Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds or its characters!

Chapter 15

Scott and his brothers had been searching the entire island for Alan and Carter. They had been gone for a majority of the day. Alan knew the island and the dangers the jungle held. It was mostly Jeff who was concerned.

"Where have you been? We've been scouring the island looking for y'all." Scott snapped.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to freak y'all out. We were just looking around the island." Alan apologized.

"All day? I hope you brought sunscreen and bug repellant." Gordon huffed.

"Leftover dinner is in the oven. I'm guessing you two are hungry." Tin Tin's mom offered.

The family joined Alan and Carter at the table while they ate. "How do you like the island?" Jeff asked Carter.

"It's different from Galveston. I like the lack of humidity." Carter admitted taking Alan's hand on the table.

Alan pulled his hand away shaking his head. "There is no PDA at the table." He scolded jokingly.

"It's not PDA if you're engaged." Carter smiled before kissing him.

Gordon spit out his juice in shock. "You asked her already?" John blurted.

Alan nodded, "It just happened."

"I still think it would have been perfect the day you got the ring." Carter argued.

"Congrats!" Scott said hugging Carter.

"Welcome to the family." Jeff welcomed.

"So everyone knew about this, but me." Carter concluded.

Alan shrugged, "Well Scott was with me when I found the ring. Then he told my dad, which meant they all knew. They knew I was going to propose, but they didn't know when."

"How unpredictable of you, Blondie." Carter laughed kissing him again.

"You two know this doesn't change my sleeping arrangements, right?" Jeff reprimanded.

Alan glared at his father angrily. "Yeah, Dad I think we've got it." Alan groaned.

"As long as we understand each other. Oh, and no sneaking around either. I had Brains install cameras in the hall." Jeff smirked.

Alan rolled his eyes and threw his head back. "You know that's an invasion of privacy. Don't you trust me?" Alan questioned.

"You and Carter are going to stay in your own rooms, or I will know." Jeff threatened.

"Your Dad's kind of scary, Blondie." Carter grimaced.

Alan pulled Carter onto the couch next to him. "He's just suspicious. We have all week to be alone. There has got to be an emergency sooner or later." He whispered kissing her cheek.

Suddenly a clipboard blocked Alan's view of Carter. "What the hell?" Alan jumped back.

"You two need to cool it before you give Dad a heart attack." Virgil lectured sitting on the coach across from them.

"We weren't even doing anything." Alan rebutted.

Virgil shook his head in disbelief. "You guys are snuggling on the couch making goo-goo eyes at each other." Gordon chuckled.

"We were barely touching!" Alan hollered. "It's not like he hasn't seen us make out."

"Alan, do you remember what I told you about joining IR?" Scott instantly appeared from behind them.

"Yeah, you said Dad wasn't ready for me to grow up." Alan repeated.

"Exactly, of course he is going to try and postpone the wedding. You're only seventeen." John reasoned.

"I'm eighteen and Alan's birthday is tomorrow." Carter clarified.

Luckily, the Tracy brothers had stopped their crusade for the day. Alan was thankful when it was time to go to bed.

"Alan, wake up!" Carter said shaking him.

"What are you doing? My Dad is going to kill us." Alan said groggily.

"They are out on a mission. I heard the alarm thing go off an hour ago." Carter explained. "I wanted to give you your present at midnight."

Alan glanced over at the clock. It was 12:14 AM. "Kind of late aren't you?" He laughed.

"It took me twenty minutes to wake you up." Carter said crawling into bed with him.

"I'm sorry my family is so intense." Alan apologized pulling her closer to him.

Carter ran her fingers through Alan's hair. "It makes me miss my dad." She murmured. "Watching them lecture you"

"They're your family too now." Alan confirmed kissing her.

Carter pulled away looking into Alan's blue eyes. "I want to give you your present." She said reaching onto the floor.

Alan took the envelope suspiciously. At first he wasn't sure what he was looking at. "Oh my god!" He felt like he had just been shocked with a high voltage of electricity. "Where did you get this?"

Carter smiled, "I found it in my dad's things. It turns out he had a load of cash stashed away in a safety deposit box in my grandmother's name. I split it with my brother. I used some of it to put down some money on an apartment near campus."

Alan pushed her down on his bed and started kissing her erotically. He had never been so happy in his entire life.

"I love you." Carter whispered kissing him.

Alan kissed her back. "Are you sure this is what you want? You could keep it all. We could always live in the dorms a few years." He laughed.

"That makes no sense. We're engaged now." Carter reasoned.

"I love you," Alan repeated kissing her neck.

Carter pulled away finding Alan's eyes. "Oh and I lied about the klaxon going off. Virgil and John are covering for me."

"Since when did you become partners in crime with my brothers?" Alan wondered.

"I owe you so much. You've always been there for me. I wanted your birthday to be special." She whispered.

After Carter and Alan finished talking about what college life would be like Carter fell asleep. Alan on the other hand was too amped up to sleep. Alan decided the best way to think and run off energy was a run.

"Happy Birthday, Sprout!" Scott greeted as soon as he came down the stairs. "Where's Carter?"

"She fell asleep after giving me my present." Alan explained.

"What was it?" Scott wondered.

Alan shook his head. "It was nothing sexual. Carter put a down deposit on an apartment near campus."

Scott huffed, "You know Dad isn't going to like that."

"Does it look like I care?" Alan snapped. "I'm going for a run."

Alan didn't know how long he'd been running for. He usually got tunnel vision when he ran. It felt like he was in a place where nothing bad can reach him.

In a few days Carter and Alan would be heading home and away from his family. Part of him was happy. He wouldn't have to deal with his brother's constant nagging. But he would miss them. Now that he had found a purpose other than the Thunderbirds his life had taken on a new meaning.

"You should eat something. You were out there for a long time." Virgil commented.

"I will. I'm just going to shower first." Alan offered.

"Virgil's right, Alan. You know how your blood sugar drops when you exercise too much." Scott added.

"I know how to take care of myself. If you haven't noticed I've been doing it for a long time." Alan argued.

When got out of the shower he felt better. Like a weight had been lifted. Some days he could understand that his brothers didn't mean to be overbearing. Today was not one of those days.

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