Thanks again for all the reviews folks ;) I honestly don't have a plot for this, which means I don't know when the next chapter will be up, so you'll have to wait until I get a stroke of inspiration :) Sorry it took so long to put up, but I am sooo lazy right now, it's unbelievable! You might be happy to know though, that I'm putting more effort into this than my Vietnam coursework ;) Hopefully (I'm writing this before the actually writing this before the chapter) this chap should explain quite a few things :)
Disclaimer: I own a huge nothing.

Vince woke up the next morning, and the first thing he did was turn to look at Howard's bed. Doing this, his head suddenly exploded, from what used to be a dull pain was now an all-out migraine. Whimpering, he slowly got up. Not a novice of hangovers, he wasn't surprised that all he could remember was drinking, and knew that if he didn't get to the toilet soon, well, Howard would have to get his wipes out again.

"Howard..." He mumbled, and heard a low breathing coming from the bed opposite. He tried again, growing more aware of the fact that he felt he was going to be sick any minute.

"Howard.." He made this one louder, more desperate, and was relieved that Howard grunted slightly and blearily opened his eyes. He sat up when he saw how green Vince looked, and got out of bed sharpish.

"You feeling sick?" Vince nodded,

"Very". Without hesitation, Howard picked him up and bore him to the bathroom, trying extremely hard not to bounce, which he had been doing increasingly of late, as whenever he held Vince, it was to comfort him. He got him to the toilet in time, and pulled the tufty brown/blonde hair out of the way. Rubbing his back, Howard waited until he was sure Vince was finished before pulling him up and saying,

"See, this is why toddlers shouldn't drink"

"Bugger off," Vince mumbled weakly, "I would have been like this anyway". He wandered over to the bathroom cabinet and hopped up onto the little stool that Howard had provided. Unscrewing the toothpaste tube, he squeezed a load on his brush and set to work on a frenzied attack on any acid on his teeth and pulled a face when Howard turned on the overhead light.

"Jesus Howard, d'you wanna blind me?!" Howard lifted an eyebrow and turned it back off.

"You brought this on yourself little man". Vince's face crumpled, as if he'd just had a sudden moment of realisation, and he pulled his toothbrush out of his mouth and faced Howard,

"I'm sorry," This sounded completely sincere, "I know I shouldn't have, but you were, and I was angry. I should have listened to you". He looked down, toothpaste all over his mouth, some drips threatening to fall onto his top. Smiling, Howard went to wipe them away. He was stopped by Vince throwing his arms around the older man's waist.

"Thanks Howard"

"What for?" Howard asked, confused.

"Holding my hair back, not caring that I kinda scared Beth away, thanks". Howard nodded and hugged back hard. However, he pulled back suddenly, leaving Vince looking confused and slightly hurt.

"Sorry little man, but you're getting toothpaste all over me" He indicated the white foam around Vince's mouth, who blushed and nodded, wiping it away with a towel. Finished, he squeezed his eyes shut for a second,

"God, I've got a blinder". Howard nodded,

"Stay there" and walked to the kitchen. He opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out a children's nurofen. A sachet will have to do Howard thought, and headed back to Vince, who was looking pale and pained.

"Take this" He passed the sachet to Vince, who swallowed it in one and winced.

"Urgh, that is disgustin'"

"It's got to be done Vince,". However, he gave him a sympathetic smile and patted him on the head, "Do you want a drink?" Vince smiled cutely and nodded. Howard picked him up and carried him to the kitchen.

Wait, why am I carrying him? Surely he can walk himself. God I'm getting over attached, I'm thinking of him like he's my son. I just need to treat like I did before any of this even happened. He's just a little bo... tit-box, remember?

He had just gotten Vince a glass of water when the phone rang, peircing the silence. Vince looked up at Howard, curious, with the cup still up at his face like he was drinking, and his legs swinging off the chair. Howard picked the phone up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Howard, it's Naboo. We might have found the cure, but it's really hard to make, and it has to involve both you and Vince"

"What?! And what do you mean, might have found one?"

"Calm down Howard, would you both just be able to come?"

"How do you suggest we do that Naboo? By boat? Horse? Chair-lift?". He could picture Naboo frowning and could tell his patience was waning, "Sorry, but seriously, how will we get there?"

"I can come and pick you up on the carpet in about... half an hour".

"Ok Naboo, we'll see you then". He hung up and walked back to where Vince was sat, his eyes wide in anticipation.

"What did he say?" Howard smiled at him and replied,

"He might have found a cure, he's coming in about half an hour". Vince's face changed slightly, but before Howard knew it, he was grinning so much that his whole face was taken up by this giant smile. He ran over to Howard, regardless of hangover, and jumped up to him, wrapping arms and legs around him, stuffing his face in the older man's stomach. Howard looked down and smiled, hugging back.

"Soon be back to normal". As he said that, he almost felt Vince's smile drop. The boy looked up at him with beautiful blue eyes (That Howard saw with a guilty jolt were tinged with yellow) that were eminating sadness.

"What's wrong?" Vince crinkled his lips slightly and looked down. "Vince," The toddler looked up at the gentle tone, "Tell me".

"I'mkindagonnamissthis,notlikey'know,theshortnessandall,but..." Howard bounced him a bit, now holding him fully,

"Vince, breathe and start again". He looked up, bright red.

"I think I'm gonna miss this" Howard stared at him with huge eyes, "Not like, the whole body thing!" He went on hurriedly, "Well, actually, kind of, 'cause we won't be able to anything like this anymore".

"Vince, I... what?"

"I mean," Vince was clearly struggling, but took a deep breath and began, "I like having more time with you, and to be honest, I really like getting hugs of you," He blushed as Howard looked amazed, and sped on, "And I didn't like Beth, 'cause I was jealous. She was taking all your time up, and I wanted to spend time with you. It's like you've been more than a friend to me, almost like a dad, I mean, not that you look like my dad...I mean..." Howard was so touched, he didn't know what to say. Instead, he hugged Vince some more, and finally managed to regain the ability to speak.

"Vince, thanks, and, to be honest, I felt like a dad to you. And it was quite nice. But you do know you can get hugs whenever right?"

"Not really, 'cause I feel like I annoy you when I become kinda, clingy, and you might have thought it was gay. And hugs like this are the best. It's kind of like a full body hug, y'know?" Howard understood perfectly and smiled.

"Well make the most of it because Naboo might have found a cure". He said it jokingly, but wasn't really surprised when Vince snuggled into him and snuffled slightly.

"How do you feel?"

"Hungover". Howard chuckled and walked over to the sofa, sitting carefully so Vince was still wrapped around him but was now on his lap. He leapt up a moment later, making Vince roll off the sofa with a squawk of protest.

"What was that for?!" He watched as Howard walked swiftly over to their bedroom and grabbed a bag on the way.

"If it does work, you'll need a change of clothes, it's much easier to keep the clothes you were originally wearing if you're shrinking". Vince nodded and clambered down off the sofa. He toddled over to the bedroom to direct Howard to his best clothes.

"That blue top there...no over on the left! Yeah, and those trousers, and maybe that belt?" He thought for a moment before changing his mind, "Actually, leave the belt, bring the straighteners". Howard looked up astounded,

"Vince, we'll be in the middle of a forest! Where would you plug it in?" Vince shrugged and mumbled to himself that he needed some battery powered ones. Shaking his head, Howard finished dumping the things that Vince forgot (E.g. Underwear and socks) into the bag.

"Wait! Did you remember my boots?" Howard nodded and showed the white cowboy boots he had shoved in there to Vince.

"All done, now we just need to wait for Naboo". He looked down to see Vince having an internal battle with himself. He could see the boy thinking hard and biting his lip, looking like he was going to ask for something extremely embarrasing.

"Howard?..."

"Yes?" Howard answered, knowing something possibly embarrasing was coming.

"Y'know last night?" He nodded, "I can't really remember much, but you put me in bed, and then started reading..." Howard blushed a deep scarlet colour, remembering asking VInce if he wanted to be read to. Of course Vince had only agreed because he was drunk. Howard shut his eyes for a second, he was going to get yelled at. He could just picture it now, "You had no right to treat me like that!" "I might look like a toddler, but I don't need to be treat like one!".

"Howard?" He opened his eyes and saw Vince looking up, slightly pink in the face himself

"Yeah?"

"D'you think you could, maybe... I wanna know what happens in the end of the book". Howard was so surprised he almost passed out. Was Vince, stone cold sober, asking Howard to read him a story?

"Erm, yeah, o...ok, er, where's the book?" Vince shrugged,

"You were the one who was reading it". Howard nodded and smiled slightly. He rootled around for a bit before finding it.

"Ok, hop up" VInce looked at him with an eyebrow raised, "Oh yeah" Howard mumbled and picked him up, plonking him next to himself. He opened the book and was about to start when Vince said,

"Wait a second". He looked around his bed for a second before finding a small... Howard's eyebrows zoomed up his forehead, was that a stuffed toy?

"Vince, since when have you had a," He paused for a second before working out what it was, "toy meerkat?" He blushed but kept looking at Howard,

"Have you ever seen a programme called 'Meerkat Manor?'" Howard nodded, "It's genius isn't it! So I thought I'd get my own. This is Mitch". He then bit his lip and said, "He's really soft, and sometimes, helps me sleep, but I have to hide him, cause you would have made fun of me". Howard patted him on the arm,

"Vince, don't worry ok? I won't make fun of you". Vince nodded and smiled, rested Mitch on his lap and nodded Howard on.

"Mr Bear..."

"Wait a sec". Vince was craning his neck to see, so he just hopped up onto Howard's lap and said, "Ok, go". He settled himself against the older man and looked at him expectantly.

Howard started again, and was halfway through it when he noticed that Vince had his thumb in his mouth, was cuddling Mitch and had a glazed look over his face. Howard was about to ask him if he was tired, but was stopped when someone opened the door.

"Naboo?!" This jolted Vince awake, and Howard was sure he would whip his thumb out of his mouth, but to his surprised he stayed how he was, still cuddling Mitch and looked up at Naboo with a hazy grin.

"Alright?" Naboo nodded, his eyes wide at the cute scene, but shook his head and said

"Come on, we think this'll work" Howard looked down to see if Vince would have a little hissy, but he was just sat there, wiggling his feet a bit. Howard stood up, and asked Naboo to get the bag with clothes, and to meet them at the carpet. When Naboo left, he said,

"D'you want to leave him behind?" Vince shook his head solidly and gripped onto Howard a little tighter as he stood up and took Vince outside.

--

They were pounded by the Winter wind, and Howard clutched at Vince, who in turn was clutching at Mitch. Naboo sat on the carpet, completely at ease, not bothered by the cold at all.

"Come on! It's warmer at the forest". Howard just shrugged and placed Vince on Naboo's lap for a second as he got up. Naboo looked terrified at having to hold a small child, but looked down and saw how relaxed Vince was, and couldn't help smiling as the toddler started hugging the toy he had with him. Once Howard was on, Vince got off Naboo's lap and made his way over to the older man. Picking him up and holding him tightly. Howard said,

"Ok Naboo, lets go". Naboo nodded and took off extremely smoothly, hoping that Vince was holding his meerkat very tightly, because the winds could easily knock it out of his hands, and even though he was really 25, Naboo bet that it would set him off, and the last thing he needed was a screaming child all the way to the forest.

Little question: Should the potion work? I mean like, it might take them a few days to make a different one, or should it work first time? Up to you reviewers ;) Answer in reviews, P.Ms, carrier pigeons whatever ;)
Anyone who hasn't seen Meerkat Manor needs to. It really is genius but sad in quite a few bits :( But Mitch is the dominat male of the main group of meerkats, in case anyone wanted to know. Hopefully, that big heart to heart they had straightened a few things out. Hopefully. Reviews please!! Also, sorry it's quite short, it seemed really long when I was writing it for some reason :s