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Chapter 4

Four

Will

" Finally it isn't so damn hot out here anymore!" Will shouted, on the phone with Maya. He was walking down the street to get dinner. It had been a day since he'd started sleeping at Jacob's apartment, and unlike the previous few days, it was actually kind of cool outside.

"Enough about the damn weather," Maya said, "how's shacking up with a stranger going for you, Will?"

"Hey, he isn't a total stranger! I told you I hit on him the night before in the bar right? Ugh , I'm such an idiot." Will walked over a small bridge, running his hand over the stone railings and looking at the river below.

"Yeah, but it's not like it's the first time you've had to awkwardly interact with someone you hit on. You hooked up with half the art majors at school and then had to go help them with their paintings the next day," Maya laughed.

Will missed Maya. She was his best friend, his confidante. They would check out guys together, and gossip over wine on the weekends. She had already left after graduation to begin a Master's program in Art History, all the way out in Boulder, Colorado.

"I did not hook up with half of the art majors. Just because I'm flirty doesn't mean I go all the way! I don't want just hookups anyway, Maya," Will said, pouting. "Doesn't anyone wanna be my boyfriend? Am I that undateable?"

"You're just picky, Will. Plenty of guys would have dated you, but they were always too crazy, too artsy, too something for you."

"I prefer to call it selective , Maya. Not picky, selective. But anyway—yes. Staying with Jacob has been fine. I haven't really seen too much of him in the past 24 hours. I'm sure he's avoiding me."

"That's what you get for makin' it awkward, buddy. Anyway, I should probably go, some people invited me to dinner and I need to show my face, otherwise I'll be friendless through all of grad school."

"Well we can't have that, now can we. Miss you, Maya."

"Love you Will. I'll talk to you soon."

"Love you too," Will said, hanging up the phone.

He'd been walking for at least thirty minutes, and had ended up downtown again. He stopped to get dinner at his favorite old-school diner. Tonight, the only other customers consisted of an old man scouring the newspaper and a family with three small kids. Will ate alone in a booth, staring out the window at the people walking by, watching the sun begin to set behind the trees. He thought about Jacob. He really hadn't seen much of him over the past day – just once, as he walked by before going out the front door. He hoped that Jacob wasn't too uncomfortable having him in the house.

Will walked out onto the street again after dinner, finding himself aimless. He smelled the faint smell of a barbecue, and passed by someone's yard filled with laughter and conversation. At least someone is having a fun summer around here , he thought. He passed a gay couple who were holding hands walking down the street, and felt as if he'd been punched in the gut. God. I need to get my mind off of my stupid, woe-is-me loneliness , he thought, running his hand through his hair.

He decided to go see a movie at the small cinema downtown. It was quaint and cheap, and always had an old B-movie playing. He bought a ticket for Ghosts Down Under . He loved scary movies, though he couldn't help but get freaked out every time he saw them. He wished Maya was there to scream and laugh with him.

He entered the dark theater, and a handful of people were already in the seats. He headed straight to the seats at the back, where he liked to sit, and started down the aisle.

"Excuse me," he said, stepping past a guy in a baseball hat sitting in the center of the aisle. When the guy looked up, he realized who it was.

"Uh, hey there, Will," Jacob said, smiling. "Guess I'm gonna run into you all around town, huh?"

Will laughed, shaking his head. "Fancy meeting you here! Well… mind if I sit down?" Will hoped it was okay that he asked to sit next to Jacob—he didn't want to seem rude by not sitting next to him, and felt like he had no other option. He was getting tired of being alone all day, anyway.

"Yeah man, go ahead. I guess we both had the same idea, huh? I've been on my own all night. No one ever says how damn boring this town is when everyone's gone," Jacob said. "You want some popcorn?" he said, stretching his arm out to offer the bag to Will. Will was shocked. Outside of the house, Jacob didn't seem uncomfortable at all – he was downright friendly.

"No thanks, I just had a huge dinner. I know what you mean though, about it seeming like a ghost town here—I just went to Benny's Diner and there were like two people there besides me. It's weird as hell," Will said, sitting down next to Jacob.

"I love Benny's Diner. We used to go there all the time after soccer matches," Jacob said.

"Really? I'm surprised I didn't see you there, I'd go all the time with my friend Maya," Will said.

The lights dimmed as the movie began. Will moved to put his arm on the armrest between them, but found Jacob's arm already there. He quickly pulled his arm back away again, but missed the warmth and contact immediately. Don't even go there , Will thought to himself. He was trying so hard not to acknowledge his attraction to Jacob. He already felt bad enough staying in his house, he didn't want to creep the guy out any more than he already had.

The movie started out okay, not too scary. A little ways in, Jacob tapped Will on the arm softly, and offered Will some Junior Mints. Will smiled and happily took some. Yes, he is cute, and yes he has great taste in candy, but you cannot get a crush on this guy! he mentally reprimanded himself. Bad Will. Bad!

In the second half of the movie, Will started to actually get scared. Ghosts would jump onto the screen and a few times he gasped, and involuntarily clutched his hand to Jacob's arm. God, he feels good , Will thought before realizing who he was grabbing and pulling away. He looked over at Jacob, expecting him to be angry or creeped out, but he was just laughing, looking at Will and raising his eyebrows in disbelief. Jacob leaned over next to Will's ear, and already Will felt a surge of adrenaline as Jacob drew nearer to him.

"You're seriously scared of this shit?" Jacob whispered in his ear. Will could feel his breath on his ear and neck.

"I can't help it," he whispered back, sheepishly. "I'm not scared of spiders, snakes, public speaking… but ghost movies fucking creep me out!"

Jacob laughed, and a woman a few rows ahead turned around and shushed them.

After two long hours, the movie finally ended. Will was grateful that he could finally stop making himself look like an idiot in front of Jacob. They sauntered out into the street and started walking past the shops and restaurants as they closed for the night. The streetlights glowed, making halos around the trees. Will and Jacob were the only ones on the street.

"You got plans for the rest of the night?" Jacob asked him.

"Oh, you mean other than making a total fool of myself in a movie theater? Nope, none at all," Will said, shaking his head.

"Oh, come on. It's fine. I won't judge you. You should see how scared I get when I'm up at the top of a building – I have a huuuge fear of heights," Jacob said.

"Wow! I'm shocked. I figured a guy like you wouldn't be afraid of anything except, like, your gym membership expiring," Will joked.

"Hey! That's all you think I'm into? Going to the gym?" Jacob said, incredulous.

"I mean…." Will trailed off, opening his arms to gesture at Jacob's physique. Fuck! Stop commenting on his body! Will thought.

"Okay, okay, I do go to the gym a lot. But it's far from the only thing I'm into. I have depth! I'm nuanced," Jacob said, laughing. Will was surprised that he didn't notice his comment about his body.

"Yeah? What are you into that would surprise me?" Will asked, playful.

"Well, let's see… I can pick just about any standard lock in less than three minutes," Jacob said.

"Lockpicking? Damn, yeah, I guess that does surprise me. Should I be worried…?" Will said, backing away from Jacob and grinning.

"No, no, I don't use it for anything criminal. The most it's ever helped me with is getting locked out of my house. It's more of a logic puzzle than anything," Jacob said, "you've gotta work the locks. Finesse them."

"Well, you win. You have cool hobbies and you go to the gym a lot," Will smiled.

He realized that it was verging on chilly outside. He pulled the sleeves on his hoodie down to his hands, and popped the hood up, shoving his hands into the pockets on the front. All of the sudden, he heard a rustling sound from around a corner. He stopped, alert.

"What's up?" Jacob asked, confused.

"What is that?" Will asked, whispering.

"What's what? Jacob said, continuing to walk forward. He was about to pass the corner when Will grabbed his arm.

"Wait!" Will said, afraid. He heard the rustling become louder and louder. Jacob stopped, listening.

Suddenly, a fluffy white cat emerged from around the corner, playing with an empty cardboard box.

"Shit!" Will said, laughing. "I thought we were about to get robbed or something. It's just this little guy," he said, crouching to pet the cat.

"Damn dude, you really were freaked out by that movie! You got me all worried about a cat," Jacob said, bending to look at the cat.

"He's cute. Wanna take him back?" Will said, smiling at Jacob.

"I'm sure my landlord would love me leaving behind a cat after I move out, but no," Jacob laughed.

They walked the rest of the way back to Jacob's house, and made their way up the stairs and into the apartment. Will attempted not to stare at Jacob's ass as he walked in front of him on the stairwell, but found himself failing miserably.

"Hey man, I know you don't have a TV or anything really in that room. I'm gonna watch some shows before I call it a night, you can join if you want. Maybe it'll get your mind off all those scary cat ghosts," Jacob said.

Will was surprised. This was the first time Jacob had made any actual attempt at hanging out. He had figured Jacob was just being nice at the movie theater because they happened to run into each other, but this was an actual invitation.

"Umm… yeah! Sure, why not," Will said, and followed Jacob to his room. When he was inside, he realized that Jacob didn't have any chairs or couch – just his bed, and a TV on the dresser in front of it. Shit, shit shit , Will thought. He was going to have to sit on the bed next to this tremendously hot guy, and not only refrain from being turned on, but try not to say anything suggestive. Will wasn't good at that. He had a flirty instinct, no real filter, and was not used to any extensive hanging out with straight guys. Here goes nothing , he thought, and sat down on the bed. They both sat with pillows propped up on the headboard.

Jacob flipped through channels, stopping on the comedy channel.

"Figure you need to watch something funny after all that suuuuper scary ghost stuff, right?" Jacob said, grinning and punched Will on the shoulder. Jesus, he is strong , Will thought, even his play punches hurt!

Will was hyper-aware of how close he was to Jacob on the bed. He couldn't say he'd ever been in bed with a guy that he wasn't about to hook up with. He heard Jacob's soft breathing, listened to the sound of his laughter as the comedian onscreen told funny jokes. Will was finding it hard to pay attention to the actual TV show because he was too busy eyeing Jacob's sculpted calves. Soccer will get a guy some great calves, who'd have thunk? Will thought.

After about twenty minutes, Will started to notice Jacob sinking toward him on the bed. He didn't dare look over at him, or say a word. Am I imagining this or is he getting closer to me? Will thought, feeling his heartbeat race. A few minutes passed, and he noticed that Jacob's breathing had become heavy. He is about to do something! he thought, feeling his palms get sweaty.

Slowly, Jacob's head lowered until it was on Will's shoulder. Holy shit , Will thought, and looked down at Jacob.

Jacob's eyes were completely closed, and Will realized that he was completely asleep. He'd probably been asleep for the past ten minutes, and Will had no idea. His heartbeat began to calm down, realizing, of course he wasn't moving closer to me. He's just sleeping .

Still, the feeling of Jacob's head on Will's shoulder was unbearable to him. It felt so, so good: warm, comforting, close. He looked angelic as he slept, and Will couldn't help but feel tender toward him. He mentally slapped himself, knowing that it was beyond stupid to acknowledge these feelings for a straight guy. But it felt different with Jacob. What kind of straight guy lounges on his bed watching TV with another, openly gay guy? Will had been feeling gradually more comfortable with Jacob after the awkwardness of their initial encounter.

Will sighed slowly, knowing that he wasn't gonna crack the code of Jacob tonight. He looked down at him one more time, sleeping softly on his shoulder, never wanting to move from this spot. But it wasn't as if he could stay.

He ever so slowly lowered himself, and Jacob's head fell until it softly rested on the pillow. Will found the remote and turned off the TV, taking one last look at Jacob's face before turning off the light and heading back to his room.

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