9. Vanocolate

"Hey."

Ash spun, a grin splitting his face when he saw Will. He was wearing his usual dark jacket, no emotion whatsoever on his face.

"Hey," he said, walking over. "You okay? You never answered any of my calls."

"I didn't feel like it," Will said. "Besides. I texted, so at least you knew I wasn't dead."

Ash laughed. "That's good."

"So..." Will glanced at his phone. "Milkshakes?"

"Right," Ash said. "Um. I assume you brought a car?"

Will blinked. "I literally live almost a mile out of town. You think I walked?"

Ash grinned. "Of course not," he said. How was I supposed to know where you lived? he almost said, but instead walked past him to the near-empty parking lot.

They climbed into Will's car, a beat-up maroon pickup. Will stuffed the keys into the ignition and they tried to back out of the parking lot, but someone spotted them and tapped on the window.

Ash tensed when he realized who it was, but Will only sighed and rolled down his window.

"Hey, Shack Boy," Tristan sneered. His voice sounded nasal, and his nose was crooked.

God, what did Will do?

"Hi, Tristan," Will said. "How's your nose? I bet I could help fix it. I've heard breaking it again helps reset it."

Tristan flushed. "Don't think I don't know exactly why you beat me up, fag," he sneered, and Ash watched Will go rigid. His knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.

"Takes one to know one," he said calmly, and started backing up again. His voice was at odds with his posture.

"See you at school on Monday!" Tristan called. "It'll be fun, fag!"

A muscle feathered in Will's jaw and he reached for his seat belt, but Ash laid a hand on his arm. "Don't," he said softly. "It takes one to know one, remember? He's not worth it."

Will stared at him, an unfathomable expression in his eyes, then turned away and backed out of the parking lot. The silence that followed was tense.

"Thanks," Will said quietly.

"What?" Ash asked, distracted. He'd been looking out the window. "For what?"

"I probably would've gotten a restraining order put on me if I went after him again."

"Honestly, I didn't know if I'd be able to stop you. You seemed determined to do more damage to his face." Ash grinned. "Not that it wouldn't be an improvement or anything, but y'know..."

Will's lips twitched into the ghost of a smile, gone before it could take form. "Whatever."

~ ~ ~

"What are you doing?"

Will looked up and blinked. "Huh?"

Ash looked horrified. "You--you can't!" he gasped, pointing at Will's milkshake. "It's illegal or something?"

"Getting vanilla and chocolate?" Will took a long sip, just to spite him.

Ash gasped. "You're terrible."

"How did you not notice me ordering it?" Will asked, sounding amused. "I mean, come on. I was literally right in front of you."

"I was too busy getting a normal flavor," Ash said, lifting his own chocolate milkshake and shaking it at him. "Unlike some people."

Will snorted. "Vanocolate is actually good, if you give it a chance."

Ash froze. Then a slow grin curled his lips. "What did you say?"

"Vanocolate? Vanilla and chocolate? Come on, tell me you've heard of it."

Ash burst out laughing. Will blinked again, then took another sip of his milkshake and scrolled through music on his playlist. Finally giving up, he chucked it at Ash. "Pick me something," he said.

Ash caught it just in time, still chuckling. "Dude," he said. "That's not a word."

"Yes, it is," Will said indignantly. "Come on. You've never heard of it."

"Not until now," Ash said, grinning as he looked down at the phone. He chewed his lower lip, which Will suddenly noticed was full and pink and very abruptly inviting...

"Try this," Ash said, looking up and handing Will his phone back. Will snapped his eyes back to Ash's.

Will swallowed hard and took his phone, wordlessly handing Ash one of the earbuds. He took it with a grin, and Will pressed play on the song.

"M-m-m-m-m-my, more than meets the eye, to tell the truth would be a lie. I saw her out on Friday night, misunderstood. She's balling for a guy that's cigarette, it needs a light. Pluck up the courage and invite her nowhere good."

The chorus began, and Ash sang along.

"'Cause I need this more than just a one night stand, need that. Honey, won't you hold my hand. Times like this, they call for true romance, but she's not ready for that..."

Will watched Ash as he sang along softly, pausing to take a sip of his milkshake before glancing at him and grinning. For the first time, Will noticed the faint freckles painted across Ash's skin, the flecks of silver in his blue eyes, the small dimple in his left cheek when he smiled.

Ash glanced away, and the words of the song faded to the back of his mind. He stared at Ash, his heart thumping as he realized something.

I think...I think I like him.

NO. He'd promised himself he wouldn't love anyone after Riley, not after what happened. He couldn't force that on anyone else.

"...right?"

Will blinked, snapping out of his trance. "Hmmm?"

Ash sighed, smiling and nudging Will with his shoulder. He reached for Will's milkshake and took a long sip, then handed it back to him wordlessly. "I said," he enunciated, looking straight into Will's eyes, "that I think Mrs. Sukiyaki has an overnight field-trip planned for us.We're going to the next couple towns over to look at some museum thingy. Right?"

"Yeah," Will said, blinking. He vaguely remembered her talking about that in her usual bright voice that hurt his head.

"Do you want to share a hotel room?"

Will started, nearly tipping his milkshake. "I--uh. Sure. Why not." He reached for his earbud. "Um. I just remembered, I have a...thing at home. Mom stuff." He cracked his knuckles, something he did when he was lying.

Ash tilted his head. "Okay. I'll tell her we're partners, then? For the trip?"

"Yep. Uh-huh." Will stood up, forgetting that Ash still had his earbud in his ear. the smaller boy yelped when it was yanked out of his ear.

"Oh, man, sorry," Will said immediately, reaching for Ash's ear. Then he drew back as if he'd been stung. "Um. Bye."

He was almost out the door before Ash called, "Wait! Will!"

Will braced himself and turned to see Ash jogging towards him. "It's really cold outside," he said, smiling.

Will blinked. "Mmm-hmm."

"The park is pretty far from here."

Will drew his brows together. "I'm not going to the park."

Ash sighed. "Yeah, but I am. Could you give me a ride?"

"Oh," Will said. "Sure."

Ash grinned. "Great."

- - - - -

Vote and comment if you liked it!

As for the field trip, I didn't want to do the typical camp-out thing. It's still the same idea, tho! *sneaky face*

What did you think of Tristan?

Q: Favorite flavor milkshake?

A: Dr. Pepper flavor. Because that's a thing at Whataburger, you guys! Ahhhh!