Five years after the island.
Bill was having a fairly okay time – he'd come home to a new little sister, which had been kind of weird, but he was getting used to it. Almost as soon as he'd gotten back from the island, his parents had taken him and moved him far away from any of the others. Something about 'everyone else being psychotic except that poor boy Ralph and those cute little twins.'
Bill was fairly certain that, if everyone else was considered psychotic, he should be considered psychotic, too. After all, he'd been savage, too. Not as savage as Roger or Jack, but savage nonetheless.
But he wasn't complaining.
He hadn't seen any of the other kids from the island in the five years he'd been back. Once he'd seen a pair of twins that he swore were Samneric, but when he looked again they were gone.
And then one day, while he was walking home from school, he noticed that someone was moving in next door. Naturally, he completely ignored the phenomenon and continued into his house. He had homework to get to, after all. And a small child to watch, because she got out of school twenty minutes earlier than he did, so she was always home alone for a few minutes.
He couldn't avoid the new people that had moved in forever, though, and soon they knocked on his door. Bill set Cecelia up with a piece of paper and a pencil and went to go answer the door.
On the other side of the door was Ralph.
"Oh," Bill said. "Hey, Ralph."
Ralph quite obviously didn't recognize him. "How do you know my name?" he asked. Bill rolled his eyes.
"It's Bill."
"Bill who?"
"From… you know…"
Ralph paled and backed up a few steps, nearly toppling off of Bill's porch.
Yep, he'd remembered.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you," Bill said, rolling his eyes. "Come in."
Ralph hesitated.
"C'mon, it's not like it's Jack or Roger," Bill said. Ralph hesitated for a few more moments, then Bill grabbed his hand and pulled him in. Ralph tensed up, but Bill ignored that. "I'm not psychotic."
"It's just weird," Ralph said. He looked a lot different than he had when they'd first landed on the island – he'd gotten taller, but he was thin. Too thin. His hair was too long, as if to hide his face, and he had dark shadows under his eyes as if he hadn't been sleeping well. For five years? Bill wondered Hasn't he forgotten already?
"Do you want something to eat?" Bill asked. Ralph shook his head and Bill shrugged. "Suit yourself."
They made their way to the living room. Ralph sat perched on the edge of the couch like he was ready for something to attack him. Bill slumped into the couch, watching Cecelia draw at the little coffee table. Ralph, too, took an interest in Cecelia.
"What are you drawing?" he asked her. She looked up at him and smiled.
"We're learning farm animals in school. I'm drawing a piggy," she said. Ralph paled and Bill buried his face in his hands. Of all the things she could've been drawing… and she couldn't have just called it a pig? It would still probably be emotionally damaging to Ralph, but not as emotionally damaging.
"Why don't you go get some cookies?" Bill suggested to Cecelia, who nodded and bounded away. "Sorry about that."
Ralph nodded. He was gaining some of his color back, and Bill awkwardly put an arm around his shoulders. He was not sure what he was doing – no, he had no idea what he was doing. Not at all. But Ralph leaned into him, so it worked.
Bill was suddenly aware of how close they were. He shifted, and Ralph shifted with him. "So…" Bill said, trailing off. Ralph looked up at him. "How's it been?"
"Okay," Ralph said. His voice was quiet – too quiet. He really was nothing like the Ralph Bill had known on the island. The Ralph from the island had been confident, boyish, playful… this kid was just quiet.
He needed to loosen up a bit.
"Why don't you stay over tonight?" Bill suggested. Ralph looked a bit hesitant. "If anything happens… well…"
"I do live just over there…" Ralph trailed off. Bill grinned.
"Right. Go tell your parents you'll be staying over. I'll… make sure Cecelia doesn't get in too much trouble."
It was a fact. Bill was undeniably attracted to Ralph.
Ralph had taken a shower before the two went up to Bill's room to get away from Cecelia. And Ralph had apparently not completely dried off his hair, because it was still stuck to his face and it was really, really attractive.
Bill had thought that he didn't like boys.
Maybe he was right about that, but he certainly liked Ralph.
"Hi," Bill said. His voice was near to cracking. Ralph nodded to him and sat down on the floor next to him – too close, too close, Bill was fairly certain that he was just going to jump on Ralph if he got any closer.
Ralph got closer.
Bill tensed up. He was almost having to physically restrain himself from just grabbing Ralph and molesting him. Ralph really needed to stop being so damn attractive. "You're looking at me funny," Ralph said. Bill flushed a dark red.
"I'm sorry," he muttered. They sat there, just looking at each other for a few moments before Ralph moved a little bit closer.
Okay, now he was just being mean.
Bill grabbed his head and kissed him. Ralph squeaked, startled, and the two fell over, Ralph's back pressing against the floor. Ralph gaped up at him. Bill, who was still bright red, just stared down at Ralph.
"Oh," Ralph said.
"Yeah."
It was an awkward silence for a few more minutes until Bill kissed Ralph again. This time Ralph responded in a better way than falling over, reaching up and grabbing Bill's head to pull him closer. They were growing increasingly tangled, Ralph's hands buried in Bill's light hair and Bill's hands pushing Ralph's hair away from his face so that he could get a better angle. Their legs were tangled already.
Bill heard someone running up the stairs but didn't register it until his door was pushed open. Cecelia stood on the other side, gaping. "Bill!" she said. "You have a boyfriend."
Bill scrambled off of Ralph, bright red once again. Ralph sat up. "Uh," Bill said. "If possible, could you not mention this to Mom and Dad?"
So, this is the first chapter! I'm not quite sure what this is going to entail, but I just really fell in love with this pairing. And also Bill.
