Ch.9: Concerns

Maddie Fenton was concerned.

In reality, she had been concerned for awhile now. It was hard not to be, with the things her baby boy was doing without reason. It was just…hard to come to terms with. Memories of a much harder time always popped up when she thought of her son's growing habit, and it was always easier to just push the problem aside to deal with later. Besides, people had assured her that specific issue Danny had at the time would dissipate with the years. And they had. There had been no incidents after that event. It didn't make sense for the problem to come back now; thus, Maddie presumed, it hadn't. This was just something new they would have to deal with.

Of course, that didn't mean the idea ever went away completely. It liked to stay, snuggled in the back of the mother's mind, where it planted other horrible ideas that had Maddie praying Danny just had a mental problem they could fix with a few therapy sessions. It was a horrible thing to pray for, yes, but it was so much better than the alternative.

With these roaming thoughts caught in her head, Maddie paced the kitchen, occasionally checking the clock for the time. Today was the day she was going to sit Danny down to talk about his new habit. It wasn't going to be fun, and Maddie really wanted to put it off, but she'd been putting it off for weeks now. And she knew that if it didn't happen today, it wasn't going to happen at all. She'd just keep putting it off until something happened, and that would be a worse fate than this.

Looking at the clock again, Maddie frowned, wondering where Danny was. School had let out a long time ago, and he was usually home by now, up in his room and doing homework. She shouldn't be so worried; he was a teenager. He liked to go out and do things occasionally. However, Danny was good about texting her when he did things on the fly. Maddie tried to assure herself that her son had just forgotten- it happened; it wasn't a big deal –but that didn't stop her from worrying any. In fact, it made her feel worse, and there was no reasonable explanation as to why.

As time stretched on, Maddie continued to worry more and more. By the time she was supposed to begin dinner, both Jazz and Jack had already gotten home, but there remained no word of Danny's whereabouts from anybody. The worried mother easily convinced herself that her son had gotten into some kind of trouble; she just knew it. However, there were no phone calls from the hospital or the police department or the school or anyone to tell her about her son. She even asked the boy's father and sister, but they hadn't heard anything either. Thus, Maddie waited with bated breath as she began to slowly go through her routine of making dinner for the family, never noticing when she made a mistake.

When the casserole Maddie prepared was finally in the oven, the woman picked up the phone. She punched in the numbers 911 and was just about to press 'enter' when the sounds of laughter outside the door made her pause. Maddie quickly went to the kitchen door-frame, where she looked outside the window to see the front door. All her anxieties vanished in an instant when she saw Danny padding up the front steps to the door, a doggy bag from his favorite hangout clutched in his hands.

Unfortunately, Maddie wasn't allowed reprieve long. She was quickly reminded of her earlier mission when Danny suddenly laughed at nothing as he grabbed the knob to the front door. He looked to the side and said something to the air beside him, though Maddie was unable to determine what it was that he stated. The boy stayed standing on the front stoop for a few minutes longer, passing forth muted quips between him and the air. Then he finally shook his head, muttered something else, and opened the door as he called, "I'm home!"

"Where were you, young man?" Maddie asked instantaneously, arms crossed as she continued to stand in the doorway. Her worry was clear across her face, causing Danny's content expression to drop as he realized what he'd forgotten to do. Maddie was slightly pleased that he was ashamed for causing her such worry but remained distressed, all the same.

With a nervous chuckle, Danny held up the greasy paper bag in his hand, the red Nasty Burger emblem stamped across it in faded ink. The boy shrugged and replied, "I went out for awhile with Sam and Tucker. I guess I forgot to text you. Sorry Mom. I didn't mean to worry you so much. I promise it won't happen again."

The boy's repenting sentences did nothing to placate Maddie. In fact, she even focused in on something he said, which only made her mood drop all the more.

Sam and Tucker… Supposedly, they were two friends Danny had at school. He'd told Maddie and his father that they were new to the town and that he'd love to have them over sometime, but ever since that conversation, Danny had only mentioned "Sam" and "Tucker" in passing. Danny even avoided the conversations of the two new kids meeting his parents or having them over for a sleepover. The Fenton parents hadn't even seen a picture of the two kids, nor had the two ever been present at any school functions. Maddie had questioned Danny on the matter, but he'd given her half-ass lies she easily saw through. And no matter how much Maddie poked and prodded, Danny never relented any new information on the two.

Maddie had, over time, pieced together why that was. "Sam" and "Tucker" had suddenly popped up around the same time Danny's bad habit had. And Danny's bad habit just so happened to be talking to the air around him for discernible reason. It had been a little amusing at first, watching Danny unintentionally make a fool out of himself without realizing it, but as time drew on and he continued his act… Well, it just got less and less funny.

The mother didn't mind imaginary friends (except when they ended up not being imaginary); in fact, she'd gone along with it when her son and daughter were little. But Danny was fourteen now. He shouldn't make imaginary friends and then go out to a public place with them as his company. He should be going out with real, tangible friends, screwing up and having fun, as all teenagers did.

Fighting the urge to sigh at the situation, Maddie stated, "Danny, we need to talk."

The teen grew very somber with the quick, blunt statement. There must've been something in the woman's voice or expression that gave away the severity of the subject they were going to discuss one way or another. Danny, clueless as to what his mother was strung-up about, looked to his sides for help- another bad habit he'd developed –before his blue eyes came to rest back on Maddie. Slowly and cautiously, Danny asked, "What exactly do we need to talk about, Mom?"

Not answering, Maddie gestured for Danny to follow her into the kitchen. As she turned, Danny slowly trudged after her, obviously hesitant and cautious to find out what the topic of their discussion would be. Patiently, Maddie watched as her son entered the kitchen before sitting down him down at his usual seat at the kitchen table. For a moment, the mother paused, wondering if she should call her husband and add him to the attendee list. However, she dismissed the idea within a second. Maddie had tried to bring the subject of Danny's talking-to-air habit up to him plenty of times before, but Jack had been oblivious to the problem. (And people called Danny clueless.) Thus, it was easier to just have the conversation between her and her son.

Sitting across the table, Maddie studied her son's nervous face as he studied hers. They stared at each other for awhile, saying nothing, until Danny finally mustered up enough courage to ask, "So what is it that we need to talk about, Mom? I really do mean it when I say I won't forget to text you again. Honest. Today was a one-time deal."

Maddie had no doubt her son would ever let the event happen again, and she nodded to dismiss the subject already. Danny looked immensely uncomfortable with his folly not being the issue, and he squirmed in his seat, looking about the room as he tried to think up something he could say. However, before the teen could, Maddie asked, "So Danny, do you want to tell me about your friends Sam and Tucker?"

The question shocked the boy, and Danny stared at his mother in confusion, obviously wondering why the subject of his friends was coming up. To him, it didn't seem like an important matter, but who knew what was going on in his mother's head?

"Um, well, they're cool, I guess. They're just a couple of friends." Danny stated, shrugging his shoulders. Maddie didn't say anything, obviously waiting for her son to continue. However, Danny was at a loss for words, so he mumbled, "Tucker's a complete techno geek. Sam's a goth. But they're perfectly normal, I swear! Or, at least, they're as normal as it gets for high-school. Heh heh…"

Again, Maddie waited for Danny to continue, but Danny had nothing else to comment on. Thus, they sat at the table silently for a long time, with the mother staring at the son and the son staring at the table in front of him. The silence was deafening for a long while, until Maddie finally said with no cheer in her voice, "Well, they sound like wonderful people. You should have them over this weekend. Your father and I have been anxious to meet Sam and Tucker since you first talked about them that one day."

Looking immensely uncomfortable with the notion, Danny mumbled that he would talk about it with his friends. Maddie noticed he was beginning to look particularly guarded, and he avoided eye-contact with her. But then, she had expected as much from him. Danny had been using his nervous gestures to slip away from this conversation for awhile, Maddie letting him each time, but there was no way she was going to let him go tonight.

Danny occasionally looked up at the woman, trying to make out what was going on through her head. However, Maddie remained tight-lipped and deadly serious, which gave Danny zero information on wherever the woman was taking this conversation. The boy wanted to ask again what this discussion was supposed to be about, but he had a feeling Maddie would just ask one of her uncomfortable questions again.

Thus, the two sat at the table for a long time, saying nothing. Once again, it was Maddie who broke the silence, finally getting straight to the point. "Danny, are Sam and Tucker real?"

The question startled the boy. Danny looked up suddenly, staring at his mother with a bewildered expression. Incoherent sounds tumbled from his lips, the boy's mouth opening and closing in quick succession. Maddie remained unfazed, waiting patiently for an answer. Once the teen saw that the woman in front of him was deadly serious, he answered, "Yeah, they're real. Why wouldn't they be real exactly?"

"You've been acting strange lately, Danny." Maddie started, expressing her unease for the first time outwardly. "You've been talking to air, and I'm sure you would've brought Sam and Tucker over by now, if they were real. I thought it all might've been something you did for comedic purposes, but now it's starting to concern me, Danny. Is there something going on at school? Maybe somewhere else?"

The teen looked surprised, but it wasn't directed at what his mother was asking. Maddie watched curiously as Danny looked back down at the table, looking the slightest bit pleased by something. In fact, she thought she might've heard him mumble, "So they did notice…" It only confused the woman more. Why would Danny be happy with his parents noticing something like this? Wouldn't he have wanted to keep it a secret?

Then again, it's not like Danny had made a huge effort at hiding his habit. Sure, he'd tone it down if you were in the same room as him, only smiling at the quiet and holding back his tongue from saying anything outright, but as soon as he thought you might even be the slightest bit out of earshot, Danny's mouth ran like the roadrunner. Hell, sometimes he went as far as to yell.

Something wasn't entirely adding up. It was confusing, and Maddie hated being confused.

Looking up, the mother saw Danny's lips fighting to twitch upwards, only he refused to let them. Maddie frowned at that, but listened as Danny asked, "Mom, do you remember when we first moved into this house, and I developed those imaginary friends that ended up not being imaginary friends at all…?"

Oh shit, please God, no. He was supposed to grow out of that.

Maddie opened her mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. She was entirely speechless, as that was all Danny had to say to make her understand. The teen boy seemed to realize this, and he smiled, expressing his nervousness with the simple action. Maddie continued to open and close her mouth, her mind drawing blank slates again and again. Danny only smiled some more before gesturing to the air behind him, "Yeah, well, Sam and Tucker are standing by the counter. They say hi, by the way."

Unconcerned, Danny looked over his shoulder briefly, his grin becoming the slightest bit relaxed as he listened to something that was beyond Maddie's capability. He chuckled for a moment before turning his head back around. Far from worried, Danny said, "Sam and Tuck say they're sorry for worrying you. So am I. I should've told you sooner that I never grew out of seeing ghosts."

Maddie's having a bad day. Could you tell? XD

Anyways, ok, wow, the response from last chapter was astonishing. Thus, I will come back to that AU sometime in the future, though I'm not sure when. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, though! See you guys soon?

Thanks to these people for favoriting/following: Danny and Kris, Mirria1, Lectori Salutem, Blue Crystal Waters, Em's New Name, J of Darkness, The Voices in Your Head, italylikespasta12, Taiski, Loyal-LeoBlade, Lilyqz, kittykruger, Et Qui Metit, Devinely, DarkDragon2267, the-darker-side-of-things, Nicky-Pickle-25, SecondStar25, Pokemaster22, fifibear0, koyboy, Not-Gonna-Update.

Guest Reviews:

Guest(1): Aw, thank you~! I'm glad it blew you away so you couldn't express how awesome you thought it was! :D

Hybrid: I guess that's good for me but not you... Huh. XD Glad you liked it?