It was a cool 104 degrees in Amity Park, the hottest day on record. The seniors of Casper High were celebrating their last day of summer before school started back up tomorrow. The class committee had decided on going to the beach about an hour away from Amity Park to party.
Danny and Tucker were sitting side by side atop their beach towels watching the A-listers running around, the guys trying to chase the girls flirtatiously. Tucker groaned as Kwan kicked some sand over his phone as he ran by. Tucker brushed the sand off his phone and onto his Iron Man swim trunks instead.
He looked over at his friend, “Hey Danny, where’s Sam at?” Tucker asked. The two boys had arrived earlier in Tucker’s beat up Jeep. Danny was the only one of the trio who didn’t have his license yet. He never really had time to practice or study for the exam. He didn’t need to drive, anyway. He could usually just fly to wherever he needed to go. But in cases like these where he really had to amp up his human-half, he was glad his two best friends had theirs.
“I dunno. Work, maybe? She said she had to take care of something and she would catch up with us. I offered to wait and fly her here but...”
Tucker grinned and wagged his eyebrows at Danny. “Oooo you’d love for her to be at the club, wouldn’t you?”
After her family trip to Europe, Sam had been working as a lifeguard at her parents’ country club this past summer and Danny and Tucker had barely seen her. She insisted on making her own money, and her parents had wanted her to intern at some law firm run by one of her dad’s friends. They wouldn’t allow her to work somewhere dumpy. No, the Mansons had standards. So lifeguarding in addition to the internship was the compromise. She enjoyed her one month internship at the law firm. She even picked up on environmental law, which would come in handy for her future protests.
But Sam liked the job she chose for herself more. She already knew first aid pretty well, considering she was patching Danny up all the time, and she liked helping people. Having to be in the sun all day took some getting used to, but she liked swimming and had quiet isolation when she had to watch the swimmers. Plus, she had an umbrella to protect her fair skin. Her required work uniform wouldn’t allow her to wear a cape and veil like she usually did.
Ahh, Sam’s lifeguard uniform. That’s what Tucker had been teasing Danny about. Even though it was still a one-piece, her red bathing suit showed off the curves she was forming. The straps were also thinner than her typical purple bathing suit. The lifeguard one showed a lot more skin. There was also a circle cut out on her lower back.
He had only seen her in it once earlier in the summer, but yes, Danny liked this uniform a lot. And Tucker took notice. Danny was still trying to deny having any feelings for her, but even he knew he was sounding less and less convincing lately. Her absence all summer certainly made his heart grow fonder.
Danny’s heart began to race just thinking about her. He always thought she was pretty, how could he not? But over the summer, he began to think about Sam as more than pretty, and that scared him. She was his best friend for fucksake; she was practically family. He’s known her since first grade, been best friends with her since seventh. They knew each other’s secrets and hobbies, they’ve had sleepovers....hell, they used to share a bed when they were younger, before becoming teenagers had made it awkward.
Danny’s thoughts began to wander into that Dangerous Territory again, a place he often found himself, and he quickly shook his head to clear it. “Shut up, Tuck.” Danny grumbled as he grabbed a handful of sand and dropped it onto Tucker’s phone.
“Hey!” The techno-geek shook the sand off again. “Really though, we’ve barely seen her all summer. It’s kinda weird.”
“Yeah, we only really see her when we’re out fighting ghosts or when she has nights off. We aren’t playing video games 24/7 like we used to. Guess we really are growing up, huh?”
Both boys had grown over the summer. Danny was already at 6’2”, and Tucker wasn’t too far behind him at 5’11”. All the ghost fighting and running around helped them stay fit, too. Danny more so than Tucker, since he was the one taking hits and throwing punches all the time. He was visibly toned, it didn’t take too much to notice.
“Only in some ways for one of us…” Tucker muttered, stashing his phone safely away in his backpack.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Danny looked at him curiously. Tucker hadn’t realized he’d heard him muttering under his breath.
He was getting sick of this back and forth between his two friends. They both very obviously liked each other, hell everyone in Amity Park knew that. But Tucker was a good and loyal friend and had kept their secret crushes on each other a secret. “Seriously, Danny. It’s our last year of high school. Just make a move already. You and Sam will be fine. I know it. And I don’t mind being a third wheel. Especially once I find that gorgeous fourth wheel.” He grinned to himself.
Danny sighed, “I don’t think she thinks of me as anything more than a friend.” Tucker snorted.
“I think the heat is getting to your head.” He flicked Danny’s shoulder. “Take this stupid shirt off already. They’re not that noticeable anyways.”
Danny scrunched his face up a bit. He had always been worried about his scars. He’d been labeled a freak all through high school. He didn’t need to add more to Dash’s arsenal. But he trusted his best friend, so he took his shirt off and tossed it aside. He looked over himself, down to his blue swim trunks that matched his eyes. Tucker was right. He was a quick healer and a better fighter now that he’s had a few years of practice. Most of his scars had faded to the point where they were hardly noticeable, and the few that stood out wouldn’t raise enough eyebrows.
Danny glanced up at a few girls from school, who quickly turned away and giggled when he noticed them starting at him. He was certainly getting more glances from girls, he’d noticed. He was pretty sure he even caught Paulina staring at him once, after Star had mentioned how puberty did him a favor. Danny sighed. He really only wanted one girl to see him that way, and she probably never would. Wait, he wanted Sam to look at him like that?
He gulped at his realization. Yes.
“But seriously...what is going on between you and Sam? You guys were very flirty right before she left for Europe,” Tucker pointed out.
“We were?” Danny looked at him dumbfounded while Tucker just laughed. Really hard.
“Dude! Yes! Remember that time we went to the Nasty Burger and you had that really ugly shirt on-”
“Hey!” Danny interjected.
“-and Sam and I were teasing you about it? And she said you should just take it off? And you said ‘make me’ and she said ‘I will’ and you said ‘I’d like to see you try’?”
“I was there! I just thought she meant she would kick my ass!” As tough as Sam was, she couldn’t beat Phantom. Well, maybe. He was pretty sure.
“No, dude…she was all giggly after that, and we all know she doesn’t giggle. You guys kept play slapping each other all night. And that was just one time! You’re, like, unofficially dating.”
“Huh…well she never said anything...” Danny sat on this idea. Were they dating…? They had gone to the movies a few times without Tucker. Dinner a few times as well. Apparently they were flirting with each other. She had been kinda touchy feely with him lately. And it had been wonderful. “Okay, maybe I might like her a tiny little bit…”
And if she had been flirting with him, that meant that she liked him...Is that why he was always called clueless? Because it was obvious and he missed the signs?
Does she even still like him now though? She could have met someone over the summer… Damn. He’d been called clueless since at least sophomore year. Figures, he would finally come to terms with everything, and she would have moved on to someone else.
It’s not like they could actually date, anyways. Forget ruining their friendship (he knew that was solid enough), Sam was already a target to his enemies just for being his best friend. Imagine if she actually was his….girlfriend. Danny gulped. He used to flinch at the thought before, but now? Not so much… But it wouldn’t be fair to put her in more danger than what she already was in. He sighed; she deserved better than that.
Tucker noticed his friend’s mood shift and pulled a frisbee out of his bag before waving it in Danny’s face to distract his moping. Tucker was always great at lightening the mood for his friends. Danny grinned and stood up, creating some distance between him and Tucker. “No cheating! I’ll know it if you do!” Tucker warned, pointing an accusatory finger at Danny, who just laughed.
They had tossed the frisbee around for almost an hour, ignoring everyone else around them. Danny focused only on the frisbee and the conversation he was having with Tucker about beginning to apply for colleges, keeping his thoughts away from the Dangerous Territory. He couldn’t think about that right now; he had enough to worry about as he entered his senior year.
They only stopped playing when they overheard the popular crowd mention a certain someone, Tucker holding the frisbee in his hand as the boys glanced over to the source.
“Oh great, the goth freak has arrived. Make sure you don’t look directly in her eyes, or she might curse you.” Paulina chortled as Sam’s purple Smart Car convertible rolled into the parking lot. For being such a small car, it was pretty recognizable. No one else at school drove anything remotely resembling that. It was the only car at school that was bright purple, and the only car that had to be plugged in to run.
“You probably just don’t want to look at her anyways. Not very easy on the eyes, right guys?” Dash snickered.
Tucker scoffed at the group of A-listers laughing while Danny’s fists balled up slightly in anger. He would always hate when Dash talked about Sam. He hated when any of the A-listers talked about her, really. They always called her a freak and tried to start rumors about her. Not that Sam cared. She never expressed any sort of emotion but annoyance and eye rolling at anything they said about her. She frankly didn’t care, but Danny and Tucker did. They knew that beyond her tough exterior, she had a heart of gold and was passionate about equality and making the world a better (cleaner) place to live in. She would do anything for the people she loved. They knew the best sides of her, so it was difficult hearing people saying hurtful things about one of their best friends when she really didn’t deserve it. On most occasions, anyway.
Plus, Dash was crazy stupid if he didn’t think Sam was attractive. Danny clearly thought she was. She of course didn’t have a clue Danny was developing strong feelings for her, flirting aside, and he would never tell her anyways. Tucker had his suspicions, but other than their chat earlier, those suspicions had never been mentioned. In fact, Danny hadn’t really come to any hard conclusions until his conversation with Tucker. He pushed his racing thoughts aside again. He did not like Sam. It was just a different level of friendship and understanding than what he had with Tucker. He was a hormonal teenage boy; he could think she was attractive without being actually attracted to her. Right?
Yes, that was it. He thought she was pretty like any sane guy would, but it just felt different than other attractions because he knew her really well. Stupid sun, making him confused and scaring him with thoughts like finding his best friend attractive enough to date her.
Danny’s concentration was broken when the A-listers’ laughter came to an abrupt stop. Paulina let out a small squeak of surprise, while Dash and Kwan’s jaws dropped slightly.
Tucker chuckled, “Sam probably gave them a hand gesture or two.” He wiped some sweat off his forehead.
Danny laughed and nodded. Sam could take care of herself. Plus, he didn’t really care about the opinions of the A-listers anymore. He finally realized that being popular wouldn’t actually be good for him. The more people who got to know him, the more people could find out about his secret. Not to mention, they all talked shit about each other behind their backs. What kind of friends are those? Sam and Tucker were loyal. They knew about his secret for almost 3 years now, and they always fought hard to protect it. That’s what real friends do. Hell, Tucker and Sam were family to him.
Danny’s thoughts completely halted when he heard Dash speak up.
“Woah, when did Manson get so hot?!” Dash’s eyes widened a bit as he saw the goth girl making her way to the beach.
Danny quickly whipped his head around, green eyes flashing for only a moment, to look for his friend. When he spotted her he froze, though his body temperature was definitely rising.
Sam was usually pretty modest with her outfits. Even though she wore a crop top regularly, she still wore leggings under her short skirt, or jeans on cooler days. She had always worn her cape when they went to the beach or water park. The most revealing thing Danny and Tucker had ever seen her wear was that lifeguard uniform. But with this abnormally high temperature today, she was definitely not being as conservative as she usually would be. It was too damn hot to wear anything like that.
Oh no, today Sam Manson wasn’t being modest at all. Her combat boots were the only familiar thing about her. Her now just-past-shoulder-length hair was pulled back into a ponytail, showing off the several piercings in her ears. She had on a bikini that looked like something pulled out of Paulina’s closet (had it been any color but a plum so deep it could be mistaken for black). The bikini top had a few extra straps wrapping around either side of her body. The bottom had a similar strap wrapping around her waist. Her belly button piercing (when had she gotten that?!) reflected the sunlight onto her soft abs. She had on incredibly short, low rise shorts that looked downright sinful. Danny had never seen Sam in this state of undress before. He never thought he would find his female best friend...incredibly sexy… It almost felt wrong to think about her that way, but the heat was making Danny lightheaded.
He was almost certain it was still the weather that was making him lightheaded.
Tucker laughed as the frisbee he threw hit Danny on the side of the face, breaking his concentration....or rather his obvious ogling.
Sam trekked her way over to her friends, pushing her aviators to the top of her head. “Hey guys. Sorry I’m late. Some stupid kid threw up in the pool and I had to show Bryan how to properly clean the pool afterwards and it wasn’t pretty. I’m still thankful he’s covering for me today, I’ve missed you guys.” She pulled them into a quick group hug and looked over at the A-listers, completely silent and staring directly at the trio.
Sam scoffed, “What’s with them? Did they lose more IQ points over the summer and forget how to socialize or something?” They scurried away when she stared them down.
Danny and Tucker shook their heads, speechless. Tucker was the first one to speak up after a few awkward moments of silence. He cleared his throat a bit. “Uh Sam, you’re kinda...um, hot.”
“Huh?” Sam’s eyebrows knitted together as she examined herself, and a blush creeped onto her face when she realized what Tucker meant. She tried to cover herself up by crossing her arms over her body.
“No, no! You look great, really. You don’t have to worry about anything with us. Just ignore everyone else.” Tucker gave his friend a small smile as he tried to make her feel better. She slowly uncrossed her arms.
“It’s just...too hot to dress normally. I mean, this is what teenage girls are supposed to wear to the beach, right?”
“Yes, thank god.”
She lightly slapped Tucker at his comment. “Hey, haven’t I taught you to treat girls better? Keep your hormones in check, buddy. We are people, not objects.”
Tucker laughed, “you sure have, and of course you are, but I’m not saying I’m not enjoying the view.”
Sam scoffed and rolled her eyes at him, knowing they could argue about this all day or she could actually spend the day catching up with her best friends.
She sighed, smiled a bit, and looked at over at Danny who was unusually quiet. Her smile slightly faltered when she saw his face. “What’s with you? You okay?”
Tucker elbowed Danny in the ribs to get an answer. “Hot! I mean...hot...r-really hot...outside! Heh, this weather is crazy, right guys?” Tucker raised an eyebrow at Danny while Sam rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, we can thank global warming for that one.” She walked over to their spot and set her bag down next to her friends’.
Danny had admitted Sam was pretty in the past on more than one occasion - today even - and of course she was. No one else had sparkling purple eyes like hers, and they always stood out against her dark hair and pale skin. He even really liked Sam, he concluded as he remembered having thoughts about her in the past as someone he would hold hands with and go on dates with. Cute romantic shit. He could deal with that.
Starting several months ago, he had wondered what it would be like to go to the movies just the two of them, what it would be like bringing her flowers on their way to prom together. He had thought about what it would be like to date her, which had always led him down that deep path of self-denial and into Dangerous Territory. But now he was thinking about her...sexually…
“Smoooooth.” Tucker laughed next to him. “Remember, one of your last chances to make a move. Be like Nike! Just do it!” He bent over and flexed his arms, mimicking the Shia LaBeouf meme. He lightly pushed Danny towards Sam, who was kicking off her combat boots and shorts. Danny bit his lip as he stared at her ass. What was he getting himself into?
Still, he followed Tucker over to her and sat down between the two. “We, uh, missed you this summer. How have you been?” Danny rubbed the back of his neck. It shouldn’t be this hard to talk to her.
Sam laughed, “it’s not like we haven’t been texting or Skyping or anything. Same old, same old. My parents are still on my case about law school, work is hectic, people are destroying the planet...how about you guys? You’re clearly both alive, but how much did my absence hinder your ghost fighting abilities?”
Tucker cleared his throat and grabbed his phone from his bag, trying to catch up on whatever happened in the hour he was apart from it.
“Did you, uh...meet anyone in Europe? Or at the office or country club?” He ignored her question and was back to rubbing his neck. Tucker raised his eyebrows amusingly. He had his eyes on his phone screen, but he was still listening to the conversation. Maybe a little hit in the face with a frisbee had been all Danny needed to gain the courage to make a move.
Sam tilted her head slightly, confused at what he was hinting at. “Uhh, not really? I mean I have a few friends at the club because we lifeguard together. Everyone at the office was as old as my dad, so nothing there.”
“So you didn’t come back from Europe with some French boyfriend we don’t know about?” Tucker looked at his friends, Danny sending a glare his way. “What? Someone had to ask!”
Sam laughed, “No, no. Boys still apparently only like me when they’re trying to get to Phantom. Go figure.”
“Europe knows about Phantom?” Danny raised an eyebrow.
“No, dummy. My glamorous romantic life has been non-existent since Gregor...Elliott...whatever he’s calling himself now. Between all the ghost fighting and pressure from my parents to build my resume, I haven’t had much spare time to do anything else.” She shrugged and leaned back on her elbows.
Danny couldn’t stop staring at her. She had changed so much since the last time he saw her. In good ways, of course. He blushed and looked away as he realized he had been staring at her boobs for more than a few seconds.
“Relax, Sam. I know of at least one guy who is interested in you,” Tucker said nonchalantly, still staring at his phone. Danny’s eyes flashed green in anger before he checked himself. Tucker hadn’t said it was Danny.
“No offense, Tucker, but I sure hope you’re not talking about yourself. You’re like my brother.”
Tucker laughed and set his phone down. “Don’t get me wrong Sam; today made me question a few things, but no, you’re still like a sister to me. You’re my very hot sister.”
“Tucker!” Danny and Sam yelled at the same time, Sam leaning over Danny to shove Tucker until he fell over.
“I’m joking! I’ve actually been texting Star a lot this summer. She’s thinking about going to MIT too. You know, she’s actually really great at math and wanted me to show her how to code and program things. Which reminds me, I should show her the new software upgrades on my phone. Be right back!” He stood and shot Danny a look that said “time to make a move already” before grabbing his phone and jogging over to where Star was.
Danny’s mind was spinning from when Sam leaned over him to push Tucker. There hadn’t even been any physical contact with her body, but he loved the thought of it being over him like that. He imagined both of them being sweaty, much like they were now from the heat, but under different circumstances. It didn’t take much to make his imagination run wild, they were both already in a deep state of undress, after all. His eyes widened when he noticed his swim trunks getting a little tighter. “I’m gonna get in the water!” Danny shouted hastily before getting more than waist deep in the water.
He sunk down a little and tried to cool off as he continued to watch her from a distance. He glared at the guys who were clearly staring at her. She hadn’t noticed the staring and none of them were bothering her, but it still made Danny angry...jealous? What was he jealous of? He only had minuscule romantic feelings about her, and she was his friend...always teased to be his girlfriend. Why had he denied that so often in the past? If it came up now, he wouldn’t deny it. Surely, guys would back off when he was around. Danny soon found himself questioning everything about his relationship with Sam. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to admit he has feelings for her, even if it was just to himself and possibly Tucker.
Sam couldn’t help but admire him as he awkwardly ran away. Ghost fighting and puberty sure did him a favor or two. She had been attracted to him for years, but how did he manage to get more attractive over the span of a few months?! She blamed the heat for clouding her vision. She stood and tossed her sunglasses on her towel before walking towards the water and wading over towards Danny, who appeared to be muttering things to himself.
“So you never told me,” he jumped a little as she came over to his side, “what did you do with me gone so often?” She gave him a soft smile while swimming backwards a few feet, going into deeper waters.
He took a deep breath and followed her. Might as well try to put some feelers out. “Not much. I missed you, though. You do look great, by the way. Like, really good.” He pressed his lips together tightly, he was hoping she wouldn’t try to drown him or think he was weird for saying something like that. When she blushed and mumbled a “thanks”, he stood a little closer to her, feeling a bit more confident.
“You’re not so bad yourself. I think you’re going to be fighting off the ladies this year, Fenton.” She had a small, forced smile on her face.
He chuckled, feeling the boost to his ego. “Nah, I’m pretty sure most girls wouldn’t be able to handle me and all the ghost fighting.” He grinned when he heard a quiet “I could”. Exactly the answer he was hoping for. It was so quiet it normally wouldn’t be audible, but with his heightened ghost senses, he could just make it out. Or had he just imagined it?
Danny and Sam’s eyes locked in an intense gaze when a large wave hit them from behind, crashing them into each other. Danny could feel her almost naked body pressed up against his, and another surge of hormones shot up his body. He made sure Sam’s tiny frame wasn’t completely swept away by the force, and once he discovered she was fine, he began coughing up a bit of water himself as he moved them back towards waist-deep water.
“Woah, are you alright?” Sam looked at him concerned. He looked deeply into her lavender eyes and thought back to his conversation with Tucker earlier. He was going to test the waters.
“Sam, I think I need mouth to mouth.”
Sam laughed for a second, raising her eyebrow when she realized he wasn’t laughing. He had a different look on his face. He wasn’t hurt or in trouble. Instead he looked...flirty? Was he smirking? “Oh do you now?” She questioned playfully and put her hands on her hips, challenging him.
“Yup. I definitely need it.” He forced a cough and smiled. Yes, he was actually flirting with her.
“Well, then. As a lifeguard, it is my duty to save your life.” She wrapped her arm around his neck to pull him close to her. Her heartbeat picked up. If this was his idea of a joke, and he was definitely not flirting, she was going to fully kill him. Actually, fully kill him. Permanent ghost. But as she got closer, he didn’t falter, so Sam boldly pressed her lips softly against his for a few seconds before pulling away. She cautiously waited for his reaction.
Internally, Danny was screaming. She was flirting back! Tucker was fucking right.
He had a deep connection with Sam, and he finally realized why everyone was calling him clueless. Everything was suddenly clear to him, like why people always said they knew he and Sam would end up together. Deep down, he had known it all along himself. And he didn’t intend to play with her heart any further, although between the heat and the hormones, he did want to play with her. Physically. Right now.
In fact, Danny was feeling a lot more confident than he had before. He realized how strong fighting ghosts actually made him. He was pretty muscular now and he had noticed girls staring at him dreamily. He had caught Sam staring at him like that a few times in the past. Plus, she kissed him! Oh yes, Danny’s confidence had skyrocketed.
His heart pounded harder as he studied her beautiful face. He took a step closer towards her, noticing her staring at his body in front of her. He lifted her chin and kissed her again, more heated than when she had kissed him before. He pulled back to look at her again, catching a hint of lust in her eyes. This heat wave sure was getting to them...and hormones. Lots and lots of hormones.
Like magnets, their lips connected once more, both of them putting more passion into the kiss. She wrapped both of her arms around his neck, lightly playing with the hair on the back of his head. It was slightly damp from the wave earlier and felt kind of salty. Danny took the opportunity to wrap his arms delicately around her waist. His head felt like a tornado hit it, the heat was fucking him up. He pulled her closer to him as they both let their urges get the best of them. He kissed her more hungrily than before, his hands drifting downwards.
Sam let him grab her ass, moaning slightly, though she was slightly surprised at how suddenly bold and definitely not shy he was being. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. Danny moved his hands down further yet. She caught on and hoisted herself upwards, an easy task in the water, and wrapped her legs around his waist. She was now more level with him, sliding her tongue across his bottom lip, asking for entrance. He obliged and they both started exploring the uncharted territory. Almost simultaneously, they realized how much they wanted each other.
They pulled each other closer once more. “Leave room for the holy spirit” need not apply here. Sam moaned as he lightly squeezed her ass, and as her hands started wandering across his chest he wanted to let his hands roam too. He wanted to make her moan like that again. His hands trailed upward, tracing her stomach, stopping at her piercing for a few seconds in admiration before his hands continued their journey across her rib cage. He let her catch her breath for a moment while he began biting and sucking a spot on her neck. She tilted her head back as she moaned softly again. Everything was practically animalistic at this point. They were so in sync with each other, moving mechanically as if this wasn’t their first time having a heated make out session. Danny was pretty sure his ice core had completely melted at this point.
This just felt so natural, so right. What took his brain so long to figure out his feelings for her? Fuck everything, this just felt too damn good. He was suddenly angry at himself for missing the many, many previous opportunities to do this sooner. He moved his lips back to hers with a sense of urgency, like he had to make up for lost time.
Sam’s breath hitched in her throat as she grabbed his hands and moved them several inches upward, until they were fully over her breasts. Danny let out a small moan as he gently squeezed. “God, Danny…” she muttered breathlessly before moving her hands back towards his lower torso, fingers tracing his defined v. He was most certainly turned on by the touching, and wanted to be sure he was returning the favor. One of his hands lowered beneath the water, ghosting over the inside of her upper thigh as if silently asking her how far she would let this go.
That had only made her hands go lower, gently grazing him. Both of them were trying to establish dominance over the other. Danny was suddenly hornier than he ever had been. This was the farthest he had ever gone with a girl, and it wasn’t just any girl, it was Sam. He thought back on his, ahem, sex research (porn) and tauntingly slid his finger across her opening, only her bikini bottoms keeping flesh from flesh.
Her hips automatically bucked forward, clashing with his, as her back arched closer to him. The sudden movement had her fully grinding against his length.
“Fuuuuuckkkk, Sam.” He groaned as she wrapped her legs tighter around his waist. Both of them stopped moving, panting softly in each other’s ears. Amethyst eyes meeting deep blue, they were both suddenly very aware of how compromising of a situation they were in, and how very public this situation was. Their eyes widened as they pushed away from each other, both looking away and blushing furiously.
“I uh, think I’ll live. Thanks for guarding my life.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. He didn’t want to stop, but he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable either.
“My pleasure.” She mumbled and brought her gaze back to his.
“I know. Mine too.” He grinned at his lousy pun, which did earn a laugh from her.
His eyes widened as he saw Dash approaching from the distance. Had they had an audience? Shit, what were they doing ?! The entire senior class was at this beach, and they had acted as if going at each other in public would have no repercussions.
“Fuckfuckfuck!”
“What?” Sam raised an eyebrow at Danny, who was clearly freaking out.
“Dash is coming over here, oh God, did he see something? What did he see? Shit, fuck.”
“What?!” Sam whipped her head around and saw that Danny was unfortunately correct. “Fuck!”
Danny had kept his identity a secret for three years now, despite his many mishaps of yelling “goin ghost!” and transforming in public. They were outcasts. No one noticed Danny Fenton running into a closet and Danny Phantom flying out. No one ever questioned anything. No one at school paid any attention to them for years, and NOW was the time they finally decided to change their minds?! “That’s what I said! Fuck! Act natural, maybe he didn’t notice.”
Sam glared at him, unamused. “Are you fucking high? Of course he did! We weren’t exactly being subtle!” They both shut up as the distance between them and the jock was closing in.
Dash swam over to them, putting his arm lazily around Sam’s shoulder. “So, Manson. Think you finally want to join the popular crowd this year? I’d be willing to give you a crash course.”
Sam immediately threw his arm off her and pushed him away. “Wait, are you trying to hit on me or something?”
Danny felt fiercely overprotective. Surely, Dash wasn’t serious? Considering how shortly ago Danny and Sam had been intensely making out, Dash had to have seen at least a little something. He wasn’t that stupid.
And now that Danny had gotten that close to Sam, he surely wasn’t letting her go anytime soon. No way in hell. He was all in.
He glared at Dash and stood tall behind Sam. He was a few inches taller than Dash now. He was hoping it would be enough to intimidate him.
Dash shrugged and ignored him. “I mean, you were always kinda cute, just in a freaky way. But hey, I can get down with freaky, if you know what I mean.” He wagged his eyebrows at her and put an arm around her waist.
Sam, though she was taller than most of the girls at school, was small and short between the two boys. Danny advanced forwards a bit, hitting Sam’s back, ready to take Dash down. But Sam’s reaction had been quicker than Danny’s. Though she was small, she was also very mighty. She shoved Dash as hard as she could before slapping him right across the face. Dash wouldn’t back down. “Get the fuck away from me!”
“Kinky, I like that.”
Sam’s hands turned into fists and even from behind, Danny could tell she was fuming. He grabbed her by the waist and spun her around until she was behind him just as she was lunging for Dash. “Get lost, Dash.”
Dash scoffed, clearly heated, and threw his fist back to punch Danny square in the face. Sure, Danny was taller and looked more muscular than he used to, but Dash was sure he could still take him.
Danny easily grabbed his fist and forcefully held Dash in place, not budging at all. “What the hell, Fenton?” He tried swinging his other arm, but Danny just rolled his eyes and blocked that too.
“Leave us alone, and I won’t hurt you.” Danny said sternly.
Dash laughed until Danny’s eyes flashed green, which scared the shit out of him. Danny began pushing Dash back, and Dash realized how strong Danny had gotten as his wrists began to be pushed backwards uncomfortably. He backed away and raised his hands in a defensive position. “Fine, fine. I just wanted a little action since she seems to be very generous today. But Manson? When you’re done with this dweeb, I can show you a good time. Loosen her up for me, Fenton.”
“Motherfucker.” Danny heard Sam from behind him and knew she would try going after Dash again. He held his arm out to block her and Dash took the opportunity to swim back towards his friends, brushing everything off as if it was supposed to go down that way. It took everything in Danny to keep his powers under control. “What the fuck, Danny? I can handle him!”
To be fair, he wanted to let her lunge at him again. He wanted to deck Dash too, but now was not the time or place. “I know you can. You’re amazing.” He said simply and let her go once she calmed down a bit, facing her once again. She huffed, pushing some of her bangs out of her face. “You alright?”
She nodded and watched his stern but stoic face. “Well, senior year sure ought to be interesting, huh?” Danny chuckled. “Thanks for having my back.”
“Of course. I would never let anything bad happen to you, and that includes idiotic jocks.” He glanced over his shoulder to be sure that Dash was indeed keeping his distance from them.
“Well, I’d at least like for you to let one good thing happen to me....you. I uh, really liked...catching up with you earlier.” She mentally slapped herself. Now all of the sudden she decided to be shy?
Danny smirked at the implication, “I did too. I would very much like to catch up with you again soon, but perhaps not quite as publicly. But no promises on that last part.” He laughed heartily as she swatted at him, a goofy smile plastered across his face. “What? I don’t mind showing off!”
“You’re a moron. Let me drive you home and we can talk about this on the way. Tucker’s spotted us.” Danny nodded in response and waved at Tucker.
“There you guys are! How’d you guys get so far away from everyone else?” Tucker called out as he swam over to them. “Is being in the water actually making this heat more bearable?”
“A little.” Danny looked at Sam. “I’m still pretty heated, but I could definitely get used to it.” He threaded his fingers with hers under the water and squeezed her hand.
And God, he wanted to feel this hot for the rest of his life.