Normally he wasn't so pissy, but tonight he felt like total shit - his flight in from LAX had been delayed by weather, so he'd gotten to enjoy several hours of dead time in the airport's VIP lounge. Finally they'd boarded the plane and took off, but whoever'd made the decision that it was ok to fly had obviously had their ass safely on the ground, cause the flight had been a bitch all the way up. In addition to the prerequisite screaming babies, several people had had to use their barf bags. The curtains between first class and coach could only block out so much, and the awful sounds and smells had eventually filtered through. After that, it was all Jake could do to keep from hurling himself, and his head was aching like a son of a bitch when he finally got off the plane.

All Jake wanted to do, once he finally got to his room, was take a long, hot shower, get some pretzels and a soda to settle his stomach, and pass the fuck out! But NO, there was a nice little invitation lying on his pillow - not to be missed nor ignored. "Please join Ang Lee and your fellow cast and crew members for drinks and hors devours in the hotel lounge, 7-9."

Jake read it, reread it, then tossed it aside with a anguished groan. "Shit, will this fucking day never end??" Instead of a soda, he ordered a beer from room service, then lay on the love seat in the small living room area of his suite, watching tv, until he had to scramble not to be unacceptably late.

So there he was, sulking at the bar, ignoring everyone, plotting his escape. He figured - fifteen more minutes and he should be good to go. After twelve hours of travel hell, he was in no mood to play the crowd. They'd be better off without him.

Heath, on the other hand, seemed none the worse for wear after his trip. Jake followed his co-star's progress as he made the rounds - first schmoozing with Lee and his financial backers who'd flown in to check on their baby; then flirting with the group of girls crowded around Ann and Michelle. The girls were all gathered at a large round table, drinking wine and Cosmopolitans and telling stories. They quieted down to listen to some tale from Heath, then burst out giggling like teenagers, looking back at him.

"Uh-oh, not a good sign - definitely time to go," Jake told himself. He took one last swig of his beer, laid down a couple of twenties for the bartender, and was just about ready to cut and run when long fingers curled around his shoulder, holding him still. Caught! Fuck!!!

"Hey mate - good to see you again," Heath said, his voice pitched low enough not to ruffle Jake's jangled nerves.

Reluctantly Jake turned to face him, almost exactly eye to eye, made himself return the smile and handshake Heath was offering. "Hey yourself, how's it going?" Jake replied, trying to gear himself up for a few minutes of polite chitchat. After all, it wasn't Heath's fault he was feeling so foul, and they needed to be friendly. The upcoming weeks were going to be tough enough as it was - no point getting off on the wrong foot.

"Great, great. Glad to be here, get this show on the road, you know." Heath flicked him another smile, leaned into the bar, obviously planning to stay awhile. Dammit!

"Me too." Jake nodded, smiled back, but it was a weak effort, he knew - not very convincing. Maybe Heath would just go along, leave it alone for tonight, at least.

But no. "What's the matter, man?" Heath asked, his twangy voice low, soothing to Jake. "I thought you'd be the life of the party, show me up for the dull bloke that I am, but here you are, hiding out at the bar like a sad sack. That's not the Jake Gyllenhaal we were all expecting." Heath cocked a curious eyebrow Jake's way, then signaled to the bartender for more beers.

Jake gave up on any hope of escape - may as well hang out here, get to know Heath a little, he conceded. Maybe that would help him relax. They had some pretty scary work ahead of them - he hated admitting it, even to himself, but it had him rattled.

Accepting his fate, Jake settled back against the bar, trying to even out and make nice. "I had the most God-awful day getting here - we got delayed, then the flight was horrible, babies screaming, people puking - when i got here all I wanted to do was go to my room and die until tomorrow, but instead I found out I had to come to this fucking thing! I'm just pissed is all," Jake admitted.

Heath nodded in commiseration. "Damn - that blows. I got here yesterday, and if this," he indicated the party with a wave of his hand, "had been last night, I would've been a bear for sure." He took a swig of his beer and reached for his cigarettes. "You mind?"

"No, go ahead. Guess i really need the practice too - can i have one?"

"Sure thing." Heath flicked out a cigarette for Jake, then got his own and lit them both. They smoked in companionable silence for a couple of minutes before Heath brought up the one topic Jake had so been hoping to avoid.

"So, how are you feeling about the movie? It's almost hard to believe we're finally here, getting ready to do it after all these months of talking about it, you know?"

"Yeah, it did hardly seem real at first," Jake mumbled, studying his beer as if the secret meaning of life might be hidden in the label.

"You still glad to be on board?" Heath asked, his voice calm and steady, but just the fact that he asked telling Jake that he wasn't fooled - he was picking up on Jake's nervousness.

"Yeah, I'm glad. I think it's gonna be a great film - maybe help tear down some walls, open some doors, all that good stuff," he said, nodding, smiling , looking Heath in the eye confidently, seeing immediately that he wasn't buying it.

Heath gave him a small fake applause. "Bravo, my man! You've got the company line down smooth, but as you know, that's not what I'm asking you." He took a hit off his cigarette, blew the smoke off to the side, then leaned in closer to Jake. Jake could feel his warm smoky breath in his ear. "What I'm asking, mate, is how do you feel about playing my lover in this gay cowboy movie? I really want to know." Heath pulled back out of Jake's space, watching with an amused grin as Jake squirmed at his blunt words, struggled for something to say.

After swallowing a few times, Jake finally got his voice primed and working again, although it started out a little shaky. "Well, shit, Heath, since you put it that way, i'm fuckin' nervous as hell. In a couple of weeks we're gonna be kissin' and humpin' and - God knows what else - for a fuckin' camera! I mean, shit, i don't even know if i can really do this - what if it makes us gag or something? Don't you think it's gonna be weird?" Jake fidgeted with his beer, smoked, then looked into Heath's eyes, but didn't see his worries mirrored there.

Heath shook his head with a lazy smile. "Naah, i don't think it'll be so bad. Be a lot worse if we were ugly."

What the hell did that mean?

Heath looked sharply to the side all of a sudden, then turned back to Jake, his eyes more intense. "People coming - you wanna get outta here?"

The last thing Jake wanted was to have to deal with more people, more questions he couldn't answer. Heath was offering him a lifeline and he grabbed it with both hands. "Fuck yeah, lead the way."

With that, Heath grabbed his arm, pushed Jake in front and then hustled him fast towards the exit, sometimes bumping against him as they jostled through the crowded room. In some secret spot in his brain, Jake's subconsciousness registered Heath's touch, accepted it. As they neared the hotel exit, Heath said, "I found a pretty cool place a few blocks from here... hole-in-the-wall bar. You wanna go there, shoot some pool, hang out?"

Jake pulled up short at the rotating door, catching Heath's eye, wanting to turn the tables a little. "So, tell me, would you be asking me out if I wasn't so good looking?"

Heath looked him up and down slow, his mouth curling into a wicked grin. "Fuck no, asshole. I've got standards, you know?!" With that, Heath shoved them both into the rotating door of the hotel and out into the cool, crisp night.

*******

The bar, just a ten minute walk from the hotel, was all Heath had promised - a total dive, dimly lit and seedy, with dyed-in-the-wool locals who'd never even heard of Heath or Jake or the controversial movie they were there to make. If they did know, they never let on, and Heath and Jake enjoyed a few hours of sweet anonymity.

They shot pool on an ancient quarter table, bodies brushing as they walked back and forth around it. They joined a few regulars in an impromptu darts tournament - Heath, standing close behind Jake, showed him the secret Ledger throwing technique. Jake, mostly drunk by then, leaned back, shifted comfortably against Heath's body flush behind him. Heath wrapped up the lesson quick and left to get them fresh beers from the bar. For the first time since they'd gotten together that night, Jake felt lonely.

After darts, they returned to their booth. Sitting across from each other, legs tangled carelessly below the table, they talked about their lives. Jake knew he was doing most of the talking, but whenever he asked Heath anything, he'd give him a minimal answer and then turn it back on Jake. He asked about Jake's breakup with Kirsten, and it was the first time Jake felt comfortable talking about it. Between shots of tequila, he told Heath the truth - that what had started out as a really shit-hot romance had quickly turned into just good friends. He wasn't really sure how it had happened, but it definitely had happened. They were still friends, but their affair was over for sure.

When the bar closed down at two, they lurched drunkenly out into the street, laughing and clutching onto each other, somehow between the two of them managing to stay upright. Jake was glad Heath had been there before, because he had no idea how to get back to the hotel - lost as a fucking goose - and at that hour there wasn't a taxi in sight. After only a couple of wrong turns, they were back in the elevator, leaning against the smooth leather walls. Heath asked, accent heavy, "What floor, sir?"

"Seven, you schmuck," Jake told him, snickering.

"Cool - same as me."

When the doors opened, they got out and Heath followed Jake to his room. After searching every pocket, Jake finally produced the key and got the door open.

"Can I come in to piss? I'm about to bust! My room's the other side of the building."

"Sure, come on - bathroom's right there," Jake said, pointing to the first door they passed on the way into the small suite.

Jake grabbed a beer from the minibar and flopped down on the little sofa, flicking on the TV and scrolling through the channels. After a couple of minutes, Heath came out and joined him on the sofa. For the next few minutes they shared Jake's beer and snickered throught an exercise info-mercial featuring a pretty-boy man doused liberally in spray-on sweat and hair gel. When it was over, Heath stood up to leave and Jake clicked off the TV. As he walked towards the door, Heath ran his hands through his pockets, casually at first, then with more urgency the second time around.

"Whas wrong?" Jake asked.

"Can't find my damn room key - must've fallen out when I got my wallet out of my pocket. Damn! I can't get back into my room."

"Won't they give you another one at the desk?"

"Yeah, but I hate to go down and ask - since I'm drunk - that'll make a great news bite for the tabloids."

Jake hadn't really wanted him to go anyway, so the words came easy when he asked. "Why don't you stay here - there's plenty of room."

Heath abandoned his pockets, focused hard on Jake's face. "You sure you don't mind?"

"Of course not, why would I?" Jake replied with a tipsy giggle.

"Thanks man, that'd be great! I'll just crash right here - perfect," Heath said, indicating the love seat.

"You can try it if you want, but you probably won't get any sleep there - I laid on it this afternoon - it's awful. I've got a huge king-size bed - you're welcome to share it. I don't care if you don't." Even drunk, Jake was a little amazed at that offer, but since he'd made it, he wasn't backing off now.

Heath gave him a surprised look. "I thought all you American men were terrified to share a bed with your mates."

"We'll be sharing a lot more than a bed before this is over with - may as well start getting used to it."

They took turns in the bathroom getting ready for bed. When Jake came out, he pointed to the overflowing basket of extra toiletries the hotel had provided. "Guess they thought I wasn't bringing any of my own stuff - help yourself."

While Heath was doing his thing, Jake went to the bedroom, flipped on a lamp, looked at the bed. It had been years since he'd slept with another guy, when he was young, back in high school. He and a friend had come home from a party, drunk off beer, and they'd passed out cold in his bed. He still remembered the feeling of waking up, warm and cozy, with Brad snuggled up behind him. Lucky for them his sister was such a loud mouth - she'd started yelling for him at the bottom of the stairs - by the time she'd gotten to his room, Brad was in the shower. Nothing more had ever happened - he and Brad had been kinda freaked for a few weeks, but by the next semester it was forgotten.

So why remember it now? Jake wondered.

Heath chose that moment to appear, and Jake shooed the memories away. They both pulled off their shirts. Heath asked, "Shorts ok?"

"Sure." They kicked off their pants and got into bed. Jake doused the light quickly, feeling fidgety, nervous, now they were in bed, but it was too late to do anything about it. After a minute or two of rustling, they got settled. "Night Heath," Jake said into the darkness.

A beat of silence, then Heath replied, "Night, Lil' Darlin."

Jake groaned, Heath laughed, and in two shakes of a sheep's tail they were sound asleep.