Alfie McCallister’s head collided with a stack of cargo containers, sending a dull thud echoing through the air. Despite the impact, he refused to let go of the woman in his arms, instead pressing her closer to him. Beatrice Grant stood before him, her eyes fixed on his with a longing intensity that made Alfie’s heart race. Lost in the heat of the moment, they kissed with a passion that threatened to consume them both. As Beatrice trailed her lips down from his mouth to his neck, Alfie let out a soft moan, his mind reeling with the realisation that he was sharing this moment with her.

“We should stop, Bea,” he whispered, but he didn’t resist as she nibbled on his neck.

“No way,” she replied, mirroring his tone before grabbing his uniform jacket and tugging at it with such force that it almost came off his body. “We still have another thirty minutes before we need to report for the briefing, and you’ve been avoiding me for days now.” 

Alfie felt his heart skip a beat as he looked at Beatrice. She was beautiful, and he couldn’t believe they were together like this. He was now topless and holding the girl of his dreams in his arms. Alfie knew he would never forget this moment. Then, the sudden pain of guilt hit his stomach. “Bea, we’ve got to be careful,” He said quietly between kisses. “I don’t want Jord finding out like this.”

Beatrice carried on planting kisses across his smooth neck as she listened to his worries. She groaned inwards at the mention of his friend’s name. Looking up at him, she paused. “Alf, we said it before; he doesn’t need to know as long as we’re careful.” She jumped into his arms and smacked her lips against his. 

Though he had been working on his upper body strength since becoming a cadet, Alfie wasn’t that strong, and the two of them fell to the deck with a soft thud. The commotion didn’t stop their vibrant exchange of kisses. 

Pushing her off his chest gently, Alfie responded to what she had just said as he undid her jacket and started to place soft pecks along her neck. “I know, Bea, but I’m not sure this is right; you and me seeing each other like this while you two are meant to be together.”

Pausing from what she was doing, Beatrice sat up straight from where she was on top of Alfie’s chest. “You want to stop this?”

He looked nervous in his reply and didn’t say anything at first.

Jumping in, Beatrice gave him the curt response he wasn’t expecting. “Alfie, this is only a bit of fun. Something to let off steam. It means nothing.”

“That makes me feel better,” Alfie grumbled back as he pushed himself up with both elbows. “Jordan is my best friend, and you’re his girlfriend. This is wrong.”

“If you want, I’m open to bringing Jordan into this if that’s what you want?” Beatrice offered, almost mocking his comment.

Now, he glared at her. “He’s my best friend, not my secret bit on the side, Bea.”

“Sometimes you two could fool me,” she sarcastically remarked as she got up, straightened her uniform out, and pushed her hair, which had been pulled out of its usual bun, back behind her ears. “Fine, if you don’t want to do this anymore, find someone else to muck around with.

Still lying on the floor, bare-chested, Alfie raised his hands up in surprise. “Hey, I didn’t say I wanted to stop completely now.”

Beatrice picked up the undershirt and jacket she had thrown across the cargo bay floor before chucking it back in Alfie’s direction. “Alf, I don’t want to be with a boy who can’t have some secret fun without worrying about what his bestie is going to think.”

“Hey, that’s not fair, Bea,” Aflie replied, quickly pulling the undershirt over his head. “You’re the one who started this, and it was only meant to be a one-time thing.”

“Yeah, before me and Jordan got together,” She snapped back as she finished making herself look presentable. She turned back to him. “We could have had something if you didn’t put him first.”

“So why are you still with him and ‘screwing’ around with me?” Alfie countered back as he stuck one arm through his jacket before doing the other.

“Because you’re both too stupid to resist me,” She said with a chuckle. She planted one more kiss on his lips before almost skipping off. “Plus, you know if you say anything, that would be it for your friendship with Jordan.” She added. 

Alfie held back his reaction as he watched Beatrice skip away, her lack of guilt in her wake. The moment the cargo bay doors closed behind her, he let out a huge sigh. Turning around to face the containers they had knocked over, he banged his head against the one that was standing tall. Hoping he could knock some sense into himself. Why did he allow himself to become trapped in all of this? Realising he could never find the solution to the mess he was now in, Alfie returned to cleaning up the actual mess he and Beatrice had made. Quickly and quietly, he sorted it out before exiting the cargo bay himself. 

“Alf!” The familiar voice sounded behind him, but Alfie hadn’t heard it, so the moment he felt a pair of hands on the back of his shoulders, he almost jumped out of his skin. 

However, his heart was now rushing again for all of the wrong reasons compared to how it had raced earlier. Turning around, Alfie knew who it was. “Jordan,” He said to his friend as their eyes caught one another. Alfie felt his face go red as the sense of guilt washed over him, making him feel almost sick.

“You okay?” Jordan asked as he looked at it with a sense of concern. “You look all hot and bothered.”

Alfie shook his head and motioned it was nothing. “I’m fine.” He replied almost curtly.

“You sure?” Jordan pressed. “I thought you were doing a cargo inventory with Beatrice? How come you are all hot, flushed and sweaty? Have you been hitting the gym without me?”

Shaking his head, Alfie stumbled through his response as he quickly attempted to shut that subject down. “No, no,” He answered at first. “Some cargo containers had to be rearranged, and I did it all.”

Jordan sniggered before shaking his head. “Sounds like Beatrice. She refuses to lift anything heavy unless there’s an officer nearby.” He clapped the back of his friend’s back before putting his arm over his shoulder as they started to carry on walking down the corridor. “Do you fancy grabbing something to eat before this briefing?”

Hesitating and stuttering, Alfie declined the offer. “I’m good, thanks, Jord, but I should go grab a shower and a clean uniform before the briefing. You know how much my mom has been nagging me to ensure I don’t show her up in front of the other cadets. I can’t turn up looking like this,” He pointed to his dishevelled attire. “Maybe dinner later?”

Jordan accepted his friend’s decision. “Ah, man, I’d love to have dinner with you, but I’ve organised for Beatrice and me to have dinner at The Celestial Temple.”

“The Bajoran restaurant?” Alfie clarified.

Nodding, Jordan confirmed. “Yeah, she’s been bugging me to take her ever since you made us that hasperat souffle a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, okay,” Alfie responded quietly. “Well, have a good time!”

“You could come!” Jordan offered as they entered a turbolift, and he dropped his arm from around Alfie.

Shaking his head almost at transwarp speeds, Alfie declined the offer. “Thanks, but I don’t want to be a third nacelle.”

“You won’t be a third nacelle, mate; you know I love having you around, and Beatrice loves you too!” Jordan replied with an innocent chuckle.

“Yeah, I know,” Alfie said solemnly as the turbolift doors closed before him. 

Moments later, they entered Alfie’s room. Turning to his friend, Alfie looked at him. “Seriously, Jord, you don’t need to follow me everywhere I go.”

“Ouch,” Jordan said mockingly as he bounced on Alfie’s king-size bed. “I’ve got nothing else best to do, plus we’ve not really hung out a lot lately.”

Alfie couldn’t deny that. “I know, man, and I’m sorry for that. I suppose our classes have kept us apart lately,” he said. 

As Alfie and Jordan had been friends for a while, they had grown comfortable in each other’s company. So, when Alfie started to pull off his uniform jacket, it was a familiar sight to Jordan. It was a routine act that they had seen each other perform many times before when they had been around each other’s quarters. They had slept over at each other’s places and spent countless hours working alongside each other. Their friendship had grown steadily over time. They were now at ease in each other’s presence, and it was evident in the way they interacted with each other. As Alfie pulled his undershirt off, revealing his bare chest, Jordan couldn’t help but react with a short, sharp noise.

“What is that on your neck and chest, dude?” He said as he scrambled to his feet and pointed to the marks. 

Exposing what Beatrice had done to him earlier, Alfie went all red and cursed himself inwards. “It’s nothing,” He said, quickly covering his body.

“No, it’s not,” Jordan said, pushing Alfie’s hands down. “Dude, those are bite marks.” He then froze and looked deeply into his friend’s eyes. “Alfie, did you-”

“It’s not what you think, Jord,” Alfie stammered.

“Oh my,” Jordan said as he stepped back; he rubbed his face and pushed his fingers through his hair. “Why didn’t you tell me!”

“Because this isn’t how I wanted to tell you,” Alfie said; the shame was now overwhelming him as he stood there staring at his friend, feeling like a fool and wanting a wormhole to open up underneath him and deposit him thousands of light years from where he was.

“Alf, I always knew it!” Jordan exclaimed back as he placed his hands on his hips. “You know it’s okay.”

“It is?” Alfie quizzed, confused by that statement.

“Hell, yeah,” Jordan said as he jogged over and hugged his friend tightly. “I’m so pleased for you, man.”

“You are?” Alfie asked one more time. 

“Hell, yeah!” Jordan exclaimed. “I knew something was going on.”

“You did?”

“Yes!” Jordan said, his voice pitch getting higher. “All those reasons for standing me up and those long hours in the gym.” He stepped back. “Seriously, Alfie, I am so happy for you.”

“Wait, what?” Alfie said as he finished being hugged by his friend. “What are you happy for?”

“You and Brook!” 

“Me and Brook?” Alfie echoed, his response a bit startled. 

“Yeah!” Jordan said as he smacked his forehead. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. He has been flirting with you in almost every class since he got on the ship. Then you said to him the other week that you think you are interested in Klingon martial arts, and then when you two have been sharing gym sessions, it makes all sense now.” Jordan then pointed to the marks on Alfie’s chest. “Damn, you must really enjoy the Klingon romance.”

Alfie didn’t know what to say. Instead, he stood there frozen. How could Jordan have made that connection so much? 

“Beatrice told me that she noticed a spark between you two, especially when Athena didn’t seem interested in you, and you said she wasn’t your type,” Jordan chuckled. “Ah, Alfie, you should have said something sooner.”

“Really?” Alfie said, still stunned. 

“Yes!” Jordan yelled again. “And oh my god, you weren’t moving things in the cargo bay, were you? You were hooking up with him, weren’t you! Oh my god, does Beatrice know before me? Has she been covering up for you? Can I tell her that I know?”

“No!” Alfie said quickly, rushing over to Jordan and holding his hands from tapping his combadge. He didn’t know what else to do. “Please, Jordan, say nothing.”

Jordan paused as he felt his friend’s glare on him. “Why not?” He pleaded. “I promise to not tell anyone else.”

“Jordan, please don’t say anymore,” Alfie begged him. “I don’t want it becoming the gossip of our unit, especially with what my mother has said.”

Jordan appeared to realise and understand his friend’s concern. “Okay, fine, but I get to be your best man at your wedding!”

Alfie gave out a nervous chuckle. “You’ll need to fight Henri and Theo for that role,” He remarked, trying to change the subject as he pulled Jordan down onto his bed to sit on its edge. “Now, promise me you won’t say anything to anyone about this.”

Jordan sighed and appeared to deflate. “Alright, I promise.” He smiled at his friend. “I’m pleased for you, Alfie; I think Brook is perfect for you.”

“Really?” Alfie questioned, not sounding so sure about that.

“Hell yeah!” Jordan nodded furiously. “Beatrice always says that opposites attract, and you two are completely opposite of one another.”

“Does she really?” Alfie asked as he looked down at his feet.

“Yeah,” Jordan said, trying to remain positive. “Plus, once you’re ready, we can trouble date!” 

“Double,” Alfie corrected Jordan with a smirk as he looked at his friend. He realised there, and then he had to find a way to escape the mess he had created. He couldn’t break up what he had with Jordan. With his brothers no longer on the Odyssey, Jordan was the closest thing he had to a brother, and Alfie didn’t want to mess that up. Though he knew he had already. Maybe dating Brook Westerham-Banfield wouldn’t be a bad thing, even if it was for a short while. Alfie shook his head. “Listen, let’s just say it’s early days, and we’re not going to make this a big thing.”

“I get it, Alf, I really do,” Jordan smiled sweetly at him and pulled him in for a hug. “I’ve got your spine like you have mine.”

Alfie chuckled at how Jordan still got some phrases and idioms wrong. “Back, not spine, but thanks.” He let go of Jordan again and smiled. “I don’t deserve to have a friend like you.”

Jordan ruffled Alfie’s hair. “Now you’re getting sentimental, so before you declare your undying love for me, I’m going to leave you,” Jordan hopped off the bed, “So you can get showered and change in pieces.”

“Peace,” Alfie said, correcting him again. “Thanks; I’ll see you at the briefing.”

“Sure,” Jordan said as he approached the door and stopped on the open threshold. “I’m so happy for you, Alf.”

“Thanks, Jordan,” Alfie said, looking up at his friend and watching him exit. The moment the doors closed, Alfie gave out a huge sigh and fell backwards onto his bed. He found the nearest pillow and screamed into it.