Wish We Were Here: A 90s MM Romance

"Just let me in. Show me I've made as big of a mark on you as you have on me. Tell me this isn't nothing. You're rewriting my entire friggin' brain chemistry so how can I be nothing to you?" "He's here. He came back for me. No one's ever done that." "Do you think this is a gay retelling of Pretty Woman or something? I'm a w****, remember?" "You're mine, is what you are." "He's home at last. And in him, I find that too." "When you say something out loud it's made real. And being real means it can be destroyed. I don't want this to be destroyed. Even though I know I can't keep it." "I kiss him like I'm going to devour him, like I need him to breathe. I need all of him on me. I need to climb inside his skin." "He's just so...pretty. Even all messy and disheveled, he's so f*****' pretty, like the laws of reality simply don't apply to him." "Maybe you can fall in love with someone over the course of a week and a few thousand miles. The kind of love that sticks, even." "Everything that's hurt him, all these jagged, broken pieces that make him up- I love them, too. He might be a little broken but he's whole in my eyes." "I will get you there, I promise." "Messy boy. You're awfully wet. Like a girl, almost." "Bold thing to say when you've got my d*** in your hands. It's your fault, anyway." "Ash. My butterfly. He's given me so much reason and purpose, made me feel like it's okay to be who and what I am. My razón de ser, as it were." This was a phenomenal and amazing…

Sam and Ash are everything! Everything is so simple, the story flows so easily, their relationship starts slow, Ash with a lot of scars and emotional baggage and Sam is just so adorable with Ash. Sam truly is a good person! He cares about Ash even though he doesn’t know him, because that’s who Sam is. A good person who’s drifting in life, trying to find his purpose. Meanwhile, Ash is trying to start new, he’s leaving his old life behind, trying to find a steady and calm life. He reflects a lot on his experience as a s*x worker and Ash hates it. He doesn’t crave physical intimacy, since a lot of his experiences were bad. So when Sam, the kindest soul, treats Ash with respect, Ash can’t help but fall for him. Sam's internal struggle relates more to his sexual orientation. He doesn’t know if he’s gay or not, but what he does know is that Ash is beautiful and he treats Sam like no one else has before. Likewise, Ash also sees in Sam someone he can be himself. During their road trip, they discuss a lot of themes, HIV is something that is present a lot, since they both know people with this diagnosis and it’s the 90s. Knowing that the people they love are fighting the same battles brings them closer. They are also really young, Ash and Sam are in their 20s, so some things they do are incredibly foolish, but I didn’t mind! Sam was clearly craving some adventure and to do something outside of what people expected him to, while Ash got to experience life as he never had before.…