Stranded - Fletcher/Jones - Standalone
Title: Stranded
Author: russsel
Part: 1/1
Rating: PG
Pairing: Fletcher/Jones
Genre: AU
Summary: Stuck in the middle of nowhere, Tom finds the courage to tell Danny exactly how much he loved him.
A/N: Well, this is from the fic depicted here a while back. I finally got around to writing it after laying out the plot a few days back. I had the scene in the picture in my head, though, so it wasn't a last-minute addition. Everything else was. :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy~
Disclaimer: I do not own McFly in any way
Tom Fletcher smiled at yet another joke Danny Jones cracked as they drove down the bumpy road, hitting his shoulder in a way that seemed to signify nothing more than an amused reaction. Danny turned his attention from the view outside the windshield and locked eyes with his friend for a second, flashing a wide smile, appreciating the response. Both of them knew the joke hadn’t been that funny, but it was nice to have the opportunity to lighten the mood. They’d been driving for about two hours already, and there was still about an hour or two left until they reached the concert venue. The radio frequency was spotty in the area, and they’d resorted to telling each other stories from years past to pass the time, which suited Tom just fine.
Any reason to spend more time with Danny, he’d take in a heartbeat.
“That couldn’t have been true,” Tom said in between his laughs, turning halfway to the window to look outside as he caught his breath. The road was surrounded by trees, and past the trees, he could see the glimmering blue blanket belonging to a lake, pink and purple diamonds reflecting the setting sun, waves calmly moving along the surface. He smiled when he saw a large bird take a lunge with its talons into the water and resurfaced with a wriggling fish. The entire place had a feeling of serenity to it, something like a bubble separating them from the real world, away from all the hustle and bustle of noisy city life, and into somewhere where they could spend time in Danny’s old pickup truck and just laugh the time away.
Danny looked at Tom from the corners of his eyes and smiled. “It couldn’t have been truer. And when he followed this herd of hippos, he nearly drowned the moment he saw one of them open its mouth!”
Tom laughed once again, imagining a surprised Harry Judd at the sight of a laughing hippopotamus, and moved his head back to look at Danny, whose eyes were brimming with tears. Tom figured it was one of those you-had-to-be-there moments to appreciate it completely, so he just left it at a light laugh. He waited a bit until Danny’s rowdy laughter simmered down to a series of deep chuckles, occasionally punctuated by a high-pitched sigh, before deciding to stop and get his breath steady. He tried to keep his fascination discreet by suddenly fidgeting with his collar, flicking his eyes to him with every beat of his heart.
Danny had one of those laughs that could make you feel warm inside, like a cup of hot chocolate in a storm, like an arm wrapping around you under the sheets, pulling you closer as you watched the streaks of lightning break the night sky. It felt like every nerve in your body was tingling with unexplained happiness, and it would make you want to laugh along with him, even if you didn’t understand the reason why he was laughing in the first place.
Halfway down the road, just enough for Tom to see the beginnings of a tree-less path, particularly large bump in the road jolted the truck, shaking both boys and nearly sending the top of Tom’s head to the roof. Luckily, he gripped his seatbelt at the right moment, successfully keeping himself ensconced in his seat, but Danny wasn’t so lucky. The impact broke Danny’s concentration and his hands slid off the wheel for a few seconds, enough to send the truck driving at an angle, out of the road and into the grassy patch next to it.
“Danny!” Tom yelled as he watched Danny regain his hold on the wheel, and, giving it a strong turn, Danny managed to get them back on the road before making contact with a tree asking for a head-on collision. Tom sighed in relief.
“You alright?” Danny asked after hitting the brakes, and he turned to look concernedly at Tom, whose hands were still gripping the seatbelt tight, visibly jarred by the suddenness of the entire event.
All he could do was nod and swallow dry air.
“Good. What the hell was that?”
Danny unclipped his seatbelt, jumped out of the vehicle, and, squinting his eyes to adjust to the growing dimness of the area, he looked at what made the truck jump. In the silence, Tom heard his heart beating quickly, but it wasn’t only because of what had happened. It was Danny’s concern that did it, the way his eyebrows knitted themselves together, his forehead creasing slightly, his sapphire eyes looking like the lake sitting past the trees and washing him with all sorts of emotions that he couldn’t distinguish from one another.
Tom felt a smile breaking out.
“Damn!” he heard Danny yell out, and he unclipped his own seatbelt and slipped out the truck, leaving the door slightly ajar. The air was cold outside, and he jammed his hands in his jacket pockets and brought his shoulders closer to his body. A shiver ran up and down his spine.
“What?”
Danny was squatting in front of the driver’s side front wheel, exasperation bouncing off his face like electricity. Tom walked around the truck to find out the reason why.
“What is it?”
Danny exhaled loudly and tapped the tire with his knuckles. Tom still had no idea what was wrong, even as he looked right at the tire, and a bud of concern grew in the pit of his stomach. Danny was almost always calm in most situations. Seeing him like this made Tom think it’s something very serious.
“Damned rock punctured the wheel.” Danny pointed to his left, his eyes never leaving the wheel. Tom, his heart beginning to pick up speed, followed the finger and immediately found the perpetrator. Surprisingly, it didn’t seem at all too big; pointed, yes, but it didn’t seem to have enough strength to hold its own against a truck tire, much less puncture it. But the evidence was overwhelmingly painting Danny’s face, and he had no choice but to trust him.
He turned back to Danny and squatted next to him, hoping to see the hole. He moved his head every which way, even craning his neck to see the backside, but he still couldn’t find it, and he finally wondered if he needed glasses.
“So…” he started, looking at Danny as though he had all the answers, having no useful ideas to help with the situation. He didn’t know anything about cars. “What do we do now?”
Danny shrugged and stood up, his hands finding their way to his waist, gripping it tight. He let out another sharp exhale and looked ahead.
“I’ve no replacement tires. And we sure as hell can’t push this thing all the way to the city. It’s about an hour away still.”
Tom’s worry grew, and he hugged himself as a gust of cold wind rushed past them. “Should we call for help, then? I have my mobile right here.” He tapped the device in his pocket and watched Danny earnestly, who seemed to have calmed down enough to adopt a contemplating look. Danny shook his head and leaned his back on the truck door, one knee at an angle, the tip of his shoe digging in the ground. Tom stayed where he was.
“Nah, it’s going to take too long for someone to come out here, and it’s getting too dark for us to walk to the city and back.” He slid his hands from his waist into his jean pockets. “Besides, I don’t know the numbers of any repair shop. I don’t suppose you do?”
Tom shook his head no and kicked a large pebble into the grass. “So we’re stranded?”
Danny shrugged again. “Pretty much.”
Night fell faster than Tom had thought.
A handful of animals had already began to make nocturnal noises: a hoot here, a chirp there. Besides them, everything was quiet. Danny had turned off the engine an hour earlier because he didn’t want to run out of gas, and since Tom was cold, he decided to stay inside. Their combined body heats would have been a perfect makeshift radiator, something they both would have benefited in, but Danny couldn’t handle being cooped up in a tight space for a long time. He told Tom that, and a moment later he slipped out of the truck, jumped on the hood, and sat with his legs crossed watching the stars under the moonlight.
From inside the truck, Tom watched the back of his head swaying to and fro, and he didn’t need the door open to know that he was singing. It was at that moment that he wanted to join Danny, keep him company, maybe sing a song or two with him, but his body told him otherwise. You’re such a girl, Tom, Tom told himself. What’s a little cold going to do?
That seemed to be the incentive he needed. That, and the smile Danny gave him when he turned his head to see how Tom was doing inside. Tom felt like melting at the spot.
Zipping his jacket up, he elbowed the door open and hopped to his feet on the ground. Immediately, he felt slightly better. It wasn’t as cold as it had been minutes ago, and when he zipped his jacket down, a shiver failed to find his body. He smiled with a sigh and took a few steps toward Danny, the ground crunching loudly under his feet.
“I thought you were cold,” Danny said as Tom scrambled up the hood next to him. It took a while, Tom’s foot slipping at least three times before finally having enough drag to push him up, and he settled next to Danny as quietly as he could without waking up half the animals around them.
“It’s not too cold anymore. And I thought you might like some company.”
Danny laughed and Tom grinned, and both turned their heads upward and gazed at the moon.
“So we’re going to sleep here tonight? In the truck?”
Danny shrugged and stretched his legs out across the metal, carefully laying his back on the windshield, his hands folding over his stomach. Tom followed suit a second later.
“Unless you want to sleep in the trees. Maybe you could find a squirrel you can bunk with.”
Tom laughed. “Nah, I’ll take my chances with the truck.”
“Good. Me too.”
For a while, the two were silent, listening to the sounds of the owls and the birds and the crickets, as well as the occasional rustling of leaves and wind scraping across tree barks. It was nice to listen to, and Tom himself felt lost in them, moving closer to Danny millimeter by millimeter without noticing it. Danny didn’t show any signs that he noticed it, too.
Soon, Tom felt his eyes getting droopy, and in his mind he planned to use this sleepiness (legitimate or not, he wasn’t entirely sure) as an excuse to lay his head on Danny’s shoulder or chest, or any part that was closest to him. If he couldn’t do it without offering any excuses, just Danny accepting him and nothing else, then this was next best thing.
However, when Tom had finally gathered enough courage to put his plan to action, Danny sat bolt upright and jumped to the ground. Tom caught himself just in time by stretching his elbow beside him and halting his descent with a soft bang. At once, he was puzzled.
“What is it?”
“I’ve got an idea,” Danny replied, walking around the truck and out of Tom’s line of vision. Tom raised an eyebrow and hopped off in pursuit, taking long steps to meet Danny on the other side.
“What?”
Danny smiled and shrugged off his jacket. He flung onto the back of the truck, missing the indent Tom had always used as a seat by an inch and falling lifelessly on the rubber floor. Tom kept his eyebrows raised and watched as Danny undid his belt. He hadn’t noticed that his heartbeat was already beating erratically.
“Let’s go for a night swim, yeah?” Danny suggested, and he pulled his shirt up and off his shoulders. It took Tom no less than a second to comprehend the situation: Danny was bare-chested in front of him, his rippling, powerful chest and chiseled abdomen catching the moonlight in a way that made him seem like a statue. A moving statue. Tom felt his breath snag in his throat.
“Aren’t you going to strip down?” Danny asked, undoing the button on his jeans and sliding them off quickly. He seemed apparently immune to the night air. Tom was glad of the night’s cover; otherwise, Danny would have seen him blushing at the spot.
“Y-yeah,” Tom stammered, and he reluctantly slipped the jacket off his shoulders. He added it to the pile Danny had already made and kept his eyes to himself. When he threw his shirt on the pile, he saw Danny’s underwear flying to land beneath it, and his eyes instantly felt the need to look at Danny. Self-control triumphed, however, and Tom managed to strip down, completely naked and growing hotter by the second, without visually violating Danny. He cupped his hands at once to his privates when his underwear slid down his pale thighs, and, lifting his leg, used the remaining one to fling the garment onto the pile. Danny laughed and rubbed his eyes. Tom kept his attention on Danny’s face.
“Well, shall we?” Danny announced, spinning around and breaking into a run through the trees. Tom freed his hands and ran after him, watching his friend’s behind disappearing around a bend.
Danny let out a primal yell as he jumped from the tree and sloshed into the lake with a great splash, and Tom watched in amusement as Danny resurfaced shaking his head with a wide grin.
“Can you beat that?”
Tom shook his head and waded carefully into the water. It wasn’t extremely cold-it was bearable enough to stay in for a few hours, and as soon as the water reached his navel, he plunged forward and swam under the surface. Near-total blackness met his eyes when he opened them, broken only by ripples of silver and blue here and there under the moonlight, and try as he may, he couldn’t manage to find Danny. He raised his head back up for oxygen and found Danny swimming a few feet from him, his arms flapping around the water to keep afloat. Tom did the same, only under the water.
“Pretty nice here, innit?” Danny asked, paddling forward and circling Tom like a shark. Tom kept inside the circle and spun around to watch him.
“Yeah. Quiet, too.”
“Nice to have barbeques and whatnot, and a few drinks with that.” Danny flipped onto his back and swam backwards, everything below his chest swallowed by the lake. Tom submerged and waited a few seconds before pushing upward and showering Danny with a storm of water droplets. Danny laughed and retaliated with a wave of his hand on the surface, returning the action twofold. Soon, the two boys erupted into a splash fight, and they grew closer and closer to each other with each push of the water.
A few inches from Danny, Tom flicked his hand in his direction, to which Danny fought back with a curtain of wave by swinging both his hands in an arc. Tom, drenched and amused, laughed and swam around Danny. Danny, like Tom before him, kept into the circle and watched the other take slow, steady strokes with his long, limber arms.
“Got another idea.”
Tom stopped in mid-swim and smiled. “What?”
“I’ll race you there and back.”
Tom looked ahead and found no marker whatsoever, making it difficult to figure out the finish line. He turned back to Danny. “Race to where?”
But Danny only laughed and lunged forward, suddenly breaking into a frenzy of stroking and splashing to propel himself forwards. Tom shook his head, chuckled, and dove under the surface, his legs pushing him forward in a manner much like a mermaid would.
“How the hell are we supposed to dry?” asked Tom as he hugged himself beside the truck, the wind’s temperature dropping considerably due to his current, damp state. A series of shivers ran down his spine, and he felt his teeth chattering despite his efforts to lock his jaw shut. Danny shook his hair, each strand already curled beyond recognition, and shrugged at Tom.
“I don’t know. Run around?”
“In this time of the night?” asked Tom, wringing out the wetness from his hair. “We’ll get lost. Or worse, mauled by bears or something.”
“There’re no bears in this forest, stupid.”
Tom couldn’t help but smile. Danny was always the “stupid one,” the one who cracked the witty remarks, so Tom supposed it was nice to be called “stupid” for a change.
“So are we just supposed to stand out here and wait to dry?”
“Pretty much,” Danny replied cheerfully, jumping up and down to speed up the drying process. “Oh, but wait!”
Tom walked over to the side of the truck and looked at Danny. “What?”
“We can take turns using the heater inside!”
Tom found himself grinning. He wondered why he hadn’t thought of it in the first place. Maybe calling Danny the “stupid one” was a stretch; he had his shining moments now and then, and when they came, they were always unexpectedly clever. Danny grinned back and sprinted to the driver’s side of the truck before Tom could get the chance to process what had just happened.
“Hey, that’s not fair!”
Danny flung the door open and winked at Tom over his shoulder. “You snooze, you lose, Fletcher!”
Once getting accustomed to the rubber floor of the back of the truck, it was comfortable to lie down on, Tom thought. Rubber was a great insulator as well, and the combined body heat they infused in the floor for the last hour they had been lying down warmed them up tremendously. Both of the boys were on their backs, Danny’s hands behind his head, adding further cushion to his rolled-up shirt acting as a pillow, Tom’s resting on his stomach, a finger tapping at the metal tip of his belt. Tom didn’t feel the least bit drowsy, and he wondered what Danny was thinking about beside him.
“Danny?” Tom asked, tearing his gaze from the cluster of stars and turning to his side. He watched Danny’s bulky outline shining under the moonlight with bright eyes.
“Yeah?”
“I had fun today. I mean, I’d have rather it been at the concert, but this was fun, too.”
Danny chuckled and turned a quarter of the way to look at Tom. “I had fun too. I didn’t know you were such a slow swimmer.”
Tom laughed and smacked Danny’s stomach with the back of his hand. “You had a head start, you cheat. And the water was cold.”
“Excuses, excuses…”
Then both boys laughed, Danny’s hearty and full and Tom’s soft, almost soundless, and silence ensued almost immediately, Tom catching the remnants of his airy giggles before clamping his mouth shut completely. He slid his eyes sideways to watch Danny from the corners, his heart garnering speed and his face heating up, and he crossed his arms over his chest, his hands gripping the opposite shoulder. Danny took no notice of his movement, and he shifted slightly and repositioned the shirt underneath his head.
“Dan?”
Danny raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look at Tom. “What’s up?”
Tom swallowed the air in his mouth and scratched his shoulder. “Are you still single? I feel like I haven’t seen you with a girl in a long time.”
In the darkness, Tom saw Danny smile, and it agitated his already speeding heart. With a shrug, he replied, “I’ve been dating, if that counts. Just haven’t found the right one, I guess. You?”
Tom sighed and shook his head. “It’s been a while since I’ve tried dating.”
“’Cause of that one bird in the restaurant?”
Tom smiled. He was talking about a date set up by Harry a few years back, ending up with the girl storming out of the restaurant crying and Tom having to use a menu to escape the questioning eyes of the other patrons. “Yeah, that one. After that, I just haven’t the energy to… get out there and… you know.”
“Yeah, I understand. I’ve been like that too lately, sort of.”
Tom chuckled and stretched his arms into the air, looking at the stars between his fingers.
“What?” Danny asked, scratching his stomach as he watched Tom wave his hands.
“We should do this more often.” Tom dropped his arms to his sides, keeping his eyes to the stars. “You know, just talking about anything. Like old times.”
Danny grinned widely and gazed at Tom from the corners of his eyes. “Yeah. Definitely.”
Tom listened to Danny’s soft snoring quietly in fear of waking him up, but his heartbeat was making him uneasy. Slowly, he brought a hand to touch his face, and he sighed soundlessly. His face heating up wasn’t helping the situation any better. He didn’t know what to do. He knew what he felt, but he didn’t know what to do.
“Dan?” asked Tom softly, a whisper. Danny kept on snoring.
“Dan?”
Still nothing, and Tom took this moment to move, as carefully as he could, closer to Danny. The action shook the truck slightly, and Danny turned to his side in response to the disturbance, his back to Tom. Tom stayed still, not even daring to breathe. A minute later, Tom took Danny’s stationary posture as a green light, and he finally allowed himself to breathe freely, his breath ruffling Danny’s hair.
“Dan, I have something to say.” Tom knew he might as well have been talking to a tree, but letting his feelings spill out to the one person he wanted to tell it to was cathartic, and he hoped to himself that finally speaking what his heart had been screaming would help him move on.
“I’ve known you since we were young. Just you, me, and Harry. Playing in the playground and going to school together and you and I having to give Harry half our lunches because he would always forget his. I bet you never expected, did you? How shy and... blond Tom would have feelings for you? Well, I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. I mean, I’ve never shown any signs, have I? It’s for the better, I guess, you not knowing. If we couldn’t be together-if I couldn’t be closer to you, then this is just fine, yeah? Just us two hanging out and talking and all that. It’s as close as I’ll get, and, really, I shouldn’t be asking for more than that, now that I think about it. I mean, sure, I have strong feelings for you, but I’ve kept it up, haven’t I? Haven’t slipped at all. And you… You’re always smiling at me and making me feel so good about myself and it makes it… hard not to want more. You know that feeling when you’ve worked so hard for something, and then to have the door slammed in your face because they didn’t want you or you just didn’t work hard enough? Well, that’s sort of what I’m feeling. I’ve tried to get as close to you as I possibly could without being too forward and being too obvious, but you never showed any sign that you notice everything that I do for you. Why I do those things for you. But hey-we’re still friends, aren’t we? And the best thing about this is you don’t even know that I’m saying these things. But I’ve let it out, and to be honest, I feel loads better. I just hope you don’t remember any of this when you wake up, and you start acting all weird around me and whatnot. I still need you to take me home tomorrow.”
Taking a moment to compose himself, Tom sighed and wiped the tears that had fallen down his cheek to the rubber beneath them. He didn’t know revealing his feelings would make him this emotional. But it was for the better, and he could already feel the therapeutic effect washing over him. His heart had begun to slow down, and the tears have washed away some of the heat that had assaulted his face. But there was still a lingering unfinished business deep in his heart, something he knew he should do-take advantage of now that he had so successfully divulged all the feelings he harbored, and he did so in a soft tone, just a little bit above a whisper.
“I just wish you could show some sign that you feel the same.”
He hovered his hand a few inches above Danny’s shoulder, and a moment later, he pressed his palm against his skin. It was warm under his touch, all the water having evaporated hours ago, and Tom moved his head closer to get a better look. He ran his fingers down the length of Danny’s freckle-ridden arm, eyes watching all the contours and shapes of his muscles jutting out from beneath the layer of skin, feeling the tiny nubs of goosebumps that had erupted. Lower he went, and soon, he found his hand laying on the depression of Danny’s waist, concave due to his position on the rubber. He kept his hand there for a while, rubbing back and forth, wanting so much to tell Danny more about his feelings but having no more words to tell them with. He reckoned his touch would suffice all the same, and in one swift motion, he lurched forward and wrapped his arm around Danny’s waist, burying his face on the back of his neck. He felt his heart beating against Danny’s back, but he didn’t want to let go-not even with the risk of waking him up. He pulled Danny closer, and in the back of his mind, he expected Danny to wake up, push Tom away from him, and grab his jacket and leave, but for some reason, Danny didn’t. He didn’t make the slightest of movements in response to Tom’s action, and it puzzled him somewhat.
What came next, however, puzzled him even more.
Like a gentle snake slithering around his wrist, Tom felt Danny’s hand encircling his skin, and it jumpstarted Tom’s heart again. Then, with a soft tug, Danny pulled Tom’s arm closer, tucking Tom’s arm under his, pulling him closer and closer until Tom could swear he could feel Danny’s heart beating erratically along with his through his back.
“D-Dan?”
Danny’s grip tightened, but not enough to cause pain. “Don’t let go.”
“But-” Tom insisted, but Danny pulled him closer, as close as their bodies would allow, and again said, “Don’t let go.”
It was like time had stopped, and Tom couldn’t hear the animals making noises and the leaves rustling anymore. Just their breathing and their synchronized heartbeats.
“I heard everything,” Danny said after a while, and Tom felt his face heat up once more. To this, Danny laughed, and he said with a wide grin, “I can feel that, you know.”
Tom laughed and raised his head from Danny’s back. “Did you really? You heard everything I just said?”
“I’m not deaf, Tom. Been awake all this time.”
Tom creased his brows. “So the snoring-?”
“Totally fake.”
Tom was still confused. “Well, then… Why? Were you waiting for something?”
To this, Danny laughed again and turned around, still keeping Tom’s arms around his waist. In a second, they were face-to-face with each other, and Danny entwined his legs with Tom’s.
“To be honest, I was about to tell you the same thing.”
Tom felt his mouth drop slightly, finding his heart beating faster despite the record-breaking speed it was already undergoing. “You were?”
“Yeah. Why d’you think I staged this whole thing? I’ve been planning this since we bought the tickets for that concert.”
Tom felt a smile creeping on his face. “The tire thing wasn’t real, too?”
“I’m not a terrible driver, Tom. But I did get quite worried when you came over to check the tire. I couldn’t deliberately make a hole before we drive past the forest, and I couldn’t make the car stall-too suspicious.”
Tom laughed and rested his forehead against Danny’s. “So you… really feel the same way?”
It was Danny’s turn to laugh, and he kissed Tom’s forehead in one quick motion. “Of course. Why do you think I’m letting you hold me this way?”
Both boys chuckled and Tom tightened his embrace. The grin that broke Danny’s face made Tom’s heart flutter, and he couldn’t process everything at once. So he settled for this-laying together, holding Danny, Danny’s skin against his, sharing their warmth with each other. Under the moonlight and the light of the stars, Tom stared at Danny and Danny stared at Tom, neither saying anything but saying everything through their gazes. Danny was saying, “Don’t let me go,” and Tom was saying, “Don’t worry. I won’t.”
Author: russsel
Part: 1/1
Rating: PG
Pairing: Fletcher/Jones
Genre: AU
Summary: Stuck in the middle of nowhere, Tom finds the courage to tell Danny exactly how much he loved him.
A/N: Well, this is from the fic depicted here a while back. I finally got around to writing it after laying out the plot a few days back. I had the scene in the picture in my head, though, so it wasn't a last-minute addition. Everything else was. :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy~
Disclaimer: I do not own McFly in any way
Tom Fletcher smiled at yet another joke Danny Jones cracked as they drove down the bumpy road, hitting his shoulder in a way that seemed to signify nothing more than an amused reaction. Danny turned his attention from the view outside the windshield and locked eyes with his friend for a second, flashing a wide smile, appreciating the response. Both of them knew the joke hadn’t been that funny, but it was nice to have the opportunity to lighten the mood. They’d been driving for about two hours already, and there was still about an hour or two left until they reached the concert venue. The radio frequency was spotty in the area, and they’d resorted to telling each other stories from years past to pass the time, which suited Tom just fine.
Any reason to spend more time with Danny, he’d take in a heartbeat.
“That couldn’t have been true,” Tom said in between his laughs, turning halfway to the window to look outside as he caught his breath. The road was surrounded by trees, and past the trees, he could see the glimmering blue blanket belonging to a lake, pink and purple diamonds reflecting the setting sun, waves calmly moving along the surface. He smiled when he saw a large bird take a lunge with its talons into the water and resurfaced with a wriggling fish. The entire place had a feeling of serenity to it, something like a bubble separating them from the real world, away from all the hustle and bustle of noisy city life, and into somewhere where they could spend time in Danny’s old pickup truck and just laugh the time away.
Danny looked at Tom from the corners of his eyes and smiled. “It couldn’t have been truer. And when he followed this herd of hippos, he nearly drowned the moment he saw one of them open its mouth!”
Tom laughed once again, imagining a surprised Harry Judd at the sight of a laughing hippopotamus, and moved his head back to look at Danny, whose eyes were brimming with tears. Tom figured it was one of those you-had-to-be-there moments to appreciate it completely, so he just left it at a light laugh. He waited a bit until Danny’s rowdy laughter simmered down to a series of deep chuckles, occasionally punctuated by a high-pitched sigh, before deciding to stop and get his breath steady. He tried to keep his fascination discreet by suddenly fidgeting with his collar, flicking his eyes to him with every beat of his heart.
Danny had one of those laughs that could make you feel warm inside, like a cup of hot chocolate in a storm, like an arm wrapping around you under the sheets, pulling you closer as you watched the streaks of lightning break the night sky. It felt like every nerve in your body was tingling with unexplained happiness, and it would make you want to laugh along with him, even if you didn’t understand the reason why he was laughing in the first place.
Halfway down the road, just enough for Tom to see the beginnings of a tree-less path, particularly large bump in the road jolted the truck, shaking both boys and nearly sending the top of Tom’s head to the roof. Luckily, he gripped his seatbelt at the right moment, successfully keeping himself ensconced in his seat, but Danny wasn’t so lucky. The impact broke Danny’s concentration and his hands slid off the wheel for a few seconds, enough to send the truck driving at an angle, out of the road and into the grassy patch next to it.
“Danny!” Tom yelled as he watched Danny regain his hold on the wheel, and, giving it a strong turn, Danny managed to get them back on the road before making contact with a tree asking for a head-on collision. Tom sighed in relief.
“You alright?” Danny asked after hitting the brakes, and he turned to look concernedly at Tom, whose hands were still gripping the seatbelt tight, visibly jarred by the suddenness of the entire event.
All he could do was nod and swallow dry air.
“Good. What the hell was that?”
Danny unclipped his seatbelt, jumped out of the vehicle, and, squinting his eyes to adjust to the growing dimness of the area, he looked at what made the truck jump. In the silence, Tom heard his heart beating quickly, but it wasn’t only because of what had happened. It was Danny’s concern that did it, the way his eyebrows knitted themselves together, his forehead creasing slightly, his sapphire eyes looking like the lake sitting past the trees and washing him with all sorts of emotions that he couldn’t distinguish from one another.
Tom felt a smile breaking out.
“Damn!” he heard Danny yell out, and he unclipped his own seatbelt and slipped out the truck, leaving the door slightly ajar. The air was cold outside, and he jammed his hands in his jacket pockets and brought his shoulders closer to his body. A shiver ran up and down his spine.
“What?”
Danny was squatting in front of the driver’s side front wheel, exasperation bouncing off his face like electricity. Tom walked around the truck to find out the reason why.
“What is it?”
Danny exhaled loudly and tapped the tire with his knuckles. Tom still had no idea what was wrong, even as he looked right at the tire, and a bud of concern grew in the pit of his stomach. Danny was almost always calm in most situations. Seeing him like this made Tom think it’s something very serious.
“Damned rock punctured the wheel.” Danny pointed to his left, his eyes never leaving the wheel. Tom, his heart beginning to pick up speed, followed the finger and immediately found the perpetrator. Surprisingly, it didn’t seem at all too big; pointed, yes, but it didn’t seem to have enough strength to hold its own against a truck tire, much less puncture it. But the evidence was overwhelmingly painting Danny’s face, and he had no choice but to trust him.
He turned back to Danny and squatted next to him, hoping to see the hole. He moved his head every which way, even craning his neck to see the backside, but he still couldn’t find it, and he finally wondered if he needed glasses.
“So…” he started, looking at Danny as though he had all the answers, having no useful ideas to help with the situation. He didn’t know anything about cars. “What do we do now?”
Danny shrugged and stood up, his hands finding their way to his waist, gripping it tight. He let out another sharp exhale and looked ahead.
“I’ve no replacement tires. And we sure as hell can’t push this thing all the way to the city. It’s about an hour away still.”
Tom’s worry grew, and he hugged himself as a gust of cold wind rushed past them. “Should we call for help, then? I have my mobile right here.” He tapped the device in his pocket and watched Danny earnestly, who seemed to have calmed down enough to adopt a contemplating look. Danny shook his head and leaned his back on the truck door, one knee at an angle, the tip of his shoe digging in the ground. Tom stayed where he was.
“Nah, it’s going to take too long for someone to come out here, and it’s getting too dark for us to walk to the city and back.” He slid his hands from his waist into his jean pockets. “Besides, I don’t know the numbers of any repair shop. I don’t suppose you do?”
Tom shook his head no and kicked a large pebble into the grass. “So we’re stranded?”
Danny shrugged again. “Pretty much.”
Night fell faster than Tom had thought.
A handful of animals had already began to make nocturnal noises: a hoot here, a chirp there. Besides them, everything was quiet. Danny had turned off the engine an hour earlier because he didn’t want to run out of gas, and since Tom was cold, he decided to stay inside. Their combined body heats would have been a perfect makeshift radiator, something they both would have benefited in, but Danny couldn’t handle being cooped up in a tight space for a long time. He told Tom that, and a moment later he slipped out of the truck, jumped on the hood, and sat with his legs crossed watching the stars under the moonlight.
From inside the truck, Tom watched the back of his head swaying to and fro, and he didn’t need the door open to know that he was singing. It was at that moment that he wanted to join Danny, keep him company, maybe sing a song or two with him, but his body told him otherwise. You’re such a girl, Tom, Tom told himself. What’s a little cold going to do?
That seemed to be the incentive he needed. That, and the smile Danny gave him when he turned his head to see how Tom was doing inside. Tom felt like melting at the spot.
Zipping his jacket up, he elbowed the door open and hopped to his feet on the ground. Immediately, he felt slightly better. It wasn’t as cold as it had been minutes ago, and when he zipped his jacket down, a shiver failed to find his body. He smiled with a sigh and took a few steps toward Danny, the ground crunching loudly under his feet.
“I thought you were cold,” Danny said as Tom scrambled up the hood next to him. It took a while, Tom’s foot slipping at least three times before finally having enough drag to push him up, and he settled next to Danny as quietly as he could without waking up half the animals around them.
“It’s not too cold anymore. And I thought you might like some company.”
Danny laughed and Tom grinned, and both turned their heads upward and gazed at the moon.
“So we’re going to sleep here tonight? In the truck?”
Danny shrugged and stretched his legs out across the metal, carefully laying his back on the windshield, his hands folding over his stomach. Tom followed suit a second later.
“Unless you want to sleep in the trees. Maybe you could find a squirrel you can bunk with.”
Tom laughed. “Nah, I’ll take my chances with the truck.”
“Good. Me too.”
For a while, the two were silent, listening to the sounds of the owls and the birds and the crickets, as well as the occasional rustling of leaves and wind scraping across tree barks. It was nice to listen to, and Tom himself felt lost in them, moving closer to Danny millimeter by millimeter without noticing it. Danny didn’t show any signs that he noticed it, too.
Soon, Tom felt his eyes getting droopy, and in his mind he planned to use this sleepiness (legitimate or not, he wasn’t entirely sure) as an excuse to lay his head on Danny’s shoulder or chest, or any part that was closest to him. If he couldn’t do it without offering any excuses, just Danny accepting him and nothing else, then this was next best thing.
However, when Tom had finally gathered enough courage to put his plan to action, Danny sat bolt upright and jumped to the ground. Tom caught himself just in time by stretching his elbow beside him and halting his descent with a soft bang. At once, he was puzzled.
“What is it?”
“I’ve got an idea,” Danny replied, walking around the truck and out of Tom’s line of vision. Tom raised an eyebrow and hopped off in pursuit, taking long steps to meet Danny on the other side.
“What?”
Danny smiled and shrugged off his jacket. He flung onto the back of the truck, missing the indent Tom had always used as a seat by an inch and falling lifelessly on the rubber floor. Tom kept his eyebrows raised and watched as Danny undid his belt. He hadn’t noticed that his heartbeat was already beating erratically.
“Let’s go for a night swim, yeah?” Danny suggested, and he pulled his shirt up and off his shoulders. It took Tom no less than a second to comprehend the situation: Danny was bare-chested in front of him, his rippling, powerful chest and chiseled abdomen catching the moonlight in a way that made him seem like a statue. A moving statue. Tom felt his breath snag in his throat.
“Aren’t you going to strip down?” Danny asked, undoing the button on his jeans and sliding them off quickly. He seemed apparently immune to the night air. Tom was glad of the night’s cover; otherwise, Danny would have seen him blushing at the spot.
“Y-yeah,” Tom stammered, and he reluctantly slipped the jacket off his shoulders. He added it to the pile Danny had already made and kept his eyes to himself. When he threw his shirt on the pile, he saw Danny’s underwear flying to land beneath it, and his eyes instantly felt the need to look at Danny. Self-control triumphed, however, and Tom managed to strip down, completely naked and growing hotter by the second, without visually violating Danny. He cupped his hands at once to his privates when his underwear slid down his pale thighs, and, lifting his leg, used the remaining one to fling the garment onto the pile. Danny laughed and rubbed his eyes. Tom kept his attention on Danny’s face.
“Well, shall we?” Danny announced, spinning around and breaking into a run through the trees. Tom freed his hands and ran after him, watching his friend’s behind disappearing around a bend.
Danny let out a primal yell as he jumped from the tree and sloshed into the lake with a great splash, and Tom watched in amusement as Danny resurfaced shaking his head with a wide grin.
“Can you beat that?”
Tom shook his head and waded carefully into the water. It wasn’t extremely cold-it was bearable enough to stay in for a few hours, and as soon as the water reached his navel, he plunged forward and swam under the surface. Near-total blackness met his eyes when he opened them, broken only by ripples of silver and blue here and there under the moonlight, and try as he may, he couldn’t manage to find Danny. He raised his head back up for oxygen and found Danny swimming a few feet from him, his arms flapping around the water to keep afloat. Tom did the same, only under the water.
“Pretty nice here, innit?” Danny asked, paddling forward and circling Tom like a shark. Tom kept inside the circle and spun around to watch him.
“Yeah. Quiet, too.”
“Nice to have barbeques and whatnot, and a few drinks with that.” Danny flipped onto his back and swam backwards, everything below his chest swallowed by the lake. Tom submerged and waited a few seconds before pushing upward and showering Danny with a storm of water droplets. Danny laughed and retaliated with a wave of his hand on the surface, returning the action twofold. Soon, the two boys erupted into a splash fight, and they grew closer and closer to each other with each push of the water.
A few inches from Danny, Tom flicked his hand in his direction, to which Danny fought back with a curtain of wave by swinging both his hands in an arc. Tom, drenched and amused, laughed and swam around Danny. Danny, like Tom before him, kept into the circle and watched the other take slow, steady strokes with his long, limber arms.
“Got another idea.”
Tom stopped in mid-swim and smiled. “What?”
“I’ll race you there and back.”
Tom looked ahead and found no marker whatsoever, making it difficult to figure out the finish line. He turned back to Danny. “Race to where?”
But Danny only laughed and lunged forward, suddenly breaking into a frenzy of stroking and splashing to propel himself forwards. Tom shook his head, chuckled, and dove under the surface, his legs pushing him forward in a manner much like a mermaid would.
“How the hell are we supposed to dry?” asked Tom as he hugged himself beside the truck, the wind’s temperature dropping considerably due to his current, damp state. A series of shivers ran down his spine, and he felt his teeth chattering despite his efforts to lock his jaw shut. Danny shook his hair, each strand already curled beyond recognition, and shrugged at Tom.
“I don’t know. Run around?”
“In this time of the night?” asked Tom, wringing out the wetness from his hair. “We’ll get lost. Or worse, mauled by bears or something.”
“There’re no bears in this forest, stupid.”
Tom couldn’t help but smile. Danny was always the “stupid one,” the one who cracked the witty remarks, so Tom supposed it was nice to be called “stupid” for a change.
“So are we just supposed to stand out here and wait to dry?”
“Pretty much,” Danny replied cheerfully, jumping up and down to speed up the drying process. “Oh, but wait!”
Tom walked over to the side of the truck and looked at Danny. “What?”
“We can take turns using the heater inside!”
Tom found himself grinning. He wondered why he hadn’t thought of it in the first place. Maybe calling Danny the “stupid one” was a stretch; he had his shining moments now and then, and when they came, they were always unexpectedly clever. Danny grinned back and sprinted to the driver’s side of the truck before Tom could get the chance to process what had just happened.
“Hey, that’s not fair!”
Danny flung the door open and winked at Tom over his shoulder. “You snooze, you lose, Fletcher!”
Once getting accustomed to the rubber floor of the back of the truck, it was comfortable to lie down on, Tom thought. Rubber was a great insulator as well, and the combined body heat they infused in the floor for the last hour they had been lying down warmed them up tremendously. Both of the boys were on their backs, Danny’s hands behind his head, adding further cushion to his rolled-up shirt acting as a pillow, Tom’s resting on his stomach, a finger tapping at the metal tip of his belt. Tom didn’t feel the least bit drowsy, and he wondered what Danny was thinking about beside him.
“Danny?” Tom asked, tearing his gaze from the cluster of stars and turning to his side. He watched Danny’s bulky outline shining under the moonlight with bright eyes.
“Yeah?”
“I had fun today. I mean, I’d have rather it been at the concert, but this was fun, too.”
Danny chuckled and turned a quarter of the way to look at Tom. “I had fun too. I didn’t know you were such a slow swimmer.”
Tom laughed and smacked Danny’s stomach with the back of his hand. “You had a head start, you cheat. And the water was cold.”
“Excuses, excuses…”
Then both boys laughed, Danny’s hearty and full and Tom’s soft, almost soundless, and silence ensued almost immediately, Tom catching the remnants of his airy giggles before clamping his mouth shut completely. He slid his eyes sideways to watch Danny from the corners, his heart garnering speed and his face heating up, and he crossed his arms over his chest, his hands gripping the opposite shoulder. Danny took no notice of his movement, and he shifted slightly and repositioned the shirt underneath his head.
“Dan?”
Danny raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look at Tom. “What’s up?”
Tom swallowed the air in his mouth and scratched his shoulder. “Are you still single? I feel like I haven’t seen you with a girl in a long time.”
In the darkness, Tom saw Danny smile, and it agitated his already speeding heart. With a shrug, he replied, “I’ve been dating, if that counts. Just haven’t found the right one, I guess. You?”
Tom sighed and shook his head. “It’s been a while since I’ve tried dating.”
“’Cause of that one bird in the restaurant?”
Tom smiled. He was talking about a date set up by Harry a few years back, ending up with the girl storming out of the restaurant crying and Tom having to use a menu to escape the questioning eyes of the other patrons. “Yeah, that one. After that, I just haven’t the energy to… get out there and… you know.”
“Yeah, I understand. I’ve been like that too lately, sort of.”
Tom chuckled and stretched his arms into the air, looking at the stars between his fingers.
“What?” Danny asked, scratching his stomach as he watched Tom wave his hands.
“We should do this more often.” Tom dropped his arms to his sides, keeping his eyes to the stars. “You know, just talking about anything. Like old times.”
Danny grinned widely and gazed at Tom from the corners of his eyes. “Yeah. Definitely.”
Tom listened to Danny’s soft snoring quietly in fear of waking him up, but his heartbeat was making him uneasy. Slowly, he brought a hand to touch his face, and he sighed soundlessly. His face heating up wasn’t helping the situation any better. He didn’t know what to do. He knew what he felt, but he didn’t know what to do.
“Dan?” asked Tom softly, a whisper. Danny kept on snoring.
“Dan?”
Still nothing, and Tom took this moment to move, as carefully as he could, closer to Danny. The action shook the truck slightly, and Danny turned to his side in response to the disturbance, his back to Tom. Tom stayed still, not even daring to breathe. A minute later, Tom took Danny’s stationary posture as a green light, and he finally allowed himself to breathe freely, his breath ruffling Danny’s hair.
“Dan, I have something to say.” Tom knew he might as well have been talking to a tree, but letting his feelings spill out to the one person he wanted to tell it to was cathartic, and he hoped to himself that finally speaking what his heart had been screaming would help him move on.
“I’ve known you since we were young. Just you, me, and Harry. Playing in the playground and going to school together and you and I having to give Harry half our lunches because he would always forget his. I bet you never expected, did you? How shy and... blond Tom would have feelings for you? Well, I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. I mean, I’ve never shown any signs, have I? It’s for the better, I guess, you not knowing. If we couldn’t be together-if I couldn’t be closer to you, then this is just fine, yeah? Just us two hanging out and talking and all that. It’s as close as I’ll get, and, really, I shouldn’t be asking for more than that, now that I think about it. I mean, sure, I have strong feelings for you, but I’ve kept it up, haven’t I? Haven’t slipped at all. And you… You’re always smiling at me and making me feel so good about myself and it makes it… hard not to want more. You know that feeling when you’ve worked so hard for something, and then to have the door slammed in your face because they didn’t want you or you just didn’t work hard enough? Well, that’s sort of what I’m feeling. I’ve tried to get as close to you as I possibly could without being too forward and being too obvious, but you never showed any sign that you notice everything that I do for you. Why I do those things for you. But hey-we’re still friends, aren’t we? And the best thing about this is you don’t even know that I’m saying these things. But I’ve let it out, and to be honest, I feel loads better. I just hope you don’t remember any of this when you wake up, and you start acting all weird around me and whatnot. I still need you to take me home tomorrow.”
Taking a moment to compose himself, Tom sighed and wiped the tears that had fallen down his cheek to the rubber beneath them. He didn’t know revealing his feelings would make him this emotional. But it was for the better, and he could already feel the therapeutic effect washing over him. His heart had begun to slow down, and the tears have washed away some of the heat that had assaulted his face. But there was still a lingering unfinished business deep in his heart, something he knew he should do-take advantage of now that he had so successfully divulged all the feelings he harbored, and he did so in a soft tone, just a little bit above a whisper.
“I just wish you could show some sign that you feel the same.”
He hovered his hand a few inches above Danny’s shoulder, and a moment later, he pressed his palm against his skin. It was warm under his touch, all the water having evaporated hours ago, and Tom moved his head closer to get a better look. He ran his fingers down the length of Danny’s freckle-ridden arm, eyes watching all the contours and shapes of his muscles jutting out from beneath the layer of skin, feeling the tiny nubs of goosebumps that had erupted. Lower he went, and soon, he found his hand laying on the depression of Danny’s waist, concave due to his position on the rubber. He kept his hand there for a while, rubbing back and forth, wanting so much to tell Danny more about his feelings but having no more words to tell them with. He reckoned his touch would suffice all the same, and in one swift motion, he lurched forward and wrapped his arm around Danny’s waist, burying his face on the back of his neck. He felt his heart beating against Danny’s back, but he didn’t want to let go-not even with the risk of waking him up. He pulled Danny closer, and in the back of his mind, he expected Danny to wake up, push Tom away from him, and grab his jacket and leave, but for some reason, Danny didn’t. He didn’t make the slightest of movements in response to Tom’s action, and it puzzled him somewhat.
What came next, however, puzzled him even more.
Like a gentle snake slithering around his wrist, Tom felt Danny’s hand encircling his skin, and it jumpstarted Tom’s heart again. Then, with a soft tug, Danny pulled Tom’s arm closer, tucking Tom’s arm under his, pulling him closer and closer until Tom could swear he could feel Danny’s heart beating erratically along with his through his back.
“D-Dan?”
Danny’s grip tightened, but not enough to cause pain. “Don’t let go.”
“But-” Tom insisted, but Danny pulled him closer, as close as their bodies would allow, and again said, “Don’t let go.”
It was like time had stopped, and Tom couldn’t hear the animals making noises and the leaves rustling anymore. Just their breathing and their synchronized heartbeats.
“I heard everything,” Danny said after a while, and Tom felt his face heat up once more. To this, Danny laughed, and he said with a wide grin, “I can feel that, you know.”
Tom laughed and raised his head from Danny’s back. “Did you really? You heard everything I just said?”
“I’m not deaf, Tom. Been awake all this time.”
Tom creased his brows. “So the snoring-?”
“Totally fake.”
Tom was still confused. “Well, then… Why? Were you waiting for something?”
To this, Danny laughed again and turned around, still keeping Tom’s arms around his waist. In a second, they were face-to-face with each other, and Danny entwined his legs with Tom’s.
“To be honest, I was about to tell you the same thing.”
Tom felt his mouth drop slightly, finding his heart beating faster despite the record-breaking speed it was already undergoing. “You were?”
“Yeah. Why d’you think I staged this whole thing? I’ve been planning this since we bought the tickets for that concert.”
Tom felt a smile creeping on his face. “The tire thing wasn’t real, too?”
“I’m not a terrible driver, Tom. But I did get quite worried when you came over to check the tire. I couldn’t deliberately make a hole before we drive past the forest, and I couldn’t make the car stall-too suspicious.”
Tom laughed and rested his forehead against Danny’s. “So you… really feel the same way?”
It was Danny’s turn to laugh, and he kissed Tom’s forehead in one quick motion. “Of course. Why do you think I’m letting you hold me this way?”
Both boys chuckled and Tom tightened his embrace. The grin that broke Danny’s face made Tom’s heart flutter, and he couldn’t process everything at once. So he settled for this-laying together, holding Danny, Danny’s skin against his, sharing their warmth with each other. Under the moonlight and the light of the stars, Tom stared at Danny and Danny stared at Tom, neither saying anything but saying everything through their gazes. Danny was saying, “Don’t let me go,” and Tom was saying, “Don’t worry. I won’t.”