i had wrists like steel

<div align=center>William nodded a little against Gabe's shoulder, he smiled a little, and laughed. "I'm just a little confused, sorry." He leaned back a little way to look at Gabe, smiled, and tilted his head to one side. He realized he'd been the one that had initiated the kiss in the first place, so he supposed he should know what he had meant by it, but truthfully, he didn't, he just wanted to show affection to Gabe and he couldn't quite figure out why, it was different than other people, Bill was an affectionate person, sure, but it was rare for him to go as far as this, there was something very different about Gabe, and Bill liked it.

"What happens now?" He asked, laughing softly, and tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, he was still flushed and pink, though there was a bright smile on his face now, exposing the ever so slightly crooked teeth at the front of his mouth. He dropped his hands to Gabe's shoulders, and pushed them a short way underneath his shirt, enjoying the feel of his skin, it was warm and soft. The boy giggled, "I'm not really sure what that, uh... Meant." He still didn't really know if Gabe actually had a crush on him, though he supposed after this...</div>

<div align=center>"I think you're cute." William mumbled, giggling, though he supposed Gabe had come across very deep all of a sudden, and he nodded a little at the things he had said, though he did perhaps look a little bit lost. He stared at him, realizing suddenly that perhaps Gabe liked him a lot more than he had first let on. "What do you want?" He asked softly, nuzzling the other boy gently, pushing him backwards a very short way. He yawned softly, pecking Gabe once on the lips, and then again just underneath his jaw. "Because I kinda have a real ugly crush on you." He admitted, quietly at that, though perhaps that might have been obvious from the last few events.

The prospect of dating frightened Bill just a tad, he had absolutely no idea how to behave in a situation like that, though of course that didn't mean he wasn't open to the idea, and of course he liked the thought of being close to Gabe, he liked spending time with him and he supposed that was what was one of the important things, he thought there might be some others too, but he didn't quite know what they were at this point. "Alright."</div>

<div align=center>William laughed awkwardly, he wasn't really sure how to reply, this had all happened incredibly quickly, and in all honesty he wasn't really sure how. He still didn't understand why Gabriel liked him so much, he didn't really think he was all that special himself, but perhaps Gabriel saw something different in him, William shook his head a little, he didn't really know. He wondered if all of this was because he though Gabe was pretty or maybe something else, "I..." He was weighing out his options in his head, he supposed if he said yes and everything went wrong it could destroy their friendship, but then again rejecting him would probably also do the same thing.

Bill didn't want to reject him. He liked Gabe, they most likely weren't a perfect match but at this point Bill thought he'd pushed the boat out too far to be able to take it back to shore again, besides, he didn't want to go back to shore, it was disappearing quickly behind him as the ocean was spreading out before him, adventure was exciting. But William wasn't on a boat, he was on a rooftop with a boy he'd just kissed, trying to decide if this was a good situation or a bad one. "Let me think about it for a little while..." He finally answered, his voice quiet, mouse-like. "I'm sorry." He paused again, hunching his shoulders a little, "I just... Need to work some things out..." He frowned, feeling bad for kissing the other boy in the first place.</div>

<div align=center>William tensed up suddenly, that hadn't been what he'd meant, and all of a sudden he was very upset and very confused, though he was pretty sure those emotions were radiating from Gabe rather than being his own, but this thought only made it worse, "oh goodness!" Bill shook his head rather vigorously, pulling himself away and frowning, he didn't like the look on Gabe's face, it made him feel guilty. Bill hated feeling guilty, he didn't like feeling like he had upset other people, and at the moment he felt very much like he'd done something terribly wrong. The boy whimpered and shook his head again.

"That's not what I meant!" He squeaked, trying to find a way to go back on his words. That hadn't been what Bill had meant, he'd simply meant he needed a little time to decide whether it was the right decision on his behalf, he wasn't good at deciding on things, and Gabe had frightened him just a little with his sudden proposition, then again William realized that that was most certainly his own fault to begin with, he mentally cursed himself and shook his head again, frowning deeply at Gabe, "that's not what I meant..." He repeated, blushing a little and shying away.</div>

<div align=center>Bill frowned a little at Gabe's thoughts, he had him all wrong, and it made him feel frustrated with himself. The boy forced a weak smile, took Gabe's hand and patted it softly, attempting to reassure him a little. He ran his free hand through his hair, glancing sideways and to the ground. He didn't really know what to say, he was trying to think of the right words to explain what he meant, but that was difficult. "I need to figure out the answer before I give it to you," he laughed softly, awkwardly, trying to fill in for space he hadn't used up talking.

He rubbed the back of his neck, "I just need time to think, okay?" He smiled softly, it was nearly dark now, and William thought it might be a good idea to go back to his dorm, he'd be cranky if he didn't sleep properly. He was still clinging to Gabe's hand, and there was a terribly sheepish look about him, it was easy to tell he felt guilty, though he hadn't actually rejected Gabe, the other boy seemed to upset, Bill was irritated with himself, and felt sorry for Gabe. "It's getting late," he murmured, "I should go get ready for bed."</div>