Wisdom of the Fool // Jake & Danny

Chapter XII

Warnings: drinking; kissing; groping; grinding; suggestiveness. Always 18+ only!

I went into this chapter with no expectations of it being the last one but, as I was going along, the ending just felt so beautifully final that I couldn't make myself push past it and potentially ruin this wonderful fic. I've had such a great time writing it!

—

And then it was truly done. Like before Jake could even blink, they were celebrating their final show of the tour, so many months to begin tucking into themselves, to put away for a little while so they could rejoice and revel in what they'd done and what they would do. Jake felt a weight lift from himself, something he didn't expect–not just because they could relax, hopefully, before getting back to work, but because things had somehow worked out for them. He'd never felt like anything good ever came easy–even if Danny had come pretty easily, in more ways than one–which made his nerves prickle even as he tried to let himself enjoy the night.

They did shots–maybe too many of them–at the nearest bar, which was a sultry sort of dive bar with a dance floor, instigating Jake to get half-hard while just looking at Danny from his seat at the bar. The low light, smoke clinging in the air from the open patio doors, tequila slumming through his veins and his looping fantasies made it so easy for that to happen. He slumped back and crossed his legs, swiveled around and gulped a glass of water, then moved over to his man.

Unlike in the hotel ballroom, they actually danced. Jake couldn't help but laugh through most of it–Danny's dance moves never failed to make him giggle, but when he grabbed Jake's hips and slammed their bodies together, his half-hard-on raged almost completely erect.

"Watch out," Jake warned over the music, arching up to get as directly in Danny's ear as he could. "My hips are still bruised."

Danny relinquished his vice, grabbing Jake's hands and bringing them up into the air between their torsos instead, still grooving. "Sorry," he said, cheeks flushed, eyes lighting up as he smiled. "I have to be more careful."

"You're always careful." Jake planted himself against Danny's thigh and started to grind, not caring who was watching, it being the first time he'd ever truly not cared. The alcohol helped, but his adoration for Danny was even more intense than that. "I like it, in a way." He knew he was talking too much with the loud music reverberating around them and having to strain to reach Danny's ear, but he went on anyway: "Like, when I touch them, when I look at them, I can still feel your hands there."

Danny looked down at him grinding on his thigh. "Oh my god, are you–"

"I can't help it," Jake nearly shouted, but he pulled himself off and resumed a more PG-rated dance, eyes flashing over to the other people in the crowd for a moment, his brothers hidden beyond the other patrons. Being part of the crowd for once was exhilarating, but he needed to get Danny alone, and not just in another hotel room.

Outside, a couple of blocks away, they found a spot secluded enough and clean enough for Danny to back Jake up against the wall, his knee pressing into Jake's erection through his jeans. Danny clasped himself around him, tangling his fingers in Jake's hair and tangling their thighs together, and captured him in a hot, hard kiss. The wall behind Jake was warm with humidity in the nighttime air and hard, not unlike what was still begging to be released from the confines of his pants–he could feel Danny's hardness too, rubbing all over his thigh, only adding to the ache growing stronger in his groin and his chest.

Thoughts of the two of them started to swim in Jake's mind even as they kissed–where they would go, what they would do, romance and domesticity like Jake had never thought of before. He already knew Danny so well–was it possible to get to know him even better? Jake wanted to try. He wanted to go as deep as he possibly could, and he also wanted Danny to know him deeper. The vulnerability didn't scare him, not emotionally and apparently not even with them being within the sight of any passerbys as they made out and pawed at one another.

At the fleeting thought of he and Danny, perhaps someday, owning a dog together and trotting down the street, hands entwined, the dog panting happily in front, Jake giggled against Danny's mouth; Danny pulled back, gently holding the side of his face. "Oh, Jake," he said softly, almost a coo. "You're drunk."

Jake tilted his head up and nipped at Danny's jaw. "So are you. Well, maybe not as drunk as me, but I saw you take those shots."

Danny smiled, affection beaming through his gaze and within his touch, his fingers stroking Jake's cheek. "Such a lightweight." He glanced off to the side and asked, "Think Josh and Sam are pissed we left?"

Jake waved that away. "No. They have to understand," he began, pulling on the collar of Danny's shirt, bringing him down for another kiss. "That we're full of raging hormones. And madly in love."

"'Madly?'" Danny repeated, a magenta flush inflaming his cheeks and nose, then dove back in to nibble on Jake's bottom lip.

"Even sober, I think," Jake said, retreating but still clinging to Danny's collar, keeping him steady to look him in the eye. "So fucking enamored, dude." He almost asked, Don't you feel it? but, with the gleam in Danny's eye and the saliva wet on his lips, he finally knew. "You are, too. I know it."

Danny giggled. "Yup."

Jake scoffed, smirking, and lightly pushed him back. "Now it's so easy for you? You're a man of so few words."

Danny engulfed him with strong, warm arms, pulling Jake back against his chest. "But they get the job done, right?" he asked, hugging him and nuzzling the top of his head.

"Yes, they do." Jake closed his eyes, the tiny stars behind them probably both alcohol and pheromones, and breathed in that Danny scent. "Still, be glad I'm not high maintenance."

"No, you really aren't. I bet your girlfriends loved that."

"Same for you, I'm sure. You're the least high maintenance person I've ever met." Jake managed to make enough room to look up–so much darkness for his eyes to always take in, so much light lying beneath the outer layers. "I'd love it if you could tell me what you want more often."

Danny started to rub between Jake's shoulder blades. "I'll try. I'm usually pretty okay." He smiled a little and glanced up to the sky. "Besides, I got what I wanted tonight–all of us together. That's a huge win."

"It is," Jake said, reaching down to cop a feel of Danny's groin. Oncoming laughter and footsteps thwarted whatever might have happened next, as he suddenly realized just how public they were. He groaned softly and rested his forehead against Danny's chest, exhaling as Danny's palm continued to circle his back. "I don't want to be in a hotel again. I want my own damn bed."

"Soon," Danny said, slowly starting to move with Jake still hanging on him. "Let's walk for a bit. Take our time. The hotel will be there for us whenever, you know."

Jake lifted himself off and went to Danny's side, noting how he slowed his stride and shortened his steps for them to stay walking together; Jake inhaled the night air, the fragrance of it even seeming quiet somehow, undisturbed by daytime pollution, and turned his attention away from the sidewalk to the sky above. The stars in the cloak of midnight blue were blurred, dusty, seemingly too far away with the lights of the city, but they were there and they were still even better to look at than the stars that twinkled behind his eyes.

Of course, nothing was better than the stars in Danny's eyes that Jake caught as their gazes met again–like a pure-gold supernova pierced by peridot and volcanic ash, the brilliance centered around two endless, onyx galaxies.

Jake was endlessly, blissfully lost in those galaxies.

He reached for Danny's hand as they walked, fingers intertwining and arms swinging a bit, the two of them still slightly giddy with hormones and booze and the anticipation of what was waiting for them up the street, around the corner and in the future beyond. Danny's thumb brushed intently over Jake's wrist and he felt his pulse flutter with the caress against his tender skin, and then he was imagining them doing this very thing in Nashville. They had so much to look forward to and Jake knew that he was lucky. He'd known that long before but being able to hold Danny's hand like that, walk together, kiss, touch, talk, just be–that made him feel like the luckiest, lovesick fool alive.