"Wake uuuuup! We're having pancakes!"

Alex awoke abruptly but much less violently than he had the night before. His head was on a soft pillow and his fist was tangled up in an equally soft sheet. What? He blinked blearily up at the ceiling, his brain still processing, almost shocked at the level of comfort he was feeling.

"Guys! Pancakes!" The same muffled voice called, and it clicked.

Oh. Oh right, he was at Day's house. In Day's bed. And Day was—

At his feet came a loud groaning and then a heel was kicking into his stomach.

"Hey!" He exclaimed groggily, kicking back automatically.

"Damn, sorry." There was a rustling, and then Day pulled himself up onto his elbows and squinted down at him from the other end of the bed. His hair was in complete disarray, and his shirt was bunched up around his hips, displaying a sliver of toned skin above the waistline of his plaid pajama pants.

Alex swallowed hard and pointedly did not look, feeling the tips of his ears heat.

"You alright there, Alex?" Day said smugly, and a quick glance at the other boy's face showed that he was smirking. The way his long fingers were toying with the bottom of his shirt, it was clear that Day knew exactly what Alex was thinking.

"I'm fine," he coughed, embarrassed, and shoved himself up the bed further, blinking away the sleep from his eyes.

He felt… rested. Usually when he woke up, all he wanted to do was drown himself in his bath, he was so tired, but now— he flexed his fingers and rolled his shoulders— he felt good. He also ached all over, and his left arm stung and itched like crazy, and his jaw hurt, probably from clenching it so hard the night before… But he was wearing Day's shirt and pants and oh, Day had told him yesterday that he liked him, so things could definitely be worse.

God. Had Day really said that to him? The night before felt like a fever dream.

"Okay, honestly now, you alright, Alex?" Day repeated, sitting up further as well. "Pretty sure that was Robin calling us for breakfast, but you don't have to get up if you don't feel like it."

"No, I'm good," he reassured. "Really." He rotated his wrist. "Stitches still intact."

Day opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get a word out, there was a thumping down the hall and then moments later, loud, firm knocking on the door.

"Day!" A muffled voice said loudly. "Can I come in? Are you awake?" More knocking. "I'm supposed to wake you up, can I come in?"

Day cocked a brow at Alex, who shrugged back at him, bemused.

"You can come in, Rob!" Day called out, and the door cracked open and Robin's dark-haired head popped in. "Mum says she's making pancakes, so you need to wake up." She scrunched up her nose at both of them, although her eyes kept flitting over to Alex in bright curiosity. "It's like, literally one o'clock!"

Alex blinked. One o'clock? He never slept that long.

"Yeah, you guys slept for like, a really long time." Robin snickered. "Although Day always sleeps until like, 3 o'clock on Saturdays so nothing new, right?"

"Okay," Day interrupted. "That's unnecessary slander Rob, thanks for that. We'll be right there, you guys don't have to wait for us."

"You said it," she agreed. "Although, Alex?"

"Er." He jerked to look at her, startled at the address. "Yes?"

"I promise I'll leave you pancakes, because you're a guest."

She looked so earnest and determined, and Alex smiled at her automatically for it. "Thank you."

She sent him two thumbs up and then ran back down the hallway.

"I like your sister already," he said, and Day huffed a laugh and threw his legs over the side of the bed, Alex following his example. They sat at their respective ends of the bed, and it was casual, easy, and he was surprised to feel only a slight fluttering of residual shame and embarrassment for what had happened the night before.

"Robin's great, honestly. But she can be a little excitable, so just, you know, be aware of that."

"I've dealt with Tom for about 4 years. Pretty sure I can handle it."

"I mean, fair point." Day took a moment to examine him carefully. "I'm sorry, I've got to ask one more time. How are you feeling this morning then? Really? Anything I can do for you?"

"I'm okay. A little sore, but." He shrugged. He could walk. That was an utter win in his book.

"Okay. And how are you feeling about that other thing we talked about last night?"

Alex's breath hitched. "Oh, um. ...Good? Why, how are you feeling about it?" Any second thoughts?

But Day just crinkled his eyes at him in a pleased, relaxed sort of way. "Pretty good here too."

"Oh. Well… good. That's good."

Day huffed out a small laugh and propped his chin on his fist, contemplating him. "You know, you look really nice in my clothes, Alex."

He flushed, and darted his eyes away. "Day come on, you can't just say stuff like that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's— it's just—"

"Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"No!" He blurted, not liking the look on Day's face, and then buried his face in his hands at the volume of his protest. Oh god. "Look, no okay?" He muffled out. "Not uncomfortable just… you really are the first person I've liked. And- And Sabina used to flirt with me, and I guess I did like her, kind of, but not like this. And it's— I'm just not—"

Warm fingers wrapped around his wrists and tugged his hands away from his face. He raised his head reluctantly to look at Day. The other boy was grinning fondly at him, looking incredibly satisfied with Alex's answer, which, he supposed, was good, because Alex certainly wasn't.

"I like you too, Alex. And like I said last night, you make me feel like this too." One of his hands left Alex's wrist to cup his chin, thumb pressing gently against his hot cheek, making it abundantly clear what feeling he meant. His dark eyes never wavered from Alex's face.

Alex couldn't stop his convulsive swallow and pulled away with a jerk. "Day…"

"It's okay." Day's hands twitched like they wanted to reach back out to him, but in the end, he merely folded them up in his lap. "Sorry. I should have asked."

"It wasn't that. It's just… I mean… You overwhelm me a little, is all. And I don't mean that in a bad way," he hurried to add. "I just mean, that this is all…"

"New," Day finished.

"Yeah."

"That's really okay, Alex. I'm serious. We can talk about this later, if you want? That is, if you're planning on staying another night."

"I don't know. I think I might go over to James' house today."

"Oh." Day looked disappointed, but hid the emotion quickly. "That's okay. Still, if you change your mind, it would be great to have you."

Alex smiled and snuck a look at him. "You'd really let me spend another night, after the abject disaster of yesterday?"

"I mean, it wasn't an abject disaster."

"It was pretty close. I broke your belongings, got blood on your shirt, basically accused your mother of being almost literally a pedophile, and made you stay up until like five AM."

"Some of those things could have gone better, I admit, but I mean, I don't care about that shirt, the mug is replaceable, I often stay up until five AM anyway, and my mother isn't upset at you or anything. So really. It's fine." Day bit his lip. "But… can I ask… Why did you think she'd done anything, anyway? I mean, what prompted that?"

"Oh." He hunched his shoulders, embarrassment rushing back. "I was stupid, really. It was just that your shirt, the one I ruined, I mean, it was a bit big on me and it slipped off my shoulders a bit." He raised his hand to touch the spot, his eyes flickering to Day's face. "You didn't… I mean, you didn't see anything, did you?"

"See what?"

"So you didn't. That's good. You didn't say anything, so that's what I assumed…"

Day's fingers brushed his knee softly. "What would I have seen, Alex?"

He hesitated for a long moment, and then mumbled out, "Burns. Really bad ones. I've had them for years, and they're all over my back."

"Oh."

"Yeah. And in the kitchen, your mother asked about them, and I didn't realize that you could see them because of your shirt, and I just… I just thought…" He struggled for a moment, huffing out a bitter laugh. "I obviously didn't think though, is the thing. When people took my clothes off in the past, they always had a reason. Reasons your mum wouldn't have had. But I guess I was just a little on edge because of the nightmare, and…" He shrugged helplessly.

"Was Sarov one of the ones who took your clothes off?"

Alex jolted at the question, the name of the old war general coming from his friend hitting him like an electric shock. "Sarov? No."

"What were the reasons?"

He was silent for long enough that Day hastened to add, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Maybe not right now. Eventually, maybe, but… It's just a lot to dig up."

"That's fine."

"Okay. Um. But can I also maybe request that you don't tell anybody the things I'm telling to you?"

"I can do that."

"Seriously Day," Alex said soberly. "This is going to sound really cryptic and weird, but there are things I have told you— and things I would like to tell you in the future, I really would— that I can't have getting back to certain people."

Now it was Day's turn to fall silent. "That does sound really cryptic," he finally admitted.

"I know. And I'm sorry that I can't tell you any more, but just… please don't tell anyone the things I tell you. Please."

"Okay."

"Not even your mother."

"Okay," Day repeated seriously. "You have my word."

Alex released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He was shaking slightly. If Day slipped up, somehow, somewhere, it would be bad. He was already stressed enough as it was with Tom and Jerry knowing things about him, the memory of Harold Bulman still standing stark in his mind, years later. He didn't think Tom or Jerry would attempt to use him like Bulman had, no way. He was more worried about Jones' ability to make someone utterly vanish from public record. She'd ground Bulman out of existence like he was a speck of dust, and she could do away with Tom or Jerry just as easily.

"Alright, good. That's good." He licked his lips. Day was watching him with concern. "Sorry. I've had some, um, bad experiences with a couple of people."

"Seems like a lot of people have been kind of bastards." Day scooted even closer. "Can I hold your hand?"

"Oh." His breath hitched. "Um. Yes."

Day reached out and carefully took his hand. His skin was warm and smooth, and his nails were neatly trimmed. "So this is okay?" He asked, rubbing his thumb over Alex's knuckles.

"Yeah that's, uh, that's fine." Alex felt lightheaded. Day's hand was so much bigger than his. He had just managed to get air back in his lungs, when Robin once again came thumping down the hallway.

"Guys!" She said, shoving her head through the doorway for a second time. "The pancakes are ready now—" Her eyes zeroed in on their joined hands. "Oh woooow!"

Alex jerked his hand out of Day's, face burning, and Day growled next to him. "Robin!"

"What! It's cute! You guys are sweet." She made a kissy face at Day, who picked up a pillow and hurled it at her.

"Go away!"

Robin skipped out of the way, retreating back down the hallway. "Pancakes, come on!"

Day groaned, scrubbing a hand over his face. "She can be such a pain. I'm really sorry about that."

"It's fine," Alex said, swallowing the urge to laugh, despite his embarrassment. "Definitely a lot like Tom, though. I guess it's safe to assume you're out to her?"

"Yeah, basically everyone in my family except my grandmother on my dad's side knows I like guys."

"So your mother knows."

"Yeah."

"Oh." Alex coughed. "Well, I guess some of her comments are making a lot more sense now."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry, Alex. I've kind of been talking about you, a little bit. And Robin is such a pain, she always likes to tease me about people, and this time she actually hit a nerve and she could definitely tell. And my mother could too."

"Did you tell her I liked guys too?"

"No. I never out anyone without their permission." His mouth pulled down in a guilty frown. "But I know better than to get hung up on straight boys, so I suppose my obvious interest was as good as telling them. Damn. I'm really sorry."

"That's not at all your fault. And anyway, it does make me kind of happy that you talked about me to your family."

"Yeah? You may change your mind after Robin's interrogation over breakfast."

"This is practically lunch, Webster." He hauled himself to his feet and inspected his arms. He would need a sweatshirt to feel at all comfortable heading out of the room. Day scrounged up an oversize (at least on Alex) hoodie and helped hold it out for Alex to slip his arms through, before they both made their way to the kitchen.

They were greeted by the mouth-watering scent of frying bacon and, even coming down the hallway, Alex could hear the crackling pops from the grease. Rosemary was in front of the stove, pouring batter from a large measuring pitcher onto a pan, and she threw a smile at them as they entered and took seats at the table.

"Lovely to see both of you up," she said casually, and Alex was thankful that, for now, she was ignoring the awkwardness of the night before. "I've already put some pancakes on the table, just sort through them to find the type you like."

"There's blueberry, chocolate chip, and plain," Robin listed off on her fingers. She was wearing a bright yellow shirt with Spiderman on it and now in the daylight, Alex could see the bulky plastic hearing aid clipped into her hair. She was swinging her legs energetically under the table.

"Booberry!" The small child in the highchair to his right announced loudly. "Awesome!"

"So awesome," Day agreed, grinning at the girl, leaning across the table to ruffle the short dark fluff on her head. "Sierra, my beautiful baby sister, this is my friend, Alex. Say hi!"

"Hi!" Sierra waved a clenched fist at him, grinning broadly. She was an incredibly cute three-year old, with wide dark eyes, the same shade as Day's, and a Winnie the Pooh bib wrapped around her neck. "Whass up!"

He dutifully waved back, lips quirking up at her look of delight. "Hi Sierra. What's up with you?"

"Awesome," she replied happily, and waved her fist at him again.

"That's her word of the week, apparently," Day said to him, peeling back the tinfoil on the plate in the middle of the table and poking around with a fork. "Last week she picked up 'scallywag' from Robin, so if she calls you that at some point, don't be offended."

"Whass up, scambag," Sierra agreed and Day snorted a you see? sound.

"I didn't know she'd pick it up," Robin protested, shoving an entire strip of bacon into her mouth. "She's got great hearing."

"Unlike some people," Day smirked, and Robin rolled her eyes so hard Alex thought her eyeballs might fall out.

"Aren't you supposed to be on your best behaviour around your boyfriend?" She stressed.

Alex and Day both simultaneously flushed dark red, and Rosemary cleared her throat from the stove in warning. "Robin…"

"What?" She grumbled. "They were literally holding hands earlier. Plus they like, slept together."

"Robin," Day hissed, and Alex resisted the urge to hide his face in his hands. "We slept next to each other, don't say it like that—"

"I'm just being truthful!"

"Okay seriously, leave your brother alone." Rosemary turned off the burner with a beep and carried a new stack of pancakes to the table, placing them down with a narrow-eyed look at her daughter. "And Alex too. He's our guest, remember?"

Robin opened her mouth to say something, but Rosemary hurried to cut her off. "And how are you this morning, Alex? Good?" She eyed his arms, like she could beam through Day's hoodie and look at his stitches.

"All intact, Ms. Rosie. Thanks."

"Okay. Take some pancakes then, go on." She watched expectantly as he forked a few onto his plate before deeming it alright to turn to Sierra.

"Booberry," the three year old demanded seriously, and Rosemary nodded back solemnly, cutting up a pancake into tiny little pieces for her.

"Blueberry, a wonderful choice."

A harsh curdling of guilt formed in Alex's stomach at the sight of Rosemary being so gentle and loving. He was so stupid. How could he have thought that this woman would ever do the things he had suspected of her?

She wasn't like the others, not like Blunt and Jones, who'd been the first to strip him without his consent. He could still remember the disorientation and fear he'd felt at waking up in a foreign location, wearing pajamas he'd never seen before. He'd felt angry and scared, sure, but more than that he'd felt violated. His body had been manipulated in his sleep, people had touched him without his permission, how could they?

And then Blunt and Jones had gone on to violate him even worse. They'd taken away all of his options, destroyed his entire future, and there had been nothing he could do to stop them. He'd felt so helpless. So weak.

To this day, he still felt sick, thinking about that deceptively peaceful meal he'd had with them. From there on out, his body had been nothing but a puppet for their goals. It no longer belonged to him. God, it put him off his pancakes to think about.

A warm, heavy weight settled onto Alex's knee, drawing him out of his thoughts, and he looked down. Molly was sitting innocently at his feet, giant brown eyes staring silently up at him. Her warm breath panted against his thigh.

"Um."

"She senses weakness," Day said. "Don't even look at her."

Alex was, in fact, physically incapable of that, and so he set his fork down and ran a gentle hand over Molly's head. He smooshed her ears to the side and swallowed a sigh at her incredible cuteness. She whined softly and her eyes seemed to grow even wider.

"You can give her a little piece when you're finished," Rosemary told him. She was watching him out of the corner of her eye, the majority of her concentration focused on forking small bits of blueberry pancake into Sierra's mouth.

"Mobby is mike bis mick," Sierra told him honestly through a mouthful of pancake.

"Oh absolutely" he agreed back, despite his complete and total confusion. He sent her an exaggerated thumbs up.

She grinned back broadly, showing her tiny little teeth, and gave him back her own haphazard thumbs up.

"No idea what she's trying to say," Robin muttered to him, surreptitiously tossing an entire pancake on the floor. Molly took her head off of Alex's head and gobbled the pancake up quicker than Alex could blink. "It's like an alien language, one I, unfortunately, don't speak."

"How about you, Alex?" Day smirked at him. "Is alien in that large compendium of yours?"

"Oh, are you multilingual, love?" Rosemary perked up and threw him an interested look over her shoulder. "What do you speak?"

"Spanish and French fluently."

"And non-fluently?"

"Um. Just some Japanese and Italian."

"And Russian," Day reminded him, brows raised.

He squirmed in his seat. "Uh, yeah. Russian too."

Russian was his most recent acquisition. He's picked it up startlingly quickly, considering that he'd never studied the cyrillic alphabet. But Ian had spoken it, and Alex had heard phrases around the house, growing up, and starting out hadn't felt nearly as hopeless as Japanese had.

Plus, he always had the bad habit of throwing himself into studies when he was feeling glum, and, well, glum wasn't anywhere near a strong enough word for how he'd felt after Egypt.

His next goal was Arabic.

"Wow," Robin breathed. She was staring at him in amazement. "I don't suppose you know any BSL?"

Alex shook his head ruefully. "Not much." He swiped two fingers off his forehead, pointed at his chest, and then carefully fingerspelled A-L-E-X. My name is Alex.

"Good start," Robin said. "Anything else?"

He signed at her Where is the bathroom?, Call the police, and Can I pet your dog?

"Not bad. Your grammar is a bit wrong, but if you're not taught by a deaf person it usually is."

"Thanks. I'll look into the grammar." He also made a mental note to switch his next goal from Arabic to BSL.

After that, the rest of breakfast/lunch passed quickly, and soon Rosemary was pulling Alex to the side while Day went off to get dressed. Robin had vanished somewhere, announcing that she was going to go and read.

"So," Rosemary said, piling dirty dishes into the dishwasher. Sierra was watching her movements avidly, looking completely intrigued by the machine. "What are your plans for today, love? You're more than welcome to spend the day with us and sleep over another night. I know that Day will be more than pleased."

He couldn't stop the helpless smile at that. "Thanks Ms. Rosie. I think I'll go over to my friend James' house though. You've done… honestly you've done more than enough for me. I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you, to be honest."

"Nonsense. Just come around once in a while and your debt will be fulfilled." She grinned at him to show she was joking. "Any friend of Day's is welcome in this household any time."

And oh, now he was catching the strange emphasis she put on certain words.

He fidgeted in place. "Um. Ms. Rosie, about how Day and I slept last night—"

"Don't mention it," she interrupted gently. "I do trust my son to make the right decisions, love."

"Oh."

She put the last plate in the dishwasher and then wiped her hands off on a towel, before turning to look at him carefully. "When are you going back home?"

The abrupt question took him aback. "Oh, uh— I don't know. Probably sometime tomorrow, I guess. All my school supplies are there."

"I see. And what kind of welcome are you expecting?"

"Not a bad one," he reassured. "Alil feels really guilty about what happened. He actually tried to get me to go to the hospital, you know."

She didn't say anything, but the look on her face read The least he could do and Alex held up his hands.

"Look, it was just yesterday. He's never acted like this before."

"You have to understand," Rosemary began carefully. "That people who do things like this usually don't only do them once."

"I know, but this situation is different—"

"That's a popular refrain I used to hear all the time from people at the hospital."

"But he's not to blame. I can truly say I provoked him. If I hadn't said the things I said to him, he never would have blown up the way he did."

"He's a grown man. It doesn't matter what you said to him, or how he's feeling. If he hurt you, it's his fault."

"He's not a bad person," Alex tried instead, changing tactics. "We had a fight once and he made me breakfast the next morning. He's really trying his best."

"That's another thing, love. People who hurt you aren't always just plain evil, or mean. They can be your friends, people you trust, people who are totally lovely outside of the few moments where they're not hurting you. That doesn't mean they're not in the wrong."

"You think I don't know that by now?" He shook his head. "I know exactly how people can be, Ms. Rosie. This with Alil— it's nothing new, okay? I mean, it's new from him, but in general? No. Not even a little. Even if he does try something again, now I'm ready. I can deal with it."

"But you shouldn't have to," Rosemary said fiercely, leaning forward, fists clenched at her sides. "You are a child, it is not your job to be on the lookout for violence from your foster parents—"

"I know. But like I said, there are worse places I could be. I thought you agreed to let this go."

She took a deep breath, visibly struggling to calm herself. "No I did. I did. It's just… it's heinous."

Alex blinked at her, utterly bemused. She thought that Alil throwing something at him in a fit of anger was heinous. A man strapping him down to a conveyor belt with the intent of crushing him alive was what he would use that word for. Alil throwing a bowl at him was more along the lines of inappropriate.

But he knew well enough that voicing those thoughts wouldn't end well, so he just shrugged and waited for her to continue.

"If he hurts you again, or even if you feel uncomfortable at his home at all, I would love for you to come here immediately. You are welcome at any time, day or night."

"Thank you," he said quietly. How could someone be this kind? Alex got the feeling that she would have opened her home to him even if Day hadn't been so apparently obvious about liking him, if he had just been a random kid, hurt and bleeding…

She reminded him of—

She reminded him of Jack—

He wrapped his hands around that thought and strangled it out of existence with an inborn sense of blind panic.

He couldn't do this now.

Thinking about Jack was like touching the tip of a white hot poker— blindingly painful.

Remembering what had happened, what he had played a role in, did nothing but hurt, and there was only so much hurt he could take before he shut down.

So he shut it out instead.

He pushed all thoughts about what had happened, all thoughts about Cairo, and Razim, and Julius, into his air tight box in his chest, and locked it up so nothing could get in or out.

It worked fine. He was fine. He was getting better. He knew it probably wasn't healthy to ignore it all like that, that it would bring more troubles for him, somewhere down the road, but he couldn't afford to open that box. Not now, not while he was still a minor, watching, waiting, alert for the first sign of MI6's reappearance, or the CIA's, or ASIS, or any of them.

He couldn't afford a breakdown. Not yet.

"I think I'm going to go find Day now, if that's alright."

"Of course."

"Bye bye!" Sierra shouted at him as he left.

He found Day in his room, rummaging through his dresser.

"Alex! Come here. I've found some clothes you could wear for today if you want to change out of the pajamas." He held up a shirt and a pair of black joggers with a flourish.

"I'm going to look like an emo," Alex said.

"Goth," Day corrected. "We've been over this, haven't we?"

"I don't know. Sometimes when you speak I just block it out entirely."

Day pushed the clothes into his hands with a grin. "Try them on."

He moved dutifully to the bathroom, closed and locked the door, and then changed his clothes. Looking at himself in the mirror, he had to admit, the look wasn't bad. It was just a t-shirt and joggers, but somehow he looked incredibly stylish. Day really was good with clothes. He pulled back on the hoodie, gathered the pajamas up, and then opened the door.

He ran right into Day's chest.

"Um, hey?" He squinted up at Day.

Day placed a broad hand on Alex's chest, and then pressed forward, forcing Alex to step back into the bathroom.

"What are you—?"

"Wait," Day said, the door clicking shut behind him. He reached out a hand and flipped on the bathroom fan. A click and then the fan started up with a loud -whirr, whirr- sound. "There. Robin's hearing isn't great, but when she's got her hearing aids on, the walls between our rooms are like paper for her. Anyway, we do need to talk."

"Oh." He stared up at him with wide eyes. "Those are some alarming words to hear so early into this relationship."

Day's lips twitched. "So you consider this a relationship then?"

He bit his lip so hard he thought he tasted blood. "I mean… I don't know? We are something though, right?"

"Oh absolutely," Day agreed, reaching out casually to pull Alex's bottom lip from between his teeth with the point of his thumb. "I just want to be clear about it all. Just so we're on the same page."

"Okay…" He felt shaky. And tingly. And he wanted to lick his lip where Day's finger had been but that would be weird so he stifled the urge.

"Okay. To reiterate. I like you. A lot. And you like me too." Day waited expectantly for him to nod. "Alright, good. But you feel overwhelmed and maybe a little frightened about getting closer—"

"Not frightened—"

"Wary," Day corrected easily. "Wrong word, sorry. You're concerned that you might muck things up and potentially lash out at me."

"Yeah."

"Okay, so I understand then. Anything else you're feeling?"

"Um. I don't really know. I don't want this to go wrong and lose you as a friend."

"That's unlikely to happen. Look at me and Kelly— she's my best mate, currently. I've actually never parted badly with any of the people I've dated."

"Well I guess that's another thing then." Alex fiddled with his fingers, refusing to look at Day. This was awkward. "I've never really dated anyone before and you, er, seem to have some experience."

"That just means that I can guide you a bit," Day reassured him. "Don't even worry about that. Dating is basically being friends with someone, but you can kiss them too. You'll be fine."

The tips of his ears burned. "Uh. I don't really… have much experience with that bit either."

Day's fingers brushed his elbow, and he glanced at Day from the corner of his eyes. He was smirking, a gleam in his eyes.

"Like I said," he repeated. "I can guide you a bit."

The burn spread to the rest of his face, but before he could even attempt to stammer out a response to that, Day continued.

"So I guess we can just kind of continue as we are for a bit? If you'd like? Just getting to know each other, I mean. We're still pretty new friends."

Alex nodded. That sounded good. Reasonable. And not super scary.

"Also," Day said, somewhat regretfully. "I do want to apologize again to you. I really did think that you knew I was bi, but if you didn't, then things must have been pretty frustrating. I didn't realize you were unsure about how I felt for you. I'm sorry."

"Oh God, don't apologize. Just... you were flirting with me then?"

"Alex. I texted you a picture of myself post-shower, dripping wet."

"Um—"

"I've also called you cute multiple times."

"Right—"

"And you can't have missed that I was rather tactile with you in the past."

"I mean fair point, I guess," Alex mumbled, feeling embarrassed. "I just thought those might be, like, friendly things?"

He felt stupid as soon as he said it.

Day, to his immense credit, didn't laugh, just considered for a moment. "I guess if you thought I was straight, maybe it wouldn't be obvious," he conceded. "But now that you know differently, you will be able to tell, won't you? Or should I try a bit harder, perhaps?"

"If you try any harder I'm going to literally explode."

Day grinned down at him, and was just opening his mouth, likely to say something else that would make Alex squirm, when a loud -rap rap- came upon the door.

"Are you guys making out in there or just dead?" Robin called, voice muffled, and rapped again.

Day sighed loudly. "God— Just—" He yanked the door open and glared down at his sister. "You've got an inborn talent for irritation."

She smiled at him meanly. "Thanks, it runs in the family."

"Just leave," Day said, exasperated, and pushed at her shoulder. "Go on."

"Hey Mum told me to check on you," she protested, but made her way down the hallway. "Don't blame me!"

"Oh God," Alex muttered, burying his face in his hands. "Your mother must hate me."

Day snorted, leading the way back to his room. "Nah she doesn't. But hey, maybe you want to stick around today to try and change her mind?"

He shook his head with a smile. "A solid offer, but I really do think it would be better to go over to James' place. I mean, nothing against you or your family— honestly, your family is quite wonderful— but—"

"It's a lot," Day nodded, and said knowingly, "And I'm sure you're probably worn out by all the serious conversations."

"Erm. Maybe a bit…"

"I get it. You don't have to explain. Will you be okay in here by yourself for a little bit? I'd like to go talk to my mother really quick."

He nodded and Day ruffled his hair and then slid out of the room.

Alex sat on Day's bed and shot off a quick text to James, and got an immediate, enthusiastic, and affirmative answer that he would love to have Alex over, and to just send him a text when he was on the way.

When Day came back minutes later, he caught him grinning down at his phone fondly.

"Is that Tom?"

"James. He's ready for me to come over now." He slipped his phone in the deep pockets of Day's pajama pants. "Um. By the way. About your clothes—"

"Keep them for however long you want," Day interrupted. "No rush."

They made their way to the living room, where Rosemary was flicking through channels on the TV.

"How about Paw Patrol? You love Paw Patrol."

"Monkey," Sierra said.

"Power Puff Girls isn't on right now, sweetheart."

Sierra frowned in intense concentration. She was sitting in a beanbag in front of the television, a sippy cup clenched in one hand, and a small red action figure in the other. Her mouth thinned in determination and she said decisively, "Boo's Coos. I wiff magela, we gonna be mawwy."

Alex turned to Day.

"She says she loves Magenta and they're going to be married."

"She's also planning on marrying Gimli from Lord of the Rings, so do with that what you will," Rosemary put in, turning the TV to the right channel. She ruffled Sierra's hair, much like Day had done to Alex just minutes ago, in fact, and stood to face them. "What can I do for you two?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I was about to head out," Alex said. "Thank you so much for all you've done for me. And I'm sorry for how I treated you, after everything. That wasn't fair for you."

"You're welcome, and as I've said, please don't worry about that. You were understandably upset and overwhelmed. Now, do you want some cookies for the trip? You can grab them out of the kitchen while I find my keys."

He stared at her blankly.

"Well, it's about to start pouring rain! I thought I would give you a ride."

"No— Ms. Rosie— you don't have to—"

"I don't have to, but I would like to. It's no trouble."

"I mean…"

"Just let her," Day said in an undertone. "She's got that look on her face. Won't change her mind."

The look on her face was, in fact, incredibly familiar. He'd seen Day wearing it more than once.

Before they headed out, Rosemary took a quick peek at his stitches, and deemed him good to go. She then gave him strict instructions on how to treat the wound, which he listened to patiently, despite having a frankly ridiculous amount of stitches in the past.

He joined her at the front door, where Day was hovering, a serious look in his eyes.

"I've got to stay and look after Sierra and Robin." He tilted in. "Can I hug you?"

In lieu of an answer, Alex carefully placed his arms around Day's body. He had to stand on his toes to make the angle more comfortable. It was kind of awkward, hugging him in the light of day, in front of his mother, all the words they'd spoken between them. But Day was warm and strong and the other boy's arms wrapped around him with equal carefulness, his unique, spicy scent going to Alex's head like a drug.

Day pulled back. "Call me if you want to talk. Anytime. I mean it."

"I will," he said, finding, to his own disbelief, that he meant it.

A/N: So this one is another chapter that I cut in half, which is why it's kind of short! The second half should be out quicker than this one was lol. It'll have illuminating conversations with James, the confrontation with Alil, and probably the return of Tom and Jerry. :)

Guest #1, thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

LoveRider, I'm glad you think his fear about people taking off his clothes was reasonable! It's really so messed up to think about, in my opinion :\ And Day and Alex will get (probably sickeningly lol) cute in the future haha

Guest #2, THANK YOU! Loved this review lol!

Guest #3, thank you! I'm a fan of the height difference too! I think it will be nice for Alex to have someone to make him feel safe, and maybe a tol boi will do that lol

Guest #4, lol! I'm jealous too! Honestly one of my deepest desires is to have a bench press and a squat rack that I can use without having to leave my house

Brigith, thank you! I'm so glad you thought his breakdown was handled alright! Day and Alex will continue to talk and have clear and open communication because I love that :D

BritishBookWorm, thank you so much! I love that you thought the ending was good, it was really hard to write lol!

Guest #4, thanks for reviewing! Here is a new chapter, the next one will be out hopefully relatively quickly!

Guest #5, thank you for reviewing! I appreciate the time you took!

Guest #6, awww thank you so much! It amazes and delights me to think that anyone would reread this, that makes me so happy to hear. Stay tuned for the return of Tom who will have Things To Say haha

Guest lol, thank you! Not discontinued, I promise you! I have more planned for this story :) Particularly a lot of Alex/Day cutesy stuff, and Alex processing things. And I LOVE that you like Day, he is my first OC so that makes me so happy to hear!

Guest #7, thank you for reviewing! Here is an update! Next one will be out (hopefully) shortly! :)