They had been driving for a while. Driving out of town, until they were far from people, far for from anything, where they could feel safe and completely alone. Usually Michael would roll down the windows and blast music, laughing and joking with Alex the whole way, but today he hadn't taken his eyes off the road and they both sat almost motionless as the silence rolled on and on.

Today they had driven further out than usual. Eventually Michael came to a stop, turning off the engine as they both stayed in their seats for a long moment. Finally Michael broke the quiet; "Get out." He gently nudged Alex as he swung out of his door.

Alex sighed knowing what was to come, he tried to muster the energy and climbed out of the truck wincing slightly as he twisted out of his seat. Usually they would head to the back of the truck, they would throw the blankets and pillows into the back and lay together for hours, exploring each other under the desert sky. Today Michael waited for Alex at the front of the truck. Alex walked around, dragging his feet until he was stood facing Michael head on. Michael stared at him with such intensity Alex thought they must look as if they were about to start a duel.

"Show me." Michael prompted impatiently, barely holding himself together.

"Don't lose it okay? He's not worth it."

Michael's eyes became hard and stubborn, there was no point trying to reason with him. Alex let out an exhausted breath and then lifted up his t-shirt to reveal a large fresh bruise spreading up one side of his stomach.

Michael inhaled slightly with shock and then whipped his head away as if the sight was physically painful for him.

"Hey! It's okay. I'm alright." Alex dismissed quickly dropping his t-shirt to try and re-hide the evidence but Michael had already moved in urgently, pulling it back up to look more closely. "It's not as bad as it looks."

"Well it looks fucking horrific." Michael raged. "This is bad Alex. You should get it checked out."

"Look who's talking." Alex smirked.

"This isn't funny! You could have internal – he could have damaged something."

"I haven't started coughing up blood yet, that's a good sign right?"

Michael refused to lower his level of concern. He pressed lightly onto the side of the wound and Alex winced in pain, folding over.

"Don't do that." Alex pleaded.

"Sorry." Michael soothed standing back up and bringing Alex's head in to rest against his own. "How bad is the pain?"

"Nothing I can't handle." Alex assured him.

"What happened?"

"He brought up the army again. I told him I didn't want to go, that I wanted to do music but…" Alex indicated towards his stomach. "…the conversation quickly went downhill from there."

"We need to get you away from him." Michael cursed through gritted teeth.

They stayed, foreheads pressed together, eyes shut for a moment until Alex gathered the courage to speak.

"Guerin."

"Hm."

"I've got to go."

Michael pulled away, his eyes piercing into Alex's. "Go where?"

"I'm signing up." Alex whimpered.

"No you're not. No way."

"I need to be able to stick up for myself. I don't want to feel like this anymore, defenceless, pathetic."

"And you think getting yourself killed will help that?" Michael shot back.

"It's a chance for me to get away from this town Guerin, from my dad, from my whole family. I won't need to rely on them anymore. I can stand on my own. I need to figure out how to become the man I want to be. To speak up for myself and fight for what's important to me. To fight for you."

"Don't. Don't you dare put this on me. This isn't for me."

"No, you're right, it's for me. I need this. I need a change. I can't go on like this anymore."

"And what about us? What happened to sticking together?"

The desperation in his voice was so thick, Alex felt he might cry, he didn't want to leave him. "Okay. What's the plan? Where will we stay? The back of your truck? What will we live on? My weekend job at the museum? We have no money. No place to stay. You've turned down your scholarship. You're getting arrested every other week. Oh and no one knows about us. The only person who does is the same person who keeps beating the crap out of us."

"So we'll tell people. I'll tell anyone. I'll tell everyone. I don't care. I'm not ashamed of us." It was the truth, he would shout about Alex from the rooftops if it meant keeping him close.

"You think that will make our lives easier?" Alex laughed bitterly.

"I'll ask Max and Isabel's parents to help. I'll tell them about your dad, they'll help protect you. They'll understand. They're good people."

"My dad would never let his reputation be put at risk. He'd fight us. He'd win. He'd do whatever it took."

"So you're just giving up? I mean nothing to you?"

"It's because you mean something to me that I'm doing this! I know my dad, he's never going to let us be together. Ever. He will never accept us Guerin. We can't hide out in the back of your truck forever. And I won't stand by and watch him hurt you again. I can't. I can't do it. I…you're not the same since…I won't let him take anymore of you."

Michael wanted to explain that it wasn't just what happened in the tool shed that had been haunting him, that there was so much more going on that Alex couldn't understand. But he needed to hold on to Alex, not push him away even more.

"I can protect myself Alex." This was crazy. Alex was worried about Michael getting hurt? Michael could smash Jesse Manes' head against a wall in less than a second. He could get Max to fix his hand in a minute. He was smart enough to get any scholarship he wanted. How had he let things get to this point? He was letting Alex worry about him, about his safety, when he was the one probably bleeding from internal injuries as they spoke. "Trust me. You don't have to worry about me."

Instead of being convinced, Alex looked at Michael with a sad, pitying eye. "I'm going, Michael. I'm sorry but I think it's for the best."

Michael fought the urge to flip the truck. That would show Alex just how well he could protect himself. Protect both of them. How would he protect Alex if he went to war? The thought of it was too much. He wanted to punch something. He had to get away. He had to think.

"Let's go." Michael moved quickly, getting back into the truck, slamming the door behind him.

Alex joined him slowly. "You don't want to talk about it?"

"What's the point? You've obviously made your mind up." Michael turned on the engine.

"You don't want to stay for a bit?" The suggestion was clear; you don't want to move this frustration to the back of the truck?

Michael did want that. More than anything but he knew it wouldn't fix their problems. "No. It's probably for the best we keep apart from now on. You know, make it easier." He swallowed back tears, there was an evident pain in his voice. Alex knew he didn't really mean what he was saying, but understood he was hurt and needed some space.

"Okay." Alex gave in.

Although Michael was in emotional pain, he hadn't forgotten Alex's physical injury and the circumstances that had led them there in the first place. "I'm not taking you back to him." He informed Alex sternly. "You need to rest."

Alex nearly smiled, despite Michael's anger, his protective instincts were still in full force. "Drop me at Maria's. I'll stay with her tonight."

Michael nodded in agreement, a relief washing over him. He knew Maria would look after Alex. He hesitated for a moment, fighting an urge to look at the injury again, to check the bruise hadn't worsened, but instead he forced his foot down on the pedal.