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"What is this?"
Alex holds a rectangular object wrapped in pink paper. Willie merely smiles, nudging him to open it.
"It's a compilation of songs that I thought you would like, most of them from my generation, because there's some artists I need to introduce to you anyhow."
"How did you even get to do all this? I thought cassette tapes grew old a long time ago," Alex said, unwrapping the paper as neatly as he could, finding a single cassette tape in a clear case. He couldn't stand people who ripped wrapping paper without a care in the world. Even paper needs to be handled with care, at least he believes so.
"It's no big deal."
It was, in fact. Willie had to sneak into a vintage shop right after they closed to grab a cassette, and then there was the whole ordeal of figuring out how to get the songs into the tape. Even with his ghostly tricks up his sleeve, he still didn't have quite the same capabilities as he did when he was human. Eventually, though, he figured it out.
The tape reads for Alex. Just those two words warmed Alex's heart, and he took in Willie's careful swirls. "Your handwriting is pretty," he murmured.
"Thank you. And now," Willie walked over to the empty garage, finding a cassette player. Lucky for him, Julie helped him find it among all the other old memorabilia kept by her late mom.
(Yes, they met, and Julie was more than happy to be their wing woman. They even veered off topic and talked about their love of bracelets. They vowed to have a bracelet making session one of the days when they were both free.)
"Do the honors, hot dog." Alex inserted the tape inside, and they let it roll, sitting silently with one another.
Thinkin Bout You came on first. Alex laughed at the first line. "Is this in reference to when we bumped into one another while you were skating?"
"Yeah." Willie smiled, remembering the first time he saw the blond haired boy. He was clueless, which made Willie that much more interested in finding out about him. "This is Frank Ocean. He's a pretty big deal, and I really like his music, so I hope you like this one."
Alex listens to it until the end before replying, "I like it. It's very... vibey."
Next came California Friends by The Regrettes. "They're a pretty new band."
Alex moved his head to the beat, enjoying the music so far. He was still absorbing the fact that Willie even took the time to think of songs that might be his type, and he internally swooned at the thought of Willie listening to a bunch of songs by himself and choosing which would fit the tape playlist.
Willie was a straightforward person, usually, but when it comes to mushy stuff like crushes and love, he preferred to be more subtle and put the words he couldn't express in little hints and gifts like this. He hoped Alex would get it.
He did, eventually. By the fourth song, Alex could tell there was trend in the meaning of songs when he listened to the lyrics clearly. He looked at Willie, his eyes softening at this boy that he had spent so little time with but felt like he'd known him for more years than that. Willie was humming to the current song playing, which had a slow beat to it. It reminded Alex of the time they danced together at prom. That still felt unreal. Then, his mind wandered to the list of things he wanted to do before he died -- turned into a list of things he now wanted to accomplish with Willie.
The two of them continued listening to the tape, Willie explaining or introducing the artist to Alex whenever the next track came on, and Alex being impressed at Willie's good music taste.
"Hey, since you have such good music taste, what do you think of our band?"
"You mean Julie and The Phantoms?" Alex nodded. "I think I would like an album from you guys."
"Album? That's big."
"I would listen to anything that involves you," Willie teased, with a slight softness in his voice that hinted that he wasn't entirely joking. Alex blushed and waved his hands as a way to say stop it.
When they got to the end of the last track, Willie removed the tape from the player and stored it back inside the clear case. "So.. What do you think?"
"I think.." Alex could feel the nervous energy coming from Willie. He was usually the nervous one, not Willie.
"I think it's amazing. Thank you for making this for me," Alex finished, stealing a little kiss on Willie's cheek for good measure. Willie smiled, looking down at the floor.
"Willie?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you say we kick off the first item on my bucket list?"
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this is kind of short but hope you like it anyhow! thank you for 3k reads aaah
this one shot kind of incorporated the one about the dance, i will probably have some one shots related to alex's "list"! and yes my hc is that julie can see willie because he's attached to alex's soul and anything that is part of the boys' souls are visible to julie :))
