When Danny wakes up, he looks over at the clock. The red numbers tell him it's close to 4 AM, a couple of hours before he and Isaac have to get up for school. Gently, he extracts himself from Isaac's arms - not an easy feet, as they sleep tangled all together. He manages to get free, and goes downstairs, getting a drink of water and sitting down at his kitchen table.
It's been one hell of a year, everything with Maia, and now everything with Isaac, his fight with Jackson, but he knows that his anger with Jackson will subside, that things like this always do. He just wants to protect the young man who's currently asleep in his bed. He bites his lip and reaches for his phone, dialing Jackson.
"Danny?" The voice comes over the other line after a couple of rings, tired, and perhaps still half asleep.
"Yeah, I'm sorry to call this late, but I hate the way I yelled at you, I don't regret that I did it, or why, but...I just want you to know that while I don't like what happened, I'm not mad at you. I mean, anymore. I was mad at you."
"Danny, it's okay," Jackson says. "I did the wrong thing, and you got mad at me because you love Isaac. If someone was hurting Lydia, I'd do the same thing. Danny, I don't like that it happened either, but I get it, so if that's what's got you awake at 4 AM, don't worry, okay?"
"Okay." He sighs. "Are you gonna come to his party?"
"Yes." He nods. "I have to go a couple of days after, but I'll be there, and before you ask, don't worry. I'll get him a nice present."
"Thanks, Jackson."
"You're welcome. Now go back to your boy so I can get some sleep. Lydia kept me up…"
"Okay, Jesus Christ, got it." Danny laughs. "Night, Jackson."
"Morning," Jackson corrects. "Very, very early morning. This tortured soul thing doesn't work very well for you."
"Noted." Danny hangs up the phone, finishes his glass of water, puts it in the sink, and walks back up to his room.
Isaac is strewn across the bed, lying on his stomach, mostly on top of the covers, looking gorgeous in nothing but his boxers. The moonlight is streaking through the window, illuminating his smooth skin and soft blond curls. Danny smiles, leaning in the doorway, just looking at the sight before his eyes for a moment.
Isaac isn't like anyone that he has ever dated. Isaac is young, and somehow, incredibly strong, and incredibly wounded all at the same time. He was there for Danny, holding his hand, talking him through the pain that he was in when Maia was hurt, all the while compartmentalizing and dealing with his own. Now, Danny thinks it's his turn. He wants to take care of Isaac, to hold him close, let him know that it's going to be alright. Isaac made things better for Danny, and Danny wants to do the same for him.
He knows that it's early in the morning, too early for him to be as awake as he is, but he feels lucky, blessed in a way that he never really thinks he'll understand. It's been hard, but the hardships are over, Maia is safe, she's okay, and all of that brought him Isaac, someone that he had never looked twice at before. Now, though, that Isaac is splayed in front of him, looking somewhat angelic as he sleeps, Danny doesn't understand why he didn't see it before, how he missed Isaac.
It's not like the other boy was invisible - he was there, on the lacrosse team, he was there, getting into fights with Ethan, and Danny always looked right past him, right at someone else, someone who was bad for him, someone who didn't care, but there's Isaac, caring, and finally, Danny's with someone that means something real to him, something that he means something real to, and he's never felt this way about anyone.
Slowly, he moves forwards, easing himself back onto the bed. Isaac shifts, but stays asleep, as the weight on the bed changes, sinking down a little. Danny moves close, pulling Isaac into his arms, kissing him on the cheek.
"Hey," Danny whispers.
"Mmmm," Isaac shifts again, still very much asleep.
Danny smiles, and leans down, kissing Isaac's neck softly, his hands gently running up Isaac's back. He doesn't want to piss Isaac off by waking him up, but at the same time, he just wants some of that closeness.
"What're you doing?" Isaac mumbles, opening one eye and looking at Danny, still very close to sleep.
"I love you," Danny whispers, leaning in, kissing Isaac softly on the lips.
Isaac returns the kiss, though it's slow, lazy, tired.
"Okay, go back to sleep," Danny says softly as he pulls away from the kiss.
"Well now I don't wanna," Isaac admits, opening both eyes. His voice is heavy with sleep, as is the rest of him, but there's something undeniably beautiful, sexy, about the way that he looks right now, and Danny? Well, he's glad that Isaac's not mad that he was woken up.
"Good answer," Danny says with a grin.
"Shhhh." Isaac leans in, closing his eyes as he kisses Danny softly.
They lie like that, in the dark, the moon the only thing lighting the room, making out slow, lazy, as though they have all of the time in the world. There's no rush to it, there's no hint of this going anywhere else, at least not tonight, they just lie their, hands exploring each other's bodies, lips joined, and it feels good, to both of them.
"Okay," Isaac pulls back after almost a half an hour. "What got into you?"
"Just woke up, got a drink of water, came back, saw you lying there, looking…" he reaches up, gently carding his fingers through Isaac's hair. "Irresistible in the moonlight, and I wanted to kiss you, let you know how much I care about you."
"Danny, I…" Isaac bites his lip. "I dont want you to feel like you have to make up for everything my father did, or everything that he should have done, and didn't, I-"
"Isaac, this isn't about your father, okay?" Danny shakes his head. "This is about you, and me, and how we feel about each other, how I feel about you." He leans in, kissing Isaac softly. "And I feel like I've never felt before, okay? I love you, and yes, I want you to be happy, and yes, I want to undo every bad thing that has ever happened to you, but I know that's not how the world works, so instead, I'm just going to make our time together as happy for you as possible."
"You do make me happy, Danny," Isaac says, leaning in, pressing his forehead against Danny's. "You really, really do."
"Good. You make me happy, too."
Isaac just sort of smiles at that, looking at Danny, studying his features as best he can in the moonlit room.
"I love you, too," Isaac says finally.
Sure, he's said the words so many times before, but everytime he says them, Danny's face lights up, and just knowing that he can pull that sort of beautiful response from someone like Danny, just by telling him how he feels, it's sort of amazing to Isaac, the kind of thing that he never expected to be able to do. He never thought that someone like Danny would ever care about him, but he knows it's true, knows that he does, and he's so glad for that.
"You'd better," Danny says with a smile. "Because I don't know what I'd do if you didn't."
"Well you don't have to worry about that."
"Good."
They curl in around each other, Danny pulling Isaac close against him.
"Do you have plans?" Danny asks. "For your birthday?" He knows that Isaac doesn't, because if he did, he would have heard about them when he sent the party invitations to Scott and Melissa, he's pretty sure, but he wants to hear it from Isaac.
"No, I...I don't celebrate my birthday, I mean, I haven't since I was a kid."
"Let me take you out," Danny whispers.
"No, Danny, you don't have to do that." Isaac turns in his arms to face Danny.
"Please?" Danny asks. "I want to. I want to spend your birthday with you."
"Yeah?" Isaac bites his lip.
"Yeah, I do. I'll make reservations, we'll go somewhere nice, celebrate you - and before you say it, Isaac Lahey, you are worth celebrating."
"Okay." Isaac blushes, because yes, Danny had tuned right into him just then. "I, yeah, that'd be nice."
"Good. Then it's a date."
"Yes, it is." Isaac nods. "Now...think we can get a little more sleep before we have to get up for school?"
"I'll bet we can if we try real hard," Danny teases, snuggling up against Isaac and closing his eyes.
Both of them are asleep moments later, content to be wrapped up in each other.
A/N Alright, so it's come time to make the official announcement. I went on a spree, and actually finished writing this whole story last night. We're in the last few chapters. It will be 40 in all, so I hope that you guys stick through until the end, which is very soon, and thanks so much for your loyalty thus far!