They were still sitting there on the couch, staring into each other's eyes, a kiss away from being lovers. I wanted to push the two of them into one another's arms. They belonged together. It was incredibly obvious, even to those of us not of the matchmaker persuasion.

Bruno looked as if he'd been struck by lightning. That bit of hair that flops down the side of his face was doing its best to hide his eyes. But I could see what he didn't want anyone to know. He could protest all he wanted, but the truth was, he was in love with Robert. Why he kept resisting it so hard, I couldn't begin to guess. I knew very little about him, save that he played a mean guitar and wrote songs that would break a statue's heart.

Robert, on the other hand, was as transparent as glass. He was headed straight for heartbreak if he didn't tread carefully. Bruno was an emotional minefield, and I had no desire to see Robert literally blown away by him.

"You're worried about them, aren't you?" the love of my life inquired. We were still in the kitchen, exploiting our rather unique vantage point, gained by peering through the door, which remained barely cracked open.

I sighed. Arthur could be so intuitive where I was concerned. But I didn't want him to misunderstand my sudden disquiet. I did want them to be together. But I didn't want them to hurt each other. I let go of the breath I'd been holding. Unfortunately, I had a feeling that hurting each other was precisely what was going to happen...and completely unavoidable.

*****

"I tried to tell you before. I wrote you a song," Bruno said shyly.

Robert tried not to look flattered and failed. Hopelessly. "Really? Can you sing it for me?"

"I don't sing," Bruno said with a frown that threatened to take over his whole face.

"Can I see the words then?"

Bruno worried his lower lip with the tenacity of a terrier taking on a bone. "Ummm...yeah. I guess so."

"Well, if you don't want me to, that's okay," Robert started to say.

I flew out of the kitchen as though I'd been released from prison. "No, it's not, Bruno. It is most definitely not okay. We're in the business of producing music here, and sad to say, you haven't shown much interest in that very thing."

Bruno reacted as if I'd struck him. Robert turned angry eyes on me, and I almost flinched at the intensity there. Well...that made for a nice change of scenery, didn't it? "You don't need to scold him like he's a fucking kid, Jack."

"Oh, I daresay Bruno knows a great many secrets and being a kid is not one of them."

"I'll play the song," Bruno whispered almost inaudibly. His lips were numb from the look of them, and I felt a pang in my chest that made me wonder if I'd pushed too hard.

"Why don't you play the melody first? So I can hear how it sounds?" Robert suggested, his voice at once soft and solicitous. "Then you can give me the words and I'll try to sing it for you."

Bruno's eyes slid away from Robert's to glance quickly at me. "It's...a little personal."

"Bruno, you write beautiful songs, but if the only one who gets to hear them is Robert...well, you're never going to get anywhere."

The look in his eyes said clearly that Robert was the only one who mattered and I was a complete and utter moron for not realizing that. All at once he stood up and wiped both hands down his jeans-clad thighs. "Can I use your piano instead of my guitar?"

"You play? I had no idea that-"

"Paul taught me." Suddenly his eyelids fluttered down and covered those expressive eyes. That was evidently the last he had to say on that particular subject.

"I-" To my surprise, Robert grasped my wrist and tugged. "Please don't ask," he whispered.

I nodded without speaking and watched as Bruno made his way to my piano. He closed his eyes before he started to play, as if he were composing himself or steeling himself for an arduous task. Perhaps both.

The melody was simple and unadorned and heartbreakingly sweet. I couldn't wait to hear the lyrics that accompanied it. But first, Robert had to learn the words. I could see him trying them out on his tongue as Bruno played.

When Bruno was done, he stopped and panted, as if he'd been running a very, very long race. Maybe he had. His life remained a mystery to most of us. Even Robert.

"Again..." Robert said gently. So. He was keeping Bruno's secret with him.

Somewhere along the line, Robert unexpectedly began singing along with Bruno's better than average piano playing. I didn't know who Paul was...but apparently he had been someone significant in Bruno's young life.

Bruno's words in Robert's mouth. There was something vaguely sexual about that, and yet...it was curiously romantic, too. The two of them had had so little real love in their lives. That much was certain. Maybe it was what drew them together. Both of them so incredibly needy, clinging to one another like opposite poles of a magnet.

	Won't you be my number two?
	Me and number one are through.
	There won't be too much to do;
	just smile when I feel blue.

	And if you got something to say to me,
	don't try to lay your funny ways on me.
	I know that it's really not fair of me,
	but my heart's seen
	too much action.

	And ev'ry time I look at you,
	you'll be who I want you to,
	and I'll do what I can do
	to make a dream or two come true,
	if you be my number two.

	And there is not much left of me.
	What you get is what you see;
	is it worth the energy?
	I leave it up to you.

	And if you got something to say to me,
	don't try to lay your funny ways on me.
	I know that it's really not fair of me,
	but my heart's seen
	too much action. 

	And ev'ry time I look at you,
	you'll be who I want you to,
	and I'll do what I can do
	to make a dream or two come true,
	if you be my number two. 

I sniffed unobtrusively. Despite the fact that the words were sung by Robert, the overwhelming feeling that came through was undeniably Bruno's. Right down to the last word. "That was...very nice," I managed to say.

"Thanks," Bruno said solemnly, his light eyes suddenly dark. Robert put his hands on Bruno's shoulders and Bruno leaned back, his body clearly yearning for the slightest touch from Robert.

"I think...you should reward yourselves for a job well done. Why don't you two go out for a change?"

Robert stared at me as if I'd quite lost my mind. "Jack, are you feeling okay? Cause it just sounded like you said to go out."

"That's right. Take a little time off. You deserve it."

"Well..." Robert obviously didn't know what to say. I wanted to send them home where they could act out their most ardent fantasies about each other, but I didn't think they would listen to me if I said that. So I told them to go out when I knew that they didn't want to be anywhere near other people.

Bruno shook off Robert's hands and slowly stood. "I thought you wanted us to work, Jack."

"I do. But you have, Bruno. You've come up with a lovely song, and I'm actually more than pleased with the way it's turned out. Aren't you?"

"Yeah. It's just-"

I studied the two of them for a long moment. They wanted one another so badly. The least I could do was to give them my permission to be together. They didn't need it.

But they didn't know that.

"Now get out. Shoo."  I waved my hands at them, and they scurried away like mice.

Once they were out the door, I gathered Arthur into my arms and kissed him. "Let's go to bed, darling. We won't be hearing from them anymore tonight."

*****

"Do you want to go get some coffee?" Robert asked.

I bit my lip and thought hard. What would he think if I said, No, I'd much rather go home so I can be with you? "Umm...it might keep us up all night."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess we don't want that."

A moment later, as we reached the sidewalk in front of Jack's flat, Robert said, "We could go get a drink."

"You don't want to be alone with me?" The words practically fell out of my mouth before I could stop them. Oh, God, now he was going to think I was a pathetic wanker for sure.

"Oh. You want to be alone?" he asked. Jesus, he sounded more scared than I was. I wonder if he knew that.

"Well...we could talk. It might be nice to have a conversation that didn't begin and end in bed." Shit. That was fucking brilliant. Bringing up bed like that. Real smooth.

"Umm...we're talking now, aren't we?" Robert could be so fucking bloody literal sometimes. I rolled my eyes at him, though I'm sure he couldn't see. It was too dark.

"Robert-"

"Bruno-"

"Is it my turn to screw this up or yours?" I asked him.

He stopped walking so suddenly, I almost went past him. "Jack wants us to be together," he said in a low voice.

"Jack's got nothing to do with this."

"You know how I feel, Bruno."

I did. It really was my turn.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Robert." Liar, liar. I did, too. The words were stuck in my throat, but I didn't know how to get them out of there.

Robert sighed and reached out with one finger to caress my cheek. I closed my eyes and trembled. I was on the fucking brink of something. I didn't know what. But it was important.

"You're tying me in knots, Bruno. I want to wait for you. I mean, it's not like I want anyone else, anyway, and I'm not exactly going anywhere. But it's getting so hard not to...touch you the way I want."

I took a deep breath and prayed that I wasn't making a fucking mistake. Not again. Not with him. "I love you, Robert." The words hung in the air between us for what seemed like years before he said anything.

He grabbed me and pulled me against him. He buried his face in my hair and I could feel his breath hot on my neck. "Thank God," he whispered.

I kinda had the feeling that I saved him, y'know? Then it hit me. I saved us. There was no way to be me anymore, not without him. As scary as that was...

End