Held onto the chapter this long in part because I start overtime tomorrow, and I am dreading it

Hopefully you guys like this chapter because I could really use some encouragement lol

Chapter 16
Start to Unravel

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fenton knew he had made a mistake even before he reached the cafeteria and saw how crowded it had become. He had heard the roar of many excited voices echoing down the hall, but he hadn't thought it would be so bad. There were more students than the last time he had entered. All the tables were packed to the point some students had to stand beside their chosen group's table, most likely crowding around Dash or anyone else who had seen the fight outside.

Fenton took a few more seconds to catch his breath, only for Tucker to grab his shoulder and pull him back. Fenton hissed, startled by the pain he felt just between his shoulder blades. When Phantom had crashed into him and they had landed on the floor, his back had taken the brunt of the fall, followed soon after by his head. Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised he was developing a bruise there, but the pain had been negligible compared to everything else, at least until Tucker pulled on his shoulder. He half-turned toward Tucker, confused and irritated, but Tucker held up a finger, gasping for breath.

After a couple seconds, he panted, "I know it was kind of crazy…and your concussion probably made it worse…but, dude, trust me on this…you're gonna want to keep a low profile."

"What?" Fenton turned to fully face Tucker, forcing his hand off his shoulder. "Why?"

It took Tucker several more seconds to get his breathing under control. Fenton wasn't much better off, still trying to catch his own breath after his sprint. They were a little more exposed in the hallway than Fenton liked, and, apparently, Tucker felt the same, because he beckoned Fenton to follow him further back into the hallway. Fenton did so, rolling his eyes.

"Okay," Tucker finally said when they were against a wall, several feet away from the entrance, "okay, so, picture this." He spread his hands out to either side as if he was about to start a grand story. "Local town hero, Danny Phantom, crashes through the cafeteria window and collides with some kid. Huge coincidence, right? Could have been anyone sitting at that incredibly unlucky seat, right?"

Fenton crossed his arms. "Duh. Including you."

"Uh, yeah, but I'm not the one everyone has been watching and speculating about, am I? I'm not the one who just recently had his picture taken with said window-destroying, local town hero, am I, Danny?"

Fenton frowned, his eyes narrowing. "No…but…"

"Oh no," Tucker went on before Fenton could think of a valid objection, "don't worry, it gets worse."

Fenton…didn't like the sound of that.

"So. Ghost is roaring and kids are screaming outside, the local town hero who can lift a school bus and blast lasers from his eyes has just been pitched through the window, so naturally everyone inside panics and starts running around like terrified chickens, trying to escape the room before the unknown but probably powerful ghost can follow Phantom inside. Right?"

"Uh, yeah..." Fenton said slowly. "Can you get to the point?"

"Big bad ghost? Terrified students? Think about it, Danny!" Tucker grabbed both of Fenton's shoulders, making Fenton grimace as Tucker gave him a tiny shake. "It was an emergency situation! But the hero knelt over you and he ignored them."

"No one would have paid attention to that," Fenton objected. "They were all trying to get out of here."

"Uh, dude, no." Tucker released Fenton's shoulders. "They noticed. Even as they were running away, they noticed. Do you know how long it took for your ghost half to return to the fight?"

"No, but—"

"Five minutes. That's a long time in a ghost fight."

"I had a concussion!"

"No one's gonna care how hurt you were! Not unless you're like bleeding from your eyes or got a piece of glass in your chest or…I don't know! Something they could see." Tucker crossed his own arms over his chest and rocked back on his heels then forward onto the balls of his feet, looking worried. "If he had crashed into anyone else, would your ghost half have waited around as long as he had?"

"If he crashed into you guys or Valerie—"

"Someone he doesn't know, Danny. That's what they're all trying to figure out. Does Danny Phantom know Danny Fenton?" Tucker shook his head. "Because I think they got their answer."

Fenton winced.

"You're right, though. No one would have cared normally, but with that stupid rumor going around, do you honestly think they didn't notice how much attention their hero was giving you when he should have been protecting them? Just one look at his face would have told them everything."

Fenton bit down hard on his lip. He hadn't seen Phantom's expression—he hadn't seen anything at first and it had been hard to concentrate afterward because of how much it hurt to even look at him—but it wasn't hard to imagine. He had seen Phantom's expression after Skulker's attack hit Valerie, and while he didn't think Phantom's feelings for him were as strong as his feelings for Valerie, if Phantom had looked anything like he had then, Tucker was probably right. The students running away from the attacking ghost would have looked for their hero, even for just a second, and found him lingering over Fenton instead, the terror on Phantom's face as loud and obvious as a scream.

But it hadn't felt like five minutes. It had felt more like one. Three at the most.

Damn concussions.

"Okay," Fenton said slowly, "you might have a point."

"Yeah well. To top it all off with a cherry on top, you and your ghost had to throw that silent little victory cheer as if the rest of us didn't exist. Seriously, did you even hear Sam and me trying to get your attention?"

Fenton hesitated. "Uh..."

"Right." Tucker laughed and shook his head. "Should have known. You looked out of it."

"I had a concussion," Fenton protested in a small voice. "And everyone was yelling…I couldn't…"

"I know, buddy," Tucker said, patting Fenton's shoulder. "That's why I'm not holding it against you. Just be careful. These guys have got you under a microscope now."

Fenton nodded, his hands clenching around his arms.

"I don't think they'll be talking about you yet," Tucker said, nodding at the cafeteria. "The ghost fight itself will be the main topic of choice, but if someone sees you, that might change." Tucker sighed again. "You should have stayed with Sam and your ghost half."

"Maybe," Fenton mumbled without conviction. He didn't like having the attention of numerous unknown teenagers on him, but in some ways, that was easier to bear than Phantom's alone. "I'm here now, though. Do you have any ideas?"

Tucker took off his beret and held it out to Fenton.

Fenton gave him and the hat a sour look. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Have you got any other bright ideas?" Tucker demanded. "Or even a hoodie? A jacket? I didn't see you wearing one this morning, but—"

"I wasn't," Fenton interrupted. "I didn't think I'd need it." A mistake he wouldn't make a second time.

"Then stop complaining." Tucker slapped the beret onto Fenton's head, and Fenton reluctantly reached up to adjust it properly. "We can't do anything about your face or your shirt, but at least we can hide your hair."

Fenton opened his mouth to ask why his hair should matter, but...come to think of it, he liked Phantom's hair. A lot. He hadn't really thought of his—their hairstyle as being attractive, it was just an easy, messy hairstyle, but if Phantom's hair looked that good on him...Fenton's hair probably looked that good on himself too. The only difference, after all, was the color. Others might think so too, it might be enough to draw their attention.

Cheeks warming, Fenton clamped his jaw shut and pulled the hat down until it sat more securely on his head.

"I'll get the fliers since there's a lot of people near the crash site," Tucker offered. "You go get the food."

Fenton nodded. He could do that. The people in the cafeteria had seemed more interested in talking than eating, they wouldn't be paying any attention to the kitchen. If Fenton kept to the walls and skirted around the crowds rather than going through them, he could (probably) make it to the far wall where the kitchen was without being spotted.

Hopefully the lunch ladies would be willing to give him and his friends another lunch. Fenton had enough money in his pocket to just buy another lunch, but that meant he wouldn't have enough lunch money to make it to the end of the week. Bagged lunches from home were…dangerous. Better if the lunch ladies took pity on him.

Tucker clapped Fenton on the shoulder. "Good luck."

Fenton nodded, and Tucker released his shoulder. He strolled into the cafeteria as if he was just returning from his locker or the bathroom and not trying to avoid attention. Fenton followed him partway, but hesitated at the doors and watched warily a moment to see if anyone would ambush his friend. He snorted at the mental image. Their peers were curious about Danny Phantom because so little was known about him, but ambushing one student to get at another who might know Phantom was taking things too far.

Probably.

Fenton shook his head, the weight of Tucker's hat feeling strange on his head. He entered the cafeteria but stuck close to the wall, trying to act as casual as Tucker had even though his shoulders kept wanting to hunch forward. There were many reasons why he didn't want people paying attention to him in relation to Phantom, but he largely just didn't want people staring at him. Judging him.

If he just knew what they wanted from him, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Paulina was pretty obvious. She wanted to use Fenton as some sort of bait to catch Phantom, but Dash? Kwan? Hell, half the students he had caught looking at him he barely even knew. Were they like Paulina? Hoping he could get them into contact with Phantom? Did they just want to know useless stuff about Phantom? Like his opinion on things and how he supposedly died?

He and Phantom had always kept their fans and the media from getting too close when they were one Danny, afraid they might realize Danny Phantom was half ghost, but it just seemed to have made everyone that much more obsessed with him.

Fenton groaned and rubbed his forehead, his fingers bumping the brim of Tucker's hat. He squeezed past a group of students that were standing on the outskirts of a crowd, but nobody seemed to notice him. Either Tucker was way off when he said Fenton would be under a microscope, or the people in this town were as unobservant as they had always thought because a hat wasn't much of a disguise.

They were talking about the ghost attack and Phantom, though. Specifically about how long it had taken Phantom to subdue the ghost and whether or not he could have done it without the Red Huntress's help. It was enough warning to encourage Fenton to duck his head and walk a little faster.

He reached the kitchens soon after, but he couldn't see anyone behind the counter. Fenton placed his hands on the counter and pushed himself a couple inches off the ground, looking through the windows into the kitchen itself. The lunch ladies usually began cleaning after everyone had been served since Fenton's lunch period was the last one of the day, but plates of food were still beneath the glass shields, spaghetti in the pans. He could see dirty dishes in the sink through the windows, but no one was scrubbing them clean.

Fenton relaxed his arms and landed on the ground with a slight bounce. "Huh," he said.

"They're complaining to Principal Ishiyama."

Fenton jumped, his gasp turning pained as his hip banged against the counter. Grimacing, Fenton rubbed lightly at the area and turned around. He hadn't heard anyone approaching over the sound of so many people talking, but he was still surprised to see three of his classmates had gotten so close. Lester, Nathan, and Mikey.

Lester smiled and waved while his twin, Nathan, glared at Fenton as if he'd personally offended him, but that was nothing new. He had been doing that since Valerie and Fenton started dating. Mikey had his camera pointed at Fenton, and as Fenton's eyes settled on it, the light flashed.

"Fuck!" Fenton covered his eyes, blinking rapidly beneath his hands. "What the hell, Mikey?"

"Nice hat!" Mikey said, laughing. "You know it's not going to fool anyone smarter than a fifth grader, right?"

"You probably think you're some sort of celebrity now, huh, Fenton?" Nathan grumbled. "Having to hide your face like that."

"But he's not hiding his face," Lester objected. "He's hiding his hair."

"What do you guys want?" Fenton demanded before Nathan could do more than glare at his brother. "And what will it take to make you leave?"

"I'm documenting all ghost attacks that happen at the school," Mikey explained, his voice warbling between a tenor and a baritone. Puberty wasn't being kind. It had already shot Mikey to a height that almost rivaled Dash, but without the rest of his body keeping up, leaving him looking even lankier than before. "I thought I would get an 'after the attack' photo of you." He squinted at Fenton behind his glasses, his lips turning down in a disappointed frown. "I thought you would look more beat up..."

"Gee, sorry," Fenton deadpanned. "I'll probably have a huge bruise on my back tomorrow if that makes you feel better."

"You're lucky you don't have worse," Lester said, grinning. "Considering the velocity you hit the ground at."

Fenton shrugged, but anxiety clawed at his stomach, making his fingers itch. "Just got lucky, I guess." He half turned back to the counter. "I'm really hungry now, so..."

"I just thought there might have actually been something wrong," Mikey said, ignoring the hint. "I mean, considering how long Phantom stayed at your side—"

"He thought I had a concussion," Fenton interrupted. "He was just being, uh, responsible."

"Oh," Mikey said, disheartened.

"Do you have a concussion?" Lester asked.

"If I did, that camera flash would have killed me." Fenton glared at Mikey, but the taller boy was looking thoughtfully at his camera and didn't see.

"I could have sworn..." he mumbled.

Fenton looked at the camera too, worried, but there was no way Mikey could have gotten a clear shot of him and Phantom. Not with how panicked everyone had been. Even Mikey wouldn't have stuck around long enough to snap a picture during a ghost attack.

Probably…

Fenton groaned. "Whatever." He turned around fully and grabbed a tray. If the lunch ladies weren't around to give him permission, they also couldn't stop him. He pulled two plates of spaghetti onto his tray, one for him and one for Tucker. "If that's all you guys wanted, I'll just—"

"Where's Valerie?" Nathan asked.

Fenton set the second plate down on his tray a little too hard. "V-Valerie. I…don't know. I haven't seen her since the attack."

Nathan scoffed. "Some boyfriend. If I was dating her, I wouldn't leave her side if something like this happened."

Fenton closed his eyes and breathed out harshly. Nathan had always irritated him and Phantom, but it was worse now. Fenton knew he wasn't a good boyfriend, he didn't need this conspiracy-loving nerd throwing it in his face too. "I don't think she would appreciate that."

"That's because you don't know her like I do."

Fenton gritted his teeth. Multiple retorts fired off in his mind, but Fenton bit back all of them. They would just result in a longer argument, and that was exactly what Nathan wanted. So long as Fenton didn't play his game, he couldn't win.

Fenton pushed his tray down the counter, his unwanted trio following him. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Nathan," he finally said. A quick glance over his shoulder showed Nathan scowling. Ha. Not especially witty, but it got the job done.

"That's a lot of food," Mikey said pointedly as Fenton grabbed a couple fruit cups. "You must be realllly hungry…"

"Ghosts don't eat, Mikey," Fenton said, still smiling over his success. "I'm just getting food for Sam and Tucker."

"Oh…"

"Don't worry, Mikey, we'll catch him." Lester rubbed his hands together, grinning. "The more they try to hide, the more fun it is when you trip them up."

Fenton's smile faded and his shoulders tightened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That we're onto you, Danny! Just you wait!" Lester threw his arm around Mikey's shoulders, an awkward reach now that Mikey was several inches taller than all of them. "Where have you been? Why did Phantom disappear shortly after you left? Are you really just hiding, or are you actually meeting with Phantom in secret? We're onto you, and we're gonna figure out what's really going on whether you want us to or not!"

Fenton licked his lips. Be like Phantom, he thought. Stay casual and only tell part of the truth. Phantom just made it look so easy. He cleared his throat. "It's not a secret, and, uh, we're not hiding. Sam hurt her ankle. I'm just grabbing us some more lunch while Sam stays off her feet somewhere less crowded."

"Mannnn," Lester whined, his arm slipping off Mikey's shoulders. "You can't just tell us."

Nathan nudged his twin's shoulder. "It's just a misdirection, don't listen to him."

"How'd she hurt her ankle?" Mikey asked, the only one sounding worried.

Fenton shifted on his feet as he hesitated. He didn't want to bring attention to Phantom's distraction, but... "She kept the ghost distracted while Phantom was, uh...you know."

"By herself?"

Fenton nodded.

"Whoa," Mikey breathed. "I didn't know that."

"Probably because you and everyone else are too hung up on Phantom," Fenton grumbled. He picked up his tray and started walking back the way he had come. The three friends trotted after him, and he groaned. "Don't you guys have to finish Dash's homework or something?"

"Not until Thursday," Lester said. "That's plenty of time. It's an easy assignment."

Fenton sighed, "Can't you take a hint?"

"Don't want us to see what you're hiding, Fenton?" Nathan demanded.

Fenton didn't bother to turn around, he knew Nathan would have his usual suspicious squint. "I'm not hiding anything," he bit out, "you're just irritating."

"You're in an awfully bad mood for someone who's been boosted up the popularity scale based on nothing more than a rumor," Lester said. He trotted a little faster until he was walking beside Fenton. Fenton moved a little closer to the wall, not that it helped. Lester didn't understand personal space and kept annoyingly close to Fenton. "Most guys in your shoes would totally take this chance to chat it up with the fairer sex, you know."

Fenton felt his cheeks warm at the very idea. He could barely talk to Valerie and Phantom without tripping over his words, and he actually knew them. There was comfort in familiarity, even if that comfort made the more familiar of the two too comforting. "I have a girlfriend," he reminded him.

"Never stopped anyone before," Lester said.

"You even try it and I'll tell Valerie," Nathan warned heatedly.

Fenton scowled over his shoulder and snapped back, "I wasn't going to!"

Despite Mikey's earlier words about Fenton's 'disguise' not fooling anyone, no one seemed to have noticed him yet. Most notably Dash or Paulina. Then again, maybe Tucker was wrong and no one cared as much as he thought. Fenton hoped that was the case. For now, he tried to peer around the crowds for his friend. Maybe Tucker could pry the nerds off his tail. He got along with them better.

Mikey rushed forward and squeezed between Fenton and Lester. "Is that why Paulina was talking to you earlier? She probably wanted to know about Phantom, right? Man, you're so lucky…"

"It's probably all just a scam," Nathan called from behind them. "I bet Phantom was just making sure he didn't hurt you because your parents are ghost hunters and he doesn't want to make them any more aggressive towards him."

It was a good excuse, and if Nathan hadn't sounded so hostile while saying it, Fenton might have jumped on it. "Who knows why a ghost does anything?" he said instead.

"Well, he definitely looked worried." Mikey held up his camera. "Maybe I'm just used to him always looking so cool and confident in his ghost fights, bantering with his enemies like a real-life superhero even though there's like ten of them and he's bleeding from his stomach, but I don't think I've ever seen him so upset. He almost looks human."

Fenton snorted because Phantom was less human than ever, but his brow wrinkled in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, just, you know, more like a person with actual feelings and stuff. Sometimes it felt like he was just playing a role?"

"He probably was," Lester said, leaning over to look at Mikey's camera too. "Assuming he died being a hero, it might be his thing. Ghosts are supposed to have trouble moving on, right?"

Fenton didn't want to hear this. He tried walking faster to out-pace them, and, miracle upon miracles, the other two slowed down. Presumably Nathan too. Fenton wasn't about to look behind to find out.

"But look at his face here," Mikey continued, his voice becoming less distinct from the other voices in the cafeteria. "He clearly has emotions..."

Fenton lost track of the conversation as he passed another larger crowd near the hall entrance, and he breathed out a sigh of relief. It wasn't like they were wrong. When he and Phantom were together as one Danny, becoming Danny Phantom, going ghost in a crisis, was a little like donning a superhero mask, even when all it accomplished was to make them feel braver. They certainly kept up that mask whenever they had to interact with the public.

But what that had to say about Phantom now that he was free to be his own person and not just a role...

Fenton gripped his tray a little tighter. He didn't want to think about it. It led down a dangerous path because if Phantom was free to be whoever he wanted to be, then Fenton—

Fenton spotted Tucker standing near the entrance and breathed out a sigh of relief, dismissing the unwanted thought. As he got closer, though, he saw that Tucker's expression looked frantic, and he was motioning Fenton to hurry up with the hand not holding a piece of paper. Fenton didn't think he was coordinated enough to run with a tray full of food, but he put a little more spring in his steps.

He reached Tucker quickly, but before he could ask, Tucker hissed, "Dash is looking for you."

That was all Fenton needed to hear. He darted out the door, Tucker close on his heels.

There had to be a trick to healing that Phantom wasn't grasping.

He frowned down at Sam's ankle where his glowing hands once again lost their green-tinted brilliance. The sixth failure. He had tried a few mental tricks. He had tried empathizing with Sam's pain. He had tried summoning their old feelings for her. Nothing was working.

It was so easy with Fenton. He didn't want to believe it was only a matter of them being the same person, but what else could it be?

"Not that I don't appreciate your dedication," Sam said before Phantom could try again, "but my leg is itching like crazy now, and I would like it back."

Phantom blinked and looked up at his friend's wry expression. "Oh." He crooked a sheepish smile and released Sam's leg, holding up his hands. "Sorry about that."

She lifted her ankle off his lap and gingerly rubbed the area he had been holding. "It's fine. Worth it if you can get it working."

Phantom nodded. That he could heal Fenton was awesome, but he wanted to do more than amplify something that had once been an ability. "It might take a while. I don't seem to be making progress."

Sam shrugged. She set her foot down, but on the ground, not his lap. "Have you considered it might not be possible for you to heal a sprain?"

Phantom wrinkled his brow in thought. "I don't see why not. It's a torn muscle. I have helped Fenton with those before."

Sam opened her mouth to continue with her theory, but then she paused. "You…have?" she asked hesitantly. She eyed him, frowning. "How long have you been apart again?"

Phantom leaned back in his seat, his own wariness rising in response to Sam's. "Only since last night and most of the weekend."

"But you only just discovered you could heal? Did you guys hurt yourself during last night's training or something?"

They stared at each other a moment, Sam waiting for an answer and Phantom confused about what she was getting at. He tilted his head to the side. When it struck him, he laughed. "No! I meant, my powers have healed…when we were one, my powers healed any sprains my human half suffered."

"Okay…" Sam said slowly, "that's…not much better, but I get it. Couldn't you just say that next time instead of making it sound like you guys have been splitting yourselves behind our backs?"

He could, except it hadn't even occurred to him that he was doing it in the first place. He shrugged one shoulder and set his elbow on her desk, resting his cheek on his fist. "What were you getting at?" He frowned thoughtfully. "About not healing a sprain?"

Sam crossed her own arms and leaned back in her own chair, uncomfortable but trying to hide it. A light dusting of pink touched her cheeks. "Well, it's basically a strained muscle, right?" Sam said. "It hurts, but I'm the only one who knows how bad it is. You should probably start with something more obvious, like a cut or a bruise. Something easily visualized."

Phantom tapped the fingers of his free hand against his knee. "I healed Fenton's concussion just fine."

Sam shook her head. "He's your human half, he doesn't count."

Once again, she was treating Fenton as merely an extension of Phantom. Or of Danny, rather. Phantom pressed his lips into a tight, thin line, trying to hold back the words clawing at his throat, but they wouldn't be restrained again, and they burst out in a heated, "He does."

It was only two words, but the force behind them made Sam's mouth snap shut on whatever else she was about to say. She stared at him, her eyebrows lifted in surprise. Phantom watched her in turn. The way she and Tucker were treating their separation irritated him, and if he couldn't share the truth without exposing his and Fenton's indiscretions, he could at least make one thing clear. Fenton had convinced Phantom to treat him as his own person only after Phantom had violated his personal boundaries one time too many, treating him like he was little more than a doppleganger. Phantom wouldn't stand by and let Tucker and Sam make the same mistake, even if they were unlikely to hurt Fenton as much as he had.

Sam's eyes narrowed. "Another sore spot?"

Phantom hummed. "You could say that."

If there was one thing Fenton and Phantom had loved about Sam when they were one, it was how intelligent she was. Phantom didn't feel that way now, but as he watched her piece clue after clue together, her expression frozen in her default emotionless stare while her violet eyes darted between one thought and the next, he could understand what had made the united Danny hesitate so long after Valerie asked them out. She was fascinating to watch.

Unfortunately, he didn't get to see if she reached a conclusion. The classroom door banged open, and Phantom jerked his head off his fist, his gaze snapping to the entryway in time to see Tucker and Fenton rush inside. Tucker slammed the door shut while Fenton stumbled to a desk. He set the tray of food he was carrying onto the wooden surface and then collapsed into the chair, leaning against the backrest as he gasped for air.

He was wearing Tucker's hat.

Only a few black strands peaked beneath the lip of Tucker's beret, less than the baseball cap had allowed last year, but it was still oddly cute

Phantom's lips twitched. There were more important details to ask, such as why they appeared to have rushed all the way from the cafeteria, but Phantom found himself blurting, "I like your hat."

Fenton ripped the hat off his head. His hair was too wet to bounce up again, and Phantom's finger ticked against his knee as the desire to run his hand through Fenton's hair came over him. Fenton certainly wasn't going to fix it himself.

It was hard to tell if Fenton's cheeks were red because he was blushing or because he was out of breath. "Shut up," he gasped.

"Is there a reason it looks like you guys were chased here?" Sam asked, cutting to the heart of the matter, unlike Phantom.

Tucker pointed at Fenton. "Dash is looking for Danny because you—" his finger slid to Phantom, "—disturbed the hornets' nest."

Phantom raised an eyebrow. There was only one thing he had done differently that might cause that sort of reaction, but to be sure, he asked, "Because I displayed too much interest in Fenton?"

Tucker hesitated, his mouth open.

Fenton groaned and dropped his forehead onto the desk beside the tray, his black hair splayed across the hardwood. "Of course you're not surprised."

Phantom laughed lightly. "No. I knew it was possible after you mentioned their newest gossip. If I had known before the attack how much interest you had gained, I would have…" Ignored Fenton's injury? Left Fenton on the ground? Avoided him after winning his first tough battle, never knowing how much a single smile could make him feel? "…been less obvious…" he finished weakly. "Somehow."

"Is it really that bad?" Sam asked.

"Probably not," Tucker admitted as he stood up from the door, "but in the middle of a crowded cafeteria, minutes after a ghost attack? Not the best time to chance it."

"Good point."

Fenton sighed and lifted his head off the table. "I got us some food, no problem. Everyone seemed more interested in Phantom's fight than whatever happened with me. The only ones who approached me were Mikey, Lester, and Nathan." He made a face, and though Phantom couldn't blame him, he also couldn't help smiling at the way Fenton's nose wrinkled.

"Did they have any fruit?" Sam asked, hopeful.

"Just the cups." Fenton picked a prepackaged cup of sliced pineapples off the tray. "Nothing fresh."

"Better than nothing." Sam didn't sound enthused, but she held out her hand for the cup. "Could you bring it over here? I would rather not limp all the way over there."

It was only a couple desks away, but Phantom figured it was the process of standing up she most wanted to avoid. It wasn't easy on only one leg.

"Uh…" Fenton's eyes flicked to Phantom before dropping to the tray again. "Yeah. Hold on. I'll just…" He set the fruit cup back on the tray and stood from his chair. He picked the tray up and walked behind the two desks separating them, his head down.

Phantom might have laughed at Fenton's obvious reluctance, but he understood the hesitation and its source all too well. They were supposed to keep their distance for a reason, and that reason was the same as the one causing Phantom's core to produce a little more energy, his spine to straighten until he was no longer leaning against Sam's desk but sitting up in his own chair.

He wondered if it was the same for Fenton and if the feeling of being poised above something dangerous was as exciting for him as it was for Phantom.

…Probably not. If Phantom had to guess, that unknown drop probably made Fenton more scared than excited, more vulnerable than brave.

Phantom considered floating to the desk in front of Sam, escaping Fenton's proximity and his role as a glorified ice pack, but an unconscious breath brought with it evidence of Fenton's recent shower, and the will to move vanished, replaced by a spark shooting down his spine. The overhead lights tracked across Fenton's black hair until he stopped beside the desk on Phantom's left, further evidence of Fenton's recent shower. Phantom hadn't been able to feel the wet strands through his gloves when he was healing Fenton's concussion, but the way his glow had made his hair shine had told him enough.

He just hadn't expected how much the scent would affect him.

He smells like me, he thought. Irrational and ridiculous as the thought was, Phantom couldn't help smiling.

Fenton set his tray down on his desk and handed two fruit cups over to Sam before cautiously sitting down himself. His blue eyes met Phantom's, but then Tucker pulled his own plate of spaghetti off the tray, and Fenton's gaze dropped again.

…The proximity wasn't doing any favors for Fenton.

Phantom rubbed the back of his neck and reconsidered his decision. His desire to stay close was exactly the reason he should distance himself, but more importantly, he was making Fenton far more nervous than he needed to be. That they had to be in the same room at the moment was unavoidable, but Phantom didn't need to sit so close to Fenton while they were there.

Sam's foot came to rest on his lap again, and the opportunity to escape passed. Phantom wrapped his hands around Sam's ankle and contented himself with avoiding Fenton's gaze as stridently as Fenton seemed to be avoiding him. Not exactly easy, but he would try. He turned his head in the opposite direction and looked out the window where the trees outside were swaying in the slight breeze, their leaves glinting in the sunlight.

"I got the fliers," Tucker said, pulling Phantom from his thoughts and his eyes from the window. He looked over his shoulder and saw Tucker holding out a sheet of paper. "Well, one at least. And I had to pry it from Mathew's hands after saying it was for Danny, so you better appreciate it."

Phantom smiled his thanks and removed one hand from Sam's ankle in order to take the paper.

"Is that how you found out about Dash?" Fenton asked.

Phantom's gaze started to move in his direction before Phantom caught himself and looked down at the paper instead. Everyone knew Kwan loved to draw, and on fliers for a party that was apparently taking place at his house, he had drawn a cartoonized pool with a couple guys jumping into the water. He must have photocopied it to create enough fliers, but Phantom appreciated the effort, even if it was a little odd.

"Yup," Tucker said, already stuffing spaghetti into his mouth from the sounds of it. "He seemed excited about Dash finding you, which says a lot about what he thought might happen."

Phantom twitched. He didn't like the sound of that. He stole a glance at Fenton before looking back down at his paper. "Will you be alright?" He hated to think he had made things dangerous for Fenton, but it wasn't like he could control another's actions.

"It's just Dash," Fenton said as if the guy who had tormented them since middle school wasn't a threat worth worrying about.

Phantom snorted and smiled.

Sam peeled open her fruit cup. "We only have four more classes. You'll just have to avoid him in the hallways, and that shouldn't be too hard."

"Hide in the crowds, keep my head down, and be ready to run," Fenton recited, bored.

The sound of plastic crumpling sounded in the room as the two humans in front of Phantom opened their fork packages. Well, he thought, this is about to get awkward for me. It wasn't as though he needed or wanted to eat, but the social convention was a tricky thing to escape.

"Used to be 'and if all else fails, go invisible,'" Tucker said, "but of course that's not possible for you now."

It was meant to be a light scold over their decision to split, but Phantom ignored it, his small smile twisting into a smirk. He lifted his gaze to Fenton, but Fenton was looking at his spaghetti, about to stab his fork into the mound of noodles. "I could always walk you to class. Invisibly, of course."

Fenton coughed. He lowered his fork and blocked the left side of his face with his hand, trying and failing to hide his blush.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Tucker said, "but kind of a pain. It's only a five-minute transition. Sam and I can keep a lookout."

Phantom nodded. He had just wanted to tease a blush out of Fenton, though now that the idea had been spoken, he realized walking to and from classes with Fenton was more appealing than he had first thought. It would give him something to look forward to, something to break up the monotony of flying patrol hour after hour. Unfortunately, their need for distance ruled it out as a possibility.

…It was too much like what he felt they should do for Valerie, anyway.

"If something goes wrong, you can call me," he suggested instead. "Fenton felt I should carry our phone in case anyone needed to reach me."

"At least you guys weren't completely reckless then," Sam said, half teasing, half exasperated.

She ate a slice of her fruit, and behind him, Phantom heard Tucker slurping at his noodles, but while Fenton had stabbed his fork into his noodles, he was just spinning it around. His hand was still trying to block the left side of his face. He hadn't had a problem eating cereal and lunch in front of Phantom the day they practiced, but now he was hesitating, his blush spreading across his nose.

Fenton lifted his eyes. He caught Phantom watching him just as Phantom caught him stealing a glance, and the two of them quickly looked away again.

This isn't going to work, Phantom thought. Whatever was bothering Fenton—and Phantom had several theories—it wasn't going to be resolved by forcing him to endure Phantom's company. He had sought out Fenton to heal him, to steal a little time in his presence, and he had done both. There was no further reason for him to stay, especially when doing so was causing Fenton so much anxiety.

He wanted to spend some time with Fenton before their merge on Friday, but not like this. Not with Fenton so tense and uneasy around him.

Phantom sighed. He had pushed the boundaries of their distance rule enough for one day. He removed his hands from Sam's ankle and folded the flier Tucker had gotten him into a small square.

"Leaving already?" Sam asked.

Phantom nodded. "I should get back to patrolling. If that behemoth was able to slip through a portal, other ghosts might have managed to do the same."

"Is that all you've done since you separated?" Tucker asked around another mouthful. "Patrol?"

"Pretty much." Fenton was trusting him to keep the town safe, and Phantom didn't want to let him down.

"Sounds really boring."

Phantom sighed and tucked the paper into one of the pockets of the utility belt. "Extremely." He had swiped the belt from their mom as Fenton had suggested, but he still didn't like how the black material blended in with his suit and obscured part of his suit's dividing white strip.

"We could help you out after school," Sam suggested.

Phantom snapped the pocket closed and then paused. It was a very tempting offer. Patrolling was a lonely, boring task, and Sam and Tucker would definitely make it more worthwhile, but...Phantom looked at Fenton. The other Danny had lowered his left hand onto the desk, but now he was biting down on his lip and staring at his food without seeming to see it. Fenton would be excluded from hanging out. Between his grounding, the practice session with their parents, and their self-imposed avoidance clause, there was no way he could come, no matter how much he might want to.

Without looking away from Fenton, keen on catching any further sign of Fenton's emotions, Phantom asked Sam, "What about your ankle?"

"I have a brace at home I can wear. You can just drop me off somewhere high and I'll play reconnaissance."

There was no real way to head this off then, and Phantom's desire to no longer be alone kept him from looking too hard for an alternative. But Fenton…it seemed unfair to leave him all alone, knowing Phantom and their friends would be hanging out and having fun without him, doing the one thing he likely most wanted to do himself.

"Fenton?" he asked quietly.

Fenton twitched at the sound of his name, but several seconds passed before he lifted his head. He smiled before his eyes met Phantom's, but when they did he could see how disappointed he was. There was resolve there too, however, hinted in the way he straightened his back and held Phantom's gaze. "They're your friends too. You don't need my permission."

It wasn't permission Phantom was looking for, but still he nodded. "Alright. I'll get the Fenton Phones and meet you guys on Lookout Hill after school."

Tucker and Sam chorused a cheer. They had yet to hunt or hang out with Danny since Thursday, and while Phantom was only half of the Danny they knew, he supposed he still counted. He smiled at their enthusiasm, feeling his own spirits lift. He hadn't realized how much he missed them.

He lifted Sam's foot and slid out from beneath it, but before he left, he created some concave-shaped ice that would rest on her ankle. She smiled her thanks at him, unable to speak around the pineapple she was chewing. She would probably get an ice pack from the nurse after she finished, a softer and less harsh alternative to an ice block, but it would suffice until then.

After slinging the Thermos strap over his chest again, he floated off the ground, pulled his legs into a tail, and waved goodbye to Tucker. His friend held up his fork in response, his cheeks already stuffed with food.

There was only one goodbye left after that. He paused beside Fenton's chair, hesitating.

Deciding to take the risk, he rested his hand on Fenton's shoulder and felt the muscles beneath his fingers tense. There was a lot Phantom wanted but knew he shouldn't say. Instead, he whispered, "Thank you," and tried to put as much feeling into the quiet words as he could. Not only grateful because Fenton wasn't going to stand between Phantom and their friends, but for so many other reasons Phantom couldn't explain.

The ear he whispered it into turned red, and that was as good a sign as any that Phantom should leave. He turned invisible, intangible, and removed his hand from Fenton's shoulder. The residual heat on his palm made him close his fist, but that caused the warmth to disappear faster.

Phantom shook his head, chastising himself. He flew through the classroom door, intending to check out the cafeteria himself before he left the school, but sucked in a breath and jerked to a stop in the hallway. He hadn't just flown through a door, he had flown through something warm. Very warm.

"Whoa! He's gone!"

"Where did he go?"

"Did you get a pic, Mikey?"

Phantom twisted in midair. Mikey, Nathan, and Lester were crowded around the door, all three trying to look through the door's rectangular window at the same time. Phantom expelled the air through his teeth. Fenton had said these three had approached him in the cafeteria, hadn't he?

Fortunately, Phantom knew how to handle this.

"Did it suddenly get cold for anyone else?" Lester asked.

Phantom laughed loudly, allowing his echoing voice to fill the hallway. The three teens yelped and stifled shrieks. They spun around, their eyes wide. They couldn't see him, but they apparently recognized his voice. Or perhaps they were able to piece the rather obvious clues together.

"Danny Phantom," they gasped in near perfect sync.

Phantom flickered into the visible spectrum long enough to wave and smirk mischievously at them. By the time he disappeared again, Lester was bouncing on his feet and Mikey was raising his camera. Nathan just stood there and gawked, though why he looked so surprised when he must have seen Phantom in the classroom, Phantom didn't know. Perhaps he had assumed the Phantom he saw in the classroom hadn't been the real deal.

Surprise...

"It's true!" Lester cheered. "I was right! It's true! Ha! Take that, Nathan!"

"Yes. It's true." Phantom dropped onto the floor in front of Mikey. Unseen, he plucked the camera from Mikey's hands, eliciting a gasp from the other boy. "Not that anyone will believe you."

"H-hey!" Mikey lurched forward, but Phantom jumped into the air again, out of reach. "Give that back! Y-you can't just take what doesn't belong to you!"

"Then perhaps you should consider not taking photos without consent," he retorted.

Phantom kept his invisibility from spreading to the camera, not wanting to scare Mikey too much. Mikey tracked Phantom and the camera's progress up to the ceiling with horror-filled eyes. It wasn't a comfortable expression to have directed at himself, but Phantom refused to feel bad about his actions. He turned the camera around in his hands so he could look at the digital screen and flicked through the pictures Mikey had taken. The latest photo was of Phantom whispering into Fenton's ear from inside the classroom. It was odd seeing it from this perspective. Phantom hadn't realized how close he had drifted toward Fenton, or how soft his expression had become…even through the tiny screen, his expression looked tender, even vulnerable.

He quickly deleted it.

"That's not fair!" Mikey complained.

There were several pictures of the four of them in the classroom together, all of them recent. Phantom could hear nothing from inside the room, so at least their conversation had been private, but the close-up picture of him holding Sam's ankle, a moment he hadn't seen where Fenton was looking at him while Phantom looked at the flier in his hands, and another where he was smiling at Fenton were bad enough. He deleted all of them. Even the zoomed in one that caught nothing more than his face and the blackboard behind him had to go. Any evidence these three had of him had to be destroyed or they would be able to collaborate their story.

"You're supposed to be a hero," Mikey continued to whine, sounding betrayed.

"So I am." Phantom flicked through more photos Mikey had taken of the students in the cafeteria, pausing a moment to smile at the one Mikey had taken of Fenton's wide-eyed face back when he wore Tucker's hat. There wasn't anything incriminating about it, so he left it alone, though he was sure Fenton would have preferred otherwise. "Perhaps you should consider your actions are more villainous than you think. Sneaking around and taking photos of unaware people isn't what I would consider noble, though, as someone forced to deal with media and paparazzi, perhaps I am biased."

Mikey fell quiet at that, but Lester countered, "We're trying to find out the truth!"

Phantom snorted. "If you had wanted the truth, you would have gone inside and asked for it. You're seeking gossip for the sake of popularity, not truth."

He searched through the pictures after his fight with the behemoth, hesitating over a picture of himself grinning above the crowd outside. He knew who he had caused him to beam like that, but the camera only caught him in the picture, so he left it alone. The very next picture, however, was of Fenton smiling up at someone off camera, someone too high to be human. The two together painted a clear enough picture. With a sigh, Phantom erased them both.

"As if you guys would have just told us," Nathan said. "It's a secret for a reason."

The following pictures were mostly of his fight with the behemoth, and Phantom was about to hand the camera back when the next photo suddenly changed from his fight outside to the cafeteria inside, presumably right after he had been thrown through the window. Three pictures passed in which people ran in front of Mikey's camera and he managed to only catch a few glimpses of his ghostly target, but then the picture of Phantom kneeling over Fenton appeared on the screen.

Phantom hesitated, his thumb touching but not pressing down on the delete button. It was the moment after they had crashed onto the floor together, right after Phantom had climbed off Fenton in a panic. In the picture, Phantom's face was only inches from Fenton's own, his hand cupping one cheek. He remembered that moment, the fear, guilt, and horror building inside him, but he hadn't realized how...terrified he had looked. The way Fenton's eyes had kept passing over him as if he couldn't see him had been what scared him the most, though the slur in his words had certainly amplified that fear.

Phantom didn't like seeing the reminder of what was for him a gut-wrenching moment, but that wasn't what stopped him from deleting it. In the other pictures Mikey had taken, Fenton had been facing away from the camera, or the two of them had been caught in separate photos. This one was different. In this one, Phantom's and Fenton's faces were only inches apart, and even though Phantom's features were twisted in panic and Fenton's were confused…

In all the time he and Fenton had spent apart, he had never seen himself and Fenton side-by-side. There were similarities between them such as the length of their nose, the shape of their eyes, the cut of their jaw, but there were differences too, superficial at best but so much more pronounced now that Phantom could see the two of them together.

And those differences made it look like they were…that they could be…

It was everything Phantom had wanted but nothing like he had expected. His core thrummed with energy, and Phantom bit down on his lip.

"—and what would Valerie think about all this?" Nathan continued, unaware Phantom hadn't been paying attention. "I swear I'll kick his—"

Phantom couldn't bring himself to delete the picture.

He flew down and handed the camera back to Mikey, the tall boy jumping in surprise before taking it. "Sorry," Phantom said, "I have to go."

He flew through the wall on the opposite side of Fenton's classroom and fled away from the school.

Sam needed the extra support, Fenton didn't begrudge her that, but the arm she had looped over his shoulders held their bodies closer together than he was comfortable with. Worse, he had to wrap his own arm around her waist to keep her supported, and her bare stomach made him feel all the more aware of how close they were walking.

Tucker had been the one to offer support to Sam before, but Sam had asked Fenton to help her to the nurse's office, and Tucker had declined to come, claiming he needed to use the bathroom. His grin had made Fenton think he was lying, but it wasn't like Fenton could refuse after that.

Fortunately, Sam's interrogation kept Fenton too distracted to pay more than a passing thought to how soft and warm her skin felt beneath his hand. "And you don't think that's at all concerning?" she was asking. "Your ghost half doesn't want to merge again, and you're not at all worried?"

Fenton sighed. They were almost to the nurse's office. Couldn't Sam walk just a little bit faster? The lunch bell was going to ring any minute. Fenton wanted to reach the office before the other students could swarm through the hallway. "Of course I am, but what do you expect me to do about it? I can't force him. If he's not ready, he can just split us apart again when we become one person."

"Not if your desire to be one person is stronger." Sam held up the hand holding onto her boot as if she was making a fist. "Come on, Danny! You want those ghost powers back, don't you? Being the fighter and all?"

Fenton gritted his teeth. She sounded a little desperate. He figured he should probably assure her, but she was simplifying the situation (simplifying him) and he didn't like that. "It's more complicated than that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Now she sounded exasperated. "You don't want to merge back either?"

"I didn't say that!" Fenton took a deep breath. "Look, can we talk about something else?"

"Sure, how about how I am literally going to kill you again if you make me win my bet with Tucker?"

Fenton frowned. "The...one where you think we'll break up with Valerie because we can't keep our secret from her?"

"It's adapted to your new circumstances, but sure, basically."

"That's not really any better than the last conversation."

"Well sorry, I'm just a little preoccupied with my best friend ripping himself in half because it was easier than the alternative!" She shook her head. "This isn't healthy, Danny."

"Maybe," he said, noncommittally. The failed merge had felt far more unhealthy than anything he and Phantom were doing now, but that wasn't anything he could explain to someone who hadn't lived through it.

They were only a few feet away from the door, forcing Sam to lower her voice. "I've just had a bad feeling about this ever since you guys merged on Sunday. Something bad is going to happen."

"Something bad always happens, Sam. This is my life we're talking about, remember?"

The door to the nurse's office opened before they could reach it, and Valerie stepped through the threshold. Her head was tilted down as she frowned at the floor, but as she looked up and caught sight of them, her eyes widened. And then narrowed.

"Speaking of which..." Fenton mumbled, his stomach dropping.

Valerie marched toward them, the nurse's door closing behind her. "Where have you been?" she asked Fenton. "I was starting to think I had missed you, but the nurses said you never even showed up." Her eyebrows lifted slightly in the middle. "Concussions are nothing to joke about, Danny. You should have come here straight away."

"Awkward..." Sam whispered.

"I..." Fenton started, floundering for a response. "I actually, uh, don't...have one...?"

Valerie crossed her arms over her chest. "I know what a concussion looks like, Fenton, you definitely have one." She stared at him, her frown growing more pronounced.

"Um…" Fenton licked his lips, trying to think fast. He could tell her he had faked it? No, that was stupid. That he had just been stunned? Would she believe that? Probably not. She probably got concussions all the time.

"You aren't concussed anymore," Valerie said, suspicion turning her voice harsh. "But you were. What the hell, Fenton?"

He could keep trying to come up with a believable lie, or he could just…tell her. Phantom used truth as a disguise all the time. Fenton could do it too. "Ph-Phantom…healed me?" he asked more than stated, which, given that it was the truth, wasn't a fantastic start.

"Phantom can do a lot of things," Valerie agreed, her severe expression not changing, "but I don't think healing makes the list."

"Actually, I was there," Sam said, waving her boot. "He's telling the truth. I saw him heal Danny myself."

Valerie's gaze slid over to Sam and then down to the barefoot Sam held above the floor. "Really? Because if you were there, why did he only heal Danny and not you too?"

"He tried," Sam said, forcing a casual tone herself the way Phantom had earlier, "but I get the feeling it was a new power he's still trying to work out."

Valerie didn't look impressed. Or convinced. "I would think a sprain would be easier to heal than a concussion," she bit out through a clenched jaw.

Fenton didn't have an explanation for that. Apparently neither did Sam. They both stared helplessly at Valerie as she glared at them. Sam's arm tightened around Fenton's shoulder.

"Funny," Valerie said in a tone that was not at all amused, "it's almost as if there's something more linking the two of you than just your name." Her teal eyes stared into Fenton's and then slowly lifted to his hair. His black hair. His blue eyes. "A lot more."

Fenton sucked in a breath.

The bell rang, and students stampeded into the hallway as if they had been waiting at the doors. Valerie stepped past Fenton, her shoulder almost knocking his she moved so fast. Fenton flinched out of reflex, and he and Sam fell against each other to keep from losing their balance, further complicated as Fenton tried to watch Valerie leave. Valerie hesitated behind them, but then Sam began urging Fenton toward the nurse's office as fast as her limping gait would allow. The concern on Valerie's face evaporated as she scowled. She turned away, and Fenton did the same, his heart in his throat, guilt in his stomach.

"I swear your life must be cursed," Sam hissed, though she sounded more worried than angry.

Fenton nodded shakily. "I think I need to lay down..."

"Yeah, well, get in line."

Whoooops

The risk of Phantom leaving to heal Fenton was always meant to draw Valerie's attention to that healing. She knew he was hurt, there was no way Fenton could hide having a concussion one moment and be completely fine the next without being suspicious, but neither he nor Phantom had considered that, which was what the "what could it hurt" line in ch14 was alluding to. But I really enjoyed the speculation about Phantom healing Fenton in front of the whole student body! (like yesssssss I love that, maybe some day? A drabble at the very least, maybe)

I'll give Valerie some much needed attention next chapter and hopefully lay down the final groundwork for her character arc, but Phantom will be there too, so don't worry, there will still be Pitch Pearl hints ;)(If you want a spoiler: Valerie goes hunting for answers)

Unnnnnfortunately, Phantom and Fenton really are supposed to be avoiding each other, so I hope you guys enjoyed their latest interactions. It will be a while before they're in the same room together again. Hopefully that doesn't disappoint anyone...I have noticed this story getting less foot traffic, especially on FFnet, but I'm afraid it's necessary for the rest of the story to come together. Some vital character development has to take priority.

(Also, is anyone still in high school or remember how long high school lunches were? I thought it was an hour? It has been a while...They did feed me (really gross) spaghetti tho, and I liked the idea of Sam tripping on a meatball, which is how we got that xD)

Anyway, I start overtime tomorrow. Officially, overtime should only last these next three weeks, but past experience has taught me I'll be working ten hour shifts from tomorrow till the last week of August. Boooooooo...Anywho, just a heads up I might be slow to update this next chapter. It might have been the case anyway because it's so very important, but the overtime certainly won't do me any favors...(and oh gosh, the heat...)

Here's hoping this chapter was good! Tbh I've been staring at it for so long I can no longer tell :P Anways, hope you enjoyed reading!