Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think!

Stay With Me

Rising to consciousness Harry went through his normal morning routine of stretching out his limbs, making disgusted faces over the fact that morning was ever conceived of, much less implemented, and then burrowed under his covers in a futile effort to hide from the world. He did doze a little for a few moments though, until his waking brain registered the fact that not only did his sheets smell comfortingly of home, but also of sex. Unusual, that, which was enough to nudge Harry's brain into processing the fact that it smelled that way because he'd had sex in his bed the night before. With someone. Someone who was not in the bed beside him anymore. Where was he?

Opening his eyes again Harry shifted over until he could look at the pillow beside the one under his own head, the faint dent there making it clear that someone's head had rested on it earlier. The pillow in question, as well as the space below it didn't hold any noticeable warmth though, suggesting that Eggsy hadn't left the bed recently. Pity.

Studying the spot Eggsy had vacated Harry allowed himself to indulge in a moment of smug pleasure as he recalled the events of the night and early morning. It had certainly been an enjoyable way to spend his time, and Harry didn't think he was out of line to think that he had done an excellent job in introducing Eggsy to the pleasures two men could have together. Or at least the boy had certainly been vocal about his enjoyment both times.

It was actually probably for the best that Eggsy hadn't remained actually, least he be tempted to try for round three. It had been quite some time since he'd attempted to keep up with the energy and stamina of a twenty year old, after all.

And as much as he would rather wallow in bed, enjoying himself, practicality had Harry accepting that he had to get up and pay a visit to the loo. And then probably do a quick walk through of the house just to make sure that Eggsy was indeed gone and not simply hanging out somewhere while he waited for Harry to wake up. Slim chance in hell of that, but manners dictated he look, just in case.

There was also the fact that he should do a brief scan just to assert that nothing of importance had gone out the door with Eggsy. He didn't like to think that Eggsy would steal from him, but Harry was also a realist. The picture the boy had painted when he described his present circumstances was a dim and dead end one, and money was no doubt tight and desperately needed. One should never underestimate the lows mankind would and had sunk to in order to survive.

If the boy had helped himself to anything he wouldn't miss he'd just let it go, Harry decided once he'd put on some pajama bottoms and shrugged on his robe. If Eggsy needed it that much he wanted the boy to have it. If the missing items were important though…well then he'd hunt the boy down and make it quite clear that Eggsy was to return the items in question and never steal from him again or else.

Then he'd see if he was interesting in exchanging phone numbers so that there might be repeats of the previous night when it suited them both. What the kids called being friends with benefits, Harry was fairly sure. That sounded good to him, especially since he had enjoyed his time talking to Eggsy before they'd retired to his bed for the evening.

Pleased to have a course of action, even if he would rather just stay in bed, Harry made his way to the bathroom and took care of business there, noting that the towel slung over the shower curtain rod was still damp, the spare toothbrush he'd lent Eggsy the night before resting in the holder beside his own. Not so long gone, it seemed.

A quick run through of the top floor yielded no obvious signs that Eggsy had been in any of them aside from the master bedroom and bathroom, Harry heading down the stairs to check the main floor with no expectation of finding any sign that the boy had been there either. Only there was because Eggsy's shoes were where the boy had left them the night before, as was his jacket.

Alright…odds were Eggsy was still around. But where would…ah. He was an idiot.

He was looking for a male in his early twenties.

He'd be in the kitchen or dining room eating whatever he'd managed to scrounge up to eat.

Lips twitching in amusement Harry headed in the direction of the kitchen, his smile growing when he caught the sound of the radio playing, indicating he'd guessed right. He vaguely recognized the song currently being broadcast as a recent enough hit, but what had him smiling was the fact that there was a voice singing along with the music that Harry was fairly sure wasn't part of the original soundtrack.

"-'cause I'm just a man
These nights never seem to go to plan
I don't want you to leave, will you hold my hand?

Oh, won't you stay with me?
'Cause you're all I need
This ain't love, it's clear to see
But darling, stay with me."

Not wanting to interrupt, especially since Eggsy looked and sounded quite lovely, Harry contented himself with leaning against the open door jamb to watch and listen while Eggsy sang and stirred something in a shallow bowl on the kitchen counter. Though not for long, unfortunately, as the boy had excellent instincts.

Eggsy had hardly started on the next verse before trailing off as he let go of the spoon, leaving it in the bowl as he turned around to face Harry with an almost shy expression on his face.

"Hey."

"Good morning."

"Almost afternoon by now, ain't it?" Eggsy pointed out, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Was wonderin how much longer you was gonna sleep for."

"It is the weekend." Stepping into the room at a leisurely pace, Harry jerked his chin in the direction of the bowl as he inquired as to what he was making.

"Oh. Ah…French toast? The batter for it, anyway. I figured ta give ya a bit longer before I ate without ya. I didn't want ta wake ya up. And I'd have left some for ya of course. Hope that's all right. I didn't just want ta split without saying goodbye and notes ain't enough, apparently. Or at least I've been told that that ain't enough from more than one bird. Course women are just so bloody- "

Deciding to take mercy on the poor boy before he really started to babble, Harry reached out to stroke a hand over Eggsy's hair, which proved to be a quite effective method for shutting him up.

"That's sounds lovely. Thank you."

Looking pleased, Eggsy told him he'd left the newspaper in the dining room for him, if he wanted to read it while he made the toast. "I made sure I put it all together right after I read it. And I didn't do the crossword neither, though it was temptin."

"You like crosswords?"

"Good way ta piss away some time. Specially when you've got a boring class ta sit through."

"I suppose then you were at least learning something."

A self-conscious shrug.

"I enjoy them as well. My grandparents actually…hmm."

"What?"

"Just an idea." A fun one, though Harry wasn't entirely sure he was awake enough for it. Which was probably for the best, actually, since it would at least give the boy a fighting chance. "I'm just going to head upstairs for a moment, I'll be right back."

"All right."

)

It didn't take Harry at all long to make the new copy, though he did have to tape two pieces of paper together to make it all work. He'd use the secondary copy, to be fair, and after some consideration Harry grabbed two pens and a pencil rather than assume which writing material Eggsy would wish to use. Of course at this point his brain had woken up enough that he questioned getting properly dressed before returning downstairs, but Eggsy had already seen him and really, he was comfortable as he was, not to mention hungry. The need for food won out. So he just gave his hair a quick brush and some slight styling before heading back downstairs to the dining room, where Eggsy had already laid out plates and such earlier. The plates were gone, though, which Harry assumed meant the boy had come in to get them to load them up with their brunch. The glasses were full of orange juice as well now, Harry thinking longingly of strong tea but opting to forgo it for the time being unless Eggsy had that going too.

Choosing his usual spot at the table Harry had just set out the papers and their writing utensils when Eggsy came into the room with the plates, which smelled heavenly and looked just as good as Harry rose to his feet again to take his own plate from the boy.

"Thanks." Eggsy's smile turned to puzzlement as he went to set down his own plate, noticing the paper neatly folded beside his place setting. "You're givin me your crossword?"

"On the contrary. I am challenging you to a crossword competition." Harry held up his photocopied version. "My grandparents did it every morning they were together at breakfast. They even got two copies of the same paper delivered just for that. They'd keep a running track of who won and the winner got to decide where they'd go for their annual winter and summer vacations. I thought we could carry on the tradition today." Though even as he said it Harry started to wince, thinking of how he was both sounding and what he was implying. God he sounded like-

"Yeah? Brilliant." The beaming smile the boy gave him was stunning in its beauty. "Hope ya ain't a sore loser though. Cause I ain't gonna go easy on ya."

"Likewise."

Another beaming smile. "So what are we playin for?" The suggestive look Eggsy aimed in his direction clearly stated his willingness to return to bed to either reap his rewards or be the spoils. And that…that suited Harry just fine, actually.

"You don't have to be home today or tomorrow, I believe you said?"

The smile Eggsy wore grew a little bit wider as he nodded.

"Then I think today's match should dictate how we spend the rest of the day. To the winner goes the planning. Tomorrow we can have a rematch with the same stakes. If that's agreeable to you."

"Yeah, Harry." A soft, happy look. "Sounds good."

"Good. Now let's eat. And may the best man win."

A shared look of promise, and then in silence they both turned their attention to cutting up their toast while reading over the clues, minds already logging their answers and making connections.

Plus regardless of who won today…they knew they'd both won.

The End

Note: I am tentatively planning a sequel for this story, but this is it for now. Thanks for reading.