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1mnobodywhoareyou · 4 months

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For the prompts... Which social media platforms they use and which they hate. This could be for all of them... or as many as you want.

It's been a hot minute since I was on twitter but I've wanted to play with this idea for a bit and you provided the perfect opportunity! THANK YOU! Please forgive the laziness in formatting and choosing handles and also any weird inaccuracies about how the platform actually works. Enjoy! :D

“It happened again!” Alex mutters as he collapses face first onto the couch in the studio, arm extended above his head with his phone cradled in his hand.

The others look at one another and back at him.

“What happened again?” Julie asks.

Alex waves his phone at her without moving his face from the cushion and she gets up from where she’d been seated at the piano to grab it from him. She quickly enters his passcode and is met with a screen filled with Twitter notifications. She chokes down a small chuckle before opening up his app.

Luke and Reggie look over her shoulder to see what the big deal is. They both *have* Twitter but neither of them use it. Reggie prefers being able to entertain his followers on TikTok and Luke… well, Luke insists that nothing replaces that in-person connection with fans.

sunsetcurve4eva caught the boys (and Julie) at their show last night! SO GOOD! Always love seeing them play #sunsetcurve #julieandthephantoms *attached video*

Insertusernamehere replying to sunsetcurve4eva their drummer is incredible!

alexmercer replying to insertusernamehere he’s alright i guess

insertusernamehere replying to alexmercer lemme guess, you could do better?

strummingdrumming replying to alexmercer 🙄where’d you even come from? it takes nothing to acknowledge someone else’s talent

Reggie can’t stop the giggle that escapes as Julie scrolls through hundreds of people coming to Alex’s defense and Luke snorts at the next tweet he sees.

alexmercerislife replying to insertusernamehere strummingdrumming JFC do none of you even realize who that is?

“Oof,” Alex huffs out when Reggie jumps onto his back, laying out over his friend.

“Own your awesomeness, Alex!” Reggie exclaims, turning to rest his cheek between Alex’s shoulder blades and staring up at Julie and Luke who are both bearing huge grins of their own.

“Yeah, Alex,” Julie adds.

“What awesomeness is Alex owning?” the four of them turn to look at where the new and unexpected voice had come from. “There’s a lot to choose from!” Willie smirks down at his boyfriend who promptly sits up, knocking Reggie off of him and onto the floor.

“Hey!” Reggie cries good humouredly as Alex reaches grabby hands out to Willie who complies immediately and allows himself to be wrapped into a hug as he stands between Alex’s legs.

“They’re all being mean to me,” Alex mumbles.

Willie laughs as he runs a hand through Alex’s hair, “I’m sure. What is it this time?”

Julie just hands Willie the phone and he lets out a guffaw as he reads through the same tweets that Julie and the boys had just worked through. He locks Alex’s phone and throws it onto the couch beside him before reaching down to gently grab Alex by the chin and force him to look up at Willie.

“When will you learn?” Willie asks earnestly before leaning down to drop a peck on Alex’s lips. “People love you! Let them.”

Reggie nods while Luke points at Willie in agreement, “what he said!”

“Fine,” Alex grumbles as he pulls Willie down into his lap.

“We’ll bully you into loving yourself if we have to,” Julie says with a grin.

“Sounds homophobic,” Alex mutters into Willie’s shoulder.

Julie laughs as she rolls her eyes before quickly pausing as she realizes something, “wait, you said again. This has happened before?”

“So. many. times,” Alex cries as he collapses back into the couch.

“I’m confused,” Reggie wonders as his brow creases in thought, “if these people love you, how do they not know you’re you?”

Julie lowers herself to sit beside Reggie on the floor where he’d made himself comfortable, “not every fan is a stan, Reg. You know that.”

“Thank goodness for that,” Luke chimes in. He loves their fans but there is a limit to how much being recognized and photographed that he can handle.

“And maybe they’re new fans or this was their first time seeing or hearing us,” Julie adds with a shrug.

“I just love that it allows this to keep happening,” Willie grins, looking back toward Alex who had covered his face with his forearm. “When you say so many times…?”

“This is at least the third.”

Luke lets out another chuckle, “serves you right.”

Alex removes his arm from in front of his face to glare at Luke.

Reggie’s eyes widen as he realizes something and he pats his pockets, looking for his own phone. He comes up empty and scans the room before spotting it and crawling over to grab it. He types for a moment and grins as Alex’s phone chimes from beside him.

thereginaldpeters replying to insertusernamehere alexmercer yeah, own your awesomeness Alex

Prompt List

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legolasghosty · 1 month

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if this doesn't scream boggie, i don't know what does: They smell like sparkles and sunshine and I want to kiss their stupid face so bad

Bobby slammed the apartment door behind him, heading straight for the couch. He didn't slow down until he was flat on his stomach, his burning cheeks hidden by a Gayosaurus throw pillow ("Like a normal gay, but more awesome!") that Willie had found somewhere six months ago. Bobby wasn't ever sure where he found this sort of thing. He'd given up on asking when they were still in college, the two of them and Alex randomly paired up in a freshman dorm.

"What happened here?" the previously mentioned pillow finder said from somewhere above Bobby.

The soft click of Alex closing their front door properly was followed by the drummer's sigh of, "Reggie, what else."

Bobby felt the couch dip near his feet as probably Willie sat down. "You wanna talk about it, dude?" they asked. Bobby couldn't decide if their tone was sympathetic or teasing.

"No," he mumbled into the pillow.

Look, dating your bandmates didn't work out well. Reggie and Luke had been together for a bit when they were all in college and it had burned hot and fast. Bobby had been sure the band would break up for good when they called it quits. It had taken a whole new person, Luke's now queerplatonic partner and their band frontwoman Julie, to get the two of them to talk it out and become friends again. Even then, it had been a rough couple of months for all of them.

So, no matter how pretty Reggie was or how sometimes Bobby thought he leaned a bit closer to their shared mic than necessary, they couldn't be a thing. It wouldn't work.

"Dude, you can't just keep ignoring it and hope it goes away," Alex sighed, now sounding much closer. "Remember how I tried that and it failed? Epicly?"

Bobby lifted his head just enough to shoot Alex a glare. "That's not the same thing," he protested. "No offense, Willie."

"None taken," they chuckled. "But Lex has a point. Shoving it down doesn't work, and it might just turn out better than you think."

Bobby dropped his face back down to the pillow and flipped them both off. "No."

He felt a foot nudging his shoulder, indicating that Alex had found his perch on the back of the couch above him. "Bobby, Reggie likes you back, you guys just have to get your acts together and talk about it."

"Hypocrite," Bobby mumbled. But he groaned and rolled onto his side, glancing up at his roommates and best friends. Maybe talking it out would help erase his stupid crush on his bandmate. "I know he maybe thinks I'm cute or whatever, but it wouldn't work. The band almost broke up when Luke and Reggie did, and I can't be responsible for doing that to you guys. I just can't."

"Okay, I get that," Alex began. "But what makes you so sure the two of you wouldn't work? I mean yeah, Luke and him didn't go so well, but there were a lot of reasons for that."

"Very much including the fact that they were 19 and neither of them had actually been in a serious relationship before," Willie added. "And I love them both, but their communication skills aren't the best now, let alone two years ago."

"You and Reg are good for each other," Alex continued, giving Bobby that heavy, open stare that he usually masked behind several layers of sarcasm. "He gets you out of your routine and trying new things. You help him slow down and talk things out."

"You're both better people for being around each other," Willie agreed, one hand resting on Bobby's ankle. Then the corner of his mouth quirks up. "Not to mention the fact that you guys practically make out at the mic every other song."

"We do not!" Bobby insisted, forcing himself up on one elbow. "Mic sharing is totally normal."

"Mic sharing, yes. But you two take the phrase 'eat the mic' a little too literally," Alex laughed. Then his amusement faded. "But seriously. You like him. He likes you. And we're all semi-functioning adults who can at least pretend to be emotionally mature. At least talk to him."

"Even if you decide not to give it a shot, at least you'll have been honest with each other," Willie said.

"But what if it messes everything up?" Bobby asked, hating how small his voice sounded. "I mean, yeah, he smells like sparkles and sunshine and I wanna kiss his stupid face so bad, but I don't want it to destroy the band. Or our whole... family."

Willie's expression is now solidly in the sympathetic zone. "But what if it makes it better?" they countered. "I mean, Lex and I were great as friends, and we're better as partners, and we're both better friends to the rest of you because of being together."

The smile Alex gave them for that is enough to make Bobby fake gag and throw the Gayosaurus pillow at them. But... maybe they're right.

"Hug time?" Alex questioned.

Bobby just nodded, suddenly feeling heavy at the possibility of having Reggie as something other than a bandmate. But heavy in a good way, like crawling under his weighted blanket at the end of a long day.

Alex dropped down onto the couch beside him, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and pulling him in. Bobby let Willie resituate both of their legs on his lap. He usually wasn't one for being manhandled by his friends, but it was nice to let them take care of him every once in a while. He tried to focus on the clean and salty scent of Alex's hoodie and the easy movement of Willie's thumb on his ankle.

Maybe, just maybe, they had a point. At the very least, he owed it to Reggie to let him be a part of the conversation, right? Bobby let out a soft sigh. This meant he'd have to actually have a conversation about it with the bassist. But he was getting better at those at least. It was 'healthy' or something. Maybe it would be okay. Maybe they would be okay.

"So..." Willie mused after a while, "what do sparkles and sunshine smell like?"

"Screw you," Bobby groaned, hiding his face in Alex's chest.

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innytoes · 5 days

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🐑 wolf in sheep's clothing, alternate universe - magic, aged-up characters, heist

Wolf in Fair Isle Sweaters

Just because Willie was a Wolf, didn't mean he didn't like cozy things. Sure, wolves had a reputation for living rough, luring innocent girls in red hoods to their doom, and eating grandmas. But Willie was more of a 'cozy sweaters and curl up by the fire and bake muffins with your grandma' kind of Wolf.

Sadly, the townsfolk didn't see it that way. Which meant the only way to get cozy was to break into the town's yarn shop, steal a bunch of stuff, and hope he could learn how to knit from the books he'd seen in the window.

He hadn't expected the shop keeper to still be there when he broke in, though.

Fake Fic Ask Game

#willex #julie and the phantoms #fake fics #okay but willie doing the little Wolf Headscratch like Wolf from 10th Kingdom #fanfic #fairytale au #in which alex teaches willie to knit after hours and learns some things about himself along the way #I wrote a thing

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floating-in-the-blue · 9 months

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Alex did not get drunk. He got tipsy but he did not get drunk. For reasons. Reasons that he had apparently forgotten last night. Or maybe he just had an inability to say 'no' to Willie, which, in his opinion, was entirely excusable but he still should not have accepted that last cocktail.

But he had. And now he was being haunted by blurry, unfocused memories. Memories that hinted at terrible things.

So the next time he saw Willie, he bypassed any greeting and went straight to: "Okay, so, weird question but did I kiss you last Friday by any chance?"

The words were rushed and came out about an octave higher than his normal voice but at least he got them out at all.

Willie laughed. "Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a 'kiss.' More 'leaning against me with your lips.'"

He winked and wagged his eyebrows and laughed again. None of which made Alex feel any better. So it hadn't even been a good kiss! This was worse. This was definitely so much worse!

"Hey, don't worry about it, man."

"Oh, I'm worrying about it," Alex stated with absolute conviction and Willie laughed again.

"Well, if it helps, I wouldn't say 'no' to you trying again? But maybe sober this time?"

Alex opened his mouth, closed it, and eventually squeaked: "Okay?"

"Okay?"

"I mean, yeah!"

"Okay."

They stared at each other for a long, uncomfortable moment.

"Well, I'm not going first. I embarrassed myself enough last time!"

Willie laughed again and then shrugged. "Okay."

He took a step closer and Alex gulped. When his hands reached for Alex's face, Alex remained stock still so he wouldn't bolt. And then Willie's lips were on his own.

It took a second or two for Alex to trust that this wasn't just a joke and to relax into the kiss but then it was a kiss all right! No 'leaning against each other, lips first.' A true, proper, glorious kiss and when they came out of it, Alex found his hands on Willie's hips and a smile on Willie's face.

"So, that was a kiss," he said, a little dazed.

Willie laughed. "It sure was, hotdog. But if you want to try again ...?"

"Absolutely!"

And this time, Alex had no more qualms about going first.

#willex #silly little scene that came to me on my way to work #alex mercer #willie jatp #willie nolastname #willie wilbur williamson #willie ortega #willie throckmorton #jatp fanfic #yeo writes #my writing

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michelangelinden · 1 year

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Send me a number between 1 and 101 and I'll tell you what fic I would write based on the corresponding song from my Spotify Wrapped playlist!

#you can specify the fandom and ship/characters if you want #otherwise i'll chose #pls pls send numbers!#i love spotify wrapped season #julie and the phantoms #willex #boggie #juke #jatp fanfic #stranger things #steddie #byler #ronance #heartstopper #narlie #linden writes stuff

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thesunwillart · 1 year

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"All that Remains" by @pawprinterfanfic chapter 16 spoilers!!!

mid battle fight kiss got me going wild!!!!!!!!!!

also worm.

#all that remains #jatp sw au #willex #willex fanart #jatp fanart #jatp #julie and the phantoms #alex mercer #willie jatp #my art #I LOVE THEM THEY MAKE ME CWAZY #OH WORM #pawprinterfanfic #fanfic art

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sky-neverending · 6 months

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writing willex fanfic at 4 am 👍

“Alex, get UP!” was the first thing that Alex heard the morning everything changed. The second was the sound of a pillow flying through the air and hitting him straight in the head with a thump.

He groaned, rolling off of his makeshift-bed and covering his face with his hands. “What? What could you possibly want at-” he raised his hand to his face to check his watch, “6 in the morning?”

Reggie smiled down at him. “Your little boyfriend followed us on Instagram!” he exclaimed happily, like the statement meant anything at all.

Alex blinked. “I don’t have a boyfriend,” he said, pulling himself off the ground. “So I have zero clue what you happen to be talking about.”

From behind the couch-turned-bed, Luke let out an exasperated sigh. “Willie! Your skater friend, he followed us on Insta!”

“Good for him?” Alex said as he walked toward the small kitchen in the house he and his bandmates rented. “Why is this important enough to wake me up so early on my day off?”

Before anyone could respond, the front door sprung open, Julie on the other side. “Can someone explain to me why Alex’s boyfriend, who is practically famous, followed the band’s Instagram?”

“Oh my God!” yelled Alex, throwing his hands dramatically to his sides. “He is not my boyfriend!” He looked at the disbelieving faces around him. “He’s not. I swear, we’re just fri- wait. Did you say "famous?”

Julie nodded, holding out her phone. It was open to an Instagram account, the follower count nearing the 2 million mark. “He has even more on Tiktok,” she said as Alex peered at the phone, dumbfounded. “Did you not know?”

“I knew he made videos…” Alex trailed off, rethinking all of his conversations with Willie. Not once had the other boy mentioned having any sort of large following. “Did you guys know?”

The other four nodded simultaneously, and Alex glared at them.

“Look, buddy,” Luke started, walking toward him and resting a hand on his shoulder, “it’s not our fault you have the social knowledge of an old man.”

#sky writes #julie and the phantoms #jatp #jatp fanfic #julie and the phantoms fanfic #willie jatp #alex x willie #willex #luke patterson #reggie peters #alex mercer #julie molina #jatp willex

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wishfulstargazer · 2 months

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Say You, Say Me

Rating: G

Words: 1495

Relationship: Alex/Willie

“See you soon, Hot Dog,” Willie smiled, patting Alex’s shoulder affectionately. He dropped his skateboard to the ground, hopped on, spun, and rode off before Alex could speak.

Of course, that was hardly unexpected, Alex thought. He always got tongue tied when Willie touched him.

Some things Alex was absolutely sure were true. He was a dead ghost in a rock band that somehow living people could perceive. Reggie, the band’s bass guitarist, was hiding a stray puppy in their rehearsal space, even though Alex couldn’t prove it yet. Julie, their lead singer, had the kind of voice that came along just a few times in a generation. Their last video had almost a million streams on something called youtube. One day their lead guitarist, Luke would almost certainly hit a million minutes in Guitar Hero.

Which made no sense to Alex. Luke could play his real guitar until his ghost fingers were about to fall off. So why was he fooling around with a plastic one?

The last thing Alex knew was that he was definitely in love with Willie. He just didn’t know if he had even a ghost of a chance.

#julie and the phantoms #willex #alex mercer #willie jatp #fanfic #ao3 fanfic #jatp fanfic

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sunsetcurbed · 2 years

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no reason to get excited (the thief, he kindly spoke)

Summary:

Willie is standing in the doorway, weapon held steady in front of his chest as the door bounces off the wall to the left. Behind Willie are two more men that Alex thinks he vaguely recognizes from around the club, also with weapons, also steady. All three are pointed at him.

“Shit,” Alex whispers.

Willie snorts, and drops his head down in a short laugh. “Yeah, I’d say so.”

(*)

or: Alex has been admiring Willie from afar for years without realizing he’s been crushing on the underboss of the west coast’s largest mob.

-+-

Art (coming soon 💕)

TRIGGER WARNINGS: mobs, guns, blood, injury, kidnapping, implied/referenced death, illegal activity

written for @julieandthephantomsbb

#nrtge #mob au #my writing #gun #guns #willex #willex fic #willex fanfic

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ashleycatchemm · 2 years

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Season 1 Masterlist

01: Welcome To The Club

02: We Hate You Please Die

03: Ghosts

04: Dream On

05: Bright

06: Secrets

07: Now Or Never

08: Through The Fire And The Flames

09: Basket Case

10: Flying Solo

11: The Kids Aren’t Alright

12: Home Is Where My Horse Is

13: Little Talks

14: Suspicious Minds

15: I Hate Myself For Loving You

16: We’re Not Gonna Take It

17: Could Have Been Me

18: The Otherside Of Hollywood

19: Wolf In Sheeps Clothing

20: Fashionably Late

21: Till The World Ends

22: Demons

23:School Days

24:Finally Free

25:Fix You

To be continued…

<< Series Masterlist

#jatp #julie and the fat ones #julie and the phantoms #reggie peters #reggie peters x reader #julie molina #flynn taylor #luke patterson #alex mercer #willex #jatp juke #willie jatp #x reader #fem reader #fanfic #season 1

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kkqueergurl · 10 days

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guess who’s back with more jatp season 2 evidence? Moi!

The last one is a person who contacted Disney plus, and it seems as tho Disney is trying to get the rights

#jatp #ruke jatp #flynn jatp #flarrie jatp #jatp headcanons #jatp willex #jatp netflix #jatpedit #jatp fanfic #julie molina #julie and the phantoms #reggie peters #sunset curve #luke patterson

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1mnobodywhoareyou · 2 months

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emotional damage

willex | gen | 2,948 words

on ao3

thank you for hosting this event @jatpfebfanfest! it was great fun :D This is for the most lovely @floating-in-the-blue and I definitely experienced no crises writing for you <3 (she lies). I hope you like it! The greatest of thanks to @bbreaddog for beta-ing for me and @narcissusbrokenmirror for being my personal cheerleader! I appreciate you both so much!

“Ohhhh, look who it is Alex!” Luke teases as he catches sight of a familiar crew member helping them get set up for their show.

Alex can feel the heat travel up his face to the tips of his ears. “Shut up!” he mumbles, trying to make sure his voice doesn’t carry across the stage. “I never should have told you.”

Alex crouches down to finish setting up his drum kit.

“You should talk to him,” Luke insists as he unwraps a set of cables, laying them out as he goes.

“Not gonna happen.”

Alex feels an elbow rest on his shoulder and looks up to see Reggie grinning at him.

“We talking about Alex’s favourite stage hand?” Reggie asks cheerily.

“No,” Alex grumbles at the same time as Luke excitedly exclaims, “Yes!”

Alex shoves Reggie off of him and returns to getting set up. He nods Reggie toward his own side of the stage, silently begging him to drop it.

Reggie’s grin grows. He doesn’t move from his spot, calling back to Luke, “Hey Luke, how much you wanna bet that Alex can’t do it?”

Luke meets Reggie’s gaze and a grin of his own spreads across his face, “You’re on!”

“Terms?”

Alex interrupts them, voice laden with frustration, “Can you two not?”

Both Reggie and Luke turn their most exaggerated innocent expressions on him.

“Not what?” Luke asks.

“Can you not make my personal life the center of your amusement?”

“That’s not… that’s not what we’re doing!” Reggie cries defensively.

Alex raises an eyebrow, “really?”

“Really! We just want to see you happy.”

“I AM happy,” Alex insists.

“Yeah but you could be happy AND have arm candy and someone to smash faces with.” Reggie’s grin is back as he finally leaves Alex to go finish his own set up.

Alex rolls his eyes, “You’re ridiculous.”

“Guilty as charged!” Luke exclaims shamelessly before sending a dramatic wink Alex’s way.

Alex sighs as he turns back to his drum kit to ensure they’re set up properly for sound check. He doesn’t miss Luke’s exaggerated whisper to Reggie, “Loser buys pizza.”

“Mmmmm, free pizza! The best kind,” Reggie enthuses before returning to his bass.

“It’s rude of you to think I can’t do it!” Alex shouts back at Reggie and he’s simply met with Reggie’s signature shit-eating grin.

“Prove me wrong!”

And Alex tries. He really, really does. He works himself up to leaving the green room and makes it halfway down the hall before he has to circle back. His second attempt has him almost all the way to the stage wings before he’s again fleeing to safety. Before he knows it, his time is up and they’re called to the stage.

He gives it his all for their performance, the way he always does. If he maybe plays a little harder and sings a little louder, knowing that the person occupying so many of his thoughts is in the building and might be able to hear them, well then that’s for him to know and him alone. Though the knowing glances that both Luke and Reggie direct his way cause his face to flush. Maybe his thoughts are a bit louder than they should be.

He doesn’t even know this guy’s name, it’s unfair that he’s completely taken over Alex’s thoughts.

Alex finds that after finishing their set, he doesn’t have the opportunity to even think about finding the stage hand. Between taking things down and interacting with fans, he completely loses his grasp on time. Before he knows it, Luke and Reggie are steering him toward their van.

“I WIN!” Reggie cheers and Luke sends a wry look Reggie’s way.

“You never set a time limit,” Luke pointedly reminds him. Reggie’s eyes widen, his face immediately falling into a pout.

Alex’s own expression brightens as he remembers their exchange. “YOU’RE RIGHT! You didn’t!” Alex claps Luke on the back excitedly. “Thanks, buddy!”

Luke grins, “Welcome! You still have to do it eventually though.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alex grumbles as he starts the van. He’s the only one of the trio that can be trusted behind the wheel, as hard as Luke and Reggie might try to continue to convince Alex otherwise. How they managed to get their licenses, Alex will never know. “Where we going?” he asks.

“I still want pizza,” Reggie mumbles as he buckles himself up.

Alex turns to Luke, “What’s the band account balance say?”

Luke reaches down and digs out their cash jar, shaking it sadly.

“Not happening, buds. Unless one of you wants to treat,” he replies. What little they do have and keep in their individual accounts is normally reserved for emergency emotional support (or making bets at the expense of their friends), not impulsive pizza runs.

“Cup noodles it is,” Alex says as he steers the van toward home, grateful for the lack of traffic at this time of night.

He doesn’t miss the way Reggie’s face falls as he glances in the rearview mirror. His heart shatters thinking about how often he’s seen that expression. Reggie might be good at hiding his feelings behind a goofy grin most of the time but Alex knows him and has learned to see through some of the cracks. The same way they have for him.

Alex takes a deep breath, refocusing on the road in front of him.

Luke gushes excitedly from the passenger seat, “We’re gonna make it, guys. I can FEEL it. Then you can have all the pizza you’d like, Reg!” He’s speaking in his typically amped up way that makes you wonder if he’s convincing you or himself. Apparently he’d also taken notice of Reggie’s pouting. Or, even more likely, just knows their friend that well at this point.

“Yeah,” Reggie agrees dejectedly. “It’s just temporary.”

Alex shoulder checks and moves into the right lane, slowing down to make his turn. He’s just made it to the corner when suddenly something thumps against the passenger side of the van.

“Holy shit, dude! You hit someone!” Luke exclaims, pulling himself forward in the seat to look out the window.

Alex immediately stops the van and shifts into park. He slams open his door, jumping out to see what had happened. “Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit,” he recites to himself the entire time he’s rounding the front of the vehicle.

He gets around to the front passenger corner of the van and notices a person brushing themselves off and pushing away from the van. They’re just barely illuminated by the street and headlights, still shrouded by the darkness of being just the wrong side of midnight.

“Holy shit, I’m so sorry!” Alex rushes out as soon as he notices them.

“It’s all good, man. Not your fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Alex reaches them just as they remove their helmet, flipping their hair up and over their head as they do. As soon as Alex realizes who it is, his mouth goes dry and he loses all coherent thought.

He’s startled back to reality by the sound of car doors slamming.

“You hit Willie?!” Reggie cries, “Dude!”

Alex is sent reeling for a second time.

He hit his crush.

Who has a name.

That Reggie knows.

“How did you-? Wha-?” Alex stammers as he looks between his friends and Willie, who hasn’t stopped grinning for the duration of Alex’s crisis.

Alex shakes his head, trying to clear his head but with limited success. He redirects his attention to Willie. “Are you okay?” he asks simply.

Willie nods, “Yep, totally fine! I’ve been through worse.”

“That’s not… Okay,” Alex runs his hand through his hair. He can feel his pulse quicken and he reaches out for the van, realizing that he needs some support to remain standing. Alex feels Luke immediately shift into crisis mode beside him. They’ve been through this enough times by now that the signs of oncoming panic are clear to his friends.

Luke guides him so that he’s half sitting on the front bumper. He starts to coach Alex through some deep breathing and grounding practices to stave off the impending panic attack. It only takes a few minutes for his breathing to stabilize and he’s able to tune back into what’s happening around then.

When Alex looks up, he notices Willie’s concerned expression and that Reggie is now holding a skateboard. He must have gone hunting for it while Luke and Alex were otherwise occupied.

Luke rubs a few more circles onto Alex’s back before standing to join the others.

“You good, bro?” Willie asks.

Alex nods. He wipes his hands on thighs and stands, “Yeah. I’m good. This is weird. I’m so, so-”

He’s cut off before he can apologize. “Dude, seriously. This was my fault. I literally skated into the side of your van.”

Alex directs a skeptical look Willie’s way so he continues, “Honest, it wasn’t even possible for you to have hit me. I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

Alex stares at Willie in with combined disbelief and awe for another moment before Willie’s voice interrupts his thoughts, “I’m Willie, by the way.” Alex looks down to see Willie’s hand extended in greeting.

Alex reaches out to shake it. “I’m-,” he starts before he’s interrupted.

“Alex, I know.”

Alex’s brain threatens to shut down yet again, “You… you know?”

“Well, yeah. You’re the drummer of one of the hottest acts in town. Of course I know who you are!”

“I told you!” Luke cries as he elbows Reggie in the ribs. Reggie grunts at the unexpected contact. Alex barely registers their activity as he continues to process everything from the last… Five minutes? Night? Day? Week? How long have they been in each other's orbits for?

“Hey, Alex,” Luke calls, “you with us?”

Alex turns to glare at Luke though he has to admit (privately) that Luke has once again succeeded in getting him out of his head.

When he turns back to Willie, he finds he’s again met with that grin. An all-too-knowing grin.

“Reggie owes me pizza, wanna join us?” Luke directs to Willie. Alex starts at the unexpected invitation but doesn’t have time to dwell on it before-

“I do not!” Reggie exclaims petulantly.

“You do!” Luke insists, waving his arm toward Alex and Willie.

Alex turns to look at Willie, aghast with both the realization of what Luke is talking about and the implication that Willie is expected to engage with their chaos. “You don’t have to! I’m so sorry about them,” he says before turning back to Luke, “Are you serious right now?”

Luke crosses his arms across his chest and returns a smug grin, “TECHNICALLY, I win.”

“That is SO not what I meant,” Reggie mumbles.

WIllie looks between the three boys with confusion, “Win what?”

Before either Luke or Reggie have the chance to consider responding, Alex is between them with a hand covering each of their mouths. “Nothing. Nothing at all. Don’t worry about it.”

He feels them both lick his palms simultaneously and pulls his hands away from them. “You’re both disgusting,” he says, wiping his hands on his pants.

Willie muffles a laugh at their antics. He quickly composes himself before interjecting, “Luke said something about pizza?”

Alex turns wide eyes on Willie, “You want to come for pizza? With us?”

Willie shrugs, “Yeah, sure. Except it’s my treat. You know… for the damage.” He smiles at Alex again and Alex is sure that his brain has completely left the premises.

“Emotional damage,” Luke whispers teasingly, barely audible but loud enough for Alex to hear. He directs another glare Luke’s way. Luke’s only response is a shit-eating grin.

“YES!” Reggie whoops as he climbs back into the van. Luke very quickly clambers in after him. When Alex sends Luke a confused look, Luke simply nods toward Willie in silent suggestion.

Alex lets out a soft sigh. He redirects his attention to Willie, “Do you want a ride? We know a place that’s still open and is cheap enough that Reggie can’t eat you out of house and home.” He raises his voice toward the end of his sentence to ensure that Reggie can hear him and, hopefully, take the hint.

He does. “What do you think I am?” Reggie calls back, “Some kind of animal?”

“You said it, not me,” Alex mutters under his breath and Willie coughs out a laugh. Alex smiles at Willie before gesturing toward the van, “Your chariot?” he offers.

“My Prince Charming,” Willie says with a grin as he climbs into the van. Alex stumbles over himself in surprise as he walks around to the driver’s side. He takes a deep breath and a quick moment to calm himself before opening the door and climbing in.

Alex buckles up his seatbelt. He turns to ensure Willie and the guys had done the same before shifting into drive. After another shoulder check, he completes the turn he had started before hitting… being hit by…? colliding with Willie.

There’s a moment of awkward silence as the four of them settle into each others’ company. It of course doesn’t last long.

“So Willie, what’s your favourite Sunset Curve song?” Luke asks as he pulls himself up between the two front seats.

Alex groans, “Really, dude? Seatbelt!”

“Hey! My seatbelt’s on!” Luke insists as he tugs on the shoulder strap that crosses his chest for evidence.

Alex rolls his eyes, “It doesn’t count when you stretch it out like that.”

Willie can’t help but laugh at their bickering as he turns to Luke to answer.

He’s interrupted by Alex, “You really don’t have to answer him.”

Willie smiles at Alex, “It’s alright! I love your music. I think ‘Now or Never’ is my fave though.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?” Luke encourages Willie to explain further.

“Luke! Seriously, not everyone is as deep into music as you are. Sometimes people just like what they like!” Alex chastises Luke again.

“It’s chill, Hotdog. I don’t mind.”

Alex sputters at the unexpected nickname. Reggie chimes in from the back, as if pulling the thought directly from Alex’s brain, “Hotdog?!”

Alex can FEEL Willie’s grin from beside him. He finds his ability to focus on the road slipping away with each passing moment.

“Yeah, from that time y’all got so sick from street dogs?”

Alex groans again, “You mean when we almost died?!”

Luke reappears between them, “Do we get nicknames too?”

“Mmm,” Willie hums, “sorry, that’s a privilege reserved only for my favourites.”

Alex again feels his brain completely vacate the premises and yet somehow he can see the grin growing on Luke’s face without even looking at him.

Alex autopilots into the parking lot for the pizza place they love. He pointedly avoids looking at anyone as they climb out of the van and into the restaurant.

“Order for me!” Alex calls back to Luke and Reggie as he beelines to the restroom in the back of the building.

He locks the door behind him and leans up against it, trying to swallow air into his lungs. This has all been just… too much.

Alex finally manages to slow his racing thoughts enough to push off of the door. He takes the three steps required to stand in front of the sink. He grips the edges of it and stares at himself in the mirror, unseeing. This can’t possibly be reality right now, can it? Willie is absolutely flirting with him, right? But… not directly. Through his friends. He’s not dreaming or in some alternate reality?

He splashes water on his face to try to reset so that he can go back out there and face whatever is coming next. This is good. It’s a lot. But it’s good. Willie has not only taken notice of him, but actually seems to like him? Enough to know his name and feel comfortable teasing him, anyway. Enough to explicitly tell Luke and Reggie that Alex is his favourite. Alex is never anyone’s favourite. Okay, no, he’s not going there right now. He can do this.

He lightly smacks his cheeks to refocus.

Alex nods to himself in the mirror, satisfied with his internal pep talk. He pulls a handful of paper towels from the dispenser and dries his hands and face. He takes one last deep breath before opening the door and heading out into the restaurant.

As Alex walks up to the booth the others had claimed, he overhears Luke and Willie continuing their conversation from the van.

“That searching for tomorrow line,” Willie says and Alex can see Luke’s grin grow from over Willie’s head. Luke and Reggie are on one side of the booth, facing the back of the restaurant, and Willie is on the other side, back to Alex.

“Ohhh, that’s Alex’s!”

“I know,” Willie replies cheekily before leaning conspiratorially over the table toward Luke, “you’ve got a hot drummer.”

Alex makes a choking sound, attracting the attention of all three guys. Willie turns, resting his forearm on the back of the booth bench, Luke’s eyes widen slightly but the grin remains, Reggie lifts his eyes from where he’d been focused on taking a bite of pizza and waves at Alex with his free hand.

“Yeah, we do!” Reggie agrees enthusiastically. He takes a bite of pizza and speaks around it, “We’ve been trying to get that through his thick skull for ages.”

Willie tracks his gaze over Alex’s body. Alex can feel the flush move up his face and to the tips of his ears.

“Cute when he blushes too,” Willie winks at Alex before turning around, sliding over to make room for him at the table.

#willex #jatp #JatP 2024 Feb Fan Fest #nobodys fics #fanfic #julie and the phantoms

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