He managed to bring John up to his room without anyone questioning anything, a warm hand clasped in his larger one as he pulled him up the stairs, squeezing past beefy man hollering songs and chattering women.

When he looked back, John was laughing delightedly at the merriment downstairs, gunmetal blue eyes roaming over everyone before turning to him as they stopped at the door to his room.

The blond struck him as someone who found joy in everybody else's, and so far it was rather appealing to him.

He pulled him into his room, shutting the door behind them.

"It is a loud party."

"Yup…"

John's kind blue eyes found him, "How do you do that?"

"What?" an eyebrow rose as he sat down at the edge of his bed, slightly self-conscious of his messy room – not that it was very messy.

John didn't seem to mind.

"When you say yup," John said, his bed creaking as he sat next to him, "It just rolls off your tongue."

"You like it when I say yup?" he smiled amusedly, hands clasped together in front of him.

John may or may not have turned the palest shade of pink, a colour that looked surprisingly endearing on him, now that he could see it a little better, his room lights better than the ones at the pub, "Yup." The blond drawled, possibly in an imitation of him.

"Is that supposed to be me?"

"That's how you say it, isn't it?"

"No it's not!"

John giggled, looking even younger when he did, crinkles at the end of his laughing blue eyes, and he was suddenly very, very aware that he was flirting with a boy, a boy who was flirting back, just after his fiasco with Laura.

It was fun. Despite feeling out of his depth, a bit in foreign territory, he liked speaking to John like this, just like this, like talking to a friend but more… more.

John cleared his throat, smile softening, "I don't usually do this." He said, shrugging slightly as if suddenly unsure with himself. He supposed he wasn't the only one nervous.

"Do…?" he tilted his head.

"First date. Your house."

"Would you have preferred your house?"

John reared up, a hand against his chest in an affronted fashion, "You cheeky little-"

He laughed, "I'm taller than you, you know."

"I'm growing!"

He and John spent the rest of the night getting to know each other; he learned about the sister, he learned that John's mother ran out on them when he was a child, and that was why he had to work despite being younger than him by 2 years. He told John about the situation in his own household, and in a way, it was just like talking to a mate.

At 2 15, John decided he couldn't possibly stay up any longer.

He immediately felt guilty for keeping the blond up, especially after the tiring day of work John clearly just had, "It's like that every day, really." John told him, rubbing tiredly at his eyes. "No big deal."

"Bed?" he offered tentatively, heart jumping to his throat.

John grinned at him, "Was going to anyway." He teased, leaning over to peck him on the cheek lightly before burrowing his way into the covers.

"You were just taking advantage of me the entire time?" he pouted, shrugging his shoes off and slipping into bed with the dirty blond, flicking his table lamp off.

John made a sleepy noise at the back of his throat that should not have been so endearing, curling up against him.

He hesitated before he said it, wondering if there was any kind of cue he had missed, "Goodnight, John." He said softly.

He felt John smile against his collarbone, pressing his lips against it affectionately.

This wasn't so bad after all, he thought to himself as he drifted off, arms curled loosely around the smaller body next to him.

First dates don't usually end like this, but back then - year 2000 - people weren't so paranoid and were more friendly to neighbours or people on the streets.