"Yeah. Goodnight, love you." 

He kisses Asher and then collapses into bed, doesn't bother to put the blankets over himself before he falls asleep. 

In the morning, or rather the afternoon, when he wakes up, he feels dizzy and lightheaded and nauseous and incredibly thirsty and he's sweating and he has a headache.

Oh jesus. 

He gets up as well as he can — he's stumbling, still — and goes to the bathroom and gets himself a glass of water, finishes it in ten seconds, and drinks three more before going back to his room and collapsing again. 

Okay. So. Last night was great. But, also, he slept with more guys than he can remember, and he doesn't remember using a condom at all, and that's really bad actually, Asher isn't going to let anyone rape him but Asher can only do so much about unplanned pregnancy and HIV. And then there's his parents. 

"Hi, Sasha!" says his mom cheerfully, coming into his bedroom. "I'm glad you're awake. Do you want some orange juice? Some painkillers?"

.....yesterday his mom was still calling him Allie. 

Yesterday he was told very specifically that if he stayed out after midnight they'd turn off his cell data for a month. 

And today he is being called his name and offered painkillers and you know what, sure, he'll take this without asking questions. 

"I'd love some, thank you." 

"Here's some toast and a banana," his mother says, "those are great for a hangover."

"....thank you." 

He takes them and eats, mechanically. 

In spite of his nausea, the toast and banana taste really really good.

"Well, I'll leave you to rest!" his mom says. "Just tell me if you need anything."

"Thank you," he says, having absolutely zero intention of doing that. 

When his mom is gone he texts Asher 

do you happen to have plan b and/or a pregnancy test 

Asher is faced with the awkward prospect of having a conversation with his boyfriend about a serious issue without using mind control.

why

because I had sex with a lot of guys last night and I definitely didn't use condoms and I really really don't want to get pregnant 

or hiv but that's hard to do anything about this morning 

Asher really fucking hates Sunnydale Syndrome. 

I'll be right over

kay

love you

On his way over he tries to think of a remotely plausible explanation for why Sasha doesn't need to use condoms with vampires. He does not succeed.

A few minutes later he vaults in through Sasha's window, looks in his eyes, and says, "You won't get pregnant or get HIV as long as I'm there watching you. You don't have to worry about it."

"....oh," he says. "Okay." There's a brief pause before, "Cuddle me?" 

"Of course." He wraps Sasha in his arms. "Do you know why you don't need to worry about it?"

"...because you make sure to only bring me to parties where you know everyone is safe like you are?" 

"Yeah, that's right. I'm going to take care of you. You can trust me to keep you safe."

"Yeah," and his voice is very soft. "Yeah, I can." 

"How are you feeling?"

"Hangovers are terrible but my mom has had a change of heart RE my name, so, ehh?" 

"I have a feeling your parents are going to be a lot cooler about the trans thing going forward."

"It seems like it, anyway." 

"They've just figured out that you're growing up and making your own choices."

"I'm glad they're finally figuring it out!" 

Asher's arms are so solid and so so safe.