Friends in strange Places Ch. 6 Pt 2
What if Vlad was good instead of evil? Link to chapter 1:
Friends in Strange Places Chapter 1, a danny phantom fanfic | FanFiction
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Summary: With a little encouragement from Vlad, Danny works up the nerve to tell his parents. Sam and Tucker realize they have some things to discuss.
Word Count: 8600
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By the time Danny managed to get the thespian ghost into The Thermos and fly back home, Vlad had already left. Danny was disappointed to have missed him, but he did get a play-by-play of the entire visit from his parents over dinner.
"...and it turns out Vladdie hasn't had any luck designing an ecto-based adhesive either! But thanks to his input, we should be able to increase the efficiency of The Spectre Speeder tenfold!"
"That's fascinating Dad." Jazz deadpanned "So you and Vlad have been breaking the ice okay then?"
"Yup!" Maddie smiled "Oh, I'm so glad Vlad decided to open up to us. It's been so nice working with him again."
"Wow," Jazz said "Vlad sharing his secret with you two really seems to have made a difference in your relationship. Even if he was scared to do it, it certainly seems to have been worth the risk."
Danny glared at Jazz.
"You said it Jazzy!" Jack beamed, oblivious to the secret conversation between his children "Now that we know what's been going on with Vladdie all this time, we're closer than ever before!"
"You don't say." Jazz stared directly at Danny as she spoke.
"I'm done eating, I'm going to my room now." Danny pushed his chair back and began to walk towards the stairs.
"Sorry Danny," Maddie grabbed his shoulder as he passed her "You and your father are on dishes tonight."
"What? But I did them last night!"
"Yeah?" Jazz put the stack of plates in the sink "And who did them the last two nights in before that?"
"That was only because-" he'd had to leave halfway through dinner to deal with Skulker's newest (not to mention very destructive) 'toy'.
"Because what, Danny?" Maddie cocked an eyebrow.
"Nothing." Danny grumbled.
"See you in the lab, Hun." Maddie gave Jack a peck on the cheek "I want to get started on archiving today's data."
With that, she disappeared down the basement stairs.
"Come on, Danno," Jack gave the pouting Danny a pat on the back "The sooner we get this done, the sooner it'll be over. You washing or drying tonight?"
"I'll dry." Danny said. His father had an unfortunate tendency to put dishes away in the wrong places, and Danny did not feel like dealing with Jazz's complaining tomorrow morning.
"So," Danny asked as his dad handed him a plate "How are things going with Vlad? It's really not awkward with his whole, you know...'ghostly' situation?"
"Nonsense Danny!" Jack waved his hand "We barely even talked about it."
Danny wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
"I mean," Jack continued "We did sit down and discuss the situation when he first got here, but it didn't take long for us to get back into the swing of researching together just like old times. In fact, the data we collected today has given me a great idea for a new weapon! I call it The Fenton Ghost Gooer!"
"You're not like, married to that name, are you?" Danny scrunched his nose.
"It's gonna be great!" See, your mother and I haven't had much success with ectoplasmic based adhesive in the past, but after studying its behaviour at high velocity under varying degrees of impact force..."
Danny rolled his eyes. It could be so difficult to get his father to stay on a topic that wasn't whatever his latest ghost invention was.
"Dad, would it bother you if you saw Vlad using his ghost powers?" Danny interrupted his rambling.
"What do you mean, Son?" Jack frowned.
"I know you and Mom don't hate Vlad or anything for being half-gho-"
"Of course we don't hate Vladdie!" Jack made an offended expression "He's our best friend!"
"Yeah I know, but I mean like, wouldn't it wig you out to see him flying around or sticking his arm through something? Like, how'd you feel when you first saw him transform?"
"Well I suppose it was a little startling." Jack said "But Vladdie had only really told us about his powers less than a minute ago, so you can't really blame me for being shocked. Your mother and you kids were pretty shaken too, if I recall correctly. Heck, you and your friends barely said a word the whole drive home!"
"Uh...yup! That's right! Totally shocked!" Danny laughed nervously.
"But once your mother and I talked things out, and I got a good night's sleep to think it over, I was able to...what's the word Jazz uses? 'Process' the situation. Sure, it's a little strange that Vlad's got ghostly abilities, but the fact is he does and he's our friend, so we're just going to have to get used to it. Simple as that. The lesson here Danny is that when your problems seem too strange and impossible to figure out, get a good night's sleep. That's something my father taught me. Your brain does amazing things while you're sleeping. Can't tell you how many times I've gone to bed thinking I'd have to scrap some glitchy invention, only to wake up knowing exactly how to fix it!"
Danny wasn't sure he believed his dad. How could Vlad turning out to be half-ghost be so simple for him? Seeing your best friend using the same abilities as the creatures you've hated and hunted obsessively for years had to be a weird, right? Like, at least a little?
"What's got you asking about Vladdie so much anyway, Son?"
"Oh uh, no reason. Just curious."
Jack smiled softly at Danny and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Danny, if Vlad's ghost powers freak you out, you should know you have nothing to worry about. I know he might have looked a little intimidating when he fought that lake monster, but looks are just looks, and despite how Vlad might have looked, he's isn't actually a ghost, so-"
"Ew Dad, you're soaking through my shirt!" Danny pushed Jack's soapy hand off of his shoulder "And I'm not scared of Vlad. I haven't even been scared of ghosts since I was seven."
"Well that's good to hear then." Jack gave Danny's back a strong pat before resuming his scrubbing. "Because there's absolutely no reason to be afraid of Vladdie. And there's gonna be absolutely no reason to be afraid of ghosts anymore once I finish The Fenton Ghost Gooer!"
Danny smiled as his dad started to explain his latest invention.
If nothing else, Jack Fenton was genuine. If he said he didn't have a problem with Vlad's ghost powers, then he meant it.
So why was some small part of Danny still so hesitate?
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"Aim left! Left!" Tucker cried.
Their entire view was obscured by an explosion before a metallic skull appeared on the computer screen with the words Game Over overlaying it.
"Okay, that might have been a little too left."
"Y'know," Valerie said "I just don't think this game is for me."
"Aw come on, you were way better that time."
"Was I?"
"I mean, you almost made it past level one. That's an improvement!"
Valerie did not look impressed.
"You know, I really thought your ghost hunting skills would translate directly to DOOMED. It's basically the same mechanics."
"What're you talking about? Aiming a real blaster is waay smoother then trying to line up your sight with that thing." Valerie pointed at the computer mouse like it was something offensive.
"Aw well," Tucker shrugged "Can't say you didn't try."
"Indeed." Valerie checked her watch "I'd better get going. Sorry DOOMED didn't work out."
"S'all good." Tucker waved his hand "I still got Danny and Sam to play with. We've got loads of other stuff we can try doing together."
"Alright, but I'm choosing the next date activity." Valerie smiled.
"Sounds good." Tucker frowned "Wait, this was a date?"
"I'm pretty sure this counts?"
"Oh, if that's the case, I feel kind of bad making you spend a date playing a video game you didn't enjoy."
"I mean, I did enjoy watching you freak out every time one of those robot bat things showed up."
"They suck up your health! It's imperative to get rid of them as fast as possible before they become too beefy! Sure, they're pretty harmless if you kill them right away, but it's insane that the developers put an enemy that's capable of getting so powerful at level one!"
"See that," Valerie smiled as she swung her backpack over her shoulder "That's weirdly charming. Now I really got to go. See you tomorrow."
"See you!" Tucker called back. Valerie had officially been over enough times that he didn't need to show her out anymore.
And now that she was gone, it was time for DOOMED with Danny.
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Pow! Pow!
"Oh my gosh it's satisfying watching an enemy actually get hit." Tucker said over the voice chat. His parents had gotten him a mic set for his birthday.
"I take it DOOMED with Valerie didn't go well?" Danny's asked.
"Dude, she is so bad! Uh, don't tell her I said that."
"Ha ha, I won't. It's weird, though. Considering her ghost hunting skills, I figured she'd be great at this game."
"I thought so too, but nope! It was like that time we watched my little cousin play Mario at my eleventh birthday party."
"Ugh, why'd you bring that up? That was a genuinely painful experience."
"So was watching Valerie play!"
They continued to play in near silence for a while, only talking to warn each other of an approaching enemy.
Just as Tucker was getting ready to call it, Danny spoke:
"Thanks for hanging out tonight, Tuck. I think I needed this."
"Hey, no problem man. Is something going on?" Tucker asked casually. He very much knew that there was a lot going on with Danny, but he figured between Sam and Jazz, Danny didn't need another person smothering him.
That being said, Tucker was still worried about his best friend. He could hardly help it.
"I'm just stressed about telling my parents." Danny paused to blast an approaching spider "I know they're gonna accept me, but the idea of actually telling them is still pretty terrifying. I know it's not a big thing, just two sentences or whatever, but it still feels like the most monumental thing I've ever done."
"Honestly, I think that's pretty reasonable. I know you know they'll be cool, but this is still the biggest secret you've ever kept. Makes sense you're wigged out about finally letting go."
"Yeah, ha ha. I'll figure it out eventually, though. Hopefully. Anyway, one more round?"
"Sure thing Dude."
They were interrupted by the notification sound effect of another player joining.
"Hey, poetry slam ended earlier than I thought it would. You two still playing?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, but we're just doing one last round." Danny replied.
"That's fine. Still gives me enough time for me to hand you both your own butts."
Tucker was pretty sure he could hear Sam's smug grin through his headset.
"Don't think your victory's so assured, Sam." Tucker said "I've been working on a new strategy that'll knock your socks clean off!"
"Ooh! I'm shaking in my rank three crusher boots with bonus spike damage."
Despite Tucker's trash talk, he'd gotten used to losing a while ago. It was just fun to pretend he might one day outrank Sam.
Mostly he was just happy that Danny was getting a break.
...and also the opportunity to test out his new poison upgrade.
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Danny sighed with relief as he dropped the last of the rags into The Fenton Washing Machine. Not all of the ectoplasm from his parents catapult experiment had made it into the The Containment Tank, and Danny still wasn't having any luck convincing Jazz to swap chores with him.
Danny had just turned the washer on when his ghost sense went off. With a loud groan, Danny turned and glared at the portal. He felt every muscle in his body relax when Vlad floated out.
"Do you somehow just know when I've just finished cleaning the lab?" Danny was too exhausted to muster up a polite greeting "If you're looking for my parents, they're actually out right now. My dad realized we were out of fudge after dinner, and he almost died when he saw we weren't stocked up on baking ingredients."
"I can practically hear Jack's panicked voice." Vlad grinned "But it's actually you I'm after." Vlad said.
"Oh. Really?"
"Yes. Although Jack and Maddie seem relatively comfortable with my ghostly side, I don't think it'd be a good idea to just fly into their lab through the portal as a ghost. I don't think I'm ready for that yet."
"Fair. How'd it go with them yesterday anyway?"
"Rather well, all things considered. Being so open about my abilities with them has certainly been a...mental adjustment after decades of secrecy and hiding, but as I said they really do seem to have taken it rather well."
"That's good to hear." Danny smiled. Hearing Vlad say that made him feel lighter inside. "So what'd you want to talk to me about?"
"I wanted to inquire about your plans to tell your parents about your accident." Vlad said. The lightness in Danny vanished "I assume you haven't already?"
"Uh...no, I...have not done that yet." Danny hoped Vlad couldn't tell how dry his mouth was.
Vlad frowned.
"You seem rather perturbed Daniel. Do you...not want to tell them?"
"I do!" Danny said quickly "Really! It just...never seems like the right time, I guess."
"You guess?"
Danny sighed.
"You know, things aren't terrible right now." Danny rubbed the back of his neck "I guess it's just...I don't really know what will happen when I tell them. I mean, I know they won't banish me to The Ghost Zone or dissect me or whatever, but things are going to..be different, you know? And honestly, that kind of scares me. I guess I was too busy worrying about what could go wrong to think about what would happen if things went right, so I really don't know what to expect."
Vlad's eyes softened with sympathy.
"As they say, misery is comfortable."
"What? No, that's stupid. I hate being miserable, everyone does."
"Daniel you just told me that a part of you would rather live in a house with two people who are trying to hunt you, surrounded by hazardous devices, than tell your parents about your ghost part."
"No, that's- I mean...huh."
"I do understand how you're feeling." Vlad said. "Now that your parents know about my powers, I was more than a tad nervous to come down here yesterday, and there is a reason I stalled telling them until the end of the trip. But, as someone who's been where you are, I can confidently say things are better now that they know. Even with all the unknown elements."
"I know things'll be better," Danny said "It's just so weird to think how much one little conversation can change."
"Things are going to change. It might be a bit awkward with your parents at first, I won't lie. The idea of being in my ghost form around Jack and Maddie still makes me...apprehensive, and I'm not sure I'll feel comfortable with it any time soon. For all I know, I may never."
"Well that's comforting."
"But I'm not scared of my best friends shooting me anymore, so that's a plus." Vlad grinned "Kind of outweighs having to deal with the awkwardness, if you ask me."
"Yeah," Danny laughed half-heartedly "I suppose it would."
"You want my advice? Tell them tonight."
"Tonight!?" Danny almost had a heart attack
"Yes tonight. Not telling Jack and Maddie sooner has been my biggest regret. You know you want to do this. Save yourself the unnecessary worry and just get it done."
Danny thought about it. He supposed Vlad's logic was sound, and if there was anyone he should listen to for tips on telling his parents they were half-ghost it was him, but the thought of doing it so soon made him dizzy. He knew he'd been stalling, but he needed a little more time to prepare than that.
"I'll do it tomorrow night." he said, sounding much firmer than he felt.
"Well I say never put off till tomorrow what can be done today," Vlad shrugged "But the decision is yours. Good luck Little Badger!"
With that, Vlad flew backwards through the portal, leaving Danny alone with his thoughts.
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Tucker had to stop himself from cheering as the lunch lady finished scooping the casserole of the day onto his tray. In his opinion, it was insanely cruel of the faculty to schedule his biweekly PE period right before lunch. As if gym class wasn't long enough!
He quickly found Sam in their usual spot and took a seat across from her.
"Where's Danny?" Tucker asked before shoving a large spoonful of casserole into his mouth. It was tomato and ground beef with macaroni noodle today.
"Give you three guesses and two of them don't count." Sam replied.
"Ah." Tucker swallowed "Was it The Box Ghost again?"
"Nah, I'm pretty sure it was Klemper. Danny said something about frozen toilets."
"Ooh, maybe Danny should let him keep going for a bit! I think they have to cancel school if the toilets don't work."
"Tucker, broken plumbing facilities in a building with over five hundred people could pose a serious problem. Do you know how many students here have bladder issues?"
"Okay jeez, I was only joking."
There was a brief silence as the two of them started to eat their lunches.
"I really could've used you with Danny the other day, you know." Sam said "It's like you don't even care that your best friend's about to tell his parents the biggest secret of his life."
"What? Sam, of course I care. I'm worried about Danny too, but there's no point in pushing him if he's not ready yet."
Sam was about to angrily retort, but she stopped herself, the conversation with Danny replaying in her head.
Why was she so angry at Tucker? Sure, it was kind of annoying he hadn't backed her up, but she had to admit his logic wasn't totally unreasonable.
"I guess." she relented. It felt weird admitting Tucker was right so easily.
Wait, why did that feel so weird? They were friends, best friends. It shouldn't take so much restraint just to agree with each other about something so minor.
Danny was right. Something was wrong.
Not that it was all Sam's doing, Tucker could be annoying and insensitive. A lot of the time, in fact.
But was Sam maybe...not always interpreting his intentions in the best light? Just maybe?
A lot of mixed thoughts were going through Sam's head, but one thing she knew for sure was that if they wanted to fix what was going on, someone had to start somewhere.
"Hey, um, I just wanted to say I'm...sorry I teased you about Valerie so much. You told me to stop and I didn't, even though I should have."
Tucker blinked, completely taken aback by her sudden apology. It probably didn't help that she'd been giving him the gears less than a minute ago.
Admittedly, that might have been a weird place to start, but it was the first thing Sam thought of, and Sam was the kind of person who liked to start fixing a problem as soon as possible.
She just hoped Tucker wouldn't make fun of her apology for revenge.
"Uh...no hard feelings." Tucker said, his shocked expression morphing into a grin "In fact, since you apologized, and I'm such a gracious friend, I promise I won't make as much fun of you when you get your embarrassing first crush." Tucker winked and did finger guns.
Sam felt a flash of annoyance. Of course, Tucker didn't know she was aromantic, chances were he didn't even know what 'aromantic' meant, so Sam knew it wasn't fair for her to be mad at him.
Well, she had just decided she wanted to fix the kink in their friendship, and an important part of friendship was being able to trust your friends with your secrets...
"Actually...I don't think I'll ever get a crush." Sam said.
"Aww, come on. I know being gloomy's your thing, but I'm sure someday you'll-"
"No Tucker, I'm aromantic."
"Oh. Um, what's that?"
"It means I don't get crushes, and I'm never going to fall in love. Ever." Sam crossed her arms "And before you try to give me another pitying platitude, I'm actually quite happy with this development."
"Okay, but how do you know you'll never fall in love?" Tucker asked.
Anger burned in Sam.
"Ugh!" she threw up her hands "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you!"
She knew this would happen! She knew Tucker wouldn't take her seriously! She knew he'd-
"No no no no wait, I totally believe you!" Tucker threw up his hands defensively "I just meant, like, how'd you figure it out? I'm sorry, I didn't realize how that would sound! I didn't mean it like that, I promise!"
The fire in Sam instantly died.
"You...really believe me?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I?"
"Because people are never taken seriously when they say they aren't interested in romance. I've lost count of the number of movies I've seen where someone says they're happy being single, but by the end they've started a relationship with someone and everyone's acting like they're 'fixed' now." Sam unconsciously clenched her fists. She'd never realized that that trope bothered her so much until right now. "Plus you specifically never take anything I say seriously."
"What? Yes I do! What are you talking about?"
"Well you weren't exactly the most supportive of my menu update at the start of the year."
"Sam, you literally forced everyone in the school to change to a very niche diet. You gotta admit that's a little extreme."
"Okay fine, maybe that wasn't my best idea. But it feels like ever since then, you've never tried to help me with my world-improving projects. You don't even really listen to my ideas. Like, the world's on fire, and all my friends, family, and fellow students ever seem to want to do about it is laugh at me for trying to fix things!"
The passion in Sam's voice sobered Tucker's normally humorous attitude.
"I didn't think you cared what other people said about you." he said.
"I don't." Sam looked defiantly into Tucker's eyes "I'm an activist to try and make the world a better place, I'm not interested in this for personal glory." Sam gaze shifted away from Tucker's face and she crossed her arms over her body "But y'know, I...might care a little bit what my best friends say about me."
"Oh." Tucker looked away too. "I...I guess that makes sense."
There was a long silence.
"So...how did you figure it out?" Tucker asked "I mean, if you like girls then you figure it out by liking a girl and vice versa, but there isn't really a sign if you don't like anybody, so how do you know you won't like anybody ever?"
Sam raised an eyebrow at Tucker.
"N-not saying you're wrong about saying you're aromantic! Or that anybody else is! I'm really just curious, I swear! Actually you know what, you don't have answer that. I probably shouldn't have even asked."
Tucker proceeded to shove an entire handful of tater tots in his mouth. Sam was pretty sure it was to stop himself from rambling any more. It was a very Tucker thing to do. She might've laughed if Tucker's question hadn't been making her think so hard.
Sam wasn't offended by the question, she knew Tucker was a curious person who meant it genuinely, it was just a difficult question to answer.
"I don't know." Sam admitted "It just...feels right. I don't know how to explain it any better. The idea of not falling in love feels like it fits better than the typical romantic ideas everyone's always pushing, and like, when I read about some of the experiences of other aromantic people I've found online, it just feels so right. Like someone finally gets it. I can't really explain it much better than that, but I just know it's true that I'm not going to fall in love."
"I guess it's like getting a crush." Tucker mused "You can't really explain it, you just kind of know."
Sam frowned. She didn't think it was exactly like that, but she could see that Tucker was trying to be understanding. Not to mention she had just told herself she was going to try and be more civil with him.
"Uh, maybe." she said "Honestly, the idea was kind of weird at first, but the more time goes on, the more I actually really like knowing I'm aro. It's great. Figuring that out feels like scratching an itch I didn't even know I had."
"I definitely get that."
"You do?"
Tucker felt his heart skip a beat.
"I...think I might be bi." Tucker said.
"Yeah? Good for you." Sam gave Tucker a small but genuine smile.
Tucker felt his whole body relax.
Wait, why was he so relieved? He hadn't felt this tense when he was telling Danny or Valerie.
Maybe Danny was on to something about him and Sam...
"You okay over there?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, just uh, thinking about some stuff. You don't seem surprised."
"Tucker, remember the drive in Danny's RV to Vlad's cottage?"
"Oh yeah. I kind of hoped everyone had forgotten about that nightmare."
"I mean, I had planned on never mentioning it again ever, but I don't think I could forget it if I tried. But hey, at least I figured out my romantic orientation. So that's pretty cool." Sam shrugged casually.
"I wish I felt as confident about being bi as you do about being...what was it?"
"Aromantic. Aro for short."
"Aro, got it. I mean, I'm warming up to the idea of being bi, but it's been quite the adjustment for my brain. At first it felt like I maybe wasn't even allowed to call myself that."
"Why not?"
"I mean, I for sure do get crushes on guys sometimes, but it really isn't a lot of the time. I'm really mostly into girls, so sometimes it kind of feels like I'm trying to claim something I'm not sure I have any right to."
"So what? You gotta like 'this many' boys to be bi? And who exactly is checking that?"
Tucker laughed a little before continuing.
"Yeah, I know it sounds kind of ridiculous. I have been feeling more comfortable calling myself as bi the longer I've thought about it, but I still can't quite shake this feeling that at some random moment someone's gonna jump out and call me out on it."
"Don't worry," Sam picked up her milk carton and drained the last of it "If anyone even tries to imply you're not 'bi enough' or whatever, I'll just have a nice little chat with them."
Sam finished her statement by crushing the empty milk carton in her hand, all five of her nails leaving gashes in cardboard.
Tucker was going to laugh at Sam's joke, but the carton-crushing demonstration ad actually been genuinely intimidating (Sam was pretty good at being intimidating), so the noise he ended up making was somewhere between a laugh and a yelp.
Sam nearly jumped out of her seat.
"How did you even make that sound?" she asked.
"I don't know, and I don't think I could make it again if I tried."
Sam laughed.
It was actually really nice hearing her laugh like that. Tucker couldn't recall the last time Sam had laughed at one of his jokes.
That might have had something to do with the fact that a lot of his jokes were made at her expense.
Like, a lot of them.
Tucker honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd really gone out of his way to be nice to Sam. Not since the meat incident.
This was not a comfortable realization.
"Hey Sam," Tucker wasn't exactly sure how to say what he wanted to say, but he knew he had to say something "I'm sorry I haven't been taking you seriously lately. I know I haven't exactly been the best listener. Don't get me wrong, some of you ideas are insane and I want no part in them, but I'm gonna at least start trying taking them seriously now. I'll start taking you seriously, I promise."
Sam was slightly taken aback. She hadn't expected an apology from Tucker, and she hadn't realized how much she'd wanted to hear that until he said it.
"Wow," she started to say "I really-"
"Hey, sorry I'm late." Danny suddenly appeared and sat down beside Sam. Tucker genuinely wasn't sure whether they just hadn't notice him approach, or if he'd snuck in ghost-style.
"It's all good du-" Tucker paused when he noticed the apprehensive look in Danny's eyes "You okay? You look like something's up."
Danny took a long breath.
"Are you two free to come over tonight?"
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Walking down the basement stairs felt like walking through molasses. Not because it was slow, but because each step seemed to take a monumental amount of effort. The journey was actually over surprisingly quickly.
Danny wondered if there was any way he could have lengthened it.
His parents hadn't noticed his descent, both of them deeply absorbed in...whatever giant metal contraption they were working on. Danny didn't really care right now.
He walked up to his parents and loudly cleared his throat, causing them both to snap their heads up.
"H-hey Mom, Dad."
"Hey Danny!" his father set his wrench down to wave at him "How was school?"
"Uh, g-good. School was good."
"Did you need something, Sweetie?" Maddie frowned, sensing his nervousness.
Danny rubbed the back of his neck.
"Um yeah, I kind of...have something to tell you. It's...about the accident I had with the ghost portal."
Jack and Maddie's faces immediately turned serious.
"Danny," Maddie said gently "
"Yeah, I know, I know. That's not it though. It's..."
Danny took a deep breath.
And just jumped in.
"It made me...like Vlad."
"Like...Vlad?" Maddie raised an eyebrow.
"Half-ghost. The portal made me half-ghost. I have ghost powers like Vlad."
There was a beat of silence. Maddie and Jack looked at each other briefly and turned back to Danny.
"Now Son," Jack smiled "I know you two both had ghost portal accidents, but there's no way our portal affected you in the same extreme way. Sure, maybe you've been having minor side effects-"
"That you should have told us about earlier." Maddie cut in sternly.
"What your mother said. But there's no way you could have been affected as drastically as Vlad. You don't even-"
Jack was cut off by two blinding rings of light splitting around Danny's waist, turning him into the ghostly version of himself.
The sight made both of his parents go slack-jawed.
Maybe it had been a bit much to transform without warning, but after weeks of stalling and months of hesitation, Danny had run out of patience.
"I'm half-ghost like Vlad." he repeated, summoning the rings and transforming back.
It was shockingly easy to say. Although walking down the basement stairs had been torture, once he'd started talking, it had felt weirdly natural to just keep going, like he was just telling them what score he'd gotten on a math test. Danny had expected more resistance.
Telling Jazz had been harder.
"Y-you really are like Vlad..." Jack's voice was almost a whisper.
Oh right, their reaction. The beating of Danny's heart instantly washed away the peace he'd been feeling.
This was actually much worse than telling Jazz.
"Y-yeah?"
"Danny?" Maddie's voice was strained "How long have you...been like Vlad?"
"Since the first day." I...walked out of the portal looking like that. I just managed to transform back before you and Dad came back."
"Jack," Maddie put a hand on the work bench to steady herself "I thought you said you tested thoroughly for any mutations or contaminations!"
"Of course I did, Madds! I did a DNA test and everything and couldn't find any indication of..."
Jack suddenly stopped talking. He and Maddie snapped their heads to Danny as if they'd suddenly remembered he was there.
"All those months..." Maddie pulled down her hood, revealing eyes filled with horror "Listening to us going on and on about capturing and dissecting ghosts...oh! No wonder you didn't tell us! You must've been scared half to death."
Danny almost laughed at his mother's choice of words, but he was still too tense to move. He knew his parents weren't going to hurt him, but for some reason he felt like he was in trouble.
"Oh, baby." Maddie wrapped Danny in a hug. She kissed his forehead and rubbed his back.
"Y-you guys aren't mad?"
"Mad?" his father said. "Danno, I don't blame you one bit. I'd have been scared out of my britches too if I was in your position and I heard my parents talking about ghosts the way your mother and I do."
He came over and wrapped his arms around Danny and Maddie.
"We love you kiddo." he said "And we're both so proud of you for telling us."
Maddie squeezed Danny harder.
Danny felt his muscles relax and his heart slow back to normal.
He'd done it. He'd really done it.
Honestly, Danny didn't know how he felt right now. It was weirdly quiet in his head.
But one thing Danny knew for sure was that it felt good to finally have to stop hiding.
This was good.
Danny smiled and hugged his parents back.
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Sam, Tucker, and Jazz all sat at the kitchen table, none of them daring to speak. They'd all been counting the seconds since Danny had gone down the stairs. It had only been two minutes, but it had been a very long two minutes.
The only sound being made was Tucker tapping his knuckles on the table. Sam very much wanted to ask him to stop, but she also didn't want to be the first one to speak.
"Do you think we should go down and check on him?" Tucker asked, his hand finally stilling.
"I'm sure he's fine, just be patient." Despite her grounded words, Sam's anxiety leaked into her voice.
"Sam's right." Jazz said firmly "We're all worried, but this is Danny's moment, so it's our job to be his support and remain fluid enough to react to what he needs depending on which way the situation goes. The best way to do that we have to remain calm and-"
The basement door began to open. Jazz was on her feet in an instant.
"Where's Danny?! Is he okay?!"
"Calm down Jazz, everything's good. Great actually."
Danny's voice was light and full of joy. He didn't even sound annoyed at Jazz's excessive worrying.
Jazz's shoulder's instantly relaxed and she went over to stand by her family. Sam and Tucker awkwardly followed.
"So they...all know?" Maddie said, gesturing to the room.
"Yeah." Danny smiled "No more secrets."
Despite how nice a moment this was, it was also kind of an awkward one. Everyone appreciated how hard it had been for Danny to get here, and they were all feeling the relief, but the question of 'now what do we do?' went unspoken amongst them all.
"I...brought a cake." Sam said.
"Really?" Danny asked, surprised.
"Well, if you don't want it..."
"No, I definitely do, I just...why did you get a cake?"
"Well I didn't really know what the proper protocol was for when your best friend tells his parents he's half-ghost, but a cake seemed like, maybe appropriate?" Sam shrugged.
Danny went over to the white box on the table and lifted the cover.
"Congratulations On The Thing With Your Parents?"
"Tucker's was in charge of the writing."
"I didn't see you pitching in any ideas for a tasteful message that would fit on a cake and not attract suspicion from the cake decorator."
"My contribution was paying for the cake."
"Aw, that was such a lovely gesture, you two." Maddie beamed "Jazz, could you get the plates out? Let's serve this bad boy up!"
"I call the first piece!" Jack said.
"Now Jack, considering the occasion, I think it's only appropriate that Danny gets the first piece."
"Oh, alright." Jack smiled at Danny and patted his shoulder "I suppose that's fair. But I get the second piece, since I called it!"
"Jack..." Maddie said disapprovingly.
"Dad can have the first piece. I don't mind, I know how he gets." Danny said. He was just glad that things were still normal. Sure, his parents probably still had some adjusting to do, but they still saw him as the same Danny he was before, and that was big enough of a relief. "But I'm getting a corner piece."
Honestly though, Danny could've had to give away the entire cake and it wouldn't have killed his mood.
It was finally over. He didn't have to hide or make his friends lie for him anymore. Not to the people who mattered, anyway.
Danny continued to stare at his mom after she handed him a piece of cake and began cutting one for his dad.
He was still nervous abut what the future held for his family's dynamic, but for the first time he also felt excited to find out.
But for now he was just going to enjoy his cake.
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