Chapter 10:
Please read the authors note at the end? I'm kinda lost, guys.
Aannnndd... I got really sad while writing cold and depressing and rapey, no good, cry at night kinda stuff... so, here's this! Its light and fluffy, with teasing and jokes and icing xP
Danny woke on the recliner, Aaron still nestled in his arms. The air was crisp and numbingly warm, and Danny sighed contently into his boyfriends hair. He brushed his lips against freckled skin, smiling because the red heads response was to sleepily wrap himself closer to Danny.
Sometime during the night, Aaron had shifted from his bridal position to laying flush against Danny, their legs overlapping each other with Aaron's head resting against the others shoulder. Danny ran his fingers through red, spiky hair, loving the soft feel of the unruly hair that smelled of soft cinnamon and peppermint, the boys favorite Christmas scents.
"Aaron," he whispered, and chuckled at the soft moan of protest. "Aaron, we have to get up."
Green eyes peeked open, hazily addressing the ravenette before him. There was still a thin ribbon of blissful sleepiness to the boys features, and he only managed to settle himself higher, his cheek flush against Danny's.
"Weekend." Aaron murmured. "No school."
Danny turned and pecked the boy playfully on the cheek. "Not for school, dork." He teased, and he marveled in Aaron's beautifully colored eyes, watching him with curiosity.
"Then why?" He asked, groggy eyes playing against the light streaming in through the window. He propped his head up on an elbow, yawning in defiance.
Danny pulled the redheads face to his, running a thumb over Aaron's parted lips. His green eyes were suddenly very, very awake. Danny kissed him, lightly at first and then with a need, a want, that ended with Aaron moving to deepen the kiss.
"D-Danny..." Came the soft murmur...
… Followed by the choked yell.
"DANNY!"
Aaron fell forward onto the recliners back, his hands drifting to catch himself. His knees dropped to the seat, and he gasped at the now empty space before him where a very sexy, bed-headed boyfriend had just been.
Aaron wasn't so much angry as he was confused, and when he twisted himself to sit properly in the chair, he saw Danny a few feet away, eyebrows scrunched together in... fear?
Aaron sat down dissatisfied, crossing his arms in a huff with an adorable pout playing on his lips. Danny sat neutrally, his eyes downcast as he watched Aaron's reaction.
"That wasn't what I expected." Aaron chortled, his features slipping as his face broke into a smile. Danny continued to just watch him, and Aaron found his smile slipping. "Is something wrong?"
Danny shook his head and grinned. "You're really not bothered by it... are you?"
Aaron blinked once, his mind stilling. "Bothered by what?"
Danny flew to him then, his socks just barely brushing the coffee table as he set one hand on either side of Aaron's hips. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, before Danny changed, his black hair going white, blue eyes flashing green...
"My powers... the Phantom?" Danny's face looked stricken. "It doesn't bother you that I'm half ghost? Half dead?"
Realization dawned on Aaron's brow, and he leaned forward, setting his hands on either of Danny's cheeks. "It'll only bother me if you stop me from kissing you like that again."
They both smiled, and the next kiss they shared was soft and sweet and ripe in the morning air. Danny's gloves played in Aaron's hair, and he chanced a few nips at the others bottom lip.
"Danny, Aaron, its time to-"
The boys turned to see June walk into the living room, curled hair framing her face and sun dress brushing around her knees. Her wide blue eyes stopped on the ghost holding her son by the hips. Her lips parted for a moment before her face cleared and a smile radiated on her features once more.
"Oh, you're awake already." She beamed, hands clasping in front of her. "Aaron, could you help your father in the kitchen? And Danny, dear, why don't you go get dressed, and you can come with me to the supermarket." She smiled again, winking, and turned to go back to the kitchen.
The ghost boy turned to look at the redhead, both speechless, but eventually both boys did as they were told, Danny changing forms halfway up the stairs as he took them two at a time.
It was awfully awkward on the ride to the supermarket, but Danny didn't dare speak up first. This was for June to approach, not him.
So he sat, and listened to June hum and sing along to the radio, watching her fingers drum on the steering wheel as she drove. The day was bright and clear, and the snow trickling down around them sent chills through them both.
June bundled into her coat when she stepped from car, taking Danny's offered arm to walk into the store.
"So, Danny." June tried, a hesitant smile playing on her pale lips. Danny looked up at her, eyes fearful, but her light laugh eased his nerves immediately. "Oh, don't look so afraid, honey." Her teeth flashed at him, and he smiled back. "We're still learning about you, and you're still learning about us. This is just another thing to add to the list."
She grabbed a few apples, bagged them, and added them to the buggy she'd chosen, patting Danny's shoulder. Her eyes scanned the veggies, and Danny waited.
"Is that how you got Aaron home last night? You used your powers?" She asked, staring very intently at a carrot.
"Yeah," Danny managed, staring off at the many passing people, making sure no one was close enough to overhear. "He fell through some ice, and his boot caught. I phased him through and flew him home, straight into the shower." June answered with a nod, putting the carrot in a bag to add to the cart.
"You know, Danny, this won't change anything." She said seriously, and Danny watched as her blue eyes met his.
There was a warm and wonderful feeling coursing through him then that swirled and spun around in his blood like dynamite, warming his entire body with just that sentence. Danny wanted to cry, or sing, or laugh, but he only smiled, and for the sake of hearing it, he asked, "What won't change?"
June gave a soft, knowing chuckle. "We'll still be here for you, no matter what, honey. Your secrets are safe with us, and we'll protect you and care for you and listen when you need someone to cry to." Her hand brushed his cheek where ghosted tears hadn't been able to stop flowing just a few days ago. "We love you, Danny. And nothing is going to change that."
Danny couldn't help it... he flung both arms around her neck, hugging the woman who had been more of a mother to him in the short time he's known her than his mother had ever tried to be. He felt his smile quiver at that thought, and he hugged June tighter, marveling at the warmth it brought him.
When he pulled away, he saw light tears budding on her cheeks as her smile wavered. "Lets get this over with so we can get you home." She said, turning back to the crumpled list she held in her hand. Danny smiled, nodding, and followed after her with a new skip in his step.
The weekend was amazing for the small family, in which Danny spent long hours doing things he'd never even thought of.
June taught him how to make peanut-brittle, and Henry cleared a space in the garage for the teens very own workbench. Danny was amazed at the sweetness of June's recipe, and Henry's willingness to accept Danny's secret. (The two had sat down when June had returned with the teen from shopping, and Danny told the older man and his wife all about his crime fighting alter-ego. He also explained to the entire family about how, yes, the night he was gang-raped for the last time was the night that he'd gained his powers, when his fathers colleagues had thrown his bleeding body into a broken ghost zone where his DNA fuzed with ectoplasm... That was a fun explanation.)
Then... that Sunday proved to be even stranger to the ravenette that the previous day.
Danny was introduced to Aaron's white headed, cheery grandmother, his older sister, and twin cousins who came to meet Aaron's new boyfriend once June let the news slip of their new house guest.
He was kissed on the cheek and hugged and clung to by little hands that liked saying his and Aaron's name over and over together in a non taunting way. June made a feast, and they all ate together, with Annie, Aaron's black haired, green eyed sister (who looked just like him) telling all about a girl at her college that she was falling for. When asked what the girls name was, Danny was surprised to hear his sisters name, Jazmine Nicole, and a picture of the girls hugging on Annie's phone.
They all had a good laugh about that, and within the hour, Jazz was there, because now Annie had an excuse to invite her. Jazz squealed and ran to hug Danny, her long arms wrapping around his neck when he picked her up and spun her in a circle, so utterly happy to have his older sibling there again.
He heard June crying in the background somewhere at the reunion, and Danny knew that it was for his protective instincts of the girl; of the things he had given to men he didn't know to keep them from going after his older sister instead.
Annie acted as Jazz's guide, and Danny and Aaron both giggled at their sister's apparent crushs on each other.
Aaron was blushing, and Danny was smiling, and that Sunday was the best day they both had had in a long time. They held hands in front of the adults, and brushed lips when they passed each other in the kitchen in brief reminders of their shared feelings. Aaron's grandmother even took the ravenette aside to thank him for how much he made Aaron bloom; she thanked him for her grandsons broad smile and laughter that had reappeared with Danny's presence.
It was the most endearing and sentimental thing Danny had heard in a while, and he hugged the woman warmly, smiling at her instant approval of him.
Aarons cousins, who lived with his grandmother, clutched at his hands when Aaron wasn't, and rode his back as he ran about in the snow outside. Danny made a snow angel for the first time since his childhood while out side with the boys, Allen and Jace. His angel held the hand of Aaron's.
It was beautiful, the way Aaron laughed and played with the boys, picking them up and twirling them as their coal black hair and flashing brown eyes were electrified by their cherry red cheeks. Danny stopped to watch Aaron run around with them, breath puffing out in front of him in his favorite jacket and hat, hands pumping as he ran with all his might around the vast yard.
Danny's sneakers crunched against the snow as he chased Aaron with the boys, and within the minute, Aaron was laying on his back, Jace and Danny restricting his limbs movements as Allen attacked him with tickles.
Aaron laughed loudly, flailing beneath them as his breath escaped in thick fog at the pleasurable torture. Tears brushed his cheeks after a while, his laughter bellowing when Jace joined his brother in the tickling. Danny was left to fall back on his rear, laughing at the red heads red face and easy smile.
The boys eventually released their victim, letting Aaron fall back on his own to catch his struggling breath from the encounter.
Danny took little time in laying next to him, his stomach chilling as the cold slunk through his jacket. He took Aaron's hand for the millionth time that day, trailing kissed down his fingertips with chapped lips. Aaron smiled up at him, completely content as Danny rubbed the feeling back into his freezing fingers.
"This..." Aaron concluded, "This is nice."
The smile that followed was easy and blissful, and Danny was quick to capture it in a quick kiss.
The moment was interrupted, however, when each boy suddenly had an older sister on top of them, fighting to hold their brothers down as they tried to smear cupcakes into their faces.
Aaron was left with his face painted across both cheeks and up into his hair, Annie laughing as she pinned her brother down with two knees.
Danny, however, was the only two of the siblings that had any practice in fighting. Jazz was flipped onto her back, and Danny laughed maniacally as the cupcake was shoved onto his sisters pale skin, smearing the perfect complexion with red and blue icing. Jazz laughed as her attack was countered, and he peeked over to see Aaron wipe off a handful of the sweetness from his face and rake it across his sisters forehead.
Everyone was laughing, and the siblings could hear the shouts of encouragement erupting from the back door as everyone gathered to watch the battles.
Soon, though, Danny was the only one with out icing on him, and it became a full out war, three to one, as the Carter siblings and his own sister tried again and again to get Danny with the weapon of choice.
They chased and threw and ambushed, but not even Annie, athlete to the bone, was able to mark Danny. It wasn't until the two girls tired and decided instead to throw handfuls of snow at each other did Danny get a face full of icing.
Aaron grabbed his hand, and Danny was pulled into a kiss, in which icing was spread from one boys lips to the others, sticking to cheeks and smearing on noses, and when the sticky kiss was finally broken, Aaron made sure to slop the handful of icing still in his free hand over Danny's face.
Danny got his revenge though, after laughing and playing and reacquainting himself with his sister, and once everyone had said their goodbyes and left, Danny picked Aaron up and threw him over his shoulder, running back outside and through the kitchen with a wink to June.
He set Aaron down outside, only to reposition him onto his back...
And he took off.
The sky was open and clear, and Danny giggled at the small gasp from Aaron as they climbed into the cities sunset, their skin died orange and gold from the sky. Danny felt Aaron's hands cutting off the circulation from his neck, but he couldn't care less as he heard the gasp of surprise at the view.
The horizon stretched on into infinity, rays of blue and purple behind them morphing to a light azure, to cyan, to yellow and gold and orange and bronze, until they could only see rays of radiant peach and burgundy playing across the clouds. Danny felt Aarons hands relax, and he twirled their bodies, turning out towards the city, where you could see every building lit by florescent lights and neon signs that flickered here and there.
Aaron laughed, the sound reaching Danny to spread chills up and down his body. He was so content right now, so utterly infatuated with this boy that he didn't know what to do.
He landed on one of the many building, and before he could do or say anything, Aaron was spinning him around and catching him in a bone crushing hug that spread warmth through his wind touched limbs.
"D-Danny," Aaron stuttered, drawing back from the raven-haired boy in his arms. His eyes lit with whatever he had to say, and Danny could only draw a curious line to his brow. Aaron's lip shook for a moment, and his breath seemed to sink in his stomach, but after a moment, he said what he'd wanted to say since elementary school.
"I love you, Danny."
Danny scooped the boy up and held him, Aaron's legs wrapped possessively around his waist. He spun him around, floating a few feet off the ground on his feelings own accord as he captured Aaron in a bliss filled kiss.
He smiled, and sighed into the others neck as he landed, knees a little shaky as the realization dawned on him of just how perfect Aaron had made his life. He felt stronger, felt fuller, felt everything that he thought would never be possible.
"I love you, too, Aaron." He answered easily, burying his face further into his love's neck. "And I always will... promise."
So guys.. I need your help. This fic... could ultimately end here. Everything has been done that I ultimately wanted to accomplish, and I'm quiet satisfied for it to end on a happier note. But there are other circumstances and ideas that could be put into this fic should I choose to continue, wherein Danny and Aaron could reveal their relationship to their school mates and go through the difficult task of the football players bullying, or certain persons from Danny's past could come back to haunt him; I could write about the court process that takes place in prosucuting the adults that raped him, and maybe some evidence (video? Clothing? DNA?) that surfaces through all these years. TearsDrippingDown made a good point when it was pointed out that Danny's parents reactions would be a splendid idea, and seeing Jazz find out what had happened to her brother would add to that.
I'm really not sure what I want to do, end here or continue on with the real world...?
So suggestions please? I'm leaving it to a vote. PM me, review, favorite, all that good stuff.
Also, it had been quiet a while since I mentioned it, but I do take messages on tumblr now. Screen name is Samiam0music, and those messages go straight through to my phone.
Thanks!~
Reviews:
alixanderbolster
This is cute i love the story plz continue. also i loved the date they went on
Thanks! This story is for you, and I'm soooo very happy you're enjoying it :D
TearsDrippingDown:
All the fluff is killing me! I wanna know what will happen to Danny's parents and friends and what we're to happen if Danny's dad somehow found out that danny told on him? Like, if one of his friends was on the police force or something..hmmm...idk :P just ideas :3
Ahhhh I'm so torn between ending with an epilogue where it shows something of Danny and Aaron's future, but then I read your review and I literally groaned outloud, cause I absolutely want to write about their reactions now! cx
Ahh, it'll happen. One way or another.
Silver-hearted-girl:
This was perfect! There is no way i would want to change anything of this! The date was brilliant and how Aaron finally found out Danny's secret was ingenious. You are a very talented writer. Don't change.
Thank you so very very much! :'D I tried really hard to make it more interesting, and I rewrote it... maybe 3 times? But I'm overjoyed that you're happy with it, dearie! :D
supaherolena02:
So, does this mean Danny didn't get his powers from a messed hang out with his friends?
Yessssssss, creamy make outs by the lake! Adorable :D
D, A, N, N, Y! Gotta kiss that sweetheart! A, A, R, O, N! Gotta love that nerdy hon'! Goooooootta read fluffy!
And here's me now, trying to be a cheerleader for DannyxAaron
No, my idea for the fic was that after Danny was raped by his father and his friends, his nearly lifeless body was thrown into the ghost portal, where his open wounds melded with ectoplasm, but he was thrown back out half healed, and they just kinda went with it. Sorry if that wasn't clear very well, but he couldn't explain it to Jim and I didn't write the carters finding out very well xP
Whoo! snowy kisses! x3
Best Cheerleader ever!
vampireharry the 2
Excellent chapter! Sorry I've only just reviewed, I've been really busy. Keep up the great work!
Thank you so much! And its not a problem :) Its quite understandable~
Morning-Star57:
And now...I LOVE YOU FOREVER! Now get your story-writing butt over here and gimme hug!
*tackles with hugs*
midnight:
Totally on the edge chapter! Love it love it love it. Glad Aaron knows Danny's secret and didn't run.
Of course not! Danny could catch Aaron from running in an instant xD theres no need for any of that :3