Danny Phantom Fan Fiction ❯ You Can't Escape My Love ❯ Chapter 10

The next month was trying for the awkward pair as Sam tried to remain positive, allowing Danny to come and spend the days with her even if she continued to keep her heart from getting involved. Danny could see that she was open to allowing him close to her body, but he could also tell that she was not allowing their relationship to become more, even after she had admitted that she hadn't listened to him. That day found the halfa heading down to the gallery just a few minutes before it would open, the Goth he was looking for standing before it with another woman, the brunette standing close to her with a note pad. His brow rose. He guessed this was Sam's replacement as the raven haired woman listed off a few things while opening the door.

"So, it is best to come earlier than this?" the brunette asked as she looked up at the woman training her. Her blue eyes were dark, a grey blue color that seemed to glow with interest as she wrote a few more things in the book.

"It's best to get here no later than thirty till ten," Sam said as they pushed open the door to allow the pair to head in just as Danny moved to catch up with them. The amethyst eyes that noticed him became shuttered to his gaze. "Danny, what are you doing here?" she inquired, the brunette in the building coming back to the entrance to see whom the Goth was speaking to, her eyes becoming wide when she saw Danny.

"Danny Phantom!" she gushed, her blue eyes shinning now with adoration. "I never thought I would ever get to meet you!" She held out a hand, the halfa shaking it without taking his eyes off the Gothic woman behind the brunette. "My name is Rose!" He murmured something polite and while Rose got the hint she hesitated in stepping away, only glancing between the pair. "So you're the father!" Now he was looking at her as was Sam in surprise. "Not hard to guess with all I know about your little town." She pulled out her phone to show the pair her photos, the pair surprised to find that this woman had pics of their fights. "I went to your school, though I was in the grade below you two." She gushed on about how she had followed their ghost hunting, though Tucker had been aware of her tailing them he had only warned her to not get in the way. "I should let you talk." And with that she entered the building to begin her tasks before opening while the pair of soon to be parents stood there in shock of what this brunette female revealed before Danny finally managed to recall that he had been coming to spend the night with her.

"I was just going to spend the evening with you," he said. "I know that you seem to get peaked at night so I figured I could help out." She smiled slightly at him, the smile a weak one.

"I haven't had that problem lately," she stated, the awkwardness of the encounters coming back in full force. "Only when I get stressed out or overwhelmed, but with Rose here I should have no problems because she will be doing all the work." She glanced toward the building as lights came on both inside and out. "She's quick, absorbing all that I have walked her thru in the last few weeks." Silence took over for a moment as Sam refused to meet the blue gaze that was locked on her, the halfa trying to figure out why she was still holding back. Could that change once they lived together for a year? Did he really want to wait until that time to be given that chance to change her mind? "We are hanging out during the week," she pointed out now, the realization that he had not come to see her on the weekends since that day that the halfa had helped to calm down their babies, the underlying message in that simple statement.

"I still came and watched," he admitted, noting that she narrowed her eyes at that sentence. "And no, I wasn't spying on you directly. I was here that night that Dan spoke of Ember."

"So, you weren't spying this time, but you did before this? Is that what you are admitting to me, Danny?" He shook his head. He had been...yeah, it was spying, but he knew that if she called it that then she was going to be pissed off at him and they would only be raising her blood pressure again. It was as if she realized what was going on, the look in his blue eyes a mixture of worry and unease, and the Goth before him closed her eyes before taking in a few deep breaths. "I am not doing this tonight," she said, her eyes opening to reveal that they were still shuttered. He was at a stalemate with her, at least tonight... though he couldn't really fight with her about it later either. He wasn't going to work her up, not at risk of her or the babies' health.

"I'm just here to look at your artwork," he stated. "I was rather shocked at all that you had painted, not that I knew you could paint si- Nevermind. Do you mind if I come and spend the evening looking at your art?" He decided that he would have to give her the leading role in this situation as it was her job that he was at. It wasn't something he wanted to wait for, the chance to bring her back to his side in a romantic sense, but he would do it for her. She seemed surprised at his question and with a simple nod walked into the building with the halfa following slowly behind her. Rose came walking over to them looking a bit worried.

"What's wrong, Rose?" Sam asked, immediately going back into work mode, her posture more relaxed. It hurt that she more relaxed in the work environment than she was with him, the pair of them never having such tension between them.

"Well, there are a few spaces empty and I thought that that wasn't supposed to happen," the trainee stated and the pair headed off to find the spaces that needed filled as the halfa watched them. He walked after them, but not with them as he looked at the art on the wall, most of it Sam's at that moment since Marie was just a few months from delivery... maybe less since Sam had been here for a few months herself. He could hear them talking in the distance and heading over there found the Goth before two doors, explaining about the room they were about to enter. Danny stood behind them as Sam opened the room, a light flickering on in the large space where he could see several paintings lay against the wall in the far back as well as others that were on racks above those.

"Well, since the two spaces that are empty are large and small, we need to choose two pictures to fill them," the raven haired female stated as she pointed to two different spaces. The halfa raised a brow when she went to lift a rather large one and without waiting to see if she could lift it the male took it from her fingers and headed out of the room, the Goth glowering as she went to follow him. She stopped when she realized that it was probably best to let him take the artwork to the wall before turning to Rose, the other woman grabbing a small canvas off the left wall. Sighing she headed off to where Danny was placing the first artwork. Rose was replacing the other one when she stopped behind the halfa who was looking at the picture of Vortex, the weather ghost high in the skies above Amity, the ground covered in snow with a withered Undergrowth near Fenton Works.

The Goth didn't know what to say as she watched him study the painting. "Is the picture that had Dan asking about Undergrowth?" He turned to her, the surprise in her amethyst orbs disappearing upon his probing look. She shook her head at his question.

"No, that one had me in it," Sam stated, planted on that spot when the raven haired ghost fighter moved closer to her. "He never really met Undergrowth so he wanted the story on the one that had me un-" She shook her head. Why was she explaining herself? Danny knew that Dan had stopped his ghost fighting so early in the story, his own story on pause at that moment.

"He was right though," the halfa pointed out. "I never did blame you for what happened, the same thing could be said when you didn't rip into me after the Freakshow incident." She smiled. Yeah, she could see where he was coming from, but then her smile died.

"There was a difference," she said with a frustrated look. "You came out from under his control when I was in danger, but I co-"

"I was never in danger," the halfa said, cutting her off. "There was no need for you to worry about me when the only problem I had was with my powers." She blinked at the realization that he was right. While his control had been faltering because of her, it had been because she was in danger and the halfa hadn't been in that same situation. Sure, he had been having a hard time with his powers, but those same powers had aided in helping him escape Undergrowth. "It would have been different had I not been able to fight back."

"You don't know if that is true," she replied.

"And neither do you," he shot back. "And you weren't under his control for long, Sam. Not even a day had passed before you were freed." This was also true. Freakshow had had the halfa under control for a few days, his looting happening several days in a row before he had been presented with the freedom because of the ghost envying freak's mistake in taking the Goth. Rose approached at that moment, her own blue eyes taking in the scene before her, the pair forgotten as she approached the painting.

"He's right," the brunette muttered. "Even the ghosts that wanted him dead were willing to do something to help even if it worked for their own benefit." Blushing she apologized before heading toward the door to allow their clients in while the pair stood there in surprise at this woman's candor.

"Danny, it's just hard to," she waved her hand as if to emphasize that she was still trying to get past what had happened between them, the halfa saying nothing. "I mean, like I asked you before. How can you tell that it was love and not just a rebound and you have yet to answer that question. If you can give me an answer to that then..." she faded off as a regular client came over to ask about something that Rose had been unable to answer. Sam turned from him and began doing her job, the brunette joining her to take notes so that she would be prepared to take over for her in the next couple of months. Danny didn't have an answer still for that question. He knew he loved her, but that wasn't going to work for what Sam wanted. She wanted him to prove it and words meant nothing to her at that moment. The old saying 'Actions speak louder than words' came to mind so he would figure out a way to prove it to her... The question was how?

Danny spent the better part of the next few weeks trying to figure out how to best prove that he loved Sam, but there was nothing there save for his words to prove that he loved the raven haired female with all his heart. At that moment the halfa was sitting with said Goth on the couch of her small home, the place still on the market and Sam having not filled him in on whether she had found a house. The halfa had been looking for a place close to his own home, hoping that if he kept her close that he could also keep an eye on her so she couldn't run. There was one place close by, her own home several blocks away so she wouldn't have to worry about running into her parents all that often, not that they would be happy to learn that Sam was pregnant by him, but like him they deserved to know that their daughter would be a mother soon enough herself.

"I found a place," Sam said, her voice startling him from his own thoughts. "It's right on the edge of Amity but the house is perfect with enough rooms for all of us and a backyard for them to play in when they get older." He wanted to say something, to question if she was being truthful about finding a house or if she was just letting him believe that she was willing to stay near him longer when she had just spoken a threat about taking the babies away. She looked at him now, her eyes still shuttered to his gaze. "The closing is at the end of this month so it's perfect since Rose will be taking over as of this week." She seemed to be waiting on him, her eyes probing his own blue gaze and Danny didn't know if he wanted to lay his unease bare, if he wanted her to know that he didn't think he could trust her, but wasn't that a problem in itself? If he couldn't trust her not to run and she couldn't trust him to love her then where were they in their relationship? Was what they were a relationship? "Danny, I promise that I will not run again, not unless you give me a reason to," she stated, her tone serious.

"Why can't you just be open with me?" he asked. "I don't think that you are really giving us a chance and I know that you said it's because I can't answer your question, but Sam I love you and would do any- have done everything I could to show you that I won't rush you into a deeper relationship." Sam didn't say anything, but he could see that she was working thru what he was saying, her eyes still shuttered, but he knew the look that came over her face was one of contemplation. "I know that I fucked up with how it all went down concerning our one moment of intimacy, but Sam I just couldn't hold back in that moment. It wasn't the best choice on my part, but I- I can't explain what I was thinking knowing that I had been broken up with Paulina for like the hundredth time since she and I got together."

"You went back to her," Sam pointed out, her tone calm even as he saw her eyes flash with pain. It was true. He had gone back to the Ice Queen, but even as he had allowed her to become his girlfriend again it had felt wrong and so he had broken up with her. "You went back to her every time, Danny. If that is love then I really don't want that kind of love because who is to say down the line that you won't go back to her?" His eyes narrowed at her question. He wouldn't go back to the one that had just been a crush, a crush that had crushed his relationship with the woman before him.

"If you won't even give me a chance," Danny stated, "Then how is that fair to me? Or you? I know that I want to be with you and that you have been the only one in my heart for as long as I can think of, but if you won't even open yourself up to that relationship being pos-"

"I did think it was possible!" she spat. "I thought it at that moment that you were in me and then you pulled back, your words so confusing!" Her cheeks were flushing at the agitation in her voice. "I will admit that I had a small crush on you for a few years, but you were my friend so I blew it off."

"But it became more," he stated. "I know that feeling since I was also on that line for the longest time and then I knew in that moment that I wanted you and to hell with what anyone else thought!" He sighed at her stern look, her look one of disbelief at his words. "That! See, you can't even listen to me without instantly feeling that I am lying! I made one mistake and that was the timing." Sam seemed to realize that he was right and while she knew she hadn't been listening as well as she could have she could hear in his tone. He was not only frustrated with her but he was in pain at her refusal. "You said neither of us were listening to the other, but when I finally do that you only open one ear or maybe you're listening but allowing it in one ear and out the other, but either way you're not giving me a chance."

"Okay, so I wasn't trying as ha-"

"You weren't trying, Sam. You were pretending and I am done with the pretending. If you want to be left alone until the birth of our babies then I will give you until the birth to realize what I have been trying to show you!" He hadn't wanted to say that, his eyes wide at his own words, her own amethyst gaze no longer shuttered as shock glittered in those depths. Like her he had thrown out a threat that he had never wanted to use, but now that he had he wanted to take it back. Her mouth opened but no words came out as she closed it again, her brows rose in shock. She couldn't even process and while Danny wanted to take it back he found at this moment he too couldn't say anything. "I just want a chance and I know that in your eyes I don't deserve that after all that has happened, I really want a chance to prove that I love you and that you were not a rebound." She frowned, still seeming thrown by his stunning words. He grabbed her hands, the Goth unable to fight as her mind tried to process all that he had just thrown her. She had not expected such words from him and the pain behind them was loud a clear. Danny really wanted to prove that they were meant to be together, like Fate wanted them to be together, but that meant that Fate had meant for them to be hurt...

"Danny," she whispered, her throat closing as part of her fought to keep the words in her while the other half wanted it to be said, to prove her point instead. "I-If that's what you want to do then-n that is up to you." Was that really what she wanted to say? Had she meant to be stubborn in a very hurtful way? He didn't move, his hands tightening slightly around hers as if asking her if that was what she wanted... Did she want him to leave her alone? She couldn't even shutter her gaze, her emotions so clear for him to see even as she was sorting thru them herself. Suddenly the Goth lunged at him, her arms flying around his waist as she started crying. Danny tensed in astonishment at the sudden about face before relaxing, his arms going around her. She mumbled something into his chest, though he couldn't really tell what it was, and not just because it was muffled, but because the fact that her body was so close, her warm breath on him was causing him to become slightly distracted. It had been a long time since he had held her and yet his body knew this touch, remembered the sensations that had happened with this body on his own.

"S-Sam," he murmured as one of his hands came to rub on her back, the woman in his arms seeming to purr. What was going on here? Suddenly she pushed him back, her eyes wide and semi-glazed. She backed up a bit more on the couch, her cheeks flushed, before standing. "Sam?" Her name wasn't a husky whisper this time as hurt entered his voice and confusion following behind it.

"You said we could take this slow," she said, fidgeting a little with the secret that she wasn't revealing, but she didn't need to since he knew why she had pulled away. If she hadn't moved then there was a chance that they would have given into their instincts and it would have just muddled the waters more. He understood and so with a nod he scooted back to allow her space to sit on the couch. The Goth seemed unsure for a moment but still sat down as far to one side as she could.

"So, you're really willing to give our relationship a chance? No backing out without at least telling me that you are?" She nodded. "I mean it Sam, if you have any reservations we are going to talk about them instead of just running away." She nodded again.

"I promise that I will try, Danny. There is not much more I can do but try. I want this to work out because I do love you. I do want you to be more than my friend." She was laying herself bare before him, showing that him that she would really try, but she had done that before so he would have to try and trust that she was being honest and would follow thru with her promise.

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A week later found the couple out on their second date since their agreement. While they held hands, neither had even tried to kiss the other even though the pair were finding it the thing they both wanted to do. Walking past several people the couple entered the theater, the thought that with how they were feeling added with the dark atmosphere of the movie theater was a bad idea never entering their minds. Like they had when they were younger the pair headed for the back corner of the movie theater, neither liking to be near others when watching in the large space since for Sam she didn't like people and Danny couldn't be closed in with his role. It had become a norm for them after his accident, but as soon as they sat down Danny realized that it was a bad idea to be so far away from others, the pull in him to use the darkness to his advantage while Sam was also realizing where they had put themselves.

She wanted to run, the knowledge that they were playing with fire the first thought in her mind and suddenly it was gone as her body seemed to pulse with him so close. There was an armrest between the two, but it might as well as been invisible because it didn't keep the heat between them from heating up. Sam blushed as the halfa at her side took her hand in his, the look in his eyes telling her that he was feeling it, the need to pull her close, but he was respecting her wish for them to go slowly. The lights dimmed, the movie flickering to life on the screen as the pair turned their attention to the screen. An hour later as the horror movie played, Danny had noticed that Sam had begun to look a little green, her skin pale in the flickering lights of the picture on screen. "You okay?" he asked after leaning towards her. The Goth shook her head and without a second thought the halfa led her out of the theater. Once they were outside Sam's color began to return to normal, her shaky breathing worrying the raven haired male before her.

She was sitting next to him on the steps of the large building, the lights above them bright enough that he could see her face, even at the side, rather well. She was really feeling bad to rush out of her favorite kind of movie. Sam loved the gore and action of a horror fic, the blood and guts nothing to her but this time it seemed that her body couldn't handle that. Was that something that could happen? He had read that some foods could do that, but for her to become sick at the sight of something she had once loved was rather startling. "Was it the movie?" She didn't respond at first before shaking her head and then nodding. His brows raised at her response.

"It's hard to explain," she said, her voice shaky. "I think I was fine, you know, at first, but then it seemed to get too hot and the sight of the blood on screen seemed to be the final trigger." He reached out to rub her back, the female tensing. "That's not really helping right now," she said throwing him an apologetic look. "It feels good, but when the world is still spinning, well, it mixes poorly." He got it. The extra movement wasn't what her body wanted... it needed to be still and able to concentrate on keeping her stomach down. They sat there for a moment and finally Sam seemed to be okay, apologizing for ruining their date.

"No," Danny said. "Don't be sorry, neither one of us knew this would be a trigger for you." She smiled and the pair headed home, Danny taking her into his arms before heading to drop her off at her place, but once he got there plans seemed to change. Upon releasing the small raven haired woman in his arms, mindful to hold onto her waist upon putting her down since she was a little off kilter with her stomach now completely obvious, that same raven haired female pulled him down, her fingers twisting into his own raven locks. Their lips met roughly, her small body pressed up against him while she held him in place. The halfa was thrown off, his hands tightening on her small waist as she groaned against his mouth. He was waging a war inside of him, the position reversed from the first time they had kissed like this and the result of that kiss was pressed against him. He wanted to continue with what they were currently doing, even knowing how it could end, but the other half of him was telling him to stop, that she wanted to go slow with their relationship... a chance to have a relationship that would last.

He was the one that pulled back, his eyes opening as her were, the pair of them dazed with lust in their orbs. She wanted him, and he wanted her, but he knew that to make their relationship last longer than if she truly believed it was just lust, he would have to suffer the blue balls that he was going to have over this. "S-Sam, as much as I want to continue, I don't want you to regret this later." He was also sure she would have that to use against him if she ever got cold feet again and she would... he was sure of this. He knew Sam, or had before all this had happened, and he knew that when she was unsure about something, something that had been bothering her for as long as her feelings had been for him, she would question it several times before accepting it as fact. Look who had been her role models, her parents unable to really love their only child. They had tried to push her into a mold that just wasn't her and while they had had their good moments, the bad outweighed the good. She blinked at him. "We should go slow since we have the rest of our lives." She relaxed at his words, emotions flickering in her amethyst orbs telling him that he had said the right thing, that he had given her something that she needed from him.

"You're right," she said taking a step back. "I'll see you tomorrow for the move." She leaned forward real quick to lay a quick kiss on his lips before stepping back again. The halfa smiled and waved to her before heading out. The Goth sighed, both in relief and frustration. She had wanted that, the feel of him so close as he flew her home had been too much. "Damn you hormones," she muttered to herself. It seemed that a new symptom had come up and this one was going to be hard to fight since she truly wanted to jump the halfa, but knew that it was the wrong move. After all, with what she had said to Danny about rebounds, wouldn't he think that he was her rebound after Dan?

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Danny had thought that at one point, the raven haired male worried that he was taking the place of his older self, but then he recalled what Jazz and Sam had both said. Dan had been the replacement for Danny so that meant he couldn't be Dan's replacement. Shaking his head as he entered the small home of his sister only to find that she was still not home. She did hang out with one of her school peers, the blond male having been in the house a few days ago as the pair talked in her room. Danny hadn't met the male, the guy only having come over like twice since the halfa had come here. He headed into the room with the newest question on his mind, well, not new but now that he had some things figured out he wondered what that other thing that Sam was doing, the thing that he had thought was a one time thing when they got here, maybe becoming a more time consuming endeavor.

He turned on the computer, turning on the song from the new singer, the one that had caught his attention when he had first heard her. There was something about her voice that just seemed to relax him, the tone of hers so soothing that he could only think of one female that could do that to him... He shot up in the chair, his eyes wide as he realized that he knew that voice singing to him! He looked at the title on the screen, the name of the artist listed as Alexandra and then he recalled that Sam's paintings at the gallery were listed under that same name. Was Sam the singer on the radio? The one that had seemed to know his feelings and worries?

He had felt that, each lyric matching his own turmoil, as he had listened to her down the road and then when he was in his sister's room that first time hearing another song by that same woman. Sam had been talking about going on tour. He had known that had Dan not warned him of the Goth's unease and he hadn't come that Sam would have disappeared, but to think that she would have been able to move around with such ease that had he not heard her song he would never had found her. She would have kept moving with his kids, her wealth not needed to fund her escape. He sighed in relief and frustration. He was relieved that that wasn't what had happened since the older halfa had had the foresight to give him a heads up when he could have easily just let her do what she had intended. With how ticked off the older male had been upon finding out that the Goth was pregnant, he would bet that Sam had divulged all the information on the way she had become that way.

His frustration was with how Fate seemed to think that she deserved to be hurt to the point that she was willing to leave everyone, including him, behind and how much they had to suffer to get to where they were today... Then again that wasn't Fate's fault was it? It was them. They had been too afraid and then he had started dating to try and force his feelings toward another female... To get Sam out of his heart. Not in the friendship part, but the part that longed for a real relationship with the one that had been his one and only for years. If only he had taken the chance to confess how he felt then they wouldn't be- well, they would be together and enjoying the pregnancy like a real couple. There would only be love and with how it had all come about there was love, but hiding it was distrust, hurt, as well as several other emotions. It was going to be hard, but he loved her and would do whatever it took to make her his for the rest of their lives.