Title: A Matter of Pride Author: Clay Pairing: Wayne/Drew Rating: PG-13 Summary: Wayne wants Drew and he won't take no for an answer. Author’s notes: This is for Patricia's Seven Deadly Sins challenge: Pride. It started out as a joke. I mean, hey, everyone was doing it, and it was funny. But he wouldn't let me. I tried again. And again he wouldn't let me. Now it was just a challenge. Every chance I got, whether or not it was part of the game, I would try and kiss Drew Carey. It started out fun, frustrating as all Hell, but fun. He'd always find a way to balk me. Sometimes it was with a hand over the mouth, and once it was with that thrice damned Altoids case, but I wasn't going to give up. Then something happened that changed everything. He kissed Colin. At the time I laughed it up; it was what was expected of me. I could sort of see why he'd do it. He'd been forced to endure a kiss from Colin on the other show, forced because it was scripted. He had to do it. But this he hadn't had to do; he'd wanted to do it. After being forced to kiss Colin once, however, it made sense that he was comfortable enough to do it again. He still wouldn't kiss me. It was a matter of pride now. I'd been going after him for years and getting absolutely nothing, just a little meaningless flirting every now and again. And Colin? Colin just waltzes up with his puppy dog eyes and cute little accent and gets one right on the lips. Sure, even I'd been taken with the Canadian from time to time, but it wasn't fair. I was going to get Drew. It wasn't a game anymore, and I felt no shame in taking it off the set. It started innocently enough: a touch that lingered too long or a hearty laugh at another one of his lame jokes, but from there it only escalated. I began to sit close to him when we'd all gather at the bar after a taping. It was practically snuggling: our thighs pressed together under the table, shoulder to shoulder, side touching side. My fingers would brush over the back of his hand when reaching for my drink. It wasn't just the touching, though. Everything I said could be construed as sexual, and I took on the habit of twisting around his words to do the same. It still wasn't working. I tried harder. I invited him up to my room a few times. I don't know what I would have done with him had he ever accepted; I never thought that far ahead. In the end it didn't matter because he always found an excuse to stay away. I was getting very, very sick of being denied. It wasn't going to happen again. I began to formulate a plan, one so simple and so obvious that I was shocked I hadn't thought of it before. I would go to him after a taping, catch him alone in his office with no excuses and no way out. And that's where I am now. I stand outside his office with my heart thumping a staccato beat in my chest. I can hear him moving around, see him through the mottled glass of his office door. I've been preparing myself for this for so long that I can hardly believe the time has come. I hope I can go through with it. Thinking isn't helping. I raise my fist and knock, two sharp snaps of my knuckles against the glass. I see him pause, a vague grey and peach shape on the far side of the room, and then his voice reaches me, slightly muffled. "Come in!" If he is surprised to see me, he doesn't show it. He smiles, warm and friendly as ever. "Hey, Wayne. What's up?" I don't answer. Instead I face the door, turning the lock with a soft, but clearly audible click. Looking at him over my shoulder, I see that he is still smiling, though it doesn't quite reach his eyes. He doesn't know exactly why I'm here, but he must have an inkling, and that's bad. If he knows, he'll stop me. I have to move quickly. And that's just what I do. In seconds I am across the room, my legs carrying me there in a few long strides. Drew is immediately before me now. The smile has fallen from his face. Any moment he will see this visit for what it really is and order me out. I am sure of it. I don't give him the chance. I lift my hands to cradle his jaw. They are surprisingly dark against his pale cheeks. I marvel at that for maybe half a second, and then I am leaning toward him, guiding his lips to mine. He shows not even a hint of resistance. I'm not sure how I expected him to react, but it certainly didn't involve him reaching out to me, cupping my elbows and drawing me yet closer, pressing his lips to mine with unprecedented force. I never imagined that he would be the one to slide his tongue across my lower lip, begging entrance into my mouth, but that's just what he's doing. I allow it and deepen the kiss further, sliding my tongue over his, thrilled at the heat and the desire his lips on mine invoke. This had started out as a challenge, a matter of damaged pride, but now it is all passion and a desperate, desperate need to get closer. When he finally pulls back, breaking the kiss, his cheeks are flushed, lips dark and swollen, but he is smiling, soft and smug, and I think I am a fool for ever imagining it was I who was in control. He speaks quietly, and it is so low and I am still so overwhelmed by what had just transpired that I just barely catch his words. "Took you long enough." I don't answer, just move my mouth soundlessly, still trying to wrap my mind around what this all means. I hadn't expected that to feel so... so good. With all the thoughts jammed in my brain, one is constantly coming to the forefront: I have to do that again. Drew has been packing up his things as I stand in wonder. Now he is finished. He's still smiling as he pats my shoulder in a condescending, almost older-brother type manner. I watch him cross back to the door, bag slung over his shoulder. He unlocks it and then pauses with the door half open, showing just a hint of the darkened hallway beyond. He looks to me over his shoulder. Very slowly he winks, eyes alight with a cross between affection and mischief. "See you next week."