"Doug!"

"Mum? W…when did you get here? Dad? What are you guys doing here?"

The surprise in his voice was evident for all to hear, luckily the shrugging off of Ste's hand from his lower back was only obvious to him, although it disappointed him it wasn't really a surprise. Doug had explained to him only last week how much his parents had taken to his first girlfriend, Gemma from back home, which meant they were very unlikely to be ready for his news.

"Since you didn't make it home for Christmas, the hurt was evident in her every syllable. We decided it was time for a visit."

"But you didn't call."

"We thought it would be a nice surprise. Can we come in then?"

"Sorry. A surprise it had definitely been. He opened the door and showed them into the flat. Do you want a drink? Tea or coffee?"

He hurried into the kitchen trying to hide his obvious nerves, but as he rummaged through the cupboards his hands were shaking uncontrollably.

"Coffee if it's not like the water we just drank at the airport. So who is this lovely young man?"

"St…Ste. He's my business partner and b…best friend."

Ste chose to ignore the introduction, hitched a smile onto his face and shook hands with both of his parents.

"So, how did you two boys meet then? You must be close our Doug doesn't really trust many people…"

A gruelling half hour for Doug at any rate of pleasant chit chat later, during which Ste had done his best to offer him reassuring smiles and not so obvious touches his parents announced that they were going to book into the Premier Inn hotel they had passed in the taxi, as it wasn't too far away and it didn't seem that shabby.

"Oh, okay. Do you want to meet up later?"

"Well we were thinking we could take you and Stephen out for dinner. That's if you are both free."

Doug looked at them, suspicion and uncertainty registered on his face. Why did they want to take Ste out?

"That would be lovely. Ste answered for him. I have to nip home first though, see the kids and get changed."

"You have children? Now that had come as a surprise, she was usually quite good at reading people as one of her best friends often remarked and rightly or wrongly she had assumed that he was gay and that from the reassuring smiles and shared glances that he was in fact in a relationship with her son. Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude but I just thought…"

"You can say it. I am gay."

"Yes, that is what I thought."

"Mum."

Doug flushed in embarrassment, he couldn't believe her forwardness.

"It doesn't bother me or your father for that matter. We are quite open minded about these things."

"Since when?"

Doug asked incredulously. That had never been his experience of his parents attitudes before.

"Since your sister decided to introduce us to her new girlfriend, who is rather nice actually."

Ste couldn't help the laugh that escaped his lips at the look on Doug's face.

"So…she…she's a lesbian? And you are okay with that?"

"It was a bit of a shock. His dad conceded. In all honesty we were kinda expecting that from you."

"From me?"

"Yeah. It never seemed real with all those girlfriends you had, but how you look at him. His dad nodded his head towards Ste. That is real."

"You two are together aren't you? If not this could be really awkward."

His mum quipped.

"Yes we are."

Ste answered for him as for once he was totally lost for words.

"Good. She smiled at him genuinely. Well whilst we are here it will be nice to get to know our son's boyfriend. Doug was so shocked by the turn in advents, not only had he learned of his sisters sexuality he had also been brought out of the closet, he literally sat on the sofa, unable to say a word, as they all made plans around him. So we will meet you back here at four ish. Give us time to unpack and settle in."

"That's great. I may get him back to normal by then. Doug are you okay?"

The comforting pressure of Ste's arm around his shoulder brought him back to reality.

"Yeah. I'm fine. He smiled at him reassuringly. So we'll see you in a bit then?"

"You will. Doug, you may not have planned on this, but if you are happy then we are genuinely happy for you. And he seems like a nice lad."

His dad hugged him tightly.

"He is. Thanks dad. It is good to see you both by the way."

He literally sank to the floor as he closed the door behind them.

"So that wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No. It was…weird, but really good."

Ste sat down next to him on the floor and interlaced their fingers.

"They seem nice."

"It's a good thing you like them, because they obviously like you, which isn't a bad thing."

"And why's that?"

Ste goaded him.

"Because I love you."

"I love you too. Ste closed the gap between them and kissed him deeply on the lips. Come on though, we have to get ready."

He pulled back before the kiss turned into something more.

"We've got plenty of time before dinner. Doug rose to his feet and offered him his hand. Besides I wanted to spend some time with my wonderful boyfriend."

Ste scrambled to his feet and allowed himself to be led up the stairs and into Doug's miraculously tidy bedroom, as most of his things were now at Ste's flat.

"Move in with me then."

"Are you sure?"

Doug was more than surprised at how calm he felt by the suggestion.

"Most of your stuffs at the flat already. We may have to look for a bigger place, but until then I would love you to live with me."

"That's the best idea you have ever had. Doug lay down on his bed and guided Ste until he was lying on top of him. He kissed him deeply, allowing his tongue to explore every inch and crevice of the mouth which belonged solely to him, their tongues entwined, dancing rhythmically as one. Yes. I'll live with you. He whispered seductively in his ear. I love you."