Disclaimer: I wish I owned Danny Phantom! Desiree: -turns me into Butch Hartman- AHHHHHHHHH! CHANGE ME BACK CHANGE ME BACK! -is changed back-

Summary: It seems like everybody is against teens getting married right out of high school or them even talking about it. You're too young, they say. But when you've been with your girlfriend for nearly four years, isn't it a little justified to buy her an engagement ring for your anniversary? If all else fails, it actually was Tucker's idea to buy it.

Rating: K

Inspiration: My boyfriend and I have been talking about getting married (which many people are really against because I'm fresh out of high school, but he's been out for two years, and it doesn't help that the date this was published is actually our one year anniversary) and how big of a step it is; Based loosely off of a That 70's Show episode

Pairings: DannyxSam, TuckerxOC

Warnings: Random OC

Other Notes: Pre-Phantom Planet. Should I make this a full fanfiction?

Nearly four years.

Nearly four years of commitment, love and trust was woven together by the two famous lovebirds of Casper High. They had become their school's definition of high school sweethearts. The journey began as two scrawny freshman and grew into two mature and strong seniors. The two had just recently made their second biggest commitment of their high school lives; Amityville University of Biology and Science.

It was one of the few colleges that accepted Danny, and one of the many Sam had been accepted to. They had both talked and agreed that they wanted to be at the same college together.

Of course, their techno geek friend was accepted and committed to AUBS as well. He and Danny had already got their dorm rooms. They were roommates. A forth member, an addition that came to their small group, Lizzy, had also committed to AUBS. She and Sam were friends in middle school, having bonded over their mutual goth nature. As they entered high school, they drifted apart due to Sam becoming involved in Team Phantom and Lizzy becoming part of the nerdy group. It wasn't until Sam casually introduced her to Tucker and Lizzy started to date said techno geek a little over a year ago that she became a part of the group.

That geeky couple was also helping his halfa friend browse the jewelry cases for the perfect anniversary present for Sam under the glare of the salesman.

"What about this?" Tucker asked, pointing towards a necklace with a beautiful gold heart charm. Danny wrinkled his nose at it, squinting at the tiny writing.

"That's a friendship necklace, Tuck," he told him before looking at a sparkly pair of bat earrings. Tucker wiped his glasses with his shirt before staring hard at the necklace.

"Those bat earrings are cool," Lizzy finally spoke up, noticing Danny's intense focus on them. "Sam loves bats."

"Feels…too casual," Danny said, pausing to find the right word as he glanced up at her. "I don't want anything too casual."

She nodded understandingly, and they browsed in silence. Nothing too casual. Nothing with the words friendship on it.

"That's nice."

Danny glanced at the bracelet Tucker was pointing towards. It was black with dark purple woven into it with a dark red heart. A shake of his head was enough to make Tucker sigh lightly in frustration.

"There's an adorable butterfly necklace," Lizzy said, gesturing to it. "It matches that one butterfly patterned shirt you gave her for her birthday."

"It's nice...," Danny began slowly.

"But no?" Lizzy guessed with a small teasing undertone. Danny grinned sheepishly and nodded.

"What about this ring? It looks like something Sam would wear," Tucker guessed, stabbing the glass above the ring. Lizzy peered over his shoulder.

"Oh, that looks like something Sam would just adore."

"No…it's just…it's not what I want to say," Danny struggled to explain. Tucker sighed and leaned gently against the display case. Lizzy laid her arms and head on separate display case and groaned.

"Then tell us what you want to say," Tucker suggested.

"So we know what we're looking for," Lizzy agreed, tucking some blond hair behind her ear and glancing over the display case she was leaning against. "We've been looking for four hours." She added in a hushed tone, "I'm pretty sure we're ticking off the salespeople."

"That…you know…I love her," the halfa sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and cracking it. "I really love her. That I wanna be with her forever."

Tucker smirked, standing straight and pointing towards an entire selection of rings. Danny's eyes widened.

"Tuck, these are engagement rings," he pointed out.

"You want to tell her you love her and that you want to be with her forever," Lizzy reminded him, giving a small smile. "An engagement ring certainly says that."

"Uh...wow...I don't know, Tuck," Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, I love Sam and everything, it's just...we're still in high school man. Marriage? Isn't that something you should do after college?"

"Plenty of people get married right out of high school," Tucker pointed out, turning to glance at other jewelry. "My parents married right out of high school, and they've been together twenty-six years."

"Yeah, Tucker, but that was twenty-six years ago," Danny replied, the corners of his lips tugging into a small frown. "I don't think many do these days. Those who do...I mean will they even last? You hear what people tell you, when you get married right out of high school and you're divorced by the end of college."

"Danny, by the time you know if those relationships worked out or not, it's been twenty-six years," Lizzy explained. "The only way to really see if it's meant to be is if it stands the test of time. I mean, you two have been together for four years. You're kinda committing at least four more years together by attending AUBS together."

"And you don't have to get married right away," Tucker added. "You can always just have one of those long engagements."

"Like Oprah!" Lizzy pipped up.

"Or Gene Simmons," Tucker said. He thought for a moment. "Uh...try not to wait as long as Oprah or Gene though."

Danny looked between the two, looking skeptical.

"Have you and Sam ever talked about getting married?" Tucker asked.

"Yeah, a few times," Danny admitted slowly, leaning against another display case. "But never really...serious serious..."

"Well, here's a cute spider necklace," Lizzy changed the subject. Danny sighed.

"Thanks for helping me pick something out," Danny smiled at his friends. He had settled on the black and silver spider necklace Lizzy had pointed out to him. Tucker shrugged his shoulders, and Lizzy smiled.

"Not a problem, dude," Tucker replied.

"Don't forget to bring her flowers!" Lizzy reminded him, shifting so that she could link her arm with Tucker's. "And you know I'll be getting all the details afterwards, so don't think I won't find out if you don't do it."

"I'll remember," Danny assured her. The couple waved goodbye to Danny as they walked to Tucker's car so they could catch a late dinner. He watched them for a while before looking back up at the Amity Park mall sign.

He sighed and walked to his pick-up truck. He threw his bag on the passenger seat and just sat in the driver's seat for a bit, closing his eyes. Getting an engagement ring for Sam? What was Tucker thinking? And why was Lizzy so quick to agree with him?

It was true what he had said, about him and Sam talking about getting married. But it was such brief conversations, always a light and in passing comment. Sam saying that when she got married, she would want to wear a black dress unlike the women on Say Yes to the Dress when she channel surfed at the Fenton household. Danny telling her that at their wedding, he'd definitely want her grandmother to make the wedding cake using her famous double-chocolate cake.

But getting married for real?

Danny loved Sam. He really did. Four years wasn't just some small fling, it was a decent chunk of his young life. Tucker was right, they could always just put off getting married until later in their college years. He knew Sam loved him too.

They were both reasonably mature for their age, perhaps even more mature than most at their age. The couple had agreed that they wanted to go to the same college. They had discussed whether they wanted to go to the closest college to Amity Park or really go away. Together they had agreed that when it came to sex that they'd wait until the timing was right.

Were they ready for marriage though?

It was a such a huge step, a big commitment. Marriage was a lot. It wasn't just intimacy, it was a complete combination of two lives. Shared bills, shared living quarters, shared everything. It was having a lifelong commitment to a best friend and partner. For many, it was also the beginning of making a family.

Was he really willing to commit to Sam for the rest of his life?

Danny stared dumbly at the bag with the necklace in it.

Yes.

He grabbed the bag and stepped out of his truck, his heart flutter. Was he really doing this? Locking his truck, he began to walk back inside the Amity Park mall. Taking a deep breath, he shook off his insecurities and second thoughts, trying to appear confident as he strolled up towards the jewelry store counter. The salesman from earlier gave a pained look.

"May I help you, sir?" he groaned lightly. Danny winced briefly, not blaming him. He was obviously upset that Danny had spent so long in the store before walking out with a fifty dollar item, only to return less than twenty minutes later.

"I'd like to return this," Danny replied, putting the bag on the counter.

"Of course, sir," the man responded dryly.

"I'd like to exchange it actually," he added. The man raised an eyebrow.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked in the same, dry and dull tone.

This time, it took Danny less than a minute to glance over the rings. He pointed to one.

"That one."

The man looked relieved, and gave a small smile.

"Changed your mind about what you wanted your gift to say?" he guessed, his voice perking up.

"Yeah," Danny confirmed, butterflies beginning to form in his stomach. "I love her. I wanna be with her forever."

The man smiled and wrapped up the new ring. Danny handed over the rest of the money for the down payment, and the salesman went over his payment plan before handing him the ring in a nice shopping bag.

"Let me know how it goes next month," he told him. Danny smiled and accepted the new bag.

He did it.

Danny let out a long breath he didn't know he had been holding in. He took out his phone and looked through for his girlfriend. Pressing send, he put the phone to his ear as he listened to the ring as he strolled into the parking lot. It rang for a few seconds before somebody picked up.

"Hey Danny," Sam cheerfully greeted.

"Hey Sammy," Danny replied as he placed the phone in between his head and shoulder in order to unlock his truck. "Whatcha doing?"

"I was just watching some TV," she told him. Her voice grew concerned. "Is there ghost trouble?"

"No, no!" Danny informed her quickly as he slipped into his truck. He gently put her ring on the passenger seat of the truck. "I was just at the mall getting your anniversary present."

"I have your present too, I got it yesterday," Sam told him.

"Sweet."

"So, why'd you call?"

"Nothing," Danny insisted. "Just...I wanted to tell you that I love you."

"...I love you too," Sam replied after a few second pause. "Wanna come over? I can order some Chinese, and we can watch a movie."

"Sure, just let me drop off your gift at home, and I'll be right over," Danny agreed. He put the keys in the ignition and turned it on. It roared to life. "I'll be there in about twenty."

"Okay, see you then!"

"Later, hun."

Danny hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket. Stealing one more glance at the gift, he put his car in reverse and pulled out of the parking lot.

He hoped he made the right decision.