The two tables had long since been pushed together when Michael put his hand on Tibur's knee and asked if he was ready to go home. Jeff had sobered up after meeting Michael's boyfriend, and Caleb had been roped into funding the remainder of the night. Tibur shook his head, feeling compelled to save Millie from Anna's 'innocent' line of questioning instead.

"But... I don't get it. Aren't you lonely? Do you think you that maybe haven't met the right person yet? Take Michael for example, he just didn't know what he was looking for. Have you tried dating girls, too?"

Millie took a deep breath, about ready to explode with frustration.

"It's not a question of gender" said Tibur, "Not everyone wants the same things out of life." 

"But she's throwing her life away!" said Anna, "If she leaves it any longer she'll never find someone for her happily ever after! Don't you think that's sad?"

"I got this" said Millie, pre-empting Tibur's response on her behalf, "What guarantee do you have that this guy's your 'happily-ever-after'? Sure you're together now and that's great and all, but I know what I want... or at least, I know what I don't want. And that makes me happy. I'm not out there trying to find a partner just for the sake of it. Even if I had one I wouldn't know what to do with them... my time is all my own. I want to keep it."

"That sounds a little selfish..." Anna replied.

"I think it's more selfish to try and impose my way of thinking on other people..." said Millie, "This life is mine. Not yours."

"Absolutely!" cried Tristan, "Why can't we live the way we want to? You just sit yourself down and have another drink with me. Husband! Husband, where did all the drinks go..?"

Tibur shifted awkwardly in his seat.

"What?" asked Millie.

"No, it's just... well, like Anna said... don't you get lonely being on your own? It's not that I think you should meet someone, it's just that I worry..." he said, "Especially now I have Michael..."

Millie held her tongue, and made no comment about how long she suspected things would stay rosy between Tibur and his unreliable boyfriend.

"There's nothing for you to worry about" she said, "Unless you plan to stop inviting me along to things since I don't have a partner..."

Tibur grabbed her hand, his alcohol-fueled tears on the verge of spilling, "You'll always be invited!" he told her, "If I ever won an award on TV I'd take you as my date instead of Michael!"

From the level of hypothetical ridiculousness that Tibur's imaginings had reached, it was clear the night was coming to its logical end.

Caleb had no say in the matter when Tristan offered Anna and Jeff a place to sleep in the ninth floor apartment at the Phoenicia, having already vetoed their own spare bedroom. His drunken husband was feeling overly generous, calling taxis for everyone to ferry them home.

"Do you want to stay at our place?" Tristan asked Millie, "Fraser's still not back."

The lure of her own cozy bed was too strong, even if it meant she'd miss out on playing with the kittens. After sending Millie home alone, the six remaining piled into two cars and made their way back to the Phoenicia.

"I'm not coming up" said Tibur, as they arrived outside the building, "I'm going to go home..."

Michael took his hand before he could walk away.

"Tomorrow" said Tibur, "If you meant what you said tonight, if you want things to work between us... be outside my place tomorrow morning. Then we can talk about what comes next."

Tibur kissed Michael's hand, tripped over the curb, righted himself, and walked away with his dignity intact.

At 2am, Tristan collected clean linens and towels from the penthouse and brought them down to the ninth floor for Anna and Jeff. He didn't even realize that Caleb had come with him until they were in the elevator on the way back up.

"Husband" he said, leaning on Caleb's solid shoulder, "How long have you been following me?"

"Since we got back" Caleb replied.

"No..." said Tristan, "How long have you been watching me..? You knew so much about me, do you like me that much?"

"That much and more" Caleb told Tristan, as he manoeuvred him into their apartment from the elevator.

"I guess so" said Tristan, "You even hired a private detective... though that part makes me feel kind of strange. If it's you watching I don't mind so much, but hiring someone else is is a little creepy."

Tristan's flawed perception of his stalker was to Caleb's advantage, but the truth was somewhat different than his husband had been led to believe.

"I didn't hire him" Caleb confessed, "He showed up here one day claiming he was working for someone else. He said he had some information to sell but I didn't think it could be anything worth buying. I already knew you were on the island..."

"Weird" said Tristan, raising his arms so his husband could undress him.

"Don't worry" said Caleb, "If anyone else tries to follow you around I'll be there to catch them. Only I get to keep my eyes on you..."

Not only Caleb's eyes, but his hands were all over Tristan's half-naked body.

"Just once tonight..." his husband cautioned, jumping up and straddling Caleb's waist, "If you go for a second round I'm sleeping outside with the cats tonight..."

Early the next morning, Tristan opened the patio door and reluctantly came back inside. Breakfast was already waiting for him on the table as his husband guiltily sipped his coffee. Tristan ignored him, grabbing a tray and loading it up with food.

"You're not going to stay outside all day, are you Baby..?" asked Caleb, "I said I was sorry..."

Tristan angrily walked to the elevator.

"It's for our guests" he announced.

Caleb got up, ready to assist him as he struggled to hold the tray and press the button for the elevator.

"You stay there!" he told his husband firmly, wedging the tray under his arm, "You come any closer and I won't come back at all!"

"Baby..."

Caleb's smile was annoying him even further.

"I don't know why you look so pleased with yourself!" said Tristan, "What do you have to be so happy about?!"

Caleb laughed. "Because I know no matter how angry you are at me... you'll always come back, if only for the kittens..."

Tristan threw a croissant at Caleb's head and ducked into the elevator. More annoying than his smile was the fact that he was right.

Across the road, Tibur was trying to steady his breathing. He'd absent-mindedly wasted the credit on his phone wishing Michael a 'Good night' before realizing the message would never reach him. Since his boyfriend was now uncontactable, it made confirmation that much harder. There was every chance he was still asleep, or had forgotten entirely that Tibur had asked him to come.

Stepping out into the blinding sunlight, an imposing shadow blocked its rays.

"Good morning" said Michael with a smile.

"Morning" said Tibur, the hairs on the back of his neck settling down again.

"Walk you to work?"

Tibur nodded. His radiant face was the sight that had haunted Michael's dreams in the nights they'd been apart. He chided himself for trying to wait until Paul was gone before working things out, any longer and he could have missed his chance.

"Can I pick you up when you finish?" asked Michael, having escorted Tibur safely to the door of the little foreign supermarket.

"Okay... actually, no!" said Tibur, suddenly remembering his upcoming shift at the factory, "I have somewhere to be tonight... how about I call you when.." Ah.

Michael began to realize he may have acted rashly in getting rid of his phone.

"I'll come to yours when I get done" said Tibur, "Maybe around nine if you're going to be in..."

Michael nodded with such enthusiasm that Tibur thought he might injure himself.

"Tonight then..." he said, unlocking the door and slipping inside, his heart beating wildly in his chest. 

Michael hadn't slept in preparation for meeting Tibur that morning. As soon his love was out of sight, his energy evaporated. Without the alarm on his phone to wake him, it had been better to stay awake rather than risk sleeping in. At least with Tibur coming at nine he'd be able to sleep all day. He trudged back home like a zombie, not even noticing when the person beside him in the elevator pressed the button for the penthouse.

"Thank you so much" said Anna, taking the tray from her unexpected host and placing it on the kitchen counter, "For everything. I'm not sure we could have found a hotel last night, and certainly nowhere as nice as here. Jeff's still sleeping."

Tristan proudly looked around their second apartment. He'd never so much as owned one apartment before, let alone two. His dad's place didn't really count. The mortagage was never paid off, and even in that brief time it was in his hands before the sale went through, it still felt like the bank owned it more than he did.

But whatever belonged to Caleb belonged to himself. Tristan had never felt so comfortable claiming ownership before.

"Have you seen the view from the balcony yet?" he asked excitedly, "I can show you where I work."

"It's a supermarket..?" asked Anna, squinting at the building Tristan had pointed out, "What do you do there exactly?"

"Stock shelves, organize the displays... ring up customers. It's more fun than it sounds!" 

Despite Anna's curious look, Tristan didn't balk. Jed would have been embarrassed had he heard him talk so openly about his job, but he knew that Caleb didn't mind it. The unconditional support of his husband gave Tristan the courage to express himself, without the fear of others' judgement.  

"So long as you enjoy it..!" said Anna, "I wonder what Michael's going to do since his license got suspended. There aren't too many jobs with transferable skills for a pilot..."

Tristan was sure Tibur told him that Michael was only taking a break from work, he'd heard nothing about a suspension. He nodded and smiled politely, planning to grill Tibur about it later.

"When Jeff wakes up I'll send him to collect the car. Do you mind if we shower and change our clothes before we leave?" asked Anna.

Rather than find a hotel for the duration of their stay, Tristan kindly offered them use of the apartment. With Michael in the building, at least they had a friend nearby.

"Besides" said Tristan, "aren't you saving for your wedding?"

Anna thought it over and decided to impose a little longer.

"It adds up quicker than you think, doesn't it?" she said, "Once you factor in the catering, the band, the venue; not to mention the price of the dress! Though I'm assuming you wore a suit for yours?"

"Ah" said Tristan, "We haven't had the ceremony yet..."

He pictured Caleb at the altar, dressed in a black suit, his eyes dripping with honey.

"But I think we will soon, come to think of it..."

In the penthouse, Caleb had prepared a second attempt at breakfast. Those friends of Michael's were causing his husband to run around the building before he'd even had time to eat. They were supposed to be making up by now, and ideally making out on the couch. If he hadn't gotten so carried away the previous night, they might still have been tucked up in bed.

It wasn't entirely his fault. After the first time, Tristan had worn Caleb's shirt when he got up to go the bathroom; the hem too short to cover all of Caleb's favorite parts. It was only natural that he'd want to do it again after seeing his husband dressed like that. He moved several of his shirts to Tristan's part of the closet in the hopes he'd get the urge to wear one again.

Having fed the cats and changed their litter, Caleb was washing his hands in the bathroom when he heard the elevator doors open.

"Baby!" he called to his husband, "You won't believe what Duck just did when I went to-"

Caleb stopped in the middle of the living room, his fist clenching on the towel in his hands, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Mom."

Mrs Black eyed him with fear and disappointment.

"Darling..." she said, "What on earth have you done?!"