S.M

Chapter Thirty

Will: Are you home?

Gabriel: Grading in my office, think it'll be a late one. I'll be coming home around ten?

Will: ...Can I visit?

Gabriel: Sure, I'm in the IT building. It's the furthest north on campus. Call me if you get lost

Will: See you soon x

Will redirected the taxi driver to the DIT campus. He ran his palms up and down his thighs over and over and took in shaky breaths. He tried to dispel his energy elsewhere. What the hell had Luke meant, try respecting his friends? What did that even mean? When had he disrespected them? How was wanting to stay close to Dune disrespecting him? Will's head hurt. And his heart hurt.

Why wasn't anything working? Why couldn't it be simple and easy? What did he have to have this horrible feeling in his gut?

Will's phone buzzed, but once he saw it wasn't Gabriel responding he buried it in his pocket. A few streets down, he rethought that. It was a snap from Cassie asking was everything okay. He told her it was, and to let everyone know he was sorry for skipping out on them. By that, he meant tell Dune he was sorry. Should Will just text him? He bit his lip, and opened up his messages.

Will: I'm going to head home and do a bit of work after all, have a good night

Just to let Dune know everything was okay between them.

Will: Me and Leah are...

Will paused, and backspaced. Leah had invited him to stay at her house a few weekends once mom moved out. That was supposed to be in two weeks. They'd be spending time together. That didn't change the fact Will wasn't going to go home and see his dad. He winced, a throb of pain shooting through his temple. Maybe he should? They never even talked, but if it made Dune feel better about him, maybe he should?

Will hated going home to watch the man drink. And that's what the weekend would be. Will alone in the house, his dad drinking, and nothing good or happy would come of it. He'd just leave feeling exhausted and shitty. He knew, because he'd gone through an entire summer of the same thing.

DIT campus was tiny compared to DCU, and Will had no issue finding the IT building. He took the stairs up to third floor and walked around until he found the one labelled 508. He knocked, and from within he heard 'come in'.

There were two desks back to back in the room, and Gabriel was sat at the one closest the window. With night descended already Will could see the computer screen reflecting off the window. Spreadsheets.

"Hey," Gabriel greeted. He wore a white shirt with the sleeves folded up to his elbows.

"Hey." Will shut the door, venturing into the office. It was small. One wall was dedicated entirely to books, the spines were all blues and whites, while the carpet was an ugly green. "I didn't see a single soul on my way here."

"Everyone's pretty much gone home," Gabriel said. He sat back in his desk chair, resting his elbows on the arms of it. "I'm only staying late so I'm free this weekend for the match."

He looked over Will curiously. He was probably wondering what was going on, and why Will had wanted to see him all of a sudden. Had Will mentioned where he was going to be tonight?

Will sat on the edge of his desk, pretending to be interested in the vacant one. "Who do you share with?"

"Ian," Gabriel said. "He specialises in Computer Science. He keeps to himself most of the time."

Will's knee pressed against Gabriel's thigh in a nudge. Gabriel's dark gaze gleamed as they searched Will, most likely trying to figure out the reason behind the impromptu visit. Would he guess, that Will wanted someone that was just his own, for a little while? That he didn't want anything in particular, just to be around him? Will stared at the computer's reflected in the window.