Andrew, Nancy and Levi all look to Stephanie for her reaction the precise second that follows from George's drunken stunt; none of them are quite sure how she will respond to it. George, somehow sensing the tension, also glances at her momentarily with glazed-over eyes; before silently turning his attention back to Levi, unsure of who to look at.

"Wow, you really have had too much to drink," Andrew comments, in a bid to rid the painful lack of speech between them. "Perhaps this is the sign to, uh, get you to bed now, George."

"It's a bit of fun," George spits back, still extremely woozy and unaware of what he's just done.

Nancy is the only individual with the common sense to dismiss the situation as trivially as possible, as not to give away George's secret in an undignified way. "It's crazy what your mind does when you're in this state," she gasps. "At least you know, Steph, that he becomes extremely gay when he's drunk."

"Yeah," Levi chuckles, his way of playing along with Nancy. "Unexpected? Definitely. Do I think he means it? Definitely not."

"Oh, don't worry — I know he doesn't mean it," Stephanie reassures them. "I found it quite funny, actually." She grins, looking across to George. "Maybe we should get you to bed, babe. Then tomorrow, I'll make sure you remember every embarrassing detail about what you've just done."

"I'm fuckin' proud of it," George slurs; it is incredibly strange how oblivious one can truly be to a potentially risky situation, when they are intoxicated with alcohol. "Levi's my soulmate."

"Right," Andrew cackles in disbelief; it is clear to everyone but Stephanie, that the trio are ensuring that George's secret doesn't get revealed without his awareness, and it is rather sweet to see. "Well, regardless of your, uh, "feelings"—" He performs inverted comma actions with his fingers, "—For Levi, I think it's about time we all went home and ended this wonderful day."

"I have to agree," Nancy chimes in. "I'm looking forward to finding out his reaction to what he's said and done, once you tell him tomorrow, Steph."

"Me too," Stephanie smiles, amused. "He'll be kicking himself over it."

"I love how adamant he is about it, though," Levi adds. "I'm obviously the love of his life. Isn't that right, George?"

"Finally, you understand," George laughs, clumsily wrapping his arms around Levi in an awkward hug. "We should just forget everyone else is in the room and just focus on you—" George over-exaggerates a pointing action to Levi, prodding at his chest; then he does the same to himself, "—And me."

"Bloody hell." Levi averts his eyes to Stephanie, with a remorseful expression. "I'm sorry about this, Steph."

"No need to apologise," Stephanie assures him. "I'm taking this in good humour. The more he says and does; the more I have as ammunition tomorrow morning. I've never seen him like this, and I'm making the most of it!"

"He's going to be mortified when he remembers," Andrew states; he feels a little more comfortable knowing that Stephanie isn't mad about it. "But I suppose we'll never reach tomorrow, if we stay here all night. Nancy and I are going to head off, now."

"I think I'll make tracks too," Levi adds, rising from his seat. "But really, it's been a brilliant day."

"Thank you all for coming," Stephanie beams. "It's been a great time." Her head turns to look at George. "You coming to say goodbye, George?"

"As long as I get to give Levi a goodbye kiss," George challenges, attempting unsuccessfully to stand up from the sofa; he leans across to Stephanie, 'whispering' into her ear loud enough for everyone else to hear. "I might ask him to be my boyfriend, you know."

"You can do that," Stephanie playfully encourages, helping him up from his seat. "I'm sure Levi would love to be your boyfriend, babe."

The group head to the front door of the house; hugs are exchanged between them all — some more successfully than others — before George pushes his way through to reach Levi. He sloppily coils his arms around his lover, his doe-like amber eyes staring at him. Levi laughs, still working to convince Stephanie that this entire performance is purely a drunken charade; although, he is happy to be able to receive this physical contact in front of her without being questioned for once.

"I've got to go now," Levi explains, much like a parent to their young child. "Do you think you'll be able to cope without your soulmate for the rest of the evening?"

"I miss you already," George frowns, bringing his head to Levi's shoulder, to lean his chin there. "I love youuu." The latter syllable is prolonged in a child-like manner, which George deems as his way of emphasising his point.

Levi finds humour in this. "Yeah, I love you too, George."

Once again, George leans in to kiss his partner; Levi, expecting this to occur, glances across to Stephanie for guidance. Stephanie holds back laughter as she watches a few metres away; this gives Levi the reassurance he needs to allow the moment to progress without her protest. He allows George to linger for a couple of seconds — however, then, Levi feels too guilty; and he withdraws. He rubs the back of his neck bashfully, before starting to walk back to his car.

"Goodbye, my lover!" George calls, waving frantically with one hand.

"Bye, George," Levi responds, shaking his head in amusement as he gets into his vehicle.

"Right, you," Stephanie demands, once everybody else is out of sight. "I think you need to get to bed."

• • •

The intensely bright morning light is the catalyst for waking George up the following morning; his eyes open groggily, as the beginning of a hangover headache brews in his temples. The pain causes him to clutch at his forehead in agony, as he shields his eyes in a desperate attempt to fend off some of the daylight.

"Ah, fuck," he hisses, pulling the blanket over his entire head. "How much did I drink last night?"

"A lot."

The unexpected voice takes George by surprise; he uncovers his eyes just enough to see Stephanie sat on a chair in the corner of the room. "How long have you been sat there?"

"A little while," she responds. "I've been waiting for you to wake up."

"Well, I've done that now," George retorts hoarsely. "Please tell me I didn't break anything or do anything regrettable last night."

"You didn't do anything regrettable," Stephanie assures him. "But bloody hell — you may have broken Levi's trust in you."

"Levi's?" George is suddenly overwhelmed with anxiousness, at the ideas of what he could potentially have done. "What happened last night?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Stephanie calms him. "It was actually extremely funny. He knew you were only messing about with him. All of us found it hilarious, actually."

"Are you going to tell me what I did?" George demands, the feeling of uneasiness eating him up inside. "Because I may need to call and apologise to him for whatever it was."

"Well, you started getting rather ... hm." She pauses a moment, to find the best vocabulary to describe George's state. "I guess you could say, affectionate."

"What the fuck have I done?" George buries his head back under the sheets, almost not wanting to find out at all.

"You started proclaiming your love for him, and you even kissed him twice," Stephanie finally divulges. "But it's okay, because all of us knew it was just down to you being so wasted."

George is already glad that his face can't be seen by Stephanie right now; for if she could see, she would immediately know that last night was no act. He takes a few seconds to ponder over how to react to the news, groaning extensively to buy himself a few moments. "Shit," he finally speaks. "I can't believe nobody stopped me from doing that."

"We didn't want to," Stephanie explains. "It was too funny to watch. Andrew, Nancy and Levi all wanted to know how you reacted to finding out this morning."

"Well, you can tell them for nothing that I'm horrified," he states, as if it weren't obvious; finally, he exposes his face once again. "How did they react last night when it was happening?"

"They were all quick to assure me it was just down to the drunkenness," Stephanie replies, daring to venture closer to the bed. "Which I already knew anyway. But mostly, they found it funny. Even Levi did. He looked a little taken aback at first, but then he was playing along with you a bit."

"Fucking hell." George sighs quietly, before trying to force himself out of bed. "It sounds as though I have some apologising to do over the phone."

"I'm sure all will be forgiven. I wouldn't worry about it."

"I'm just sorry you had to witness that yourself," George frowns. "You know I'd never have done that in front of you if I was sober?"

"Of course. You don't need to fret over it, silly." She backs away from the bed, to give him some room to move around freely. "I'll be in the bathroom taking a shower, if you need me."

"That's fine," George answers; he takes his time getting up out of the bed, making sure he doesn't become lightheaded with too many sudden movements. He makes his way downstairs, eventually reaching the same old table with the same old telephone. He picks it up, dialling Levi's number, then he holds it to his ear while it rings.

"Hello?" Levi's cheery voice greets.

"I'm so sorry for last night." As George speaks these words, he grimaces to himself. "I can't believe nobody stopped me, though. I have absolutely no idea what came over me."

"I take it that Stephanie has told you what you did, then?" Levi chuckles, already amused by George's embarrassment. "Or did you remember when you woke up?"

"How wasted was I last night?" George questions.

"Very. One drink more, and you'd have been blacked out, easily."

"Bloody hell." George reaches his fingers up to his temples, rubbing to try and ease the throbbing. "I don't remember any of it. Steph told me I kissed you twice in front of her. What does she know?"

"You don't need to worry," Levi assures him. "Nancy, Andrew and I all played it off as you being too drunk to know what you were doing. Steph has blamed the alcohol entirely. We didn't want you to come out without even being aware you'd come out. We knew it would be unfair to out you while you were out of your mind, because you wouldn't have had a plan together."

"Thank you," George sighs, truly mortified about everything he's hearing. "I'm just—I can't believe I've done that. And somehow she still doesn't know the truth."

"But she will," Levi reminds him. "Soon enough."

"I know," George acknowledges, although trying to push back the fear. "I still have three weeks—"

"—Less than three weeks—"

"—Less than three weeks; thanks for the reminder my darling," George retorts sarcastically. "Did I talk about anything else aside from my undying love for you yesterday?"

"You did talk about Alex a fair bit, too," Levi informs him. "How you're going to go on adventures together; and how you're going to teach him a bunch of skills and stuff. It was quite sweet — if you forget that you won't be around for a large part of his growing up."

"Yeah," George frowns, unsure whether to be happy or dismayed by this fact. "Well, I'll be around to visit with some luck. It's just finding the right way to approach it all with Steph. This is why I need to catch her in a good mood when I talk to her. Otherwise, things may go tits-up."

"Well, I hope she experiences a good mood for you soon," Levi jeers gently. "Please remember I've only given you this deadline, so that both of us can finally move on with our lives and start this new chapter together. If I was trying to force you out, yesterday would have been the perfect opportunity."

"I suppose that's true," George evaluates, shrugging to himself. "But anyway, I should probably start nursing this horrible hangover I've got." He groans quietly, his way of audibly giving away his misfortune. "I'll call some point soon, to discuss coming to see you again. Before the deadline."

"I'll look forward to it," Levi responds. "I love you."

"I love you too," George smiles. "Bye for now."

"Bye, sweet Georgios."

The normal prolonged beeping noise is heard, as Levi hangs up first; George stands listening to it for a moment, before finally setting the phone back down on its receiver. He lets his head fall into his hand in shame, uncertain as to where the next few weeks will take him.

• • •

Chapter fifty-one! Only nine more chapters left to publish after this one! xx