oxfordtweed: (Nicholas - Guns)
Five Times Nicholas Let Go (1359 words) by faviconOxfordTweed
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Hot Fuzz (2007)
Rating: General Audiences
Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Nicholas Angel/Danny Butterman
Characters: Nicholas Angel, Danny Butterman

Summary: Soon as I finished the other one, I knew what the theme for the follow-up should be. Of course, just knowing the theme doesn't mean that these bastards are going to cooperate with me. They never do.



For the first time since he could remember, Nicholas hadn’t slept for reasons other than being a police officer. All he could think of was the hurt look on Danny’s face, and the too-late realisation that he’d quite coldly rejected the man. He’d intended on hunting Danny down; following after him and trying again, but by the time he figured out that it was even an option, Danny had signed out, and his car was gone.

Usually, Saturdays were met with a blinding hangover sometime close to noon, but being that he’d never really gone to bed, Nicholas was wide awake at eight in the morning. Desperate to find something to occupy himself, he changed into his jogging gear, and left the house. Running a blind path through the village, he inevitably found himself on Danny’s doorstep. He struggled with himself for a few moments, before finally bringing himself to ring the bell.

When no one responded, he rang again. Two minutes later, he was still outside, no one answering the door. Giving one final ring to the bell, he kicked an empty flower pot across the lawn and into a hedgerow before making his way back home, to spend his weekend bored and alone.


He was surprised to see Danny at the station at all, though he knew it was a stupid thing to be surprised about. The officer walked stiffly to his desk, making a point to make sure Nicholas knew he was being ignored.

By lunch, Nicholas could no longer handle being ignored, either by a friend, or a subordinate officer. While Tony and Doris were on patrol, Walker asleep in a corner, and the Andys god only knew where, Nicholas made a straight line for Danny’s desk, sitting in an empty chair beside him.

“I’m sorry about the other night,” he said quietly. “I didn’t realise...”

Danny shrugged. “Yeah, well,” he said quietly. “Can’t spend all our time together, can we?”

Nicholas sighed. “Did you want to come over tonight? Watch Casino Royal tonight, and go see the new one tomorrow?” he asked hopefully.

Danny shook his head, and Nicholas’ heart sank. “Went in on my own,” Danny answered. “And sides. Wouldn’t want to make you watch something you’re not into.”

Nicholas leaned in ever so closely, his head dropping slightly. “What do you mean?”

“It’s Casino Royale,” Danny corrected. “You slept through it twice already. I don’t know what good a third try would do.”

Nicholas sat in silence, barely even moving as he watched Danny pick up his hat and leave the station.


Talking Danny into going to the pub wasn’t something that normally needed to be done, but for the first time since Nicholas could recall, that was exactly what happened in the locker room after shift. It wasn’t until after Nicholas had offered to buy drinks, and promised not to order any cranberry juice that Danny had agreed to tag along.

They found a secluded booth, away from the bar. Nicholas looked over a menu, trying not to seem like he was watching Danny, which they both knew was exactly what he was doing.

“You hungry?” he asked carefully.

Danny shook his head. “M’fine,” he said.

“You sure?” Nicholas honestly looked over the menu, noticing a few new items. “Maybe some chips?”

“I said I’m fine,” Danny said, perhaps harder than was necessary.

“Okay.” Nicholas backed down, putting the menu flat on the table. “Sorry. I just...” He ran his finger along the rim of his pint glass, knowing he should say something, but not sure what it was meant to be.

Finally, Danny sighed heavily, finishing his pint in one big gulp. “M’gonna go home,” he said tiredly, slamming the glass down on the table.

Nicholas jumped slightly, watching as Danny got to his feet. “Oh,” he said dumbly. “Want me to... walk you home?”

Danny rolled his eyes, but Nicholas tried very hard to ignore it. “Guess if you want,” he said tiredly.

Nicholas took one last drink of his cider before getting up to walk with Danny.


He didn’t expect to be invited in, but was surprised when it happened. Though, if Nicholas had to be honest, he wasn’t so much invited in, as Danny just didn’t seem to be bothered enough to stop him following in.

“Guess you want to watch something, then?” Danny asked, making his way into the kitchen for another drink. He came back with two, absently handing one of the cans over to Nicholas.

Nicholas shrugged lightly. “Whatever you want,” he offered, hesitant to open his drink.

Danny snorted lightly as he made his way over to the DVD shelf. “Right,” he said, not caring that Nicholas could hear. “Wouldn’t want you to sleep through something you might actually enjoy.”

Nicholas sighed and put his drink on the table. “If you didn’t want me here, you should have said something,” he said tiredly. He pulled himself to his feet before making his way to the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He waited until he was outside to groan loudly, before kicking the empty flower pot back off of the front step, and into the hedgerow.


Hugh Grant would never have this problem. He’d knock on the door, all nervous smiles and perfect hair, and whoever he’d completely blown it with this time would be there, just ready to head out somewhere, and he’d offer a lift to wherever they were going, and by the time the end credits rolled, life was happy.

Nicholas Angel knocks on a door, and no one answers.

He was starting to harbour a very deep hatred toward Hugh Grant.

The flower pot was back again, but Nicholas didn’t think he had the energy to kick it back into the hedgerow and walk back home, so he kicked it back into the hedgerow and walked to the pub instead. It was empty, except for a few kids that were probably underage, but Nicholas hardly noticed. He pulled himself up to the bar, barely registering the glass of red that was automatically placed before him.

Nicholas very nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt someone’s hand come down hard on his shoulder. Still clutching tightly to the edge of the bar, he looked up, surprised to see Danny standing next to him.

“Oi, how much’s he had?” Danny asked the bartender.

The man just shook his head. “Still ain’t touched his first one.”

Sighing, Danny lifted Nicholas up to his feet by his jacket collar. “I’m getting bored with rescuing your sorry arse,” he muttered, barely loud enough for Nicholas to hear.

“Then don’t,” he responded, trying to push Danny off him, and failing spectacularly.

Danny dragged him out to his car, parked as ever near the fountain, and shoved him into the passenger seat. Getting into the driver’s seat, Danny started the engine, making his way in the direction of Nicholas’ cottage.

“I wish you’d stop being mad at me,” Nicholas said calmly, his eyes focused on the floor.

Danny sighed. “How can you be so thick?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” Danny only shook his head. “Danny, you’ve been too busy being mad at me to even let me apologise!” Nicholas said desperately.

“Apologise for what?” His tone was demanding, expecting an immediate answer.

“I didn’t realise...” Nicholas started, faltering on providing that immediate answer.

“Didn’t realise what, Nicholas?” Danny pulled to a stop outside of Nicholas’ cottage, waiting expectantly for an answer. Finally, he sighed, reaching across Nicholas to open the passenger door. “You’re nothing but mixed signals,” he said tiredly. “I can’t take it anymore.”

Nicholas started to get out of the car, but stopped and fell back into his seat. He looked at Danny incredulously for a few moments before making what he was sure was a bad decision. He reached out, taking a firm grip on Danny’s shirt collar before kissing him desperately. Just as he made contact, it occurred to him that he could have very possibly misinterpreted the whole mess and backed off quickly.

“You’ve not exactly been very forward, yourself,” he said, quickly getting out of the car.
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