Chapter 257 - 257: Out in the Open

(A/N: Recommended song for a better reading experience: Wildflower - Billie Eilish)

[Third Person Pov]

Danny heard the soft creak of his front door opening from where he sat on the bottom step of the stairs. The familiar chill of the Fenton household settled around him, but it didn't feel as welcoming.

He felt Didi's presence thinning, fading like fog, he took it upon himself to whisper a soft "Thank you" into the quiet.

Didi's melodic chuckle hung in the air for a moment longer, her voice already growing distant as she replied, "Always happy to lend a shoulder to a ghost pal."

Danny managed a small smile at that. It froze and stiffened almost immediately when he heard the dual set of footsteps behind him—Sam's measured tread and Tucker's slightly heavier, more hesitant one. The sting of their betrayal returned at full force the second he felt their presence settle into the room. It sat heavy in his chest, sharp and cold.

He didn't bother turning to look at them. He didn't even have the energy to tell them to leave.

"We figured we might find you here," Tucker spoke first, his voice tense and wary. "Hope you don't mind us dropping by."

Sam shot Tucker a look over Danny's head, one raised brow saying clearly, 'Really? That's the best you got?'

Tucker's shoulders hitched higher. His face twisted with exasperation, eyes screaming back, 'I panicked! What was I supposed to say? I don't see you doing any better!'

"I do, in fact, mind," Danny replied with a low scoff. The words came out rougher than he intended. "I honestly don't want anything to do with either of you right now."

"Which is totally understandable," Sam said carefully. She and Tucker each took a different side of him and sat down on the step, close enough that their shoulders nearly brushed his. The proximity only made the distance between them feel sharper. "But please… at least hear us out first."

"It's the only reason I haven't kicked you out yet," Danny muttered. Despite how near they were, they had never felt farther from each other than they did in that moment.

Sam and Tucker exchanged a complicated look over his head—guilt, regret, and something like quiet determination tangled together.

"If you want to be mad at anyone, be mad at me," Sam started, taking the lead the way she always did when things got messy. "I was the one who told the others to stay quiet. I asked them to keep you in the dark."

"I'm not looking for someone to blame," Danny's voice came out stern and heavy. His jaw was set tight enough that it ached. "As far as I'm concerned, you're all at fault. You might have asked them to stay quiet, Sam, but after that it became their choice. They didn't have to listen to you. Their mouths weren't sewn shut."

"He's right," Tucker said next, his voice thick with remorse. "We all had a hand in this. It doesn't fall entirely on you."

"We're… I… am sorry," Sam said. Her hands twitched restlessly in her lap, part of her clearly wanting to reach out, to rest a hand on his arm the way she used to. She didn't. She was certain he would only pull away. "We really thought we were doing the right thing by keeping you in the dark about everything."

"I'm sorry too," Tucker added, leaning forward with his hands clasped tightly between his knees. "I shouldn't have stayed quiet. I should've told you the second I realized what was going on."

A long silence stretched between them.

"…A part of me still thinks it was the right thing," Sam admitted quietly, even though she knew exactly how the words would land.

Danny turned his head just enough to look at her. He didn't retort. He didn't fly off the handle. He simply watched her, silent, waiting.

"What you went through would be traumatic for anyone," she continued, softer now. "You didn't just lose your family once. You lost them twice. You needed time to heal. Time to process everything. Time to grieve properly."

"What I needed," Danny said, voice low and raw, "were my friends. I needed someone to remind me that I wasn't alone in remembering an entire timeline that got erased. That I didn't lose everything that day."

Tucker didn't hesitate. He reached out and rested a steady hand on Danny's shoulder, the gesture familiar and grounding even now. "But we were there for you. We have always been there for you. Memory or no memory—even before the time discrepancy happened—we made sure you knew we had your back. That has never changed."

Tucker slowly withdrew his hand from Danny's shoulder, the loss of that small contact leaving a colder spot behind.

"I'm saying this without blaming you," he began carefully, voice low and measured. "I understand where you're coming from. Honestly… I probably would've done the same thing in your place. But you've been the one putting walls up around yourself, Danny. Keeping *us* in the dark. Pushing us away every time we tried to help."

Danny turned his head just enough to look at him, then dropped his gaze back to the steps. He couldn't deny it.

Sam picked up where Tucker left off, her voice quieter but no less steady. "With everything that was already happening, I didn't want to pile more stress on you. I didn't want our relationship to become another burden you had to carry while you were still grieving."

"But it wouldn't have been a burden!" Danny snapped, the words tearing out of him before he could stop them. "At least not to me! I loved you, Sam. I fought an entire intergalactic army of women for our relationship! You're the one who selfishly decided we needed a break—by yourself, without even asking me!"

"It wasn't selfishness!" Sam shot back, emotions flaring hot between them. "You really think I did this for me?!"

Tears welled in her eyes and spilled over almost immediately. Her voice cracked as she continued, "You really think this is what I wanted for myself? I love you too, Danny. More than you could possibly ever know. Everything I've done, every single choice I ever made, it was with you in mind!! Because of how much I love you…"

She dragged in a shaky breath, palms pressing hard against her eyes as quiet sobs slipped free.

"You think it didn't hurt me to end things like that? To sit there every day and lie to your face? To constantly wonder if what we had was even real anymore?! That it wasn't just some realistic dream!!?" Her voice rose, raw and trembling. "I told myself it was what you needed. That I was doing the right thing for you . That our love would survive it. That when you were ready… we could go back to how things were."

The three of them sat side by side on the bottom step now, shoulders almost touching, tears sliding silently down their faces. The hallway felt too small for the weight of everything unsaid.

Sam sniffed hard and wiped her cheeks with her sleeve. "In the meantime I tried to distract myself. I poured everything into my magic. When I couldn't get any further on my own, I went to Batman. He introduced me to a teacher. All of it… so that when we finally got back together, I wouldn't feel like a burden to you."

She looked at him then, eyes red and shining. "So please don't sit there and call me selfish."

Tucker's voice came next, quieter, almost hoarse. He drew his knees up and locked his arms around them, head bowed.

"I didn't want to be a burden either," he admitted. "This started way before I even found out you were half-ghost. Before the other timeline. Back on Valentine's Day… when you took on those thugs in the subway and got hurt protecting us. I felt so useless. I hated it. So I started training. Working out. Figuring out diets, watching fighting tutorials… anything that might make me less of a liability."

His grip tightened around his own arms. He lowered his head until the brim of his cap hid most of his face.

"And then the alternate timeline happened, and I felt even worse. There was nothing I could do for you. Even if you'd known I remembered everything… it wouldn't have changed anything. Sam at least had her magic. What did I have? I'm just a geek." His voice cracked. "Part of me agreed with Sam that keeping quiet was the right call. But another part of me… honestly believed I had nothing to offer you. No way to help. No way to prove you didn't have to protect us all the time. No way to show you that you could lean on… me."

He swallowed hard, bringing his cap down to his face to hide his expression.

"So I went with Sam. We talked to Bruce. Got in contact with Batman. Found teachers for both of us. We didn't want to lie to you, Danny. We didn't want to keep secrets. We just… wanted to look out for you in the only way we knew how. That's all we've ever wanted."

Danny still said nothing.

There were no words left that felt big enough.

The three of them simply sat there on the bottom step of the stairs, side by side, as hot tears continued to slip down their cheeks—quiet, honest, and shared.

********************************************

+10 advance Chapters and my other patron exclusive content on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3