13An: I was going to wait until the weekend to make this super long, but I'm going to be busy so tada! This chapter was suppose to be a lot more angry than it turned out to be, but I guess my mind wouldn't let things stay like that.
I do not own Danny Phantom.
Danny's POV
The rain was softly hitting the large window where we were all sitting. The wind carried it over and it was slowly coming down harder and harder. The street became abandoned quickly and nobody was brave enough to be out in the rain. I listened to the rain as it fell to the ground, ignoring the conversation that Taylor and Tucker were in. Sam was also unusually quiet. She only came in every now in then in their conversation.
It was raining the day we last saw each other. It was also raining that day. The day that I sacrificed so much for. I laughed slightly at the irony.
"What?" Sam turned to me.
"Nothing." I said with a sad smile.
"Come on spit it out." She said with what almost looked like a force smile. She's trying. She's trying to form some kind of stable ground between us.
"It's just that it was raining. It was always raining. Through everything." She looked at me confused.
She responded uncertainly. "Well, it's September, so I guess it makes since that it's raining."
Wait. It is September. And not just any September day. It was today. Slowly, I felt it all come from the back of my head will the reminder was hidden. All the emotions. Everything. I turned my head sharply. Not here, I thought, not now.
"Danny?" The alarm in her voice was there. I can't hold it in. I have to get out.
"I'm sorry, Sam. I have to go." I quickly threw out the remainder of my yogurt and slipped into my leather jacket as I headed out the door.
"Hey, where are you going?" I heard Taylor ask right before the door swung close.
Dam, we came in Tucker's car.
I walked down the street headed to the train station nearby. The rain was pouring now. Thunder crackled in the sky so loud I thought my ears would burst. Well, I think it was the thunder making me feel this way, but deep down I knew exactly what it was. The memory sent a cold chill down my spine.
Despite the thunder, I could hear the set of feet that I've heard a hundred times. Running to hand me a thermos. Running from ghosts. Running to give me fist-aid. Running to knock some sense into me...Running into my arms...
"Danny!" Sam yelled loudly over the rain. "Danny, wait up!" I didn't slow down, but Sam was always a good runner. She grabbed my shoulder and stopped me. I turned around reluctantly. The rain flattened her hair around her pale face. Her make-up must've been waterproof because it wasn't smeared at all. She looked beautiful in the rain.
"What's wrong?" Her voice sounded so calming. I almost broke by just the sound of her concerned voice.
"Nothing. Don't worry. I just have to go." I tried turning away but she grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
"Hey! I'm trying to talk to you!" She yelled. Her face contorted angrily.
"Sam, I'm fine just let me go." I tugged put she didn't budge.
"Stop lying to me!" She yelled once more. I don't if it was because I was emotionally unstable or because she was annoying me that I couldn't help but get angry at the way she was yelling.
"What do you want me to say?! No, I'm not fine?! Because I am! Stop trying to make wine out of water!"
"Danny, I-"
"No! Just stop! All of this! We aren't friends anymore! We aren't anything! It's best if you just leave me alone, Sam! We have nothing to talk about!" I tried once more to break free from her death grip but she grabbed my arm with both of her hands.
"Sam, either I leave or you leave! There's nothing we have to dis-"
"Stop!" She yelled into my face.
"Stop what?!" I yelled back. I felt my anger connect with my ghost side. My eyes were probably a blazing green.
"Stop trying to push me away! When will you understand that you can't do that to me?! When will you finally realize what you're doing?!" Her voice was angry but that wasn't what worried me. It was also broken. And hurt. And so tired. I looked into her amethyst eyes and saw that they were glazed. She was trying her best not to fall apart in front of me.
"Sam-"
"Don't! Listen to me! You've ripped me into pieces and you're doing it again by not letting me in! I loved you so much! Did you know that?! Did you ever even stop to see!?" Of course I did! I wanted to yell back, but she kept yelling on.
"I lived for the past four years on my own. With no one to confine in. At one point I almost lost the one person who really cared about me. The only person that I could trust in not because they had the same blood that I have coursing in my veins! But because they've earned my trust!" Grandma Manson. Something happened.
I was slowly relaxing. "Sam, I didn't know. I…" I was at lost of words. I reached out to caress her face but she flinched away.
"That's right you didn't know. How could you know? You were gone. " She looked up at me. Her face-despite the rain-I knew was tearstained.
"You know, I'm not event upset about the fact that you broke up with me and broke my heart." Her voice, usually strong and confident, was shaking and unsure. Even in the worst of times, I've never seen her like this.
I did this. I did this to her.
She lingered before continuing, "…what really just…destroyed me was that my worst fear came true." Her sad eyes looked straight into mine.
"We weren't best friends anymore." Her breathing slowly started to pick up.
"Our friendship was gone. The years we spent, gone. Everything I worked for so hard to protect was destroyed." She was holding it all in. Her grip on my arm started to shake.
"The reason we didn't get together all those years ago…was nothing but a wonderful memory that I would never ever have again." She inhaled sharply and I knew that she was going to break. I swiftly with out even thinking embraced her in a hug and stepped us over besides a building that had a small roof. Her sobs tore my heart. After awhile, I found myself crying as well.
"I'm sorry, Sam. I never wanted to loose our friendship. But it was something, I had to do."
"Why?" She looked up at me. I could feel her shift in my arms. It felt so familiar. "After everything Danny, why can't you tell me?" Her voice was so fragile.
"It's above me, Sam. I'm not allowed to tell you. I want to tell you. I want to tell all of you, but I can't. Not yet at least. Maybe one day, but I can't now. I hope you can understand that."
"If you promise to tell me one day?" She gave me a soft smile. And I hugged her tightly as she leaned back into my chest.
"I promise."
"Friends?" She asked muffled through my chest that I almost didn't hear it over the rain.
"Best friends."
Danny's POV
"You were trying to keep it a secret, weren't you?" I smirked as I dried off my head with a blue towel.
We decided to get out of the rain before we died of hypothermia or something worse. We ran back to Sam's car which was still parked by the studio. She drove to her house which wasn't that far at all from where the studio was. While she took a shower-nothing happened-I called Tuck and Tay to tell them where we were and to invite them over so we could all catch up together. I jumped in to take a shower and Sam went to go get me some dry clothes from a store near by. She brought me-not to my surprise at all- dark denim jeans and a black shirt.
Right now, Sam was making chicken alfredo in her kitchen. The house wasn't that huge. It was a two-floor house with a basement. The top floor was mostly a small green house that had a small room where Sam has been making all of her artwork.
She had an updated appliance kitchen-most likely her parents' doing- and that was the only room that was remolded. Her cherry wood floors matched her warm colored wooden furniture. A glass rectangular coffee table was in the center of the living room. Creamed covered couches surrounded the coffee table. A light lavender colored rug with some kind of black flower design was the only bright color in the room. Her fireplace was lit when I came out of the bathroom.
"Maybe, I was…" I saw her from the living room which was connected to the living room as she reached for a drainer from a cabinet. She placed it into the sink and picked up the pasta. She poured it into the drainer and the steam rose to the ceiling.
"Maybe?"
"Okay," She put the drained pasta back into the pot. "I was."
"But what was the point? Didn't you think we would find out eventually?" I walked into the kitchen and leaned against the kitchen island.
"Well, I would've tried but I obviously failed." She turned around, turned to her left, and reached for a white jar of alfredo sauce. She placed it on top of the marble counter by the stove. She lifted the lid where she was cooking the chicken breasts and started flipping them.
"Would you mine opening that while I do this, Danny?" I snatched the jar and opened it. I opened the nearest drawer and to my luck, I reached in and grabbed a spoon.
"Pour in about half of it." Sam said as she glanced at me. I poured the sauce and stirred it with the noodles.
"Not bad, Fenton." She places the lid back on the pan and gently took the spoon from my hand. "Never thought I see the day were you'd help me cook something healthy."
I stepped back and leaned against the counter besides her. "Well, it's not the first time I've cooked if that's shocking to you." She smiled. "This is actually one of my specialties." I gave her a toothy grin.
"Well who would have guessed that you knew how to do something else besides boiling water?" She sprinkled in some spices in unlabeled shakers.
"I don't know if I should be offended by that or not." I laughed.
"Well, I don't if you're lying to me or not-"
"I'm not." I said quickly.
"…But, nobody makes this as good as I do. So I doubt you're specialty could beat mine." She mixed the remainder of her ingredients and lowered the temperature.
"Wanna' bet?" She turned to me, one hand leaning on the counter for support.
"Okay, but lets make things interesting." She inched closer to me.
"How so?" She placed her hand on her chin mock thinking about what she already had planned.
"Hmm, I don't know…oh! I got it. If your pasta-which I highly doubt-is better than mine, you get to spend a whole day with me and we do whatever you want…."
"Deal."
"Wait, you want to think this through. When I win, because I will," I rolled my eyes. "Then you have to spend 4 hours-because I'm not that cruel despite what you guys always thought-with non other than you're number one fan." Her smirk widened as she saw my face go into complete horror.
"No…you aren't talking about-"
"Yes, Danny. I'm talking about Carol Shepard...And you have to eat toast." She smiled in triumph already guessing the scenario that I was imagining in my head. Carol Shepard was my stalker. The girl almost climbed through my window once for crying out loud. Out of all the fans I had in the entire world, she was the one who was probably the most obsessed with me. I use to have a restraining order but I always thought those were stupid-considering Sam's parents use to have one with me and Sam-so I cancelled it about a year ago. I made sure she didn't find out though.
"Sam, don't you think that a little-"
"Do I think that this is the easiest bet you ever made? Right, cause your pasta is so much better than mine."
"I haven't even tasted yours." She smirked at me thinking she could come out on top.
"Fine, you're on, Sam." I stuck my hand out and she shook it.
"Who's had your pasta?" She walked around to grab some plates.
"Taylor and Tucker."
"Perfect."
Sam's POV
"Sam, I'm sorry but, his pasta is better!" Tucker placed his plate in the sink. "And I don't even like this kind of food that much." He plopped down on the couch next to Danny.
"What?! Sam's is much better! You guys wouldn't know good quality vegan if it slapped you in the face!" She came back from the kitchen and sat back next to me on the couch across from them.
"I should have known." Danny said while shaking his head. "Tay was obviously going to pick Sam's. It's vegan."
"Whatever, I still can't get over the fact you eat meat now!" Tucker said in disbelief.
"I don't eat that much meat." I clarified.
"Still, that was an important moment in your life. I wish I would've of been there." We all rolled our eyes at Tucker's very unhealthy passion for meat.
"How about we call it a tie?" I placed my glass of wine back on the coffee table and clasped my hand together. "You have to eat four pieces of toast and I have to spend four hours doing whatever you want."
"Make it 3 pieces of toast and you have a deal." I stared in silence until he caved. "Fine, four it is." I smiled triumphantly.
"Just like old times." Tucker sighed.
"Well, I for one want to make a toast." Taylor raised her glass of wine. "To the renew of a very good friendship and the start of another." She smiled at me and I'm genuinely returned it back. And no, it wasn't because I found out they weren't dating. I swear it's not that. But, because I'm really starting to like this girl. No wonder they all became friends.
We clanked our glasses together and took a sip. We have so much to catch up on.
This will surely be a long night.
AN: First, Danny and Sam are friends! Don't get confused about that. Second, yeah, the carol thing just happened. It probably won't be important. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed and taken there time to actually read this. I think it's going to be one more chapter, maybe two, before I put these guys into a really bad situation. And yes it has to do with that September day...
R&R!