It's many years before they all meet again. Even then, they are not all six together. Will and Barney have come to Wales at the request of Bran, who seems to want to talk about something.
When they get there, though, to his little flat, Bran is sitting by the window drinking tea. He doesn't say much to them other than hello, and Will, who can be comfortable anywhere, splays out on the couch and claims tiredness from travel. He takes a nap.
Barney does what he always does when he doesn't quite know what to do: he draws. The sketchbook he always keeps with him is worn and the stickers that adorn it advertising ManU and the Sex Pistols have lost their colour from so much usage. Barney draws Bran staring at the hills, and Will tucked into himself; he draws Bran's hand from the perspective of the tabletop, the lone daffodil on the table in the foreground.
They don't really move, a quiet settling over the house, until Bran stands. He goes over to Will and bends over, placing a careful kiss on his mouth. Barney watches in something a bit like shock, but he'd come out to the world long ago once he realized that giving blowjobs in secondary school wasn't something fellows just did to one another for kicks. So really it's more the shock of seeing *Bran* kiss *Will* than anything else.
Will wakes up slowly under the kiss, his sleepy fingers tugging at Bran's shirt. When he finally realizes what's going on, he pulls away, and his mouth makes a little "o."
"I remembered," Bran says, and Will's hands drop to his sides. Barney doesn't quite know what that means, other than a tug at his own mind that he instinctively shoves away. But it obviously means something to Will, who turns away and stands up, muttering about tea in the kitchen.
Bran comes over to stand by Barney, and they look at each other for a bit. It's strange to be under Bran's scrutiny; Bran was always Will's friend, and he was just one of the Drew children, almost along for the ride. But Bran's fingers curl in his own, and he thinks there might be something else there. His mind reels slightly, and he thinks Bran is just Barn rearranged. It's the word Bran is whispering only inches from him, as if they were better friends or something more.
When Will comes back he sees them leaning against the table, their hands loosely entwined, and sits down opposite them, his teacup carefully balanced in his hand. He looks at them for a long moment, as if he's deciding something. His eyes go distant, as if searching for something, and then there's thunder in Barney's ears. He almost fell, but Bran caught him.
Everything comes back to him now, and he clings hard to Bran's arms, weighted down with memories from ten years ago that he never knew were missing. It's hard to think when all he can see is the rising Dark before his eyes.
"It wouldn't be fair," Will says, and Barney realizes he's talking to Bran. "If this is what you want, Bran."
He turns to leave, and Bran, still holding Barney and almost dragging him along, catches Will's hand before he gets to the door. "No," he says, and Will turns around. "Stay."
words © SA. characters, show, and people not mine. no infringement is intended.