Work Text:
Wally takes off his jersey. For the first time in 40 years, something is different.
For the first time, he takes a step back to think about what he would have done with his unexpectedly short life. He was good at football, and was on track to get a scholarship, thanks to his mom. He would have gone to college to study... what, exactly? He never really thought about it. His entire high school life had been about football, and until today, his high school afterlife had been too.
At that moment, all he could think about was Maddie. It wasn't a secret amongst the other dead that Wally had a huge crush on her. The only person that didn't seem to realize was Maddie herself. And it was understandable; she was pre-occupied with solving her murder. Wally knew she was struggling to come to terms with her death, and did his best every day to try and make her smile.
Until now, he had been content crushing on her and sticking to the status quo. Even when he found out she could communicate with the living, that hadn't changed anything for him. But today had changed everything. For the first time, it seemed like she set her own worries aside to focus on him, and only him. She had seen right through him, in a way no one else had in the past 40 years. She asked the right questions—she didn't just comment on how sweet it was for his mom to be there. Looking back, maybe the others had had questions, but just never bothered to ask. Everyone was satisfied with tradition, not creating any ripples in the pond of Split River High.
But Maddie wasn't. Maddie jumped head first into the pond, disrupting the peace and monotony. She was bold, she didn't let death stop her from living. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to jump in with her.
It was that thought that propelled him to ask her to the homecoming dance. Sure, this wasn't the first time members of the dead had gone to the dance together, but this time was different. This time meant something to him. When she said yes, he could tell she was still pre-occupied with something. And that was fine. He didn't begrudge her. He was just excited to break out of his routine, to take the biggest risk of his afterlife.