"Have you even noticed how often we end up drawing a room together?" Paul asked as they set their bags down on the table right inside the doorway of the room they had drawn.

"I'd almost think someone was fixing it that way if it weren't for the fact we switch off nightly who's holding the straws." Mike responded, grinning over at Paul as he stood back up. He sure wasn't gonna complain, though. Fuck that, Paul was not only his best friend in the world; he was also the secret star of every last one of his fantasies.

"Hell, I wonder why we still draw, to be honest. Kev and Scotty always get the king room, you and I get the double room, and Sean sleeps on the couch. What's the point in drawing, we could just switch off if someone ever wants to change it." Paul replied. He knew he had no problems with this arrangement. Sean liked the couch, and if he didn't get it, whoever did was stuck with him till all hours of the morning watching TV, and Kev and Scott didn't seem to mind sharing a room. Well, now that he thought about it, Scotty might like to have a bed to himself occasionally instead of always being stuck with Kevin, but he never complained about it. He'd think there was something going on between the two of them if it weren't for the fact that Mike, who tended to know these things by something he called his `gaydar', assured him that they were too stupid to have figured out how badly they wanted each other yet. That just left him and Mike, and both of them were perfectly content to share with one another.

"We could mention it to the guys later, see what they think of that plan." Mike told him, throwing him a smile as he looked over the room. They always looked the same. It had become a comfort measure to the both of them, he knew. They were hardly ever home, on the road 300 + days a year, so these rooms had become home to them. That was the big reason they stayed in the same hotel chains wherever they went, so the rooms would always be the same. Yeah, there was the occasional difference, the coffee pot not working in one of them, the water pressure harder or softer depending on location, but for the most part, these rooms were all the same. "Which bed you want?"

"Same as always, next to the door." Paul liked being next to the door. He liked being assured that anyone trying to get into their room would have to go through him to get to Mike, and don't think that the occasional psychotic fan hadn't tried that. He liked taking care of him, too, though he carefully didn't examine that too closely. Mike was smaller than him, and it was easy to forget that Mike could easily hold his own against anyone, especially when Mike was just being himself, not the HeartBreak Kid.

That probably explained why he was so protective of Mike, come to think of it. How small and seemingly delicate he was next to him, coupled with his sweetness, throw in the fact that he was his best friend. Of course that didn't explain why he was far more possessive of Mike that he was of Sean, but that was beside the point. He'd find some kind of way to explain that away to himself later.

"Okay, I'm gonna go get changed for bed, then." Mike told him, smiling. He was doing it again, Mike thought. Standing there staring at him with that adorable baffled expression on his face. The one that screamed that he was trying to understand something, but not quite sure how to come to grips with it. Mike wasn't sure just what it was Paul had been trying to come to grips with, but he had been trying to do so for a couple weeks now. He knew it had something to do with him, he just didn't know what it was. Mike decided to take a quick shower to give him a few minutes to try to figure out whatever it was that was bothering him this time, though he was completely unsurprised when a few minutes later the bathroom door opened and Paul walked in to brush his teeth and get himself ready for bed. Just like an old married couple, complete with lack of sex, Mike thought with a sardonic smile as he reached forward to shut the water off.

Paul automatically reached behind him to hand Mike a towel when the water shut off, a smile brightly lighting his face. He loved this, the comfort level the two of them had. It was something he was eternally grateful for every day of his life. Absently he finished rinsing his mouth, then turned and grabbed a hand towel to dry Mike's hair while he finished drying the rest of him. Minutes later both men were down to their boxers and headed back to the bedroom ready for bed.

"Hey Paul? Did Scotty order a cot by any chance tonight?" Mike asked, still standing by his bed, staring at it in annoyance.

"I don't think so, why?" Paul asked from his position sitting on the side of his bed, turning his head to give Mike a questioning look.

"There's evidently a leak in the ceiling. My bed's soaked, so I was gonna crash in Kev's with him, if Scotty was in a cot in there." Mike replied, sighing. He guessed he could go check. Usually Scotty slept on the floor; there might be room in Kev's bed.

"No need waking them up if they've already gone to sleep. Especially if there's a pretty big chance you're waking them up for nothing. Why don't you just sleep over here with me?" Paul asked, glancing over the bed. "There's plenty of room for both of us."

Maybe because I don't have to worry about embarrassing myself with Kev? Because I don't want him like I want you? Mike wasn't going to say any of that out loud, though. Fuck that, he wasn't going to scare Paul to death with that bit of knowledge. "I just figured Kevin's bed is bigger. I know he wouldn't mind."

"Yeah, but if Scotty's already in it, then that bed's packed tight. Just sleep over here with me, Mike. It'll be alright." Paul told him firmly. The more he thought about it, the more he disliked the idea of Mike going and sleeping with Kevin. If Mike was going to sleep in anyone's bed, it was going to be his, period end of statement.

Mike jolted at the sound of the possessiveness in Paul's voice. His heart tripped over itself as it picked up in speed and he had to reason with himself that it didn't mean anything. Or at least it couldn't, not yet. It wasn't going to mean anything until or unless Paul started it. Oh, but he could hope. He couldn't push, because he wouldn't do anything to chance his prized position as Paul's best friend, but he was beginning to secretly hope for more.

Mike made his way over to the bed, climbing into it on the other side from Paul. He curled himself up, careful to stay to one side and actually was surprised when, a few minutes later, Paul dragged him into his arms.

"You don't mind, do you?" Paul asked, smiling into the nape of Mike's neck when he just shook his head. "Good. I was uncomfortable trying to be careful not to touch you, and you were so still I thought you might have died on me. I figured might as well get the contact over with and make ourselves comfortable."

Mike just nodded again, not trusting himself to actually speak. This was going to be a long night, he realized a long minute later when Paul's breathing settled out to a deep, steady rate. Great, the man he loved and wanted beyond all others was holding him in a death grip, there was no getting away without waking him up, and he knew sleep was gonna be a long time coming. Good thing he'd always been a bit of a masochist.

End.