a/n: this is way overdue, but this is mocatdow 's prize for winning the Endure, Outlast, Withstand cover contest... that was in february lol whoops. anyways, here it is now! sorry for it being so late haha enjoy!! there's a phone number in this, it's a valid one (i think) but you can try calling it if you want lol, i haven't, i just made it up. also, all the way at the bottom there's some bonus content

-car<3

****

The year was 1953. The setting was Boston where old-fashioned (modern-fashioned??? At the time) cars were zipping past and coffee shops weren't nearly in style yet, but that didn't stop Glooey from opening one. Through a lot of persuasion, bank loans and crying, Glooey had finally gotten a coffee shop that he had worked tirelessly to obtain. The shop had been open for three months and sales weren't doing well. . . Apparently people didn't like paying for coffee when they could have it at home. . . The 1950's were weird.

Anyway, sales were down the drain and rent was due within the next two weeks. This deadline caused Glooey to freak (tf) out. He had spent the night not sleeping in an attempt to figure out a solution that would drive more customers into his little shop, therefore helping him profit more and for rent to be more bearable for the upcoming months.

The floor had checkered tile and the counters were a grainy gray, small bits of different colors littered across it. The smell of coffee beans and caffeine bustled through the cafe, and every whiff was a sign to keep going in Glooey's mind. He was in his own state of peaceful bliss until he opened his eyes and saw Carl, the Landlord, waltzing up to Glooey's coffee shop. This was one day that the brunet wouldn't forget for a long time, and a day that would both stress him, and motivate him to keep going for a long time. The sight of his landlord made his stomach churn and turn in ways that other events couldn't conjure up. The brunette sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before resting his palms on the counter of the coffee shop. He anxiously waited for Carl to walk through the doors with some health inspector slip or an eviction sheet, and all he could hope for was that it wasn't one of those two options. Lucky (or unlucky) for Glooey, neither of those were the reason Carl was on his way inside.

Carl walked into the coffee shop in a posh suit and tie, looking as if he was on his way to a meeting (which he had just gotten out of, fun fact) and ready to impress some pretty lady or something. He looked at Glooey with a menacing grin and made his way over.

The landlord placed his hands down where Glooey's were and looked him straight in the eye, "Do you know why I'm here, Gabriel?"

Glooey's brows furrowed, "I'm hoping for a cup of coffee?"

Carl laughed and shook his head, "You wish. . ." He looked up, "So naive of you to think that," the male rolled his shoulders back, "anyway, you haven't paid last month's rent, and I've given you a lot of leniency. . . Now is the time to pay up," his body straightened, "you have until the end of next week to pay both last month, and this month's rent. . . Got it?" Carl cocked a brow.

A pit formed at the bottom of Glooey's stomach. A whirlwind of deprecating thoughts swirled through his head, but he flushed them out with a single gulp. Glooey swished his hair out of his face and refocused himself, "It'll be in your hands by the end of next week."

"It better be, or else you'll be on the road. Got it?"

Glooey blinked, "Understood."

With a single nod, Carl walked off. He left Glooey with an overbearing burden hanging over his head, and a goal that didn't seem to be anywhere near him. Glooey sighed and let his neck go loose, head dropping.

****

Glooey was out with his friend, nuisance and influencer, Tilly. He had slicked back brown hair and a leather jacket draped across his broad shoulders. He held himself with an arrogant stature as Glooey trailed at his side. The two were walking down a busy boulevard with different restaurants, bars, and a small casino on it. Tilly had his hands in his pockets and a smug grin on his face.

"I need your help," Glooey finally let what seemed to be the hardest words slip out of his lips.

"Why?" Tilly looked over at his friends, "Do you need help getting some?"

The shorter brunet blinked, "Uh. . Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Tilly's shoulders bounced as he laughed, "do you need help getting some? I know it's hard for you to get hard," the male continued to snicker.

Glooey blinked, "No! I'm fine with that, thank you," he wrapped his jacket tightly around his body.

"Then what do you need help with?" Tilly cocked a brow

The brunet sighed, "Well, if I don't get this month and last month's rent by the end of next week, Carl's kicking me out of the coffee shop and reclaiming it. Do you have any change to spare?" He glanced over at his friend.

Tilly clicked his cheek (is that a thing) and shook his head, "I'm barely making it for my own home rent, I'm sorry bud," the male stuffed his hands in his pockets, "but I'm sure you'll come up with it. You're a relatively good store owner."

Glooey rolled his eyes, and they continued walking. They'd kept up some casual conversation until the two passed a guitarist in front of a bar. This said guitarist had black hair, tan skin and eyes that could kill. He was humming a tune while he strummed the cords of his guitar, a type of speaker next to the wall of a building, aiding his quality. Glooey's eyes widened as he saw the black haired male minding his own business. There was a hat next to his foot that was accepting tips and the occasional wrapped up piece of gum.

"Maybe some music will draw customers in," Tilly suggested whilst looking down at Glooey, "you should go talk to him."

Glooey's face scrunched, "I can't."

"Why not?" Tilly gasped, "Are you afraid?" He mocked.

"No! But wouldn't it be awkward if I just said 'hey, want to help my failing business? I'm Gabe, by the way, you're cute!'," Glooey jazzed his hands.

Tilly blinked and bent down, "Don't say that too loud."

"What? That I think he's cute?"

"Yeah," the other male nodded, "you know how people get ridiculed for that. . . Especially in these times."

Glooey let out a breath and let his head hang, "You're right. . ."

The two of them were about to walk past the humming guitarist when Tilly stopped Glooey with a hand to the chest, "Why don't you just leave him a note? With some cash and a phone number to the shop?"

The brunet looked up at Tilly, "Do you have any paper? And a pen?"

Tilly started rummaging through the pockets of his thick jacket, opening pockets inside and outside the material. Eventually, he pulled out an unraveled gum wrapper and a pen that barely worked, "Here. . This should do the trick."

Glooey examined the material for a moment, but eventually took it from Tilly's hands and started writing (he used Tilly's back as a surface to write against, Tilly is the real MVP). The taller male was laughing the whole time.

"Stop laughing! You're messing up my writing." Glooey said.

"I can't help it!" Tilly gave out an ugly laugh, "It tickles."

"Well. . . Untickle! I don't know!"

"It doesn't work like that," he cackled.

After that whole fiasco, Glooey pulled a few quarters out of his back pocket (that he frankly forget were there) and dropped them into the hat next to the guitarist's foot. Glooey's cheeks flushed pink (and it wasn't just because it was cold outside) with embarrassment as he did, nearly headbutting the guitar as he was trying to extend back to his full height.

"That wasn't too hard, was it?" Tilly patted Glooey's shoulder.

"It would've been if I hit the guitar!" The other male exclaimed. With that, they walked off.

****

Ox had gotten home from a long night of playing his guitar. His fingers hurt and his feet ached. Though he had to be at his day job in two hours, he flopped on his bed and let out an exasperated sigh. The hat he held his tips and gum wrappers in plopped on the bed as well right beside his face. Its contents spilled onto the bed, and a gum wrapper with a few quarters in it fell and rolled close to him.

The black haired male shifted his body and grabbed the gum wrapper. He pulled it close to him and reluctantly unraveled. His eyes narrowed as he saw writing on the inside of it.

'Call 617-904-1783 for a daily gig'

Circles were around the writing were sketchy, as if whoever wrote that note was trying to activate the pen. Ox examined the piece of paper before glancing over at the phone on his bed. He let his head fall back onto the mattress and closed his eyes, drifting off for as long as he could.

****

It had been two days since Glooey had written that note on the gum wrapper, and he was starting to get progressively nervous with each passing day. Business was still low and his pockets remained empty. He was keeping to himself (cleaning out a coffee maker lol) when the phone rang. Glooey looked over at it before putting down the coffee maker and stepping over to it. He picked up.

"This is Gabe's Brew-Tiful Coffee Shop, Gabe speaking. How can I help you?"

"I'm assuming this is the owner?"

"Uh. . correct. Can I help you with something?"

"Yeah, I was playing my guitar the other night and got a note in a hat with this number, telling me to call it. Is this the right place?"

Glooey's eyes widened, "Yes! This is the right place," his voice brightened and his face lit up.

"So what do you want me to do?" The voice asked.

"My coffee shop is in desperate need of help. I was wondering if you could come down to the shop soon, and maybe play a few songs? It would help business kick up."

"Would I get paid for it?"

Glooey paused. He hadn't even thought about that, "Uh. . Yes! Of course."

"Okay, I'll come down and see what it's like. . Around five, I'll visit."

"Got it," the brunet smiled, "see you at five. . And what's your name?"

"Ox."

"Okay, Ox. I'll see you later."

The other line went dead. Glooey was feeling quite confident about this whole thing, but only time would tell if his faith was justified.

****

It was around five, and Glooey was getting antsy. Ox was going to walk through that door any minute. . No big deal, possibly the savior of his business, co-worker and future friend. Again, no big deal.

Eventually, Ox walked through the doors. The little bell above the main entrance dinged and Glooey's attention was immediately turned to it (he'd been staring at the door for the last five minutes, anxiously waiting).

"Gabe?" Ox approached the desk.

"That's me," Glooey smiled softly and put his hand out to shake, "and you're Ox?"

The black haired male nodded, "Correct," he paused, "so what do you want me to do here?"

Glooey sucked in a breath, "I was hoping you could perform a few songs a day, preferably in the morning and at night. The end goal is that if we have live entertainment, more customers will come in. As I can assume you have picked up on, business is low because people prefer to make their coffee at home instead of getting it somewhere else."

Ox pursed his lips, "Okay. Write down a schedule and I'll check it out."

Glooey shuffled, looking around and looking for a pen and paper, "One moment please."

He continued to bop around for a moment until finding what he was looking for and writing down a schedule. Once written, he handed it to Ox.

"Here you go!" The brunet grinned, "Should this work?"

Ox looked it over with narrow eyes, muttering the text below him under his breath. He hummed, "It should."

Glooey smiled widely, "Great! I'll see you tonight then?"

"See you tonight," Ox left with a crumpled up schedule in his pocket.

****

It was the first night Ox was playing at Glooey's coffee shop. People were there (mostly for the pastries st this hour) and chatting away while Ox nervously got onto stage.

"What's he like?" Tilly asked, standing beside Glooey. The two examined the scene, ready to watch everything go down.

"He's nice I guess," Glooey shrugged, "he wasn't mean to me or anything. . I'm just hoping he's the key to success."

Tilly elbowed his friend softly, "I'm sure it will, don't worry," he grinned softly, causing Glooey to reciprocate the same expression.

Ox was about to play when he stepped off stage. He walked over to the two males with a sickly look on his face, "I can't do it."

"Why not?" Glooey stepped forward, "Are you alright?"

"I just can't," he rubbed his temples, "there's too many people."

"There's five people," Tilly said with crossed arms, "buck up. You can do it."

Ox hesitated. He looked at the crowd, then back at Glooey and Tilly, "Actually there's ten—

"It was a hyperbole!" Tilly exclaimed.

The black haired male sighed reluctantly, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure! You'll be fine," Glooey put a hand on Ox's shoulder, "just pretend that nobody's there, okay?"

Ox let out a breath, "Okay, thanks."

The black haired male grinned before getting his wits about him and making it back into the platform he was going to perform on. He combed his hair back with his fingers and let out a soft breath before rolling back his shoulders and getting ready to play. The guitar was propped on his body, the guitar strap wrapped around him securely. Once the guitar was on, it was time to play.

"He's a wuss," Tilly commented quietly while leaning into Glooey.

"Just listen to him play! You'll like it," the brunet whisper-yelled back.

Once Ox started playing, Tilly knew. A few songs passed, but eventually a grin of approval crossed his face. Glooey looked up and noticed his friends expression, his own lighting up.

Business started booming from that point on. People would come in to see Ox play, try to coffee and pastries and spread the word. Things were looking bright, and all Glooey could do was hope that things would only continue to increase from there on out. . And it did. Glooey passed the coffee shop on to someone new in 1969 to pursue a family of his own, still staying in contact with Tilly and Ox. The three had grown close, and all was well. Carl was gone (he died lol), so there was no need to worry.

With all being said, that fateful night where Ox got up to play was a moment that would be a turning point for both me, and Glooey forever. Their lives would shift and change, and it was all because he was humming a tune on a downtown strip.

****

a/n: my friend alli (Locally_Gay ) was helping me get character analysis' (since the characters are someone's personal ocs) and this is the result of that

Tilly

bad boy
From East Coast Detroits
broke ass bitch
likes soda
baseball daddy
TALL WITH FRECKLES
hazel eyes, carmel brown hair
WILL FIGHT A BITCH
outgoing

GOOEY MY LLOVE

comIC LOVER
from sacremento
CAFE WORKS IN A CAFE
short
skips school for the fam
classy
chocolate messy brown hair
real name is gabe
LGBT!!
Ox is his secret almost canon boyfriend
Gets bullied >:(
shy

OX A WHOLE ASS SNACC
Leader
Quiet
Average size, medium man
TAN
LIVES IN LA
emo
long black hair with green tips
freckles on his nose
LOVES MUSIC ( and Gooey)
old music machines
has a crush on GOoey!!!!!
HE LOVES HIS MANS

anyways that's it! i hope you enjoyed :) thank you for your submission!