Heath Braxton was not prone to prolonged periods of sweetness and arriving back in Summer Bay made things more real somehow. With the familiarity of home, the old annoyance flared up again and the sweetness of the past few days faded like a dream. Right now he was pissed off at Murphy for...well, not so much for anything he'd done, more what he hadn't done. Heath had arrived back in town later than Murphy, his old truck was no match for the bike, and he'd expected Murphy to be waiting for him, but it appeared he'd just gone home. And Heath would not give him the satisfaction of chasing after him again, granted that's what he was doing right now, but last night he'd been irritated, and this morning he was ready for a fight. Heath walked into Angelo's, knowing Murphy had to work today.

"Heath! You're back! Why the hell haven't you been answering your phone?" Brax barked at him. This was the first time he'd seen Brax since he'd got home, Brax musta been off somewhere with that floosy cop last night.

"Nice to see you too Darryl," Heath said to his brother, and when he thought about it he hadn't bothered to charge his phone in the last few days, it hadn't seemed important.

"Someone burned down Jake's headquarters while you were gone," Brax told Heath, and yep, he was home. But Heath was glad someone had done it, it saved them the trouble.

"Good," he said distractedly, by then his attention was turned towards the bar where Murphy was chatting happily to Smith.

xxx

Liam's first day back at work seemed to drag on forever. Last night he'd headed straight home, knowing he needed a good night's sleep and that if he saw Heath again that probably wasn't going to happen. Waking up alone this morning was crappy, he missed Heath far more than he should have. Liam tried telling himself that he was a grown man and that they didn't need to be together every second of the day. And that this was real life where he had responsibilities, a job, but it was a slow day and in the end he was checking his watch every five minutes. That was what made Romeo's visit such a welcome distraction.

"Hey Romeo."

"Hey mate," Romeo said, taking a seat at the bar, "how was your break?"

"It was just what I needed."

"That's good. Manage to write any songs?"

"Na...I didn't seem to find the time," Liam said as his eyes wandered over to Heath, who'd just been accosted by Brax.

"So what did you do?"

"You know, this and that," Liam shrugged. "How's things with you?" Liam asked to deflect the attention from himself, not that that meant he didn't genuinely care.

"Yeah good. I managed to impress Dennis, he gave me a job working on the resort development." That was good news and Liam was glad for Romeo.

"That's great," Liam told his buddy.

"Yeah," Romeo agreed, "it means Indi and I can work together." Liam's mind wandered to his own, partner, lover, boyfriend? What the hell should he call Heath? None of those words seemed right. Annoyance, irritant or thorn-in-his-side seemed more appropriate. Suddenly the object of his thoughts appeared in front of him.

xxx

Was it just Romeo or did the vibe in here get weird all of a sudden? One minute he was having a perfectly normal conversation with Liam and then Liam gets this dreamy look on his face and Romeo turns to see Heath Braxton. Heath had walked right up to them and demanded Liam's attention, not that he seemed to need to...

"Murphy! There's something I need to tell you."

"Alright," Liam said. Heath glanced at Romeo, if a mere glance can hold that kind of hostility, before he spoke again.

"Not here, over there," he said, directing Liam's attention to the other end of the bar. Heath stalked off and Liam followed. Romeo couldn't draw his attention away now, this was utterly fascinating. They stopped at the other end of the bar and Heath leaned across and whispered something to Liam.

xxx

Heath needed something to focus Murphy's attention on him, something to remind him of the last few days. He leaned over the bar and spoke softly into Murphy's ear.

"I feel dirty. Wanna come over later and help me take a shower?" Murphy leaned back and the look he gave Heath satisfied him, his work here was done.

xxx

Romeo watched as Liam drifted back towards him, a strange, soft look on his face. It wasn't at all how Romeo was used to seeing Liam look after speaking to Heath, if he didn't know better he'd say Liam was infatuated. It was all too intriguing, Romeo couldn't help himself, he had to ask.

"What was that about?"

"Just a reminder of my time off," Liam said distractedly and by the secretive smile on his lips, Romeo knew he was right.

"Oh my God," Romeo exclaimed quietly, having the presence of mind to keep his voice down despite his shock. "You were with Heath weren't you? This and that," Romeo continued echoing Liam's earlier words, "yeah right." Liam didn't deny it, he just gave Romeo a 'you-got-me' look. Holy shit...

"Is it that obvious?" Liam asked with some concern.

"Only to everyone within a five mile radius," Romeo said, hoping Liam would understand he'd need to tone it down if he didn't want the whole Bay to know by dinner time. Not that it worried Romeo but Liam didn't seem to want everyone to know.

"Shit. You'll keep it under wraps for now yeah?" Liam said, "we don't want it to get back to Brax and Casey until we've had a chance to tell them. After that it doesn't matter."

"Alright," Romeo agreed. He had no intention of telling anyone, but even if he did no one would believe him, until they witnessed it for themselves, then there would be no doubt. This was possibly the strangest thing he had ever encountered, but if it made Liam this happy, he was all for it.

xxx

When Heath left Angelo's he headed home, he had a few hours to kill until Murphy finished his shift. Maybe he'd wax his surfboard or watch some old eps of Supernatural, the good ones, the ones before the angels showed up. He walked in the door to find Casey lounging in front of the TV, shouldn't he be at school or something?

"What's the matter with you?" Heath asked harshly, when he saw Casey's sullen face, he'd already copped shit off Brax for being AWOL.

"Nothing," Casey said sulkily and then Heath felt bad for taking his frustration at Brax out on Casey. He plonked down beside him.

"Did you miss me?" Heath asked jokingly, throwing an arm around his little brother, in an attempt to clear the air between them.

"No," Casey said irritably, pushing Heath away and sooking off to his room. Ah well, stuff him, Heath wasn't gonna let Casey bring his good mood down. For the first time in a long time he was actually happy. He hoped that Brax and Casey would be ok with this whole Murphy thing, not that he'd stop seeing Murphy if they didn't approve, but their acceptance would make his life much easier. Unfortunately however, Heath was aware that in the lives of the Braxton's easy was rarely the case.

xxx

Liam finished his shift and headed outside, wondering where he'd find Heath at this time of the day. Right here, it seemed, as Liam spotted him waiting by the door.

"What're you doing here?" Liam asked, it was probably a silly question, but maybe he just wanted to hear the answer.

"I'm here to walk you home," Heath said. Liam was pretty sure he could make it there on his own, not that he wasn't glad of Heath's company, it was just strange.

"If you insist," Liam said.

"I do," Heath replied and they fell into step beside each other.

"How was your day?" Liam asked; this was all a bit surreal. Could they really stroll through the park and have a civil conversation?

"Not as good as yours I'd say. How's Smith?" And there it was. Not quite record time for them, they'd managed a couple of sentences before an argument loomed, but close.

"You were jealous today..." Liam speculated, it was the only explanation for Heath's strange behaviour.

"Hardly," Heath said.

"Yes, you were," Liam insisted, stopping so he could study Heath's face. "You don't need to worry, I have no interest in other men, I'm not homosexual, I'm Heathsexual." Heath gave him a justifiably weird look. "Ok, so that sounded better in my head," Liam admitted, "but you get the point, I've eyes only for you darling." Liam demonstrated his point by pressing himself against Heath and kissing his lips tenderly.

"Get off me," Heath said, panicking a little at the sappy territory they were straying into, he got the point.

"You don't mean that," Liam purred, sliding his arms around Heath's waist to prevent him escaping, and pressing another kiss to his stubborn mouth. Heath put up a token resistance but soon enough he returned Liam's kiss and between further kisses he said managed to ask, "what if...someone...sees?"

"You're right," Liam conceded, taking a difficult step back from Heath, "we should tell Brax and Casey first." Heath gulped. "Let's do it now," Liam suggested, adding with a smirk, "then we can snog whenever we like." Heath liked the sound of that.

"Time to face the music then I guess," Heath said.

"Guess so," Liam replied. Romeo had taken it pretty well, hopefully Heath's brothers would too.