Archive of Our Own

Dani sighed as she watched Malcolm wince and hiss out a breath for the third time in just as many minutes. He had been struggling all day, his pain clearly almost beyond his already ridiculously high tolerance levels.

She looked down at her deep emerald green dress. They were meant to be attending Jessica’s benefit Gala tonight, but Dani wasn’t sure it was the best idea. All the noise and people in close proximity, which could see his arm knocked accidentally, she could see a disaster waiting to happen.

Malcolm was a very proud man and rarely let others know the true depths of his pain and he hated it when it got out of his control and others saw just how much he struggled with it still.

The last time he had been overwhelmed in public, it had been at the precinct and he had refused to go into work for weeks afterward, working their cases from home and getting supremely frustrated when he couldn’t work as effectively.

Dani took it as her job to help him figure out when he needed to say no and look out for himself instead.

“Malcolm…” Dani called out to him as watch him use his controlled breathing to push his pain down.

The pain etched deep into his face when he turned to face her solidified her decision in an instant.

“We're not going,” Dani told him as she leant over and started to remove her heels.

“What?! But we just got dressed. Are you ok?” Malcolm asked her, his own concerns shoved away as he stepped over towards her, his worry clear in his still pain marred face.

Dani sighed giving him a exasperated smile as she stood back up, slightly lopsided with one heel still on and the other in hand.

“I’m fine. You on the other hand, need to give yourself a break,” Dani told him, bracing for the defensive backlash that she knew was coming.

She softened her expression a little as a betrayed frown flickered across his face before he shut it down and looked at her with a stubborn scowl.

“Don’t Mother me. I’m fine. I promised my Mother we would be there. I think I have disappointed her enough of late,” Malcolm told her as he struggled to find somewhere to rest his gloved arm, moving it from his side into his pocket and back out when a wince crossed his face as he did.

Dani stepped towards him and rolled her eyes at herself as she limped from the height difference of her heeled and non heeled feet. She hopped towards him as she quickly slipped her other heel off and continued to step into his space.

She had to swallow down her hurt when he shifted to avoid her hand as she reached out to touch his uninjured arm.

She licked at her lips as she dropped her gaze to the floor and took a deep breath.

“Malcolm, you have been more than enough for all of us. You have absolutely nothing to prove to us,” Dani told him, doing her best not to let her emotion bleed through into her voice, but failing as it broke slightly on her last words.

Malcolm flinched, almost as if she had hit him.

“I know that…I don’t…ugh. Everyone has made so many accommodations for me. Excused me from having to do this or that, I just…I want to be…fuck…I don’t know what I want,” Malcolm cursed, tears simmering in his eyes as he looked back at her, his lip quivering with his emotion.

“Oh baby, I know. You have come so damn far. I know you don’t think so and don’t see how amazing you are. But I do. I know how much effort it takes for you just to get out of bed everyday and face the world all over again. You seriously are one of the bravest men I know,” Dani told him as she stepped in and cupped his face in her palms and wiped at the tear that slipped down his cheek as he stared at her doing his best not to fall apart in front of her.

“I love you so damn much,” Dani whimpered as she pressed a kiss to his quivering lips, the salt from his tears, making her own fall to mingle with his.

She pulled him into her shoulder, careful of his arm between them and let him cry out his sobs on her shoulder as the emotion of the moment and the overwhelm of the day took him.

She rubbed gentle circles into his hitching back, her heart breaking for this beautiful man that gave so much and still didn’t see how worthy he was.

She pressed a kiss to his temple as his cries quietened and his breaths came back to normal.

“How about I text your Mum and tell I have a migraine and can’t come after all and then you and me can slow dance the evening away to our own tunes,” Dani suggested, pressing another kiss to his hair as she felt him smile into her shoulder.

“She will know you’re lying,” Malcolm murmured into her shoulder before pressing a kiss to her neck that had a shiver of pleasure running through her at the soft press of his lips to her skin.

“Don’t care, she already hates me,” Dani replied, nibbling at his earlobe as she did.

He chuckled into her neck, his breath ghosting over her skin and sending goosebumps across it.

“She doesn’t hate you, she loves you. You took her burdensome son off her hands. You just haven’t given her grandchildren yet. That’s your only failing in her eyes,” Malcolm mused as he licked and nibbled at her throat, causing her to moan and almost lean into him, remembering at the last second that to do that would likely hurt him and held herself back.

She stepped back and looked at him, her hands resting on his shoulders. He struggled to hold her gaze so she cupped his chin and held his head up before she pressed in and kissed him. His soft lips parting to let her tentative taste him with her tongue. A quiet moan escaped him as she pressed in harder, shifting to cup his neck with her hand as he did the same.

It was a good couple of minutes before they parted for panting breaths, resting their forehead against each other, soft smiles on both their faces.

“Yeah, night in sounds good,” Malcolm said with a smirk, which had her laughing as he broke into his own laughter.

It took an exchange of texts to stop Jessica probing for information, making Dani regret telling her it was because of her that they weren’t going. Anytime she was sick or even looked remotely unwell, Jessica was probing to see if it was a pregnancy symptom. The woman was relentless.

Dani shook off those thoughts, that discussion was for another time. Right now it was time to show her man just how much she appreciated and loved him.

She smiled over at Malcolm as he watched her from the lounge a fond smile softening his features. He was very relaxed after a glass scotch. Something that he rarely indulged in these days. The extra medication he took didn’t mix that well with it and left him drowsy. That didn’t matter tonight, relaxed was a perfect state for what she had planned.

She smiled back at him and stopped in front of the stereo and cued up a song, blushing a little as the opening bars played and she turned back to see Malcolm grinning at her.

“What? I can be sappy sometimes,” Dani pouted at him, crossing her arms in front of herself in mock affront as Michael Bolton’s soothing voice echoed out from the speakers

Malcolm chuckled and pushed himself up from the couch, staggering a little with a giggle as the alcohol clearly went to his head.

Dani quickly moved over to him, stepping him back into the open space, slipping into his arms that settled around her hips as she rested hers cross his shoulders. They swayed to the slow beat resting their foreheads together. Dani felt her chest flush as she felt the swell of emotion as the song crested to its chorus.

She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the feelings pushing up through her chest. She gasped a little as he pulled her into him and kissed her as they continued to sway to the music.

“I love you Dani Powell,” he whispered to her, his voice deep and raspy with his own emotions.

Dani looked back into his earnest sea blue eyes and gave him a teary smile as her love for him crashed through her chest, sending goosebumps flaring out across her skin.

“I love you too, Malcolm Bright. Now and forever,” Dani promised him and kissed him softly as they went back to swaying, enjoying the peace they had created for each other.

Days like this were hard, but Dani wouldn’t give them up for the world.