Flushed

By: Elizabeth Dunn

Disclaimers: Believe me, if they belonged to me, they'd be doing MUCH more interesting things onscreen. But until then, our fanfic will have to do.

Author's notes. Unbetaed. Readers beware. Sequel to 'Fever.'

***********

Casey woke up, not quite sure of where he was. After a second he realized that he was in his own bed, but someone was there with him, which was what was making the situation so unusual. Craning his head, he saw that it was Dan taking up the extra space. Wait a minute, *Dan*? It came back then, his being sick, waking up to find paramedics there, telling him he could've died. Most of all he remembered Dan, being so supportive and strong and just...*there*. Casey tried to settle down and go back to sleep, but Dan had woken up and was staring at him, a small trace of fear on his features. Casey decided to ignore it for the moment and just go with the standard greetings. "Morning, Danny."

"Morning Case. How are you feeling?"

"Little stiff, little feverish. A little foolish."

"Foolish?"

"I didn't mean to cause a scene last night."

"You didn't. Trust me. I was probably the one causing the scene."

Casey smiled at that. "Worried?"

"More than you could imagine."

"That's nice. I'm sorry you worried."

"Don't. It wasn't your fault." Casey swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "Where are you going?"

"Bathroom."

"At least put on a robe."

"Danny, you've seen me in my boxer shorts before. Hell, the whole office has. I don't think there's a need for modesty now." Casey stood up and looked at himself, then at Dan who was looking anywhere but at Casey. "I'm naked."

"That's why I wanted you to put on a robe."

"I'm *naked*. Danny, how did I end up naked?"

"You woke up in the middle of the night complaining that you were hot, but you didn't want to remove any blankets. No, you decided to remove your shorts instead. Then we went back to sleep."

Casey raised an eyebrow, giving in to the urge to tease Dan. "How do I know that you didn't do something with them yourself? Or something with *me*, for that matter?"

Dan flushed. "Of course, I undressed and ravished you in your sleep. You know, I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging, but I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't have slept through that."

"I'm a deep sleeper. Guess I'll never know for sure." With a parting leer, Casey went into the bathroom.

Dan lay back on the bed, totally aroused and embarrassed. Aroused because of the sight of a naked Casey and the images of what exactly he'd *do* with a naked Casey given the opportunity, and embarrassed because he was fantasizing about his best friend while in his best friend's bed. He was about to give in to the temptation to do something about the first part of his problem, when his location really penetrated into his brain through the early morning fog that surrounded it. He was up like a shot and pulling on a pair of Casey's loosest sweats. No way was he going to try to put on his jeans. He might as well take out a billboard ad on Broadway if he wanted to advertise. He quickly slipped into the living room, so he wouldn't have to be there when Casey came out of the bathroom, wet and flushed from his shower, still naked...okay, that wasn't smart. Dan sat down, despite the pain of his being aroused almost past the point of coherent thought and tried deep breathing to calm himself down. He had only partially succeeded when Casey came out, fully dressed, thank God. He sat down on the couch with an exhausted sigh.

"I had no idea how exhausting a shower could be."

"Yeah, well, you're still sick. Which reminds me. You have to go to your doctor today."

"And why is that?"

"Paramedic's orders."

"Oh." A pause. "What time is it?"

Dan glanced at the VCR. "Six."

"That early? No wonder I'm still tired."

"Well, go back to bed. No need to be awake for a few hours yet."

"All right." He stood up and looked at Dan, who was still sitting there with an odd expression on his face. Casey mentally chalked it up to exhaustion and held out a hand. "You come too. You're tired."

Dan pulled back away from Casey's offered touch. "No thanks, I'll stay here."

"No, really, come on." Again Dan shook his head and seemed to move even further away until he was in the corner of the couch. "Jeez, Danny, you'd think...." He trailed off and shook his own head. "No, that can't be right," he said, mostly to himself.

"What can't be right?"

"What I was thinking."

"Case, evasive doesn't work for you. Tell me."

"Well, I was thinking that you didn't want to come with me because you were really turned on and were afraid that you'd jump me or something. Silly, right?" Dan didn't say anything. "Right?" Casey was starting to sound a little desperate now. "Danny?"

Dan bent his head, trying his best to look like he was smothering laughter, but it wasn't working. Finally, he looked up and met Casey's eyes. "Casey," he whispered hoarsely.

Casey sat down in shock. "Dan, tell me you're kidding, you're serious, anything, but don't leave me hanging like this."

He tried to speak, failed. Finally he picked up Casey's hand and placed it on his groin to let Casey feel the evidence. Casey's hand moved, feeling Dan's hardness, the stilled as he realized what was happening. He pulled away and met Dan's eyes, shock staring into blind despair. Casey jumped up, shaking his head. "No, this isn't happening. Not now."

"Case, it gets worse."

"How?"

"It's not just desire. I'm in love with you."

Casey swayed a little. When Dan made a move to support him Casey waved him off. "No, I'm fine."

"You sure don't look fine."

"Gee, I wonder why. Suddenly, I'm being forced to reevaluate my best friend."

"I'm still the same person."

"Not really."

"Yes, really. Nothing's changed."

"Except for the fact that you're in love with me."

"Casey, I've been in love with you for at least a year now. You never knew. Now I'm still the same person, just with you knowing."

"But I know now."

"Casey?"

"I have to think about this. I need time to process this. You've had forever to deal with this. I've just had five minutes." He smiled a Dan, a small, twisted smile, but still a smile. "You understand, don't you?"

Dan nodded slowly. "Sure. I understand completely. Take all the time you want. I'll still be here when the dust clears, no matter what."

"All right."

"Go to bed, Casey."

"Will you be all right?"

"I'll be fine. I find that I'm not tired anymore." He watched Casey walk back to his bedroom and sat on the couch. Alone.

**********

Later that morning, Dan and Casey still weren't really talking. Right then, sitting in the waiting room of the doctor's office, it wasn't so bad, but earlier in the apartment it had felt a little weird. But now, with Casey in the examining room, Dan had time to think of how he could possibly repair their friendship if Casey was that freaked by Dan's confession. In the middle of this thought Casey came back out with something in his hand. He nodded at Dan, and they left.

The drive back to Casey's apartment was shaping up to be as silent as the drive there had been, but Dan couldn't stand it anymore. He asked, "So, what did the doc say?"

"It was a bad reaction to the over the counter medicine I took. He gave me a different one to take."

"What do you have?"

"Just a slight cold." Silence fell again. They maintained that quiet until Dan pulled up at Casey's apartment, where he was fully prepared to just leave Casey there. But Casey looked at him and said, "Come on up. I think we have to talk."

"I thought you needed space."

"I need to talk now."

"Fine. We'll talk now." They rode the elevator in silence. They entered Casey's apartment in silence. Finally, when it seemed like Casey was never going to talk again, Dan said, "I thought we were talking."

"I know. I just don't know where to start."

"Start anywhere. Start with anything. Just start."

"All right." Casey took a deep breath. "Why didn't you ever tell me that you loved me before?"

Dan sighed. "I didn't think either one of us was ready to deal with the revelation before now."

"What made now so different?"

"I don't know if you know this, but you could've *died* last night. If I hadn't been here, you probably would have. I just realized that I couldn't let it go on any longer."

"'It?'"

"Pretending that I had no feelings for you outside of friendship. That there was no need to tell you because, hell, we had plenty of time. Life doesn't work like that, or so I've discovered. You know, carpe diem and all that."

"I see."

"Do you? Do you, Casey?"

"I...think I do."

"What exactly do you see?"

"I see a man who is my best friend who has just said that he loves me. I see myself, standing here, looking at you, and not knowing what to do or say next."

"I only need to know one thing. How do you feel?"

"About you?"

"That would be the question."

"I...I don't know. Not yet. I'm flying in all different directions, not sure of who I am, or who *you* are anymore. All I know is that this will change everything between us. And I don't know if I'm prepared to handle that."

"You're going to have to handle it Case. This isn't one of those things you can just run away from."

"I know. I really do. But you've had a long time to come to grips with this and so al the soul searching that goes with a discovery like that. *I've* only had about twelve hours."

"So what you're saying is, you need more time."

"Bingo."

"Take all the time you need. I'll be here for you no matter what."

"Even if I end up breaking your heart?"

"Case, nothing you can do will break my heart. Not if you're following your own." Dan walked over to Casey and hugged him. Casey returned the hug, allowing himself to pretend for a second that nothing had changed. But then reality reasserted itself, and Casey puled back. Dan let him go unresistingly. "I'm going to go now." Dan hesitated, then placed a small, chaste kiss onto Casey's lips. "I'll be here for you, no matter what," he repeated in a whisper, and let himself out of Casey's apartment.

Casey stood rooted to the floor long after Dan left, stunned. He raised a hand to his mouth and traced his lips with his fingertips. With a thoughtful expression, he turned and walked into his bedroom to rest and think.

**********

The End