Rebecca was released; Nathaniel demoted her to legal assistant temporarily while she was waiting to learn if she would be disbarred or not. She didn't seem too happy about working on the same level as Maya— although Maya was thrilled— but Nathaniel couldn't bring himself to care.

She cornered him as he was leaving for the day.

"Can we talk?" she asked, her tone beseeching.

"I have plans," he responded shortly.

She looked at George in confusion; George was closer to Nathaniel than anyone in the office, and usually knew his whereabouts. George, however, did not like Rebecca very much, and he just shrugged.

"Come on, George. Does he have a date, or...?"

"Yes," Nathaniel answered before George had a chance to. George schooled his face into a neutral expression, hiding his surprise. Rebecca, on the other hand, looked shocked.

"Oh, really?" she challenged.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes." He put an arm around George's shoulders before Rebecca could ask any more questions. "Are you ready for dinner?" he asked the other man.

George nodded, a look of pure and utter delight on his face as he wrapped an arm around Nathaniel's waist and cuddled into him.

Rebecca looked at them like they were Martians. "George. You're… dating… George!?"

"What, like I'm not good enough for our Nathaniel?" George snapped. "You should watch your assumptions, Bunch."

Nathaniel was impressed. George could act!

"We'll see you at work tomorrow." And with that, Nathaniel and George left, still cuddled into each other.

Once they were in the parking garage, Nathaniel disentangled himself. "I guess I should take you to dinner," he said in an undertone.

George looked delighted again, for some reason, until Nathaniel pulled up to the hospital.

"Um…"

"I'll buy you something from the cafeteria, and then we can get a real dinner on the way back to my place. It's just, I have a friend in there who's expecting me."

"Oh." George couldn't argue with that. Was Nathaniel a volunteer or something? He couldn't help imagining the tall, built man in a candy striper uniform. His breath hitched in his throat.

Nathaniel got out and opened the door for George, then held his hand as they went inside, just in case Rebecca or Paula had decided to be nosy and follow them. They went to the cafeteria first, ate some salad and Jell-O, and then made their way to Trent's room.

George did a double-take. "Isn't that the waiter from the party?"

"Yes."

"The one Rebecca—"

"Yes."

George raised his eyebrows at Nathaniel.

"I was the host of that party," Nathaniel explained patiently. "I thought I should check up on him. I've been coming here every day after work and talking to him."

"About what?" George couldn't help the jealous edge that crept into his voice.

"Whatever crosses my mind."

George sulked. Nathaniel was far more secretive with him, but with this random, strange man, he opened up?! What was up with that?

"So you talk to him about everything."

Nathaniel gave George a confused look. "Yes," he said. "Are you okay?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" But it came out churlish. "Maybe you should kiss him. See if he wakes up," George added sarcastically.

Nathaniel was pretty sure Trent was already awake. Rebecca had been released, the case had been closed, so there weren't any inspectors to hide from. So Nathaniel made his way over to Trent's bed and gently stroked the cast over his forehead, like he was brushing a stray hair away.

"I was joking," George protested, but Nathaniel ignored him.

"Thank you for being such a good listener," he murmured to Trent. "Our ex has been released from jail. I demoted her to office girl for the time being." He dropped his voice to a whisper so George wouldn't hear him and added, "It's safe to wake up now," practically against Trent's lips, before leaning down just a little bit more and kissing them.

Trent had not been expecting that! He had come to know Nathaniel pretty well over the last month and a half. At first, he had despised the other man, mostly out of jealousy that he was yet another new person in Rebecca's life that she'd chosen over him. Yet he was grateful to Nathaniel for both rescuing him from Paula and for not ratting him out to the nurses when his heart monitor betrayed that he was awake. He'd even gone as far as fantasizing about Nathaniel: twisted, violent, yet erotic fantasies about gaining power, making Nathaniel surrender, submit to Trent….

He had listened, and paid attention, to Nathaniel's ramblings over the past month and a half, knew about his soft spots, and had a pretty good idea what made the other man tick. But nothing he had heard from Nathaniel had led him to think Nathaniel might actually try to kiss him awake! And there wasn't much Trent could do about it either, being in a full body cast. But the kiss wasn't unpleasant, unlike the jealousy coming off Nathaniel's companion in waves, so Trent gave a mental shrug and kissed Nathaniel back as well as he could. It felt good, tasted good, made Trent's heart skip a beat again.

When the kiss broke, Trent allowed his eyes to flutter open. "I'm awake now," he said.

"Wow. He states the obvious. What a keeper. I can't imagine why Rebecca let this one get away," George deadpanned.

"Back off," said Nathaniel automatically, as Trent's hackles rose. He sighed. "George, this is Trent. Trent, George."

"I know who he is," both men said simultaneously, with equal measures of hostility.

"I'll get the nurse," said George, casting Trent a look of deepest loathing.

Trent chuckled once George was out of the room. "You know he's in love with you, right?" he asked.

Nathaniel blinked, nonplussed. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, come on. You don't see it? You've been complaining about how clingy he is for weeks, then you actually bring him here to see me and he acts like you're cheating on him or something!"

A nurse came in to check on Trent before Nathaniel could formulate a response. Nathaniel turned to go, but Trent called out to him.

"Hey, Nathaniel? Can I have your contact information? I want to add you as my emergency contact, and also have them call you when I switch rooms."

George was about to hand over one of the company's business cards, but Nathaniel stopped him. He pulled an index card out of his briefcase and wrote his personal cell phone number on it with his name, then handed it to the nurse.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Trent. George, let's go to dinner. We need to discuss a few things," he said, in a tone that brooked no argument. George nodded meekly and followed Nathaniel out the door.

xoxo

They went to a nearby Italian restaurant with an atmosphere that George found surprisingly romantic. He was confused and jealous; his stomach was twisted in knots. He didn't think he could eat a single thing, but he also wasn't going to turn down dinner with Nathaniel, no matter how upset he was.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked after the host had seated them.

Nathaniel chuckled softly. "Cutting right to the chase? Fair enough. It's about something that was said when you were out of the room."

George made a face. "You mean something Trent said?" He practically spat the name.

"George." The command in Nathaniel's tone made George drop the face and look him in the eye. "Are you in love with me?"

George stifled a gasp, but his eyes widened of their own accord. "You finally noticed?" he asked.

"How long?"

"... A while." Since you commandeered Whitefeather. Since the moment you said my name right. "But you had that weird dynamic with Rebecca, and then Mona, and apparently now Trent. There wasn't exactly room for me to say anything, now, was there?"

Actually, Nathaniel thought, George had had at least one window to speak up. But on the other hand, not everyone felt as comfortable hooking up with their boss as Rebecca did, and not everyone was as openly bisexual as Darryl and Maya were. Nathaniel wasn't even sure where he stood with that; he'd had a couple of experiences in prep school and college, but it hadn't amounted to more than casual curiosity. But on the other hand, when George had suggested kissing Trent, he hadn't exactly hesitated, and going on a date with George now didn't feel too strange to him. Nor had pretending to go out with him to avoid Rebecca.

"I see your point," Nathaniel said after an awkward pause.

"Well, we're out now," George conceded, "and it's nice here." He gave a little half smile and reached across the table for Nathaniel's hand, which Nathaniel gave him.

"We can do this, if you want," Nathaniel said, "but I'm not going to stop visiting Trent."

George considered this. "Fine," he said, "but I don't want to watch you make out with him again. You can pick me up when you're done next time."

Nathaniel gave a bemused sort of laugh. "Who says I'm going to make out with him again?" he asked. "What next time?"

George raised his eyebrows. Wow. Nathaniel really was oblivious. "Um, you were both pretty into it," he pointed out. "Normally I'd say it's bad form to kiss someone who's either comatose or in a body cast, let alone both, but he definitely didn't mind. Look, all I'm saying is, next time you want to take me out, come pick me up at my place after you're done visiting Trent." His face reddened slightly as the waiter came to take their orders. He ordered a hearty Alfredo dish with meatballs, but he noticed Nathaniel ordered only a side salad.

"Nathaniel, you have to eat more," he said. "We'll also have some garlic bread, please."

Nathaniel made a face. "I don't want to gain weight," he protested. George looked at him like he was crazy.

"Gain weight? Nathaniel, your only hobby besides visiting him in the hospital is working out!"

"That's not true! I also go to the zoo and the aquarium!"

"Nat, come on."

Nathaniel cringed. "Please, don't call me Nat. Mona used to. It's... awkward."

"Nate, then?"

Nathaniel grimaced— it was a stereotypical lacrosse player nickname, but at least it was better than Nat. "Fine," he relented. "You can call me Nate."

"Well, Nate, you need to eat more than just salad and smoothies. If you bulk up on protein, you can probably even add more muscle," George said coaxingly. "Not that you need it. Your body's… amazing."

Nathaniel blushed. "Thanks, I think. And I guess some more muscle couldn't hurt. I don't know if you remember what Trent looked like when he came into the office, but he is built. He looks stronger than White Josh, even. I wouldn't mind looking like that."

George rolled his eyes. "I really don't want to talk about Trent," he said.

When their food arrived, George insisted on giving Nathaniel his meatballs. Nathaniel ate them without protest, as well as his salad, but refused to touch any of the garlic bread.

"You said protein-load, not carbo-load," he pointed out.

"We could always work it off later," said George suggestively.

Nathaniel was oblivious, again. "You exercise too? Sorry— I didn't mean—"

"Ah, that's not what I had in mind." George stroked Nathaniel's hand, which he was still holding. "I know this is forward of me, considering this is just our first date, not to mention you're my boss, but… I've always wondered what you're like, you know… between the sheets."

Nathaniel almost choked on his water. "Excuse me?" he all but demanded.

"Ever since I first saw you," George clarified.

"Whoa. Uh, George, I'm— I don't know if I'm ready for that yet."

"Oh." George withdrew his hand. It felt like a red-hot poker had seared into his chest. "I guess that was too forward."

"I'm not offended," Nathaniel clarified. "I just don't have a lot of experience… with men. The farthest I've gone was" —he lowered his voice— "a circle jerk in college."

"Erotic massage, high school," George responded, raising his glass to toast. Nathaniel obliged. "I haven't done group stuff, though, at least, not outright sexual group stuff."

Nathaniel scoffed. "It's not that exciting, trust me."

"You excite me," George said softly. He leaned across the table to kiss Nathaniel; once again, Nathaniel obliged.

xoxo

They went home together, to Nathaniel's apartment, slightly drunk on piña coladas and more than slightly aroused. They made out, stripping each other as they headed to the bedroom.

Nathaniel's heart was pounding. He didn't know if he was ready to go all the way, but kissing felt nice, and so did cuddling in their underwear in bed together.

"We don't have to do more if you don't want to," George assured him. "I'm just happy— more than happy— that you've finally noticed me."

Nathaniel smiled his thanks. "Part of me wishes I could scold you for not speaking up when you knew I was single, but then again, I do understand why it might not have seemed wise."

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't have said anything if you hadn't actually kissed another guy right in front of me!"

"To be fair, that was your idea."

George rolled into his side and rested his head on Nathaniel's shoulder, gazing up at him adoringly. "I guess it was a good idea, since it led us here," he said. "But we should get to sleep. God knows what kind of drama your ex-girlfriend is going to cause in the morning."