Light snoring could still be heard from Riley's room indicating that the boy was yet to wake up.

The shower was absolute bliss to Alex, washing away the dirt and grime from the previous day, he positively sparkled by the time he got out.

He dressed quickly and decided to make breakfast for the two of them, as Alex walked down the short hallway, Riley's door opened, the man himself stepping out to grab stuff for a shower too.

They both looked att each other for a moment, letting the reality sink in that they were in their own place, Riley stretched like a cat then sauntered down the hallway to his bags.

Alex followed and promptly headed through to the kitchen to begin working on breakfast, he settled on making pancakes.

Riley showered quickly, the smell of pancakes making him drool, he quickly pulled on his jeans and t-shirt and headed down to the source of the smell.

Alex didn't notice Riley's entrance and a small, mischeivous smile appeared on Riley's face.

He snuck up on the other boy who was busy preparing breakfast and promptly wrapped his arms around him and settled his chin on the other boys shoulder, and quickly said "Morning babe"

Alex jumped, clutching his hand to his chest, Riley had scared the shit out of him.

"Oh god, never do that again, i feel like im gonna have a heart attack." Alex gasped.

Riley chuckled, "It'll teach you to stay aware of your surroundings, I didn't know you could cook."

Alex composed himself, "I've always enjoyed cooking, ever since i was little, i'd always help mom out in the kitchen, it was our way of spending time together." he explained.

"I can't cook for shit, i've always been more of a baker myself, I make the greatest brownies you've ever tasted." Riley chuckled.

Riley opened a cupboard and pulled out a couple of plates and set them on the worktop next to Alex and quickly set the table.

Riley stepped up next to Alex and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "Sorry for scaring you so much just now."

Alex smiled, "Don't worry about it, but just so you know, i'll be paying you back for that later."

Alex plated up the pancakes before putting some bacon and other stuff on the table.

The boys sat down to their breakfast and made plans for the day, they were gonna spend the morning unpacking stuff before lunch, then do some training, it'd been a while since either of them had done some decent exercise.

The two managed to get pretty much all their stuff unpacked in the morning then headed out into the sunshine of the clearing.

They faced each other and started stretching themselves out so they didn't injure their muscles.

They started by running laps of the clearing, which turned out to be a considerable side, you could easily fit another cabin in here but the boys knew that the empty space was where they were going to be training with robert.

A few laps later Alex and Riley sat down to get their breath back before moving on to sparring.

Alex's mom had taught him a few basic self-defense moves and Riley was helping him to perfect them before teaching him a few others.

Before long the boys were sweaty and tired but, they felt fulfilled, like this was something they should have been doing their whole lives.

The two showered and changed before Alex started making dinner, he settled on a chicken stir fry, quick and easy.

they decided to eat in the chairs by the fire this time, they put some kind of film on and just sat there, chatting away while they ate, by this point the two knew each other pretty much perfectly.

They washed up once they'd finished and settled onto the sofa to play some games for a bit.

After completely slaughtering Riley on Call of Duty for the 7th time they called a truce and settled down to watch a movie instead.

Alex picked an action film out from the pile of DVD's Riley brought with him a placed it in the player, he sat back on the sofa and pressed play.

Alex woke up slowly, his head was on something soft, not a pillow, he opened his eyes to see Riley smiling tenderly at him.

"What happened?", he yawned.

Riley chuckled, "you passed out after like 10 minutes of the film and fell onto my lap, you looked so peaceful and I couldn't bring myself to wake you."

"Sorry, i'll get up now." Alex said sitting up slowly.

Riley pushed him back down, "don't worry about it, it's actually kinda nice, i've always been a snuggler."

Alex flushed a little but he aquiesced, he was kind of enjoying it too.

Riley began stroking Alex's hair, looking down at his mate.

Alex just laid peacefully, they stayed there for a long time before they finally had to move when Riley needed to pee.

When he returned Alex had made them both a mug of hot chocolate, one of Riley's favourite things.

Riley sipped happily and took a seat next to Alex and leant his head on Alex's shoulder.

"You know, this feels right, like it's how i'd love my life to be forever." Riley sighed happily.

Alex was shocked by the other boys words momentarily because he'd been feeling the same way himself.

"It can be, i'm not going anywhere anytime soon" Alex promised, then tilted his face down to give the other boy a long, deep kiss, hoping to convey some of his feelings to the other boy.

Riley smiled into the kiss, understanding exactly what Alex wanted him to.

"I know how you feel, and you know how I feel but I want to say it to you properly anyway." Riley murmured sitting up to look into Alex's eyes, "I love you."

Alex flushed for a moment, before murmuring back "I love you too."