london_spy | House

He'd invited Greg around. It was his day off from school, and it would be nice to spend some time together- Even if things were complicated right now. Greg was grieving, and Danny was starting to take steps to open his business. Things felt unsteady and strange, but Danny was stubborn, and wanted to try and navigate it all. He wanted to make all of this work somehow.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

london_spy

"As long as he's not drawing blood and speed dialing hell, I'm not too worried," Danny said, thinking back to what he'd seen John do one morning after the man had slept over.

From:

drfeelbad

"All... right," said House. He was right. It wasn't just his own pain. If he could barely walk he wasn't exactly in a position to be a good partner, in or out of bed.

"Yeah, I'll go see him."

From:

london_spy

Danny nodded, then wet his lip.

"Is that everything out in the open now? Is there more you need to talk about?" he asked softly.

From:

drfeelbad

"No, that's... way more talking about my own feelings than I'm usually comfortable doing," House admitted. "What... about you?"

From:

london_spy

"Well, I guess I want to know if you still want to see other people for a while. If you want me to stop seeing other people? I want to know if you're thinking about getting counseling... I mean, you've been through a lot," Danny said gently.

From:

drfeelbad

House visibly winced at the word 'counseling.' "Right now I don't think I'm interested in seeing other people or a counselor," he said.

From:

london_spy

"What about me?" Danny pressed, wanting a clear answer.

From:

drfeelbad

"You want to take things slow," House said. "And I'm okay with that. One thing that means is that I can't tell you who you can and can't fu - see."

From:

london_spy

Danny pushed his hair back, then nodded. "Okay," he said simply. "Alright," he agreed.

From:

drfeelbad

That was House's leap of faith. Because after meeting John, he legitimately thought there was a good chance Danny might fall for him. And that the'd go back to feeling what he'd told House very early in their friendship. That he didn't like to share.

But given what House had just done to Danny, he wasn't going to start their relationship with hypocrisy.

"Are we okay?" he asked quietly.

From:

london_spy

"Yeah. Yeah, of course we are," Danny said softly. "I love you."

From:

drfeelbad

Hearing those words made House feel... better, largely, but also conflicted. He knew he couldn't say it back, not yet. He found himself hesitating, because he didn't want to purposefully not say it.

From:

london_spy

Danny hated the hesitation- Resented it a little even given how Greg had seemed to be pushing for more of a relationship only moments ago- But the man was going through a lot, and he knew that he had a tendency to say it first. He always had.

"Don't say it if you don't mean it, and don't dance around it to save my feelings. It's okay to just let it sit, Greg," he said quietly. "Doesn't change anything, Let it sit."

From:

drfeelbad

"Danny..." This really was too much talking about his feelings for one day. But he owed him this. "When I say it, you'll know... it really means something. Really. Like point of no return." Hell, how many years had it been, until he'd said it to Fin?

From:

london_spy

Danny studied him for a moment, then nodded in understanding. Though he let it be for now.

From:

drfeelbad

House reached over the table and took his hand. "Look, all of this talk, it's just... what this comes down to, is I want to be with you. I haven't had any doubts about that part. Okay?"

From:

london_spy

Danny gave his hand a squeeze and nodded.

"You don't have to make promises or assurances. Right now you need to focus on you. And I'll be here while you do that," he said softly.

From:

drfeelbad

"Okay... but I really do want to know what you need, Danny. When you're comfortable telling me."

From:

london_spy

"I'm happy right now," Danny admitted. "I've always thrown myself into relationships. I would make the other person my whole world. But- Sharing you with James forced me not to do that, and it's been kind of eye-opening for me. I was forced to focus on me. My work, my goals... It was a miserable circumstance, but in a way I'm thankful. It proved to me that I can love without it taking over my life."

From:

drfeelbad

"Oh," said House, and his expression softened. "That's good. I mean... I'm glad. There's so much more to you than whoever you happen to be with."

From:

london_spy

Danny squeezed his hand and smiled softly, glad Greg approved.

"Why don't we just have a lazy afternoon?" he suggested. "I feel like we've both earned one. We can watch trash telly and have a drink or two..."

From:

drfeelbad

"That sounds great," House said. But first, he stood, and still holding his hand limped the short distance between them so that he could lean down and kiss him.