not as strong as you think i am (i'm no superman) [dalkenzie]

Epilogue

The day Dalton was slated to return to school, some friends along with MacKenzie came to the building early to decorate his locker. Such things usually only happened on a student's birthday and even then were closely monitored to prevent prankings, but this was a special occasion.

A bright blue cardboard square with gold letters proclaiming 'We love you Dalton' was affixed to the locker door, and surrounding that were glitter cutout balloons in lieu of the real thing, stickers of music notes, and doodles of symbols for spells of happiness and protection from probably every fantasy movie ever. MacKenzie stuck on one more sticker and stood back to admire the effect.

"That's not gonna be too much?" David, one of the friends, asked.

"Nope." Mack grinned as he took out his phone for a quick picture to keep as a memento. "This'll just be up long enough to give him a smile before class." At least, he hoped it would.

Eventually more students began trickling into the building, and while the friends stayed around the locker to keep the sign undamaged, MacKenzie gazed down the hallway in wait for Dalton to appear. He knew the boy would show up, but still had a butterfly-light flutter of worry.

Mack knew they both had changed, knew that Dalton told him the truth that he'd never be to blame for anything that happened to Dalton's emotions, but that didn't mean he was going to take his boyfriend for granted. Even if love can't save you, Dalton, I'm going to. I promise.

A moment after a trio of junior girls had passed by the locker with an "awww!" (if there'd been any jerks snorting or making their typical stupid comments, well, Mack paid them no heed), the most beautiful sight in the world came around the corner, his parents close behind like they were bodyguarding the President. Even with his bookbag hugged to his chest, MacKenzie could see Dalton was in his favorite pink Ramones tee, and a chain hanging from the beltloop of some faded jeans swayed with every step. His bangs partly covered his eyes that were free of makeup today but didn't need it as they were bright as ever. And Dalton's smile, oh, that smile...

When Dalton neared the locker, he stopped in his tracks and covered his mouth although his "You guys!-" was audible and smile still visible. The friend group gathered around him for a hug and overlapped greetings, but MacKenzie stayed in his spot to let them have their moment. He knew he wasn't the only important person in Dalton's life.

Fran and Kiva, arguably the two most important, approached him and he asked while still grinning, "Giving the grand escort, huh?"

"He wanted to reassure us he'd be fine coming back. Looks like he was right," Fran said and looked to the group. After another moment Kiva squeezed in long enough to kiss her son's cheek and murmur something. When Dalton nodded, husband and wife joined hands to head back outside, and MacKenzie could practically see the weight lifted off their shoulders.

It was a great feeling to have parents who cared about you.

Soon Dalton wriggled out of the group hug and looped his bookbag on a shoulder to approach MacKenzie with his arms open wide. Up close the smile was still real. Everything about Dalton was real, even the less glamorous parts, but that was what love was about.

"Mmf-" Mack completed the hug and shut his eyes to let the other senses take over for a moment, everything from the solid strength of Dalton's arms to the gentle pulse of his heartbeat. All real.

"Thank you," Dalton whispered and kissed his cheek, "for everything," and MacKenzie knew that was real, too.