It might have been the insane blackness of her hair. Or the way she didn't care about what people thought of her. Or maybe it was the way she wasn't afraid to tell him when he was being a complete idiot. He wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure when he realized that she was what he needed. But he could see now as she smiles at her favorite song and tells him to turn up the music. He could see it when she's fighting to protect him just as fiercely as he fights to protect her. When he looks at her, he wants to hold her hand. He wants to look into her lilac eyes and get lost in them till the world ends. He wants to run his fingers through her hair and tell her how beautiful she is and how deeply he loves her. But he'll settle for making her laugh at some stupid joke. He's content with watching her eyes light up and crinkle around the edges. He's studied her so closely, yet he somehow always to find something new to appreciate about her beauty.

He wants to tell her. He needs to. But the words can't seem to form in his throat. So he shows her instead.

He can see it in her eyes that she's starting to realize. When their hands brush, Danny smiles softly. He brushes her hair behind her ear and his hand lingers slightly on her cheek. When she shivers, his arm wraps tightly around her. He can see the blush in her cheeks and she can see the blush in his.

She knows. At least, she thinks she does. She doesn't want to point it out and make an uncomfortable situation. Sam has known that her feelings for Danny were far beyond friendly since they were 14. She never acted on it because, well, he's her best friend. She couldn't ruin it. So when Danny smiles for a little too long, she looks away before the blush is unbearable.

She's confused. He knows that. And, honestly, she had good reason to be. Danny recognized that. He was clueless when they first met. Not that he's anymore aware now, at the age of 17, but he's certainly trying. Maybe he needs to be more forward.

They're getting coffee after Danny finished his day of being Phantom. He buys Sam regular black iced coffee with three sugars. She loves coffee more then she cares to admit and he smiles at that thought. He orders a regular coffee for himself and breathes in deeply as walks back to her, coffees in hand.

Her smile is tender as she mumbles a thank you.

He watches her fiddle with her bracelet and is captivated. She's chewing her lip watching out the window. Her eyes flutter back and forth, her eyelashes moving quickly as she takes in all the sights around her.

And it happens. He says it. Sort of.

"You're insanely beautiful."

Her eyebrows scrunch up and a shy smile spreads across her face.

"Stop it, Danny."

Her heart is beating faster than she cares to admit. He's staring her down with his blue eyes and she's overwhelmed and damn, breathing is hard right now.

He looks down smiling to himself. "You just make me happy."

They don't speak again until they're walking home, when Danny decides to reach for her hand for the first time in the all the years they've known each other. Her hands are warm and small and soft and Danny can't figure out what took him so long to do this.

Sam smiles to herself and looks away so he can't see the red creeping up into her cheeks. His hands feel protective over hers and she likes the feeling. She never used to understand why couples held hands. She used to think it was clingy and a way to flaunt their relationship. She knew now why couples held hands. They held hands for the connection. To feel their partner right there. To memorize the lines and crevices of their hands. And as she felt Danny's hand warming for her own, she didn't think she'd ever be able to let go.

She wouldn't have too.

He'd hold her hand ever chance he got.

The school started to take notice. Fenton and Manson are an item? Are they official? Well no one knows. Not even Tucker.

Tucker didn't know and he wouldn't ask. He knew his two best friends had a connection, but he never asked about it. It was between them and he, quite frankly, enjoyed watching them grow into this new relationship or whatever it was that they had. He wouldn't risk it by trying to meddle into their business. Both Sam and Danny's smiles were brighter, Tucker noticed. And they could only get brighter.

Their first kiss happened one month after Danny first held Sam's hand.

Sam was asleep when an intangible Danny slipped into her room. She had been up all night with him, helping fight Skulker, who, for some reason, was incredibly hard to defeat this time. Her eyes are closely softly and her mouth is slightly open. He can hear her deep breathing and watching her chest rise and fall. His heart swells because he's in love and he wants so desperately to tell her.

He sits down gently next to her as she begins to stir. Her eyes squint groggily at him and she smiles sleepily.

"Hi," she smiles.

"You're cute when you sleep."

"I know. You've told me about ten times."

He smiles broadly and they lock eyes. And, just as he did at the coffee shop that month ago, he acts on impulse and their lips meet. She's surprised and she blinks quickly until she settles into his lips. As he pulls back he's breathless and flushed and she's warm all over and her heart is beating a million miles a minute.

And they smile gently and he knows he can say it now. He knows she feels it too.

"I'm in love with you."

She laught giddily and punches his arm. "What took you so long, Ghost Boy?"

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please leave me a review and let me know if you liked it! And if you have some constructive criticism, I'd love to hear it. I wrote this in the middle of the night on my phone so I plan on going back and cleaning it up. I'm pretty new to posting my writing but I'm trying harder to put it out since it's something I love to do! I don't own Danny Phantom or the song from which I got the title which is "Cecilia and the Satellite" by Andrew Mcmahon in the Wilderness. Thanks again for reading!