Chapter Text
It comes on slowly, like it always does. So slowly Luke doesn’t even notice at first.
Sure, he’s vaguely aware of the slight twinge of a headache where his neck meets his brain, but it’s easy enough to brush off. He’s having a fun time with Willie, hunting down the perfect birthday presents for Julie. Willie insisted that he needed help figuring out what to get her, but now that they’re actually here Luke thinks this is just another installment in their never-ending competition to one-up each other, because now Willie is insisting that they can find the better present.
As they race down the mall walkway towards Julie’s favorite store, he starts to notice the harsh fluorescent lights grating on his eyes, but he pushes that away too. That’s just what mall lights are like. They’re meant to be unpleasant.
The real problem comes when they’re in the store, rifling through a colorful display of dresses. There’s a group of kids nearby, probably middle schoolers, and even though he knows Willie’s talking to him all he can hear is their loud voices clashing with the music playing from the store speakers, all of it somehow amplified and none of it making any sense.
“Luke,” Willie calls. Their voice barely filters through the cacophony of noise, but it sounds like it’s not the first time they’ve called him. “You good, bro?”
Luke blinks a few times, trying to clear his head. “Yeah, sorry. What were you saying?” There’s a bright orange crop top in the corner of his vision. The fluorescent lights reflect off it until it’s all he can see.
“I asked if Julie would like this,” Willie says, holding up a purple skirt. It blocks Luke’s view of the crop top, granting him a brief moment of relief.
Luke reaches out to feel the fabric. “Yeah, I think—“
The middle schoolers burst into raucous laughter the exact moment he touches the skirt, and it whites out his entire brain. Suddenly the fabric is the worst thing he’s ever felt. He rips his hand away from it as creepy-crawlies scurry from his fingertips up both his arms.
“Woah,” Willie says, their voice muffled and way too loud all at once. “Seriously, are you okay?”
Luke doesn’t quite comprehend their words; he just stares at them, blinking more rapidly than he thought was humanly possible. Can ghosts blink faster than humans? He makes a note to ask Willie later when his head doesn’t feel like it’s going to split open.
“It’s too much, isn’t it?” Willie asks, gesturing vaguely to their surroundings.
Luke bites his lip and nods.
“Come on,” Willie says. He puts the skirt back on the rack and holds out his hand, giving Luke the option to take it or not.
Luke reaches out and lightly brushes their hands together, but the feeling sends another round of horrible tingles up his arms and he pulls away, shaking his hands as if it’ll dislodge the awful feeling.
“That’s fine,” Willie says softly. “Just follow me.”
They lead Luke out of the store and down the corridor until they reach a little open-air courtyard in the center. The sunlight streaming through the roof is way too much, in Luke’s opinion, but the grassy area is surrounded by glass that blocks out the noise of the rest of the mall.
“Do you think you can poof back to the garage?” Willie asks.
Just the thought of poofing sends the creepy-crawlies swarming through his body again. He shakes his head violently, and Willie holds out a hand to calm him.
“That’s chill,” they promise. “Are you okay to stay here for a sec? I’ll be back before you know it.”
Luke doesn’t really want to be alone at the moment, but he trusts Willie so he nods, covering his ears with his hands so he doesn’t have to hear the whoosh as they poof away. He sinks down to sit on the grass, keeping his legs tucked up to his chest so he doesn’t actually feel any of it on his skin.
Willie stays true to their word; they’re only gone a few seconds, and when they return it’s with a bundle of familiar items in their arms. When Willie hands over his sunglasses, the relief is so powerful Luke could cry.
Willie makes quick work of the rest of it. He hands Luke a water bottle and wraps the soft blanket around his legs with care not to touch any skin. The creepy-crawlies start to dissipate a bit. They don’t disappear completely, but their frantic scuttle slows to a slow march up and down his arms.
Willie hands over Luke’s noise cancelling headphones last, but stops him before he puts them on.
“You mentioned music the other day,” Willie says. “Does that help?”
Luke nods and fumbles for the phone Tía insisted he carry. He tries to open Spotify, but even through his thick shades the light is too much.
“Could you—“ Luke holds out the phone towards Willie. “It’s the one called ‘Drown it Out.’”
Willie opens Spotify and finds the playlist, then connects Luke’s headphones for him.
“Do you want me to stay or go?” Willie asks.
“Stay,” Luke says immediately, wincing at his own volume. He drops his voice down to a whisper. “But don’t touch me,” he adds, remembering how Willie had asked to be hugged. “Please.”
“You got it, man,” Willie says. He takes a seat a few feet away from Luke, far enough so they won’t actually touch him but close enough to stay in his line of sight.
Luke slips the headphones on and the voice of Billie Joe Armstrong fills his brain. It washes over all the other painful sounds, instantly relaxing his mind and body. He fiddles with the volume for a few seconds, partially to find a bearable level and partially to remind himself that he’s in control of this noise.
He leans back against the glass and closes his eyes, curling his legs up to his chest again so he can rub a hand along the soft fabric of the blanket in slow, soothing motions while his other hand brings the water bottle to his lips. He takes some of those deep breaths Alex taught him to do, and gradually, the creepy-crawlies start to inch down his arm until they’re only in his fingertips, and then they leave him altogether.
He gives it a minute or two to make sure they won’t come back, then cracks his eyes open. The light isn’t excruciating anymore, and when he lifts the headphones off his ears it doesn’t feel like the sounds of the mall are pounding against his ears. Just to be safe, he reaches down to feel the grass, and when it doesn’t send a new round of tingles through his arms he sighs in relief and removes everything but the blanket.
The movement catches Willie’s attention and they look up from their phone.
“Feeling better?” they ask.
“Yeah,” Luke nods. He shuffles over next to Willie and pulls them into a hug. “Thanks, Willie.”
“No problem, man.” Willie hugs Luke back giving him a quick little squeeze. “Do you wanna go home?”
“What about our competition?” Luke asks.
“We got a week until Julie’s birthday,” Willie shrugs. “We can come back when you’re feeling better.” He pauses and narrows his eyes at Luke. “Unless this whole thing was a ruse to throw me off my game…”
Luke snorts. “Oh yeah, bro, totally. I sent Reggie in to get that skirt while you were distracted.”
Willie gasps dramatically, clutching a hand to their chest like they’ve been wounded. “The betrayal!”
Luke laughs and Willie bursts into giggles alongside him.
“Seriously, though,” Willie chuckles. “We can go home and I can kick your ass at poker instead.”
Luke takes a moment to take stock of himself, then says, “I think I’ll be okay.”
“Well in that case…”
Willie leaps up to their feet and takes off like a rocket. “Race you for the skirt!”
Luke laughs and takes off after him, and this time there’s no trace of a headache.