Disclaimer: See initial chapter.
A/N: Inspired by the song, "Tangled up in You," by Staind. Written as inspired.
Danny's not-quite smile is the first thing that registers in Steve's muddled thoughts. It's not the first thing that he sees – Danny's eyes, brilliantly bright blue, stormy and pained – but it's the first thing that he notices. The first – the only – thing that matters in the midst of everything else.
The way Danny's lips quirk upward, the skin around them taut, is what tells Steve that Danny isn't yet done with him, that the man hasn't quit him, even though Steve's gone back on his word (for about the zillionth time since they've become partners, the millionth since they've become lovers) again.
By all rights, Danny should leave him, but, he doesn't. Instead, his hand, roughened by hard work – the hands of a man who takes the world by the horns, and doesn't let up – anchors Steve's fumbling, bandaged hand.
It could have been worse, almost was. If Chin hadn't been there, Steve would be dead. He knows this, swallows hard when Danny's hand squeezes his, and the man's smile wavers.
Steve can see that Danny's itching to say something. The corners of his mouth twitch, his lips pale just slightly, even as a blush darkens his cheeks. The storm brewing in his eyes thickens, but Danny holds his tongue, and that's when Steve knows just how close he'd really come to dying. It makes his heart drop, not because he almost died, but because, he almost lost more time with Danny.
"I'm sorry."
The words are inadequate, but he can't take them back.
Danny nods.
"I know."
Danny squeezes his hand. "Get some sleep. We'll talk more tomorrow."
Steve nods, closes his eyes, and, only when he feels the soft pressure of Danny's lips against his own, does he let go of the breath that he'd been holding since he woke up, and he drifts off to sleep.
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