The words Si read made his skin crawl and his heart freeze. Each revelation was like being thrown into chilled water. As he skimmed the official files and through the journalist notes, he stood to go get his copies of the three Edward Pleasure best sellers he had in his office. He could compare the edited printed text with the hard truth. The books on Damian Cray, Desmond McCain and Alan Blunt all alluded to an MI6 teen agent, unnamed but now he knew it was Alex. The man then looked at his clock, nearly 2 AM on Tuesday morning. Alex had left him to discover these horrors alone, now he needed his lover, to be reassured and to reassure that this was not going to change anything between them. Horrors beyond anything he himself had lived through or witnessed had been heaped upon a child.

In the hall he put on his leather jacket, boots and picked up the keys to his shed. Under the tarpaulin was stored his vintage Harley. Taxed and roadworthy, he rarely went for a ride these days, now preferring to walk to work or get the tube into town. At this time there was no traffic to negotiated, and he did not have far to go to Albemarle Terrace.

The large engine sounded obscenely loud in the suburban street in the middle of the night. The door to No. 44a was opened by a tired and worried Alex Rider, as Si parked up in the yard. Stood with a blank face watching the biker, who had last week proudly shown off his vintage bike and spoken of his past exploits including riding the Isle of Man TT in the late eighties.

Alex smiled wanly as Si took of his helmet to reveal a worried and concerned expression. The blond quipped "Hi, isn't it a bit late for house calls?"

"Yes, well, my boyfriend is in need of TLC, so am I. I think its shock. Can we take this inside?"

"Come on in to my humble abode."

The very narrow hall had two doors to the left. Alex led his lover back through the kitchen and past the bathroom to a small third bedroom in the rear annex. The room containing the standard furniture for a student bedroom: single bed, desk, chair and built in wardrobe. The room's walls were bare, painted neutral beige. "Do you require tea?"

"No, God no." Si put his helmet on the desk, then stripped off his coat and placed it on the chair. He then reached forward to seek the comfort he needed. Human touch to reaffirm that they were still together. That no revelations of horrors, now far in the past, would drive him away. The tall photographer was stockier than Alex, carrying a few pounds he needed to loose. He could feel the tense muscles in the lithe younger man and smell the Johnson's shampoo Alex favoured. He loved his soft, short blond hair. Suddenly he wanting to be laid in that far too small bed, without the restrictions of clothes. "Lets get some sleep."

Alex then parted, stepping back to pulling off his t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms. Then turning to remove Si's shirt. The younger man using the task of unbuttoning the cotton and exposing of flesh to kiss down his lover's chest. Soon Si, was leaning in for a kiss on that perfect mount; slow passionate and consuming. Soon his jeans and boxers were unbuttoned and pushed to the floor, boots and socks toed off, still kissing this beautiful younger man, his man. Both men were hard as they manoeuvred into the narrow single bed. Erections seeking friction as they both stroked their aligned cocks. No words spoken, still kissing, slowly rocking, touching and squeezing themselves to completion.

…..

Christian got up, planning on a bowl or two of Cheerios and a gallon of tea before the boring psychology lecture. The second year nursing student was glad there were no lectures until 10, it meant he could have a leisurely start to the day. If he was lucky, Alex would be cooking something hearty and delicious. Their newest flat mate was always willing to share. Lee was adamant that Alex would be moving in with his boyfriend by the end of the summer, luckily by September there would be plenty of new students to rent the other room. He stopped in the doorway to see a stranger leaning against the counter in the kitchen drinking espresso. Alex then came out his room, whistling a happy tune.

It was Alex who spoke first "Morning, Chris. This is Si, he stayed over last night."

The dark haired nurse held out his hand to greet the grey haired man, who was more dad than boyfriend material in his eyes, but each to their own. If he made Alex happy then who was he to judge. "Morning, it's going to be a tight squeeze in here, if Lee gets up in time for morning lectures today."

Alex finished his small cup of coffee and shrugged, "No worries, we're off out for breakfast. Don't expect me back until Friday, I'll be staying over at his place"

The pair met up at the coffee shop, near Wandsworth Common, after Si had stowed his bike at home. Over croissants and more strong coffee, Si and Alex had a lot to discuss and were making plans for their next few days. "Why don't we go away?" The photographer suddenly thought, as both of them had no pressing work commitments until Friday.

Alex had not been on a proper holiday since the summer Jack died, when the Pleasures had holidayed in Hawaii. He had used his time there to start being a complete freak. "Really?"

"Yeah, my sister has a place in the New Forest. I go there to unwind occasionally. I'll ring ahead and it'll be aired and have the beds made. A neighbour cleans and looks after it for Stella." The man put the last piece of pastry in is mouth. "I should be taking you to Paris. I think you deserve the Presidential Suite at George V Hotel, you would look wonderful spread out on finest Egyptian Cotton sheets." Si smiled thinking of their frenzied jerk off session on that narrow bed a few hours ago, like pair of teenagers. "You deserve to be treated like a prince, beautiful."

"So you fantasise about us getting it on in a five star hotel? Any other fantasies we should explore?" Alex wondered what Si really liked in bed.

"Why don't we discuss such things on the drive down to Hampshire? I wish to know what you like, what turns you on as well so we can compare and contrast our preferences."

Alex was closer to Si than even Enid or Liv. His last strong, easy going and dependable friend had been Tom Harris, whom he had lost contact with after going to California. He knew his best friend had lived in Italy for a couple of years, but no more detail than that. Si understood that information forthcoming from him would be a trickle, as he lost his masks and deep seated certainty of not being believed, hurt, rejected and ridiculed.

On the long list of things they needed to discuss was sex. Si was happy with the fact Alex liked oral sex and masturbation and was cool that penetration was not everybody's thing. The blond had never tried sex with a man before Si and anal intercourse was on his list of things to do both as top and bottom, only he had hang ups about penetration that not even sex with women had fully solved. It was a fear he needed to get over, to move on from, he was fine with Si touching, stroking, kissing and caressing him. More than fine, he now yearned for his older lover's touch. He had always enjoyed sex, but it was becoming an obsession, he craved it and the mere thought of Si made him hard at the moment. He had never been particularly hormonal as a teenager, but seemed to be making up for that fact now.

…..

Alex smiled as a red ancient MGB roadster pulled up at his house that afternoon for their jaunt south. Si liked his toys. He was the exact opposite of his young lover, a man with a wonderful home full of a lifetime of possessions. Alex had one small box of keepsakes, carried with him since he departed Chelsea in July 2002.