Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Hey Manson, you got a minute?" 

Sam closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against her locker. So close. She'd been so close to being able to just go home.

"Actually Wes, I don't." She straightened and turned to glare up at him. "And I'm in no mood for your theories today."

He didn't flinch. "For once, this isn't about Fenton." 

Sam would have walked away, but something gave her pause. The look on his face was not unlike Danny's when he was truly worried. Of course, she still didn't trust him, but the similarity and apparent sincerity was enough for her to hear him out. "What do you want?"

He looked around at their exposed position in the hallway and hesitated. "I need to talk to you. Somewhere a bit more private."

Private? He'd better not be hitting on her. "This really isn't a good time."

"I know." Wes sighed. "Look, I know we're not friends–"

"That's an understatement."

"But I'm not your enemy either. You're actually alright besides hanging out with Phantom." 

"Okay?"

"That's why I thought...well, there's something you should know..."

Sam stared down at her feet with glassy eyes as Wes told her everything. She'd followed him to a quiet bench near the library and listened as he explained what he'd learned.

"I overheard them talking about it in the locker room today. If I had known before, I would have told you. I saw them at the mall but I didn't realize they were following you." He sat stiffly on the bench beside her, purposefully leaving plenty of space between them.

"You were at the mall too?" 

"Well yeah, I was following Fenton and he was following you." He said it like it was obvious, and Sam supposed it probably should have been.

"So I'm guessing that means you saw..."

"Saw him kiss you? Yeah. So did the guys from the football team. They wanted to make sure there was proof." 

Sam's face burned. "Proof of what, exactly?"

Wes shifted uncomfortably, lowering his gaze to the floor as well. "To win the bet, he needed to run the bases within a week."

Sam looked up, horrified. "Run the bases? But we didn't–"

"I know. But he's telling them you did." Wes met her eyes for just a moment before they both looked away. "He's saying... just a lot of gross stuff in general."

"Like what?"

Wes hesitated. "Promise you won't shoot the messenger?"

Sam just nodded, resisting the urge to bite her lip. 

"Okay, well...He's saying–he's saying that you were easy and kinky and practically begged him for it." Wes gave her an apologetic look, like he felt guilty just for repeating it. "He asked them to give him a more difficult target next time."

"I don't understand. Why'd they pick me in the first place?" As soon as she said it out loud, she realized. "It's about Danny, isn't it?"

Wes nodded. "They knew it would piss him off." He sighed. "As much as I would love to see Fenton angry enough to reveal himself...I couldn't just let you be caught off guard. I'm not a monster; I won't humiliate someone like that even to prove myself right."

"Caught off guard? What exactly should I be expecting?" Sam felt like she might be sick.

"He was talking about it in the locker room, so the football and basketball teams all heard. I know it was already repeated to the cheerleaders and girls basketball team. Some of them were meeting up with the glee club after practice and–"

"So everyone knows," Sam summed up quietly. "Or will by tomorrow."

"And they're gonna throw it in Fenton's face. Then probably make a game out of seeing who can score with you next." Sam pressed her hands over her face as the reality of the situation started to sink in. "He said he'll share the playbook for anyone else who wants to get at you. They were joking about making an actual playbook and giving it to Fenton. I don't know if they'd really do that but..." Wes trailed off, climbing to his feet and sticking his hands in his pockets. He obviously wasn't used to Danny's friend being so emotional in front of him. 

"I'm really sorry, Manson. It kinda sucks that you keep getting stuck in Fenton's messes. You don't deserve that, even if you are friends with a ghost."

"Thank you, Wes. For telling me." Sam kept her head down, shame burning through her. 

"'Course. Look, I, uh, I gotta get going but...just, look out for yourself, okay?"

She nodded and waited until his footsteps faded before getting up and hurrying out of the school. 

Chapter Text

Sam managed to keep it together as she walked home. She kept her eyes down and moved at a brisk pace, hoping to avoid interactions with any more classmates. When she got to the house, she went directly to her room, dropped her bag on the floor and shut herself in her bathroom.

As soon as the door closed behind her, she sank to the floor and finally let herself cry. The pain and shame and humiliation were overwhelming. Gregor had used and objectified her in a way that felt both incredibly personal and painfully dehumanizing. He'd studied and broken her down into pieces of trivia he could manipulate to get her in bed...and now she knew all of that was simply so he could brag about it later. 

She hated herself for letting him get so close, for allowing him to kiss her. She had been so damn desperate to be seen, to be wanted, that she just gave away her first kiss...something that was very precious to her. 

It was embarrassing enough knowing Danny had been there. Now not only was the kiss public knowledge, all of it was. All of the things she'd told him, all of the lies she fell for, everything. Her broken heart was nothing more than gossip fodder. 

"Sam?" She froze, still crumpled up on the bathroom floor. Not now, please not now.

"Sam..." Danny's voice came again, low and hesitant as he knocked gently on the door.

She struggled to swallow her tears. "Are you hurt?" She wasn't quite able to hide the quiver in her voice. Please don't need stitches. 

"No. I just–"

"Then go away." Her voice broke then and her shoulders shook as she struggled to hold back her sobs.

There was a long pause before she heard Danny's hand against the door again. "I came to talk. Will you just come out and talk to me?" 

"You're the last person I want to talk to right now," Sam snapped. She tried to stir up enough anger to stop crying, but the floodgates were already open. Why didn't I put up the damned purple curtain?

She heard him sigh. "I know that. And I'm sorry. Please, just open the door."

"Why don't you just phase through it?" she asked bitterly. "You had no problem using your powers to violate my privacy two days ago, ghost freak." 

There was a small thump as Danny dropped his forehead against the door. "Okay, I deserved that. I handled this whole thing really badly. I broke your trust and I hurt you. I'm sorry."

Sam didn't answer. Instead, she kept her hand tight over her mouth to try and muffle the sobs wracking through her. 

"Sam, I was wrong, okay? I admit it. I know I messed up and this won't fix it, but I want to help." 

He sighed when she still didn't say anything. Secretly, Sam really wasn't angry anymore. She actually wanted to talk about it; to get the feelings out so she could make sense of them. But she didn't want him to know she was crying. She didn't want him to see her so weak. It was times like this that made her wish she had more female friends. Maybe it would be easier to be this vulnerable with another girl.

"Listen, Sam...I know I'm not the friend you deserve right now, but I'm the friend who's here. You don't have to deal with this alone. I know you're hurting...I know you're crying, and I just want to help."

Sam pressed her face into her hands. His kind, gentle voice just made her cry harder. Her defenses were slipping. Somehow, after everything, Danny still made her feel safe. 

"You've been there for me when my heart was broken. Even when I was crying over you after the Ember thing. You've been there every time. Please Sam, let me be here for you too." 

The image of Danny's sad blue eyes filled with tears flashed through Sam's mind. The feeling of his head on her shoulder. The sound of his voice cracking in pain. He was right; she had been there for him...and he had allowed her to help. 

Finally, she buried her face in her arms, her knees pulled tight to her chest and spoke quietly. "The door's unlocked." 

It creaked open, she heard Danny sigh softly at the sight of her crumpled on the floor. "Oh Sam..." He lowered himself to the floor next to her. "I'm so sorry." 

She didn't look up; she still wasn't quite ready to let him see her tears. Warm arms wrapped around her and Sam hesitated only briefly before leaning into the comfort. Finally, she lifted her head and wrapped her arms around her friend's neck, burying her face in his shoulder as she continued to cry.

"I can't believe I was so stupid," she confided through her sobs. "I'm so stupid."

"Hey, don't say that," Danny said gently, one hand rubbing her back. "You know that's not true."

"It is true." She choked the words out around her tears. "He was playing me and I fell for it. I actually believed he liked me. I was so, so stupid."

"Sam..." Danny looked to the ceiling as he struggled to find the right words. "It wasn't stupid to think he liked you. For all we know, he actually does like you and he lied because he knew you wouldn't like him."

She shook her head and pulled back to look at her friend's worried blue eyes. It was too late to hide her tear streaked face–too late to save her pride–so she stopped trying. "No Danny, he doesn't. He never was interested in me. I...I found out from Wes of all people." She chuckled bitterly at that. "There was a bet. Greg–Elliot bet the football team he could get any girl in the school...They picked me." She buried her face in her hands as fresh humiliation filled her. "He told everyone Danny. Some of the guys were at the mall that day and they actually watched him kiss me. He's claiming that we went even further. He's telling everyone that I'm easy." 

A sudden chill rushed over them. "I'm gonna kill him," Danny muttered.

Sam looked up and saw his eyes glowing green. "No, Danny, don't." She grabbed his shoulders in a panic. "Don't fight him, don't even talk to him, please."

He blinked in surprise at her distress, his eyes returning to blue. "Why not? He has it coming."

She sat back and took a shaky breath. "Because Danny, that's exactly what they want. If you go after him, they win." She bit her lip before continuing. "The football team knew it would bother you if he went after me. They...well, they actually thought you'd be jealous." She lowered her eyes, not wanting to see his reaction. "That's why they picked me for him to go after. They want to see you get upset. They're just using me to hurt you."

Danny gaped at her, speechless. He knew the A-listers were bullies but he never thought they would stoop this low.

Hot tears filled her eyes again. "So, you were right. He may as well have been a part of the GIW. Either way, I'm just a tool to get to you."

Not knowing what to say, Danny just wrapped his friend in another hug as she cried. He was angry; so angry that he had to fight to keep from going ghost. But he kept his focus on the small girl in his arms.

Human problems require human solutions.

Once again, Tucker was right. Sam didn't need Phantom right now, she needed Fenton; she needed her best friend. 

"The worst part is I actually believed it was real," Sam admitted against Danny's shoulder. "I actually believed he was pursuing me because he liked me. That out of the whole school, he chose me. I was so excited for someone to notice me, I–I just went along with it." 

She was wracked with another wave of sobs and Danny pulled her closer, onto his lap. He held her tightly to him, as if he could squeeze the pieces of her broken heart back together. He pressed his cheek to the top of her head and prayed she would be able to hear in his touch what he couldn't find the words to tell her. 

"I thought that was my first real kiss," She told him quietly, her voice cracking. "I thought that for once someone was kissing me because they wanted to. Not a fake out, not an accident, not a dare, a real kiss. I thought, just once, someone kissed me because they thought I was special. Isn't that pathetic?"

"No, it's not," Danny said, but Sam continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"Maybe I'm just destined for fake relationships. Maybe I'll never be special to anyone. I think that's what's hurting the most. That I gave away my first kiss but I wasn't actually given a first kiss...if that makes any sense." She sniffled. "I meant it and he didn't. Not only did he not think I was special, he didn't even think of me as a person. Just a means to an end." She pressed her face against Danny's chest. "I've never felt more used and humiliated in my entire life."

"I'm sorry Sam," Danny said quietly, "You deserve so much better than cruel bets and fake kisses." 

Neither spoke for several minutes as Sam gradually got her tears under control. Just saying it all out loud helped her heart ache just a bit less. She was glad she'd let him in.

Danny never loosened his arms around her. He was determined to do things right this time; to focus on what Sam needed. If she needed to cry for hours, he would stay and hold her all night, curfew be damned.

Of course, it didn't have to come to that. Sam took a few deep, shaky breaths and just like that, she was done. 

It baffled Danny how she could do that. Sam always held things in until she could find somewhere safe to let them out. The same way Danny himself would search for safe places to go ghost. The times she broke down were as intense as they were intimate, which was why she only allowed a privileged few to see it. Then just as suddenly as it started, the storm would end. Sam would fix her makeup, pick up her shield of indifference, and it was like nothing had happened.

"Thank you Danny, for listening and for being here," Sam whispered.

"Hey, you said it yourself, it's a best friend's job to be there when your heart gets broken." Danny hugged her tight to him one last time before letting her go.

Sam sat back and looked at him, wiping her eyes. "Well then, thank you for being my friend."

It was at that moment that the two teens became aware of just how close they were. Sam was sitting in his lap, with Danny's arms around her waist and their faces just inches away from each other. This was...very intimate. Danny let go of her waist and Sam slid off his lap, blushing. She wasn't sure what to say now. 

Thankfully, Danny was prepared. "I brought ice cream sandwiches." He climbed to his feet and held out a hand with a friendly smile that dissipated the awkwardness.

"Seriously? You know it's winter, right?" Sam teased as she took his hand and let him help her up.

"Hey, I don't make the rules. If your heart gets broken, your best friend brings ice cream sandwiches." Danny flashed her a grin and went back to her room to dig them out of his backpack. "Or do our traditions mean nothing to you?"

"Guess I can't argue with tradition." How was it so easy for Danny to make her smile?

Sam took a moment to wash her tear streaked face before joining him in her room. She didn't bother to put her makeup back on. She didn't need a mask, not with her best friend. Danny was sitting cross-legged on her bed, already unwrapping one of the frozen treats.

"Don't worry, I got the gross vegan ones for you," He said with a teasing smile when she sat next to him.

Sam rolled her eyes and pulled one from the box between them. "And yet, you're eating them anyway."

He shrugged. "Like I said, I don't make the rules." Danny bit into the ice cream sandwich and made a big show of looking disgusted. He was rewarded with her laugh. The worry in his chest released a bit at the sound. 

Sam was thoughtful as she opened the wrapper. She was so glad Danny was here, but one thing just didn't make sense: "How did you know?"

He tilted his head questioningly, mouth full of ice cream. "How did you know to come today? You didn't know what had happened yet. I told Tucker earlier that I was fine and I was. I didn't even know about the bet until the end of school today."

He shrugged. "I don't know. I just...knew." 

Sam chuckled, this was classic Danny. "What kind of answer is that?"

He shrugged again, shaking his head slowly. "I don't know. It's the only answer I have."

She leaned forward, curious. "Is it maybe a ghost thing? Does it happen a lot?"

Danny thought about it then shook his head again. "Only with you," he admitted softly before meeting her eyes. "I don't really know how to explain it. Somehow, with you...I just know." 

Sam looked away, nodding slowly as she thought. "Oddly enough, I actually get that. Sometimes I just know when you need me. I just feel it. It's almost like I can..."

"Feel what I'm feeling," he finished for her, "but only when–"

"–when you're really hurting." 

They stared at each other for a long moment before Sam broke the tension with a shrug and a small smile. "We just know each other too well."

He returned her smile. "I guess so. Maybe it's just part of being best friends." 

Neither was ready to dig into the topic further. They knew it wasn't normal and there was more to it than being friends for a long time (it never happened with Tucker, after all) but for now, they left it alone. Instead, they went back to their ice cream, allowing the conversation to end there.

Danny thought about the days to come. School was about to get a lot worse for Sam. Usually, bullies didn't get to her. They would call her names, mock her appearance, maybe knock her books out of her hands, but that was it. Now, they had details (and partial truths) about her private life. For a girl like Sam, that was devastating.

He finished his ice cream and tossed the wrapper in the direction of the trash can with a huff. "I'd still really like to punch that guy." He sat up straighter as an idea came to him. "What if I do it as Phantom?"

Sam rolled her eyes and threw her wrapper away too. "That would just put your secret at risk. Think about it: what reason would Phantom have for punching the new kid? People might actually start believing Wes."

Danny fell back on her bed, groaning in exasperation. "I know. It's just...he hurt you, Sam! And he's still hurting you! Bragging and spreading rumors."

She sighed and flopped down next to him. "I know, but if you go after him, it will just make people think the rumors are true. People already assume we're dating; they'll think that you're angry with him for sleeping with your 'girlfriend.'" She used air quotes around the last word but felt her cheeks warm anyway. 

Danny growled with irritation, rubbing his hands over his face. "I hate this. I know the jocks have a problem with me, but why did they have to go after you?" 

"Because they thought it would bother you." 

"Well they were right!" Danny snapped, throwing his hands in the air. "It does bother me! They can do whatever they want to me–I don't care–but this is different! Seeing you get hurt is so much worse than anything bullies have ever done to me!"

Sam closed her eyes and sighed quietly. "I'm sorry Danny. I'm sorry for not listening when you told me there was something off about him. And I'm sorry I was so eager for someone to like me that I played right into their plan."

"This is not your fault, Sam." Danny pressed his hands over his eyes in frustration. Of course she would blame herself; he should have predicted that.

"If it helps, I'm swearing off dating for a while. Maybe forever."

"Why?" He lifted his head to look at her. Sam was surprised that he seemed more concerned than comforted.

"What do you mean 'why?'" She crossed her arms defensively. "I thought you'd be relieved; I clearly have terrible taste in guys." 

Danny propped himself up on his elbow and gave her his 'don't bother lying, I know you too well' look. "It was one jerk, Sam. You can't say you have bad taste in guys if you've only dated one person. You know not every guy is like that." 

"I know..." She bit her lip.

"So what are you afraid of?" 

Afraid? I'm not afraid! 

Her denial faded the moment she met Danny's eyes. He was right, of course. She was afraid. In fact, she was terrified.

Danny waited patiently as Sam considered his question. He watched as she grappled with the discomfort and resisted the urge to take the question back. He had learned a thing or two from Jazz about asking tough questions. Uncomfortable questions were often the ones that needed to be answered the most.

When she finally spoke, Sam's voice was small and weary. "I'm afraid that I can't trust myself." She closed her eyes and sighed. "It scares me how easily I was fooled."

He nudged her shoulder. "You should give yourself some credit; you figured it out pretty fast. There's not really any way you could have known before at least going on a couple dates. No one would have seen this coming."

"You did." She looked up at him tiredly. "You saw right away that something was off. Why didn't I?"

Danny didn't know how to respond to that. He wasn't sure if he had actually known something was off or if he was just paranoid and jealous. But he couldn't exactly say that, so he just waited for her to continue. 

"I did figure it out fast," Sam conceded finally. "...But not before he kissed me." She felt her eyes sting and prayed that she wasn't about to cry again. "Can you believe I've kissed four guys now? And all of those kisses were meaningless... Maybe I really am easy."

Danny sat up the rest of the way, his brows knit together as he looked down at her. "No Sam, what you are is a good friend. The fake outs were to save my butt and Dash was to stop Ember. Tucker was an accident that you kept secret for over a year to avoid embarrassing him. They may not have meant what you wanted them to, but I wouldn't call any of those meaningless." 

He started to blush and dropped back on the bed beside her so she wouldn't see it. "They sure weren't to me." He said it so quietly that Sam almost didn't hear. 

"I guess they weren't meaningless to me either. They just weren't real. They were all either accidental or a means to an end. I wasn't kissed because someone thought I was special; I was kissed because I was there. Any other girl could have taken my place and it wouldn't have made a difference. I'm afraid that's how it's always going to be and I'll fall for it every time." Her voice broke and Danny realized she was about to start crying again. 

He sat back up and looked down at her. "Sam, that's not going to happen. First of all, you're not the kind of person to make the same mistake over and over. But beyond that, me and Tucker will always have your back. If all of our breakups have proven anything it's that between the three of us, we're pretty good at spotting BS."

Sam looked unconvinced so he took her hand and pulled her to a sitting position. "Seriously Sam, think about it. All three of us have been played before. But each time it's happened, at least one of us was able to see what was happening. When Paulina was using me freshman year, you saw right through it, but I was too dumb to listen until Tucker finally talked to me." He gave an embarrassed shrug. "When Val was using Tucker, you and I knew right away and eventually you got him to listen to you. This time, I could tell something was off." He rubbed the back of his neck and gave her a sheepish look. "I'm just really not used to being the only one who picks up on something. I kinda just ended up insulting you and making it worse. Sorry about that." 

"I forgive you Danny." Sam's hands fidgeted in her lap. "I mean, I didn't exactly handle things well with you and Valerie either. Oh, and I'm sorry for calling you 'ghost freak.'"

Danny laughed at that. "You mean that wasn't a compliment?" He slapped a hand to his chest like he was shocked. "Here I was thinking you were finally accepting me for what I am." 

'Freak' was a label bullies often applied to Sam. One that Danny knew bothered her more than she let on. He wanted her to see that he would accept the label without flinching...That he would accept her without flinching.

She continued to fidget. "Do you forgive me or not?"

"There's nothing to forgive. It's not like you called me a loser." 

Sam looked up sharply. "Because you're not one," she insisted. "You never have been." 

After breaking up with Valerie, Danny had fallen back into old insecurities. His fear was that no girl would like him as Fenton. They would all see him as a loser...the way Valerie used to. Sam, of course, knew that.

 "Okay, no more talking about exes. I'm supposed to be cheering you up, not moping with you while the ice cream melts." He grabbed the box of ice cream sandwiches and tossed one to Sam who gave him a small, grateful smile. Now he just had to distract her. "Hey, did Tucker tell you about the ghost we saw hoarding traffic cones the other day?"

For the next hour, Sam and Danny sat across from each other on her bed and enjoyed their ice cream. Relaxed and content in each other's company, they talked about ghosts, video games, plants, and astronomy. Danny silently wondered if the ice cream sandwiches really did have some magic to them because once again, their friendship seemed to be back to normal.

Perhaps even more amazingly, no ghosts came to interrupt them.

Chapter Text

It was a text from Jazz reminding him about family dinner that finally sent Danny home. "Are you going to be okay tonight? I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you joined us for dinner," he said as he transformed into Phantom.

"I'll be fine. I have homework I need to do anyway." She lifted her backpack onto her bed, as if to prove the presence of homework. Danny hesitated and she smiled reassuringly. "Really, I'm okay." 

He smiled back, relieved. "Okay, do you want me to tell Tucker about...you know, everything?"

"If you want. Or we can just tell him on the way to school tomorrow." She walked over and gave him a hug. "Thank you Danny, for everything." 

He hugged her back, icy cold in his ghost form. "I'm just glad you're okay." 

They separated and Sam watched as he disappeared. She rubbed her arms, trying to get rid of the goosebumps his ghost form always gave her. With Danny gone, the house around her felt large and empty. 

Sam wandered down to the kitchen and pulled a salad out of the refrigerator. She wasn't really hungry but she figured she should probably eat something more than ice cream. She stared at the salad in her hands for a long time before sighing and putting it back in the fridge.

She wasn't lying when she told Danny she was okay. She knew she would get through this,  just like she'd made it through everything else in her life. But that didn't change the fact that this hurt. Nor did it take away her apprehension about going back to school tomorrow, knowing everyone was talking about her. She knew boys would be leering at her and girls would hurl insults, mocking her any chance they got. Normally, the bullying wouldn't get to her. But this time, it was already so personal. "Gregor" had wormed his way under her defenses, leaving her raw and vulnerable. Tomorrow was going to be awful. Giving up on eating, Sam headed back to her room. 

When she made it to her door, she was surprised to find Danny there, anxiously pacing back and forth in Fenton form. She paused in the doorway and watched for a moment. It had been a long time since she'd seen Danny this nervous.

"Didn't you just go home?" she asked finally, walking in and closing the door behind her.

He jumped. "Geez Sam, don't sneak up on me like that!" 

She chuckled. "Aren't you supposed to have super ghost hearing?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Kind of, I don't know! I just wasn't expecting you!"

"This is my room..." She walked closer, tilting her head in concern. "Are you okay?"

He gave a nervous laugh. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just...I needed to tell you something." 

Sam crossed her arms, stopping a few feet from him. "Okay, so tell me."

He rubbed the back of his neck again. "I just...I wanted..." he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to steady himself.

Sam drew closer and put a hand on his shoulder. "Danny, you know you can tell me anything, right?" 

He opened his eyes and looked down at her with an intensity she hadn't seen in him before. "Please don't punch me." 

She didn't have time to process that strange request before Danny was pulling her closer to him. He gently tilted her chin up to look at him, his eyes full of determination. Then his lips were on hers. 

His kiss was firm, but gentle. Deliberate and sincere, the way a kiss should be. But it was over far too soon.

He pulled away and looked at her, his eyes searching. She realized she must look completely shocked. His face was worried and Sam could see the question in his eyes. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down for another kiss. 

Danny responded immediately, his arms wrapping tightly around her, pressing her body into his. Sam's hands tangled in his hair, pulling him even closer, deepening their kiss. This was like nothing she had ever experienced. She'd been right, Sam decided, she had never had a real kiss...until now. 

She wasn't sure which of them had led them to the wall but Danny pinned her against it, freeing his hands to go wherever they wanted. They started at her face, tilting her head one way and then the other like he wanted to kiss her from every angle. Then, they were in her hair, tangling and pulling in a way that made her moan quietly. Danny groaned in response, a low, deep, sound that set her body on fire.

His hands moved to her sides, slowly sliding down, feeling the gentle curves of her figure. They stopped at her hips then moved back up to her waist. Sam surprised herself by feeling frustrated at that; she wanted him to touch her more.

That thought sent her mind crashing back into the present. She wanted Danny to touch her. Danny, her best friend. Who was kissing her. She was kissing her best friend!

Danny must have had the same realization she did because they broke the kiss at the same time. They stared at each other in shock, breathing heavily, trying to comprehend what they had just done. She could see in his eyes that Danny had only been planning to kiss her once; she had taken him by surprise when she kissed him back. In truth, she had surprised herself.

A million questions were running through her mind, foremost among them: was it real? 

Danny gently pressed his forehead to hers, his gorgeous blue eyes heavy lidded as he caught his breath. Finally, he whispered the answer to her unasked question. 

"You've always been special to me, Sam." 

Then he was gone. Vanished without another word. She almost wondered if she'd imagined it. But no, she could still taste him on her lips, still smell the faint scent of his cologne, and still feel the heat of him against her body. He'd been there, he'd kissed her, and now he'd flown away before she could say anything. 

"Coward," she muttered to herself before leaning back against the wall and slowly sliding to sit on the floor. She pressed her fingers to her lips and smiled. 

Chapter Text

He rubbed the back of his neck again, "I just...I wanted..." he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. Sam drew closer and put a hand on his shoulder, "Danny, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

He opened his eyes and looked down at her with an intensity she hadn't seen in him before. "Please don't punch me."

Sam didn't have time to process that strange request before Danny was pulling her closer to him. He gently tilted her chin up to look at him, his eyes full of determination. Then his lips were on hers.

His kiss was firm, but gentle. Deliberate and sincere...the way a kiss should be. But it was over far too soon.

Danny pulled away and looked at her, his eyes searching. Sam realized she must look completely shocked. Danny's face was worried and she could see the question in his eyes. Without thinking, Sam wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down for another kiss.

Danny responded immediately, his arms wrapping tightly around her, pressing her body into his. Sam sighed and tangled her hands in his hair, pulling him even closer, deepening their kiss. This was like nothing she had ever experienced before. She'd been right, Sam decided, she had never had a real kiss before...until now.

She wasn't sure which of them had led them to the wall but Danny pinned her against it, keeping their bodies pressed together while freeing his hands to go wherever they wanted. They started at her face, tilting her head one way and then the other like he wanted to kiss her from every angle. Then, they were in her hair, tangling and pulling in a way that made her moan quietly. Danny groaned in response, a low, deep, sound that set her body on fire. His hands moved to her sides, slowly moving down, feeling the gentle curve of her waist. They stopped at her hips and moved back up to her waist, Sam surprised herself by feeling frustrated at that, she wanted him to touch her more.

That thought sent her mind crashing back into the present. She wanted Danny to touch her. Danny, her best friend. Who was kissing her. Danny Fenton, her best friend since childhood, the person she loved most in the world, and the boy she'd wanted for years, was in her room, kissing her.

She pulled back to say something but Danny's lips moved to her neck and her mind went blank again. She gasped and let her eyes flutter closed. "Danny..."

Whimpering his name must have flipped a switch in him. Suddenly, all hesitation was gone. Danny slammed his lips back into hers and his hands moved up and down the sides of her body firmer against her. His tongue ran over her lower lip and Sam opened her mouth to grant him access.

It felt good, his tongue playing with hers. Sam always thought she'd hate French kissing. It was a surprise to find that she actually liked it. She liked it a lot.

While Danny explored her mouth, Sam took her turn to explore his body. She ran her hands down his back, over his arms and across his chest.

His shirt was in the way. Without thinking, Sam slid her hands under it and against his stomach. She reveled in the feeling of his skin and the lean muscle beneath. She wanted to feel more, she wanted his skin against hers. 

Danny groaned again as her hands moved up to his chest. Sam liked that sound and the way it made her feel. It gave her a burst of confidence. Her mouth left his and she trailed kisses across his cheek to his jaw. He shivered and his hands gripped her waist roughly as she kissed along his jawline and down his neck. She let her tongue flick out to taste his skin, wondering what would happen if she nipped at it. What would Danny do if she gave him a hickie?

Danny shivered again and then finally spoke in a husky voice she'd never heard before, "Um, Sam. I wanted to be your first real kiss but you should know, you're making it really hard to think of you as just my friend right now."

Sam paused, her face still tucked against his neck. He was giving her an out, a chance to accept her first kiss and keep their friendship as it was. They'd stayed platonic through multiple fake-out make-outs. They could stay platonic after this. But it was also a warning; the boundaries of their friendship were getting very thin. His hands were still gripping her waist tightly like he was afraid to move them.

"So what you're saying is, you're getting turned on." Sam said, slowly sliding her hands off his chest. She surprised herself with how bold she was being.

Danny choked out a nervous laugh, "Um...yeah." He buried his face against her hair, hiding from her. Sam didn't need to see him to know he was blushing brightly.

"Is that just because you're a teenaged boy or do you actually, um...want me?"

Danny dropped his head against her shoulder, groaning quietly. "Are you really gonna make me answer that?"

Her stomach sank. "Don't you think I deserve to know?”

Danny said nothing for a long moment and Sam held her breath. "It's because it's you, Sam. Because I want you." His voice was so quiet Sam could barely hear it.

Sam gently pushed him off of her so she could see his face. He didn't meet her eyes. In fact, he looked like he was two seconds away from phasing out of her room.

"Danny." She waited until he forced himself to look at her. "I..." She felt her face warm as she tried to find her words. His eyes were anxious, vulnerable, and wanting. A small smile graced her lips and she placed a gentle hand on either side of his face before raising on her tiptoes to give him a long, slow kiss. When she pulled away to meet Danny's eyes again she could see the barely-contained desire in them. "I want you too."

Danny licked his lips unconsciously and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. "So...is this okay?" He gave her another soft, lingering kiss and pulled back to gauge her reaction. She nodded and her eyes flickered down to his lips, waiting for him to kiss her again. Danny smirked and leaned back in. "How about this?" He pressed another kiss to her lips then slowly trailed kisses across her jaw and down her neck.

Sam shivered and gave a throaty sigh, "It's...it's okay, it's good...really good."

She felt him grin against her neck. "And this?" He pressed her into the wall again and kissed the other side of her neck.

"Mmmm it's good." She hummed, closing her eyes and tilting her head to give him more access. One of her hands came up to tangle in his hair while the other ran up his arm. She'd always wanted to touch him like this and now that she was, she didn't want to stop.

Danny's lips moved lower, pressing soft, warm kisses further down her neck. Sam couldn't stop the soft "oh..." that slipped out as his tongue flicked over her collar bone. It felt amazing and she wondered if he was going to continue to kiss down her chest. She would let him, if he tried. She would never let anyone else get this far. But Danny...Danny could go as far as he wanted to.

The ache of her broken heart was gone. Right now, her pain was being drowned out. The only thing she could feel was Danny exploring her body. His lips pressing hot kisses to her throat, moving across it to taste her other collar bone. His hands, warm through her clothes. One of those hands was tentatively caressing her stomach like he was unsure where he was allowed to touch. 

Anywhere. 

She would let Danny touch her anywhere. The euphoria of having him actually touching her, liking her, and wanting her was disarming. Her defenses were down. Danny could do anything he wanted.

"You should probably stop me, Sam." Danny's low voice against her collarbone made her stomach flip. He practically growled as he slowly loosened his grip on her, like it took great effort to wrench himself away. "I should stop..."

"Why?" Sam asked, her breathy voice pulling a helpless groan from him.

Danny kissed her lips again, long and slow, before reluctantly pulling away. Sam tried to follow, to continue the kiss, but he caught her face in his hands and stopped her.

"Why?" She asked again, staring up into his heavy-lidded eyes. He wanted her; he'd said so himself. She could see it written all over his face. Why would he stop now?

Danny pressed his forehead against hers and fought for a moment to catch his breath. "Because you're special to me, Sam. You've always been special to me."

"And?"

"And I came to give you your first kiss." He closed his eyes, sighing heavily. "Not to take advantage of you while you're vulnerable."

"I'm not vulnerable." Sam protested automatically.

Danny chuckled quietly, like it was exactly what he expected her to say. "You are. I can feel it."  

"I..." She wasn't sure how to respond to that.

Danny opened his eyes and Sam flushed at the way he was looking at her. She felt exposed, naked under his gaze. He knew. Danny knew exactly what she was feeling.

"You just got your heart broken, Sam. It's late, you're tired, and you're worried about tomorrow." He leaned in and kissed her again, short and chaste. "So, I should stop and let you rest."

"Yeah," Sam agreed before rising up to kiss him back, her kiss just a little longer than his. "Yeah, I should rest."

"We'll talk about this tomorrow." Danny started to remove his hands from the sides of her face, but he hesitated before leaning in to kiss her again.

Sam sighed into his kiss and wrapped her arms around him. Danny's lips left hers for only a moment before he was back, kissing her more firmly, his fingers tangling in her hair.

"I should go," he whispered against her mouth. Sam slipped her tongue past his open lips and he accepted it eagerly, his tongue responding in kind. Sam pressed her body against his, wanting to feel him...wanting him to feel her.

Danny held her tightly to him for a few wonderful moments before abruptly ending the embrace, his hands catching her shoulders and gently pushing her back. "Okay, we should really stop."

Sam let out a breathy laugh. "Yeah. Yeah we should."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sam"

Before she could respond, Danny pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and disappeared.

Sam stood there dumbfounded for a moment. Her heart was still racing, her breathing still heavy. This was nothing like how she felt after a fake-out make-out. No kiss, no touch, had ever made her come undone like this. She leaned against the wall and let it support her as she slid to the floor, still trying to process what had just happened. "See you tomorrow." She whispered to the empty room. Tomorrow didn't seem quite so scary anymore.