Author's Notes:

Hope you all like the chapter. ^.^
Sorry for the late update and for the lack of actual notes. I am brain dead today, I have no words of wisdom XD

Danny heard his mom walk away, sighed and peeled himself off of the corner, climbing off the bed. He stretched a bit, trying to loosen his joints before heading downstairs. "Hey." He greeted as he joined his family at the dining table, taking his seat.

His sister let out a giggle. "You look terrible." She teased, looking him over.

He held up his spoon and looked at his reflection in it; he had lazily fixed his hair into a high bun that morning but now it was messy and disheveled. "Don't you know that looking like you've been dead for ten years is the new trend?" he said before starting to eat his soup.

"Suuure it is." She said smirking.

"It is. I'm just the only one who knows it. So how was your music filled day?"

She giggled. "Good, I didn't sing much though."

"But I'm sure that you sang to Valerie right?" he teased already knowing the answer

"How did you know?" Dani asked face pink.

"Lucky guess, so spill, what song was it?" he inquired.

"Shania Twain 'You're still the one.'" She muttered since she knew that it was futile to resist answering.

"Wow. I didn't know that you were such a romantic." He said with a dramatic fake gasp.

"Oh shut up." She said face red.

"Okay no more bickering." Their mother said.

The older teen stuck his tongue out at his sister before they all continued to eat. As soon as they were done Dani proclaimed that it was movie night, no one had any objections with that notion. After a good fifteen minutes of bickering over movies they were finally able to select one, Die Hard. Of all of the Die Hard moves the fourth was Danny's personal favorite. They settled in to watch the movie while the ghost girl made popcorn, Jack had volunteered to do so but the last time he had burned the whole bag black. She distributed the bowls of snacks and they began to watch the movie.

The older teen found it comically ridiculous as to how much he and his family always cheered and shouted while watching a film. Sometimes he honestly thought that it was a competition to see who could yell the loudest. Luckily they had all seen the movie a million and one times and didn't miss much through the shouting and popcorn throwing.

After the first one was over his sister immediately popped the second disc in, complaining that it was barely nine and that it was still too early to turn in. Danny thought (not for the first time) that John McClane had experienced even more fucked up Christmases than him and smiled shaking his head. By the time the second movie was over it was already late.

"I'm calling it quits, night." The male halfa announced, getting up from the couch.

"Okay night." His sister said moving to put another disc.

"Oh no, no more movies." Maddie said, Jack was already asleep on the couch, snoring.

The older teen chuckled and went up the stairs, the sound of his sister's whining following him. He entered his room yawning before stopping dead in his tracks; Kitty was there sitting on his bed.

She opened her mouth to speak but he held up a hand cutting her off as he closed the door behind him. "Look, I already had a delightful chat with your boyfriend and he already pointed out the numerous ways of how I was fucking up. I really don't need to hear any more of that."

"Danny I'm here to apologize for what he said." She explained.

The halfa let the tension drain out of him, he had no reason to be angry with her and he did not want to fight anymore today. He sighed and sat down next to her.

"You don't need to apologize for him. What did he tell you?" he asked, already knowing the answer but still having to hear it.

She let out a sigh as well "Everything basically."

"And?" he pried wanting to know what she thought.

"Well he told me about how you explained Vlad's situation, the whole shadow thing and all. He... he wants to believe you Danny, he really does. But you have to understand how difficult this information is to accept." Kitty said softly.

"If you don't believe me aske Clockwork, he's the one who fixed him."

Kitty gasped a little. "Clockwork did that?"

The Master of all time didn't socialize much with the other ghosts; in fact he kept himself holed up in the Clock Cathedral. But his power was renowned through the whole ghost zone.

"He still feels bad that you lied to us." She continued getting over her slight shock.

"I don't remember saying 'I'm not in contact with Vlad Masters.' So the whole lying thin don't really apply. And anyway how could I tell you guys about him? You saw how Johnny got, imagine what it would be like if my family and friends found out. Kitty, sometimes," he sighed. "Sometimes there are no good choices; sometimes you can only choose the option that would do the least amount of damage. And at least I'm 'lying' to protect someone and not for my own personal gain."

She nodded and bit her lip. "He was just... angry. You know how much he cares about Danielle. I'm sure he'll believe you when I explain what you just said to him."

"I don't care if he believes me or not. I just want to stop running in circles like this..."

A silence stretched between them and for once the halfa made no move to fill it. "So you really have a music virus?" Kitty said in a feeble attempt to change the subject.

"Yeah it's pretty weird."

"I can imagine, want me to make Technus disappear?" she offered, joking.

"Nah wouldn't want you to waste your time on that. Besides, some of the songs were kinda fun to sing. You know, me and Dani really miss you guys visiting."

"I'm sorry, like I said he was angry and-"

They both heard a knock on the window and jumped about a foot in the air. "Sorry uh I am interrupting something?" Vlad apologized, phasing through the window and turning human.

The teen couldn't decide if the man's timing was good or bad, either way he didn't care. "No. No, we were just talking about stuff."

"Again sorry, I just felt bad that we had such limited time to talk earlier." He apologized again

'Is he blushing a little? No, that's just my stupid imagination. Shut up brain.' He mentally argued with himself.

"I should get going." Kitty said getting up.

"You don't have to." The younger halfa said.

"I already said what I came here to say. See you later Danny." She smiled and phased through the floor, presumably to the portal in the lab. The teen sighed and threw himself onto the bed.

"I'm guessing that my timing couldn't have been worse." The other said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Actually it couldn't have been better. Remember how Johnny was here when you came over to visit that time?" he continued without giving him a chance to answer. "Turns out that he's pissed off that I have the fucking audacity to be talking to you. So he came over today and started accusing me of a thousand things and calling you a million things and-ugh." He threw his pillow over his face, struggling not to start yelling.

The other moved the pillow away from his face and gave him a little half smile. "One: I don't care what anyone thinks of me Daniel, you don't have to defend me; especially if it will get you into arguments with your friends, two: if he accuses or insults you again he's dead."

"Weren't you the one who said that ghosts can't be killed? Also if you heard someone talking about me in a bad way wouldn't you say something?"

"Well yes, but it's-"

"Then you know why I stood up for you." He said firmly.

"Daniel you're defending a ghost, pardon the pun. I'm legally dead in this world."

"And what if someone discovers that you're not? What if Johnny tells someone about you? I can't have you taken away again."

"Badger, I don't know what will happen, but you know that I'm not one to give in so easily. I can't say that everything will be okay but I know that we'll be able to make it through whatever is thrown our way."

"Stop being so good with words." The younger muttered, covering his slightly red face with the pillow again. 'And stop making your words sound like a damn confession.'

The other laughed. "If I stopped doing so then I wouldn't exactly have anything else left to offer."

'Yeah absolutely nothing besides your stupidly great manners, looks, elegance, humor, etc.' he thought.

Vlad chuckled. "Well thank you Badger."

The teen held the pillow closer, he had said that last part out loud! "Do me a favor and sew my mouth shut." He said wanting to fly to Antarctica.

"But then I wouldn't be able to hear your voice again." He replied with a laugh in his voice.

The younger hit the other in the face with the pillow. "Dork." The teen huffed, crossing his arms.

The man donned a serious face. "Ae you trying to challenge me to a pillow fight?"

"Pfft, no. Besides I would be the obvious winner. And I need to get to bed. Wanna have a sleepover?"

"Sure, but eventually there will have to be a pillow fight Mr. Obvious Winner."

"I only said that because that would definitely be the outcome." The younger halfa said as he got up and rummaged his drawers for pjs. He found some, went to the bathroom, removed his concealer and changed into them. He exited the restroom just in time to see the other plugging in his nightlight.

"Ah, sorry, it's that you always sleep with it anyway." Vlad apologized.

He smiled and shook his head. "It's fine. Thank you." Call him dopey but he found it touching how the other had remembered that fact about him.

The teen climbed/threw himself onto the bed after he turned off the light, followed by the other. They lied on their side, facing each other. "You know something? You seemed peppier today, er-cheerful."

The man chuckled. "I guess that's true."

"Any reason why?" he wasn't sure why the other had seemed so unguarded and happy; all he knew was that he wanted to see him like that all the time.

"Remember when you said that I make you feel reckless? Well you make me feel carefree; that I don't have to be prim and proper around you, that all of society's stupid rules could go out the window." He smiled warmly at him. "That I could just be myself."

Danny returned the smile before feeling embarrassed, turning a shade of red and sliding his gaze away. Then he remembered something. "Thank you for the necklace." He said quickly looking back up at him. But the man was already sleeping, snoring softly.

The teen stared at his sleeping form with a 'seriously?' look, before giggling a bit. "Geez you fall asleep quickly," He smiled "Hmph, I finally get to talk with you for a bit more and you pass out, ya jerk, I missed you." He said smiling, before closing his eyes and feeling himself shudder.

He groaned. "For fuck's sake I'm trying to sleep you damn virus." He sighed. 'Well I guess if I sing quietly then he won't wake up. Here's hoping.'

"I always needed time on my own. I never thought I'd need you there when I cry. And the days feel like years when I'm alone. And the bed where you lie is made up on your side. When you walk away I count the steps that you take. Do you see how much I need you right now?" he whisper sang, as if he were singing a lullaby.

He smiled at the irony. 'I've been trying to avoid you seeing me sing when I was visiting you.'

"When you're gone the pieces of my heart are missing you. When you're gone the face I came to know is missing too. When you're gone the words I need to hear to always get me through the day and make it OK. I miss you. I've never felt this way before. Everything that I do reminds me of you. And the clothes you left, they lie on the floor and they smell just like you, I love the things that you do."

He honestly couldn't think of a more fitting song to sing. When he was done he smiled a bit pink and embarrassed by what he had done. Then he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Author's Notes:

Song used here is 'When You're Gone.' by Avril Lavinge. I loved her music!!!! XD (My dad listened to her when I was younger than it latched on to me. Explains stuff like Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Green Day, Get Scared, etc.)
Sorry for the late updates, I was being a lazy little fuck XD