Ashkii waited at the bar for about ten minutes before deciding Giovanni wasn't just taking a break but hiding from him. He got off the barstool he was sitting on before wandering over to the back door as well. He would have driven himself home, but he was a little too tipsy to walk straight and wasn't going to risk it. Giovanni had offered him his spare room, and he was deciding to take the offer, regardless of how awkward the whole situation was.

He opened the back door, walking into the little corridor with the stairs that lead to the apartment upstairs. He looked over at them, spotting Giovanni sitting on the stairs and staring out into the corridor.

"Are you going to bed?" the older man asked, and all Ashkii could muster up was a nod. His head was ringing, and his throat still felt clogged with all sorts of emotions he wasn't willing to let loose. The dim orange light that flooded the room from the single light bulb made Giovanni look a lot tanner than he was. Ashkii watched as the man's eyelids fluttered. He looked tired—exhausted, but Ashkii wasn't sure if it was from work, the alcohol, their conversation, or all three.

"Yes," Ashkii said, stepping forward. He stopped right in front of Giovanni, staring down at the taller man who was sitting on the second to the last stair. "That's if you're still comfortable with me sleeping here."

"I am," Giovanni said, looking up at Ashkii. "We're not fighting, and I don't have anything against you. Don't make it seem that way."

Ashkii shrugged. "Well, that's a bit hard to believe."

Giovanni sighed, standing up at the stair. He was already taller than Ashkii, but the added height made him look even more slender. The older man tucked a hand into his pocket before taking out a key and holding them forward, dangling them in front of Ashkii.

"Go on," Giovanni said, dangling the keys again. "You have to unlock the door, and I'm not done up in front. I'll meet you upstairs in an hour or so if you're still awake."

Ashkii blinked, reaching out to grab the keys.

"I want us to hang out and be close," Giovanni muttered as Ashkii pocketed the keys. "I really appreciate having you around, but for that to work, you have to let go of..." Giovanni trailed, looking up at the ceiling for a bit. "You have to let go of the feelings you think you have for me."

"I'm not thinking I have them, I know I have them," Ashkii said, making the bartender blink before sighing and looking away.

"Ashkii, listen—"

"No, you're just going to tell me I don't know what you're talking about," Ashkii injected. "You might be older, but I think I know more about how I'm feeling a lot more than you do."

"Well, what do you want me to think?" Giovanni said, brushing his hair away from his face. "That someone I've only known for a few months—someone I know who is straight is suddenly just head over heels for me. I don't think that's how anything works."

Ashkii narrowed his eyes at Giovanni, watching the man's deep brown eyes stare right back at him. Ashkii's eyes fell to the man's lips, and there was a sudden pool in his chest that wanted him to kiss Ashkii—to climb on the stairs until he was leveled headed with him. To reach out to touch his face, feel his sharp face, and touch his lips. Ashkii swallowed a breath. He did know what he felt, no matter how much Giovanni was trying to make him doubt that.

"Why do you care if it's a mistake on my end? You sleep with a lot of men. What difference would it make if it was me?" Ashkii mumbled, watching as Giovanni's eyes went wide. "Why are you acting like it's something you reserve for people you're serious with? I'm not asking you to be serious with me—"

"Ashkii!"

"I can handle it. I can handle you not liking me. I just..." Ashkii trailed, cocking his head to the side as he watched Giovanni's expression. The man looked partly bewildered and a little stunned. "I just want you."

"Ash—"

"I know I'm not your type, but I really do want you..." Ashkii trailed, cutting Giovanni off.

Giovanni looked a little off. He didn't seem like his confident and cocky self anymore. He looked unsure—a bit flustered. Ashkii wondered why that was. It couldn't be just his question, could it?

"What happens if you hate it?" the older man asked in a low tone, almost too low for Ashkii to pick up.

The younger man blinked, feeling his face warm up at the thought of being with Giovanni that way. "I'm not going to hate it," he said with confidence. "But if you hate it, we can stop, and I'll never bring it up again."

"Ashkii," Giovanni started stepping down the stairs. Ashkii turned, facing the older man, he watched the man bite his bottom lip like he was pondering over something. "I don't date people."

"I know that," Ashkii said, looking at the man with intensity.

"You know that means I sleep with other people, right?" the bartender asked, and Ashkii nodded, as Nate's neared face popped up in his head. He was suddenly a little angry—a little jealous—and he assumed this was what the older man was building up to.

"I just wanted to bring that up because I wasn't sure if that would be upsetting to you..." Giovanni trailed. "I—I guess I rethought how you stare down some of the customers and I realized that me flirting with them was making you upset."

"It was," Ashkii admitted. "But I can deal with it better. If you don't flirt or talk about other people around me. I can deal with it."

Giovanni sighed, staring at Ashkii. "One more thing," he muttered, stepping forward so that they were only a bit apart. Giovanni reached for Ashkii's face, touching the man's skin. Ashkii shivered, feeling the cold slender digits as they caressed his face. He felt his chest squeeze up with want as Giovanni leaned forward, and then their lips touched.

At first, it didn't feel like much—it felt more like a light graze, and then Giovanni pressed harder, parting his mouth a bit as he started to kiss the man. Ashkii's body seemed to be in a swirl of emotions, with everything from excitement, fear, and nervousness. Giovanni was a ridiculously good kisser. Ashkii felt like the older man was devouring him, arousing his senses with his throaty moans and eager tongue. The way the bartender held on to the sides of his face and caressed his cheek as he pressed up against him was driving Ashkii insane.

And then Ashkii felt it.

The outline of Giovanni's erection just pressed above the band of Ashkii's pants. At first, the younger man wasn't sure how to feel, but amid the kiss and grinding, the moan Giovanni let out while giving his earl the lightest of grazes, made Ashkii melt. He let out a deep moan, sinking into Giovanni's warm hands and the rhythm of his grinding hips. He felt his lower stomach tighten up with want and his pants grew tighter, too. Ashkii reached to touch Giovanni's hips with his hands, titling the man a bit so that he could kiss and nibble at his neck, before sinking in to kiss the man again.

He sucked on his tongue, lightly coaxing his lips before kissing him. His movements were slow and unsure. He didn't want to throw Giovanni off, but he wanted to touch him. Pull him closer. Kiss him as deeply as humanly possible.

Fuck, he wanted him. He wanted Giovanni so much.

He'd spent so much time dreaming about this, hoping for this, and now the man that smelt like sweet perfume and looked like a vogue model had his tongue buried in his mouth, and erect penis pressed up against his lower stomach.

Ashkii moved his hands from Giovanni's hips to the man's bum, and that seemed to be what triggered the man to pull away suddenly.

"I—s-sorry," Ashkii mumbled, blinking in shock when he noticed how quickly Giovanni withdrew. The older man took a few steps back, staring at Ashkii with wide eyes and a bright red face.

"It's okay, there's nothing to apologize for," Giovanni mumbled, blinking as he looked away. "I wasn't expecting things to get that intense."

The bartender looked up again, cocking his head to the side as his lips parted a little. "I just wanted to see if you were really okay with what you were asking for..." the man trailed. "I guess you are," he mumbled, biting the nail of his thumb. "You kiss really well. Gosh, now I'm a bit embarrassed. I was all over you." Giovanni gave an awkward laugh, and Ashkii felt a flutter in his chest. Giovanni had been enjoying himself just as much as he had.

There was a brief silence since Ashkii didn't interject after Giovanni said his last sentence.

"You can head up upstairs. I just have to work for a few hours, then I'll look up and head up too," Giovanni said after a while of the two just staring at each other in silence.

"Should I—should I wait?" Ashkii asked, hoping that Giovanni understood what he meant. They had stopped so suddenly, and Ashkii was still thinking about it. If that was what a kiss felt like with Giovanni, he wanted to experience everything with him, and he was impatient.

Giovanni seemed to think about it for a bit before muttering, "If you want to."

Ashkii nodded. "I do."

"Oh, okay," the older man said, looking behind him towards the door that led to the bar. "I'll just be a few hours then," the man mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck before wandering over to the door and heading out. The brief flood of sound and warm air that flooded the corridor when Giovanni walked out pulled Ashkii out of his frozen state long enough for the man to head upstairs and find his way into Giovanni's apartment.

He wandered into it, at first walking in the direction of the bed guest room, before stopping, and rationalizing that if they were going to have sex, it would probably be in Giovanni's room. He walked over to it, before opening the door, and heading inside before laying on the bed. His face warmed up as the familiar scent flooded all directions of him. The sheets smelled just like the bartender. The whole room held such a strong presence that Ashkii found it hard to regulate his heartbeat.

He turned to the side, taking in a deep breath as he reached out for a pillow.

He really wished Giovanni would hurry up.