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English
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Part 15 of Prompt Reposts
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Published:
2014-11-30
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1,129
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1/1
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My Heart Goes Beep Beep Beep

Summary:

Being a wrong number turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to Musichetta.

A tale of love and exclamation points.

Notes:

Reposted from here on Tumblr.

Title from the song of the same name by Rushad Eggleston.

(See the end of the work for other works inspired by this one.)

Work Text:

“Okay, don't say anything, okay? I just … I know we said this was a thing we don't do, but R says we're doing it anyway so we may as well admit it, so, okay. Okay. I love you. Oh my God, I said it, Joly, why aren't you saying anything?”

Musichetta thought it was odd that Bossuet from her lit class last semester was calling her, since they'd kind of flirted before he backed off a week or two before finals. The name Joly makes things both more and less clear, since it's obvious that he's not actually confessing his love for her in the awkwardest way possible, but also Joly was in her bio class last semester and also flirted with her before backing off a week or two before finals. This probably bodes well for Bossuet's confession, when he makes it to the right person. “I think you dialed the wrong romcom,” she says apologetically.

There's a brief pause, presumably while he looks at the names on his phone and considers just hanging up and pretending it never happened. “Oh my God,” he says a second later. “I am so sorry, Musichetta.”

“Call it a practice run,” she says, cheerfully enough. She liked Bossuet and Joly both a great deal, but she wasn't heartbroken when they backed off. She knows how to pick up and get on with things. It's twisting the knife a bit to get caught in the romantic crossfire, but mostly it's funny. “You might want to lead with the loving him and then get to the awkwardly flailing about it. Topic sentences and all.”

“You're so smart.” He's fervent about it, and Musichetta smiles up at her ceiling. “So, I am going to hang up and call him.”

“Good luck, tell Joly hi for me.”

“I am so sorry again. Seriously. I owe you coffee or something.”

“Buy your boyfriend coffee,” she says, laughing, and hangs up.

*

She gets a text from Joly the next day. So my boyfriend (!!!) tells me he accidentally confessed his love to you yesterday, you should let him buy you coffee.

While Musichetta is still staring at the text, bemused, another one comes in. Sorry if the exclamation points seemed smug, but I am contractually obligated to refer to Bossuet as my boyfriend (!!!) with no less than three exclamation points at a time.

Musichetta laughs, and texts back. Your boyfriend (!!!) does not owe me coffee. Just glad to play a part.

Bossuet texts next: Please, coffee, we didn't even know we both knew you until I told my boyfriend (!!!!) about the whole thing this morning and now we think it would be fun to hang out.

He gets more exclamation points than you do?

It's to go with the Ls in his name. Musain tomorrow at three?

Musichetta should say no, because going for coffee with two boys who just started dating each other after what seems like a buildup for the ages is probably a terrible idea, but she likes them both and it's hard to give a shit about the wisdom of the whole plan. Sure, she texts back.

*

“And then,” Joly gasps in hour three of their coffee meeting, laughing so hard he's crying, “I pick up the phone the third time and he just kind of shouts 'I love you' at me and then hangs up and won't let me tell him I love him back, just starts talking around it.”

“So he tells me to hang up, he's going to text me, because Joly explains himself better through text, and there's your resolution,” says Bossuet with a flourish.

Musichetta, over the course of the afternoon, has learned that knowing Joly and Bossuet separately is sort of like knowing half a person. Or, well, that's unfair. She knows they're their own people, she knew and liked them on their own first or she wouldn't have flirted with either of them, but together, as JolyandBossuet, they seem to be turned up to more than a hundred percent of themselves, picking up eachother's cues flawlessly, full of jokes and fun and so much affection it's a little ridiculous, all courtly kisses to the hand and lingering looks that she politely looks away for.

“You should consider writing romance novels,” she tells them, and Bossuet kicks her gently under the table. She thinks it's even on purpose.

*

Musichetta thinks she gets it before they do. Joly and Bossuet love each other, are beautifully and completely in sync, are complete on their own, but they keep having coffee, all three of them, and she comes to their meetings and meets their friends and finds herself adoring all of them as well, but not quite in the same way.

Perhaps with anyone else she would feel kind of awful, thinking like that about people who are so entirely in love, but Musichetta gets it: they're complete on their own, but they're better with her.

*

“I love you,” says Bossuet when she picks up the phone one afternoon.

Musichetta laughs. “Think you have the wrong number again there, Eagle One.”

“I don't! We just thought it would be more adorable this way. Also, you and Joly need better secret radio nicknames.”

Musichetta, walking to class, stops and turns around. She's not going to class today. “He's Eagle Two obviously, because of the wings, you were the one to tell me about that. Is he there?”

“Hi, Musichetta,” says Joly, sounding kind of sheepish. “I do too. Obviously. I'm not just sitting here encouraging my boyfriend to declare his love for someone else.”

“That was not enough implied exclamation points,” she says sternly. “Don't go leaving them off just because you're opening yourselves up to the wide world of polyamory.”

“It comes to my attention that you haven't actually answered us yet,” Bossuet says, sounding a little uncertain.

Musichetta hates hearing him that way, which is the only reason she doesn't scoff and point out that her answer is probably quite obvious to anyone paying attention, which all of their friends have definitely been doing, judging by Courfeyrac's smirks and R's wholesale adoption of her. “How many exclamation points do I get?” she asks.

“All of them,” says Joly, and she can hear him grinning even through the phone. “Every exclamation point, all the time.” He clears his throat. “For our girlfriend?”

“For your girlfriend,” she confirms.

*

To my boyfriends (!!!!!!!): I am going to be a little late tonight, feel free to get started without me, I'm sure I can catch up.

That was probably meant to be an innuendo, but Xena Warrior Princess is not to be joked about. We are just going to have to wait for our girlfriend (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

*

Musichetta has never been happier about being a wrong number.

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