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Title: Subtlety Author: Charlotte May
Email: charlottemay43@hotmail.com =========== Subtlety =========== Orlando watched Dominic from across the canteen. Situation normal, he thought. Dominic doing what he did best. He was holding court; full of life, joking with Billy and entertaining anyone who would pay him some attention. The curls on his Merry wig bounced as he impersonated someone - Orlando couldn’t tell who at this distance – but the onlookers certainly found him amusing. The whimsical thought struck him that the golden yellow waistcoat Dom wore represented the sun and everyone else revolved around him, mere satellites to his blinding presence. Orlando could feel the gravitational pull from across the room. He shook himself. Thinking like that would get him nowhere, because Dominic was his mate, and just his mate, no matter how much Orlando wanted more. And to emphasise the point, every time they went clubbing, Dom wrapped himself around some girl and demonstrated with the utmost clarity, and without the aid of diagrams, that he was as straight as a die. Orlando hadn’t always felt like this. No way. When they’d first arrived, Dom *had* just been his mate, but the man had somehow got under his skin and things had slowly changed until Orlando felt his stomach churn whenever Dom spoke to him. And no matter how much he told himself it was a bad idea to fall for someone he worked with, his heart just wouldn’t listen to his head. He wanted to make Dom smile. He wanted to be near him as much as possible. He wanted…. Hell, he might as well be honest with himself, he *wanted* Dom. Full stop. “Penny for them.” Orlando swung round and found himself staring into a pair of big, blue eyes. Even after working with Elijah for three months, he still couldn’t get used to those eyes. Sometimes they didn’t look real. In fact, in some lights, they could look downright creepy. And in some of his more fanciful moments, Orlando thought the eyes could see right inside him, and see what he was thinking. “Oh nothing.” The American frowned. “You were watching Dom.” It sounded like an accusation. What had those eyes seen? Or was paranoia setting in? He tried to sound nonchalant, hoping he was wrong. “He’s difficult to ignore.” A cheer drew their attention. They both swivelled and looked across the canteen at Dominic. “Particularly when you’ve got the hots for him.” Orlando felt the blush rise to his face. Oh great, now the guy with the mouth the size of the Channel Tunnel would tell everyone on set and life as he knew it would be over. As far as he knew, no-one had even suspected he was into guys. And anyway, how the fuck could Elijah tell? Trying to look innocent, he glanced at Elijah out of the corner of his eye, attempting to gauge his reaction, and said, “Don’t be bloody stupid.” Elijah shook his head. “And denial’s not just a river in Egypt.” There was a long pause in which Orlando tried to work out what to say that wouldn’t incriminate him further, and failed miserably. Elijah sighed. “Why don’t you say something to him?” The American’s voice was kind, catching Orlando off guard. “He’s straight. He’d probably thump me into the middle of next week… or at the very least I’d lose a good friend.” Orlando stared morosely across the room at Dominic, who was now attempting to juggle with three salt pots. A roar of derision rose up from the spectators as all three crashed to the ground. “I guess he needs more practice,” said Elijah, raising his eyebrows. He turned to Orlando. “You know, just because we’ve only seen him with girls doesn’t mean he doesn’t like guys as well.” “It doesn’t mean he does either!” The American shook his head. “Give yourself a break, will you? And if you won’t talk to him, drop a few hints. Be subtle. He’ll get the message.” Elijah patted Orlando on the arm and began to walk away. The American paused and turned back to him. “Don’t worry, Orli, your secret’s safe with me.” Yeah, right, thought Orlando. And I’m the Queen of Sheba. ==== The next day, Orlando was just leaving his trailer when Billy walked over to him. “Hi, mate,” he said. A huge grin was plastered over the Scotsman’s face. That in itself was nothing unusual; Billy was one of the most cheerful people Orlando had ever met. But what he said next almost rendered the Englishman speechless. “So, have you decided what to do about Dom?” “Wood is a dead man,” muttered Orlando nastily, narrowing his eyes. “A touch of homicide will put you in exactly the right mood to woo Dominic, don’t you think?” Orlando frowned at him, then smiled in spite of his embarrassment. It was impossible to be mad with Billy, and in any case, none of this was his fault. Then a horrible thought struck him. “Does Dom know?” Billy shook his head. “No, mate. Even Lij isn’t that tactless.” “Are you sure?” Orlando stared doubtfully at his friend. “He’s a past master at the old ‘open mouth, insert foot’ routine.” “So why did you tell him? I mean, you must have known what would happen.” “He guessed. And I was too shocked to deny it convincingly.” Billy nodded, then looked at Orlando expectantly. “Well?” “Well what?” “What are you going to do about Dom, you silly bugger?” “As far as I know, he’s straight, so I’m going to do precisely nothing.” “I think you ought to say something to him, get things out in the open.” “No way.” “Well, you’ve got to do something, mate. With the way you’re staring at him all the time…” Orlando began to protest but Billy cut him off by raising his hand. “Don’t even think about denying it. I noticed you mooning over him weeks ago.” Orlando looked at Billy in horror. Was he really that obvious? And why didn’t the earth open up and swallow you when you needed it to? Oblivious to the horrified look on Orlando’s face, Billy carried on. “You need to do something, otherwise, if you don’t, someone else will notice and tell Dom.” With that, Billy turned and left Orlando staring after him, his words ringing in his ears. ======== That night Orlando lay awake in bed considering what Elijah and Billy had said. If you didn’t think about it too hard, it sounded like a good idea. Drop hints. Be subtle. Yeah, right. And exactly how could he do that? Leave Dominic anonymous love letters? Deliberately engineer things so Dom walked in on him when he was undressed? Wink provocatively? He threw his hands above his head in frustration, sending them crashing into the headboard. This was fucking stupid! And he was fucking stupid for even contemplating it. What was he thinking, taking advice from an eighteen year old ex-child star? Then a little voice in his head reminded him that Billy had said more or less the same thing – Orlando had to do something. Billy wasn’t an immature teenager; he was a grown man who’d been around the block a few times. He instinctively knew Billy would give good advice. So what was he going to do? An idea began to form. What if he arranged to do something with Dominic, something the others wouldn’t be interested in doing? It would look like a lad’s night out, not a date… ======= “Dom!” Orlando shouted across the set. The hobbit swivelled round and grinned at his friend. Orlando tried very hard to ignore the fluttering in his stomach and launched into the speech he’d been rehearsing all night. “I’ve got a video of a football match I thought you might like to see. My mum taped it. It only arrived yesterday.” He knew his words were in danger of spilling over each other in his haste. For god’s sake, he chastised himself, you’re an actor. Act calm! Dom quirked an eyebrow. “Man U?” he asked expectantly. Orlando grinned and nodded, though his heart felt like it was going to leap out of his chest any moment. “And Chelsea.” “I’ll bring the beer. Your place tonight?” Dom seemed to be positively salivating. “Are the others coming?” “Wasn’t going to ask them. Billy would just drone on about Rangers and we’d have to keep explaining the rules to Sean and Elijah. If it’s just us we can enjoy the game in peace.” Orlando held his breath. Had that sounded reasonable or a pathetic excuse to get his friend alone? To his relief, Dom believed him. “Yeah, you’re right. About eight?” “Sounds good to me.” Orlando watched Dom walk back across the set to where Billy was waiting for him. That had been far easier than he’d expected it to be. Thank god that tape had come yesterday or he wasn’t sure what he’d have been able to come up with. Of course, he had no idea what he was going to do when he got Dom to his place… he was hoping and praying for a flash of inspiration. ====== “Offside! Are you blind, ref?” Dom waved his beer bottle at the screen. “That guy’s a complete wanker.” Orlando nodded in the careful way only a certain amount of alcohol could produce. “A blind wanker,” he pronounced solemnly. He glanced across at Dom, who sat next to him on the sofa, wearing his bright red Manchester United shirt. His mouth went dry. What now? He’d got Dom here, alone, and he wasn’t sure what to do next. His evening had been completely devoid of inspiration. But of course, he had wasted a lot of it considering just how sexy a red football shirt could look, rather than searching for that elusive inspirational idea. He knew they must have both had enough alcohol to lose a few inhibitions, but as Orlando could definitely assert, he still seemed to have quite a lot of his firmly in place. He certainly couldn’t picture himself grabbing Dom and kissing him senseless. The match was almost over – the clock in the corner of the screen showed they’d played eighty-six minutes – and he didn’t have a clue how to ‘drop hints’ as Elijah had put it. Oh what the hell, he thought, I’m going to have to do something… if I get thumped, I get thumped. “Stop playing like a girl,” muttered Dom as a Chelsea player took the ball from Paul Scholes and then headed off down the field. “He’s not having a good game,” agreed Orlando. Taking a swig of his beer for some Dutch courage, he sidled closer to Dom, so their hips were almost touching on the sofa. Dom glanced at him curiously, but didn’t make any move to back away. Orlando smiled shyly and turned back to look at the match. Move one… okay, thought Orlando. What next? He considered his options for a moment. Perhaps stay still for now and let Dom get used to the idea of him being so close. He stared at the TV and found himself trying to analyse his feelings. Was Dom his mate? Yes. Was he attracted to Dom? Hell, yes. Did he want a relationship with Dom? After a moment or two’s thought the little voice in his head came back with a quiet ‘yes’. Did he love Dom? He glanced sideways at Dom and found himself smiling to himself at the sudden epiphany he’d reached. Yes, he did. Apparently aware of being watched, Dom turned to face him. “What? Am I dribbling beer down me or something?” “No, you look as handsome as ever, Dominic,” Orlando said, perfectly seriously, still caught in his epiphany moment. The shocked look on Dom’s face made him realise, all too clearly, what he’d just said. “I… ah…” he floundered. “Oh shit.” A frown briefly passed over Dom’s features. “Arsehole. How much beer have you had? Next you’ll be telling me you love me.” Orlando didn’t think it was possible for his heart to beat this hard. “I’d never say that,” he protested. And he told himself it wasn’t a lie because he didn’t think he’d ever have the nerve to tell Dom he loved him out loud. “That’s all right, then,” said Dom, turning back to the match and swearing colourfully at the referee. Orlando sat in silence, considering his next move and half watching the TV. He wondered if Dom could hear his heart beating, because to him it sounded like the entire drum section of a marching band. He took a deep breath to try and steady himself but it didn’t seem to do much good; now he could feel his legs trembling. Fuck! He had to get a grip! “Well, at least they won,” said Dom, switching off the TV. “Awful match, though. They didn’t deserve it. Thank your Mum, will you?” Dominic turned to look at Orlando. “Hey mate, are you all right? You look like shit.” “I… er…” Rational thought escaped Orlando entirely when Dom put his hand on Orlando’s arm. He could feel the heat burning through his shirt, sending shockwaves through his body. His eyes were fixed on his friend’s hand. He studied the rings, the smudged pen marks, the beautiful sensuous fingers. Orlando shut his eyes. Yes, it was official… he’d lost it. Completely lost the plot over his best friend. This had all been a terrible mistake. In the future he wasn’t going to listen to Elijah, Billy or anyone, no matter what they said. Suddenly all he wanted to do was to get away. Orlando tried to stand up but had completely underestimated how firmly Dom was holding him. He was pulled back down and found himself sitting even closer to Dom, if that was humanly possible. “What is it?” asked Dominic quietly. “You can tell me.” I really don’t think I can, thought Orlando. His breath hitched when Dom squeezed his arm. He wanted to answer, but all that came out was a vague grunting noise. “Orlando.” Dom’s voice caressed the word and Orlando’s stomach did a neat little flip-flop. “Look at me.” Orlando forced himself to look up and found himself virtually nose to nose with Dominic. They were so close he could feel Dom’s breath on his face. Dom smiled encouragingly, nothing but kindness and concern in his eyes. Orlando smiled back weakly, grateful for his friend’s sympathy, and without thinking gently kissed the tip of Dom’s nose. Oh god, he thought as soon as he’d done it, what on earth possessed me to do that? Dom’s face was contorted into a grimace of total surprise. Orlando tensed, waiting for Dom to explode. “What…?” Dom said quietly. “What did you do that for?” “I… er…” Orlando couldn’t take the waiting any longer. The whole evening had been an unmitigated disaster. He’d had enough. He just wanted to get the inevitable over with, go to bed before he did anything else terminally embarrassing and try to forget he was in love with Dominic. “Look, don’t just sit there like a rabbit caught in car headlights. Either thump me or bawl me out for making a pass at you and get it over with, will you?” “For making a pass at me?” Dom’s mouth formed into a perfect ‘O’ of surprise as Orlando almost heard the penny drop. He hadn’t realised? Perhaps the ‘love letters’ option would have been better. “Yeah, I’m sorry. Won’t happen again.” Dom’s brow was furrowed with concentration. “You’re telling me that you…?” He stared at Orlando curiously, then gestured vaguely in the air. “…me?” “Yeah.” “You actually…” Dom blinked a couple of times, as if trying to get used to the idea. He waved his arms to and fro between them for a moment. “… me?” “Yeah.” “Wow.” A huge grin split Dominic’s face as he grabbed Orlando by the shoulders and pulled him in for a kiss. Completely taken by surprise, Orlando didn’t quite know what had hit him, except than it was better than he’d imagined, and more than he’d ever hoped for. He blessed Elijah, Billy and everyone who’d ever offered him advice about anything. Yes, in future he would always listen to Elijah. When they came up for air, Dom leant in and brushed his lips against Orlando’s ear, his breath tickling the sensitive skin and sending ripples all over Orlando’s body. Dom whispered, “You should have come right out and said something. You didn’t need to be so fucking subtle.”
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