Written by: Dallas Walsh

Liam sits at one of the tables in Café Tropical as the hot sun beats down outside. Normally, he would be at tennis practice this morning, but since his affair with Leaf was exposed, he has paused practicing because he doesn't know what the optics will look like if he continues to be around Leaf. He wishes he knew how his affair was exposed because his entire life has changed completely since it was revealed.

"Morning," a voice calls out to Liam. He looks over and sees Leaf moving up to him. "It feels weird not being on the court, huh?"

"You can say that again," Liam replies to him as Leaf sits next to him. "I miss it, you know? The grind and the serving, and practicing hitting the lines…"

"You've been playing tennis for so long, it's natural to miss it," Leaf informs to him. "By the way, I got word that a senior member of the tennis tour wants to meet with us."

"Yes, I got that email too," Liam sighs back to him. "I am guessing we will be in trouble because of the tabloid story."

"Ugh, this entire thing is a mess," Leaf shakes his head back to him. "I guess you haven't heard the latest either, have you?"

Liam looks back at him in surprise. "What happened now?"

"I am leaving Arrow," Leaf surprises Liam with his revelation. "I told him that I have to move out of guest house."

"I'm sorry," Liam shakes his head back to him. "I can only imagine what this has done to your relationship."

"You have no idea."

"Question," Liam looks back at him. "If you're the one moving out, where are you going to go? Surely you can't afford to get a room at the Barracuda Blue?"

"I can't, you're right," Leaf sighs back to him. "I…I don't know. I guess I'll find an apartment on the big island or something. I haven't thought about it even though I know I need to get out of here."

"I have an idea," Liam locks eyes with him. "Why don't you stay at the Thornton mansion? We have so many rooms that aren't being used, and once we get back into tennis, we can practice on the private courts there?"

"You mean that? You'd let me stay at the mansion?"

"Of course," Liam nods back to him. "And I'm not going to take no for an answer."

/\/\/\

A few hours later, Leaf is standing in the bedroom of the guestroom that he shares with Arrow. On the bed in front of him is a suitcase that has some of his clothing in it as he is packing some things to take with him to the Thornton mansion.

"What's all this?" Arrow asks his estranged partner as he moves into the bedroom and puts his hand on his hip. "I thought you said when you were going to leave that you were just heated in the moment?"

"You thought wrong," Leaf doesn't look up from folding another shirt and then places it in the suitcase. "I am leaving here in a few minutes, Justin."

"I hate that this is coming between us," Arrow sighs back to him. "I know what I did was wrong, I just wish that you'd give me the chance to make things right between us."

"I don't think you can make things right until you end this plan with Orvilla," Leaf finally looks up and makes eye contact with Arrow. "Until that happens, I don't see a way for us to get back to where we once were."

"You know that I can't do that," Arrow stubbornly replies to him. "My career and our lifestyle depend on this plan working, Leaf. And if I can't change your mind about leaving, can you at least make sure that you don't ruin this for me?"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"When you walk out that door, please don't say anything about the plan," Arrow pleads with him. "Orvilla and I are so very close to getting what we have worked for; nothing can stop us from achieving our goals, Leaf."

/\/\/\

At the marina, Kelvin looks over at Marco as they sit in Marco's white pickup truck in the parking lot. They were at the Barracuda Blue earlier when Kelvin noticed that Marco was in a rush to leave; he quickly asked if he could help with something, and Marco told him that he could, so they drove to the marina to discuss what was going on.

"I am not sure what the big deal about Liam's mom buying that tabloid that exposed his affair with Leaf is?" Kelvin admits to the man that he has a crush on. The truth is, he only agreed to help Marco in hopes of them getting closer to one another.

"There's more to the story," Marco looks back at him. "She also told him that she wasn't able to track down the source of the party that leaked the images to the tabloid. If they are able to find out who that person is, it might help them find out why they targeted Liam."

"I see," Kelvin nods back to him. "So we are going to try to find out who the source is? Is that our goal?"

"It is."

"Alright, and I guess I have to ask you this Marco," they lock eyes with one another. "Why do you want to do this? What's in it for you?"

Marco uneasily chuckles to him as he knows that he has had a crush on Liam for years; he hopes that if he can help Liam, and Kymberlynne, solve this mystery that, maybe, Liam will, finally, notice him and they could have a chance together.

"I mean, we'd be helping our employers," he tells Kelvin. "I think this would make me, or us, now that you're involved, look really good to the Thornton's and Orvilla since they own the Barracuda Blue. Who knows, we might even get a promotion…or something."

"All good points," Kelvin grins back to him. "Well, thanks for agreeing to let me help out, Marco."

"Two heads are better than one," Marco chuckles to him. "I don't even know what we are looking for, to be honest."

"I have an idea," Kelvin admits to him. "I'll pull up the article on my phone; once we see who the author is, we can google the name. Finding the person who wrote the article might give us some insights as to who the source is."

"That's brilliant," Marco grins back to him. "See, I'm so glad that I asked you for help."

Their eyes lock for a moment and Kelvin feels his heart skip a beat as he pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts to search for the article in the Hawaiian Hacker.

/\/\/\

Liam sits on the sofa in the living room of the Thornton mansion with his phone in his hands as he is checking in Instragram feed. Since he has stopped training, he has a lot more time on his hands, which includes scrolling through his social media feeds. He looks up when he hears someone come into the living room.

"Ah, all settled in?" Liam asks Leaf, who moves towards the sofa where Liam is sitting.

"As much as I can be," Leaf replies to him as he sits next to him on the sofa. "I can't thank you enough for letting me stay here, Liam."

"Don't mention it," Liam smiles back to him. "We are in this together, so it is the least that I can do to help you."

Leaf puts his hand on Liam's leg and squeezes it, which causes Liam's heart to skip a beat. "Well, I appreciate it, and you," Leaf winks back to him. "Never forget that."

"I won't," Liam licks his lips a little. He finds himself inching closer to Leaf; just as their lips are about to touch, Liam's cell phone starts to ring, causing him to chuckle.

"Sorry, I should get that," Liam looks at Leaf.

"Yea, do your thing."

Liam answers the call and puts the phone to his ear. "Liam Thornton…" he says as he listens to the person calling him. "Yes, I am home; 30 minutes? Yea that works, see you then."

"What is happening in thirty minutes?" Leaf asks him as Liam ends his call.

"That was Raj Gill from the tennis tour; he wants to meet with me to discuss the tabloid article," Liam reveals to him. "He'll be here in the next thirty minutes."

Leaf sighs back to him. "I guess the timing of me being here will be a blessing since he can share with me what will happen to me as well."

"Yea, or it might lead to more questions about why you're now living with me…" Liam nervously responds to him. "In any event, we will soon find out what will happen to us."

/\/\/\

Thirty-ish minutes later, Leaf is making himself a gin and tonic when Kymberlynne storms into the living room of the mansion. Liam sees his mother and looks over at her.

"Oh Kymberlynne, you're home," Liam looks over at her. "This is Leaf; my tennis coach. He's going to be staying with us for a short time."

"Pleasure Leaf," Kymberlynne shakes his hand before she looks back at her son. "Sorry Liam, but do you really think that moving him in here is a good idea? You know what was leaked into the press."

"He had nowhere else to go," Liam shakes his head back to her. "I had to help him; this isn't up for discussion, especially since you haven't been around for years."

"I don't want to argue about this with you," Kymberlynne waves her hands in the air. "The fact of the matter…."

Before Kymblerynne can finish, Sonya enters the living room. "I hate to interrupt, but a Mr. Raj Gill is here to see Mr. Liam."

"Thank you, Sonya," Liam replies to her before he looks back at his mother. "Do not say a single word, do you hear me?"

Kymblerlynne gulps as she nods back to him as Raj moves into the living room. Raj is a middle-aged man that is dressed in a light grey suit with a baby blue button up shirt underneath. He has dark framed glasses and is holding a briefcase.

"Ah, Mr. Thornton and Mr. Matthews, I wasn't expecting to see you here today," Raj announces to the group. "It will save me a trip to the Barracuda Blue to see you as well."

"Unless you want to go to Café Tropical," Kymberlynne chuckles back to him. "You know the calamari is to die for."

Liam shoots his mother a deadly glare, which tells Kymberlynne to mind her place. "Thank you for seeing us today Mr. Gill," Liam responds to him. "Justin and I, we are anxious to hear what you and the board have decided to do about our, uh, situation."

"Well, yes," Raj responds to him immediately. "As you know the tour has a very strict policy about coaches and pupils getting involved; as you can imagine, on our co-tour that has women, we run the risk of there being sexual assault if we don't have these policies in place."

"We are really sorry that this happened," Leaf chimes into the conversation. "If it helps with your decision, this only happened once."

"Once is too many times," Raj informs him. "Since the policy was broken, and we take this very seriously, both of you are here by suspended from the tour, indefinitely."

"Indefinitely?" Liam asks him in shock. "My career?"

"It's on hold until we come to a final conclusion on this situation," Raj tells them. "I know this isn't the news that you wanted to hear today, Mr. Thornton, but the decision is firm and final."

/\/\/\

"Another morning that you're drinking," Orvilla observes to Arrow as she moves into office and sees her friend pouring a scotch at the bar. She knows that since Leaf has discovered that Arrow placed the camera in their bedroom to capture his affair with Liam, there has been tension between the two Justin's. Orvilla has tried to tell her friend that this will all pass over in time, but she is wondering if Leaf is truly upset by what has happened. In her mind, having their future's secured by having higher positions at the Barracuda Blue and or Meccanica should be enough to move beyond this.

"Yea, I am," Arrow sighs as he takes a healthy sip of the booze. "Leaf moved out of the guest house this morning."

"Oh my, my, my," Orvilla moves to her desk and sets her large beg down on it. "He still has his briefs in a knot, I see."

"This is a mess, Orvilla," Arrow looks back at her. "I…I don't know what else I can do to make him realize why we've done this."

"Sometimes, Justin, patience is the virtue to have. I suspect that Justin just needs time and space, and this will all blow over," Orvilla says back to him. "I have seen the two of you together for years now, and I know that in the end, you will come back together."

"I've never thought of you as a romantic before," he chuckles to her.

Orvilla shrugs back to him. "I'm not," she informs him. "But I do think that you and Justin are meant to be together; we are so close to getting everything we want, Justin. Once that happens, I think you'll be able to focus on putting your relationship back together. Like I said, you just have to have patience."

"Patience and scotch," he raises his glass to her before he takes another sip, hoping that his friend is right about his relationship with Leaf.

/\/\/\

The following morning, Marco is sitting in the sun by the pool in his lifeguard chair waiting for the crowd to pick up. On one hand, however, he is glad that there aren't many swimmers right now because his mind is racing over the fact that the previous day he and Kelvin found some information on the writer of the article that exposed Liam and Leaf's affair in the Hawaiian Hacker.

"Hey," Kelvin announces to his crush as he moves closer to the lifeguard's chair, immediately noticing Marco's toned chest. "When are you off?"

"In a few hours," Marco says down to Kelvin. "I'm on the early shift. Why, what's up?"

"I was able to do some more investigating on the name of the writer," Kelvin whispers to him. "I found an address for the writer on the big island. Maybe we could head there when you're off?"

"Yea, that sounds good," Marco smiles back to him. "Thanks for all your help, Kelvin, this is going to be great."

"I'll make the reservations for us to get to the big island, just be ready to go when you're off," Kelvin replies to him. "And you're welcome, Marco. Anything to help, anything at all."

/\/\/\

"I don't know about you, but I barely slept last night," Liam announces to Leaf as he moves into the living room of the Thornton mansion and sees his tennis coach pouring himself a cup of coffee at the bar. The fact that Raj Gill suspended both him and Leaf made it a restless night for Liam.

"Ditto, which is why this coffee is gold this morning," Leaf chuckles back to him. "Sonya makes a good brew."

"She's the best," Liam replies to him as he pours himself a cup of coffee. "How are you feeling about being suspended?"

Leaf shrugs back to him. "It could have been worse, right? We could have faced some kind of fine. Being suspended just means we can't play for a bit."

"Do you think we will ever get back on the tour?"

"I do," Leaf nods back to him. "We are first time offenders and we have been very open and honest about everything. Because they have such a strict policy, they are using us to set an example to everyone else. I bet within 3 months, we'll be back."

"Three months?" Liam sighs back to him. "I'll fall so far behind the competition."

"Not if you keep training," Leaf replies to him. "You should still hit the gym on the regular basis, and even though I can't hit with you, you can find someone else to keep you sharp and build your game while we wait. Just promise me I'll be your coach when we are back full time."

"Of course," Liam smiles back to him. "I couldn't do this without you."

"I feel the same," Leaf says as they move closer together, suddenly locking eyes. Their lips are about to touch, again, when Arrow moves into the living room and sees how close the two men are. He clears his throat to give indication that he's in the room.

"Arrow, what are you doing here?" Liam asks him, suddenly feeling his cheeks flush in embarrassment.

"I heard that you were here and I wanted to come see you," Arrow looks at Leaf. "I had no idea that you were moving in here, with your lover."

"It's not like that," Leaf replies to him quickly. "I had nowhere else to go and Liam offered one of their many guest rooms here."

"Right, and what I just walked in on?" Arrow asks him in a huff. "You're moving on in record speed."

"There is nothing going on between me and Leaf," Liam looks back at Arrow. "We were suspended from the tour yesterday; we can't be together, otherwise we'd never get to go back to doing what we love. I won't risk my career over this."

"Do me a favor," Arrow glares back at Liam. "Stay away from my man; we are in a rough patch right now, but we will get through this. I won't let my relationship go without a fight."

/\/\/\

A short time later, Leaf reappears in the living room and sees Liam looking out into the garden. He can only imagine what Liam is thinking about after Arrow's unexpected arrival at the mansion earlier in the day.

"Hey, sorry about Arrow earlier," Leaf says coming closer to Liam. "He is just upset that I moved out."

"You don't have to apologize for his behavior," Liam looks back at his former lover. "I get that he is upset; if I was in his shoes, I would likely feel the same way as he does."

"You know, I've been thinking about something," Leaf admits to him as they lock eyes again. "If this suspension from the tour lasts longer than we expected, do you have any ideas of what else you could do for work?"

"You mean, have I thought about life after my tennis career?" Liam asks him as Leaf nods back to him. "I have thought about it, but I always imagined that it would be years from now, you know when I had an injury I couldn't come back from, or I was in my early 30's."

"I am hoping the suspension only lasts a few months, but if it does go longer, what do you think you're going to do?"

"I really don't know," Liam admits to him. "Are you suggesting that you have an idea?"

"I do," Leaf nods back to him. "Meccanica…I know you've told me before that you weren't interested in your family company, but if tennis isn't an option, maybe Meccanica could be. Just think about it, Liam. You might miss out on doing something that would make your Dad very proud."

/\/\/\

On the main island, Marco and Kelvin pull Marco's white pickup truck out-front of three-story walk-up apartment building. The building is dated and appears to have not been kept up well by the owner.

Kelvin looks at his phone and then looks out of his window. "This is the address I found online," he tells Marco. "It's unit 301, so it's on the top floor."

"Do you have any idea what you want to say to the author, what was his name again?"

"Jia Baron," Kelvin replies to him. "And I have no idea; I just know that we have to, somehow, get inside and look around for evidence as to who could have leaked him the pictures of Liam and Leaf. Do you know what we should look for?"

Marco chuckles back to him. "I have no idea, but I think we will know what it is once we see it."

"Agreed, okay, let's do this."

The men exit the truck and move to the stairs of the apartment complex. Once they reach the third floor, Marco points towards unit 301. Kelvin approaches the door and knocks on the door, but no one answers.

"Jia Baron? Are you home?" Kelvin asks as he continues to knock on the door. He turns to Marco, who is behind him. "I don't think he's here."

"That could be perfect," Marco replies to him as he pulls a bobby pin out of his pocket and he starts to pick the lock on the front door.

"Where did you get a bobby pin?" Kelvin asks him as Marco continues to fiddle with the door.

"I went to a drag show last night and found it on the floor," he admits to him as he unlocks the door. "Don't ask me what prompted me to pick it up, but I'm glad I did, we are in!"

They move inside the apartment and close the door behind them. They look at one another for a moment, both feeling a sense of excitement come over them. "Okay, let's take a look around!"

/\/\/\

Close to 20 minutes later, Marco opens one of the desk drawers that is in the small, dingy apartment. He starts to rifle through the papers that are inside of it. He finds a small piece of paper that has a phone number on it. He arches his eyebrow and puts the piece of paper into his pocket.

"Did you hear that?" Kelvin asks him in a whispers as he can hear something outside of the apartment.

"What?" Marco asks him as he rushes towards him.

"I…I think Jia is coming back," he continues to whisper.

"Hide behind the door," Marco grabs his hand and they move to the backside of the door.

Within a few minutes, the door is opens and a man enters his apartment. He closes the door without looking behind him. Marco moves up to him and presses his key fob into Jia's back.

"Don't move and I won't shoot you," Marco tells him.

"What the fuck?" Jia yells out in panic. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing," Marco replies to him. "We got the wrong apartment, okay? Now, get on the floor and count to 50 and I won't shoot you."

Jia slowly moves to the ground and starts to count out-loud to 50. Marco turns to Kelvin and they race out of the apartment and into the truck.

"What was that?" Kelvin asks him as he feels his heart racing a million miles per second.

"It's…it's all I could think of…come on, let's get out of here," Marco says as he speeds away.

/\/\/\

Back at the Barracuda Blue, Kelvin and Marco rush into a storage room for some of the pool supplies. The room hosts extra floaties, pool toys, and first-aid supplies, should they require it. Being a lifeguard, Marco, of course, has a key to this room, which is normally closed off to the public.

"That was insane," Kelvin tells him as they close the door. "I can't believe you thought to use your fob as a gun."

"How else were we going to get out of there?" Marco asks him with a grin on his face.

"I…I have no idea," Kelvin tells him. "That was incredible though, Marco."

Marco looks at Kelvin's hand, which is placed on his chest. "I know, what a rush."

Kelvin moves up to him and kisses him passionately. When they part, Kelvin starts to unzip Marco's pants before he kisses him again. When their lips part ways, Kelvin falls to his knees and Marco starts to moan out in pleasure.

/\/\/\

The next morning, Marco and Kelvin walk towards Café Tropical together as they can see Leaf, Kymberlynne, and Liam sitting together at a table. After they had intense sex the night before, Marco and Kelvin looked at the phone number that Marco swiped from Jia's apartment and made some shocking realizations.

"Morning everyone," Marco waves to the crowd, who put their forks down and look back at the two young men.

"Marco, Kelvin," Kymberlynne looks back at them. "Is everything alright? I am surprised you two aren't already at work today?"

"We had to come see you," Kelvin tells them. "We have some information that you both need to know about."

"What's this all about?" Liam asks him quickly.

"I…I happened to overhear a conversation between you two," Marco tells Liam as he looks at him and then over at Kymberlynne. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard that you bought the Hawaiian Hacker, the paper that leaked the story of the affair between Liam and Leaf."

"That's right, I did," Kymberlynne nods back to him. "I am assuming that you also heard, then, that I didn't know who the source was?"

"Exactly," Marco explains to her. "Kelvin and I, however, we found out who the writer of the article is, and we went to his apartment on the big island, and we found a phone number."

"A phone number? Whose phone number was it for?" Liam asks him quickly.

"Orvilla Anderson," Kelvin reveals to the group. "It went to her private cell phone number; we…we wanted you to hear about this from us, but please, keep our names out of this. We don't want to lose our jobs…"

"Of course not," Kymberlynne stands up and hugs them both. "Thank you for telling us this."

"Yea, thank you," Liam says as he hugs Kelvin and then Marco. When he exits the embrace with Marco, they lock eyes and Marco kisses Liam quickly on the lips, which surprise everyone around them.

"Our pleasure," Marco replies to him with a grin on his face. "Our absolute pleasure."

/\/\/\

Upstairs in Orvilla's office, Arrow opens the door and sees his friend behind her desk already. He moves up to her desk quickly.

"You won't believe what I learned yesterday," he sighs back to her. "Leaf has moved into the Thornton mansion, at Liam's request, of course."

"Yes, I knew that," Orvilla replies to him quickly. "I live there, remember?"

"And you didn't think to tell me about this?" Arrow asks her as he crosses his arms over his chest. "How could you do that to me?"

"Because I knew exactly how you'd react," Orvilla says back to him as she stands up and looks out the large window that is behind her desk. "I never get tired of this view, and soon, it could be your view, Justin. Remember what I said, patience. Everything will work out, you'll see."

"You better be right," Arrow shakes his head back to her. "Because I don't know how much more of this I can handle. I…I have this sinking feeling that the walls are closing in on us."

Orvilla chuckles back to him. "You're being dramatic, Justin," she tells him. "No one has any idea of what we have been up too. And unless you start talking, no one ever will. Trust me, Justin, we are going to get everything we want, and nothing will stop us."