Chapter Three

Harry

Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

Was there no common decency left in the world anymore? I mean, how hard was it to schedule a meeting for after eight in the morning?!

‘Eight am sharp, boys. And I’m looking at you, Taylor’, Captain had warned yesterday afternoon. Ethan had given a curt nod with no reservations.

I, on the other hand, had many.

“Eight?!” I had asked incredulously. Ethan had nudged me subtly with his elbow, but it still hurt. “Ow,” I frowned, hitting him back not so subtly.

Ethan liked to act prim and proper in front of our Captain. He seems to think that the Captain is better than us, just because of his ranking. Well I say fuck that. We were human beings too, and I was not taking part in this form of slave torture by getting up any earlier than ten am!

These were the thoughts rushing through my head as Ethan pounded on my door. My digital clock told me it was merely seven in the morning. What in God’s name was he doing up this early? It took ten minutes for me to get ready, max. That’s why I had my alarm set for ten minutes to eight. But no – Ethan had to be Mr. Always Early. I had told him enough times to leave me out of his punctuality.

He seems to think I’ll sleep through my alarm, or something ridiculous like that, however.

“Harry, I’m coming in there in thirty seconds if you’re not up!” he warned. See, this was the difference between Ethan and I. If it was me, I’d be in his room already, jumping on top of him in his bed, singing my heart out until he got up.

Ethan and his boundaries were like inoperable Siamese twins – there was no separating them.

I grunted in response, knowing he’d hear me through the paper thin walls. Our apartments were surprisingly shitty for such a profitable organisation. Especially considering we were one of their top agents.

“I can’t hear you moving around in there. That means you’re still in bed. Get up and take a shower, come on!” He was like my fucking father. Of course, I wouldn’t know what having a father felt like, since the prick walked out on my mother when I was two.

If it were me, I’d have left when I found out the bitch was knocked up. Joke, joke!

“I’m up,” I mumbled into my pillow, stretching out in my bed, never feeling as content in my life until this very moment. It was strange that this feeling always occurred just as I was about to leave my warm, comfortable, delicious bed.

“Right, that’s it,” I heard him sigh and suddenly he was storming into my room, a look of annoyance on his face. “Get the fuck up, you have to shower and eat something. They could send us on a private jet to some random location the second the meeting is over, you never know! It’s happened to us before – you can’t just roll out of bed for these meetings, Harry!”

God, he was so alert for this time of morning. “Good morning to you too, Ethan,” I yawned and peered at him through one lazy eye, too exhausted to open the other one. If he hadn’t woken me up last night, screaming, maybe I wouldn’t be so tired.

I didn’t say this to him, though. Even I knew that was a low blow. And it had scared the shit out of me, I had to admit. When I heard him roaring my name in his sleep, followed by a series of profanities, I knew it was another night terror.

I had sprinted to his room in seconds, trying to coax him out of his nightmare. It scared me to see Ethan this vulnerable. Shit, I mean he was the strong one in this relationship – scratch that, friendship.

And then the fucker punched me in the face. That was a lovely distraction. I didn’t get back to sleep easily when I went back to bed, and when I eventually fell into unconsciousness, it was a rocky sleep. I kept waking and tossing and turning. I knew that I was in some of Ethan’s nightmares, but I never mentioned it to him. The last time I did he got all defensive and it ended in an argument with him storming off.

It was easier just to humour him and keep my mouth shut.

My head was getting fuzzy with all of those serious thoughts so early in the morning, so I closed my eyes again, rolling back into my pillow. I could feel Ethan glaring at me and knew that my bliss would last approximately two seconds.

I felt my blankets being torn off of me and the icy cold bit at my naked body like needles. I grinned at Ethan’s gasp at my butt-naked sleeping arrangement. What? I couldn’t get comfortable last night so I figured going incognito was the best option! I didn’t know he was going to rip my blankets off the next morning, like he always does when I don’t get out of bed...

He threw my blankets on top of me again. “Jesus, you could have warned me!” his voice held a slight nervous stutter to it and I relished in the fact that I’d shocked him.

“Well, maybe you should respect my privacy!” I retorted, sitting up in bed and reaching for my discarded boxers on the ground, which I pulled on. “R-e-s-p-e-c-t,” I spelled in the sassiest voice I could muster as I hopped out of the bed and walked past him to the bathroom.

I heard him grumble something as I kicked the bathroom door shut, leaving it unlocked if he felt the need to come in and verbally abuse me about the length of time I was taking in the shower.

I don’t know why it amused me so much to shock Ethan with my nudeness... Then again, I don’t know why I did anything.

Forty-five minutes later, Ethan and I were decked out in our black uniforms, standing in front of the committee that consisted of the Captain and three of his closest associates. I thought the Captain was a bit of a dick, but Ethan had warned me numerous times to keep this to myself. You’d swear I was going to tell the whole faculty I thought our boss was an asshole! And the one time I actually did do that, I was drunk, so it didn’t count.

“Agents, thank you for meeting with us,” Captain Dawson gestured for us to take a seat. We were seated facing the four members of the committee on the other side of the table. Slightly intimidating – just the way they liked it.

“No problem, Sir,” Ethan replied as he sat. I rolled my eyes. He was such an ass-licker.

I just gave a tiny, moody nod. I wanted them to know that this hour of the morning was a violation of my rights.

“I’m sure you’re not in any doubts about why we called you here today,” Dawson started, resting his hands on the table. There was a bunch of papers in a two identical brown, paper folders next to him. Jesus Christ, there had to be at least one-hundred sheets in those things. Ethan and I would get the luxury of reading the whole thing, I was sure. I’d bet my salary they were our case files.

I’d just get Ethan to read it and give me a summary.

“No, Sir,” Ethan automatically responded. Fucking hell, would he ever lose the ‘Sir’? It was giving Dawson an ego, not that his head could get much bigger.

“Well, I can tell you that you won’t be leaving the country for this case, which is a good thing, as we can keep a closer eye on you two from our home-land, if you ever needed our assistance.” I resisted rolling my eyes. I was sure that wherever we went in the world, the Agency would have our piss-breaks recorded and kept for safe-keeping for the next fifty years. Dawson always tried to downplay how much power the Agency had over its Agents. This was because of a resistance that happened ten years ago, when Agents discovered that their entire lives had been watched and documented by the higher powers.

“So where are we going?” I asked. I could feel Ethan stiffen next to me at the bluntness of my question. You’d swear I’d just asked the guy what he made every year. Ethan was scared of nothing and nobody – apart from the men in suits who were our technical ‘superiors’. I hated that word. I was my own boss out on that field. You can be sure the men in suits were never anywhere to be seen when I was being held at gunpoint in Israel.

Dawson seemed not to take any notice of my bluntness and just pulled the two brown folders from the side of the table and positioned them in front of Ethan and I. “The Hamptons. You’re going undercover. Nate and Rob Foxx. Here are your case files. I’ll give you a few seconds to read the summary on the first page, and then you can ask me any questions you’d like.”

“Brothers!” I grinned at Ethan as I opened the folder that was fit to burst. Dawson had said both of our last names were Foxx, so I was going to take it that Ethan and I would finally be brothers in an undercover operation. We’d only gone undercover a few times before, and every time Ethan and I had been friends, or students.

Anytime I’d asked them to make us brothers, they’d give me stupid reasons for saying no, such as I have a British accent from being brought up in London my entire life, and Ethan being a born and bred Californian. I argued that my American accent was as accurate as any normal American. They all started laughing for some reason when I tried to demonstrate. As did Ethan. As did everyone else. Also there was the fact that we looked nothing alike. I was glad that this time, they were taking my ideas on board.

Ethan was already scanning the front page and his face was paling. I frowned and turned my attention to the brief paragraph in front of me.

‘Nathan ‘Nate’ Bryant and Robert ‘Rob’ Foxx married in March of 2010. They became high-school sweethearts when Nate moved from London, England at the age of fourteen and enrolled in the same school as Rob. They earned big money when Rob’s grandmother passed away, leaving him her small fortune. With this, they set up a joint business that manufactured and sold scented candles for affordable prices. The niche in the market for these candles was unprecedented, making the Foxx’s overnight successes. This enabled them to manufacture a larger variety of household items, such as decor, wine glasses, cutlery, and so on. They decided to buy a home in the Hamptons a few months ago, and have only just agreed upon a price, although with their bank accounts, no price was too high. They have no kids and no immediate plans to start a family. They have two cats.’

My jaw was dropped and I raised my eyes slowly from the paper, shock and horror radiating from them. Ethan was fidgeting in the seat beside me, looking anywhere but at me. He must be feeling the same as me.

“The briefing obviously goes into greater detail about your characters, or whatever you want to call it. You’ll have to memorise every single detail, as always in every undercover operation. You can never be too careful.” Dawson was carrying on with the briefing as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

I could only sit in shock, my mouth still hanging open. I could see the other three committee members shifting their eyes from me to Dawson every couple of seconds, obviously uncomfortable with my reaction. Well I didn’t give a shit! Fuck this! I was not doing this.

I could vaguely hear Dawson tell us about our mission; to uncover a huge drugs operation that was happening among the rich and elite in the Hamptons, to root through all of the users and dealers to target the suppliers. Blah blah blah.

I seemed to regain use of my tongue when Dawson was in the middle of telling us about the neighbours we were to target.

“Wait, wait, wait. Hold on there, cowboy,” Ethan must still have been in shock as I didn’t even get a dirty look from him for calling our Captain a cowboy, “You’re saying that Ethan and I have to act as if we’re a... a... gay couple?”

I started laughing and looking around the room, my hands outstretched, “I mean, come on! Ethan and me? That’s just ludicrous, right Captain?” I batted my eyelashes at him, trying to sweeten him up. I even called him Captain for once, for Christ’s sake!

“No, I don’t find it ludicrous at all, Harry. Do you?” Dawson turned to look at the other members who quickly shook their heads. Cowards.

“This is horse-shit!”

“Harry.” Ethan finally spoke, with an edge to his tone. I backed down, waiting for him to take the lead in this charade. He’d get the Captain to see sense. He had to.

Dawson spoke before Ethan could, however. “We’ve done a lot of research on this, boys. ‘Gay’ is in. Statistics show that families, especially among the rich and powerful, are more likely to open up to a gay couple than a normal one.” Ethan tensed at this. “They simply think it’s the new thing, to have a gay couple as friends. I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous! But the stats don’t lie! My team has been researching this for weeks – this is the best way to go.”

Ethan’s mouth was stretched into a thin white line and his eyes looked thunderous. Yeah, see, that’s the reaction I expected when I read this farce of a mission.

“And there’s no other option?” Ethan asked in a weirdly calm voice. Wait, what?

“No. Look, if this is going to be a problem, we can find other Agents. The briefing won’t change, but the Agent’s can, if necessary.” Dawson’s tone held a threat to it; a threat that said that either we do this, or there would be consequences. Ah, the freedom of choice! Such a luxury to normal folk.

I peered at Ethan, who seemed to be thinking. I could tell by his face that his mind was racing.

“Fine. But we don’t have to kiss or anything?” I asked, my voice stating that this would be my non-negotiable terms to us agreeing to this.

Dawson nodded. “No. Simply act like a couple around others – lovey-dovey is the way we want you. But no, you don’t have to kiss if that’s a major issue. We wouldn’t make you do that,” he laughed, looking at the other members to laugh with him.

Ethan’s hands gripped the arms of the chair tighter, making his knuckles go white. Jesus, if he’d such a problem with acting lovey-dovey with me, he should just say it! I was slightly offended by his negative reaction, to be honest. What’s wrong with me as a husband?

“Ethan?” I looked at him, waiting for a response. We didn’t get one, though. Just a curt nod.

“That’s that, then. Your jet will leave in half an hour from terminal one. The mission is suspected to last at least six to eight months. Other agents may be brought into the mission along the way if necessary.” Dawson stood, indicating that the meeting was over. “Speak soon, Agents. Stay safe and good luck.” That was always his parting line after a first briefing, followed by a handshake.

Once Ethan and I left the room, a folder each in our arms, I turned to him. “What the actual fuck!” I laughed out loudly. My shock and horror was turning to humour and it didn’t take long before I found the whole thing hilarious. “Man, this is going to be the funniest thing ever, wait till Georgie and the guys hear about this! Oh my God, I cannot even process this!” my voice was shaky with laughter as we reached our apartment. Most people would either be still in bed or at breakfast, and we didn’t have time to say goodbyes anyway.

Ethan stayed quiet the entire time we packed our essentials – we would be given entirely new wardrobes, phones and wallets before we got off the jet. It was when we were finally ready to leave the apartment that my laughter seemed to get to him.

“Look, if you find the thought of me and you to be a complete joke, then why the fuck did you even agree to this? Is it that disgusting to you?” he snarled, throwing his suitcase to the front door, resulting in a loud bang.

I was shocked by his reaction, to be fair. I was rendered speechless for all of ten seconds, even. Who knew little Ethan was so sensitive?

“Aw, man, don’t take it like that! Come on, of course you would be my main man if I ever decided to switch to the other side. You know that!” I’d told him many times before that if I had been gay in an alternate universe, Ethan would be my number one fuckbuddy. Possibly even husband – I’d have to see what Ryan Gosling’s answer to that would be first, though.

Ethan just shook his head and went to retrieve his suitcase that was lying on its side by the door. “Are you ready to go?” he snapped. Jeez, it would take a lot of sucking up to get back into his good books again. Luckily for me, I would have him all to myself on the jet.

“Sure am, partner. Or should I say, husband,” I winked and made a kissy noise with my lips. I swear his eyes went a darker shade at this. Instead of reacting, he just stalked from the apartment with long strides, forcing me to run after him to keep up with him.

“Bye apartment! See you in six to eight months!” I yelled as I closed the door behind me and sprinted behind Ethan. I wished I had time to say bye to Georgie – I hated when we were apart for long periods of time. I built up so much sarcasm and wit, and Ethan got easily annoyed when I tried to use it on him too much.

Once we reached the jet, a pretty smokin’ air hostess greeted us, signalling where to leave our luggage. The jet had eight seats in total and was definitely one of the top ones we had in the Agency. I sat across from Ethan, reclining backwards to test my seat out. I groaned in satisfaction, stretching my arms and legs out wide to get comfortable.

“Can I get you anything, sir?” the air hostess asked, smiling shyly. I smirked and brought myself back into a seated position. “Once I have the pleasure of your company, I have everything I need... Hilary,” I winked, looking at her name-tag. She went a shade of red and giggled, turning to Ethan.

“And you, sir?”

“No thanks,” he barked.

I sighed and looked to Hilary. “Please, ignore my husband. He’s not in the best of moods – the florist got him the wrong shade of roses for our dining room table,” I rolled my eyes dramatically, “It’s a travesty.” Hilary’s friendly smile dimmed significantly with the mention of the word ‘husband’. I could even see Ethan shocked at the fact that I was practically turning down this beautiful woman by claiming I was gay.

This was phase one in getting Ethan to talk to me. Also, I loved going undercover – I felt like acting would have been my next port-of-call if I hadn’t gone for the super-cool spy stuff. I liked going into character, and the sooner, the better!

Hilary gave a nod and returned to her little cubby at the front of the jet. I looked over at Ethan, who was looking at me with raised eyebrows.

“Don’t worry baby, I’ll get you your roses,” I blew him a kiss. This earned me a small smile from him. I grinned widely when I saw this, feeling my mood improve knowing that he was smiling.

“You’re some cheeky bastard,” he shook his head, trying to hide the smile that I’d caught.

“Oi, that’s no way to speak to your husband!” I retorted, smiling despite myself. I was enjoying pretending to be his husband a lot more than I thought I would. It just shows that it’s the weird things in life that bring you the most happiness.

Ethan just rolled his eyes and brought his gaze to me. “Sorry, darling,” he whispered, reaching across the aisle to brush my cheek with his thumb. The smile slowly faded from my face as his thumb dragged softly down my cheek. I kept my eyes on his, not sure why my stomach suddenly did a flop.

When he dropped his hand, I laughed nervously, putting on my seatbelt.

“Good, one,” I said shakily, not sure what else to say. I put it down to my early rising this morning and my restless night’s sleep last night as to why my mood had suddenly changed.

This Agency better get their big cheques out for my Christmas bonus – I was changing my sexuality for them bastards! At least for six to eight months, that is. But still – slave labour, I’m telling you!

“Try and sleep, Harry. We didn’t get much sleep last night. We have to be fresh.” Ethan, always looking out for me, advised.

I just nodded and sighed. “I’ve always wondered what the Hamptons was like.” I yawned, retracting back in my seat again and retrieving a blanket from under my chair.

I was determined on making this mission fun. Drug dealers were my cup of tea – we’d have the case cracked in no time and Ethan and I could go back to normal.

As I drifted into an uneasy sleep, however, I realised in my sub-conscious thoughts that I didn’t even know what ‘normal’ was between Ethan and I, and what we pretended to be.

So, what do you guys think so far? Let me know what your views are on Harry and his attitude and what you think will happen in the coming chapters!

I've chosen Christina Perri's 'Distance' as the song for this chapter.. It will give you an insight into Ethan's frame of mind and how the wall he has built up for so long regarding his love for Harry will start crumbling in the chapters to come.

If you liked this chapter, comments and likes would be appreciated!

Thanks :)

-O.