�What are you doing next week?� Elijah asked, running his finger down a blank page of the organizer his mother had gotten him for Christmas.

�Lemme see,� Elijah could hear him flipping a page in his own diary. �Interview, interview, flight to Australia, start shooting movie. Why?�

�What�s on the fourteenth?�

�Valentine�s Day if memory serves,� Dom laughed. �Oh, you mean what am I doing? Absolutely nothing. Ordering Chinese and watching some crappy film on the telly, I imagine.�

�Sounds like a good time,� Elijah replied lightly.

�Yeah, it�ll be a bundle of laughs. What girl from your legion of fans are you taking out?�

�That�s very funny, Dom.� Elijah smiled at the receiver of the telephone. �I�m probably just staying in. You know how I hate these Hallmark holidays.�

�I do.� Dom paused. �If we�re both not doing anything, maybe we should hang out. Get pissed. The ultimate bachelor v-day gig.�

Elijah giggled slightly, �Well, what country at you going to be in?�

�Yours, my dear boy. I�m in California until the sixteenth.�

�Brilliant. Want me to fly out there?�

�That�d be nice, since you�ve got more money.�

�Ha ha.�

�No, I�m serious.� Dom laughed lethargically. �Actually, if my flight�s leaving from here, it�d be better if I�m actually, you know, near the airport when the flight takes off. Even better would be if I�m on the plane.�

�I�ll book a flight, then.�

�Bring roses.�

Elijah�s eyebrows creased. �What?�

�Roses. Red ones. That�s what all blokes who get on flights on Valentine�s Day bring.�

�And you would know this�how?�

�I was one,� Dom laughed for a moment, and then suddenly, as if a light bulb had gone off over his head, he thought of something even better. �Bring Grays Papaya.�

�You�re on. See you next week.�

�I look forward to seeing your shining face, Elijah.�

Elijah was laughing crazily and beaming when he set the phone down.

The word �excited� didn�t even begin to describe how Elijah was feeling, those days leading up to Valentine�s. He�d thought it over, long and hard; he knew exactly what he had to do to make this work.

And nothing in the world would stop him from achieving his goal.

Which was to finally, and completely, tell Dom how he really felt about him. He had it all planned, and soon the plan was being put into action.

It was just like all the romantic movies he�d ever watched; where the lead male is an idiot and screws things up with lead female and then has to make an ass of himself to win her over again.

Though Elijah hadn�t screwed up his relationship with Dom, not telling him he was gay was probably a bit of withholding the truth. He was not sure of Dom�s exact orientation, actually, but he figured, what the hell�you only live life once and you might as well go all out while you�re here.

Elijah had adapted the life of �No Regrets� and intended to stick to his program.

This is what he was thinking as he packed up his suitcase. He had a casual outfit, and a non-casual outfit. Plus that red monstrosity that he�d ordered a week ago for this very occasion. What possessed him to go through with this, he didn�t know; he just knew he had to.

Dom had always been the one in the relationship to put himself out there, to yell things to crowds without thinking twice; Elijah had always been more reserved than that, shying away from public attention. That was until he met Dom, of course. And things had changed.

Now it was Elijah who was putting himself on the line; Elijah who was going to make a complete fool of himself just to prove to the man he loved that he did, indeed, love him. With all his heart.

The flight was the longest five hours Elijah had ever endured. Each second brought him closer to Dom, to this impending doom that he had cooked up in his mind. He�d worked out many different reactions, like a play being worked on in his head; he saw Dom�s facial expressions clear as day, heard his made-up words ringing in his ears.

�Elijah, why the fuck are you wearing that?�

�I love you, Dom.�

�You�re kidding, right?�

That one was not his favorite. There was an alternative, of course.

Laughter. �Elijah, are you auditioning for something?�

�No. I�ve got to tell you something, Dom. I�m in love with you.�

Then there was silence, only broken when Dom fainted from shock and landed on the cold, airport floor; Elijah saw himself bending over in the ridiculous costume in order to pour water over his friend�s face in order to revive him.

Needless to say, Elijah didn�t have much of an positive view on the outcome of today�s events.

The third, and only optimistic of the three storylines, had Dom hugging Elijah with such force that they were both knocked over onto the floor, where they would laugh loudly together and then Elijah would explain his costume choice, and Dom would sigh fondly and tweak Elijah�s nose in an affectionate way; Dom would say, �I love you too, Lij.� And they would kiss, and applause would break out all around them.

And it would be like the happily ever after Elijah always thought he�d never find.

The pilot announced that the plane would have to hover several moments over LA because there were many other planes trying to land, and they were last in line. Elijah took this time to take a deep breath, excuse himself from the business man beside him, and head for the bathroom. He was dreadfully worried about pulling on the costume that lain dormant in his carry on; it was rather large, and possibly too much for a small airplane bathroom.

Nevertheless, he couldn�t back out now. He�d cooked this idea up in his head, and he�d have to go through with it.

If he died from embarrassment (which he always said was impossible) then so be it.

There were tights (yes, tights) in a vibrant shade of red; they would go on first. This was no small feat since Elijah had never worn tights before (thank god, he said to himself), so trying to get his feet (which seemed to be the size of hobbits� feet suddenly) inside the tiny openings caused him quite a lot of bruises and bumps on his head as he rammed into the bathroom door time after time. Finally, the tights were on. Next came red boxer shorts with little white hearts scattered over them. Elijah�s face colored as he pulled these on; he was a boxers type of guy, but not usually a fan of such festive ones.

After this came the red t-shirt, which was fine and dandy, but then he had to squeeze himself into the oversized pinkish heart. He rolled his eyes, took a deep breath and prayed that this was worth it.

He was okay with being in the tabloids tomorrow; pictures of his shining face in a heart costume plastered across magazines at the supermarket for all to see was okay with him, but he hoped he had someone to laugh about this with.

The someone being Dom.

Elijah had always been watched, even since he was a little kid; he�d lived in the fishbowl for years, now, and was pretty much used to it, not that he liked it. But the stares he got when he emerged from the bathroom made him want to dig a hole and crawl into it until this whole ordeal had passed.

But Elijah was not a coward. He proudly jutted his chin out, placed the red cap upon his head and, with difficulty, sat in his seat; the hardest part of all of this was trying not to stab the person beside him. However, the man was alternately clicking away on his laptop and reading the New York Times; he didn�t seem to notice Elijah at all.

Finally, the pilot announced they were to land; Elijah�s stomach plummeted to the tips of his stocking feet. He�d never felt so sick in his entire life.

And he was very sure it had nothing to do with the descent of the plane.

Making a quick decision just as the plane touched down, Elijah decided he�d be the last off the plane. That way there would be about twenty less people to laugh at him. Hopefully.

He started mentally cursing himself for being such a baby. Nothing had ever had this effect on him; nothing had ever made him want to stick his head in the sand and play ostrich.

He breathed in deeply, catapulted himself from his seat, and made his way off the plane as soon as the last mother with crying child was ducking through the exit.

He saw Dom before Dom saw him, presumably, because Dom was looking out the huge plate glass windows, watching other planes land and take off; he had his hands in the pockets of his overcoat, and it looked like he was whistling. Elijah stood, conspicuously in his heart costume, behind a potted plant and watched his friend.

Elijah had never been so conflicted; he wanted to both run and hide in a men�s room, and run to Dom and throw his arms around him.

After mentally kicking himself, he stepped out from behind the potted plant and made his presence known. �Dom.�

Dom whirled toward him, his face lit up in a smile; then he took in the rest of Elijah�s appearance and the color drained from his face.

�Er. Elijah. You�re wearing a huge ass heart.�

Elijah took the remaining steps towards him, looking sheepish. �It was the only thing I could find on such short notice; the store was out of roses.�

Dom grinned and let out a little laugh; Elijah swallowed. �I�ve something to tell you, Lij.�

�I�ve gotta tell you something first. If that�s okay.� He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and hoped the words came out in the correct order. �I�m in love with you.�

When Dom spoke, it was in a much higher voice than usual; it almost sounded as if he was being pinched really hard. �Really?� When Elijah nodded, Dom began unbuttoning his overcoat.

�Why do you look like a streaker?� Elijah questioned suddenly, aware that Dom hadn�t replied to his profession of love, and not really caring at the moment, because there was obviously something more important going on here. Had Dom gotten a sex change operation since the last time Elijah had seen him? Had he gotten a body-sized tattoo? Had he bought a new outfit?

It seemed that the question, and the statement before that, were both answered with one swift motion. Dom pulled his jacket off, and dropped it to the ground. He watched Elijah cautiously, biting his lower lip and feeling like his heart couldn�t possibly be beating any faster.

Dom stood before a heart-enveloped Elijah in naught but an overly large diaper; slung across Dom�s back was a bow and a little teeny bucket of arrows with hearts for points, Elijah could just seem them poking up behind Dom.

Elijah�s mouth dropped open, in shock, in happiness, in whatever. And then he began to laugh.

Soon, Dom joined in, just as loudly. The two of them were clinging to one another, laughing hysterically, oblivious to the passerby who were watching them curiously.

Elijah wiped a tear of mirth from his eye and pulled away from Dom. �Please tell me you�re not auditioning for the part of Cupid in some romantic comedy.�

Dom smiled. �Only if you tell me you�re not auditioning for the part in a heart-healthy breakfast cereal commercial.�

�Oh, God, no.�

�Then I�m not either.�

Any trace of laughter and levity was gone now; they were looking into each other�s eyes, painfully aware of what was at stake here, and what the other was trying to tell them. The weight of it all was almost too much to take in. Elijah couldn�t seem to form coherent sentences, and Dom couldn�t seem to form any words whatsoever.

Silence hung in the air between them, even as an air of silliness wove itself around them, in a big protective bubble so no one else could get in and mess up their moment. The moment of truth.

Dom cleared his throat and pulled Elijah�s hat off his head. �I�m in love with you, too.� He waited a beat. �You look horrible in hats.�

Elijah felt like his heart was about to burst with repressed happiness; tears were forming behind his eyes, but he didn�t care if he started sobbing on the spot. Nothing could kill this moment. �But I look good in oversized hearts?�

�Absolutely stunning,� Dom responded lightly. �Though, I must ask. What possessed you to do something so�vulnerable.�

�Same thing that caused you to, I suppose.�

Dom nodded, a smile quirking his lips. �But I�m always doing stupid stuff like this. Like dancing on tables�and stuff.�

�You�ve danced on a table?�

�Er, no. But don�t sidestep the subject.�

�I figured that since you�re always the one to take big leaps and bounds and never hold anything back�I should start following suit. I need to catch up.�

Dom tenderly brushed a piece of hair off Elijah�s forehead. �Yeah.� Elijah�s throat constricted, and his heartbeat sped up; luckily he wasn�t wearing much for clothing or he�d be sweating up a storm. Dom�s voice, when he spoke next, was a husky whisper. �I like your boxers.�

Elijah didn�t dare move as he let out a little laugh. He didn�t want to breathe too much, or move an inch, because he was afraid Dom would pull away if he did. �Thanks. You look lovely in a diaper.�

Dom�s grin widened. �You�ve just gotten a glimpse into our future, I expect. Changing my nappies when I�m old and gray and senile.�

�You�re already old. And senile.�

�Don�t be cheeky.� Dom�s hand dropped to his side and blindly reached for his trench coat. �Let�s get out of here.�

�Did you ever notice in films how people always say that? And then they go back to their hotel, or their homes or wherever and shag each other senseless?�

�Yes. I have noticed that.� Dom didn�t take his eyes off Elijah�s.

Elijah�s breath caught in his throat. �Oh. I see.�

Dom broke the eye contact, laughing quietly. �Can we go now so I don�t get all chafed up? Because, in case this outfit didn�t work on you, I have a lot of seduction materials back home.�

�Oh?� Elijah clutched his empty bag, swallowing hard, barely able to breathe. �Like what?�

Dom winked. �You�ll have to find out now, won�t you?� He started walking off, shrugging into his coat; Elijah rushed after him.

�You�re a tease!� It was more a revelation in a squeaky voice than an angry accusation.

�You�re just finding that out?� Dom pulled him closer. �Man, you�ve got a lot to learn.�

Elijah smiled sweetly. �I�m ready. Willing. And probably able once I get this stupid costume off.�

Dom veered off to the left, to baggage claim. His voice was singsong when he said, �That can be arranged.�