A/N Thank you so much for the very kind comments and reviews, it's a pleasure to write and even better to get back some great feedback. I hope this chapter also clears up any Riley confusion from the last chapter!

Chapter Five

Despite the buzz of success throbbing through his veins, Ste also felt niggles of guilt snapping at him. He knew in the past, he would have drunk with Brendan, he would have let the hours tick by, the alcohol flow through him, making him warm and blurry. Inevitably it would have reached the point in the night when all sense of what he should do would be pushed aside and he'd let Brendan use him again just because they were both horny. Then in the morning, or simply when the sweat had cooled, they'd be back to square one and it'd be just another empty fuck. But things had changed and he wasn't going to let that happen anymore.

Pushing the notes into his pocket, Ste stepped aside and gave a sort of feeble half yawn.

"Nah…it's…I've gotta go going," Ste said, fumbling his way through an excuse.

"Suit yourself," Brendan replied, now uninterested in anything but opening the bottle for himself. "See ya,"

Ste stood awkwardly for a moment, watching as Brendan shut himself off into his own world. He wondered if he should say something – thank him for letting him in on the poker, talk mindlessly about the game, ask him if he needed help cleaning up. Instead he silently collected his coat and left the club.

/x/

First thing the next morning, with only a few hours' sleep, Ste stopped by MOBs to pick up a special energy smoothie for Noah. He'd been trying to get Ste to drink them for weeks despite Ste's protests that the closest he got to drinking fruit was a strawberry milkshake from Relish. He appreciated Noah's efforts to get him to look after himself and his diet more, but he just wasn't a vitamin kind of bloke, MSG was more his thing. As a compromise that morning, he picked a tropical one which Duncan reassured him was the sweetest one. Not that he was ready to admit it to himself, the smoothie for Noah was a peace-offering of sorts, although as far as Noah was concerned, Ste was guilt free.

Just as he'd paid for the smoothie he saw Riley Costello out for a run. He took out his ear phones and stopped to chat to Ste, who suddenly felt tiny in comparison – his limbs combined were as thick as Riley's one arm.

"Alright Ste? Off to see the old ball and chain are you?" he said with his giant, goofy grin nodding in the direction of the cups Ste carried.

Confused for a moment, Ste frowned. "Oh, yeah, yeah."

The pair of them, not having ever really had a chat before, lingered awkwardly in silence both wanting to ask similar favours.

"Look mate you won't mention I was at the poker last night will ya? Just, it was supposed to be secret anyway, wasn't it? And well I told Noah I couldn't go on this big lads' night out cos I had some charity do to go to instead." Riley said.

"Course not. I don't think he'd be all that keen to know I was helping out at a poker game anyway,"

Riley nodded. "Cos of Brendan being your ex and all?"

Ste hesitated. "What? Er no…I meant cos y'know, I don't think he really agrees with gambling n'that."

"Oh right, right," Riley said. He fidgeted with his iPhone. "Well, I better crack on. See you around, yeah?" Riley jogged off in the direction of the park as Ste headed off to Noah's.

After he climbed the steps, he heard the rattle of a door and Brendan stepped out into the doorway of his flat. He pretended to read his folded up paper, as he lent on the frame shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"Nice day for it," he said, not looking up from the paper.

Ste stopped at his doorway. "For what?"

Brendan looked up at him, stuffing the paper under his arm. "Splashing the cash,"

"Yeah well, I'm spending it on the kids in't I?" he said defensively.

"Good, as long as your intentions with it are honourable." Brendan smiled teasingly.

Ste scoffed. "And yours? Are your intentions honourable?" Ste asked, his fingers struggling to make quotation marks as he held onto the cups from MOBs.

Brendan's eyes took on a familiarly dark quality, his lips curving in mischief. "You know me Stephen, my intentions are always dishonourable." His voice became low and velvety again, quiet and rich. It seemed to crawl inside Ste and make his heart race that bit faster.

Before Ste had a chance to react, Brendan seized the half-slurped tropical smoothie from Ste's hand and sucked on the straw. "For me?" he quipped, "Thanks for this." Slurped again. "Fruity."

Leaving Ste gawping, Brendan left the flat and took the steps two at a time.

"This is a nice surprise!" said Noah, shaking Ste from his thoughts and clearly having not witnessed his exchange with Brendan.

"Hey," Ste said, offering him the drink.

"Oh Ste, you know how to get me in a good mood," Noah pulled him into a kiss and lead him inside.

/x/

As he'd promised, they'd spent the day together and Ste had managed – rather convincingly he thought – to lie about the event last night and feign ignorance when Noah explained he didn't go out with Riley, but stayed in and watched the Hangover with Ethan and Doug.

Noah had spent most of the day in the flat with Ste frustrated that the other lads were lazing around it too and that Ste's flat was overrun with Amy and the kids. Finally after dinner, the lads drifted off to the pub and they were at last alone, slumped together on the sofa with a DVD.

"How about we skip to the end and head up to bed?" Noah said between kisses.

Before answering, Ste was distracted by a buzz in his pocket. "Hold that thought," he teased, fishing his phone out of his pocket.

Amy was on the other end sounding distressed, she sounded like she'd been crying or had picked up a cold from one of the kids. She pleaded with him to come home, Lucas had a high temperature and she was worried about him and Leah was bouncing off the walls from the wrong juice Ste had bought yesterday.

"Look I'm on my way. How bad is his temperature? You think I should take him to the hospital?" Ste said, standing and making his way over to the door to get his coat.

"Ste I don't know! Just please get here and help me out!"

"Just calm down, I'll be right over." Ste hung up, rubbed his forehead and looked at Noah apologetically. "I'm sorry-" he began.

"What is it tonight? Amy? The kids? Work? Cheryl? Brendan?"

Ste flared up in anger. "Me kid's sick okay, it's not like I planned it! I can hardly turn around to Amy and say 'Sorry Ames I'm leaving you to cope with a sick kid cos me boyfriend's sulking'! You've got no idea Noah!"

"Oh just go Ste. I'm sick of being at the bottom of your priority list,"

Ste scoffed. "Yeah well I'm sorry you have no idea how important my kids are to me, yeah?"

Storming out of the flat and down the steps, Ste barely noticed Cheryl, Lynsey and Brendan on the way back from a meal out together.

"Steady love!" Cheryl cried as he almost crashed into her, narrowing avoiding being knocked out by the glittery studs on her jacket, "What's the rush?"

"Everything okay Stephen?"

Ste stopped for a moment. "No, not really. It's Lucas,"

Brendan touched him on the shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Amy called, she's really worried. Thinks he's got a fever or summit," he said, hesitating for a moment. "She's in a right state, Leah's all over the place too,"

"Lynsey could take a look at him, right Lynds?" Brendan said, looking at her for confirmation.

"Sure, course I can."

"Or I'll run you both to A&E for a check up,"

Ste looked from Brendan to Lynsey, "Would you, please?"

"Hey we'll all come love, give Amy a break, god love 'em kids can be a handful." Cheryl's hand replaced Brendan's on Ste's shoulder as she gave him a squeeze.

And when they all arrived at the door, Amy didn't even have a chance to make an angry comment about it not being some sort of party – she was simply grateful to have Cheryl prise Leah from her and distract her with jewellery.