“You’re sweet. You ready to get back on the couch?”
“I don’t know if you can take my weight,” Danny said, hesitating. He didn’t want to hurt Eliot, or to make himself a literal burden as well as a metaphorical one.
“I’m stronger than I look.” Eliot bent down, bracing his shoulder under Danny’s own. “And we’re only going three feet.”
Not wanting to spend the whole night on the floor, Danny gave in. “Okay, okay.”
He put one hand on the coffee table behind him and let Eliot help with the rest of his weight, groaning with the effort, but eventually getting him to his feet again. Pain shot up Danny’s leg, but it wasn’t nearly as bad this time.
This time, he had Eliot to lean on. That made a huge difference.
Between the two of them, they hobbled their way over to the couch, and Danny more or less fell into it. He curled up on his side, bad knee on top, and closed his eyes to recover from the pain again.
Eliot put the cushion between his knees again, to pad the sore one.
He was easily the best boyfriend Eliot had ever had. There’d never been anyone else who would have helped him like this, definitely not without complaining or trying to find a way to leave as soon as possible.
Or, wait. Were they boyfriends? He’d wondered before, but never asked.
“Are you my boyfriend?” Danny asked after a moment, opening his eyes to look at Eliot.
Eliot paused, raising an eyebrow at him. “The painkillers can’t have kicked in so fast that you already don’t recognize me,” he said.
That answered that question. There was obviously no doubt in Eliot’s mind. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Eliot chuckled, then bent down and kissed Danny’s cheek. That seemed like a good sign. “We can have a deep and meaningful conversation about exactly what we mean to each other when you’re not in pain,” he said.
“Okay,” Danny agreed. Later was probably the best idea, anyway.
“I’m gonna get you a blanket and then call Ben again. Is there anything else you need?”
Danny shook his head. “No. A blanket would be awesome.”
“I’ll be back in a second. But if the swelling isn’t down by morning, you’re getting medical help. Your health is more important than anything.”
Danny wondered if Eliot would say the same if he had to choose between his health and his career. He doubted it.
Eliot was probably right, but if Danny could get back on his feet and play in the final, he’d take any amount of pain to get there. Whether or not he’d regret that later was yet to be seen.
He would regret it if it scared Eliot away. Eliot probably wouldn’t want to be stuck with a man who was old before his time, constantly sore and tired.
But then, Eliot had been full of surprises up to this point. Worrying about it definitely wouldn’t help, in any case.
They had more immediate things to worry about right now, and Danny was ready to push everything else aside and help Eliot get to the bottom of whatever was going on.
