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After the incidents with Brad and Ethan, the plot to find the perfect guy for Danny was put on hold for a few weeks, and then for a month, and then - well. Then it didn’t matter.
While Stiles was biding his time and allowing Danny, along with Stiles himself, to recover from their ordeals, the two of them spent more time together. On the days Stiles had to work, Danny would come in and buy something small, like Twizzlers or a peach or a sports drink, and if he was the only one in line, he would stand and talk with Stiles for far longer than the transactions dictated. It took Stiles a few days to realize that Danny was coming purely so that he could come and hang out with him, but he figured he could be forgiven for not catching on right away. No one else had ever done anything like that for him. It was a new experience.
When he didn’t have to go into work, he and Danny would go out to the lacrosse field and practice. Stiles always packed a healthy lunch for the two of them, along with sunblock and snacks if they decided to stay out longer. Sometimes Scott would come with them or show up later on with Isaac Lahey in tow.
The first few times Scott and Isaac were there, Danny eyed the two of them uncertainly, and it took a while for him to relax. Eventually, though, he seemed to realize that the two of them were not much different than they had been prior to taking the bite, and he treated them the same way he always had: politely, but with an absence of the familiarity he had started showing with Stiles.
Stiles wasn’t sure why that pleased him as much as it did. Maybe it was because, aside from Scott and his dad, no one else chose him first?
He supposed he should have guessed this, since Danny was so good at hacking and other computer-related activities, but Danny proved himself an appallingly phenomenal gamer. More than once, he would visit the Stilinski house in the afternoon and wind up calling home to ask if he could stay the night so that they could continue playing.
One night, Stiles joked, “Dude, how are you not sick of me by now?”
Beside him, Danny glanced over and then paused their game. Stiles jerked and then turned to face him, wondering what he had done wrong.
Danny stared at him for a while, looking as though he was working up to something. In the end, what he said was this: “Look, I haven’t always liked you in the past.” He paused, he expression turning wry. “In fact, I kind of thought you were an annoying little asshole.”
Making a face, Stiles eventually nodded. “Fair enough.”
”But,” Danny stressed, “I didn’t really know you that well.”
“And now?” Stiles asked, trying to keep his tone light even though he felt oddly invested in the response.
His eyes warm, Danny answered, “And now I do know you, and you’re still an annoying little asshole, but you’re also kind of a badass, and when you want to be, a really good guy.”
Stiles felt his face and ears flush, and he looked away, grateful that the only source of light in the room was from the television screen. “Oh” he said, feeling slightly awkward. “Well, thanks, man.”
Danny was kind enough to pick up his controller and leave it at that.
A few weeks later, it was time to pick up their class schedules. They drove to the high school in Stiles’s jeep, assuming it was better to go together in the chance that the twins showed up.
They were right. Thankfully, with the crowd of students and staff, Ethan and his brother were forced to keep the claws to themselves. Even so, they set Stiles and Danny on edge. They hurried to get their schedules and get out of there.
At the last minute, Ethan blew Danny a kiss and let his eyes change, just for a second. Danny had to put his hand on Stiles’s wrist to keep him from causing a scene. “Stiles, come on. He’s not worth it.”
Gritting his teeth, Stiles nodded. He let Danny keep his hand where it was as they walked out of the building, only moving away when they reached his jeep.
The night before school started back, he and Danny were up in Stiles’s room, talking about werewolves and kanimas and how they were going to get through high school, now that everything was so strange.
Though it was a tough squeeze, they both managed to fit on his little twin bed, and when the conversation started to wind down, Stiles turned to look up at his bedroom ceiling, musing, “You know, I never did find you a boyfriend.”
Danny was quiet for a while, and then he moved so that he could support himself and look down at Stiles. “Really? Because I kind of thought you had.”
Dumbstruck, all Stiles could do was look up, his mouth hanging open. Danny decided to take it as an invitation, leaning down to press their lips together and grinning when Stiles gathered enough wits to kiss him back.
He pulled away and raised his eyebrows expectantly.
Stiles moved to sit up, and Danny scooted back. Pointing to himself, Stiles asked, “Me?” feeling more than a little foolish, but needing to check.
“Yeah, you. I’ve been waiting for you to figure it out.” Shaking his head, Danny acknowledged, “I should have known you needed something a little more straightforward.”
Sputtering, Stiles objected, “Hey! I’ll have you know that I am very smart. There are two people standing between me and Valedictorian, and one of them is some sort of mad genius and the other is sitting with me on this bed.”
“I never said you weren’t smart, Stiles. Just really oblivious.”
When Stiles tried to defend himself again, Danny put a hand around the back of his neck and dragged him in for another kiss.
This time, Stiles knew exactly what it meant.