Ash up and quitting was the last thing Kyle wanted. He pulled his phone from his pocket. Lately he and Ash didn't seem to be on the same page at all but maybe Brax could get through to him.

"Kyle."

"Brax, Ash quit."

"What? When?"

"Just now. I don't know what to do."

"Where is he now?"

"I dunno," Kyle said frustratedly, "he ran off."

"Okay, don't panic, I'll sort him out."

"Thanks Brax."

"Hey Kyle?"

"Yeah?"

"What's this really about? What happened between you two?"

Kyle sighed.

"He kissed me."

"And what'd you do?"

"I pushed him away, I just wasn't expecting it. He was upset and it kinda came out of the blue."

"And what do you think about it now?"

"I dunno. I hate that he's unhappy..."

"Right. Well thanks for the heads up. I'll see if I can knock some sense into him."

"Thank you."

"Okay, bye." The line went dead. Hopefully Brax could do what Kyle couldn't.

xxx

Ash was drinking a beer down on the beach when Brax came looking for him.

"It sounds better at night don't ya reckon? When you can't really see the water..." He parked himself on the sand beside Ash.

"Never really thought about it," Ash pouted.

"So I asked my brother like you said..." Brax told him.

"Oh yeah," Ash scoffed, "what'd he say? I 'spose this is the part where you belt the crap outta me."

"I don't get it Ash. What are you doing?" Brax said. Ash turned an impatient look on him. "Why didn't you just talk to him?" Brax asked.

"I don't know," Ash huffed, "I have no fucking idea what I'm supposed to be doing..."

"Whatever you want. It's your life, just live it. Stop thinking about what everyone else needs." They lapsed into silence as Ash pondered that. Wasn't that what he'd done by quitting? Space from Kyle was what he needed...

"I didn't expect to fall in love when I came here," Ash said. "In fact, I never thought it would happen..."

"I'm not the one you should be telling mate."

"What if he doesn't feel the same? What if he can't?"

"Either way, that's up to him to say don't you think?" Brax was probably right. What good was a second chance if you didn't use it? "He's still at the restaurant. Get up there and sort this out. You never know mate, he might just surprise you."

xxx

When Ash walked back into the restaurant Kyle was still working. It was nice to know some things never changed.

Kyle looked up from the glasses he was stacking behind the bar. He watched Ash warily for a moment.

"Brax said-"

"Did Brax-"

They both spoke at once.

"You go first," Kyle said.

"Okay. Brax said we should talk. I think he's right."

"Of course he is, he's always right." Kyle came around the bar and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ash didn't know what to say. Kyle glared at him. He decided to start by apologising for acting like a jerk earlier.

"I'm sorry I let you down today and I'm sorry I quit like that."

"Good," Kyle shot back, "because it felt like shit." His reaction took Ash by surprise. The heat in his voice, and the pain in his eyes, it was the first time he'd seen Kyle's careful control slip. Sure, he'd been angry earlier but this was something else. "Between you moving out, Nate, and now this, I feel like I'm losing you."

"I'm sorry for all of that."

"Don't apologise, just fix it."

"How?"

Kyle sighed and walked out onto the balcony. Ash followed.

There was a bit of a breeze blowing but it wasn't cold. As he watched Kyle gaze out at the night he knew he needed to say something but he couldn't think what.

Kyle turned to him.

"Did you at least sort things out with Denny?"

"Yeah, she's confused though, about Andy..." A random memory of Kyle mentioning Andy popped into Ash's head. There's something you should know about Andy... "You were trying to tell me something about him that day. What was it?"

"He's not the person you think he is. After Case died, the bloke that shot him, he ended up on life support. Brax wanted him dead, he wanted the doctors to just let him die. Obviously they couldn't do that. But Andy fixed it, he pulled the plug."

"Really?" Ash was shocked. He hadn't understood the depth of Andy's connection to the family until that moment.

"Yes. For Brax. And for Denny. Not that she knows that, so keep it between the four of us yeah?" Ash nodded, he would. It was important to him that Kyle had trusted him with this. "He risked his freedom to give us that peace of mind. I guess you never know what people are thinking or what they're really capable of..."

"Unless you ask them," Ash realised.

"If they even know themselves..." Kyle said, gazing out into the night once more.

"Do you know?" Ash said suddenly, taking a step closer. He'd kept his distance until now. I feel like I'm losing you... Ash knew what he needed to do. He reached up and touched his fingers softly to Kyle's cheek, turning his face towards him to search those deep brown eyes. Kyle looked back at him with uncertainty but he didn't pull away. Ash found that words came more easily as the space between them lessened. "Do you know how I fix this? I never want you to feel like this again. I want you to be happy, you deserve that. We've both had enough pain and uncertainty in our lives."

"Ash..." Kyle whispered, his voice thick with emotion.

"I know what I want to do," he said quietly, "but I gave you my word I wouldn't..."

Kyle considered that for a moment before a shining light filled his eyes. He brought his hand up to rest on Ash's face. The deliberate and intimate gesture filled Ash with hope.

"What if I kissed you first? Would that make it okay?"

"Yeah," Ash smiled, "I reckon that'd do it."

AN: So that's it for this story. Hope everyone enjoyed it. Thanks for reading and especially to those who reviewed. And a big thank you to FrankElza for your help and support :)