Disclaimer: Don't own Hollyoaks.
"I've done something really stupid," Doug thought to himself as he waited for Ste to join him in the Deli early Saturday morning. "Why did I agree to get the money off Brendan? Ste is going to hate me when he finds out."
After Ste had opened up to him about his past relationship, if you could call it that, with Brendan, Doug had been determined to get the Deli for Ste. Somehow this had resulted in him taking up Brendan's offer. He had tried to throw the bid but Brendan found out and had somehow managed to make sure they got Cincerity. Ste had trusted him. Now Brendan had a hold over him again and it was all Doug's fault.
The only upsides were that Ste doesn't ever need to find out and now they had a kitchen of their own. Doug only got the money off Brendan in the first place so that they could prove to the world that they weren't a waste of space. He wanted to make something of himself and he wanted to do it with Ste. Ste was in the same mindset as Doug but he also had two kids who he wanted to be able to spoil. Doug saw the way Ste was with Leah and Lucas. He was a natural father.
Ste interrupted Doug's thoughts as he flung open the door to the Deli, shutting it quickly to keep out the cold April wind. "Oh good, you're 'ere already," Ste looked around their new property as he took off his jacket. "Well you could have at least started without me!" Ste joked as he watched Doug sitting on an old stool drinking tea.
"Well that wouldn't have been fair would it?" Doug laughed. This was their first proper day working on the Deli. They had received the news only yesterday that it was theirs (kind of) and had decided to start immediately on renovating the place.
"Do you want some?" Doug asked holding up his mug.
"Yeah I'll go put the kettle on. Again." Ste mock glared at Doug as he headed into what would be the Deli's kitchen. When he returned into the main area, he found Doug had put on his overalls ready to begin painting.
"Lookin' good." Ste laughed as he checked out Doug's outfit.
"Oh don't worry Ste! I brought some for you too!" Doug grinned at Ste as he held out the identical dungarees.
Ste sighed as he took the overalls from Doug and put them on. "Only 'cos I don't want me jeans to get dirty."
Ste watched as Doug laughed and turned to pick up the paint pot. "Why are there two handprints on your backside?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.
Doug craned his neck to try and see what Ste was on about. "I didn't even realise there was. I borrowed them from Texas…" he trailed off as he noticed the worried look on Ste's face. "What?"
"I'm sorry. I weren't looking at your backside on purpose. It were an accident. I weren't checking you out or anythin'."
Doug turned to face Ste fully to see that his arms were crossed over his front, like he was bracing himself for something. "What? I know that- oh." Doug suddenly understood why Ste was being paranoid. After his relationship with Brendan, he was mind washed into expecting a beating. If he had said anything like that to Brendan it would have resulted in a black eye or a split lip. Guilt washed over Doug for the one hundredth time that day.
"Ste, I'm not going to hurt you! I know you were joking about."
Ste's arms lowered as he relaxed. "Okay. I were just making sure."
"We're friends Ste. You can joke about with me, hell, you can check me out if you want," Doug winked. "No one else is going to."
Ste relaxed completely as he laughed and joined Doug in getting ready to start the painting. "Come on, there must be some girls."
"As if. Im not exactly Dodger or Riley."
"Aren't there any girls you find fit in the village?" Ste was so glad he and Doug were comfortable enough to discuss relationships. He was a bit worried that Doug would be hesitant since Ste was gay.
"Nah not really. I mean, there are some beautiful women but no one really stands out for me."
"Do you still miss Bex?"
Doug tensed slightly. Ste noticed. "Im sorry, I shouldn't have brought her up."
"No its fine. I do miss her. You must miss Rae."
"Yeah course, but it's different 'cos you were in love with Bex."
"Yeah I loved her but I don't know if im in love with her anymore. It's hard to explain but I was able to let her go. I wouldn't have been able to if she was the love of my life. Im young. Im sure there will be someone else. I feel quite bad for saying that now. Sorry Bex." Doug looked up to the ceiling, as if he was talking to her. "Though I wasn't the love of her life either so I don't think she'll mind."
There was a bit of an awkward silence after Doug poured out his thoughts on Bex as Ste and Doug began to paint a wall each. Doug broke the silence as he turned the conversation to Ste. "So, any guys caught your eye then Ste?"
Ste laughed incredulously. "There aren't many gays in this village for me to fancy, Doug."
"Well if you had to turn someone in the village gay, who would it be?"
Ste thought for a moment. He knew what he wanted to say but maybe it would make things a bit weird. Well Doug was fine with it earlier…
"You."
"Me!"
"Yeah."
"Why me?" Doug laughed.
Ste let out the breath he didn't realise he was holding when he heard Doug laugh. "Well you're a nice guy. And it would be easier to get up for work in the morning if it involved seeing your boyfriend."
"That's true. Thank you. Im honoured," Doug chuckled.
"Well it would be easier if you were gay Doug."
Doug stopped painting and turned to Ste confused. "Why?"
Ste noticed that the sound of Doug's paintbrush had stopped and he too turned around. His mind turned like clockwork as he tried to figure out how to say what he was thinking. He hadn't meant to say that but now he had he couldn't take it back. "Well, as I said, I would be after you if you were gay and then if you liked me too then we could go out, solving our relationship problems." Ste watched Doug's face as he took in what he had said. Doug just shrugged and smiled.
"Yeah I guess you're right." Then he turned back to painting the wall.
Ste let out a sigh of relief. That could have been awkward. Suddenly he remembered that he had boiled the kettle ages ago but never made the tea. "My tea!" he exclaimed, causing Doug to jump. "I'll need to go boil the kettle again. Do you want some Doug?"
"Please. Thanks Ste." Doug smiled at the wall as he laughed internally at Ste's weird solution to their relationship problems. He's not wrong though, Doug thought; If I was gay Ste would be the perfect guy. He then shook the thought out of his head as he dipped his brush in the paint again.
Ste stayed beside the kettle this time and he watched it boil. He started humming slightly as he thought over the conversation he had just had with Doug. He stopped humming and stood up straighter as realisation kicked in.
"Did I just try and convince Doug to be gay with me?" he whispered.
"Did you say something Ste?" Doug called as he climbed up the stepladder to get the top of the wall.
"No! Nothin'!" Ste replied hurriedly as he continued to make the tea.
