"Holy shit!" Oliver exclaims as he closes the word document on his computer. "That would have taken me all night, thanks!"

William laughs. It feels so rare to see Oliver this excited about something and for some reason, William feels lucky to experience it. The man has simply lighted up and is unable to keep the smile from his face, and this is all because William offered to help him with his assignment.

And William will do it again if it means seeing Oliver smile as widely as this.

    Oliver checks the time on his phone. It's way past 8 pm now and Jason is still not back from wherever he is. It's not that William actually minds being alone with Oliver, if anything, he appreciates the situation and wishes for nothing but to spend all the time with the blond man. But now he needs a reason to keep spending time with him and to do that, he has to keep quiet about the hoodie that he was eager to return.

    That would have to stay put for another day, William decides. It's a bit selfish of him, he knows that but fuck, he just wants to spend a few more minutes... hours with Oliver.

    Oliver checks the time on his phone and taps his thighs. "Do you wanna do something while you wait? Like maybe order food or something?"

    William shrugs. He doesn't want to seem too eager but in his mind, he is jumping for joy! His anxiety is spiking and he doesn't know what to do with it.

    "Yeah, sure... I have a deal on UberEats so we can get anything up to 20 dollars with free delivery," William suggests as he opens the app on his phone.

    "Sweet! Let's get pizza from the place opposite that bar you and Jason went to."

    William raises a brow. "How do you know there's a pizza place there?"

    "Uh... I'm not as uptight as you think me to be, Willi," laughs Oliver.

    Willi... He wants to hate the name but fuck it, why does Oliver have to be so cute?

    "Okay," William raises his hands in surrender. "Whatever. What toppings do you like?"

    "Cheese, obviously. Lots of cheese and pepperoni, some greens and olives," Oliver lists and William narrows his eyes at him.

    "You had me at cheese and pepperoni but greens and olives? You trynna make a salad on a freaking pizza?" William grimaces. He hates olives.

    "What? Olives are great! And a little bit of greens doesn't hurt," Oliver defends himself, which doesn't do much to alleviate William's disgust. "Okay, what do you like on your pizza then?"

    "Cheese, duh? And meat. I love meat! And sometimes I like pineapples." He says the last part in a low tone because he now realizes that it is a bit hypocritical.

    "Pineapples? And you had the audacity to come for me on the olives? Bruh!"

    "What? Hawaiian pizza is a guilty pleasure, sue me," William says, rolling his eyes, and Oliver can't help but burst out laughing.

    As William places their order, Oliver connects his computer to a little projector he has and asks William if he's interested in watching a movie. And of course, William says yes because being here with Oliver is much better than being alone in his apartment.

    As it turns out, they both have similar interests in tv shows - the romantic kind of shows. It's refreshing to know that they like similar things. For instance, Oliver loves to binge romantic comedies, as does William. Oliver also likes to read romance novels... gay romance novels. Anything else and he'll end up barfing before even opening up the book. It is the same for William, weirdly. How can two people be so similar in terms of tastes and habits? William doesn't understand, but it still does not stop him from suggesting a TV show to Oliver about a group of girls who find each other in their first year at college.

    "I just like how they all ended up becoming best friends," says William when the show is over. It's almost 1 am, but he's not ready to go home yet. Neither of them are ready to leave the other. And besides, Jason is still not back yet. William now realizes that he will probably spend the night away from his dorm room but that is not a bother.

    In a way, it gives him the chance to spend more time with Oliver. What could be better than that? For fucks sake, he's fucking sitting in Oliver's bed, eating pizza, and Oliver is right beside him.

    What's not to love about that?

    He owes Jason some gratitude, William thinks.

    "Yeah, I do too," Oliver says. "Do you have a best friend?"

    William nods. "Yeah, Alyssa. The girl who came to our table the other day," he tells him. "Growing up, I never really had a ton of friends as I was always moving from town to town, state to state. By my senior year of high school, I'd had enough and told my parents I was gonna live on my own. They didn't agree at first but when they heard how bad my social life was, they decided to postpone their dream of living in every state for at least a year, for me. None of that would have happened if I hadn't met Alyssa," he smiles. "She was the first friend I'd made in a really long time who genuinely liked me and we became so close in a few months that I couldn't bear the thought of losing her. We've been best friends ever since," William explains, giving Oliver a little more insight into who he is.

    "Where are you from originally?"

    "London," says William. Oliver's eyes widen.

    "You're kidding. Seriously?"

    William smiles shyly. "Yeah, I know. I haven't been there in over fifteen years since my parents moved to the US for work. They're professors at UCLA at the moment."

    "That is very interesting," Oliver tells him. He sounds amazed at William's early life and for some reason, it causes warmth to overflow in the latter's heart. Oliver turns towards William so they face each other, both boys crossing their legs. "Where did you first live when you moved here?"

    "Florida."

    "What? No way! I'm from Orlando!"

    "Whoa! That's so cool. We probably crossed paths at a point." They both chuckle. "I lived there for about three years before we moved to Texas."

    "Texas? That's where Jason is from. He's a Houston boy!"

    "Wait, seriously?" Oliver nods excitedly, chuckling. "So how did you two meet?"

    "Okay, this is gonna sound silly but don't laugh," he starts and that already has William struggling to keep his laugh in. "We met on a Minecraft server when we were eleven years old. Been best friends ever since."

    William is simply amazed by this. He never got the chance to meet people online due to how strict his parents were regarding internet use. The only time he was able to do so was in high school and even then, he lost contact with the friends he made.

    "That is interesting. Was it weird for your parents when they found out you had an online friend?"

    "A little bit, yeah," says Oliver. "But they got over it pretty quickly once Jason came to visit," he continues. In a split second, Oliver loses the smile on his face as he takes on a serious expression, meeting William's gaze.

    "That leads me to my next question."

    William chuckles lightly, suddenly feeling awkward. "I didn't know we were playing 72 questions."

    Oliver only smiles, but it doesn't quite meet his eyes. "Are you into Jason? Like, I know you guys met at a bar and things didn't really go that well and you came over to see him and stuff but he's not here right now, still, you waited... so like, are you interested in him?" Oliver blurts it all out and catches William off guard.

    The brown-haired man blinks and presses his lips together. "Um... to be frank, not really," he says slowly. Oliver narrows his eyes but William does not back down. "It was supposed to be a one-night stand, right? And I was probably never gonna talk to him ever again but like, things changed so... here I am? I don't know how to put it..."

    "Keep it simple."

    "He's... he's not the kind of guy I'm usually into."

    Oliver licks his lip. "What kind of guys are you usually into?"

    William smiles to himself. "Tall, for one." He can't help but chuckle. His eyes meet Oliver's.

    "Soft. The kind of guy that looks like he'll beat you up but is literally the sweetest person ever, has the softest voice, and can easily put you to sleep... you know, someone who's a lot bigger than me in a way that I feel protected when they hug me but not so big that I feel suffocated? Someone who enjoys the same thing that I do. Someone who takes me for who I am, you know, flaws and all. Tall, blonde, green eyes, a nice smile that I can stare at all day... that kind of guy," he lists and sighs dreamily, not realizing that he has just described his perfect guy who just so happens to look a lot like Oliver.

***

Sorry for the wait! I hope you guys still like this short story so far