"You know, Peter, you should wear a hat sometimes," Neal commented one day out of the blue. He and Peter were sipping coffee while standing on the patio outside Neal's apartment. It had become a ritual: Peter would pick up Neal in the morning just for the purpose of having a cup of June's coffee.

"Why should I wear a hat? I think one hat on this team is enough. If I started wearing one, people would start calling us 'those two guys with hats' or 'the hat squad' or something."

"I think you would look good in a hat. Here, let me show you." Neal tried to place his own hat on Peter's head.

Peter ducked.

"Come on, Peter, just try it. Seriously, you'd look good." Neal tried again.

Again, Peter moved out of the way. "I think I look fine just the way I am."

"Of course you look fine the way you are. Better than fine. No one can argue with that. But with a hat, you'd look even better." Neal tried for a third time to get the hat on Peter's head, and again Peter dodged out of the way. It was becoming a game.

Neal grinned and moved toward Peter. "You're not getting away from me that easily."

Peter returned the grin and ran a few steps away from his partner. Neal chased after him, hat in hand. Finally, Neal had Peter cornered, and he placed the hat on the other man's head with a triumphant flourish. "Got you!" he exclaimed. Then he stepped back to admire his handiwork. He was silent for a few minutes.

"Wow," he finally said.

"'Wow?'" asked Peter.

"You look good wearing my hat. Really good." He moved closer. "Really, really good." Then he leaned forward and kissed Peter.

"You didn't have to chase me into a corner just to steal a kiss," Peter told him. He replaced the hat on Neal's head, then returned the kiss. "I think you look better wearing the hat. But I think you'd look even better wearing nothing at all."

Neal's eyes twinkled. "I think the same thing about you." Then he frowned. "But I don't think we have time to find out right now."

Looking at his watch, Peter sighed. "I'm afraid you're right. Shall we continue this after work?"

"It's a date." He tried to put his hat back on Peter's head. "Maybe you should wear this to work today."

Peter shoved the hat back on to Neal's head and kissed him again. "No. You wear it. But I'm going to spend the entire day imagining what you look like wearing nothing but that hat."

Neal returned the kiss. "Maybe we can take turns wearing the hat."

Peter laughed. "If you insist."

END