Page 109 of Second Chance

“No, not really. I wish I did.”

“Do you?”

Tony takes a seat next to Daniel, not quite close enough to touch. “I wish you understood what it felt like when you were gone. I wish you’d seen Emilio when we got to him.”

“I understand. Last year, with Stacy, it was terrifying—”

“No, you don’t understand. It was more than a day, Daniel. I thought you had died. I thought I’d never— And Emilio, he’sa wreck. Their kid will never see her mom again. That’s on Lily. She should have come to you sooner, or gone to anyone else, or—”

Daniel shakes his head. “I was supposed to help her. I was supposed to take care of her.”

“For fuck’s sake, you’re a professor, not a therapist!” With energy he didn’t know he had left, Tony springs to his feet. “You’re supposed to teach her, not save her from herself or fix problems you didn’t even know she could have. You keep saying you’re responsible, but you’re not. You just want to stop feeling guilty.”

Daniel’s eyes are wide when Tony looks over at him. His mouth is open a bit, his cheeks flushed with anger. “I—” he starts, and then he crumples in his seat. “You’re right.”

The shock stops Tony in his tracks. “I’m not. I’m angry and scared and so fucking tired. And I know you’re smarter about this stuff than me—”

“No, you’re right.” Daniel laughs ruefully. “I’ve been trying so hard to do everything right that I did wrong with Mario, you know? Being there for Lily. Being there for you. Being compassionate and helping and fixing everyone. I didn’t realize I was making it about me.”

“You weren’t. I needed you. You were there.”

“Yeah, but I can’t fix everything for you.”

“I don’t want you to. I just like when you listen.” Slowly, Tony lets his shoulders drop and his jaw unclench. He sits next to Daniel. “I know why you did it. I know why you want to protect her, and it’s good. It’s right. But you can’t do it on your own, and even if the systems we have suck and don’t work, sometimes, they can do more than you can by yourself.”

“How do I trust that she’ll…”

“You visit. You check up on her. You see how you can help within the system. Even if it sucks. You letsomeone elsebe responsible.”

Daniel chokes on a sob as he leans into Tony. “I’m sorry you were so scared.”

“I’m sorry I told Emilio to call the police.”

“We were both doing what we thought was best, I guess.”

“Yeah.”

“Can this day be over now?”

“Please.” Tony presses a kiss into the top of Daniel’s head. “Wait, what about Meredith? I’m sure she—”

“Colette offered to take her out, show her the campus and stuff.”

Worf drops his whole head into Daniel’s hand, demanding scritches.

“I think they could both tell I’m about to keel over,” he says.

“Yeah. You must be running on no sleep.”

“I dozed off for a bit in the theater. But no real sleep, no. Can we—would you—”

“I haven’t slept either. Let’s go to bed.”

“Thank you.”

The sheets are still in the washer, so they lie right on the mattress topper, under the uncovered duvet.

“Hey,” Daniel says as Tony’s eyes fall shut.

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