Eyes of your prey | Zepotha Cole × Danny Oneshot

Not how it was supposed to be.

Separating from the group while a killer was loose was probably not the best idea, but the fighting and yelling was starting to get too much. And that would be the exact reason he was sitting at the edge of the forest, back leaned against a tree, getting even more stoned. This was the only way that he would finally be able to relax again and get his mind off of the heavy reality. He really didn't want to deal with the fact that one of his friends got brutally murdered and there was no contact with another few. The authorities could take care of it, or anyone else that wasn't him for all he cared.

This was supposed to be a great summer, and even if shit was going downhill fast, he could still make the most out of it. Hopefully. Was it a fucked up way of thinking right after Nate was killed? Yes, but what else was he supposed to do? At least it was better than getting paranoid and throwing accusations left and right. Everyone else had already started doing that and he really wasn't on board. Except he was... He didn't want to suspect his friends, literally the closest people he had, but his mind was going crazy with how suspicious Lydia acted. Luckily for him though, in the haze that the drugs provided, all of that was gone.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, but it had started to get a bit boring. There wasn't much entertainment out here, so he once again dragged his eyes across the neighborhood lazily, not seeing anything interesting in particular... until he did. A hand that came out of nowhere waved right in front of his face. His eyes narrowed as he slowly traced it back to the source, to a person standing next to him, looking down at him nervously. Once he laid his eyes on the familiar face he smiled, waiting for the other to strike up a conversation.

"What are you doing out here?" Danny's voice was a slight bit off and there was something frantic in his gaze. Cole's mind surprisingly quickly connected the dots and he realized that the other was worried about him. He knew that despite their little quarrels, Dan actually cared and now he had living, breathing proof of that. The thought spread a warm feeling across his chest and his cheeks too, but he didn't mind that much.

"Smoking." A dumb, contented smirk found it's way on Cole's face, as he took in those emerald eyes. He could stare at Danny for hours and it still wouldn't have been enough, so when those pretty eyes of his narrowed, it prompted Cole to continue speaking. He was well aware that Dan wasn't into taking substances, but he couldn't help himself not to tease the guy. That's just how their friendship functioned. "Ya want some?"

"No, thanks." Danny turned even more panicky and maybe even a bit irritated. He was constantly looking from side to side as if checking for something. Making sure they were both safe, presumably. So sweet of him. Cole chuckled a little, curious to see where this conversation would take them next, but Danny didn't say anything else, just looked at him like he was heavily considering something. Cole just patiently looked up at him, still grinning from ear to ear, absolutely smitten with this man.

Seemingly out of nowhere Danny's expression turned grimmer and his eyes glazed over with coldness that was very unfamiliar to Cole. He even had to blink a couple of times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He was taken aback to see Dan like that, trying to understand if in some way he caused it, but he came up with nothing, though the sight was admittedly amusing. Even with such an angry face, Cole found the other pretty and the urge to tease him grew stronger once again.

"What are you so mad about?" He grinned, very proud of himself, but Danny's brows only furrowed and he exhaled harshly. If Cole was in a better state of mind he'd even say that he was bracing himself for something, but now all he could do was stare happily as the other grew frustrated.

"You ALWAYS took me as a joke, Cole." His voice was unnaturally harsh and generally ridden with a mantle of emotions Cole wasn't able to untangle. He was starting to become confused as to why Danny reacted like this. Usually their banter would go way further than that before things started to escalate. Maybe it was the stress from the murder...? Shit, he was to high to think properly.

"Wha...?" Cole shook his head in an attempt to sober himself up a little. It barely helped, but after a few seconds he managed to respond at least somewhat coherently. "No I didn't. What are you talking about?"

This whole thing had seemingly came up out of nowhere and he was struggling to follow. Too bad that in reality there was nothing to follow. Danny just needed to make up a reason for another murder of a person he didn't want to kill. He was gone too deep and there was no coming back, so he could at least obediently finish what he started. He would reveal himself as the awful monster that killed Nate and a few others too, give a shitty monologue about some made up feelings that made him snap and maybe Cole could die thinking there was a reason to it all.

Maybe it would be enough to make Cole not hate him in his final moments. Or the opposite, give him a justification for the hate he'd hold against Danny. Although it was hard to imagine Cole hating him at all. The other wasn't exactly subtle with his feelings for him. Danny tried to take in Cole's appearance as much as possible, it was his last chance for that. He wanted to burn into his memory the way those warm brown eyes looked at him with confusion, the way the long, light brown hair framed his face and the way the stupid flannel he bought as a joke laid around his frame.

He wanted to see this image every goddamn time he closed his eyes, both out of respect to Cole, and all this time he wasn't able to let him know his feeling were reciprocated, and as a way of punishing himself. He didn't want to ever forgive himself for the things he had done in the span of those few days. Especially this. Out of all the things this would sting the most, which was exactly why he needed to get it over with right now. He already stalled for long enough, there were no excuses left.

"I'm the killer, Cole. I'm the one who killed Nate, I'm the one who killed-" He didn't get to finish, because Cole's laugh cut him off. That certainly wasn't the reaction he was expecting. He looked at the other, thrown off by the course this interaction had taken, but then quickly realized what had happened. Cole was looking at him with an eyebrow raised and that dumb smirk of his, his eyes calm. He didn't believe him. "Okay Danny, real dark humor right there, but if you thought I was high enough to believe that, you're wrong. I know you, you wouldn't do shit like that."

This made him feel even worse, though he probably deserved that... He was growing more frustrated and terrified the longer this dragged on, so his brain was trying to quickly spit out any sort of a solution. In an attempt to show he wasn't kidding, Danny forced himself to grab Cole by the collar and looked down at him. Cole seemed to sober up a little, trying to keep up his calm demeanor, but there was an unmistakable hint of hesitance in the way his eyes looked deep into Danny's. It was tearing Dan apart. "I am not joking."

"Daniel, please." Cole never referred to him by his full name. Never.

It ripped Danny's heart to shreds, because it showed just how much it was getting to Cole. He looked at him with eyes that begged desperately for Danny to just say it was a stupid bit and that he wasn't truly the monster that he claimed himself to be. It was tempting. It was tempting to start pretending that everything was fine, that they could just survive this together and eventually see the awful killer get arrested for all of his crimes, then live happily ever after. But Danny stood his ground with a heavy heart and reached for the folding knife he stashed in his back pocket.

"I'm sorry Cole." He couldn't stop the small phrase from leaving his lips. He would never forget the fear that those brown eyes held in that moment, nor the way they looked lifeless.