Hello, my friends, I am here! Yes, this one-shot has become a two-shot! (The last episode left me with far too many feels to ignore!)

I don't know how many chapters we'll end up with here, but I will tell you that at least the next couple of chapters are going to stick pretty close to the series canon with more in-depth interpretations of the scenes from Kieren and Simon's POV, however I reserve the right to go AU/UA with the ending if the next two episodes bring too much heartbreak for me to survive. Basically this fic has to have the end result of a happy Kieren, happy Amy, and if possible a happy Simon so if we don't get that in the finale I swear on my Buffy DVD collection that I will write my way around it! You're welcome xD

Those of you who go back to read the first chapter may notice two blocks of song lyrics that weren't present before. This is because I've been listening to Gabrielle Aplin recently and crying because, in my humble opinion, her songs fit Siren perfectly (particularly within the context of this fic), so from now on I will be bookending each chapter with lyrics from a certain song of hers that I think is in-keeping with the theme of the chapter, so if you can't be bothered with lyric fics just skim over the first and last blocks of italic :) You should definitely listen to her, though. I have a vague idea of where this fic's going and I'm about 90% sure I've got a song for every chapter, that's how perfectly it fits!

So yeah, enjoy! This chapter covers the first half of S2 E4- we'll get to awkward boyfriend Simon and Kieren's captivating speech next time!

DISCLAIMER: In The Flesh and all it's characters belong to Dominic Mitchell and BBC3. Song lyrics belong to the lovely Gabrielle Aplin.

Chapter Two

"I've always asked for nothing but you've found it hard to see

So I gathered all I had and laid it down before your feet

I gathered all I had

So how do you feel today?

How do you feel today?

'Cause tonight I'm closing all the doors

So stay outside or lay down with our flaws

How do you feel today?"

-'How Do You Feel Today?', Gabrielle Aplin

Kieren strode through the streets as briskly as his stiff limbs could take him- his muscles had never been quite the same since he'd crawled from his coffin. As he traipsed ever closer to the familiar bungalow, he considered exactly how he would confront his best friend and his kind-of sort-of secret boyfriend when he got there.

Complaining was the first thing that came to mind. Complain about Simon's blatant disregard for the authorities that would happily make the unlife of himself and his new gang of au naturale lackeys a living hell- well, more of a living hell than it was now. Complain about the radical attitude that was going to bring them nothing but trouble. Complain about his reluctance to make things clear with Amy earlier so they wouldn't have to sneak around, because frankly Kieren had done enough sneaking around with Rick to last both of his lifetimes.

Oh, there was the guilt again. A familiar two-pronged attack of Amy-guilt and Rick-guilt. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take- as fatally proven not four years ago, Kieren couldn't handle a guilty conscience.

Decision time, he told himself silently as the bungalow came into view. He paused at the end of the street, catching his redundant breath as he considered his options.

Option A: Keep seeing Simon and tell Amy about it. At least you're being honest about your dishonesty (if that even makes any sense).

Option B: Stop this thing before it goes any further. It was only a couple of kisses, if you call it quits now before it can get more serious you might not even need to tell Amy.

Kieren cringed as he realised that he didn't much like the idea of options A or B. It was pretty easy to tell what he should do. The noblest course of action would be to tell Amy, beg her forgiveness, and call it quits with Simon before anyone got any more hurt. The problem with that plan was the very likely chance of losing them both. Better to lose one friend than two, surely?

"Coward…" he muttered as he approached the door.

Amy's your best friend. Simon's a strange man with unknown motives who you barely know. It's pretty obvious what you should do.

Kieren nervously fixed his hair on the doorstep, his logical mind bellowing the sensible 'break it off and save a friendship' option at him. He wished he could listen to it.

Unfortunately, for reasons he couldn't even begin to fathom right now, he really did not want to give Simon up.

Then tell her.

He took a deep breath, a pointless but calming motion, and pressed the doorbell. He waited expectantly, hoping Simon would answer- if possible he'd like to talk to him first. His stomach did little somersaults at the thought of seeing him again, his lips tingling with the memory of their fevered kisses in the rain. He could go for one of those right about now. Jesus, Walker, control yourself.

A few tense seconds later, the door swung open and he was greeted by the beaming face of Amy Dyer.

"Look at you, all done-up and adorable!" she exclaimed fondly, enveloping him in a warm (figuratively speaking) hug, pressing her chin against his newly fixed hair affectionately.

"Oh. Hi, Amy," he said, his resolve draining the second he saw her cheerful grin meant just for him. He floundered hopelessly for a way to tell her that her kind-of sort-of betrothed had cheated on her with her BDFF that wouldn't hurt her feelings or make her feel betrayed.

…Nope, drawing a blank. I'm a terrible person.

She nodded at him to come in and he brushed past quickly, avoiding eye contact as much as possible as she closed the door behind him. He was about to ask her where Simon was when he heard a vaguely familiar voice coming from the living room.

"That's what happened the night that I rose," a man's voice said quietly, and Kieren rounded the corner to find a small congregation clustered around Simon's reclining figure. Kieren leaned against the doorframe and surveyed the scene as the man on Simon's right concluded his story. "That's everything. That's all I remember."

"Oh, yeah," Amy whispered, leaning her chin on Kieren's shoulder snugly. "You're late for church."

"Thank you, Brian," Simon's smooth voice broke the quiet, his eyes studying the fair-haired man knowingly. "It's a great feeling, isn't it?" he widened his gaze to the rest of the gathering, his eyes lingering on Kieren a second before once again addressing his constituents. "You know why?"

Their eyes never left his face as he answered his own question, his carefully chosen words captivating his audience effortlessly. "Because the living have tried to control us with shame."

Kieren watched the disciple, carefully masking his disappointment and wearily resigning himself to another dose of creepily religious, anti-human propaganda. He really wished Simon would just give it a rest. Just for a day or two. He kept his fingers mentally crossed that the disciple might at least drop the act when they were alone.

Alone. His stomach fluttered again. He squashed down the lustful feelings by concentrating on Simon's words and their meaning, carefully ignoring the inherent sexiness of the voice itself.

"Telling our rising stories…" Simon continued, and Kieren was too caught up in listening to his worryingly alluring sermon to pay much mind as Amy slipped away from his side. "Is where we start to say no. If we are serious about becoming free," he raised his hand and brought his finger down firmly on the arm of his chair, pinning each member of the congregation with his piercing gaze as his coercive voice held them in place. "The first shackle we have to throw off…"

His eyes remained turned to the risen at his feet, but Kieren felt his last words hit him like a punch in the gut.

"Is shame."

Kieren stared at the dark-haired man accusingly as his captive audience burst into enthusiastic cheers and cries. He felt like the words were aimed at him- whether they were referring to Kieren's refusal to shed the cover-up or his insistence that they tread carefully around Amy he wasn't sure, but knowing Simon it was probably both. It was a definite dig, and he knew it. Simon met his gaze for a second, but offered no further response as he returned his attention to the excitable flock.

"No Rising story should be left untold," he stated firmly. He smiled persuasively at his adoring crowd one last time before standing up, thanking Brian once more as he picked his way across the packed living room to the doorway and Kieren's disapproving face. He smiled charmingly, apparently choosing to disregard the daggers in the younger man's eyes. "You made it," he said quietly, nodding back at the chattering group. "Welcome."

Kieren stared at him incredulously. He couldn't understand him. This strange, charismatic, confusing man who looked at him like he was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen one minute and then publicly call him out on his naivety the next. Who, even after all they been through, still insisted on perpetuating this ridiculous cult-leader stereotype that Kieren so despised. Kieren's brow furrowed and he replied to the disciple's efforts to suck him into the anti-human group fun with one word.

"Seriously?"

He turned on his heel and strode towards the kitchen, expecting Simon to follow him.

He wasn't disappointed.

"Jesus, Simon," Kieren said grouchily as they emerged into the kitchen. Simon watched his every move, drinking him in. Kieren continued to pace, unaware of the dark haired man's quiet admiration. "To think I thought you might cut back on the preacher bullshit with me now we've-" he gulped as nerves and guilt caught up to him again. He ceased his pacing and sighed, leaning back against the stove. "Nevermind. By the way, they're making a list of non-compliants," he said, changing the subject and sliding his hands into his pockets. "So not showing up to Give Back probably isn't the great idea you think it is."

Simon rolled his eyes. The boy's sarcasm was something he was getting used to. His constant conformity to the rules and barriers laid down on him by those who despised him was something he desperately wished he wasn't getting used to. It saddened him to see any Redeemed, let alone a young, intelligent, vibrant person like Kieren Walker crushed by the system and conditioned to the point where they don't realise how little control they really have over their own lives. He was a victim of insidious government-sanctioned oppression, they all were. And the idea of Kieren as a victim of anything or anyone filled Simon with more anger than he'd felt in a long time. He was trying to pinpoint the exact moment he'd developed this protective attitude to the blond-haired youth when something Kieren was saying caught his attention.

"My followers?" he asked, eyeing the young man appraisingly.

Kieren shifted his position slightly, glancing towards the (ironically named) 'living' room where they'd left the rest of Simon's herd. "All these brainwashed people everywhere."

Brainwashed?! Simon raised his head and set his jaw firmly. "Why?" he asked, taking a step closer. "Because they have something to believe in?" he raised his hand and rested it gently but confidently on the side of Kieren's neck, ignoring the enticing way he squirmed under his hand and the little smile that crossed the boy's face momentarily in order to speak his mind.

"To me, Kieren," he said calmly, meeting the younger man's gaze resolutely, torn between loving and hating the sweet naivety reflected in his gaze. "You're the one that's brainwashed, just over a longer period."

Kieren's obliging smile turned to one of amused cynicism and he shrugged away from Simon's hand. "Yeah, don't do that," he said, shaking the offending appendage away from his neck and causing it to drop back to the older man's side.

Simon looked at him with wide eyes, mildly surprised. "What am I doing?"

"Whatever conversion technique you're trying," Kieren said accusingly, the last of the sweetness gone from his face as he confronted the disciple angrily. "I'm just, I'm not up for it!"

Simon shook his head, his lips tilting into an amused smile. "I'm not doing anything to you."

The blond man shook his head vehemently, his face a mask of flustered exasperation. "You know what's so annoying?" he burst out, apparently forgetting about carefully choosing his words and handing control to the long-suppressed angry eighteen year-old within. He kept blinking, shaking his head and turning his head from Simon's face to his chest and back to his face again as he rambled. "Is that you could be great… if you could just be a normal person for two seconds!"

He shrugged away from the stove and brushed past Simon's shoulder on the way to the door. Simon felt a sense of panic overwhelm him for a second. He couldn't let him leave. Not like this, not in the middle of a fight. Who knew when he'd see him again if he left now? He whipped round to see Kieren almost at the door, his voice barking across the room after him.

"What do normal people do?" he asked, feeling the knot of tension dissolve slightly as his words caused Kieren to halt in his tracks, his hand on the door handle, his face bathed in the sunlight from the window. Simon shrugged in frustration. "I'm serious!" he said pleadingly.

He saw Kieren sigh heavily and Simon lowered his voice, looking away from the strikingly youthful face by the window as he considered his words. "I'm serious," he said again, turning his eyes towards the floor as the truth of what he was about to say made his dead heart ache. "Tell me what you want," he said, turning back to find Kieren facing him once again, dark-lensed eyes shining in the sun. "I'll do anything I can to give it to you," Simon said, his face melting into a smile as he felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

He slowly began to step forward, his eyes meeting Kieren's and trying desperately with just a look to tell the incredulous man that he was speaking the truth. "Because there's what I believe…" he said, staring intently at the handsome, open young face he'd been so drawn to from the moment he'd seen it across the graveyard on that first day, and he laughed softly at himself, a genuine smile breaking across his face momentarily. His expression turned soft and he tried to convey as much honesty as he could through his dead eyes, his putrefied heart melting at the look Kieren was giving him.

"…and then there's you," he finished, holding Kieren's gaze resolutely, telling him he meant every word and praying the confused young man would believe him.

"Okay?" Simon said quietly, almost to himself, taking a moment to reconcile himself with the gaping hole he'd just opened in his usually impenetrable defences. He looked back at Kieren's face, hoping to see any kind of sign that his moment of weakness wasn't going to be thrown back in his face, and found himslef captivated by the way he could practically see Kieren's mind working behind his wide, appraising eyes. "Okay," he muttered again, tentatively hopeful, his head leaning slightly in. Blank, impassive, Kieren watched his face, his eyes flickering down to his lips and back to his eyes. Taking the hint, Simon began to close the distance.

Suddenly Kieren's eyes shot to the side, and Simon straightened his back and let the blond man brush past him as the sound of footsteps down the hall alerted them to another presence. They broke apart just as Amy appeared in the doorway, keeping their eyes resolutely turned away from each other.

"No."

Kieren started guiltily, and Simon tried not to feel hurt by the honest regret he saw in his eyes as he turned to Amy.

"You two are not allowed to argue!" she said firmly, and Simon saw the blond man visibly relax as Amy continued speaking, beaming cheerfully at them. "You're going to feel so silly about this when the three of us are best friends!"

Simon watched her with his arms crossed, carefully observing the pain in Kieren's eyes as he listened to Amy's cheerful rambling.

"You're going to say, 'Oh, we should have listened to Amy! Amy, the beautiful genius!'" she finished, smiling sweetly at them both for a moment before advancing towards the fridge with a full bottle of homemade neurotriptyline in hand.

"You filled that half an hour ago," Simon pointed out, smiling affectionately at the woman's characteristic absentmindedness. He could've sworn she got a daffier every day.

She looked quizzically at him, glancing at the jar in her hand. "Did I?" she asked, her face concerned.

"Yeah," he said, too distracted to by the sad look on Kieren's face to notice the flash of worry on hers.

"I'll just have to put it back out again," she said, gesturing to the door and masking her lapse with a sunny smile. "What am I like?"

She chuckled and turned to leave, the two men smiling after her as she disappeared from view. Kieren took a few steps towards the door she'd just passed through, leaning against the frame with his head poking out as her footsteps disappeared, his face heavy with guilt.

Guilt looked all wrong on his face. Too rough, too old. Simon felt the surge of protectiveness again, white hot determination demanding he do something about it.

"Where were we?" he said quietly, advancing on Kieren and taking hold of his arm, spinning him round to press his back against the wall. He was about to swoop in for the kiss when Kieren's voice brought him to a halt.

"Hang on," he said, giving Simon a look like he'd gone completely insane. "She's right out there!" he said urgently, nodding in the direction Amy had wondered off in.

Simon blinked, shaking his head as he tried to come to a decision, logic warring with the urge to lean down the last few inches and kiss every last fear and doubt away from Kieren's flustered face. "I…" he stammered, searching through the haze for the right words. "I… Well, then she'll know."

He started to lean in again when Kieran shook his head, not meeting Simon's eyes. "Look, if this is something we're doing," he whispered, glancing up meaningfully at Simon's longing face. "I don't want her to find out like that… I want to tell her."

Simon nodded, biting back his disappointment in an effort to be supportive. That's what you did, wasn't it? Support the people you cared about. He could admit now that he was woefully inexperienced when it came to cultivating any sort of healthy relationship with another person- he'd spent his whole life up to his death avoiding them, after all. "Yeah. Yeah, fine," he said leaning back but keeping Kieren up against the wall. "Just tell her soon, will you?"

Kieren gulped and nodded, once again turning his eyes to the floor. It took all of Simon's willpower not to pounce on him right then and there. "I have to go," Kieren murmured, fidgeting against the wall and Simon's close proximity. "Got to be back by three. 'Family time'."

Simon clenched his jaw and nodded, swallowing back his resentment. He took his hand from the wall beside Kieren's shoulder and made to move away when Kieren's voice spoke up quietly. "You want to come?"

Simon looked back at his face, widening his eyes. "Me?"

Kieren nodded shyly, his hand moving to the back of his neck and rubbing at his hairline nervously. "Yeah. It's not much, just, you know, lunch. So we'd just be sitting there watching the rest of them eat, but… well you can come if you want."

Simon gaped at him for a moment. The enormity of the younger man inviting him to a private occasion with his very human family wasn't lost on him. He stared down at Kieren's face, noticing that he had his eyes turned down to the floor again. Obviously he was waiting for Simon to refuse the offer on the grounds that accepting the invitation would involve him spending an afternoon making polite dinner conversation with humans he didn't even know. It was a reasonable assumption on his part.

"Is that what normal people do?" he asked quietly, taking Kieren by surprise. "Go to lunch with the in-laws?"

If Kieren still had a blood flow, he would have blushed. "We're not married!"

Simon chuckled, tucking a finger beneath Kieren's chin and lifting it so they were once again eye to eye. "Well, is it?"

Kieren shrugged noncommittally. "It could be."

"Well, then," Simon said, pushing away from the wall and smiling at the stunned boy. "I'll do it."

Kieren blinked. "Wait, really?"

"Yeah," Simon said, shrugging nonchalantly to mask his panic. Shit shit shit I'm meeting his parents shit. "Like I said," he added with a small smile. "I'll do whatever it takes."

Kieren was pacing the hallway, considering possible reasons for Simon's sudden change in attitude when he heard loud clattering behind the closed door of the disciple-turned-sort-of-boyfriend's bedroom. "You okay?" he called, frowning as he wondered what he could possibly be doing behind there. He'd only gone to change his clothes and that had been ten minutes ago. Kieren desperately hoped he wasn't packing weapons or crucifixes or whatever other possibly dangerous paraphernalia he'd like to have with him in a house full of humans. He was considering the amount of dangerous equipment Simon could hide under one of his enormous jumpers when his voice called out from behind the door, frustration evident in his tone.

"Just give me a second," he called, quickly followed by another clatter and a few muttered curses.

Kieren leaned back against the doorframe, weighing up the pros and cons of dragging a grumpy undead boyfriend to a family dinner. "We don't have to do this," he called, somewhat resentful of the fact that this seemed to be nothing but a chore for the older man. "We can forget all about it."

"No," Simon said firmly from behind the door, amidst more profanity. "You said you wanted me to see your world, so…"

"I'm not holding you to anything," Kieren said bitterly. Would a little pretend enthusiasm be too much to ask?

"I said I'd do it, I'll do it," Simon snapped irritably, making Kieren wince. Obviously the other man realised how tetchy he was starting to sound so he softened his tone. "It's part of the… getting to know you," his unexpectedly gentle words were punctuated by a grumbled "Jesus Christ", and he was right back to being cranky Simon again. "Is anyone around?" he called out.

Confused, Kieren did a circuit of the hallway and poked his head out the front door. Satisfied that Amy and the rest of Simon's groupies were nowhere to be seen, he called out a negative and held the door open, ready to leave.

"There'd better not be."

He turned round and his eyes widened as Simon emerged. Kieren smiled, a mixture of surprise, pride and smugness assaulting the older man as he slouched towards the front door. Simon glanced at him with dark-lensed eyes and scowled as he brushed past. "Yeah, yeah. Start walking," he said grumpily, leaving a beaming Kieren to close the door behind them.

They walked briskly, side by side, Kieren glancing at Simon's moussed-up face and smiling despite how awful it looked on him. It was too dark for him, highlighting all the creases in his skin and making him look at least several years older. It didn't help that he'd clearly never applied cover-up in his life and it was all patchy and too thick in places, but Kieren couldn't stop grinning at the gesture. He must mean something to the man if he was willing to go against his core beliefs and hide the undead nature he carried like a badge of honour.

Simon caught him looking and stopped his furtive glancing around to offer him a sardonic smile. "How do I look?" he asked dryly.

"So bad," Kieren answered honestly, but the smile never left his face.

"Yeah," Simon agreed, stopping short as Kieren overtook him and turned to face him, halting them in the middle of the street.

"Thank you," Kieren said earnestly, looking back into too-dark eyes and trying to express with just his face how much the gesture really meant to him.

Simon shrugged and smiled. "It's okay," he said, meeting the younger man's gaze steadily.

For a moment, Kieren felt hopeful. The way the dark haired man looked at him reassured him that maybe they really had something, something worth the hell he would no doubt get when Amy and Jem and pretty much everyone found out- somehow he didn't imagine the news of their relationship going down too well with many people. But for a second, the way Simon looked back at him with something close to adoration made him feel like everything would be okay, one way or another. Glowing with pride and gratitude for the man before him, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the surprised man's lips and closed his eyes, losing himself for a moment before they marched head first into cold, harsh reality. At least this time they wouldn't be marching alone.

For a few more seconds he just kept his eyes closed and drank Simon in, the comforting way his lips moved against his own and the strangely soothing coolness of his hand against his cheek, before breaking away and turning to walk the well-trodden path to his house, listening with satisfaction as he heard Simon's footsteps close behind.

He was too caught up in the glow to notice Amy's confused and wounded face at the end of the street where he and Simon had kissed for that second time in the rain, watching as the two men she loved most in the world turned their backs on her and strolled away, leaving her behind without a backwards glance.

"I offered you my hands and I've given you my hope

So let me be your salvation, I refuse to be your rope"

AMY, NOOOOOOOOO! PAY ATTENTION TO HER, YOU FUCKS, SHE MIGHT BE GOING RABID! D:

So far that's the thing that's upsetting me most about this season's story line- everyone's so wrapped up in their own lives and problems that no one's even spared a thought for my Amy! At least she has Philip now, I guess (I still think he's kind of creepy but I'm willing to give him a chance on the grounds that he finally stood up to Maxine and everyone last episode. His character's beginning to develop, so as long as he doesn't hurt Amy I've decided to give him the benefit of the doubt!) But yeah, I understand that Kieren's got a lot of shit in his own life right now but he hasn't even noticed that Amy's sick and that pisses me off :(

So yeah, next time we have dinner with the in-laws! Hope to see you there :D Feel free to send me reviews and/or PMs if you wanna chat, I'll do my best to reply to you!

Later, Fleshers!