Chapter 4: Left me petrified.

It takes Danny a second to realize that Jackson's kissing him and once he does, he pulls away immediately, standing up and putting as much distance as he can from Jackson. This did not just happen, he tells himself, Jackson did not just kiss him, it can't be true.

"Dan…" Jackson places a hand on his shoulder, making him flinch and jerk his shoulder away. He's…not comfortable, to say the least. Jackson kissing him is…is crossing a line. A big line Danny thought unnecessary.

"Dan, please hear me out, this is not easy for me," Jackson pleads, urging Danny to turn around and face him. Jackson looks even more scared than earlier because of Derek; his lips are shaking, indicating that he's nervous. Danny's heart is pounding loud and fast against his sternum, the vibrations traveling all the way to his auditory ossicles, thus making his heartbeats reverberate in his ears.

"Dan, I…uh…I'm…" Jackson's stammering, his hands are shaking too and Danny can see tears forming at the corner of his eyes. He knows the signs well enough—for having been through it himself—to recognize what's happening. He grabs Jackson and hugs him, holding the back of his head in his hand and whispering soothingly. Jackson starts sobbing quietly in his arms; Danny feels wetness on his bare shoulder and strokes his best friend's back. He'd never thought this could happen, had never worried about that, it had always been clear to him that Jackson was straight, end of story. It makes sense though, now that he thinks about it. Danny's coming out fits the moment when Jackson started being distant from him emotionally and Danny can absolutely relate to that. The fact that Jackson's gay changes everything, it disrupts their whole friendship dynamic. When there's potential for more than friendship between best friends, it just makes everything awkward.

"Did you really have to kiss me to tell me?" Danny asks eventually, considering—hoping—the kiss is just Jackson's way of coming out—granted, weird way, but he guesses it could have been worse. It was just a peck, nothing significant.

"I kissed you because I wanted to," Jackson replies and pulls away to face him, looking confident as their eyes meet but Jackson's confidence quickly crumbles away before him. "Uh…wanted to see what it feels like. You know, kissing a dude."

Right. Ok. Of course. Danny can live with that. Better than the alternative. Jackson being gay is one thing—that he can take—but Jackson actually liking him? Danny would have no idea how to respond or how he'd even feel about that.

Jackson's a coward. He had the perfect opportunity to tell Danny about his feelings but he panicked and made up a stupid excuse about the kiss. Danny looked freaked out and Jackson was just scared to death about rejection. Especially that from what he saw, Danny seems infatuated with that Derek Hale. However, coming out to Danny is already a big step. That's right, he should take this one step at a time. Jackson's known he was gay pretty much his whole life, hoping at first that it would just go away, that it was a phase he would grow out of. Except he didn't and it just became more difficult for him, especially when he realized he was falling in love with his best friend. And when said best friend came out to him, it simply became impossible for him to ignore what he was feeling.

"I'm beat, I'm going to catch some more sleep," Danny says, rubbing his eyes. God, Danny's got such beautiful eyes; Jackson will never get tired of losing himself in them. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Jackson replies and heaves a long sigh of relief, feeling much lighter all of a sudden. He never realized what a weight his secret was until now, just knowing that Danny knows now is liberating. Danny's looking at him worriedly, still waiting for an answer. Jackson gulps down, "Can I…uh… stay with you?"

"Of course," Danny says, eliciting a huge wave of relief in Jackson.

They settle in Danny's large bed, just like old times, their bodies somehow remembering just how to fit together and they just fit perfectly—if Jackson may say so. Danny's laying on his back, Jackson on his side, arm wrapped around Danny's waist and Danny's own arm wrapped around his shoulders. It's been so long since they've last done this—Danny's grown into the body of a man now, all muscles and broad shoulders, mor—and yet it feels like they've done this just yesterday. Except yesterday Danny slept with Derek, Jackson recalls with bitterness.

This is what Jackson wants for the rest of his life, he wants Danny by his side and no one between them.

Derek doesn't know where to go. He's been wandering around town for hours, putting his senses on full alert, trying to detect his uncle's scent in order to avoid him. He's not completely recovered yet so if he were to face off his uncle now, he'd be dead meat in no time. Going back to the house would be the worst idea possible, his uncle would obviously look for him there. Going back to Danny might actually put him in danger; if his uncle were to find out about him, he would most certainly try to use Danny to get to Derek. And that's the last thing Derek wants, dragging Danny in his messy life. He should be freaked out about his quick attachment to the kid, it's come to the point where he thinks about Danny most of the time. He thinks about Danny's kind eyes, Danny's strong thighs wrapped in his, Danny's enticing scent. It worries him, Derek can barely understand what it is about Danny that has him so infatuated, it's almost…supernatural.

Could it be though? Could this attraction he feels towards the teenage kid be the fruit of some spell? Derek doesn't know much about werewolves mating rituals and courting to actually know.

"Derek!"

He turns around and sees Stiles coming his way. Taking an actual look around him, Derek realizes he's ended up in the suburban part of the city, where most houses are, the sun hitting hard today, the sky almost clear of any clouds. Stiles is right on time. Derek could stay at Stiles' place, at least temporarily, until he finds a better solution. Uncle Peter knows who Stiles is and would probably come after him too, since Stiles is Scott's friend, that makes him a likely target to get to Derek and Scott.

"You're okay! Oh my God, I thought you were going to get killed," Stiles says in his usual rushed tone.

"I almost did," Derek replies dryly. "What time is it?"

"Er…2 p.m., why?" Stiles says, looking back up from his cell phone, eyes squinting at Derek.

"I need somewhere to lay low until I figure things out."

"Well, where have you been hiding up until now?" Stiles asks, still being his curious self as he walks alongside Derek, ignoring Derek's implied request to stay at his place.

"I stayed at Danny's, he found me in my poor state and helped me," Derek answers truthfully, surprising himself with his sudden honesty.

"So why don't you just stay at his place? His parents are barely home, from what I've gathered," Stiles suggests, stating exactly what Derek doesn't want to do no matter how much he would actually love spending more time with Danny.

"No," Derek rejects the idea quickly. "No, it would be too dangerous."

"Oh, nice, you're willing to put me in danger but not him, cool," Stiles says, sounding offended.

"You've willingly put yourself in danger from the get go by putting your nose where it doesn't belong, and besides, my uncle has already seen your face so you're already in danger," Derek retorts, already annoyed by the boy. "And think about it this way, if I'm with you, my uncle will be so focused on killing me that you'll have time to escape."

"Huh, that actually made sense."

Stiles' phone rings then and he excuses himself to answer it.

"Hello Stiles."

Derek hears the voice and it makes him shiver. Uncle Peter. He snatches the phone from the boy, heart speeding up.

"Uncle Peter."

"Oh my God, it's your psycho killer uncle," Stiles starts panicking beside him, urging Derek to shush him with a threatening look.

"Why, hello, Derek," Peter says with a delighted tone, unnerving him greatly. "I thought your parents had raised you better than that, it's rude to interrupt someone's conversation."

"What do you want from Stiles? How'd you get his number?"

"Futile details," Peter says evasively. "I actually wanted him to deliver a message to you."

"Just spit it out," Derek hisses, rage surging through him as he thinks back to what his uncle did to his sister. But then he hears something over the phone that just seizes his heart and squeezes it painfully, leaving him dead cold in a fraction of a second. He hears Danny's voice, he hears Danny screaming in pain, his screams are so loud and desperate that Derek can feel the atrocious pain he must be feeling. What he's been trying to avoid happened already, his uncle got Danny and is even torturing him. It's the worst feeling in the world, his legs are shaking, menacing to give out and fall to the ground.

"What's going on?" Stiles asks him, his body close to Derek's, trying to listen in. He must have seen the difference in Derek's stance, how tense he's gotten.

"I assume you've heard your little boy toy, he's quite the screamer, isn't he?" Peter chuckles. "Well, now you know I have something to give you the incentive to actually listen to me. You left so soon last night, we didn't get to talk properly."

"I'm not suicidal, uncle Peter," Derek says, his voice crisped. "Leave Danny out of this, if you want me just say so, don't involve innocent people like a coward!"

"He's got Danny? Oh God," Stiles mutters and again with the Oh God over and over. It just sets Derek over the edge, his hand fisting over Stiles' shirt to shut the kid up. Stiles raises his hands up in the air in surrender, effectively shutting up so Derek releases his grip on him, trying to center himself and calm down, in vain.

"I wish it was that simple but you've been avoiding me Derek, don't even try to deny it," Peter replies and more screams make themselves heard over the phone, making Derek flinch. "I traced you back to this Danny last night; it was quite easy to get him. He was fast asleep in the arms of another boy. Did you know, Derek?"

In the arms of another boy, Derek's heart skips a beat. Must be Jackson. Damn it. Just like that, as jealousy takes over, all Derek can hear is his heart beating, loud and intrusive, stressing him out even more than he already is. Images of Jackson stuck to his Danny flashes through his mind, raising his core temperature and killer instincts in him.

"Come back to our old family house in the woods, Derek," Peter instructs him, bringing him out of his haze. "I'm no doctor, but I'm guessing it doesn't take long for a human to bleed out."

Now panic has fully blossomed inside of him, making every single hair on his body stand up. He feels so powerless, he's petrified on the spot, scared to death for Danny's well being.

"Please, I'll do anything you want, just don't hurt him anymore," Derek begs unashamedly, tears forming in his eyes despite himself, his chest constricted and breathing becoming difficult. He hates it, knowing that Danny's hurt, suffering because of him.

"This plan's working even better than I thought," Peter rejoices. "I'll see you soon, then."

Derek drops the phone to the ground and runs, ignoring Stiles yelling after him. Derek's never been that scared in his whole life. And so he runs, ignoring the sore muscles of his abdomen and hopes, prays even, for Danny to wait for him and just hold on.

tbc...

It took me a while to update, I know. Had a busy week, I'm exhausted, to be honest and, I have to admit, I was sort of blocked when I started writing this chapter but then everything just clicked and words came easily :)

Thank you again for the reviews, I really love reading them and I apologize for not having responded individually, I'll try but I can't promise anything.

Tell me what you think, it always helps me writing, it gives me ideas and that's what really helps the writing process. Ideas.