Danny stared at the poster on the bulletin board, "Seriously?"
Tucker whistled, "A Halloween Costume Party? Should we invite Fright Knight?"
Sam snorted, "Sure. Let's invite Aragon and Dora along to complete the medieval theme,"
Danny winced as he heard Paulina described excitedly to her friends, "...and when Phantom see me in my Princess dress, he will sweep me off my feet! We will fly under the moon and then we will share a kiss! It will be so romantic! I will show him how good a woman I am and then he will propose to me!"
Sam made a disgusted noise, "Ugh! Her delusion is getting worse. We are already in our senior year. She should get serious or she'll be cleaning up hallways in this stupid school,"
Danny said nothing. He looked at the requirement and raised a brow, "We need to bring a date,"
Tucker cleared his throat loudly, "Well, ladies! TF is here and free for the taking to dates! Come and grab me!"
Sam sighed, "Well, that sucks," She looked at Danny only to find him walking towards another girl. She tightened her hold on her spider bag's strap. She needled Tucker, "Do you think he's going to ask her?"
Tucker pulled off the banana peel from his head and dropped it into the bin beside him, "Who?"
Sam ground her teeth, "Danny...do you think he's going to ask Elsa?"
Tucker looked up to see Danny talking to the foreign girl. He sighed. Danny had been growing distant with them since he broke up with Sam. Not that Tucker didn't know why. Danny already told him over and over that being with Sam hurt him. He tried to get them back together but after almost a year, he knew then that Danny will never be with Sam again. Even if he told Danny that Sam still loved him or that she secretly cried while looking over pictures of when they were dating or rubbing the class ring he had given her when they started dating, there was nothing in his dull blue eyes that could suggest the return of affection for her. Whatever Danny had felt for her once, it died the week leading up to their break up. His attempts had also started to cool after a year of nothing. Even if it hurted to see Sam breaking into tears randomly after Danny brushed her off, there was nothing left that Tucker can do. If he forced it any further than 'just friends', Danny might break things off with him too.
As much as it hurted to see Sam holding onto the past, it was actually a relief for Tucker to see Danny moving on. He can't revive what Danny had buried for Sam. But the least he can do was be there when she finally see that Danny will never come back to her.
He hummed, "Maybe. He seems happy with her,"
Sam glared at him, the pain of betrayal in her eyes at what he just said.
Tucker sighed, "Look, Sam...let's just face it. You and Danny-,"
She raised her hand to stop him, "Stop right there, Tucker Foley. Don't you dare say it,"
Tucker grimaced, "Sam-,"
Sam shook her head, "No! I'm not listening to this," She bit her bottom lip as they watched the way Elsa nodded and accepted Danny's offered hand, something that they seemed to be doing often out of the blue. A tear fell from her eyes before she turned her pain into fury to glare at her only other friend, "I thought you were my friend..."
Tucker winced at the pain in her voice as she angrily walked away from him. He sighed, feeling tired of the drama. Even at home, he can't escape it. He pulled off his reggae beanie, "What are we coming to?"
Sam was actually miserable instead of using it like her 'identity' as Goth.
Danny looked livelier even though he felt more and more like a corpse.
And Tucker felt left behind by both.
He sighed as he dragged his feet to class, "Team Phantom...are we even a team anymore?"
With Danny taking up patrols alone since the ghost invasions trickled to a slow after his sudden puberty, he hardly need their help with the small fries. He only let them help when they insisted on coming. Even so, he hardly let them join the fight as each fight lasted shorter than the night before. He was certainly growing stronger than when he first started. Even Plasmius looked leery of clashing head on with Phantom.
Danny had also stopped coming to his house. Then again, his father wanted his grandma to have peaceful last days. She had grown weaker and weaker and Tucker just knew that she won't have long. She was hoping to at least to see him graduate, that was all. Because of this, Danny refused to visit. In his own words, his presence would hasten her death due to the aura he carried with him. It was something that they noticed as he grew stronger. If he was around places with life for too long, signs of things withering will appear. It used to be a joke. But now, not so much. So Tucker accepted that Danny will not be coming to his house until his grandma pass.
He knew that Danny stopped visiting Sam at hers weeks before the break up. As he grew stronger, he showed signs of discomfort whenever Sam touched him. But he used to brush it off as static. Then he broke out in sweats with prolonged contact. But he used to still try to be affectionate with her. When did the light in their friend's eyes completely die? When did Danny became truly cold with them and not just physically?
Maybe it was inevitable.
Tucker knew what they had done. When Danny told him the reason why he must break things off with Sam, Tucker tried to stand up for her. But the longer he thought about it, the longer he saw things from Danny's point of view. Even Tucker had nightmares from the few times when he really thought he was done for during the many different fights with ghosts. But he didn't die. If anything, he avoided the hospitals even more after the fiasco with Spectra and other ghosts that dragged him to the building. He didn't even die there.
Worse of all, there was no gentle way of telling Sam. He knew that not telling Sam the reason why they must part was Danny's final act of love to her. It was his way of protecting what was left. Even so, watching him move on must not have been easy for Sam.
Yeah. Tucker's not blind. Danny had that same look of denial on his face whenever they 'teased' him about his friendship with Elsa. A look that Sam caught on. She had cried on Tucker's shoulder after they realized. But she refused to give up. An admirable trait...but annoying to someone who did not want it.
He smiled as he greeted Danny and Elsa, sitting together at that picnic bench that she had been using since she started attending Casper High, "Hey guys! Can I join?"
He watched as Danny looked at Elsa and how he only agreed when she gave him a tiny nod. Danny smiled at him, "Come sit," He looked around, "Where's Sam?"
Tucker grimaced, "We...uh...had a fight,"
Danny sighed, "About what?"
Tucker shrugged, "About nothing," He then grinned at Elsa, "So...pretty lady, how about it? Want to go to the costume party with this Too Fine stud?" He wiggle his brows to further emphasize his joke.
Elsa blinked, clearly taken aback by his forceful flirting. Danny grimaced and glared at him, eyes flashing green in warning, "Tucker..."
Elsa raised a hand, "My apology. However, I have already accepted Danny's invitation,"
Tucker hummed, "You're very formal,"
She tilted her head, "Is that...disconcerting to you?"
Danny quickly shook his head, "What?! Pft! No! It's kind of cute!"
Tucker blinked at the sight of Elsa looking at him and thanking him like it was a simple compliment, although her cheek's slightly red from Danny's insistence. Holy cow, he did not expect to see someone more oblivious than Danny. He can tell that Danny was trying to act cool. He failed by the way. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how one saw it, Elsa did not seem to see it as flirting. She's...very confident about how she appeared. At least, it seemed like it.
Or maybe, considering who Elsa was as far as Tucker had seen, she was so used to compliment that she cannot differentiate a normal compliment from an outright flirt?
Tucker smiled, "Oh. Alright. Danny always take the girls, anyway!"
Danny pulled a face, "You make it sound like I'm some kind of player!"
Tucker pulled a smug face, "Aren't you? Don't think that I didn't see those ghost ladies chasing you around last week. I mean, you used to be the one chasing them!"
Danny shuddered, "Ugh! Don't remind me! I'm trying to forget all the harassment I had to face these past few weeks! It was horrifying!"
Elsa looked at him in concern, "Are you alright, Danny?"
Danny slumped, "I'm fine...but it is kind of traumatizing to keep getting cornered for smooches..." He then quickly reassured her, "I sucked them all up into the Dispenser though! Nope! No smooching for me!"
Tucker gasped in mocked horror, "No kisses?! From all those ladies?! Blasphemy!"
Danny dropped his head onto the table with a disgusted groan. After a moment of enjoying his misery, Danny looked at him, "So? Who are you going to the party with?"
Tucker paused, not expecting for the table to turn on him, "Uh...maybe I'll ask Sam?"
Danny quirked at brow, "After your fight? Will she even accept?"
Tucker sighed, slumping, "Yes? Maybe? I don't know. Maybe I'll be my own date? I heard that you are allowed to date yourself these days. Self love is important and all that jazz,"
Elsa nodded, "Right. There was that story about a woman who married herself,"
Danny blinked, "What is even marriage nowadays? Can't you commit to yourself without all that nonsense? Sounds like attention seeking to me," He then added, "And a whole lot of waste of money,"
Tucker rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on, Danny! Don't be such a downer! Live a little!"
Danny deadpanned, "But Tuck~! I can't help it! I'm dead!"
Tucker groaned, "You and your graveyard joke..."
Danny suddenly coughed ice mist. His expression crumpled for a moment. He then took a breathe and looked at Elsa, "Sorry. Duty call,"
She only nodded, "Stay safe. I'll see what else can be added on our project,"
Tucker watched as Danny looked around and disappeared behind the tree...or rather inside the tree. Then, somewhere from above, he reappeared. He figured that reappearing from a different direction that Danny Fenton had disappeared from would be smarter to further separate him from his living counterpart. Now...he's alone with Elsa, a girl that his best friend was carrying a torch for and someone he barely knew.
Tucker cleared his throat, "Okay...I only know that you guys are working on that Twilight book. How does that go with you guys?"
Elsa answered, "Well, it falls under literature. But rather than studying the prose and plot, Danny and I decided to focus instead on the biological aspect of Twilight's vampire as opposed to the more traditional Dracula," She waved her hand, "It is...an interesting research on the possibility of such a being existing and why it makes more sense than Dracula's kind,"
Tucker blinked, "Alright. That just flew over my head. What did Mr Lancer say when you proposed this as your project? Nothing good, I bet,"
She hummed, "Well...he simply looked resigned. He mentioned something about Jazz's project on ghost and their psychology from when she was a senior here,"
Tucker weakly laughed at that, "So...basically it falls under the typical Fenton weirdness,"
That evening, Sam ignored them as she ran home alone. Danny waved as Elsa entered her limousine and was driven home. Tucker looked at him, "Man, it had been a while since we last walked together,"
Danny looked at him, "Oh. You're still here?"
Tucker glared at him, "Dude. I'm hurt,"
Danny grinned, fangs flashing, "Sorry, man. Can't help it. I'm just joking,"
Tucker rolled his eyes at that, "Yeah. A real comedian, you,"
Danny hefted his bag on his shoulder for a more comfortable hold before asking, "Are you sure you can hang? I mean...your grandma..."
Tucker waved his hand, "She's at the hospital today and tomorrow,"
He looked at his friend, "Is she okay?"
Tucker sighed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket, "She's old, man. Things like these are normal for people her age. I'm more surprised by how healthy Sam's gran is. I mean...isn't she older?"
Danny snorted, "No idea. I haven't seen her in ages. And the last time I spotted her at the park, she gave me the stink eye. Not that I blame her..." He looked at Tucker, "So...Nasty?"
Tucker smiled, "Sure. Let's do Nasty,"
Danny wrinkled his nose, "That just...sounds so wrong, dude,"
Tucker punched his cold shoulder, "Shut up!"
They finally arrived to their usual haunt. Danny let out the usual shaking breath when they entered the establishment. Tucker looked at him, "You alright?"
Danny's already pale face looked almost green, "I'm fine,"
Tucker frowned but walked back. Danny looked at him in confusion as he backed out of the building. The taller boy followed after him until they were all the way on the other side of the block where a cafe stood new. Tucker stopped the moment he noticed the way Danny's coloring returned to his usual pale instead of green. Only then did he stopped and looked at the cafe, "Say. Do you think they have cheap burger here?"
Danny frowned, "Tucker...what are you doing?"
Tucker pursed his lips before sighing, "I...I guess...watching the life slipping away little by little from grandma help me grow up a little. Which was just funny, you know?" He chuckled as he looked at Danny, "I saw ghosts on the daily, almost got killed a few times, but it didn't click until...I had to confront the slow death of a loved one," He kicked the pavement, "What I'm saying is...how did I keep missing it?"
Danny shifted his weight, "What are you trying to tell me?"
Tucker frowned, "Danny...what was it about the Nasty Burger that you...feared?"
Danny's pause proved the theory that had been nibbling at the back of his thought since Danny suddenly stopped treating his power like a game and more of a burden. Tucker just kept pushing it back, kept brushing it off as Danny simply feeling more responsible. But...there was a story there, wasn't it?
Tucker gulped, "I realized that...maybe something happened. Like Sam's wish that we never remember,"
Danny let out a heavy sigh and it sounded so world weary that Tucker wondered why it took him so long to notice it. Danny had lost his childhood and grew up before any of them and they didn't notice it. Tucker thought that he and Sam were pretty mature for their age, that they had seen it all, that they can be considered grown up. But the fact was...they haven't. They were still kids. Still immature and they owed it all to Danny.
Danny, who kept them in the dark.
Danny, who was hurting and tried to keep them safe from that hurt.
Danny, who unjustly died twice and came back still Obsessed with protecting them and others.
Danny, who still cared even though he really owed them nothing that he hadn't already paid back more than enough.
Tucker smiled, "You don't have to tell me, man. I'm just...I'm sorry it took me so long to notice it,"
For a moment, he thought that Danny will tell him...be that boy he befriended so long ago who won't keep anything from Tucker because they were brothers in all but blood. However...
Danny smiled, "Don't. Don't feel bad. I meant for you to never know," His smile widened, "But thank you for noticing anyway,"
...distance...
A wall that he never noticed was there suddenly seemed so clear. Tall and daunting. Forbidden for him to climb.
Why? When?
Danny brushed it all off and acted normal. Goofy and a dork. Normal for Tucker. Another act for him. For the first time, Tucker played along knowingly. Even though when Danny waved at him as he disappeared to answer the call of duty. A duty that he had taken up out of guilt for opening that rift between world. A guilt that wasn't even really his. A duty that...he refused to involve them in anymore...
As Tucker walked home alone, he looked at his phone just as the first droplet fell from the sky. He quickly sought for cover. Ripping his beanie off his head, he twisted whatever moisture caught out of it. He then looked out at the gloomy world.
The world seemed so much brighter when he was ignorant of the consequences of that day.
He mumbled, "Growing up sucks,"
He thought of Young Blood, the ghost of a child that was like a dead Peter Pan. He wondered if he could even see that ghost anymore. Maybe Danny could. Because he's dead too.
When he was young, everything was an adventure. Everything was new and thrilling. Everything was fun and exciting. They didn't think about what it meant in the bigger sense of things. They didn't think what they had done to Danny. They saw their lives like some sort of a superhero show where the good guys win and the bad guys got what was coming for them. They weren't even thinking about life or death. Even if Sam talked about death a lot, she was only thinking of it in the sense of romance. Even when he felt instances of almost death, he never did let himself think of it beyond; he survived.
But Danny had long grown out of the sense of adventure. He had long left that childhood behind.
Tucker sighed as the rain finally stopped, "Danny's dead..."
They killed him with a dare and they never did stopped thinking about it as a joke between them. Then Danny stopped thinking about it as a joke because that was his reality now. It was no longer a joke to him. He died. They killed him and they were only pretending that all was fine because they didn't want to carry that guilt. They weren't ready to face the consequences of their action like an adult because they were kids.
Kids were allowed to make dumb mistakes.
But did that included accidentally killing your best friend with a dare?
And for what? A stupid picture?
That night, he finished his part of his project with some other nerd in class and turned in. He wondered if Danny was still outside, flying around, making sure that other people get to sleep tight while he lost his?
Growing in Amity Park was an adventure. They fight ghosts like a game. They won battles like an adventure. The hero ended up with the girl like any sappy romance book.
Tucker rubbed his face. Watching his grandma slowly weaken day by day, having to help her to do even the simplest thing, it left him with a lot of time to think. And boy, did he think about his life and about Danny.
Tucker sobbed, "Danny's dead...we killed him..."