Friends & Lovers

It was the last night of the tour, and Ian and Sean hadn’t spoken about that night onstage at all. Truth to tell, they hadn’t even been alone in a room together since it happened; Ian had always seemed to have somewhere to be when they were left alone. Sean’s hands had started permanently shaking - the pain in his chest every time he saw the other man was too much to bear.

Since the tour was ending, Gavin and Jamie had planned a huge party to celebrate and, in Gavin’s words, “live it up Welsh-style!” Sean had a bad feeling about partying with Lostprophets, and Ian in particular, but he had no choice. “Maybe it’ll be fun...” he murmured to himself, fixing his white-blond hair in the hotel mirror. He sighed, smoothed down his clothes, and left for the party.

.......................

They had found a house for the event - it was already in full swing by the time Sean arrived. He took a moment after getting out of the taxi to prepare himself, putting himself into a ‘party’ mindset and pushing all depressing thoughts to the back of his mind. He put on his trademark grin, and pushed the door open.

He was greeted instantly by an already plastered Snoz throwing himself at him with a cry of “SSEEEAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!” Sean laughed and carefully prised him off him, but Snoz held onto his shirt, and told him “dude your name is Smith... like Smithy in Gavin and Ssstacey... dude that is SO COOL!”

Sean unhooked Snoz’s hands from his shirt and said, “but Snoz, Smithy in Gavin and Stacey is english!” Once that had sunk in, the other man looked heartbroken by this, and Sean left him swaying in the hallway, a faraway look in his unfocused eyes. Sean picked up a drink and moved further into the party, telling himself he wasn’t looking for Ian.

Three hours and only 4 beers later, the singer was feeling a little worse for wear. He was almost completely sober, but acting drunk for the benefit of the others - he was currently in the middle of the main room, dancing sloppily with the few people left conscious and keeping one eye on Gavin, who was making out ferociously with Joel against the wall. There was a girl checking him out, but she looked a little rough and he wasn’t thinking romantically at the moment; he hadn’t seen Ian all night. The song ended, and he took the opportunity to slip away from the crowds under the pretence of getting another drink. He stepped into the kitchen and looked around. It was blissfully deserted... or so he thought.

The door swung shut behind Sean, a pair of strong, tattooed arms wrapped around his waist, and he smelled a familiar musky scent as a low voice murmured next to his ear, “hi.”

He froze.

Ian.

The older man had clearly been drinking, but Sean didn’t care - his brain had shut down the second Ian had touched him. Now, he raised one hand to run his fingertips lightly over Sean’s neck, his body pressed flush against his back and his other hand hooked into his belt. “How ya been?” he whispered softly, his breath against Sean’s cheek dissolving the other boy’s ability to respond. Ian must have sensed this, for he chuckled softly and spun the stunned man to face him. He slammed his lips against Sean’s, kissing him fast and rough ‘til his head swam and stars burst in front of his eyes. Ian pulled away, but only far enough to press his lips to the shell of Sean’s ear and whisper, “let’s go upstairs...”