A/N: Hello. I've been MIA for awhile. Okay, only with posting... I've been reading stories on here, lol. Just wanted to put out a little one-shot for the new year. Oh, yeah; Happy new years. :)

Summary: Danny agrees to go to Paulina's party on the same day as Sam's birthday, causing a dispute to break out between the pair. Can our favorite Halfa dig his way out of this mess, or will he only dig himself deeper into his grave? Slight DxS. One-Shot.

Setting: Phantom Planet didn't happen in this story.

Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of its characters.

Selfish

...

At 4:15 P.M., Tucker was peacefully reading a computer magazine in the comfort of Danny's bedroom when he heard yelling downstairs. It was much different from the usual yelling of Jack Fenton whenever he was messing around with his inventions in the living room.

This was angry, intentional yelling.

Tucker set aside his magazine and rose from the bean bag chair he was lounging in, striding towards the door. He cracked it open and slipped out into the hallway, where he proceeded to edge closer to the staircase so he could peek through the railing.

Danny and Sam were currently having a shouting match with each other in the living room by the front door. Tucker backed up a bit so that he could remain out of sight from the pair, but he ended up bumping into something. He glanced backwards, only to meet Jazz's confused gaze.

"What's going on?" she demanded, keeping her voice quiet to avoid being heard from the other two. "Should I intervene?"

The techno-geek shrugged; he was only at Fentonworks without his friends because they had to makeup a Math quiz. While Danny was making it up because he bombed the first attempt, Sam was making it up because she had been absent the day it was distributed.

"Maybe something happened between them on their way over here." Tucker fell silent for a moment, thinking he had been heard by his friends. Once he heard Sam continue arguing, however, he figured that they didn't hear him and leaned towards Jazz. "Where are your parents?"

"Most likely working in the basement," she answered, sounding absent due to the fact that she was trying to listen in on the argument. "They must be deep in whatever crazed invention they're working on if they can't hear this."

Tucker nodded, choosing to fully sweep his attention onto the pair downstairs. He inched towards the railing again, motioning for Jazz to join him. After a few seconds of hesitation, she joined his side and peeked over the railing to watch the argument.

"I honestly don't see why you're dragging this on, Sam. I said it was an accident. I said I was sorry!" Danny spread his arms outward and glared into Sam's eyes. "What more do you want from me?"

"You think giving me some forced apology makes up for the fact that you're bailing out on my birthday plans Saturday to go to some stupid cheerleader's party?" The Goth crossed her arms and leaned back with a scoff. "News flash, Danny. Paulina's just using you to get to Phantom."

"Well, I am Phantom."

"Yeah, but you're also Fenton. Why are you trying to pursue a girl who only cares about one side of you? What's the point?"

The Halfa lowered his arms and exhaled sharply. "Look, why can't we just reschedule our plans? We rarely ever get invited to any of the A-listers parties. This is our one shot to becoming popular!"

"Uh-oh," Tucker muttered, shaking his head at his best friend. Jazz looked over at him, but he disregarded her. "That wasn't the smartest thing to say, but then again, he is the clueless one in our group."

Sam growled, her expression darkening as she threw up her arms. "I don't want to be popular! What's not clicking?" Danny huffed and looked away, but she kept speaking. "Are you seriously asking me to reschedule my birthday plans this Saturday so that we can go to Paulina's party instead?"

Jazz's eyes widened as she watched the scene unfold before her. "What? Say no!" she whispered frantically. When she noticed her brother's tentative behavior, she turned to Tucker. "Surely he's not going to say yes!"

"Uh... yeah?" Danny answered Sam, nervously scratching the side of his head. Unbeknownst to him, Jazz and Tucker face-palmed themselves from their position upstairs. Sam stared incredulously at him for a few seconds before shaking her head in disbelief.

"I swear, Danny Fenton. You're unbelievable sometimes." She marched past him, roughly bumping her shoulder against his before making her way over to the kitchen. He threw his head back and groaned, tailing after her.

"Sam, wait. Let's just talk about this!"

Once the pair entered the kitchen and slipped out of view, Jazz and Tucker quietly moved down the stairs and followed after them. They poked their heads into the kitchen to keep watching and, fortunately for them, Danny and Sam weren't facing their direction.

"There's nothing to talk about. You've made it very clear whose presence you enjoy the most." Tucker surveyed Sam as she spoke: she was glaring daggers at Danny and looked like she was ready to snap. He was either oblivious to that or just didn't care because he kept pushing the subject.

"Look, Sam, I know you're mad, but I think I have a solution that'll make you less upset with me." At that, the girl's furious expression melted a bit. Her eyebrows bounced and she swung her gaze towards him, waiting. He cracked a small smile and closed his hands together. "We can spend Saturday morning and afternoon doing your plans and then spend Saturday evening at the party."

Like the passing eye of a hurricane, her moment of calm disappeared and was immediately replaced by her previous ire. "Seriously? You're still considering going to this party? Have you not been listening to a word I said?"

Danny's smile cracked and a scowl slid onto his face, and it was at that moment that Tucker knew his friend was about to say something incredibly stupid. Unable to watch any further, he pushed his hand up against his face, shielding his eyes.

"You know, that doesn't stop you from hearing this," Jazz whispered to him. He nodded his head, but didn't remove his hand from his face.

"I know, but it stops me from seeing her slap him."

Back in the kitchen, Danny finally lost his patience. "What is with you, Sam? You get mad every time I mention wanting to go to a party. Am I not allowed to have a social life?"

Tucker retracted his hand, chancing another peek at them. Sam's eyebrows were curled together and her fists were bawled at her sides. "Excuse me?" Danny ignored her, taking a seat at the kitchen table. She followed him, stopping beside him. "You're in no position to play victim."

"I'm not playing victim. I'm just saying that every time Paulina invites me to a party, you start acting..." he trailed off, trying to think of a word. "Weird."

Tucker snorted before whispering to Jazz, "He means jealous." She hummed in agreement, but remained silent otherwise.

"Weird?" Sam repeated, her eyebrows shooting upward. "I'm acting weird because I want my best friend to spend my birthday with me instead of with some shallow A-listers?"

"No. I'm saying you always act like this whenever I get invited out to parties or events with them," The Halfa answered, his frustration increasing. "The only difference this time is that you somewhat have an excuse for it."

Jazz and Tucker simultaneously cringed after that. The tension in the air was palpable, and both of them wanted to intervene on Danny's behalf because he was only digging himself deeper into his grave. Instead of doing so, however, they simply kept watching and listening to the escalating argument.

Sam took a step back and swung out her arm. "Are you kidding me? The A-listers do nothing but pick on us, but you're their main target. I'm not acting 'weird' about them inviting you to parties. I'm acting like any protective friend would be in this situation! Paulina's just using you, Danny. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Danny exhaled slowly, his hand resting on the surface of the table. "I appreciate that, Sam, but I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions. You're my best friend, not my mom. You can't make my choices for me. Nothing's going to happen to me at this party, especially nothing that I can't handle."

Sam appeared taken aback, and Tucker didn't blame her for feeling that way. Danny was his best friend and all, but he couldn't help but admit to himself that the boy was being a jerk in this situation. Either that or his delivery and choice of wording sucked.

"So, that's it, then? Your mind is still set on going to this party even though it falls on my birthday?" Sam asked him, her voice sounding much softer and less aggressive than it did before. He didn't answer her, opting to stare down at the table. She took his silence as a yes and nodded once. "Then I hope you have fun."

She started for the front door, prompting him to jump out of his seat and call out to her. Unfortunately for him, she disregarded him and quickened her pace. Jazz and Tucker, who were still watching from the living room, quickly backed up as the pair entered the living room as well.

Sam threw open the front door, stepped outside, and then slammed it shut right as Danny caught up to her. Instead of phasing through the door and going after her, he merely stood there and stared at the door. Jazz and Tucker shared a look, neither of them knowing what to do or where to go.

"So," Danny started, failing to turn around, "did you guys enjoy the show?" Both of them now flabbergasted, Jazz and Tucker wordlessly shared another look. Before they could even think about scampering away, Danny turned over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at them.

"Uh..." Tucker trailed off, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "We don't know what you're talking about?" Jazz jerked her thumb towards him, nodding vigorously in agreement. Danny rolled his eyes at them before making a beeline for the stairs.

"Wait, wait." Jazz rose up from the floor and trailed after him. "You don't want my opinion?"

"No," he replied, irritation evident in his tone, "but I have a feeling that you're going to force it on me anyway."

Tucker, who was pacing after them, blinked. "That was surprising, man. I really didn't expect that to go down the way it did. You're really risking your friendship with Sam over a party?"

They reached Danny's room, entering despite the boy attempting to close the door on them. He flopped down onto his bed with a defeated sigh and slapped his pillow over his head. "Come on, Tuck. This is Paulina we're talking about. Going to her party through an invitation is rare for us."

"Yeah, but that girl throws a pointless party almost every week." Jazz helped herself to a seat beside her brother on the bed. "Birthdays, on the other hand, are once a year. You should be spending Saturday with Sam, the person who has been there for you more than Paulina has."

Danny was quiet for a few seconds before he slid his pillow away from his face. Instead of meeting his sister's gaze, though, he chose to stare at the ceiling. "But I invited her to the party, too. She didn't want to go."

"Sam? Enjoying herself at an A-lister's party? On her birthday?" Tucker emphasized, his right eyebrow rising slightly. "Don't you hear the wrong in that?"

Danny frowned as the realization dawned on him. "Oh." He then narrowed his eyes and glanced over at Tucker. "What, you're not going to the party?"

The techno-geek cracked a smirk at his friend. "Please, good buddy. I love beautiful girls and A-list parties as much as the next geek does, but I know better than to jeopardize a good friendship over them."

Danny pursed his lips, but neglected saying anything in response. Jazz flashed him a tiny smile and rested her hand on his knee. "Look, you're smarter than this, little brother. You shouldn't have to think twice about where you should be this Saturday. The answer is pretty obvious."

Tucker nodded, agreeing with her. "She's right. Just think about this, dude. Sam wouldn't think twice about where she should be if your positions were reversed."

Upon seeing Danny's eyes widen, Jazz and Tucker glanced at each other and grinned. "Oh, no." He sat upright in his bed, looking horrified. "What did I just do? She's never going to speak to me again."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Tucker told him. "This is Sam we're talking about. She may be tough, but she's forgiving."

"That, and you didn't exactly mess up too badly yet." Jazz pulled her hand away and folded her arms, briefly closing her eyes. "It's not like you went to the party already. You can still apologize."

Danny's expression shifted; his brow furrowed and his lips sank a bit. "You saw how angry she was back there. If I try to apologize to her right now, she's going to take her boot and shove it so far up my—"

"Words paint a picture," Tucker hastily interjected, grimacing, "and in this situation, I really don't want a picture."

Danny sharply rolled his eyes and slumped back down against his bed with a deep sigh. "Well, still." After shrugging his shoulders, he let his eyes roll shut. "I wasn't thinking back there. Sam means more to me than some stupid A-list party."

Jazz frowned at him. "Then show her that. Actions speak louder than words."

"Show her? How?" he asked her matter-of-factly. Rather than her answering his question, Tucker swooped in.

"I'm pretty sure any action will be better than your choice of words back there. Just remember one thing, buddy." When Danny hummed, still unmoving, Tucker advised, "Sam isn't too keen on big gestures, so anything simple will work for you."

At that, Danny cracked open his eyelids and swept his gaze towards Tucker. After a few seconds, a wide smile broke out across his features.

"Sam?"

Sam burrowed herself into her warm, soft blanket, oblivious to her name being called upon. It wasn't until she felt herself being shaken that she roused from her slumber and rolled over in bed. Her eyelids fluttered open and her gaze rested on Danny, who was standing before her in ghost form.

There was only one reason why he would wake her up from her sleep in the middle of the night: ghost fighting injuries. With that realization, she hastily shot upright in bed and slipped from underneath her blanket. Danny, who noticed what she was about to do, held up his hands to stop her.

"Whoa, hey. I'm okay." She appeared skeptical at first, slowly circling around him like a shark to check for any visible injuries. He rolled his eyes at her and lowered his hands. "I'm fine, Sam. I promise."

She sized him up once more with a frown, drew in a deep breath, and then looked away from him. "Oh." Her expression was unreadable, and for a moment, she was completely quiet. Danny figured she didn't know what to say to him, so he decided to take the wheel.

"Listen, I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier," he told her. She cast a sideways glance at him, now interested in the conversation. "It was wrong of me to try and brush off your birthday plans like that. I honestly don't know what I was thinking."

The Goth's lips pressed together and she wrapped her arms around herself. "You weren't thinking." She took a seat on her bed and looked off to the side, noting the time on her digital bedside clock. "So I take it that you couldn't wait until normal people hours to do this?"

"At this point, with all my late-night trips and battles, I don't think I even know what normal people hours are anymore," Danny quipped. Sam started to smile, and that lightened the mood in the room a bit more.

"Yeah, I guess that's true." She momentarily bowed her head, growing serious. "You know, about our argument... you're right. Maybe it was selfish of me to expect you and Tucker to spend Saturday with me."

"No, no, no. You weren't selfish at all. It was me who was acting selfish." The boy moved closer to her, taking ahold of her hands and gently pulling her back onto her feet. "I should've known better than to make you change your birthday schedule just so we could go to Paulina's party."

Sam drilled her eyes into his and a warm smile slid onto her face. "Yeah. Maybe dealing with the Box Ghost is making you lose brain cells."

He chuckled at that, nodding. "I wouldn't doubt it. Not that I had much left anyway, but still." He released her hands, but continued to make eye contact with her. "If it's any consolation, I'm not going to that party. I'm spending your birthday with you and Tucker, two people who have had and will always have my back."

Sam was genuinely surprised by that, and the feeling displayed all over her face as well. "Really? Are you sure?" Truthfully, she was pleased to hear that, though secretly. "I don't want you to think I'm trying to rob you of a social life. It's just... you know, they—"

"Aren't my friends," Danny finished, his shoulders lifting. "I know, and I'm sorry. I should've never accepted Paulina's invite. Our argument shouldn't have happened. I take full responsibility for that, but I promise you I'll be knocking at your window bright and early Saturday morning to say happy birthday."

Sam felt her cheeks warming up and craned her head away from him, even though it was too dark for him to notice her blushing. "Well, you're forgiven. Let's just forget about that dumb fight." She took a small step back, her hands moving to her hips. "Go home and get some rest."

"I am," Danny told her, "but I have to give you something first before I go." She was about to question him, but he gingerly grasped her shoulders and turned her around so that she was no longer facing him. She waited, and only after a few seconds did she feel something cold touch against her chest.

"What the..." Her fingers automatically raised to her chest to feel the object that was there. She walked to the right, turning on the lamp on her nightstand. She then looked down and, upon doing so, saw the newly-placed silver necklace around her neck.

"Consider this an early birthday gift." Danny's hand moved to his neck and he rubbed it timidly. "You'll have to wait until Saturday to open the other gift I got you."

The necklace was somewhat simple: a silver chain with a dark heart-shaped pendant hanging from it. Sam held it with her fingertips, silently admiring the way that it glinted beneath her bedroom light. She stood there for a minute, speechless, but when she spoke again, her voice was soft.

"Wow. I really don't know what to say. I..." She gazed at the necklace some more before shaking her head and attempting to remove it. "I can't take this."

"Whoa, whoa. Wait," Danny responded, quickly moving his hands over hers to stop her from taking it off. She paused and swept her eyes up to him. "It's a birthday gift. I've never refused any birthday gifts from you in the past, and my allowance went into this. Refusing this gift is pretty much robbing me."

With a gentle roll of her eyes, the Goth laughed softly and nodded. "Okay, okay." She clutched the necklace once more, her smile broadening across her face. "Thank you. I love it."

"I'm glad." He shuffled his hand through his hair and averted his eyes. Sam caught sight of the crimson blush that was dusting his cheeks, but didn't address it. He cleared his throat and glanced over at her bedroom window. "I, uh, should probably get going now."

She lowered her hands from the necklace and nodded at him. "See you tomorrow at school?" She stopped abruptly, remembering that it was after midnight. "Well, technically later."

He chuckled in response whilst backing up towards the window. "Yeah. I'll see you later."

She watched as he phased out of the room and flew up into the sky, drifting away. "Yeah," she said softly. "See you."

Without moving her eyes away from the sky, she reached her fingers up to the necklace and caressed it again. If, by chance, Danny rendered himself invisible and circled back towards her, he would've caught the growing smile that was now plastered on her face.