Their eyes locked from across the room. They stared each other down for what seemed like an eternity, before one of them broke the inevitable silence.

"My mind forgets to remind me that you're a bad idea," Peter said with a blush as he approached his conquest. "I can't believe I agreed to meet like this."

"What could be so bad about little old me?" Davy countered mischievously with a sly smile that melted Peter's heart. "You're here, so that does say something."

"You know I can't stay away from you," Peter said breathily as he cupped Davy's chin in his palm. "Why did you ask me to meet you here?"

No words exited Davy's lips as those lips made their way towards Peter's slowly…

"Earth to Peter, come in Peter! You're clear for landing."

"Huh?" Peter snapped his attention towards Micky.

"It's your move," Micky said gesturing towards the dominoes on the floor.

"Oh sorry," Peter shook his head and reddened hoping that Micky wouldn't notice.

This had been happening more and more frequently lately. He couldn't seem to keep his mind focused on menial tasks like a game of dominoes, the dishes, or parking the Monkeemobile (Mike was pretty pissed about that parking ticket). The only thing he had on his mind was Davy Jones. Now he knew how Vanessa Russell had failed that history final.

"Are you feeling okay? You look flushed," Mike pointed out.

Of course he would notice!

"I'm fine Mike, it must just be a sunburn," Peter lied.

Mike stared at Peter inquisitively, "In the past two minutes? While we are inside? At night? In the winter? Did you even go outside today?"

"Well you know those pesky sunburns…sometimes they tend tooooo…lay dormant and pop up at the most inopportune times," he stammered with relief that he could think so quickly.

"He said the word dormant, so he must know what he's talking about," Micky joked.

Peter was running out of excuses. This charade had been going on for the past six months and it was getting more and more challenging to convince everyone that he was doing okay. It was better than the alternative of admitting his shameful secret; he was head over heels in love with Davy. It all started six months ago when…

"I can't believe that worked!" Mike exclaimed. "I figured that Renaldo would let the three of us out of those lifetime contracts, but I didn't expect him to let us tear them all up."

"He probably didn't want to risk people like us coming in again and ruining his business," Micky said.

"Good work men," Davy said settling down on the couch obviously exhausted from the scheme.

"Men? Man, we owe that all to you. You're the only one that had sense enough to do something different than get caught up in that nonsense," Mike admitted. "Usually I'm the one to get us out of scrapes, but dare I say you're earning your stripes."

Davy chuckled at the thought of becoming the leader. "Does that mean I get to wear the hat?"

Peter had been noticeably silent. He felt stupid for getting them into that mess in the first place. How could he have not read the fine print? He may have played the dummy on occasion, but he was no slouch in the intelligence department. He had been scammed one too many times that it was getting embarrassing. Even though his friends had come through and everything was resolved he couldn't help but feel a mixture of guilt and humiliation. It was taking all of his will not to cry. He managed to squeak out a meek "Thanks Davy" before retreating to their shared room.

Peter sat on the edge of his bed and began to silently but heavily sob. He had been holding that in since he found out the contract was binding. He felt awful but didn't want his friends seeing him vulnerable, it was uncomfortable.

The door to the bedroom creaked open and Peter vigorously wiped his eyes. The lights were off but he didn't want to risk anything. Even though it was dark he would have recognized that petite figure anywhere.

"Mate, are you alright?" Davy inquired.

Peter nodded briskly. He was not in a position to speak at the moment for fear of his voice cracking.

"You can't fool me, I know you. Now what's going on? You can tell me."

Peter took a deep breath. History had proven that Davy was relentless and wouldn't let this go until he knew. "I feel ridiculous. What's wrong me? I know better than to sign something without having all the information. I did it anyway and caused us a hassle." He buried his face into his hands. He said that surprisingly calm under the circumstances.

Davy had moved over and sat beside Peter on his bed. Peter could feel the weight shift on the mattress as he sat. Davy placed his hand on Peter's back and began to caress the space between his shoulder blades. Peter felt goose bumps start to rise and feeling as though he was slowly beginning to compose himself.

"Peter, it could have happened to any of us…in fact it did happen to Mike and Micky too and they knew beforehand! We don't exactly have the best track record for good decisions."

His hand had continued to graze around in circles on Peter's back and he had to stifle a shudder. This felt good. Too good! The wrong kind of good. Not comforting like Davy had meant it, but almost sensual. Peter shifted his body so that Davy had to stop his movements and Peter prayed that he wouldn't start again.

Peter had to refocus to comment on the words Davy had just spoken. He couldn't even think of something intelligible to say. "I didn't even learn to box step properly." Smooth.

Davy laughed and stood up reaching his hand out towards Peter. "It just so happens that you have Renaldo's top dance instructor under your roof. I have at least four year's experience you know."

Peter looked at Davy's warm facial expression. The authenticity of his want and need to console Peter was endearing. Peter felt his heart swell like it never had before as he took Davy's hand and was pulled off the bed. They began the arduous task of teaching Peter those steps, becoming tangled together with laughter and limbs.

And that was only the beginning…

Peter had never considered Davy in that light before. The weeks before he was asking for help in wooing Valerie the debutante. Now he was in unchartered territory. He had always known that Davy was an attractive man, but that was normal right? But knowing someone is attractive and thinking someone is attractive are two different things. The knowing implies going based on some sort of factual information whereas the thinking is more opinion based. Peter was hovering uncomfortably closer to thinking more and more.

Every little gesture and movement that Davy did was becoming painfully obvious to Peter. He was noticing the contours of his jawline, the way his accent seemed to thicken when he was emotionally charged in one way or another, and the way his hand effortlessly caught the edge of his tambourine. He tried to shake the thoughts from his mind and refocus attention on something else, but it was a losing battle. There was a reason all the ladies flocked to the Brit. The charm, wit, and handsome combination were enough to make anyone go weak in the knees.

When there were too many girls around the Pad and Peter felt a tinge of jealousy for the undivided attention they were getting. Hell the guy stopped in his tracks without even noticing. At the time Davy vowed no more girls; Peter couldn't help but feel hopefulness swell in his chest. Maybe that gave him an opportunity. He quickly severed ties with those thoughts as he realized that it was abnormal to have those thoughts about one of his good friends. He did make the move of grabbing Davy's backside as he pushed him up the stairs. He hadn't even meant to do that or did he? Even though, Peter did have his first Davy related fantasy during this period. How could someone not have erotic thoughts about someone telling other people to tie and chain them down?

Peter was quick to dismiss those thoughts as something much more innocent. He chocked it up to admiration. That had to be it. Davy moved and carried himself so perfectly and that was the kind of flawlessness Peter wished he could embody. Davy was able to walk into a space and command attention which was difficult to do with a smaller stature. He was suave with talking to the ladies and presented himself with such confidence. Those were qualities that Peter was lacking so it made the most sense to call this new interest admiration.

Peter was fooling himself though. Over time there was no denying that these feelings were going beyond admiration. His admiration was more than just respecting Davy's character, he was noticing a thrill inside his body when Davy was nearby or even touched him. His insides felt tingly, his head would spin, his heart would flutter, and there was a noticeable feeling 'downstairs.' He was becoming increasingly comfortable with letting his crush blossom over time. There was no use fighting it and Davy was in such close proximity that it was better to just secretly go with the flow and let his imagination run wild in private.

There were all those times when Peter was held hostage and Davy came to save the day. Well, actually everyone came to save the day, but Davy was all Peter was focused on. It was as if Peter was in distress and Davy rode up on his white horse to save him from gypsies, Dr. Marcovich, and the Dragon Man. Peter was no damsel but Davy was his white knight on a steed.

There were the alluring moments. He watched Davy teach the Android monster to dance. The movement of those hips was irresistible. He was not as against the boxing career as Mike and Micky. Come on, a chance to see a bare chested Davy glistening with sweat! Although, he didn't want that beautiful face bashed up. That time there were two Davy's Peter couldn't help but thinking about being the cheese in a Davy sandwich. Davy as the lead in the beach movie, he could be Peter's leading man any day.

And there were the moments that showed him that Davy really cared for him. It was adorable when Davy tried to use guided imagery to help Peter get rid of his hiccups. Reassuring Peter that nothing would happen to him regarding the Dragon Man and then joking with him about the color of his sports jacket. Also, he savored their moments alone together like working at the answering service while Mike and Micky were gone.

The downside was the jealousy that crept up at times. Peter's jealousy was not the green-eyed monster of anger that most people envision. It was a silent suffering that ate away at him until he had a chance to be near Davy again. It seemed like for some reason every time they split up Mike delegated Micky and Peter to go together while keeping the Brit all to himself. Peter knew Mike had no hidden agenda behind this, but it didn't stop the nagging sting of jealousy. Mike and Micky had a tendency to make comments about Davy being "cute" or having "staggering good looks" and Peter couldn't get the idea of them being competition out of his mind. If competition is mentioned though it's difficult to not think of the girls themselves. At one point he remarked, "I myself am deeply jealous," during one of Davy's love infused romps. Everyone thought he meant that it was due to Davy always getting the girl and in a way it was but not in the way others would think.

Sure it was tough keeping up appearances. He did win the ability to be with April, even though he wasn't the least bit interested. Good thing that problem sorted itself out. He was sure no one suspected a thing. One thing Peter was good as was keeping some semblance of mystery about him. If he was lusting after Davy no one was going to find out.