Chapter Text
Danny Fenton was going to get a date to prom. He was determined as hell to make sure Tucker wasn’t his date again. Homecoming was enough. It was time he manned up.
However, determination charged by a false sense of masculinity could never outmatch fear of rejection. He knew he could conjure an amazing promposal, what with his ghost powers and ghost friends and whatnot. But instead of coming up with the jaw-dropping promposal sure to sweep Paulina off her feet, Danny could only follow her, abusing his invisibility far too much (whether that be due to his ghost powers, or his lack of presence in general). And then it was the weekend before prom, and Paulina still hadn’t accepted anyone’s offer, and Danny still hadn’t mustered up the courage to ask her.
He lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling above him, feeling the impending doom devouring his insides. Paulina was sure to accept an offer soon. Maybe she was being picky, or maybe she was waiting for someone specific to ask her, and Danny couldn’t help but picture himself as that specific someone. But if he didn’t ask, she’d never say yes, and she’d wind up going to prom with Dash or something. Ugh.
But he couldn’t bring himself to ask her! The thought of going all out, trying his best to provide an amazing promposal filled with balloons, flowers, and, hell, even fireworks, only to be turned down by Paulina…
He wouldn’t be able to handle it. He would expose his identity as Danny Phantom right then and there, if only to be able to turn invisible or intangible and sink into the ground and straight to hell. He was a wimp and he knew it.
But he had to try. Damn it, he had to at least try. He pulled out his phone and texted Tucker.
Danny: hey tuck, youre smart right??
Tucker: u kno it 8)
Danny: can you get me paulina’s number?
Tucker: danny, im smart, not a miracle worker
Tucker: how u expect me to pull paulina’s Sacred Phone Number right out of my ass and hand it to u on a silver platter, i dont kno
Danny: i hate you thanks
Danny sighed. With Tucker being of absolutely no help, he put his hopes on Sam. But, seeing as he was asking for help with Paulina, she’d probably be less than willing to help.
Danny: sam youre smart right??
Sam: i’d like to think so
Danny: can you get me paulina’s number?
Sam: ew wtf
Danny: pleaseeeeee
Sam: why
Danny: i want to ask her to prom :( really badly :( i dont want to date tucker again please :( :( :(
Sam: ugh
Sam: fine
And then the digits where there. All ten numbers, a seemingly random assortment, but no, these numbers were carefully aligned, not unsimilar to the stars in the sky, to form Paulina’s number. He wasn’t sure how Sam had the number, but he wasn’t going to ask questions. This was no time for questions.
This was time for action.
He didn’t bother to thank Sam. He was too busy immediately typing the number into his phone, and then, typing up a response. An estimated time of twenty minutes was spent typing, deleting, re-typing, reading, deleting, re-typing, and re-reading. At this rate, he’d never send the message.
When he was sure there were absolutely no typos in the text, he shut his eyes and sent it. One quick impulse. His stomach filled with an odd mixture of regret, excitement, and pathetic hope.
Danny: Hey, so, I know asking over text isn’t exactly what you’d want. I’m sure you want something bigger, like flowers and fireworks, and you deserve that. But I can’t wait any longer. I’d much rather tell you personally than make a show of it, anyways. It would be too complicated, I’m sure. Anyways, what I’m trying to ask here is… will you go to prom with me?
A couple minutes had passed by with no response. He nervously began to type a follow up text.
Danny: I’ll pick you up in my car, of course, and it doesn’t even have to be romantic, you know? It’ll only go as far as you’d want it to. I just want to spend the night with you, you know? I’d love to spend prom with you.
“Oh god,” Danny groaned, tossing his phone aside and hiding his face behind crossed arms. Shit shit shit. He was freaking out. With every passing second, every minute that his phone didn’t vibrate, the desire to vomit became stronger and stronger. And when his phone finally did vibrate, it took a lot to hold back the vomit crawling up his throat. He scrambled for his phone and quickly unlocked it with shaking hands.
Paulina: oh wow, that’s corny as hell
Shit. Was that good, or bad? Danny couldn’t tell. He bit his lip and waited for further responses.
Paulina: do you really mean that? you want to spend the night with me? god i’m boring as hell unless i’m drunk as fuck, ask kwan.
Boring as hell? Drunk as fuck? Kwan?
Okay, Paulina would never admit she was anything less than perfect, and she would never utter any words that implied she was not the most interesting girl on the planet. Unless, maybe Danny had caught her in a vulnerable moment, and she was willing to admit insecurities to him?
His phone vibrated again.
Paulina: but hey! if you want to go with me, who am i to say no?
Paulina: I’d love to go with you, Fenton. I’ll go to prom with you.
Oh my god.
Paulina: also tbh if i knew you were out of the closet, i totally wouldve asked you, js lmao
This was not Paulina. Sam hadn’t given him Paulina’s number.
SAM.
Danny: dash
Dash: yeah?
“Fucking hell! ” Danny shouted, screaming into his palms. Sam had given him Dash’s number! And he was damn sure it was no accident.
Dash: shit wait, did you mean to send this to someone else?
Oh god, there was no going back, was there? Dash had basically admitted that he wanted to be Danny’s prom date. Did he have a crush on Danny? Since when? Since he stopped shoving his head into toilet bowls?
Jesus, this was a mess. Danny sat up and stared at his reflection, at his flushed cheeks and messy hair and wide eyes.
He couldn't do it. He couldn't crush Dash like that, it would be too embarrassing for him. He had to go with it, he had to.
There was no going back.
Danny: no!! of course not, haha. I was just wondering, um, do you want to like, match or something? We can like, wear the same suit color or something?
Dash: ew no, what are we, the twins from the shining? gross, we have to be the hottest couple there alright? we’ll match dress shirts and ties, yeah?
Dash: okay i have some ideas but i need to do homework first, so i’ll text you later
Danny: yeah no problem!
Dash: talk to you later
Danny let out a deep sigh, exhaustion suddenly taking over his entire body. How would he explain this to his parents? He’d have to take prom pictures with Dash, then show up at prom with Dash, and the entire school would be watching, whispering.
His prom was officially ruined, and he knew who was to blame.
Danny: Samantha Andrea Manson
Sam: dont call me that!
Danny: why
Sam: why what (:
Danny: why have you done this to me
Sam: omg did he say YES
Danny: YES HE SAID FUCKING YES HE WANTED TO ME TO BE HIS DATE FROM THE START AAAA
Sam: OMG AAAAAAA
Danny: STOP
Sam: i didnt see this one coming danny. i did not. holy shit this is incredible hold on this is group chat worthy
Danny: S T O P
His phone buzzed immediately after sending that response.
Sam: DANNY HAS A DATE TO PROM AND ITS NOT PAULINA GUESS WHO IT IS HINT ITS FCUKGN DASH
Tucker: WUT
Sam: YEAH!!!!! Y EA AHH
Danny: guys please stop please
Tucker: i can’t believe this. u r dumping me :’(
Tucker: how did this happen though what the wtf
Danny: i asked sam for paulina’s number and she gave mE DASH’S NUMBER
Danny: SO I SENT DASH A PROMPOSAL NOT PAULINA
Sam: (:
Tucker: dude thats brutal omg
Sam: to be fair i didn’t think he would say yes i thought he’d just laugh at you and ruin your chances with paulina!
Danny: oh yeah that makes everything better
Tucker: ok so you sent dash a message under the assumption that it was paulina
Tucker: so it was this corny ass nerd shit right
Danny: ugh
Danny: yeah whatever
Tucker: and he said YES?
Sam: he has a crush on danny dude he *wanted* danny to ask him!
Tucker: DASH BAXTER
Tucker: A CRUSH ON DANNY
Tucker: WHAT IS GOING ON
Sam: I KNOW RIGHT
Danny: honestly there are tears streaming down my face
Sam: omg danny honestly i’m so sorry but like… this is Gold alright this is Grade A Shite right here i love this
Sam: like not only are you not going with paulina, you’re going with dash, meaning paulina’s not going with anyone!!
Sam: she’ll probably just go with Kwan and everyone will know that’s a last ditch effort!!
Sam: i love this i’ve reached ascension
Danny: honestly sam fuck off
Danny: i have to deal with my parents! they don’t know i’m gay!
Danny: i dont know im gay what the shitting hell
Tucker: i didn’t know either dude
Sam: just! be open about this! Dash likes you! so he wont be as insufferable as usual!!
Danny: ugh whatever
Danny silenced the group chat. He noticed he had a message from Dash and opened it.
Dash: thanks for asking me btw. like i said i kind of wanted to ask you but i was too chicken. also this saves me the pain of having to go to another school event as paulina’s date lmao fuck that
Danny found himself laughing. Maybe it was all the nerves, but a laugh that brought tears to his eyes overtook him until his cheeks hurt and his stomach burned.
He was not ready for prom. Not one bit.