It was a very nice day, Ethan decided as he rode with Giles along the riverbank. He was growing accustomed to riding now and had to admit he rather enjoyed it. The added height, the motion – there was something satisfying about it all.

Now that his muscles had adjusted, anyway.

Of course, it wasn't just a nice day because of fine, almost warm winter weather. It had started, after all, with an extremely long 'lay in', which euphemism actually meant a Valentine's Day breakfast in bed followed by bloody fantastic sex featuring many of their favourite toys. Ethan felt wonderfully well used, the hard saddle under him serving only to remind him of how good it had been.

He'd given Rupert his own small present – a new stash tin, hand painted to order by this new age traveller bloke he'd found in the village. The picture showed a pub sign, the 'Fox and Badger'. It wasn't much, being as they were stuck in rural nowhere-land away from decent shops and services, but Rupert had seemed really pleased and that, of course, had made Ethan even happier.

Then Rupert had done something he'd done before in their mutual past. He'd told Ethan to ask for one thing, anything, that he wanted. And that was what they were doing out here. Since Ethan had asked to be told something about Rupert that he didn't already know, and the answer, apparently, waited him at the end of this ride.

He looked over at Rupert, sitting tall on top of the black stallion he seemed to have claimed as his own, and smiled. That was his Rupert. His, and while Ethan might chose to share occasionally, Rupert would always be his. Never again would Ethan come second to someone or something else with this man.

Rupert glanced over at him with a smile. "What are you thinking about?" he asked.

"You," Ethan answered with a ironic smile. "What else would I be thinking about?"

"The possibilities are mind boggling. Actually even knowing you're thinking about me, the possibilities are still mind boggling."

"I'd better think up something interesting then so you're not disappointed." Ethan laughed and directed the ever-obliging Champ closer to Rupert's Shadow. Ethan didn't so much steer as pattern-tweak, but it worked well, and the horse didn't seem to mind.

"I doubt you could disappoint me," Rupert said easily, reaching out a hand to Ethan.

Ethan took it and squeezed through the two layers of leather gloves. "I was simply... appreciating you. Rupert, do you have something planned for tonight?"

Rupert shook his head. "Not as yet, no. I didn't know what you would pick for your present so didn't want to take a chance of interfering with it."

"Would you mind if I spent a little time with Megan? I think she might feel a little left out today. Ian's taking Dawn to see some film in High Wycombe to try to cheer her up, and everyone else is coupled up."

"Of course," Rupert answered immediately, smiling at Ethan again.

Good, that was that sorted. Ethan let go of Rupert's hand and trailed his own across Rupert's thigh. "Do you possess riding boots?" he asked casually. "You know, the high leg kind."

"I think I probably have a pair somewhere."

Ethan smirked and joked, "Maybe I want to change my request now."

Rupert chuckled. "Insatiable."

"Boots, riding crop, that lord of the manor look you can put on when dealing with imbeciles. Mmm..."

Rupert was steering them away from the river now and into an area of heath. "And to think," he teased, "you used to hate everything that even hinted at 'the lord of the manor.'"

"Maybe Matthew has converted me. Maybe I think Lyle and Scott the height of chic now." The two horses were nudging together as they walked, which trapped the men's legs between the saddles and was painful at times, but Ethan didn't care.

Rupert snorted. "Somehow I find that difficult to believe." He nudged his horse ahead of Ethan's, tossing back over his shoulder, "We have to go single file from here."

Ethan was about to object as he saw no reason for such a stricture, when Rupert turned his horse abruptly into the bank of trees they'd been walking along side. Ethan ducked under branches as Champ followed along behind. "Are you sure this path is meant for large animals?"

"I used to ride out here all the time," Rupert assured him. "It looks a tighter fit than it is."

The path led into a properly wooded area which showed signs that it had once been coppiced. They went quite deep, and then Rupert turned from the path to push through an overgrown area which made Ethan glad of the jeans he'd purchased in the village, for all that they were completely the wrong shade. He was glad of his Barbour coat as well as damp sprayed from the winter-dead branches they pushed aside, but then they entered a large clearing.

In the centre was a very old cottage in obvious disrepair. "Is this our destination?" Ethan asked quietly as he drew Champ back alongside Shadow.

Rupert nodded, suddenly seeming a bit shy, of all things. "It hasn't been used for several generations at least. I found it as a boy and..." He shrugged.

"Another den?" Ethan asked, curiosity sparked. "Bigger and better than the attic space?"

"A secret place. That no one knew but me. The attic, the nursery, they're in the house; if someone wanted to find me badly enough they could. But here..."

"I'm the only person you've ever brought here?"

Rupert nodded again. "There's been no one else it would have felt right to share this with."

"I love you so very much." Ethan reached out his hand to Rupert. "Show me; tell me. This is a brilliant Valentine's Day gift."

Rupert smiled that particular smile which made him look so much like the boy that he used to be. He squeezed Ethan's hand then dismounted. "Come on. Let's go inside."

They looped the horses' reins around a branch, western style, and then Rupert took Ethan's hand again, leading him to the door of the ramshackle building. The door stuck a bit as Rupert pushed it open, but moved with a sharp kick to its bottom edge.

Inside, it was dark, cold, and a little damp, but in much better nick than Ethan had been expecting. It was all one open room. The walls and ceiling were sound and the wooden floor, while covered in leaves and dust, seemed equally strong underfoot. There was an old rug by the fireplace, although not as old as the cottage would suggest, and Ethan wondered if Rupert had brought it here as a child. There were cushions too, the cloth presumably well rotted by now.

At one end of the room, there was a sink, but it had no taps. There had probably been a pump or a well close by at one point. Maybe there still was.

Everywhere Ethan looked, he saw small evidences that Rupert had used this place as his secret hideaway. Books, small toys, even what looked like a small stack of football bubblegum cards on the floor near the shuttered window. He jammed a knuckle of his free hand into his mouth, hit by yet another powerful surge of longing to have known his husband as a boy.

Rupert was looking around with a tiny smile. "It hasn't changed," he murmured. He turned to Ethan and reached for his hand, again seeming almost shy. "What do you think?"

"I think it's beautiful," Ethan replied immediately, meaning it. Because he could see beyond the dinginess and dust. He could see the room glowing warm with a fire dancing in the hearth, a small boy with blond hair and green eyes stretched out on the rug nose deep in a book. Or perhaps the same boy, a little older, curled up in a corner, ashamed by his own tears, but knowing he was safe here, and they'd never find him. "When was the last time you came here?"

"When I came home after... Eyghon," Rupert said softly, and Ethan could hear the ghosts in his voice. "I needed time alone to mourn, to bury that part of myself and accept the new –old– path my life was to take."

Ethan turned and pulled him close, soothing Rupert with gentle caresses and soft kisses. "It's hardly fair that that should be your most recent memory of this place. Can you light the fire? Let's make you some new memories."

Rupert kissed him then pulled away to go see to the fire. "I think that's part of why I brought you here," he said, as he piled wood in the fireplace. "To change the way I remember the place."

Ethan watched him for a while and then wandered around the small cottage. "What did this used to be? Do you know?"

"The gamekeeper's cottage." Rupert touched a finger to the pile of wood he'd carefully arranged and murmured "Ignem concipe!" igniting it. The light inside immediately took on a warm orange glow as the flames grew. "Back in many generations past when there actually was a gamekeeper here."

There was an empty Cresta bottle by the sink. Cherryade flavour. Ethan chuckled, turning it in his hands. "Did you do magic here? Spells they maybe wouldn't have approved of?"

"Not really," Rupert said, sitting back and turning to look at Ethan. "My family being what it was, magic was actively encouraged. I didn't start doing spells they would have disapproved of until I went to London."

"And met me." Ethan couldn't help a smirk.

Rupert grinned at him. "Yes, it's funny how that works."

Ethan walked over to the fireplace, where a good blaze was already underway, and knelt with Rupert on the rug. He took Rupert's hands into his and smiled. "What a wicked man I must have been to lead someone like you astray."

"I willingly followed where you led," Rupert replied, thumbs caressing Ethan's hands.

Ethan looked at Rupert in fond silence for a few seconds then leant forward to kiss him. Rupert kissed him back, sliding a hand up into Ethan's hair.

"I've noticed something," Ethan commented as he pulled back. "For an only child living within a great deal of space, you had a lot of secret hideouts."

Rupert seemed to mull that over before answering. "I suppose I did," he said. "I never really thought about it."

"Were they very controlling? Trying to channel everything of you?" Ethan was looking for clues as to why, in such a large childhood home, having places that were his own had been so important to Rupert.

Rupert shook his head. "Not really. Oh, I was always expected to study and learn to the best of my abilities, but I liked learning so that wasn't something that felt forced on me. But..." he trailed off.

"But..." Ethan echoed. "But you had other needs?"

"There was always this... expectation, even before I was told I was to be a Watcher. This resignation and surrendering to fate, knowing it's going to bring grief. It always hung over my family; seemed to permeate the very walls."

"And so you yearned to escape before you even knew you had something to escape from." Ethan slipped into a sitting position and tugged Rupert closer.

He came willingly. "Sometimes I just needed to go somewhere I could breathe."

"You feel people's expectations so heavily, don't you, dearheart?" Ethan felt sad for his husband. "So infrequently have you allowed yourself to just be you."

"Duty and responsibility are a part of me," Rupert said with a small, bittersweet smile. "It's in my genes."

"But so am I," Ethan said thoughtfully. "In a way. I'd like to think I was the antidote to all that, although I suppose you've felt responsible to and for me often enough to disprove that theory." He sighed softly.

Rupert caressed his cheek. "And you haven't felt responsible to and for me as well?"

"I wouldn't call it that."

"No?"

Ethan shrugged. "Devoted, addicted, privileged, lucky – all more suitable words. You're not a burden, dear. You're something I never cease to be thankful for."

Rupert leant in and kissed him gently. When he pulled back, he asked, "What makes you think I view you any differently?"

"Maybe you don't now." Ethan smiled and tried to firmly push down contrary thoughts. Rupert was a catch, but Ethan... "I'd like to think you don't now."

"Ethan." Rupert slid a hand under his chin, forcing him to look back up. "I love you. I've loved you since we met. That's never changed, even when we were apart. You've always been important to me, and in the last year, you've become even more than that. You're essential."

He gave Rupert a twisted smile. "That's fated bonds for you."

"No. This isn't about some grand destiny we have no control over. This is about how necessary you..." Rupert shook his head. "No one's ever understood me the way you do. No one's cared for me like you do. I've never felt like I had a person I could..."

Could what? Be himself with? Trust? Be free with? Be vulnerable with? Let nurture him? There were many ways Ethan could finish that sentence, and he realised to his surprise that all of them were good. He suddenly felt a lot better about his 'catch'-defining qualities. Looking solemnly into Rupert's eyes, he said, "I exist for you. And I'm not talking about grand destinies here either."

Rupert smiled and leant in for another kiss. "And now I have a better memory of being here than the last time."

"Good." Ethan shifted on the rug. "We should bring new cushions here. Or better still, a sofa."

"A sofa might be hard to sneak out of the house and transport through the undergrowth unnoticed." Rupert chuckled. He shifted position, leaning back against the remnants of the pillows that were already there and pulling Ethan into his arms to rest against his chest. "So you like this place?"

"Yes." Ethan nodded. "It feels safe, almost like a bubble outside of time. Somewhere to step away to."

Rupert nodded and tightened his arms around Ethan. "Consider it half yours then. Happy Valentine's Day."

Oh. Ethan squirmed around to be able to see Rupert's face. He opened his mouth to say something, but found his emotions too complicated to put into words. "Rupert..."

Rupert smiled and kissed him. "You're welcome," he breathed softly.

After the kiss, Ethan adjusted his position so that he could rest his head against Rupert's shoulder. He still had too many crowding emotions to speak, but the overriding feeling inside was happiness. He was happy. His fingers roamed lightly across Rupert's chest as he let himself be held.

"Did you ever have a secret place when you were young?" Rupert asked curiously after a while of companionable silence.

Ethan shook his head. "It was a three-bedroomed, terraced council house. It wasn't exactly pullulating with places to hide up in. When I needed to get away, I headed for the streets."

"So you were always the rover then?"

"I suppose so." Ethan nodded after a thought-filled pause. "It's certainly been hard to break the habit of turning tail when things get too much. Apart from anything else, knowing when to get clear of the house saved my skin more than once."

Rupert's arms tightened around him. "I wish I'd known you then."

Ethan chuckled softly. "You've no idea how often I've found myself thinking that about you recently."

"I may not have been able to physically stop you from getting hurt at home, but I could've helped you get away." Rupert sighed, and Ethan felt warm breath against his skin. "Shared with you a safe and secret place."

"That old mattress in the attic." Ethan laughed. "Hiding me up there would have worked... until they sent you away to school."

"I would've dug my heels in and finagled my way into not going, asked for home-tutoring to better complete my destiny."

Ethan stroked Rupert's arm. "You know why I like you looking after me, don't you? It's not that I need looking after or even that I want it exactly. What I like is feeling that I'm worth the effort." Sometimes even now he surprised himself with his honesty with Rupert.

Rupert nuzzled Ethan's neck. "You are worth the effort," he said fiercely. "One day I'll get you to not doubt that."

"Sometimes I know it. More often now. You make me believe." He closed his eyes, soaking up Rupert's warmth around him. It was far more than just a physical heat. "If you could go back to any point in our lifetimes and change things, without disastrous consequences, what would you change?"

"Any time?" Rupert was quiet for a few moments, quite clearly thinking it over. "I'd go back to when you lost your Nan. Even if I couldn't get you away from... I'd be there. Make sure from the start that you always knew you weren't bad or worthless, no matter what they told you."

Ethan found a sudden and uncomfortable lump in his throat. "Bugger," he muttered, clenching his eyes more tightly shut.

Rupert just held him very close for a few long moments before asking, "What about you? What would you change if you could go back?"

So many possible moments, yet still the answer came instantly to Ethan's lips. "That day in the graveyard, at Randall's grave. That was you retreating to your hidey-hole, me running from the scene of the crime. Both of us were only doing what had always worked for us as kids. If I could go back, I'd make sure that wherever we went, we went together."

Rupert took a deep breath that was slightly shaky with emotion. "Yes," he finally murmured, his voice husky. "Together. At least we've finally got that part right now."

"I think we have most things right now," Ethan told him, moving a little so he could stroke Rupert's face.

"Indeed. You've learnt to run to me, and I've learnt to hide in you."

"Oh, very well put, dearheart." Ethan straightened up and took Rupert's face into his hands. "I have the cleverest of husbands," he said before starting a long kiss.

"I'm not lacking in that category myself," Rupert murmured with a smile when their lips parted. "I think we've both turned up lucky."