(no subject)
a little less 16 candles, a little more touch me, 2006
the sacrifice of life; living well is the best revenge (part two)
travis / william, gabe / william, 4599 words (nc17)
-- i still remember the days when you didn't feel the need to escape and every demon you never face is the reason you're not safe; please understand that you've had every chance, you've had all the time, all the time in the world
"here's the situation," shaant says. they are sitting around in the sitting room, all listening intently. "the punks were already our biggest threat to begin with. we thought they left for good, i mean gabe and william-- that was some pretty intimidating shit you pulled, but those were just a few guys from the coven. they went home and they brought the whole family back, and then they decided to include the goths on their plan to take us down." there are shaking heads and sighs, all around, the dandies are looking annoyed and exasperated.
gabe looks disappointed, more in himself than anything, but william reaches out and squeezes his hand, silently assuring him that it is in no way his fault.
shaant presses on, looking entirely defeated. "combined they have about thirty members." william coughs out something like a shocked scoff and it's gabe's turn to squeeze his hand back. "we're outnumbered, but we know what they plan to do so we have the advantage."
brendon starts to ask how the hell shaant knows any of this but audrey and jon both shush him, audrey because she wants to hear exactly how they could possibly come out victorious in this situation and jon because he knows that shaant is a miracle worker and he can get any kind of information necessary.
"they think that we're working with travis--" (gabe says, "we are doing no such thing!") "--so they're going to attack them first seeing as we are the bigger coven. they attack tomorrow night and then who knows when they'll come for us." shaant shrugs, surveys the room for a reply of some sort but everyone is half in shock, half appalled that this is happening.
finally, sounding scared and generally lost for any other words, spencer asks, "what are we going to do?"
it's gabe that answers, standing up so his presence is made known, and william blinks for a moment, unsure if the words he is hearing are actually coming from him. "we'll help them," he says, simply. "not because we're working with them, because we're not, but because-- well, fuck, they'd help us. they're the only vampires thus far who haven't tried to take over or destroy this town and aside from their little stunt with our princesses, they haven't gotten in our way. they're semi-decent, at least, and if they're wiped out then we're left without any help at all if a situation like this ever arises later on." william thinks he might be being a little optimistic with the whole later on thing, because even with travie helping them, they are still largely outnumbered. he realizes he is still holding gabe's hand, even though gabe is standing, their fingers laced together gracefully.
everyone starts to nod along in agreement; they are going to war. from the corner of the room, someone clears their throat and both gabe and william tense up because they have heard that sound so many times before and this just isn't the moment.
maja says, "i leave my family to you boys for a few months and this is what i return to?" there is a slight amusement mingling with malice in her voice and she is staring daggers at the two of them. william stands up beside gabe and ryan stands up beside them. maja looks less than impressed. "if you boys want to go to war, there's no stopping you, but the rest of you should think twice before following two lovesick puppies to your deaths." she shrugs and stares at the crowd for a minute before walking up to her room.
brendon is the first to stand up, nodding determinedly. usually he is the one mixing sprinkles in his blood and talking about how sad he is that he can't have a puppy (because ryan threatens he'd eat it) and jumping on gabe's back, begging for piggy back rides, but right now he is serious and sincere and entirely grown up. "i would gladly, blindly follow you two lovesick puppies to my death any day."
"we should be toasting," ryland chimes in and before they know it, sisky is opening their freshest bottles of blood and they are pouring glasses to the brims.
"to the dandies," gabe says, raising his glass. everyone raises theirs in unison, echoes gabe's words and drinks. he gives william a look that says, plainly, meet me in five minutes, and william nods, drains his glass and gives ryan a hug.
before he joins william in the cellar (he has already slipped out of everyone's sight and gone down), gabe goes over to shaant to thank him for everything he's done. "really," he presses, "you are just as much a part of this family as any of us, i don't know where we'd be without you." shaant, who is casually drinking champagne, taps his glass against gabe's and insists it's no problem. still, he's the longest daylight they've ever stayed with, and he's never let them down. "i'll talk to you tomorrow morning about details," gabe says, slipping in a little business before he smiles. "don't drink all of that by yourself," he says, patting shaant on the back and walking away, glancing over his shoulder before he heads downstairs.
everyone probably thinks they left to have sex, but they have to be cautious anyway. william pretends to be looking for more wine when gabe comes in, just in case it's someone else. he sighs, relieved, when gabe smiles at him, goes over and gives him a big hug. "dramatic day, huh?" gabe asks, and william nods.
"so what do you think?" william asks, getting right down to business. gabe already knows what he is talking about since it was written all over his face when he came back from travie's with shaant (shaant having debriefed him in the car). "it's the only choice we have, gabriel," william whispers. no one can hear them here but they are taking every precaution necessary just in case. "we're outnumbered," he says, "you know we are and travis' vampires aren't nearly as good as us, it would be like getting help from children." he hates to admit it but they aren't trained like dandies; aside from gabe and william the rest of the dandies have lived peaceful lives, but they have always had training, in case a situation like this one arose. travie's vampires have only seen scuffles. he repeats himself to get his point across. "it's the only choice we have."
"alright," gabe nods, because he's been thinking the same thing for a while now. "i'll make the call first thing in the morning, they're not far so it shouldn't take too long to get here, but william," he pulls him closer and says gravely, so quietly william can barely hear him. "if we're going to do this, should we discuss that other thing too, now that everything has been laid out on the table?"
william thinks about it for a moment. on one hand, it's the worst thing they could ever do, on the other hand, it would be convenient to kill these two birds with one stone. he sighs heavily and says, "let's do it. if it fucks everything up, it fucks everything up, but i think we should do it."
gabe kisses him softly, william's hands resting on his shoulders. "i'll tell him," he whispers and william frowns. something about all of this seems wrong, seems like it's going to end badly. gabe presses their foreheads together and attempts a smile. "it's gonna be okay," he says. he is entirely unsure, but he says it anyway.
-
gabe kisses william for at least ten minutes, hands in his hair and their bodies pressed tight against the wall. nate tells them to get a room. william smiles against gabe's teeth, "to war," he says, quiet and scared. he is holding gabe's face in his hands as if it's the last time they'll see each other. they kiss, over and over again, they make it as dramatic as they can. they have to keep up appearances.
gabe pulls him into a hug and says, "to death."
william finishes with, "to eternity."
as he walks out the door, brendon is mocking them with an enthusiastic, "to infinity, and beyond!" that makes everyone, including gabe and william, laugh.
"i love you," william says, quietly, not acting anymore. "i love you so much, sometimes i think i can't exist without you. sometimes i think you don't know-- you don't understand how hard it is for me to love you like i do." he presses his lips to gabe's and lets them linger as he pulls back, eyes closed and a frown on his face.
"sometimes," gabe sighs, "sometimes i forget. but i'm glad you remind me." he hugs william again, holds him tightly and kisses his hair. "now go out there and make me proud."
they decide to walk since it's close and since they all secretly know this might not end well, they don't want to bother with the clean up of cars as well as blood and dust. gabe says his final goodbyes to william, slips in a few more prolonged kisses and another dozen hugs and calls ryan over to him as they're turning the corner to leave. he whispers to him, "i need you to stay."
ryan gives him a look that says, plainly, you're out of your fucking mind. "usually," he replies, "i would accept an offer to keep those girls occupied while you guys go out and play rough, but i'm going with them."
"ross, i need you to do this for me," gabe presses on. the door shuts behind felix, the sound echoing through the entrance hall, bouncing off the walls and high ceilings and back to their ears.
ryan scoffs, turns to catch up to the rest of the guys and mutters, "fuck you, get someone else."
gabe puts a hand on his shoulder and pulls him back. "ryan," he sighs, heavily, turning him around completely so they are face to face. "the hierarchy is about to be completely fucked up." ryan looks like he's about to interrupt but gabe makes an impatient noise and presses on. "if something happens to me or to william, this becomes your coven. we're going to war and we're going to win-- we're the fucking dandies-- but if we don't, we need this house protected."
ryan glances around at the place, and he knows this is serious. it is more than just hardwood floors and stone steps to the cellar, more than just furniture and marble tile. this is their home.
"we need those guns and the weapons taken to sarti, you take the money, you take the girls and you call shaant. it's already been arranged, if we don't come back, you take the girls and you go to vegas. lie low, get in contact with shane or thom or the mormons if you have to--" ryan nods along, but still wants to protest somewhat.
gabe can feel the thoughts forming in his mind so he kisses him softly, his lips lingering for a moment, his words whispered against ryan's mouth. "ryan, i need you to take care of this family."
ryan agrees in the end and goes upstairs to join keltie while gabe gets told off by victoria.
"what the fuck do you think you're doing?" she asks through clenched teeth. "i should be out there with them and you know it." she looks like she might hit him and he honestly expects it because victoria usually gets her way, but not today. he reaches out and takes her hand in his, kisses her fingertips. it reminds her of when they met, when he and alex came to hear her sing in a cafe. they both fell in love with her, alex with her voice and her smile, gabe with the way she would be the perfect addition to their already growing family, with the way she made alex suarez blush.
he had kissed her fingertips and drained her of blood, and when he brought her back, alex had lied with her in bed and stayed until she was whole again, emptying his veins into her mouth.
"you've always been so strong," he says, quietly, and already she has calmed down. "i need you to be strong here. audrey is mere moments away from finishing her work, keltie is like a little worker bee, she is getting all our documentation together, just in case, and ryan is next in the chain of command."
"what about maja?" victoria asks, distracted from her anger for a moment.
gabe sighs and kisses the back of her hand. "don't worry about maja," he smiles. "you are the most important part of the staying at home equation, victoria asher, because you have to be strong. you have to be strong for all of them. ryan can do this, but he will need your help."
she looks at him skeptically but nods, finally, in agreement, and kisses him on the cheek. "i've really enjoyed being here," she says, as she is walking away and gabe can see rare tears forming in her eyes. "this is the only family i could ever dream of being a part of." gabe smiles at her from across the room where she is simply glowing in the moonlight.
"victoria," he calls out, "i'm glad you were part of this, too. i'm glad all of you were." he sighs, looks down at his feet and says in a small voice that doesn't suit him. "we set out to change the world and ended up just changing ourselves."
from the foot of the stairs, victoria sniffles. "what's wrong with that?" she asks.
gabe shrugs his shoulders, he notices a car pull up in the driveway and says, simply, "nothing." she walks up the stairs and he finishes with, "if you don't look at the world."
he walks across across the entrance hall and meets his guest at the front door, opening it slightly. "safe trip?" he asks, and gets a smile and a nod in reply. they hug and gabe sighs, a little nervous about what's about to happen. "upstairs," he says, "you know where it is." he is about to walk out of the house, he needs some time to collect his thoughts, to get his head together before he joins the rest of the dandies, but he turns around and whispers, "say goodbye for us, and sorry-- not that it'll mean much, considering."
-
everything is a blur after william hands his cane over to mike and drops his glove. he is vaguely aware of slapping someone, hard, in the face when pete shows up but after that, he can't really recall anything. gabe told him he didn't care if he sat in the corner and sipped tea, so that is what he does, sitting on top of someone's car watching the scene unfold, his foot resting on an unconscious vampire.
(he'll have to remind someone to kill him later, but not now because he needs a foot stool and this is comfortable.)
they are winning, of course. they are a coordinated effort of hand to hand combat and brendon and spencer's mind games on the girls the punks brought with them. pete's friends have managed to get in the way more than anything, although andy did kill a few punks and he can see joe dusting goths left and right, so that helps.
william watches from his elevated seat as things start to get more intense. he almost considers getting up and helping as a few more punks show up from the alleys, but audrey, keltie and victoria show up in the nick of time with audrey's guns and he watches in awe as they carefully aim at their enemies, shooting single bullets of uv rays into their skin. gabe and ryan are walking up with them, looking thoroughly impressed as they join the dandies in the middle of the area.
brendon kisses audrey quickly on the lips and giggles, "my girlfriend is amazing."
william is barely aware of pete lunging at him, but manages to pull his favourite disappearing act just in time, because he doesn't want his hair to be ruffled.
when pete wakes up the second time, he is no longer handcuffed in the back of a cop car. instead he is lying on the elegant couch in william's room while william towers over him, looking rather fond. gabe smacks him on the cheek a few times. "wake up, sleepyhead," he sing-songs. pete's head hurts like hell and he doesn't know why.
"sorry about the cops, they're old daylights," william shrugs. "they can be a little overzealous at times."
pete sits up and frowns, punching gabe on the arm to which he replies, "don't punch the arm that feeds you, you ungrateful bastard!" but he pulls pete into a tight hug and snuggles against his hair. "you did so well, little wentz."
"thanks," he says, not sure if that was a compliment or not. "are we in the clear?" william nods yes, and pete sighs, relieved. "thank goodness because i was enjoying my quiet little vampire life without you two idiots, thank you very much, now do you have my stuff?"
gabe rolls his eyes and points to a box of well packaged and brendon-proof holy water on the dresser by the door, the same ones they have been sending him for months to help him control the cravings. "you're like a drug addict," gabe teases, but they all laugh. it's been getting harder for pete; he's chosen not to drink blood and that's the hardest thing a vampire could ever do, but gabe and william have been slowly educating him in how to control himself. he and the boys will stay in the manor for a while for more intense lessons and until the rest of the lingering vampires have been driven out of the city.
gabe checks his watch and glances at the window, notices that william is looking at it too. "i'll give you guys a minute," he says, patting pete on the knee. "rooms are all set up for you guys, they're the last ones down the hall." he pauses at the door and looks back. "pete?" he says, tapping his fingers against the frame.
"yeah, buddy?"
gabe smiles at him and shrugs his shoulders. "it's good to finally have you home." pete smiles at him and gabe heads downstairs to join the party that's going on.
william immediately pulls pete into a hug and sighs heavily into his shoulder. "i'm so sorry," he says even though he's said it a million times over the months. "i just couldn't-- we couldn't let you die, pete, we love you too much." he half shrugs, his face a permanent frown, but pete nudges him in the side. "and thank you, for everything." pete nods slowly, sadly, and they both take a moment to collect their thoughts. william breaks their silence by whispering. "they can never know, understand?"
"i understand," pete agrees, but he wraps an arm around william's waist and lets his head loll onto his shoulder. "but even if they did know, i think they would still love you to death and back." william nods, his eyes closed and his lips curving into an elegant smile. "come on, kid," pete smirks, "we should get down there."
downstairs the dandies are pouring glasses of wine and tossing grapes into each other's mouths. brendon is the only one bothering to listen to audrey retell how she finally figured out the guns. victoria raises a glass to william as he walks by and ryan smiles at him in an incredibly warming way. he scans the room for gabe and notices him in the entrance hall, standing against the frame of the open door.
"what are you doing here all by yourself?" he asks, wrapping his arms around gabe's waist and kissing his jaw. "can't have a party without you, eduardo." gabe smiles at the careful use of his middle name and turns to kiss william's nose. he nudges his head toward the street where travis is chain smoking cigarettes with his right hand man waiting with him outside of their car.
"go on, eugene," he says softly, but william makes a face.
"i feel like i'm walking away from you whenever i walk towards him," he frowns. "you should know that i'm not. i'd never walk away from you, gabriel saporta. you are always with me, always inside me, you are every perfect part of me." he pulls gabe down by his collar and kisses him passionately. "i love you," he says, pulling away, the words soft against gabe's lips. "i will always love you."
"i love you too," gabe smiles, and nods, kisses him again for good measure and goes inside before william starts to walk away. he turns back to say, "be back before sunrise, william beckett--"
"i know, i know," william laughs. "rules are rules."
-
gabe finds himself in the same bar he found alex in the night they met. (it happens to be the same bar william found ryan in and is therefore their favourite bar having since brought them both so much happiness.) it is only midnight so he doesn't have to worry about time, but he checks his watch anyway and wonders how the party is going. at this point, shaant is probably winning a game of gin rummy against everyone, victoria is suggesting strip gin rummy, and brendon and audrey are passed out in blood and sprinkles induced comas, their faces being drawn on my ryan and keltie.
gabe wonders why he is here instead of at home drawing a house on brendon's face but as he turns around he nearly bumps into someone short and cute and blond.
"oh sorry," he says, making sure she hasn't spilled anything on herself, or him for that matter. "sorry, i'm so clumsy," he apologizes again but she just smiles at him.
"i'm the clumsy one," she laughs and gabe knew this bar was their favourite for a reason. she rubs his side with a playful pout on her face and frowns at him. "i think i might have bruised you."
before his brain can even process the words, they are out of his mouth. "my name's gabriel," he says, quiet and in awe, sticking his hand awkwardly to shake hers. "gabriel saporta."
the blond looks at him and smiles, sticks her hand out to shake his. her hands are small and soft and gabe wants to know what they will feel like tilting his neck to the side to get at his veins from a better angle. she has a firm, girly grip and laughs afterwards. "hello gabriel saporta, my name is ashlee simpson."
fin
--
i do apologize for this taking as long as it did, but with 10 000+ words in this part alone and a weekend of 12 hour work days, it was difficult to find the time. this is a total of 30 779 words. the parts alone are the longest i have ever written. it is longer than rise of the fall (which is currently at 24, 464 words) but that has two more parts on the way so we'll see. still, this is the most epic thing i think i have ever written since i wrote lord of the rings fan fiction back in the day lol at my life :/
the dandies, how they were sired & couples. i researched this fic because i am a loser. in the making of the video, the director says the dandies have about seventeen members (this fic has nineteen but that can be overlooked) but only thirteen showed up to the fight. maja, gabe, ryan, victoria, audrey and keltie weren't there until the very end (and maja wasn't there at all), which takes care of the thirteen.
i didn't want to include too many people in this fic because i didn't want there to be too much happening. i mean, even some of the dandies get very little air time. i wanted to keep it william centered (it became sort of gabe centered at times) but still follow the plot of the sixteen candles video.
i seriously wanted to write: how to act mor(t)al in their two person world of immor(t)ality, brackets and all, oh pete wentz you have ruined my life.
i love oscar wilde, therefore so does william. also, someone better have caught the double duel references! and the velvet goldmine / oscar wilde references, but i doubt it.
thanks to gabe saporta's old bands for providing me with awesome titles.
and yes, pete did kill maja. gabe and william had been sending him holy water to help with patrick's blend and they called him back to help, they just had to do a bit of acting so no one would catch on until afterwards and then they told the dandies like SURPRISE, WE LOVE PETE!
i just, i love this fic. i am going to write deleted scenes / bloopers because there are a lot of things i wanted to do but didn't and a lot of the fic got cut do to whatever reason, but yeah, stay tuned for that.
continue to deleted scenes!