Smother the Flame in Your Heart // Danny x Sam

Part XXIV

Word Count: ~4700

Warnings: a little angst, some mild sexual content

Well, my friends, we've made it to the last chapter. I never know when I'm going to end a fic, I just feel it out, and once the idea for this chapter kept rolling through my mind and growing, the definitive conclusion just seemed so right. I can't believe we've been following these two (three if you include Jake lol) since October! I love writing series so much and this is my first complete Danny x Sam series <3 I do have thoughts about reviving Gold Isn't Everything, if any of you remember my cowboy AU slash series...anyway, thank you all for reading and commenting and supporting! Vampire Danny x Juice Box Sam forever <3

—

Things were tense despite both of their best efforts. Danny remained on edge–it made him flighty and uncomfortable, and his stress rubbed off on Sam like a rash. Sam had been trying to make Danny feel better–feel more assured and safe. Nothing he tried was working.

One silver lining was, Sam had been looking for an excuse to get away anyway, and Danny's ongoing anxiety about being "caught" in Detroit motivated him to make a plan. Originally, it was just going to be the two of them camping–pitching a tent, hiking, tending a fire, cooking and drinking out in the woods was always something Sam looked forward to once nicer weather rolled around, and it would be the first time he got to do it with Danny. But of course, once the twins caught word of his plan they latched onto it and invited themselves. Sam had tried to protest but it was Danny who actually agreed that they should join. Sam wanted to protest that too, but ultimately decided that if his vampire boyfriend needed all of the distractions, so be it. He'd deal with it. Just as long as they had separate tents.

They went up north, where the groves of pine trees and fir trees became so thick and full that the dense green of them seemed endless; birch trees also surrounded their campsite, which was hardly anything more than a choppy section of grass and a crude fire pit in the middle. There was barely enough room for the two tents but they made it work–just enough, anyway. At least there was a creek flowing behind the site–that would help with some noise cancellation, Sam thought, because the entire drive he'd been thinking about how badly he wanted Danny to fuck him in their tent. Well, before the twins integrated themselves, he wanted to fuck Danny right on the dirt in front of the fire pit. A forcibly quiet handjob in their tent wasn't as alluring, but he'd have to take whatever he could get.

He was a little nervous about all of it, he had to admit to himself. A little day trip to Detroit with walls of art to keep them mentally occupied was one thing–a camping trip where all of them were so together was another, and Sam's thoughts kept drifting to Jake. He had no concerns about where he stood with Danny–he was confident that he really was Danny's one and only–but he still had concerns about where Danny stood in Jake's mind. They hadn't really talked about it. Sam had just decided he no longer cared. But he did. Just a little.

He certainly cared enough to intercept when Jake proposed a hike with just him and Danny, intending to leave Sam and Josh behind. No way was Sam ready for that to happen so, despite actually wanting to hang back at camp, strip down and explore the creek rather than a trail, he turned it into a whole group thing.

Josh led the way, a dislodged tree branch that he'd found not long into their journey fashioned as a walking stick. It was a hot afternoon and Sam could already see the sheen of sweat on the back of his brother's neck, beads dripping down behind his ears. Sam was sweating too, even more so because he kept having to swat mosquitoes away. Jake, on the other hand, looked perfectly at ease each time Sam looked back at him trailing behind and it was pissing him off.

He also kept trying to walk in step with Danny, but Danny and Sam were walking together and there wasn't much room leftover on the trail. So it was easy enough to keep Jake away from the two of them then, like Sam was keeping those mosquitoes at bay, but after the four of them ascended up a slightly rocky hill, the trail widened. Jake shuffled up to meet Danny's side faster than Sam could even realize, too busy trying to catch his breath.