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  AN: thanks for reading!! Sorry I missed last week's update :( damn you life!!  

~

William felt kind of foolish walking onto campus, his back pack bulging with an extra lunch. No one else knew of course, but he knew and that was all that mattered.

He knew that he had not heard a word from Lucas since yesterday afternoon. He knew that he might not have even started taking any notes yet, because aside from the one class that they had together, he didn't know Lucas' schedule. He knew that he had his phone right inside his jean pocket so he could feel it if it vibrated. On top of all that, he knew all too well the awkward conversation he'd had with his mom when he requested a second lunch.

He flushed, remembering the look she'd given him when he refused to say who the lunch was for. Her lips fought a smile and her brows had risen and she'd emphasized the word friend in such a way that was mother talk for much more than a friend.

What he didn't know was whether he was even going to see Lucas today.

Lord, try explaining that when he brought all of the food straight back home, untouched.

She would try to hug him. He just knew it.

With a sigh, William forced himself to continue on to his first class, pretending unsuccessfully that his still phone was not like a lead weight in his pocket.

He didn't pick up much of what was said in class, attempted to scribble down a few of the key points the prof was going on about, but he was facing the black board a lot today and even though William could usually follow him well enough, he just couldn't pick up what he was saying.  It didn't bother him though. He just turned his attention to the window and gazed outside at the passing students until the rest of his classmates started to get up and he realized that class was over.

William stood up, snatching his things all together and stuffing them into his bag. The extra lunch bag glared up at him and he reached into his pocket even though he knew what he would find.

His phone remained blank. No missed messages called for his attention. With a sigh, he shoved the phone into his bag. Lucas wasn't calling him, or messaging him, he'd probably changed his mind... Or maybe he'd only come to that stupid interview to give William his Tupperware. What the hell had he been thinking trying to start up a--working--relationship with that boy anyway? He was out going and social and fun, everything that William was not. All he would ever be was a wet blanket to Lucas, even if they did somehow become friends.

He left the building and headed for the arboretum.

It was always where he went to eat. He didn't like the pressure of having to interact with people, plus he had always liked nature and the arboretum had especially nice gardens.

He found his spot easily, taking a seat on the soft grass... Right where a klutz had managed to scare the crap out of him by suddenly falling on him. 

He sighed.

Maybe this wasn't the best place to come while trying to get his mind off of said klutz.

Grimacing, he opened his bag, pulling out a lunch. He was tempted, for a moment, to throw the other one into the river, just to avoid his mom's sympathy, but a little flashing light caught his eye.

Shocked, William pulled his phone out of his bag, his heart racing with excitement when he saw the name.

From: Sunshine

Where are you? You didn't forget our deal, did you?

At a loss, William typed back a simple reply.

To: Sunshine

The same place as last time.

He put his phone down, feeling more than a little confused by the other boy. Was it that obvious that they were suppose to meet today? Had he missed an email somewhere?

He pulled his email up, searching through the spam folder before giving up and waiting with baited breath for Lucas' arrival.

What were they supposed to speak about? Business? School? They were in the same program so maybe they would find some other things that they had in common... Shit! They'd met at the cafe last time.

William scrambled for his phone, beginning to type.

"Watch out down below!"

William heard the below just in time to turn and see Lucas skidding down the massive hill. His face was flushed as he ran down at top speed, attempting to stop himself from falling but then his foot slipped out from under him and his feet went straight up in the air. He landed on his back and slid the last few feet, eyes clamped shut until he came to a complete stop a few feet from where William now stood.

He peeked his hazel eyes open, as though not sure he'd stopped yet. His eyes found William sitting there with his jaw hanging open and he grinned.

"That went way better this time," he said.

William blinked at him.

"Why did you come from up there again?" he asked incredulously. "Didn't you notice that you almost died the last time?"

Lucas shrugged, gingerly pushing himself into a sitting position and dusting himself off.

"I don't know how else to get down here," he said.

He didn't seem bothered by it. In fact, the fact that he'd defied death one more time seemed to invigorate the other boy.

He clapped his hands together and scooted closer to William's bag.

"So what's for lunch?" he asked eagerly.

He looked over at William, his big eyes filled with happiness and William managed to forget everything that had been bothering him about this arrangement.

"I don't know," William admitted. "My mom packed it."

"Oh, I thought you were a chef or something," Lucas said.

William smiled.

"I told you I didn't make it the last time."

"Did you?" Lucas asked thoughtfully. "I think my head was a bit fuzzy from the fall."

He unzipped the second lunch pack before William could respond and his jaw dropped.

"Oh my god," he said, pulling the container of lasagna out and staring at it like it was the holy grail. 

His stomach growled loudly and he flushed, glancing up at William.

"Why didn't you tell me it was lasagna? I love lasagna!"

William laughed and pulled out his own as Lucas dove into his food. The way he moaned over each mouthful was really distracting though. 

Thankfully, the other boy ate extremely quickly and after a few minutes, William could concentrate on his food again.

"Seriously, your mom makes the best food I've ever had," Lucas said. "Is she single?"

William choked. 

Lucas patted his back and when William could finally see him through the tears, there was an amused glint in his eyes.

"It was a joke," he said.

Thank god.

"I know."

"Uh huh," he said, clearly seeing through the lie. "Seriously though, she's a really good cook."

William nodded.

"Yeah, she is," he said. "She actually is a chef. We own a deli in town."

Lucas' entire face lit up.

"Really?" he asked breathlessly. "That must be the best ever! What kind of stuff do you have there?"

William shrugged.

"Just the usual stuff, sandwiches, salads, soups..."

Lucas' eyes glazed over as William spoke, transporting him no doubt to some magical place filled with edibles.

"Can you just take whatever you want, whenever you want it?" he asked wistfully.

William bit his lip to keep from laughing.

"Well, yeah," he said. 

Lucas gasped and William really did laugh.

"It's not that big a deal," he said. "I grew up with it, so I'm use to it."

"Not a big deal? Are you kidding? I would kill for that! My mom is a receptionist. She never got home before six, ever. I ate pizza pockets for dinner for like ten years."

William grimaced.

"Okay, that doesn't sound great."

"No, they are great. Like seriously delicious, but your mom's stuff is way better."

"Well..." William hesitated. If Lucas came with him to the deli, that meant dealing with his mom. That meant all of her embarrassing squealing about him making friends would go on forever. But at the same time, Lucas was sitting in front of him now, bright eyed and eager and William wanted to spend as much time in his presence as he could.

"Do you want to go for dinner?" he asked.

His entire face felt hot the second he said it. It had come out wrong. He wasn't trying to ask Lucas out on a date. Not really. Did it sound like he was?

For a moment, Lucas looked excited and then, just like that, he frowned and looked away from William.

"Maybe sometime..." he said.

Crushed, William tried not to let it show. He looked down, busying himself with packing up the containers.

Right. For a moment he'd forgotten what this was all about. It was a business transaction after all. Food for notes.

"Do you have any notes for me yet?" he asked.

Lucas hesitated.

"Yeah," he said.

He pulled out his notebook and tore a few pages free.

"This was from class this morning," he said, handing them over.

He scooted over as William took them, sitting far too close to William and leaning even closer to look at the pages together.

"I know they're still a mess," he said. "But it was my first try and prof was going really fast today."

A mess was right. They were exactly the same as the other notes he'd seen. They were unusable. 

"This part attaches here," Lucas said, pointing to the page.

His breath puffed on William's neck and William looked at him. 

Their eyes met, an inch separating them. William could see the flecks of brown in his eyes, the slight green in the center, the lightest of freckles on the bridge of his nose and all breath left him.

"Can you use them?" Lucas asked uneasily.

For a second, William didn't know what he was talking about. 

Right, the notes.

"They're perfect," he said.

Lucas let out a relieved sigh and laid back in the grass, stretching his arms above him.

"I'll still make the next ones better," he promised.

William hoped that he would. It was becoming increasingly clear that whatever weird arrangement they'd come to, there was no way in hell that William would be putting a stop to it.

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