Without paying too much attention to the sign that hung on the door of Sav's room Joe opened it in search of the aforementioned. There were only a few minutes left before they had to march in the direction of the large venue where the huge planned party was going to be held with them as hosts, celebrating Hysteria receiving gold status in the United States.
Looking around, he found him right in front of the mirror, swiping dark eyeliner just below his pretty light blue eyes.

"Those pants aren't mine?", the bassist asked while he met the singer's eyes in the mirror, with a crooked smile adorning his lips that were touched by a soft reddish color.

"Well... they are... it's just that I like them..."

"They suit you very well... will you let me fix you up a bit?"

Joe nodded with a smile and Sav approached him, stretching the pants the older one had borrowed a little at the legs to smooth out the crumples, and repositioning the collar of his jacket while combing his messy dark-blonde hair with his fingers. Their faces were very close and Joe couldn't help but notice how gorgeous his opponent looked. All the time Sav spent putting make up on to further underline all the pretty parts of his face and getting ready was definitely worth it to the singer.

The bassist seemed to have noticed that Joe had fallen into some kind of trance because almost instantly he let out a soft laugh and returned to his spot in front of the mirror, Joe coming up behind him to pull him close to his chest and into a warm embrace.

"If you like it so much I can also do your makeup..."

"OH NO. SAVAGE, DROP THAT PENCIL."

And due to that, they lost the little time they had left to prepare in a long chase in which Joseph avoided his dear Savvy gouging out his beautiful green eyes with his eyeliner pencil.

"GUYS, THE CAR IS DOWN!", they heard Phil's powerful voice calling them from the floor below. They looked at each other and ran to the car, challenging each other in a friendly race. The youngest was lucky to be much shorter than the oldest, and that made him gain in agility, which favored him when it came to winning the race and, also, the place next to the window.

"Shit, it's not fair! You always beat me, damn dwarf!"

"Long legs are useless against my cheetah speed!"

They both laughed in unison and the car drove towards the local. Steve smiled as he watched Phil waver a little at the young drummer, who looked great after having "recovered" from his accident, while Sav, on the other hand, was looking out of the window next to him.

The curly-haired one couldn't recall at which point in time Joe's hand had rested itself on his thigh, but it didn't bother him at all. The long calloused fingers stroked the soft denim of his jeans in circles with his thumb, the contact causing sparks to cover the skin beneath and a strong blush to form on the bass player's cheeks. This was not at all annoying for him, in fact, he really enjoyed feeling physical contact to Joe, it was not common for them to hug or caress each other, much less clearly in public, that was not natural, after all the best friends don't do those things, but when they did, Sav was genuinely happy.

"For hell, how straight can you consider yourself having that hand there Joseph?"
Phil's voice brought them both out of their thoughts, causing Rick and Steve to burst out laughing while the blush on the bassist's and singer's face deepened.

"Get out of here you two lovebirds, we have a party to throw!"

~~~~

The guys were welcomed into the venue by lots of appreciative cheering and girly screeches. A lot of people from the American music industry were present, as well as a lot of fangirls that looked as if they would faint as soon as they would get in closer contact with one of the five band members. Sav inwardly sighed. He did not look forward to having to deal with crazy females that evening. He didn't know what it was, if it was the knowledge that Joe had willingly chosen Sav's pants to wear even though they had never shared clothes in that kind of way before or if it was something else, but that evening he felt a pull towards his best friend that had never been there before to that extend. The bassist simply refused to acknowledge how much his heart had warmed when Joe had rested his hand on his thigh in the car or how disappointment had washed over him as soon as Joe had dropped his hand that he had been holding in his warm palm due to the fact that they entered the location and had to act "publicly accurate". If Sav was honest with himself, all he wanted to do was crawl into Joe's arms and fall asleep in one of his warm caring embraces that always made him feel so safe and loved. But he'd get none of that, at least for now.

The party was kicked off by some of the music industry guys holding a little speech and handing each of them a frame with a golden vinyl in it, each of the band members then proceeding in thanking the music industry guys for supporting them and helping their record reach gold status. However, Sav always looked over at Joe who had put on his very effective public poker face, giving off a kind of euphoria that seemed a lot more believable than Sav's. The bassist knew what was up when his best friend behaved in that way. It always meant that he was going to get REALLY drunk and make out with all the girls that wanted to get their hands on him.

So as soon as the party started to fully come into swing, Sav left his best friend be and melted into the moving, excited crowd, drowning his thoughts of protest in a great amount of alcohol. At least he couldn't see if Joe was making out with someone when he avoided him.

~~~~

The party was still going strongly about five hours later, a heap of sweaty drunk people dancing in the middle of the location, half-naked people lying around and making out with equally half-naked people while the music was turned up to almost ten. The heavy bass line of Queen's Another One Bites The Dust rippled through Sav's body, causing him to be almost forced to move along to the beat. But the bassist refused, continuing to sit on the small bar and sipping at his beer. He couldn't even remember how many he had already emptied but that didn't matter anyway. He was there to have fun after all.

With an exhausted sigh he passed a hand through the messy blonde curls surrounding his handsome face, closing his sapphire blue eyes for a moment and being very startled as a strong arm wrapped around his waist from behind, a heavy weight leaning into him. The masculine scent and the slight undertone of smoke and aftershave emerging from the body behind him finally made him aware of who it was. And the husky voice slurring some words only confirmed his thoughts.

"Hey Savyyyy, you gorgeous little thing you..." Sav couldn't help but blush at the words, even though it was just silly drunk talk from his best friend. Turning around, he faced the taller, dark-blonde haired singer, seeing a cheeky grin on his face as the singer examined the bassist's face with his gaze. So at least one of his expectations had fulfilled itself. Joe was REALLY drunk.

"Oh shut it Joe, I'm not gorgeous and definitely not little", he finally replied, noticing the double entendre in his words too late and starting to blush furiously as his best friend cocked an eyebrow at him in an amused gesture. Deciding that it would get awkward if he would continue to just sit there Sav rose from the barstool, squinting at Joe to make out what exactly he wanted from him.

"Savyyyyyy, c'mon, just dance with me for a bit an' partyyyyy!!", Joe finally replied on his own without Sav having to ask him what he wanted, causing the bassist to roll his eyes before locking them on Joe's again.

"Are you serious? You're so drunk that you'll probably fall directly if you just take one step."

Joe started to pout at that comment, making a step towards Sav to prove that he was wrong, but he ended up swaying dangerously and the bassist barely managed to catch him by the arm before he went down.

"Oof, you're heavy man", the curly haired said under the full weight of his best friend, pulling Joe's arm over his shoulders to keep him up, throwing him a dunning glance. But Joe only started to giggle, trying to free himself out of Sav's grasp, what he finally managed as the bassist carefully released him, still keeping an eye on the steadiness of the taller man's stance. He then got dragged to the dancefloor by the singer who had grabbed him by his shirt and somehow managed a few steps without swaying too heavily, pulling him right into the middle of the sweaty moving crowd.

The people around them caused the two of them to get pushed even closer together, Sav feeling Joe's strong torso beneath his sweaty palms and his hot breath hitting his cheek regularly, causing shivers to make their way down his spine. His mind told him that he shouldn't EVER react that way to a contact with his sweaty MALE best friend but he blamed the sparks in his fingertips that touched the warm sweaty skin of Joe's shoulders on his generous alcoholic intoxication that evening.

Another One Bites The Dust suddenly switched to a much calmer song, most likely a ballad, but his hazy mind wasn't able to further distinguish it. All he knew was that suddenly Joe's bright green eyes locked on his own, his body seemingly closing in on Sav's personal space even further. The alarm bells were going off in his head like sirens but he didn't seem to be able to listen to them properly. Not when he was the center of Joe's attention for the first time that evening and caught in that piercing green gaze of his eyes. He barely registered Joe's hand tangling in his messy curls, pulling his head closer towards him while placing the other one on Sav's waist, the look in his green eyes slowly but surely changing to one of longing. By instinct, Sav's hands made their way to his best friend's shoulders, holding on for dear life because suddenly his knees started to get weak. Again, he tried to blame it on the alcoholic intoxication, but he knew it wasn't true. His gaze was fixated on Joe's plump rosy lips, noticing with anticipation that they seemed to get closer with every moment. His brain told him to stop right in that moment because it wasn't right to do such things with his male best friend but then Joe's lips met his and caught him in such a loving kiss that every thought that told him this was wrong was shut off immediately.

It felt like electricity ran trough his body and rooted him to the spot, the source being Joe's warm soft lips on his own that didn't seem to have the intention of leaving again. Sav wanted to cry in joy of what was happening because he had longed for it for so long but just as he was about to allow himself to fall into the contact his conscious mind shook him awake again. It pointed out facts that had seemingly completely passed him by.

Point one: Joe was so incredibly drunk that he couldn't even stand, let alone walk properly on his own.

Point two: Joe was into girls, as was Sav himself.

Point three: Joe had most likely mistaken him for a girl due to his lipstick and eyeliner skills and therefore had no real intention behind his actions, especially not the one the bassist was hoping for.

With those thoughts flooding his mind, Sav forced himself to break away and bolt out of the scene, well, as fast as he could in his drunken state of being. Blindly making his way through the masses, he finally located a small backdoor and hurried to leave before Joe was able to find him.

Where the hell had that come from? Why did Joe kiss him? Why now?

Completely confused and exhausted the bassist let himself sink down on the small step leading down from the backdoor, letting his tears flow freely. A wave of utter loneliness suddenly washed over him and he wished he had just listened to his feelings and kept away from Joe that night. He knew his best friend was a player and heartbreaker and he definitely didn't need him to break his own poor little heart.

Suddenly the door behind him opened and the dim lighting of the interior revealed a sweaty Joe in the doorframe that looked around in pure panic for a few seconds until his gaze landed on the small crying figure on the doorstep. By the mass of blonde curls obscuring the person's face he directly knew that it had to be Sav. Hurrying to kneel down beside him, he wrapped an arm around the trembling man's shoulders, pulling him into a warm embrace against his chest.

Sav needed some time to process what was happening but even when he knew that it was Joe that was holding him he didn't try to run but instead cuddled closer, breathing in the comforting Joe-scent he loved so much and allowing himself to smile. He knew that if Joe came after him, that kiss had to have some meaning for him as well.

"Savy? Is everything alright?"

Sav raised his head to look at Joe at that question, not answering but instead holding the gaze to search for some kind of hint in Joe's eyes that told him something about the latter's thoughts.

"Listen, I know I fucked up big time. I know that you will most likely never talk to me again but I just want you to know that it was not an accident or a misunderstanding from my side. I did this because I wanted to show you how much you mean to me. You're the most important person in my life and I kissed you because I couldn't help myself, you... You just looked so damn beautiful when you stood there in front of me. You always look beautiful in my eyes. I'm sorry. I won't bother you anymore."

Joe was close to tears at his last words and tried to stand up again but to his surprise, Sav held him back by the sleeve of his shirt. Confusedly he looked down at the bassist, seeing just one emotion clearly in those big bright blue eyes.

It was nothing else but pure happiness.

Slowly sitting back down, Joe was directly pulled into another kiss that made Sav's thoughts and emotions perfectly clear. Completely starstruck the singer reached out for his smaller best friend, wrapping his arms around the slim hips to pull him onto his lap and closer into his embrace. They stayed locked in that kiss for quite some time but finally Sav broke free again, leaning his forehead against Joe with a wide smile stretching his soft rosy lips.

"I love you", was all he said. And Joe almost exploded in happiness himself.

Gently caressing one of Sav's reddened cheeks he searched out the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen once more, looking deeply into them while speaking out the words that he had held inside for much too long.

"I love you too, Savy."

~~~~

Quite a bit later that evening two glowing figures reentered the party hand in hand, cheeks reddened and wide smiles of happiness gracing both of their faces. They melted into the mass of dancing people, slow dancing to the ballads blasting out of the speakers while kissing lovingly and not caring about anyone else in the room. They had found true love and they knew it even though they were both very drunk.

Three eye pairs carefully watched over them and distracted any music industry people the best they could to let the two newfound lovers enjoy their moment.

~~~~

Another day off on their Hysteria tour and Sav entered the hotel lounge yet again with one of Joe's sweaters on, the singer tagging along close behind and once again they quickly dropped their clasped hands as soon as they came into their bantmates' sight. Like every time before, both of their lips bore a cherry red color and a certain puffiness from kissing and they had attempted to untangle their hair in a way that it wasn't too obvious that it had been standing in all directions beforehand due to the other one's hands being tangled in them. And this time Phil had enough of it.

"Uh, guys, you know that we saw you at the party, right?"

Both Joe and Sav froze in shock at the mention of that event, Sav unconsciously reaching for Joe's hand for comfort, a gesture that made the smile on Steve's and Rick's face widen even further. Phil tried to remain serious though, trying to give his two enamored band mates a hard time to see if he could bring them to admit it themselves.

"Phil... We... we...", Sav tried but failed miserably, Joe gently squeezing his hand to make him shut up before saying something without thinking beforehand because Sav's mouth had a habit of working faster than his mind. It was an adorable sight, almost as if they were a married couple that already knew each other's habits by heart.

"Come on, you always wear each other's clothes, you hold hands, you most definitely make out with each other according to your looks and you wanna tell me there's nothing between the two of you?"

This time Joe tried to talk them out of it but it was to no use. The singer noticed that quite soon and instead of rambling on he simply sighed defeatedly, pulling Sav closer to him by his waist to hide his face in the crook of his neck, the bassist directly starting to blush furiously.

"It's alright mates, we just wanted to tease you. You're an adorable couple and we support you. You don't even know how much we've covered up for you already because you we're much too focused on each other", Phil finally stated with a chuckle, Steve and Rick nodding at his words with the smiles on their faces growing even further.

Joe just pulled his beloved bassist closer once more, kissing the tip of his nose and then his lips while feeling the stress of always taking care of no one finding out about them slowly ebb away. When they had to break away for air and Sav grinned at him with his ocean blue eyes sparkling and the dimples in his cheeks showing, Joe had no other choice than to smile right back at him.

"By the way, you look amazing in my clothes."

"You do, too, in mine."

Both of their smiles just widened even further at listening to the other's words.

~~~~~~~~~

Thank you so much, _QueenOfTheDreams_, I immensely enjoyed writing this one with you!! 💕💕
Check out her stories if you love fluffy Saviott stories just as much as I do!!! ;)