Eddie hadn't been hungover in a long time, had gotten used to drinking enough that it rarely happened, so the fact that he woke up with a pounding head meant he must have had more than he was used to. That was the first thing he noticed that he was out of the ordinary; the second was the warm figure he held in his arms. It had also been a long time since he had brought a girl home with him, and he wondered who in the hell he could have met the night before.

After all, all he could remember was talking with Walter and then...

Oh shit, he thought, and that was when he really noticed how distinctly un-feminine the person he held felt, how sharp their shoulders were, how completely without curves they were. Oh fuck, oh hell, oh shit. Don't fucking tell me.

He looked down, already knowing that he would see a head of short red hair that could only belong to Walter, and the events of the previous night came back to him, vague and blurred, even spotty in places. But there was no denying the fact that he had done exactly what it looked like he had done.

Just as the severity of the situation began to dawn on him, the younger man began to stir in his arms. He groaned, likely facing a much more sever hangover, and then he stiffened, realizing the strangeness of the situation just as Eddie had. His eyes flew open and he looked up at the older man, who could only offer a weak smile and a nervous chuckle.

"No," was all Walter said, and then he was wrestling away, pushing himself out of Eddie's arms. He took one look at their clearly naked state and made a sound of distress, getting up frantically. "No, we didn't, we couldn't, you..." He groaned, wincing. "You tricked me, I knew not drink...shouldn't have..."

He stumbled, and Eddie was up in a flash, steadying him. "Easy there, kid. Ya need to take things a little slower, you're not used to this." He eased Walter down so that he could sit on the bed, and he buried his face in his hands while Eddie laid a hand on his back, not really sure what to say in a situation like this.

How had this even happened? How in the hell had he ended up in bed with Walter, a guy, of all people? He hadn't ever thought he was...that way, yet here he was, with indisputable evidence that he had had sex with Walter. And enjoyed it a lot, if his memory was correct.

But the fact that he had done something so out of character for himself was only the tip of the iceberg when considering just how messed up the whole situation was. This was Walter, his friend who had only just realized was his friend, who he had been trying to cheer up after a heartbreak, who clearly had no experience in this department. The previous night had undoubtedly been his first time, and he had been drunk and it had been with Eddie, who was supposed to have been the responsible one.

And the worst part of it all was, though he was confused about what all of this meant, though he felt guilty for doing it in the first place, though he was sure that it couldn't be true, he didn't want to regret it. He didn't want to regret spending the night with someone he shouldn't have, and the only reason he could put to that was one that he would never have considered on his own: perhaps there was something more to his feelings than friendship.

It was insane and completely outside of his realm of experience, but no matter how he tried to convince himself that it was a mistake, he couldn't abolish the thought once it had taken root. At some point along the road, he had developed an interest in Walter, so subtle that it had not made itself known until his inhibitions had been pushed aside. He was nearly fifty years old and had never even considered it possible for him to be attracted to another man, yet here he was.

The irony of it all was that he was been watching Walter, just as he had been watching Dan and Laurie, and he had known so much about their lives from observation, sometimes even more than they themselves knew, but, even knowing so much about all of them, he had not been able to see what was going on inside him. He had known everyone but himself, and now he was the one to take himself by surprise. That seemed funny to him, and he laughed.

Walter's head snapped up and he quickly said, "It's not funny."

"No, I...I wasn't laughing about that," Eddie replied, shaking his head and trying to regain a straight face. "Just thought of somethin' else is all. I mean, look, I know all of this ain't exactly...ideal, but..." He groaned, words failing him. He was so far out of his element here, where a joke wouldn't fit, where he had to be serious, expose himself. "I don't want what happened to just be, ya know...nothin', alright."

Walter stared at him, confused. "But that wasn't..."

"Don't say it wasn't anything," replied Eddie. He tried an easy grin. "C'mon, ya can't say ya didn't enjoy yourself, and I sure as hell know I did. All of this is...pretty new to me, too, and I know things are complicated as fuck, but I'm just askin' for a chance. Maybe see where the hell this is going before we write it off completely."

"I didn't want something to start like this," was all the younger man said, and Eddie couldn't help but wonder if that meant he had wanted something to start between them, just in a different way. Or maybe he just meant in general, and hadn't considered this possibility any more than Eddie had.

"Hey, s'not exactly my first choice either, but what's done is done and, like I said, I don't wanna write it off just like that," he said. "Just lemme take ya out to dinner at least, huh?" He laughed. "I know you're s'posed to do that first and all, but I'm willin' to make it up to ya. Better late than never, right?"

He knew that he was talking too much, but Walter was talking even less than usual, and that was saying something. Anything to fill the silence and ease the tension, anything to let the other man know that things were fucked up, but they weren't that fucked up, and that they were going to be fine.

The silence extended long beyond the point where anyone else would have said something, and he was sure that Walter was going to turn him down and get out of his house as quickly as possible, as if it had never happened. He braced himself for that rejection, wondering why in the hell he already hurt over something that hadn't happened yet and something that he would have never thought would matter to him, but the rejection did not come.

Walter gave the smallest of nods, looking down once again. He kept his eyes down as he mumbled, "Yeah."

Once again, Eddie's reaction stunned him. He was happier than he expected, letting out a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding. This was not how he had expected any of this to go, not how he ever would have foreseen things playing out between the two of them. He hadn't cared about somebody like this in a long time, hadn't wanted to really spend time with someone or get to know someone like this, and he had forgotten that he even could.

It was so damn cheesy that it would have made him nauseous if he wasn't too busy feeling an excitement that wouldn't make any sense to him for a long time. But, though he wouldn't pretend to understand whatever the hell he was feeling for Walter, he would go with it. He had fucked up a lot of things in his life, but this was so different that he hoped he had a better chance this time.

~X~

The next night, the two met at the club, but they didn't go in. One of the paid comedians was preforming, and neither of them really cared to hear his routine. Instead, Eddie took Walter to dinner somewhere nice, but not fancy. Neither of them suited somewhere fancy, but he also didn't want to start this off in a diner.

Dinner passed without much conversation, but that was not unusual. It was not as uncomfortable as it could have been, given what had transpired between them, and Walter actually seemed to be making an effort. Eddie realized that there was a strong chance that this was not entirely onesided, and that Walter might want this to work out as well. He was hard to read, but Eddie was slowly figuring him out.

He tried to get Walter to drink again, hoping to loosen him up a little more, but he refused, even when Eddie promised that it could be in moderation this time and that he wouldn't drink heavily himself. But he didn't push it, and let it go after minimal discussion.

When the night was coming to an end, Eddie asked Walter if he would like to come back to his house again. He wasn't expecting anything and figured that Walter would be just as unwilling to go back there as he had been to drink, but he was surprised. Walter quietly agreed, and they made their way back in a tense silence.

It was no secret what Eddie wanted to happen between them, and if Walter was opposed, he made no sign of it. He hardly hesitated to enter the bedroom, and he sat on the bed awkwardly, waiting for Eddie's lead. It seemed that he wanted this, but he wasn't saying anything.

Eddie sat beside him, suddenly unsure of what he was to do either. He had been so shitfaced the first time that he hadn't had any trouble figuring it out, but trying this sober was another matter entirely. He had never been a nervous man, but he found himself not knowing where to put his hands, not knowing how to initiate this. Did he treat Walter like he would have treated a woman?

He finally placed a hand behind Walter's head and pulled him in for a kiss, a much gentler kiss than he could recall giving anyone. They pulled apart only briefly before he dove in for another one, easing the younger man down on the bed without breaking the kiss. He tangled a hand in his hair, but he felt Walter tense beneath him and he became less responsive.

Eddie pulled away and said, "You doin' alright?" Walter nodded, and he said, "Ya know, we don't have to..."

"Don't really know what to do," he replied, looking away.

"Me neither," Eddie confessed, shaking his head. "I don't have a damn clue about any of this either. Guess it's somethin' we gotta figure out, huh?" He rolled onto his side, no longer on top of Walter, and pulled him beside him.

"What now?"

"I dunno. Like I said, I don't have a damn clue." They laid in silence after that, and it was not long before he heard Walter's breath grow steady beside him. Stunned, Eddie realized that, despite everything, he was comfortable enough to fall asleep there, just like that.

And, though that seemed small, it was enough to ease his uncertainty for that night, and he soon allowed himself to fall asleep as well.