"Derek?" Danny called. His voice echoed in the dark woods, bouncing off of the barren trees. Dead leaves crunched beneath his black sneakers as he slowly walked in circles, looking for the wolf. He put his hands in the pockets of his red jacket, shivering in the cooling autumn air. "Derek, are you here?"
He stood for a moment, confused as he looked through the mass of thin trees, still unable to find Derek. The sun was rapidly setting, making the world brilliant in hues of red and coral. Suddenly, a figure appeared in the distance, walking towards him. "Am I gonna have to call the cops? This is private property," the figure called out. In the brilliant red light, the boy could make out a familiar leather jacket adorning the figure.
Danny smiled, remembering the first time he'd ever met Derek. They had been standing in this exact same spot. He'd gotten lost while wandering through the woods, trying to clear his head. Derek had warned him that he was on private property, and Danny explained his predicament. The man had shown him out of the forest, and they'd talked as they left. Since then, Danny made a point of getting lost in the forest more often. Derek came closer, smiling with Danny, his vicious teeth glowing red in the ruddy light. "Hey," Danny said, laughing a bit. "So you texted? Why did you want to meet me here?"
Derek's face turned serious, though the humor had not left his eyes altogether. "I have something important to tell you," he said, gruffly. They stood in silence for a moment as the wolf tried to gather his courage.
"Well, what is it? I haven't got all day to stand in the woods playing little red riding hood and the big bad wolf," Danny said, feeling bad as he noticed that the joke sounded impatient. "I mean, uh, sorry, that sounded kind of-"
"I love you," Derek said, interrupting the boy. He looked into Danny's warm brown eyes, an earnest look of vulnerability on his face. The human boy stood in the rosy light, his breath billowing in clouds as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. He'd never seen such a look of heartbreaking honesty on the usually stoic wolf's face.
"Are you sure?" Danny asked, unable to believe that the moment he'd fantasized aobut was coming true. Derek replied by bringing his body closer, hugging the boy as he pressed their lips together. Danny leaned into the man, his body melting as his hands rested on the shoulders of the leather coat. Stubble scraped his chin. They pulled apart, looking at one another. "I love you, too."
Derek smiled, an earnest, happy smile, totally devoid of the usual menace. "Come on," he said, taking Danny by the hand. Together, they walked in the darkening sunlight to the top of a small hill. Danny had never seen this particular part of the forest. He gawked at the sight below: at the bottom of the little hill, the entire forest floor was covered in a sheet of blue flowers. The tiny blooms contrasted brilliantly against the red sunlight, making it look as if they were glowing. The bluebells stretched across a huge span of the forest, covering the ground and around trees almost further than Danny's eyes could make out.
"Wow, Derek," Danny said, still in awe at the beautiful sight.
"My mom spent years trying to get these to grow," Derek said wistfully. "Eventually, she managed to get the conditions just right so that they'd bloom here at least once a year. Now they won't stop growing. The field gets bigger every year."
Derek smiled, taking Danny's hand again. He led him down the little hill, into the carpet of flowers. Together, they walked through the bluebells, the tiny blossoms dancing as their feet brushed past them. At one point, a hidden rock interrupted Danny's path, making him fall to the ground. Derek knelt down, concern on his face as he asked the boy if he was okay. Danny laughed, smiling up at the lycan's serious face. "I'm fine," he said, laughing. He pulled Derek's arm, so that they were both lying in the field, staring up at the sky as it turned from red to purple.
"You know, my mom kind of did this as a love note to my dad," Derek said as they looked up at the stars as they slowly revealed themselves. Danny rolled his head over to look at Derek. "He brought her some bluebells from a neighbor's garden on their first date. When they got back to his house, the police were there, investigating. Apparently, they were award-winning bluebells. From then on, they were always sort of a thing between my parents."
Danny smiled at the story. "That's beautiful," he said. Derek looked at his eyes. He stood suddenly, smiling. He yanked Danny up by his arms, and held him close. He began swaying, and eventually started dancing with the boy in his arms. Together, they danced among the flowers, the tiny plants swaying with them as they moved together, waltzing in the moonlight.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxX
"Derry, I told you not to do that in public!" Derek scolded his daughter, turning around in the front seat to look at the girl. Her eyes flashed blue for a moment in protest. "Listen, that's dangerous."
"But I had to save him! I don't exactly have a lot of friends, and I don't want the few that I have getting the crap beat out of them while I watch," Derry said, crossing her arms and pouting like a true sixteen year old.
"Yes, but you know that you could seriously hurt someone if you lose control!" Derek said, his face getting red.
"I don't think they'd actually hurt Sam," Danny Jr. said sleepily, resting his head against the window of the car. The girl rolled her eyes at her younger brother's naïveté.
"What's the point of being a werewolf if I can't even help a friend?" Derry mumbled angrily, hiding her face behind her long blonde hair. "I bet my real parents would have let me."
"Which is exactly why you're not with them anymore," Derek said hotly. "They were too open with their powers, and the hunters found them. Do you want the same to happen to you?"
The air hung heavily in the car. As Danny set a hand gently on Derek's knee, the wolf realized that, in an effort to impress the severity of the situation on his daughter, he'd crossed a line. As his pulse returned to normal, Derek began to feel guilty.
"If I were a werewolf, I don't think I'd need to help anyone. Can't you just… reason with people?" Jr. said, yawning as he closed his eyes.
The rest of the car ride was silent. When they finally got back to the renovated Hale house, Danny silently got out of the car and went around to the back, picking up Jr. and carrying him into the house. Derek got out and began to make his way to the house when he noticed that his daughter was not with them. He went back to the car and opened her door. She looked up at him, her hair parting to reveal her face. Her father now saw the tears streaking down her red face. "I don't want the hunters to kill me like my parents," Derry cried.
Derek wrapped her in a hug, her head resting against his chest as she sobbed. She breathed in the familiar scent of his leather jacket, feeling comforted. Though she was far too young at the time to remember her biological parents, Derek and Danny never hid the fact that her parents had given her to them just before they were hunted down. "Don't worry honey," Derek said, kissing the top of her head. "I'll protect you. I'll protect all of you, because we're family. If any hunters come anywhere near us, I'll rip their throats out with my teeth."
Derry looked up at her dad. "I'm sorry that I lost my temper," she said. "I'll be more careful. I won't throw anyone else through a wall."
Derek smiled, and kissed her again on the forehead. Danny watched from the porch as his daughter got out of the car with his husband. He marveled at how much they were alike, despite the fact that they had no biological connection. It had also struck him that their human son, who they'd gotten through the normal adoption procedure, was a lot like his namesake. Danny smiled as the pair approached him, wrapping an arm around Derry's shoulder as the three entered the house together. "We're a family. We're here for each other," Derek said, closing the door.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Derek sat in the waiting room, slouching in the uncomfortable chair. He'd been sitting in there for hours, though it had felt like days. His eyes were bloodshot and his face drawn and dark. He'd been unable to cry for the past hour, like he'd done all of the crying that his body could manage. The room was empty; he'd sent his kids home a while ago. He knew that Derry had to catch a flight home soon, and he didn't want her to miss it. She'd protested, wanting to see her dad post-op. However, when he pointed out that she had to go to work, she consented, telling him to call her the second he walked out of the door, healthy and happy.
Jr. hadn't been so optimistic. For the first time in his life, he admitted to have pessimistic doubts about the future. It hurt Derek to see the effect the dangerous surgery was having on his son, so he sent him home. The boy had school in the morning, and Derek didn't want him to do poorly because of this. Now, sitting alone, Derek had nothing to do but run his hands nervously through his graying hair and think about the horrible possibilities.
Danny had always been very healthy. Their entire family took eating right and exercise very importantly. That's why the heart attack was so sudden and unexpected. When they'd arrived at the hospital, the doctors said that it was hereditary. Since then, Derek's entire existence seemed to be a constant tormenting hell. First, he had to fill out massive amounts of paperwork through his tears, trying to focus on Danny's social security number and his father's date of birth. It seemed ridiculous to him, that he should be filling out endless paperwork while his husband lay a few feet away, dying. Then, he asked to wait in the hospital room. They had allowed their children to go and wait in the room where Danny would be resting after the surgery, if it went well, but Derek hadn't been allowed in, since gay marriage wasn't legal in Arizona yet. He cursed himself for ever leaving California while he waved to his children from down the hall.
After a while, the kids came back, saying that the doctors said it would be a while until Danny came out. They decided to wait with their father, not wanting him to be alone. They sat in the waiting room together, reminiscing about the dying member of their family while they waited. They comforted one another until Derek sent the other two away.
Now he sat alone, pensively waiting. The agony of being kept in the dark was by far the worst part of the experience. He had no idea what was happening. Danny could be alone in his hospital bed right now, recovering. He could even be dead. To keep these thoughts at bay, Derek decided to reminisce about happier times.
He remembered the first night the pair had spent together in the newly renovated Hale house, before they'd become impromptu parents. They sat in front of the fireplace, holding hands and talking about their future. Both men agreed to never leave each other. They decided that neither of them was allowed to die until they decided together that it was time. It was really more of a morbid joke at the time, shared between two young lovers. Now, it seemed to have more weight. You can't die, Danny. It isn't time yet. I won't let you, Derek yelled at the boy inside of his head. He remembered Danny's strength. Throughout their life together, he'd always been able to preserve in the worst situations. When the mother of the first baby that they'd applied for decided to keep her the child, he'd held Derek. Though Danny was hurting, too, he stayed strong for Derek. When their car broke down in the middle of the night on a roadtrip to see Danny's parents, Danny insisted that Derek stay with the kids while he walked ten miles in the dark along a highway in an unfamiliar state to get to a gas station. Danny is stronger than this, Derek reminded himself. There's no way he won't pull through.
Finally, after almost an entire day, a doctor came in. Derek stood, his bones stiff and his muscles sore. He looked pleadingly into the man's eyes. "I'm afraid I have some bad news," he said, looking at the ground.
Derek immediately sat down in the chair, sobbing. He knew what was coming next. "Your… uhm, friend, died on the table," the doctor said. Derek collapsed, his entire body shaking in sobs as he lay sprawled across the chair. "We were able to revive him, though. He was officially dead for forty-five seconds. He's very weak now, but he's insisting on seeing you."
Suddenly full of energy at hearing that the love of his life was still alive, Derek sprang up from the chair. "Where is he?" Derek asked, heading down the hall that he'd seen his kids go down.
The doctor stopped him with a firm hand to his chest. "I can't let you through," the old man said, looking down over his glasses. "Only family is allowed through."
"I'm his husband," Derek said, a hint of his wolf coming through as his eyes flashed.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you know the situation," the doctor said firmly.
Derek's fangs and claws began to extend in anger. In his head, he imagined swiping the doctor's head off with one quick motion. Suddenly, he heard Danny's voice in his head. Calm down, Miguel, it said, using the nickname that Danny called him. That's not the way to deal with your problems.
The wolf took a deep breath, lowering his heart rate as his fangs and claws retracted. "Fine, what can I do?" Derek asked through gritted teeth.
"You can come back during visiting hours. They're from eleven a.m. to three p.m. every day," the doctor said coldly, before walking away to another part of the hospital, leaving the wolf alone again.
Derek glanced at a clock on the wall. It read 12:30. He'd have to wait nearly twelve hours to see his husband. Before he had a chance to react, he saw a nurse poke her head out of the room that he thought was Danny's. She looked nervously down the empty hallway, as if she was checking if it was empty.
Then, she backed out of the doorway, walking backward down the hall with a wheelchair. She stopped in front of Derek, looking nervous as she turned the chair around to face the man. Derek looked down at the crumpled figure in the wheelchair, who looked back up at him with loving brown eyes. The wolf breathed heavily as tears rolled down his face. "Danny?"
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Danny walked into the house, looking at the freshly vacuumed carpet. "Aw, you did this on your day off?" Danny asked, looking around the living room of the Hale house, which had been freshly cleaned.
"Of course! Did you forget? Danny and Derry are coming over," Derek called out from the kitchen, putting the last dish into the dishwasher. Danny followed his husband's voice, kissing him on the cheek from behind as the man washed the soap from his hands.
"That's right, I almost did forget," Danny said. "Did you pick up all of the stuff I needed from the grocery store? Oh, and I didn't have a chance to make the beds in the guest bedrooms, so we'll have to do that. And is Jr. still a vegetarian?"
Derek hushed the man with a finger to his lips, taking him by the hand and leading him out into the garden in the backyard. The people who'd owned the house while they lived in Arizona had fenced the area in, and the area had gotten slightly more urbanized in their absence. They stood, looking at the yard. There were a few trees and a picnic table right in the middle of the grassy area. Flowers bloomed along the fence and in the small beds, and a few green leaves poked out of the ground in the vegetable garden. Against the entire back wall of the fence, a long flowerbed extended out into the grassy area. The bed was filled with bluebells, the tiny blue flowers swaying delicately in the breeze. Both men reminisced about the times that they spent together, planting the new garden.
"Remember that night?" Derek said, hugging an arm around Danny's broad shoulders as they moved together across the grass. "When we first fell in love? And we sat in a field of bluebells, looking at the stars?" They sat at the edge of their own field of flowers, looking into each others' eyes. Derek flopped backwards so that he was lying in the bluebells. Danny laughed, joining him. Though their hair had grayed, and their skin was just barely beginning to wrinkle, the two men felt as young and vibrant as they had on that night when they'd first lied among the bright blue blossoms. "I love you," Derek said.
"Are you sure?" Danny said, repeating his words on that first night. Derek leaned over, smiling as he kissed the boy among the flowers. "I love you, too," Danny said as they parted. They watched the blue sky, a plane briefly passing overhead. "But we really do need to get ready for the kids."
Derek sat up, laughing at Danny's typical moment-ruining logic. "Okay, okay, fine. I'll set the table, and you can make the fire," Derek said, smiling warmly at the man that he loved.
