Chapter two! I've had so many people tell me they ship Balcifer now. It makes me so happy that I've pulled you over to this ship! They're not my OTP, but they are so much fun to write... anyway, if you know of any other good Balcifer fanfictions, please send me a PM and tell me. I had someone ask for some and I have literally nothing to recommend and I'd love to help her out.

We're such a small group though...and I cannot find any other Balcifer authors. You know that the only Balcifer fics on this site are by me? HOLY FUCK, PEOPLE.

The hardest part is looking back and making sense of

The humble tries and troubled times of where we came from.

Lu knew this conversation was bound to happen. It wasn't like it hadn't been a factor in why it took Taz a month to own up to his feelings or something. It was inevitable.

He just wished it hadn't happened in the freaking car on the way to Gabe's birthday dinner.

"So, Gabe," Taz started, and Lu knew immediately where this conversation was heading.

"What about him?" Lu asked, smoothly executing a left-hand turn.

"Is everything alright with the two of you?"

He knew Taz didn't mean "the two of you" in a romantic way, but somehow, that's what it sounded like. It conjured up memories of Gabe writhing beneath him and crying out his name. He'd told Gabe that he didn't regret the brief sexual aspect of their relationship and he'd meant it—and he still did—but he still felt a small surge of guilt over it. He wasn't comfortable with that guilt. He hadn't done anything wrong. Both he and Gabe had been single at the time and it really wasn't Taz's place to judge him for fucking someone he wasn't in love with. Taz had been doing the exact same thing, after all. "Yeah, everything's fine. You told me to be honest with him—" about four months before they started dating, before everything started falling into place "—and I was. We got everything sorted out."

Taz appeared to ponder how to phrase his next question. "So what was going on?" he asked finally, almost casually, as he toyed with his seatbelt.

Lu shrugged, feigning nonchalance. He wasn't about to lie to Taz about what had happened, but he couldn't think of a good way to describe the situation. What had they been, lovers? He shuddered internally at that thought. He and Gabe had definitely not been lovers. It wasn't really an affair because in his mind, the term "affair" implied infidelity and both of them had been single at the time. "Friends with benefits" was something teenagers did, not twenty-six- and twenty-seven-year-olds. "Fucking" wasn't really the right term, either, because it implied they hadn't cared about each other, and that was definitely not right. Maybe there was no way to accurately describe it. Finally, he decided that the simplest explanation was probably the easiest. "For a couple of months, we were having sex." It was strange to finally say it out loud. The two of them had barely discussed it at all and certainly never mentioned it to their friends.

"A couple months?" Taz asked slowly, as if trying to wrap his head around that.

"Like the end of September to November." Actually, he figured that whatever it had been had ended on his birthday—that was when Gabe had passed that note to Sam and days later, they were in a relationship. Lu had been drunk, but not too drunk to not notice the note sliding under the table or the looks his best friend and Sam had been shooting each other. That was the end of whatever happened. That was when Gabe finally got involved in a real relationship.

Taz shifted in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest as he contemplate his next question. "Who started it?" he asked finally.

"He did."

"And he ended it?"

"Yeah, when he started dating Sam." When Taz was silent for a few moments, he felt his words pour out, unbidden. "It was a very confusing time for me. I had been trying to work up the nerve to ask you out for awhile and then I get a text from you saying you went on a date with Castiel and I just reacted badly. I didn't really—"

"I thought you said he started it."

"He did. I mean, we both kind of knew what was going on, but he was really the one who instigated the whole thing. It was really complicated. We've been friends for years and I guess I just didn't translate my jealousy well. For a long time, he was my only friend, so whenever he started getting friendly with other people, I got really jealous. And then when he started dating people in high school, I still saw them as a threat because he had less time to spend with me. I mean, it's really complicated and really stupid so it doesn't make a lot of sense—"

"No, it makes sense," Taz assured him. "And it's fine. I'm okay with it. I mean, I really don't have any call not to be, right?"

"Yeah," Lu admitted, half-smiling.

He felt Taz's hand move to his thigh as the older man leaned over and breathed into his ear, "Just as long as it's not an issue anymore." Then he licked at the shell of his ear, sliding his hand a little further up as he did so.

Lu's throat was suddenly dry as all the blood in his body rushed south. He really wished they weren't in the car and heading to meet Gabe and Sam. "No, it's definitely not an issue."

"Good," Taz whispered, running his lips down the side of Lu's neck. He scraped his teeth across the skin and then locked his lips onto his neck and sucked hard.

"Jesus, Taz, you need to—" He groaned suddenly, trying to keep his eyes on the road. "You need to not do that when I'm driving." Panting heavily, he said, "You're gonna get us both killed."

He felt Taz's mouth leave his neck as his hand slid further up his thigh and cupped his crotch. "But what a way to go, yeah?"

Lu hissed when he squeezed. "Fuck… God, Taz, I really wish we weren't in this fucking car right now."

"Yeah, me too. I can't keep my hands off you right now," he murmured, the teasing in his voice evident.

"You're gonna have to try, babe." Even though every nerve ending in his body was screaming for Taz.

"If you insist," he murmured with another nip at his neck.

When they finally arrived at Perdition, Lu didn't know how he was going to get through the dinner. Taz seemed bound and determined to thoroughly frustrate him and make it as difficult as possible to focus on anything but him. He hoped Gabe and Sam didn't notice, but it was probably too much to expect. Taz was making it quite obvious.

"So, Lu, how'd your court thing go?" Gabe asked with a perfectly straight face.

"Um, fine, fine. I got my client off—he was innocent, of course—and that was my last really time-consuming case for the moment." He determinedly ignored Taz's fingers splayed on his thigh and the way he was dragging one nail along his pant leg. He half-wanted to be distracted, but he wasn't going to give Taz the satisfaction.

"Good. Taz, anything new going on with you?"

"No, not really," Taz said cheerfully, as if his hand weren't an inch or two from Lu's straining cock. Or as if it was. On second thought, he was behaving completely normally under the circumstances. "Mary and I thinking about expanding the bar to make room for a performance space, but apart from that, not much."

Lu kind of wanted to punch Taz in the face. He could be annoying with how flawlessly he could pull off the whole innocent flirting thing. It was infuriating because he had never mastered the art of messing with someone while maintaining a straight face.

"Excuse me for a moment," Taz said quickly, standing up. The moment he was out of earshot, Lu let out a long sigh.

"That was weird," Gabe said. "I was about to suggest that the two of you just get a room already."

"I want it to go on record that I did not approve of his behavior," Lu said, grinning.

"At least, not in public?" Gabe guessed.

"Well, yeah."

"Um, Lu," Sam said suddenly. "Are you… are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" He looked at from Sam to Gabe and back. "Do I not look okay?"

Sam looked uncomfortable, appearing to weigh his next words. "You're… you're covered in bruises. Is Taz…?"

"Yeah," Lu said simply. Then he realized what it sounded like when both Sam and Gabe's eyes widened in shock. "Guys, chill out. It's okay. I'm fine."

"I will fuck his shit up if he's hurting you," Gabe hissed angrily. "I will make a fucking scene right here, right now."

Lu rolled his eyes. Apparently, he would have to explain. Just another conversation in a very inopportune place. "Gabe, relax. It's fine. He's not—"

"Not what, not a fucking creep? Is that why Cas broke up with him?"

"Jesus Christ, Gabe, Cas and Taz broke up because Cas is in love with Dean Wesson. If you'll just let me explain—"

"No-no-no, this is not your fault. The guy is a fucking asshole. You don't deserve that bullshit." Lu saw his hand flying to the back of his waistband and was suddenly very glad Taz wasn't here—Gabe was likely to shoot him if Lu didn't get him calmed down.

"Gabe. Put both of your fucking hands on the table, shut your fucking mouth, and listen. I like it rough, okay? Really rough."

The anger melted off Gabe's face as he tried to wrap his head around that. Sam averted his eyes and nervously scratched the back of his head.

"Wait…" Gabe narrowed his eyes. "You're saying it's a sexual thing?"

"Basically, yeah. He's done nothing to me that I didn't want him to do. Everything is fine. Okay?"

"Damn. Wow. You actually like being beaten up?"

"For fuck's sake. He doesn't beat me up. He—fuck, this isn't the place. And it's none of your business anyway."

"Sorry for even bringing it up," Sam said, looking embarrassed. "I really just thought…"

"No, I'm not a victim of domestic abuse. It's great that you care, but if he were legitimately smacking me around, I would kick his ass and then file a lawsuit. You don't need to worry about me."

Gabe appeared to calm down. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I mean, it's not like anyone can really hurt Satan, right?"

"Fuckin' A, right."

Taz reappeared and took his seat next to Lu. Much to the younger man's relief, he set both hands on the table. "Well, it looks like you found something interesting to talk about while I was gone."

"Sure did," Lu said. "Sam mentioned how I appear to be covered in bruises and Gabe basically threatened to kill you."

Taz raised an eyebrow, looking decidedly unconcerned as though he received death threats all the time. "I assume you explained?"

"As well as I cared to."

"Well, let me assure you," Taz said to Gabe and Sam, wrapping an arm around Lu's shoulders, "that my intentions are nothing but honorable and that I would never do anything to hurt Luce unless he asked me to. Which he does. Quite frequently," he added with a mischievous grin.

"And you're done talking," Lu said. He put his hand over Taz's mouth.

After the awkward ice-breaker, the rest of dinner flew by and Taz fortunately kept his hands to himself. Lu was grateful because he really didn't feel like fucking Taz in front of everyone. Besides, it would probably leave Gabe with some severe mental scarring or at least an awkward conversation to have with Sam later. Lu didn't know if Sam knew that he and Gabe had… well, done whatever the fuck it was, but he had a feeling that Sam wouldn't be as okay with it as Taz was, even if it was solely in the past.

By the time Lu and Taz got back to the car, though, Taz was up to his old tricks. Taz slid into the passenger's seat and the moment Lu stuck the key in the ignition, Taz crawled over the seat and captured his mouth. He slid his fingers through Lu's strawberry-blond hair and pulled sharply, causing Lu to moan softly.

"Jesus, Taz," he murmured against his boyfriend's lips. "I've been so fucking hard all night, just imagining your hands all over me. The moment we get back to my place, I'm bending you over that sofa and fucking your brains out."

He felt Taz's lips quirk into a smile. "Bring it on."