BVQA: Yes, this is the last chapter. . . enjoy!

Valerie yawned, then immediately tried to hide that fact. She had no desire for Dani and Youngblood to throw another bucket of water into her face.

"Hey! Red!" Ember shouted at Valerie, a smirk on her purple lips. "I told you you were next on my list of revenge! Truth or dare?"

Valerie hesitated. "Oh. . . look over there. . . a wall. . ." She said. Ember huffed.

"Ok, fine. The dipstick gets it first." She declared. Phantom turned white.

"Oh no. . ." He whimpered.

"Truth or dare?" Ember asked. Phantom spun around and focused on the wall that Valerie was currently making sure it looked like she was watching while she was really watching everyone else watching her. Phantom apparently didn't notice her watching him out of the corner of her eye, though.

"Oh look. . . a wall. . ." He said.

"That's my wall!" Valerie said. "Get your own wall!"

Phantom crossed his arms. "But I want that one."

Valerie stuck her tongue out at him. "Tough. My wall."

"Are you two seriously fighting over this?" Ember asked incredulously.

"Yes!" Valerie and Phantom said at the exact same time. Valerie stifled a laugh. Phantom looked adorable when he was angry.

Oh no, I did not just think that. Valerie thought. It was true, though. Phantom's silvery hair reflected the green glow of his eyes back across his face, outlining the pout on his lips and the sharp angle of his nose in neon. Then his eyes dulled back down to normal and he brushed his hair out of his eyes with a sharp, angry sweep of his hand.

"Fine." He said. "Truth, I guess."

Weird. Valerie thought. He doesn't stay mad very long, considering he's a ghost. He's kinda like Danny Fenton in that regard: Danny could never keep a grudge. Well, except for Vlad Masters, but he was constantly hitting on Danny's mom. . .

Ember smirked. "Do you like Red? Not the wimpy kind of like, like like."

Phantom actually flinched, gloved hands closing into fists against the carpet.

"Dare." He said. Ember's smile didn't drop.

"Ok, I dare you to tell the truth about whether or not you like like Red."

Phantom crossed his arms. "That isn't fair, Ember." He said flatly. "You can't dare someone to tell the truth about something. That's why the game is called truth or dare."

Ember laughed. "Why are you so scared of answering the question, Phantom?"

Valerie groaned on the inside. She knew what this meant. Phantom obviously didn't like her and didn't want to say so. Perfect. She fell for a ghost and he didn't like her back. What had she expected, really?

"I'll leave." She said, and blew through the door, hoping the mask hid her watering eyes. Valerie had been to the mansion a few times before, so she just let her feet carry her up the stairs and around corners until she was standing up on the widow's that Vlad had decided his mansion needed for some odd reason.

"Fun game. . ." Valerie muttered, then pulled off her mask to get some air. Inside her suit it had started to get hot and stuffy, and the cool night air washed over her like a wakeup call. What on earth was she thinking? What did she even see in Phantom? He was a ghost, and she had sworn to get rid of all of them.

Guess that makes you a really huge hypocrite, then. She found herself thinking. I mean, you let him go. . . not just once but twice. First after the Skulker thing, second after the Dani thing.

Yeah, and then he went and ruined the first truce by frying my suit when I could have been in it and kidnapping the mayor and stuff like that!

. . .but the second truce he didn't do anything to ruin. He's been a complete gentleman the whole night.

I hate him!

. . .and I can't bear to think of him hating me.

Valerie punched the ground. Her suit absorbed the shock, robbing her of the joy of distracting herself from her current thoughts with a blow to her hand. She then used said hand to attempt to smack herself in the forehead- maybe knock her lovey-dovey thoughts out of her cranium- but her hand covered itself in a padded glove that did no damage whatsoever.

"Stupid suit. . ." She muttered. "Won't even let me damage my brain cells. . ."

Valerie stared up into the sky, watching the stars and remembering sitting on top of the fairs wheel with Danny Fenton. She was having trouble picturing his face, since it kept melting into Phantom's. Somewhere below her, there were screams of laughter and loud, pulsing music. For some reason, she couldn't picture the music as being part of her world right now, just like she couldn't picture Danny's face.

Voices leaked out of the house.

"Why did you do that, you little-"

"Run! Run! Vlad's really flipped his lid this time!"

"I know you had to shave Maddy, but did you have to paint her green too?"

"Less talking, more running!"

Valerie winced as she remembered Phantom saying something similar when they'd been kidnapped by Skulker.

Less freaking, more running!

Phantom always seemed to have a situation under control in his head, like 'oh, you have booby traps and swords! Well, I have. . . well. . . nothing, but I can fake it!' It was that confidence that Valerie liked, as well as the utter cluelessness that he was strong enough to not have to fake it in the first place. Sometimes he seemed so. . . shy. . .

"Hey, Val." Came Phantom's voice from behind her.

"Hey yourself, Danny." She replied. She felt rather than heard Phantom's footsteps as he came closer and out of the corner of her eye saw him sit down beside her.

"You called me Danny." He said.

"Did I? I guess I did." Valerie replied. She didn't look away from the sky.

"You never call me Danny." Phantom explained to her.

"I guess I don't." Valerie agreed. Was that all he'd come up to tell her? She didn't call him Danny? Valerie turned to him and glared.

"Danny, if you're going to tell me something can you do it this year?"

Phantom blushed. "Sorry. . ." He said. "I. . . well, I really. . . I really like you. . ." He began. Valerie's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't look at him.

"I mean, like like, not like, and I know you don't feel the same way about me and-"

Valerie cut Danny off by kissing him. A few seconds after she started she stopped, resting her forehead against his.

"You were talking too much." She explained.

"What'll you do if I start talking again?" Danny asked. "Will you roll your eyes or just-"

Valerie decided to make him shut up again. Her eyes were closed, but she saw and felt a flash of warm, white light pass over her. When she opened her eyes again, Danny Fenton's ones stared back at her.

"I guess this explains some stuff, huh?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck nervously and looking away. Valerie laughed quietly at first, then louder, and then erupted into manic giggling. Danny looked over at her with something akin to alarm in his eyes. The alarm turned to panic when Valerie lost it so much that she fell sideways into his lap, shuddering violently and banging one of her fists against the ground. She shut her eyes for a moment and let the cool night air help her relax and, finally, for the first time that night, really let her guard down.

Danny, on the other hand, could not possibly be any further from relaxed "Um. . . Val? Are. . . you ok?" He asked cautiously. She wiped tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, then gazed upwards into Danny's now-human face.

"Hah. . . hah. . ." She chuckled, then reached up with one gloved hand. Danny flinched, probably wondering if she was going to try and shoot him, but didn't try to run as she ran her fingers through his shaggy jet-black hair. "Sorry." She said quietly. "I shouldn't be laughing. It's just. . . I was just thinking how I was going to break it to you. . . well, Fenton you. . . that I couldn't go out with him because I liked Danny Phantom just as much as I liked him."

Danny blinked, considering the statement, then a slow, warm smile curved over his face. . . the same smile that Valerie had fallen for on both his faces, ghost as well as human. "So. . . that means. . . you forgive me for keeping it a secret? You don't hate me?"

Valerie couldn't even find it in her to frown, but as she sat up she punched his shoulder lightly. "You still should have told me earlier. We could have avoided all this stupid tiptoeing around each others secret identity, and I wouldn't have shot at you." Valerie paused. "Well, maybe I'd still have shot at you, but at least then I'd wait until you deserved it. Like if you ever forgot a date or something, like the one we are totally going on after school on Monday."

Danny's smile widened. "Are you asking me out?"

"Only if you don't want to get shot at."

"Hmm. . ." Danny put on a fake-thoughtful expression. "It's a tough choice. Get blasted a few dozen times, or go out on a date with the funniest, nicest, bravest, most beautiful girl I've ever met. . ."

"You forgot best kisser." Valerie said with a smirk, and she started to lean in closer to Danny. . .

"Finally!" Came Youngblood's voice behind them, spoiling the moment. Valerie and Danny turned, blushing, towards him and saw Dani floating there too. "Now that you two have hooked up, I guess we can tell you that your friends are going out with-"

Dani clamped a hand over his mouth and gave her best I'm-capable-of-no-wrong face. "Nobody. We don't know who Sam and tucker are going out with, certainly not anyone you know. . ."

Danny was up in an instant, chasing after Youngblood and Dani as they tried to flee.

"Who're they going out with? Tell me!"

Valerie hid her smile as she slipped her mask back on and jumped up on her board and followed them. Things were going to be much more interesting from now on. . .

The End.