Danny Phantom Fan Fiction ❯ You Can't Escape My Love ❯ Chapter 7
Danny didn't waste any time appearing in the home after getting the directions from Dan's text to him while holding the Goth in his arms. That was the sight that greeted the younger halfa, his blue eyes widening as the raven haired woman attempted to extract herself from Dan's hold. "God damn it, Dan! Let me go!" She hadn't noticed him yet, but once her head turned from her attempt to square down with the older halfa she found her body frozen. The halfa was looking at her in surprise, but she could see the hurt in that blue gaze as well.
"Hey, Sam," the young male stated, his eyes dropping to look at her stomach and that's when the Goth realized that Danny knew she was pregnant. Dan could feel the rage from the small woman in his arms, her body shaking slightly as she began to fight him again, but this time she was more aggressive, her warning muttered under her breath.
"I'm warning you, Dan," she growled. "If you don't let me go right now, not only will I be latching my teeth into some part of your skin, but I will remove your manhood." Both males winced at her threat, but Dan refused to allow her to be free until she grumbled, "I won't run, not that I could anyway." Releasing her the small raven haired woman turned and punched him in the jaw before turning back to Danny with a scowl. The older halfa rubbed his chin as he smirked. The woman really thought she could hurt him, but truth be told that one had had a bit of a sting. "I don't even have to assume that you know about me being pregnant," she stated, shooting the older male a look. "I have to wonder why I keep on doing this shit."
"Sam," Danny said, his hands coming out to reach for her, the raven haired female taking a step to the side. His eyes widened slightly at her action, but he didn't try to reach for her again as she moved away from Dan as well. "We ne-" Her hand came up, the gesture meant to cut him off.
"We don't need to do anything," she said, her eyes flashing at him. "Just because I am carrying your child doesn't mean anything except that." Both males narrowed their eyes at her, the pair of them rather ticked off at her words, but for different and not so different reasons. The pair of halfas could agree on one thing at that point and that was the fact that the woman before them was distancing herself, making the relationship a detached version. "We can be civil about this," she said and while she wanted to sit down, she wanted him to understand that she was quite firm on how this was going down and there was no way for him to change it. "We will share custody." Danny nodded, though his eyes narrowed at the fact that she was shutting him out. "I don't need anything from you, not child support, nothing."
"Sam, I want more than just a chance to be in my child's life," he said.
"No, this is all that is on the table." Dan shook his head at that, but he knew that if the halfa before them pushed her too fast then she would fight even harder to distance herself. She would fight with the money that she hated, but she would do it to ensure that she was protected from what she saw as heartache right now. "As for now, well, I have promised to stay on with the job I have here for the next two years and that isn't changing." She could see it in his eyes. He couldn't stay here for two years, no, he needed to be back at Amity and while she knew that it was partially for his parents since he did the majority of ghost fighting for them, but it was because of one woman... He wouldn't leave Paulina just to stay here when she wasn't going to even let him around her after this. No, the next two years were for her to figure stuff out and him being here would make that a hard task. She would weaken and she couldn't do that. The young male surprised her though.
"I will have to head back home, but I will be back before the end of the month," he said, noting the surprise in her amethyst gaze before she shuttered them.
"Why would you need to come back that soon?" she asked, her brow raised. "The baby won't be born for another eight months." He smiled at her, the simple gesture causing her heart to pound, her blood calling out for that mouth to be against her body.
"So we can hang out and talk about this," was his response. She shook her head.
"I have other engagements during the week besides the gallery on the weekend. There wi-" Dan cut her off as he chuckled at her measure to keep the younger halfa on the sidelines. "And what is sooooo funny?" she hissed, her eyes flashing at him. Danny was curious too, having never seen the male before him laugh at anything save for killing them. He was still unsure about Dan, even with the male having helped him in this situation.
"What engagements do you have on the weekdays? I thought that whatever you were doing that first time, when we got here, was a one time thing." Now Danny was confused. What had she done when she first got here?
"That was just a starting point," she said. "Dean called and said that I will be-" She looked over at Danny and leaning over began to whisper in Dan's ear, "I will be having a few shows at least once every week." Pulling back, Danny noted that the older halfa looked surprised about whatever she had told him. He was not only feeling hurt that she would tell a secret to the other male, but anger surfaced with it at being left out of the loop when it came to the Goth. While she hadn't even allowed them into her home until the year they turned 14, she had not kept any secrets from him... well, until this year.
"Will you be able to do that long, hell, what about the gallery?" the older male inquired, both forgetting Danny was there for a minute, which didn't help how he was feeling at that moment. He had never thought he would be the third wheel when it came to Sam.
'Had you figured she would wait for you forever, never finding love herself?' his inner voice questioning his ideals. 'Did you think that while you and Tucker had partners that she would just stay single?' Had he really been thinking that she would never find someone and that she would be with him forever? He was only adding more questions to the pile in his mind that were waiting to be answered.
"Well, with the gallery I will have to let Marie know about my pregnancy, but that should be fine. I still have another eight months to worry about that little detail and as for, well, my other engagement... well, I can do it up until the day I give birth so again, it will all work out just fine." Blinking she realized that the younger halfa was just standing there, listening to them talk as if he wasn't there. "Oh, I'll see you at the doctor appointment... if you want to go to it." The halfa opened his mouth and realizing that Dan was shaking his head, just closed his mouth and nodded. She was giving him something that she didn't have to do. He could only imagine how awkward this was going to be for the pair of them... For her especially. "Since you and Dan have decided to be phone buddies, then he can call you with that information whenever I schedule that one." With a quick exit she was gone, the pair of halfas staring at the door to her room. Dan sighed, his head falling back.
"Well, looks like I am stuck with you, brat," the older male said, his eyes closed to the world so he didn't see the look that the younger male threw him. "So, as you can see, she's in a mood and that means I get the couch." Danny's eyes flashed green at his words. They were sleeping in the same bed?! He didn't want to imagine that so with a mental shake he voiced the question about her other engagement. "I can't give you that information, but I can tell you that you will figure it out before she tells you... if you haven't yet." He sat back up, his eyes narrowed. "You really fucked her up."
"What do you mean by that?" Danny asked, his own eyes narrowed.
"I know that we are clueless like dad, but even you can't be that clueless. I got what happened," he stated. "And even with all that she left out of it, and I can tell, I know that you finally broke her or maybe pushed her close enough to the edge. You got my message, right?" The halfa nodded. "I wasn't just being dramatic, brat. Sam ran and she never runs. She fights and this time she didn't come to try and fix it with you." He glanced at the door. "She has hit that wall... has walked to close to the edge and is now just hanging on by the skin of her teeth." He looked back at Danny now, his eyes relaxed and open for the younger male to see the worry that reflected back at him. "She was really going to leave and never come back." Danny felt his heart break at the realization that had Dan not been with Sam he would have never found her. The halfa in front of him wanted the best for the friend that had stuck by them only to die before his eyes. He had never gotten his chance, like Jazz had told him, and he didn't want the Goth to be alone when her match was right before her eyes.
"Thanks," Danny said to the surprise of the older halfa and with a single wave the younger male was gone, leaving Dan to ponder why he was being thanked.
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The next day Sam called Marie to tell her of her own impending motherhood, the older woman happy for her and even offering to let her go after she had her own child. Sam would have none of it, claiming that she would have it all figured out before the birth of her child so she could finish her two year promise. The other woman was shocked that the Goth wouldn't take that option, that she would rather complete her commitment instead of staying home with her child. She told her the offer was open if she changed her mind. As for the rest of that day and those until Friday the Goth researched about having a baby, until the last night when Dan pointed out something that had never crossed her mind. "What if the baby is part ghost?"
"What?" she questioned, sure that she had misheard him. "Danny's a halfa so I doubt that would happen." He raised his brow at her answer. "I mean if anything the child might be a quarter ghost, but that would be a small percent chance of that happening."
"How would you know?" he inquired. She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it, her finger going to her mouth. "All the halfas on this planet were either made that way thru an accident or cloned from the one that was. No one has given birth to a halfa's child." Oh, shit! She hadn't really thought of that either! She was having some massive brain farts lately. Hell, was the time of pregnancy the same... would the child go intangible in her belly?! Dan watched all the color drain from her face, her eyes growing wide as the image entered her mind. More followed of the baby making her invisible or intangible. And then she could see the baby a year old going thru the crib or blasting a hole in the wall.
"Oh...my...god!" She flew up from the chair, the computer shaking from the force. She flew at the male on her bed, Dan falling back as she cried out, "Dan! What if the baby falls thru my body?! What if they power up in my body?!" His brows rose at this. He hadn't thought of that part of being a possibility, but he could see the fear in her eyes as they glistened with tears.
"Okay, calm down first," the older male said as he pulled her into a hug. "It's not good for you or the baby, okay." She nodded against his chest. "You need to talk to Danny about these fears okay." She shook her head. "Sam, I am not going to be able to stay for two years and you need him anyway... he's your other half, not me." She sniffled, a curse about the hormones and the female pulled back, her head nodding just barely. "Good." She sighed and lay back down on him, her ear to his heart and she could hear it... even though he had claimed to not have that organ. It had been steady when she had first hugged him when this had all started and now it was slow and faint. He really wouldn't be here much longer and while she could allow him to leave she knew that with all that had happened, that he wouldn't leave until he was sure she didn't run. She would have too.
"I-I love you, Dan," she whispered, the unshed tears falling from her closed eyes.
"I love you to, Sam." Stroking her hair the pair fell asleep, both cherishing the short time they had together. While their love wasn't like the one she shared for her halfa and his wasn't the same as the one he had with his Sam, they both had connected on a different level. It had to be because the halfa was more mature at the older age or maybe it was because of the other ghost that made up his form.
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The next few weeks went on with Sam avoiding Danny while the older halfa pushed for her to give Danny a chance. Finally the Goth called him and asked if he wanted to come over, the younger male happy to hear from her, but upset that she had been avoiding him after their initial talk. He knew that he had fucked up, but when Dan had let him know just how badly he had fucked up, he knew that she was protecting herself and it was his fault. She was afraid of what he would do if she gave him the already broken heart, if he would shatter it completely.
Now he could see why Tucker and Star had been upset. He had done the unthinkable when it came to Sam... he had hurt her in such a way that she didn't trust him anymore. He had lost her trust. After years together, never a broken promise between them until his crush for Paulina and then he had done so much wrong. While he knew they were both to blame, he had been the one to initiate that day's events and even now he could hear those words in his head... His words that had been him making sure she really wanted to be with him...
"I know that this is wrong, but it feels right..."
"I want you so bad and yet, I know that I shouldn't..."
He hadn't meant it in the way it sounded, but now that he thought about it he had been telling her that he hadn't wanted her and that he did want her. How confusing must that have been for her to hear when he had found out that she had had a crush on him-no, not just a crush.
"I don't know if you knew it and I was sworn to secrecy, but Sam loved you."
Tucker had known, had been told by the Goth while he had been in the dark, but then again he should have seen it. They had both reacted every time they touched, had both been each other's dream during the fight with Nocturn... hell they had been each other's first kiss! Those kisses had left him short of breath and dazed, the same had been apparent when he had kissed her that one time. That's when he recalled the day he had had gone to battle Pariah. He had asked her if there had been anything the pair of them had wanted to say to him, the worry that he would die a real thought in all their minds. He had looked to Sam though, certain that she had been needing to tell him something, but the Goth had not spoken up. Had she been worried about their friendship too? Brushing the thoughts off he headed over to her place only to find that Sam was alone in the main room, their door closed.
"Hey," he said.
"Dan told me that I should share my feelings with you concerning the baby," she stated, moving to sit on the couch. The younger halfa joined her. "Especially as he won't be around much longer and he's fighting it now since he fears that I will run given the chance." She sighed. "I don't want to hurt anyone, not you and not him so I am willing to try and mend our friendship." He didn't just want her friendship though. Then it struck him that she had said 'concerning the baby'... was there something wrong with the baby?
"Is the baby okay?" he inquired and she could see the worry flicker thru his eyes.
"The baby is fine as far as I can tell," she said, touching the baby bump. Her stomach was now bigger now, almost the size of a woman at the end of her first trimester, or bigger. She smiled at her covered stomach. "It's hard to explain why I feel that way, but it's like I can feel them in there." Suddenly she blinked in surprise.
"Them?" Danny asked in confusion. "Are we having more than one baby?" She looked at him, her eyes full of confusion.
"I haven't gotten an ultrasound done yet," she murmured, her voice so soft. "I don't know why I said 'them'." Shaking her head she said, "Anyway, um, I have concerns about the fact that our child could be part ghost." That was her concern? He thought she liked his being a half ghost so why would being pregnant with one cause her concern? "I didn't think about it until Dan pointed out that I would be the first person pregnant by a halfa." He didn't want to tell her that he didn't understand, but he didn't want to set her off, but he noted that she was staring at him and that he was still sitting there in silence. "You don't understand," she said, aware that he was confused, his face frozen in that very emotion. "Your powers, in a baby, in my stomach."
"Oooooh," he said as he finally got what she was saying, his own face going pale like hers had upon the thoughts that entered his head and all of them matching her own fears. "Damn." She nodded. "My parents could always invent something."
"Danny, I love your parents, but half the time their inventions don't work." This was true, but he had been learning the trade so maybe he could do it. "And then we need to speak about what we can do for the first year."
"What about the first year?" he asked.
"Well, the first year I want to be there for my child, but I still have that year with the gallery so I was wondering if you would mind, well, no shared custody for the first year." That had not been what he had thought she was going to say! He found himself growing upset with her selfish question... not that he planned on her being a single mother either. He would marry her, he just had to find a way to convince her. He had to prove that he loved her and while it should be a simple thing to do he knew that she wouldn't just give in this time. She would make him fight to prove his friendship and he would be fighting for more than that. "Speaking of that, Danny, I don't want my child near her."
"Who?" Her eyes narrowed.
"Who do you think?" she asked, her tone hard. "Your girlfriend." He began to chuckle at her, the amethyst orbs watching him in disbelief. Did he think she was joking? "I mean it, Danny! I never want that b-woman near my child!" He began to laugh, trying to explain as she glared at him while waiting for him to stop. Finally the halfa stopped, wiping a tear from his eye as he stared at her with a goofy smile.
"I broke up with her." Sam's jaw dropped at what he was saying. "I realized that I didn't love her and that I loved you." The raven haired woman shook her head. He grabbed her hands, his face serious. "I love you, Sam. I made a mistake that day, but not because I slept with you." She pulled her hands free of his, the look on her face unreadable.
"Danny, I don't want to hear that."
"Sam, I me-" She stood up, her anxiety acting up as her emotions flared.
"No," she muttered. "I don't want to be your rebound again!" she spat, her eyes flashing in anger. "We did that already and look at how that turned out!" She took a step forward, her small finger poking him in the chest. "I don't regret the pregnancy, but I will not have my emotions played with and certainly not put a child in the middle of such a farce!" The door to her bedroom opened to reveal a very tired looking Dan, his color off. She hadn't noticed him yet, but Danny did as Sam continued to lay into him. "I don't want to get married to you because of the baby! After I have this child I will live with my child, I will raise my child, and I will love my child, but I will do it as a single mother!" The Goth jumped as Dan touched her shoulder and pushed her to the couch. Danny sat there watching as his older half glared at her, his words stern.
"First off, woman," he said, locking eyes with her. "You are working yourself up again and what did I tell you about that?" She muttered something and nodding the older male looked at him. "Do not get her worked up. It is bad for the child and her to be worked up like this." He turned back to Sam. "Second off, he told me that he broke up with her, but you didn't even let him explain. I told you that you need him and he needs you." He pushed her into Danny's lap with a frustrated growl. "You promised to compromise now do it." He sat there, waiting as the Goth pouted.
"How about I stay here for your last year and watch our child," the younger halfa suggested. Sam wanted to say 'no' to him, to push him away, but Dan was frowning at her, the look in his eyes murderous so she nodded.
"Fine. You can come over an-" Sam said, only to be cut off.
Dan shook his head, the pair of them looking confused until he stated, "You live together for the first year so that you get equal time with the child." Danny smiled, the idea perfect because it would also get him a chance to prove that he loved the small Gothic female, but the Gothic female shook her head. "Compromise, Sam." She pouted again, her curses about the two men enough to make a sailor blush. "Mood swings with you were bad enough, but when you are pregnant you are downright mean." The younger male chuckled. Yeah, he could see that.
"As tomorrow is Friday," the Goth said moving away from Danny, her heart beating a mile a minute at the extended contact with the man she loved. "I need to get sleep." As Danny was leaving he turned to see her assist the older halfa back to the bed, though he was complaining now about how he wasn't an invalid while she just shook her head. It made him sad to think that at one point they had been that close and now all it seemed she wanted to do was push him away. He left them alone, the older male getting onto her for acting as she had with Danny. "I told you before that I don't want him to marry because I was pregnant! That was the reason that I didn't want to tell him in person!"
"He's not marrying you because of the babies and you need to open your eyes up about that fact," Dan stated as she helped him into bed before going back to turn off the light. She crawled into bed with him and kissing him softly on the cheek closed her own eyes, hoping that he would leave it alone. "I'm not done with you," he muttered before yawning. "We will finish this conversation tomorrow." With those last words he was out like a light.
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Danny sat in the room on the computer the next day, his parents on the screen before him. They were unhappy with him, the story about Sam having his child making his mother frown while his father winced, knowing that his wife was going to go off about the news around the conception of her first grandchild. "I can't believe you, Danny. We taught you better than that!"
"I didn't plan it," the halfa stated, shame in his tone. "I didn't just go up to her and-" He stopped, his words only going to make his mother more upset and not just at what he had done, but at how he responded regarding that day. "She thinks that I slept with her on the rebound and while I didn't do it for that reason-"
"You opened your mouth and inserted foot?" his mother questioned, her tone strict. "Had your head up your ass?"
"Mom, I feel bad enough!" Maddie didn't like the fact that he didn't understand it from Sam's side. Sure, she knew her son felt bad, but he had been hurting the small raven haired girl by having his head up his ass, and she had been quite upset when Jazz had contacted her with all that was going on, save for the part of Sam being pregnant. Danny had filled them in on that while made the whole situation even more chaotic.
"We know you feel bad," Jack stated. "But you are just feeling the the tip of what she is feeling. Her pain is the iceberg under the surface that you can't see." That surprised his wife and son with how insightful he was being. "You two have always been close, a strong connection formed quickly and while she might have just had a crush on you in the beginning, it became something more."
"She loved you and yet, you failed to see what all of us could see. Yes, she is just as blind or maybe she was afraid of what would happen if she shared those feelings. You were both just kids after all. And then you dated that one girl, Valerie and then Paulina, both part of the popular crowd." She paused for a moment. "She warned you about the first because of Valerie's hate for ghosts, but did she ever warn you away from Paulina?" The halfa shook his head. "That was her way of showing you love. She didn't want you to be with Paulina, but she loved you enough to allow you to be happy."
"She wasn't even particularly upset about you dating Paulina, though I know it hurt her..." Star had something about that too. Had everyone really felt that they belonged together? Had everyone really seen something when neither of them had been aware of it?
"Sam would do anything for you, son," Jack stated. "You know that since she was the one that stuck around until the very end when it had only been her on your side." Now his mother seemed to become quiet, the look on her face one of turmoil.
"Mom?" the red head blinked, her purple eyes full of whatever was bothering her. "You look like you've seen a murder." It was a joke, but when his mother spoke up he saw red.
"I just remembered something from when you all were younger," the woman said looking to her husband. "That time that Sam almost got hit by a car." She looked at Danny, his confusion evident.
"Yeah, she crossed the street without looking," the halfa stated. His mother shook her head.
"One of our neighbors mentioned something that just made me think of that time," she said. "She had seen Sam that day and a teen that matches Paulina's description had been talking to her... arguing about something." What? Was his mother about to say what he thought she was going to say? "Sam had sped up to get away from her when the girl had started shoving her. Sam was pushed into traffic just as a car was coming." Would Paulina go that far to get back at the Goth for her belittlement when they had been fourteen?
"So she accidently pushed Sam," the halfa pointed out, though in the back of his mind a voice was yelling out 'denying it doesn't make it go away'.
"No, they were sure that Paulina looked up as they got to the street, watching for cars when she shoved Sam." Danny's eyes flashed green. "She even said something to Sam when the car missed her, Sam still in the street." Danny recalled that that incident had happened just before the dance that year, the one that had happened a couple of years after the dance where both girls had been turned into a fire breathing dragon. It was the year that he had become Paulina's boyfriend. "Danny, think about all that she has gone thru and you will realize that while both of you are hurting, her hurt had longer to fester." With that they disconnected and he was left in the silent room to reflect on all his parents had told him. Little did he know that he was going to get a chance to rip his ex into pieces... and sooner than he thought.