"Roy, when was the last time you stood up?" Dahlia curled up next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Why?" Roy asked. He awkwardly put his arm around her and stroked her bruised arm.

"You said you felt the blowjob."

"Stop bringing that up."

"But you did."

"Yeah..."

"So there's hope, right?"

"Um..." Roy stared at Dahlia puzzled.

"Like, walking."

"Probably not."

"But you felt something. Surely there's a possibility."

"Dahlia, I don't think you quite understand the meaning of paralysis."

"Yeah but you felt something. Maybe the feeling will come back. Maybe..."

"There is a difference between sensation and movement, you know."

Months ago Roy couldn't move absolutely anything below the waist. He was always in danger of toppling over if bending over too far and it made him feel like he wasn't in control. Gradually he attained more control over his hips and could balance sitting upright. In the grand scheme of things it wasn't much, though Roy thought it was a considerable amount of progress for him.

But each time he attempted standing it always ended up with him sitting disappointedly on the floor thinking of new and creative ways to get back up. His knees would never lock. They'd buckle beneath him and he'd curse and the one time he lay on the floor for those three days because he was simply too depressed to make an effort.

And then Mackenzie got him to get his shit together and put on different clothes and do thinks like a normal human being. And then they had sex.

Dahlia sat cross-legged and faced Roy. She put his head in her hands, running her fingers down his cheeks.

"Let me help you."

"I don't need to be helped."

"You just need to practice walking," Dahlia smiled.

"That's not how it works."

Dahlia frowned. "I love you."

"What?"

"I don't know."

"No, you know."

"No I don't."

"Yeah, you do."

"Will you come with me tomorrow?"

"I assumed you were forcing me on your little adventure."

"It wouldn't have been forced, you would've came anyway."

"You're not wrong." Roy tucked a strand of Dahlia's raven black hair behind her ear.

She really had an interestingly structured face. Her cheekbones curved elegantly and her chin was feminine but strong. He never noticed the freckle above her right eyebrow until now. Her forehead was pronounced and her hairline thick with a small widow's peak. Absolutely Dahlia.

Dahlia took each of Roy's legs and placed them over the side of the bed. She put her hands on his feet and looked up.

"Ready?" She smiled.

"This isn't going to work," Roy said monotone.

"Not to walk or anything just to stand. Just to look out the window."

"Trust me, Dahlia. I would drag my balls through 300 feet of broken glass just to be able to stand up and not fall. Just to look out the window."

"I'm the glass," Dahlia said.

"You're inadvertently calling me a dick."

"Balls."

"Okay, if that's what you prefer."

Dahlia slid her hands up Roy's legs and placed them on his hips.

"I prefer Roy."

"Me too," Roy agreed.

"Okay. Just put your arms around me like this. And then I'm bringing you up, okay?"

"This is gonna be really embarrassing and I'm gonna hate myself and you know it."

"I don't know it," Dahlia smiled. "One, two, three..."

Dahlia stood up, bringing Roy with her. He gasped before his knees gave out and fell back onto the bed.

"Congratulations. I'm going to bed now."

"Wait-" Dahlia began. "One last time?"

Roy rolled his eyes. "Let's go to bed."

"One...two..."

This time she nearly forced him up, grasping his hips till her knuckles were white. Roy stared down at her, his brow creased in astonishment, holding onto her shoulders for dear life.

Dahlia simply smiled.

Roy knew his knees would buckle at any moment. This was horrifying to him. He didn't know where his legs and feet were, it was as if he was floating on air. He began to feel lightheaded. He breathed heavily.

"Are you okay?"

"Yep..."

Dahlia let him drop back onto the bed. She excitingly flung herself onto him, practically shoving her tongue down his throat.

"You did it," she smiled, teeth glimmering.

"We did it."

Roy found himself kissing her back. The desire came over him suddenly. He ran his hands up and down her curvy frame, clawing into her thigh as she bit his neck. Roy grunted.

"Why aren't you smiling?"

"I don't know," Roy said.

They both entwined their beings into a sparking electric intimacy.