I really need to tell him.

Running a hand through my green-tinged hair I stare at our apartment door. Danny has been the damn near greatest thing that's ever happened to me. We both ran off at weird times and often couldn't actually plan out dates, more spur-of-the-moment things like walks or catching a bite to eat at the nearest café. Honestly, we just made it work. Whenever our free times happened to match up, we were together. He didn't question why my schedule was as eccentric as his, and I didn't question his random disappearances either.

Then we moved in together, and the man didn't sleep. Not enough anyway. It explained the constant bags under his eyes, I joked about him being emo and wearing makeup all the time once. The next day he straightened his hair so in place of its usual mess that always seemed so him~ there was sleek black bangs that fell over his eyes. I choked on the straw of my lemonade at the time, Danny had been to busy laughing to help me. Anyway, he kept even weirder hours than I did, and I was the protector of the entire country.

Sometimes he went for a walk, at four in the morning.

Sometimes he didn't even wake me, just leaving a lingering kiss on my forehead.

Sometimes I wonder how many times that happens when I am actually sleeping.

Sometimes he went to the bathroom, and I didn't seem him again until the next day.

Sometimes he'd go completely off the radar for days.

Sometimes Danny stumbled through the door dead on his feet and bleeding. The minute we make eye contact the bastard smiles and walks in like he brought the groceries home and had only been gone for a few minutes.

One time, he didn't stumble through the door. My stubborn, dorky, perfect, stupid boyfriend fell through our bedroom ceiling. Stark white hair was a far cry from his shadowy tousled mess, toxic green eyes stared up at me with a familiar deer-in-the-headlights-my-brain-can't-function look that I often saw looking into a blue tundra. But Danny landed flat on his back over top my legs - familiar black hair bouncing voilently - after a beat of silence the dumbass let out a cheeky, "Hey babe." Before he passed out bleeding all over my favourite comforter. That was the day I found out he was a magical creature. That was also the day I whooped his ass for not telling me sooner, once he woke up that is. I confined him to bed rest for a week, and he was out the door after lunch the next day because something green and glowing and wicked fast flew past the window and Danny shivered like he always did before he left, shouting that he loved me and ran with busted ribs and a burn on his shoulder the size of a fairy.

I really need to tell him I'm not all human either.

Danny was clueless. He had complete faith in me there was a reason I skipped out every time I got a call from my sister or left when there was a random knock on our window that was nearly 200 meters off the ground. He never questioned why I adored the summer heat or how I burned like a wood stove in the dead of winter. Danny was clueless, or he already knew I was a dragon. I came close once, a few days after we talked about Danny being… well more or less dead I told him I knew a bit about magic and stuff. Also Fu Dog was getting tired about having to 'play the role of a dumb puppy' as he put it, while jabbing a thumb at Cujo- who was chewing on a door-stop at the time and barking at it every time it escaped his grip and whipped back and forth with a twang.

Dark stained probably fake wood accented with a dingy silver knob stood between me and my stubborn half-ghost. God it was probably late, I can't remember when the sun went down, I've been out tracking a herd of Nifflers that have caused a few banks and jewelry stores some trouble lately. Danny's out running across the States and overseas trying to collect a handful of ghost prisoners that escaped two weeks ago. Somehow he's made it home every few hours. Somehow in all the chaos he noticed I was really busy too, and Danny made time to draw us a bath. The romantic even gave me a massage, his hands a blessed ice cold against the steamy water.

I felt like a greedy prick. My domain was the entirety of the US. Danny looked after and entire realm that was supposedly infinite trying to protect ghosts and humans alike. His friend, Tucker, hacked into every satellite and security camera he possibly could and guided Danny to setting up a Global Ghost Alert Tracer (GGAT for short, Sam mocked my New Yorker accent horribly, saying, "Gotta gat some ghosts, yo? You gaaaaht this dude!" After Tucker proudly announced the project didn't have 'Foley' in the title. Personally, I think they missed the opportunity for it to be the GGTA.) Danny worked about four times as hard as I did, and he didn't even have any obligation to.

Okay, I really needed to tell him. Maybe I could take to the dragon council about dragons not handling the ghost situation in their own countries to lessen his burden. Although, considering I didn't even know there was an issue until Danny explained they probably didn't realize there's ghosts running loose either.

Mmm I could take Danny on a date to the Magnus Bazaar, * he likes seeking cultural differences and quirks when he teleports out of country to hunt or track down his little cousin.

Now I'm telling him. We could visit the Lucky Leaf under good ol' Lady Liberty and grab a few drinks and the best golden churros this side of anywhere.

Armed with a cocky grin and my exhaustion forgotten, I swaggered into the tiny-run-down apartment with a goal.

Danny texted me- an hour ago? A few hours maybe?- that he was home. We always told each other when we clocked in and out of home, helped with meal planning too, I was home around a meal time I would cook for the both of us (sometimes we ate together, sometimes Danny's food was packed up into the fridge), when Danny was home he'd order take out for us. Or sometimes we would ravage our own cupboards for something quick or meet up somewhere.

So when I walked into an empty apartment I was a bit concerned. I double checked my phone to make sure he didn't try to text or call me again, but there was nothing. A quick glance at the time made wince, it was early in the A.M. He should be home. The kitchen was pristine, just how I left it. I checked the fridge and was surprised (not really, more disappointed) to see my boyfriend didn't eat the left over Chefs Salad I made earlier (the idiot did not eat properly, half the time I had to place food right under his nose before his stomach overrode the 'I'm to busy for necessary bodily functions' mode). I didn't see a familiar mess of black hair popping up over the couch so I migrated to the bedroom. Our bed sheets seem untouched, still tousled from this mornings scramble of us cuddling and falling back asleep only to be late for work rush. The room was empty.

Huh. "Danny! Yo, where you at?"

The bathroom door was ajar with the light off. The first aid kit sat innocently among the clean towels and bed sheets in the hall closet.

"Yer cruisin' fer a bruisin' if this is a joke, Fenton." Glaring at the air behind me I turned and out my hands on my hips hoping I looked stern enough Danny wouldn't pull whatever prank he planned. Nothing happened. I couldn't see most ghosts when they were invisible so quietly I whispered, "Ear of the Dragon." To listen if the halfa was hiding somewhere.

There was someone breathing in the living room.

Trudging back into the main room I skirted the couch and sure enough, there was Fu lounging over the arm rest, a half empty bag of pretzels dangling over the edge just barely hanging onto his paw. The next thing I saw, was who I was looking for. On the far side of the way too old couch was Danny.

Somehow, someway he got himself curled up enough be barely took up half of a cushion. The puffy, ugly, brown fabric nearly swallowed his skinny ass. A shimmer drew my attention to the glowing green puppy that sat at the foot of the couch, Cujo was staring at me before letting out a long moaning growl and pawing at the floor. The ghost dog moved in after the whole 'half-dead' thing become known, Fu was unimpressed. But I walked over to the tangle of limbs and noted he was twisting and shuffling, never making a sound. His breathing was light and erratic, not normal at all, even for him.

"Sonuva- Danny, Danny, hey quit buggin' yo," Dropping to my knees I gently shook his hip, "Babe, hey, hey s'okay I'm right here."

Danny is always cold to the touch. Just enough he often passes if off as poor circulation. When he's all ghostie and floating it's like standing next to an AC vent. But as I knelt there turning the very human Danny around and trying to make him at least lie flat, my fingers started to turn numb. I ignored it and continued to call for Danny to wake up its just a nightmare, I ignored the icey crunch the couch made every time my love twisted and moved, and I ignored the roar of my inner fire while it demanded I get away from the ethereal winter that is freezing my arms.

This was so wrong. When Danny sleeps, he sleeps like the dead. He'll plop onto the bed, the couch, hell he's sat down in the middle of the floor and he just sleeps. Doesn't move. Doesn't talk. Doesn't wake up unless there's an emergency or the smell of food reaches his cute nose. He just ragdolls anywhere that's safe and just sleeps. When he has a nightmare I can never tell, up until he throws himself out of bed in a panic and shoves me up to stand in the middle of the room to stalk around me while he growls at the shadows in every corner trying to protect me from his fears. Whatever dream he was dreaming right now, he wasn't waking up.

I need to tell him. If only so he knows I can protect myself.

"Danny I'm serious. Man I wish I could throw down with whatever is bothering you, I'd take on all your responsibility if you could sleep soundly for one night. Wake up, you brave bastard!"

Wild blue eyes shot open before lighting the dim room with a green glow. Ice invaded my blood stream and the room became a freezer.

Danny, suddenly clad in his hero-get up, grabbed my by the shoulders and collapsed onto me while he fell off the couch, "Jake. Jake."

"'M here, Danny." I pulled the shaking man into a hug, one that would usually be pushed away when he was like this, "Its ok-"

"Its not. It's not okay. Jake."

Danny's usual wonderfully loud and rough voice was so pleading and broken it was all I could do not to squeeze him harder than a normal human should be able to. Buy for how shaken up the halfa was, the death grip he had around me probably would snap a few ribs on someone less durable, less odd.

So there we sat at the foot of the couch. My boyfriend whispering my name and curling around my smaller form and me chattering softly about anything. My day today- minus the current magical case- and how we should go down to the park for a walk tomorrow because the weather should be nice. Fu dog woke up sometime during the ordeal and sat close by to lean his weight on one of Danny's legs. The ghost puppy of the house was nudging his masters back softly, I think. Cujo's wet nose touches my hands every few minutes so I can only assume.

Slowly but surely, the tension bled out of his shoulders, Danny's ramblings quieted, and I continued to rock us back and forth. I guess the time is never going to be perfect, I really need to tell him.

"Hey, Danny?"

The lump in my arms shifted slightly.

"I gotta tell you something, babe. I should've a long time ago, but I guess old habits die hard, huh?" I laughed, brushing a hand through Danny's fluffy hair, "I guess I'm like you, but I'm not. Uh I can turn into a dragon? And I'm kind of the protector of the all magical creatures in America."

A slight hum rumbled in Danny's throat.

"Babe?"

I scooched back and Fu Dog mumbled, "Kid, you've got worse bad luck than he does."

Gently lifting Danny's chin to look him in the eyes, I was met with his face twisted blissfully in sleep, a smile tugging at the corner of his lip.

"Aw man!"