"This place is great!" Brian yelled through the loud music. "I can't believe Howie never mentioned it to me before."

Kevin shrugged, not really finding appreciation on the place as Brian, and Howie, seemed to have over it. He just... didn't see it.

Brian smiled at Kevin's lost of words. "We're gonna have a great time here."

"If you say so cuz."

"Yeah, we will," Brian repeated. "You were right in getting rid of that bitch."

"Brian!" Kevin turned around, his eyes wide, surprised at Brian's choice of words. He wasn't the person to curse. Not like that. And most certainly not at women.

Brian snorted. "Oh, come on Kevin, you know Kristin was a bitch. She never loved you. She loved the idea of you. Good you left her."

It was Kevin's turn to snort, his eyes glaring at his younger cousin. "It was her who got rid of me, if I recall correctly."

Grinning, Brian shrugged. "Same thing, different words."

Shaking his head slowly, Kevin couldn't help but roll his eyes. Ever since him and Kristin had broken up, or she had broken up with him, he had been a little bit down. They had been together long enough for him to be sure he loved her, but now, after all this, he wasn't that sure at all. He knew that given the time, he would have fallen in love with her. But she hadn't given him that time. She hadn't even wanted to give love a try.

Brian caught up with Kevin and placed his arm around the older man -- which was difficult in itself, being almost six inches in between the of them. "Come on old man, lets have a good time."

Kevin had promised himself that he'd try his best to relax a little, unwind as much as he could. If not for himself, then at least for Brian, since he was trying his hardest to force Kevin out of his shell. Hoping he smile he was sporting looked somewhat natural and not as forced as it felt, Kevin nodded. "Sure, why not?"

"That's the spirit!"

When they reached the bar, Brian leaned over and called the bartender. Kevin shook his head. He knew that after a couple of drinks, Brian would be far too gone to even realize that they were heading home. Smirking mischievously, Kevin wondered how many tequila shots it would take for Brian to fall down unconscious.

A girl who apparently wanted to reach the bar as well, placed herself between Brian and Kevin. Smiling at him, she spoke over the loud music. "Excuse me!"

Kevin nodded courteously, taking a step backwards to give the nice lady access over to the bar and ask for her drink. To his own surprise, he bumped into something rather solid in his way. He turned around and found himself face to face with the most amazing deep pair of blue eyes he had ever seen in his life.

"Sorry," he was able to mutter, but thus the loud music, Kevin was afraid the other man hadn't actually heard him.

The young man shook his head, blond spikes moving from side to side, blue eyes dancing and a smile moving over to his lips. "Nah, don't worry."

Kevin wanted to say something, to say that it was his fault and he had every right to be sorry -- specially if such an incident that lead for him to meet such an enchanting man -- but his tongue seemed to be tied to iitself. He wanted to buy the stranger a drink. He wanted to talk with him, in the false pretend of his mistake, and actually get to know him. He wanted to hear that soft voice again, and not really with music in the background.

"Something wrong?" A raspy voice asked and brought Kevin back from his stupor, turning his sight to find the man who had dared to interrupt them.

"Nothing J," the blond spoke, his friend with the raspy voice and sunglasses coming to stand behind him.

Kevin looked at both of them, planning to ask something -- anything, really -- but had no idea what in the world he could ask. What was there to ask, indeed?

"Kevin, I don't seem to be able to get the bartender to hear me out," Brian complained as he placed his hand on Kevin's arm. He looked at his older cousin, then at the two men standing before him, recognition drowning on him. "Alex?"

Kevin turned to look at his cousin, then at the two men. Did Brian know the blond?

"Brian?" The stranger leaned over, looking over his sunglasses and right at Brian. He laughed. "Man! What a small world!"

Nick looked at AJ, then over to the strawberry blond man. "You know him?"

Alex nodded. "Yep, he's Leigh's boyfriend."

"You know him?" Even though the question had been asked before, Kevin was addressing it to a different person.

Brian nodded. "Yep, he's a friend of Leighanne's. We met at Vane's party. You remember her. She's one of Leigh's friends from college."

Kevin nodded, even though he really had no recollection of the girl. He did remember the name coming in this or that conversation with Leighanne. It was always the same when he talked with his almost cousin-in-law. It was this friend did that or that friend did this. Or the ever classical have you heard the latest news about .... (put the name of one of the class here).

"It's been ages since I last saw you, how ya doing?" AJ leaned against the bar, his sleeveless leather jacket placing his tattoos in plain sight.

"I'm fine, thanks. Leigh's been planning on meeting with Vane for the last couple of weeks. They don't seem to agree in their schedules, though. How about you?"

AJ shrugged nonchalantly. "Doing fine, been better. College sucks, if you know what I mean. The last thing I wanna do is hit finals, but it's not like I can actually hide from them, so I don't have much of a choice." He placed an arm around his friend's shoulder, squeezing. "And taking Nicky boy here out for a drink. The man thinks the only life there to live is between books, so I thought I'd show him a night on the town."

"Oh, crap, right." Brian smacked his forehead with his palm. "I forgot. Alex, this is my cousin Kevin. Kevin, Alex."

AJ shook Kevin's hand, laughing slightly. "Fuck, I forgot too. Nick this are Brian and Kevin. Guys, Nick."

After going through the proper introductions with Brian, Nick shook Kevin's hand. The older man couldn't help but smile at the way Nick's eyes seemed to shine under the colorful light.

"It's a pleasure meeting you Nick," Kevin drawled, the Kentucky charm pouring from every pore.

Kevin's deep and slow voice seemed to have very strange -- and never felt before -- effects on him, as he could feel a deep blush creeping his cheeks. "Hi," he was barely able to say shyly.

"Well," AJ said, breaking the silence that had fallen after their introductions, "Nick and I were just going to look for a table. Wanna join us? We could catch up."

Brian shrugged nonchalantly, nodding slightly. "Sure." He turned around and looked at Kevin. Kevin only had to look back at Brian for him to know what Kevin was thinking. "That'd be awesome."

Brian and AJ took off first, leaving the bar and going over to the dance floor towards the tables. Kevin motioned for Nick to walk before him. Nick nodded gratefully and stood up, following the other two. As a habit, Kevin placed his hand on Nick's lower back, guiding him.

Nick froze in his place for a split of a second, loosing his footing but regaining conscience quick enough that Kevin didn't realize what had happened. But then again, what had actually happened? Just the touch of this strange man had send electricity through every pore in his body and it was like his brain stopped functioning for that very moment? Could that even be true?

Nick shook his head. It's just your imagination Carter. That's got to be it. You've been watching far too many soap operas this last couple of weeks. Trying to buy that excuse, Nick took a seat on the table both AJ and Brian had chosen.

Kevin looked at the sitting arrangements. His younger cousin had chosen a table against the wall, two pair of seats on either side. Brian and AJ had taken the seats to the wall respectively, leading Nick to seat by AJ's side, on Kevin's left. Smiling to himself, hoping Brian couldn't see his eyes, Kevin took the only seat left by Brian's side. Right in front of the blond, if he might add.

AJ looked at the four of them, grinning madly. "So B, I told you why we're out here when Nicky boy here thought that studying three weeks in advance was a good idea." He mussed Nick's hair, who complained about it loudly, then turned over to Brian once again. "What's your story?"

Brian shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing much, to tell you the truth. Kevin here just broke up with his girlfriend and a friend of us told us about this club, so I thought we'd check it out."

Kevin wanted to hid his face in his hands. Somehow, Brian telling the other two about him and Kristin breaking up wasn't high in his priority list. He had no idea why, but it just didn't seem right.

Leaning against the back of the cushioned seat, AJ placed his right arm along the side of the same, the other one playing with the napkins. "Well," he said, accommodating his glasses, "there's nothing better than a couple of drinks to mend a broken heart."

"It's not really like that," Kevin hurried himself to explain. Once again, he had no idea why he was doing it. "Actually, we broke up about two weeks ago, I just haven't been going out so much and Brian here got worried over nothing."

Seeing one of the waiters passing by, AJ lifted his arm, calling her out. "It doesn't really matter," AJ told Kevin, his eyes darting from his face to the lovely waiter they had landed themselves on, "a drink helps in any occasion."

"Good night," the girl smiled at AJ, who was smiling right back at her. "What would you guys like tonight?"

Grinning madly and flirting from every pore in his skin, AJ pushed up his glasses. "I'm in the mood for something refreshing," his eyes never left hers and when he saw her smiling slightly at him, AJ smirked mischievously. "I'll have a Tom Collins..." his eyes moved from her face over to her name tag, "Olga."

Olga nodded slowly, writing down the request in her path. "A Tom Collins," she repeated, her smile widening. She turned around, looking at the strawberry haired man.

"Good night," Brian said politely. "I'll have a Blue Moon."

"I'll have a Screwdriver," Nick said, his voice not really wavering. He was fearing they wouldn't let him drink, since he was only twenty. AJ had said they'd let him enter the club since he knew the bouncer, but to get a drink was something totally different.

Olga looked at him pointedly, her eyes moving from his boyish face to his blond locks and blue eyes. She didn't actually believe the boy was over twenty one. However, when she turned around and locked her eyes with AJ's, the man grinned back at her. She'd let this one slip. After all, the boy in the dark sunglasses did seem appealing.

Kevin barely thought about it for a moment before speaking up. "Manhattan."

Olga nodded at him. The older man was also gorgeous, but the one with the glasses seemed more accessible somehow. Giving the tattooed guy one last grin, she left for the drinks.

The moment the girl was out of hear shot, AJ chuckled. "Well Nick," he took of his glasses, placing them in the opening of his vest, "you're really lucky. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have gotten a drink out of her."

Nick turned around and glared at AJ. It wasn't necessary for him to point it out, thank you very much. "Gee, thanks Alex. I didn't want to come here anyway." When his eyes moved over to Kevin for a second, Nick thought twice about it. Maybe sneaking into a club and ordering a drink he wasn't old enough to have wasn't a bad idea after all.

"Alex," Brian said, changing the subject, "you said you were in college. You were studying Architecture, right?"

"Civil Engineering actually."

Brian shrugged. "It had something to do with construction, that's all I could remember."

Alex chuckled. "Yeah, I'm in fourth year and trying my best not to be forced to drop out. Classes are fine, don't get me wrong, is the exams I hate."

"What about you?" Kevin looked pointedly at Nick. "What are you studying?"

Nick smiled slightly, his eyes locked with Kevin's. "Computer Engineering."

"That's gotta be interesting."

"Yeah," Nick shrugged, feeling more subdued and nervous than usual, "it's fine. I like it, so that's something." He paused for a moment, then looked between the two cousin. "What about you? What do you guys do?"

"I'm trying my very best to finish my thesis on Psychology," Brian nodded. "I always thought the thesis would be the easiest part, since I've already finished college, but turns out I was dead wrong."

Kevin grinned silently. "And who told you about that?"

Brian turned around, glared at his older cousin, then resumed the conversation. "Anyway, I should get my degree as soon as I finish the damn paper. Kevin here," he gave his older cousin a small smile, "as obnoxious as he can sometimes be --"

"I resent that!"

"is working in a law firm," Brian continued like Kevin hadn't interrupted him. "He finished not even four years ago and had been asked from a couple of buffets already. Right now he's working in one of the biggest and most prestigious law firms of the east coast."

"Is that so?" Nick's eyes were as big as saucers, totally enchanted by this. He knew that being offered job before finishing school meant that you had to be one hell of a student.

Kevin waved it off, feeling a blush creeping his cheeks. "Brian's just overreacting."

"Am not!" Brian looked at Nick, smiling at the boy. "He's working-- No, that's not right. He's an associated at Gage Whitney here in New York." Brian nodded emphatically, very proud of his older cousin.

"Brian!" Kevin hissed not so loud. Brian wasn't even tipsy and he was starting to embarrass Kevin.

"That's so cool!"

Kevin smiled at Nick and his enthusiasms. "Thanks," he blushed even a darker shade of red, "but it's got a lot to do with my teachers' recommendations, so..."

Before Kevin could be even more embarrassed about it, Olga came back with their drinks.

"Tom Collins," she said, placing the drink in front of AJ, who winked at her. "Blue Moon." She picked up the other drink from the tray and placed it in front of the so-not-twenty-one-year-old-boy. "Screwdriver." Placing the last drink, she smiled at the dark haired man. "And Manhattan."

"Thanks," AJ said, placing a ten dollar bill on the tray. "You're lovely Olga, you know that? You're lovely."

Olga grinned back at him. "Anytime dear."

AJ followed her with his eyes, whistling loudly after she was gone. "That girl has got one nice ass!" He turned around, grinning madly. "Anyway," he raised his drink, waiting for the other three to do the same. "For drinks and girls." He paused for a moment, before adding, "And new friends."

Nick and Kevin nodded, looking at each other before letting their eyes fall to their respective drinks.

"Cheers!"

They followed AJ's cheer and clanged their glasses.

Brian placed down his Blue Moon and took a look at it. "I didn't remember the Blue Moon being this good."

"It's got a lot to do with the place," AJ said, placing his own drink down. "This place makes one of the best drinks, that's for sure. The Bloody Mary is to die for, along with the Daiquiri on the rocks. You gotta try that one."

Brian smiled at the older man. "Maybe I would on the next round."

Nick placed his drink down, grimacing as he did so.

"Don't like it?"

Looking up, Nick shrugged. "Not really, no. I'm not a big drinker actually, and a Screwdriver is one of the few things I can tolerate." Giving his orange beverage a glare, Nick continued. "Even though I've got the feeling that the last time I had one, there was more orange juice than there is now."

Kevin nodded, understanding the boy. He had been planning on giving Nick a taste of his drink, but after what he had just said, Kevin thought twice before doing so. After all, whisky was a lot stronger than mere vodka.

Sipping almost half of the drink, AJ placed the glass down. "Brian, tell me what's up with you lately? You and Leighanne working alright?"

Brian took another sip of his drink before answering. "Yeah, but about a week ago--"

Kevin didn't hear what Brian told AJ, not did he care that much. He had probably heard the complain before, anyway. Taking a sip of his Manhattan, Kevin looked at Nick over the edge of the glass. The dark red drink tasted hot against his throat and Kevin's logic mind told him it was because of the containing whisky, but he wanted to believe it was actually the company and not the alcohol.

*****

"--and then I told Claudia that if she wanted the computer to work, maybe she should reboot!" Nick laughed heartily, his eyes dancing and his whole face reddening.

Kevin chuckled along, following the end of the joke. Nick had been telling Kevin about himself for half of the night. The other half being filled with Kevin telling Nick about himself. They had learned so much about the other in only three hours, Kevin couldn't even begin to believe it.

But what Kevin couldn't actually start to believe was the fact that he was liking the blond more and more as the night went by.

His blue eyes, his blond locks and the way he smiled whenever Kevin said something about his work was making its way into Kevin's interests and eating the older man alive. What was it with this blond youth and his ability to convey so much in so little that had Kevin enchanted?

It was Brian's pitched and high laugher that averted his eyes from Nick's face, glancing over at the tipsy form of his younger cousin.

Brian was leaning against the wall, his face half covered with his arm, laughing right out. His cheeks were pink and as he wiped away the tears that were falling from laughing so much, Kevin could see his eyes had a taint of red in them. Brian was more than just tipsy.

In three hours, Brian had gone from his Blue Moon and a Daiquiri on the rocks over to tequila shots. Brian was drinking far more than he usually did whenever him and Kevin went over for a night on the town, so to speak.

AJ, who was laughing right along with Brian, had gone to the tequila shots right after he finished his third Tom Collins -- two of them dry up.

Nick chuckled slightly, moving his back to Kevin after seeing his long time friend laughing after a joke Nick hadn't actually heard. "Seems like they are having fun."

Kevin nodded, a small frown on his face. "A little bit too much fun, if you ask me."

Nick waved it off. "Don't worry Kevin. It's Friday night. If they do get drunk, which I don't think it's the case since AJ needs more than just a couple of shots to get drunk, then they'll have all Saturday to sleep it off." Taking a sip of his drink, Nick grinned. "Don't worry too much."

Kevin nodded again, looking at Nick. At least the blond wasn't drunk, being this his second drink. It was a different drink, having now a Melody instead of the Screwdriver, but it was like it didn't matter that much, being vodka all the same. Nick said that this one looked funnier, being green instead of the boring orange. He had the mint to thank that for.

Finishing his fourth Manhattan, Kevin tasted the remnants of the whisky. He had been thinking about asking for straight scotch, but had decided that staying with a Manhattan wasn't such a bad idea after all. The red vermouth and angostura gave the drink a very special taste Kevin was very fond of. Picking up the cherry that had been swimming inside the glass, Kevin took it in between his thumb and foreign finger.

He fixed his glanced with Nick's, clear green eyes meeting darken blue ones. Kevin smiled at the blond, his eyes never leaving Nick's. Nick smiled back, his drink long forgotten. Placing the cherry on his lips, Kevin closed them over the fruit. He took a bite as he watched Nick watching him. Taking the last bite on the drunken cherry, Kevin closed his eyes slightly.

Nick's gaze seemed locked with Kevin's eyes, lips, nose and expression. They had been talking all night long, the drinks coming and going, but looking at Kevin at the moment seemed more than just different from what had proceeded that very same night.

Breaking eye contact, Kevin turned around and over at the dance floor. Three hours after arriving at the place, Kevin had finally realized that not only straight couples had been dancing. He had seen at least three women dancing with their female partners and two guys taking another guy over to the dance floor.

Apparently, when Howie had told Brian that this was a really cool club, he had forgotten to add the fact that it was also a mixed club. It wasn't like Kevin cared about it, nevertheless, it just seemed interesting. And very opportune.

Kevin turned around once again, looking at Nick with wide green eyes. Before he could think twice about it, and probably chicken out, he extended his hand. "Wanna dance?"

Nick blinked a couple of times before giving the dance floor a glance. When his eyes landed on Kevin's smiling face, Nick smiled back, placing his hand on Kevin's open palm. "Sure."

Helping Nick onto the dance floor, they walked slowly towards a clearing. Soft music started playing, a ballad's beginning chords being heard through the place. Kevin smiled at Nick once again. Nick took a step closer to the older man, placing his arms around Kevin's waist while Kevin's own moved towards the blonde's neck. The started swirling along the music, a tender smile in each of their faces.

Brian's eyes followed them from the table where they had been only second before over to the dancing floor where they now stood. Brian watched them closing the space in between. He watched their newest friend place his arms around his cousin's waist, the Kevin himself hold the blond close to his chest.

It was AJ's chuckled that tear his eyes from the couple. AJ shook his head, a smug smile on his lips. He took his last shot in one drink, wiping his mouth with his hand. Looking up, he chuckled again. "I was starting to believe it'd take them another night out to do something. Your cousin has more guts than he leads on, let me tell you."

Brian blinked twice before being able to say something. "You knew something was going to happen?"

AJ shrugged, calling Olga once again. "Olga dear, could you get us another round?"

She looked at the already finished Manhattan and the two empty glasses that hadn't long ago being holding tequila. She nodded. "Sure Alex."

AJ winked at her. "You're lovely." When she had left, AJ turned his attention back to Brian. "It wasn't that I knew something was happen, but more that I suspected." Taking Nick's drink in his hand, AJ took a sip of it and stared at the glass. "This green thing isn't as bad as it looks." His eyes moved back over to Brian. "I know Nick. I've known him for quite sometime now, so I know when he likes someone and he was most definitely liking your cousin. He's not the type to make the first move, so I was hoping Kevin'd have the brains to do something."

With a bewildered look on his face, Brian turned around, his eyes falling onto the couple moving along the soft music.

"They make a cute couple."

Brian's eyes found AJ's in a second. The younger man was totally relaxed, leaning against the back of the seat. When Olga arrived at the table, AJ thanked her and placed another ten dollar bill on her tray.

"You're lovely," he said as he winked at her. AJ drank his tequila in one quick shot, his lips pressed tightly together as he looked over at Brian again. "Does it bother you?"

Looking down at his shot, Brian drank it before he could think about it. He grimaced at the sour taste in his throat, glassy eyes focused on his friend. "No," he said slowly, "not really." He pinched the bridge of his nose. Maybe it was time to stop the tequila. His head was starting to swim. "Not really." And he wasn't. He had never had much of a problem with homosexuality. It was a way of life, he knew that. He had always considered himself of an open mind, so now was the time to prove just that. "I just... I just didn't know Kevin swung that way."

AJ shrugged nonchalantly, taking another sip of Nick's drink once again. Nick had never been into alcohol, so he knew the blond wouldn't mind if AJ ended up finishing it. "Guess you learn something new everyday, don't you?"

Brian chuckled softly, turning around to look at his cousin and Nick once again. Nick was resting his head against Kevin's shoulder and a small smile was on Kevin's lips. It had been almost two months since him and Kristin broke up and Kevin hadn't smile that much in that time. If Nick could bring that kind of reaction, then maybe he wasn't so bad for his cousin. "Yeah, I guess so."

Kevin looked down at the blond head resting against his shoulder. How in the world had he gotten the guts to ask Nick for a dance, he didn't know. He wasn't going to question it now, either. Maybe it had been the four Manhattans he had had. Or maybe it was the fact that he knew that unless he took the opportunity that was laying within his reach, it'd be gone in the blink of an eye, very much like it had appear.

Nick lifted his head. Powerful green eyes meet dazzling blue eyes. Nick couldn't help but let a lopsided smile make its way across his face. This was better than he had imagined. He marveled at the touch of Kevin's body against his, the smell of Kevin's skin and cologne, the sound of Kevin's breathing and the tender smile on Kevin's lips.

Leaning slowly, closing his eyes involuntary, Kevin captured Nick's lips with his. The kiss was slow and tender. Careful and petal soft. It wasn't like he had imagine, and it was even better. It was like... somehow, someway he just couldn't decipher, it was like coming home.

He opened his eyes slowly, a bright grin on his lips. The moment Nick opened his, and their eyes met, Kevin knew would always be printed in his memory.

Nick grinned at him, his eyes dancing and his cheeks flushed. He placed his head on Kevin's chest again, tightening his hold around Kevin's waist.

Kevin smiled back in response, kissing the top of Nick's head. One of his hands moved over to Nick's hair, running his fingers though the blond locks. The now ever-present smile on his lips was mirrored by the happiness in his eyes. Resting one of his hands on the back of Nick's neck while the other stayed on the blonde's back, the two of them kept moving along the soft music.