Thanks to aniura and TwilightWakerofTime for beta reading this!
Written for Phic Phight! This prompt was by Rikaleeta: "Danny wants to ask his crush to the upcoming school dance."
I had several ideas for this one.
Danny tried to swallow the lump in his throat but failed completely as he stared down at the fliers in his hands. He was ready for anything, he thought, but Star handing him a stack of fliers and saying "he probably wasn't going to the dance anyways" kind of hurt. Danny should have expected that. Despite how much had changed since he turned on the ghost portal four years ago, everything was still the same. Sure, after managing to weasel out how to permanently change his ghost form from Vlad, he was taller and had the body mass to put enough oomph into his punches, but he was still the social outcast.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice Sam or Tucker approach until Sam took a flyer from his hand. "I didn't know you were helping with the dance this year. Lancer punishment?" Sam asked.
Danny signed and walked over to the recycling bin and tossed the fliers. "No, Star dumped her extra fliers on me and asked me to toss them for her."
Danny looked at his reflection in the trophy showcase, noticing for the first time that Sam was shorter than him now. After he noticed that, he couldn't help but notice all the ways she had changed over the years. She had grown her hair out, though she kept it styled so that people could see the four different piercings in her ear. Her parents hated them, but the purple earrings suited her, and they matched the gift Dora had given her, a bracelet forged to look like thorns with purple flowers on it.
It suited her, but it was an unfortunate reminder of what Undergrowth had done.
Danny glanced over at Tucker, who also subtly displayed signs of the effects ghost hunting had on all of them. Though in Tucker's case, it wasn't as bad; he and Duul Aman were the same person after all.
Tucker laughed and played with the gold necklace he was wearing. "Hey, at least she's being honest. That's where those fliers wind up anyways." He tilted his head, and the gold earrings he wore glinted in the hall lights.
Sam inspected the folded paper and smirked. "Hey, they have an awesome theme this year. It's a ghost-themed dance."
Tucker's brow furrowed. "In the middle of spring?"
Danny watched Sam as she chewed on her lip for a moment. "Well…" she said hesitantly. "This is the last year we're going to be at Casper High, and we're the first ones to deal with the ghost attacks. We spent all four years getting attacked by ghosts, unlike the previous alumni."
Danny tore his eyes away from Sam's lips and looked anywhere else, which happened to be Tucker, who was raising an eyebrow at his behavior. Sam had always told him that the constant ghost attacks weren't his fault, but it still felt like it.
Emotions could be stupid like that sometimes.
Sam sighed and threw the flier away. "Well… it's just some stupid dance anyways."
Danny's eyes followed Sam's hands as she brushed some hair behind an ear. "Yeah, not like we have time for that."
Sam hummed in agreement, and the three of them sat in silence for a moment.
"You know what would be really stupid but might be fun?" Tucker asked. The other two looked at him, and he pointed his fingers at the two of them. "If we went!"
Danny couldn't help it. His gaze snapped toward Sam. Their eyes met, and both stammered for a moment before realizing they were looking at each other. Danny quickly averted his gaze. "I don't think that's a good idea, Tuck," Danny said, tongue finally functioning.
"Yeah," Sam agreed, "like what if a ghost attack happens?"
Danny nodded and looked back at Sam. "Yeah." She met his eyes again before glancing down. A light blush dusted her cheeks. Danny knew his face matched since it felt like it was on fire. "We don't really have time to go to a school dance."
Tucker folded his arms. "Uh-huh, and we have time to play Doomed?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
"That's different!"
Tucker waved off the argument before it even got started. "Yeah, instead of staying in and each of us sitting at home in front of our computers, we'll be together."
Sam folded her arms and glared at Tucker. "Why are you into this? Wouldn't you rather stay home and play games?"
Tucker sighed and took off his hat. "Yeah! Of course, I would!" He spun his hat around his finger. "But I don't want to see us giving up everything ." Tucker looked Danny in the eyes. "Danny, you haven't gone to any dances except for the one with Paulina years ago! You haven't done anything a normal teen does!"
"I'm not a normal teen."
Tucker gave Danny a stern glare. "That's my point, man. You should have one night where you are! We all should."
Sam's eyes softened. "Tucker, are you okay?"
Tucker groaned and dragged his hand down his face. "I'm fine . It's you two I'm worried about."
Danny glanced at Sam. Her look of confusion mirrored his own. "What do you mean?"
Tucker pointed at Danny. "You have spent so much time being a hero that you haven't given yourself any time at all!" He then turned to face Sam, "And you, when you're not helping him, are involved one protest or another!"
Sam placed her hands on her hips. "Are you telling me to stop protesting?"
"No! I'm saying take one night for yourselves!"
Danny sighed. "I want to Tuck, really, but the ghosts don't just let me have a night." The warning bell went off, and Danny waved goodbye to Sam as she ran off to her first period.
Tucker fell into place beside his best friend. "Danny, seriously."
Danny shrugged his shoulders. "Tucker, I-"
"No, seriously, dude, look at me." Danny stopped and turned toward Tucker. Tucker took a deep breath before continuing. "Danny, do you really want to go your entire high school without even asking Sam to the dance?"
Danny sputtered. "What? Why would I- I mean, why would she-" He shook his head. "No! It's not like that!"
Tucker's back straightened, and for a brief moment, Danny thought he saw eyeliner by Tucker's eyes. "Danny, don't you want it to be like that?"
Danny held his tongue for a moment, biting down the lie he wanted to say. Ever since the second Pharaoh incident in Sophmore year, the two agreed to no half-truths or lies when it was the two of them. Danny groaned. "Yeah…"
Tucker patted his shoulder. "Come on, Danny, ask her." Tucker continued walking. "And let's get a move on, don't want to get detention."
Danny ran a hand down his face. "Coming…" He caught up and said, "You know this is a dumb idea, right?"
"Of course it is, doesn't mean we aren't going to enjoy it."
Danny's phone sat on the floor.
Menacingly.
He sat upside down on his chair. For once, he had done his homework - and all of his chores - because he literally did anything else other than talk to Sam. She was probably getting worried since usually, at some point, he'd let her know if he had run into any ghost issues during the evening.
But he had thought about calling, and immediately his mouth had dried up.
Fighting ghosts, taking hits, listening to his parents talking about dissecting ghosts, keeping people from bleeding out, helping new ghosts adjust to their new existence. All that was simple.
On the other hand, trying to tell Sam that he wanted to go to the stupid dance and go with her was another thing entirely.
The doorbell rang. Startled, Danny jumped out of his chair and landed on his feet. His parents were out hunting ghosts, and Jazz had gone off to college a while ago. He leapt over the railing and floated down to the door.
Sam seemed just as surprised to see him at the door as he was. She jumped when she saw him. She let out a gasp of air. "Oh, you're alright!" she said, eyeing him up and down.
Danny nodded. "Yeah, sorry, I just… never went out for patrol tonight."
Sam glanced about. "Can I come in?"
Danny felt his eyes widen, and he jumped back. "Oh! Yeah, of course! Come on!" he said, making way for her. Sam started taking off her jacket before Danny reached up and helped her. She looked back at him and smiled over her shoulder as he took the jacket from her. His eyes followed the curve of her neck as she shrugged off the spring coat.
"So…" she began quietly as he hung up her coat. "You didn't go out for a patrol, but you didn't text me for DOOMED?"
Danny froze for a moment, and Sam noticed. She turned toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Danny, did your dad make something?"
Danny smiled softly at the key phrase. "Just toast," he responded, and Sam's shoulders fell in relief.
"God, I'm a mess." Sam chuckled weakly, trying to hide how much she was panicking. It didn't do any good. Danny knew her too well for that. "Is everything okay? It seems like I'm freaking out over nothing, apparently."
Danny laughed nervously. "Me too, honestly, I was meaning to call you, but I kept kind of… freaking out."
Sam tilted her head and looked him straight in the eye. "Call me? About what? You know you can talk to me about anything…"
Danny rubbed the back of his head. "I know, it's just… I was having trouble bringing it up, and… yeah…"
Sam walked over to the couch and sat down, kicking her feet up onto the table. "Well, I'm here now... since someone didn't call me at all. "
Danny chuckled. "Sorry, sorry, though… I guess this does make it easier." Danny walked over behind the couch and leaned over, though he didn't look at Sam.
"Well… I can be here all night if you need me to…" Sam said, raising an eyebrow at his behavior. He knew he was acting weird. He was usually more confident around her.
"If I asked you to do something stupid with me before we graduate… would you say yes?" Danny said, rubbing the back of his head and turning to face Sam.
Sam frowned. "What?" Recognition flashed across her face, and she turned crimson with a blush. "Oh!" She began sitting up and putting her feet underneath her. She brushed some hair behind her ear and looked up at Danny. "Are you… are you asking me to that stupid dance?"
Danny nodded. "Yeah, I am."
Sam turned and faced him. "And… are you asking as a friend? Or…"
Danny blushed just as much as she was. He coughed into his hand as he looked away. "I… uh… I mean… if you'd like."
"If I liked what?" Sam said, turning around on the couch and coming up on her knees. She tilted her head, cocking her head to the side.
"I… uh... " Danny closed his eyes. "God, Sam… Are you trying to break my brain here?"
"Maybe, if it means you say yes."
Danny laughed as the tension left his body. He leaned against the back of the couch and met her eyes. "Sam, aren't you the one who's supposed to say yes?"
"Yeah, but you haven't asked me yet."
"Do you want to go to the dance as a couple?"
Sam chuckled and ran a finger along his cheek. "No, I don't want to go to a stupid dance, but I do want to go with you, so I can put up with the bad music, the bottled waters, and the crowd if it means I go with you."
Danny laughed as a dopey grin broke out over his face. After all his panic, it turned out to be that easy. He gently brought his hand up toward Sam's face, and she leaned into his hand before he brushed her hair behind her ear.
"We're going to be ditching the dance in an hour, aren't we?"
"You want to bet on that? I don't think you'll make it an hour."
"Hmmm… what do I get if I do?"
Sam leaned in. "I'm sure I can think of something for my boyfriend ."
Danny's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. "We'll make it an hour. Definitely. I can definitely last an hour."
Sam giggled. "I'm sure you can. Well, since I'm here, and you're apparently not going out on patrol…" She flopped back on the couch. "Go get my spare laptop and yours, and let's get some gaming in." She finished the command with a snap of her fingers.
Sam leaned against the dressing room wall before she fell down into the chair in the small room. She stared at the crumpled-up dress on the floor. The twelfth one she had tried on.
She had been here for hours .
Each and every single one of the dresses was gorgeous. But there was something wrong with all of them.
Or at least, that's what she kept trying to tell herself.
Sam dried her eyes as she tried not to cry. She hated this. She was so fed up with looking at herself in these dresses.
She knew it wasn't the dresses' fault at all. It was her.
She looked at herself in the mirror without the dress, and her eyes followed the light patchwork of scars that ran over her body. Tucker had a fair share of scars as well, though Danny had none.
Tucker bragged about his scars. They were so cool to him. Each of his scars was from a time they saved someone. But she couldn't say the same. Sure, some of them were, but so many weren't. Too many.
Sam clutched the bracelet Dora had given her. A chill ran through her arms until it found something in her and it snaked along these hidden tendrils into her chest, keeping the vines back.
Not all of her scars were from saving people.
She was a freak.
And didn't freaks deserve to look pretty just once? She usually didn't care if she was pretty or not, she tried not to care, but what girl didn't fantasize about prom on some level? She wanted to be normal.
This last dress was the straw that broke her. It wasn't backless, so it covered the worst of her scars, and it was very flattering. After hours and hours of searching, she found a dress that was perfect.
But while she was wearing it, she felt her heart rate rise. She couldn't say why. She had twisted and turned in the mirror trying to figure out what was wrong. Her breaths started coming in short gasps. The dress felt like chains about her.
She tore the dress off, exposing her scars to the light once again.
Her breathing finally under control, Sam reached over to her pile of street clothes and found her phone. She opened up her phone and texted Danny. Danny, can I ask you a question?
It took a minute for Danny to respond. The entire time Sam refused to look at the dress on the floor. The tears forming in her eyes began to fall despite her best attempts to stop them.
Her phone rang. The vibration made her jump. In the brief moment, she was trying not to cry. She had managed to forget that she had texted Danny. She looked down and saw he had responded. Of course! Though if it's about Lancer's English class, I haven't done the homework yet.
Sam laughed before breaking out in a sob, quickly covering her mouth. She didn't need the sales associate to come in here. No. It's not that. Do you care if I wear a dress to the dance?
The response back was immediate. I'd love to see you in a dress!
Sam looked at the dress again, and she couldn't stop herself from crying. She couldn't bring herself to try on any more dresses. She just wanted to look pretty and normal for once .
But everything was wrong. She couldn't look pretty. People would stare at her scars. Every dress she looked at was revealing her shoulders or back, and anything that covered more made her look like more of a freak than she already was.
And the ones that didn't just made her panic.
She wasn't normal.
The phone buzzed in her hands. She looked down and saw another text from Danny. Wait, did you mean you don't want to? Sam, I just wanna go with you.
Her phone buzzed again. Plus, I don't think I can make you do anything you don't want. :)
Sam smiled and tried to wipe away her tears. Thanks Danny .
She looked back down at the dress and felt a fresh wave of tears pour down her face. She quickly got dressed back in her regular clothes and marched out of the dressing room. The act made her cry more as she realized that she was making more work for the store employees by not bringing back the dresses, but she couldn't do this anymore.
She couldn't even look at the dresses on the way out.
Danny groaned and dropped his head on his keyboard. The resounding thud echoed in the room, and half the things on the shelves rattled.
Tucker turned around. "Dude, I know we aren't playing well, but I didn't think we were doing that badly."
Danny leaned back. "No, it's not the game. It's…" Danny gestured helplessly at his computer.
Tucker groaned and stood up. "You're really going to make me get up, aren't you." Tucker walked across the room and looked over Danny's shoulder. "Limo services?" Tucker read off the screen before looking at Danny. "Why are you looking at limos?"
Danny leaned back, head lolling about as he stared at the ceiling. "It's for that stupid dance."
"The stupid dance that you and Sam are going to."
"No, the one I'm going with Dash to," Danny said sarcastically. Tucker chuckled as Danny continued, "They're just way too expensive, but I don't want to ask Sam to pay for it."
Tucker leaned on the desk. "Dude, no one is going to this dance with a limo. It's not like it's prom or anything."
Danny frowned. "Tucker… how are Sam and I supposed to go to the dance?"
Tucker raised an eyebrow. "Dude… you can fly."
Danny sighed. "I know, but like…" Danny let out a groan. "This is stupid."
Tucker held up his hands. "Whoa, dude, no, it isn't. If it's bothering you, it's not stupid."
Danny was silent for a moment. The room was quiet save for the computer fans spinning. Danny worked his jaw for a moment. "I wanted to show up and show off a bit, you know? I'm finally going out with Sam, and like… everyone else is going to be driving and…" he gestured helplessly.
"It's just another thing that I've given up, you know?" He shrugged. "It's not like I need to drive anyways, with the flight powers and all, but I don't know how to drive. I never got enough time for driver's ed with all the ghost attacks. But it's another thing. Like you said, I haven't given myself any time at all. I'm not a normal teen, but at some point, I've given up trying to be one."
Tucker nodded slowly. He didn't say anything. There wasn't anything he could say.
Danny groaned and rubbed his forehead. "And that's not the end of it… you have your computer skills, and Sam has fuck you money. But… I don't know what I'm going to do after high school."
Their computers let out a ping, and Tucker moved to sit back down. "Next match," he called out pointlessly. Danny heard the sound too. As they loaded in, Tucker spoke up. "Well… I think you should just tell Sam about the drive. I bet you she'd love to buck social norms and pick you up for the date."
"Yeah…" Danny agreed quietly.
"As for after high school, can't you get into the family business?"
"I am not dissecting ghosts," Danny snapped.
"Never said you would!"
"Sorry," Danny apologized. He groaned and leaned against his desk. "I've talked with my parents about that too. They were a little lukewarm to the idea. They kept trying to warn me that despite my optimism, ghosts are evil and need to be destroyed."
"Oh…"
"Yeah… oh…" The room was silent for a moment before Danny straightened up. "Game's loaded. I'll call Sam after this match."
Tucker chuckled. "Why don't you text her in between deaths?"
"I won't have that much time!"
"If you say so, dude, if you say so."
Sam pulled into the school parking lot. People stopped and stared - probably less at the car since the entirety of the school had probably seen it at this point, but more at the idea that Sam Manson, one of the weirdest people at the school, was going to a school dance.
As soon as the car stopped, Danny hopped out of the passenger seat, walked around to the driver's side, and opened the door for Sam. She stepped out and linked arms with him before he closed the door, and she locked it.
Together the two of them walked into the school gymnasium wearing matching suits, giving their fellow students a lot to talk about. The two of them walked through the doors of the gymnasium, running into Mr. Lancer.
The teacher looked at the two of them with surprise. " Catch-22 ! I can't believe it, do my eyes deceive me? Or are Daniel Fenton and Sam Manson gracing us with their presence during this dance?"
Sam rolled her eyes and held onto Danny's arm just a bit tighter. "Definitely deceiving you. Why would we of all people go to a school dance?"
Lancer chuckled. "Well, enjoy yourselves! I'm glad you two decided to come to at least one school dance." He scratched under his nose with the back of his thumb and chuckled.
He indicated the dance floor and said, "Go on you two, have fun!"
"Thanks, Mr. Lancer!" Danny said, walking into the gym. The two of them stopped near the dance floor and looked at everyone dancing. "Uhh… so what do people do at these?" Danny asked.
Sam laughed and dragged him out onto the floor. "Dance, you dunce."
Danny put his hands on her hips and started swaying to the beat. "I'll be honest; I have no idea what I'm doing."
Sam threw her arms around his neck and moved closer to him. "Just follow my lead, and who cares what anyone else thinks?"
Danny smiled and shrugged. "Well, I care what you think."
Sam blushed and glanced away for a moment before slowly looking back up at him. "Well, I think I just want to dance with you. You don't need to impress me."
The two of them danced together for a while, a smile breaking out over their faces as it began to sink in that they were together after all these years.
Sam moved her hands to his shoulders and commented, "You know, it doesn't seem like that long ago you were shorter than me."
Danny huffed. "It didn't help that you were always wearing platform boots!"
Sam chuckled. "Of course, it was my shoes and not that you were a scrawny shrimp."
Danny straightened to his full height and attempted to look imposing. "Well, I'm not a shrimp anymore!" The stern tone was completely ruined by the smile on his face.
Sam ran her hands down his chest. "No… you-" She stopped when she felt something metal in his vest. "Thermos?"
Danny shrugged uncomfortably. "Yeah, my mom's smaller model. Couldn't fit the normal thermos in the suit without it being obvious."
Sam frowned. "Danny, doesn't that one have a specter deflector built-in?"
Danny rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, yeah, but I disabled it. It's fine."
Sam narrowed her eyes. "How?" You can't touch it."
Danny laughed. "I asked Tucker to do it!" He continued laughing when Sam got a sheepish look on her face. "What did you think I just suffered through it?"
"It does seem like something you'd do."
Danny frowned. "Hey!"
The conversation stopped when a scream rang out. The two of them jumped and turned toward the sound. Adrenaline filled their veins as both of them scanned the room for the source but came up empty.
Danny's breath quickened in time with his heartbeat. "How did a ghost get so close?" he whispered.
"Your ghost sense didn't go off?" Sam asked, sounding just as panicked as he did. She wasn't looking at him. Instead, she was trying and find the source of the scream.
Danny took a step back. "I'm sorry!" he said. If he had missed it and someone got hurt...
Sam grabbed his wrist. Danny had to resist yanking his hand away from her. "No! No!" Sam said, shaking her head. "It's not your fault! It's-"
"Oh my god!" Danny and Sam both snapped in the direction of the shout. They were completely unable to see through the group of people in front of them. Sam grabbed Danny and pulled him through the crowd. Shoving more than a few people out of the way….
Just in time to see Paulina running across the dance floor. "Star, your dress is so cute!"
The two sat frozen for a moment. Only starting again when someone accidentally bumped into Sam as they danced.
Danny laughed as a wave of stress left his body. It was a pained laugh, the kind you make when you couldn't do anything else. He turned toward Sam, who was clutching his arm with one hand holding the bracelet Dora had given her in the other.
The ghostly glow from the bracelet dissipated as Sam also slowly relaxed. The two of them broke down into nervous chuckles. Sam affixed the bracelet back to her wrist before grabbing Danny's hand. "Come on, let's get something to drink."
Neither of the two of them commented on their shaking hands.
When they got to where the table where the teachers had laid out bottled waters, Danny grabbed two water bottles and handed one to Sam. The two of them ripped the tops off and drained them in seconds. Sam grabbed another two bottles and gave them to Danny before dragging him away from the music.
By the time the two of them were out in the hall, Danny had chilled the water down till it was almost ice. The bottles were slightly uncomfortable to hold, but that was perfect. The chill bit into them and distracted them from their pounding hearts.
Danny closed his eyes and put the bottle to his forehead and applied a little bit more ice to it. He tried to get his heart rate under control but the adrenaline spike from earlier made that nearly impossible. He felt Sam tugging on his sleeve and opened his eyes.
She made a 'gimme' motion with her hand and Danny handed her his almost completely frozen bottle and she handed him hers. He used his frost powers to chill it again and put it against his neck.
He felt so unbelievably stupid at the moment. The two of them were high strung enough as it was; Sam didn't need him jumping at everything on top of that.
The two of them sat in silence for a moment as the music pounded in the gym. Sam looked up at Danny and gave him a weak smile and he knew instantly she was feeling the same way he was. "Maybe this was a bad idea. Should we go home?"
Relief flooded him at the offered out. A chuckle he wasn't feeling slipped through his lips. "Does this mean I win that bet?" he joked, trying to help her relax.
The conversation cut off as Tucker walked up to them, Valerie right next to him. He stopped three paces away from them. "Hey guys," Tucker said, waving at them.
Valerie spoke up, "Are you two okay?" she asked, glancing between the two of them. "We saw you guys jump earlier."
"Yeah, we're fine," Danny said quickly.
The look Tucker and Valerie gave them said they didn't believe that at all.
Sam stepped between Danny and Valerie. "Yeah, we're fine." She brushed some hair behind her ears and looked up at Danny. "We were just thinking of going. This is just a stupid dance anyways."
Valerie opened her mouth to respond, but Tucker cut her off. "Alright," he said gently. "If you're sure."
"We're sure," Sam said, grabbing Danny's hand. Together the two of them walked out of the dance. Sam unlocked her car as soon as she could see it, and the two quickly got into the car.
Sam sat there with her hands on the steering wheel for a minute while she and Danny stared out the window. Neither said anything for a moment before Sam groaned and put her head against the wheel. "What the hell is wrong with us?"
Danny laughed and threw his head back. "God, it was just Paulina !"
"We should have known it was her. She only screams, like, everyday ," Sam grumbled.
"One night, was that too much to ask?"
"Apparently... " Sam sat up and reached over and grabbed Danny's hand. "Hey, I'm still glad we did this."
Danny's head snapped toward her. "You are?"
Sam nodded. "Look, the night might have gone wrong, but… I've been waiting for you to ask me out for almost four years."
Danny blinked. "What? Why didn't you say anything?"
"Why didn't you?" Sam joked, blushing and looking forward again. She quickly sobered, and she didn't let go of his hand. "I… I didn't want to risk losing our friendship. But this..." She squeezed his hand. "This is something I've wanted more than anything."
Danny squeezed back. "Me too."