A/N This is a thing that's been nagging me to write it since Forget Me Not aired, all I had was the little scene at the end of it, but that scene quickly evolved into a full fledged plot bunny that's been clinging onto my leg for it seems like forever now. So I finally got around to write it since I feel like leaving y'all hanging with We'll Always Have The Beach. Slashy tones to it, be forewarned, and I don't own them.
It was closing time, and Garret found himself lost in thought as the lights slowly switched off around him. A knock on the door announcing Jordan's leaving was the only thing that made him realize that his day had long since ended, and he took the needle off the record, watching it spin to a slow halt.
He had been out of sorts recently, thinking about everything. He had forgotten the sheer feeling of lust, and she had brought that back. Bogart eyes, that's what she had called him, she had said that he had Bogart eyes. He looked at his reflection in a window. Maybe, he supposed, one could see him like that, with Bogart eyes.
He was on his way to the elevator when a stray light caught his eye. He stuck his head inside to find Nigel there, sitting, all alone, a bottle of something and a glass next to him. "Nigel, it's almost nine, what are you still doing here?" The young man shrugged, pouring himself another glass.
"Just thinking Dr. M." the man replied, drinking down what he had poured.
"About what?" Garret took the seat across from him.
"Life, the universe, everything." He held up the bottle to Garret, who shook his head, and the young Brit poured himself yet another glass. "Love."
"It's a killer." He replied, and the other man nodded, a lock of black hair falling into his face. A hand with long elegant fingers quickly pushed it back into place.
"Don't I know it. I thought she was the one, I thought I might have really had something with her." Another drink was poured.
"She was good at playing you." He commented, debating on whether or not to have a glass of whatever the other man was drinking.
"Like a bloody violin. I can't believe I was that stupid, I can't believe I let her use me like that, I can't believe she did it." He let the man ramble on, he knew better than to interrupt a drunken tirade.
"No one knew what she was really up to."
"The worst part was that she still cared about me, she used me, but she cared about me. She asked me to go to bloody Australia with her." He threw the glass forcefully at a corner of the room, and Garret winced as it shattered against the wall.
"C'mon, let's get you home. You're wasted." Nigel nodded, allowing Garret to lead the way to his car, and he all but fell into it, catching himself and righting himself on the seat. He still had the bottle with him, and was drinking it as they drove along. Garret gave a small chuckle of laughter, there would be hell to pay if they were pulled over, but he didn't care.
"I'm through with women." He fought the urge to laugh at the other man's statement. He remembered making that same one ages ago in a booze induced haze shortly after his wife had walked out and into the arms of someone else. "All they do is use you and throw you away, you mean nothing to them."
The man had a point, he knew the feeling of being used, being "loved" for a short time, and then passed over for the next sucker on the line, but even though he was getting older, he wasn't ready to swear off the fairer sex just yet. "They're too damn beautiful." Nigel laughed at that, nodding his agreement.
"All too right mate." They had reached the younger man's apartment, and after Nigel had almost fallen out of the car, Garret got out and helped him. He placed an arm around his friend's shoulders, both to comfort and to hold the drunken man upright. Nigel was still muttering under his breath things to curse the female species.
"You going to be OK?" Garret asked as Nigel fumbled with his key to get the door open.
"I'd be better if she never walked into my life." Garret shook his head sadly when the younger man turned to face him. "Thanks Dr. M." The young man grasped Garret's face and he suddenly found himself the recipient of a drunken kiss.
Before Garret could even react to push him away, Nigel had passed out, keeling over backwards onto the couch. He blinked a few times, trying to make sense of what just happened before closing the door and walking back to his car. It was a strange thing, something done while the other man had been completely drunk, but the damndest thing was that he had sort of enjoyed it.