Happy pride month everybody! Whether you're in the closet or out in the world, be proud of who you are and your identity. Whether you're questioning or certain in your sexuality, you are valid and you are loved.
I love you. Very very much. Take care of yourself and be safe 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
So, to celebrate pride month, I'm keeping up the tradition of posting one shots of other Be More Chill ships! Heterosexual, homosexual, polyamorous, platonic, anything! Comment any ships or situations you want to see.
Also, ya'll said that you want angst. So, angst you shall get
•••
Micheal x Evan (Hansen)
"Welcome everybody to Wilderness Survival 101! The 101 isn't in the title, but I think it adds a little pizzazz to it. Now! I have eight tables set up, two people per table. Go to your tables so we can get started" the teacher- well, he's not really a teacher. The instructor, Mr Murphy stands at the top of the room, as people awkwardly shuffle to their tables.
The desks are lined into two rows, four tables a row. Micheal Mell takes the middle desk on the right. On the table is a box, containing all sorts of survival gear; camouflage paint, compasses, rope, flint and other stuff.
Micheal picks up the compass, holding it between his thumb and forefinger. He examines it. As he turns the compass over, it slips from his weak grip, smashing onto the floor.
The top of the compass pops off, and Micheal swears under his breath. He drops to the ground, frantically grabbing the pieces of compass.
Great job Micheal. First minute on this course and you've already broken everything
"A-are you okay?" A voice squeaks above him.
Michael looks up, and his brown eyes are met with blue. A kid stands above him- well he's not a kid. He looks around Micheals age, with an open grey hoodie covering his light blue t shirt. His eyebrows are furrowed, but his wide eyes give away his nervousness.
"Yeah I just dropped the compass. May have broken it a little too. First day here and I'm already breaking things" He jokes.
The kid laughs nervously, fiddling with his hoodie hem.
"I'm Micheal, by the way" Micheal holds out his hand.
"I'm Hansen- I mean, my last name is Hansen. My name is Evan. Evan Hansen- well, technically my name isn't Evan Evan is my middle name but I go by my middle name I'm sorry I don't know why I'm still talking I'm sorry" Evan looks down to the ground, red faced and slightly out of breath.
Micheal lowers his hand with a friendly smile. "Don't be sorry it's okay. Meeting new people is always hard- and for what it's worth, you're doing a great job"
Evan's shoulders relax and he takes a deep breath. "Thanks" he says quieter than intended.
"Now that you're all settled, let's start at the very beginning with a simple fire. Using only the sticks and stones in the box under your table, i want you to construct a small fire- for the love of god, do NOT ACTUALLY LIGHT THE FIRE. I'll be teaching you how to do that later in the course" Mr Murphy explains from his top desk.
Micheal pulls out the box, pouring the contents on the table.
"So, what made you take this survival course?" He asks Evan, creating polite conversation.
"Uh my mom wanted me t-to do something. S-something outside my house I mean. She suggested doing a course at the community centre and I picked this one since I'm good friends with uh Mr Murphy's daughter so i'm used to him so this course will be easier than other ones" Evan says with more confidence than his introduction.
"That's really cool- Mr Murphy seems really nice" Micheal says, using two sticks as drumsticks against the table.
"Yeah he's great-" Evan stops when he sees what Micheal's doing. "That-that's not how you make a campfire. Okay you're going to break the sticks let me take them"
Evan gently takes the sticks from Micheal's hands, placing them on the table. He gathers the rocks and moves them into a circle. He places the sticks in the middle. Clearly he's trying to make a cone shape, but it keeps falling over.
"Woah how do you know how to do that?" Michael says in amazement.
Evan's face goes red again. "Oh- I- uh- I spent a whole night watching zombie movies one night when I was sick. I remember them doing something like this"
The sticks fall over again, and Evan throws his hands into the air. "Okay I give up"
"Hey, you did a better job than me" Micheal laughs.
Evan smiles shyly, embarrassed as always. "You didn't tell me why you're taking this course"
"Oh yeah- I'm going travelling in a few months before college. I'm not talking New York or Paris or landmark sights oh no. I'm going right into the wilderness. No phones, no technology. Just me and the most amazing trees" Micheals eyes sparkle with each excited word.
Evan perks up at the mention of trees. "Do you like trees?"
"I'd say I like them more than the average person, yes" Micheal says.
"Well- uh, I like trees too. A lot. If you ever need a tree guide I can totally help I know a lot about them" He offers.
Micheal grins.
"I will take you up on that. I can't wait to be impressed by all your forest expertise"
"Evan! How are you doing?"
Mr Murphy approaches their table to see how they're doing.
"Good Mr Murphy!" He says quickly, suddenly flustered.
"Please Evan, call me Larry. You're basically a part of the family at this point, I wouldn't mind if you called me dad"
Mr Murphy seems like a pretty nice guy Micheal decides.
"Now let's look at your fire, shall we?"
Mr Murphy looks at their bundle of sticks on top of the ring of rocks.
"Okay . . . you're a little confused but you got the spirit!" He says enthusiastically.
He spends the next ten minutes or so explaining how to build the fire. By the end, they have a photogenic campfire that only needs a few flames.
Their personal tutorial is cut a little short though when Mr Murphy has to run to stop a kid setting the room on fire.
"Okay but you were very close to getting it right. You're a born natural at this, man!" The excited Micheal holds up his hand for a high five.
Evan looks at it for a moment, as if he has never seen a high five before. Micheal nods him on enthusiastically. Evan cautiously gives him a high five, which Micheal follows with a loud cheer and a whoop.
The rest of the day runs smoothly, leading to more high fives and less awkward meeting-new-people tension.
By the end, all stress has deflated from Evan's shoulders. When they do leave that days class (with another high five), Evan feels along the same lines as euphoric.
His mom persuaded him to take a course in hopes that it would ease the stress of his senior year. It did even more than that. Evan May have made a friend.
But as he goes home, there's a nagging thought in the back of his mind.
Micheal was just being polite
He doesn't actually like you
He's just outgoing, he doesn't really want to get to know you
The thoughts get even worse the next day when Micheal just doesn't show up. A minute, five minutes, eight minutes pass. No appearance. He's about to go into a full state of panic when a familiar red hoodie sneaks in eleven minutes late.
"Hey Evan" Micheal whispers, creeping next to his partner as not to disrupt the class.
"Hey Mike" Evan smiles.
Micheal quickly throws his backpack next to the table, slipping beside Evan as if he was always there.
"What did I miss?" He whispers into Evans ear, the hot breath tickling his neck.
"We're learning Morse code in case of emergencies" Evan whispers back.
"Ooo sexy" Micheal replies, making Evan slap a hand over his mouth so he doesn't laugh.
"-to practise, you're going to work in your pairs" Mr Murphy explains. "You'll take turns tapping out words for the other to translate. Now, keep it simple guys. I don't want anyone having to translate 'Absquatulate' or anything"
"Mr Murphy just wanted to flex how many obscure words he knows" Micheal whispers to his partner.
"Yeah what a nerd" Evan whispers back with a little giggle.
The exercise begins, and Evan and Micheal take turns tapping words on the table with their finger.
It starts off normal, with words like 'TENT', 'CHEESE' and 'KNIFE'.
But about five minutes later it turns into 'PENIS' and 'GAY'.
It gets to a point where Evan taps out a word that makes Micheal fall to the ground laughing. They earn a few . . . questionable looks from others in the room but for once Evan doesn't care. He's happy that he made Micheal laugh this hard.
When Mr Murphy gives them the guidance to tap out full sentences, the messages only get more and more explicit.
It gets to a point where Mr Murphy has to actively shut them down because, "-you know I know Morse code too right? I know exactly what you guys are typing and Jesus Christ your minds need a bath"
That evening when both the boys go home, they spend hours perfecting the language of Morse code. Soon they know the whole alphabet off by heart.
When they reunite the next day, Evan taps out a 'hello' on the table. With a knowing grin, Micheal types out 'hi' back.
As Mr Murphy explains today's lesson, they exchange in a silent conversation. The boys tap out simple sentences with simple responses, some of them leading to muffled giggles and playful slaps on the arm.
When the class wraps up and everyone is grabbing their stuff and leaving, Micheal stops Evan.
"Wait" he says simply, holding up his hand with his forefinger and thumb pressed together.
His brows furrowed in focus, he taps out six letters and a question mark.
It takes Evan a second to translate.
"Number?" Evan deciphers, a little confused.
Then it hits him.
"You're asking for my number?" He says, not sure.
"Ayyy you got it!" Micheal says happily. "Since you got the code, can I get your number?"
Damn that's smooth.
"Y-Yeah of course" Evan frantically takes out his phone. His palms are sweating and he doesn't know why. He's just giving his best friend his phone number- nothing to get worked up about.
After giving Micheal his number, his friend salutes him and walks off. Evan's cheeks burn red, and he can't stop smiling.
That night, Micheal texts him first, sending him a text using full stops and dashes. Micheal must really like this Morse code thing. They text until early hours of the morning (eventually transitioning to actual words), making both of them tired in class the next day.
Before they know it, the course ends. They can pitch a tent and find shelter in the wild and locate water sources and hunt food, but they're not ready to leave.
Mr Murphy thanks them for taking part in the course, causing a ripple of applause. Some students leave immediately, others go and thanks Mr Murphy.
"So . . . thi-this is it" Evan says quietly. "Three weeks went by super quick"
Micheal sighs, nodding. They don't need to say anything; they both know how the other one feels.
"Well" Evan finally says. "I guess I'll see you around"
He claps Micheal gently on the shoulder, but as he goes to pass him, Micheal grabs his arm.
"Evan wait"
Evan waits.
"I uh-" Micheal takes a deep breath, mustering all the confidence he can.
"I'm going travelling in two weeks, and . . . uh . . . I was wondering if you would come with me. I mean- I could really use your forest expertise"
The only word that can describe Evan is flabbergasted. His mouth hangs open, his face blank.
Micheal quickly back-pedals, scared that he overstepped.
"Of course you shouldn't feel like you have to go just because I asked it was just an offer- more of a passing thought really-"
"Yes"
"Yes?"
"Of course I want to go travelling with you" Evan laughs. "At this rate I thought you'd never ask"
Micheal relaxes, laughing.
"Oh thank god I was mortified there for a minute. Actually, while I'm riding this confidence high- can I ask a follow up question?"
Evan nods, eager and intrigued. He finds it weird to see they've switched places- now Evan is the confidant one with Micheal as a stuttering mess. It's kind of funny actually.
Micheal struggles to muster up the courage to ask the question. He ends up just starting and restarting sentences over and over, running his fingers through his damp hair.
Evan stops him, stopping his panic. He knows what Micheal is feeling- he has felt it many times. So he suggests another way for him to ask.
Micheal holds up his forefinger and thumb. He taps out one four letter word, which Evan deciphers immediately.
'DATE?'
"Once again" Evan replies. "I thought you'd never ask"
Micheals eyes go wide.
"So . . . that's another yes?"
"I-it's another yes" Evan smiles.
Micheal grins, blush creeping across his cheeks as he looks at the ground.
"Cool. Cool cool cool cool cool cool cool cool"
They leave the course hand in hand- both of those hands sweating a gross amount due to the nervousness and excitement.
Those hands stay together as they walk Evan home; as they approach Evan's doorstep and as Micheal presses a sweet kiss to Evan's lips.
Those hands reunite every day after that, meeting up so they can plan their wilderness escapade. It ends up taking twice as long as planned because they keep interrupting their planning with laughter, jokes and impromptu make out sessions.
Eventually, they manage to plan out every beat of the trip. Exactly two weeks after Micheal asked Evan out, they take a plane to "the wildest wilderness" as Micheal put it.
It's everything Micheal wanted: tall trees, blue as fuck skies, thick bushes, rustling noises and no sign of the real world.
There's a moment where Evan stops their hiking to just stare at a giant tree. His big blue eyes stare up in wonderment as Micheal smiles at him from behind.
Nightfall drapes over the wilderness. Shoutout to Mr Murphy for teaching these two boys to pitch a proper tent so they had somewhere to sleep. Micheal finishes securing their tent as Evan finally gets a fire going.
"Yes! We have fire" Evan exclaims, punching the air.
"Why did you take so long we learned that on the first day" Micheal laughs, still fiddling with the tent.
"I had trouble learning it because I was a little distracted by the c-cute boy next to me shut up" Evan mumbles, looking down at the ground.
Micheal is an idiot and didn't hear Evans smoothness. He looks up to the sky instead, taking in the sparkling stars through the tree branches.
He hears Evan gasp quickly behind him.
"Micheal did you hear that?"
"Hmm? Hear what?"
Micheal turns around to face his boyfriend, gently resting an elbow on the tent he just constructed.
Evan whips his head around, fearfully scanning the forest around them.
"I heard something, I-I-I swear there's something there"
Micheal opens his arms.
"Ev come here" Evan slips into his arms, burying his head in his chest. "We're in the wild, there are definitely things in the trees. But, I'm here. And I'm gonna protect you from anything that comes our way, okay?"
"Okay" Evan whispers into his chest.
The two retire into the tent, the poorly built fire burning out. Mr Murphy is ashamed at their fire building skills.
In the cosy refuge of their tent, the burning fire outside makes the place glow orange. Evans pale hair likes borderline Weasley in this light. After what felt like hours of playing dumb card games and cuddling, they fall asleep in each other's arms.
Evan can't help but keep one eye open. Not literally. Both his eyes are closed, but he's half awake; ready to be awoken by any small noise.
Micheal wakes up first.
He snaps upright, eyes wide. He hears the noise again. Evan sits up next to him, shaking with fear.
"Micheal-"
Micheal slaps a hand over Evans mouth, using his other arm to pull him close. He taps on Evans shoulder, "quiet".
The boys freeze, too afraid to breathe. The fire is still burning outside, embers flicking into the night air. Something creeps between the flames and the tent. A disfigured silhouette darkens the orange tent.
The creature growls, slowly facing the closed tent opening. Its paw or hand or whatever it has stretches towards the tent, cautiously pressing against it. It drags its paw down, slightly tearing the fabric.
Evan whimpers quietly, clutching Micheal as he fights back tears. Micheal, barely holding it together, takes Evans hand in his.
He taps on his hand.
"I"
The creature growls on the other side of the tent.
"l-o-v-e"
It scratches a hole in the fabric, bursting it's paw through it.
"y-o-u"
It tears the hole open, lunging into their tent.
•••
I came up with this idea, okay, and I'm very proud of how it came out. I apologise for the ending but I'm still proud of this.
Uh. Yeah. I ship this ship now. And yeah. I don't know what else to say.
- Avery