The Boy and Mr Barrow

By: alternativebrooke

Warning: Potential Downton Abbey series 1-3 spoilers and M/M

Chapter 9

Alec wiped more sweat off his face, It was a really warm day today and He had been at the newly labelled hunting grounds of Downton all day preparing the grounds. He had finally got all of the work done at 3:30pm, he should have gone back for lunch at 1pm but decided to stick it out until everything was finished so he'd have free time at the end of the day. He strolled back to Downton in the heat, his face was flushed and sweaty by the time he got back.

Alec walked into the hallway just before the dining room and leant against the wall fanning his face with his hand trying to cool down before he entered the dining hall.

"Hot out there?" Jimmy asked who was suddenly right next to Alec, Alec looked back to him surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Ah.. yeah, worse than I expected" Alec still had a few beads of sweat running down his forehead. the reason being he didn't know if it was appropriate to take his coat off, he wondered if it would be breaking the uniform code and he really didn't want to have to deal with Carson today.

Jimmy was staring at Alec's flushed face "Here" he stepped behind Alec and put his hands on Alec's shoulders gently pulling the coat off him. Alec started slightly at Jimmy's touch, his eyes widened the last time someone had undressed him it wasn't exactly in public.

"There you are, You'll not stop sweating with this coat on" stated Jimmy who was now back in front of Alec again.

"Oh...uh Thanks" Alec stuttered "I wasn't really sure if I was allowed to take it off or not...you know Carson" Alec looked down to the floor, that move from Jimmy hadn't exactly helped to cool him down.

"I'm sure it's fine, I don't think Carson wants you to die of heat stroke" Jimmy laughed his arms still wrapped around Alec's coat.

"Alec! where were you!?" Carson's voice roared from across the room, making his way over to Alec.

"Oh I-I thought I'd finish all today's work at once, so I wouldn't have to return in the afternoon" Alec stammered "I hope that's okay Mr Carson" the fear was noticeable in Alec's voice.

Carson stood staring into space for a moment, he seemed to be confused that someone would miss lunch to continue work.

"Oh..well..okay Alec.. I suppose that's acceptable..as long as everything is done" replied Carson who was now looking down at Alec's coat which was enfolded in Jimmy's arms. He looked as if he was about to say something but brushed it off and walked away briskly.

When Carson was out of hearing distance, Jimmy exhaled deeply "Well that went alright, so if you've finished all your jobs what are you doing for the rest of the day?"

"Well I'm thinking a bath first" replied Alec.

"Do you know where it is?" asked Jimmy smirking.

"Oh.. I suppose I don't" Alec replied quietly.

"Well don't worry, I'll show you" said a very familiar and alluring voice from the doorway of the servants dining hall, Alec turned around to see Thomas standing there arms crossed with a self assured smile on his face.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to work Jimmy, I see the new wines haven't been unpacked and placed on the shelves yet" Thomas spoke to Jimmy but his eyes never left Alec.

Jimmy was angrily glaring at Thomas, although Thomas was taking no notice.

"That would be very kind of you Mr Barrow" Alec smiled devilishly back at Thomas

Jimmy's irritation was obvious, he hated Thomas telling him what to do.

Breathing out an infuriated sigh he pushed past Thomas to the wine cellar in defeat.

"Where have you been all day?" Thomas leant up against the wall next to Alec.

"Busy working at the hunting grounds, but I'm all finished now" Alec replied, his eyes still on Thomas'.

"I was about ready to send out a search party" Thomas mocked.

"Really? Are you sure everyone else would have enjoyed looking for me?" Alec nodded sarcastically towards Alfred who was fixing button on his jacket in the dining room.

"Well I more or less meant a party of one" Thomas winked.

Alec sniggered quietly trying not to draw any attention to their conversation.

"What do you say I show you the bathroom then?" Thomas gestured his head towards the stairs and started walking.

Alec followed Thomas up the stairs "I'll need to try and find some clothes to wear in my wardrobe first".

"Alright" Thomas stopped at Alec's room when they got to the servants quarters and opened the door for him.

Alec went straight over to his wardrobe and Thomas waited on the chair in Alec's room and watched him open empty drawes and shuffle through the same pile of clothes. Alec was struggling to find anything to wear he couldn't bring many clothes with him, he never got the chance to pack. Alec tried blocking the memories out of his head, he didn't want to go back there, he hadn't thought about it in so long. Thomas noticed Alec shudder from near his wardrobe and he immediately sprung to his feet.

"Are you alright? you've been shuffling through the same clothes for a while now?" Thomas moved next to Alec and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah.. I'm fine, I just don't have anything to wear that's clean" Alec said grimly.

Thomas looked inside his mostly empty wardrobe and sighed, he glanced back at Alec who looked like he was in pain.

"Alec are you sure you're okay?" Thomas was beginning to get concerned now

"Perfectly" Alec replied half heartedly, but his smile was more convincing than his voice.

"If you're worried about your clothes you can have some of mine" Thomas smiling warmly back.

"Really, you'd do that?" Alec smiled.

"Of course, come on I'll show you where the bath room is" Thomas walked over and opened the door for Alec.

Alec followed very closely behind Thomas, he walked inside there was a bath in the middle of the room and a few mirrors lining the walls and basins underneath the mirrors, it was fairly basic but a lot nicer than Alec had ever seen Thomas walked over to the bath and started running the water.

"I'll be back in a minute, I'll just get you something to wear" Thomas's eyes swept over Alec before leaving the room, he picked out one of his casual suits, he decided on the brown one because he thought it would suit Alec's skin and eyes. He walked back to the bathroom and opened the door.

Thomas saw Alec leaning on the end edge of the bath, Alec was unbuttoning his white shirt, his hair was a complete mess, Thomas put the clothes down on a chair next to the door and walked over to Alec who was gazing fondly at Thomas' while unbuttoning the rest of his shirt. Thomas drew in a deep breath, Alec smirked and threw his shirt to the ground. Thomas bit his lip while examining Alec with his eyes.

"You look..striking like that" Thomas said sincerly, his voice as smouldering as usual.

Alec laughed "Have a good look at yourself before you decide what striking looks like Thomas" this triggered Thomas to blush slightly, Alec smirked in response.

"Come over here" Alec insisted licking his top lip.

Thomas walked over to Alec, he noticed Alec's faded bruises again, he wondered if he should ask about it. "Alec I-" Thomas was cut off.

Alec grabbed Thomas by the jacket and pulled him into a kiss. Thomas stumbled slightly but Alec steadied him with the hand he was using to grip Thomas' jacket. Thomas was kissing back now, he ran his hand over Alec's chest feeling the warmth and smoothness of Alec's skin. The kiss became heated almost immediately. Their tongues entwined and their movements becoming rapid and wild both of them were panting into the kiss now desperately in need of a breath but not desperate enough to leave each other's mouths. they were clutching and groping everywhere completely ravaging each other.
Alec was lost in the kiss yanking Thomas towards him by his jacket so he could get him as close as possible.
Their kiss was becoming so erratic that Alec needed to steady himself on the bath but Thomas distracted him by thrusting his hips onto forward onto Alec's. Alec keened and moaned moving his hands down to Thomas' hips aching for the feeling of Thomas' groin against his again. Alec jerked Thomas hips towards him making them both cry out uncontrollably. Lust was consuming them, they were kissing messily, spirally and completely out of control.

Thomas was pushing his body against Alec making it hard for Alec to stay upright. He went to grab onto the edge of the bath to stabilise himself not realising the bath was too low down. He reached out to the nonexistent edge his hand flailing in the air for a moment before he lost his balance causing him to fall backwards taking Thomas with him.

Alec yelped accidently dragging Thomas down into the bathtub on top of him with a large splash they both landed in the bath, water poured over the edge flooding the surrounding floor. They were both laying in the bath. Thomas still on top of Alec, both completely soaking wet.

"Are you okay?" Thomas looked down at Alec concerned, his eyes gapping wide.

Alec was breathing heavily and nodding.

They just stared at each other in shock for a moment, Alec broke the silence when he looked at Thomas' drenched uniform and began laughing loudly, Causing Thomas to join him in an outbreak of laughter.

"I'd say sorry.." Alec whispered still laughing under his breath "But then I wouldn't gotten to see you like this" He laughed while running his hands through Thomas' wet hair. "You look great wet" Alec leaned up and kissed Thomas quickly on the mouth. They stared at each other adoringly the fact they were still in the bathtub seemed to become unimportant the longer they held each other's gaze.

"You'll catch a cold if you stay in here " said Alec quietly, obviously not wanting Thomas to leave.

"I know...but I don't mind" whispered Thomas who was tracing along Alec's collar bone with his fingers.

Thomas continued to trail his finger down Alec's chest briefly circling the nipple Alec sighed blissfully closing his eyes as Thomas continued studying Alec's chest with his fingers. Thomas noticed the bruises again, they were faded now but they couldn't have been more than a few weeks old.

"Alec?" Thomas whispered.

"Mmm" Alec mumbled calmly, opening his eyes and gazing up at Thomas.

"How did these happen?" Thomas asked, gliding his fingertips over each of Alec's scars and bruises.

Alec's expression turned harsh all of a sudden, Like Thomas hadn't seen before.

"It doesn't matter" Alec's voice strained his eyes were angry but the rest of his face seemed petrified.

"Alec" Thomas gently took hold of the sides of Alec's face with both hands "It matters to me... did someone hurt you?" Thomas asked as calmly as he could manage. Alec swallowed hard. Thomas could see in Alec's eyes that he was scared and realised Alec didn't want to talk about it.

"You know what... it doesn't matter" Thomas gave him a small reassuring smile and let go of his face.

"Thank you" Alec breathed, lifting his hand to cup Thomas' cheek and tenderly stroke behind it with his fingers.

Thomas placed his hand over the one of Alec's that was on his cheek.

"If you ever want to tell me anything-" Thomas started.

"-I know and I will, trust me" Alec smiled.

Thomas was about to say something but all that came out of was sneeze "I'm sorry" said Thomas shaking his head and sniffling.

"I told you you'd get a cold!, come on we better get you out of the bathtub" said Alec gently pushing Thomas up.

Thomas stood up and got out, his clothes drenching what was left of the dry part of the floor surrounding the bath.

"You'll have to take those off" Alec gestured towards the clothes on Thomas' body "Just throw them in the bath..I'll go get you some dry clothes from you're room" Alec was suddenly on a mission. trying to do his best to stop Thomas from getting ill.

"And why do you have to go and get them?" Thomas asked curiously.

"Well if someone saw you leaving the bath room completely wet when they knew I was in here..." Alec didn't even need to finish off the sentence and Thomas was in complete agreement.

Alec went to the front of the room near the door and threw on just the shirt and pants from the suit Thomas had provided for him although the clothes were a few sizes too big he was glad to finally have clean clothes to wear.

Thomas began stripping off his clothes, starting with his jacket, vest and shirts, Alec took no effort in hiding the fact that he was watching. Thomas no longer had any clothes on his torso, a few beads of water ran down Thomas neck continuing down his pecs.

Alec was thoroughly enjoying the sight of Thomas' bare chest again. Thomas was about to take his pants off when he looked back at Alec who was standing near the door with his clothes on watching Thomas.

"You're staring" said Thomas laughing, a slight blush spreading over his cheeks.

"When you stop looking like that, I'll stop staring" replied Alec crossing his arms and biting his lip, never taking his eyes off Thomas.

Scoffing at Alec's remarks, Thomas slid his fingers down to the band of his pants and started slowly pulling down his pants and underwear at the same time Alec went completely silent while watching Thomas undress himself. The further down Thomas' pants got the faster Alec's heart started beating. Thomas was standing there wet and naked right in front of Alec. he swallowed hard involuntarily swiping his tongue across his lips. Thomas was astonishing, Alec hadn't blinked since Thomas started removing his clothes. Thomas smiled before walking over to the towel rack and covering his lower body by wrapping a towel around it.

"Wow" Alec breathed.

"Were you going to go and get me some clothes, or do I have to stand here like this all day?" Thomas pushed back his wet hair as he spoke his voice sounding huskier than usual.

"Was that even a question?" Alec bit his lip and tilted his head to the side looking Thomas up and down.

Thomas rolled his eyes and smiled playfully back at Alec. Alec surrendered and opened the door to the hallway, looking out to see if the coast was clear.

"Back in a minute" Alec grin roguishly as he left leaving Thomas by himself in the bathroom still dripping wet, his naked body only covered by a towel.

Alec padded quietly down the empty hallway before slipping into Thomas' room. Alec's eyes lingered on Thomas' bed , a slight smirk spread across his face as he walked over to the wardrobe and opened the doors, He just needed to find clothes suitable enough for Thomas to get from the bathroom to his room, he decided on just a top and pants.

He found where Thomas kept his tops and shirts and started flicking through the different options Alec had no idea why a man would need so many shirts, actually Thomas seemed to have a lot of clothes in general. Alec continued to bury his way down the pile of tops and shirts until he found one right down the bottom. It was a white top with unbuttoned buttons on the front that started at the breast and finished at the neck, the sleeves were three-quarter length, the material was very thin almost see-through. Alec held it up and examined it the top looked at least two sizes too small for Thomas. Alec laughed under his breath Thomas probably hadn't worn it in years which meant it would cling to him tightly. Alec decided he'd take it with him holding onto it as he plunged through the pants pile of Thomas' wardrobe hoping there would also be pants in the same condition as the top. Having no luck Alec huffed and just picked out some slimmer fitting trousers although not as slim fitting as Alec would have ultimately liked he pulled out a belt from the wardrobe for himself and ventured back to the bathroom making it just out of the door before a voice spoke from behind him.

"Alec, what were yer doin' in Mr Barrow's room?" asked Alfred who was obviously confused.

"Oh..Alfred, I was just..um" Alec gulped, Alfred's confused face was more intimidating than he would have originally assumed "I was just borrowing some clothes, I didn't bring many to Downton and Thom- Mr Barrow was kind enough to let me borrow some of his".

Alfred stared at Alec for a good minute before replying "Oh..okay" said Alfred casually"Although I have to say Alec they look ridiculous..they're far too big for you..you look like you're wearing a dress" Alfred replied a smile spreading across his face which had to be first smile Alec had seen on Alfred since he got here.

"I know they are but I haven't got much of a choice" Alec laughed and returned a smile to Alfred.

"Sure you do, I'm positive Jimmy will let you have some of his and you both seem like you're about the same size" said Alfred examine Alec's height and size. "I'll go ask him about it now, see you at Dinner" Alfred awkwardly waved as he turned and left.

Alec turned the opposite way back to the bathroom, as he quietly opened the door he noticed Thomas standing by the mirror trying to fix his hair which was starting to dry untidily on his head.

"I'm back, and with clothes" Alec said grinning at Thomas as he handed them over to Thomas.

"What the bloody hell is this?" Thomas said gesturing towards the white top in his hand.

"Oh I thought you'd like that...well I thought I'd like it anyway" Alec laughed. Thomas just stared at the white top in disgust.

"Well go on, put it on!" Alec playfully demanded.

Thomas glared at Alec with fake annoyance, he sighed and slipped into the top. It was ridiculously tight fitting, the fabric hugged Thomas and profoundly showed off every muscle of his. It did exactly what Alec wanted it to do.

Thomas looked in the mirror shaking his head "I look ridiculous!"

"You look fantastic" Alec smiled, standing next to Thomas while checking him out in the mirror.

Thomas sighed loudly and looked at Alec "I should probably get changed and back to work, besides you still need to have a proper bath" said Thomas chuckling and making his way over to the door in his extremely clingy shirt, "I'll see you at dinner Alec". Thomas opened the door and peered out leaving the bathroom shortly after.

"Save me a seat" Alec called out.

"Definitely" Thomas called back from the hallway, followed by the faint sound of a sneeze.

Alec sighed as he started gathering some towels to wipe up the water that spilled out of the bath and onto the floor.

A/N: Hey everyone! sorry about the length of time it took to get this chapter done, life's been so busy lately and also thanks so much for the kind reviews i've gotten lately! I really appreciate it :)

Leave reviews if you can, I love hearing from you guys.