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Alex paced in front of the concrete building. It was hardly a pretty place, but for Alex, it was everything. He would finally be free. Free from his parents' blatant homophobia, their judgment, and their comments about his "choices" - please, as if being gay was ever a choice. He needed to stop thinking about them. He had gotten away. He was at college, and they didn't matter anymore. He was here, and so was his real family, the family he chose, and they couldn't hurt him anymore.
He had met Reggie first. They were young - kindergarten, he's pretty sure - but it could have been earlier. They had become fast friends, and when they realized they both loved music, they'd vowed to join a band together as soon as they were old enough. The only problem was that Reggie couldn't afford anything, and while Alex's parents supported his dreams with a drum set, you need a bit more than that for a real band. They met Luke next. It was the first day of sixth grade, and Alex had been wary when Reggie dragged over a bouncy kid radiating energy. The two of them already had a good thing going. They didn't need anyone else. Reggie had saved up almost enough for the bass he had had his eye on and already knew piano and some guitar (and banjo as he liked to remind people). It turned out that Alex was wrong. Luke was exactly what they had been missing. His relentless passion got Sunset Curve off the ground, and he could write, so they weren't just playing covers. And that was great, but something was still missing.
It turned out that the missing thing came in the form of a girl. Julie was short, sweet, and, as Luke often said, a wrecking ball of talent. The three of them met her freshman year when her mother's death still shadowed all aspects of her life. They (well, mostly Luke) helped her find music again, and eventually, she joined their band to make what it is today, Julie and the Phantoms.
It had been almost four years since their band had formed in Julie's mom's studio, And they were doing surprisingly well. Well, surprising to Alex, Luke had always said that they would be legends. And now, the next chapter in their life was starting or would start as soon as Alex drummed up the courage to enter the dorm building.
"Coming through, excuse me, OUT OF THE WAY." A voice shocked Alex out of his reverie. Sadly it was too late to avoid being hit by the person yelling.
Alex ended up lying on his back, the other guy half on top of him. He was pretty sure he had broken a rib or at least bruised one. However, it had knocked him out of his anxiety spiral, so it wasn't the worst thing ever. Then, he remembered that he was lying in a somewhat compromising position in a public place where anyone could see him. The anxiety back in full force, he quickly untangled himself and moved a good foot or so away.
"Dude, you dinged my board," the guy who hit him said, his voice annoyed.
"DINGED YOUR BOARD!!! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME," Alex knew his tone was a few notches too loud to be appropriate, but at this point, he was too rattled to care. But, before he could yell more, the guy took off his helmet. And oh my god, was he beautiful. His long brown hair that the grey helmet had covered framed his face. His chocolaty brown eyes sparkled as his mouth pulled into a perfect smile. So perfect that Alex didn't even hear what he said next. Shit, he didn't even hear what he said next. This ridiculously attractive guy would think Alex was an idiot, which he was not; he just got distracted, okay? So would anyone else when confronted with this absolute adonis. Alex's gay panic wasn't particularly unique to him or this guy. He certainly wasn't the first person that had incited this response. So, before he could make any more of a fool of himself, Alex turned on heel and ran the fuck away. Into the dorm, and his future, though he wasn't thinking of that now.
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Well, that exchange could have gone better. Willie wasn't the best with cute guys, they could admit it, but he'd never had one physically run away from them before. Though, to be fair, he'd never pancaked one on the first interaction. They just hoped that his first interaction with their new roommate would go a bit smoother. Though, with his luck, it probably would be worse.
They knew that he wouldn't be rooming with Bobby, which is a real shame, being as they didn't know anyone else at the college. But it would be okay. He could make friends; they already had one, though he and Bobby had known each other forever. Maybe they hadn't ever made a friend. Oh shit, this was going to go terribly. It would be the worst year of his life, and they would drop out of college and live a life of crime. Not that his life wasn't already a bit full of crime, they had broken into that museum that one time; and that other time. And then there was that time when he spray-painted his dad's office. And when they had punched a police officer. Huh, it seems like he was already on his way to a life of crime. But that just made it worse. They were already on the brink. Dropping out of college due to his inability to make friends would be the tipping point. Their life was over, and it hadn't even really begun.
It was in the middle of this spiral, on the precipice of a full-on panic attack, that he walked into his new dorm room. Shit, it looks their rotten luck was making a comeback, great.
The guy in his room, well, technically both their rooms, but whatever, was none other than the very same tall blond guy that they had hit only a few minutes earlier. The same one that had fled as soon as they had untangled themselves. Fuck, this year was going to be worse than they thought.
This time, it was his turn to run; out of the small room, down the hall, and over to Bobby's room. Where they frantically pounded on the door until the very put-out face of his best and only friend yanked it open.
"Bobby, Bobbert, Bobbers, I need your help," they panted, out of breath from his flight.
"Willie, William, Wilbur, I'm having a bit of a gay panic right now. Can it wait?" Bobby responded, pushing his badly cut bangs out of his eyes. He opened the door a bit more so Willie could see the guy in a leather jacket and red flannel with dark hair and smiling green eyes who waved at Willie.
"Hi! I'm Reggie!" the other guy said, with more enthusiasm than Willie thinks he'd ever heard in his life.
"Um, I'm Willie," he bumped the offered fist. This guy was exactly Bobby's type. They could see why he was freaking out.
But right now, he was not up to dealing with their friend's gay panic. He had their own to worry about. Willie pushed into the room and flopped down onto Bobby's bed. "Bobbbbbbert," he whined. "There's this guy that I ran into, like literally ran into. I was on my skateboard and hit them, and they're soooooo pretty, tall, and blonde, and they were wearing the cutest pink hoodie. And I'm pretty sure they hate me because they ran away, except they're my roommate. And I can't make friends, and I'm going to drop out and live a life of crime." Saying it out loud made it seem a bit far-fetched, but their point still stood. He looked away from the ceiling and toward Bobby, awaiting a response.
"Wills, I'll be honest, that made no sense. Are you panicking because they're pretty? Or because you think they hate you? And, I hate to break it to you, but you're kinda already in that crime life... we got arrested like two weeks ago."
"UGH, how dare you interrupt my panic with logic," they grumbled. "And for your information, it is both. Eh, who am I kidding; they're probably straight."
"Um, hey, sorry to butt in," it was the dark-haired guy, Reggie, he thought their name was, "but the guy you're talking about, your roommate, they wouldn't happen to be wearing sweatpants tucked into their socks, would they?" Willie's gaze must have held some kind of affirmative because Reggie continued to talk. "Because that description fits one of my friends pretty well. Alex Mercer? He's the drummer in my band. And if that is who you're talking about, I can assure you that he is very, very gay." The other guy grinned, "And somewhat prone to do stupid things like, for example, run away from a pretty guy who hits him on their skateboard."
At this point, Willie's face was a bit red. They weren't great at compliments, and being called pretty always made his face go full supernova. But, at least they had some smidgen of a chance with the blonde guy, Alex, if Reggie's intel was correct. But that wouldn't fucking matter if they kept running away from each other. Honestly, at this point, he just wanted a rational conversation with them, one that didn't involve running away or potential bodily harm. So they suddenly stood up and left the small room, leaving Bobby and his new roommate/crush staring after him in confusion.
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Alex was shit at meeting new people. He had made one friend by himself throughout his short life, and then Reggie had sort of made the rest of his friends for him. He just wasn't good at talking to new people; he would try, but it usually ended in embarrassment, a quick excuse, and a hasty flight. Which was probably why the only boyfriend he'd ever had was Luke when they were both trying to figure out their sexualities (they don't talk about it). But this time, he'd really fucked up.
So he was beyond surprised when, only about ten or so minutes after they had run away, his new roommate returned.
"Um, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have run, I just... well I hit you, and then you ran, and well, I wasn't expecting to see you again, or at least not this soon. And the point is it was a stupid thing to do, and I hope we can be friends or at least not hate each other?" The words came out of the other guy in a rush, somewhat garbled together, but still much more understandable than anything Alex would have said.
"No!" His roommate's startled expression made Alex rethink that comment. "I mean, you shouldn't apologize. I ran first. And it was totally my fault you hit me; I wasn't paying attention. And I just panicked a bit. Well, I was already panicking, but then I panicked some more. Anyways, I would love to be friends!" They smiled at that. "My name is Alex, by the way, Alex Mercer. I'm from LA, and I play drums in a band."
"You Are Reggie's friend! I'm Willie, Willie Ortega, to be exact. I'm from San Francisco, and I do photography and art. And skate, but you already knew that. Oh, also, I use he/they if you don't mind." They said. Alex could tell they were excited.
"He/him. You know Reggie?" That was odd; Reg had never mentioned a Willie.
"Not really, I just met them. They're my best friend Bobby's, roommate!" That made more sense. Reggie had texted them about their new hot (his words) roommate.
They stood there in awkward silence for a beat. "Um, well, I kinda have to go check on my friends. I'm not running away again, I swear."
He was still standing there. Why was he still standing there? He'd said he was leaving. Why wasn’t he? He tried to force himself to go, even though he didn’t really want to. Alex could have stood there looking at Willie forever. But that would be weird, right? Yes, it would be. There was only so long you could spend staring into someone’s eyes before it became full-on creepy. Though, Alex had probably crossed that threshold a couple of minutes ago.
"Um, your friends?" Willie's voice brought him back to reality.
"Oh, right, my friends..." He was going to die of embarrassment before the day was up.
Alex finally dragged his eyes away from the long-haired skater and quickly made his exit, almost tripping over the unfamiliar terrain. Until he did trip on the unfamiliar terrain, Willie's skateboard to be specific. They must have left it there when he had run from the room. Luckily, something caught him. However, upon closer inspection, that this was the skater themself.
Alex felt his face flush with the proximity. He stumbled away quickly, almost running. The irony of this happening again, so similar to the events less than an hour earlier, was not lost on him.
As he hurried out the door, Willie called out from behind him, his tone tentative, "Would you maybe want to go out sometime? No pressure, of course..."
Alex felt his face go even darker red. He didn't know how he could possibly blush this hard. He spun back around, still blushing, and saw Willie looking sheepishly at the floor. "Date? With you? Yes! I mean, yes, I'd love to!" Alex smiled softly. Willie lifted his head, and they smiled back at him, bright enough to make him feel like melting.
"Well, as much as I'd like to keep you here, don't your friends need you?"
"Shit, yes, my friends. Um, bye, Willie!" He was still grinning as he walked out the door, and honestly, college didn't seem nearly as scary as it had earlier.