12. He's Straight

When Ash woke up, the first thing he noticed was how warm it was.

The second thing he noticed was the breathing of something who was distinctly not him.

He yelped, then realized who he was and relaxed. Then he realized who it was and yelped again.

Will mumbled something in his sleep.

Ash stared at him, his eyes darting over his face. It was peaceful in sleep, without the usual scowl. His breath caught when he realized that there was a light pressure on his waist.

Slowly, he looked down.

He wasn't entirely surprised when he saw will's arm slung low across his hips, but he wasn't exactly expecting it, either.

He squeaked.

A muted light was pouring in through the window, and the clock on the bedside table said 8:37 A.M.

He'd never slept in this late before, not since he started having the nightmares. But come to think of it, he hadn't woken up a single time since he agreed to let Will sleep next to him.

God, that sounds weird, even in my thoughts.

Ash swallowed hard and returned his eyes to Will's face. His lips were parted slightly, his black hair streaked with blue sticking up in a raging bed head. Before he could stop himself or think about what he was doing, Ash reached up and smoothed away some of Will's hair, almost on instinct.

Will's eyes snapped open,

Ash jerked his hand back as if he'd been stung. Will blinked a few times, then focused on Ash's face and inhaled sharply.

"What were you doing?" he asked quietly. He didn't sound angry, Ash decided, just curious.

"I--um. I'm not sure." Ash shoved Will's arm away from his waist and pushed himself to his feet, wrapping his arms around himself. "I--uh. I think they wanted us down in the lobby by ten, so that gives us an hour and a half to get dressed and...stuff."

Will yawned and sat up, dragging a hand through his hair and returning it to it's messy state. Ash blinked, mesmerized by the way the light danced on his hair.

Will noticed his stare. "What are you looking at? Ash?"

Ash blinked again and tore his gaze away. "Nothing. Sorry. I--I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Okay...?"

Ash puffed out a breath and nearly ran into the bathroom, chucking off his shirt and closing the door behind him, turning the lock and gripping the edge of the sink with white-knuckled hands.

You don't care that I'm gay?

Of course he didn't. Why would he, besides the fact that he himself was a guy? It didn't matter, because Ash was straight. HE knew that with absolute certainty.

Or...he did.

Had he ever actually had a crush on a girl before? Here he was, seventeen-going-on-eighteen, and he'd never had a girlfriend or a passing crush.

He could always be asexual, he supposed.

How did you really know if you had a crush on someone? Did you think about them all the time, their face and voice occupying every waking moment of your day even when they weren't anywhere near you? That had to be it.

A shiver traveled the length of Ash spine.

If that was what made a crush, then he was falling hard for a certain black-and-blue haired boy with gray eyes and a never-shown, beautiful smile that lit up his entire face and made him look as if--

Ash grabbed his phone from his pocket and turned it on. His screen was cracked, a result of his dad throwing it against the wall, but Ash could still clearly see Will's goofy grin, the dimples, the straight white teeth, the laugh lines that must've been a result of when Will had Riley.

Ash swallowed hard and set his phone down. He really did need a shower.

~ ~ ~

"Alright class, I want you to take pictures of three historical artifacts that you think are interesting. Take note of their dates and any historical mentions!" Mrs. Sukiyaki added brightly. "I'll let you pick your partners."

Will immediately glanced down at Ash, who met his gaze at the exact same moment and grinned. Will smiled faintly, and then Tristan sauntered up to them.

Will's smile fell off his face, and Ash inhaled slowly.

"Hey, fag," he said. "I'm in need of a partner."

"What else is new?" Will said, his voice dripping with malice. "I don't particularly care, Tristan. Go find someone else. I already have a partner."

Tristan grinned. "Oh, I know," he said. "But if you look, everyone else has a partner too. Which means that I'm the only one left. So..." He tilted his head to the side, a wicked grin on his face. "There's gonna need to be  three-person group.

Ash sighed. Will gritted his teeth.

"Fine," Ash muttered. Will looked at him in surprise. Ash looked up, meeting the silent question in Will's gaze. He shrugged. "Golden rule," he mouthed.

Will rolled his eyes and looked back up at Tristan. "Fine," he said. "But I'm warning you, if you try anything, your nose won't be the only thing that's broken this time."

Tristan snorted. "Empty threats don't bother me."

Will snorted. "Didn't seem so empty when I made that pretty face of yours bleed, did they?"

Tristan paled almost imperceptibly, his hand flying up to his nose unconsciously. Then he scowled.

"Fag," he muttered under his breath, and Will's hands tightened into fists. He opened his mouth to retort when a small hand slipped into his and squeezed gently. Will looked down in surprise, but Ash didn't look at him, only gave his fingers a final squeeze and pulled his hand out of Will's and took out his phone.

"We need to do the assignment," he said, looking up at them.

Tristan sighed exaggeratedly. "Fine."

Will arched a brow. "That's what we're supposed to do. Why'd you bother joining a group if you didn't want to do the work?"

"Oh, I'm still not going to do the work," he sneered. "I just want a good grade."

Will rolled his eyes and started off toward the entrance to the enormous history museum that was the purpose of their visit. Someone could easily get lost in there. Tomorrow was Friday, which meant they had the entire day to do whatever else they wanted to relax before they headed back to River Heights.

They found the first one fairly easily. Ash pointed it out; an ornate-looking mask with multi-colored feathers sprouting from either side and a gaping hole for the mouth. Will snapped a picture of it and the plaque beside it, and Ash and Tristan did the same.

They continued along, and Will stopped at a sign advertising an Egyptian hallway. Ash stopped, too, and peered at the sign.

"Ooh," he said. "Let's go there. I bet they have some wicked sickles or something."

"Egyptians didn't have sickles, idiot," Tristan scoffed, rolling his eyes. "They had curved blade-thingies."

Ash blinked at him. "Um. That's...what they're called."

Tristan scowled, then pulled out his phone and looked it up. He grunted and dropped his phone back in his pocket, crossing his arms.

Will sighed. "Try to be smarter than you look, Tristan."

"Hey!" Tristan protested, then looked confused. "Wait. Was that a compliment?"

Ash stifled a laugh.

Tristan scoffed and through his hands in the air. "Whatever. I have to use the restroom, anyways." He started off, away from them.

Ash breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I thought he'd never leave."

Will's lips twitched, and he led the way down the hall to the Egyptian exhibit.

As they walked, Ash slipped his hand into Will's and laced their fingers together. Will looked down, his lips parting in surprise, but Ash didn't look up, and they didn't say anything.

When they reached the exhibit, there was already a group of people there. Tori, from the first day, and another girl. They were pointing at a mural and giggling, adn then Tori turned slightly and noticed them.

"Oh, hi!" she said enthusiastically. Ash dropped Will's hand, but not fast enough. Tori squealed.

"Oh my god, are you two dating? That's adorable. I've always loved gay couples!"

Will blinked, stricken. "Er. We aren't dating."

Ash tensed. Tori's face fell. "Aw, man," she sighed. "That's too bad. You guys are perfect for each other. I mean, look at you." She indicated Will, with his tall, dark, brooding features and clothes to match, and Ash, with his brown-ish hair and short stature, his ever-present grin gone for the moment. Then he smiled, his usual bubbly face reappearing in a split-second.

Will sighed. "He's straight," he said, surprised by the twinge of disappointment that left him. Ash let out a soft breath that sounded like a soft word, but Will didn't catch it.

Tori perked up. "But you aren't?"

Her friend grabbed her shoulder. "C'mon, Tor," she said. It seemed like she hadn't been paying attention to their conversation at all. "There's an animal exhibit I really wanna see."

Tori squealed and they darted off, leaving Will and Ash to stand there awkwardly.

"I'm sorry--" Will began at the same time Ash said "Do you want to--"

They both stopped, and then said, "Go ahead," at the same time. Ash grinned, and Will crossed his arms, smiling.

"You first," Ash said.

Will cocked his head to the side. "I'm sorry for that."

Ash shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Anyway, do you want to go see the sarcophagus? It seems really cool."

Will nodded, something in his chest tightening. But he followed Ash anyways, trying to fight the onslaught of feeling that he was finally starting to make sense of.

And what he realized was that he really, really liked Ash.

- - - - - - -

Pls vote and comment if you liked it! I'll try to update as soon as possible.

Warning: there may or may not be some smut in the next chapter. If you're uncomfortable with that particular fact, then feel free to skip into the next chapter after that.

Actually, if you're trying to avoid smut, then I guess you shouldn't have picked this book.

Enjoy!

Q: Gay? Bisexual? Lesbian? Pan? Asexual?

A: Bisexual all the way, but I'm mostly into girls. Boys are mostly annoying and obnoxious.

A/n: BAHAHAHAHAHAHA IM REREADING THIS AND I AM SO SO LESBIAN AHAHAHAHA