This story is TxS. If you can't be open minded about TxS then don't read this story. I'll understand completely. I don't want you to read this and get all mad and say tell me I'm crazy, sick or generally flame me for this. If however, you are an open minded DxS shipper like myself (I can even get behind DxV), then please take this story for what it happily is, fluff.

Many of my readers will recognize a lot of this fluff from my now defunct chapter 12 of the strange story Exile. Maybe once I get this out, I'll be able to write again. As it stands, Danny isn't my favorite character right now. He and I are currently on the outs (which is part of the reason I'm going TxS). If you see him, can you tell him that he and I need to have a talk?

Oh yeah, sorry if everyone OOC, I'm still suffering from THE BLOCK, I'm hoping this one shot will cure it though.

And as always, standard disclaimers apply, I own nothing.

A Cupcake for Sam

Tucker Foley, Techno Geek had chased after, and been rejected by every eligible, ineligible girl at Casper High, so much so that it had become a joke. If a girl hadn't been asked out by Tucker, then something must be wrong with her. Every girl had her requisite Tucker turn down story to titter about in the girl's locker room. Every girl except Sam Manson. Of course everyone knew that Sam was Tucker's friend, and her heart firmly belonged to Daniel Fenton. No one questioned how Sam slipped under Tucker's radar, they just assumed he didn't see Sam as a girl, they were wrong.

The aforementioned Techno Geek sat in the library, leaning on his hand as he watched Sam Manson reading a book. She looked up at him and frowned.

"Why are you looking at me like that Tuck?" She asked. "Do I have something on my face?"

Daniel Fenton looked up almost guiltily from the his doodling, glad he hadn't been caught doing something other than reading and smiled at his friend. Tucker had seriously been in La la land lately. He watched as Tucker shook his head then turned his attention back to his reading. Danny picked up his pencil again then frowned as Sam took it away.

"Danny," She chastised. "We're trying to raise your grade and keep you out of summer school. It would be nice if you'd put some effort into studying and make our boring afternoon here in the library worthwhile."

Danny sighed then looked at Tucker and narrowed his eyes as he caught his friend looking wistfully at Sam. Tucker caught Danny's eyes then quickly turned his attention back to the history text book he was reading.

The ghost boy waited until he and Tucker were alone to start grilling him. He knew he had to be sly about getting the information out of his friend, but he was confident that he could make Tucker fess up. He just wished he could sic Sam on him. Sam could talk Tucker into almost anything. Until now, Danny didn't have an inkling why, but now he had a fair idea of why Tucker was willing to follow anywhere Sam lead.

Danny didn't examine his feelings for Sam very closely. She was a girl yeah. He liked her, yeah. But come on, she's Sam! Sam! Okay no one understood that, but he felt like Sam did. She was his best friend, emphasis on friend, she understood everything.

"Tuck," Danny called as he walked quickly to catch up to his friend. "I need to talk to you."

Tucker took a deep breath and turned to look at Danny. "Come on Danny," he said. "I don't want to study anymore. I've got a good handle on all my grades…"

"It's about Sam," Danny told Tucker then watched Tuck's face become impossibly pale, well, pale for Tucker at any rate.

"What about her?" Tucker almost asked defensively.

Danny took a deep breath, should he just rush in or tip toe delicately up to the subject? Danny had all the social grace of a bull in a china closet, so he decided to just blurt it out and let the cards land where they may.

"You have a crush on her," Danny accused, trying not to sound as teasing or even as worried as he felt. The look on Tucker's face confirmed the truth.

"What are you talking about?" Tucker asked as he quickly turned and started walking. Danny followed the Techno Geek.

"Sam," Danny accused. "You have a crush on her."

"And she has a crush on you," Tucker spat almost bitterly then winced knowing he had revealed something he shouldn't have.

Danny's eyes widened, he needed a moment to process that statement. "She does?" he asked in shock.

Tucker turned and looked at Danny. "Well duh! Why are you so clueless? Did Maddie drop you on your head too much when you were a baby?"

"But you like her right?" Danny asked feeling a little worried and now wishing he hadn't initiated this talk, he'd had no clue Sam had any feelings for him, which of course explained why he was clueless. He needed to talk to Sam about this.

"You know what Danny?" Tucker replied almost angrily. "I have a few paper cuts. Let's go back to my house and pour some lemon juice on them. Trust me, that would be a lot more pleasant than the conversation we're having now." Danny sighed deeply. He started out with the intention of maybe getting his two best friends together and now he was stunned by this startling revelation.

"I haven't told you or Sam yet," Danny started, deciding he was going to go forward with his initial plan, his feelings be damned, he certainly didn't feel he was good enough for Sam and well, seeing Tucker happy would be a plus.

"What?" Tucker asked, his defensiveness easing a bit as he began to feel like the conversation was moving back to more comfortable ground.

"Dad told us last night," Danny continued. "I'm not going to be around at all this summer. We're going down to Arkansas to visit my Aunt."

"What?" Tucker said beginning to feel bummed. "What about the ghosts?"

"We'll have to hope that they decide to take a summer vacation too," Danny said. "Besides Valerie will probably be around."

"Oh yeah," Tucker said. "Like she can really fight ghosts,"

"Come on," Danny replied. "Give her a chance."

Tucker shook his head then began to talk to Danny about his new technological gadgets. Danny smiled, nodded and tried to think of a way to wedge Tucker's feelings for Sam into the conversation without making his friend freak out.

"So," Danny said as they walked to Tucker's house. "I was thinking. That…" He paused. This was harder than he expected. "I was thinking that maybe, while I was gone you could like…you know."

Tucker gave Danny as strange look. "What are you talking about?"

"Sam," Danny answered then let out a deep breath.

"What?" Tucker shrieked.

"I'll be out of the way," Danny said then swallowed hard. "This would be like the perfect time for you to you know, woo her."

"Woo her?" Tucker asked a look of amusement flashing across his face. "You've been talking to your dad again haven't you?"

Danny shot Tucker a look of annoyance. "Look," he started. "You like her. Maybe she likes you. Maybe you two could work."

Tucker blinked at Danny a moment then shook his head and wondered if the Ghost Boy had totally lost his mind. Was he really trying to push Sam and him together? This was too weird. Surreal even.

"Sam likes you," Tucker stated as he stopped and looked at Danny. "Are you being over shadowed or something?"

"No," Danny laughed. "I just want to see my two friends happy." Tucker only shook his head. The friends walked in silence until they reached Tucker's house.

"You know," Tucker said as they sat and began to play video games. "Sam isn't someone you can just toss around. She has a heart and feelings you know."

"I know that," Danny said in irritation. "I'm just saying that you ought to…like, try."

Tucker growled as he looked at his controller. "Don't you like her Danny? I mean don't you even share her feelings a little bit." Danny was almost surprised at how angry Tucker seemed.

Danny paused. Well yes of course he liked her. Sam was great, but really she was his best friend, never his girlfriend. He felt that if he got involved with her romantically it would be the end of one of the greatest things in his life. He resolved he'd talk to Sam about this…delicately of course.

"My feelings don't enter into this," Danny told Tucker, feeling satisfied that he'd found a way to side step the truth. Tucker only shook his head.

"Just try," Danny said. "This summer while I'm out of the way. Maybe things will develop between you two."

"Why?" Tucker asked. "Why do you want me to date Sam?"

Danny was silent. He almost said, "Better you than anyone else," but he didn't. He took a deep breath. "I already told you. I want to see you both happy. I think you'd make each other happy, that's all."

Tucker said something under his breath which made Danny smile. "Can you repeat that?" Danny asked. "I didn't quite hear you."

"I said I'd try," Tucker snapped. Danny would have expected that Tucker would be happy, but instead the Techno Geek was in a bad mood for the rest of the afternoon.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The first week after Danny left for summer vacation, Tucker held back and respected Sam's adjustment period. He knew she missed Danny. She didn't say anything, but he knew Sam well enough to just know. She never told him what Danny said to her when he came to tell her good bye, only that he was insane.

It was after the second week of Summer vacation, when their lives took on a normal rhythm, that Tucker set out to win Sam's heart. He did feel pangs of guilt but remembered what Danny told him. His friend had given him the green light to pursue her and so he did.

Tucker set off to woo Sam first by giving her all the attention he felt Danny had failed to show her. He brought her cupcakes covered with sprinkles and black gummy bats, black flowers, cookies and little trinkets he saw that reminded him of her. He called just to say hi and to make sure she was okay.

Sam herself was extremely amused by Tucker's attention, though she didn't question what he was doing. She just went along with him, wondering if maybe he'd gone completely insane, but not able to say she didn't like all the attention he was giving her, even if he did annoy her from time to time with his obsession with meat and the latest technology. She missed Danny, but their conversation the night before he left warned her that she needed to let her heart open to other possibilities, and she even considered accepting a date from one of her Goth friends that frequented the poetry slams she liked to attend. Of course, Tucker kept her too occupied to accept any dates from anyone but himself.

"Wait?" Sam said to herself one afternoon as she prepared to meet the boy in question. "Am I dating Tuck?" The question bewildered her. She decided not to let herself be bothered too much by it, after all. It's Tucker she was talking about. Tucker Foley. You know, Techno Geek, Bad Luck Tuck. Yeah, she liked him, but when did this happen?

"Yes Sam," she said to the mirror. "You have completely lost all your marbles!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

The Goth girl was sitting in Tucker's room, playing a video game one Saturday afternoon, trying to ferret out her feelings when Tucker sat down beside her and handed her a yellow frosted cupcake decorated with a smiley face.

Sam looked at the cupcake he placed in her hand then up at Tucker. "What's this?" she ask.

"A cupcake, dark chocolate. Your favorite kind," Tucker answered. "But you can't eat it."

Sam looked down at the cupcake in her hand and frowned. It looked perfectly normal, even though it was smiling up at her rather manically. "Why can't I eat it?" she asked skeptically.

Tucker took the cup cake out of her hand and peeled away the wrapper like he'd done every other time he brought her a cupcake, "Because it has a face," He said and smiled sweetly at her.

"You're really weird," Sam said as she shook her head and took the little confection as Tucker handed it back to her.

"I'm not the ultra recyclo-vegitarian," Tucker teased as he looked pointedly at the cupcake and then back at Sam.

"You're never going to stop giving me a hard time about that are you?" she asked as she looked down at the grinning face in her hand.

"I like teasing you Woman," Tucker told her sweetly. Sam glared at him with an evil grin on her face then reached forward and dabbed a little of the cupcake frosting on his nose.

"And you're still really weird Tuck," She laughed as he wiped off the frosting with a finger and tasted it.

"It's pretty good," he said. Sam bit her bottom lip then took the cup cake and put more frosting on Tucker's face.

"Hey," he said in a wounded tone as he started to wipe the frosting off his face. "You're supposed to eat the cupcake not attack me with it." He paused at the evil gleam still present in Sam's eyes. She leaned forward and kissed the frosting off his chin.

Sam was sure Tucker was going to drop dead then and there. She laughed a little then moved closer and kissed the frosting off his cheek. "Hmm," she said. "You're right. It is good." Tucker smiled then took a shaky breath. He was unsure how to proceed. Had Sam just kissed him?

The Goth girl giggled as a flush crawled up Tucker's cheeks. She reached over and wiped more frosting off his face. "I'm sorry." She said trying to sound innocent. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay," Tucker said as he licked the remaining frosting off his lips. Sam smiled again then leaned forward and kissed his mouth.

"Thanks for the cupcake," she said as she pulled away and looked at her friend thoughtfully. "I'm sorry I ruined it."

"You didn't ruin it," Tucker replied breathlessly. He wished that he had the courage to kiss her himself. Sam read the look and uncertainty in her friend's face then leaned forward and kissed him again…and again, until finally he relaxed and savored the sweetness of her lips on his, wondering if perhaps he was dreaming, and if so, he never wanted to wake.

Yes, at first Sam had been amused by Tucker's courtship of her. She felt it was absurd that he should be pursuing her at all, but her heart began to soften and she even accepted that a few of the outings they took to the movies and the Nasty Burger were dates.

Gradually though, she began to feel stirrings in her heart for Tucker. Whether what she was feeling were the affections of friendship or love, Sam didn't want to examine too deeply.

Sam reflected that it was pleasant enough to kiss him. It was weird, but it wasn't unpleasant and sent little tingles of excitement from her toes to the top of her head. It made her happy and she knew it made Tucker happy, so she figured it was a good thing.

Tucker himself felt extremely guilty for being so happy. He was free to express his affection for Sam. He could tease her and touch her and even look at her adoringly without feeling like he was interfering with something he shouldn't be messing with. He tried his best not to think about Danny coming back, and that's when serious guilt came into play.

Of course Tucker wanted Danny to come back. He missed his friend and worried over him just as much as Sam did, but on the other hand, he didn't want to give up Sam, who he was now openly calling his girlfriend, when she wasn't around of course. He knew he couldn't go back to the way things were before. Now that he'd opened up his heart to Sam, there was no containing his feelings.

"I'm really tired," Sam said as she yawned and laid her head on Tucker's shoulder. She cuddled up next to him as they resumed their video game play, and promptly fell asleep, leaning against Tucker. Yes, Tucker, leaving the Techno Geek with conflicted feelings and wondering if things would stay as wonderful as they were between he and Sam or if everything would go back the way it was once Danny was back from vacation. Only time would tell. Until then, Tucker decided he wasn't going to think about it.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

There you go. A fluffy TxS one shot. I know it ends abruptly, but just ask any DxS shipper who has written TxS fluff and they'll tell you that it's just plain hard to do….besides I really want to write more but am restraining myself from this. Maybe…just maybe I'll extend this story. I imagine things would become rather difficult once Danny returned from vacation. And what about Sam? How does she feel? Hmmmmmmmm

Review? Yes?