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Brown eyes slitted open, glaring at the alarm clock. 
He had meant to turn it off, but had been pounced and 
fogotten to do so. Now it was going off like an air 
raid siren. With a snarl, Jake Hunter swatted the
damn thing. There was a loud crash, and the clock died 
with one last pathetic attempt to sound.

Quickly snatching his arm under the covers, Jake 
grumbled about the cold. Turning over, he snuggled up 
to his own personal heating pad. Michael Woods 
flinched a little when Jake's cold skin hit his, but 
never really woke up. Smiling as he curled around his 
warm lover, Jake remembered the past.

                       ***

It had been six years earlier Jake and Michael had met 
on the ill-fated charter. They, plus Michael's cousin, 
Tommy, had been chased by pirates, and Jake had been 
forced to scuttle his boat, the Tiffany, in order to 
escape.

When they first met, Jake had seen Michael as nothing 
more than a spoiled rich kid, doing whatever he wanted 
on Daddy's money. Once they had been stranded  on the 
island, he saw that there was more to Michael than 
what met the eye. After the plane incident, and the 
resulting argument, they had began to relax around 
each other. After their escape, the three of them,
Tommy, Michael, and Jake, had became partners owning 
the Tiffany II. 

Michael came down once a month, Tommy every couple. It 
had been during one of Michael's visits, two years 
later, that everything had changed.

Jake and Michael were heading toward a new place in 
town, when the squeal of tires and shouts of alarm 
drew their attention. Barreling straight toward them 
was a large pickup truck. Without thinking, Jake
shoved Michel as hard as he could. Then he was in the 
air, bouncing off the truck's hood, and feeling the 
windshield cracking under his weight.

As the truck slid to a stop, Jake was moving again, 
this time forward, slamming into the sidewalk. 
Darkness began to creep over him, and Jake heard a 
voice, someone was yelling at him to stay awake, and 
not die.

He remembered promising not to die, then the darkness 
took over fully.

It seemed to last a long time, but slowly, oh so 
slowly, he began to drift out of it. Similar to deep 
sea diving. You came up some, then paused, just to 
make sure nothing would happen. Right now, he was just
below the surface, close enough to hear things.

There was someone talking to him. He couldn't make out 
the words, just the tone. Whoever it was sounded 
deperate. Little by little, he was able to understand 
what the person was saying.

"Please, wake up. I've been here for three days, and 
I'm not going away until you wake up." Something 
squeezed his hand. Whatever it was, it had been there 
the whole time.

"It's so weird. When I first met you, I was going to 
meet a girl at the resort, but I called and cancelled 
not too long after I first set eyes on you. Even 
though you were a jackass, I still was drawn to you. 
That tough, no-nonsense attitude, those brown eyes, 
the whole deal. I noticed how good you smelled on the 
island, when we were next to each other. You smelt 
clean, like the air right after the rain. I know that 
seems kind of odd. Who smells someone they just met? 
Unfortunatly for me, only idiots who fall in love. 
Damn you, Jake, I love you. I could go for years
pretending not to, just so I could be near you. Never 
touching, just being able to see you."

Something heavy settled next to Jake's side. He felt 
something soft brush against his arm, so he guessed it 
was the person's head. Who? He knew that voice. 
Suddenly, it hit him. It was Michael! Now he was
pushing against whatever held him down.

"Now.... Now they don't think you'll wake up. Ever. 
Just lay here until even your stubborn streak gives 
out and you let go." A choked noise, one Jake 
recognized as a muffled sob. "I find you, the one 
person who ever made me feel like this, and now you're 
leaving me. You promised, too." Now the voice held a 
little anger. "You promised you wouldn't die. You
once told me that you don't break your word. Well, 
here you are, breaking the one promise I want you to 
keep more than anything else."

Suddenly, the wall that had held Jake back was gone, 
and he simply woke up.

Brown eyes slowly opened, picking out details around 
him. He was in a hospital room, privacy curtains 
drawn. In a chair next to the bed sat Michael, face 
down on the sheets next to Jake's side, Jake's hand
clasped in his own.

"Please, Jake. Wake up. I need you too much to let you 
go."

With everything he had, Jake squeezed the hand 
intertwined with his. The corner of his lips quirked 
up as Michael jumped, looked at their hands, then 
looked at his face.

"J..Jake?"

"I promised," Jake whispered, voice raspy. "Come 'ere."

Michael leaned forward, head turned to hear what Jake 
said.

"Look at me."

When Michael turned to look at Jake, the captain of 
the Tiffany II tilted his head up, touching his lips 
to Michael's.

It was a soft kiss, nothing more than a brushing of 
their lips, but it was nice. Jake broke away first, 
too tired to maintain contact. Licking his lips, 
Michael settled back in his chair.

Looking around, Jake saw he was in the ICU. "How'd you 
get them to let you in?" He'd been in the ICU more 
times than he wanted to remember, and he knew the 
rules well. Family only.

There was a definate red tinge across Michael's cheeks 
as he admitted what he had done. "I, um, 
saidthatwewerelovers."

The last part came out so fast that it took Jake a 
second to figure it out. Once again, his lips quirked 
to a smile. "Well, let's not make you a liar. When I 
get out of here...." Then everything went dark again.

                      ***

"What are you thinking about?"

Jake had been so busy snuggling into Michael, that he 
didn't realize that his lover had woke up. "Just 
remembering how we got together."

A shudder ran through Michael's body that had nothing 
to do with the chill in the air. "I remember almost 
having a heart attack," he said, turning to face his 
mate. "I had just gotten the gift I treasure most,
and then you went limp again. God," Running his 
fingers through Jake's long, sun-streaked hair, 
Michael used the other to pull Jake's lean body
against his. "I thought you had woke up long enough to 
say 'I love you,' then you were going to die on  me."

Michael moved his head forward, claiming Jake's mouth 
with his own. Four years together, and Michael was 
still trying to identify the taste of his lover. Jake 
tasted like cinnamon and the sharp bite of sea salt.
There was something else, something uniquely Jake. 
That was what Michael was trying to place.

To Jake, Michael was Michael. There was nothing on 
Earth like him. Maybe in Heaven, but Jake knew he 
would wait a long time before he found out.

The kiss broke when Jake shivered again. There was a 
smile on Michael's face as he saw the 
movement. "Cold?" he asked with laughter in his
voice. He still could remember the first time he had 
visited Tommy during the winter. Montana was *cold*.

At Jake's nod, a wicked grin crossed Michael's 
face. "Well," he said, drawing the blankets over their 
heads. "Since I'm the one who talked you out of your 
clothes, guess it's my job to warm you up." 

He did a good job. In fact, things got downright 
heated.

                     The End