Ghosted

Empty Art Museum

Alex's pov

Willie and I decided it would be fun if we saw each other again, which I have to admit, got me very excited. He told me to meet him at an art museum just outside of Hollywood, so I did.

I sat on a bench outside of the museum with my legs crossed in front of me while I fidgeted with one of my rings as I waited. Soon enough, I hear the soft sound of skateboard wheels rolling against concrete and I stand up as soon as he comes into view.

He skates closer and closer to me until he slows down and stops in front of me. "What's up, hot dog," he says with his stupid little smile with his stupid little dimples on either side.

He wraps his arm around my shoulder and walks us to the front door with a closed sign on it. We stop and stand there in front of the glasses doors for a moment until it hits me. "You know what?" I say. "I don't think this is about the art. I think you just like breaking the rules."

He raises his eyebrows and shrugs, his smile still on his face. "Maybe. You should try it sometime," he says, looking at me before he looks back at the very closed museum.

I sigh, heavily. "We're going in there, aren't we?"

He turns his head and looks at me, laughing, before grabbing my hand with his and running through the door, pulling me along with him.

When we're inside, my breath is taken away. "Wow," I say, amazed at how intimate museums are when nobody else is in it.

"Sick, right?" He says, dropping his skateboard. "And we got the whole to ourselves," he says before skating around the museum.

I walk over to a concrete bench that's sitting in the middle of an empty area watching as Willie does tricks on his skateboard.

He starts coming straight toward me again, but for some reason, I'm not scared when he does. Usually I get scared when fast objects start coming toward me, but for some reason, it's almost familiar when he does it. He stops right in front of me again and points to the bench I was just about to sit down on.

"Oh, dude. Move that bench over here. I'm gonna try and jump it," he says.

"Uh... Yeah. I can't move that," I respond, pointing at the bench while looking at him as he pauses. "I can barely move small things."

He snickers and drops his head before putting his hand out and walking toward me. "Dude, trust me," he says, walking to the other side of the bench. "If you focus on putting all of your energy into your hands, you can move anything."

I look at him in disbelief but I know he wouldn't lie to me so I shrug. "Okay," I say, walking over to the end of the bench. I bend down and put almost as much energy that I have into my hands, but they go right through the bench, making us both laugh. I stand up, the blood heating my cheeks as I blush with embarrassment. "No, I guess I gotta start doing ghost push-ups."

He sighs at me still with that stupid little smile on his face. "No. You just gotta focus," he says.

I roll my eyes slightly at the fact that he thinks it's easy for me to focus when he's around. "Yeah. I've always had a hard time focusing," I say instead of confessing my love for him. "I've always been a little anxious, and then I died. Which did not calm me down."

He nods understandingly. "Right."

"So, yeah," I finish.

"Hey," he says, placing a hand on my back and putting his other hand in front of me to grab. When I put my hand into his, everything in my body heats up. He lifts our hands in front of our faces and he tightens his grip on mine slightly. "We got this," he says, a comforting smile on his face.

We both bend down and he places my hand under the bench and helps me lift it up, I turn my head toward him slightly, noticing every single muscle in his arm tensing. I chuckle softly as we just stand there holding up one end of the bench.

"Yo, you've got, like, ten seconds to get on," I say, telling him I can't hold this much longer.

"Yeah, alright!" He says, laughing as he runs to the other end of the ends and picks it up, walking me backwards until he places it down where he wants it. "Not bad, man. Alright, stay there. Stay there," he says, walking up the ramp and places his skateboard on the ground before he starts moving closer and closer toward me. Usually when something big starts coming toward me, I get scared, but with him it feels familiar and almost comforting.

I watch as he jumps the bench before placing his skateboard against the wall and takes off him helmet, resting it in his crossed legs as he sits on the bench. I look around the museum before I turn back to him, blushing when I realize he's watching me. 

"You're a little wired tight, huh?" He asks, noticing I haven't taken my hands out of my pockets since we moved the bench.

I chuckle awkwardly before sitting down next to him, resting my hands in my lap.

"Is that why you started playing the drums? To help with your anxiety?" He asks, motioning to my hands making me look down at them, noticing I was spinning my ring again.

"Yeah. I mean, pretty much," I say, shrugging. "There's no better way to work out your problems than wailing on drums, right?"

"Hey, do you wanna know what makes me feel better?" He asks as he stares at me for a moment before he slaps my chest with the back of his hand before he stands up. Yelling in a museum," he says before he puts his arms out and leans back, yelling loudly. I feel the blood run from my face, flashbacks showing my things I never wanted to see again, but when I realize Avery wasn't the one screaming this time, I relax and watch as Willie laughs. 

I yell weakly, feeling like this was completely wrong.

"You gotta stand up," he laughs at me softly before he grabs my hands and pulls me to stand up. "You gotta put your heart into it, man. Ready?" He says before he screams again.

I wait a small moment before I scream back at him before we both start screaming at the same time. He steps toward me and grabs the collar of my ripped jean jacket, both of us yelling again, our heads flying backwards. 

When he stop, he takes one step away from me and that adorably stupid smile is back, making the heart rush up to my cheeks. "Feels good. Right?" He asks. 

"Yeah. It does," I say, small tears forming in my eyes knowing I had wanted to do that for so long and finally being able to do it. It felt so freeing.

Willie notices and walks forward, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. "You good, bro?"

I turn to look at him and swallow the lump in my throat before I nod. "Yeah, yeah. I just got some shit and that really helped."

a/n: i know it's been a while but i've been writing so much that i figured i should update.

happy double update!

love y'all! drink some water!