A/N: Hey hey hey!

Hope no one is having sad angst feels about the last chapter...

This one is happier! Yay!

Not as short of a chapter.

I'd like to thank Squideepoo for reviewing! You and Rue Sue are very cool.

That's all for now. Enjoy Nathan flying away dramatically. And some long-awaited Bicelying.

-BWR

Benny felt a sudden warmth enveloping the room. He looked around frantically, trying to deduce what was going on. Then there was a bright light, almost blinding, shining in every direction. He squinted at it, and he soon saw the outline of a human... a man... an average height, chubby man... He got up, shielding his eyes from the light. It suddenly faded, along with the warmth. Confused, Benny rubbed his eyes, blinked, and looked up again. And his jaw dropped at what he saw.

"N-Nicely?" he stuttered incredulously.

"Benny..."

Southstreet smiled, running up to the other man. "Nicely! Oh my God... Are you really back? Please say this is real..."

Nicely looked down at himself, at his surroundings, and then at Benny. "I'm... back."

Benny laughed, and lurched forward, hugging Nicely tight against his chest. "Nicely! I thought I lost you forever! Oh, I'm so glad you're here..."

Nicely blushed at Benny's touch. "I... how long has it been?"

"A week, Nice'. The worst week of my life." The older man pulled back, still holding his friend's shoulders tightly. "How did you come back?"

"To be honest... I'm not sure. I thought I was dead forever as much as you did. There's only one explanation... and that's that you wanted me back."

"Well of course I wanted you back! I was grieving for a week straight!"

"No, I mean, you must have really wanted me back. There's a magical connection that forms between my kind and their potential mates. They have some control over the spirit, so you must have wished me back so strongly that I actually appeared..."

Benny nodded. "Yeah, sounds about right. I was lonely without you, Nicely. I missed you."

Nicely smiled. "Well, thank you."

Benny finally let go of his friend's shoulders. "Any time. Say, you want to head out to celebrate you comin' back? We can go for dinner or somethin', if you want..."

Nicely smiled. "Sure, Benny, I'd love to."

[][][]

The next day, the two men had just finished lunch and were sitting at the kitchen table when Benny noticed that his roommate seemed a little sad.

"Nicely, what's wrong?"

He sighed. "Nothing, I'm fine."

"I know that look. What's botherin' you?"

Johnson looked up at his friend. "I... Well, Benny, I know you're happy that I'm back, and, really, so am I. But what I said before is still true. I'm gonna have to die again."

"What? Why?"

"I told you before. I can't live without you bein' my mate. I'd hurt you. And since you can't be my mate, I'll have to go again. But this time, I'll make sure we're both ready so it ain't as bad."

Benny shook his head. "No, Nicely. I can't let you do that. I can't handle losing you again."

Johnson got up off his chair. "Benny, I love you more than you can imagine, and I know for a fact you find it disgusting. We can't live like this. I have a month, maybe, before I'll start craving you again, and we know how that turned out."

The human got up as well. "Nicely, you don't have to die. You can't die. I need you."

"You don't understand. I have to die. I'm so in love with you, and it ain't gonna end well," Johnson said, beginning to walk away. Benny grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"No, Nicely, you're the one who doesn't understand. I can't live without you."

Nicely turned around. "You just did. Last week."

"No. I wasn't living last week; I was dying. Dying slowly and painfully. It was the single worst week of my life. I've lost people before: family, friends... But it was nothing like what happened after I lost you. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep for more than an hour, I didn't leave the apartment. I smoked, Nicely. I barely did it before, but without you, I was smoking... I lost count. I don't even know anymore. I missed you so much the word 'miss' lost its meaning. You were all I could think about. In the small amount of sleep I got, I dreamt of you. I woke up screaming 'cause you were gone. I couldn't handle it. I was lost, Nicely. I counted every minute to try to keep my mind off you. I cried for you. I cried for days wishing you'd come back, that I could be with you again. I realized how much you meant to me, how much I needed you. And you coming back is the best thing that could have happened to me. I'm the happiest and the luckiest man on Earth right now. And now you're telling me that I have to go through that again? Not a chance, Nicely. Not a chance in hell."

Nicely was shocked. "Wow... I... I didn't know that I meant that much to you..."

"Of course you do!" Benny exclaimed, grabbing Nicely's other hand just as tightly as the first. "You mean the world to me, Nicely. You're the best friend I've ever had, and my favorite person on this planet. I take back everything I've ever said and done to hurt you. Every time I didn't cook dinner for you, every time I made you do Nathan's paperwork, every time I gambled with your money, every time I've called you fat, and most definitely everything I said to you the day before you took your life. I take it all back, because I hate myself for hurting someone who means so much to me."

Nicely was silent. "I don't know what to say to that..."

"How 'bout you promise me that you'll never, ever leave me like that again."

Johnson looked away.

"Promise me, Nicely, please!"

Nicely shook his head firmly. "I appreciate what you've said to me, but you still don't get it. I can't live. I love you, and you don't love me back. The only way for me to live is if you loved me, and you don't."

"So, the only way you can live is if I love you?"

"Yes! How come it's taken you so long to understand?"

Benny let go of Nicely's hands, tenderly running his own up the younger man's arms, to his shoulders. He leaned his forehead against Johnson's.

"And what if I decided to love you, just a little bit?"

Nicely blushed a dark crimson, his lips parting as if he were going to speak, but all that came out was a soft whimper.

Benny chuckled in amusement, before his hands migrated to Nicely's cheeks. He closed his eyes. He leaned forward slowly, until his lips gently touched the other man's. It was only a second before Nicely moaned in pleasure, arms wandering to Benny's waist. The taller man, quite experienced at kissing, immediately deepened their connection. He let his tongue trace lightly along Nicely's lower lip, earning a satisfied sigh from the younger man. Benny let his tongue tease at Nicely's, not wanting to go too far on their first kiss. He allowed his hands to travel to Johnson's shoulders, hugging him close for the last few seconds of their tender embrace. After that, Southstreet quietly broke the kiss. He looked a breathless Nicely in the eye, and smiled.

"You liked that, didn't you?"

Nicely hummed in contentment, leaning his head into Benny's shoulder. The taller man brushed his lips across Nicely's temple. "Have I convinced you yet?"

"Mm?"

"Have I convinced you not to leave me alone again?"

Nicely pulled back suddenly. "Is that what that was about? Convincing me?"

Benny laughed. "I suppose, in part."

Nicely promptly removed his arms and stepped back. "You don't love me, do you?"

"Well, I..."

With a ferocity neither man saw coming, Nicely slapped the other gambler, cutting him off. "How dare you play with me like this?" he spat, "You think you can just sweet talk me and kiss me once and I'll do what you want? Is that what you think?"

Benny rubbed his stinging cheek. "Uh..."

"You know, Benny, I hope that you understand that I didn't choose who to fall in love with, because I don't know who in their right mind would choose you," Nicely snapped, before turning on his heel and walking out the door.

[][][]

Nicely arrived at Nathan's house a few minutes later, knowing that he would be there but Adelaide wasn't. He rang the doorbell, and Nathan answered a few moments later.

"Nicely!"

"Hey, Nathan," Nicely greeted tiredly.

"What's up? I haven't heard from you or Benny in a week!"

"You haven't?"

"No! You've both been silent!"

"That selfish bastard!" Nicely said.

"What?"

"Nothin'."

"You're mad at Benny... Is everything alright?"

Johnson sighed. "No, nothing is alright, Nathan."

"Okay then, would you mind filling me in?"

Nicely sighed. "First of all, thank you for so helpfully outing me last week," he said sarcastically.

"Oh, now you're mad at me, too? Well, you deserved it. You know that's not how you should use your powers, for trickin' your potential mate like that."

"I know, Nathan, I already hate myself. It didn't help me, I learned that."

"Okay, so what happened next?"

"Benny beat me up. I managed to get myself home, and after a few hours, he came too. He got me to explain everything. The whole 'what am I' thing went okay, it just got complicated at the 'why I made him pet me' thing. I didn't want to, but I explained how I felt about him."

Detroit was interested. "And?"

"He wasn't impressed. He... rejected me."

Nathan frowned. "Ah, that's... that's terrible, Nicely, I'm so sorry..."

"It's fine."

"So... you came here to tell me that you're... going to die?"

"No. Well... maybe."

"What do you mean?"

"Nathan, the morning after I told him, I decided to end my life. I was dead for a week."

Detroit gaped. "What? But you're here... He brought you back?"

"Yeah."

"Nicely, get back there right now! That man loves you!"

Nicely laughed. "I don't think so. I mean, he obviously missed me and all, but before I died he said that it was disgusting and wrong for two guys to love each other."

"Hmm. I still think he likes you as more than a friend... So what were you mad at him for?"

"Well, today, I told him that I would have to die again 'cause he couldn't be my mate. Then he said that he couldn't live without me and I meant so much to him and all that. But I told him that I still needed to die because he didn't love me. And then... Then he kissed me..."

Nathan smiled. "Really? That's great, Nicely."

"No, it's not. He wasn't sincere. He doesn't actually love me; he was just playing with my feelings. I'd hate him if I didn't love him so much!"

Nathan laughed. "I'm not so sure I agree with you. I mean, I wasn't there to see it, but I think he probably meant it. If he were a doll, then I don't know. But he's a guy, and I don't know if a guy would kiss a guy just because. Guys don't do that."

"Hmm... I guess you might be right..."

"Of course I am. If only I could apply this to myself and get Adelaide..."

Nicely rolled his eyes.

"Now, Nicely, I've gotta go, so I suggest that you go home and have a serious talk with Benny about your feelings."

"Ugh, it seems like all we're doing now is having serious talks..."

"Well, have another one! Good luck!" With that, Nathan Detroit closed and locked the door behind him, transformed into his seagull form and flew away. A rather overdramatic exit, Nicely thought. He sighed, deciding to follow his boss's advice.

[][][]

Nicely arrived at his flat a few minutes later, to find Benny about to leave.

"Oh, hey Benny!" Nicely greeted, trying to make it clear in his tone that he was no longer mad at his friend.

"Nicely! I was just about to go lookin' for you!"

"Well, I suppose you don't have to," Johnson replied with a smile.

"So you ain't mad at me?"

"No, not at the moment."

Benny laughed. "Alright. But, Nicely, can I talk to you for a while?"

"I was just gonna suggest we do that."

"Great."

The two men scaled the stairs and entered the living room. They sat down beside each other on the couch.

"So, Benny," started the younger of the two, "talk."

Southstreet cleared his throat. "Okay... Well, I just wanted to apologize for earlier. That was uncalled for."

Nicely nodded. "I accept your apology, and I'm also sorry for slapping you."

"It's fine. I deserved it. Now, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna tell you something and you have to promise to not interrupt me, okay?"

"Okay..."

"Good. So the thing is, Nicely, earlier, I wasn't sweet-talkin' you at all. It's true that I suffered with you gone. It's true that I can't live without you, and it's definitely true that you mean the world to me. Over the past two years that we've lived together, I've gotten to know you as my best friend, and I'm truly lucky to have you. Last week, I told you that it was wrong for two guys to love each other. I said it was disgusting that you loved me. But that was me reacting out of shock, or something. I don't know why it took me two years, your death, your return, and a sudden kiss for me to figure out exactly how I feel about you. But at least I know now, before you could kill yourself again and be gone forever. The truth is... I love you, Nicely."