Here’s a snippet from a fic I’m writing for day 7 of Gus and Willow Week! :3
It started with Gus, as all interesting things usually did.
He walked into Willow’s room, sighing. Willow raised an eyebrow, closing her book. She hadn’t been expecting him to come over, especially because it was a Saturday. She didn’t know what he did, but he was always busy. Willow and Luz had stopped asking him to hang out on Saturdays for that exact reason, and it seemed Gus didn’t complain.
“Willow,” he stated, sitting down on her bed, “I have a dilemma.”
Now Willow was really paying attention, putting her book down to look at Gus. “What is it?”
Gus stared at her for a moment, blinking, then groaned, flopping down onto the bed and covering his face with his arms. Willow startled, then poked at Gus’s side with her foot.
“Hey, Gus,” she said, and Gus just groaned again. “What is up with you?”
Gus shot up, burying his fingers in his hair and bouncing his leg. “You want to know what’s up with me?”
Willow nodded slightly, even though she knew it was a rhetorical question.
“Well, I have a friend right?” Gus said, leg still bouncing and gesturing everywhere with his hands. Willow nodded again. “We meet up a lot, and he’s like, one of my best friends now, right? He’s awesome, a bit of a jerk, but he’s great anyway! He’s sassy and creative and honestly, a dork, but don’t tell him I told you that.”
Gus stood up, pacing Willow’s room, and Willow started getting an idea of where this was going.
“And he’s like, amazing? His magic is… So cool, and when he concentrates he gets this adorable little crease between his eyebrows, and sometimes he pouts and it’s the cutest thing ever. And I thought these were, you know, normal thoughts? Right?”
Willow pursed her lips, letting out a drawn out, “right,” hoping that Gus was smart enough to put two and two together.
“That’s where you’re wrong!” Gus whirled, pointing at Willow. “They’re not normal! It’s definitely not normal, because when I saw him this morning I wanted to hug him and give him a good morning kiss—like, who does that?”
“Luz gives Amity good morning kisses,” Willow pointed out, and Gus made a strangled noise.
“But—I—” Gus stammered, and Willow took a deep breath. Before she could get anything out, Gus exclaimed, “I know I like him, Willow! Don’t make this worse!”
Willow put her hands up, shrugging. “Well, you wouldn’t stop complaining so—”
“I was not complaining!” Gus said, looking off to the side. “I’m just… Pointing out how unfair life is!”
Willow sighed, picking her book back up and opening it to the page she was on. She watched Gus from the corner of her eye for a second, before looking back at the book.
Then, there was a mini-Gus sitting on her book, making sad eyes at her. She sighed, then looked up to see the real Gus making sad eyes in front of her. “Help me,” he pleaded, and Willow shut her book, making the Gus illusion disappear.
Gus’s eyes lit up, before Willow opened her book and continued reading. She heard Gus sigh, then he mumbled, “I didn’t want it to come to this.”
Willow looked up to ask what he was about to do, but her question was answered when a bunch of mini-Gus’s flooded her room, all chanting a chorus of “help me! Help me!”
Willow glared at Gus, who made sad eyes at her again. She looked back at her book, but the squeaky and louds voices of Gus’s illusions did not help her concentrate.
Willow groaned, shutting her book and saying, “What do you need help with?”
Gus grinned, clapping his hands excitedly. He opened his mouth, then closed it. “Um,” he said. “I have no idea.”
Willow sent him a deadpan look, and Gus let out a squeak. “Okay! I guess I just… Need someone to listen?”
Willow softened, then laughed lightly. “Oh, Gus, you don’t need to beg me to listen to you, I’ll do it anyway.”
Gus lit up. “Really? Even when I’m being annoying?”
Willow moved over, patting the spot next to her. “Yes, now tell me all about this mysterious crush of yours.”
Gus groaned and rolled his eyes, moving over to sit next to Willow anyway, and rested his head on her shoulder. “When you say it like that it sounds stupid!”
Willow laughed. “It’s not stupid! Come on, I won’t make fun of you this time.”
Gus looked up at her for a second, and Willow saw how vulnerable he looked, his eyes wide. “I don’t know… I always knew I liked boys and girls but… This feels…”
Willow smiled. “It feels like more? All encompassing?”
Gus nodded, playing with his fingers in his lap. “Yeah.”
“I guess this is your first big crush, isn’t it?” Willow asked, jostling Gus’s shoulder a bit.
Gus groaned. “It really isn’t! He’s just… Different. In a good way.”
Willow smiled. “In a good way. You can start at the beginning, if you want. Or you don’t have to talk at all, whatever you want.”
Willow could feel Gus smile against her shoulder, and he took a deep breath. “I think it started one night when we were just, together…”
