by Dawn Sister
“A little better. I’m tired though.”
“You should go back to sleep, it’s still early.” Danny glanced at his watch, it was just a little after four in the morning. He yawned,
“What about you?” Tristan asked,
“What about me?”
“Don’t you wanna get some sleep?”
“I already did.” Danny told him, “I slept right here.”
“That’s hardly comfortable for you.” Tristan told him, “You could go back to the dorm, I don’t mind, you could get some proper sleep.”
“Nope.” Danny told him decisively, “I’ll stay right here if that’s ok with you? Besides I promised your parents I would stay with you.”
“You called my parents?” Tristan asked, trying to keep his eyes open and not succeeding, “Thanks, Danny.”
“They’re coming by the way.” Danny told him,
“Oh shit.” Tristan exclaimed, “That’ll be a real treat.”
“They sounded really nice on the phone.”
“Yeah, they are, they’re just over protective that’s all.”
“Even more so now.” Danny’s hold tightened. He shuffled a little to get comfortable,
“Are you sure you won’t be more comfortable in your own bed?” Tristan asked sleepily,
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No, I was just thinking of you. I don’t want you thinkin’ you have t’stay if you wanna go get some sleep.”
“I’m not going, Tris and that’s final.” Danny stated then a little more quietly he added, “I doubt I would sleep anyway, without you there.”
Tristan moaned softly and snuggled deeper into Danny’s embrace,
“I doubt I would sleep without your snoring to drown out the noise of all these damn monitors and machines.” Tristan muttered. Danny chuckled,
“I do not snore, asshole.”
“Yes you do, and stop callin’ me that.”
“Shut up and go to sleep, Fairy Ass.”
“Fuck you, Jock Strap.” Tristan gave Danny a soft punch then settled back down onto his chest. They lay in silence and Danny was just beginning to think that Tristan had gone to sleep when he spoke again,
“Danny?”
“Yeah.”
“Is this like a sleepover?” Danny snorted, remembering the last time Tristan had said that,
“Go to sleep, Tris, I’m tired and so are you.”
Tristan lifted his head and shuffled up to kiss Danny softly on the lips,
“Good night, Dan.” He whispered, “Sleep tight.” He laid back down onto Danny’s chest and was soon breathing evenly and snoring lightly. Danny planted a kiss into his dark hair and closed his eyes, wrapping his arms tightly around him and feeling Tristan moan and snuggle closer,
“Good night, Tris.” He whispered and was soon asleep himself despite the beeps and hisses and whirs of the machines around them, such was his exhaustion and his relief that Tristan, his Tristan, was on the mend.
Chapter 14: I Always Have Been
“Danny, turn over, bud, you’re snoring.” Tristan muttered automatically: a reflex learned after sharing a room with the guy for over a year.
Danny didn’t snore particularly loudly but it just disturbed Tristan enough, in the early hours of the morning, to make him need to do something about it. In the first weeks of them sharing a room this had involved Tristan throwing a well aimed pillow, or whatever came to hand when he was half asleep. This was much to Danny’s indignation when the well aimed object had been something other than a pillow, such as rolled up, three day old socks, or even worse, boxers, because Tristan was not the tidiest guy in the world.
Throwing objects had changed to shouting out, by mutual agreement; after Danny had objected quite ferociously one morning, to a particularly nasty pair of socks in the face. It had eventually settled down into a simple request which just became a natural response to the snoring and Danny would just turn over and go back to sleep on his side.
This time, however, Danny did not immediately stop snoring and Tristan, who usually didn’t even wake fully at these times, opened his eyes in order to make the request again with a pillow or worse. It was then he realised that the reason Danny couldn’t turn over was because he was actually cradling Tristan’s head on his chest.
Tristan was momentarily disorientated until his still slightly foggy brain registered just exactly where he was and why. He lifted his head slowly; remembering the pain any movement had caused earlier on and also so as not to disturb his friend. His head did not seem to be hurting so much, which was a relief. He didn’t yet know what drug Troy had given him, but he did know that it had had a devastating effect on his body judging from the machines and tubes he was attached to now. It was a harsh reminder as to why he never took drugs, since even a mild painkiller seemed to affect him in a bad way.
Tristan looked up at Dan’s sleeping, lightly snoring form. His tanned face was slightly flushed in sleep and he looked peaceful and gorgeous as ever. Tristan’s stomach did back flips as he remembered how they had spent most of their Sunday: together, in bed, naked. His body gave a shiver of delight at the memory of how unexpectedly good it had been. Danny was full of surprises, none more than the fact that they had done what they had done in the first place. Although Tristan had always suspected he would be a very conscientious lover, he would never have expected their first time to be so mind blowing; especially as he had never expected them ever to have a first time at all. They certainly had a lot to talk about when they eventually had some time to themselves. Danny certainly had some things to think about.
Tristan had some things to think about too. He had spent his first year at College sleeping with any guy that took his fancy. He had flirted outrageously and had sex, not indiscriminately, but definitely promiscuously. He was a little ashamed of the way he had behaved but he had, in a way, been on a sort of rebound year. His affair with his Baseball Coach in his last term of High School had affected him in a way he hadn’t expected, and their eventual, inevitable parting had hurt him a great deal even though it had been by mutual agreement.
So Tristan had spent the entire first year of college getting Carl Blake out of his system. He had enjoyed every minute of it but his behaviour had earned him a reputation, and that had caught up with him over the weekend and had exploded in his face. Troy had obviously thought Tristan was an easy target and he had made it even easier for him by agreeing to meet him when he should have been avoiding him like the plague.
It was time to change, Tristan thought to himself: time to stop taking risks and putting himself in dangerous situations. It was time to knuckle down and concentrate on his College work, which hadn’t really suffered, but he knew as a straight A student, he could probably do better. He’d gotten a B in two of his classes the week before Halloween and that had given him a massive shock, since he hadn’t been given a B since junior high.
He was never going to forget Carl Blake but he found he could now think about the man without feeling any pain. Tristan was in no doubt that had at least something, perhaps everything to do with Danny Taylor.
Since meeting him on that first day of College, Danny had been his best friend, his confidant and his partner in crime. He had provided a shoulder to cry on, on countless occasions and Tristan had done the same for Danny a few times too. No matter how many sexual partners they had each had the one constant in each of their lives had been each other.
Danny had a bit of a reputation too, with the ladies of course, he had also had a lot of partners over the last year. Neither of them had been in what could be called an exclusive relationship. They had both just enjoyed sampling what was on offer.
Now, as Tristan gazed at his best friend, he knew they were both standing on the threshold of a new stage in their relationship. Tristan hoped beyond all hope that it wasn’t going to go belly up, because he knew without a doubt that his feelings for Danny were far stronger than just friendship and had been for sometime. He would gladly stay faithful to o
ne guy if that guy was Danny Taylor, because there was no way he would ever want to do anything to hurt him.
He laid his head back down onto Danny’s chest with a contented sigh, he knew they would have to move eventually, but right at that moment he just wanted to enjoy the warmth and comfort of just lying there in his arms. His eyes closed and he fell into another doze.
Memories from the day before invaded his dreams and suddenly he was locked in the nightmare of a flashback,
“Danny somethin’s wrong with me, I cain’t stand up.” the panic gripped his stomach as he realised something was terribly wrong,
“Shit Tristan, where are you right now?” Danny’s voice on the other end of the phone was suddenly very echoing but Tristan could hear the note of panic, he could also hear him talking to someone else, was it Reuben?
“I’m in a toilet cubicle, Dan.” He said, but he felt his words slurring. What the hell was wrong with him? He tried to moisten his lips but his mouth was so dry he couldn’t. He needed to get some water. He put his hand on the cubicle door and slid the lock open,
“Tristan, stay in the cubicle, just stay there until we get there. If you can, call 911, but if you can’t just stay there, and don’t let anyone in unless it’s me.” Tristan listened to Danny’s voice but didn’t hear the words.
He blinked his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision. He pushed the door open and staggered to the sinks. He turned on a tap and tried to get some water to his parched mouth. He suddenly had no control over his hands though; they wouldn’t lift to his mouth. He tried to get his mouth to the tap but only succeeded in over balancing. He gripped the edge of the sink with both hands to stop him from falling and in the process dropped his phone,
“Shit.” He spluttered as he bent down to pick it up, he could still hear Danny’s voice, echoing and distant, calling desperately from somewhere. He couldn’t quite work out where.
His body felt warm and soft all of a sudden and he felt groggy but relaxed. He couldn’t quite reach his phone though, it moved when he tried to pick it up. He frowned and stepped forward, on wobbly legs. He reached for it again and it moved again. He heard a chuckle and looked up to see Troy standing to one side, a very blurry Troy,
“Quit foolin’, Troy, I need my phone.” He said, his words now so slurred he wasn’t even sure that was what he had actually said. He tried to get his phone once more and once more it moved, this time he saw it was Troy’s foot that nudged it away, “Fuck you, Troy.” Tristan stood straight and pushed against Troy but fell against him instead,
“Whoa there, Tristan, had a bit too much to drink?” he asked in a jovial tone that sounded false to Tristan’s ears. He looked up into Troy’s eyes, frowning. Something wasn’t right. He had only had one beer. He could hardly stand. Then Troy was helping him. Tristan didn’t like it, Troy’s hands all over him. He pulled away but Troy’s grip was tight. Tristan tried again to pull away and succeeded. He dived for his phone his heart pounding, but he never reached it as something hit him hard in the face and everything went black.
Tristan woke with a start at the abrupt end to the nightmare: nightmare? Flashbacks more like. He groaned as images of Troy’s angry face and his sinister laughter invaded his thoughts. He buried his face into Danny’s T shirt and took deep breaths, breathing in Danny’s scent in an attempt to calm his nerves. Slowly the panic created by the flashback subsided but his body remained tense.
Danny’s arms had instinctively tightened their grip around Tristan’s shoulders as he had felt his friend begin to tremble and shake. He pressed his lips to Tristan’s hair,
“I’m here, Tris, don’t worry.” He murmured gently, soothingly,
“Dan.” He whispered softly, “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
“I was awake anyway.” Danny reassured him quietly, “What’s up?”
“Just remembering things I’d rather not remember, bud.”
“Shit.” Danny breathed into Tristan’s hair, “If I could take those memories away I would.”
“I know you would, Danny.” Tristan snuggled further into Danny’s chest, feeling his friend’s strength and warmth and softness. He felt calmer now, much calmer,
“What time is it?” Danny croaked, through a yawn, moving his hand to look at his watch but finding it a little hard to focus through sleep blurred eyes. Tristan took hold of Danny’s wrist and twisted it to look at his watch,
“It’s just after six.” He said, sitting up to allow them both to stretch, “What time do you think they’ll bring breakfast around here?”
“Are you hungry?” Danny asked him, unable to hide his smile of relief. His friend must be feeling better if he was thinking of food,
“Bud, I’m starving’.” Tristan told him.
Danny swung his legs around to sit on the edge of the bed. He stood and stretched, groaning as he stretched out the kinks from his cramped position on the bed. Hospital beds were not the most comfortable beds in the world, and definitely not meant for two to share,
“I can go and get you something to eat if you want, you don’t have to wait until they bring you breakfast.” He yawned and stretched again,
“You’re my fuckin’ hero, Danny Taylor, you know that?” Tristan exclaimed, and Danny chuckled. This was more like the Tristan he knew. Although he did like the soft, seductive, touchy feely Tristan, he had to admit he liked the tough, cussing, masculine Tristan better,
“What can I get for you, babe?” he asked, the word slipping over his tongue as if he’d said it a million times, but he hadn’t said it a million times, he’d said it only twice before. Tristan’s eyes widened as he remembered when Danny had last said it; when he had called him from the toilet cubicle,
“You called me babe last night, I remember.” Tristan said his voice low. Danny nodded mutely. Tristan felt panic rising in his belly again and his face paled as a wave of nausea washed over him.
Danny had begged him to stay in the cubicle but he had left it, and Troy had been waiting for him. God, what had he done? What had Troy done?
“I shoulda listened to you, Danny.” He whispered hoarsely, his eyes filling with tears. Danny was immediately by his side, “I think I’m gonna throw up.” Tristan gasped and Danny pulled a dish from the bedside cabinet, just in time for Tristan to grab it and retch noisily, though there was very little in his stomach to actually bring up.
Danny cradled Tristan’s head with one hand and with the other reached for the nurses’ call button. Almost immediately two nurses arrived and took over from Danny who stood back a little helplessly, watching as they fussed over Tristan, cleaning him up, making sure he was comfortable, checking his oxygen, and his pulse; asking him if he needed any pain relief. When they had finished their ministrations they stepped back to allow Danny to sit back down beside his friend.
He brushed a lock of dark hair from Tristan’s forehead and they exchanged smiles,
“I guess I wasn’t so hungry after all.” Tristan murmured, wearily as he lay back on his pillows. He looked pale and small somehow. Danny wanted the strong Tristan back. God he hated Troy; Troy the bastard that had turned his strong, happy, outgoing friend into a physical wreck. He realised he was holding Tristan and stroking his hair and the nurses were still in the room. He stopped the stroking, blushing slightly at their curious smiles,
“I can still get you something to eat.” He said softly, trying to act normally, but knowing that, however sweet it may look on the outside, his behaviour towards Tristan was far from normal right now, “Anything you want.” Danny turned to one of the nurses, who had stayed in the room to write down some notes on a clip board at the bottom of Tristan’s bed,
“It’s okay if he has something to eat isn’t it?”
“Oh, yes of course it is.” She said, smiling shyly, “The nausea could be due to lack of food, but it could also be the after affects of the drug.” She turned her shy smile towards Tristan, “You probably should try to eat something it might help.” Tristan nodded, and retur
ned her smile making her blush.
