Summary: After a drunken night two men have to confess their feelings or continue to be unhappy. As any other couple they have to face both the good and the bad. SLASH

Rating: T

AN: Alexx is still the ME and Eric has joined the team again but Jesse isn't dead. If you don't like gay-fiction, then don't read.

-I-

Could there be a man more straight then Horatio Caine? According to Ryan there couldn't be, no wait… maybe Eric was more straight. Never ever had Ryan seen Horatio even look with lust filled eyes towards a man. He had never heard him talk about either being gay or bisexual. So basically Ryan was in love with a man he could never have. He had been in love for many years too. At first it had been a father-son relationship between the two of them, or at least that is what Ryan had interpreted his own feelings as. But it hadn't taken long before he had realized that he didn't see Horatio as a father, but as a lover. God, he wanted to take him home and pound his ass on his king size bed.

Ryan didn't feel as if he could talk to anybody about it either. He was still secretly gay and the only one he knew who suspected that he was gay was Alexx. Ryan felt alone in his fight for a lover he couldn't get. Why was he even fighting? Horatio would never want to be with Ryan in that way. Horatio was a widower after all and he had only dated women for as long as Ryan had known him. Ryan even suspected that he was battling with his feelings towards Yelina. However, he wasn't sure.

He was Mr. Wolfe after all and he wasn't very close to his boss. No matter how close he tried to get to Horatio, he always seemed to be pushed back at arm's length. He knew it was because Horatio was afraid that it would hurt too much if something happened to Ryan and they were too close. But keeping Ryan away only made him feel less like a member of the team. Less like a member of the family and it broke his heart.

"Ryan, we got a dead body on a beach." Jesse said as he interrupted Ryan's thoughts.

"I'm coming." Ryan sighed.

Ryan's heart broke once more and he was sure the pieces of it was lying on the lab floor when he saw that Eric joked about something and that made Horatio laugh. Ryan could never make Horatio laugh. He make him smile occasionally, but never laugh.

"Daydreaming Ryan?" Jesse asked, "Come on, let's go."

Ryan blushed. He liked to think that he was close to Jesse and Walter, but the truth was that he wasn't sure how they would take it if he came out to them and told him he was gay and that he was in love with their boss. They would probably laugh at him.

-I-

Horatio only called Ryan Mr. Wolfe because he didn't want his attraction to be too obvious. And he didn't want Ryan to suffer if something happened to him. But most importantly he knew that if he let Ryan get too close he wouldn't be able to hold back and soon everyone would watch as he claimed Ryan as his lover in the office. He did dream of doing that, but unfortunately the office was made of glass.

He knew Ryan didn't feel like a true member of the family because of how Horatio always addressed him. He felt like an idiot every time he said Mr. Wolfe instead of Ryan. He had tried to stop, but he just couldn't get too close. He had to stay away for both their sakes. And it wasn't like Ryan was in to guys anyway. Hell, if Horatio kissed him Ryan would probably run to the hills, find a job far away from Miami and never talk to Horatio again. And then Horatio would feel like a fool because he had tried to kiss someone who was so obviously straight.

Horatio was bisexual himself, but Ryan… Ryan was straight. He had to be. Ryan had dated Erica Sykes for a while or had he? Horatio wasn't sure. All he could think of was how hard it was to love someone so much and not be able to say it out loud. To have to hide his true feelings. He knew most people thought he was in love with Yelina, but really? Yelina? Of all people, why would be in love with Yelina? His sister in law, long-time friend and mother of his nephew! No, Yelina was family and they had a close relationship, but they weren't in love with each other.

"H! Did you hear me?" Frank asked as he stood in the doorway to Horatio's office.

"I'm sorry, what?" Horatio asked.

"You want to go out and have a beer tonight?" Frank asked.

"I don't know Frank."

"Actually it wasn't really a question. It was more of a request. You and I haven't been out in a long time and you only need to have one beer with me if you want." Frank said, "Please?"

"I never thought I'd live to see the day that Frank Tripp said please." Horatio smirked, "Alright, one beer. The rest of the night I drink coffee."

"No problem. Seven at Joey's. Don't forget." Frank smiled and left.

"I never forget anything." Horatio mumbled.

What Frank really wanted was to get Horatio as drunk as possible. Horatio needed to let loose a little bit and Frank was just going to help him do it by paying the bartended extra to put alcohol in Horatio's coffee. It was Friday after all and they weren't scheduled to work the next day. Of course they could get called in anyway, but that didn't mean they couldn't get drunk every now and then.

Horatio, the poor fellow, was clueless as to what Frank had planned. He wasn't one to drink much and Frank knew that. However, Frank had on several occasions tried to persuade Horatio to drink more. Frank had so far never succeeded though.

-I-

Horatio couldn't understand why the whole room was spinning. Why he was tired and felt like he couldn't stand on his own two feet. If he had been sober he would have realized that Frank had made him drunk with the bartender's help, but Horatio was just too drunk to think straight.

"Frank, do they have some sort of new coffee here?" Horatio slurred.

"I have no idea." Frank slurred back.

Both men had a hard time sitting up on their chairs. The bar was almost empty and Horatio felt that it was time to go home. He stumbled to the bathroom first and struggled to open his zipper to do what he came there to do. He wasn't sure how long he was in the bathroom but when he came out only Frank and the bartended were still inside.

"Frank, I'm going home… I'll call a cab or something." Horatio yawned and walked on shaky legs to the door.

Frank lazily waved goodbye before ordering another drink. Both men would have a terrible hangover the next day. Horatio felt a little more alert and fresh when he stepped outside and he took a deep breath before he started walking in the direction he thought was the way home. Unfortunately he was walking in the wrong direction. Horatio hummed as he walked through a park and that's when he realized that he was walking the wrong way.

"Wrong way… I'm going the wrong way. I was supposed to call a cab too." He slurred, "Why didn't I call a cab?"

Horatio shrugged and chuckled to himself as he turned around and walked back. When he passed the bar again he saw that Frank had also left now and that the bartended was cleaning up. Horatio started chuckling for no reason and then suddenly bumped in to someone.

"I'm so sorry." Horatio slurred.

"H?" The man asked in surprise.

Horatio looked at the young man and saw that it was Ryan.

"Ryan! What are you doing out here this late?" Horatio asked and pulled Ryan in to a hug.

"Um, I could say the same to you. I was just talking a walk. I'm guessing you've been out with Frank." Ryan smiled.

"How did you know that?"

"He told me that he was taking you out tonight to get you drunk." Ryan said.

Ryan had actually gone to Joey's bar hoping to catch his boss drunk and being able to help. It would give him the opportunity to be just a little closer to him and maybe even steal a kiss.

"I only drank one beer and then lots of coffee." Horatio said and lost his balance some.

Ryan grabbed his arm to keep him from falling.

"I think Frank might have tipped the bartender to slip alcohol in your coffee H. Now I'm taking you home." Ryan said and grabbed Horatio's arm as he lead him to his hummer.

Horatio kept on humming and put his arm around Ryan's shoulder. Ryan had to fight not to let Horatio know how much Ryan wanted to take him to his bed as Horatio and Ryan were now standing really close to each other.

"Hey! That looks like my hummer!" Horatio exclaimed happily as he saw Ryan's hummer.

"Well, it's your hummer's twin." Ryan smiled, "Let's get you inside H."

"Nah, I want to swim in the ocean." Horatio said and started walking away from the car.

Ryan sighed. It was going to be a long night and prayed to God that he wouldn't have to see Horatio without his clothes on and swimming in the ocean. He just wouldn't be able to control himself if he saw Horatio naked.

"Let's go swimming!" Horatio cheered.

Please review!