#AO3 PLEEEEAAAASEEE WORK | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

only-here-for-jatp · 4 years

Text

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.

#Jatp #jatp fanfic #Julie and the phantoms #Build a band #Willex

29 notes · View notes