Chapter Text
They’re at Will’s again, Damon thinks as he sits on the ground, back resting against the back of the couch. There’s a reason why they’re always at Will’s and he doesn’t want to think about it. Instead, he lets the obnoxious music coming from Will’s phone lull him into a false sense of peace.
Will’s laying on the couch, taking up most of the space and scrolling through his phone. He looks so at peace and yet so bored, only occasionally showing Damon something he finds funny. Damon doesn’t even mind the way Will shoves his phone just a little bit too close to his face in his excitement. Will’s always been special in one way or another.
Damon knows what this energy will amount to. Tonight, someone will ask if they want to go out and they’ll be joined by Michael and Kai. For now, Damon watches him, fingers twitching as Will’s head inches closer to his own, practically breathing against the back of his ear with their close proximity.
They’d started off decently spaced apart, with both of them sitting properly. Somewhere along the way, Will had laid down and Damon had left to get them both a drink before he’d settled down on the ground. Will had given him a quick look but hadn’t commented on it. So here they were, with Will slowly inching towards Damon until they were so close that if Damon were to just turn around…
Seemingly noticing Damon’s staring, Will’s green eyes and find his and his face breaks into a grin. He’s up to something, not that Damon ever doubted it. He turns his head just slightly, entirely too aware of how close they are. He’d kiss Will, honestly, knows the other would reciprocate if not for the awkward angle.
“See something you like?” Will teases. He doesn’t know just how true it is, or maybe he does and he’s taking full advantage of it. Damon’s hand comes up, plucking his phone from his hand, Will doesn’t protest. He watches, amused as Damon takes his phone and sets it, rather harshly, on the ground next to him.
“And what if I do?” Damon raises an eyebrow at him, challenging. Will’s grin turns into a smirk and his eyes narrow slightly in the way they do when he’s being mischievous. They don’t outright demand kisses, hypotheticals maybe, considering the way their first kiss went. This is as close as they come to voicing their desires.
“Then you should do something about it,” Will wiggles his eyebrows and laughs. His eyes crinkle and Damon finds himself filing it away for later, cataloguing every detail of his face. This thing between them, there isn’t a name to it and there probably never will be. Damon blinks at Will before turning his face back around and picking up his own phone.
Will’s dismayed, much to Damon’s amusement.
“Hey!” His voice reeks of indignance, unused to having his requests denied. There’s some shuffling and then Will’s chin is hooked across his shoulder, balance precariously on the edge of the sofa. Damon can see the beginning of a pout on his lips after Damon’s act of injustice. Damon wants him to ask for it, wants to see Will admit that he’s his.
Anger swirls around in him, he knows what they are and how it will never come to fruition. He wonders if Will knows it too, how much Damon wants him and how much neither of them will ever settle for the consequences that comes with that ending. He can almost imagine the look on Will’s parents’ face.
“If you want something-” he starts to say just as Will turns his head, pressing a chaste kiss against his cheek. It’s tender in a way that everything in his life isn’t. It makes his skin crawl as much as it makes him desire more. He wants everything Will will give. Will is the light at the end of a never-ending tunnel, unobtainable.
“Then take it?” Playfulness leaks into Will’s voice but he hears the strain in his words. Neither of them knows what’s allowed, what too far constitutes of but they both know that they’re toeing the edge. Will kisses his neck this time, a Cheshire grin on his face when Damon turns his head to shoot him a look.
“Is that what you want?” He stares at Will, maybe a bit too intently but Will doesn’t back down. It’s one of the things that he likes about him. The word loves linger in his mind, but it’s quickly squashed down. There’s enough on his plate to not be worrying about the implications of being in love with your best friend.
Will’s staring breaks momentarily to look at a point behind Damon that he isn’t privy too. Then, he’s pressing his lips against Damon’s. It happens more often now, these kisses. It feels like the beginning of something more but also the end of something else. Something important. Damon kisses him back without thinking about the consequences.
A hand threads into the hair at the back of his head. Will’s eyes are closed and maybe Damon should close his too, but he likes to see him like this. He looks almost vulnerable, the kind that only Damon gets to see. He wonders if Will comes to him for comfort just as much as Damon does. He wants to be the only one to be able to prove this for him.
He also wants Will to be happy, no matter how that might come. Whether Damon’s still in his life by then or not. He wants everything and nothing at the same time, knowing the consequences of being greedy.
“You think too much,” Will breaks off the kiss and yet he looks fond. Damon pretends to scoff, but he keeps it to himself how much he’s pleased that Will knows him this well.
“Does it bother you?” He asks instead. Will seems to think about it before he kisses Damon again and gets off the couch, phone in his hand. Damon doesn’t chase after him, just watches as Will stretches and frowns at his phone before it breaks into a smile.
“Michael and Kai are going to be there tonight,” Will says and answers the text message with something. Damon watches him type and then gets up. Will’s happiness is contagious even if Damon doesn’t feel it from the inside out. He turns to Damon, eyes wide with excitement and Damon thinks he falls some more.
Will’s smile is everything to him. He just wonders how everything could have gone so wrong.