Title: Clubbing Part Two Saturday evening seven days later Leo wasn’t expecting anyone. Opening the door, he couldn’t hide his surprise at the unexpected visitor. ‘Josh.’ ‘Can I come in?’ Leo smiled. ‘Josh, do you really need to ask that?’ He stepped back and Josh walked into the apartment. ‘So where is it?’ ‘What?’ ‘Your collection of whips and chains.’ Leo didn’t know whether to be amused or angry. ‘Josh, what do you want?’ ‘One, in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not gay. Two, we work together. Three, next time we go out, I’ll choose the venue.’ Leo pushed Josh down onto the couch. ‘One, neither am I. Two, we’d work something out. Three, no, you will not.’ Leo poured them both a mug of coffee. ‘I’m guessing you have some questions, right?’ ‘One or two.’ Josh retorted. ‘Okay. I’m not sure I’ll know all the answers, but I’ll try. I have someone coming over later who’ll be able to fill in the gaps for you.’ ‘Who?’ ‘David, the young guy from the other night.’ ‘Edward’s ‘slave’?’ Leo ignored Josh’s tone. ‘Yeah. About an hour.’ ‘Okay. Why me?’ Leo shrugged. ‘I think it’d work.’ ‘What? Me ironing your shirts and cooking your food?’ ‘Is that what you think you’d spend your time doing?’ After a few seconds, Josh was forced to admit: ‘Dunno.’ Leo tried to remain calm. ‘Josh, how we divide the domestic chores would be such a tiny part of our lifestyle, I hadn’t even considered it. But thanks for the ironing offer. I hate doing shirts.’ Josh didn’t respond to Leo’s attempt at levity. ‘What if it didn’t work out?’ ‘It would.’ Leo’s voice had held such a note of certainty, Josh was almost convinced. Almost. ‘But if it didn’t?’ He persisted, needing to know the answer. ‘Then we’d go back to living separate lives.’ ‘Just like that?’ Josh was unconvinced. ‘No, Josh. Not ‘just like that’. It’d take time to re-adjust. But we’d manage. I’m a little disappointed you’re already contemplating failure before we’ve even started.’ ‘I like to cover all the angles.’ ‘Evidently. More coffee?’ ‘No Leo! How long have you been planning this? Since you pulled me off the Hoynes campaign? When did you decide I’d be the perfect slave for you?’ Josh snapped, his tone sharper than he’d intended. More calmly he managed: ‘I can’t believe I’m even having this discussion with you.’ ‘Yeah, Josh, you can. Cos otherwise you wouldn’t be here.’ Leo said reasonably. ‘Are you so sure of yourself?’ Leo smiled. ‘Yeah.’ Josh smiled slightly. ‘I guess that’s why you make such a great top, right?’ Leo nodded. ‘Yeah.’ ************* ‘I gotta take the car through the car wash. You two be okay here?’ Although he was primarily addressing his comment and question to Josh, Leo hoped David would be okay with being alone with Josh. Both younger men nodded. ‘Sure Leo. We’ll be fine, won’t we Josh?’ Although a little unsure, Josh nodded. ‘Yeah.’ Grabbing his car keys, jacket and wallet, Leo let himself out of the apartment. ************* Josh tried to think of a question. ‘How long have you and Edward…you know?’ David smiled. ‘I honestly can’t remember. Let’s see, I started working as a congressional aide in ‘ninety-one, so…ten years.’ ‘And did you ever want to move out?’ ‘No. A couple of times, I thought maybe Edward was gonna throw me out, but, no, I’ve never wanted to leave.’ ‘Why would he throw you out?’ Josh was suddenly worried. ‘Learning everything is hard to begin with. I thought I was ready, and there were some things I wasn’t prepared to take seriously.’ ‘Like?’ ‘Being told when to go to bed.’ ‘And?’ ‘Well, I guess, generally letting someone else make every decision about your life together. I mean, I worked in Congress, I wasn’t stupid. But when I walked into the apartment, I had to be a different person. And I gave Edward a hard time to begin with. But it’s like anything new, you adjust eventually.’ Josh handed David a mug of coffee then sat beside him on the couch. ‘How did you two meet?’ ‘Same as you and Leo. He came and found me.’ ‘He just walked up to you and asked if you wanted to move in with him?’ David raised his eyebrows at Josh’s flippancy, but answered anyway. ‘No. Same as you and Leo, he took me to the club.’ ‘How did you, you know, organise it?’ ‘Edward told me to think about it. He left me completely alone for a week then turned up and invited me out to dinner. I said ‘yes’ there and then.’ ‘And you’ve never regretted your decision?’ David looked around Leo’s expensive apartment. ‘Life with Edward means a nice home, good food, expensive clothes, and foreign holidays. Stuff I could never afford. I couldn’t afford a place like this. But Edward and I live in a place just like this. No, I’ve never regretted it.’ Sipping his coffee, Josh thought how to phrase his comment. ‘But you’re his.’ Josh felt uncomfortable pressing David on the point, but it was his main concern, and he needed another viewpoint. ‘Until you’re owned, really owned, by another person, you have no idea how good that feeling is Josh. Leo is offering you something no-one else will. To take care of you. If you don’t let him, he’ll find someone else and you’ll regret it forever. God knows there’s a queue a mile long now everyone knows Leo’s looking for someone new.’ Josh frowned. ‘Someone new? He’s done this before?’ ‘Who the Hell d’you think taught Edward?’ David laughed at Josh’s wide-eyed surprise. Catherine’s mother taught Leo, Leo taught Edward. One day, one of us will teach someone else.’ ‘I’m still not sure I wanna do this.’ David shrugged. ‘Then tell him. If I wasn’t with Edward, I’d move in in a second.’ ‘Why don’t you?’ David stared at Josh. ‘Because Edward would never let me. Only he can cancel our contract.’ ‘You have an actual contract?’ David nodded. ‘Yeah. It’s kinda normal with our set-up.’ He saw Josh’s unease. ‘But Leo won’t make you sign anything. At least not until you’ve had a trial period.’ Josh trailed his forefinger across his eyelid. ‘Listen, I gotta get some fresh air. You wanna come for a walk?’ David shook his head. ‘I can’t leave the apartment. Not till Leo comes back.’ ‘David! Come on!’ Reluctantly, David followed Josh out. ************** As they sat, staring out over the water in front of them, Josh asked: ‘Do you know what happened to Hoynes.’ David raised his eyebrows. ‘No. Except I do. No-one thinks I know. You sure you wanna know? I mean, you were with him. It could have been you.’ Josh flushed. ‘When I said I was with Hoynes, I meant on his campaign. Not with him like you all thought I meant.’ ‘Ah, right. Well, I heard Hoynes left someone tied up. They had a heart attack, but cos he was in the kitchen, he never realised. By the time he came back, the poor guy was really sick. Leo and Edward helped keep it quiet. Club members look after each other, however irresponsible they are. Hoynes got punished. I didn’t even think he did our kind of stuff any more.’ Josh noticed how it had become ‘our’ not ‘my’ as they talked. ‘You are so lucky to have Leo actually want you.’ ‘Is Leo well-known?’ Josh asked tentatively, not sure he really wanted to know the answer. ‘Leo and Catherine lead the DC alternate lifestyle crowd.’ David laughed at Josh’s reaction to his reply. ‘If you do let Leo take care of you, and I suggest you do if you don’t want someone else to take your place, you’ll be in the best hands in DC. Probably the best hands anywhere, if you want my opinion. We should head back.’ Digesting the events of the previous day and the day so far, Josh was almost silent on the walk back. *************** Leo was sitting on the couch, the newspaper carefully folded around the crossword, when they came back. ‘Where have you been?’ ‘We went for a walk Leo.’ ‘I wasn’t talking to you Josh.’ David swallowed hard. ‘I’m sorry Leo.’ ‘Edward told you to stay here till I got back.’ David stared at the floor, his cheeks burning. ‘Yes Leo.’ ‘But you went out.’ ‘Yes Leo.’ Josh was shocked at the change in Leo’s demeanour. And David’s. Then he realised Leo was now staring at him. ‘Josh, we’re out of milk. Go and buy some.’ Wanting to make things better for David, Josh tried to help out. ‘Leo, I made David go out. We just went for a walk.’ Leo frowned. ‘You dragged him out against his will?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Then I’m disappointed in you too. Go and buy the milk.’ Leo nodded at the front door. Josh was moments away from pointing out to Leo that he couldn’t order him around when the doorbell chimed. Nearest the door, Josh opened it and Edward looked past him to Leo, instantly picking up on the tension. ‘Everything okay?’ At that point Josh decided that he would go out to buy the milk after all. He walked past Edward, who ignored him. But he could feel Leo’s eyes on him until he heard the door close behind him. On to the next part Home Send me feedback on this fic Return to the X-Files Fic Index Return to the West Wing Fic Index

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