Two Boys Healing (Book Two)

6. Christmas Dinner--Part 2

In the end, both Ash and Will lost the game. Ash got Will a brand-new set of earbuds, and Will got Ash a little box of sea glass he'd collected along the beach over the past year he'd been in River Heights.

"Guess we're both heading out into the cold," Will chuckled.

Ash smiled, but it seemed nervous.

"Dinner's ready!" Jessica called from the kitchen. Tristan, who'd been oddly silent for a while, stood quickly, flashing them a grin. 

"I'm just absolutely starving," he announced. "Will, next to you?"

Will blinked. "...okay."

Ash flushed a little, but din't comment as they headed into the dining room, where Will's mom was just setting the enormous, steaming turkey on the table. She beamed at them as Will and Tristan took a seat at one side of the table, Ash on the other.

"It's so nice to have a full house for once," Jessica enthused. "Will never really talked about having friends back in New York."

"I had friends," Will protested. But, in truth, they weren't very good friends, just people he could hang out with when he didn't want to go home, which was always.

And then there was Riley.

"...say grace, Will?"

Will tuned into the conversation to see everyone looking at him expectantly, and he blinked. "Uh, what?"

Tristan chuckled. "Don't you, like, pray? Over food?"

Will lifted a brow. "No. I never..." He looked to Jessica, who looked a little stricken.

"Ah, right," she said, as if just remembering the reason she left Will's father was because he was a drunk addict who definitely wouldn't teach his son to say grace over food. "Um. Ash, would you say it, then?"

Ash looked surprised to be put on the spot, but then nodded. "Oh, uh, yeah, sure." They all bowed their heads, and he said thanks to God quickly. when he finished, Will was the first one to reach across the table and grab the mashed potatoes, licking his lips. He dumped a sizable portion onto his plate, and Tristan chuckled. "Don't get too excited."

Will laughed and rolled his eyes, and Jessica smiled warmly.

"So, Tristan," she said. "What do your parents do?"

Tristan flushed a little. "Ah, they're lawyers. They're down in Atlanta right now, working on a murder trial."

Jessica blinked. "Oh...that's...nice."

Will suppressed a snort, and his mom shot him a look.

Ash was eating quietly, probably hoping to be overlooked, but Jessica had no such plans. "Ash!" she said brightly, turning her attention to him. "How has your stay at the hospital been?"

Shit, Will thought, his eyes widening. Not a good topic, Mom...

Ash pressed his lips together. "It's...um...nice. My nurse is really...she's cool." He flushed, ducking his head, and Will couldn't help but think of the happy, bubbly boy he'd been...before.

Jessica didn't seem to get the cues that Ash didn't want to talk. "That's nice," she enthused. "You should come over more often. Will has been moping around the house. It's annoying." She laughed.

Ash bit his lip. "O...kay..."

Will cleared his throat loudly. "SO. Um. What...er, which colleges are you guys gonna go to?"

Tristan shrugged. "My parents want me to go to Harvard, but my grades aren't good enough for that. I don't really know."

Will nodded and looked to Ash, who shrugged, but looked relieved to have the attention turned away from him and his relationship with the hospital. "Uh, I don't know either. I don't think I'm gonna go, really, since..." He motioned to his head. "...memory sucks."

Will coughed. "Oh."

Jessica pursed her lips. "...what college are you gonna go to, baby?"

Will flushed. "Don't call me that!" he yelped. "And...I don't know. A good one."

Tristan snickered.

- - - - - - - - - 

Sorry this is a short chapter...but at least it's A chapter, amirite?

SOOOOOOO sorry for such a lite update :/ I didn't meant for it to come out this late, I just have a huge case of writer's block and it will not leave me alone. Thus, there WILL be a Christmas Dinner Part Three.

ALSO--THANK YOU FOR ALREADY 300 VIEWS! I know this doesn't seem like such a big thing to obsess over, but like, THERE'S REALLY ONLY FIVE CHAPTERS SO FAR! WHOO HOOOO!

In any case--

I'll try to get another update out by the end of this month, and I'm sorry that's such a long way away, but yeah. :/

Q: Best friend(s) on Wattpad?

A: @clatoforever5 and @Gobbly_Chorles123. You guys are amazing and I really love you both :)