Danny Phantom Fan Fiction ❯ You Can't Escape My Love ❯ Chapter 2

The Goth found it easy to fall into the role of owning a gallery, her mentor a rather nice woman in her late thirties with short brown hair cut into a pixie hairstyle, save for her bangs which fell over one of her bright grey blue eyes. The place that she owned wasn't large, but big enough to display all the art done by her mentor, Marie Finch. Marie was in her second trimester and had hoped to have Sam take over for her while she went on maternity leave in the months coming, but the Goth would need to learn the ropes of the business. The raven haired woman followed behind the older woman, her first week spent learning how to take the payments on the art that decorated the walls, but this week spent learning all of Marie's clientele. They were nice people, though some could come off snooty, and Sam found that though she hated talking to people in general that these people didn't talk too much. They just came into the gallery to look at the art, ask a few questions, and purchase the item or items they wanted.

While her mentor would be on her maternity leave she would still be creating and with the hours for the space being from ten in the morning to about five in the evening Sam would have time to work on her other reason for leaving Amity. The gallery was only open on the weekend, Friday to Sunday, so for the rest of the week the Goth would use her free time to set up her booth time. It was all going so well for the raven haired heiress and Dan was making it even easier as Marie allowed the older male to hang out with Sam at the gallery. That's where they were at that moment, the afternoon crowd talking quietly as they made their rounds to each painting in turn.

"I never even knew you could paint," the raven haired male stated, pulling at his collared shirt as he looked down at the woman beside him. She smiled, her lavender lips twisting at the knowledge that her friend had seen her artwork, but had never known it was hers. She had started painting more of him and Danny as well as the ghost fights after he had become the Phantom, but before that she had painted nighttime skylines as well as other things.

"You've actually seen my art," she said with a chuckle. The pair were dressed up, not overly so, but Dan wore a white button up shirt with black jeans while Sam wore a short black dress that fell just above her knees with her combat boots. Marie wasn't about being flashy, but did require nice clothing when her gallery was open and Sam didn't mind adhering to it as it wasn't strict clothing like what her own parents would want her to wear. The halfa's eyes narrowed as he thought back to when he could have seen her paintings and when nothing came to mind he waited for her to elaborate. "The ones in my room," was all she said as one of the clients waved her over to their side. Dan thought about that and remembered seeing the dark images on her walls of the night sky, a meteor falling in one of them and then one that held a woman with black wings sitting on the ground surrounded by white and black flames that seemed to blend in with her body.

'I never even thought to ask about those,' he thought to himself as he walked over to join Sam as she and the male spoke. He had liked the art in her room as it complimented her own tastes, but while he had told her they were cool he didn't recall what she had said about them. He stood there as the man inquired about the price on the painting before him. The halfa tilted his head to the side at the rather exposed form of a woman, her body dropping forwards and her blond hair hanging over her face. She was naked, her skin a pale peach, save for almost white wings that covered parts of her body while her lower region was hidden by the way she was sitting. Around her was blood, some of it even on her own body, but without seeing her face you couldn't tell what she was feeling. It was an interesting piece of art, though rather dark.

"This is so like Marie," the male before them stated, his hand coming out to touch the woman in the painting. "But with a darkness that is goes even more deep than her usual work." Sam smiled.

"That is because it isn't Marie's," the Goth stated to the shock of both men. "It's a new artist, Alexandra." The man smiled at the name of the unknown artist and after filling out a check handed it off to her while some men came to load the large painting into his truck, but not before he handed her a card with his name and information.

"Let me know when Alexandra puts out some new work," he said before heading off. Sam smirked at the check, proud of her work in selling one of the few pieces in the gallery that were her own. Dan raised a brow at the name.

"Isn't that your middle name?" he inquired. She nodded as she turned to head for the cash drawer. She hadn't wanted the money that came with the sale, no she promised Marie that all money from her sales could be split, some of it to Marie's family and the other part to charity. She didn't need the funds anyway, not when her grandmother had bequeathed her a large sum for her eighteenth birthday and while she had access to it she didn't really use it. There would be more later once she reached a certain age or married, whichever came first. "That was one of yours?" he now asked, rather surprised to find that the rather dark piece was the Goth's own work.

"Yeah, there are a few others in the gallery, but I only did a few before coming here." Dan recalled some of the paper wrapped packages that had been in the car when he had arrived at Sam's place the morning she was set to go. There had been one big one and a few medium sized ones, but had thought nothing of it as he loaded the rest of her stuff while she had finished getting ready. "What did you think of it?" she queried with a look in her eyes, one that wanted him to be truthful, not that he would lie to Sam, but how would she take his thoughts on the dark image?

"Dark," he said as the pair turned to watch a few more guests enter the gallery. It was just about closing time, only another hour to go and still people milled around them. She chuckled.

"Are you saying that you didn't like it?" He shook his head. He had liked it, but it was rather sad looking and when she realized that he was trying to figure her work out she clarified for him. "Dan, it doesn't have to do with death, not real death. It's more about the fact that good people suffer even if they never show it." His mouth formed a small 'o' as he realized what she was saying. He hadn't thought it meant death, but for an angel to be there with blood around it and on it, well, that was rather hard to decipher. "You do remember that I am Goth, right?" she asked with a soft smile.

"Yeah, it just wasn't something I figured you to create, strange thing to say, but that's how I feel." She allowed the male to pull her close, unaware that a certain red head was walking by the gallery, her teal eyes drawn to the art that hung in the window before her. Feeling drawn to the art before her she entered the gallery. Looking around her at all the people and the art she failed to notice the familiar woman before her. She walked behind them, her teal eyes taking in all the different pieces, none of them the same, but stopped when she heard Sam's voice.

"Yeah, well, it's not as dark as some of my other creations, but most of those are just in a drawing pad." He shook his head at her, the red head moving further away when she realized that the person talking was Sam, but she couldn't tell who the male standing with her was.

"What is darker than an angel with blood?" he inquired. Sam explained that she would show them when they got back home and he dropped it as they waited for the clock to strike five. "Well, what is the plan for tomorrow?" Dan asked, his eyes drawn to the clock over the door that read 4:45pm.

"Well, I have my first recording at noon and then after that we can go to lunch at one of the local diners," Sam said with a shrug. "Unless you just want to eat in." The red headed female tried to move around where she could see the male with the Goth, but it was proving rather hard without either of them spotting her. Just then one of the patrons called Sam over, the male moving with her but he glanced her way for a moment, but didn't seem to see her.

"Danny?" she asked herself silently. The male had the same blue eyes as her brother, but then she shook her head. Her brother had grown and while she hadn't seen him in a while he was nowhere near as buff or as old as this male, but who was he? Why was he hanging around Sam? She headed for the door as a bell rang in the building, most patrons not even looking up as they continued to mill around the art on the walls. As soon as the woman was outside she pulled out her phone and called her brother.

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Across the country the raven haired male was getting ready for another date with his girlfriend when his phone rang, the ringtone alerting him to the fact that it was his sister. He hadn't heard from her in a few months, with her collage classes taking up most of her time, but for her to call this late, well, then again it was five where she was and seven here so it wasn't really late. Usually she was studying at this time though so he was sure it had to be something important for her to call and even though he knew his date would be rather upset he still picked up the call.

"Hey, Jazz, what's up?" Danny listened for a moment, his brows coming down. "Yeah, Sam had a male with her the day she left," the halfa stated, rather annoyed to be forced to remember that moment in time when he had seen the strange male around his friend. "Didn't catch his name though." Jazz spoke again and now the halfa found himself blinking in confusion. "He looked like me?" More talking made the raven haired man growl. There was no way what she was saying was true! "You think that it is Dan... as in my evil half that we locked away in a thermos? That doesn't make sense, Jazz." She began to talk quickly, her voice growing in volume. "Okay, okay, damn it." Sighing he headed downstairs, the sound of their parents working away in the lab part of the background as he headed outside. "Jazz, Sam would kill me for, well, for spying on her or questioning her judgement and while I didn't like the man, I can talk to her about it when she comes home at the end of summer." After reiterating that he would talk to the Goth Danny climbed in the Fenton RV, his mind on the fact that his sister really thought it was Dan with Sam.

He had thought the male looked familiar, but had never seen a human Dan either since the male was made up of both his ghost half and Vlad's. He had no human in him and while he had been able to portray Danny at the age of 14 he very much doubted that the male could do what his sister seemed to think he could do. Even as he thought this he still found his mind on Sam and what was going on with the raven haired woman. He had fucked up with her just weeks ago and while he was upset that she had banished him from her room...well, from her life, he knew that she was right to do that. Who jumped their best friend like that?! While he had been separated from Paulina at that time, free to be with who he wanted to, he had no clue why he had jumped the one person who had stuck with him even after being put in danger on numerous occasions.

He thought back to that moment when she had wished that they had never met and he knew that while it had proven his need for the Goth, he had known that it was wrong of him to crush on the raven haired beauty. She was his friend, his best friend, and even thinking about a relationship with her like that was taboo. He didn't want to wreak their relationship if it all went south, but still he had fucked up enough to push her away though he felt that like other times he had made a serious mis-step that they would be fine. They always made up, that time apart because of Desiree, had shown them that their friendship was far more important. Still, he had become popular and while Tucker had walked away, Sam had not. Would this be the fi-

He shook his head to dispel those negative thoughts just as he pulled up before Paulina's house, the Latina standing at the door with a bright smile. She rushed to enter the RV, pulling Danny down for a kiss at the moment she was in her seat. With that the halfa forgot about what was going on with his friend, though the thought lay in the back of his mind waiting for the perfect chance to jump out and seize his thoughts.

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The red head glared down at her phone, her mind on the fact that Danny was blowing off the possibility that Sam might be in danger. As she shoved the offending piece of technology into her pocket, the sound of a lock clicking into place brought her back to reality as her name was called. "Jazz?" The older female tensed, her eyes wide as she turned to face the very person she was worried about to find that the male at her side was looking at her as well.

"Oh, hi, Sam," Jazz said, her hand falling behind her long red locks. "I didn't know you were here." A black brow rose on the Goth's face, but Dan next to her could tell that the woman before them was lying, well, partly lying and so he decided to call her out.

"Now that I feel is a lie, Jazz," he stated, causing both females to look at him in surprise, but he only pulled Sam close to him as he continued. "While you may not have been aware that she was here until about fifteen minutes ago, you did know she was in that gallery." He pointed to the building that Sam had just locked. "In fact you were just in there, were you not?" Now the Goth was officially confused. The other woman had been in the gallery? When? She glanced up at Dan to note that he was looking rather serious looking, but not mad.

"You came in?" Sam asked, turning her attention to the red headed woman. "Why didn't you say hi or something?" Jazz seemed to come back from wherever her head had been, her teal eyes blinking as she let out an embarrassed chuckle. Explaining that she had seen the art in the window and had entered unknowing that Sam was in there had thought maybe she was invading the other woman's space. Strangely Sam found that she agreed with Dan. Jazz was acting so weird and then it struck her, her eyes narrowing. "You called Danny didn't you?"

"Um, I did call him, but he seemed to know that you were out here and everything," the red head explained. The raven haired woman sighed.

"It is because of him, isn't it?" she inquired while pointing at Dan beside her. Even without an answer Sam knew that Jazz was concerned about the fact that Dan was there. "Well, first off, yes this is Dan and yes, the same one that tried to kill us all when we were younger." The red head looked up at the older halfa, her eyes growing wide at the realization that she was correct. "He's not evil and he is my friend, not that that is anyone's business but my own." Dan just stood there silently as his sister stared up at him, her eyes watching him with fear flickering in them. "Now, if you don't mind we will be heading home." Without waiting for the other woman to say a word she and the older halfa headed off toward her car. While Dan would rather fly them around at times, he didn't dare draw attention to himself or Sam by doing such a thing. It was when they shut the doors after entering the car that Jazz seemed to come out of her trance.

"Wait, Sam," she called out, rushing to the driver side of the car where Sam was sitting behind the wheel. The Goth didn't even look over at her, intent on just driving off, but once again Dan said a few words and with a huff she rolled down the window.

"While I am not in the mood to deal with the Fentons in this time, Dan believes that we should invite you over for lunch tomorrow." The red head glanced over at the male, his eyes now closed as he leaned back against the headrest, though she could tell that he was ever alert to what was going on. She nodded and after writing her number down for Danny's older sister was off into the night. Jazz just stood there, in complete shock and while she wanted to call her brother back she sent a text instead. After it went thru she knew that her brother was going to be pissed off at what she had done, not that she had intended to get caught, but also the fact that she had seemed to add to Sam's sudden interest to stay away from their family. That sounded like how her family was, not Sam. Her parents had always tried to keep them separate, even filing a restraining order, but for Sam to be feeling no love for them that was strange. What had her brother done to earn them scorn from his long time friend?

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Hours later found Danny in his room, the halfa relaxing on his computer before bed. Working for your parents had its benefits, like not having to really work unless you were needed and as he was the Phantom he knew when a ghost was about so there was that. He had yet to notice the single text from Jazz that night, having spent several hours with Paulina at the movies and then at dinner. The Latina had been rather upset that he had been late, and even after he had told her why she had still been rather ticked off. He blew it off since the former cheerleader was known to be high maintenance and required more attention than even Valerie had wanted. Shaking his head he decided to check his social media and nearly fell out of his chair at a post from his sister. Before him was Jazz in front of a gallery, a picture behind her drawing his attention. It looked familiar, like he had seen something similar in the last few years.

It was of a shadow of a woman, her body bathed in black with what appeared to be flames coming out from the base of what appeared to be a dress around her body, though it all blended into one while shadowy wings were wrapped loosely around the dark form. The figure had no face, well, not any features save for the glowing white eyes that looked back at him. Where had he seen such a creation? Below it was text, several people making comments about the artwork and then a comment by Tucker made him realize that he knew where he had seen a painting like that. "Sam." He had seen a similar piece in her room next to a painting of the night sky with a single meteor streaking by. Next to that painting was another one of a familiar place, a lone tree looking out over a city. Had Sam painted those? He had never asked her about the artwork in her room, though he had pointed out that it was rather cool looking. Sam hadn't said anything about it at the time, but maybe it was because she hadn't wanted too many questions asked about the paintings.

It seemed that Jazz had just come across some artwork, even her own words were about an artist named Alexandra who had painted the pieces. She said she would be hanging out with one of the people who ran the gallery. She didn't name this person, but Danny felt that something about that second picture told him that it was Sam's own work. She had said she would be learning her trade, though with all that had been going on with his rise in popularity he couldn't recall her saying what she wanted to do with her life.

Another sound interrupted his thoughts, the sound of his cell phone alerting him to an unread message. Frowning at the device in question, the black phone laying on the bedside table he continued to read the comments regarding his sister's post before letting out a yawn. God, dating Paulina was a tiring task to say the least and he was ready to hit the sack. It took him all of five minutes to ready himself for bed and without a thought about the message still waiting for him he crawled into bed and was out as a familiar dream entered his subconscious... one about a certain raven haired beauty in his arms as he kissed her neck, her moans warming his blood as he moved in her.

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A certain raven haired woman rolled over, her alarm going off to her left. Groaning as she shifted away from her bedmate, the Goth slammed down her hand on the loud electronic just as Dan stretched next to her. Her eyes narrowed on the time as her sleepy vision cleared. It was just after nine in the morning and while she didn't have to be at her recording session until noon, but because of a certain red headed female she was forced to get up early. She was so not a morning person, but Dan had been right. The air needed to be cleared as Jazz had done nothing to earn her scorn, save for the fact that the sibling had called the halfa about something that was none of his business.

"You coming?" she inquired of the half naked male behind her as she sat up, her feet hitting the soft carpeted floor. He nodded, opening his eyes to see her rather ticked off face change to one of happiness. Leaning over she bestowed him with a kiss on the cheek before rushing off to take a shower as she did most mornings. The halfa crawled out of bed and after finding something to wear awaited the raven haired woman in the shower. Unlike most women the Goth was quick to get in and out of the shower, the male only having to wait mere minutes before she appeared before him and ready to go.

"I know you don't want to deal with her, Sam, but I plan on doing most of the talking as she is more concerned with me being here than what you are doing," the older halfa stated as he pulled his friend toward him as they exited the small house and headed for her car.

"Yeah, she's concerned about why you are here and why I am hanging out with you, neither is her business really and then to involve Danny in it is-" she let out a growl, Dan chuckling at her. "God damn it, she acts like he's my keeper or something! He doesn't need to know what I do with my life! He has his own life and I have mine!" Turning her toward him the larger halfa hugged her toward him, his body vibrating as he chuckled at her tiny temper tantrum. He knew that eventually the younger halfa would come to terms with his feelings for the Goth that was now in his arms and if he didn't then his loss was also Sam's loss even if she didn't want to admit it. The sound of his laughter, the feeling of him holding her seemed to calm the small woman down as she let out a sigh, her arms coming around his waist as far as she could get them. "Thank you, Dan," she murmured into his chest.

"You know that I would do whatever I could to make your life easier," he murmured, kissing the top of her head before pulling back. "Now, let's go talk to my sister." Grinning she took his hand as they headed for her car.

Danny had just woken up, the sound of his phone going off and bringing him out of his erotic dreams. With a growl of frustration he glanced at the phone and seeing his girlfriend's name on the screen still found him feeling rather ticked off. It was just after nine in the morning and he had wanted to finish that dream. Straightening the slight bulge in his boxers he answered the phone, willing his voice to sound not so ticked off.

"Hey, babe, what's up?" She said nothing for a moment before she finally spoke, her voice sounding upset about something, though with her simpering on the other end of the device he couldn't decipher what she was babbling on about. Why did he love this woman again? She whined constantly and she required as much attention as a dog, so dependent on him for affection and while at one point he had wanted her, for some reason he couldn't think of that same rationale now. She was negative in so many ways, even his dreams didn't want her in them. No, another woman invaded his dreams, those dreams that had become a rather surprising reality just weeks ago. He gave himself a mental shake. Damn it! Why was he still stuck on that?! He had fucked up with Sam, his words coming out wrong and the Gothic woman giving him no time to explain what he had meant by them.

Finally he snapped back to reality, the sound of his rather pissed off girlfriend causing his sour mood to plummet even faster. "Paulina," he snapped, her silence telling him that he had her attention. "I don't think that this is working out." A sound of surprise and anger came thru the phone in his hand, but he found that he didn't care. She wasn't worth his time when all she cared about was herself and her needs. He needed sleep and she had always seemed to give little concern to that fact. He fought ghosts for fuck's sake and needed his sleep, though this time it had been a dream that had kept him in his bed. She was not the kind of woman that he needed in his life and with that he stated, "We are done." Click. He was about to toss the phone when he noticed the message still blinking on his screen. It was from Jazz. He knew he couldn't get back to sleep and with the fact that if he didn't at least see what she wanted she would just call to bother him again or involve their parents in seeing her side of things. Tapping the message he found himself glaring down at the text.

She admitted it was Dan. Danny, I think that they might be together. I'm going to meet them tomorrow for brunch.

Sam wouldn't date Dan, would she? He smacked his face in frustration. What the fuck was going on with his life? His sister was doing her normal thing of sticking her nose where it didn't belong... His friend was supposingly seeing his evil half that was supposed to be locked up in the Fenton Thermos with Clockwork guarding it and he had just dumped his girlfriend of quite a few years... Not to mention he had had sex with his friend only to let his brain speak for him... Sighing he was about to crawl back into bed, even if he was sure he wouldn't get any sleep when his phone went off again. Growling he answered it, his mouth open to give his sister a piece of his mind when the voice on the other end stopped him.