Hank was more nervous than he probably should’ve been. It was just a movie, nothing he hadn’t done with friends and casual dates over the years; but between genuinely wanting to impress Eric and also wanting to get Eric to change his mind and help Hank’s family out, he felt like he was just a bundle of raw nerves.

He kept changing what shirt he was going to wear until Brad started rolling his eyes at him and laughing.

“You look fine,” he told him. This was part of why Hank liked Brad as a roommate — the guy was really good at soothing people’s nerves, including Hank’s. “Go with the blue; it contrasts well with your darker eyes. He’s going to be impressed no matter what you wear, though.”

Hank knew that was true, but he also knew that he’d never cared so much before what someone thought of how he looked. He was a chef, after all, a cook; he hid in the kitchen and got food and grease stains all over him every day. Who cared if he looked good while he did it?

But he cared what Eric thought. Eric, with his suits and his high-powered job and his apartment in the fancy area of the city.

Eventually he settled on the blue sweater — a button-up seemed too fancy for a damn movie — and his nicest pair of jeans.

Brad gave him a thumbs up in support as he headed out. “It’s going to go great!”

If only Brad knew the full extent of the story. He’d probably be ashamed of Hank. Brad was one of those guys who always did the right thing, a real stand-up sort of person.

Hank knew that Brad would never even consider doing something like taking advantage of your relationship with someone to get that someone to potentially sabotage their promotion for you.

Hank debated about it as he drove to Eric’s apartment, but he felt a lot better by the time he parked. It was just nerves, that was all. He knew what he was doing.

And again, he wasn’t dating Eric just for this. This was a bonus, an extra opportunity. That was all.

It really helped that Eric looked damn gorgeous when he came out of the apartment building. He was wearing a t-shirt for the first time since Hank had met him, a soft grey v-neck; it wouldn’t have been much on any other guy, but the fact that Hank knew Eric liked to dress nicely, and had never seen him in something so casual before … it felt oddly intimate, somehow.

Eric slid into the passenger seat, smiling at him a little nervously. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Oh, God, this wasn’t going to be what the whole evening was like, would it? Could they only communicate well when they were around other people or having sex?

But then Eric noticed what song was playing on Hank’s iPod, and he snorted. “Oh, no; don’t tell me you like The Smiths.”

“And you don’t? Am I going to have to kick you out of my car?”

Eric grabbed the iPod and started looking through the music. “I might have to kick you out,” he said. “Take over your car. What sort of ridiculous music is this?”

That sparked a lighthearted argument about musical genres that lasted them until they got to the movie theater, at which point they were able to agree on the latest superhero movie.

They settled into the back of the theater, in the last row in fact. Hank resolutely sat next to Eric and didn’t put his arm around his shoulders the way that he wanted, waiting to see if Eric was going to do anything.

He felt kind of like a kid in high school, sneaking kisses and groping in the theater because it was dark and relatively private compared to, say, houses where parents were.

There weren’t a whole lot of people in the theater, luckily, since the movie had been out for a couple of weeks already and it was a Monday night. Nobody sat near them, and once the credits started, Hank noticed that Eric started pressing up against his side, not saying anything, staring out at the screen, but acting like he wanted Hank’s arm around him.

After a minute or two of freaking out, Hank obliged, wrapped his arm around Eric’s shoulders.

Eric relaxed immediately, shooting Hank a shy glance out of the side of his eyes. Hank tightened his hold just a little bit, turning his face so that he could brush his nose through Eric’s soft, dark hair.

He barely paid attention to the movie. They were all easy to follow at this point anyway, all used the same formula. He was much more interested in watching Eric and Eric’s reactions.

Eric was seriously into it, cheering and laughing, like it was a football game or something. It was adorable, actually, a playful side to Eric that he hadn’t expected from someone who was so serious about his job and just seemed like a serious guy in general. But Eric was really enthusiastic about this. It made Hank spend most of the movie grinning and watching Eric instead of the screen.

As they got to the credits, Eric slumped back, grinning and looking over at Hank. “I love these things,” he confessed. “I was a huge comics nerd as a kid.”

“Really?” Hank teased. “I never would’ve guessed.”

Eric blushed a little, the tips of his ears turning pink. “You seemed to be enjoying it too,” he said defensively.

“I was enjoying watching you,” Hank admitted.

Eric turned more, so that they were facing one another, but Hank’s arm was still around him so that there was only about an inch of space between them. It was ridiculous, to be so nervous about this simple closeness when they’d already had sex twice, but there it was.

Everyone else was leaving the theater. Nobody was paying attention to them. And Eric was right there in front of him.

He leaned in slowly, giving Eric a chance to turn away, but Eric just stayed where he was and let his eyes flutter closed.

It was a rather chaste kiss, all things considered, or at least it started that way, just pressing their mouths together. But then, when he pulled back, he had to kiss him again, and then the third time he sucked just a little on Eric’s bottom lip, and Eric opened his mouth for him with a small moan, and then, well, Hank just couldn’t resist darting his tongue inside for a taste, teasing him.

Eric shifted, slinging a leg over Hank’s hip so that he was now straddling him, taking Hank’s face in his hands so that he could tilt his head and kiss Hank more deeply. Hank rolled his hips, not really thinking about sex in the moment, more like just adding another layer of pleasure to the making out.

Hank pulled away so that he could kiss along Eric’s neck for a moment before he returned to his mouth. Eric rolled his hips as well, finding a rhythm, and let out a small desperate noise in the back of his throat as Hank went back to kissing him again.

God, it felt good just to make out like this, knowing that they couldn’t really go any further, just enjoying the feeling of Eric underneath his hands, the weight of him on his lap, and sucking on his tongue.

It had been ages since he’d kissed someone without it just being the rushed prelude to sex, and he’d forgotten what an enjoyable activity it was on its own.

He was kind of wishing they could have sex, though, because Eric was shifting and rolling his hips in such delicious ways, making great shudders of pleasure wrack Hank’s body, practically giving him a lap dance as they kissed.

And then someone cleared their throat.

They jerked apart, and Hank turned to see one of the theater employees standing there, flashlight in hand, eyebrows raised to give them a thoroughly unimpressed expression.

“Sorry,” Hank blurted out. Eric looked way too mortified to even speak, just hauling himself off of Hank’s lap and hurrying out with Hank until they got into the hallway.

Hank couldn’t help it — he started laughing, leaning against the wall. “I can’t believe we were busted like a couple of teenagers,” he admitted. “It’s like being fourteen all over again.” Although he’d never done this when he was fourteen; he’d saved the making out for the locker room.

Eric started laughing as well. “I never did that before. Of course the one time I do it, it’s when I’m a grown ass adult, and I get caught.”

Hank looked over at Eric, at his wide, loose smile, the relaxed slope of his shoulders, the way his eyes shone.

He looked genuinely happy. And Hank had helped to make him that way.

Could he really use Eric like this? Even if he did genuinely like Eric … it was still wrong of him to use him, to take advantage of their relationship and the way that Eric felt about him. Hank having feelings for him as well didn’t make it any less manipulative.

He had to back out. This was a conflict of interest for Eric, and Hank needed to end it and prevent this from causing any more problems for him. God knew how much of a pain Hank had been already.

They would have to interact, but it would need to be strictly business until this whole thing was settled. Hank was going to find a way to fix this thing for his family and when he did, he didn’t want Eric’s superiors to blame Eric for it.

He’d just … take Eric home, and then tell Eric that the night had been great, but they should put this all on hold until the trailer park issue was solved.

Because when he looked at Eric, and saw the way that Eric was looking at him, trusting and open and relaxed, Hank knew that he couldn’t do anything to hurt him. Even if Eric never found out about it. He just couldn’t live with himself.

He cared about Eric far too much for that.

Eric seemed to notice that something was off, because his smile faltered a little. “Everything okay?”

Hank nodded, forcing himself to smile. It wasn’t every day that you realized the right way to treat the person you cared about was to stay away from them.

It hurt a lot more than Hank had expected.

“Let’s get you home; I know you have work in the morning.”

“Don’t you?”

“Nah, Joe’s doesn’t open until the afternoon. I can sleep in.” Hank’s smile was a little more genuine this time.

“Okay, then. But only if you come up for some coffee.”

Well … Hank couldn’t exactly say no to that. Some chatting, some relaxing … and it would be easier for him to tell Eric about keeping their distance, for now, in a quiet setting like that. Then Eric could kick him out if he wanted to, but it wasn’t like Hank would just be leaving him on the curb and then driving away like an asshole.

“Coffee sounds great.”