Title: Heart Held Out
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Carl Hickman/Louis Daniel
Fandom: Crossing Lines
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 483
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Carl Hickman or Louis Daniel, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Louis gasped as he turned to face Carl, wanting to sit up and move away. But he couldn't do that; already, Carl's strong arms were wrapped around him, pulling him close to the other man, refusing to let him go. There was no way he could struggle against the embrace.

Besides, he didn't really want to. He wanted Carl here in his bed; he had felt guilty that he had asked the other man to sleep in the guest bedroom.

He'd hungered for Carl since they had first met; he had wanted this man in his bed, in his life. But all those years ago, he had been too broken by end end of his affair with Michael to reach out for what he had wanted, and he had denied both himself and Carl the happiness they deserved.

He wasn't going to go down that same path again.

There was no reason for the two of them not to be together, no reason for him to keep holding that insatiable hunger back. He had done so for years, always feeling a sense of guilt and longing sweep over him whenever he had thought of Carl.

Yes, he had loved his wife, but this wasn't the same. He had always felt that there was something hesitant in Rebecca's love for him, that she had never been fully engaged in their relationship. Maybe it was because she had known about his affair with Michael.

And maybe she had realized that he harbored romantic feelings for Carl. He would never know if that was the truth; it was far too late for those questions now. All that mattered, really, was that he and Carl were here, together, after such a long separation.

It didn't matter that they were colleagues; they would somehow manage to work around that. The only thing that mattered to him here, tonight, was that Carl was with him, that Carl wanted to be with him, that they both felt this undeniable hunger that they couldn't hold back.

This time, he was going to give in. No more hesitation, no more denials.

He wrapped his arms around Carl's waist, burrowing into the other man's embrace, holding on as though he was drowning and Carl was a lifeline. This was what he wanted, what he had hungered for -- Carl in his bed, in his arms, holding him, loving him.

This fantasy had gotten him through a lot of lonely nights, and suddenly it wasn't a fantasy any more. It was reality, a reality that he wanted to hold on to.

Louis didn't know what was going to happen between them tonight, if they would become lovers or if they would simply lie here together. But whatever did happen, he would welcome it with open arms, and go into the future with his heart and his hope held out to the man he loved.

***