"Okay, everybody get in line, I hope your stupid asses didn't already lose your tickets! Get moving and shut up this is a theatre not a zoo god dammit!"
Shouted Mr Claudman to the forty students.

He sighed feeling useless. These boys were definitely not listening, not caring about where they were and who Shakespeare was.

Ash was the only one who was truly happy to be here. He loved reading Shakespeare and was genuinely pleased to go see one of his plays. On the outside he was the same old broody and silent Ash but on the inside he was smiling.

Trey sat on the red seat matching the number on his theatre ticket and sighed. He was a bit sad, Ash was being distant and for some reason he didn't like that. He looked at his ticket. Who the hell were Romeo and Juliette anyway? To be honest, he was bored and he wasn't the only one. He looked around the theatre and his eyes fell on a familiar buzzcut. As if sensing eyes on him Ry turned around and waved when he saw Trey. The small boy shyly smiled back.

To be honest he thaught Ry had forgotten about him, the boy had been pretty drunk at the party after all.
Ry wanted to go over to Trey to apologize for his behavior the other night but the death glare Ash sent him kept him in his seat. Another time maybe, when the guard dog wasn't around.

As soon as they sat in their designated seats, Aaron dozed off, his head hanging rather dangerously close to Luke who was sitting next to him. He rolled his eyes,
that boy had no sense of respect.

However, his cheeks slightly reddened when he felt his neighbor's head finally drop on his shoulder.
The curtains were lifted and Luke almost snorted: Romeo and Juliette, the most cliché forbidden love ever. He told himself that it was pointless to watch this and that he should probably doze off like Aaron. But something in the way the lead actor played entranced him.

He was drawn to his charisma on stage and his eyes followed him everywhere, unaware of Aaron's piercing gaze focused on his face.
He wasn't really asleep after all.

Trey though was still bored.
He liked the scenery and the costumes but didn't really understand the words. Above all, he was finding it hard to concentrate on the play when Ash's knee was bumping against his every now and then.

The other boy was so captivated by the play that he didn't seem to mind the contact. Trey noticed a book which's pages had been folded so many times it didn't look like one anymore. He subtly changed the angle of his face to steal a glance at Ash's face.
The small boy noticed that his lips were very slightly moving in sync with the actors'. Just as if he knew their parts by heart. Trey slowly inched closed to Ash and caught a glimpse of the title:
Romeo and Juliette, Shakespeare 1597.

So Ash had memorized the whole play after all. Trey was amazed by his talent. He personally never understood the author and never had enough patience to read one of his plays let alone learn it by heart.
He stole a glance at Ash and was surprised to see his relaxed face, eyes shining in interest, never leaving the actors as his lips moved in silence. Trey found that oddly alluring and smiled in the dark. He was slowly discovering new aspects of his moody roommate's personality and all were interesting.

***

Later in the evening, Ash was in a good mood. It was a rare occurance but it happened from time to time. Trey knew exactly why he was less broody but didn't dare tease him about it in fear of darkening his mood.
Dinner had been more or less normal if Ash's recent presence at his table could be called normal. All the students including Trey were all exhausted and grumpy after the sport teacher had forced them to run twenty laps. The small boy was dead tired and the only thing he could think of was slamming his head on his pillow.

Ash was under the shower and recalling today's play. He smiled a little, it brought back many memories from his childhood and his father. A wave of nostalgia hit him suddenly as he let his mind wander back ten years ago when he had seen his first play. He had enjoyed it so much that his father had taken him to the theatre every month. Until the accident.
Until he left him.
Until nothing in his life made sense anymore.

Ash tightened his fists.
Why? Why did it have to be him? His father was a good man. So why did that driver loose control of his vehicle that day?
And why had he insisted on taking the car? Stupid rain, stupid driver, stupid fate...

His dark thoughts were interrupted when Trey knocked on the door.
"Um. Are you done Ashton? I need to shower too you know."
He smiled, the brown eyed boy was getting more confident as the days went by. But he shouldn't let his guard down so easily.

"Don't call me Ashton my name's Ash." He replied, finally opening the door and letting the steam escape along with the memories of his past. He would ignore them like always.
"But I don't like nicknames." Pouted Trey his back turned to Ash. He picked up his shirt and went to the wooden door when the tall boy stepped out.

Trey gulped.

Just like the first time they met, Ash's smooth chest was on full display. Trey couldn't stop his eyes from wandering to the other boy's angular jaw, to his adam apple, down to his defined pectoral muscles and taunt stomach. They traveled lower and lower to the sharp v muscles that disappeared in the grey towel wrapped around his narrow hips. And right down to...

"Take a picture it'll last longer you pervert." Finally spoke Ash in a deep and rumbling tone. Trey jumped and his cheeks instantly turned red making his freckles stand out more. He laughed nervously "W-what? I wasn't looking." He blabered.
Ash was surely mad now and was probably about to bash his head in the wall.

Blatantly staring at a half naked person was quite an inappropriate and pervy thing to do after all.
He gnawed on his bottom lip automatically as his thoughts raced in his head.
"Hey calm down, I'm joking don't go into panic mode around me I hate it when you do that." Grumbled Ash.
Trey calmed down a little.

"I know you weren't looking.

You were just staring like you wanted to lick me from head to toe."
He whispered in his ear as he walked past him to his bed.

Trey gulped and his cheeks were know blazing red.
What a jerk it wasn't even true! He was just staring for-
For scientific purposes! He just wanted to know what a perfect anatomy looked like, just that.

And what a perfect anatomy it was indeed.

Ash smirked as he layed down in his bed, a new book in hand.
"Hey what are you reading?" Asked Trey cheeks still red, deperately trying to take his mind off Ash's words.
The boy raised his eyes and replied in a bored tone "Why do you want to know?"
"Oh um could you read out loud when I finish my shower?
I don't really like reading on my own but Luke said I had to educate myself, plus I don't want to touch your stuff." He answered playing with his fingers nervously.

Ash was slightly surprised and his silence made Trey uneasy.
"You know what forget it that was a stupid id-"
"Okay." The other boy cut him.
"Huh?"
"Okay I'll read out loud. Go shower then sit down and shut up, I like to concentrate on my reading."

Trey noded silently and stepped into the bathroom. He showered in record time and slid to the wooden floor, his back pressing against Ash's bed.
The tall boy sighed and started reading. Trey was in awe, the other boy's deep voice filled the small room and rocked him. It was soft and rumbling at the same time.

He tried his best to listen carefully but his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier. Trey finally fell asleep, his head dropping on the mattress.
Ash stopped when he heard the soft sound of the small boy's head on his bed. He shook his head in disbelief, he would have to wash his bedsheets in the morning.
What an airhead. He put the book down and sat while staring intently at the sleeping boy.

His hair looked so soft, his skin, littered with the little marks, was pale in comparison to his. His full lashes, high cheekbones and slightly parted pouty lips. It was driving him slowly insane. He drifted closer and rested his weight on his muscular forearms, his face right next to Trey's.

A new battle was taking place in his mind. Who was this boy, where did he come from and how could he do these things to him? He made him angry, scared, anxious but also giddy, happy and jealous. Sometimes all at the same time.

Ash sighed, what an intriguing being. He got even closer as his mind drifted away. His gaze finally rested on Trey's pink lips and Ash was mesmerized. He was so close that he could feel the small boy's breath on his nose.

His mind finally went blank as he inched even closer, eyes fluttering close, and almost brushed his full lips against Trey's.
The small boy let out a soft sigh in his sleep and Ash instantly opened his eyes, shooting back to the wall, heart pounding and mind racing. What the hell was he doing?
He tried to calm his erratic heartbeat and pinched the bridge of his nose.

This was getting dangerous.

He shook his head and got up. He squatted and rested his arms on his haunches deliberating for a short while. Should he carry Trey in his bed, risk nausea and shower right after that or just leave him on the floor? It was his fault for falling asleep here after all.

But the wooden floor was pretty hard and the room temperature pretty low. With such a delicate body, the boy would surely catch a cold.
And be whiny and annoying all week.

Ash grunted and grabbed fistfuls of his dark hair pulling it in distress.
Trey shivered at the same moment and the tall boy threw his hands in the air.
Fuck it he would deal with the consequences later, he was just moving his roommate so he wouldn't be annoying tomorrow.
That was it.

Certainly not because he was actually caring about his health and wanted to protect him.
He finally gave in, sliding his arms under Trey's knees and shoulder blades then lifting him up. He weighed practically nothing. Trey unconsciously snuggled into Ash's warm chest and sighed in content.

The tall boy was speechless and a faint blush made it's way to his cheeks. The fact that he held such a delicate being asleep in his own arms, with the power to do anything he wanted at this instant, amazed him.

And scared him.

He stared at the sleeping boy a little longer before climbing the small ladder and laying him with great caution on his bed. He tugged the covers over his body and watched him some more, hypnotized by the raise and fall of his fringe as he breathed. He eventually gave in and placed a small kiss on Trey's forehead before getting back to his own bed, eyes remaining open, and head resting on his flexed arm.

"Gosh you have no idea the things you do to me Trey Johnes." He whispered before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.
Little did he know that the boy who was supposedly passed out from exhaustion above him was in reality half awake, eyes slightly widened.
He had heard him.

Trey's eyes closed again, a small smile forming on his lips.

And Ash didn't shower a second time this evening.

{AN: Omggg he almost kissed him! What did you think of this chapter? Liked it? Loved it? What do you think will happen after? See you in chapter 14!
Xoxo Moonlightshow 🌙 💜}