Love is Always Write Anthology Bonus Volume

his fingers through his hair a few more times. "I've had my hair bleached since I was fourteen. I don't recognize myself." He turned his head one way then the other, examining himself from a few different angles. He touched the last of the yellow bruises on his face and torso. "I guess if I don't recognize myself, odds are no one else is going to either."
    "That's kind of the point."
    "Yeah. Good. I think I was overdue for a change."
    For the rest of the day, Sebastian watched as Daren looked at himself in every surface that was even slightly reflective. He'd flip his hair one way and then another, then pull it back with one hand. A little longer and he probably could make it into a ponytail; Sebastian was having to use a little more force to comb out some of the snarls. Daren had yet to comment about conditioner, but Sebastian could feel it coming.
    Sebastian didn't mind though because Daren hadn't spent the day just primping in the mirror. He'd spent it smiling. Not every moment of the day, but every now and again there would be a smile on his face at something Sebastian said. Or a laugh at something he read in one of the tabloids. Plus a grin through the tears as he managed a half a lap around the living room without his cane. Through all that, Sebastian had seen flashes of a confident young man clawing his way up through the pain.
    Daren even managed to stay awake long enough to sit on the couch and watch Entertainment Tonight , made much more amusing by Daren's running commentary on the bad habits of various celebrities.
    As Sebastian climbed into bed with Daren already peaceful asleep, he hoped the day had been a sign of things to come.
    ****
    It was nearly five in the morning by the time Daren woke him with a yelp and a whimper. Sebastian placed a hand flat on his chest, avoiding the bad shoulder, and shook him awake. Daren snapped awake with a hiss, slapping his left hand over Sebastian's. Sebastian could feel Daren's heart thumping, not too fast but with heavy beats.
    "I'm getting really tired of these," he muttered.
    "I know. Want to talk about them?"
    "No."
    Daren's hand closed tight around his as he took a couple of shuddering breaths. Sebastian could feel his heart starting to ease and he could feel Daren slip back into sleep. Sebastian quickly followed.
    The second time Sebastian woke up, he was a bit disoriented. Someone was laying half over him, and what felt like a thin, but heavy box, was across his chest. Sebastian's brain took a few seconds to put together the who, what, and where of the situation. Sometime in the last couple of hours Daren had rolled over almost onto his stomach with his face resting on Sebastian's shoulder and his right arm, still in its splint, flung across Sebastian's body. Daren also had his morning wood, bumping against the outside of Sebastian's thigh.
    Judging by the angle of the light peeking under the curtains, it was probably getting reasonably late, but Sebastian was loathe to get up. He'd always liked sleeping next to someone, waking with a warm body curled against his even if, in this case, it was fairly wrong. Although it wasn't like he was the one who had migrated across the bed. His right arm was mostly pinned, but he had enough movement to run his fingers through Daren's now dark-chocolate hair.
    Daren gave a tiny breathy hum and squeezed Sebastian a little. Sebastian wondered if maybe in Daren's dream state he was a giant teddy bear or something like that. It didn't change the fact that it was certainly whole levels of wrong. Even worse, Daren's morning erection was giving Sebastian one of his own. "Existential crisis" might make a decent one-off excuse, but Sebastian couldn't think of it stretching much past that.
    That didn't stop him from stroking Daren's head. Daren gave another little hum, and he shifted a bit, pressing his erection that little more into Sebastian's leg. He could feel the heat of it even through the sheet separating them.
    "Daren," Sebastian whispered, hoping to gently wake him up with minimal embarrassment to the both of them. "Daren."
    Daren hummed, shook his head, and pressed his face into Sebastian's shoulder, pulling their bodies tighter together. Sebastian wondered if he could jerk off really quickly and quietly so Daren wouldn't notice since he was putting a bit of a tent in the sheets. He'd gotten good at getting off in less than a minute during his first deployment, but that was without another body pressed against his.
    "Daren,"