Bill rolled over, checking the time on the clock. Eight-thirty. Not bad, especially for a Sunday. Ralph was already up; at least, he wasn't in the bed anymore. Bill and Ralph slept in the same bed – it helped with Ralph's nightmares and, well, Bill just liked sleeping in the same bed as Ralph.

Well, he should probably head to the kitchen. He was supposed to make breakfast this morning, and if he didn't hurry up, Ralph would be sitting down there with the breakfast all made, just watching him. Or he'd be curled up in some corner, terrified by a shadow.

Hopefully Ralph wasn't that hungry this morning, because Bill really wasn't very good at making… well, anything. Hopefully some toast would do? Providing he didn't burn it, of course; that had happened before. Many times before. Bill was just getting used to this whole 'living just with a slightly neurotic teenager that he was inexplicably attracted to' thing. Ralph's father had left plenty of money, and he sent more in the mail each week; some of it Bill's pay and the rest of it food money.

"Bill? Are you up yet?"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Bill yelled back, hurriedly putting on a pair of pants. He debated putting a shirt on, but decided against it. Who knew, Ralph could see Bill's unclothed torso and be overcome madly with lust and then they'd end up making out and Bill was definitely open to that.

He'd gotten over his previous trepidations about liking a boy for the most part. Now really the only thing that held him back was how fragile Ralph seemed. He didn't want to send the kid to an asylum. That's where Roger had ended up (and escaped, Bill had heard, but he wasn't about to tell Ralph that, because Ralph was really only held together by the fact that he thought that Roger was safely locked up), and Bill had heard that they weren't very nice.

Bill bounded down the stairs. Yep. Ralph was making food. He'd managed to make eggs without burning them, a feat that was too much for Bill. "Huh," Bill said. "I never knew you could cook."

Ralph glanced up at Bill and grinned. He'd gotten a lot more comfortable around Bill, it seemed – Bill wasn't looking forward to Ralph finding out that he had actually been one of the savages. If he ever did, of course; there was always the chance that Ralph would never find out. Ever. Bill was hoping that that was what would happen. He had a feeling that Ralph wouldn't be so keen on Bill sleeping in his bed if that was the case.

Bill had the urge to go over to Ralph and kiss him. He'd been feeling like this for… well, a really long time, actually, but he'd always fought it back. Today, though… they'd been living in the same house for over a week, all alone. And the first night they'd seen each other, they'd kissed. And it had been great! But nothing else had happened.

Nothing else at all.

Bill felt like he needed to fix this.

So, after Ralph set the eggs down on the table – Bill really didn't want to risk the chance of them burning and him not getting a good breakfast – Bill grabbed him around the waist and kissed him. Ralph made a small noise of surprise, but other than that, didn't do anything. Bill opened one eye. Ralph was staring up at him, startled, and Bill flushed red. He let go of Ralph and broke the kiss, backing away.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I… I have to go."

He took off, slipping on his shoes and grabbing the shirt he'd worn yesterday, putting it on as he walked down the street. It was cold; it was freezing, actually, but he walked quickly, and it wasn't that bad.

He stopped just outside of a shop and, freezing cold, decided to head inside. It was fancy inside – a bit too fancy for Bill to feel comfortable in. He felt his pocket and noticed that he did have his pocket. Good. Maybe he could buy something. Maybe that would make him feel better. Maybe he could find something that would make him feel less self-conscious…

Like that pair of sunglasses over there.

Bill walked quickly, grabbing the sunglasses off of the rack and trying them on. He stared at himself in the mirror. Yeah. That would work.

They were kind of expensive, he realized as he checked out the price tag, but nothing he couldn't afford with the insane amount Ralph's dad paid him.

Seven minutes later, Bill walked out of the shop with the sunglasses on his face. He looked… well, cool. Very cool. And while Bill had always been a pretty cool guy, the sunglasses cemented the fact. Now, when people looked at him, they'd think 'oh, hey, who's that cool guy?' instead of 'oh, look, it's just another tall, nicely-muscled blond kid.'

Or they'd think that he was a delinquent looking for some windows to smash, but, hey. Why couldn't he be a delinquent?

When he got back to the house, Ralph was waiting by the door. "I'm sorry," was the first thing out of the other blond's mouth. The second was, "Where did you get those?"

Bill, suddenly self-conscious and grateful for his new sunglasses, crossed his arms. "I bought them. I like them. They're cool."

Ralph grinned a little. It was a little harder to see things with the sunglasses on inside, but his eyes would adjust, and soon he'd be used to the dimmer light. "What a cool guy," Ralph muttered. "Never thought such a cool guy would like me."

Bill turned slightly pink. "So, um," he said. "How did you feel about that?"

"The kissing thing?" Ralph asked. "I… well, I liked it. I guess."

"You guess?"

"No, no, I did. I liked it. You're good at that sort of thing," Ralph amended. Bill smirked.

"Would you be opposed to doing it again?"

Ralph shook his head, turning slightly pink. Bill grinned and tugged Ralph toward him by his waist, dipping down to kiss him.

"Wait," Ralph said. Bill paused. "I can't do this if half of your face is covered up."

"Alright," Bill said, taking off his sunglasses and putting them on the nearest surface. "Now are we good?"

"Yeah," Ralph said, a little breathless. "But shouldn't we go somewhere that's better… for this sort of thing?"

"Right," Bill said, grabbing Ralph and throwing him over his shoulder. He was heavier than he looked, but still light enough for Bill to carry into the bedroom. "Here we go."

He lowered Ralph gently, not wanting to hurt him. Ralph's face was bright red – whether it was from the blood rushing to his head or embarrassment, Bill didn't know. But what he did know was that he needed to get his shoes and shirt off right away.

He fumbled with the buttons on his shirt and ended up popping two of the buttons off, discarding the shirt and grabbing Ralph again to kiss him. Ralph kissed him back, burying his hands in Bill's hair. Bill moved his hands down to Ralph's chest, intending to get rid of Ralph's shirt, too. One of Ralph's hands slipped from Bill's head and onto his bare back, clenching and unclenching, scratching his back a little.

Bill eventually got Ralph's shirt off and, backing away a little to get the shirt over Ralph's head, tossed it to the dark corners of Ralph's room. Ralph was gaining weight again; that was good, he wasn't just skin-and-bones like when Bill had first seen him again. He was beginning to fill out; Bill could still see his ribs but couldn't count each one.

Ralph pulled him down to kiss him again and Bill, not expecting this, slipped and then their chests were pressed together, lips pressed together, Ralph's eyes closed but Bill's open. Bill broke the kiss and Ralph opened his eyes to give Bill a questioning gaze. Bill met Ralph's gaze with what he hoped was a reassuring look, then began to kiss Ralph's neck, nipping a little at his collar bone and grinning against his skin when Ralph's back arched and he let out a soft moan. Ralph's hands went back to Bill's back, his fingernail's digging into the soft skin. Bill's hands went to Ralph's sides, his fingers tracing over Ralph's ribs.

Bill's mouth moved down to Ralph's nipple, sucking on it and enjoying the feeling of Ralph pressing up against him.

And then Ralph's fingernail's dug into Bill's back with a renewed energy. Bill jerked his head up, staring Ralph straight in the eyes.

"Sorry," Ralph said. Bill rolled over so that he was lying beside Ralph and shrugged.

"S'okay," he said.

this chapter involved copious amounts of hand sanitizer