Method

"Hey dude...dude you're makin a flood in here!"

"Aww c'mon..that doesn't matter."

"Oh yeah?"

Noah slapped Luke from behind with the towel just enough to make him turn around and wrestle for it. The two boys struggled until Noah fell forward into Luke's arms. Locked in an embrace, they studied each other, their faces just inches away, trying to catch their breath.

"And CUT! Good job guys. That was dead on. Completely believable. Excellent!" The director took a sip from his coffee and raised it up above his head as if he were toasting them.

Van and Jake pulled apart, keenly aware of how good each other's bare, wet skin felt against their bodies. "Hey great job, Van." said Jake in his manliest hey-I'm-straight-voice.

Before he could respond, the director interrupted. "Guys, we'll need to do another take or two as the bumper for tomorrow's show."

Van couldn't help but think how many more times he'd have to press up against Jake without losing all control. "It's gonna be a long day." he thought.

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"Did you see the dailies today? The rough cut looks really good." Jake sat down brandishing his disarming smile.

Van looked up from the script he was reading to meet his gaze. "No, I haven't. Does our towel scene look realistic?"

"Heck yeah, man. We did good today." He was grinning ear to ear.

Van couldn't understand why Jake seemed so normal as if the last few days had never happened. He himself had tried to put the events of last week out of his mind but it always crept back in. Everything between them was fine and he promised himself it wouldn't affect their friendship. But still it was there, lingering; like smog.

"That's good." Van looked down at his script pretending to read.

"Van, c'mon. Talk to me." Jake leaned forward waiting for a response. He didn't really need one. He knew what was wrong. He was feeling it himself. He was just better at masking it. "Well at some point you're going to have to talk to me..."

Van put the script down. His exasperated look said everything but he had more to say. "Look, I thought this would be easier to handle. But it's not. Jake, I thought about you all weekend. I CAN'T stop thinking about it and then today...today having to be close to you like that...it's difficult. Cut me some slack."

Jake let out a sigh and looked down at his hands clasped together on the table. "I thought we agreed we weren't going to let whatever happened affect our friendship or our work."

"Well that's kind of hard when we're dripping wet and embracing each other like we're about to kiss, isn't it?!" Van stood up wanting to bolt from the table, the room, maybe even the planet itself.

"Van wait..."

"Hey guys!" Alexandra breezed in, her usual, perky self.

"God. It's just like the show. She walks in at the most inopportune time." thought Van.

"Hey Alex." said the boys in perfect unison. They put on their everything-is-great smiles.

Alex sauntered over with her hands clasped behind her back. "So...I saw the dailies...It was fantastic! You guys look so real during that scene! I KNEW they hired the right boyfriend for Luke! Yay!"

Jake did his best theatrical bow. "Thank you...Thank you..."

Van couldn't help but smile at that. What he really wanted to do was put his arm around him, kiss his neck and smell that delicious mixture of cologne and natural body scent. Jake always smelled clean.

"Well what're you guys doing tonite? We should celebrate! That scene was hot!" Alex was rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet.

"Yeah well I'm game." Jake said enthusiastically. He looked over at Van trying to will him to say yes.

"Ah, I'm sorry guys. I have plans tonite. Maybe another time." That was a lie. Van just didn't feel like celebrating. He just wanted to go home, curl up on the couch and think about Jake.

"No. No! I want to go home and just read some scripts!" he thought, trying to convince himself.

"Aww c'mon, Van. It'll be fun!" Alex gave him her pouty face.

"No...you two go tonite. I've gotta go make a call. I'll see you tomorrow." Van quickly ducked out of the room, his eyes closed from the guilt of lying to his friends.

"Read scripts? Stop lying to yourself." Van's inner voice was annoyingly persistant...and accurate.

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The darkness outside his window echoed how Van felt at that moment. He'd been staring out the window for what seemed like hours...thinking. Thinking too much, maybe.

No scripts had been read. "Did you really think you would?" his inner voice said echoing in the empty apartment.

His thoughts kept coming back to the same thing; how did it get this far? The answer slowly floated to the surface of his conciousness; He wanted it to happen. Deep down inside you hoped it would. You were attracted to him whether you knew it or not.

Van shrugged aside the thoughts and got up from his perch to grab a beer. "That's crazy." he said to himself.

The vibrating of his cellphone on the kitchen counter caused him to pause before opening the fridge. He quickly grabbed the phone only to stare at the glowing letters that seemed to float just above the screen: JAKE

It might as well have said SHIT or deep down in his sub-concious thoughts; HOPE.

"Hello?"

"Hey Van. It's Jake."

"Uh duh. I do have caller ID on my cell ya know." Van was irritated even though all he wanted to do was be with Jake. Conflicting emotions are a bitch.

"Um...hey I just left the bar with Alex. She's going home and I thought since I was nearby...maybe I could stop by?"

"I dunno. It's getting kinda late." Van liked playing hard to get. With the grief he'd been feeling the last two days he just wanted to be mean, although he really had no reason to be. There was silence on the other end.

"Ok. Ok. Come on over, Jake." What could he do? As much as he wanted to stay away from Jake, it just wasn't possible. Then there was that small detail of wanting to be so close to him that they shared the same oxygen before their lips met.

"Thanks man. I'll see you in a second."

"What? Wait..." The knocking at the door was almost instantaneous. Van counted to five before opening the door. Don't want to seem too desperate now do we?

"Hey." Jake stood at the door with his innocent-boy look.

"Stalking me now?" Van opened the door all the way so Jake could come in. He couldn't help but admire how form-fitting those jeans were on Jake's perfect ass.

Jake turned around. "Hey I was already in the building. I walked in behind some other tenant." His sheepish grin was endearing which didn't help Van's cause to be stand-offish.

"So what's up? What makes you want to visit me at oh say..." Van glanced at his watch, "...9:48 at night?"

Jake just stood there smiling like a creepy wax figure. "Nothing. Just wanted to say hi."

"Ohhhhkayyy..." Van's eyes squinted and his lips pursed together; a look better known on set as The Luke Snyder bitchy-face-smirk. "Jake, are you drunk?"

"Noooo...I had three drinks. I'm just a little buzzed." Jake was now shuffling his feet like he was about to break out in a tap dance.

"What is WITH you?" Van was clearly annoyed but god did he want him. "If you think I'm gonna let you do the we're–straight–but–things–happen–when–we're–drunk–game, then you're barking up the wrong coworker."

Van was loving this. Seeing Jake squirm was somewhat satisfying. But he wanted to see Jake squirm in a different way. In a hot, sweaty, skin sliding on skin way.

"Yeah well, maybe I do want something to happen. I'm not that drunk. I know what I'm doing." Jake stepped closer to Van, backing him up against the wall.

Van was at a loss for words. What words could he find when those piercing blue eyes are inches from his face. "I bet those eyes could pierce right through metal." he thought.

He could feel Jake's breath and smell that mixture of cologne and natural scent (pheromones?) on his body. It was intoxicating. Jake leaned in closer and all Van could think about was sharing the same oxygen.

He finally managed to muster the words that needed to be said. "Jake, don't think about doing this if you don't mean it."

Jake paused as if calculating the percentage points of why he should or shouldn't kiss Van. Finally, he leaned in closer, lips almost touching, whispering, "I don't care. I've been thinking about you all weekend, too. I'm not doing this because I'm drunk...I'm doing this because I want to."

Van could feel Jake's hand cup the side of his neck as he leaned in, lips pressing against his, the familiar sensations racing through their bodies...again.

The world turned white as their kissing intensified and for the first time Jake and Van felt their whole bodies meld with each other; arms exploring backs, legs intertwined, chest against chest, muscles against muscles.

Van couldn't believe his hand was now on that perfectly formed ass he was admiring just minutes ago. The jeans were nice too, but clothing was meant to be taken off. He broke their kiss to look deeply into Jake's eyes, which were wordlessly questioning if something was wrong.

"Trust me." Van whispered, as he began to unbutton Jake's shirt.

With a slight smile forming on his face, Jake could only nod in silence.

TO BE CONTINUED