Something Broken, Bruised and Beautiful

Track #3 - More Than Friends

{3}

My heart's racin' now, I just can't take a breath,

I'm catchin' you starin' again,

I swear all this shit isn't just in my head,

I know that we're more than friends.

{PLAY}

Having never met Stephen before last Wednesday, Dec doesn't understand how he's run into him four times in the week since then. They say London is a large place but the events he's getting invited to at the moment seem to contain the same, limited guest list.

He tells himself that if it wasn't a boring corporate thing, he'd never have sought out Stephen's company at the beginning of the evening. He's been telling himself a lot of things he doesn't entirely believe recently.

Compared to the first time they met, when he was stealing glances across a busy club, picking out the details of Stephen's appearance between the strobing lights, this is entirely more civilised. There are a couple of executives from ITV milling around and everyone seems keen to talk to the unexpected success stories from CITV. Dec is bemused by it all to be honest; when they were first given the SMTV job, the show seemed like it was drowning before it had even got afloat. They were using the slot that no one watched to learn how to be presenters, mostly hoping that anyone who employed them after wouldn't pay too much attention to the countless mistakes.

Now though it seems to have taken off. The management team they've ended up with think ITV will want to keep them around and tonight it's Dec's job to mingle with the right people. Ant's got out of what he'd described as the 'soul-selling gig' because apparently Wednesday evenings are date nights. Dec didn't realise this had become a regular feature in the other man's calendar and he'll be paying attention if it doesn't continue beyond this one particular Wednesday that Ant wanted to be busy for. He's happy for his best mate though; Anne-Marie seems like a good match for him and they've got close in the last few months.

A side-effect of Ant's absence is the same usual temptation that comes from not being watched. He walked into the event and instantly noticed Stephen. He can't help that his eyes looked there first, that his brain went there so soon after. The self-restraint he displayed at the party last weekend seems to have conveniently gone out the window as well.

He sacks off making conversation with the middle-aged men he seems to be permanently trying to impress and tries to subtly work his way through the crowded room without looking like he's deliberately aiming for Stephen. He doesn't want the younger man to see him coming; it would be humiliating to come across as so desperate.

Stephen is smirking slightly by the time he sidles past the final group of people in suits. Dec resigns himself to flashing a sheepish smile in return, trying to play it cool even though he knows he's been caught. "Fancy seeing you here."

"It's almost as if we present on the same channel," Stephen replies, having extracted himself from the small group he'd been stood with. "Cat made a good point on Saturday."

Dec still can't remember most of Saturday beyond a haze of panic so he frowns in question and hopes Stephen will fill in the blanks. "She did?"

"Being so surprised that we'd never met," Stephen continues, glossing over the fact that they had in fact met before that. It seems they're both conveniently forgetting that in the right settings.

Even though he walked straight over to the younger man, part of Dec still feels uncomfortable to be stood with him. It's different without a group of mutual friends and a bottle of beer in a stuffy house. It's different when they're both there in a professional capacity, trying to pretend they know more about an industry they've both fallen into almost by chance. Hard work too, but it's definitely taken luck.