"Sorry I made you come with us but I wanted to get away from Tyler for a little while so I could think." Roman said as he drove away from Tyler's apartment.

"It's fine, I didn't really have anything to do anyway." Seth answered, looking over at Roman and seeing the stress on his face. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Roman let out a breath. "Yeah, I do, but can it wait until we get to my place?"

"Sure." he said, reaching over to fiddle with the radio. He wanted to take some pressure off Roman and give him some time with his thoughts.

They drove in silence to Roman's house and went inside. Roman brought them both a Coke and they sat down on the sofa. Seth curled his legs under him and waited for Roman to talk.

"Tyler and I met while we were in university." Roman started. "I was his tutor and eventually we started dating. In the beginning he was really attentive and sweet but he started becoming distant and kind of possessive. We were together for 2 years before I found out he had cheated with another guy. I was heart-broken. I loved him and gave him everything and I tried to be the best boyfriend that I could, so I couldn't understand why he would do something like that."

Seth took a sip of his drink and let Roman tell him his story.

"He came to me in tears and begged me to forgive him. He said that I was spending too much time at school and he had gotten lonely and felt like I didn't love him anymore, so he hooked up with someone." Roman said as he leaned his head back on the sofa. "I felt like it was all my fault so I forgave him. I wanted to be a doctor so I was studying hard, but I always tried to spend as much time with Tyler as I could. A few days after I graduated, I caught him in bed with another guy. I was crushed and I felt guilty for neglecting Tyler again, so I broke up with him."

Seth was so angry with Tyler. How could he keep breaking Roman's heart over and over and then making him take the blame. Tyler was a monster and he wanted to keep them apart more than anything.

"Of course the breakup didn't last." Roman continued. "We got back together and everything was fine for another year or so. He was still cheating on me, but he had gotten better at hiding it. When I started working with Chris, I thought that everything would be better, but I caught him again. We had gone out with friends and he disappeared to the bathroom for a long time. I was worried so I went to look for him and I saw him blowing some random guy in the bathroom. I just turned around and walked away, all the way home and I packed up my stuff and moved out."

Seth leaned over and placed his hand on Roman's arm and squeezed gently, trying to give him some comfort and support and Roman gave him a small smile.

"He tried to get back together with me, but I refused and I haven't seen him for 3 years until today." Roman finished.

"Does he want to get back together again?" Seth asked quietly.

"Yeah." Roman laughed in disbelief. "Do you believe it. He walked in and expected me to just take him back right there on the spot."

Seth gulped, scared of asking the question and even more scared of the answer. "Do you want him back?"

Roman sighed. "No, never again. But I don't know what to tell him."

"Well 'no' sounds good." Seth said calmly.

Roman shook his head. "You don't know him like I do. He would never believe it and he would just try harder to get me back."

"The guys want to find you a new boyfriend." he said, sipping his Coke. "Would that work."

"I'm not looking for a new boyfriend just so I can get rid of my old one." Roman said in frustration. "That wouldn't be fair to him."

"Why don't you get someone to pretend to be your boyfriend?" Seth asked, curiously hopeful that this might work.

"It could work but I don't know anyone that I could ask to do something like that." Roman said in defeat. "He knows all of my friends so he wouldn't buy it."

Seth's heart started racing. Could he do what he was thinking. "I could pretend to be your boyfriend."

Roman's head whipped around to look at him. "No way in hell."

Seth tried not to feel hurt but his heart ached. He knew he wasn't a catch, but wasn't he good enough for Roman to pretend to like him? "Why not?" he asked quietly. "I know I'm not handsome or pretty, but would it really be that hard to convince people that you could like me?"

Roman sat up straight. "What? No, it wouldn't be hard at all, that's not what I meant. You're really good looking and under different circumstances I would take you up on your offer but I can't do that to you."

Seth didn't know what to do or say. "Why not."

"He wouldn't believe it because he knows me too well." Roman sighed. "He knows how affectionate I am. I would have to hold your hand, put my arm around you or kiss you in public and I couldn't force you to do that. You still have trouble looking at me and today is the only time you've touched me since we became friends."

Seth became quiet at that. Roman was trying to look out for him and didn't want to force himself on him. Roman had always been so kind and understanding since the day they met. He had helped him open up and make friends, trust again and his life was so much better for it. He had been so miserable for so long, and Roman helped him be happy. He owed him so much for helping him and this was something that would save Roman from more pain. Tyler didn't deserve him and Roman didn't deserve to be treated like that. He wanted to help Roman, to protect him like Roman always protected him.

"I'll do it." Seth said ignoring the shock on Roman's face. "You're my best friend and I want to help you. Besides, I think Tyler is already jealous of me. He shoved me, hissed at me and glared, so it shouldn't be that hard to play off that."

"Seth no." Roman said, turning on the sofa to face him. "If you do this, it will destroy our friendship. You'll blame me..."

"How can I blame you when it was my idea?" he cut Roman off. "This will work, trust me."

Roman shook his head. "This is the beginning of the end of our friendship."

Seth scoffed. "Don't be so dramatic. Drop me off at home and then go tell Tyler all about your amazing new boyfriend."


After Roman dropped him off Seth had a quick dinner and jumped in the shower. He got out and wrapped a towel around himself and wondered what he should wear tonight. It was silly but he wanted to dress up and look good for Roman even though they were only fake dating and only when Tyler was around. For most of his life he had dressed to blend in, he didn't want anyone to notice him, he didn't want any attention, but now he wanted to look good. He had dyed part of his hair blonde less than a week before he moved to Florida to symbolize that he was changing and when he did, he had stopped at a store and bought some new clothes that he hadn't even worn yet.

He went to his closet and pulled out the new clothes. He dropped his towel and looked at himself in the full-length mirror on his closet door. His arms were fairly large and muscular, his chest and abs were defined and his thighs were muscular. He didn't really check out guys anymore except for Roman so he didn't know what would be attractive to other men. He wondered if his thighs were too thick. He turned around and looked at his butt. It was firm, but not too round and altogether he didn't think he looked too bad.

He chose a pair of black skinny jeans that he never would have worn before and they fit him like a second skin. He put on a tight white button down shirt that showed off his tan and he kept it untucked. He unbuttoned a few more buttons than he usually would showing off a bit of his chest and rolled up the sleeves, showing off his arms. He brushed his hair down smooth and put in his contact lenses. Roman had told him that he looked cute in his glasses, but he didn't want to look cute tonight, he wanted to look like someone that Roman deserved.

He had just put his shoes on when there was a knock at the door.

He opened the door and smiled at Roman while looking in his eyes.

Roman looked surprised for a moment and he shook his head and smiled back. "Hi, you look great."

His heart sped up at the compliment. "Thanks, so do you."

They walked out to Roman's car and started the drive to the bar.

"So how did it go with Tyler?" he asked, a little worried.

"About how I thought." Roman said with a sigh. "He threw a temper tantrum, cursed me out, cried and then tried to seduce me. All his usual tactics."

"And it didn't work?" he asked hopefully.

"No way." Roman said proudly. "I don't want him anymore. I've really moved on for good."

"Thank god for that." he said in relief. "You deserve a much better man than him. Only the best for my friend, right?"

Roman smiled softly. "Right."


As they walked up the street towards the bar, Seth slipped his hand into Romans. Roman turned to look at him and he smiled back, showing that he was okay with it.

"Just practicing." he told Roman.

Roman nodded and they continued walking.

Truthfully, he wasn't okay with holding Roman's hand. He loved it. He felt so close to Roman and his heart was racing. He had never held hands with a man before and it felt great. He didn't feel one bit of fear, he knew Roman wouldn't hurt him.

They held hands all the way into the bar and he thought that Becky and Nikki were going to faint from the shock. Chris just smiled that fatherly smile that he did sometimes.

"What's with the hand holding?" Becky asked with a huge grin on her face.

Seth leaned in towards the middle of the table. "We're pretending to be dating to get rid of Tyler." he said as quietly as he could in the crowded bar.

"That's a way better plan than we came up with." Nikki said gleefully. "When he sees you two together he'll hit the roof."

Roman reached over to the pitcher and glasses and poured Seth a beer. He took it from Roman and smiled gratefully.


About an hour after they got to the bar Seth noticed Tyler sneaking in the front door. He put his arm around Roman's shoulder and moved in close to his ear. "Tyler is here." he whispered, nervous about being so close to Roman again.

"What?" Roman said in anger. "I shouldn't be surprised. He knows that we come here every Friday night."

Seth let his arm drop but discretely moved his chair closer to Romans.

"Hello again everybody." Tyler said, coming up to their table. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all Tyler." Chris said politely. "Pull up a chair."

Tyler took a chair from the next table and sat next to Roman forcing Nikki to move over so she wouldn't get squished.

"I don't think we've been properly introduced." Tyler said, looking at Seth with disdain. "I'm Tyler Breeze, the love of Roman's life."