I never read a wandering hearts au but now I desperately want to read a willmack one. Like how would it even start?
Maybe itās sudden. One day Mack wakes up and his heart is justā¦ gone. Completely gone. And who does that happen to? Who wakes up and realizes their heart literally wandered off in the middle of the night? Mack spends the whole morning low-key spiraling, trying to act normal but feeling hollow in a way he canāt explain.
Until Will pulls up to the curb to pick him up for practice and Mackās heart is already there, perched happily on the dashboard like some sentient bobblehead, swaying with the movement of the car like it belongs there. Like itās always belonged there. And Will leans over, glancing out the window with that teasing edge in his voice. "Looking for this?," he asks.
For a second, Mack wants to brush it off, make some excuse, laugh it away. Because sometimes Willās tone rides that line, just sharp enough that Mack canāt tell if heās being made fun of or not. But the words donāt make it out. They just die in his throat when he really looks at him.
Because Willās smiling.
Not smug, not mocking. Justā¦ bright. Open. Soft in a way that makes something in Mackās chest stutter even without his heart there. And it hits him all at once, sudden and overwhelming and oh.
Or maybe itās slower than that.
Maybe it starts with his heart lingering. Just little things at first; hovering a second too long when he and Will split off to do their own things, drifting a step closer like itās being pulled. Mack notices, of course. He always notices. He reaches out, tugging it back, holding it close like he can train it into behaving.
But his heart is stubborn.
And the worst part is: Mack canāt even be mad about it. Because he gets it. God, he gets it. If he could follow Will around all day without consequences, never having to pretend he doesnāt want to be right there, he would.
But thereās never been any sign that Will feels the same. Willās own heart usually sticks close, riding easy on his shoulder like itās got no interest in wandering. Sure, sometimesārarelyāit drifts. On long flights, mostly, when Will falls asleep with his head tipped against Mackās shoulder, his breathing slow and even, mouth wide open. In those quiet moments, Willās heart will float closer, curious.
And it does this thing: soft, fleeting touches that Mack canāt help but think feel like kisses. His cheek, his temple, the line of his jaw, wherever it can reach. Light and absentminded, like itās just something to pass the time while Will sleeps.
Mack tells himself thatās all it is.
So he keeps his own heart on a tight leash. Keeps it from darting toward Will first thing in the morning, from giving too much away, from hoping for something that isnāt there.
Not knowing that if Will didnāt spend so much effort holding his own heart back, keeping it carefully in place, pretending it isnāt constantly straining forward, his heart probably wouldnāt spend a single second away from Mack.
oh my.ā¦.this is beautiful my friendā¦.i love the visual of his traitor little heart perching on willās brancoās dashboard. iād like to think that even when mack gets in the car, his heart still wouldnāt go back to him. itās stubborn just like the owner and insisted on being as close to will as possible. not until they get to practice that his heart gives in and comes back to him because it canāt exactly skate around with will (lol) and thereās no point waiting for will at his locker when the rest of mack is closer to him anyways.
(then it just becomes normal occurrence. to the point where no oneās surprised or panicked about it anymore. mack stops worrying about the condition of his very very important organ because will is will and knows how to take care all of the mack the sameš«)
