Vinny posted game footage into the group chat. Will couldn't help his excitement when he realised what it was the team they were playing on Saturday. His matches back home, either volleyball or soccer, had never been so important that they scouted the enemy team before games. They were now.

He was replaying the clip for the fifth time when Dune leaned on the couch, watching over his shoulder. Will waited until it was over before he craned his neck back to get a view of the bottom of Dune's chin.

"Are they who you're playing against?" Dune asked. The muscles in his throat moved as he spoke.

"Tallaght Rockets," Will said. "You missed a spot." He touched the line of hairs jutting out of Dune's jaw.

"Jesus," Dune jumped. He pressed his hand to his chest, like Leah might when something had shocked her, and shot Will a look.

"What?"

"'What?' he says," Dune grumbled. He joined Will on the couch. "Grabbing someone's neck out of nowhere is a sure way to cause a fight, or a heart attack."

Will couldn't help his grin. That was dramatic for Dune. "You don't look like you're having a heart attack. Does that mean you're going to fight me?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dune was rubbing his throat, but took the time to give Will a knowing look. "And give you another excuse to avoid that?" He gestured to the coffee table. Will twitched. Dune and Cassie had been working their butts off making food for everyone coming over later, and Will hadn't so much as excused himself as had been reminded by Cassie about the mountain of work he had piling up.

Will had sat down with the genuine intentions of doing the assignments—Cassie made a list of everything he needed to do, and their due dates—but Vinny sent that video. Michael followed up with a video of the best ten receives ever in volleyball, declaring that he would replicate all of them in the next game. The resulting deluge of messages from the teammates, some hyped up, some cynical, was more engaging than anything on the list.

"You hate it that much?" Dune asked.

Will checked Dune's expression. There was no judgement, but then again, judgement wasn't something Dune threw around lightly. His hazel eyes lingered on Will's, seeking not so much an answer, as understanding. Will toyed with a few thoughts before he replied.

"I'm not in the zone for it," Was his final conclusion. If Will was being honest with himself, he wasn't in the zone in general. Ever since leaving home, and coming here, everything had been so unsettled. Will's routine was messy and unmanaged, making him feel messy and unmanaged. Talking to PG had gotten so far under his skin the business felt like chaos. For her, suicide had been so casual. Will always thought it was meant to be devastating and big, not something that a girl did when she still had things to live for.

"You're making your I-hate-homework face." Dune told him.

Will tried to ground himself the here and now. The urge to talk about how he'd been feeling had passed through him that day and left by the time he'd borrowed Dune's phone to text Gabriel. He wanted to be the boyfriend who rocked at sports, not the boyfriend ready to shatter if the world was too scary. Plus, Gabriel had been careful around him after that whole food thing, and Will regretted the incident altogether. He didn't want careful. He wanted that desire and burning that made Gabriel knowingly, willingly, cross so many boundaries just to touch him. He wanted—

"Actually," Dune rested his arm on the back of the sofa, capturing Will's attention with pointed eye-contact. "You're making your I'm-doing-math-homework face."

"I got an A in maths." Will pointed out.

"Stressed you to high heaven getting there though."

Dune hit the nail on the head.

"You nervous about the match?" Dune speculated, "The assignments? They aren't that bad you know. I've looked at the titles and you're making them worse in your head. I can help."

Will recalled Tara's comment from the other day. He sighed, resting his head on the back of the sofa to match Dune's position. "At this rate you'll be getting a sports degree as well."

"I can start a collection."

Will let out a breath of amusement. Dune didn't even try deny it. If it was anyone else, Will would have been embarrassed. But after Dune pretty much pulled him through the leaving cert, Will's academic failures were well known. "Fine," Will said, begrudging.

Dune's laugh was light. "I really appreciate you letting me help, it's an honour."

"I mean, thank you." Will corrected himself.

Dune smiled widely, eyes shining. Will's heart stuttered under that stare. He was good at identifying when there was something a little more in Dune's attention. It wasn't always as obvious as a hand reaching in the middle of the night, or a gaze that drifted to admire slopes and curves, sometimes, it was just a charge in the air. A strange shift that Will's instincts alerted him to, rather than his mind. Will breathed in, he breathed out.

"You're in a good mood," Will observed, casually keeping the conversation going.

"I get to help you with homework, I'm thrilled."

Will knocked his sarcastic ass back with a shove. "I'll make you do all of it if you're not careful."

Dune rolled his eyes. "Typical jock."

"Nerd."

"Gym rat."

"Dork."

"King Kong."

Coming from someone sturdier built than Will, that one was rich. He cast Dune a grin. "Morning glory."

Dune faltered, the tips of his ears colouring red. Dune probably thought he hadn't noticed, but it was a night when they were drunk and they'd ended up with a bit of physical contact. Said physical contact had given away Dune in the morning before he'd rolled away from Will.

No name was shot back.

"No need to get embarrassed," Will teased, "It's completely natural for men to—"

"Do not—"

"For men—"

"Do not—"

"To—"

"Guys?" Cassie called. She peeked into the living room, her hair in a messy up-do, eyes glittering and amused. "You said you were coming to help with homework. Don't tell me you've just ditched to mess around while I finish all the work?"

"Dune said he's going to do it for me," Will shared.

"Sweet," Cassie said, "You can help me in the kitchen."

Dune's arms were crossed. He closed Dune's laptop and placed it onto the coffee table with the other books and copies. "It was your idea to ban me from the kitchen in the first place." He pointed out. Cooking was far more enjoyable than assignments.

"I'm not doing it for you," Dune warned, just as Will was about to stand.

"What if I ask really nicely?"

Dune's crossed arms said no. His eyes betrayed intrigued. Will waited, and Dune jutted his chin toward him. "Go on," he challenged, "Ask me nicely."

"Dune," Will shifted toward him, "Wonder boy, brainiac, heartthrob, panda bear, moonbeam, angel, boo, dreamboat, Mr big," he shared a knowing smile on the last one, Dune was losing the fight to hide his own grin. He covered it with his hand too late. "Please," he pressed his knee to Dune's knee, touched his shoulder, touched his hand, "please, do my homework?"

Dune let out a hard breath. His expression was indecipherable. "I said ask me nicely, not try seduce me."

"Same thing."

"Moonbeam?" Dune questioned.

"In reference to your moonbeam."

Dune bit his lip, barely catching the laugh. "Fine, Jesus, yes. I'll do it. Go help Cassie."

"Really?"

"Yes, even though you apparently called me a dick."

Will laughed this time. He stood, noticing Cassie had already left, but nudged Dune's leg. "Come on, you can help me with it later."

"If you ask me nicely again, maybe I will."

Cassie and Dune had made very little progress with the food. Everything was prepped, Cassie's laptop and phone were set up with recipes and instructions, but nothing was yet cooking. After going to the trouble of making homemade pizza, the oven wasn't even heating. Will turned the dial when he came in. "You know none of this will be ready before anyone gets here now?"

"Yes," Cassie agreed confidently. "Which is why I asked for help."

Cassie sidled up to Will as he was working on turning the assortment of chopped vegetables into an actual stir-fry. "So..." She looked at him meaningfully.

"Yes?"

"You and Dune, huh?"

Will groaned. It was a knee-jerk reaction. "Cassie."

"Don't Cassie me." Cassie raised an eyebrow at him. She leaned her back against the counter, keeping a look out behind them. "I had to leave, there was so much steam."

"There was no steam."

"If that's not flirting, than I don't know what flirting is."

Will threw in the peppers, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "It was guy talk."

Cassie's giggle gave away how bullshit the answer was. Will sighed, for real this time. It was just a bit of fun. Some stress relief. Compared to when he'd gotten here, he was so much more relaxed. And yeah, maybe it was because he got to tease Dune for five minutes. But it was just innocent fun.

"Dune has a boyfriend. I have a boyfriend." Will pointed out, "and—"

"Yet you both—"

"—were having a bit of fun." Will glanced at her, "That's it."

Cassie's expression was one of clear doubt. She didn't keep arguing with him though, but relented. "Okay, I concede. I have no idea what my two best-friends look like when they're flirting. I'm totally oblivious."

"Right." Will agreed.

"Okay then, I'm dense and I don't understand your and Dune's friendship. How about you invite Gabriel over?" Cassie offered out her phone. "It'll be a good chance to get to know him. Last time we were all pretty drunk by the time we were talking."

Will thought it over as he took her phone. Was that a good idea? When he started worrying about Gabriel's previous position being let slip in front of everyone, his gut tightened a little. Cassie, perceptive about these things, nudged his elbow. "Dune and I aren't going to say anything to make you uncomfortable. It'll just be a fun night with dinner and cocktails."

Will flipped the stir-fry.

"You're over-thinking things," Cassie added.

Will couldn't argue with that. "Yeah. I am. Alright, I'll pop outside and make the call. You watch that this doesn't burn."

"How long should it be on for?"

"Few more minutes."

"How many exactly?"

"Eyeball it."

"Will! No, come back. I'll burn it."

"Don't under-cook it either." Will called back helpfully.

He went into the back garden, a tiny square of green that could probably fit Will's car, if a few inches were shaved off the back and front. The Dublin skies were grey as always, but at least there was no rain promised. Will had Gabriel's number memorised from way back when they started talking. Gabriel answered on the first ring.

"Hello?"

"It's me, hey." There was a murmur of voices in the background.

"Hi. Did you replace your phone already? New number?"

"Cassie's number." Will leaned against the back-door, trying to identify what it was he was hearing. A bar? "We're having a get together, dinner and a few drinks. Do you want to come?"

"Who's 'we'?"

The din of voice disappeared. Gabriel must have moved somewhere quieter to talk.

"Cassie, Dune. Friends from college."

"Huh, well I'm out with Henry at the moment." Gabriel said.

"Yeah?" Will asked. He looked up at the sky, wondering if there had been a patch of stars would he have felt better than he did now. It didn't escape his notice that Gabriel turned him down after hearing who would be here. And that didn't feel good. "Cassie was excited about getting to know you better."

There was a light chuckle. "I'm looking forward to getting to know her too. Another night, though. Maybe we can have dinner and drinks at the apartment this weekend? Celebrating your win on Saturday."

Will rubbed his stomach. All his and Gabriel's date nights for the past month swarmed his mind, the frustration, the discomfort, and his own problems with trying to get along with Gabriel's friends. Alone, they were fine. Anytime else? It wasn't as fine. Maybe that was the reason the diversion felt like more?

"If you thought we'd get to have sex, would you come?"

Gabriel's silence was an arctic breeze. Will's heart beat hard. He'd surprised himself. The question had formed and left, composed without conscious effort on his part. It was bullshit. But it didn't feel like bullshit. His rational brain knew Gabriel already had plans, his heart experienced an aching rejection.

"Why the hell would you say that?"

Will shivered. The tone cut deep, and he clutched the phone tightly. Words got stuck in his throat.

"Will."

"Isn't it true?"

"No it bloody isn't." Gabriel replied quick and angry, Will only just finished speaking before the words were thrown out. "That isn't true, and you know that it isn't."

Did he know that? If Will had sent a pic from Gabriel's apartment, tempting him with bedtime activities, would Gabriel have still replied that he had plans? Will hung up. He went inside, burying the phone in his pocket. Gabriel didn't ring back.