Robbie was coming out of Starbucks when a tall figure nearly bumped into him.

"Excuse me," he mumbled, his attention focused on his coffee.

"Hey, Robbie,"

Robbie looked up surprised. It was Paul. His hands were on Robbie's shoulders.

"How's it going, mate?" Paul asked. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" He squeezed Robbie's shoulders a little too hard, hurting him. "Did you miss me? I missed you."

At first Robbie was afraid but the fear soon left, replaced by sudden anger. He flung off Paul's hands.

"Get your disgusting paws off of me." Robbie snarled.

"Oh, a feisty one," Paul laughed. "I like that."

Robbie looked him in the eye. "What do you want from me? Revenge? Is that what this is about?" His voice rose, surprising Paul. A few people noticed.

"Whoa, take it easy."

"Screw you! I will not take it easy!" Robbie was on a roll. He was not going to hold back. "You're mad cause you think I ruined your life? You've got your nerve, you did a damn good job of trying to ruin mine. As far as I'm concerned, we're even."

Paul didn't know what to make of this. This was a new Robbie, one he had never seen before.

Robbie stepped forward, eyes blazing. "What you are going to do right now is take your sorry ass back to England or wherever, I don't care. As long as it's far away from me. And you will never, ever put your bloody hands on me again. This stalking thing isn't working with me so you might want to find a new hobby."

Paul decided to try another approach. He turned on the charm. "I remember back in the day when you used to love bad boys. You couldn't get enough."

He tried to touch Robbie's cheek but he slapped it away.

"Didn't I just tell you not to touch me?" Robbie snapped. "Big surprise, you don't listen. Let me explain this as if you were the idiot you actually are. I have someone, someone who is good to me. He loves me and he respects me. Best of all he doesn't treat me like his personal punching bag. I don't need trash like you in my life anymore."

Paul reached out again. This time Robbie grabbed him by the wrists, squeezing as hard as he could.

"If I ever see you again," Robbie said between clenched teeth. "You don't have to worry about my father ruining you. I'll do it myself. And trust me, what my father did will be nothing compared to what I will do. Got it? I'm not scared of you anymore."

Paul backed up. This time he was looking a little scared. Robbie was glad. It was about time the shoe was on the other foot.

"Get out of here," Robbie said. "and leave me and Harry the hell alone."

Paul backed up, then turned and left. Robbie stayed where he was and watched as Paul disappeared into the crowd. Then he sighed with relief. Seeing Paul again had brought back all the bad feelings from his past. Today he felt empowered. He was glad to finally have a chance to put him in his place.

Robbie took a cab to the Drake Hotel. He had eavesdropped on Harry earlier in the day. Harry was on the phone with Liam saying they should meet in the hotel restaurant to talk.

On the way over Robbie planned on having a showdown. There was no way that Liam was just going to come out of nowhere and get between him and Harry. Harry was his and he was going to fight for him. After his confrontation with Paul, Robbie was in the perfect mood for it.

Harry had spent most of the night thinking about the situation so he didn't get a lot of sleep. In the morning he had called Liam and they set up a meeting in the hotel restaurant at the Drake.

He found Liam sitting at a table near the window. It brought back memories of when they used to have breakfast in restaurants together after many passionate nights together. Harry felt nostalgic for a moment.

Liam stood up with a smile. "Hey, Harry."

They hugged briefly. A waiter came to take their orders. Harry ordered strong black coffee. He needed to be sharp and focused after a sleepless night.

"This is one of the things I miss," Liam said as he stirred his coffee. "Having meals together."

Liam was on the same wavelength, Harry thought as he took a sip of his hot coffee. Already he could feel his mind clearing.

"So what's happening?" Liam asked, taking Harry's hand and holding it in his own.

Harry looked down. "We need to talk."

Liam nodded. "I figured. You sure didn't waste any time moving on to someone new."

"For the record, you dumped me," Harry said. "Let's make that clear. You're not the victim here. You chose to end our relationship."

"I know, I know." Liam sighed.

"You were the one who though it was a good idea to start fresh when you decided to take that job." Harry pointed out. "If anybody moved on it was you so don't get it twisted."

"Hey, come on," Liam held out his hands. "People make mistakes. I admit I made a big one when I left you. But I thought it would be good for my career to take that Paris job. It was an excellent opportunity that was too good to pass up."

"Nothing wrong with wanting to look out for your career," Harry nodded. "I know. But the problem is that I wasn't on the top of your list of priorities. I wasn't even in second place."

"We can change that," Liam insisted, squeezing his hand. "I've changed, Harry. I came back for you. I'm willing to turn things around. Things are going to be different when we get back together. I can overlook your fling with that kid and move on."

"I appreciate that, I really do," Harry said. "But I'm with someone else now and we care for each other very much."

Liam looked surprised. "Just like that? You're really with that kid?"

"His name is Robbie and he's not a kid."

"But I came back for you."

"Again I appreciate it but I didn't ask you to come back. I did ask you to stay, or take me with you." Harry said. " I was willing to give up everything for you." It all came back to him. The sharp pain he felt when Liam packed up and walked out of his life. The loneliness that followed soon afterward, especially on those long nights when he tossed restlessly in his cold bed.

"Okay," Liam said. "That's my fault. I didn't realize how important you were to me."

"No, you didn't." Harry felt more sure of himself. "After you left all I did was sit around waiting for you, hoping you would change your mind and come back to me. I threw myself into my work and school. I was miserable."

"I said I was sorry."

"Then I met Robbie and it was like he brought me back to the world of the living. I've had more excitement in the past few months that I ever had in my whole life."

Liam looked stung. "So you regret what we've had? Everything we'd been through?"

"I don't regret it."

"But you want to throw us away for the boss's kid? Oh by the way, what does the boss think?"

Harry wasn't ready to think about the boss and his reaction. "I will worry about that later."

"So Kay doesn't know. Interesting."

"Look, Liam," Harry scooted closer and tried to appease him. "We're talking about us. I'm glad we had our time together. We've had some great times and I won't ever forget them."

Harry held onto Liam's hand and took a deep breath.

"Hey, let's not be rash," Liam said. "We should talk about this."

"I'm sorry, Liam," Harry said. "But we're over."

Robbie pulled up to the Drake. As he approached the hotel he could see Harry through the front window sitting at a table with Liam. Robbie stood to the side and watched the two men talking. He noticed how Harry held Liam's hands into his own, and the meaningful way they gazed in each other's eyes.

Robbie backed away. No wonder Harry was so indecisive. He still had feelings for Liam. Harry was going back to him.