Ste drowsily opened his eyes as he heard some vague noises in the distance. The bed felt strangely empty as he stretched his arm out.
"Brendan?" He half asked, half yawned as he pulled himself up onto one arm.
Brendan turned from where he was fixing his hair in the mirror, "Go back to sleep, you're not in until later."
Ste shook his head as he felt himself starting to wake properly, "Nah, I'm up now. I need to get the kids ready soon anyway."
Brendan nodded and turned his attention back to the mirror.
Sitting up against the headboard, Ste took in the view. Brendan's arse really did look great in a suit.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Brendan deadpanned, watching him in the mirror.
"Alright." Ste grinned, picking up his phone from the nightstand, "Say cheese."
Brendan turned around as the flash went off, perfectly capturing his arse on camera.
"Stephen." Brendan warned, "Delete that."
"No way. That's my new screensaver that is."
Before Ste had a chance to defend himself, Brendan was leaning over him, reaching for the phone. Ste quickly shoved it under the covers.
Brendan raised his eyebrows as he reached down.
"Err, that's not my phone…"
Brendan ignored him as he started to run his hand up and down Ste's cock. Ste grinned, all thoughts of the phone vanishing as he started to get hard. He watched Brendan in action, moaning slightly as he picked up the speed. Just as he was getting to the point of no return, Brendan gave his cock a quick squeeze before releasing him and grabbing the phone and heading towards the door.
"Oi!" Ste called out, "You can't leave it like that."
Brendan chucked the phone at him, "Finish yourself off," before laying a quick kiss on his lips.
Ste threw his head back against the headboard in exasperation as he heard the front door shut. Brendan could be such a head wreck sometimes. Looking down at the phone, he smiled as he noticed that Brendan hadn't deleted the picture. Grinning to himself slightly, he set the picture as his caller ID for Brendan.
A little while later, he jogged back around to his and Amy's place to take the kids to nursery.
Opening the front door, he found the place in its usual morning chaos.
"Leah!" Amy shouted, "Be careful with that yoghurt, you're getting it everywhere!"
Ste grinned as he watched Leah attempting to feed Lucas, getting more yoghurt on his clothes that in his mouth. Leah had recently decided that Lucas was her favourite toy and she was obsessed with dressing him and feeding him like one of her baby dolls. She had even tried to teach Lucas to call her mummy, though Lucas was having none of that.
"Hey, do you want me to take over?"
Amy turned to him, "Would you? I'm already half an hour late and Lucas is going to need changing now."
"Go on, you can't let Pete down again now that he's got you back at the school."
Amy grabbed her bags and ran out the door, kissing the kids on the top of their heads as she passed, "Be good for daddy!"
Looking down at Leah, who seemed to be trying to burp Lucas, Ste announced, "Right princess, do you want to help daddy get your brother dressed?"
Leah grinned as she nodded her head.
Half an hour later, after Ste had convinced Leah that Lucas couldn't wear her ballet tutu to nursery, Ste had the kids ready and out the door.
Setting Lucas down on the doorstep as he locked the door, Ste called out to Leah, "Wait a minute, don't run off!"
As Leah dutifully waited for him at the end of the pavement, Ste noticed a guy lurking around the edge of the flats. A scrawny looking ginger guy wearing a blue tracksuit He was a good distance away from Leah but he seemed to be staring at her intently. Feeling his blood boil, Ste yelled,
"Leah! Get back here now!"
Startled at his angry tone and thinking that she was in trouble, Leah started to cry. Shocked by his sister's tears, Lucas also started sniffling.
Once Leah was safely behind him on the doorstep he approached the creep. "Oi! What the fuck do you want?"
The guy looked startled, "Nothing…I just wanted…"
"What? You just wanted what?" Ste stared in disbelief as the creep continued to stare at Leah.
Seeing red, Ste lunged at the fucker, landing a punch on his nose. He was about to hit him again, when the kids' screams from behind him stopped him.
Releasing his grip, he leaned in and snarled, "If I ever see you anywhere around here again you're dead. Do you understand?"
The guy nodded, wiping the blood away from his nose as he turned and ran off.
Feeling as though his whole body was shaking, Ste turned to try and comfort the kids.
Brendan stood bored at the door of his office as he watched the bar. It was completely dead, he didn't know why they bothered to open during the day sometimes, especially when all the students were home for the summer.
Watching as Rhys cleaned the surface of the bar for the hundredth time, Brendan looked at his watch. At least Stephen was due in soon. He considered sending Rhys off on an errand and locking up for a while so that he and Stephen could have the place to themselves. It had been a while since he had had Stephen in the office.
As Brendan was pondering just exactly what he wanted to do to Stephen, he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Bleeding drunks that wanted a drink at lunchtime were always ruining his plans. It wasn't as though the idea of fucking Stephen in the office with people just a few inches away wasn't appealing. It was very fucking appealing. It was just the idea that people would guess what he was doing which stopped him. It was okay when no one had known but it would be impossible now that everyone knew that they were…together. He had already lunged for Rhys once when the little prick had raised his eyebrows and smirked at him when he came up from the cellar with Stephen one quiet morning. Having people know was bad enough. But people talking about it. Laughing at him. It was hell.
Brendan was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed that it was not in fact customers, but Stephen coming up the stairs, Leah and Lucas in tow. Stephen was shaking slightly and the kids were red eyed and snivelling.
"Is everything alright?" Brendan asked, concerned, "Where's Amy?"
Stephen shook his head, "She's at work." He looked terrible. Checking to ensure that Rhys wasn't watching, Brendan placed his hands on Stephen's shoulders to try and calm the boy.
As Stephen leant into the touch and let Brendan comfort him, they were interrupted by a little voice behind them.
"Daddy…" Leah asked cautiously, unlike her usual chatty self, "Lucas is thirsty."
Seeing that Stephen was still shaken, Brendan took charge.
"And what would Lucas like to drink?"
Leah looked down at her brother before asserting, "Orange juice."
"I think we can manage that." Brendan replied, "Rhys!"
The barman looked up, "Yes boss?"
"Get young Leah and Lucas an orange juice each."
Rhys nodded and poured out the drinks.
Picking Lucas up, Brendan led Leah over to the bar, "Keep an eye on these two for a minute."
"You what?" Rhys looked put out.
"Is there a problem?"
Rhys sighed as he shook his head.
Nodding, Brendan headed back over to Stephen, "Office."
"Brendan…" Stephen looked unwilling to leave the kids.
"They'll be fine. He may be an idiot, but he's not a complete idiot."
Nodding, Stephen followed Brendan into the office.
Brendan poured out a small glass of whiskey for them both.
Stephen tried to push it away, "The kids…"
"One won't kill you."
Stephen relented and knocked the drink back in one.
"So, do you want to tell me why exactly we are currently serving toddlers in the bar?"
"I couldn't leave them at nursery, it didn't feel safe."
"Safe?"
"Eugh!" Stephen stood up and started pacing the floor in anger and frustration, "I should have killed the fucker!"
Brendan raised his eyebrows, "Which fucker?"
"There was this creep outside our front door, staring at our Leah."
Brendan felt anger rising to match Stephen's as the boy spoke.
"He was just so blatant. I should have killed him. I would have killed the fucker if the kids hadn't been there."
Brendan stood and reached out to Stephen, holding his face in his hands, "He's gone, yeah? Leah's safe."
"I know…but he knows where we live."
"You warned him off, though?"
Stephen nodded, "I decked him one. Told him I'd kill him if I ever saw him again."
"And you got a good look at him?"
"Yeah. Ugly ginger creep in a blue tracksuit. Broken nose too, hopefully."
Mentally filing the description away, Brendan pulled out his wallet and handed Stephen a few notes, "Take the day off, treat the kids."
Stephen nodded, "Thanks, Brendan."
"I'll come round later. Stay the night if it makes you feel safer."
"I don't need you to protect me, Brendan."
"Well maybe I want to." Brendan leaned in and kissed Stephen. Stephen was just starting to reciprocate when Brendan pulled away as he heard the office door open.
Warren came striding into the office, grinning slightly as he took in their closeness.
"Is this a private party?"
Brendan immediately stepped away from Stephen, "Foxy. Always a pleasure."
"Looks like it." Warren sneered, "Do you want to tell me why we seem to be running a crèche out there?"
"It's nothing that concerns you."
"It concerns me when our barmen are bringing their kids to work with them."
"Stephen has the day off."
"Since when?"
"Since now." Brendan stared Warren out knowing that Warren would back down. He always did when it came to Stephen. It was part of their arrangement.
Warren sighed, "Fine, but don't think he's getting paid for today. I'm not paying him to have it away on my time."
"Err right, okay. Thanks." Stephen replied, looking over at Brendan, "I guess I'll see you later?"
Brendan wanted to hold the boy close and reassure him as he kissed him goodbye. Brendan would never let anything happen to him or his family. He needed to make sure that he knew that. But it was impossible with Warren there. Inconceivable. So instead he settled for a brief nod.
As Stephen exited the room, Warren turned to him, "Right happy little family you've got going on there. The only thing I'm wondering is which one of you is mummy?"
"Hilarious, Foxy. Truly. Now if you don't mind, we seem to be a bar man short."
As Brendan headed towards the bar he heard Warren chuckling behind him, "He's got you well under the thumb, hasn't he?"
Ignoring the urge to smash that sneer back into Warren's teeth, Brendan rose above it and headed back into the club. Rhys was sitting on a stool by the bar, texting on his phone. Without a word, Brendan grabbed his phone off him, "I'm not paying you to text your girlfriend."
"Wife." Rhys corrected, "And you're not paying me to baby sit either."
"I don't have to pay you at all if you'd prefer." As Rhys grumbled to himself, heading back behind the bar, Brendan strolled out onto the balcony. He needed fresh air. The whole thing with Leah had unsettled him. He needed to think, get a plan in action. He didn't like being without a plan. He hated to lose control of a situation. Having a plan would settle him.
Before he had a chance to think, Warren had joined him outside, "I hope you and loverboy weren't getting up to any funny business in that office."
"Remind me why this is any of your business?"
Warren scrunched up his face, "It's unhygienic."
"I never knew you were such an advocate of health and safety."
Warren shrugged, "Someone has to keep this club ticking over while you're all loved up."
Brendan rolled his eyes, as he turned back to face the village. He enjoyed standing up here watching people go past. It made him feel powerful. Like a king surveying his kingdom. It was the perfect vantage point. People always underestimated the power of surveyance. The subtle looks and glances that let you into a person's soul. That was how he had known that there would be no risk with Stephen. That Stephen wouldn't resist his advances. He had known before Stephen even knew himself.
He was about to turn back to Warren when something caught his eye. A kid walking past holding a tissue to his nose. Blood staining the front of his t-shirt and part of his tracksuit top. His blue tracksuit top. Ginger hair catching the sun.
Shoving past Warren, Brendan ran down the steps taking them two at a time, ignoring Warren yelling in his ear. The adrenaline running through him meant that he quickly caught up to the little fucker and had pulled him into an alleyway before he knew what had come over him.
Grabbing hold of his t shirt, Brendan slammed him into a wall, gaining a small sense of satisfaction at the thump of his head hitting the brick wall. The kid looked terrified. Brendan was barely aware that Warren had followed him until he heard him speak.
"Who do we have here?"
Brendan didn't take his eyes off the fucker as he replied, "Someone who needs teaching a lesson."
"What the fuck?" The kid asked, "Who are you?"
"Looks like your reputation isn't what it was." Warren announced, "What's he done?"
"Nothing!" The fucker insisted. Brendan aimed a quick punch into his ribs, Warren holding him up as his body tried to fold over in pain, landing a second punch in quick succession.
"Do you like little kids then? Huh?" Brendan demanded.
"What the fuck?" Brendan gave him another quick dig.
"Stephen caught this fucker following Leah."
Warren's eyes widened as his grip tightened, "Is that right?"
"No!" The kid exclaimed, "It's not like that!"
Seeing red at the fucker's denial, Brendan lay another dig into his ribs, Warren grabbing the kid by the shoulders and shoving his head back into the wall.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you here and now?"
"Please" the kid sobbed, "Her mum…"
Brendan stopped, "What about her mum?"
"She's Michaela McQueen's mate, yeah? Used to have really long hair?"
Brendan had no time for this, he was about to take the fucker down, when Warren replied, "Go on…"
"The kid. The little girl. I think she's mine. I think I'm her dad."
Ste had just about managed to hold it together that afternoon. He had taken the kids to the park and bought them ice creams. Trying his best to put on a brave face and make it up to them. He hated the kids hearing yelling and being upset. It was too much like his own childhood.
It seemed to have worked. The kids were back to their smiley, chatty selves, Leah gabbing away to her mum about the day that they had had.
Ste had decided not to tell Amy about what had happened, there was no point in upsetting her. Brendan was probably right, he had scared the creep off. Amy had been bemused as to why he hadn't taken the kids to nursery but he had said that the club was overstaffed and Brendan had given him the day off so he had decided to take the kids out instead and Amy seemed to accept that.
After tea, Amy had arranged to go around to Pete's to help him with some work. The pair of them had grown closer since Lee had left and Ste was pretty sure that they were only a couple of glasses of wine away from getting it together properly.
After Amy had gone and he had put the kids to bed, he turned the TV on to try and drown out the thoughts that were racing through his head. He had just about managed to turn his brain off to some shitty action film when he heard a knock at the door.
Answering it, he smiled as he saw Brendan holding up a six pack, "I thought you could do with one of these."
Letting him into the flat, Ste leaned up to plant a kiss on Brendan's lips, "You have no idea."
He was taking the beers off Brendan when he noticed that Brendan's knuckles were grazed. He grabbed his hand and ignored Brendan's protests as he dragged him over to the light.
"How'd you manage that?"
"It's nothing." Brendan dismissed, "The kids in bed?"
Ste nodded as he asked, "What did you do to your hand, Brendan?"
"It's nothing. Really." Brendan urged.
Ste sighed as he went to grab the bottle opener. Brendan never told him anything. It could be knackering trying to constantly work out what he was thinking.
"How are the kids?" Brendan asked.
"Alright. I just hate seeing them upset."
"You're a good dad, Stephen. They're lucky to have you."
Ste shrugged, as he handed Brendan a beer, "Yeah, I know. I'm a great dad, me."
Brendan nodded, "Some men, some men are just sperm donors. It takes a real man to stick around. To see it through. To not fuck it up."
Ste was confused, and slightly cautious, as he always was when he couldn't get a handle on Brendan's thought process. "Are alright? Are you missing your boys?"
Brendan smiled slightly, "Always. But it's not that. It's…" Brendan seemed to be on the verge of saying something, when he seemed to change track, "It's just one of those days."
Ste nodded, unconvinced. Brendan always clammed up like this. As he turned away, he felt hands on his hips as Brendan swivelled him around to face him.
"Gis a kiss." Ste rolled his eyes, determined not to be won over so easily.
"Go on." Brendan smiled, "Gis a kiss."
Annoyed at his own lack of willpower, Ste leant in and kissed Brendan, feeling that familiar sting of moustache against his lips.
As they pulled away, Brendan smiled, "Good lad."
As Ste leant his head onto Brendan's shoulder, feeling the support and comfort that he had been seeking all day he almost had to strain to hear as Brendan practically whispered,
"I've sorted it. You don't need to worry. You never need to worry."