Sam

Will hurried off into another part of the house, and Sam was left frowning after him. What thing was he getting? Was it something romantic?

Why would it be something romantic, stupid?

Well, why not? It’s my dream, so I get to make unreasonable requests.

Sam went and sat on the front porch like she was asked. The cool breeze on her face helped still her nerves a little. She leaned back on her arms as she gazed up at a night sky filled with an explosion of stars tinged pink and blue. The clouds had cleared away during the evening, leaving what felt like the whole universe on show just for her

Sam was not used to seeing so many stars back home, with the light pollution and all. Getting to look up at them now, listening to the background hum of insects in the night air, a strange serenity descended over her like a warm blanket. She could have sat for hours taking it in.

Her calm was shattered when something heavy landed next to her with a thump, making her start. A leather backpack, she realized, stuffed to the brim so that it bulged out, almost round. Will plopped down on the other side of it, rubbing at his always-sleeping eye.

“Say what you want about the Frontier, but it sure is pretty sometimes,” he murmured. Sam did not need to follow his upturned gaze to know what he was talking about.

“Yeah,” she agreed, though she wasn’t really paying so much attention to the stars anymore. “What’s with the bag?”

“That’s for you, depending on how this conversation goes.”

Sam felt a cold lump in her stomach. “It’s one of those talks, huh?” She supposed she had expected it, but she still wished they could just enjoy a perfect night together. She deserved that, didn’t she?

“I don’t know how much you know,” Will said, speaking slowly as though choosing each word carefully. “But you should know that I’m responsible for—”

“For talking Nyx into killing me?” Sam completed. “Yeah, I know.”

He shot her a rueful smile; his face shadowed, lit only by ambient starlight and the narrow bands of gold slipping through the shutters behind them. “She spilled the beans, then?”

Sam shrugged. “Not really. It wasn’t that hard a mystery to solve.”

Will nodded. “I suppose not. Well, I won’t make any excuses. I set this whole thing in motion, sent Nyx to kill you and bring you here, and now there’s no going back. Whatever my reasons were, you have every right to hate me. If you decide you don’t want to see me again, there's enough money in that pack, along with other supplies, for you to live comfortably for a while.

“If you want to stay, there’s a place for you here on the farm. Since no one else seems willing to take on the responsibility, I have decided I will save the Frontier, maybe even make it a decent place to live if I can.” He paused, looking pointedly away from her. “And I don’t think I can do it without you.”

Sam studied Will for a moment, then opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. “Before you give me your answer, I want to say one more thing.” He sighed, putting his head in his hands, voice coming out a little muffled as he went on. “This isn’t how this was supposed to go. I had it all planned out, you know.”

“You always did like your plans.”

“I love ‘em.”

“Yes, except things never seem to pan out according to the perfect little schemes you cook up in your head.”

“What?” Will asked, askance. He was looking at her now, the white of his one eye standing out brighter than the rest of his shadowed form. “No, you misheard me. I said I love you.”

“What?”

“I love you, Sam.”

She somehow felt hot and cold all at once, elemental forces rushing through her body to leave her a jittery mess. “What?” she repeated. It seemed to be the only word her mouth remembered how to make.

Will frowned. “Are you fucking with me, or just deaf? I love you. I’ve loved you since forever. Whatever happens next, I want you to know that.”

Sam’s mouth opened and closed like a fish on land, trying to make sound come out. “Uh…” she stammered intelligently.

“I would have told you sooner, but I was too much of a coward at first, and it didn’t seem right to put that on you after I got sick.”

“But…” Sam had wished for romantic. Now that she’d actually gotten it, it still managed to take her by complete surprise.

“Look, I’m not expecting an answer from you or anything—I just wanted to get it off my chest. If you tell me what you want to do moving forward, whether it involves staying or leaving, I’ll help you make it work.”

Sam stood abruptly, not quite knowing what she was doing even as her body moved. With a firm kick, she punted the backpack off the porch.

“Hey!” Will called, watching as the overstuffed thing rolled off into the darkness. “There’s delicates—”

With nothing separating them now, Sam jumped on top of him, and he let out a soft yelp as his back hit the wood. Pressing her face tight to his chest, she wrapped all her limbs around him to squeeze him in the biggest hug she could physically make.

“Ow…” Will groaned.

“I love you too,” Sam whispered.

“Seriously, ow.”

Sam squeezed him harder until his next complaint came out as an indecipherable, breathy gasp. “You’re so dumb.”

“...”

“I hate you.”

“...”

“I love you.”

“Sam…” Will finally choked out, tapping her shoulder.

She let up a little, and he sucked in a hard, shuddering breath. “Fuck me,” he groaned. “You never figured out how to give normal hugs, did you?”

Sam peeled herself off his chest to grin down at him. “I like the sound of that first part.”

She could not see him blushing in the dark, but the extended pause implied it. “That’s…”

“That’s too much for you? Oh, boo-hoo. Five years is more than enough foreplay for me, thank you very much.”

“No, I just… didn’t think you felt that way.”

“Well, I do. I love you so much I wanna crush you into a little meatball and carry you around in my pocket.” She leaned in close so she could whisper in his ear: “You made the mistake of bringing me here, and now you’re never getting rid of me.” I wish.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

She felt his chest shift as he swallowed.

“I forgive you for murdering me, by the way.”

“That’s very gracious of you.”

“I’m sort of wondering about something, though.” She released him, hoisting herself onto her haunches so he could sit up. He worked his shoulders dramatically, huffing and puffing as though he had been the victim of some terrible act. “Nyx was talking about payment—that you had to give up a lot to get me here. What did she mean, exactly?”

“Ah…”

“Your eye has something to do with it, right?”

At the mention of it, Will began to scratch at his bad eye. “Yes,” he admitted. “It’s not as bad as it sounds, though.”

“What about your finger?” She took his left hand, prying the fingers apart so she could get a look at the pale nub where his pinky should have been. “Is that related, too?”

“Yes.”

“The demon took them as payment.”

A nod.

“Did she take anything else from you?” Sam hardly recognized her own voice, with how eerily calm she sounded.

“Look, Sam—”

“What did she take?”

Will sighed. “You have to understand, there’s a reason why shuttling someone from Earth to the Frontier the way I did is almost unheard of. It’s a multi-step operation, and it requires bribing not just one, but at least two demons, since the Tower custodian must also be convinced to look the other way for a non-sanctioned arrival, not to mention ensuring that you would appear at the right location in the Frontier for me to pick you up.”

“I got dropped in the ocean right next to a band of slavers.”

“Trust me, that was the best possible alternative.”

She clutched his hand tightly in both of hers. “What did they take from you, Will?”

He shrugged. “An eye, like you guessed. The finger,” he wiggled his nub against her palm. “A kidney. Three ribs. And…”

Sam’s lips pressed together tighter and tighter with every word he spoke. “And?” she asked.

“And a testicle,” he concluded, somewhat sheepishly.

“Let me see if I’ve got this right. The demons yanked an eye, a finger, a kidney, three ribs, and one of your balls right out of your body?”

“More or less. Nyx was the one doing all the yanking, though. I suppose she handed Unger his cut after. There’s no way for a human to re-enter the Tower once they have passed through it, just as there is no way for the custodian to leave his post.”

“Will, I don’t give a shit about the logistics,” Sam growled. Standing up, she made for the front door. “Oh, I am so going to snap that whore’s neck.”

“Sam! Sam! Sam!” Will caught her by the wrist, trying to hold her back.

She frowned at his grip, still not used to the sensation that she could easily pull free if she wanted. But she stayed put. “Yes?”

“I’m glad you’re angry on my account—really, I am. All things considered, though, Nyx let me off a lot easier than she could have. With what I was asking for, she could have demanded a limb or two, maybe more than that, but she made do with parts that wouldn’t reduce my function too much. Most demons would have refused the deal outright—in this whole plan, Nyx is probably the one who was facing the most risk.

“From what I’ve gathered, humans can’t travel back up the Crossroads at all, and demons do so only with great difficulty. Even then, they’re not supposed to. There are… things, apparently, that patrol the Crossroads, punishing anyone who tries to interfere with the natural order of death and rebirth.”

“You’re taking her side in this?”

“I know how it sounds. I don’t like having her bumming around the house either, but, well, all things considered… she’s done right by us. Truly. I don’t know if it’s all part of some bigger ploy or whatever, but for the time being I’m happy to let her scheme however she likes, rather than giving myself a headache by figuring out the thoughts and motives of a demon. And, again, it’s not like we can do anything about her anyway, other than piss her off. In case I have to spell it out, we really don’t need an infernal blood feud.”

Will’s one eye shone with such earnestness that Sam could not stay angry. She heaved a great sigh, and gently peeled Will’s hand away before sitting back down next to him. This time, without a backpack to act as a barrier, she slid up against him until their shoulders touched. “Oh, all right,” she said, cracking a reluctant smile. “Whatever you say, Master One-Eye.”

“Don’t call me that,” Will muttered darkly.

Sam snickered. “Why? I think it’s cute.”

“I don’t.”

“That’s really too bad then, isn’t it?”

They sat there a while longer, enjoying the stars. Sam put her head on Will’s shoulder, felt the slow rhythm of his breathing. However strange this dream had been, she wished it would never end.

“What did she do with all your junk, anyway?” she eventually asked.

“I thought you didn’t care about the logistics,” Will murmured. Slowly, almost furtively, he reached up behind her back to begin stroking her hair. She couldn’t remember him ever doing that before—it wasn’t the sort of thing that friends, even good ones, usually did to each other. It was wonderful.

Sam stifled a yawn against the back of her hand. “I don’t. But, well, I might be a little curious.”

“She ate them.”

Her eyes, which had been slowly drifting closed, suddenly came open again. “Wait, she ate your ballsack?”

“Only one testicle,” Will corrected with a significant air. “And the pouch was not included, thank you very much.”

“Yeah, yeah—half your ballsack, whatever. That’s still obscene.”

“Jealous?”

“Maybe a little. Not that I want to eat your balls, but I certainly don’t want someone else to be eating them, either.”

“If it makes you feel any better, it was about as sexual as a rectal exam.”

Sam snorted a laugh, and snuggled more firmly up against him. “Any other… testicular encounters you’d like to reveal?”

“All the pretty Frontier girls I’ve kissed, you mean?”

“So more than one?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Are you making fun of me?”

Will chuckled. “Honestly, there’s never been anyone. I guess I never really got over you. Well, there’s no doubt that’s the case, considering that you’re sitting here now.”

“That’s the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever heard. You saved your virginity for me!”

“When you say it like that, it just sounds sad.”

“I guess we can be sad together, then.” She smiled brightly at him.

“No testicular encounters for you, either?”

“Nope. I’m as pure as they come, baby.”

“Lucky me.”

Not long after, Will announced that he was tired, and said that they could both use some rest since they had an early start tomorrow. Sam wanted to protest—sleeping was the one thing she didn’t want to do—but she couldn’t think up a good enough excuse, and then it was too late, and they were back inside the house, and he was showing her the sleeping arrangements.

“We’ve got a guest room all made up for you,” he explained, ushering her through a door on the far right side of a short hallway. The room was fairly spacious, with all the basic furniture you’d need and clean sheets and the same ugly puke-colored curtains that hung elsewhere in the house. “Although, I suppose it’s not really a guest room anymore since you’re going to be living here. There are extra clothes in the wardrobe, but we’ll have to buy you some proper ones soon.”

Sam frowned at it all while listening to him ramble. “So where are you going to sleep?”

“In my room. Why?”

“Show it to me.”

Will’s room was across the hall; identically sized, although it looked smaller because of all the clutter. The bed had not been made, blankets thrown in a pile off to one end, and the mattress was dimpled in the middle from wear. Additionally, there was only one pillow.

“Yes,” Sam said, nodding to herself. “This will do.”

“You want to stay in the same room?”

“If it’s not too much trouble.”

“I mean, the bed’s pretty narrow, and you’re…” He made an airy gesture in her direction. “Uh, not exactly dainty.”

She raised a questioning eyebrow, arms crossed over her chest. “Are you saying I’m fat?”

“No. You are a somewhat terrifying hugger, though.”

“Enthusiastic.”

He sighed. “Regardless, it’s a tight squeeze. Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer…?”

“I’m sure, and I insist.”

Will looked like he was reevaluating some of his life choices, but eventually shrugged. “All right, have it your way. But if you start hogging the blankets in your sleep, I’ll Repel you through the nearest wall.”

“Threats only work when the one you’re threatening understands what you’re talking about, you know.”

Will brought an extra blanket and pillow into the room, and Sam said goodnight to Mongrel—pointedly ignoring Nyx—before she and Will began preparing for bed. There were no toothbrushes, apparently, but he gave her a pot of charcoal paste that he instructed her to rub over her teeth. It tasted like… well, charcoal.

Then, suddenly, they were stripping out of their clothes. Will, the poor thing, insisted that they have their backs turned to each other, even though they had already seen each other naked—or near enough—so many times that there was really nothing dramatic about it at this point.

Once she overcame the initial shock, Sam found that she seemed to be handling their newfound intimacy with a bit more aplomb than he did. It was only a dream, of course, which meant that there were no consequences, which meant that there was no reason for her to feel embarrassed.

Down to their underclothes, she caught a glimpse of Will’s bare torso before he turned out the last of the candles. So many scars…

Sam found that they suited him wonderfully.

Then they were under the blankets together in the dark, facing each other, wrestling for space on the narrow bed, and it somehow felt like one of the thousand sleepovers they’d had growing up.

“Will?” Sam whispered, searching out his face in the blackness, feeling his stubbled jaw.

“Yeah?” Will asked, voice thick as he completed a yawn.

She quickly leaned forward to kiss him on the lips, hard and stiff and not particularly romantic, then jerked back again. Until that very second, she’d had some half-formed plan of jumping his bones, but even a simple kiss was enough to make her all hot and light-headed.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“Go to sleep,” Will admonished.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Will was soon unresponsive, but Sam lay awake, nestled close to him, putting her ear up to his chest so she could listen to the slow rhythm of his breathing.

I don’t want to fall asleep, she thought. Not yet. Just a little longer.

But his warmth was already lulling her to sleep, and despite her best efforts, her eyes began to drift shut.