#they do post one of the pictures Reggie took before the raccoon stole the ring as their engagement announcement

[innytoes]

ok. i can't even read the rest of the list and i imagine there will be other requests for it but... What do you mean, the raccoon stole the ring you planned to propose with? - Willex.

Also for @floating-in-the-blue who did indeed request the same thing and lbr, I put that there as Willex bait.

"What do you mean, you lost the ring?" Julie asked incredulously.

"I mean I lost it!" Alex said, pacing back and forth, back and forth in the studio. "I did something stupid and I lost it and now Willie is never going to marry me because I'm stupid and reckless and-"

"Okay first of all, calm down," Flynn said. "If anyone is into Stupid and Reckless, it's Willie. Didn't you two ride a shopping cart down a hill on your second date?"

"Third," Alex pouted.

"Dude, where did you lose it, we'll help you look," Luke offered. "Or like if you left it in your pocket while doing laundry, we'll... I dunno, as an adultier adult about finding a plumber."

"Oh no it's way worse than that," Reggie piped up, and Alex shot him a glare.

"Shut up this is half your fault."

"Oh, now I know it will be good," Flynn said, leaning forward.

"So you know how we always joke that Willie is secretly a raccoon in human form?" Reggie started, sounding way too cheerful for Alex' liking. He groaned, flopping pathetically onto the rug next to Julie's chair. She patted his head in only mild condescension. Which would soon be full-blown condescension when she learned how stupid he was.

"Yes?" Flynn asked, eager.

"Well, we thought it would be funny to get a picture of Alex proposing to a real raccoon. You know, to post online after Willie said yes."

It would have been funny. Willie would have thought it was hilarious. He didn't like posting pictures of himself on social media, after so long being a photo prop for his rich foster dad, but Alex kind of wanted something to obnoxiously put online because he knew his mom still stalked his socials from time to time.

"So we went over to that pizza place, you know the one, because there's usually some raccoons hanging out behind it near the dumpsters. And we found one and lured it with some marshmallows, and then Alex got out the ring to propose, and I got a few shots, but just as I was lining up the perfect angle..."

"It grabbed the ring and took off," Alex finished miserably.

"We tried to get it back but... raccoons are fast when they want to be!" Reggie shrugged. "I took a video, though. You know, so maybe we could identify the raccoon later and try again."

He was pretty sure Reggie took a video to lord over him forever, because the sight of Alex chasing a raccoon around a parking lot and then begging and waving marshmallows at it at the bottom of a telephone pole was kind of pathetic and something that could be used as blackmail.

"So the raccoon stole the ring you were going to propose with," Julie said, slowly, so slowly. Like she was judging him. Which was fair. Alex was judging himself. On the couch, the sound of Luke and Flynn stifling laughter made everything a million times worse.

"What do you mean the raccoon stole the ring you planned to propose with?" A new voice asked from the door opening.

Alex looked up, wishing the earth would swallow him whole. "Willie," he said, his voice high pitched and creaky. "Hi! Um. I can explain."

"I think I got the gist of it," Willie said, his eyes sparkling and dancing with mirth.

"I'm so, so, so sorry," Alex said. "I thought you'd find it funny!"

"Oh trust me, I do," Willie said, moving to pull him up from his miserable lump on the ground. "And I'm going to want to see that video later," he told Reggie.

"Please no," Alex whined, even though Reggie was totally going to plug it into the big TV in the house so everyone could enjoy it, probably.

"Don't worry about it, Hotdog," Willie soothed, pulling him into a hug. Alex hid his face in his shoulder, letting the feel of his boyfriend's arms around him calm him down a little. Even when everything was shit, he always felt a little better in Willie's arms.

"I lost your engagement ring over trying to make a funny meme," he pointed out.

"Well," Willie said, pulling away. Before Alex knew what was happening, he got down on one knee in front of him, pulling a ring out of his back pocket. "It's a good thing I still have mine, then. Alex Mercer, will you marry me?"

#julie and the phantoms #willex #fanfic #they're stupid your honour #I wrote a thing #they do post one of the pictures Reggie took before the raccoon stole the ring as their engagement announcement #they probably played the video of Alex trying to reason with a raccoon on a loop at their joint bachelor party #OF COURSE ALEX SAID YES #Of course Reggie snapped a few pictures of the actual engagement as well #those are probably hung up in their home somewhere #like can you imagine three frames next to each other: raccoon picture/engagement/wedding photo