Chapter Text
She didn’t see him.
He should have been paying attention.
It wasn’t her fault.
The teen was sprawled out on the concrete before her, face down. His arms were twisted and mangled beyond repair and his legs bent out at unnatural angles. His blood pooled around him and just didn’t stop flowing. Star had killed him. Star had just killed Danny Fenton.
Star had been driving home from Paulina’s mansion, her cheeks stained with drying tears, only for more droplets of water to fall down every few seconds. They had gotten into a fight. Something about Phantom, probably, given that Paulina only obsessed over him anymore, never wanting to talk about anything normal.
Paulina began to yell, Star had taken it. That’s just how it worked lately. Paulina berated the blonde over something she couldn’t remember, but it had hurt at the time. So she left, despite the late hour. It was 2 AM, maybe 3. Star had lost track of time, given what had occurred.
She was driving home while crying. The roads were deserted and empty, not a single soul (human or ghost) was out at the time. Except for the one person she hit. Except for Danny Fenton.
He had been hobbling down the road, lower to the ground than he usually slouched. Between his low stance and Star’s impaired vision, it’s no surprise that she didn’t see him until it was too late.
If she was crying before, Star was sobbing now, her throat giving out half-choked gasps and sputters that died mere inches from her lips. She collapsed to the ground, only a few feet away from the body. She shoved the heels of her palms into her eyes, trying to scrub out the image of Fenton.
She didn’t hear the gross, horrible sound of bones realigning and scraping back into place over her own wails of pain, nor did she hear the gasp of breath that came back to the teen. She did, however, hear the pained groan that erupted from the boy. She hesitated, but removed her hands from her face and her mouth dropped in shock.
“Well,” Danny grunted as he sat upright, “that was… less than ideal.”
His eyes weren’t the usual blue she had grown accustomed to, they were instead a toxic green that was usually reserved for the ghosts and the energy blasts they flung around the city. The too-green eyes of Danny Fenton landed on her. He only seemed mildly surprised that he had been hit by a car, and turned to assess the damage rather than addressing his would-be murderer.
The front of her car was still intact, if a bit dented. Her front bumper had warped inward and her grill had the faint imprint of Danny’s silhouette.
“Sorry.”
Star whipped her head back towards the boy, all words escaping her momentarily.
“For the, uh, damage,” he continued. He picked himself off the floor and pressed his arms against his back, releasing a small set of cracks which made Star want to throw up.
“H-how?” she managed. His eyes began to dim, returning to the more naturally vibrant blue she had seen for the last four years of high school. He extended his hand out to help her off the ground.
“It’s a long story.” Suddenly, his face broke out into a look of concern. “Are you, um, okay?”
“I- What?”
“You were just in a car accident.”
Star’s mind finally processed the fact that she didn’t kill Danny Fenton, after all. Now it was trying to grasp the concept of how she didn’t kill Danny Fenton. “You were the car accident,” she whispered.
“I’m fine, I swear.” If she ignored the bloodied and gravel-torn clothing he had on, Star could almost believe him. “I get a lot closer to death than normal people should. But, uh, are you gonna get up from the ground?”
Star realized he was still extending his hand down to help her up.
“I mean, Amity Park streets seem comfy and all, but...” Danny trailed off. Before he could finish, Star took his hand. He hoisted her up from the road and gave her a once over. “You seem alright. You didn’t, like, hit your head or anything, right?”
“No.” The adrenaline rush had ended, leaving Star winded and drained. She felt herself tremble, barely able to support her weight. Her knees buckled under her and she was fast approaching the ground again when Danny practically swept her off her feet and carried her to her car.
He set her down in the passenger seat and shut the door. Danny disappeared under the hood for a brief moment and Star heard metal shrieking and moaning. He popped his head up with a goofy smile and gave Star a thumbs up. He then walked around to the driver’s seat and slid into place. “Where to?”
Star was about to protest, but stopped when she saw the look on his face. She cleared her throat and began directing him towards her house. He nodded and followed her orders.
They rode in silence for a few moments. Star took a side glance at Danny, and he seemed… more mature, somehow. Like he wasn’t an eighteen year old senior at Casper High. His eyes seemed years, if not decades older. He also looked exhausted, even for someone who had just been hit by a car.
“Left here,” Star would mumble.
“Gotcha,” He’d nod.
“Right,” she would say, earning a hum in response.
His stops were a little harsh and he sped down the streets like his father, but they arrived at Star’s house without hitting anyone. That’s more than Star could say right now.
He parked in the spot she designated and gave her a half smile. “Not bad for someone who never took his driving test, huh?”
“You never took your driving test?”
“Er, forget I said that,” he grinned sheepishly. And for the first time that night, Star grinned back. As quick as it came, though, it left. She needed clarification.
“How are you not dead ?” She finally managed to ask. She was still reeling from that fact, even if her eyes were threatening to shut themselves from emotional exhaustion. He brought his hand to his neck, a telltale sign of his nervousness and anxiety, and made a little noise in his throat.
“It’s complicated.”
Before she could get him to elaborate, a light turned on inside Star’s house and she realized what it would look like if Danny Fenton was in her car at three in the morning. She heard a click and when she turned to look back at Danny, the driver’s side door was wide open.
And Fenton was just gone.