Rove McManus wandered down the main street of Sydney, lost in his own thoughts. It was getting dark, but Rove didn't notice. His mind was still on the GNW taping he had just attended. Paul had looked so spunky�
NO! he told himself sharply. You can't think of that - you know he's in a relationship. Rove tried to remember who it was again. Mikey had told him once�Jo? Was that it? Something like that anyway. He knew it was a girl, and that he had no chance.
Suddenly Rove noticed how dark it was. He was nearly home, but he'd better hurry. Pulling his jacket around tighter, Rove quickened his pace.
He slowly became aware of the footsteps behind him. He turned around in a rush to face his pursuer - he had never been one to run away from a fight. But there was no one there. Rove looked around, confused. He shrugged; maybe he had just imagined it.
He turned and continued towards his home. He was looking forward of getting out of this stupid cold and into a nice, warm bed. He was tired.
This time Rove noticed the footsteps straight away. He whirled around, ready to attack - but again there was nothing there. Rove eyed the alleyways suspiciously. He was sure someone was following him. Must be some low-life trying to jump me, but doesn't have the guts, he thought.
Rove quickly sidestepped into a nearby alley. Silence. Rove listened, barely breathing.
The footsteps started up again, uncertainly at first, then faster when his follower realised that they had lost him.
A dark figure, wearing a large leather jacket, ran past the alley where Rove was hiding. Rove considered jumping him, but decided not to. He didn't want any trouble if he could avoid it.
He watched silently as the mysterious person vanished around the next corner. Rove got home without any further delays.

The next morning Rove climbed wearily out of bed. He had gotten very little sleep last night - he had been too busy trying to figure out what he could do about his feelings towards Paul. In the end he had come up with nothing and had slept fitfully.
Now he wandered through his kitchen, reaching for the kettle and various other things that made his daily breakfast.
He was just sitting down to a hot cup of tea and some cereal, when the phone rang.
"Shit," he swore. He hesitated, then took his tea with him to answer the phone.
"Hello?" he asked, a bit grumpy because his cereal was getting soggy. There was a chuckle on the other end and Rove knew who it was straight away.
He wandered back into the kitchen and looked out the window at the house across the street. Sure enough, standing in the window grinning, was Nicole.
"Damn you!" Rove muttered into the phone. "You made my cereal soggy!" But he couldn't help but laugh at Nicole's joke. She always caught him out at the oddest times, and this morning was no exception.
Rove slammed the phone down and hurried back to salvage his cereal. It was no use. Sighing, Rove tipped what was left into the trash. Nicole was his best friend in all the world - but there definitely were times when he wished she'd just turn into a slug.
She'd still eat my garden, he thought gloomily. Then he laughed at the image of Nicole as a slug, trying to much a hole in his daisys.
There was a knock at his door.
"Come in!" Rove called. He knew who it was. Nicole came trotting into the kitchen all smiles.
"Thanks for the great start to my day!" she declared happily. Rove scowled at her, but said nothing. Instead he plonked down into a chair and buried his face into his hands.
Nicole frowned.
She walked over and gently began to massage Rove's shoulders. She had discovered years ago that this was a fool-proof way to make him spill him guts.
Rove sighed, enjoying the feeling of her hands on his shoulders and neck. When he wasn't wishing Nicole was a slug, he felt he was the luckiest guy on Earth just to know her.
"What's wrong?" she whispered.
Rove considered not telling her, but before he could make up his mind, he blurted, "It's Paul." Just those two little words.
Nicole knew that Rove was gay - she was the only one besides him who DID know - but she didn't like him beating himself up over a guy he couldn't have. She had nothing against Paul McDermott, she even saw why Rove liked him so much, but she hated the fact that he oblivious to Rove's feelings towards him. Nicole had half a mind to go and yell at him. It wasn't the first time, but she knew she wouldn't do it. It wasn't that she didn't have the guts - she could yell at anyone for any reason - but it was because she knew that it wasn't really his fault.
Nicole sighed. "Rove, it's up to you what you do about these feelings. They're obviously not going away. You have to decide whether you want to tell Paul - even though he's in a relationship - or if you want to just keep it hidden." Her tone made it obvious which one she wanted him to do. She stopped massaging his neck. "But only you can do it."
Rove closed his eyes and rested his head against her stomach. Nicole patted his head sympathetically, then abruptly moved away, jerking Rove out of his comfy position.
He watched silently as she wandered around his kitchen, making her own breakfast. Even though he was gay, every time he saw her, Rove couldn't help but notice just how pretty she was. Her long red hair flowed in waves down her back, perfectly in place despite its length. Her figure was thin, but there was strength there too. She was average height for a woman of her age, 5 foot 7, but there was definately something different about her.
Nicole felt Rove watching her and turned to face him, her icy blue eyes regarding him with suspicion.
"What?" she demanded. "Do I have something on my arse?" She peered down over her shoulder to check the seat of her pants.
Rove laughed and got up, going over to give her a hug.
"No, I was just thinking how lucky I am to have you as a friend," he said, engulfing her in his arms. Nicole couldn't help but laugh.
"Sometimes I wish you weren't gay - but then you'd never say such sweet things!" she laughed. She frowned when Rove didn't answer. She turned to catch him staring intently out the window.
Something had caught Rove's eye when he had been talking to Nicole.
"What is it?" Nicole asked, mystified by Rove's behaviour. At first he didn't say anything - just kept staring out the window. Then he whispered something so quietly, Nicole had to strain to hear him. What she did hear sent shivers up her spine.
"There's someone hiding in the alley across the street, watching us. And I think it's the same person who tried to follow me last night."

"What are you talking about?" Nicole asked, her voice betrayed her fear. "Someone tried to follow you?" Rove ignored her questions and squinted at the figure. It was definately male. But who would stalk him? Rove had been stalked by many girls, but never any guys.
A hard elbow in the ribs brought him out of his thoughts. Rove looked up to meet Nicole's worried gaze. Neither said anything for a while, just starred out the window. The figure starred back, never moving an inch.
Finally Nicole couldn't take it anymore. Pulling out of Rove's embrace, she stormed out the front door, and ran across to the alley where the stranger had been standing. But he was gone. There was nothing to say he had ever been there. vNicole searched for any sort of sign, but came up with nothing. All she had was a vague feeling of someone watching her.
Finally she began to wander back over to Rove's house. As she stepped out of the alley, she bumped hard into someone walking past. Both of them fell over, landing in a giant mud puddle that had formed in the cold rain last night.
"Fuck!" Nicole swore loudly. She looked over to see who she had bumped in to. Her breath caught in her throat - the guy was gorgeous!
Nicole found herself blushing - something she hadn't done since she was about 12.
"I'm sorry," she began, as she climbed out of the mud. She leant over to help the guy up. He grinned sheepishly at her, then took her hand and heaved himself to his feet. He was a lot taller than he first appeared.
"That's alright," the guy said. "I should be watching for incoming traffic." Nicole laughed. She couldn't help it - she liked this guy.
Against her better judgement, she found herself saying, "Um, my house is just there if you want to clean yourself up." She pointed down the street to her house.
The guy hesitated. Nicole was just beginning to think that she had scared him off, when he answered, "Sure."
She starred at him, not quite sure she had heard right. The guy smiled shyly. "That is, if you don't mind," he added.
"Of course I don't mind," Nicole answered, then immediately regretted it. Man, that sounded way to eager, she thought. But the guy didn't seem to notice.
They walked down the street towards her house, and it wasn't until they reached Nicole's front door that she remembered that she had left her keys at Rove's house.
"Um, I just remembered," she said, turning to face the unbelievably cute guy at her side, "I left my keys at my neighbour's house." She pointed at Rove's house across the street.
"Do you mind if�" but she didn't get to finish her sentence.
"Hey! I know that house!" the guy interupted her. Nicole frowned.
"You do?" she asked. The guy had a huge grin on his face.
"Sure! That's Rove's house!" Nicole tried not to hide her disappointment. Rove had brought back some of his gay friends before - this must be one of them. Just my luck to get attracted to someone who's gay, she scolded herself.
The guy turned, and caught the look on Nicole's face.
"Rove and I met on a t.v show - Good News Week," he went on, uncertain what had changed her mood so rapidly.
That brought Nicole out of her brooding thoughts. A t.v show? Rove would've told her if he had picked up a guy from t.v.
"C'mon then," she said as she hurried across the street, leaving the poor guy to wonder what had changed her mood yet again. Nicole walked straight into Rove's house, gorgeous guy in tow.
Rove hadn't been able to see what had taken place from his kitchen window, and was worried when she had taken so long. He was just about to go look for her when he heard the door open and close. He headed towards the hall to tell her off, but stopped short when he saw who was with her.
"Wil!" he cried, surprised. "What're you doing here?"

Wil grinned at Rove. "I ran into your neighbour," he said, turning and looking at Nicole. Rove suddenly remembered Nicole. He ran over and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a huge hug. He was so relieved that she was alright.
Now it was Wil's turn to try and hide his disappointment. Obviously they were closer than he thought. He looked around uncomfortably and wandered off to find a towel.
"Damn," he whispered. He had real trouble meeting women, despite his looks, and he had really liked this one. Of course she had to be taken. There was no way he was lucky enough to bump into someone that beautiful, who wasn't involved.
Wil sighed as he headed into the bathroom. For the first time he inspected the damage done to his pants. He groaned. They were totally ruined.
Wil wandered back out of the bathroom, and into Rove's room. Although Rove was shorter than him, he had to have some pants that would fit.
Wil found a pair almost straight away. His mind was still on the girl he had met as he began to change.

Nicole looked around. Where had Wil gone? She pulled out of Rove's embrace.
"Rove, stop that," she scolded gently. "I'm alright - really!" Although Rove still looked a bit dubious, he let her go.
Nicole suddenly worried what Wil had thought of that hug. Had he taken it the wrong way? Nicole went searching for him.

"Wil?" Nicole opened the door to the bathroom. Nope - not in there. There was only one place left he could be. Nicole headed toward Rove's room.

"Shit!" Wil swore as he discovered that his boxers were soaked. He hesitated. He didn't want to borrow another man's underwear - especially without his permission - but he was desperate. Sighing, he reached into Rove's underwear drawer.
He picked one that looked about his size (more or less), and procceded in changing his very wet boxers.

"Wil?" Nicole opened Rove's door, to find a semi-naked Wil changing underwear. He glanced up and the expression on his face was priceless.
Nicole got a good look at EVERYTHING, before shutting the door in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry!" she cried out. She quickly ran back into the kitchen, blushing furiously. Rove saw her bright red face, and immediately knew she had seen something she shouldn't have.
He couldn't help but laugh.
Nicole blushed even more, but she didn't say anything. Her silence was what gave Rove his first clue. Her guilty but excited expression confirmed his suspicions. Nicole liked Wil.
Rove tried to hide his smile behind his hand, but Nicole saw it anyway.
"What's your problem?!" she demanded, a little over protective. Before Rove could answer, Wil walked in.
He refused to look at Nicole, and sat down on the opposite side of the table. Although she hid it well, Rove could see that Nicole was crushed.
"I hope you don't mind me borrowing your pants?" Wil asked him. Rove shook his head, but his thoughts were far from pants.
"I'd better go home and change too," Nicole said abruptly. She got up and quickly headed for the door. Rove and Wil watched her go in silence.
Rove knew she was going home to nurse her wounds, but Wil thought she just didn't want to look at him. He sighed. He really was terrible with women.
"Why don't you go after her?" Rove asked suddenly, startling Wil out of his thoughts.
"What?" Wil wasn't sure if he had heard right.
"You heard me - go after her," Rove repeated. Wil was confused.
"Why are you telling me this? Aren't you and her�" he broke off when he saw Rove shaking his head, an amused smile on his face.
"Oh shit!" Wil cried, as he realised what he had just done. He quickly got up and ran out the door.

Rove shook his head, laughing to himself. His thoughts drifted back to his own romantic problems. Watching Nicole and Wil had inspired him.
Acting quickly before he lost his courage, Rove walked over to the phone and dialed Paul's number.

Wil knocked uncertainly on Nicole's front door. There was a pause, and Wil feared that she wouldn't answer, but then he heard a click and Nicole appeared in the frame.
Her face was stained with tears, which she tried desperately to hide when she saw who it was.
"What do you want?" she demanded, still hurt by the cold treatment he had given her at Rove's house.
Wil didn't say anything.
Instead he leaned over, and ever so gently kissed her. Nicole's anger quickly dissolved, and she surrendered to the kiss.
Wil broke away and starred at her, his feelings writen plainly on his face.
"I'm sorry about what happened before," he said, clearly embarrassed. "I thought that you and Rove were�"
Nicole interrupted him with her kiss.
"You're forgiven," she whispered. Then laughing, she reached out and grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him inside.

Across the road, Rove was quickly losing his nerve. His legs trembled and he struggled to stay on the line. He was doing very well too, until he heard a click.
"Hello?" It was a female voice. Rove froze, then he panicked. Quickly he hung up. He starred at the phone as if it had just tried to bite his face off. He sank to the floor with a frustrated sigh. He just didn't have the nerve to talk to Paul's girlfriend. You don't have the nerve to talk to Paul either, a little voice inside him chided.
Rove stayed that way for a long time, thinking about what an idiot he was. Finally he climbed to his feet, albeit slowly.
He looked around the room. He had to get out of there.
Grabbing his jacket, and quickly scribbling a note in case Nicole wondered where he went, Rove headed outside. He locked the front door and headed for the beach. He didn't notice the dark figure that followed at a distance, mirroring his every move.

Rove wandered down the beach lost in his own thoughts. It was a cold cloudy day, so not many people were there, but Rove welcomed this kind of weather. He felt it reflected the darker side in him, especially today.
He sat down with a sigh, resting his head in his hands, and gazing out over the angry sea. What was he going to do?
Suddenly he became aware of someone watching him. He turned around, and gasped at what he saw. It was the man who had been following him! Rove decided to settle this once and for all. Jumping to his feet he took off towards the guy.
The guy saw him coming, turned, and bolted. Rove was pretty fit - due to going to the gym in hope of meeting someone - but the stranger was fast. Rove had trouble keeping up.
They raced up and down the streets, dodging people and stalls. Rove refused to give up. He was angry at being followed, but he was also dying to know why someone had an interest in him.
Finally, the stranger was slowing down. He just didn't have the stamina to keep going at the speed he was. Rove began to catch up.

Meanwhile Nicole and Wil were getting hot and heavy. Wil had Nicole pressed up against the front door, and was kissing her passionately.
Nicole slipped her hands under his jacket, and began to unbutton his shirt. Wil slipped his arms around her waist, and pulled her even closer.
"Oh Wil," Nicole moaned, as he moved his kisses down to her neck.
Suddenly Wil laughed. Nicole starred at him, astounded. She wasn't used to having people laugh at her when they're about to make raunchy love.
"I'm sorry," Wil said quickly, seeing the hurt look on her face, "but I don't even know your name!" Nicole couldn't help but laugh too.
"Maybe we are going a bit fast," she admitted. Wil gave her a cheeky smile, and scooped her up in his arms. He carried her over to the couch, and sat down, pulling her into his lap.
"Hi, my name's Wil," he said, sticking out his hand for her to shake. "What's yours?" Nicole giggled. She really did like this guy.
"My name's Nicole," she replied just as formally, shaking his hand. "Pleased to meet your aquantence, Wil."
The two collapsed into a fit of giggles. They agreed that things should slow down - at least for a little while.
They spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other. Each felt the more they got to know the other, the harder they fell. Neither had ever been so happy.

"Gotcha!" Rove cried as he tackled the stranger from behind. They both fell with a thump to the ground. Luckily they had made it to the park, and neither was seriously hurt on the soft soil.
"Okay buddy," Rove declared as he started to roll the guy over. "You have sure got some�explaining�to�" Rove broke off, and just starred.
Paul sat up and brushed himself off, looking very embarrassed. For while neither spoke, they just starred at each other.
"Why�" poor Rove couldn't finish the sentence. It was Paul. Paul! Paul had been following HIM! It took a while for this to sink in.
Paul blushed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stalk you," he muttered. "It just sort of�happened."
Rove was confused. "How do you accidently stalk someone?" he asked, bewildered.
Paul went even redder if that was possible.
"I saw you leave the taping, and I wanted to talk to you," he explained. "So I followed you. But I�I didn't have the nerve to speak to you, so I kinda just kept following." He smiled wryly. "Then you gave me the slip, and I panicked. I began to make excuses to come looking for you. Finally I saw you through the window, talking to that woman." When he said this Paul's face fell, and he suddenly found his shoes very interesting.
"I saw that you�you were involved with her," he muttered. "Then I saw her kissing Wil, and I came to tell you that she was cheating on you. But it looked as though you already knew, by the look on your face when I found you�so I didn't say anything." Paul continued to study his shoes, refusing to look at Rove.
Rove thought it was the sweetest thing he had ever heard.
"But what about your girlfriend?" he asked suddenly, remembering what had stopped him from calling Paul in the first place.
"We, um, we split up� a long time ago," Paul whispered. Rove didn't know what to say.
"I'm� I'm sorry," he stammered. Paul gave him a brave smile. "That's alright, it wasn't that serious anyway." Suddenly he glanced at his watch.
"Oops. I gotta go� but I'll see you at next weeks rehearsal, right?" he asked, his eyes full of hope. Rove grinned and nodded.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he replied.

As he walked away, Paul mentally slapped himself in the head. Why had he been so honest? He had left himself way to vulnerable, and he still didn't know if Rove felt the same way.
Paul had his doubts - Rove had just been involved with a woman� but so were you, a little voice in his head argued.
Paul sighed. He hated dealing with his emotions. He headed straight for his studio to paint.

Rove starred after Paul like a love-sick puppy. For a while he just sat there on the ground, looking at nothing, ignoring the weird looks that people gave him.
Finally he noticed the impending darkness, and climbed to his feet. He could dream about Paul at home, where it was safe.
Rove was just about half way home when he was jumped from behind. He had just enough time to cry out, before everything went black.