When Push Comes To Shove

Chapter 4

wednesday, before work.

the day before had been extremely long. david couldn't shake the guilt of snapping at gwen all day. he could barely sleep it off either. he only really got rid of the feeling in the shower, letting the warmth of the water wash over him and relax his tense muscles. he felt all his aggression and stress wash away with the water going down the drain, standing still and letting it fall for a minute before starting his normal routine. "it's gonna be a good day," he tells himself, "nothing bad can happen. as long as i stay attentive and aware, there's nothing that can go wrong."

the relief wouldn't last long, however, due to the man sneaking into the counselor cabin. the tall blonde seemed lost, unable to think of what to do now to save his ass. carefully, he went and sat on the bed that was clearly david's, assuming david wouldn't make a fuss. he didn't know the other counselor very well, but the fact that she felt the need to leave upon the sight of him the first time they met didn't leave a good taste in his mouth. he looks to have been in a bit of a scuffle, his usually pure white clothes being scuffed near the feet, knees, elbows, and any point of possible impact with dirt, and his hair a mess. daniel lays down, burying his face in the pillow and zoning out.

coming back to the probably more sane twink, david comes out of the shower about ten minutes later. he spends five more minutes in the bathroom drying off, getting dressed, and taking what medication he needed. which was surprisingly a lot. adhd stuff was obviously in the mix, but anyone who knew him would be surprised at the anxiety medicine and the antidepressants. almost anyone. after doing what he needed, he exited the bathroom to find himself looking at what he'd dubbed in his mind as his 'cult counterpart' laying across his bed with an arm draped weakly off the side. he wasn't exactly sure how he wanted to approach this situation. it seemed daniel hadn't quite noticed him yet. david could just ignore this and leave, maybe get gwen for help, but gwen wasn't there for the shit that went down last time. if he just left, daniel would be free to roam. he could hurt someone. but he doesn't seem like he's in the mood to be very aggressive... david elects to feign innocence to find out why he's here. quietly, he opens his mouth to speak. "daniel?" he asked, his voice breaking the silence that had been hanging over them for the past few seconds.

this didn't seem to phase the man, who refused to look up from the bed, acknowledging him only in a weakly and briefly raised hand.

david sounded confused, mostly. "why are you here? particularly not in the hospital...?" he takes a step forward, towards daniel, keeping his guard up.

"not sure how to answer that, david," daniel pushes himself up, falling into a sitting position, "there are too many things i could say."

"well..." david begins, anxiety ringing through his voice, "can you start with a simpler explanation?"

"..." daniel takes a second to think through his options. he needs to be on david's good side. david tends to have a soft spot for people who need help, and he does need help right now... but if he tells david the truth, how does he know david won't turn him in? he's gonna have to go for being vague. "...i'm in danger, david."

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k so this chapter was mostly for just introducing daniel as a character because i want him here, not really much character development. sorry it took so long to produce such halfassed and shit content, i went through many versions of this chapter before this one. this version seems the most in character to me. please give me feedback, tell me what you think! negative feedback is also welcome! in every story i write, i beg for people to tell me what i'm doing wrong lmao
getting better means taking criticism well