That night, Raj was in bed with Lincoln. Lincoln was fast asleep faced away from Raj. Raj was lightly drawing patterns on Lincoln's bare back. It wasn't enough to wake him, but Raj enjoyed touching the expanse of bare skin. Raj thought about how he had gotten himself into all of this.

Lincoln had barely waited a night before he called Raj to set up another date after their first one.

"I know I said I would call at the beginning of next week, but I can't wait. I like you, Raj," he said in the voicemail he left for Raj early Saturday morning. Raj was awake and saw the call. He was just too scared to take it. He liked Lincoln too, but his bliss from the night before faded. Now Raj was left with the scary feeling liking someone new plus the scary feeling like he might be making a terrible mistake.

Raj didn't call Lincoln back. Not that Saturday, nor Sunday or Monday. He felt guilty as he listened to the more and more dejected sounding voicemails left by Lincoln. Until they stopped. Then Raj just felt another kind of terrible. Now he had managed to break both of their hearts. Raj wanted to be with Lincoln, but he wasn't brave enough.

On Tuesday, Raj was drinking alone after work. He got up some courage and took out his phone to call Lincoln.

"Hey, sexy man," Raj slurred into the phone when Lincoln answered.

"What do you want, Raj?" Lincoln asked. He didn't want to play these games with Raj. Sure he liked him, but all of this was hurting him too much.

"I want you to come over and make out with me. You make me so happy and I'm so drunk. You could come take advantage of me," Raj slurred.

"I'll pass, but let me ask you a question first. If I make you 'so happy' why do you keep dodging my calls?"

"Because I'm not supposed to like you. You could cost me everything. My parents money. My friends. My family. I'm not supposed to like you," he repeated. "But I do. So much it hurts," he added quietly after a second.

"Oh, honey. Where are you?" Lincoln asked.

"I'm at home," Raj said. Then he railed off his address. Maybe Lincoln was coming over after all. Then he passed out on his own kitchen floor.

He didn't know how much later it was that he was aware of a vague knocking somewhere far away. Then it became louder until Raj just made a noise that was either a groan or the words "go away."

Lincoln didn't go away. He tried the door and it opened. He quickly found Raj lying on the floor of his kitchen.

"An angel," Raj muttered when he looked up at Lincoln. He reached up to touch Lincoln's face but missed.

"I'm certainly not one of those. How much did you have to drink?" Lincoln pulled Raj up off the floor and took him to the couch. He sat him down, but Raj just fell over.

"Everything," Raj mumbled. "Are you going to take advantage of me? Would you please take advantage of me?"

"No. I'm going to get you some water and a puke bucket," Lincoln said. He didn't know why he was so fond of this nerd. He would have given up on anyone else a long time ago.

"The second one first please," Raj requested as he covered his mouth with his hand. Lincoln returned with a large bowl just in time. He stroked Raj's hair as he threw up.

"Thanks," Raj said. Then he lay back on the couch and passed back out.

When Raj woke up, he wished he was dead. His head was killing him, and he had a vague sense that he had done something incredibly stupid the night before. This was confirmed when he sat up and saw an very handsome man with eyes that were closed in sleep, but Raj knew were the exact color of his favorite dark chocolate.

"Lincoln," Raj barely whispered. It was enough. Lincoln sat straight up and looked at Raj. "Did I call you last night?"

"You did," Lincoln said. He was waiting for Raj to tell him to get the hell out. It was clear that Raj just wasn't ready for a relationship with a man.

"I'm so sorry. I should have never called you. I can't believe you came over," Raj said.

"You didn't sound like you were in a great place," Lincoln said.

"Yeah. I wasn't. I'm not," Raj admitted. "Your lips are beautiful," he added after a second. He guessed that he was still a little drunk because he wouldn't normally say something like that. No matter how incredibly true it was.

"Do you want me to stay or should I go home?" Lincoln asked. He put his fingers to his lips. No one had ever complimented them specifically before.

"You should probably go. It's a Wednesday. I assume you have work, but maybe you can come back tonight?"

"Rajesh, I really like you. More than reason says I should, but I can't play these games with you. It hurts too much," Lincoln confessed.

"Then don't play them. Just come back tonight. Please," Raj begged.

Lincoln left without committing either way. Raj called into work and went to shower and then to bed. He was broken, but he would pick up the pieces. He would find a nice girl to start dating eventually. For now, he needed sleep.

Once the hangover was at least tolerable, Raj got up to air out his apartment. It smelled of booze and vomit and sweat. He spent most of the day cleaning. While he was changing his sheets, he thought he heard a knocking on his door. It wasn't Lincoln, he told himself. Only it was. With a pizza and a six-pack of ginger ale. No alcohol. Raj had had enough.

"You came back," Raj said. In that moment, Raj decided that he would do whatever he had to to keep Lincoln in his life. He knew he wasn't ready to tell all of his friends or family about this, but he would find a way to tell them. Raj was head over heels for this guy who was too good for him, but for some reason just kept showing up anyway.

"You look better," Lincoln said.

"I feel better. A lot better. Especially since you are here." Raj took the pizza and found some paper plates. He and Lincoln sat down to eat at his little table. It was as weird as dinner with a guy who one rejected multiple times could be, but it soon eased. Their conversation fell into a pattern that indicated that they knew each other much better than a couple dates.

They moved to the couch where they sat a reasonable distance apart while they put on a movie. That was until Raj moved closer and closer to Lincoln. Before long, Lincoln opened his arms for Raj, and they snuggled together. Lincoln thought about putting a stop to this because he didn't want his heart hurt any more than it was. On the other hand, a cute Indian guy was cuddled up to his chest, playing with his hands, and chatting about the movie. Maybe a little hurt was worth this.

Lincoln fell asleep first, and Raj thought about waking him up and sending him home. It was nearly two in the morning. Instead, he sleepily shook Lincoln awake and pulled him into his room.

"What are you doing?" Lincoln muttered when Raj started pulling back the blankets. Raj went to get Lincoln something to sleep in, but given that Lincoln was about five inches taller, he decided against it. Raj wasn't trying anything untoward. He only wanted to make sure Lincoln slept in a bed since he slept in Raj's chair the night before.

"You can sleep in here. I'll take the couch," Raj assured him. He tucked Lincoln into the bed and kissed his forehead. Then Raj grabbed his pajamas and went to the living room to go to sleep.

When Raj woke, it was to the sounds of Lincoln in the kitchen.

"Raj, where is the frying pan?" Lincoln asked after a moment.

"It's in the dishwasher right now," Raj said before covering his head with his pillow. How early was it? Even with the pillow, Raj could hear Lincoln getting out the frying pan. Though it wasn't until Raj smelled the bacon that he finally got off of the couch.

"I spend two nights in a row in your apartment, and I still haven't gotten lucky," Lincoln teased when Raj came over to see what Lincoln was up to.

"I feel pretty lucky," Raj said. "I have a handsome man making me breakfast."

"You probably have a handsome man burning you breakfast. I'm a terrible cook," Lincoln said. Just as he said this, he flipped over a piece of bacon to reveal it's burned side.

"Fine," Raj said as he pushed him out of the way to take over. They had breakfast together before Lincoln needed to get going.

Lincoln put his hands on Raj's waist. He leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Raj's waiting lips.

"You are going to break my heart, Rajesh Koothrappali," Lincoln said.

"Does that mean you are going to give me another chance?"

"You don't need another chance. I was yours since you stole that kiss in the bar. Now, answer my calls next time," Lincoln said.

"I will," Raj promised. And he did. It hadn't always been easy, but Raj couldn't say he regretted any of it. Certainly not when the man he loved rolled over in his sleep and rested his hand on Raj's stomach. Raj was happier than he had been in his life. All because he stole a kiss from a guy who couldn't find it in his heart to give up on him.