So, here's my first written fic for H50! (: I've loved this show from the beginning and I finally said to myself that I had to sit down and write for it because it's just so perfect. Enjoy it, review please!
Title :: Wildwood.
Disclaimer :: I don't own H50. (If I did, McDanno would be canon...more than it already is at least...)
Summary :: After they get home Danny can't stop thinking about that summer vacation in Wildwood when he was a kid. Steve comforts him. McDanno, Light Slash. Hurt/Comfort Fluff. One-shot. Tag to 3x03.
Author's Note :: Episode Tag to 3x03.
When Steve and Danny finally arrived home - after an incredibly long day of boat jacking's, quickly sinking boats (sorry, dingy's), shark encounters, sun burns, crime scenes, and getting arrested for a short while - Danny quietly excused himself and headed straight into the bathroom. Steve was about to follow suit until he heard the door lock click into place.
He slightly tilted his head in confusion.
Danny never locked the bathroom door.
Steve stood there for a long moment until he heard the shower turn on and he was going to knock until his brain decided it wasn't a good idea. Cooking though, that was a good idea. Steve knew he was hungry, and could guess that Danny was too.
Inside the bathroom, Danny slowly climbed into the shower and allowed the heated water to fall against his skin. It irritated his sun burn at first but, at the moment, he couldn't quite bring himself to care. He rested his head against the cool tiles of the shower wall, closing his eyes. After a while he could smell the beginnings of a dinner that Steve was cooking, and it made his stomach turn. He couldn't even think about food right now.
The only thing on his mind was Billy.
He remembered that last Wildwood vacation more than anything else. It was one of the best (and worst) summers of his life. The summer home was just off of Schellenger Avenue, less than half a block from the ramps leading up to Mariner's Landing Pier. He could still see the bunk beds in their basement room, where they playfully argued over who would have to sleep up top. Danny's parents let them venture out on their own, with agreements that they'd both be home for dinner and before midnight each night, since they were still only teenagers. They had an entire summer to do anything they wanted - day after day, week after week. The best, and worst, part about it though was that Danny could still remember each competition they had that summer.
That first night they spent in the beach house, Billy killed Danny in pool but Danny smoked him in ping-pong. They played volleyball, paddleball and football with strangers they met on the beach. They had challenged another group of kids on the block to a street baseball game after dinner one night, which Danny and Billy won by at least eight runs - courtesy of years together in little league. The frisbees they had bought each lasted about half a minute before one ended up on the roof of a neighboring house and the other landed way out in the water somewhere when they were on the beach.
Danny won in the basketball hoop game on the boardwalk, and Billy beat him in the squirt gun race game. They gave each other the winning plush prizes - Danny got a medium-sized stuffed tiger and Billy got a medium-sized black and white puppy. Danny still has both prizes sitting on his old bed in his parent's place back in Jersey.
He remembered getting pizza at Mack's - literally the best place to grab a slice on the boardwalk - and the two of them got to make their own since Danny had known the owner since he was a little kid. He could remember walking around with plates of funnel cakes from Fritz's, riding roller coasters, making t-shirts, racing in go karts, playing laser tag, bumper cars, and mini golf night after night they were there. Danny remembered challenging one another to who could eat a Chipstix and fried twinkies fastest. He could still smell the candy store scents where they tried every type of fudge in the place before they settled on jawbreakers and saltwater taffy instead.
They used to have diving competitions off Morey's Pier, during the early morning hours when no one was out fishing yet, but they could never quite agree on a winner on that one.
Danny and Billy had clutched to one another's shirts and - Danny will still deny it to this day if asked - they screamed like five-year old girls as they stumbled their way though the Ghost Ship on Mariner's Landing Pier. They made their way down to the Adventure Pier, riding the rollercoasters and skyscraper rides. Danny remembers standing in line, both boys shaking nervously with adrenaline and unmentioned fear, as they waited to ride the SpringShot. They screamed the entire time, tumbling out of the shot ball in fits of laughter afterwards.
Then, just two days before they were going home - since school started just after the upcoming weekend - the entire family was lounging out on the shore. His mother was seated under the beach umbrella, rocking his baby sister, and watching the boys through her large sunglasses as they body surfed and boogie-boarded through the water and playfully wrestled with Matt, Danny's younger brother. Danny heard his mother call them back for a quick set of lunches, and after eating, Billy and Danny were back in the water.
They'd started to relax a little more, Danny was teaching Billy how to successfully float on his back. Billy splashed at him when Danny let him go unexpectedly, causing him to fall under the ocean's surface. Danny laughed with him and splashed back.
"Hey, Danny, I'll race ya to the buoy. Whaddya say?" Billy looked over at him, a smile on his face and a challenging look in his eyes.
Danny laughed. "You sure you wanna try that? You and I both know I'll beat you." Danny teased back.
"You don't know that."
"I beat you in relay in the last team swim meet. What makes you think I can't beat you out here?" Danny splashed at him.
"You beat me by half a second!" Billy splashed back.
Danny laughed again. "I still won! But, alright, alright, if you think you can handle loosing. You're on. To the buoy and-" Danny looked back towards the shore where his little brother and sister were starting to build sand castles. "and back to the chairs. Who ever touches the blue cooler first wins. We can start on the shore." Danny looked back over to Billy.
"Deal." Billy gave him a smirk.
Danny returned the gesture before they swam back to shore. The boys ran up to the beach chairs and Danny told his mother to watch for whoever touches the buoy and then the cooler first. She rolled her eyes, agreed, and told them to be careful. Billy got Matt to call the count down.
Not before long, both boys were diving over the shore waves, swimming as fast as they could out to the buoy. Danny could hear his sister cheer him on from the beach, while Matt - the little traitor - cheered on Billy.
Danny wasn't sure how it had happened, he remembered swimming right beside Billy one second and then the next Billy was at least eight yards away and double that behind him. Even though the buoy was only about another five or six yards away from Danny now, neither of them really estimated just how far out the thing actually was. Trying to swim against the waves got a little exhausting but, Danny was determined to make it there and back. He slowed down a bit to catch his breath, a little longer than normal since Billy was so far back, and that's when he was rocked sideways as the currents under the waves ran into one another, dragging him under the water. He fought his way back to the surface, breaking through it just long enough fpr air before it was dragging him down again.
The second time he came up, he heard Billy's voice calling out to him, and the sound of his kicks picking up speed and getting closer. Danny was pulled under one more time before panic really started to set in. He started fighting with the water surrounding him, vaguely hearing the sound of a lifeguard blowing his whistle. His chest started to hurt, the salt in the ocean water started to irritate his eyes and burn his throat.
Danny fought against the water as best he could, keeping up just long enough to get a fix on Billy in sight. He could see Billy, right there, before getting sucked under again. When he came up the next time, Billy was closer and still screaming his name. Something in Danny's mind was telling him to just keep swimming to the buoy, just get to something to hold on to. He tried, but the currents were stronger than he was and succeeded in pulling him under again. It took a little while to get to the surface that time, the panic attack it was giving him was making it even harder to keep a level head and swim in the right direction.
When he finally broke through the water, Danny saw Billy was only a few feet away, and started to do his best to swim against the currents to get to him.
If anything, he had to make it to Billy.
He couldn't win against the currents though, the water wouldn't let him through. No matter how hard he kicked, paddled, fought, it just kept pushing him farther out to sea instead of towards his best friend. He paused, fighting to stay above the water and now he could see the lifeguard getting towards them on one of those life saving jet skis.
Billy shouted his name again, and was so close that Danny almost had him by the hand, before they both got pulled under the surface. Danny fought the water with everything he had. It might have been the adrenaline pumping through his system, or the fear of not wanting to die out here, drowning in the ocean, when he kicked his way through the under currents and broke the surface again.
When he came up this time though, Billy wasn't shouting his name. Billy wasn't in front of him anymore, and Danny couldn't see him anywhere. When panic decided to replace the adrenaline once more, Danny yelled for Billy now, reaching around in the water and trying to get a grasp on him - but, he couldn't find him. Danny dove into the water this time, in a desperate search for his best fiend, until a strong hand was gripping his shoulder and pulling him back up. He gasped for air, getting mostly water into his mouth instead, before fighting - who he now knows was the lifeguard - to let him go.
He had to find Billy. He had to get Billy back to the surface, back to the shore, back home.
Danny dove back under the water and heard the splash of the lifeguard jump in behind him. Danny's vision darkened and he realized that he hadn't calmed down enough to take a breath. His chest felt like it was ready to explode, his stomach was flipping like he was back on one of the boardwalk's roller coasters and all he wanted to do was scream. It didn't matter how many times Danny opened his mouth to scream, nothing came out, everything was completely, eerily silent.
He felt the lifeguard's arms wrap around his upper chest, beginning to swim them back to the surface, just before everything started to feel fuzzy and distant and dark -
A knock on the bathroom door made him jump almost ten feet in the air, successfully making his montage of a nightmare come to a screeching halt.
"Danno?" It was Steve's voice coming from the other side and Danny's mind came crashing back into the real world so fast that it made him dizzy and light-headed. When his mind had actually caught up with him, he realized that the burning sensation in his eyes and the tightness in his chest wasn't just from that day, he was in tears now and he hadn't even realized.
"Danny, dinner is all ready, whenever you wanna head downstairs." Steve said softly. Danny quickly forced out something that vaguely sounded like an okay. He waited until he heard Steve's footsteps down the stairs before quickly washing his hair. After that he shut the water off and heading into their bedroom to get dressed. He headed downstairs after re-washing his face, hiding most of the evidence from his earlier tears.
They ate in silence, comfortable at first, but Steve was growing concerned. Danny never passed up a golden opportunity to rant about how Steve had managed to screw something up so badly; example - their extremely unsuccessful 'relaxing' date today. Halfway through the meal, Steve wouldn't have cared if Danny was yelling that it was his fault, he just wanted to hear Danny talk.
Silent Danno was one Danno that Steve could never handle well.
"Danny?" Steve looked at him from across the table. Danny glanced up. "Are you okay?" Steve's voice was soft and all Danny did was nod. After a moment, they went back to their silent eating again and something about it was just getting under Steve's skin.
After finishing, Danny cleared and washed the dishes while Steve watched him from the table. Danny didn't even ask Steve to help like he usually did.
That was it. Steve couldn't take it.
He stood up, took three steps towards him, and pulled Danny backwards against his chest. Danny stumbled back just a bit at the sudden grip on him, the silverware in his hand falling into the sink. "Danny, please, please, say something. I'm sorry about today, I didn't know it was going to turn out like that. I'm sorry. You can yell at me if you want to, anything, just please say something." Steve said quickly, hugging Danny around the waist. He felt Danny shutter out a breath, quickly drying his hands. He moved to turn around but Steve wouldn't loosen his grip, thinking Danny would just walk away.
"Steve..." Danny took another breath again. Steve's grip tightened around Danny's waist, face buried between the back of his neck and shoulder. Danny twisted his hips again, letting Steve know that he wasn't walking away. Steve allowed him to turn around and Danny stood on his toes to wrap his arms around Steve's neck. "It...it's nothing to do with you."
"Then what is it? Please, tell me." Steve pulled back enough to look down at him, Danny fell back on to the soles of his feet as his hands rested against Steve's shoulders. Steve pressed them closer against the counter.
"I just..." Danny looked down, hands dropping from Steve's shoulders and on to his chest. "I can't stop...thinking about...Billy." Danny's voice grew quieter, hands playing at the fabric of Steve's soft shirt for a distraction. He couldn't see Steve's sad, apologetic expression.
Steve couldn't resist the immediate urge to pull the shorter man back into a tight hug.
"I'm sorry." Steve said again, hands softly rubbing comforting circles on Danny's back.
"I just, I dunno, once I started thinking about it I couldn't let it go again..." Danny grew quiet and Steve looked down at him. "He...he was just...right there. I saw him and I could hear him and I almost had a hold on him but...it wasn't enough. I couldn't get to him." Steve frowned slightly. "You know," Danny gave him a sad, almost self-deprecating smirk. "I spent that night out on the beach. I slept where we had sat all day...just in case he came back. I know that it was stupid, but, I did it anyways..." Danny's voice drifted off again as he shrugged, that sad smile fading.
"Danny, it wasn't your fault." Steve looked down at him.
"...I agreed to the race, I got caught up in the current...he was swimming out to get me. He got trapped, trying to get to me. That counts."
"Danno, you couldn't control the water. It wasn't your fault." Steve repeated. Except, Danny didn't respond, which made it clear to Steve that he wasn't believing it. Danny bit into his bottom lip, eyes casted down as he continued to play with Steve's shirt.
"Danno." Steve tried to get his attention. When Danny didn't look up, Steve reached out and tilted his chin up. Danny's eyes slowly - finally - met his, teeth releasing the bite on his lower lip. Steve leaned down, kissing Danny just softly enough to get the shorter man to lean against him and kiss back. They kept the kiss gentle, a simple pressure against each other's mouths. The kiss didn't break as Steve's hands moved to wrap Danny up in a protective hug. Danny just melted against his chest, pushing against him, trying to be as close as possible.
They stayed like that for several minutes, wrapped up in one another, Steve continuing to lightly kiss at Danny's mouth.
Afterwards, Steve pulled his lips back but rested their foreheads together. "It wasn't your fault." His voice was just above barely a whisper, but this time he felt Danny's shoulders slump as the shorter man fell completely into his hug. Danny let out a breath, burying his face into Steve's chest while the hug grew a bit tighter.
Steve felt Danny's body tense after a moment, a soft sob escaping Danny's throat. Steve just held him closer, returning to rubbing gentle circles around his back. He let Danny cry against him, running a fingertips against the base of his neck while whispering comforting words. Danny just held him tighter, trying his hardest to quiet his crying.
He wasn't sure how they had gotten to the couch, or when, but Steve managed to have Danny lying down against him. Danny's sobs had quieted, turning into slow silent tears now.
"Tell me, about him." Steve placed a kiss to his hair.
Danny's eyes closed, biting into his lower lip before beginning to talk about his childhood best friend. He told Steve about how they grew up together and that Billy lived in the house across the street. He talked about how they had played baseball together, how their mother's used to sit together on the front porch and watch them play on the lawn. They used to race their bikes down to the Mr. Softy's on the corner, the number one place to grab an ice cream. They spent the weekends at each other's houses - every Friday at Danny's and every Saturday at Billy's. They used to chase down the pretzel truck, buying up as many as they could before racing home. He talked about taking over the arcade, staying late until they had beat out each other's high scores in Pacman and Galaga. Their families spent the holiday's together at the shore and the two of them would sneak downstairs late at night on Christmas Eve to guess what their presents were. He told Steve about the lemonade stand fiasco when they were eight, and the awkward first middle school dance when they were twelve. He talked about making shrinky-dinks, playing cops-and-robbers and kick-can and being on the swim team, soccer team, and basketball team together.
Danny talked until he had run out of memories. Steve smiled, making small side comments, and succeeding in getting soft laughs from Danny. His fingertips dipped under the hem Danny's shirt, grazing gently across his lower back, more than content to have Danny's voice filling the house's silence again.
After a long while, Steve eventually felt Danny's breathing even out and his body relax completely against Steve's chest. He reached for the tv remote, not disturbing Danny's sleep, to turn on mindless night shows while he continued to rub at Danny's back.
It had taken under an hour before Steve's eyes became heavy themselves. He was originally going to move them upstairs to the bedroom but he really didn't want to wake Danny up. He wasn't so sure he was awake enough to make it up the steps himself at this point.
They would talk about it more in the morning. For now, Steve was just glad that Danny had calmed down and was finally asleep. He sank deeper into the couch, arms wrapping just a little tighter around Danny's body. Danny stirred slightly on top of him at the movement but remained in his dozing state. Steve kissed Danny's forehead, mumbling an 'I love you' before sleep claimed his mind as well.
Yep. So. There it is. Review, if you like.
Also, the explanation of Wildwood is really descriptive - I know - and it's because I was born in Jersey and have spent a lot of time on those boardwalks (though not much since Hurricane Sandy though... ...) But, anyways, I am aware that certain rides, like the Ghost Ship or SpringShot are more relatively new and wouldn't have been there when Danny was a kid...I based the part off how I spent this past summer...so, yeah.
Anyways! It's just after midnight out here on the east coast, so goodnight and review it please! I'd truly appreciate it. This my first written fic for the fandom and I'd really like to know how I did... (: