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Chapter Text

Alex had not seen the kiss coming. Which was all the more surprising since he had been waiting for it basically since the day Willie had run him over.

It was clearly a spur of the moment thing, Willie grinning at him one second and then grabbing his face and kissing him the next, but when they broke apart again, he was still grinning and so Alex, who had been too surprised during the first kiss to do much about it, grabbed Willie’s shirt and drew him in for a second, much longer and heated kiss.

It was only afterwards that he remembered that they still hadn’t had the talk. And he felt bad.

He’d assumed they weren’t quite there yet, had still been unsure whether this was what Willie wanted. And yes, he’d also been afraid of pushing him away. Especially since there were two reasons to potentially turn him off: not wanting him, and wanting him exclusively.

Anyway, there was no way he could postpone it any longer now.

Alex cleared his throat, took a step back, and started drawing patterns into the dust on the floor with the tip of his sneakers. This was going to be awkward.

“You know I love the guys, right?”

“I know they’re very important to you.” Willie smiled at him and God, he just wanted to kiss that stupidly gorgeous face again. But this had to be cleared up first.

“No, I mean, I love them.”

Willie looked both deflated and confused, and who could blame him? Especially after that epic kiss they’d just shared.

“But … I love you, too,” Alex added and it took all his willpower not to reach for the other ghost. He was well aware that this might be where he would lose him, and the thought turned his insides to nervously writhing snakes—which was not a good thing to have inside of you!

There was a brief flicker of hope and happiness on Willie’s face at the three words in the middle, but it was soon replaced by a frown once more, and maybe that fleeting joy cut all the deeper for it.

“I don’t …” Willie bit his lip. “What are you saying, Alex?”

Alex drew in a deep breath. “Luke, Reggie, and I … we’re not just a band. We’re together.” He’d never tried to explain this to anyone and the fact that he was now trying to explain it to someone he cared about so much it hurt was not making it any easier. “As in … you know…” He gestured vaguely.

“But …” Willie steeled himself, forcing the words out, “but then why did you kiss me? Why hang out with me and …” make me fall for you?

Alex tried not to wince. He knew he was hurting Willie and he wished he didn’t have to.

“Because I care about you, Willie. A lot! Trust me, I didn’t expect it to happen and I know I should have said something sooner but I wasn’t sure if…,” he shrugged.

“So, what about Luke and Reggie? What do they say to all of this?” Willie spread his arms, encompassing the two of them and the empty skate park.

“Oh! They’re okay with it.”

This had Willie dumbstruck. “They are?”

“Yes! They know how I feel about you.” It would have been pretty difficult to hide, too. Although Alex was still amazed himself (and grateful) that the guys were cool with his very obvious crush on Willie.

“But don’t they … mind?”

In a way, Alex was glad that Willie was so confused by the whole thing because otherwise, Alex suspected, he would have been more concentrated on feeling hurt and might have stormed off already. This way, there was at least a chance to explain. Even if it was hard.

“No … this whole thing, with Luke, Reggie, and me? It’s pretty open and relaxed?” Alex shrugged, hands buried deep in the pockets of his pants, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I’m not even entirely sure how it all came about? Though it was definitely Luke’s fault!”

There was a tiny smile, just a hint really, but it was there and Alex could have kissed it all over again because maybe, just maybe, Willie was open to listening to this. Well, he wasn’t yelling at him at least. So, there was that.

“And … what do you want?” Now it was Willie’s turn to look at his shoes.

But at least he was asking, wasn’t he?

“I want to be with you. And with the guys.” Alex was chewing on his bottom lip, sensing they were coming to the edge. He took a tentative step forward. “Look, I know it’s not fair to you, and I wish …” He wasn’t really sure what he wished for.

“So, if you had to choose?”

It was a careful question, Willie’s face guarded, and Alex’s heart sank. Because he knew what he had to answer.

He sighed, looking anywhere but Willie’s face.

“I couldn’t leave them. I’m sorry.”

His fingers itched to take hold of Willie again, to press his body close and never let him go, but he couldn’t do that. If the only thing he could do for Willie was to let him leave with his dignity intact, then he would.

“So, the only choice is to give you up or,” Willie hesitated before rushing the words out, “share you with the others?”

Alex’s gaze flicked up at that. Could he actually be open to that possibility?

They stared at each other, Alex hoping beyond hope, Willie obviously torn. Then, Alex nodded.

Willie broke off the eye contact and started pacing and Alex tried hard not to take it as a sign that he’d lose him. It was obviously a difficult decision but though it pained him that he had to make Willie go through that, it also gave him hope. Because if it had been an easy decision, he’d have been off already.

Then, Willie stopped. “I can’t lose you,” he whispered and the helpless look he gave Alex made him feel like a villain. He didn’t deserve Willie but he couldn’t lose him either.

“You … you don’t have to decide right away. I mean, I know it’s a lot to take in …,” he offered, though he desperately wanted to wrap Willie in his arms, “… but if,” he swallowed, “if we try it, and you realise that you’re not comfortable with this …” He shrugged, looking equally helpless. “I wouldn’t blame you.”

Willie stepped up to him, searching his face for God knew what. “I can’t lie, Alex. This is a lot and I never thought … well, I thought maybe you might not be interested in me that way but I never—," he broke off, shrugged. He plucked at the hem of his shirt. “I don’t know if this will work. I just know that … that I don’t want to lose you.”

Slowly, Alex lifted his hands to Willie’s face and brought their foreheads together. “Thank you,” he whispered, eyes closed, and he swallowed against the tears. “Thank you for being willing to try it.”

Chapter Text

Things were going well or, if not completely well, then at least better than Alex would ever have expected. It was obvious that Willie still wasn’t completely okay with the whole sharing concept, which was why they never discussed it after that first initial conversation and decision.

Alex tried not to mention the guys much, or if he did, mostly in the context of the band, which included Julie so it was safer. Willie stayed away from the topic as well and so they could pretend that nothing was out of the ordinary in their dating when they spent time together. Though Alex didn’t ask what went through Willie’s head when they weren’t.

It was good, for now, but there was a baseline anxiety thrumming under the happiness that warned him of a coming crash. So he was wound a little tight as it were.

Which was why he knew things couldn’t go on like this forever. Keeping these two parts of his life so completely separate was tearing him apart.

But knowing he had to do something about it and actually doing it were two very different things and so it took a few more days before he finally accepted that there would never be the right moment, and just blurted out:

“Would you like to come to band practice?”

Willie had been staring out at the ocean contentedly–the beach being their current romantic dating location–, fingers entwined with his, but Alex’s words jolted him out of whatever reverie he’d been in.

Alex squeezed his boyfriend’s hand reassuringly. “It’s okay if you don’t want to but … I just thought I’d ask.”

Willie hesitated.

“I’d like to hear you guys play …”

But. He didn’t have to say it for Alex to hear it clearly.

As far as he knew, Willie hadn’t been to any of their gigs since they’d started going out, or rather since Willie knew about Alex’s true relationship with Luke and Reggie, and he’d never prodded him. He’d provided the information, the when and where, but other than that, he’d left it up to Willie to decide whether he wanted to show up or not. So far, he hadn’t.

Alex swallowed his disappointment and waved down any potential guilt Willie could be feeling. “No, as I said, it’s okay. I … I get why that might be weird for you though I promise we would try to make it as un-weird as possible. I mean, I know the whole situation is weird anyway what with all of us being ghosts on top of everything else and … but no, just forget it, it’s—” He noticed he was starting to ramble and shut up abruptly.

Willie studied him with narrowed eyes for a second. “This is really important to you, isn’t it?”

Alex shrugged, trying to play it down. “Not as important as you,” he clarified and brought Willie’s hand to his chest, holding on.

They stayed like that, Alex cradling Willie’s hand, both of them staring out at the waves crashing against the shoreline, the sun sinking lower.

“Okay.”

Alex turned his head to look at Willie, trying to squish the traitorously squirming hope inside of him.

Willie smiled and bumped his shoulder.

“I’ll come to your next band practice and we’ll see how it goes, okay, hot dog?”

Alex adjusted his position so he faced Willie directly. “Do … do you really mean that?”

Willie laughed and then bent forward, bringing their faces close. “Yes.”

Luckily, Willie’s lips weren’t far away because this was definitely the moment for a kiss!

They’d agreed Willie would join the band the day after next, which gave Alex some time to go over things with the boys, and Willie some time to mentally prepare himself.

Luke and Reggie were eager for the meeting and had promised that they would keep public displays of affections to a minimum. They were all aware that this was, hopefully, just the start of a longer process of slowly merging the two sides of Alex’s life together. If they got that far at all.

Alex continuously fell from a state of elated hope into despair and back again and was, as Reggie put it, completely useless as a consequence. It got so bad they had to physically tackle and restrain him before he wore a track into the garage’s floor. Luke and Reggie manhandled him onto the sofa and at least one of them, though mostly both, draped themselves over him to keep him there.

Alex struggled and protested initially but they were relentless, and Alex had to admit at least to himself that their bodily proximity was steadying.

Luke eventually took up his guitar and plucked away at the strings, humming quietly, while Reggie placed his head in Alex’s lap. He loved having the others run their fingers through his hair, and the repetitive motion and seeing the contented smile on Reggie’s face did a lot to calm Alex’s nerves.

He tried very hard to convince himself that the worst that could happen was things going back to how they had been before, with him dating the guys in one part of his life, and sharing the other with Willie. He was not going to lose Willie.

But while the fingers of one hand were brushing through Reggie’s hair, the fingers of the other were drumming a relentless beat on his thigh.

Julie knew about the importance of Willie’s visit and had agreed to give the boys some time to get reacquainted before joining them—though not too much lest things got seriously awkward. So, it was just Alex, Luke, and Reggie who met Willie when he appeared outside the Molina’s garage. He looked about as nervous as Alex felt but at least he’d shown up as promised. It was a start and Alex was both grateful and relieved.

He bounded up to Willie and kissed him, only remembering afterwards that maybe that would be weird for Luke and Reggie. The two had been so supportive about the whole thing from the start that he’d only worried about Willie and how he would take this meeting, not how seeing him with Willie might affect Reggie and Luke.

Coming out of the kiss, he turned and looked at them but they were just grinning and came to greet Willie as well.

“Hi, Willie.” Reggie did a little wave and smiled.

Luke slapped Willie’s arm good-naturedly. “Thanks for coming, dude. Alex has been really happy since you two hooked up—”

“—though mostly nervous these last two days—," Reggie piped up, and murmured “Ouch” when Alex elbowed him.

“—and we appreciate it.”

Willie bit his lip. “Uhm, sure …” He was obviously not quite certain how to take his boyfriend’s two other boyfriends and their enthusiasm.

And if he was being quite honest, neither was Alex. He knew the guys liked Willie, and had been more than understanding when Alex confessed to having feelings for him, but still, this was a level of supportive he’d never expected.

He was glad when Julie appeared not much later, cautiously peering around the still open garage door to gauge the atmosphere.

They’d figured out earlier that Julie wasn’t able to see or hear Willie unless he was touching one of ‘her ghosts’ so Alex hooked his arm with him for the greeting scene but once they settled in with their respective instruments, Willie disappeared for the only lifer in their group.

After they’d run through their set, Alex was quick to go back to Willie and settled next to him on the couch so Julie could see him and hear all the praise he heaped on them.

Willie had visibly relaxed while they played, drumming on his legs to the beat of the music and generally giving every sign of liking what he heard—and saw; Alex was not above being proud about finally being able to show Willie his skills on the drums and his singing. Willie had his skating and he had this.

Things weren’t perfect but Alex couldn’t remember ever feeling this happy, having Willie here and sharing their music with him, seeing how much he enjoyed it—it felt right in so many ways! The band and these people where the most important things in his (after)life, so being able to bring Willie into this felt like finally being whole again.

He was conscious about probably looking like a love-sick fool whenever he stole glances at Willie, which was often, but he didn’t care. He was happy. And it seemed, so were the people he loved most.

Chapter Text

After Julie had left, it was just the four ghosts again and things calmed down somewhat. The return of awkward, though all four of them tried their best not to let on just how weird all of this was after all.

“Thanks for inviting me,” Willie said after a short moment of hesitation but with genuine gratitude and briefly touched Alex’s leg, “and thanks for having me,” he added in the direction of Reggie and Luke, who had settled on the armchair and on the armrest of said chair respectively.

“Of course! We’re happy you’re here,” Luke said with one of his trademark smiles that made him so hard to resist, and Reggie nodded along, one arm slung around Luke’s waist, head propped against him.

“I …,” Willie bit his lip and then continued, “I was afraid you might resent me.”

The boys wrinkled their faces in confusion.

“For … you know, for crashing in and stealing Alex.” Willie shrugged helplessly, looking between the three of them.

It had never occurred to Alex that that might be the bigger concern for Willie, rather than seeing him with the guys.

“But you didn’t steal him!” Reggie protested.

“Right,” Luke was fast to agree and was seemingly about to say something more but decided against it.

“I know, I … ‘stealing’ was maybe not the best word but—”

“It’s okay,” Luke reassured him. “We know what you mean. And no, we don’t resent you for it.” He checked in with Reggie who nodded. “As I said, we love Alex. And you make him happy, so …” He shrugged.

For Luke and Reggie, it really seemed to be as simple as that. Which made Alex feel all kinds of fluffy things.

“Besides, you’re a cool guy,” Luke added with another shrug and a wink, “so it’s cool.”

“Yeah, we don’t have to be afraid of you being a bad influence on Alex!” Reggie chuckled.

Alex rolled his eyes. “And thank God for that! I already have enough of that with you two!”

“Oh yeah, we are a bad influence, aren’t we?” Luke teased and made a face that was probably supposed to look menacing or something but it just made all of them burst out laughing.

After that, things got more relaxed and Alex had no qualms about snuggling up to Willie on the couch while they talked about anything and everything, and Willie, too, seemed happy to have him near.

And then things got weird again.

Alex wasn’t quite sure how they had ended up here, with Luke and Reggie sharing “tips” with Willie about “handling” Alex, as if he was a favourite pet puppy!

“Have you noticed that his legs are ticklish?” Reggie laughed. “And don’t get me started on his feet!”

“Hey!”

But nobody listened to Alex’s protest.

“Oh yeah, and his neck is suuuper sensitive!” Luke chimed in with a grin.

Reggie nodded emphatically. “It’s basically a ‘turn on Alex’ quick start!”

Luke’s eyes suddenly got that dangerous twinkle they always held when he came up with a potentially wacky idea. This time, he had apparently decided that a demonstration was in order. “Watch this!”

He more or less lunged himself at Alex and immediately started kissing his neck and throat, running his fingers over all the skin he wasn’t currently attacking with his lips.

Alex froze and his brain short-circuited.

With all the emotional rollercoaster of the last two days—and let’s be real, before that, too—Luke definitely had the advantage. Some of Alex’s braincells dimly screamed that maybe Willie wouldn’t take too well to this performance and that Luke had promised not to do anything stupid like this but the rest turned to goo as soon as Luke’s lips touched his skin.

It was simply not fair.

His hands grabbed for support and found a thigh on either side of him, digging fingers into fabric and flesh, while his head fell back to give better access to Luke, his heart beating hard against his ribcage, eyes fluttered shut.

He was dimly aware of Reggie’s soft laughter, of Willie’s hand covering his own and squeezing his fingers, of Luke’s hair tickling his face.

Then he heard “c’mon, you try” through the static in his head and before his brain had properly disentangled the meaning of those ominous words and started to panic, the direction of the assault had changed and it was Willie’s mouth and hands driving him insane!

A sound half protest, half moan escaped his lips.

And then there were two mouths.

This was not the plan. This is not happening. This is—

But it felt too good and his last remaining braincells desperately grabbed for the emergency brake in a final attempt to keep a hold on his sanity before things unravelled beyond control.

His eyes flew open and he scrambled very undignified over the low couch table in order to bring some distance between himself and Willie and Luke. And their mouths!

“Okay, that,” he stretched his hands out, warding off further attacks, gasping for air, “that was mean!” He pushed the hair out of his face and regretted the fact that ghosts were apparently able to feel dizzy.

“No, dude,” Reggie disagreed with a large grin, “that was hot!”

Alex saw them chuckle but the sound was muffled by the white noise in his head. Blood rushing through a body that wasn’t even real! Because he was dead, and so were Luke and Reggie and Willie, and so why did his body still have a panic mode?

It should have been better now, with physical distance established and no mouths and hands driving him crazy, but Alex’s heart was still racing, and his fingers started to shake.

When Luke and Reggie realised, they stopped grinning and got up at once.

“Hey, man…”

They walked up to him with quick steps, Luke gently taking hold of Alex’s hands and lowering them.

“It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex whispered against the panic in his throat.

“No, it’s fine. You’re okay.”

“We’re here.”

“Everything’s fine.”

They surrounded him, and when Luke nodded him over, Willie, who had been hovering on the edge of his seat, joined the other two and all three slowly closed the circle to a proper embrace.

At first, Alex’s heart rate spiked at the contact but soon the steadying presence of three bodies pressing against him, of all of them being there for him, got through the buzzing in his skull. He closed his eyes and let himself be held until he felt calmer again.

His head sank forward, resting on someone’s shoulder. Luke’s? Willie’s? It didn’t matter. The tingling in his fingertips receded and eventually, even his brain was silent. The boys tightened the embrace and they stayed like that for a long time, Alex secure in the centre.

“I’m okay now,” Alex croaked eventually.

The circle of arms around him slowly disentangled and the three ghosts took a step back, Reggie coming around, to study him and to make sure that he was, indeed, okay.

And he was, mostly.

“Thank you.” He still had trouble looking any of them in the eye but at last glanced at Willie. “Sorry. I’m not usually such an emotional mess.”

“And also,” Reggie held up his finger, “if you should wonder, that is not his usual reaction to what just happened. Just in case you’re now terrified of ever making out with him again.”

Alex turned to him and narrowed his eyes. “Thanks, Reg. I guess?”

“You’re welcome, Alex!” Reggie beamed and patted his shoulder affectionately.

“I’m really sorry. This is all totally my fault!” Luke exclaimed unhappily, hangdog expression on his face. “I should have known it would all be a bit too much after everything. I just got carried away and …”

It was impossible to stay mad at Luke for any length of time when he looked at Alex with those sad puppy dog eyes, and so Alex shrugged and smiled at him.

“It’s okay.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” Alex stepped up to him, laid his hand on his cheek, and kissed him gently. He bumped his nose against Luke’s and added: “And thank you, for calming me down.”

He looked over to Reggie. “Thank you, too, Reggie.”

Hands transferred to Reggie’s face, he kissed him as well.

Then he looked at Willie, who displayed no signs of discomfort at witnessing the two kisses, and smiled.

“And thank you.”

He stepped over to Willie, who did not hesitate to accept his own kiss, hands reaching for Alex’s face.

Afterwards, Alex looked at his three ghost boyfriends and cleared his throat.

“I know I don’t deserve even just one of you so I have no idea what I did to end up with all of you but …” He bit his lip.

Luke smiled. “We love you, too, Alex.”

Reggie and Willie nodded, and Alex felt himself tear up.

“Okay, I guess I am the emotional one! Whatever.” He sniffled, and grinned, and waved them over for another prolonged hug.

Willie was the first to break off. “I should probably leave you guys to it and head home.” He pointed over his shoulder to the studio doors and the skateboard he’d deposited there earlier.

Alex bit his lip, and then nodded, telling himself that, much as he wanted it, he couldn’t expect Willie to just stay. Indefinitely.

“It was nice to have you here, so come back any time!” Luke went in for a hug that Willie accepted somewhat startled but with an eventual smile.

“What he said.” Reggie, too, hugged Willie goodbye. “I know it’s a bit frightening, but you’re a part of this weird little family now. No escaping anymore.” He winked.

Alex wasn’t sure but he thought Willie was actually blushing at that.

“Thank you.”

Willie looked at Alex, who nodded in the direction of the doors. “I’ll see you out.”

Since they could just teleport wherever they wanted, there wasn’t much sense in that but he wanted to have some words in private with him and the smile that answered his suggestion made it clear that Willie welcomed the idea.

Once outside, they both looked at each other hesitatingly before Alex rushed out: “I hope it was okay for you and not too weird.”

“No. No, I … enjoyed it.” Willie studied Alex’s face. “More than I expected, to be honest.”

Alex blew out a sigh of relief.

“Again, I’m sorry about freaking out on you guys and probably freaking you out in the process …”

“No. I’m sorry! We shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like that.”

“Well … it wasn’t like I didn’t enjoy it,” Alex confessed, heat rushing to his cheeks. “Just … uh …”

Willie nodded. “I get it. It was … well, it was a lot, wasn’t it?”

Alex laughed softly. “Yeah. Definitely.” He stepped closer to Willie and plucked absentmindedly at his sleeves. “But I’m so glad you came.”

Willie took a step forward as well. “So am I.”

They looked at each other, knowing that their relationship had just taken a huge leap forward, and met each other in the middle for a tender kiss.

Chapter Text

After that first very emotional visit, Willie became a semi-regular at their studio, and soon it didn’t even feel weird anymore to have him around. Things quieted down some, and without adrenaline running rampant, there were no reprisals of the highs and lows of that first time.

Reggie, and especially Luke, had always been very physical people, showing their affection by touch and luckily, Willie didn’t seem to mind, instead quickly falling into an easy-going routine with the guys, to the great relief of everyone.

And after Reggie and Willie found out that they were both huge film nerds, there was no stopping them. Willie was delighted whenever he thought of a movie or show that Reggie wouldn’t have seen yet—“Oh man, you’re so lucky you get to see Firefly for the first time! Fair warning, they cancelled it after just one season, which was plain criminal, but it’s amazing!” or “Dude! I get to introduce you to the MCU!”—and Reggie lapped up every suggestion with unrestrained excitement, asking Willie tons of questions the older ghost seemed more than happy to answer. Julie’s Netflix profile would get a lot more scifi recommendations in the future! Luke and Alex just watched them, shaking their heads fondly at their two nerds.

Since not all of Willie’s visits were pre-planned, Luke wasn’t surprised when he dropped in one day in the middle of Luke’s song-writing attempts.

Willie looked around and his face fell a little after realising that it was just Luke in the studio, no sign of Alex (or Reggie) anywhere.

“They’re out on a date,” Luke explained, chewing on his pen.

“Alone?” Confusion was written all over Willie’s face.

Luke shrugged and sat up, closing his notebook with the pen as a marker. “Julie and I were working on some new lyrics earlier so they headed out. Besides, it’s good for them to have some quality alone time every now and then.” He leaned forward and whispered with a conspiratorial wink: “I can be a bit of an attention hog sometimes.”

Willie laughed and Luke was struck by how cute the skater ghost looked, which was not a new realisation at all though one he’d kept successfully to himself so far.

Well, now that he was already here …

“Speaking of which, if you have nothing better to do, I wouldn’t mind some company…?”

“I’m not interrupting you?” Willie gestured towards the book in Luke’s hands.

“Nah … I wasn’t getting anywhere anyway.” He jumped up from the couch and threw the notebook carelessly onto the table. “So … I’ve been meaning to ask—” He hesitated.

Willie tilted his head and raised his eyebrows, prompting him on.

“Would you teach me how to skate?” Luke laughed to cover up his nervousness and scratched his neck.

Willie looked surprised for a second but then grinned.

“Of course, man! No problem!”

“Awesome!” Luke bounced on the balls of his feet and grinned back at the other ghost.

Early in his childhood, Luke’s career plans had involved three very specific things: rock star, skateboarder, and pirate. Despite growing up in proximity to the ocean, the last one was soon out of the running and only made some mild comebacks in Halloween costumes and his disdain for sleeves, which left the two slightly more achievable dreams.

But after some bad experiences at the local skate park, involving some mean older kids and his very worried mother, he’d decided to focus on his musical career instead. Which, granted, had cost him his life in a way, but had still proven to be the right choice, in Luke’s opinion.

The fascination for skateboard stunts, however, had never quite left him and he counted the ten years older Tony Hawk as one of his heroes—one of the few who wasn’t a musician. The realisation that Hawk was now thirty-five years older was still too weird to think about.

Arriving with Willie at the skate park, Luke felt the old adrenaline rushing back, and his nerves.

Willie set his board down, casually moving it back and forth with one foot. “So … are you completely new to this or …?”

Luke shrugged. “Not totally. But it’s been ages and I never got much beyond just, you know, rolling on it.”

The bitter note in his voice probably didn’t escape Willie who smiled encouragingly at him. “Well, it’s a starting point. Keeping your balance on the board and controlling it are the basis for any stunt.” He gave his board a gentle push in Luke’s direction. “Okay, let’s see what you’ve got.” As an afterthought he handed over his helmet as well. “Just in case.”

Luke accepted it with a nod—though the crack on the left side wasn’t exactly reassuring—and plopped it onto his head. No, no, it definitely wasn’t weird to wear Willie’s helmet!

Focus.

Luke took a deep breath and stepped onto the board.

Willie proved to be a patient and enthusiastic teacher and so Luke soon lost his initial nervousness and when, by the end of their practice session, he’d managed some minor jumps, not to mention stopping on purpose and managing driving curves, he beamed with pride and was overflowing with excitement.

“Dude, that was absolutely awesome!”

He shook Willie by the shoulders, who laughed and slapped Luke’s arm in return, seemingly as delighted as he was.

They sat down at the other edge of the park and watched some kids, that had turned up, skating around. It would take a while for Luke to reach their level but he felt much more confidant now that he’d made such rapid progress.

Willie bumped against him, playfully. “That really wasn’t too shabby for a first attempt, so … we’ll get you there.” He nodded at the other skaters, as if he’d read his mind. Then he laughed. “Alex looked much worse on the board.”

Luke nearly choked. “Alex? You tried to teach Alex how to skate?”

“Yeah … ‘try’ being the operative word.” Willie winked at him.

“Dude, I’d have given anything to see that! And yeah, he’s more of a ‘solid ground type of guy.’” Luke chuckled, unable to imagine Alex on a skateboard.

“That he is,” Willie agreed but the smile on his face was decidedly soft and Luke tried to ignore all the things that made him feel.

He was about to change the subject when he noticed that the smile had been replaced by a frown. He followed Willie’s gaze and saw that the kids they’d seen earlier were now hollering at a little girl who’d entered the park, wearing a helmet and protective gear, and carrying a pink skateboard under her arm. She was probably around ten and Luke wondered where her parents were until he saw her glance towards a cluster of young women some distance off. One of them was probably her Mom.

“I hate guys like that,” Willie muttered, watching the boys skating around the girl in ever closer loops. “C’mon.” He got up, dragging Luke with him and whatever he was about to do, Luke knew that he stood 100% behind him.

Willie jumped onto his board and skated towards the group, which left Luke to either run after him or pouf ahead of him. He blinked and found himself on the opposite end of the park, close enough to the girl that he could see the terrified expression on her face.

“This is no place for little girls,” one of the guys taunted.

“Yeah, get back to your Mommie and play with Barbies!”

The girl bit on her quivering lip but stayed resolutely rooted to the spot. Luke was impressed but the anger quickly rising inside of him soon eclipsed that.

A boy with a Star Wars T-shirt—Reggie would have had a few words to say about that!—skated so close by the girl she stumbled a step back, but then he himself smacked into an obstacle and tumbled off his board.

Willie had arrived.

He was a marvel to behold, skating around the boys and ever so slightly pushing them off balance so they landed beautifully in the dirt without any apparent cause. Luke helped him where he could, tugging on jackets and sliding nearby branches under wheels, until none of the boys were standing anymore, let alone skating.

The girl watched the chaos around her with wide eyes, clutching her board close.

“What the fuck is happening?” Star-Wars-guy cried.

“Freak winds?” One boy ventured but he didn’t sound very convinced.

Luke pushed his board away just as he was about to get back on it and he landed smack on his ass. Luke doubled over with laughter and shouted “Take that!”

The boys seemed to finally get the clue and beat a hasty retreat, running after the dude’s AWOL skateboard.

“Karma is a bitch! You better watch yourselves!” Luke hollered after them and pumped his fist into the air.

Willie smiled briefly but his face was full of concern as he looked back at the girl who was still standing in the exact same spot.

Luke deflated. They had been able to chase the boys away but there was no way they could reassure the girl.

After a moment, she carefully set her board down, putting one foot on it. Then she halted and looked around her. Of course, she couldn’t see the two ghosts standing next to her, watching. She drew her foot back.

“No, c’mon, you can do it!” Luke cheered her on quietly, even though he knew she couldn’t hear him.

Just then, her mom arrived.

“Hey sweetie. What’s up?” She had that cheerful/worried tone down perfect.

The girl pressed her lips together. How could she explain those boys and whatever had happened to them?

“Didn’t you want to skate?”

“Sure …,” the girl answered, and put her foot back on the board, hesitatingly. As nothing happened, she slowly pushed herself away and stepped onto the board completely, skating off, but not at any great speed or showing any enthusiasm.

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Luke looked over at Willie but the frown on the ghost’s face spoke volumes.

When they heard the sound of skateboard wheels on pavement, they turned in unison, but it wasn’t the boys from earlier, returning. Instead, these guys were about their own age. They were joking amongst themselves until they spotted the little girl.

Luke noticed the slight frown on the Mom’s face, though she tried to hide it.

But the guys just beamed and looked absolutely delighted.

“Man, I love your board!” One called out to the girl, who halted, looking doubtful.

“You want to put your right foot a little further back, gives you more control over the board,” another added and walked up to her. “Here, like this.” He stepped onto his own board, lightly bouncing up and down in place, then see-sawing in a controlled back and forth.

The girl chewed her bottom lip but looked cautiously hopeful, and, after a second, shifted her right foot backwards a little.

“Yeah, that’s it!”

The group of four guys clustered around the girl, giving her more tips until she thawed and by the time Luke and Willie slowly walked back to their bench, she was beaming and zooming around the park to the cheers of the boys.

“Thank God there’s good guys, too!”

Willie nodded and sighed with relief.

“I just hate it when people feel like they can tell others what to do or not to do.” He was obviously still mad about the boys from earlier and Luke couldn’t blame him. “I mean, look how happy she is!” He pointed towards the girl who had just managed a kickflip.

“She’s really good, too,” Luke admitted with just a little bit of jealousy.

“Yeah, but that’s not the point either. Even if she were a total mess on the board … doesn’t give anyone the right to tell her whether she’s allowed to skate or not, as long as she’s having fun!”

“Yeah, totally,” Luke was quick to agree. “I didn’t mean—”

Willie smiled at him. “I know. Sorry … I get a bit carried away with stuff like this.” Then he laughed. “You were awesome by the way, man!”

“What? No … you were though!” Luke waved the compliment aside but he felt his ears growing warm.

“Okay, we were both awesome then,” Willie conceded with a grin and playfully punched his arm.

Luke put up his hands in mock defeat. “Okay, yeah, I can live with that. Or ghost.”

“You two look like you’ve been having fun!” Reggie exclaimed with a grin and a raised eyebrow as Luke and Willie materialised in the band’s studio.

Alex had started forward and then hesitated, apparently unsure whom to greet first.

“Willie gave me a skateboard lesson and it was awesome!” Luke explained, flopping down on the couch with a big smile. “We also haunted some mean guys!”

“They were harassing a little girl who wanted to skate,” Willie explained with a shrug and a smile.

“Good for you!” Reggie looked from Luke to Willie and back again and there was a twinkle in his eye that made Luke a little nervous.

Alex, meanwhile, had walked up to Willie and taken his hand. “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too.” They smiled at each other. “Did you enjoy your date with Reggie?”

Alex blushed and stuttered. “Uh yeah … it was nice.”

Luke bit down on his grin. Alex was just too cute when he got nervous.

“Nice?!” Reggie raised his eyebrow “That’s all you can say? They,” he jerked his head towards Luke, “managed ‘awesome!’”

Alex rolled his eyes but couldn’t quite hide his smile. He sighed.

“Okay. Reggie and I had the most spectacular, incredible, divine date imaginable.” He turned towards the bassist. “Satisfied?”

Reggie considered. “Better. But lose the sarcasm next time.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed your time,” Luke said with a grin. Those two would never change; if they weren’t bickering, something was definitely off. And still, Luke was absolutely certain that the two had enjoyed their date.

“Will you stay a bit?” Alex had turned his attention back to Willie.

“I’d like to but I have some things to take care of. I’ll come back tomorrow though, if that’s alright?” On his last words, he also looked at Reggie and Luke, both of whom nodded.

“Oh, okay, see you tomorrow then.” Alex kissed his boyfriend and when the kiss lingered, Luke started brushing imaginary dust off his sneakers, while Reggie looked on unashamedly.

Willie grinned at them. “See you, hot dogs!” And with that, he poufed out.

Reggie shook his head. “He’s really not gonna let us live that one down, is he?”

“Seeing how we’re not living at all anymore, I guess not,” Alex replied with a sigh.

Luke stared at the space that Willie had occupied but seconds ago, his legs bouncing up and down.

“Guuuuuuuys …”

He knew he should just keep his mouth shut and not potentially wrack a good thing but he also felt it wasn’t fair to keep it to himself any longer.

“Uh oh,” Reggie mouthed and Alex frowned.

Luke looked at his two boyfriends, hesitating.

“I kinda wanna kiss Willie, too …”

He watched them with trepidation, expression somewhere between apologetic and pleading.

Then Reggie sighed with relief.

“Oh good. Me, too!”

“What?” Alex, who’d so far just been staring at Luke, completely stunned, now looked over at Reggie, mouth hanging open.

“He is very cute,” Reggie said defensively and shrugged.

Luke nodded emphatically.

Alex opened his mouth, reconsidered, and closed it again. Then he shook his head and chuckled softly. “I guess I’m the last person who could blame you. I mean … kissing him is nice.”

“I bet!” Reggie stared dreamily into space.

“So …,” Luke ventured, “you would be okay with this?”

Alex chewed his bottom lip before he finally shrugged and answered: “I mean sure, everything else would be really unfair to you guys! Though I have no idea how Willie will react to this development!”

Luke brushed the latter objection aside. “It’s not about fair or not, Alex. It’s about how you feel.”

“Yeah,” Reggie agreed, “he’s your boyfriend so … if you don’t want us to butt in …”

Luke held no illusions about how difficult it would be for either him or Reggie to keep their distance, now they had admitted to their feelings, if Alex decided that he felt uncomfortable with the whole thing, but he was equally sure that both Reggie and he would try their best if that was what Alex wanted. They hadn’t come this far in their relationship without respecting each other’s feelings.

Alex didn’t reply immediately, obviously trying to mull things over. He wasn’t particularly good with changes and this was a big change, no doubt!

While Alex was pacing, Reggie came to sit beside Luke and they leaned against each other, watching their friend think. Then, Alex stopped abruptly and faced them.

“It would probably be weird at first,” he admitted cautiously, eyes flicking constantly from Luke to Reggie and back again. “But … I think it’s a weird I could get used to …” He smiled tentatively down at them.

“Awww, come here.”

Luke and Reggie tugged Alex forward until he’d squished himself between them and they could engage in aggressive cuddling.

Alex laughed. “I still don’t know what Willie will say!” he warned them but for the moment, that was almost irrelevant.

Chapter Text

When Willie appeared in the studio the next day, it didn’t take him long to figure out that something was off. Alex and the guys gave themselves casual but there was a tension running through all of them that Willie could hardly have helped but notice.

Alex got up and greeted him with a kiss, as usual, but it was short because Alex was rather distracted. And worried. He still hadn’t completely wrapped his head around the fact that Luke and Reggie had both developed feelings for Willie as well—even though that was completely understandable! And given how hesitant Willie had been about the whole sharing concept to begin with, he couldn’t imagine how he’d react. Alex was sure that Willie liked the guys but liking them and liking them like that were two very different things after all!

“Is everything okay?” Willie asked him and then glanced over at Luke and Reggie, trying to gather clues from all of them.

Alex feigned surprise and said “What? Why? Yes, of course! Everything’s fine,” trying to put off the difficult conversation, but in that high-pitched tone he got when he was nervous or lying. Which never failed to alert everyone that something was wrong.

Luke was chewing on his lip and averting his eyes.

Reggie shrugged, rather pink faced. “Luke and I want to kiss you.”

Alex groaned and stared down at his feet, effectively hiding behind a curtain of hair flopping into his face. But he could still hear Luke slapping their impossible bassist and hissing “Dude!”

When everything stayed silent, Alex peeked at Willie.

The poor guy was absolutely dumbstruck. He looked from Reggie to Luke and then to Alex and back at the guys again, probably wondering whether what he’d just heard was really what he’d just heard!

“Sorry,” Reggie mumbled and Alex wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for. Blurting it out? Wanting to kiss Willie? Running him over like that, absolutely unprepared?

By this time, they were all watching the skater ghost nervously.

“We understand if …” Luke wiggled his head and half-shrugged, obviously trying to be sympathetic but his large, sad eyes spoke a different language.

“Yeah, dude,” Reggie was quick to add, “we don’t want to make anything weird for you—” Probably too late for that! “—we just thought you should know, so …” He shrugged.

Willie looked over at Alex, confusion—and possibly slight panic—in his eyes but Alex just made the tiniest shrug, trying to convey I’m sorry, I know my boyfriends are impossible and this is up to you at the same time. Although he felt bad because he knew that wasn’t very helpful.

Getting only limited support from his boyfriend, Willie’s gaze swivelled back to Luke. Worry was written all over his face, one leg bouncing restlessly up and down. He was wearing a Green Day shirt today—sleeves, of course, cut off—and a matching green beanie, tufts of hair sticking out in his signature hairstyle. As always, the embodiment of puppy dog eyes on legs.

Next, Willie’s gaze travelled over to Reggie. Some of the colour had left his cheeks, but there were still streaks of red in what Alex secretly thought of as his Snow White complexion. Otherwise, the bassist assumed a relaxed position that was, however, belied by the unnatural rigidity in his slender limbs and the fact that he kept worrying the cuff of his plaid shirt between nervous fingers.

Alex sighed. None of them were blessed with being able to hide their feelings very well; himself included.

And then, Willie came to a decision: “Okay.”

They stared at him, mouths hanging open.

“Did you just say ‘okay?’” Luke asked somewhere between elated and doubting.

Willie bit his lip, grin leaking out at the sides, and shrugged. “Yeah, why not.”

“He seems to be okay with it,” Reggie declared to the room at large, incredulity heavy in his voice.

“That is,” Willie turned towards Alex, “if you’re okay with it?”

Alex spread his arms in exasperation. “Everybody’s asking me if I’m okay with it!”

“Which just shows,” Reggie chimed up, “that we’re good boyfriends who care about you!”

Luke nodded and jerked his thumb in Reggie’s direction. “What he said.”

Alex knew he couldn’t argue with that.

“So are you?” Willie slowly took Alex’s hand, running his thumb over his fingers.

Alex looked down at their hands and then up into Willie’s eyes. He tried very hard not to feel like he was losing part of Willie if he agreed to this. As always, he was the one fretting too much. But he just couldn’t bring himself to be so selfish and to deny those he loved this happiness. He trusted them and so, there was just one possible answer.

“I think so,” he finally admitted.

Willie squeezed his fingers.

“You know I love you. That won’t change. But I confess, those two,” he smiled briefly at Luke and Reggie, who were watching them intently, “have been growing on me lately …”

Alex huffed out a small laugh. “Yeah, they do that. They’re like mould that way.”

“Hey!” came the inevitable protest from the couch.

Alex squeezed Willie’s fingers back.

“It’s gonna be a change, no doubt about that! But … maybe it will be a good change?”

“Of course it will be!” Luke exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and dragging Reggie with him towards Alex and Willie.

Alex looked at his two bandmates, beaming with excitement, and at Willie’s shining eyes and decided that, yes, this was going to be a good change.

He put a hand on Willie’s cheek and drew him in for a lingering kiss, savouring it as the last that was purely his. Then he let him go and inhaled deeply.

“Go forth then and kiss the boys!” He swept his arm towards Luke and Reggie, both of whom looked like Christmas and their birthdays had fallen on the same day.

Willie chuckled and then turned towards the other ghosts.

“I’ll go first!” Luke stepped up to Willie with an eager grin.

Reggie, who’d raised his finger and opened his mouth, shrugged and let his arm fall. He’d get his turn.

Alex wouldn’t lie. It was weird watching Luke put his hands on either side of Willie’s face, Willie’s hands coming to rest on Luke’s hips and both of them diving into their kiss with more than a little passion. Luke’s hand soon getting lost in Willie’s hair, pulling him closer.

Suddenly, Alex felt a hand in his and looked over at Reggie, who smiled at him reassuringly. He was often a bit oblivious so it always startled Alex just how perceptive Reggie could be, too. He returned the pressure of Reggie’s warm fingers, gratefully.

“You okay?” Reggie whispered.

Alex glanced back at Willie and Luke and found that yes, he was. He smiled at Reggie and nodded, and the bassist looked relieved.

Then he cleared his throat. “Okay, my turn now!”

Luke and Willie kissed for a moment longer before finally breaking apart. They were both panting.

Luke nodded at Alex, eyes shining. “You were right, kissing him sure is nice …”

Reggie playfully shoved him aside, planting himself in front of Willie, grinning expectantly at him.

“Okay …,“ Willie laughed softly to himself, probably still marvelling at how they had all got here, but then he drew Reggie in the same way he had Luke, tugging at his hips, and Reggie stumbled forward, catching his breath in a short second of insecurity but then closing his eyes with a happy sigh and accepting Willie’s kiss, hands going up to Willie’s cheeks.

This time, Alex smiled while watching them and when Luke sauntered up to him, bumping his shoulder, he shrugged, happily.

Luke licked his lips, then he leaned in and murmured “Thank you,” before pressing his mouth to Alex’s lips.

“You’re welcome,” Alex mumbled and lost himself in Luke’s kiss, only resurfacing when somebody cleared his throat loudly nearby.

Apparently, Willie and Reggie had finished their kiss.

Luke chuckled. “I guess everyone’s been kissing everyone now—“

“Hold on!” Reggie had put up his finger and then grabbed Alex for a passionate kiss, catching him off-guard. They teetered on the spot before finally regaining their balance, holding onto each other for support. Alex dimly heard the other two chuckle.

Afterwards, Reggie turned to Luke, raising his eyebrow expectantly.

"Oh, right!"

Luke laughed and hooked his forefinger into Reggie's collar, drawing him near.

"Guess that just leaves us then, right?"

The guys looked at each other for a moment before coming together for a kiss.

Alex and Willie shared a smile, waiting for them to be finished.

When they did, Reggie smiled smugly.

“Now everyone’s been kissing everyone!”

Luke waved them into a circle, slinging his arms across Alex’s and Willie’s shoulders, beaming at his three boyfriends now.

“I know this isn’t what anyone of us expected to happen but I’m absolutely sure it will work out and that we’ll only be better for it. I mean … four awesome guys like us; this has to be amazing!”

“Well, I certainly didn’t expect any of this,” Willie admitted, “but I’m very sure running over Alex is the greatest accomplishment in my life and afterlife!” Alex groaned but couldn’t hide his smile and Luke and Reggie were grinning broadly. And when Willie looked at him with that soft expression, he felt his insides melting. “Falling in love with you was the best thing that’s ever happened to me! And I admit, when you told me about this thing you have with Luke, and Reggie,” the ghost glanced at both of them for a moment, “I … well, I didn’t really get it but I knew I didn’t want to lose you and you’d made it pretty clear that I could either have you alongside them or not at all.”

Luke and Reggie looked at Alex, eyebrows rising.

“You said that?” Reggie exclaimed.

Luke whistled. “Dude!”

Alex nodded, looking down at the floor, but when two arms squeezed him tighter, one on either side, he felt warmth radiating through his body.

“I was prepared that I would probably feel jealous,” Willie continued and Alex looked back up. “And I was determined that I wouldn’t let it get between us but … what I wasn’t prepared for was …” He hesitated, then forced himself on. “I was jealous. But not because I had to share you but because of what you have with them. I never would have thought this possible but seeing you guys together … I was just glad you wanted me at all!”

“Of course I want you!” Alex interjected. “And, as it turns out, so does everyone apparently.”

But Willie just shook his head. This was clearly something he had to get off his chest. “I’ve … I’ve never really had this. Alive or dead! Being so close to somebody? So when I, when we … I just wanted to take whatever I could and hold on for as long as I could but … I never imagined …”

“Hey, it’s okay. We’ve got you!” Reggie patted Willie’s shoulder, looking concerned at the tears that had sprung up in Willie’s eyes.

“Yeah, man, you’re one of us now!” Luke confirmed, drawing him closer.

Willie squeezed his eyes shut and let himself be dragged into a tight group hug.

Alex gently laid his forehead against his. He’d never guessed just how lonely Willie must have been! He’d never seemed like it, seemed to have his afterlife figured out pretty well in fact but maybe he hadn’t even realised himself.

“We love you, Willie, and you’re home now,” he whispered.

When they looked up, Willie wasn’t the only one with tears in his eyes.

Epilogue

Things had never been better and Luke should have been happy. And he was, absolutely! With Alex and Reggie by his side and now Willie, too, getting to kiss all these pretty boys whenever he wanted—maybe they had landed in heaven after all.

There was just one thing.

“Guuuuuuuys …”

They were lying in a comfortable cuddle puddle on the studio floor, just enjoying being together. Now, the boys all looked at him with raised eyebrows.

Luke hated having to drop this on them but … maybe it would be another good change.

“I kinda wanna kiss Julie, too.”