The drive to the pub was short and silent, but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, it was a contented one. One Xander thought he could get used to. The pub was called The Green Dragon and when they got there Xander thanked his friend and got out the truck. It was a short walk to the pub, they got inside and ordered a couple of beers before finding the others at a table. The pub was pretty packed so Xander was shocked that they’d managed to find a table at all, let alone one big enough for all seven of them. The pub had a mixture of furniture and the walls were covered in chalkboards, ornaments, and signs about food and drink. There were several fireplaces dotted around and fairy lights hung up across the ceiling, giving the pub a warm feeling.

***

“So tell us what it was like?” Harry proposed, raising an eyebrow and tilting his glass at Xander. Carter glanced over at his best friend who had just taken a sip of his drink, before putting his own glass to his lips, suddenly feeling like his throat was sandpaper. Xander proceeded to tell the group about how he spent six months traveling Australia, met some amazing people and did some amazing things like snorkeling and seeing the Great Barrier Reef, skydiving and even bungee jumping, then he went a hiked in New Zealand and spent a lot of his time out in the wilderness, with different guides. After spending a couple of months where he had traveled to Asia and spent four months backpacking across the continent, he'd even done the Great Wall of China. He told everyone how in Chinese people just do everything in the park.

“You can walk through the park and see people taking part in all sorts of clubs. I even had a go at Tai Chi, it was really relaxing actually.” He told a bemused Harry.

Xander then told everyone about how he spent another six months traveling North America, which he said was his favorite.

“So New York was huge! Like millions bigger than London! Everything is bigger in America, especially the food!”

He then spent two months in South America, he gushed about how he adored Brazil and how he’d even managed to do the Incan trail. A further two months in Africa where he did a lot of charity work. He’d built houses and schools and he’d got to go on Safari. He enjoyed spending time with the animals and got to help look after abandoned babies and sick or wounded ones. Then finally coming back and trekking across Europe for two months and eating great food and going to wild parties. Before spending the last week in France.

“I totally spent my last day in Disney!” Xander laughed.

Carter took in everything that Xander was saying, listening intently. He enjoyed seeing his friend so excited when talking about his experiences and couldn’t wait to hear more.

“So did you meet anyone… you know interesting?” Luca piped up, a sly smile on his face. Luca had short blond hair which he didn’t do anything with, a crooked nose from where he had broken it once at judo. He had a 5 o’clock shadow across his jaw and was very broad and well-muscled.

Xander choked slightly on his drink, his cheeks were rosy but it was hard to tell if it was with embarrassment or alcohol. “Well, yeah, plenty of interesting people, but nothing serious, I was never there for long enough to really get into all that.” He half spoke half mumbled. Making Carter think there was more to it than that. Even though it made Carter feel gross thinking about Xander sleeping around he planned to ask him about it later. That’s when Nate jumped in.

“I bet they were all pretty hot though right Zee?” he chuckled, using Xander’s old nickname. Nate was tall dark and lean with afro black hair which he had to tie back when he was sparring. Nates jaw was defined and square and a broad nose sat in the center of his face.

“Yeah, pretty damn hot.” Xander laughed and if Carter didn’t know him better he would have said that he saw guilt glint in Xander’s eyes. He tried to get his friends attention but Xander was just focusing solely on his drink.

Sydney interrupted and started talking about her new job at the restaurant, the girl had a fantastic talent when it came to cooking. Carter often had Sydney round to cook and he would wash up. Xander seemed relieved at the change of subject and Carter noticed Sydney give him a small smile and a wink and to which Xander smiled appreciatively back, sending a pang of jealousy through him. Carter once again had to mentally shake his head to snap himself out of it. Xander could be friends with anyone he wanted… he seriously needed to work out what he was feeling.

After a while, most of them were quite drunk. Carter had switched to Coke after his first pint as he was driving, but the others had not. Luckily they mostly lived pretty close by. Jules got up to go to the bathroom and Carter got up and sat down in his chair, next to Xander. Xander looked up at Carter and smiled.

“Hey, buddy.” He practically slurred, leaning back on his chair and nearly tipping it backward. Laughing at himself Xander righted the chair. “Phew, that was close!” Xander giggled pretending to wipe the sweat off his brow.

“Hey, so do you want a lift home?” Carter whispered to him quietly, not wanting to become the taxi for the group.

“Err, yeah man that would be great,” Xander whispered back nodding his head slowly which made Carter chuckle. Carter hooked his arm under his friends and pulled him up.

“See you guys.” He said waving with his free hand. He helped a stumbling Xander to his truck. As he got there he managed to trip over Xander’s foot and they tumbled into the side of the truck. Carter’s breath caught in his throat when he realized he was pinned, behind a pub in a deserted carpark by Xander.

Xander, with his head hanging down, put his hands either side of Carter’s head as he started to pull his body off of Carter’s. Xander suddenly looked up at him and paused, their bodies pressed together. Carter could feel Xander’s quick and shallow breaths against his face, which was inches from Xander’s. They looked into each other’s eyes and all Carter could do was stare.

“I wanna…” Xander murmured, leaning in closer. Xander had his lips by Carter's ear “will you?” He said in barely even a whisper. Carter was about to ask what but when someone wolf whistled from across the road it pulled Carter and Xander back to themselves. Xander chuckled and lifted himself off the car. Carter was certain that he felt something brush against his thigh, which had him totally stunned and also slightly aroused.

Xander stumbled round to the passenger side and clambered into the truck. It took Carter a few seconds to process what had just happened and try to figure out what Xander wanted to do. Giving up, Carter got into his truck and started it up, making sure that his friend was buckled in.

“I can do my own belt thanks,” Xander said pushing Carter away, he then proceeded to fall asleep. Carter laughed and clicked his belt on. With a quick check to his watch, he decided that it would be much easier to take Xander back to his own flat, as he lived alone, rather than risking waking up Xander’s parents as it was one O’clock in the morning. Carter didn’t even know if Xander had a key.

When they arrived at the block of flats Carter hauled the snoozing Xander out of the truck and shook him to get him to wake up enough to walk. Carter flung Xander’s arm over his shoulders as he walked, well practically dragged him into his flat. Luckily he only lived on the first floor so didn’t have too many steps to climb. When they got in he managed to flop his friend down on his bed.

“What am I going to do with you?” Carter laughed looking at the passed out man on his bed. “Well, I suppose you can’t sleep like that,” Carter said gesturing to Xander. Carter took a deep breath and slid off Xander’s shoes and socks, he then unbuttoned his jeans and wiggled them down and off, being careful not to move his boxers, blushing as he did. Carter then grabbed the bottom of Xander’s T-shirt and tugged it over his head revealing a chiseled stomach with no chest hair and only a slight amount of hair under his belly button, leading down past his pant line. Blushing harder than ever from undressing his friend and staring, Carter grabbed the dirty clothes and turned to leave.

"Don't stop there," Xander mumbled. Carter whipped his head around to look at his sleeping friend, his heart pounding hard in his chest. Xander then gently snored before rolling over and snuggling himself into Carter's duvet. Carter shook his head and sniggered to himself, then grabbed a blanket and went to sleep on the sofa, but not before chucking a wash on.