Finding Eden(50)

“What?”

“Sleep? When was the last time you had some?” Jason repeated, raising his eyebrows as a sad smile tugged at his lips. “This place is showing vast improvement. I can tell you’ve been cleaning all weekend.”

“And I went to Ybor City with my mom,” Danny added, temporarily forgetting he left Paul with Jason for the outing. “She has credit at the Spanish market there. We had to use it because my father’s a controlling bastard.”

“Your mother’s Cuban?”

“Mmm,” Danny hummed, blinking at the floor, seeing the dirt on the floorboards. “I’m gonna get a job and fix the floor. I’m not asking him for the supplies. I’m doing it myself.”

“Not today, you’re not.” Jason pulled Danny away from the sink. “Have you slept in the last twenty-four hours?”

Danny shook his head, finding himself walking through the house with Jason, who had a firm grip on his elbow.

“The last forty-eight hours?”

“I dunno,” Danny admitted. “I don’t remember.”

“That’s okay, you don’t have to.” Jason opened the bedroom door and ushered Danny inside. “Take your shirt off.”

“Why?” Danny asked, tugging his shirt over his head rather than argue, the effort making him dizzy. “You want me to use the condom you got hiding next to the bandages?” He grinned as he tossed his shirt aside, seeing with satisfaction that Jason was staring. “You like to look at me. I’m hot, right?”

“Yes, you are.” Jason shook his head, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Now get into bed, doctor’s orders. It’s what both of you need.”

“Why?” Danny asked, pulling back and frowning at him. “I’m making soup.”

“You haven’t slept in days, you’re probably not eating and you’re dealing with an extreme case of shock. Unless you sleep, you’ll end up sick too and unable to help Paul, who, despite what he says, needs one person around he’s willing to let take care of him.” Jason fell down on his knees next to the bed. He brushed at Paul’s hair, feeling his forehead. “The calling card of every young stud. You think you’re invincible. It almost breaks my heart to ruin the illusion.”

Danny crawled into bed rather than argue because Paul was there and he was better than soup. He wrapped his arms around Paul, a sigh of relief bursting from the center of his chest as he savored the warm skin under his fingers. Danny pulled over two hundred pounds of muscle with him when he rolled onto his back, leaving Paul draped across his bare chest, his breath hot against his collarbone.

“You left me alone with Dr. Feelgood,” Paul mumbled. “Asshole.”

“Shut up.” Danny felt the tension leave his shoulders for the first time in what felt like years as Paul stayed where he was. Against his will, Danny remembered everything that happened as his fingers brushed against stitches on Paul’s lower back. He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the tears threatening again. “Go away,” he growled at Jason.

“Okay,” Paul whispered, making a futile attempt to get up.

“Not you, idiot.” Danny’s grip on him became vise-like. He purposely forgot about Paul’s injuries as he used his legs too, tangling himself up in his best friend. “I never want you to go, not again,” he choked, the words he struggled for two weeks trying to find suddenly there. “I don’t hate you. I’m sorry.”

Paul was silent for a moment before he ran a hand down Danny’s arm and then intertwined his fingers with his. “Ditto.”

That worked for both of them, and Danny fell asleep to the sound of Paul’s soft snores against his skin before Jason even had a chance to leave the room.

*

Still feeling hazy and not himself, waking up sprawled over a hard, male chest didn’t seem nearly as strange as it should to Paul. Even sick, and unnaturally cold, he knew it was Danny. He blocked out his father’s voice in his brain, the one that told him it was wrong to sleep with a man, let alone seek comfort from one. Paul buried his face in the curve of Danny’s neck, seeking warmth as his skin prickled with goose bumps.

“You’re burning up,” Danny mumbled in response to his snuggling. “I’ll getcha something.”

“I just need the blanket.” Paul tugged the blanket tangled around his waist higher, covering both of them with it. “This is good.”

“No, s’not good,” Danny argued in a voice heavy with sleep, making an attempt to untangle himself from Paul and the blankets. “Come on, I gotta find your medicine. Shit, I forgot what we did last, Tylenol or Motrin, and you need more antibiotics. Lemme up.”