Steven holding his hand on beautiful moonlight walks. Steven laying in bed with him with his head buried in his chest. Beautiful Steven cuddling him during a thunderstorm. Gorgeous Steven and his alluring doe eyes, wonderful smile and flamboyant personality. God, Steven was so perfect. He was everything he wanted in a partner, but he could never be compared to Elyssa. Steven was all he needed to keep him alive. Shame he was as straight as it was possible to be.

"Perry! Open up!" someone shouted, banging on the door, interrupting his train of thought.

Shit. Not Steven Fucking Tyler...AGAIN. Why couldn't he ever get the hint and leave him alone? The amount of times he'd walked in on him showering, getting dressed...or undressed, and...other things was countless. Joe continued to stay silent, hoping Steven would get bored, or at least get the hint that he wasn't wanted and leave.

"I know you're in there!" Steven persisted, knocking louder, rapping out a Beatles tune with his knuckles as he waited for him to answer the door. "Here comes the sun- Joe open up- doo-doo-doo-doo. Here comes the sun- Joooeeee- and I say, it's alright."

Though Joe was torturing himself by allowing himself to be subjected to the sound of Steven's annoying voice destroying a perfect song, he still didn't move from his sitting position on the end of the bed. He only raised his hand to his lips to take a sip of the cold beer he had picked up from the corner shop on his way here.

"Joooeeeeee!!" Steven started whining in a needy voice. "Come on, open up! I need some help!"

Joe groaned in frustration. Fuck his life. Fine, he'd open the door and then hopefully he wouldn't have to hear Steven's whines or indeed Steven's voice anymore. The bed squeaked unhappily as he got up and stormed to the door, determined to get this bullshit over with.

"What do you want?!" Joe snapped, flinging the door open, some beer spilling out the can and onto the floor.

"Some help with my outfit."

Good god, what had his life become? From rockstar to maid. He looked the naked frontman up and down, holding in his laughter as he admired Steven in his tighty whities. He was so adorable.

"Yeah, I can see that. Come in," he nodded, hiding his face behind the door to conceal both his amusement and embarrassment as Steven sauntered into his room, his clothes draped over his folded arms.

"Why, thank you very much," Steven mocked, tossing his clothes onto a pillow and flopping onto the double bed, stretching out like it was his own.

"Get up, you're crinkling the duvet!" Joe scowled, putting down his beer and grabbing Steven by his skinny wrists and hauling him off the bed. "And why do you need help with your outfit? You're perfectly capable."

Steven pouted and took his wrists back, rubbing them. "I need help with my pants. The zipper is stuck. Look!" he insisted, grabbing his pants off the pillow he'd dumped them on and throwing them to Joe, dismissing his poor aim. Joe jumped in surprise as a pair of light wash grey jeans were thrown in his face, the crotch area hitting him square on the nose. He growled in annoyance, catching them before they hit the floor with a 'thud.'

"Oh yeah, the zipper really won't budge," he mused, aggressively fiddling and yanking the zip. How had this gotten so stuck? They were fine the last time he'd seen.

"Like I said, stuck," Steven reminded, sneezing as he lay back on the sofa and kicked his feet up on the armrest, wiggling his toes as he waited on Joe.

Joe sat down and started tugging the zipper, playing with some of the fabric, wondering if some loose cotton was the cause. A pleased smile worked its way onto his face when he was able to get the zipper fully zip and unzip without getting stck at all. "There. It works now." Joe threw the jeans back to Steven who expertly caught them, making up for his throwing skills (or lack thereof) earlier.

"Thank you." Steven paused, an idea popping into his head as he began dressing himself. "Hey, Joe?"

"Mhm?" Joe grunted, now occupied with reading a book he'd brought with him. He licked his finger as he turned the pages, engrossed in the story.

"Help me do up my pants?" Steven requested in a sweet voice, seductively batting his eyelashes in hopes that he would agree. "In case they get stuck again."

Joe scoffed.

"Please. You always help me with them when we go shopping, making sure they're tight enough and everything."

He thought about it for a moment, looking up at the ceiling as he weighed out all the pros and cons. "If I help you zip up your pants, will you then quit pestering me?"

Steven nodded quickly, his lip curling.

"Fine." Joe agreed.

Bookmarking his book so he remembered what part he'd gotten to, he put down his book and warily stepped towards Steven. Joe's mind raced as he awkwardly got down on his knees in front of Steven and did the zip up. This was not how their first meeting in several days was supposed to go. He expected everything to go routinely and smoothly, not eye-level with his crush's crotch. There, he said it. Steven Tyler was officially his crush- however uncomfortable it was to admit to himself.

"Steven, what'd you do?" Joe asked when he looked up and saw a smug smile on Steven's face. He felt his anxiety soar as he wondered what that mischievous expression was about.

"It's not what did I do, it's what you didn't do," Steven riddled, swinging his hips slowly as he started dancing above him in stripper fashion.

"And what's that?"

"Well since you enjoy sitting on your knees so much, you're welcome to suck me off," Steven teased.

Joe immediately felt his face heat up as it turned red from embarrassment. Their relationship wasn't quite at that stage where he would feel comfortable doing that.

"You just gotta say the magic word."

"Please?" he whispered, full sentences seeming to fail him.

"All yours," Steven continued to tease, sitting back on the bed with his legs open, howling with laughter when Joe threw a book at his head and hugged a pillow to his face, unsuccessfully disguising how flustered he'd become.

"Steven, stop!" Joe begged, unable to rid his face from the blush and now smile. He wished he wouldn't get teased so mercilessly like this.

"Awe, poor Joe. Come here."

He stumbled forward as he was pulled into an awkward hug, smiling more as he felt Steven laughing into his shoulder. Joe rested his head on his and wrapped his arms around his back, growing a little more confident in expressing his affection. "I hate you," he grumbled, trying to sound angry.

The other chuckled, holding him even closer so that their bodies now touched. "I love you too."

Joe quickly pulled out of the hug and looked away, giving Steven some form of privacy when he reached to put his shirt on. He didn't want to seem weird and creepy if he watched Steven dress, that was the last thing he wanted. Though, to be fair, Joe was quite sure Steven would love that sort of attention.

Can I ask you something?" the singer suddenly spoke up, picking a loose eyelash from his lashes.

"Sure." Joe took that as a green light to turn around.

"Come here first and then I'll ask." Steven beckoned him over to the bed, laying down on the mattress and eagerly holding his arms out for a cuddle.

Joe chuckled and also lay down, rejecting the cuddle, instead resting his head on Steven's shoulder. "Alright, now ask."

"If you were not in Aerosmith, what would you do with your life?"

"I'd probably be a janitor," he admitted, sweeping back some annoying locks of hair that flopped down into his face as fingers softly combed through his hair.

"What?" Steven sat up and laughed, his hand resting on Joe's arm. "A janitor? Get real."

"I'm being serious. I'm not like Brad, he knows what he's doing, that's why I could never be a session guitarist. I know nothing about theory. I just play with feel. If Brad weren't in the band, Aerosmith wouldn't be Aerosmith."

Steven went quiet for a moment, laying back down beside him. "Wow. That got deep. If I weren't a musician, I'd just be sleeping with my sunglasses on."

Joe rolled his eyes. Typical of him. "Why am I not surprised? Now leave." He got up and ushered Steven towards the door. He wanted him to leave as soon as possible. That story was still there on his suitcase waiting for him.

"Okay, okay." Steven held his hands up in surrender and walked himself to the exit. "Hey, umm, Joe, where did you get the-" he tapped his face, referencing the bruise Joe had on his left cheek.

"Oh, umm, I- I bumped myself..." Joe lied, remembering what Elyssa had said to him earlier. He nervously twiddled the hem of his sweater as he spoke, making Steven raise an eyebrow. He flinched and covered his face with his arms when Steven raised his hand, frightened of what was going to happen next.

"Hey, I'm not going to hit you," the older man reassured him, resting a hand on his shoulder. He paused. "Did Elyssa...hit you?"

Joe looked down, ashamed that that was the truth.

"Joe. Did Elyssa hit you?" Steven asked more firmly, his face twisted with anger.

Joe meekly nodded as his face was gently tilted up to eye-level, his eyes brimming with tears. Steven immediately embraced him in a loving hug, grumbling angrily into his hair. "I'm sorry," he whispered, hiding his head in Steven's neck as his eyes brimmed with tears.

"Joe, you have nothing to apologise for. It's her who should be apologising."

Joe sniffed, wiping his eyes. "Steven, what- what did I do to deserve this? I gave her everything. All my love, attention, time, and anything she wanted to make her happy. We were happy. I- I tried so hard, but I guess I just didn't do enough. I'm a horrible boyfriend and person."

"Joe, don't you dare say those things about yourself because they are all lies. You did more than enough and we all know that. You put your heart and soul into every relationship and love people with everything you have. And who told you you're horrible? You're the most thoughtful and kindest person I've ever met."

Joe briefly smiled, though his eyes were still sad.

"Look, I won't ask you if you two are over, but I'm always here for you. Brothers, right?" Steven held out his hand, meaning every word he'd spoken.

Joe nodded. "Brothers." He shook Steven's hand. "And...we're over. Her...her and I are done. For good," he decided. He never thought he would ever say those words, but he'd finally had enough. He had finally been pushed over the edge.

Steven smiled widely and squeezed his shoulders. "I'm so proud of you. It's taken you two years to say that, and now to say you're done with the relationship is such a big step. You'll be so much happier. Did you-"

"Can we stop talking about it, please?"

"Joe-"

"Steven, stop."

"But Joe-"

"STEVEN STOP! JUST STOP!!!" Joe screamed, a flood of tears coating his cheeks. "I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT ANYMORE! I'M SICK OF THIS!"

"Alright, Joe. Alright. We won't talk about it." Steven gave him a weak smile and opened the door to leave. "I'll call you later to check in. Or I'll knock, whichever you prefer."

Joe held his arms and turned away, making it clear he wasn't interested in communicating any further.

"Well, if that's how you feel," Steven snapped, his voice laced with hurt, "then I won't bother doing either."

Some items jumped as the door slammed shut. Joe's eyes immediately watered again and his knees trembled as he sank to the floor. For what felt like the hundredth time, he curled up on the floor and cried. How he hated his life and himself. He had no relationship, he was hungry and dehydrated, and alone. He just wanted to leave this horrible planet and all the horrible people on it. Forever. The mental distress was taking such a toll on him and he couldn't take much more.

He whispered some words of comfort to himself before drifting off into a deep sleep.