three times jack slept on the couch + one time he didn't

[bluebaron]

 i.

“If you say one more word, Jack, I swear to god you will not be sleeping in this bed for the next month!” Daniel was genuinely upset, tears threatening. But Jack was too far gone, too angry to think straight.
“You can’t kick me out of my own house, Daniel! What kind of idiot do you think I am? I’m not going to take your pretentious shit any more! Go on, run away like you always do. Hide from your problems,” Jack sneered.
“Fine! If that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get!” Daniel shot back. Without even stopping to grab a jacket, he stormed out of the house.
Jack stared after him, breathing hard. They’d had fights before, but not like this. Not screaming and insulting and using words that cut deeper than knives. He forced himself to calm, taking deep breaths.
“Fuck,” he said sincerely, and flung himself onto the couch. Sleeping in the bed wasn’t going to be an option.

ii.
“Yeah, uh, Carter? Can you and Teal'c come over? Daniel’s having a bad time and someone needs to snuggle him while I go pick up takeout.” Jack paused. “Yeah, great. Mongolian beef, and –” He covered the mouthpiece. “Whaddaya want from the chinese takeout place?”
Daniel made a soft sound low in his throat.
“Never mind. I’ll order for you. Orange chicken. Mongolian beef and orange chicken,” Jack said into the phone. “Yeah. See ya soon.” He flipped it closed, then turned to Daniel. “Sam and Teal'c are picking up takeout. They’ll be here in a bit. They offered to so I, quote, ‘wouldn’t have to stop snuggling Daniel’. I can’t tell if I should be flattered or offended. What d'you think?”
“Jack?”
“Hmmm?”
“Shut up.”
“Mmmm.”
Jack slowly drifted into sleep.

iii.
The bed was cold and empty without Daniel. Jack couldn’t sleep there alone, not while knowing that Daniel was dead.
He threw off the blankets and stumbled into the living room, turning the TV on to ESPN. He let the sports wash over him, trying to use it to numb the pain he felt from losing Daniel.
He woke three hours later, with a crick in his neck and a vivid dream of Daniel so close he could have touched him.

+i.
“Come to bed, Jack,” Daniel says sleepily. Jack can’t stop the smile that spreads across his face. Daniel’s here, and safe, and whole, and even if he still doesn’t have all his memories back, it’s still Daniel.
“What are you waiting for?” Daniel demands insistently. “I’m cold, Jack.”
Jack throws himself on top of Daniel and buries his face in Daniel’s bare shoulder. “I love you, Danny.”