Nate meets Jesse for the First Time

Will snorted and pushed his hands into his pockets. "So, you staying here in London, then?" he asked Jesse.

Jesse let out a long breath. "Maybe. I just found out I have a half-brother. I guess... we should get to know each other."

He winced at how that sounded, and saw from Will's grin that he was going to be teased about this for the rest of his life.

Will pulled him into a hug. "Christ, I'm going to miss you."

"What do you mean 'miss me'?" asked Jesse as they moved apart.

Will pushed his hands into his pockets. "I needed to talk to you anyway." He let out a sigh. "I got a job."

"That's good, isn't it?" he said cautiously.

Will made an apologetic face. "It's in Sydney. Australia."

"Australia?"

"Yeah." Will shifted his feet and looked down at his boots. "I thought you were going to move there, and I figured I'd try for jobs. And I got one. I'm moving across in a month. I was going to tell you, but you'd already headed up to London."

Jesse looked shell shocked.

"You could come with me," said Will. "You always said you wanted to go to Australia."

Nate watched silently, wondering how this was going to play out.

"We broke up," said Jesse. "I can't... I can't just move to Australia with you."

Will let out a long sigh. "Yeah, I know." He lifted his gaze. "Look, you don't have to decide now. But think about it. I don't know how it'd work either, I just..." he sighed again. "It's a long way, you know."

He scratched his forehead absently.

"You sold me, Will," said Jesse gently. "And I mean, you know I love you, mate. But you sold me."

Will closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were glossed with pain. "I know. It was a long shot. But I couldn't leave things as they were. I had to say goodbye at least."

He glanced at Nate. "I'm glad you found each other. Take care of each other, yeah?"

Nate was starting to see what Jesse saw in the guy. Maybe when Will got some life experience under his belt and stopped making stupid mistakes—and maybe when Jesse figured out who he was without Will there to tell him, the two of them might work well together. But not right now. Right now their roads were irrevocably diverging, and taking those separate paths would make all the difference.

Jesse held up his phone and said to Will, "I'll leave the app on so you can see where I go. And I'll blog about it. Once I get that interview." He grinned.

"I expect more than that," said Will. "I hear Australia has an amazing government funded and wicked fast fibre network the entire length of the country. Skype should work without any issues, all of the time."

Jesse swallowed hard. "Sure. Skype."

They stared at each other for a long moment. "Well," said Will, "the last train leaves soon, so—"

Jesse hugged Will hard, drinking in the smell of his jacket, the cigarette smoke that was now all over them both, and Will's faint cologne, trying not to feel as if part of him was being ripped away. "Don't forget me."

Will grinned. "Not possible."

Jesse buried his face against Will's jacket, clinging to him, but Will gently disengaged from him. "I have to—"

Jesse nodded and let him go.

Nate put an arm around his little brother's shoulders as Will set off down the road towards the tube station, his hands pushed into his pockets, his back stiff.

"Come on," Nate said to Jesse. "The apartment's just around the corner. I'll take the couch tonight and we can work something else out tomorrow."

He gave Jesse's shoulders a squeeze as Jesse stared after his ex lover, watching until Will finally disappeared.