"Will? Could you come downstairs for a minute?"

Jessica's shout echoed up to him, and Will looked up from his phone, blinking, and then headed downstairs to where his mom was sitting at the kitchen table, the computer open in front of her and pulled up to a page about...

Summer camps?

He stopped in the doorway, instantly wary. "Um...hi," he mumbled cautiously, and Jessica looked up and smiled. 

"Oh, good," she said. "I noticed you were getting a little antsy, and I kinda contributed it to...um...recent events..." She looked back to her computer. Will crossed his arms, looking down, having a feeling he knew where this was going. 

"Do you want to go to a summer camp, Will?" Jessica asked, peering up at him.

Will hesitated.

It had been two months since Christmas, and since then, Tristan had been gone on a vacation with his parents, Ash had been accepted into a small foster family on the edge of town and was slowly beginning to come back to school, and Will was walking on eggshells around his former boyfriend.

Yeah, it was stressful. Yeah, he wanted to get away from it. Yeah, he knew Ash would probably never get all his memory back, and when he did...

Will didn't know if Ash would even still want him.

He exhaled. It would do him good to get away from all this, at least for the summer.

"Yeah," he said slowly. "...I guess so."

Jessica smiled, but gently, like she knew exactly what Will was thinking. "It's just for the summer," she said. "I'm sure everything will be great by the time you get back."

Will didn't believe that, but nodded anyway.

"I'm heading out," he mumbled, grabbing his jacket from the hook at the door and his keys from the counter. "I'll be back by dinner."

Jessica sighed and nodded. "Okay."

~ ~ ~ 

The park was empty as Will climbed out of his car and went over, plopping down on one of the creaky old swings that was probably older than him. He sighed, pulling out his phone to turn on some music, when it rang.

His eyes went to the caller ID.

...

Ash?

He answered after anther brief hesitation. "Hello?" His heart fluttered. This was the first time Ash had called him since...

"Will," a broken voice said. "Will, I--she's really dead. My mom."

Will went still.

It was clear that he was crying, and had been for a while. Will closed his eyes. 

"Did you...remember?" he whispered.

There was a small, broken sob on the other end of the line. "Y-yeah."

Will's stomach dropped. "Oh...where are you? I can come to--to see you--" 

"No," Ash interrupted. "I--I want to be alone."

Will swallowed. "...oh," was all he could think to say. "...okay."

Ash exhaled. "I--sorry. I don't know w-why I called you. I just--couldn't think of anyone else..."

Will looked down, not saying anything.

There was a long pause, and then Ash whispered, "I'm out at this little shack...I don't know how I found it, but it has the initials A+W carved into the wall."

Will closed his eyes. "I know where that is," he mumbled. "I'll be there soon." He ended the call quickly, so many emotions swirling through his that he struggled not to get lost.

Elation. Ash was remembering things, and he wanted Will to come and help him! That was progress.

Sadness and pity. The one thing Ash WAS remembering was the death of his mother, who Will guessed was his one solid point in his world, as Riley had been for Will before he died.

Wariness. What the hell was he supposed to say? "I hope you remember everything else soon so you can be my boyfriend again"?

He swallowed and stood, shoving his phone in his pocket and heading over to his truck, climbing in and pulling out of the parking lot quickly.

~ ~ ~

She's really dead. She's really gone.

Those words were the only thing in Ash's head. Everything else was just blank and white.

The memory had hit him while he was in his new room, attempting to draw something. One moment, he'd been sketching the curve of what looked like a jawline for some mystery man, and the next, he saw flashes of slitted wrists and blood everywhere and paramedics and black body bags that weren't for him.

Now he was curled up in the corner of a shack he felt like he should recognize but didn't, and there was a boy on his way to try to fix him when he knew he was far beyond shattered.

Footsteps crunched through the woods, and Ash lifted his head as Will ducked through the doorway, his piercing eyes going right to where Ash was shivering in the corner.

"You didn't bring a jacket," was all he said, walking over and shrugging out of his coat, draping it around Ash.

It was instantly warmer, and it smelled like Will, like the salty tang of the ocean and the vanilla soap he used.

"Thanks." It was all he could bring himself to say.

Will only nodded and sat down next to him, falling silent and staring at his hands.

Ash glanced over, peering at Will's face. The blue streaks in his hair were fading, and he kinda needed a haircut. There was the shadow of stubble along his jawline, and ash resisted the sudden urge to lift his hand and rubs his hand along his chin, just to see how rough it was. His eyes were lowered, and Ash swallowed hard, wondering why he wanted those eyes to look at him right now and nothing else.

"Will," Ash mumbled, unsure why the word just slipped past his lips.

Will looked over immediately, and it looked like his breath caught.

Ash hesitated. "I...I haven't remembered anything else."

Will bit his lip and nodded slightly. "Yeah. I know. I'm not pressuring you to try to--"

"I'm saying," Ash interrupted, "that I haven't remembered anything else about you. And I'm not sure if I ever will. But..." He paused, lowering his gaze, and he noticed that Will didn't seem to be breathing at all. "...I might be willing to...to make new memories."

Will was definitely not breathing now. Ash looked up, biting his lip, and Will's eyes were wide, his lips slightly parted.

"Really?" he whispered.

Ash nodded hesitantly. "But...I only ask that...we start as friends. And if it progresses to more than that, then I guess..." A slight ghost of a smile played at his lips. "...I guess I would be willing to try that out, too."

- - - - - - - -

Here it is, folks. The chapter we've all been waiting for. 

I'm so sorry it took this long. Writer's block is a bitch. But I think this chapter more than makes up for it, since it's ACTUALLY over 1,000 words for once, haha.

Thank you SO MUCH for sticking with me this far. I feel like I'm not doing very good at this.

ALSO. GUYS.

IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS FOR WHAT I SHOULD PUT IN THIS BOOK, LEAVE IT IN THE COMMENTS AND I TOTALLY MIGHT USE IT. I NEED ALL THE HELP I CAN GET.

Anyway...school just started, so I think I might post a new chapter every Saturday. I'll try to be consistent about that.

Vote, comment, and please follow!

Q: Any pets?

A: I have two cats and two brothers living at the house. They count as animals, right?