Will insisted on being the designated driver—Dune's car keys ended up with him—and he drove around most of the country-side bringing people home. He was apprehensive dropping Leah and Dad back at the house together, but Leah promised not to fight. He drove Jack and Amanda home, both of whom acted as if they'd never had a falling out, and Will had no reason not to follow their lead. He brought the football guys home. It was late when he pulled up on Dune's drive. The lights were still on when he went to the front door and knocked. He planned to drop the keys in and then walk home, it would let him calm down, but Richard invited him inside.

"He's upstairs. The light's on, so I'm sure he's still awake." Richard said. Will could hear voices chattering in the living room.

Will played with the keys in his pocket. "I'll give him his keys back and head off."

Richard paused on his way to the living room, and gave Will a confused look. "You aren't staying the night?"

"I hadn't planned on it," Will answered honestly.

"Well, alright." Richard said. "Thank you for your help today. I appreciate it, and Dune appreciates it."

"No problem, sir."

Will knocked, and Dune's 'come in' sounded exhausted. He looked as exhausted as his voice implied. He was sat on the couch, still suited up.

"Hey."

Will showed off the keys. "Bringing these back." He put them onto the bedside table.

"Right."

Will went over. He hesitated only a moment, then knelt down and tugged at Dune's shoes. That earned him a scowl. "I can take off my own shoes."

"But you haven't." Will pointed out, snagging them off by the heels. "You're exhausted. If you do your thinking in bed, there's a chance you could fall asleep and it won't be so bad."

"You think getting sleep will make this any better?"

Will avoided Dune's piercing stare, keeping his head ducked down, focusing on Dune's clothes. "You'll be unconscious for a few hours. That'll be better."

Will moved him around, taking off the suit jacket, the dress shirt, the belt, the trousers. He even got Dune to stand and change into shorts and a loose t-shirt. "That's a bit better."

"Will?"

"Yeah?"

"Were you trying to make this big of a mess?"

Will blinked in surprise. He looked around, and acknowledged that yes, he had managed to turn Dune's room into a disaster. There was even a few couch pillows on the ground. "It's a talent."

Dune stared at one of the over-turned shoes like it had offended him in some way. "Mom would have lectured me about you throwing things on the floor."

Will looked at Dune slowly. He was still staring at the shoe, the skin between his brows bunched up. His lips set in that rigid straight line again. Will's throat got that stupid lump in it. No words came. Every part of him felt that there were no words to make this any better. It was just impossible. They were inadequate.

Will stepped in and hugged him. Dune's body was a ball of tension; his muscles were rigid to the touch, and his movements were jerky. Slowly, he lifted his arms to return the embrace. Will closed his eyes, soaking in his body-heat and breathing in the lingering scent of drink and cigarettes from the pub. "I'm so sorry." He whispered. Dune shuddered. His arms got tighter, and he buried his face against Will's shoulder.

Will held him close, gripping Dune's back as he felt him unravelling in his arms. There was a tremble shaking Dune's entire body, and it made the tears Will had been holding back spill over. He brought Dune to the bed, and guided him under the covers. He kicked off his shoes, killed the lights, and hugged him tight. Dune buried his face against his chest. Each harsh breath, muted cry, tight grip, was a knife in Will's heart. Dune was hurting and Will wished more than anything he could make it better.

Dune passed out. Will stroked his hair, listening as his breaths steadied out.

The voices downstairs quietened down, and doors in the hall started to close one by one. The house went silent. The final door shutting seemed to wake up Dune.

"What time is it?" Dune murmured, his voice sleep-addled.

"Middle of the night."

"Are you staying?"

"If you want me to." Will said. He thought of what Gabriel had asked him, but he knew Gabriel would understand why Will wanted to stay. Why he needed to.

"I can't go back to Dublin. Dad can't stay in the house alone."

"You can email the college about taking time off. Spend time with your dad until you're ready to head back."

"No, I mean I can't go back at all. One week, two weeks—that won't make any difference. If I go he'll be alone."

Will knew Joyce was the beating heart of Dune's family, and her loss would be immense, but even so he was relieved that Dune was close with his dad as well. They wouldn't be alone. Will couldn't dispute him at all. He knew it wasn't the same, but when his mom had gone she left a massive hole. In it, Will had become even more aware of his distance from his dad. Aside from the occasional encouraging word in regard to sports, they didn't actually have a relationship. It hadn't developed either after mom left. It's why moving to Dublin had been so easy; there was nothing in this town to anchor him to it. But Dune was different.

"You'd better run that by your dad first. He might have a problem with you dropping out of college on his behalf."

"You think its stupid."

Dune didn't do 'stupid'. "No. Richard is more important than college."

"Then, you think I should?"

"I don't know. But if it's something you need, then maybe, yeah. Don't decide now though. Take a few weeks off first and talk it out with your dad." Will didn't like the idea of Dune leaving Dublin. That would be one of his pillars, gone. The thought was scarier than he cared to admit. "I bet Richard will tell you to keep going with the course."

Dune sighed, "I know."

Will shifted. Still dressed in his suit, under the covers and pressed against Dune, he was getting sweaty.

Dune noticed. He leaned over Will to turn on the light. "If you're staying you should change out of that."

"Yeah," He agreed. "Would you shoot Leah a text? Let her know not to wait up for me?"

Will dug out a change of clothes, stripping off the stuffy suit and changing into a much more comfortable pair of shorts and top. Dune raised an eyebrow at the ground, almost smiling. "You're a disaster."

"I'll tidy up in the morning."

Will reclaimed his spot in the bed, stretching out. They faced each-other, space between them as they each had their own pillow.

"How are things going with Gabriel?"

"Fine." Will lied. Gabriel wasn't something he wanted to talk about right now. He was still trying to figure out why he picked a fight with him to begin with. Was there an underlying reason? Was he just being an asshole? Plus, talking about Gabriel issues with Dune didn't feel right to him. It would feel like giving out, not trying to work through the problem.

"Is it easier now? Not having to hide and all?"

"It's fine."

Dune studied him. "You don't want to talk about him with me? We can, you know. I'm not going to be weird about it. We can even talk about Luke if it makes you feel better."

"I don't imagine that making me feel better," Will replied honestly.

"Okay. No boyfriend talk, then. It's Cassie's favourite topic. Well, that and you."

"Of course, me and Cassie always talk about me."

Dune smiled.

"You're dating, then? You and Luke?"

He shrugged. "Sort of. I think that's what you'd call it."

Will weighed that in his mind. It was an unsettling feeling.

"You're making a face."

"He doesn't like me."

"That's because of this." Dune tapped his knuckles against his chest. Will thought he was referring to his body until he kept talking, "You crawl into my bed, and I let you."

"Ah," Will understood. "Gabriel doesn't like that either."

Their eyes met. Will was certain he saw a glint of understanding in Dune's eyes. Their relationship wasn't something either of them was willing to give up. It felt so good, so reassuring, to see that Dune felt the same way. That he was important to Dune the same way Dune was important to him.

"Gabriel doesn't like me."

"You don't like him."

Dune lifted himself onto an elbow. He regarded Will from higher up. "I supported you anyway. At every turn."

"I know." Will gazed up at him. Dune hadn't tried forcing his own feelings about the matter onto Will. He stepped back, and backed up Will's decisions. "If you end up moving back home I'll come see you."

Dune raised his eyebrows. "This is the first time you've been home since we started college."

"And there's no reason you can't come see me in Dublin. You won't lose me either way."

"And you won't lose me."

Their eyes met once more. Dune moved over to him, resting his head on Will's chest.

"Talk about something else." Dune requested.

"Okay," Will stared at the ceiling. "How about me?"

"You?" Dune said. Will could hear the smile in his voice.

"I, um," He hesitated, doubting if this was a good idea. Wondering if it was selfish to want to talk about other things right now. To worry Dune more. It was selfish, he decided. It was.

"Tell me," Dune asked.

"It's not happy stuff."

Dune found his hand, held it.

"There is this girl at the youth centre, PG. She's eighteen and a tiny, tiny, slip of a girl. She's tried to kill herself a load of times. I talked to her a little while," His voice dropped down. "I recognised some of myself in her."

Dune abruptly straightened. His hazel eyes sought out him, searching his face.

"Lie down," Will said. "I've got a bit more to say."

Dune didn't lay back on his chest, but on the pillow. He didn't look comfortable. Not at all.

Will dropped his gaze to Dune's neck, saw the pulse thrumming in his throat, and looked even lower. Slow, he took his hand again. "I thought that going away to college, going to Dublin, playing sport—all of it, I thought that once I got away from here, everything would fall into place. The stars would align, and everything would be fine. I would be fine." He paused to take in a deep breath. "There's nothing in my life that I don't want. I mean, there's a few people that annoy me—" like Luke and Charlie— "but there's nothing bad. I've been doing therapy, I've been eating right, I've been doing really well on the team, and despite all that, it just feels like everything is just that bit too much for me."

"Will." Dune whispered.

"I want to be like everyone else. I want to be normal. I thought therapy would give me that, but it doesn't. And it isn't going to, not ever. I'm always going to be like this, with good days and bad days, and I don't want that. I want to wake up cured, and not have to obsess over every little thing." He spoke slowly, putting as much of what he'd been feeling into words as he could. He let out a long sigh as Dune squeezed his fingers together. "It's exhausting."

It was Dune's turn to be at a loss for words.

"I thought for the longest time that the problem was where I grew up. Laragh talks a lot about toxic environments and toxic influences, but I've escaped from all of that, and nothing changed in me." He looked once more at the ceiling. "It's like... before, I could blame my family for how I felt all the time. But now there's no one to blame. The problem is me, and that really fucking sucks."

Getting it out of him felt both liberating and terrifying. It forced his thoughts into some sort of order, but it also made it real. Dune hugged him.