Will

Will couldn’t even make himself read the article that was up on his phone. It was written in a type of English he was unfamiliar with. English had always been one of his better subjects, and languages in general, but this one was impossible.

“Will?” Tara had a knowing look about her.

“Yeah?” Will stopped himself from volunteering to get them all more coffee. They’d had two cups already, and they hadn’t been sitting in the cafeteria long enough to warrant it.

“Anything to add?”

Will pushed the papers he had contributed already across the table. “This.”

Tara didn’t even look at the papers, but gave Will a look. “This is probably… half of what we need from you.”

Victoria frowned at her. “We still have two weeks.”

“We all agreed we wanted to practice runs, and mid-terms are going to take up all of our time the week before the presentation.” Tara replied. “Let’s say we’ll try get it all finished by this Saturday?”

Will knew they were waiting on him. But sitting down to work on this was like trying to push his car up a hill: it didn’t work. He mumbled out, “Fine.” It felt like a lie. It must have sounded like that to Tara too.

“This is good work,” Victoria pointed out, clearly trying to break the tension.

Tara rolled her eyes. “I’ll make sure to thank Dune when I see him.”

Will stiffened. Yeah. Dune had helped him with the research. He didn’t do it for him. He may have helped him find the articles. And point out which points to take down. And helped to arrange it into a coherent argument… But Will was rubbish with this kind of thing, and Dune wasn’t. And—

Did Dune tell them?

Will took out his phone, pretending to be checking a message.

Did he? Was he talking about Will to them?

Dune didn’t gossip. But maybe him and Luke were already pouring their hearts out to each other. Maybe Dune talked about Will. Maybe Luke passed that along. No. No. But Dune wouldn’t, right? He knows that Will hates being talked about. Or does he? If it’s not about the eating thing, than maybe the other aspects of Will are fair game?

“I was thinking we could all go ice-skating.” Victoria was suggesting when Will focused back-in. “Are you guys free tonight?”

“I’m up for it.” Tara agreed.

Phil gave a thumbs up. So he could hear them all.

“I’ve a date.”

Victoria’s smile faltered a second, then she looked interested. “A date?”

“The older boyfriend, right?” Tara looked interested as well.

How does she know that? Dune must have been talking. Will hadn’t said a word about Gabriel to anyone, aside from mentioning that he had a partner. That was it. Dune was talking about him.

“How much older?” Victoria asked.

“Seven years, ish.”

“Ooh, so you would have been… eleven when he was eighteen?”

Will remained quiet.

“Oh, hey, look I didn’t mean that as a—”

“As a what?” Will asked her.

Victoria’s smile vanished completely. Phil pulled out his ear-buds and looked pointedly at Will. Tara was quiet as well.

Fuck this.

“We done here now?” Will took out his bag, and slung it over his shoulder. He left them at the cafeteria. He wondered how long before the gossip reached Dune, and Dune told them all about the times Will was an ass to him as well.

*

Their date was high-jacked, because it was just that kind of day.

Will sat at the end of the table with a beer, next to Gabriel, far from uncle Henry and Charlie. At the start of the night, it had been fine. He got on especially well with Henry who was a dedicated sports man himself. He even knew about volleyball. But as Will spoke, Charlie kept giving Gabriel’s pointed looks. Will for the life of him couldn’t figure out what he was saying wrong.

And he didn’t feel like getting drunk either.

Will felt defeated when he took his phone out to check the time. It was only early.

He finished his beer just for the excuse of escaping to the bar for another one. “Do you guys want anything?” Will only lightly touched Gabriel’s thigh, really, there was no other intention, but Gabriel was quick to catch his hand. Will frowned at him, but Gabriel was looking at his drink, still half-full.

“I’m good, you guys?” Gabriel said.

They were all good.

“I’ll be right back.” Will pulled his hand back from Gabriel, feeling embarrassed. He wasn’t about to feel him up in front of his uncle. That would be weird. Had he been doing that the other day? Had he been bothering Gabriel with physical contact? Had he not even realised, but now Gabriel was on the defence? He didn’t want Will to touch him in public?

“You are thinking really hard about what to get, huh?” The blond girl already sitting at the bar observed.

Will blinked, and realised the bartender was waiting for him to speak. “Oh. A corona, thanks.”

“Beer? Boring.” The blond girl sang, and sipped a yellow drink with a white-foam top.

“Yeah,” Will agreed. “That definitely looks more interesting.”

“It’s delicious. You should try it.” She agreed.

“A man can’t drink fruity drinks.”

She laughed. “I did hear that was a law, now that I think about it.”

Will smiled as well, and shrugged. “We’re an oppressed group.”

“Order one,” The girl suggested, “Fight the power.”

Will’s beer arrived, and he handed over his card. “I’m not brave enough.”

The girl glanced at the barman and lifted her drink, “Two more of these please.”

Will raised an eyebrow.

“I promise, they’ll change your life.”

The barman was making the drinks. Will heard Gabriel laughing at the table. He pulled up his stool. A minute with the girl and he was more relaxed than the entire night spent down there. He just… he didn’t fit in with them and their conversation. It didn’t work. And Will wanted it to work, so it was so frustrating not being able to keep up with them all.

He could keep up with ‘try this drink’.

“I’m Will.”

“Jay.” She introduced. She glanced over her shoulder. “Are you afraid your friends will see you with a fruity drink?” It seemed to amuse her.

“You know what? I think I am.” Will agreed. Henry was so… manly. He gave Will strong sports-man, farmer vibes. He couldn’t even imagine him having a cocktail. Charlie? Charlie would stand by in judgement. Gabriel was a beer guy. Will didn’t know what he was. “But if this is going to change my life…”

“What do you do, Will?”

“I play Volleyball.”

“Are you good?”

“Not many people know this, but I’m absolutely amazing.”

Jay laughed. It reminded Will about Cassie’s laugh, and he liked Jay ten times more. “What about you?”

“My volleyball skills aren’t as amazing as yours, but I have a mean right hook.”

“Oh sure, that’s the main skill you need in volleyball.” Will said, amused.

Their drinks arrived, pink straws and everything. “So, what is this exactly?” He gave it a stir, the liquid was thick. Foamy. Almost like a smoothie of some kind.

“Delicious.” Jay said. “Ready? Three, two, one.”

They tasted together. “Oh damn, is this even alcohol?”

“A high concentration of it.” Jay nodded. “Tastes like juice.”

“Tastes better than that. My life will never be the same.”

The cocktail went down much easier than the beer. Jay told Will all about the perfect night out; an exploration of the cocktail menu.

“It’s like a cheese board, or a wine tasting for college students.” Jay giggled.

“Can I introduce you to my friend? I think you’d be the best of besties after one conversation.”

“I can never get enough besties. Open up snapchat, lets tell them hi.”

Will did just that, sending a picture of him and Jay with the cocktails. Cassie replied that she was jealous.

“Hey, what have you got there?” Gabriel asked, appearing out of nowhere and resting his hand on the back of Will’s chair.

“A life-changing drink.” Will said. Past Gabriel, Charlie and Henry were talking, empty glasses in front of them. They weren’t looking this way. “Taste,” Will offered it.

Gabriel took a sip, his nose crinkled a little. “It tastes good. But I’m pretty sure thats egg.”

“It sure is.” Jay confirmed.

“Eggs are good for you.” Will pointed out.

Gabriel pulled up a chair. Will didn’t ask if he wasn’t going to go back to the table, since that could lead to Will having to go back there as well. “Gabriel, this is Jay. She’s introducing me to the college students cheese-board.”

“Ah, I get it. Mind if I join you two?”

Will looked at him sideways, but the question seemed to be directed at Jay, not a passive-aggressive remark at him for abandoning them.

“The more the merrier,” Jay smiled.

They got a round of mojitos, a round of whiskey sours, a round of long island iced teas (which just tasted like coke to Will), martinis, and then Will’s all time favourite—Cosmopolitans. Recently his tolerance had risen from one drink, to two, and as he sipped on his final drink of the night—he knew he needed to stop or he’d be sick—his entire body was alight with a pleasant buzz.

He’d felt shitty all day and it was suddenly alright. He could understand why his dad ended up drinking every day. It was a solid cure.

“Cassie is still refusing to come out,” Will reported sadly.

“Probably not a bad thing, since they’re not letting people in anymore.” Gabriel pointed out.

“I’ll have to meet her next time.”

Will sighed, disappointed. Cassie would really like Jay. “You can be friends, but I’m going to marry her, so only friends.”

Jay laughed. Her gaze darted between him and Gabriel, and Will jolted.

“Oh,” Will tilted to Gabriel, he was close, his arm slung over the back of Will’s chair, “Don’t worry, I’ll marry you too.” He attempted to kiss his cheek, but could only reach the corner of his jaw. Gabriel looked amused.

“I suppose me and Cassie can work something out between ourselves.” If anything, Gabriel sounded pleased. Gabriel’s hand moved to Will’s back, rubbing between his shoulder blades. He returned the kiss to Will’s cheek.

When they finally started kicking people out of the bar, Will made sure he got Jay’s number. They walked her to the taxi rank, seeing her off before heading toward home. In the taxi, Will sat against Gabriel, resting his head on his shoulder. Gabriel found his hand, taking it onto his lap, tracing his knuckles, holding him close.

Inside the apartment, Gabriel went to the fridge. “You hungry?”

Will followed, hugging him from behind. “I’m good,” There were boxes of Chinese food.

Gabriel tilted his head back to try see him. “Are you sure?”

“We were doing ab exercises earlier and I still feel like my muscles are in bits.” Will rubbed his stomach. It was a good burn. But also a sore one.

Gabriel managed to twist completely and face him. “I could… blend up some soup? That’ll be easy on your stomach?”

“I had some already,” Will draped his arms around Gabriel’s shoulders, laying flat against him. “You going to eat?”

Gabriel held his sides. “I’m good. Want to put on a movie?”

“Not really.”

“Bed?”

Will hummed. “Now you’re talking.” He kissed Gabriel. It felt like it had been so long since he’d done this. Gabriel’s hands slipped up his sides, warm, firm.

Gabriel followed Will to the room, between kisses and caresses, following Will’s lead and moving on top of him. Will would never be over the feeling of his weight on him, reassuring and exciting both.

Hazy, he was removing Gabriel’s belt when his wrist was caught for the second time today. Gabriel trailed kisses down his neck, but he held Will’s arm away from his body. It was a ‘no’.

“You don’t want to?” Will asked.

Gabriel propped himself on his elbows, and Will could see his flushed cheeks. “You’re very drunk.”

Will traced the line of his jaw, enjoying the stubble, enjoying Gabriel’s racing pulse. He was turned on. They both were. It came with the territory when pressed so close, and lips together. “That’s okay,” Will said.

Gabriel kissed him when Will initiated, but his wrist was caught again.

“Are you mad at me? For saying I was going to marry Cassie?”

“Am I mad?” Gabriel pulled further away this time, on all fours above Will so that there was no physical contact anymore. “Of course I’m not mad, that kind of thing won’t make me angry.”

Will frowned again. “I don’t understand whats wrong.”

“I can make you feel good.” Gabriel touched his abdomen. “okay?”

Will sat up. “You too.”

Gabriel met his eyes, and sighed. “Ease up, Will. I’d just feel… uneasy, having sex when your a lot drunker than I am.”

“I don’t mind.”

“But I do.”

Will rubbed the back of his neck, thinking it over as best he could. If Gabriel didn’t want to have sex because Will was drunk, that couldn’t be helped. He felt a bit embarrassed with himself, as if he’d disappointed Gabriel and only now realised it. He put that feeling aside for now.

He touched the back of Gabriel’s hand, resting on the bed next to him. “Okay.”

Gabriel was searching his face.

“I get it, Gabriel. I’m not upset.”

Gabriel smiled this time, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

Will wondered if he was so delicate that Gabriel didn’t know how to tell him outright that he didn’t want to have sex? Did he think Will would handle it badly?

“You know I’d end up feeling worse if you just forced yourself instead of telling me,” Will said to him.

Gabriel’s smile was faint. “It’s hard even wanting to say no to you.”

Will stretched his sore stomach and climbed out of the bed. He found his shirt tangled under his feet and pulled it on. Separated from Gabriel’s hot body, exposed to the cooler air in the room, his arousal started dying down.