Work Text:
January 14th, 2007
Mike sprints down the busy night streets, tugging his thick winter coat closer to him, his head lowered against the cold, piercing wind. He had been out to go to the crafts store to get some clay to make D&D figurines, but he got lost, and it got dark quickly, and therefore cold quickly. Mike didn't know exactly where he was going, but he knew he wanted to get somewhere warm. There weren't any shops nearby though, only crosswalks, people, and lights everywhere. That was until he heard something.
At first, Mike thought it might've been just another conversation between people walking past him, but then he heard the faint strum of a guitar.
Where was this coming from?
He warily walked past what seemed to be an underground venue, and the strumming grew vibrant, louder.
Here it is.
Mike figured he would check it out. It sounded really nice, plus there had to be heating down there if someone was playing. He climbed down the stairs and was met by an astonishing looking poster with a wizard on it holding an acoustic guitar in front of a castle. On it said:
Will the Wise
1/14 at 7:30pm
Mike took a second to admire it, before heading inside. There he was, at long last, met with warmth. His shoulders sagged with relief and he found a wall to sit against. The venue was pretty small and cozy, with only 10 or so people inside. On stage sat a boy on a stool that seemed around Mike's age. He had fluffy brown hair that covered his eyes and wore a The Cure t-shirt, along with some spiked bracelets and baggy jeans. The boy’s fingers plucked each note of the acoustic guitar quickly, while his other hand would go up or down the frets every few seconds. Mike was impressed. This guy was actually really good!
Soon the boy opened his mouth to sing, and Mike expected a deep, throaty voice or something. However, what came instead was a soft and mellow sound. He sang a cool song that Mike was humiliated by not knowing. Though, Mike didn't seem to care about not knowing the song as he fell more entranced with the performance. Within the blink of an eye, Mike had sat through 2 more songs, clapping and cheering with the rest of the audience after each one, forgetting how he even got here in the first place. That didn't matter though, not when this very talented boy was being very talented with his guitar right in front of him! Mike thinks he could listen to him play all day. How was it even possible to be this.. shining..? No wonder he was Will the Wise! Or maybe this wasn't Will the Wise. Mike didn't care enough to pay attention to if he was or not.
The boy opened his mouth to sing again, even though he hadn't even started playing his guitar yet. Maybe this song was just his voice. Mike found himself smiling in anticipation, he couldn't wait to hear more of that melodic-
“Um, thanks for listening, guys! You all were the best audience I've had in a while.”
Shit Mike thought.
Some of the audience members began to shout things like: “No prob, Will!” and “You've gotten so good!” Mike just stared at the boy. So this was Will the Wise. So many questions flashed through his head. Like, who drew that poster? And when was the next time he was performing? Does Will the Wise go to his school? Does he live nearby?
Will was off the stage by the time Mike came back to the world. People started to empty out, and soon it was only him and 3 other people. He decided he wanted to wait for Will the Wise to come out.
And so he waited, and in 20 minutes(which was actually 5 minutes, but seemed much longer to Mike), he spotted the boy he was just watching perform on stage earlier with a guitar case on his back entering the main floor. Okay, you've got this, just be really cool and say his performance was decent and ask when his next one is. Mike sprang to his feet and approached him.
“MUSIC!” He shouted. Shit, well, my plan is now down the drain. His face darkened with embarrassment.
“Wha-what..?” Will the Wise looked really confused, maybe even a bit frightened.
“Sorry, uh, I meant, you're good at music! Well like, your performance was really cool y'know. Will the Wise, was it?” Mike babbled, trying to redeem himself from his already horrible first impression.
Will the Wise's mouth formed into a small smile and he brushed some of the hair out of his eyes, revealing a gorgeous hazel hue, his eyes lined with black. “Thanks..” His voice grew a bit higher-pitched, and he examined Mike for a second before adding on “and yes, I'm Will the Wise, but you can just call me Will.”
Mike smiled back. “So, Will, when's your next concert?”
“Next Wednesday. The 19th.” Will responded, his cheeks now matching Mike's pink.
“Cool.”
“Cool.”
A beat.
“Uh, well, I hope to see you there!” Will exclaimed before rushing out of the venue, leaving Mike alone.
Will seemed quite shy, despite what Mike was expecting. But he was nice and maybe they would become friends. Mike smiled at the thought before he finally came to a realization. He was supposed to be home by now.
○o。..。o○
Mike stopped in front of the door to his house, nervous to go inside because he knew he would get yelled at. Maybe he didn't have to enter through the front door. Maybe he could crawl into his bedroom through the window and gaslight his family into thinking he was there the whole time? Or maybe he could pay Nancy to impersonate him. Surely they looked similar enough, right? Nope, he could never convince her to do that with just the 20 bucks in his pocket. Mike would have to give her practically his whole life's savings.
After a couple more minutes of standing awkwardly at the door while brainstorming ideas passed, Mike decided to just screw it and endure it all. He fished the key out of his pocket and inserted it into the lock, then turned the handle. With a deep breath, Mike opened the door and stepped inside.
“Michael, where have you been?” His mom was waiting for him at the entrance, arms crossed and foot tapping. “The craft store! I just lost track of time, that's all!” Mike reasoned. It was the only lie he could come up with. Karen only sighed and shook her head. “Don't play dumb with me. The craft store closed at 7:15. It's almost 9. And what did you buy?” She shot back.
It dawned on Mike that he didn't have any proof at all that he went to the craft store. No bags, no anything. But he still didn't give up. “Well, one of the employees said I looked focused, so he let me stay while he did extra work in the back. And well, everything was so cool, I couldn't decide what to get, so I got nothing.” He said, trying to sound as convincing as he could.
“Mike, just say you never went. I really don't understand why you have to take everything so far.” Nancy jeered, going downstairs. Oh so she wanted to go there, huh? “So you did have all of those study slumber parties with Stacy?” Mike retorted.
“Michael!” Karen scolded him as Nancy rolled her eyes and wandered into the kitchen. Mike quickly shuffled up the stairs to avoid the further questi- “Michael, if you don’t tell me where you’ve been, you’re grounded.” His mother called after him, ruining his attempt to sneak away from the situation.
Mike stopped halfway up the stairs and groaned. “Just for this..? Come on..” He said with an eyeroll, muttering the last part to himself. “Attitude.” Ted said from his La-Z-Boy. “Remember last week when you went over your texting limit? And bought 5 different ringtones? That was 20 dollars down the drain.” Mike’s mother clarified.
He sighed, realizing that she was right. “I was um-” It would be embarrassing to say that he spent almost an hour and a half getting lost while cold and shivering like a homeless puppy, only to then listen to a random boy sing and play guitar and lose track of time. It just- felt wrong for some reason. So he came up with another excuse. “Uhh, I just.. walked to another craft store! And-uh-again there were too many options and it just took me a while to walk back because it was so far.”
Karen seemed to look right through him and realize that he wasn’t telling the truth. “Phone.” She said, holding out her hand. “What?!” Mike spat. “Give me your phone. You’re grounded for a week.”
“Bullshit! No way!” Mike stormed up the stairs, dashing towards his room and shutting the door. “Language.” He could hear Ted say from downstairs. Then came the sounds of his mother stomping up the steps, stopping at his room.
“You’re grounded for 2 weeks. Want it to be longer?” His mother snapped. Mike slumped his shoulders and trudged to his door, opening it and handing his flip phone to his mom, before slamming the door on her and sitting down on his bed.
This was a regular occasion for Mike. He would always get in trouble for doing normal teenager things. He thought it was fucking stupid. And now he couldn’t hang out with Dustin or Max or even Lucas(if he even wanted to anymore because apparently he's popular now) outside of school for 2 whole weeks! Or see Will the Wise's next concert.
Mike was especially bummed out about the second part.
January 19th, 2007
Will's heart beat faster and faster as he got closer to the venue, like he could already feel the black-haired boy's presence. What if he was there early, waiting for Will, just like he had waited after the show to talk to him just a couple nights ago? No, not possible. And Will was proven right. He didn’t see him. Not yet.
It felt so weird. There had been many people who had talked to him after shows about how good he was and about his next concert. But this boy just.. felt different to Will for some reason. Gosh, he regretted not getting his name.
Will didn’t have much to set up, considering that he only had an acoustic guitar and not an electric guitar, so all he really needed to do was put a stool on the stage. His songlist consisted of only covers of songs, as usual. He didn't have any original songs, despite having put his name out there for about a year now. Some of his consistent fans have often asked about him writing his own songs, but he's put it off. It's not really an issue with chords, no, he can do those just fine, it’s just writing lyrics that troubles him.
Will looked down at his watch. 5 minutes til. He took a deep breath and shook himself out. He really hoped that boy would co-
“Hey Will, ‘ya good?”
It was Sam, one of the bartenders that worked at the venue.
“Yeah, um, it's nothing.”
“Sure don't seem like nothin'. Want some pre-show water?”
Will nodded. He was actually pretty thirsty. He watched as Sam pulled a small red plastic cup from the top of the stack and filled it with water, handing it to Will. “Thanks.” He muttered. “No prob, Will Pill!” Sam chirped back.
Sam was probably his first fan that wasn't his family or friends. Ever since he started becoming a regular to this venue, Sam had always encouraged him and helped him. Will vividly remembers his first time playing here, it was still when he could count on his fingers how many concerts he had put on. Will was practically on the verge of a panic attack and Sam happened to notice, putting his hand on Will's shoulder and calming him down. Ever since then they had been pretty good friends.
He chugged down the water and threw the tiny cup in the trash can. “Alright, Will Pill, rock the house!” Sam called after him as he made his way backstage. “Thanks!” Will shouted back with a small giggle. Sam was so odd.
He checked his watch one more time. One minute left.
Will quickly took the guitar off his back, unzipping the case and taking it out, then swinging the strap over his shoulder. Will walked onto stage, taking a seat on the stool as cheers emerged from the small crowd. His eyes quickly scanned the floor, looking for a particular someone. There was no trace of him.
Will waited for the cheer to die down before his fingers strummed the intro to Well I Wonder by The Smiths. Even as he began to sing, he still tried to lock his eyes onto the boy with the wavy black hair, and the freckles that looked like tiny stars speckled across his cheeks, and those warm brown eyes, and the sharp cheekbones that made him look like a model, and his pretty nose and- Will had daydreamed about him a lot over the last couple days.
But it was hard when that boy wasn't even there. Looking back, he guesses it makes sense, since Will didn't even say what time it was or the venue, even if it was the exact same as last time. That didn't stop Will from being disappointed when he finished his final song for the night and never saw the boy during the whole concert.
“Thanks for tonight, everyone. I really appreciate it.” Will said to the crowd, trying to hide the discontent from his voice. He gave a small smile and nod, before heading off stage with his guitar. He headed backstage for his case, putting in his guitar and slinging it onto his back to take home.
“Nice show, Wiggles!” Sam greeted him. “Thanks. Night.” Will acknowledged, sheepishly walking out of the venue. Usually he would talk to Sam for a few minutes after his shows, but he really didn't feel like it right now. Will felt a bit bad, so he made a mental note to talk to Sam longer than usual next time to make up for this time.
The night was quiet. It was Wednesday, why wouldn't it be? The sky looked cloudy, so it was probably going to rain tomorrow. There was only a slight breeze along with the fair air, contrasting to the intense chill just a couple nights ago. He made his way towards a parking lot that belonged to some abandoned shop, stopping at a gray car and opening up the door to the passenger seat. “Hey, bud! How was the show tonight?” Jonathan asked. “Good.” Will replied, looking out the window. His house was too far away to walk back to from the venue, so Jonathan would come to pick him up after concerts. A song by Radiohead played from the radio, Will thinks it’s Just? His guess was right as the word Just flashed on the small screen next to the speaker. He didn't listen to much Radiohead, but Jonathan was an avid fan, so he had listened to a good amount of their songs while in the car with him.
The car ride was silent, a comfortable one though, as Will looked at the scenery from out the window.
○o。..。o○
Will went straight to his room once he got home. He was pretty exhausted, even though he didn’t do too much the whole day. Before he got ready for bed though, he decided to check his Macbook.
11 new notifications.
Woah. That wasn't normal. He clicked on one of them, and it directed him to YouTube.
_palamike07 liked 5 of your videos.
_palamike07 commented on 5 of your videos.
_palamike07 subscribed to your channel.
Will used to post covers on his YouTube account until he got a couple hate comments and stopped, but he guessed he forgot to private the videos. He clicked on his cover of Boys Don't Cry by The Cure and scrolled down to the comments. Ignoring one of his old comments that said he was gay and told him to delete the video, he saw one from _palamike07.
_palamike07: You sound so gud are you sure robert smith didnt steal this song from you? lol :)
Will clicked the like button next to the comment and decided to reply.
WillTheWise: Thank you.
He decided to add a smiley face to the end just like _palamike07 had,
WillTheWise: Thank you. :)
Will checked all of the other comments _palamike07 left him.
_palamike07: That looks so hard to do your really good also i like your david bowie shirt
_palamike07: I like your cover more then the originel song
_palamike07: So underated you just got a new sub
_palamike07: Youre voicee :)
He grinned at them, chuckling a bit at the lack of grammar and bad spelling. They made Will's heart flutter though, just thinking of somebody clicking on his videos and appreciating them enough to leave not one, but multiple nice comments.
Even as Will got ready for bed, he couldn't stop thinking of them.
January 19th, 2007>
Ring! Bzzzt! Ring! Bzzzt!
Mike's alarm clock sounded and vibrated, signaling the start of the morning. He drearily opened his eyes, blindly reaching across his bed and over to his bedside table to turn it off. Instead, he knocked it onto the ground, and he guessed that it landed on its top, because the ringing stopped.
Mike turned and groaned into his pillow. Yet again, a horrible day in a horrible school as a freshman, which is also horrible. Though, the thought of seeing his friends propelled him out of bed. Dustin and Max(Lucas was too busy with the disgusting jocks)were sure to tease him for getting grounded once again, but at least it was past winter break this time, so he could actually see them this time.
Mike's mom took away his phone, but forgot to take away his IMac. And his Nintendo DS. He hid them both in his closet just in case and pretended to be grouchy in the morning as he walked down to get breakfast.
The aroma of scrambled eggs and bacon swirled into the air and filled his nostrils. Karen sat at the table, coaxing Holly to eat a morsel of the egg on her plate, while Ted munched on a piece of bacon, his eyes mindlessly dancing on the pages of his newspaper. Nancy rushed right past Mike as he got to the foot of the stairs in a hurry with an odd smirk on her face. She had told their parents that she went to her friend's house to study all day for college, but Mike knew that she just went and made out with Steve all day.
Mike trudged into the kitchen and sat down in front of a full plate that was for him, grabbing the maple syrup and drizzling it on his eggs. He really didn't feel like eating, but he shoveled the food down his throat anyway.
Suddenly, the memories of the boy he saw last night rushed through his head like a wave crashing on a sandy shore.
Waltzing into that venue,
lying his eyes upon that talented boy with such a small crowd,
getting lost in him,
and waiting for him after the people had cleared, just to ask when his next concert was because he couldn't bear to never see him perform again.
What was his name again? Wally? Wyatt? Will?
Will. That was it. Will The Wise. He couldn't wait to see him again toni-
“Michael! There's syrup all over your face!”
And suddenly Mike was snapped back to the real world. He had a fork full of eggs against his mouth, the sticky syrup pouring down his lips and down to his chin. His mother was yelling at him, and oh yeah, he was grounded, so he couldn't see Will The Wise for another 2 whole weeks. Mike chomped on the eggs from his fork and quickly picked up a napkin to wipe his face with.
Once he finished his breakfast, he set the plate in the sink and bounded up the stairs to get fully ready for school. He threw on the first things he could find in his closet, which were a thick striped sweater and some jeans that cut off right above his ankles. Mike slid into his old dirty black converse, fastening the laces and tying them. He made his way into the bathroom, lazily brushing his teeth and sloppily fixing his hair, before deciding he looked presentable enough.
Mike grabbed his Nintendo DS and shoved it into his bookbag before swinging it over his shoulder and heading towards the door.
○o。..。o○
“Fuck, I lost again!”
Dustin yelped out, throwing his DS on the floor.
“I told you, Dry Bones on the Dry Bomber is the best combo! Plus, you don't even know how to snake!” Max shot back, acting as if it was the easiest thing in the world to understand.
“Dry Bomber?” Dustin scoffed. “I thought Egg 1 was the best kart! That's what it says on my guide!”
Max giggled. “Your shitty GameStop guide? Y'know those are only 2 bucks for a reason, Dustin. Dry Bomber has good acceleration and handling, so it’s easier to snake with than the Egg 1.”
Max and Dustin were bantering about Mariokart like usual. Mike sat in between the two, staring at the floor. The tossed wrappers and crumbs and dust were a perfect representation of this whole school. Of Mike's whole life, actually. He just felt so empty. Nothing was particularly wrong, he just felt like he was missing out on something. It was like everyone got a certain message but him. He should be doing something. Something other than skipping class to play Mariokart and Pokemon and staying after school for Hellfire Club. Mike should be getting a job, or be planning for his future.
He should be getting a girlfriend.
It dawned on Mike that maybe his parents were right, as much as he hated to admit it.
“Mike! Hello? Earth to Mike?” Dustin waved his hand in front of Mike's face.
Mike swiped Dustin's hand out of his face. “What?!” He snapped. “We've been calling your name for like, 2 whole minutes now, are you deaf?” Max said in a tone just as sassy as Mike's. He rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
“Still have that shiny Onix?” Dustin asked eagerly, ready to hand over anything to get it.
“Nope, I let it free.” Mike paused. “Of course I still have it.” He reassured with an eye roll.
“Okay, what is with you, dude?” The curly-haired boy asked, leaning forward. Max gave a nod in agreement.
“Fine, I got grounded for 2 weeks.”
“What else?”
What the hell did they mean ‘what else?’
“I- uh,” Mike stuttered, not knowing what to say, because Dustin and Max were not the type to back down.
“I saw this boy perform the other night. He was really good. His name was Will the Wise.”
Dustin smirked, while Max's eyes lit up. “That's Jane's step-brother!”
Max talked about this girl Jane pretty frequently. Apparently she was homeschooled, but so cool, according to Max. They met at a town festival and since then, they've been absolute best friends. Max hasn't shown her to the party yet, though.
“I've heard a lot about him. Jane tells me he’s really cool and has a shit ton of hobbies that he's good at.” She explained. “I've seen him a couple times, he’s pretty cute.”
Mike resisted agreeing that he was cute.
Ew, why was he thinking like this?
“Y'know I've always wondered why you've never gotten a girlfriend before, Mike.” Max said with a smirk after a moment of silence as if she could hear his thoughts. “Shut up!” Mike shouted, smacking Max on the arm.
“I’m just upset that I can’t see his concert tonight because I'm grounded.” He pouted. “Oh, is Mikey so fwustwated that he cant see his wittle boyfwiend?” Dustin began to mock Mike before footsteps rang throughout the hallway. “First of all, he’s not my-” Then they got faster and closer.
“Hey! What are your names’?” A teacher yelled as she became visible.
“Shit, run, run, run!” Dustin shouted before they all bolted off with their belongings.
○o。..。o○
Mike had gotten home from school and finally finished all of his homework, meaning he could go to his room now. He excitedly opened his IMac after waiting all day, plugging in his earbuds while waiting for his YouTube feed to load. After a good 30 seconds, videos popped up, and he scrolled through, looking for one that looked interesting.
That is, until one caught his eye.
Boys Don't Cry Acoustic Cover
Will The Wise
200 views
2.5 stars out of 5
It was him.
Will The Wise.
With no hesitation, Mike clicked on it and turned up the volume. He was immediately hit with perfect, delicate notes strummed by the boy's fingers. After a couple more seconds, his mouth opened and his soft, lulling voice rang out. Even through a screen, Will the Wise still managed to captivate him.
He wished he could play the guitar too. He tried begging his parents for one last Christmas, but Ted had heard some bullshit on the news that playing the guitar made you gay, so obviously they shut that request down.
The video was done before Mike was ready for it to end, so he rewinded it to the beginning and scrolled down to leave a comment.
_palamike07: You sound so gud are you sure robert smith didnt steal this song from you? lol
He decided to add a smiley face at the end just for fun, because screw it.
_palamike07: You sound so gud are you sure robert smith didnt steal this song from you? lol :)
Mike decided to throw a like on the video too, before clicking on his channel to see if there were any more videos.
Please let there be more, please let there be more, please let there be more, please let there be more Mike silently begged as the page loaded.
And Mike’s hopes were granted as he was greeted with about 10 more videos. He watched 4 more and he commented and liked every single one. He ended up subscribing to Will the Wise in the end.
Mike decided he would watch the rest of the videos tomorrow, since he didn't want to risk his mom walking in on him and taking away his IMac, which would probably extend his grounded status. So he stuffed it back securely into his closet and grabbed a new comic volume he got about a week ago and continued to read it.
His mind kept wandering to a certain boy, though.