Author's Note: Okay, so after all your reviews I have been totally reinspired re this story! This is probably going to be the penultimate chapter, so hang onto your boots! (or Vince'll come and steal them off ya... probably)

Disclaimer: Really, really not mine. Noel and Ju's

Warning: Some strong language, a little homosexual action, and angst. There. You have been duly warned. Don't like, don't read.

Howard's POV

He was here. He was really here. He literally couldn't believe it. One minute there he was, doing ordinary things like picking up milk, and now... now he was sat on his tatty old sofa at home in his living room, with Vince wandering round the room in front of him, picking up photos and peering at objects on the mantelpiece.

Neither of them had said a word as Howard had led the way back to his house. All he'd managed to say when they got in was a strained,

"Cuppa tea?" and got a terse,

"Yeah, ta," in reply. If Vince didn't speak soon, then Howard thought he might literally burst with the tension. On the other hand, he was happy for the moment just looking at him. The way he walked, the little unconscious gestures Howard was so fond of. And also, though he was scared to admit it, the way the mirrorball suit clung to Vince's lithe form. He shifted on the sofa, flushing a little red. He could feel the heat rising in his crotch and carefully reached out (in what he thought was a careless and casual manner) to place a cushion over his lap, just in case.

Vince stopped examining the living room and perched himself down on the chair furthest away from Howard. Something in Howard's chest sank. For some stupid reason he was hoping that Vince would curl up next to him on the sofa, like he used to do back at the Nabootique. But of course that was ridiculous and absurd. Too much had happened for them to go back to the way they were. And Howard had hurt Vince too much. He knew that, but was struggling to think of a way to put it right.

Vince looked at Howard, and his blue eyes were full of sadness and regret. He didn't really look angry he just looked, a little confused.

"I've got summing I wanna say to ya Howard," he said finally, after seeming to struggle with his words for quite a while. Howard swallowed but didn't say anything. "I've broken up with James, but I reckon you already know that. It's been splashed over enough papers and magazines." An uncharacteristic look of bitterness crossed his face. Howard waited for him to continue. "I got back from the trip to London and spent a while thinking about things. I know, me thinking, don't bear thinking 'bout really does it?" He grinned wryly. "Anyway, I started sorting through all our old stuff at the Zoo. Photos, memories and stuff. I realised I couldn't be with James. Don't get me wrong, I really care for him. But... but the thing is I don't love 'im as much as I love you." Howard started excitedly, but Vince held up a hand to keep him silent. "The only thing is Howard, is I don't know if I can be with you. That time at the University, even before then, y-you hurt me so much. I don't understand how you could have been that cruel. Surely it was obvious I weren't messing you about? And I've got to protect myself from that happening again. I know it's selfish but that's how it is for me now. I – I guess I just wanted to tell you... to tell you goodbye." Tears were falling fast down Vince's cheeks and Howard's heart broke to see them.

"Vince, what I said that time, I was just... I was just jealous. I saw you and James in the hallway – I know you weren't together at that time and I made you run to him, but I, I thought you were there to mock me with all your success. I thought you were going to try and take away the tiny bit of success I'd achieved with all your stardom. Taunt me with your relationship with James."

Vince blinked.

"Howard. How could you even think I'd be like that?" Howard just shrugged. Now that he really thought about it, it was stupid. He knew that Vince wouldn't do that to him, he was just making excuses. He leaned forward anxiously.

"Vince, please, if you'll just give me another chance – I won't get jealous, I promise. I've learnt my lesson, I just, I have to be with you."

Vince smiled sadly. "C'mon, Howard. You can't make me promises you can't keep. If you got that jealous once just 'cos you saw another guy kiss me on the cheek – how're you gonna cope with me gettin' all the press attention? People kiss me all the time, sometimes like proper making out sessions. It don't mean anythin', it's just the way it is."

Howard floundered for a second.

"But, I wouldn't mind. I'm not that paranoid anymore, I just can't let you go again."

"Listen, Howard, I don't think you realise how mad my world is at the moment. I'm followed by papparazzi all the time. There's one outside in your garden right now."

Startled out of himself for a second, Howard automatically looked out the window.

"There is? How d'you know?"

"He followed me all the way here. That's just an example anyway. I know you. I know that however much you insist otherwise, you will get jealous of my success. D'you remember that time you ran that man over just 'cos I got on the cover of 'Global Explorer' instead of you?"

Howard bit his lip. He had overreacted a little. "But I've changed. Honest, I have. I've started giving back to the community instead of being selfish all the time. When we were apart, I realised just what I'd lost. It was driving me crazy, seeing you all the time yet at the same time being so far away from you. When I heard Rejection for the first time it damn near broke my heart, sir."

Vince pushed his fist across his eyes. His shoulders were slumped and he ran his hand through his hair despairingly.

"I'm sorry, Howard. It's too late. I don't think we can ever work past this."

A tear gathered at the corner of Howard's eye and then trickled down his cheek, the first tear he'd shed since he'd met Vince in the shop.

"Please," he whispered brokenly. "Please, you can't mean that. Just, just come back to me Vince. I'm begging you."

In one fluid movement Vince stood up, shrugging on his jacket as he did so. His face was paler than usual and tear tracks had smudged his make-up, his eyes still glittered with tears. He crossed the room and knelt down in front of Howard, resting his hands on his best friend's broad shoulders.

"I love you small eyes," he whispered. "I'm really sorry." He pressed his lips to Howard's, allowing himself that one small weakness. Little shivers tingled through his whole body, he wanted to stay in that moment forever. Howard reacted instinctively and clutched Vince tighter to him, lips capturing Vince's and refusing to let him go. This was what he'd been missing, Vince thought, this was heaven. All his kisses with James paled into utter insignificance. Howard was communicating his every thought and feeling to him without the need for words. The sensation was so beautiful that Vince moaned a little and without meaning to, pushed himself tighter into Howard.

Howard's hands were raking through Vince's thick hair, marvelling at how soft it felt against his fingers. Vince's slender body was shuddering against him, when he pressed himself closer Howard almost cried.

Then, shockingly quickly, Vince pulled away. Howard's heart tore at the pain written all across Vince's perfect features. Vince backed away, still staring at Howard. He was muttering something under his breath. Howard realised it was 'I'm sorry' over and over again. Then, abruptly, Vince turned on his high heel, and fled out of the door. A few seconds later Howard heard the front door slam shut.

Vince's POV

As soon as he'd shut the front door behind him, Vince fell to his knees on the gravel path, his legs would no longer hold him up. It had taken all his strength to resist Howard and to get out of the house. He crouched on the ground and cried openly, his tears splashing onto the dry gravel. He'd never realised quite how painful this would be. Saying goodbye to Howard was easily the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life. He'd felt so cruel leaving, knowing he was the one who'd just broken Howard's heart. He'd never wanted anything more than to stay in the living room, kissing the love of his life. It would have been so easy. He curled up into an almost foetal position, knees curled up to his chin, tears still falling freely. His slim body juddered with the sobs that he just couldn't stop.

Suddenly he heard approaching footsteps from around the bend in the path. Shit, it was probably the papparazzi guy. He couldn't get a picture of him looking like this, it would be all over the papers tomorrow. And he didn't want to hurt Howard any more by showing him how much pain he was in.

About twenty seconds later the photographer trotted round the corner of the path, camera at the ready. He didn't know what had made him follow Vince Noir all the way to this little village in the middle of nowhere, but he could smell a story. And none of his competitors were here, which meant if he did find something juicy then he'd have the exclusive on it. He'd seen Vince go into the house, but the living room was too high up for him to see what was going on. As he rounded the corner he spotted his quarry, who had his back to him, apparently just leaving.

Vince turned round, and gave the guy a beaming smile. The camera flashed.

"Hey, how you doin'?" Vince asked with the courteousness and politeness he'd become famous for, even when the cameras were shoved right into his face.

"Not bad," said the man cautiously. "What you up to in this place, then?"

Vince cocked his head to the side. "Oh, just seeing an old friend. Haven't seen 'im in a while, so thought I'd drop in."

"Oh. That's it?" the photographer asked, clearly disappointed.

Vince nodded. The man, whose name incidentally was Ian, examined Vince closely, wondering if he was telling the truth. He looked a little pale, sure, but then he always did. There was a slight hint of redness about those famous, luminous blue eyes, but he could just be imagining it. And Vince definitely seemed cheery enough.

"Ah, well. At least I got a picture." Vince grinned, shook his hand and Ian walked back off down the path and out of sight.

The second he was lost to view, Vince's whole demeanour changed. His eyes became once again sad and dull, his entire body slumped. The pain and the torment were back. As he strode off towards the station he muttered to himself,

"Honestly, with the amount of acting I do nowadays, I should get an Oscar. Or a medal at the very least. But it'd have to be shiny."

Back in his flat, Vince had rarely felt so alone. He was being constantly bombarded with calls from Howard which he had to struggle to ignore. James's behaviour was also becoming a little erratic. He'd moved out a while ago, but still occasionally turned up in the middle of the night, usually drunk, 'just to talk'. In truth, Vince was a little scared of the way James seemed able to turn his emotions totally and wholly around in the blink of an eye. Ellen clearly sensed something was up with her favourite client at the moment, and wasn't bugging him about doing interviews. She'd come up with a story that she fed to everyone that he'd been struck down by a particularly virulent strain of flu and was unable to leave the flat. Eventually though she got concerned by his behaviour and decided to go around and visit him. When the door finally opened to her, she was initially convinced she'd got the wrong flat. Vince's hair was lank and greasy, it looked like it hadn't been washed for several days. His skin was pasty and his eyes were bloodshot and puffy from constant crying. He'd got even skinnier by the looks of things, and even what used to be his tightest t-shirt which he was wearing at the moment was hanging off him.

"Vince! What the hell?"

He didn't reply, just turned round and shuffled off down the hallway, but he didn't shut the door, which Ellen took as an invitation to come in. In her usual forthright manner she strode in, shut the door and caught up with Vince just as he was about to sit down on the sofa, where he'd clearly been for several days. There were empty bottles of drink lying about along with an alarming amount of cigarette butts. The whole room stank of smoke. Ellen grabbed Vince by his skinny shoulders and stopped him from sitting down. He didn't react as such, just stared at her dully.

"Vince. What on earth is going on? You disappear to god knows where for a day, and when you come back you're like this! Talk to me, please."

Vince shrugged and slid his eyes away from hers.

"Oh no you don't! Look at me! What happened?"

Little by little she got the story out of him, using a mixture of coaxing and downright bullying. When he'd finished she was absolutely gobsmacked.

"So, the man who came with the little girl, that was Howard?"

Vince nodded. Ellen pondered for a few seconds.

"I actually thought he was kinda hot, in a weird way."

"Not helping, Ellen."

She grinned ruefully. "Sorry. Look, it's always shit when something like that ends. Both of you want to carry on but you know in your heart it'll never work. Right?"

"Summing like that," Vince muttered.

"Well, I'd say, give it time. One day all this media frenzy and fame surrounding you will die down a bit and then maybe, maybe you could give it a go with him. Until then, you are going to pull yourself together and carry on. There's been a request for you to appear on Jonathan Ross in two weeks time, and you're going to do it." She held up a hand as Vince was about to interrupt.

"No excuses. I'm going to be coming round at the same time tomorrow, and when I walk in I want this flat to be spotless, and you looking more like your usual, insanely dressed, self. Understood?"

Something that hinted at a smile tugged at the corner of Vince's lips. He nodded his head once.

"'Kay."

"Good." Ellen turned around to leave.

"Oh and Ellen?"

She turned back. "Yes?"

He looked at her steadily. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, get moving on the cleaning!"

Ta da! Don't worry, not finished yet. There aren't going to be many more chapters though as I feel things are winding to a natural close. Haven't quite figured out how I'm going to end it yet, dunno if they should get together or not! Anyway, reviews, please?