Six years ago
Zig strutted down the dimly lit streets of Soho, heading for home.He could have got on the Tube, but he’d fancied a walk.Just him and his thoughts.
Fuck, that lad from Somerset was cute.So wet behind the ears you’d probably find a diving board and a pair of Speedos if you looked hard enough.And that accent...After kissing him, Zig was surprised he wasn’t picking half a haystack out of his teeth.God knew why he was so hung up on the bloke.He wasn’t Zig’s usual type at all.
Zig whispered his name into the shadows of the alley in a drawn-out, mocking breath.“Siiiii...”Then he laughed out loud.He’d had plenty of cocky London lads, all tight jeans and swagger.Maybe it was time for a change.It was refreshing, meeting someone who wasn’t all front.Someone honest.
Zig had played it cool, after their snog-session outside the club—fuck, he was getting hard thinking about it—but yeah, he’d be there next weekend.Maybe then he’d finally get to find out what Si kept in those painfully unfashionable jeans of his.
His route took him to Fleet Street, where he hopped on the bus.It was too far to walk all the way from Soho to his dad’s house in Barking.Anyone who tried would have to be, heh, barking.Zig had timed it well and got the direct bus, but it was still an hour’s ride.He dozed off en route, his internal alarm clock waking him up in time for his stop.
It was only a ten-minute walk from the bus stop to Dad’s house.Zig turned the key in the lock with care and slipped through the front door.Then the bastard thing wouldn’t close behind him, so he had to slam it.Bugger.
Sure enough, there was a shout from the living room.“Oi!Where the fuck have you been?”
“Anywhere but here,” Zig muttered, heading for his room.
Too slow.A hand grabbed him by the shoulder and jerked him back.His dad’s unshaven face glared at him, eyes bloodshot.“What the fuck did you say?”
“I said...”Zig’s mind went into overdrive.“Uh, not anywhere you’d want to hear about.”
Well, bollocks.That wasn’t a lot better, was it?
Dad’s face darkened.“Pissing about with a load of pansies again, were you?Jesus, where the fuck did you come from?You bloody didn’t get that from me.Are you drunk?”
Not as drunk as you.“No.I only had a couple.”
“Good.You’re going out with Trent tonight.Scrap merchants.”
“What?I’m tired.”Zig made as if to walk off.
The hand on his shoulder tightened.“If you want to live here, you’ll damn well earn your keep.He’ll be here in half an hour.Now go and put on something fucking suitable.You look like a bloody rentboy.Smell like one too.”Dad gave one last, painful squeeze, and let him go.
Zig slouched his way down the hall to his room.He didn’t roll his shoulder until he was inside with the door shut.No sense letting the old bastard know he’d hurt him.
Si must have got home ages ago.Peckham might be south of the river, but it was way closer to the centre than bloody Barking.Maybe he was already in bed, asleep?Or lying there thinking of Zig?He smiled briefly at the thought.Either way, Si’s day was over, whereas Zig’s wouldn’t end for hours yet.An odd twinge hit him in the chest as he wondered what Si would think if he knew how Zig and his dad earned their money.
Ah, what the hell.What he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.
Present day
When Si got back to the living room, mugs of tea in hand, Zig was relaxing on the sofa in that easy, familiar sprawl that made him look all legs.
“Cheers, mate,” Zig said as Si handed him his tea.
Si perched on the other end of the sofa.“So what have you been up to, then, for the last...Blimey, has it been five years?Six?”He rubbed his nose.Five years, eleven months, but you’re the only bugger who’s been counting.Zig was never in as deep.Gotta remember that.
“Oh, this and that,” Zig said easily enough, exactly like he always used to,’cept his eyes slid away to the side.Course, maybe they’d done that way back when and all, but Si had been too bloody naïve—and horny, don’t forget that—to see it.“Six, anyway.”
Si blinked.“You what?”
“Six years, near as.You left right after New Year.Couple of weeks after me eighteenth.”This time, Zig’s gaze met Si’s, and it was Si who looked away.
Those eyes of Zig’s hadn’t got any less intense, had they?“Right.Right.Long time ago, now.We’ve all passed a lot of water since then, as the saying goes.”It didn’t mean anything.Si had to remember that.Just cos Zig had kept track...
Zig laughed.“Can see you’ve been spending some time in the gym.Or did you give up hauling bricks around so you could get into the lumberjack business?”He looked at Si appreciatively.
Thank all the gods that blushes don’t show through beards.“I’m a locksmith, these days.Got me certification and everything.There’s jobs where a bit of muscle comes in handy.You working at the mo?”Si did his best, but he couldn’t help it coming out like a challenge.
