His sleep fogged brain barely registered the touch of the other man's slender fingers as they pushed back the tangle of blonde hair. He could sense his nearness, but it wasn't until those soft lips pressed against his cheek that he came fully awake.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Randy whispered.

A quick hand shot from beneath the covers and grabbed the collar of his jacket.

"Not so fast."

And without pause he was pulled into a much nicer kiss. Warm, lingering.....something to carry him through the day.

Chris curled his fingers around the younger man's neck and traced his lips with the tip of his tongue. Then he reluctantly pulled back, a dreamy smile on his face.

"Mmmmm...you're sweet."

"It's the toothpaste," Randy laughed.

Chris opened his eyes all the way and studied the tall, slender figure standing over him.

"Don't underestimate yourself Randall."

Randy laughed, and found himself feeling only half guilty that he had awakened Chris. Seeing him lying there, tangled in the sheets, brought back memories of the previous night.

Long, slow kisses..the kind they never seemed to have time for anymore, followed by sex. Raw, hot passion. Two bodies striving for the ultimate pleasure. A coupling so perfect it had left him dizzy. Just thinking about it made him want to slide back into their bed and say the hell with Smackdown. But he figured he was walking a thin line there these days, so like it or not, duty would win out. This time anyway.

"I gotta go," he sighed wistfully. "I'll be back tomorrow afternoon."

Chris laced his hands behind his head and watched Randy zip up his coat. "Ok...I'll be here. And do me a favor ok?"

Randy looked up expectantly.

"Smile would ya? Nothing is ever as bad as you think it is."

Randy pursed his lips and then grinned. "Thank you oh wise one. I'll call you when the plane lands."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later Chris strolled lazily into the kitchen to pour himself some coffee. He knew there would be half a pot waiting for him. As he headed for the simmering brew something caught his eye. A package lay on the table. One that didn't look to be anything out of the ordinary. Wrapped in plain white paper with a single sheet of stationery folded in half on top, it actually looked quite innocent.

But as Chris took a tentative step towards it and reached out to grasp the note, his inner voice told him that it was exactly what he thought it was.

A gift for Valentine's Day.

The thing they had both agreed not to do.

Not that Chris had anything against gift giving. He just had this thing about Valentine's Day. He wasn't what you'd call overly romantic and he sure as hell didn't like the greeting card industry telling him when to express his feelings. But as usual, Randy was a different story.

He was a true romantic. He never hid his emotions and was always eager to express his affection. Over the years it had probably brought him a lot more heartache than he deserved. But it was that same openness that had eventually broken through Chris' carefully constructed barriers. It hadn't turned the blonde into a bubbly, gift giving simp. But it had opened him up to the joys of loving someone without reservation.

His first thought was to simply ignore the package. Place the note back where he had found it and walk away. But a sudden image of Randy, his soft, gray eyes filled with hurt, made him think twice.

"You make me crazy," he muttered as he flipped the page open and began to read.

"I can just picture your face right now. You're seething because you think I bought you something for Valentine's Day. Well, you're wrong. Take a look. No hearts, no flowers. It's just a little something I thought you might like.

I was trying to kill some time last week before the show so I went for a walk. I found this great old record shop so I had to go in. I guess living with you all this time has rubbed off on me.

Anyway.....I started browsing around when I noticed they had an entire section of old LPs...you know...the stuff you old timers used to listen to."

Chris actually laughed out loud.

"I was glancing through them and I found a couple you had mentioned to me a while back. In spite of what you think, I really do listen when you talk music. So I picked them up for you. It's too late for Christmas and way too early for your birthday. But I figured you'd like them just the same.

The fact that today is Valentine's Day is purely coincidence. You don't have to worry about me including any references about how much I love you or how happy I am with you. I think you probably know all that anyway.

So consider this a "Happy Tuesday" gift if you want.

I'll talk to you later. Randy"

Chris folded the note in half and carefully laid it down. Then he tore the paper from the box to examine what was inside. Damned if the kid wasn't right. He really did listen. The albums were in mint condition and must have cost him a few pretty pennies.

"Yeah...you really do make me crazy," he echoed much more softly.

And at that moment he didn't feel so funny about the card he had slipped into Randy's bag when he wasn't looking. It wasn't much. And not nearly as expensive as the vinyl he held in his hands. But in his heart he knew that Randy wouldn't see it that way.



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