Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

Start from the beginning
                                    

At first, it was a real struggle to keep the fact that Tucker and I were hunting ghosts together a secret. We would try and alternate who 'went to the bathroom' and who was going to stay behind and take notes. It was hard because we never knew how tough of a ghost was going to be and whether it would take both of us to bring it down.

That didn't last for long, however. It seemed that within 3 days Lancer had us figured out and we were standing in front of Principal Ishiyama, trying to explain ourselves without giving away anything.

However, why we had been hunting ghosts didn't seem to matter to them very much. All they cared about was that we stopped immediately and left the ghost hunting up to the professionals.

"Ghost hunting is too dangerous for young people like you. You shouldn't have taken the responsibility into your own hands if you weren't prepared to handle it," They said to us. I was torn between laughing and screaming at the injustice, but the irony didn't stop there.

My parents had not taken kindly to the fact that I had been hunting ghosts when they found out. If they had their way, there was no possibility I was ever going outside again. It was looking like that would be the case until the Mayor came to our house and stated that Tucker and my 'services' were one of the only things holding back the chaos. Within six hours, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were struggling to keep up with the flow of ghosts that seemed to come from absolutely nowhere. Without us there helping, they were abruptly having a hard time keeping it all under control.

Suddenly it didn't matter that "we were too young" and "we couldn't handle it" - they needed us to keep the town from being overrun by ghosts.

After a long speech about a citizen's obligation to protect his or her community, my parents allowed me to go out and hunt ghosts again. I had been happy at first. It was obvious that the town needed me and Tucker. I figured it wouldn't be long before Danny was back and helping us. However, as time went on and Danny was nowhere to be seen, it got harder and harder to keep up. Against all odds, I was wishing my parents fought a little harder to keep me home.

Adjustments and exceptions had been made for me and Tucker at school to accommodate our new "jobs." We were allowed to openly carry ecto-weapons for defense, allowed an extra three days to get our homework done, exempt from the gym, and were free to use the nurse's office at any time. It seemed though that even without having to hide the fact that we were fighting ghosts anymore, we still had a hard time. You never knew when a ghost was going to attack. One minute you could be in the library enjoying the quiet, then the next you would be flipping over furniture, trying to land a shot on some sort of green thing while screaming for a Fenton thermos. You had to be on your toes, constantly prepared to go from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye.

I couldn't help wondering how Danny did it all. He rarely ever showed any signs of fatigue. I think the only thing I noticed was that he yawned a lot. How did he have the energy and time to do any of this? Sure he was gone most of the time, but it seemed that if he dealt with this many ghosts regularly, then he shouldn't have even been able to show up at all.

It was unfathomable that he could have taken care of all of this every day, for two years, without ever asking for anything in return. He took all kinds of bullshit from the town. Some people still thought he was a menace. Heck, his parents thought he was evil and he still didn't complain!

Didn't he ever get sick of it all? Didn't he ever want any help?

As I laid there, I knew now more than ever that this town, that I, needed Danny. I don't know how much longer I could keep going on like this. It was starting to become one enormous blur. I was never quite sure when one day ended and another began. We didn't know just exactly what Danny did until he wasn't there to do it anymore.

          

Danny had been the only thing keeping this town safe. Without him, people were struggling to go about their daily lives. He was the only person who could handle this job. There wasn't a replacement for him. The rest of us were just human, but he was more than that. He was the only person that had been able to handle all of this. He even could do that and keep it a secret from the rest of the world. One stupid impulse ruined everything and now our lives had been thrown into chaos, all because of one person's absence.

I fought the tears that wanted to spring to my eyes. I used my sore muscles to roll over and look at the stack of newspapers Tucker and I had been collecting. Everyone was searching the skies every day for the infamous Danny Phantom. Hoping he would soon be there to save the town again. The news reports every night would remind everyone that Danny Phantom wasn't there to protect us anymore. Every night families would lean in close to their televisions when the ghost bulletin came up and listen for news of the ghost boy's return.

There were theories about why he left. Some thought it was because he was sick of everyone taking him for granted. Others thought he was the one behind the massive increase in ghost attacks, and still, others thought he wasn't around anymore because he had finally been able to 'move on'.

Only Tucker, Jazz and I knew the real reason he was gone. Danny's parents did too, somewhere in their subconscious. They were still operating somewhere under the notion that Danny was sick or that he was infected with some ghost disease and not thinking straight.

Guilt ripped at my heart whenever I thought about what I had done. What I had caused for myself. I ultimately knew that I was the one at fault. I was frustrated and angry at Danny for not giving us a chance to explain, but I knew I was the only person I had to be mad at. I didn't understand why Danny wouldn't give me a chance to tell him what happened. I wished so hard he would come home and let me explain. I wanted so bad to go to Vlad's and ask him why he had left us here to fend for ourselves.

We couldn't go to Vlad's though; Tucker explained multiple times why that wasn't the smart thing to do. Somehow I knew it was better to let Danny come to us anyway, but that didn't stop me from wanting to take action. It was clear Danny was mad at us and with both halfas against us, we didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting off that front porch unharmed.

I knew Danny would never hurt us but we couldn't say the same for Vlad. What is he was the one to open the door? There was too much risk involved in going to Vlad's. It was a long shot even when we weren't exhausted out of our minds. When we were in this condition, getting away from Vlad's if things got ugly was near impossible.

It wasn't exactly safe for Danny to come home either. His parents were still out to get rid of his ghost half, only now in a whole new sense. They had been working in-between fighting ghosts and sleeping on some way to 'help' Danny get rid of his ghostly 'problem'. They were going near-insane now that Danny was gone and they thought he was in trouble.

I think the only reason they were still classified as mentally stable was that the town needed them to help fight ghosts. Anyone who walked up to their front door and shared more than two sentences could tell that they needed some severe therapy. Just by looking at them, you could tell something wasn't right. They were worried out of their minds that Danny was somewhere terrible, that he needed their help.

I took a big breath in and out. Danny wasn't the one who needed help. He wasn't in trouble or any life or death situation. He was probably in a comfortable bed somewhere getting everything he wanted while he laughed and thought that we deserved what we got. The town, the people he left behind, are the only people who needed help now. I felt a tear leak down my cheek. I think I cried more this past week and a half than I had in my entire life. I shook silently as sobs started to take me again and tried not to disturb Tucker in case he was sleeping.

Despite my efforts, I felt a shift next to me and a hand on my shoulder. "Sam, are you okay? What's wrong?"

I shuttered in a few breaths as Tucker pulled on my shoulder slightly indicating he wanted me to roll over to face him. I slowly obliged though I still avoided eye contact. Tucker, like always, grabbed a few Kleenexes' from my bedstand and handed them to me. He then put his hand on my upper arm to comfort me. Tucker waited patiently for my answer as I cleared my eyes.

"T-Tucker... do, do you think we'll see D-Danny again?" I asked meekly, eyes downcast. Tucker gave me a small squeeze and smiled his warm honey-like smile at me. "Sam, I think we will. We're his friends for life whether he wants us or not. We're like a parasite that's never going to leave him alone or a rock in his shoe that he just can't seem to shake out. We'll see him again Sam, I'm sure of it. I'm just not so sure when."

I paused in my sniffling to give him a playful glare. "You have such a way with words."

He only smirked evilly before he responded. "I know! All that Goth haiku is rubbing off on me."

I gave him a playful shove which earned me a 'hey!' before we were suddenly out of energy again and back to silence. A small grin came over my aching face. Tucker was right - we would see Danny again. I just had to be patient. Everything would be okay and we would all be friends again someday when Danny decided to come back. Until that day, Tucker and I could keep each other going. As long as Tucker was at my side, I think we would be ready when Danny decided to come back.

Anyone else just skim through this? I’m not saying it was bad or anything I just don’t ship them and they look genuinely like the friends they are when skimming the chapter.

2y ago

Hmh sure u are bitch

3y ago

1
Running to the Enemy's ArmsWhere stories live. Discover now