They had been lying there in bed for hours. Aidan was wrapped solidly around Josh, decreasing the excess heat of the sickness. Josh had fallen asleep quickly after the embrace began, but Aidan tried his hardest to stay awake so he could savor the intimacy.

Aidan had not been intimate with anyone in quite some time. Sure, he had had sex, but it wasn't real intimacy. Of course, he wasn't entirely sure this was real intimacy, either. But it felt like it was, and that was enough. For now.

Eventually, Aidan drifted off; he was far too comfortable to stay awake.

A hard thumping sound echoed through the house. Aidan woke slowly and the sound came again, louder this time. Fearing it may wake Josh, Aidan slowly moved from his resting place and left his room.

The sound was coming from the front door. Someone was there. But they weren't expecting anyone and since the invention of the cell phone, who stops by someone's house anymore?

Aidan answered the door, and to his surprise, Jesse was standing on the doorstep. Holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Hi... Jesse?" Aidan was still somewhat asleep and he was unbelievably confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, nothing. Is Josh home?" Jesse was acting strangely hyper and he was trying to look around Aidan into the house.

"Yeah," Jesse's focus snapped to Aidan, "but he's upstairs asleep." The little man's mouth opened, but Aidan spoke over him, "And he's not feeling well. What did you need?"

"Oh... I just wanted to say... Nevermind. I'll come back later."

Aidan looked down at the flowers and saw a note hanging off of them. "What's this?" he asked as he reached out to grab the piece of paper.

Jesse tried to turn away, but Aidan was too quick and he had the small man and the note firmly in his grasp in under a second. "It's nothing, just a... uh... 'Get Well Soon' card."

It wasn't. It was an invitation. Aidan read it aloud: "'Wanna see a movie?' " Aidan stopped and laughed to himself for a moment. "Seriously? You're asking him to go to a movie with a bouquet of flowers?"

Aidan had complete control of the situation and he was actually being quite frightening. His grip on the small man was tightening and Jesse felt a strong need to flee. "Yeah... I'm just going to go." Aidan loosened his grip on the man's arm, but he still held the flowers. "Okay, so..." Jesse let go of the bouquet and stepped back, "You just want to make sure he gets those?" Aidan was silent. "Cool. Yep. See you later." Jesse backed down the steps and walked away as fast as he could without running.

Aidan stood there for a moment, bewildered. A guy was trying to ask Josh out. On a date. A real date. Like, dinner and a movie, date.

"So..." Aidan had completely forgotten about Sally. "That was awkward, right?"

Aidan turned around. "Yeah... I'm just going to get rid of these."

"Whoa, whoa. Hold your horses there, cowboy. You have to at least show them to Josh."

"Why? You don't think he'd actually be interested. Do you?" Aidan was in a tight spot. There was no way he was going to openly admit to Sally that he was beginning to maybe have feelings for Josh, but he also knew she was going to make him give a reason before he got rid of the evidence of Jesse's advances.

"That doesn't really matter, does it? It'll either be something he's interested in or it will give him an ego boost. Either way, it's a win."

"Not necessarily..." Aidan had to think on his feet now, which was not easy considering he had just had some of the best sleep he'd had in a while and he was still slightly dazed from the new, crazy situation. "What if this makes him think that girls don't go after him because he gives off a gay vibe? He'll turn all macho and we both know that when his time of the month rolls around he could rip someone to shreds."

"Aidan," Sally looked at him condescendingly. "You know that is so not likely. I don't see why you have such a problem with this. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Aidan could see she was getting close to what might be the truth.

"Unless. You like Josh!"

"Would you keep it down?"

"Oops," Sally lowered her voice to a loud whisper. "This is so exciting! And gross... but exciting!"

"Chill out, Sally. It's not like anything is going to happen." Even Aidan could hear the disappointment in his voice as he said it.

"You don't know that."

"Sally... Can we just forget about it? Please?" Aidan looked directly into her eyes and saw that she would let it go. For now.

Aidan walked to the kitchen and opened the trash can to dump the flowers. "Wait," Sally called before he dropped them into the bin. "At least keep the flowers." She pointed at a vase on the counter that Josh used as a centerpiece often.

"Fine," Aidan grumbled, not wanting to have any token of the other man present. He ripped the note off the bouquet and tore it to pieces before sprinkling it in the garbage.

"Little melodramatic, don't you think?" Sally criticized.

"You're one to talk." Aidan was clearly not in the greatest mood right now, so Sally decided to let it slide. Besides, it was a little true.

Aidan put the flowers in the vase and filled it with water before heading back upstairs. Rounding the corner to his room, his mood was drastically lifted. Josh had woken up slightly due to his roommate's absence. Groggily, he asked, "Where'd you go?"

"There was a solicitor at the door." Aidan crawled back to the other side of the bed and lay down. "Go back to sleep."

Josh grabbed Aidan's hands and pulled them back around him. "Okay. Good night." Josh drifted out of consciousness swiftly, but Aidan's mind was still swimming with what-ifs.

What if he asks Josh out and he freaks out? It could ruin their friendship. It could ruin what they have together. Is that really worth the risk? He can't stay clean without Josh anymore. He can't live without Josh anymore.

But, what if he asks Josh out and he accepts? Sure, they'd be happy, for a while. But, couples always end up fighting; and, with the crazy things that go on in their lives, it's bound to break them up. If they break up, it could ruin their friendship. And Aidan can't live without Josh.

What if he says nothing? Aidan sees the possibility now. He doesn't know if he can maintain the friendship he had before when he knows that he wants more. And if he can't keep this friendship going, he doesn't know if he'll survive.

Josh tugged on Aidan's arm unconsciously, ending the deep - and more than a little depressing - thoughts. Aidan realized that he might as well just enjoy this while it lasted. Josh felt good in his arms and everything was good between them. That was enough. For now.