#so i guess they were like ''let's try making Alex less stuffy. put him in a t-shirt''

[knickynoo]

Alex P. Keaton + Baseball Tees

[join-the-joywrite]

But suddenly from somewhere out of the blue, I see a different light around you.

For Anon: Julie and Luke, family friends, end up sick together. While cooped up sick at Julie's, a little conversation leads to a lot of secrets.

A/N: skdjje I am so sorry it took me this long to get to it sjjdje and this kind of got away from me once I finally got into writing it oops.

Special thanks to @i-spit-on-fire for the title!! Love you, doll 🥰

Julie Molina had a great friend circle. She loved each of them equally. Well, maybe Flynn got a bit more than everyone else but then again, Flynn had also seen Julie throwing up the last time she had food poisoning so maybe Flynn deserved a little extra love for sticking around past that.

The only person in the circle that could contend for Flynn's level of appreciation in Julie's eyes was Luke Patterson. And it was only because her mom and his dad were childhood friends, which, naturally, led to Julie and Luke growing up childhood friends.

Despite their close friendship, Luke and Julie rarely interacted at school. They had their own, smaller, circles and that was perfectly okay. Their circles merged after Luke and his friends played live music for Julie's theater performance when the radio gave out without warning. Well, to get more specific, it was some time after Alex and Willie started dating and involving both their friends on lunches and hangouts.

So yeah, things were great, school was fun and they all had a bunch of fun together. They even planned to visit an amusement park that Saturday too.

Unfortunately, the trip to the amusement park seemed like it was gonna have to wait.

"I told you not to hug me," Julie grumbled through her stuffy nose.

Luke pulled a face for her. "I didn't. I hugged my mom and then you hugged my mom. I'm not at fault here."

Julie sighed. "You think she's sick, too?"

"Nah, mom's got a great immune system. She probably just has a slight cough."

Just then a coughing bout overtook Julie. Leaning forward in her chair, she took a few deep breaths, relaxing as she felt Luke's hand moving in slow circles on her back. Slowly, her breathing returned to normal and the sharp ache in her forehead subsided. When she sat back again, she leaned her head against Luke. "I hate being sick. This is all your fault."

"We've just been over this. I didn't hug you."

"Potato, pot-ah-to."

Luke rolled his eyes. "You know you're heavy, right?"

Julie's response was to stop half-supoorting herself and drop all her weight on Luke's side, nearly sending them both off their chairs.

"If you weren't so sick, I'd . . . I'd pinch you!"

"You mean, if you had the energy to do it."

"Yeah, whatever," Luke managed to say before he coughed too, albeit much less than Julie. "Think your mom will drop me home?"

"You live right next door, idiot. Obviously."

When Rose walked into the nurse's office, she sighed at the two teens. "We told you two to stay at home. Come on, let's go."

As Rose pulled into her driveway, Luke thanked her for the ride.

"Where do you think you're going, mijo?"

"H-home?" Luke asked uncertainly, his hand on the door handle.

"Your parents are out of town for the weekend."

"Yeah," Luke nodded, "I was gonna stay over at Bobby's but I don't wanna make him sick--"

"Well, Julie's already sick anyway. You can stay with us and when you're feeling better, you can go over to Bobby's."

"But--"

"Mijo, I'm not asking," Rose said, staring at Luke in the rearview mirror, daring him to get out of the car.

Julie snickered at the fear in his eyes as he settled back into the seat and waited until Rose had pulled further up towards the house before attempting to get out again.

"Why don't you two go get comfortable on in the living room, hm? I'll put some food up for you and it'll be ready before you even know it."

Julie yawned as she trudged past Rose and into the house. "Can we sleep instead?"

"Absolutely. Go get some rest, okay? Luke, if you're tired, you can sleep in Carlos' room. He's spending the week with Victoria so it's all yours if you need, okay?"

"Thank you," Luke managed before a yawn interrupted him.

Rose ruffled Julie's hair first, then Luke's. Now, what could she feed them that they'd manage to keep down?

"Sorry I made you sick," Luke mumbled.

Julie shrugged. "It's okay. Flynn said she was gonna drag me on the biggest rollercoaster first so in a way, I'm kinda glad we won't be going tomorrow."

Luke rolled his eyes. "You do this everytime we go. Just get on the rollercoaster. It's not that much bigger than the one we went on last time."

Julie stared at Luke over her bowl of soup. "I passed out."

Luke shrugged. "It makes for a good story!"

"For you!"

"Don't yell, Julie, you don't have the lung capacity."

Julie scrunched up her nose and mocked Luke in a high voice. "You don't have the lunch capacity."

"Oh, real mature."

Julie blew a raspberry at Luke. A raspberry that turned into a cough. Luke was out of his blanket in a second.

"Julie?" Rose called from the kitchen. "You good, baby?"

"I got it!" Luke called back. He knelt in front of Julie as she hunched over and rubbed her back in small circles. "Easy, Jules," he murmured.

"I hate being sick," Julie said for the umpteenth time, resting her chin on Luke's shoulder.

Luke froze, one hand on Julie's arm, the other on her back. What was he supposed to do now? Just . . . hold her?

"I know," he said soothingly, "you'll get better quickly, don't worry."

"Ugh, I hope so." Slowly, Julie pulled away and eased back into the couch.

Luke pouted, only because he wanted to stay holding Julie in a gentle and comfortable embrace. He scrunched his nose up and quickly shook his head. What the hell was that all about?

He was back in his corner of the couch, under his blanket, when Rose arrived with a glass of water for each of them.

"I'm going to get dinner running and when I come back to check on you two, those glasses better be empty."

"Yes, mom," they chorused.

It wasn't really a big thing. Luke called her 'mom' often. Julie even called Emily 'mom' if she happened to be over at Luke's. But that didn't take away from Rose's (or Emily's) absolute delight over being called mom by her honorary child.

"Sorry I made fun of you when you first got sick," Julie mumbled.

"It's okay," Luke said with a slight laugh, half paying attention to Julie and half paying attention to the TV. They'd taken a good nap and were already feeling better. "Karma got you, I guess."

"I guess."

"You got it bad, though," Luke said, glancing at Julie. "I never coughed like that."

"Exhibit A of why I utterly detest being sick. The headache is unbearable sometimes." Julie gave Luke a small smile. "But it's okay. I should already be feeling better by tomorrow."

Julie turned her gaze back to the TV. Luke didn't. He kept his gaze on Julie, watching her carefully. He'd always had the natural inclination to want to care for Julie, but until then it had always been small things. Wanting to make sure her cuts and scrapes got a band-aid. Wanting to check in with a simple text when she was sick. Wanting to be sure her work was up to date when she missed out.

But now . . . now it was a little different. It wasn't really strange, but he couldn't quite understand it. Why, when she complained about her headache, did he want to pull her close and try to distract her from it? Why, when she hunched over coughing, did he want to be by her side, holding her close and trying to ease the fit? Why, when she paid him no attention, did he want to just sit there and watch her?

Julie glanced back and Luke froze like a deer in headlights, his already pink cheeks growing redder. Julie grinned. "Is that the fever or are you shy about something?"

"Definitely the fever," Luke said quickly.

"Uh huh," Julie said with a grin, turning back to the TV again. "I think you're pretty cute too."

Luke shrank into his blanket. "I didn't say that."

"Your face said enough, Patterson."

"You really think I'm cute?"

Julie looked at Luke, who had the blanket wrapped over his head as he pouted at her. His flushed cheeks had calmed to the usual pink whenever he was running a fever. She couldn't help but smile. "The cutest."

He beamed. "I think you're pretty cute too. Wait, that's what you said--"

"Cute," Julie mumbled under her breath, shaking her head and turning back to the TV. She was surprised by Luke suddenly dropping his head in her lap. She grinned, amused. "Hi, there."

"Hi. I want attention."

"Well, mom said she was just gonna make sure Carlos' room is clean enough for you to walk without getting impaled by a Lego brick but I'm sure she'd be happy to listen to your gibberish when she's all done."

"I want your attention."

"And I wanna watch the season finale."

Luke turned over to glance at the TV. "You've seen this episode at least six times. I know because five of them were at my house and youd already seen it once before that."

Julie flicked Luke's nose lightly. "It's my favourite, leave me be."

"Fine, but I'm staying here."

"Okay, just be quiet."

Luke felt like he had left the land of the living when he felt Julie's fingers in his hair. She had absolutely no idea what she was doing and somehow, the fact that she was playing with his hair on autopilot made him giddy.

"Can you put this on the table for me, please?" Julie asked absently, resting her empty glass on Luke's shoulder.

He did as she asked, just managing to reach the coffee table.

"Thank you."

Bored but unwilling to move, Luke began to pick at the threads on Julie's bracelets. She rested her hand on his chest, knowing he'd start whining if she took the bracelets away.

"Who made this one for you?"

Julie glanced at her arm to see Luke playing with a blue string, her name strung on in letter beads, a star bead on either side. "You did."

"Really?"

"I think we were about eight or nine. That was when Flynn got her bracelet set and we spent so many lunches making bracelets. You got jealous because I kept wearing Flynn's bracelets so you made one for me yourself."

"Huh," Luke said, "I don't remember, though."

"Not surprising. You were running a fever then, too. A pretty high one. Your mom gave you cough syrup and you got a burst of creative inspiration. Haven't you heard her tell the story? It's one of her favourites."

"I hear the words 'when Luke was little' and I instantly tune it out."

Julie laughed. "Sounds about right."

Luke watched the smile linger on Julie's face as she watched the episode she knew by heart. God, she was so pretty.

Luke scrunched his nose up again. Yeah, Julie was pretty and yeah, he'd always known that. But in the way he knew Flynn was beautiful and Carrie was stunning. In the way he knew Reggie was adorable and Bobby was cute and Alex was a gorgeous. In the way he knew Willie was magnificent. It was just something he'd always known. He and his friends were hot as hell and that was just a fact that they all seemed to know.

But laying with his head in Julie's lap, watching her unconsciously smile at his own antics, it seemed like a brand new thought. How could someone he'd known his whole life suddenly look different?

"Julie."

"Hm?" Julie didn't look away from the TV.

"You're really pretty."

"Thank you," she said, smiling wider. She lightly tugged a lock of his hair. "You're pretty, too."

"No, I mean, like, really pretty. Like . . . ultra pretty."

Julie scowled at Luke. "What did you do?"

"Nothing! I just . . . I just really like your smile. It's so. . ."

"Pretty?"

Luke nodded. He poked her cheek lightly. "I like when you smile."

"Yeah?" Even if she wanted to, she couldn't hold back a smile.

Luke smiled too. "Yeah."

Caught up with Luke's spontaneous declaration, Julie mised her favourite part of the episode -- the one where they finally had their first date. But Luke didn't.

"When we get better," he said slowly, "when we're not sick anymore . . . Do you think we could go out together? Maybe next weekend?"

Julie nodded. "Absolutely. Flynn already texted about rescheduling--"

"No. No, I mean . . . like a date. Just you and me."

"Oh," Julie said softly, eyes wide.

"Oh? Julie, 'oh' is what you say when you get socks for Christmas."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm just . . . surprised. I thought I worked out this crush thing and then here you are, asking me out and all I can think is that I wasted so much energy trying to stifle it all down when I could've just asked you out myself like two years ago."

Luke blinked up at Julie. "So, is that a yes or a no? I'm a little confused."

"Oh, only a little? Yes, you dork."

Luke suddenly yawned.

"Tired?"

"Only a little."

"Go to sleep," Julie said, using the same tone Rose had used on them both earlier.

Luke thought it was going to be pretty difficult to fall asleep when Julie was sitting there, threading her fingers through his hair like she had no idea how fast she made his heart beat. But it barely took him a minute before he was out completely. With a yawn of her own, Julie quickly followed.

Carrie snickered softly. "Quick!" she whispered. "They're waking up!"

"Okay!" Willie whispered back. "Okay, hold it up."

The bunch of them gathered behind the ridiculously large cardboard posted they'd thrown together the moment they arrived after the text from Rose.

Blinking tiredly, Julie and Luke sat up and took a few seconds to focus on the grinning faces in front of them.

"Congratulations!"

Julie and Luke both turned several shades redder (not by any fault of their ebbing fevers) as the group thrust the banner forward. It's about damn time.

"Shut up," Julie mumbled, retreating under her blanket to hide her face.

Luke scowled. "You could've said something!"

"Watching was funnier," Alex admitted.

As he did, the front door opened and in walked Ray. He took one look at the scene before him and groaned. "I can't believe I lost a full ten dollars."

"You bet on us?" Julie shrieked, throwing the blanket off.

"Well . . . yeah," Ray said, "your Tia is very persuasive."

Julie shrank back into the blanket, groaning in embarrassment.

Rose gasped. "Someone get Emily on the phone! She owes me five dollars!"

"Mom!"

But despite the embarrassment that was their family, Julie and Luke were very happy to have finally admitted their feelings -- to themselves and to each other.

Neither of them could wait for next weekend.

[only-here-for-jatp]

Build a Band pt 4- Willie the Sk8 Boi

Oh hey. Part 4 is up.

There may be a small (big) emotional backstory.

And Willex. 

I love writing as Alex and will miss him when I move onto Luke.

You can read on Ao3 here

And also below ~1700 words

Much to Alex’s relief, Julie gave in almost immediately. Ever since she’d seen the light in Reggie’s face, she knew that the boys coming would be inevitable and had already laid a plan. Alex watched Luke and Reggie bounce around the room and smiled. He’d still yet to have let go of Alexander and that was pretty okay with him.

There’d been a brief moment when Reggie and Luke were out of the studio and he’d sat Alexander in his lap at the drums and mimed like he was teaching Alexander to play and then that Alexander was playing. He’d stopped long before anyone could walk in and see what he was doing. They didn’t really need to know after all.

Alex nodded along as Julie explained that she was the sole opener for build-a-bear tomorrow. The mall would be empty, and they’d have the store to themselves. No one would notice the floating bears and outfits and Julie wouldn’t be trying to juggle three excited ghosts and an overwhelming number of children.

Alex was still concerned, but then he was always concerned. He gripped Alexander a little tighter, sent up a small wish that everything would be fine tomorrow, and prepared to deal with his bandmates who frankly had never heard of patience in their life.

The next morning Julie went on ahead and the trio poofed into the store. They’d timed it, well Alex timed it, so that they’d be getting there a few minutes after she arrived. Since he clearly had the most sense of the three, it was no surprise when Alex timed it perfectly.

He could hear the excited shrieks and feel the jittering and squirming next to him, but he was frozen in shock. There were stuffies of all shapes and sizes and colors, including, was that? Was that a Pride Bear? Alex felt a small smile tug at his mouth while he felt more than heard his bandmates freak out.

He slowly walked up to a shelf, subconsciously moving out of the way of his two bandmates dashing around. Tracing his fingers along the shelf he methodically moved along, taking in everything. Ah a Star Wars bear, that’s what Reggie meant yesterday. He thought he heard Luke scream somewhere off in the distance, but that was just Luke. He smiled to himself. He’d never understood why people called soft cuddly things immature. He’d lived through enough anxiety to know that if something brought him comfort, he wanted more of it not less.

His parents had thrown out most of his stuffed animals once he hit middle school and all he could do at the time was watch helplessly. They figured he was a boy and he’d outgrown soft cuddly things. It was time for more manly pursuits. Yet he knew, deep down, that it was wrong. Before he found Reggie and Luke those small comforts were the only things that got him through the hard days. A constant reassurance that there was always something to hold and make him feel warm.

In the end, he’d lost all of them and unwittingly gained something. His mother, in one of her redecorating fits, rearranged the whole living room with new throw pillows and everything. She’d found this small soft pink pillow with fringe hanging off the side. One night, during a particularly bad scolding from his father about needing to man up and face his fears and stop cowering, he’d picked up the small pink pillow. It was only about the size of his palm, but he clutched it tightly and it made him feel slightly better.

After his mother inevitably decided the change in decorations just was not working, she went to change it back. She tossed all of the new things out into the street without a secondary glance. This time though, Alex was ready. He’d snuck out and grabbed the small pink pillow. It didn’t fit very well into his room. A lone splash of color in a room of dark grays, greens, and blacks because that’s what his father had said a boy’s room should look like. It became his new lifeline when he could feel the anxiety attack coming on. He would focus on that small piece of color, the light in the darkness, he would feel the fringe, count the strings, close his eyes and feel the fabric.

Slowly but surely, he started adding more small pink things to his life. A t-shirt here, a sweatshirt there. His bandmates would see him in or with whatever new pink thing he’d found and smile and tell him it looked good. That he looked good. He was starting to have a hard time denying it, he looked GOOD in pink.

He brought his attention back to the sound of soft whispers. Luke and Reggie where standing over a bin engaged in what looked like a quiet debate. He shook his head; he didn’t have the energy to intervene in whatever that was. He continued to slide along the shelves, not really sure what he was looking for and feeling slightly overwhelmed by all the options. He glanced at Julie, who already seemed to know what she was doing and just wanted to keep an eye on them. She had a small warm smile on her face, and she nodded at him when she caught his eyes. He smiled back.

He might appear somewhat aloof, but he knew Julie could read him and knew just how happy he was to be here. She also knew that it was with great reluctance Alexander was left at home this morning. She’d argued that it was hard to make a bear when you were holding one. Eventually, he’d conceded. His eyes flit over something and he had to do a double take.

That bear. It kind of looked like Willie? It was a darker tan, almost an olive-y color. The bear’s eyes were wide and its smile tilted off to one side. It seemed full of enthusiasm. Doctor Who bear? Wasn’t that some sci-fi thing. I guess their love was a little supernatural. He smiled pretty big at that joke. It was the two hearts though sewn onto the chest that kept drawing him back in. He knew Willie and he had already basically confessed to each other, but they still hadn’t explicitly said anything. As far as Alex was concerned though, Willie did hold his heart.

Yeah okay, this is the one. He started to bounce a little in excitement. He picked up the piece of what would soon become William the Bear and headed over to where Julie was waiting on them. Some big open area and a machine filled with stuffing. Reggie had tried to explain how it worked last night but he didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Soon Reggie and Luke were joining Alex as Julie walked through the next couple of steps. She gestured towards the heart bins and the four of them made their way over.

Alex smiled at these little boxes filled with tiny satin hearts. It felt like a weird kind of shopping, but he was good with it. He didn’t really know what to pick. There were pinks and reds and small and big. His brain started to wonder which heart was in Alexander before he spotted it. It was one of the bigger hearts, but it was checkerboarded in red and pink. Perfect.

He watched his friends discuss and sift and joke and smile. He teased them lightly as they put so much effort into finding just the right heart to go in their bears or how emotionally involved, they were. Of course, they teased him right back, reminding him about him cuddling with Alexander and refusing to put him down. He rolled his eyes at them, but inside he was glowing and warm to be here with his family.

They went back to the machine and it looked like Julie was ready to start stuffing them when Reggie frantically stopped her.

“No you have to do the magic!!”

Alex glanced at Luke and they both smiled and rolled their eyes before looking at Julie.

Julie raised an eyebrow at Reggie. “Do I?” Her eyes sparkled and Alex smiled knowing Julie was already planning on giving in.

Reggie gave her his best puppy dog eyes and said “Pleeeeaaaaseee”

“Well….” She trailed off.

Reggie grabbed Luke to pull him closer who in turn grabbed Alex who let out a laugh as he was recruited into this ploy. After a couple of elbows to the side he conceded. All three turned their best puppy eyes on Julie. “Plllleeeeeeeaaaaassssseeee”

Her smile lit up the room. “If you insist!”

She walked them through rubbing the heart and jumping with the heart and they were all dorks. Including him since he knew that a smile had never left his face. When she told them to make a wish on the heart, he hesitated. A wish for Willie? A wish about Willie? Was that the voice he’d heard every time he squeezed Alexander? His eyes whipped around to Reggie. He knew Reggie loved and appreciated him, but Reggie managed to feel so strongly that it was… He melted a little at the warmth and love of his brothers.

He stared at the heart. Could he pour something into this heart, enough that Willie would hear it? Something brave and a little bold and a whole lot impulsive hit him as he brought the heart up to whisper his wish.

I wish for an eternity to hold your hand.

Immediate embarrassment flooded through him and he became so flustered he nearly dropped his heart. He didn’t know what would happen, but he thought it might be bad. The boys shot him strange looks as if guessing what might be going on but leaving him to it. Julie gestured him forward, ready to bring William to life. She asked him if there was anything else, he wanted to whisper to the heart. He shook his head no, fearing what he might whisper into it this time.

Slowly the bear gained shape and form and as he watched it come to life Alex admitted it might be a little magic. He was bouncing a little in excitement already eyeing a tye-dye shirt and some khaki shorts for William. Julie smiled at his excitement and gave him a gentle nudge toward the direction that contained sports gear. Even he couldn’t stop the excited shriek when he discovered “THERE’S A SKATEBOARD!”

Everyone laughed with Alex with their joy and excitement too. He grasped William closely and headed off to accessorize while he waited for the rest of his band.

[aewriting]

Part 2 - You Can't Jump the Track

I had some time and decided to continue the story about UNM grad student Michael encountering Alex at the cabin while hunting down spaceship fragments. 

Here is Part 1.

Warning for brief mentions of abuse, the shed, war, and injury.

***

 Michael’s sipping his coffee (bitter, black), concentrating on it, trying hard not to stare at Alex, or the frankly insane décor in the cabin – all dead animals and plaids.  It smells of smoke and stuffiness, and for about the eightieth time in the last half hour he’s wondering what the hell happened these past ten years.

Because when he does steal glances at Alex, it’s all wrong. Like, if it wasn’t for Alex’s initial reaction to him out in the woods, he’d think for sure this was just a lookalike, a cousin, a brother – he knows Alex had older brothers.  But surely this isn't the real Alex, not his Alex – shit, not the Alex he remembers, that is.  The one who was pretty much the embodiment of two big middle fingers raised right at the Roswell establishment, while at the same time showing more care and concern for Michael than any other person had on the face of this Earth.

He’d thought about Alex, over the years.  Of course he had. Less and less, honestly, the older he got and the more entrenched he’d become in grad school, in his life at UNM.  Little things would remind him of Alex, though – an emo undergrad playing guitar in the quad, the sound of Brendon Urie’s voice on the radio, mentions of the military.  And sex. Sometimes. When he had sex with men, he’d sometimes think about Alex.  About how things had been with them.  About what could have been.

He’d tried to look up Alex a few times, with little success.  Alex Manes wasn’t an uncommon name.  He supposes that he could have tried harder, but maybe a part of him didn’t want to… if he’s honest with himself, he didn’t want to read that Alex was dead in some desert, fighting someone else’s war.  Good days, he wondered if he’d gotten out – served a safe four-year commitment then hightailed it somewhere better. Of his choosing.  Nashville? California?

Fucking anywhere but here. This… this never crossed his mind.

Alex is sitting on a recliner, on old, tattered-looking thing, sipping at his coffee slowly.  He’s been quiet since realizing who Michael was – seems apologetic for threatening to shoot him, even if those words aren’t actually said. When Michael finally does look up, he’s met by dark eyes, staring at him.

Caught, Alex clears his throat.  “So.  Grad student, UNM?”

“Yup,” Michael nods quickly.

“Did your undergrad there, too, right?”

Michael’s a little surprised that Alex remembers.  “Yeah, that’s right.”

Alex bobs his head consideringly.  “So, out there, you weren’t lying? About being out here for school? You really didn’t know,” he pauses, swallows. “Didn’t know this was my place?"

“No, definitely not,” Michael says, and he’s surprised to see the quick flare of disappointment cross Alex’s features before it quickly fades to something more closed-off.

“Hmm,” Alex murmurs thoughtfully.  “What are you studying? Geology or something?”

“Astrophysics, actually.”

Alex’s raises his eyebrows halfway up his fucking forehead, and Michael almost laughs, because it’s the most familiar he’s looked to him this whole afternoon.  “Wow,” Alex finally says.  “Well, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.  You always were a genius.  Too good for this shit town.”

“So were you,” Michael says reflexively, then winces. Because Alex is still in this shit town, looking considerably worse for wear.

Alex blows out a breath. “Won’t argue with you there.” He eyes Michael.  “Can’t say there haven’t been times I wished I’d taken you up on your offer.”

Michael’s eyes widen and he can’t, can’t totally believe he’s hearing this, that Alex brought that up. He swallows thickly and isn’t sure what to say. That was the last time he’d ever seen Alex, before this morning.  Alex, with half his face covered in pancake makeup that was doing a half-ass job at concealing the bruises. Michael knew, if he could see under his cap, his gown, his clothes underneath that there would be more bruises.  It’s the first he’d been allowed out since the shed – even Jesse realized it would look fucking suspicious if his son didn’t attend his own graduation.  Michael had cornered him in the auditorium before they all marched out.

“I’ve got a full ride.  Come with me.”

“What? Guerin, stop, if someone tells him we were talking – “

“Oh fuck him!” Michael’d half-yelled, through gritted teeth. Liz Ortecho had turned toward them, looked concerned, he remembered. 

Alex had dropped his head. Lifted his cap, revealing an uneven buzz-cut, nearly shaved.  It was then Michael noticed that the piercings were gone, too.

“It’s too late.  It’s done.”

Michael remembers how the rising panic had felt, the way he’d felt too-warm in his skin.  “What, what’s done?” Alex had been silent. “Alex?” he’d pleaded.

“I’m 18.  Just turned.  And I… I enlisted.  Air Force.  I ship out in two days.”

And with that, Alex had replaced his cap on his head, pushed past Michael to find his place in the alphabetical order lineup.  And Michael… Michael never crossed the stage.  Was too busy retching in the bathroom.

He’d tried to connect again, before Alex left, but it was no use. Went so far as to park his truck in Alex’s neighborhood and watch his window in the middle of the night, but didn’t approach. Hated the idea of making things even worse for Alex.

Looking at him now, he thinks he should have blown out every window in the whole Manes residence, marched Alex out, burned down the house.  And certainly the shed.

He refocuses on Alex, who’s got a thousand-yard stare going at the moment, just sipping his coffee.

“You… you went Air Force, right?”

Alex scoffs a little.  “I went, alright. Did three tours.  Got this nice souvenir,” he gestures to what remains of his right leg, “on my last deployment.”

“I’m sorry,” Michael says. “When was that?”

“Almost two years now.”

Michael glances around the cabin.  Everything in it looks old. “And how long you been here?”

“Little over a year.  You remember Jim Valenti?  The Sheriff?”

“Sure. Kyle’s dad.”

Alex makes a face.  “Yeah.  Left it to me in his will.  Along with the décor.”

Michael nods, makes a show of looking around.  “Yeah, I was gonna say, didn’t really seem like your style.”

Alex cocks his head a bit.

“Not, not that I really know what your style is.  It’s been, god, it’s been a long time.”

“Ten years this month,” Alex says, matter-of-factly, eyes skimming over Michael with… interest? Not, not anything overt, but it’s there.  Michael’s not sure how he feels about that, exactly. Alex blows out a breath, sets down his coffee mug. “So if you’re studying astrophysics, then let me guess, those rare, specific elements?  Not of this earth, yeah?”

Michael smiles a little.  Still sharp.  “You guessed it.”

“So, like, you looking for fragments of a meteorite or something?”

Or something.  “Yup,” Michael says.

“And that device shows if you’re getting close?”

“Sure does.”

Alex leans forward a little in his chair.  Peers at it. “Is it on now?”

“Now? No, I turned it on out there. Before you made me drop it on the ground.”

Alex actually has the good grace to look a little embarrassed.  “Yeah, about that… I’m sorry.  I, I don’t really get out much, and the cabin’s pretty far from anything else, so when I saw that someone had broken the perimeter, I… I just didn’t want to take any chances.”

Michael’s staring at him.  “Broken the perimeter?”

Alex closes his eyes for a second, nods. “Yeah, I, uh, I have cameras, alarms… I, uh, I did some shit in the military. And, um, my dad’s a real ass.  As you know.”

Michael inhales sharply, flexes his left hand.  “Sure do.”

“Honestly, he’s 95% of the reason I have the security measures I do. The way he’s tried to mess with my life, you’d think I was developing nuclear weapons, not fucking other dudes.”

Michael’s eyes widen at Alex’s casual statement. “It, it just you here right now?”

Alex laughs outright at that.  “Look around, what do you think?” His laughter fades away quickly after that, leaving only a tense silence.  Alex has dropped his head and is just staring at his lap, one hand absentmindedly stroking the end of his ponytail. “This meteorite,” Alex says slowly.  “If there were fragments on my property, it wouldn’t… wouldn’t be like a big thing, would it?"

Michael stares at him, confused. 

“Lots of people, I mean. Press.” Alex looks uncomfortable.  “Since I… ah, since I got out, I haven’t really been the best around people, you know?”

Michael’s quick to reassure him. “No, no, if there even is anything here,” and there certainly is, ”it would probably be just me.” It would definitely be just him, since UNM has no idea he’s been using University funding to pursue this particular side project.

Alex’s eyes narrow a bit at that.  “Huh.  Well.  Okay.  You I can deal with,” he says with a little smile, and Michael’s not sure if that’s a threat or… something else.  “Can you show me how it works?”

He, he can’t really say no, at this point. And after dropping it, and kicking it, he should probably make sure it still works.  “Sure,” he says, picking it up off the coffee table.

“You come up with this yourself?”

“I did, actually,” Michael says, hint of pride in his voice. He fiddles with the device, turns it on, and –

“Shit!” Michael yells, reflexively kicking out both legs at the piercing sound the device is emitting.

“Fuck!” Alex exclaims, putting his hands over his ears.  “What the fuck?”

The device is, is fucking wailing.  Michael’s never, never heard it this loud, has never seen a signal this strong. It’s, it’s like they’re sitting right fucking on top of it. Michael scrambles to turn it off. “Fuck, Alex, I’m so sorry. It, it’s usually not that loud.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It, it gets louder the stronger the signal is.  Lemme turn off the noise.  I can still see the – “

“Michael.”

Michael freezes, clicks off the device entirely.  “Yeah?"

“Michael, did… did you kick the coffee table?”

“Shit, I think I did when the tracking device went off.  Sorry about that. I’ll move it back into – “

“No. Look.”

Michael looks. Swallows hard.  “Um, did you know that was there?” If he’s looking at what he thinks he’s looking at, there’s a trap door in the floor, perfectly covered by the normal placement of the coffee table.

“No,” Alex says shortly, eyes drawn to the floor.  “Haven’t, haven’t really been in the mood to decorate since I moved in.” He looks at Michael.  “Can you move this even more?” he asks, gesturing to the coffee table.

“Of course.” It’s a heavy table, probably on purpose, Michael thinks, and he uses a little hint of power to help slide the table out of the way, exposing a hatch.  He whistles, low.  “Your call, Alex.”

Alex grabs his crutches and scoots to the edge of the recliner.  Raises himself out of the chair and shoves his phone in his cargo pants.  Palms his gun. Once he’s next to Michael, he gives a quick nod.  “Open it.”

Michael lifts the hatch, exposing a ladder.  “May I?” he asks, holding up his phone. Alex gives a nod of assent, and Michael illuminates the shaft below them.  There’s a ladder and what looks like an open area. “Bunker,” Michael murmurs.

“What the fuck was Jim up to?” Alex wonders. He glances at Michael.  “Look, I wanna know what’s down there, but I totally understand if you don’t want to – “

“No, I do.”

“Good. Let me put my leg on.  I’m coming too.”

Michael frowns.  “You sure, man?” Alex fixes him with a dark look, and he shuts up. He watches as Alex disappears down a hall, coming back with a utilitarian-looking prosthetic limb.  Michael tries to strike the right balance between nonchalant and creepy as he watches Alex deftly attach the prosthetic.  He doesn’t bother with a shoe.   

“Students first,” Alex finally says with a little smirk, and Michael rolls his eyes, begins to descend the ladder.  He finds a light switch just as Alex drops to the ground next to him. “Well, shit,” Alex says, taking it in.

It looks like, like an office space.  There’s a very out of date computer and large metal cabinets. 

“I can’t believe this has been here the whole time.  Shit,” Alex says. He runs his hand along the keyboard, feels the computer.  He must press something, because it starts whirring to life. Michael turns to him, and Alex shrugs.  “I, uh, was a codebreaker. In the Air Force.”

Michael raises an eyebrow approvingly.  “I can see it.”

Alex holds his gaze, and there’s a spark of… something, quickly gone when Alex points to the device in Michael’s hand.  “Turn it on. Whatever you’re looking for, maybe it’s down here.  Like, maybe Jim was into rock collecting.”

Michael swallows hard.  “I dunno, don’t want to blow out our eardrums again.”

Alex frowns.  “Thought you said you could turn the sound off.”

Michael forces a quick chuckle. “Yeah, oops, let me do that real quick.” He’s hyperaware of Alex’s attention on him, on the device.  He turns it on, and it’s immediately clear to him that whatever it’s detecting, it’s big, and it’s somewhere in this room with them.

He can’t shake Alex, either.  “Those numbers,” he says, pointing.  “I’m guessing the higher they are, the closer the sample, right?” Without waiting for an answer, he takes the device from Michael.

“Hey – “

Alex is holding the device out in different directions, moving wherever the signal is strongest. Michael watches helplessly as he opens a metal cabinet. And drops the device.

Because there, in front of them, encased in glass, is the largest spaceship fragment Michael’s ever seen.

Alex grips his gun tighter, turns toward Michael. 

“That is not a fucking meteorite.”

[hamilton-one-shots]

Hamilton Magic AU 2

John blocked the shot like a pro and, in the blink of an eye, shot back the same spell twice as strong, blowing Alexander's wand across the room and throwing Alexander back.

"Ugh..."

John smiled proudly and went over, offering a hand to Alexander.

He took it and picked himself up from the floor. "Wow.. That was way different from yesterday."

"New wand. Works like a charm from the looks of it. I just finished it last night."

"Finished it?"

He nodded. "I'll explain later. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a bit sore. I'll be fine." He went across the room and got his wand back before going back to John. "You're really strong."

"Well, when you keep having to use a wand that doesn't work with you, you get better at controlling magic. I'm not at a wandless level of control, but I can control my wand better than your average wizard."

"I'll say... I'm sorry for thinking you were weak."

"It happens." He shrugged. "You just caught me on a bad day."

“I've learned my lesson.” He smiled, then hesitated before asking. “Would it be weird if I asked you if you wanted to hang out? Just as friends.”

“That's not weird at all. Actually, I'm having a birthday party this weekend. Its formal, so, if you do come, you have to dress up... Norm dress up, not robes..." Formal for wizards meant traditional and traditional meant robes. "But try to wear something less stuffy underneath. Thomas and I always do our best to sneak away from all of that and find something to do up in my room."

"Yeah, no problem. I'll be there, just give me an address. You can text me."

"... Text?.." John looked at him, a bit confused.

"Well... Yeah. With your cell phone?.."

It seemed to click for John a bit. "Oh! Sorry, my father won't let me own a cellular phone. I don't have that or a personal computer.. We're a very traditional family, but my father does use those devices for his work... They seem fun.."

"They are.. It's okay. Can you write down the time and address for me?"

He smiled. "I can do you one better. Meet me after lessons."

"Will do."

The pair got back to their spot and back to sparring after a few seconds of getting scolded by their instructor, not that either of them cared. They were both excited about making a new friend.

After lessons, they met right back up again and Thomas tutted, walking away.

"What's up with him?"

John sighed. "Like I said, it's not you.. He's like that around almost everyone. He's a nice guy, but he was raised to not be nice to everyone... His parents are almost as traditional as my father, but I don't listen to my father.." he chuckled lightly.

"Is he your boyfriend or something?.. Just wondering."

"Oh! No, he's not.. But I have had feelings for him for a while.."

"Have you just not told him about it? I know it can be scary."

He shook his head. "No.. We know and we have mutual feelings, but he doesn't want to go out until we're actually 18 and he can court me. We've been out a couple of times, though... So, it's complicated..."

Alexander nodded. All he was sure of is that John was off of the market. That sucked, he was cute.

"You don't think it's weird, do you?.. I know it's not normal for two guys to be together, if you even consider me a guy, but-"

"Woah, of course I consider you a guy. Just because you aren't one physically, nobody can tell you that you are or aren't a guy but yourself. If you say you're a guy, I believe you, you're a guy. And what do you mean not normal? It's perfectly acceptable to be gay these days."

"Gay?.. Doesn't that mean happy?"

"Well... Yeah, but in modern times, it also means homosexual, that you're attracted to people who are the same gender."

"I did not know that." He smiled. "I feel a bit better knowing there's a word for it... Do you think you could teach me a bit more? I only knew transgender because my doctor told me that when I talked to her about how I was feeling."

"I get it. I can tell you more later, but I should be getting home.."

"Oh.. Oh! I almost forgot." He slung his backpack off of his shoulder and dug through it, pulling out a clean, white envelope. "For Friday. Feel free to invite any friends or someone."

"Thank you." He smiled and took the envelope. "I'll see you tomorrow."

John nodded and walked away as Alexander did the same, going over to Thomas.

"He screams norm from a mile away. We shouldn't be hanging out with him."

"Thomas, my dad believes we shouldn't be around norms. I don't know if you've caught on, but I don't do what my dad says most of the time."

He sighed. "Alright.. But he won't be happy about this."

"Oh, come on, he's the only person that's even tried to talk to me besides you.. I just want to make a friend.. Not that you're not great."

Thomas smiled a bit. "Oh, I know I'm great." He put his arm around John's shoulders, holding him a bit closer. "I guess as long as he doesn't steal you, it's fine by me."

"You know he can't steal me from you. You could court me and propose now and I'd say yes." He'd been feeling that way for Thomas since he knew what those feelings were and he doubted they'd go away anytime soon.

"You know I want to wait until we're 18.. Even if that means waiting a bit longer for you." Thomas was two years older than John, he'd moved to France with his parents for a bit and didn't get the chance to go to school there and John had been put in school early because of his father, but neither of them knew about it until after they'd been friends for a while, not until they'd been on a few dates. Ordinarily, it would have been a bit strange, but they didn't care. John being younger had nothing to do with Thomas's interest in him and he was respectful of his every wish. The last word John would have used to describe him was threatening.

"Alright... I guess I just see our classmates getting into relationships and I want to know what that's like.."

"We're in a relationship, just not officially.. Otherwise, we're almost just like any other couple."

John smiled at that and kept walking with him, sighing as they stepped outside and Thomas moved his arm from his shoulders. If his father saw how the two got along as more than friends, there was no doubt that he would have turned it into a business thing, a way to get into Thomas's family's fortune, despite having more than enough for himself. He just got in the car and sat through the same as always silent drive home.

Alexander stared at the envelope as George drove him home, just enough for him to gain interest.

"What do you have there?"

"A friend from school invited me to his birthday party... I don't know whether I should open it now or wait until we get home." The pair were about to do some grocery shopping before heading home.

"Why not just open it now?"

"Because he's a wizard, so I don't know if it'll be something weird... But he's also inviting norms to the party and I might just be overthinking it."

George nodded. "Just wait until we get home, then. Better safe than sorry."

"I guess.." He put the invitation into his backpack and got out of the car with him, going through the grocery store with him and reminding him of what they needed.

After getting everything, the two went home and Alexander once again turned back to the invitation as he finished setting the table, George getting dinner ready in the kitchen. He took a deep breath and opened it.

When he did, a puff of confetti inside of the card morphed into a tiny John and smiled up at Alexander, speaking right at him. "Hi there! I know you, you're Alexander!"

He smiled. "You know my name?"

"My creator gave me some of his memories to make each card personal, if he knew the person and they're magic! Otherwise, I'm just a puff of confetti!"

"Do you know who else got a card where you popped up?.."

It thought for a second. "Just Thomas Jefferson. You must be special!"

Special.. He was special to John. "What happens if a norm sees you, but knows about magic?"

"It's up to you to keep me away from norms that don't. I only know by touch. I'm only paper, so I can't really see anything!"

He nodded. "Cool..."

George walked out. "Alexander, who are you talking..." He trailed off as he saw the small paper figure standing in the middle of the card. "That is amazing.. Is that the card you were going to open earlier?"

"Yeah... You can look, but if you touch him, he'll kind of disappear.."

George went over and did just that, still mesmerized by even the tiniest bit of magic. "It's amazing.."

"Yeah.." He smiled.

The paper John turned to Alexander and tapped his hand. "John's party is on Friday. It starts at nine and everyone just goes around and mingles the entire time, like a ball."

"Cool.. Would I still be able to talk to you if I closed your card?"

"As long as you don't lose me and it's before the party."

"Okay.. I'll talk to you later."

It waved at Alexander as he shut the card, careful to keep all of the confetti in, and put it back in the envelope for safe keeping.

"You have a very interesting world..."

"I know. Magic is really cool." He smiled.

George nodded and went back to the kitchen, coming back out with two plates of food, sitting at the table and eating with Alexander.

When they were done, Alexander went up to his room and began looking through his clothes, picking out a white button up shirt and black slacks, finding some nice dress shoes to go with it. That would look nice, right? He nodded to himself and put the outfit aside before getting his homework done, distracted by his newfound hopes for the week to pass by.

The next few days weren't too exciting. Just the usual school and wizard lessons, and he didn't even get to duel with John, since they were practicing simple conjuring spells. They seemed to fly by for Alexander, who was more than ready for the day as Friday finally rolled around.

"Hey, Alex, I'm going to see you at my party tonight, right?" John asked as he saw Alexander in the hallway.

"Yeah, of course. I'll be there." He smiled and kept walking, afraid of running late for his class.

John smiled at that and watched him leave, frowning as he felt something stir in his heart. This... wasn't right. He liked Thomas, right? So why was he feeling this around Alexander now?..

"Is something wrong?"

Of course Thomas knew. Thomas always knew when something was wrong with John, just as John always knew when something was wrong with Thomas. "I'm fine." He faked a smile.

Thomas raised an eyebrow, seeing right through his facade, but chose not to say anything about it. If John wanted to tell him, he would tell him. It wasn't Thomas's place to force it out of him. "If you say so..."

John nodded and walked with him to class, even more confused as Thomas's arm slipped around his waist, giving him the same fluttery feeling in his chest that he felt around Alexander.

Whatever this was, he had a feeling that it wasn't going to end well.

The rest of the week came and went and it seemed like Friday just appeared. Alexander had been asking as many questions as he could to paper John about what the party would be like and what he'd have to do or bring or how he'd have to act and he was sure that he finally had it down. So, he got dressed and pulled is hair into a slicked back ponytail, then asked George to drive him to John's house.

"Of course. Do you have directions?"

"Paper John should know where it is," he responded, holding up the invitation.

George smiled at that and nodded, going out to his car with Alexander and letting him summon "paper John".

He opened the card and the little figure popped up, giving them directions. Alexander smiled and carefully held the card with one hand, holding John's gift in his other arm in his lap.

"Well, I guess this is the place," George stated as they pulled up in front of a huge mansion. There was even someone guiding cars and a valet.

Alexander's eyebrows raised in surprise. John never mentioned how wealthy his family was, not that it mattered to him. But.. It was so much, he was surprised it didn't show in John in the slightest.

Paper John patted his shoulder. "I have to go now.. Once you give me to the man at the door, I won't see you anymore.."

Alexander frowned at that, but understood. "Okay.. It was nice knowing you." He held the card closer to himself and let paper John hug him, carefully returning the affection before closing the invitation one last time. "I'm going to miss that little guy.."

"Look on the bright side. You'll be seeing the real one really soon here," George pointed out with a smile as he pulled up in front of the house.

Alexander smiled a bit and nodded, getting out of the car and going up to the door, handing over his invitation before going inside, finding John standing a few feet inside.. in a gown?