Spring Break

Chapter 1

A/N: This story is a combination of four short stories that were set so close together that I decided to combine them for publications on Wattpad. 

Chapters 1-4 are Spring Break

Chapters 2-7 are Casual Day

Chapter 8 is Taxing Situation

Chapter 9-10 is April Fool

FBI Manhattan White Collar Division. Thursday afternoon. March 3, 2005.

Agent Peter Burke stayed busy with meetings throughout the day so that he wouldn't hover, but he kept checking the time. At two o'clock he walked over to Neal Caffrey's desk. "You okay?"

Neal saved a document and stopped staring at his computer screen. "I've always said mortgage fraud cases were the most boring thing at the Bureau, but I may have underestimated medical reimbursement forms."

"All you have to do is stop taking wild risks. No trips to the hospital, no more paperwork." Peter said it calmly, because he knew Neal had been on edge leading up to Tuesday's op. Two days later they were both finally starting to relax. Rather than rehashing their arguments about those risks he'd mentioned, Peter simply said, "You're working half-days the rest of this week, remember? Ten to two. Time for you to head out. Those forms aren't going anywhere."

"Unfortunately," Neal agreed. He powered down the computer and grabbed his jacket.

"You're going to take it easy this afternoon, right?" Peter prompted.

"Sure. I'll spend some time at the loft before heading to tonight's class." Neal was in his second semester of graduate school, studying art history and visual arts.

After a year of working together, Peter could usually tell when Neal was trying to con him. The vague answer, the smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, those were all clues that Neal wasn't as calm as he pretended to be. The stress of being deep in a con in order to convince a ruthless criminal that they were alike did a number on his psyche. Thus the insistence that Neal ease back into the office routine. Hopefully being around his friends at Columbia would help thaw out the emotions Neal had frozen to get through the op.

Aloha Emporium. Thursday afternoon. March 3, 2005.

After changing out of his suit into jeans and a Columbia sweatshirt, Neal was restless. Instead of pacing in his loft at June Ellington's mansion, he went to the Aloha Emporium. Settling in at an empty table in the cafe section of the Hawaii-themed shop, he ordered a cup of Kona coffee and started to review the latest assignment for his Computational Art class.

His mind, however, kept returning to a comment June had made on his way out. She'd mentioned that his birthday was coming up and asked if he had plans.

Neal leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. He really wanted to skip the whole birthday thing this year. Given a choice, he'd like to relax and not have a bunch of family and friends staring at him, willing him to be merry. Next year, sure, he'd do the party thing again if that's what they wanted, but right now he needed a break.

How could he convince Henry of that without setting off alarms about his state of mind?

It wouldn't be easy. The tradition of Henry planning surprise birthday celebrations had started eight years ago when Neal turned eighteen, shortly after running away from home. His mother had broken WITSEC protocol to contact her family and asked for help tracking down the runaway. The end result had been twenty-year old cousin Henry finding Neal in Chicago, but Henry also had demons he was running from. Instead of returning to their homes, they'd spent the next few years on the road, living hand-to-mouth and eking out a living as con artists, pick pockets, gamblers, musicians... The list went on and on.