Chapter Text
Sam's house was silent save for the sound of him turning the pages of his book. It was some random one Darlin had left for him one day, claiming that if he was going to be boring anyways he might as well read good books. He had set it to the side for weeks, until today for some reason it seemed to call to him. So there he sat, sprawled haphazardly across the couch trying to follow the plot to Harry Potter.
His supernatural hearing caught the sound of footsteps carrying themselves up his porch and towards his front door. Setting down the book he stood up slowly, not feeling that whomever was here was any threat. Frantic knocking had him flying to the door; throwing it open he was met face to face with a bloody and bruised Darlin. He froze, mouth dropping open but no words coming out while he tried to process the situation in front of him.
"I can explain-" Darlin cut off in a fit of coughs, "I just need a bit of help." They attempted their best innocent look, that was quickly ruined by a wince as pain shot through them.
"What the f*ck happened!? No- wait, come in first" Sam guided them to lay down on the couch, waving away their worries about staining it.
"I didn't mean to-" Darlin stopped when Sam glared at them.
"Shush for five minutes so I can make sure you don't die, and then you can try to justify why your here." Sam turned back, assessing the injuries that he needed to heal first.
Darlin quieted then, only making little whimpers when Sam got to particularly sore spots. A large gash in their side had bled through their shirt already, another wound in their thigh had ruined their pants. Plenty of broken bones spanned through their body, a couple puncture wounds that looked suspiciously like a vampire bite were littered all over. Deciding where to start was an impossibly task, everything looked severe and Sam felt stress seeping in as he continued to debate.
"I'm going to take care of the cut on your side first," Sam said, trying to keep his voice steady and calm, "Can I move your shirt out of the way?"
Darlin's gaze was distant now, blood loss starting to get to them, still they nodded trusting him to take care of them. Sam wasted no time peeling away the blood soaked shirt and sending healing magic into the wound. As he got a better look at it he realized that Darlin's speedy wolf healing had probably been the only thing keeping them alive this long. He sped up, pouring as much magic as he could manage into healing the bones around.
"I have to get better access to the one on your leg" Sam stated, turning his attention to the small chunk of leg they were missing.
"I don' care what you gotta take off or touch, just make it better" Darlin's words were slurred, and their eyes began drooping.
Sam waved his hand, making their pants disappear, and coming face to face with the now uncovered gash. Not caring about the blood he got on his hands, he pushed more magic into healing everything around it as well as closing the wound. Letting out a breath, he turned to look at Darlin who was now barely concious but at least they were stable. Picking them up, he moved them to his bed, listening closely to every beat of their heart. As he went to leave them to rest, he realized they were only in their underwear, so he threw a light blanket over them to prevent a cold.
As Darlin woke up, they still felt foggy, not really remembering where they were. They sat up on the bed, glancing around the familiar looking room, what clued them in was Sam's scent that filled every crevice. They relaxed back slightly into the headboard, looking down at themselves and seeing that most of the injuries they had sustained were healed. They also noticed a major lack in clothing, that did nothing to help hide the scars that covered their body.
"Sam" Darlin called out, voice a bit hoarse from sleep.
Pulling the blanket on them up and over their shoulders as a shiver took over their body. Sam, who had been sitting around stressed and waiting for them to awake, poked his head through the doorway.
"Hey Darlin', glad to see you up" He pushed into the room and noticed their shivering, "I know your cold, but you've got to clean up"
Darlin nodded, moving to stand up while keeping the blanket around themselves. "Could I borrow some clothes?" Darlin looked embarassed at asking.
"Of course, the bathrooms over there" Sam pointed to a slightly ajar door in the corner while he turned to the closet to grab some spare clothing.
Darlin shuffled slowly over to the bathroom, taking in the space. It matched the farmhouse style that the rest of the house had, but everything looked clean and fairly new. Sam appeared behind Darlin, holding a towel and some of his clothes for them.
"Feel free to use anything in the shower, and here's some things that will probably be a bit big on you" Sam set the pile down on the counter, looking sheepish at the fact he couldn't help more.
Darlin hummed in approval, which was apparently enough to satisfy Sam. "Call for me if you need anything" Sam said quickly as he exited the room, closing the door behind him.
Avoiding looking at themselves in the mirror, Darlin dropped the blanket and pulled off the tattered remains of their clothing. A woozy feeling washed over them, yet they still stepped into the shower and pushed the water all the way to hot. Steam filled the bathroom while they used their hands to scrub off the dried blood that covered them from head to toe. Rinsing out their hair and combing through in with their fingers, they felt a wave of dizziness wash over them.
Turning off the water and stepping out, they wrapped the soft towel that Sam had left them around themselves. Suddenly, their vision blurred and they lost their balance, collapsing hard on the tile floor. In less than a minute Sam was knocking on the door asking if they were okay, all they could manage to respond with was a groan. The door inched open at first, but before they could tell him they would be fine he was kneeling next to them.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Sam's voice was filled with worry
"M'fine, just got a bit dizzy" Darlin mumbled, shifting to sit up.
"Hold on a damn second," Sam huffed out, "Your full of healing magic you gotta be careful"
Helping them position themselves against the wall, he then leaned back searching their face for any signs of discomfort. Darlin tried to push up to standing, but their legs gave up before they could even get off the ground.
"Don't think I can move myself" Darling grumbled out angrily.
Sam chuckled at their reaction to the situation, "I got you, come ere'"
Scooping them into his arms for the second time that evening, he set them down lightly on the bed. Turning back to the bathroom to grab the forgotten loaner clothes.
"You want me to leave so you can change or.." He trailed off, setting the pile of garments down next to them.
"I- I don't know if I can- um" Sam waited patiently as Darlin stumbled over their words, a light blush creeping onto their face. "can do it- you know- myself" They looked away sheepishly, regretting asking for help immediately.
Sam was a little shocked at them giving up so easily, whatever had happened had to have really drained them. He nodded, unfolding the pair of sweatpants he had grabbed for them. When they moved their towel enough so he could slip the pants on, his eye caught on the hundreds of scars that covered Darlins legs. He had noticed them before, but they were covered in blood, now though he saw them in full detail. Some were bigger and longer than others, some obviously deeper. The ones on their knees looked old, from childhood, Darlin was always one to play rough.
His eyes moved farther up, now catching on some scars on their thighs. Though some looked normal, from fights or thorns and whatnot, others were perfectly horizontal and straight. An accumulation had him staring for long enough that Darlin noticed.
"They're old, healed, from awhile ago" Darlin said quickly, hoping he wouldn't ask anything.
Sam nodded silently, quickly pulling on the sweat pants and moving to unfold the shirt. He wouldn't press, would never want to make them uncomfortable. Still though, he wanted to offer some support, an ear to talk to if they ever wanted.
"I'm here, to listen, if you want" He left it at that, helping the pull on the sweatshirt.
"Do you mind if I- um- maybe slept here for the night" They looked hopefully up at him.
"Of course, your always welcome to stay." Sam smiled down at them, hoping to lighten the mood, "You can stay in the bed, it's comfier, I'll take the couch"
"Oh no, I'm not gonna kick you out of your own bed. I can take the couch" Darlin responded, already going to move.
"Absolutely not, your staying in the bed until your feeling better" He put a hand on their shoulder to keep them down, leveling them with his infamous glare.
"Well then, at least take the other half, it's a big bed and I don't need all of it. That way you can get a good nights sleep too, I mean you had to use a bunch of your magic on me"
It was Sam's turn to stumble over his words, "I- well- you know" He paused at their begging face, "fine, fine, but only cause I'm not gonna fight with an injured person.
Darlin settled back onto one side of the bed, shifting under the covers. Sam slid into the other side, grumbling something about "those stubborn wolves". Ignoring him, Darlin tried to pull more blanket onto themselves as the cold seemed to seep through all the layers on them. Not wanting to bother Sam any more than they had that evening, they just closed their eyes, hoping sleep would soon take them.
After a couple minutes of silence from vampire and wolf, Sam let out a small huff. "M'never gonna get rest with your teeth chattering like that" He turned looking at them as they lay close.
"Sorry, it's cold in here" Darlin said, a small whine lilting their voice.
Sam groaned, rubbing his face in question for a second before saying, "Come here"
"Huh?"
"I said come here" Sam growled out
"W-Why?"
"I'm gonna hold you, sharing body heat and all that" When they didn't respond right away he reached out, pulling them into his chest with nothing but a small squeak from Darlin.
He held them close, rubbing their back soothingly and listening for their breathing to slow with sleep. Soon their shivering stopped, and they cuddled closer into him. Closing his eyes, he allowed sleep to take over, knowing only that he had Darlin safe and alive in his arms.
