There will probably be one more chapter after this. Thank you to everyone who'd read, reviewed, followed or favourite so far!
txnightalive, thank you for your review - it's always lovely to have a new reader! I'm so glad you're enjoying this. You might find out the answer to your question in this chapter...
Tanith Panic, I'm so glad you love it! But I think Ethan would look wonderful wearing anything or nothing! Even Connie and Jacob start caring for people other than themselves at Christmas. Thank you for your review.
kay Southern (Guest), thank you for your review. Again, I'm very happy to have another new reader! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. Here is the update you're waiting for - I really hope it doesn't disappoint you.
Thank you to txnightalive for the follow.
"Um, I'm just going to, um…" Ethan brushed past Ben and left the staff room, closing the door behind him.
Dylan spoke again, his words more controlled this time, though Ben could see the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed fast and shallowly. "How long have you been there, Ben?"
"Not long," said Ben, hoping Dylan would believe him. "I heard you telling Ethan to go home and speak to Cal. That's all." He moved closer. "If you were talking about me, I got here too late."
Dylan said nothing.
Ben stayed where he was, waiting. The silence went on and on. Ben wondered if he should speak or sit down or something, but he couldn't move. He could only look at Dylan. Into those almost impenetrable eyes that had once shone with love for him, but now showed only uncertainty.
"Ben, there are… certain conversations… I don't like to have in the workplace," said Dylan. "In a cupboard would be okay, but not in the middle of reception or, ideally, even in the staff room."
"I get that." Ben's throat was dry and his words barely audible, but he knew Dylan had heard. Without much hope, he asked: "So… um… do you want to meet me in the cupboard?"
Dylan shook his head. "No."
Ben's head dropped as his hopes shattered.
"Not this time," said Dylan. "As I was saying, some conversations should not take place in the staff room as a general rule. But some conversations are so important, the only thing to do is to ensure that they happen as soon as possible. I should have done it before now. I apologise for that."
Ben smiled, though cautiously. "Apology accepted."
"Good." Dylan looked faintly surprised, but he continued. "What I should have said earlier… what I should have said before work even… or perhaps even before you'd left the boat…" Dylan stopped and sighed with frustration. He came towards Ben and took his hands in his. "Ben, I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you. It was unforgiveable. I was disappointed because I wasn't going to spend Christmas with you. More than disappointed."
"I'm sor-" began Ben, but Dylan cut him off.
"But it wasn't your fault," said Dylan. "I gave you very little notice. It was unreasonable of me to assume you would be able to take the day off and unfair of me to blame you when it turned out to be impossible. I had no right to express my disappointment in the way I did or to call you what I did. It was unnecessary and cruel and completely untrue. I really hope you can forgive me, but if you can't, I understand." Dylan's voice softened. "I'm very sorry for what I said to you, Ben. Extremely sorry. And I love you."
Ben realised he'd been holding his breath. He released it slowly and smiled at Dylan. "I love you too."
"And you accept my apology?"
"More than accept." Ben pulled his hands away from Dylan's so he could hug him. ""And I'm sorry if I went over the top with waiting for you to apologise."
"No, of course you-" Dylan saw the smile on Ben's face and smiled too. "Maybe just a little bit. But if I'd said something earlier-"
"If you'd said something earlier, we wouldn't be here now," said Ben. "And I'm glad we're here."
Dylan smiled. "So am I." He released himself gently from Ben's embrace, went to the door to check no-one was on their way in, and turned back to Ben, a smile on his face. "It's all right. Ethan's on guard. I expect he could delay almost anyone for twenty seconds. And we can do a lot in twenty seconds."
He returned to Ben, holding him tightly in his arms, and stared down into his eyes for a moment or two before kissing him. Ben kissed him back, wrapping his arms tightly around him again.
Dylan was breathless when he resurfaced from the kiss. "That was more than twenty seconds. We'd better stop."
"But only for now," said Ben.
"Only for now," agreed Dylan.
Ben retreated to a slightly more respectable distance. "So, you were telling me about your Christmas traditions?"
Dylan smiled. "I was."
"Merry Christmas!" shouted Robyn as she and Louise entered the pub.
Louise moved slightly away from her. "You're not going to shout that all night, are you?"
"Yep!" said Robyn happily. "And I'll only get worse when I'm drunk."
"Good thing I'm getting drunk too then," said Louise.
Robyn looked over at the bar. It was hidden behind swarms of people and she could see no-one from the hospital, but she wasn't about to let that stop her. "First round on me, Louise? Seeing as you're working Christmas and I'M NOT!"
"Sounds good to me," said Louise.
Robyn found a space by the door. "Let's wait and see if some of the others show up." She looked around the pub. "Of course, they could be here already. This place is heaving!"
"Just make sure you don't start heaving," said Louise. "I get enough of that at work."
Robyn laughed as she felt in her pocket for a purse. "Don't worry. I can hold my dr… Louise?" Robyn's voice had suddenly got much higher. "Tell me I gave you my purse to look after?"
Louise shook her head. "No. Sorry, babe."
Robyn groaned and ran her hands through her hair. "Tell me I didn't leave it in the hospital."
"Well, I will tell you that if you like," said Louise. "But in my opinion, that' s the best-case-scenario."
Robyn sighed. "I'll be back in a bit."
As she left, she felt Louise's hand on her arm. "I'll get the first round in."
"Are you sure?" said Robyn. "Thanks!"
"As you keep reminding me," said Louise, "it's Christmas!"
"I thought it was very gallant of you to allow Robyn to win, anyway," said Dylan.
"He was her Secret Santa. Not mine," said Ben. "Besides, I'm quite looking forward to listening to A Christmas Carol."
"Yeah. Yeah, me too. I absolutely love it," said Dylan.
Ben smiled lovingly at Dylan. He had heard a lot of euphemisms in his time, but 'come back to my boat and listen to my tape of Charles Dickens' was a new one for him. "Come on," he whispered, and walked into an alleyway.
"An alleyway? I thought you had better morals and more originality than that, Ben Chiltern." But Dylan was following him anyway.
"Oh, I've got plenty of originality," said Ben. "I'll show you later. But right now, I just want to kiss you."
He put his arms around Dylan and stared into his eyes for a moment.
"I really am sorry," said Dylan.
"It's okay," said Ben softly. "It's over now." He smiled. "Unless you're apologising for questioning my morals, of course."
Dylan moved his lips towards Ben's. "No. I think I like your morals."
Ben kissed him, pulling Dylan closer to him and wondering if he should tell him he'd always wanted to drag him into an alley and kiss him.
Robyn hurried back towards the hospital, cursing herself. All she wanted was to get drunk, enjoy Christmas… and save Dylan for another time. There was always New Year, after all. And Valentine's Day. Plenty of opportunity for Dylan to get his smooch on.
She walked past the alley, glad it wasn't dark, and stopped as she heard a voice she knew.
"What are you doing?"
Robyn looked into the alley. She couldn't see anyone, but the voice was unmistakeably Dylan's.
What would he be doing in the alley? And who would he be talking to?
It had better not be some random, that's all I can say. Robyn didn't want to think of Dylan as being that sort of guy.
It was strange how fond she'd become of Dylan over the past couple of months. He was inconsiderate and rude, but there was something very sweet about him.
Robyn walked into the alley. If Dylan was here with some random, she was really going to give him a piece of her mind.
How could Dylan go having sex with strangers in alleys when his perfect partner was right there in front of him?
Robyn didn't know why it had taken her so long to see it. Of course, her romantic instincts hadn't been too great lately. She'd failed to spot not only Rita and Iain but Connie and Jacob. But now she had seen it, she could hardly miss it.
The look in Dylan's eyes when the object of his affections walked past. The answering look of admiration.
Robyn even had a name for them – Dyfty – and she'd made it her Christmas ambition to get them together. That was why she'd wanted Ben to spend Christmas with her. She hadn't been at all sure how she was going to persuade Dylan to come too, but when Ben had mentioned spending Christmas with Dylan, Robyn had grabbed the opportunity with both hands – as she hoped Dylan would soon grab Ben with both hands.
She was still gutted it hadn't worked out, but it was only a week till New Year.
If she could get this random out of Dylan's life first…