Ethan woke up the next morning after a comfortable and peaceful night sleep. He opened his eyes to look around the room, and he found absolutely nothing familiar. His groggy brain caught up with him as he remembered he was in his temporary new bedroom, with the smell of fresh laundry detergent filling his other senses.

Ethan sat up on the bed as the soft blanket slipped down his naked chest. He was rubbing his eyes with one hand to wake himself up, whilst using his other hand to comb his messy brown hair.

Picking up the t-shirt he threw on the floor in the middle of the night, Ethan slipped the big shirt on as he rolled out of the bed, and walked out of the bedroom door.

His bare footsteps could be heard pressing against the floorboards as he made his way into the living room, and spotted Thomas busy in the kitchen.

"Morning." Ethan yawned as he stretched his arms into the air.

Thomas turned to Ethan and smiled at the man joining him. "Good morning. You hungry?"

Shaking his head, "I don't like eating breakfast. I think it's overrated."

"How can breakfast be overrated?" Thomas asked curiously. 'Breakfast' and 'overrated' were not words he believed could exist in the same sentence.

"People say it's the most important meal of the day, but I generally skip it since intermittent fasting says otherwise." Ethan was a man that liked to keep himself in shape. If he couldn't exercise or lift weights, then he would skip meals to balance it out.

"But then you'll have a deficit of energy." Thomas countered. "And a big shot like you needs energy to help run a company."

"It's been working for me for years since I have a busy lifestyle," Ethan laughed. "And I don't have time to whip up a 5 star breakfast."

Thomas refused to accept that answer as he wasn't going to let Ethan go on with his day with an empty stomach.

The bodyguard grabbed an extra plate from the dish rack, and placed it besides his own. He gave half of his meal to Ethan as he fished out half of his scrambled eggs, and one slice of buttered toast.

"It's not exactly 5 stars, but it's edible," Thomas put the plate in front of Ethan with utensils. "Enjoy."

Ethan couldn't deny the fact that his loud stomach was rumbling after seeing and smelling the food. His stance on skipping meals was overthrown as he used the corner of his eyes to peek at Thomas' watching eyes.

"Make sure you leave a good review on my Airbnb page." Thomas joked as he took his plate to sit down next to Ethan.

Ethan began to dig into the meal as he didn't realise how much he really wanted it - it was simple, yet so delicious. It encouraged Ethan to devour his meal with the coffee that was magically placed in front of him.

Thomas noticed how Ethan had almost finished his meal, while he was barely half way through his own. "I didn't realise my cooking was that delicious."

Noticing that it wasn't sufficient enough for a grown man, Thomas reached for the fruit basket and passed it to Ethan.

Ethan warily grabbed a banana as he was looking at Thomas all confused. "How come you're just sooooo nice to me?"

Ethan had a perfect night's sleep in an extremely soft and comfy bed. He peacefully woke up without anything disturbing him, and he was now enjoying a very tasty breakfast. Thomas waited on him hand and foot, which meant that Ethan naturally wanted to take a safe step back from the rare barrage of kindness.

Thomas looked back at Ethan equally confused as he didn't understand why Ethan was questioning him. "Because we're both friends? That's what friends do, you idiot."

Ethan had his shields raised because he hardly had anyone constantly fighting his corner. It was such a strange feeling to get used to another person's selfless generosity - especially Thomas' caring and sensitive nature.

Ethan knew that he had to stop self-sabotaging anything that was becoming too good for him. He just nodded along as he politely smiled back at Thomas.

"So what are you doing today?" Thomas wondered.

"Since my meeting's tomorrow, I'm free as a bird today." Ethan said. "What about you?"

Thomas was finishing his mouthful of scrambled eggs as he told Ethan, "I'm going into the office to do a bunch of boring admin stuff."

Ethan found a solution to his currently boring day as he wanted to go with Thomas. "Can I come with?"

Even though Thomas loves his job and the people he works with, the bodyguard didn't think that Ethan would find any of it interesting. "Why'd you want to go?"

"You could give me a tour or something?" Ethan wanted to tag along because he had nothing better to do, and he couldn't be certain if it was a bad idea or not. "You've seen my office so now I want to see yours."

"If you're interested in spending the day with me, a bunch of aspiring bodyguards, and walking past rooms that smell of sweat and cleaning products, then you really should get a hobby."

Even though he knew Thomas was low key joking, and the offer was still on the table, Ethan weighed out his options for a couple of seconds.

There was an opportunity to explore the beautiful city that he's never been to before, but Ethan wasn't really a person that was into sightseeing and tourism.

He could spend the day in his underwear and relax whilst binging TV shows, but then Ethan thought it would be weird to do it in someone else's home.

And there was the option he suggested to hang out with Thomas at his workplace for most of the day. Ethan didn't really see a negative because he liked hanging out with Thomas.

"It's more productive than hanging out in my underwear." Ethan answered Thomas as he chose to go with him.

Thomas looked at Ethan's appearance and understood why he mentioned underwear all of the sudden. "Okay?"

Standing up in just his t-shirt and underwear, Ethan told Thomas to give him a couple of minutes. "Let me just quickly change out of these clothes."

~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas took Ethan towards the automatic double doors that opened for them once they stepped onto the mat. Thomas gave a courtesy nod to the receptionist, as he then used his position and name at the company to lean over the counter, and grab a guest ID badge for Ethan.

Ethan put the badge around his neck as they walked past a hall room with dozens of bodyguard trainees, and one commanding leader that instructed the group with exercises.

"All the instructors have a military background, and on occasion we would have guest motivators or speakers to help lead the way for our trainees."

As they continued walking around the building together, Ethan stopped as he was looking at all the accolades and photographs of the past and present bodyguards.

There were so many special memorabilia and appreciation letters from all sorts of people - from the average Joe, to big name celebrities, to all sorts of royal families from different countries.

Ethan was in complete awe at how brave all of the people in the photographs were. The bodyguard lifestyle certainly wasn't easy, and Ethan was in admiration of how they could all be so courageous, brave, and selfless.

"Over 20 years worth of experience." Thomas stood proud as he talked about all of the people they were seeing, "There's several filled rooms that are dedicated to all the people who were a part of this company."

"Remind me, why'd they send you to help me?" Ethan joshed.

Thomas then pointed towards a framed photograph in the cabinet. The picture was very clear, with Thomas shaking hands with Elizabeth Windsor.

"Who's that old lady?"

Thomas stared blankly at Ethan's lack of knowledge and culture. He ended up pushing Ethan towards the elevator as he didn't intend to give Ethan a surprise history lecture.

~~~~~~~~~~

"You've got an awesome view up here!"

Thomas' office was overseeing the city that had hundreds of busy buildings in the area. Ethan could look down and see blurry blobs of pedestrians walking around, and cars that were driving through the city.

Ethan could imagine that it would be even more alluring during the night time. With the clear window, he would be able to see the twinkling lights in the beautiful city.

"I may be bias here, but this city truly is beautiful." Thomas added.

Both of them were soon interrupted as Giles knocked on the office door. The founder of Noble Guardians & Protectors let himself in as he fully gained the attention of both the other men in the room.

Thomas smiled widely as he greeted Giles. "Hey Dad."

"Hi Thomas. I'm surprised you didn't get here before me." Giles joked as he knew his son was usually always punctual.

Thomas turned his head towards Ethan as he was the reason they were later than intended. "It took longer than expected for someone to pick out an outfit, and then shower after taking a while to choose one."

Ethan looked down at himself as he dusted the imaginary dirt off him. "But I look pretty hot. I did see some of the female bodyguards lingering their eyes on me as I walked past them."

Thomas snickered as he witnessed Ethan's ego expand like a balloon. "So much vanity in one awfully confident man..."

"You would be too if you had my looks."

Giles was looking at the man that was joking around with his son. He continued to stare at him because he was certain that he recognised his face from somewhere.

Ethan was slyly pointing his head towards the oldest man in the room as he was trying to get Thomas to see the other man staring at him.

Thomas clicked everything together as he realised he should introduce the people in the room. "Ethan, this is my dad Giles. Dad, this is friend Ethan Shelton."

Giles needed no more words of introduction as a symphony of sounds demonstrated that his brain was connecting things together. "Shelton! That's why you look familiar, you look so much like your dad!"

Ethan wasn't sure if he should take it as a compliment, since he was currently being compared to a 56 years old man. One man had a lot more style, confidence, and sexiness, while the other person was a father.

Giles walked up to Ethan and shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ethan."

Ethan was returning his politeness as he smiled back at the older man. "It's nice to meet an old friend of my dad, Mr Miller."

"Don't make me feel older than I already am!" Giles quickly waved his hand at the way Ethan was addressing him. "Giles is fine."

Giles made himself comfortable as he sat down on the couch in Thomas' office. "So what are you doing in our building?"

The other two men joined Giles on the couch as Ethan went on to explain. "I have a meeting in another province, to promote our spring line up tomorrow. Thomas was very gracious in offering me a place to stay for a couple of days whilst I'm around."

Thomas nodded his head as he supported what Ethan was saying. "Which reminds me Dad, can I get the day off tomorrow? Ethan doesn't know his way around here, and I kind of already told him that I would help..."

Giles continued to be a joyful man as he chuckled in response, "Of course you can son, take as many days off as you want! I've been saying you should be taking a break from working constantly - preferred more than 1 day, but still."

After being given the go ahead, Thomas turned back towards Ethan and smiled at him - letting him know that he was going with him tomorrow.

"Thank you." Ethan silently mouthed to Thomas.

Ethan felt safe in Thomas' company, and he was relieved to know that he won't be alone when he could have been potentially stranded in another country.

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