"It doesn't bother me," he said, too quick for anyone to mistake it for the truth. Obviously he didn't like the idea of someone violently attacking the love of his life, but he didn't want to add this to the very long list of things Dean wanted to do but was willing to forego for his sake. Hudson might do it and might never complain about it, but how long could a list like that really be before a relationship buckled under the weight of it?

"Do these hurt?" he asked, gently wrapping his hand around the arch of Hudson's foot after setting his shoe down.

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