Morgan sighed long and hard, clearly exasperated at what Will's tone implied he was going to say next. "Will, don't please. This day was going so well."
"I have no idea what you are talking about Morgs," he feigned ignorance. Morgan knew he was lying, Will could see it in his eyes, but he pressed on anyway, "Besides, how can you say it is going well when you've been on edge the entire time?"
"I'm fine, truly," Morgan assured, as he visibly tried to relax. It didn't work. "Now can we just forget about it and continue?"
"No, because we are here."
Will gestured to the small hotel they were standing before, "Fairview Hotel" lighting up the pavement beside the building in neon green.
"Here?" Morgan asked, following Will's gesture with a frown. "What do you mean 'here'? We've never a set destination before."
Will smirked at that. "Today, we do. Or at least, I do." He watched Morgan's face for any sign of trouble. Namely any hint that this whole thing was about to take a turn for the worst. Although he wanted to do something nice for Morgan's birthday, he would never force him to do anything he didn't want to. He might push and plead, because he has learned that sometimes that's all Morgan needed in order to accept help and take proper care of himself. But he would never force him. Never.
He noticed the wince Morgan tried to cover, already having guessed at what he was thinking before he spoke. "Will, please don't. I don't want anything."
But Will was prepared. He blew out an exaggerated breath. "That's a relief," he said with mock annoyance and a roll of his eyes, "because this isn't for you. This is for me."
"What?" Morgan questioned. Will could see the curiosity now slowly overriding the annoyance that had taken root on Morgan face not but a second ago.
"I booked a room here because I needed a night away from my father. He has been pestering me about college and school and I just... I need a night away," he sighed. It wasn't entirely a lie. His father had been a royal pain in the neck, what with discovering the punishment he had dished out had backfired. He didn't really approve of his only child spending every evening around the lowlifes of the city. It was apparently perfectly acceptable as punishment but the second it became of Will's own independence, it was frowned upon. Will had never second-guessed his father's ideals more than at that moment.
Will brought himself back to the present, noticing the stoic look on Morgan's face signaling that he had yet to buy his explanation. "And well, I thought you might want to join me," Will finished with a cock of his eyebrow.
It was true that the real reason behind all this was for Morgan. It was his birthday after all and Will didn't want him to spend his first night as an adult sleeping on the hard ground out in the cold. And since Will's house was out of the question, what with his father and everything, a hotel room was the next best thing. He wanted Morgan to feel safe and warm, wanted to give him the incentive to keep fighting and keep trying to make a better life for himself, despite the bleak turn of events.
"Will, I'm not stupid," Morgan huffed in annoyance, crossing his arms and frowning. It was one of the most adorable things Will had ever seen.
He reached forward, slipping his fingers through Morgan's belt loops and tugging him toward him. Then he planted a quick kiss on Morgan's lips, effectively erasing the frown. Morgan reluctantly returned the kiss, but didn't make any move to step away.
"Oh, I know," Will assured with a sly smile, wrapping his arms around Morgan. He was obviously trying very hard to remain annoyed even as Will could feel him melting into the embrace. "You are also not selfish or rude, both of which you will be if you make me sleep alone tonight." He then leaned forward until his mouth was right next to Morgan's ear, his breath tickling the sensitive shell before whispering, "I might even be able to make it worth your while…"
It was cheesy, cliché, and one of the oldest tricks in the book, Will knew, but he also knew that it was true. Morgan was just too selfless to do anything for himself, so he needed the excuse that it wasn't
for
him, even though he hadn't been fooled for a second.
Morgan's eyes widened at the implication before morphing into a sly grin. "You trying to seduce me, William Royce?"
With that mocking response, Will knew he had succeeded, that his hidden motive had been accepted.
"I wouldn't dream of it," he stated with a wicked grin of his own, grabbing Morgan's hand and gently tugging him toward the front doors.
It was one of the best nights of Will's life. Granted, it was nothing like the over-fantasized, drawn-out, and passionate scenes depicted in cheesy romance novels or overly-dramatized romantic films. Not in the slightest. It started with a steaming shower full of hesitant touches and awkward reassurances before moving to the bed where they took it slow and gentle. Sweet kisses and loving touches filled in the gaps between the awkward fumbles and embarrassing mistakes, but it didn't matter to Will, none of it mattered. All that mattered was that the boy—man, now—he cherished, the one he had fallen for, was sharing the moment with him. All their worries and fears, all their thoughts of the future and the pain from the past were drowned in the overwhelming sea of the present.
And for a night, everything was perfect in the world.
"Thank you, Will. For being so selfish," Morgan murmured afterward, both of them exhausted but happily content. And Will heard the tease for what it was. Morgan had known all along who this night had really been for. And he had accepted it not for himself, but for Will.
Will just snuggled closer to him in response, the smile never leaving his face even as he drifted off to sleep.
*~*~*
The weeks following Morgan's birthday were hard and trying for both of them. Morgan still came to the soup kitchen every day but Will could see adulthood wasn't kind to him His skin seemed paler than usual, dark bags seemed to never dissipate from beneath his eyes, and even though he came to the soup kitchen every day and was eating—Will made sure of it—Will thought he was getting thinner. Morgan admitted to him that he had been rejected by a few shelters and, despite the fact that the weather was not too terribly cold yet, it seemed to be dropping steadily. News and media blamed global warming, as was the norm for such drastic and unexpected changes in weather, but it didn't make any difference to Will. He knew Morgan's lean-to didn't come with insulation.
So one afternoon he paid a visit to one of the shelters, giving the owner a hefty donation to the shelter in return for the man's promise to not reject Morgan if he were to come knocking. The man graciously agreed, with promises and assurances that the money and Morgan would be well taken care of. And for a while, Morgan seemed better, telling Will how there was a shelter just down the street that was very accommodating and had not rejected him once yet. And Will feigned ignorance at the news. But he didn't have to fake the happiness he felt.
Of course it didn't last long. Somehow, through the vast homeless network that Will had yet to discover the inner working of, Morgan discovered what Will had done. He showed up at the soup kitchen, shaking with anger and dragging Will away from his work to yell and scream at him in the alley around the corner. It was the worst fight they had had yet, ending with Morgan still strumming with rage as tears filled his eyes and Will literally on his knees, begging for forgiveness, and spewing out a river of apologies and promises to never do such a thing again. They parted with an apologetic kiss and gentle embrace, Will murmuring encouragements and assurances that his faith in Morgan never wavered, that he still believed he could do it on his own, he could make his own way.
Morgan just nodded, no apologies having left his lips and anger still evident in his stance. But Will didn't say a word about it. He knew Morgan had every right to remain that way.
*~*~*
"She was
totally
into you Will," Andrew insisted, voice carrying over the sounds of the city nightlife as the group walked down the street toward the car parked but a few blocks from the house party they had just left.
Will huffed out a disbelieving laugh, his breath turning white in the bitter cold night air as he glanced sidelong at his high school buddies. "No, she wasn't. Didn't you see the way she kept looking over at Jared? She's a nerd herder, no doubt."
The group laughed at that, some almost falling over drunkenly in the process but being quickly righted by the more sober members. Will was proud to claim a right in the latter category for the first time in a while.
"Oh, come on! She was practically all over you! You can't deny that," Jaydan cut in. He immediately turned to Andrew and crudely mimicked Lucy's movements from just an hour ago. "Oh Will you're so strong, so handsome," he mocked in a high-pitched voice before almost falling into the street as Andrew shoved him away playfully.
"Was she really? I didn't notice." Total lie. He had known that Lucy was hitting on him, trying to convince him to take her home with him even though she was three drinks gone and working on a fourth. Or maybe it was because of that. Either way, he was not interested. She was pretty enough, with long dark hair and stunning hazel eyes that he had admired on more than one occasion during the years they had gone to school together, but he couldn't seem to see it anymore. In fact, all his previous crushes—more like lusts actually—and their stunning attributes had dulled in the recent weeks, until he could no longer see why he had been drawn to them in the first place. The beauty was still there, the personalities still present, but the draw, the attraction he had felt before, was gone.
And he had tried to deny the reason behind it, tried to persuade himself that it wasn't because he had found something else, some
one
else that dulled all others in comparison. But it was getting harder and harder to do so as the days passed, especially as he saw the subject in question every day.
Speaking of…
Movement caught Will's eye as he glanced over at Andrew and he watched as a figure wearing a familiar looking ratty beanie emerged out of the alley between Lapel and Harding across the street.
Was that Morgan? No, it couldn't be. Tonight was predicted to be the coldest of the year, with temperatures dropping to below thirty, and with the rain they had earlier in the day, the chances of a ground freeze was very high. And Will didn't doubt it, not with how his limbs were practically stiff with cold from just the short time they had been walking outside. Morgan had promised him that he wasn't going to stay out on the streets tonight. He assured Will that he was going to bunker down in the shelter off Tenth, that he knew the owner from his days with James and the man had guaranteed him a bed. It was only grudgingly and with a few more assurances and promises from Morgan—and some cheating as he grasped Will's hand and peppered his face with a few kisses, knowing full well what that did to him—that Will's worry had abated, if only slightly.
"Dude," Andrew remarked, interrupting Will's thoughts and bringing him back into the present, "you are completely oblivious these days, what has gotten into you?"
"I think the better question is who," Sam slurred, glancing over at Will from the other side of Andrew with clouded eyes and a big smirk on his face.
"What—no, nothing, I'm fine," Will answered distractedly, gaze still locked on the figure across the street. That was definitely Morgan. He would know that figure anywhere. He had, after all, studied it enough.
But what the hell was he doing out here at this time of night?
"I'm sorry, guys," Will blurted out before anyone could interrupt his thoughts, "I need to take care of something. You all go on without me. I'll take a cab home." He flashed them all a reassuring smile, watching out of the corner of his eye as the silhouette of Morgan stopped by a pile of blankets and conversed briefly with the figure inside.
"What—?" But Will was already darting across the street, ignoring the confusion written upon his friends' faces and the protests that died quickly upon their lips. They wouldn't care much in a minute, once they realized that their sober ride home was still amongst the group. Most were still too drunk to know even where they were. And Andrew would have his hands full in a second and forget all about Will's strange antics. He did feel slightly bad about leaving his friend to handle it on his own but there were more pressing matters.
Like Morgan.
"Morgs!" Will shouted, trying to get the attention of the dark silhouette as it retreated further down the street.
The figure stopped and turned, the street light above casting Morgan's sharp features in high relief, making him look surreal in the night air.
Will caught up quickly, taking a second to look over Morgan. He was hunched over, hands shoved deep into his coat pockets as his frame trembled slightly in the cold evening air. He had his beanie pulled down over his ears however one was poking through a rip in the side. His nose was beet red and white puffs of air obscured his face every time he exhaled. If it wasn't obvious enough that it was freezing outside, one look at Morgan would erase all doubt. And it would only get colder as the night wore on.
"What are you doing out here Morgs? I thought you would be in the shelter by now?"
"What, a guy can't take a walk?" Morgan replied easily, a mask of carefree nonchalance firmly in place. But it was effectively countered by the constant shivers that wracked his thin frame
Will cocked an eyebrow disbelievingly at Morgan. "At—" he checked his phone, "—twelve-thirty at night?"
"The air is freshest at this time," Morgan answered with a smile, but the nervous tick in his right hand, evident even through the thin fabric of the coat pocket, gave him away, the only thing he couldn't mask.
"Well, why don't I walk with you then and maybe even check out this shelter of yours," Will played along, hoping to catch Morgan in his lie.
Morgan just brushed it off easily saying, "Oh no that's ok, it's much too cold out here. I bet you want to get back home anyway."