Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 23:56:01
From: musicfan@indabox.com
Subject: Where Do We Go #35

Disclaimer:

   The following story is the next installment in an on going series about
Stephen Gately from Boyzone and what I imagine to be the story behind the
beginning of his relationship with Eloy de Jong from Caught in the Act. I
have no contact with either person, nor know any of the members of either
group.

   As always, if you're not old enough to be reading this, then don't do
it.  If you are, then please, keep on reading, and don't forget to write
and let me know what you think of this next chapter.


    Cheers!

    Musicfan


####


     Eloy started the water in the shower and turned to smile down at
Stephen.  Stephen was rolling his head on his neck, trying to get some
kinks out from their earlier activity and Eloy smiled ruefully.  They had
been a bit rough on each other at the end there.  He reached out and rubbed
Stephen's neck.

     Stephen leaned into his touch with a sigh.  It felt so good, and he
ignored the sound of the water hitting the curtain in favour of the massage
he was getting.  "Mmmmm."

     "Goed?" Came the soft inquiry next to his ear.  Without opening his
eyes, he nodded and smiled.  It wasn't just good, it was fantastic. He let
Eloy continued for a moment before opening his eyes.  They were standing in
front of the mirror and he could see that they both looked pretty messy
from their exertions earlier.  He smiled lazily, content to let Eloy touch
him.  At his second sigh, Eloy opened his eyes and met Stephen's gaze in
the mirror.  They stared at one another before Eloy wrapped his arms around
Stephen's chest and hugged him tight.

     "Time to get wet, I think." Eloy murmured softly in his ear.  His
smile grew larger as he felt Eloy's hands wander over him.

     "I suppose," he said, reluctantly pulling away from his lover and
turning towards the bathtub. He pulled back the curtain and stepped inside.
When Eloy didn't immediately follow him he stuck his hand out of the gap
and beckoned.  A chuckle met his action, followed by Eloy climbing into the
tub.  "What happened, did you get lost?"

      "I guess," Eloy said with a grin.  In actuality, he had been lost in
a fantasy at the sight of Stephen climbing into the tub.  He ducked his
head under the water.  When he pulled away from the showerhead, it was to
see that Stephen as scrutinizing him.  "Yes?"

      "Nothing," Stephen responded with an enigmatic smile.  He stepped
forward into the shower spray and closed his eyes, letting the water drop
down his sticky body. Eloy hadn't moved and Stephen could feel his body
reacting to Eloy's. He felt the water grow warmer as Eloy adjusted the
temperature and sighed as the hot water played over his tired muscles. A
moment later, he smelled soap just before Eloy started lathering it on his
chest.  He reached up to reposition Eloy's hands and was met with a chuckle
at his actions.  He opened his eyes and smiled up at Eloy.

     "Well, if I'm going to get washed, might as well get all the dirty
places," he said with a wink.  Eloy laughed in response before leaning into
the water to give him a kiss.

     "Oh, definitely, liefste.  I want to make sure I get every bit that's
dirty."  He grinned down at Stephen who slowly shook his head. "What, I'm
not going to be able to find every part?"

      "Definitely not." Stephen said emphatically.  "Since you're not going
to be able to wash out up here." He said, tapping his head.  Eloy washed
his hands off in the water and turned, muttering something to himself.  He
came back with some shampoo.  Pulling Stephen forward, he poured some on
his head and started working on his hair.  Stephen reached for the soap in
the dish, working his hands into a lather.  His hands covered with soap
bubbles, he started stroking Eloy's chest, working his way up to his
shoulders and back down to his abdomen.  Eloy smiled down at him, moving
his chest against Stephen's hands.

     They pulled each other back and forth under the water, rinsing off
body parts and lathering up again. Stephen found it very relaxing, letting
the water play over his skin while Eloy bathed him.  He leaned in against
Eloy's chest and sighed contentedly.

     "I think someone's falling asleep," Eloy murmured into his ear. "Do
you think we're done?"

     "I'm not falling asleep.  I just fell under your spell," Stephen said
with a laugh as he looked up into Eloy's face. "Your hands are very
soothing."

     "Thank you," Eloy said with a small smile playing across his
lips. "Are you ready to get out?"

    "Yeah, sure," Stephen said, feeling very relaxed from the spray of the
water. Eloy reached past him and shut off the water.  He gently sluiced the
excess water off of Stephen before reaching out and pulling a towel in to
dry him off. Stephen shook himself out of his stupor and took the towel
from Eloy so he could dry himself off.  Eloy stepped out of the tub and
grabbed another towel for himself.  By the time Stephen was ready to come
out, he was wrapped in a robe and had another one waiting for Stephen.

     "Oh, nice," Stephen said. He stepped into the robe that was a bit long
for him, but belted it up so that it was out of his way.  "You think of
everything, don't you?"

     "I try," Eloy said with a smile.  He brushed his teeth while Stephen
dried off his hair with a towel.  When he finished, Stephen turned to get
some stuff out of his kit and said he'd be a moment.  Knowing he was going
to do his moisturising thing, Eloy rubbed his back and moved out of the
bathroom to give him room.

     Stephen didn't take much time doing it, but he did clean up a bit
before heading into the bedroom.  He looked in the mirror and thought back
to that morning when Eloy had made him look at himself and think something
positive.  A lot had happened today, even though all they had done was go
to visit Eloy's mother.  But he felt that something inside him had changed
from just that morning. Looking into the mirror critically, he saw that
Eloy had a point about being more positive about oneself, and he made a
promise to himself that he was going to try to be less negative.  He
thought about the one thing he could change, and remembered that Eloy had
told him he didn't take compliments well.  So he resolved to work on that.

     With one last look in the mirror he shook his head in bemusement and
put his stuff away before closing the light and heading back towards the
bedroom.  When he got there, he saw that Eloy had turned out the lights and
the room was lit by a couple of candles next to the bed.

     "Mmm, how romantic," he said as he walked through the door.  Eloy had
already made the bed and was lying down with his hands behind his head
waiting for Stephen to come in.  He smiled in welcome and held out a hand
to Stephen. Stephen made his way over to the bed, his toes sinking into the
carpet under the bed as he reached the side.  He took Eloy's hand and
climbed into the bed.  Eloy pulled him into a hug and kissed him lightly on
the lips.

     "Hi," he said softly, smiling up at Stephen. "Come snuggle."  Stephen
smiled and stroked his face before turning and disrobing.  He placed it on
the end of the bed before lying down next to Eloy.  With a sigh, he rested
his head on Eloy's shoulder and felt arms surround him.  "How's that?"
Eloy's voice rumbled next to his ear.

     "Nice." He said, placing his hand on Eloy's chest. "Thank you,
Eloy. For such a wonderful day."  He felt Eloy stroke his hair at his
comment.

     "Thank you, baby. For coming to stay with me.  This has been great."
Eloy said, his mouth against Stephen's head. "I wish we could do this every
night."

     "Someday we will, honey," Stephen assured him, rubbing his chest. "I
believe it."

     "Ja?" Eloy's tone sounded wistful and Stephen closed his eyes in
response to the need there.

     "Yeah.  Honey, if you want something enough, you just hold it close to
your heart and you wish with all your might.  That's what my grandma used
to say to me, and you know something?  It works." Stephen said, trying to
reassure him.  He felt Eloy's arms tighten around him.

     "Is that all I have to do?  Well, then, I'll hold you right here next
to my heart, and I'll wish with all my might." Eloy said softly into his
ear.  He heard him say something else, but wasn't able to concentrate past
the lump in his throat.  He raised his head so he could look at Eloy in the
dim light.

     "Honey, I'm going to hold you close as tight as I can.  Because I know
it will work."  He moved up so that he could kiss Eloy before dropping back
down onto his chest. "I love you." He wrapped his arm as far around as he
could reach and hugged him tight.  Eloy rocked Stephen in his arms, filled
with an emotion he couldn't voice.  He was awake long after he felt Stephen
drop off to sleep.  As the candles burned down, he stroked Stephen's hair
lightly and listened to his breathing.  The sound of him sleeping was very
soothing to him and he let himself drift as he thought over the day.  He
closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him, content.


###


    Stephen drifted slowly to consciousness, teased awake by light kisses
along his stomach.  He smiled lazily, the feather light touches tickling
the hair there.  He thought he was dreaming, it was so reminiscent of other
dreams he had had over the past several months, but when he felt lips along
the side of his penis, he realised it wasn't a dream at all.

     "Mmmm?" he mumbled, lethargy making him unable to open his eyes. The
fingers touching him became more insistent, silently urging him to an
erection.  As he became more aware of what was going on, he reacted to
Eloy's lips sucking on him.  "E?"

     A hand came up to stroke his face in response and he finally opened
his eyes.  Sunlight was shining through the window. He looked down the bed
to find Eloy curled up alongside his body, his face hovering over his
crotch.  He looked up briefly and smiled before descending again and
Stephen let out a soft moan.

     Eloy nibbled his way along Stephen's length, savouring the taste of
his skin.  He had woken up some time before and had spent the time watching
Stephen sleep.  He loved watching him then, because he felt he saw a side
of the other man that he normally didn't get to see.  Stephen slept with
great abandon, spread out across the bed and he had chuckled to see him
splayed out like that.  He had gotten up to the bathroom and when he came
back, he felt unable to leave Stephen alone.  So he had started down at his
foot, kissing it as he made his way up his leg.  He kissed his hip, pausing
to lightly lick Stephen's penis before making his way up his chest.  Once
he had gotten further up, he had debated about whether to wake Stephen with
a kiss and his drifting hand had inadvertently stroked Stephen's penis,
causing it to stir in reaction.  He then decided he had a better way of
waking Stephen up and worked his way back down the delectable body in front
of him. When he had focused on the object of his desire, he figured that he
would kiss Stephen awake that way.

     The feelings coursing through his body made his limbs tingle all over
and Stephen let himself fall back into the pillows and enjoy it.  Eloy
snaked his hand in between Stephen's legs and he spread them wider in an
invitation.  Fingers lightly stroked the inside of his thighs before
exploring deeper and he shivered at the feeling Eloy's touch created.
Soon, he found that he couldn't just lay back and enjoy it because Eloy's
actions were having an equal reaction on his part.  He moved about
restlessly, his hand coming in contact with Eloy's head.  Gently, he
stroked his fingers through Eloy's hair, pausing to trace the curve of his
ear. He must have touched something sensitive, because Eloy began to suck
harder on him.  He raised himself up on his elbows to watch and found
himself mesmerized by Eloy's movement.

     Eloy moved his hand lower, stroking Stephen wherever he could reach.
He bit him gently and received a tug on his hair and an intake of breath as
a response.  Glancing up, he saw that Stephen was enjoying his attentions.
He felt that he had neglected Stephen a bit last night, concentrating on
his own satisfaction, and he wanted to give him some attention today.
Stephen was silently urging him on, his breath getting a bit ragged as Eloy
pumped him.  Eloy decided to take it a step further and inserted a finger
inside him.  A soft gasp met his actions and he took that as an
encouragement to continue. He stroked in a counterpoint to the movement of
his mouth on Stephen's erection and Stephen's hand tightened on his
shoulder.  He glanced up and saw that Stephen had his eyes closed again.
He was also squeezing Eloy's finger as he moved inside him.  Soon he was
panting, his hand trembling on Eloy's shoulder.  Eloy knew it wasn't going
to be much longer and patiently kept up his efforts.

    Stephen gasped and knew he was going to come soon.  He opened his eyes
to look down at Eloy just as he did.  Eloy looked up at him as he finished
shuddering and collapsed backwards onto the bed.  He took his time enjoying
the sensation of tasting Stephen for the first time, tracing around the
head of Stephen's penis with his tongue as he sucked it all in
appreciatively.  This moment had definitely been worth the wait, he decided
to himself.  He thoroughly cleaned off his lover before looking up again to
see Stephen sprawled bonelessly on the bed.

    "Goed?" He asked, making his way along Stephen's body until he was
level with his face.  He had a huge smile on his face at Stephen's
reaction.

    "Shite, yes." Stephen panted, completely drained. "Wow."  He reached up
with both arms and pulled Eloy down on top of him.  "What a way to wake
up."

    "So you liked that?" Eloy asked, amused.  Stephen nodded and ran his
fingers through Eloy's hair until he could thread his fingers together on
the back of Eloy's neck.

    "Yes," he said, pulling Eloy down for a kiss before letting him up
again.  "I did, thank you."  Eloy grinned, proud of his wake up method and
Stephen found himself grinning back at him.  "How long have you been up?"

    "Long enough to put a pot of coffee on, if you want a cup."  Eloy said
with another kiss.  He loved feeling Stephen's body beneath his, their skin
touching. He raised himself up so he could rub his body against Stephen.
That elicited a soft sigh from Stephen.  "Think you might want to get up,
or should I bring it in to you?"

    "Mmmm, staying in bed is a tempting offer, but if you're not going to
be in it, it wouldn't be worth it." Stephen said with an impish grin.  Eloy
laughed and rolled off Stephen and over to the edge of the bed.

    "I guess we both get up then." He held a hand out to Stephen, who took
it as he crawled out from the covers. Eloy kissed his hand and then made
his way over to the bedroom door, which he held open in an invitation.
Stephen hesitated, his eyes drifting over to the robe.  But it was obvious
that Eloy had no intention of putting anything on, and he knew that Eloy
would give him a hard time if he thought he was covering himself up.  He
gave a mental shrug and padded over to the door. On his way out, he swatted
Eloy on the butt and scooted past him down the hall as Eloy let out a laugh
at his audacity.

    Eloy followed him down the hall and passed him as he stepped into the
bathroom.  "I'll be in the kitchen.  Are you hungry at all?"

    "Not really," Stephen said as he closed the bathroom door.  Eloy went
on into the kitchen while Stephen was in the bathroom and got two mugs out
of the cabinet.  He put some bread in the toaster and hesitated, debating
whether he should put some in for Stephen.  He shrugged and tossed a couple
of extra slices in, figuring he'd eat them if Stephen didn't want them.
The toast had just popped up and he was buttering them when Stephen walked
into the kitchen.  Eloy turned to gaze appreciatively as he did so.  He had
seen him hesitate in the bedroom and knew he had thought about going for
the robe.  Actually, he was pleased that Stephen hadn't, because maybe he
had taken his urging to heart about being more accepting of himself.
Besides, he provided one hell of a view this way.

    Stephen tried not to feel too awkward as he walked in the doorway. He
knew that Eloy was watching him so he tried to act nonchalant, moving over
to the table and pulling out a chair so he could sit down. Eloy turned
away, hiding his smile as he piled the toast on the plate and brought it to
the table.  He then poured them both some coffee and sat down at the table
across from Stephen.

    "I made some toast in case you got hungry," he said as he reached for a
piece and put it on the place mat.  Stephen smiled in appreciation and took
a slice to nibble on. " I figured we wouldn't need to eat much if we're
going over to Mama's for lunch later."

    "That's fine with me," Stephen said. He pulled the sugar bowl closer
and added some sugar to his coffee.  "I've never been one for breakfast,
usually." Then, feeling impish, he stretched out a foot and rested it on
Eloy's knee.

    "Are you still interested in going out on a boat today?" Eloy smiled in
response and reached under the table to massage it. "If so, we can go out
to the harbor and get a sailboat. How does that sound?" He then scooted
forward so that Stephen's foot rested against his crotch and he started
rubbing himself against Stephen's foot.

     "That sounds great, hon, but we don't have to go to any special
trouble you know.  What's important to me is being here with you. What we
do doesn't matter."  Stephen tried to pull away but Eloy kept a grip on the
foot in his lap. "What I would like to do is to get something special to
bring over for lunch today with your mother and Lucienne. Any ideas on that
front?"  Stephen laughed softly and put his other foot in Eloy's lap so
that he could turn the tables on him.

    Eloy was delighted with Stephen being so audacious. What he found
especially amusing was that they were calmly eating toast and drinking
their coffee like nothing was happening beneath the table.  "Well, along
the way there's a lovely bakery that we could stop off and pick something
up, if that's what you'd like."  He had to admit to himself that by this
point he wasn't really concentrating on the conversation, since Stephen was
proving to be a bit of a distraction with his actions.

    "Hmmm, that might work.  Or perhaps something for the house that she
might need?" Stephen said, trying to keep his hand from trembling as he
reached for his coffee mug.  He was happy to see that his hand was steady
as he brought the mug to his lips to drink.  He was also amused to notice
that Eloy's face had an arrested expression with his own mug poised halfway
to his mouth as he moved his foot against Eloy's erection.

    "Wat?" Eloy asked, trying to focus on what Stephen was saying.  He
wasn't succeeding too well at it, either.  Stephen repeated his comment
while trying to suppress his laughter.

    "Oh, no. Nothing like that, liefste. Just something for lunch would be
fine." Eloy said.  He shifted a bit, caught between Stephen's feet and
unable to stop himself from enjoying what he was doing.

    "Okay, if you think so," Stephen said innocently as he grabbed another
slice of toast and took a bite out of it.  He was starting to feel sorry
for Eloy since his idea had obviously backfired on him. "What time do we
have to be over there?"

    "Huh?" Eloy said, his eyes almost glazing over. "Lunchtime, I suppose."
He made a concerted effort to concentrate on what Stephen was saying and
fortified himself by taking a large gulp of coffee before immediately
refilling the cup from the pot.

    "What time is it now?" Stephen asked, stretching a bit more so he could
raise his foot up and down.  He stroked Eloy this way and had to bite his
bottom lip to stop himself from grinning.

     "Beats me," Eloy said, his cup poised halfway between his mouth and
the table.  He focused briefly on what he was doing so he wouldn't make a
mess of the kitchen and put his coffee cup down with one shaking hand.
Then he gave up the pretense of holding a conversation with Stephen and
just gave into enjoying what he was doing.  He dropped his hands down into
his lap and stroked Stephen's feet as they stroked him.

     The phone ringing distracted them from what was going on.  Eloy
groaned and looked over to the phone sitting on the counter.  Stephen
laughed softly.

     "You know, that's probably important." He said, making no attempt to
stop his actions.  As the phone rang again, Eloy tried to reach out a hand
to get it from where he sat, but he was sitting too far away.  He turned to
look at Stephen.

    "We could always like the machine pick it up, I guess." He said.
Stephen smiled at him.  He knew that it was driving Eloy nuts and he
decided to be nice and stop what he was doing.

    "You should get it, you know.  It might be important." Eloy sighed as
Stephen dropped his feet out of his lap.  He slid the chair across the
linoleum so he could reach the phone and picked it up just before the
machine kicked in.

    "Hallo?" Eloy asked, trying to keep his voice even at the interruption.
"Ja, this is he. Ah, it's good to talk with you again, too. Yes, very well,
and you?"  When he had been quiet a while, Stephen looked up from the table
and noticed that a smile was spreading across Eloy's face as he listened to
whoever was on the other end.

    "Is that right?  No, nothing was said at all." Eloy nodded as he
listened some more and Stephen leaned on the table, curious about whom he
was talking to. "Yes, well, distracting is one word I would use, that's
true."

    As the conversation on and Stephen started to pay attention to the
answers that Eloy was giving, he began to get suspicious. Whoever it was on
the other end was grilling Eloy and Stephen was getting a sneaking feeling
he knew whom it might be.  He forgot about their earlier teasing and
started focusing more on what Eloy was saying.  Eloy got up and started
checking the plants hanging around the room as he talked.

    "I would say so, yes, most definitely," Eloy said with a chuckle. "I
look forward to that time myself.  Hopefully it will be sooner than later."
He idly pulled some dead leaves off of one of the plants and dropped it in
the bin.  "Of course, I supposed it would be better if you heard from him
yourself.  Would you like to speak with him?"

    Stephen looked up, startled. "It isn't," he breathed softly. He didn't
know whether to be angry or laugh about his sister's interruption.  Eloy
held out the phone for him to take, smiling lightly.

    "Well, apparently, you did tell her you'd call her," he said mildly.
Eloy watched the colour drain out of Stephen's face as he realised he
hadn't given a thought to calling his sister like he had promised.  He
chuckled as Stephen got up from the chair and walked over to where he was
leaning against the counter. He took the receiver out of Eloy's hand and
put it up to his ear.

    "Oh God, Shel, I'm so sorry!" he said contritely.  He knew how much she
hated the fact that he made these promises and then didn't keep them. "I
totally forgot.  It's just that once we got here, Eloy was so tired when he
showed up, and then he threw his back out and I..." He stopped talking as
Michelle replied to his apology before grinning sheepishly.  "Well, yeah,
that too."

    Eloy watched him with an amused expression on his face before wrapping
his arms around Stephen from behind. "Should I get on the extension?" he
murmured in Stephen's free ear while his sister chattered on the phone.
Stephen shook his head but Eloy didn't pay attention and walked into the
living room without a backward glance.

     He picked up the extension in the living room and sat down on the sofa
to listen in.

     "Eloy," Stephen admonished softly as his sister broke off at the sound
of another phone being picked up.  She laughed.

     "Oh, all the better, honey," Michelle said.  "This way I can talk to
my two favorite guys at the same time."

     "And since when did Eloy become your favorite guy?" Stephen asked
suspiciously.  He made his way through the kitchen door and walked into the
living room to see Eloy sprawled out on the sofa.

     "Well, the answer is obvious," she said matter of factly. "The day you
told me he showed such good taste as to say he was in love with you."  Eloy
chuckled appreciatively at her comment.

    "Ah well, that's true." Stephen said with a grin as he sat down on the
end of the sofa.  Eloy put his feet in Stephen's lap and he tickled them
lightly in response.  "I guess I have to give him some credit, then."

     "Yes, you do.  Especially since he was so kind as to have his number
listed when I called looking for it." Michelle said smugly.

     "You do?" Stephen said, looking at Eloy in shock.

     "I do?" Eloy said with a surprised voice.  He shook his head at
Stephen, mystified.

     "Well, as De Jong," Michelle said.  "I just picked the first E that
was listed and tried that. Guess it was the right one."

     "You're shiting me," Stephen said. "You mean, at any moment his fans
could be calling here? Eloy, what were you thinking?"

     "Actually, come to think of it, I wasn't, when I set up the phone
line.  I just had them connect it and didn't pay too much attention." Eloy
admitted.  "I'll have to fix that later."

     "Yeah, you nutcase," Stephen said, pushing at Eloy's shoulder in
amusement.  "I can't believe you."

     "Boys, boys, I'm joking!" Michelle said.  "Stephen, think about it.
Do you really think I got his number from information?"

    "Well, how did you, then?" Stephen demanded, really wanting to know how
she had tracked him down. "Tell me."

    They heard a long-suffering sigh come through the phone line. "Stephen,
who manages all your bills?" She asked patiently.

    Stephen stared blankly at Eloy, trying to figure out where she was
heading.  "Erm, you do." He said.

    "Mmm hmmm," She said approvingly.  "And to who pays your mobile bill?"

     "Awww, shite," Stephen said softly, finally making the connection.
"How'd you figure it out?"

     "Well, let's see," she said with a teasing note in her voice. "I
looked at the bill and low and behold, there was only one number from
Amsterdam on it.  Elementary, dear brother.

     "So, enough of that.  I want to get back to the interesting stuff.
How's your love life, Eloy?" While Stephen sputtered, Eloy roared with
laughter.

     "Absolutely fantastic Michelle," he said, settling in for a long chat
with Stephen's sister.  Stephen was still trying to figure out a way to
stop their conversation, but couldn't come up with something suitable.
"I've met the most wonderful man, you see."

     "Oh, is that so?" She said with a laugh.  "Tell me about him."

     "Where to start. Well, he's gorgeous to start," Eloy said
confidentially, which made Stephen reach out and swat him on the
shoulder. "Dark hair, lovely blue eyes.  Eyes you could absolutely drown
in."  Stephen rolled his eyes at the comment and stifled a laugh.

     "I know the type.  He sounds lovely." Michelle said in a muffled voice
as she tried to stifle her laughter. "What happened when you met him?"

     "The first time?" Eloy said, thinking back with a smile. "We were
backstage at some tv show in Germany.  I literally walked into him.
Flattened the poor man.  Lord, I was mortified."

     "Oh no!" Michelle giggled. "I can imagine. What happened?"

     "He was lovely.  Completely blamed it all on himself," Eloy said,
reminiscing about the first time he had met Stephen.  Stephen kept quiet
for the most part, other than spouting with a muffled laugh at times as
they went on.

     "So when did you know he was the one?" Michelle asked, delighted that
Eloy was playing along with her.  Alan gave her a curious glance as he
walked in the door, but just assumed she was on the phone with one of her
girlfriends from home from the way she was talking.

     "Oh, that part was hard," Eloy said with a mischievous glance at
Stephen, who was listening intently by this point.  "He had to practically
hit me over the head at that point.  You see, he knew that he was right for
me long before I was ready to admit it to myself.  But luckily he's the
patient sort, and he waited until I was ready."

     "Was that the night you jumped his bones?" Michelle said with another
giggle, not noticing that Alan had walked into the house and had made his
way to the kitchen to make himself a pot of tea.  She heard Stephen's
muffled gasp at her comment and had to contain herself.

     "No, we did that before I realised it." Eloy said with a low
laugh. "He was all over me that day.  Did he ever tell you how it
happened?"  He ignored Stephen's swats and just moved his leg to intercept
his hand.

    "Not a word, unfortunately," Michelle sighed dramatically.  "I've been
dying of curiosity, too."  She could just imagine the look on Stephen's
face at this moment and marveled at the fact that he hadn't interrupted
either of them by this point.

    "Well, I was innocently straightening up the room we were staying in at
Disney when he launched this assault on me," Eloy started saying.

    "That's a lie!" Stephen interjected hotly, but Eloy kept on talking
over him without a pause.

    "And he pushed me down on the bed.  I couldn't get away," Eloy
confided. "He had his way with me, Michelle."

    "And you loved every minute of it, didn't you?" She laughed.

    "Absolutely," Eloy laughed.  "And my life hasn't been the same since,
I'm happy to say."

    "Well, honey, what do you have to say for yourself?" Michelle asked,
laughter trembling in her question.  Alan gave her a curious glance but
went back to the drawing he was sketching out for a client on some paper in
the den.

    "He's lying through his teeth," Stephen said, trying to keep a serious
tone in his voice.  He knew that they were both joking, but he couldn't
hold back his surprise at how well they immediately played off of each
other.  It was like they had known each other for years.  He found it a bit
scary, actually.

    "I am not!" Eloy said sternly, digging his heel into Stephen's
thigh. "You behave when you are talking to your sister."

    "I am behaving, Eloy," Stephen said. "You're the one causing trouble."

     "Am not," Eloy asserted.

     "Am too," Stephen replied.  He reached out to tweak Eloy's nose with
his hand, but got it caught in Eloy's hand.

     "All right," Michelle interjected.  "Tell me what really happened."

     "You mean, after I jumped his bones?" Stephen asked with a grin.  That
made Michelle and Eloy laugh that he jumped into the same story without
missing a beat. "Well, once I made him my sex slave, everything else was
easy."

     "Oh?" Eloy and Michelle both said in unison.  They all laughed at
their reaction.

     "You two are too much," Stephen said with a laugh.  Eloy nodded while
his sister laughingly agreed on the other end of the phone.  "I shudder to
think of the day I get you two in the same room.  I'm not sure that the
world could take it."

     "I'm sure the world would manage," Michelle said tartly. "And you
behave yourself, mister.  You're still on my shite list for not calling me
back."

     "I'm sorry, honey," Stephen said softly, really feeling awful about
it.

     "Blame me, Michelle," Eloy said, interceding on Stephen's
behalf. "Between coming here and meeting my family, we all succeeded in
distracting Stephen."

     Michelle was suitably distracted by Eloy's comment. "Oh, that's right.
How was meeting the family, Stephen?"

     "Fantastic," Stephen said with a grin.  "Lucienne picked me up at the
airport because Eloy was too lazy to do it."  Stephen grunted as Eloy dug
his toes into his side.  "But she was an absolute doll.  You're going to
love her when you finally get a chance to meet her."

     "I bet I will," Michelle said promptly.  "And you met Eloy's mam?"

     "I did," Stephen said.  "Lenie is a sweetheart.  Made us this huge
brunch yesterday and waited on us hand and foot.  She has this beautiful
house and we sat in the backyard eating most of the afternoon."

     "Sounds like fun," Michelle commented.  Stephen made an assenting
sound and Eloy leaned back on the throw pillows and just watched his face.
Stephen was quite animated as he described their afternoon of going down
memory lane with the photographs.

     "Don't forget the best part, too." Eloy said softly.

     "What's the best part?" Michelle asked, excited that there was more.
This was more information than she had thought she would get out of either
one of them, and from the tone in Stephen's voice, he was really enjoying
himself.  She was tickled that it was all going so well for them.

     "What was the best part?" Stephen asked, giving Eloy a puzzled look.
Eloy grinned and he responded with a small smile, still not getting his
hint.

     "That my mother let us make out on her sofa." Eloy said.

     "She did?" Michelle said, surprised.

     "She did not!" Stephen said.  "Jaysus, E, make up another one!  We
didn't do anything of the sort."

     "Did too," Eloy said smugly.

     "Did not," Stephen replied.  They went back and forth in this vein
until Michelle interrupted their argument.

     "Tell me what DID happen then," she said, dying to know what was going
on.

     "Awww, nothing like that, Shel.  We were just foolin' on the sofa and
Eloy gave me a kiss is all," Stephen said diffidently, not wanting to make
a big deal out of it.

     "Yeah, a 10 minute kiss," Eloy said smugly.  Stephen swatted him, but
he ignored it.

     "You didn't!" Michelle said, laughing.  She tried to picture it
herself, but couldn't.

     "We did," Eloy said, overriding Stephen's protests. "For some reason,
we tend to lose track of time when we kiss.  Lost the whole morning that
way."

     "Well, we did that," Stephen admitted wryly.

     "Sounds like you two are lost, then." Michelle said. "I'm so thrilled
for you both."

     "Awww, thanks, sweetie." Stephen said with a grin.  "This is the
best."

     "Ja, it is." Eloy said, reaching out with one hand to grip Stephen's
arm.  "I love your brother very much, Michelle."

    "Awww, sweet." Michelle said softly, shivering at the tone in Eloy's
voice.  "Honey, I have to meet you.  I think we'd have a blast."

    "Ja, we would." Eloy asserted.

    "I'm not sure that I could stand it," Stephen said softly.  They all
laughed.

    "Stephen, I have a question for you," Michelle said, her tone getting
serious.  "Would you rather stay with Eloy than come home?"

    Eloy and Stephen looked at each other, tempted by the thought. Stephen
sighed, torn.  But he knew that with Eloy doing promotional work, they
really wouldn't get to see each other.

    "I'd love to, but I promised Jordan I'd be there this weekend. Plus,
Eloy has a lot of work over the next week or so."  Eloy nodded, a bit glum
at the thought. "I'll be back over in a couple of weeks, so that will be
fine."

    "Are you sure?" Michelle pressed, hearing the hesitation in his voice.

    "Yeah, I miss you, Shel.  I think it's time I spent a few days with
you, no?" Stephen said with a slight smile.

    "Ja, he'd just be hanging around my apartment, wandering around like a
ghost, otherwise," Eloy said.  He would love to have Stephen stay, but he
knew it wouldn't be fair to him. "And I would hate for his nephew to be
disappointed."

    "Well, you'll just have to come over for a visit then," Michelle said
with a laugh.

    "I want to," Eloy promised. "Once this round of promotion is over."  He
glanced at the mantel clock and saw that it was getting late.  "As much fun
as this has been, we do have to run.  We're supposed to be at my mother's
for lunch today."

    "Oh, don't let me keep you, then." Michelle said, understandingly.
"Just make sure that my brother calls me with details about his flight home
before he leaves, will you, Eloy honey?"

    "I will," Eloy said, suppressing a laugh. Stephen snorted.

    "I'll call you later, honey." Stephen promised.  "Really I will."

     "All right then.  You two have fun!" Michelle said and they rang off.
Eloy chuckled as he thought about the conversation before lifting his feet
out of Stephen's lap.

    "C'mon, we have to go get ready."  He stood up and held out a hand to
Stephen.  Stephen shut off the phone and put it down on the end table
before taking Eloy's hand and following him to the bathroom for a shower
before getting dressed.