Past

I wheeled the suitcase through Heathrow Airport, looking at every face I passed to find him. The noise was overwhelming, the movement too fast for me to get a good idea on if anyone was tailing me; but I knew it was safe. It had to be. No one had followed me onto the plane and off again. All I had to do was watch for faces that I was seeing too often to be normal, too often to be coincidence.

"Max!" I heard my name being shouted over the top of the noise in the damned airport.

"Jake!" I shouted back, looking around frantically to find him in the mess; but I couldn't tell which head of brown hair belonged to him. At least until I saw one chaotically moving through the crowd, haphazardly weaving in between people, through the middle of families and finally reaching me.

"Fuck me, this is not what I had planned for today." He said as soon as he reached me, pulling me into a bone-crushing hug immediately.

"Well, it wasn't supposed to be this busy. I got a flight in the middle of the day, there shouldn't be this many people." I said as he hugged me, and I felt him pull away.

"School holidays, Max. You never take them into account." A smile plastered on his face as he spoke.

"Shit." I grimaced. "I'm not in school anymore. Why the hell would I take them into account?" I took his hand in mine and let him drag me through the crowd of families waiting for their planes and loved ones to arrive and depart.

"Because you should know that I hate children by now." He said, loud enough to be heard by a handful of the surrounding families.

"That sounds like a you problem."

He kept dragging me through the airport. We didn't say anything else until we were outside, where the crowd was more dispersed and the wind carried my hair with it.

"Okay, now we are in a better place so let me have a look at you." Jake said, turning around to look at me and hold my cheeks in his hands. I rolled my eyes.

"I look like me." A smile crept onto my face as he shook his head.

"No, the last time I saw you, it was like I was looking at the shell of you. Fuck, you got some colour back in your skin, your dark circles are only half the depth they were-"

"Fuck you." I said with a laugh, pulling my face out of his hands.

"You look good, Max." He replied, also laughing with me.

"Thanks..." I trailed off.

"This is when you compliment me." He nudged me with his elbow as we started walking next to each other.

"You're still you, you haven't changed a bit." My cheeks were already hurting from the amount I had smiled at being in his presence again. I knew I had missed my best friend. I hadn't realised how much.

"I'll take that. It's like you're saying I haven't aged in the last three years." My smile faltered.

"Jake, I'm-"

"Don't." He cut me off, his smile also gone. "It's not your fault; if I knew what I was getting you into, I never would have given Queen the info on you." This time, I nudged him with my elbow.

"Yeah, but then I never would've gotten as rich as I am." I joked, watching as he tilted his head to the side.

"You're welcome then." He changed his attitude quickly to lighten the mood. Whether it was to make me or himself feel better, I didn't quite know, but it worked for me either way.

"Thank you." I said, linking my arm through his as he led me to his car.

"Now, you have this car ride to catch me up on all this secretive shit, and if you don't, we can no longer be best friends. Understood?"

"Of course. What else did you think I was going to do with this time with you?"

"Tell me about this 'Esmond' that you also need to give heavy detail on before we meet with him. You have the address, right?" I nodded as he looked into my eyes.

"Of course I have the address, and obviously I'm going to tell you all about Esmond as well. It ties together." I said, as we reached the carpark and started looking for his car.

"Well, at least tell me now why this isn't a relationship and more of a 'situationship' as you so beautifully put it. I need to know this minute." He said, as he locked eyes on his car.

"As you know, I am an amazing, high-level career criminal... and Esmond is an MI6 agent." I whispered the entire sentence so no one could hear and no audio recording device could pick up my words.

"Oh my god, you aren't fucking serious." We reached his car as he spoke. He was one of the few people I let drive instead of me; but only in his vehicles. Today he had his Supra, painted in a bland white.

"Oh, but I am." I threw my carry-on suitcase into his boot before climbing into the passenger seat.

"Is that why it's all 'classified' or is there more? There has to be more." He said as he closed the driver's door and turned the ignition on.

"The situation is rather complicated, but you know me."

"Complicated is your god damn middle name." He said as we waited a minute for the engine to warm up.

"Well, I've really outdone myself this time."

"Jesus, Max, what the hell have you done?" He asked, driving us out of the carpark.

"Well, when we met... I didn't know who he was, what he was. I was slightly high, and he looked a good lay, so-"

"He was, right?"

"Jake." I said his name as a warning to not cut me off again. He didn't interrupt me again as I told him everything, the entire story from the beginning. I let him sit with the information for a few minutes, trying to process everything as he followed my instructions to get us to Esmond's apartment.

"I don't know whether to thank him or punch him in the nose." He said after he thought everything through.

"We're on the same page then." I said with a quiet laugh.

"That is fucking complicated, Max, and this plan to take down Queen? It's half-cooked at best."

"Jake-"

"What if she figures it out? That you aren't on fentanyl? That you're passing information to MI6?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"I'd be more comfortable if we had an escape plan ready. I just got you back, so I'm not losing you again, especially if it's preventable."

"Alright, we'll make an emergency plan then."

"Thank you, now. Does he really live in this building?" He asked as he parked the car. I looked up at the apartment building.

"Yep."

"This might make the whole complicated situation okay..."

I laughed and looked at him to see he was looking back at me with wide eyes.

"You haven't even seen his apartment yet."