Dear all,

as promised here is the first new chapter that I am posting.

I really hope you will enjoy it, therefore you know that I will be looking forward to reading your comments, messages and everything ^^

I have attached a picture of Anatoly (--> handsome Alexander Ludwig), on a bike going to visit Oleg and I have paired the chapter with a song from Evanescence that I thought fitting their love story and their feelings.

I missed you all very much and I want to say it once more: my cat and I are BACK for REAL! Sorry for the long absence, but hey, I am BACK and I mean it.

I wanted to dedicate this chapter to my dear and sweet friend Kimiko Mozashi, as an apology for my absence and as a thank you for your support.

And now, enjoy the new chapter and as always, let me know what you think of it!

Cheers,

-TheWitchAndTheCat-

"My heart is ever at your service", by William Shakespeare

ANATOLY POV

When I woke up my eyes shot open and immediately registered it was not my room, because I well remembered it was Oleg's place. I stayed there a minute just listening to the sounds coming from outside and from inside the house, but it was rather quiet and in that moment I realized I had a great night sleep. Obviously the old geezer was already up and he had probably woken up before the birds, ready to do some Hulk-like training or whatever he did every morning. I sighed and looked beside me, where he lay during the night. I fell asleep with my forehead touching his shoulder, feeling his warmth and feeling his proximity. Being beside him was a complete fucking chaos, but it brought me so much peace that after very long time I could sleep serene and deeply. Oleg messed me up pretty much.

Could I really still freaking deny it? Fuck, this was such a huge complication. I really didn't need this and I couldn't imagine what my family would say about it, especially my mum. I had this idea that she might freak out or somehow not like it, because that day it was clear how much she had suffered in these years and how worried she still was for me. I sighed and sank the heels of my hands in my eyes.

Fuck, what to do? I had no idea, but I knew it was pointless to deny it. Oleg was someone that didn't simply had a damn hot body and huge qualities; he was someone that had much more than that.

"Fuck," I hissed while still pressing my hands on my eyes. "What the heck is wrong with me?"

I got up and quickly washed my face and mouth in the bathroom right beside the bedroom. This place was not big, but the space was well organized and planned. I squared my shoulders and walked to the kitchen, where Oleg was sitting reading something on his laptop. He immediately perceived my presence and I swallowed down looking at him. What to do? He had on him a pair of military sweatpants and a black wife beater, and let me tell you his muscles and tattoos were quite the view as first thing in the morning. I swallowed down more and felt his scrutinizing eyes of me, so I mentally slapped myself and went to sit in front of him, playing it casual. Right, playing it casual...I had to concentrate on his face because this man had a crazy attracting affect on me.

Fuck.

Could I really still deny it?

No, there was no way I could anymore deny the attraction I felt for this man and the attachment growing for him little by little. As my eyes indulged on his hard expression, on his perfectly shaved face, his inks wrapping around his neck and shoulder, as my mind run to what he told me yesterday, how I felt yesterday and how I felt right then in front of him, crap...there was no more denying. I was into deep dark water with sharks swimming around me.

Attachment?

Let's be honest here. It was more than that, it was deeper and it scared me.

Being here with him, sitting normally at the table and making conversation over breakfast would be complete heaven for me if everything would be normal and fine, but it wasn't and it could all turn into deep crap. It could all blow in my face. We looked at each other a quick silent moment and I repressed a sigh.

If only things would be different and easier.

"Good morning Anatoly, you are awake surprisingly early. I hope I did not disturb you."

My mouth went dry as his dark eyes stopped on my face with more intensity, while he offered me his attention pushing the laptop aside.

"What time is it?" I had no idea, but I felt so refreshed that I didn't really care.

"Not even nine," he answered short as usual, but it didn't matter to me.

"What? At freaking Sunday I woke up this early?" OK, maybe I did care a bit, because let's face it: it was very early for a Sunday morning. I groaned annoyed and then he did something that completely froze me for the surprise. He let out a spontaneous and normal quiet laugh followed by a real soft smile. So the impassive bastard had a hidden human side in him and seeing him smiling in that way only made me starve for more. It was the first time he had laughed, or more likely smiled aloud, in such normal and human way, without meaning to mock me or being sarcastic.

"You probably affected me," I said crossing my arms in front of my chest to hide what was going on in my mind. He shook his head and stood up. Why this man had to be this freaking hot at every hour of the day? My eyes quickly rank him and then I tore them away. The last thing I needed was him seeing me in this pathetic state.

"Are you hungry?" He asked walking to the kitchen counter.

"Yeah, but I will make breakfast for myself and..."

I stopped immediately and realized the deal. I was staying at his place and this was not a normal situation, which meant I had to leave as soon as possible to avoid feeding my illusions even more. For a moment I felt at home in a different way when he smiled at me and then offered me breakfast. For a moment I thought this could be possible. But, it was not possible. I damn knew it. My eyes painfully opened to reality and it was not nice one freaking bit. The illusion was sweeter, but way too dangerous, Anatoly.

"Well, actually I think I should go. I mean, I have already annoyed you long enough and you must have things to do, like crazy training to do and such, and maybe work and.." I obviously tended to babble no-sense when nervous and he sure did not miss it.

"Anatoly," he calmly said halting my rambling and once more stopping his eyes on me. "You do not annoy me and I think I already told you this. If you are hungry, I can make breakfast. If you prefer to go, it is OK."

We stared at each other for a few silent seconds and I knew in that moment he had read into me. I wished I could also read into his mind, but it wasn't possible for me. I felt an idiot for always being so stupid in ruining something great I had in my hands but this time it was different and it felt as if I was handling a time bomb, crazily ticking seconds away. I had to man up and manage this situation avoiding behaving in such idiotic and lame way. So of course the best I could do was to sound harsh and defensive. Very mature and manly indeed, fucktarded Anatoly.

"I can make breakfast for myself. I mean, you don't have to babysit me." Oleg said nothing and simply walked to the fridge, clearly ignoring my comments. "I'm talking to you." It annoyed me so freaking much every time he ignored me.

"And I heard you, Anatoly." He took some eggs and some other ingredients from the fridge. "I will make scrambled eggs if that is good for you and you can make coffee. I will have another cup with you." I went to say something, but his question stopped me completely, while my heart started to race at dangerous speed. "You like the white part only, am I correct?" Oleg turned around and impassively stared at me. I got up and took a step toward him. How the hell he knew that? He read the confusion on my face, but he avoided any remark. "So, am I correct?"

"How...how the heck you know about that?" I wanted to bite my tongue, because I sounded angry and harsh as always, while in truth I was only surprised.

"Your mother, Mrs. Denisov, had told me once. I think it was one morning of two years ago. She was in the kitchen intent to prepare breakfast for everyone, even for me. I asked if I could help her and then I noticed five plates on the table, but you were not at home, because you had spent the night out. She looked at me and guessed my thoughts, so she explained me you liked the white part only and that she wanted to make breakfast for you so you could eat once back."

His words hit me so badly in different ways that I had no idea what to do, because my throat burnt like hell and I kept swallowing down like an idiot. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, thinking about my mum and what she went through, but also thinking about what this bastard here told me. I think I knew why he told me that and as always he was fucking right. Then, what completely struck me was the fact he remembered such an insignificant particular related to me and that a man like him was willing to follow such stupid whim. It wasn't that I hated the yolk or found it totally gross; it was simply that I didn't really enjoy the taste of it and always preferred the white part.

Oleg moved to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, so my eyes shot up at him.

"Relax Anatoly. You will often hear things like this, it is normal. It is painful maybe, yes, but normal. You know I did not mean to upset you by telling you this small episode."

I nodded, because for once I had guessed right.

"I know, Oleg. I know why you told me." I looked away because I felt ridiculously pathetic in front of him, possibly looking like a brat. However once more this man here surprised me and taught me something.

"Spasiba," I quietly said.

He gave me one of his infamous side smirks and the air felt suddenly charged around us, because Oleg stood right in front of me, his hand on my shoulder and his eyes on me. He was wearing a loose wife beater and his tattoos stared back at me as if trying to allure me in ranking them. It was not just that. It was how I felt whenever close to his man, whenever our bodies would be at reach, whenever I learnt something new about him. I wanted to touch this man, I wanted to fucking touch Oleg and for the first time I had to acknowledge my desire. I wanted Oleg as fuck. My eyes stopped on his and I was about to do something terribly stupid, because desire was now suffocating me. He moved his hand away, as if reading into me, but he did neither step back nor he drop his eyes. I was not sure if he was analysing me or whatever the heck he was doing, because this is how I felt sometimes under his hard and calculating stare. I only knew that I was into deep shit and that I wanted this man like nothing else.

My hand tickled because the need to touch him was imperative and we were too close. Damn...how would it feel to be in his hands? How it would feel to have him in my hands? How would he react if I kissed him? I took a step closer and he did not move. I took another one and I was freaking right in front of him, our bodies almost touching and our eyes drilling holes into each other's. Oleg did not move away. He stood there and his eyes somehow had a different light in them, very dark yes, but they seemed burning of some black fire, and for a moment something crossed his face, but of course I wasn't sharp enough to read it. The way he held me with his gaze was something that turned me on, just like the proximity to his rock-made body, the smell of his skin mixed with shower gel, and his jaw set very tight.

"Sometimes I would give everything to be able to read into you," I confessed staring at him, trying badly to catch any small details, but he was no open book. Oleg was impossible to understand and what was there to read anyway? He thought of me as an immature brat that needed a babysitter and he saw into me nothing more than the son of his boss. That burnt freaking painfully and it sparked irrational anger that I had to repress to avoid any crazy and idiotic situation.

"I also cannot always read into you, Anatoly," he replied and to say that surprised me was nothing.

"What the hell are you talking about? You can always understand me and you guess many times what's in my moronic mind." How annoying was that? How dangerous was that? But it was good if he couldn't always read into me, because it saved me from a huge disaster. I didn't want to lose him and if he would have read into me, there was no way this man would keep staying beside me.

"I cannot always read into you, Anatoly. I cannot read into your mind right now; I might try to guess what you are thinking about, I might analyse your behaviour and try to find an answer, but I cannot completely read everything into you."

"That's good then," I muttered looking away a moment. "I don't want to fuck things up once more and I don't want to lose you."

What the hell was wrong with me I had no idea, but the words just came out of my idiotic mouth before my brain could actually connect with rationality and self-preservation. This man here was surely going to kick me out of his house or worse: he would probably ignore me and let me rot alone. He sighed and I closed my eyes a moment, knowing I had fucked things up. Why I could never keep my mouth shut whenever around this bastard here? My eyes kept close and then shot open as his hand stopped on the nape of my neck.

"You must have very little faith in me, Anatoly, which means I must have failed in something."

"What?" I blurted out about to ask if he was going out of his mind? Oleg failing? Was he mental? "What the fuck are you talk.."

"You will never lose me, Anatoly. You have my word."

I dropped silent at once. The only thing I could do was staring at him with my eyes wide open, my breath erratic and my heart about to break my rib cage.

"You can always count on me, Anatoly. I will always be beside you until you need me."

I said nothing and simply let my head rest on his chest. It was hurting quite a lot because blood pulsed too fast and because I think I was about to go out of mind.

"You have not failed a freaking thing, bastard," I hissed feeling his hand on my nape smoothing my shaved hair. "Fuck...why always with you...why? I hate this so much that you will never understand it."

He kept silent for a moment, but did not move. He didn't feel stiff or made of ice as usual, or about to kick me out. He felt solid and warm; his muscles were hard and pulsing, like his heart, keeping a levelled rhythm. Why I had to have feelings for him? Why I had to expose myself in front of him so damn much? I must be suicidal and completely crazy.

"You see me as someone that you can count on and that is correct, Anatoly. You probably feel more at ease to open up with me for now because of what happened, but you will soon feel at ease with your friends and family, too."

"I don't think that..."

"Anatoly, you are probably rather confused now; you see me in a way that it is not correct." I stiffed at his words and completely froze, and he felt it, because he moved his hand, placing both of them strongly on my arms, to make me face him. "A lot happened to you and I helped in every possible way humanly possible to me, but I am not the person you think I am. You created an image of me that it is not correct. I am not unbreakable; I am not without sins or without stains, Anatoly."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Oleg? You are the most solid and reliable person I have ever met, of course after my parents who could have given up on me and should have given up on me, but didn't. And this is the same for you. Shit, you pulled me out of that crap."

"You did it yourself, Anatoly."

"I did it because I knew you were there, because I knew you would have my back. I am a damn pathetic and weak brat, you are right. What the hell is the crap that I have a wrong picture of you? Give me a break." Blood rushed wildly into my mind and I shoved his hands away, now getting seriously angry for all the bullshit he had said. "You are not breakable? Are you kidding me? That piece of shit preferred to go to jail rather than facing you a second time, because I am not stupid as you might think. I can imagine what happened and I still want to know why you did it. You keep telling me you made a mistake, what kind of mistake someone like you could have possibly done? Nothing."

He sighed and I shut up. It was clear his patience was beginning to run short, but right now I couldn't care less.

"You do not get it Anatoly."

"Then just tell me what happened."

"Not now."

"Why not? I want to know what happened to you." I insisted now grabbing his wife-beater as if I wanted to punch him. He let me be and simply silenced me with a dark and commanding stare.

"I said not now, Anatoly. I promised you already that I will tell you, but not now."

I let go of him and exhaled. Once more my temper had the best of me and I managed to wear his patience off.

"I am sorry," I said tiredly.

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

I moved closer to him once more, because there was something I needed to make clear, once more grabbing his wife-beater as if to pull him closer to me, to make my words really sink into his thick and damn stubborn brain.

"Oleg, I am not sure you understood me well. I don't give a fuck about mistakes you might have done in your life and I don't give a fuck about crap like not being without stains or sins. You are you, and this is the deal. Do you understand what I mean?"

OLEG POV:

"Oleg, I am not sure you understood me well. I don't give a fuck about mistakes you might have done and I don't give a fuck about crap like not being without stains or sins. You are you, and this is the deal. Do you understand what I mean?"

I understood what he meant only then and even though it made me feel proud and immensely happy, it also made me understand the dangerous position in which we both stood. I had not comprehended his attachment to me until this very moment and it was clear we both felt the same way under this respect; it was clear we both felt physical attraction because a few minutes ago I could not deny that our proximity inflamed my desire, and the way he stared at me could not be mistaken. It had been pure and sheer luck we did not end shredding each other clothes, giving in completely in that impossible to explain and rationalize desire.

His eyes ranked my face and then my tattoos, quickly going back to look at me, trying to level his breathing. He could not read into me and that was very good. Very good indeed. It saved a lot of troubles, because in that moment his stare and his eyes literally made me feel like burning. I could not understand why I had to experience this attraction with him, but I came to the conclusion that rationality had nothing to do with desire and feelings. It had nothing to do with Anatoly. We both knew that and we both felt in the exact same way. We both understood the fine and dangerous line we were dancing around and yet, here we were.

It was clear to me now that I had underestimated Anatoly in a way or another. The problem was that I had no idea he could be so direct and straightforward, sides that apparently became stronger in my presence. I wanted to tell him everything about my past, about what happened after I had been discharged by the Army with an almost blind eye that incapacitated me from what gave my life a sense: serving my country.

I wanted to let him in my life and bare every inch of myself to him, I very much wanted that, but...but would I be able to let go of him after that? Would I be able to see him happy perhaps with another man? I would always be able to see him happy, that yes, but as selfish as it might sound, I realised in these last days that I wished to keep Anatoly for myself only. What he felt before was clearly written in his face and shining in his silvery eyes, challenging my stare and not wanting to let go. I liked this side of him very much and it affected me, more than I had foreseen.

Anatoly let go of me and swallowed down hard as if understanding the wholeness of his words. He quickly darted his eyes away, but he shook his head and set back at me, still challenging me to say something against his last words.

I sighed out loud and his eyes widened a bit, thinking he had sorted a wrong effect on me, and guessing my patience had worn off; but he was wrong. I sighed because in that moment there was not much else I could do other than acknowledge the fact I had understood him completely, the fact he had the power to completely defeat me. And because I still wanted him for myself only and to be the only person knowing every inch of me, good and bad.

My hand reached for his dishevelled hair, set in that style that I came to like on him. He sucked in a deep breath and once more his eyes automatically closed as my fingers caressed his hair. We were so alike, Anatoly and I; yet very different in many ways.

"I understand what you meant, Anatoly." He nodded keeping his eyes closed and moving closer to me automatically. My hand halted and he shot his eyes open and it was good, because I wanted to look straight at him. "Thank you Anatoly. I promise you that when the right moment comes, I will tell you everything of myself, the good and the bad things." He nodded once more and gave me one of his very rare genuine and rather shy smiles.

"Then I won't bother you anymore with my bratty antics," he half joked, obviously testing me.

"I am starting to get used to your bratty side," I replied with what also was one of my rare if not almost impossible smile.

"You promised me breakfast," he said pulling back and I let him, because it was the sensible action to take right then.

"I did, so help me with the coffee. I take it black," I told him as I went to move to the stove.

"I know it," Anatoly replied and this time it was me feeling surprised. I felt another smile tugging on my lips and I could see how he was able to unsettle me in ways he had no idea. I had underestimated Anatoly very much; very foolish indeed.

"I remember seeing you drinking it without sugar or milk, and I always asked myself how you could like it that bitter," he explained and suddenly tilted his head to look at me from his shoulder, giving me a rather insolent grin. "Turned out black coffee is actually good."

ANATOLY POV:

I left the bike outside the garage, to let the engine cool down since I had wondered around the city for a couple of hours like a moron. My mind was about to explode and that bastard's words kept running in freaking circles in my head: was I really confused? The hell with that; I knew I wasn't confused and I knew it was because of what happened...or was he right? Maybe what happened somehow clouded my judgement and I had really built this fake attachment for him because he saved my ass? But I was truly attracted to him and this was no illusion or mistaking the situation and...What the heck was I blabbing about? I got so annoyed at myself that I almost slammed the helmet on the ground to cool it, but I stopped knowing it was moronic.

"Damn!" I groaned, wishing to punch something to let my anger out.

I was not confused and now I was overly pissed that I let those words get under my skin, making me doubt myself. I had no idea if I had real and deep feelings for that annoying and impassive bastard; I knew the attachment felt was really strong and that there was this need to know everything about him, but more I didn't know.

It was all freaking scary and just admitting it was enough to set my blood boiling, feeling a stupid and immature brat and coward, but it was scary and I had already exposed my side too much. Oleg wasn't retarded like Dima and this morning he had surely figured something out and I was ready to bet he had sensed the crazy desire running into me. For a moment I thought he was feeling the same, because he did not move of an inch and his eyes penetrated mine with a different light, there was something different in him, in the way he spoke to me...how it all felt...but it was not possible. There was no way that a man like Oleg would feel attracted to someone like me. I thought about that again and shook my head as to detach it. It was not possible, Anatoly, snap out of it.

"Ahh...I had stepped into damn dark and deep water," I let out a loud sigh and walked to the garage door.

My parents were probably already waiting for me, in particular my mum that wanted to know if I would join for lunch, since she wanted to make one of our favourite dishes. Before riding my babe around the city I gave her a call and she was happy to hear me, but at the same time she seemed tense. Maybe she was worried that I had annoyed the old geezer too much. Oleg...I swallowed down and my mouth became dry at the thought of having to face him once more after what my mouth blabbed in the morning. I stopped in the garage as I gazed at his car; he had left it there and took that red beauty to drive to his place. Shit. There was no way I could possible face him, not after my ridiculous behaviour over the weekend. I ran a hand in my hair and realized I might have screwed things up pretty badly, even though he promised to always stay beside me until I needed him. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my mind from this, because the last thing I wanted was to worry my mum or trigger my brother's idiocy and jokes.

When I reached the kitchen I found my mum in front of the oven, pulling out a cake she probably baked over the morning, my father stood beside her and made sure everything was out of her way. I had never noticed this before, but it was clear that my parents had deep feelings for each other. Dad closed the oven door for her and they smiled at each other. Then I spotted my twin sitting at the table still half asleep, judging by the way he was staring at the cup of coffee. Dima was exactly like me in this: not a morning person at all. But while my brain would start to work faster, his was way slower. I wondered how Jasper was and I was sure the chipmunk was a morning person. I smirked and then greeted my brother first.

"Hey dofus, are you about to fall in that cup of coffee?" I went to sit beside him, but my mum immediately came to give me a hug.

"Welcome back, Tolya," she said with a full smile, but I could tell that her eyes were rather edgy.

"Hey mum, what did you bake? It smells good."

"Hello Tolya," my dad greeted me with a sincere smile and stopped right beside us. "How was your ride? Did you enjoy it?"

"Yeah." I wasn't really used to this yet and it was still difficult to completely blend with them.

"How is Oleg?" Mum asked and I had to really control myself while answering, avoiding changing face or stiffening, since she was still hugging me.

"The bast...I mean, Oleg is fine. Don't worry, I didn't give him premature white hair and let him work when he needed."

She nodded with a kind expression and then released me from her tiny arms, tiptoeing to plant a soft kiss on my cheek. In that moment I stiffened a lot and she felt it, because she caressed my hair and let me go.

"Do you want a slice of it?"

"Please yes mum, I am starving," Dima groaned from the table and I went to sit beside him.

"Where is your chipmunk?" I decided to annoy him to change topic and to avoid any questions about my staying at Oleg's place.

"You will never drop it, right? His name is Jasper!"

"Cool, so where did you hide him? In your pocket?"

"I woke up a few minutes ago, man...my kitty could not stay over because he had some ridiculous fancy lunch with Shenice's family and you can image what a pain in the ass his mum is..."

"Dima, mind your language," mum said smiling at us. It was clear she did not really mind it and it was clear she probably thought the same about that woman.

"Not sure I had the pleasure to meet this peach, to be honest." I had heard enough from my brother and I could tell she was not a person I could stand for more than a minute without telling her to fuck off. Alright, maybe a minute and half.

"Jas said she is a bit better, less stiff and less pompous, but she's still a damn pain in the as...in the neck." He turned to our mum and gave her his usual wide idiotic grin. I shook my head and felt like laughing seeing him like this, but I kept it for myself. "What about you?" I gave him quite the look and for a moment I felt pathetically nervous because I wasn't sure I could take many jokes now, since I was scared to show something on my face. How lame was this? How was I? Dima suddenly looked completely awake and scratched his hair as if trying to assess something. He stared at me a moment with the cup of coffee midair and gave me an idiotic grin that made me feel cold, fearing he had read something into my silence. However, he then smiled surprisingly nicely for him and passed me his cup of coffee.

"Want some? It is an indirect kiss," he grinned like the dofus he was and I think my mouth snapped open at his incredible idiocy.

"Dima, you gigantic dofus! That's super fuc...freaking gross! I'd get moronic germs for you...keep your indirect kisses for your chipmunk..gross.." I looked at him and the idea was honestly terribly gross. Kissing Dima? Kissing this moron here that looked like me, but in a better way?

"You'd get more handsome by drinking my coffee."

"We are twins, in case you haven't noticed," I deadpanned slapping his arm; he grinned and tried to slap mine back but failed.

"But I am the handsome one," Dima said sipping coffee.

"Who says something this idiotic?"

"Well...me. Your haircut is moronic."

"You are moronic and I bet your chipmunk doesn't dislike my haircut," I smirked crossing my arms.

"Jasper! My kitty's name is Jasper!"

I faked a gagging sound and motion and this time he really managed to punch my arm and I tried to punch him back but our parents interrupted us by laughing together. They stopped right beside us and mum placed an arm around my shoulders.

"I can see you two are always the same," she said smiling, while my dad simply looked at me. At first I did not understand what they meant and why they found that funny, but I understood. Our joke about the indirect kiss and our reaction; in particular my reaction. They understood I had no more chaos in my mind and that we were the twin brothers we always used to be.

"Mum! Where is my cake? I am starving, mum..." Dima looked seriously hungry and I silently thanked him, because for once, or actually maybe twice, his insensibility saved the situation. I noticed his look of before and I realized he wasn't so retarded or slow as I thought. He had guessed something was in me and he decided to let it go by playing his best card: his idiotic humour. And now he saved me from further display of affection or such from my parents by stating his starvation. He had read into me or he had probably just deduced something. It was not being sharp, but rather being not as insensitive as he actually acted.

"Thanks," I murmured in the moment that my parents turned around.

He shrugged his shoulders and his eyes brightened at the sight of a huge slice of cake. Mum asked me how much I wanted but my stomach felt closed today and I decided to wait for lunch. As my brother attacked the sweet, he looked at me and grinned.

"How about something together this afternoon? Maybe gym?" He proposed while eating.

"On Sunday?"

"Why not?"

"You are bored today, right? Because your man is not around," I tested him and he chuckled while wolfing down the remaining piece of cake.

"I will marry Jasper so we'll have the whole life to spend together," he grinned like the dofus he was and I face palmed: how could he talk so freely about that? The thing was that Dima really believed that. He knew that Jasper was his soul mate. I positively envied him, because for me it was much more complicated. "Don't make that face, I love him! I told him already and he finally accepted it and said that we will adopt two or three kids and have cats. I would love to have a dog, but Jasper prefers cats, so you know how it goes, whatever he wants is perfect for me."

"Dima...your point? I don't need to know all the details of your wedding."

"My point is that I am not bored. I want to spend time with my brother." The smile he gave me left me without words and I felt the old shyness stirring up, so I quickly averted my eyes away. That smile was open, wide and very warm, and more important it was damn sincere: it was the typical Dima's smile. "So yeah, I have my kitty, but I missed you Tolya and well...you know how it is. Let's not get too mushy."

"You started to get mushy dofus, I didn't say a word," I smiled, for once openly and gratefully, without hiding it. "Fine, gym on Sunday. But we go with my babe."

"Cool!"

When I rode back home, Dima safely grabbing my jacket after having insulted me for how fast and crazily I took my black babe, I spotted a familiar pick-up parked in front of our house. It was Sasha's car and I wondered what he was doing here, but it was probably related to Dima.

"Man, you always drive like a maniac? I thought we would become jam on the asphalt," he grunted as he placed the helmet beside mine.

"I just wanted to have a bit of fun, Dima, c'mon...you can't take that little? You would go crazy if riding behind that scary bastard," I smirked looking at my twin's face and then somehow froze a moment. My mind would always run toward that bastard, toward Oleg. Yeah, I rode my babe like a crazy punk sometimes, but he would be able to bring it to further limits.

"Oleg drives worse than you?" Dima asked scratching his hair.

"He sure knows how to get the best out of his red beauty," I admitted.

"Hard to imagine, looking at him going around always so serious, in black suits and never speaking a word," he laughed out loud and then looked at me with a questioning expression and for a moment I was afraid he had understood something this morning. "But he talks with you, right? I mean, you were there yesterday and well, you didn't just stare at the wall the whole time. Man, I am actually curious, what do you talk about with him? I can't imagine him talking of something not related to work."

I kept silent a few seconds, pretending to fix my bike and such. What we talked about? Many things that made me feel idiotic and that sure I didn't feel like sharing. Not yet, at least.

"Well, you can't say that he's a champion in conversation and to be honest, I spent some time reading and then we watched the lastest UFC event. But well, don't know Dima, about training, a couple of things about my past because," I sighed and averted my eyes away, "because he saw the worst of me and because he pulled my ass out of that and I wished he would do it earlier but he said that it all happened when it was the right time for me and..."

"Tolya" Dima surprised me by placing a hand on my shoulder. "I didn't mean to stress you out by asking that, I was just curious because to be honest no way I'd be able to speak more than two words with him," he chuckled, "but hey, we are still friends, right? I mean, we used to be..."

"Are you jealous?" I joked on purpose because all of this seriousness wasn't good for me, especially after what happened yesterday and this morning with Oleg.

"Blockhead," he joked back.

"Right back at you," I smirked as we dropped the bag in the laundry room beside the garage and went upstairs. He stopped a moment and grabbed my arm.

"Jokes and idiocy aside, I'm happy we are back to our usual stupid selves." Dima grinned in that warm and wide way that I always liked. He had no problems in saying what he thought, even though sometimes he lacked tact and risked to sound corny. But hey, it was one of his many good sides.

"Same for me, but let's not get too corny man," I slapped the nape of his neck and he burst out laughing.

"Yeah, but you know me and my kitty loves this side of me," he waggled his eyebrows and then tipped his head toward the door. "I think Sasha is here."

"Yeah, he must have something to talk about with you, maybe hockey training or such."

"Nah, maybe he felt bored and decided to meet us." I doubted that as I still felt an invisible wall between us and I knew why it still was there.

We opened the door and heard voices coming from the living room mum had to receive guests, and right there the Mighty Sasha was nicely conversing with my mother and father, talking about university, probably hockey and I am sure about his crazy half.

"Hey man, how you doing?" Dima and Sasha greeted each other grabbing hands in their typical guys-hockey-mates way, and I stood behind, studying his face. My friend stopped his eyes on me and the way he stared at me reminded me of Oleg, hard and impenetrable icy blue eyes scrutinizing me. However, he smiled at me in a way I haven't seen in years.

"You let Dima drag you to the gym on Sunday?"

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I didn't have anything better to do," I smirked at my brother to tease him.

"But I kicked your ass in the gym!"

"You are not normal, this is the point, but you are pretty crazy in that too," I looked at Sasha and he smirked.

He was the strongest among us and you could see it; it was impossible to deny how handsome he was with his very short black hair, eyes of the colour of the purest ice, wearing a pair of light blue jeans and a white shirt. I could imagine what Travis saw in him, but I had the idea that the crazy guy had been lucky enough to see much more in him, like hidden or new sides that common mortals could not even imagine. The Mighty Sasha was the one that mostly looked Russian and there was no mistaking in that, because he was extremely proud of that. Well, probably that bastard looked even more Russian than him and for sure his accent was something none of us had, but he completely was another thing, coming from another planet.

"Sasha, are you sure you don't want anything?" Mum asked as she went to leave the room together with dad.

"Thank you Natasha, but no, I am fine," he smiled at her and she looked at us.

"You are hungry, though, right?" She talked to Dima and of course he was about to die of starvation. I ate a lot, but I would never reach his level. Mum looked at me and I shook my head, as I was fine at the moment, given we had something right at the gym bar. However, my twin was a bottomless pit and he followed her in the kitchen, while our dad probably went to his studio.

And then I realized: damn, I was alone with my friend. I swallowed down silently and felt something prickling my skin, and it was related to being alone with him. I was not used to it anymore and something heavy still weighted on me when it came to the Mighty Sasha.

I looked at him and didn't know what to say, but he wasn't someone to beat around the bush and he talked to me immediately.

Yeah, I missed him, too.

"I came here to talk to you, Tolya".

Author's chit-chat:

So what do you think of it? Can you feel how they are soon going to give in to their feelings?
What about Alexi? I must say I have always loved his character.

Give me some minutes and I shall post chapter 12 :)

Lots of love and meows to all of you!