for Danny- timed for August 28th.

[sluttylyingliar]

Rachel has been crying for almost 24 hours. She's pretty sure she only stopped because there's nothing left. She doesn't think she's eaten. She wants a drink. She wants a drink but she made a fucking promise a week ago and she can't break it. Brooke's gone. Her best friend, her fucking savior, her rock. She's just gone. Like that. Back to a world where Rachel is off shooting up on some beach somewhere and Rachel's left here. Possibly pregnant, definitely feeling like her foundation just cracked in a way that's never going to be fixed. She's been half avoiding Danny all week because she didn't want to talk about the pregnancy thing but she needs him now. Raylan's dealt with her for long enough and she needs to lean on someone else for a few hours.

She looks like shit. She's still getting sick all the time. She can't sleep. She just wants to make it all go away. She wants to shoot up and make it all go away but that's not an option anymore.

So here she is, knocking on his door and trying to deal.

Comments

[haolehothead]

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Danny calls, yanking on a pair of Steve's boxers and drawing back the door, immediately wishing that he'd put more clothes on before that thought is superseded by not giving a shit at all. "Rach, baby, what is it, what happened?"

[sluttylyingliar.livejournal.com]

It's a sure sign that Rachel's upset that basically naked Danny doesn't even get one comment.

"Brooke's gone," she mumbles, mouth feeling like it's full of rocks and throat still tight. "I'm probably pregnant. So I can't drink. And Brooke's just gone."

[haolehothead]

Danny doesn't wait for her to finish talking, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her as tightly as he can while hauling her inside, accomplishing two things at once as he brings her closer to him. "Hey," he whispers, soothing her as best as he can. "Hey, come on, come in here, come inside."

[sluttylyingliar.livejournal.com]

Rachel's just...exhausted and so fucking miserable. She buries her face against his neck and tries to breathe. "She's supposed to stay with me. She watches out for me. I cannot do this without her."

[haolehothead]

If she weren't crying, Danny might make a defensive comment and demand whether he's just chopped liver, then. Instead, he lets it pass, bringing her into the spare bedroom and helping her onto the bed, rocking her slightly as he wraps a hand around her and rubs at her back. "Shh, shh, hey, it's okay, you're gonna be okay."

[sluttylyingliar.livejournal.com]

"I just, I still had so much I needed to do for her," she tries to explain, choking up again. "She literally saved me, Danny. I overdosed, bad and she found me and she took care of me and I ruined everything and she deserved better and she's back there again and I'm still fucking up back there. What if she doesn't remember me from here?"

[haolehothead]

"Hey, I never got to make her a pizza," he says, trying to lighten the mood with a joke. He knows that it's not exactly what she wants to hear, so he curls her in closer, not wanting to give her a single moment to remember all the bad. "She'll remember, babe. And if she doesn't, then you'll remember. You're doing this for you, first off. You and your health and because you deserve to be healthy."

[sluttylyingliar.livejournal.com]

"What if I'm pregnant," she cries. "She won't know. She won't ever know. I want her here; I hate this place sometimes. Priestly wanted to marry her. It's fucking unfair!"

[haolehothead]

"You think I don't know how unfair this place is?" Danny reminds her, his tone rife with disbelief as he shoots her a sharp look. "Look, babe. I know this sucks, but I want you to tell me three good things about when she was here. Do it, now."

[sluttylyingliar.livejournal.com]

Rachel ducks her head, knowing Danny's got it worse than her and feeling a little ashamed about it.

"I don't want to," she mumbles, even though she knows he won't let it go at that. "Fine. I could talk to her about anything. She kept me out of trouble. Fuck...she was around. I loved her and she was around."

[haolehothead]

"Okay," he says, prying away from her slightly in order to start looking for actual clothes. "Good, that's a good start. Okay, so, now I want you to tell me how you're going to make it so you'll still do those things, even though she's not here anymore."

[sluttylyingliar.livejournal.com]

"I don't know," she huffs, almost a tiny bit amused at Danny's mothering. "Bother you," is what she managed to come up with. "Raylan won't let me get away with too much, either. It's just...I want Brooke. She's my home."

[haolehothead]

"Do you seriously think I'm gonna mind being bothered? Because the answer's no, no, I won't," Danny insists, as emphatically as he gets. "And I know. I know she's your home and I know I'd be just devastated and beyond it if Steve went, so, I'm so sorry. I just don't want you to use this as a reason to stop doing so incredibly."

[sluttylyingliar.livejournal.com]

"I know you won't," she says softly. "I'm just...my friend is gone and I might be pregnant and I need a drink so badly and I'm tired."

[haolehothead]

"No drinking, not until we know," he immediately says, pulling on a polo shirt and a pair of sweats, reclaiming his spot on the bed. "C'mere," he coaxes, bringing her back into an embrace. "Your friend still loves you, if you have a baby, I'm here to help you. And we can nap if that's what you really want."

Though it really is helping Danny's case for her pregnancy.

[sluttylyingliar.livejournal.com]

"You know, you and I end up in bed together way more than Brooke and I did," she murmurs, resting her head on his broad shoulder. "This whole place seems quieter without her. You know she was famous back home? Like, seriously famous designer. She was amazing."

[haolehothead]

"I'm imminently beddable," he boasts with a smirk, kissing her cheek as he runs a hand through her hair like he would for any of his sisters when they're feeling less than stellar. "Hey, come on, gimme a smile, would you?" he coaxes. "I know she's gone, but think of all the good stuff. She's going back to be famous and you still have people."

[sluttylyingliar.livejournal.com]

Rachel can't quite muster a smile as she leans into his hand.

"You can't go anywhere, Danny. I'm serious, okay? If I'm pregnant I need you to be here."

[haolehothead]

"Why the hell would I go anywhere, huh? I got a nicer bed here than I do back home and it's basically the same island. No, seriously, I swear to god. The mountain? It's diamond head. The Compound? That's downtown Honolulu. Rach, this place is like a carbon copy of Oahu," he swears. "If I'm gonna be on this island? Well, barring getting to go home to Gracie, I'm sticking around. But I'll leave you Steve if I go."

[sluttylyingliar.livejournal.com]

She does snort at that.

"Me, Raylan and Steve. And the baby. Fucking great. You think Steve is going to help me raise a baby? Can Steve even change a diaper? I can't, by the way."

[haolehothead]

"Okay, no, he can't. Admittedly, I need to be around to save all of you from that disaster," he says, lying down and easing her cheek to his chest. "Babe, I know you're upset. And you're allowed to be, but I seriously won't leave you unless I go kicking and screaming. You're a good friend and I had a shortage of those back in Hawaii."

[sluttylyingliar.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, me too," she says, fiddling with the fabric of his shirt as she settles against him. "Back home. But that was my fault. That's pretty sad that I can't change a diaper, huh? Christ, I've never even really held a baby."

[haolehothead]

"Hey, I'll teach you. I changed diapers for years, I think I know how," he boasts, puffing up his chest slightly before sinking into a position that she'll be comfortable sharing. "I got no kid to take care of here. I mean, everyone else, everyone else has got kids or is getting them. I got nothing to do but help."

[sluttylyingliar.livejournal.com]

"You might get a kid," she insists, closing her eyes and burrowing against his chest. "If my plastic wasteland of a body can make a kid, anything is possible."

[haolehothead]

"It's easy for you. Man and woman beget child. The oldest book in the world is all about it," Danny says softly, stroking his fingers through her hair. "I'm happy for you. I am."