Chapter Text
Darry was running on a cup of coffee and two hours of sleep but what else was new. Typically he would have breakfast at least but he’d been skipping this week to save money for Pony’s new track shoes. He ignored the way his stomach growled each morning as he made breakfast for the gang and quickly down a cup of coffee before leaving just as everyone woke up.
Darry’s hands shook as he grabbed the next bundle and climbed up the ladder onto the roof. They were working on a soc’s house in a nice neighborhood so the crew had to make sure that their work was quick and perfect. There was no room for mistakes.
His vision blurred and focus came in and out but Darry shook it off. It was decently hot for mid September and he hadn’t drunk anything in a couple of hours. He knew he should take a break but there was work to be done, the crew needed him.
Over the next couple of hours it only got worse. His head bloomed with pain and the darkness in his vision grew. His stomach had been turning all day since he first stepped on the ladder.
Darry stepped down on the solid ground and before he could grab a bundle of roofing he turned and threw up in the bushes. His body convulsed and he dry heaved for at least 10 minutes before he sat down panting. Darry closed his eyes for a minute trying to compose himself knowing that the entire crew was watching him now.
He felt arms on his shoulders guiding him up and leading him into a dark room. His body slumped into a chair and not before long he was asleep. “Darry…Darrel…wake up man” Darry slowly opened his eyes. It felt like sandbags were sitting on top of his head. He could see the blurry outline of red hair standing over him. “Two?” “Yeah superman, let’s get you home”
Darry shook his head. “No I gotta get back to work, we need money.” he slurred. “Dar, you can’t even stand, let alone get on the roof. Your boss already called me and said to take you home for the next couple of days. Don’t worry he said you’d get paid ‘cause you haven’t taken any of your PTO days yet.” Darry sighed, if he was getting paid then there was no reason to fight two-bit anymore and he let the younger man stand him up and lead him to the car.
When they stepped outside the building Darry shielded his eyes, the sun was shining so bright it made his eyes burn and his head started banging even more. “Oh sorry superman” Two took his hat off and put on Darry’s head shielding his sight. The drive home normally took 10 minutes but Two seemed to be driving even slower than normal, as to avoid any disturbances that would upset Darry even more.
Two-Bit had to almost carry the roofer inside the house and set him down on the couch. Darry winced and curled in on himself as much as he could on the small couch. “Hey no sleeping yet, I gotta check if you have a concussion and give you meds.” Darry feigned sleep but Two stuck his fingers in his side and tickled him until he “woke” up laughing. “I knew you weren’t sleeping, love you really need to take these so you feel better” Darry relented because he knew it would only elongate his time off of work. Once he’d taken the pills Two shined a light in his eyes, “Ow damn Two” “Sorry hon, but you don’t gotta concussion so you can go to bed now”
Two-Bit went to leave but Darry reached for his arm and missed. Two laughed “I guess that means you want me to stay” Darry smiled lazily. The ginger tried to climb next to Darry but the couch that could barely fit the 6 foot roofer definitely couldn’t fit both of them, “why don’t we try to move to the bed?” Darry looked taken aback “Uh how about no” Two smiled mischievously “Geez I didn’t mean it like that, I know better than that love” He dragged his boyfriend to their shared room and got him in the bed. Darry immediately curled into Two and his boyfriend began playing with his hair. “Get some sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up”
When Darry awoke he didn’t know where he was at first but the soft feel of his comforter brought him back. He was laying in bed in a curled position much like that of a burrito. He didn’t remember getting into his bed last night, although much of the day yesterday was fuzzy. He remembered someone taking care of him and laying on the couch but that was all that his foggy brain would give him. Maybe he did have a concussion.
The door to his bedroom slowly opened letting a little light from the hallway in. Darrel shielded his eyes from the harshness. “Oh sorry love, I brought you food, do you think you can eat for me?” Two-Bit was placing the tray on the bed. Darry assessed his stomach, it was still rolling much like last night, and the scratchy lump in his throat was intensified. He shook his head no.
“Come on, just some toast, that way you can take meds, the meds will make you feel better. I’ll even let you get some cuddles if you do it” Two bargained.
Darry reluctantly nodded his head, not in the mood to argue, not that he could since there was no way he was going to be talking anytime soon. He slowly took a bite of the plain toast. It tasted like sand and made his raw throat even worse. He grimaced and pushed the plate away. Two rubbed his shoulders and sat next to his boyfriend.
“Dar, you gotta eat, I know it sucks but delaying it will only make it worse.” Darry gave him pleading puppy dog eyes begging not to. “I’ll spoon feed it to you if you want,” he picks up the toast “Here comes the choo-choo train”
Darry rolled his eyes and grabbed the toast. There was no way he was gonna get fed, he was a grown ass adult he could feed himself.
The toast still tasted like sand and it took him longer than he wanted to eat the whole piece but he managed to finish it without bringing it back up. He then took the glass of water Two gave him and drank it greedily before Two grabbed it when it was halfway gone. “You gotta slow down love, plus you still gotta take your meds” He handed him two little white pills.
Darry took the meds and reached for his boyfriend half dragging him down, almost pushing the tray off the bed. Two-Bit quickly grabbed the tray and moved it onto the nightstand before joining Darry in the burrito.
They stayed like that for most of the morning, with Darry dropping off to sleep shortly after. At one point Soda checked in on them before he went to work, smiling at the two men curled up together fast asleep.
Pony looked up from the couch when Soda came in. “Is Darry ok?” “He’s sleeping, I think he’s doing better, he wasn’t burning up and was sweating, so I think he broke his fever.” Pony nodded, still looking worried.
Darry woke to a pitch black room. His head didn’t hurt anymore and the nausea that had plagued him the past two days was gone and he felt ten times better albeit his mind still a little foggy.
Two stirred, “Hey love, how are you feeling?”
Darry sat up, “Much better doll, sorry for being a pain to take care of” Two shook his head, “Nah, I would take care of you whenever you need it, no need to apologize”
“But I should be able to take care of myself and shouldn’t have to make you take time out of your life” Two squeezed his shoulder and wrapped Darry in a hug. “Hon, you gotta breathe” Darry’s breath had started picking up to the point he was hyperventilating. Darry could hear Two talking to him but couldn’t make out what he was saying and tried with all his might to control his breathing but with every breath he tried to take it became increasingly harder to get an actual breath in rather than just the short rapid ones.
Two started taking deep breaths and put Darry’s ear to his chest so he could hear his heartbeat and try to match his rhythm. It took a couple of minutes but Darry finally calmed down and crumpled into Two’s hold. He cried silently for a little.
“Hey it’s ok, you’re alright,”
“I’m sorry I’m burdening you with all of this” Darry almost whined
“No, no, there’s no way you could be burdening me, this is what boyfriends are for” Two shushed his cries and wiped Darry’s tears off his cheeks.
Darry nodded, still not believing him but just accepting the love Two was giving him.
“Do you feel any better?”
Darry thought about it for a moment, he did feel better, not just physically but emotionally and mentally. He felt well rested probably for the first time in months.
“Yes I do, thank you Keith for taking care of me”
“Of course Superman, anything for you”
Darry got out of bed and looked at the alarm clock. It was only 8:45, too late to go to work but early enough that he could get some house chores done and get some sense of normalcy back.
He relished in the quiet of the morning with Two and thought about how grateful he was to have him in his life and to be able to lean on his family in his time of need.