Hello again, all. Thank you guys soo much for the reviews! Seriously, it makes me feel uber-special that you would take the time to read something I wrote. Thanks again. So here's the last chapter- I believe it's the longest of the three, but I couldn't find a good place to split it into two. So here's the conclusion- enjoy! And I'm sorry if you don't like it, but I tried.

“Well, I did everything you said.” Mike plopped down on the hotel bed beside Dave. “The sounds, the falling against him in the elevator, all that. What was the point of that stage, again?”

Dave sighed and shook his head. “I already told you this. It was, to put it bluntly, to turn him on.”

Mike choked on air again. “Wait, you did not already tell me that. I would definitely remember that.”

“Okay, maybe I didn’t use those words exactly, but it’s true!” Dave raised his hands in defense. “Now the plans for tonight will go off better, because he’s already hot. Stage two basically showed him that there’s something between you two.” He smiled triumphantly. “See? I have thought this through, Michael.”

Mike scoffed. “Yeah, sure you have. And by the way, when do I start stage three?”

“Whenever. Right when he gets back, if you want.” Dave looked as his watch. “Which should be anytime now. I should head out.” He stood and strode over to the door, turning back to the emcee one more time. “Be sexy, Mike. That’s the key for this stage. Be very sexy.” He left with a wink and a thumbs-up.

“Sexy. Ha.” Mike laughed aloud. “Good one, Dave. I don’t think-” Mike’s sentence was cut short as the door to the room opened to emit a steamy, wet and almost-naked Chester Bennington. Chester had apparently gone down to the sauna, and had no problem returning to the room without putting on anything but a towel.

‘Oh good god,’ piped the little voice inside of him. ‘Back off,’ snapped Mike. ‘He’s mine.’ The emcee’s eyes followed Chester around the room, taking in every detail of the vocalist- wearing nothing but a small hotel towel wrapped loosely around his waist, water droplets careening down his defined torso, the definition of a to-die-for ass in the back of the towel-

‘Eh-hem…’ a cough from the subconscious of Mike’s mind brought him back to reality. ‘You’re supposed to start your plan now.’

Right, the plan. What are we on, now- stage three? Okay, let’s go. Mike cleared his throat and slid to the end of the hotel bed, pulling himself into a sitting position. He sucked in a deep breath, crossed his subconscious fingers, and began.

Mike let out a soft cough, just noticeable enough to catch the attention of his roommate, and reached for the hem of his t-shirt. Once he was sure Chester’s eye was caught, he slowly began to pull up the shirt, arching his back and emitting a small groan as he did so. Stomach, torso, shoulders revealed- and then the shirt was discarded. Mike let out the best fake yawn he could muster and stretched again, running his hands up along his sides as sensually as possible- without looking obvious, of course.

He took a moment to steal a glance back over at the vocalist, who was still standing in his towel- and appeared to be frozen to his spot on the floor. Holding a pair of boxers in his hand, but making no move to do anything with them, his eyes were glued to Mike’s torso. Mike grinned inwardly and continued.

He reached down to the hem of his baggy jeans and slowly released the button. Realizing that he couldn’t stand- remember, his ankle was still “injured”- Mike scooted himself back onto the bed, lying on his back. He reached down and undid the zipper of his pants, and then slowly began to pull them down- arching his back and slowly thrusting his groin from the surface of the mattress. Mike heard a slight whimper from across the room, and grinned widely as he continued.

He continued to move the denim material closer to his ankles, in what he hoped was a tantalizing fashion, slowly revealing his boxers. Once his pants were fully removed, Mike stretched a final time, remaining spread out on the bed and groaning quietly.

Remembering that he was supposed to have a sore shoulder, too, Mike decided to add a bit more to it. He reached for his shoulder with his opposite hand, grasping it tightly and groaning loudly. He tilted his head back, squeezing his eyes shut and biting his bottom lip and whimpering slightly. He arched his back one last time for effect, then collaposed his entire body onto the mattress, sighing heavily- trying to make it all seem like he was just stretching. Yeah, right.

Mike blushed slightly, realizing how horny he probably looked right now. Spread eagle on a bed, clad only in boxers, groaning and whimpering with flushed cheeks. Oh, well. As long as the plan was working.

Finally, he turned to fully look at Chester, who hadn’t changed from his previous position- except that his mouth had fallen slightly open, his cheeks were tinted, and his gaze had dropped from Mike’s torso to an area slightly south.

Mike blushed, knowing exactly where Chester was looking, but sat up and shook the vocalist from his thoughts: “Hey Ches, do you think you could help me walk to the bathroom? I want to take a bath.” Chester’s gaze snapped up to Mike’s face, and he stuttered visibly.

“Um- uh, yeah, sure,” he coughed out. “Just let me put some clothes on.” Chester shook his head, as if trying to clear his thoughts, and turned away from the emcee to slip on his boxers. And coughed again. Mike giggled silently- ‘Maybe Dave is actually right,’ he thought to himself. ‘This isn’t going so bad!’

“Okay, you ready?” Mike’s attention turned towards the vocalist’s voice, gasping slightly at the sight. Apparently, when Chester said he wanted to put some clothes on, he meant just his boxers. Oh well, the less clothes, the better.

“Yep, let’s go.” Chester offered his hands as Mike shakily stood to meet them. The two men began to hobble their way to the bathroom, and Mike grew more and more apprehensive as they reached the door.

What was it that Dave said to do, again? Mike was drawing a blank- after all, how easy is it to stay focused when the love of your life has his arms wrapped around your waist while wearing nothing but underwear?

“You don’t actually want me to give you a bath or something, do you?” Chester smirked. Mike paled slightly- the idea of Chester bathing him, running his artistic hands up and down the emcee’s chest-

“Mike.” Right, he should respond first.

“No, no- not unless you want to, Mr. Bennington…” Mike replied with a seductive grin. Both men laughed as they reached the bathroom door.

Okay, it was decided. Mike couldn’t do this. He couldn’t be sexy, he couldn’t be seductive! ‘I don’t know what I was thinking, agreeing to this!’ He shook his head out of disbelief. ‘I can’t do it, I just can’t.’

Dave’s plan- no matter how much genius the bassist had seen in it when it was created, was absolutely insane. Upon reaching the bathroom- which was not only steamy, but lit with dozens and dozens of lit candles- Mike was simply supposed to forget his “ankle injury,” press his body flush upon Chester’s, admit his undying love for the vocalist, and kiss him passionately. Mike had questioned the need for stages one and two at all, if the plan was as simple as that. Dave had simple dismissed it with a wave of the hand and counted the reasons off on his fingers: “The injury receives sympathy, the sexiness turns him on, and the romantically-lit bathroom- not to mention the two scantily clad men in it- just adds to the décor of the plan.”

But now, as Mike approached the bathroom door with Chester as his crutch, he realized he couldn’t do it. No. Way. He wasn’t the dominant type, he couldn’t just take control of the situation like that. For all he knew, after the kiss, Chester would punch him, run out of the room, and never talk to him again. No, he just couldn’t do it. He had to stop Chester from getting to that bathroom.

“Wait!” He stubbornly dug his heel into the rug of the hotel room, afraid of seeing Chester’s reaction to the décor of the bathroom. Chester turned towards the younger man.

“What’s wrong, Mike?” He asked, seeming genuinely concerned, but also straining under the emcee’s weight. He was a small little guy, after all.

“Uhm, uh…” Mike stammered, trying to think of a lie fast enough to keep the older man out of the room. “I, uh- I forgot to bring a towel!”

Chester rolled his eyes. “Mike, I can get you a towel. Let’s just get in there first.” He tried to start walking again, but Mike pulled back again, refusing to budge.

“You know what, Ches? Why don’t you just let me walk to rest of the way in there? I mean, you don’t want to see me naked anyway, right?” He laughed uncomfortably.

Chester coughed, then joined in the laugh. “I guess you’re right. But are you sure you can make it in there on your own? Won’t you fall?”

Mike shook his head quickly. “No, no, I’ll be fine. My ankle’s feeling better, anyway. I might as well test it out, right?” He held his breath waiting for the older man’s response.

“Okay.” Chester released Mike, taking the arm from around his shoulder and putting it up against the wall for support. “Just yell if you need anything, okay?”

Mike sighed heavily as Chester walked away. “Yeah, okay.” He barely whispered. He hobbled the rest of the way into the bathroom, and once he was all the way in, slid down the door and sat on the floor with a sigh. He got this far, and he was chickening out. After all of that. What a pansy.

The emcee lifted his head and took a look around the bathroom. It really was quite a site. The entire sink, all of the cabinets, every extra counter-top space was covered- with probably hundreds of black and white candles. The temperature was high, steaming up the mirrors, which were reflecting the dim, enticing flicker of the candles. Even the bathtub could’ve been romantic- it was filled to the top with bubbles, and the aroma of the room gave the idea that there were also scented salts. Dave had really outdone himself.

‘Well, even if you’re not going to tell him, you can still take a bath, you know,” the little voice inside of him mused. “I’ve had enough of your smart-ass comments,” Mike whispered back. “So just hush.”

Nevertheless, Mike slowly stood, slipping off his last remaining article of clothing and moping over to the bathtub. He tentatively put one foot in, hissing at the temperature of the water, but slowly lowered himself into the bubbles.

Mike let out another sigh and closed his eyes, leaning his head back on the edge of the tub. Just as he was about to muse aloud if you could drown in a bubble bath, the door swung open and in walked Chester.

“Here’s your towel, Mi- what the hell?” Chester’s extended arm with towel in hand fell as he took in the sight of the bathroom. However, the expression wasn’t what was expected. It wasn’t a look of disgust or mockery- it was a look of amazement, and sensitivity. Almost as if he wished the bathroom was donned like that for him.

However, Mike didn’t take time to read Chester’s expression- he just tried to explain before the laughter ensued. “Uh- yeah, this was Dave’s idea. He set it up and everything. He said I needed to relax, you know? And I’ve never had a really fancy bath like this. Some people say it’s soothing.” Mike waited, gauging Chester’s reaction.

Chester was silent for a moment, his eyes scanning over the candles, then skimming over to the bubbles in which Mike was sitting. Gladly, the bubbles were thick enough so Chester couldn’t see any of Mike’s…business, if you will.

Finally, he spoke. “It’s cool. Hell, everybody needs a bath like this every now and then, right?” He laughed uncomfortably, following it up with another cough. Seriously, get the guy a cough drop.

“Well, anyway, here’s your towel.” Chester crossed the floor to the tub and dropped the towel on the floor right beside Mike. Mike smiled timidly and murmured a ‘thanks,’ trying not to let his disappointment show through his expression.

“Okay, you good? You don’t need anything else?” Chester questioned, acting to turn and exit the bathroom.

Mike sighed. “Yeah, I'm okay.” he almost whispered. “Thanks, Ches.” However, one last sudden wave of bravery erupting from somewhere inside of Mike, bursting its way out and taking control of Mike’s mouth. As soon as Chester turned to leave, Mike objected. “Chester, wait!”

Mike had no idea what had come over him. Something inside of him was just screaming that this was his last chance. If he didn’t tell Chester now, he never would. Fuck the plan, fuck Dave- he was doing this his way now.

Chester turned back with an expectant expression on his face, only to find himself being grabbed by the hem of his boxers and yanked into the bathtub. He was pinned totally on top of Mike- chests, waists, groins all pressed together, legs intertwined, faces inches apart, Mike’s hands clutching the small of the older man’s back. Not to mention they were both totally drenched.

“Mike!” Chester almost gasped, trying desperately to hide the quiver in his voice. He was amazed at the position he was finding himself in. In a bubble bath, on top of a very naked Mike Shinoda. But he couldn’t jump to conclusions just yet. He had to question it. He raised his head to look into the face of his captor to find out what the hell was going on, only to find himself the recipient of the sweetest, most romantic kiss he had ever experienced.

When Mike pulled away, Chester found himself unable to open his eyes, afraid that if he did, he would wake up from this dream. When he finally did, he was looking down upon a blushing, glossy-eyed emcee with the same dazed expression covering his face.

“I love you, Chester.” Mike stated. And how about that! The words Mike thought he would never be able to say escaped his lips in one breath.

Chester was quiet for a few seconds- trying to soak in everything that had happened in the last few seconds- the bathtub, the kiss, Mike saying ‘I love you’- wait, what? That last part jumped out at the vocalist. Mike loved him? Mike Shinoda loved him- Chester Bennington?

Mike’s face dropped significantly at Chester’s hesitation, and the emcee let out a small sigh. “I’m sorry, Chester. I didn’t mean to freak you out. If you want to hit me, go ahead. Hell, I deserve two punches- not only am I in love with you, I pulled you into a fucking tub for absolutely no-”

It was Mike’s turn to be cut off as he found his lips pressed firmly against Chester’s, the emcee emitting a small gasp as soon as contact was made. When Chester pulled back, his eyes were glittering with what could only be described as true happiness.

“I love you too, Mike.” Mike couldn’t suppress a grin and found himself giggling like a schoolgirl. That is, right up until the point when Chester laced his hands behind the younger man’s head and pulled him in for another kiss.

Mike responded giddily, stringing his arms loosely over Chester’s shoulders and returning the kiss with as much composure as possible. With Mike’s last bit of self-awareness, he raised one of his arms, gave a silent fist pump behind Chester’s head, and inwardly applauded himself.

“Operation SHOHF,” in all of it’s glory, was a success.

Voila! There is the conclusion of my very first fic! I hope you guys liked it. Please, give honest reviews- brutal or non. I need to learn. Thank you!