Two large men with threatening auras had entered the shop. One of them was holding a gun, he had a scarf hiding half of his face and a cap hiding the rest. Alex saw the way that he's holding it was... how should he put it, weird, in the sense that if he had tried firing the gun it's going to hurt himself more.  He reckoned that gunman probably wasn't very skilled with his weapon.

The other one had more blatant actions. He was a skin head and didn't look like the kindly type. He wore a blue/red striped shirt - a symbol of the Waston Brotherhood Gang. Detecting the presence of the high-schoolers the one with the gun came in pointing it in their direction, while the skinhead approached them with a knife in one hand.

Jayden realised what the situation was. He recalled the procedures he was to take during a robbery and calmly raised his hand. he knew it was important to keep the robbers calm, and to prevent bodily harm while minimizing overall damage. But Alex chose to take another approach.

The shelves in the store were quite high. The perps are likely to lower their guard if they are convince it's just two teenagers they're dealing with. That's a good chance to catch them off guard. 

The one with the knife stepped up and tried to grab Alex. He would hold Alex hostage against the cashier, he thought to himself, then they'd grab the money and run.

But when he reached out Alex realized that if the gunman had tried to shoot them, his aim would be unsteady. He saw that as an opening.

Taking this as his best bet, he reached forward and stopped the knife by the blade, catching his attacker by surprise. With one swift movement Alex kneed him in the stomach and knocked him out with the handle of the knife. The other one, still trying to re-position, ran towards the counter. 

"Duck!" Alex shouted to Jayden, as he bent his arms as if to take aim to throw the knife he just looted.

Quickly, Jayden ducked in response.

But the gunman, in a flash of wit, also ducked, expecting Alex to throw the knife at him. 

"heh" Alex chuckled as he ran up and low kick him in the head, knocking him out.

***

"You fought dirty." Jayden said, as he waved goodbye to the local police. Referring to how Alex tricked the gunman into ducking.

"If you wanna survive you gotta fight dirty." Alex said matter-of-factly. "Aren't you gonna thank me for helping you keep your job?"

They're not gonna fire me for a robbery, no one even uses cash these days so the loss was minimal. All you did was show off.

Jayden thought that, but he kept those thoughts to himself. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes and walked around the counter. He gestured to show Alex the door, handing him the cigarettes as he walked him out. 

"What? That's it?" Alex said, as he took the cigarettes.

Jayden ignored him, and started heading back in.

"Hey Pajamas, this has been bothering for me a while now, but" Alex pushed him against the glass windows. "Why don't you wanna talk to me? Huh?"

"..." 

You're gay, I'm against being gay. That's all.

The night air was chilly. Jayden wasn't in the mood for a confrontation, but he doesn't have anything to say in response.

"COME ON Pajamas what's your problem with me?"

"Fingerprints"

"Huh?"

"You're leaving fingerprints on the glass"

"Fuck that, I wanna know what you're thinking right now."

Jayden pushed Alex away.

"I'm thinking I have to find a new place now you know where I-"

"It's because of that fire isn't it?" Alex said, examining Jayden's expressions. "I told you I'm fine. I never blamed you for my mother dying. Or is it because you're secretly in love with me?"

"..."

The night was quiet. If the moon was a fujoshi it'd explain nicely why she shied behind the clouds. "You're sweaty from that fight earlier, get away from me you're so stinky." Jayden looked for a way to get out of this situation, but he felt too tired to push Alex away again.

"Yo Alex, your new boyfriend?"

Jayden looked up to see a guy with blonde hair a couple years older than Alex, he's seen this man before, but he can't remember when.

"Agh bro, bad timing. This is my classmate Jayden, you've met him before."

"Oh yeah Jayden Mitchell, how are ya doing."  The guy came up and greeted Jayden, who nodded in response. This man's name is Karl.

"Alrighty Alex you're coming home with me. You got the national maths competition thing tomorrow. When are ya gonna learn to be a responsible adult?" He came and patted Alex on the shoulder.

"How did you even know I was here?" Alex said, giving in and walking home with his brother. "Laters Pajamas, we'll talk tomorrow hey?"

"Oh yeah I sent out some of my men looking for you, a couple of them got arrested and said they saw you here." 

Karl, Karl Watson. Brother of Alex Watson.

"Wait did you just casually tell me you guys enrolled me in a Maths Comp? You know I couldn't be fucked with those things."

"Hahaha, you know you'll come out as the top if you tried right?"

"It'll probably be Pajamas who's going to the internationals."

Their shadow shifted back and forth between the street lights, fading out and then in at a further location. Jayden sighed and went back into the store. There was already another customer waiting.

CHAPTER END

XXX

He snored softly, but it wasn't his groans that kept him awake. 

Jayden felt the weight of Alex arms as he tried to sleep, half of him was sprawled across the sheets, the other half rested on Jayden.

He tried to sleep, but every time he does the scent of Alex's body turned him on. Yearning for someone who is right next to you is a different kind of torture. He could feel Alex's heart beat pulsing through the mattress.

It was slow.

Alex had a healthy heart, carrying oxygen to every part of his body, the oxygen that came from his breath. 

In... snore

Out... The sleeves of Jayden's shirt fluttered gently.

In... snore

Out... 

XXX