Ben glared but gestured for him to continue.
“What would we have? Weekends? I can’t expect him to want to spend every weekend back here, and I don’t want to go stay in student accommodation. I’d always worry who he was with, and what he was doing, and that’s not fair on anyone. I don’t want to do the long-distance thing. I’m sorry.”
“I get what you’re saying, I do, and you’re one of my best friends, Will. So I’m gonna say this once, and then it’s done. Okay?”
Will eyed him suspiciously. “Yeah, okay.”
“He’s my brother, so I’m a little biased.” Ben shrugged unashamedly, and Will managed a wry smile. “I know he has another year left at university, but I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit. You could trust him, Will. He wouldn’t fuck around if the two of you were together. And I suspect he’d be only too happy to come back here most, if not all, weekends.”
The thing was, Will believed him. Ben was definitely biased, but Patrick didn’t come across as the unfaithful type. Will had been burned once before, though. Darren had only admitted it once they’d broken up, and Will remembered the weeks of wondering if he was being paranoid, doubting Darren’s excuses whenever he couldn’t make it home for the night, and then feeling guilty.
Things hadn’t been perfect between him and Darren before that, and they probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer, but Will had trusted him, and that had proved to be really fucking wrong on his part.
Will could see himself having the same doubts about Patrick, and Patrick didn’t deserve that. Neither of them did.
He’d obviously been quiet for too long, because Ben shook his head and sighed again, sounding more resigned than frustrated this time. “I think you’re being a fucking martyr about this whole thing. But that’s your choice. Be careful with him, yeah? He’s not doing great, so maybe give him some space for now.”
“Yeah, of course.” It was what he was trying to do, for fuck’s sake.
“Okay, then. I won’t bring it up again.”
Thank God for that. He was more than ready to put that conversation behind them.
Ben clapped him on the arm and stood up straight. “Let’s go get the lads and collect the rest of your shitty furniture.” He smiled back over his shoulder as he walked out of the kitchen, and Will finally relaxed.
It took Will, Ben, two of their mates, and a rented van to move Will’s belongings out of storage and into his new place. Most of it was still boxed, but at least the boxes were in the right rooms. He’d unpack later when everyone had gone. For now he was more than happy to be sitting on the floor with beer and takeaway pizza, listening to all the shit Ben and the others had got up to on holiday.
“So.” Nick pointed his beer in Will’s direction. He and Mark had taken the day off, like Ben, to help Will move, and Will was more than grateful. But the next words out of Nick’s mouth made him regret ever asking. “What did you get up to while we were all gone? Shag anyone in Ben’s bed?”
Will stared at him, mouth open, as he struggled to think of something to say. He was vaguely aware of Ben choking on his beer beside him, but he didn’t dare look over.
“Yeah,” Mark added, grinning and totally unaware of Will’s internal freak out. “We had bets on whether you would or not. Ben said there was no fucking way you would, but me and Mark weren’t convinced. So?”
Will took a quick drink of his beer, stalling for time. Thank God they’d never done anything in Ben’s room, because he’d never be able to hide it now, and Ben would kill him, best friend or not. “Fuck, no. You two are disgusting.” He took another long pull, letting the alcohol dampen his nerves.
“But you did get some action, right?” Nick leaned forward and prodded at Will’s cheeks. “You don’t blush like that over nothing.”
God, his friends were the worst. “Mind your own business.”
They both perked up at that, totally the wrong reaction Will had been going for.
“Does that mean it’s serious?” Mark sat forward to put his beer down on the coffee table, one of the few things that they actually set up properly.
“No, it was nothing, ju—”
Ben set his empty bottle on the table, hard enough to make the others rattle.
Shit.Will glanced over at him, not surprised to see the dark look on his face. “Look, I was seeing someone, and it was good while it lasted. But I’m not seeing them anymore.”
“Why?” Nick looked over at Ben, who was glaring at Will, and then back at Will, appearing somewhat confused. Will couldn’t blame him. “If you found something good, why stop?”
Will downed the rest of his beer, wishing he had another in his hand already. “It’s complicated.” He needed to nip this in the bud before it all came spilling out.
Thankfully Ben felt the same way, because he stood then, collected the empty pizza boxes, and took them into the kitchen. “Come on, I’ll give you two a lift home. I’m sure Will’s got plenty to do without us getting in his way.”
Nick and Mark grumbled about being rushed, but finished off their beers and said their good-nights.
Ben nudged Will with his shoulder as he walked past. Will half expected him to say something more about him and Patrick, but Ben just smiled and said, “If you need help with anything else, give me a call.”
“Thanks.”
He watched all three of them go, wondering if he’d imagined the emphasis on “anything.” Whether he had or not, Will cleared up the bottles in the lounge with Nick’s words stuck in his head.
“If you found something good, why stop?”
