"What do we do?" He whispered like a mantra, pacing back and forth and back and forth repeatedly. The speed at which he paced was beginning to make the other dizzy.

"If he was discharged when we think he was then there's no doubt he'll be back soon." He continued, breathing erratic and arms tucked tightly around his waist, completely unaware of the other attempting to catch his attention.

"He'll be angry, of course. Oh my goodness, I should have thought this through." He whispered, fingers digging into his side painfully. "And since when has he been in England? With a wife?"

"Darryl!" Zak finally decided on shouting and Darryl jumped, snapping from his haze and freezing on the spot. Zak sighed and stepped forward to place his hands on Darryl's arms, softly running his thumbs back and forth. "Calm down." He instructed gently, beginning to steer his boyfriend towards their couch and manoeuvring him into sitting.

"Breathe for me, Dar." Zak reminded, slowly rubbing his hands up and down Darryl's arms in time with each deep breath. "That's it..." He praised softly as Darryl began to calm.

"Sorry." Darryl murmured, lifting to press his hands over Zak's. Zak shook his head, trailing his hands up to rest either side of Darryl's neck.

"You don't need to be sorry, muffin." He smiled something small and fond, pulling Darryl forward to rest their foreheads together and not entirely noticing the fact that he'd used Darryl's signature word. Well, it suited him perfectly. Darryl let out a shaky sigh, closing his eyes. "What are you worrying about?" Zak asked as soon as he felt Darryl was calm enough.

"Damien.." Darryl admitted guiltily but Zak only shuffled closer, wrapping his arms entirely around Darryl's shoulders and pulling him into his chest. Darryl pressed his nose into Zak's collarbone, draping his arms loosely around his waist and leaning into his comfort. "What he'll do to us or to A6d and Sapnap or Dream and George. We've been acting as though he wasn't going to come back and now he is and I don't know what to do." He gushed, breath fanning warmly over his boyfriend's neck.

"You shouldn't beat yourself up for letting yourself relax, God knows we all needed it. What has happened has happened, we can't change that so there's no use trying to. All we can do is use it to plan what we're going to do next." Zak had begun gently rubbing up and down Darryl's back and he more felt than saw him nod slowly.

"Me and you, we're safe. We're no different than how we always were in everyone's eyes so that's one less thing to worry about." He reassured, beginning to carefully lay himself back across their couch and guiding Darryl to lay between his legs, head rested on his shoulder and nose pressed to his neck. "Vincent and Nick have been a bit more risky but I think they'll get away with it because Damien's always been a pussy when it comes to Vin." He continued and Darryl spluttered, pushing himself up on his elbows to hover above Zak.

"Language!" He chastised and Zak has never been more glad to hear the word, a bubbly giggle erupting from his chest. His hands had dropped from Darryl's shoulders in order to cover his own grin. Darryl shook his head in disapproval before shuffling himself back into his previous place, already missing the warmth. Zak was quick to rewrap his arms around the other.

"Clay's smart, he likely knows that there's no way Damien could cover up his coming out and his relationship with George at the same time." Darryl let out a soft, agreeing hum and Zak giggled at the way the sound tickled his neck.

"But that doesn't mean he's just going to give up. Damien's smart too, he'll probably try and break them up publicly or make it seem like they're breaking up." Darryl reminded pessimistically. He wanted desperately to believe everything will be okay but at least one of them needed to think realistically.

"And Clay won't give up either. Not if he has even the tiniest bit of hope that he could win." Zak countered, carefully tightening his arms around his boyfriend and enjoying the way his smile felt pressed to his shoulder. "We'll be that hope for him. A wise man once told me that one of the most important things you can do, as a friend, is be there and be the person people can lean on." He echoed, voice trailing quieter but Darryl picked it up easily from their proximity. Darryl pressed impossibly closer, eyes squeezed shut and Zak simply held him tighter.

"We'll visit Clay, bring Keres, Vin, Nick and Mrs Bosko. We'll call George and we'll figure out our next move together tomorrow but, for now, give yourself a break. It's not healthy to spend all your time worrying about everyone, Dar. You spend all your time caring for everyone else that you forget to care for yourself." He chastised gently but Darryl only smiled in response.

"I don't need to care for myself, you do that bit for me." He countered and Zak went to protest before realising that he really did have a point. "But I'll think of myself a little more if it would make you happier, fatty." He added and Zak smiled, nodding into his hair and entirely disregarding the name. He'd likely never admit it, but the obscure little nicknames were another endearing feature of Darryl's that Zak couldn't help but love because it was oh so very him.

There was a moment of comfortable silence in which Zak fiddled with the shoulder of Darryl's shirt with one hand and brushed his fingers through Darryl's hair with the other before Darryl shifted, wiggling his way further up and carefully tilting Zak's face towards his with the pad of his forefinger. He smiled something warm and fond and entirely breathtaking in Zak's opinion before softly bumping against the tip of Zak's nose with his own.

"I love you." He murmured after a moment, smile wide and eyes half lidded. Zak brought the hand from Darryl's hair down to rest over his cheek, tilting his face just enough to press their lips together in a silent response. Pulling back, Zak marvelled at the fact that Darryl's cheeks still tinted pink when they kissed after all this time. "You gotta say it back." Darryl protested.

Zak grinned something devilish.

"It back." He spoke in a voice verging on a whisper and Darryl whined. He shook his head, proximity causing the tips of their noses to brush again with the movement. Zak giggled at his reaction before deciding to take mercy on him, using his hand to brush Darryl's hair off of his forehead and pressing his lips there instead. "I love you too, Bad." He finally answered and Darryl smiled widely, eyes closed, and settled back against Zak's chest.

"Thank you, Skeppy." He whispered and Zak smiled at the use of his stage name despite their privacy. Zak didn't bother telling him that they really should be working right now. Oh well, the band could survive a few hours without them. They'd done it before and they'd do it again, all because Zak didn't have the heart to shift the half asleep boyfriend in his arms.

////:\\\\

@chiccennuggies
Yawll,,,,, I lich-rally just figured out,,,,,,, this means,,,,,,,, they got together,,,,,,, during the week Clay visited George,,,,,,,,,,,, for the first time,,,,,,,,,,,,, yawll 😭
[a screenshot of BadBoyHalo's reply to DreamWasTaken's post detailing a package with the caption 'im going to open it now', congratulating him and George on their one year anniversary.]
————————————————
retweets      likes
    |
    |
@catcat
Clay, watching Dream steal Gogy away while he flew across a whole ass ocean for him: 😃 pain 😃
    |
    |
@luciddreamer
What Clay's walls be looking like rn:

    |
    |
@fleepfloop
And not a single brain cell could be seen
[This comment was deleted click here to find out more]
         |
         |
     @chiccennuggies
     W H A T? FLEEP WHAT? WHAT DOES
     THIS M E A N????? W. H. A. T. LIKE
     GEORGE HAS NO BRAIN CELLS? OR
     WE HAVE NONE? FLEEP FLOOP
     E X P L A I N.
     ————————————————
     retweets      likes

////:\\\\
—————————————
1.4k words

Gotta feed those Skephalo shippers every once in a while 🤩

Feedback is welcome and appreciated!!

Yours, Dandelion