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#i actually read the issue yesterday but at midnight so like. i couldn't do words then lmao
wereh0gz · 11 months
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Issue 62 good
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yv17 · 2 years
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after midnight - kim yonghee (김 용희)
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a/n: this one's requested by anon and i'm so happy cuz i don't really get that much requests??? i'm incredibly sorry it took so long to write, but i don't usually write longer pieces and the fact that this ended up being 2k words is incredible to me. i hope you'll enjoy it !!
warnings: swearing, cheating accusations, argument?? yonghee is a bit of a bitch towards y/n, mentions of stalking
genre: angst with a fluffy ending, non idol! au, also mentions of fromis_9's seoyeon as y/n's best friend
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the house was filled with the smell of a freshly cooked meal, the deliciously looking dinner waiting on the table. as always, your boyfriend yonghee went out of his way to prepare something nice for the both of you. and even though you should be feeling happy about it all, you felt as if there was something wrong, the tension thick in your shared apartment.
for the entirety of the day, yonghee felt distant, almost as if he didn't want to speak to you at all. and as much as you wanted to ignore it, his behavior was surely strange to you; he never acted this way, always the clingy, sweet type of boyfriend. so to see him barely speaking to you through the day, not even a kiss before work? it was weird.
you sat down at the table, your hands shaking slightly as yonghee sat down aswell, right across from you.
'thanks for the meal, honey' you said, smiling lightly at the boy in an attempt to loosen the tension up a bit. he gave you a small smile in response, a short 'mhm' escaping his lips.
he went straight to eating after that, trying his best to ignore your confused gaze on him. almost as he was pretending you weren't there.
'is there something wrong?' you finally asked, breaking the silence between the two of you. 'did something bad happen at work lately? some family issues?'
he sat silent for a few seconds, avoiding eye contact with you.
'i don't know, you tell me' yonghee said, looking up at you. you couldn't really read anything from his face, but his eyes showed a lot. sadness, betrayal and a slight but clearly noticeable hint of anger. and yet you had no idea where all these emotions came from.
'what do you mean?' you looked at him, a confused look painting on your face.
'maybe about the big flower bouquet that someone left in front of our apartment yesterday?' he said in an annoyed tone. 'or maybe the love letter that came along with it?'
'yonghee, what are you talking about?' you couldn't hide your confusion. for a second you thought he might've imagined something; you had no knowledge of any flowers, let alone love letters from anyone else but him.
'don't play dumb, y/n.' he said, the tone of his voice making you shiver. through the entirety of your relationship, he never spoke to you that way; it was something new, and definitely not something you enjoyed.
'i am not.' you said, the whole situation stressing the hell out of you. 'i truly have no goddamn idea of what you're talking about.'
'do you really?' his eyes focused on yours, his earlier resting face now expressing anger and annoyance 'or are you just hiding something from me?'
'honey, please calm down.' you stood up in an attempt to come up to your boyfriend, but he quickly shut you off.
'don't honey me right now, y/n.' yonghee spat, standing up to take a step awan from you. 'you're trying so fucking hard to pretend you're not cheating on me, it's almost funny.'
his words were like a punch straight to the face.
'what?'
you couldn't believe he would actually accuse you of something like this. in that exact moment, you felt as if a stranger was standing right across from you, not your loving boyfriend. after all, your boyfriend trusted you, or so you thought. because whatever left his lips right now wasn't any signs of trust and you were 100% aware of it.
tears started gathering in your eyes, threatening to fall down every second. you felt as if someone just put a knife straight through your heart; all meanwhile you were trying your best not to burst out crying.
the room went silent, as yonghee slowly came to the realization of what he just said, and it scared him. he promised himself, so many times, to never gush out on you, and yet there he was; standing right across from you, a terrified, broken look on your face, looking like you're at the brink of breaking down.
and it was all because of him.
he wanted to apologize, say anything that would deny his previous words, but it felt as if his mouth was sealed, and no matter how much he tried, no words came out of him. 
and so he just had to watch as you bursted out crying, hiding your face in your hands as you walked out the kitchen, heading to the door. he watched frozen in place as you put on your shoes and coat, how you reached for your keys from the top shelf, where you would always put them. 
‘y/n-’ when he finally managed to say your name, it sounded more like a weak plead rather than his voice just minutes before, and all of a sudden he found himself at the brink of crying. 
he took a step towards you, an attempt to prevent you from leaving, but at the same time he knew that you would walk out the door either way. he fucked up, and your reaction was adequate to the situation you were in. 
he had no other choice but to let you leave. 
‘i’m going to seoyeon’s place.’ you said, trying to contain your crying just for a second. ‘just so you know where to find me, i guess.’
and you left, closing the door behind yourself, leaving yonghee to himself in an apartment that had never felt so empty before. it didn’t take long for him to break down just like you did a bit earlier; tears staining his cheeks as they rolled down, landing on the wooden floor. 
that night, yonghee didn’t sleep for even an hour straight. 
he was so mad at himself. for leashing out on you the way he did, for accusing you of something he knew you would absolutely never do. he risked losing you over something so stupid, too blinded by his own anger to even give you a second to explain yourself, to remind himself that you loved him too much to even come close to anything as terrible as cheating on your loved one. cheating on him.
he contemplated on whether to drive to seoyeon’s place or not, knowing well how overprotective of a friend she is. she probably wouldn’t even let him inside; not after hearing about what he did. 
yonghee didn’t waste any more time, not even bothering to change into something that wasn’t his yesterday's outfit. he looked quite miserable; hair messy, clothes creased, but at that time, it wasn’t really important for him. what was important was getting to your friend’s place as fast as he could. 
you didn’t really know what to expect when you saw your boyfriend in the doorway of seoyeon’s apartment, breathing heavily as if he was rushing up to get there. you didn’t have too much time to think about it, either; soon enough seoyeon’s head peeked out of the kitchen, and quickly rushed him to get inside. 
‘can we talk?’ he asked, his eyes focused on your face. before you were able to answer, though, your friend quickly got in the way of you two. 
‘before you even try to explain anything to her, i need to exchange a word with you.’ seoyeon looked serious like she never did before, yonghee shivering slightly at her cold and expressionless eyes staring daggers into him. ‘come outside with me for a minute.’
she looked over to you, her gaze immediately changing into a soft one, as she mouthed a quick ‘i’ve got this’, before disappearing behind the door. 
and so you waited in silence, with shaky hands and stress eating you from the inside, waiting for them to come back. 
you were grateful to have a friend like seoyeon for many reasons. one of them was that no matter the situation you were in, she would always help you out. just like she was doing it now. 
the night before, after she calmed you down and let you explain what had happened at your apartment, you asked her to talk to yonghee before talking with him yourself. she agreed immediately, knowing what the situation looked like, knowing why the argument even started in the first place. 
after all, you were well aware of the flowers and letters sent to you. you were just to afraid to tell yonghee about the whole situation.
the idea you could ever have a stalker never really crossed your mind, and yet here you were; receiving flowers, letters and other presents, first to your desk at work, then right to your doorstep. every single time before you had managed to somehow hide it from yonghee, afraid he wouldn't believe you if you told him about it, or that he would react the same way he did the night before; accusing you of cheating on him. 
and so you kept it to yourself. after a month, it became a routine for you; throwing out the presents you always got every day, extra careful not to let anyone see that there was anything wrong. 
but seoyeon obviously noticed. 
she had asked you about it one day at work, and you almost broke down in tears explaining the whole situation. even though you tried to play it cool all of the time, reality was this stalker thing was eating you from the inside. but having at least one person to help you deal with it was great, and you were grateful that she helped you with getting rid of every single thing your stalker got you. yet still, you didn’t want to listen to her with the most important thing, it obviously being telling your boyfriend about it. 
so you were incredibly relieved when seoyeon agreed to having that conversation with yonghee instead of you. she took a really big weight off your shoulders with that, and you couldn’t possibly comprehend how much you appreciated her for that. 
you heard the door open, snapping you out of your thoughts, and suddenly, the stress came back. but it seemed to die down immediately the moment you saw yonghee, his gaze soft and caring, just like it usually was. 
he immediately came up to you, closing you in a tight hug, one that you definitely needed at that moment. 
‘i’m sorry, honey.’ he said, resting his face on the crook of your neck. ‘for everything i said yesterday. for not taking time to think everything through. for gushing out on you like that. fuck- i’m so sorry.’
you smiled at him, your hand resting on top of his head, slowly stroking his head.
‘it’s okay, really’ you said, your hand continuing the movement. ‘it’s partially my fault for not telling you about the whole situation. i was’ you stopped for a second, taking a deep breath. ‘i was just scared you wouldn't believe me if i actually told you.’
‘please don’t feel that way, ever again’ he said, his eyes locking with yours. ‘and don’t think it’s your fault, y/n. it was me who’s in the wrong for gushing out on you this way, and i shouldn’t have done this. i’m here to support you, right? help you through every situation. after all, your problems are my problems too, you know?’
‘i’ll keep that in mind.’ you mumbled under your breath, just enough for yonghee to hear. he simled lightly, planting a quick kiss on your forehead. 
‘sorry to interrupt your moment’ seoyeon said, walking out of the kitchen with her phone in her hand ‘but are you guys staying for dinner? i planned on ordering pizza today, and there’s a discount if you buy more than one.’
you looked at eachother, laughing silently.
‘i’ll pay for it.’ yonghee said, his words sounding more like a fact than a suggestion. ‘it’s the least i can do for now.’
‘sounds good to me.’ seoyeon said, heading back into the kitchen ‘but don’t think you’ll buy yourself into my graces this way. i’ll have my eye on you!’
yonghee laughed at your friend’s remark, looking over to you.
‘don’t worry about that. i’ll prove to you i’m worthy of dating your best friend.’
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sunsetcurbed · 3 years
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you showed me faith is not blind (miracles happen)
Pairing: Alex/Willie  Words: 3,355  Rating: T  Chapter Warnings: none  Chapter: 3/11  read on AO3 
Chapter Summary:  By the time he's done getting ready it's nearly 9:15, which gives him forty-five minutes to eat breakfast and get to Julie's.
He heads to the kitchen and freezes.
Scratch that.
Which gives him forty-five minutes to avoid his mom and grandmother, eat breakfast, and get to Julie's.
(*) 
He wakes up the next morning feeling particularly exhausted. He didn't fall asleep until sometime after two the night before which, for most people on a Friday night wouldn't be an issue but for Alex, was an issue because he has band practice at ten, so his alarm wakes him up at 8:30.
He groans when the annoyingly chipper ringtone starts playing from his nightstand and presses his head into his pillow. He stays like that for a minute before accepting his fate and reaches an arm over and grabs his phone off the table. He silences the alarm and turns over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. Yesterday had been one of the most mentally exhausting days he could remember, and yet, it had ended on such a high note that his mind was having a hard time categorizing it.
On one hand, the one and a half panic attacks were… not ideal. They took a lot out of him. And having to wrestle with the idea of him being a prince? That was a thought that didn't leave him alone. But on the other—walking around LA drinking tea with Willie talking about nothing, singing along to the radio in his car as he drove them around, calling out scores for his tricks at the skate park, sitting on the same side of the booth at Chipotle just because they're used to it from school, but most importantly, the face Willie made when he pulled into Alex's driveway. It was so happy and so reluctant, like Willie was thinking the same thing as Alex—that the day had been so nice, but that he didn't want it to end. Alex didn't get home until nine, and when he did, he simply gave his mom a raised eyebrow and went to his bedroom and locked his door. She tried knocking and yelling through his door multiple times the rest of the night, but Alex slipped in a pair of ear buds and put on Netflix and waited until well after midnight to go to the bathroom and brush his teeth.
So, yeah, Alex isn't sure where he sits with yesterday.
He sits up in his bed and throws his legs over the side, and goes about getting ready for the day. By the time he's done it's nearly 9:15, which gives him forty-five minutes to eat breakfast and get to Julie's.
He heads to the kitchen and freezes.
Scratch that.
Which gives him forty-five minutes to avoid his mom and grandmother, eat breakfast, and get to Julie's.
He walks past them without a comment to get a frozen breakfast sandwich out of the freezer and puts it in the microwave. Ava calls out a cheery hello from the living room and he calls one back as he gets a glass of water and grabs his anxiety medication, tipping a pill into his hand. He tosses it back and chases it down with water.
"Alex," his mom tries.
The microwave beeps.
Alex goes over and opens it, careful of the hot sandwich within the paper towel. He picks it up gingerly and unwraps it, but leaves it set to cool for a minute, grabbing a handful of almonds while he waits.
"Alexander," his grandmother commands.
Alex crunches a mouthful of almonds pointedly.
"Alex, they're calling you," Ava says from the living room.
"Oh, are they?" he hums, disinterested. "I didn't hear anything."
"Alex, please," his mom goes again. "Just give us a chance, okay?"
Alex looks at her and raises an eyebrow. He looks at the clock. It's twenty after nine. "I have to leave in twenty minutes. That's what you get."
His mom breathes out a sigh of relief. She jumps straight in. "I know you must be wondering why we didn't tell you. When your dad and I divorced, we thought we would both remarry, both have more children. You know how that turned out for him though. But… our number one priority was you growing up with a normal childhood. All I knew was I couldn't… I couldn't handle the primness and rules and I didn't want my child to have to grow up in that world and have to miss out on so many parts of childhood and Fred agreed with me. So we all agreed that distance was the best thing for all of us, especially when Mike came into the picture."
"Were you ever going to tell me, if he hadn't died?" Alex demands.
"We were going to tell you when you turned eighteen," his mom nods. "We even tried to wait, still, but… circumstances moved that up."
Alex frowns and turns to his grandmother. "And you? You were okay with this all?"
She flips her hands over so her palms are facing the ceiling but the way she holds her hands is still elegant rather than how most people would appear helpless. "It's not like I could disagree, now could I? I would be going against your parents' wishes, against my son's wishes. Of course I wish I could have known you, but I do understand their intentions, to an extent."
Right. He supposes she would be the most innocent party out of all of them. At least, that is, if she weren't expecting him to drop his entire life to go rule an entire country. He turns back to his mom and watches her. She crosses her arms over her chest and ducks her chin to her chest. "I'm sorry that our decision hurt you," she says slowly. "That was never our intention. We wanted to protect you."
"Right," Alex nods. He picks up his sandwich, which has cooled down considerably now. "Okay. Was that all, or?"
"Not quite," his grandmother says, holding up a finger. "I have something I would like to discuss with you."
He takes a bite of his breakfast. "Shoot."
She grimaces. "December 21st… there's an annual ball. I had the hope to present you as Prince Alexander at this ball."
From the living room, Ava gasps.
Alex swallows his bite of his sandwich and flicks his eyes towards where his sister is. She's holding onto her tablet, but it's completely forgotten in her hands as she stares into the kitchen with wide eyes and a dropped jaw. He turns back to his grandmother and shakes his head. "I told you yesterday, I wouldn't make a good prince. Again, I'm barely a functioning human."
Footsteps come running into the kitchen. "Prince?"
"Yeah, yeah," Alex huffs, ruffling Ava's hair. She's twelve now—right at the age where she's starting to care about him messing up her hair. She squeaks and ducks away from him and fixes her hair and looks at his grandmother.
"Did you say Alex is a Prince?" Ava asks.
"He is, my dear," his grandmother smiles and Ava shrieks. Alex's hands fly to his ears, nearly dropping his breakfast in the process and his mom is quick to yell at Ava, silencing her effectively.
"Does that mean I'm a princess?"
"I'm afraid not," his grandmother says apologetically. "Alexander is a prince on his father's side, and you two share different fathers."
"Oh—that's okay!" Ava turns to Alex. "You're a prince!"
"Not for long," Alex says, reaching over to tussle her hair again.
"That is… what I wanted to talk to you about," his grandmother says softly. "I already mentioned lessons once, but if we work with you until the ball… with some instruction, I really think you would surprise yourself as well, Alexander."
Alex shakes his head, laughing. "Prince lessons?" Next to him, Ava squeals again, but this time it's much softer. He looks down at her to find her beaming up at him, looking like she's a second away from clapping her hands together, too. Alex rolls his eyes.
His mom steps forward. "Yes, prince lessons." She looks between him and his grandmother and narrows her eyes. "Alex, why don't you give them a shot, okay? You're not committing to anything, you're not saying you'll be king of Beasiga one day by going to these lessons, they're just what they are at face value: lessons."
Alex narrows his eyes back at her. He knows his mom. He's gotten pretty good at reading into her unspoken words over the last sixteen years. He goes over her words again in his head and tries to find the hidden message—he's pretty sure it's a silent 'yet' added to 'you're not committing to anything'—but he can't be sure. "Okay… And?"
"And you keep your mind open." Yup. Yet. Alex holds back his scoff, because that'd be an immediate give away. "That's all. Lessons, and keep your mind open."
"Okay," Alex says, and takes another bite of his sandwich. It's cold now. He frowns, and looks at Ava who is next to him, now hopping up and down.
"Shall we start tomorrow?" his grandmother asks.
Alex scoffs. "No. Tomorrow's Halloween, I have a gig. We can start Monday. I have band practice Wednesdays and Saturdays though, so make sure you don't schedule anything on those days. I'll let you know if we book any other gigs."
His grandmother looks at his mom, confused expression on her face. "Gigs?"
"Uh… events. Shows. Where they play."
"Ah," she nods, looking back to Alex. "What sort of band do you play in? You mentioned the band yesterday but not your music."
Alex raises his eyebrows, surprised at her interest. Then he thinks—it could be because it could be considered a royal scandal. Oh, isn't that a thought. His life could be considered a royal scandal now. "Uh—we started out more as rock, but lately we've been more pop-rock inclined," he says. Then, because he can, he says, "We're actually playing a nightclub in a few weeks if you'd want to see us play. There's a VIP box that I doubt anyone has rented out for our show since we're still up and comers."
He's not expecting her to perk up. "Oh, I would love that. You'll have to give me the information and I'll see what I can have John do."
"O… kay." He glances at the clock as he takes another bite of his cold sandwich. Somehow, even though it feels like it's been an eternity, only six minutes have passed. He moves over to the kitchen table and takes a seat, finishing off his sandwich in a few bites, and just barely keeps himself from groaning when his grandmother takes a seat across the table from him. He picks up his phone and starts scrolling through it, when she asks him a question about his Rothfuss book sitting over on the coffee table. He looks over at her and frowns. "How'd you know it was mine?"
She smiles, gentle and kind, and not at all like a women who is out to ruin his life. "You mentioned yesterday that you were an avid reader, and that fantasy was one of your favorite genres. I assumed from there."
Alex nods. "Have you read it? I mean… to know that it was fantasy…"
"I have," she nods. "I make sure to spend at least an hour a day with leisure reading, though I must admit when I'm not very busy it usually ends up being more than that. How do you feel about Kvothe?"
Alex's first reaction is surprise due to hearing his grandmother say 'Kvothe' because she pronounces it completely differently than he has been reading it in his head. His second reaction is also surprise, due to her asking his opinion on a book he's reading. But then he supposes this… this is really where it had seemed their relationship had been heading. There was such an ease when they were getting to know each other yesterday, and she never made him feel like anything he said didn't matter. Yesterday she wanted to hear about his life, down to the smallest detail, and today, she wanted to hear about his opinion about an asshole Kingkiller. It was hard to reconcile that version of his grandmother with the version that told him he was a prince—that implied he'd be moving to Beasiga and ruling without giving him any say.
Sitting here talking about a book he was reading though, after just having agreed to prince lessons, the two were starting to merge. They were still different, but more overlapped now, rather than two completely separate entities. She was his grandmother, yes, and she had interest in his life. Yet she was also Queen Louisa of Beasiga, and had a duty to her country. Alex supposes he can't be too upset at her for wanting him to be prince—after all, if he declines, that means their family's reign is over. Of course, of course she'd want him to be prince. He can excuse her for being a little bit pushy at first. He relaxes into the chair, and the two images of his grandmother merge together even more.
And then he looks at the clock. He's in the middle of a sentence when he does, not having expected so much time to have passed, but when he sees that it's quarter 'til ten, he stands up so quickly that his chair falls backwards. "Shit!" he curses, bending down to pick it back up and then running to the door. "Sorry, grandma, gonna be late for band practice, gotta go! We'll finish this later!"
Alex skids his bike into Julie's driveway with a minute to spare and rushes into the studio. Reggie, Luke, and Julie call out happy hellos when Alex enters, and he echoes one back. Julie's watching him from her seat at the piano and he sends her a quick nod, telling her he's okay after their phone call yesterday. She had texted him in the evening, but he had been out with Willie, so he had told her he'd text her later and then… never did.
"Hey, uh, before we start," Alex says as he sits on his stool, "just so you guys know, my grandma is in town for the new few months, so I'll be spending some time with her. I told her no Wednesdays or Saturdays, and I told her no days we have gigs, but just a heads up, I'll be around a little less."
"Wait," Reggie frowns. "Your grandma? Didn't both your grandmas pass away?"
"Uh—my maternal grandma and then my stepdad's mom did."
"So…" Luke drawls. "Your dad's mom is in town?"
Alex swallows, then nods. "Uh, yeah. You know, I think I told you guys he passed away in July, right?" With three nods, he carries on. "Right, so, I'm the only family she has left now. So, I mean. It makes sense, right? She just… wants to get to know me, I guess."
"Aw," Reggie coos, "that's sweet. Have you met her yet? Is she nice?"
"No, yeah, she's great. Uh, she, uh, loves reading, just like me. She, uh, she's been great."
"That's awesome, man," Luke says, sounding genuinely pleased. Ever since he made up with his parents over the summer after his six month estrangement with them, Luke has put the value of family above just about everything else. (Just about. Luke's parents had to compromise that music was in their son's life and that it was there to stay.)
Julie, however, is quiet. She is staring at him with pursed lips, and he is sure she had plenty of questions—and he is sure she has connected his near panic attack yesterday evening to his grandma. He looks at her and pulls his eyebrows together, letting his head tilt slightly. Pleading and promise. Please don't let them know and I promise I'll fill you in. He sees the moment Julie gives in as her shoulders relax and she gives him a fake, but still warm, smile. "That's great, Alex. Will we get to meet her?"
Oh, shit.
"Uh," Alex squeaks, "maybe? She, uh, she—she might. You. You might. I'm really not sure? We'll have to see."
It's a testament to how long his friends have been around Alex and his anxiety that they don't think his rambling and stammering are odd or out of place here. Except Julie. She knows, but not because of his rambling and stammering. Sure, the guys know about his panic attack because Julie had texted the group, but Julie is too smart not to use that information now, while the guys had let it go once they knew Alex was safe. So Alex, seeing that Julie is still focused on him, gives her a shrug and suggests they get started on practice, which Luke and Reggie eagerly agree to, and Julie nods along to as well.
They practice, write, practice, eat, practice, write, practice, goof off, practice, eat more, and then practice more. By 4:15, they all lay on the floor of the studio going over the set list for tomorrow for what feels like the hundredth time, but they're nothing if not thorough with their sets. They're debuting Finally Free tomorrow, which they played through fully for the first time today, so they're all nervous about that, but excited, too. There's a current running through the entire group, like static electricity—he feels like if he were to touch one of them he'd be shocked. He always feels like this before a gig, there's just so much pent up energy within their group, only for it to explode on stage at their gig. He thinks it is part of what makes them so good. Through all of this, he can almost forget about… everything else. He does, even.
Reggie's mom comes to pick him up about ten minutes later, and Luke runs inside to play Carlos in MarioKart five minutes later, leaving only Alex and Julie. Alex rolls on to his stomach and pushes his torso off the floor, pulling his legs beneath him and hopping up, ready to bid Julie goodbye when she stops him. The look on her face is what brings everything rushing back. He sighs.
"What happened yesterday?" she asks in a quiet voice, standing in front of him, arms hanging loosely at her sides. She's completely open to him, and he feels his stomach twist knowing that he's about to lie to, or at least not be completely honest with, her.
Alex brings a hand up and runs it through his hair, sending his eyes to the chairs on the ceiling before looking back to Julie. "It—it really wasn't as bad as I made it out to be, I promise. I just… I got some news, that I can't share, that shocked me. Me, my mom, and my grandma talked about it before practice this morning, so… it's fine."
"All right… Are you okay, though?"
Alex doesn't answer immediately, because he learned a long time ago that if he didn't give Julie an honest, thought out answer to these kinds of questions then she would end up pressing. Gently pressing, but pressing, nonetheless. So he thinks—really thinks—about how he is. He thinks about how he felt getting the news, and how his heart lost its rhythm in his chest for so long, until Willie was able to set it right again. Until Willie was able to take all the panic and anxiety and hurt that Alex was feeling and flip it, take it and turn it into release and laughter and a sense of okayness. Then he thinks of this morning, where he made a deal, one that he can keep until he can confidently step back from his role as prince without a fight from his grandmother and then move forward with his life as if this entire thing never happened. And he thinks of being surrounded by Luke, Reggie, and Julie, and how everything else had just melted away, how it had been like yesterday hadn't even happened, how it had been like he wasn't even a prince, not even now.
And he, well.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
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