Page 119 of Lovesick Titan

“After Danny’s mother died,” John’s words brought Mal back to him, “all he wanted, all he really needed, was for someone to be there, and I didn’t do my job. I’ve had my time to mourn my wife. I don’t want to be on the sidelines to Danny’s life anymore. But that doesn’t mean keeping him at home or keeping him away from you. It means letting him live his life and always being there to support him.”

Mal supposed it was a fool’s errand to try to convince either of these men that their faith was misplaced, but at the same time, hedidn’t want to let either of them down. It was an alien feeling, being unconditionally believed in when only Lucy and Dom had ever…

Steeling himself, Mal blamed it on the medication in his IV for being so emotional. He nodded once, and instead of denying anything John had told him or trying to sidestep what had been asked of him, he simply said, “Thank you,” for not being treated like the trash he’d feared he was for much of his life.

When Danny returned later, John was still there. They’d moved on to discussing the newest roster for the Olympus City hockey team. Apparently, Mal and John were both bigger sports fans than Danny.

R

“Zeus!” Michael’s bright voice preceded his entrance.

Danny moved around much easier now, and Mal was almost ready to get out of bed too, if only he could get permission. Lynn must have told Michael he was allowed to assault them because he didn’t hesitate to throw himself atop Danny in the chair next to Mal, and then attack Mal with equal gusto, without causing the physician to flinch or tell him to hold back.

“Mom wouldn’t let me see the news, but everyone was so worried,” Michael said, pressing his head to Mal’s side before he pulled back. It still amazed Mal how he could accept such wanton affection without the age-old grimace surfacing when it was Danny or Michael or so many of the others.

“We’re fine now, Michael,” he said, patting the boy’s back. He’d managed to get Lucy to go to his apartment to bring some of his own clothes for the remainder of his recovery, though naturally she’d found the Zeus sleep pants and insisted on bringing those. Michael poked at a lightning bolt teasing out of the blanket.

Danny stood up to let Michael take the chair between the beds, and Lynn immediately pushed him into his own bed when he wobbled—albeit only slightly and possibly only because a ten-year-old had recently been attached to him.

“I’m almost 100%,” Danny asserted.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Lynn said. “Both of you need to stay in bed until I give the okay. Enough getting up and moving around without permission. You’re only a few feet away from each other.”

Danny pouted dramatically, and Carla laughed from the doorway, where she held a very alert baby Mai. She was growing so fast already.

“Michael,” Lynn said with an authority that made the boy straighten like he’d been called on by his teacher, “I’m putting you in charge of making sure they both stay in bed. Got it?”

“Yes, Miss Lynn,” he said dutifully.

Danny’s troubled expression told Mal that they were going to have a much harder time skirting the rules now. Mal couldn’t help it that he was getting restless, and Danny was far worse than he was. They just wanted to be close to each other while they recovered, until they could, well…be close to each otheragain.

They caught up with Carla for a while, and Oz soon joined them as well, both giving Mal updates on how the neighborhood was faring without him. Everyone had seen the news, of course, so there was no pretending that Prometheus hadn’t been there to back up Zeus against a more dangerous threat.

Worse, though, was that despite Ludgate having started to broadcast their fight late enough that there were no vocalizations of Danny’s real name and John’s face had never been shown, the entire city had heard Zeus say, “I love you, Mal,” before the feed cut out for good.

If the people of Mal’s neighborhood hadn’t suspected earlier, they definitely knew Danny was Zeus now. Oz insisted that everyone was being cool about it, mostly pretending they didn’t know a thing; no one running to the tabloids or anything, not that Mal would have worried.

“Mrs. Pak swears she knew from the second she met you,” Carla smiled.

“Probably true.” Mal shot Danny a look. “You are the literal worst at keeping your identity secret, but a handful of additional trustworthy people shouldn’t make too much of a difference. Though they’ll likely fawn over you even more now.” He would have groaned at the thought if he was the one who’d receive the attention, but Dannymerely ducked his head and smiled, happy that anyone would care enough to fawn over him.

Michael insisted on staying for as long as his mother would allow, which meant Mal and Danny were eventually left alone with the boy, hearing all about his first week back at school and how difficult it was to not share with the class that he knew Zeus and Prometheus personally.

“I promise I won’t ever say anything! It’s just socool. But it’s my secret that nobody else gets to know.”

“Hey, Michael,” Danny said, “can I swap you for the chair? I need to stretch my legs a while.”

“Nah uh,” Michael adamantly shook his head. “Miss Lynn said you can’t get up until she says so.”

“But I’m fine!” Danny whined as ifhewere the ten-year-old. “See? I heal really fast. My scars are almost gone.”

Michael eyed Danny’s held out arm skeptically, the healing skin visible from the elbow down.

“He’s lying, Michael,” Mal said with a smirk. “He’s still on the mend. Just looking for an excuse to get closer, is all, coz he worries too much.” He smiled wider when Danny pouted again.

“Well…” Michael said, kicking his feet back and forth as he looked at them both. “You don’t hafta be apart, right? If you promise to stay in bed so Miss Lynn doesn’t yell at me, I can help push the beds together.”

Mal’s life was filled with people who were far too naïve and sweet for their own good, but as he and Danny snickered and shook their heads at Michael, they caught each other’s eyes from across the room and contemplated the offer.

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