tour | dorbyn

fourty one

daniel was asleep.

the surgery went smoothly— no complications.

he had a head bandage around the top of his head, his back supported by pillows. there were two heart monitors, one for him, and one for the baby.

corbyn was silently sitting beside his bed, like he was for the past hour and a half. his hand was holding daniel's limp one, his thumb tracing over his still bruised knuckles.

"i should have done something." corbyn whispered, scoffing at himself. "i shouldn't have left you alone with him. i shouldn't have let you date him in the first place. i'm not saying this because i'm madly in love with you." corbyn whispered, looking at him with sad eyes. "i am madly in love with you, but... i..i only want you smiling, daniel."

corbyn reaches over to tenderly you have his cheek. "i never meant for you to get hurt. i never meant for any of it to get this far. that's no excuse, i know. i know i hurt you more than anyone, god, dani, you're too precious for all of this shit."

"if i could go back in time, and..and just admit that i was gay and had feelings for you, maybe all of this could have been avoided. no, this could have been avoided for sure." corbyn sighed shakily, his eyes averted to their hands.

he didn't know that daniel's eyes were open, filled with tears as he listened to the boy.

"i mean.." he choked out. he sniffled and wiped his left cheek on his shoulder. "maybe..maybe if i just.. if i were out of your life, if i left the band, maybe you could find another source of happiness-"

daniel squeezed his hand. "don't say that, corbyn." daniel rasped out. corbyn stared at him with wide eyes. "you are my happiness, and i need you in my life. no pun intended." he cracked a smile, laughing softly when corbyn jumped onto his bed, hugging him tightly, but carefully.

"you weren't supposed to hear any of that." he mumbled into his neck, holding back the sobs that would have escaped.

"well, doctors are surprisingly right sometimes, babe. you can hear a lot of shit when you're under." daniel said, looking up at the blonde with tired eyes.

he laughed and shook his head, leaning down to connect their lips.

•••

"everything looks good." wendy smiled contently, letting daniel rest again. he had a blue beanie covering his head now, and he was changed into a hoodie and sweats.

the boys and his mom were now in the room, corbyn sitting next to daniel on the bed. jack was sitting on zach's lap, jonah was between eben's legs— they sat on the floor, eben against the wall, and keri sat on a chair.

"you can leave in a few days. you'll need a wheelchair for a week or two, or a walker. it's up to you." wendy said, typing a few things on her computer. she swiveled around and gave him a soft smile. "i would suggest a wheelchair for the first few days, you'll be a bit woozy from your head surgery. we can get you both."

"okay." daniel smiled, laying down with corbyn gently resting his head on his chest. wendy got up to get the items. eben raised his eyebrow, and pulled jonah closer to his body.

"didn't know you were a little spoon, corbs." eben laughed, along with the other boys. and keri.

"still a top. obviously." corbyn snickered, gently patting daniel's bump. the younger rolled his eyes, and pulled corbyn closer. "plus, it hurts him to lay on his side. and, usually, i am the big spoon."

"well. you did bottom o-" corbyn slapped his hand over daniel's mouth, his cheeks turning pink.

"we aren't going to talk about that, daniel." corbyn mumbled, hiding his face in the crook of daniel's neck, avoiding the laughs from the boys and keri.