Chapter Text
Everything changes for Danny when the Sheriff knocks on his door at 9 on a Thursday night. Without Stiles.
“What…what’s up?” Danny asks awkwardly.
Sure, he loves the Sheriff, he and Stiles have talked to his dad many times about where they are in their relationship, and everything is so out in the open it’s almost sickening, but that doesn’t make it any less terrifying when his boyfriend’s father shows up in full uniform on his front porch at night. With a gun.
But the scariest part is the look on the Sheriff’s face. Something is wrong, and Danny’s too afraid to ask what it is.
“He’s in the hospital,” the Sheriff says softly, his eyes cast downwards.
“What?” Danny feels as though his heart’s stopping.
“Come on.” The Sheriff gestures to his cruiser, which is parked right outside of Danny’s house. “I’m headed there now, but I figured when he wakes up, you’re the one that needs to be there for him.”
“What…what happened?” Danny asks, not even bothering to let his parents know he’s leaving as he grabs his coat and tugs on his shoes.
“Car accident. But he’s…” The sheriff’s hand shakes as he pulls his keys out. “He’s not conscious. His jeep…he wrecked his jeep. It was raining, you know, earlier, and he and Scott were driving home, and they hit…hit a tree.” Scott was fine, he’d healed, and that was hard enough to explain. “If Scott hadn’t been lucky enough to avoid serious injury, Stiles…if Scott hadn’t gotten him to the hospital in time...”
At that point, that’s about all he can hear. Danny launches himself at the Sheriff, hugging him tight. Hell, they’re basically family anyways at this point, right? Danny and Stiles have been dating for just over a year, and it’s not the typical high school kind of dating, it’s the “this could last forever” kind of dating.
The drive to the hospital is silent. Completely and 100% silent, and when they get there, they both run, using the Sheriff’s badge to get past any and all obstacles.
“I’m sorry.” The nurse in the hallway by Stiles room stops them. “Family only,” she says, her eyes directed right at Danny.
“Oh, I…” Danny gulps. “I can wait in the-”
“Don’t be stupid.” The Sheriff puts his hand on Danny’s shoulder. “With all due respect, ma’am, this young man is family.”
“Oh, yes, of course.” The nurse looks a little flustered, but with the Sheriff’s badge in her face, well, she lets them through.
Scott’s already there, he played the “brother from another mother, who’s other mother just happens to work in this hospital” card, and with Melissa’s influence, it worked just fine. He stands when they get there, walking over to the Sheriff and Danny.
“He’s…he’s stable,” he says softly. “But he hasn’t woken up yet, they don’t know when he will.”
He won’t say ‘if.’ He can’t bring himself to say ‘if,’ even if that is the terminology that was used to describe the situation to him while he was waiting for the two other most important men in Stiles’ life.
“Thank you.” The Sheriff pulls Scott into a tight hug. “For pulling him out.”
If Stiles does survive, the Sheriff, and now Danny, knows that it will be because of Scott.
The Sheriff and Scott continue talking, but Danny walks over to Stiles. The young man has bandages and cuts all over him, and he’s hooked up to a machine. He looks oddly peaceful, but that sense of peace doesn’t make the situation any less terrifying. At all.
“Hey bear,” he says softly, reaching down, taking Stiles’ hand. “I uh…I want you to wake up, okay? It doesn’t have to be right now, you take your time, okay? Just…just wake up. Don’t leave me.” He gently kisses the hand he’s holding.
Danny wants to tell himself that Stiles is in a coma because he needs rest. His nightmares, the panic, they’ve been getting the best of him lately – Danny knows because he’s been woken up so many times recently to Stiles’ groans, screams, and thrashing in bed. Maybe like this, he’ll finally get some rest, and then when he comes back, maybe he’ll be better.
“Son.” The Sheriff moves forwards as Scott leaves to go talk to his mother. His hand is on Danny’s shoulder as he looks down at Stiles. “You get better now, you hear?”
It’s clear to Danny that the Sheriff is trying to be strong , that he’s trying not to cry, but seeing his son like this, it’s not okay. At all.
“He’ll get better.” Danny looks over at the Sheriff. “I know he will. He has to, because we have a future together.”
The Sheriff takes a long hard look at Danny, then back down at his unconscious son, and what he sees, despite all the pain of Stiles’ situation, is something that he really likes. Danny isn’t just some boyfriend to Stiles, he’s everything Stiles has needed. Danny gives Stiles everything the Sheriff, as a single father, couldn’t, and then some. The look in Danny’s eyes is sheer, undeniable, true, deep, love, and as a father, he couldn’t be more proud that his son has chosen someone who’s so devoted to him. Maybe they’re only 18 now, and maybe a few months ago, the Sheriff wouldn’t have believed that you could meet “the one” that early in life, but as he looks at Danny looking at Stiles, he sees it, and somewhere, deep down, he knows that Danny’s right. Stiles can’t die here like this, because they’re not done yet. Stiles and Danny do have a future, they have to.
“It’ll be okay,” Danny says, trying to convince both himself and the Sheriff that the young man lying down on that bed, so close to something not so pleasant, is going to pull through.
“I know it will be.” The Sheriff nods, going over to the other side of Stiles’ bed, pulling up a chair, taking his son’s other hand. He doesn’t know if it will help, but maybe if they’re both holding on to him, some part of that connection will help to pull him back.
The room falls silent, but it’s a comfortable silence. The machines keeping Stiles alive are the only thing really making noise, and as hours pass, the Sheriff lays his head down, resting it on the bed, falling asleep, leaving Danny holding Stiles’ hand, staring down at him, willing him to sleep through the night, and then wake in the morning. He’s not ready to lose the man that he loves – granted, he’s not sure that he ever will be, but 18 is too soon, far too soon, for someone like Stiles to be done living.
All that Danny can think about, as he too, rests his head on the bed, still gently holding Stiles’ hand, is the future that he wants to have with this young man; the crappy “first” apartment they’ll have together when they go to college, or maybe the crappy first house they’ll share with friends they make at college, or maybe even friends they already have, the first pet they have together (not counting the guppies, because those technically belong to Stiles), their first bed…breaking in their first bed, and so on and so forth. All that he knows is that he’s not ready for this to be over.
“I love you, bear,” Danny whispers. “Please, please wake up soon.”
He falls asleep feeling like he needs Stiles more than he’s ever needed anyone else in his life, just hoping, praying, that he’ll still have him in the morning.