Chapter 1: Coming Home
Chapter Text
Jazz twirled with her thumbs anxiously as the wind picked up around her, swirling her hair behind her shoulders. Suddenly, she realized how uncomfortable she was sitting on this concrete bench. She glanced around quickly to see other students walking about, going to their classes, going to the dining hall, or heading to their dorms. In all honesty, she should be heading to the library. She still had to catch up on her final assignments, even though she still had over a month - almost two - to finish them. She sighed as she looked back at the blonde-haired, brown eyed college man in front of her, waiting for him to finish saying his piece. God, she wished he could talk faster.
"…and I just wanted to say that I care about -"
"Ben." Jazz interrupted. "If you wanted to end this, you could just tell me."
There was nothing to end, really. You can't end something if it never started.
Ben had caught her eye the minute he walked into her psychology class. Jazz, being the productive individual she was, got to class twenty minutes before it started. Not even the professor was there. About fifteen minutes into her waiting, Ben had walked in. It was easy for her to admit that he was cute, but Jazz had always been the one to focus on her work. She put her head down and focused on her reading assignments. She didn't look up again when Ben sat down in the row behind her.
A couple of weeks later, lingering eye contact quickly turned into conversations. Jazz had learned that Ben was an Economic major who stumbled upon this class during registration since he needed to fulfill some liberal arts requirements. He admitted that he originally wasn't planning on sticking around for the content and would drop the course after going to one class. That was until he saw Jazz.
Still, Jazz was hesitant. She had always put her studies and goals first. She always knew what she wanted and stuck to the plan.
Not only that, but there was also a certain techno geek she thought about.
Tucker. Every Time she saw him during her visits home, she would feel the butterflies. The first time she felt the slight flutter of butterflies, she quickly stomped them down. No way. No way could she feel that way about Tucker. She simply had to find a logical explanation to why she was feeling the annoying fluttering in her stomach. Obviously, it had to do with proximity. Tucker was always around, so of course her brain rationalized that he would always be there.
That's right. All brain, no heart. So this shall pass.
Time passed, and it turned out the longer she knew Tucker, the more she found his personality to be so endearing. His passion for technology, for one, was a massive turn on for her. She was passionate in her studies, so seeing someone else passionate about their own thing was enthralling. His ability to lighten a tense situation would be something that she could never execute, and while he wasn't always successful in his execution, he was so cute about it.
But life likes to fuck with you sometimes, so out of all the men she was interested in seeing what a serious relationship could be like, it had to be her little brother's best friend.
So when Ben offered drinks, she took the distraction. Then drinks turned into a small fling. The first time they hooked up, she felt bad about it since she knew she wasn't all that serious about Ben. So she turned to the one person who wouldn't judge her but would be blunt with her.
Flashback
"Does that make me an awful person?" Jazz asked the person on the other end of her phone. She had her phone on speaker and off to the side on her desk so she could continue studying. Just because she was going through a small relational crisis didn't mean the studying stopped.
"How would hooking up make you an awful person? You're single, you can do whatever you want." Sam countered.
Jazz sighed, highlighting a sentence in her textbook. "I know. But I've never been the one night stand kind of girl…"
"Is that what that was?"
"I don't know. I know I don't want to have a relationship with him. Ben is nice and all. But he's…not…"
Sam waited to see if Jazz would finish her thought. After a few tense seconds, she finished it for her. "…not Tucker."
Jazz dropped the highlighter to bring her hands to rub her eyes. "Why did it have to be him?!"
"We can't help who we like, Jazz…"
"Yeah but…Tucker?!" Jazz groaned.
"It hits you when you least expect it. You think it was part of my plans to like my best friend?"
Jazz snorted. "Oh please. From the first moment I saw you guys interact, it was obvious that there was something between you two. Even my nine year old self knew that."
Sam groaned. She always got so embarrassed when she thought back to how obvious it was to everyone that she liked Danny. She thought she hid it better than that. "What makes you think it wouldn't work out?"
Jazz shrugged. "First of all, your boyfriend."
"He's not going to do anything." Sam quickly responded.
Jazz looked at her phone with an incredulous expression. "Are we talking about the same Danny here?"
"Yes. And I guarantee you that he won't do anything."
"He'll freak."
"True. But I'll hold him back. Trust me, I won't let his overprotective tendencies get in between you and Tucker."
Jazz nodded her head slightly. She knew that Sam was the only person who could ground her brother, and she believed her when she said that she would hold him back. Still, there was another factor holding her back. "It's just…I don't know if Tucker feels the same and, call me crazy, but I don't really want my heart to break."
Sam bit her bottom lip. She knew that Jazz had nothing to worry about because Tucker had confessed to her that he was falling for Jazz. The only reason Jazz thought he wasn't interested in her was because she had overheard Tucker talk with Danny about a few girls here and there whenever he was over. But Sam knew that the girls that he talked about were nothing but distractions from Jazz and that Tucker did it to keep up with his 'ladies man' persona.
Tucker was her best friend, though. And so was Jazz. And while it would be awesome to confess their true feelings to each other herself, she couldn't do it. She respected both and was sworn to secrecy.
Rather than blurt out the truth, she stuck to her neutral position. "You never know until you take that first step."
"No thanks. I think I'll take the same approach you and Danny did. Wait until the real possibility of the world ending, and then at the last second, admit my feelings."
"Okay, ouch."
"Don't worry. I gave him the same shit too."
Sam rolled her eyes and scoffed. "So you'll just stuff your feelings in a box and shove it under your bed?"
"Preferably with rocks inside and throw said box into the ocean."
"I see the drama gene runs in the family. Look, if you learned anything from me and Danny, don't hold yourself back. You never know what could happen."
Jazz sighed again as she twirled the highlighter between her fingers. "Maybe. Not now, though."
Sam pressed her lips together, getting the sense that Jazz was done with the Tucker conversation. "So, what's going to happen with you and Ben?"
Jazz scoffed. "Maybe a little distraction wouldn't be such a bad idea. It doesn't have to be anything serious."
"Just use condoms."
End of Flashback
"It's not that I want to end this. I like you, Jazz." Ben gently placed his hand on top of hers. "It's just, sometimes I feel like you're somewhere else."
"Oh Ben..."
Jazz brought her other hand on top of Ben's.
"I know in the beginning, you were clear about this being a no-strings-attached situation, but I'm wondering if you could see something different now…with me."
"Ben, I'm sorry. I just can't right now."
Ben looked somberly back at his hand that was covered by Jazz's and retracted it. "Then I can't do whatever this is either." With that, Ben walked off leaving Jazz on the uncomfortable concrete bench alone.
It didn't take long for her thoughts to attack her. Part of her was upset at herself for stringing Ben along, even though he knew what she wanted and had agreed to the terms. The other part was proud of herself for sticking to her boundaries, even if that meant she was back at square one with no distractions. She peeked at her phone, acknowledging the time was in the early afternoon. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to focus on anything for the rest of the day, and she didn't want to be stabbed with her thoughts about Tucker or Ben. So she needed a distraction.
She picked up her phone and looked up the earliest flights back to Amity Park. She could allow herself a weekend of distractions.
A couple of hours later, Jazz slid into the back seat of her Uber, driving to her house. She acted so impulsively with this that she didn't even have time to let her parents or Sam know that she was coming over. Now that she is here, she might as well keep it a surprise. The Uber ride took about half an hour, but finally, she saw the blaring sign that was placed on her family home.
The Uber driver did a double-take at the directions and then looked back at the house. "Is this right?"
"Yep, you got it." Jazz quickly said as the Uber parked right in front of her house.
"You're Danny Phantom's sister. Jazz, right?" The Uber driver asked excitedly.
Jazz sighed. It didn't seem like the celebrity status her brother held would be washing away anytime soon. Maybe never, he did save the world after all. "Yeah, that's me." She quickly opened the door and slid out. "Thanks for the ride!" She shut the car door, jogged up the steps, and opened her front door before the Uber driver could ask for anything else. Now that she was home free, she leaned on the door, pressing her back against it for a quick breather. Once she caught her breath, she dropped her bag and quickly went down the stairs to the lab to see her parents. Surely they were working on an invention. Except when she got to the bottom of the stairs, they weren't there.
Furrowing her eyebrows and pressing her lips together, she jogged back up the stairs to the main floor and continued on the second flight of stairs to the second floor. She saw that Danny's bedroom door was closed, but that didn't necessarily mean he was home. He always kept his door shut.
Which is why when she opened his door, she wasn't expecting to see her little brother and his girlfriend entangled in just their underwear. She shrieked as Danny screamed in surprise a few seconds after. She quickly brought her hand to her eyes, not thinking that she could just run out and shut the door.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"Jazz!" Danny flung off Sam and crashed to the floor. He quickly scrambled to the side of his bed and threw his comforter over Sam. "Ever heard of knocking!?"
"I didn't know you would be here!" Jazz screamed back, her hand still covering her eyes.
"It's my room!" Danny yelled back as he reached for his jeans, which were tossed on the floor. Sam's skirt was right next to his jeans, so he threw it over to her as she was pulling on her tights. Once his jeans were zipped and buttoned, he frantically looked for his shirt, but it seemed to be lost in the tangle of sheets.
Sam looked over the edge of the bed and saw hers and Danny's shirts. She got out of his bed and grabbed both shirts, tossing Danny his shirt and throwing hers over her head.
"What are you doing here?" Danny barked as he threw his shirt over his head. He then smoothed his hair as he could imagine it looked crazy. He discovered very early in their relationship that Sam really liked playing with his hair whenever they made out, not that he was complaining. No way. He loved it. But that didn't mean he wanted the whole world to know whenever he and Sam did have a make-out session. No matter how hot it was.
"I thought it'd be nice to show up and surprise my family!"
"Well, you sure surprised me alright!" Danny glared at his sister and finished smoothing his hair down as much as he could. Sam turned over and caught his eyes. Immediately, he took a deep breath and calmed down. "You can open your eyes now."
Slowly, Jazz peeked one eye open. Danny rolled his eyes as Jazz took her hand away from her eyes, deeming the room appropriate again. "Where's mom and dad?" Jazz was still flustered with the scene she walked in on.
"At a ghost convention. They're gone the entire weekend."
Jazz narrowed her eyes at Danny. "And I'm assuming that Sam was going to stay the whole weekend."
Danny returned his sister's glare. "That was the plan."
"Jazz, what are you doing here?" Sam asked for the first time, interrupting the glares the Fenton siblings exchanged.
Jazz shrugged and exhaled an exasperated breath. "Needed a distraction…"
"Distraction?" Danny asked.
Sam, however, understood what Jazz meant. "Who ended it?"
Danny looked at his girlfriend. "Ended what?"
"He did." Jazz responded, ignoring Danny and his questions.
"Who's 'he'?" Danny raised his eyebrows, trying to keep up with the conversation. "There was a 'he'?"
Sam crossed her arms over her chest. "He wanted more than what was discussed."
Jazz leaned against Danny's door frame and nodded. "Yep."
"Who wanted more of what?!" Danny exasperated. He felt like he was missing so much context in this conversation.
Jazz waved him off. "Danny, you don't need to know. What you do need to know is that I'm home for the weekend."
Danny huffed a frustrated sigh as he raked his hand through his hair. He had been looking forward to this weekend ever since his parents told him that they would be leaving. He had a whole plan of spending the entire weekend with Sam…who knows what it could lead to. He was looking forward to finding out, but it seemed that life liked to torture him.
"So," Jazz stated as she shot up off of Danny's doorframe. "We're going out tonight."
Chapter 2: Girl's Night Out
Chapter Text
"So what actually happened?" Sam asked Jazz as they both got ready in Jazz's room with Dumpty Humpty blasting on her speaker. Once Jazz claimed to take the lead for tonight, Sam went back home to get an outfit and makeup for tonight. If Jazz needed a night of fun to distract her from everything, she would do it, much to Danny's frustration.
She now sat in front of Jazz's mirror, focusing on her eyeliner. She had changed from her day clothes to something more appropriate for a night out: tight black faux leather pants and a black backless halter top, paired with black sock platform boots and a choker.
Once she finished with her eyeliner, she glanced in the mirror at Jazz, who was wearing skinny jeans and a light blue crop top, paired with black ankle boots. She could see that Jazz was deciding between letting her hair down or pulling it into a ponytail.
"He told me that he feels like I'm somewhere else…" Jazz sighed. She decided that she would have her hair down with two braids tied in a half-up, half-down fashion. "And that he wanted to know if I could see something different with him now. I told him I couldn't." She then opened up a tube of mascara and stood behind Sam to apply her mascara. "And he decided he couldn't do whatever we had anymore."
Sam capped her eyeliner, stuffing it back in her makeup bag. She then pulled out her mascara and started applying it to her eyelashes. "It's okay to process things in your time."
"I know. But a small part of me feels bad that I couldn't just tell Ben yes."
"You can't force something that doesn't feel right to you." Sam capped her mascara and placed it back in her bag. She grabbed her purple lipstick to touch up before she deemed herself ready for the night.
An aggressive knock was heard on Jazz's door, taking both of their attention away. "Your brother is kind of upset with you." Sam added as she gave Jazz a somber grin.
Jazz scoffed and rolled her eyes. "How was I supposed to know that he was here?"
"To be fair, how was he supposed to know you were coming?" Sam countered.
Jazz held her hands up in defeat as she walked to her door. "Fine, I admit fault." She opened her door to reveal a somewhat annoyed Danny, sporting a white long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, dark jeans, and white vans.
"Still pissed?" Jazz asked Danny. He narrowed his eyes at his sister as an indicator that he was still pissed. He then sifted his gaze over to Sam and immediately softened as he checked her out.
"I was. But then I saw sexy over there." Danny winked at Sam, causing her to blush.
"Gross. Get a room." Jazz gagged.
Annoyance was back on Danny's face as he looked at his sister. "We tried!"
"Okay, we're not starting this again." Sam said, getting in between the bickering siblings. "What did you come here for?" She asked, turning over to Danny.
"I was just going to tell you guys that the Uber should be here in ten minutes. Tucker should be coming in a few."
"Shit. Of course, Tucker would be coming." "Great." Jazz said quickly as she crossed over to her mirror again.
Sam noticed how stiff Jazz got when Danny had mentioned Tucker's attendance. "Danny, if you wanted to go get the shots ready, that'd be great. We'll be down in a few minutes."
"Sure." Sam watched Danny walk down the hall and down the stairs before she closed Jazz's door. "So, how drunk are we getting tonight?"
Jazz snorted and gave Sam a sly smile. "Drunk enough to forget my feelings."
"Danny?" Tucker shouted into the Fenton home, shutting the front door behind him.
"In here, Tuck!" Danny called out from the kitchen. He had just finished pouring four shots and was now twisting the cap of the liquor bottle and placing it on the kitchen table when Tucker walked in.
"I thought you and Sam would be busy all weekend." Tucker commented as he walked into the kitchen.
Danny grunted in response. "Me too. But things change, I guess."
"How come?" Tucker asked.
Danny glanced behind Tucker's shoulder and pointed behind him. "Why don't you ask her?"
When Tucker turned around, he expected to see Sam with a mischievous look and an explanation for why Danny had called him to invite him to go out with them. What he wasn't expecting was to see Jazz. He stumbled back a bit as he was struck by her beauty. Usually, he could prepare himself for when he knew he would be seeing her, but this was a total surprise. A welcome surprise, however.
He allowed himself to drift his eyes down her body as he savored every perfect aspect of what made Jazz. "Jazz, you're home…" Tucker stammered. He looked back at Danny, who had an annoyed expression. He breathed a sigh of relief as it meant he wasn't caught checking out his best friend's sister.
"Yeah…I just needed a weekend home."
"Well, hey," Tucker started as he patted his dark wash jeans. He then raised his arms for a hug. "Welcome home." He quickly went in for a hug, and while it looked friendly to the outside, it warmed his entire body as butterflies boomed in his stomach.
Much to Jazz's dismay, he retracted his arms too soon. It was probably for the best, though, as she didn't want to cause suspicion for Danny. When she turned back to her brother to double-check if he did have any suspicions, her shoulders relaxed as she noticed that he was distracted by his girlfriend, who had her arms wrapped around his torso.
"Thank you, Sam."
"We should probably have a shot before the Uber gets here." Jazz said, bringing Tucker back to earth.
"Right." Tucker took a few steps over to the kitchen table to grab two shot glasses, passing one off to Jazz. She gave a shy smile in response, holding the shot glass up with everyone following after.
"To a night of fun."
"Boy, is it my lucky day. Not only did I drive Danny Phantom's sister, but now I'm driving Danny Phantom himself, along with the rest of Team Phantom." The Uber driver announced excitedly.
"I guess so." Danny responded sheepishly.
"I gotta tell you man, my kid absolutely loves you. Do you mind if I get an autograph and a picture for him? I would be seen as a hero to him. Not like you, I mean, you're a real hero, but I'm sure it'd be -"
Jazz tuned the Uber driver out. She was focusing on more important matters. Matters such as Tucker's forearms. He copied the same style of rolling his dark green long-sleeved shirt, revealing his strong arms to Jazz. Ghost fighting has done wonders for him.
She bit her finger as her eyes roamed up of what she could see of his body. In the dark, she was safe to check him out. She took advantage of the dark by also remembering how his strong arms felt around her body. How much she wished he would pick her up where she would automatically wrap her legs around him as they started a passionate kiss -
"Jazz?" She quickly shifted her gaze to Sam. "We're here."
"Oh good." Jazz followed after Sam's lead as they stepped out of the car. She looked over to see that her brother was doing a quick picture and an autograph for the Uber driver. She then glanced over at Tucker and noticed that he was also looking at her. As soon as they made eye contact, they looked away and blushed. "I'm so fucked, Sam."
Sam wrapped her arm around Jazz and lightly squeezed her. "Don't worry. We're here to have fun, remember?"
Once Danny was done, the group walked into the club where they were greeted with loud music, lights blazing along with the music, and people around their age dancing. Jazz stood on her tiptoes looking for the bar. Once she found it, she grabbed Sam's arm and dragged her to the bar wordlessly. Danny and Tucker followed closely behind.
"Can I get four Long Islands?" Jazz asked the bartender. With the club being so close to Amity University, she knew that the bartender wouldn't ask for their IDs. They never do. It only took two minutes for the bartender to pass four Long Islands to the group. Jazz picked up two and passed them to Danny and Tucker, who stood behind her. She then grabbed the other two and held one out for Sam.
She sipped on her drink, smiling slightly as the drink warmed her body.
"College has really made you looser, hasn't it?" Danny asked, shouting slightly so he could be heard over the music. "I never would have imagined to be drinking underage with my sister, who is also underage."
Jazz waved him off and took another sip. "We're both adults. And I learned a long time ago that you can manage yourself. Just don't tell mom and dad." She warned, holding an accusing finger at him.
"My lips are sealed." Danny swiped his finger over his lips and made a motion to lock his lips shut, finishing his act by throwing the imaginary key over his shoulder.
A few long islands later and another round of shots, Jazz was feeling pretty good. She let the alcohol control her movements as she danced to whatever music the DJ deemed dance-worthy and popular. She was in her own world, being energized by the bass of the music, when she felt another body press on her back, dancing with her. A few drinks ago, she would've cared, but at this point, so long as they kept it in their parents, she didn't care.
Sam, however, hadn't drunk as much as Jazz. She was dancing with Danny, but still kept her eyes on Jazz. Once she saw a random guy sneak up behind her, she made a beeline for her. "Hey, back off, buddy." She snarled at the guy, shoving him off. He just gave her a drunken smirk, assessing her up and down, as Jazz continued to dance as if this confrontation wasn't happening behind her.
The guy lifted his arm and reached over to Sam. "I don't mind sharing -" before he could wrap his arm around her body, he felt a sudden force hold his arm back. He shifted his eyes from Sam to see who had stopped his exploration, just to see blazing green eyes glaring at him.
"Yeah, but I do." Danny growled. He then shoved the guy back, watching him stumble. "Go somewhere else." The guy looked at Danny one last time before stumbling away. As he watched the guy walk off, his ghost sense went off. He looked back at Sam and gave her a nervous glance, as he didn't want to leave her.
"We'll be fine. You go handle that. Jazz and I are going to the bathroom quickly." Sam said into Danny's ear before dragging Jazz to the bathrooms.
"I was having so much fun!" Jazz declared, waving her drink around.
"I can see that." Once they got to the bathroom, she pulled Jazz into the corner. "Are you doing okay?"
"Sam, I told you, I wanted to have fun!" Jazz yelled.
Sam brushed pieces of Jazz's hair back. "Yeah, but did that mean you wanted guys to be on top of you?"
Jazz shrugged. "A distraction, Sam."
Sam bit her lip. After everything Jazz told her months ago, she found it hard that Jazz would be okay with anyone touching her. But the indignation in her eyes was enough to convince her.
"I promise. If I didn't want it, I would tell you. Now, can we please go out, and will you please have another drink with me?! You're not on the same wavelength with me right now."
"Fine." Sam and Jazz walked out of the bathroom and back towards the bar. Once they got there, they ordered another round of shots. When they drank it, Sam grunted a bit, still not used to the burning sensation. When she looked up, she noticed that Jazz was frozen.
"Jazz?" Sam called out. She followed Jazz's gaze and noticed that Tucker was dancing closely with a girl. "Distraction! Distraction!"
"Bartender!" Sam called out. "Another round, please!"
It took three more shots for Jazz to forget about Tucker. Three more shots than Sam had planned for herself that night. And those three shots were taking a toll now.
"I had a good guy at Yale. He was really sweet!" Jazz slurred, waving her hands around. "And I blew it away!"
Sam held her empty shot glass up as if she were inspecting it. "But you can't force anything that isn't right! You know what is right! Don't be like me and wait!"
Jazz cupped Sam's face, bringing her attention to her eyes. "It is so nice to talk about this stuff with another girl."
Sam put her glass down to cup Jazz's face. "I agree. Imagine being the only girl in a friend group of guys."
"At least you have friends..."
"Hey! You do, too! You're my best friend! I know we had our issues in the past, but I'm so glad we're past that!"
Jazz's smile grew. "You're my best friend, too! You're the best thing that's ever happened to my brother! I love you!"
"I love you, too! You're amazing! With my goth indifference, I shouldn't even be saying this stuff, but it's true and I have no control over my mouth!" Sam and Jazz burst out laughing at Sam's statement. "But wait, I have to clear something up!" Sam said, bringing her hands to Jazz's arms to steady themselves. "Your brother is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I never thought it was possible to feel everything I'm feeling, I thought that shit was for the movies. But it's true, Jazz! And that's why I want you to go out there and get what you want!" Sam screamed, pointing at Tucker.
"You're right!" Jazz said, slamming her hand on the counter.
"Hell yeah, I'm right!" Sam picked herself off the side of the bar and noticed that she felt wobbly. She stumbled a bit, catching herself before she fell. When she looked back up at Jazz, they both laughed as if it were the best joke they'd ever heard.
"Uh-oh." Sam turned over to see Danny. Her smile broadened as he wrapped his arms around her. He just returned her smile as he lightly kissed her nose. "You got hit with the drunk bug?"
"Maybe…" she responded in a sing-song tune. She tore her eyes from Danny's to scan the room to double-check Jazz, who had gone back to the dance floor and was letting herself feel the music. Feeling satisfied, she pressed herself into Danny and stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear. "Dance with me."
"How can I deny you?" Danny asked flirtatiously.
Sam shook her head as she held his arm around her, guiding him to the dance floor with her. "You can't."
Even though Tucker had another girl dancing on him, he couldn't help but glance over at Jazz numerous times throughout the night. He almost broke down when he saw a guy coming up behind her, but luckily didn't have the chance to dance as Sam came over.
He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep up with the facade of not being interested in Danny's sister. Who wouldn't be? With her flawless skin, long vibrant red hair, and light blue eyes where he could easily drown in them…shit he had it bad.
Shaking his head, he focused back on the girl grinding on him. She was pretty, but she had nothing on Jazz. She was just so beautiful. "There I go again, thinking about Jazz." He glanced over at his desire when he noticed that another guy came up behind her. He looked over to Sam, hoping she would save him again, but realized that she and Danny were dancing, not paying attention to anyone else but each other.
He sighed in slight jealousy over his friends. He was beyond thrilled that they were together; those two have been destined for each other since the moment they talked in second grade, it was only a matter of time and push. The push just happened to be a life-threatening disasteroid. But it didn't matter because now they were together, and Tucker had never seen his best friends so happy before. The way their eyes would light up at even the mention of one another was something special that Tucker hoped to experience himself. He watched as Danny placed his hand on Sam's neck as his thumb lightly caressed her cheek, smiling at her. Sam smiled at the affection as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.
What they had, Tucker wanted.
He just hoped he could experience that with Jazz. Looking back at her again, he saw that she was now facing the guy who had gotten behind her. He craned his neck to see that she looked pissed off, waving her hands around. Then the guy reached down to her ass. As soon as Tucker saw Jazz shove him off, he was storming over, leaving the girl he was dancing with confused. He pulled the guy's shoulder, making the idiot face him, and punched him square in the jaw.
The guy falling caused those surrounding them to form a small circle. The guy then stood up and lunged towards Tucker. Jazz screamed when Tucker crashed on the floor with the guy on top of him. The next thing she knew, Danny pulled the guy off of Tucker, but was then punched by another guy, whom she assumed was a friend of the guy Tucker punched. Tucker, still feeling the surge of testosterone and possession in him, lunged at the guy again, as Danny returned his own punch and started fighting with the friend.
"Tucker! Danny! Stop!" Jazz cried out, completely sober now.
"What happened?" Sam asked, seemingly sober as well.
Jazz pointed to the guy that Tucker was fighting. "That idiot wouldn't take no for an answer. Tucker came out of nowhere and punched him. Next thing I know, this!"
"Uncivilized boys, am I right, ladies?" A different guy came up between Jazz and Sam and placed his arms around their shoulders, his hands uncomfortably close to their breasts. "What do you say we ditch them and move on to bigger..." He looked over to Jazz, then down to his pants to reference what he meant. He then glanced over to Sam, who looked unamused. "And better things like me. I can show you two what a real man feels like." He then moved both hands to grasp a boob, but his adventure stopped when he felt both of his hands clamp shut. Before he could open his mouth to charm himself in their pants, Sam and Jazz turned on their heels to face the guy and punched him on each side of his face in a synchronized movement. The sudden action made him hold his face, looking at both in bewilderment before turning away.
"Men are disgusting." Sam snarled. They turned around to see Tucker and Danny still fighting the other two guys. "We need to break this up."
"Where the fuck are the bouncers?" Jazz spat.
Sam sighed. "I'll take my guy, you take yours."
Jazz couldn't help the blush that traveled on her cheeks. "He's not my guy!"
Sam gave her a knowing smile. "But you want him to be."
"Fuck you, Sam." Jazz sighed. Sam laughed at Jazz before they went to stop the fights.
"Tucker, stop!" Jazz shouted, but her plea landed on deaf ears. Neither attempted to stop their fight, not even when Jazz started splashing unattended drinks on them. Next, she thought about pulling the guy away from Tucker, but he was too strong.
Sam wasn't fairing any better. She had yelled at Danny and the guy who was fighting him before resorting to hitting the guy's back. She looked around the crowd and noticed that the bouncers were handling another fight that was happening in another corner of the club. She thought about getting in between them, but she knew that if the guy accidentally hit her, that would just enrage Danny even more and continue the fight.
Both Jazz and Sam looked at each other, frustrated that neither had any luck. Next, they turned over to the bar and noticed that the bartender wasn't there. As they turned back to each other, they flashed each other a devious smile, reading each other's minds. They ran to the bar, Sam vaulting over it and Jazz running around to stand behind it before grabbing a fountain hose each. They sprayed at the four men, causing them to stop fighting and shield themselves from the water. Once Sam and Jazz deemed they had cooled off, they turned the hoses off.
"We're leaving." Jazz announced as she and Sam stormed out of the club. Danny and Tucker glared at the two men as they followed them out.
Chapter 3: Wanting, Desiring, Needing
Chapter Text
"I still don't understand how I got dragged into the fight," Danny murmured as the four of them walked inside Fenton Works.
"Because you can never stop yourself from engaging in a fight?" Jazz guessed.
"No, I know why I joined," He then shoved a finger in Tucker's direction. "Some asshole was punching my friend. I just don't understand why their friend started fighting with me and why the whole fight even happened?"
Tucker and Jazz exchanged a quick glance at each other, then looked away, blushing.
"Tucker was defending me," Jazz said quietly.
"What?" Danny asked. Slowly, his expression changed from one of confusion to annoyance and anger. "What did that asshole do?" He asked, eyes flashing green.
"Nothing. Geez, calm down."
"He didn't do anything because Tucker came to the rescue," Sam interjected as she clapped her friend on the back. "Good job, Tuck."
Tucker looked at the ground, sheepishly. He was never one to engage in fights, leaving that up to Danny. But when he saw what that douchebag was doing to Jazz, something in him snapped. Next thing he knew, he had a raised fist and the guy was on the ground.
Jazz noticed how uncomfortable Tucker was at the moment and couldn't help but think he was so cute for being so humble about the entire thing.
Maddie Fenton raised her, so of course, she knew how to defend herself, but she'd be lying if she didn't find Tucker stepping up and defending her so attractive. "Thanks, Tucker," she said quietly.
Tucker jerked his head up, noticing the beautiful tint of blush that colored Jazz's cheeks. He then felt his own cheeks heat up. "No problem, Jazz."
The interaction was not missed by Sam as she glanced between the two, hoping for one of them to admit their feelings. But then, their precious bubble was shattered.
"I'm gonna go get changed," Danny claimed, oblivious to the whole romantic tension in the room, as he walked up his stairs to his bedroom.
Sam narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend's retreating body. "God, he's so clueless."
"Tucker, you're planning to sleep over, right?" Danny called from his bedroom.
Tucker glanced away and grabbed his bag of sleep clothes from the couch. "Yeah," he called back. "I'm just gonna change too." Leaving Jazz and Sam alone in the living room.
Sam turned to Jazz to see the small smile she wore as she watched Tucker walk away. When he was out of sight, Jazz turned to Sam and paled as she saw a wicked smile on Sam's.
"Don't give me that look," Jazz sneered.
Sam gasped, feigning surprise. "What look? I would never give you a knowing look at how much you liked seeing Tucker defend you." She then walked up the stairs to Danny's bedroom. "Nope, never."
Once everyone was changed into their pajamas, they gathered back in the living room to finish the night with a movie and a couple of pizzas Sam had ordered.
Danny had his arm draped on Sam's shoulders, and Sam leaned her head on his chest. Tucker and Jazz sat on the other side of the couch with more space between them, with Jazz holding a pillow to her chest.
"It's no big deal. You've sat next to Jazz countless times." Tucker thought. Without moving his head, he shifted his eyes over to his left to see Jazz. She had her eyes glued to the movie. Her beautiful and comforting aqua blue eyes…
"Snap out of it, Foley!" Tucker chastised himself, quickly averting his gaze to the movie. The last thing he needed was for Danny to look over and see him making googly eyes at his sister. He would surely get the overly protective brother response.
Tucker sighed. He never held secrets from Danny; that wasn't their friendship. But this was one secret he could never tell. It didn't help that he would talk to Danny about women as if they were a goal to achieve. He mentally kicked himself for all the times he did that. He was just an immature kid who didn't know the first thing about women, thus, only talking about them based on their outward appearance.
Now that he is starting to admit to having feelings for Jazz, there is no way Danny would be okay telling him that he liked his sister. Yep. Looks like all the times he tried to act as a chick magnet have bitten him in the ass. It would be his karma to like his best friend's sister.
Who wouldn't like her, though? She had these calming blue eyes that settled all your nerves when she looked at you. Her smooth hair that glistened in the light smelled like strawberries. Her skin was blemish-free, and her ass…
It wasn't just her body that enticed Tucker, but her brain was a marvelous wonder. She seemed to know the psychological meaning behind everything. Every time Jazz talked, she always had something stimulating to say that would be enchanting for Tucker, even though her brother would zone out.
Her brother…She's Jazz. Danny's sister.
Tucker slouched into the couch. He knew it was in his nature, but he wished Danny wouldn't be so protective of his sister. Sam was basically his sister, and he was ecstatic when they got together. He'd hoped that Danny would react the same way, but it seemed to be a far-reaching wish.
Tucker shifted his eyes over to the lovebirds, watching them as they cuddled close together. He sighed inwardly. When they told him they were dating, it was like Tucker had free range at an all-you-can-eat meat buffet. He was happy for those two lovebirds, and he knew that Sam would be happy for him and Jazz, but he was unsure of Danny's reaction.
On the other hand, Danny had every right to be protective; Jazz was his sister. It'd be against the brother code if he wasn't protective over his sister against any guy, but Danny's protectiveness was on an extreme level. Not that he could help it. He had a lot more reasons to be protective of his loved ones, with him being a hero and having enemies.
Tucker glanced back at the lovebirds, watching as Danny gripped onto Sam's arm as a jump scare came on the screen. Sam lifted her head off his chest and smiled at him as if to say that she couldn't believe that scared him. Danny playfully rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the movie.
Maybe if Tucker used Sam as a human shield when he told Danny…Tucker shook his head. That would just piss Danny off more. As much as Danny was protective of Jazz, he was on a whole other level of protectiveness for Sam. He saw what Danny did to Elliot…
He had only heard what he did to Amara through Jazz when she heard Danny muttering curses in his room after they captured her. It wasn't even the whole story, but it still made all the blood in Tucker's face drain. When Tucker gained enough courage to ask Danny what he did to Amara when he released her into the Ghost Zone, Danny's face darkened, and he simply responded, "Don't worry about that."
Growing up, he knew Danny as the clueless goof who clumsily got through life. But if Tucker learned anything in the past year, it was that Danny had a side of him that would do anything if the ghost crossed the thin line between acceptable and a death wish.
But Tucker wasn't a ghost. He wasn't an enemy. He wasn't a strange guy who only had one thing on his mind. He was his best friend…he would never hurt Jazz. Danny would never have to worry whether his sister was being treated right by him. He knew that he would rather have all his electronics stolen from him before he could even think of hurting her.
Tucker glanced back at the objection of his desires. He wanted so badly to hold her like Danny was holding Sam. He wanted Jazz to look at him the way Sam looked at Danny. He wanted to feel the butterflies in his stomach forever and be able to kiss her anytime he wanted.
For now, though, he settled on sitting next to her on the couch.
"You've got to hide your sneaky glances better." Sam said as she walked into the guest bedroom where Tucker was lying and scrolling through his phone. Sam sat down on the desk chair backwards, settling her chin on the back of the seat.
Tucker put his phone down. "Where's Danny?"
Sam gestured with her head to the window. "Ghost."
"Was it that obvious?"
"I think I counted twelve times in the first thirty minutes. I stopped counting after that."
Tucker groaned, shutting his eyes from embarrassment. "Did Danny notice?" He asked, peeking his eye open.
"You mean Mr. Clueless?" Sam cocked an eyebrow at Tucker as if asking him if he was being serious.
"I can't help it. She's just…something else…"
Sam nodded softly. "So what's stopping you, Tucker?"
"Is that a serious question?"
"Seriously? What do you have to lose?"
Tucker sat up in his bed. "How about my ability to breathe? Danny would kill me if I told him I wanted to ask his sister out."
Sam rolled her eyes at her friend's dramatization. "The worst Danny would do is spy on you if you asked her out. After the first five dates, you'd be in the clear."
Tucker snorted. "Gee, that makes me feel better."
"Look, Tucker, take it from me. Don't wait for something that could be life-changing. If you feel as strongly for her as I believe you do, it would be worth the risk." Sam got off the chair and made her way to the door. "You know," she started as she turned to face him. "Prom might be a good time to test the waters…" With that, she shut the door behind her, leaving Tucker in his thoughts.
"Maybe…"
Sam made her way down the hallway to Jazz's bedroom. She twisted the doorknob, not caring to knock.
"Oh, hi. Welcome in," Jazz said sarcastically with a hint of annoyance in her voice, setting her book down.
"I thought you didn't mind walking into bedrooms without knocking first," Sam shot back, sitting down on Jazz's desk chair in the same fashion as when she was talking to Tucker. Jazz blushed, remembering her mistake of walking into her brother's room hours before.
"The one time I don't -"
"Jazz."
"Fine. I won't barge in on Danny without knocking first."
Sam beamed. "Thank you. So…" She trailed off, leading Jazz to come to the conclusion and blush.
"Yes, he was amazing…The way he ripped that douchebag away and just…defended me." Jazz shook her head, shooting up to defend herself. "But I am a strong woman who can defend myself!"
Sam raised her hands defensively. "Oh, I'm not judging. You know I'm a fighter too…but there is something about a man who will get his hands dirty for you..."
Jazz brought her hands to her ears. "I do not need to hear how you think my little brother is hot! I get it enough at school when people find out who I am."
Sam rolled her eyes. "Speaking of school…" she started, changing the subject. "What are you going to do about Ben?"
Jazz sighed. "I'm going to be fair and let him be."
Sam perked up in her chair. "Does that mean…"
"It doesn't mean anything yet." Jazz responded, holding her hand up. "It just means that I have a lot to think about." She said, turning glum.
Sam nodded, frowning slightly at the desperate look on Jazz's face. She remembered when she had that look herself when Danny and Valerie were dating.
It hurt. And seeing two people that she cared about a lot be hurt by each other stung her heart.
"I get that it can hurt at times," Jazz lifted her head as Sam spoke. "And the fear can force your mouth shut and paralyze you. But there's only so much distraction you can do, Jazz. From where I'm standing, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. You never know what could happen."
Jazz nodded slowly, shifting her gaze to look out her bedroom window. Seeing Tucker dancing with another girl was like a stab to the heart. If seeing him dancing hurt that much, what would it feel like when he starts dating someone? She thought back to when Sam was dating Elliot and remembered how Danny was a wreck during that time. Could she go through with that herself?
"Sam?" Both women looked up at the doorway to see Danny standing there, shifting from his ghost half back to his human half. "What are you guys doing?"
"Just talking about world domination. Let's go to bed." Sam responded, shrugging her shoulders. Her dry response made Danny scoff. Sam stood up and walked towards Danny, but stopped before passing the threshold completely, turning to Jazz. "Something to think about, right?"
Jazz nodded, smiling softly at the goth whom she's come to see as a sister. "Yeah. Thanks, Sam."
"Something to think about?" Danny asked, repeating Sam's words as he shut his door behind them.
Sam crossed over to his bed and shimmied herself under his blankets. " I just warned her of the dangers of opening your door before knocking. I don't think you'll have any problems with that anymore."
Danny smiled, a glint of mischief and appreciation in his eyes. He turned off his light, walked over to his bed, and got under the blankets, lying on his side holding Sam from behind her. "You're the best." Danny kissed her cheek before both dozed off to sleep.
"I still don't understand why you bought a plane ticket to come home just for one night," Danny remarked as he and Jazz cleaned up the living room from last night. Jazz was drying up the last two shot glasses while Danny started tying the garbage bag up.
Jazz exhaled deeply. "I told you, Danny. I just wanted to see everyone." She opened up the cabinet to place the shot glasses away. "I was a little homesick."
Danny raised an eyebrow, not believing his sister. "You? Homesick? The same person who's been ready to go to Yale since middle school?"
"Why is that so hard to believe? Sometimes you need to go back to your roots."
Danny opened up a lower cabinet to pull a new garbage bag out to replace the old one. "You know, Jazz…I'm not as clueless as everyone says I am."
Jazz's breath hitched. She coughed to mask her nerves. "Uh, what do you mean?" Danny couldn't know about Tucker. There's no way he could possibly know.
"Come on, Jazz. Yesterday, you and Sam were speaking in code, but I caught that there was a 'he'. Look, you're my sister; if something's happening at college with a guy, you can always call me."
Jazz breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness for his cluelessness." "Everything's okay, Danny. But if that changes, I'll call you."
"Good," Danny said with a smile appearing on his lips. He lifted the full garbage bag and made his way to the back door to dispose the garbage. "Because I'm not a typical brother. Kicking ass isn't the only thing I can do." He said, flashing his green eyes playfully at Jazz, gesturing to his ghost half.
Jazz scoffed, chuckling under her breath. "Don't I know it…" She said before he closed the door behind him.
Jazz walked over to the living room to straighten out the blankets and pillows. She was just about done folding one blanket when she noticed Tucker at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, Tucker," she greeted, unsure why her mouth had suddenly become dry.
"Hey, Jazz," Tucker waved awkwardly.
Jazz groaned inwardly at her racing heart. "Why does he have to do things like that?"
"Is there anything I can help with?"
Jazz shook her head. "No, there wasn't much, honestly. Danny just went ahead and took the garbage out."
"So…" Tucker said, rubbing his hands on his pants. When did they become so sweaty? "Are you going back today?"
"Yeah. Things to do and all…" Jazz joked quietly. "So, how does it feel knowing graduation is right around the corner?"
A small smile graced Tucker's lips, grateful that Jazz was able to carry on a conversation so naturally. "Yeah, it's crazy. Never thought that we would make it." He joked.
"Hey," Jazz walked over to Tucker and boldly placed her hand on his shoulder, letting the therapist in her control her movements. "There was no doubt on my end."
Sparks shot inside Tucker, where Jazz's hand was. As he felt himself drown in her aqua blue eyes, his conversation with Sam echoed in his head. "Don't wait for something that could be life-changing. If you feel as strongly for her as I believe you do, it would be worth the risk."
"I was wondering if-"
"Oh, hey Tuck," Danny greeted as he opened the back door and shut it behind him. "Oh wow…" Danny trailed off as he walked up to Tucker and Jazz. Jazz quickly took her hand off Tucker's shoulder, and Tucker took a swift step back.
"This is it. This is where I die."
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck."
Danny furrowed his eyebrows and looked intently at Tucker. When Danny raised his hand, Tucker squeezed his eyes shut. "That's a big one."
"Huh?" Tucker opened his eyes.
"Your bruise," Danny said, pointing at Tucker's cheek. "That guy got a good one on you. But I know you got some good hits on him last night, too. No one gets in a fight with us and leaves unscathed...well, anymore at least." Danny joked, turning towards the stairs and going to his bedroom.
Tucker and Jazz settled in the silence for a bit, adrenaline slowing down from when they thought Danny realized what was in front of him.
"Um, what did you want to ask me?" Jazz asked as her nerves cooled down.
"Oh, uh…" Tucker tried to gain all the confidence he had just moments before, only to be left with fear and doubt. "I was just…wondering…if you had a good weekend?"
Jazz deflated slightly at the question. The one before Danny interrupted sounded like Tucker was going to ask her something life-altering. Or maybe she was being hopeful. Was he really going to ask her out? She allowed herself a moment of disappointment before reflecting on her weekend, even if it was brief. She had a fun night hanging out with Danny, Sam, and Tucker. She had a little girl time with Sam, which was much needed. She drank and danced the night away until a drunk idiot came behind her. And she got to see Tucker protect her. She wasn't sure how, but this weekend made her even more entranced by him. Even thinking about it made her cheeks flush. All in all, it was a hell of a night she'll never forget.
"Yeah…" Her lips curled into a soft smile. "I had a great weekend."
TuranaRin on Chapter 1 Wed 27 Aug 2025 09:30AM UTC
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GreyBinx on Chapter 1 Mon 01 Sep 2025 04:18PM UTC
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TuranaRin on Chapter 3 Wed 03 Sep 2025 08:32AM UTC
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GreyBinx on Chapter 3 Thu 04 Sep 2025 01:31PM UTC
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