A/N: I can only apologise for the length of time it's taken me to update this – I've had a severe case of writer's block! The next update will be at the end of the week and they will certainly be more regular without the wait! I hope you continue you to enjoy it anyway – thank you for the lovely reviews!

Chapter Seven

As soon as Noah left the club, Ste started to realise that taking the kids away with Noah had disaster written all over it.

At times Noah tried, he really tried, but to such an extent Ste could see how much he hated it. Part of him wasn't surprised that he wasn't massively keen on having two young kids around all the time – having to entertain them, having to babysit, having to share Ste – maybe he himself wouldn't have been so keen if they weren't the most important things in his life. Being a dad had changed him in ways that it was hard to explain, especially to a guy like Noah who wasn't a father and who really had no one more important in life to look after than himself. He didn't blame him, he just found it hard to remember what it was like before his kids became the centre of his universe. And to tell the truth, Noah didn't grumble all that much – he had to share Ste with two kids, their mother and as much as they pretended he had no influence, the big black elephant in the room: his boss, his ex, his first.

Leah was bound to whinge (not to mention she'd taken a real dislike to Noah) and Lucas would probably cry the second the adults were about to embark on alone time and no doubt Ste would scuttle off to sort out the kids and Noah would rage silently and be too pissed off to bother with having sex when the kids were finally asleep. That seemed to be the way it went whenever Noah came over to the flat and Amy had made herself scarce. Sometimes Noah would be patient and understanding and interested in the kids and other times he'd make a comment that would almost make Ste feel ashamed that he'd had kids so young. But Noah stuck by him, with the baggage, knowing and accepting the history and his love for Ste hadn't changed.

Perhaps the weekend away wouldn't be so bad after all.

If he could afford to go anywhere further than the city walls that was.

\x\

As the lunchtime numbers dwindled, Ste approached the office door and knocked lightly. It was like Russian Roulette knocking on that door. In the past he wasn't sure whether he'd be greeted with flared eyes and a frightening aggression or whether Brendan would have his tongue in Ste's mouth and trousers unzipped quicker than he could yelp a hello. These days it was a lucky dip of cool indifference, snappy sarcasm or flirtation that bordered on sexual harassment. Ste heard a soft mumble of "Come in," and entered.

Ste kept the door open – their new routine – and asked if he could have a quick word.

"Be my guest," Brendan said, flicking some envelopes down on the desk. "How's your boy doing?"

"He's alright, gave us a bit of a fright," Ste said.

Brendan nodded. "Dec was the same when he was that age, always giving his ma' grief,"

Ste watched as a tinge of sadness passed over Brendan's face. He barely spoke about it these days, but Ste knew that look – he missed his sons terribly.

"Thank Lynsey again for coming over last night, won't ya?" Ste said, "And thanks for just…you know, being there."

Brendan twitched slightly, the unease in the room reaching new levels with a sense of civility between them. "What is it you wanted?"

"I was just coming to see if you've got any extra shifts you need me for next week?"

Brendan took out the monthly rota from the folder. He took at long sigh as he scanned over it. Ste knew full well that Brendan had developed a photographic memory when it came to knowing when Ste was working at the club so this was all a rouse to probably deny him more work.

Slipping the rota back in the folder and closing it, Brendan folded his hands in his lap and looked up at Ste.

"Is it because you need more money, or you wanna escape loverboy or you love than uniform so much?" Brendan asked with a smirk.

Ste, screwing up his nose as he pulled at the little black t-shirt, missed the moment where Brendan eyed him up and down as he sat in the office chair silently counting how many times he'd fucked Stephen in that uniform.

"Funny," Ste said. "I need the cash."

"What about if I told you, you could earn four night's worth of overtime in two hours?" Brendan said and then with a smug smile added. "And no, not in the way you're thinking."

Ste crossed his arms. "Look have you got any shifts or not?"

"Not." Brendan replied, chucking the folder under the desk. "Sit down and shut the door."

Ste's face tightened, his features shrinking in irritation. Brendan shot him an impatient look and he did what was asked.

\x\

"I'm not getting involved." Ste said, standing up just a few moments after hearing Brendan's offer. "I'll just go and ask Warren for extra work if you can't give me any."

"And he'll tell you exactly what I have," Brendan said, his words stopping Ste from opening the door. "We can't afford to give you any more shifts, especially not on the wage you're on." He gave Ste a knowing look. Even though they had been boss and employee and nothing more for months now, Ste's wages hadn't been reduced from the high levels it had reached from all the "after hours" bonuses Brendan had slipped into his pay packet as a sign of gratitude.

"It's dodgy. It's dangerous," Ste lowered his voice to whisper, "And not to mention illegal for a start. I'm not getting involved in drugs or anything like it again,"

"It wasn't so long ago you were willing to help out Foxy with something illegal Stephen. What's changed?"

"I have," Ste said, "I'm done making mistakes."

"I need a name. I need an address. Nothing A-Class about it. I'll drop you off, I'll pick you up. I'll wait around to make sure there's no trouble. You can have five-hundred for your trouble. For the kids. For you and Mr Motivator to spend on candles and gym memberships."

"Five hundred quid?"

"To the penny," Brendan replied, picking up the glass paperweight and tossing it between his hands. He knew like any game with Stephen, he had to trickle information slowly to get him to agree. If he knew the bigger job, the greater sum was around the corner he'd surely back out before the real danger started.

"And why can't you do the job?"

Brendan circled his face with his finger and pointed to his moustache. "Recognisable face." He sat back in the chair, relaxing into the knowledge Stephen was close to agreement. "They know me, they'd pick up on the accent."

"And it's safe? Pick up a name and an address and go?"

"Safe as houses," Brendan said. "If they so much as touch a hair on your head, I'll make sure they know about it."

\x\

An hour after closing, Brendan's phone rang.

"I'll do it." His voice was barely audible, Brendan guessed Muscles was nearby.

"Friday night. Wear plain clothes. I'll pick you up outside the demolished church, St Eustace. No CCTV there,"

Ste grimaced, Friday was the day he and Noah had just made plans, expensive plans, to take the kids to a B&B so the next day they could visit Chester Zoo. "Friday night? I told Noah we'd…"

"Lie to him." Brendan replied without hesitation. "You've done it before."