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Wilbur didn't go to these parties very often, not because he wasn't invited but more so because the people weren't his typical crowd. He wasn't unpopular by any means, and despite not being at the top he was still on the higher end of the hierarchy. Still, the people who attended this shit just rubbed him the wrong way and he avoided all of it whenever he could.
That night he couldn't have.. Well perhaps he could have but he didn't have the heart to say no when his cousin asked him for a ride. He was genuinely considering just waiting in the car till Fundy was ready to leave, but at least the house party had drinks. So reluctantly he followed the shorter teen in, immediately being overwhelmed by the tight squeeze of bodies and the sickening scent of cheap booze.
The further into the mess of teens he got the longer his list of reasons to hate parties became. He decided to get a drink and find a nice quiet room to hunker down in until the party got boring enough that Fundy texted him to leave. And that was a good plan and pretty much what happened. He found the first unoccupied room and went in, understanding right away why it was unoccupied. The lock was broken.
He really didn't feel like dealing with anyone so he made a quick, tactical decision and went into the walk-in closet of the bedroom, closing the door behind him. How ironic, he thought, that he was spending another stupid event in the metaphorical and physical closet. It was fine though. The dark was good for his head and he was oddly ok just sipping a beer while leaned against a shoe rack, all alone.
Well he was supposed to be ok, but that didn't last forever and before he knew it people were stumbling into the room. He could hear the door open and close as clumsy footsteps grew closer and made their way to the bed. If he was lucky the pair would be here to do anything but fuck, and as of his prayers were answered the two began to talk.
"We're doing 7 minutes in Heaven later, right?" Wilbur recognized the voice but couldn't put a face to a name. All he knew was it was one of the more popular guys who hung around Jared. Possibly that asshole's right hand man if he was thinking of the right person. Maybe Chris?
"Yeah, why?" The second voice was easy to recognize as Josh, the host of the evening's activities. He wasn't quite as popular as Jared and his crew, but he was around Wilbur's level. Maybe a bit higher for the soul fact he hosted and attented about 85% events then Wilbur ever would. But hey, that just added to his aloof demeanor that kept him from being at the bottom of the food chain. His personality was far too weird for him to be open about it and if he wasn't at least a little attractive he knew he'd be dirt under Jared's shit sneakers.
"Would you be able to tamper with the names a bit?" Maybe Chris spoke again, voice hushed like he somehow knew someone was around. That made Wilbur's hair stand on end.
"Why, you have a little crush you wanna be paired with?" Josh asked, a warm chuckle accompanying the words. 'Chris' huffed at the question and made a noise that sounded like an annoyed laugh.
"No, it's for Jared. He invited that kid Tomm-"
"The gay one?" Wilbur felt his heart hammer at the words he was hearing. Jared was notoriously homophobic and if he had invited someone gay then his intentions were almost definitely bad.
"Possibly. He hasn't actually come out yet but we are all, like, 90% sure" 'Chris' explained. "Point is, Jared wants to get in the closet with him" he continued. Josh hummed, sounding like he was thinking over the request.
"So what? You just wanna see if he hits on Jared or something? Seems like a waste of time" Josh admitted, beginning to sound bored. 'Chris' sighed, clearly frustrated.
"Nah man, think of it like a prank. I can guarantee that little nerd will throw himself at someone as cool as Jared. And Jared will let him for a little, get a few pics, and then we can open the door early. It'll be hilarious. The pictures alone will be viral" he snorted. Wilbur rolled his eyes at the plan, seeing as it wouldn't be the first time Jared's little gang had pulled a stunt like that.
"Dude, that sounds like a total dick move…" Josh bit back, nervousness radiating off of his words. He paused for a moment. 'Listen you can do whatever you want with the names but if anyone asks I wasn't involved." He decided.
"Your integrity knows no bounds" 'Chris' teased, and Wilbur just willed them to go away quicker. After a few more moments of meaningless conversation the men walked out of the room, and Wilbur had never been more eager to leave the closet. He decided he was just gonna go with his original plan and chill in his car. If what those assholes talked about was gonna happen he really didn't wanna see it go down.
That kind of shit genuinely annoyed the hell out of him, and if he wasn't so at risk of losing his status maybe he'd even do something about it. Though that part was debatable. He had a strong moral compass but his back bone wasn't the best.
As soon as he assumed it was safe to leave the room without drawing attention he did so, deciding to stop by the table and grab one beer to take to his car. Any more than that and he wouldn't trust himself to drive Fundy and himself home safely. He didn't expect to catch the eyes of someone across the room as he made his way to the refreshment table but as soon as he did he felt his stomach churn.
It had to be Tommy. He looked so amazed by everything around him, excited to be included and clearly never having been to one of these parties before. He looked so.. not innocent but good. Just from looking over him Wilbur could feel his good natured aura and he could tell how horribly it would be squashed if things went according to Jared's plan.
He wanted to stay uninvolved. He wanted absolutely no part in anything involving that douchebag's schemes but seeing Tommy.. There was no fucking way he could just walk out and let that shit happen. He had to figure out how to get that boy the fuck out of there.
A direct approach would just be weird, he decided almost immediately. It was just hard to picture himself starting a conversation with 'Everyone here is against you, please come with me', even if it did seem to be true. He was so bad at approaching anyone normally though, so that's probably what would slip out no matter what he planned.
No plan was best, he figured. Without giving himself much more time to think he just made his way over to the blond, offering a small smile. Tommy seemed a bit in awe that Wilbur was even looking at him let alone smiling, so that was probably a good start.
"Hey, Tommy right?" He asked, leaning slightly against the wall where they stood. Tommy's grin was wide, and Wilbur decided right away that he had a very nice smile that he wanted to protect.
"Eh, yeah" he seemed genuinely perplexed that Wilbur had approached him and started a conversation. His reputation preceded him once again.
"This your first time at one of these?" He asked, even if the answer was painfully obvious. Tommy seemed to get a tad nervous at the notion but, knowing there was no point in lying, he slowly nodded his head. He didn't receive any of the judgement he may have expected, as Wilbur couldn't help the soft chuckle that slipped past his lips at the response. It was almost cute.
"Well, I'm certainly happy to have you here" he tried his hand at a subtle flirt. It probably worked and they were probably right about Tommy's preferences considering the red tint that slowly found his cheeks.
"Thanks" he squeaked out, eyes wide. "Y-you're not just messing with me right? Because I'm gay?" He asked, and Wilbur was genuinely baffled at how bluntly the blond had put it. It was almost impressive, stupid but impressive. Had he said it to anyone other than Wilbur he'd've been totally fucked.
"I'm not" he assured, and Tommy only gave a short nod that didn't really show if he believed him or not. But he figured if the shorter teen was so aware that he was an easy target, he could just get over the idea of subtly and warn him directly. "I mean, I'm not, but.. Jared-" before he could finish Tommy snorted and shook his head.
"Invited me as a joke?" He filled in, offering another smile that absolutely sent Wilbur reeling. How he had yet to out himself? He had no clue. "I'm.. I'm not stupid" he defended slightly, snatching a beer off the table. "I know why I'm here, I kinda just wanted to see what it was like and then take off before.. well I wasn't exactly sure what he was planning but I was gonna be cautious" he explained. Wilbur nodded along, a bit disappointed that Tommy seemed to have everything covered. It was good, he knew that, but he still wanted to be the one to get him out.
"Mm, guess you beat me to it then.. I overheard them talking about it and I was gonna try to get you out of here" he shrugged along with the words and Tommy couldn't help his piqued interest. He really wanted to know what the plan had been, especially if he was supposed to be the victim of it. And hey, if his supposed to be rescuer happened to be Wilbur Soot, one of the hottest guys in school? How could he argue?
"Well, if you still wanna get me out of here I'd love to know what I'm avoiding" he spoke calmly, and Wilbur didn't think it was possible for someone like Tommy to be so relaxed while basically asking someone like Wilbur out. Though he was the first to flirt, and he would happily follow through.
"Fuck it, let's get outta here" he agreed easily. He would just get Fundy an Uber later, or see if his cousin could snag a ride with anyone else. He was only a few months younger than Wilbur, he could handle himself pretty well. Tommy smiled, grabbed Wilbur's hand with no hesitation and ignored any stares that were sent their way as he dragged the taller teen towards the exit.
Wilbur could already tell he was throwing away any chance he had of remaining on his pedestal since there were already people taking pictures but looking at Tommy and his determined smile, he didn't think he fully minded.