Forty-five minutes after AJ picked him up, they were at the restaurant and being shown to a private dinning room. Marshall followed AJ and the waitress in, mildly impressed that AJ had gotten a reservation at the ritzy place on such short notice.

The room they were shown to consisted of a single round table in one corner with a high backed booth circling about a third of it, obviously something made for a romantic evening for two. There were candles on the table and a window looking out on a cliff that hung out slightly over the ocean.

Marshall looked around, caught between feeling awkward at being obviously wined and dined, with the exception of the wine, and being flattered that AJ had considered him worth enough trouble to put this together. He wasn't comfortable with the flattered angle though, so he focused on feeling awkward. That was an emotion he was familiar with.

AJ watched him closely, trying to gage his reaction. He knew the whole thing was a little over the top, but he couldn't help it. He liked Marshall a lot, and couldn't seem to stop himself from going all out for him. He watched as Marshall's eyes darted around the room nervously and correctly assumed no one had ever done anything like this for him before. He was glad he was the first.

After they were seated next to each other and the waitress had taken their drink orders, she left them alone and an uncomfortable silence fell over them. "So…" AJ started, turning slightly toward Marshall and fidgeting with his napkin.

"Yeah…" Marshall responded, looking anywhere but at AJ.

AJ chuckled. Marshall looked over at him, a smirk turning up the corners of his lips. "What?"

"This is ridiculous. I mean, not since that night in your car when you picked me up on the side of the road have we had trouble trying to find things to talk about."

"Yeah, that's true. You're usually so busy yapping, there's never a pause in the conversation." Marshall teased.

AJ shot him a hurt look, but the grin he couldn't quite keep off his face ruined it. "Oh yeah. I totally dominate the conversations. Give me a break. Who was it yesterday that went on and on about Hailie for nearly forty-five minutes?"

Marshall stopped laughing, but the grin remained in place a he shrugged. "Yeah, well, that's different. She's my baby girl."

AJ watched Marshall closely, noting the flash of pain in his eyes that he tried to hide. "You miss her already don't you?"

Marshall shot him a startled look, deciding he really did hate how easily AJ seemed to be able to read him. He couldn't deny he was right though. "Yeah, I do. I wish she could be with me all the time, not just half of it."

AJ reached out and threaded his fingers through Marshall's. "I know."

Marshall stared down at AJ's hand in his on the table, a strange feeling fluttering through him. He couldn't quite decipher what it was, but it felt sort of…good. Tightening his grip on AJ's hand, he looked back up at the younger man's face and locked gazes with him. For a long moment, they sat that way, holding hands and staring at each other, this time the silence between them comfortable, until the waitress popped back in with their drinks. Quickly Marshall pulled his hand away and fidgeted while she set them down and took their orders. AJ frowned, but let it go.

It was much the same the rest of dinner. The two of them talked and joked and flirted, AJ being affectionate with a touch here and there, Marshall accepting it, even welcoming it after the first few times of feeling awkward about it, but every time the waitress showed up, Marshall tensed up and pulled away. AJ tried not to let it bother him, but as dinner wound down and the waitress came in to clear away their plates and Marshall did it yet again, he finally got upset enough to say something.

"You know, if you didn't want to do this, you should have just said so." AJ blurted, then flinched at how harsh the comment had sounded. He hadn't meant for it to come out that way.

"What?" Marshall asked, confused.

AJ took a deep breath, realizing he couldn't stop now. "Go out with me. You could have said no you know."

"I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't want to." Marshall said steadily, trying to figure out where AJ's outburst was coming from.

AJ studied him for a minute, seeing the truth of that in his eyes. "Then why do you keep acting so weird whenever the waitress comes around?"

"Because we're famous and I don't want to end up in tomorrow's tabloids. I've had enough of that shit." Marshall muttered, looking down at the table.

Impulsively, AJ reached out and cupped his chin in his hand, turning Marshall's face back towards his. "You do realize we're out at a restaurant, in a private room, sharing a meal for two and that makes it kind of obvious why we're here, right?"

Marshall swallowed, getting lost in AJ's eyes. "Yeah."

"Then what's the difference if we're touching or not in front of her?"

"I…I don't know, alright? I'm just still having a hard time with the whole thing. Never in a million fucking years did I ever expect to be out on a date with a guy. It's fucking with my head." Marshall blurted.

AJ let his hand drop and turned away to stare out the window across from the table, saying, "Oh," but not before Marshall caught the hurt in his eyes.

Marshall sighed, feeling like shit. "Listen, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I'm not going to lie either."

AJ nodded. "I know. And I'm glad, really. I wouldn't want you to lie to me, it's just…"

"Alex, look at me." Marshall demanded when AJ trailed off. Once AJ did, he studied his face for a second, waiting for him to go on. When AJ didn't, he prompted, "It's just what?"

"I…" AJ stopped, then started again. "Shit. I have no fucking clue."

Marshall stared into his eyes and asked quietly, "Why?"

"Because when you look at me like that every thought except kissing you flies straight out of my brain." AJ answered honestly, his raspy voice low.

Marshall swallowed and looked down at AJ's lips. "What the hell are you waiting for then?"

AJ sucked in a sharp breath and dropped his own eyes to Marshall's mouth. "Fuck if I know."

When AJ didn't make a move though, Marshall got impatient and reached out, slipping his hand behind his neck, pulling him to him. AJ didn't resist and soon their lips were touching. AJ reached up and cupped Marshall's face as he tilted his head for a new angle. Marshall darted his tongue out and licked at AJ's lips, biting back a moan when AJ opened for him. Sliding his tongue in his mouth, Marshall licked at his tongue, finally giving in to the moan when AJ thrust his tongue against his in return. Marshall's hand fisted in the hair at the back of AJ's head as he braced himself on the seat with his free hand and leaned in further toward him.

They were lost in the kiss when suddenly they heard the door open and the waitress walk in. AJ started to pull back, figuring Marshall would want to back out of it, but Marshall held on to the back of his head tight and continued to kiss him. AJ swallowed a moan at that and kissed him back furiously, getting more turned on by the second. Vaguely they heard paper rustling then the door closing again, but neither of them cared much at that point if the waitress was still there or not, too caught up in kissing each other to notice much of anything else.

After several long minutes, they finally broke the kiss, leaning their foreheads against each other and fighting for air.

"Damn, that was…" AJ started, but couldn't find the words to finish the thought.

"Yeah, it was…fuck…" Marshall said, having the same problem.

AJ stared into his eyes for a long moment, then said, "Let's get out of here. I have somewhere to take you."

Marshall licked his lips. "Sounds good to me."

They turned back to the table and discovered the rustling paper had been the waitress setting down the bill. Both of them reached for it at the same time, their hands touching. Turning back toward each other, they found their faces inches apart, the urge to kiss again almost irresistible.

"I'll get it." AJ said in a low voice.

Marshall licked his lips and shook his head. "No, I've got it."

"I asked you out, it's my treat." AJ persisted.

Marshall's lips curved up a little at the corners. "Listen. I'm already freaked out enough that I'm out on a date with a guy. The least you could do is let me be the man and pay."

AJ smirked teasingly, and before he stopped to think about what he was saying, he blurted, "Be the man? What does that make me, your bitch?"

Marshall's eyes flashed with heat. "Shit."

The smile fell from AJ's face at the thought of Marshall topping him. "Yeah, shit."

Just as they were about to kiss again, the waitress walked back in. "Are you gentlemen ready to take care of the bill, or would you like a few more minutes?"

AJ and Marshall stared at each other for another couple seconds, then AJ pulled his hand away from the bill, allowing Marshall to grab it. Marshall flashed him a smile full of promise that got AJ instantly hard, then turned away to pull his wallet out of his pocket and grab his credit card.

After the waitress came back with the card and a receipt, they climbed out of the booth and headed for the private entrance for VIP guests that they had used when they'd arrived. When they were nearly there, AJ stopped the Maitre'D and asked him a question under his breath.

Marshall watched him curiously, then asked, "What was that about?"

AJ just smiled secretively. "Your after-dinner surprise."

Ten minutes later, AJ pulled off the main road in his car and followed a dirt trail up the side of a cliff. Marshall looked around them in the near darkness, wondering where they were going. "Where…"

AJ cut him off, saying, "Just sit back and relax. We'll be there in a minute."

Marshall clamped his mouth shut and stared out the window. A few minutes later, he had his answer to where they were headed. Nowhere. The dirt road dead ended at the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. By then it was fully dark and the moon was just beginning to come out, along with a couple stars.

"Uh, I think you took the wrong turn-off." Marshall said, looking around.

AJ chuckled nervously, his stomach twisting as he wondered if Marshall would like it or not. He put the car in park and shut it off. "Nope. This is where I was headed."

"Um, why?" Marshall asked, confused.

"Just get out of the damn car and stop asking so many questions, okay?" AJ said, a good-natured smile belying his words.

Marshall clamped his mouth shut but smiled. He liked that AJ didn't take any shit from him, so he surprised them both and did as he asked.

"Okay, what now?"

AJ sighed, rolling his eyes as he headed for his trunk. "Damn, you don't deal with surprises well, huh?"

Marshall laughed. "Not really. I like to know what's going on."

AJ peaked out from under the trunk lid that he'd just lifted. "Get over here and help me."

"Shit, you're demanding tonight." Marshall mumbled irritably, but he walked over to where AJ was standing anyway.

AJ just laughed and handed him a brown paper bag with the restaurant's logo they'd just been at on it. Grabbing a blanket out of the trunk next, he closed the trunk and headed back around the car to find a good spot to lay it out. Finding a good place, he opened the blanket and got it situated, then turned back to a still confused Marshall.

Smiling at him, he grabbed the bag from him and turned back around, kicking off his shoes before stepping onto the blanket and dropping down in the middle of it to pull the contents out. After he was through, he stood back up and turned back to Marshall, suddenly extremely nervous of his reaction.

"Well?"

Marshall looked at everything, then back up at AJ's expectant face. "What is it? Like…an after-dark dessert picnic or something?"

AJ nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

Marshall looked back at the blanket. AJ had gotten them dessert, somehow managing to figure out what his favorite thing was, strawberry shortcake. He'd also brought candles, with bases that screwed into the ground to keep them from tipping and had set those up at one end of the blanket, the soft light they cast flickering over the blanket at dessert.

"Damn."

AJ fidgeted with the bottom of his silk shirt. "Is that a good damn, or did I uh…go to far. If you don't like it, I can pack it back up and we can go find something else to do. I just…"

Marshall watched him ramble for a second, then interrupted. "Alex."

AJ stopped mid-sentence and asked, "Yeah?"

"It's great. I've uh, I've just never been on a picnic of any kind before. Took me by surprise, that's all."

"Oh." AJ said, a smile curving his lips. Marshall liked it.

After a short silence, AJ realized they were both still standing rooted to the spot. "Well, kick off your shoes and get over here before the whipped cream turns to liquid."

Marshall did just that and soon they were sitting Indian style facing each other, a plate of shortcake in both their hands. Lifting a forkful of the dessert to his mouth, Marshall asked, "How did you know this was my favorite?"

AJ shook his head. "I didn't. I just took a chance. I almost went with apple pie."

Marshall closed his mouth around the forkful of cake and closed his eyes as the flavors burst in his mouth. After he swallowed, he opened his eyes and commented, "Oh damn, this is fucking great. Glad you picked this."

AJ smiled from ear to ear, insanely happy Marshall liked it so much. "Thanks. It's the house specialty. That's what swayed me."

Marshall took another bite, his eyes sliding closed once more at the delicious taste. After he swallowed, he opened his eyes again, this time finding AJ staring at him intently, his fork halfway to his mouth. "What?"

AJ swallowed, resisting a sudden urge to attack Marshall. "You…you've got whipped cream on the corner of your mouth."

Marshall's lips curved up, enjoying AJ's discomfort and feeling like flirting a little. "Do I?"

AJ nodded, staring at his mouth. "Oh yeah…you do."

Marshall slowly snaked his tongue out and licked at the corner of his mouth, loving the heat that flared in AJ's eyes as a result. "Did I get it?"

AJ shook his head. "Uh, no."

"Maybe you should take care of it for me then, huh?" Marshall asked in a husky voice.

AJ bit his lip, his eyes rising to Marshall's. "Okay."

He started to reach out with his thumb to wipe it away, but Marshall caught him by the wrist, stopping him. "No. Use your tongue."

"Oh fuck." AJ responded, instantly hardening.

Marshall continued to hold his wrist as they both set their plates down and leaned in closer to each other. Their gazes locked as AJ got closer yet and snaked his tongue out, licking at the corner of Marshall's mouth. After he licked all the whipped cream up, he started to back up, but Marshall reached out a hand and cupped the back of his head, pulling him back in and fitting their mouths together.

AJ moaned, sinking into the kiss as Marshall opened his mouth to let AJ's tongue inside. The kiss lasted only a minute or so before they pulled apart, but the effects lingered long after as they stared at each other.

Finally, Marshall cleared his throat and picked his plate back up. "Guess we should finish dessert."

AJ nodded, and sat back again, picking up his own plate. "Yeah."

Getting a sudden idea, he shifted so he was next to Marshall instead of across from him and said, "Open up."

Marshall looked at him skeptically, but did as he asked. AJ lifted a forkful of shortcake to Marshall's mouth and waited while he leaned forward and closed his lips around it. Without a word, Marshall did the same, watching silently as AJ pulled it off his fork with his teeth. They continued to feed each other that way until all the shortcake was gone and the sexual tension was palpable between them.

"Fuck. That was the best dessert I've ever had." Marshall said quietly, staring at AJ.

AJ smiled slowly. "Same here." After a short silence, AJ cleared his throat and said, "I guess we should get going, huh?"

Marshall nodded, but didn't move. "Yeah, guess so."

AJ smirked. "One of us should move."

"Okay." Marshall said, and leaned in toward AJ.

Just as their lips met, AJ whispered, "Not what I meant."

Marshall stared into his eyes and asked against his mouth. "What me to stop?"

AJ snaked his tongue out and licked Marshall's lips. "Hell no."

"Then shut up and kiss me." Marshall ordered.

AJ moaned, loving Marshall's forwardness. When he'd asked him out, he'd never imagined Marshall would give himself over to the concept so fully. But with the exception of a few awkward moments and the whole not touching in front of the waitress thing, Marshall seemed so comfortable with it that AJ would have never guessed it was his first date with a guy.

Soon they were deep in the kiss, both wanting more but afraid of scaring the other off. AJ made the first move, dropping his hand from the side of Marshall's face where he'd had it to his shoulder. When Marshall didn't pull away, AJ slid his hand lower and inside Marshall's shirt, grazing over his beater as he slid his fingers down and around his waist until he ended up with his hand splayed out on the small of Marshall's back.

Marshall groaned into the kiss as he felt AJ's fingers slowly pull his beater out of his pants and slide his hand up underneath to caress the bare skin of his back. He reached out and slid his own hand in AJ's jacket, pushing it off one shoulder. AJ shrugged out of it then brought his hand back to Marshall's back and continued touching and caressing the skin just above Marshall's waistband.

AJ was so hard he wanted to scream as Marshall slid his hand up under his silk shirt to touch the bare skin of his chest. Pulling his mouth free of Marshall's, he kissed and nipped a path down the side of his neck, both of them breathing heavy by that point.

"Shit, Marshall, you have no idea how much I want you right now." AJ admitted as he reached his ear and licked the shell of it.

Marshall groaned and rose up to his knees, slipping an arm around AJ's waist and pulling him with him. AJ rose to his own knees willingly, and in the next instant they were pressed together, hands roaming, hips grinding, tongues tasting. Finally needing air, AJ pulled away from the kiss, only to moan loudly as Marshall's mouth moved to the side of his neck and kissed a trail downwards, sucking at the hollow of it as he continued to grind his hips into AJ's.

"Fuck," Marshall whispered against the side of AJ's neck. "No guy's ever made me feel like this. What the fuck did you do to me?"

AJ could only moan in response as he pressed himself against Marshall further, wanting more. He pushed Marshall's shirt off his arms and leaned in, kissing the flesh of his shoulder as he slid his hands down to the bottom of his beater to pull it up over his head. Marshall leaned back and helped him as his own hands found the buttons to AJ's silk shirt and made quick work of undoing them. Shoving AJ's shirt off his shoulders and down his arms, he quickly lowered his head and kissed him again, still grinding against him as their bare chests touched.

They both moaned at the skin on skin contact as AJ pulled his mouth away from Marshall's and started kissing a path out along his collarbone. Marshall reached down and grabbed AJ's ass, holding him to him, while AJ did the same, squeezing Marshall's butt in his hands as he pressed against him.

"Alex, shit. I want you. I can't fucking believe it, but I do. I want to be inside you." Marshall said in a desperate voice near AJ's ear.

That pulled AJ back to reality and he froze in his arms. Dropping his head forward so that his forehead was resting on Marshall's shoulder, he pulled his hands off his butt and rested them on his lower back as he took a deep shuddery breath, trying to get himself under control. Marshall stilled too, sensing something was suddenly different.

"What's wrong. Talk to me." Marshall said, his mouth still near AJ's ear.

AJ opened his eyes and lifted his head so he could look at Marshall's face, hoping he didn't regret what he was about to say. "I…we can't."

Marshall leaned in and rested his forehead against AJ's for a minute, taking a deep breath before backing away and sitting down. Looking away, he focused on the candlelight and mumbled something under his breath. AJ sat down too, picking his shirt up off the blanket and pulling it on.

At Marshall's muttered comment, AJ asked, "What?"

Marshall looked back at AJ and said, "I said I'm sorry. I did it again."

"Did what again?" AJ asked.

"Pushed you too much. I should have known better after what almost happened with Kevin."

AJ swallowed and shook his head. Thankfully Kevin had been the furthest thing from his mind right then. "This had nothing to do with that."

"But the pool…"

"The pool did, yeah. Not because of why you think though. You didn't scare me. I wouldn't be here alone with you right now if you did. After everything that's happened, I trust you."

"Then what…"

"It was something you said in the pool, about me being hot when I'm all turned on. Kevin said that to me that night and it just brought it back suddenly and I felt trapped again, like I did then."

"Oh." Marshall said, falling silent for a second. Finally curiosity got the best of him though and he asked, "Well then, why did you want to stop just now? I mean, shit. It should be me wanting to stop. I'm the one with no fucking experience in this area, and no previous desire to get any before you came along."

AJ nodded. "That's exactly why. I don't want you making a decision like this just because we're both horny and attracted to each other, and then regret it later. It's a big thing. Kissing a guy…you can get past that easily enough, but having sex with a guy for the first time, that's big."

Marshall looked at him for a long minute, his reasoning making sense, even if he didn't like it very much. "So what are you saying? How long do you want to hold off, cuz I'm telling you now, I'm not going to change my mind. I wouldn't have come this far if I wasn't sure."

AJ considered that for a minute, wanting to believe him, wanting nothing more than to strip them both naked and let him fuck him until he screamed his name, but at the same time, he had feelings for him and the last thing he wanted was Marshall regretting it later. "Twenty-four hours. If you still feel like this tomorrow night at this time…baby, I'm all yours."

Heat spread through Marshall when AJ called him baby. Somehow, AJ saying that in his raspy voice was like a caress against his skin.

"Shit. It's going to be a long twenty-four fucking hours." Marshall mumbled.

AJ watched him pull his beater back over his head and reach for his shirt. Reaching down to button his own shirt back up, AJ mumbled in response, "Fuck yeah it is."


Chapter Fifteen
COMPLICATE ME Contents