Disclaimer: Pokémon and its related properties are copyrighted to The Pokémon Company and Nintendo, respectively.

A Yearning for the Mud
Chapter Twenty Six – Homecoming

The lawn is pressed by unseen feet, and ghosts return
Gently at twilight, gently go at dawn
This sad intangible who grieve and yearn – T.S. Eliot

XFollowing throngs of young men and women dressed in pressed suits and glittery gowns, Wallace stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie as his sneakers slapped the pavement, slicked wet by a bout of cloudburst earlier in the day.

Wallace clenched his cell phone tighter the closer he came to the Origin Center. Despite having no desire to attend, Wallace found himself drawn to the homecoming dance along with a group of girls in gowns that made them look like cupcake toppers, the thundering of electronic notes pumping from the building beckoning them.

Checking his phone again to no messages, Wallace sighed and paced in a circle until he forced himself to keep walking toward the entrance. No one greeted him at any of the four automatic doors that led into the lobby so Wallace headed in. His feet disturbed a bed of balloons in the school colors as he found a place, out of the way, to wait. Giving his phone another look, hoping Izumi's name would come on the screen, Wallace folded his arms and propped himself against one of the oval pillars that supported the indoor balcony as he watched his classmates saunter through, leaving paths in the layer of balloons, as they headed for the gymnasium.

"Sorry, I'm late!"

Wallace craned back, expecting to find some sweaty and distraught senior apologizing to his date, but instead it was Izumi who came bounding through the door, a long black dress bag held high. "Why are you here?" he asked, his eyes sizing Izumi up before he scanned the lobby, though no one seemed to be paying them any attention. "I told you to call me when you had something. We have to stop this video from being played."

Izumi hunched over, hands on his knees, as he sucked in air. "Just hear me out," he wheezed, wincing as he thrust the dress bag out to Wallace and nodded toward the bathrooms. "In there."

Flaring his nostrils and giving the lobby another look, Wallace crossed over to the opposite wall and pushed into the men's room. Straining to hear, it seemed that the H shaped bathroom was vacant.

Izumi followed him in and slammed the door shut, flipping the lock behind him. "Alright, so game plan?" he asked as he tossed the bag to Wallace.

"I don't have one, that's why I hired you!" Wallace growled as he laid the bag across one of the sink counters and unzipped it. At first glimpse he thought the bag was empty, the interior as black as the outside, but upon feeling inside Wallace pulled out a black tuxedo jacket along with a vest, tie, slacks, socks, and a bowtie. "What the hell?" Wallace jiggled the bag, two large lumps at the bottom bumping against his legs. "Are there shoes in here? What is going on?"

"Cinderella, it's time to go the ball," Izumi said, showing all his teeth in a wide grin.

"How does this help?" Wallace asked, shaking his fist with the bowtie between his fingers. "Somehow Willow has the video and she's going to show it and I have no clue what's on it and why she has it and you brought me a suit." Wallace dropped the tuxedo accessories back into the back and hung his head as he stretched out his neck. "My head hurts."

"Put it on and let me explain what the situation is," Izumi said, hands clasped in front of his chest.

"You want me to wear this?" Wallace asked.

"Yes, you're going to the dance," Izumi said. "I've done my research on you, Wally, and I know that you have not lived any kind of life stuck in the bell tower Arlan kept you in. Do you even know how to dance?"

"I started taking lessons when I was six, I stopped last summer," Wallace said under his breath, though the tiled room echoed every word. "How does this help?" he asked, looking to Izumi. "The video, it could be anything."

"Exactly," Izumi said, dropping his hands on Wallace's shoulders. "Anything. So why are we expecting it to be bad?"

"I talked to Azalea yesterday, Andrew's other girlfriend. She was with him after his birthday party before he vanished. She said he was determined to do something when he left her," Wallace said.

Izumi shrugged and leaned against the wall as he made a show out of cleaning his ears. "Is that supposed to mean something to me? As I recall when I came to you asking for more information about the night Andrew disappeared you brushed me off. I've put together a lot that you haven't told me, but there's still a few hours missing from my timeline."

"Unless the video is a sex tape or something, it has to be one he made before he came to my house," Wallace said. "And I know what he came to my house to do. So you have to do something! Bring Sid here and have him kidnap Willow or something."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Izumi said, waving his hands in front of him. "You're getting all paranoid and high strung on me again. Put on the suit and let me explain what I've been up to for the past few days. Besides, if we stay in this bathroom with the door locked for much longer someone is going to come knocking and that's gonna be one awkward exit we're gonna have to make."

Wallace sighed as he snatched the dress bag from the sink and dipped into one of the stalls. Ignoring the horrors of undressing in a public bathroom, Wallace made quick work of dressing and found himself taking delight in slipping on remnants of his old life: designer dress socks, pressed slacks, tailored dress shirt, vest, jacket, and polished black shoes. As he left the stall he fastened a pair of cuff links he found in the pockets into place and adjusted his bowtie.

Izumi greeted him with a whistle as he sat on the sink and gave Wallace a soft round of applause. "Boy blunder has returned," he said. "But you might want to put your glasses back on, even with your recent dye job, wearing Lumiose's finest it's hard not to see you as the heir to Kalos."

Wallace nodded as he approached the sinks and focused on himself in the mirror. Despite the hair, with the discount clothing out of the way he couldn't help but see his old life reflected back at him. "I'm dressed, now what?" Savoring the moment, Wallace slipped his thick rimmed glasses on slowly and adjusted the tux.

"So, this whole thing started with some anonymous hint that someone dropped that the video even existed right?" Izumi asked.

"That anonymous hint goes here. Her name is Shannon," Wallace said as he rubbed his temples, reminding himself that Shannon had become a big a problem as Willow. "She worked for my father at some point and noticed the private video had gone up, she mentioned it and the news spread."

"Correct, and without the approval of Andrew's parents the video cannot be played through official channels," Izumi added as he pretended to check an invisible watch on his wrist. "And as of two hours ago, neither Charles or Carrie have given their permission. So the video cannot be shown on the news or any credible station hoping to stay in business, which means the only one it's going to be played is by an unofficial channel."

"You're telling me things I already know," Wallace groaned as he kept stealing glances at himself in the mirror. He wondered what his entrance to the dance would be like and if anyone would notice him.

"My point in mentioning that is that you said the Willow girl plans on showing the video during homecoming. Well, no matter how tech savvy she thinks she is it's hard for anyone who isn't a professional to broadcast something like that region wide," Izumi said. "So my bet is that she only plans on showing it on campus, for whatever reason. Which means she either has to be inside the IT department to do it or is somehow going to play the video from inside the dance. Her phone, for example, she could connect it to the televisions and broadcast the video."

"So we know where she'll be when she tries to play it," Wallace said, his eyes focused on a random spot on the counter as the gears in his mind clicked into place. "We can stop her."

"Yes," Izumi said with the snap of his fingers. "If she's not at the dance we know she's somewhere where she can broadcast, probably somewhere she has no right being and we can get a professor or chaperone involved. If she is inside the dance, that's where you come in, if you see her with anything that looks like a phone or anything, her Pokédex, I don't care, get it out of her hand. Step on it, drop it in the punch bowl, slip it down your pants, do whatever it takes to keep her away from it. You came alone tonight right?" Izumi asked as he slid off the counter and unlocked the bathroom door, peering outside.

"Yeah," Wallace said. "Neo and Garret left ahead of me, I didn't say I was coming."

"Perfect, then your best bet on keeping Willow from playing the video is to be her date." Izumi brushed Wallace's shoulders and pushed him toward the door. "Dance with her, leave the dance with her, keep her distracted."

"You've got my number, call me if you need something," Izumi said as he rushed back through the bathroom and collected Wallace's street clothes. "I'm going to hang around campus pretending to be a random alumni taking a trip down memory lane."

Wallace watched students spill out from the dance, girls hanging onto each other as they staggered in one long line toward the ladies room and boys snapping pictures with each other until the purple and blue glow from the dance room.

Gliding across the lobby, balloons parting beneath him, Wallace stepped under a wave of streamers that adorned the entry and into the dance. A grand transformation had taken place in the gymnasium with streamers and balloons that covered every inch of the steel frame ceiling. Flashing club lights cast blue and violet beams across the room, basking the entire gym in a cool hue that complemented the thumping baseline that had students gathered in the middle of the floor dancing to. The bottom rows of bleachers on each side of the gym acted as seats for those unwilling to dance and tables, draped in school colors, held snacks and drinks for the students.

"Wallace!"

Spinning on his heels, Wallace found Cole standing behind a drink stand in a white t-shirt and dark slacks. "Hi?" he asked as he migrated uneasily toward the table. Three glass punchbowls laid in front of Cole with mountains of blue plastic cups surrounding them.

"Thirsty?" Cole asked as he filled a cup before Wallace could answer.

Wallace nodded as he took the cup and pressed his lips to the rim, but didn't drink. Instead he took a moment to study Cole, to remind himself that the boy serving drinks was the same one that made Ben pee himself in the safari several weeks ago. Under the dance lights Cole's skin shone like bronze and his gold hazel eyes seemed to pierce the dim settings as he watched him fake drinking.

"C'mon, drink, it's a party," Cole said as he reached over and pushed on the bottom of Wallace's cup.

Fearful of spilling on himself, Wallace gulped the punch, a bitter taste burning the back of his tongue and throat as he finished. Wallace coughed, dropping the cup on the floor, and worsened the burn in his throat that made his eyes water. "What was that?" he rasped, the taste of tainted berries slathered across his tastebuds.

"Punch," Cole said, his eyes large and shining under the lights. "With a little Cole magic," he added as he lifted his own cup and took a long sip.

Watching Cole drink, his eyes never blinking or straying from him, Wallace fished a guess Cole was possibility insane, in a fun way. "Magic, huh?" he asked as he leaned over the punch bowls and inhaled.

"What's a party without a little magic?" Cole asked, shrugging as he filled his own cup and grabbed a new cup off the stack and filled it, sliding it across the table for Wallace.

Wallace eyed the cup and Cole, who grinned and stuck his tongue out. Wallace relented and he picked his cup up and started sipping.

"Is magic code for alcohol?"

Almost spitting his drink out, Wallace wiped at his mouth as Serena leaned over the table, her dark hair practically purple and her red thigh length dress shining under lights. "Se-Serena, we weren't –"

"Relax, I don't care," she said as she squeezed his shoulder as she rounded the table. "The chaperones couldn't care less what we do." Serena leaned against the table and pointed across the dance.

Following her arm, Wallace found Professor Sutcliffe and an older woman, presumably his wife, dancing behind a snack table. Professor Stratton was also locked in the embrace of a man as well as Professor Oakburn. Professor McCloud and Xan were dancing comically close to a group of students while Professor Till and Summers stood by, chatting to each other.

Serena sighed as she gazed over the room. "I've thrown an incredible dance, one that will go down in the history of homecomings, but I'm leaving," she said as she dipped her pinky into one of the punch bowls and licked her nail. "Gross," she said, her eyes flicking to Cole.

"What kind of Homecoming Princess leaves the dance she throws?" Cole asked, shrugging like a child and spilling some of his drink under Serena's stare.

"The kind that misses her boyfriend," Serena said as she backed away from the table and headed to the door. "It's not fun if Nat is stuck in the clinic with all those hag nurses." Serena kissed her hand before she waved to the boys and vanished into the lobby.

"As interesting as I am," Cole said, dragging his hands across his chest to drive home his point. "I don't expect you to stand here all night, go find something to dance with, preferably something in a low-cut dress."

Wallace turned to the dance that pulsed with energy as a new song started and the crowd in the middle of the gym grew thicker as couples and groups gathered for one big dance crowd. Eyes drifting from the center of the room, Wallace found Garret and Arlette slow dancing, despite the song calling for everything but. Near them, Eleanor and Neo moved slightly faster as they twirled between two snack tables, yards from the main dance crowd.

Following the line of tables, Wallace found Travis, dressed in a white shirt and dark vest, spinning Tempest under his arm as they danced.

Making his way around the edge of the gym, eyes peeled for Willow, Wallace watched the dance mob. The mass of bodies near the center looked like one large moving figure, but near the edges he saw students dancing in small packs. He found Persia, dressed down in a nice suit rather than a sequined dressed, as she seemed to have found the perfect spot on the floor. One club light remained focused on her and people orbited her, the small group moving as synthpop beats and sultry lyrics urged the students to read each other's body language. He watched Calvin emerge from the main group and take claim spot place before Persia, their bodies molding through the songs' last verse.

As the pop beats slowed and what took over was a crooning singer's voice, the groups broke apart and reformed for the slow song, though not everyone had a partner. Wallace watched many from the main group wander away toward the snack tables, suddenly in need of a drink.

He offered reassuring and nonjudgmental smiles to them as he moved further from the tables and found himself walking the line of benches, passing students who were dressed for class rather than a dance. As the music swelled near its finish Azalea emerged from between two tables and practically ran him over.

"Sorry!" she gasped. "I saw you come in! I'm so glad you're here! You look amazing!" she said, gripping his arm. "C'mon and dance with me!" Azalea snatched Wallace's cup from him and gulped the rest of Cole's magic party punch and tugged him away from the wallflower bench.

Fresh from the dance floor, Azalea looked flushed and effortlessly alluring in a revealing lace dress and heels that practically erased their height difference, Wallace resisted the urge to fight back as she dragged him onto the floor as the beats of a new song started. Shuffling through the crush of bodies, Wallace found himself and Azalea pressed against other students as the crowd moved as one.

The music pulsed with minimalist beats and soft drops and Wallace felt ridiculous trying to dance while minding the flying limbs and bodies of his classmates, but found his hips swaying in time with Azalea's. As the music grew louder, Wallace internalized the beat, feeling it hum through his bones as he danced with Azalea, their bodies shifting closer with each bar.

Catching glimpses through the mass of bodies, Wallace found a head of white-blonde hair and Willow's face blue and purple face in the crowd gyrating in a pastel blue dress that reflected the strobe lights well. Grabbing Azalea and carving through the crowd, Wallace moved closer to Willow, making a bubble for the three of them as they fell back into the rhythm.

"Hi!" Azalea screamed, though it was barely heard above the music as she swirled in circles, her hips knocking from side to side with each beat of the drum as she danced on Willow.

"She's friendly," Willow said, her head draped on Wallace's shoulder as her her upper body moved to the beat.

Inhaling, he found the familiar scent of Cole's punch on her breath. "Yeah," he said into her ear as Azalea seemed to fade out of their dance equation as he focused on Willow.

The crowd swayed to the right, everyone's body moving like slaves to the rhythm before they regained formation. Wallace moved closer to Willow, her hair falling free over her face that often concealed one of her eyes. Azalea shimmied around them, dancing behind Willow and grinding her body against the girl while Wallace worked against her front, their hands grasping and exploring each other to the point Wallace wasn't sure who was who.

"I know what you want," Willow said, her lips brushing Wallace's ear as her hands found his lapels.

"What?" he whispered.

"I heard you in the bathroom, talking to someone," Willow said, her words slurred and her voice heavy. "Talking about me and the video and I know you're friends with that geek with the baby computer attached to his arm." Willow leaned back and rolled her eyes toward the crowd. "Is that why you're dancing on me? You think you're going to get the video from me and post it first? Think I'm carrying it on a flash drive or something and you're going to pickpocket it?" Willow asked as her hands roamed, one slipping inside Wallace's jacket and she playfully prodded the inner pocket while her other hand slid down his side and groped his pocket.

"No! No, no, no," Wallace said, trying to keep moving to the rhythm as Willow had, despite her words catching him off guard. "I don't care about posting the video, no."

"Sure," she slurred. "You don't care, yeah I'll believe that. And what makes you so special?"

"What makes you so special?" he fired back. "You said you don't care either, but you want to post it."

"To put an end to it!" she said. "I'm so sick of hearing his name, Andrew," she said, the way a bully would mock their victim. "I think when people die they should stay dead and not have every piece of their personal life dragged through the media."

"So why hold onto the video?" he asked. "Why post it?"

"If I don't, someone else will!" Willow said, rolling her eyes. "And if I do it, it's for the right reasons, to put an end to the theories and all the conspiracies and all the big business bullshit. I'm doing it for the right reason, these other... followers, they just want their time in the limelight by talking about Andrew."

"Have you watched it?" Wallace asked, his pace slowing as the song changed into something more instrumental with less energy.

"I told you, I don't care," Willow said, smirking as she pried Wallace's hands off her and detached herself from Azalea. "Thanks for the dance, if you'll excuse me I've got to check my network strength."

Wallace moved to follow her as she slipped into the crowd, but Azalea falling onto him stopped him as he caught her. "Are you okay?"

"Water," she groaned. "I need water. Wallace, the moon is spinning. Pff! The moon," she giggled. "I mean the room, the room is minning, spinning, whatever."

"Okay, let's find a seat," Wallace said as she held Azalea, her short legs tangling as she struggled to remain vertical as they pushed out from the crowd. Guiding Azalea toward the bench, Wallace sat her down and propped her back against the bleacher before he took a seat beside her. "You okay?"

Azalea bobbed her head and shut her eyes. "Tired. I danced too hard out there, I shut it down out there."

Wallace giggled, high and girl-like before he got to his feet and found the nearest drink table and grabbed a bottle of water and another cup of punch. Returning to Azalea he found her lying on her side on the bench, her clunky black heels crossed at the ankles as she swung her legs through the air. "I got you water," he said, twisting the cap off for her.

"Did you know he loved to dance?" Azalea asked as she made a weak attempt for the bottle of water and placed it on the ground.

"Hm?" Wallace asked, mid-gulp, Cole's punch getting less and less disgusting with every mouthful.

"Andrew, he loved to dance," Azalea whined. "I know I said I wanted to be able to move on at some point, but so many things remind me of him and to think he might really be dead... it hurts."

Wallace finished his cup and laid a hand on Azalea's back, rubbing in circles as he listened to her faint cries. "I'm sorry," he said as he looked at his empty cup. As he thought about licking up the last drops, Cole swooped by and swapped his cup for one filled to the brim.

"No empty cups!" Cole announced as he punted the empty plastic cup into the bleachers to the applause of many.

Grinning, Wallace chugged the new cup, but paused halfway as his stomach churned and he thought he might spit up, but rather than stop he decided on sipping slowly.

The sound of balloons popping startled the crowd and the gym filled with gasps as heads turned toward the entrance where a boy stood with his hands gripping the doorframe. "It's happening!"

As if the fire alarm had gone off, the gymnasium emptied as students sprinted to the doors and poured into the lobby. Wallace stood and crouched in front of Azalea whose eyes had closed, her mouth opening and closing as she napped. "Azalea, are you coming?" he asked, nearly falling over, unable to balance on the balls of his feet. Without a response, Wallace shot up, too quickly, and stumbled toward the exit, noting the gym had practically cleared out except for Willow who was fast walking from the opposite side. "You did it," he said.

"I didn't do anything!" she shrieked as she shook her phone in the air. "I wasn't ready to send it yet! Someone must have hacked me!" she cried. "No!"

Falling through the doorway, Wallace bounced off the back of one student and fell into the brick wall that he slinked down as he followed the glow of a television screen hanging off a wall. Several students stood in silence below the screen, mouths agape and eyes wide as a news channel ran a special bulletin announcing the footage of the video.

"Just a few moments ago we received the clip from Andrew Gates's personal PokéView account and a phone call from Andrew's parents who have already viewed the video, and given up their permission to play it for you now," a blonde woman behind a desk said as a box by her head enlarged swallowed her.

The black box changed in hue, the black becoming a dark grey before blue took over the screen and audio pumped from the television. Wallace turned to find several televisions in the lobby all turned to the same channel and every student standing below them, transfixed to the screens.

Wallace listened to the fumbling of hands around a camera, a sound that caused his throat to clog before Andrew's ashen face appeared on screen as he held the camera down in front of him. The lobby came to life with gasps and cries and shrieks as Andrew looked left and right from his camera.

"Hi," he said as he gave the camera a wide smile. "My name is Andrew Gates and I'm standing outside the home of Arlan Pearce." Andrew changed the camera's angle until it was level with his face and he showed the face of Wallace's home, the front door dark. "I'm uh about to go inside and expose Arlan Pearce for his crimes of extortion," he said as he brought a hand up and shook a flash drive for the camera to see.

Andrew wet his lips as he looked around him again, apparently startled by every sound of the city. "This video is my insurance," he said, his voice quiet before he rubbed at his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Andrew's hand stayed on his face for a moment, his lips trembling and when his hand fell always his glassy and tear filled eyes were plain to see.

"If you're watching this, if anyone is watching this, it means I wasn't able to delete it and uh – it means... it means that I entered the Pearce home, but never left." Andrew turned, giving the camera a sight of street lights behind him as he faced the Pearce's townhouse. Andrew's chin quivered, the subtle shaking visible on screen before he wiped at his eyes as tears spilled down his cheeks. "God... The man you know Arlan to be is not who he really is. Okay?"

Andrew's face disappeared from sight and instead a view of his sneakers appeared on screen while sniffling and shuffling could be heard behind the camera. After minutes of his feet, Andrew turned the camera back on him, his eyes red as he swiped at snot under his nose. Andrew smiled at the camera before he finger combed his hair and wiped at his eyes again. "This could be my last video ever, I can't look crazy," he said, laughing. "Um, if I can't delete this, if I don't come out, if I go missing... If I die, find Wallace Pearce, okay? Find Wallace." Andrew nodded to the camera before he looked to the sky and back to the camera. "Arlan, he likes to step on the little people and make them feel like they don't matter and like they are easily forgotten. I know if something happens to me, a lot of you would want to know what happened and would want justice for me. But Wallace, he's my best friend and if there's anything I trust more than anything it's him. He won't let his father get away with making me disappear. Find Wallace." Andrew nodded as his eyes darted over the screen and the sound of hands against the camera came from the television before the screen went black.

The television faded to complete black until the box shrank and the paled face of the blonde woman came back on screen. The line was dead for several seconds before the woman seemed to reanimate and cough and fiddle with items on her desks. "Sorry, excuse me," she said as she turned from the camera and wiped her eyes, but then stood out of her chair and rushed off set.

The camera panned and spun on the set before another desk with a man behind it camera into view. He coughed into his hand as the camera focused on him before he started to speak, but as he started talking sound faded from Wallace's ears.

A painful knot tightened in Wallace's gut as color vanished from the lobby. The once colorful balloons that decorated the floor faded to black as Wallace watched the students around him come to life. Their mouths stretched open wider, the veins in their necks bulging as they faced each other and seemed to scream, roar actually, at each other.

With slurred and laggard movements, Wallace left the lobby, his feet carrying him down a seemingly endless hallway that took him past the indoor track until he was at a back door. The tightness of his stomach caused him to clench his jaws and he fought the urge to vomit as he pushed the door's bar and stumbled outside.

Fresh air only agitated his stomach as he stumbled from a stone platform behind the building down a flight of steps and onto the beach that led to the bay waters in a number of yards. Sound slowly bled back into Wallace's world with the crush of waves and the cry of flying-types somewhere above him. A voice calling his name caused Wallace to look back and he found Don staggering from the building, gripping the railing for support as he tripped down onto the beach.

While focused on Don's clumsy steps, Wallace hit a rock and fell over, earning him a mouthful of sand. He dug his arms and feet through the sand in an attempt to get his balance as he heard Don fall into the sand behind him. "Don, go, you can't be here," he muttered, though he couldn't be sure if Don had even heard him.

"I have to be here!" Don gasped, sitting up in the sand, the front of his suit dusted with sand. "I fought so hard to be here! They kept telling me no, no, no, no!" he said, shaking his head violently with each word. "But I'm here, and I'm gonna do this."

Wallace's face twisted as he watched Don struggle to even sit up straight and form coherent sentences. "Drunk, you're drunk," he said as he rolled over on the beach and spread his arms and legs. Flattening himself to the sand, Wallace felt his stomach convulse as a new kind of pain wracked his body. Not physical or even mental, rather pain brought on by the absence of feeling. A hollowing feeling opened up in his chest by the clip of Andrew's video and with its arrival every piece of joy was ripped from him, leaving him raw and exposed to every kind of pain. The wind scraped his face and the waves and cries of pokémon made his ears bleed.

"Don, leave, I can't do this right now, my mind," he said, as he touched his fingers to his temples and pressed hard, mimicking the feeling of a searing migraine. He looked up at the stars, attempting to focus on just one, but ended up tracking each of the small glints of light above him at once.

"I haven't had the courage until now, Cole helped me," Don said, his voice deepening as he burped and crawled toward Wallace.

As if watching it all in a delayed reaction, Wallace didn't realize how close Don had come until he felt lips against his mouth. Wallace stayed still for a minute, two, maybe less, maybe just seconds, but he felt Don's mouth moving across his own before he kissed back, and then their mouths opened. Wallace didn't do anything as Don's face smushed his glasses between them.

Don lifted up and smiled, lopsided and drunk and rather than stop him, Wallace removed his glasses, folding them down against his chest as Don swung a leg over and straddled him. Don's hands came to rest on the sides of Wallace's face, his fingers nesting in the short strands of his hair as his thumbs traced across Wallace's cheeks and down his lips.

Don's head tipped from side to side and Wallace read his expression as vague. He could have liked the shape of Wallace's teeth or found something interesting in the sand. Wallace's eyes fluttered as he considered stopping him, but before he could say anything he felt Don's lips molding to his again.

Don put his hand on Wallace's chest, unmoving, which Wallace felt trapped under, despite possibly being able to overpower Don, Wallace let himself settle deeper into the sand as Don's tongue grazed his lips. "It's okay," Don breathed. "Touch me."

Wallace's hands moved like a robot's, slow and mechanical, as they came together over Don's back before they touched down like sailors on a foreign island, staking claim in uncharted territory. As his hands came apart and his fingers traced the center of Don's back Wallace felt the boy on top of him moving and shifting in response to his touch that dared him to move lower.

Wallace's fingers played against the small of Don's back before he tugged at the back of his jacket and ran his fingers along the line of his pants, meeting the band of his underwear. In between sloppy kisses, Don's lips shifted to that of a pleased grin as Wallace began playing along.

HIs stomach fluttered as Don lifted away and began to pull off his jacket, but the smell of Don's mouth, berries and alcohol mixed with the own sour taste in his mouth Wallace shot up, knocking Don off his lap as he expelled the contents of his stomach onto the beach.

Wallace squeezed his eyes shut as he hung there, on all fours, emptying the contents of his stomach to the sound of waves before him and Don crying in the sand behind him. When it felt like he had nothing left to give and his throat and mouth burned and his limbs tingled like needles prickling through his veins, Wallace swayed and collapsed on the beach until the darkness took over.

End of Chapter Twenty Six

Question of the Chapter #25: What do you think the aftermath of Andrew's video will be for Wallace?