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"C'mon, Ry, let's get some body paint," Will said the instant he made eye contact with Oliver. He didn't want to be anywhere near him if he didn't need to be. Ryan just nodded, taking a hold of his hand and walking with him, away from the couches. Oliver went to say something but both Will and Ryan shot him a look that told him to not make a single sound.

Neither one of the boys spoke until they were a good distance away from Oliver. "Why does he have to be here," Will sighed, Ryan's arms encircling him in a hug. In the month and a half since their disastrous first date, Ryan had joined the girls' effort to field any attempts Oliver made to talk to Will. That didn't really deter Oliver though, who kept it up for about a month, only stopping about a fortnight earlier. But here he was now, looking at them as if debating whether to try talking to Will.

To be honest, Will missed talking to him sometimes. They really had become really good friends before the kiss and he missed that. But he knew that any contact with him would lead to Oliver trying to split him and Ryan up, and Will couldn't condone that. He and Ryan had a good thing going and he didn't want anyone to come between them, especially not another guy.

Will shook his head, just wanting to forget about the nightmare that was Oliver. He took hold of Ryan's arm and dragged him to the bar and quickly ordering more shots. The only thing he could think of to take his mind off it was alcohol. 

Alcohol can fix anything.

 Well, except alcoholism. 

He quickly gulped down both tequila shots he'd order, ignoring the fact one of them should've been for Ryan.

Ryan sighed. He knew tonight was going to be a long night.

Might as well get drunk to make it tolerable, they both thought.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An hour and way too many shots later, Will and Ryan had just finished with the body painter. Will had a fluoro green floral design twining its way up his left forearm while Ryan had blue lightning bolting down his right. They'd also both gotten each other's names on the back of the other's hand in pink cursive; mainly because they were both hammered and sappy. Luckily, this paint would wash off the next day. They never wanted to be that sickly sweet couple who made everyone just wanna puke with their couple-y cuteness.

Unsure what else to do, the couple decided to make their way back to the couch in the far corner to find Dale. They soon found him nestled on Robbie's muscular lap. How did he get those massive thighs in those jeans? Will pondered, though from the looks he was getting and Robbie's scowl, he realised that he'd said his thought aloud. Oops.

"Where have the two of you been?" Dale asked, ignoring Will's little faux pas as the two boys sat down on the free spot on the couch. Across from them were Jenna and Chelsie, as well as two girls who Will assumed were Vanya and Polly, all cuddling up in their couples. Luckily, Oliver seemed to be absent. Thank the lord.

"Just getting some drinks," was Will's reply, leaning into Ryan behind him as the brunette wrapped his arms around him to snuggle. They all felt oddly calm for being in a nightclub. Will guessed that being in the VIP kinda removed them from the intensity downstairs.

"So tell us what this thing between you and Oliver is, because you were all he was talking about earlier but he wouldn't say what happened and he looked pretty sad," Dale pressed with a pouty frown, poking Will to get him to tell the story. 

Ryan tightened his grip on Will slightly at the mention of Oliver's name. Will sighed, patting his boyfriend's thigh to tell him to calm down. He felt Ryan loosen his grip.

"It's nothing really, Dale, just stupid feelings stuff," was Will's response. The ginger wasn't too happy with that answer, continuing to poke Will. If there was something that Dale knew for certain, annoying someone would always end in you getting what you wanted.

Will was no exception. "Fine, fine, I'll tell you! Now stop fucking poking me!" Will shouted, slapping Dale's hand away. The older guy grinned, glad that his old tricks still worked. "When Oliver first got here, me and him were really good friends," Will started, hearing Ryan groan behind him and Dale leant forward to listen eagerly. "After a while, as these things always seem to go, I sorta developed a crush on him. I never thought he'd ever have feelings for me, but uh, when we were drunk, he kissed me, sorta, but he ran off pretty much straight away," Will shrugged, a lump forming in his throat at the memory of Commodore Point. He cleared his throat and continued on.

"Ryan here found me that night. He comforted me and we got to talking. He was protective of me that night, it's really sweet," Will said, a loving smile on his face as he glanced at Ryan. Ryan smiled back, leaning forward to give him a quick peck on the lips. Will sighed when the brunette pulled away but went on with the story.

"I was so hurt by what Oliver did, we didn't speak for nearly two weeks, but when we did, he asked if we could forget it. I had Ryan so I agreed. We were talking again but when Ry and I went on our first date, Oliver decided to crash it." Dale gasped at this, shaking his head. "First, he said he was on a date with Jenna, but then he said he came to see if Ryan was suitable for me - which I still think he had no right to do - but finally, he told me that he regretted running away the night he kissed me, and I should be with him and not with Ryan." Dale gasped again, louder than before, as if this were some midday soap opera. Will frowned, puzzled by Dale's overdramatic reaction. "But yeah, I got angry and told him to go home. He did and we haven't spoken for about a month and a half now," Will finished, sighing in relief to have ended the story.

It was getting longer than he would've liked it to be. It was time he closed the Oliver chapter of his life but the blonde was fighting hard to keep it open. He wasn't sure why.

Will could see the cogs working in Dale's head as he processed the story. Dale frowned and turned to the girls on the opposite couch. "I'm sorry babes, I know he's your friend and all, but Oliver is a weirdo," he said to Jenna and Chelsie, both of whom had scowls on their faces. Obviously, they didn't agree with Will's side of the story nor did they agree to Dale's conclusion.

Jenna rolled her eyes, stood up and pulled her girlfriend up along with her. "I don't know why you'd choose that," she said, pointing to Ryan, "over Oliver, who is like, the perfect guy. You don't deserve him and I wish he'd see that too. But he doesn't. And you're hurting him badly by rejecting him and ignoring him," she spat at Will with a vicious glare. Will frowned, not sure what to say, and a bit hurt by what she'd said.

"And you," Jenna continued, turning her sights onto Dale. "I can't believe you'd take his side even though you've like, just met him. Reconsider who you want your friends to be," she finished, storming off to the VIP bar with her girlfriend in tow.

Vanya and Polly, who had intermittently been making out throughout the story, had only now started to pay attention. "What happened?" Vanya asked, watching her friends storm off.

Dale rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Don't worry, Van, it's nothing," he dismissed. The girls furrowed their brows in confusion, but quickly shrugged their shoulder and returned to their own little world. Everyone just stayed quiet for a while, listening to the thumping bass of the music.

Robbie, surprisingly, was the one to break the silence. "You probably don't wanna hear this but Oliver does really seem to like you a lot," he spoke in his gruff voice.

"I know," Will nodded, not sure what else to say.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hell broke loose about two hours later when Oliver decided to approach Will. Vanya and Polly had left, so the four boys were on the couches, still drinking and chatting. Ryan had loosened up, animatedly talking about his favourite soccer team to Robbie, also a massive fan, while Will and Dale had a nice D&M. Will had learnt that Dale had run away from home when he was 14 because of his abusive parents. Dale learnt that Will's dad was a manipulative asshole. Will learnt that Dale was actually a successful business owner at just 26, owning the adult store and a few other little places around town. Dale learnt that Will wants to be a filmmaker. They were just starting to head home when a certain blonde approached.

"Will, can we speak for a minute, please," he begged, desperation painfully clear in his voice. The boys turned around to Oliver wobbling toward them, obviously very drunk.

Ryan moved in front of his boyfriend, arms out to make himself look bigger. "Go away, he doesn't want to speak to you," he ordered, his words slightly slurred due to his drunk state.

"I didn't ask you, douchenozzle. I asked Will, so let him answer," Oliver retorted, coming toe-to-toe with Ryan now, towering over him. As much as Ryan tried, most people were taller than him. The two glared fiercely at one another, waiting for the other to say or do something.

"Is there a problem here?" Robbie intervened, standing next to the two. Oliver looked towards him, his eyes widening in fear when he caught sight of Robbie, who was a hell of a lot larger than his more lankier frame. Oliver took a step back, shaking his head.

Will sighed. All he wanted was for this situation with Oliver to be over. "Down, you two," he ordered to Ryan and Robbie as if they were dogs. They turned to look at him, heads tilted in confusion. "Just give me a moment with him, and if he puts a hand on me, you can come over and intervene, ok?" he said, silencing Ryan's protest. He waited until the two nodded in agreement before pushing pat them, grabbing Oliver's forearm, and storming further away for some privacy.

"Speak," Will commanded once they were far enough. Oliver blinked at him, dumbfounded. "Speak now, or I'm gonna go. This is your only chance, because I'm drunk and annoyed. So speak," he commanded again.

Oliver blinked a few more times to process before launching into his spiel.

"Listen, I know what I've done is horrible. I kissed you and then ran away. I crashed your date and ruined it. I was a complete and utterly selfish wanker. I hurt you. I have been a total dick, I know, and I understand why you've been blocking me out. I hate me too, to be honest. I hated that I acted that way and it was the complete opposite of what I wanted it to go. I wanted to stay up there with you, so much, but it was too much for me and I just needed space. It was stupid of me and I think I'll regret that moment for my whole life because it's obvious that you and Ryan are great together.

"I wish I'd stayed because I know we would've been together right now, but we're not and it's tearing me up inside. I need to let this go; I need to apologise to you and clear my conscience because I need to move on like you obviously have. I wanna let it go because I really wanna still be friends with you because I miss talking to you and just hanging out. And I understand if you don't want that and just want us to be friendly strangers to one another. But I can't have you hate me. Please don't hate me," Oliver was able to finish before his tears and emotions got the best of him. He began to quietly cry, sniffing as he wiped away his flowing tears.

Will stood in shock, processing what he'd just heard. He had no idea what he should do now, except to give the sniffling blonde a hug. "I don't hate you, Oliver," he said to him as he wrapped his arms around the other. Oliver let out a small sob at that before wrapping his own arms around Will, hugging him tightly. Will's heart broke, sensing the pain Oliver had been going through over this. He felt awful. If he'd just heard him out, maybe the both of them would've been saved from some of the pain they'd both felt about this.

Will pulled away first, having to use a bit of force to get Oliver off him. "Listen, we're about to head off, do you have a way to get home?" he asked, not wanting to leave Oliver by himself.

The blonde nodded as he wiped the last few tears off his face. "Yeah, Jenna and Chels are still here, so I'll go with them," he replied with a small, slightly sad smile.

Will nodded. "OK well, be safe. We'll catch up over coffee sometime soon, yeah?" he suggested with a grin, trying to lighten the heavy mood.

"For sure," Oliver agreed, straining to grin back. Will nodded again before waving goodbye as he turned to leave.

"Don't mess this up again, Ol," were Will's final words before catching up with his boyfriend and heading out the club.

"I won't," Oliver muttered to himself as he watched the (current) love of his life leave.

Because I will make you mine.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A/N: So this was a long, crazy chapter. Comments would be cool: what you thought about Will and Oliver working things out, about Dale and Robbie, about Jenna's attack, what you think/want to happen next, anything really! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)

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