Much gratitude to my beta-reader Nom de Plume, Master of the Comma and all around magician. You have helped so much in making this story what it is. You made me look so good. Thank you.

To my reviewers: This is my most successful story, next to Jazz's Jitters. 300 reviews so quickly! I am beside myself with gratitude. I have learned so much from all of you. I have appreciated all of you, and I am truly amazed and love all of you! Thank you!

If you have read my story, and have as of yet, not taken the time to review, please do me the honor of doing so. Your reviews are like a current in the ocean of my mind pressing me forward to my next fic!

Chapter Sixteen

Sam stopped out side the lunch room for a moment then stalked away angrily. She was aware that Dash was behind her. She didn't want to face him, or argue. To be honest, she didn't know what she wanted at this point other than to just go home. She was tired of the emotional roller-coaster she was riding.

"Sam," Dash said, and stopped. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"I'm sorry," he said sadly. He was frantically looking for a way to make things better. Everyone had seen her stalk away angrily; they would know she dumped him if they broke up now. Sam glared at him and he took his hands off her shoulders.

"Dash," she said on a deep breath. "I don't think this is going to work."

"Don't say that!" Dash cried. "It will work. It can work. I'm sorry, I was just stupid. It's just hard for me. You know I have a lot of pressure on me."

"The point is that you want me to change and deep down inside, I want you to change," Sam told him, her temper softening as she looked at the hurt expression on his face.

"I'll change!" Dash said quickly. "Just tell me what I have to do! I just can't, you know, go Goth or anything my parents would freak about." Sam gave him a look of exasperation.

"You shouldn't change who you are for me, Dash," Sam began to explain. "You're an individual; you shouldn't worry about what other people think. As for me, this is me. Take it or leave it."

Dash shook his head. "I don't know if I can, you know, like, handle all the pressure. It's not like I'm asking you to change everything about yourself."

"But you're asking me to compromise my principles, Dash," Sam replied, starting to get angry again. Dash sighed in exasperation.

"So just go to the dance with me," he said. "I'll try to have more courage and we'll see if we can make it work. If we can't…"

"Then we break up," Sam finished for him. Dash's shoulders dropped in disappointment and he looked down at the floor.

"Dash," Sam said softly and he looked up at her. "You know and I know, that without Errol between us to manipulate our feelings, we just don't work. You want to change me into a preppy A-list girl and…" Sam paused. And I want you to be Danny, she thought to herself.

"But I like you, Sam," Dash whined, feeling bad because he knew she was right—but he didn't want to give up just yet. "You're, like, so cool deep down inside. I like you a lot. I just don't understand why your appearance has to matter so much." He put his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

"It's a reflection of who I am," Sam replied, then closed her eyes and hugged him back. Despite everything, she liked being held by Dash…it was nice. He moved so he could kiss her and she sighed and returned the affection—it wasn't an unpleasant chore, after all, and at the very least the electric attraction between Dash and herself wasn't something Errol had made up.

Danny watched Sam storm out of the lunch room, then looked down at the food he just didn't feel he could eat. He knew Sam very well; Dash was going to get an earful. He felt almost giddy at the thought that their relationship would be over and he could make his move. He was determined to do it; he'd wait a respectable amount of time and then he'd tell her he loved her. No more cowardice.

"So," Danny said to Tucker as he took a deep breath and focused. "Who are you taking to the dance?" A strange look, one Danny couldn't quite interpret, flashed across Tucker's face. It was a mixture of happiness, smugness and worry.

"That's for me to know and you to find out," Tucker said as he picked up his tray and got up to throw his trash away. Danny followed.

"Is it Valerie?" Danny guessed.

"No," Tucker answered. "It's not Valerie." He smiled then walked out of the cafeteria. He stopped as he walked through the door then paused, he considered pushing Danny back into the lunch room, but figured Danny would see anyway. He moved aside then turned to watch Danny's face.

Danny stopped dead in the doorway. His breath caught as he set eyes on Dash kissing Sam. He closed his eyes, unable to witness anymore. He had had a million chances and never took one of them; the least he could do was hope Sam was happy. He turned back into the lunch room, forcing himself to breathe.

"Let's go out the other door," Danny said absently as he walked away like he'd been struck in the head. So much for them breaking up—the passionate kiss he just witnessed was not a sign of breaking up.

"You okay?" Tucker asked as he walked beside Danny.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Danny snapped. Tucker sighed and shook his head. He knew this was driving Danny crazy. It was kind of weird because he was usually supporting an upset Sam.

"What are you doing tonight, anyway?" Tucker asked. "Maybe you should just come to the dance and hang with us."

Danny raised one eyebrow. "Us?" he asked. Tucker only smiled and Danny shook his head.

"Thanks for the offer, Tuck, but I don't want to be the third wheel with you on a date with some geeky girl."

"Geeky girl, huh?" Tucker asked, then snickered in a way that made Danny's eyes narrow.

"Besides, seeing Dash and Sam together is too stomach-turning," Danny said. Tucker said nothing more. He just hoped that Danny and Sam would get their act together. Being stuck in the constant drama between them was giving him an ulcer.

Danny was walking past Jazz's room with an apple in his hand, intent on spending the evening playing video games and reading comics when he stopped. He watched as his sister sat in a blue dress and applied more make up than he was used to seeing on her.

"Going to the dance?" he asked.

Jazz laughed a little bit as she looked at her brother through her mirror. "Yeah. You?"

"Nope," Danny answered. "I'm staying in."

Jazz sighed as she put down her hair brush and turned too look at her brother. "It's because of Sam isn't it?" Danny shrugged and Jazz shook her head.

"You shouldn't cut yourself out of social situations just because you can't deal with your negative emotions, Danny," she warned. "It's a very bad habit to get into."

Danny rolled his eyes and took a bite out of his apple as he watched his sister turn back to the mirror and continue to get ready. He frowned as he watched her.

"Who are you going to the dance with?" Danny asked.

Jazz smiled. "A friend," she answered as she smiled.

"Who?" Danny pressed. Jazz took a deep breath and finished fixing her hair.

"He's your friend, actually," Jazz said quickly as she grabbed the blue sparkly wrap laying on her bed and put it over her shoulders.

"No way!" Danny said with wide eyes. "You're going to the dance with Tuck?"

"Just as friends," Jazz defended. "It's not what you think." She looked at Danny and put her hands on her hips.

"If you keep your mouth open like that," Jazz said in annoyance. "You'll swallow a bug." Danny shook his head and followed Jazz out of her room and down the stairs just in time for the door bell to ring.

"I've got it!" Jazz yelled then looked at Danny. "Don't you say anything either," she warned. Danny just looked at her as she opened the door.

"Hey Jazz," Tucker said then looked at Danny and went impossibly pale. He laughed slightly.

"Hi Tucker," Danny said meaningfully.

"Hey Danny," Tucker replied. He smiled slightly then looked at Jazz, who was pushing Danny back into the house.

"I'll talk to you later," Jazz said. "And don't worry about us. We'll be fine."

"Bye Danny," Tucker called as Jazz grabbed him by the arm and pulled him from the steps and to her car.

Danny blinked a few times and shook his head in bewilderment. "Dash and Sam together. Jazz and Tucker together. Am I living in some weird alternate reality where a sadistic writer is torturing me, or what?" He sighed heavily and made his way back upstairs. He considered going ghost and following Sam, but decided against it. What good would it do?

Paulina and Star were not in good moods as they strode into the gym and looked around, assessing the scene before them. Only a few people had arrived at the dance so far. They made their way around the gym, both looking feral and dangerous, dressed to the nines and ready for trouble.

"So," Paulina said. "Once things are calm and everyone has settled in, you call Kwan to bring Mona in."

"And then I get to spend the rest of the dance with Kwan, right?" Star asked. Paulina just rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to, at the right moment, spill punch all over Sam," Paulina continued. "She'll run off to the bathroom and Mona will move in on Dash from there."

"Once she does?" Star said.

"Then the relationship between Dash and Sam is over!" Paulina whispered as Lancer walked by, giving her a suspicious look. "Sam will leave the dance and I'll be at the door to trip her, drawing attention to her and humiliating her in front of the whole school."

"And what if it doesn't work?" Star asked.

"Oh, don't worry," Paulina answered as she smoothed her hair and pointed at Dash and Sam making their appearance. "It will work."

Dash smiled at Sam as he let go of her hand and watched her walk across the room toward Tucker and Jazz. Dash's eyebrows furrowed as he wondered if those two were together. He looked around for Danny and relaxed when he didn't see him. He then spotted Paulina. She was wearing a form-fitting red-sequined dress. He admired her then looked at Star who looked vacant and bored. He searched the gym for Kwan, but he was nowhere to be seen.

He walked toward Sam and stood behind her as she chatted with Tucker and Jazz. He wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying as she teased both Tucker and Jazz, just looking at her profile sadly. He'd hoped that she'd tone down the black, but instead she seemed to turn it up. Even though her hair looked good pulled up and away from her face, her dress was completely black, her eye make-up was dark, her face much more pale than usual and accented by red lipstick. He'd never seen her wear red before. He remembered the time she kissed him after putting on grape lip gloss; Errol hadn't even been involved then. His heart thumped and all he wanted to do was grab her and kiss off all the red. But she could have been the poster child for all Goths. Dash sighed.

"Dash," a voice called from behind and his back stiffened. He turned and looked into his father's gaze.

"Good evening, sir," he said, then swallowed. Sam turned and looked from Dash to his father.

"You seem to be standing with an odd group of people," Dash's father stated, not taking his eyes from his son. "Would you like to explain?"

Dash cleared his throat, then stiffened as Sam took his hand. "Hi," she said as she looked at Dash's father. "I'm Sam Manson. It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Baxter." She extended her free hand, the bangles on her arm jangling. Dash noticed the black nail polish and closed his eyes as a feeling of resentment washed over him. He knew she had done this on purpose.

Mr. Baxter raised his eyebrows. "Sam Manson," he repeated as he looked at her hand a moment then shook it.

"Yes," Sam said, then smiled as she squeezed Dash's hand.

"This is your new girlfriend, I presume," Mr. Baxter said coldly.

"Yes, sir," Dash answered. Mr. Baxter looked at Sam who stared back defiantly. A small trace of a smile turned up the corners of his scowling mouth.

"Interesting," Dash's father said. He turned to Dash and gave him a pointed look. "You and I will speak later."

"See, that wasn't so bad," Sam said happily as she watched Dash's father walk away.

"Yes it was," Dash answered. "You just don't know him. He's very angry right now." Sam sighed then looked toward the dance floor.

"Come dance with me," she said as she said goodbye to Tucker and Jazz and pulled him across the gym. Dash was intensely aware of the many people watching, and whispering. The song playing was slow, so he put his arms around her and held her close.

"Sam," Dash said softly. He sighed as he looked into her eyes.

Sam smiled, "Yes?"

"This isn't going to work," Dash said sadly. He knew there was no way he could keep her by his side. His father would never let him hear the end of it, and Sam wouldn't change; she didn't care for him enough.

Sam smiled at him and sighed. "I know, Dash."

He gave her an irritated look. "You knew? Why didn't you tell me?" Sam sighed and led him from the dance floor. They walked down the hall away from other people. This was a good reason why they wouldn't work. He didn't even seem to recall their discussion from earlier that day, and it made Sam feel irritated and impatient.

"I figured it would be easier if you came to the realization yourself," Sam answered softly.

"I'm not going to forget how cool you really are," Dash said.

"Same here," Sam replied as she smiled sweetly and looked straight into his eyes.

"Besides, we both know who you really want to be with anyway," Dash said solemnly. "And it's bad for my popularity to be seen with a freaky Goth girl."

"Yeah," Sam replied as she tried not to sound completely relieved. "And you're just too shallow for me. Besides, your father hates me."

"He's going to yell at me later," Dash told her, then sighed deeply.

"So, you're really just a coward," Sam teased.

Dash nodded his head. "Well, you know how it is; I can face a ghost to rescue someone I love, but my dad, he really scares the pee out of me."

"Thank you, Dash," Sam said as she caught on to what he was telling her. "You're a very good person."

"Yeah, well," the jock said, uncomfortable with the compliment. "Don't expect me to be all nice to Foley and Fenturd or anything. I think I may hate one of them even more now."

They walked for a moment, then Dash stopped her. He pulled her close and kissed her not once, not twice, but three times…the last lingering before he moved away.

"You taste like geek!" he said, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

Sam grinned and replied, "You taste like failure." Dash laughed then took her hand and lead her back into the gym, just in time to witness Kwan and Mona make their grand entrance. Sam watched Dash's expression freeze then his eyes look around for his father.

"Okay," Sam said. "Who's the Barbie doll with Kwan?" Dash ripped his eyes away from the tall blonde girl, who was wearing a hot pink dress and a beauty contestant smile, and looked at Sam.

"Mona," Dash answered. "My ex-girlfriend."

Sam nodded her head then looked around for Paulina, who was watching them, looking for a reaction. Sam sighed heavily. "Do you want to play along with them?" she asked. Dash gave her a confused look.

"We'll make them think they won, that they broke us up. You'll look good and the status quo will return to normal," Sam answered.

"Are you sure?" Dash asked as he looked at her skeptically.

"Positive," Sam answered as she pulled Dash toward Kwan and Mona.

Paulina blinked in shock as she grabbed Star's arm and pointed as Dash and Sam stopped to stand before Kwan and Mona.

Star shook her head in bewilderment. "What are they doing?" she asked.

"I don't know," Paulina said as she grabbed Star by the arm and drug her across the gym. "But we're going to find out."

Star pulled her arm from Paulina's grip. "Sheesh, Polly," she said in annoyance. "You don't have to force me to come with you, get your claws out of my arm."

Paulina blinked at Star a moment then sighed. "Sorry." Star snorted and they continued to their destination.

Dash held Sam's hand tight as they stopped in front of Kwan and Mona. "Hi," he said, then tried to think of something else to say, but failed.

"Hi Dashy," Mona said sweetly. "I haven't seen you since August." She smiled, then looked at Sam. Her eyes widened in shock for a minute then she looked at Dash again with a question in her eyes.

Sam waited to be introduced, but Dash seemed to have turned to stone. She looked at him and sighed then turned to Mona.

"Hi," she said. "My name is Sam. I'm Dash's current girlfriend." Mona looked Sam up and down then smiled weakly.

"I am Mona," the girl told Sam. "Dash and I dated all last summer." She turned her eyes back to Dash.

"Really?" Sam asked, as if she was intrigued. "What happened between you?" She put her arm around Dash, who was looking at her questioningly. "How did you let a wonderful guy like Dash get away?"

Mona looked at Sam a moment and narrowed her eyes. "We broke up because we go to different schools and I was stupid and thought it better to free ourselves from each other due to our social obligations, but I was wrong," Mona said softly. Sam looked at Dash who was smiling at Mona with a look in his eyes that Sam recognized all too well. She wanted to laugh; it certainly didn't take Dash long to get over their break up. Not that she expected him to be sad—she was just disappointed at his shallowness.

"Dash," Paulina said as she appeared and pushed her way between Sam and Dash. Star appeared on the other side of Sam. She grabbed the Goth girl lightly by the elbow and pulled her back.

Sam gave Star a questioning look and the girl gave her a saccharine sweet smile. "Excuse me," Star said then moved between Sam and Paulina. She was standing in front of Kwan who was looking back and forth between Mona and Dash. Sam rolled her eyes and walked around to the other side of Dash. Paulina swung her foot back and kicked Sam in the shin.

"Watch it," Sam growled.

Paulina looked around in bewilderment. "Star," she said. "Did you hear something?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Don't play your stupid shallow little games with me, Paulina," she warned.

"Did she just call me stupid?" Paulina said to Star, who nodded her head.

"Girls," Dash said as he kept himself between Sam and Paulina. "Let's not fight here in the gym." Paulina kept her hatred-filled eyes focused on Sam.

"Dash, darling," Paulina said acidly. "You need to keep your dog on a leash."

"The only bitch I see around here is you," Sam said coolly. Paulina jumped toward Sam with her claws out and Dash grabbed her.

"Sam," Dash said as he looked into Paulina's eyes. "Paulina is my friend. I won't have you insulting her." Paulina blinked in surprise.

"She insulted me first!" Sam said angrily, then narrowed her eyes and growled at Paulina, who looked at her wide-eyed for a moment then returned her gaze to Dash.

Dash took a deep breath, let go of Paulina, then turned to look at Sam. He could see the amusement sparkling in her eyes, which made him feel better about what he was going to say.

"If you can't respect my friends," Dash said, stumbling over his thoughts a little, "then I don't think we should be together. I'm breaking up with you!"

Sam gasped dramatically. "You what?" she half shrieked, trying to keep from laughing.

"You heard him," Paulina said smugly. She was enjoying the events as they unfolded. It wasn't what she had planned, but it was just as good.

"Sam," Dash said, then winced. "Get lost." Sam blinked back tears and he really had to keep himself from caving. He only hoped it was part of the act.

"Fine," Sam said. "I don't want to hang around with you and your vapid friends and listen to their banal chit-chat." She turned and walked away with her nose in the air.

"Wow," Paulina said to Dash. "You just cut her to bits!" Dash smiled flatly, then looked toward Sam for a moment. She turned and winked at him and he relaxed and turned back to his friends, and resumed his life as though they had never dated.

Tucker and Jazz were waiting for Sam near the door of the gym. They'd witnessed the scene between Dash and Sam and were both a little bewildered, especially considering the smile on Sam's face.

"What was that about?" Tucker asked as he took his hand from Jazz's. Sam blinked at him then looked at Jazz, who looked as cool as a cucumber.

"I was just letting Dash save face," Sam said as she looked back and forth between her friend and Danny's sister.

"So you're broken up?" Jazz asked. Sam nodded her head.

"Good," Jazz sighed, then stopped and blinked. "I didn't mean it to sound bad," she said. "It's just that Danny has been hard to live with these past few weeks and…" Jazz stopped, then looked at Tucker.

"I don't know why we're being so secretive," Tucker said in exasperation. "I've had enough of all the secrets." He turned to Sam.

"Danny loves you, Sam. I know you love him. Just go to his house and talk to him and put us all out of our misery, please."

"Okay," Sam said. "I will." She started to walk away, then turned.

"You two don't do anything I wouldn't do," she teased, then ran out of the gym.

Jazz shook her head. "Do you think they'll finally confess to each other?" she asked.

"If they don't," Tucker growled. "I'm going to tie them together until they do." Jazz laughed for a minute, then stopped when she realized how serious he was.

"You know," Jazz started. "This latent need for violence is indicative of…"

"Jazz!" Tucker interrupted. "You drive me crazy." Jazz smiled and grabbed Tucker by the arm.

"Good," she said. "Then come dance crazily with me." Tucker laughed and followed her to the dance floor.

Danny had been spending the evening as he intended, but felt restless. He debated again on spying on Dash and Sam, but decided it would hurt too much to watch them together. He was sitting on his bed sorting through pictures of Sam when he heard a knock on his window. He nearly jumped from his skin as he turned around and saw Sam looking in at him, precariously perched on a ladder.

"Come on, Danny," she said. "Open up!" Danny smiled as he walked to the window, opened it, then helped Sam into his room.

Danny looked her up and down and then laughed. "You look extremely Goth tonight," he remarked.

"Thank you," Sam told him as she smiled proudly.

Sam looked at he pictures on the bed then up at Danny. "You know," she said. "I'm having a weird flashback here." Danny laughed nervously as he tried to gather up the pictures, all of which were of Sam and himself.

"What are you doing anyway?" Sam asked as she picked up the pictures dropping out of Danny's grasp, then looked at them and grinned

"Just reminiscing," Danny answered in embarrassment.

"Hmmm," Sam replied as she took the stack of pictures out of his hand. She looked them over and looked up at him and raised one eyebrow then laughed as Danny blushed.

"So how did things go with you and Dash?" Danny asked weakly.

Sam shrugged her shoulders as she continued to leaf through the photos. "We broke up," she told him nonchalantly. Danny tried and failed to suppress a smile as that familiar giddiness welled up from his stomach.

"I'm sorry," he lied. Sam smiled at him in a way that made him suspect she knew he wasn't telling the truth. He took a deep breath. Now was his chance. It was now or never. He looked at her sitting with her head bowed, still looking at pictures. He sat down beside her and searched for the right words, ones that didn't sound cheesy, lame or completely cliché.

Sam looked up at him a moment and caught him looking at her. "Do I have something on my face?" she asked.

"No," Danny answered. Sam gave him a weird look. Danny took several deep breaths

"If you keep breathing like that," Sam said in amusement, "you're going to hyperventilate."

Danny didn't say another word; instead, he leaned forward and kissed her. Sam opened her eyes in surprise, then closed them and moved closer, putting her arms around his neck. A thought flitted through her mind that she'd been kissed an awful lot lately, but none of those kisses were like this. The feeling of Danny's lips against hers was like comfort, excitement, peace, joy, love, passion, everything. It was just so perfect, so right. She never wanted it to end.

Danny wanted to hold Sam closer and tighter. He had to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Just holding her felt like, well…he couldn't describe the feeling. He never wanted to let her go. He wondered why he hadn't done this ages ago and marveled at the time he'd wasted.

The two lovers finally broke apart for air and Sam laid her head on Danny's shoulder as he held her close. She shivered as a cool breeze brushed across her skin and she opened her eyes. Then looked around in surprise. She held on to Danny tighter and smiled, then moved to look up into glowing green eyes.

"When did you go ghost?" Sam asked as she stifled her laughter.

"I don't know," Danny answered bemusedly, then looked down at Fenton Works as they floated high above his house. Sam laughed and hugged him tight.

"Sam," Danny said then paused and looked around wondering if something was going to interrupt him. "I have something really important to confess."

"What?" Sam asked as she looked at Danny in alarm.

"This is probably the most important thing I'll ever say to you," he warned.

Sam looked down at the world below, then sighed and met Danny's eyes again. "Well, then you better tell me quick," she told him.

"Why?" Danny asked in alarm.

Sam laughed. "Because it's getting cold up here," she answered. Danny let his breath out in relief. He wanted to make this romantic. Floating up above Amity Park with her in his arms was romantic, he decided, but something was off. He made sure she was comfortable in his arms, then sighed.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked as she laid her head back on his shoulder.

"Nothing," Danny answered as he started flying them away from his house. "It's just that I…am such a coward."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Because I've been trying to you how incredibly in love with you I am, and I keep chickening out," Danny answered. "Maybe you can help me, Sam. I need help."

Sam's eyes sparkled as she looked into Danny's. "I don't know what to tell you," she said in a mock-serious tone. "You should just say it. You'll feel better."

Danny sighed. "But what if you don't feel the same way?" he asked sadly.

"Well, I can tell you that I do, would that help?" Sam replied as she watched a look of pure joy grow on his face.

"I think so," Danny said then swallowed hard.

"So give it a try," Sam suggested.

Danny nodded then took a deep breath. "Sam," he said. "I love you."

"Really?" Sam asked teasingly. "Is that true?"

"Yes," Danny answered as he sighed in mock-exasperation.

The next word out of Sam's mouth threw Danny for a loop. "Why?" she asked. Sam bit her lip. After everything she'd gone through with Dash and Errol, she needed to hear it.

Danny thought for a minute. Why did he love Sam? Was it because she was his best friend? If so, then why didn't he feel that way about Tucker? Danny sighed.

"I love your sarcasm," he began. "I love how you're really good at everything you do. I love how smart and brave you are. I love how you are so loyal and are such a good friend. I love your eyes and your face and your legs and you knees and your lips and your nose."

"My knees?" Sam asked mirthfully, her eyes shining with and joy.

"Yup," Danny answered. "And I love how there is no one in the world quite like you. And what's more is that I just love you so much I thought I was going to die just seeing you with Dash."

"I know the feeling," Sam said softly. She closed her eyes and wondered if she was dreaming. This had to be a dream. There was no way she could be floating in the sky, held in Danny's arms while he told her he loved her.

"Sam?" Danny asked. His stomach was beginning to knot. Even though he knew she felt the same way about him, he wouldn't feel comfortable until he heard the words.

"I love you, too, Danny," Sam finally said, still not looking up and meeting his eyes. "I have for the longest time, and I thought that maybe I should give up on you returning my feelings. I tried to move on. Things were nice with Dash—despite the fact that most of our relationship was manipulated by Errol, there was still feeling there; but I couldn't get you out of my heart, Danny."

Danny sighed heavily. "I never want you to get me out of your heart," he told her. Then pulled her close and kissed her again.

"Then what?" Sam asked softly as Danny brought them back down to earth. They landed in the soft grass at the park.

"Then you are mine and I am yours and we go on from there," Danny answered. "I think." Sam laughed then hugged him tight. Danny sighed in relief as he moved so he could kiss her again. Sam sighed dreamily and melted against him happily.

"I guess we should thank Errol," Sam said as they finally broke apart. Danny transformed back from ghost mode and looked at Sam in surprise.

"Why should we thank that jerk?" Danny asked in almost outrage. He paused and thought about it then smiled.

"See," Sam said as they started walking, hand in hand. Danny said nothing; he just shook his head and smiled.

They walked in silence for while before Sam finally asked. "What's the deal with Jazz and Tucker?"

"I don't know," Danny answered. "At the moment I don't care."

"You will later," Sam teased.

"That's later," Danny said, then smiled contentedly. "I just want right now, and you." Sam said nothing. She just let herself enjoy the moment. She knew that things wouldn't always be easy for Danny and herself, but she felt they could face anything together.

Danny himself felt like he was walking on air; he had to look to make sure he really wasn't. He wished he'd had the courage to talk to Sam sooner; so much heartbreak could have been avoided. But things were good now, and he felt that they had a really good chance at a happily ever after, if such things even existed.

Before anyone starts yelling, "Sequel!" I will tell you, yes there is one planned but you must be very patient.

Thank you Galateagirl! This story is STILL dedicated to you. I know we wanted a completely Dash x Sam story, but Danny wouldn't let me do it. I will try again…eventually.

Dearest Deeds, without you, this story would have stalled on chapter fourteen. Thank you for believing in me, my dearest FFN friend.