A/N: Timeframe: "Balancing Act" (Season 2, Episode 04).
Disclaimer: Characters - not mine. No profit made.

The Talk (or How Two Plus Two Equals Five)

"Where the Hell is he going?" Declan watched from his car as Kyle ran to what looked like an abandoned warehouse, and then up to the open door, where Tom Foss stood.

"Foss?" Declan frowned even more. What the Hell Kyle was doing with that creep? Declan remembered all too well breaking and entering Foss's apartment and finding – lo and behold – surveillance equipment broadcasting the feed from the Tragers' house.

He shuddered. If that kind of stalking wasn't creepy he didn't know what was.

Declan looked around, but the neighbourhood was obviously as deserted as it was decrepit. He decided to come back another time.

He came back the next day, but didn't have better luck in finding what was going on than the first time. The door was locked and he couldn't see much through the window. The lack of success was overwhelming, but didn't discourage him in the least. It was only after he got the photographs of himself snooping around and a note with unmistakable threat, that he decided it was maybe time to change tactics and talk to Kyle.

He caught him as soon as he could, which happened to be a couple of days later. Kyle was leaving the house and Declan, driving by, decided it was now or never.

"Hey, man. You in hurry?" Declan asked, trying to sound as if he was interested in the answer. Nowadays it seemed Kyle was always hurrying somewhere and Declan was prepared to sit on him if that was what it took for them to have their talk.

"No." Kyle had that slightly confused, expectant smile he always got when he thought people asked him strange questions.

"Good. We have to talk."

They walked to Declan's car and leant against it. Declan crossed his arms. Looked at the sky, then at the trees and finally at the ground. Nothing interesting appeared there.

"So, what is it?" Kyle finally asked when nothing more in the way of actual talking was coming from his friend.

Declan took a deep breath. "Why are you seeing Foss?"

He shot a mildly accusatory look at Kyle who didn't look very comfortable with the question.

"What are you talking about?"

"Kyle, man, I saw you. You ran to some warehouse and he was there, waiting for you."

"You saw me?" Kyle narrowed his eyes and stared suspiciously at Declan. "You mean, you followed me."

"So I did. So shoot me. I worry, OK? What were you doing with Foss?" Declan didn't allow himself to be distracted by vague feelings of guilt just because he was spying on his friend. It was for his own good, damn it.

Said friend chewed his bottom lip for a moment and finally settled for the truth. "I can't tell you."

"You can't tell me." There was a world of scepticism in Declan's voice.

"It's dangerous, OK? I don't want you to get involved in this."

"Involved." The scepticism again, this time accompanied by visible teeth-gritting. "I'm your friend, or I'd like to think I am because lately you don't seem to care much for friendship—"

"That's not true," Kyle said, but Declan went on over his protest.

"—I'm already involved."

Before Kyle had a chance to say anything else, Declan suddenly stood up from his slouch. "Wait, did you just mean that what you and Foss do is dangerous?"

Kyle hesitated for a moment. "No, not really."

Declan didn't look convinced. "Do I need to remind you what we found in his apartment? He was spying on you. I'm telling you, the guy is a serious creep." Declan had no idea why Kyle couldn't see it on his own, but if that was the case, he would gladly point it out to him.

"Foss is not a creep." Kyle looked upset. "He..." he hesitated and then blinked as if realising something for the first time. "He cares."

Declan stared in disbelief. "Yeah," he said after a pause. "He just has his own special way of showing it."

Kyle furrowed his brows.

Seeing that was most likely the end of Kyle's confessions, Declan raised his hands and sighed. "Fine. You believe what you want. Obviously, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, but have you at least told Stephen and Nicole? They worry you disappear to who knows where when you go to Foss."

"I can't." Kyle wasn't happy with the arrangement either, but it couldn't be helped. "Besides, if they knew, they probably wouldn't let me. They don't like Foss," he added, remembering Stephen's remarks.

Don't like Foss. Yes, Declan had no problem understanding that one.

Something about the words struck him as funny, though, and not really funny 'ha ha'. Kyle spoke about it like a guy whose overbearing and snobbish parents didn't approve of his girlfriend. And for that particular leap of deductive reasoning Declan blamed literature classes and all the ridiculously outdated romantic movies Lori made him watch.

But shit, what if that was the case? His eyes widened and he nearly stumbled with the force of the realisation.

"Oh, man." Declan hoped it didn't come out as a dismayed groan even if it was what he felt like doing at the moment. "Tell me this isn't what I think it is."

Kyle gave him an uncertain half-smile. "I don't know what you think."

"You and Foss..." Declan licked his lips nervously. "You know... You're not actually seeing him, are you?"

Declan looked at his friend with such intensity as if he wanted to bore a hole through Kyle's head. Kyle found he didn't much care for that particular image and instead answered, somewhat bemused,

"But you yourself saw me seeing him."

"Christ, I can't believe it." Declan was now officially freaked out. "What about Amanda?"

Kyle was even more confused with that question. "What about her? We're friends." He'd have thought that didn't need clarifying, but there you go.

Declan still looked poleaxed, but managed to mumble, "Oh. Right."

Then he seemed to pull himself together, although his still deathly pallor and hammering heart did concern Kyle a little.

"Declan, are you all right?" he asked.

"Yeah. Sure, man. It's just a little hard to take all at once. But sure, I'll be all right, I just need some time to get used to it."

Kyle wondered why him being friends with Amanda would be that hard to take. Or him seeing Foss, for that matter. Maybe Declan liked Foss even less than Stephen and Nicole did? Kinda strange because Tom was a really nice guy once you got to know him.

Meanwhile, Declan took a couple of deep breaths, then got a determined look in his eye and said, "Just tell me one thing and I promise I'll stop butting in." He paused, cleared his throat and finally forced out, "He's not some pervert, right? I mean, he doesn't make you... do things."

Well, technically Foss made him do things, but Kyle knew they were supposed to help him. He was completely baffled by the 'pervert' thing, though, and all he did manage to say was a rather emphatic "No."

"Good." Declan was obviously relieved. "OK, man." He turned and put his hand on the door handle. "I get it now, thanks for telling me. And you can trust me, you know. I won't tell anyone, but you gotta promise me something."

Kyle wasn't quite sure how he just got Declan to stop asking questions about Foss and "butt out" (and his face probably showed his confusion pretty clearly), but whatever it was, seemed to be working, so he agreed easily enough. "OK."

Declan winced a little at what he had to say, but was determined to see the matter through. "When you finally have sex, don't let him do anything—I don't know—weird, all right? And use condoms."

Having at last gotten this particular bit of advice out, Declan patted Kyle on the shoulder, got into his car and drove off.

Kyle stayed in the same spot for the next five minutes, a stunned expression on his face.

Him and Foss... He felt a blush spreading all over his face and down his neck. He wondered fleetingly if it was possible to blush with the whole body. If it was, he looked like a beetroot or something right about now.

He also finally cottoned on that Declan must have somehow misunderstood him. Funny, usually Kyle was quicker on the uptake; it was just that it would never occur to him... He felt a bit hot, but since the assumption got Declan off his back, so to speak...

Yeah, the problem was now, how to tell the news to Foss.