Hi Tom and Hal slash bandwagon, mind if I jump on?

So yeah, I'm addicted to Being Human, I would happily watch an entire series of just Hal and Tom working in that cafe and trying to work out the mystery that is girls. In my story however, because I'm a hopeless addict of slash, they just have to work out the mystery that is each other. I hope you enjoy...!

D/C: Not for profit use of the characters of Being Human - don't sue me, I have no money. Also, begging Morrisey not to sue me for use of his lyrics!

'And your guess?' Hal asked Tom, as the expert on TV got ready to tell the price of the ugly vase to it's owner.

'Dunna,' Tom shrugged. He'd been distracted all day, besides, he'd never beaten Hal at this game. The Vampire was a master of all things antique, but then he was 500 years old. He'd been around a bit. 'You're cheatin' anywa. You probably owned it or somethin.'

'Not that,' Hal shook his head disgustedly. 'It's practically worthless.'

'Just £100,' the man on the TV confirmed.

'More than I make in a day,' Tom said.

'But not as much, I fear, as that woman was expecting,' Hal chuckled a little to himself at her utter disappointment and then reached for the remote and muted the TV. He turned to stare at his young companion.

'Wha?' Tom asked, sinking back a little in the sofa defensively.

'Are you going to tell me what is bothering you?'

'Nah, nothing's bothering me. I'm alrigh.'

Hal's eyes narrowed a little as he considered him for a few seconds. 'Very well,' he muttered eventually, pushing himself to his feet and moving steadily towards the kitchen.

He always did everything steadily. It had come from years of being important and being taught how to present yourself. It had come from being Lord Harry, more feared than any ruler. The man could barely even slouch. He glanced over his shoulder to Tom. Tom could slouch. He was slouching now, his back curled up and his neck flat against the sofa so that his chin was pressed against his chest. It seemed uncomfortable but Tom didn't look uncomfortable, he was just turning the TV volume back up.

'Two tha-sand,' Tom predicted.

'More,' Hal muttered to himself. 'Much more. More like five, in fact.' And as the antiques specialist confirmed his theory, he allowed the kitchen doors to swing shut behind him.

'It's nice that you two are getting on so well now.'

Hal jumped out of his skin. He'd thought Annie was upstairs with baby Eve, but there she was sat on the kitchen counter staring at him. Hal thought briefly about the germs that sitting on the counter would leave before deciding that her being a ghost, probably meant germs weren't a problem and his being a vampire meant they wouldn't affect him anyway. And Tom? Well, Hal had witnessed him eating things that had fallen on the floor declaring something obscure called a 'ten second rule'.

'Yes,' was all the response Hal gifted to Annie. He wasn't really sure what she was trying to imply with her statement but he was sure it was something from the giddy look on her face. He ignored her and went to wash the dishes. He was certain Tom wouldn't remember to do them, despite it being his turn on the rota. Tom was far too busy trying to work out the exact location of his swimming pool.

'Ooo, marigolds again,' Annie said with an excitable chuckle, as he pulled the yellow gloves onto his hands. 'How very … butch!'

Hal glanced at her and frowned but he didn't say anything. Knowing Annie, he wouldn't need to. If she had something on her mind, he'd soon know about it.

'You're not very though, Hal, are you?'

'Not very … what?' he demanded.

'Butch,' she said, pulling a pose to demonstrate the meaning of the word. 'You wear marigolds, you sing "Reach Out, I'll be there" when you think no one's listening.'

'Classic 60's Motown,' Hal retorted quickly.

'All I'm saying,' Annie continued as though the interruption hadn't occurred, 'is you can come across a bit….'

'A bit … what?'

'You know.'

'I can assure you, I don't.'

'Gay,' Annie whispered.

They looked at each other and the word hung between them, making Annie more and more uncomfortable by the second.

'I am nothing of the sort,' Hal said eventually, turning away from her and returning to the dishes. He dunked the first one into the water a little bit too vigorously, chipping the side on the bottom of the sink. No matter, he'd make sure Tom always had that plate, the boy always demolished his food so quickly he'd never have time to notice a tiny chip. Hal would notice, it would consume him in its imperfection, anger him. He washed it quickly and placed it on the drying rack with the chip away from him. If he couldn't see it, it wouldn't be so bad.

'You must have tried it though,' Annie said after a moment or two. 'At some point.'

'Tried what?'

'Being gay.'

'Are we still on with this!' Hal snapped. 'No, I have never tried it and I never will.'

'But you're five-hundred years old!' Annie cried in disbelief.

'What does that have to do with anything?'

'Well I was only alive for….' She stopped suddenly and glanced at Hal. 'For not that long,' she coughed and he smiled. In Hal's experience a woman's age was the most safely guarded secret of all. Far more so than the secret that the undead existed. 'But I tried it … at University … with a girl called Kelly.' She clasped her hands together. 'Oh,' she adopted her girlish giggle again. 'That's embarrassing.' Hal's lack of response seemed to pressure Annie into elaborating. 'We didn't actually do anything,' she continued. And Hal was sure that if she weren't dead, she'd have been blushing. 'Well, we kissed, but that was it.' A slight pause, still no response from Hal. 'It was quite nice,' she said again. And: 'At least, I think it was. It was a long time ago now.'

'Right,' Hal finally spoke, allowing her to stop trying to fill the awkward pauses. 'Annie,' he said after a moment as he finished another couple of plates. 'Are you trying to tell me that you kissed a girl and, indeed, liked it?'

Annie just stared at the vampire in disbelief. 'Are you quoting Katy Perry?' she demanded. 'Five hundred years old and you're quoting Katy Perry.'

'I'll have you know I'm very, how do you say it? Down with the kids.' His hands made some kind of weird hip-hop-ish movement, which caused Annie to smile a little and for Hal to frown. He didn't like to feel foolish, even when he'd brought it on himself. He turned back to the dishes and began to hum a tune, then whistle it until finally he was singing:

'I kissed a girl and I liked it…'

'Then you bit her neck and drank her blood, eh?' Tom's voice sounded from the doorway. Hal snapped around to look at him, his muscles visibly relaxing when he saw the cheeky smile on the young man's face.

'Not for a long time,' Hal muttered.

'Because you ain't been near any pretty girls for a long time,' Tom retorted.

'I do not need pretty girls,' Hal said firmly. 'I have you and Annie and…' He turned back to the sink: 'I have the dishes.'

'I think I'd rather have a pretty girl than dirty dishes,' Tom said but he seemed to have to take his time in deciding.

'So would Annie,' Hal said easily, a smile pulling at his cheeks. He could feel Annie's embarrassment and hear the excitement in Tom's voice as he asked: 'Would ya?'

::

They were alone at dinner. Hal had cooked because it was written on his rota. He wasn't really that bothered about eating. He could eat, it filled a hole which would be better filled with blood. He needed the juices of a rare steak or pork to keep him alive but he didn't enjoy eating particularly. Not like Tom.

'This is my favourite thing you cook,' Tom said, tearing into his medium-rare peppered steak.

'You eat like a hound,' Hal said, unimpressed.

'You eat like a vegetarian vampire,' Tom replied, nodding at Hal's own meal. The steak had barely been licked by the flames before he'd put it on his plate and he hadn't bothered with vegetables.

'I am,' Hal reminded him, as though Tom needed reminding. And after a moment or two of watching Tom destroy his meal: 'Where's Annie?'

'With baby Eve,' Tom said.

'I don't hear her crying.'

'She said, she thought me an' you could do with some time by ourselves.'

'Time by ourselves?' Hal repeated with a bitter laugh. 'I'm never not with you. We live together, we work together, we go to the pub together. The only way I could spend more time with you is if we-.' He stopped abruptly. 'Never mind,' he muttered, pushing his plate away from him. Suddenly, he didn't feel hungry.

'I dan't mind it,' Tom said in that free liberated way he had of speaking. He never seemed to censor himself for fear of being ridiculed or judged. It was one of the things Hal admired about him, the way everything just poured out of him. If you looked at him, you could tell in an instant just how he was feeling. Stupid people would read it as his being simple but Hal knew it was more than that. It was innocence, something that not many werewolves held on to. Especially not one's like Tom McNair, infamous in the vampire world as a cold-blooded killer. But somehow Tom was innocent and Hal had a weird urge to protect that and even more than that, he had an urge to protect him when people questioned Tom's intelligence. As far as Hal was concerned, if they couldn't see Tom for what he really was, then they didn't deserve to know him at all.

'I dan't,' Tom repeated. 'I like hanging around with ya. You make me laf.'

'Hmmm,' Hal frowned. He did not make it his business to make people laugh and he disliked the idea that anyone, even Tom, found him a joke.

'In a good way though,' Tom said quickly. 'Smile more than laugh,' he continued to correct himself. 'All your funny little tasks and tha'

'My funny little….' Hal hissed. He was inexplicably angry. Tom suddenly didn't seem to know him at all. 'It's those funny little tasks that keep me sane.'

'I kna,' Tom said quickly, with the body language of a man who was rapidly losing control of a situation. 'I wanna say about that. I think you're doing really well, mate. Proper well.'

'Well,' Hal felt his anger seeping away as he pulled his plate back towards him. 'Thank you.'

'I didn't mean to offend ya or out.'

'I'm not offended,' Hal said and it was almost the truth.

'I'm just saying, I like spending time with ya. You're my best friend.'

'Er, yes. Thank you.' Hal wanted to say something nice back but he wasn't sure what and it made him trip over his words. 'I also, erm, enjoy our er … fellowship, er friendship.'

'Righ',' Tom just nodded, clueless and bright eyed. He downed his cola quickly and Hal felt immediately anxious. Tom had been known, on occasion, to become a little over-excitable on the caffeinated drink, which was saying something for someone who was excited and amused by the way David Dickinson popped up on Dickinson's real deal to advise on antiques. Hal wondered briefly weather he'd influenced Tom's choice of television programme a little too much. It probably wasn't right for a 21 year old to spend so much time watching old people flogging semi-pricey antiques at auction. But he was brought out of this thought process when suddenly he heard Tom say:

'What were ya gonna say?'

'When?' Hal frowned, unable to fathom what the young man could be talking about.

'Before,' Tom replied as though that cleared things up.

Hal just frowned.

'When ya said the only time we could spend more time together is if we….'

Hal would have blushed had he still had the capacity to.

'There is nothing,' Hal said quickly. A little too quickly, most people might have recognised that he was lying. Tom didn't seem to. 'I realised there's no possible way we could spend more time together.'

'I can think of one,' Tom said and Hal wondered for a moment if Tom had had the same notion he had; an image of them wrapped together in sweat drenched sheets. 'When you're reading one of ya boring books.'

'Oh,' Hal said. He supposed it was probably for the best. He imagined if they did ever find themselves in that situation, they'd probably both be covered in blood, Tom dying through the bite marks in his neck, Hal from the poison he'd been unable to stop himself from tasting. 'To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die,' he murmured. A human's ears would not have picked up on the sound, he'd almost forgotten that his companion had the ears of a wolf.

'Wha?' Tom frowned.

'Books are not boring,' Hal said quickly. 'Perhaps if you read one, once in a while, you'd be less inclined to spend time with me.'

'But I already said … I like tha.'

'Yes,' Hal nodded.

'And if you won't spend time with me when you're reading, well….' Tom seemed suddenly embarrassed. An expression which seemed odd on a boy who never seemed to fazed by anything. 'I can think of a different time when we could be together?'

'Oh?' Hal asked, getting to his feet with the intention of clearing the table. This conversation was beginning to go around in circles and Hal couldn't help but feel that Annie was listening to every word. He wasn't stupid. He'd known what she was implying with her questions earlier. She'd been implying that he and Tom were closer than mere friends. Perhaps that was accurate, but it was a purely brotherly affection he had for the boy. He ignored his own mind mocking with the images he'd conjured up just seconds before of himself and Tom in a post-coital bliss.

'The only other time is at night.'

The words had come out of nowhere, like stakes from each side straight through Hal and he dropped the plates he'd been carrying.

'Hal,' Tom frowned, rushing to his side and putting his strong hand on the small of Hal's back. 'You alright Hal.'

'Don't touch me,' Hal hissed, shaking him off. 'I'm fine, just a little … clumsy.'

'Ya never clumsy,' Tom said, reaching to touch him again. 'An' ya look really white.'

'Well I am dead, Tom.'

'Yeah bu-'

'Look at the floor,' Hal said suddenly as though noticing the mess for the first time. He began to pant. He was completely out of control. Tom was getting too close, making him feel things he couldn't afford to feel, the sort of things that could get them both killed and would put the whole of Barry, Britain, maybe the world in danger. The mess on the floor was serving like a metaphor of how his life was falling apart.

'I have to go,' he said quickly. 'To my room. I need to….' He left that hang in the air and rushed away to his room.

His room was cool and calm. Everything was in it's place, his bed was neatly made, the books were aligned in alphabetical order; first author, then title. There was nothing to remind him of the chaos downstairs or the chaos in his mind. He sat on his sofa and pulled his trusty domino from his pocket, twirling it gently between his fingers.

Slowly, his breathing returned to normal.

'I'm in control,' he reminded himself. He just needed to glance around his perfectly ordered room to see that. 'I am in control of my hunger and my … lust.' He hissed the last word as though it was poisoned and perhaps it was in a way. Especially if his lust was misdirected as it was now, this desire could quite literally poison him.

'Hal,' Tom's voice called through the door and Hal felt sick at the prospect of him entering his room. It had only been half-an-hour since the incident but he'd already began to feel better.

'What is it Tom?'

'I just wanted to know if ya were alright. You seemed a bit … weird earlier.'

Hal winced a bit at the word "weird" but he let it go. 'I'm quite well now, thank you.'

'Hal, can ya open the door?' Hal ignored the request until: 'Please.'

Hal sighed a little, gripped the domino in his hand and went to open the door.

'Hi,' Tom smiled as he was revealed. He was wearing his dopey face of concern, his eyebrows slanting even more than usual.

'Hello,' Hal answered as curtly as possible.

'Look, I wanted to say sorry righ' It was Annie's idea really. She said that you were…. It don't matter anyhow. All I want to say is sorry for making you drop those plates and tha'.' He turned quickly and Hal was sure it was for the best to let him go. If he just let him walk away they could both go to sleep and wake-up tomorrow as though nothing had ever been said, or hinted at, or fantasised. But he couldn't. He just couldn't let him walk away.

'Tom,' he called. The young man turned back to him.

'Wha?'

'What did Annie say?'

'Just that she thought I liked ya, and that she thought ya like me. But she was wrong so….'

'I do like you Tom,' Hal said smoothly and firmly.

'Yeah. I kna. But … like, more than…. Ah, I dunna.' He shrugged awkwardly. 'Annie got it wrong.'

'No,' Hal shook his head, stepping out of his room so that they were both stood in the corridor. 'I like you Tom.'

'Wha? Ya mean … like-like?'

'If that's how you wish to put it,' Hal sighed, walking the distance between them. 'Then yes.; like-like.'

'Nah, coz you see the thing is righ….' But Tom never got to say what the thing was because Hal had already closed the gap, capturing Tom's lips and silencing his tongue.

'YES!' The cry of excitement made the two men leap apart. Hal peered over his shoulder to glare at the direction the cheer had come from.

'Show yourself Annie,' he said sternly and she appeared looking sheepish, and digging her toe into the carpet.

'Sorry,' she said but she didn't look sorry. She looked delighted.

'I'm sure,' Hal frowned. 'Now scram, this is private.'

'Not in the corridor, it isn't.' Annie beamed.

'Fine,' Hal said, grabbing Tom's arm and dragging him into his room. 'Keep out Annie,' he scowled, slamming the door behind him and pulling Tom towards him. Now he'd tasted him, he couldn't get enough. It was like a whole fresh new addiction … or the re-emergence of another one. He felt the passion, the lust build up inside him. He felt the desire grow and the white hot pain in his head began to splinter. He needed it more than anything in the world. He could feel his eyes closing, a hundred and one images flashed before them, not all of them good. He was losing his cool. He wasn't just kissing Tom, he was kissing every single conquest he'd ever had.

He felt himself being roughly pushed in the chest and he felt the bed against the back of his knees and he fell back awkwardly.

'Come,' he whispered, but the body that he'd expected to fall with him.

'Hal,' he heard Tom say. 'Ya eyes Hal. They're all….'

He could feel it suddenly. The pull of reality fighting within him. Part of him was still craving this. Whatever sticky end it lead to, he wanted it. The sex, the passion, the blood, the lust.

'To die at your side well the pleasure, the privilege is mine.'

'Hal!'

He snapped out of it. His vision cleared and he could see Tom looking at him. The young man looked anxious, he was holding a stake in his hand and there was something akin to fear in his eyes. Hal knew Tom wasn't scared of him, more at the thought that he might have had to kill him.

'Shit!' Hal yelled, punching the mattress with his fist. 'I'm sorry,' he jumped quickly to his feet. 'I'm so very sorry,' he repeated, fumbling around for a jacket and keys. 'I should…. Yes.'

And with that, he disappeared from the room, down the stairs and out the front door. He didn't look back; not when he heard Tom's broken voice call his name, not when he heard Annie, not even when he could sense Tom watching him from the window. He had to get away from that house … now!

'What happened?' Annie asked, appearing beside Hal, practically running to keep up with his brisk walking pace.

'I can't do it.'

'Yes you've can, you've done it loads of times.'

'Not like this, it's different.'

'Because he's a man?'

'No be so idiotic. I can't afford to lose control around him,' Hal spat back. 'If I do, we're both dead Annie. Good luck trying to keep hold of the baby when everyone thinks her guardians are dead. I can see the papers now,' he muttered more to himself than Annie. 'Gay suicide pact leaves baby orphaned. Or perhaps they'd think we were murdered. It might certainly look that way. Or perhaps….'

'You're over thinking it,' Annie said. 'You two need to take it slow, that's all.'

'I'll ask you kindly to shut up,' Hal said. 'You've caused enough trouble, if you hadn't planted the thought in our heads it would never have happened. Tom would never have looked at me if you hadn't been whispering in his ear and I wouldn't have noticed him if you hadn't….' He trailed off, not really sure what he was trying to accuse her of.

'That's not true. You'd have got there eventually, I just gave you a little … nudge.'

'It feels more like you shoved us off a cliff.'

'I wouldn't say….'

'The freefall was fine,' Hal continued. 'A thrill perhaps, it's the moment of impact I'm worried about. The point where I lose control.' He stopped suddenly and stared straight at Annie. He was aware of the old couple stood on the street opposite who were pretending not to stare at him but he didn't care. This was important, it had to be said, onlookers be damned.

'You understand, of course, that I can't come back,' he said firmly.

'Oh Hal.'

'Don't,' he said. 'You know the reasons Annie. I can't trust myself to be around him.'

'Hal, you don't have to….'

'No, it's safer this way.'

'But where will you go?'

'I'll find somewhere,' Hal said. 'You don't live this long without making some friends.'

'What kind of friends?'

'The kind you might not approve of,' Hal sighed. 'But I will be in control,' he promised.

'You don't know that Hal. You don't know that you can control it,' Annie was almost in tears, her voice louder and more distressed by the second and Hal half expected the nosy old couple to hear her.

'Even more imperative that I leave then,' Hal said, and he turned away from her and continued to walk. He'd walk forever if he had to. He had charm, he had wit, he had a infinite knowledge of people; he could meet new friends find a new 'family' to settle down with, somewhere far away from Barry.

Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be up in the next few days!