A/N: Oh wow. I haven't updated this in ages! I'm really sorry to the people who were waiting for the next chapter! I'd, well, run out of ideas…

Hopefully my writing skills improved from the last time I've updated this story…

Hope you enjoy this chappie. And please review-ey!

Rupert didn't know whether to be worried or not. He was exiting the toilet and from what he could see, everything seemed to be fine.

The boy (Rupert couldn't help but shudder whenever he thought about him) hadn't set the table on fire or repeated his performance of dancing madly then fainting, as far as he could see.

This was the first time when SAS or military training didn't seem to give him the upper hand of the situation. All he could benefit from the training was the various methods of killing the boy, but Wolf didn't feel like being banged up in a prison cell at the 'prime time' of his life. After all, he was getting married. Or was he?

Rupert eyed the boy as he settled himself onto the chair, once again. He decided to relax. Everything was fine. Maybe the boy decided to act mature for once in his life. Turn over a new leaf, take on responsibilities, blah blah blah…

But then Alex bloody Rider smiled at him. Rupert automatically felt unsettled by the 'innocent' smile and, almost instinctively, looked around him as if he was expecting a sudden attack.

"Is there a problem?" The boy asked, pleasantly. Oh, no. He was being civil. Something was definitely wrong.

Rupert cleared his throat stiffly. "No, erm, no. Er, erm, have you decided what to eat, then?"

"Oh, well, not really. Everything looks so good." Came the boy's response.

Rupert was feeling very uneasy. He wished the boy would just whip out what he obviously planned already. It was very unsettling to have a normal conversation with Alex Rider.

"Well, why not take a look at the menu?" He asked. Speaking of which, there was no menu on the table. He raised his hand and called for the waiter.

A skinny, foreign looking man with a curly moustache attended to him almost immediately. "Ah! Our best customer tonight! You wish to order more, signor?" He winked at him in an affable way.

Three things struck Rupert simultaneously:

1. The man had just winked at him. Was he on the turn? Playing for the other team? Whatever it was, Rupert was convinced that it involved coming out of the closet in some way.

2. Wished to order… more?

3. Alex Rider had to be involved.

"Excuse me." Rupert said quickly. "What do you mean… more?"

He dreaded the answer.

"You order all the menu, no?" Came the cheerful reply. This time the waiter tapped (or rather stroked) Rupert's shoulder in a 'friendly' way.

"I, erm, no." Rupert stammered. "Excuse me. Excuse us. For, er, a minute, or something. Please."

"Ah." The waiter winked again at Rupert. "Of course, signor."

"What have you done?" He hissed venomously, as soon as the waiter had, erm, sashayed off.

Alex leaned back on his chair with a very casual smile. "I just couldn't decide. It's been so long since I've had a proper meal, with Jack traipsing out of the house every night to meet you."

Rupert breathed hard.

He did not know how to react. He'd dealt with criminals. Terrorists. Gangs. Wars. But none of them had had… this.

"You… you… fix this. NOW." He managed to stammer. He breathed in and out and reminded himself of what he felt for Jack.

"But why?" The boy whined. "I'm so hungry. And you're the one who wanted to eat!"

Rupert clenched his hands into a fist. "Then you pay for this extravagant meal!"

"I can't! I'm an orphan, remember?"

"No. I'm just going to cancel our order." Rupert said finally, wondering why he hadn't thought of this before."

However, before he could call the waiter again, fate had put a hindrance to it. There was a whole row of waiters, and some chefs, carrying a plate on each hand. The entire restaurant stopped dining and turned to look at them… Marching towards his table.

Rupert resisted the urge to cry.

About fifty years later, Alex Rider put down his fork and knife.

"Done already?" Rupert snarled sarcastically. Then he looked again. He hadn't even eaten half the food!

"You must be joking. You are not leaving all this food!"

"But I'm full! It's not healthy to eat until you're full!" Alex retorted.

"Then why did you order ALL of it you, you.. little.."

"It's important to experience culture and traditions, Rupert!"

"It's ENGLISH food, you little berk!"

Again, Rupert told himself that he was lucky to have found Jack. She was much better than the women Fox had set him up with. She did not have a pet goldfish which she carried around with her all the time. She did not wear knitted bikinis. Again, Rupert wondered where Fox had found such women.

Surely this little… misfit wasn't great enough to end things with Jack. And surely the meal wouldn't charge to what he had calculated mentally in his head. It was a family restaurant (Ironically)! It was supposed to be affordable!

He had not been able to bring himself to eat. It was just as well he didn't, because he felt like throwing up when he saw the bill.

Oh, and since this was a 'respectable' restaurant, as the waiter put it, it was necessary to leave a tip.

Oh the joys of life.

He felt his heart break as the waiter swiped his card on the blasted machine. All those years of training and labour… It had gone down the drain. Or the intestines… of Alex bloody Rider.

"Oi! Ruppie!" Rupert tried not to swing a punch at the kid's head. "But we didn't have dessert! Or are we having that somewhere else?"

"No!" Rupert almost yelled, before the waiter could possibly prance off and grab them something else that would kill him financially.

"I 'ope you 'ad a good time, Senor." The moustached waiter hurried up to them as they were about to exit the restaurant. "I is, 'ow you say, 'ere every night. If you wish to... pop in, Senor."

Ignoring the waiter's suggestive wink, Rupert shoved Alex out of the door before following him.

"Thanks for dinner!" Alex chirped cheerfully, thumping Rupert on the back. "It wasn't half bad."

Rupert grabbed Alex by the arm forcefully. "Listen to me, kid. Me and Jack are serious, alright? So you may have your bratty little moments but I'm not going anywhere. So you watch it from now."

He spoke in his most menacing voice.

Rupert sighed almost relieved, as the stupid kid didn't say anything. Good. He'd meant to give him a good scare.

"Does that mean you won't be going off with the waiter boy then?"

Did nothing faze Alex Rider?

Was he really going to live with this little… brat for who knows how long?

Life was a mystery to him.

A/N: So, what do you think? Should Rupert stay with Jack and Alex? What do you think should happen? :)