Chapter Text
1995
It was an hour to midnight and Willie was getting ready to go to bed after what he considered a very long day. He had gotten himself into some stupid trouble because of his stupid classmates, who decided that it was funny to snitch on him when he was doodling in his notebook instead of paying attention to the class. Don't blame him for considering chemistry class boring. After school, he kinda got into another trouble because of this one customer who complained about having to pay for extra shots of espresso in the cafe where he was doing his part time job. And of course, the stupid manager still scolded him even though it wasn't his fault at all.
As he got home in the evening, he just wanted to stay in his room, working on his homework that's due on Monday since he didn't like doing it on the weekend. But his younger siblings just decided to ruin it for him. They barged into his room with their swords toys and started playing right there and then and asked him to join as well. Willie loved his 10 and 8 years old brothers and their mom wouldn't be home until at least 8, so he had no choice but to play along with them until, eventually, they got tired and fell asleep. His mother got home as he just put the boys to sleep in their own room. He greeted his mother who looked exhausted from work and let her go into her room after planting a soft kiss on her forehead. He finally entered his own room and continued to spend his night with his homework.
Rough day, but Willie was used to it. He had had worse before. This was nothing. All he needed was to get a nice sleep before a big day tomorrow. Well, not actually his big day. His boyfriend's.
Alex–his boyfriend–and his band, Sunset Curve, was going to have a showcase at the Orpheum tomorrow night, which was considered a very important gig since a lot of bands had made it big after performing at this venue. As the good boyfriend that he was, of course, Willie wanted to be there to support his beloved person. That's why he really needed this sleep, so he would be able to do his full shift at the cafe tomorrow and be at the Orpheum on time for the show.
Willie had changed to his sleeping attire–a loose t-shirt and a pair of boxers–and climbed on his bed when he heard knocks not on his door, but on his window. He quickly climbed down the bed and walked towards the source of the knocks. Without the need to see who the culprit was, he opened the window.
"Alex?" He whispered, trying not to be loud at almost midnight. He stared at his boyfriend who was standing at the lawn outside his window, with his backpack and a dull smile on his face. Willie frowned, "What are you doing here?"
"Can I come in first?" Alex's voice sounded hoarse but Willie noticed he was still trying to smile. "I was thinking about pressing the bell, but didn't want to disturb your mother. So I decided to knock on your window."
Willie had questions in his head, but he decided it was better to let Alex inside his room first. The brunette nodded and stepped aside so the blonde could climb in. After closing the window, he watched as his boyfriend placed his backpack on his desk and went to sit on his bed. Willie noticed the look on his boyfriend's face was a mix of anger and stress.
"Is everything alright?" Willie asked as he sat next to him, rubbing the other's back to give him some sort of comfort.
Alex had his palms covering his face and his elbows rested on his knees. He took a shaky deep breath and exhaled loudly, Willie could hear it.
"I'm sorry for coming over this late. Did I wake you up?" The blonde lowered his hands and looked over to Willie's direction. Their eyes met and Willie once again could see the distress in those eyes and smile.
"No, I was just getting ready to sleep."
"Good," Alex said softly as he held Willie's hand which wasn't on his back. "Is it okay if I stay over tonight? I'll leave as early as I can tomorrow. Have the rehearsal and the sound check with the boys before the big show, anyways. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day but I hope it's worth it–"
"Alex," Willie cut his babbling by calling his name and giving a soft squeeze on his hand. The taller boy had his eyes back on his boyfriend's concerning eyes. Realizing that Willie must have sensed that something was wrong. "Did something happen with your parents?"
Alex looked down. His fake smile finally faded away from his face. "Yeah."
"You wanna talk about it?"
The taller boy nodded before starting, "They somehow found out we're going to play the Orpheum, but not inviting them. I mean," he snorted, "Why would they come? They had never supported me being in a band, anyway. And now that I'm this close to making it big, they suddenly want to be part of it? How is that fair?"
The hand on Alex's back had moved to the back of his hand, stroking the feather-like blonde strands there. Willie knew that's one of the best ways to calm his boyfriend down whenever he was pouring his anger about his parents. The fingers of his other hand were now intertwined with Alex's, adding the comfort. Willie nodded, wanting to let Alex continue pouring out all the pressure he had about his parents at the time.
"They insisted on coming tomorrow even though I said no. Can you believe them? I don't understand how someone can be so heartless and stubborn like them? This is not some kindergarten talent show like when we were kids anymore. I don't need them to be there for me. Especially after they said they didn't want to have anything to do with me being in a band."
Alex released another long sigh before bending his neck and placing his forehead on Willie's shoulder. His free arm sneaked around the other's back and pulled him closer. Willie was still caressing the back of his head. There was a few seconds of silence as Willie thought Alex wasn't done ranting about his parents. But he noticed Alex's tensed shoulders now had slumped down, telling him that maybe the blonde was done.
"Alex? Can I ask you something now?" Willie asked with a tender voice again before he felt Alex nodded against his shoulder. "Why don't you want them to be there?"
"I don't want you to meet them yet."
"And why is that?"
Alex sat up straight after the question, green eyes staring deep at Willie's brown ones. "Because they are terrible and I don't want you to meet terrible people."
Willie pursed his lips before muttering a suggestion, "So… I can just not come tomorrow–"
"What? No! I want you to come," Alex was half yelling, knowing that he would probably wake Willie's family. He pulled Willie's arm that was on his head so he could hold his hand. So now he was holding both his boyfriend's hands tightly, telling him that he was serious. "I want you to be there for me."
"But your parents–"
"I'll find a way to prevent them from coming, okay?" He squeezed Willie's hand. "You're the person who's always been there for me ever since my band and I were at the bottom, not them. You have to come and you will come. Do that for me, please?"
Willie watched as Alex's green orbs dived deeper into his eyes. Frankly, he wanted to come badly. He was ready to come, anyways. But Alex said himself that his parents had insisted on coming and that's what scared him. Not that he was scared by Alex's homophobic parents (he had dealt with a lot of homophobes before, he knew how to handle them), but breaking Alex's already damaged relationship with his family was the least thing he wanted to do in this relationship. If anything, what he wanted was to fix their problem, not make it worse.
All the doubts in Willie's head were suddenly wiped away when Alex leaned down to plant a brief yet soft kiss on his lips. He looked up again and saw his boyfriend's hopeful smile as well as hearing his gentle whisper of, "Please?"
The long haired boy sighed in defeat and smiled at the blonde guy, "Fine, I'll go. Don't wanna waste my VIP pass, anyway."
The smile on Alex's face brightened up like sunrise even at midnight. Willie smiled back, trying to even the brightness of his boyfriend's smile. Alex pulled him into a proper hug this time, with his arms tight around Willie's back and nose rubbing the small part of his exposed shoulder. Willie snuggled closer. His hand gripped the sides of Alex's hoodie and they stayed like that for a couple minutes.
"Okay, drummer boy," Willie broke the silence by pulling out of the hug gently. He looked up at Alex's disappointed pout and giggled before continuing, "I think it's time for you to wash yourself and we go to bed. Both you and I have a long day tomorrow," he patted Alex's cheek. "You reek of sweat, anyway."
"Do I?" Alex raised both his arms alternately to pretend sniffing at his own armpits. Willie watched in disgust. "Yeah, you're right. I kinda ran to get here."
“Ew. Don't get on my bed before you clean up."
"Anything for you, skater boy," Alex leaned to leave a brief kiss on his lips. "Have clothes I can wear to sleep? Or do you rather have me shirtless on your bed?"
Willie felt his face burning at the image that suddenly crossed his mind. He reached back to one of his pillows to throw it on Alex's face.
"Shut up! I thought you brought your own clothes in your bag?" Willie snapped.
"They're the outfit for tomorrow's show. I guess I wasn't in the right mind to grab more clothes after the fight with my parents," Alex smiled sheepishly and Willie just rolled his eyes.
"Fine. I'll bring you some clothes. There is a clean towel in the cabinet in the bathroom. Now go clean up or you're sleeping at the lawn."
—
The clock hit midnight when both Willie and Alex were finally lying on the bed shoulder to shoulder, except neither of them had actually fallen asleep nor did they close their eyes and try to. The two of them just stared up at the ceiling of Willie’s room, simple smiles were drawn on their lips as they soaked the comforts of each other’s presence.
However, knowing tomorrow would be a big day for Alex, Willie was bothered by his awakeness.
“Shouldn’t you be sleeping now?” Willie turned to look at Alex's wide awake face.
Alex chuckled at the question. He glanced over at his boyfriend. “Look who’s talking. Don’t you have a full-day shift tomorrow?”
“I do,” the brunette shook his head after the answer, then glared up at the blonde. “This is not about me, this is about you! You have a very important day tomorrow, Lex. What if you feel tired tomorrow because you don’t get enough sleep? You have a band meeting and last minute rehearsal at the studio in the morning, and then sound check at the venue in the evening before the show at 9pm. Not to mention you need more energy than the other boys to load your drum kit from place to place–”
Willie’s nagging got cut by Alex’s hand covering his mouth. The long haired boy narrowed his eyes again at the laughing Alex.
“What are you? My manager?”
“No,” Willie grumbled, slapping the hand off his face. “I’m your worried boyfriend who doesn’t want you passing out on your big day. Now go to sleep.”
“I can’t,” Alex groaned.
“Why?”
“Too excited, maybe?” A grin plastered on the taller boy’s lips. “You know, like, when we were going on a study tour the next day in elementary school? Yeah, something like that.”
Willie snorted at the metaphor, “What are you? Eight?”
“Yeah,” Alex smirked, “Eight inches taller than you.”
Willie’s eyes grew wider at the joke as he felt a bit offended. He said nothing before turning to lay on his side and began to tickle his boyfriend. Alex tried to block the hands and fingers moving on his torso but failed and gave up. He just muffled his laugh as best as he could, still not wanting to wake Willie’s family. Willie on the other hand had a grin on his lips as he watched the other begging for mercy. Until he recalled his own point about Alex needing enough sleep for tomorrow, then he stopped tickling him. Alex still had breathy laughs out of his mouth as he lay back on his back. Willie watched him with his lips pursed.
“You gonna go to sleep now?”
Alex glanced at the brunette for a moment, before shifting to lay on his side like Willie did so now they’re lying facing each other.
“Still can’t.”
Willie rolled his eyes. “Come on, Lex. What can I do to make you go to sleep?”
“Tell me about your day.”
“What?”
“I already told you about my terrible day. Now let’s see who had it worse,” Alex said with a challenging voice. He raised one of his hands to caress Willie’s temple, thumb moved to wipe away the frown between those brown eyebrows. “Though, I hope I win.”
Wille observed those emerald orbs again, watching as it went as gentle as the hand caressing his own cheeks. He knew what crossed the other’s mind again after the implication in those words. Alex was hoping that Willie had had a better day than him, which was already true because what was worse than a fight with your parents?
Willie, for the second time this night, sighed in defeat.
“Fine. I got it, you just need a bedtime story.”
He giggled as Alex nodded enthusiastically. One of his hands raised as well to hold Alex’s hand which was on his cheek. His thumb caressed the back of that hand as he began his story about Matthew and Jayden who snitched him to the teacher. Willie moved to the story about the annoying customer in his job when he noticed Alex’s eyes were slowly closing. He continued the story but stopped before reaching the part of him putting his brothers to sleep because that was when he felt the hand on his cheek had stopped moving. Once he was sure his boyfriend had dived into a deep slumber, he slowly pulled Alex’s hand off his cheek and put it on the pillow between their faces, fingers intertwined together. He gently propped himself up on his other hand to lean closer so he could place a kiss on the blonde’s temple. After making sure he didn’t accidentally wake him up, Willie layed back on his side of the bed. Without removing his hand on Alex’s, he closed his own eyes with a soft whisper.
“Goodnight, Alex.”
—
Willie opened his eyes as he heard the alarm go off. By that, he knew it would be 8 in the morning and Alex would already be gone from his side. He must have left half an hour ago because he knew Luke always wanted a band meeting at 8 on the weekend. So Willie didn't bother reaching out to the other side of the bed and looking for his boyfriend like in some cliche coming of age movies. He sat up, rubbed his eyes wide awake and stretched his limbs out. He stayed there looking around every corner of his room, collecting his consciousness before a piece of post-it note had caught his attention. He smiled and moved to sit on the edge of the bed to pull the pink paper off his night lamp. He smiled as he read the text written on its surface.
Good morning, Wills. Hope you had a nice dream sleeping next to me last night ;)
I'm sorry I have to leave before you wake up. But I'll see you tonight after the show! Have a good day, babe. Love you <3
~ Your best BF, Alex
Willie rolled his eyes at the word best BF. It wasn't like he had other boyfriend than Alex. But he loved this kind of joke Alex often pulled. So he let out a giggle.
"Had a good time last night?"
A voice caught Willie's attention. He quickly hid the notes behind his back and turned his head towards the door to find a woman standing on the hallway.
"Mom!" He greeted his mother with a big grin, "Good morning!"
The woman rolled her eyes and stared intensely at her son who was on his own bed. "I thought I told you to always inform me whenever your boyfriend come over?"
"Ho- how did you know Alex was here?"
"Bumped into him earlier in front of the bathroom," she said firmly.
Willie sighed. "Idiot," he muttered a curse at his boyfriend.
"So?" Her voice softened but still firm that it got Willie in panic. "You wanna make up for your mistake or do I have to ground you tonight?"
Willie's eyes went wide and the threat. He quickly got on his feet and rushed over to his mom and grabbed both of her hands.
"Can you let it slip this time? Alex kind of had a rough time last night with his parents. He wanted to see me but didn't want to disturb you, so he got in through my window," he explained, telling the truth so his mother would believe him. "Also, I've told you already that tonight's gonna be a very important day for him and his band! I need to be by his side on such occasions. I don't wanna be the bad boyfriend, you know. So please, forgive me?"
The middle aged woman stared up at her son with her eyebrows raised. She saw the wide puppy-like eyes and the pouty lips that he only had when he wanted something from her. She sighed in defeat at the thought of how ridiculously in love her son was. Besides, Willie always got away with that look on his face, anyway.
"Fine," the pout on her son's face transformed into a big grin in an instant. "But! You still have to make up for the mistake you made, young man."
"I'll do anything!"
The woman nodded, "I'll have Aunt Hannah take care of your brothers, because I have to cover one of my colleagues' shift at the hospital today. I want you to pick up Adam and Dylan and take them to the hospital at 6, so I can bring them to the movie tonight. After that, you're free to go."
"Noted, ma'am!" Willie did a salute pose and laughed. His mother laughed as well while shaking her head. The teenager quickly pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her forehead. "Thank you. I love you, mom."
"I love you too, lover boy," she patted Willie's back a few times before pushing him gently. "Now go take a bath or something. I'll take your brothers to Aunt Hannah now. Breakfast is served on the table. It's your favorite raspberry pancake."
"Mom. Have I told you I love you?"
"Million times," she said giggling. "Okay. I'll go get your brothers ready. Have fun tonight!"
"Will do!"
—
The day went way a lot smoother than Willie had expected. Better yet, nothing bad had actually happened. He didn't meet a single annoying person, whether it was his friends, colleagues, or customers. He even got a pretty decent tip from an older customer for reading all the menu for her because she forgot to bring her reading glasses. What surprised him the most was when the manager suddenly approached him and told him that he was sorry for scolding him for nothing the other day. The older guy even praised his latte art skills and said that he'd be his big fan when Willie became a big artist one day. He just smiled and said thank you with a big stupid grin on his face, showing how much he appreciated the compliment.
Willie didn't know what was happening, but he was certain that it must be because he started the day by reading his boyfriend's cute little note and eating his favorite raspberry pancake made by his mother. He just wondered if the day could get any better. He knew it certainly would because he'd have Alex embraced him with happy little jumps after the success of tonight's show at the Orpheum.
He really wished that was exactly what would happen.
—
After finishing his shift for the day, Willie put his helmet on and skated to his aunt's which was only a few blocks away from his work place. He had a little chat with her while waiting for the boys to get ready with their stuffs. They bid goodbye to their aunt before walking together towards the nearest bus stop. Willie had his skate under one of his arms while holding Dylan's hand in his other hand. Adam was at his other side with his basketball in hands. They chatted and joked around until the bus arrived and they got in. During the ride, Adam and Dylan had fallen asleep with their heads on each other while Willie just admired them from where he was standing at the side of their seat.
Once he got his brothers to the hospital–on time–to meet his mother, he kissed her and the boys goodbye on top of their heads. Adam and Dylan had begged him to go to the movie with them, but his mother explained that their eldest brother was going on a very important date with a certain drummer boy. That gave Willie blushes all over his face as his family just laughed at him.
"Say hi to Alex for us, Wills!" Dylan exclaimed.
"Have fun, brother!" Adam followed.
"Sure will do, lil' bros!"
They waved him goodbye until Willie was out of the hospital lobby. He looked up and it was almost dark, but the L.A. sky was clear. He smiled and put his skate on the pavement and skated out of the parking lot. The Orpheum was a bit too far, but he still had enough time before the show starts at 9, so he decided to enjoy skating under the orange dusk sky.
—
When Willie arrived at the streets where the Orpheum was, the sky had become dark and so he decided to continue the rest of the trip by walking. Holding his board under his arm, he approached the crowd in front of the venue. He looked up at the sign that said 'Sunset Curve showcase sold out' and smiled proudly.
However, as he got closer, he noticed that the crowd wasn't at the front door of the Orpheum. Instead, people were standing in front of an alley next to the building. The crowd didn't look ecstatic like Willie thought they would be. They look… what? Worried? Curious? Like they were currently looking at a crime scene. Suddenly, a siren was heard from the alley, along with an ambulance driving out, dispersing the crowd on the main street.
Willie felt something bothering his heart, he had no idea why. He didn't even know what was going on. He tried to calm himself by thinking that maybe the ambulance was just taking a homeless dude who was fainting out of hunger. Yeah, that must be it. Willie would still be able to watch Alex and his band performing tonight. He huffed before approaching a girl who was holding what he recognized was a Sunset Curve t-shirt and tapped the girl's shoulder to make her turn around. He still wanted to make sure, just in case.
"Excuse me. Do you mind if I ask what just happened?"
"Oh. I'm not really sure, but the show just got canceled," what? "They said the band was rushed to the hospital. I don't know why," the girl sounded disappointed.
Willie's eyes widened after hearing that.
"Too bad, though. I've actually spent my allowance to see them tonight," another girl on her side added.
"I'm pretty sure it's an unexpected accident," the first girl said. "I wish they were okay, though."
Her friend nodded and then they left, just like the crowd. Willie was almost left alone on the sidewalk, still not able to move his feet. He didn't even know what to do, what to think. All that crossed his mind was one thing.
The show got canceled.