"Stephen." A deep voice growled.
"Stephen." The man repeated.
Ste turned over, covering his head with his arms.
He felt a tapping on his cheek, and soon found his cheeks being squished together.
"Yeh look like a hamster Stephen." The Irish man slurred, chuckling to himself.
"I'm Stephen, and I'm a hamster." He mimicked.
"Brendan what is up with you?" Ste snapped, turning around on the couch to see Brendan kneeling next to him.
"Shhhh," Brendan said, pressing his pointer finger to the side of his pursed lips "We have to be quiet: Stephen's sleeping."
Brendan coughed, and Ste smelt a pungent odor of whiskey hanging on his breath.
"Are you drunk Brendan?" Ste asked, still hazy.
"Never in my life Stephen." Brendan smirked.
"Bloody hell, just let me sleep!" Ste shouted and turned back on his side, blocking Brendan from seeing his face.

Brendan got up and felt slightly dizzy. He looked around the room and saw that the table had been set. There was a red silk tablecloth, fancy white china plates, wine glasses set out, and a cooler with a wine bottle inside.
"Oh shit!" Brendan suddenly gasped.
"Were we gonna…?" He started.
"Yes we were gonna have dinner." Ste groaned angrily from the couch.
"I'm sorry Stephen, I forgot. I'm sure we can still have it, right?" Brendan said, trying to rectify his error.
"I've already eaten me food. Just forget about it, okay? Go to sleep." Ste said coldly.
"Okay…" Brendan mumbled and slowly stumbled up the stairs, mumbling about how sorry he was.

By the time morning hit, Stephen was already gone. Brendan had set the alarm for 6:30, and like every morning, he got up promptly, took his shower, had some breakfast, and set out for the day.

He started remembering fragments of yesterday. He had agreed on having a dinner with Stephen at his. Then Brendan had received a call from a client offering to sell some products at a better price, and Brendan couldn't pass up on the opportunity.
He had invited the client to come have a drink at the club on the house, and soon enough got carried away. Brendan wasn't sure how far gone he was, but from the pounding in his head, and only a faint recollection of the previous night, he knew it was pretty bad.

The village was empty Brendan noticed as he made his way to the deli. There were a few customers already in the deli, getting their breakfast for the road.
Mitzeee and Riley were standing in front of the line, whispering into each others' ears and giggling. Riley then leaned down and started kissing Mitzeee delicately.

Brendan sighed. He didn't like seeing all this public display of affection.
Behind them was a dark haired man. He was wearing suit pants and a buttoned shirt.
Not too bad of an arse. Brendan thought to himself as he peered down subtly.
Who was he again? The doctor… New in town. Something like that, Brendan wasn't too bothered by insignificant details.

He pushed to the front of the line, receiving scowls from all the customers in front of him.
"Stephen, can I talk to you?" Brendan asked, trying to be as sweet as he was willing to in front of all those people.
"I'm sorry, I'm working right now." Ste snarled back, jutting his chin upward.
God he looks gorgeous when he's angry. Brendan thought to himself.
"Stephen, please?" Brendan begged quietly, not wanting Riley, Mitzeee or the doctor to hear him that way.
"Just bugger off, will you, Brendan. I'm not in the mood for this." Ste sighed, not feeling up to fighting.
"Okay." Brendan gave up, slouching his shoulders, before turning around and walking out the little deli.

Brendan knew he'd messed up. Why couldn't he have just cancelled on the client and gone to Stephen?
Stephen was far more important than any business opportunity.
He sat in his office in Chez Chez, trying to conjure a plan that would make it all better. Brendan was no bloody romantic; he didn't know how to apologise properly for his mistakes. He wasn't going to get all mushy and gushy; that just wasn't him.
He then was hit with an idea. Brendan flipped his phone out of his pocket, speed dialing #2.
A lady picked up on the other end of the line "Bren what do you want?"
Brendan pleaded into the phone quietly, "Chez, I messed up, and I need your help."

The day had felt long and Ste was getting weary. He was extremely frustrated at Brendan; Ste had spent hours preparing lobster for them both, had set the table nicely and he had made sure that Cheryl would be away for the night.
He had planned everything out properly, and Brendan had just ruined it. He obviously cared more about getting pissed than being with Ste.

"Ste are you okay?" Doug asked gently from the store room of the deli.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ste responded back monotonously.
Doug frowned and stopped unpacking the box of fresh food.
"Come on Ste, obviously you're not okay."
"Just leave it." Ste snapped back angrily as he slammed down the panini maker on two ham and cheese paninis.
Doug shrugged and continued unpacking the food.

Of all people, Ste would not be telling Doug about his problems with Brendan. He'd just sneer in his face, and pretend to be all-knowing.
"I always knew he was bad for you." He'd say cockily or "He was bound to screw up sooner or later."
Ste just didn't want to pick at that wound. It had been a few months since he and Doug split up, and they managed to get by, but there was still bad air lingering.

"Hello handsome." A cheery voice sing-songed from the door of the deli.
Ste looked up and saw his ex, Amy.
"Hey Amy. What can I do you for?" Ste asked, not bothering much to perk up.
"What's with the scowl Ste?" She frowned.
"Nothing." He stated.
"Why does everyone have to pry?" He mumbled under his breath.
"What was that?" Amy asked curiously.
"No-thing!" Ste grunted, opening the panini maker heedlessly.
"Okay Mr. Grumpy." Amy responded, unaffected by Ste's sour mood. "Anyway, I need you to watch the kids tonight."
"Okay." Ste replied instantly.
"I've got a date tonight." Amy smirked.
"Good for you." He grumbled.
He angrily grabbed the paninis with his hand.
"Shit!" He yelped as the scorching hot paninis fell to the floor.
"Just great." He moaned.
His day was not going as planned.

At six o'clock sharp, Ste left the deli and made his way home. His day had been horrible and he couldn't help but feeling like breaking down and crying once he had put the kids to sleep. The only thing keeping him going was knowing that when he would get home, Leah and Lucas would be there.
They would ramble on about their carefree day, show him little drawings they had made, try and climb on his back, and just brighten his already dark day.

Once he got to the humble estate he called home, he took out his keys and opened the door.
Ste gasped and dropped his keys on the floor.
"What in the world is this?" He asked, utterly shocked by what he saw in front of him.