KING [standalone]
Title: KING
Author: ipanicdaily
Pairing: Gabe/Will/Travis
Side Pairings: Brendon/Ryan, Nate/Alex, Jon/Spencer, and Pete/Patrick
POV: 3rd
Rating: PG; maybe PG-13 for hints of stuff.
Disclaimer: As real as Pluto still being a planet.
Summary: “No, ‘cause I saw him first!” Travis replied as though it was an acceptable answer automatically. “So let go!”
“You!” Gabe snapped, digging his heels into the hill with both hands around Will’s and pulling on him. Will whimpered as his arm got yanked from his shoulder, but he didn’t say anything because honestly, he was slightly afraid of the two. “I called him first so he’s on my team! Beside, Ryan doesn’t count as a person ‘cause he doesn’t do anything!”
“Neither does Patrick so we’re still the same!” Travis matched Gabe’s position, pulling on Will’s other arm and causing the boy to physically express pain in his face. “And you already have the playground so I get the new kid!”
“Well Pete counts for two people ‘cause he’s crazy!” Gabe grunted, using most all his strength to pull. That made William cry out, eyes shutting tightly. “So Will is on my team and you need to let him go!” Will started to actually cry.
Warning: uh....nothing, really...some mild childlike violence. You know; tantrum arguments and whatnot
Beta: lilrainforest
Word Count ~1o,ooo words
Author Notes: To the prompt of 'playground' in my prompt table. It's mainly a kid!fic just 'cause I was feeling in a fluffy/cute kind of mood.
Also posted in brokenbonefics
Gabe stood at the top of his kingdom, eyes squinted as he surveyed the land for the enemy. It was quiet, too quiet, only the sound of the light breeze rustling through the surrounding trees breaking the silence. His eyes darted between his trusted guards, checking to see that they were all doing their jobs. Nate was guarding the bridge while Alex took the tunnel; Ryan and Brendon sitting on the ground beside each other out back. Gabe gave the pair a slightly disappointed look because they were supposed to be protecting the castle from an invasion; not picking grass in an attempt to make each other bracelets.
It was the strong and clear call of ‘attack’ that brought everyone to life again; Gabe spinning around to see the enemy charging across the field towards them. They had an arm stretched high into the air as though proudly displaying a mighty sword, running in a scattered group while yelling. “Protect thine kingdom!” Gabe called to his own men, quickly exiting his spot on the highest platform to charge out towards the boys running for him.
Brendon grabbed Ryan’s hand and pulled him up, following Gabe while dragging a displeased Ryan alongside him. Nate and Alex went to the main level to protect their castle from anyone who made it past those charging for the field. Gabe used his already long legs to dodge the oncoming people and headed straight for their leader; Travis. The two had been battling out running the kingdom for some time.
Patrick, who was supposed to be helping Travis claim a victory, wandered off towards the small garden to see what types of bugs were on the flowers that day. Spencer had stopped running when Jon’s flip-flops bent and caused the boy to fall down; kneeling beside Jon with a frown to make sure he was okay. Jon was nearly crying over his now broken shoe. Ryan eventually managed to escape his overly-hyper friend to join Patrick by the garden where Ryan liked to look at all the different types and colors of flowers.
That left Gabe, Travis, Pete, and Brendon to actually ‘fight’. Both Pete and Brendon were equally matched in enthusiasm, yelling as loud as they possibly could while running straight for each other. Of course, something didn’t register in either boys brains, resulting into a head on collision between them. Brendon fell to the ground and rubbed his head, lower lip trembling and tears in his eyes while Pete started laughing.
In the end, as usual, it resulted with just Gabe and Travis left.
Gabe tackled Travis to the ground, holding tightly to his hoodie and trying to ‘kill’ him when Travis suddenly turned them over so he was above the other boy instead. “Any last words?” Travis asked, raising his arms overhead as though he was about to plunge a dagger into Gabe’s chest.
“Par-lay?” Gabe asked with a smile, Travis sighing and rolling his eyes as he dropped his arms.
“We’re not pirates, Gabe. That only works with pirates!”
“Says who?” Gabe frowned, thinking that the law should apply to everyone.
“Johnny Depp!” Travis exclaimed, giving Gabe that ‘duh’ look. “Par-lay only works for pirates and we aren’t playing pirates! We’re playing kingdom!”
“Oh;” Gabe replied, still smiling as he threw his arm up; fist colliding with Travis’ chest. “You’re dead.”
“You’re cheating!” Travis frowned, pushing Gabe’s hand away to cross his arms.
“Nuh uh!” Gabe frowned back, propping himself onto his elbows and wiggling out from underneath Travis.
“Yeah huh!” Travis angrily answered, eyebrows bunching together. “We were in time-out!”
“Nu uh!” Gabe shook his head. “No one called ‘time-out’! We were still playing!”
“You were being stupid and trying to play pirates suddenly to distract me when I was about to kill you! That’s cheating!” Travis snapped at the other boy.
“It wasn’t cheating! It was strategy!” Gabe crossed his own arms. “You’re dead and I’m still king!”
“No, you’re not!” Travis uncrossed his arms to push Gabe.
“Yes, I am!” Gabe pushed Travis back; Travis tackling Gabe to the ground. Gabe hit Travis’ arm, getting smacked back, both full on ready to engage in a physical battle when Travis’ body was suddenly shoved down onto Gabe.
“Now you’re both, dead and I’m king!” Gabe blew Travis’ curly afro from his face and squinted up towards the sun to see the proud smiling face of Brendon. “And Ryan’s my queen!” he yelled loud enough for the boy to hear.
“Mutiny!” Gabe gasped, Travis rolling off to the side. “Betrayed by my own man!”
“I thought you were dead…” Travis pouted, lying next to Gabe in the grass.
“Nope!” Brendon’s head whipped back and forth. “Pete ran into me then went to go bother Patrick so I came over here to kill you two ‘cause you didn’t see me!”
“Stupid smart kid.” Travis grumbled, shutting his eyes and taking in the warmth of the sun.
“Yay! I’m king!” Brendon threw his arms up into the air. “Everyone’s welcome in my castle! There will be no more battles and lots more talk about Disney and how much we love Ryan!” he took off towards the garden where Ryan currently was.
“Why do we hang out with him?” Travis asked, sad he didn’t get to be king yet again.
“’Cause his mom makes cupcakes for our birthdays.” Gabe answered, sitting up and looking to the new head of the playground who was boasting about having the crown.
“We could beat king out of him.” Travis suggested, sitting up as well.
“Travie!” Gabe smacked him in the shoulder. “He earned it!” Travis scoffed as the teacher called them all back in from the playground. “Beside,” Gabe stood up and reached down to help Travis, “It won’t be that hard to get back.” Travis smiled again in agreement.
“Still best friends?” Travis asked as he and Gabe headed back towards the school.
“Of course!” Gabe scoffed, taking Travis’ hand and starting to run. They had been best friends since they could walk and had promised each other that nothing was ever going to change that.
At least, that was until the new student came.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
It was about a week before Halloween when the new kid arrived; William Beckett.
His mother walked him into the classroom where everyone was working on math, Gabe deciding that fractions were stupid excuses for numbers and that they shouldn’t have to do them; though their teacher disagreed. Of course, everyone’s heads snapped to the new boy, William shying away by burying his face into his mother’s side while holding her hand with a death grip.
“Class,” Mrs. Remson, their teacher, spoke. “This is William. He’s going to be joining our class. Can you say ‘hello’?” Like clockwork, everyone uttered ‘hello, William’, in near perfect unison. Both Gabe and Travis’ jaws stayed partially dropped as they stared. “Would you like to come sit with us, William?” Mrs. Remson asked. William shook his head.
William’s mother ushered him further inside, apologetically smiling at the teacher for her son’s behavior. Mrs. Remson just waved it off and went to greet the boy personally. “My name is Mrs. Remson, William. Do you go by William or something else?”
“Will,” the boy said into his mother’s shirt. He preferred the shortened version to the full.
“Well, Will, there are lots of people here who want to be your friend. Right?” she turned to the students. Brendon’s hand instantly shot up into the air as though he was volunteering for the job. “I know its scary coming into a new class when you don’t know anyone but I promise you’ll like it here. We have lots of fun together.” she rubbed the scared boy’s shoulder lightly.
“I have to go to work, William.” His mother said, trying to pry her son off. “I’ll be back at three to get you.”
“No!” Will yelled, holding tighter. Mrs. Remson helped to remove him from the woman, allowing her to escape, holding onto William’s wrist until his mother was practically out the door. “No! Let me go! I don’t want to stay!” he screamed, trying to escape his new teachers grip. “Mommy!”
“Love you,” she said before disappearing. Mrs. Remson released William who just fell to his knees and cried, not bothering to run after his mother who he knew was probably gone already.
“How about we get you a seat,” Mrs. Remson said to try and calm him down. As Gabe stared at William, Travis kicked his chair aside, sliding Gabe farther down the long table and nearly knocking him completely off, raising his hand high.
“Right here, Mrs. Remson!” he smiled, displaying the newly cleared space. She smiled and took Will’s hand to guide him towards Travis, grabbing a chair along the way to situate it between Gabe and Travis. Will hugged himself as he sat down in the small plastic chair, laying his head on the table to cry.
Gabe stared over William towards Travis who just smiled and shrugged, squinting his eyes. Travis just indirectly ditched him for the new boy; even if Gabe was considering the same thing. His friend had initiated a new type of war, and Gabe wasn’t going to lose this one either.
He placed his hand on Will’s back and rubbed slow, gentle circles, doing what his mother always did for him when he was crying. Mrs. Remson went back to the front of the room, giving Gabe a small smile of approval, working on teaching the class over Will’s muffled sobs. Travis’s smile fell to a glare as he grabbed his pencil again, Gabe just smirking with satisfaction.
There was no way Travis was going to let Gabe win this either.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“I call Will!” Gabe announced as soon as they were directed outside for recess after lunch. He grabbed the new boy’s hand and started to walk away towards the playground where Brendon was already working on scaling as ‘king’ to rule his domain. Travis reached out to take Will’s free hand, preventing him from being dragged away.
“You already have five people on your team! He’s on mine!” Travis said, pulling the boy towards him.
“So do you and I called him first!” Gabe replied with an angered look, tugging on William’s long arm and making him stumble a little on the hill they were standing on as he got pulled like a rag doll between them. “So he’s on my team!”
“No, ‘cause I saw him first!” Travis replied as though it was an acceptable answer automatically. “So let go!”
“You!” Gabe snapped, digging his heels into the hill with both hands around Will’s and pulling on him. Will whimpered as his arm got yanked from his shoulder, but he didn’t say anything because honestly, he was slightly afraid of the two. “I called him first so he’s on my team! Beside, Ryan doesn’t count as a person ‘cause he doesn’t do anything!”
“Neither does Patrick so we’re still the same!” Travis matched Gabe’s position, pulling on Will’s other arm and causing the boy to physically express pain in his face. “And you already have the playground so I get the new kid!”
“Well Pete counts for two people ‘cause he’s crazy!” Gabe grunted, using most all his strength to pull. That made William cry out, eyes shutting tightly. “So Will is on my team and you need to let him go!” Will started to actually cry.
“Both of you need to let him go!” Alex frowned, noticing the distress of the boy being fought over. “You’re really hurting him!” he grabbed both of William’s wrists from the two boys and releasing them. Will rubbed his wrists, letting Alex gently take his hand and lead him away towards the swing set where Nate was patiently swaying.
“You made him cry!” Gabe yelled at Travis, pushing his chest.
“No, you did!” Travis responded as he pushed Gabe back.
“You were pulling his arm!”
“You were too!” Travis pushed Gabe again, making him stumble on the hill.
“Well you were pulling too hard!” Gabe shoved Travis even harder so he fell down to his butt. “You hurt him!” he frowned.
“No, you hurt him!” Travis pushed himself off the ground to shove Gabe, making Gabe lose his footing and fall down, grabbing at Travis’ leg to keep from falling but only resulting in both tumbling down the hill. “What was that for?!” Travis yelled, landing on top of Gabe at the base of the hill.
“You pushed me!” Gabe said, forcing Travis off. “And now my mommy’s gonna be all mad ‘cause you ruined my shirt!”
“You ruined my pants!” Travis exclaimed, pointing to the grass stain surrounding the ripped knee of his jeans.
“I wish it was your face!” Gabe snapped, eyebrows pulling tight together and biting his lip.
“Your face already is!” Travis glared at Gabe, trying to brush his hair out when Gabe shoved his foot into Travis’ stomach and forcing him back. “Ow! That hurt!” he whined, grabbing his stomach. Gabe sat up and looked over his shirt which was streaked with various shades of green from the hill. Travis lifted his own leg to his friend, hitting him in the side of the head unintentionally.
Instead of crying like most children, Gabe launched himself at Travis to beat him up.
They both got detention for the remainder of the week.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Detention in the second grade was basically an extended edition of time out. A desk in the back of the classroom was designated for said naughty children, away from the rest of the class. It sat near the teacher’s desk for her to keep a close eye on anyone who was there while she wasn’t directly teaching. On the wall behind the detention desk was the wall of little cards in three various colors; resting in pockets addressed with each students name. Green meant the student was behaving properly. Yellow meant they had been warned and would miss out on that days recess; or the next day should it of occurred after playtime. A note would also be sent home for the parents to address their child’s misbehavior.
Red, which is where Gabe and Travis currently found themselves, was the worst. It meant the principal was advised, the parent’s were called, and the student, in this case, students, received detention. Rarely did anyone in the class do something bad enough to reach that bright red card behind their name; but fighting was that bad.
Being in detention meant no recess for the assigned time based on the crime; a week for physical fighting. It meant no talking to anyone other than the teacher, and only when asked a specific question. It meant no going to the bookshelf with a friend during story time to select a book to practice reading. It meant no eating lunch with friends, trading snacks for more desirable ones, but rather sitting at the detention table in the classroom while the teacher ate and/or graded papers.
It meant no William.
“I hate you.” Gabe hissed to Travis who sat on the other end of the hated table, staring intently at the math work he was given as punishment . Well, that’s how Gabe viewed it. The assignment was really given to everyone. But, unlike everyone, Gabe couldn’t ask his classmates for any help. He had to attempt it all on his own.
“I hate you more.” Travis lowly replied, supporting his head on his palms with his elbows digging into the table. He already knew he was going to get in big trouble with his mom; he heard her voice over the phone as the principal talked to her about what had occurred at recess.
“Well I hate you most!” Gabe’s voice grew a tiny bit, still in a hushed tone to keep the teacher from hearing; looking up with a glare at his currently ex-best friend.
“I hate you most times a hundred!” Travis snapped back, looking up with his own angered glare towards Gabe.
“I hate you most times infinity!”
“Infinity’s not a number!” Travis scoffed, releasing his head and dropping his hands down to the table.
“Yeah huh!” Gabe sneered, leaning forward onto the desk; knuckles white from tightly gripping his pencil who’s point he had long since exhausted by drawing snakes all over his paper. Cobra’s, if you ask him. Cobra’s eating and/or attacking stick figure so nicely labeled ‘Travis’ which had ‘x’’s for eyes and a tongue hanging out from a line-mouth. “It goes on forever and ever! Like grown-up happy time!”
“It’s not a number ‘cause you can’t write it so it doesn’t exist!” Travis offered in response. His own paper was decorated as well; his drawings being of himself on the ‘castle’ playground with a stick figure he labeled ‘Will’ which had a large grin. To the side a little stick figure labeled ‘Gabe’ was lying on the ground, also with x-eyes and large tongue hanging to the side, being assaulted by more stick figures holding the eight-year-olds attempt at swords. “You’re just stupid!”
“My mommy tells me she loves me times infinity! And my mommy doesn’t lie!” Gabe’s voice was angry and loud, eyebrows so tightly pulled together they threatened to merge into one. Mrs. Remson looked back at the two, frowning, and giving each a stern look that told them to settle because they weren’t supposed to make noise. Violating detention only increased its gestation. “So you’re the stupid one!” he hissed out quietly, head tilted down to look like he was doing his work.
“You’re just jealous ‘cause Will likes me more,” Travis mumbled, propping his head on one arm now and absently doodling a tornado he decided was coming to eat Gabe as well.
“He does not!” Gabe looked back up. “He likes me more! You’re jealous!” Travis scoffed and met Gabe’s glare again.
“If he liked you then why’d he cry when you touched him?” Travis partially smiled, Gabe’s pencil snapping in half under his forceful pressure.
“He cried ‘cause you pulled his arm really hard and hurt him!” he frowned, the broken edges of the pencil digging into his hand.
“You hurt him!” Travis’ smile fell as he accused Gabe yet again. “You pulled his arm too hard!”
“Boys!” Mrs. Remson scolded them again, both instantly dropping their heads. “One more word out of either of you and you can sit in the principals office until your parents come, understood?” A few students turned back towards the detention duo.
“Yes, Mrs. Remson.” Both of them miserably muttered, eyes shifting up to glare at each other as Mrs. Remson went back to showing everyone else the different oceans.
~+~+~+~+~+~
When Mrs. Remson announced it was reading time, all the students shuffled from their seats and headed to the bookcase-enclosed section beside the large windows that had a colorful mat bearing the 26 letters of the alphabet as well as numbers 1-10; sitting on either the mat itself or on the pillows and chairs scattered across. Will didn’t move though; just finished on carefully coloring in the labeled oceans on the paper with his blue colored-pencil. He didn’t look up until he noticed movement to his right; eyes falling on a very happy looking boy he didn’t know the name of.
“I’m Brendon!” the boy introduced himself, grinning larger than the Cheshire cat. William was a little taken back by Brendon; he had messy brown hair and really bright red glasses resting over very large brown eyes that, if you looked close enough, never truly sat still. Brendon had far too much curiosity. “Wanna be my friend?” he asked beamingly, throwing his arm out with his hand just barely missing Will’s face as though he intended Will to shake it.
“Uh…” Will stuttered, not used to anyone being so direct with him. In his old school, the one he missed terribly, he was always left alone by his classmates. He just did his work and kept to himself; though he did have one best friend. The boys name was Adam Siska, but he went by ‘Sisky’ since there were other Adam’s in their class. William missed Sisky more than anything.
“It’s story time so you’re s’post to go to the reading corner and find a book to read aloud with a partner but since there’s no one for you to read with, you can come read with me ‘n Ryan ‘cause Ryan is the bestest reader in the class and gives all the characters their own voices! Like a movie!” Will stared at Brendon with a slightly shocked look because he had never met anyone who could talk so much without taking a breath in between. Before he had any time to reply though, Brendon grabbed his wrist, making him drop his pencil, and pulled him from the chair. “Ryan! Will is gonna join us!” he called, dragging Will towards where the other boy sat.
He was completely oblivious to the two pairs of eyes glaring daggers into their backs.
Ryan sat beneath one of the windows leaking sunlight into the classroom, legs folded in front of him and looking lost in his own world. He gave a small frown to the extra boy but Brendon didn’t notice as he fell down, pulling William to the ground with him and sitting on his knees. “Ryan, this is our new friend, Will. He’s got no partner ‘cause he’s new so he’s gonna join us.”
“Oh,” Ryan mumbled, dragging his fingers over the rough mat in front of him. William could tell he didn’t want him there and was about to leave to go back to his coloring when Brendon stopped him.
“You get a book, Will, ‘cause you’re new, and Ryan can read it ‘cause he knows how to read every book we have!” Brendon admired, eyes wide and large grin on his face again. Ryan’s cheeks reddened a tiny bit to his friend’s statement, Brendon making it sound like Ryan was a prodigy or something. He just loved to read; he had for years. “The books with the green stickers are easy to read and the ones with blue stickers are harder. But Ryan knows how to read the ones with yellow stickers which are like, fourth grader books!” Brendon exclaimed some more.
“Bren, stop.” Ryan lightly hit Brendon’s arm to silence him; everyone settling with books and partners to start. Patrick was reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie to Pete, Alex reading Where the Wild Things Are to Nate, and Jon Cinderella to Spencer.
“It’s very nice of you two to invite William to come read with you.” Mrs. Remson stood beside the three, smiling down satisfactorily at them. “Have you chosen a book?”
“Not yet ‘cause Will gets to choose since he’s new and has to hear how good a reader Ryan is!” Brendon smiled, tilting his head back to look up at his teacher proudly.
“Ryan is a very good reader.” Mrs. Remson agreed. “Our books are all on the shelf, Will. Go pick one out.” She urged, William nodding and pushing himself to his feet. He wouldn’t disobey his teacher. Walking to the bookshelf, Will glanced up towards the detention table to find both Gabe and Travis staring intently at him. He quickly looked away, reaching the rows of books, and sat down on his knees to trace his finger over the spines to find one.
Will chose Charlotte's Web and carried it close to his chest back towards Ryan. Shyly, Will extended the story to Ryan, not looking into his eyes as Ryan took the book from him. “I love that book!” Brendon smiled, crawling towards Ryan to cozy up as close to him as he could; laying his head on Ryan’s shoulder. Will kept his distance in front of the two, looking over his shoulder towards the detention table once more but unable to see past the shelf and frowned.
He didn’t understand why he was so interesting to the two who had tried to rip his arms from their sockets earlier that day.
Ryan opened the book to the first page and started to read quietly, William’s attention falling back on his ‘friends’ to listen to the story, praying that, since he couldn’t quite read the clock, it was almost three. He wanted to go home and curl up with his teddy bear on his bed, hoping to fall asleep and wake up back in Chicago.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
It was an anticipated day when Gabe and Travis were allowed to play at recess again because they knew how to make things fun. Kingdom basically died out until they came back because Brendon only sang Disney tunes the entire time, trying to encourage everyone else to sing too. And if someone wanted to get on the playground, he let them, instead of fighting for the protection of the ‘castle’. Pete had decided to be king, but a mutiny was held because Pete would only let Patrick come within the surrounding wooden chip-pit of the playground; and that just annoyed everyone.
No one else bothered to take the position. It was far more entertaining to be headed by the two leaders they’d been deprived of for a week.
William sat on the swings as he did most every recess, not really swinging but letting his body sway gently, dragging his feet in the wooden chips and watching everyone else play. He still didn’t feel completely comfortable around everyone, though he was slightly less shy than in the beginning, because everyone seemed tight with each other and Will didn’t want to put himself between anyone; though Brendon seemed to drag him around and he often found Gabe and Travis looking at him.
At least they weren’t physically fighting anymore and seemed to stop arguing.
“We’re doing this wrong,” Gabe said the day they were let back onto the playground after lunch. He had never been happier to go outside in all his life.
“What wrong?” Travis asked, scaling the playground by its slippery slide.
“Will.” he replied, starting up the slide behind his re-instated best friend. They had gone trick-or-treating together and, after a few candy exchanges, everything seemed to be better between them. “He needs a new name too.”
“Why?” Travis reached out to help Gabe as he got to the top, pulling his friend up to stand on the brightly painted metal deck. “What’s wrong with his name now?”
“I dunno.” Gabe shrugged, looking towards the swings. “But he needs a new name. A name only we can use.” Travis pursed his lips together in thought, watching the boy rock back and forth alone. “Like I call you Travie and you call me Gabanti.”
“Hmm…” Travis hummed, starting up to reach the highest level. “But what do we call him then?”
“Everyone calls him Will…” Gabe thought aloud, pulling his body up after Travis.
“Bill?” Travis tried, sitting down and crossing his legs, looking through the protective bars to find all their friends scattered across the surrounding area, doing their own things. “’Cause his last name begins with a ‘b’ and it’s like his name.”
“Nah.” Gabe shook his head, sitting down opposite Travis. “That sounds too grown up.” he rested his chin in his hands, his elbows digging into his thighs and eyes locked on William. “How about…Billie? That fits with our names.”
“Ew.” Travis shook his head, his hair bouncing lightly. “That sounds like a bully ‘n he is too quiet ‘n stuff.” Gabe had to agree. “Bilvy?” Travis tried after a few moments after, Gabe looking to his friend and tilting his head. “That’s like mine but with ‘Bill’ for him.” A smile slowly came over Gabe’s mouth.
“Bilvy…” he tried it out, smiling more. “I like that.” Gabe nodded, Travis triumphantly smiling. “Should we go tell him?” Travis nodded, both scrambling up and racing to the large slide to quickly get back down to the ground; running towards the swings as fast as their legs would take them. It helped that they both were unusually tall for their age.
Will looked up to see the two charging for him, his eyes widening and hands gripping the metal chains of the swing tightly incase they ran into him so he wouldn’t fall off. His heart beat a little faster, digging his sneakers into the chips, and shutting his eyes to prepare for the blow. “Hey Will!” one of them called out, William unsure of their voices since they had been forced to keep quiet almost the entire time he had been at the school.
“Your new name is ‘Bilvy’!” the other said, William opening his eyes in confusion as the two skidded to a halt right in front of him; sending little wood chips flying into his jean-clad legs.
“W-what?” he shyly asked, eyebrows pulling together slightly.
“Your new name is Bilvy.” Travis, the first that spoke to him, said with a large grin; though nowhere near as big as Brendon’s.
“But only we can call you that.” Gabe said, smile matching his friends.
“Why?” William hesitantly asked, almost afraid they would hurt him for talking. Their grins didn’t falter though.
“’Cause I call Travis, ‘Travie’;”
“And I call Gabe, ‘Gabanti’; sometimes ‘Gabey’.” Gabe nodded to his friends words.
“Your name is Will and your last name begins with a ‘b’ and ‘Bilvy’ rhymes with Travie and Gabanti and even Gabey.” Gabe told him. “My whole name is Gabriel but only my mommy and daddy use that when I’m in trouble.”
“Oh…” Will’s expression relaxed a little, still really confused. “Okay.” He went along with it, afraid of getting hurt should he try to object. Everyone called him ‘Will’ because it was a shorter version of his name and because he was named after his father so it helped to distinguish who was being talked to.
“But only Gabe ‘n me can call you ‘Bilvy’, got it?” Travis gave Will a slightly stern look. William bit the inside of his lip and nodded. “Wanna play kingdom with us?”
“N-no…” Will hesitantly answered, wanting the two to go away now. “I-I’m fine on the s-swing…”
“Well…” Gabe’s and Travis’ faces dropped some. “Join us whenever, okay? It’s lots of fun!”
“Okay…” Will mumbled, looking back to his feet as the two frowned and turned to leave. Travis sighed miserably, Gabe nodding, having learned their lesson in trying to force Will to do anything.
“King!” Gabe suddenly shouted, running swiftly for the playground.
“That’s not fair!” Travis yelled after him, bolting away a moment later. William looked up to watch them leave, still unable to figure out why they were so interested in him; why they renamed him. “Gabe! You’re not king!”
“I called it!” Gabe’s voice drifted back to William. He tilted back to lightly swing again, eyes never leaving the two as they began to race around the playground, battling it out. Whatever Will was afraid of seemed almost trivial as suddenly everyone else joined in; leaving William to the wind and the quiet squeaking of the metal above him.
~+~+~+~+~+~
“Mommy?” William stopped his mother as she was about to leave his room after tucking him for bed.
“Yes baby?” She had one hand on the golden knob of his door and another on the doorframe.
“Why do people fight?” he asked, looking at her with genuinely innocent and curious brown eyes.
“People fight for all sorts of reasons.” his mother replied, her facial expression forming to something more worried. “Why? Is someone fighting with you?” She left the door to walk back to the bed where William laid.
“No.” He shook his head, turning onto his side and curling up with his arms holding his teddy bear securely against his chest. His mother’s face relaxed as she sat on the edge beside him, reaching up to stroke his soft hair back.
“Then why the sudden interest?” she asked him, tucking Will’s bangs behind his ear. He shrugged, the blanket sliding off his shoulder and bunching up at his chest. “William.” His mom gave him a stern look, wanting to know what her son was keeping back, pulling the blanket up over his body again. “You can tell me, baby,” she said, stroking the side of his face gently.
“What if two people fight over me?” William asked instead, holding his bear a little tighter. It was his safety device; nothing bad could happen when it was in his arms. His mom smiled and sat up straight on the bed again, her chest loosening and her breathing relaxing.
“That means they like you.” She told him with a tiny smirk. “They each have a crush on you and don’t want to share.” William wouldn’t tell her they were boys; he knew from bible school that it was wrong. “Does that answer your question?” Will nodded because yeah, it sort of did. No one had ever had a crush on him before though; let alone physically battle it out. “Good. Now get some sleep so you can go see them at school again tomorrow.” His mom bent down and kissed the side of his head, standing up and straightening his blankets before walking back to the door.
“Thank you mommy.” Will called from his blanket cocoon before she slipped away.
“You’re welcome.” she smiled, flipping the switch to darken the room. “Good night, Will.” His mom pulled the door almost completely shut, leaving it open just a crack to let some light from the hall stream in. Will pressed his face into the pillow and shut his eyes, nearly splitting the stuffed animal in his arms in half as he clutched it against his chest.
Gabe and Travis only wanted to be William’s friend; like Brendon. They just don’t want to share his friendship. Ryan didn’t look like he wanted to share Brendon, after all. It couldn’t be because they had a crush on him because boys don’t like other boys that way. Boys like girls; like his daddy liked his mommy.
Still, William couldn’t help but wonder.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Thanksgiving came in no time and meant that their class was doing a little play to represent the pilgrims and their heritage. Everyone was given a role in the play which they would be performing in front of the entire school and all their parents the Friday before the actual holiday.
Ryan was assigned to read the little passages because he really was the best reader in the class, and didn't want an actual performing part anyway. Brendon was an Indian, the chief to be exact, and nearly fell over when he tried to walk with the headdress on. Pete was also an Indian, wanting to go around shirtless, along with Patrick, Jon, and Alex. Gabe, Travis, Spencer, and Nate were all the pilgrims.
William? He was the turkey. They forced him into a puffy costume he couldn't move in, just so he could get 'shot' and eaten.
He cried for an hour straight.
On the night of the performance, right before it was time for Will's role, Gabe and Travis proclaimed that the pilgrims were vegetarians, which meant they had no desire for turkey, leaving Will to sit off to the side in a costume that nearly ate him. The teacher apologized to the audience who merely laughed it off, they were young enough to get away with it, then gave the boys a look they knew all-too-well.
Neither Gabe nor Travis cared about getting in trouble though, because when they glanced off to the side, they received a grateful smile from the boy who simply didn't want to 'die'. It was more than worth the punishment.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
For Christmas they had a little party the day before break started, everyone talking eagerly about what they hoped Santa would bring them that year. Brendon trailed on and on and on about all the different Disney movies he wanted, Nate sharing his hope for a drum set, and Pete bragging about being 'naughty' all year long just to get coal to turn into a diamond for Patrick. There were cookies and candy and juice; everyone talking or coloring or basically whatever they wanted for the day.
William sat in the reading section of the classroom with a book in his lap, staring at the words with a slightly puzzled look because he could read; but not that well. The words tended to start jumbling up and making him frustrated; sometimes too blurry to read at all. His mother said he might need glasses but Will didn't want them so he started lying and saying he could see just fine; that he just couldn't read. "What cha doin' all alone over here, Bilvy?" Will looked up to see Gabe walking through the little opening between two bookshelves and towards him. "Don't you want candy 'n cookies 'n juice?"
"No." Will shook his head, looking back down at his book. "'m reading," he mumbled, going back to staring at the page he'd been on for a good five minutes at least.
"Oh." Gabe sat down beside the boy and leaned over to look at what it was he was reading. The Lonely Duckling. He crossed his legs and supported his head with his hands, watching Will, noticing how he really didn't seem to be making progression. "Can you read, Bilvy?" Will nodded.
"The words just...are mean sometimes and won't...stay still..." he quietly said, blinking his eyes a bit as that tended to help. He waited for Gabe to laugh or tell him he was stupid like other kids usually did, but Gabe just gave a nod of understanding.
"Do you want help?" Gabe offered instead, dropping his hands. William shook his head, pulling the book closer just in case. "Ok well, let me know if you do," he said just as Travis joined them. "'Cause I had a hard time learning to read 'cause my mommy and daddy speak Spanish so I didn't know English but Travie helped me."
"There you two are." Travis frowned, sitting on the opposite side of Will. "Why are you in here, Bilvy?"
"Reading," Will mumbled in response; just like he had to Gabe.
"Bilvy has problems reading." Gabe said, Travis nodding then sitting on his knees. "But he doesn't want help."
"They won't get better if you don't get help." Travis told the boy clinging to the book. "You should let us help you." William shook his head and pulled the book close enough to have the hard edge pressing into his stomach. "Why not?"
"'cause I wanna do it by myself." he answered.
"Did you learn to walk on your own or talk on your own?" Travis asked, William contemplating the words then shaking his head because he had seen videos of him when he was younger. His parent's held his hands to help him walk and always talked to him until he learned to talk back. "See? Ya can't learn something without help."
"I...I can read..." Will said, pulling his chin towards his chest. He didn't want them to think he was stupid. He wasn't; really.
"Lots of people can read," Gabe said, trying to help with the cause. "But there are different kinds of reading. Ryan can read books in the level five area but I can only read level three. He knows words too big for me."
"So let us help you." Travis repeated, trying to take the book away from Will. "I help Gabey with his math and he teaches me Spanish. We can teach you to read and you..." he bit on his lip, trying to think of something.
"Can talk to us more." Gabe filled in with a smile, Travis quickly mirroring his friend and nodding. "'Cause we want to be your friends, Bilvy." William stared at the glossy pages of the books then released his grip on it, dropping his hands to his lap.
"S'nothing to be uh-shamed of, Bilvy." Travis said, settling back down on his bottom beside Will with the book.
"A little help from us and you'll be reading higher than Ryan!" Gabe smiled brightly, Will lifting his head and managing a weak smile back. Travis held the book out for Will to see, flipping back to the first page, and started with the first words.
He used his hand to cover up the other words so all Will could focus on was the first one until he got it, slowly moving his hand along until the boy managed an entire sentence. William proudly smiled as he continued to read the uncovered words, moving closer to Travis while Gabe moved closer to him, until they were all pressed against each other.
It was a Christmas Will couldn't find under a tree or wrapped in colorful paper. It was better.
~+~+~+~+~
"He's my valentine!" Travis frowned, shoving Gabe away.
"No, he's my valentine!" Gabe answered angrily. Each held a handmade little folded card that bore a drawn image with 'Will' written across the front in crayon; standing before the bags all taped to the wall where everyone stuck their valentine cards. There was a bag for everyone; most kids using store bought cards to stick into the bags.
"My card is better!" Travis shot at Gabe while trying to drop the paper in the bag; Gabe smacking his arm away before he could.
"No, my card is better!" he challenged, shoving his little folded cardstock paper in Travis' face. "Plus, I got here first!"
"'Cause you pushed me!" Travis scowled.
"Did not!" Gabe gawked. "You fell 'cause you're stupid!"
"Your card is stupid!"
"Your face is stupid!" Gabe stuck his tongue out before getting trampled to the ground by Travis. Will sat at his desk, eyes a little wide, and watched the two begin to wrestle on the ground again. They were fighting over him; again. He looked towards Mrs. Remson who was busy with a few other students then back at Gabe and Travis who managed to switch positions; Gabe being over Travis now.
"Why don't you ask him who he'd rather have for a valentine?" Patrick suggested, pushing the two with his foot when they rolled towards his desk. Both suddenly stopped fighting, coming to the same revelation, and quickly stood up to look towards where William sat; charging for him a moment later. Will squeaked and jumped in his seat as the two bodies came flying into the table, words flying from their mouths faster than William could understand them.
Will stared for a moment then got out of his seat and went back to Mrs. Remson, asking if he could use the bathroom. Both boy's faces dropped as they watched Will disappear behind the wooden door; not returning until some odd minutes later only to go sit with Brendon and color.
~+~+~+~+~
It was a warm day when things suddenly changed.
They were outside on the playground during recess, as usual, when the big kids came out to play as well. Will rocked on his swing, kicking up little wood chips, occasionally glancing up towards the playground to watch everyone else play, when an older boy stood in his way. "Hey little kid; get off that swing!" The boy ordered, arms crossed and staring down at Will.
The swing stopped moving but William didn't get off; he just wrapped his hands tighter around the chains and stared down at the ground. "Are you deaf you stupid kid? I said move!" Suddenly Will was shoved backwards, losing his grip on the chains and falling backwards into the pile of wooden chips; legs still bent over the seat of the swing. He could feel the sharp edges stabbing into his skin and began to cry.
Hearing the familiar sound of distress, Gabe and Travis glanced towards the swing where they knew William spent his recess, eyes widening to see him on his back with an older kid laughing at him. Both quickly scrambled off the playground and ran across the field towards him; Gabe attacking the older kid while Travis went to make sure Will was ok. "Get off me!" The kid yelled, trying to shake Gabe off.
"You hurt Bilvy!" Gabe yelled at him, practically right into his ear, biting his shoulder for lack of limbs to make other assaults. The kid cried out, Gabe releasing him, then kicking him in the back of the knee to make him fall down. "No one hurts Bilvy!" Gabe firmly stated, kicking the older kid for good measure.
"You 'k, Bilvy?" Travis asked, carefully taking his legs off the swing and setting them on the ground. Will shook his head, getting chips in his hair, and reached his arms up as was his natural reaction for when he got hurt; to reach for someone for comfort. Travis didn't hesitate in helping him up, sitting him back on the swing and brushing the wooden chips away as Will clung to him for dear life; burying his face in Travis' chest as he cried. "S'okay, Bilvy." Travis tried to calm him, rubbing his back once he was sure he got most, if not all, of the little chips off him.
"Don't touch Bilvy again!" Gabe warned, kicking chips up at the boy who was crying himself before walking up behind Will and wrapping his arms around him so William was sandwiched between the two boys. The older kid got up and ran towards his teacher in tears, Will releasing Travis and wiping his eyes.
"Let's take you to the nurse," Travis said, ignoring his now wet shirt.
"My h-head hurts..." Will sniffled, digging his palms into his eyes.
"Want me to carry you?" Gabe suggested, figuring that he could give William a piggy back ride with no problem. He was forced to do it for Brendon once. Will nodded, choking some on his own tears. Travis helped Will from the swing again, holding his hand and pushing the swing aside as Gabe turned around; watching the bigger kid cry to his teacher and point back at them.
"I'm gonna lift you some." Travis told Will, wrapping his arms around the hurt boy's waist then lifting him up as much as he could. William slid his arms around Gabe's neck, bringing his legs up around Gabe's waist and pressing his face into the back of Gabe's shoulder. "You ok?" Travis asked, letting go slowly as Gabe locked his arms around Will's thighs to hold him. William nodded, sniffling some more, and crossed his limbs over each other to make it easier.
"All set?" Gabe asked, feeling William nod once more before slowly starting to walk up towards the teachers who were already beginning their way towards the swings to see what happened. Travis walked alongside the two, hand making large circles on Will's back to try and calm him; reaching up to pull his hair back as well.
Will settled against Gabe and tried to stop crying, body bouncing slightly as Gabe carried him and relaxing with Travis' hand on his back. It was that moment that William was suddenly thankful for the two's heavy interest in him because he was hurt and they were helping.
Maybe they weren't so bad after all.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Fifteen Years Later
"He's my best friend!"
"No, he's my best friend!"
"He's been my best friend for longer!"
"We play together more!" The arguing voices traveled up to William as he sat on the top of the hill, tossing a ball back and forth with the shy student he had. He looked towards the playground, freshly rebuilt and painted, seeing two girls fighting over a boy who was being tugged on. Will smiled, holding the ball as he caught it, then pushed himself from the ground.
"I have to go take care of something, Mikey." Will tossed the ball back down. "I'll be right back, okay?" Mikey nodded and sat down in the warm grass, curling his body around the ball to watch his teacher head off towards the playground to deal with his classmates. "Hayley, Greta," he used his more serious voice, "What's going on here?" Both girls released the poor boy and turned with matching looks of frustration up at William.
"Hayley is trying to steal Joe but he's my best friend!" Greta said, arm shooting out to point an accusing finger at the redhead standing a few feet away.
"Nu uh!" Hayley shot back, crossing her arms tightly. "Joe is my best friend and she's jealous 'cause we play together!" William tried not to start laughing. The situation brought up some familiar memories.
"Tell Hayley Joe's my best friend, Mr.B!" Greta whined, Will more focused on the frightened boy standing shyly between them.
"You both can be best friends with Joe," he said, squatting down to be more on their level. The two girls just stared with confusion, Will lightly laughing. "You know, when I was your age, I had the same thing happen to me."
"Really?!" Greta's eyes widened a bit with curiosity, Hayley dropping her arms.
"Mmmhm." William hummed with a small nod. "I had just moved here from Chicago and didn't know anyone and was afraid I wouldn't fit in, so I kept to myself. But two boys started fighting over me, both wanting to be my best friend, and ended up in a trouble a lot; they even hurt me on accident." Hayley's face gained some shock, as did Greta's; Joe taking in his teacher's words like a sponge does water.
"What happened?!" Greta urged.
"Who became your best friend?" Hayley asked.
"Both of them." he answered with a smile, hands hanging between his open legs. "One day some of the older kids came outside during our recess time to play. One of the older boys came to the swings where I was and pushed me backwards. Both of those boys ran over to make sure I was okay then brought me to the nurse. Since they both helped make me feel better, I decided I wanted them both as my best friends."
"Are they still your best friends?" Hayley asked, almost apprehensively.
"Yep; I see them every day." William smiled and nodded.
"Who are they?!" Greta quickly asked with a sense of excitement. It reminded Will of Brendon; the school's current music teacher.
"You really want to know?" Will asked, all three heads bouncing up and down. "My best friends are Gabe and Travis."
"Really?!" Greta half-gasped, eyes frighteningly wide. "Mr. Gabe and Mr. Travis are your best friends?!" Will hummed once more, standing up as his legs started to get stiff.
"You've been friends that long?!" Hayley looked up at him.
"Fifteen years." William nodded, still smiling, pushing his growing hair back out of his face to look at his students. "And I wouldn't want a day without them. So, the three of you can be best friends as long as you stop fighting like this. No one ever said you can only have one best friend. If I see anymore fighting, I'm going to have to give you time-out; understand?"
"Yes, Mr. B." All three chimed in perfect unison, dropping their heads in shame.
"Now, go have fun before we have to go back inside." Hayley and Greta both grabbed one of Joe's hands, spinning around and running towards the playground, practically dragging Joe along with them. Will shook his head, laughing, then turned to head back to play with Mikey who had taken to watching a butterfly close by.
He glanced at his watch and looked around to make sure everyone else was getting along, sighing contently and settling back on the hill as Mikey stood and tossed him the ball.
~+~+~+~
"Mr. B?" William looked up from his desk where he had been planning out the next weeks lessons to see Joe standing there; nervously.
"Hey Joe; what's up? Shouldn't you be out waiting for your bus?" he asked, sliding his glasses off and setting them on the desk. They were needed for reading mainly. Joe nodded, his curly semi-afro bouncing as he picked at the strap of his backpack. "Then what are you doing back in here?"
"I, uh, wanted to ask you a question," he mumbled, staring at his feet.
"Fire away." Will smiled, wanting to be as helpful as possible. There have been times he's gotten some pretty adventurous questions from his students. One such being why he lived with Gabe and Travis.
"Earlier...when Hayley and Greta were arguing...why...why were they arguing like that?" Joe's head lifted up, his brow creased and eyes pleading. "They...they never did before and...why does it matter who's my best friend?"
"It doesn't." William shook his head, easing some because it was a question he could simply answer. "I'll tell you the same thing my mom told me when I was little and asked the same exact question." He folded his hands on the desk and bent over a little. "They're fighting over you because they like you; they have a crush on you. And they don't want to share."
"But...they're...girls..." Joe's face twisted a little. One must remember it's a second grader that William's talking to so, naturally, the opposite sex can be nothing more than a friend.
"You'll understand one day." Will answered confidently, giving Joe a reassuring smile.
"Oh..." The boy's face fell to disappointment again and a small sigh escaped him. "Thanks, Mr. B."
"You're welcome Joe." Will watched the boy turn to head for the door. "Hey Joe;"
"Yeah?" Joe turned to face his teacher once more.
"It'll all work out in the end." A small smile tugged at Joe's mouth as he smiled, nodding then waving goodbye as he slid from the classroom. Will turned to face the window behind him, watching to see that Joe made it back out there before finishing his plans so he could leave.
~+~+~+~+~+~
William yawned and hugged himself tighter, curled up on the couch with Gabe and Travis who were currently playing video games; trying not to fall asleep. His shoulders rested in Gabe's lap, his head on the arm of the furniture, and his legs stretched over Travis' lap at the other end. This was how they often ended up when all on the couch, the three of them being equally tall, and William being the desire of the other two. He was, after all, their boyfriend.
"How you holdin' up there, Bilvy?" Gabe asked with an amused smile, glancing down to see Will's eyes fighting to stay open. Will hummed lightly, too tired to even form words, pressing his face into the soft material.
"Come on, babe; it's not even ten yet!" Travis said, releasing the controller with one hand to pat William's knee.
"Some of us work," Will mumbled into the arm of the couch, a yawn escaping his open mouth. "Early."
"You're the one who wanted to be a teacher," Gabe said, resting his elbows on Will's shoulder like a table. "For gremlins." Travis laughed, cursing a moment later at the game and making Gabe laugh.
"Hey;" William defended, turning so he on his back and looking up at one of his two boyfriends. It never bothered him that he was dating two guys at the same time. Sure, Gabe and Travis do shit together, but they mostly just share intimacy with him. It somehow became agreed long ago that it was okay for the two to both be dating Will at the same time. "Those gremlins happen to be just like us when we were little."
"Doubt it." Gabe scoffed, rapidly hitting a button on the controller.
"We were cool." Travis added, smirking as he was beating Gabe. "Plus, munchkins nowadays are far different from when we were little." William laughed that time, pushing himself into a sitting position, his butt resting on the cushion between the two, and swung his legs off Travis.
"Not really," he said, yawning a bit more. "Today I got to break up a fight that brought back some pretty interesting memories." Will smiled, folding his legs beneath him to sit on them.
"And what memories would those be?" Gabe asked, looping an arm around Will's waist to pull him back; kissing his head.
"Two of my students, Hayley and Greta, were fighting over who got to be Joe's best friend." William leaned against Gabe for support, glancing over to the screen. "And all I thought about was that time you two wrestled over me." Both men scoffed.
"Us?" Travis lifted an eyebrow.
"Fight?" Gabe asked with the same tone of voice.
"Over you?" Travis teased William with a smirk.
"I'm appalled by the thought, Bilvy," Gabe said, arm pressing into Will's stomach as Gabe reached for the controller.
"Why would we fight over you?" Travis continued to tease, Will frowning as though he was angry.
"Whatever the reason," he removed himself from Gabe's grip, "I seem to remember my arms nearly getting ripped off and you two getting a lot of detention."
"Doesn't ring a bell." Gabe smirked, eyes focused on the game.
"Nope; not at all." Travis shook his head. "I think you've been hanging around those kids a bit much, Bilvy." Will sighed, too tired to deal with their double teasing for much longer. He curled up between them and let his head rest against the back of the couch, almost asleep when Travis suddenly yelled 'King!'
"You totally cheated, McCoy!" Gabe accused him, dropping the controller to the ground.
"I did not!" Travis answered with a small sneer while laying his controller on the table.
"You did too!" Gabe pressed on, William groaning and pressing his face into the couch.
Some things just never changed.
"How?" Travis asked with disbelief, looking to Gabe with a raised eyebrow.
"You totally watched what I was doing!" Gabe exclaimed.
"Well there's only one screen so yeah, I could see what you were doing!" Travis rolled his eyes. Will lifted his head and grabbed the top of the couch, sliding his body up and over the back.
"You're not supposed to look when I go set my flag or you'll know exactly where to find it!" Gabe continued to argue.
"You always put it in the same spot!" Travis practically yelled; neither noticing Will heading off towards the bedroom. He was tired.
"I do not!"
"You do too!"
"Do not!" Gabe yelled, grabbing a square decorative pillow and throwing it at Travis.
"Do t-where's Bilvy?" Travis suddenly noticed when he swung his arms out to keep the pillow from smacking him in the face. Gabe was about to say something when he stopped, looking around with confusion.
"Where is Bilvy?" Gabe asked, finally noticing the boy's disappearance. "Bilvy! Where'd you go?!" he called out, looking over the back of the couch.
"Bed!" Will called back, already curled beneath the blanket and half asleep.
"Why didn't you say so?" Travis yelled out, the apartment they lived in being relatively small.
"You two were arguing." Will replied. "Again."
"Want us to join you?" Gabe asked, picking his controller up and setting it on the table.
"No." William curled into a ball. "I'm sleeping alone. You two can argue over the couch." Travis and Gabe shared a look, both frowning because it really wasn't the first time this had happened. Whenever they argued too much they ended up in the living room while Will got the large, warm, comfortable bed to himself.
He was, after all, their queen; and everyone knows the queen is really the one with the power.
They stared at each other, mentally arguing who was sleeping where, before Gabe suddenly kicked Travis; making him fall off the couch. Spreading his long limbs along the cushions and hugging a pillow beneath his head, he looked over the edge at Travis who had just barely missed the edge of the coffee table on his way down, smirking proudly. "King."
A/N--- there you go. It's not that great, I know, but I really just wanted to do something cute and funny and whatnot. Plus, thanks to miss_bilvy and crashingroom, I have a bit of an obsession with Travis/Will and Travis/Gabe/Will.
Next on my story agenda: Either my long story of mainly sex (seriously; its 19k and only like 1/4 done) or ch.6 of TWIH.
Don't forget to follow the new com; brokenbonefics
xoxo Tabi
Author: ipanicdaily
Pairing: Gabe/Will/Travis
Side Pairings: Brendon/Ryan, Nate/Alex, Jon/Spencer, and Pete/Patrick
POV: 3rd
Rating: PG; maybe PG-13 for hints of stuff.
Disclaimer: As real as Pluto still being a planet.
Summary: “No, ‘cause I saw him first!” Travis replied as though it was an acceptable answer automatically. “So let go!”
“You!” Gabe snapped, digging his heels into the hill with both hands around Will’s and pulling on him. Will whimpered as his arm got yanked from his shoulder, but he didn’t say anything because honestly, he was slightly afraid of the two. “I called him first so he’s on my team! Beside, Ryan doesn’t count as a person ‘cause he doesn’t do anything!”
“Neither does Patrick so we’re still the same!” Travis matched Gabe’s position, pulling on Will’s other arm and causing the boy to physically express pain in his face. “And you already have the playground so I get the new kid!”
“Well Pete counts for two people ‘cause he’s crazy!” Gabe grunted, using most all his strength to pull. That made William cry out, eyes shutting tightly. “So Will is on my team and you need to let him go!” Will started to actually cry.
Warning: uh....nothing, really...some mild childlike violence. You know; tantrum arguments and whatnot
Beta: lilrainforest
Word Count ~1o,ooo words
Author Notes: To the prompt of 'playground' in my prompt table. It's mainly a kid!fic just 'cause I was feeling in a fluffy/cute kind of mood.
Also posted in brokenbonefics
Gabe stood at the top of his kingdom, eyes squinted as he surveyed the land for the enemy. It was quiet, too quiet, only the sound of the light breeze rustling through the surrounding trees breaking the silence. His eyes darted between his trusted guards, checking to see that they were all doing their jobs. Nate was guarding the bridge while Alex took the tunnel; Ryan and Brendon sitting on the ground beside each other out back. Gabe gave the pair a slightly disappointed look because they were supposed to be protecting the castle from an invasion; not picking grass in an attempt to make each other bracelets.
It was the strong and clear call of ‘attack’ that brought everyone to life again; Gabe spinning around to see the enemy charging across the field towards them. They had an arm stretched high into the air as though proudly displaying a mighty sword, running in a scattered group while yelling. “Protect thine kingdom!” Gabe called to his own men, quickly exiting his spot on the highest platform to charge out towards the boys running for him.
Brendon grabbed Ryan’s hand and pulled him up, following Gabe while dragging a displeased Ryan alongside him. Nate and Alex went to the main level to protect their castle from anyone who made it past those charging for the field. Gabe used his already long legs to dodge the oncoming people and headed straight for their leader; Travis. The two had been battling out running the kingdom for some time.
Patrick, who was supposed to be helping Travis claim a victory, wandered off towards the small garden to see what types of bugs were on the flowers that day. Spencer had stopped running when Jon’s flip-flops bent and caused the boy to fall down; kneeling beside Jon with a frown to make sure he was okay. Jon was nearly crying over his now broken shoe. Ryan eventually managed to escape his overly-hyper friend to join Patrick by the garden where Ryan liked to look at all the different types and colors of flowers.
That left Gabe, Travis, Pete, and Brendon to actually ‘fight’. Both Pete and Brendon were equally matched in enthusiasm, yelling as loud as they possibly could while running straight for each other. Of course, something didn’t register in either boys brains, resulting into a head on collision between them. Brendon fell to the ground and rubbed his head, lower lip trembling and tears in his eyes while Pete started laughing.
In the end, as usual, it resulted with just Gabe and Travis left.
Gabe tackled Travis to the ground, holding tightly to his hoodie and trying to ‘kill’ him when Travis suddenly turned them over so he was above the other boy instead. “Any last words?” Travis asked, raising his arms overhead as though he was about to plunge a dagger into Gabe’s chest.
“Par-lay?” Gabe asked with a smile, Travis sighing and rolling his eyes as he dropped his arms.
“We’re not pirates, Gabe. That only works with pirates!”
“Says who?” Gabe frowned, thinking that the law should apply to everyone.
“Johnny Depp!” Travis exclaimed, giving Gabe that ‘duh’ look. “Par-lay only works for pirates and we aren’t playing pirates! We’re playing kingdom!”
“Oh;” Gabe replied, still smiling as he threw his arm up; fist colliding with Travis’ chest. “You’re dead.”
“You’re cheating!” Travis frowned, pushing Gabe’s hand away to cross his arms.
“Nuh uh!” Gabe frowned back, propping himself onto his elbows and wiggling out from underneath Travis.
“Yeah huh!” Travis angrily answered, eyebrows bunching together. “We were in time-out!”
“Nu uh!” Gabe shook his head. “No one called ‘time-out’! We were still playing!”
“You were being stupid and trying to play pirates suddenly to distract me when I was about to kill you! That’s cheating!” Travis snapped at the other boy.
“It wasn’t cheating! It was strategy!” Gabe crossed his own arms. “You’re dead and I’m still king!”
“No, you’re not!” Travis uncrossed his arms to push Gabe.
“Yes, I am!” Gabe pushed Travis back; Travis tackling Gabe to the ground. Gabe hit Travis’ arm, getting smacked back, both full on ready to engage in a physical battle when Travis’ body was suddenly shoved down onto Gabe.
“Now you’re both, dead and I’m king!” Gabe blew Travis’ curly afro from his face and squinted up towards the sun to see the proud smiling face of Brendon. “And Ryan’s my queen!” he yelled loud enough for the boy to hear.
“Mutiny!” Gabe gasped, Travis rolling off to the side. “Betrayed by my own man!”
“I thought you were dead…” Travis pouted, lying next to Gabe in the grass.
“Nope!” Brendon’s head whipped back and forth. “Pete ran into me then went to go bother Patrick so I came over here to kill you two ‘cause you didn’t see me!”
“Stupid smart kid.” Travis grumbled, shutting his eyes and taking in the warmth of the sun.
“Yay! I’m king!” Brendon threw his arms up into the air. “Everyone’s welcome in my castle! There will be no more battles and lots more talk about Disney and how much we love Ryan!” he took off towards the garden where Ryan currently was.
“Why do we hang out with him?” Travis asked, sad he didn’t get to be king yet again.
“’Cause his mom makes cupcakes for our birthdays.” Gabe answered, sitting up and looking to the new head of the playground who was boasting about having the crown.
“We could beat king out of him.” Travis suggested, sitting up as well.
“Travie!” Gabe smacked him in the shoulder. “He earned it!” Travis scoffed as the teacher called them all back in from the playground. “Beside,” Gabe stood up and reached down to help Travis, “It won’t be that hard to get back.” Travis smiled again in agreement.
“Still best friends?” Travis asked as he and Gabe headed back towards the school.
“Of course!” Gabe scoffed, taking Travis’ hand and starting to run. They had been best friends since they could walk and had promised each other that nothing was ever going to change that.
At least, that was until the new student came.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+
It was about a week before Halloween when the new kid arrived; William Beckett.
His mother walked him into the classroom where everyone was working on math, Gabe deciding that fractions were stupid excuses for numbers and that they shouldn’t have to do them; though their teacher disagreed. Of course, everyone’s heads snapped to the new boy, William shying away by burying his face into his mother’s side while holding her hand with a death grip.
“Class,” Mrs. Remson, their teacher, spoke. “This is William. He’s going to be joining our class. Can you say ‘hello’?” Like clockwork, everyone uttered ‘hello, William’, in near perfect unison. Both Gabe and Travis’ jaws stayed partially dropped as they stared. “Would you like to come sit with us, William?” Mrs. Remson asked. William shook his head.
William’s mother ushered him further inside, apologetically smiling at the teacher for her son’s behavior. Mrs. Remson just waved it off and went to greet the boy personally. “My name is Mrs. Remson, William. Do you go by William or something else?”
“Will,” the boy said into his mother’s shirt. He preferred the shortened version to the full.
“Well, Will, there are lots of people here who want to be your friend. Right?” she turned to the students. Brendon’s hand instantly shot up into the air as though he was volunteering for the job. “I know its scary coming into a new class when you don’t know anyone but I promise you’ll like it here. We have lots of fun together.” she rubbed the scared boy’s shoulder lightly.
“I have to go to work, William.” His mother said, trying to pry her son off. “I’ll be back at three to get you.”
“No!” Will yelled, holding tighter. Mrs. Remson helped to remove him from the woman, allowing her to escape, holding onto William’s wrist until his mother was practically out the door. “No! Let me go! I don’t want to stay!” he screamed, trying to escape his new teachers grip. “Mommy!”
“Love you,” she said before disappearing. Mrs. Remson released William who just fell to his knees and cried, not bothering to run after his mother who he knew was probably gone already.
“How about we get you a seat,” Mrs. Remson said to try and calm him down. As Gabe stared at William, Travis kicked his chair aside, sliding Gabe farther down the long table and nearly knocking him completely off, raising his hand high.
“Right here, Mrs. Remson!” he smiled, displaying the newly cleared space. She smiled and took Will’s hand to guide him towards Travis, grabbing a chair along the way to situate it between Gabe and Travis. Will hugged himself as he sat down in the small plastic chair, laying his head on the table to cry.
Gabe stared over William towards Travis who just smiled and shrugged, squinting his eyes. Travis just indirectly ditched him for the new boy; even if Gabe was considering the same thing. His friend had initiated a new type of war, and Gabe wasn’t going to lose this one either.
He placed his hand on Will’s back and rubbed slow, gentle circles, doing what his mother always did for him when he was crying. Mrs. Remson went back to the front of the room, giving Gabe a small smile of approval, working on teaching the class over Will’s muffled sobs. Travis’s smile fell to a glare as he grabbed his pencil again, Gabe just smirking with satisfaction.
There was no way Travis was going to let Gabe win this either.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
“I call Will!” Gabe announced as soon as they were directed outside for recess after lunch. He grabbed the new boy’s hand and started to walk away towards the playground where Brendon was already working on scaling as ‘king’ to rule his domain. Travis reached out to take Will’s free hand, preventing him from being dragged away.
“You already have five people on your team! He’s on mine!” Travis said, pulling the boy towards him.
“So do you and I called him first!” Gabe replied with an angered look, tugging on William’s long arm and making him stumble a little on the hill they were standing on as he got pulled like a rag doll between them. “So he’s on my team!”
“No, ‘cause I saw him first!” Travis replied as though it was an acceptable answer automatically. “So let go!”
“You!” Gabe snapped, digging his heels into the hill with both hands around Will’s and pulling on him. Will whimpered as his arm got yanked from his shoulder, but he didn’t say anything because honestly, he was slightly afraid of the two. “I called him first so he’s on my team! Beside, Ryan doesn’t count as a person ‘cause he doesn’t do anything!”
“Neither does Patrick so we’re still the same!” Travis matched Gabe’s position, pulling on Will’s other arm and causing the boy to physically express pain in his face. “And you already have the playground so I get the new kid!”
“Well Pete counts for two people ‘cause he’s crazy!” Gabe grunted, using most all his strength to pull. That made William cry out, eyes shutting tightly. “So Will is on my team and you need to let him go!” Will started to actually cry.
“Both of you need to let him go!” Alex frowned, noticing the distress of the boy being fought over. “You’re really hurting him!” he grabbed both of William’s wrists from the two boys and releasing them. Will rubbed his wrists, letting Alex gently take his hand and lead him away towards the swing set where Nate was patiently swaying.
“You made him cry!” Gabe yelled at Travis, pushing his chest.
“No, you did!” Travis responded as he pushed Gabe back.
“You were pulling his arm!”
“You were too!” Travis pushed Gabe again, making him stumble on the hill.
“Well you were pulling too hard!” Gabe shoved Travis even harder so he fell down to his butt. “You hurt him!” he frowned.
“No, you hurt him!” Travis pushed himself off the ground to shove Gabe, making Gabe lose his footing and fall down, grabbing at Travis’ leg to keep from falling but only resulting in both tumbling down the hill. “What was that for?!” Travis yelled, landing on top of Gabe at the base of the hill.
“You pushed me!” Gabe said, forcing Travis off. “And now my mommy’s gonna be all mad ‘cause you ruined my shirt!”
“You ruined my pants!” Travis exclaimed, pointing to the grass stain surrounding the ripped knee of his jeans.
“I wish it was your face!” Gabe snapped, eyebrows pulling tight together and biting his lip.
“Your face already is!” Travis glared at Gabe, trying to brush his hair out when Gabe shoved his foot into Travis’ stomach and forcing him back. “Ow! That hurt!” he whined, grabbing his stomach. Gabe sat up and looked over his shirt which was streaked with various shades of green from the hill. Travis lifted his own leg to his friend, hitting him in the side of the head unintentionally.
Instead of crying like most children, Gabe launched himself at Travis to beat him up.
They both got detention for the remainder of the week.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Detention in the second grade was basically an extended edition of time out. A desk in the back of the classroom was designated for said naughty children, away from the rest of the class. It sat near the teacher’s desk for her to keep a close eye on anyone who was there while she wasn’t directly teaching. On the wall behind the detention desk was the wall of little cards in three various colors; resting in pockets addressed with each students name. Green meant the student was behaving properly. Yellow meant they had been warned and would miss out on that days recess; or the next day should it of occurred after playtime. A note would also be sent home for the parents to address their child’s misbehavior.
Red, which is where Gabe and Travis currently found themselves, was the worst. It meant the principal was advised, the parent’s were called, and the student, in this case, students, received detention. Rarely did anyone in the class do something bad enough to reach that bright red card behind their name; but fighting was that bad.
Being in detention meant no recess for the assigned time based on the crime; a week for physical fighting. It meant no talking to anyone other than the teacher, and only when asked a specific question. It meant no going to the bookshelf with a friend during story time to select a book to practice reading. It meant no eating lunch with friends, trading snacks for more desirable ones, but rather sitting at the detention table in the classroom while the teacher ate and/or graded papers.
It meant no William.
“I hate you.” Gabe hissed to Travis who sat on the other end of the hated table, staring intently at the math work he was given as punishment . Well, that’s how Gabe viewed it. The assignment was really given to everyone. But, unlike everyone, Gabe couldn’t ask his classmates for any help. He had to attempt it all on his own.
“I hate you more.” Travis lowly replied, supporting his head on his palms with his elbows digging into the table. He already knew he was going to get in big trouble with his mom; he heard her voice over the phone as the principal talked to her about what had occurred at recess.
“Well I hate you most!” Gabe’s voice grew a tiny bit, still in a hushed tone to keep the teacher from hearing; looking up with a glare at his currently ex-best friend.
“I hate you most times a hundred!” Travis snapped back, looking up with his own angered glare towards Gabe.
“I hate you most times infinity!”
“Infinity’s not a number!” Travis scoffed, releasing his head and dropping his hands down to the table.
“Yeah huh!” Gabe sneered, leaning forward onto the desk; knuckles white from tightly gripping his pencil who’s point he had long since exhausted by drawing snakes all over his paper. Cobra’s, if you ask him. Cobra’s eating and/or attacking stick figure so nicely labeled ‘Travis’ which had ‘x’’s for eyes and a tongue hanging out from a line-mouth. “It goes on forever and ever! Like grown-up happy time!”
“It’s not a number ‘cause you can’t write it so it doesn’t exist!” Travis offered in response. His own paper was decorated as well; his drawings being of himself on the ‘castle’ playground with a stick figure he labeled ‘Will’ which had a large grin. To the side a little stick figure labeled ‘Gabe’ was lying on the ground, also with x-eyes and large tongue hanging to the side, being assaulted by more stick figures holding the eight-year-olds attempt at swords. “You’re just stupid!”
“My mommy tells me she loves me times infinity! And my mommy doesn’t lie!” Gabe’s voice was angry and loud, eyebrows so tightly pulled together they threatened to merge into one. Mrs. Remson looked back at the two, frowning, and giving each a stern look that told them to settle because they weren’t supposed to make noise. Violating detention only increased its gestation. “So you’re the stupid one!” he hissed out quietly, head tilted down to look like he was doing his work.
“You’re just jealous ‘cause Will likes me more,” Travis mumbled, propping his head on one arm now and absently doodling a tornado he decided was coming to eat Gabe as well.
“He does not!” Gabe looked back up. “He likes me more! You’re jealous!” Travis scoffed and met Gabe’s glare again.
“If he liked you then why’d he cry when you touched him?” Travis partially smiled, Gabe’s pencil snapping in half under his forceful pressure.
“He cried ‘cause you pulled his arm really hard and hurt him!” he frowned, the broken edges of the pencil digging into his hand.
“You hurt him!” Travis’ smile fell as he accused Gabe yet again. “You pulled his arm too hard!”
“Boys!” Mrs. Remson scolded them again, both instantly dropping their heads. “One more word out of either of you and you can sit in the principals office until your parents come, understood?” A few students turned back towards the detention duo.
“Yes, Mrs. Remson.” Both of them miserably muttered, eyes shifting up to glare at each other as Mrs. Remson went back to showing everyone else the different oceans.
~+~+~+~+~+~
When Mrs. Remson announced it was reading time, all the students shuffled from their seats and headed to the bookcase-enclosed section beside the large windows that had a colorful mat bearing the 26 letters of the alphabet as well as numbers 1-10; sitting on either the mat itself or on the pillows and chairs scattered across. Will didn’t move though; just finished on carefully coloring in the labeled oceans on the paper with his blue colored-pencil. He didn’t look up until he noticed movement to his right; eyes falling on a very happy looking boy he didn’t know the name of.
“I’m Brendon!” the boy introduced himself, grinning larger than the Cheshire cat. William was a little taken back by Brendon; he had messy brown hair and really bright red glasses resting over very large brown eyes that, if you looked close enough, never truly sat still. Brendon had far too much curiosity. “Wanna be my friend?” he asked beamingly, throwing his arm out with his hand just barely missing Will’s face as though he intended Will to shake it.
“Uh…” Will stuttered, not used to anyone being so direct with him. In his old school, the one he missed terribly, he was always left alone by his classmates. He just did his work and kept to himself; though he did have one best friend. The boys name was Adam Siska, but he went by ‘Sisky’ since there were other Adam’s in their class. William missed Sisky more than anything.
“It’s story time so you’re s’post to go to the reading corner and find a book to read aloud with a partner but since there’s no one for you to read with, you can come read with me ‘n Ryan ‘cause Ryan is the bestest reader in the class and gives all the characters their own voices! Like a movie!” Will stared at Brendon with a slightly shocked look because he had never met anyone who could talk so much without taking a breath in between. Before he had any time to reply though, Brendon grabbed his wrist, making him drop his pencil, and pulled him from the chair. “Ryan! Will is gonna join us!” he called, dragging Will towards where the other boy sat.
He was completely oblivious to the two pairs of eyes glaring daggers into their backs.
Ryan sat beneath one of the windows leaking sunlight into the classroom, legs folded in front of him and looking lost in his own world. He gave a small frown to the extra boy but Brendon didn’t notice as he fell down, pulling William to the ground with him and sitting on his knees. “Ryan, this is our new friend, Will. He’s got no partner ‘cause he’s new so he’s gonna join us.”
“Oh,” Ryan mumbled, dragging his fingers over the rough mat in front of him. William could tell he didn’t want him there and was about to leave to go back to his coloring when Brendon stopped him.
“You get a book, Will, ‘cause you’re new, and Ryan can read it ‘cause he knows how to read every book we have!” Brendon admired, eyes wide and large grin on his face again. Ryan’s cheeks reddened a tiny bit to his friend’s statement, Brendon making it sound like Ryan was a prodigy or something. He just loved to read; he had for years. “The books with the green stickers are easy to read and the ones with blue stickers are harder. But Ryan knows how to read the ones with yellow stickers which are like, fourth grader books!” Brendon exclaimed some more.
“Bren, stop.” Ryan lightly hit Brendon’s arm to silence him; everyone settling with books and partners to start. Patrick was reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie to Pete, Alex reading Where the Wild Things Are to Nate, and Jon Cinderella to Spencer.
“It’s very nice of you two to invite William to come read with you.” Mrs. Remson stood beside the three, smiling down satisfactorily at them. “Have you chosen a book?”
“Not yet ‘cause Will gets to choose since he’s new and has to hear how good a reader Ryan is!” Brendon smiled, tilting his head back to look up at his teacher proudly.
“Ryan is a very good reader.” Mrs. Remson agreed. “Our books are all on the shelf, Will. Go pick one out.” She urged, William nodding and pushing himself to his feet. He wouldn’t disobey his teacher. Walking to the bookshelf, Will glanced up towards the detention table to find both Gabe and Travis staring intently at him. He quickly looked away, reaching the rows of books, and sat down on his knees to trace his finger over the spines to find one.
Will chose Charlotte's Web and carried it close to his chest back towards Ryan. Shyly, Will extended the story to Ryan, not looking into his eyes as Ryan took the book from him. “I love that book!” Brendon smiled, crawling towards Ryan to cozy up as close to him as he could; laying his head on Ryan’s shoulder. Will kept his distance in front of the two, looking over his shoulder towards the detention table once more but unable to see past the shelf and frowned.
He didn’t understand why he was so interesting to the two who had tried to rip his arms from their sockets earlier that day.
Ryan opened the book to the first page and started to read quietly, William’s attention falling back on his ‘friends’ to listen to the story, praying that, since he couldn’t quite read the clock, it was almost three. He wanted to go home and curl up with his teddy bear on his bed, hoping to fall asleep and wake up back in Chicago.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
It was an anticipated day when Gabe and Travis were allowed to play at recess again because they knew how to make things fun. Kingdom basically died out until they came back because Brendon only sang Disney tunes the entire time, trying to encourage everyone else to sing too. And if someone wanted to get on the playground, he let them, instead of fighting for the protection of the ‘castle’. Pete had decided to be king, but a mutiny was held because Pete would only let Patrick come within the surrounding wooden chip-pit of the playground; and that just annoyed everyone.
No one else bothered to take the position. It was far more entertaining to be headed by the two leaders they’d been deprived of for a week.
William sat on the swings as he did most every recess, not really swinging but letting his body sway gently, dragging his feet in the wooden chips and watching everyone else play. He still didn’t feel completely comfortable around everyone, though he was slightly less shy than in the beginning, because everyone seemed tight with each other and Will didn’t want to put himself between anyone; though Brendon seemed to drag him around and he often found Gabe and Travis looking at him.
At least they weren’t physically fighting anymore and seemed to stop arguing.
“We’re doing this wrong,” Gabe said the day they were let back onto the playground after lunch. He had never been happier to go outside in all his life.
“What wrong?” Travis asked, scaling the playground by its slippery slide.
“Will.” he replied, starting up the slide behind his re-instated best friend. They had gone trick-or-treating together and, after a few candy exchanges, everything seemed to be better between them. “He needs a new name too.”
“Why?” Travis reached out to help Gabe as he got to the top, pulling his friend up to stand on the brightly painted metal deck. “What’s wrong with his name now?”
“I dunno.” Gabe shrugged, looking towards the swings. “But he needs a new name. A name only we can use.” Travis pursed his lips together in thought, watching the boy rock back and forth alone. “Like I call you Travie and you call me Gabanti.”
“Hmm…” Travis hummed, starting up to reach the highest level. “But what do we call him then?”
“Everyone calls him Will…” Gabe thought aloud, pulling his body up after Travis.
“Bill?” Travis tried, sitting down and crossing his legs, looking through the protective bars to find all their friends scattered across the surrounding area, doing their own things. “’Cause his last name begins with a ‘b’ and it’s like his name.”
“Nah.” Gabe shook his head, sitting down opposite Travis. “That sounds too grown up.” he rested his chin in his hands, his elbows digging into his thighs and eyes locked on William. “How about…Billie? That fits with our names.”
“Ew.” Travis shook his head, his hair bouncing lightly. “That sounds like a bully ‘n he is too quiet ‘n stuff.” Gabe had to agree. “Bilvy?” Travis tried after a few moments after, Gabe looking to his friend and tilting his head. “That’s like mine but with ‘Bill’ for him.” A smile slowly came over Gabe’s mouth.
“Bilvy…” he tried it out, smiling more. “I like that.” Gabe nodded, Travis triumphantly smiling. “Should we go tell him?” Travis nodded, both scrambling up and racing to the large slide to quickly get back down to the ground; running towards the swings as fast as their legs would take them. It helped that they both were unusually tall for their age.
Will looked up to see the two charging for him, his eyes widening and hands gripping the metal chains of the swing tightly incase they ran into him so he wouldn’t fall off. His heart beat a little faster, digging his sneakers into the chips, and shutting his eyes to prepare for the blow. “Hey Will!” one of them called out, William unsure of their voices since they had been forced to keep quiet almost the entire time he had been at the school.
“Your new name is ‘Bilvy’!” the other said, William opening his eyes in confusion as the two skidded to a halt right in front of him; sending little wood chips flying into his jean-clad legs.
“W-what?” he shyly asked, eyebrows pulling together slightly.
“Your new name is Bilvy.” Travis, the first that spoke to him, said with a large grin; though nowhere near as big as Brendon’s.
“But only we can call you that.” Gabe said, smile matching his friends.
“Why?” William hesitantly asked, almost afraid they would hurt him for talking. Their grins didn’t falter though.
“’Cause I call Travis, ‘Travie’;”
“And I call Gabe, ‘Gabanti’; sometimes ‘Gabey’.” Gabe nodded to his friends words.
“Your name is Will and your last name begins with a ‘b’ and ‘Bilvy’ rhymes with Travie and Gabanti and even Gabey.” Gabe told him. “My whole name is Gabriel but only my mommy and daddy use that when I’m in trouble.”
“Oh…” Will’s expression relaxed a little, still really confused. “Okay.” He went along with it, afraid of getting hurt should he try to object. Everyone called him ‘Will’ because it was a shorter version of his name and because he was named after his father so it helped to distinguish who was being talked to.
“But only Gabe ‘n me can call you ‘Bilvy’, got it?” Travis gave Will a slightly stern look. William bit the inside of his lip and nodded. “Wanna play kingdom with us?”
“N-no…” Will hesitantly answered, wanting the two to go away now. “I-I’m fine on the s-swing…”
“Well…” Gabe’s and Travis’ faces dropped some. “Join us whenever, okay? It’s lots of fun!”
“Okay…” Will mumbled, looking back to his feet as the two frowned and turned to leave. Travis sighed miserably, Gabe nodding, having learned their lesson in trying to force Will to do anything.
“King!” Gabe suddenly shouted, running swiftly for the playground.
“That’s not fair!” Travis yelled after him, bolting away a moment later. William looked up to watch them leave, still unable to figure out why they were so interested in him; why they renamed him. “Gabe! You’re not king!”
“I called it!” Gabe’s voice drifted back to William. He tilted back to lightly swing again, eyes never leaving the two as they began to race around the playground, battling it out. Whatever Will was afraid of seemed almost trivial as suddenly everyone else joined in; leaving William to the wind and the quiet squeaking of the metal above him.
~+~+~+~+~+~
“Mommy?” William stopped his mother as she was about to leave his room after tucking him for bed.
“Yes baby?” She had one hand on the golden knob of his door and another on the doorframe.
“Why do people fight?” he asked, looking at her with genuinely innocent and curious brown eyes.
“People fight for all sorts of reasons.” his mother replied, her facial expression forming to something more worried. “Why? Is someone fighting with you?” She left the door to walk back to the bed where William laid.
“No.” He shook his head, turning onto his side and curling up with his arms holding his teddy bear securely against his chest. His mother’s face relaxed as she sat on the edge beside him, reaching up to stroke his soft hair back.
“Then why the sudden interest?” she asked him, tucking Will’s bangs behind his ear. He shrugged, the blanket sliding off his shoulder and bunching up at his chest. “William.” His mom gave him a stern look, wanting to know what her son was keeping back, pulling the blanket up over his body again. “You can tell me, baby,” she said, stroking the side of his face gently.
“What if two people fight over me?” William asked instead, holding his bear a little tighter. It was his safety device; nothing bad could happen when it was in his arms. His mom smiled and sat up straight on the bed again, her chest loosening and her breathing relaxing.
“That means they like you.” She told him with a tiny smirk. “They each have a crush on you and don’t want to share.” William wouldn’t tell her they were boys; he knew from bible school that it was wrong. “Does that answer your question?” Will nodded because yeah, it sort of did. No one had ever had a crush on him before though; let alone physically battle it out. “Good. Now get some sleep so you can go see them at school again tomorrow.” His mom bent down and kissed the side of his head, standing up and straightening his blankets before walking back to the door.
“Thank you mommy.” Will called from his blanket cocoon before she slipped away.
“You’re welcome.” she smiled, flipping the switch to darken the room. “Good night, Will.” His mom pulled the door almost completely shut, leaving it open just a crack to let some light from the hall stream in. Will pressed his face into the pillow and shut his eyes, nearly splitting the stuffed animal in his arms in half as he clutched it against his chest.
Gabe and Travis only wanted to be William’s friend; like Brendon. They just don’t want to share his friendship. Ryan didn’t look like he wanted to share Brendon, after all. It couldn’t be because they had a crush on him because boys don’t like other boys that way. Boys like girls; like his daddy liked his mommy.
Still, William couldn’t help but wonder.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Thanksgiving came in no time and meant that their class was doing a little play to represent the pilgrims and their heritage. Everyone was given a role in the play which they would be performing in front of the entire school and all their parents the Friday before the actual holiday.
Ryan was assigned to read the little passages because he really was the best reader in the class, and didn't want an actual performing part anyway. Brendon was an Indian, the chief to be exact, and nearly fell over when he tried to walk with the headdress on. Pete was also an Indian, wanting to go around shirtless, along with Patrick, Jon, and Alex. Gabe, Travis, Spencer, and Nate were all the pilgrims.
William? He was the turkey. They forced him into a puffy costume he couldn't move in, just so he could get 'shot' and eaten.
He cried for an hour straight.
On the night of the performance, right before it was time for Will's role, Gabe and Travis proclaimed that the pilgrims were vegetarians, which meant they had no desire for turkey, leaving Will to sit off to the side in a costume that nearly ate him. The teacher apologized to the audience who merely laughed it off, they were young enough to get away with it, then gave the boys a look they knew all-too-well.
Neither Gabe nor Travis cared about getting in trouble though, because when they glanced off to the side, they received a grateful smile from the boy who simply didn't want to 'die'. It was more than worth the punishment.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
For Christmas they had a little party the day before break started, everyone talking eagerly about what they hoped Santa would bring them that year. Brendon trailed on and on and on about all the different Disney movies he wanted, Nate sharing his hope for a drum set, and Pete bragging about being 'naughty' all year long just to get coal to turn into a diamond for Patrick. There were cookies and candy and juice; everyone talking or coloring or basically whatever they wanted for the day.
William sat in the reading section of the classroom with a book in his lap, staring at the words with a slightly puzzled look because he could read; but not that well. The words tended to start jumbling up and making him frustrated; sometimes too blurry to read at all. His mother said he might need glasses but Will didn't want them so he started lying and saying he could see just fine; that he just couldn't read. "What cha doin' all alone over here, Bilvy?" Will looked up to see Gabe walking through the little opening between two bookshelves and towards him. "Don't you want candy 'n cookies 'n juice?"
"No." Will shook his head, looking back down at his book. "'m reading," he mumbled, going back to staring at the page he'd been on for a good five minutes at least.
"Oh." Gabe sat down beside the boy and leaned over to look at what it was he was reading. The Lonely Duckling. He crossed his legs and supported his head with his hands, watching Will, noticing how he really didn't seem to be making progression. "Can you read, Bilvy?" Will nodded.
"The words just...are mean sometimes and won't...stay still..." he quietly said, blinking his eyes a bit as that tended to help. He waited for Gabe to laugh or tell him he was stupid like other kids usually did, but Gabe just gave a nod of understanding.
"Do you want help?" Gabe offered instead, dropping his hands. William shook his head, pulling the book closer just in case. "Ok well, let me know if you do," he said just as Travis joined them. "'Cause I had a hard time learning to read 'cause my mommy and daddy speak Spanish so I didn't know English but Travie helped me."
"There you two are." Travis frowned, sitting on the opposite side of Will. "Why are you in here, Bilvy?"
"Reading," Will mumbled in response; just like he had to Gabe.
"Bilvy has problems reading." Gabe said, Travis nodding then sitting on his knees. "But he doesn't want help."
"They won't get better if you don't get help." Travis told the boy clinging to the book. "You should let us help you." William shook his head and pulled the book close enough to have the hard edge pressing into his stomach. "Why not?"
"'cause I wanna do it by myself." he answered.
"Did you learn to walk on your own or talk on your own?" Travis asked, William contemplating the words then shaking his head because he had seen videos of him when he was younger. His parent's held his hands to help him walk and always talked to him until he learned to talk back. "See? Ya can't learn something without help."
"I...I can read..." Will said, pulling his chin towards his chest. He didn't want them to think he was stupid. He wasn't; really.
"Lots of people can read," Gabe said, trying to help with the cause. "But there are different kinds of reading. Ryan can read books in the level five area but I can only read level three. He knows words too big for me."
"So let us help you." Travis repeated, trying to take the book away from Will. "I help Gabey with his math and he teaches me Spanish. We can teach you to read and you..." he bit on his lip, trying to think of something.
"Can talk to us more." Gabe filled in with a smile, Travis quickly mirroring his friend and nodding. "'Cause we want to be your friends, Bilvy." William stared at the glossy pages of the books then released his grip on it, dropping his hands to his lap.
"S'nothing to be uh-shamed of, Bilvy." Travis said, settling back down on his bottom beside Will with the book.
"A little help from us and you'll be reading higher than Ryan!" Gabe smiled brightly, Will lifting his head and managing a weak smile back. Travis held the book out for Will to see, flipping back to the first page, and started with the first words.
He used his hand to cover up the other words so all Will could focus on was the first one until he got it, slowly moving his hand along until the boy managed an entire sentence. William proudly smiled as he continued to read the uncovered words, moving closer to Travis while Gabe moved closer to him, until they were all pressed against each other.
It was a Christmas Will couldn't find under a tree or wrapped in colorful paper. It was better.
~+~+~+~+~
"He's my valentine!" Travis frowned, shoving Gabe away.
"No, he's my valentine!" Gabe answered angrily. Each held a handmade little folded card that bore a drawn image with 'Will' written across the front in crayon; standing before the bags all taped to the wall where everyone stuck their valentine cards. There was a bag for everyone; most kids using store bought cards to stick into the bags.
"My card is better!" Travis shot at Gabe while trying to drop the paper in the bag; Gabe smacking his arm away before he could.
"No, my card is better!" he challenged, shoving his little folded cardstock paper in Travis' face. "Plus, I got here first!"
"'Cause you pushed me!" Travis scowled.
"Did not!" Gabe gawked. "You fell 'cause you're stupid!"
"Your card is stupid!"
"Your face is stupid!" Gabe stuck his tongue out before getting trampled to the ground by Travis. Will sat at his desk, eyes a little wide, and watched the two begin to wrestle on the ground again. They were fighting over him; again. He looked towards Mrs. Remson who was busy with a few other students then back at Gabe and Travis who managed to switch positions; Gabe being over Travis now.
"Why don't you ask him who he'd rather have for a valentine?" Patrick suggested, pushing the two with his foot when they rolled towards his desk. Both suddenly stopped fighting, coming to the same revelation, and quickly stood up to look towards where William sat; charging for him a moment later. Will squeaked and jumped in his seat as the two bodies came flying into the table, words flying from their mouths faster than William could understand them.
Will stared for a moment then got out of his seat and went back to Mrs. Remson, asking if he could use the bathroom. Both boy's faces dropped as they watched Will disappear behind the wooden door; not returning until some odd minutes later only to go sit with Brendon and color.
~+~+~+~+~
It was a warm day when things suddenly changed.
They were outside on the playground during recess, as usual, when the big kids came out to play as well. Will rocked on his swing, kicking up little wood chips, occasionally glancing up towards the playground to watch everyone else play, when an older boy stood in his way. "Hey little kid; get off that swing!" The boy ordered, arms crossed and staring down at Will.
The swing stopped moving but William didn't get off; he just wrapped his hands tighter around the chains and stared down at the ground. "Are you deaf you stupid kid? I said move!" Suddenly Will was shoved backwards, losing his grip on the chains and falling backwards into the pile of wooden chips; legs still bent over the seat of the swing. He could feel the sharp edges stabbing into his skin and began to cry.
Hearing the familiar sound of distress, Gabe and Travis glanced towards the swing where they knew William spent his recess, eyes widening to see him on his back with an older kid laughing at him. Both quickly scrambled off the playground and ran across the field towards him; Gabe attacking the older kid while Travis went to make sure Will was ok. "Get off me!" The kid yelled, trying to shake Gabe off.
"You hurt Bilvy!" Gabe yelled at him, practically right into his ear, biting his shoulder for lack of limbs to make other assaults. The kid cried out, Gabe releasing him, then kicking him in the back of the knee to make him fall down. "No one hurts Bilvy!" Gabe firmly stated, kicking the older kid for good measure.
"You 'k, Bilvy?" Travis asked, carefully taking his legs off the swing and setting them on the ground. Will shook his head, getting chips in his hair, and reached his arms up as was his natural reaction for when he got hurt; to reach for someone for comfort. Travis didn't hesitate in helping him up, sitting him back on the swing and brushing the wooden chips away as Will clung to him for dear life; burying his face in Travis' chest as he cried. "S'okay, Bilvy." Travis tried to calm him, rubbing his back once he was sure he got most, if not all, of the little chips off him.
"Don't touch Bilvy again!" Gabe warned, kicking chips up at the boy who was crying himself before walking up behind Will and wrapping his arms around him so William was sandwiched between the two boys. The older kid got up and ran towards his teacher in tears, Will releasing Travis and wiping his eyes.
"Let's take you to the nurse," Travis said, ignoring his now wet shirt.
"My h-head hurts..." Will sniffled, digging his palms into his eyes.
"Want me to carry you?" Gabe suggested, figuring that he could give William a piggy back ride with no problem. He was forced to do it for Brendon once. Will nodded, choking some on his own tears. Travis helped Will from the swing again, holding his hand and pushing the swing aside as Gabe turned around; watching the bigger kid cry to his teacher and point back at them.
"I'm gonna lift you some." Travis told Will, wrapping his arms around the hurt boy's waist then lifting him up as much as he could. William slid his arms around Gabe's neck, bringing his legs up around Gabe's waist and pressing his face into the back of Gabe's shoulder. "You ok?" Travis asked, letting go slowly as Gabe locked his arms around Will's thighs to hold him. William nodded, sniffling some more, and crossed his limbs over each other to make it easier.
"All set?" Gabe asked, feeling William nod once more before slowly starting to walk up towards the teachers who were already beginning their way towards the swings to see what happened. Travis walked alongside the two, hand making large circles on Will's back to try and calm him; reaching up to pull his hair back as well.
Will settled against Gabe and tried to stop crying, body bouncing slightly as Gabe carried him and relaxing with Travis' hand on his back. It was that moment that William was suddenly thankful for the two's heavy interest in him because he was hurt and they were helping.
Maybe they weren't so bad after all.
~+~+~+~+~+~+~
Fifteen Years Later
"He's my best friend!"
"No, he's my best friend!"
"He's been my best friend for longer!"
"We play together more!" The arguing voices traveled up to William as he sat on the top of the hill, tossing a ball back and forth with the shy student he had. He looked towards the playground, freshly rebuilt and painted, seeing two girls fighting over a boy who was being tugged on. Will smiled, holding the ball as he caught it, then pushed himself from the ground.
"I have to go take care of something, Mikey." Will tossed the ball back down. "I'll be right back, okay?" Mikey nodded and sat down in the warm grass, curling his body around the ball to watch his teacher head off towards the playground to deal with his classmates. "Hayley, Greta," he used his more serious voice, "What's going on here?" Both girls released the poor boy and turned with matching looks of frustration up at William.
"Hayley is trying to steal Joe but he's my best friend!" Greta said, arm shooting out to point an accusing finger at the redhead standing a few feet away.
"Nu uh!" Hayley shot back, crossing her arms tightly. "Joe is my best friend and she's jealous 'cause we play together!" William tried not to start laughing. The situation brought up some familiar memories.
"Tell Hayley Joe's my best friend, Mr.B!" Greta whined, Will more focused on the frightened boy standing shyly between them.
"You both can be best friends with Joe," he said, squatting down to be more on their level. The two girls just stared with confusion, Will lightly laughing. "You know, when I was your age, I had the same thing happen to me."
"Really?!" Greta's eyes widened a bit with curiosity, Hayley dropping her arms.
"Mmmhm." William hummed with a small nod. "I had just moved here from Chicago and didn't know anyone and was afraid I wouldn't fit in, so I kept to myself. But two boys started fighting over me, both wanting to be my best friend, and ended up in a trouble a lot; they even hurt me on accident." Hayley's face gained some shock, as did Greta's; Joe taking in his teacher's words like a sponge does water.
"What happened?!" Greta urged.
"Who became your best friend?" Hayley asked.
"Both of them." he answered with a smile, hands hanging between his open legs. "One day some of the older kids came outside during our recess time to play. One of the older boys came to the swings where I was and pushed me backwards. Both of those boys ran over to make sure I was okay then brought me to the nurse. Since they both helped make me feel better, I decided I wanted them both as my best friends."
"Are they still your best friends?" Hayley asked, almost apprehensively.
"Yep; I see them every day." William smiled and nodded.
"Who are they?!" Greta quickly asked with a sense of excitement. It reminded Will of Brendon; the school's current music teacher.
"You really want to know?" Will asked, all three heads bouncing up and down. "My best friends are Gabe and Travis."
"Really?!" Greta half-gasped, eyes frighteningly wide. "Mr. Gabe and Mr. Travis are your best friends?!" Will hummed once more, standing up as his legs started to get stiff.
"You've been friends that long?!" Hayley looked up at him.
"Fifteen years." William nodded, still smiling, pushing his growing hair back out of his face to look at his students. "And I wouldn't want a day without them. So, the three of you can be best friends as long as you stop fighting like this. No one ever said you can only have one best friend. If I see anymore fighting, I'm going to have to give you time-out; understand?"
"Yes, Mr. B." All three chimed in perfect unison, dropping their heads in shame.
"Now, go have fun before we have to go back inside." Hayley and Greta both grabbed one of Joe's hands, spinning around and running towards the playground, practically dragging Joe along with them. Will shook his head, laughing, then turned to head back to play with Mikey who had taken to watching a butterfly close by.
He glanced at his watch and looked around to make sure everyone else was getting along, sighing contently and settling back on the hill as Mikey stood and tossed him the ball.
~+~+~+~
"Mr. B?" William looked up from his desk where he had been planning out the next weeks lessons to see Joe standing there; nervously.
"Hey Joe; what's up? Shouldn't you be out waiting for your bus?" he asked, sliding his glasses off and setting them on the desk. They were needed for reading mainly. Joe nodded, his curly semi-afro bouncing as he picked at the strap of his backpack. "Then what are you doing back in here?"
"I, uh, wanted to ask you a question," he mumbled, staring at his feet.
"Fire away." Will smiled, wanting to be as helpful as possible. There have been times he's gotten some pretty adventurous questions from his students. One such being why he lived with Gabe and Travis.
"Earlier...when Hayley and Greta were arguing...why...why were they arguing like that?" Joe's head lifted up, his brow creased and eyes pleading. "They...they never did before and...why does it matter who's my best friend?"
"It doesn't." William shook his head, easing some because it was a question he could simply answer. "I'll tell you the same thing my mom told me when I was little and asked the same exact question." He folded his hands on the desk and bent over a little. "They're fighting over you because they like you; they have a crush on you. And they don't want to share."
"But...they're...girls..." Joe's face twisted a little. One must remember it's a second grader that William's talking to so, naturally, the opposite sex can be nothing more than a friend.
"You'll understand one day." Will answered confidently, giving Joe a reassuring smile.
"Oh..." The boy's face fell to disappointment again and a small sigh escaped him. "Thanks, Mr. B."
"You're welcome Joe." Will watched the boy turn to head for the door. "Hey Joe;"
"Yeah?" Joe turned to face his teacher once more.
"It'll all work out in the end." A small smile tugged at Joe's mouth as he smiled, nodding then waving goodbye as he slid from the classroom. Will turned to face the window behind him, watching to see that Joe made it back out there before finishing his plans so he could leave.
~+~+~+~+~+~
William yawned and hugged himself tighter, curled up on the couch with Gabe and Travis who were currently playing video games; trying not to fall asleep. His shoulders rested in Gabe's lap, his head on the arm of the furniture, and his legs stretched over Travis' lap at the other end. This was how they often ended up when all on the couch, the three of them being equally tall, and William being the desire of the other two. He was, after all, their boyfriend.
"How you holdin' up there, Bilvy?" Gabe asked with an amused smile, glancing down to see Will's eyes fighting to stay open. Will hummed lightly, too tired to even form words, pressing his face into the soft material.
"Come on, babe; it's not even ten yet!" Travis said, releasing the controller with one hand to pat William's knee.
"Some of us work," Will mumbled into the arm of the couch, a yawn escaping his open mouth. "Early."
"You're the one who wanted to be a teacher," Gabe said, resting his elbows on Will's shoulder like a table. "For gremlins." Travis laughed, cursing a moment later at the game and making Gabe laugh.
"Hey;" William defended, turning so he on his back and looking up at one of his two boyfriends. It never bothered him that he was dating two guys at the same time. Sure, Gabe and Travis do shit together, but they mostly just share intimacy with him. It somehow became agreed long ago that it was okay for the two to both be dating Will at the same time. "Those gremlins happen to be just like us when we were little."
"Doubt it." Gabe scoffed, rapidly hitting a button on the controller.
"We were cool." Travis added, smirking as he was beating Gabe. "Plus, munchkins nowadays are far different from when we were little." William laughed that time, pushing himself into a sitting position, his butt resting on the cushion between the two, and swung his legs off Travis.
"Not really," he said, yawning a bit more. "Today I got to break up a fight that brought back some pretty interesting memories." Will smiled, folding his legs beneath him to sit on them.
"And what memories would those be?" Gabe asked, looping an arm around Will's waist to pull him back; kissing his head.
"Two of my students, Hayley and Greta, were fighting over who got to be Joe's best friend." William leaned against Gabe for support, glancing over to the screen. "And all I thought about was that time you two wrestled over me." Both men scoffed.
"Us?" Travis lifted an eyebrow.
"Fight?" Gabe asked with the same tone of voice.
"Over you?" Travis teased William with a smirk.
"I'm appalled by the thought, Bilvy," Gabe said, arm pressing into Will's stomach as Gabe reached for the controller.
"Why would we fight over you?" Travis continued to tease, Will frowning as though he was angry.
"Whatever the reason," he removed himself from Gabe's grip, "I seem to remember my arms nearly getting ripped off and you two getting a lot of detention."
"Doesn't ring a bell." Gabe smirked, eyes focused on the game.
"Nope; not at all." Travis shook his head. "I think you've been hanging around those kids a bit much, Bilvy." Will sighed, too tired to deal with their double teasing for much longer. He curled up between them and let his head rest against the back of the couch, almost asleep when Travis suddenly yelled 'King!'
"You totally cheated, McCoy!" Gabe accused him, dropping the controller to the ground.
"I did not!" Travis answered with a small sneer while laying his controller on the table.
"You did too!" Gabe pressed on, William groaning and pressing his face into the couch.
Some things just never changed.
"How?" Travis asked with disbelief, looking to Gabe with a raised eyebrow.
"You totally watched what I was doing!" Gabe exclaimed.
"Well there's only one screen so yeah, I could see what you were doing!" Travis rolled his eyes. Will lifted his head and grabbed the top of the couch, sliding his body up and over the back.
"You're not supposed to look when I go set my flag or you'll know exactly where to find it!" Gabe continued to argue.
"You always put it in the same spot!" Travis practically yelled; neither noticing Will heading off towards the bedroom. He was tired.
"I do not!"
"You do too!"
"Do not!" Gabe yelled, grabbing a square decorative pillow and throwing it at Travis.
"Do t-where's Bilvy?" Travis suddenly noticed when he swung his arms out to keep the pillow from smacking him in the face. Gabe was about to say something when he stopped, looking around with confusion.
"Where is Bilvy?" Gabe asked, finally noticing the boy's disappearance. "Bilvy! Where'd you go?!" he called out, looking over the back of the couch.
"Bed!" Will called back, already curled beneath the blanket and half asleep.
"Why didn't you say so?" Travis yelled out, the apartment they lived in being relatively small.
"You two were arguing." Will replied. "Again."
"Want us to join you?" Gabe asked, picking his controller up and setting it on the table.
"No." William curled into a ball. "I'm sleeping alone. You two can argue over the couch." Travis and Gabe shared a look, both frowning because it really wasn't the first time this had happened. Whenever they argued too much they ended up in the living room while Will got the large, warm, comfortable bed to himself.
He was, after all, their queen; and everyone knows the queen is really the one with the power.
They stared at each other, mentally arguing who was sleeping where, before Gabe suddenly kicked Travis; making him fall off the couch. Spreading his long limbs along the cushions and hugging a pillow beneath his head, he looked over the edge at Travis who had just barely missed the edge of the coffee table on his way down, smirking proudly. "King."
A/N--- there you go. It's not that great, I know, but I really just wanted to do something cute and funny and whatnot. Plus, thanks to miss_bilvy and crashingroom, I have a bit of an obsession with Travis/Will and Travis/Gabe/Will.
Next on my story agenda: Either my long story of mainly sex (seriously; its 19k and only like 1/4 done) or ch.6 of TWIH.
Don't forget to follow the new com; brokenbonefics
xoxo Tabi