Vince arrived home late that afternoon. He dumped his suitcase in the hall and mooched into the living room. The sight he was greeted with shattered every last feeling of decency he had left.

Above the fire place there was a banner covered in glitter and bright colours with the words 'I'm sorry' scrawled across it in bright purple paint. There were candles and scatter cushions dotted around the room and romantic music playing in the background. Howard had even laid out his favourite snacks on the coffee table. Vince picked up a 'flying saucer' and munched on it anxiously, taking in the romance and the love that the room was oozing. Two days ago, this gesture would have filled Vince with happiness but now it made him sick to the core. It was all too much for him to bear and he began to cry uncontrollably.

Howard strolled into the room scatting happily and taking a swig from a bottle of beer.

"Vince!?" he exclaimed. "When did you get here?"

"Just now." said Vince, rubbing his eyes.

"Why are you crying?" asked Howard horrified, rushing over to the smaller man and holding him tight, this only made Vince cry harder.

"I-it's j-just so beautiful." Vince sniffed.

"It looked better about an hour ago." laughed Howard, pushing Vince's fringe out of his eyes "I thought you'd have been back sooner."

"Oh…you know." Vince shifted uncomfortably, snuggling into Howard's safe arms.

"Fans, was it?"

"Yeah." Vince agreed, grateful for the lie "they were surrounding the hotel. We couldn't get out."

"Did it go well?"

"What?"

"The concert, obviously."

"Oh right, yeah."

"Good chemistry onstage?"

"Y-yeah" stammered Vince feeling himself becoming hot.

"I'm glad. I'm also glad you're letting me hold you like this. I thought you'd still have been angry about…you know, my accusation."

"No, no." wept Vince, unable to stop the tears "of course not."

"Come on Vince." Howard said at wits end "Stop crying. I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything." Vince said, drying his eyes as best he could. "This is all really lovely but I'm feeling quiet tired. I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Sure." Howard said looking disappointed "Do you want me to bring you a cup of tea?"

"No."

"Coffee?"

"No."

"Well, would you like me to…"

"NO!" yelled Vince "STOP BEING SO NICE! I CAN'T COPE!" With that he ran to their bedroom and slammed the door.

As he hurled himself onto the bed he realised he'd fallen on a load of rose petals that had been scattered across the new red satin sheets. 'Oh for god sake.' Vince screamed internally 'Why did Howard have to be so damn romantic?'. He was racked with guilt as it was and he felt if Howard apologized one more time he'd go mental. He knew he needed to choose but he just couldn't. Howard was safe and they'd been together for years. Kris on the other hand was young, fresh, good looking, interesting and unsafe. He was exciting and Vince didn't know what he wanted more. All he knew was what he couldn't handle the guilt and the confusion.

--

Howard sat down heavily on the sofa, throwing a scatter cushion angrily across the room. He couldn't understand what was making Vince act so weird. Normally, when he came back from a gig Vince would be so hyper he'd talk Howard's ear off about it for days or at least until Howard threatened to gag him. This time, however, something was wrong. Howard knew that Vince was keeping something from him but he couldn't work out what. All he knew was that their night apart (which was supposed to have done them good) had succeeded only in making things even worse. Howard had felt sure Vince would come back bubbly and excitable and he'd tried so hard to make his return as perfect as possible. He'd even had to bribe Naboo to get hold of those rose petals and they weren't cheap (though he was sure Naboo had ripped him off).

A long while later, Howard tiptoed gently to their bedroom. Vince was sprawled out right across the bed still fully clothed. 'He wasn't lying about being tired' Howard chuckled to himself as he found a blanket in the cupboard and laid it gently over Vince's sleeping body. Not wanting to wake the smaller man, Howard took his pillow from the bed and searched for another blanket before settling down on the small sofa in the living room.

Just thought I'd say well done to anyone who's had results today! Hope they all went well!

xx