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A/N: So this chapter is really stupid and like no-one is reading this thing anyway, but I'll keep going on with it, I guess. Enjoy! // 2019 edit: I published this chapter like 4-5 years ago back when the whole story only had 100 views. Now this book and the whole series has gotten so much more attention than I could have ever dreamt of. Thanks for reading up until this point and for all the support. <3

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"Where is he?" Liv muttered, craning her neck as she tried looking around.

"Who are you looking for?" Kimi asked, taking another sip from her cider. Emmie sat on the towel beside her, making mini sandcastles in the patch of sand in front of her.

"I'm looking for Oliver so I can force him to talk to our little boy here," Liv replied, nudging Will who sat next to her. Will panicked as Liv's elbow connected with his cup, angling it so that the contents spilt onto the sand rather than on himself.

"Jesus Christ, Liv," Will scolded her, reaching into the esky to get a refill. "And can you please stop playing matchmaker? I really don't wanna try anything with Oliver."

"We schlepped all the way down here, so you're gonna talk to Oliver and make him your boyfriend whether you like it or not," Liv replied, now standing up to get a better look.

"You're the one who made us come all the way here! I was very much happy to just forget this stupid crush and move on!" Will exclaimed.

"Oh shut it, Will. I'm making you do this for your own good," Liv said. "Oh there he is, Oliver!" she called out, trying to wave him over. Will hid his face in embarrassment, wishing he would just disappear as Oliver made his way over.

"Ms. Monaghan, how may I be of service to you?" Oliver asked in a posh accent. Liv giggled, subtly moving away from Will so that there was space in between the two of them for Oliver. As subtle as the movement was, her intentions weren't.

"Sit down and join us, we're the funnest people here!" Liv exclaimed, arms thrown up for emphasis.

"Funnest isn't a word, Olivia, are you sure you're a senior?" Oliver teased. Liv shrugged with a smile, knowing he was joking. "But I will take you up on your offer," he added, sitting in the small space Liv has left for him. However, she hadn't left enough space, so Oliver 'coincidentally' had to be pressed against Will's side to able to sit on the log.

They all sat and talked for a while before Emmie pulled out empty bottles from the esky. "Oh no, it looks like we've run out of drinks," she said, in a tone Will knew meant she was acting.

"Ah damn, that sucks, looks like we're gonna have to quickly go get some more," Cash chimed in as if it were an under-practiced primary school play. Will sighed, knowing very well where this was going.

"There's a shop not far from here, we can go there, let's go!" Kimi added, quickly standing up.

"Oh, are you all going?" Oliver asked, looking at the girls as they all stood to leave.

"Oh no, no, no! Just us girls will go, Will can stay here with you," Liv replied with a sickly sweet smile. Will glared at her, not happy with how this was panning out. Liv quickly leaned in to give Will a hug, whispering "make a move."

"I hate you so much," Will whispered back. As the girls retreated, Will yelled out, "I guess I'll look after all your stuff then." Liv turned around, thumbs up in response.

Will knew she had a plan when they'd settled down at the beach a little ways down from the rest of the party earlier that afternoon. Now, with the sun setting and stars starting to come out, Will and Oliver sat in a romantic setting in a somewhat secluded place.

"Wow that sunset really is a beauty," Oliver whistled as he looked out over the ocean. The sky gradiated from a lush orange to a silky dark purple as the sun continued to set. The two boys stayed mostly silent as they watched the sun melt into the horizon, disappearing into the sea. As darkness began to settle in, Will started the mini-bonfire he'd set up earlier just as the girl returned, with drinks in tow.

"Sorry it took so long, we sorta got lost," Cash apologised, pulling out some marshmallows to roast over their small fire.

"So what did the two of you get up to while we were gone?" Liv asked as she tossed Will a bottle of tequila.

"Very subtle, Liv," Will muttered to himself sarcastically before saying, "nothing much, just watched the sunset." Liv scowled, unhappy with the result. "And a whole bottle of tequila, Liv? Tryna get me drunk?" Will added, shaking the bottle in his hand.

"It's to get the two of you drunk," she replied, finger wiggling between Will and Oliver. "I gotta get you two liquored up before I try to feel you both up behind the bushes over there," she joked, pointing over her shoulder to the scrub behind them. As the rest laughed, Oliver fidgeted awkwardly. "Don't worry, bub, I'm just joking," she assured him, though the wink afterwards sort of sent a different message.

"Hey, the two of you have been sitting here a while," Emmie chimed in.

Oh great, they're trying something again, Will thought.

"Yeah, why don't the two of you go for a walk or something? You both should go like, stretch your legs for a bit, or something," Kimi added. Liv nodded enthusiastically. Will sighed, not believing what his friends were trying to do.

Well actually, now that Will thought about it, this was definitely something his friends would do.

"Yeah, I think that might be a good idea actually," Oliver said, standing up to have a stretch. "Coming Will?" he asked, hand extended to pull Will up from the log.

"Fine," Will sighed begrudgingly, taking Oliver's hand and pulled himself up. Will turned his attention to Liv who had called his name, quickly catching the bottle of tequila she had haphazardly thrown at him. "What the hell, Liv, are you trying to kill me!" he exclaimed but she just shrugged in return, eating a marshmallow off her skewer. He rolled his eyes, storming off towards the shoreline, calling out to Oliver to follow him as he walked away.

As the two reached the shallows, Will turned to look at Oliver. "Which way did you wanna go?" he asked, motioning towards the party to the right or the stretch of beach to their left. The other boy mulled it over before pointing to the left. Will nodded, tossing him the bottle as they walked in the shallows of the water. 

Will shivered as the cold water washed over his feet. He shouldn't have been that surprised, seeing as the heat of the Australian summer was long gone and the chill of autumn began to trickle in. Especially at dusk along the coast. But the sensation of his feet in the sand, water lapping over his feet and an amiable silence with the guy he liked was hardly something he wanted to pass up. Not that he'd ever admit that to the girls.

It wasn't long before they reached the end of the beach and were faced with the rocky hill leading to Commodore Point. "Let's go up there," Oliver said, pointing to the bench at the top of the Point. He raced up the rocks while Will winced in pain, the rocky surface stabbing uncomfortably into the soft soles of his unprotected feet. By the time Will reached the top, Oliver was already sat at the bench and taken a few sips from the tequila bottle. As Will sat down, Oliver took another sip. "Tequila is strong without the salt and lime," he said afterwards, making a face.

"Give me the bottle, you alco," Will teased, snatching the bottle from the other boy and taking a big swig of it himself. He quite enjoyed the burn tequila gave. It didn't feel like taking shots of rocket fuel like with vodka and rum. However, there was one side-effect to tequila that Will didn't really enjoy. Will referred to it as 'The Inhibition Killer' because, aptly, tequila always seemed to tear away all of his inhibitions, especially his brain-mouth filter.

As usual, that kicked in a few chugs of tequila later when Will turned to ask Oliver a question. They were pressed right up against one another, having casually moved together the more they drank. At this stage, Will was staring up close to Oliver's cheek, examining the slight stubble that was growing there.

"You're very pretty," Will muttered, mostly to himself.

Oliver turned and smiled at him, their faces only several centimetres apart now. "Thanks, you're pretty too," Oliver replied, speaking a bit louder than Will had.

Will lit up at the compliment, smiling back just as wide. "Why aren't you down at the party with your girlfriend?" he muttered next, his smile quickly turning to a frown.

Oliver frowned at the question as well. "She isn't my girlfriend," he answered unhappily. In Will's muddled mind, he wasn't sure if Oliver's unhappiness was because he wanted Stacey to be his girlfriend and she wasn't, or because he was tired of people assuming they were together. Part of Will was really hoping it was the latter. "Well, why aren't you down there with yours?" Oliver asked back.

Will stared at Oliver, befuddled. "Liv?" he asked with Oliver nodding in reply. Will began to cackle, his drunken brain overly amused at the thought of him and Liv dating. "Liv is not my girlfriend," Will assured.

"Because you're gay," Oliver mumbled, eyeing Will's reaction but didn't move away from him. In fact, Will was pretty sure he felt Oliver shift minutely closer to him. But with how fuzzy his brain was, he couldn't be certain.

Will froze, not prepared to hear that. He assessed his options, but decided, fuck it. It was probably the tequila that made him say that. "I-ummm, yeah, 'cause I'm gay. How'd you know?" Will asked, staring deep into the pools of blue that were Oliver's eyes.

"Stacey told me at that first party when she caught us talking, remember?" Oliver answered, looking into Will's eyes just as intently. "She explained that you were gay and you came out last year with your boyfriend but then your boyfriend disappeared out of nowhere. Damn, what did she say was his name again?" he continued to ramble. Will tensed at the mention of his ex but Oliver didn't notice, having looked away as he tried to remember the name. "Ah it doesn't matter," Oliver shrugged, returning his attention back to Will. "But what happened there?" he added, pity lacing his gaze as he looked at Will.

Will cleared his throat uncomfortably. He didn't want to talk about this right now. He didn't want to talk about this ever, honestly. He wanted to never have to talk about him ever again. He felt his eyes begin to prickle as tears welled in the corners.

God, I hate myself right now, he thought to himself. Why do I have to cry...

"Oh shit, I shouldn't have asked. Stupid, stupid Oliver, doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut," Oliver scolded himself, frowning at the tearful boy in front of him. He looked into his lap, slightly ashamed of himself.

"Ah no, it's OK," Will sniffled, wiping at the tears on his cheek and his now snotty nose. Wow, Will. Nice one. Way to go...

"It's not OK, obviously. I shouldn't have opened my big mouth and asked about something that's obviously still affecting you. I was just curious," Oliver sighed, hitching an arm around Will's shoulder and pulling him in closer. "We've been friends for a little while now but you never brought it up. I guess it was stupid of me to bring it up myself," Oliver continued, sensing Will's pending why? He brought his attention back to Will, staring intently at a tear that had escaped and was rolling down his face. Oliver lifted his finger, stopping the tear at Will's chin.

Will sat frozen, unsure what he should do. Oliver's finger was on his chin, his arm around his shoulder and he was pressed up against the side of the blonde's body.

What happened next froze Will's heart stiff. He watched as Oliver's face drew closer to his, eyes closing. He could feel the heat of his breath (and smell the tequila stench on it as well). He blinked as Oliver's nose bumped against his but Oliver kept going before his lips were mere centimetres away from Will's. Oliver kept his lips ghosting over Will's for a few seconds before going in for the kill. As his soft lips made contact with Will's slightly chapped ones, a sizzling spark shocked the both of them.

Oliver shot backwards at the spark, the reality of the situation settling in as he stared at the other boy on the other side of the bench. Oliver opened and closed his mouth like a gaping fish, trying to process what had just happened.

Will just stared as the other boy rubbed at his face.

"I'm, ah, I'm gonna go back the party," Oliver stammered as he quickly got up.

Will didn't really have much time to reply before Oliver bolted back down to the beach. Not like Will had much to say anyway. He knew he'd be seated at that bench for a while though, not really wanting to head back just yet.

As he stared out over the ocean, he pondered what had just happened on that bench between the two of them. 

Well, mostly it was just:

What. The. Fuck.

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