Love Conquers All

by Flaming Matt

Chapter 25

November 2015

"Ah well, that's hard to explain and it's quite late Tobias, but we can talk about it tomorrow if you want and I will tell you everything I know about it." Carter responds in a warm tone, as he notices the time and knew that they really needed to get to sleep and was hoping his friend would understand.

"Yeah Tobias, let's just get some sleep and well I'm kind of interested about it as well, because there's a couple of boys on the swim team without their foreskin and I've always been a little curious about why." Jordan then says as he decides to be honest and admit his own curiosity and also backing up his other friend, after noticing the time himself and knew they couldn't stay awake all night.

"Okay, I am really sleepy." Tobias then says with a smile, before stretching out and yawning.

"Just try not to do any more comparing guys." Carter then says in a teasing tone, after walking over to the light switch and turning the lights off, just after seeing the look on Jordan's face and grinning.

"Just shut up and go to sleep." Jordan then quickly retorts with a sigh, as he shifts a little and gets under the covers again, while he feels his friend doing the same, but couldn't help but feel a little awkward when he feels him snuggling up against him.

"You okay Jordan?" Carter then decides to ask in an amused tone, after hearing his friend making a weird shocked kind of noise and knowing how Tobias was, guessed that he had snuggled up to him and just found it funny.

"Fine and just go to sleep." Jordan quickly answers in a slightly awkward tone, before relaxing a little bit as he feels his friend moving a little and while a little weird, it did feel nice to be this close to someone, even if he would have preferred it to be his girlfriend, rather than his friend, especially since he could feel his dick against his hip.

"Goodnight." Tobias then says in a contented tone, as he closes his eyes and snuggles a little more against his friend, who he was happy didn't tell him to move, because he liked snuggling up to someone else and he always slept better and avoided having nightmares when he did.

"Night Tobias and you too Jordan." Carter then says in a sleepy tone, as he lets out a little giggle at the thought of his two friends snuggled naked together in his bed, but he knew why Tobias was doing it and he didn't want to tease his other friend too much, just in case he got all weird about it and told Tobias to move.

"Goodnight." Jordan responds in a more relaxed tone, as he slowly closes his eyes and actually shifts a little so that his friend could get a bit more comfortable against him.

The Next Day

"Dad?" Alex asks in a groggy tone, as he opens his eyes and sees his dad standing over his bed.

"Sorry to wake you up, but it's almost nine and we have a busy day ahead of us Alex." Gordon says in a soft tone, as he looks down lovingly at his son trying to wake up himself up fully.

"But er... well... er... what's that?" Alex then asks in the same groggy tone, as he struggles to wake up fully and spotting his dad had something in his hands.

"It's your breakfast Alex and while we have a lot to do today, I want you to eat this and then take a shower, but don't rush, we have time and all I want you to do is leave the clothes you want to wear out before you get in the shower and I will have them ironed before you get out." Gordon responds with a loving smile, as he waits for his son to fully wake up, before handing over the tray with his breakfast on it.

"But I thought I didn't have to go until like three Dad?" Alex then asks in a confused tone, as he gets himself in a more comfortable sitting position, before taking the tray from his dad and looking up to him.

"You don't, but I've just got off the phone to Mitch Walker and he wants us to go down to the station and have a talk with him, he only found out about Peter an hour ago and he really wants to hear what we both have to say, especially about Jarred and also about Peter's behaviour at the hospital, because he is speaking to him this afternoon and he wants to know as much as possible Alex." Gordon responds with a warm smile, as he explains why they were leaving earlier than they had planned the day before and while he could tell that his son didn't quite fully grasp what he was saying, he could tell that he wasn't going to argue and he was proud of him.

"You will be with me though right Dad? I don't want to talk to people alone, even if it is Mitch." Alex then decides to ask in a slightly concerned tone, as he continues to look at his dad and hoping he doesn't have to do it all alone.

"Of course I will and Mitch insisted on me being with you Alex, so you don't have to worry about that and you don't have to be nervous, because while it will be official and you will be giving a statement, Mitch isn't going to interrogate you and he isn't going to make you talk about things over and over again, he just wants you to be honest and tell him as much as you can, because he believes you about Jarred and he just wants to make sure that he doesn't get away with it." Gordon states in a firm and reassuring tone, as he smiles lovingly at his son, who to his relief, had taken his words in and looked a lot more relaxed now.

"I will, I promise Dad." Alex then says in a happier tone and while he didn't like having to give statements and be questioned, at least it would be with Mitch and his dad would be there, so he wasn't as nervous as he was the last time he went through it and the fact his boyfriend was alive and okay, well except for the memory loss, but his dad had reassured him that it was temporary and that reassured him a lot.

"Eat you breakfast then and just give me a call when you're heading to the bathroom." Gordon then says with a smile, as he quickly leans forward and kisses his son on the forehead. "I'm really proud of you Alex." He then says from the heart, before standing back up and smiling down at his son.

"I love you Dad." Alex responds with a shy smile and while he would be embarrassed if this was around his friends, he still loved how affectionate his dad had become over recent months and he really did love him.

"I love you too Alex and I always will." Gordon quickly responds himself, before giving his son another loving kiss on the forehead, before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.


"I just can't believe it." Wesley then says, for what seemed like the hundredth time already since Mitch had told them about Peter being found.

"Me neither, it was just so good." Ben then says in a dreamy tone, as he thinks about the night before and also after waking up as well, while ignoring his friend and not even noticing the suspicious look on his face.

"Okay, what's going on with him Matt? Because he's being weird and hasn't stopped grinning like some kind of creepy weirdo since you came in here." Wesley then asks in a suspicious and curious tone, as he looks between his two friends and wonders what was going on with them, because they were sitting practically on top of each other and didn't seem to want to be apart from one another and he couldn't quite work out why.

"He's just er... well he's okay Wesley." Matt responds slightly awkwardly and can see the unconvinced expression on his friends face. "But Peter being back is huge right? I mean I feel bad for Alex, because it sounded like it was pretty rough for him." He then states in a thoughtful tone, as he decides to try and distract his friend from asking too many questions about his fiancé's behaviour, which to him was just so adorable and kind of sexy, but he wasn't sure if they should tell their friend or not and wanted to leave that up to his fiancé to say.

"Oh right, well yeah, I mean Mitch didn't say much, but this amnesia thing sounds rough and well actually really confusing." Wesley then says, in a somewhat distracted tone, as he wants to find out what was going on with his friends, but also wanting to talk about their friend and after getting the not so subtle hint from his friend to change the subject, he decided to just go with it and wait until later to find out what was going on with them.

"Not really, I mean while I didn't really have amnesia, I had blocked out a lot of the stuff that David did to me at the time and it took me a long time to remember everything, so I kind of get it, even if it's not quite the same thing." Matt then says with a slightly downhearted smile, which quickly disappears when he feels his fiancé squeezing and gently rubbing his thigh under the table and despite his obvious distraction since they came into the house, it was sweet of him to still be paying enough attention to him, to comfort him when he needed it.

"So it's not really serious then?" Wesley then asks in a curious tone. "Er... not that what you said or went through wasn't serious, I mean I didn't mean..." He then quickly begins to say in a slightly mortified tone, as he realises just what he must have sounded like to his friend and he couldn't help but look at his friend in shame as he interrupts him and was sure he was going to shout at him or something.

"Relax Wesley, I knew what you meant and I think you're right, I mean from what Mitch told us, Peter remembers a lot and he is remembering more all the time, so it's only a matter of time before he remembers the truth about Alex and they can get back to being together again." Matt decides to say, as his friend starts to panic a little and while he could have took his words the wrong way, he knew what he meant and knew he didn't mean anything by it and was happy to stop him from getting himself worked up over it.

"Still though, I can't believe Mitch told us that Peter thinks Alex has been hurting him and that he wasn't even gay, I mean we went through a lot of crap to get them to admit how they felt and get together and I can't believe he can't remember any of that." Wesley then says with a shrug of the shoulders, while feeling relieved about not offending his friend on the inside.

"I'm just so happy and I agree with Wesley." Ben then says with a contented sigh, before nestling his head on to his fiancé's chest with a happy smile.

"That's great Ben, but er... well I'm happy too." Matt then says in a slightly awkward tone, before giving their friend a pleading look and hopes that he understands and doesn't go back to asking what was up with his fiancé.

"So er... anyway Matt, what do you think about him forgetting that?" Wesley then asks in a distracted tone, as he just about manages to stop himself from asking the obvious, after seeing the pleading look on his friends face and knew there must be a reason and he didn't want to do anything to upset either of them.

"Well, I don't really know Wesley, I mean Mitch sort of mentioned that stuff about Jarred and if that's true, then it could be because he's been lying to Peter all this time and that's why he can't remember the truth yet." Matt responds in an unsure tone and while he wanted to kill the bully, he also remembered what his brother had told them and until it's proven, then Jarred could be completely innocent, so until then, no one could really do anything.

"Fucking Jarred, I swear to god if it's true, then he better hope they lock him up, because bullying and stuff is one thing, but doing what he did to Alex and then kidnapping and well er... doing whatever he's done to Peter is just going too far and it's sick." Wesley then states in an angry and frustrated tone, as he thinks about his former friend and how much he hated him, which actually made him think about Mitch and gave him more of an insight and understanding into how he felt about his former best friend Conner, although he quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind, because the last thing he needed to do right now was think of the person who murdered his brother.

"Ben and I suspected he was involved and we've talked to Alex about it before as well and if it is true, then we need to have words with Barry, because we think he is involved as well." Matt then says in a slightly reluctant tone, because while Barry was technically still their friend, if he was a part of what had happened, then he was in serious trouble, but there was still a part of him that didn't want to believe it and he was genuinely hoping they were all wrong about him.

"If he is, then er... shit Matt, he's been Ben and Carter's friend since they were like er... well since they started school, how do we even deal with him?" Wesley then asks in a unsure tone, as he thinks about their friend, who was more their friend than his, but he still knew him and he had always thought he was normal and like the others, so for him to be a part of something like this, well it was hard to imagine and he certainly didn't know how to deal with it and even if he should, because there others were closer and he felt like it should be their choice and then there was Alex and he had no idea what he would want to do to Barry.

"Wait what? What about Barry?" Ben then quickly asks, as he snaps out of his dreamy thoughts at the mention of their friend and wonders what they were talking about.

"We were just talking about what happened to Peter and how Jarred might be responsible and if he is, then Barry could be as well and we just don't know what we will do if he is." Matt quickly answers his fiancé's question, before their friend can make some kind of joke at his expense, because he could tell from his expression after glancing at him, that he was tempted to do it.

"Oh right, well I think Alex will want to rip his head off, but I don't know what we should do, well I mean he won't be our friend any more, he can't be, but then there's Patrick to think about and while we aren't that close any more, I don't want to hate him or make him feel bad, but he's also Barry's best friend and they're practically brothers, so I feel sorry for him and I don't really want to make him choose, making people choose is never fair and never works out." Ben then says in a sincere tone, as he quickly thinks about what his fiancé and friend were talking about, which despite being distracted by other things, he had actually been half listening to.

"Still though, they're our age, how can people our age do that?" Wesley then decides to say in a puzzled tone, he just didn't think kids their age could do something like this, sure bullying could be bad, but almost killing someone and kidnapping the other person was... well it was just too hard to get his head around.

"I don't know, but well I don't get what Jarred's plan was, I mean it's obviously something to do with revenge against Alex, I mean I think that's the reason, but what was his plan, because even if he's tricked Peter into thinking they're friends, he would still get in trouble, because he has already told the police he didn't know where Peter was or what happened to him, so he must have known that would get him in trouble." Matt then says in a confused tone, as he wonders how Jarred ever thought he would get away with it.

"Yeah and there is no way he could have known Peter would get amnesia, so as soon as Peter was found or well turn up like he did, then he must have known Peter would tell people where he was and who he was with, I mean Jarred is an idiot, but he can't be that big of an idiot." Ben then adds in a neutral tone, as he thinks about what his fiancé had just said and as he thought about it, it really didn't make any sense to go through all that, if you knew you would get caught, because only an idiot would come up with a plan like that.

"Well Mitch kind of told me that you guys thought that maybe someone older might have been behind all of it, like came up with the plan and got Jarred and maybe Barry to go through with it, so if they made it sound okay, then I can see Jarred going through with it and not really thinking about what would happen at the end, he was never really the kind of person who came up with plans, he was never that smart." Wesley then decides to say in a slightly cautious tone, as he didn't want his friend to think he and Mitch had been talking behind their backs and talking about them.

"Did he tell you who we thought it could be?" Matt then decides to ask his friend, in a slightly hesitant tone, they knew what had happened at the church and what Conner had confessed and he didn't want to bring him up, just in case his friend reacted badly and he didn't want to be the reason he got upset.

"Yeah and er... well yeah, but can we not say his name, I don't want to think about that today, well as much as I can avoid it anyway." Wesley answers honestly and while it would still be hard to talk about Conner, not hearing his name out loud, would make it easier and he was confident that he could handle the conversation without it being said.

"Well okay, well we think if he did come up with the actual plan, then what you said about Jarred being easy to convince to go through with it is probably right and if he made Jarred focus on just hurting Peter and Alex, then it makes sense for Jarred to maybe not even think about getting in trouble until it was too late." Matt then says in a careful tone, as he makes sure not to mention Conner by name and could tell that even talking like this, his friend was finding it hard.

"I still thinks it's personal and all about Alex though, I mean we all know what Jarred is, he's a bully and he definitely never liked Peter, but he and Alex were best friends, they'd been best friends since they were born and Alex turned his back on him and he did it for a boy that Jarred hated, so I think that's all Jarred would have been focusing on and it might be the reason he carried on, even when he must have figured out he was going to get in trouble, I mean why else would be keep going." Ben then says in a thoughtful tone, as he does the same as his fiancé and avoids mentioning Conner's name and focusing on Jarred as much as possible,

"Since I've known him, he's always been territorial, most bullies are I guess and well I can see him saying fuck it to getting in trouble and just focusing on making Alex pay for what he did." Wesley then adds in a neutral tone, as he thinks about what his friends had just said and found himself agreeing with them and how it made what Mitch had told them, make a lot more sense that what it did at the time.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't even realise how much trouble he will be in, I mean I reckon he probably thinks he will get grounded and stuff like that, I mean if er... well if he was told that's all that would happen and maybe even convinced that he was too young to get in serious trouble, then maybe he doesn't even know just how much trouble he is really going to be in." Ben then says in a slightly surprised tone, as he thinks about it a little bit more and he could really believe Jarred would be that stupid and naïve.

"Fuck, you're probably right, I mean he's arrogant enough to believe that kind of thing and he probably hasn't even really thought about how serious assault, kidnapping and lying to the police, actually is and I know I'm only twelve guys, but I've been talking to Mitch about the law and stuff for a while now and those are really bad and Jarred is twelve, that means he can be tried as an adult if the crime is serious enough, I mean I'm not saying that will happen, but it could and shit, I bet Jarred hasn't even thought about that." Wesley then says in a shocked tone and while he wanted to hate the other boy, he actually felt a little sorry for him, because if he was manipulated, then it wasn't all his fault, although the anger he felt towards Conner, was clouding his judgement a little bit.

"He could go to prison? Like real prison?" Matt then quickly asks in a shocked tone, as he takes in his friends words and despite his hate for Jarred, he was only twelve and he would get killed or worse in prison with adults and he wouldn't wish that on anybody, well that wasn't exactly true, there were a couple of people, but they were already dead, so it didn't matter, but still, he didn't think it would be right for Jarred to go to a real prison.

"No, no, Mitch said that would never happen, but if he's tried as an adult, he said that it could mean he gets loads of years and then depending on how many, he could go from like juvenile prison, to a real prison when he reaches er... well I can't remember what Mitch said, but it's either sixteen years old or eighteen, but I don't know which for sure." Wesley responds honestly, as he tries to explain what he meant to his friend and make sure that he didn't confuse them.

"Oh shit, so he..." Ben the starts to say in a shocked tone, before trailing off and just thinking about what could happen to the other boy and just how badly he might have messed up his entire life.

"Yeah, I kind of want to feel bad for him, I mean if he really gets in trouble, but well he hurt our friends and it wasn't just kid bullying stuff, he broke the law and he could have killed Alex and Peter, so I don't want him to get away with it." Matt then says in a confused tone, he didn't like seeing anyone suffer, but Jarred had to pay for what he did, otherwise he could turn into someone like Conner and that would be even worse.

"I wish Carter was here." Wesley then says in a sad tone, as he thinks about how much better he would be feeling right now, if his boyfriend was with him and while he wanted to stay positive, all this talk had just reminded of Conner and it just got to him and he was feeling lonely.

"You're going to surprise him later though right?" Matt quickly asks in a slightly cautious tone, as he tries to gauge his friends mood and not say something to upset him.

"Yeah Wesley, you told us he said he loved you last night and you have to go see him, he will love hearing you play." Ben then decides to add to his fiancé's words, after picking up on their friends change in mood and deciding to drop their other conversation for now and focus on this.

"I know and knowing he doesn't hate me is great, really great, but I still miss him and I just want to hold him, I love holding him and hearing him giggle and even when he tells me off for doing something stupid, I just miss it all." Wesley responds with a small smile, as he thinks about his boyfriend and much he was looking forward to being with him again.

"I feel the same way about Matt, I hate being away from him and I know it's going be even harder after last night and this morning, because there's no way I want to be away from him again." Ben then says in a dreamy and happy tone, as he snuggles back up to his fiancé with a contented smile.

"After last night and this..." Wesley then begins to repeat his friends words, before suddenly looking at them and grinning. "You mean you finally did it Ben?" He then asks in an amazed tone and while he knew that Matt had already gave Ben his virginity, he also knew that Ben had been reluctant to give his up and as he thinks about his friends behaviour since they had come into the house earlier, it just made perfect sense in his head now.

"Hey! Not so loud Wesley, my mum is still home and Mitch hasn't left for work yet." Matt then quickly says in a quiet tone, as he gives his friend a serious look, not that he was ashamed of what had happened, but there are just some things you don't tell you mum about and this was definitely something he didn't want her to overhear.

"Oh shit, sorry guys, but this is huge, I mean you er... well how come Ben, I know you've been a bit worried, but well er... wow." Wesley then says in an apologetic tone, as he tries to think of something to say and he just couldn't quite put anything into words, he was just happy for them both and he knew himself how much it meant to give that part of yourself to someone and it was special.

"I know, but it's hard to explain, but it was so good Wesley and now I get why you three like it so much, I mean yeah it was a bit painful and stuff at first and even a bit later, but it just felt so good and well I'm just so happy." Ben responds as best as he could, after finding it actually quite difficult to explain how he felt and why he had felt ready the night before, but as he looks at his friend, he can tell that he understood and that made him feel happier as well.

"And now I know what you three have been enjoying all this time, because I thought blow jobs felt good, but actually being inside..." Matt then decides to say in a quiet tone, but before he can finish, he couldn't help but turn bright red and look over towards the door looking mortified at who was standing there.

"I don't even know where to start." Mitch states with a shake of the head and while he wasn't angry about what they were actually talking about, this was definitely not the place, especially since Sarah was still home and he was a little surprised that Matt would even risk having this kind of conversation in the house.

"How long have you been there?" Ben then asks in a mortified tone and while they had few secrets and have talked about this sort of thing together, it was completely different to actually have him not only know he had had sex with his fiancé completely now, but also for him to know how good he thought it felt.

"Too long Ben... too long." Mitch responds with a shake of the head and a slightly blush, because he may have known the boys have had sex, but to hear his little brother talking about losing his virginity and to hear him describe how good it felt, was a little too open for him and he really wished he hadn't walked into the room at that point.

"Oh god!" Ben then says, as he just stares at his brother opened mouthed and really didn't know what to do or say now.

"Jim brought me and Carter inflatable butt plugs, so that we could prepare ourselves for when we had sex." Wesley then states in an awkward tone, as he decides to try and help his friend out and try and draw the attention away from him and what Mitch had obviously overheard.

"He what now?" Mitch quickly asks in response, as he forgets about his little brothers sex life for a moment and looks at the other boy in surprise and just couldn't believe Jim would have brought the boys butt plugs.

"Well er... we kind of talked about it and he picked up on it and gave us a couple of long talks about how we were too young, but well we wanted to do it anyway and he sort of realised that and he wanted to at least make sure that we were prepared." Wesley quickly explains in a slightly defensive tone and while at the time it was mortifying having his brother knowing and actually being involved in his sex life, he appreciated it and looking back now, it just made him realise that his brother did love him and even though they didn't get long together being that close, he was glad they had at least that.

"Yeah Mitch, it just sounds like Jim was being a good brother and it's not like you can talk, you actually took Ben to Jim's sex shop and made him buy stuff, even though he didn't really know what was going on." Matt then decides to say with a slightly cocky smile, which faltered a little when he feels his fiancé tensing up a little and was worried that he might have upset him by bringing it up.

"Well, I wasn't saying Jim did anything wrong Matt, it's just a bit of a surprise and well, you're right and I kind of regret taking Ben to his shop, I meant well, but I didn't really think it through that much." Mitch then say in response, as he decides to just be honest and accept that he really couldn't judge his friend for what he did and if anything, as he processed it in his head, he was actually proud of him and as much as he joked about and played pranks, he was a good person at heart and a in the end, he was a good big brother to Wesley as well.

"It wasn't that bad, I mean I didn't really get it or really know what anything was, but I liked the stuff I got and er... well I don't er... well it was okay Mitch." Ben then says in a sincere, if not somewhat embarrassed tone, as he thinks back to that day and especially the incident with the lube and how embarrassing he found that, after realising what he had been eating and what had been covering his face in the shop, but despite that, he was happy he got the toys and he knew his fiancé enjoyed them as well.

"Is it okay if I go for a swim on my own for a little while?" Wesley then decides to ask, as the conversation starts to get to him a little bit, it was one thing to talk about Conner earlier, but that and talking about his brother now, was just too much and without his boyfriend to lean on right now, he just needed to be alone and he had always found swimming relaxing and even though he would never be as good as someone like Jordan, he was pretty good at it and it gave him a lot of satisfaction.

"You okay?" Matt and Ben quickly ask at the same time and although it was usually funny when they did that, they were too worried about their friend to take much notice.

"Yeah, I just need to clear my head, I want to win back Carter later remember and I can't do it, if I'm thinking about er... well you know." Wesley responds with a sad smile, as he tries to explain himself as clearly as he could.

"Your speedos are in the wash Wesley, so just go in your briefs and you will have to either go home commando or borrow a pair of Ben's." Mitch then says in a warm tone, as he walks over and puts a hand on the boys shoulder and gives it a quick squeeze, before letting go and walking over to the sink.

"You can borrow a pair of mine, but do you want us to come out and watch or do you want to be alone?" Ben then asks in a friendly tone, as he looks at his friend and could see that while he was a bit down, it wasn't anything too serious and was happy to sit and watch him swim or just spend a bit more time alone with his fiancé.

"Just on my own, well for a while, it's your house guys, so if you want to come out and watch, I won't mind, just try and give me some time alone please." Wesley responds with a genuine smile, as he gives all three of them an appreciative smile and knew that he had the best friends anyone could ever ask for and he knew he was lucky to have them.

"I need to talk to these two anyway, but we will walk out to the back together Wesley, I don't want to risk Sarah overhearing us and the pool house is the best place for us to talk." Mitch then states with a little grin at his brothers, who he knew would assume he meant talking about sex, but he actually wanted to talk about the case with them, they just didn't have to know that yet.

"But er..." Ben then quickly begins to protest, as he fears the worst after the look his brother gives them, but quickly finds himself being cut off by him.

"As fun as it is to tease you both and make you sweat, it's not about what you two get up to alone together Ben, although I will remind you both and you as well Wesley, that if you ever need to talk to someone about that stuff, then I'm here for you and you know you can trust me." Mitch states in a serious tone and while he did want to tease his brothers, he could see Matt's expression and he really didn't want to put him through any more than he had already been through.

"Oh, okay I guess." Ben then says in response, as he gives his brother a curious look and despite wanting to ask what he wanted to talk to them about, he decides to let it go and quickly gets up to get his fiancé's cane for him from the other side of the table.

"Thanks." Matt then says with a warm smile, after taking his cane from his fiancé and giving him a kiss after standing up. "Mitch, we aren't in trouble are we" He then decides to ask, as he follows his friend and brother out the patio door and into the garden, which was a little harder than it normally would be, but as he glances at his fiancé, he couldn't help but grin a little bit, because it was obvious he was still feeling a little tender himself.

"Not this time, it's actually just about the case, I'm going to be talking to a lot of people today and I just want to go over the things you've told me before about what you think happened when Alex was attacked and Peter went missing, it's nothing official, but I want to make sure I have as much information as possible, that's all." Mitch answers honestly, after thinking about it and not seeing any reason not to tell them and the look of relief on both his brothers faces, was enough for him to know he made the right call.

"See you later guys and I really don't mind if you come out and watch, just give me a bit of time and if it's okay, don't come in the pool, I just really need this." Wesley then says with a slightly forced smile, before slowly stripping down to his briefs and folding his clothes on the nearest chair.

"No problem Wesley, we get it." Ben responds with a smile, while giving his fiancé's hand a gentle squeeze and heading to their home.

"Call out if you need anything Wesley and don't go too hard." Mitch responds as well, as he gives the boy a reassuring smile, before turning and following his brothers to their pool house.

"I will, I promise." Wesley then says, more to himself than to his friends, before doing a few quick stretches and then diving into the pool and begins to swim.

Two Hours Later

"How do you feel now?" Matt asks in a quiet and soothing tone, as he continues to massage his fiancé's back and neck.

"So, so good, so good." Ben responds in a dreamy tone, as he moans and groans as he feels his fiancé's hands pressing and kneading his muscles and it just felt so nice and relaxing.

"I know we've talked about this already, but I know how I felt after you first did it to me and well just be honest, are you sure you're okay?" Matt then asks in a caring tone and while he already knew the answer, he just couldn't help asking again and just wanted to make sure he really was okay.

"Well it's a bit embarrassing walking around like that, I mean I think my dad and Sarah believed our excuse, but Mitch knew straight away and if Wesley didn't have so much going on, he would have figured it out a lot sooner than he did." Ben answers honestly, as he decides to just go along with his fiancé and let him get it out of his system, because when the roles were reversed, he had been the same and while it was a little annoying, it just showed how much they care for one another, so it wasn't an issue at all for him to answer the same thing over and over again a few times.

"Yeah, I guess my limp came in handy, I walk funny all the time, so no one really noticed the difference." Matt then says with a soft smile, as he gently shifts down his fiancé's legs until he was below his knees and gently begins to massage his thighs and bum, while enjoying the soft moans he was getting in response.

"You don't walk funny Matt." Ben responds after a few moments of enjoying his fiancé's hands working their magic on him. "Seriously Matt, I know you weren't being completely serious, but you don't walk funny or weird or stupid, you're perfect and I love everything about you." He then decides to say, after feeling his fiancé's hands stopping and resting on his thighs and he knew he was thinking about what he had just said and probably some sort of response and just decided to get in before he could.

"Turn over." Matt then says in a slightly forceful tone, as he takes in his fiancé's words and despite knowing they couldn't do anything too serious, he was feeling horny and he at least wanted to be able to kiss him and grind against him for a little while.

"I love you so much Matthew Walker." Ben says in a loving tone, as he does as he is told and turns over, before feeling himself quickly being laid on and kissed passionately.

"I love you too Benjamin Walker and I always will." Matt then says from the heart, after leaning up from their kiss and looking down at his fiancé. "Ben, can we just hold each other please?" He then asks in a slightly shy tone and despite being horny a few moments earlier and he still was a little bit, hearing his fiancé telling him he loved him and again using his surname and not his actual one, just made him want to just be in his arms and as much fun and as good as all the sex stuff was, he still just loved holding each other and staring into each others eyes.

"You don't have to ask, you know I love doing that just as much as you do Matt." Ben responds with a sweet and loving smile, before gently rolling on to his side and taking his fiancé with him in the process. "I love looking into you eyes like this, I don't think I will ever get tired of it." He then says in a softer tone, before leaning a little closer and giving him a quick and loving peck on the lips.

"Me neither." Matt responds with a happy smile, before just cuddling a little more with his fiancé and staring into his beautiful sparkling green eyes, as he does the same in return.


"How's he been really doing Gordon?" Mitch asks in a concerned tone, as he looks at the man sympathetically and could tell that he was struggling to deal with everything.

"He's putting on a brave face right now Mitch, but he was devastated yesterday and I don't know how he's going to cope if Peter doesn't remember the truth." Gordon responds honestly and while his son really was putting on a brave face today, he knew the truth and it broke his heart to see how much he was hurting inside.

"I thought his memory would come back to him though, he's remembered so much, so he has to remember how he feels about Alex eventually right?" Mitch then quickly asks in a slightly confused tone, as he looks at the man and wonders if he had been given the wrong information or not from his team.

"With amnesia of any kind, you never know how extensive or how long the recovery will take, if the person even recovers from it at all Mitch, but with Peter, I have no doubts about him remembering everything, well everything important, but I just don't know if it will be fast enough to stop it from affecting Alex, he's already close to the edge and with his mother and then with his hearing about his attack on Jarred, I'm just scared that it will be too much for him." Gordon responds honestly, as he gives the young man a strained smile and could tell that he sympathised with him and maybe if it was anyone else, he may dismiss it a little bit, but the young man had been through so much himself and he knew he understood.

"Well this isn't official Gordon and please don't repeat this to anyone, especially Alex, but from what I have been told, Alex's case is being reviewed due to new evidence and while it doesn't mean he will get off with it and won't face charges, it does mean that if Jarred is found to be behind or a part of what happened to him and to Peter, then that will play a role in what happens to Alex, because I know they're already suspicious about the fact they received an anonymous call and the officers arrived just in time to see what happened, which to me is good news and depending on how things unfold with my investigation, then I think at worst Alex will be given a slap on the wrist and maybe something to deter him from doing anything like that again, but I can't see him getting anything that would give him a criminal record, not now." Mitch then decides to say in a slightly hesitant tone, after looking around to make sure they were alone and while he couldn't give the man any guarantees, he was hoping it would at least give him one less thing to worry about, while also hoping that he understood that it might not mean his sons gets away without some kind of punishment.

"Would it help if Alex volunteered for community service? There is a program at the hospital and also at the local park, which would give him some honest work to do, I mean if you think it could help." Gordon then decides to ask, after taking a few moments to process what the young man had just told him and could feel himself feeling relieved inside and even though he understood that his son could still end up with a criminal record, he still appreciated what he had said and the risk he was taking in telling him anything in the first place.

"Honestly Gordon, it can't hurt, but I think he might be given that anyway, the best thing you can do is just make sure Alex continues to tell the truth and show remorse, especially now Gordon, because his feelings towards Jarred are going to be heightened and it's really important that he doesn't let that affect him and give the judge the impression that he isn't sorry for what he did to him." Mitch responds honestly, as he gives the man a sympathetic look again and could only imagine what it was like for him, because the way he felt hopeless around his brothers had been hard, but he knew it must be a million times worse if it was your own child, even if he did at times view Ben as that.

"I've talked to him about that Mitch and I will do it again, but seeing Peter and Peter reacting to him like he did, well it hurt him Mitch and I'm worried about him." Gordon then states in a honest tone, as he gives the young man a sad and worried look, his son was all he had in his life now and he loved him more than anything and not being able to protect him from this, just made him feel useless.

"If you need to talk to someone Gordon, then talk to Sarah, she knows what it's like and while the situations aren't the same and well they don't really compare, she will still want to help you Gordon and you know Alex is always welcome at our house and still has his key, so you know she cares about him as well." Mitch then decides to suggest and while he was sympathetic to what was going on, it wasn't close to what Sarah and Matt had been through, so he felt like he needed to say that, even if it might be taken the wrong way, he thought the man was intelligent enough to understand why his had said it.

"I understand Mitch and thank you, I just love him so much and the changes he's made over the past six months especially, have just made me so proud of him and I just don't want him to give up." Gordon responds with an appreciative smile, which falters slightly as he thinks about his son and how this could affect him and how he goes about his life from now on.

"He has some good and solid friends now Gordon and they've all been through something, so they will help him and all you can do is continue to be a good dad, because from what both Ben and Matt tell me, you're doing a pretty good job of it and they get that from Alex himself, so just keep doing that and Alex will be okay, he may struggle and he may lash out or something sometimes, but he will be okay." Mitch then says in a reassuring tone, before looking past the man and seeing Alex walking towards them. "Hey Alex." He then calls out, just to make sure Gordon knew his son was coming back and not risking him saying any more, just in case Alex gets upset that they were talking about him, even if he didn't think he would, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Hey Mitch and hey Dad." Alex responds in a cheerful tone, he had just gotten off the phone to Tobias and while he may have preferred one of his other friends to talk to about what was going on, his friend had soon proved him wrong and the talk had helped him a lot and he knew that he had underestimated his friend and did feel bad for doubting him.

"You're looking happier Alex, I take it the talk with your friend went well?" Gordon asks with a smile, which falters a little bit, as he thinks about how patronising that sounded, although the smile on his sons face relaxes him enough to know that he hadn't taken it that way.

"Yeah, Tobias is great, just the way he talks, he just sees the world a little differently to everyone else or well anyone I know and it helped, it helped a lot." Alex responds with the same happy tone and while he still had everything else to deal with going through his mind, his friend had given him a bit of a reality check and it was just what he needed.

"You're telling me Alex, I mean when he isn't being an adorable moron and saying the most random and embarrassing things, he definitely has his moments of brilliance and he knows what he's talking about when he talks like that." Mitch responds with a wry smile, as he thinks about how his brother is like a bunch of different people rolled into one and while he might say some weird and revealing stuff at times, he wouldn't change him for the world.

"Are you ready to go back in the room now and finish the interview Alex?" Gordon then decides to ask with a warm smile, as he looks at his son and decides that he seemed okay and ready to carry on and get this last part over with, so that they could go out for a few hours to relax and then prepare for the hearing in the afternoon.

"Yeah, but er... it's not going to be long is it Mitch, I mean like the others and asking the same questions?" Alex then asks as he gives his dad a big smile, before turning to his friends older brother.

"There will be some questions from earlier, it's just how it works Alex, but this will be more about what actually happened at your house when you attacked Jarred, I just want to make sure I have everything and then match it up with what Jarred says happened, so I need you to be honest Alex, even if it makes you look bad, because it's those kind of details that will help us with our investigation." Mitch responds honestly and while he could see the boys face drop a little, he could also tell that he understood and knew he had to tell the truth.

"Okay, but er... well can I do this one alone Dad? I just want to er... well I just want to do it on my own and it might help for my hearing later." Alex then asks in a half pleading tone, as he looks to his dad and hopes that he doesn't take it the wrong way and think that he didn't need him, because he did, but he needed to be strong and if he was going to be ready for the hearing, he felt like he needed to at least do this talk with Mitch, on his own and see if he could handle it.

"Of course Alex, but I will be right outside and if you need me to come in, then just ask Mitch and he will come get me." Gordon responds proudly and while his son had done interviews without him, this would be the first one since it was almost confirmed that Jarred was involved in the attack at their home and taking Peter, so he quickly worked out why his son had asked to do this alone and was proud of him and also a little curious as to whether Tobias had something to do with it, especially as he thinks about what his son had said about his talk with his friend.

"Remember Alex, while this is official, it also isn't an interrogation and I want you to be as comfortable as possible, so if it does get a bit too much, just say something and we can either take a break or your dad can come in, we have plenty of time and we will go at your pace." Mitch then adds with a reassuring smile, before getting up and walking towards the interview room and opening the door.

"I know and I will be okay." Alex then says with a confident smile, before getting up and giving his dad a quick cuddle and then walking into the room and sitting down.

"I know I don't need to say this, but please make it as easy for him as you can Mitch, he's still just a kid." Gordon then says in a quiet tone, as he walks closer to the door and making sure his son can't hear them.

"I know Gordon, I'm on his side and even if he doesn't ask, the moment I think he is starting to struggle, I will ask for you to be called in." Mitch responds in a sincere tone, as he keeps his voice low enough for the boy not to be able to hear them, after quickly picking up on the man's tone and working out that this was just between the two of them.

"Thank you Mitch, you're a good person and a good officer." Gordon then says in a genuine tone, before watching as the young man smiles back and shuts the door, which he looks at for a few moments, before turning back to the chairs and sitting down, as he waits for the interview to finish.


"Okay Mum and I love you." Matt responds with a smile, as he limps out of the patio door with the tray in his hands and smiles up at his mum.

"I love you too and I will be home in an hour or two, so if you need anything, then just give me a call and I will come back if you need me to." Sarah then says in a kind and loving tone, as she looks down at her son and despite being a little worried about him making it to the table with his hands full and not being able to use his cane, she wasn't going to bring it up and make him second guess himself, especially since he seemed to be in a very good mood today.

"We will and don't worry Mum, we will be okay and Tobias and Lily are going to be here soon, so it won't just be us three here on our own." Matt responds in a reassuring tone, as he gives his mum a big smile, before edging away slightly, as the tray was quite heavy and awkward to balance.

"I know and I love you Matt, just be careful and don't over do it and that is for everyone and not just you." Sarah then says in a soft tone, before smiling at her sons expression. "Get going Sweetheart, I will lock up and remember, if any of you come in the house, make sure you don't drag any water through, so dry off first." She then decides to say in a more serious tone, before leaning down and giving her son a loving kiss on the cheek.

"I will and bye Mum, I love you." Matt responds with a loving smile, before turning away from her and limping towards his friend and fiancé, who were sitting on the edge of the pool together.

"I love you too Sweetheart." Sarah then says, before closing the door and doing one last check of the house, before see leaves to meet up with her friends in town.

"You know you should have let one of us do that." Ben states with a slight frown, as he gets up and watches his fiancé putting the tray down on the table.

"And you should know that I'm not a cripple and that I'm quite capable of carrying a tray Ben," Matt quickly retorts with a stern expression, before smiling as his fiancé gives him a slightly guilty look.

"Sorry." Ben then responds in a bashful tone, after understanding his fiancé loud and clear and knew that he meant it.

"You feeling better Wesley?" Matt then asks, as he looks over to their friend, who was still sitting on the edge of the pool and just looking at them.

"Yeah, well no, but er... shit, yeah, I'm feeling better and it will be nice to see Tobias and Lily in a little while." Wesley responds a little awkwardly and could feel himself blushing a little bit at the way he just sounded.

"Keep talking like that and Tobias will think he has competition." Ben then quickly teases his friend, as he does his best to try and forget about what he had said to his fiancé, who he knew was being serious in his response and still felt a little upset by his own comments, so he wanted to try and not let it get to him too much.

"Very funny." Wesley retorts half heartedly, as he gives his friends a smile and slowly gets to his feet. "Wow, that didn't look that big from over there." He then says in an impressed tone, as he walks up to the table and sees just how big the tray of food was and found himself feeling even hungrier than he had been feeling a few moments before.

"Well we can have a couple each I guess, but we should wait for Tobias and Lily to come before we start eating." Ben then says, as he looks at the sandwiches and sausage rolls, along with the salad and crisps and could see why his friend was looking at them and was tempted to stuff his face right now as well.

"Just remember that Tobias really likes tuna, so try not to eat too much of those." Matt then decides to say in a thoughtful tone, as he looks at the food and then at his friend and fiancé. "I know, but he really likes those and I know you two like chicken and the cheese ones more than tuna, so it's not like you will be missing out." He then says in a more serious tone, as he gives them both a smile and pours himself some OJ from one of the jugs he had brought out before the food.

"Do we know what Lily likes?" Wesley then asks in a curious tone and while he wasn't that bothered by what his friend had asked, he was hoping he didn't have to be too careful about what he could eat, especially since there seemed to be enough to feed a small army.

"She's not fussy like Tobias, but she does prefer apple juice over orange, but you prefer OJ like we do anyway Wesley, so that's not a problem." Matt answers with a smile and sits down opposite him and next to his fiancé, who to his slight amusement, had got them both a cheese sandwich and a few crisps to eat.

"What? It's just a couple of things." Ben then quickly says in a slightly defensive tone, as he sees his fiancé's expression and knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Thanks for giving me space earlier guys, I really needed to just swim and clear my head." Wesley then decides to say with a sincere smile, as he looks at his two friends and seeing them sitting next to each other.

"Any time Wesley, we could tell you needed it and it was quite cool watching you just swimming like that." Matt responds in an appreciative and understanding tone, as he can see how much more relaxed their friend was now and was happy that they hadn't put him off when they had come out and sat and watched him swimming.

"You must be able to give Jordan a run for his money now, I mean I know you weren't racing or anything, but you're so quick Wesley." Ben then decides to say in a genuinely impressed tone, he had seen their other friend in actual races and knew he was quick, but this was Wesley and he looked pretty quick himself.

"You're kidding right?" Wesley quickly asks in an amused tone, as he gives both his friends a big smile.

"What do you mean?" Ben then asks in a slightly hesitant tone and even though his friend was smiling, he wasn't sure if he was joking around or if he had taken offence somehow.

"I might be quick, but trust me, Jordan is on another level and I'm not being modest guys, He's actually asked me to help him practice a few times and we've had a couple of races and I can keep up with him for a little while, especially in the shorter races, but I've never beaten him and that's with me really trying and although he never admits it, he always holds back a little." Wesley then says, as he decides to explain it as best as he could, just how wrong they were about him being able to compete with their friend in the pool.

"Seriously? He was like fat earlier in the year and he doesn't do any competitions." Ben quickly responds in an unconvinced tone and while he knew their friend was good and he wasn't trying to say he wasn't, he couldn't see him being that much better than Wesley was, who was just great at everything.

"I'm not kidding Ben, I even spoke to Mr Roberts and he said that Jordan always had potential, but ever since he put on all that weight and then started getting fit again, he's really improved and if he really went all out and I'm talking fully committed guys, he could be a professional swimmer and with the right coaches, maybe do stuff like the Olympics one day." Wesley then states in a serious tone and while it would require their friend pretty much dedicating all his time towards it, it was definitely something he was capable of according to their gym teacher.

"The Olympics? Come on, he's Jordan and I know he is quick, but the Olympics?" Ben then says in disbelief, it was one thing to acknowledge that their friend was better than Wesley, but the Olympics, that was insane and crazy talk.

"Why not? He's only twelve and in great shape Ben, I mean everyone starts somewhere and all the people who have been to the Olympics were kids once, I mean it takes years and years of dedication, but all the legends started of the same way and it will be down to Jordan to decide if he wants to at least try." Wesley responds with a shrug of the shoulders, as he looks at his friend and could see what was going through his mind and to be fair, he had thought the same thing at first, but he had swam with Jordan enough times now, to know that he at least had the potential to try.

"That would be so cool if he did go for it, has he said anything about it to you yet Wesley?" Matt then decides to ask, as he finishes his OJ and decides to join in the conversation and while he was as surprised as his fiancé. He could tell by the way their friend was talking, that he believed what he was saying and he had no reason to doubt him.

"No, I mean we have talked about swimming and he is interested, but he isn't thinking Olympics and I know Mr Roberts hasn't brought it up with him yet, he told me he wanted to see how he does at the end of the year swim meet and if his times are good, then he will talk to him about it and what he will have to do to get to that level." Wesley answers with a smile, before taking a couple of sips of his juice.

"Why not talk to him about it now though?" Matt then asks in a curious tone, after thinking about it for a few moments and not understanding why their teacher would wait.

"Yeah, surely if he talks to him about it now, he will work harder and probably win the swim thing." Ben then decides to say as well, as he wonders why their gym teacher wouldn't talk to their friend as soon as possible.

"I actually thought the same thing and when I asked him, he said to be a top athlete, never mind an Olympic athlete, you need to be able to self motivate and push yourself and he wants to see if Jordan has that or not, before talking to him and recommending a coach for him." Wesley answers again and this time picks up his sandwich and eats it as he watches his two friends thinking over his response.

"So if he pushes himself hard and wins, all by pushing himself and wanting to do his very best on his own, he will show that he has it in him to want to be better?" Matt then asks with a smile, as he feels his fiancé's fingers climbing their way up his thigh and quickly returns the favour with his own.

"Pretty much and honestly, I think he's going to do it, even though he's with Ashleigh now and she has distracted him a little bit, I think he still swims or at least goes running every day and I know I've had stuff going on, but I've still been talking to him and he's been talking about how he wants to improve his personal best times before the end of the year, so he's definitely motivated." Wesley responds as he shifts a little in his chair and gets a little more comfortable, which was easier said than done in wet briefs.

"Jordan being a swimmer, Carter a doctor and you want to be a policemen Wesley, it kind of makes me feel bad for not knowing what I want to do yet." Ben then decides to say, as he thinks about how his friends seemed to know what they wanted to do when they were older and he still had no real idea what he wanted to do.

"Don't forget Tobias wants to be something to do with orphanages and looking after kids and I think I want to do something with helping kids who've been through similar things to me." Matt then decides to point out in a helpful tone, before giving his fiancé a little grin and even though it was a little mean, he couldn't resist teasing him a little bit about his future career or to be more precise, lack of career.

"Well cheers for that Matt." Ben then quickly retorts sarcastically, before giving his fiancé a quick peck on the lips, just to let him know that he wasn't really mad or upset.

"You two are so cute." Wesley then says in a sincere tone, as he looks at them both again and could just see how much they loved each other. "But seriously Ben, don't worry about your future, we have years to work it all out and you will figure something out, everyone does." He then decides to say in a reassuring tone, as he looks at his friend with a serious expression, before smiling as he sees him looking at him gratefully.

"I know, but it still sucks a little bit." Ben then says, before grinning a little bit. "Maybe you should have changed Wesley, because Tobias and Lily just walked past the patio door." He then says, after seeing that his brother was home and with his girlfriend and then thinking about his friend was still in his briefs, which despite being black, were still wet and pretty revealing.

"My speedos are probably more revealing and I bet she will barely check any of us out, I've seen her with Tobias and she loves him, it's obvious." Wesley responds in a casual tone, while reaching down and adjusting himself and while he wasn't really that bothered if Lily saw him like this or not, he was wondering if she would mind and despite what he had just said, his briefs probably were a lot more revealing that his speedos right now.

"She really does and you can tell how happy Tobias is, I mean he's been happy since he's been here, especially thanks to you and Carter, but she makes him really happy and he's so much more confident with himself as well and he's even started to get the hint about being more assertive." Matt then says with a little smirk at his friend and while it was a little mean, he did enjoy making both Carter and him blush and get embarrassed about fooling around with his brother and he knew that they didn't mind that much and deserved it a little bit.

"Well here they come, so we will find out I guess." Ben then says, as he sees them walking out the patio door and towards them.

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