Sorry for the delay - I wanted to get as much of the next chapter done before posting this, but I've been really busy and it's still in progress.

As always, thank you a million times for the reviews. I just hope you continue to enjoy the story.

Chapter 10

Cal woke to discover that he was not alone. The girl was still asleep and her breaths were falling in heavy huffs that were too delicate to be considered a snore. He rolled onto his side to examine her further and the movement sent a pounding through his head. The hangover was almost synonymous to waking up with an unknown, naked girl in his bed. He squinted. He didn't think he recognised her, thought it was hard to be sure. He knew a lot of girls.

An urgent knocking from below disturbed him from his thoughts. He groaned as the noise reverberated through his aching head. As the knocking persisted, he slowly climbed out of bed and staggered over to the window. It wasn't just his head that ached now; his whole body hurt, though he had no explanation as to why. He pulled the curtain to one side unconcerned whether the elderly neighbour opposite would catch a glimpse. He'd suspected she'd seen him without any clothes before anyway, when he had been dared to streak down the road. He looked down to the front door and the blonde head that stood in front of it was instantly recognisable.

Any other person he would have ignored, but not Ethan, especially when their relationship was still at its most precarious. He grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor and pulled them on. He was about to leave his bedroom when his brain kicked in. Ethan was annoyingly observant and Cal had no doubt that he'd notice the scar on his stomach, regardless of how much it had faded. The last thing he could cope with in this level of hangover was awkward questions that he had no intention to answer honestly. He seized last night's shirt and struggled into it as he trundled down the stairs. The pale material was blemished with stains from an artificially coloured drink, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

By the time he opened the front door, his brother was halfway down the path. He called after him and Ethan swung round, an expression on his face that Cal couldn't read.

Ethan took the few paces back towards him. "We need to talk."

Cal stepped to the side and ushered Ethan in. "Go through to the kitchen," he said. He glanced up the staircase as they passed it and hoped that the girl was still asleep. "Coffee?"

"Please."

Cal put the kettle on to boil and leaned against the kitchen worktop as he waited. "I didn't expect you back this early."

"Change of plan," Ethan said. He frowned.

Cal turned his back on his brother to make the drinks, glad that his face was hidden as he asked the question. "Is everything okay?"

"Everyone's well," Ethan replied.

The brothers remained silent as Cal poured the boiling water into the coffee. He carried the mugs over to the small kitchen table with shaky hands, still struggling with the impact of last night's alcohol. He slumped onto one of the chairs and pushed the second coffee to the chair opposite, indicating that Ethan should sit.

"You look rough," Ethan said.

Cal gave a small half-smile. "I feel it. Christmas celebrations catching up, you know."

Ethan titled his head in acknowledgement. "What did you do for it?"

"Drank a lot," Cal said. He took a slurp of his coffee but the hot liquid burnt his tongue and his lip. He pulled the mug away quickly in shock and splashed a bit of the liquid onto his already stained shirt.

"Cal!"

"I'm okay."

Ethan examined the numerous cigarette burns on the kitchen table. "You shouldn't have been alone for Christmas."

"Gus was here." Cal shrugged. "We had pizza."

"Pizza for Christmas?" A reluctant smile appeared on Ethan's face. "That shouldn't really surprise me."

Cal chuckled. "I've never been one for roast parsnips and gravy." He paused. He knew it would only be polite to enquire of how his brother's Christmas went, but he knew what the answer would be. Despite everything, it wouldn't be easy to hear of the fantastic Christmas of the family he was no longer part of.

"Mum's Christmas pudding, though," Ethan said. "I considered sneaking some back for you, but it might have got a little messy in my luggage."

"Don't worry. I didn't get you anything either."

"Well, your gifts always were on the… novel… side."

"Hey, there was nothing wrong with that pooing Santa, you can't still be disgusted by that!"

Ethan laughed. "It wasn't me that was most horrified by it, that was-"

"Dad. Yeah," Cal said. He shook his head. He should have known that talking about Christmas would have inevitably brought that name up.

"Caleb-"

"So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

Ethan took a deep breath and fingered the handle of the coffee mug.

Cal watched him with curiosity but a sinking feeling in his chest. The longer Ethan procrastinated with a sentence usually correlated with the severity of it. He was about to hurry his brother up, when he noticed a female figure lingering uncertainty in the hallway.

"Shit," he said. "Hold that thought." He rushed out of the kitchen and closed the door behind him, trying to ignore that fact that he was pretty sure Ethan had been quick enough to see the girl first.

He caught the girl's wrist and tried to guide her closer to the front door and away from his little brother.

"I can't find my bra," the girl hissed.

"So?"

"Well, is it-" she hesitated, "down here somewhere?"

Cal squinted to give the impression he was racking his brains about where the bra could be. He couldn't remember the exact route they'd taken to get his bedroom and he cared a lot less about recalling it than he did about getting the girl out of his house as fast as he could.

"It must be in my room. You can't have looked properly."

"I did."

"Well I'll find it." Cal said with a determined nod. "I'll give it to you next time I see you."

She snorted. "Yeah, right." She skirted past him and headed towards the kitchen.

Cal rolled his eyes but he knew what he had to do to encourage her to leave rather than explore the house. "Wait," he said. "Did you think this was just a one off?"

"Isn't it?"

He sidled closer to her, put one hand on her waist and used the other to tuck a strand of sticky hair behind her ear. "I don't want it to be." He waited for her to smile but she continued to look sceptical. "Perhaps I went about it the wrong way," he said. "I don't usually sleep with girls the first time I meet them. But you- you're so beautiful." He let his words hang in the air for a moment. "I guess I just couldn't help myself."

The girl narrowed her eyes and scrutinised his face. "Smooth."

Cal gave what he hoped was a bashful chuckle. "Let me take you out. Tomorrow, that new Italian in town." He lowered his voice. "I'll bring your bra!"

"Okay," she said, finally smiling. "I'll give you a chance. But if you're keeping my bra then you can at least lend me a hoodie to get home in. I'm going to freeze."

Cal pretended that he was just noticing the skimpiness of her outfit now, using the opportunity for another glance at her lean body. "Deal," he said. He grabbed a hoodie from the bannister. It belonged to one of his housemates but he was sure they would understand. He helped her into it and then zipped it up, letting his hands brush against her body as he did so.

"I'm looking forward to our date," he said.

"Hmm," she said with a grin. "I'll meet you at 8. Don't be late."

He stepped closer to her and let her wrap her arms around his neck. He traced her lips with his own but she rapidly turned the kiss deeper. They said their goodbyes and he smiled as he watched her leave, pleased with himself for winning another lady round.

Cal got back to the kitchen to find Ethan's coffee had finished and he had a phone in his hands, half way through sending a text message.

"Christmas present?"

Ethan declined to answer but shoved the phone into his satchel and blushed. "Who's the girl?"

"No-one."

"You're going to stand her up, aren't you?"

Cal inwardly cringed at the sign that Ethan must have overheard the conversation. "Nibbles, what kind of person do you think I am!?"

"I don't think you want to hear my answer to that," Ethan muttered.

Cal's chest throbbed in time with his brother's comment but he dismissed it as part of his hangover and began to search the kitchen cupboards for painkillers.

"Do you even know her name?"

"Yes, I do, thank you Ethan," he said. "And I'm sure me and Alice will have a lovely date together tomorrow evening." He slammed the fourth cupboard door shut in desperation. "You're in touch with your feminine side, Nibbles, do you have any painkillers in your bag?"

"No," Ethan said without looking.

Cal sunk back onto the seat and rested his aching head on the table.

"Caleb, I've got something I need to speak to you about."

"Yeah," Cal murmured into the wood of the table. "You said."

Ethan cleared his throat. "Now, I know you're prone to jump to conclusions, so I just want to tell you first of all that I did not say a thing."

Cal lifted his head slightly and stared at his brother. "What do you mean?" he asked. He began to feel increasingly sick.

"Caleb, don't overreact, okay, but-"

"But?"

"But… Dad knows. Dad knows where you are."

Cal sat bolt upright and clamped a hand to his mouth as his stomach churned. "No."

"I'm sorry, but he-"

"You told him?"

Ethan forcibly sighed. "What was the first thing that I said?"

Cal replayed the conversation and recognised Ethan's statement that he didn't say anything. Although he knew his brother would have preferred to tell their parents the truth, he also knew that he wasn't a liar. If Ethan had let the truth slip he'd have been honest about it.

"How did he-" Cal stammered.

"He noticed you the day I moved in."

"Is he, is he-?" Cal ran a hand over his head. "Fuck." He stood up and took a few steps into the middle of the kitchen. "I need to go."

"He's not coming here, Cal," Ethan said, a deliberate calm edge to his voice. "Think about it. He's known since September and he's not done anything."

"No, I don't like this," Cal said. He fist automatically clenched but he managed to fight the urge to collide it with a wall. He stretched his fingers and took a deep breath. "Just because he hasn't come yet, it doesn't mean he won't."

Ethan got up from his chair and stood next to Cal in the middle of the room. "I can tell you why he won't, but it might not be pleasant to hear."

"Just tell me."

"Okay," Ethan said. "Dad said he's determined to keep you away from us. He doesn't want you to be part of the family. He doesn't want to see you."

Cal gave a single nod. Even though Ethan had warned him and even though the words were nothing he didn't already know, it was still tough hearing it from his brother's mouth.

"And on top of that," Ethan continued. "Mum misses you. If she finds out where you are then there's no way she'll let you go again. Dad can't come all this way without Mum finding out and he's adamant that she doesn't know." Ethan paused as he fleetingly squeezed his brother's shoulder. "He's not coming, Cal. You don't need to fret."

Cal frowned. Ethan's words made sense but he wasn't convinced. "He can't have been happy that we're here together though."

Ethan took off his glasses and thoroughly inspected them in the light shining through the kitchen window. "He, erm," he mumbled once his glasses were back on his face. "He warned me to stay away."

A cold shiver ran down Cal's spine. "He threatened you?"

"Sort of-"

"What did he do to you?" Cal interrupted.

"Nothing," Ethan said, sounding confused. "He just reminded me that he'd managed to cut all ties with one son and wasn't afraid to do the same again."

"Right," Cal said. His head was pounding with the hangover and the mixture of relief that the threats hadn't been physical and the dread that Ethan was about to tell him they wouldn't be able to see each other anymore. "And you always do as you're told."

"I don't see how Dad's going to know whether I'm doing as I'm told," Ethan said.

Cal locked eyes with his brother and was surprised to see him smiling. "What are you saying?"

"I'm not going to stay away," Ethan said softly.

"Really?

"Really. I'll just lie if Dad asks."

Cal's lips curved into a smile. "Nibbles has finally grown a pair!"

"Shut up, Caleb," he said. "I can always change my mind."