Chapter Text
“Cmon man, be happy! You totally beat her ass!”
“Mac, she gets to go home and be normal. She doesn’t have to wear a cast for the next 6-8 weeks.”
“So what? You dominated her!”
Truth be told, Dennis didn’t feel like he dominated anything. His hand was liquid and he couldn’t get the bowling finale he wanted. He didn’t bother to see what Dee bowled, so he figured he should count it as a win for himself. He got in her head; how could she bowl anything but a gutter ball?
“You want pancakes?” Mac asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Pancakes?”
“Yeah! You’ve had a rough day, and I know pancakes are your favorite!”
Dennis felt something twinge. Pancakes were his favorite. Of course Mac knows that. However, right now he felt too shit to enjoy breakfast for dinner.
“I don’t know, man. I kinda just wanna shower right now.”
“I can get started on them while you’re in the shower! I know you like them slightly crispy with a little syrup.” Mac said, already heading towards the kitchen. Dennis wanted to protest, as he always did when he was in a bad state, but a shower and pancakes didn’t sound too bad at the moment. He felt the weird feeling again, as Mac knew exactly how he liked his pancakes. Sure, they’ve had pancakes a million times, but it still provoked something.
“Yeah, sure, sounds good.” Dennis said, walking towards his bedroom to get clothes.
“Wait, do you need help?”
“Help?”
“Yeah, in the shower. With the cast and everything,” Mac said casually.
Dennis felt his face get warm. “No! No I don’t- Mac, I am perfectly capable of taking a shower by myself!”
“Alright, jeez dude I was just asking. Make sure to use the bag thing-“
“I’ll be fine.”
Mac started getting the things out to make pancakes, which included box mix and water. Dennis went to his bedroom and got some clothes. Then he decided it was late anyways, and instead got his fleece pajamas. He put the awkward bag over his cast and got in the shower. It took quite a while to figure the logistics out, but he managed. It took him nearly 10 minutes to get his shirt on. He nearly asked Mac, but he didn’t want to encourage the intrusive questions.
He stepped out of the bathroom and made his way to the kitchen. After a few steps, he could smell the pancakes. He stood right before the threshold of the kitchen, as Mac had his back turned making pancakes. For some reason, Dennis wanted to watch for a second. Just looking at Mac, he leaned against the wall. He spaced out for a second when Mac turned around, startled by him.
“Woah, dude, I didn’t hear you get out of the shower!” He explained, seemingly looking at Dennis’ pajamas, then his still-wet hair.
“You were listening to me in the shower?”
“Yeah, but not, like, in a weird way. Just in case you fell or something.”
“I broke my hand, Mac, not my leg.”
“Yeah, but….still.” Mac turned back to the pancake, making sure it didn’t burn. Dennis noticed a plate with two pancakes and a ton of syrup. That’s how Mac liked them. Dennis couldn’t understand how one could eat that much sugar and bread. “Wanna put on a movie?”
Dennis blinked out of his thoughts. “Yeah, sure. Predator?”
“Hell yeah!”
Dennis went and turned on the tv.
-
“Was everything ok in the shower?” Mac asked, giving Dennis his plate.
“Ye- yes, Mac, everything was fine. Like I told you it would be.”
“Hey, I just want to make sure.”
Dennis rolled his eyes and looked at the plate he was holding. It was perfect. Just the right size, crisp, and amount of syrup. He tried to use the knife and fork to cut the pancake but had trouble doing it one-handed.
“Need me to cut it?”
“No- I can do it. Just give me a second.” Dennis continued trying. He hadn’t thought about how difficult everything would be. He had been wondering more about if he could ever bowl the same. He kept trying until he nearly accidentally stabbed himself with the knife.
“Woah, dude! Here, let me get it.”
“No, I just-“ Dennis tried to protest, but Mac was already grabbing the plate and utensils. He sighed as Mac set his own plate down to focus on Dennis’. After a few seconds, he gave it back.
“Is that good? Need me to feed you?” He asked seriously. Now that Dennis could do on his own.
“Nope.”
Dennis looked at the tv. In his peripherals, he could see Mac switching between looking at the tv and him. Then Dennis noticed something else.
Is he eating his pancakes with his hands?!
Dennis then fully looked at Mac, who was indeed eating pancakes with his hands. He didn’t even bring utensils.
“Jesus, Mac! Use a knife you goddamn Neanderthal!”
Mac looked at him like Dennis caught him stealing cookies from a cookie jar. “I was just wondering what it was like-“
“You have syrup all over your damn hands!”
“Well yeah, that’s why I just-“ Mac cut himself off, licking the syrup off his hands. Dennis felt like he could puke.
“The syrup is gonna get on the couch!”
“I’m being careful! And I can clean it!”
“Have you ever tried cleaning syrup off of a couch?!”
“Well, no,” Mac admitted, “But I can just Youtube it.”
Dennis sighed. “Mac, please just- get cleaned.”
Mac pouted, then went to the sink to wash his hands. When he came back, Dennis saw him staring at his cast.
“What?”
“Could I- Can I sign your cast?”
Dennis blinked. “Sign my cast? What is this, middle school?”
“I always wanted to sign someone’s cast but nobody ever asked.”
“Nobody asked you because you were Ronnie the Rat,” Dennis said, instantly regretting taking the conversation there. He saw Mac get sad and turn back towards the tv. “Wait- fine. You know what, sign my cast.” He said. He realized he probably would need Mac’s help at some point and didn’t want Mac mad at him. And for some other reason, he couldn’t really stomach the thought of Mac mad at him.
Mac’s face lit up. “Really?”
“Yeah, go find a marker before I change my mind.” Mac immediately got up to start looking for a marker. Dennis looked at his cast. He got it white, because that’s what adults do. He didn’t realize doctors asked adults what color cast they wanted. He panicked, and the name of every color flooded his mind. He spat out white, as he needed to say something. Now that he had time to think, maybe blue would’ve looked cooler.
Mac walked in with a sharpie. He sat down next to Dennis, a bit closer than Dennis was expecting. Dennis started trying to figure out what part of the cast was least visible. He went with the part close to his inner elbow.
“Yeah- just like- around here,” he said, pointing to the general area. Mac smiled and held the cast for stability. Dennis tried to ignore how he wished he could feel Mac holding his arm. He was so focused on that, that he didn’t realize Mac had finished. He turned his arm so he could read it.
GBS - Mac McDonald =)
“GBS?”
“Get better soon!”
“I don’t think that’s a real acronym.”
“Of course it is! I always told myself if someone asked me to sign their cast, that’s what I would put.”
So he had this rehearsed.
“Well, uh, thanks.” Dennis said, turning back to the tv. Mac’s name was essentially written on him now. Mac smiled and looked at the tv.
-
Dennis looked at Mac and saw he had passed out. The general rule in the apartment was to not let each other spend the night on the couch, as neither of their backs could handle it anymore.
“Hey- hey Mac. Get up, man,” he whispered, trying to nudge Mac awake. Mac opened his eyes sleepily.
“Shit, did I pass out?”
“Yeah, a while back. Movie’s over.”
Mac grunted as a response.
“I’m gonna go to bed. It’s late and we have work tomorrow,” Dennis said.
“Need me to sleep in your bed?” Mac offered.
“Excuse me?”
“Y’know, cause of your arm and stuff.”
“I took a shower by myself and I can absolutely sleep by myself.”
“Couldn’t cut your pancakes by yourself.” Mac grumbled under his breath.
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing.” He quickly replied, slowly getting up in his tired state. Dennis made the difficult decision to not retort back.
-
Dennis was in his bed. Turns out, a large cast can put a dent in your sleep routine. He couldn’t get comfortable. He tossed and turned. At one point he has his cast in front of his face. He stared at Mac’s signature. The man had waited decades to write that on someone’s cast. Without thinking, Dennis traced the letters. Tried to remember how Mac holding onto his cast felt.
He tossed and turned for a few hours. The cast was getting itchy and Dennis felt insane. Could he go 6-8 more weeks like this? Surely it would get better, right? He grumbled with the other option he had. Could it be worth a try?
Dennis then tried to reason with himself. Surely having Mac in his bed wouldn’t make things better. In fact, it would probably make things worse! Dennis knew Mac would keep asking, especially if Dennis complained about his arm. This would be a way to end it quickly. Have Mac for one night, tell him how shit he feels in the morning, and boom! Mac wouldn’t ask anymore. Dennis felt it was a pretty solid plan. It made sense.
He threw back the covers and got up. He kept repeating the plan in his head. He walked up to Mac’s room, who had the door open. ”Dude, do you know how fast fires can spread with a closed door?” He had asked Dennis once. Dennis sighed and lightly knocked on the open door.
“Mac.” No response. “Mac,” he tried, a tad louder. Mac started rubbing his eyes.
“Hmm?”
“Hey, uh-“ Suddenly Dennis felt his confidence drain. Was this ridiculous? Would Mac laugh at him? “My- my hand was kinda hurting, and uh, I-I can’t really get comfortable, and I was wondering if-“
“Yeah man, I’ll be there in a sec.” Mac said sleepily. Of course Mac wouldn’t laugh. Dennis turned around and walked to his room. He got under the covers and stared at the wall. Sure enough, a few seconds later Mac followed, walking like he had been paralyzed. Must’ve been dead asleep. Dennis realized. Suddenly he felt bad. He had woken Mac up, for what? Cause he felt a bit uncomfortable? He had sleepless nights before, not like one more would kill him. But Mac had offered….
Still staring at the wall, Dennis heard the covers get pulled back and the mattress dip. Then he felt arms around him. His heart sped up to at least twice its resting speed.
“Uh- Mac?”
“‘s for support,” Mac mumbled. He had one arm under Dennis and one over his torso. The one over his torso was bent so his hand was over Dennis’ chest. That certainly wasn’t supporting his arm. Dennis heard deep, slow breaths and realized Mac had already fallen asleep. Dennis closed his eyes and tried to control his heartbeat. Surely Mac had to have felt his heart nearly beating out of his chest. Did he comprehend it while being that tired? He would’ve said something, right? Did he not want to embarrass Dennis? Was he awake enough to think that much?
Dennis sighed, trying to let go of the thoughts along with the breath. He was tired. It had been a long day, from competing to destroying his hand to spending hours at the hospital. He looked at the cast, where Mac’s signature was. He looked at Mac’s arms around him, eyes growing heavy.
He fell asleep comfortably.