[OLD] the music freaks oneshots

★ 24: It Gets Better

ships : lander
genre : angst
au : given the info we have now, this would be an au where zan's parents r homophobic D:
requested by Ivurn4422

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"It just doesn't make sense. Why would a man want to be with another man?"

"It's weird. And gross."

A quiet groan escaped the boy's lips. Zander's had enough of this. He got up from the stair tread he'd been hiding on and walked back up, trying to block out the noise of the news channel and his parents' chatter.

Hailey was waiting right at the top, a sad frown on her face. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Zander."

"I'm not even sad. I'm just angry. Turns out I can't tell them, great." He took quick steps to his room, wishing to avoid further conversation and lock himself in there.

Before he could open his bedroom door, Hailey called him. "Hey, Zander, I'm here if you wanna talk, alright?" She gave him a small supportive smile.

He barely returned it before entering his room. "I know."

Zander ran to his bed and trapped himself under the covers. One tear escaped his eye, then another, and another. Soon, he was trying to control a rush of tears flowing down his face. Tears that, as much as he wouldn't want to admit, were more sad than angry.

After what must have been hours, he sat up to compose himself and wiped away the blur in his eyes. A single note on his wall caught his eye. It was plain, just a piece of paper that he had gotten from somewhere and scribbled a message on in black ink. It gets better, it read.

Zander could only hope it would.

#

The next day went by way too slowly for Zander's liking. Luckily, after-school music club practice is almost over. After this, he could rush home and hole up in his room till the sun demands he go and be functional again.

Before he could do that, Luke stops him. "Zander, I noticed you haven't been doing too well today. I know it could just be one of your bad days, but... I'm here if you wanna talk." Hailey decided to stay behind as well. 

But that's not what he wanted. He wanted to go home and be alone and sleep the rest of the day away. "Look, I'm fine, really. It's just one of my bad days like you said." The door is already so close.

"Yeah, but, Zander—" A hand reaches for him.

He dodges it. "No, quit it, Hailey."

"Zander—" Another puts his hand on his shoulder.

He shoves it away. "I wanna be alone!"

It's suddenly so cold. 

His breathing quickened, and, dammit, he's crying again.

"I wanna be alone," Zander repeated, his voice much weaker this time. As weak as the lie he told.

He rubbed harshly at his eyes to try and stop the tears. "I don't wanna be alone. I want you two here." All they did was watch the pathetic mess that he is breaking down.

Then they shared a look as if they were communicating with their minds.

"Zander." A door squeaked and clicked shut. "We're always here for you."

"Yeah." A freckled hand reached for his face and wiped a tear away. The same hand brought him into a hug. 

"I know." 

"Oh, yeah, um, Hailey told me what happened last night. I'm sorry it had to be like that," Luke told him. 

Silence.

"I want you to know that it does get better." 

"I know that."

"And you can come to my place whenever you want. Not just when you're upset."

"Oh." Zander looked up at him from the hug. A small hopeful smile made its way onto his face. "Thanks then."

It gets better. It really does.

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •

author's note :
this is too short and it should've been finished a long time ago but uh, turns out i can't be relied on for this kind of stuff. i gotta crank out the rest of those requests; they've been sitting in my drafts for too long and the people who requested them might have forgotten or stopped caring

i hc that luke has freckles so that's the freckled hand

hailey takes a pic of the hug at some time in the oneshot before giving them space but i didn't know how to insert it when the situation was already serious

also i'm changing the format for these. i don't like how all the emojis everywhere looked. if wattpad notifies readers of chapter edits then i'm sorry if u get spammed D: and unfortunately editing paragraphs detaches the comments made on it (i think ?) :'] at least it doesn't delete them