On the Fritz

Chapter 3 - Part 3

Will paused, and Fritz said nothing, he just kept his eyes on the guitar.

"Obviously, nobody believed her and everyone thinks she's on crack for saying it," Will continued. "Everyone was saying, like, oh, no, Fritz is so cool, he gets loads of pussy, but I don't know. I thought it was weird." He shot Fritz a glance. "I don't think Caroline's the type to lie."

Fritz watched Will, him sitting there and leaning over the guitar, his cream blond fringe just grazing his eyebrows. Will, for the first time in his life, said nothing.

"Caroline will surprise you," Fritz said, his tone calculated.

"Uh huh," Will said. 

"Pretty weird that she would say that," Fritz said, his voice coming out dry.

"Very weird," Will agreed. "And here's me thinking Caroline was the prude, hey?"

Fritz had to laugh at this. "Oh, me too, Will." As amusing as this comment was, a vision of Caroline staring at the business card came back into his head and his smile turned sickly. "Did, um, did Fran say that Caroline mentioned anything else?"

"Honestly, no idea," Will said, now plugging his cable into his bass. "I was mostly trying to figure out in what scenario you'd say no to sex and Caroline Weathers says yes." Fritz felt his expression stay sour as the exact situation played vividly in his head.

"Definitely not a scenario I am familiar with," Fritz lied.

"Yeah, okay, thought it was weird. Ahh, well. Wouldn't be the first time you've surprised me, Fritz."

This was yet another witty outburst from Will that came neatly wrapped in a cheeky grin, but elicited a begrudging smile from him nonetheless.

"Did you say you thought bass was fun?" Will asked suddenly, and Fritz snapped back into the music room.

"Yeah," Fritz said back, which prompted Will to hold the guitar out to him. "Oh, Will, I don't think I remember how to play anything."

"I'll teach you," Will said, getting up from the chair to slide down the wall and sit next to him. "Since you're not putting your fingers to good use in Caroline, you might as well put them somewhere." Fritz looked over, holding back laughter, and Will shot him a quick raise of his eyebrows.

"We let you out of Calum's sight for two minutes," Fritz chided, and Will laughed, letting his head fall back. 

"I do kind of need him as a babysitter," Will said. "Can't be trusted on my own so much."

"God, he's going to be gutted he missed this conversation."

"We'll see him in maths," Will said. "I know you're missing him."

"Yeah, sure, me missing Calum," Fritz joked, except it wasn't a joke, and it came out so cold and raw even Will's smile faltered.

For a moment, it was like all of Fritz underwent a key change, and every bit of his frustration over Caroline and Calum and himself seemed to swamp him. Will was still looking over at him, the guitar resting on his leg, and Fritz felt his own expression grow cold.

And if he couldn't be happy, why should Calum?

"He isn't worth it," Fritz said suddenly, and Will's half-smile dropped in record time.

"Sorry, who?"

"Calum," Fritz said bluntly, and Will just stared, his expression unreadable for the first time. "It's- if you think he's good for you, Will, it's not true. He's leading you on. He does it to everyone."

"I don't think so," Will said, his voice soft.

"You don't know," Fritz said back, almost pleading. "Will, he's just-"

"It's fine," Will cut him off, and Fritz could see it – Will's jaw was clenched.

"He's going to end up hurting you so much," Fritz got out, and Will just stared down at his shoes.

"Right," Will said.

"I mean it," Fritz said back, his chest tight.

Will's mouth opened, and he breathed in, but no words came out. His mouth eventually shut, and they sat there, Fritz not knowing what else to say and Will stuck in silence.

"I mean it," Fritz said again, his voice almost inaudible.

"I know why you're saying it," Will said suddenly. "And, um, I'm not going to tell anyone, but I don't think you should speak about him like that again." Will finally met his eyes, and Fritz immediately turned his attention to the carpet, but Will started lifting the bass over to him again.

"What are you doing?" Fritz asked the ground.

"You're getting a bass lesson," Will said, stringing the amp cable through his fingers. "I'm starting to think you need a hobby." 

If you're getting a sick sense of enjoyment out of Fritz stirring shit up, feel free to leave a vote and a comment. Engaging with the story never goes unnoticed - I really appreciate it!