RavingSunshine: I know, I feel bad for making him go through all this ;_; Let's just say his luck will improve sooner rather than later :D
shadowelf144: Welcome, hun ^w^
AussieTex: Oh, I love rambling fan rants, makes me feel special :3 Thanks for your lovely review!
Ginger Katt: He's not just Danny Wallace, he's THE Danny Wallace. Lololol, that made my day 8D
KittyWitch-and-Zanny: Oh, he wouldn't have gotten killed, just beat up a little bit x3 But yeah, I'm glad that didn't happen too. Pfff, funny story, I actually found out Danny Wallace was in Yes Man because I was creeping his IMDb page o3o

Also, big thanks to:
-Dagger Kitsune, for adding this story to their favourites
-TheDawn'sShadow, for adding this story to their alert
-AussieTex, for adding this story to their alert
-tiggergirl11465, for adding this story to their alert
-and Aspenmist, for adding this story to their alert

That's more like it with the reviews, guys! I finished this chapter quickly for you guys :D It's a little short, but hey, you get a chapter. Less reviews = more wait time. It's a fact of life. Well, my life o3o

No one saw what I did there with Michael in the last chapter :c From now on, I'm inserting a little nod to the AC series in each chapter. If you guess it right, you get... nothing. But it's fun, eh? :D It could be anything; a name, a thought, just a little mention, but you'll know it when you see it.

Every word, every thought, every sound
Every touch, every smile, every frown
All the pain we've endured until now
All the hope that I've lost, you have found

Surrender yourself to me
-Billy Talent's Surrender

Desmond confessed everything, even how he'd let Lucy seduce him; she hadn't forced him, he'd consented.

"I... I honestly don't even know why I did it," he whispered, then looked up at Shaun for the first time. The Brit didn't look angry, or disgusted. He looked... disappointed.

"Do you hate me?" Desmond asked softly, fully prepared to get up and leave, to walk out of Shaun's life forever.

"Where'd the blood come from?" was Shaun's neutral response. He was avoiding Desmond's eyes, looking at the floor, into the empty fireplace, at the blank TV, anywhere but at the man sitting next to him.

"I sort of punched a couple people's lights out," Desmond admitted. "I guess when I broke the guy's nose his blood got on my face."

"Why?"

"Uh, he was taunting me. Then more people tried to attack me, trying to defend him I guess. When I'm cornered, it's not a pretty sight."

"Oh." Shaun still just sat there, and still wouldn't look at Desmond.

"Oh?" Though Desmond felt relieved he wasn't being yelled at, he thought Shaun would react a little differently to finding out his almost-boyfriend slept with his ex and then beat a man up.

"Don't you have anything else to say? Look at me," Desmond said, a little too forcefully.

"Oh, I have plenty to say." Shaun finally turned to face Desmond, his voice rising at the same time. Immediately the American sensed he'd said the wrong thing.

"I don't even know where to start," Shaun said, sounding exasperated. "I mean, there wasn't really anything wrong with you sleeping with Lucy—I'd barely just met you. But you didn't tell me? Even after... everything that's happened?"

He looked ready to start again, and Desmond really didn't want to get yelled at any more, so he leaned in and kissed Shaun. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Oh, no!" Shaun looked less angry than flustered, but that didn't stop him from lecturing. "If you think the whole kiss-and-everything'll-be-fine is going to work, you've got another—"

Desmond kissed him again, longer this time. Shaun surrendered.

"I'm so sorry," Desmond said quietly when he pulled away.

Shaun smiled softly. "Apology accepted."

Desmond felt so relieved, so elated that he could still be with Shaun, that he buried his face in the other man's neck, hugging him fiercely.

He felt Shaun laugh and wrap his arms around the American. Desmond's throat and eyes were raw from crying, and suddenly he was tired. He felt himself falling asleep. A brief feeling of embarrassment crossed his mind; he was about to sleep in Shaun's arms, in Shaun's apartment, in such a way that the taller man couldn't move without disturbing him until he woke up. But these thoughts were quickly forgotten, and Desmond drifted off, content for the first time in a week.

He dreamed. It was brief, and only flashes of it passed through Desmond's head before they shot off again into oblivion.

First, Shaun was speaking to him, though there was a loud roaring in his ears; he could only see the other man's mouth moving.

"I can't hear you!" Desmond said desperately, reaching toward Shaun. But just as his fingers were about to touch the Brit's face, it exploded outwards, replaced by Rebecca's. She split in two, both halves regenerating themselves to create a new person—Mel. Neither of them said anything, just looked at him. Rebecca looked annoyed, while Mel looked almost sad, like she couldn't do anything about... what? Something, obviously.

Everything fell apart and Desmond found himself on his couch again, pounding himself into a form underneath him, who was face-down. The person's back arched upwards with pleasure. He couldn't see, for some reason, their head, and their body was fuzzy and blurred, as if he was looking through water; he couldn't tell from his dim view whether the thing he was having sex with was a woman or a man.

"Yes, Desmond." Again, the voice was strange; it was neither male nor female, but a strange mix of both that made it impossible to tell.

In his befuddled mind, Desmond figured it was Shaun; a dream come true. It didn't matter to him how this was happening, or why it was happening. It was happening.

But wait... Abruptly he stopped, pulling out immediately. Wasn't I in Shaun's apartment?

"Mmmm, why'd you stop?" the person under him asked lazily, rolling over, revealing breasts, and leaning upward to kiss him. As its - her - face got closer, it all of a sudden became crystal clear

Lucy.

Desmond jerked awake, his eyes snapping open. For a brief moment he thought he was shrouded in a blue light, the rest of the room in muted blacks and whites. But it must've been residue from his dream; half a second later, his vision cleared.

He was laying down on Shaun's couch, said couch's owner facing him, with his arms wrapped around the American. Shaun was asleep with his glasses still on; they were crooked and nearly falling off his face.

Desmond's nose was about two inches away from Shaun's. He relaxed, comforted by the other man's gentle breathing, and soon drifted off again.

He wouldn't remember his dream in the morning.

Desmond awoke slowly come morning, reluctant to get up. Eyes still closed, he shifted to one side, thinking the weight on his body was a blanket, perhaps a pillow. Rolling over, he was surprised to find empty air where a couch should be.

Desmond cried out as he fell, instantly jerking completely awake. The fall was less than two feet, but it nearly gave him a heart attack. He landed on his elbows and hips, wincing, knowing they'd bruise.

When he'd yelled, Shaun jolted awake. "Bloody hell!" he grunted, sitting up and fixing his glasses on his face, blinking at Desmond, now on the floor.

"Uh... hi," Desmond said awkwardly, still on his elbows.

Shaun raised an eyebrow. "My couch not good enough for you? It's sleeping on the floor now, eh?"

Desmond hurriedly sat up, laughing self-consciously. He was making himself look like even more of an idiot.

Somehow, his phone knew what was going on and vibrated to break the tension. Desmond pulled it out of his pocket - where it had been all night - and checked it. Ten unread text messages and three missed calls. Nine of the messages from Rebecca. Desmond hurriedly read them in chronological order:

Come on Desmond, seriously. Lucy's here and she's getting more pissed off by the second.

The fuck, Desmond! I know you're mad but at least tell me what to do about your pestering ex! She's been here an hour now...

Lucy says she isn't leaving until she sees you. Get back here NOW.

Honestly, Desmond, this is starting to freak me out, Mel as well. It's nearly one in the morning and I want to go to bed, but Lucy isn't leaving and there's no way I'm letting her run around my apartment unsupervised.

Wait, did you tell her where you were? How does she know where I live?

You have some explaining to do.

I can't handle this any more. I have work in the morning and I need to sleep. Mel went home a while ago, and you should do the same. If anything's missing in the morning you're paying.

Desmond! She's STILL HERE. And it looks like she hasn't moved since last night. Did you die or something? Answer me!

And the most recent one, the one he'd just received—I have to leave for work in an hour. If you're not back here by then to collect Lucy, I'm calling the cops.

The three missed calls, as he'd suspected, were from Rebecca. She'd left no messages; she didn't need to.

And the one other text, received at 2:03 AM—from Lucy. You can't hide from me forever. Sooner or later you'll have to come back here, and I'll be here. It'd better be sooner.

"Fuuuuck," Desmond moaned, tipping his head back.

"Hmm?" Shaun asked from the kitchen, where he had somehow ended up.

"Lucy's at Rebecca's place, and she's been there all night, waiting for me." Desmond decided to stay on the floor; he wasn't sure that standing up wouldn't make him fall right back down.

"You going to run again?"

"Well, I can't, can I? But there's no way I'm having sex with her again." Desmond tried to sound firm when he said it, but his voice wavered a little in the last few words. He sighed, lowering his head.

"You know what?" Shaun said, appearing by Desmond's side and kneeling down next to him. "How about I come with you?" He placed a comforting hand on the American's shoulder.

Desmond smiled and stood up. "Thanks." Then he grinned, adding, "But you know... that means you'll have to ride on my deathtrap of a vehicle."

"You're ruining the moment."

"You scared?"

"Shut up."

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