A Date to Remember
Dash was nervous. Really nervous.
"Stop freaking out. You will be fine," Danny said from Dash's bed. He was laying on his back smiling at the jock. He quirked an eyebrow at him, smirk still in place, "Did you already go on a date with her?"
"This is Paulina Sanchez," Dash stressed, taking a moment to stop his pacing to glare at the half-ghost. "And, this is our first real date. Last time was just coffee during the day."
Danny shrugged. "So. I still don't see how that's intimidating."
"Easy for you to say," Dash grumbled. "You fight ghosts."
Danny laughed. "So do you."
"It's not the same! I can't mess this up."
"Well, don't mess up."
"You know, believe it or not, you are really not helping me right now."
Danny only shrugged.
"Oh come on," Dash almost whined. "You had to have been nervous one time with Sam."
Danny opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by their other roommate, leaning on the doorway. "Don't let him fool you," Tucker smirked, crossing his arms. "He could barely keep his pants up on the first date."
"That only happened one time," Danny grumbled, "and now nobody can forget it."
Dash stared at the two. "Do I even want to know?"
"Long story," both answered in sync.
"So," Tucker said, smirking, "where are you taking her?"
"A concert," Dash said, "some local bands are playing at the main quad on campus."
"Nice," Tucker said with approval. "Hopefully tonight is light in the ghost department."
"Dude!" Dash protested, a look of horror on his face.
"What?" Tucker said back, matching his friend's volume.
Dash didn't answer, but was now glaring at him.
Tucker looked over at Danny. "What?"
Danny sighed. "You just jinxed the shit out of him. Now ghosts are for sure going to show."
Tucker rolled his eyes. "You guys are just being superstitious."
"Uh, I'm half-ghost. I think that gives me the right to be superstitious."
"Shit!" Dash said. "I'm going to be late." He quickly grabbed his jacket, the fall weather was starting to turn crisper… which he was kind of thankful for, hoping it would give Paulina and him an excuse to get closer for warmth.
He made a dash for the door, but halted, looking back at his two roommates, whom were laughing blatantly at him. He glared at Tucker. "I swear if there are ghosts, I'm killing you."
Tucker rolled his eyes. "Danny has it covered." The confidence in his voice was nauseating.
Dash groaned. "I don't know whether to be comforted or scared by that."
"Scared," Danny volunteered, laughing. "Always pick scared."
"You wish," Tucker said. Tucker looked back at Dash. "Don't worry about it. Go, before Paulina gets pissed you're late."
Dash nodded, jolting back into his mad rush to leave. But he still heard his friend answer back while running out. "Don't mess up!"
Dash groaned. He was going to die.
Danny was going to kill Tucker.
Superstitious his ass. It had only been an hour since Tucker's jinx-filled comment and his ghost sense was already going off, making his room feel like a meat locker. He would have dragged his long-time best friend with him to teach him a lesson, but he was already at his scheduled shift at his new job for software repair, something Tucker was extremely excited about.
With an annoyed groan, he morphed into Phantom, leaving his room, cursing the fact that he was just starting to make headway in the pile of homework on his desk. Looked like he wasn't getting anything done tonight, something his sleep schedule was no doubt going to make-up for.
His ghost sense lead him to campus, the main quad. Of freakin' course.
He spotted the crowd easily, but something was very off. He stopped in midair, far enough away to not be noticed yet.
They were motionless, all eyes focused on the stage. It didn't take him long to find out why.
Ember was on the stage. And Spectra. Another team-up.
The music reached him, then, despite his distance. It wasn't the normal Ember music…depressing ballots? That was the best way he could describe it. But, it didn't make any sense, usually Ember played the kind of music that would get her worshipped—usually rock or alternative, a combo of both—so she could feed on the crowd's admiration for her.
"Phantom."
His name was barely whispered, but he still turned toward the source to see it was Dash peering up at him, from one of the alleys created by two school buildings. Ironically, one of the buildings belonged the music department.
Danny quickly flew down to him, noticing Paulina was at his side.
"You guys okay?" he asked, looking over the two for any signs of injury.
"Yeah, managed to get out of there before it started," Dash confirmed.
Paulina nodded beside him, looking calm despite what was happening. "I'm fine. Dash luckily saw them coming," she looked at said boy curiously. "How the hell did you get a Fenton detector?"
Dash stiffened, his face brightening. "Uhhh."
"What's going on?" Danny said, purposely cutting in. Dash was worse than Tucker when it came to excuses. Better to save him from answering before he said something stupid.
Dash looked at Danny, seeming to be thankful for the interruption. "Spectra and Ember. They crashed the concert. Ember started playing, and Spectra started to feed on the crowd."
Danny's eyes widened. That was new. "Ember is increasing the emotions of the crowd by manipulating them with her music?" Now, the depressing ballots were starting to make sense.
Dash nodded. "And Spectra is eating it all up," he paused, wide-eyed with a realization and smirked. "I guess literally and figuratively."
Danny rolled his eyes at the joke. He cut his eyes back to the still imprisoned crowd. Ember was still playing and Spectra looked like she was growing stronger, her shadowed figure growing bigger and darker. He could feel her power all the way from here. His ghost sense went off again against his volition…that's never happened before.
"What's the plan?" Dash said, bringing him back to the two beside him.
Danny looked meaningfully at Paulina, but so quickly that the girl shouldn't have noticed. "You get your date to safety. I'm going to get that crowd free first, cut off Spectra's fuel."
Dash looked like he wanted to argue, but they both knew there was no way he could help without tipping Paulina off.
Danny jumped in mid-air, already running through his own plan in his head. He would have to pick them off one-by-one. At the rate Spectra was feeding, he knew he couldn't take them both on, which made Ember the first target. He had to first cut off the source of Spectra's power, then deal with the ghost herself after all said was done. All the while he had to make sure the crowd of concert-goers could escape and remain unarmed in the process.
Danny steeled himself for a tough, complicated battle, wishing he took the time to perfect cloning better… He was definitely not as good as Vlad, cloning just wasn't one of his strengths despite the older half-ghost's instructions for improvement. But maybe for a short period of time…
"Worth a shot," he muttered to himself.
"Hey, Phantom," Dash said, getting his attention once more.
Danny looked down, momentarily off-balance by the distraction from his planning.
Dash grinned up at him, but Danny could still see a bit of worry in his friend's eyes. It was obviously killing him he couldn't help as much as he wanted. "Good luck."
Danny dipped his head. "Get to safety," he said firmly as he turned invisible. He couldn't afford to worry about the jock on top of everything else. But, he knew Dash knew how to defend himself and that Paulina was more than safe with him. That was one thing he could guarantee on tonight.
He flew to the back of the stage. He took a silent breath, bracing himself. He dug deep into his energy reserves, focusing on splitting them and forging a form beside him. Even though he and his newly created clone was invisible, he could sense when the clone was complete, feeling the strange sensation of being separated but at one at the same time—a sensation he never got used to.
Without a word, he mentally pushed his plan for the clone. He nodded, knowing the clone mimicked the gesture in sync.
Then, they descended, his clone heading for Spectra and he for Ember.
His clone reached Spectra first, containing the ghost in an energy shield.
"Knew he would be showing," Ember smiled, aiming her guitar at the clone, probably thinking it was truly him.
Taking advantage of Ember's distraction, Danny swooped in, grabbing the guitar in a maneuver and smashing it into the ghost, herself, effectively cutting off the mind control.
That's when the screaming and running started.
He had seconds to work this to his advantage, already feeling the strain of maintaining a clone and Spectra breaking through the shield. Danny quickly blasted Ember while she was dazed, forcing the ghost into the stage, sending splinters of wood everywhere.
Knowing Ember's temper and her explosive way of rallying, Danny didn't waste any time, turning the thermos on her in one move. She was gone before she could even get a word out.
In that instant, the shield his clone was maintaining exploded, taking the clone with it.
Danny felt the remnants of the clone's energy return to him, giving him a small boost.
Still in the small pit he and Ember created in the stage, he turned towards Spectra, who was smiling down at him.
"Aw, why isn't it my favorite patient," Spectra cooed, apparently unconcerned he just took out her accomplice. "I hoped you would be joining the party soon."
"Doesn't look like much of a party," Danny said, easily falling into his usual banter.
Spectra's flaming green eyes narrowed into slits. "How would you know? Not like you were ever invited to one."
Danny only smirked. "You really need to get better material. It's outdated."
"As you will be soon, child," she said ferociously, lunging toward him, her clawed hands taking the charge towards him.
Danny quickly ducked out of the way, knowing the ghost meant to sink them into him to feed. It was harder to shake her mental attacks off when physical contact was initiated.
Turning his duck into a flip in the air around to where he was facing her exposed back, he flung out a powerful ectoblast towards her, making sure the attack would count.
The attack made contact, sending the ghost into the already destroyed stage by the momentum of the blow alone.
Spectra screeched as she made contact. Whether it was from pain or anger, he didn't know.
The ghost rose, rubble and wood tumbling off her form. She growled, but soon a smile slowly grew on her shadowed face. Despite the lack of features, the smile somehow looked malicious. "My, my, aren't we powerful. Wonder what would happen if we lost control."
Danny didn't respond, knowing it was bait. He knew the ghost was searching for any internal weakness she could feed on.
He had to focus. The crowd was still trying to escape. He had to end this as quickly as he could.
Faster than he thought he was, he was suddenly delivering another blow to the ghost. Spectra seemed just as caught off-guard as him by his speed, unable to block his uppercut, but she quickly recovered, blocking his next hit and sending an ectoblast his way at close range.
He managed to put up a shield but just barely. However, the momentum of the blast—more powerful than Spectra's normal blows—sent him to the ground—right into the crowd.
Spectra smiled at this. She created a ball of ectoplasm, the power sizzling and snapping with electricity and shadows. She let it grow—faster and bigger than ever. The ectoplasm turned into a deep crimson color, practically roaring in her hands.
At the same time she released the attack, Danny threw up a shield around the entire area, protecting the screaming crowd as they more hastily ran to safety. Danny yelled against it—it was actually hurting to keep up the shield as if somehow the blast was reaching him, but despite the pain, he held the shield up, fighting off the continuous ecto-attack.
He was pinned. He couldn't release the shield—there were too many people, but he couldn't stay here either—he knew his shield would eventually break under the pressure and then where would he be. He had to think of something quick—another clone?
Before he could really give that thought any merit, a blast uncannily similar to one from a Fenton blaster clipped Spectra in the side, making her cease the attack out of both surprise and pain.
Spectra whipped around, her aura bursting with deadly promise. "Who dares?" She screeched.
Danny found the source just as quickly as she did.
Dash…
He was standing with Paulina across the quad, a smoking blaster in hand, poised to shoot again. A look of fierce determination in his eyes.
He was at least a 100 yards away from both Spectra and him. If their lives weren't currently in danger, Danny would have whooped at the impressive shot…but this was definitely not the time for pats on the back.
Spectra growled, seeming to not share the same feelings as Danny. Both her hands started to grow with crimson infused shadows, eyes narrowed on Dash. "Trying to play hero, little human."
Oh no. Danny's stomach dropped.
He had to get to them; they wouldn't be able to survive that kind of blast from her current power level. But, he knew even at his fastest, he wouldn't make it, and Spectra was too far in the air to meet head on to stop the attack. But he had to get to them or…No, that was not an option. He glared at his friend's position across the quad, nothing but cold determination and resolve washing over him, gripping his mind. He had to get there.
And suddenly, in what felt like he was being dragged into a black hole only to be spat right back out, he was in front of the pair, only five feet away from them, midair, as if he just abruptly popped into existence. He was staring at two pairs of surprised eyes looking back at him.
A wave of dizziness hit him.
The disorientation of what just happened made him still for too long. The attack meant for Dash and Paulina hit him square in the back, making him let out a cry at the searing white pain. It felt worse than any normal ecto-attack that managed to catch him.
"D-Phantom!" Dash belted, extending a hand toward him as if to pull him in..or catch him? He felt himself sagging from the assault, dipping towards the ground. Before he made contact, he right himself, landing on his feet in a crouch with a hand steadying himself against one of the parked cars. He could feel wetness drip down his back, his muscles felt on fire.
Danny took at staggering breath against the pain. It hurt, but he could get this fight over with and worry about it later.
Blocking it out, he called energy to both hands, pinning Spectra with a glare. She wasn't unscathed either, her shoulder was weeping ectoplasm from Dash's shot.
He shot up towards her, taking advantage of the ghost's recovery, putting in as much speed as he could. Before Spectra could react, he turned is ecto-energy into a sharp blade, covering from hand to forearm and swiped at the ghost's chest. She let out a wail, more ectoplasm flowing. He didn't pause, delivering a quick but strong blast to the same spot, making the ghost plummet—hitting the ground.
While she was down and weak, Danny retrieved his thermos from his belt, turning the swirling vortex towards the ghost who was just barely starting to rise but could not fight the force turned on her. Spectra screamed with rage—the sound cutting off when she was fully sucked in.
Danny let out at breath, thankful he was able to end it quicker. Most of the crowd was gone, but there were still some people lingering, looking at him. He wanted to fly away, but his body didn't feel up to it; instead, quickly, flying to the same alley where he originally saw Dash.
He was too quick for anybody to follow, most didn't try to follow anymore anyway since Phantom was known for disappearing once the fight was over.
He harshly dropped to the ground, but managed to land on his feet, using the building for support. His back protested at the rough landing.
He suddenly felt vertigo—feeling like he was going to pass out.
Hands were suddenly supporting him. Despite his tunneling vision, he was able to make out it was Dash. Paulin was right behind him, looking worried. They must have retreated back to the alley again.
"Phantom, you okay?" Dash asked.
Danny looked pointedly at Paulina, straightening a bit despite his back—trying to support himself and take a step away from Dash. "Yeah," he answered. "You better go with your friend. I have to—uh—," Danny struggled for what to say, "uh—go back to the Ghost Zone, to my lair."
"Oh," Dash said, eyes widening with realization. "Oh, yeah right." He seemed to be struggling just as much as Danny to play along.
Paulina let out a loud groan, looking like she was in pain, casting her eyes up towards the sky. "You guys can stop pretending you don't know each other."
Both of them looked at her with confusion.
"Let's just get this over with," Paulina said. She marched up to the two, staring Danny down. "You are Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton. There we go. I know. Now, you guys can stop being so stupid."
Danny just stared at her, having trouble processing the abrupt statement. How the hell? The shock of it made him lean a little heavier into Dash.
"Come on, seriously," Paulina said, glaring at the two. "You really didn't think I would figure it out."
Both boys blinked blankly at her and side-eyed each other, then looked back at her. "Yeah," they both said at once.
Pauline rolled her eyes. "I'm not as clueless as you two. And you guys are terrible at acting. Anybody with a couple of brain cells could figure it out."
"Okay," Danny said slowly, finally getting over the shock. This could be worse. "How long have you known?"
"Since junior year of high school," she bragged, crossing her arms with a smirk.
"What?" Danny jerked, then winced. He really shouldn't have done that. He felt the pain in his back increase, radiating to his shoulders, and a new cold wetness slipped down his back.
"Come on," Paulina said, joining Dash in his effort to keep Danny upright. "I'll explain later when you're not bleeding all over the concrete." She looked over at Dash. "Where can we go?"
"Our place is probably the best," Dash said. "It's closest."
Paulina smirked, side eyeing Dash. "First time over at your place. How romantic?"
Dash gave Paulina a shocked, deer-in-the-headlights look. Danny would have thought it was funny if he wasn't still out in the open in ghost form and hurt.
"Hey, lovebirds, still bleeding here," Danny grumbled, not at all guilty about breaking up the two making googly eyes at each other. Man, first Jazz, and now Dash, was some ghost bug in the water or something.
"Can you make it up there unseen?" Dash asked, doubt already in his voice.
"I don't have much of a choice. Can't have the whole apartment complex thinking it's Phantom's haunt." Danny looked grimly up at where their apartment's living room window was. It was on the third floor, nothing crazy, but the pain in his back reminded him it might be a little more tasking than usual.
Dash nodded, letting go of him. Dash was always good about not pushing, probably better than any of his friends. Maybe it was the athlete part of him.
"We will meet you up there," Dash said firmly. He took Paulina's hand, leading her out the alley to the entrance of the complex.
Paulina gave Danny a fleeting worried look, something he had seen one too many times, so he threw her a confident smirk back. He couldn't tell if she bought it or not, but he had bigger things to worry about.
He focused his attention on the window. "Come on, Fenton," he murmured. "You've done this a thousand times. No big deal."
He pulled at that familiar coldness in his core, letting it wash over him. He floated off the ground, just barely, swallowing down the twinges in his back. Huffing a breath, he shot up to the window and charged through without hesitation in one swoop.
He turned tangible the minute his feet touched the floor, leaning heavily on the wall. He closed his eyes, breathing in and out until the pain settled.
He heard the front door open and close.
"You okay?" Dash asked.
Danny nodded. "Yeah, just give me a minute."
"This is the hard part," Dash said in understanding.
"What do you mean by the hard part," Paulina asked warily.
"Turning human while injured is harder," Danny said, beginning to brace himself for the change. "I can feel more and the injury is usually a little worse."
"Why not just stay as Phantom?"
"Can't hold on to it much longer."
Paulina looked questioningly at Dash.
"He can't stay as Phantom because it's taking too much energy. Whenever he gets hurt or uses up a lot of power, it makes it harder to stay in ghost-mode," Dash explained.
As if to demonstrate, the rings were already starting to appear around Danny's mid-section without his permission. Danny didn't fight it this time, allowing the transformation to happen. A new, more intense wave of pain followed it, making him stumble back into the wall. The exhaustion that followed a tough ghost fight was already setting in, adding new aches.
Dash was at his side, already putting a hand out to steady him. "Are you—
"'m fine," Danny said quickly. He stood a little straighter despite his body's protest. The last thing he wanted right now was to be doted on.
Dash seemed to read this, stepping away from the half-ghost. "I'll go get the first-aid kit," he volunteered, already walking towards the hallway where all their bedrooms were. "Still in your room, right?"
"Yeah," Danny answered, moving to the couch. He reached out a shaking hand, easing himself down by using the arm of the couch, wincing at the pain the motion caused.
He looked up to see Paulina staring down at him. He didn't even see her move across the room, but there she was, clearly not respecting his personal bubble.
"What?" Danny grumbled.
"Take off your shirt."
"What?" Danny jerked, then winced. He needed to stop doing that.
"You heard me," she said back.
She was giving him a look that was way too similar to Sam's famous glare.
Deciding it was not worth the fight, Danny carefully peeled off his shirt, trying to not disturb the wound too much. But, despite his best efforts, his back contorted into mind-numbing pain after the t-shirt was off and on the living room floor. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, controlling his breathing. Wounds from ecto-energy attacks were nothing new to him. He knew he would heal in the next day or two.
By the time the pain was back at a manageable level, Paulina was back with a damp washcloth. He didn't even realize she left the room.
She sat beside him on the couch, instructing him to turn his body so his back was facing her.
From what he could hear, he didn't receive any reaction from her, not even an intake of breath at the sight. Hell, Dash passed out the first time he saw one of Danny's battle souvenirs. Paulina was a lot tougher than he gave her credit for.
Danny winced as he felt the wet cloth start to pat his back. He gripped the back of the sofa, grinding his teeth. She was probably trying to clean the wound from the blood he knew was dripping down his back.
"I didn't realize you could get this hurt," Paulina said, her voice steady. "Was it like this even in high school?"
He really didn't want to get into that with her. And, he really shouldn't have to, but he still felt guilty for not giving her some kind of answer. He looked to a spot on the couch, trying to think around the pain of his wound being cleaned. "Yeah, it was; but I heal faster."
He heard a sigh from the former-cheerleader. "I'm sorry; I didn't know."
"There's nothing to be sorry about," he said through gritted teeth. She was still rubbing the wound.
"I would have done more if I knew." Her voice was quiet. She sounded upset to Danny's ears.
Danny was about to say something to comfort her but a shot of pain made him wince away.
"Sorry!" she exclaimed, stress in her voice.
"It's fine," Danny breathed. She must have hit a particularly deep spot on his back.
"How did you get to us so fast?" she said, changing the subject. Her hand started working on his back again but the action seemed hesitant.
Now, that was the question of the day because Danny was still trying to figure that out too. "I don't know. I thought about having to get to you guys, and then, I was just there. Probably a new power."
Knowing his luck, it was. He really didn't have the time or energy to start training a new power and controlling the havoc it would probably cause. Midterms were coming up soon; plus, this ghost problem was only becoming worse. He could only hope whatever power it was, he could keep it under wraps, at least until midterms were over.
"How often do you get new powers?"
"It's not really something you can predict. It just happens."
"You seem to get them a lot more than a normal ghost."
"Probably because I'm only half-ghost," Danny said. Even though Paulina knew he was Danny Phantom, he was pretty sure she didn't know the full-story, or half-story—pun definitely intended. Half-ghost was technically not possible to the point where it was unthinkable.
"So that's how you're you."
Danny managed to peer back at her to give her a confused look. What the hell did she mean by that?
Seeing the look he was giving her, she rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."
"No, I really don't though," he laughed, turning back.
Paulina huffed. "I knew you were different somehow. I mean, obviously you were alive, as in not a ghost, at least not all the time, but, I didn't know how it was possible. Had a couple of theories but was pretty sure they were wrong. Decided early on not to waste the effort in trying to figure it out."
"Wow," Danny said, a bit taken off guard. "That's not the typical response I usually get when somebody finds out."
"Well, I'm not a typical girl, Fenton."
Danny chuckled. That was definitely something he knew about the girl. "I'll try to remember that."
"Finally found it," Dash's voice boomed from the hall. He shortly followed after, holding the kit in his hands. "Man, it was like you were trying to hide it or something."
Danny's faced heated. That's because he was. "Sorry about that, old habits die hard."
Dash only shrugged. "Probably a good idea anyway."
Danny cocked his head to the side quizzically. "Why?"
"Jazz comes by sometimes when you're not here and usually if she sees something out of place or this" he raised the kit up, "out in the open in your room, she usually interrogates either Tucker or me." Dash winced. "Sometimes both of us."
Danny groaned. "I swear my sister's insane."
Dash laughed as he placed the kit on the coffee table, opening it to reveal its contents. "You said it, not me."
"We're going to have to talk about boundaries," the half-ghost said. He rolled his eyes, "Again."
"Good luck with that." Dash eyed the medical supplies. "So, what do you think we need?"
Danny didn't even bother to look. He already knew what was in there by heart. "Just the standard: antibiotic ointment and a bandage. It should be gone by tomorrow probably."
Dash looked at Danny, then. He could already see his friend starting to turn green at the prospect of having to look at whatever mess was Danny's back. Despite being an athlete, Dash was not good with injuries, especially injuries that involved blood. Danny's expression turned sympathetic; he wished Tucker was here to spare Dash.
An exasperated sigh came from the girl sitting next to him.
"Give me the stuff," Pauline said, hand already out for Dash. "I'll do it."
Dash complied instantly, handing Paulina the supplies Danny specified.
Paulina turned her attention to Danny, then, raising her eyebrows at him. "Stop gawking and turn around."
Not arguing with the girl, Danny turned away again, exposing his back to her. Even though he knew it was coming, he couldn't help the small wince at her first touch to spread the antibiotic; however, that was the last response from his body he allowed, instead choosing to direct his energy to balling his fists in his lap.
It was silent as she worked.
"So," Dash drawled awkwardly, clearly starting to feel uncomfortable with the quiet, "how did you find out?"
Paulina hummed before answering. Her hands never stilling from their work. "I saw Phantom," she emphasized the name, "making out with Sam Manson in one of the wooded areas of the park."
She chuckled. "It wasn't very hard to figure it out after that."
"Wow," Dash said, shaking his head. "Way-to-go doofus."
Danny growled at Dash, letting his eyes glow for added effect. Dash only rolled his eyes at him.
"Aw don't blame him," Paulina defended with a laugh. "They were in the puppy love stage."
"That's not really helping," Danny cut back at her. More annoyed at his past slip-up than at the former cheerleader.
"Well, I technically am helping," she said with finality. "All done."
Danny peered back at her. "Thanks," he said, not missing out on how strange it was to be thanking Paulina Sanchez.
She seemed to recognize the same strangeness, smirking at him knowingly. "No problem, but let's not make this an everyday thing."
Danny chuckled unabashedly. "I'll keep that in mind."
He got up slowly, wincing at the painful twinge in his back muscles.
Paulina raised an eyebrow at him. "Where are you going?"
"To change clothes," Danny said simply, already heading towards his room. The stiffness of his blood-dried jeans was starting to bother him.
"Well, come back after you're done," Paulina hollered after him from her spot on the couch.
Danny froze, looking back at her. "Why?"
"To keep an eye on you," Paulina clarified. "I don't want you passing out or something. You'll ruin my handiwork."
Danny rolled his eyes, but did not protest, already knowing from years dealing with his sister and Sam it was a useless battle.
Once he entered his room, he quickly shed his jeans in favor of an old pair of sweatpants. Danny eyed one of his many t-shirts but decided to forgo the effort—something his back was thankful for.
He looked longingly at his bed, starting to feel the day's wear-and-tear, but trekked his way back to Paulina and Dash. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with Paulina, especially since he was probably about to answer a billion questions about his alter ego, but from what little he knew about his old classmate, she didn't seem like the type to take no for an answer.
Danny came in the room to see Dash had taken his spot on the couch next to Paulina. They were facing each other, talking, but stopped once they saw him enter.
Paulina was staring at him with a weird expression. She seemed to be focused on something on his body because she wasn't meeting his eyes. He had no idea why and didn't want to ask.
Danny suppressed a sigh. This was going to be a long night.
He made his way over to one of the chairs in the room, easing himself in it slowly, being mindful of his messed up back.
It was silent for a long moment between the three. Awkwardly silent, but Danny didn't care enough to speak first. Honestly, he just really wanted to sleep.
"So, who else knows? I assume your friends," Paulina said, sounding confident in this. Her expression changed to thoughtful. "Probably your parents too since they stopped shooting at you. Probably Jazz too."
She looked at Dash with a smile. "I know you know."
She, then, looked at Danny again, giving him a confident, mocking smile. "You know you really suck at keeping secrets."
"I'm not that bad," Danny sulked. In his defense, Paulina was the only one besides Jazz to figure out anything on her own.
Paulina rolled her eyes. "Keep thinking that. It's a miracle I was able to keep anybody from finding out about you."
Danny's eyes bulged. "What?"
"I've been covering for you ever since I found out. There's a reason why I became the president of the Phan Club. I was purposefully leading them away from the truth. You know, they can be pretty obsessive." Paulina shrugged as if it was no big deal. "After the Asteroid thing, I knew everybody would be even crazier to find out more about you and less afraid to do it, so as the president, I gave them every red herring to believe that you were a regular ghost. If there's anything I've learned is how to cover things up, how to be something you're not. I figured it was a way I could help you and your friends."
Danny really couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was one thing learning that the most popular girl in high school, who he thought hated him—or at least didn't know he existed, found out his secret identity, but it was a whole other thing to find out that she was secretly helping him all this time. It was kind of bizarre and made him rethink a lot of interactions with the girl.
Dash seemed to be having the same difficulty, his face stuck in a permanent state of shock. "When did this all happen?" Dash clutched his head with a comical expression on his face. "Oh, man, wait you said you found out when we were still in high school. That means every time you asked me to leave him alone…"
Paulina blushed, then flashed him a smile. "Well, I knew you would be a wreck if you knew who you were picking on."
Danny couldn't help it, maybe it was the shock, but he laughed. "He was," he confirmed, remembering the devastated look on Dash's face when he told him his secret.
Dash glared at Danny. "Not helping."
Paulina smiled. "I would have paid to see that."
A loud bang from the front door opening brought all occupants' attention to the entrance to the apartment to see Tucker rushing in.
"Guys! I saw the ghost attack. Is everything oka—
Tucker stopped dead, staring wide-eyed at Paulina. With only a beat of hesitation, he broke into one of the most suspicious smiles Danny has ever seen. "Paulina! What a surprise?"
He looked over at Danny then, eyes widening at the very noticeable bandages. "Oh no, Danny, you got hurt!" he exclaimed overdramatically, both in his voice and expression. Somehow, he was monotoned at the same time, a combo only Tucker Foley could do. It was so badly done, Danny wanted to groan from the secondhand embarrassment his friend was causing him.
"Tucker," he glared, trying to stop his friend.
"It was those darn-uh…stairs again, man how many times do I tell you. Stop trying to take three at a time," Tucker continued, clutching his heart as if he was pained by this.
Paulina groaned loudly from her spot on the couch, with a look of horror and disbelief. "How the hell did you guys manage to keep this secret at all?!"
thanks for all the reviews! I'm going to try to get better at answering but all of your encouraging words is the reason why this chapter was made-takes me forever to write fighting scenes, not my strength. Thank you all again and hope you like it!
