(no subject)
After the fiasco at Wimbledon, Alex is relieved beyond belief to meet Sabina's parents - her very kind, welcoming parents who have absolutely no problem with their daughter inviting a boy she'd only just met on holiday with them. Jack gives him the go-ahead with stern instructions to stay out of trouble and check in at least once a day before deciding to take the opportunity to head to America to visit her parents.
It's one of the better holidays he's had. The Pleasures treat him as one of their own, letting him into their family as easily as if he'd always been there. He'd never really had the chance to experience that; he and Jack are as close as two people can be without actually being related by blood, of course, but there's just something... different about this. Relaxing.
(And, all right, there are a few awkward moments, like when Mrs. Pleasure came upon him unexpectedly when he was out swimming and asked why he had so many bruises and cuts. He'd felt far worse than he thought he would lying to her, but she seemed to accept the story that he was bullied easily enough. Mr. Pleasure talked to him about not being embarrassed to bring in a teacher if necessary, and then they dropped the subject.
Sabina, of course, would have none of it, but she also didn't feel the same responsibility her parents did to pursue the subject, so that was all right.)
All seemed well and excellent, then, and it looked as if he finally had his summer back. That is, until he and Sabina went surfing and a member of the Chinese triad tried to run him down in a speedboat.
He wakes up several hours later in the Pleasures' summer home feeling like he's been hammered repeatedly with an anvil. He owes his continued survival to Sabina, who saw him go under and managed to pull him out before he drowned. Jack is on her way already.
He spends the next day confined to the bed, half-heartedly attempting to stop the Pleasures from fussing over him as if he were an invalid. Sabina in particular decides to make his bedroom her new center of operations and chatters at him cheerfully about how they'd have to meet up again to make up for all the things they were missing.
("You have no idea what it was like," she'd told him once, quiet and scared. "You weren't even breathing, I thought - I thought you were gone.")
Two hours after Jack arrives, he receives a call from MI6 politely requesting that he drop in on the Royal & General when he feels up to it. And that, officially, is the end of holidays.
It's one of the better holidays he's had. The Pleasures treat him as one of their own, letting him into their family as easily as if he'd always been there. He'd never really had the chance to experience that; he and Jack are as close as two people can be without actually being related by blood, of course, but there's just something... different about this. Relaxing.
(And, all right, there are a few awkward moments, like when Mrs. Pleasure came upon him unexpectedly when he was out swimming and asked why he had so many bruises and cuts. He'd felt far worse than he thought he would lying to her, but she seemed to accept the story that he was bullied easily enough. Mr. Pleasure talked to him about not being embarrassed to bring in a teacher if necessary, and then they dropped the subject.
Sabina, of course, would have none of it, but she also didn't feel the same responsibility her parents did to pursue the subject, so that was all right.)
All seemed well and excellent, then, and it looked as if he finally had his summer back. That is, until he and Sabina went surfing and a member of the Chinese triad tried to run him down in a speedboat.
He wakes up several hours later in the Pleasures' summer home feeling like he's been hammered repeatedly with an anvil. He owes his continued survival to Sabina, who saw him go under and managed to pull him out before he drowned. Jack is on her way already.
He spends the next day confined to the bed, half-heartedly attempting to stop the Pleasures from fussing over him as if he were an invalid. Sabina in particular decides to make his bedroom her new center of operations and chatters at him cheerfully about how they'd have to meet up again to make up for all the things they were missing.
("You have no idea what it was like," she'd told him once, quiet and scared. "You weren't even breathing, I thought - I thought you were gone.")
Two hours after Jack arrives, he receives a call from MI6 politely requesting that he drop in on the Royal & General when he feels up to it. And that, officially, is the end of holidays.