For aaa_mazing over at LJ, for her birthday.

Randy was nervous.

OK so Randy was always nervous before a performance, he felt it made him a better actor, that he still got the thrill of adrenaline that came before stepping out onto the stage. But still, there was a party of tiny little shivers dancing up his spine as the lights went down and the curtain went up. He took a deep breath and stepped out from the wings.

He almost stumbled when he first caught the sound of Gale's laugh from the audience, he couldn't see him, the lights blocking out everything but the first row of eager faces, but he could hear him, and as Randy took a deep breath, he swore he could almost smell him. The scent that seemed to linger wherever Gale had been, hiding in corners and jumping out at Randy whenever he least suspected it.

They hadn't seen each other for a while, had both been busy with project (Gale's ridiculous show about cheerleaders had made Randy laugh out loud when he first saw it), excuses whispered down the phone, typed out quickly over texts and emails.

It wasn't like they were exclusive, neither of them ready to make that commitment, and distance being a major factor, but they were exclusive when they were together, falling into bed with stifled laughs, hands learning the places that made them gasp again, renewing memories of how they fit together.

Gale's almost boisterous hug at the end of the performance was enough to show Randy how well they still fit.

"I didn't know you were coming." Randy said after he had caught his breath, grinning slightly at Gale.

"Thought I would surprise you." Gale said, shoving his hands into his pockets in the slightly embarrassed way that Randy had come to love about him. "It was great. You were great." Randy shrugged, smiling at someone who walked past. It was usually like this when they first saw each other, a brief period of circling, slight unease, one never knowing what stage the other was at. But Randy caught the brief glint of jealousy in Gale's eyes when one of the lighting guys patted Randy on the shoulder, and he knew exactly why Gale was here.

"Wanna get out of here?" He asked, grinning in the way that he knew Gale would pick up on. Gale didn't disappoint, grinned back, running his hand down Randy's arm briefly, fingers winding with Randy's for a moment before he pulled away.

"Sure."

There was this thing that a lot of people didn't know about Randy, he was a bit of a bastard. He liked watching the way Gale's jaw muscles would clench in frustration, and the way his hands would curl into fists as Randy pulled him into his local all night café for food and coffee.

"Rand, I'm not hungry." He had complained and Randy had just grinned at him, flopping down into the booth and standing the menu up on the table.

"I am. So sit." He had enjoyed every minute of licking the syrup from the pancakes off his thumb, watching at Gale's gaze went dark over the rim of his coffee cup.

"Stop it." He said, his voice low, almost dangerous and that right there was why Randy loved being a tease. It sent a thrill down his spine when he managed to look innocent, pull his thumb into his mouth and let it out with a small pop.

"Stop what?" He asked and Gale suddenly slouched low in his seat, his thigh pressing into Randy's when he did. Randy nearly bit through his lip.

"Pay back's a bitch right Rand?" Gale asked as he pressed his knee closer to Randy.

There was something almost like a childlike glee in Gale's eyes that Randy hadn't seen before, a lightness that was never there. Their meetings always clouded slightly with the knowledge that soon one of them was going to have to leave, their time spent together under the covers, away from the world. But Gale was grinning around his mug, his eyes twinkling, his knee pressing firmly into Randy's inner thigh.

"OK, I'm done." Randy said suddenly, pressing his hands into the table to lever himself up. Gale raised an eyebrow.

"What's the hurry? I'm kinda hungry now." He said, glancing at the menu and Randy suppressed the urge to reach over the table and haul him upward, kiss him hard and beg him to fuck him over the cheap Formica.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Randy sat back down and crossed his arms over his chest. Gale grinned again.

"You started it." He said, glancing over the menu. Randy resisted the urge to slap him and stood again, holding his hand out to Gale to help him up. Gale raised an amuse eyebrow but there was something dark in his eyes and Randy swallowed hard as Gale wrapped his fingers around Randy's and stood. He pulled on Randy's hand slightly, pulling him close for a brief moment. They didn't do this, not in public, didn't advertise their need to touch each other when other people were around. Randy pulled away and Gale smirked at him.

"Well now I'm finishing it. We're leaving." Randy said and Gale let out a laugh, sweeping a hand towards the door.

"After you."

It took about a second after the door closed on the elevators in Randy's apartment building for Gale to push him against the back wall and kiss him. Randy groaned into gale's mouth, arching upwards and wrapping a leg around Gale.

"Been wanting to do that all night." Gale muttered against Randy's lips, vibrations tickling at Randy's mouth. Randy darted his tongue out, running it along Gale's lips and Gale's grip tightened at Randy's hips, fingers pressing in.

"Been wanting you to do that all night." Randy admitting and Gale laughed, a small exhalation against Randy's mouth. He pulled away and looked down at Randy, all serious and intense, amusement from a second ago gone.

"God Rand..." He breathed out as he kissed Randy again and Randy felt the intensity of it all the way down to his feet as he kissed back.

The elevator shuddered as it stopped and Randy felt gale grin against his mouth before pulled away, winding his fingers into Randy's again as led him out into the hallway. His fingers stayed entwined with Randy's the whole way down the hallway and Randy couldn't help the smile that graced his face as Gale turned to grin at him when they stopped outside Randy's door.

Randy's hand shook slightly as he shoved the key into the lock and Gale crossed his arms over his chest.

"Randy if you don't open that door right now I'm going to fuck you right here." There was a hint of amusement in his voice but under it Randy could hear the dark promise, the threat and Randy almost wanted to see if he would go through with it, if he would fuck Randy up against the wall of the hallway, neighbours be damned. "I mean it." He said as if reading Randy's thoughts, crowding behind Randy and pushing his hand into Randy's pants. Randy fumbled with the lock, but managed to get it open, and they tumbled into the apartment, Gale pressing Randy into the opposite wall. Randy felt the rough texture beneath his cheek as Gale's hand flicked his button open, pushing Randy's jeans down far enough to get a hand round him. Randy arched, driving his cock further into Gale's grasp and Gale loosened his grip. Randy would have been ashamed at the needy whine that escaped his throat, but Gale had his mouth attached to Randy's pulse point, teeth nipping at the skin as he tightens his grip again.

"God the noises you make Rand." Gale breathed out against his neck and Randy groaned, turned his head far enough to capture Gale's mouth in an awkward kiss as Gale twisted his hand, swiped his thumb over the slit in the head of Randy's cock. Randy whined in the back of his throat. "So fucking hot." Gale whispered into his ear, twisted his hand and that was enough to have Randy coming into Gale's hand, bitten off curses spilling from his lips as Gale stroked him through it.

"You did shut the door right?" Randy asked once the white lights had dulled behind his eyes, Gale chuckled in his ear, tongue darting out briefly. His hands pulled out from Randy's pants and Randy whined again and groaned when he heard the door shut. He spun round and glared at Gale. "The door was open the whole time?" He asked incredulously and Gale shrugged.

"What can I say, you make me lose control." There was something else under the admission other than amusement and Randy reached forward, entwined his fingers into Gale's belt loops and pulled him close.

"Ditto." He said, standing on tiptoes and pressing his mouth to Gale's.

"So...beer?" Gale asked when Randy pulled away and Randy grinned at him, walked to the kitchen on slightly shaky legs, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of having just come in his pants. His head was buried in the fridge when he heard Gale come in behind him, run a hand gently along his spine as he walked past.

"Huh." Randy pulled two beers from the back of the fridge and looked at Gale who had his head cocked to one side staring at Randy's answer machine.

"What?" He asked, twisting the caps off and handing one to Gale.

"You have no messages." He said pointed at the machine with the bottle. Randy frowned slightly. Gale looked uncomfortable and Randy had no idea what that meant, they way he had been looking, the touches in the diner, it all meant something that Randy couldn't put his finger on yet. He swallowed down the confusion and grinned at Gale.

"Are we playing the 'state the obvious' game?" Randy said and Gale shifted, pulled his bottom lip between his teeth briefly as he looked around the apartment.

"No one calling to see how the show went?" He asked, his eyes back on Randy and Randy frowned again, took a step forward and wrapped his fingers round Gale's wrist.

"Who would be calling?" Gale looked down at Randy's fingers, a slight blush across his cheeks and Randy took another step forward, pressing himself close to Gale.

"Boyfriend?" It was quiet and Randy would have missed it if he hadn't been standing so close. If he hadn't always heard everything Gale said.

"Gale...what's going on?" He asked and Gale looked up then, false smile on his face as the nerves and embarrassment were forced down.

"Thought you would have given up on me and gotten married by now, you know, two point four children and all that. At least have someone steady you could count on." He said with a shrug, stepping away from Randy and trailing a finger down the kitchen counter, almost like he was desperate to avoid eye contact. Randy stepped up to him, took his chin between his fingers.

"Me too. " He said and Gale seemed to deflate. "But I kinda realised that I like my life better with you in it. So..." Randy trailed off and grinned up at Gale. Gale narrowed his eyes, searching Randy's face. A slow smile eventually spread across his lips and he wound his arms around Randy, pulling him close.

"So...?" He replied and Randy let out a small laugh, winding his fingers into the hair at the back of Gale's neck.

"You're going to make me say it aren't you?" Randy asked and Gale smiled, all traces of unease gone.

"Yeah." Gale said, his hands cupping Randy's face, fingers rubbing at the skin behind Randy's ears. He pressed his lips to Randy's, kissing him deeply again, tongue running along randy's lips before pushing inside his mouth. Randy groaned into it, arching upwards, pressing their bodies together.

"I love you." He breathed into Gale's mouth once they pulled apart slightly and he felt Gale grin against his mouth, felt the slight shudder in Gale's body. Gale pulled them together, walking them backwards through the kitchen towards Randy's bedroom, pausing along the hallway to push him against the wall and press his thigh between Randy's.

It was a wonder that neither of them tripped and broke something, but they managed to get to the bedroom, and Gale pushed Randy down onto the bed. He looked down at Randy, eyes dark and serious as he fumbled with the buttons of his shirt. Randy sat up, popped the button on Gale's jeans, and pulled them down his thighs. His nails scraped gently along Gale's skin and he heard Gale's sharp intake of breath.

"Randy...Christ...I need..." Gale muttered, his eyes closed as Randy's fingers dipped below the waistband of Gale's boxers. Randy grinned to himself. He had always loved it when Gale became speechless, stumbling over words as Randy kissed him, touched him, swallowed his cock down whole and hummed around him.

"Need what Gale?" He asked, pulling Gale's boxers down his thighs. Gale's hips thrust forward slightly, on their own accord and Randy leant forward, pressed a kiss to his hip bone, nipping at the thin layer of skin there. Gale's hand wound into Randy's hair and tugged, pulled him back far enough so Gale could look in his eyes.

"Touch me." He said, voice cracking with need and Randy knew exactly how he felt, how desperate he was to feel skin, all over him, under his hands. "Please."

It was the please that did it. Randy leant forward, licking a stripe up the underside of Gale's cock, running his tongue along the slit, the taste of Gale so familiar, so long since he'd tasted it. Gale's grip in his hair got tighter as Randy took the head in his mouth, hummed as he sank down and hollowed out his cheeks.

"Holy shit Rand." Gale's fingers tightened again, almost painfully but Randy didn't mind, liked a tiny sharp edge of pain as he swallowed and Gale's whole body seemed to tense. Randy pressed his fingers into Gale's hips, pulling him closer, his nose pressed into Gale's lower stomach. Gale twitched, fingers loosening slightly just before he tensed again, everything tightening up as he came, hot down the back of Randy's throat. Randy swallowed again, pulling slowly off, loving the way Gale still twitched under his hands. Gale looked down at him, swiped a thumb across Randy's lower lip and lifted it to his own mouth.

"God I love you too." He breathed, thumb running along Randy's cheekbone now, leaving a damp trail of saliva and Gale's come. Randy let his eyes close.

"You're only saying that cos I give good head." He muttered with a smile as Gale lifted his other hand to Randy's face, pressing a thumb into the soft skin under his chin, lifting his head upwards. Randy opened his eyes to Gale's, his pupils wide.

"That's part of it." Gale admitted with a crocked grin, pressing on Randy's shoulder, pushing him onto his back. Randy edged backwards till his head found the pillow and watched Gale crawl up his body, pressing kisses to his chest as he went.

"Ass." Randy said, twirling his fingers into Gale's hair. Gale sobered, his eyes going serious.

"I love you." He said, voice quiet but Randy heard it loud and clear.

"So...where do we go from here? Randy asked, his head pillowed on Gale's chest. They'd had sex all over the apartment, in the shower, on the couch, Randy bent over the kitchen table with gale's fingers tangled in his hair as Randy made a kitchen run to get water and Gale was too impatient to wait till he got back to bed. Randy was sore, tired and blissfully happy.

Gale tightened his grip slightly, dropping a sleepy kiss to Randy's head and muttered something unintelligible. Randy poked him hard in the chest.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" It was hard to look indignant when his hair was sticking up all over the place and there was a love bite the size of Texas on his neck but Gale managed it and randy felt a swel of love for him, bubbling up his throat and escaping in an almost hysterical mix of a sob and a laugh. Gale frowned and ran a hand down his face. "Rand?"

"I said," He replied, swallowing down the almost overwhelming emotions, the Gale's here, and Gale loves you, "Where do we go from here?"

"We make a life with each other." Gale answered simply, as if it was the easiest thing in the world. The lingering worry of how and where made Randy question it though.

"How?" Gale kissed him.

"Does it matter? I love you, you love me. That's all that matters, right?" Gale said spinning them, pushing Randy's hands over his head, pressing them into the pillow. Randy grinned up at him.

"Right." He replied, arching his hips and wrapping his legs around Gale's waist. Gale leant down, kissed him hard, his fingers around Randy's wrist stroking gently over Randy's pulse.

They might not have had all the answers, but they had the answer to the most important question, and Gale was right, right now, that was all that mattered.