It's Always You

Danny never enjoys homework, and spending his free period held up in the mute undusted library of Beacon Hills High alone, is a very arid and downright boring experience for him.

Granted, five page history essays don't tend to write themselves, nor do they exhaust a small period of time to finish. And it would be a lie if Danny said this essay wasn't difficult and time consuming, but those small details in particular don't bother him, it's just that he'd rather not spend time doing this essay at home. The least amount of time spent at home the better is his unofficial motto.

Danny definitely wouldn't want to be home in time to greet his overbearing control freak of a mother or his homophobic father. Together they can cause awkwardly embarrassing dinner situations and mind numbing arguments. But despite his parents imperfections Danny still loves them to death, he just chooses to avoid them like the plague.

And while avoiding bothersome parents is an easy enough thing to do, it calls for a strict schedule of home avoidance.

Homework becomes free period work and lacrosse is always a great reason to come home a little late with the credible excuse of long practice hours and team meetings, rather he decides to spend his leisure time with the team or not is a totally different circumstance however, he prefers to spend most weekends and late nights dancing his angst away at various underground nightclubs around the city as a hushed rebellion against his parents, his mother specifically, if she knew Danny was out partying instead of studying quietly in his room like the obedient little straight A student she raised, well, she'd have a fit. There'd be bars on the windows and a ten o'clock curfew before you could blink. And Danny knows this, which is why he is very cautious and subdued during the limited amount of time he does spend at home, which usually amounts to sleeping and eating. As far as Danny is concerned his night life is a completely different world from the one he lives in during the day.

Danny sighs deeply to calm away his overbearing thoughts and pushes his laptop away. Staring at screen so long cannot be good for the eyes, he thinks as he leans back in his chair.

Danny closes his eyes and drops his head so that it hangs over the back of the chair and sighs again, but this time in exhaustion. Maybe staying out until 3 last night wasn't a good idea. He'll have to cut back on the clubbing tonight and get some sleep. Thank god tomorrow is Friday.

After a minute of blissful nothing, Danny feels long fingers run through his hair and play with the strands pleasingly.

Danny only knows one person who spontaneously toys with his hair even though he tells them not to mess with it, that one person being Ethan of course. Danny finds himself smiling at the thought of him. He's always the one who shows up. If it's not when Danny's studying alone in the library, it's when he's the last one out the locker room or roaming the halls during free period. Danny has come to expect it, look forward to it even.

"How do you always find me Ethan?" Danny voices his thoughts without opening his eyes just yet. The hand playing in Danny's hair moves away and he fights away the disappointment the lack of stimulation causes.

The shrill sound of the chair beside Danny being pulled out seems twice as loud cutting through the silent haven of the library. "Well hello to you too Danny," Danny can hear the amused tone in Ethan's voice and smirks at his comment.

"I didn't mean it like that." Danny chuckles and shakes his head. "What are you working on?" Ethan asks shuffling papers around on the table in front of them. Danny huffs in annoyance with the mention of the dreadful assignment. "It's just the essay we have to write for history." he shrugs and rubs his tired eyes that don't seem to want to open anymore. "We had an essay to write?" Ethan says sounding surprised and confused causing Danny to chuckle deeply. "Yeah, we did." Danny confirms before yawning loudly and slumping lower in his seat. He can forget about lacrosse practice if he doesn't get coffee or something." Hey, look at me." Danny pry's his eyes open to meet face to face with a concerned looking Ethan. "Are you ok?" he asks.