For a rare moment in his life, David was speechless. He gawked at Dwight for a moment, causing the other man to feel particularly vulnerable. He ran a shaky hand through his hair eventually trailing it down to adjust his thick rimmed glasses. David followed every movement, as if he was looking for something out of place, worried this was another dream. Every moment he studied the nervous man, the angrier he became. This definitely was not a dream.
"Did Claudette send you? Or Kate?", Dwight asked, deciding the silence had lasted too long.
"Ace actually".
"Oh".
Silence again.
David's fists clenched at his sides, a detail Dwight noticed which caused him to suck in his breath in anticipation. David would not hit him. Would he?
"Well?", David grunted.
"Well, what?", Dwight asked, genuinely confused by this situation.
This caused David to crack.
"What the fuck d'ya mean "well what"? Ya get tired of of running around with the bloody circus, or what? Murderer dick not doin' it for ya anymore?". David's accent always got thicker when he ranted.
"'Spose you just think ya can come back 'ere 'n everythin' will just be normal, yeah? You enjoy your holiday did ya? While the rest of us were left 'ere to slave away?".
"Shut up, David!", Dwight shouted getting to his feet. "You literally have no idea what you're talking about".
"I think I 'ave a fair fuckin' idea", David growled at him.
"Tell me then", Dwight threatened, stepping closer to him. "Tell me what ideas you have of what happened to me. Tell me how hard your life was, here lying on the flat of your back while I bled out on the on the floor".
"You chose to go!" David shouted at him.
"I did not choose to be abducted!" Dwight screamed back.
If any bystanders were watching this argument progress they may have thought the goal was not to outwit the other but to simply be the loudest.
It was quiet for a moment.
"You chose to stay", David mumbled. "You'd rather be there than here with m-", he stopped himself, to rephrase. "Us".
"At least they took care of me there...at the start anyway", Dwight folded his arms as his spoke.
"Oh did they now?", David mocked him, childishly.
"Yeah", Dwight continued. "They had nice food, nice clothes, proper beds".
David scoffed. "Oh la de da. Remind me to roll out the red carpet for ya when there's not a blade in me back".
Dwight huffed, getting up in David's face. "Do you want to know the funniest thing about this whole situation, David?".
"Please do enlighten me", the scrapper said, growing tired of this conversation.
"That a killer trusts me with his feelings more than you do".
David looked stunned for a moment but quickly regained his composure.
"What're you bangin' on about?".
"You ignored me for days. You wouldn't talk to me. You called me pathetic. And now, you show up trying to tell me I'm the problem but you're the one who's jealous of a killer who kidnapped me", Dwight ranted.
"Am I fuck", David laughed, but there was no sincerity behind it. "Do you really expect me to believe nothing happened?".
"Yes", Dwight exhaled. "I mean...he tried but-".
"Oh here we go", David spat, throwing his hands up. "Here come the excuses. See, I knew-".
"He tried but it didn't go anywhere because, I said your name", Dwight stared into his eyes.
"Oh", David sounded more smug than intended.
"And because of that", Dwight's voice wavered. "They killed me".
The area fell unbearably silent. David watched as Dwight returned to his original position on the rock. Neither of them said anything. David swore he could hear the faint sound of people laughing, in the direction of the campfire. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. He wanted to ask Dwight if he visited him when he unconscious, wanting to know if there was any truth in his dream. He chose not to.
"Should I tell just 'em we're friends again, then?", he asked, uncertain as to whether he wanted the answer or not.
Dwight did not answer, instead he opted to stare into the tree in front of him, his expression unreadable. David nodded to himself, reluctantly turning to go. He typically was not the type of person to give up so easily but something about this situation got to him. He wanted to scoop Dwight upon his arms and promise him it would all be ok now and he would keep him safe. David knew deep down he could never keep that promise. No one could.
He had only taken a few steps when he heard Dwight call out to him.
"I don't want to be your friend, David".
Ouch.
David let out a breath, before turning to face Dwight again.
"Right. I'll tell 'em that then".
Dwight got up from his sitting position, rushing over to David, not wanting him to leave just yet.
"I don't want to be your friend", he told him again, taking his hand. The scrapper gripped the other man's shaky fingers tightly, letting out an equally shaky breath.
Remarkably, David broke first. The emotions of the last few weeks hitting him like a tidal wave.
"I don't wanna be your friend either", he inhaled aggressively in a futile attempt to calm himself.
Dwight pulled the usually unemotional man into him, holding him close, the contact making David sob harder. Dwight soon joined him, the two men clutching either each other desperately, as if the other would disappear again if they let go.
David cupped Dwight's face with both hands, running his thumbs across the leader's cheeks, brushing away his tears.
"I'm an idiot", David admitted. "I fucked up, I know".
"David, you-".
"Please, just let me talk. I need to say this".
Dwight nodded, sniffling.
"I fucked up, Dwight. I'd never been with a guy before all this. I never even looked at 'em. I never thought I'd lo-", he paused, unsure, but the look in Dwight's tear filled eyes urged him to continue.
"I never thought I could ever like 'em. And then all this happened. And you...us. Watchin' you get hurt in the trials and knowin' I could never do anythin' to fix it...it was drivin' me mad. I couldn't stand it so I...pushed you away. I'm sorry, Dwight, I wish I could but I-".
Dwight hushed his babbling, bringing David's mouth down to meet his. The kiss was tender at first, but got more heated as David brought his arms around his leader pulling him close. The feeling of having him in his arms again, being able to smell him, to hear the soft whimpers that escaped him, was better than anything David could have dreamed. The men reluctantly pulled apart, gasping for air.
"So, does this mean I can tell the others we said "fuck you" to friendship and "fuck yes" to getting back together?", David grinned at him.
Dwight swung his arms around David's neck.
"Were we ever technically broken up?", he asked, a playful tone to his voice.
"I 'spose not".
David cupped Dwight's cheek with one hand, brushing his thumb lightly over the soft skin.
"So, yer all mine".
"Always".
The two men kissed tenderly again, eventually making their way to sit under a large tree. David wrapped a protective arm around the leader's shoulders, allowing Dwight to snuggle into his chest, sighing happily. David kissed the top of head, as Dwight began to drift off. His grip on the other man's shoulder tightened, as he slept. David was not planning on letting him go again, any time soon.
As David's eyes began to droop, he cursed himself internally as he looked at Dwight.
He forgot to compliment his new outfit.