Relationship with Achille Descoteaux

This page is about the friendship and romance between characters Dobrev Reign and Achille Descoteaux.

### Friendship

The relationship between Achille and Dobrev begins as a fond, supportive friendship between the two clairvoyants of Ghoulsby. Dobrev first heard of Achille through his cousin Everly, who showed him a disturbing video of Achille at a Halloween party dressed as the main antagonist from *The Ring* while doing the worm on the dancefloor. Along with this image and Achille’s skater boy status, Dobrev feared and stayed clear of him. When the sixth and seventh grade classes attended a field trip to Salem, Achille shielded Dobrev from a malevolent spirit who was harassing him; Achille later introduced himself on the bus and asked if they could talk about their abilities sometime. Despite Dobrev’s fear of his punk appearance and reputation, he found him polite enough to talk to and agreed to become friends.

Achille’s laid-back attitude brings out a more lively, confident side to Dobrev when they are together. He frequently reassures Dobrev when he senses his anxiety and constantly tries protecting him from malevolent spirits. Achille’s knowledge on the paranormal brings them closer as friends, though Dobrev frequently points out his handsome features and admirable character, hinting at his secret crush. His fear of Achille gradually decreases to the point where Dobrev trusts him completely, to the concern of Mina and Dobrev’s uncle, Ian Reign. Throughout the school year they become closer, learning more about each other through their psychic abilities—Dobrev fell into a short period of depression when his uncle and family disapproved of his friendship with Achille, hardly speaking until Achille brought his birthday present over.

### Romance (Dochille)

Upon meeting Achille, Dobrev admits to himself that he finds the fourteen-year-old handsome, and notes that he is admired by all the middle school girls at their school for his appearance. As their friendship grows and Dobrev realizes there is more to Achille that meets the eye, and through their frequent ghostly adventures and paranormal study sessions, Dobrev's feelings transform into a full-blown crush. Dobrev often becomes flustered whenever he is close to Achille, and when the other teases him about anything; in return, Achille enjoys being around Dobrev, finding his presence calming, as well as finding him sweet and adorable. Dobrev is unaware of Achille's own romantic feelings for him and often assumes Achille isn't into boys, an untrue fact he uses to try and dismiss his feelings.

Due to Dobrev's father's homophobic tendencies and Dobrev's own dislike of attention, he never intentionally proclaims his affection for Achille and even tries to suppress his emotions, though he does prove them frequently by following along with Achille's schemes, watching horror movies with him, and even ghost hunting, two things Dobrev would normally never do on his own. After Dobrev kisses Achille to wake him up from sleepwalking, Achille lightly teases him about the act and often brings it up to make the other blush. They spend much of their time together to defeat Lila, and their equal determination shows just how much they care about the other's wellbeing.

Following Achille's confession to Lila about him not being into girls, Dobrev is happily shocked, though he needs further confirmation from his best friend just to be sure. Achille is more bold with his romantic intentions near the end of the story, such as holding Dobrev's hand and calling him cute, though he never goes too far because he knows Dobrev isn't yet comfortable with disclosing their relationship to the public.

At the end of the novel, Achille reveals that he has had a crush on Dobrev since he saw him on the first day of school that year, adding further proof that both boys have been harboring romantic feelings for each other for a while.

Their ship name is called Dochille, taking the "Do" from Dobrev, and the "chille" from Achille.