Almost Lovers (Four)

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Valerie was sitting on her windowsill, staring out at the sky, watching the snow fall gently. She touched a hand to her lips, the remnants of a kiss still lingering. She curled up on the windowsill, leaning right against the cold glass, trying to wake herself up. She wasn't sure if what had just happened had been a dream or reality.

If it were a dream… she hoped she would have that dream again, for it was a very nice, very pleasurable dream, one that had created feelings inside her she didn't know she had.

If it was real… she gulped. Her chest filled with dread. Nothing good could come of it. She was now perfectly aware that her feelings for Danny were still very real, even after all the years they'd been apart. Turns out that finding out he was her worst enemy didn't dampen her love for him.

She touched a finger to her lips. They still tingled from his kiss. She had never, in her entire life, kissed someone like that before. Or been kissed like that before.

What freaked her out the most was how natural it all felt. Amongst all the guys she had met and briefly dated over the past couple of years, none of them had felt as right as Danny had. As soon as he kissed her, she felt like she could sense all of his feelings and answers. She had pulled him down beside her, holding onto his neck, letting loose in a way she had never done before. And no words passed between them. None. And still she felt as if he were allowing her to do so.

Valerie shivered. It felt so right to be with him. She fit in his arms almost perfectly, and his embrace was so comforting…

"What am I gonna do," she whispered, not asking so much as stating. "I've gotten myself into something huge." Although, she wasn't entirely sure it was all her fault. For she didn't remember being the one to actually engage the kiss… she just remembered having the most wonderful feeling and wanting it to last forever and ever, and that the source of the feeling was the sixteen-year-old boy currently straddling her.

Scrunching herself into a corner, she wiped away condensation from the window and watched the snow fall through a circle of yellow light caused by the streetlamp outside. As she stared outside, her thoughts fell to Sam.

Sam Manson. She had known Sam as long as Danny had; they all went to the same elementary school together, because at the time, there was only one in their entire district. That was, of course, when she still lived in Amity Park as opposed to the outskirts. Still, Sam had always been cordial enough to her. When Valerie started getting closer to Danny, however, she had become very defensive and cold without even trying. Valerie knew now that her actions were for two reasons; one, because she was a ghost huntress hunting Danny, and two, because Sam was completely in love with Danny.

Over the years since then they had created a balanced friendship, of sorts. They were chemistry partners all last year, and they couldn't help but discover they had similar interests and developed a bond. Valerie just hoped that the similar love for Danny they held wasn't something that would be shared.

Sam had also defended her. When word got out that Valerie, as a huntress, had been hunting their beloved Danny Phantom, practically the whole town was up in arms about it. Sam was one of the few who defended Valerie, claiming that she had very personal reasons for her hunt. And that, of course, at the time, she had no idea it was Danny Fenton she was hunting. And the two became even better friends. Valerie began to see Sam as her first friend in a long time.

But… there was that ring. She saw it, every single day last year, on Sam's left ring finger, glinting in the fluorescent lights. It never seemed to dull or tarnish, interestingly enough. It was because the ring was a looming reminder of what she almost had that forced her to realize how much she still cared about him.

"I can't hurt Sam," Valerie decided. "Not after everything she's done for me. Even if I…" she stopped. She pressed her cheek against the window, and closed her eyes. She scrunched her hands into fists and placed them on her chest, right over her heart, and tightened herself even more into her windowsill. "Even if I love him," she whispered, sounding surprised to hear the words come tumbling out of her mouth.

"I love him," she said again. She wasn't sure why she was saying it; she hadn't spoken to him in near two years. But at the same time… everything had been so completely natural. His touch had raced through her, his eyes had captivated her, his scent had enthralled her. Their movements were more than movements, they were a scripted dance, and no words were needed. It was something she was sure he'd never felt before, either. Their chemistry—

Chemistry.

Sam.

"Oh, God, what am I going to do?" she said, lowering her face into her knees. "What do I do?"

There was no answer

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This installment isn't as good. I wrote this while sleep deprived after having written about 20 pages worth of AP work. Good fun. But some reflection on Valerie's part, and some fun background nonsense I made up. Oh, and Valerie totally just has the hots for Danny, mmm-hmm. In the next installment, shit hits the fan when Danny talks to Sam. Uh-oh.