Finally, chapter four is done. So the events of this chapter happen a lot sooner than planned. Darn Alvin and Simon are writing this story, not me. Anyway, enjoy!

Ricky helped his mother and the movers load up the moving truck. It had taken a bit for his mother to find a house, but after a month her bid on a nice two bed was accepted. Now they were packing up and hitting the road.

"Ricky, sweetheart, can you grab these boxes for me?"

Ricky ducked under the movers that were carrying the couch and met his mother in the living room. There were two medium sized boxes labeled 'kitchen' on it. "Sure thing, Mom." She smiled gratefully before heading upstairs to make sure everything was in the truck.

Ricky stacked the boxes before picking them up and heading to the truck to deposit them. Done with that, he stepped aside and pulled his phone from his pocket. He hadn't heard from Alvin in a while. He pulled up Alvin's number and called it.

He watched the movers load up the last of the furniture. The call went to voicemail and Ricky frowned. He sent a text before putting his phone away and going to his mother.

She had her hands on her hips and a smile on her face. She turned to look at her son. "Everything's loaded up. Ready to hit the road?" Ricky nodded emphatically with his own smile. She twirled the keys briefly before closing the door to their now former home and went to the car. The movers were closing up the back of the truck before getting into the front, starting the engine and preparing to follow the Michelsons to their new home in LA.

Ricky climbed into the passenger seat, shutting the door and buckling up. His mother started the car and pulled into the street, driving off. The truck followed.

Ricky checked his phone but had no new messages. Sighing, he plugged in his earphones and decided to listen to some music for now. It was going to be a decent trip.

...AATC...

Alvin sat in the den, staring at the show he had put it on earlier. He had only just woken up an hour ago. It's been a few days since Simon came home, and his boyfriend had stopped asking him what was bothering him, true to his word.

Theodore was with Eleanor, as usual. Simon was probably still sleeping. Alvin knew he was awake earlier than normal, his sleep still restless and disturbed. He'd made it a point to ignore his phone. He checked it every night before bed and charged it. There were multiple texts and missed calls from Ricky.

Alvin felt his guilt surround him once more at the thought of Ricky. He was constantly carrying around his guilt, which made him more prone to withdrawing into himself, mentally berating himself when it happened.

Gentle hands on his shoulders made Alvin jump, his heart pounding in a sudden rush of adrenaline. A chuckle from behind told him it was Simon who had snuck up on him. The hands trailed down his chest and he felt Simon's lips by his ear, making chills shoot through Alvin's body.

"Sorry," Simon breathed into his ear. "Didn't mean to scare you."

Alvin scoffed despite the fact that his heart was barely beginning to settle back down. "Yeah, right."

Simon leaned against the back of the couch more comfortably, placing lingering kisses along Alvin's neck. He could feel Alvin shudder. Simon would never tire of the effect he had on his lover. "What were you thinking about so hard that you didn't hear me coming?" He really hadn't meant to scare Alvin. But he always tried to take advantage of any opportunity to coax Alvin into talking to him about what was wrong.

Alvin shrugged. "Nothing," was his ambiguous reply. Simon frowned, wondering when Alvin would talk to him, if ever. Alvin sensed the mood dropping and said, "I'm just tired is all."

Simon hummed softly, placing kisses behind Alvin's ear. Alvin's eyes closed and he sighed softly, giving his boyfriend more access. Simon's hands trailed back up Alvin's chest as he placed a lingering kiss on his cheek before pulling back reluctantly and straightening up.

"Hungry?" Simon asked. Alvin turned on the couch to look at his boyfriend. "Theodore's not here so I thought I'd make breakfast."

Alvin pondered that for a moment before shrugging. "Sure." He stood and followed Simon into the kitchen.

...AATC...

Ricky put the last box of his stuff in his room. His bed and dressers were already in place along with his TV and entertainment center. He checked his phone, but there was nothing from Alvin. He had messages from other friends, but not Alvin. He sighed, putting his phone away and getting to work on unpacking.

He'd give Alvin a call eventually. For now, he needed to settle in and help his mother unpack, too.

...AATC...

Simon was making French toast for himself and Alvin. He glanced at Alvin as he washed some strawberries in the sink beside him. Alvin had that saddened look on his face again. Simon wasn't sure if he should bring it up. He didn't want to argue, but he also didn't like seeing Alvin upset.

Simon let out a breath, turning the stove off and putting the freshly made pieces of toast onto a plate with the others. "Alvin..."

Alvin looked up from his task to see Simon watching him with concern. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

Simon nodded, moving the pan off the hot burner, grabbing the plate and putting it onto the table. Alvin followed with the strawberries in a bowl. "I told you if this continues, I want you to talk to me." He sat down, Alvin sitting across from him.

"It won't," Alvin assured as he grabbed a couple slices of French toast, setting them on his plate. A quick glance at what was on the table told Alvin he'd forgotten the syrup. He got up to get it.

Simon watched his boyfriend with concern. "You can talk to me, Alvin. You know that, right?"

Alvin paused his actions. He had been grabbing the juice as well. He quickly grabbed it and closed the fridge. He went back to the table, setting the two items down before he resumed his seat.

Simon watched Alvin pour himself a cup of juice before drowning his toast in syrup. It was clear that Alvin wasn't going to respond to him. Resisting the urge to sigh, Simon turned his attention to filling his own cup with juice.

It was a constant battle for Alvin to not let his guilt overwhelm him. Every moment he spent with Simon felt like he no longer deserved to be apart of. He took a sip of his juice before cutting up his toast.

Simon looked up in surprise when Alvin stood. "I'm not hungry anymore," Alvin said quickly before leaving hurriedly from the kitchen and upstairs. Simon listened to Alvin's bedroom door shut in a slight daze. He glanced at Alvin's uneaten food before frowning. He set his silverware down and headed upstairs as well. This was as far as he was willing to let the situation, whatever it was, go.

Stopping outside Alvin's door, he listened but couldn't hear anything. Frustrated and concerned as he was, Simon would not barge into Alvin's only source of privacy. So he knocked.

No answer. Unsurprising as of late. Simon knocked again.

"Please, leave me alone right now, Simon," came Alvin's muffled reply. Simon considered it.

"Alvin, this is getting out of hand. You need to talk to me. Now, please."

"I can't...not yet."

Simon did sigh this time. "I won't accept that, Alvin. Something is seriously wrong. And it's only going to get worse the longer you keep it from me." There was more silence before Simon heard the lock click and Alvin's door was slowly opened. He slipped inside before Alvin changed his mind.

The door closed as slowly as it was opened. Simon turned to face Alvin, taking in the fresh tears in his lover's eyes. Simon studied Alvin, bypassing what he'd already seen since he'd been home and looking for whatever Alvin had managed to hide from him.

Alvin tore his gaze away from Simon's, moving from the door and over to his bed, standing with his back to Simon's analyzing gaze. Simon followed Alvin's movements, turning to keep him fully in view. He would push the matter, but it wasn't his intention to do so by any means necessary. He wanted Alvin to be open willingly with him.

"Will you talk to me? You let me in, so I'm taking that to mean you're ready to tell me what's wrong," Simon spoke up. He watched Alvin tense.

Alvin ran his gaze along his unmade bed. He wanted to curl up under his blankets and stay there, away from what he'd done. He wanted to hide from his guilt, and shame, and the inevitable pain he'd cause both Simon and himself.

Simon considered himself a relatively patient person, maybe a bit more so depending on the person. When it came to Alvin, his level of patience was on a fluctuating scale. It mostly depended on what Alvin was doing. At this point in time, it worried Simon how his patience was currently wearing thin when he knew, knew, Alvin needed much more. But then there was the fact that Alvin knew he wanted to know what was going on sooner rather than later. Especially since whatever it was was so blatantly obvious, and it was interfering with their relationship.

"Alvin," was all Simon said.

Alvin closed his eyes, the tears he'd been battling with escaping at last in silent rivers down his cheeks. He hated crying, dammit! But worse than that, he knew that tone Simon said his name in. His time was up. Alvin sniffled a bit before letting out a breath, trying to keep the sound of his tears out of his voice. "Do you remember...that time that I broke your brand new microscope that took you over a year to save up money to buy?"

Simon blinked, but said nothing. Alvin knew he remembered.

Alvin continued. "Or that time when I got really mad at you and threw one of your favorite, limited edition, books out the window when it was raining and it was ruined by all the mud it landed in?"

Simon folded his arms, hanging onto his patience and trying to see where Alvin was going with this topic. That particular book had not been saved.

Alvin stared at his blankets, the color pattern blurring with his tears. "What about the time in middle school when I-"

"Alvin," Simon cut him off, tone a bit sharper than he intended for it to be. He saw Alvin flinch. "Yes, I remember. What's the point in bringing all this up?"

Alvin sighed shakily, bringing his hands up to wipe away his persistent tears. They continued coming. "I let you down...all those times..."

Simon lowered his arms and took a step towards his lover.

"I always let you down..."

"That's not true, Alvin. You know that." He reached Alvin and gently placed his hands on Alvin's shoulders. Alvin jumped out of Simon's reach instantly. Simon watched him, a look of hurt and worry in his eyes. Alvin's expression fell further upon seeing Simon's reaction.

"See? I just did it again..." Alvin lowered his gaze to the floor.

"I don't understand why you brought up things from when we were younger. I always forgave you for whatever happened. It's not like you did those things on purpose."

Alvin lifted his gaze to meet Simon's. He knew better than to expect Simon to be forgiving regarding his disloyalty. But he couldn't not have hope when he heard Simon say that.

Simon saw a flicker of resignation cross Alvin's saturated azure eyes and knew Alvin was going to tell him what was wrong. As soon as that look flashed through Alvin's eyes, Simon also saw despair settle in. It made Simon anxious.

"A friend and I..." Alvin felt his throat lock up. He couldn't say it like that. Simon waited with dwindling patience. Alvin lowered his gaze back to the floor, before he ended up shutting his eyes. "I cheated on you..."

Simon felt gut-punched. All the air in his lungs left, his eyes widening. "What?" Certainly, he hadn't heard Alvin correctly. But no...He could hear those four words echoing in his head, reverberating down to his heart where they instantly shattered it beyond repair. He felt his own tears well up in his eyes and frowned tightly. "Well," he began curtly. "You've certainly outdone yourself this time."

Alvin flinched at the tone. He made himself look at Simon and felt his remorse triple when he saw the tears in Simon's own eyes. "Simon... I didn't mean for it to happen. I swear."

Simon looked Alvin over, his once loving gaze now tainted by Alvin's confession with disgust. When he spoke, it wasn't in response to what Alvin said. "Due to your level of... guilt...am I right to assume you and this friend had sex?" His tone was all business, even though he had silent tears trailing down his face it went unacknowledged.

Unable to find his voice, shocked as he was, Alvin nodded reluctantly.

"Very well then." Simon turned to leave the room. After opening the door, he said, "I believe we're done here." He exited Alvin's room, shutting the door harshly behind him.

Alvin barely made it to his bed before he collapsed. He brought his pillow to his face and finally gave in to the urge to just cry.