((Long Chapter Warning! This is to make up for the wait. :P))

*Earlier That Morning*

Mike paused, with his hand hovering over the doorknob to Vincent's room. There had been bangs and crashes coming from there for hours, and Mike was pretty sure there was a full-scale demon running loose. 

He grabbed the doorknob and twisted- but the door was locked. Damnit.

At that exact moment, though, there was a click and the door swung open, "Mike."

Mike blinked. Sprung. "Vincent... Hey. That's um, a..." He leaned to the side to try and see into Vincent's room, but Vincent moved to block his view, "...co-incidence. What do you need me for?"

"I'll pay you twenty bucks not to come home tonight," Vincent said.

"What? Twenty bucks? What for?" Mike asked, frowning slightly.

"I'm going to invite Scott back here for our second date..." Vincent walked out of the room and closed it shut behind him, "And I don't want you at home."

Just before the door closed, though, Mike caught a glimpse of purple walls. Ha! You do have a purple room! I knew it!

"Mike, are you listening?" Vincent asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Huh? Oh, right, um, sure," Mike shrugged, "I can get lost for twenty bucks. What are you planning on doing to him that you need me gone, though?" He narrowed his eyes, "OooOoh, somebody's gonna try to get to home baaase~"

"Well, that depends on how well the night goes," Vincent mumbled, "Anyway, it's not important." He pushed past Mike and started down the narrow hallway to the spiral stairs. Jumping down them three at a time, he called out, "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

Mike snapped to attention, "Oh, frick." Rushing to his room, he threw on his work clothes and ran down to the kitchen while still tucking his shirt in.

Vincent was playing with the air-conditioner remote, mumbling something about bad batteries.

"What are you doing?" Mike asked, pouring himself some cereal, "It's the middle of Winter! What the heck do you need the air-con on for?!"

Vincent finally got it to turn on and put the remote down, "Because when Scott and I get here, the room will be cold, and I'll  be the only source of warmth~"

Mike raised an eyebrow, impressed, "You're more of a player than I am, Vincent."

Vincent shrugged, "Hey, you mind if I go to work with you?"

"Why? Your shift isn't for ages," Mike said.

Vincent grinned, "I know. I want to give Scott a little early surprise."

***

Vincent unlocked his front door, swinging it open for Scott, "Welcome to my abode..."

Scott stepped inside, "Woah. Your house is huge!"

"I guess? It's no mansion," Vincent walked in behind him, closing the door, "So, what would you like to do?"

"Um..." Scott shivered slightly, "It's, uh really cold in here, isn't it? D-Do you have the air-con on, or something?"

"Oh!" Vincent facepalmed, "Oh, no! I totally left the air con on all day!" He walked over to the  kitchen bench, picking up the remote and turning off the machine, "Great. Sorry, Scott. I don't have a jumper or anything..."

"It's okay," Scott said, sighing, "Well, I guess... I could really use a cup of tea? If you don't mind."

"Oh, of course," Vincent walked over to the kettle, filling it up and flicking it on. He turned back to Scott and smiled, "So, what would you like to do? Watch a movie? Play a game? Talk?"

"Hmm," Scott looked up at the clock. It was 6pm, "Maybeee... a movie first, then we can play a game, and talk over dinner?"

Vincent grinned, "Sounds perfect," He turned back around and pulled out two cups and some tea bags, "Do you want to watch it in the living room, or my bedroom? I have a TV in both. It might be more comfortable upstairs, but hey, it's up to you."

Scott blinked, "You have a TV in your bedroom? That's... awesome."

"Bedroom it is," Vincent said, taking the jug off and filled up the mugs with hot water, "How many sugars?"

"Two," Scott looked around at the house, "You know, I was expecting it to be more..." He trailed off, presumably thinking whatever he was about to say wasn't very tactful.

"More what?" Vincent asked, cocking an eyebrow. Here it comes.

"Uh, never mind," Scott said hurriedly.

"More purple?" Vincent suggested.

Scott froze, then laughed, "Yeah, actually."

Vincent grinned, "I thought so. Well, if it quells your uneasiness, my room is entirely purple."  He passed Scott his cup of tea and took a sip out of his own.

"Ooh," Scott gulped down the tea with superhuman speed, "Can I see?"

"Of course," Vincent walked to the stairs, gesturing for Scott to go first.

Scott happily obliged, putting the empty tea cup down and skipping past him to the second story, "Which one is it?"

"Well, seeing as one of them is empty and the other one has half-eaten burgers all over the floor, mine's the third one, with the closed door," Vincent followed Scott up the stairs and walked past him to his bedroom, opening the door for him.

Scott walked in, looking around, "Oh my..."

The entire room. Walls. Roof. The ceiling fan. The wardrobe. The bedsheets. All purple. Apart from a quote painted on the wall in black:

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.

"Interesting choice of quote," Scott pointed at the scrawling paint, "May I ask why you chose it?"

"You may," Vincent replied, "But I won't answer."

"Oh... right... I won't ask, then..." Scott frowned slightly, but he figured he could respect Vincent's privacy. 

Vincent pointed to his bed, "Make yourself comfortable. What movie do you want to watch?"

"Um..." Scott shrugged, sitting down on Vincent's bed, "What do you think?"

Vincent thought for a moment, "I've got this new movie. It's about a guy who wants to be a dress model, so he and his girlfriend travel the world wearing matching dresses."

Scott laughed, "Sounds weird. It's perfect."

"Great," Vincent grinned, sitting down next to Scott and pressing play. They were sitting next to each other, Scott looking uncomfortable and awkward. Their shoulders were just touching.

"You still cold?" Vincent asked.

"U-Um... Not really. It's fine," Scott said, but Vincent could see that he had goosebumps.

Vincent chuckled, "You don't have to be polite, Scott. We're past that stage in our relationship. Here..." He pulled the sheets back, "Get comfy."

Scott looked at Vincent, "In your bed?"

"No, on the floor. Of course in my bed. Why? What's wrong with that...?" Vincent frowned slightly.

"Uh, nothing," Scott flashed him a grin and pulled off his shoes, sliding into the sheets. But Vincent had put two and two together - he knew why Scott was so reluctant.

Vincent looked at him sideways, "You still don't trust me? After all of this time?"

Scott froze, eyes widening. He didn't reply.

Vincent sighed, "Well. That hurts."

Scott turned to look at him, "I'm sorry. I really am. I can't help it. I want to trust you, I really do... I just get this feeling from you... That's why I can't-" He cut himself off and looked down.

"Why you can't what?" Vincent asked.

"Nothing..." Scott's shoulders slumped, "I'm really sorry, Vincent."

Vincent took off his own shoes and hopped into bed beside Scott, "It's okay. But I hope you can trust me one day."

"Yeah. So do I," Scott said. He looked over at Vincent and seemed to freeze up for a second, like he was deciding between something. Then he leaned over and rested his head on Vincent's chest, moving over so that he snuggled up to him.

Vincent smiled, letting his own arms wrap around Scott, "You know, if I was sure you'd say yes, I'd ask you to be my boyfriend right now."

Scott looked up at him, "Wait, really?"

"Yeah. Really," Vincent grinned, stroking Scott's side, "I'd like for you to be mine. Then I can finally say I'm not single." He chuckled.

Scott laughed, "Yeah... I'd like that too, I guess. But not yet."

"I know," Vincent said, "You don't even trust me yet. How on earth can I expect you to be happy with me?"

Scott sighed, then looked back at the TV, snuggling further into Vincent.

They stayed like that for the whole movie. Vincent focused more on Scott than the movie, though. He didn't stop slowly stroking his side, lost in thought.

His feelings for Scott were strange. It was too genuine to be infatuation and usually, crushes go away soon after you actually get to know the guy and kiss him once or twice. It wasn't lust - correction, Vincent thought, looking at Scott, It isn't all lust - No, Vincent found that - even after this time - he really... it was almost like he... was in love with him.

He stopped his thoughts there. No, no. He couldn't jump to conclusions with Scott. It wasn't going to last. Scott was going to break up with him, or end up dead. It wasn't a question of if. It was a question of when. But... 

Vincent sighed, feeling Scott's heart beating, feeling his smaller chest rising and falling with each breath, and hummed contentedly. Maybe it really was love...

Scott suddenly lifted his head, looking up at Vincent, "Did you ever cross-dress when you were younger?"

Vincent tilted his head, "No, actually. I guess it never really crossed my mind - excuse the pun. I just never thought about it. Why? Did you ever cross-dress?"

Scott blinked his large brown eyes at Vincent. Slowly, pink started to creep across the bridge of his nose, spreading across his face.

Vincent gasped, "Oh my gawd, you totally did, didn't you?!"

Scott hid his face in Vincent's shirt, embarrassed. His voice was muffled when he spoke, "Linda always wanted a little sister. So when we were 15... she used to let me wear her dresses..." He paused for a moment, then squeaked, "And her makeup..."

Vincent laughed, "That's absolutely adorable! I bet you look amazing in a dress."

Scott looked up at Vincent, "You think so? Y-You don't... you don't mind?"

"Of course not. I'm sure you look super cute," Vincent smiled down at him, "You know what? I think I'm even going to get you a dress to try out."

"Don't do that!" Scott yelped, pushing away from Vincent, "Imagine what everyone else would say!"

"Aw, come on, who cares what they think?" Vincent grinned, "We can even go dress shopping. With Linda, if it makes you feel better. It'd be really cool."

"I don't know..." Scott mumbled, "Really. If anyone saw me wearing a dress, I'd be so embarrassed. It's so girly."

"So? You don't have to wear them in front of anyone else. You don't even have to show me if you don't want to. But I want to see you in at least one of them," Vincent said, "Plus, who says it's girly? Girls wear guys' clothing all the time."

Scott looked at him for a long time, then he wavered a little, "I... guess... if it was just one... You promise?"

"One hundred per cent," Vincent said.

Scott bit his lip, then sighed, grinning sheepishly, "Alright, I think we know what our third date is going to be."

"Perfect," Vincent grinned. "But let's finish this one first, okay?"

Scott's grin widened and became more genuine, "Okay."