Waiting for the Night [Dalan]

Chapter 21

The next few weeks were very uncomfortable for Dave. He had been prepared to act as though nothing had ever happened and to treat Martin like he normally did, but apparently Martin wasn't on the same page. He stopped coming to Knox's and rarely showed up at Alan's house or studio anymore, and even if he was there, it was always when he knew Dave was not going to be around. 

It bothered Dave, who was fully prepared to believe that everything had been a drunken mistake on Martin's part, and he was more concerned about the friendship than anything else. Worse still, it seemed to affect the camaraderie within their little group. It was quite common to see the rest exchanging knowing glances when Martin got up as soon as Dave entered the room. The entire situation was beyond awkward.

Both Flood and Johnny had come to him on separate occasions, asking if he had fought with Martin or something, but Dave had remained tight-lipped. He didn't want to embarrass Martin, and he truly believed that the friendship could still be saved. So he kept his head down, tried to stay out of Martin's way and worked hard on the album cover, wanting to blow Alan away with the various ideas he had.

It seemed that Alan was the only one who had not asked him about what was going on with Martin, and Dave was more than grateful for that. Besides, this whole fiasco was letting him spend more time with Alan, so much so that Flood had remarked that Dave spent more time with his boss than he himself did. Paris adored him as well, and she was often a sweet reminder of Jack, who he missed more and more every day. 

He also had fun conversing with Mrs. Cheung in Bahasa Malaysia; she had been beside herself with excitement when she had found out that Dave's biological father had Malaysian ancestry. Even better was when they would talk about Alan in Malay when he was right in front of them, and the indignant expression on his face was always hilarious.

It was his luck one day that he bumped into Martin leaving Alan's place just as he was walking into the house. Martin's eyes widened with alarm when they saw him, then quickly darted away. Still, it took Dave barely a second to reach out and grab him. "Hey, you got a second?"

"Um." Martin was looking at everywhere but him, chewing on his lip. "I kind of have to rush somewhere-"

"Just a second, yeah? C'mon mate, I hardly see you anymore." Dave stubbornly held onto Martin's arm, which he was subtly trying to wrestle away. "Just a second, I promise."

Martin heaved a loud sigh, shoulders slumped in defeat. "Alright."

They walked into the house, waving at Mrs. Cheung who was frying something in a wok. Alan was clattering down the stairs, mouth open to say something when he saw Dave, but he quickly closed it when he spotted Martin. His eyes darting between them, Alan gave Dave a good-luck nod and went into the kitchen instead. Dave was relieved. It was a good thing that Alan was sensible enough to realise that this was a precious moment of urgency. Dave himself was beginning to get quite good at reading Alan's facial cues and expressions as well, so it was hardly any surprise that Alan was getting good at reading him too.

Now they were in the dining room, and Dave brushed aside the various colouring books that Paris had left open on the dining table. He looked at Martin, who was sitting opposite him and looking mighty uncomfortable. "I haven't seen you in a while, mate," he said softly. "Everything alright?"

Martin was raking a hair through his curls, eyes focused on the vase in the middle of the table. "Fine. Just, um, just been busy, that's all."

Dave nodded, furiously trying to think of a way to bridge the gap here. "Look, about what happened at Knox's-"

"I was drunk," Martin said shortly. "And maybe you were drunk, too. We all had a bit too much to drink, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Although Dave had actually been quite sober, he wasn't about to let this chance to smooth over the incident pass him by. "Hell, I don't even remember half of what happened! It was a haze, that night." He laughed a little uncomfortably.

The guarded look in Martin's eyes finally relented. "Yeah, I was completely drunk." A little smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

Dave just had to smile back. Martin really had this quiet, understated charm about him that could easily make people fall in love with him. It was just too bad that Dave's heart had stubbornly set its sights on someone else, someone far more unobtainable. He sighed, then stood up, looking at Martin. "So we're good?"

Martin nodded a little hesitantly. "Yeah, we're good." He got up and walked over to Dave's side of the table, the two of them hugging tightly. There was this unexplained warmth about Martin as well that made Dave feel safe and peaceful, for some reason. He was reluctant to let go.

It was only when they heard footsteps that he let his arms drop, and they both turned to see Alan in the doorway, looking a little surprised. But he seemed to recover quickly with a smile. "Did I interrupt something?" he asked suggestively.

Dave pretended to scoff. "Of course you did, I was about to sweep everything off the table and throw Mart on it and have my way with him," he said, chuckling at Martin's outraged, surprised laugh.

Alan folded his arms in mock disapproval. "What? Right on my dining room table? And you didn't even think about asking me to join in?"

Whoa. The laugh in his throat quickly died as Dave was seized by the image of a hot threesome, and he had to steady himself by holding onto the back of a chair. As much as he didn't want to admit it, that was a very, very hot image that he was most unwilling to let go of. He quickly filed it under the other fantasies of Alan that he had been harbouring in his mental filing cabinet, and managed to flash a weak grin at the two laughing men. "Er, okay. Wow. I didn't know you swung that way, Charlie."

"Well, you never asked." Alan winked at him before walking away, leaving Martin and a very confused Dave in the dining room. What the hell had just happened?