Smother the Flame in Your Heart // Danny x Sam

Part X

Word Count: ~2700

Warnings: none

Short & dialogue-heavy but... ;)

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It was just when Danny pulled into the Kiszka's driveway that he noticed Sam's car was absent. So was Josh's Jeep, actually–only Jake's car was there. He raised an eyebrow and grabbed his phone, checking for word from Sam on being late and, yeah, there it was–a text saying he got caught up and probably wouldn't be home for another 45 minutes or so. Danny sighed, looking at the house. He could just drive back home and have Sam meet him there, but he didn't feel like doing that. What if Jake had already seen him pull up? If he just turned back around and left, it would be another insult to the twins, like he really didn't want to be around them. That was so not true. Danny just needed to get it together, stay composed, and remind himself that Sam's blood was still soothing his insides. He didn't need anything else, no matter how good it seemed. So, after a deep breath, he opened the car door and stepped outside.

Jake was at the door after Danny made a single knock, opening it with a big smile that was so genuinely friendly Danny smiled back just the same, his nervousness drifting away a bit.

"Hey Danny," Jake greeted, opening the door wide to let him in. When Danny entered, perhaps awkwardly slowly with his trepidation, he glimpsed at Jake's unusual clothing. It was the most casual he'd ever seen him–a very well-loved and worn black hoodie and gray sweats, barefoot below. He wasn't even wearing any jewelry.

"Hey. Sam's running late–I figured you wouldn't mind me waiting here for him?" Danny said, standing a little cluelessly until Jake padded away, headed toward the living room. Danny followed, trying to hone in on all the other smells in the house besides the Kiszkas–more coffee, pizza that had definitely been reheated in the oven, the woodsy, musky candle that was burning on one of the living room end tables.

"Not at all. I was just reading," Jake told him, settling down on the couch. "How are you?"

Danny saw the book he was closing and putting aside–Dracula indeed. He stared at it for probably a moment too long before joining Jake on the other side. "Good, good," he finally answered. "Sam and I are gonna try that new Mediterranean place when he's out of work. Have you heard of it? What's up with you?"

"I heard it's really good," Jake said, smiling again with those perfect teeth that all the

Kiszkas shared. He stretched his legs out against the coffee table, resting his head in his hand while he looked at Danny. "As for what's up, not a whole lot. Josh and I have been trying to figure out what we wanna do for our birthdays this year."

"Oh yeah," Danny said, flipping through the Kiszka trivia that was in his mind. "Yeah, it's coming up, isn't it? What do you think you're gonna do?"

"Not sure yet. Josh said he'll probably want to go out, like to a bar, but there's a show at the Montage on our birthday that I kinda wanna go to."

"Could do both," Danny suggested, glancing over at the copy of Dracula again. "Do all the things. That's what birthdays are for. Look at what we did for Sam."

"Yeah, that was really fun. It was good to spend more time with you," Jake said, and Danny was opening his mouth to veer them back to that conversation at the bar–about how something was different with him and Jake knew. Knew something. Clearly. But then Jake stood up and said, "You wanna smoke? I just bought a quarter today."

Never one to turn down getting stoned in addition to having no other option anyway, Danny agreed; he and Jake went out to the back porch. It was a nice evening–the sky was still full of ample golden sunlight and a gentle breeze caressed Danny's skin as he sat down at the patio table across from Jake. The breeze helped the scent of him roll and drift off, slip away whenever the wind moved; the strong scent of the weed burning from Jake's bowl helped too.