[Third person POV]
"There. I've taken care of cleaning up your wounds. Now…" Sam dusted her hands off before leaning forward, grabbing her make-up kit. "…to cover them up."
She flipped open the little case, fingers skimming over the different shades until she found one that matched Danny's skin tone almost perfectly. The faint, familiar scent of powder rose in the air as she twisted open the compact.
As Sam dabbed the applicator and began working on the bruise under his eye, Danny's gaze wandered to her face. His tone was casual, but there was a faint smirk at the corner of his lips. "So… is this what a girls' sleepover feels like?"
Sam chuckled, eyes never leaving her work. "I wouldn't know. I've never had one before."
"Oh right." Danny tilted his head slightly. "I sometimes forget… we're social piranhas."
Her lips curled into a teasing grin. "Just to be clear, I'm a social outcast because I choose to be. You're a social outcast because you have no other option."
Danny recoiled dramatically, hand over his heart. "Woah! Where did that come from?! Ouch… sticks and stones, Sam. Sticks and stones."
Sam braced herself with a hand on his shoulder, giggling softly. "Sorry—hehehe—that came out way meaner than I intended." She tried to rein in her laughter and returned to applying makeup.
Danny, however, kept flinching on occasion as her fingers pressed over the tender areas.
"Stop moving," she ordered firmly, narrowing her eyes in concentration.
"I can't help it, you're pressing on my wounds," Danny winced. He kept subconsciously moving away with each dab of make up applied.
"Danny. Stop. Moving." Her voice sharpened with each word, her brush strokes pausing in mid-air as he twitched again.
"It's a natural reflex!" he shot back. "My body's doing it on its own!"
Sam let out a low growl, patience snapping as he was just not listening when told not to move. In one swift motion, she straddled his lap. Her knees pressed into the bed on either side of him, and with one hand she took a firm grip of his cheeks, forcing him to meet her gaze. Her eyes widened, glinting with mock-threat. "Move. One. More. Time. Danny…"
Danny froze instantly, back straight as a board. "…Yes, ma'am."
"Good boy." She patted his cheek and went back to work, her hand now resting on the back of his neck for balance.
'AGAGSHAISAOEGRKWISHQCRAJIA!' Danny screamed internally, though his face remained stone-still—except for the occasional twitch at the corner of his lips.
Sam's touch became softer as she worked around the bruise near his temple, their eyes brushing against each other's every so often. Each accidental glance earned a small smile from them both.
"Sam," Danny muttered after a moment, "you've patted the same spot like… thirty times now."
A faint blush rose on her cheeks as she realized what she was doing. "Oops. Sorry…"
Danny gave her a lopsided grin. "Please tell me I'm not the only one painfully aware of how intimate this position is."
"Oh, I'm aware," Sam replied without missing a beat, letting her other hand settle on his shoulder so both were now looped behind his neck. "I was just wondering if you were aware." Her smile turned slow, confident.
Danny's eyes widened in mock-seriousness. "I'm so aware I've transcended into a higher plane of existence."
They both pauses before bursting into laughter. The kind that left them leaning forward until their foreheads touched.
The laughter faded, but neither of them moved away. They both stared into each other's eyes their lips met naturally in the small space between them—a soft, almost hesitant kiss. They broke apart, eyes meeting again, and then leaned in for a second kiss, deeper this time.
Danny's arms slid around her waist, pulling her close. Sam's fingers curled into his hair, holding him there as the world around them blurred into nothing but the shared heat and pressure between them.
As they broke away after an unknown amount of time. Both of them sat there panting softly, a little dazed from the intensity.
"Woah…" they muttered in unison, their voices overlapping.
Danny, still catching his breath, looked at Sam through half-lidded eyes. He swayed slightly in place, lips curling into a lazy grin.
"Is your lipstick made out of hardcore liquor? 'Cause I'm pretty sure I'm drunk off that one kiss…"
Sam's composure shattered instantly. "Pfft—ha! Hahaha!" She couldn't help but double over, laughing at both his words and the absolutely ridiculous expression on his face.
Danny only smirked more at her reaction.
Still chuckling, Sam leaned forward, resting her head against his shoulder to hide her blush. "Was it really that good?" she asked quietly, though she couldn't disguise the curiosity in her tone.
"You'd better start calling me an alcoholic," Danny said with mock seriousness, his eyes rolling dramatically. "Because I'm addicted… and I'm coming back for more."
Sam's laughter bubbled out again, this time harder. She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. One hand shot out to cover Danny's mouth in a desperate attempt to stop him from saying anything else stupid.
"Please—pfft—no more! If I laugh too loud my parents are gonna come up here and think something's wrong!" she whispered through her giggles, her cheeks burning red.
It took a good half-minute for her to calm down. When she finally did, she exhaled heavily and picked up her brush again.
"Alright, come on. Let me finish this quickly so you can leave."
Danny tilted his head, feigning offense. "Kicking me out already?"
"Yes," Sam said flatly, though the small smile tugging at her lips gave her away. "Because you need to get home before your parents realize you're missing."
Danny's eyes went wide. "Oh shoot, I completely forgot about that."
'I've gotten so used to not having dinner with them that I forgot about my natural curfew,' he thought grimly.
Sam gently tilted his head side to side to check her work, nodding in satisfaction. "Alright, you're good to go. Now, out." She slid off his lap and stood.
Danny got to his feet and, with a flash of light, shifted back into his ghost form. "Later, Sam," he said, stepping toward the window.
Just before taking off, he glanced back—catching her sitting cross-legged on the bed, smiling softly and waving. Something in that look made him hesitate. Danny floated back over, leaned in, and planted a quick kiss on her cheek.
"See you tomorrow," he murmured before slipping out into the night.
Sam's fingers instinctively went to the spot he'd kissed. Somehow, that small, fleeting touch hit deeper than the passionate make-out they'd shared earlier. Her heart fluttered, and she fell back onto her bed, causing her makeup kit and brushes to bounce around her. She sighed happily, still holding her cheek.
Meanwhile, Danny soared over the town, doing small twirls in the air with a bright grin.
"I have my family back, I have a girlfriend… all is good in the world," he whispered to himself.
But as his house came into view, his smile slowly fell into a melancholy expression.
"Then why am I still unsure?"
'I mean, I'm ecstatic that Sam and I are dating… but still…' His flight slowed, the thought gnawing at him. 'Ah… I get it now.'
Hovering above his room, he let himself drift in place, staring at the roof. 'Before, if I broke the spell, I'd only lose my family. Now… now I'd lose them and my relationship with Sam. What the hell am I doing? I'm just acquiring more things to lose…'
The light in his eyes dimmed. He slowly sank down through the roof, ghost form slipping into the quiet darkness of his room. Floating above his bed, his transformation faded, and he dropped onto the mattress with a dull bounce.
A hand came up to cover his face. 'Why… why can't I have anything good? Whoever said doing good deeds brings you good fortune is a freaking liar.'
"Danny! Dinner's ready!!" Maddie's voice echoed through the house.
Danny groaned loudly, throwing his arms out like a dying man. "I just laid down. Oh my god. I can't even have five seconds to be melodramatic…"
Pushing himself upright with exaggerated slowness, he called back, "Coming!!" in pure exasperation.
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