Chapter 1

(Set right after Memory Blank in season 2)

Sam sits on the ground, head resting against the railing of her bedroom balcony, and sighs. She's furious at herself for even momentarily wishing she didn't know her best friend. She wouldn't be sitting here thinking that if Danny had never met her, maybe he wouldn't be half dead right now. Maybe he wouldn't have to deal with daily ghost fights, slipping grades, and an inhumane lack of sleep. Honestly, he still becomes a halfa in the time-line she wasn't in, and she gets that, but a sick part of her still blames herself. Every bruise on his pale body is because of her.

Don't get her wrong she gets an intense rush of adrenaline hunting ghost, protecting her town. It's like she's a dorky high school student by day and a badass superhero by night. As an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian, all she wants to do is save the planet. The thing is, Danny isn't Sam. Danny wants a normal teen-hood where he can date pretty cheerleaders and go to Nasty Burger without a Box Ghost attack.

She knows he has no hard feelings towards her, and somewhat enjoys his undead secret life, but she can't help the wave of guilt that washes over her. All he wanted to do tonight was go to a party, live a normal teenage life, but she held a movie over his head. He's saved her life countless times, she practically killed him, and she couldn't allow one night where Danny could just be a normal 16 year old.

What kind of friend am I? She thinks as she runs her fingers through her long, raven hair.

He's always put her and Tucker first no matter the consequences, and she throws a fit the one time he doesn't. In the midst of her pity party, she hardly hears her phone buzz.

Ghost-Boy: What's the chances you have notes for our English quiz Monday? A ghost may or may not have eaten my notebook.

She smiles, she can't help but be smitten to his charm and humor. Here he is, this town hero, fighting to keep Amity Park safe, killing himself in the process, and yet he still finds time to ask her about something as mundane as English homework. Something about this text brought an emotion up in Sam. Something about the guilt of the day mixed with late-night overthinking made her want to do something grand for Danny, but what can she do?

She smiles as an idea forms. She hops off of her balcony, grabs her black book bag, digs her notebook out, and tosses it onto her bed. She runs into her closet, changes into a pair of yoga shorts and a Casper High tank top. She also grabs her skull-patterned overnight bag. In it, she tosses her notebook, a change of clothes, and a few toiletries. She sneaks out of her bedroom slowly and quietly, making extra sure not to wake her sleeping parents. When she finally makes it out her front door she lets out a huge sigh of relief.

She starts towards her black BMW, but after a quick sniff of the fresh summer air opts to walk the two blocks to her dead friend's home, hoping the fresh air would clear her head.

Danny walks into his room after a much-needed shower. His jet-black hair, still damp after he lazily ran a towel through it, was sticking to his neck and face. He adjusts the towel wrapped around his waist as he digs through his dresser for a pair of sleep pants. He checks his phone in disappointment that Sam hasn't texted him back. He knew his little goth of the night wasn't asleep at a mere midnight and he could really use help on the upcoming test. Honestly, after the day they've had he just wants to hear from her and know she's okay. As tough of a girl as she is, Danny knows Sam has a huge heart and is probably blaming herself and her wish on today.

He's busy checking out a new forming bruise in his full-length mirror when he hears a light tap on his window. He turns to see a blushing Sam balancing on the ladder outside his room. She waves at him sheepishly and motions to let her in. Danny rushes and unlocks the window, surprised when not only his best friend but her overnight bag falls onto his bed.

Sam lies breathless on the twin mattress for a moment. Her chest heaving from the 2 block jog followed by climbing a ladder to the third floor of the Fenton house. Not to mention she's flushed from the sight of her once lanky best friend shirtless before her. It seems like just yesterday Danny was this scrawny little boy, but after almost a year of fighting ghosts, he's got a pretty good body. Despite the purple bruises dotting his pale skin, his chest and arms were toned into the body of a man. A hot man at that.

Woah Sam, calm down. What are you doing checking out your best friend? She thinks to herself. It was hard not to check him out, even though she knows he's off-limits. They've been best friends since elementary school no moment of lust is going to ruin that.

"Sam?!" Danny says in a loud whisper.

"Shut the fuck up dumbness, do you want your parents knowing I'm here this late?" The last thing her budding anxiety needs is Jack Fenton busting through the door in his sleep hat swinging a Fenton Anti-Creep Stick around. As her breathing calmed, she listens for voices in the Fenton house and is relieved to hear silence aside Jack's snores down the hall.

She sits up on the bed to see Danny smiling at her, "What are you doing here?" He asks, sitting beside her.

"Something I didn't realize was crazy and risky until I was halfway up your ladder."

They both laughed, "It's crazy my parents haven't noticed that ladder yet. I guess they never thought little Danny Fenton would have a pretty girl crawl into his room late at night." Danny winked at a blushing Sam.

She hits him in the chest and giggles, "I'm here with the English notes you requested. I can't sleep so I figured we could study."

She tosses the overnight bag in front of her on the bed, digs out the notebook, and tosses it into Danny's lap.

"Why didn't you just text me, we could have met up tomorrow instead of you risking an internal grounding by sneaking out." The smile on his face gave away he's not the tiniest bit upset by this late-night visit.

She sighs and scratches the back of her neck, "Look today was difficult. I can't help but feel guilty so if helping you with English notes is something I can do I want to do it. I kinda act on impulse if you haven't noticed."

Danny completely tuned out her response, all too distracted by the skin exposed as her shirt hikes with Sam's arm to scratch her neck. Her skin looks so soft and pale; like she's a porcelain doll. Her breathing is still heavy and the rise and fall of her chest isn't helping his teenage mind concentrate. He's speechless to the idea that Sam Manson snuck out to climb into his bedroom window.

Sam quickly notices that Danny is spaced out and smirks, of course, he would get bored halfway through an answer to a question he asked.

While Danny not so subtly checked out Sam, he notices wet blood dripping from her hand. He picked it up to investigate the small cut.

"Are you hurt? How did you manage this on a two-block walk?" He asked as he walked to his dresser to pull out his heavily used first aid kit. He sits on his knees by the bed, and they both blush as he takes her bleeding hand. He uses a tissue to wipe away the blood and an alcohol wipe to clean the wound. Finally, he takes out a pack of Danny Phantom bandaids and put one on her hand.

She looks at the hand still in Danny's larger one, her body warm from the amount of care he's showing her over one small scrape. He's your best friend. She repeats to herself in her head.

"I must have scratched it on the ladder, wait you have merch now? Where did you even find bandaids."

Danny smiles at her and laughed as he runs his thumb over the wound, smoothing out the black bandaid.

"What can I say, I'm sorta a big deal." He winks.

She hit him with a pillow and laughs, "Phantom is a big deal, Fenton is a dude who's going to fail his English test Monday. Now let's get to studying it's the least I can do after all. "

Danny, still holding her injured hand, gently brings it to his mouth and kisses the cut before pulling himself up to sit beside her on the bed again. He smirks at her instant red face, he loves that he has this effect on her.

"Sam, you know I'm not upset about the wish. We talked about it. It isn't a big deal. You owe me nothing."

Sam swallows, unable to find her words after feeling Danny's lips on her palm. She's worried that with his supernatural hearing he knows her heart is beating a mile a minute. One glance at the smirk on his lips and she's certain he can.

He's your best friend. FRIEND.

Danny finally releases her hand, gently placing it by her side.

"Is it better?" He asks.

"Much. Thank you."

She takes a moment to look at Danny closely for the first time tonight and notices the slight blush tinting his cheeks as well. This comforts her a bit knowing she has a similar effect on him. She wonders if he understood it better, she wonders if his heart was beating as wildly. At least she can take comfort in knowing she somewhat isn't alone in what she's feeling tonight.

For a moment they sit there, quiet. Looking into each other's eyes. Taking in this new, intense emotion taking over their bodies. Sam is the first to look away. She lowers her gaze, but it lands on his bare chest. It's heaving heavily, much like hers, showing her that maybe - just maybe- he's as nervous as she is. She finds herself staring at his toned chest for much longer than she likes to admit. She finds herself thinking about how soft his skin looks and -

Oh my God, what am I doing? Since when do I check out my best friend?! Especially with no shame, he's staring right at me. Oh my God, he has to have noticed.

Her mind is going a mile a minute while she tares her eyes away from his chest.

Of course, Danny doesn't miss her watching him, and if he's being honest, he really enjoys her staring. If he's being honest, he wants nothing more than to give in to this sudden desire to feel her skin. He wants to grab her and feel her body against his. He wants to hear what sounds she makes while her eyes flutter closed in pleasure. He wants to see how red her cheeks could get. He wants… Sam.

This is Sam, his best friend, his literal partner in crime. Someone he sees and talks to every day. Someone who knows every little embarrassing thing about him. How could for a second he consider crossing the line between friendship and lust. He can't risk ever fucking up the most important friendship he's ever had. He can't image catching ghosts without her by his side.

Let's face it Tucker isn't exactly handy with the thermos and if we're being honest isn't the most graceful of partners either. Not to say Danny isn't grateful for his tech friend's help and support, it's just between the two Sam is the better sidekick.

His mind runs rapid with ideas of Tucker falling down a hill, the thermos landing in a lake. Tucker distracted by his PDA while the box ghost packaged him like a present. Tucker is a great sidekick, Danny would be long gone without his smarts, but as much love as he holds for his oldest friend, he knows Tucker isn't exactly graceful or street smart.

Team Phantom would be doomed without Sam, and that would mean Amity Park would be destroyed by ghosts in no time. But thoughts of the town aside, he could lose his best friend, and the idea of Sam Manson never talking to him again is worse than an eternity as Skulker's prisoner.

But there she is… staring at him, the same way he's staring at her. If she makes a move does he have the strength to deny her? Does he even want to? He clears his throat, hoping to clear his mind of the pg-13 thoughts about his best friend. Sam is doing her best to avoid looking at him. He freaks out, things are getting weird, he can't let things get weird.

Looking in front of her he notices the big bag, why didn't she just bring her book bag with her? Aren't we supposed to be studying?

Curious he asks, "So, what's up with the giant purse."

Sam visibly relaxes. She smiles sheepishly and says, "It's not a purse, it's an overnight bag…"

Danny raises an eyebrow and does his best to hide his smirk, "An overnight bag, hmm? I thought you came over to study. Exactly what subject did you have in mind, miss Manson."

Fuck, I'm flirting again. Do I not have an off switch? Danny thinks. Scolding himself.

Sam turns cherry red, she chokes and regrets all her life decisions. She mentally curses the inventor of bags and herself for not taking one fucking second to think before rushing to Danny's.

"Well, it's already like 1am and I figured I can head back in the morning before your parents are up and I don't have to walk back in the dark and I will obviously sleep on the floor. Fuck, I should have asked first instead of just showing up, I'm sorry Dan-"

"Sam, chill. I'm just teasing. You're always welcome here, you know that." Danny smiles, something about the way she rambles is too cute; it makes him feel all weird inside knowing that he did that to her.

"It totally doesn't have to be an overnight bag, we can study for a bit and I'll head back. I just sorta headed over here without thinking. Forget I said anything, it's 100 percent a large purse, not an overnight bag." Sam rambles, she turns a brighter shade of pink with each passing second.

Danny, leans closer to Sam, smirking. "So, it's not an overnight bag?"

Sam frantically shakes her head, "Definitely NOT an overnight bag."

Danny frowns and Sam realizes he's millimeters away from her face. She could feel his body heat radiating off of him… Heat being a strong word, he feels more like a cold chill and she can't help but wonder if that was his ghost genes or her own dirty mind causing her to shiver. She curses herself as she notices he's still very much shirtless and for the second time that night finds herself staring with wonder at his naked chest.

A weird sense of pride feels Danny as he catches her checking him out again. His beautiful, sexy best friend finds him at least somewhat attractive. Suddenly he finds himself wanting her to stay. He doesn't want her nerves scaring her back home, no matter how bad of an idea the rational side of him thinks it could be.

He puts his rational side to rest as he lifts her face to meet his eyes, raises an eyebrow and says,

"That's too bad."

So I've wanted to write a Danny Phantom fanfiction for years now, I know that the show ended YEARS ago so there may not even be an audience for it anymore, but I am starting writing school soon and figured I could get some drabbles and practice out of me on fanfiction. This is the place that started my love for writing. Note that I'm writing here purely for exercise so if things aren't 100% edited or perfect I apologize. This story here came to me after rereading an old Austin and Ally fanfiction I used to love.

PS: Are there any other adults out there reading fanfictions for their old kid shows still? I can't be alone xD.