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dominimoonbeam · 2 years

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Long Time No See - Part 3 -

David/Asher protective over Darlin. Eventual Darlin/David/Asher.

warnings: hurt/comfort, angst, trauma, abuse, all the things that accompany the Quinn/Darlin fallout. No Quinn in this chapter though.

Have I mentioned what a mess Darlin is in this fic?

posting the whole 4k update here as well as over on ao3!

Long Time No See - Part 3 -

They woke up slowly. They couldn’t remember the last time they didn’t wake up fast and panicked with the sudden realization they’d been unconscious and vulnerable. And they felt…okay. They moved and nothing hurt. Also, they were under covers. Since when did they bother with covers? Or a bed…

Darlin rolled onto their side and opened their eyes. They did not know this room. But why weren’t they freaking out? Why did they feel so calm?

They pressed their face into the pillow and inhaled, eyes closing again. It smelled like David and Asher. This room smelled like both of them. Darlin wasn’t sure which one it actually belonged to, but it felt safe at least.

Even though that meant they were in David’s apartment. Which meant, unless they got really lucky, as soon as the left this room they’d have to face him. Fuck. They pulled the covers up over their head. Maybe they could climb out the window. They rolled the other way and flipped back the covers to get a look at the window. The shades and curtains were drawn but just enough light seeped in around the edges that they knew it was daylight out still.

Oh shit, were they really considering escaping out the window? Yes. Yes, they were.

They were officially a coward.

Darlin sat up, pushing back the covers and reluctantly leaving the bed. It was almost too hard to do but the driving force was the pinch of tears in their eyes, making them growl low at themself. Get it together. So fucking weak.

They got out of the bed, legs shaky, but they forced them to hold. They found their shirt on the floor but their jacket and boots weren’t here. So much for the window plan.

They inched toward the door and then leaned against the frame. If anyone was going to ask, they’d say they were just listening to try to decide if anyone else was home and moving around, but they also needed a second just to lean against the wall. Fuck, they were wrecked. They needed to get home. Maybe they could get a few more hours of sleep before sundown. What time was it anyway?

If they shifted, they would know instantly who was in the building. They’d know if David and Asher were anywhere on the block. But right now, tired and human skinned, the only thing they were a hundred-percent certain about was that there was coffee out there.

They opened the door silently. Yes, David was definitely out there. They could feel it in the air, but it was quiet. Maybe he was focused on something or in that bedroom over there?

Darlin leaned out into the hall. They could see the front door and, yes, their boots! They moved soundlessly. They would grab their boots and their jacket and leave. They could put them on in the elevator.

They were two steps out of the hall, passing between the kitchen and the living room. David was right fucking there, asleep on the couch. Jesus, they really had taken his bed. Heat rushed to their face. Why hadn’t he just put them on the couch? Why had he brought them back here at all? Darlin reached the door and bent to pick up their shoes. Almost as soon as their fingertips brushed the leather of their boots they knew he was awake, even before that low, rumbling growl.

“No,” David said, still lying on the couch, his arms curled back behind his head.

Darlin turned their head to look back at him, like maybe—just maybe—he was talking to someone else.

His eyes had cracked open and he was looking straight at them.

Darlin curled their lip but stood up without their boots and took a step back from the door. “Sorry…about taking your bed,” they stumbled through what they hoped was whatever the right and polite response to this situation was—whatever would get them out of it without pissing off their alpha. “I have to go—” they honestly didn’t even know what excuse was about to come flopping out of their mouth. David Fucking Shaw was staring at them and they needed to find a way out.

“No,” he said again, dragging a breath and sighing like they’d answered a question wrong.

The door was right next to them, they could make a run for it. With him laid out like that on the couch, they might have just enough of a head start to make it out of the building before he caught them. They could shift as soon as they hit the street. Darlin’s heart sank when they noticed the locks all turned. No chance in hell they could throw those back and get out before he was across the room. David was big, but he wasn’t slow.

“Really?” he asked, as if he could read their thoughts.

Darlin’s shoulders pressed back, chin defiantly high when they turned to face him fully. He was still stretched out on the couch, like he could go back to sleep in a second if he just closed his eyes. But he wasn’t closing them. He was watching Darlin. Their gut twisted but they kept their cool. Don’t show it. “What do you want?”

David’s eyes opened fully now and they could see the muscles in his arms under all those tattoos tensing. Oh shit. Their heart beat faster and instead of giving them that extra little energy to get through any situation, it was making them light headed. Their stomach was painfully empty.

“I owe you, right? For letting me sleep here? For the healer?” They didn’t remember a healer but they knew their own body and they knew what that cottony feeling on their skin meant. Someone had magicked away bruises and cuts.

David sat up slowly, watching them the whole time.

Why was he so hard to read? Was he pissed they weren’t being more grateful? Or that they were cutting to the chase? They leaned back against the wall near the jackets, hoping it looked cocky rather than what it was—weak. Still, and maybe because of how vulnerable they felt, they dragged their angry glare over him, lingering pointedly at the fly of his jeans before asking, “What do you want, so that I can leave?” It was the wrong question, they knew it the second it flew from their mouth. He was on his feet. Logically, they knew David wasn’t that kind of person. They’d never seen him abuse his power in the pack or with anyone ever for that matter. He wasn’t even cruel when they were kids and he could have had the excuse of youth.

David was growling, teeth bared and longer than human now. “What the fuck did you just say?” His voice was gravel with fury and Darlin was glad they had their back to a wall so they couldn’t back up like a wuss, because they definitely would have if they could. “Is that how you got all those bites, Darlin? Trading skin for—”

Darlin snapped. They pushed off the wall with a snarl, shifting right there in the living room and going for David. David. Shaw. Had they lost their fucking mind? They were just so mad and so sick of feeling weak and they needed to get away from this and all their mistakes reflected in his eyes. Even now. They saw the flash of surprise and outrage on his face, but it turned almost instantly to panic and then their vision blurred and they were on the floor. They’d barely shifted wolf before their body jerked back to human form, collapsing to the floor at his feet. They were just so tired. Oh god, what had they done? They’d tried to attack David. And all that asshole had done was help them. They would get thrown out of the pack now, assuming they even survived.

“Darlin?” he said, close.

Darlin’s arm curled over their head on instinct, that last effort to guard their skull and neck, but the blows and bites never came.

His big hand pressed to their back, firm but not hard. He was on his knees in front of them, his voice full of worry and void of anger. “Darlin, it’s okay.”

Darlin gasped down swallows of air, trying to calm their racing pulse that seemed to blur the edges of their vision.

He rubbed their back with one hand, the other pushing their hair back from their face. “I’m sorry I said that. I didn’t mean it.” He touched their arm and only then did they really realize it was curled over their head. They let him put it down and hated knowing that when he saw their face they would have tears on it. David didn’t say anything about them though, he just thumbed them away. “I don’t…” he fought a growl. “I don’t want anything from you. You’re family. I would never—”

“I know,” Darlin rushed out, swallowing hard and still struggling to catch their breath. They couldn’t look at him. “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. I know you’re better than that.”

He sighed like that meant something huge to him—like they’re opinion of him mattered. He palmed the side of their head. “Can you get to the couch?”

Darlin winced. Why was he being so nice? They’d tried to attack him. They sat up, trying to will themself to stop shaking. This was humiliating. How could this day get worse?

David scooped them up.

That was how this day got worse.

He picked them up and moved them to the couch, putting them down in the middle of soft cushions. “You need to eat something. Asher was supposed to pick up food on his way back but he’s still—”

“David…” Darlin forced themself to say.

He stopped, looking down at them but they still couldn’t quite look up at him. Fuck. They’d gotten themself so deep this time.

“I know you don’t want…anything,” they cringed. “But I don’t know what’s happening right now. I don’t understand why you’re… I-I attacked you,” the words were hard to get out. They were still shaking. He should be running them out not talking about getting them food.

David crouched in front of them, so that his face was in front of theirs. “You felt cornered and we pushed each other. You’re not in trouble.”

Darlin’s gaze snapped to his, too surprised to hide it. He was so close. It should have put their guard up but it had their shoulders relaxing instead.

They looked so uncharacteristically vulnerable. He should have known they’d be an asshole when they felt weak. He should have been ready for them to try to piss him off. But he hadn’t been ready for the way they’d looked at him and asked what he wanted from them. Like he’d hold their freedom or safety hostage for some fucked up favor? He’d said the first thing he knew would make them feel as upset as he did, and he regretted it instantly.

All of his anger had been forgotten when they tried to shift. It wasn’t that they’d lunged at him—it was that they couldn’t shift all the way and he’d watched the pain rip through them when they tried and failed, body landing hard on the floor.

He was supposed to be helping them—supposed to be taking care of them—and he’d made shit worse.

Now, kneeling in front of them, so close and watching the confusion and exhaustion in their eyes, his heart hurt for them. They didn’t even understand that he and Ash were helping. He wanted to reach out and touch them again but he didn’t. They might flinch and neither of them could handle that right now. “You’re staying here for a while.”

Darlin inhaled to argue.

David rolled his eyes and stood up. “You have a psychotic vamp ex hunting you and you can’t even shift, Darlin. You’re not going anywhere. So get fucking comfortable.” He walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and an apple. Asher should be back soon. He’d needed to run a couple errands for them and was picking up food. Fingers crossed it wasn’t pizza again…

He came back and thankfully Darlin was still sitting where he’d left them. He held out the water and apple.

Darlin took the water and frowned at the apple. “The fuck do I do with that?”

David frowned. Son of a bitch. Another Asher. “Eat it.”

Darlin looked dubious but took the fruit.

David sat down next to them, but left a space in between. He didn’t want to leave that space. He wanted to sit as close to them as possible, so he could hear their heart beating and know in every way that they were alive and well. But that was a lot, so this had to be enough.

Darlin drained their water but eyed his cup of coffee when he took a sip and then set it back down. He nudged the coffee closer to them.

Darlin put down the apple and picked up his coffee, drinking from his cup.

It shouldn’t have given him chills, but it did.

The locks on the front door rolled back just before Asher came in, trying to be quiet until he saw Darlin sitting there on the couch and gave up. He smiled big and David knew he noticed the mug in their hands—David’s mug. David did not generally share well. Only two people had ever used that mug before.

Asher, bless him, said nothing. He held up the bags in his hands. “I got dumplings!”

David sighed but decided at least dumplings were better than pizza or wings.

Darlin’s stomach gurgled and David had to bite the inside of his lip to keep from smiling.

Asher locked the doors and David came over and took the food from him while he was still getting his sneakers off. To his surprise, David put the food on the coffee table. He usually made Asher sit at the table to eat meals. Asher griped sometimes but he knew it was something Gabe used to do—used to make them sit at the table and eat together rather than watching TV. As much as Asher loved to be a couch potato, he also loved being a person David wanted to sit with at his table.

But if he was laying out their boxes of dumplings in neat lines on the coffee table, that meant he wasn’t sure Darlin could get to the table. Asher dragged his gaze over them on the couch, their hands still wrapped around David’s coffee mug and eyes fixed on the food like they hadn’t eaten in weeks. They looked a thousand times better than they had last night, but there were still bags under their eyes and something deeply tired about them.

Asher went to the kitchen, grabbed more water and came back just in time to be handed chopsticks.

He’d ordered like ten of every dumpling they made at their favorite place. Some were gyoza and some were bao, everything was amazing. He immediately snagged one and stuffed it into his mouth. He’d been running around town all afternoon doing pack shit so David could stay at the house. He was starving!

Darlin’s stomach rumbled again but they tore their gaze off the food, looking toward the window. He saw the moment they realized the sun was going to set soon. They’d slept all day. They put down the coffee mug, leaning forward. “I—” they started.

Asher picked up the largest of the bao, big fluffy and white. He held it out toward them, practically pushing it into their hands. “Try this one! It’s so good.” He noticed how their hand shook. How long since they ate last? “This place is one of my favorites.”

Darlin sat back slowly, too tired to fight maybe? They took a bite of the bun and sighed audible, relaxing and taking another bite.

Asher grinned. “Told you. Oh, try this one too,” he moved dumplings around, soon making a pile in the corner of the box nearest them. He caught David smiling at him before he stuffed a dumpling in his own mouth and looked away.

They watched tv, the volume low, and ate until the paper cartons were empty and the sun was almost down. Darlin sagged into the couch, eyelids heavy. Asher felt them fall asleep beside him. He had considered suggesting they go back to bed, or even tucking them in, but he was pretty sure Darlin would resist that. They’d try to stay awake or, worse, they might try to leave. He didn’t want to feel like they were keeping Darlin against their will, but he also couldn’t imagine letting them go when they were hurt and someone was hunting them. It was unthinkable.

He wondered if David had the same series of thoughts, leading to them quietly sitting on either side of Darlin, watching some action flick they’d seen a million times with the volume barely on, waiting for their troublemaker to pass out.

And they did pass out. Asher knew it in their breathing and the way their muscles finally relaxed, body sagging back against the cushions completely.

They sat for a while longer like that, quiet, until David spoke. He didn’t whisper but he kept his voice low and even. They’d both be able to tell if Darlin was waking up. “Did you find him?” he asked.

Asher smiled because of course that was David’s first question. He glanced sideways at him, across Darlin. “If I had, I would have come back a little later and a whole lot bloodier.”

David grunted once, disappointed but also a little amused.

“But I talked to Milo. He’s going to make sure no one is running around on their own at night until we figure this out and Stealth is going to inquire about the leech at the Department.”

David hummed, nodding.

Eventually Asher picked up Darlin and took them to bed. As much as he knew they’d both like to keep them close, he also knew Darlin would sleep better and longer on the bed. When he came back to the living room, David had cleared away all the trash from dinner and sat back down on the couch, frowning hard. “They’ll try to leave tomorrow.”

Asher nodded, stretching. “Yeah. I guess if they really push it, we could just camp out at their apartment.” He didn’t miss the twitch of a smile at the corner of David’s mouth at that. He came closer, until he was standing over him, bumping his knee with his. “You and me…?” Asher started to ask and then stopped, surprising himself by the slight panic in his chest.

David looked up at him, focusing on him. For all the things Asher just knew—just understood about people—he tripped up sometimes when it came to them. David shook his head and reached out, palming Asher’s hip and tugging him closer. Asher sighed, landing in David’s lap, straddling his thighs. It was familiar and close and he realized suddenly that they’d both needed that. “Whatever changes, it won’t be the end of us. It will never be the end of us, Ash. Just because no one’s noticed, doesn’t mean it’s a secret.”

They hadn’t hidden their relationship. David just wasn’t into PDA and Asher had always been flirty, plus they’d been best friends since they were kids and living together since they were twenty. No one had noticed that they weren’t roommates anymore. Hadn’t been just friends for nearly a year. David realized he needed to find a way to fix that, because what felt private and okay to him had started to taste like a secret to Asher. And the absolute last thing he wanted was for Asher to feel like he was hiding him or ashamed of them.

They had happened so naturally that there had been no awkward moment or sudden change. One day that flirting and comfortable banter just shifted into more. David had kissed Asher first. He would never forget that look of surprise on his friend’s face. It wasn’t often Asher was completely taken by surprise. David had told him from the first night that it wasn’t friends with benefits or just fucking around. He wanted him. Always.

Asher leaned forward, forehead to forehead, and closed his eyes. “Okay,” Asher exhaled, nodding, accepting his words because David had never lied to him. He knew that Asher would always trust him, no matter how something looked or seemed, he would always believe what David told him. He had built that trust and he would never let it crack.

David moved one hand to the side of Asher’s neck, fingering skin down to the collar of his t-shirt and then circling the spot between shoulder and neck, under fabric, where his latest mark was. “You could just walk around without a shirt on…”

Asher snorted, smiling now. “You know I do. Most won’t ask and the ones that do I won’t answer. Not their business and more fun to leave them wondering…”

David wondered if that was the whole truth. Asher might not be saying because he still wasn’t sure David really wanted anyone to know. He cared too much about what David wanted sometimes. He’d give him anything. It was one of the reasons it had taken so long for David to make that first move. He had to be sure it was what Asher wanted before that first kiss.

He resolved right then to fix this not-secret-secret issue. At least that was an easier thing to fix than Darlin’s psychotic ex on the loose.

“What—?” Asher started to ask.

David kissed him. He hummed into it, still loving the feel of Asher’s surprise. The way his lanky body jolted a little in his lap before leaning into him, arms curling around the back of his shoulders. The kiss built. David slid his tongue into Asher’s mouth and growled low at the way the other man sucked at it, hips rolling. And then, just as suddenly, David broke the kiss. He stood up, easily tossing Ash to the side on the couch.

Asher whined and David laughed, walking around the coffee table. Asher stretched out on the couch, head back to watch David. “Come on… I can be quiet,” he promised.

It was a lie. David snorted. “You can’t even masturbate quiet.”

Asher grinned big and David immediately regretted mentioning it. “I can try. Wanna see me try?”

David rolled his eyes and put on his sneakers. “Nope.” That was also a lie. He definitely did want to see that. “I’m going for a run real quick. I’ve been in the apartment too long. Watch the troublemaker?”

Asher continued to smile. “I can give you a work out if you want…”

“Knock it off…” David grumbled, his back to Asher to hide his smile. He was the worst once he got going…but hadn’t David been the one that got him going to start with?

Asher laughed and sat up, pulling one of the controllers from the basket under the coffee table. “Fine. Fine. You run and I’ll stay home and think about all the things we could have done… I’ll text you if anything spectacular comes to mind.”

“Don’t,” David said bluntly, but put his phone in his pocket. He could still taste Asher on his tongue. “I won’t be long. Any blood suckers come knocking you know what to do.”

Asher barked a laugh, already clicking buttons on the controller. “Bite first, apologize never.”

David smiled and headed out, locking the door behind him.

Their building wasn’t far from the park that cut through Dahlia. He shifted when he hit a stretch of path with no humans and broke off the trail into the trees for a better run. It felt good to get some of that tension out, not just the sexual tension Asher had gifted him with, but the unresolved anger about Quinn, and the tangle of emotions he had around Darlin.

When he got back, he showered and then took up his spot on the couch. Asher paused his game and stretched out, sprawled over his lap and falling asleep within minutes. David played with Asher’s hair when no one was awake to know it. And then, around midnight, he felt Darlin shift in the other room.

Asher must have felt it too because he woke up instantly, rolling off David’s lap and shifting as soon as he touched the floor.

Darlin was whining and growling.

There was no conversation about what to do. Instinct drove them both down the hall to check on the room even though there was no way in hell anyone had gotten in there without them knowing it.

Sure enough, Darlin was alone. They had shifted in their sleep, kicking and baring teeth at ghosts. Asher jumped up onto the bed and David shifted and followed. The two wolves settled in on either side of Darlin and they calmed down instantly, sinking back into deep sleep. Asher was back asleep almost as quickly, head resting on Darlin’s back. David curled up on the side of the bed closest to the door, facing it but with his back against Darlin. All three of them slept through the night, pressed close in a pile of fur and teeth.

#darlin/david/asher #redactedverse #fanfic #hurt/comfort #quinn is a monster #darlin is a precious mess #david is a king #asher is the best #david/asher

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