This party's great, Mike!" Brett shouted in Mike's ear over the loud music thumping through the speakers of his stereo. "I wish you could get a new place every week!" Brett smiled and patted him on the shoulder and danced off into the crowd of people in the room.
Mike had invited all of his old collage friends to his house warming party. The old apartment he'd been living in had been a real dump. This was a larger, quite nicer one.
This new place was very nice, actually. Exactly his style. Clean cut, classy, but still kind of cosy, in lack of a better word. He didn't have time to dwell over the matter, though, as his guests were busily tugging at him, wanting him to be everywhere at ones.
Justin eyed the crowd in the living room from his slightly higher position in the balcony doorway. The crisp night air cooled his back as the heat from inside warmed his face. His eyes had fallen on the host of the evening, Mike's mind-melting grin grazing everyone in his path as he made his way over to the drinks table. God, the boy was a sight for sore eyes…
Justin's eyes left Mike temporarily to let them wander over the interior of the apartment he had gotten. It was a very nice place, with the kitchen, living room and balcony at the ground floor and an open stairwell leading to a loft where the open bedroom was looking over the living room. With the open fireplace and the huge panorama windows at the balcony, it made quite the place. It fit Mike to live in a place like this. Very masculine, but still with a lot of style and class.
The sound of a crash woke Justin out of his thoughts and his gaze sought the source. His eyes were met by the sight of Mike on his knees, picking up pieces of glass from the floor by the stairs. Justin put his own drink down and took some quick strides through the crowd over to the scene and bent down to help Mike.
"Be careful, there." He said as he picked up some glass at his feet. "Don't wanna be cutting your fingers of, now do we?"
The dark, rich voice woke Mike from his mantra of cursing himself and he looked up from his nice handiwork and met Justin's deep blue eyes.
"No, I guess not." He smiled at the unexpected help. The others were to busy with dancing, talking and laughing, so no one had offered to help him. Except Justin. "I feel so clumsy. There really wasn't any reason for me to drop the glasses to start with!"
He balanced back on to his feet and stood as Justin did the same, assuming most of the shards had been removed from the floor.
"Thank you! Really appreciate it!" Mike flashed Justin a grin and inclined his head backwards.
"Follow me!" He held the pieces of glass in his cupped hands and turned to walk to the kitchen.
Justin followed Mike past their partying cast mates and put the glass in the bin Mike held out to him ones they'd reached the kitchen. Mike put the bin back in place under the sink and turned to Justin.
"So, what do you think of my new place, Justin?" He asked him as he leaned back and supported his hands on the edge of the sink, facing Justin. Justin crossed his arms in front of his chest comfortably and put his weight on his left leg, giving his hips a nice tilt. Mike noticed and swallowed quickly, his gaze returning to meet Justin's.
"Well… I was just thinking back there how much I liked it. It's very…Mike!" He flashed him a grin and gesticulated with one of his hands in front of him to emphasize the point. Mike returned the grin and nodded.
"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" He chuckled and lifted his wrist to get a look at the time. "I guess the others like it too… It's past 3.15, for Christ sake! I'm never getting these people out of here!" he said in mock despair and rolled his eyes at the crowd they could see through the wide kitchen door way. Justin chuckled.
"Well, just let me know if you need any help throwing any of them out the door. I'd be happy to assist you!" He smiled, padded Mike's upper arm gently and threw him a wink before leaving the kitchen to head for the balcony again, not knowing why he suddenly felt like he was in desperate need for air.
Mike followed Justin's retreating form with his eyes and felt kind of left alone. The spot where Justin had touched him still tingled and he felt goose bumps rise all over his body. He tried to tell himself that this was insane.
The possibility of Justin returning his feelings where at the absolute minimum. He'd developed this crush on Justin since their first meeting as room mates in college and it didn't show any signs of being lessened with time. Quite the opposite, actually. The broad shouldered, proud, dark beauty that was Justin seemed to be crowding his thoughts more and more lately.
He shrugged off that line of thought and returned to the living room.
The first person he got hold on was Brett.
"Hi, Brett! Having a good time? Excellent! Hey, don't wanna sound rude, but don't you think you should be getting yourself home soon?" He smiled at him and before Brett had a chance to reply, he added "And be sure to get some of the other guys with you!"
Mike padded his shoulder. "Great! Thanks, buddy!" He left Brett standing and continued his path into the crowd. Brett snorted and muttered under his breath, shaking his head slightly.
Justin had seated himself on the balcony with a fresh drink in hand. He sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned back into the comfortable chair and took a long draught of his quite potent drink. He was all alone out in the brisk night air, his thoughts returning to the boy his mind had seemed to have fixated itself on lately. The expressive brown eyes, slim body and that cute tussle of hair on his head… My, my… What a beauty he was.
He could hear the volume of the music lower inside the apartment and looked over his shoulder. He saw Mike and it looked like he was trying to get people out, without being too pushy.
Justin got up from his seat and slowly followed the steady stream of merry party participants towards the front door, where Mike was standing, hugging people and waving them off. Most of the guests had left, when it was Justin's turn to say goodnight to Mike.
"Terrific party, Mikie! Got to do it again some time!" He smiled at Mike, who smiled back. "But now I guess I'd better get going…" He started to walk through the door, when suddenly Mike took hold of his arm and drew him back inside.
"No, stay!" When Justin's eyebrows lifted questionably, Mike realized how that had come out and abruptly let go of his arm.
"I mean… I was hoping someone could stay and keep me company while I cleared up the worst of the mess in here… I mean, if it's not too much to ask… I could fix you a cup of coffee or tee or…" He smiled shyly and lowered his face a little, looking at his feet in embarrassment.
"Of course I'll stay! I'll even help you with the clearing! And a cup of coffee sounds great…" Justin smiled when Mike lifted his head and grinned widely at him.
How could he deny the incredibly beautiful man anything? And besides…the prospect of being really alone with Mike for the first time since his realisation, and it was something he didn't want to miss!
As the last of the guests left Mike's apartment, Justin started to pick up glasses and cocktail napkins. Mike closed the door, leaned against it and sighed heavily.
"God, I never thought they'd leave!" He chuckled as he walked up to the stereo and put on some mixed CD with slow songs he had gotten from a friend ones.
He looked over to the other side of the room, where Justin was busy scraping peanuts of the snack table into the bin he held in his hand and Mike drank in the sight of the very nice behind presented to him.
He shook his head, smiling slightly and started picking up the empty beer bottles standing on the nearest table. They went about in the apartment and managed to get it pretty much in shape again, except for the dishes… That, Mike would have to deal with in the morning.
"Go get yourself comfortable and I'll put on the coffee!" Mike waived Justin out on the balcony, dimmed the lighting and headed for the kitchen.
Justin sat in the chair he had left earlier and glanced at his wrist watch. It was nearing 4.00 a.m. No point in going home and getting to bed at this hour. If you're awake now, you might as well be awake the rest of the day, he thought as he sat and watched the stars.
