CHAPTER 2

When Rob and Randy stepped out of the elevator the next morning heading for breakfast, they found Dave leaning against the opposite wall. His head was bent and his hands were shoved in his back pockets, obviously waiting and just as obviously nervous. Randy immediately called out a greeting and Dave looked up with a hesitant smile. "Hey, Randy, Rob."

Keeping a hold of Rob's hand, Randy walked over and leaned against the wall next to his large friend. "Waiting for Spike?"

Dave nodded, dropping his gaze again and lightly scuffing the floor with his shoe.

Randy could not keep the amusement out of his voice as he watched the larger man. "You're actually nervous!" He had never seen Dave like this before and it was actually kind of cute.

His amusement died, however, when Dave looked up again, his dark eyes haunted and worried. He looked like he was about to say something but glanced at Rob and then dropped his gaze again.

"I'm gonna go grab a big table for all of us while you and Dave wait for the Dudleys." Randy looked over, suddenly worried that he had somehow annoyed Rob but his lover leaned up and gave him a light kiss, pulling him for a tight hug and whispering in his ear. "It's ok, tiger, your friend needs you right now."

Randy hugged him back, grateful for Rob's understanding then yelped in surprise when Rob grabbed his ass giving it a tight squeeze before strolling off with a very self-satisfied grin. Randy shook his head as he watched Rob leave. "He's always doing shit like that."

Dave chuckled, "Glad to hear it."

Randy smiled as he leaned against the wall again. "Why are you so nervous? I mean it's obvious he loves you so what are you worried about?"

"I'm scared, Randy." Dave looked up again and the younger man gasped at the depth of fear and pain in the large man's dark eyes. "It almost killed me to lose him the last time. I don't think I can survive losing him again. And, I'm scared of hurting him again. What if I don't have it as under control as I think? What if I fuck up and he realizes he's better off without me? What if…what if he can't trust me again?" Dave dropped his gaze. "What if I lose him again? What am I gonna do?"

Randy's heart hurt for the obvious pain he saw in his friend and he reached out to lay a hand on Dave's shoulder in comfort. "Hey, don't worry about what if's. I believe in you and Spike obviously does or he wouldn't be giving you another chance. Just try to focus on the now."

Dave reached up and lightly squeezed Randy's wrist. "Thanks. I needed the pep talk."

"Hey, I'm here when you need me. We're friends, remember."

Dave looked up with a genuine smile. "Yeah."

Just then, the elevator opened and they heard Spike comment, "Now that ain' fair, Randy, you already got a boyfriend. No reason to steal mine."

Randy could hear the laughter in Spike's voice but Dave obviously couldn't. The hope in his eyes quickly turned to fear and he stepped toward the blonde, pulling away from Randy, and obviously trying to find a defense for himself. Randy, however, spoke up before he could. "Not stealing him, Spike, maybe borrowing him for a bit but never stealing."

Spike laughed again. "Does this mean I can borrow Rob the next time we're all in a taxi so I don' haveta put up with these two whinin' again." He pointed at his two brothers who were glaring at Dave.

"Ah, man, not my favorite piece of furniture. Get your own." Randy playfully pouted, trying to work with Spike to lighten the tense atmosphere.

"'M workin' on it but someone keeps borrowin' him."

Randy joined in with Spike's laughter as he pushed away from the wall. "Let's go get breakfast before someone decides to borrow my Rob."

Spike looked up at Dave who was staring at him nervously. The big man was torn between approaching and retreating, obviously unsure of himself. Though, personally, Randy thought it would have been easier for the reunited couple without the older Dudley twins standing there in obvious disapproval.

Ignoring his brothers, Spike closed the distance and wrapped his arms around Dave's chest, hugging him tightly. "Mornin', Dave."

Dave immediately wrapped his arms around the smaller man, bending his head to place a light kiss on Spike's blonde hair, softly murmuring, "Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

Spike shrugged. "Not really, but ya know how I get."

The big man massaged the back of Spike's neck lightly. "I'm sorry. I wish I could have been there to help."

Once again, Randy felt that he was missing half the conversation but did not get the opportunity to ask as Bubba and D-Von physically ushered their younger brother toward the dining room, leaving Dave and Randy to follow. On arriving at the table and sitting next to Rob, Randy was not pleased to see the twins had placed Spike between them once again. Spike was obviously not happy about it either. Dave, to Randy's surprise, did not dispute it but sat down with a kind of sad acceptance.

Rob, being Rob, immediately welcomed Randy by pulling him over for a kiss. "I missed you."

Bubba rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, you two were separated for what? Five minutes?"

Rob chuckled. "That long? No wonder I missed you so much."

Randy leaned in to kiss him again. "And I missed you."

"My brother, I do believe I do not need any sugar for my coffee. These two are more than saccharine enough."

Randy laughed at D-Von's complaint and glanced over at him. In doing so, he caught sight of the longing in Spike's eyes as they rested on Dave who was sitting hunched over the table, his head lowered. Randy immediately felt guilty and pulled back to eat. Rob's hand moved to rest on the back of Randy's chair, rubbing his upper back and Randy lay his hand on Rob's thigh as he tried to draw Dave out. "So, Dave, do you know what you're going to do now that you're no longer in Evolution?"

The big man shrugged but did not look up. "No. I have to talk to Ric since we still have the tag belts. Just have t'wait and see what comes of that."

"Well," Bubba spoke up but there was no amusement in his voice, "Ya'll might not have the belts much longer, not that you don' have Hunter won't be interferin'."

Dave never looked up but his voice sounded very tired. "I think he'll still interfere, just not on my side anymore."

The tension at the table was becoming intolerable and Randy searched for a safe topic but quickly realized there wasn't one. "Ummm, hey, Spike, come with me to get some coffee."

Spike looked over at him confused. "Why d'ya need my help t'get coffee?"

Randy almost rolled his eyes but did not want to appear suspicious. "Because Rob and Dave both need more and I need someone to help me carry it."

The blonde man stood up. "Ok."

Rob looked up at Randy in silent question as the young man picked up their mostly full coffee cups and walked away from the table. He was pouring them out and refilling them as Spike asked, "Ya wanna tell me what you're really up to?"

"Sure, I though it would be nice if you got to sit next to your boyfriend."

"An' jus' how're you gonna manage that?"

Randy smiled. "My seat is going to be freed up when we get back."

Spike's eyes danced for a moment but then he frowned. "I don' wanna take your place next to Rob, `specially if it's gonna sit you between my brothers."

"Don't worry about that. I'm going to be sitting on my favorite place to sit." Enlightenment dawned in Spike's eyes and the two men shared a conspiring smile. "By the way, what was that about this morning?"

"Which part?"

"That you didn't sleep well."

"Oh, that." Spike shrugged. "I just get insomnia sometimes `nd I just can' sleep."

They began walking back to the table. "That's too bad. Is there anything you can do when that happens?"

Spike grinned. "Well Dave was always able to get me to sleep."

Randy hesitated but his curiosity soon got the better of him. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did he manage that?"

Spike's grin grew wider. "Hot baths, herbal teas, back rubs, sex, lots of sex."

There were still chuckling when they reached the table and Randy put the coffee down as he slid onto Rob's lap. Spike immediately sat down in Randy's vacant chair setting a coffee cup in front of Dave. His brothers immediately glared at the two conspirators but the young men only smiled innocently. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you want some coffee too?" The sparkle in Randy's blue eyes made his innocent _expression a lie. "You should have said something."

Meanwhile, Spike had moved closer to Dave who still had his head bent, his crossed arms braced on the table. The small man rested his cheek against the dragon tattoo as he wrapped an arm around Dave's and ran the fingers of his other hand over the large man's heavily muscled forearm. Dave looked down at the small hand and smiled, gently running the fingers of his left hand over the back of Spike's. Randy's heart lightened as he watched the two of them, very glad he had helped.

Bubba, however, was giving him a hard stare. "Damn it, Randy, don' try t'look so innocent!"

Rob wrapped his arms around Randy's waist and tried to defuse the situation. "What? You mean my tiger's not a sweet innocent."

Randy was surprised to hear Dave chuckle and turned to see him absently toying with Spike's fingers. "You gotta watch out for these sweet, blue-eyed men. They can be little devils." Staring into Spike's blue eyes, Dave brought the small man's hand up to his mouth and placed a soft kiss on the palm.

Spike smiled up into the dark eyes, resting his chin on Dave's biceps as he began tracing he big man's jaw while Dave trailed light fingers over Spike's bare arm.

"So, not only are you a tiger, but you're a little devil too." Rob smiled up at Randy. "What else are you?"

Randy smirked down at him. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

Spike burst out laughing and looked over at Randy. "You tell `im!"

"Hey, a little help here, I'm getting outnumbered." Rob looked around the table in silent appeal but before anyone could respond, Randy's phone went off and he pulled it out of Rob's leather jacket to answer it.

Bubba turned to D-Von and shook his head. "See, this's is what I'm talkin' about. The damn man's so whipped, he's become Randy's purse."

Rob grinned. "I don't mind as long as I'm his bed too."

Randy pressed his fingers over Rob's mouth to try to quiet him while he spoke on the phone but Rob started nibbling on Randy's fingers, distracting him. The younger man glared at him as he tried to concentrate but this only caused Rob to suck on the fingers making the young man squirm as he tried to keep his voice even. "No, sir, I'm fine. Yes, we'll be there. See you then." Hitting the disconnect button, he frowned down at Rob. "That wasn't nice."

His lover shrugged. "Yeah, but it was fun." Before Randy could respond, Rob pulled him down, pressing their mouths together and licking at Randy's lips until the younger man moaned and opened his mouth, seeking more contact which Rob gladly gave him.

Their tongues tangled and played until they were interrupted by Bubba's exasperated tone. "Do we need t'get a fire hose for you two?"

Laughing, Rob let Randy pull back. Randy knew he was blushing again and he wondered why it was Rob could always make him forget where they were with just a touch.

Rob winked over at Bubba, "Not right now, maybe later."

Randy frowned, reminded of his conversation. "Much later. That was Vince. Hunter called him and he wants Dave and I to come to his suite for a meeting with him and Ric."

Rob's hazel eyes immediately lost their sparkle. "You're not going anywhere near that asshole without me."

The younger man wrapped his arms around Rob's neck and laid his head on Rob's shoulder. "I was hoping you would say that. I need you there."

"When do we have to be there?" Randy looked over at Dave sympathetically. The big man still had Spike resting against his arm as their hands tangled together in soft caresses.

"He said as soon as possible."

"Shit."

"Yeah, but the sooner we talk to him, the sooner this is all done and over with."

Dave's eyes took on a haunted look once more. "It's nowhere near over, Randy. Don't kid yourself." Turning back to Spike, Dave's voice softened. "Can I see you when we get done with Vince?"

Bubba and D-Von immediately vetoed that plan but Spike didn't even glance at them as he said. "You better come t'see me." Leaning up, he kissed Dave softly. "So, hurry up `nd get your meeting done."

Dave smiled at him and bent his head to kiss Spike again before standing up and accompanying Randy and Rob to the elevator.

Read Chapter Part Three of Eighteen of Clouds