#ytotbts

[adhd-disaster-willie]

you're the one that brings the sun; chapter 1/6

Summary: Alex is prepared for every single variable except, apparently, the one in which his roommate is drop dead gorgeous and Alex is an absolute clusterfuck of a human being who falls for the first pretty boy on he sees on campus.

Willex roommate au! 

Warnings: Swearing

Notes: The title is from the song “I Dare You” by the Regrettes. I’ve actually planned this fic out so here’s to hoping I don’t get burned out halfway through. It might end up having 6 or 7 chapters, 5 is kind of just an estimate.

---

When Alex was 11, his mother proudly plastered his report card to the fridge and exclaimed that one day, her little boy would go to Harvard. His father gripped his shoulder with pride and Alex beamed up at his parents like they’d just told him he had superpowers. 3 years later, he was 14 and teetering on the edge of failure in the majority of his classes. He wasn’t stupid by any means, just preoccupied. He’d started a band with his best friends and that felt like the most important thing in the whole world, and high school was new and scary, so it was easier to not pour all his focus into school. His parents’ smiles faltered but they kept up hope, Alex could tell. 2 years later, he stood shaking and crying outside of the Molina’s garage and suddenly, the concept of going to college begun to feel distant and fake. But he’s 18 now, and somehow, miraculously, gazing at the piles of boxes in the back of Ray’s car and swallowing down a lump in his throat.

It sure isn’t Harvard, but a part of Alex feels giddy at the fact that he’s attending a public college that was relatively easy to get into; oh his parents would be rolling in their proverbial graves. What didn’t make him quite so happy though, was the looming fact that he’d be living with some random person, because for some godforsaken reason, the college wouldn’t allow freshmen to choose their roomates. Some bullshit about meeting new people and socializing.

“Hey, ‘Lex. Dude, you’ll be fine.” Luke shakes his shoulders, before swinging one arm around him and the other around Reggie.

“Says the one who isn’t even going to college,” Alex grumbles, slipping from Luke’s grip and into the front seat of the car.

“Yea cause I don’t need it. Not my fault you’re both nerds,” Luke retorts.

“I’m not a nerd, I just like to have insurance-”

“Yea, back-up plan, safety net, heard it a million times. Reggie’s a nerd though.”

“Old news, dude,” Alex says.

“I am not a nerd!” Reggie protests indignantly.

“Tell that to your 2 years of college credit in math.”

Luke nods in agreement. “Nerd.”

“Math is fun!”

“You’re horrible.” Alex makes a mock gagging noise.

Julie comes bounding out of the house, her arms decked with various baked goods. She tosses herself in the backseat beside Reggie and Luke, looking quite pleased with herself at being able to force Luke to sit in the middle. “Tía was apparently up all night baking,” she explains, passing the sweets up to Alex. “Don’t be surprised if she shows up at your dorm with food every day.”

Alex snorts. “I would not object to that.”

Julie sighs, leaning back in her seat. “You guys are so lucky, I’m tired of high school. Damn September birthday,” Julie grumbles. Her birthday is just after the cut off date, so she would be 18 for the majority of senior year, but is just barely too young to be in the same grade as the boys.

Reggie leans over and pats her arm sympathetically, earning an offended squeak from Luke, who’s only pushed further into the back of the seat.

“Don’t worry!” Alex chirps sarcastically. “You get to spend more time with Luke, since he’ll be squatting in your garage!”

“Oh, joy,” Julie deadpans.

“I am not a squatter!” Luke protests, kicking the back of Alex’s seat.

“No kicking! I’m holding food!”

“Y’know Alex, you’ve been staying in the studio for 2 years, you’re not one to talk!” Luke argues.

“I have a job.”

“A stupid job.”

“A stupid job that gets you free coffee.”

Reggie nodds to that, chewing on a cookie. “Can’t risk losing your coffee privileges.”

Julie groans loudly and stuck her head out the window. “DAAAAD! Let’s goooo!” She cries.

“Wow, I didn’t know you wanted to get rid of me so badly,” Alex says, clutching his chest dramatically.

“Oh shut up Lexi, I just wanna meet your’s and Reggie’s new best friends!” Julie says, laughing.

“I’m not gonna be best friends with my roommate.”

“Yea, Alex forgot how to do that!”

“Luke I will smother you in your sleep!”

At this, Ray approaches the car with a raised eyebrow. “No one’s planning a murder, I hope?” He asks, chuckling as he slides into the drivers seat.

“No sir!” Reggie replies, grinning.

“Not yet,” Alex mumbles under his breath.

“Alright boys, who’s ready for college!” Ray says, starting the car.

“I’m gonna be sick.”

---

“And that’s the last of it!” Ray claps a hand over Alex’s shoulder and smiles encouragingly.

Alex nods tensely, gripping the strap of his fannypack tighter.

The dorm’s probably as good as he’s gonna get. One reasonably sized bedroom complete with two horribly uncomfortable beds, a kitchen with a fridge that was in no way large enough to fit even a weeks worth of meals, a tiny living room that would probably fit a couch and a TV at the most, and a bathroom that smelled suspiciously of mustard. Really it isn’t terrible, but Alex has a habit of noticing every little detail, especially the ones that could be a problem at some point. His roommate hasn’t arrived yet, so he’s standing amongst his various boxes, anxiety pulsing in his chest.

Julie grips his hand tightly and smiles, tears pricking the edges of her eyes. “Hey, Alex, you’re gonna be okay.” She squeezes his hand briefly.

Alex nods, exhaling shakily. “Yea, yea I know. It’s just…”

“A change, I know. But this is a good change. And-” she hauls Reggie and Luke over to them. “-we’re all here if you need to call someone and talk. And dad, and Tía, and I bet your roommate will be super cool.”

“Or a serial killer.”

“Just pray he’s not a football player,” Reggie stage-whispers, shuddering.

“God, don’t even suggest that!” Alex whines.

Encouragements and teary hugs are passed along, as well as a promise to meet at the Olive Garden nearby for dinner in a few hours, and then Alex’s posse is off to get Reggie settled, and Alex is left alone in the dorm. Alright.

Alex takes a deep breath, steeling himself, before beginning to wander the dorm. He’s anxious to start unpacking without his roommate and risk doing something that they wouldn’t like. Even choosing a bed feels wrong, he really doesn’t want to get off on the wrong foot with this person. But leaving the dorm meant people everywhere so that was a definite no. He sighs, lowering himself to the wooden floor and pulling out his phone.

“Yea… uh huh. Yes Caleb, I got here fine. No the Uber driver did not try and kidnap me. The boxes- the boxes are not too heavy. Okay. Okay. Yea, bye. Mhm.”

Alex looks up hesitantly upon hearing the voice nearing his dorm. The person standing in the doorway is well… less of a person and more of a large stack of boxes threatening to fall over any second. “Hello?” Alex stands up and makes his way to the boy stood in the entrance.

Said boy pokes his head out from behind his boxes and grins crookedly. “Hi, uh, I’m Willie!” And well, Alex is a goner. He swallows thickly, breath catching in the back of his throat. Willie attempts to adjust the boxes but ultimately fails, sending them tumbling to the ground amongst several muttered curses. “Well… nothing fragile in there,” he falters slightly. “I think.”

“Um…”

“Right! Sorry, uh.” Willie holds his hand out and Alex shakes it tentatively.

“Alex.”

“Alex, cool.” Willie smiles again, his dark eyes twinkling as he does so, smile lines popping out. He brushes his hair -which looks so soft and pretty- behind his ear to reveal a small golden hoop on his right lobe. Alex is dead, actually 100% dead. Because he’d been prepared for every single variable except, apparently, the one in which his roommate is drop dead gorgeous and Alex is an absolute clusterfuck of a human being who falls for the first pretty boy on he sees on campus.

Alex forces out a smile, all too aware that he’s still standing stiff and awkward in front of Willie, his grip on his fannypack tight enough to make his knuckles glow white. Then Willie coughs as some sort of attempt to fill the silence. “Sorry!” Alex squeaks. “Do you need help with the… the uh, boxes?”

“Oh yea, that’d be great!” Willie replies, beaming. “I don’t think there’s anything fragile in there, but y’know, my memory is absolute shit so if I broke some fancy china dishes I didn’t even know I owned, don’t be too shocked.”

Alex laughs anxiously. “Yea uh… I didn’t start unpacking cause I um… I didn’t want to claim a bed and stuff with-without your input?” His voice cracks at the end and he winces because Jesus fucking christ Alex.

Willie chuckles and Alex notes that he has the kind of laugh that echoes through your whole body and settles right in your heart. “ ‘S cool, man, I don’t mind.”

“Right, cool. Do you uh… are you okay if I take the bed farthest from the window? I’m not- not much of a morning person, and the window is… it’s east facing” Alex mutters, his gaze focused on his feet which are rocking back and forth at a rapid pace.

“Yea, of course,” Willie replies. “I don’t think I’ve woken up later than 8 in 5 years.”

“That’s horrific!” Alex cries, momentarily forgetting his anxiety. He steps back and blushes an even deeper red upon realizing how stupid he’s being. “I mean- I just… sorry, I just meant that-”

“You’re good, dude. I don’t bite.”

Alex cracks a tentative smile. “So uh… I’ll just start unpacking then.”

Willie shoots him a thumbs up and smiles once again, which is a thing he apparently does a lot.

An hour later, Alex’s belongings are unpacked and organized and the room feels a bit more his. He feels slightly lighter, exhaling and closing his eyes briefly. This isn’t so bad. Fiddling with the hem of his hoodie, he shuffles out into the living room where Willie is presumably unpacking. Except that he’s not.

Willie is laying upside down on a couch that somehow appeared while Alex was gone and he’s flipping through a tattered magazine while his belongings remain mostly unpacked.

“This quiz says that I should try roller skating,” Willie sniffs. “Some personality test this is- oh hey Alex!” He scrambles up so that he can look Alex in the eyes properly, and points to the magazine in his hand. “Found this in a box, not sure how it got there since I’ve never even subscribed to one of these, but there’s a chocolate chip cookie recipe in here.” He stops for a moment, pondering. “Personally I prefer peanut butter cookies, ooh especially fresh out of the oven. There’s this bakery near my house that-”

“Did you get… any unpacking done?” Alex asks, raising an eyebrow.

Willie looks around at his boxes and laughs sheepishly. “Well I unpacked one and opened 3 so… some, yes.”

“Where’d the couch come from?” Alex pokes the cushion warily, as if afraid that it’s full of bugs.

“Room across the hall,” Willie says, pointing. “They both brought couches and didn’t have room for two we got the one with more stains.”

“Right.” Alex’s reply is forced and tense, and he winces upon realizing. Truthfully, he hadn’t expected his roommate to become so comfortable so fast and he felt like he was several steps behind. Damn extroverts. Drumming his hands against his thighs, Alex slowly sits down on the other side of the couch, pointedly looking ahead instead of at Willie.

“So.” Willie scoots closer, sitting cross legged with his elbows on his thighs and chin resting in his palms. “What’s your major?”

Small talk, god Alex hates small talk. “Um, music,” he answers.

“Ah, that’s cool dude.” Willie nods.

“Uh, what about you?” Alex asks.

“Art,” Willie replies, grinning. “Be prepared for paint stains, like, everywhere.” He chuckles and nudges Alex’s shoulder playfully. Alex is going to implode, he’s sure of it.

Alex laughs awkwardly. “So uh… what’s wrong with rollerskating?”

Willie shoves his shoulder again. “Everything, dude! Well-” he cuts himself off, thinking. “-I just kinda suck at it, definitely better at my skateboard.” He jerks his head in the direction of a skateboard leaned against the wall and Alex wonders how he didn’t notice that.

“Oh, that’s- that’s cool. I rollerblade but I uh, I can’t skateboard to save my life.”

Somehow, they slip into a comfortable rhythm, and Alex notes that his anxiety no longer has him in a chokehold. Willie seems to have that affect; he’s just so… open. Alex doesn’t realize it yet, but he’s subconsciously created a folder in the back of his mind labelled “Willie,” and he doesn’t think he’s capable of forgetting anything Willie will ever say to him.

“- that’s why airplane food is just, horrible. Cause you basically lose like 30% of your tastebuds because of the elevation.” Willie smiles at Alex, gaging his response.

Alex would rather die than admit that he’s still trying to figure out how the topic of airplane food came up, so he just nods enthusiastically, actively stopping his eyes from dancing across Willie’s face, which is practically glowing in the evening sun. Evening. Shit. Alex pulls out his phone frantically. “Shit.” He says it out loud this time.

Willie’s brow furrows in confusion. “You good, dude?”

“Uh yea I’m just, I’m supposed to be meeting my fam- uh my friends for dinner and I have to be there in like 5 minutes.” He ignores the way Willie’s expression falls, convinced he’s just seeing things.

“Yea um, of course. I won’t keep you.” Willie stands up, his posture the stiffest that Alex has seen it in the whole 3 hours they’ve been acquainted for. “I’ll just… order a pizza.”

Alex hesitates in the doorway, weighing his options, which has never been his strong suit. “Do you want to join me?” He blurts impulsively. Willie looks at him in surprise. “I mean only- only if you want of course, we’ve only really uh, known each other for a few hours and you- you probably don’t want to, it was stupid. I’ll just- I’ll just go-”

“No! I’d… I’d like to, eating pizza alone in the dark sounds a little pathetic,” Willie responds.

Alex smiles genuinely. “Ok, ok that’s uh. Cool. That’s cool.”

---

Alex is already regretting this. The restaurant isn’t too crowded, he notices with a relieved breath. But it’s loud. It’s loud and yet only one group of people is talking. Alex doesn’t even need to guess who.

“Ok but- no- no- the whole song would be better!”

“Say banjo one more time, I dare you!”

“Banjo.”

“Julie, what the hell?! This is betrayal!”

“You stole my breadstick, it’s only fair.”

Alex coughs, quieting the table to a dull roar.

“Alex!” Julie pulls him down to sit next to her. “Oh? Who’s this?” Reggie is grinning wickedly and Luke waggles his eyebrows in a way that makes Alex want to shave them off.

“This is uh, my roommate Willie,” Alex responds, his voice raising an octave. “He didn’t have plans so I uh… I invited him, I hope that’s ok.”

“Of course it’s ok!” Julie pats the space on the other side of Alex and Willie sits down, appearing… oddly nervous.

“Congrats! Your Alex’s first new friend since,” Luke taps his chin, pretending to think. “7th grade.”

Alex’s face promptly falls into his hands. He’s seriously considering the whole, shaving Luke’s eyebrows in his sleep thing.

Reggie leans forward conspiratorially. “What’s your opinion on banjos?” He asks, making a point to ignore Luke’s dramatic complaining.

Willie raises his eyebrows, clearly confused. “Um. No comment?”

“I’m… sorry about them,” Alex says apolegetically. “Uh, this is Luke, Reggie, and Julie-” he gestures to each of them; Reggie waves, beaming happily. “-and Julie’s dad should be…” He trails off, looking around.

“He had to take a phone call, something about Carlos refusing to eat dinner until he proves the house is haunted,” Julie explains, clearly biting back a laugh.

“I… okay.” Alex shakes his head. “Are we waiting for more food or did Reggie eat it all?”

“Ha ha,” Reggie punctuates his statement by sticking out his tongue. “We’re waiting for the actual meals-”

“Yea Luke already ate the entire bread basket.” Julie shoots a glare in Luke’s direction.

“Well… you suggested we get hotdogs,” Luke grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest. “Payback.”

“Okay,” Julie laughs.

Willie leans over to whisper loudly to Alex, “What’s the story with the hotdogs?”

“Don’t tell him!” Luke cries, leaning across the table and slamming his palms down.

“We don’t talk of the hot-dogs,” Reggie mutters miserably.

“Food poisoning.” Alex shudders slightly. “Very bad food poisoning.”

“We almost died,” Reggie says, eyes widening. “Like, for real death. I’m pretty sure I was a ghost for a few seconds.”

“Reg, you were not a ghost,” Alex says, speaking like Reggie’s a 10 year old talking about monsters under his bed.

“I was!”

“You were not!”

“So,” Luke smiles mischievously, taking Reggie and Alex’s bickering as an opportunity to apparently torture the latter. Despite Alex’s warning glares, he turns to Willie with an innocent expression. “What kind of music do you like?”

“Luke,” Alex hisses, all too familiar with Luke’s antics.

“Hmmm.” Willie is painfully oblivious to Alex’s panicked expression as he mulls over his answer. “A lot of stuff really.” He shrugs. “Rock, pop, I like those lo-fi playlists when I’m trying to study.”

Luke nods, clearly pleased with the answer, but he isn’t done and Alex wants to hide under the table. He knows what’s coming next. “Thoughts on… drummers?”

“Luke.” Alex is seconds from lunging across the table.

“Drummers?” Willie asks, tilting his head confusedly.

“Yup,” Luke says, popping the p and still smiling like he’s some sort of innocent puppy-dog and not an absolute bastard.

“Hot,” Willie jokes. Alex can’t even hide the way he manages to choke on his own spit, and Luke and Reggie have never been great at subtlety, turning to Alex with matching shit-eating grins. Willie either doesn’t notice or is kind enough not to comment on it. “Yea, pretty sure young Roger Taylor was my gay awakening.”

Reggie is full on giggling now, and Alex’s entire face is gleaming a bright red. Willie glances around the table, puzzled.

“Mhm.” Luke nods before swiftly turning to Alex. “Hey Alex, by the way, you left your drumsticks in the car, do you need them back?” His voice is sickeningly sweet, coated in some sort of poisoned honey. It’s Willie’s turn to choke on nothing, failing to disguise it as a spontaneous coughing fit.

“Fine,” Alex squeaks as he sinks further down in his seat. If he pulls out his phone and messages Luke a flurry of threats, that’s no one’s business. He dares a glance at Willie, who has become quite fascinated with his hands, which are tapping out a mindless rhythm on the table, his cheeks and the tips of his ears dusted red.

Needless to say, Alex makes sure Luke doesn’t even get to look at the next bread basket.

---

I hope you liked it! Tell me if you want to be added to the taglist :)

I’m hoping to update at least once a week, but who knows. Ok thats all.

chapter 2

Chapter 3

chapter 4

chapter 5

chapter 6

#willex #jatp #willex fic #jatp fic #julie and the phantoms #alex mercer #willie jatp #willie nolastname #julie molina #luke patterson #reggie peters #ray molina #willow writes #ytotbts #you’re the one that brings the sun

[adhd-disaster-willie]

you’re the one that brings the sun; chapter 2/6

Chapter 1

Warnings: Swearing, mention of death (very brief, not graphic)

Notes: Yes it is six chapters now lmao

---

Alex is one month, 4 breakdowns, and probably $100 worth of coffee (even with his employee discount) into his first semester of college and more than prepared for his daily screaming into a pillow session. He stumbles into his dorm, but comes to a screeching halt as soon as the door closes behind him.

“You’re painting the walls.”

Willies spins around, narrowly avoiding falling off his step stool, and gives Alex a lopsided grin. “Wonderful observation,” he quips, hopping down with a paintbrush still in his hand.

“You- you can’t do that.” Alex gapes at him, dumbfounded.

“Ah, can’t I?” Willie raises his eyebrows, smiling. His cheeks are flushed and his hair has been haphazardly pulled up, flyaways falling to frame his face. Alex shakes himself from his reverie. This is not the time to be admiring Willie, idiot.

“No- that’s… that’s against the rules,” Alex says desperately. “The RA lives like, right next door.”

“He’s colorblind,” Willie reassures Alex. “And a homophobic asshole.”

“He’s- what? I…” Alex runs his hands over his face, breathing in deeply. “Okay. Okay. Uh, why are you painting the walls?”

Willie settles into the couch, humming thoughtfully. “I was working on that one essay but couldn’t focus because-” he waves his hands around his head vaguely, like that’s supposed to explain his thoughts. “-and then I remembered that there was a sale at Home Depot so here we are.”

Alex looks up at the wall, trying to ignore the anxiety clutching at his chest like mistletoe to a tree. It’s fine, it’ll be fine. “Why blue?” His voice comes out much less calm than he’d hoped.

“It’s my favorite color,” Willie replies like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m only painting that one wall anyway, the sale was just for the mini paint buckets. I think a pop of color is nice, y’know?” He jerks his hands in the direction of the wall, grinning.

“You’re gonna have us killed,” Alex states simply. “I’m gonna be expelled and have to crash at Julie’s again and I won’t have a college education and the band is gonna fail and I’ll be uneducated and living on the streets.”

“Woah, hey.” Wille stands up, face knitted with worry. He sets a hand on Alex’s shoulder, steadying him. “Dude, I didn’t know it would freak you out. Shit, uh, I can paint over it. Really, it was stupid and impulsive.”

Alex shakes his head. “No, no it’s fine. It’s just-” In for 4, out for 8, deep breaths Alex. “Just stupid anxiety, I’m overthinking.”

Willie tilts his head to the side slightly. “Yea? You sure you’re cool with it?”

And he really is… cool with it, at least sort of. Apparently there’s an override switch in his brain that makes it so of something makes Willie happy, Alex can’t help but be okay with it. Huh. That’s new.

“Um…” Now that his brain is less foggy, Alex is realizing that Willie is like… really close. “Uh, yea. Just… don’t go painting any murals in the bathroom.”

Willie laughs loudly, throwing his head back and bouncing slightly on his heels. Alex’s gaze rakes over his face, golden sunlight seeping through the window and dancing across Willie’s cheeks. There’s a certain comfort to the way the sun comes through the window each evening. Miraculously, their dorm is positioned in an odd way that gives them a west and east facing window; and the way the light drapes over Willie is different at sunset compared to sunrise. It’s looser, makes him look free and like he keeps the sun right in his pocket, only letting it out when Alex is near. Stupidly, Alex thinks he wouldn’t have much trouble forgiving any future bathroom murals. One month, they’ve known each other for a month and Alex is already waxing poetic about him. He scolds himself internally.

“Tell you what,” Willie starts, stepping back and gesturing vaguely. “I’ll buy you a coffee to make up for it.”

“Dude it’s like 5pm,” Alex reasons, but his resolve is already dwindling at the sight of Willie’s playful grin.

“And? It’s the weekend.” Willie tosses an arm over Alex’s shoulders, sticking his bottom lip out in a dramatic pout. “It’s just coffee.”

“Remind me what happened last time you drank coffee.”

Willie sighs mournfully. “We do not speak of the carnation incident.”

“Right,” Alex chuckles. “Okay. Fine. But no more painting the walls.”

“Aye aye captain!” Willie gives a theatrical salute before waltzing out the door with Alex at his heels.

5:30pm in late September means it’s just chilly enough to wear jeans instead of shorts and just sunny enough to see light slipping through the trees and grass. Willie seems to be a magnet for the sunlight, leading it in a subtle dance as they walk across campus. Alex follows the way his hair sways in the light breeze, painted in a sheet of gold and bronze, like it’s been dipped in a liquid campfire. He wonders if his heartbeat is synced to the rhythm of Willie’s feet, marveling at how each step seems to send a ripple through Alex’s entire body. It’s unfair, the way the evening sun makes everything seem softer and more poetic, and Alex thinks that he could write an entire song about the way Willie glances over at him with a teasing smile. In a- a friend way of course. Because everyone thinks about how beautiful their friends look while walking. Of course.

Willie turns to Alex with his head tilted slightly. His expression is frustratingly unreadable. There’s blue paint brushed across the bridge of his nose and his left cheekbone, like his skin is stained with bits of the sky and Alex has a weird urge to bring his hand up and brush it away, but also a weird desire for that paint to be there forever; it suits Willie. His eyes, shining amber in the light, glance over Alex’s face and Alex feels like he’s being put under a spotlight except Willie’s the only person in the audience. Willie finally speaks his mind, his voice gentle. “Your hair looks golden in this light”

Alex feels his entire face go pink and he almost squeaks “You can’t just say those things!” But his tongue seems to be caught in the back of his throat so he opts for a mortified smile before turning to focus on the sidewalk right ahead of him. Willie doesn’t elaborate, or pressure Alex into responding, and they lapse back into a comfortable silence.

It isn’t until they’re just outside the coffeeshop that Alex comes to what is probably a mildly important realization. Bobby’s working right now. Bobby, Carrie’s cousin who’s known Alex as long as Luke and Reggie have, occasionally plays with the band, and has been involved in too many conversations about a certain long-haired skater. Alex’s stomach fills with an unmistakable dread at this thought.

“Alex? You good?” Willie bumps their shoulders and shoots him a smile that’s soft around the edges. “You can just get tea if you’re that anxious about the coffee.”

“No,” Alex chuckles, attempting to mask his stilted breathing. “It’s fine, coffee’s a good idea anyway. I need to stay up and practice that one horrible drum solo my professor insists I perfect.”

“And you have to do that tonight?”

“Yea, the band has a gig on Sunday so Luke’s probably gonna lock me in the studio to rehearse all of tomorrow.”

Willie giggles bubbily, his eyes squinting in the way that makes Alex’s stomach flip. Alex opens the door and a stupid piece of his mind itches to grab Willie’s hand to pull him in. He doesn’t.

Alex likes his workplace. The lights are warm and drape like a blanket over the building, the walls are decked in posters and paintings and vinyls, the windows are clothed with too many plants to count, and the chairs are the type you can just melt into and fall asleep. If he was still religious, he’d thank god for the fact that he was able to score a job here instead of a stiff, concrete chain store. The place is owned by the sweetest middle-aged lesbian couple who like to bring their cats by and let Alex take home leftover food when he has the closing shift. He likes it, and finding a customer service job Alex enjoys is like finding a needle in a haystack. And yet, his whole body is buzzing with nerves. He loves Bobby, he does, but the boy is just as fond of teasing Alex as Luke and Reggie are, and of course Willie had to pick right now.

Willie’s grinning as soon as he processes his surroundings. “Dude you didn’t tell me this place was so cool!” He grips Alex’s forearm excitedly and Alex’s entire brain just… short circuits. He’s sure Willie’s gushing about the mural on the back wall, because he has the awestruck and giddy expression he always gets when talking about art or skateboarding, but Alex’s brain is not registering a single thing Willie says.

Alex hears a loud and deliberate cough and is swiftly pulled from his mind, realizing three things: He is blatantly staring at Willie with a smile he doesn’t even want to see, Willie is still holding onto his arm and rambling, and Bobby is looking on with an expression that tells Alex that there is most certainly a new picture on his phone that will make for wonderful blackmail material.

“Alex, who could this be?” Bobby asks, and of course he’s the one with a scary good poker face because Alex almost believes that he truly is clueless.

Willie lets go of Alex’s arm, a cruel trick of the light making it look like he’s blushing. He gives Bobby a wave. “That’d be me. I’m Willie, Alex’s roommate.”

“Oh!” Bobby smiles innocently. “The famous Willie!”

“Famous?” Willie cocks an eyebrow at Alex. “You talk about me, hotdog?”

“Hotdog?” Bobby gives Alex an expression identical to Willie’s, but laced with mischief instead of fondness. Alex has an inexplicable urge to flee.

“Let’s just get our drinks,” Alex squeaks, herding Willie up to the counter and sneaking a death glare at Bobby on the way over.

“Hmm, and what’ll that be?” Bobby asks, making a point to plaster on his customer service smile.

“Medium cold brew with cinnamon almond-milk foam for me and a medium green tea for Willie, decaf.”

Willie looks at Alex incredulously. “You know my tea order?”

“It’s- it’s all you drink!” Alex squeaks defensively, picking at the collar of his shirt because when did it get so warm?

Bobby snickers. “Okay, one pretentious-ass cold brew and a horribly boring tea.”

Willie goes to pay, chuckling under his breath.

“Your drinks should be ready shortly, by the way Alex, I like this one,” Bobby snickers.

“Oookay!” Alex blurts, dragging Willie from the counter in hopes that he didn’t hear the last bit of Bobby’s sentence. His cheeks are burning as he directs them to his favorite corner of the shop. There are two chairs nestled in the corner, partially hidden by a rickety bookshelf and a wall of plants that hang down and will occasionally brush against the chair’s occupant. In the mornings, the sun shines through in a way that makes the chairs perfect for curling up like a cat seeking warmth. Alex sinks down into the seat nearest to the wall with a contented sigh and shuts his eyes, humming softly. “This is my favorite chair,” he mutters, eyes still closed.

“Hmm.” Willie’s response sounds odd, so Alex cracks open one eye only to find Willie sat in the chair beside him, elbows on the armrest closest to Alex, his chin resting in his palms. He’s looking at Alex with his lips curled into an almost wistful smile and suddenly Alex feels awfully overwhelmed. “It’s a very nice chair,” Willie says, leaning back to relax his head against the cushion and swinging his legs over the arm rest. Alex almost mourns his gaze, but he quickly shakes that feeling. It’s silly.

A gentle breeze drifts in through the window, which is always open slightly at this time of year, when it’s not too hot and not too cold out. Alex’s nose wrinkles, feeling the plant hanging above his head dance across his face in response to the wind. He hears Willie giggle beside him and he whips around, definitely not pouting. “What?”

“You made a face,” Willie responds, gesturing to his own face and mimicking Alex’s previous expression. “It was cu- it was uh, funny.” Willie goes red for a split second, but Alex writes it off as the heat and is about to ask if he wants the window closed when Bobby comes walking up, drinks in hand.

“I’m obligated by contract to warn you, Willie, that Alex with caffeine past 3 is never a sight you want to behold,” Bobby says, handing them their drinks and pulling up a chair to sit across from them.

“There is no such contract,” Alex protests. “And you’re exaggerating.” He takes a sip of his coffee, glaring at Bobby from behind the cup.

“Maybe not a formal one.” Bobby turns to face Willie now. “Seriously, caffeine at night makes him emotional for some reason.”

“Liar!”

“No dog movies when Alex has coffee at night, he’ll be sobbing for hours, even if the dog lives.”

“Noted,” Willie says, laughing. Alex contemplates kicking Bobby.

“Hey Bobbers, remember that time when you tried jumping an electric fence half naked because you got caught sneaking into a pool at night to impress a girl?”

Bobby blinks, his expression uncaring. “You cannot embarrass me,” he says. “I have no shame whatsoever.”

“Of course you don’t,” Alex grumbles.

“Anyway, as I was saying, Willie-”

“We should get back before dark!” Alex interrupts. He grabs Willie’s hand and all but shoves him from the shop, shouting at Bobby the whole way to prevent him from saying anything more to embarrass him.

Willie looks up at Alex, clearly amused, and they begin the walk back to their dorm. “Bobby seems nice,” He says nonchalantly.

Alex groans loudly. “No, no he’s terrible. He is one of my best friends and I despise him.”

Willie nods, sipping his tea. “Your friends are all pretty cool.”

“Yea… yea they’re great.” Alex pauses, sighing. “I don’t know where I’d be without them. The streets, probably,” Alex snorts bitterly at the last bit. It doesn’t cross his mind that Willie hasn’t been filled in on this. He doesn’t want to get into it. Willie seems to get the hint, brushing the confusion from his face in favor of looking up at the sky.

“I’ve always wished I was better at landscape paintings,” Willie whispers, his tone practically reverent. “Some people can just… capture every detail and emotion in- in sunsets and what-not. And it’s- it’s insane!” He gestures wildly with his hands as he talks, tea threatening to spill everywhere. “I can do abstract just fine, it’s my favorite. But my landscapes are always so… bland. I wish I could paint the feeling behind it as much as the plain details.”

Alex has seen his landscapes, and thinks them far from bland, but he doesn’t say anything. Willie has a way of turning the most horrifically boring pieces into storms of color and emotion, and Alex thinks that each brushstroke holds a piece of his soul. But he keeps his mouth shut.

“The sunset is nice,” Willie says. “I love when the clouds are pink like this. My mom used to-” he laughs nostalgically, remembering something. “-she used to tell me stories about the clouds. They all had their own personalities and lives and families. She would sit at her easel, painting the clouds, and I would be at her feet just… absolutely mesmerized.” There’s a certain shine in Willie’s eyes that Alex hasn’t seen before; it’s bittersweet and sort of disconnected. “And somehow… somehow she could show the cloud’s personalities in the paintings. I wish I could do that. She was the one who made me love art; I remember when I got my first skateboard, I stayed up for hours painting the bottom and I was so proud of it. And after I grew out of it she... she hung it on the wall above the mantel and would tell everyone who saw it how awesome it was”

Willie’s taken on a new demeanor, and Alex realizes this is the first time he’s spoken about his parents. “She seems amazing,” Alex mutters, voice quiet like he’s afraid of breaking something.

“Yea,” Willie replies. “She… she was.” He lets out a shaky breath. Oh. “She was a single mom, I never knew my father, never had the chance to ask about him. She died in a car crash when I was 14, I’ve lived with my uncle Caleb since.”

“Oh. Willie I-”

“It’s fine. I miss her, but it’s been four years y’know? I’m not… shrouded in grief like I used to be.” He gives Alex a genuine smile to prove it, and bumps their shoulder together. “C’mon, we’re almost home.”

Home. Home used to be Luke and Reggie and Julie, now… now Alex isn’t quite sure. College still feels new and different, and he often feels like his doesn’t belong. His dorm doesn’t feel much like home, it feels like a hotel room, like he’s a guest. But Willie… Willie feels more like home than anything in that dorm. Willie and his stupid blue wall and his long rambling and loud laughing. Home is Luke and Reggie and Julie and Willie, and that’s completely and utterly terrifying to Alex.

---

Chapter 3

chapter 4

chapter 5

chapter 6

Notes: This chapter was gonna be longer but I felt like that was a good place to leave off. I hope you liked it :)))

Taglist: @thatsanewflavor @spookiest-sapphic @dovesgrangers @julie-n-phantoms @frostknyte @thegaylink @nervousmiracletrash @crummycassidy @fairygclds @reallyintrospectivepeople @madsmax-37 @swamp-acad @kat-maybe-not @sunsetcurve123 @lookingthroughmirrors @queer-fandom-enby

#willex #jatp #julie and the phantoms #willex fic #jatp fic #willex fanfiction #willex fanfic #jatp fanfic #jatp fanfiction #willow writes #wille jatp #willie nolastname #alex mercer #bobby wilson #bobby jatp #reggie peters #luke patterson #julie molina #ytotbts #you’re the one that brings the sun

[adhd-disaster-willie]

you’re the one that brings the sun; chapter 4/6

Chapter 1, 2, 3,

Warnings: Swearing

Word count: 3,599 

Notes: sorry this update took a bit longer than usual, hopefully it’s worth it cause this chapter is longer than the last couple :)

---

It’s the third week of October when Flynn and Willie meet. Alex had been hoping to postpone it as long as he could, because Flynn on their own is a force to be reckoned with; combining her with Willie was sure to end in a lot of tie dye stains and at least one thumb wrestling match.

It’s an abnormally cold day and Alex, whose hands were always cold anyway, is regretting leaving his gloves behind because sometimes even the heat of the coffee shop isn’t enough to calm his shitty circulation. He rubs his palms together and grumbles under his breath; the end of his shift couldn’t come sooner and his favorite chair is looking incredibly tempting right now. There’s even a blanket draped over the arm rest, a new one that Vivian (one of the owners) found at a thrift shop and embroidered with a bunch of little pink flowers.

“Lexi!”

Alex breathes a sigh of relief upon seeing Julie and Flynn enter, smiling for real for the first time in a couple hours. “You didn’t happen to bring gloves?” He asks. “Or a vat of lava I can stick my hands in?”

Flynn shakes their head as she slides up to the counter. “Sorry Allie, no gloves.” She raises her bare hands to prove it. “I cut up my last pair because the fingerless look was exactly what I needed to complete my outfit.”

“Why can’t you buy fingerless gloves like a normal person?”

Flynn shrugs. “Because where’s the fun in that?”

“Doesn’t Bobby have a stash of those hand warmer things for this exact situation?” Julie says. She taps her hands on the glass display of baked goods in contemplation, then turns to Alex with a raised eyebrow.

“Normally yes, but he ran out a few days ago and hasn’t restocked yet.”

“The audacity,” Julie says solemnly.

“If it’s one thing men have,” Flynn says between bites of a muffin that Alex doesn’t remember giving to them, “it’s the audacity. And that’s-”

“And that’s why you’re a lesbian,” Julie finishes Flynn’s sentence for her. “Pretty sure you’ve said that twice in just the past week.

Flynn sticks her nose in the air haughtily. “And I still stand by it.”

“Right, are you two just here to steal food?” Alex asks, although his tone is light and teasing. “Because actual customers are my first priority.”

“We have news!” Julie pipes up. She hops over to the counter so she’s directly across from Alex, with Flynn hanging off her shoulder and grinning.

“News?”

“Your fantastic marketing team got you a gig on Saturday,” Flynn says, lightly flipping her braids and smiling with pride.

“Sweet,” Alex replies. “And… you came all the way over here to tell me about that?”

“Well…” Flynn smiles in the way that lets Alex know he’s not gonna like what comes next and he sighs, already prepared for the worst.

“A little birdie told me that your roommate likes to get tea at…” Flynn looks at their phone. “4:30 every Tuesday and Thursday. And would you look at that it’s already 4:25!”

“A little birdie- Bobby.” Alex curses underneath his breath. Of course Bobby would let that slip; remind him not to talk about Willie with Carrie’s cousin, Carrie who will drag any bit of gossip out of Bobby and relay it over to Flynn. “Why do you want to meet Willie so bad anyway?” He asks

“I have to make sure he’s worthy of you!” Flynn cries.

“You just want to tell them about the time in 10th grade that-”

“That you stole a shopping cart and rode it around the school in the middle of the night and broke your nose falling out.” Flynn grins innocently. “We can’t have them falling in love with you without knowing how much of an idiot you are.”

“Oh he knows,” Julie chuckles. “I seem to recall Alex telling me about an incident with the song-”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Alex cuts in. “There was no incident, and I’m not an idiot. If anything I’m the most responsible of us, excluding you two of course.”

“Alex sweetie, you aren’t responsible, you just have anxiety,” Julie says, patting his shoulder sympathetically.

“That’s… okay.”

Alex has accepted his fate by the time Willie comes walking in, looking heartachingly windswept and flushed, like he just walked right out of the pages of a fairytale. He gives Alex and Julie small waves and walks over to join them at the counter. Alex goes to take a customer’s order and he honestly doesn’t know what happened but when he turns back around, Flynn and Willie are engaged in what looks like a very competitive arm wrestling match. Julie’s looking on with an amused smile, but Alex knows her well enough to know that she’s probably promised Flynn cotton candy if they win.

“You’ve literally known each other for five minutes,” Alex says, absolutely baffled.

“I don’t care, I’m stealing him,” Flynn replies, her voice constrained as she grows closer to winning. “I don’t know how you managed to get such a cool boyf-”

“Ok that’s enough!” Alex cries, blushing violently as he cuts Flynn off.

“I win!” Flynn raises their arms in triumph and laughs loudly. “Willie owes me half a cheesecake now.”

“Why the hell would you do that?” Alex looks at Willie in bewilderment.

Willie shrugs. “I was gonna buy cheesecake anyway.” They shift their attention from Flynn, who is still relishing in her victory, and smiles at Alex. “What’s up with you, hotdog?”

Alex wrinkles his nose at Willie’s weird mind reading skills. “I’m just tired, also Flynn seems to have made it their goal to tell you about every embarrassing thing I’ve done in my life.”

“Hmm, quite the noble goal.”

“No, it’s not.”

Alex spends the next hour watching as Willie and Flynn somehow mesh together like they’ve been best friends for 10 years, wincing when Willie suggests they do tie dye together sometime; Alex was expecting it, but he’s still not too keen on the prospect of dye on his clothes because he knows that somehow, it will end up on his clothes. At some point, there’s a heated discussion on the correct term for hair ties, which manages to end in Flynn braiding Willie’s hair.

“Hey Allie, what do you think of Willie’s hair?” Flynn’s dragging Willie from the table they’d settled at, over to Alex and showing off her handiwork. Alex, on the other hand, is sure he blacked out for a second. 

“Uhhhh.”

“Don’t be mean to him, Eugene.” Julie scolds, but Alex knows that that nickname means Julie isn’t being serious in the slightest. “It looks very nice doesn’t it, Alex?” Julie leans across the counter to elbow Alex as subtly as she can manage.

“Um. Yea! Yea very nice!” Alex wouldn’t really mind if he got spontaneously crushed by a meteor right now.

Alex has quite the headache by the time his shift is over and he doesn’t know if its from lack of sleep or having to process the weird force that is Willie and Flynn’s friendship. Probably both. ---

“Alex, stop moving!”

Alex pauses typing momentarily to spin around in his chair, much to Willie’s chagrin. “What?”

“Stop,” Willie huffs in annoyance, “moving! Go back to your computer.”

“What are you doing?” Alex asks, ignoring Willie’s request.

“Drawing.”

“Are you drawing...me?”

“What. No!” Willie’s voice goes up an octave and his face flushes bright crimson. “I’m drawing… your… bed?”

“Why?”

Willie shakes his head, sighing. “You simply wouldn’t understand, it’s an artist thing.”

“Dude,” Alex bites back a laugh, “you can’t just say that every time you don’t know how to respond to something.”

“Watch me.” Willie wiggles their eyebrows and grins; and Alex is just barely holding in his laughter. “Just… go back to your…”

“Calculus.”

“Ew. Yea, go back to that. And don’t move!”

Alex raises his hands in defeat and resumes his position at his laptop, his whole chest ready to burst with feelings. Willie’s an artist, of course he draws, Alex feels stupid for overthinking this. It just feels incredibly personal for Willie to be drawing him, it’s like if he wrote a song about them, which he… has definitely never done before. Alex groans internally and tries to bring his mind back to Earth, but calculus homework is somehow even more boring than before with the knowledge that Willie is drawing him. Part of Alex doesn’t want to see the finished product; Willie always pours so much emotion and vulnerability into his art, and Alex is afraid of what feelings will be staring back at him. But the other part of him, the hopelessly pining part, feels honored and giddy at the thought of Willie literally making a portrait of him! Willie’s always been one for abstract things, he’s said so himself, so Alex doesn’t even know what a regular pencil drawing will look like. He wishes he could peek over Willie’s shoulder, watching the way their eyebrows knit in concentration, and each graceful stroke of pencil, their hands rough and callused but moving with a mesmerizing gentleness, bracelets shifting every time they move their wrist, and the hair escaping their ponytail and framing their face delicately. Alex shakes himself from his trance, heat creeping up his face as if Willie can read his thoughts.

His computer screen looks the exact same as it did 10 minutes ago and Alex wishes he could drag Reggie over here because he’s already bad enough at math as it is, so add the factor of Willie in the room stealing his focus, everything looks like a jumble of lines and numbers and letters and none of it makes sense.

“Do you have any idea how to do calculus?” Alex finally blurts out, swiveling around once again.

“Aw come one, I was almost done,” Willie says, pouting.

“Do the rest from memory.”

“What memory?”

“Didn’t you say you can remember things that are important to you?” Alex blushes scarlet and stammers out, his voice much higher than usual, “I mean! I didn’t mean that I’m- I just meant that- that you uh… you…”

Willie giggles at Alex’s flustered expression. “Calm down hotdog, you are important to me.” He gives Alex a soft smile that makes Alex’s stomach do flips, then somehow manages to move on as if he didn’t just say that. “And I remember a bunch of random dates and stuff but like-” he waves a hand over his head like that explains everything.

“Right…” Alex replies skeptically. “I know exactly what that means.”

Willie chuckles gently before craning their neck to get a look at Alex’s screen. “Calculus you say?”

Alex nods solemnly. “Calculus. I’ve never been good at math.” He lets out an exasperated sigh and begins slipping down in his chair. “The stupid fucking midterm is in like two days and I know nothing! I’m gonna fail and get kicked out and be living on the streets.”

“Why do you always assume you’ll be living on the streets?” Willie crosses his arms over his chest and leans back, one eyebrows raised in the way that somehow makes Alex equally annoyed lovesick.

Alex furrows his eyebrows in a sort of pout that looks scarily like Luke’s. “Well-” he starts, “because that’s… that’s exactly what’ll happen!”

“Riiiight.” Willie hauls themselves up and walks over to sit on the end of Alex’s bed, Alex following their movement with his chair until they’re facing each other. “Because on the off chance you get kicked out of college, the Molina’s are just gonna turn you away.”

“Well… okay.” Alex sighs, a laugh dancing on the end of it. “Okay fine! You win.” He raises his hands in defeat. “Still doesn’t make my calculus homework disappear.”

“Ah but-” Willie starts. Then the lights shut off. “That does.” They chuckle weakly and glance up at a horrified Alex.

“Really?!” Alex cries, running his hands through his hair almost aggressively. “A power outage?! It’s- it’s not even raining! It’s not raining right?”

“Nope.”

“Okay but… okay.” Alex exhales and begins drumming on his thighs, attempting to ground himself. “It’s fine. I still have 20% left and-”

“I think your laptop begs to differ.” Willie grimaces as Alex whips around and groans out loud at the painfully dark screen of his computer.

“This is just lovely!” Alex cries, laughing bitterly. He clicks the space bar several times, sinking down in his chair more every time it doesn’t do anything. “Do you think if I glare at it hard enough it’ll turn on?” Alex’s tone is defeated and even he knows that he sounds stupid. But when he turns to look back at Willie, they look oddly excited.

“Dude that’s the same look you had when you almost got us arrested for screaming in a museum in the middle of the day,” Alex says warily. “I don’t think I want to hear this idea.”

Willie rolls his eyes and hops up, shaking his hands like they do when they feel like their entire body is buzzing, as he told Alex once. Willie likes to say that when he’s excited, it’s like his whole body is filled with sparks. Alex doesn’t have any problem believing this, especially when Willie grinning and bouncing like they are right now.

“No,” Alex says determinedly. “I would much rather sit in the dark then do whatever you have planned that will undoubtedly get us in trouble.”

“Come on,” Willie whines, and Alex has a hard enough time resisting that stupid smile, but then Willie goes and grabs his hand and really, there’s no way he can say no to that. Willie pulls Alex out of his seat and swings their intertwined hands. “Trust me?” Their voice is gentler than it was before which makes Alex’s chest twist.

“I- okay…” Alex shakes his head, chuckling. “I’m not bailing you out if you get arrested.”

“Course you aren’t hotdog, you don’t have enough money,” Willie quips as he begins to drag Alex from the dorm to who knows where.

“I- that’s… you’re not wrong but-”

Willie snickers softly, bring one hand up to hover over his mouth. This is a habit Alex has noticed Willie has. They don’t quite cover their mouth, but when his laugh is quiet and gentle, his hand will linger just in front of his face, and when it’s the loud kind that bursts from their chest, they’ll sometimes grasp their stomach or clasp a hand over Alex’s shoulder.

Alex only feels himself grow more confused as Willie drags him across the lawn (still holding his hand!!!) past the clusters of trees and students mingling outside of their dorms complaining about the blackout that doesn’t seem to have any plans to end soon. There’s the occasional flashlight, but otherwise the entire campus is practically pitch black and Alex has to squint to see. He wonders how far out the power outage went, because there doesn’t seem to be the usual flickering neon lights from the city either. It’s weirdly calming, and make’s everything seem much quieter. Maybe it’s the lack of buzzing lights or his imagination, but either way, it’s quiet enough for Alex to hear his own heartbeat and feel the pulse from Willie’s wrist pressed up against his own.

Willow stops suddenly, causing Alex to stumble, and they turn around, entire face lifted in a giddy grin. “Look up.”

Alex raises an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Just do it.”

“Are you gonna do something illegal while I’m not looking?”

“Alexander.”

“William.” Alex bites his lip to keep from smiling, but finally gives in with a small chuckle. “Alright.” He turns his head up and- oh.

“Right?!” Willie practically shouts. He flops down into the grass and Alex mourns the loss of contact, his hand feels empty now. He tears his gaze from the sky to look at Willie and for a moment, wonders who could look at the sky when Willie’s eyes are right there and hold the entire universe. Alex joins Willie on the ground and lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Willie’s eyes are practically glued to the stars, brighter than either of them had ever seen, having lived in LA for their entire lives, where everything is always busy and the sky is always polluted with light.

“I used to love space as a kid,” Willie says with a mix of nostalgia and wonder. “I would build rocket ships from cardboard boxes and my mom and I would paint them. I wanted to be an astronaut for the longest time.” He’s fiddling with the blades of grass, tearing out bits and letting it be carried off by the small breeze.

“I never cared for space,” Alex admits. “But Flynn, she uh, she had a phase in middle school where it was like…the only thing they could talk about.”

“Space is very cool.”

“Sure.”

“Shut up.” Willie nudges Alex’s shoulder with their own, their nose wrinkling in a tiny smile. Neither of them say anything when Willie grabs Alex’s hand again and squeezes it gently. Alex swallows thickly, his brain short-circuiting. Every other time they’d held hands it was for a reason. But this, this was different and it seemed that they both knew it. Alex is painfully aware of their proximity, knows that if they both turned their heads to the side right now…

“Space apparently smells like seared steak,” Willie babbles, cutting the silence in half (but not the tension). “According to astronauts. Also there’s this planet -55 Cancri e- that’s supposedly made of diamonds!” The awkward energy dissipates as Willie sinks comfortably into info-dumping on Alex, free arm motioning joyfully as he talks. “And like, the universe! It’s expanding but where?!” He sounds awfully distressed about this fact and Alex lets a breathy laugh escape.

“Don’t laugh at me!”

“I’m not.”

“Are too.” Willie shakes their head. “Seriously, it doesn’t make any sense. What is it expanding into, how?!”

“See that just makes me anxious,” Alex complains.

“Told you so.”

Alex remembers Flynn’s space hyperfixation like it was yesterday. It was at the same time as Julie’s astrology phase (which truthfully, hasn’t ended yet) which resulted in a lot of arguments about how there’s no way stars control our personalities, they’re just balls of gas. One thing he recalls vividly is the day that Flynn decided to sit Reggie down and tell him that Pluto was no longer a planet. And… she could’ve chosen a better method than a somber powerpoint that had Reggie in tears by the end, but it certainly got the point across. Alex didn’t quite understand why Reggie was so upset over it (or how he was just then figuring it out), sure it was a little sad but it didn’t seem like something to spend an hour sobbing about. He tried asking Flynn about it, but they just called Pluto a “weakass dwarf planet with no real purpose.” But he thinks that he gets it now. Everything in space is so big and suffocating, and staring up at the stars like this makes him feel so small. But he doesn’t feel like he’s floating alone, he’s tethered to the ground by Willie and he thinks that if he were to let go, that’s how Pluto feels; tossed out, demoted, drifting through space alone. So maybe there was some logic to Reggie’s breakdown.

There’s music playing somewhere in the distance, a classical song that Alex hasn’t heard before, but it’s the kind of song that just melts into your skin and sits there, humming and coursing through your veins. Vaguely, he thinks that he’d like to dance with Willie to a song like this one day, maybe when he isn’t too anxious to even say his feelings aloud.

“Did you know,” Willie starts, and Alex can’t help but notice a slight shake in his voice. “Alpha Centauri is two stars but… from here it looks like one. It sounds stupid and cheesy but I don’t know, I used to think that’s how soulmates are y’know? Like they weren’t necessarily made for each other but they mesh together perfectly and maintain their own sense of self and their own personality but from afar, appear as one.”

Alex knows he’s blushing and he wonders if Willie is too, but doesn’t dare look, part of him aware that he wouldn’t be able to tell anyway, and the rest scared that Willie would already be looking at him. “That sounds nice,” he says instead, and he means it. “I never believed in soulmates but… I like that.”

“Yea?”

“Yea.” Alex can’t tell if his voice is incredibly quiet or if it’s just muffled over the sound of his own heart in his ears. But he’s facing Willie now, and Willie’s facing him and they’re so close and-

The lights turn on.

Alex didn’t realize how many lights there were until they’re on again and he hears cheers from inside the dorms but he can’t for the life of him comprehend why they’d be cheering. He hears Willie sigh in what almost sounds like disappointment, but when he looks over, they’re squinting angrily up at the streetlights and the moment is over. And maybe Willie holds his hand all the way back to their dorm, and maybe they look down at their feet and cough awkwardly when he lets go and maybe there’s a small smile on both of their faces when they go to sleep, but the moment is over and he desperately wants it back.

---

chapter 5

chapter 6

Taglist:  @thatsanewflavor​ @spookiest-sapphic @dovesgrangers @julie-n-phantoms @frostknyte @thegaylink @nervousmiracletrash @crummycassidy @fairygclds @reallyintrospectivepeople @madsmax-37 @swamp-acad @kat-maybe-not @sunsetcurve123 @lookingthroughmirrors @queer-fandom-enby @over-under-through1 @willex-n-waffles @caliibee @stars-soph @herequeerandcantdrinkbeer @nickalicious @andwhenwepart @maizsnex @fanofthepod @heademptynothoughts @thunderstorm-symphony

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #willex #alex mercer #willie jatp #willie wilbur williamson #willie nolastname #flynn jatp #flynn nolastname #julie molina #willex fic #willex fanfic #willex fanfiction #jatp fic #willow writes #ytotbts #you're the one that brings the sun

[adhd-disaster-willie]

you’re the one that brings the sun; chapter 3/6

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Warnings: None

Notes: I was actually going to post this yesterday but apparently a post limit is a thing, oops. I think that constitutes as me winning the liveblogging. /j

Also, yes I changed Willie’s pronouns because I’ve developed an attachment to he/they Willie :)))

Anyway! Here’s chapter 3, I hope you like it :)))

---

Alex doesn’t quite know when it happened, but the coffee… not-dates, have become a thing. Willie seems to have a sort of sixth sense that just knows when Alex needs coffee and a breath of fresh air. It’s odd, the way they’ve sunk into a routine in just a month and a half. Alex has Willie’s schedule memorized, he knows that Willie likes skating to his classes and that he only has caffeine on Saturdays and that he has a favorite tree he likes to study under. He refuses to admit to himself that Willie seems to know him just as well, from buying him more bandaids when he knows the ones in his fannypack are running low, to calling him and making sure he doesn’t stay up too late studying that one night when Willie was at Caleb’s for the weekend.

Alex has a tendency to stay up late studying, because he has this ridiculous, innate desire to get everything perfect. He supposes it comes from the fact that at one point, he was sure he wouldn’t even be in college, so now that he is, he feels like he has to succeed or his entire everything will come crashing down. So despite the fact that he’s gone over his notes a million times and the only noise is the clock ticking past 2am, he remains glued to the couch, eyes straining to read the page in his history textbook.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve been staring at that page for 30 minutes.” Willie’s standing in the entrance to the living room, smiling, their hair pulled into a loose braid that makes them look soft around the edges. He’s holding a cup of tea in one hand and Alex’s favorite blanket in the other.

Alex looks up, rubbing his eyes blearily. “Hm? Thought you were asleep,” he says, stifling a yawn. He feels a pang of guilt at the thought that he woke Willie up. Willie has a hard enough time falling asleep as it is.

Willie shrugs and moves to sit beside him on the couch, offering him the steaming mug. “I woke up to go to the bathroom and saw the light was still on. Drink the tea, it’s peppermint.”

“Peppermint makes me tired.”

“That’s the whole point.”

Alex eyes the tea suspiciously, but he’s weak for peppermint tea, and Willie knows it. He gives in, sipping it and sighing contentedly. His eyes threaten to flutter shut, and the prospect seems so tempting. “You should go to sleep,” he murmurs.

Willie shakes their head. “Not until you do.” They reach over and shut Alex’s textbook, ignoring his protesting. “You have a 9am class, you need to sleep, hotdog.” Willie’s voice is gentle in the way that makes Alex’s stomach do flips. He tosses the blanket over Alex’s lap, making sure it covers his feet, which are always cold, because anxiety sucks like that.

“I will,” Alex replies indignantly. “I just- I just gotta finish this one thing-” He cuts himself off with a loud yawn and Willie shakes his head knowingly.

“It’s 2am dude, you’re incapable of getting anything done past 1 and we both know it.”

“Not true.”

Willie raises an eyebrow. “Really? C’mon man, all that studying is gonna go to waste if you’re too tired to even take the test. Sleep, now.”

Alex hums in response, too tired to get out another coherent sentence. He supposes it wouldn’t hurt to close his eyes for a few minutes. “Five minutes,” he mumbles. “Then you wake me up.”

“Of course, hotdog,” Willie whispers. His hand hovers just over Alex’s, hesitant. He pulls back before Alex can overthink it, but there’s something hanging heavy in the air.

Alex pulls the blanket up to his chin and half asleep, offers Willie one corner. Willie swallows thickly before carefully taking the blanket and wrapping it around himself, drawing them closer together. If he’d been fully awake, Alex never would’ve done what he did next, letting his head drop unceremoniously onto Willie’s shoulder before drifting off to sleep, lulled by the sound of Willie’s heartbeat. It’s reminiscent of his drums and the way they soothe his anxiety, a steady, warm beat that feels like home. He’s sure that he’s dreaming when he feels Willie’s hand card through his hair, but oh what a lovely dream it is.

Alex wakes up to muffled cursing and the sun shining in his eyes. He blinks the sleep away, noting that the light is coming from the wrong angle and his neck is incredibly sore. The events of the night before come flooding back and he considers holing up in his room and never looking Willie in the eyes again. And yet, despite the mortification of falling asleep on Willie’s shoulder and the cramp in his neck, he feels more rested than he has in weeks.

A sudden crash from the kitchen snaps Alex out of his daydreaming  It takes him a good couple minutes to register that Willie is practically hopping around the kitchen, narrowly avoiding dropping more things on the floor, and he almost smiles at the sight before remembering that Willie has admitted to being a terrible cook and Alex should probably intervene before something gets set on fire.

Alex trudges up to the counter, eyes still heavy with sleep. “What’re you doing?”

Willie looks up and Alex breaks down, laughing so hard his stomach hurts. There’s flour smeared all across Willie’s cheeks and what looks to be milk dripping from their hair and their eyes are wild with panic and laughter. Willie reaches over and pokes Alex’s chest. “Stop it,” they whine, biting their lip to keep from laughing. “I’m trying to make waffles but…” he looks around at the mess in the kitchen and sighs in resignation. “This was a bad idea. The dining hall waffles taste like cardboard, and I would just make pancakes since those are easier, but I know you like waffles better since they have little compartments for the syrup. So I thought y’know, it can’t be that hard, I just need a recipe and a waffle maker. But did you know there are a lot of rules to cooking that are not stated like anywhere? And waffle makers? Not very easy to use. A pain to clean too.”

“Where did you even get a waffle maker?” Alex questions, glancing over at the contraption cautiously.

“That girl from my art history class owed me a favor.”

“The one you gave skateboarding lessons so she could impress her crush? She just has a waffle maker lying around?”

Willie nods. “Yup.”

“And you went all the way over to the girls dorms at-” Alex glances at the clock and subtracts an hour from the current time. “- 7am. So you could borrow her waffle maker?”

“Well when you put it like that…” Willie runs his hands over his face, laughing. “It’s stupid. But uh… I got you coffee?”

“It’s not stupid,” Alex says. “I uh, I think it’s sweet. Really. Just, please don’t try it again, I don’t want the dorm burnt down.” He chuckles lightly and begins toying with his hoodie strings, cheeks slightly pink. “Coffee?”

Willie reaches into the fridge and pulls out a coldbrew. “I didn’t want it to get warm and I didn’t know when you’d wake up, but uh, here.”

Alex takes the coffee and something in his heart bursts just a little bit. “You remembered my coffee order.”

“I mean yea it’s… it’s what you get every time.” Willie scratches the back of their neck, rocking back and forth on his heels anxiously.

“Your memory sucks, dude.” Alex continues to stare at the cup like it’s something from an alien planet. “I- thank you.”

“Yea, yea of course.” Willie smiles softly, sitting next to Alex and nudging his shoulder. “It’s what friends are for.”

“I’m not helping you clean the kitchen.”

“Rude, I hate you.”

---

Alex is fairly sure he didn’t fail his history test, and his professor for his last class of the day had to cancel, so he’s let off early. All in all, satisfactory for a Monday.

It’s a fairly warm day, but chilly enough for him to be wearing a denim jacket. LA doesn’t really see actual fall until well into November, but having lived there his whole life, Alex needs a jacket as soon as it hits 65 degrees. There’s a bounce in his step as he walks across campus, a grin tugging at the ends of his lips. He’d agreed to meet Willie at the skatepark, and it sounds stupid that he’s so excited to see them, considering they live together, but this feels different. It isn’t a date, he reminds himself that he couldn’t be that lucky, but it’s nice. It’s nice to be able to spend time together as friends instead of just roommates.

Alex swings his rollerblades over his shoulder, bringing his other hand up to his face in order to block the sun, hoping to make it easier to find Willie. It isn’t hard to spot him, Willie stands out, and Alex wonders if that’s because of Willie himself or… something else. They’re like a light, the center of Alex’s messy, muddled universe. Willie’s perched on the back of a wooden bench, feet planted on the actual seat and looking off at the sky, they drum theiir feet to the beat of whatever song is playing in their headphones and mouths the lyrics quietly. Alex has always has a habit of noticing things. It stems from his anxiety, but it isn’t so bad when the things he notices is the golden haze around Willie’s head from the way the sun is positioned, or the way the light breeze snakes through his hair. Willie is very pretty, it’s a simple fact, one that Alex had never failed to take notice of; but watching him so… at peace, lost in his thoughts, it hits Alex like a truck.

Alex sidles up to the bench, standing over Willie’s shoulder. “Whatchya listening to?”

Willie yelps and leaps slightly in the air, clutching at his chest. “Christ Alex, you’re like a ghost! How’re you so quiet?”

“Hmm, I think you’re just oblivious.”

“Am not.”

“Are too,” Alex hops over the back of the bench to sit beside Willie. “What’re you thinking about? You had your daydream face on.”

“I don’t have a daydream face.”

“You totally do!” Alex snickers. “It’s like…” He gives a poor rendition of Willie’s so called daydream face, sending the other boy into a fit of giggles.

“I sure hope that isn’t my face,” Willie breathes, clutching onto Alex’s shoulder for balance. Alex begs his heart to please beat a bit slower. When Willie finally calms down, his hand lingers on Alex for a few moments, like he doesn’t quite know how to move it. When they do, Alex’s shoulder feels cold, and he thinks that Willie holding onto him was helping to balance them both, in a way. He shakes that thought from his mind, forcing himself to focus on the present, not the possibilities. Willie is swinging their feet, occasionally brushing Alex’s knees or his calves. His hair is let down and slightly tangled from his helmet, which is resting on the bench beside his skateboard. Alex lets out a gentle breath. Focus on the present. God, he sounds like a therapist.

“Are we gonna skate?” Alex asks, gesturing at his rollerblades and Willie’s skateboard.

Willie seems to think about it for a moment before shaking their head. “Two more songs,” they decide. “I’ll feel incomplete if I don’t finish the playlist.”

Alex peeks over his shoulder at his phone, where Spotify is open. “What’re you listening to?”

Willie scoots closer and Alex is painfully aware of how close they are, their knees knocking together. He offers Alex his other earbud and his voice is soft when he asks if Alex wants to listen with him. It’s like he’s holding a piece of himself in his hands, Alex recalls a time where Luke said that showing someone your music is like showing them your soul. Alex thought he was being dramatic, but now he thinks that he wouldn’t mind having a part of Willie’s soul to keep. He takes the earbud, and they have to move their heads closer to avoid any accidents with the wire. Their foreheads are inches apart, Alex can see the reflection in Willies eyes, soft and earthy, like the bark on his favorite tree that he used to climb until he felt like he could fly.

“Hmm, Green Day’s good,” Alex says, softly lip-syncing the ending of American Idiot. Willie nods in agreement, the movement causing a few loose strands of hair to brush across Alex’s face. Alex has to close his eyes for a few seconds, breath catching in the back of his throat.

A beat of silence passes between songs; Alex can hear Willie’s even breathing and he’s sure Willie can hear his sporadic heartbeat. It’s like they’re trapped in their own little bubble, where the sun never sets and they’re always wrapped in gold. And then it’s over and another song begins.

“Avril Lavigne?” Alex means it to come out as teasing, but his voice is far more tender than he intended.

“Don’t make fun of me!” Willie giggles, bumping Alex’s shoulder. “Shhh, let me listen to the song.”

Alex is so focused on his proximity to Willie that he isn’t paying too much attention to the lyrics that everyone’s heard a million times. “I like ballet,” he mutters absentmindedly in response to the song, not really clocking the way Willie’s face flushes crimson. He quirks a curious eyebrow when Willie shoots up, shoving their phone and earbuds into their pocket. “We didn’t finish the-”

“Lets skate!” Willie cuts in, plastering on a false smile. “I just REALLY wanna skate, so lets do that! Yup! Okay!” They hop on their skateboard, bouncing in anticipation and Alex can’t even admire the way that their hair dances in the wind because he’s just so confused. He’s sure he didn’t do anything wrong. He just said that he likes ballet and-oh. Alex buries his face in his hands at the realization, internally cursing himself. Well that’s one way to accidentally admit to your blossoming crush. Lovely.

Alex opens his mouth to get out an apology, but it’s stuck in the back of his throat. He fumbles with his blades, straps too small and agile beneath his shaking hands. Whatever. It’s fine. If he doesn’t mention it, it didn’t happen right? Willie doesn’t seem to be making any moves to talk about it, so he doesn’t either. Willie still has one foot on his board, looking ready to flee any moment, his eyes glued to the pavement.

“So, you dance?” Willie asks casually, but Alex can hear the tension behind the question.

“Uh yea, since I was little. Another way I disappointed my parents, they always told me dancing was girly and it’d turn me gay.” He laughs ruefully. “We all know how that worked out.” Willie nods distantly. “I danced in high school, mostly jazz, I was never great at ballet.”

“Jazz?!” Alex gasps in mock offense.

“Stupid egotistical ballerina,” Willie teases. The tension seeps from Alex’s shoulders when Willie finally makes eye contact and there isn’t anything hidden behind his gaze. Alex lets a tentative smile creep onto his face, but there’s still something unspoken dangling precariously in the air above them.

---

chapter 4

chapter 5

chapter 6

Notes: ok so this chapter was originally like 1,000 words longer but I cut out the last scene FOR GOOD REASON I PROMISE! 

I hope you liked it :)))

Taglist: @thatsanewflavor @spookiest-sapphic @dovesgrangers @julie-n-phantoms @frostknyte @thegaylink @nervousmiracletrash @crummycassidy @fairygclds @reallyintrospectivepeople @madsmax-37 @swamp-acad @kat-maybe-not @sunsetcurve123 @lookingthroughmirrors @queer-fandom-enby @over-under-through1 @willex-n-waffles @caliibee @herequeerandcantdrinkbeer @nickalicious @andwhenwepart @maizsnex @fanofthepod

#willex #jatp #willex fic #jatp fic #willie jatp #willie nolastname #alex mercer #alex jatp #willex fanfic #willex fanfiction #julie and the phantoms #jatp fanfic #jatp fanfiction #wille x alex #alex x willie #ytotbts #willow writes

[adhd-disaster-willie]

you’re the one that brings the sun; chapter 5/6

chapter 1, 2, 3, 4

warnings: swearing

word count: 2,757

notes: okay so this update took a while because I’ve been busy with school and writers block has been kicking my ass, but I think it’s worth it :)))

---

It was established in August that at least once a month, Alex will receive a phone call informing him to be at Julie’s house in ten minutes for a mandatory slumber party. It’s endearing sure, but he would like some sort of warning other than Luke calling him and saying that if he doesn’t show up as soon as possible, he’ll paint his drumsticks neon green. So that’s how Alex ends up sitting cross legged on Julie’s bed, putting Reggie’s hair into a bunch of tiny braids and watching The Princess Diaries for what’s probably the hundredth time. 

“Lilly is definitely a lesbian,” Flynn says through a mouthful of popcorn. 

Alex hums in agreement and Julie nods. “If only this movie weren’t made in 2001,” Julie says mournfully.

“Y’know I always thought that Joe was gay,” Alex admits. “Up until he dances with the queen.”

Reggie attempts to look up at Alex, earning an offended squeak from the latter. “Really?”

“Yes, now will you please stay still, I only have one more left.”

“Ok but there is no way Mia’s mom is straight!” Flynn says.

Julie seems to mull it over for a bit. “She does live in an old fire station. And artists are never straight.”

“Yea, like Willie!” Luke pipes up, sitting up from his position hanging halfway off the bed. “Willie’s not straight.”

“We should start a betting pool on how long it takes for Luke to bring up Willie,” Alex mumbles, his cheeks flushing pink. He ties off Reggie’s final braid and pats his head approvingly. “You look like a real princess.”

“Do I?” Reggie grins up at him with a bit of a twinkle in his eye and Alex chuckles. 

“No subject changing,” Luke protests. “How’s Willie doing?”

“Still a pining idiot,” Flynn answers with a cheeky smile. 

“I’m trying to watch the movie.” Alex shoves at Luke’s face and slides down off the bed to sit on the floor beside Reggie. 

“You’ve seen this movie a million times,” Luke points out. He leans down so his head is hanging off the edge of the bed and smirks mischievously at Alex, who is pointedly refusing to look at him. “Aleeeex,” Luke whines. “Don’t be a buzzkill.”

“Alice, please,” Flynn says. Alex shoots her a look seeping with betrayal and Flynn raises their hands defensively. “I haven’t seen Carrie in a few days!” They protest. “I need drama.”

“Drama?” Alex asks. “Or blackmail material?”

Flynn shrugs, which only serves to cement what Alex was thinking. “Yea, nope. It’s not like anything has even happened since-” He cuts himself off, realizing his mistake and preparing for the onslaught of questions. 

“Since!?” Luke cries. “Since what?!” He grabs Alex’s face roughly and looks at him with wide eyes. “Since what, Alex?”

“Nothing!” Alex squeaks, wrenching himself from Luke’s grasp. “Nothing! It was- let go of my fanny pack! Julie stop filming!!!” Alex swats at Luke’s hands and attempts to leap forward to grab Julie’s phone, but ultimately fails. 

“I’ll let go if you tell me,” Luke teases in a sing song voice, his grin only growing the more Alex fights. 

“Fine! If you just- sorry Reg the puppy-dog eyes only work on Luke and Bobby.” Reggie sighs in disappointment and Alex finally manages to get Luke off of him, huffing angrily and brushing nonexistent dust from his hoodie. “You’re a barbarian,” he mutters.

“Well?” 

Alex responds to Julie’s prompting with a long-suffering sigh. “You have to promise not to make fun of me,” he says. They don’t promise. The movie is long forgotten as Alex’s friends gather around him, looking all too fascinated by his latest embarrassment. “He well… don’t laugh, ok. He wore a crop top last week and I tripped on my own feet and scraped up my knees.”

Flynn raises an eyebrow. “Nuh uh, there’s more, spill.”

Alex groans, burying his face in his hands. “They got all worried and started putting bandaids on my knees and I almost fainted. Then- please don’t make me say this,” Alex pleads, looking to Julie as if she’s his last hope. She shakes her head. “When they finished lecturing me I just looked at him and said ‘nice shirt’ and ran off. Nice shirt??? What is wrong with me?”

“Wait a minute,” Julie says, gesturing for Alex to pause. “You just… ran off? Where?”

Alex doesn’t say anything. 

“I’ll paint your drumsticks if you don’t tell us,” Luke threatens. The difficulty is that Alex doesn’t doubt him one bit, and knows that Julie has a healthy supply of paint in a drawer just a few feet away from Luke. 

Alex mumbles something under his breath and Reggie pokes him. 

“Sorry what was that? Speak up.”

“Orange, I’ll paint them the ugliest shade of orange ever.”

“I went and hid in my closet!” Alex blurts. “For like an hour. I am never going to live that down.”

“That’s… incredibly ironic,” Julie laughs. 

“I’m telling that story at your wedding.”

“Reginald, don’t even think about it!” Alex kicks Reggie lightly and raises his hand to flip off the other three, who are all dying of laughter. “I hate all of you. I need new friends.”

“Good luck with that.” Flynn pats Alex’s head; he can practically hear their stupid smirk. 

“Fuck off.”

“No.”

---

Alex wakes up with his foot in Luke’s face, one arm thrown over Julie, his face in Reggie’s neck, and a very giggly Flynn perched on the end of the bed taking pictures. He sits up and murmurs sleepily, squinting in the oddly hazy room.

It’s gray and gloomy outside, quite fitting for mid-November, but far from Alex’s ideal weather. He’s always been partial to spring, when it’s not too hot and not too cold and not always cloudy and sad. 

Flynn hops off the bed and onto Julie’s chair, where she spins a couple times before turning her phone to show Alex. “This is gonna be my new lockscreen,” they giggle. Alex stares at the photo, baffled as to how his arm was bent like that. 

Breakfast is heaps of pancakes and fresh coffee (bless you, Ray) that for a moment, Alex considers just dumping over his head. Julie is curled around Luke for warmth throughout the whole morning and Flynn makes a point to gag at least once every 5 minutes. Alex knows she’s happy for them though, they finally got their act together a little over a week ago and at least this is better than the pining. Alex doesn’t say that though, because it will only get him a lecture on how he is not one to talk about pining. 

Alex almost thanks a god he doesn’t believe in anymore when the rain outside doesn’t seem to make any moves into thunderstorm territory. Willie hates thunderstorms. He stays cocooned in a blanket until noon, but eventually Tía Victoria shoos them all out, claiming that Julie will never finish her homework with them all glued to her. 

Alex is sopping wet when he finally arrives at his dorm, sadly no car can go right up to the entrance of the dorms. The first thing Alex notices when he walks in is the candles, and the second thing is the haphazardly thrown together fort in the middle of the room, which he narrowly avoids tripping over. “Willie?” He asks, lifting what he assumes to be the entrance and raising an eyebrow at Willie, who is grinning at him and shining a flashlight in his face.

“Ok, get that out of my eyes.” Alex clamps a hand over the light and Willie sticks his tongue out. “Did the power go out?” Alex asks, worry etching over his face. He can’t have all their food being ruined, with Alex living off his coffee shop job and Willie off of the occasional commission and odd check from his eccentric uncle. 

Willie shakes their head. “Nope.”

“So why the… candles?”

“It’s fun!” Willie pulls Alex into the fort, stumbling back and just barely evading them toppling over each other into a quite compromising position. Willie presses his back against the couch and pats the space next to him. “It’s like you’re a little kid again.”

“Luke used to love making forts,” Alex admits. “We would move all the furniture in his living room and make the absolute worst blanket forts you can imagine. Like seriously, it’s no wonder none of us went into architecture.”

“Really? I can totally see you as an architect”

“That’s…”

“I’m joking, hotdog,” Willie giggles, bumping their shoulder together. He has a tendency to raise his eyebrows when he’s amused; Alex finds it all too endearing. Accompanied with the way their eyes crinkle when the laugh and the soft candlelight leaking through the thin blankets and draping over his features, Alex thinks he’s having trouble breathing. 

“I was drawing you, y’know,” Willie says softly after a few minutes of silence.

“Hmm?”

“The day we went stargazing, I was drawing you. You’re- you’re a good muse.”

“Oh.” Alex’s stomach flutters. “I uh… thank you.” He gives Willie a hesitant smile before turning to focus on the flickering light. His breath feels weighted, like every exhale means something, but he can’t quite pinpoint what. There’s a light breeze whistling through the crack in the door and Alex closes his eyes for a moment, pretending that it’s wrapping around him and holding him close. Alex didn’t get much affection as a child; his parents had always been very stiff. Sure, they loved him, but they weren’t that good at showing it aside from a rough shoulder squeeze and tight smiles so full of expectations. When he came out, even the snippets of affection faded; no more of his mother fixing his hair or giving him a quick kiss on the forehead when he was sick. Two months after his coming out, they just… kicked him out. He came home to find his belongings shoved carelessly into a trash bag or two and that was that. Luke more than made up for the lack of physical affection, but Alex knows that there will always be something missing. 

Wide awake, Alex lets his head fall onto Willie’s shoulder. This time with care and attention, hesitancy. He hears Willie suck in a sharp breath but then the tension melts from their shoulders and fizzles into nothingness. For a moment, there is nothing but them and the pattering of rain against the windows. 

“Lets go for a drive.”

Alex looks up expecting Willie’s usual carefree and impish grin, but he’s taken aback by his wistful expression and something bursts in Alex’s chest. Something that may be instinct and may be just an overwhelming surge of emotion.

“Okay.” His voice is barely a whisper, a single wisp of smoke snaking from a blown out candle.

The air is damp and the rain is coming down hard; Alex reaches a cautious hand out beyond the awning and winces at the downpour. But Willie is wiggling his stupid eyebrows in the way that makes Alex’s face heat and he can’t say no as Willie drags him through the wet grass, shrieking with laughter and going slower than necessary to relish in the water pouring down from the sky in torrents. They’re soaked to the bone and breathless, overflowing with mirth, by the time they reach Alex’s car and clamber into the seats. Right after a brief argument about who’s driving of course. (“You will not be touching my steering wheel with your grimy paint hands, William.” “Says you.”) So Alex is driving. 

Willie has their hands pressed to the window, breath fogging up the glass and sending them into a fit of giggles every time. Alex switches on the radio and there’s a song playing that he recognizes but couldn’t sing along to; something soft and low, like lilting waves. Willie knows it though. And they’re singing. Oh. They’re singing. Alex almost has to pull the car to a stop and put his head in his hands because Willie never told him he could sing.

Willie’s voice is low and slightly raspy, but not in a bad way. Alex knows he’s heard this song before, but he’s 100% certain that this is his first time really hearing it. And it’s beautiful. Or maybe it’s just Willie. It’s probably just Willie. 

Alex brings the car to a slow stop in the parking lot of an odd gas station that always seems to be closed. He doesn’t turn it off though, because he would rather die than have Willie stop singing. He leans his head back and breathes, certain he’s inhaling Willie’s voice. Willie’s voice which is like sparks on his skin, like smoke that crowds his lungs and opens his soul for the very first time. He feels a sense of mourning when the song stops and something else comes on, something peppier and sickeningly sweet. He switches the radio off. 

“I didn’t know you could sing.” Alex isn’t even looking at them; he’s fiddling nervously with the strap of his fanny pack.

Willie smirks proudly. “You learn something new every day.”

“Yea.”

Willie traces a heart in the fog on the window and lets it sit there. Then he unbuckles his seat belt and pokes Alex’s shoulder. “Hey ‘Lex, come on.”

“No.” Alex shakes his head vigorously. “No. We’re already soaking wet and-”

“Hot dog.”

And damn it, the nickname may be so incredibly stupid but Alex has such a weird soft spot for it. He groans dramatically, making a point to wring out his hair, which is already mostly dry at this point. “You’re the worst. What if it starts thundering?” 

Willie shrugs. “I have my noise cancelling headphones. And you can-” they cut themself off. 

“I can what?”

“Nothing,” Willie squeaks. “Please. Please.”

So Alex climbs reluctantly from the car and stands in the parking lot looking far from amused. “You owe me.”

Willie laughs loudly, grabbing both of Alex’s hands and spinning him in an aimless circle, pulling them both into a dance  to music that’s only in his head. They twirl Alex around several times, and Alex is certain that he’s going to actually fall over and faint. Willie raises his face to the sky and squints, letting the rain soak him without care. Alex is in awe and how open and free Willie is, like nothing can ever go wrong and if it does they’ll always be flying. He doesn’t realized they’ve stopped dancing until Willie turns to him with a curious expression. Their eyes rake over his face and Alex realizes he’s staring. But for once, he doesn’t look away. And for the first time, he sees the corner of Willie’s mouth quirk up and their eyes flick to his lips and even linger there for a brief second. 

The rain doesn’t seem to have plans to stop anytime soon, and they’re both shivering and wet and Willie’s hair is dangling in front of his face. Alex reaches out and tucks it behind his ear, both of them holding a breath, waiting. It’s right there, right in front of him, and Alex is inches from just grasping it and clutching it to his chest. Willie takes a step forward so their faces are just inches from each other and Alex can feel their breath against his cheeks. He exhales shakily and raises one hand to cup Willie’s cheek, his touch feather light and afraid. Willie leans into the contact and grins upwards, their nose wrinkling fondly. He gives a silent nod and for the first time in years, Alex takes the plunge. 

Their first kiss is soft and slow and Willie tastes like rain and green tea. Alex smiles against their lips, a breathy laugh escaping his own. He’d think this is a dream, but no section of his imagination could conjure something even a fragment as magical as this. They’re in the middle of a parking lot, cold and wet, and yet Alex feels the warmest he ever has. Alex is hesitant to pull away, but he does, just barely. Their foreheads stay resting against each other, like breaking apart would break them. Then it comes crashing into him. Alex just kissed Willie. He just kissed Willie. And Willie kissed him back! Holy shit!

“Wowza.” Wowza? What the fuck Alex? 

Willie breaks into joyous laughter, throwing his head back and clutching Alex’s shoulders. And Alex laughs with him; he buries his face in the crook of Willie’s neck, his heart full to bursting. Wowza indeed.

---

notes: ...I did say I was thinking about a Willex rain kiss. I actually wrote like half of chapter 6 a while ago so I might be able to post it tomorrow. 

chapter 6

taglist:  @thatsanewflavor @spookiest-sapphic @dovesgrangers @julie-n-phantoms @frostknyte @thegaylink @nervousmiracletrash @crummycassidy @fairygclds @reallyintrospectivepeople @madsmax-37 @swamp-acad @kat-maybe-not @sunsetcurve123 @lookingthroughmirrors @queer-fandom-enby @over-under-through1 @willex-n-waffles @caliibee @stars-soph @herequeerandcantdrinkbeer @nickalicious @andwhenwepart @maizsnex @fanofthepod @heademptynothoughts @thunderstorm-symphony @julieandthephantomsandme @i-spit-on-fire

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #jatp fic #willex #willex fic #ytotbts #you're the one that brings the sun #willow writes #willie jatp #willie nolastname #willie wilbur williamson #alex mercer #julie molina #reggie peters #luke patterson #flynn jatp #flynn nolastname

[adhd-disaster-willie]

ytotbts is just: no plot just pining. and i love that for me

#willex #jatp #ytotbts #you're the one that brings the sun

[adhd-disaster-willie]

ah yes, the tension behind reminding your friend to eat lunch because you’re worried about them😌

#this may or may not be a subtle spoiler for chapter three of my fic #ytotbts #is that a good acronym? #or should i leave out the thes #yotbs #idk #you’re the one that brings the sun #jatp #julie and the phantoms #willex

[adhd-disaster-willie]

Ytotbts snippet? You dont have to but like?

yea sure! i’m hoping to get chapter 5 finished by monday at the latest, writers block has been kicking my ass lately

“He well… don’t laugh, ok. He wore a crop top last week and I tripped on my own feet and scraped up my knees.”

Flynn raises an eyebrow. “Nuh uh, there’s more, spill.”

Alex groans, burying his face in his hands. “They got all worried and started putting bandaids on my knees and I almost fainted. Then- please don’t make me say this,” Alex pleads, looking to Julie as if she’s his last hope. She shakes her head. “When they finished lecturing me I just looked at him and said ‘nice shirt’ and ran off. Nice shirt??? What is wrong with me?”

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #willex #willie jatp #alex mercer #willie nolastname #willie wilbur williamson #flynn jatp #flynn nolastname #ytotbts

[adhd-disaster-willie]

the amount of self control it takes to not constantly post vague spoilers for ytotbts is ASTRONOMICAL

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #ytotbts #you’re the one that brings the sun #willex

[adhd-disaster-willie]

I feel like ytotbts has been very repetitive and I’m mad at myself for it so I’m trying to replan the last two chapters to make it less repetitive but idk what to writeeee

#please do tell me if you think it's repetitive #i wanna know if it's just cause I've read it a hundred times #jatp #julie and the phantoms #willex #ytotbts

[adhd-disaster-willie]

i’ll be posting chapter three of ytotbts tomorrow! i finished it earlier tonight but i don’t wanna get up and get onto my laptop lmao. that’s all.

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #willex #you’re the one that brings the sun #ytotbts

[adhd-disaster-willie]

yknow sometimes i find myself hoping that jatp will pull a solve it squad w/ willie and just have the characters start using he/they pronouns for him. For reference, solve it squad is a 1 act play w/ a main character named esther with she/her pronouns that made everyone go "esthers pretty gnc af ngl" and when the sequel(?)came out, they started going by they/them, so i just think it'd be cool if willie started using he/they in canon next season(altho lbr netflix would never let that happen😭)-💙

wait i love that so much-

ngl i'd love for that to happen. it'd be even better if they didn't give an explanation just. he/they willie. like-

transphobes: uhmmm why is willie using they kenny (not netflix cause netflix are a bunch of cowards): wdym it's always been like that transphobes: uh no it hasn't jatp tumblr: yes it has, pay attention smh

#i did that when i was writing ytotbts #the first few chapters willie used he/him pronouns #but then i got really attached to he/they willie halfway through the fourth chapter and just switched the pronouns with no explanation lmao #jatim #julie and the phantoms #willie jatp #willie nolastname #willie wilbur williamson

[adhd-disaster-willie]

i love how i said i was thinking abut a willex rain kiss and then entirely rerouted chapter 5 of ytotbts so i could write a willex rain kiss. like it was originally completely different and way more angsty, but i wanted a willex rain kiss. so now i have one. very cool.

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #willex

[adhd-disaster-willie]

for willex “he thought he couldn’t get flustered easily. key word: thought” ?

I thought it’d be interesting to write Willie’s perspective of the sk8ter boi scene in chapter 3 of ytotbts for this prompt, so here’s that :)

-

He thought he couldn’t get flustered easily. key word: thought. And honestly, the worst part was that Alex wasn’t even trying. Yet, here they were, completely frozen, face glowing bright scarlet. All because Alex had to go and remark on his enjoyment of ballet. Willie spared a glance at Alex, but he was totally oblivious as to the inner turmoil he’d just caused. So Willie did what he always did. He ran. Metaphorically, that is. Well... mostly metaphorically. They bolted up and, standing stiffly beside the bench, stuffed their phone out of view. 

“Lets skate!” He cried, interrupting Alex’s confusion. “I just REALLY wanna skate, so lets do that! Yup! Okay!” He’d hardly finished speaking before he was off, heart practically pounding out of their chest. And okay, maybe they felt a little guilty for leaving Alex behind like that. But if he didn’t feel the cool wind biting at his face right this instant, he probably would’ve collapsed from embarrassment. 

Alex was just finishing with his blades when Willie returned from a quick lap, which didn’t really serve to calm his nerves. They fiddled anxiously with their bracelets, refusing to look at Alex for fear that they’d just... faint. Willie really really liked Alex, like to the point where they’d gushed to Caleb about him. Caleb! Caleb hadn’t heard a lick of information about Willie’s personal life since he was 15! But he hadn’t ever considered the possibility of Alex feeling the same way, and now that it was floating right in front of him... well they didn’t know what to do with it. 

“So, you dance?” Willie means for it to sound simple and easy, but their voice is strained. It’s small talk. Just small talk. This is fine.

---

Send me a pairing and the opening sentence of a fic and I’ll write the next five sentences.

#willex #jatp #julie and the phantoms #willie jatp #willie wilbur williamson #willie nolastname #willex fic #jatp fic #ficlet #willow writes

[adhd-disaster-willie]

Holy shit thank you for 500 followers??? I can’t believe there’s so many of you, that’s halfway to one 1K, that’s so weird. I love you all so much, thank you!!! (I’ll probably be able to post chapter 4 of ytotbts today or tomorrow, so it’s quite fitting)

#follower count

[adhd-disaster-willie]

i've started posting ytotbts on ao3, because I crave validation <3