A/N: If Brendan seems out of character, it's because this is me describing that next life he promised Ste. Please review.

Stephen was practically squirming across the bar, his hand steady as it gripped the edge but Brendan had no doubt that it'd be trembling if he wasn't holding on to the bar. He wanted to stay here for hours, just sit and watch Stephen looking like he was going to pull out his hair in frustration any moment now.

Chez was gone to see lover-boy Malachy leaving just him and Stephen with Johnny Cash singing about God. If he was a better man, he'd look away and let the lad relax but he never claimed to be a good person.

"Rank song, this."

"Don't insult the big man, Stephen."

The boy looked at him nervously, and god those long eyelashes should be considered obscene. His blue eyes were sparkling as they settled hesitantly on Brendan's face. He couldn't possibly describe the satisfaction at having those eyes on him again, having that attention on him after the blatant ignoring the past week.

"I'm more of Britney fan, meself."

"Did you just compare Mr. Cash to a trashy pop star?"

"She's got some good—"

"You ever heard of the expression 'thin ice', Stephen?"

The boy nodded his head and Brendan had to keep his face neutral to stop adoration coloring his cheeks because this boy had just nodded in response to a rhetorical question and Brendan would usually say something biting in response but apparently all his sass and sarcasm disappeared when it came to Stephen.

"Well, you're skating on it."

In his defence of the greatest musician to ever live, he'd somehow gotten up from across the bar and ended up next to Stephen leaning in and whispering that last part. The citrus scent hit him again as Stephen leaned in a little closer to him, he could feel the lad shudder when his shoulder touched Brendan's chest for a second. And just watching Stephen suck in a sharp breath made his own skin burn with want and need.

As much as he'd been with other people before, he'd never been with anyone whose mere proximity could affect him this much. Stephen was frozen in place, his head bowed down as he gulped nervously when Brendan's breath hit his ear.

He'd have gone further, if Stephen hadn't stepped back Brendan would surely have gone further in the next second. But Stephen had stepped back, looking shaky on his feet and his eyes fluttering shut for a moment, he had stepped back.

Brendan walked back to his seat on the other side of the bar and downed his whiskey in one go. Stephen seemed to come back to his senses and he looked confused of all things. His eyes darted around as if he was confused about where Brendan was, expecting him to still be standing next to him.

He leaned across the bar to snag the bottle of whiskey and poured himself another one as Stephen seemed to be glaring holes into the beer glasses. He would have tried conversation but every attempt had led to a crash and burn in the past so he chose to sit there and silently sip at his whiskey.

Brendan looked like he was deep in thought, his hand toying with the whiskey glass as he looked down at the bar top with concentration etched in his features. Ste wanted him to look up, stare at him, pin him with that intense gaze but he didn't.

Just like every other interaction with the man, Ste didn't understand this one either. One second Brendan was talking about the singer whose song was playing and the very next second, he was standing next to Ste with mere inches between them.

Ste could still feel the heat of Brendan's body next to him, a long lean line of searing heat. He hadn't been able to control himself at all, his eyes had fluttered shut at the sensation of Brendan's warm breath on his skin, the closeness and intimacy that surrounded them for that one second.

Somewhere in his brain, he knew he shouldn't have been standing there and letting it happen but he was too far gone to do anything that made sense. Maybe that's why his feet had moved without his consent, but they moved away from Brendan when all he wanted was to move closer. Close enough that he couldn't tell where he finished and Brendan started.

But for some reason he had retreated and Brendan had walked away, hadn't even tried to move closer. It seemed like a repeat of the last time, repeat of every time before that. Always seemed like Brendan acted the way he did because he was under a spell or summat and every time he'd come to his senses soon after and distance himself from Ste.

So now here they were, the bar between them as Brendan drank his whiskey and Ste polished glasses. This situation reminded him of the one constant thought he had had for over a week. That his and Brendan's worlds were completely different, he lived on minimum wage and Brendan probably drank whiskey worth more than his rent.

He should've taken his lesson and gone back to his real world, where he polished dirty glasses and Brendan owned the place but for some reason just like every other day he couldn't help but be drawn toward the older man. Couldn't help but be pulled in like a magnet.

"So how's your kids, then?"

Brendan looked up sharply, his eyebrows raised in curiosity and Ste did not want to know what he was thinking. Mostly, because Brendan looked like he was going to ask if Ste was done ignoring him now and he had no answer to that question so he just barreled on.

"You got two boys, right? How're they?"

Ste would've stood a chance – against falling for this man – he'd have stood a chance if he hadn't been looking at Brendan just then because his face actually lit up when he started talking about his sons. Ste would have been able to get over this stupid obsession somehow but he stood no chance after that.

Seeing Brendan's face change like that, his usual mask of indifference slipping away as he looked down at the bar top with a smile and proud eyes, Ste felt a tug in his chest that he chose to ignore in favour of listening to Brendan.

"Yeah, Declan's the older one, he's fifteen this year. Loves football, that one and he makes me run up and down the field chasing after him for hours. And Paddy's the younger one, he's seven."

"That's close to our Leah, she's six this year. Proper terror, that one."

"And your boy?"

"Lucas, he's three, but he's the quiet one we hardly hear him speak. Leah doesn't let anyone get a word in, anyways."

"Just like her Da, then?"

"Oi! Don't be cheeky."

Brendan just laughed at him and shook his head like he couldn't believe Ste had just said that to him. Which, fair play because even Ste couldn't believe that he'd just said that to Brendan.

"Careful Stephen, I might think you're disrespecting the boss."

Ste would've apologised before even breathing if he couldn't clearly see the mirth in Brendan's eyes. And it scared him for a second that he could read this man he's only known for a week, that he could read his eyes.

"Wouldn't want that, now would we?"

Brendan's voice had dropped several paces and Ste could feel a chill run down his spine at the whispered words so he just shook his head no and stayed quiet, because he didn't trust his voice wouldn't break like a twelve year old's right now.

"Good, good. Glad we got that cleared up."

Ste doubted that he'd ever be able to look an Irish person in the eye and not flush red after listening to Brendan's voice in that slow, raspy drawl with his thick accent. He'd never be able to hold back the shudder that went through him every time Brendan dropped his voice to a whisper.

"You must really miss them. I can't even imagine not having me kids around every day, I'd die."

"Thank you, Stephen, really for that."

Brendan's face was that mask of indifference again, eyes cold and devoid of the warmth in them just seconds ago. When he realized what he'd said he wanted to bang his head against the wall.

"No, I mean it's got to be really hard, don't it?"

Brendan just shook his head and started walking back toward the office. Ste's hand shot out to stop him and the second he felt Brendan's bare wrist against his fingers, Ste felt his own pulse jump. Brendan turned around with raised eyebrows and a frown etched in his features.

"Thin ice, Stephen."

He yanked his arm out of Ste's grip who let go willingly and pulled back his hand. He didn't know what had possessed him to do that but all he knew was that he wanted Brendan to smile again and be carefree like he was before Ste ruined it with his big mouth.

And there he was, left standing behind the bar as Brendan walked into his office and slammed the door behind him.

He was still reeling from how close he'd let Stephen come, how much he'd shared with him without even realizing. He had always been a very private person and only the people closest to him really got to see what he was like without the first layer of indifference and the several subsequent ones of sarcasm, psychoticism and just pure rage wrapped up neatly in an anti-social package.

And he'd let Stephen in. Let him cut through all the superficial bullshit and let him see Brendan Brady as he laughed and joked about his boys. It made something unwind in him, to realise that Stephen had this power over him, that he could possibly be affected like this by the lad.

No one had been able to crawl under his skin like this, no one. For some godforsaken reason, Brendan felt like there was something between them left over from another life. Like they were destined to be here at this time because it hadn't worked out before and just thinking it made him realize just how far he'd let himself go.

Even Cheryl would laugh at him if he tried to tell her this, that he felt like he was drawn to someone because he'd been ripped apart from this person in another life. Sitting down at his desk with numb fingers massaging his temples, Brendan made a decision.

He was just finalizing the details when a knock sounded on the door and Stephen came in before Brendan had even asked him to. The lad seemed to realize his mistake as he stood just inside the door fiddling with his jumper.

"Stephen?"

Brendan's bowed his head trying to find Stephen's eyes that were staring down at the ground. The lad finally looked up and as soon as his eyes met Brendan's, he looked away again. His sharp teeth were biting down on his lower lip mercilessly and Brendan really wanted to surge forward and free the skin before it started bleeding.

Stephen clearing his throat made him come back to reality and finally tear his eyes away from the lad's lips. See, this is why he needed to do what he was doing.

"I just wanted to say sorry about before. I didn't think when I asked you about your kids, sorry."

"It's alright, Stephen, honest mistake."

"It was, I swear. I'd never do it intentionally."

"I believe you."

Brendan was torn between saying something else and keeping the conversation going so the boy would stay or sending him away so Brendan could calm the fuck down and not be this nervous, troubled mess of himself. He chose the latter, for the sake of his sanity, he chose the latter.

"Was that all?"

Stephen seemed uncertain as his fingers wrapped around the zipper again, Brendan clenched his fist under the desk to stop himself from reaching out and pulling his hand away. The up and down of the zipper was really annoying but Stephen stopped when he noticed Brendan's glare.

"Oh I uh—I was just going home."

"Sleep tight, won't ye?"

Stephen seemed to have read too much into his words as his ears actually started turning pink and even Brendan could see that from his seat in the dimly-lit room. Maybe, he had said that with a suggestive tone. Sue him.

"Yeah, I uh. Sorry again about before, I know you love your kids. I didn't mean to remind you—"

"No, it's good actually that you did. I'm going to Ireland."

Brendan would be lying if he said he'd seen anyone move faster than Stephen did in that instant. His head snapped up as if he'd just heard that Britney Spears was coming to Chez-Chez, well Brendan didn't know this for sure but he could imagine Stephen being shocked at that news in a similar way.

"Forever?"

He didn't know how old Stephen was but whatever the age, Brendan knew for a fact that no one over the age of fifteen was supposed to sound as squeaky as Stephen did asking that question. He did get some sick sort of pleasure from seeing that colour had completely drained out of the poor lad's face and he looked even paler than usual.

"No, just for a few days. See my boys for a bit."

Stephen nodded hesitantly, his lips opening and then closing around thin air as no words escaped. Brendan wished that he would just say how he felt, just tell Brendan why he pushed and pulled instead of staying steady and giving in or telling him no straight-forward.

"That's good."

Brendan just nodded at the lad, not sure what else could be said.

"Well, I'll be leaving tomorrow so I should be back sometime next week."

Stephen just nodded dumbly at him, neither of them sure how to end this conversation that had already run past its due course. Brendan had never had problems telling people to get lost but he was definitely having trouble saying it to Stephen.

"Have a good trip, then."

"Cheers, Stephen."

The boy seemed to take the hint and turned around to walk back out, Brendan for some unbeknownst reason wanted to tell him to stay. See, this was what he was talking about – the pull.

Insignificant things like Stephen leaving his office felt like things weren't how they were supposed to be, like they were wasting the potential for something more. Something much bigger than just the two of them. Like he shouldn't be letting the lad walk away from him even though there was no reason to stop him, either.

Brendan refused to feel like a fourteen-year old schoolgirl talking about her first boyfriend so he pointedly cleared his throat before fixing his gaze on the computer screen and waving his hand dismissively.

"Close the door behind ye, will ye, Stephen?"

He could see the lad stopping at his voice but he refused to look away from the blank screen of the computer in front of him. In fact, he didn't look away from it till he heard the door closing shut and footsteps leading toward the staircase.