Thursday a week later

The normal scene a week later in the "The Basement Project '' Miller, Jim and Clay had been practicing for the past 15 minutes or so. That's been the new routine this week, Miller sings songs he wrote and Jim plays the drums. Miller wasn't used to incorporating piano keys into his song but Clay didn't mind teaching him and looking over notes together. Victor leaned against the wall, sat on the floor and watched as everyone prepared themselves for the future. Looking like a tired but fulfilled teacher, looking over his respected talented students. 

"Guys, we should hang out sometime soon. But not just to play instruments." Victor said out loud. Clay looked up from the piano, "And do what? Go to someone's house?" Victor sighed deeply into the wall. "No, I mean sure if you guys want. Just not my house" 

 Miller stood up adjusting his sweater, "Why don't we go eat somewhere?" Pulling out his cracked phone, he checked the time. "We could go today. It's still pretty early."

 "Hello?" The door swung open, again. Everyone looked over to the person who just opened the door almost in sync. "Is this The Basement Project? I saw your flier." 

 Jim sprung up from his seat at the drums, nearly knocking over the drumset in process. "Yes! Yes! We're The Basement Project, why?!"

"Well if you're still open to new band members, I'd like to join! I play the banjo. My name's Nick by the way." 

"No way, Lucille's boyfriend!!! Of course we're still open! Sit down, we'll just ask you a few questions and make a decision afterwards." Jim said. Under his breath Miller scoffed, he knew Jim was going to let anyone in. He jumps at the idea of making new friends and band members.

 Nick walked, wearing a smile all the way. He pulled out a chair from under a desk, one Jim motioned to and sat down. He tapped his fingers patiently as Jim shuffled through his backpack to find a list of questions he had previously prepared. Clay and Victor stared at each other and then back at Miller who hadn't moved since Nick entered the room. 

"Alright! How long have you been playing the banjo?" Jim spoke, breaking the silence.

"Since 6th grade? So 5 years almost."

"Do you have any other musical talents?"

Nick paused thoughtfully. "Well I tried to get into writing songs but I gave up pretty fast. I think I sing decently though and I wouldn't mind picking up another skill."

"Woa! Another singer! Miller, watch out." 

 There was a faint knock at the door. Miller sighed as he walked over and opened it. "Hi?" Miller examined the face until changing his own reaction once he realized it was a good friend of his. "Oh hey Lucille! What's up?"

Clay gasped, "Oh my god hey! I thought you left school already."

Lucille gave a toothy smile. "Nah, I've been looking around the clubs. Ma wants me to spend more time at school." She eyed Miller up and down, "So YOU started a band?"

Jim coughed loudly. Miller turned around smirking. "Well Jim and I started a band."

"Thank you, I came up with the idea and Miller came up with the name."

"The Basement Project? Of course that was his idea."

"Wow thanks guys. Glad my creative talents are being recognized." Miller spoke flatly and soaked in sarcasm.

The room went quiet and Miller suddenly felt a twinge of guilt for the sarcastic comment. Nobody actually took offense, he knew this. Still, he worried. Zoning out he focuses on the floor, tuning out the others who had started talking about the bands future. He didn't intend to space out, it's just been happening a lot recently and he can't seem to snap out of it. He looked up from the floor to Victor who looked back. Examining each other in silence, Miller noticed the color of Victor's eyes. The messy ponytail he always wore looked to be messier today, strands of hair laying on his shoulder, flying in different directions. He wanted to reach out and tame Victor's bedhead, he'd imagine it'd be soft yet tangled. And at that moment, everything else was blurry. The next moment, so was he. 

Miller's chest tightened and for a millisecond he stopped breathing as he realized Victor was talking to him. Why couldn't he hear anything?

Hello?

"Are you even paying attention to me right now?" 

"Huh?"

"Miller."

Miller blinked and suddenly Victor was right in front of him. "Woah!" He almost fell backwards. 

Clay across the room, spoke, "Woah. Dude, are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just zoned out, sorry."

Victor closed the distance between the two and he held Miller's hand gracefully guiding him to an empty chair. "Alright big guy, why don't you sit down."

Embarrassed for causing a scene, Miller looked away from everyone and sat down. Breathing in he took every little thing one at a time.

Lucille stared at them and then spoke "Well anyways, I have debate club on Tuesdays. So how about we meet every Wednesday and Thursdays?"

Jim shaked his head. "No, I have to pick up my sister on Wednesdays."

"Damn okay what about Fridays? Nobody wants to meet on Mondays." Nick said, folding his arms on his chest. "I know I sure don't."

"I'm not in the band but I like sitting and listening to you guys. Is that okay with you guys?" Victor looked between Lucille and Nick patiently. 

"Yeah!"

"Sure."

Jim jumped up, "Alright! Let's finish organizing and we can head out." He walks over to Nick and Lucille, holding up sheets of paper. Clay awkwardly sat alone from everyone else watching them. Victor was still holding on to Miller who had gone quiet, the two stood in silence. From where Clay was sat he couldn't make out the atmosphere between them. He dug his hands in his pockets and picked at the lint inside. 

He decided he didn't want to know and looked away.

Once the arrangements were settled, everyone packed up and left the school grounds. Miller and Victor walked together, earlier that day they had been assigned a history project and were heading to Victor's house to work on it. It was not something Victor felt entirely comfortable with, but Miller's house was strictly off-limits. He had practically made a fool of himself begging Miller to compromise but sadly enough Miller was adamant. Miller walked solemnly in his uniform and worn-out leather jacket. His jacket wasn't that much of a hand me down considering he had just taken anything remotely clean from his fathers closet.

Victor looked down as they walked and in an attempt to distract himself from the painful silence, he began matching his footsteps with Millers. 

He grinded his teeth when he walked past the pile of garbage that seemed to pile up in every block. He might as well have been playing dance dance revolution with how often he had to change his steps to avoid the disgusting litter. As they kept walking, it only seemed to get worse.

Victor anxiously picked at the strings of his hoodie, he had already accepted he lives in the rundown part of the neighborhood but it was killing him to have Miller find out.

 He stole a glance at Miller, one of many, his dyed pink hair was a contrast to the cloudy gray sky. Much to his relief, Miller seemed to have been unaware of his surroundings. It looked as if his mind were elsewhere. Then he turned his attention to the instrument case Miller carried on him. It was Miller's personal guitar he carried around with him simply for school.

Approaching the stairs, Victor spoke. "Okay so I don't know if my parents are home so let's go straight to my room. I uh share it with my cousin though, they probably won't be there. Maybe."

Weakly he opens the door, Miller's face remaining neutral. Victor took a sigh of relief, his parents weren't where they normally sat. He grins and gently shoves Miller inside, who kept walking forward looking around. The living room had two dark taupe couches against the wall accompanied by a coffee table. There was an overflowing trash can in the corner and a pair of shoes knocked over near it. Besides the furniture, Miller also noticed the amount of empty cups and cans everywhere. The main attraction Miller quickly noticed was a painting of a sad clown dog with vibrant colors, actually looking back at it, Miller realized he couldn't tell if it was a sad dog or sleepy cat. 

 Victor walked ahead with Miller quickly, "Follow me, my rooms in the basement" Miller took one final glance at the upstairs floor and decided Victor's parents must have a bizarre taste in decorations.

"Basement?"

"That is not a reference. You did not come up with the word." Victor chuckled. "You should totally trademark it though." 

Miller smiled. Victor smiled back and began walking toward the staircase that led downstairs. Miller followed Victor, keeping his hands to his side, looking around quickly. The air in Victor's house felt suffocating and Miller couldn't tell if this was due to an external factor or not. He remained silent trying to calm his racing thoughts. The stairs seemed narrow. At the front of Victor's door, he turned around, "Just give me a second."

Miller stood awkwardly as Victor went inside his room, closing the door behind him. He could hear Victor shuffle around his room. In a few seconds, Victor opened the door.

"Alright you can come in. My roommate isn't here but they'll probably come by later."

The two had been sitting quietly for a few minutes now. Miller's surprise when it was around 7pm and they had somehow completed most of the assignment. He sighed. He was tired, having spent all day at school and then after school with Victor. He didn't necessarily mind, out of everyone he was glad he was stuck with Victor. Still it's quite exhausting to wear out his social battery. He stared down at the floor where he sat criss-cross applesauce, pieces of crumpled paper covering the floorboards. Against his shoulders was Victor. Somehow between doing work and chatting, they ended up right next to each other. As the night creeped up on them, Miller knew he'd eventually have to go home. As if on script, Victor suddenly stood up, not speaking. He held out his hand picking Miller up and motioned to his bed. It was unkept, half of it was crowded with random junk. He catches his breath, with a heavy feeling in his chest as he's successfully lured into Victor's bed. Victor put his hands softly against Miller's chest and then pushed him down. "Don't leave." Miller looked up at Victor, unsure. "Just stay a little longer, okay?" Victor pleaded. 

"What?"

Victor said nothing. 

"You want me to stay? And do what?"

"Just stay"

"You get that this is pretty fucking strange, right." He said more as a statement. Victor darted his eyes from Miller's gaze. "Yes I know."

"...Fine"

Victor looked back at Miller, wearing a small warm smile. Miller's heart began beating fast as reality sunk in. They were studying one moment and in bed the next, it sounded like a typical hook-up story. Which he wasn't sure he even wanted, but is that what's happening? Then Victor leaned forward. The positions of them both had Miller practically laying down while Victor sat at the end of the bed holding him down with both hands on his chest. But he's closer now. This was as far as Miller was willing to take it without communicating.

"Victor. What are you doing?"

Victor whimpered, burying his face in Miller's chest. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to lay down with you."

"Jesus christ. You could have just said that." Victor whined, "But that would have been weird."

"And this entire thing wasn't?"

"Now that I think about it"

Victor paused and lifted his face up to face Miller. "Not at all."

Miller chortled, "Okay."

Victor smiled gleefully, proud for removing the tension. They still cuddled nervously but Miller seemed to relax as time went on. 

"You know anybody else would call you a freak for this."

"Oh do you not think that?" Victor spoke, his grin not wearing off.

"No I do."

Victor grinned, leaning more into Miller's chest.

He ran his hands slowly against Victor's back, as if to say the moment was safe. 

"Can you play me a song?"

"Uh sure, what do you want me to play?"

"Whatever feels right for this moment." Victor said with doe eyes. 

Miller sat up, prompting Victor to get off and allow Miller to get up. He grabbed his guitar and from where he stood, turned around. "Okay so this is a song I really like from this midwest type band."

He walked back to Victor, holding his guitar close to his chest as he sat back down on the bed. The room was dark, a yellow radiance coming from Victor's only lamp. Victor focused on Miller's hands, positioning and then tuning his guitar. He felt his chest flutter as he noticed the intensity in Miller's eyes. 

He parted his lips to speak but just as quickly he closed his mouth. Miller started strumming the guitar, "I think I saw- No sorry that's not right hold on." He watches Miller play around with his vocals and the guitar, somehow it made the experience more pure. And once he got the hang of it, Miller began singing.

"I think I saw you in my sleep, darling. I think I saw you in my dreams. You were stitching-"

The rhythmic tune and Miller's breathy almost croaky voice combined into a faint but cold noise. 

"Up the seams on every broken promise that your body couldn't keep. I think I saw you in my sleep."

Victor leaned closer, in awe and with desire in his eyes. But Miller was not looking at him, in fact he was not aware of Victor's new feelings at all.

"Hello?"

They jumped back, putting distance between them both. Miller is visibly startled but mostly confused. A young gentleman with lighter shade of blonde hair than Victor had entered the room and was dropping a raging red school backpack on the floor near the entrance. Victor quickly stood up from the bed nearly tripping over, "Hey Temper, this is my classmate Miller, we were uh-" His pale skin now colored with red and Miller took notice of how he fidgeted with the strings on his hoodie. "We were doing a project but got sidetracked because Miller brought his guitar and I wanted to hear him play because-"

"Okay I do not care, it's fine, really." Temper threw their hands up in a surrendering gesture.

With concerned eyes still on a flustered Victor, they walked over to the two and shook Miller's hands. 

"Hey Miller, I'm Vic's roommate slash cousin."

"Nice to meet you."

Temper placed their hands on their hips and skimmed the room to avoid conversation while Miller stared at the floor. The awkwardness was suffocating. That anxious feeling dug at Miller again and he wished he had left earlier, Victor must see him for what he is now, an awkward introvert with the conversation skills of a middle schooler.

"I should really go now."

Miller hastily packed his items, making his way to the door not before turning around to look at Victor one last time. "We're almost done so-" Stumbling on his words, "So good job..? Yay us."

Victor looked at him understanding he must be uncomfortable and nodded. Quietly he followed behind Miller, offering him a hug that Miller returned with a blank expression. He was disappointed to see him go. He returns to his room feeling dissatisfied and finds Temper laying on his bed. 

"So who is he?"

"He's a guy."

Victor's eyes moved around nervously, he wore an embarrassed expression. Temper has always been the one family member he could rely on, always there for late night talks and sleepovers. 

"He's a guy singing to you in your room at 8pm?"

Victor looked up to see Temper's eyes casting a doubtful look his way. "Well I didn't even notice it was 8pm. We were doing school work, he's my friend I met in freshman year. He started this really cool band with our other friend Jim, and he's really good at playing the guitar. And.." His voice trailed off.

"..And?"

"And I think I have a crush on him." 

They punch his shoulder with a shit-eating grin. "Oh my god! Victor, has a crush on a guy? Well, come sit down and tell me all about him." They sit on their respective side of the room, motioning Victor to sit next to them.

Shyly, Victor sits next to Temper and speaks, "So like I dunno, I really like him. He's just so rough and it's so embarrassing. I'm literally clinging onto his side all the time! Uhm maybe not a good thing, hah- I just" He sighs and smiles. "I just like him"

"That's actually really sweet, I might vomit. He doesn't look too bad either." 

"I know." 

"But does he know you're y'know..?"

"Yeah, he actually named me kinda-"

"Named you..? Uh?"

Victor sat up fondly recalling the first few times Miller and him had hung out. Miller started walking Victor home nearly everyday, and one fateful day, they had run into Victor's mother. She spoke absentmindedly and it didn't take long for Miller to notice how Victor cringed whenever he was referred to femininely. He said, "Do you not like being called that?" Hesitantly, Victor shaked his head no. He expected a weird look or at least a few dozen questions but Miller only had one. "Why didn't you say so sooner? You need a dude-name. A masculine name." He began walking again, Victor only dumbfoundedly keeping up behind him. Miller turned to him and smiled, "What about Victor? You seem like a Vic."

"Is that an insult?"

Miller had smiled warmly, "Maybe. I'll call you Vic until you can come up with your own name one day."

Victor never did. A year later and it was quickly spread around that he preferred Vic or Victor. Although he faced some scrutiny, he had Miller by his side all the time.

"Yeah he named me, gave me the suggestion and-" He shrugged, "It just sorta stuck?"

"Ahhh I see." 

It was comfortably quiet until Victor was abruptly pushed off. "Well, good luck on your 'guy' but I gotta sleep now. FULL days of work ahead of me, Ugh." Loudly groaning as they turn to their side, pulling their quilt blanket over them.

"Erk- You're gonna sleep in your work clothes?"

Temper pretended not to hear him and fell asleep.