Unexpected love

"Come on," a soft, feminine voice said encouragingly. Ten turned from staring at Johnny's back, barely able to tear his gaze from the man who was walking away from him and towards his father.

The woman who smiled at him was beautiful, and her smile was full of warmth. "Who are you?" he asked.

She smiled, flashing even white teeth. "My name is Irene." Ten blinked, unable to do much else. This beautiful woman was Johnny's assistant? "Don't judge me by looks, Ten. I can be an evil bitch when I need to be," she informed him softly. The way she smiled and the friendly tone of her voice made it difficult to believe.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. His own expression was unguarded, and it would have been possible for a near-sighted man to see the pain in his eyes.

"I'm here on business. We're about to pull the carpet out from under your father's feet," she told him, smiling as if she was talking about the weather. "Come on," she took his arm and started to follow after Johnny, pulling Ten with her.

He tried to drag his feet, but her grip tightened on his arm, making escape impossible. "I don't want to go. I'm not needed there-"

"On the contrary, you're very important." Ten's head whipped around as Jay came up on his other side and took his other arm. His cousin winked at him. "Hey, Ten. Sorry I'm late for the party. Hope I didn't miss your big moment."

Ten shook his head, his shoulders drooping as he was lead into the house and towards the study. "He said 'no'."

"He didn't explain?" Jay asked, looking confused. He looked at Irene, and she shook her head. He sighed. "What an ass."

"Yes," Irene agreed with a nod. They entered the study in time to see the head of the Leechaiyapornkul family take his seat behind his desk. Jay let go of Ten's arm to shut the study door, and Irene led the young man to one of the empty seats across from his father. She sat down in the chair next to him, and Jay and Johnny took up positions behind either chair, Jay behind Irene, Johnny behind Ten.

"Well, well. Isn't this a happy gathering?" Mr. Leechaiyapornkul asked, looking quite pleased with himself. "I assume my son presented you with a proposal, Seo?"
"Of course," Johnny answered pleasantly.

"And?" The old man was smug already, and under the false assumption that he had played Johnny well.

"And we've declined the offer, Mr. Leechaiyapornkul," Johnny replied. The smirk left the old man's face, and he turned to his son with an incredulous glare. "You didn't misunderstand my intentions, Mr. Leechaiyapornkul, simply my will to succeed how -I- see fit."

If Leechaiyapornkul hadn't already been sitting, he would have fallen backwards into his chair. As it was, he slumped and, for the first time in Ten's memory, looked defeated. "What do you want?"

"Wrong question, Mr. Leechaiyapornkul," Irene answered, taking the reins from Johnny. "The question you want to ask is: what are we going to do? The answer is simple. We're taking your company and making it an affiliate of ours. We will not assume direct control."

Johnny smirked and took the ball back into his court. "Instead, we will assign a new president and vice president, and we'll put our man in as Chairman of the Board of Directors. What arguments there may have been will be waylaid by the fact that we're not taking the company out of Leechaiyapornkul hands."

"Instead," Irene was speaking once again, "We'll be placing control of the company in another generation of Leechaiyapornkuls."

"Namely, your youngest nephew and your son," Johnny finished. He grinned. "Jay will take over the day-to-day running of the company, with the assistance of one of our top people. Ten will continue his education, in whatever field he desires, and then he may fulfill any position within the company that he wants. -If- he wants. If he should wish to pursue another career, an allowance from Leechaiyapornkul Corp will see to his education until he has a stable income of his own, at which point he will continue to draw a smaller amount from his share of the stock."

"The paperwork will be delivered to your office tomorrow, Mr. Leechaiyapornkul. We suggest that you relinquish control of the company peacably. At this point, we're still playing what -we- consider to be nice-ball. If you don't cooperate, we will not hesitate to play hard-ball." Irene's eyes had hardened, and her tone was cold and professional. "Understood?"

Ten stared as his father slowly nodded in acceptance. Twenty years of abuse and control, and his father was defeated in five minutes. It didn't seem real, somehow. He turned to look up at Johnny, but the older man was already heading towards the door.

"Ten" Irene's voice pulled his gaze from Johnny. "The paperwork that you and your cousin will need to go over will be available in our office tomorrow morning." She stood up and held out her hand. "For now, though, why don't you show me around this party and introduce me to some possible new clients?"

He rose to his feet, accepted her hand, and wrapped it around his arm. "Of course, Miss Irene," he smiled tightly.

The smile she returned to him was reassuring and sympathetic. The one she turned to Jay was challenging. "Jay, why don't you come along and keep us company? I don't trust you to wander by yourself. You might get lost."

Jay rolled his eyes and preceded them from the room. Conversation was put on hold until they reached the conservatory, which would take them out to the back lawn. Ten stopped. "That was too easy."

Irene, smile gone, shook her head in disagreement. "No, it wasn't. You just saw the end product of eighteen hour days, seven day work-weeks for a two-year period."

"Why did he do this?" he asked, sounding as uncertain as he felt. "Why did he give it to us?"

She gave him a considering look, and then nodded. "Come with me." She moved back through the house to the front door. The valet seemed to recognize her, and they only had to wait a moment for her car to be brought around. Uninvited, but understanding that he wasn't allowed to be alone with his uncle, Jay followed.

^*^*^*^*^

"Welcome to Johnny's hobby-shop," Irene said sarcastically as they pulled into the parking garage of a tall office building. "You will notice that this building is half the size of your father's company. The reason for that is because the actual brunt of the business is split between three bases of operation. Johnny runs one, and his two partners run separate offices on the east and west sides of the country. We're too far to the east to be considered in the 'middle' of them, but we did our best when choosing a site that would be productive and central."

"I thought Johnny ran the show alone," Jay commented from the backseat. The car stopped as Irene waved at a guard and a gate opened to let them into the interior of the garage.

"He runs this company, and is allowed to do with it as he wants. What they share in common is the funding and the friendship of the three presidents. Johnny started all three businesses, and he signed over a third to each of his partners when they graduated from college."

"Why?" Ten asked, more confused than ever. "If he keeps giving away everything he buys, he's going to end up with nothing."

"Not quite. Johnny could have bought your father's company outright, and it wouldn't have put more than a small dent in his fortune. He's an eccentric rich-boy. However, his goal wasn't the company, something I only learned recently myself."

"What was his 'goal'?" Ten asked. Irene didn't answer. She parked the car near an elevator, and they got out. Jay and Ten followed her and watched as she took a key out and put it into a keyhole on the elevator.

She turned and smiled at Ten. "Access to the eighteenth floor is restricted to Johnny, his partners, and me. It's nothing more than a huge, empty floor, but it's where Johnny keeps his private records."

"Why are we-" Ten stopped his question as Irene held up a hand to ward it off. He subsided to the back of the car as the elevator started it's ascent. The ride to the eighteenth floor was quick and uneventful, and the men followed Irene out of the elevator.

"Jay, don't touch anything. Have a seat and I'll come back and entertain you after I've shown Ten what he needs to see."

"Whatever," Jay muttered, dropping into the nearest chair. It was sitting in the middle of an empty space. The floor resembled an empty floor of a warehouse, and Ten was reminded of where he'd woken up the day before.

"This way, Ten" Irene directed, walking towards a bank of windows across from the elevator. She turned let around a support column, and on the far wall, Ten could see a stack of binders and notebooks set on the floor. "Just start looking, Ten. There's no order there, only obsession.
You want to understand Johnny? That's the biggest clue you're ever going to receive."

"Thank you," he said quietly, already walking forward.

The floor was swept, but he could tell the spot where someone else sat, either recently or often. All of the binders were placed around a circle, leaving a spot in the middle. There was even a coffee mug on the edge of the circle. Ten stepped over a short stack of papers and sat down, crossing his legs Indian-style.

^*^*^*^*^

Hours later, as the waning sun disappeared behind skyscrapers and apartment buildings, Irene reappeared baring a paper sack and cup. "Hungry yet?" she asked.

Ten looked up, eyes slightly blurred from hours of reading and gazing at black on white.

"Thanks." There was an ink-smudge on his cheek and when he held out his hand, there was more ink on his fingerprints.

Irene smiled and handed him the cup and sack. "Turkey on wheat and decaf. I didn't know what you liked, so I hazarded a guess."

Ten sat the items down and turned back to pull a notebook out of a pile. He flipped a couple of pages and held it up for Irene. "Johnny knows."

"Ham and swiss on rye, huh?" She smiled awkwardly. "Do you have questions?"

"He did everything for me?" Ten asked. His voice said he already knew the answer, so Irene didn't bother to respond. Ten sighed and shifted so that he could pull his knees to his chest.

"Destiny's a bitch and Fate is fickle."

"He never planned on you coming into the picture until after the take-over. He wanted-"
Ten cut her off. "-Wanted to court me. How do you tell someone you meet on your balcony that you've been obsessed with them for two and a half years?"

"If you're Johnny, you don't. You try to shift everything around until the things you don't want to explain are hidden away."

"Hidden away on the eigtheenth floor, where only four people have a key to get in," Ten murmured softly. "You know, he told me he loved me, but never once in any of this... junk, does he say he loves me. Why is that?"

"He said the words when you needed to hear them, but to Johnny, words are nothing more than a trap that can hold the speaker as easily as the listener. He doesn't believe in words like that.
He can say them, he knows what they mean and how they're used, and he's capable of it, but Johnny's history with relationships is bad, to say the least."

"So, he meant it, but he didn't really believe in it?" Ten groaned in frustration. "I don't understand."

"And that is the key to understanding," Irene said sagely. "Johnny doesn't even understand himself. He created a list of rules to keep himself in line, to keep himself as true to his emotions as he could, all the while trying to deny that he had emotions. He used to seduce the most sophisticated and experienced of women, but he turns around and gets sucked in by a virgin. And not only a virgin, but a male one.

You're everything in his life that he never planned on, and everything that he needs. He grumbled about your constant grumbling, but then he gets this smile that, to me, says he doesn't mind the questions because he gets to 'reassure' you."

He lifted his head to look up at her through his lashes. "What do I do now?" he asked.

"You do whatever you want to do. Use your key and go home to the idiot; take the key and lease from me to the back-up apartment Johnny had me set up in case you hated him and never wanted to see him again; go stay with Jay, who's being less of an asshole today because he feels guilty. The only option that's out is going to your father's house, unless you want to cause some damage to the property, in which case I would recommend contracting that work out to the professionals."

That earned her a small smile from him. "Anything, huh?" he questioned. She nodded slowly, deliberately. He looked away for a moment, and when he turned back to her, he was serious, face hard.

It was the first glimpse Irene had had of the man that Johnny had fallen in love with, and the change that the confidence he was now exuding made was astonishing. It would be considered frightening to someone who hadn't spent years working for Johnny Seo, but as it was, Irene could feel a chill down her spine.

He stood up, back straight and shoulders squared. "Where is he?" he asked.
Irene frowned. "Home, Id' assume."

"Then have the car brought around, Irene" he flashed her a smile reminiscent of Johnny's cocky grin.

Maybe, she though as she watched him step over the piles of stuff, just maybe Ten would be less of a tool to make Johnny happy and more of a match for him. It would be an interesting thing to keep track of.

^*^*^*^*^

The sun had diseappared an hour ago, and even the shadow of day that hovered on the horizon was gone. Johnny stood looking out as the city still glowed from artificial illumination of streetlights and interior lighint that glowed through windows.

Instead of the living room balcony where he had 'met' Ten on Saturday night, Johnny was taking advantage of the balcony outside his bedroom. It was around the corner from the other, one of the luxuries of a corner apartment, besides the windows. He had tried to escape the memories of Ten that hung in his apartment, and the bedroom balcony was the only place Ten hadn't been.

He had retreated back to the apartment as soon as he'd dealt with the last of the paperwork at the office. In his original plan, he'd imagined spending the afternoon with Ten. Now all he had to keep himself company was the guilt and remorse and memories.

It wasn't that he had given up; Johnny Seo never backed down. His problem was an uncertainty of how to proceed. He couldn't use normal tactics on Ten. They would probably work, Johnny had great confidence in his skill, but he didn't want to trivialize his feelings for Ten by treating him like everyone else.

He had already broken most of his rules. In fact, he'd broken the most important one two and a half years ago when he'd fallen in love. Since then, he'd slowly been checking them off of his private list. It had been liberating at the time, to see how easy he could control the slow changing of his life. However, if that afternoon had shown him anything, it was that he had no control, and he never had.

From the beginning, everything he had done had been built around the idea of what would be best for Ten, what he would like, and Johnny had even hired investigators to delve further than he was personally able. Never to the extent of invading his personal space, but enough that Johnny could predict his whims and desires, and could make them happen.

Which is where he had failed. Irene had been correct when she told him he should tell Ten the truth. One of the things Ten had never had was control over his own life, and all Johnny had done was recreate that in a more pleasant environment. He hadn't made it better; he hadn't given Ten all the information he needed to make a real decision about their relationship.

Johnny was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of the apartment door slamming. He turned around. Ten had a key, and Irene had managed once before to get the guard to unlock the door, but making a ruckus like that wasn't either one's style.

Whoever his unexpected guest was, he, or she, wanted his attention. Johnny walked back into the bedroom, pausing a moment to shut the door to the balcony. If his guest wanted his attention, Johnny would give it.

He walked down the hallway and paused. He could see into most of the kitchen, into the entryway, and into the living room, and he didn't see anyone. He turned around, expecting to see someone creeping up behind him, but there was no one there, either.

"Very funny. If you've been hired by Leechaiyapornkul to harm me, I'll offer you twice as much as he gave you."

"And if it's personal?" a low, familiar voice asked from the direction of the balcony. He turned his head and saw that the sliding doors were open, and the wind was blowing the curtains into the room. He stepped slowly in that direction.

Ten was leaning on the railing, facing out into the night. Johnny stepped up beside him and stood silently, staring at the back of the younger man's head.

"Did I break your heart today, Johnny?" Ten asked softly. Johnny opened his mouth to reply, but Ten forestalled anything he could have said. "And don't tell me what you think I want to hear. I just want the truth from you, Johnny. Just honesty. Did I hurt you today?"

There was a moment's silence between them, and then Johnny leaned against the railing next to Ten, copying his pose. "No. You didn't hurt me."

He expected to see some kind of defeat settle over Ten, or a sign that would indicate that he'd managed to hurt his lover again, but Ten simply nodded and kept looking steadily into the night. "Funny, isn't it?" he said after a pause. "I try and lash out at you purposely, and you're not hurt, and yet I seem to feel pain from your every attempt to protect me from such a thing."

That did hurt. Johnny clenched his jaw, but didn't say anything in rebuttal. There was nothing to say to defend himself from the truth, after all.

"You want me?" Ten asked, voice eerily indifferent.

"Yes," Johnny answered unhesitantly..

"You love me?"

"Yes."

"I'm not playing 'poor little rich boy' anymore. You've given me a chance I've never had before, and I'm taking it for all it's worth."

Johnny scowled. "I'm glad I wa-"

"Shut up, Johnny. In the past five days, I've spent nearly ten hours wandering aimlessly in your apartment, twelve hours as my cousin's hostage, and another twelve hours believing my father's prattle about how, exactly, you were using me. And do you know what conclusion I've reached? Despite everything else, you've still managed to make me feel like there might actually be someone out there who can love me like I thought you did."

Johnny looked at him sharply, but Ten's gaze stopped him. There was a look of sadness and determination on Ten's face as he continued. "You didn't love me. You didn't know me. And no amount of binders and lists and fact sheets can change that. You might be able to tell me what foods I like and what movies I've seen, but you don't truly know who I am. All you've seen is the mold my father built for me. Do you know how I know you didn't know me?"

"No," Johnny answered. Denial seemed pointless.

"I know because if you knew me, knew the person I truly was, you would have told me the whole story from the beginning. I wouldn't have had to find out from my father and cousin that you've known me, or at least of me, for years, and I wouldn't have had to learn from your assistant that you weren't using me to get to my father, but using my father and his company to get to me. There wouldn't have been a need for me to go through two and a half years of my life in the vain hope that I could understand -why- you did it all."

He looked away and took a deep breath before continuing. "In all truth, I don't think I'll ever understand. But you give me hope, Johnny. You give me hope that maybe I'm not the only one that has some thinking to do. Maybe this last half-week has gotten to you, too. In the end... in the end, you had to have learned something."

It wasn't possible for Johnny's frown to deepen, but it was possible for the reason behind it to change. It went from being a frown of anger and upset to one of confusion. "What do you mean?"

Ten shrugged and tilted his face up to the sky. "In the end, you left me to make my own choice.
Gave me everything I needed to make a wise one, too. You knew she'd show me, didn't you?"

Johnny winced. "The only thing I knew this morning was that I'd made too many mistakes." He turned his back to the railing, his elbows supporting him as he leaned back. "The only thing I wanted, the whole purpose was-" he stopped and shook his head.

"To make me happy," Ten filled in. He turned to look at Johnny again. "You did. I've been happier since Saturday night than I can ever recall being in my life."

"I was trying for something a little more long-term," Johnny grumbled. They stood without talking for several minutes, the quiet sound of the traffic reaching their ears. Ten returned to his scrutiny of the skyline, and Johnny stared in misery at the spot above the glass sliding doors.
Finally, he closed his eyes. "I almost agreed this morning."

"Hm?" Ten murmured. Johnny could hear him shift.

"When you gave me a choice of you or your father's company. I almost said 'yes'," he admitted.

"Why didn't you?" the younger man asked.

"Because I wasn't doing it for the company. If I had said yes, you would have ended up under your father's control again, sooner or later," Johnny said matter-of-factly.

"You bastard," Ten said harshly, stunning Johnny into opening his eyes. Ten glared at him. "You can stand there and say that to me? If you had accepted, I would have ended up with you. I would have thought that I actually meant more than a business deal and I would have followed you anywhere. As it is, you broke my heart just so you could hand me a chunk of commerce, as if that truly was worth anything to me. You chose to follow through, regardless of what I would think about it." He shoved away from the railing. "Screw this."

"Where are you going?" Johnny asked, following Ten into the apartment. Ten spun and glared at him.

"It doesn't matter, does it? Anywhere away from you. I came here hoping for a sign that we could work. That a relationship between you and I could work. I love you, as little as that may seem to you. I love you more than a company, more than my own pride. But you can't just stop, can you? Rule number three, don't explain yourself to anyone. Don't give answers that don't suit your own purpose, don't give anyone else control over you."

Johnny stood and watched as Ten resumed his path to the door. The younger man stopped, hand on the knob, knob half turned.

"If you love me, Johnny, really truly love me, you'll figure it out. And if you don't, well. If you don't, I guess it just means that I was right when I said that you didn't. I came here thinking that you might love me now. Pretty stupid. Which rule is it that says that if you do say 'I love you', you can't mean it?"

"Number eighteen," Johnny answered dully, eyes on the ground.

There was silence between them for a moment and then the sound of the door opening. "In the end, you only broke ten of your rules for me. For a while, I thought it might have been more, but it only figures. Why spend all of that effort on someone who didn't need those tricks? You could have crooked your finger after the first night, and I would have come running. Sat at your feet like a dog while you pushed mountains for me." His voice was thick with self-loathing.

"I'm sorry," Johnny whispered. He closed his eyes, unable to face the look on Ten's face anymore. Misery seemed to weigh heavy on his whole body and his shoulder's slumped.

"You're going to let go that easily?" Ten asked, sounding surprised. Johnny opened his eyes and stared at him in confusion. "I thought you weren't a quitter, Johnny. I thought you always got everything you went after, but this is all the resistance you're going to put up? Is it that you've already gotten what you want from me and I'm no longer something you need or want? Or is there another reason you're letting go so easily?"

Johnny's surprise increased ten-fold. "Who the hell are you?" This was a side of Ten he'd never seen. He'd seen the other man weak, and he thought he'd seen him weak, but this new persona was something Johnny wasn't equipped to deal with.

"I'm my father's son. I'm the guy you thought you were in love with. Don't you remember?" He sounded amused and angry at the same time. "Of course not. We've already had this discussion and realized that you knew nearly nothing about me, right?"

When had he lost the advantage? How did everything suddenly turn against him like this? He crossed his arms over his chest. There was something he was missing, something amiss in all of this that didn't add up, and he was starting to think that it was the key.

"I don't know why I bothered," Ten said patronizingly, turning away.

That's what it was. "Because I gave you hope, remember?" Johnny said, eyes narrowing. "And you wouldn't have come here if you just wanted to tell me off."

"You think?" Ten said harshly, his back still to Johnny. "You're an idiot."

"I'm not an idiot. Actually, my IQ is the highest my family has ever seen and I'm smart enough to own my own company and your father's. I would say that I'm rather smart."

"I didn't-"

"I know," Johnny interrupted softly. "You didn't mean that." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I know I was an idiot about not telling you. But once I'd taken that road, I didn't leave myself room for any other options, and I'm sorry that you got hurt by my stubbornness. In the end, I did the best I could, and gave you the option. You obviously have all the information you need to make a choice now."

There was silence. Ten didn't say anything, and Johnny waited only a minute before he continued softly.

"I'd like to get a chance to know you right, Ten. This side of you, the sides I've already seen. I'll stand by the fact that I love you, but if you have doubts, then give me a chance to know you better. You don't have to be the way you think I want you to be, you don't have to live up to anyone's expectations. I just want you to be happy, and hopefully, to be a part of your happiness."

"You're such a bastard," Ten muttered. His voice lacked heat and conviction, and Johnny stepped forward. Ten turned suddenly, eyes sparkling with unshed tears. "Why couldn't you just be the person I thought you were? Why all this bullshit? I don't want my father's company, and I don't want anything else you can give me. I want the last two days back! I want to go back to thinking that someone loves me enough to just be with me." Johnny stepped forward to comfort him, seeing his opening, but Ten held a hand up. "Don't even think about it. I don't want you, Johnny. I don't want your lies. Go back to whatever you were doing before you found me on your balcony, because I'm done playing this game."

Johnny's mouth gaped as he watched Ten turn and stalk out of the apartment.

Things weren't supposed to go like that.

^*^*^*^*^

"Damn it! Why?" Ten yelled, looking up. His view of the sky was blocked by the buildings on either side of the street, but it was up there and that was good enough. He kicked the tire that was in the parking spot he'd last seen his car and cursed again.

He turned and leaned back against the vehicle, arms crossed over his chest. Nothing had worked out like it was supposed to that day. It had been one thing after another. And thinking back, it had been that way since Johnny had found him on the balcony.

A moment later, another body settled beside him and held out a key. "It makes it easier to leave," Johnny said quietly. Ten took the key from him with a frown. "They tow it if it's here more than two days. And the cop that patrols this block is very good at what he does."

"Impound?" Ten said questioningly, looking at the key. He hadn't seen Johnny's car, and he wondered, briefly, what it looked like before he handed the key back. "I'll call a taxi." He didn't move, though.

It was still miserably cold outside, and he had a light jacket on, while Johnny was in just a shirt. The older man made no move to leave, though. Just stood there, key in hand and staring at it darkly. Upstairs, he had looked confused, an emotion Ten figured he was unfamiliar with. But the man beside him seemed to have figured it out, and instead of bouncing back into his normal, over-confident self, seemed to have slumped. There was none of the usual assurance in the way Johnny was leaning, no certainty of purpose in his face.

"Would you be willing to accompany me to dinner, Mr. Leechaiyapornkul?" Johnny asked out of the blue. "It would delight me to no end to treat for the meal, and perhaps afterwards we could talk over coffee?"

Ten looked at him blankly for a moment. Johnny's speech was reminiscent of Saturday night, when for a brief moment, he'd seemed more formal than he'd ended up being. And Ten realized that it was simply a cover for the hesitancy he could also hear in the older man's tone. He thought about that for a moment, about what his own reaction would be if he found everything he thought he wanted standing a balcony away.

With a small smile, he realized that everything he wanted was a lot closer than the next door balcony. "I'd like that," he answered finally, offering Johnny a smile. Brown eyes widened with surprise, and then Johnny straightened from the car and held his hand out.

"Then come up with me to find something warmer to wear before I freeze to death." Ten looked for any sign of smugness in the older man's face, any indication that Johnny was anything but happy with his acceptance. He found only relief and hope, and the combination made any other decision seem wrong. He accepted the offered hand, laced his fingers with Johnny's, and then let himself be pulled back to the apartment building. "Where do you want to eat?"

"You didn't have some place in mind?" Ten asked.

Johnny smiled at him. "I'll let you choose. Anywhere you want to go."

"Give me a moment to think," Ten requested as they stepped into the elevator. The ride up was silent. The doors opened and they stepped out onto Johnny's floor. They walked to the door and Ten waited a moment while Johnny searched in his pocket for keys. A moment later, it became apparent that Johnny didn't have his keys. With a grin, Ten got his own set out and unlocked the door.

"Thanks," Johnny said softly, looking sheepish and trying to hide it. They had released hands while Johnny dug in his pockets, and Ten stepped into the apartment ahead of Johnny.
Ten went to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of milk while Johnny changed clothes.
Johnny's invitation played in his head, and he couldn't help the grin that split his face. Dinner and talking 'over coffee'. They hadn't taken the time during the rest of the week to do much more than eat, sleep, and frolic in a sexual way. They'd talked a bit on Sunday night, but even that had been interrupted by kissing and petting.

Johnny seemed ready to make up for that. Ten smiled as he thought of Johnny running out of his apartment without his keys. It spoke of an emotion deeper than lust, that Johnny's whole focus had been on Ten.

When Johnny came into the kitchen, dressed in a suit, Ten turned and pressed a quick kiss on startled lips.

"I love you," Ten said.

"I lo-" Johnny was cut off by another kiss, and then his mouth was kept too busy for any form of coherency.

Notes