Chapter Text
Apollo tried pushing aside his discontent as he slid his way through the boisterous crowd and back to the table. Jinxie was zipping up her purse, and Apollo noticed two new necklaces with symbols adorning her neck—though the warding charms couldn’t fit, she apparently didn’t come completely unprepared. Blaze unfathomably managed to doze off somehow, and Ophelia scrolled through her phone, bored.
“You missed who got picked for Prom King and Queen,” Ophelia drawled, without glancing up.
“You and Blaze?” he joked.
She laughed. “Yeah, right. I’m more of an ‘overthrow-the-monarchy’ type of girl.”
“It was Jackie and Amos,” Jinxie said, though Apollo would have guessed that on his own.
He waited for Trucy to pipe in with her two cents, before realizing—with a groan—that she was missing once more. Murphy implied Trucy wanted Apollo here to feel more comfortable, and that was something that went both ways. And right now, he was in desperate need of it.
“Where is she?” he muttered, scanning the crowd.
“Who, Trucy?” Murphy craned his neck to the side, joining Apollo in skimming through the attendants. “I don’t know, dude. I just got here.”
“I think she said she was going to get some fruit punch.” murmured Jinxie. Her white knuckles fiddled the charm at the bottom of the necklace. “Oh, I hope she hasn’t been abducted…”
“She’s not—”
“Wait, I think I see her,” Murphy cut in. “She’s—yeah, that’s her. She’s talking with—oh. Oh, fuck. Trucy, seriously?”
Apollo whipped his head in the direction Murphy was looking. His heart sank. Standing next to her was Amos Stake, looking slightly smaller than he did compared to when he previously sauntered over to their table. His eyes kept flickering to them, and the distance couldn’t stop Apollo from spotting Amos’ rigid posture and clenched jaw. He didn’t look angry though, and neither did Trucy. Still, Apollo feared this could easily go south.
“Wait here,” he commanded. Protective instincts overtaking everything else, Apollo weaved his way through the crowd until he reached the pair. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one with that idea.
“What’s this about?” Jacqueline demanded, slinking her arm into Amos’ and glaring daggers at Trucy. “I told you to stay away from him. The last thing he needs is to hear more of your bullshit lies.”
Trucy remained impassive. “I’m not lying about anything.”
“Jackie, baby,” Amos soothed, rubbing circles into her back. “It’s not like that.”
Jacqueline’s shoulders relaxed, but an edge to her still remained. “Then…what? Trying to steal my boyfriend?”
The last line was delivered lightly, and Trucy responded in turn. “Nope! I’ve got my own date, remember?”
“Oh, yeah. The lawyer.”
Apollo heard the smirk in the last word without needing to see it. Though the tension had dissipated slightly, he still felt it prudent to cut in. “Hi. Jackie, was it?” He remembered her name well, but Kristoph always used to tell him keeping a detached demeanor makes one appear and feel more confident. And it worked–somewhat. “Trucy and I were just heading back to our table.”
His close proximity to Jacqueline and Amos caused a few nearby students to stare, but for once, Apollo felt a surge of rebellion instead of shyness.
Fine. Let them stare.
“Okay,” nodded Jacqueline, glancing at Amos, the table, then back to Apollo. “Just be careful around Murphy Lawrence.”
Trucy stiffened, and Apollo could practically feel the heat radiating off her. He could count the numbers of times Trucy had been genuinely incensed on one hand, and always hated seeing it.
Another twinge of…something…caught in his heart, and the words tumbled out before he could convince himself to keep quiet. “Is it really a big deal if he’s gay? I mean, it’s not that uncommon.”
“Whoa, whoa.” Jacqueline held up her palm. “I don’t know what Trucy told you, but I’m not, like, homophobic or anything. I don’t have a problem with gay people. But there’s a difference between being gay and literally assaulting someone. As a lawyer, you should know that.”
Now they were definitely attracting owlish stares, chuckles, and whispers. The logical part of him hissed it wasn’t his place to get involved with teen drama, that he should probably fuck off back to the table before things snowballed. But the part of him that was tired of always pulling away, the part of him bubbling with frustration over a lifetime of doing so, stood his ground. “As a lawyer, I also know that people don’t always tell the truth, and that sometimes it’s best not to jump to conclusions.”
“Are you calling me a liar?” Amos snapped, absentmindedly brushing a finger against his lips.
Apollo folded his arms and smirked, pouncing on that gesture like he would in court. “Actually, I a—”
He felt a slight tug on the back of his suit jacket. Trucy.
It was enough to bring Apollo back down to Earth. He stifled a sigh; regardless of what Amos did, it wasn’t Apollo’s place to out him like that.
“I’m not calling you anything,” he finally said. “You know the truth, and the truth doesn’t change no matter how people feel about it.”
Jacqueline glanced between Amos and Apollo, frown deepening as Amos shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away.
Though Apollo knew Amos’ actions caused major harm, he couldn’t muster the same vitriol towards him and Jacqueline that Ophelia did. Apollo knew from firsthand experience how teenagers were prone to dumb, emotional choices: Amos struggled with his feelings and lied to Jacqueline about it, but he had no way of knowing it would blow up like it did. And Jacqueline thought she was doing Amos and the rest of the school a favor by ‘exposing’ someone who assaulted her boyfriend. It was a perfect storm of circumstances triggered by a kid scared of confronting the truth about himself.
In another life, Apollo could have been Amos.
Granted, with a lot less muscle…
“Guten tag! What’s all the fuss over here?”
Apollo blinked, startled at Klavier’s sudden appearance. A glance at the rest of the band showed they were packing up their instruments. Was Prom really almost over?
Time flies when you’re reflecting on your life choices, I guess…
Amos’ brows furrowed at the purple-coated intruder. “Who the hell are you?”
If Klavier didn’t confess his insecurities to him previously, Apollo would have found his affronted look comical. “Seriously? I was in the band…”
“Well, I think you’re unforgettable,” smiled Apollo, a wave of warmth and appreciation washing over him.
“Glad someone thinks so,” winked Klavier.
Apollo leaned in and kissed him.
Klavier’s eyes bulged, but he returned the kiss, pressing deeper into Apollo’s lips. Nerves trembled inside, but they were dwarfed by the sparks of electricity jumping in glee. This felt…right. Terrifying, but right.
Right, and extremely liberating.
When they finally pulled back, Apollo didn’t bother looking at Amos and Jacqueline. Instead, he focused on Trucy, who bounced up and down (that can’t be easy in those heels…), beaming.
“We’re heading out, Trucy,” Apollo said calmly. “We’ll be outside by the main entrance if you need anything.”
He felt like the crowd should start clapping and cheering as they weaved their way to the hallway, but supposed that was one cliché too far. The vast majority weren’t even looking at him, but the ones who were either stared or whispered, and a couple recorded the exchange of their phones. One girl murmured, ‘that was hot,’ which gave Klavier more of a spring to his step.
“She’s right,” he chuckled as the noises dimmed upon reaching the hallway. “That was insanely hot. But—” His smile faded. “You know there’s no putting toothpaste back in the bottle, ja?”
“Tube. Toothpaste goes in a tube.”
“You know what I mean. Are you…okay with this?”
The worry for him in Klavier’s eyes and posture only solidified that he made the right choice. “Yeah. I mean, right now I’ve still got all that adrenaline in me, and I don’t know if I’ll be as elated tomorrow. But I’m not going to do a 180. I know it was the right thing to do, and it’s like this huge weight I didn’t know existed’s been lifted off my chest. And maybe it’s important for others to see, too.”
He thought of Murphy and Amos, as well as his own struggles in high school. If he had someone older and confident in themselves to look up to, would he have struggled so much with his own insecurities?
Probably not…
“So wise,” chuckled Klavier. Then, more seriously: “It must have been hard to do that in front of everyone.”
“Actually, it was a lot easier than I expected.”
The gentle June breeze greeted them as they exited the lobby, ruffling through Apollo’s cowlick as if patting him on the head. A wave of peace washed over him as he took in the familiar sounds of the city. Everything was continuing as normal. The world didn’t crash. It was going to be okay.
“You know I’m with you for whatever happens, ja?”
“I’m with you, too.”
Gazing into Klavier’s sparkling eyes, the media and crazy fans didn’t seem so daunting after all. How could they be, when he had Klavier by his side?
They leaned in and kissed again, this time just them and the moon. Apollo wasn’t sure how long it lasted (not long enough); they would have kept going if not for an excited half-scream of, “Polly!”
He smiled as Trucy glomped him. “I’m so proud of you!” she gushed. “That was amazing!”
“What happened after we made our dramatic exit?”
“Not much. Jackie pulled Amos off to the side and I don’t know what they’re saying, but I’ve got a hunch. And a couple people were asking me questions about you, but hey; you snooze, you lose. They could’ve come up to our table and talked to you anytime.”
“I’m glad they didn’t,” groaned Apollo. “How’s Murphy?”
“He thinks you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread.”
“Mission accomplished then,” Apollo said dryly.
Trucy winced. “Murph told me what you thought, and I promise, I didn’t plan on putting you on the spot even if that’s what ended up happening. I wanted Mr. Gavin to talk to him, not you. The whole reason I didn’t tell you the full story was that I thought you wouldn’t come otherwise, and I really, really wanted you to be here. I try not to let it show, but it’s kind of…scary…sometimes, facing all this by myself.”
“You’re not alone,” Apollo smiled, squeezing her shoulder. None of us are.
“All’s well that ends well.” Klavier stretched. “Ah, looks like I’m not the only one with fans.”
Apollo followed Klavier’s gaze to the lobby entrance, where Ophelia, Murphy, Jinxie, and Blaze were exiting and chatting animatedly with themselves. Murphy waved.
“I’m impressed, Apollo,” Ophelia smirked. “I didn’t think you’d have the balls to stand up to Jackie and Amos like that. No offense.”
“I knew he would,” Jinxie hummed, a rare smile gracing her face.
Blaze yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Defending people is his job, yeah?”
“Thanks, Apollo,” Murphy murmured. “It was really cool what you did. Ignore all the videos.”
“Uh, thanks.” Should I be worried? “Don’t mention it.”
“And I’m glad you didn’t out him. He’s an ass, but I still wouldn’t want his social life to completely implode.”
“I almost did.” He caught Trucy’s eye and smiled. “But I’m glad I didn’t.”
As the seniors discussed what they wanted to do afterwards, Klavier whispered in his ear, “No matter what they decide, we head back to your place, ja?”
“Like you even have to ask.”
As they were leaving, Ophelia yawned and stretched her arms.“You know, this whole prom thing turned out a lot better than I expected.”
“Yeah,” Apollo said, waving goodbye with one hand and linking the other with Klavier’s. He gave it a gentle squeeze. “Me too.”