So, i skipped a day. My bad. But it was my birthday and was too merry last night to find the one switch on the laptop. My mother decided that prosecco and raspberry gin liqueur are a good mix. Not bad, just lethal.

Anyhoo - thanks guys! aw i got some love for this little bit of nonsense yesterday which was one of the highlights of my birthday. That and the most gorgeous Radley bag. So glad i'm not the only one who sees the dramatic drop off of this pair. And i have so many more stories either started and not up yet or just still in the mulling over phase. Warning peeps, I am kinda review powered. And in no way is that a REVIEW OR DIE type thing, I hate the old "ten reviews for the next chapter" thing. But I kinda aim to please others (it's a flaw but difficult to get over). And knowing that someone likes even a little part of my version of stuff fills me with warm fuzzies.

Anyway, the important bit. A couple of people have seen this coming... what will happen when Grimmjow finds out his age? A hint - he'll not be happy.

Enjoy
phoe
xxxx

Chapter 4

They shared the shower, keeping the touches fairly innocent but there were a few steamy kisses exchanged under the water. Ichigo didn't enjoy pulling his running shorts on again, tucking himself away as well but he didn't want to take Grimmjow up on the offer of a pair of tracksuit bottoms in case his dad noticed and asked questions.

They did eventually get the drink of tea Grimmjow had offered and they sat closely on the sofa, legs pressed against each other. Grimmjow held his mug in one hand so he could wrap his arm around the smaller man tucked next to him. "So, are we still on for Saturday? I have to be at the club but I only need to work at opening and close. I'd love some company in between."

Ichigo nodded as he swallowed his mouthful. He looked up at Grimmjow who was smiling down at him before snuggling into his arms more. He didn't want to move but he could easily see the clock on Grimmjow's wall telling him he needed to get home for school the next day.

"I need to go."

"I want you to stay."

Ichigo sniggered, still in place under Grimmjow's arms. "I know, I want to stay too."

"No, I want you to stay the night. I want to wake up with you. Do you think you could stay on Saturday?"

Ichigo frowned as he thought about it. "You mean sleep over? I guess I could, I might not tell my dad exactly where I'm staying though."

Grimmjow snorted. "You can keep us a secret for now. But I will be meeting your dad, and your sisters at some point. Just to let you know."

Ichigo just nodded before sipping at his tea again. He wondered how his dad would take to Ichigo dating an older man. Ichigo still wasn't even sure how much older Grimmjow was.

iiiiiiii

Ichigo's birthday was a little manic from the start with his father surprising him with breakfast cake complete with streamers and balloons just to wake him up. Ichigo struggled to come around with all the colourful balloons and the popping of streamers around him which covered his bed. A boom brought him round a little more and his eyes were wide in time to see the confetti from a cannon settle all over his floor and Yuzu standing with huge eyes as she looked at the devastation the carboard tube in her hand had caused. Ichigo's room looked like the entire Rio Carnival had marched through in his sleep.

He managed to find his uniform underneath all of the paper and plastic all while barking that his father will be cleaning it up before he goes to bed that night while Isshin cried that his grown up son was taking over as the man of the house. Ichigo's response was that he'd been the man of the house since he was eleven.

He allowed Yuzu to pin the badge to his jacket before he left but his dad's insistence that a party hat would complete the look was met with a dirty look from the birthday boy. He retreated from the house quickly once he was ready to head to school and try and enjoy some part of his big day.

Having a biology test on his birthday didn't really help that but his friends surprised him with cake at lunch and he did put on the hat that Orihime offered before he blew out the candles. He was given a few small gifts from his friends and would get more from his family over dinner but the biggest question was about the party that everyone was expecting. One that Ichigo had put no thought into.

He did manage to get out of it slightly when Renji suggested they just do a joint thing a few weeks later to celebrate both of them hitting their majority which Ichigo readily agreed to. He wasn't really one for over stating himself or trying to grab limelight.

The evening with his family was nice, if slightly chaotic but he could see the effort they'd put in. His bedroom had been tidied thankfully but with how clean it was he suspected his father had convinced Yuzu to help. He was also glad when he heard the doorbell ring and it turned out to be a pizza delivery which was a rarity in the house and a favourite for Ichigo. He'd expected Yuzu to have made something as always but she insisted that she'd spent time on his cake. Ichigo suspected that his room had taken longer and mentally promised to give his dad an extra hard kick during the next 'training' session.

When he was lying in bed that night he wondered if maybe he should have been honest with Grimmjow. He would have been able to celebrate his important birthday with the man who was very important to him. And Ichigo wouldn't have had to spend some of his day worrying about his lie by omission coming out.

iiiiiii

The next day Ichigo had to make sure his uniform was perfectly pressed and that he was as smart as he could make himself, just to make sure he didn't get put off the trip. His business class had organised with a local company to have a tour of their facilities as well as a series of talks from a few department heads about their career progression. Ichigo had never planned to go into business but his father had suggested the course due to him running his own clinic and needing to learn it as he went. Ichigo's only input on organising the trip was to make sure it didn't happen on his birthday.

He sat on the coach with his friends, laughing along with some of the nonsense while they travelled into the city centre. His friend Chad sat next to him, the taller boy taking the window seat and spending most of the time looking out of it as they moved. Chad and Ichigo had been friends since they were small and though there were not a lot of words passed between them, they always had each other's back in terms of disagreements or even just homework. Uryu sat across the aisle from them next to Orihime, both friendly with Ichigo and Chad even if the dark haired boy denied it occasionally as he thought Ichigo was just a delinquent when they met. Since the were both now heading to the same medical school Uryu had changed his opinion but they still both ruffled each other's feathers.

Ichigo was trying to sit still and just relax on the journey but another boy from his class Keigo was sitting right behind him and thumping into his seat back, making Ichigo scowl around to him. Keigo's quiet shadow Mizuiro was ripping him to shreds verbally which made Ichigo laugh at the exuberant boy's expense which of course led him to over exaggeratedly cry out to Orihime to save him from the bullies. It did mean that the half hour coach ride went quickly at least.

They pulled up to a monolith in glass. Standing at the entrance doors and looking straight up made Ichigo dizzy with the height of it and he wanted to go up to the top floor and look down, just to see what that was like. He's flown in a plane before but apart from the eight floor school building, he'd never really been up high. The building must have at least fifty floors and the whole outside was blue glass that made Ichigo squint in the morning sun. Chad came along side him, looking up as well and grunted, his usual sound that he was impressed.

"Want to go up to the top floor?"

"I doubt the talks are on the top floor. We'll be in a conference room somewhere in the middle."

"Doesn't mean we can't get lost and end up there." Ichigo grinned up at his friend who sported a small smile in return.

"I thought you were a grown up now." Chad put his hands in his pockets and trailed after the group now heading in. Ichigo jogged after him, holding his bag still.

"Well, you're not yet. And I can't let a kid wander by himself now can I?"

iiiiiiii

Ichigo and Chad kept it quiet, not wanting the overly excitable Keigo to join them and not really being in the mood to be lectured by Uryu. They were met at the door by a tall blond woman with piercing green eyes, wearing a very contouring white dress. Ichigo automatically glanced at Keigo whose eyes popped out on stalks at the alluring woman and him and chad exchanged a chuckled at their friend's expense. She looked like a shark that would eat minnows like Keigo for breakfast.

They got to see some of the more boring sides to a business empire and the lady explained about the bottom level entry system that most business's used as well as how progression worked. She herself had started out as a data entry clerk and was now running her own department.

Half way through the morning the group was given a break and access to some juice boxes and bags of crisps that the eighteen year old Ichigo felt was a little patronising. He did grab an apple juice but also snagged Chad's elbow, deciding that the twenty minute break was a perfect time to try and make it to the top floor.

No one challenged them as they left the conference room and a quick glance at the teacher showed she was glued to her phone screen. The building had an excellent way finding scheme and they easily found the elevators, calling one and pressing the top button. Nothing moved after a moment, even the doors didn't shut which prompted Ichigo to press it again. Chad then gestured to the little screen above the number pad that was telling them to scan an ID to access that floor. Ichigo shrugged then tried the next few buttons, finally getting some success with floor thirty seven. He didn't want to guess what happened in the other eighteen floors the building had.

Both boys were disappointed to find just a basic corridor when doors opened, not even a large open plan space. There were a few doors off the corridor, each displaying a name of a person so they were clearly offices of some description. The only window they had access to was the small one at the end of the corridor that was too small for them both to stand at but they took turns looking down the long way and exchanging grins.

"Well, that was disappointing eh?" Ichigo stuffed his hands in his pockets as they headed back to the lift. Chad just shrugged in response before calling the lift. The trip down took as long as the one up had but the ride was very smooth and there were no bumps as they arrived back on the eighth floor.

They managed to get back into the conference room unnoticed by all except for Keigo. "That was a long bathroom break guys. Thought you got lost." Ichigo winced at his loud exclamation but one glance at the teacher showed him that she hadn't noticed so he settled for giving Keigo a smack to the back of the head to shut him up.

iiiiiiii

Grimmjow liked his building. He'd been involved in the planning of it and thought it looked good on the outside, as well as being well laid out and uncluttered inside. He of course had a floor pretty much to himself. His secretary was there as well as a couple of lush conference rooms but the floor wasn't big anyway, being the top floor. He also liked it since you had to have a key card to get onto the floor.

His dad came up with that idea, giving the higher ups a bit of space and keeping others away. That meant that most of the other departments felt that big brother wasn't watching and meant they could run to the boss with the stupidest of problems. Grimmjow knew his secretary fielded plenty of calls that she didn't bother him with by clearly, and sternly, saying to them to read the policies.

He did venture around the building fairly regularly and had scheduled meetings with department heads every week. He enjoyed seeing his small part of the company working well and making his father proud.

What he didn't enjoy was seeing a familiar head of red hair walking passed and staring out of a window right outside the office he was in. He just assumed it was a case of mistaken identity until the person walked the other way, this time facing into the office as he talked to his tall, brown haired companion. There was no doubt that it was his boyfriend, dressed in a high school uniform.

Grimmjow opened the office door quietly and looked out to see the two boys standing at the elevator and waiting for it. They stood fairly quietly with their hands stuffed in in their pockets which made their uniforms sit crooked. Grimmjow's mind was running away with itself. Ichigo always had looked young but Grimmjow had just thought he had good bone structure and took care of himself.

He walked away as the boys entered the lift car and headed straight for the phone on the desk of his personnel manager who was still looking at him strangely since he'd cut off their conversation.

He knew his secretary's phone number by heart and didn't even look down as he dialled the internal number. "Hi Yuki, can you tell me anything about the school group that is touring today?"

"Like what Grimmjow? It's a bunch of snot nosed fifteen year olds who have no interest in business but want a day out of school."

"Do you know what school they're from and which year group?"

"Hang on while I check. Karakura High, fifth and six formers so snot nosed sixteen year olds then."

Grimmjow thanked the woman before hanging up, trying to maintain his temper. Not only had he served an underager in his bar, something that could lose his license; he'd performed sexual acts with a minor, which could get him arrested. And the worst part was he was starting to fall in love with a liar who was clearly trying something.

Grimmjow felt his temper thread snap.

Iiiiiiiii

Ichigo hung at the back of the crowd as they watched the video, volunteering to stand since there weren't enough chairs and Chad stood next to him. Neither of them was paying the video much attention since it was droning on and on about start up funds and venture capitalism and Ichigo was more gazing around the room and out of the huge windows to the side of him. They were looking onto other large buildings really but between them he could make out some distant landmarks. He happened to glance out of the door and down the corridor at exactly the right time to see Grimmjow standing in the hallway looking directly at him.

Ichigo's eyes immediately perked up and a smile crept onto his face. Grimmjow was dressed in a waist coat and matching grey trousers with a pale blue shirt underneath. A dark blue tie finished his smart look and the whole outfit gave Grimmjow's usual cool and confident look a huge boost. He jerked his head to the left before walking into a room and Ichigo quickly looked around to see no one was watching him before he moved. Chad turned and frowned in his direction but Ichigo just gestured him to wait there.

Ichigo did his best not to run along the short hallway but when he opened the room his wide smile fell at the look on Grimmjow's face. Ichigo cast his eye around the small office space which lacked any personalisation to tell him if it was Grimmjow's own or not. He glanced back at the taller man's blank face and a frown crept onto his face at the hostility in Grimmjow's eyes.

"Grimm? What's wrong?"

Grimmjow snorted before slowly looking the other up and down. He had one eyebrow raised as he met Ichigo's eyes again but he still didn't say anything.

Ichigo glanced down at himself and flushed when he realised the problem. His school uniform kind of let his secret out of the bag. "I guess you're annoyed at me fudging that I was still in high school? I'm sorry for that but,"

Ichigo didn't get to finish, Grimmjow lunging forward and pinning him to the wall by the throat. Ichigo's feet barely touched the floor and he grabbed the wrists holding him up to try and pull them away. His air supply wasn't cut off completely but it was significantly reduced and the more weight he hung on Grimmjow's hands, the less he could suck down. He tried to speak but couldn't gather enough air to make more than a squeak.

"Did you ever think about me when you were spinning your little fantasy? Did you ever think about me losing my bar, or ending up in jail for fooling around with a child?" Grimmjow pulled Ichigo away before banging him back on the wall hard. Ichigo's face creased up in pain before he met Grimmjow's again. He tried to communicate through the anger but Grimmjow's face was pulled into a snarl, teeth bared and eyebrows knitted. "Did you care at all that you were turning me into a fucking paedo?"

Ichigo's feet slipped and his whole body weight hung from Grimmjow's hands and his face quickly reddened. Grimmjow had no intention to actually kill the younger man so he dropped Ichigo when he began spluttering and turned away, not wanting to even look at him.

Ichigo dropped in a heap coughing up his lungs as he strived to get oxygen into his body as quickly as possible. His shaking hand approached his neck and he gingerly touched the skin, wincing at how tender it felt. He looked up at Grimmjow's back and could see the tension in the muscles under the tailored clothing.

"Grimm," Ichigo's voice rasped as he tried to talk. "I,"

Grimmjow turned round fast and raised his hand to back hand Ichigo back into the wall. Ichigo's eyes closed in fear and he tensed up but the impact didn't come. Grimmjow's face drained of anger and he started to look tired. "You don't get to speak to me. You don't get to look at me. You can forget ever coming to my bar again, even when you turn eighteen. I want you out of my building."

Ichigo looked up at Grimmjow but instantly winced away when the harsh blue eyes narrowed. He stumbled to his feet and opened the door with his free hand, shutting it behind him and leaning against it. He glanced down the hall and saw Chad looking back at him but Ichigo ducked his head and bolted to the gents' toilet nearby. He turned the lock on the main door as soon as he entered and turned to the mirror to check the damage.

His eyes were red rimmed and his nose was pink at the end which showed his upset. He had to tilt his head back to see the damage to his neck because of the lighting but lowered it after a quick glance to see it was definitely noticeable. Ichigo leaned on the sink and sank his head between his elbows. A quiet knock at the door had him tense again but his best friend's low voice came through to him, asking if he was alright.

Ichigo opened the door for Chad while keeping his head down to hide his throat but Chad wasn't fooled and drew his chin up. "What happened?"

Ichigo sighed. There was no point in getting upset about it. Grimmjow was the injured party and had lashed out legitimately. Perhaps overreacting a little. "I did a stupid thing. Remember the guy I told you about that I've been seeing? Grimmjow? And I wasn't entirely honest about my age yeah? Well, this is his building. And he saw me in uniform. So he's pissed."

"So he hurt you because he's pissed at you?" Chad was visible not impressed by that, his eyebrows drawn into a frown.

Ichigo sighed again before running the cold tap. "He pinned me to the wall but it's my fault. I could tell he was holding himself back a lot and that I had really hurt him. I don't think I can make this better." Ichigo ran his hands under the tap to cool them before shaking the drops off and holding his hands to his throat to try and sooth it a little. "He told me to get out of his building and to never come to the bar again. He'll have blocked my number by now and short of breaking into his office and confronting him today, I don't think I'll ever see him again." Ichigo didn't like how his voice caught on the last statement.

Chad's large hand rested on Ichigo's shoulder for a moment. "If he really cares about you you'd be surprised. And you're eighteen, what does it matter that you're still in school."

Ichigo cooled his hands one more time before pressing them on the bruised skin. "I don't think it matters. I didn't get a chance to pull my license out and prove how old I was anyway. Look, let's just get back before I get into more trouble today. I just want to go home."

The boys exited the restroom after Ichigo dried his hands and headed back to the conference room. The door was shut, which made them glance at each other. "If they've moved on I'm going and getting a bus home." Ichigo reached for the door handle, pushing the door open and blinking in the brighter day light streaming through the large windows. He looked around the room and saw that the group had moved on without them, just some untidy chairs and a few pieces of paper left after the school group left.

Ichigo sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Look, I'm gone."

"I'll catch them up and say you were feeling sick."

"Thanks, if she gives you any hassle tell her I'll speak to her tomorrow if I'm 'better'."

Chad reached out a broad hand and laid it on Ichigo's shoulder, squeezing gently as a good bye.

Ichigo headed out of the room and towards the stairs. A long walk down was exactly what his head needed to clear. He couldn't believe he'd been as stupid as to lie to the other man. But then, he rationalised, Grimmjow would have never looked twice at him if Grimmjow'd known he was only seventeen. Maybe in five years Grimmjow would have mellowed a bit and could look past everything that Ichigo had done.

Ichigo released another sigh as he rounded on floor twelve, pausing with is foot hovering over a step as he heard his sigh echoed by another. He leaned over the middle bannister and looked down to see a man sitting on the bottom step of the flight below. His head was in his hands and he looked like he could be crying.

Ichigo considered walking onto the twelfth floor and finding a lift but decided to finish the stairs and just ignore the other man. He kept walking down, hands in his pockets still and he kept his face away from the other man as he rounded on the flight the man sat at. He made his footsteps as soft as possible but the man still turned to him. Ichigo paused as the man started to stand. He was roughly the same height as Ichigo but chunkier and definitely not as fit. His hair was thinning around the edges and that with the lines on his face pointed towards an age of around the late thirties.

"Excuse me." Ichigo ducked his head and went to pass the man on the inside of the stairs when a large hand planted in the middle of his chest and pushed him back. Ichigo back up to the wall and scowled at the man. "Look, my day has been bad enough and I am going home. Get the hell out of my way." Ichigo felt his feet shifting to give himself a better stance and he slung his satchel bag behind him.

The man snorted, Ichigo's eyebrows lifting in response. "You think your day has been bad? Some punk kid, barely out of diapers? What? Did you break your iPod?"

"Go to hell old man." Ichigo started towards the other, planning to barge past and just keep going but ready to knock him on the ass if necessary. Ichigo stopped as he came level with the guy, the hand back out and on Ichigo's chest to stop him and the other arm holding a small utility knife at Ichigo's throat.

"What the fuck do you know about hell little boy?" The man backed Ichigo up until his back was to the wall again. The knife nicked his skin a little as he rebounded on the wall and he felt the nip as well as a warm trickle down his neck. "Tell me boy, what has made your day so bad?"

"Look, I got dumped alright? I wasn't completely honest and got dumped for it alright? So not only am I in love and alone with it, it's all my own fault. So yeah, my day has been peachy. And now a loon with a knife is screaming at me." Ichigo shouted the last bit in the guy's face, spitting a little in his voracity. The man's eyebrows raised and he blinked at the fierceness Ichigo had shown.

"Plenty of women in this world kid, you don't have to go crying about one kicking you to the kerb." The guy relaxed and took the knife from Ichigo's throat, still holding him against the wall with his hand.

"Yeah, so who pissed in your cereal? I mean seriously, attacking a school kid in the stairwell?"

"School kid?" The man looked at him a little closer, noticing that the jacket had an embroidered emblem. "Shit, you look older than that. You got dumped, I got fired."

Ichigo snorted. "Bringing a knife to work would do that to you I guess." His glib remark got the knife pressed against his throat again in a heartbeat.

"The knife was brought because I got fired. My asshole of a boss wouldn't even listen to me; I was going to try again."

Ichigo raised his eyebrows. "You brought a knife in to threaten your boss in to giving you your job back?"

The man cropped both of his arms from Ichigo and ran his free hand through his thinning hair. "No! I just wanted to reason with him. How the hell am I supposed to get a job if Lord Jaeggerjaques deems me untrustworthy and unemployable?"

"Grimmjow was your boss?"

The man slowly raised his head from his hands with a frown on his face. "How do you know Grimmjow Jaeggerjaques?"

How indeed...