STORY: A Night Like This, Part II (Neal/Peter, PG-13, slashorific2016)
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Part II - All Or Nothing At All
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Neal’s Apartment
Several minutes later, the two men entered the loft, and once again, Peter felt his breath taken away, this time by the gorgeous view from the apartment, with the recently built Chrysler Building dominating the skyline outside the large glass windows.
“Like what you see?” Neal suddenly asked, and try as he might, Peter couldn’t quite stop the jerking of his body upon being pulled back to reality that way.
“Yeah, yeah, I do.”
“Good, ʻcause I do, too,” Neal retorted, and only then, Peter noticed how close the younger man was to him.
“Nick…”
“…Neal. It’s Neal.”
“What? But the conductor introduced you…” Neal only raised one eyebrow, and Peter finally caught on. “Ah, now I get it. Nick Halden is just an alias, right?”
“Exactly, but please don’t ask for the reasons for that… well, not right away, okay?”
Until now, only three people knew the cold hard truth of Neal’s life before he became a local celebrity - Mozzie, Elizabeth, and June. Mozzie was there to pick up the pieces right after the big, final fallout; Elizabeth got clued in before she could draw any assumptions upon seeing Neal’s map of scars; and June was briefed on it simply for the reason that Neal considered her trustworthy.
“Okay,” Peter answered, and even though they were the only two people in the room, Neal had to strain his ears to hear the other man’s reply.
“So, if I remember correctly, I offered you a drink, right?” Neal asked after a few seconds, once again slightly invading Peter’s personal space and giving him a wink for emphasis.
“Yeah, I think you did, Neal.”
“Why don’t you head out on the terrace and I’ll be right behind you with some fine wine?”
“You don’t happen to have some beer up here?”
“Nope, mostly because my best friend is, in fact, a fussy parasite, in the best meaning of the word. He comes up here on almost a daily basis, but only to raid my wine stash,” Neal added with a smile while getting two glasses.
Filling them both with some red wine, Neal handed one to Peter, before heading out onto the terrace with him. For the next few minutes, they talked about nothing and everything, and ever so slowly, Neal inched closer to Peter, longing for physical contact like never before.
“Hey, I think…” Peter began, but Neal stopped him by taking the glass out of his hand and putting it on the small table behind him.
“Don’t… don’t think at all, okay? Just enjoy the moment, and whatever might come next.”
Once again, Peter noticed Neal’s nearness, and unlike anyone else who had attempted it before, this time, he didn’t mind it at all. He tried to come up with any kind of response, but before he managed that, Neal closed the short distance between them, grabbed the lapels of Peter’s jacket - and kissed him. A kiss that Peter reciprocated with all his might.
At some point, breathing became a necessity, and they separated, though reluctantly. Neal kept the contact, the connection he had with Peter, simply by leaving his hands on the lapels, but Peter could feel that the younger man was somehow waiting for a more negative fallout.
“Neal?” The other man looked up, and for the first time since he got his first glimpse of these two sapphire orbs, Peter could see the “real” Neal in them - including a barely hidden fear.
“I… I went a bit too fast, I know, and… and…” Neal began to ramble, and as if Peter’s jacket was suddenly toxic, he let go of it, taking a couple of steps backwards to distance himself from the other man.
Now, Peter wasn’t one of those agents who had a high opinion about any kind of psychology, but he knew enough about it to realize that Neal was on the fast track into a full-blown panic attack, caused, most likely, by some event from his past.
“Neal, eyes on me!” Surprisingly enough, the younger man obeyed. “You did the right thing. If you wouldn’t have initiated the kiss, I would have.”
“Oh,” was all that Neal could get out at the moment, mostly because his mind was still running a mile a minute with the aftereffects of the kiss.
“Yeah.” Once again, Peter locked his gaze with Neal. “So what do you say we pick up where we left off and see what this night has to offer?”
Apparently, Peter had chosen the right words, because the next thing he knew were the sensations of Neal’s lips back on his and the other man’s hands roaming his body. Steering them back into the apartment, he managed to get them in the general direction of the bed, while getting them both out of their clothes en route simultaneously.
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The next morning
When Peter came around, the first thing he noticed was the sunlight streaming into the room - which he recognized as not his own bedroom. Second, he could hear the soft strains of a piano through the haze of sleep. Slowly, the memories of the previous night came back to him, and he couldn’t help but smile. Sure, he was sore, but it was (a) in all the right places and (b) something he definitely wanted to repeat in the near future.
“Morning.”
Peter slowly turned around, only to see Neal sitting at the piano, absent-mindedly playing a tune. Usually, Peter saw some happiness on a lover’s face, but the fact that this was missing on Neal’s had him alarmed in a heartbeat.
“You’re regretting it?”
“What? No, not at all.” Neal got up, went over to the table in the living room, grabbed two cups and handed him one of them before sitting down on the bed. “I’m just not that much of a morning person, that’s all.” He took a sip of his own coffee and turned to Peter with a smile. “And why on God’s green Earth should I have any regrets after the best night of my life?”
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The End
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Part II - All Or Nothing At All
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neal’s Apartment
Several minutes later, the two men entered the loft, and once again, Peter felt his breath taken away, this time by the gorgeous view from the apartment, with the recently built Chrysler Building dominating the skyline outside the large glass windows.
“Like what you see?” Neal suddenly asked, and try as he might, Peter couldn’t quite stop the jerking of his body upon being pulled back to reality that way.
“Yeah, yeah, I do.”
“Good, ʻcause I do, too,” Neal retorted, and only then, Peter noticed how close the younger man was to him.
“Nick…”
“…Neal. It’s Neal.”
“What? But the conductor introduced you…” Neal only raised one eyebrow, and Peter finally caught on. “Ah, now I get it. Nick Halden is just an alias, right?”
“Exactly, but please don’t ask for the reasons for that… well, not right away, okay?”
Until now, only three people knew the cold hard truth of Neal’s life before he became a local celebrity - Mozzie, Elizabeth, and June. Mozzie was there to pick up the pieces right after the big, final fallout; Elizabeth got clued in before she could draw any assumptions upon seeing Neal’s map of scars; and June was briefed on it simply for the reason that Neal considered her trustworthy.
“Okay,” Peter answered, and even though they were the only two people in the room, Neal had to strain his ears to hear the other man’s reply.
“So, if I remember correctly, I offered you a drink, right?” Neal asked after a few seconds, once again slightly invading Peter’s personal space and giving him a wink for emphasis.
“Yeah, I think you did, Neal.”
“Why don’t you head out on the terrace and I’ll be right behind you with some fine wine?”
“You don’t happen to have some beer up here?”
“Nope, mostly because my best friend is, in fact, a fussy parasite, in the best meaning of the word. He comes up here on almost a daily basis, but only to raid my wine stash,” Neal added with a smile while getting two glasses.
Filling them both with some red wine, Neal handed one to Peter, before heading out onto the terrace with him. For the next few minutes, they talked about nothing and everything, and ever so slowly, Neal inched closer to Peter, longing for physical contact like never before.
“Hey, I think…” Peter began, but Neal stopped him by taking the glass out of his hand and putting it on the small table behind him.
“Don’t… don’t think at all, okay? Just enjoy the moment, and whatever might come next.”
Once again, Peter noticed Neal’s nearness, and unlike anyone else who had attempted it before, this time, he didn’t mind it at all. He tried to come up with any kind of response, but before he managed that, Neal closed the short distance between them, grabbed the lapels of Peter’s jacket - and kissed him. A kiss that Peter reciprocated with all his might.
At some point, breathing became a necessity, and they separated, though reluctantly. Neal kept the contact, the connection he had with Peter, simply by leaving his hands on the lapels, but Peter could feel that the younger man was somehow waiting for a more negative fallout.
“Neal?” The other man looked up, and for the first time since he got his first glimpse of these two sapphire orbs, Peter could see the “real” Neal in them - including a barely hidden fear.
“I… I went a bit too fast, I know, and… and…” Neal began to ramble, and as if Peter’s jacket was suddenly toxic, he let go of it, taking a couple of steps backwards to distance himself from the other man.
Now, Peter wasn’t one of those agents who had a high opinion about any kind of psychology, but he knew enough about it to realize that Neal was on the fast track into a full-blown panic attack, caused, most likely, by some event from his past.
“Neal, eyes on me!” Surprisingly enough, the younger man obeyed. “You did the right thing. If you wouldn’t have initiated the kiss, I would have.”
“Oh,” was all that Neal could get out at the moment, mostly because his mind was still running a mile a minute with the aftereffects of the kiss.
“Yeah.” Once again, Peter locked his gaze with Neal. “So what do you say we pick up where we left off and see what this night has to offer?”
Apparently, Peter had chosen the right words, because the next thing he knew were the sensations of Neal’s lips back on his and the other man’s hands roaming his body. Steering them back into the apartment, he managed to get them in the general direction of the bed, while getting them both out of their clothes en route simultaneously.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning
When Peter came around, the first thing he noticed was the sunlight streaming into the room - which he recognized as not his own bedroom. Second, he could hear the soft strains of a piano through the haze of sleep. Slowly, the memories of the previous night came back to him, and he couldn’t help but smile. Sure, he was sore, but it was (a) in all the right places and (b) something he definitely wanted to repeat in the near future.
“Morning.”
Peter slowly turned around, only to see Neal sitting at the piano, absent-mindedly playing a tune. Usually, Peter saw some happiness on a lover’s face, but the fact that this was missing on Neal’s had him alarmed in a heartbeat.
“You’re regretting it?”
“What? No, not at all.” Neal got up, went over to the table in the living room, grabbed two cups and handed him one of them before sitting down on the bed. “I’m just not that much of a morning person, that’s all.” He took a sip of his own coffee and turned to Peter with a smile. “And why on God’s green Earth should I have any regrets after the best night of my life?”
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The End
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