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Okay, here we go, breathe, Wilbur hyped himself up internally, hands flexing methodically where he gripped the steering wheel at 10 and 2. All weekend has been building up to this one moment. Do not pussy out now.
Tommy looked up from his phone when Wilbur made the final turn into the teen’s driveway. “Fucking hell, that was quick,” he mumbled, unbuckling his seatbelt as Wilbur put the car in park. “Thirty minutes always feels more like ten when you’re dropping me back off at home, Wil.”
Wilbur’s lips quirked up slightly at that. The saying ‘time flies when you’re having fun.’ seemed to be proven correct time and time again. The quickest weekends always appear to be the ones he spends with Tommy. “I know, Bubs, but you’ll see me again in three weeks, yeah?”
“Of course!” Tommy eagerly agreed. “For the premiere of your band’s first song, right?”
Oh my god, it was almost as if he already knew. Come on, breathe, Wil, the brunette chided himself, trying not to let his pure animalistic fear show on his face. “Actually, Tommy, about that…”
“Aw, you’re not canceling on me, are you? C’mon, big man-”
“No, no, no, I’m not canceling. I just, I have something to show you. Here, hand me the AUX cord there by your feet.” Tommy obliged, reaching down between his feet and handing Wilbur the bright blue cord, “Brilliant,” He looked over at Tommy, antsy to get inside before his curfew. “I’ll make this quick, I know you have to be inside for a nice plate of sausage with Mother and FatherInnit.”
Tommy rolled his eyes. “Depressing, innit? I’m 16 fucking years old and have a stricter curfew than Lani, Toby’s little sister. Like, why the fuck do I need to be home in time for supper?! Mother, I’m pretty certain that Wilbur has supper at his place, thank you very much.”
Wilbur barked out a laugh, hoping his nerves didn’t kill the sound of joy. “No, no, she’s a smart woman for doing that. I wouldn’t have hesitated to let you starve.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” A cheeky smile found its way onto Tommy’s face, cocky. “I get you too many views for that. You couldn’t afford to starve me.”
Wilbur smiled, exasperated. “Okay, first of all-”
“Oh my god, just get on with it already, Wilbur! Jesus fucking Christ.”
For once, Wilbur actually found himself listening to TommyInnit and his jaw clicked shut as he connected the AUX cord to his phone. His calloused fingers shook slightly as he navigated over to his private video library. He scrolled to the bottom, where his newest and most recently added audio recording waited for him. He clicked on it before he could last minute chicken out.
Over the course of the few days they had spent together, that Saturday and Sunday, there had been countless opportunities for Wilbur to do what he was doing right now. On the drive back to his place after picking Tommy up, eating dinner together their first night, while they edited the next day, that night while they just chilled out on the couch, and many, many more. But the brunette always ended up panicking and clicking away before the first cord played.
Not now, though. It was his last chance before the pair were back to talking to each other through a screen until the next time they met up. Plus, it had already started. There was no going back now.
Wilbur couldn’t help but look over at the teen sat in his passenger seat as his brand new, unreleased song written and recorded by him and his bandmates filtered through the car’s speakers.
Tommy was staring straight ahead, head cocked to the side slightly as he examined the song he was listening to. His normally expressional face was unreadable. Throughout the song his face had changed though, drastically. His expression started off confused, even irritated, it made sense, the teen had to get inside, and Wilbur had been keeping him - however, it did nothing to calm his nerves. Quite the opposite really, it seemed to make his hands sweatier, and his mind race faster. Yet, now, his mouth was tapered into a thin line, eyes filled with something among disbelief? Wonder?
The chorus was sung one last time and Wilbur tried not to dissolve into a full-blown panic attack as the familiar ending played, the bass guitar fading out poetically. It was usually his favorite part of the song, but now he found no enjoyment in it-just relief that it was over.
Wilbur looked over again, only quickly, and within Tommy’s eyes, he could see one emotion playing at his features: Awe. And however reassuring that look should’ve been, Wilbur only felt dread as he waited for Tommy’s first thoughts.
There was an awkward beat of silence and weird, unsolicited tension filled the atmosphere before Tommy finally spoke.
A breathy mumble; “What the fuck.”
Wilbur felt all the air leave his body-
Energy filled his voice and features as the blonde physically shifted himself to face Wilbur, “What the fuck. You’re so fucking cool.”
-just for it to all come rushing back.
“Holy shit, what the fuck. That was so fucking cool-you-you’re so fucking cool. You’re the-you’re the fucking Music Man. Did you hear that? Did you seriously write that? Holy shit. You’re the Music Man. You’re the fucking Music Man. Holy fuck.” Tommy’s words ran a mile a minute, tumbling out of his mind and straight out into the air around the two.
Wilbur laughed and he allowed himself to flush at all of the praise he was receiving. “Okay, okay, that’s enough. C’mon, get out of the car. MotherInnit is waiting and I don’t fancy making her angry with me.”
Tommy squawked at the hands that came up and started pushing out of the vehicle. “No, no, no, hold on. Hold on one fucking second, you fucking prick.” The door fell open under Tommy and he tumbled out onto his front lawn, catching himself last second on the door handle. “I have a question, aren’t I allowed to ask one singular question?”
Wilbur rolled his eyes but he was smiling wider than he’d ever admit. “What is it, child?”
Tommy dusted off his khakis as he straightened himself out. “Who else...who else has heard the song, Wilbur?”
Wilbur’s smile didn’t falter, if anything it got wider. “Just you, Music Boy.”
Tommy’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? Why me? That’s so cool! Thank you! Wait- MUSIC BOY?! I’M A FUCKING MAN, YOU IDIOT. I’M MORE OF A MAN THAN YOU, FUCKING MUSIC TORY-”
“Oh my god,” Wilbur cut off the boy’s tangent by handing him the book bag that still sat at the foot of his seat, laughing mutely at the sudden outburst. “Off you go, Music Boy. MotherInnit and FatherInnit are waiting.”
Tommy took the bag and slung it over his shoulder sloppily before pointing an accusatory finger towards the older man. “No, no, no, this isn’t fair. You can’t just-you-why-you can’t just do that and then leave! Wilbur, please, at least let me listen to it one more time before you go.”
Wilbur scrunched his nose, pretending to give thought to that notion. “I’d say yes...but I can already see MotherInnit standing in the window and plus , why listen to it now when you can wait three more weeks and listen to it all you want?”
There was one blissful moment of peace as Tommy whipped his head around to see what Wilbur had referenced, which gave the brunette just enough time to lean over the center console of his car and pull the passenger side door closed. He was already starting to back back out of the driveway when Tommy started screaming at him again.
“WHAT THE FUCK. YOU BETTER FUCKING CALL ME, MUSIC MAN, THIS ISN’T OVER.” Tommy shouted, venom lacing his voice, yet a smile never left his face as he watched the elder pull out of the driveway slowly, hands clutching his book bag tightly.
Wilbur chuckled lightly to himself, lingering in the middle of the road just long enough to see Tommy’s lanky figure disappear into the house, his dogs meeting him half-way. Only then did he start the short journey home, almost giddy the entire time because holy shit, Tommy actually liked it. He actually liked the song.
He called me ‘The Music Man.’