I'm sorry for the delay on these stories...

Uni work is killing me.

He was going to see Harvey, going to sit with him, eat food, tell stories, laugh.

Just the thought was making him dizzy, he could hardly stop smiling as he held the door for Jon as the man left for work.

"Bye, Love," Jon said, giving Eddie a sweet kiss as he left.

"Bye," Edward said, kissing him in return.

He couldn't stop his heart thumping in his throat, panging in the new purple mark that sat there. He swallowed hard, the smile on his face so large he swore it could consume him.

He let out a tiny squeak as he ascended the stairs, he hopped into the shower and began washing himself.

His eyes kept focusing on the mirror opposite the shower.

He tightened his chest, watching the muscles move.

He shook his head and sighed; he looked so awful…

He turned his back to the mirror and continued washing himself, sticking his face into the stream of water and taking in a mouthful, he swirled it around his mouth and spat the long flume into the plughole.

He hummed gently. He was going to dinner with Harvey.

Harvey was like… the hottest guy ever.

Why did he care?

His eyes flicked back to the mirror. He looked so… 'twiggy'. Awful.

Damn, he didn't deserve this.

No, come on, he wasn't 'going out' with Harvey, they were friends, it was friends, having dinner.

It didn't matter how he looked.

He got out of the shower and fixed his hair, glaring for a second at that little bit that stuck up at the back no matter what.

"…Stupid hair," he said as he abandoned his hair, and painted a line of green on his eyes.

What time was it?

His eyes reached for the clock on the far side of the room.

3:30.

He'd have to set off soon….

They were going to meet at the same café as last time, and Harvey had said he was going to drive him to some restaurant that he 'knew the owner of'.

Harvey said the vegetable rigatoni they did there was fantastic.

He couldn't wait to try it.

He quickly dressed himself, making sure his tie and collar were straight, and that his belt wasn't twisted, and that his fly was done up.

He gave a short sigh, and picked his keys from his bedside table. He pulled his shoes on and shoved his wallet and phone in his pocket, and he left the house.

.

He sat in Café Jour, at the same table as before, looking out the large pane of glass, waiting for Harvey.

He looked down at his watch: 4:07.

Almost 10 minutes late.

Maybe he should call?

Or text…?

No, he couldn't. That would seem too needy, too desperate.

But… then again, this, he reminded himself, was not a date, it was friends.

C'mon Harv! You're late.

He was about to press send, but he saw Harvey's gorgeous frame appear in the window, and heard the jingle of the bell as the large man opened the door.

"Edward," Harvey cooed as Edward stowed his phone, "I wasn't sure if you'd come." He said this with the same tone as he had the previous time they'd met, there was an odd ring of worry to it.

"I said I would," Edward replied, getting to his feet, Harvey smiling as he did.

Harvey shrugged, "Yeah, but…"

"Jon?"

"Yeah…"

Edward frowned as Harvey opened the door for him, "Jon's really not that bad, Harv… He can't stop me from going out."

Harvey shook his head, "Remember that time he moaned at you that he was stressed until you had sex with him? He made you late for a heist, that meant you lost almost $3000."

"I wanted to have sex," Edward said defensively.

Harvey shook his head, "sure you did, he's never got you to have sex when you didn't want to, you've never just laid back and taken it… I bet there have been times when you haven't even 'gone off'"

Edward blushed, and huffed slightly, "Harvey, I thought you said you weren't going to yell at me."

Harvey stopped, opening the door to his car for Edward, "I'm not yelling, I'm just pointing it out…"

Edward huffed gently, "…So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise…" Harvey growled gently, smiling widely, he got in the drivers seat and pulled the car out, stopping only 3 doors down.

Edward frowned slightly in confusion, having not had time to even put his seatbelt on, "W-We could have walked that…"

Harvey nodded, beginning to get out of the car, "Yeah, but the people here always take you a little more seriously if you have a car."

Edward giggled gently, waiting for Harvey to open his door, and holding out a hand for Harvey to take when he did, "All about image?"

The corner of Harvey's mouth lifted, and he shook his head, "Not really, just wanted to make you feel special." He took Edward's hand and gently lifted the man from his seat, smiling sweetly, he half-bowed as the smaller man stood, and slowly loosened his grip.

Edward giggled again, his face flushing; it sounded so stupid, getting in a car and driving a whole 10 steps just so Harvey could help him out of the car and make him feel 'special'.

Edward and Harvey walked into the restaurant, greeted by a gentle rumble of dinner conversation.

There were about 10 small round tables, each with two or three incredibly old looking chairs.

It looked cosy, almost romantic. Maybe Edward was wrong, maybe this was a date and he'd misjudged the mood.

Harvey smiled at the maître-d, "Hi, Gil, nice day?"

"Better for you presence, sir… your usual table?" the short, black haired, black suited man said sweetly, pulling himself from his plinth and beginning to walk the two men across the room, to a table in the corner, next to an artificially frosted window.

Edward took his seat, watching Harvey take his, "This place is lovely, Harvey. You come here often I suppose?"

Harvey nodded as he took a menu from Gil, and began to look it over, "Once a week or something."

"Bring many guys here…?" Edward asked with a smirk, taking a menu for himself.

Harvey chuckled and shook his head, "With this face? Almost never. I was surprised that you…"

Edward blushed, and squirmed slightly on his seat, "Yeah…" he forced his eyes to his menu, swallowing his smile, "Uh… I think I'm gunna have the uh…"

"Have the rigatoni, it's lovely," Harvey smiled, sounding slightly authoritative.

Edward nodded, "That's what you're having?"

Harvey gave a slight nod. He took Edward's menu and handed it, along with his own, back to Gil.

Gil nodded, "Usual?"

"Two, please," Harvey nodded, he turned his head back to Edward, smiling widely at the smaller man.

What did he see in Jon? Jon was nowhere near good enough for him.

Harvey and Edward had been friends for… almost half a year.

He'd noticed about 2 months ago, when they had started becoming closer, that whenever Edward talked of Jon he'd suddenly gain this odd tone of apprehension, and become a little jumpy. Then he'd started to notice he bruises, old and new, mostly on his arms and his neck.

It killed him to see someone so kind being treated so badly.

And the worst thing; Edward wouldn't admit it, and Harvey could do nothing but speculate. It made him so angry. Jon had that man wrapped around his little finger, had him 'eager' to deal with every whim or sexual fantasy that might pop into his straw-filled brain.

"I don't understand you Edward…" Harvey said quietly, observing the smaller man who sat smiling at him, "You say you love Jon, but you're out with me, even though we both know he won't like that you're here. And you won't tell him."

Edward's eyes dropped to the knife and fork on the table, "Well I… everyone's allowed to keep secrets…"

Harvey nodded in understanding, "…But you'll lie to him about it, or you already have done."

Edward frowned, his eyes still resting on the knife and fork, "Well… I really like you, and… I don't think he should have the power to stop us from meeting up."

Harvey's smile widened, and he felt his heart jump.

Even that was a massive step. When they had first begun talking Edward wouldn't even text him while Jon was at home, he adamantly refused to meet with him, other than for business.

Either Edward's view was gradually changing, or Harvey now meant enough to the ginger haired man that he was willing to go against Jon's wishes.

"I agree… and I really like you too,"

Edward jumped slightly as the waiter appeared at his side, and placed plates of food noisily in front of the pair.

The smaller man watched the waiter walk off, then returned his eyes to his friend, "…I think texts from you are probably…" He picked up his fork and prodded at his food, not intending to finish the sentence.

Harvey knew what he meant.

The large man smiled softly, "Yeah, I feel the same."

He watched Edward prod at his food, then nodded gently towards him, "Eat it." He took a mouthful of his own to encourage the smaller man.

Edward smiled and scooped his food up with his fork, shovelling it into his mouth.

He eyes widened as he chewed. "Oh my god," he said gently after he swallowed, "That's lovely."

Harvey nodded, trying to stop himself from laughing, "I know. It's my recipe."

"What?"

"It's my recipe…" Harvey said with a smile, "The sauce, at least, I think they may have changed some of the vegetables this time… I'll have to talk to someone about that."

"Oh don't, it's lovely, you're a fantastic cook," Edward said, seeming to plea slightly, as if he thought that when Harvey said 'talk to' he meant 'kill'.

Though Harvey knew, with Twoface, that was always a possibility.

"I didn't cook it, just came up with it, I doubt I could cook it this well."

Edward took in more of the food, making sure to scoop up as much of the pink sauce as he could from the plate. "Still, probably better than I could do."

"You're telling me you can't cook? Does Jon cook for you?"

Edward laughed, like that was the most hilarious thing he'd heard that day, "Oh god no! His idea of 'food' is microwaved slush… I like to cook, but… I'm kinda awful at it."

"You could learn?"

Edward shook his head, "Jon'd never let me, he'd say it was a waste of time and money."

"Even though it would benefit him at the end of it?" Harvey frowned; Jon seemed so short sighted.

Edward nodded, his eyes were darting between Harvey and his plate of food, he wasn't sure which looked more appetising.

"You look really nice," Edward eventually said, noticing that Harvey was eating a lot slower than he was, and thinking that talking might help him slow himself a little.

Harvey looked down at himself; he was wearing his usual half-coloured suit, and matching tie. He looked no different to how he normally looked.

Edward was wearing an olive green shirt that had a golden question mark sown into the pocket. His hair was damn near perfect and his green eyes seemed to shine from his glowing face.

"You look gorgeous."

Edward scoffed, his eyes flicking again between Harvey and his food, "Nah, I…"

"Yeah you do."

"I… I can look better than this, if I'd had more time I would have…" Edward seemed suddenly flustered; he wasn't used to that kind of compliment unless he'd really tried to look good.

Harvey chuckled, amused by Edward's sudden awkwardness, "You look perfect…" he cooed gently.

Edward felt himself blush and felt his head drop, "I don't, I really don't."

Harvey laughed again, reaching across the table to lift Edward's head, "Yes," he said, looking into Edward's green eyes, "You do."

Edward's blush deepened as Harvey's eyes dug into him, he tilted his head into Harvey's head a little. It felt like he was letting Harvey's eyes search his soul, he wasn't sure what the man was looking for, but…

Harvey sighed gently, and dropped his hand from Edward's face, leaning back in his chair to look at his food.

Edward's eyes also dropped to his plate, and he scooped some more into his mouth, Harvey followed, stabbing gently at the food and sliding it into his mouth.

"…This really is lovely, Harvey," Edward said gently, his voice like a song to Harvey's ears, making him smile and blush as if it were the first time he'd heard the compliment.

"Thanks," Harvey said softly, finishing the last bits of food on his plate, and waiting for Edward to finish his own. "Will you be wanting a desert or…?"

Edward stuttered slightly, "U-uh I-I… No, no thank you." He didn't want to say it, but he'd only brought enough money for one course of food, he couldn't risk taking too much or Jon would start asking questions.

"Are you sure? The chocolate-fudge cheesecake is almost as nice as the rigatoni," Harvey said, smiling widely.

Edward felt his heart drop, "Y-you came up for the recipe for that too didn't you…?"

Harvey nodded lightly, still smiling.

"I-I," Edward felt his voice crack a little, "I can't…"

Harvey frowned, tilting his head slightly.

"I… I didn't bring enough… uh," Edward said, playing nervously with the last morsels of food on his plate.

Harvey suddenly smiled, "Oh… Edward, it's fine, I'll pay for you, it's fine."

"No I… I can't have you pay for me, that's too much."

Harvey chuckled, "Edward, I was going to offer to pay anyway, we don't want Jon finding your receipt or something and flipping out."

Edward smiled, feeling the lump that had appeared in his throat start to ebb away, replaced with relief.

The small man nodded, "Ok then, if you insist."

Harvey smiled sweetly, and called Gil over, and told him to bring over two slices of cheesecake.

Edward smiled, feeling a little unsure of himself now, he wasn't exactly sure if he were comfortable with Harvey spending money on him; paying for someone's food was more something someone might do on a date…

This wasn't a date.

Harvey smiled as the cheesecake was brought over, "I think you'll like this, I know how much you like chocolate-fudge."

Edward smiled widely and nodded, looking at the slab of food. He picked up his fork and cut a sliver from the creamy-brown block.

It seemed to melt as it touched his tongue, becoming a chocolate liquid, running down his throat, making him let out a deep moan, "Oh, Harvey, this is so good."

Harvey tittered lightly, tucking into his own cake, trying to stop himself laughing too loud at the sweet noises the smaller man was making.

"How did you come up with this?" Edward asked, seeming almost excited as he ate; this food was better than any sex he had ever had.

Harvey shrugged, "I just thought it might be something you'd enjoy."

"You invented it for me?" Edward asked, feeling his breath escaped him in astonishment.

"Well I was going to just get them to make you one for your birthday, but you said I wasn't allowed to come over, so… now they sell it…" The last 4 words had a slight hint of sadness to them, and Edward felt a weight of guilt fall on him: It was supposed to be one grand masterpiece, especially for his birthday, and now it had been reduced to an everyday thing.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to see you, but Jon said he had this whole thing planned so…"

"What did you do?"

"We… ate tai food and watched '28 days later'…"

"But you hate tai food, and you hate zombie films."

Edward chuckled and nodded, "I know." Harvey had only known him for a few months and he seemed to have a better grasp on Edward's likes and dislikes than Jon did…

"But Jon likes it…?" Harvey said with a growl, Edward nodded in return. "If it were my boyfriend's birthday I'd purposely do everything that he liked that I didn't. Just to show how much I loved him," Harvey's voice was low and soft, making Edward's face feel warm and causing a soft weight in his stomach. He felt like he should do or say something but he wasn't sure what.

The smaller man jumped suddenly as he felt a hard buzz in his pocket: his phone was ringing. He jolted, looking at the caller ID.

"It's Jon," he said frantically.

Harvey nodded calmly, "Answer then, I'll be quiet."

He lifted the phone to his ear, "H-Hi, Jon, I'm in the middle of picking up that thing…"

"Edward… I had to come home early, I got attacked by some thug, I've really hurt my leg, I need you here…" Jon's voice plead down the phone, it sounded like he'd been crying.

Edward's smile dropped, "Oh my god!" Edward almost squealed, feeling guilt heavy on him; he should have been there when Jon got home, he should be there now!

"I'm coming home right now, I'm so sorry! I'll be home in 5 minutes," Edward got to his feet, leaving Harvey staring at him.

He began to walk to the door, tears starting to come into his eyes.

He felt something grab onto his arm, stopping him from moving. He turned and saw Harvey holding a hand to his arm, "Edward, what happened?"

The smaller man held his hand to his head, "Oh, god, Harvey, I'm sorry, it's Jon, he hurt his leg I've got to go."

Harvey held fast on Edward's arm, and swiftly moved his hand to Edward's face; there was such fear in the man's voice, it made his heart ache.

He pulled Edward's face to his, and let their lips touch and press together gently, and Edward kissed him back, opening his mouth slightly to hold Harvey's lower lip between his.

Harvey pulled back after a second, and they let out a tiny, simultaneous sigh. Harvey let his hand fall from Edward's chin, "Call me later, ok?"

"Ok," Edward said breathily, seeming so much calmer now, so much happier, "…Ok, Harvey… I…I will."

He aimed one last, tiny smile at Harvey, then turned on his heels and left.

It wasn't until he was half way home that he fully realised what had just happened.

I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review!