The harsh light of day brought some much needed perspective with it. Heath shouldn't be letting a bloke kiss him! Hell, Murphy was turning him soft. And this morning it also occurred to Heath that if a loser like Murphy had figured out what he was doing then maybe others would to. He wanted to know exactly what Murphy had seen and to make sure Murphy wouldn't say anything. Or so he told himself as he headed over to Murphy's place, but it was getting harder and harder to believe his own bullshit, the evidence was piling up against it.

xxx

Liam was faced with one of those awkward moments in life when you suggest something when you're half cut and then in the sober light of day you don't know whether to pursue it or not. Was it an in-the-moment, throw-away agreement to appease someone under the influence? Or did they mean it; was it a moment when barriers were down and people said what they really truly meant? Liam turned the Tombstone DVD over in his hands, would it just be too weird to follow through on watching this with Heath? There was a knock at the door, Liam set the DVD down and answered it. As though conjured by thought, Heath stood there. Heath's words from last night ran through Liam's head, I promise we'll talk about this in the morning. At the time Liam had believed him, he'd been high, but when he woke up this morning he knew Heath wouldn't keep his promise, except, here Heath was.

"Can I come in?" Heath asked with a hint of a smile.

"Um, yeah, sure," Liam said quickly, realising he'd been standing there like an idiot.

xxx

Heath followed Murphy inside and suddenly he felt claustrophobic.

"Wanna go for a walk?"

"Ok," Murphy agreed. They walked in silence for a while and Heath was strangely comfortable with it, it was enough to know that Murphy was alright. But how long would he stay that way if he kept using? Heath was going out on a limb here, he hated this touchy-feely crap but this seemed important.

"Why'd you do it Murphy? Why start using again?"

"I, ah- it's not important," was Murphy's, no, Liam's response.

"I don't believe that, you can tell me Liam," Heath said, testing the other man's name in his mouth as well as his mind. It was a strange feeling, it felt almost as intimate as what they shared last night. Heath kind of liked it.

"I'd rather not say," Liam answered, hostility creeping into his voice.

"C'mon," Heath prompted, his temper starting to rise.

"No," Murphy said with finality, shutting down Heath's attempt to help him. Right then, two could play at that game. If Murphy wanted be an asshole about it, Heath could be one too.

"I knew there was a reason I didn't like you, you're a wanker. Don't say I didn't try." Ha, that shut Murphy up, he didn't have a comeback for that one. Heath turned and walked off. He was angry at Murphy for making an idiot of him, and angry at himself for being no good at this 'feelings' stuff. Well Heath had learned his lesson, this was the last time he would try this 'talking about his feelings' crap. From now on, Murphy was on his own.

xxx

Well. Liam probably couldn't have fucked that up better if he'd tried. But what was he supposed to say? 'I couldn't handle that I jerked off over you?' Maybe he should've, Heath's face would've been priceless. Oh God, what a mess. And it was a mess that shouldn't be messy. Gahh, did that even make sense? The obvious solution to this...problem...situation...whatever...would be to avoid Heath. And if he did run into him, just to be polite and move on. But Liam couldn't do that, didn't want to do that. There was no denying the attraction he felt to Heath, whatever its cause. No one made Liam feel like Heath did. No one else had ever made him feel so alive. Love...hate...its all passion, Heath's drunken words were so true, and it was passion like Liam had never known. But it was more than that. Last night Heath had come after him when he could've just let him walk away, and Heath had let Liam kiss him, and Heath had come over here this morning like he'd promised and asked Liam why. He'd asked why because he cared, Liam realised. Heath Braxton cared about him. And then Liam was struck by a memory of his name, his first name, on Heath's lips. It hadn't registered at the time, Liam had been so occupied with Heath not finding out the reason for him falling off the wagon. And Liam kicked himself now for not acknowledging it, using his name meant something to Heath and because of that it meant something to Liam too. Damnit, Liam hoped he hadn't missed his chance.

AN: This story has gotten completely out of control from what I first intended it to be, and so I've updated the summary. Also, thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter and thanks to everyone for reading.