A/N: So my brain coerced me into writing a story that will separated into actual chapters. That I actually need to continue writing. Thanks brain, thanks a lot. So, um, yeah, the chapters are going to be fairly short as I honestly don't have much time to write. I hope to eventually (pleasebesoonpleasebesoon) wrap this up into a neat little finale, but it is still a WIP, so we'll see how this goes. This actually started as what was going to be an uber-fluffy happytimez crackfic...but soon was twisted into something much darker. And, of course, as always, these darling little characters don't belong to me...*sigh*

Warnings: For now this story is only T because it isn't all that bad, but coarse language will be used in future chapters. Eventually, explicit sexual situations may occur. But I don't know. So whatever.

***If anyone guesses where I am getting the title/chapter names from, you win my love forever. Forever.***

Waste Another Dream on You

Chapter 1: Away From Here

"Yes, yes, you are delicious caramel too, Raj," Howard sighed as his silent friend looked at him expectantly.

Raj smiled and squiggled his shoulders in a kind of happy dance. He loved it when his best friend said such delightful things about him. But as Howard turn away and continued with the after-dinner conversation, Raj's spirits fell. Howard was talking about women again. Not that there was anything wrong with talking about women – he found himself doing that often as well – it was just the look that Howard got in his eyes when he spoke of them. It was like he was speaking of the most holy thing in the universe. It was a more intense look than the one he got while tinkering with his robots, or reading his favourite comic book. Raj snapped abruptly out of his daydreams when he realized that the room had suddenly fallen silent. Everyone was staring at him.

"Raj?" Leonard asked suspiciously, "Are you…okay?"

He realized that he had been staring not so discreetly at Howard for the past 5 minutes – quite possibly without even blinking. Howard had a strange expression on his face, much like he had just tasted something awful and was trying not to spit it out.

"I believe I would be correct in assuming that –"

"Sheldon, shush," Leonard interrupted, "Let me handle this. Raj, are you –"

"Seriously dude, what's your problem?" Howard butted in, getting the final word.

"Ugh, errr, ehhh–" Raj tried to come up with an appropriate answer – a good defence – but with Penny is the room he could only squeak awkwardly. He looked at her pleadingly, hoping she would stay as his excuse to remain silent. Unfortunately she misinterpreted the look on his face.

"Alright boys," she stood up and announced, "I'm out of here. Mr. Spacey needs to say something, apparently."

All eyes were on Raj as Penny quickly exited the apartment. His pulse quickened. He didn't know what to say or how to explain himself. He needed to get away from here, quickly. As the three sets of eyes bored into him, he began to sweat. He couldn't just admit that he was thinking that deeply about Howard, but he was so frazzled that he couldn't think of any other excuse.

"I – uh – I" Raj racked his brains, "I have diarrhea!"

And with that awkward avoidance, he ran frantically to the bathroom, leaving the other men more than confused. Sheldon just shook his head, muttered something about the new Chinese restaurant, and went off in search of Imodium for the poor man. This left Leonard and Howard sitting in an awkward silence.

"So, um, wow," Howard began, "He totally wigged out. What do you think that was about?"

"Well, he was staring at you," Leonard hinted.

"Is there something really gross happening on my face right now? Because I think I would like to know about it please." Howard steered the conversation frantically.

Leonard just buried his face in his hands. Howard just didn't get it. Or did he? Maybe he was avoiding it…but why? Leonard knew that Raj obviously had a huge crush on Howard; it had been obvious from day one. He had even talked to Penny about it, and she agreed. Obviously Sheldon, being Sheldon, saw nothing of the sort happening, but Leonard just knew it.

"Look," he fibbed, "I have to go out…uh…to the store. Why don't you hang around and make sure Raj is okay."

Howard grimaced, but reluctantly agreed. He could use this opportunity to watch some of Leonard's "special" DVDs that no one was supposed to touch. Sheldon wandered out of the hallway with a sombre look on his face.

"Unfortunately, it seems that I used up the last of the Imodium last time we had Chinese food from this same restaurant. I told you–"

"Okay-great-I'll-drive-you-to-the-store" Leonard hastily interrupted as he heard the toilet flush from the bathroom, "Lets go, go, go!"

"But Leonard, it is only approximately 291 degrees Kelvin! I'll catch a cold if I don't wear my jacket."

"No. Out, now," Leonard prodded and pushed Sheldon out the door.

So there you are folks, chapter one is over. Wonder what will happen when Howard and Raj are left alone together in the apartment? Tune in next time* to find out!

*"next time" is an undisclosed hour on an undisclosed day.