*******
//I believe the sun should never set upon an argument. I believe we place our happiness in other people's hands. I believe...//

"Shut up!" Darren groused to his voice as he stalked over to turn off the offending radio. Finally, his optimism was silenced and he was allowed to sulk in peace. He and Daniel were currently fighting and he had the feeling that the sun would rise and set many times during this argument.

The radio was smirking at him--Darren was sure of it. He gave the inanimate object a sneer and a dejected shove before turning away and accidentally knocking a framed picture off of the table. Frowning slightly, he bent to retrieve it. Turning the frame over, a wave of sadness washed over him as he studied the photograph. With a sigh, Darren held the picture close to his chest and retreated over to the couch. Absently, he sat studying the photo in his lap, lightly tracing his fingers over the smooth glass. It was a recent picture; one that held a happy memory. A happy memory that only mocked him now.

'Oh, Danny...' Darren thought with another sigh. 'Why are we doing this to each other?'

*******

Across town, Daniel sat alone in his flat, guitar resting idly in his lap. He wasn't playing though and the silence hung thickly in the air. He yearned to break the heavy, oppressive silence but at the same time, feared to. It was all that was holding him together.

He and Darren were fighting. Fighting. It was hard to wrap his mind around the concept, but that didn't make it any less true. He and his lover were out-and-out fighting and Daniel didn't know what to do about it. They never fought! Sure, they bickered. Got snappish, peevish, snippy and any other such word. They had had many minor skirmishes, but never before had they been so angry and frustrated with each other that they were no longer on speaking terms. As was the case now...

'And what a bloody stupid thing to be fighting over...' Daniel mused, casting the guitar aside to grope for a pack of cigarettes. Finding it, he listlessly pulled one out of the pack and placed it in his lips with a dejected sigh. Striking a match he lit the thing, took a long pull, then let the smoke out with another sigh. 'Oh, Darren...why are we doing this?'

*******
~three days prior~

Vacation...break...time-off... All were supposed to be magical words, but neither Darren nor Daniel were feeling their enchantment at the moment. In fact, both were rather disenchanted. It had been months since the pair last had a break for any length of time and they simply couldn't come to an agreement on how to spend it. Daniel longed for some peace and quiet at home. Downtime to relax and unwind and not think about schedules or touring or a thousand other stressful things.

Darren on the other hand wanted to travel. And by travel, he didn't mean the kind that they did while on the road. He wanted to travel at leisure; no schedule, no fast pace rush to get to the next town only to leave it in a hurry soon after. No media circus, to camera flashes, no tour bus. He wanted to go to someplace like New York or San Francisco and blend into the crowds for awhile.

They had gotten together at Darren's place to discuss their respective plans. At first, each idea was just met with silence, but that silence soon turned to bickering. It wasn't long before the bickering escalated into heated words, which grew into all-out shouting. Because both men were so completely stressed out already, the added stress made it impossible to even think about attempting to compromise. The end result--Daniel stormed out and Darren slammed the door after him.

And that was three days ago. Now both men were regretting their hastily spoken words but neither one could bring himself to make the first move to fix things.

*******
~back to the present~

The clock ticked. And ticked. And ticked. And with each tick, each passing second, Darren had to force himself not to break something. The clock was chiding him for having wasted so much time. Yes, the clock was scolding him, the television was tormenting him with sappy romances, and the kitchen made him sad with memories of domestically blissful mornings he no longer had. Darren was becoming convinced that he really needed to get out of his apartment before the walls driving him slowly crazy.

He needed Daniel.

*******

Daniel watched his cigarette slowly burn down. He had grown tired of smoking and just let the paper tube disintegrate. Morosely, he blew on the orange ember watching it flare brightly for a second then dim again. When he found himself metaphorically comparing his life to the cigarette he cast the thing down and crushed it underfoot. He realized that he was slowly losing it when he started thinking in that manner. Daniel contemplated the cigarette box, silently debating about smoking another then decided against it. He didn't need another cigarette; he needed Darren.

*******

"Pick up the phone," Darren muttered to himself, clutching the telephone receiver in his hand. "C'mon Daniel, pick up the damned phone!"

With each taunting, monotone ring Darren's grip on the phone tightened; his knuckles began turning white. Finally the phone rang out and Darren heard the operator recording and then the off-the-hook buzzing. Fighting back the sudden urge to start bawling, he replaced the phone back on the cradle and moved to flop down on the sofa. 'Jonesy where are you?'

The clock ticked on. Darren glared at it and sighed unhappily. "Yes, I've wasted yet another day," he told it. "And I'll probably waste several more so shut up about it!"

Outside the world grew darker and night began to settle in. Darren decided that he might as well do the same; it was still early but he figured that the sooner he went to sleep the sooner tomorrow would come. Maybe it would be a better day...

Darren drew himself up from the sofa and trudged his way into his lonely bedroom, flipping off light switches as he went. In the bedroom, he paused to stare at his large four-poster bed; the bed seemed so much larger without Daniel in it with him. 'Can the self-pity,' Darren commanded himself. He strode over to the bed, turned down the blankets on one side, and without even bothering to change out of his clothes or turn off the bedside lamp, Darren got into bed and attempted to sleep.

*******

It was quite dark when Daniel pulled up in front of Darren's posh apartment complex. He thought briefly that maybe he should have called before coming over, but he didn't want to give himself any opportunity to chicken out. He needed to do this; he needed to see Darren.

He slowly got out of his car and made his way to Darren's apartment. The lift seemed to take an eternity to reach Darren's floor. Finally, the lift came to a stop and Daniel hurriedly strode down the hallway. He paused for a moment upon reaching Darren's door thinking about the last time he saw it, and the loud thundering sound it made when Darren slammed it after Daniel stormed out. Pushing those thoughts aside, Daniel raised his arm and knocked gently. No answer. He tried again, a little louder this time. Again, nothing. Sighing, he attempted once more calling Darren's name softly, but still Darren didn't come to the door.

After debating with himself for a few seconds, Daniel decided to forgo any more knocking and simply removed a key from his pocket. Quietly, he slid the key into the lock praying Darren hadn't latched the chain on the inside of the door. He hadn't, which both relieved and worried Daniel, and the door opened without a sound. Calling Darren's name again in a hushed voice, Daniel stepped into the darkened apartment and closed the door behind him, re-locking it as he did so. All of the lights in the place were off save for a dim glow coming from the bedroom; Daniel made his way in that direction.

Stopping short in the doorway, a small but sad smile crossed Daniel's face. There, curled up into a tiny ball on the very edge of the bed was Darren, sleeping fitfully. Daniel entered the room silently, not wanting to wake Darren, and slipped carefully into bed beside his sleeping lover. Gently, he wrapped his arms around Darren and drew him close to his body, away from the edge of the bed. Darren stirred slightly only to turn in Daniel's arms and snuggle closer to Daniel's chest breathing in his scent. He didn't wake.

With a sigh, Daniel let go of Darren for a moment to reach over him and turn off the bedside lamp; the room became bathed in only moonlight. Daniel resettled himself with Darren in his arms and ghosted a kiss across his forehead causing the other man to smile contentedly in his sleep. Closing his eyes, Daniel prepared to join Darren in sleep. Things were far from fixed between the two of them, but just then Daniel didn't care; he was where he needed to be.

*******

Darren awoke to the sensation of sunlight in his eyes and the incessant ticking of his alarm clock. Still groggy he muttered, "Stupid clock, stupid window, stupid sun, stupid dreams...everything's against me..." He couldn't remember his dreams clearly, but the warm feeling they had left him with was still there. He shifted slightly, not wanting the warmth to go away, and was surprised when he felt the secure grip of arms wrapping tighter around his waist. Snapping completely awake, Darren realized that he wasn't alone in the bed and was currently being spooned up against by a sleeping Daniel.

As if sensing that Darren was awake, Daniel began to stir, hugging Darren closer then relaxing his hold a bit. Slowly, he opened his eyes, confused for a moment about where he was, before remembering the events from last night. He turned his head, seeing Darren awake and silent next to him, and offered a cautious smile. The smile was returned, shakily.

"What are you doing here?" Darren asked, turning his body to completely face Daniel then slowly running a hand over Daniel's cheek.

Daniel's eyes closed at the touch, only to open again when he replied. "Missed you," he stated simply.

"I missed you, too," Darren admitted hesitantly. Then he lowered his head, his eyes cast down, and whispered, "And I'm sorry."

Daniel put a hand under Darren's chin, gently raising his head to look him in the eyes. "We were both at fault here, love. And I should be saying the words to you, as well. Am I forgiven?"

"Oh, Jonesy! There really isn't anything to forgive. We were being idiots, you and I. This fight was over something so stupid that words cannot describe it...Can't we just call it forgiven and forget about it?"

Daniel's eyes lit in relief. "Sounds like a plan. Forgiven and forgotten..."

Darren's eyes shone as well. "Can we seal it with a kiss?" He asked with a sly smile.

"Sounds like an even better plan!" Daniel leaned forward and captured Darren's lips in a heated kiss. When they broke apart they both looked rather dazed just sitting there staring intently at each other.
Daniel was the first one to be freed from the trance, shaking his head as if to clear it, then slowly speaking up once more. "Darren," he began. "About our vacation..."

Darren cut him off. "Oh, Danny, I thought that we agreed that we weren't going to talk about this anymore. We'll just stay here like you wanted."

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I have a better idea."

"Huh? But you--"

"Shhh." Daniel placed a finger over Darren's lips, silencing him. "Just hear me out, okay?" Darren simply nodded then took a fake nip at Daniel's finger. "None of that," Daniel scolded. "Now listen. You remember how you said that you wanted to travel at leisure and that I wanted peace and quiet?" Darren nodded again, his face clearly showing that he did not like having to remember that particular conversation. Daniel continued, "Well during our time...ah, apart I did some thinking and I believe that I found a suitable compromise. Wanna hear it?"

Darren was intrigued, but hesitant. "Yes, please."

In answer, a pair of tickets was dropped into his lap. Curious, Darren picked one up and read it. His jaw dropped in shock as his eyes flew back up to meet Daniel's. "A private cruise?" He gasped.

Daniel's grin was smug and very self-satisfied. "Yup. It's private and quiet yet leisurely travel all at the same time. You like?"

Daniel immediately found himself with an armful of Darren. "Jonesy, you're amazing! This is a brilliant idea..."

"I have my moments."

"It's perfect, love. Thank you. Why in the world didn't we think of this sooner?"

Daniel just laughed and shook his head in response, recognizing a rhetorical question when he heard one. Then Darren's look became pensive. "What?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about what I realized during our...absence."

"And that was..." Daniel prompted.

"You're going to think I'm quite the sap if I tell you."

"Probably," Daniel agreed. "But then again, that's nothing new!"

"Jerk," Darren returned, good-naturedly. "But I'll tell you anyway. I realized that it didn't matter what we did during our time off as long as we were together. That is what makes things perfect, us having time to relax and enjoy just being...us."

"I think I came to the same conclusion. And that's why the cruise will be wonderful--quiet, travel, and plenty of us together!"

Darren smiled in agreement. "Sounds like heaven," he sighed. Then paused and thought for a moment. "Danny, promise me one thing..."

Daniel grew puzzled. "What, Daz?"

"Promise me that when we leave for this trip tomorrow, you'll not let me bring a watch, a clock, or any other time-piece that ticks!"

Daniel's puzzlement grew, but he decided it was better not to ask. "Sure, Darren. Whatever you say, love..."

"Good!" Darren stated, leaning forward to capture Daniel's mouth in a kiss. They remained that way for awhile. In the background the clock happily ticked on, but neither man noticed or cared.