Rexer

Paul smiled. "So, uh... I guess you could do with a new drink then." Jake blinked at him, and Paul found himself faltering. "Can I buy you a drink?" he forced himself to ask.

"Ok." Jake agreed with a quirk of his lips. "If I can buy you one."

Paul stopped. Was Jake flirting with him?

Jake dumped the wet towels into the bin and then eyed him. "How about a dance first?" he asked.

And just like that, Paul's evening was looking up.

Paul followed Jake back down the narrow passage and back into the main room of the bar.

Jake looked over his shoulder at him, his eyes hard to read.

Was he shy? Regretting asking Paul to dance?

Paul didn't want to believe that. Jake wouldn't have asked if he didn't want to. Surely...

And then Jake was reaching out a hand behind him; reaching his hand out to Paul.

Paul hesitated a moment, and Jake stopped still in amongst the crowd.

They felt like an island. Paul wasn't sure he could have told anyone anything about anything else going on in the room at all. It was him and Jake. And there was nothing else.

He laced his fingers with Jake's, saw Jake's mouth curl into a smile.

And Jake led him on towards the dance floor.

There was something obnoxious and modern playing. It didn't much appeal to Paul, but he didn't care. He was next to Jake, holding Jake's hand, watching Jake smile at him. For that, he'd listen to anything.

He was still glad that it wasn't too loud, though.

There were a few bodies moving around them, arms flying and figures jumping.

Jake pulled him past them, to a darker spot. A quieter spot.

Jake turned to him, and placed Paul's arms around his waist. Then he reached up and smoothed Paul's collar intently for a moment.

Paul let him, sure than Jake would look up when he was ready.

Jake's gaze caressed his chest first, travelled over his shoulders, up his throat, to his lips... and then Jake looked him in the eye.

"Hi." Paul found himself saying.

Jake giggled, his eyes laughing with his mouth. Paul felt pounds lighter. "Hi." Jake finally responded, dropping his gaze for a moment again.

They were moving a little. Not moving to the music or the rapid beat. Just swaying together, holding on. Paul had never danced like this before. Kind of a slow dance, but different. It didn't seem to matter what the music was. He doubted that music was even necessary at all.

"So. Ex-boyfriend called Rex, huh?" Paul asked, not entirely sure what the response would be.

"Yeah," Jake answered, giving him a slightly naughty smile and a glance through his lashes. "It was over before it began, really. I kinda just... didn't tell people when the breakup actually happened. I never thought it would matter."

"I can't believe you actually know someone called Rex." Paul couldn't help but still be flabbergasted by this. There couldn't be many of them really. Could there?

"Not his real name. He was a Mark. Mark Bolend." Paul blinked.

"But you called him Rex?"

"Everyone did. He loved the band. T-Rex. You know? And had basically the same name. So he was Rex."

"Huh."

Jake just laughed again. "I went for the promotion." He suddenly announced.

"You did?" Paul felt something tight and hot swell inside his chest.

"Yeah." Jake looked happy, bright.

"I'm really proud of you." Jake shrugged and Paul shook his head. "I'm serious, Jake. I'm really, really proud of you. You- you're doing so well."

Jake shrugged again, looking at his shoulder. "Yeah. I've come a long way." He agreed quietly, and then sighed. "I need to thank you." He looked up into Paul's eyes, his expression solemn. "I don't know if I ever would have made it to see a doctor at all if you hadn't come. And then you drove me around and called... It really meant something."

Paul had warm shivers over his skin. He wondered if Jake could feel them too. "I was glad to do it."

"But I wanted to thank you all the same. I couldn't at the time, but..."

"No, I understand. It was... a rough patch. And I know part of that was my fault, so I want to apologise. I was a real prick."

Jake looked like he was laughing silently for a moment, then shrugged.

"I- I've missed you." Paul dared to tell him. "I've been- jealous since you came back to work."

"I-" Jake swallowed and then looked away. "I hope you understand. I'm sorry about ignoring your calls. And then not talking to you. I just... needed some time... I had things to work through... I needed-"

"I understand. I do." Paul agreed. "But I've been jealous all the same."

Jake looked shyly pleased, and offered Paul another smile. "Jealous?" Jake finally asked after they'd been swaying together still for a while. He asked like he couldn't quite believe it.

"Yeah. I really like you, Jake." Paul couldn't help but feel Jake's body against his, couldn't help but pay attention to his warmth. "I was afraid I'd blown all my chances being such an idiot. And then... you've been so much more outgoing. Having lunch with people, hanging out with people I didn't even know you knew. And I was jealous."

Jake watched his collar again. Paul might have thought he was discomfited by this, but that wasn't the vibe he got from him. Jake did not seem unhappy about this. A little embarrassed maybe, but not upset.

"I thought maybe you'd join us." Jake finally said softly.

"I think I was too jealous to want to share you." Paul admitted. "And... I wasn't sure you'd... forgiven me, I guess."

Jake smiled. "And here I was thinking maybe you only liked me when I was... crazy."

"Honey," Paul absolutely ached for him inside. Jake flicked his gaze away and Paul lifted one of his hands to tip Jake's chin up. To make him look at him. "Jake. You've never been crazy. You're not crazy. You're you. Understand? You've just gone through a rough patch. That's all. And I've always liked you. I think that's why I was such a prick to you. I was still crazy about you, even when I thought... well. When I thought something was really off. You're special, Jake. I can't understand how I worked with you for so long without ever really noticing how special."

Jake gave him a wavering smile and a shrug. "I do try to hide my amazingness." He said, with an attempt at levity.

Paul laughed. "You make everyone jealous when you don't." He was aware that Jake was holding onto him tighter, than Jake's eyes were shinier than before. He leant in as well, putting their heads much closer together. Jake's eyes fluttered closed and then he rested his forehead against Paul's chest, right near the base of his neck. "I'm serious." Paul murmured. And he was.

Jake seemed to melt against him. Paul closed his eyes as well, breathing Jake in and savouring the feel of them pressed together.

"I missed you so much." Paul didn't mean to speak out loud.

"I missed you too." He wasn't even sure he'd heard it, but there was the hot wash of breath against his chest. The soft brush of lips against his skin.

Paul went still. Watched Jake raise his eyes to his.

"I, uh... I got your shirt all wet too." Jake's voice sounded lower than normal.

Paul laughed. "I'm really not too worried about that." He assured Jake. "Just let me know if you want to take me up on that drink."

Jake smiled, looking down at his shirt, and then raised his gaze back to Paul's.

"Would it be too forward of me to just tell you to take me home with you?"

Paul felt his heart lurch. "Forward in the best way possible," he admitted quietly.

Jake looked up at him and smiled happily. "Um. So... now?"

Paul grinned at him. "In just a minute," he assured Jake, and then leaned in to kiss him.

*****

Jake's fingers were wound through his and Jake was sending him hungry looks. If the taxi driver would have given them even a few moments without glancing at them in the mirror, Paul would have claimed those soft pink lips again.

Paul's heart was pounding. He couldn't believe it. Finally, after all these months, Jake was coming home with him.

He paid the taxi driver too much. He didn't care. Jake was already getting out of the car and he wasn't going to hang around for change.

Paul was grabbing Jake's hand and hurrying up the garden path and fumbling for his keys before the taxi had even pulled away.

He let them into the house, shut the door, and then looked at Jake studying the hallway and the lounge room.

Paul winced. The rooms were presentable, but not clean and neat and spick and span like Jake's home would be.

He grabbed Jake and kissed him again to distract him. Jake giggled and Paul ended up smiling too. Jake obviously knew that the kissing was an attempt to divert his attention...

But the kissing part was good.

Neither of them pulled away, and Paul ended up pulling Jake with him, kissing him as he pulled him along with him towards his bedroom, reaching to slide a hand up Jake's back, reaching to pull his hips closer.

The bounced off a couple of walls along the way, but Jake would only giggle a little into his mouth, then kiss him more firmly again and his fingers pulling on Paul's shirt or sliding into Paul's hair.

Paul could cope with that.

He pinned Jake against his bedroom door and kissed him hard, pressing his body flush against Jake's for a moment, before discovering that one of the buttons on the cuff of his shirt was stuck in one of Jake's belt loops and he couldn't reach out to open it and let them in.

They both laughed and spent a few moments separating themselves... and then Paul opened the door.

Paul cringed as they entered . It was worse than he'd thought. But he'd been in such a tearing hurry, and no way no way no way had he expected to have any company tonight.

"I'm sorry, it's such a mess," he apologised, moving to pick up a couple of the shirts he'd tried on and then discarded before running from the house. He hung them over the back of the chair rather than leave them on the end of his bed, realised there was nothing he could do about the items scattered on the top of his drawers. "I was late and I didn't expect for-"

"That's ok," Jake said, and he sounded firm; sounded sincere.

Paul looked at him, found Jake watching him. Watching him like there was nothing else in the world he'd rather be looking at.

He wasn't sure anyone had ever looked at him like that before.

Paul stared back at Jake. Jake, who was letting his jacket slide off his shoulders with a sinuous roll of his torso and letting it fall to the ground.

Jake's fingers moved to his shirt. He continued unbuttoning it, let it fall open. All the time watching Paul with those beautiful, needy eyes.

Paul hungrily watched his chest and belly appear, his attention caught by the trail of hair heading south from Jake's belly button.

The little ripple of Jake's stomach brought his attention back to Jake's expression. He'd given a little giggle, and the smile was still on his face. His cheeks were pink, and Paul had to smile back at him.

Jake shrugged the shirt from his shoulders, let it slide down his arms.

Paul watched him hold the shirt in one hand, hanging to the ground. For a moment he thought Jake had frozen there, but then Jake tremored slightly. Then his fingers opened and he dropped the shirt to the floor.

The shirt fell in a softly crumpled heap, half on Jake's jacket. Paul stared at the items of clothing for a moment, trying to make sense of it.

Surely Jake wasn't...?

Paul looked at him, absorbed Jake's pink cheeks, his clenched fist, his determined look and set jaw. The faraway look in Jake's eyes. And his heart melted.

Jake turned his face up to be kissed as Paul swooped on him, relaxed against Paul's chest.

"Jake," Paul murmured to him, running his fingers down Jake's back and feeling him shiver slightly.

He kissed his forehead, his nose, his mouth, lingered there for a moment, tasting Jake and fighting the urge to give in to his hunger for him entirely. But there was something else he needed to do.

Jake's breathing was sharp as he moved lower, kissing the line of Jake's throat, then each collarbone. He move onto his knees and pressed his lips and nose to Jake's sternum. Jake moved his hands, rested one on Paul's shoulder and slid the fingers of the other into his hair.

A quick look up confirmed that Jake's eyes were closed, and Paul smiled against his soft, warm, skin, and moved his mouth lower.

Jake huffed a breath as if he might giggle when Paul smoothed his lips over his stomach, and then stilled apart from a tremor of expectation when Paul reached the waist of his trousers.

Paul smiled again, drew back slightly from Jake's warm skin.

Jake opened his eyes and looked down at him, his expression turning from soft and hungry to puzzled as Paul reached for the shirt and jacket and picked them up.

Paul brushed a kiss over Jake's open mouth as he stood up. and then stepped away, shaking out the shirt.

"What-" Jake started softly, and then hesitated. Paul finished hanging the shirt and jacket on a spare coat hanger, then turned back to find Jake watching him with moist eyes.

"Paul, I'm trying to be normal here," Jake said with a half laugh. Paul supposed he had been kind of obvious, but then Jake wiped his eyes.

Paul felt something tighten in his chest, moved to wrap Jake in his arms and kiss him before Jake could go anywhere.

Jake held him back tightly and Paul tried to convey everything he felt in another soft kiss.

"Normal's overrated." Paul finally murmured, stroking his fingers down Jake's back.

Jake looked up at him with watery eyes and then grinned.

He gave a half giggle as two tears slipped down his cheeks.

And Paul caught them before they fell.