Two Boys Healing (Book Two)

19. Chores

The morning bell was the only thing that convinced Ash to get up the next morning, and he yawned and rolled out of bed with a groan. Chaol and Will were already gone, and Riley was in the bathroom with the door open, brushing his teeth.

Ash glanced at him sideways, very awkward. "Hey," he called hesitantly, aware he was in the same room alone with his boyfriends ex who his boyfriend, it seemed, had never officially broken up with him. "Um- do you- know where Will went?"

Riley glanced over, looking Ash up and down in a way that made him feel likehe was being severely judged, and sighed. "He already went to breakfast."

Ash nodded quickly, grabbed his phone, and ran out of the cabin as fast as he could.

He found Will sitting with Tristan and Chaol. Tristan had a very odd look on his face, and Ash thought he knew why.

Take that, Tristan, he thought smugly to himself. There's no possible way you can convince Will to like you now, now that there's two boyfriends to compete with-

...wait. that's not good for me either.

Ash frowned slightly as he slipped into the seat next to Will and leaned against him with a sigh. Will noticed his mood and glanced over, blinking then smiling his soft little smile that he only wore around Ash. "Good morning, sleepy head. How was your night?"

"Fine," Ash said stiffly, stabbing into the eggs on Will's plate and shoving them into his mouth angrily. 

Will blinked in surprise. "Um...okay?"

Tristan opened his mouth to say something when one of the counselors stood up at the front, a clipboarded list in her hands and a bright smile on her face. "Hellooooo, campers-!!! So as y'all know, y'all have been here for a whole week already! Doesn't the time just fly by?"

Chaol leaned in and whispered, a piece of toast in his mouth. "You think she got plastic surgery to keep her smile that big this early?"

Will stifled a snort, and Ash grinned.

The counselor continued talking. "...soo, since you all will be here all summer, you guys need to start pulling your weight around here, amiright?! So the other counselors and I have devided you all into thirty groups of twenty. Don't worry, I put at least one person from your cabin in your group, so you won't be completely lonely! But hey, this is a chance for you all to make new friends, isn't it?"

Ash and Will looked at each other worriedly, and Will discreetly grabbed Ash's hand beneath the table, squeezing slightly in reassurance. "Don't worry," he mumbled, leaning over and whispering in his ear. "No one can separate the Wish team." He grinned goofily down at Ash, and Ash immediately felt better.

The counselor hummed and smiled, starting to read off the list and naming the chores to each group.

"...and in group four, we have Aleiya Johnson, Taylor Jaiden, Asher Erickson, Riley Aspen, Farrah Tomms, Heather Smith..." She kept talking, but Ash had stopped listening, looking to Will, who looked like he'd been punched in the stomach.

I'll be on a team with Riley?!?

Ash wrinkled his nose and stared at the table hard, leaning into Will subconsciously.

"It'll be fine," Will mumbled with a heavy sigh. "I'll still see you. It'll be fine."

Ash nodded, but there was a storm loud over his head and he wasn't sure when it would go away.

~ ~ ~

"So, how long did you say you and Will have been dating?"

Ash wanted, so badly, to ignore Riley while he scrubbed out the bottoms of the canoes, but Riley was working right next to him and this would be a very long few hours if he ignored him.

"A few days," he grumbled, "but before I lost my memory I think it was a few months."

Riley blinked, untangling the life jackets. "...you lost your memory? How did that happen?"

Ash sighed. "I had a stroke. I thought my dad was about to kill Will because he's a homophobic asshole, but then Tristan and Will beat him up and stuff and he got sent to jail. I lost my memory, though, because of like, stress."

Riley stared, blinking. "...oh-"

Ash shrugged, scrubbing at a particularly stubborn spot crusted into the side of the canoe. "Yeah."

Riley went silent for a bit, and Ash flushed, feeling the other boy's eyes on him. He glanced up, blinking, and Riley looked away with a sigh.

"..." There was clearly something Riley wanted to say, but Ash wasn't sure he wanted to hear it, so he stood up and moved on to the next canoe and didnt talk to Riley again.

- - - - -

I did it omg- this was a speed write because I forgot today was Friday and that I actually had responsibilities :0

Anyway there you go :3

Q: Least favorite teacher?

A: FUCKING MR. WELLARD. DUDE HAS NO IDEA WHAT HES DOING. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TEACHING EIGTH GRADE YOU FAT GRAY PIMPLE

anyway have a great weekend :))))