A/N: Chapter 2...woooo! Yeah, this isn't any indication of how often I am going to be putting out another chapter...I already had this one written when I posted the first chapter. It is in this chapter that my twisted mind first started to distort my happy little fluff into dark, angry things. Damn you brain, damn you!

Warnings:I kept this chapter as "T" because there is only one instance of the "F word" and really no sexual content...But please, do tell me if you think that the one swear warrants a higher rating, I just don't know about these things.

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


Chapter 2: (Un)common Reaction

As they walked away, Howard could hear Sheldon berating and blaming Leonard for the life-threatening disease that he was sure to contract on their outing. He smiled faintly at their endearing banter. Sometimes he wished he and Raj could be like that…only without one of them being as annoying as Sheldon. It seemed like every time he got close to Raj, he would freak out and run away. It was really weighing down on Howard.

In the bathroom, Raj was freaking out like mad. What am I going to do! he wondered helplessly. It wasn't like he could exactly slip out the back door, meaning that he couldn't just leave and never talk to his friends again. He would have to walk right past them all to leave. But he couldn't, he just couldn't. By this point they had probably already figured out that he had a creepy crush on Howard.

He reached over and closed the lid of the toilet, and the flopped down on it. He had to think of a plan. As he became aware of the sounds around him, he realized that he couldn't hear Sheldon or Leonard arguing anymore. Does that mean they left! He nearly jumped in joy. But then he heard a familiar cough. Crap, he thought, Howard is still here.

Back in the living room, Howard was thoroughly bored, and a tad hungry. The other men never gave him a big enough portion of Chinese food, stating that he was the smallest, and therefore didn't require as much nutrition. Actually, that was mostly just Sheldon who said that, but no one dared argue with Sheldon about his Mu Shu Pork. As his stomach rumbled, Howard decided to snoop through Leonard and Sheldon's kitchen to see if they had anything good.

He was bending down, shuffling through the lowest contents of the fridge when he suddenly heard a noise from the hallway. He quickly turned around and straightened up, only to see a very sheepish looking Raj wielding the largest toilet plunger he had ever seen.

"Raj!" he exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I – uh – I was planning…on knocking you out with this and then running away," Raj wouldn't meet Howard's eyes.

"Um…why?" Howard asked, obviously confused.

"Because…because…" Raj decided to just spit it out, unsure of what Howard's reaction would be, "Because ever since that time we hugged it has been really awkward between us and I haven't been able to stop thinking about the way your body felt against mine and I just want it to happen again but I can't because I don't know how to even start telling you how I feel and you are the most beautiful man I've ever met and I hate myself so much right now and the sexual tension has been killing me!"

Howard just stared at Raj, his eyes getting bigger and bigger as Raj's voice got higher and higher. He honestly was at a loss for words. How could Raj feel this way about him? They were best friends, for god's sake. This would ruin everything.

"Fuck you, man," was all he could get out.


So there you are folks, chapter two is now complete. Wonder what what Howard means by his response to Raj? Tune in next time* to find out!

*"next time" may or may not be soon. I could be sucked into a black hole and post the next chapter 70 years in the past for all I know!