"Thanks," he said as Patrick took his plate, reaching across the table and stacking the empty dishes. He scraped the leftovers - not that there were many - onto one plate in case Ben wanted to refrigerate them but then sat down.
"How difficult what is? Adjusting to all of this?" He was silent for a moment. "I'm still terrified. More so, in fact. Now I know what's to come whereas before... I didn't. I had vague ideas but they weren't- I didn't have proof of how much it hurt."
Dale reached clumsily to cup Patrick's neck, keeping him close. "Nah, it's fine. Ben's here, he'll tuck me in and read me a bedtime story," he told him. "As for your sex life, let me get better and get out of here and you can fuck with my blessing which, coincidentally, negates the tackiness of it."