A cool Florida breeze disturbed the partly drawn curtains of the simple hotel room that they decorated. A sharp beam of silver moonlight cut through the darkness of the room illuminating a path from the window to the double bed that dominated the surroundings. The room's occupant slept lightly, his sleep easily disturbed as the moonlight shone on his relaxed face but it was not the light that disturbed his dreams.

Soft pain rocked his body whenever he turned inside the soft cotton sheets. His thigh stung with the tightness of a bruise that he knew would mar his skin for days and his muscled shoulders ached with the force of several bone shaking bumps. The only part of him that did not throb with the strains of earlier that night was his head which although clear of any pain was muddled with his sweet success.

It had been a tough thirty minutes but it had been worth suffering every second of pain to achieve the victory that followed. Not even his participation in the Gauntlet match immediately after when he could hardly walk let alone wrestle was enough to take the shine away. It had been a tight, close win but AJ Styles had wrestled long enough to know that a 1-0 win in an Ironman match was equally as glorious as any other score line.

And anytime that win came at the expense of Christopher Daniels was just that little bit more special.

There was something about Christopher Daniels that made AJ lose all rationality. There was something in that smug sneer, in that cocky walk, in those deep brown eyes that touched a part of AJ that he tried so desperately to ignore.

Or maybe it was something hidden in AJ that caused his blood to pump faster whenever those brown eyes fixed on his blue ones.

AJ cleared his mind of Fallen Angels and relaxed into the double pillows beneath his momentarily clear head. He stretched out his arms and kicked off the cotton sheet that had wrapped painfully around his damaged thigh. His eyes came to rest on the gap in the curtains and he could see the half moon in the clear sky that was illuminating his bare chest so wickedly. He finally fell into a deep sleep as the moon watched over him closely, it's light continuing to stroke his skin.

*~*~*~

AJ's eyes strained to focus as they opened from their much needed sleep. The LCD display on the cheap alarm clock showed that although he had slept undisturbed for a couple of hours it was still far to early to consider rising. The room was bathed in a temporary darkness brought on by the thick cloud that was covering the moon and AJ heard a primitive warning voice in a long forgotten part of his mind warning him of something…

"Finally awake?"

The something spoke and it took AJ a few moments to place the voice that spoke to him from the darkness. "Daniels? What are ya doing here? How did ya get in here?"

The cloud passed allowing moonlight to penetrate the darkness again and AJ could see Christopher sitting patiently in the corner. Watching. He sat back in the armchair, his legs stretched out before him and crossed at his ankles as his hands rested in his lap. AJ scrambled for the discarded bed sheet and covered himself inexplicably feeling an urge to place any barrier, no matter how thin, between himself and the indescribable look in Christopher's eyes. Despite the darkness that cloaked the room with an air of mystery those eyes were as clear and bright as the midday sun. A sly grin broke out on Chris' face as AJ fought to cover himself from his gaze and he politely waited for AJ to stop struggling before answering the valid questions. He wanted AJ's full attention as he spoke.

"You stole that victory, and my title, from me. I want to discuss that. As for how I got in here… That'll remain my secret."

AJ frowned and rubbed his temple. The pains racking his body had been forgotten by Daniels' appearance in his room but the mind games that he knew were forthcoming were already starting to give him a headache. "I ain't got anything to say to ya. Leave your mind games until I'm awake enough to care."

"That's exactly why we need to discuss things now. I'm a firm believer that the cold light of day only makes things more confused."

"What?" AJ scoffed before melting back into the bed beneath him, "I told ya already, I ain't in the mood for your games or your riddles."

"I find that darkness sheds the real light'' Chris continued, choosing to ignore AJ's obvious displeasure at finding him in his room. "Are you afraid of the dark AJ?"

AJ frowned again. He hated the way Christopher spoke his name. When away from the cameras he put so much emphasis on those two simple letters that it never failed to cause a reaction that AJ wasn't entirely sure he could handle. It wasn't a name when spoken by Chris' honey voice, it was more a command and an order to listen and do whatever or answer whatever was asked of him.

And he fell for it every time.

"No."

"Are you afraid of me?"

AJ laughed lightly in disbelief as he sat up with renewed confidence, the sheet falling to his waist as he trained his gaze on Chris who was staring back at him with an equally hard and penetrating gaze. The intensity in those eyes forced AJ to blink and concentrate on the infinitely safer moonlight that was now lying against his covered thighs. "No. I beat you tonight, remember?"

"I'm not talking about inside the wrestling ring AJ."

Christopher stood up and approached AJ's bed, stopping just short when he saw the involuntary stiffness that entered AJ's limbs. He was willing to keep a safe distance from the wary man before him. For now at least. "Are you afraid of me when our eyes meet in the locker room? Are you afraid when we're staying in the same hotel and my room is only a few doors away from yours? You're far too capable a wrestler to fear anyone inside any ring, regardless of the number of sides, but what about here, in the real world, when there's no titles and no wrestling skills to hide behind?"

"I ain't afraid of anyone, anywhere," AJ said firmly.

Christopher smiled broadly at AJ's expected response. "You could at least sound confident when you lie to me."

"I ain't lying."

"Lies don't become one as sweet as you."

Chris took advantage of AJ's surprise at his comment to move closer to him, his body placed in the perfect position to block the still intruding moonlight. It was almost comical to him to see the confusion and uncertainty etched into the youthful features of the man that still sat half naked before him. He could practically see AJ's mind trying to analyse the comment, just like AJ would analyse any kind words that were said about him. Christopher couldn't help but wonder what had made AJ so unsure of himself that every compliment, be it from friend or foe, had to be analysed and scanned before accepted at face value.

The headache that threatened to take hold earlier had finally arrived in AJ's mind and was causing his thoughts to pound as he tried to make sense of what was happening. He didn't even realise that Christopher was standing so close to him that he could hear him breathe until the already dull light offered by the moon became even duller. He looked at him, taking in the black silk shirt and black trousers that hugged his waist so tightly and snugly that it made AJ's mouth dry. The blocked moonlight was able to escape a little around Christopher's sides and illuminated him like a protective silver halo.

AJ closed his eyes and unsuccessfully tried to block that something inside of him that was causing his pulse to his race and temperature to rise.

"What's wrong AJ? Am I unnerving you by standing this close?"

The knowing look in Chris' eyes showed that he knew without doubt how his presence was effecting AJ but AJ still refused to give him the satisfaction of admitting to his unease. "No. I just don't wanna play your games."

Christopher chuckled slightly as he swiftly sat on the bed. AJ knew that he'd question his decision in the morning but at that point in time, in that bed and on that night, it seemed the most natural thing in the world to allow a fierce enemy to sit beside him. He didn't even flinch at the feel of Chris' thigh brushing against his own.

"Have you ever wanted something that you can't have?" Chris asked wistfully, his head tilting to one side as he studied AJ's reaction.

"No," AJ lied again. "If ya want something but can't have it then maybe it's best that ya never get it."

"Why is that?" Chris asked, puzzled by AJ's answer.

"Well there's probably a good reason why ya can't have it and sometimes ya have to accept that not everything you want is good for ya."

"What if you want it so much that all of your waking hours are consumed by possessing it?"

AJ paused. "What are we talkin' about?"

"Just answer the question AJ."

"No-one should possess anythin' that isn't theirs."

"That's not the answer I was hoping for," Christopher said honestly. "Can I tell you a secret?"

AJ's answer stuck in his throat as Christopher leaned closer. The reflected moonlight in Chris' brown eyes blinded him and he had the sudden urge to bolt from the room. But he couldn't. Those eyes had him pinned and eager for whatever Chris had planned and he knew that he couldn't escape from that room no matter what he tried. And boy did that scare him more than any fall or bump he'd ever taken in a wrestling ring.

Chris took AJ's silence as permission to continue. "I want you AJ. I want to possess you and I think you want me too."

"I…"

"Don't deny me sweetness. I've watched you for too long. Did you think that I hadn't noticed how you avoid me backstage? How the beautiful blue of your eyes dilates and hazes over whenever I look at you? Like it has right now?"

That hidden space in AJ's mind, that something that caused him to react in the way Daniels' described threatened to break through the rigid control that flowed through every cell of AJ's battered body. But it was denied a voice by the shock and turmoil brought on by Chris' words. Christopher was still watching him, dark eyes fixed on his no doubt confused face as he simply waited for AJ's response to questions AJ had never before considered.

They had little in common. They ran with different crowds. Christopher prided himself on his darkness and mind games whereas AJ had no time for either. They, and several others, were all valid reasons as to why AJ had never had a full conversation with Chris backstage but AJ knew that they were all false. Just cover stories for a truth that he had fought since his very first meeting with Daniels' several years ago.

He was scared of Christopher Daniels. Or to be more specific he was scared of what darkness and depravity Christopher Daniels could unlock in sweet little AJ Styles.

And Christopher knew AJ was scared of him just as surely as he could sense AJ's sudden realisation that the darkness was there within him and fighting for release.

"Let it go AJ," Christopher whispered as he leaned in even closer, his warm breath tickling the delicate skin of AJ's ear, "let go of your control, your shame, your fear... You don't need these feelings anymore. All they do is hold you back from what you really want."

AJ felt trapped. There were no shackles or bonds holding him down and Christopher wasn't even touching him but he felt as powerless and entangled as a fly caught in a spider's web. The breath that continued to tickle and heat his left ear sent tremors down his side and the sheer proximity of the one who had stolen every sense and logical thought in his mind made it impossible for him to consider making a break for the door that lay only a few feet to his right.

The moonlight still poked through the edges of the night's darkness and AJ shivered as the silvery light illuminated the gentle stroke of Christopher's fingers against his stomach. AJ watched spellbound as the fingers grew bolder and moved upwards, blunt fingernails raking over his sides on their trip ever higher.

"Are you willing to let go AJ?" Christopher asked softly, "can you allow your fear to leave and be replaced by something much stronger?"

AJ turned his head to look Christopher in the eyes and was shocked by what he found on his adversary's face. There was no smugness, no darkness or ulterior motives in those brown orbs just an openness and honesty that AJ had never seen from Chris before. A weak but reassuring smile appeared on Chris' previously serious face and AJ couldn't help but return the expression.

Maybe it was time to let go. Maybe it was time for AJ to stop trying to be the vision of pure, innocent perfection that everyone truly believed he was. Perfection was such a high standard to maintain and AJ was mentally tired of living up to the expectations of those who barely knew who he really was. However maybe AJ was expecting too much from his friends. How could they know the real AJ Styles when he'd lived in fear and denial for so long that he barely knew himself?

Soft and chaste kisses were showered along AJ's jaw as his mind continued to race and his bruised body automatically relaxed into the two strong arms that encircled his bare waist. The perfect AJ Styles would have left. The innocent AJ Styles would have pushed Christopher away and ran out of the door. But the battered AJ Styles that sat in that bed, on that night was neither perfect or innocent and as the kisses and reassuring feel of Chris' arms around him continued to invoke his senses he decided to let go of his fear and control and everything else that had made him avoid Chris and deny who he really was.

With every kiss on AJ's sweet skin Christopher's confidence grew. He had steeled himself for every possible reaction but had been deeply shocked at AJ's passiveness. There was no expected fight or shouts, just a barely noticeable acceptance of the kisses that had Chris so addicted. For too long he'd watched AJ without ever really knowing what it was about the confident but quiet young man that had him so hooked but then one random day in Nashville it had all become clear.

AJ was fighting. He was fighting with himself and his beliefs and Chris knew that he was just the person to make sure that the fight had the right outcome. So he'd waited patiently until the right opportunity arose, until AJ's defences were at their weakest before he'd pounced. He'd never expected that opportunity to arise earlier that night but not even the humiliation of yet another PPV loss to AJ was enough to make Christopher miss that broken and scared look in AJ's blue eyes as he'd openly wept at the end of their match. Most would attribute it to the relief of retaining his title or maybe even due to the pain that racked his body but Chris knew better. They were the tears of someone who was emotionally shattered.

But not even the all knowing Christopher Daniels expected to feel AJ's hot lips pressed against his own.

Soon the gentle pressure of lips against lips was too little to adequately quieten Chris' desire and he tentatively brushed his tongue across the seal of AJ's lips, torn between the need to take things further and the realisation that one false move, one touch too far too quickly and he was likely to lose everything he'd wanted since those days in Nashville. Even when the kiss was deepened and became more sexual than he'd ever thought a simple kiss could ever be he knew that he had to take things slowly.

However, it was so difficult to take things slowly when AJ tasted so good. It was near impossible to resist the urge to make AJ his when every sweep of his tongue was met with a uncharacteristic whimper of pleasure and lust from one who always kept those feelings so tightly locked away.

As AJ fell back onto the bed pulling Christopher on top of him, Chris knew that the most cock hardening reason of all was the realisation that all that lay between a fully clothed Fallen Angel and a near naked AJ Styles was the thinnest of cotton sheets.

Chris deftly lifted his hips and soon removed the offending linen as AJ's tongue continued to lazily stroke his mouth. When no protest came from AJ at the loss of what had once been a barrier between the pair Chris grew ever bolder and traced his hand down AJ's right side. His fingers felt the rapidly expanding and contracting muscles of AJ's rib cage and stomach that seemed to come alive under Chris' touch before hunting out the sharp lines of AJ's hips. Chris chuckled low in his throat at how perfectly moulded those hips seemed to be for his touch, it was almost as if they were created for his hands and his hands only.

Ever since AJ had first woken and found Christopher Daniels in his hotel room he'd tried everything to keep a barrier between them. He'd refused to take part in the mind games. He'd covered himself with a sheet despite spending most of his working life half naked in front of people often much stranger than Christopher could ever be but he'd taken shelter in those barriers. Just like he'd taken shelter in the barrier he'd created within him to bar those hidden, shameful and fearful emotions that Chris had so correctly identified locked away.

As AJ's hands desperately tugged at the black shirt that covered Chris from his touch he knew that every one of those defence mechanisms that he'd so carefully cultivated over a decade of denial had been destroyed. But he didn't care. Not when Chris's hands were so skilfully caressing his heated skin and the need for contact, for bare skin against his own was so demanding.

AJ barely noticed the sharp shock of pain that erupted from his bruised thigh as Chris' hands circled his heated skin and instead concentrated on tracing every muscle of Chris' back. It had been too long since he'd permitted himself to take pleasure from the simple art of touching someone and allowing someone to touch him that he'd forgotten how good something as easy and effortless as a caress could truly be.

Chris quickly removed his shirt and threw it to the ground where the black silk mixed with the white cotton of the discarded sheet. The hands on his back had ceased their exploration and he watched with rapt attention as they fumbled over the buckle on his belt. AJ didn't know if it was his nervousness, inexperience or the fire that was flowing within him but something was causing his usual co-ordination to abandon him. He cursed under his breath in frustration but couldn't ignore Chris' light chuckles.

"What's so funny?" AJ asked.

"You. I've never heard you swear before, I didn't know that you knew how to."

AJ smiled broadly as he finally defeated the belt and moved onto the button and zip behind it. "You're gonna learn all kinda things about me tonight."

"Hm," Chris mused, "I think we're both learning a lot about you AJ."

AJ frowned slightly but didn't cease his task of removing Chris' trousers. "And what exactly am I learnin'?"

"To let go. To be yourself and trust something and someone that you've avoided and fought unnecessarily."

"You my teacher?"

Chris smiled as he motioned for AJ to lie back down again. AJ complied without hesitation and watched Chris closely, blue eyes straining in the murky moonlight and his turbid lust. "I could be your teacher or your scholar," Chris said as his fingers tapped an unknown rhythm on the flat smoothness of AJ's stomach, "but learning together is much more fun."

The devilish tone that entered Chris' voice had not been lost on AJ and as he relaxed into the cool bed linen beneath his bare back his heart raced with possibilities. Chris had made him feel more alive than he could ever remember feeling and as Chris slowly peeled away AJ's pure white shorts from the smooth skin that lay behind them AJ finally realised that he'd wanted this and wanted Christopher since the first time he'd seen those chocolate brown eyes hold him in their appreciative gaze years ago.

Those same brown eyes were still studying AJ as skilful but nervous hands traced a trail from AJ's belly button to the obvious sign of his arousal. Blue eyes fluttered shut as Chris ran his hand along AJ's cock and teased it delicately to it's full hardness. A moan that Chris felt more than heard was his reward as his grip became firmer and AJ pushed those shapely hips into his waiting hands.

"I think the first thing we're going to learn about you AJ," Christopher said, pausing to remove his hands and chuckle slightly at the disappointed groan it prompted, "is how sexy and loud those little moans of yours can get."

AJ's hands gripped the white sheets beneath him tightly at the first touch of Chris' tongue across the head of his cock. The tongue swept across the full length of him, tormenting and tickling the sensitised flesh until AJ was delirious with want. He couldn't decide if he wanted more of the teasing touches and the shivers of desire they were producing or something more real.

The decision was taken out of AJ's hands and it took every inch of his willpower to not scream in pleasure when Christopher's lips locked around his cock and moved, taking more and more into his mouth at an infuriatingly slow pace. AJ forced his eyes open and his gaze fell on the sight of Chris' head bobbing up and down on his cock, cheeks hollowed with the force of the suction he was applying.

He wasn't entirely sure how but Chris could feel AJ's eyes baring down on him, watching intently as his lips repeatedly moved along AJ's full length. He stilled his movements for a brief moment leaving only the head of AJ's cock in the heat of his mouth and raised his eyes, his brown locking with AJ's blue. AJ's cheeks were flushed with an exertion and passion that Chris had never seen before and his parted lips moved slightly as if AJ was preparing to break the silence of the night with some half panted words.

Instead he moaned.

In his years of working the Indies and hopping from one bed to another Chris had heard moans of every pitch, volume and length but none of them could compare to what he'd just heard. It had been so unashamed and confident and when coupled with the brazen look of desire that poured from every feature on the face of one that he'd spent so many hours covertly staring at that he knew it better than he knew his own it was almost too much to bear.

Chris sat back on his heels, his mouth mourning the loss of AJ's cock as his mind raced. He'd never expected this. Earlier that night when he slipped the underpaid and under appreciated maid $100 for the key to AJ's room he'd never expected to be sitting in the position that he was. He had never truly believed that he'd have the chance to see the way AJ's golden skin glowed in the pale moonlight and he never even dared to hope that AJ would lay before him, legs spread and body open and willing for whatever Christopher was willing to give.

And Chris was willing to give everything.

Even in the muted darkness of the hotel room Chris was able to spot the bottle of body lotion that sat behind the cheap alarm clock. AJ must have guessed his intentions because before Chris was able to reach out and grab the bottle it was already in AJ's hands.

"I ain't done this before," AJ said as he reached out for Chris' right hand, "but I know how it's done."

Chris shivered slightly as AJ poured the cool lotion onto his burning fingers before settling back down onto the bed beneath him. The lotion soon warmed up after a few moments in contact with the skin of his hand and he nudged AJ's thighs open wider with his knees. He teased AJ's hole with his index finger and watched with rapt attention as the white lotion was soon absorbed by AJ's smooth skin.

He could sense that AJ was growing anxious with his patient teasing and his own needs were starting to overrule any notion he had of taking things too slowly. He entered AJ's heat with the top of his finger and studied AJ's face for any sign of pain or discomfort as he moved the digit in deeper. No sign of discomfort was evident but Christopher had never really expected to see anything anyway, AJ was far too stubborn and guarded to allow anyone to see any pain etched on his face.

A second finger soon followed as Chris laid light kisses over AJ's bare chest. A strange but arousing mix of sweat and vanilla body lotion assaulted his senses and AJ's delirious moans provided the soundtrack to Chris' movements. Every motion of Chris' fingers inside the most intimate part of AJ's body provoked a deep breathless moan that AJ was convinced started in the pit of his stomach before rolling through his entire body and escaping into the moonlit air of the hotel room. He knew that whomever his neighbours were that night could hear every groan and every half structured word but as long as Chris kept on stroking that spot that made him want to scream in agonising pleasure he couldn't care less who was on the other side of the wall.

But all good things come to an end and AJ was unexpectedly left feeling very empty and cold. He forced his eyes open and waited impatiently for them to focus in the darkness. Chris was standing next to the bed and AJ felt his mouth go dry as he watched Chris remove his tented black underwear. It suddenly occurred to AJ that everything had been about him. Since the first moment Chris' lips had touched his skin Chris had given him so much pleasure and in return he'd given nothing.

And now Chris was standing beside him naked and waiting, chocolate brown eyes waiting for AJ to say yes.

As Chris waited for the signal he so desperately wanted to see he felt scared. He had no doubt that the look in his eyes was the same fearful look that he'd come to recognise in AJ's eyes. AJ was supposed to be a project. A chance for the Fallen Angel to help someone else fall from grace and AJ had been such a perfect project. From the way he had avoided Christopher to the way he kept the real AJ Styles so hidden from view everything about him had been perfect.

Too perfect.

As AJ's unsteady and tentative hands took Christopher's cock into their grasp and covered it in the vanilla lotion Chris finally realised that all these years of watching AJ and waiting for his opportune moment to corrupt one seemingly so pure had been false. There had been nothing for AJ to fear, no reason for him to run or hide away from Chris. He could never unlock any darkness and depravity in sweet little AJ Styles.

All that those years of waiting had done was unlock the sweetness in the dark and depraved Christopher Daniels.

And he felt like heaven. As Chris slowly entered AJ with all of his senses tuned in to the body that welcomed him so fully, he knew that none of his mind games or miscreant past could compare. It took every ounce of his willpower to pause for a few moments to allow AJ to adjust. Chris again searched AJ's face for any evidence of discomfort but AJ's face was expressionless, unreadable. His eyes swept down AJ's body but were caught by AJ's hands that were gripping the sheets so tightly that his knuckles were as white as the linen they touched.

"Are you okay?" Chris asked softly. He almost dreaded the answer but the night had developed into so much more than mere possession. He wanted AJ to enjoy it as much as he knew he would.

A few seconds passed before AJ answered. "Yeah."

"We don't have to..."

AJ smiled. "I want to. I want you."

Those words and that heart breakingly tender smile punctuated by a hesitant but definite roll of AJ's hips were enough to undo Chris completely. Any thoughts of misguided ownership or corruption of the man who lay beneath him dissolved underneath the strength of something much stronger and purer than Chris had ever hoped to touch.

AJ's loud moans had faded into mewls of pleasure as he finally released the painful grip with which he still held the bed linen beneath him. His hands scrambled for any part of Christopher that he could reach, the need to touch the man who was so skilfully setting his body ablaze becoming too strong to ignore. It took him a few attempts but AJ was soon able to not only wrap his arms around Chris' sweat slicked shoulders but to also meet every bone shaking thrust with an equally enthusiastic snap of his hips.

His bruised thigh ached beyond belief but AJ was so high on his own intense feelings of pleasure that he barely recognised the throbbing that echoed from the damaged leg muscle. He could feel Chris' hot breath tickling his ear again, much like it had earlier, and again searched out Chris' lips. Half of the kisses he laid on Chris' mouth completely missed their target and instead reached either Chris' chin or nose but neither man cared.

With every thrust into the welcoming heat of AJ's body Chris felt himself travelling further and further away from his night's mission. Chris found it difficult to care about head games and psychological victories when AJ Styles was squirming beneath him and purring in his ear. Slowly the familiar fire began to burn within Chris and as he quickened his pace a sudden outburst of half shouted intelligible words from AJ was his cue that he'd found the perfect angle.

Christopher reluctantly pulled himself from the haven of AJ's arms and mouth and concentrated his efforts on filling the tightness that gripped every inch of his throbbing length. AJ's hips had stilled and his eyes slipped shut as he blindly groped for his own neglected cock. Another hand soon joined his as he and Chris rhythmically stroked the hardened flesh their fingers occasionally competing but usually working in unspoken unison.

It was AJ who submitted first. The fires in his ass and cock became too much for his weary body to fight anymore and he arched his hips from the bed as his release coated his and Chris' fingers equally. Chris watched with rapt fascination as AJ found his release. The purrs and moans of the night had been replaced by silence but Chris could see from the blissful look on AJ's face and the rapid rise and fall of his flushed chest that AJ was screaming inside.

Chris found his own salvation shortly after. He collapsed with exhaustion onto AJ's still swiftly moving chest and allowed the waves of pleasure that flowed throughout him to overcome his rationality and senses and surrendered to the intensity that made the rest of the world disappear. All Chris could feel was the delight in his veins and the reassuring soft thud of AJ's heart.

The real world soon came crashing back into Christopher's own personal atmosphere and his aches and pains from the match earlier soon came back ten fold. He could feel the slight jostle of AJ stretching his battered leg and rolled to the side of him, the warmth of the bed beneath his back no match for the loss of AJ's body heat. AJ continued to flex his leg but made no attempt to speak or move so Chris seized the opportunity to escape to the en suite bathroom but quickly returned with a damp wash cloth.

AJ still lay on the bed although he had rolled onto his side, his back facing Chris as his eyes stared at the moon's last few moments of glory through the gap in the curtains. He made no sound as the bed dipped under Chris' weight and silently took the offered cloth before wiping himself clean and casually throwing it on top of the sheet and Chris' shirt that still occupied spaces on the floor.

The silence was unbearable. The quiet of the night rang around the room as Chris waited for AJ to say something, anything to break the unease. It soon became apparent to Christopher that speech was not something that AJ was considering as he continued to stare out of the window but Chris could not find the words either. He'd always found it so easy to find the perfect thing to say but all of his eloquence had deserted him to be replaced with uncertainty. He cautiously moved closer to AJ but could still not fathom what thoughts were running through the mind of one who had seemingly hated him for so long only to unexpectedly give Chris his body in such an intimate and unprecedented way.

Finally Chris thought of something to break the still and instantly realised exactly what AJ was thinking. "You regret it don't you?"

AJ shuffled slightly so that less weight was on his leg and spoke in a quiet, emotionless tone. "Regret what?"

"What just happened. What we did."

"I dunno how I feel," AJ answered honestly, "I don't hate ya or what we did but I might do in the mornin'. I'm too tired to think 'bout what this means or what I want."

Chris nodded in agreement even though AJ couldn't see the motion. "Do you want me to leave?"

AJ leaned back slightly so that he could see Chris. He could almost see a look of expectancy and hope on Chris' face but it was soon replaced by a neutral expression. "It's late and we're both tired. You can stay here if ya want."

AJ settled back down and laid his weary head on the pillow beneath. The bed shook lightly as Chris made himself comfortable and AJ was not surprised when an arm snaked around his waist and pulled him back, his body pressing against Chris' chest. Without thinking he covered Chris' arm with his own and hugged the limb closer to his torso, a warm smile crossing his lips at the feel of a light kiss being placed upon his shoulder. Despite his insecurities and worries of what the morning may bring Chris was truly tired and soon fell into a deep sleep as AJ renewed his fixation with the fading moon.

It would be light soon. The first streaks of colour were starting to break the black of the night sky and the alarm clock next to him confirmed that the birds would soon be warming up for the morning chorus but AJ found it difficult to sleep. He lay awake for what felt like hours, Chris' slow rhythmic breathing the only sure sign that time was passing as his mind raced with numerous possibilities that only served to confuse and cloud the issue of regret even further.

Eventually his mind submitted and allowed AJ to drift into a light and restless sleep having only decided on one thing - no matter how he felt in the morning something had changed him forever.

THE END