100 Danny's POV

Tom was struggling tonight, really, really struggling. I couldn't leave him to it, not when I could see how badly he was shaking through the baby monitor. He needed help, and I couldn't not give it to him.

"Danny, it may not be the best idea." Dougie warned, grabbing my hand before I could leave.

"I can't just him leave him to suffer." I could see it on the monitor, Tom was near tears, or a panic attack, or something like that. How could I leave him to fall to pieces? Especially in front of his son? I couldn't! I couldn't just leave him like that!

"I know that, but he's scared, today hasn't been good for him. He may just need to work it out by himself for a while." Dougie advised, "Or he needs a minute to feel useful, like he's doing something good, because he didn't feel good today. Let him have it, you have to let him have that."

I could do that, I could definitely do that, anything I could do, anything at all. But I had to help, somehow, some way, I couldn't just sit here and watch him suffer in silence. This wasn't him feeling useful, this was him spiralling.

"I'm the one who's supposed to tell him a story." Tom whispered as I tried to help, his entire body was shivering. His face so damn pale he looked like a ghost. Had just wearing a shirt affected him this badly? It was just a clothing choice, shared between him and his son, it surely couldn't affect him that badly...

Yet it seemed like it had freaked him out horrendously. So much that he was struggling to read his son a story to send him off to sleep. My heart broke into pieces for him.

"Alright, well how about if I give this little one a cuddle, and you still read the story?" I wasn't about to mention that he was shaking like a leaf, not wanting to point it out, in case he took it as a sign of weakness.

"I, I wanted..." Tom glanced down at Buzz, who was starting to look more and more agitated in Tom's shaking arms. The kid was clearly worried for his dad, but obviously didn't have a clue on what was happening.

Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to take the kid off him, Buzz wasn't good at being separated from Tom when he wasn't well. But at the same time, he was getting so agitated he was never going to go to sleep. And if he didn't sleep, then Tom was going to be up with him all night, and then he wouldn't have a chance to calm down, and none of this would end well.

Damn it, I had just wanted to help, now I felt like I had stepped into a mine field.

"Just this once, alright? Just this once. You're still reading the story, I'm just holding Buzz for you." I kept a small distance, not touching either of them, trying to look as supportive as I possibly could.

Tom thought for a few seconds nervously, before sliding Buzz over. The poor kid made a small noise of distress, then realised that I wasn't going anywhere with him, that Tom was still with him, so he calmed a bit. I made sure to hold him as safely and firmly as I could, so he knew that he was safe, and that someone was okay in the situation. He needed to know that there was safety, that things would be fine, the world wasn't falling to pieces. Poor kid probably thought the world was ending on a daily basis, and I wished I could explain it all to him somehow, so he knew what was going on, but that just wasn't possible. I wished it was though, if not just to make things a bit easier, to take some guilt away from Tom's shoulders. He was having a freak out over an outfit choice, Lord knew what he was feeling over Buzz right now.

Soon, Tom regained himself enough to finish the story. His voice still shook, but he managed to make it through, and Buzz managed to relax a little, his little head starting to get heavier on my chest. I picked the child up, putting down in his cot, letting Tom tuck him in, making sure he knew that he was still in charge of this. I wasn't intruding, just helping, not taking over.

"Goodnight Buzz." I ran a finger over the child's cheek though, unable to help but give him some affection.

"Goodnight Buzz," Tom hesitated, looking at me for a second, assessing, "I love you." He whispered, before pressing a kiss to blonde hair, identical to the shade Tom had been as a teenager.

Buzz closed his eyes, relaxing into his mattress, so we took our cue to leave, leaving the door open just a crack. I stopped Tom gently before he left.

"Go and get some rest, it's been a long day." I smiled gently at him, trying to be encouraging, not commanding.

"There's things to do." Tom argued weakly.

"They'll be there in the morning, there's nothing major to do right now. Go and have a lay down, it'll do you some good." I wanted to say that he looked shattered, was tempted to say he looked ill to try and convince him, but resisted, knowing it wouldn't end well.

Tom hesitated again, but again, gave in, heading towards his room, closing the door softly behind him, an air of defeat hanging around him.