Woah! It's been a while, and for that I am very sorry! I'm trying to get back into the swing of things but honestly I haven't had much motivation for this story lately, which is why this chapter is only 1.3k words. That seems to be changing, and I hope to be posting a fair bit more in the future! So, I realized that my tumblr url didn't post in the last chapter so please go check out haemo33 on tumblr! Now onto reviews! (And there's a lot of them!)

Gerdiena: I'm so glad you liked it! I've been planning the Talex kiss since the very beginning of this story, so I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed it!

Mae: Thank you so much for the review! I hope you're not too broken to read this chapter!

JaXine: I ALSO LOVE TOM/ALEX! I'm planning a number of fluffy little tidbits for future chapters, so keep your eye out!

Night Riders: As someone who's been there before, it is a very awkward conversation. But Tom and Alex are big boys, I'm sure they can handle it. I also love that you sympathize with Wolf, so many fics portray him as some heartless and cold bastard without any consideration as to how he got that way. I also like your theory about Danielle, but you'll have to wait and find out if you're right... Thank you for being an awesome reader!

BluishBleach: Alex has always been too busy saving the world to have a gay crisis, so just allow him his moment of ignorance haha. he's dumb in the best way possible. I'm really happy to hear that you'd been checking for updates, hopefully you haven't given up on me yet!

TeddyBearCrazy: Thank you so much! I hope you love this chapter (or at least don't hate it)

Nefelibata Nerd: Alex/Tom is always amazing, and I think that Wolf and Cub have a lot of healing to do for one another.

LightningStorm2003: Ask and you shall receive!

Bastet'syoungestkitten: This review is actually what inspired me to get off my ass and finish this damn chapter. Thank you so much for your words!

Lydia2210: Thanks! I love being able to take something that's been done a thousand times before and make it my own, so reviews like this mean a lot to me!

It doesn't take Alex too long to figure out that kissing a boy is absolutely nothing like kissing a girl. Tom's lips are much more chapped that those of any girl Alex has ever kissed. His hands, planted firmly under his shirt, against the soft skin of Alex's hip. The kiss is a bit awkward and sloppy, but Alex can still feel the fireworks under his eyelids as their lips move in synch.

They only break apart when the car parked on the curb, one they hadn't noticed before and certainly hadn't heard pull up, lays on its horn like its diver has died on the steering wheel. The noise is sufficient enough to make them both jump, pulling apart quickly. Alex shoves his hands in his pockets, trying to bite down the fear that's rising rapidly in his stomach.

He can't bring himself to look at Tom. There's no way he just kissed his best friend, and there's no way that he actually liked it. He has nothing against gay people, but he isn't one of them. He's straight, he's always been straight. Heterosexual. Strictly into boobs.

The car on the curb (rather rudely) interrupts Alex's momentary gay crisis before it even really has the chance to properly start. Alex turns to give the driver the finger for being a homophobic cock, because he may not be gay, but Tom is and nobody gets to insult his friend and-

Oh God. That's Wolf's car.

Alex can feel all of the colour draining out of his face. Wolf. His guardian, his military-trained guardian, just saw him kissing a boy. He knows that not every soldier is homophobic, but… he also knows that gay guys tend to be the butt of the joke.

"Maybe you should go inside." Alex says, still unable to look Tom in the eye.

Tom, still drunk and confused, turns on his heel and walks to the door, swaying ever so slightly from side to side as he goes. Alex watches him with a sick feeling in his gut. He takes a few shaky breaths and prepares himself for the fire he's sure he's about to walk into. He stands on the curb for as long as he thinks he can get away with before he steels his nerves one final time and marches over to Wolf's waiting car.

He opens the front door and slides into the passenger seat, staring straight ahead the whole time. If he doesn't look, if he doesn't interact, maybe Wolf won't say anything.

The car starts, and Wolf pulls out onto the road, allowing the silence to settle over the two as he navigates back to their shared flat.

Just when Alex thinks maybe he's in the clear, Wolf makes an unexpected turn that Alex knows isn't part of the drive home.

It's funny, how Alex has faced murderers and terrorists and crocodiles and bombs, but the idea of facing a simple SAS soldier has him scared witless. Wolf pulls the car into the parking lot of an elementary school and for a brief second Alex worries that he's about to get murdered, there in the dark.

"Care to explain what I just saw, Alex?" Wolf says, and it's the use of Alex's real name that really gets to him. Any other time, the man would call him Cub.

"Not particularly." Alex replies, eyes glued to the dashboard in front of him. He wiggles his fingers, trapped between his thighs and the seat below them.

"Alex." Wolf says. He doesn't sound angry or annoyed or murderous, which is good. His tone is one that Alex has never heard Wolf use before. It sounds almost… sympathetic.

"You know, I'm really tired. Maybe we should co back so I can sl-" Alex is cut off before he can finish.

"Alex, are you… are you gay?" Wolf asks, and it feels like he's just sucker-punched Alex right in the gut. His chest starts to feel tight and he can't breathe and the next thing he knows, he's ripping off his seatbelt and throwing open the door to heave on the pavement below. Wolf sits silently in wait, allowing the younger male a moment of privacy to wipe his mouth on the neckline of his shirt and compose himself a little bit.

Alex coughs twice before pulling himself back into the car, wiping at his mouth with the back of his sleeve and sniffling.

"Should I take that as a yes?" Wolf asks, maybe a little jokingly. Alex doesn't reply, instead staring directly at the dashboard of the car. Wolf sighs. "Cub," he starts, which doesn't even feel normal anymore. The fact that Wolf was using his given name was weird, but so is Cub. Everything feels strange right now, he supposes.

Alex cuts him off before he can continue, raising his voice to address an audience only he can see. "I don't know, alright! That was- what you just saw? That was nothing but a mistake! Tom is drunk, I'm drunk, he doesn't like me that that! So just drop it." Alex finishes. A moment later, he adds a soft 'please' to the end of his tirade.

Wolf stares at him with one eyebrow cocked. "He doesn't like you." He repeats. "But you never said you don't like him." He points out.

Alex wants to scream, because he himself doesn't know and he doesn't think he's ever been more embarrassed than he is now. "Look. Diego." He says, because if Wolf is playing the given name game then Alex will be damn sure to play it too. "I don't like Tom. He's my best friend, but I don't like him like that. I'm straight." He doesn't sound very convincing, but it seems to be enough to placate Wolf because the man puts the car back into drive and pulls out of the lot, driving down the road in total silence. Alex presses down the panic in his chest.

The rest of the ride is bathed in an oppressive, heavy silence.

When the car pulls into Wolf's flat, Ben's car is already there, and Alex thinks about stealing the gun he knows Wolf keeps in his glove compartment and shooting himself in the head with it.

He doesn't, of course, but he really does give it a lot of consideration. His night has already been awkward enough, anyway.

Ben is standing in the drive, watching as the car pulls in. He smiles, blissfully unaware of the tension between the two. Alex doesn't bother saying hello and instead pushes past Ben and takes the stairs to the front door two at a time. His hands are shaking like an earthquake and his vision is starting to blur around the edges. He feels like he's living in an old movie, what with the shaking and the vignette.

He ignores Ben's protest of concern and storms through the living room and down the hallway. At the end of the hall, he slams into the bathroom and immediately locks the door behind him. He eyes the window, considering jumping out and making a run for it. Instead, he reaches in the shower and turns the water as hot as it'll go. He leans against the bathroom door, panting as he listens to Wolf and Ben's raised voices behind the door and the slamming of water on tile in front of him.

He takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm his racing system. He feels like screaming or shouting or just throwing a fit. He knows it's dumb but god, he's sick of people knowing his secrets. Because that's just it, isn't it? Everyone knows his secrets before even he does.

Well. That's not quite true. He does have one secret that he can keep to his own, and he knows there's dozens of people dying to know it.

Yes, there are many people who would give their right arm to know just what happened in Meknes. Why Alex left Britain a teenager and came back a soldier, just what they did to him in those three unaccounted months.

But that's Alex's secret to keep. And nobody, living or dead, will force it from him.

Like I said, kind of short! I'm sorry! Next chapter we get a pretty deep conversation between Ben and Wolf that reveals a fair bit about Alex's past, and maybe a family outing!