2. Nick

Despite what appearances may be at the moment, Nick was not used to waking up in strange beds. So when he rolled to the left, trying to find his phone on the nightstand and instead bumping into a body, there was a moment of genuine blind panic.

He silently freaked out until he recognised his own teethmarks on the guy’s shoulder. Oh. Ok. Oops?

Luke, his name was Luke, was still out for the count, although the look Eva had given him last night meant the guy had consumed an impressive amount of alcohol, so that wasn't very surprising. Shit. He’d gone home with a drunk guy. Shit. He’d gone home with a customer. Because that had gone so well last time.

He gently got out of bed, shuffled around until he found his boxers then wandered into what was hopefully the loo rather than the closet. So he’d fucked a customer. It was ok. It was outside working hours, not done at the Epiphany, and therefore would be fine with Linda. Linda, who had basically pushed them together with the instruction, “Now kiss”.

The bathroom was a mess. It looked like most things had been moved or thrown about in search of something. The bedroom hadn't been the tidiest place, either, he remembered, but there was probably a reason for that. Most people don’t drink enough to warrant a warning from Eva unless they’re trying to drink something away. God knows he knew what that felt like.

He washed his face and scrubbed dried come off of his stomach, smiling to himself despite the itchy, difficult to clean mess. It had been a good night. Luke was hot, And he’d got the impression he was a nice guy too, even if they’d done little more than, well, each other.

He peered past the bathroom door. Luke was still asleep.
Yeah, he looked like a decent guy, hadn't tried anything Nick hadn't started, been perfectly willing to back off when he’d asked. Maybe he could stay for breakfast.

Today was Wednesday, which meant he didn't have to be in College until the afternoon, he realised, which gave him plenty of time to have a nice morning with the guy or freak out at home if Luke kicked him out once he woke up.

He creeped past Luke, who was all sorts of cute as he slowly shifted to the probably still-warm spot that Nick had occupied, and closed the bedroom door behind him to explore the rest of the flat.

His living room was huge – massive soft sofa, a low, dark wood coffee table, a bookcase (he was amused to see some of the lighter Terry Pratchett next to a creased economics text book), a desk with a closed laptop and a few framed pictures. Luke with people who were definitely his parents and a sibling in a garden, toasting the photographer with their glasses; Luke smiling wide, arms around a blonde woman who was looking just off-camera; with the blonde woman again, this time both in business suits, standing back to back, arms crossed, in front of a tall building, looking like a poster for working in the city.

Ah, he thought, here was the reason for the drinking. Luke’s girlfriend, possibly wife. He hadn't seen anything particularly female in the bathroom, no special brands of facewash or moisturiser or shampoo and conditioner, which meant she wasn't here anymore. He wouldn't ask, it wasn't his place.

He turned around to have a look at the rest of the living room and got stuck at the entertainment system. Nick was not ashamed to spend a good five minutes, possibly drooling, in front of the wide, flat-screen TV and the speakers. What he would give to watch Avatar on that screen. Possibly cuddling up to a strong chest and a soft smile, sharing popcorn.

Ah, there were those romantic tendencies. This, this, was why he didn't do one night stands. He didn't know how to separate feelings from sex.

Edo didn't understand, teased him about it even. Edo was capable of going home with someone different every night, going back to his place every so often only to shower and grab a change of clothes. Even Eva had been known to seduce a few of the patrons and follow them home, never to see them again.

Nick couldn't do it, wasn't like that at all. Sex was wonderful, last night was amazing, but he loved the rest of it. The post-coital cuddling, the waking up to someone else in your bed, the sharing smiles over coffee and the kiss before going to work. All of the things American films had taught him to expect. He blamed his mother.
Moving determinedly away from the TV (if he turned it on to check the quality of the picture he was never going to leave), he walked to the kitchen.
The microwave informed him it was past 9am. He grabbed an apple from the fruitbowl and ran it under the tap. There was a radio on the fridge, so he turned it on, careful to keep the sound low to not wake Luke. The kitchen was also really fancy and clean, if a little untidy, in that sort of way that meant it was rarely used to its full capacity. That was a pity, he mused, taking a bite of his apple, because the gleaming top of the stove was begging to be used to cook something ridiculously posh. Lobster or filet mignon or caviar or something. Did caviar even need be cooked?

He opened and shut all the low cupboards to find a bin for his apple core and, after finding it, also went through the cupboards on top because it still counted as exploring, right? He found a coffee pot. A proper Italian coffee pot. Excellent. Which meant that he would probably find coffee grounds somewhere.
Well then, it was clearly a sign from the gods – he had to make coffee. And to make coffee, he had to explore. The gods were definitely telling him it was ok to rifle through cupboards.

He was making coffee when an old Christina Aguilera song came on and it didn't matter how low the sound was, this song always took him back to his first year and his first few nights out, so he danced.

There was a noise from behind him and when he glanced over his shoulder he had to grin.

Luke was standing there, a little pale but still gorgeous, hair damp from a recent shower, barefoot, in jeans and a t-shirt wearing that soft smile he’d been imagining earlier.

Pushing away that trail of thought, he cocked an eyebrow, “See something you like?”

A beautiful bruise was just peeking out from under the collar of Luke’s shirt and Nick turned around to conceal a self-satisfied grin by pouring him a mug of coffee. He knew he had a matching hickey somewhere.

“Very much,” said Luke, pausing only to take a sip, “Can I take you home with me, pretty please?”

Nick was glad that last night’s easy flirting had translated into morning banter.

“You already did!” He reminded him with a laugh.

Luke tried to hide a smile in his mug, but said nothing else.

Nick took a sip of his own, considering the silence. Was it tense? Easy? A little awkward, but not entirely uncomfortable.

“Do you mind that I’m still here?”

“Not at all,” said Luke, sitting at the counter, “Why would I?”

Nick shrugged, taking the seat opposite, “Some people don’t like waking up to last night’s conquests in their kitchens, making themselves at home.”

“Right, well,” he hesitated, “I don’t mind – I don’t. It’s a little weird, but yeah.”

“Yeah.”

Luke shook himself, “Do you want breakfast?”

“I would love some.”

They were very careful not to touch as Luke fried some bacon and put some bread in to toast. Nick made more coffee, wanting to feel useful and disliking how much he wanted to touch.

They began to relax when Luke made a comment about dancing and Nick shimmied up to him. He was right, Luke was a nice guy. They got along well and if they’d met under other circumstances Nick thought they might take it further. But as it was…

Luke sat close to him as they ate, creating a line of warmth up his side that Nick wanted to lean into, but Luke had given no indication of wanting to see him again. He kept to himself, laughing along to an anecdote, answering questions and making Luke smile.

He was talking about the Epiphany when Luke’s phone rang.

“I’ll be right back,” he groaned, “It might be important. I’m actually supposed to be at work.”

Nick felt slightly better. If Luke was skipping work to have breakfast with him instead of kicking him out to get going, it meant he liked him at least a little, right?

“Alright, Phyllis, I’ll be there.”

Seems he spoke too soon.

“That was the assistant,” he said, putting the phone down, “Informing me that I had to come in to the office or else.”

“Bosses on your back?”

“Had a big client meeting yesterday, I think they’re just worried. They don’t generally give juniors those sorts of accounts.”

“ I'm sure you knocked ‘em dead.”

Luke rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah, I hope so. I think so. Well, I gave it my best shot, anyway.” He started walking back towards the bedroom, then, “Hey. Did you want a shower?”

Nick took the quickest shower of his life and came out of the bathroom, already dressed, to find Luke attempting to tie his tie. He was failing miserably, going through the motions slowly.

“Years of uniforms and I still can’t do it right,” he sighed, staring at the mirror.

Nick walked up to him, put a hand on his arm, “Stop struggling, I'll do it.”

Luke let his arms fall by his sides.

Nick concentrated on the steps, not Luke’s chest rising and falling with each breath, or his mouth, so close, it would be easy to just push up and…

“There you go. It's really not that hard.”

The tie was tied, but Nick hadn't let go. It wasn't fair. He’d found a guy who seemed decent and he’d done the stupid thing of sleeping with him without getting to know him. He couldn't have known, but still.

Luke was leaning down now and all he would have to do was tilt his head up to kiss him.

Luke’s phone rang again.

Nick looked away and let go of his tie. He went back to the kitchen, trying to find his shoes, wherever it was he’d kicked them off to last night.

They kept up polite chatter as they left the flat and rode down in the lift, the tips of Luke’s ears going slightly pink. Nick had to hide a smirk at the thought of Luke thinking of him every time he used it.

“This is a strange question,” he turned to Luke as they stood outside his building, “but where are we? Specifically in relation to South Kensington.”

“You want the tube from that stop,” Luke pointed, “but the one to my office is this way.”

Nick nodded and smiled awkwardly.
How does one say goodbye to last night's conquest?
Nick stuck a hand out, not knowing what else to do, but Luke took it.

“Ok. Well, nice meeting you, I guess?”

“Likewise,” said Luke, biting his lip, “Say hi to Edo for me, yeah?”

Nick nodded again. This was getting painfully awkward, so he gave a stupid little wave and began to walk towards the tube.

“Hey Nick!”

He turned around, hands in his pockets, “Yeah?”

Luke moved his briefcase from one hand to the other.

“What are you doing tonight?”

Nick shrugged. ‘Tonight’ didn't mean anything serious, it meant ‘come over again’, not ‘let’s go out’. “Working.”

“Oh. Ok.” Luke sounded disappointed. Wait a minute. This was good. “See you around?”

Nick jogged back to Luke, grabbed his tie and pulled him down for a kiss, murmuring, “I will definitely be seeing you around.”

*****

Work flew by, but the minute he reached the Epiphany he knew it was going to be a long night of well-meaning teasing.

“So,” said Edo, hooking up a barrel of drink to the tap, “Out of ten, my man Luke is what, an eleven?”

Nick polished the counter slightly more vigorously than he usually would, “ I'm not going to talk about it.”

“That bad, huh?” Eva sounded commiserating, but he could see the smile she was trying to hide as she sat, slicing lemons.

He stuck his tongue out at her, “The opposite, actually. So good.”

“I knew it!” Edo pumped a fist in the air.

Eva cooed at him, “You two were so cute.”

“You seeing him again?” Asked Bo, stacking up glasses on the other side of the bar.

“I hope so. I think so. We exchanged numbers.”

“Nick, my boy,” said Edo, putting an arm around him, “You’re going to be so good for him, I can’t even tell you. Don’t let his neuroses scare you off.”

Eva clearly didn't think she’d be heard, but Nick heard her mutter, “Don’t let your neuroses scare you off either.”