Claire crept into the house as quietly as she could, hoping she'd be able sneak in and possibly take Dan and Jones by surprise. When she'd left earlier that morning they'd been lounging around in their pajamas sharing a bowl of corn flakes and arguing the finer points of trip-hop as a musical genre and whether it was legitimate to claim jazz as one of it's influences. Dan had been chuckling and waving his spoon in Jones' face while he listed off the reasons why and trip-hop was the death of music and even worse than his rave rubbish but he'd been animated and engaged and Claire hadn't seen him so close to smiling in weeks.

Most of the time Claire didn't really understand how Dan could bear to be around Jones. As far as she could see he was one of the Idiots Dan seemed to hate so much, all loud music and stupid hair, but the two got along, and once they got on to the topic of music the rest of the world just ceased to exits, so mostly Claire left them to it. But now she felt the need to take a much closer look at her brother and his flat mate. Like, for instance, the fact that they liked to share a bowl of cereal in the morning. She'd thought it was just to save on the washing up but it suddenly seemed like a very 'couply' thing to do.

Jonatton Yeah? was a bit of a prat, but he was also more intelligent than most of the idiots Claire had to live and work with, and when she'd been beside herself over Dan jumping out the window Jonathan had been there, offering a shoulder for her to cry on. He'd visited them regularly, bringing meals and bags of grapes, and had even helped Claire find some other avenues for her documentary so she didn't have to rely on Nathan any more. He'd been genuinely decent and had been genuinely surprised when she'd set him straight about Dan.

When they'd met for coffee and Jonatton asked her how Jones was doing, whether he was coping with his boyfriend being "out of action", as he'd put it, Claire had actually laughed. But Jonathan had been in earnest and had seemed embarrassed when she'd corrected him. And that had got Claire thinking.

"But, I thought it was common knowledge," Jonatton'd whispered when Claire had laughed into her coffee.

"Dan and Jones?" she's sniggered. "Are you serious? Dan's not even gay, he used to have a girlfriend before she realised he was a lazy git and kicked him out, and I've never seen Jones with anyone, let alone a guy."

"Well," Jonatton raised his eyebrows at her. "People change. And did you ever wonder whether no one ever sees Jones going with people because he's already with Dan?"

His logic had made Claire feel a bit hysterical, which was silly. She didn't care if Dan was gay, not really, except that it would have been nice to have been told. But Dan and Jones? A couple? It seemed ridiculous.

"They barely even hang out."

"Really? Are you sure? I rarely see one without the other. Always standing so close. Practically holding hands... And Dan and I work together so I see him a lot. With Jones."

That made Claire blink and she desperately began thinking back to just how much time Dan and Jones really did spend together.

"Oh my god!"

"I'm just saying that you might want to see how Jones is coping with it and all," Jonatton had told her softly, holding her hand and rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. She never would have picked him as a sensitive and caring guy but she had to hand it to him, he had been there for them over the last two weeks and he probably knew Dan as well as anyone.

"It must be hard on him, especially if, well, I mean even you didn't know they were a couple. If Dan is having all these troubles, and Jones is left to pick up the pieces..."

Claire nodded.

"It makes sense, now that you say it."

It was Jonatton's turn to nod and he gestured to the waitress for more coffee as Claire thought more and more about the weird relationship between her brother and his housemate.

"Because there is that bedroom that they supposedly share. They don't spend much time in it but... And when they're drunk they tend to..."

"Tend to what, Claire?"

"They..." Claire blushed. How had she missed it? "Jones tends to crawl into Dan's lap and they, they just sort of hold each other. And... Oh my god..."

"What?"

"About a month ago, Jones had a hickey! How did I forget that? And when I commented on it, well, Dan looked... pleased."

Jonatton had been so understanding. He'd hugged her when they'd parted had told her to text him, call him, whatever she needed.

"Having a family member 'come out' is hard, even for progressive, young thing like yourself, and if Dan's still in denial or anything, yeah? All I'm saying is, call me if you need to talk to anyone. I have to split, work and all that, but I'm here for you, Claire. Call me if you need to talk about anything. Yeah?"

As she'd walked back to the House of Jones she still hadn't really believed it because surely she would have known if her brother were gay, she was an astute and intelligent sister and she would have noticed if her big brother fancied men. Wouldn't she? She'd only been in London for a few months but surely she would have seen the signs.

And that was how she wound up sneaking into her own home, tip toeing so as not to be heard even though a record was playing in the sitting room. When she'd left she'd told them that she would be gone all day so they had no reason to expect her back, which meant that she should have a good chance at catching them unaware, as long as she was quiet.

It did feel a little wrong, spying on Dan when his sexuality was his own business, but she only wanted to find out for herself, so that she could be more supportive, and let Dan know that she didn't mind, that he didn't need to sneak around and hide who he was. It wasn't like she was going to film it and publish it. She wasn't Nathan, she had morals.

Then again, she thought as she snuck down the hallway toward the second bedroom, maybe she should take a photo (if she found them up to something). Dan could be a moody, lazy, selfish dick and sometimes a little blackmail was the only thing that worked on him. If there was anything worth photographing that was. Which there probably wasn't. Jones was a weird, overly tactile young man and Dan was secretly very cuddly and liked the fact that Jones bought him food and never remembered to ask for rent. They were unlikely friends but surely no more than that.

The sudden moan that rippled through the quiet house caused Claire to stop and rethink her position. It was a low, guttural sound that just screamed sex. And it could have come from either Dan or Jones. The only way to find out was to take a look and, even though the sensible part of her brain was telling her (in their mother's no-nonsense voice) to just walk away because she didn't really need to see, a larger part of her brain insisted on getting a good look at who had moaned like that and why.

She took two more steps, trying to keep her breathing steady as the intensity and frequency of the moans increased, and carefully peeked through the doorway, phone at the ready. But even with the warning she'd had from Jonatton that morning, and the very obvious noises, Claire was not prepared.

Dan was on his back on the double bed, naked and spread out, his left leg at an awkward angle in it's plaster cast. And the moans were most definitely coming from him. Although Jones, from his position between Dan's thighs, was making his own share of happy, snuffly noises too. Dan was panting now, and babbling, and Claire found she couldn't move, and couldn't look away.

"Oh, Christ, Jones! Oh! Oh- I love... I love you. Oh, Christ! Gah!" Dan cried out as his attempt at hiding his face under his arm caused him to smack himself in the forehead with his plastered wrist.

Jones released Dan's cock with a slurp and began to mouth at his lover's balls, a sneaky laugh making Dan moan harder as it vibrated through him.

"You great idiot. I never get tired of you saying that, by the way. That you love me," he murmured before licking his way back up Dan's dick to the swollen head. " 'Specially when you're all desperate and beggin' for it."

"But not in front of other people?" Dan whimpered and the question jolted Claire enough that she finally thought to bring her phone up to her face and take a picture.

"Maybe we should," Jones said dreamily, still lapping lazily at Dan's dick as the larger man squirmed beneath him helplessly. "It's not such a big deal anymore. New century and all that. And I'm older. Five years ago they would've beat me to a pulp for bein' a fag-"

"They would've sent me to prison," Dan gasped. Jones laughed again, low in his throat.

"Nah. It was legal. Possibly a bit creepy, but definitely legal. But sure, we'll do it. You can declare your love. We'll be the big, bisexual saps and hold hands in public and all."

"Oh, God!" Dan cried and Claire couldn't tell whether it was because of what Jones had said or because the DJ had lowered his mouth back over Dan's painfully hard erection.

She snapped another photo and backed away from the door as carefully as she could. This was probably proof then. Dan and Jones were having sex. Dan and Jones were in a relationship. And in love. Claire grimaced and tried not to trip over the piles of cable and synth pedals by the front door.

Of all the revelations she'd just witnessed that was probably the strangest, and the least expected. Dan was a cynical prick, had been for almost thirty years, Claire knew this in her heart and soul. Dan Ashcroft didn't make himself vulnerable and confess his love. It didn't make sense. And she felt a little sick.

The cold air outside helped her feel a little less like she was going to vomit and she took in a few big gulps before fishing around in her handbag for a smoke. She needed to sort all of this out and figure out how to approach them both. She didn't want them hiding their relationship from her, she knew that. It was Jones' house for a start and they should be allowed to act like a couple if they wanted to, and it had sounded like Dan certainly wanted to.

But one thing Claire knew about herself was that she wasn't good at sorting things out on her own. She was a talker. She needed to talk her way through any issue to get it in order in her head and plan what she would do. But now that she and Barley were no longer on speaking terms she didn't have many people in London who she could really talk to. She couldn't call their parents, Dan needed to come out to them himself, so that really only left one person.

She typed in the contact name and waited anxiously for it to ring through.

"Hey, Jonatton?" she sighed when he picked up. "Turns out you were right. Want to meet me somewhere for dinner?"

And at the other end of the phone line Jonatton Yeah? grinned. The story had already gone to press but he was sure he could squeeze in whatever Claire unwittingly handed him.