Title: Weekend in the Woods
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Summary: There's nothing like getting lost in the woods to bring people together.
A/N: Hello all! I had this idea hit me at about midnight last night and I started working on it today. I think this had the potential, for me at least, to be a lengthy kind of story. I started a new chapter of Moving On and that should be up soon, but with the amount of tests I have don't count on it. Enjoy this story all possible pairings will be listed below the story.
Words: 2,935
Chapter One
"No way. Not in the woods and certainly not with you two along for the ride," Jackson pouted stubbornly taking his duffel and tossing it over his shoulder. He took a step back but failed to escape the crowd, crashing into Danny instead. Jackson stumbles as the two collide while Danny simple set his hands on Jackson's shorter shoulders and steadied the younger boy.
"Jackson it's a mandatory camping trip for school. You can't just not go," Scott tried to explain the situation but Jackson refused to inhale a word of his nemesis's words.
"Jackson we'll just keep on the opposite side of the camp grounds as them, alright?" Danny asked calmly turning Jackson by the shoulders to face him. Jackson stared at Danny for a moment before turning only his head to look at Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski behind them. Jackson took a deep breath and turn back again to face his best friend.
"Fine, but one thing happens and I'm out," Jackson said pushing past Danny and up the path. Most of the student campers were making their way to the path for the two hour trek they all faced. Once the students made it to the camp grounds they were allowed to set up tents and prepare for their weekend in the woods. It was a tradition for all the juniors to do before winter came around. It was chilly outside, seeing as it was late October, but it wasn't cold enough to cancel the trip. For some students, one being Jackson Whittemore, that was a very disappointing factor. For other students, such as Stiles Stilinski, it was the highlight of his whole week.
Danny grabbed his duffel from the stack and followed Jackson up the hill. Danny thanked above that he and Jackson had been doing intense Lacrosse workouts for the past few years, otherwise this two hour hike would seem like walking all the way along the nile river. Danny tossed the straps of his duffel over his shoulders and was relieved to feel that it wasn't heavy in the least. Danny had also realized he was now fully caught up with Jackson on the trail. Jackson didn't seem too happy to be hiking.
"This is so stupid Danny. I mean, why do we have to go camp in the woods when we could stay home in our warms beds and do something productive with our time?" Jackson asked, a bored tone settling in his voice.
"The worse you make this out in your head, the worse it will actually be," Danny retorted not feeling up to lugging around a whining Jackson all weekend. He loved the boy but he wasn't going to listen to him mope when it was so beautiful and peaceful outside, other than the seventy-four other juniors of course.
"Daniel Mahealani you are deep," Jackson said giving him fake applause, chuckling as he did. Danny smiled. He liked it when Jackson laughed. It was hard to make Jackson Whittemore laugh, no matter who you were. Danny wasn't sure if he'd ever seen Lydia make Jackson laugh more than a few times in their relationship. Danny could always make Jackson laugh; Danny felt a lot of pride in that.
"Thank you Jackson, I do try," Danny said with a smirk. He saw the corners of Jackson's lips curve up microscopically before returning to his usual scowl. No one else would've been able to see the tiny smile, but Danny could.
"And to think, we only have an hour and fifty-eight minutes now," Jackson expressed sarcastically. Danny rolled his eyes but continued to walk alongside with friend. Danny watched as Jackson's eyes slyly darted around the forest. Jackson was never one to spend time out in the woods, and his parents surely never took him camping as a kid. Danny had been camping dozens of times. Once, when Danny and Jackson were in fifth grade, Danny invited Jackson to the family camp out. Jackson had simply replied, I can't I'm allergic to grass. Danny knew that ten year Jackson had lied but he didn't want to make a scene out of it so he went on the trip without Jackson. Danny hadn't brought up camping since. Now, with nowhere to hide, Jackson was forced into the woods.
When they were young they never went near the woods. Jackson had told Danny that his mom said there were dangerous animals in the woods that liked to eat children. He had obviously believed it, and all the mysterious animals attacks didn't help to cure his fear. Danny knew that those animals were what Jackson was looking for as they walked. Danny didn't understand the whole "mysterious" part about these animals. Danny simply assumed it was a wolf or a coyote running around with rabies, no one else seemed have a better explanation so he stuck with it.
"You know, camping is really a stupid idea," Jackson said eyeing the trees above them for anything out of place. Danny bit down on his lip. Danny didn't want to make a scene, per usual, so he decided to go with whatever Jackson's excuse was for his fear of camping.
"Why do you say that?" Danny feigned interest in the question escaping his soft lips.
"What's not stupid about it? You're out in the woods, laying on a towel, and eating burnt mush off a stick. If you ask me, that sounds pretty stupid," Jackson argued, making no sense whatsoever to Danny. Danny loved camping. He could see it in Jackson's blue eyes that he didn't believe it was stupid, he was just anxious. Danny knew that Jackson suspected Danny knew he was afraid. Jackson had a lot of fears, Danny knew basically all of them. Danny was also the only one who knew of these fears. Jackson had opened up in stages of intoxication and situations where his fears were too much for him to handle. Danny hoped that this fear was only minor because he hated seeing Jackson upset. He also knew how much Jackson hated to be upset.
Jackson, though he would never admit it, was pretty insecure. Danny knew this, and Lydia knew some of this. Other than them, everyone was sure Jackson was this confident kid who thought he knew it all. Danny saw straight through that wall. Jackson let him see past that wall and all the walls and layers that were Jackson Whittemore. Jackson was actually very kindhearted but he didn't know how to show it. Jackson tried to do the right thing but the lines were blurry of right and wrong. Jackson liked attention though. Actually, Jackson craved attention. Jackson's parents didn't pay him enough attention, nor had they ever, or anyone really for that matter. Jackson didn't know how to make friends without hurting them first. Jackson was brought up to know right and wrong, he had to figure that one out for himself.
Another thing about Jackson was hard he was on himself. Danny knew it was because of his parents dying when he was a baby. He also knew that Jackson didn't think his adoptive parents loved him. Although, they didn't try too hard to prove Jackson wrong. They seemed to have given up on the child. Danny didn't. Danny would never give up on Jackson. He didn't care how many people Jackson punched in the face, or harassed in the library, or even got into fights with; he would never give up on Jackson. He knew that behind all of these things wasn't an evil kid, he couldn't even call him mean. Danny just called him abandoned, afraid, and alone. Danny didn't think anyone deserved to be those things, not one let alone all three. Danny had vowed from a young age to always be there for Jackson, to protect him from the terrible things life throws at him, which in Jackson's case was a lot. Danny had kept his word because Danny doesn't break promises.
"Danny," Jackson whined waking Danny from a long daze. Jackson seemed to be pretty angry, probably had been repeating his name for a while now. Danny looked around. He was surprised he hadn't tripped and fell given he completely forgot he was even hiking. It was definitely darker outside than it had been when they started the hike. Yet, they still didn't look to be the least bit closer to the camp grounds. "Danny," Jackson said again, softer this time.
"What's wrong Jackson?" Danny immediately switched gears at the tone in Jackson's voice. He was afraid. Danny looked around some more before releasing their predicament: they were alone. There was nobody around them. All he could hear were two very faint voices. "Wait, Jacks be quiet for a second I think I hear something," Danny whispered. Jackson hushed and looked around trying to hear the noise too. Danny heard it again and knew exactly what it was, an animal. But there was another voice, it sounded almost human.
"Danny," Jackson whispered in a shaky voice. "I see something." Danny turned his head just slightly to the left to see what Jackson was talking about. What Danny saw made even Danny a little scared. The picture was Stiles Stilinski and some kind of animal crouching down on the ground. The animals resembled a person; actually the animal resembled Scott McCall. Danny took a step forward before getting the death grip from Jackson on his left hand.
"Danny stop," Jackson shrieked death gripping onto his best friend. Danny froze but didn't step back towards Jackson. "Danny we have to get out of here," Jackson said giving his arm a tug. Danny broke his arm free of Jackson's hold and began to walk forward. "Danny," Jackson cried standing, slowly swaying, watching as Danny took more steps. Danny was soon within yards away and the animal definitely could be mistaken for Scott. Stiles still hadn't seen him, by some act of God. Then, by some act of Satan, Danny stepped on a loud twig and both the Scott-Animal and Stiles jumped.
"Danny?" Stiles cried shocked. What was weird to Danny was that Stiles didn't look the least bit scared.
"What's going on here?" Danny asked looking down at, what now didn't look like an animal at all, Scott McCall. He was sitting on the ground with his head in his hands.
"Slight asthma attack," Stiles explained helping his friend up. Danny nodded. He must have just been imagining things; Jackson seemed to be rubbing off on him.
"McCall! Stilinski! Why are you off the trail this much?" Jackson shouted, his wall rebuilt, as he stormed over to the trio.
"You know I could ask you the same thing," Stiles retorted, standing firmly next to a now steady Scott.
"You alright Scott?" Danny asked, trying to take the attention of his friend. Scott nodded and coughed a, what seemed obviously fake to Danny, cough. Danny wanted to roll his eyes at the constant attempts to lie from his peers but kept it inside.
"Where is everybody?" Stiles asked, taking a look around for the first time since Scott's asthma attack had started. Nobody was near. You couldn't hear anything that resembled human voices other than their own. "Seriously? We're lost, that's just great," Stiles moaned sarcastically.
"We'll be fine, we can just find the trail and we'll meet up with the group in no time," Scott said trying to be the calm one in this situation, not that it came as much of a surprise to anyone.
"I hate to burst your perfect little plan bubble McCall, but it's raining," Jackson said hand sticking in front of Scott's face with a small raindrop in it.
"That's just great, now it's raining. Hooray, could this night be any better?" Stiles shouted much too loudly but he seemed to be taking his anger out, and Danny figured it was better to shout then to fight. At that exact moment a boom of thunder burst into the sky followed by the shadow of white lightning. Jackson took a fast step closer to Danny as water began to pour from the sky.
"Thanks Stiles," Scott said sarcastically, but not seeming as sad as Danny would've expected. Danny wasn't mad that it was raining, or that they were lost. No, Danny was only mad because now he was going to have to deal with a very angry, wet, and scared Jackson. Though Danny was always the one to comfort Jackson in a situation like this, he didn't always enjoy it.
"Let's go find somewhere drier then wherever we seem to be now," Danny suggested. No one protested as the foursome made there way through the forest. Jackson stayed glued to Danny's side and held his death grip back on Danny's arm. Scott nor Stiles commented on the position of the two boys behind them, only continued to walk through the woods.
"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Scott asked Stiles in the front.
"Not a clue," Stiles responded simply. They continued to walk. After almost twenty minutes of getting nowhere someone suggested they set up a tent. Jackson, being the little rich boy he is, brought a fancy big tent with room for all of them. Jackson sat on a stump while Stiles and Danny argued over how to pitch the tent. Scott was looking around at the tree and doing who knows what that seemed pointless to Jackson. The tent took longer than usual to get it up, since the two boys never quite came to an agreement on pitching it, but when it was finally up it was much better than standing in the pouring rain.
"Thanks for zipping my duffel after you took the tent out Stilinski, now everything is drenched," Jackson whined holding his very damp change of clothes in his hands.
"Thanks for helped us pitch this tent Jackson, it was so thoughtful of you," Stiles snapped but Scott gave him an unreadable look. Stiles turned around and unzipped his duffel. "I'm changing into something dry," Stiles added. Scott began to do the same and Jackson and Danny turned so they were back to back with Scott and Stiles.
"Danny-," Jackson started to whisper but Danny interrupted by handing Jackson some of his own clothes to change into. Danny knew they would be too big but they would work for now. Jackson gave him a small smile before sliding his wet clothes off. Danny tossed his clothing off and threw on sweats and a t-shirt. He also put on new underwear and socks. He would offer Jackson some but he already knew Jackson would refuse. When he was done he waited for the others to tell him he could turned back around. It seemed as though everyone had the same though except Stiles. When Stiles was done everyone heard that it was safe to turn back around.
Everyone looked more comfortable being in dry clothes. Stiles looked least comfortable, seeing as he put on jeans, but it was still better than wet clothes. Scott had basketball shorts and a t-shirt on and Jackson had on a pair of Danny's sweats and a t-shirt. The sweatpants had been tied to stay on Jackson's slim waist and the shirt was just adorably big on him. Danny knew that he shouldn't be calling Jackson adorable but he didn't know any other adjectives to use. The shirt was too big in the sleeves and fell almost all the way down to Jackson's knees. Jackson had muscles, Danny wasn't denying that, but he was pretty small. Danny was positive there wasn't an ounce of fat of the boy's body, and he didn't have the height to help either. But Jackson didn't look fairly comfortable.
"What now?" Scott asked shaking his hair off like a dog to try and dry it more.
"We sit and wait for the storm to die down," Stiles offered taking his sleeping bag out of his duffel, shortly followed by Scott. Jackson looked over to Danny and the taller boy nodded. Jackson and Danny had shared a bed before but a sleeping bag was different. Danny decided it would probably be best to just unzip the sleeping bag and they would just sleep without a blanket on top of them. As the boys all settled down into their beds Danny noticed how loud the storm was getting. He wondered if any of them would get some sleep.
"This is just fantastic. What are we going to do in the morning when we're lost in the middle of the woods?" Stiles asked in an angry voice talking to no one in particular. At the mention of being lost in the woods Jackson moved carefully closer to Danny, but not too much for it to be weirder than it needed to be.
"Shut up and sleep Stiles," Scott moaned, sounding already asleep to Danny.
"Speaking of silence, Jackson?" Stiles asked with a ring to his voice. Danny could visibly see Jackson tense. He was really afraid.
"Goodnight Stiles," both Danny and Scott said at once. Danny could see Jackson's frown tilt forward just the slightest when both boys defended him. The slight smile faded immediately when the next boom of thunder appeared. As the lighting struck the whole tent was lit up and the world was bright for just a second. It was so quick that Danny wasn't even positive he saw it. Deep down he knew he did see it though. He just wouldn't tell Jackson that he saw the tear slowly making it's way down the smaller boy's check.
A/N: Sooooo what'd y'all think? I don't know, this is kinda weird but it seemed slightly original(ish) to me. Compared to what I normally write it's a little different. I have a surpise coming up in this story soon and his name might just be Isaac. This story will contain the following: Danny/Jackson, Scott/Isaac, and possible Stiles/Lydia. If you don't like the pairings then don't read because those are the pairings that will be used in this fic. I hope people like it but I won't know unless you review!
