I just had to update on Dannyversary. Have a good one!

The next couple of weeks went better than Sam could have expected. Callum seemed to be leaving her alone since he hadn't been trying to contact her in any way. He even stopped showing up to lunch, which she was incredibly grateful for. She was finally able to be independent and worry about only herself for the first time in what seemed like forever. The only problem was, she found herself liking Danny more than she planned. It was like the more time she spent with him, the more she found out even more to like. You'd think falling for someone who was actually a respectful human being would be exciting, but Sam was scared. If her and Danny became involved, Callum would think she really did cheat on him. He could snap and try to hurt her or Danny. Considering Callum almost killed her on accident, she didn't want to see what could happen if he actually tried. She cared too much about Danny to get him hurt, so she'd keep her secrets to herself.

The trio was currently at the mall, thinking it was a good way to start the weekend. Tucker needed to buy a new controller anyway, so they were on their way to the game shop they frequently visited.

"I think I should have enough." He was saying to his two friends.

"If you don't, I got you." Sam said.

"You have enough to buy the entire store if you wanted!" He responded, causing Sam to laugh.

"I may have a lot of money, but I'm smart with it." As Tucker went on about her wealth, Sam noticed Danny hadn't spoken up yet. She thought maybe he was distracted, but when she turned her head to the side to look at him, he was already looking at her. She tried not to blush at the reality that she was the one distracting him. She didn't give him grief, though, considering she also found herself staring at him once in a while. Sometimes she thought that he liked her back, but she wouldn't let herself believe that for the sake of staying out of a relationship in order to protect him. Instead, she just stuck her tongue out at him as a response, causing him to crack that adoring smile she loved.

"Are you guys even listening?" Tucker asked, getting their attention.

"What?" They both asked, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Lovebirds." He scoffed, causing Sam to punch him in the arm. "Ow! Hey, it's a term of endearment!" He defended. Danny was about to interject, but when he opened his mouth, his ghost sense went off instead. Not a few moments later, there were screams coming from what sounded like the food court nearby. Danny could hear a motorcycle revving and knew the ghostly specter was Johnny 13.

"Duty calls." He said with a heavy sigh.

"Need any help?" Tucker asked.

"I should be fine. It's just Johnny. You guys go back to my house. I'll meet up with you after this." Sam and Tucker obeyed and turned away to leave the mall as Danny took off. Sam had already experienced a few ghost attacks where Danny had to run off, so she was already used to it happening. That didn't stop her from worrying, though. When they got to Danny's house, Tucker led them straight to Danny's room so he could hop onto his computer.

"Doomed?" He asked her. She slid her backpack off her shoulders gently and pulled out her laptop.

"Yeah." She responded, setting up on Danny's bed. After a few games, she started over thinking as she worried about Danny. It had been over an hour and he still wasn't back yet. He usually didn't take that long and she was starting to think that he was seriously injured.

"Do you think Danny's okay?" She asked Tucker.

"I'm sure he's fine." He responded, distracted by the game.

"He usually doesn't take this long." She continued, not even concerned when her game avatar was blown to bits. She only closed her laptop and stuffed it back into her backpack, too concerned to think about video games.

"Danny can handle Johnny. He's done it multiple times before."

"I know that. I just don't know why I'm so worried."

"Probably because you have a giant crush on him." He said, catching her off guard.

"You're funny." She said in attempt to hide her feelings.

"No, you are. It's like you aren't even trying to hide it. If you like him, why don't you go out with him?"

"It's not that simple." He scoffed.

"It never is with you girls." He muttered, causing Sam to stand up from the bed.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing." He said, trying to brush it off, but Sam wasn't going to let him get away with it. She cracked a deviant smile as she went over to the keyboard and started slapping random keys, messing up his entire game. Tucker yelled in protest and tried to hold her back as she tried to fight against him.

"I leave for five minutes and you're already fighting?" They heard Danny say from behind them. They stopped bickering and Sam ran over to hug him, even if she didn't realize it. He cringed a bit when she squeezed him, causing her to pull away.

"You're hurt." She stated, spotting a gash on his back.

"It's fine." He said, shrugging it off. She also noticed he had a small gash above his eyebrow and he looked roughed up in general.

"Johnny did that much damage?" Tucker asked, noticing he was more hurt than usual.

"More like his shadow did." He said as he changed back to human. "What are we playing, Doomed? I call next game." He continued, but Sam could see he was bleeding through his shirt. She knew it had to be tended to or else it would get infected, and she wan't going to let Danny ignore it.

"No, you're coming with me." She said, getting his attention.

"Where?" He asked.

"To clean that cut. You helped me when I was hurt and now it's my turn to do the same. Now grab a shirt and meet me in the bathroom." She said before leaving the room. Danny and Tucker looked at each other before shrugging. Danny took a clean shirt from his dresser and met Sam in the bathroom where she was holding the first aid kit that they kept under the sink. "I need your shirt off." She said.

"What? No." He responded, feeling self conscious.

"I don't need to see everything. I just need to see your back." He sighed reluctantly and turned around so she was facing his back before taking his shirt off and throwing it aside. She cleaned the open wound with peroxide before covering it with a patch of gauze and taping it in place. "Done." She backed away and he quickly tugged on the clean shirt he had brought with him.

"That wasn't so bad." He said.

"I'm not finished." She said, sitting down on the edge of the tub. She patted the empty seat next to her and he moved to occupy it. "You have a cut by your eye." She informed him. Although she seemed calm and collected, he could see that something was bothering her.

"You seem rattled." He said.

"I don't like seeing you hurt." She stated, pouring a little peroxide on a washcloth before using it to clean the area.

"I'm fine."

"Clearly." She said sarcastically.

"I heal fast. I'll be okay." She just nodded before removing the cloth, and he could tell there was more happening in her head than she was showing. "I'm sorry." He said, getting her attention.

"For what?"

"Scaring you."

"It's okay."

"Things might get rough, but I'll always come back." He said, locking eyes with her to let her know he meant it.

"I just... I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." She said, causing Danny to lean in closer.

"I don't know either. You mean a lot to me."

"I know."

"I'll always protect you." Even though her mind said no, her body clearly wanted to kiss him considering how close they were from actually sealing the deal. However, she had to let her mind take over, because the last thing she wanted to do was get Danny hurt. She pulled away at what seemed to be last second and stood up, throwing the washcloth by the sink.

"Tucker is probably waiting for us." She said, opening the bathroom door. Danny was disappointed that he couldn't make his move, but he wasn't going to make her do something that she didn't want to do.

"Yeah." He replied, following her pursuit. He couldn't help but think that she was hard to understand sometimes. He had the feeling that she liked him based on how she acted around him, but then she did things like this. It was almost like she was scared of something, but he couldn't understand what. It was hard to get inside her head, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. All he had to do now was wait for her to be ready. He normally wasn't a patient person, but when it came to her, he would do whatever it takes.

So close, but nope. You thought it was going to be that easy? Oh, no. At least not yet lol Please review guise. I appreciate every single one :D

Mallory: We'll have to see about that lol

Jabberdom: Yeah, I thought adding the fact that Sam had a virtual reality set would be the cherry on top lol

BEWARE: I think everyone is lol

Pitch'snieceanddaughterofMew: I think everyone is waiting for that to happen lol But we'll have to wait and see what actually happens...

Scoobyfan4ever: Thank you :)

sammansonrepilica: I love their bromance XD Yeah, from this chapter it's easy to see they like each other, but the fear of Callum ruining everything prevents Sam from doing anything about it. We'll have to see what happens between them...

Guest: Caught them feelings XD You right