Lucas skipped up the hall, excited. For way too long now, he had been staying in his apartment at night, huddled under the covers, blasting youtube vids and pretending that the dark didn't bother him. And tonight, for the first time in ages; it didn't. Because William was here.

"We can do the whole slumber party thing," Lucas was saying. "Like the whole deal. We can play monopoly. I have a flashlight on my phone. Oh! We can cook marshmallows on a candle or something. I bet there's one in a drawer somewhere. Or, or!" he said, flapping his hands around,"we could tell scary stories! Actually, wait, no. That's a stupid idea."

He mumbled the last part with a furtive glance at William, hoping that the blond wasn't too excited by the scary story idea. William raised his brows at Lucas.

"You're scared of scary stories aren't you?" he asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

"No! it's just--" Lucas flushed because he actually hated scary stories and had no idea why the hell he'd suggested that. "It's late and stuff and we should probably just go to sleep."

The door next to Lucas' creaked open and an elderly woman poked her head out, eyes fixing on Lucas.

"Oh," she said. "It's you again. Dear, do you mind keeping it down in the hallway?"

Lucas flushed and nodded.

"Sure, sorry Mrs. Walsh," he muttered.

Avoiding making eye contact with William, Lucas unlocked his door and went in. William entered, shutting the door behind him and sealing them both in the darkness that was Lucas' home.

He felt his friend come up close to him, his heat touching Lucas' back, warm breath tickling his neck.

"Lucas?" William asked lowly and he was so close that the timbre of his voice vibrated through Lucas. A hand closed around his shoulder and William let out a breathy laugh. "I did not expect it to be this dark."

Lucas laughed but the humor was lacking even to his own ears and he dropped it, finished the sound with a sigh.

"Yeah," he admitted. "It takes some getting use to."

In fact, Lucas still wasn't use to it. To be honest, his heart was pounding and only the warmth of his friend's presence gave him a modicum of comfort.

He swallowed.

"Hang on."

Feeling particularly brave, Lucas walked forward.

And immediately stubbed his toe.

"Shit!"

"What? What's wrong? What happened?" William's worried voice followed him and Lucas laughed, flexing his toe until it stopped tingling.

"I forgot I usually use my phone for this," Lucas said.

He pulled it out and used it to light his way to the large, living room curtains and then pulled them open, revealing the the streetlight outside and just enough brightness to see their way around.

"Once your eyes adjust its not that bad," Lucas assured. William was standing in the middle of the living room, hands tucked into his pockets watching Lucas with a twisted expression that he couldn't quite read. He didn't respond and Lucas shifted uneasily.

"Are you hungry?" he asked hesitantly. "We could order Chinese or something."

"I'm good," William said.

He was still watching him. Still in his weirdly perfect model pose. William bit his lip like he wanted to say something.

The silence stretched on.

"Are you tired?" Lucas asked, scratching his fingers through the tangles of his hair uneasily. "We could just go to sleep if you want..."

"What about marshmallows?" William asked. "And monopoly?"

Just like that, excitement flushed away the uneasy butterflies in Lucas' chest. He found the marshmallows in the back of the pantry, next to dozens of old ketchup packets and thanked god the bag was still fresh. A candle took longer to find and a lighter even longer.

He carried the pile along with the monopoly box into his bedroom, William lighting the way with Lucas' phone flashlight app.

"Here, before we start," Lucas pulled open his drawer, fishing out two pairs of flannel PJ's and chucking a set at William before dropping his pants and whipping his shirt off.

William let out a strange, choking noise and Lucas whipped around, looking at him.

"You okay?" he asked slowly. "Did you choke on... something?"The marshmallow bag was still sealed shut next to William, the flashlight pointing up at the ceiling and lighting the whole room blue. Lucas watched William cough and clear his throat, punching his chest.

William shook his head, glanced up at Lucas and then swiftly back down to the pile of fabric in his lap.

"Where's your washroom?" he asked in a strangled voice.

Lucas pointed to the en-suite, watching as William got up and silently went into the other room.

He was being weird.

Lucas could never tell what was going on behind those blue eyes to begin with, really, but right now, all of his awkward behavior... It just made Lucas wonder if maybe William wasn't as easy going about the situation as he thought he was. Maybe now that he was here, in the dark, alone with Lucas, he was sick of him? It was officially the longest they'd ever spent together. Maybe despite how cool he'd been about it earlier, he wasn't happy hanging around in Lucas' dark, chilly condo. Maybe he thought Lucas was a freak after all, that his life was a mess. Maybe he didn't want anything to do with him.

Lucas pulled on his pajamas, thoughts racing.

When William emerged, he was dressed in Lucas' polar bear PJ's. They came up a little too high on his ankles but aside from that, the way they hung perfectly over his broad shoulders made Lucas feel a bit like a rag doll by comparison. He looked down at himself, wondering if maybe they weren't supposed to fit so loosely.

William chuckled.

"I thought the smiling polar bears were too much but now I see you were going easy on me," William said indicating Lucas' Spider Man suit.

William sank down across from Lucas, smiling at him warmly and whatever doubts Lucas had about his friend wanting to be here with him, vanished. He smiled back, happiness blooming in his chest.

William reached for the lighter, flicking it easily to life. He lit the candle between them and looked at Lucas expectantly.

"I've never had candle marshmallows," William said. "How do we do this?"

"Forks work?" Lucas asked.

He ripped open the marshmallow bag, stuffing one in his mouth before skewering two onto the forks he'd brought.

They fell into a companionable silence as they cooked their sticky treats. His phone went to sleep but the candle was there and neither of them turned it back on. Lucas watched William when he took the first tentative bite.

William's eyes widened.

"Holy cow," he said. "I can't believe that worked."

Delighted, Lucas ate his own, mentally thanking himself for forgetting the marshmallow bag's existence until tonight because he definitely would have eaten them all.

And tonight, sitting across from William in the dark, nothing but candle light lighting them, it felt weirdly special. Just like their clearing. It was a place for only them.

He was licking up the gooey mess of his second marshmallow before William broke the silence.

"The only time you're ever quiet," he said, "is when you're eating."

Lucas laughed.

"Food is sacred," he said. "It should not be taken lightly."

William watched him thoughtfully.

"I've always had whatever I want to eat available whenever I want it," he said with a shrug. "I guess I can be indifferent to it sometimes."

"Really?" Lucas asked. "Even back home, my mom makes like the same three things over and over. And the rest of the time its frozen dinners," he said with a laugh. "Fresh food is so much better."

"So... Where is home?" William asked carefully.

"Oh."

Lucas blanked, looking at William as the realization hit him.

"I guess we don't really know that much about each other," he said.

William shrugged.

"I guess not."

Lucas swallowed down his marshmallow quickly, starting to cook the next as he thought of everything that was essential for friends to know.

"Home is Rockwood," he said. "My favorite color is orange. I am a Gemini. I love swimming and track when I'm not too lazy. Favorite food is Pizza. Favorite chocolate is dairy milk. I don't really like the cold or rain, but I don't like the sun much either."

He turned his marshmallow, allowing the other side to brown.

"What about you?" he asked.

William stared at him for a beat and then a grin broke over his face.

"I guess I was looking more for things like... Do you have any siblings? Why do you live in this big place alone? What do you want to do when you graduate?"

"Oh."

Lucas flushed and looked down at his marshmallow, realizing that he'd let it burn and pulling it out of the fire for William to take his turn.

"I have one sibling," Lucas said. "A younger sister, Alanis. She's seventeen now... I missed her birthday..."

William was frowning, eyes glued to the marshmallow.

"Why?" he asked.

"Train ticket was a bit expensive," Lucas muttered truthfully. It sucked but he'd make it up to her. She'd forgive him if he brought her cotton candy. He was positive.

"And the house?" William prodded.

"Oh, well it's mine," Lucas said. He shifted on the plush carpet. He always got awkward when the apartment was brought up. "I own it."

"Are your parents loaded?" William asked.

Lucas knew the question was coming but it still made him snort.

"Yeah right," he said. "We were eating out of the food bank a few years back. Single mom, two kids, no work..."

He trailed off. Luckily the single mom cliche gave enough info.

William was watching him now. Frown directed at him intently.

"So this place..."

Lucas could tell that William wasn't going to drop it but for some reason, because it was William, he supposed, he didn't mind.

"My dad left it to me when he died," he said. He didn't look up, kneaded a marshmallow between his fingers. "I wanted to sell it and use the money for us but my mom wouldn't let me. She said I'd want it later and all this stupid stuff and... well I guess she was right in a way because when I was accepted here, I had a free place to live."

He hazarded a quick glance up.

William was still frowning softly, but he wasn't looking at Lucas anymore, just down at his lap instead.

"To be honest," Lucas said--and he didn't really know why he was still talking, wasn't even sure if William was still listening. He hadn't responded, but the last question was still hanging in the air between them. "I don't know what to do when I graduate. I don't even know why I'm doing this program... I just wanted to get in and do something and attempt to not be a complete drain on society."

William's gaze shot up to him then, eyes searching his, and Lucas waited nervously for the judgement to come. He'd had it a few times before; you're wasting a lot of money doing something you're not passionate about. You should sell the condo and give the money to your family, they need it. If you can't afford to pay the bills, why the hell are you living in this place? You're pretending to be something you're not.

William opened his mouth to speak and Lucas felt his whole body stiffen, waiting.

"Is orange really your favorite color?" he asked quietly.

The change of subject was so startling that it took Lucas a minute to react. When he did, he smiled at William, fondness for the boy in front of him filling his chest until the beating of his heart almost hurt his ribs.

"Yeah," he breathed. "No one else seems to like it but its the color of fire and the sun and it just makes me feel warm."

"I thought you don't like the sun," William said chuckling and Lucas found himself laughing too.

"I'm a shade person," he said. And then, "What about you?"

"I like the sun," William said simply.

He ran his finger tips quickly over the spluttering fire light, too fast for them to burn.

"Home for me is just on the other end of town," he continued after a moment. "I'm an only child. My favorite color is green. I am an Aquarius. I use to like basketball."

He paused, thinking.

"Favorite food is sushi. Favorite chocolate is... I don't like chocolate actually."

Lucas' face twisted incredulously at that. William chuckled and then grew quiet.

"I started to lose my hearing at sixteen." The way he said it, so nonchalantly that Lucas could tell he was using everything in him to not let anything show. "I wanted to do this program so that I could get into something business related. I want to prove that I'm capable of the same things anyone else is. Finishing school, having a normal job where I have to talk to normal people, it means a lot to me."

He looked up at Lucas and for a long moment they watched each other, William's clear blue eyes, turned dark in the orange of the fire and then, there was a sudden flicker and everything went dark.

"Shit," Lucas muttered.

He patted the floor, roughly where his phone had been and his fingers landed on soft skin, slender fingers twitching under his.

William snatched his hand away like it was on fire.

A moment later, the flashlight came back on.

William was holding his phone.

He tilted the light up toward his face with an evil grin.

"Are you sure you don't want to tell scary stories?" he asked. The tone of his voice was playful but it still made Lucas shudder.

"God no. You look like a scary, sexy vampire," he said laughing. "I don't need nightmares of that shit, thanks."

He knocked William's hand away from his face so that the light hit the wall, lighting the room in a slightly less scary way.

"Sexy?" William repeated.

He sounded odd, uneasy and Lucas laughed.

"Yeah, come on," he laughed. "I seriously don't know why you're not a model. You could be in magazines no problem. No photoshop necessary."

The chill finally got to Lucas, sitting on the floor the way they were, pins and needles adding to his discomfort.

"It's cold, let's get in bed," he said, pushing to his feet.

"In bed?" William said slowly. Lucas couldn't see his face clearly but he said it in exactly the same tone as he'd said sexy.

Lucas pushed back the duvet and perched on the edge of the bed. William was an only child and a bit of a loner. Maybe he wasn't use to sharing a bed with someone.

"Do you want the wall or the edge?" he asked, pretending not to notice William's discomfort.

William stared up at Lucas for a full minute.

"I'll just sleep on the couch," he said.

"What? No." Lucas knew he was whining but he couldn't help it. "The couch is lumpy."

"That's fine."

"No, it--" he searched for an excuse. "I don't have another blanket and its cold out there--and in here so--we should keep each other warm."

His voice rose slightly at the end, turning it into a question and Lucas realize it sounded slightly wrong. He flushed and scooted under the covers waiting in silence for something to happen.

His phone finally went to sleep and the room was plunged into darkness.

After another moment there was a shuffling sound as William finally stood up and then the edge of the bed dipped.

Lucas sighed in relief and wiggled closer before William was even fully settled under the covers.

He reached his hands out, hoping William wouldn't mind when he slid his palms against his warm shoulder.

If he did mind, he didn't let it show, so Lucas took the liberty of sliding even closer until William's body heat warmed him all the way through. With a happy sigh, he buried his face into his friend's shoulder.

"I'm glad you stayed over," He said, voice muffled in Williams arm.

William remained silent, body as stiff as a board.

"Relax," Lucas said.

William let out a breathy huff of a laugh.

"Yeah right," he said.

~

AN: Yay! umm... This chapter was really long... Sorry about that :P but, I hope that you are enjoying their cute lil innocent relationship so far! :D

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm going to be starting a new story once PDA is done. I'm putting the info for it up today so you can read all about it. It is a boyxboy choose your own ending. hehe yeah... Oh it's called Choose Your Own Ship

ALSO!!!!!! You can get a free copy of my YA steampunk Cinderella story on Kindle Scout if you nominate it. :) the link is on my profile! please vote! I'll love you forever! <3

Okay, I'm done plugging my other stuff for now >.>

Thanks for reading! <3