Author's Note: Sorry about the delay by a few hours, I honestly didn't expect this chapter to be so long.

*Back to the story

~~~~~~~~~~

The next afternoon, Adrian and Brody were enjoying their coffee date when Adam and Ashley walked into the shop.

"Adrian? We didn't know you were back already, we didn't expect you to come home until later tonight." Ashley mentioned as they sat down with them.

Adrian looked slightly apprehensive towards Brody before he turned back to Ashley. "I actually just got back a hour ago," Adrian lied, "Brody just picked me up earlier and we came straight here."

He didn't want to reveal that he came 2 days earlier just because he missed Brody, and he wanted to have sex with him. They could live without knowing all of that.

Adam smirked at his childhood best friend, knowing something seemed fishy. "Just got back, huh?"

"Yep, just now." Adrian was brave to meet Adam in the eyes, staying true to the story he just made up.

Adrian watched Adam whisper something to Ashley, which made her giggle in response when they looked at him and Brody together.

With the spotlight on them still, "What?" Adrian asked innocently.

"You both have massive hickeys - again." Adam pointed out with a deadpanned expression.

Brody didn't bother to pretend and hide it, he had a shit eating grin on his face while Adrian was flustered. This wasn't even the first time they were caught out with hickeys on them.

"W-what?" Adrian attempted to cover his reddened neck with his hand. "If you must know, this was done right before we got here."

"Lies." Adam sang as a matter of fact.

"Your necks are a darker shade than my lipstick, and there's no way that was done a few hours ago." Ashley laughed.

"We also didn't see Brody home all day yesterday, and he's wearing the shirt I bought for you last year." Adam described with accurate details.

Adrian took his half filled coffee cup and stood up with it, immediately running away from anymore possible taunting. "I'm going to get a refill!"

"I'll come with." Ashley demonstrated as they made their way to the counter.

Brody was innocently sipping his coffee, hiding the smile on his face when Adam gave him a judging look.

"What did you do to our precious, innocent flower?"

Hearing Adam give Adrian that little nickname made him snicker - Adrian was no way in hell innocent.

"I taught him how to use chopsticks." Brody joked as he livened up the air - it was still technically true.

Adam put his hands up in the air to stop Brody talking. "Adrian's like my little brother, so I think for my sanity it would be better to not continue this conversation, and listen to what you did to my little bro."

"Agreed."

Telling Adam how much he had corrupted Adrian, only for it to be revealed that Adrian was a corrupted little minx in disguise, wouldn't be a good change in light for the best friends.

Brody would keep it between him and Adrian, about how Adrian was no longer the sweet little flower Adam was describing.

~~~~~~~~~~

They were all still sitting around the coffee shop together as Ashley was describing the Christmas market that she wanted them all to go to.

The Christmas market celebrated the holidays as it was all stocked up with gift potentials, food and hot drinks, and pleasing aesthetics that captured the winter wonderland feeling.

"We can go eat gingerbread cookies and mulled wine, there's a few games going on there, and there's even an ice rink!" Ashley boasted with the glee equivalent to a child seeing Santa. "You can all show off your skating skills too, if that helps."

Brody thought it all sounded fun, and it was a nice night out with his friend. Turning towards Adrian, "How about it then?"

"Are you kidding me? I love Christmas!" Adrian jumped in his chair a little with excitement. "It's my favourite holiday."

The excitement overflowed as Adrian knocked someone from behind him, knocking their drink onto his lap.

"Shit that's hot!" Adrian yelped as he flew up from the chair, as if he was sitting on a spring cushion.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!"

Immediately dabbing the hot coffee on his lap with the napkins the woman passed him, Adrian tried to clean his jeans. "It's my fault, I shouldn't have acted like an idiot."

"You're not burned, are you?" Brody checked.

Adrian shook his head. "I think I'm fine Brody, I'm going to see if I can wash it off in the bathroom."

With a large wet stain on the front of his jeans, Adrian made his way into the bathroom to try and sort out the mess on his lap.

The woman that had her drink knocked turned to Brody, recognising his name and face. "Brody Sinclair?"

"Yes?" Brody was surprised to know that the woman in front of him knew his full name.

She smiled as she placed her hands on her hip. "Holiday camp? About 3 years ago? Any of this ringing a bell?"

Brody thought about it for a while. Eventually, a name came out of his mouth. "Rina?"

Nodding her hand, Rina immediately went round to hug her old friend. "How are you doing? I mean, I see you have a cast so it can't be all too good."

Asking her to sit down with them, "Things are great. I kind of got into a fight but the cast will be off tomorrow. How are you?"

"I'm just visiting a friend for the rest of the week. Then I'm going back home for Christmas." Rina explained to Brody.

Ashley couldn't pinpoint why Rina seemed so familiar to her. "Your name is kind of rings a bell, but I don't think I've seen you before. How did you two meet again?"

Brody angled his head slightly as he whispered her name again to Ashley in a hushed whisper. "You know, the, Rina?"

"Ooohhhhhh..."

Adam was still as confused as ever, "Mind sharing?"

"She's just an old friend-"

"We lost our virginity to each other."

Now was the awkward time when Adrian walked back to the group... seeing the new girl in his spot... next to his boyfriend... who had also slept with his boyfriend before...

"Yikes..." Adam whispered.

Brody got up from the chair and stood in front of his boyfriend. "Adrian, this is Rina. Rina, this is my boyfriend, Adrian. And yes, I lost my virginity to her."

Awkwardly waving her hand, she greeted Adrian. "Hi."

"Nice to meet you."

Brody was trying to read the room, and it had gotten quieter ever since everyone learnt who Rina was. He tried to read his boyfriend's expression, and Brody thought he seemed, okay?

"Mind if I borrow your jacket Brody?" Adrian asked.

After Brody passed Adrian his jacket, Adrian tied it around his waist to cover the coffee stain that was made worse because of the water. With it concealed, Adrian took Brody's seat while Brody sat on the armrest.

"Can I at least buy you a new drink? Since I ruined your last one and all that..."

"That sounds great." Rina said.

Adrian nodded his head. "Cappuccino right? I'll buy you one."

"I'll get it for you." Adam offered, as he had already got up from the chair without anyone interrupting.

"I'll come with." Ashley announced, as she also didn't want to be involved in the conversation that was about to follow.

With Brody left alone with his current lover and his ex lover, he wanted to clear the air of anything else that was uncomfortable.

"It was only once." Brody told Adrian, "And it really didn't mean anything."

Rina nodded her head as she understood the situation that was in front of them. She smiled politely towards Adrian as she tried to explain everything. "We were just both young and curious - it was a long time ago."

Adrian suddenly laughed which earned a confused look from Brody and Rina. "Guys, you don't have to step around eggshells with me. Did I expect to meet your ex lover? No. But I knew you had one, it's no big deal."

Brody felt relieved and proud that his boyfriend was taking this encounter with a lot of emotional maturity. He was slightly concerned that Adrian would be extremely jealous of meeting Rina, but it really did seem like everything was okay.

Adam handed Rina her drink, thanking them all as she then stood up. "I'm late for meeting my friends, but it was nice talking to you all. It was great to see you again Brody."

When they all waved at her goodbye, they turned to read Adrian's expression after she left.

"Really guys, I'm fine." Adrian laughed. "I knew there were people before me."

Still sitting on the armrest besides him, Brody pulled Adrian's head close to him and kissed the top of his head - just to triple check with him that he took it all fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~

With Christmas 1 week away, Adrian struggled to think of the perfect present to give to Brody. He had sorted everyone else's out, but there was a brick wall when he had to pick something out for his boyfriend.

Adrian dragged Ashley away from the group earlier at the Christmas market, hoping she would have some insights on what to pick for Brody.

"Brody doesn't really do the whole gift exchange thing. We were never really holiday oriented back at the foster home, and it kind of transferred over to when we got older." Ashley explained.

"I have to get him something. This is my first Christmas with a boyfriend, and I want everything to be right." Adrian expressed with sincerity in his voice.

"What about a shirt or something?"

Ashley saw the look on Adrian's face after that suggestion, and he seemed displeased with it. "Look, I'm confident that even if you give him a boiled egg, he will love it because it's from you."

Adrian didn't have a lot of time to dwell on the warm feeling that was spread throughout his body as they were soon interrupted.

"Are we allowed back yet?" Adam pretended to hesitantly ask the pair, as he waited besides Brody to join their partners.

"Sure..." Adrian told them dejectedly, he would have to look for something that would have been perfect for Brody another time.

"Why the long face?" Brody nudged Adrian's shoulder, before giving him a light kiss that made Adrian temporarily forget his problems.

"Nothing." Adrian took ahold of Brody's hand and walked with him. "Let's get some gingerbread cookies."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Brody's eyes were sharp as he looked around for a present he could get for Adrian.

Every holiday Brody had experienced when he was younger was never made into a big deal. There was no influence that pushed him to celebrate the joyous occasions.

So if it didn't change when he was young, then a change wasn't going to happen any time sooner. But now there were more people in his life that he wanted to try and make an effort for.

Talking to Adam wasn't any help either, neither of them knew what to buy someone who didn't specifically want or need anything in particular.

Then he had to think about the size of the present, and the cost of it - Brody didn't know how much he should put into. He didn't want to over deliver or under deliver either. And this was why Brody hated gift giving.

Whilst they were all still enjoying everything at the market, they were now putting some ice skates on as they wanted to spend time on the ice they had all missed for so long.

Strapping themselves in, Adrian helped Brody get onto the ice in case his casted hand knocked his balance off somehow.

"You good?"

"Of course. I could never trip myself over on the ice." Brody boasted as he elegantly skated across the ice.

Adrian laughed as he chased after his boyfriend, who seemed to make a race out of it. Brody ended up cuddling Adrian once he reached him, wrapping his arms around him as they made circles around the rink.

Whilst they were on the ice, they had run into Rina again. This time she was accompanied by her friend, as they both made their way towards Adrian and Brody.

"This is the Brody you were talking about earlier?" Rina's friend, Justin, asked.

"The one and only..." Brody said as he introduced himself.

Justin whispered to Rina, still loud enough for everyone else to hear. "The guy's hotter than the picture you showed me, now I get why you went after him back then."

"He must workout a lot, I mean look at him!" Rina moved towards Brody and clung herself onto his strong biceps. "He's a lot more built than that skinny kid I knew back then."

Brody laughed awkwardly and nervously, while Adrian seemed to smile through it all. Brody thought that this was going to set his boyfriend off, because who would want to hear about their boyfriend's ex lover coming onto them?

"Yes my boyfriend is," Adrian patted Brody's hard chest as he boasted his boyfriend's physique. "And my boyfriend is the sexiest guy you will meet."

The way that Adrian seemed to mark him, shuffling Rina off his arms, made Brody sure that Adrian was jealous and claiming his territory.

With his hand still on his chest, and the way Adrian was practically hugging his body, Brody couldn't help but smirk at the fire in Adrian's eyes in front of his ex lover.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The Christmas festival was a merriment of fun. With neither of them still able to find the perfect gift for each other, they had to delay the search as they grew tired.

With the only light in the room coming from the lamp by Adrian's bed, Brody put his book down when Adrian's face was showing how he had questions on his mind.

"What do you want to know?" Brody delicately wondered.

Adrian blushed when he realised he was caught out. Any dignity was clearly out of the window when he made sure Rina know that Brody was taken.

"So, are you like, going to talk to Rina again?"

Brody took his phone out and loaded something on his phone. Showing Adrian, "She sent me a Facebook request after the market trip."

"People still use Facebook?" Adrian asked with a heavy amount of sarcasm.

Brody was laughing as he put his phone down. When he shuffled on the bed slightly, Brody's body naturally pulled Adrian towards him like he was Adrian's gravity, resting himself on his bare chest.

"You want to know all about it, don't you?" Brody asked, referring to his ex lovers.

Adrian felt like he was being ridiculous, his mind was plagued with comparing himself to the other people Brody had slept with.

So he thought knowing about them would make himself feel better, and less self-conscious. "Am I maniac if I say yes?" Adrian laughed.

Brody softly kissed Adrian, which helped relieve Adrian's nerves, "You'll just always be my dork, Adrian."

Brody took Adrian's hand and kissed it before he started to talk about his exes. "So like I've said before, I've only slept with 2 people."

Adrian nodded his head as he listened, remembering how Brody referred to him as his third lover before they actually had sex. "Yeah you told me a few days ago."

"So Rina, I met back at holiday camp when we were both 15. We were both young and naive, and we just decided to do it one day."

Adrian was nervous as he asked the next question, not sure if he really wanted to hear more details. "So like, how was it?"

"It was our first time for the both of us, and I'm pretty sure we both thought it kind of, sucked." Brody told him honestly. "Neither of us knew what we were doing, but we stuck through it until the end I guess."

Looking up at Brody, Adrian asked him why they drifted apart if they were friends back then.

Brody went on to explain how they grew up in different cities, and they were going back home to different cities. So there really wasn't any reasons to stay in contact, both of them fine with summer camp being the last time they saw each other.

"What about lover number 2?"

Brody scratched the back of his head as he laughed nervously. "It was some random guy I met at a club."

Adrian was slightly stunned that the responsible, gentleman-like Brody he knew, would do a complete random hookup.

"I knew I was bisexual for a while, but 16 was the time I really got into it - you know? So one night I was out with friends, and I just hit it up with some guy named Javier. One thing led to another, and we went back to his place."

Adrian nodded his head again as he took the information in. "And the sex?"

Brody chose to tell the truth to Adrian, possibly regretting it later on. "It was pretty good. The morning after was the last time I ever saw or heard from him again."

The reaction that Adrian felt was unexpected. He didn't know why he bothered to try and learn about Brody's ex lovers. It was all just jealousy, and Adrian felt kind of stupid because jealousy drove him to ask about his sex life.

Adrian's own ego put him down a path towards one ultimate question.

"You have 3 notches on your bed posts, which one was the best?"

Brody was laughing hysterically after Adrian's question. But when he was the only one laughing, he turned to see Adrian was being serious.

"You really want to know?" Brody verified, as he didn't know if Adrian was playing with him.

"I do. Tell me, I can take it."

"Without a doubt you were, and are the best." Brody proclaimed without missing a beat. "150% you are the best sex I've ever had."

The answer seemed to satisfy Adrian as he became smug afterwards. "Good."

Brody began kissing Adrian's neck as he clung onto his boyfriend more. "3 is only a small number, but you were the most reactive lover. And that alone makes you above them all."

Brody began to slide his hand down Adrian's body as he possessively kissed his Adam's apple. "Your body is so fucking hot."

Brody then moved onto hungrily kissing Adrian's bare chest. "You know how to make me go crazy with your mouth and hands."

"Seeing the way your body reacts to me is the sexiest thing ever." Brody moaned as he excitedly kissed Adrian's abs.

"And loving you made it the best sex I've ever had." Brody locked his hands around Adrian's neck before fiercely kissing him on the lips.

Adrian swapped their positions around as he moved to sit on top of Brody. With a hungry glint in his eyes, he wickedly smiled as he wanted to prove himself.

"Those other times are going to look like nothing, compared to what we are going to do now."

The smirk on Adrian's face was silenced when he passionately kissed Brody, proving himself to Brody throughout the rest of the night.

===========