Is this destiny?

There was an applause behind Julius. He didn\'t realize that he had an audience.

Nearby youth saw the scene, but no one dared to act. However, now with the troublemakers gone, they can cheer for the guy who had the courage to step in.

"Thank you!", the girl who was defying the bullies said.

"Don\'t mention it.", Julius responded while scratching the back of his head.

"No, no… if you didn\'t help us, I\'m sure Cesar would hit us.", she said.

Julius understood that Cesar is the name of the troublemaker.

"You should go home.", Julius told the girls.

"They will not come back tonight. And next time we will come in larger numbers so that they don\'t dare bully us again! I\'m Angela, what is your name?"

"Julius…", he responded, and his eyes moved, looking for Allen.

"Julius, let us treat you an ice cream." Angela tugged her friend to come forward. "We saw you stand there, so you must want one, right? This is Pearl..."

Julius nodded as a greeting. Well, he wanted an ice cream but… Where is Allen? The girl is talking a lot. Julius wondered, do all girls talk so much? He prefers Allen who talks... just right. 

Eventually, Julius looked at Angela. "If you saw me at the ice cream vendor, you saw that I was not alone. Did you see where my friend went?"

Angela shook her head indicating that she does not know.

"He is over there…", Pearl responded and pointed to the right.

Julius saw a shadow on a bench further away and shook his head. This Allen… is he throwing a tantrum because Julius did something rash? Julius knows that Allen is worried even when he watches him spar, he can\'t imagine how anxious Allen is to see him fight for real.

"Hey…", Julius called when he took a seat on the bench next to Allen. "Why did you leave without saying anything? If one of the girls didn\'t spot you, I would not know where to find you."

Allen turned to look away from Julius. "Yeah, like you would notice that I left."

"Of course, I noticed. Al? Are you sulking? What is wrong?"

"I don\'t know…", Allen sighed.

Julius pulled Allen\'s shoulder, forcing him to turn toward him. "Talk to me."

"I saw you going to rescue those girls without caring about your safety. I was concerned… and then you took care of everything and… you don\'t need me."

Julius chuckled. "Since when are you so needy and insecure?"

"Since you don\'t think about me…"

Julius moved and showed a vanilla ice-cream in his hand. "Who said I don\'t think about you?"

Allen\'s face lit up. He inched closer to the ice-cream and smelled it to confirm the flavor. "I thought you like strawberry…"

"But I know that you like vanilla."

Allen glanced at Julius\' other hand. "You got only one?"

Julius confirmed. "It\'s big. I thought we can share this one."

Allen was touched by the gesture, but then he remembered those two girls who clung onto Julius after he did his \'heroic rescue\' and glanced around. "Where are the girls?"

Julius shrugged. "Why would I know?" He nudged Allen with his elbow, reminding him to take the ice-cream.

Allen looked at Julius and guilt washed over him. Why is he acting like a spoiled brat? It\'s not Julius\' fault that those two girls looked at him like he is the most handsome man around. Heck, even Allen thinks that there is no one more handsome than Julius. And Julius got only one ice-cream, Allen\'s favorite even though Julius can eat three and still ask for more.

"Just a minute…", Allen said and dashed toward the ice-cream vendor.

Julius looked at Allen while he purchased an ice-cream. And he knew that Allen will get the strawberry flavored one.

"I\'m sorry.", Allen said while giving strawberry ice-cream to Julius. "I am not used to sharing you with others."

Julius was surprised to hear that. "Sharing me? When did that happen?"

Julius laughed seeing that Allen is uncomfortable. He nudged him with his shoulder. "Al, don\'t you know that I studied extra hard just so that I can score on the top with you and that we can come on this mission together?"

"Really?"

"Mhm…", Julius hummed a confirmation. "I pushed myself at least three times as hard as you just so that I get close to you! Did you forget that studying always went easy for you, while I am more... physical."

"No, I didn\'t forget. But I thought that you got smarter with age.", Allen teased him.

Julius was outraged. "You!"

Allen laughed.

They were both silent for some time, busy with their ice-creams and their thoughts.

Allen knows that Julius always struggled with academics at the orphanage, and he saw that since they joined Sarah and Aiden, Julius\' test scores are steadily improving. The two of them studied together, but Allen never needed a lot of time. Absorbing new knowledge is easy for Allen and he used most of his free time on the training grounds, because that is where he usually falls behind.

Allen saw that when the two of them finished, Julius would study with Nala, Oni, Haru, Tejan or Daniel. At that time, Allen thought how Julius is using the study sessions as an excuse to make friends, maybe even to avoid him, but now… his heart was all warm and fuzzy at the thought that Julius went above and beyond so that he can get close to him. 

"Juju… Did you really study extra just so that we can be partners for the mission?" Allen held his breath while waiting for Julius to respond.

"Yes.", Julius admitted. "And it\'s not just for this mission, for every future one as well. I remember that from day one Sarah is saying that good test scores will get us benefits, like bodyguard duties and other missions. I want to be able to match you so that you are not ashamed of me, and that we can be partners. I don\'t want to be a partner with anyone else. Every time I felt that I can\'t study anymore, I thought how your score will be in the first place and you will go on a mission with someone who is not me, and that was… unbearable."

"Juju, I don\'t want to be a partner with anyone other than you.", Allen assured Julius.

Julius smiled. Somehow, those words filled up his chest and made him… happy.

"Let\'s go back to the hotel.", Allen suggested.

Julius cleared his throat. "Give me a minute."

"Why?"

"You remember what happens when I am happy?", Julius asked and then added in a small voice: "You said that it happens to you too."

Allen remembered: a hard-on. He glanced at Julius\' crotch, but he is sitting, and it\'s dark so he can\'t see anything. He had to confirm: "You have one right now?"

"Yeah…"

Allen laughed. "You are wearing jeans pants, it\'s not going to be visible."

"But it\'s still uncomfortable to walk.", Julius said awkwardly.

"Think of something not-happy, that should help.", Allen recommended.

Julius took a deep breath. "I heard Sarah and Aiden talk about speeding up our work here. We will probably go home tomorrow or the day after."

Allen frowned. "Is that a not-happy thought?"

"I will need to sleep by myself again.", Julius\' displeasure was obvious.

Allen was not sure how to respond to this. The Cliffside Villa is their home, and they are both happy there. But here, out on a mission, they get to sleep together, and no one knows about it.  And they can\'t be certain that they will be paired up like this for the next mission, because if Jamari is here instead of Ron then Allen or Julius would sleep with Jesse in the suite. Probably Allen because Sarah and Aiden group them by age and Allen is few days older than Julius (they don\'t know their true birth dates, so they are using the dates when they came to the orphanage).

Allen slumped on the bench next to Julius. "At home, I can sneak into your room after everyone sleeps, or you can come into mine…"

Julius frowned. "I don\'t like sneaking around. It makes me feel like we are doing something wrong."

"Then we are down to two options.", Allen said.

"Which ones?"

"One is that we don\'t sleep together." Allen paused before continuing: "And the second one is that we talk to Sarah and Aiden."

"What if they hate us?", Julius was unable to hide his anxiousness.

Allen shrugged. "Unless we talk to them, we don\'t know how they will react."

Julius nodded in understanding. He decided to cheer up because... "No matter what, we have tonight."

Julius stood up and Allen was right by his side. They walked back to the hotel in silence.

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