A/N: WEEELL, announcement. I am going on hiatus from writing for a month plus/minus a week or so due to a singing competition, and I need to practice a lot more than usual… so yeah. I am not leaving permanently or anything, and I will be available to answer PMs and stuff, but neither this story nor any of my others will be updated for a little bit. Thanks for your understanding and whatever

But yeah I felt compelled to write this. Sorry if it's not very good, it was sort of rushed… tried to make up for lack of well-written content with some cute lines. : 3

Oh and if you haven't read my story Apparently Monsoon Season, you should. It is basically my headcanon backstory of how Benny and Nicely met, and it's also kind of a prequel to The Benny and Nicely Chronicles.

Well, without further ado,

TADAAAAAAAAAA HURBLE GURBLE BWERGLE

-Me, from 221B Bacon Street

P.S. Fugue for Tinhorns is actually just Rusty Charlie third wheeling on Benny and Nicely's romantic duet.

P.P.S. When I return, there will be SONGFICS and MORE BICELY ONESHOTS. Stayy tooooond

Bye for realsies

Benny Southstreet sprawled in the center of his bed, sighing deeply. He stretched his limbs out, relishing the new empty space in the bed… for about five seconds. Then he realized that he was extremely lonely. He frowned.

Nicely was working late tonight and Benny wasn't, for the first time in longer than Southstreet could remember. For some reason, Nathan seemed intent on keeping the two men apart. Obviously he hadn't considered the consequences. Benny was desperately lonely; he needed Nicely. Right now. Just like how, before the two men got together, he was unable to sleep without Nicely's shirt, now that he had upgraded to the real Nicely, he couldn't go back.

Benny groaned dramatically, rolling over to Nicely's side of the bed. He lay on his stomach, his face buried in his boyfriend's pillow. He inhaled deeply, savouring Nicely's scent. He did this until he couldn't distinguish the smell anymore. He raised his head, frowning again. He flipped himself onto his back, cocooning himself in his blankets. He closed his eyes. If he could somehow manage to fall asleep, Johnson would be there with him when he woke up.

He tried to clear his mind of all thoughts, like he did on other nights when he couldn't sleep. He repeated "go to sleep" in his mind over and over again, hoping he could convince himself to simply fall unconscious. It may have worked, if had he not absent-mindedly wormed his arms free and lazily stretched them out, half expecting to find Nicely at the other end of the bed. And when he didn't, his eyes sprung open, his mind becoming alert again. Remembering his situation, he groaned loudly.

Southstreet had made a serious effort to fall asleep. He really had. He had tried thinking about happy, relaxing thoughts (which hadn't worked since all of them involved Nicely), laying in every position known to man (that didn't work because most were very uncomfortable), and getting up and walking around his room (that just made him more anxious). It was still only one thirty.

Benny dove onto his bed face first again, growling in impatience.

"Nicelyyyy…" he whined to no one in particular, "I need youuu…"

His complaints were met by silence.

He made a loud and undignified sound as he shoved his head under a pillow. He felt like crying and yelling and kicking something and hugging someone, all at the same time. Most of all, he just felt exhausted. And like he really, really, really wanted Nicely Johnson. He checked the clock hopefully. One thirty five. He almost sobbed.

One forty five A.M. found Benny Southstreet lying sprawled in the starfish position in the center of his bed on top of the covers. His head was at the foot of the bed, and his eyes were wide open. He was almost zombielike as he lay there, immobile, staring blankly at the ceiling.

At two thirty, Benny thought he heard someone open the door. He didn't let himself get his hopes up too much, but then he heard quiet footsteps up the stairs. It was like Christmas when Nicely Johnson quietly opened the door to check if Benny was asleep.

Southstreet bounded up excitedly and gave a shocked Nicely a huge hug, nearly crushing the smaller man in his arms.

"Whoa, Benny, I didn't know you were still awake!" he said, laughing.

"I'm so glad you're home," Benny mumbled into his boyfriend's neck.

"Me too," said Johnson, finally returning the hug, "It's late, why aren't you asleep?"

"Couldn't," Benny replied, "Not without you."

Nicely smiled a bit. "Aw, baby…" he muttered softly, before pressing his lips to Benny's.

Their mouths remained in contact for a long while, Nicely taking advantage of Benny's exhaustion and dominating the kiss. He was gentle, though, his tongue gently massaging the other man's, eliciting a lazy moan from Benny.

It was at least two minutes before Nicely pulled away. "You should probably go to bed now."

"Yeah, okay," Benny replied sleepily, before grabbing Nicely's forearm and dragging him into the bedroom.

Benny hopped back in bed, lifting the shorter man in with him. Nicely didn't even try to object that he hadn't changed or showered yet. He was admittedly quite tired, and he wasn't about to leave. Instead of trying to get away, he took up his familiar position with his head on Benny's chest and his arms flung lazily around his waist. Benny hugged the shorter gambler close, kissing him on the forehead.

"I missed you, Nicely."

"I was only gone for five hours."

"Yeah, and it felt like five days, or five weeks… It's all the same. I miss you after being away from you for five seconds, Nicely Johnson."

Nicely sighed in contentment. He was silent for a few seconds before whispering:

"I love you, Benny."

"I love you too," came the reply.

Nicely lay perfectly still, a tiny smile on his lips. He listened to Benny's breathing grow steady, his heartbeat relaxed. He didn't need to look to know that his boyfriend had fallen fast asleep after only five minutes. Johnson didn't even consider moving for one second. He was beyond comfortable in his sleeping lover's arms. He was safe and totally relaxed, matching his breaths to Benny's, becoming so close to the other man that they were practically one being. Nicely's last conscious thoughts were ones of his love for Benny as he peacefully drifted off as well.