A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose [gabilliam, pg, standalone]
Title: A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose
Author: silver_etoile
Rating: PG
Pairing: Gabe/William
POV: Third
Disclaimer: Not real.
Summary: Gabe only celebrates one anniversary but William isn't there to celebrate this year.
A/N: for schmoop_bingo prompt of "anniversary - miles apart." See my card for master posting.
*
Gabe likes to celebrate things with a bang, always has in fact. He celebrates New Years with enough alcohol to fill the Atlantic Ocean. He celebrates his birthday with cake and ice cream, and enough alcohol to make the whole of the champagne region in France run out of champagne. He likes traditions like standing on the roof of his building on midnight of his birthday with whatever friend happens to be in town (although it’s usually William, and even though William protests, he still comes every time Gabe calls him up) and toasting to everything until the bottle is empty.
He celebrates the anniversary of his first kiss by kissing everyone on the tour, even if it results in a lot of disgusted shoves and even a particularly hard smack from Victoria, he counts it as a success. What he doesn’t expect it to turn into is a sort of yearly reoccurrence of him finding William or the other way around and spending subsequent hours locked in a closet, a bathroom, whatever happens to be nearby.
This year, though, Gabe is far away from William and he can feel the day nearing as the weather grows warmer and spring approaches.
His first kiss, and Gabe remembers quite clearly, was with a girl named Hannah Sherman in the eighth grade. She’d been the prettiest, most popular girl in his grade, which he could only guess was because of her reputation for kissing anything.
It had been near the end of school, May 26th to be exact and Gabe had finally been released from his “detention” which had mostly consisted of picking gum off the undersides of desks, all for cursing at the kid who tripped him in the hall. He’d burst out the front doors and been halfway down the steps when Hannah had run up out of nowhere and planted a kiss on his surprised mouth.
It had been short, full of giggling on her part, and she’d taken just enough time to tuck back her blonde hair and tell him he’d helped her win a dare before taking off again, giggling the whole way.
Every May 26th from then on, Gabe has celebrated it the same way; kissing whoever happens to be around (although, again, William always seems to be the one on the receiving end).
This May 26th, though, Gabe is alone in his apartment. The band is on break and he doesn’t even feel like ordering pizza and kissing whoever delivers it.
Instead, he flops onto his couch and channel surfs until he’s good and bored. It isn’t as though it’s a special day aside from that it’s the day he can accost William without any fear of retribution, not that there usually is any anyway. William has always been pretty pliant when it comes to Gabe’s wishes to kiss him.
The date on the calendar is mocking him as Gabe glances at it and wishes he had something other than bloody Mary mix in the house. It isn’t really late, but he’s bored and the anniversary is turning out to be nothing.
He isn’t really thinking when he grabs the phone and hits speed dial number four. William had made a fuss the last time they’d seen each other about being number four, but Gabe had pointed out that he was at least in the top five, which had seemed to appease him.
“Hello?” William’s voice comes through the receiver, and it’s almost like a relaxant as Gabe sits on his couch, a stupid infomercial on TV.
“Bilvy, baby,” Gabe replies, a grin in his voice.
“Gabe, hey,” William says, and Gabe can hear the smile in his voice too. “What’s up?”
“Not much, not much,” Gabe says, stretching back. “Kinda bored, not enough liquor in the house.”
“Why don’t you go get some more?” William asks, and it sounds as though he’s outside or something.
“Where are you?” Gabe asks instead of answering his questions and he thinks he hears people talking in the background somewhere.
“Outside the venue,” William says and there’s a pause. “They’re still setting up. You should be here. It’s so freaking hot. I’m already sweating through my shirt. Kinda reminds me of Warped.”
“Too bad you don’t have the water slide.” Gabe grins. “I could bring it if you want.”
William laughs, and Gabe imagines he can see his smile, his hair, cut shorter now, probably sticking to his neck, and Gabe wishes he were there so he could lick it off.
“Do you know what today is?” Gabe asks instead of voicing his thoughts.
William pauses, thinking. “Thursday?”
“It’s the twenty-sixth,” Gabe supplies. “Of May.”
There’s another pause and the background noise disappears. William must have gone inside.
“Um, okay,” William says finally. “Is that supposed to mean something?”
“William,” Gabe says plainly, a little part of him hurt that William doesn’t remember. It’s their one day a year where Gabe gets to pretend that they’re more than they actually are. He’s never told William, though. He just goes with the general idea that he likes to makeout with people, which isn’t that far from the truth really.
He hears William’s soft sigh and another door shutting. It’s even quieter on the other end now.
“I miss you,” William says finally, quietly even though Gabe bets that he’s shut himself in a closet or empty dressing room and is completely alone. “I miss today.”
Sighing, Gabe smiles for a second into the phone. He knows William can’t see, but he’s sure William knows.
“Yeah. Me too.”
There’s silence on both ends of the phone for a moment and Gabe tries to think of what to say. William speaks first, though.
“I thought about today,” he says finally and Gabe perks up slightly.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” William admits, and Gabe can picture him biting his bottom lip, tugging at his hair. “I mean, it is an anniversary… and I’m not there to celebrate it.”
Gabe hums his agreement, and his disappointment. “I wish you were,” he says. “I found this great dark corner at a restaurant down the street that would have been perfect.”
William laughs lightly. “Maybe we’ll save it for next year.”
Next year seems like an awfully long ways away to Gabe as he sits there on his couch, listening to William breathing and thinking back on the last anniversary when he’d dragged William into a club bathroom and gotten his hands all the way into his pants before they were interrupted by a security guard and consequently thrown out. Sometimes Gabe wonders what might have happened if they hadn’t been caught.
“Yeah,” Gabe mutters finally and holds back his sigh. “So where are you guys anyway?”
“Not sure,” William replies. “Somewhere south, somewhere hot. A water slide would be great right about now.”
Gabe grins. “I’ll come set it up. But we should do it naked this time.”
“Ouch,” William comments. “Not all of us are suicidal.”
“But we are all voyeurs,” Gabe replies brightly. “And you know I like watching you, baby.”
He can practically see the eye-roll through the phone.
“Gabe,” William says finally, and Gabe rolls his shoulders, switching ears. Outside, it’s starting to get dark and the day is almost over, the anniversary is almost over. It’s the only anniversary Gabe ever celebrates. He doesn’t celebrate the creation of his band, the drop of the first album, the day he met Pete Wentz and went drinking with him that night. He only celebrates this, and this year it’s all wrong without William.
“Yeah, Bilvy?”
“Happy anniversary.”
Smiling, Gabe sighs into the phone. “Happy anniversary. I’ll see you when you hit New York?”
There’s a pause and Gabe listens intently. There’s no sound in the room aside from William’s breath in the receiver.
“Yeah,” William replies, a smile in his voice. “I was thinking belated anniversary present.”
“I like that idea,” Gabe says interestedly. “Would it involve making out?”
William scoffs. “Of course. What else is this anniversary about?”
“You,” Gabe says without thinking and immediately winces. Shit.
“Me,” William repeats softly, and Gabe waits for something to go wrong. Then William makes a soft noise. “I’ll see you in New York.”
“Okay,” Gabe agrees with a half-smile. “I’ll see you.”
He hangs up the phone and glances at the calendar, wondering when the anniversary changed, but he certainly has no complaints that it did. Instead, he gets up and crosses to the calendar, flipping ahead a month and smiling as his eyes land on the Saturday square that reads, “Bilvy in town.” Grabbing a pen off the counter, he scribbles in another little note under the first and lets the page fall, heading back to the couch. Maybe he will order a pizza after all, but he won’t be kissing the delivery guy, not today.
Happy belated anniversary.
*
FIN.
Author: silver_etoile
Rating: PG
Pairing: Gabe/William
POV: Third
Disclaimer: Not real.
Summary: Gabe only celebrates one anniversary but William isn't there to celebrate this year.
A/N: for schmoop_bingo prompt of "anniversary - miles apart." See my card for master posting.
*
Gabe likes to celebrate things with a bang, always has in fact. He celebrates New Years with enough alcohol to fill the Atlantic Ocean. He celebrates his birthday with cake and ice cream, and enough alcohol to make the whole of the champagne region in France run out of champagne. He likes traditions like standing on the roof of his building on midnight of his birthday with whatever friend happens to be in town (although it’s usually William, and even though William protests, he still comes every time Gabe calls him up) and toasting to everything until the bottle is empty.
He celebrates the anniversary of his first kiss by kissing everyone on the tour, even if it results in a lot of disgusted shoves and even a particularly hard smack from Victoria, he counts it as a success. What he doesn’t expect it to turn into is a sort of yearly reoccurrence of him finding William or the other way around and spending subsequent hours locked in a closet, a bathroom, whatever happens to be nearby.
This year, though, Gabe is far away from William and he can feel the day nearing as the weather grows warmer and spring approaches.
His first kiss, and Gabe remembers quite clearly, was with a girl named Hannah Sherman in the eighth grade. She’d been the prettiest, most popular girl in his grade, which he could only guess was because of her reputation for kissing anything.
It had been near the end of school, May 26th to be exact and Gabe had finally been released from his “detention” which had mostly consisted of picking gum off the undersides of desks, all for cursing at the kid who tripped him in the hall. He’d burst out the front doors and been halfway down the steps when Hannah had run up out of nowhere and planted a kiss on his surprised mouth.
It had been short, full of giggling on her part, and she’d taken just enough time to tuck back her blonde hair and tell him he’d helped her win a dare before taking off again, giggling the whole way.
Every May 26th from then on, Gabe has celebrated it the same way; kissing whoever happens to be around (although, again, William always seems to be the one on the receiving end).
This May 26th, though, Gabe is alone in his apartment. The band is on break and he doesn’t even feel like ordering pizza and kissing whoever delivers it.
Instead, he flops onto his couch and channel surfs until he’s good and bored. It isn’t as though it’s a special day aside from that it’s the day he can accost William without any fear of retribution, not that there usually is any anyway. William has always been pretty pliant when it comes to Gabe’s wishes to kiss him.
The date on the calendar is mocking him as Gabe glances at it and wishes he had something other than bloody Mary mix in the house. It isn’t really late, but he’s bored and the anniversary is turning out to be nothing.
He isn’t really thinking when he grabs the phone and hits speed dial number four. William had made a fuss the last time they’d seen each other about being number four, but Gabe had pointed out that he was at least in the top five, which had seemed to appease him.
“Hello?” William’s voice comes through the receiver, and it’s almost like a relaxant as Gabe sits on his couch, a stupid infomercial on TV.
“Bilvy, baby,” Gabe replies, a grin in his voice.
“Gabe, hey,” William says, and Gabe can hear the smile in his voice too. “What’s up?”
“Not much, not much,” Gabe says, stretching back. “Kinda bored, not enough liquor in the house.”
“Why don’t you go get some more?” William asks, and it sounds as though he’s outside or something.
“Where are you?” Gabe asks instead of answering his questions and he thinks he hears people talking in the background somewhere.
“Outside the venue,” William says and there’s a pause. “They’re still setting up. You should be here. It’s so freaking hot. I’m already sweating through my shirt. Kinda reminds me of Warped.”
“Too bad you don’t have the water slide.” Gabe grins. “I could bring it if you want.”
William laughs, and Gabe imagines he can see his smile, his hair, cut shorter now, probably sticking to his neck, and Gabe wishes he were there so he could lick it off.
“Do you know what today is?” Gabe asks instead of voicing his thoughts.
William pauses, thinking. “Thursday?”
“It’s the twenty-sixth,” Gabe supplies. “Of May.”
There’s another pause and the background noise disappears. William must have gone inside.
“Um, okay,” William says finally. “Is that supposed to mean something?”
“William,” Gabe says plainly, a little part of him hurt that William doesn’t remember. It’s their one day a year where Gabe gets to pretend that they’re more than they actually are. He’s never told William, though. He just goes with the general idea that he likes to makeout with people, which isn’t that far from the truth really.
He hears William’s soft sigh and another door shutting. It’s even quieter on the other end now.
“I miss you,” William says finally, quietly even though Gabe bets that he’s shut himself in a closet or empty dressing room and is completely alone. “I miss today.”
Sighing, Gabe smiles for a second into the phone. He knows William can’t see, but he’s sure William knows.
“Yeah. Me too.”
There’s silence on both ends of the phone for a moment and Gabe tries to think of what to say. William speaks first, though.
“I thought about today,” he says finally and Gabe perks up slightly.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” William admits, and Gabe can picture him biting his bottom lip, tugging at his hair. “I mean, it is an anniversary… and I’m not there to celebrate it.”
Gabe hums his agreement, and his disappointment. “I wish you were,” he says. “I found this great dark corner at a restaurant down the street that would have been perfect.”
William laughs lightly. “Maybe we’ll save it for next year.”
Next year seems like an awfully long ways away to Gabe as he sits there on his couch, listening to William breathing and thinking back on the last anniversary when he’d dragged William into a club bathroom and gotten his hands all the way into his pants before they were interrupted by a security guard and consequently thrown out. Sometimes Gabe wonders what might have happened if they hadn’t been caught.
“Yeah,” Gabe mutters finally and holds back his sigh. “So where are you guys anyway?”
“Not sure,” William replies. “Somewhere south, somewhere hot. A water slide would be great right about now.”
Gabe grins. “I’ll come set it up. But we should do it naked this time.”
“Ouch,” William comments. “Not all of us are suicidal.”
“But we are all voyeurs,” Gabe replies brightly. “And you know I like watching you, baby.”
He can practically see the eye-roll through the phone.
“Gabe,” William says finally, and Gabe rolls his shoulders, switching ears. Outside, it’s starting to get dark and the day is almost over, the anniversary is almost over. It’s the only anniversary Gabe ever celebrates. He doesn’t celebrate the creation of his band, the drop of the first album, the day he met Pete Wentz and went drinking with him that night. He only celebrates this, and this year it’s all wrong without William.
“Yeah, Bilvy?”
“Happy anniversary.”
Smiling, Gabe sighs into the phone. “Happy anniversary. I’ll see you when you hit New York?”
There’s a pause and Gabe listens intently. There’s no sound in the room aside from William’s breath in the receiver.
“Yeah,” William replies, a smile in his voice. “I was thinking belated anniversary present.”
“I like that idea,” Gabe says interestedly. “Would it involve making out?”
William scoffs. “Of course. What else is this anniversary about?”
“You,” Gabe says without thinking and immediately winces. Shit.
“Me,” William repeats softly, and Gabe waits for something to go wrong. Then William makes a soft noise. “I’ll see you in New York.”
“Okay,” Gabe agrees with a half-smile. “I’ll see you.”
He hangs up the phone and glances at the calendar, wondering when the anniversary changed, but he certainly has no complaints that it did. Instead, he gets up and crosses to the calendar, flipping ahead a month and smiling as his eyes land on the Saturday square that reads, “Bilvy in town.” Grabbing a pen off the counter, he scribbles in another little note under the first and lets the page fall, heading back to the couch. Maybe he will order a pizza after all, but he won’t be kissing the delivery guy, not today.
Happy belated anniversary.
*
FIN.