Shane went through the back sliding door and out of sight to the grill. I smiled at how two of my trusted friends have taken to Shane just because he makes me happy. The doorbell rang about ten minutes later after I had gotten caught up on Dimitri’s new leg.

Smiling I walked to the door and opened it. There standing with bags of beer raised to his head was Bret Giles.

“Nice pad man!” he said walking past me. I shook my head at his forwardness.

“Thanks.” I replied. I took the beer away and put it in the fridge while he caught up with Trevor and Dimitri. I walked back in the room and came in to the end conversation of Dimitri and Giles talking about his leg. I joined their group and just smiled at the fact that my friends still talked to me even though I had basically ignored them for almost two years.

Bret’s sudden change of subject caught me off guard.

“So when do we get to meet S? What does she look like anyways?” Bret said pointedly at me as he smiled. I lost my smile as I glanced at Trevor and Dimitri who had gone silent and blank of emotion.

“S is already here.” Trevor said gently since I had not answered Bret.

Bret frowned. “Where?”

“Luke steaks are done.” I stiffened at Shane’s voice behind me from the back door. I looked at Bret and I knew he was staring at Shane. His head was tilted as his mouth was in a tight line as a frown pinched his eyebrows together.

“Who are you?” Bret said. I still didn’t look at Shane since I wanted to be ready to punch Bret if he offended either one of us.

“I’m Shane.” I heard Shane say casually, but I knew he was probably being cautious.

“Shane? You a neighbor of Luke’s?” Bret continued to question.

“No.” I said firmly. Bret looked at me.

“How do you know him and why is he here?” I swear he is so dense most of the time. I sighed and relaxed my stance even though my muscles were tight and ready to defend Shane.

“Shane works with Alison and that’s where we met. I later found out that he went to my old high school.” I felt Shane stand beside me. I glanced over at him before I looked at Bret who looked really lost. “Shane is S.” I said bluntly. Bret’s frown just deepened before he looked at Trevor and Dimitri.

Trevor sighed whereas Dimitri looked ready to burst out in laughter at Bret’s stupidity. How the man can pilot a helicopter is unknown to us.

“Dude, Shane is Luke’s boyfriend.” Trevor said bluntly. I watched as Bret’s face went into shock before he looked at me with wide eyes.

“Seriously?” He whispered. I nodded and leaned against Shane to let him know that I wasn’t going anywhere.

“You know I don’t kid around about shit.” I said sternly waiting for the worst. Giles was the most unpredictable one of us all when it came to his mouth. Bret’s shocked look lessened before I saw him look at Shane. I barely felt him stiffen, but it was still there.

Everyone was so quiet that a pin could have dropped and it would have echoed. Dimitri clearing his throat broke the silence.

“I don’t know about everyone else but I’m starving and I know Lisa’s Chili is here. Where are we eating?”

“Back patio.” I said emotionless. Trevor just shrugged and walked away with Dimitri. Frowning at Bret’s blank face I grabbed Shane’s hand and pulled him away from my, for once, speechless friend.

Shane and I gathered supplies for the table out back along with the drinks while Trevor grabbed the chili. When we reached the patio Dimitri was sitting and looked relieved to be off his leg. Bret was still silent as he watched Shane and I interact. We didn’t say much as we set things on the table.

Thank god though that Shane ignore Bret and started a conversation with Dimitri.

“So I hope I’m not intruding, but I’m glad I get to met you Dimitri. Luke told me that he hid you during the ambush.” Dimitri looked at me surprised. I nodded to him in a silent green light to discuss.

“Yes, he did. I owe him my life. At first I wasn’t feeling saved, and Luke felt that guilt too since I didn’t help it and blamed him. Though after seeing a therapist I have learned to deal with it. Although Luke still blamed himself whenever I called myself cripple. That’s why I didn’t tell him I was getting a prosthetic leg. I wanted to surprise him and let him know that I had long ago realized that I should be thanking him. He put me first instead of his brothers.”

“Yes, I remember the pain in his voice when he had your son pinned to the ground.” Dimitri winced.

“Again I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it Dimitri.” I said before Shane continued the conversation.

“Yea, I’m actually kind of glad Devon stopped by. Luke finally talked to me about what happened.” I saw Shane look at each one of them. “I thank you all for making sure he got out of there alive.”

“Ah, we couldn’t just leave the guy to those bastards.” Trevor chuckled. “Plus someone had to hold back his brothers. We had to remind them twice that they had to get out of there to save Luke, and not just kill everyone of the men in the area involved with what was done to Luke.”

“So true.” Dimitri dragged out before he looked at me. “Speaking of brothers, what do they think of Shane? Not to make it sound like I’m talking like you aren’t in the room, but I’m curious.”

“No problem.” Shane said with a smile.

I smiled too and recalled the silent conversation Jake and Shane had a while ago.

“I would say it was actually pretty well. Though Marcus distracted them so I think the only one that has really taken notice is Jake.”

“And that is the one to really get approval from isn’t it.” Trevor joked.

“Nope, it’s Jason, though he is busy with Tink, I mean Mary. And he is going to have his hands full with her.” I grinned at the fact that Mary was pregnant.

“Who?” Bret finally spoke. I looked at him, but Shane answered me instead.

“Mary Polsen is one of the EMTs that work with me. She is nicknamed Tink because she can only focus on one emotion at a time. She is short, and has her blond hair always pulled up into a bun like Tink. That and she can run so quick that it’s like she can fly. Although I think Marcus just named her that because of her short temper.” Shane shrugged and went back to eating.

“She isn’t going to affect his job is she?” Bret questioned Shane.

Shane smiled and I smiled with him. “No, but she better tell Jason soon before it’s noticeable.” Shane quipped. I chuckled at Bret’s confused face.

“He didn’t!” Trevor said loudly. I looked at him and nodded.

“He wanted insurance on the note he left her back at Thanksgiving.” I said on a chuckle. “It’s been fun to see her fuss about things.”

“Wow so he found the ‘one’” Bret mused. I had told the guys at one point during boot camp about what we all did to tell our ‘the one’ that they were it. I glanced at Shane from the corner of my eye and saw him frowning at the guys. I smiled because he still didn’t know that I had already done my way.

“Do you guys know how each of the Willows tells their ‘One’ that they are ‘the one’?” Shane asked frowning. I smiled and looked at the others who were looking at me. I just chuckled.

“Yes, he told us in boot camp what all of their ways were.” Trevor said as a small smile took his lips. Dimitri flat out grinned.

“Yep, it was interesting on how different some were from others and then how some were the same.” Dimitri quipped.

Bret spoke next. “It’s cool that Jason found the One, I was wondering why he looked happy and satisfied after Thanksgiving. What about Lucas and Jake?”

I smiled. “Lucas has a son about a year older than Molly. And a blond version of him.”

“Pay up. I told you it was Tony.” Trevor said to Dimitri who groaned and handed him a twenty. I shook off their bet and continued.

“Jake actually met his ‘one’ again when Molly was in the car accident. Little nurse didn’t back down to his shit and I know it has him shaken up.” I chuckled at Bret’s wide eyes.

“When do you think he will take her for a ride in his Nova?” Bret questioned.

“Hopefully soon, though the guy is really thick headed and those two but heads so quick it’s funny.” Shane chuckled beside me finally figuring out Jake’s way.

“I still can’t believe he doesn’t remember the volleyball player from high school that poured that liquid on him and his, at the time, current girlfriend and cheerleader.” Shane said as he opened a beer.

“He’ll remember.” Dimitri chuckled.

I glanced at Bret during the silence and saw him staring at me before he looked at Shane then at me before he raised an eyebrow. I nodded to his silent question. Yea I have told him I love him, but he hasn’t had the chance to talk with my brothers about their ways and then learn my way. I glanced at Shane from the corner of my eyes and was happy to see him and Bret start a conversation about flying. I smiled from the warmth than ran through my chest before I looked at Trevor and Dimitri who were both looking between us both. I nodded at them too and they then shared a glance before they too smiled at the silently asked question.

After dinner, everyone went to the living room and started playing Halo. I chuckled from my standing position behind Shane’s seat on the couch as I watched him kick the other’s asses. I was very proud of him beating three marines in a video game. Eventually Bret took a break. I watched as he went to the patio again and I followed shutting the door behind me. He was sitting on one of the patio chairs with his breath coming out in white puffs since the temperature had dropped after the sunset.

Grabbing a chair beside him I waited for him to talk. It wasn’t long.

“I never would think that the ladies man would end up being gay.” He said quietly.

“Just because I was good getting the ladies whenever we had a chance doesn’t mean I wanted to date them. I stopped dating in high school because I was tired of being betrayed.”

“When did you know?” he whispered.

“I think I have been since high school when I first saw Shane, but since then it has been dormant. I re-met Shane back in November with Alison’s new job.”

“And you have told him.”

“Yep.”

“And you two have-” Bret asked awkwardly.

I chuckled and looked at his red face. “Yes. We had sex and it was better than any girl could have gotten from me.” His blush deepened from my directness. He broke eye contact with me and stared into the woods.

“Then I guess all that needs to be said is that I’m glad that you are laughing and smiling again. If Shane is the reason then I’ll be happy for you two. Just don’t kiss in front of me.” I laughed at his frown and stood up. When we returned to the room Shane glanced at me from the game and I nodded with a smile. I watched as he visibly relaxed before he turned back to the game.

Finally around ten that night the guys were happy with seeing my new place, meeting Shane and catching up. Bret even shook Shane’s hand with a timid smile. Sighing I shut the door and turned to look at Shane.

The look he gave me was so heated that my body temperature rose a few degrees while I felt myself get hard. Slowly he stalked me and then pressed me against the door with his body before his mouth descended upon mine.

When he finally pulled away I sucked in a lungful of air and stared into Shane’s green eyes that were looking right into me again.

“What is your way?” he mumbled out loud to himself before he kissed me back into my room. Smiling I shoved him down on the bed and climbed up over him. As I stared down at his lust filled gaze I smiled.

“Shane.” I whispered. He pulled my head down with his hand before he flipped me and I ended up on my back.

“Luke.” Shane whispered as he undressed us. Once our skin was touching I sighed in satisfaction. As Shane’s hands explored my skin, I brought my hands up his sides, over his strong shoulders and twined my fingers through his hair. His eyes rose to my face after a gentle tug on his hair. I smiled at him and lifted my mouth to his. Before our lips touched I smiled and murmured my sacred words to him, even if he didn’t know they were sacred yet.

“I love you.” I whispered against his lips before I pressed mine against his in a kiss so scorching, that I started breaking out in a fine layer of sweat.

I gasped suddenly when Shane’s hand grabbed my shaft and started teasing it. A whimper escaped from my lips as he moved so slow that it was torture.

“Shane.” I pleaded. Gasping, I stared up at the ceiling as Shane penetrated me. The pressure was a mix of pleasure and pain as he felt larger than the last time. Gasping air I held Shane tighter as he started thrusting into me.

I buried my face into his shoulder as his pace picked up.

“S-Shane I can’t” I tried to speak but I couldn’t get anything out as my pleasure skyrocketed when Shane shifted his angle. Biting his shoulder I suppressed a shout as I release between us and Shane tensed and groaned his release.

My body went completely lax as Shane dropped beside me. He quickly pulled me to his chest and I fell into an exhausted slumber wrapped in his embrace.