to play and be beguiled (291 words) by Beatty_About_Books
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Serafina Series - Robert Beatty
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Essie Walker & Original Female Character(s), Braeden Vanderbilt & Essie Walker, Serafina & Essie Walker, Rowena Fox-Pemberton & Essie Walker, Essie Walker & Waysa, Serafina/Braeden Vanderbilt, Rowena Fox-Pemberton/Braeden Vanderbilt, Braeden Vanderbilt/Waysa, Essie Walker/Waysa
Characters: Essie Walker, Original Female Character(s), Braeden Vanderbilt, Serafina (Serafina Series - Beatty), Rowena Fox-Pemberton, Waysa (Serafina Series - Beatty)
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, POV Outsider, Grandparents & Grandchildren, relationship speculation, References to both real life history and Chronicles of Narnia, because I couldn’t help myself, Title from a Mollie Elizabeth Song
Summary:
your grandma tells you stories
It's about a year after the xfactor finished, the boys had gone on to sell surrender and tour Australia on the xfactor tour, create an album and do a whole series of CollecTV, william sat backstage staring at the wall fiddling with his microphone, he took a long deep breath, he was now on his own tour after spiltting from the boys for a break. he still lives with trent of course but right now he was touring Australia with tom Jordan and Hana.
"Hey Will you ready bro?" tom asked as he walked over.
"yeah just gotta finish getting dressed." William sighed.
"whats wrong mate?" tom asked and put a hand on William's shoulder for support.
"I just miss jayden man, I haven't seen him since I left.. he doesn't even come to see trent anymore so I never get to see him when i'm home." William groaned.
"I know it's hard man.. leaving someone you love and you never even got to tell him but right now you need to focus on your tour, this is your stage man let your voice be heard." tom smiled reassuringly.
"you're right man, i'll see you in a moment.." William said and stood up and walked away, he went to his dressing vanity mirror and got his phone and then leaned in the doorway next to the mirror.
he dialled jayden's number and put the phone to his ear and covered his face with his forearm while leaning against the doorframe.
"hey this is jayden, I can't come to the phone right now leave a message and i'll get back to you as soon as I can." the familiar voice of jayden's voicemail filled William's ear.
"jayden... it's William, call me back I need to talk to you, I miss you." a tear slipped out of his eye. "did I mention it was will?"'
will pulled down his phone and hung up, he wiped his eye and then put his phone back on the vanity dresser, he picked up his microphone and put on a snapback and headed to the side stage, he looked to the stage manager and they nodded and he went up on stage and jumped and acted pumped up as if seconds ago never happened.
"Liverpool how's it going tonight?" William asked into the microphone and the girls in the crowd screamed while all the guy fans just sort of shouted awkwardly. "alright lets get this started, shall we start with you & Me"
he sang his song and then introduced Hana to the crowd and she came out on stage, William flirted with her while singing ghetto superstar but it was only part of their act.
"alright so this is an advisory for the children under the age of sixteen so if your parents say you can't listen to it then err.." will was so used to saying turn it off that he never thought about it on stage.
"then block your ears." Hana laughed.
they sung slow love before Hana left the stage and will got tom to come on stage to finish of the show and help him sing93 til infinityneighboursI got your backwhen you're gonetake you downi'm what you needcome aroundP.S i'm still not over youand sure thing.
***
"that was such a great show man well done." a fan congratulated him on the way out of the arena.
"thanks man." they did a handshake.
***
Jayden stumbled around the club looking for the bar because he was almost to wasted to see, it was August 1st.. Julian's 18th birthday so the boys went out to the club to give him his first drink, Jayden got to the bar and ordered four shots and took them back to the VIP area where the boys were sitting.
"here you go lads." he gave one to each boy then held his high. "happy eighteenth julez."
they all held their glasses up before skulling them.
"thanks for such a great birthday guys... it's just a shame William wasn't here." Julian sighed and the boys nodded in agreement however jayden felt a sharp pain in his heart when Julian had mentioned William's name.
he knew exactly how much he missed him but he just couldn't face him after William had told the boys that he was leaving.
***
the next morning jayden woke up on the couch in his and Julian's apartment, he grumbled as he noticed he was wearing the blue dress from collectv episode four.
"haven't seen that in ages.." jayden laughed to himself.
his phone started flashing and he picked it up off the floor, he checked the message and it said he had two new voicemails, he called +101 and put the phone to his ear even though his head was pounding.
"hey Jayden it's tom Jordan, William's mate, look will's been a bit upset lately and I just thought maybe you could help? so I called to tell you we are doing our final show in Camden on the 3rd... any chance you can come? he really does miss you even if he doesn't act like it.. if you do decide to come just show up at the side door and tell them your name." the message ended and Jayden sighed.
'did William really miss him or was tom just saying that?' but before he could answer his own question the second voicemail started playing and jayden almost cried.
"Jayden... it's William, call me back I need to talk to you, I miss you..... did I mention it was will?" the voicemail ended and jayden let out a silent sob.
he wanted so bad to see William but he was still so pissed because he had to find out off Trent that will was leaving, that's why he hasn't been to will and Trent's place since.
***
William spent the day shopping with Hana because her friend ditched her, while jayden spent most of the day playing COD with Julian, at night jayden went to sleep and started to dream.
--------/DREAM/-------
"jaydo I have some bad news" trent said and sat down beside him.
"whats up trentos?" jayden asked concerned.
"you're not going to like it.. and i'm sorry you have to hear it from me but will honestly doesn't know how to tell you." trent said staring into jayden's eyes sympathetically."what are you talking about trent?" jayden asked confused."will is leaving the group..." trent said bluntly."what?" jayden asked shocked."his not apart of the collective anymore.." trent said studying jayden's blank expression."no i realize that.. i just- i need a moment." jayden said and went to his room and locked the door and layed on his bed and cried silently.he felt so much pain right now, how could william leave him? didn't he know how much he meant to him? so many questions ran through jayden's mind and it only made him sadder. suddenly the dream changed and he was standing backstage in his silver tux next to a crying william, he tried to comfort him and lead him away from the cameras, he hated seeing william cry it was the worse thing in the world. the dream changed again and it was when william was leaving and saying goodbye, jayden had tears in his eyes as william hugged him goodbye and he could have swore he saw a tear leave his eye as he muttered something under his breath."what?" jayden asked in a whisper."i said i'll miss you so much." will whispered back.but something told jayden that he said something more.-------------/END OF DREAM/-----------Jayden woke up and cried out for william, he got up out of bed and went to his wardrobe and grabbed his xfactor outfit from week 2 live decider and chucked it on in a hurry then left his room and went into Julian's room."Julez wake up we have to go!" jayden said and opened julian's curtains."go where?" julian asked sleepily."to see William." jayden said and julian shot up straight away.jayden went through julian's cupboard and grabbed his outfit and chucked it on the bed."get dressed." jayden ordered and left the room.jayden grabbed his phone and called zach but keeda answered."hey kat is zach there?" jayden asked."yeah let me go get him." the phone went silent for a minute."hey jaydo whats up?' zach said after taking the phone off keeda."you know the outfit from the group song on week 2 on xfactor? i need you to wear it then get kat to drop you off at trent's and we'll be there to pick yous up soon." jayden explained."okay i'm not even gonna ask, i'll see yous soon." zach hung up then jayden called trent to give him the details and just as he was about to hang up."don't forget to pack william's!!!!" jayden panicked."okay sure." trent hung up and julian came out of his room and grabbed his keys off the bench."ready to go see william?" julian asked."yeah let's go" jayden said and went out the front door while julian locked up.The boys got in the car and drove to trent's house and beeped the horn, trent and zach got in the car."please tell me you packed william's outfit?" jayden asked."yeah i did... can i ask why?" trent said confused."no you can't.... julian drive to my parent's house." jayden ordered."but thats in Camden." zach pointed out."why don't you just tell them jaydo?" julian asked quietly as he drove."not yet julez it's a surprise." jayden whispered back.***The boys stayed at jayden's parent's for most the day then julian drove them to the arena, they got to the side door."maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all." jayden said panicking and trying to walk away but julian grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him towards the door."you love him don't you?" julian asked."of course i do, don't ask stupid questions julez." jayden grumbled."well then it's the right thing to do." julian encouraged.jayden nodded and knocked on the door and the security guard answered."erm hi i'm.." jayden started."jayden sierra right?" jayden nodded and the guy let the boys in and lead them over to tom. "hey glad you came." tom said smiling. "william's over there."The two other boys finally clicked to what was going on."wait here boys jaydo needs to go first." julian said and the two boys agreed.jayden walked over slowly and nervously."william?" jayden called nervously.william turned around and stared blankly at jayden, jayden ran to william."J-Jayden?" william stuttered."you didn't think you could leave me forever did you?" jayden smirked playfully.william didn't say anything he just wrapped his arms tightly around jayden."i missed you so much garfield." william whispered into jayden's ear.william was scared that if he lets go of jayden then jayden would dissappear just like in every dream he has had since he left."i missed you too will." jayden said as a tear fell from his eye."you don't understand jayden! i'm never leaving you again, i can't!" william said only just loud enough for him to hear. "i love you jayden.."jayden pulled himself out of william's arms and pointed a finger at him angrily. "don't!" jayden growled. "you can't just leave, make me find out from trent then have the nerve to stand here and tell me you love me!" william raised an eyebrow."but its true.." he mumbled to himself but jayden heard."if it were true you wouldn't have left in the first place." jayden let tears fall down his face and the boys except for julian stared in shock."garfield i'm so sorry." william embraced jayden in another hug and jayden cried into his shoulder while william kept repeating that he was sorry.william let go and stared at jayden's clothes."why are you wearing xfactor clothes?" william asked extremely confused. "we were hoping we could do one more performance together." trent said stepping forward and holding out the bag to william."and i personally was hoping you would be part of the collective again." jayden added.william looked to tom who was nodding with a smile on his face then back at jayden."i will and i promise that i'll never leave if..." william paused."if?" jayden repeated."if you promise to always stay with me jayden..." william leaned to jayden's ear and whispered the rest of the sentence. "as my boyfriend?" "i promise." jayden smiled. "you better go get dressed."***william got dressed then went on stage while the other boys got microphones."guys you're in for a treat tonight... how many collectors are in the crowd?" the girls in the crowd started screaming.the music for surrender started and the other boys came on stage and julian started singing, then afterwards they sang another life.***after the show was finished the collective boys went back to jayden's parents place and that included william, three of the boys were in the loungeroom on the couchs with trent, jack and john sierra watching a soccer match while william and jayden were in jayden's old room snuggled up on his bed watching the dark knight. "oh will i forgot..." jayden randomly said and leaned up on his elbow."forgot what?" william raised an eyebrow confused."to say i love you too." jayden smirked then kissed william passionately.
::And acquaintances turn to friends I hope those friends they remember me::
In which Will wants to experiment and Jayden is curious
Public toilets are the worst kind of bathrooms. They smell, they have countless germs, and hundreds of people would have visited them during the day. And who knows how well they’re cleaned?
But in this case, a public toilet was the only choice. In a arena like this you’d think it would be a touch more classy then the stereotypical public bathroom you’d visit, but it wasn’t any different.
Jayden pushed open the door with his forearm, making sure his hand didn’t go anywhere near the filthy door handle. He could smell the mix of urine and cheap soap as soon as he walked through the door. There wasn’t anyone else in the room, except for a boy - around his age, but older - at the far side of the room, talking to someone on the phone.
Jayden tried not to hear what the Maori boy was saying as he unzipped his pants at the urinal, but it was hard not to since he was shouting.
“How would you like it if I cheated on you, huh?” His voice sounded uncomfortable, like he wasn’t used to raising his voice at someone like this, “oh, it would be different? How?”
Jayden’s head titled towards the ceiling as he tried to keep his concentration on the roof, but that was soon destroyed by the outburst that came.
“What do you mean we’re not ‘actually’ together?” There was a pause and a muffled voice on the other line, then, “friends with benefits?! That’s what we are?”
Jayden finished, and zipped up his pants again. He walked over to where the distressed boy was standing, over near the taps, and tried not to nudge the explosive guy as he washed his hands.
“If you want to break up, then that’s fine with me!” He yelled, startling Jayden. His voice was even more abrupt up close.
He let out a frustrated groan and snapped his phone shut. Hands ran across his face in disappointment, Jayden looked at him through the mirror, but quickly looked away as soon as the other boy caught his eye.
Jayden turned to walk out but the sound of the boys voice let him stop, “you got a girlfriend, mate?”
“Uh…” Jayden cleared his throat, then shook his head, “no.”
“You’re lucky,” Will told him, and took a step forward, “I’m Will.”
His hand was stretched out and Jayden took it after a few seconds of hesitation. “Jayden.”
Will smiled at him briefly, then slipped his hand away and ran it through his hair instead.
“I- uh, I’m sorry that you had to listen to that…” His voice was a lot more silent now, almost guilty. Jayden wasn’t so afraid anymore.
“S’alright.” There was a moment of silence, until Jayden looked up from his hands and felt sympathy towards his newly found acquaintance, “you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he replied, almost automatically. He shrugged, “I’ll be okay, she was a cow anyway.”
Jayden nodded slowly, then tapped his hands a few times on his jeans before he found himself backing away towards the door again.
“Well, then I’ll see you around, Will.” He waved off, and turned around to reach the door. But the same interruption stopped him.
“I know this seems weird,” he started, and Jayden spun back around again with a subtle sigh, “but you’re like… The only normal person I’ve seen at this event. I don’t know if you’re here with anyone…”
He paused for some sort of reply, and shook his head.
“But if I could just hang out with you - just for a little while, until I’m… I don’t know, right again before I leave? I just don’t want to be angry out there… And you seem to,” he swallowed and Jayden watched as Will’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, “keep me calm.”
Jayden didn’t know why he agreed to stay. Maybe it was because he seemed like a decent guy, who, had just been a victim of a break-up and Jayden was the type of person that would be there for anyone during a distressing time.
Or maybe it was because he thought Will was hot. He couldn’t decide.
“So, why’d you come alone? It’s pretty brutal out there at times, and you look like the kind of guy who’d…” Will stopped himself, and looked at Jayden apologetically, biting his lip.
“The kind of guy who’d… What?” Jayden pretended to be hurt, but couldn’t hide the tiny smirk on his face.
“Well - you’re not exactly the fighting type, I’d imagine. You could actually get destroyed out there if you got on someone’s bad foot.” Will explained.
They were sitting on the step that levelled out next to one of the windows in the bathroom, the tiled room didn’t smell anymore and nobody had entered since they started talking.
“It’s just a music festival.” Jayden replied, tone even, “not some heavy metal concert. Besides, I’ve got some muscle on me - see?”
He grinned as he flexed his right arm and Will smiled at him, impressed. Jayden told him to touch it and he did, pressing down on the visible muscle that Will didn’t think the boy had. Jayden watched as Will eyed and felt his newly exposed skin and took this time to admire the colour in Will’s eyes and the tone of his darker skin tone.
“Maybe we should have an arm wrestling competition, see who’s stronger.” Will raised his eyebrow as well as his left sleeve, and flexed.
Jayden’s mouth fell open and didn’t wait for Will’s permission. His hand wrapped over his bicep and squeezed it with his thumb. Without knowing it, his thumb then started to trace over the tattoo that inked his skin. It was some kind of pattern, that covered his whole upper arm.
He realised he was caressing his skin and flinched his hand backwards, “sorry.”
Will chuckled, and the sound made Jayden’s stomach flip, “s’okay.” A few seconds passed and Jayden made sure his hands were prisoned between his knees, in case they went wondering again, “but seriously, what’s your story?”
Will asked again, and it took a while to realise that he had been referring to why he came here by himself.
Jayden shrugged, “I don’t know, I just like to be alone sometimes I guess.”
“Me too.”
His eyes drifted up to meet Will’s, brown on brown, “we can be alone together.” He smiled cheekily, since he knew that was a corny thing to say.
It made Will laugh, the sound echoing through the empty bathroom. He could listen to that sound forever.
Jayden didn’t know how long it had been since Will had invited him to keep him company - but he didn’t really care. He liked Will’s company. And Will liked his.
They talked about where each of them were headed after this, they talked about what band they’d liked the most from the festival - and ended up admitting that they didn’t like any of them - and they talked about things that neither of them would’ve spoken about to somebody that they had theoretically just met.
“But sometimes I feel like maybe that was the problem, that I had actually forced myself to like her. And that’s why she cheated on me.” Will explained, telling Jayden the reason why him and Ellise had broken up over the phone, how many hours ago.
“What do you mean ‘forced’?” Jayden asked, the both of them unknowingly shifting towards each other.
Will sighed, and looked around the bare room, “I thought she was my… I guess you could say ‘preference’… I’m not sure.”
Jayden’s face lit up, he didn’t know why - but he was close enough to feel Will’s breath on his face as he sighed, and that was enough to keep him happy.
“So, you mean… You don’t think, ‘women’ are your type?” His words ended up coming out like a tumbleweed, all rolling into one.
But Will seemed to understand, “I think they are… But, I’ve never - you know,” he shrugged, “I’ve never really ‘done’ anything with a boy. So I can’t really decide.”
A nervous laugh escaped him and Jayden could feel his cheeks turn red. He gulped, and scenarios of Will experiencing with him flashed through his mind. He started to feel hot under the collar.
“Have you?” Will asked him, but avoided his gaze.
Jayden nearly choked. Of course he had. “Uh…” His voice trembled as it came out, “actually, y-yeah.”
“Really?” Will seemed surprised, and his gaze finally met Jayden’s again. He seemed intrigued, “what was it like?”
Jayden’s eyes widened at the forward question, but Will didn’t seem to notice his shocked expression, he just waited patiently for an answer. Jayden cleared his throat nervously and shifted his position, suddenly noticing how close he actually was to him.
“It’s uh, different… To a girl, obviously.” Jayden started, meeting up with Will’s eyes occasionally, “but if you want my opinion? It’s… Better.”
“Huh,” Will replied, but not in a question kind of way, but as though he was thinking about Jayden’s answer. “You must be pretty experienced with it then, I assume?”
Jayden thought about this for a while, and ended up folding back his bottom lip and tilting his head side to side as if to say “kind-of”.
“I reckon if I wasn’t with Ellise the whole time I was still in high school I would’ve experimented with a boy at least once at a party or something… Don’t really have that excuse now, hey.”
Jayden just shrugged, and said, “nothing’s stopping you now.”
Will’s eyes glanced up from his hands and searched between Jayden, who was now smiling softly, looking nervous but confident at the same time.
“I’m kind of hoping that you’re serious,” Will said, quietly, a short laugh following.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Jayden seemed serious now, and Will’s smile faded, “honestly everyone experiments at least once in their life, those who don’t are just scared.” He paused for a few seconds, then turned his body so they were facing each other, “are you scared, Will?”
He shook his head and swallowed. Jayden’s hand escaped the hold he tried to place on it and went wondering again. The jeans Will was wearing were tight, and Jayden could practically feel his burning skin through the denim.
