Two Boys Healing (Book Two)

11. Catching Up

"Hey, who's the new guy?"

Chaol's voice broke the silence that had been steady growing more and more tense between Ash and Will. He was standing in the doorway, his hair dripping wet.

Ash looked away, flushing. "I--I'm Ash," he said.

Chaol grinned. "Nice ta meet you, Ash," he said. "You wanna go swimming with us?"

Will wanted to say something, say anything, but no words would come out of his mouth.

"Uh, sure," Ash said, exhaling and glancing up at Will. "I--yeah. Just lemme get changed."

Chaol grinned wider. "Nice. I was just grabbing Jake's sunscreen, since apparently he has a skin problem." He rolled his eyes a little.

Will was still standing stock-still, staring at Ash.

Chaol glanced at him and blinked. "Hey, you good? Are you zoning out? My sister does that sometimes, where she just sits there for sometimes ten full minutes and doesn't listen to a single thing anyone ever says for that entire time but I think that's partly because she has autism, but I'm not trying to be offensive to autistic people or whatever, and I honestly think it would kinda be nice to be able to just ignore everyone for a while and have an excuse. Anyway, Jake is probably gonna be worried he's gonna get eaten by a shark, even thought I told him there are no sharks in the lake, so I better get going. See ya down there, Ash." He ran to grab the sunscreen and then zoomed out without giving Will or Ash any time to reply.

Ash looked a little winded, and Will was just plain shocked. "How does someone that little have so much air in them?" he muttered, and Ash blurted a surprised little giggle.

Will looked over, his eyes wide, and Ash exhaled, looking down and skimming his foot along the ground. "...hi."

"Hi," Will said, slightly breathlessly.

Ash hesitated. "...are you...mad?"

"Mad?" Will blinked, confused.

Ash nodded, seeming to brace himself.

"No," he said, immediately. "No, of course not. I--I'm happy, Ash. Did you get your memories back?? Is everything okay? How's your new family?" He hoped he didn't sound too eager.

Ash looked unbelievably relieved, as if he'd actually expected Will to be angry at him over something that wasn't even his fault. "Oh...ah--I actually remembered one thing. It's not really important though. And the Hawthornes are really nice. There's a girl my age, Lizzy, and she came, too. She's pretty cool once you get to know her."

Will was pretty sure that was the most he'd heard Ash say since he'd lost his memory.

"That's great," he breathed, a slow grin taking root on his face. "That's really great."

Ash smiled a little. "Mm. Are you--going swimming?"

Will bit his lip. "I mean, if you are." Then he realized that sounded clingy, and he flushed. "I--er--I mean, I guess."

Ash chuckled. "Okay, good."

~ ~ ~

That night, Chaol and Jake fell asleep quickly, and the cabin was full of the sound of Chaol's rumbling snore and Jake's soft, steady breathing. Will wasn't sure if Ash was asleep or not, and he was laying flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling.

What are the chances that not only Tristan is here, but Ash too?

Low, he knew. There were bigger forces that just "coincidence" at work.

"Hey, Will," someone whispered, and Will started, rolling over and looking over the side of his bunk. Ash was peering up at him, biting his lip.

They didn't say anything for a moment, and then Ash mumbled, "Can I come up there with you? So we're quieter? I don't want to wake up the others."

Will blinked, then nodded, his heart skipping a beat as Ash flashed him a bright smile and threw off his blankets, climbing up to Will's bunk.

They sat there for a moment, and Will took the time to study Ash, looking him up and down. He looks...good, he thought, bringing his eyes back to Ash's face. Did he get taller?

"Hey," Ash whispered, flashing a little grin. "This is crazy, isn't it."

Will snapped his eyes to Ash's and huffed out a little chuckle, running his hand through his hair and sitting cross-legged now. "Yeah. Tristan's here, too."

Ash's brows shot up. "Really? Jesus. Was this planned?"

Will's lips quirked up into a tiny grin. "I don't think so. But then again, my mom could have pulled a ton of strings."

Ash grinned. "That makes sense."

They lapsed into another silence, and Will lowered his eyes, unsure what to do with the beautiful boy sitting across from him but not too far; in fact, they were sitting fairly close together, Will's knee knocking against Ash's because this really wasn't a very big bed at all and it would be so easy to just breach the gap between them.

Their kiss, right before Ash left, flashed to mind, and Will suddenly flushed. Ash turned red, too, and Will knew he was probably thinking about the same thing he was.

"Um," Ash said quietly, looking down, his hands fidgeting with the blanket beneath him, "I...about--the kiss. Before..."

Will's stomach dropped. He regrets it...he's trying to tell me that he shouldn't have done that...

"It's okay," Will said, feeling detached. "I understand."

Ash looked up, looking surprised and relieved. "Really?"

Will nodded. "It's okay. I know it was just--in the heat of the moment. We didn't...it didn't mean anything, right? Because we're still...figuring things out."

As he'd been speaking, Ash's face had crumpled into an almost shocked expression. "I...yeah," he said, his voice low and expressionless. "That--um. Yeah. That's what I was going to...say..."

Will nodded, looking down, and Ash did the same.

This time, the silence was awkward and tense. The only thing Will wanted to do was reach over and pull Ash into his lap, run his fingers through his hair, and kiss him until they fell asleep. Ash may not remember loving him, but Will didn't think he would ever stop.

It wasn't like with Riley, his ex-boyfriend--with that, it had been a slow flurry of touches and kisses and then, in an instant, all of it gone. With this, this thing he had with Ash that was ragged and sharp and could cut you in a thousand different ways but was still so achingly beautiful that you just couldn't help touch it--it was different.

"I, um," Ash said, looking up. "I'm kinda--I'm pretty tired, Will."

Will blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. "What? ...Oh. Okay." He flushed.

Ash nodded and started to climb down, but almost on it's own, Will's hand shot out and grabbed Ash's wrist. "Wait," he said, hating how desperate he sounded. "Will you--stay with me?"

Ash lifted his gaze slowly from Will's hand gripping his wrist to meet Will's eyes, and blinked.

Then he nodded.

- - - - - - -

Hehehehe. I think I'm being pretty consistent in updating every Saturday, dontcha think?

Oh, and I'm writing an Among Us fanfic, if anyone wants to rad it. I posted the first chapter last Sunday.

Ahhhh! Please please please vote, comment, and follow if you like this!

Q: Do you guys even play Among Us?

A: Oh heck yeah. I have several group chats dedicated for just playing.