before he rushed out of there and once he was far enough way from Valerie, he turned into Phantom and flew back home.
When he got to his room, Danny started to freak out.
"Okay, my behavior last night wasn't an isolated incident. What's wrong with me? Okay, bad question. But what's going on with me? I've never been that angry at the Box Ghost before. Sure he's annoying but he didn't deserve that. Maybe the pressure of being Danny Phantom is finally getting to me." Danny said to himself before sitting on his bed.
He transformed into his human self and said, "But this isn't entirely bad. Being intimidating and threatening has its perks. Now, super annoying ghosts will learn to leave me alone. But I still have to deal with my parents and Valerie and Vlad and…UGH!", before putting his hands on his head.
"WHY DOES LIFE SUCK SO BAD?!" Danny yelled.
Danny screaming got the attention of Jazz, who knocked on his door and said, "Danny, is everything alright in there?"
"Yeah, Jazz. Nothing's wrong. I'm just frustrated." said Danny.
"Well, okay. But I do want to let you know that I'll always be proud of you, little brother." said Jazz.
"I know. Thanks Jazz." Danny said and when Jazz was gone, he added, "I really needed to hear that.", with tears threatening to fall out of his eyes.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. So, several big things to talk about. One, Danny and Valerie are a couple in this story. Danny and Sam tried but it didn't work. If you're mad about that, too bad. Two, Danny is bisexual and his past relationship with Dash is the "dirt" Danny alluded to in Chapter 1. And three, Danny's behavior is only going to get worse before it gets better. In the next chapter, Danny's behavior will be noticed by Mr. Lancer and the two will have a little chat about it. Also, I'm working on a ton of stories right now (one-shots, old stories, new stories), so keep expecting updates. Other than that, I hope you all have a wonderful day. Bye for now and stay safe.