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Willie went over thirty years without a single night of sleep, and he never missed it until Alex.
Alex has a way of doing that. From the second he crashed into Willie’s afterlife, he reframed everything Willie’s always known... putting it in perspective. He has no idea just how much light he sheds on everything he touches — like a slow golden sunrise over the horizon at early morning — but his ignorance almost makes the effect more powerful. Alex never wants anything from Willie. He simply is, and he’s beautiful, and every time he smiles, Willie never wants to look away.
The truth is, he could stare at Alex forever. Every time he tears his eyes from him and looks in a different direction, the world is somehow different. Painted in brighter colors, rendered in sharper detail. Before Alex, he never tried to make sense of anything. After Alex…
Well, things don’t make sense, really, but Willie understands so much more.
The flutter of his heart in his chest when an incredible boy smiles at him; the gentle lacing of fingers around his own; the utter trust of someone who seems to know you completely; forgiveness, when it’s not really deserved. Willie has been drifting through this world for decades now... but in a matter of days, Alex showed him that same world through a lens Willie’s never seen before. It looks beautiful.
Almost as beautiful as Alex, bathed in early morning light.
Alex, Luke, and Reggie are weird ghosts. They can be seen by a lifer; they can be touched by that same lifer; and sometimes, they’re able to do things most ghosts just can’t do. Sleep, for example. Willie hasn’t slept in decades. He never even thought about it until Alex came along; nights were more stolen hours for partying or cruising the streets on his board, pulsing with the completely different energy of LA after dark. Suddenly, though, there’s Alex… and the occasional midnight after an exhausting gig sees him collapsing down in his makeshift bed in the loft, not even bothering to take off his shoes, yet still reaching for Willie.
What’s Willie supposed to do — not lie down at his side? Not let himself be held like a favorite stuffed toy, while holding Alex as reverently in return? Not watch his lover drift off, rapidly succumbing to the pull of sleep while safe in Willie’s arms?
Willie can’t stay away from the club for long, but Caleb won’t notice him missing for a night. He treasures these stolen hours for all they’re worth. Maybe he can’t sleep... but he can drift, lulled into hazy daydreams by the presence of Alex at his side. When he’s not drifting, well…
Look. He’s not doing that whole Edward Cullen “I like to watch you while you sleep” thing. Okay? Yes, Willie does like to watch Alex while he sleeps — loves it, actually, it’s a highlight of his week — but he’s not creepy about it. They’re both consensual ghosts here, and… and all Willie feels, when he looks upon Alex’s dozing face, is love.
This morning, he’s overwhelmed by it. Alex is heavy in his embrace, his face turned up into the morning light… and god help Willie, he’s hypnotized.
Were he stronger, maybe he’d be able to tear his eyes away. As it is, he could study Alex forever — his face slack, mouth slightly parted, chest rising with low, even breaths. The light was dim at first, but grows stronger with every passing moment. It illuminates every perfect imperfection of him: the faint acne scars on his chin, a dusting of barely-there freckles, the place where he bit through his lower lip and left a sore patch behind. His eyelashes are longer than Willie has ever realized before. They flutter slightly with the twitching of his eyes behind closed eyelids, lost in dreams.
Alex is astounding. Like a sculpture carved from marble… he belongs in a museum, to be admired by thousands. How did Willie get lucky enough to be able to do it himself? He’s so perfect.
On cue, a loud snore rumbles from Alex’s mouth.
Yeah, he snores too. It’s the most adorable thing Willie’s ever seen — no matter how strongly Alex denies it in the morning.
A grin tugs at Willie’s lips. Slowly, he leans over, fingertips ghosting over the curve of Alex’s jaw. He follows it up, up, until he reaches his temple; there, he tucks a strand of spun gold back from his face. For a moment, Alex is too deep in sleep to notice… but then he stirs, exhaling a deep breath, and his nose crinkles.
Willie wasn’t trying to disturb him, but as his heart leaps in his chest, he finds he can’t complain. “Hey, sleepyhead,” he murmurs, leaning close to Alex’s ear. “Time to wake up yet?”
Alex’s entire face scrunches up. He mutters something that sounds like not today.
Willie’s chuckle tickles his jaw. “Not at all? Wow. When you go for lazy days in, you really commit.”
Whatever Alex mumbles next is totally incomprehensible. It’s the effort that counts. The strong pair of arms that loop around Willie’s shoulders, pulling him down on top of Alex’s chest, don’t hurt either.
“A—“ He cuts off, muffled against Alex’s collarbone. A large, calloused hand bears down on the back of his head, keeping him there. It takes a minute for Willie to squirm out of his dead-man’s-grip enough to lift his head, spitting out a mouthful of his own hair. “Huh. You smell really nice in the mornings.”
“Shh,” mutters Alex.
“Like… Bath and Body Works good. Seriously. You’re a ‘shower before going to bed’ person, huh?”
“Willie,” Alex moans.
Willie takes pity on him… mostly because his name sounds so sweet coming from his lips, and Alex’s scrunched up, grumpy face is adorable . Even his bedhead — which still manages to look silky-smooth — and his morning breath — which, okay, scratch that about smelling nice — is too cute to bear. Willie hides his grin against Alex’s pajama shirt. After a minute, he feels his boyfriend’s grip shift. No longer holding him, Alex instead takes to running his fingers through Willie’s hair… a surefire way to get him to settle down.
You big sneak, Willie thinks with a hint of delight. It’s such a perfect Alex move — clever, yet impossibly stubborn at the same time. He knows all the ways to get under Willie’s skin… and Willie is helpless to do anything but let him.
He’s not about to drift off, though. No giving in that easy. He’s got his own ace up his sleeve.
Without warning, he pushes himself up, planting a clumsy kiss on Alex’s chin. His boyfriend makes a tiny noise of surprise. Ignoring it, Willie inches up further — clearly, this is a task that will require precision. Once he’s in the right position, elbows on both sides of Alex’s head holding him up as he hovers over his boyfriend, Willie smiles down at him. Alex can’t see it — he hasn’t worked up the strength to open his eyes yet — but it doesn’t matter. Willie has other ways of showing him how beautiful this morning is.
Each kiss is clumsy at first, simply exploring the softness of Alex’s face. His jaw is sharp and defined, skin absorbing the warmth of the morning glow… when he laughs against the side of Willie’s jaw, that’s all the direction Willie needs to guide him to his lips. They meet like magnetism, drawn into each others’ orbits. Alex hums into the kiss; Willie sighs.
When Alex’s hand comes up to cup the back of his head, it’s tempting to never part at all — to just stay like this forever, in the quiet and in the comfort. The morning doesn’t have to trickle away; the day doesn’t have to begin. If they just stayed here, in each other’s arms, safe and hidden from the rest of the world…
“Willie,” Alex murmurs against his lips. When Willie looks down, he meets Alex’s sea green eyes, sleepy and soft, and trained on him.
He breaks the kiss just enough to smile. “Good morning.”
“It sure it,” Alex murmurs, and smiles back. His thumb brushes a strand of hair out of Willie’s face. Willie leans into the touch. “What time is it?”
“I dunno, Alex. I don’t see any alarm clock around.”
From the way Alex’s face twists, it’s clear alarm clocks are his mortal enemy. “Never,” he mutters. Willie can’t help grinning.
“The other guys aren’t awake yet,” he murmurs against Alex’s jaw. “It’s still early. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
Alex’s broad hand massages circles into his back. “Hmm. I like the sound of that.”
He doesn’t mean to let himself be undone so easily, and never understands how Alex does it. It’s a superpower of his, to break down all his walls, to see through his defenses to a center Willie doesn’t even like to look at head on. Whatever Alex sees, it never blinds him; instead, he seems to seek it out every time. It’s a strange feeling, being looked at by someone who wants to see you — not to use what they glean against you, either, but simply to know. To understand.
Alex undoes him with a sleepy smile and a smack of his lips, drinking in the morning light. Willie falls in love.
“Stay with me,” Alex says softly — and it’s not a request, and there is no way Willie could ever tear himself away.
When he leans back down and kisses the sunlight from Alex’s lips, it tastes like a promise.