Sorry for the long wait guys! Out of town and all that jazz...

Anyway- enjoy this next chapter on me!

Alex looked again at the time on his mobile and sighed. He'd been waiting at the restaurant for nearly twenty minutes and there was still no sign of his 'grandfather'. He was losing faith and beginning to suspect a setup. He had unwrapped the silverware upon his arrival and slipped the steak knife into his lap. Just in case.

Alex looked at the door, not for the first time, for it was becoming something of a paranoid habit, and saw a man of about sixty speaking to the hostess. The woman motioned in his direction and Alex quickly turned away, pretending to sip from his water. He tracked the man's movements out of the corner of his eye until he sat down across from him.

They sat there silently for nearly a minute staring at each other. Alex could see the family resemblance in the man's slightly wrinkled face. The same cheekbones and nose that Alex was used to seeing in a mirror were present on the man's face. It was easy to tell that in some point in his life the man had possessed blonde hair.

Alex caught John looking him over in much the same manner. John noticed him looking and stopped his observations.

"Sorry. You look a lot like John did." He said gruffly. "And like I used to."

"Yeah, I can see the family resemblance." Alex said, unsure how he was supposed to reply. They fell silent again and resumed their staring until John gave a wry grin.

"This isn't getting us anywhere, so why don't we start over?" He stood up and extended his hand to Alex who took it cautiously. "How do you do? I'm John Rider Sr., your long lost grandfather. It's nice to finally meet you, Alex."

"You as well." Alex said with a small smile. John's sense of humor seemed to be the same as Ian's. It had been a long time since Alex had encountered it. "So… how have you been?" Alex asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

"Decent. But I'd like to hear about you, if that's alright. Then I'll tell you about myself." John said. Alex blinked but nodded slowly.

"Well, I guess since Ian's died I've been living with my housekeeper, Jack. She's American and been really great to me. I go to Brookland Comprehensive; I'm on the football team when I'm there. I get sick a lot, you see. After Ian's accident my immune system crashed and I've been able to catch things more easily than I did before."

John nodded as he listened. Alex could see wheels turning behind the man's eyes and decided to ask what had been gnawing at him since they had spoken on the phone.

"Why didn't I come to live with you after Ian's crash?" Alex asked carefully. "I'd never even heard of you before you called."

John was silent as he stared hard at Alex.

"I can't imagine why Ian wouldn't have told you about me. We were, after all, very close before he joined up with the military." John said with a frown. Alex narrowed his eyes at him.

"You're lying." He said quietly. "I told you what you wanted to know about me. Why won't you answer my question?"

John stood up abruptly. "I'm sorry, but this was a mistake. I shouldn't have come and tried to talk to you. You were probably better off without knowing about me." He turned to leave but Alex was on his heels.

"No, you owe me an explanation," Alex said as he followed him out of the restaurant. "You can't just walk into my life, lie to me then leave after three minutes." John whirled on him and Alex stopped walking to glare at his grandfather.

"I don't owe anything to you. I hardly even know you. And you're one to talk about lying- you hardly gave me any information about you."

"I don't know you. I don't usually go around telling my life story to anyone who will listen. Sorry." Alex bit out. John looked at him with a hard glint in his eye.

"Get in the car."

"What?" Alex asked, taken aback. John started walking again.

"If you want to hear about my life then get in the car. We aren't going to have this conversation in the middle of a car park." John said before climbing into the driver's seat of a black Sedan.

Alex hesitated before dashing around to the passenger's side and sliding into the front seat next to his grandfather. John looked at him for a short moment before he focused his attention on getting on the road.

"Alright, kid, what do you want to know?"

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