A/N: Thank you for the reviews you guys! Awesome as always.

Uh, minor warning, this chapter semi-earns the story that "M" rating. Course, majority of you are here for that "M" rating earning material, so I don't know why I'm bothering.

I only just finished this chapter last night, at one in the morning no less, yes I'm that far behind...and although Greg was unable to beta the chapter for me, he's still awesome.

LVIII.

It didn't seem right, that five days away from a person could hurt and ache so much, and a moment, a look, a touch, a smile from that same person could, in an instant, erase all that pain as though it were never there in the first place. As if the entire world itself were a kind of poison, a vile toxin that killed mercilessly, and Ben the only cure. For several minutes they stood in the center of the bus, Jimmy gripped Ben to himself, leaning against Ben, the one solid thing in the room, the only thing real and reliable, as Ben smothered him in a frenzy of kisses, not satisfied with just Jimmy's mouth, his lips sought every inch of Jimmy, peeling Jimmy's collar down to find more skin. And Ben's hands, they went nowhere new, did nothing extraordinary, and yet, Jimmy melted under them.

I'm in love with you. Ben's words shook through Jimmy's mind at every kiss, every touch, it was enough to break his heart a thousand times, and he begged the endless void, the nothingness where empty prayers fell on nonexistent ears: please, please let me die before this ends.

Ben pulled back a bit, brow fevered and eyes dimmed with carnal desire. Jimmy smiled, happily accepted the impassioned kiss that pushed him several steps back against the end of the bus, groaning at the pleasure swarming through him and the rough knock to his head when he hit the bus paneling.

"Sorry," Ben murmured, attaching his mouth to Jimmy's neck, as his hands slipped off Jimmy's field vest, tossed it on the floor behind one of the seats.

"You know, this is how they figured us out," Jimmy realized, gasping in mild surprise when Ben gently sank his teeth in, "I told you to watch it with the fucking hickies…"

Ben straightened to gaze into Jimmy's eyes, rested his forehead against Jimmy's own. It brought a fluster to Jimmy's features.

"Let me know when you want me to suck on something else," Ben joked, the effect amplified ten-fold by the breathless husk in his voice.

Jimmy gaped, feeling as though sucker punched, as a blush rushed from his chest straight to his scalp and down into his toes and every part of his body. Ben grinned smugly, far too satisfied with himself.

"I meant putting my love marks in a more hidden place," Ben said in a mock scandalized tone, eagerly returning to Jimmy's neck and whispering hot against the skin, "Where did your mind go, perv?"

Relaxing into Ben's strong embrace once more, Jimmy smirked, slid his hands up the back of Ben's shirt to trace the familiar musculature. This was how it should be, he thought, how it should always be, just the two of them in their own private world. He wrinkled his brow as his fingertips crinkled along hard woven cotton and plastic gauze, bandaging and freshly healing cuts.

"From the community center…?" he wondered, concerned. He knew Ben took a beating during the attacks, but it had been over a week, was Ben really still recovering so much?

"No," Ben grunted, pulling back again and smiling distantly, an almost hint of sadness in his expression, "I've found that there are exactly two ways to take my mind off you avoiding me: hunting Skitters," he kissed Jimmy's cheek, "And hunting Mech," then kissed the other.

"You've been hunting," Jimmy furrowed his brow, concern edged into his features. It was his fault that Ben went out there alone and took those kinds of beatings, which meant Ben's blood was on his hands. He absently tightened his hold on the other boy.

"Don't make that face," Ben instructed, pushing Jimmy's hair away from his forehead then gently tracing a thumb along the contour of his jaw, "We're in the middle of something good."

Jimmy forced a smile, lingered his fingers along the bandaging a few seconds before drawing his hands out of Ben's shirt and bringing them up to lace round Ben's neck and drag him down into a fierce kiss. They broke apart and Ben rested their foreheads together once more.

"Shit, why are you still wearing clothes?" Ben jokingly demanded.

Jimmy grinned, nibbled at the taste of Ben on his bottom lip, teased, "Maybe you ought to do something about that."

"Maybe I should," Ben agreed, smoothing his palms along Jimmy's waist, he slowly and deliberately peeled the fabric of Jimmy's shirt away to expose a pale belly, rolled it up over a lean chest, all the while watching as though in fascination of his own tenuous actions.

Jimmy closed his eyes, attempted to catch his breath and calm his rapidly beating heart, smiling despite himself at Ben's tentative touch, the warm caress of Ben's hands in contrast to the sudden blast of cold air on his newly bare skin had a near cathartic effect on Jimmy. Ben carefully worked the shirt over Jimmy's head, guided Jimmy's arms upward to continue lifting the shirt as he resumed kissing Jimmy sweetly and suggestively. After a few seconds, Ben's ministrations slowed then stopped and without the distraction, Jimmy realized Ben was taking a bit longer than necessary to remove his shirt, and his arms were still pinned up, tangled in his own shirt it seemed and, oddly enough, Ben was fumbling with the fabric.

Jimmy flinched, wrinkled his brow and opened his eyes, feeling the shirt tighten around his wrists.

"What are you doing?" he wondered, trying to keep the panic in his voice to a minimum. This was Ben, after all.

"I'm uh…"

Ben smirked and took a step back, hands falling lightly to Jimmy's hips and attention focused overhead to admire his handiwork, an increasingly mischievous grin broadening across his face.

"Trapping you."

Jimmy's face fell, and stomach did a small flip. He tugged against the bindings, but there was a rack or something up above, one he'd never before noticed but Ben obviously had, and Ben had managed to tie him up to it, using his own shirt no less. He couldn't move.

"What? Why?" Jimmy demanded.

"Well…at first I only wanted to see if I could," Ben replied, barely able to contain his laughter, "But now it's just funny."

"Yeah, hilarious," Jimmy bit out, "You had your fun, now untie me."

Ben frowned slightly, brow tense, as he said in a strange mildly amused tone that suggested he was as surprised by his words as Jimmy, "Here's another funny thing: no."

"What do you mean 'no'?" Jimmy cried, struggling fiercely against the bindings, "Untie me, you jerk, so I can kick your ass."

"Yeah, really not a convincing argument, babe," Ben noted, folding his arms over his chest and shaking his hand at the ground as his shoulders trembled with soft chuckle.

"Don't call me that," Jimmy seethed, gasping as the twisting fabric bit into his wrists, and he nearly lost his footing, the sudden shift in body weight jerked at his bound arms and jolted pain down into his shoulders. Ben hurried to catch him, arm looping round his waist.

"Stop squirming, you're going to hurt yourself."

"No, I'm going to hurt you," Jimmy spat, though he felt the fight slipping out of him at Ben's embrace, and he focused on breathing instead.

"Calm down," Ben soothed, dotted kisses along Jimmy's cheek and Jimmy pouted, petulant, and refusing to return a soft peck on his lips, "I'll untie you."

"Damn straight you will."

"When I'm done with you."

Jimmy faltered, blood rushing to his head.

"Done with me," he repeated, dumbfounded, "What exactly are you planning on doing with me?"

"Nothing too weird," Ben answered coyly.

"You've tied me to a bus, Ben, it's already weird."

"You didn't really think you could leave me hanging for five days - five long, cold, lonely days - and not receive some kind of punishment, did you?" Ben teased.

"For Christ's sake, Ben," Jimmy groaned, was that honestly what this was about.

"I poured my heart out to you," Ben stated, voice taking a sudden somber turn that caused the protests to stumble halt in Jimmy's throat, falling heavy back down in the well of his stomach, "Wasn't easy. It's not like I haven't been hurt before. And I didn't know if I'd crossed a line, lost you for good…"

"Ben," Jimmy softly began apology, only to be silenced by a firm kiss.

"It's okay. I know you and I love you," Ben whispered against Jimmy's mouth, smirking as Jimmy relaxed against him, "But now I think I deserve to take advantage of you."

"Fine," Jimmy relented, resigning himself to his situation, grumbled, "Just…be gentle…I guess."

"I'm not going to do anything you haven't already said was okay," Ben decided, and Jimmy took a deep breath, wriggling his wrists in the fabric in attempt to make himself more comfortable.

"Funny, I don't recall okay-ing being tied up," Jimmy pointed out, returning the kiss Ben swept across his lips.

"That would be the punishment part," Ben informed Jimmy surreptitiously.

Ben brushed the hair from Jimmy's face, lined up tentative kisses across his forehead, cheeks, nose, mouth, down across his neck and along his collarbone, which warmed through Jimmy and served to ease him back into their earlier mood. He closed his eyes, sighed as Ben's hands whispered along his shoulder blades, cascaded down his sides, and roamed back up ghosting across his chest to cup his face and pull him into an all consuming kiss. Ben parted their lips and delicately traced his tongue along the outer edge of Jimmy's mouth, sending tiny shivers racing Jimmy's spine. Jimmy wrinkled his brow and, despite himself, moaned in pleasure. Ben smirked triumphant momentarily, then dove his tongue further in, playing with Jimmy's own. His hands fell to Jimmy's hips, pulled Jimmy as close as possible even as he leaned in, squeezing all the space out from between them. When Ben finally relinquished hold on Jimmy's mouth, he leaned down to rake his teeth across Jimmy's neck, licking up along the Adam's apple and bottom of Jimmy's chin as Jimmy dropped his head back to make more vulnerable the soft flesh, gasped, curling his fingers in the fabric of his shirt that bound him, hands aching to touch Ben's body and return the favor.

Punishment, right, Ben had no fucking idea.

Swiftly, Ben flicked open the top button of Jimmy's pants, buried his face in Jimmy's neck as one hand unzipped, and the other clasped Jimmy, palm spread across the middle of Jimmy's back, pushing him forward against Ben's broad chest. Once fully undone, Ben slid his hand along the top rim of Jimmy's pants and boxers, loosening the waistband until they dropped to the floor.

"Ben?" Jimmy started, words fighting his lungs for air, body alight with heat and in full blush.

"Little busy now," Ben murmured, equally breathless, head lolled forward, cradled in the crook of Jimmy's neck as he dazedly noted Jimmy's fully exposed arousal.

"By things I said were okay, you don't mean…" Jimmy continued, coming to an abrupt silence as he bit his lip to strangle the sounds that erupted when Ben's hand deftly stroked him.

Ben rolled his face up towards Jimmy wearing a cheeky grin, but firmly placed in Ben's expert hands Jimmy couldn't muster the dread he knew that expression should make him feel. He closed his eyes and eagerly lapped up the kiss that Ben collapsed against his mouth, one hand driving Jimmy swiftly towards the edge, the other drifting along Jimmy's butt cheek, tickling the flesh slightly as shy fingertips explored the still vastly unfamiliar area. Ben slowed his pace with Jimmy's erection, and daintily fingered along the edge that split Jimmy's buttocks. He dug his finger in, prodded the opening, and Jimmy tensed, inhaling sharply in surprise.

"You ready for this?" Ben questioned, searching Jimmy's eyes, offering a reassuring smile.

"No," Jimmy breathed reply and Ben kissed him.

"If you don't like it, it hurts or something, I'll stop, okay?"

"I don't like it," Jimmy said immediately.

"I haven't done anything yet," Ben cried.

Jimmy took a deep breath, readjusted his wrists in their bonds, and gave a meek nod.

"Okay," he said softly, hiding his face against Ben's neck, squeezing his eyes shut and letting the other boy's familiar, comforting scent overwhelm his senses, "Do it."

Ben dropped a kiss to Jimmy's shoulder, taking his hand away from Jimmy's erection to reposition himself more towards Jimmy's backside, resting the free hand now on Jimmy's hip bone and giving it an encouraging squeeze. Jimmy chewed his bottom lip raw, grimaced slightly as Ben slid a finger in, absently rooting around a bit, and then eased in a second. He rested his chin on Jimmy's shoulder as he prodded the warm, delicate tissue inside, quirked a brow and watched the other boy's reaction, though aside from a twitch and tiny wince, there wasn't much of one.

After a few seconds, he asked, "Anything?"

"Anything what?" Jimmy snapped, screwing his eyes more tightly shut and digging his nails into the shirt fabric.

"Does it hurt or something…?" Ben pressed, brow drawing together in a sudden concern, and he paused in his movement.

"No," Jimmy murmured, sighing and relaxing a bit, he still sounded desperately short of breath, "It's just a little weird…I feel like you should be wearing a glove or something."

"You're telling me," Ben smirked, resuming his gentle exploration, and commenting, "But where would I get one, right? It's not like I could've asked Dr. Glass…"

"No,right, that's not really a conversation I think you and her should ever have," Jimmy replied.

"I don't understand this," Ben complained, somewhat exasperated, "You're really getting nothing? Because the book said that it's supposed to feel really fucking good…and you know, it makes sense given basic human anatomy…"

"No, nothing. I'm sorry but I think we should just…" Jimmy began, then fell silent, drawing his breath in deep and slow and causing Ben to freeze again.

"What? Are you okay?" Ben questioned, studying Jimmy's features before realization dawned on him and a grin widened across his features, absently noting as he began to gently knead the magic spot, "Oh no, you're okay…you're definitely okay."

It was clear from the slow and steady pressure Ben applied that he wanted to draw out the experience as much as possible, his own developing erection obvious as he brushed against Jimmy, but Jimmy wasn't prepared for the sensations rushing through him like electricity in water and Ben, himself altogether unfamiliar with their new venture, couldn't have accounted for the hypersensitivity of the area. He'd barely begun before Jimmy climaxed, struggling to choke down the ecstatic moans of euphoria. Then Jimmy's body became almost limp, taxed from the moment, and he panted, fraught for air. Ben slumped, pulling his fingers out and sighed, trying to conceal his slight disappointment.

"You'll get it next time," Jimmy murmured once he had enough breath in his lungs to manage a full sentence. Ben perked at that, smiling, he swept the hair away and rest a kiss at the base of Jimmy's neck.

"Next time?"

"Yeah, well…" Jimmy flustered, "It wasn't awful…so…you know…untie me now."

"If I untie you, instead of kicking my ass, you think you might give me a hand job or something?" Ben questioned, pouting at Jimmy and saying in a pitiful voice, "Baby, I need your amazing touch."

Jimmy ducked his head in attempt to hide the happy smile blossoming across his face, responding, "Untie me and we'll see."

Ben grinned, maneuvering round to Jimmy's front, planting kisses along the way, and then driving a powerful kiss against Jimmy's lips, Jimmy taking his turn to push his tongue in and deftly massage every contour inside of Ben's mouth. They broke momentarily, followed up with a flutter of kisses to ease the withdrawal. Ben smiled and Jimmy reached as far forward as his bonds allowed, pressed a kiss to Ben's lips.

"I missed you," Jimmy admitted, and elation spread through Ben's features. They may not have been the three words Ben wanted but they were close enough.

Ben readied to move in for another kiss, when a noise erupted from the door, a scraping of someone attempting to get in, and both boys whipped their heads round, stared in wide eyed panic at the door. Whoever was attempting the door clawed at it several times and then rapped their fist against it, caused it to rattle and shudder.

"Why is this door locked?" a muffled voice questioned aloud outside and Ben jerked back around to Jimmy.

"Fuck, that's my dad."

"Untie me. Untie me now, asshole," Jimmy hissed.

"Shit, shit," Ben chanted, hurrying to undo the knot he'd twisted overhead but during their intimate exchange Jimmy had somehow managed to mess the bond and tighten the fabric's hold, "What the hell is my dad doing here?"

It certainly didn't help things that Tom kept at the door, calling to see if someone was inside, and growing anxious, Jimmy tugged and struggled, making it harder for Ben to figure out the knot.

"Why don't you go out there and ask him that question?" Jimmy growled, "Or maybe instead of wondering about it so much, you start thinking about what you're going to say when he asks us that question. Oh, and while you're at it, get me the fuck down."

"I'm trying, you need to stop moving," Ben groaned as he took an elbow to the eye, and gritted out, "You are not helping."

"…the door is locked, do you know why that might be or how to get it open?" Apparently, Tom found a friend.

"Locked? I didn't even know it had a lock on it. Is someone in there?" the friend answered, from the sound of his voice, it was Lourdes's friend that brought her to the bus several weeks back.

"If they are, they're not answering."

"I'll go get a crowbar."

"Great. A crowbar. Now that's a real handyman for you," Jimmy grumbled.

"This is not how I wanted my dad to find out about us," Ben said.

"Really? Because this is exactly how I planned it," Jimmy drawled sarcastically.

"Still not helping," Ben muttered then cursed, "What did you do to this thing?"

"This is your fault, you know that right?"

"My fault? If you hadn't avoided me for five days, none of this would've happened!"

"Fine, this can be my fault, but that's the last time you get to use that one against me."

A new sound erupted at the door, metal against metal. Ben paused and Jimmy paled, features washed blank.

"Get my knife and cut me down."

"This is your only shirt," Ben pointed out, resuming his work on the knot, "Besides, I think I got it."

"Get it faster," Jimmy commanded.

The door screamed as it creaked open, and Jimmy fell loose, his arms collapsing at his side, pins and needles. Ben went to sweep his own shirt off the ground as Jimmy tugged up his pants, working at doing them up, shirt bundled in his arms, he bent for his vest when the lock failed and the door swung open. In a moment of panic, Ben shoved Jimmy down behind the seat his vest lay underneath, the other boy crashing unceremoniously to the ground, and Ben grimaced, tried to send Jimmy a silent apology and barely managed to wipe the expression from his face just as his dad stalked up into the bus, and Ben brought one hand to absently rub the back of his neck, his shirt gripped in the other.

"Hey, dad," he greeted awkwardly, "What…why….what are you doing here?"

Tom furrowed his brow in confusion, glancing at the door, and back up at his son. Quietly, Jimmy readjusted himself to sitting behind the seat, drew his knees up towards himself as far back from the aisle as he could while working on unrolling his shirt and pulling it on, shooting a dark glower at Ben.

"Ben?" Tom started as though he wasn't sure, "I thought you were with Jimmy."

"What? Nope. No. It's just me in here," Ben quickly glanced Jimmy from the corner of his eye, and Jimmy gave him a flabbergasted look. And now they had to rely on the piss-poor lying capabilities of one Benjamin Mason to get them out of this pickle. God, they were screwed.

"Why didn't you answer me earlier?" Tom asked.

"Earlier?" Ben gaped.

"Yeah. When I was banging on the door," Tom clarified.

"I…uh…" Ben tipped his chin down and looked up at his dad sheepishly, carefully lied, "…didn't hear you."

Jimmy mouthed a silent, incredulous 'what?' Tom folded his arms across his chest, unconvinced.

"What are you doing in here, Ben?"

Ben opened his mouth slightly, closed it, looked around the bus, met Jimmy's eyes for a split second, glanced at the shirt in his hand and his bare chest, and stuttered answer, "I'm…uh…changing."

Jimmy slapped his hand to his face, shook his head and silently screamed 'no'.

"Changing," Tom repeated, rose a brow, "Into what, Ben?"

"Um…" Ben lifted the shirt in his hand.

"Isn't that what you were wearing earlier?" Tom questioned, stepping towards his son.

"Dad, wait," Ben cried and Tom stopped, irritation written in his expression. He tapped his fingers on the back of one seat impatiently.

"Why?"

"Because…you didn't answer me," Ben fumbled for excuse, "Why are you here?"

"Dr. Glass asked me to bring her a few things from the stores here," Tom answered, gestured to the back of the bus and said, "If you don't mind, I need to get by."

"What do you need? I can grab it for you," Ben hastily suggested.

"I think you need to finish putting your shirt on," Tom continued forward to pat his son on the shoulder despite the growing protest in Ben's features, stopped short, and quirked his head to one side, "Jimmy?"

"Hi, Professor Mason," Jimmy sheepishly whispered; his face partially hidden in his elbow, balanced across a knee. He stiffly raised a hand, quickly dropped it back down.

"Jimmy, what are you doing down there on the floor?" Tom wondered.

"I'm…uh…." Jimmy shot Ben a sardonic look, "Changing."

"Oh shut up," Ben groaned.

"Okay, I give up," Tom declared, tossing his hands in the air, "I don't know what you two are up to, at this point, I don't think I want to know. I'm glad it seems you boys are getting along, but I think you probably shouldn't be playing inside one of the storage vehicles. Whatever you're doing in here, you can do just as easily outside. So go on. Get out."

Jimmy grabbed his vest out from under the seat on his way to standing, shrugged it over his shoulders, following Ben out of the bus. As he stepped outside, Ben tugged his shirt on over his head. A few people nearby glanced the two boys as they exited the First Night, and though no one really stared, for Jimmy it felt as if they were the center of attention, and he was sure he'd die on the spot. He had to focus his attention entirely on Ben's back just to keep himself moving forward. The boys remained silent until they reached one of the sanctioned bathing areas and started cleaning themselves up a bit.

"That didn't go too bad," Ben spoke up first, then he grinned at Jimmy and said slyly, "Parts of it went better than expected."

"Yeah, but that was close," Jimmy noted, grimly, "You're dad could've found out about us right then."

"Would that of been the worst thing?" Ben challenged.

"Like that? Me tied naked to a bus and you being a weird pervert?" Jimmy demanded, shook his head, "No. I'm not ready yet and I really don't want him to find out the way everyone else in your family has. We need to be more careful. I think…I think to be safe, we should just…cool it for a bit."

"Fine, no more kinky sex," Ben conceded.

"No more sex," Jimmy returned.

Ben frowned, "What?"

"No more sex," Jimmy reaffirmed, "And we probably shouldn't kiss or hug or hold hands or anything."

"At all?" Ben baulked.

"At least until we tell your dad," Jimmy said.

"Oh yeah…no…that makes sense…sure," Ben stammered, running a worried hand across his brow, "So…like…what…that would be like…a couple days then or…how long are you thinking? Three…four days tops….?"

"It's going to be at least a few weeks," Jimmy began, and Ben's jaw dropped, only to slam shut when Jimmy finished, "Until I can even consider when I'll be ready to tell him."

"You're going to hold out on me for weeks?" Ben cried.

"Ben, you know it's important to me that we handle this right," Jimmy pleaded, "That your dad finds out when I'm ready. You said that you understood that and we could do this my way."

"No, I know, I just…three weeks without sex is a long time and…and we can't even kiss? Or hug?" Ben whimpered, "You've got to be joking."

"Yes, I'm joking," Jimmy replied earnestly. Ben's face fell.

"You…are?"

Jimmy jabbed Ben's shoulder, and though he wore a hard glare, there was a light smirk in the corner of his mouth.

"That's for tying me up, asshole."

.

.

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AN: Ugh, I don't like this chapter. Fluff. Yeah, that scene was a bit more cutesy than sensual, I think, but I did want to illustrate that the sex stuff is new to them and they're still young and awkward. For those of you wondering what Ben was doing, why are you here? Seriously though, he was trying to (and did) stimulate Jimmy's prostate gland. Which clever ducks may know is somewhat important for intercourse type reasons. Anatomy lesson over, how many of you honestly thought I was going to have Tom found out right then a there? Ah, it's like you people don't know me at all.

Right, let me know what you think.

Reviewers: IcicleLilly, it should be interesting when Tom finds out about the boys and I really hope you're not disappointed when it happens. I think Hal likes acting like a brother more too, and I think he really enjoys helping hide Ben and Jimmy's relationship and keeping secrets from Tom. Sort of like getting a kind of revenge for Hal. NOxONE, I'm glad you liked it. You didn't expect Hal and Ben's reactions to Tom? I mean, they'd been independent for three months, found their own groove, and now their dad is back trying to act like the one in charge again, it kind of seemed like the only rational way for them to react. I don't know...that's probably just me. I'm really happy you like how I'm twisting cannon, it's always a dangerous move. Facepalmer123, but fluff is so boring, and you can't get length out of fluff. Nothing happens, everything is just happy fun time, and kissy face. Yawn. And completely unrealistic. Couples fight, it happens, especially when there are strong emotions involved and majorly broken characters like my version of Jimmy and, any version of Ben taken from the show. Eh, you should like the next several chapters then, and then you'll hate me for a really long time, and then maybe like me again for a long time, and then hate me, the end, part three. Dee, Snoopy! Ah, yeah, no I don't operate that way...(**sniffles**) you really get me. As always, love your insights. Honestly, I don't know if divorce would've made Jimmy's parents happier or better people. They were able to blame each other for their own miseries, but when you take away that other person, you're left with only yourself. Some people can pick themselves up and start to heal, but most buckle under the pressure and fall deep into despair, unable to repair. Right, and there goes Jimmy's body in this chapter. You're dead on in your second review about Jimmy not knowing what it means to love, and I'm really glad you picked that out, and you figured out the double meaning in his words. A lot of people were freaking out about Jimmy leaving Ben hanging, saying he needed to just accept that he loved Ben, but he knows he loves Ben, he's okay with his feelings for Ben, it's really easy to feel for someone else, the hard part for him is letting Ben love him. Tom is going to be a bit of a pain for the boys in the next coming chapters. Ben is struggling to not only grow into a strong, capable man but to step into the role the aliens inadvertently cast him in, whereas Tom is still trying to protect his sickly son from before, so of course, there's going to be tension there. Honestly, I don't think it would make a difference if Jimmy let Ben use the L-word with their coming out to Tom. Teenagers get a bad rap for not being taken seriously, and I think Tom might see it as an experimental phase no matter what, but we'll have to wait and see his reaction. As for your Q's on the future fic, it's going to be a separate story from this one, and it will be more of a general fic with a larger cast of characters sharing the spotlight. While there will be romantic pairings, romance will not be a major focus of the plot. I kind of think of it in contrast to this, First Patrol and Fire Light are like Young Adult Romance/Sci-Fi stories, whereas, the future fic is going to be a far more Adult story in subject matter, and no, I'm talking about sex scenes. I kind of worry not a lot of fans of this series are going to be interested in it, but I think if you're a fan of political sci-fi, intricate plots, semi-Dystopian settings, and exploration in gray area morals you might like it. TyphoonBoom08, yeah, Tom does need to have a quick wake up call. He's still in that survival euphoria, I love you guys, kind of stage, I think. Glad to hear I gave you a good laugh. Yeah, Jimmy certainly knows which buttons to push to distract Ben. He really does have Ben in the palm of his hand, he just hasn't realized it fully yet. SassySavanna190, I really didn't intend to freak you out. I kind of got caught up in other things and didn't have opportunity to post. This ones a bit late getting up, too, I feel bad about it. I woke up late though. It's nice to hear from you, I missed your reviews. Yeah, now that Tom's bad, Hal gets to move back into the role of big brother and toss of the responsibilities of "parenting duty", and trust me, he's going to throw himself into his newly returned position with enthusiasm. I think he's looking forward to testing his big brother chops with Ben's new love. And Ben is always adorable when he's being sympathetic and understanding, if anything, Jimmy needs to serve himself up on a silver platter to Ben for that alone. Yes, I got to make you cry. It's what I do. :)

Thanks for stopping in guys. I have to run, see you all next Sunday!