#but for now he has a lot of fun teaching Alex silk-rope tricks half a meter off the floor

[innytoes]

"Pinky promise?" And "Relationships are built on trust, and I trust you," from the soft prompts for Willex? (Feel free to change ship if it doesn't vibe with you!)

Some nights, after the applause died down and the audience went home and they'd done all the clean up, Alex would lie in the van he shared with Reggie and Luke, both boys curled up beside him, and stare at the ceiling wondering how the hell this had turned out to be his life.

Running away and joining the circus was supposed to be something that happened in kid's books, not real life. But Luke had already been living in the garage they rented as a studio, Reggie crashing there more and more often. And when Alex came to the studio one night, hastily packed bag over one shoulder telling them how he'd overheard his parents discussing sending him to some kind of 'pray away the gay' camp, well, they knew they had to get out of LA, and fast.

Joining up with the circus was supposed to be a temporary thing. Except it turned out, they all really liked it there. The ringmaster and owner, Ray, was really nice and was thrilled to have a bunch of young musicians offer to join up. He'd been less thrilled, a year later, when he realised they were celebrating Alex' eighteenth birthday, but he hadn't kicked them out or anything.

So they played their music, joining up with Ray's daughter Julie to form 'the most epic band ever', according to Luke. And they found out ways to help before and after the shows. Turned out Luke was killer at balloon animals, Reggie helped with the animals, and Alex usually helped the food stalls.

"Hey Hotdog," Willie said, leaning over the side and giving him a kiss. Alex' stomach fluttered with butterflies, the way it always did when Willie was close. The last of the people had gone into the big tent, which meant they had about a half an hour to tidy up and get ready before the actual show started and they were needed at their stations. "Can we talk?"

The butterflies in his stomach must have frozen to death, considering the way his insides turned to ice. "O... okay."

"Shit no, sorry, not like that, that totally set off your anxiety, didn't it? It's not anything bad, I swear." Willie stammered. He looked ridiculously nervous himself, one of his big sweaters over his leotard. He took Alex' hand, bringing them to behind the trailers, out of sight of everyone. "Caleb offered me a spot in his part of the show."

"That's brilliant, Willie!" Alex said, grasping his tighter. His boyfriend deserved all of the time in front of the audience. At first, Alex hadn't even been able to watch Willie's part of the show, his aerial tricks and tight rope walking and time up in the air meaning he almost toppled over his cymbal from hitting it so hard in his anxiety. But now, he loved nothing more than to watch his boyfriend fly free and joyful above the crowds.

"It does mean I'll have to get pretty up-close and personal with Dante, though," Willie said. Dante was one of Caleb's stage assistants. He was usually the guy who did all the switcheroo stuff, as Reggie called it, while Fuego and Caleb distracted the crowd.

"Okay?" Alex asked. "Are you worried he's gonna drop you?" He'd never seen Dantye drop anyone. They'd had acrobatics and stuff in the magic show before, and he'd never heard any of the other performers complain. The guy seemed pretty solid.

"You're not upset?" Willie asked, blinking. Alex shrugged.

"You spend all your time forty feet off the ground doing things I can't even wrap my head around," he pointed out. "I think you can handle being fake-sawed-in-half or whatever."

"You're not worried about me being all over this super buff, hot guy?" Willie pressed. And okay yeah maybe Alex did still sometimes blush when Dante was doing a shirtless workout on the grounds. But he was married to Fuego. Plus, Willie would never cheat on him. Honestly, the big muscles were kind of reassuring, if Dante was meant to be catching his boyfriend.

"Relationships are built on trust, and I trust you," he said, gently taking Willie's face in his hands and pressing a kiss to his furrowed brow. Immediately, Willie relaxed, leaning into him. "Promise me one thing, though," he said.

"Anything," Willie said immediately.

"Don't get on Caleb's bad side and get sawed in half for real," Alex said as seriously as he could.

Willie's laugh echoed over the now empty fields. "Pinky promise," he agreed, linking their fingers together and kissing him soundly.