More @secretlovesongsfest Discord Nonsense.
It’s been a weird month for Willie, okay? First, Alex kissed him, which was great, except then it made him glow, which was weird. And it broke Caleb’s stamp. And made him... kind of alive again? Which was very weird. And terrifying. And took a lot of getting used to after forty years. He had so many bruises from walking into stuff he’d usually pass through, he was starting to wonder if he should just wear his helmet 24/7.
He was also still getting used to the fact that Lifers could see him. Which was the only reason for this horrendous, horrific, humiliating mistake.
“Man, Julie, your dad’s a DILF,” he’d said, not expecting an answer from either of them. Sometimes he just liked to vibe with people, okay? It got lonely, only being able to talk to people at the Club, where you had to watch what you said or you’d piss Caleb off. He liked to talk to people and just run his mouth sometimes.
Except Julie looked up from her breakfast and shot him the scariest glare a teenage girl could give him, and Ray turned around with his coffee and smiled. “You teens and your slang. I don’t think I know that one.”
“It stands for...” Willie stammered, going hot and cold and never missing being able to poof out more. “Dad I’d Like To Fish with.”
Ray blinked. “Oh,” he said. “Well, if that’s something you really want, of course! We can make a nice weekend out of it. Go to a national park or something.”
Oh no. Oh nooo. Damn you, Ray Molina and your easy acceptance of the insane amount of undead teenagers living in your studio. Damn you and your extreme dad-powers and your kind eyes and your niceness.
“Okay,” Willie squeaked, not seeing a way out. “Can Alex come too?”
And just like that, it turned into a Guys Trip. Because once Reggie got wind of Ray doing Dad Things, of course he wanted to come. And then so did Luke. Julie and Carlos begged off, citing the Great Molina Camping Trip Of 2015.
So there they were. Out on a lake. In a big boat. Trying to fish. Sitting still in a boat for so long was literally killing him. Alex had fallen asleep against Luke’s shoulder, looking vaguely uncomfortable. Luke also looked about ready to vibrate out of his skin at sitting still for so long. Reggie was talking a mile a minute to Ray, who didn’t seem to mind at all.
They hadn’t caught anything. Not so much as a nibble. In fact, Willie was pretty sure Ray had lost his bait the second he tried to throw his hook, but he didn’t want to point it out. He just kept staring at the shiny little thing on the bottom of the boat floor, willing it to move with his mind.
Three hours in, and Alex tilted to the other side, nearly falling into the water. Luke’s attempt to keep him from drowning meant the whole boat lurched, and Ray had to grab Reggie by the flannel, and there was just a lot of shouting and flailing the next five minutes.
Once the boat stopped rocking and everyone had been saved from a watery death, Ray laughed, awkwardly. “I think it’s safe to say we scared away all the fish.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, boys. I have absolutely no clue what I’m doing. I’ve never actually been fishing before, but Willie sounded so excited about it and I didn’t want to let him down.”
Willie ignored the glares burning into the back of his skull from Alex and Luke. “It’s okay,” he quickly said. “Thank you for taking us anyway.”
“How about we go back to shore, and Reggie can go catch frogs like he wanted to and we’ll make a campfire and roast some s’mores or something?” Ray asked.
“I love catching frogs!” Luke said quickly. Alex had already grabbed the paddle and was taking them back to shore.
So they went back to shore and gathered wood and made a fire pit. Ray was trying to look up on his phone how to make a campfire, but Willie took pity on him and started it instead. He was great at fire, okay? Even without ghost powers.
They made s’mores and ate the snacks Ray had packed. Thankfully he hadn’t actually counted on catching a fish to cook, so they had plenty of food. Then, after lunch, they went their separate ways for a bit. Reggie and Luke went to catch frogs. Ray went to take pictures of pretty plants and the sun on the water and the canoe and stuff. And Alex and Willie took a romantic walk.
And made friends with a squirrel.
And took the squirrel back to camp while his boyfriend laughed about him being a Disney character.
The sun was already setting by then, and Luke had his guitar out, singing with Reggie around the fire. Alex joined in immediately on the chorus. Acorn the squirrel, his new best friend, seemed to enjoy the sound, settling in Willie’s hoodie pocket happily as Willie made heart-eyes at his boyfriend.
Ray was doing his very best to set up the tents, and when Willie asked him if he needed help, he waved him away. “I’ve got it,” he said, which sounded patently false, but well, Willie knew better than to challenge the guy who was letting him live in his house. Ray may not have jolts like Caleb, but he had a killer ‘I’m not mad I’m just disappointed’ face.
At the end of the song, Willie clapped. Then, in between the soft, muttered curses coming from the tent, there was the sound of a twig snapping somewhere in the woods.
“What was that?” Alex asked, nervous.
“Chill, Hotdog, it’s probably just a moose or a bear or something,” Willie said. For some reason, this did not make Alex more chill.
“A bear?” he almost shrieked.
“Dude, it’s fine, bears only bother you if you have food,” Reggie said. While opening a bag of Doritos.
Another twig snapped in the forest. Willie was pretty sure this one was closer.
“Okay,” Ray said, suddenly behind them. “Let’s... let’s pack up and get in the car just in case.” Before Willie could protest, he doused the fire and gathered up all the food.
“You know, I pet a bear once,” Willie said. At Ray’s distressed look, he shrugged. “Back when I was a ghost.”
“I want to pet a bear!” Luke said, already moving to make his way towards the noise. Ray grabbed him by the back of the shirt.
“You are not petting a bear, because you are not a ghost anymore,” he reminded Luke. “And Julie would be very sad if you got mauled to death.”
The sad half-set-up tent was abandoned as Ray ushered them and several snacks into the car.
“I’d be sad if you were mauled to death too, Luke,” Reggie said, wrapping an arm around a sulking Luke as Ray rubbed his temples. They all ignored the muttered ‘I wouldn’t’ from Alex, even Luke.
“Okay, new plan,” Ray said. “We’re going to go get a pizza and find a motel for the night. We’ll come back for the tents in the morning.”
“I second that plan,” Alex quickly said. Reggie cheered at the idea of pizza. Willie shrugged. Pizza sounded way better than half-burnt-half-undercooked hot dogs on a stick over the fire.
“I still want to pet a bear,” Luke sulked as they put on their seat belts and Ray started driving. “I mean, Willie got to keep his squirrel.”
Oh yeah. Willie peered into his hoodie. Acorn was curled up, asleep, blissfully unaware of the chaos.
“His WHAT?”
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