"It looks like you're being pursued," Xander said to Nathan.

Nathan winced, he did feel for Xander whose desk was next to Nathan's and was thereby taken over by roses. The delivery men didn't have much choice, Nathan had pretty much covered every available place he had on his own desk.

"I'm really sorry, I'll try to do something about it," he replied back.

"Oh, it's no problem, there are worse things in the world than working in a rose garden," Xander chuckled. "I wish my boyfriend still went to that much trouble. Good for you." He gave Nathan the thumbs up gesture.

Nathan smiled in return. He was going to tell him that he didn't really have a boyfriend, only he didn't really know what he and Lucas were exactly.

If he summarized, they went bowling twice, had dinner and lunch together and went to the movies. Those all sounded suspiciously like dates, but except for the bowling he had also recently done all of those things with Allison.

Basically, he had no idea what was going on here. Lucas hadn't even made the slightest move on him either. Ok, he had send him a lot of flowers and stuff, yet he had never even attempted to kiss him or anything. They still hadn't moved on from the awkward handshakes phase when they said goodbye.

It was starting to get frustrating, where had his promised clarity gone? Lizzy probably had a point, fear of rejection seemed to have really got to Lucas. On the bright side, it meant that the infallible Lucas Barlow really didn't exist anymore. Too bad that meant that it was up to Nathan to decide their faith.

Maybe he should make a list with pros and cons. Before he could, he was startled when someone suddenly started laughing really loudly.

Xander was the culprit.

"Your boyfriend just dropped off a load of chocolate boxes," he said. "Darling, maybe you should tell him off after all, this is not going to be good for my diet."

Yeah, maybe he should.

Even though it hadn't been that long since he last visited the Barlow house, it still felt weird when he arrived on the driveway. He had called in advance to make sure the whole family wasn't home and Lucas had assured him they could talk in private.

He didn't even need to knock on the door this time, Lucas was waiting for him outside. Gone was the usual happiness reflected in his eyes, instead there was this worried look. Like he was afraid this was going to his final judgment, which in a lot of ways was exactly it was.

"Hello, Lucas," Nathan said uncomfortably, this clearly wasn't going to be smooth sailing.

"Hey, Nate."

And there was that old friend, uncomfortable silence. He hadn't missed him.

"You should come in," Lucas said eventually. "I have a feeling we should sit down for this."

"You make it sound so ominous," Nathan said sarcastically while he followed him to the living room. They both sat down in opposing couches.

"I'm not here to reveal the killer," Nathan continued saying. "I just thought it would be useful to define 'this thing' we have. I mean, my coworkers keep asking me questions about all the roses and chocolate they're confronted with on a daily basis."

"Oh God, I'll stop doing that immediately, I didn't want to cause any trouble for you at work," Lucas jumped in.

"Trust me, they weren't mad or anything. I just meant that it is getting tiring that I don't really know how to talk about the guy who keeps sending me flattering gifts. And they are flattering, I don't think anyone has ever went to so much trouble for me."

"Clearly the world has been invaded by idiots," Lucas decided.

"Yes, I've come to that conclusion a long time ago. That's not the only conclusion I've made, another one is that it would be nice to have a boyfriend again."

That sure brightened the room. "Hmm, so where should one apply for that position?"

"I encourage all candidates to apply as soon as possible," Nathan explained.

"Then maybe I could be the first one," Lucas said. "Let's see, although I can be a moron sometimes, I do have some good qualities: I will always rub your feet when you come home, I'm an excellent cook, I'm not allergic to dogs, I'm a very good kisser."

"That all sounds good, but I think the most important question I have is: can I trust you?"

Lucas stepped out of his couch and sat on his knees in front of Nathan. "Yes, you can. I love you, Nathan, always will."

"Alright, alright, unless you've got some plans while you're on your knees, stand up already so I can get out of his thing."

Lucas obeyed him immediately, something Nathan could appreciate. They both went in for a kiss which lead to them bumping their noses.

"Shit, that hurts," Nathan said, rubbing his nose.

"We definitely used to be better at this. But that's fine, it means we get to practice," Lucas said and he went in for another kiss.

This one was a lot more enjoyable, clearly Lucas's tongue had picked up some technique along the way. Lucas pulled him back on the couch and into his lap without leaving his mouth for a second.

They were still making out on the couch when Bella stormed in. "Haha," she shouted triumphantly. "I knew you were hooking up in here!" Then she took in the very disheveled state they were in: Lucas's shirt had disappeared a while ago, Nathan had been very determined to touch that delicious chest as much as possible.

"Ewww, I'm going to have to bleach my eyes." She went back to the hallway and shouted, "Don't go in there, Lizzy, save yourself! We're going to have to buy a new couch!"

One of the consequences of having a new boyfriend, was introducing him to your friends. Now, no one could possibly consider Lucas and Allison's first official meeting a success. Although it was touching that he had such a loyal friend, after a while Lucas did have to ask her to stop treating him as a murder suspect. After that, their double date became a lot friendlier.

A double date, Nathan still couldn't believe it had actually happened. Of course, Lucas and Clarissa got on very well, that wasn't an issue. Nope, it was more actually believing that this relationship was happening.

Sure there were some signs, like this double date, Nathan and Lucas telling all their friends and parents, going on dates, having sex on every surface in Nathan's apartment.

Still it was a bit hard to wrap his head around the fact that Nathan was turning 25 with an actual boyfriend.

Lucas had organized a party for him at the bowling alley which according to him was a magical place. Nathan thought it was brilliant to see his stuffy parents surrounded by the many bowlers. They were both giggling watching his mother trying on bowling shoes when Ben and Charlie approached them.

"Charlie, it's been a while," Lucas said jovially.

"Yes, I've been away for a while but I think I might limit my business trips a bit from now on," Charlie said, subtly pointing at Ben.

"Hey, you're the one who can't live without me, don't pin that on me," Ben admonished him. Then he turned to Nathan to give him his most charming grin. "Happy birthday, Nathan, I dropped off our present at the big pile over there, but I'm sure you won't have any trouble identifying it."

"Um, thanks," Nathan said, he had his suspicions and reminded himself to open up his presents back home.

"You're welcome," Ben said mischievously. "But first we're going to check out the free bar." He went off in pursuit of alcohol with Charlie in tow.

"They're a cute couple," Lucas remarked.

"Yep, they are," Nathan concurred. "Talking about cute couples, according to my parents you are officially an acceptable boyfriend."

"Meanwhile my parents worship the ground you walk on," Lucas teased him. "As they should of course, you are a pretty awesome boyfriend."

"Only pretty awesome? I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed, I was expecting a more glowing review than that."

"Let's put it this way, if it was up to me, you'd be on top of that most eligible bachelor list."

Nathan beamed. "That's very sweet of you but I think Casey earned that top spot. You're lucky that you made the top five, it was very competitive."

"Well, I don't really care about my place on the list. To me the interview itself was the important part. I actually have to make a small confession, the only reason I said yes in the first place was because you were the one doing the interview."

"Don't worry, I pretty much suspected that in the first place. And even though at the time it wasn't very pleasant, now I'm very happy it happened. Otherwise I would've been single at my 25th birthday party."

Lucas pressed a cheeky kiss on the very sensitive spot behind his ear. "I am looking forward to the private party I've planned for us at your place," he whispered.

Ok, not being a bachelor was turning out to be a lot of fun.

THE END

A/N: Omg, I can't believe I've finished this! Thank you to everyone who took the time to write a review and to everyone who followed, favorited and read this story!