Lucas was nervous.

He tended to sweat when  he got nervous.

Now was definitely one of those times.

"Is it hot in here?" he asked, tugging his sweatshirt off.

Blake, sitting on the floor next to him, rolled his eyes.

"You'll do anything for a little attention, wont you?" he griped.

Flushing, Lucas glared at the red head.

"What's your problem?" he demanded.

Blake opened his mouth to give another cutting remark but Grace leaned between them, stopping the argument before it could really take off.

"You flashed the whole room there," she said with an amused glint in her eye.

Lucas didn't get it for a moment and then it clicked and he flushed, growing even hotter. When he pulled off his sweater...

His eyes met William's across the room. The blond was watching the interaction curiously but he didn't say anything.

Lucas looked away, tugging down his t-shirt for extra measure.

William had just arrived. He was standing by the door, talking to Alex, his gaze flying over to Lucas every few minutes.

Lucas wanted to go over there, grab William by the arm and drag him to sit next to him but something was stopping him.

Lucas didn't know whether to call it pride or excitement, but this was the first time he'd ever seen William have a conversation with anyone other than him or his own mother. It made his chest swell in an odd way, made his heart pound, made his body tingle with nerves, for William.

William smiled at something that Alex said, soft eyes crinkling at the edges and his heart pounded again.

Finally, Alex led William into the room where everyone was sitting.

"Hi," William said to him as soon as he was close enough.

"Hey," Lucas said.

"Everyone this is Will, Lucas' friend," Alex said. A chorus of hello's filled the room. William nodded to them all awkwardly and Lucas was tempted to take William and hide him away from all of his friends. They were loud and obnoxious, just like him. Why had he wanted William to meet them anyway?

"Sit here!" Grace said, making room for William.

He nodded and slid into a seat on the floor, wedged between grace and one of her friends. They were just far enough away that Lucas couldn't really say anything to William unless he wanted the whole room to listen in, so instead, he watched with growing trepidation as all of the girls Grace had brought over turned their focus onto William like wolves to their prey.

"What are you taking?" one of the girls asked.

Lucas swallowed.

It was an innocent enough question but she had a musically soft voice.

Lucas watched William's shoulders imperceptibly stiffen. He glanced over, worried eyes meeting Lucas' gaze. When he saw Lucas watching though, William's whole demeanor changed. He took a breath and a small smile touched his lips before he turned back to the girls.

Blinding them with a smile he just shrugged helplessly.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't have good hearing and sometimes its hard for me to make out what is being said. It would really help me if you could speak a bit louder and please forgive me if I can't hear you and need you to repeat yourself."

A strange, high pitched noise left a few of the girls that Lucas had no clue how to interpret and then all of them leaned forward eagerly.

"That's okay!" one said loudly.

"You don't have to apologize!" another shouted.

William laughed, a genuine laugh and the sound made Lucas giddy.

"Jesus, just take a goddamn picture will you?"

Lucas tore his gaze away from William, grin dimming as he turned his gaze to Blake again.

He looked more sour than usual, brows drawn and arms crossed and really, his mood killing attitude was starting to get to Lucas on a whole new level.

Smile completely gone now, he looked at Blake, trying with all his might to read the other boy. And apparently his focused gaze was doing something because Blake's frown eased and he swallowed.

"What?" he asked uneasily.

Lucas shook his head, bewildered.

"I guess I'm just having an epiphany," he said. "I always thought you just had a stick up your ass but now I'm realizing something."

Blake's frown returned tenfold.

"Oh yeah?" he challenged. "What's that?" 

"You have a serious problem with me personally, don't you?"

Blake flushed.

"Yeah," he said, but his voice was trembling now. "Your lack of IQ really gets me down."

"Do I have to separate you two?" Alex asked, leaning across to them.

"I don't know why you thought we could sit together to begin with," Lucas muttered.

Blake rolled his eyes.

"He just wants to sit with his boyfriend anyway," he said pushing to his feet.

Lucas glared up at the red head but caught William's eye as he did. 

"I'll come sit with you," he offered.

At his words the noise level in the room dropped a noticeable fraction. Lucas could feel all of his friend's eyes widening as they watched, waiting for Lucas' reaction. Did William not realize what that sounded like? Blake making a rude comment about them being boyfriends and him just going along with it like it wasn't meant to be an insult?

Lucas managed to shrug awkwardly and conveniently remembered the drink he was supposed to be drinking just in time to occupy himself with and avoid making eye contact with Alex, Grace, Blake or any of their friends.

Still, he could feel his cheeks burning by the time William sank down next to him. Blake took William's previous spot, scowling and the conversation picked up again, if a bit more quietly than before. There was a small group of about ten of them crammed into Alex's basement apartment and when William settled next to him he spoke in a low voice, just for Lucas to hear. 

"What are you drinking?" he asked.

His voice nearly made Lucas shiver, but he managed to suppress it.

"Warm beer," he said. "Want some?"

William's lips twitched but he took the offered beverage and took a small sip. He grimaced, swallowed the liquid down and shook his head.

"Do you want me to grab you a new one?"

Lucas shrugged, he looked away, playing with the can in his hand. Why was he feeling so weird? 

"What about you?" he asked.

"I'm not drinking today," he said. "I have a doctors appointment in the morning."

Lucas nodded absently but really all he could focus on were William's fingers. His hand was sitting on the coffee table in front of them, and suddenly all Lucas could think about was how they felt weaving into his hair the night before.

"I heard you use my line," he said. He finally looked at William, finding him closer than he'd realized, clear eyes watching him unabashedly.

He smiled his perfect smile and Lucas found himself automatically returning one of his own.

"Yeah," William said. "It actually seemed to work alright."

Lucas' grin broadened. 

"I told you it would," he said. "I have the odd good idea sometimes."

"Yeah," William agreed.

It was bizarre, really. There they were in the middle of a room filled with people and somehow Lucas felt like only he and William were there.

"I couldn't catch what was going on before," William said after a moment. "What was that guy saying to you? You looked upset."

Lucas' eyes widened.

So William hadn't heard the boyfriend comment. He was just offering to sit with him because Blake was leaving and he looked upset... Somehow the gesture, as kind as it was, made Lucas' heart sink with disappointment.

He tried to force the feeling away, mentally berating himself. He hadn't really believed all that stuff from the other night, had he?

"Uh, just the usual, about how I'm stupid and stuff..."

William frowned but Lucas looked away, thoughts still spiraling, and made eye contact with Grace who was watching them with a look that could only be descried as moony.

"Lucas," she said in a high pitched voice. "I had no idea it was like this with the two of you! You're so cute together!"

Lucas flushed.

"We're not--together," he stammered. He glanced at William just long enough to see that he was still watching Lucas and frowning.

Grace gaped.

"Why not?"

Lucas shrugged and looked at William for help but the blond just watched him oddly with a raised brow.

"It's not like that," Lucas said but his eyes flew down to William's lips, completely without his consent, and Lucas had to tear his gaze away, fighting off the memories of just what those lips felt like on his own.

"It is for me," William said.

Lucas' eyes widened, face went hot and jaw dropped simultaneously. His gaze flew to William and the blond seemed to be waiting for that with a surprisingly challenging expression on his face.

Grace made a strange, inhuman squee and Alex howled with laughter.

Alex leaned across the table, eagerly, green eyes sparkling.

"Are you serious?" he demanded excitedly. "Or are you teasing? I know Lucas is way too easy to mess with man but--"

Lucas watched William's brows raise at his eager friend and found he didn't have the heart to watch whatever was to come next.  His eyes dropped to his lap as Blake's voice joined in with an incredulous snort.

"Alex," he said. "Just look at Lucas, of course no one here actually wants to date him."

A chorus of snorts filled the room and a quiet "burn" muttered a few seats down.

Lucas wished a hole could swallow him up. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, feel William's eyes on him and he didn't ever want the other boy to see him like this. He wanted William to think he was special.

A hand landed on his, where it was sitting on the ground between them and Lucas looked up into William's warm, concerned gaze.

"I want to date him," William said. 

His soft voice made Lucas' heart ricochet into his ribs. And then he turned to address Lucas' friends. 

"And you must be blind if you think Lucas is anything less than breathtaking," he said directly to Blake.

Blake flushed as red as his hair. His eyes flew to Lucas' face but he didn't say anything. 

The room was painfully silent until Alex cleared his throat.

"It's not that anyone's making fun of him," he said uneasily. "It's just that he's like a little squirrel. It's fun to ruffle him up."

"Maybe its fun for you," William said firmly. "But did you ever think of how that would make him feel?"

Lucas swallowed, his eyes suddenly tinged in the corners and he couldn't look at anyone. 

"So... you actually are his boyfriend?" Grace asked.

Lucas could feel William's gaze turn back to him.

"If he'll take me," he said.

Lucas' mouth went dry. His entire body felt out of sorts, all but where the weight of William's warm hand sat steadily over his own.

His eyes met William's, aware of the question in them. 

It had taken several confessions, a full on make out session and facing a room full of strangers with his heart on his sleeve but Lucas finally believed William.

Lucas was on his feet so fast that he didn't even know where he was going or what he was doing. He was out the door even faster and only managed to stop when his feet hit the sidewalk.

He didn't meant to run away. He didn't want William to think that he didn't like him or want him but he didn't know what he felt.

His hands were shaking, body alive with nerves, stomach twisting and heart pounding. 

William wanted to date him. He'd said it. 

Lucas stood there, overwhelmed, lost, accosted by images. All he really knew in that moment was how good it had felt, lying there, under William, how proud he felt every time he made William smile, how happy he was, every time they were together.

It didn't take long for the familiar footsteps to come up behind Lucas. But it was long enough.

"I didn't think you'd take off like that," William said.

He looked upset, standing there with the street light illuminating him.

"I thought I'd given you enough warning," William went on. He shuffled his feet and glanced up at Lucas hesitantly. "So," he said. "What do you think?"

It was a loaded question and Lucas didn't even know where to start. So he said the only thing that he could think of.

"Do you want to stay over again tonight?" he asked.

William's expression was hard to read, it flickered back and forth imperceptibly, like a hodgepodge of emotions being held together by string. He looked down at his feet, that familiar blush rising to his cheeks and then looked back up at Lucas.

"If you'll let me kiss you again," he said quietly.

Lucas nodded.

"Yeah," he breathed. "I'll let you."

~

AN: Yay! I'm back! and omg O.O I've been gone for about a month and there have been so man more reads and votes on Loud And Clear. It makes my heart so happy! Thank you to everyone following it means so much and I love you guys!

Oh one more thing!

Loud and Clear is a finalist for best LGBT+ Teen Fiction! Please, please, please go vote for it here; 

https://www.wattpad.com/346147350-lgbt%2B-wattys-best-lgbt%2B-teen-fiction/comment/964341241/replies/1066685792

Or you can find it in the LGBT+ Wattys under the chapter titled Best LGBT+ Teen Fiction XD