And Maybe That's Alright

Reassurance

"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.