on ao3. chapters and one-shots posted in chronological order below the cut.
Summary: Julie never found her way back to music, instead seeking a career in psychology that led her toward research in grief and loss and now a new job as a professor in a college.
Sunset Curve managed to find moderate success as a band and Luke is also contracted as a songwriter at their label.
They’re currently on a short hiatus while they adjust to life with a new family member and Reggie is taking the opportunity to take some classes in person with the slower pace and more stable lifestyle.
Their lives begin to intersect in curious ways.
Primary Relationships: Willie/Alex/Reggie, Luke & Willie & Alex & Reggie, Julie & Flynn, Flynn/Carrie, Julie/Carrie, Julie/Luke, Ray/Caleb, Bex & Everyone
Oh, good!” Reggie chirps. “You finally noticed.” He gives them an expectant grin. “So…?”
Alex and Willie return two blank looks. “So…?” Willie repeats.
“So…” Reggie speaks slowly, as if they’re the dumb ones. “Will you guys go out with me?”
luke/alex/willie | g | 2k | cuddling, touch-starved willie
Willie laughs which lights Luke’s chest up on the inside. If they were other, more normal, less screwed-up people, Luke might worry about whether his feelings are betraying Alex somehow. But he and Alex are just as inextricable. Luke can’t imagine Alex being angry about this; if anything, it only makes sense. Willie matters to Alex. The transmission of that caring was always going to happen one way or another.
Luke closes the distance. Putting his guitar down to the side, he leans over to rest his head on Willie’s shoulder. He feels, more than hears, Willie’s sharp intake of breath, the way Willie tenses and then goes gooey and soft.
Them!!!! This idea originally came from @angelofarts when I was sad and needed Reggie headcanons to cheer me up :) Love you, Angie! I hope you both enjoy this!
read on ao3 here:
see the awesome fanart @strugglingatart made here!
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Willie’s sitting on their living room couch, reading a book about colonialism and photography he borrowed from Mr. Molina, when Reggie Peters poofs into the room and flops face first onto his lap.
Willie makes a little choked noise in the back of their throat. “Uh… Reg? Is everything okay?”
Reggie nods, his face scraping the open page of Willie’s book, which can’t be comfortable. Willie carefully lifts a hand and buries it in Reggie’s hair, gently running his fingers through the tangled strands. Reggie hums pleasurably, turning his head so that his nose presses into Willie’s stomach.
“You’re kinda crushing my book, there, butterfly,” Willie says after a while.
“Oh.” Reggie immediately sits up on his knees, scrubbing both hands over his face. “Sorry.”
Willie frowns, putting his book aside. “You sure you’re all right? What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were having dinner at Julie’s.”
“I was ,” Reggie bemoans, shifting so that he can drop his head on Willie’s shoulder, “but we were having Chinese food, which is usually my favorite, except Luke kept eating my wantons and Alex kept making fun of me, and Julie offered to get me a fork, which was really nice but it’s just not the same.”
Willie’s not quite sure he’s following. They decide to focus on one thing at a time. “Alex made fun of you?”
“Not in a mean way. And he gave me a nice forehead kiss to say sorry. I just don’t like that I keep trying and I still can’t get it, you know?”
“No, not really. What can’t you get?”
Reggie looks up at them, his eyebrows knit together, like he’s utterly unsure where Willie’s confusion lies. “How to use chopsticks.”
“Oh.” Willie blinks. “Wait, that’s what this is all about?”
Reggie slumps back onto Willie’s shoulder, nuzzling in close until Willie gets the hint and puts their arm around him. “I’ve tried so many times,” Reggie mumbles into his shirt. “And I still can’t get it! Julie can do it. Alex can do it—drummer hands, you know? Even Luke can do it! And he rubs it in my face by using them to eat Cheetos and stuff, and by taking all the good food while I’m trying to just hold the chopsticks, and… it’s just very frustrating and it made me sad, so I would like some cuddles please.”
Before Willie has time to process, much less respond, Reggie flops down into their lap again, and Willie gets temporarily distracted by the very important task of cuddling Reggie to his satisfaction.
Once Reggie’s feeling better, though, and Willie’s legs are starting to grow a little numb, he gently pushes Reggie’s shoulders until he’s sitting up, and says, “Can I try to help?”
***
Alex comes home to find his boyfriends in the middle of a very intense Chopstick Training Session. He arrives just in time to see Reggie successfully pick up a piece of broccoli and shout, “I DID IT!”
Alex grins. This, right here, is what makes him the happiest former ghost to ever get something approaching a life back. “Having fun?” he calls, coming over to kiss Willie on the lips and Reggie on the head.
“I’m gonna use these for everything now!” Reggie cheers around a mouthful of broccoli, and Willie and Alex smile at him with all the love and pride in the world.
julie: this is my girlfriend flynn, and her girlfriend carrie, and her girlfriend kayla. and this is my boyfriend luke, and his boyfriend reggie, and his boyfriend bobby, and his boyfriend alex, and his boyfriend willie.
Hi, thanks for the ask! (Choose a title that interests you from this list of my fic titles and I’ll tell you about it)
Willexie fucking w Trevor is based off a convo I had with @on-irratia and @sunset-bobby about how funny it would be if Reggie and Alex both, at seperate times, dated Bobby back in the 90s, instead of Luke being The Gay Awakening™️, which evolved into crack about Reggie and Alex having the exact same taste and both dating Willie (along with shenanigans about being unable to communicate their feelings for each other) and Trevor dating Ray, and just Reggie and Alex ragging on at Trevor at all times for ending up with a guy they consider to be their dad while Ray and Willie bond about actually being sane (ish) which I then offered to write bc I think it will be hilarious and I’ve grown very fond of Reggie/Alex/Willie
Bex and Riley for dealer's choice of birthday prompt!
A prompt request for two OCs 🥺 my brain children feel so loved right now. Thank you! But you made me make SO MANY DECISIONS and I’m mad at you for that 😉. Hope you like it!
For context, Bex and Riley are both OCs in the Bex Verse. Riley is Bex’s best friend (Bex is Willexie’s kid) and currently playing around with gender and pronouns.
They reach the school and Bex turns to give Willie a tight hug. They return it readily, counting as they squeeze her ten times before finally letting go.
“Ten’s not too old to hug your old Nomy in front of your friends?” they tease.
Bex plants a hand on her hip as she rolls her eyes. “I’ll never be too old for hugs.”
Willie chuckles and restrains themself from ruffling her hair, “Yeah okay, we’ll see about that. Love you. Have the most amazing day.”
Bex wraps her arms around Willie’s waist one more time. “You too, Nomy! Love you, bye!” She waves as she runs off.
She sees Riley in their usual spot at the edge of the playground, just outside of the chaos of the daily school drop off, and runs toward them.
They notice her almost immediately and jump up, wrapping her in a tight hug once she’s close enough.
“Happy birthday!”
Bex smiles. “Thanks!” she says before holding her skirt out and giving a twirl, “Look what Auntie Carrie got me!”
Riley offers her an exaggerated appreciative whistle. Bex rolls her eyes. He’d finally learned how to do that and Bex is only slightly frustrated that she can’t figure it out for herself. Apparently even in a family of musicians, she’s got a distinct lack of people who can teach her how to do this one thing.
“Nice!” they offer. Riley doesn’t understand the appeal of dresses, especially not floofy twirly ones, but if there’s one thing that is true for her, it’s that she’s going to amp Bex up any chance she gets.
And if there’s one thing that Bex and Carrie share, it’s a love for floofy twirly dresses. Carrie had made sure that Bex could have her new dress ready for school today. They’ve made half a tradition over the last few years where part of Carrie’s gift to Bex is her birthday outfit and every year it’s more extravagant than the last. Bex’s dads make sure that Carrie keeps it age, season, and school appropriate though.
She spreads her skirt out as she sits on the grass like usual. Riley drops down beside her. They know there’s not enough time before the morning bell to actually dig anything out of their bags so they spend their few minutes alone excitedly chatting about Bex’s upcoming party and what they’re expecting her family to do. Luke probably has some cheesy song planned. Reggie will bake like always and do something overbearing and embarrassing. Alex will cry. Granted, he cried this morning. Something about milestone birthdays and being ten and almost all grown up. He’ll absolutely cry again, though. Willie will try way too hard to be cool. They’re all so predictable but at least it’s funny when it’s not annoying.
The warning bell chimes and Riley jumps up. They offer Bex their hand and she readily accepts the help in being pulled up, brushing off her skirt and legs once she’s standing.
She laughs as she curtsies in thanks. Riley bows before offering her his arm. “Milady,” Riley teases.
“Thank you, good sir,” Bex counters with another giggle as she wraps hand around his arm.
“Anything for the birthday girl.”
They laugh together as they make their way toward the school. Unfortunately they aren’t in the same class this year so they separate dramatically once inside, complete with Riley pressing a gentle kiss to Bex’s hand.
“Happiest of birthdays to you, Lady Bex.” Riley bows again as she makes her way to her own classroom, leaving Bex to find her way to hers.
“You guys are so weird,” Bex hears someone mutter just loud enough for her to hear. She brushes it off and rolls her shoulder back, just like Auntie Carrie taught her, walking to her classroom head held high.
She used to fight back. When people talked shit about her. Or her dads. Or Luke. Or Carrie. But after many, many chats with her grown ups and teachers and principals, she started practicing new ways to deal with her ‘haters’ (as Flynn calls them). Right now, the strategy is a Carrie Wilson special and it’s been working out okay so far. Riley has a harder time but they’re all working on it.
Riley’s waiting outside of her classroom at recess. “Happy birthday!” they exclaim as soon as she gets out the door.
Bex laughs as she follows him outside, “You already said that.”
“Yeah, but I want to say it again. I’m gonna say it so many times today. Happy birthday happy birthday happy birthday happy birthd-”
Bex cuts him off with a hand to his mouth and another laugh. “Okay, okay I get it! Don’t expect this many happy birthdays from me when it’s your turn though.”
“No, you’ll probably do something way cooler.”
“Pft as if.”
“Yeah, ‘cause you’re the coolest.”
“You’re just saying that ‘cause it’s my birthday.”
“Nope,” Riley retorts, rushing away before Bex can respond.
“Wait! You can’t run away from me! It’s my birthday!” Bex yells as she follows after her.
Bex catches up to Riley where they’ve stopped at a broken piece of pavement. There aren’t a lot of great places to bug hunt on the school grounds but every once in a while, if they look really carefully, they can find something new in disrepair that hosts some creatures for them to watch.
Bex crouches down and flips the corner of cement over. “Awe, just pillbugs,” she says with dismay as she watches the little ecosystem. “They don’t even count.”
She gently replaces the concrete, careful not to disturb them any more than necessary.
Riley sits beside her on the cement pad. “We’ll find the coolest bug today,” he assures her. “We have to! Birthday and all.”
“It’s too bad we can’t go to the front where all the flowers are,” Bex says with a pout as she plunks down beside Riley. They’d tried. Many times. But the teacher on supervision duty always caught them and made them stay on or around the playground. Sure, there was some grass and stuff, but nothing like what the front of the school offered for insect-friendly hunting grounds.
They sit in silence, staring at nothing until the bell rings to take them back inside.
There’s no playful exchange this time around but Riley’s waiting for her again at their lunch break, with another round of happy birthdays, and then again at afternoon recess.
They don’t have any more luck in their bug hunting, choosing to forego it entirely for their last break and instead opting to flip through the book that Riley had brought from home.
By the end of the day, they’re both nearly bouncing out of their skin in excitement, the disappointment of their failed insect tracking behind them. Riley gets to come home with Bex. Something that’s not necessarily new. Or rare. But it’s different this time.
Bex’s classmates (and their parents) and teachers gawk when at the end of the day The Carrie Wilson™ is there in a limo to pick up Bex and Riley. The Carrie Wilson™ who happens to be sporting a dress that almost perfectly matches Bex’s.
Carrie greets Bex and Riley with a wink and smile. They quickly clamber into the car, beaming the entire time. She follows and lets the driver close the door behind them.
“You should turn ten more often,” Riley enthuses as they take in the interior of the car. Carrie had had it stocked up with Bex and Riley’s favourite treats (and some proper after school snacks at Alex’s insistence. “They need protein, Carrie.”
“They’d better still be able to eat dinner and cake!” had been Reggie’s input.
“Let the kids have their fun!” was Ray’s contribution. “It’s not every day your kid, niece, grandbaby turns ten!”
To which Alex had fought back tears. Again.)
Bex looks around with wide eyes. She catches sight of the chocolate eggs that she only ever gets when somebody goes on tour and squeals with excitement. She takes one for herself and hands another to Riley.
“Wait til you see these!” she tells him excitedly as she unwraps her own and cracks the chocolate open. She shoves the candy pieces into her mouth as she grabs the signature yellow canister and pops it open. She teaches Riley about the joys of Kinder Surprise, grateful to see that they both got toys that aren’t pre-built.
“Best birthday ever,” Bex sighs.
“And it’s only just began,” Carrie reminds her with a wide smile. “Let’s get you home so you can see what everyone else has in store for you.”
“How many times has Daddy cried?” Bex asks around a mouthful of chocolate.
Carrie laughs, “He made me promise not to tell. Or count.”
Bex rolls her eyes, a perfect imitation of her dad, “Figures.”
Okay i genuinely needed to cut this off cuz it almost turned into #Bex’s first sleepover which I am NOT equipped to write right now. Maybe I’ll extend this for ao3 later…
