Proprietorial love

9

"Jay." Daniel dragged his friend's name out and pulled his friend close to him. They were in Daniel's apartment, doing homework together and talking about a million things that don't matter in the process. "I'm bored."

Jay seemed to laugh at him, leaning back against Daniel's couch and looking at him with amusement in every line of his body.

What do you want to do then?

"I don't know." Daniel hummed, gently biting at his pen. Then his eyes lit up in realization. "Right, there's a school trip after midterms, right?"

Jay looked at him in confusion, so Daniel happily elaborated. "I like to keep tabs on everything around me, so when I heard midterms were coming up I started talking to the sophomores and asked around. That's how I found out we were going on a little retreat after the midterms ended."

Jay shook his head in exasperation. It's not fun if you spoil everything, you know.

"Hey!" Daniel smiled, leaning onto Jay's shoulder and smiling coyly. "It is very fun if I spoil everything. I don't even know where we'd be going anyway!"

Jay laughed silently and put his head on top of Daniel's head. Knowing the way you are now I know you'd look through the teacher's documents for it.

Daniel smiled widely in response.

(There weren't a lot of things Daniel would hide from Jay. Not many at all.

So when Jay asked to stay at his apartment for studying one day, Daniel thought it was best to tell him what happened.

Because Jay was going to stay with him forever, and if his friend were angry about it Daniel wanted him to at least know the person his childhood friend became.

So after they settled onto the couch together, Daniel pulled Jay close to him and said in his most resolute voice: "Can I tell you what happened?"

And Jay, sweet sweet Jay who has been nothing but an absolute angel even after all the months of them reuniting again despite having a million different questions for him ever since the beginning, asked: Are you sure you want to talk about it?

Daniel smiled so brightly that his cheek ached for a brief moment. "How are you such an angel, Jay?" He asked with his chin laying on blond hair.

Due to Daniel being touchy constantly, Jay sadly stopped blushing as often as he had to. But Daniel delighted in the comforting weight on his friend all the same. "I am ready to talk about it, Jay. Don't worry."

And he spoke, and he spoke and spoke until the starless night sky turned madder blue and Daniel's voice was so hoarse he could barely speak by the end of it.

The topic itself never felt hard, whenever he moved about his life it always felt like a fact, a simple reality that never changed even if Daniel wished for it.

But when he finally laid his thoughts and memories into words, forced them into being, and made himself acknowledge his own life by proxy, Daniel realized for the first time how cruel the reality he lived in truly was. How much pain and how much misery he has gone through, how much he changed for the wish of living a life he would be happy in.

Never had he been so glad to have Jay in his arms, the number of times he nearly broke down crying only for his friend to bring him down by simply being there made the experience he put into words easier than he could ever imagine.

"If I told you that you were my angel, would you believe me?" Daniel whispered, his head nosing gently at Jae's jawline. "I never realized how much I needed you to get through my day until now."

Indeed, Daniel knew he had Jay in his head ever since he was young, but he never realized how much he missed his friend until he thought of how every-near breakdown and anxiety attack he had was soothed by the thought of Jay, how every happy memory and every sad memory made better went hand-in-hand with Jay.

In a way, Jay has always been with him, had always been a kind of guardian angel pulling Daniel back from the deep depths of anger and loneliness.

Daniel laughed but didn't object when Daniel called him 'angel' in class, if anything his face got redder.

Zack would scream in despair if he could.)

"Hey, angel," Daniel said, nosing Jay's neck. "We'll be split into dorms at the retreat right? How do you feel about rooming with me?"

Jay made a gesture with his hands, ignoring when Daniel shifted slightly. Aren't the dormitories assigned by the counselors or whoever is in charge of planning the retreat?

"Yes, but why should I care about something like that?" Daniel shifted again, and Jay automatically made space so Hyungseok could get comfortable. "I want you with me, so I'll get you with me."

Aren't you being too bratty, Danny? Jaeyeol teased. Right, Danny.

It's a stupid joke that got wrapped into a nickname, but Daniel preened at the thought of having a nickname from Jay anyway.

"Sadly, angel, I'm your brat." Daniel retorted, watching with delight as Jay laughed again. "A brat you can never get rid of."

Bold of you to assume I ever want to get rid of you. Jay teased and pinched Danel's stomach and the other man laughed so genuinely it felt like he was a child again.

Jay's smile widened, his head falling onto Daniel's shoulder as he also laughed about something that shouldn't have been as funny as it was.

(Daniel internally cheered when the camera took a photo of them without Jay realizing.

It was a simple photo of the two of them, Daniel having successfully shifted so that Jay was seated in his lap, his head laying on the crook of Daniel's shoulder as they laughed about things that didn't matter, the blond's arm wrapped around the noirret's shoulders like a hug.

Daniel himself looked as happy as he could be, one hand gently holding onto Jay's waist like his dear could fall off any moment, another gently holding the back of his angel's neck. He looked happy, with a laugh on his tongue and his eyes staring at Jae as if the man hung the stars.

For that little moment in time, they looked like the happiest couple in existence.

Jay, ever aware, had realized what happened a moment after and pouted so hard Daniel had to resist the urge to kiss it away. Then, he quietly asked Daniel to send the photo to him.

Jay never showed it to anyone and Daniel proudly made it his phone wallpaper.)