The drive to the club was a quick one. Channing, Beth, and Alex spent the entire ride talking while I was off in my own world, watching the trees and streets pass by us. As Alex slowed the car down to enter the parking lot, I came to.

"Can you believe how they took it? Or are you still shocked that they took it so well?" Beth was asking Alex.

"I'm a bit shocked that the reporters didn't chew me a new asshole, but I'm glad that they didn't. I'm glad that it went over well, and I'm just waiting for the backlash. All the hate mail that I'm sure I will get. I'm just waiting for it all to happen," Alex answered back.

"Baby, everyone loves you. No one's going to send you hate mail," I said quietly as I set my hand down onto Alex's thigh. He looked at me and smiled as he threw the car into park. I leaned over and pressed my lips to his as a photographer's flash broke through the window. "Ahhhh, fuck," I muttered with my lips still against Alex's.

"Someone must've tipped them off that we're here," I heard Channing's voice from the backseat. I turned to face him and Alex touched my arm.

"Let's get in there, I wanna dance," Alex's sweet voice was filling my ears and I was melting just slightly into him. Beth was the first out of the vehicle and Channing soon followed. C grabbed Beth's hand just as I was getting out of the car. Alex was the last out and locked the car; I walked around to the driver's side and put my hand on his lower back.

"Let's go," I said to our group. My hand stayed on Alex's back as we walked up to the lineup and bypassed all the sorry suckers standing there and went to the front of the line. The bouncer immediately allowed us into the building. The heat and loud music hit me immediately and I was taken aback. It had been awhile since my last clubbing experience, and so I was a bit out of practice. Alex's hand quickly found mine in the darkness and we made our way over to the bar. We weren't used to the public displays of affection, but nothing felt better at this moment than Alex's hand in mine in a public place. At the bar, everyone ordered their drink of choice, with Alex sticking to water. I felt bad that he was driving and therefore couldn't drink, but we didn't trust to leave his car. I vowed that after my first drink, I would stop and start drinking water so that he wasn't the only sober one. I was in my own world once again while we were all standing around, listening to the music and talking.

After we had finished our drinks, we all took to the dance floor. We danced in a group, jumping around and moving our bodies to the beat of the music. By the third song, my body had found its match in Alex's. My body moulded to his and we ground together to the song. We were both starting to sweat and our faces were getting closer to each other's until our lips finally met and we were grinding and making out. I wasn't paying attention to what was happening around me. I was in a world, just me and Alex. When I felt a hand tap me on the shoulder, I was stunned a bit, I pulled away from Alex and turned to see a man standing there. I couldn't quite make out his face, but I felt like I knew him.

"Hey faggot, take that shit elsewhere," the man had to lean in really close for me to hear and I could hear the grin in his voice. When he pulled back again, I clued in. CHRISTIAN!

"OH MY GOD!" I screamed and hugged him tightly, like he was my lifeline. His arms came around me and we stood there hugging. I hadn't seen Christian in years.

"How the fuck are you?!" his mouth was right next to my ear and I just squeezed him tighter.

"So fucking good, oh my god. What are you doing here?"

"I saw you on the news, and I had to come see my boy."

"Asher?" I heard Alex behind me.

"Oh!" I pulled back from Christian. "Alex, this is Christian. Christian, this is my boyfriend Alex. Christian was my mentor/therapist during high school."

"Why did he call you a faggot?"

"It's a running joke that we have. Don't worry about it," I hugged Christian again and then moved away, closer to Alex.

"Please tell me that you're not going to steal my boyfriend away from me," Alex said over the music. Christian looked at me and started laughing.

"Sorry bro, I'm straight. I have a wife and a kid. Definitely not going to steal Ash away from you, he's all yours."

"WAIT! You have a wife?! And a kid?! When the fuck did that happen?" I asked.

"Last year, you remember Amy. She and I were dating when I was helping you, and then I got her pregnant, completely on accident and we decided to get married," Christian explained.

"That's fucking crazy! But congrats man!" I hugged him again, but out of the corner of my eye I could see Alex getting jealous. "Give me your phone, I'll give you my new number and we can go for coffee or something sometime."

"Deal," Chris handed me his phone and I put my number into it then I handed it back. "I'll call you sometime. But I better get going, my buddies are probably looking for me. I just kind of left them when I saw you and Alex makin' out."

Chris walked away and I looked at Alex, he was jealous and I could tell. I walked over to him, rested my arms on his shoulders and kissed him gently.

"Relax, my love. He's an old friend, he helped me through some tough shit when I was in high school. I'll tell you about it some other time. I can't talk about it right now, here is not the place to be doing it. So, let's dance and have fun, we can talk about it when we get home if you really want," I leaned in and kissed him again. "Just please, relax. I'm not going anywhere, you forget that I am completely in love with you."

"I don't forget, I just...I don't want you to leave."

"Baby, I'm not going anywhere. You have me completely and utterly," I had my forehead against his and we were standing there in the middle of the dance floor.

"Hey, babe?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are Channing and Beth?" Alex's voice was soft, he was worried about something.

"Uhmmm, good question. Let's go find them."

I took Alex's hand and held it tightly. I wasn't letting this man go for anything. We started walking to the edge of the dance floor when I turned my head and saw Beth and Channing sitting in a booth, talking and sharing a few kisses here and there. I pulled Alex towards them and sat down on the seat next to Beth, pulling Alex into my lap. Of course there were people talking about Alex and I acting the way that we were, but there wasn't any paparazzi around.

Somehow it was already getting late in the night. We had been there for two and a half hours already, and I was starting to feel it. I hugged Alex tight to my body and rested my forehead against his arm.

"Tired?" Alex said directly into my ear. I just nodded against his shoulder and he tapped Beth on the shoulder.

"We're gonna head out. You guys gonna stay or come with? You can crash at my place, I don't mind," Alex said into Beth's ear. Somehow the music had gotten louder and it was damn near impossible to hear anything.

"Yeah, we'll come with," Beth practically screamed. We all stood up and made our way to the exit, my arm around Alex's shoulders and his around my waist. As we exited the building, the paparazzi started taking pictures again. I was too tired to care and just kept walking to Alex's car. He unlocked it and I let Beth and Channing get in first then I got into the front seat while Alex got into the driver's seat. Beth and Channing almost immediately closed their eyes and leaned into the seat. I leaned my head back against the headrest and turned to look at Alex.

"I love you so much," I said to him as he backed out of the parking spot and started heading for home.

"I know baby, I love you too," I moved my hand to rest it on the back of his neck and squeezed gently as he drove the car down the road. I continued to rub and squeeze his neck as he continued driving. Eventually he pulled into his driveway and parked in his garage, I got out of the car and then reached into the back and tapped Beth. She woke up and gently woke Channing. They exited the car and Alex led us into his house. Channing already knew where to go because he had a room that he always stayed in when he stayed at Alex's. Beth followed him after we all said our goodnights and then Alex and I walked up to his bedroom. I stripped down to my boxerbriefs in his closet and then continued to his bed where I laid down and stretched out across his entire bed.

"God, your bed is the comfiest thing on the planet."

"I know, right?" Alex had stripped to his boxers as well and laid down beside me, he pulled the covers over us and then scooched closer to me where he laid his head on my chest and I instinctively wrapped my arm around him. We both closed our eyes and quickly fell asleep.

*********

A week later, Christian ended up calling me.

"Hello?" I said into the phone after I hit the send button.

"Hey, Asher?" I heard that familiar voice.

"Hey Christian! What's up?"

"Nothing really, could we meet up for coffee? I need someone to talk to, I know, roles reversing and all that jazz. I just need a friend right now."

"Yeah sure, I have a final in about 20 minutes, but can we go for coffee afterwards?"

"Oh crap, I forgot you had finals this week. Yeah, just call me when you're done it and we'll meet up."

"For sure I will, hang in there. I'll be done soon, it's not a hard final."

"Alright, well I'll let you get to it. See you later."

"Yeah, bye Christian," I said, ending the conversation.

"Bye," I heard the click from his end telling me that he hung up. I slipped my phone back into my pocket and made my way towards the lecture hall where my exam would be held. I took my familiar seat and looked around at all the students trying to cram in just a bit more information. I knew my stuff. This English exam was going to be the easiest exam I had ever taken. It was complete interpretation of the literature. Come on, as long as you read it, you'd be fine.

The professor entered and immediately everyone put away their studying tools and looked up at the prof, standing at the front of the room.

"Good morning everyone! I hope you all are doing well and that you all studied at least a little bit. I hope that you all know your literature. You'll have 3 hours to complete the exam, although I'm sure for most of you it will only take 2 at tops. If you are not complete by the end of the third hour, you will have to forfeit those marks that you have missed and hand in the exam anyways. In front of you, you'll see a test booklet, a Scantron form, and foolscap paper. Please do not write in the exam booklet. Please open your exam booklet to page 14," you could hear pages being flipped as everyone turned to that page. "You will notice it says `CHOOSE TWO OF FOUR TOPICS TO WRITE AN ESSAY ON'. Please only write two essays. If you write all four, I will only mark the first two. Please also clearly mark on the top of the foolscap what prompt you are doing. You may simply write the prompt number in the top corner and circle it. Your name should be on every paper that you hand in EXCLUDING the exam booklet. If you have any questions, you may raise your hand. Again, you will have 3 hours to complete the exam. Please, begin."

I immediately opened my exam booklet to the front page and grabbed my Scantron. Name first, Asher, name first. I wrote my name on the Scantron, then on the pages of foolscap that I had. The multiple choice was going to be the most difficult. It covered everything from the theme of books to which sentence had correct or incorrect grammar.

I worked my way through the multiple choice in the first hour. There was 250 of them! Who was this dude kidding? Nobody puts 250 multiple choice on a stupid exam! I put the Scantron form inside the exam booklet and continued on to the essay questions.

Oh god, these looked hard...I read through each one and wrote keynotes on a piece of foolscap. What literature I would use from our studies, what evidence I have from said literature. I had the entire sheet full of information and I looked over which ones I had the most legitimate evidence. Then I set about writing, I took a quick look at my watch. An hour and a half left. Could I write two essays in an hour and a half? Oh fuck yes I could! I immediately started writing down everything that I could, wording things perfectly and trying my hardest to keep myself concise. I worked my ass off to get those two essays done in the an hour so that I would have enough time to quickly check things over and hand them in. I managed to get both essays done in 40 minutes. I looked up at the clock and then quickly double checked my multiple choice and then went through both essays again, editing and double checking my proof. Man, I hope I did well. My last final of this semester in my second year of university. I couldn't wait to get out of this room and go out for coffee with Christian and then go and finish my Christmas shopping, like jeez, when did Christmas get so close?! I stood from my spot in the auditorium and made my way up to the professor's desk.

"Sir, I'm finished," I said quietly to him.

"Ah..perfect, I knew you'd be one of the first done, Asher."

"Oh thank you sir," I was still talking quietly.

"Well, hand it in here and be on your way, enjoy your Christmas."

"Thank you, you as well," I dropped the papers onto the desk, double checking that my name was on every sheet, then I turned towards the door and made my way out of the room. I instantly took out my phone and turned it on. My phone lit up with a few texts and a couple missed calls. Alex must've been bored, most of them were from him. I quickly shot him a text.

I ended the conversation with Alex and instead called Christian.

"Thank god you're done the exam," he greeted me.

"Yes, where do you wanna meet?"

"Ernie's Coffee House, on 19^th. I'll see you there, okay? Oh, and Asher?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for this."

"No worries, alright I'll be there soon, bye," I hung up the phone and made my way to my car. I got in, started it and then made my way to the coffee house. Parking was scarce and I spent a few minutes searching and then decided to cut my losses and parked about a block and a half away. I fed the meter for 3 hours, unsure of how long this conversation would last, then I started my walk to the coffee shop. I walked in, spotted Christian and quickly walked to him.

"Hey!" I could tell right away that he wasn't himself, his cheeks were sunken in, his eyes looked bloodshot, and looking closer, I could see that he was wearing make up to cover up bruises. "Chris, are you sure this is where we should be talking?"

"I don't know if I can handle doing this in a private setting, so please, go get something to drink and then sit down. I need to tell you this, and I need your help," Christian had never sounded or looked like this in all the years that I had known him. His voice was raspy, and low. Like there were demons ravaging his brain at any given moment. He was starting to scare me but I had to take care of him, if nothing else, I owed him a shoulder to cry on. I made my way up to the counter and the barista smiled at me.

"What can I get for you, sir?" she asked politely.

"Could I get a large mocha and two of those apple crumble muffins, please?"

"Yeah of course," she typed stuff into the cash register and then looked at me. "That'll be $10.50, please."

HOLY SHIT! Who knew that this place was so expensive. I took out my wallet and gave her a twenty and then took the change and put it in my pocket. I waited for her to grab my food and make my drink and then I headed over to Christian. I handed him a muffin.

"Eat this, you look like you need it," I was really worried about him, I sat across from him and saw that the sparkle that was in his eyes at one point had all but vanished.

"I can't, I'll just throw it up. I've been sick for the past couple days."

"Chris, spill, what's going on?" he started shaking and I moved my chair closer to his, I wrapped my arms around him and held him as he shook, slowly he started talking.

"Don't judge me, k? a couple days ago, I was out walking at night by myself, Amy didn't want to go with me, and these two guys jumped me. I should've known better, I mean, I was walking late at night and then I passed an alley and decided to walk down it. It was one I went down normally, nothing bad had ever happened in that alley. Anyways, I was walking down it when these two guys walked out from a fire escape and cornered me, I didn't know what to do. I just stood there, they started beating on me until I was on the ground and not moving...and then they...they..." he was starting to cry so I held him tighter. "You know what happened to you when you were 8?" I nodded. "Well, that happened to me that night basically the same thing, two guys Asher. I haven't been home since, I can't face Amy, she'll be heartbroken." I tried not to show my surprise and continued to hold him against me. "I just feel so fucking dirty."

"Shhh, you're not dirty. Come on, let's go, I'll take you to Alex's, we can talk and I'll help get you cleaned up. Do you have your car here or no?" I was rubbing my hands up and down his arms, holding him tightly to me.

"No, I don't have my car."

"Perfect, let's go," I stood from my place, grabbed two little bags from the counter and bagged our muffins, grabbed my drink and headed out the door, with Christian following me. I lead him down the block to my car and then unlocked it. He slid in and I smiled at him. "You know that I would never judge you for that, right? I've been through it, it's horrible, but I won't leave your side until you're ready. I know what you need and I'll be there every step of the way." Christian nodded at me and then I got into the car on the driver's side. The engine came to life when I turned the ignition and then I pulled away from my parking space. The next person to park there was going to get a lot of free time. We had been in the coffee shop for a maximum of 30 minutes.

I pulled onto the busy street and started navigating my way through traffic.

"Chris, there's handiwipes in the glove box, use them and take that make up off your face."

"How'd you know I was wearing make-up?"

"Chris, I know you, I like to think quite well. I know your face color and that is not it," I kept driving but sneaking glances back at him.

"Finnneeeee," he grabbed the package of wipes and started wiping the makeup from his face, slowly the bruises came to full view. I didn't think that they would be this bad, but man, they were bad. The bruises covered his entire face and they were dark, almost black. I turned down the street to go to Alex's house and I was silently hoping that he wouldn't be home. This was something that I could not face with him in the house. I needed to help Christian and not start telling Alex the story of what happened to me. It was not something I could go through at this point. I pulled the car into Alex's driveway and then used the garage clicker that he gave me and opened the garage. He had given me free reign of his house and his cars, I was basically living with him. I was at home only when he was on location and I felt uncomfortable sleeping without him in his bed.

I parked my car in the open spot in the garage and then got out after closing the garage door again. I went around the car to Chris' side and smiled.

"Let's go, I'll make you lunch and we can relax and talk or we can just watch movies, it's up to you buddy," Christian smiled meekly at me and stepped from the car. Christian was two years older than me but I stood over him at his 5'9" stature. He had always been there for me and now was the time that I could be there for him, all I wanted to do was help him and I'd do everything in my power to do so. We walked into the house and I saw Alex sitting on the couch, I walked up to him and kissed his cheek.

"Hey babe, hungry?"

"Yeah, a bit, what's up?"

"I'll tell you later, I'm gonna go make lunch and talk to Chris."

"Alright," Alex looked over his shoulder at Christian and his jaw dropped. I'm sure he wasn't expecting the bright bruises and the shakiness of him. Chris made his exit and walked into the kitchen, and I followed.

"I promise, I'll tell you later, it's just a lot of stuff that I can't get into right now. I love you," I said as I walked into the kitchen and wrapped my arms around Christian who was starting to cry. "Don't worry, I've got you."

He hadn't said much since he told me what happened and I was worried, but left him be. He would talk when he was ready. I went to Alex's fridge and started going through it, looking for something to make for lunch. I went through every shelf and then went through every cupboard.

"Alex! You need to go grocery shopping!!!!!!" I moved to his breakfast bar thing, and sat down at one of the stools. "Chris, what do you feel like eating?"

"Nothing..."

"Alright...well you need to eat something. I'm gonna order a pizza and then we'll watch a movie, and relax. You don't have to see Alex, you don't have to be around anyone other than me. We'll talk when you're ready and I'll make sure that you're okay," I moved closer to Christian and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Asher. We can hang with Alex, I don't wanna talk about what happened much, I'd like to just relax and I don't want to put Alex out in his own house. I'd feel like a jackass. Can we watch a movie or something? I want to relax for a bit, I don't wanna eat just yet, I feel like I'm going to throw up," Chris looked up at me and I squeezed his shoulder gently.

"Alright, that's fine, let's go watch a movie," I walked into the living room where Alex laid sprawled out on the couch.

"Hey, Asher?" Alex asked.

"Yeah?"

"I just got a call from my agent about a movie script that he wants me to read. I'm gonna go grab it from him and then I'll be back and we can do whatever it is that you had planned. Deal?"

"Yeah baby, go ahead," Alex stood from the couch, kissed my cheek and then headed out of the room. A few seconds later I heard the front door close and smiled to myself. "Alright, what movie do you want to watch?" I turned to Chris.

"How abouttttt Beastly?" Christian laughed softly.

"I would enjoy that probably more than you would. I'm not allowed to watch movies that have Alex in them when he's around, apparently. So...really, what would you like to watch?"

"Well, I haven't seen Beastly yet, and I'm guessing that you haven't watched it in awhile, and I realize it's a bit of a chick flick but let's watch it. I need to just zone out with it for a bit. Is that okay?" Christian asked me.

"Yeah, of course, let's head to the theatre room and then I'll put it in and we can just relax," I held my hand out to Christian and smiled when he took it, I pulled him to me and hugged him tightly. "You're still the same Christian, don't forget it. I'll still love you, no matter what." I wasn't lying. I loved this guy, he was an amazing friend, and he was basically family.

I lead Christian to the theatre room and started setting up the entire entertainment station. I put the movie DVD in the player, turned the surround sound on, grabbed the remote and sat in one of the overstuffed plush leather recliners. I used the remote to turn the TV on and pressed play for the DVD player. I soon drifted out of my conscious state and zoned out, watching the way that Alex portrayed Kyle, I watched my man move across the screen, watching the way that he flipped his hair, and the way his eyes twinkled when he smiled. He was in his moment, and I was smiling to myself, thinking that this man was entirely mine. I absently looked over at Christian and saw him with his eyes closed, apparently sleeping. It must've been the first time he had slept in a couple of days.

I turned back to the movie and continued watching it. Not hearing Alex come home half way through the movie. He must have heard the movie playing because he walked into the room and up to my chair, he leaned over and kissed my forehead while I was entranced by his movements on the screen. He looked at the TV and smiled then pressed his lips to mine, snapping me out of my trance, his tongue begged for entrance to my mouth and I happily obliged, losing myself in his kiss. I heard Christian cough and I blushed as I pulled away.

"Sorry..." I was embarrassed but at the same time happy. I looked at Alex, "So did they give you a run down on what it's about?"

"Yeah, if I get the part, I get to play a male stripper named Adam."

"A stripper, hey?"

"Mhm..."

"So does that mean you'll come home and dance for me?" I blushed a bit at my forwardness and slid my hand down Alex's side.

"Baby, I can't dance, so I won't be able to until I've been through a bunch of practices, but yes. I'll come home and dance for you, whenever you want me to."

I just smiled at him and continued to watch the movie playing in front of us. Alex slowly slid into my lap and started reading his script, I looked over his shoulder to read just a few lines but blushed when he caught me.

"You're not allowed to read it, mister," he whispered to me and I smiled, turning back to my movie. Alex's hair was starting to get long and it hung in his face as he tried to read this script. I slid my hand through is hair and tangled my fingers in it.

"Time for a cut?" I whispered. I looked over at Christian to see him still asleep and pressed my lips to Alex's shoulder.

"Mmhhhh, probably, how about we go tomorrow, you need a cut too babe."

"Alright, deal, and we can do Christmas shopping too?"

"Yeah," Alex turned back to his script ending the conversation.

The next day, I woke to the beautiful sight of Alex's green eyes staring at me.

"Morning," he whispered, his voice husky and soft.

"Good morning," I leaned forward and pressed my lips to Alex's. "What time do you want to go shopping?"

"Around noon, I'd think."

"Alright, and what time is it now?" I pressed my lips to his again, enjoying the feel of my lips on his, homeeeeee. That's what it was, I was home with him.

"Just after nine, why?"

"Think we have time for a quick romp?" I asked while nuzzling my nose into his neck and stealing a few quick kisses to his skin.

"Oh god baby, I would love to, sooo much, but I have to go call Mark and Elizabeth before we go anywhere. They have to know that I want that part," Alex was starting to move away from me and I groaned softly.

"Nooooo. Do it laterrrrrrr just enjoy being in bed with me, right now, pleaseeeee," I begged him and held onto him. He kissed me gently.

"After we go shopping, I promise, I'll make it up to you okay. I'll start practicing for the movie early, deal?"

"Mmmh, I could get into that," I smacked Alex's ass as he stood from the bed and started to make it way out of the room. "You might want to put clothes on, especially cause Lizzy will want to come over, like always."

"Ughhh, that's a good idea," Alex went into his closet and put on a pair of sweatpants and a muscle shirt.

"God damn! How are you so sexy?"

"I don't know, it just comes naturally," he winked at me and left the room, making his way downstairs to his office.

I stayed in bed where I was comfortable until I got the motivation to get up and out of bed. I made my way to the bathroom where I quickly relieved myself and then started the shower. I quickly completed my shower routine and then stepped out, I shaved and after drying off my body and then brushed my teeth. I wrapped the towel around my lower half and made my way to Alex's closet. I quickly put on a pair of loose jeans and a t-shirt and slid some cloth flip flops on. I left the closet and made my way downstairs in search of food.

"Baby! Don't eat anything! We're gonna go out for brunch," I heard through the walls.

GODDAMNIT! I wanted to eat nowwwwww. I went in search of Alex and found him sitting at his desk in his office. I made my way over to him, hearing Elizabeth on speakerphone, I kissed Alex quickly.

"Hi, Liz," I said after sliding my hand through Alex's hair.

"Ahhhh, Asher, how are you doing?"

"I'm well thank you, what kind of trouble is Alex in now?" I smiled at him and kissed his forehead.

"Actually, surprisingly none. Everyone's taking the news well and there hasn't been any backlash. Althoughhh your pretty little face has been splashed across some magazines. You and Alex holding hands and kissin in the car. Oh! And the grocery store? I thought you were gonna try to do that stuff as little as possible until later?"

"Well, it kind of just happened, sorry Lizzy," I muttered.

"It's okay, just behave. Alright, Alex told me both of you are leaving to go and shop or whatever? So I'll let you go and Alex, just email me or text me or whatever when you're home. Let me know what kind of pictures were taken of you guys."

"Yes mother," Alex said and tried to hide his smile.

"I'll leave that one alone. Bye guys!"

"Bye!" we said at the same time. I grabbed Alex's hand.

"Let's go, haircuts and thennnn SHOPPING!"

"Oh my god, you stereotypical gay man."

"Hey now! Don't hate, procreate!" I grabbed the back of Alex's neck and shook him a bit.

"Ready?" he asked as he stood.

"Yeah, let's go," I followed him out of the room and then out to his car. We got in and buckled up then left for the mall.

Once at the mall, we quickly got in for haircuts. Mine staying longer than Alex's. Then we made our way throughout the mall, picking up gifts here and there, our gifts for each other would have to wait.

Christmas was something that I was most excited for. I would be able to spend time with Alex's family and my family all at the same time. It was time for Alex to meet the entire Lennox clan and this was the one event where it would happen. Alex and I had decided that we would host Christmas this year, I would do the cooking, he would do the decorating and planning. And we would have fun, both of our families would hopefully get along and everything would go according to plan. I couldn't wait.

Christmas was but a week away, and both nerves and excitement were getting to me. I was starting to find it harder to sleep and I think that Alex was starting to notice as well.