Author's Note:
Before we start - I still can't get how there can be such a glitch in the DP plot - see, if it was mentioned that Danny, Sam and Tuck knew each other since the second grade at least (Splitting Images), then the two guys logically would have been to her house at least once before high school - or at least asked about it, right? (Attack of the Killer Garage Sale). Hmm, okay. Well, main point is, I'll need to look past that in order for the plot of this to work - I'm basing it off Mame Farrell's book, and sometimes why. It's a lovely story. But alas, I don't own that - and I don't own Danny Phantom either. They're the property of Mame Farrell, and Butch Hartman and Nickelodeon respectively. Yes, I know, the world is an evil place. But at least I still own the work here. xP
Okay anyway. I now bring you...
Just Between You and Me
Eighth Grade, 2003
"It's really too bad Tucker had the flu today." Thirteen-year-old Sam Manson remarked as she opened the front door to her house - or, more appropriately put, mansion, smirking.
"Yeah, well..." Her best friend Danny Fenton shrugged, looking a little sheepish as he adjusted his schoolbag over his shoulder. "I mean, I do feel sorry for him too, but we have been waiting all year for Dead Teacher 3 to finally come out on DVD." He grinned. "I still can't believe how awesome it was when we watched it the first time at the cinema."
Sam laughed, pulling at her usual black mid-drift and entering, Danny following behind her. "Maybe we should run over and pass it to him once we're done with it today. After all..."
"Watching it at his own place minus your surround sound still beats not watching it at all today," Danny smiled, finishing off for her agreeingly. He knew their techno-geek best friend, who was equally as crazy about the movie as they were, would appreciate it.
Sam tossed her book bag onto the couch in the living room and motioned to the stairs leading to her basement theater. "Make yourself at home - I'm gonna get refills for the soda machine."
"No problem," Danny grinned, heading for the steps and almost skipping down them in his gleeful excitement.
He was already munching on a whole box of popcorn, (fairly) patiently waiting for her to start the movie when she finally came up to him with two cups of iced Coke, the machine next to the popcorn one now fully restocked and refilled.
"Thanks," Danny grinned, fortunately having just swallowed the current mouthful of popcorn in his mouth. He held up the huge box. "Want some? I got enough for us both."
Sam made a slight face. "No thanks." She set the cups down on the side table, absently rubbing her stomach. "I've been having this weird stomachache all day - and it just got a tad worse."
Danny looked worriedly at his female best friend, the popcorn now forgotten. "You feeling okay? Maybe you're catching Tucker's cold or something."
"Nah, I'll be fine." Sam smiled reassuringly. "I think I just need to use the bathroom for awhile."
"Okay then," Danny shrugged in an if-you-say-so manner, taking her word for it. "Hurry up, though, I'm getting kinda impatient here." He grinned, holding up his watch teasingly.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Sam rolled her violet eyes, heading for the bathroom at the back of the mini-cinema. Honestly. Boys.
Black combat boots clunked onto the clean, cream-white tiled floors as she pulled the sliding bathroom door shut behind her.
She then slid down her normal ensemble - black skirt followed by purple leggings and underwear and -
Oh... my...
A most un-Sam squeak escaped from the basement bathroom and Danny whirled around in his seat, eyeing its door and frowning at the noise. Was that...
"Sam...?" He called unsurely, a tone of disbelief almost fully slipping into in his voice.
Okay, okay... Don't panic... don't... panic.
Sam took a deep breath, trying to - and almost successfully calming herself considerably from the sudden shock. Almost successfully.
Don't panic! Think! Think...
Okay. Okay... so her first period had finally come and she hadn't exactly been caught prepared. What to do, what to do...
Mom and Dad were out at work, and Grandma obviously wouldn't know where her mother kept her sanitary supplies either - nor could she expect the aged lady to run down to the store - that'd be asking too much, what with her wheelchair-bound and all...
"Sam, you okay?" Danny's voice came from right outside the door this time and Sam gave an involuntary yelp in surprise, almost jumping and frantically trying to hide - before remembering a split second later that the door was closed and her best friend couldn't see her, much lessthe situation she was currently in.
Oh boy was she losing it now...
"...Sam?" Danny called again, sounding genuinely concerned and now a good bit confused as well.
Mentally smacking her self for not answering earlier, Sam called back, "I'm fine! I'm fine, I'm just..."
Wait. Wait - Danny! Danny could help! ...Oh darn it, this was going to be so embarrassing...
She took another deep breath. She could worry about that later. Right now everything depended on her best friend and whether he'd be bold enough to help or not...
"I'm... umm... I need you to do me a favor."
Sam's tentative tone now carried across the door to the thirteen-year-old raven-haired boy standing and waiting outside it, and Danny frowned, blue eyes shining in concern, wondering what on earth could possibly be wrong with her.
"Yeah, sure." He called readily back, all ears.
"I need... I need you to run down to the drug store for me and get a box of tampons."
"WHAT?" Danny yelped, almost falling right over in surprise, spluttering and seriously wondering if he'd heard right as a furious blush immediately began working its way to his cheeks.
"Please?" Sam's voice implored, a very rarely-heard desperate edge to it. "I don't know - it's my first time and I don't know where my mom keeps that kinda stuff."
Danny swallowed, realizing that, for once, Sam really did need him...
"...All right," He finally said slowly, drawing in a deep breath. "I'll help..."
"Great," He could almost see her relieved face. "My wallet's in my bag upstairs... I don't think you'll need more than ten - but just take the whole thing just in case."
"Okay. Um... How do I... you know - know which one..." He trailed off, blushing harder still.
"Just look around - it shouldn't be that hard to find. And just grab any one - it doesn't matter for now."
"Right. Okay." He took off for the stairs. "Hang in there - I'll be back as soon as I can."
I can't believe I'm doing this...
Fortunately the store was only a block down from Sam's house - though Danny had ran all the way and was hence out of breath by the time he pushed open the glass door to the air-conditioned outlet.
A blast of cool air greeted him, and Danny gratefully stepped in, then remembered and realized his current dilemma. This was one thing he couldn't screw up no matter what - Sam was trusting him.
Stopping only for a second to catch his breath, hands on his knees and over his pale blue jeans as he bent over, he then hurried down the aisles, searching frantically for what he'd come for and praying fervently that no one would see him.
Not here... not there either... not here... nope... Not that - wait!
He stopped and backtracked. There. A whole shelf of pink and other pastel colors greeted his eyes, and Danny breathed a mental sigh of relief.
Now to grab a pack or box or... whatever, and slink over to the counter to pay -
"Can I help you, young man?" A sudden, bright feminine voice from right behind him and Danny jumped about a foot into the air, almost automatically blushing.
The salesgirl looked young, probably in her early twenties, with blond hair and pale, friendly blue-green eyes which reminded him somewhat of his older sister. She gave him a warm smile.
"I... uh... uhm..." Danny stammered, knowing she was probably wondering what a thirteen-year-old boy like him was doing in the female needs aisle, deep pink now staining the cheeks on his boyish face. "I..."
"Yes?" The salesgirl prompted gently, almost laughing at his purely abashed expression.
Danny decided he might as well say it - it'd save him the trouble of making up some utterly lame excuse and he'd be able to get advice on a better... selection for Sam... right?
"Uh... you see... my friend... she's... kinda stuck without... supplies... at home." he got out rather uncomfortably, nervously rubbing the back of his neck and feeling as though he'd blushed a million different shades of red in just that small amount of time itself.
The salesgirl laughed. "First time?"
She didn't need to elaborate - Danny understood and nodded meekly.
She smiled, eyes twinkling. "Oh my... that's so sweet of you! And really brave, too."
"Thanks," Danny muttered, scuffing an imaginary spot on the floor with his sneaker, clearly embarrassed and now a little flattered as well.
The salesgirl laughed again, lightly. "Right this way," she said, leading him down the aisle. "Did she specify what kind of... supplies she wanted?"
Danny shook his head no. "Just... tampons." He paused for a short while, then added, still embarrassed, "She said anything would do, actually."
"Mm-hmm... okay." She worked fast, scanning the shelves and almost immediately pulling down a small box for him. "These should generally work best, is you ask me. Though depending on the situation, it might still have a little leakage - so I suggest you take a pack of pads as well, just in case."
"Um, okay. Sure... whatever's clever," Danny replied, deciding it best to take her advice since he knew next to nothing about these things aside from the fact that there was blood and it happened only to girls every month once they came of age and were ready to have... babies or something. (One had to let him go for that - he hadn't paid much attention in his Biology class due to the sheer embarrassment of having to learn the whole topic.) He only thanked heaven the salesgirl wasn't bothering to go into embarrassing detail about exactly why this particular brand or style or... whatever was good and better and so on.
She took down a pack and handed both items over to him, which he accepted a little clumsily.
Pink. Ew. Sam'd flip if only there was actually a different color range.
"Do you think your friend will know how to manage?" The salesgirl then asked politely, startling him with the question.
"I... umm..." Danny hesitated. Sam... would know... right? What was he supposed to do - stand there and take instructions for her?
"I... honestly don't know," He finally admitted, blushing once again. "I mean, knowing her she should be able to figure it out even if she doesn't..."
Aw, what the heck...
Danny decided it was best not to risk it as much as he doubted Sam's lack of genius - and thus stopped and listened for a whole agonizing two minutes on how to use something he wouldn't even have dreamed of touching in the first place.
I swear, the things I do for her...
Much to his amazement and surprised relief, however, he actually made it out of the drugstore alive, the goods finally hidden modestly in a paper bag. People had stopped to stare (much to his heated embarrassment) while he'd made a beeline for the counter, but thankfully that had been about it. In fact, he'd been lucky at all to have had such an understanding salesgirl approach him. She hadn't giggled all over the place or teased him once about the whole thing.
Whatever it was, Danny sent a mental THANK YOU skyward, then shot off once again for the Mansons' place.
Upon reaching it, he flung open the front door and stumbled down the stairs to the basement, out of breath once again and panting by the time he rapped on the bathroom door.
"Sam? You still in there?"
"Does it seem like I can go anywhere else?" Her voice replied sardonically.
"Sorry," Danny said sheepishly, then turned his back to the door and shut his eyes respectfully, holding the bag near the opening. "Here."
He heard the door open just a crack and felt Sam take the bag from him.
"Oh my gosh - thank you so much Danny, you're a savior."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he responded, turning back around as the door slid shut, though he could tell she was really immensely grateful from her tone of voice.
A short pause, before he started nervously, "You... do know what to... do now, right?" His hand once again rubbed the back of his neck in signature Danny style as yet another hint of color rose to his cheeks.
"Of course I do!" Sam's voice replied incredulously from inside, almost laughing. "What makes you think I wouldn't?"
"Well how was I supposed to know!" Danny exclaimed, now blushing deep red. "I thought I'd better let the salesgirl tell me, just in case..."
A disbelieving snort. "You what?" He could hear the amusement in her voice even as she started cracking up with laughter. "Goodness, Danny, do you honestly think I'm that dumb? Do you know how many hours I had to spend listening to my mom droning on about the entire issue of puberty and how Biology class only taught us the very vague basics and so on? And even then, if I didn't know, it doesn't take a genius to figure it out."
"I know! That's what I thought - but I couldn't... you know, I mean, just what if..." Danny trailed off, blushing furiously still. Well, at least it saved him the embarrassment of standing there and telling Sam what to do from outside here.
He could almost see her shaking her head and smirking away inside now. "Seriously Danny, I swear - there are days where I find I just cannot believe you..."
"Haha, very funny." He said sourly, scowling.
The toilet finally flushed, and he heard the sound of running tap water, before the door slid open and Sam stepped out, drying her hands on the towel.
But by then the expression on his face had faded to one of relief, and Danny smiled at her. "You're... okay, right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Sam smiled back, violet eyes laughing slightly.
They stood there for a moment, both unsure of what to say or do next, until Danny finally ventured tentatively in a small voice, rubbing his neck yet again. "Does it... hurt?"
Blue eyes shone in all worry and sincere concern, along with such child-like innocence that a short laugh instantly escaped Sam. "Danny, just because there's blood doesn't mean it has to hurt. We get cramps, maybe, but that's about it." She half-smiled, half-smirked, rubbing her abdomen. "So I'm just a little sore here... that's all."
"Oh." he responded meekly, looking down at the ground and blushing slightly once again.
Sam then realized that that wasn't the only thing which was bothering him and found herself laughing again, knowing exactly what it was.
"Danny relax - I'm fine. And I'm not going to... change all of a sudden just because I've finally gotten my period." She held out her arms for emphasis. "I'm still here. And I'm still me." She smiled. "I'll always be me."
At that another relieved grin filled his face almost immediately, and Danny beamed and gave her a quick affectionate hug. "Good."
Sam smirked. "Duh. What did you expect me to turn into then? Miss Popular Pink Princess Paulina?"
Danny's eyes widened. "Oh... that, would be so weird..."
Sam gave him a look, and somehow that got them both laughing till they escalated into hysterics, both holding their sides and almost tearing as they tried hard to imagine the mere prospect of what she had said.
Looks wise, of course, Sam was probably just as pretty as the preppy girl in question, if not prettier - though the thought of her dressing and behaving that way was simply... unthinkable.
"Nah," Danny said as his chuckles finally died down and he grinned at his best friend. "I like you just the way you are."
Sam smiled. "Thanks." She paused for a second, then smiled again, this time in huge gratitude. "In fact, I think I owe you way more than that. Thanks a million for everything you did, Danny..." Here she smirked again, before finishing, "Right down to even finding out exactly how to use a tampon."
Danny automatically blushed yet again at the mention of it, cheeks instantly coloring deeply and causing Sam to grin. "I only wish I could've seen your face."
"I thought I was going to die..." Danny moaned, shutting his eyes and laughing in nervous embarrassment as he tried not to recall the humiliating incident.
"Yeah, I can imagine..." Sam laughed back shortly, before growing serious again. "But still you did it..." She gave him a small smile. Danny had gone through a lot for her and she knew it - and wasn't about to let it go unrewarded. Leaning in, she then did something Danny didn't quite expect - which was to kiss him softly on his cheek.
"So thanks once again... Really." Violet eyes were warm with gratitude. "I know it took you a lot of guts to even agree to help."
"...You're welcome," Danny finally managed awkwardly amid another deep hue of red on his cheeks, feeling as if his whole face had been electrocuted just by that one little kiss from her. Then at long last his brain agreed to work again and he gave her a shy smile, still blushing as he added honestly, "After all... that's what best friends are for... right?"
Sam laughed. "Right." Another second's pause. "So..." She grinned. "Wipe that blush off your face and let's get down to the movie, shall we?"
It was then that Danny realized that in all their frenzy over the issue, they'd forgotten - well, he'd forgotten completely about the much anticipated event which he'd gone over to Sam's for in the first place.
Excitement returning to him almost instantly, he gave her an eager grin. "Oh yeah."
It didn't take much longer for the two young teens to get started - though barely five minutes into the show, Danny soon found his mind wandering to the whirl of bizarre recent events again.
He glanced shyly at Sam - and, interestingly enough, perfectly in time to see her distracted from her huge screen for a moment as she grimaced just a tiny bit and rubbed her stomach gently.
"Are you okay?" Danny's unexpected voice startled Sam for a split second, though she soon recovered and managed a reassuring smile at his worried face.
"Yeah... I think the cramps are just acting up." She fought back a wince as she felt another sore throb from her abdomen.
Danny seemed to hesitate for a second, then smiled shyly. "Come here," he offered.
Sam gave him a quizzical raise of the eyebrow, but followed, sliding nearer over to him on the big, luxurious red couch, and Danny passed her a cushion, blushing slightly before wrapping a lean arm warmly around her equally slender frame and gently pressing the small pillow down on her sore spot, pulling her just comfortably close enough as he did so. "Better?" He smiled hopefully.
The cushion was soothingly warm and soft on top of her, and Danny's closer proximity comforting. Sam grinned gratefully back. "Yep."
Danny smiled and blushed again, before they both turned their attention back to the screen.
"Hey... Sam?" His voice prompted a little uncetainly a few seconds later.
"Hmm?" Sam responded distractedly, focus already back on the movie.
"Are you gonna tell Tucker?"
At this she turned around, looking straight at her best friend, already knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Well..." She decided to be honest. "He is our best friend... but it'll be kinda... awkweird if we do, won't it?"
"...Yeah," Danny agreed, blushing. "I was thinking the same thing."
Sam smiled. "Okay then. But of course, we'll have to make sure it's the only thing we don't tell him. The only little special secret we'll share, just between the two of us."
Danny grinned and nodded, liking both the sound of it and her reasoning. "Okay. Just between you and me."
"Yeah," Sam affirmed, grinning back and laughing slightly as she leaned against him.
"Just between you and me."
Aww. Well, how'd you like that? Now, what I wouldn't give to have a friend like Danny... xD
Well, I had a LOT of fun writing this - hope ya had just as much fun reading it! Leave a review and tell me what you think!
-FBG