so i was listening to music when Yellowcard's "Light Up The Sky" came on. i stopped in my poor karaoke rendition of the song and said to myself, "oh my gumdrops! this is a Warren song! how did i not see it before?!" and that, if anyone cared, was how this story came to be.

"It's still so hard to be who you are/ So you play this part/ The show goes on/ You've come this far with a broken heart/ Yeah, you've come this far and you're broken...."

"Light Up The Sky" by Yellowcard

Prologue

Warren had been staring at the angry red numbers on his alarm clock so long he was rather surprised when 3:42 changed to 3:43. He would cut his hair off for some sleep right now. This was about the fourth night this had been going on. He hugged his pillow to his chest and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to get them to stay that way for longer than a few seconds. His cell phone vibrated against his thigh. He'd left it by his pillow, but with all his tossing and turning, he'd ended up moving it nearer to his legs. Warren checked to number.

"Will."

The Stronghold in question let out a breathy, sleepy laugh. "Hey. I thought you'd be up. Wasn't sure, though, so I had to check."

Warren laughed as well. "What if I had been asleep?"

"Well, if you had, I'd pray you'd 1) be too tired from all your sleepless nights to pick up the phone, 2) be so tired you'd only pick up the phone after I hung up, or 3) be too tired tomorrow to kill me."

"Did you plan that answer?"

Warren knew Will was running his hand through his hair like he always did to keep awake. "Yeah, I have some cue cards in front of me." He could hear the smile in his voice. "So, anyway, I called to talk you to sleep."

"Smart. Layla did the same thing. Didn't work."

Will tsked. "That girl... is always a step ahead of me."

"Yup, she is," Warren agreed fondly. "Thanks anyway."

"Eh, what're friends for?"

Will covered his mouth with his free hand as he yawned, but Warren heard it anyway.

"Will, go to sleep, I'll see you tomorrow."

"No way," Will argued, wanting to continue talking to his best friend, even if only to hear the two of them on first name terms. They often called each other at night, when walls and guards were down, and the words flowed even easier than usual, nearly asleep babble escaping their lips as if they were drunk. Sometimes they wouldn't say anything, just listening to each other breathing. It was a bit of an unspoken agreement between the two; once back at school, Warren was back to the look-at-me-funny-and-I'll-shove-your-head-through-the-nearest-wall with people he didn't know, and sarcasm seeping out of his pores with his friends, and Will was back to happy-go-lucky-prep-with-great-friends-great-grades-hot-girlfriend Will Stronghold. And they'd be back to calling each other by last names. It sucked, but thus was life. At night, when they couldn't see each other, when there was no one around, when the only thing between them was whispered, tender conversations, and they were what real best friends were.

"Dude, you're falling asleep on me, I can feel it," warren told him bluntly. "It's okay, it's almost four, ten I'll get up and work out. I don't even try to sleep after the sun comes up."

Will sighed, admiting defeat. "Fine," he groaned. "I'll see you in school then."

"Alright, I'll see you, Will."

He waited for Will to hang up. Warren shook his head, a smile playing on his lips, and shut his phone. 3:59. He waited for the numbers to change again, and then got up for a cup of coffee.

I just wanna be where you are tonight.

and that's the prologue!!! hope you guys liked it, and hope you felt the implied slash, because that's the vaguest i've ever been in any of my stories. review for the next chapter, i've already got it planned, but it will never see the light of day without someone telling me if this is any good. i have the worst inferiority complex you will ever see, i swear on pudding.