A/N: Sorry this has taken so long to update! i meant to have it up, like, on Friday...oh well. lol. Enjoy!

"Howard?"

"Hmm?" Howard glanced up from his copy of Global Explorer to look at Vince.

"Nothing."

Howard sighed. Vince always did this when he wanted something; he seemed to think Howard would be more likely to give him his way if it was Howard who asked him what was up. Probably, he realised, because he usually did.

"What is it Vince?" he asked.

"Can I have the laptop at 3 o clock? I told…Leroy I'd be online."

Howard felt a thrill of alarm. 3 was when he'd arranged to meet V-man22 on online messaging. "Sorry, little man. I need it."

"What for? What do you even do on there, anyway?"

Howard hesitated. Part of him wanted to see how Vince would react if he told him he needed the laptop to talk to his online boyfriend. But no, he couldn't do that. "I just do. Sorry Vince. Can't you use the internet café?"

"I'm gonna bloody have to, aren't I?!" Vince said angrily, and stalked into the bedroom. Howard sighed again, toyed for a minute with the idea of following Vince and apologising, then decided against it. He hadn't really done anything wrong, after all. Shaking his head, he returned to his Global Explorer.

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In the bedroom, Vince was sitting on his bed muttering angrily to himself.

"Stupid old jazzy freak. Why can't I use it? What's he doing that's so important anyway?" after a few minutes however, Vince began to wonder if Howard was in the wrong. After all, it was his computer. But that didn't change the fact that Vince was going to have to walk to the café in order to meet Lune-black. He sighed. It was entirely possible that if he explained to Howard why he wanted the computer, Howard would let him on. But he couldn't do that, not after everything he'd said about internet dating being creepy.

Maybe I should get my own computer… Vince thought. He grinned. That was actually a pretty good idea! All he needed now was his debit card… he glanced around the room. Where would Howard have put it? He wondered. Howard had taken control of Vince's finances, and his debit card, ever since the electro boy had gone £700 overdrawn whilst in Topshop, and Howard had had to bail him out. He checked in all the obvious places, in Howard's draw and in his wardrobe. Then he sat down and thought. He glanced at his watch. He still had a couple of hours until 3 o clock. Still time to search…but where?

Under his pillow? It didn't seem likely, but this was Howard. He probably would be that weird. Hoping he wasn't about to find anything weird, Vince stuck his hand under the pillow. He frowned as his hand came into contact with a piece of paper. He pulled it out. Was it a love letter maybe? Why else would Howard keep it under his pillow? He hesitated. Would it be totally wrong of him to read this? Nah, he thought. After all, this was Howard. It wasn't like there would be anything dirty in it. The grin slipped from his face as soon as he read the first line. What the hell… it was a copy of the 'Thinking of You' poem Vince had been sent the week before by his internet boyfriend. How the hell had Howard got a copy of it? Had he read Vince's emails? But hold on…there were bits crossed out. New bits added in. Words and notes scribbled around the edge of the page. It looks like Howard wrote this… Vince thought. Then his body flashed cold when he realised what that must mean. Fuck! Howard is Lune-black! Howard?? All this time, he'd been writing to Howard?? Vince had to admit, that was uncharacteristically cruel of Howard. He was about to storm out and ask him about it when his brain-cell piped up with an idea. Why would Howard bother? And he had seemed genuinely happy about a new person in his life… A new person that he had never told Vince how they met, or what they were called… Oh fuck. I'm this new 'girlfriend' he's been so happy about. Shit, what the hell am I gonna do?? If he was completely honest, Vince was almost as surprised that Howard had an online relationship with a man as he was discovering that man was him. Howard had to be the least gay person he'd ever met! But then again, he had been awfully quick to become a 'massive gay-ist' after Vince kissed him at Howard's birthday party… He should just stop emailing. That was the only thing to do really. Telling Howard was out of the question, he'd probably think Vince had done it as a joke. Emailing him as V-man22 ands dumping him would probably send him into a self-destructive spiral again at being rejected. No, just stopping contact was the best way. It would cause the least hurt to both parties. Because Vince had to admit he was hurt by this. The one time in his life he had felt relationship potential with someone; it turned out to be his best mate. Bloody typical. Vince stuffed the paper back under Howard's pillow, and went out of the room. "Hey Bollo." He said, spotting the gorilla in the kitchen.

"Hey Vince. Bollo making Sheppard's pie. You want some?"

"Yeah, cheers Bollo."

At that moment, Howard walked back into the flat. "Hey Vince. Bollo."

"Alright?"

"I'm gasping for a cup of tea. Any chance Bollo?"

"Sure. Kettle's there." Bollo said, pointing to the appliance. Howard rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I'll make it. Vince?"

"I'm fine, thanks Howard."

Howard made to walk over to the kettle, then realised Vince was in the way. He gripped his friend's shoulders gently and steered him slightly to the left, so that he could squeeze past.

Vince felt sick suddenly. When Howard had touched his skin, his heart had suddenly begun beating fast, and his mouth had gone all dry. "Actually, I think I will have some tea." He said.

"Ok." Howard busied himself with the tea, and Vince went and slumped on the sofa, staring down at his own feet. Why did he feel like this?

"Here." Howard sat down next to him and passed him a mug.

"Cheers, Howard." Vince told him, looking up at his friends face. Had Howard's eyes always been that shade? They were like two pools of warm chocolate that Vince wanted to dive right into. How had he never noticed before the way they sparkled slightly in the light from the window? Or how they… whoa! What the hell?? "I have to…um…go."

"What about your tea?"

"I'll be back in a minute. Umm…bathroom." Vince got up and hurried into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. He leant against the wall, trying to slow his breathing. What the hell was going on? This was Howard, his best friend Howard, who everyone mistook for his dad! Howard, who only that morning Vince had actually told one of his many 'friends' (the ones who disappeared whenever he wasn't considered 'in'), was like his side-kick! He couldn't seriously be falling for him! He'd been falling for 'Lune-black' sure, but that was before he knew it was Howard! Now he knew it was…oh God. He was ok with that. He was even slightly happy about that. Fuck.

That night, Vince was to be found sitting alone at the bar of his favourite pub. He wasn't really drinking alone, of course, but Leroy was late as usual.

"Alright Vince darlin'? What can I get ya?"

He smiled at the barmaid. "The usual, thanks, Naomi." She set about mixing up his drink. "Hey, Naomi?"

"Yes love?"

"You've had boyfriends, right?"

"Yeah, why? You got relationship problems?"

"Sort of. You know that guy I was telling you about? The one I met online?"

"The one you swore me to secrecy about, yeah. What about him? He's not some 80 year old weirdo or a 12 year old girl, is he?"

"What? No, nothing like that. It's just…I've found out it's someone I know. Like, in real life."

"Oh. Well, isn't that good?"

He sighed. "I dunno. Maybe. But the thing is, I don't know if he likes me or not. I mean, he likes me online, but its different, aint it? What if I tell him it's me, and he thinks it's a big joke or something? Like I'm makin' fun of him."

"Do you like him? In real life?"

"I think so. Yeah, yeah I do."

"So don't tell him. Drop hints in your emails; make him figure it out for himself. That way, when he realises it is you, he won't care."

Vince thought about this, then grinned at her. "You know, that might just work! I could just …hey, Leroy!"

As Leroy launched into some tale about his latest conquest, Vince sighed internally. All he needed to do now was figure out a way to drop hints as to his identity.

A few hours later, long after Howard had gone to bed, Vince was sitting at the laptop trying to compose his next email. He sighed. It had never been this hard writing to him before he decided he would drop heavy hints as to his identity. But now, anything he wrote made it sound really obvious it was him. He wanted Howard to figure it out, not have it practically screamed at him from the computer screen.

Eventually, he had an email he was happy with. He clicked 'send', then glanced down at the clock. 5:34 am. Bloody hell! That took me almost 2 hours to write! He suddenly felt like it should have been longer, or more intelligent-sounding. Too late now, it had already been whisked off into cyber-space.

Two weeks later, and Vince was getting seriously frustrated. He knew that the longer it went on, the angrier Howard would be that he hadn't said anything, and the more he was going to think it was a joke. Plus, living with Howard was harder than Vince had ever thought possible. He was so comfortable in the knowledge that Howard was his online romance; it felt natural to want to hug him and touch him. There had been an embarrassing incident a couple of nights before, when Vince had come home from the club slightly tipsy, and tried to kiss Howard. When Howard had pushed him away, Vince remembered he had no idea he had anything but friendship with him, and had instantly pretended to be a lot drunker than he really was. Howard hadn't mentioned it since.

It was infuriating just how slow Howard was being. Vince had even talked about how he shared a flat with a primate and Howard hadn't realised anything. Mind you, he thought, what's he gonna do? Email me back saying 'Vince? Is that you?' not likely.

He booted up the laptop. Maybe this time there'd be something to suggest Howard knew who he was? But, no. there was a message, but it was just the usual sort of thing. Until the end of the message, that is. Vince read the line several times, his eyes getting wider with each reading.

I really want to meet you. Do you want to meet me? I'll be opposite the Cambridge pub at 12 tomorrow. Email me back if you can make it.

Howard x

(See? Now you know my real name!)

Vince gulped. This wasn't part of the plan; Howard was supposed to have figured it out! Although, if he hadn't done it already, it could be another two weeks before he realised…Vince didn't think he could last that long. Before he could think properly about what he was doing, he hit 'reply' and fired off a 'yes' response. The second he hit 'send' he regretted it. But it was already too late. Whether he was ready or not, the time had come to let Howard know who he was.

Howard sat nervously on the bench opposite the pub. Would he show up? He glanced at his watch. V-man22 was about 20 minutes late already. He'd been stood up by someone he'd never met. That had to be a new low. Oh God, what if he had shown up? What if he'd shown up, seen Howard, and left in disgust? It wouldn't surprise him…

"Hi, Howard."

He looked up sharply, then his face fell slightly when he realised it was Vince. "Oh. Hey, Vince."

"You waiting for someone?"

Howard sighed and looked around. There was no-one else nearby. "Guess not. I think I've been stood up."

Vince sat down next to him, looking nervous. "I'm pretty sure you haven't."

Howard smiled at him. "Thanks Vince, but I might as well face it. The guy's over 20 minutes late. I've been stood up."

"No, I mean…you haven't been stood up. They're here."

"What?" Howard glanced around, confused. Sure enough, the immediate area was just as deserted as he thought it was. "What do you mean, 'they're here?' There's no-one here but me and…"

Vince shifted uncomfortably, eyes looking at anything but Howard.

"…you." Howard finished, slightly lamely as the penny slowly dropped. "You. You?!"

"Me." Vince confirmed.

"I don't fucking believe this!" Howard said angrily, getting up and storming off into the dimming light; leaving Vince very confused on the bench behind him.

"Howard! Howard, wait!"

But Howard didn't wait, didn't stop walking until he was inside the flat. He was seething with anger. How dare he? How dare he??

"Howard, why'd you run off like that?" Vince was panting slightly from the effort it had taken to keep up with the jazz maverick.

"Did you think it was funny?"

"What?"

"Were you laughing at me? 'Oh, poor pathetic Howard has to look online for a date. Let's take the piss'. Well?"

"It wasn't like that!" he said, slightly tearfully.

"So what was it like!?" Howard asked angrily.

"I tried to tell you…"

"Tried to tell me? Tried to fucking tell me?! How bloody hard is it to do that?!" Howard was very close to Vince now, yelling right in his face. "How could you not realise how this would make me feel?! What the hell was going through your mind?"

Vince looked at him. He couldn't think of a single thing to say, so he did the first thing that came into his head. He grabbed Howard, and he kissed him. Howard's eyes widened with shock, and he pushed Vince away from him. "What're you doing?"

"Kissing you."

"I noticed, thanks." Howard said drily. "I meant why?!"

"Because I want to."

Howard looked at him, confusion beginning to overtake anger in his expression.

"Look, Howard, it wasn't like that, ok? When I first started writing to you, I didn't know it was you, honest I didn't. I was online trying to get a relationship for myself, ok? When I found out it was you I was writing to…it was a shock, I'll admit that, but the weird thing was that it didn't feel weird! I was ok with the fact that it was you I was…" he paused and licked his lips nervously, "…I was falling for." He glanced up quickly at Howard's face. "but if you don't feel the same, if it's weird that its me and you don't like me like that, I mean, that's fine, but I just wanted…" he was cut off by a pair of lips being suddenly pushed forcibly against his own. He stumbled backwards and felt himself slam into the wall. The kiss was messy, all twisting tongues and clashing teeth. Howard was gripping his arms so tightly Vince was sure it would leave bruises, but he didn't care. He wouldn't have wanted the pain to stop for the world, because Howard was kissing him. Vince let out a small moan as Howard nibbled on his lower lip. As if the sound alerted the jazz maverick to what he was doing, Howard pushed himself away suddenly, staring at Vince in horror.

"Howard?"

"I…I'm sorry, I just…" he was blushing furiously. "I can't. You're my friend, my best friend…I just can't. I'm sorry."

Vince felt as though he was going to cry. He could feel a lump rising in his throat as he gazed at the man in front of him, who was refusing to meet his gaze. He bit his lip. No way was he going to let it end like this, no way! Nothing to loose, I suppose… Vince thought, and took a deep breath.

"Howard?" he stepped forwards and laid his hand lightly on the other man's cheek. Howard tried to flinch away from the contact, but Vince placed his other hand on the other cheek, and held his face. Then he kissed him again. Howard raised his hands to Vince's chest and seemed to push him away for a few seconds, then something changed and he gripped the front of Vince's shirt, pulling him closer. The kiss was different this time, soft and sweet.

Vince slipped his tongue into Howard's mouth, causing the larger man to groan softly and pull him closer. Vince resisted, breaking the kiss slightly to gaze into Howard's eyes, their faces still only centimetres apart. "Are you still mad at me?"

"No." Howard breathed, and kissed him again, wrapping his arms around Vince's torso. Without breaking the kiss again, the two of them stumbled towards the bedroom…

"Hello?" Naboo called as he walked into the shop. He was annoyed to find it closed. Where were Howard and Vince? He walked up the stairs and found the two of them sat at the kitchen table, grinning like idiots. "What're you two doing?"

They both jumped about a foot in the air. Naboo almost grinned at that.

"Naboo! You…you were supposed to be out all day!"

"Well, now I'm not. Why isn't the shop open?"

Howard and Vince glanced guiltily at each other briefly. "Err…it was! We're on a break!" Howard told him.

"Hmm…" Naboo stared at them, suspiciously. Something was going on here… "You sure nothing's going on?"

Vince suddenly sat up a little straighter and let out a tiny squeak, before taking a large gulp of his tea. Howard smiled at Naboo. "We're sure."

"Ok…" Naboo headed into his bedroom, glancing back at the two men before closing the door.

Vince instantly removed Howard's hand from where he'd been trailing it across the upper-most part of his thigh. "You are just asking for trouble!" he said, kissing Howard's fingertip.

"Ooh, is that a threat?" he asked, grinning back at him.

They were going to have to tell Naboo and Bollo eventually, of course. But for now, it was nice having a secret.

End! Much love to everyone who read this!

Reviews make me happy :)

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