*Extended chapter

~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas was sitting in the dining room the next afternoon as he was scheduled for a business conference. Despite the fact that he was on a sabbatical, and wasn't suppose to be working on his break, Thomas couldn't spend his days idling by.

It was a group video call about assessing the new trainees that were previously hand selected by Thomas. Thomas was getting feedback about all the progress they were making, and he was also in on the call so that he could feel the sense of being useful from across the screen.

Thomas was listening to the Operations Manager discussing performance improvement when he saw the front door open. Ethan held a finger to his own lips as he waved at Thomas, and Thomas offered a small smile as he forced his attention back to the computer screen.

A couple of minutes later and Thomas ended the call. He found Ethan in the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

"Hey, what are you doing back here at lunchtime?" Thomas asked as he sat down on a kitchen chair. "You slacking off at work?"

"I... just fancied half a day." Ethan eventually told Thomas. He stayed by the refrigerator as he looked at Thomas from afar. "Nice outfit by the way."

Thomas shifted his eyes down so that he could look at his outfit. The top half of Thomas' body was covered by a navy suit, while the bottom half was covered with a grey pair of jogging bottoms.

"I look brilliant, don't I?" Thomas learnt to fake his appearance on a computer screen when he once saw Ethan do the same thing. "Just learning from you, Mr Shelton."

Thomas looked at the clock on the wall and realised that he hadn't even eaten lunch yet. "You hungry? My meeting ran late so I couldn't have lunch yet."

Ethan shrugged his shoulders when he answered, "I could eat."

Thomas got up to the fridge so that that he could look for something to cook, but he was unable to since Ethan was blocking the door. He playfully moved Ethan out of the way by holding his waist and pushing Ethan a few inches to the side.

"You could have at least asked me to move." Ethan chuckled as he then moved to sit on the seat Thomas previously occupied.

The sound of an echo could be heard as Thomas' voice was bouncing off the refrigerator. "Maybe I just like being close to you."

Ethan was hiding the smile on his face as he continued to watch Thomas stick his head inside the refrigerator. Thomas eventually closed the door as he carried some mince meat, and some bread out of the fridge.

"It's super basic, but how does spaghetti bolognese sound?" Thomas asked as he placed the rest of the ingredients onto the counter for Ethan to see.

"It's not the roast dinner you promised, but I'll accept it for now." Ethan smiled.

"Eventually, my patient friend." Thomas laughed. "But you're kind of stuck with a cheap lunch, and my boring face for now."

As Thomas had his back towards Ethan, preparing the meal for them both, the bodyguard was unable to observe how Ethan was nervously playing with his hands on the table. The sound of boiling water was louder than Ethan's bouncing leg, and Ethan continued to blankly stare down at the table as he was stuck in his own thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~

Later in the evening, Ethan convinced Thomas to join him in the previously empty third bedroom. When they entered together, Ethan was showing Thomas how the flooring was now mostly covered with gymnasium mats.

Thomas was taken back with surprise because he didn't notice when Ethan had set this up. "What's this about?"

Ethan walked towards the middle of the room as he explained, "I thought that you must have been missing your home life a little bit. So I thought we could do a little bodyguard workout to keep you entertained."

Thomas joined Ethan in the middle of the room as he took Ethan's sweet gesture with gratitude. "That's so thoughtful Ethan."

Ethan had a sly smile on his face when he gently pushed Thomas' chest. "Show me what you got, Tommy."

Thomas took a few steps back from Ethan as he surrendered his hands in the air. "Just to be clear, how exactly have you planned this to go like?"

Ethan changed from his fighting stance into his questionable thinking stance. "Maybe like a couple of sparring matches? I thought we could get a bit of strength exercising from fighting about, and occasionally tossing you onto the ground of course."

Thomas deliberately exaggerated his laughter after he heard the last part of Ethan's sentence. "I'm guessing pigs do kind of fly when they are shot out a cannon."

~~~~~~~~~

They have spent almost an hour in the makeshift training room, and the both of them were thoroughly enjoying their time together.

In the private area where they could playfully mess around with each other, Ethan felt slightly liberated as he joined Thomas in doing something the other man was passionate about.

Ethan was currently writhing in Thomas' tight hold as he was trapped in a bear hug from the bodyguard. Sweat was dripping off him as his body was going a faint shade of red. He could hear Thomas chuckling from behind him as Thomas continued to overpower Ethan with his physical strength.

A good 90% of the sparring matches were them just messing around together, and Thomas was continuing to enjoy every moment he spent with Ethan.

Thomas placed a quick kiss to the side of Ethan's neck as he then chuckled, "I really admire how you're still trying Ethan."

Ethan's own smile was blocked from Thomas' vision when he dryly asked, "I bet you feel great, don't you Tommy?"

Thomas nodded his head as he tightened his hold on a struggling Ethan. "We should do this more often."

Ethan was still fighting for his freedom as he pinched Thomas' hand. When Thomas let slip of him, Ethan shoved himself backwards so that he would knock Thomas further back with him.

Ethan was heavily panting as the smile was still prominently on his face. "I agree."

Thomas was prepared to sidestep out of the way when Ethan charged at him again - just like all the other times when Ethan tried to tackle him.

Ethan made sure he would finally be successful at taking down Thomas, by diving at the bodyguard with full force. By literally jumping at him, Thomas was forced to catch Ethan as Ethan then crashed them both onto the ground.

Ethan was triumphantly laughing on top of Thomas as the bodyguard was flat on his back. Thomas' chest was heavily rising and falling, as it was met with a chesty laugh of seeing how happy Ethan seemed to be.

Minutes passed by as they both were still trying to catch their breath. They were both tired after an exhausting exercise together, yet neither of them made a motion to move.

"You going to get off-"

Ethan leaned towards Thomas' head and silenced him by kissing him. It was only a chaste kiss because Ethan felt a need to get even closer to Thomas, but then it intensified when Ethan went back for more.

Ethan pressed his chest against Thomas' as he tried to bring them both even closer together. He braced both of his arms by the side of Thomas' head as Ethan then crashed his lips against Thomas'.

Thomas managed to sneak in a quick breath of air as he felt Ethan's tongue aggressively explore his mouth. It was like a drug for Thomas as Ethan's passion was overflowing.

Thomas was desperate to have Ethan be close to him as much as possible. When he brought his hands around Ethan's head to lovingly embrace him, Thomas became aware that Ethan was reaching for his belt.

Ethan had his eyes closed as he was mentally occupied with Thomas' tongue exploring his, and he was physically occupied as he blindly tried to undo Thomas' belt buckle.

The sound of their lips separating could be heard as Ethan looked at Thomas confused. "What?"

Thomas used his eyes and gestured for Ethan to look at what he was doing with his hands. "It's a little quick for that, don't you think?"

Ethan still had his hands on Thomas' belt when he forced out, "Right. Let's go to my room then."

Thomas had to grab Ethan's hands, and hold them in place when Ethan continued to try and take his belt off. "Ethan, what's going on with you?"

Ethan's frustration was growing as he was no longer playing around. "Nothing. I just think that we both really need this right now, so let's do it."

Thomas was now remembering the conversation they had last night before bed. Ethan's strange behaviour was resurfacing as this kind of urgency from Ethan was unseen before.

"I thought we were just going to slow down just a tiny bit?" Thomas pointed out. "For your benefit, remember?"

Ethan was shaking his head no as he didn't think they should slow down. "We need to do this as soon as possible."

Thomas sat up slightly as he began to lean on his elbows. He was looking straight at Ethan as he tried to look for a confident answer. "Why? Ethan, I'm finding it really strange that you're pushing us to have sex right now."

"Forget it!" Ethan rolled himself away from Thomas as he immediately stood up. Thomas was still on the ground as Ethan was looking down at him. "Let's just drop it."

Thomas watched Ethan storm out of the room and close the door behind him. Thomas collapsed down onto the floor as he looked up at the ceiling.

'What the fuck is going on?'

~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Thomas was heading downstairs when he heard Ethan in the kitchen. Things between them were still a little tense as the rest of last night was practically spent in silence.

Thomas tried to reach out to Ethan last night, and even though Ethan was physically present with him, mentally they were separated. It was a rare occurrence and Thomas didn't like how he didn't have an inkling of what Ethan was thinking, or why he was reactions were so conflicting.

Thomas playfully knocked on the kitchen wall to gain Ethan's attention. "Is it safe to come in?"

Ethan swallowed nervously as he nodded his head. He watched Thomas sit down on a kitchen chair, and Ethan occupied the silence by giving Thomas a cup of coffee.

"What's-"
"I'm sorry."

Ethan didn't let Thomas talk as he forced himself to get his apology out. "I'm sorry for pushing you last night."

Thomas didn't feel like he could accept the apology, because he didn't understand the motivation behind Ethan's sudden actions last night. "So why were you trying to push us into the bedroom?"

"It was just a spur in the moment kind of thing." Ethan responded casually.

Thomas was studying Ethan's body language, and he was certain that there was something Ethan was hiding. Everything was incredibly reflective with Ethan, and Thomas noticed that Ethan was able to easily dodge questions he didn't want to answer.

Ethan proved his point when he asked Thomas, "You have any plans later?"

"Not that I recall, why?" Thomas wondered.

"Let's go on a date. Tonight." Ethan decided as he then brought his phone out. "I'll book us a table at that steakhouse I tried to take you to before."

Thomas was watching Ethan and noticed how he was avoiding his eyes. It was a rare experience for Thomas because it was something he just wasn't used to, and Thomas didn't like it either.

"I'm going to make everything perfect Thomas, I promise." Ethan whispered to himself.

"Ethan-"

Ethan shot out of his chair when he heard the toaster pop off. Quickly placing a piece of toast onto Thomas' plate, Ethan then picked up the remaining one and shoved it into his own mouth.

Ethan then began to book a table at Grandbull Steakhouse. He took the call into the living room as he abruptly left Thomas in the kitchen.

'I guess I have to try again later then.'

~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas finished doing the cuffs on his sleeves as he got dressed for the date with Ethan. It had been a while since Thomas went on an official date, but Thomas was looking forward to the date with Ethan.

Thomas felt like he's practically been on plenty of dates with Ethan before, and those experiences made Thomas feel calm as he put his jacket on. There wasn't as much pressure on this date because Thomas felt like he already knew Ethan on a deeper level - and Thomas liked everything about him.

There was Ethan's sense of humour that always made Thomas laugh. There was the caring and dorky side that Thomas enjoyed being around. And then it was just a bonus that he found Ethan insanely attractive - with cute, sexy, and confident being wrapped into one.

Thomas put on a black bomber jacket to go with his jeans and white dress shirt. He then left his bedroom as he walked over to Ethan's closed bedroom door, and knocked on it.

"Don't come in!" Ethan yelled behind the door.

Thomas laughed as he obeyed Ethan. "Are you coming out anytime soon? I thought you would have planned your time in advance since this date was your idea."

Ethan wasn't enjoying the mocking Thomas was doing, because Ethan was a skittish wreck behind the closed door. The main issue Ethan was having was that he was trying to calm the nerves that were making him go haywire.

There were butterflies in Ethan's stomach that were going crazy with excitement. Even though he's spent so much time with Thomas, publicly and privately, Ethan still felt like he needed to leave a good impression on this date with Thomas.

Ethan didn't want to take Thomas to the same restaurant as all of his other previous dates - he knew that Thomas deserved better. And that also meant Ethan was trying his best to look perfect for Thomas.

The silence was getting longer, so Thomas knocked on the door again. "Hello? I'm looking for my date, but he seems to think the clock stands still when he's managing every microfibre in his hair."

"Shut up Tommy!" Ethan groaned. "I can't keep getting dressed if you're still talking to me."

Thomas laughed from behind the door as he pointed out, "I saw you book the table, polish your shoes, and eat a piece of toast at the same time this morning. I'm confident you can talk and get dressed."

"I'm already dressed," Ethan told Thomas. "But I don't think it was a good choice because I feel like I'm choking!"

"How exactly are you choking?" Thomas wondered from behind the closed door.

"What do you think it means!?" A panicked Ethan responded.

Thomas sighed as he knocked on the door one more time. He was on the verge of letting himself in as he checked, "Can I just come in now? This was fun at first, but now it's getting concerning."

Several footsteps were heard travelling across the room as Ethan eventually opened the door to Thomas. Thomas was momentarily stunned at how much effort Ethan put into his outfit, because he looked so breathtaking.

Ethan tugged the collar of his shirt as he tried to emphasise that it was getting too hot and difficult for him to breathe. "I need to go get changed again."

Thomas grabbed Ethan's arm before he could retreat into his room. "What do you mean? Ethan, you look hot as hell right now."

Ethan wasn't able to hide the slight blush on his face, as he tried to express the trouble he's been going through in the last couple of minutes. "It's this stupid tie."

"So take it off." Thomas liked everything about Ethan's outfit, because it went beautiful with his gorgeous green eyes. But if Ethan wasn't happy with it for some reason, then Thomas wanted it to go.

"But I need to look perfect." Ethan sighed. "It's not going to work when my face is constantly red from the lack of oxygen."

Thomas felt like he was beginning to suss out why Ethan had been going so crazy with his outfit lately. There was a bigger picture behind everything as Thomas felt like Ethan was putting too much pressure on himself.

"It's only me, Ethan. You don't need to try and impress me so much with a dumb outfit." Thomas reached out to Ethan's tie and slowly undid it, tossing it aside as he then removed the collar buttons on his shirt. "This is more natural, and I like it so much more when you're being yourself around me."

Ethan didn't need to force a smile because it was just there as he looked at Thomas. It was the gentle look in his eyes, and the soft smile that made Ethan feel collected and composed as he stood in front of Thomas.

"If this date is too much pressure, then why not just treat it as two friends having dinner together?" Thomas suggested, "We used to be friends first, so why not just be friends on this non-date date?"

Thomas closed Ethan's door to prevent him from going back inside. He was willing to bet that Ethan felt a sense of pressure about everything recently, and that's why he assumed Ethan's been so weird recently.

"It will just be an informal dinner with some nice alcohol, great company, and maybe a couple of kisses in private every now and then." Thomas cheekily grinned as he then snuck a quick kiss in.

Ethan chuckled as he was enthusiastic about the last part of Thomas' suggestion. "This should be a date... I want this to be a date."

Ethan softly smiled when he placed an innocent kiss onto Thomas' lips. He pulled back slightly so that he could look into Thomas' warm eyes, and be embraced by Thomas' reassuring words.

"Sounds perfect."

==========

Author's Note: This chapter didn't exactly end how I planned because I was really running behind on schedule. It may be included in the next chapter, but it depends on how long that one goes on.

More importantly, the next chapter we will find out why Ethan's acting so hot and cold lately.