Horatio allowed what Speed had said to roll around in his mind. He had always kept his sexuality a secret, maybe even from himself. Outwardly, Horatio had always exuded confidence, inwardly, it was a very different story. As he looked around the restaurant, he was beginning to realize that he wasn't alone. Maybe he wasn't the only one who felt the way he did.

Speed glanced over at the bar, noticing Jeff with a huge grin on his face, staring at them. "Oh God," he groaned, rolling his eyes.

Horatio was pulled from his thoughts. "What's wrong?"

"We're being watched," Speed replied with mild annoyance.

Horatio followed Speed's gaze over to the bar and chuckled. "Your friends," he said.

Speed nodded. He knew they had to be curious since he hadn't had any other relationships since David. "Subtlety has never been one of his strong points, I'm afraid."

Horatio looked back over at Tim and said, "Tell me about them."

Tim smiled. "What do you want to know?"

Shrugging, Horatio replied, "Whatever you feel like telling me."

Tim poured them each some more wine while he decided where to start. After taking a drink, he began. "Not so subtle Jeff, over there, and I have known each other most of our lives. We met in the third grade, Mrs. McKenzie's class at P.S. 40 in Jamaica, Queens. We hit it off immediately and have been best friends ever since. He got me into more trouble over the years. He has a wicked practical joker streak in him."

He glanced up at Horatio seeing an expectant look in his eye. Shaking his head he said, "Stories for another time. We met Tony in college. They've been together almost fifteen years now."

"Wow," Horatio said looking back at the couple. Their attentions now focused solely on each other.

Tim took Horatio's hand. "Something to strive for," he said softly. They were lost in each others eyes and Horatio was leaning in for another kiss when the waiter stepped up to the table and cleared his throat.

"Sirs, your dinners."

Both men chuckled, a bit embarrassed. Reluctantly, Horatio moved away from Tim and back to his own side of the table. For the next hour they ate, drank, and talked, about everything and nothing. By the end of the meal they were both feeling the affects of the bottle of wine that they had polished off.

"Wow, I don't think I can drive right now," Horatio said with his head spinning slightly.

Tim looked at his watch. "Don't worry, the night's still young and we are not on call this weekend."

"Okay, so what now?" Horatio asked.

Speed glanced over at the dance floor. The music had slowed and the floor was crowded with couples dancing to the light jazz tunes. Horatio followed his gaze and smiled. He looked back at Tim, "Dance with me."

They stood up and Tim swayed a bit. Horatio laughed, a genuine laugh that Tim didn't often hear from him. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Tim nodded. "Just feeling the wine," he replied with a silly grin on his face.

"Need some help," Horatio said barely containing his amusement.

Tim tried to look indignant but couldn't quite pull it off. Horatio had had just as much to drink as he had, but you wouldn't know it to look at him. He slipped an arm around Horatio's waist and said, "Come on," as they walked back out to the bar. Jeff and Tony were on the dance floor doing their best Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers imitation. At just the right moment in the music, Tony dipped Jeff as both men chuckled.

Tim couldn't resist. He said, loud enough for them to hear without quite yelling, "Show off."

This caused another fit of laughter from all four men as Jeff replied, "Jealous."

As Horatio's confidence grew, he felt himself becoming bolder. He grabbed Tim's hand and pulled him out on to the dance floor. With a flourish, he pulled Tim into his arms, deciding to give the other two men a run for their money. They were both a bit drunk so it took them a moment to find their rhythm together, but once they did there was no stopping them. They had danced before, at home, always with Tim in the lead. He was actually surprised to find out how good a dancer Horatio was as he lead Tim around the floor.

They spent the rest of the evening dancing, drinking, thought Horatio had switched to coffee, and talking with Tim's friends. By 2 a. m . they were winding down and after making plans to have Jeff and Tony over for dinner soon, they said their goodbyes.

Back at home, the two stumbled into the bedroom, still laughing over some of the stories Jeff had told. Tim quickly shed his clothes then flopped on to the bed on his back. "The room is spinning," he said with a laugh.

"That," Horatio replied, "is because you are drunk, my dear."

This caused another spurt of laughter from Tim. "No, shit. What was your first clue?"

Horatio threw a pillow at him. As he attempted to walk by the bed, Tim grabbed his arm and pulled. Horatio lost his balance and fell onto the bed right on top of Tim. Both men were gripped with another fit of laughter. Horatio rolled to his side, looking down at Tim.

"Thanks for tonight. I had a great time," he said as he gave Tim a kiss.

"Me too," Tim replied. "I think we both needed it."

As they settled in for the night, Horatio pulled his lover close, wrapping his arms around him tightly. He gave Tim a kiss on the temple. "Maybe tomorrow," he said quietly, "maybe tomorrow, we can go to the park. Have a picnic or something."

Tim turned his head to look into Horatio's eyes as they were drifting off. "In public?"

"In public," Horatio replied as sleep was overtaking him.

Tim smiled as he too drifted off for a peaceful night in Horatio's arms, knowing that they had definitely turned a corner.

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Okay, this one's finally done. But the series will continue.

Please review.