More inspiration gave me this...
Thanks to... xxpipxx; Sara Noir; Britania Control 1.0; xXxBooshLoverxXx... for reveiwing.
It was late, Howard was exhausted and his body was demanding sleep but something deeper was dragging him up from his sofa-bed and hauling him to the club, just in case.
Vince wasn't there. He hadn't turned up. Howard had been hit on by a few men, one or two of whom weren't too shabby, none of whom were Vince. He felt stupid now, being kicked out of a club at three in the morning with a few shouts of; "You can come back to mine."
He pushed his way through the throng and then spotted someone, sat on a bench across the road, waving and grinning like an idiot.
Howard clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He marched angrily across the road.
"Good night?" Vince asked cheerily.
"You." snarled Howard, grabbing the front of Vince's shirt and dragging him up from his seat. "You are…" but he didn't have the words to vent his anger and Vince's blue eyes, blazing bright blue with adrenaline, were distracting his trail of thought.
"You're so sexy when you're angry." Vince panted breathlessly.
"Shut up."
"I think I've worked all this out now."
"All what?"
"I think you are gay and you're with my mum coz she looks like a man in drag."
"I, you, she's beautiful." Howard exploded, though that really wasn't the first word that sprung to mind when he thought of Eleanor.
"Kiss me." Vince suddenly whispered.
"What?"
"You heard." And Howard didn't need asking again. He leant down, pulling the younger man towards him roughly and kissed him angrily, punishing him for being so cocky and for setting him up but, at the same, time worshipping him for being so goddamn right about bloody everything. Howard didn't recognise himself when he nuzzled his lips against Vince's neck, kissing and biting and sucking hard, Vince groaned a little and hissed; "Better be your place, yeah?"
Howard nodded and together they rushed back to Howard's disgusting studio flat a few miles away.
--
Vince woke up with a loud groan. His back hurt, his neck ached, his limbs were weak and he generally felt a bit sick and delicate, maybe that had something to do with the way Howard had thrown him around last night. Or maybe it was something to do with a big empty vortex of guilt that was whipping up a fierce storm in his stomach.
Vince raised himself onto his elbows and peered around the room, Howard wasn't there. The flat was tiny. It was decorated with browns and beiges and all manner of other boring colours that made Vince want to hurl. He flopped back onto the sofa-bed and stared at the cream-coloured ceiling. He wasn't sure if he'd fallen back asleep but what seemed like moments later the door slammed and he jumped.
"Morning." Howard muttered, not looking up from floor as he quickly crossed the room to the kitchen.
"Morning gorgeous." Vince chuckled, somewhat cruelly and a lot more confidently than he felt.
Silence followed, punctuated only by the odd stifled giggle on Vince's part. Howard ignored it and got on with making toast. The silence dragged on, deafening them both with it's presence, until Howard exploded with the words;
"I'm not gay!"
Vince just cocked an eyebrow and smirked, "Whatever you say mate."
Howard turned around now. He couldn't help himself anymore. He wanted to see Vince but as soon as he saw him he melted. Vince was spread across the bed like a fallen angel, halo of long, messy black hair around his chiselled features. His eyeliner was smudged under his vibrant blue eyes and the large purple bruise forming on his neck was the epitome of lustful debauchery. He was sneering slightly too, making himself look hideously beautiful. Howard just gulped as he found himself being drawn closer to Vince. His legs moving on autopilot until he was inches from the end of the bed, Vince's eyes glued on him.
"I'm not gay." Howard whispered as Vince took his hand and pulled him down into a long searing kiss.
"I know." soothed Vince, moving his kisses to Howard's jaw. But as Vince's hands shot to the hem of Howard's shirt tugging on it lightly, Howard took a step back, shaking his head furiously.
"No." he said.
"Unbelievable." sighed Vince.
"What?"
"Nothing." he smirked, leaning over to the table to roll himself a joint.
"No way, not in this house." Howard warned him.
"Whatever."
"I'll chuck you out."
"What? On the street. Me screaming and hammering on the door, shouting that I love you. You'd be hard pressed convincing 'em you weren't gay after the performance I'd give."
Howard grimaced. "Fine." he snapped. "And I ain't gay." he added.
"So how d'you explain this?" Vince asked, gesturing all around him.
"What?"
"Me in your bed with a sore arse."
Howard shuddered and then answered; "A mistake."
Vince smirked and shook his head.
"What about this?" he asked, pointing to the hickey on his neck.
Howard cursed under his breath.
"Hide that. Have you got a scarf?"
"No way, I ain't hiding nothing." he winced prodding the tender area with a twisted smile on his face. "It's like a mark of ownership." Then; "Does my mum have one?"
Howard stared and gawped in disbelief.
"Why would you ask that?"
"Coz I like to watch you squirm." Vince sneered.
"You are insatiable. Now put your clothes on and go home!"
"What? Aren't you going to take me?"
"No. How bad would that look?"
"Well, not at all. Not really. You could just say you found me on a bench, which is true, and that you brought me home, which is also true. We'll just miss out everything in-between but then, then you can tell her you're gay."
"I'm not… get out of my way. And I'm not driving you home."
He did though.
--
Vince was still munching on a piece of toast and a banana, which he seemed to produce from nowhere, when he unlocked the door of his house.
"Mu-uuuuum! I'm hoooome and look what I found on the doorstep."
Eleanor came into the living room and grabbed her son's jacket with one hand, squeezing his cheeks together with the other.
"Where the hell have you been all night? I was worried sick."
"Liar." Vince spat, earning himself a sharp slap.
"And what the hell is that?" she asked, prodded unceremoniously at the mark on his neck.
"Ow, get off." he said, slapping her hand away, "Let's just say I had a good night last night."
"Whore was she?"
"He." Vince corrected, ducking behind his mother so he could fix his eyes on Howard before saying; "He was an absolute animal."
Then he disappeared up the stairs saying something about needing a shower.
--
When he came back downstairs washed and smelling strongly of strawberries and other disconcertingly feminine smells, he strolled confidently into the living room and flopped into the arm chair. He knew Howard and his mum were curled up together. He knew Howard's eyes were on him but he couldn't look at them because something in his stomach made him feel sick at the thought. Vince could hear his mum smothering Howard and he didn't like it. This was weird. This was supposed to have been fun, mess with Howard's mind, show his mum what a loser she was dating, show her she was a slut and that he hated her but… something that felt like guilt was tugging at his gut and more worryingly than that, something that felt like jealousy was tugging at his heart.