The door slams open so suddenly that Will is startled from lounging to standing in mere seconds.
"Hey Solace," Lou says casually. "Nice boxers."
He yelps and grabs one of Lee's pillows for cover.
Thank gods he'd been scrolling on his phone for once, or his laptop would probably be in pieces on the floor right now, dropped unceremoniously from the shift in position.
He finally gets his heart rate under control enough to answer: "Lou? What are you doing here?"
"You know I'm not good with the emotional stuff but... I've been kinda worried about you holing yourself up in your apartment, no doubt digging yourself into a hole with worry what with the Nico situation and how hard the course load has been lately. I've also really missed you two morons and we've barely seen each other since we helped you move in. So when Lee told me you'd come over, I thought it'd be prime bonding time. "
" Lou that's... Really sweet. "
" Yeah yeah, don't get used to it, " she smiles." But seriously, we're here for you, don't forget that. "
" Yeah. " Will grins back.
" I'll be in the car downstairs, don't take too long. "
" Lee? " he asks.
" Already down there. "
She turns to leave but as she's halfway out the door, she turns to face him again.
" And Will? Put some pants on for the love of god."
Although it's been a while since they've seen each other, it feels like no time at all. Will hops into the seat and falls into an easy silence as Lee and Lou bicker in the background.
"Hey, driver picks the music, shotgun shuts their cakehole, Lou."
The wind whips at his hair and stings his face and he can't help but smile as Lee yells off-key lyrics along with the songs reverberating through the speakers. Lou's begrudging smile is reflected in the wing mirror.
They spend the afternoon wasting gas driving around the city, going nowhere in particular but thoroughly enjoying the time spent together."
" Emo never dies Lou." " I'm just saying it's the year of our lord and savior and you're still blasting the emo trinity"
"It doesn't have an expiration date."
"Yeah? What about when Brendon Urie dies?"
"Low blow," Will chimes in.
"Brendon Urie will never die and you can quote me on that." Lee responds.
And in that moment, surrounded by friends, everything just feels so free and so right that Will hopes this will go on forever.
He spends one more night. He can't go back just yet. Not when things feel so good here and so sad back at his apartment. But he can't run away forever.
I got some constructive criticism that Lou was a bit unlikeable so I included a bonding moment. I also realized there's been no Lee for a hot minute so hopefully this was enjoyable