Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

from multiple orthopedic surgeries. Cut yourself a little slack."
    "Yeah, that's what I'll tell the assassins my grandfather sends to take me out. Cut me some slack."
    "No one knows you're here. But you still need to get back on your feet. I'll get you some ice packs and pain killers." He picked the cane off the floor and handed it to Daren. "We'll try standing again this evening." The look Daren gave him was an unpleasant one. He had a feeling he was mentally being given the finger. He patted Daren on the head. "Go ahead and hate me but you know I'm right. You'll get better, I promise."
    By the time they tried for a post-dinner stroll, Daren was looking less hateful and more dejected. He did manage three steps and back again before collapsing back down onto the bed and curling up into a fetal position that could not have been even remotely comfortable.
    Sebastian tried to help him move into a more comfortable arrangement, but Daren just curled up tighter. Sebastian settled with carefully placing some ice packs and leaving three Advil on the bedside table before going back to the kitchen to do the dishes. He came back to find Daren asleep, still curled up. Sebastian pulled up the blanket and spent the night back in the chair.
    The next day, it felt like they were backsliding. Daren was quiet and obviously in pain. The flavor of the silence alternated between anger and depression. When Sebastian offered to give him a shave during his daily shower, Daren only shrugged and mumbled, "Sure."
    Sebastian had never shaved anyone before and didn't want to leave the smallest nick on the fine, nearly healed skin of Daren's face. Daren kept his eyes closed as Sebastian snipped away the worst of the beard with a scissors. It had actually been Sebastian's drill instructor who had taken him aside after he failed an inspection and shown him how to perform a particularly close shave using a hot towel and tiny strokes, wiping the blade clean after every other stroke.
    Daren's body had relaxed at the feel of the warm towel on his face, and as Sebastian began the shave, he took slow soft breaths, almost as if he was asleep. Sebastian couldn't help wondering just what kind of thoughts were going through Daren's mind as he tilted his head back and bared a throat still covered in finger bruises.
    Sebastian made each stroke of the razor no longer than a centimeter. Careful to go with the grain, it became an almost meditative process, with only the sound of the razor and their breathing to fill the small room.
    Daren's eyes were still closed when Sebastian wiped away the last of the shaving cream. He turned Daren's head from one side to the other, looking for any spots he may have missed. Without the scruff, Daren looked so much younger and also far more vulnerable. Sebastian suddenly felt guilty for how much pain he'd put Daren through just the day before, despite its needing to happen. And he felt guilty for how much pain there was to come.
    He wished he had the means for or access to one of those exoskeleton knee braces, but when he'd looked online the good ones seemed to run into the hundreds of dollars. Daren would have to do with sports bandages and ice packs.
    He went and got a hand mirror that had been left by a former tenant. "Here, take a look."
    Daren opened his eyes and looked in the mirror. He touched his fingers to the still visible bruising around his eyes before closing them again.
    "It'll heal." Daren nodded and handed the mirror back.
    If Sebastian had thought the rest of the day would be better he was mistaken, just as he was mistaken about the days after that. They fell into a sort of grim rhythm, nearly as bad as those first days when Daren was hanging on by a thread. Sebastian did his best to keep them to a normal routine, with nightmares, meals, painkillers, showers with carefully ignored morning erections, and time spent in the sun, but through all of it, Daren was almost completely silent.
    He was only speaking when spoken to and only giving bare minimal replies. When he didn't sleep he stared into space, often unblinking. With anyone else, Sebastian might have thought he was looking at a suicide in the making, but every day Daren pushed himself to tears, walking just a few steps further and standing just a little bit longer. For whatever abyss the rest of him was staring into, some part of him was still fighting.
    ****
    Sebastian opened his eyes to find Daren staring at him. It was a little disconcerting. He almost