Anthony opened his eyes sleepily. Bright sunlight was streaming into the living room. He smiled a little as he realized that he'd fallen asleep on the couch with Ian again. They'd shifted their position overnight, somehow; Anthony was sprawled across the entire length of the couch, with Ian lying half on top of him, their legs tangled together. Anthony wasn't sure how they'd ended up like that; he couldn't remember moving at all during the night. It felt nice, though.

He tousled Ian's hair gently. Ian opened his eyes.

"Hmm?" he said softly.

"Good morning," Anthony said, smiling. Ian smiled back sleepily.

"Hey," he replied. He didn't move from his position half on top of Anthony.

"How'd you sleep?" Anthony asked.

"Good," Ian said. He laughed quietly. "You're comfy."

Anthony wrapped an arm around Ian's waist, hugging him slightly. He hoped that Ian couldn't feel how fast his heart was beating. Whatever they were doing right now was definitely pushing the boundaries of friendship; there was some kind of strange intimacy to it.

Shut up, he told himself. You're lying fully clothed on a couch, not waking up naked in his bed. And yet he couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed between them last night, that their date had pushed them out of the friend zone and into new and unexplored territory. He wondered where they'd be right now if David hadn't shown up.

"Hey, Anthony?" Ian murmured. Anthony turned his head to look him in the eyes. The tips of their noses brushed, and Anthony's breath caught in his throat.

"Yeah?" he managed to choke out.

"I…" Ian's voice was cut off as his cell phone rang. "Better get that," he said, his smile disappearing. He untangled himself from Anthony and heaved himself off the couch. He left the living room as he answered the phone, and Anthony heard his bedroom door close.

He let out a frustrated sigh. They'd been so close that time. So goddamn close.

-x-

"Hello?"

"Ian, it's Jason."

Ian was surprised to be hearing from his old bandmate. "Hey, man, what's up?"

"I have to warn you. I just found out this morning that David's gone to Sacramento. I think he's looking for you."

"He found me," Ian said quietly. "He came here last night. I was on… well, I think I was on a date. He showed up and asked me to talk to him. I was so surprised, I just left with him. He…" Ian shook his head. "He was such a dick! What the hell happened to him?"

"Shit, I'm sorry," Jason said, sighing. "I should've called you sooner, but I thought it was best to leave David out of your life. I didn't know that he'd go find you."

"What happened?" Ian asked again. "I've never seen him act like that before."

"I'm not really sure," Jason replied. "You leaving the band… I guess he took it kind of hard. He started skipping practice, started showing up drunk to our shows... He was being a real asshole to me and Chris, too. We kicked him out of the band two weeks ago. He flipped out, tried to punch me… He's fucked up without you, dude."

"Jesus," Ian said softly.

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "Just do me a favour and stay as far away from him as possible. He probably wants to wreck your life now or something."

"I will," Ian promised.

"Good." Jason paused. "So tell me about this date you were on…"

Ian felt a grin appear on his face. "His name's Anthony. He plays lead guitar in my band, and God, he's so cute."

"I want the details!" Jason urged. Ian sat down on the bed, smiling.

"It started the night after our first practice, when he slept over at my house…"

And as he told the story, pieces started to fit together in his mind, building to a conclusion. The realization hit him so hard that he barely realized when the words slipped out of his mouth:

"Holy shit, Jason, I'm in love with him."