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Chapter Text

Seven weeks until Prom

It was the first day back from Spring Break and Liberty High was buzzing from the gossip of what had occurred over the break. Who slept with who, who was still together and who wasn't. Most of it didn't phase Charlie. He had moved to Evergreen at the beginning of his senior year. It wasn't easy being the new kid, but it didn't hurt that Charlie was the star quarterback. He quickly learned that Liberty High was an interesting place. By interesting, Charlie was being diplomatic. The more he found out about things that had happened at the school, the more fucked up he was convinced the place was. But as fucked up as Liberty High School was, he had almost made it through to the end of senior year. 

Betty, his girlfriend since just before Homecoming, had asked him to meet him in the cafeteria to eat lunch that day. That, in itself, was not unusual. What was unusual was what happened when he met her. Betty had gone away to Florida for Spring Break with a few friends, so Charlie hadn't seen her since before the break started. They sat alone, across from each other. Still, Charlie knew that there was no such thing as alone in the Liberty High School Cafeteria.

Their conversation had started cordial enough—the pleasant exchange of obligatory greetings.

"Hey, Betty."

"Hi, Charlie." 

But when Charlie tried to hold her hand like usual, Betty took her hand and placed it on her lap. The cafeteria suddenly went very quiet, as if everyone was watching their conversation.

"What's wrong, Betty?" 

"Charlie. I can't do this anymore."

"Do what, Betty?" Charlie ran his hand through his dirty-blond hair, his blue eyes widening simultaneously worried and surprised.

"Us. I mean, I'm just not feeling it anymore. It's not you, it's me. It's a cliche, I know, but I don't want the rest of my senior year to be defined by a relationship I'm no longer one hundred percent invested in. It isn't fair to you, Charlie," Betty sighed, her deep brown eyes appearing slightly sad, but also relieved. As almost an afterthought, she shrugged and offered, "We can still go to prom together if you want."

Charlie was at a loss for words. His mouth gaped as if he was preparing to respond, but no words came out. 

"Hopefully we can still be friends," Betty finished, standing up from the table. 

"Yeah…" Charlie exhaled, so shocked he was only capable of monosyllabic communication. He watched Betty rejoin her friends. 

Diego and Luke seemed to appear out of nowhere. 

"Oof, dude that was rough, "Diego commented. 

"Wanna see the replay?" Luke offered as if he was chatting about some sports footage and not a recording of a breakup. 

"You recorded my breakup with Betty?" Charlie looked horrified, "I thought we talked about this. No videos without consent, Luke. It isn't cool."

Luke looked down sheepishly and passed Charlie his unlocked phone, "Sorry, bro. That wasn't cool of me. I only started recording it because I thought she was going to give you some good news, but it turned dark quick."

The video wasn't long. Perhaps because Charlie felt like torturing himself at that moment, he pressed play and watched the replay of his breakup. Charlie could only describe how he looked in the video as shocked, and that explained precisely how he was feeling. He deleted the video and passed the phone back to Luke. 

Luke put his arm around his back, "You ok, buddy?"

"Yeah. I'll be ok. It just… came out of nowhere."

"Don't forget that  everyone  saw it happen, "Diego chuckled.

"Thanks, Diego. I really appreciate the reminder of my very public breakup." Charlie's voice dripped with uncharacteristic sarcasm.

"I got to get to class, I'll catch up to you guys later." Charlie forced his face into a slight smile and left his friends. He needed to be alone. He knew his friends would be there when he was ready to be around them again. Luke and Diego were great that way even though neither of them could be tactful to save their lives.

Six weeks until Prom

Charlie floated numbly through the rest of the week. He made a playlist on Spotify that he called, "Sad Songs." and listened to it on repeat. It was Friday now, and he was sitting in the same spot Betty had ended it on Monday with Diego and Luke. He had one headphone in, listening to his melancholy playlist, and he was staring in Betty's direction. Suddenly, Diego's hand seemed to be waving in front of his face. 

"Earth to Charlie!" Diego called, hand waving in front of his face. 

"Uh yeah? What do you want?" Charlie responded half-heartedly. 

"Dude, we are worried about you," Luke added, "You've been listening to that "Sad Songs" playlist on repeat for a week now."

"No, I haven't," Charlie's eyes shifted nervously. 

"Charlie, we are both friends with you on Spotify. Your play history doesn't lie."

Charlie scoffs but doesn't try to deny it again. 

"You need to snap out of it. My recent prom king poll on Instagram has you in second to Justin. Nobody wants a sad king," Luke continued. 

"He can win. I don't care about winning anymore." Charlie intoned dejectedly. 

"Dude this isn't like you, what happened to being like Russell Wilson and never giving up? There will be other girls. Or guys or whatever you want. Your life isn't over." Diego reminded him. 

"Listen, you need to decompress. You are coming over to my house tonight, and we are going to get drunk and play videogames." Luke commanded

"I don't feel like it, "Charlie pouted.

"I don't care. I'm not taking no for an answer. I already asked your Dad if you could stay over tonight and he said yes," Luke insisted.

"You what?"

"I know sad sack Charlie would give some excuse about blah blah, can't because of my Dad, so I went right to the source," Luke continued. 

"I am not a sad sack." Charlie attempted to defend himself.

"Then prove it, St. George. Tonight, 7 pm" Diego challenged

Charlie was ultra-competitive and never backed down from a challenge, "Fine. I'll be there."

Diego and Luke looked at each other, gave each other a high five and laughed. 

Charlie was on-time, arriving at Luke's house at 7 pm on the nose. Luke greeted him and invited him in. They went down to Luke's basement and joined Diego, who was already playing videogames. 

"Hey, you made it. I'm glad you were able to make time in your busy schedule of listening to sad breakup songs, "Diego teased.

"Shut-up," Charlie retorted, and held up a ziplock bag full of small cookies "Or I won't share any of my special cookies with you."

"Dude…" Luke slapped him on the back, taking the bag of cookies from Charlie. "Now that is the Charlie we know and love." Luke helped himself to a cookie before passing them to Diego. 

Diego took a cookie from the bag and tossed them back to Charlie. Charlie took a cookie out and ate it. 

"This is going be a fun night, " Diego affirmed. 

Three hours later, after a couple of cookies each, all three of them were lying on the floor staring straight up at the ceiling, smiling broadly. 

"Thanks for making me come over," Charlie was grinning stupidly now, his body heavy and relaxed from the cannabis cookies.

"Hey dude, no worries. We got you. Why did we eat two cookies again? You always warn us and we do it anyway," Diego pondered this as if he had just made the most profound observation. 

Charlie giggled, "I don't know. And then I listened to you when you said I should have two too?" 

Luke just laughed and whispered, "Tutu." and continued to laugh as it was the funniest thing he heard all night. 

"You ok, Luke?" Diego checked. 

He just continued to laugh. 

"I don't need Betty to be Prom King," Charlie announced. 

"You don't," Luke confirmed, "But you weren't polling great last week. Sad-sack Charlie isn't going to win."

Diego shook his head, "You and your obsession with the prom race."

"I just want to help people make an informed choice, Torres." 

"I bet I could make anyone prom royalty," Charlie said confidently. He really hadn't been himself the past week, maybe it was the cookies, but he felt his characteristic confidence coming back. 

"Oh, really?" Diego loved a good bet, "Ok, I pick the person, and you have to make them prom royalty in six weeks."

"Person?" Charlie's eyebrows raised.

"Well you are bi, aren't you? It is 2019, they don't need to be a prom queen," Diego replied as a matter of factly. 

"True," Charlie agreed, staring at the ceiling. 

"You hesitate, St George. Are you saying you can't do it?" Diego taunted, grinning widely. 

"No, deal. You are on. Pick me a person, and they will be prom royalty in six weeks."

"The game is afoot," Luke laughed. 

"WTF Luke, you Sherlock Holmes now?" Diego mocked.

 The three of them burst into laughter. Charlie felt better already. 

The next morning, Diego confirmed, "You still in St.George?"

Now sober, Luke had some misgivings about the bet, "Diego, don't you think this is, like, taking advantage of a man in a vulnerable situation?"

"I'm not vulnerable," Charlie dismissed Luke, "It is still on. I just need to know who."

"Let's see. Who could we pick?" Diego scratched his head, pausing for a moment to think. "We want it to be a challenge."

"We? Dude, I'm not helping you pick. It isn't fair. I have too much knowledge of who would be easy or impossible based on my prom polls." Luke now had his arms crossed and was shaking his head. 

"What about Jessica Davis?" Diego suggested, ignoring Luke's glare of disapproval, looking for Charlie's reaction. Charlie choked on the water he was drinking, eyes visibly panicked. "I mean she is single now, isn't she? Has been for a few months now."

"Um, I'm fucking scared of her. Please not her. I mean, I think she could win, but also I'm afraid she'll destroy me."

Diego laughed, "Nah, as much fun as it would be to watch you self-destruct around her, I think I'd be jealous if you managed to succeed."

"Awww does Diego have a crush?" Luke teased. Diego just smiled and shrugged. 

"How about Winston Williams?" Diego continued to list people. "Kind of a loner, always behind that camera of his. Gay."

"Um, no, thank you. I heard he is still writing letters to Monty. That is why Alex broke up with him. Remember, he just lost it on Winston in the cafeteria that one day?"

"Dude you don't have to date him, just get him to win prom king. And so what if he writes to Monty? Monty must be pretty lonely in jail. But that said, I think we can find someone more interesting." Diego seemed to be silently listing potential names.

"Stephanie Rodrigez?" Diego asked, and Charlie just shrugged and didn't respond, "Nah too easy."

"You say Alex broke up with Winston?" Diego pressed on.

"Uh yeah, about a month ago." As he said it, Charlie's eyes went wide as he realized where Diego was going with this. "No, Alex is like male Jessica except less aggressive and more standoffish. In fact, I think that is his nickname: Alex Standoffish Standall. He is beautiful but terrifying." Charlie seemed mildly panicked now.

"You think he is beautiful?" Diego looked even more curious, considering Charlie's expression carefully.

"Uh, he is pleasant to... uh look at, yes," Charlie stuttered as his cheeks flushed pink, "But I've barely been able to get two words out of him in class. How am I supposed to get him to go to prom with me?" 

"What happened to 'I can make anyone prom royalty?'" Diego chuckled. 

"You have a point. I did say anyone last night when I was very high."

"Perfect. Make Alex Standall prom king, or you have to do what we agreed upon last night."

Charlie sighed. He had his work cut out for him.

Chapter Text

Five weeks until prom

“Alex, you’re up,” Mr McLean, Liberty High’s music teacher announced, “Can you tell us a bit about the piece you are playing?”

Due to his TBI from his unsuccessful suicide attempt, he had only recently regained enough function of his left hand to play and been forced to take the lower level guitar course. While Alex had been waiting to regain use of his left hand, he had started writing his own music. “I wrote this song after reading the book Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks. The main character finds bird song annoying at the beginning of the novel. After he gains more life experience and goes through the horrors of war, his desire to live is strengthened, and he grows to see the bird song as a sign of hope and life. I called it Birdsong after the book.”

“Thanks, Alex.” A few students sniggered and rolled their eyes, but Alex was too focused on preparing to play that he didn’t notice them. Alex’s natural ability caused some jealousy amongst the mostly sophomore class; he was easily the most talented guitarist in his course.

The song started in minor chords to reflect the character’s dislike of bird song at the beginning and moved into a major chord towards the end. He was stoic and focused his expressive blue eyes, watching as his fingers meticulously moved over the chords. The song was beautiful and unique. 

“Well done, Alex. Very technically challenging piece. One thing I’d like to see from you as we finish this year is for you to write something more personal.” Mr McLean noted. All Alex heard is the criticism though. It was a thought pattern he was working on changing with Dr Ellman. His instinct to see the worst in himself and to read the worst in what others said about him contributed significantly to his depression or at least that is what Dr Ellman thought.

Two of the sophomores in the class came up to him after class. 

“Nice song, Alex,” the blond-haired sophomore girl said sarcastically. Alex gave her the blankest most unsettling expression in response like he cared what she thought. 

Her friend, a tall, dark curly-haired boy with olive skin, added, “You know Alex, some musicians only really get famous after they die.” Then he leaned in, to be sure that Mr McLean didn’t hear and whispered, miming a gun to his head, “Maybe it would have been better if it had worked.”

“Fuck you. Obviously, people in this school have learned nothing about how to not be dicks to each other!” Alex exclaimed, loud enough that Mr McLean did hear. He quickly left the music room, even though he could hear Mr McLean call after him. The class was over, so there was no point in staying and rehashing something that still hadn’t changed at Liberty. He was happy that he was almost done with this hell that passed for high school. 

Alex made his way to his next class, Spanish, an elective that apparently a lot of colleges required. He wasn’t very good at Spanish and wasn’t really in the mood for it after listening to  those children  in Guitar class. Alex slumped into his seat, which was next to Charlie St. George, who was always trying to talk to him. He was always pleasant, giving off the energy of an excited puppy. But sometimes, even as cute as puppies are, they could be annoying. Alex struggled to comprehend how Charlie could both be so confident and so happy all the time. He had noticed that Charlie had spent the previous week in a darker mood, probably due to the breakup everyone was still talking about. He empathized with Charlie last week having recently gone through his own very public breakup. Today, it seemed that he was back to his usual confident, cheerful self, which was too bad as far as Alex was concerned. Not that he wanted Charlie to be unhappy, but he had enjoyed the relative peace and quiet had resulted from it.

“Hi Alex,” Charlie beamed, his smile enhanced by his perfectly coiffed dirty blond hair, clear skin and deep blue eyes. His clothes looked expensive, a checked shirt peeking out from underneath a fitted dark green sweater. If he wasn’t a jock, Alex might have found him attractive.

“Hi Charlie,” Alex returned, much less enthusiastically.  Why was Charlie talking to him? Again.

“So I was thinking we should hang out sometime,” Charlie suggested.

“Were you thinking that? Why the  fuck  would you want to hang out with me?” Alex retorted a bit more harshly than he actually intended. Still, after guitar class, he was feeling particularly prickly and defensive. 

“I, uh, you seem interesting, and I think we could be friends,” Charlie stumbled over his words. There was something about Alex Standall that unsteadied him. He rarely had trouble speaking, but here he was tripping over his words. Alex’s beautiful features were currently contorted into a scowl, his blue eyes burning with anger or disgust. It was hard to tell, but it was easy to get lost in them.

“No. We couldn’t be friends. You are the most popular guy in the school, and I’m the kid that tried to kill himself and failed. We are in different stratospheres.” Alex affirmed, avoiding contact with Charlie’s eyes as they were gentle and kind, and the longer Alex looked, the less sure he was about what he was saying.

“You won’t even give me a chance? You don’t even know me.” Charlie’s voice was tinged with frustration. He wasn’t used to hearing no, and in this particular case, he really felt that Alex had already passed judgement without bothering to get to know him. 

“No.” Alex finished, and before Charlie could give him more reasons to consider, Ms Lopez started class. Alex felt like he was saved by the bell. If Charlie had continued much longer, he might have said yes just to get rid of him. 

Charlie didn’t attempt to talk to Alex for the rest of the Spanish class. He was a bit worried he was in over his head with this. Feeling rejected, he made his way to Phys Ed class, got changed and headed outside to the field where they were doing track and field. While Charlie waited his turn to run the high jump, he chatted with Zach, who was sitting on the bleachers. Charlie knew Zach from football, and he was one of Alex’s closest friends. Maybe he’d know what to do.

“Hey Dempsey,” Charlie thrust his hand in front of Zach for a low high five. 

“Sup, St. George?” Zach responded, clasping Charlie’s hand back amicably.

“Oh, you know…” Charlie’s voice trailed off, his eyes dropping down to the ground as he hated talking about Betty. 

“Yeah, sorry about Betty. You seemed good together.”

“I thought so too, but apparently I was very wrong about that.”

“Do you have your eyes on a rebound?”

“Maybe, but he totally blew me off.” Charlie sighed.

“He? Zach’s eyebrows lifted inquisitively, “Care to disclose this mystery man’s identity?”

Charlie shrugged and admitted sheepishly “It’s Alex.”

“Dude, Alex can’t be your rebound,” Zach responded.

“Why not?”

“Rebound implies casual, and Alex doesn’t do casual.”

“Would your advice change if I told you I want to take Alex to prom?”

“Woah St. George, you don’t mess around!” Zach exclaimed, shaking his head. If you hurt him…” Zach’s eyes flashed protectively, and his hands balled into fists.

Charlie’s stomach sank, and he immediately felt awful that this started all because of a stupid bet. His eyes went wide, and he looked vaguely terrified, “I would never hurt someone intentionally.”

Zach nodded slowly, satisfied. “Ok St. George. None of this might work. Even though I know you wouldn’t intentionally hurt him, I find some solace that you probably won’t be successful. Alex isn’t like most people. Discard the idea that he’ll be impressed by your status because he isn’t. I realize this may not have occurred to a jock such as yourself, but did it ever occur to you to make a little effort, find out what he likes?”

“How do I get him to talk to me? He always shuts me down.” Charlie seemed smaller when he asked this like Alex has this effect on his normally unshakable confidence. 

“Keep trying. It’s all you can do.”

“Thanks, Zach.”

“Dude…” Zach just shook his head, “Good fucking luck. And remember, if you hurt him...”

Diego waved Charlie over to indicate it was his turn. Charlie felt more confident about clearing the high jump than he did about his chances with Alex Standall even with Zach’s advice. Charlie sprinted towards the high jump bar and jumped, arching his back to attempt to clear the bar. He just missed knocking the bar off the holders and collapsed into the mat. He hoped he fared better with Alex later.

The thing about Charlie is while things sometimes got him down, he never let them get him down for very long. He knew Alex worked part-time as a barista at Monet’s as he had purchased coffee there before. He knew Alex was into music as he’d seen Alex carrying his guitar case around. So the plan was, as dumb as it probably was, to visit Alex at work and ask him to teach him about music. Even as he repeated the plan back in his mind, it sounded super dumb and not likely to work, but he had nothing to lose at this point. 

Charlie walked up to the counter. Alex scowled as if the mere sight of him was off-putting. 

Charlie did not let it phase him. He flashed his biggest smile and asked, “Can I get a large hot chocolate and five minutes of your time?”

“I can get you the hot chocolate, but I’m working, so the five minutes is going to be difficult.” Alex started steaming the milk for Charlie’s drink.

“Ok, well why don’t I just chat with you while you make that.” Alex rolled his eyes but didn’t actually say no which Charlie took as progress. 

But before he could say something, Alex blurted out, “Look, I’m not smart, so I can’t tutor you.”

“I have the fourth-highest GPA in our class.”

Tyler, Alex's friend, is sitting drinking a latte at the small bar by the barista station, “He does.”

Alex glared at Tyler before he asked, “Is this some sort of band geek outreach program?”

“No. Are you always like this?” Charlie was puzzled.

“No,” Alex scoffed, as he carefully applied whip cream to the top of Charlie’s hot chocolate.

Charlie could see out of the corner of his eye Tyler nodding yes. 

“Come on, five minutes.”

Tyler mouths to Alex, “Come on, Alex.”

Alex shot more daggers with his eyes in Tyler’s direction, “You have five seconds.”

Charlie decided he wouldn’t waste time, “I need your help with music.”

Alex’s eyes squinted as he struggled to comprehend. He looked perplexed, a look Charlie was getting used to seeing,” What do you want me to like curate a Spotify playlist for you?”

“No, I want to learn to play the guitar.”

“Well, I don’t teach,” Alex crossed his arms.

“That Spotify playlist is starting to sound good. Could you at least help me appreciate music?”

“Sure, someday.” The way he said someday sounded more like never to Charlie. 

Tyler piped up, “Why don’t you come to the open mic tonight? We have an extra ticket because Jess can't come.”

“Just one second Charlie.” Alex came out from behind the counter and motioned for Tyler to join him out of earshot of Charlie.

In a hushed voice, Alex whispers to Tyler, "What the fuck are you doing?”

“Are you the least bit curious as to why Charlie St. George, the hottest guy in school, has suddenly taken an interest in you?”

Alex just shook his head, still looking as confused as he did before as he returned to Charlie.

“Ok here’s the deal, the show is at 7:30, but parking can be a problem. Meet me here at 7 pm. Don’t be late.”

“Do you want to catch dinner beforehand?”

“No.” Alex walked away from Charlie towards the next customer who was waiting at the counter, “Remember, 7 pm."

Monet’s was busier than Charlie had seen it. He was glad he showed up at seven, or he wouldn’t have gotten a seat. Charlie scanned the room before picking out Alex. He had changed since this afternoon and was now wearing tight black jeans and a black button-down shirt over a fitted black shirt. Alex looked really good, Charlie couldn’t help but stare in his general direction. He finally made eye contact with him, and Alex made his way over. 

“You showed up.” Alex seemed surprised or perhaps disappointed. He was frustratingly hard to read sometimes.

“Why wouldn’t I show up?” Charlie replied, now confused. 

“Ok cool, well I uh… gotta go get ready to play.” Alex spits the words out quickly and then promptly disappeared back before Charlie could say anything. 

Charlie scrolled Instagram as he waited for the show to start. Luke had posted another one of his prom polls. He was tied with Justin again, so he must be doing something right. He decided he’d look Alex up. There wasn’t much on his profile. It looked like he liked to take ironic pictures of food. There were a few pictures of his guitars. It didn’t look like he was very active on his account. By the time Charlie had scrolled through Alex’s small Instagram collection, the show had started.

The first act was a young man with long greasy hair tied back in a messy low ponytail. He appeared to be nervous and tried cracking a joke didn’t land with the majority of the audience. It seemed to be some sort of inside joke as there were some people in the audience that reacted quite strongly. He then proceeded to introduce his first song as “a weird one” and then explained he wasn’t going to play the whole thing because the ending was boring. Charlie didn’t know a lot about music, but he could see this guy needed some confidence coaching. If he walked out on the field, not 100% confident that the play he was about to attempt was the right one, it would fail. The guy’s guitar playing was ok, but his voice was slightly off-key, and Charlie now wished that the performer would end the song. He was hoping not all acts were like this or it would be a long night.

Luckily, the acts that followed were much better, and each act seemed to only play one song before yielding the stage to someone else. Some people played covers and others their own original music. After the first act, time seemed to pass quickly, and before he knew it, the announcer introduced Alex. 

Alex sat down at the mic that was positioned for seated play, carrying his acoustic guitar and greeted the crowd, smiling, “How’s everyone doing tonight?”

There were a few whoops from the crowd and some polite clapping. What struck Charlie the most is how comfortable Alex seemed to be on stage. For someone who often said few words, Charlie was expecting him to be an awkward performer, perhaps like the first guy, but he definitely had stage presence. 

“Cool, cool. Tonight, I’ll be playing an original song. This one is called Broken.” The song had a beautifully sad and haunting melody. Charlie was mesmerized by watching Alex play, watching his fingers move through the different chords. He seemed as though he was in his own little world, and with every note, he was transporting his audience with him to that world. The song ended, and the audience clapped appreciatively.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it. I think there is one more person after me, so have a good night everyone.” 

Charlie thought that the announcer had said Alex was the last person. The announcer looked slightly confused and continued, “Uh thanks Alex, yeah it appears there was a late addition to the set. Charlie St. George, you are up if you are still here.”

Charlie looked around as if he was looking for another Charlie St. George who would be performing tonight. He could see Alex grinning from the off-stage area at him motioning him to get up on stage. Feeling like he didn’t have much choice, Charlie walked towards the standing mic and adjusted it to his height. He’d given speeches before but never performed. 

“Hi. I’m Charlie and… uh I guess I’m going to sing for you?” He regretted judging the first guys as it was much harder up here than it looked. “My girlfriend broke up with me last week, and I’ve been listening to this song a lot.”

Charlie took a deep breath. His singing experience was limited to choir in grade school, and he wasn’t even sure he was any good. He had belted this song out in the shower a few times in the past week and thought he sounded ok. But everyone knows that showers hide a multitude of evils when it comes to singing. 

“ Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though it’s here to stay, oh I believe in yesterday. Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be....” 

From off stage, he heard the sound of a guitar start playing the chords for the song he was singing. The spotlight shining on him made it such that it was too bright to see who it was, but Charlie figured it was Alex. Bolstered by the addition of back-up, he continued singing to the end of the song, “ Yesterday love was such an easy game to play. Now I need a place to hide away.

Oh, I believe in yesterday. Mm mm mm mm mm mm mm.” 

The audience was clapping. Charlie wasn’t quite sure what had just happened, but he had survived singing in front of people. 

After saying a few goodbyes to people, Alex grabbed his guitar, and they left Monet’s walking down the street towards Charlie’s car. 

Charlie was excited, he felt almost high. It wasn’t that different to scoring the winning touchdown of a championship game. “I can’t believe I just did that!” 

Alex smiled softly, which was a welcome change from the eye-rolling and scowls Charlie was getting used to seeing, “I’d be lying if I wasn’t a little surprised myself. Who knew Charlie St. George could sing?”

“Are you saying I was good?”

“You weren’t bad, like that first guy,” Alex remarked. 

“I felt for him. So I was ok. I mean the last time I sang was in sixth grade choir. I have been singing that song a lot the shower recently though,” Charlie admitted. 

“Well clearly the practice has paid off,” Alex joked. 

“That was such a rush,” Charlie continued, “Is it always like that? Performing?”

Alex considered the question before replying, “Yeah, I always get nervous, and the whole experience seemed surreal as it is happening. Performing is intense.” 

They stopped at the crosswalk and waited for the all-clear to cross. Charlie looked directly into Alex’s eyes, “Thanks for playing back up. I’m not sure I would have stayed on key if it hadn’t been for you.” 

Alex looked away for a moment, uncomfortable with being complimented but then returned Charlie’s gaze. “Your welcome, I couldn’t, in good faith, let you crash and burn when I’m the person who put your name on the list.”

Charlie noticed a mischievous glint in Alex’s eyes. His eyes were so expressive, he could stare into them forever, he smiled and chuckled, “I figured.” 

Still mesmerized by Alex’s eyes, Charlie reached out and grazed his fingers down the side of of the smaller boy’s chin. “Your eyes are really beautiful.”

But Charlie knew this had been the wrong thing to say, as the previously warm, glinting look darkened and chilled, “Oh please, your eyes are really beautiful? What a fucking cliche!”

“Alex, I was just…”

“No, I had an instinct, and I went against it. This is my fault.” Alex started walking away from him. 

“Alex, I’m not following.” Charlie pleaded, confused for the millionth time that day. 

“You want to know about fucking music? When the captain of the football team starts touching my face on darkened street corners. There is a word for it, an entire movement from the ’20s: Surreal.” 

“Alex, wait…”

“You go, I’m going to catch a ride with Tyler.” 

Charlie watched Alex walk back towards Monet's perplexed. This was going to be much more difficult than Charlie originally thought. 

Chapter Text

4 weeks until prom

Charlie let things cool for a week after the open mic night. He still greeted Alex in class when he saw him but didn't try to push to have a conversation if Alex didn't want to. Charlie wasn't done yet, though. He was taking a time-out to strategize figuring that if it worked in football, it had to work in life too. He needed to spend more time with Alex; the question was how. It was Friday, and he was sitting in the cafeteria with Luke and Diego. Charlie was zoned out again, but this time he was staring in the general direction of Alex, who was sitting with Jessica.

"Dude, you are back to being a space case. What happened with Standall on your 'date'?" Diego asked as he shoved some sandwich in his mouth. 

"It wasn't a date. Alex wouldn't even let me take him out for dinner." Charlie sighed and pushed a half-eaten cookie back into a sandwich bag. 

"I know you are upset, you didn't even finish your cookie," Luke pointed out, concerned. 

"Do you want it?" Charlie asked. 

"Nah, I'm cutting right now. Low-carb phase."

"If you don't think you can deliver on the bet, you can say so, but you still have to do what we agreed upon," Diego suggested, smugly. Just the look on Diego's face made Charlie want to continue. He couldn't let Diego win that easily. 

"No, but I need a way to spend more time with him if I'm ever going to get to go to prom with him."

"Look, I wasn't going to take sides, but Alex doesn't even register on my polls so you need all the help you can get."

"Dude! What about me?" Diego protested, but from his smug smile, he was joking.

"What you need is to get his friends to invite him to the beach and then you show up and boom you are in," Luke explained confidently, making an exploding motion with his hand for emphasis. 

"Well if Diego is willing to throw you a bone, he has been crushing on Jessica. Perhaps he could invite Jessica to the beach to hang with friends and tell her to  feel free to bring her friends too ." Luke winks are so exaggerated Charlie could swear people on the other side of the cafeteria could see him winking.

Diego gazed at the table that Jessica and Alex are sitting at while he considered Luke's plan. Diego looked back at Charlie, "So he won't even talk to you? It is hardly a fair bet right now so I'll help you out, just this once. Jess and I have been texting. I'll text her right now."

Diego (12:31 pm): Hey Jess, you busy tomorrow?

Jessica's phone vibrated. 

"Who is that?" Alex asked.

"Diego. He wants to know if I'm busy tomorrow." She looked intrigued. 

"I mean it's  Diego  but if you like him." Alex's shoulders shrugged, but he couldn't conceal the judgement in his voice. He hated jocks, but mostly he hated the things he had done in the past to try to impress them. 

"I mean, I know I was trying to stay single for a bit and not just jump right into a relationship after Justin. But I've been single for four months. I think I'm finally ready to date."

Alex just rolled his eyes. 

"What?" Jessica pleaded, "Tell me." 

"No. I won't let my bias against jocks taint this for you. I mean you have a type," Alex waved his hand dismissively as he said this.

Jessica scoffed, "Hardly… plus I dated you." 

"Yeah, and you made it abundantly clear I'm not your type. I'm over it now." Jessica detected no animosity as he said this. 

"True. So what should I say?" She was back to being excited. 

"What do you want to say?"

"You are not helping Alexander Dean Standall."

"I'm not choosing for you. That always ends badly. I won't have this on me if it doesn't work out." 

"I'm saying I'm free." Her fingers composed the text quickly. 

Jessica (12:35 pm): I'm free. What do you have in mind?

Diego (12:36 pm): Beach day. Come hang with my friends and me. Bring some of your friends. 11 am, bring some lunch. 

"What did he say?" Alex asked, entirely too interested for someone who had spent the past five minutes being aloof and reluctant to offer advice. 

"He wants to hang at the beach, with a bunch of friends. Alex, you  have  to come with me."

"What and be your wingman?" Alex chuckled. 

Jessica paused to consider the thought for a moment and then confirmed, "Yes, exactly."

"So let me get this straight, you are asking me to give up my Saturday to hang out with a bunch of jocks at the beach. What happened to jock hating, cancel boys sports, Jessica?" Alex was teasing her. 

"Maybe I judged the jocks too harshly. Plus I realized cancelling sports does nothing affect real change. We need them as allies rather than enemies. Plus Charlie, Luke and Diego are like the good kind of jocks."

"May I remind you they were all friends with Bryce and Monty?" Alex said matter of factly, "And that Luke is the person that suggested I use steroids? Granted, I think he was trying to be helpful in his way." Alex paused to consider that. 

"And Charlie, remember how he helped Tyler go to the police to file his report? See, maybe they aren't so bad after all?"

Alex still rolled his eyes and sighed. "Well, what do I get out of coming with you?" 

"A tan? I don't know Alex...Please?" 

"I was going to write music on Saturday," Alex pouted. 

"Bring your guitar to the beach." 

Alex glanced toward the table where Diego, Charlie and Luke were sitting. He swore he caught Charlie staring at him. 

"No. I can't."

"Why not?" She followed Alex's gaze, "Charlie?"

Alex said nothing but Jessica had been friends long enough to know she was right. 

"What happened between you two?" 

"Nothing." 

"Alex, it doesn't seem like nothing."

"I don't understand why he is interested in me. He touched my chin and said  your eyes are beautiful , and I got scared and freaked out, ok?" Alex's voice cracked a bit as he admitted this.

"Why wouldn't he be interested in you?" 

"Look at me. I mean, you weren't." 

"Alex, but he isn't me. You have a lot going for you. You are smart, hot and talented."

"I'm also broken." Alex retorted. 

"You barely limp anymore, and you don't get as many panic attacks."

"I can't be around him."

"Why?" Jessica pressed. 

Alex didn't answer, but in his head, he said to himself  because the more time I spend with him, the less I want to push him away.  He was wringing his hands together in his lap, nervously, as he considered going. He looked down and then back up to meet Jess's eyes. "Fine, I'll come. But you fucking owe me." 

"We can invite Tyler, Chloe and Zach too, maybe Ani and Clay? So you have lots of interference if you want it." Jessica beamed as she texted Diego back. 

Jessica (12:42 pm): We're in. 

As Diego saw the text pop up a smile graced his face. He pointed the phone toward Charlie, "Dude!"

Charlie felt hope returning. From the way Jess and Alex were talking, he gathered Alex was giving Jess his classic run around, so he was elated Jess managed to convince Alex to come to the beach. 

Saturday morning came, and Alex regretted saying yes to this beach excursion. His mind seemed to be jumping between ideas. The first was to self-sabotage and basically, make himself as unattractive as possible so Charlie wouldn't be interested. Ideas to make himself repulsive included: eat a bunch of garlic beforehand without brushing his teeth, but that idea repulsed him enough that he didn't want to do it. Take up smoking cigarettes? Too much potential for an unwanted long term commitment and might not even work. Another idea was to wear hideous clothes, but he ruled that one out because he couldn't find any ugly garments in his closet and from what little he knew of Charlie, some ugly clothes wouldn't deter him.

As he looked through his closet, he noticed that he did have a lot of nice clothes, which made his mind jump to the other possibility, the possibility of actually trying or at least not actively icing Charlie out. Even Alex knew he wasn't being fair to Charlie. But he had opened himself up so many times only to be betrayed that he felt like it was safer to lock people out. He picked out a nice short-sleeved check shirt and some khaki shorts that he pulled over his only pair of swimming shorts.  It couldn't hurt to try for a day, could it?  As this thought passed through his mind, his phone vibrated to let him know that Jessica, Chloe and Zach were waiting for him in the car. He sighed, grabbed his guitar, put his Ray-Bans on and threw his backpack over one shoulder and thought to himself, ' Here goes nothing.'

When they arrived at the beach, Luke, Charlie and Diego had already claimed a spot with an umbrella and Luke and Charlie were setting up a beach volleyball net. They couldn't have asked for a more beautiful, hot sunny day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the breeze coming off the ocean was light and smelled of saltwater. The sun felt extra hot on Alex's skin, and he was thankful he mom reminded him to put sunscreen on before he left.

"Hey!" Jessica called out to them, from peering through her large white framed sunglasses from underneath her wide-brimmed straw beach hat. She wore a white bikini with a stylish white cover-up. Alex could tell she put extra effort in her look today. If Diego didn't notice, he was blind. 

"Hey, you all made it!" Diego called out as they approached the red and white striped umbrella that the three boys were lounging underneath. 

"We did," Jessica replied as she beamed back at Diego. Alex was happy he was wearing dark sunglasses as he suspected he might be rolling his eyes at the level of Jessica's flirting. 

"Yeah, Ani and Clay said they'd be by in a bit too," Chloe added. Alex wondered if Jessica and Chloe had coordinated outfits, as Chloe was almost wearing the identical bikini in black, but her cover-up was red. Not that she needed to impress anyone; Chloe and Zach had been dating since just after Homecoming. 

Alex set his blanket up in the sun, at the edge of the group and got his guitar out and started playing around with a song he was still writing. Jessica and Chloe set up beside near him, removing their cover-ups, appearing to be prepping to tan. Alex looked over, and Charlie was busy talking to Zach. He was mostly happy about this as it meant he wouldn't have to make small talk with him. While Alex had decided that he wouldn't be standoffish today, he still wasn't sure about Charlie and wasn't planning on going out of his way to talk to him.

Luke came up to them, holding a volleyball, "Y'all aren't just going to lie there all afternoon, are you?"

"In fifteen minutes, I was planning on flipping over to my back," Chloe replied, uninterested. Jessica just nodded in agreement and lay her head back against the low beach chair she had set up on her towel.

"Standall, what about you? You going to serenade us or you want to play a friendly game of beach volleyball?"

Before Alex had a chance to answer, Jessica answered for him, "Alex doesn't do team sports."

Alex glared at her, even though it was mostly true. It was more the principle of her answering for him irked him. 

Luke wasn't impressed either, directing a curt question at Jessica, "Is your name Standall?" Jessica scoffed but said nothing else. Luke turned back to Alex, "So? What do you say?"

Alex considered it for a moment and thought,  What the hell?

"Sure, I'd  love  to." He was mostly doing it because Jessica said it wasn't his thing and that irritated him enough to want to prove her wrong. Alex put his guitar back in its case.

Jessica's mouth dropped in shock, and Chloe laughed and said, "I think I'm in now." 

Jessica rolled her eyes all of them, and sighed, "Fine, I'm in too."

"Oh you, don't have to Jess, you know if team sports aren't your thing." Alex needled her as only a best friend could.

"It's on Alex," she replied, jumping up from her beach towel. Alex noticed all the other guys were already shirtless and playing in their swim trunks. While he felt a little uncomfortable, Alex figured he'd feel more discomfort playing in his cotton shorts and shirt, so he carefully removed his shirt and khakis, folding them and placing them on his towel. Charlie couldn't help watch as Alex prepared to play and blushed a little, as he noticed how attractive he was. Alex hid a killer body under all those layers he typically wore to school.

They played three on three. Diego, Jess and Luke formed one team and Charlie, Zach, Chloe and Alex made up the other team, rotating players out when they regained service. 

Alex and Jessica were equally bad for different reasons. As coordinated as Alex was while playing the guitar or video games, finger co-ordination didn't translate to the larger movements of volleyball. Or at least not at first. After Charlie gave him a few setting lessons, Alex started getting the hang of setting the ball. That is when he didn't trip over his own feet. But throughout the game, he did manage to set the ball up for Zach to spike it and score them some points. Jessica was ok at volleyball, but so distracted by Diego, she kept missing the ball and looked almost as clumsy as Alex. 

Chloe, it turned out, was their secret weapon. After everything that had happened at Liberty, her mother had insisted on transferring her to Sacred Heart All-Girls school. Her new school didn't have cheerleading, so she ended up playing on all the sports teams, including the volleyball team. As they played, Clay, Ani and Tyler arrived and watched them play. 

Alex's team was winning and only needed one point to finish the game. 

Charlie served the ball, and Diego bumped it, setting the ball up for Luke to return it. The ball came straight for Alex and tried to set it as he had done a few times before, but ended up painfully jamming his finger into the volleyball. Alex yelped in pain, but Zach still managed to spike the ball, scoring the winning point for their team. Charlie walked over to Alex, "Are you ok?"

Alex winced in pain, rubbing his finger, "I uh did something to my finger." He looked down and away from Charlie, feeling stupid.

"Oh Alex, that is such a common volleyball injury. Let's go get you some ice."

They walked together to one of the vendors and asked for some ice which begrudgingly handed over after Charlie bought them both ice cream cones. 

"Well, that was pretty fun well, until you got injured that is." Charlie smiled. 

Alex nodded, "Actually, it was probably the most fun I've ever had playing a team sport. Injury and all." The corners of his mouth slowly curled into a slight smile. 

Charlie looked out into the ocean, "It is so beautiful, the way the sun reflects off of the waves."

"Yeah, if we look hard enough maybe we'll see the Great Pacific Garbage Patch," Alex replied sarcastically.

"The what?" Charlie asked, confused.

"Oh, you haven't heard about the massive garbage patch that floats between here and Hawaii? It is like three times the size of France."

"I guess I haven't."

"Yeah, our environment is fucked."

"Are you always so prestigious?"

Alex smiled at this misused word, "I think you mean, pessimistic." 

"Yeah, pessimistic," Charlie agreed.

"Some people call it pessimistic. I call it realistic. If you expect the worst, you stop being let down when life doesn't live up to expectations."

"I don't know, and I wonder if you might be missing out on some good things, you know by always thinking the worst," Charlie noted wisely.

"Maybe." Alex reluctantly agreed. 

By this point, they had finished their ice creams and made their way back to the group. Almost everyone was lounging on their blankets or towels. Alex noticed that Jessica and Diego were missing. He looked out to the ocean and saw they were already making out in the water.  That didn't take long Alex chuckled to himself. He grudgingly admitted to himself that despite not wanting to come to the beach, he had a good time. 

As they were leaving, Luke approached them, "You guys coming to my party tonight? It is the annual senior  Find Your Drink  party."

"Find your drink?" Alex asked.

"Oh, you know, you try a bunch of different drinks and find the one you like best before you go off to college," Charlie explained. 

"I wasn't planning on it."

Diego came up behind Alex and put his arm around him, "Oh Alex, you really should. Luke's parties are the best. So what do you say?" 

It didn't seem like they were going to accept no as an answer, so Alex said, "Sure."

Charlie's face lit up like a kid's at Christmas as he got into Luke's jeep. "See you later. " He smiled at Alex, his blue eyes dreamily gazed into the other boy's.

Alex had to look away first as he felt his stomach flip, Why did he have to look at me like that? he thought.

"Uh yeah," Alex replied, unsure of whether he was actually going to go to the party. He got into the car with Zach, Chloe and Jessica. By the time Zach pulled up to his house, Alex had decided not to go to the party. Even though Alex was starting to enjoy Charlie's company, he hated parties. It was just better if he didn't go. Since he had already told Charlie he was coming, it was only fair to let him know, so Alex sent him a text.

Alex (3:31 pm): something came up, and i can't make it tonight, sorry

Chapter Text

Still four weeks until Prom

Charlie couldn't stop rereading the text message Alex sent. He didn't get it. Had he read Alex wrong at the beach? To Charlie, Alex seemed to have had a good time, and yet he was still turning him down. There was a glimmer of hope, though. He cared enough to let him know, or at least that is what Charlie was choosing to believe. Charlie wasn't giving up. There were still many hours until the party, which meant that there were still many hours left to convince Alex to come. He started with a text and then he'd go from there.

Charlie (4:01 pm): ah man, that sucks. anything i could do to help make it possible?

Alex was surprised when he received the reply from Charlie only thirty minutes after he had sent his regrets. Seeing Charlie's kind-hearted offer to help him, Alex felt even worse about cancelling. Banking on the fact that Charlie barely knew him, Alex sent off a fake excuse to not be able to go out.

Alex (4:12 pm): my parents need me to watch my brother

Brother?  Charlie was unaware Alex had a brother, let alone a brother young enough that needed caring for. 

Charlie (4:15 pm): i could skip the party and keep you company babysitting

Alex rolled his eyes and sighed. Charlie was persistent. Since his excuse was made up bullshit, he was now needed to make another bullshit excuse to stop Charlie from coming over. It reminded him of what his father always told him that when you lie, it always takes more energy to figure out your story than if you were to tell the truth. What was worse, he almost felt bad about it. 

Alex (4:16 pm): i'm not allowed to have people over when I babysit

Charlie (4:17 pm): well that sucks. we should hang out some other time

Alex didn't reply and hoped this was enough to get rid of Charlie for the night. Removing his guitar from its case, Alex started working on the tune that he played with at the beach. His finger was still a bit sore from its encounter with the volleyball, but luckily Alex could still play. After fiddling around with some chords for a bit, Alex found a phrase he liked the sound of and repeated it a few times before recording it in his notebook. 

His phone didn't stay silent for long, though. About thirty minutes after receiving the last text from Charlie, Alex's phone started vibrating. At first, Alex thought it was another text, but as his phone kept vibrating, he realized he was getting a phone call. Who was calling him? Only his parents ever called his cellphone, and they happened to both be home. They were off work together this Saturday, a rarity. 

Alex sat on the edge of his bed as he answered to find Jessica on the other end of the line.

"So what's this I hear about you not coming?" Jessica sounded pissed. 

"I'm not coming. That is all there is to it." Alex replied calmly. 

"Diego said it was because you had to take care of your brother. I might have told him that Peter is 21." 

Shit,  Alex thought,  word travelled fast.

"Thanks, Jess. Great…" Alex's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Maybe you should come up with less lame excuses. Seriously? Babysit your brother?"

"I don't know… I couldn't think of anything good."

"Anything would have been better than that bullshit, Alex. It's almost like part of you secretly wants to go."

"I don't," Alex said the words but wasn't entirely convinced himself. He probably could have come up with a better, more foolproof excuse. 

"But seriously, Alex, you don't really have anything better to do tonight. And don't tell me sitting alone in your room strumming sad chords on your guitar is something better." 

"Oof, you know me too well," Alex deadpanned, "I'm still not coming."

"You know what, I think you are just afraid to let something good happen to you. Maybe Charlie actually likes you, did that ever occur to you?"

"Well, he shouldn't like me," Alex's voice was small, reflecting his insecurity surrounding Charlie's sudden interest in him.

"Just come, Alex." Jessica pleaded.

"No, I'm hanging up on you," Alex said as he pressed the hangup button on his phone. 

Alex collapsed backwards on his bed. Setting boundaries was so exhausting. Although what Alex was building was more like an impenetrable fortress and the stronger he tried to make his walls, the more people seemed to want in. After the beach, the sun and the volleyball game, Alex's body was as tired as his mind, and he fell asleep. 

Alex was awoken, many hours later, when the sound of his dad, Bill, opening the door to his room, jolted him awake. There was a small amount of drool that was starting to crust on his chin. Alex felt groggy and out of it. 

His father's gentle voice coaxed him awake, "Oh sorry, Buddy. I didn't realize you were asleep. So your friend Charlie is here. He said he was here to help you take care of Peter?"

Alex rolled his eyes. 

"Buddy, why would you tell him that? He seems like such a nice boy," Bill continued, confused, "I think you need to go clear things up with him. If you don't want him around, you need to be honest with him."

"Yeah, I know Dad. I don't know what I was thinking."

"I didn't raise a coward or a liar." Bill continued affectionately, ruffling Alex's hair. 

"I know." Alex sighed. He knew he was being stupid. 

Charlie was sitting on the couch visiting with Alex's mom, Carolyn. His mom was showing off pictures of Peter and Alex when they were little. Charlie's face lit up as he looked at all the snapshots of young Alex and Peter. Alex could feel his face flush. He didn't know whether he should be embarrassed, angry or both. 

"Oh hi Alex," Carolyn called over to her son, "I was showing Charlie some pictures of Peter,  your older brother.  It seems that he was curiously here to help you care for Peter. I'll leave you two sort out whatever it is you need to sort out." She winked at Charlie and smiled at Alex.

"So I guess you caught me." Alex confessed, "Guilty of providing the worst excuse ever to get out of going to a party."

"I mean, if you didn't have friends that want you to come to the party as much as I do, I might have believed you." Charlie smiled. 

"Fucking Jessica," Alex cursed, remembering his conversation with her earlier where she admitted to telling Diego that Peter was 21.

"Oh yeah. She ratted you out hard," Charlie laughed, "And before you try to tell me that your parents won't let you go, I've already asked and received their permission to take to you to the said party."

"Is no one on Team Alex?" He asked rhetorically, throwing his arms up.

"Maybe they are all on Team Alex and Alex just needs to get on the same page as everyone else," Charlie noted. 

"Fine. I'll go to the fucking party. Are you happy, Charles?" Alex conceded, no longer having the energy to fight this, despite his nap. 

"I  am  happy, actually," Charlie smirked, "Uh, but you might want to take a shower or wash your face before we go. I think you have a bit of dried drool on your chin."

Alex tried to wipe whatever Charlie said he saw on his chin with the back of his hand, before rolling his eyes and letting out a very loud, exasperated sigh. 

Well played, Charles. Well played,  Alex thought as he left Charlie to shower and ready himself for the party. He was already thinking of ways he could get Charlie back for this.

"Woah, I didn't realize Luke was loaded," Alex remarked as they pulled up to Luke's mansion in Charlie's silver SUV. "There's a fucking fountain."

"Haha yeah, Luke is pretty down to earth considering." Charlie laughed, turning the vehicle off.

"Not to sound overly responsible, but how are we getting home?" Alex asked, figuring Charlie was probably going to drink.

"I'm not drinking tonight. I promised your parents I'd bring you home in one piece."

"Oh good, I'm not sure I could survive this party sober. It will make it easier to pretend I'm having fun."

"I hope you find that once you give it a try, you might actually have fun."

"I haven't been to a party in a very long time, and if I recall, I wasn't even there for the party." Alex thought back. It was last summer when he met Bryce at the Hillcrest Party to buy steroids and happened to be the first time he met Winston. Not exactly great memories. He was in a better place now, but parties weren't exactly events with happy memories for him.

"Well, shall we go attempt to make some happy party memories?" Charlies asked, flashing his winning smile. 

"You can certainly try." Alex smiled. Charlie's mood was infectious, and somehow Alex almost believed for a moment that tonight would be different. 

Luke's house was packed. Luke was playing bartender on the main level in the kitchen. 

"St George! You made it! I was starting to worry. I'm already mostly drunk." Luke announced both very loudly and cheerfully. "You don't seem drunk enough to me, Charlie. Can I fix that for you?"

"I'm good, man," Charlie replied, giving Luke an enthusiastic half-hug. "Maybe you can craft Alex here something tasty?"

"I can. But first, you need to do my drink personality test." Luke insisted, reaching for one of those paper fortune tellers. Alex hadn't seen one since middle school where they were mostly made by the girls in class to determine which guy in class they would marry. This one was barebones, plain white paper with words and numbers messily scrawled in pencil. Luke held it out to Alex, his thumb and index fingers holding the fortune teller closed and asked, "Which one?" There were four choices, each associated with a number: lemon, lime, cranberry and orange. 

"Um, lime?" Alex answered, unsure of anything other than the fact he liked lime things. There was a number three on the lime flap, so Luke opened and closed the fortune teller three times, exposing a new set of choices: vodka, wild, amaretto and tequila. 

Alex pointed at the flap labelled wild. 

Luke laughed and raised his eyebrows, "Wild, eh?" This flap also had a four on it, so Luke moved the fortune teller four times, which brought Alex back to the same four choices. 

"Wild, again. "Alex picked more confidently this time. 

"High five buddy! Sex on the Beach, coming up!" Luke announced. 

"Sex on the beach?"

"Yeah, vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice and cranberry juice, topped with grenadine. I'm confident you'll like it." Luke expertly mixed the ingredients in a shaker and poured the drink into a red solo cup. He finished it by drizzling some grenadine on top. "There you go. It looks cooler in a real glass, but I promised the 'rents that we wouldn't use their glassware. Oh, and they are a bit dangerous, just FYI."

Alex took a sip and couldn't taste the alcohol. A dangerous drink indeed. 

"Thanks, Luke," Charlie called.

"I'll be here until I pass out, "Luke joked, "I love playing bartender!"

They left the kitchen walking towards the dining room where Jessica, Diego, and a bunch of the guys from the football team were sitting playing a game called paranoia. Alex didn't seem him at first, but Winston was also seated at the table. But before Alex could make his escape, Diego called Charlie over. 

"Charlie, come play."

"I can't, I'm the DD tonight."

"Then, Alex, you should play." Diego motioned to an empty chair. 

"I'm good," Alex said. 

"What are you scared?" Winston taunted. 

Alex hated that Winston was even there, but wanted to save face. He was a bit afraid to play this game with Winston. "No, fine. I'll play." 

"You don't have to, Alex, we can go do something else." Charlie's eyes were wide and worried. 

"I said I'd play," Alex snapped, and immediately felt terrible. It wasn't Charlie's fault Winston was there. 

"Ok, so how it works is that one person whispers a question to another person and that person has to guess who the question is about. The person has to drink to find out what the question was. Then it is the person who drank's turn to ask a question."

Winston went first. He whispered a question to Diego. And Diego guessed, "Alex."

"I guess I'll drink," Alex said, raising a shot glass of whiskey up and downed it, wincing.

Winston smirked, making Alex nervous and said, "Who has slept with more than one person at this table?"

Alex tried not to react, but it was a low blow. Winston knew he liked to keep his sex life private. He could feel his jaw clench and his eyes narrow. He forced a smile, "My turn?" Alex was feeling vindictive now. He whispered his question to a brown-haired jock that he didn't know. The looked surprised, but then said, "Winston?" 

Winston just stared back at Alex smugly and downed his shot of whiskey. "What was the question?"

"Who is still in love with a rapist?" Alex stood up as he said it, "Come on, let's go, Charlie." Everyone at the table gasped, and Winston's face went stony. Alex instant regretted stooping to arguably lower than Winston to get back at him, but he couldn't take it back now.  

Alex walked with purpose towards the kitchen as he downed the rest of his Sex on the Beach. Charlie just followed behind as quickly as he could. This was a side of Alex he hadn't seen yet. 

"Can you make me another?" Alex asked. The alcohol coursing through his veins demanded more, and he was irritated now. 

"Do you want to play again?" Luke presented the fortune teller.

"Sure." They played again, and Alex ended up getting an Amaretto cranberry. It was sweet, but he enjoyed sweet drinks. 

"Thanks, Luke." Alex high fived him. 

Who was this Alex?  Charlie wondered to himself. 

"Any time, buddy! Are you going to try them all?" 

"You know, maybe I will," Alex replied, which resulted in Luke giving him another high five.

"Just uh remember to pace yourself," Charlie nudged Alex. 

"I can take care of myself, Charles." Alex giggled as he said this. The alcohol was hitting harder than he remembered. 

Charlie was finding tipsy Alex was both cute and annoying.

"I need to pee," Alex announced. 

"Washroom is just upstairs."

"Thanks."

Alex made his way upstairs, and the bathroom door was closed. He knocked and then opened the door. There was a guy hunched over the toilet, who had clearly had too much to drink. As the boy lifted his head, it dawned on Alex who it was. Bryce Walker. 

"Oh sorry," Alex apologized, moving to leave the bathroom.

"Alex? Is that you?"

"Yeah, are you ok?"

"I think I'm going to vomit."

"I think you already did," Alex noted. Bryce looked awful. His brow glistened with sweat, and he looked really pale. He'd never seen him look this bad, except perhaps the night of Homecoming when he and Jessica had met him on the pier. "Can I help you?"

Bryce shook his head. "No one can help me. Why did you bother?"

Alex looked at him, confused, "Bother with what?"

"Bother saving my life?" Bryce just stared at him sadly.

Alex paused to think, although it was more difficult in his slightly inebriated state, "You are a horrible person, but even you deserve to live. Who am I to act as a judge?"

Bryce just nodded and slumped backwards passing out on the bathroom floor. Alex almost left him but noticed the other boy was on his back. If Bryce was already sick enough to be puking, he had consumed a lot of alcohol as Bryce's tolerance was really high. Alex awkwardly rolled Bryce onto his side so that if he vomited while passed out, at least he wouldn't choke on it. He quickly sent Jessica a text. 

Alex (10:12 pm): FYI Bryce is here. passed out, upper washroom

Jessica (10:13 pm): shit

He still had to pee and didn't feel comfortable doing so in front of Bryce's passed out body. So Alex set out to find another washroom. There had to be more than one in a place this size. 

Meanwhile, Charlie was regretting letting Alex out of his sight. He was taking a long time to come back from the bathroom. While he waited, Diego approached him, slapping him on the back.

"Dude, things seem to be going well with Standall," Diego chuckled, "I didn't realize he was such a lush though."

Charlie just nodded. He was starting to think that bringing Alex, no basically forcing Alex to come to this party was a bad idea.

Diego continued smugly, "It's on now. No more help from me. I plan on winning Prom King and making Jessica my Queen."

Charlie almost didn't care about winning, at least not anything other than Alex's heart anymore. But his competitive side roared at him and said,  Why not both?

"I guess we'll see, Torres. May the best man or should I men, win since I still plan on winning with Alex." He walked away from Diego in the direction of Luke's bar. Even though he wasn't drinking tonight, it was still the best place to socialize. He noticed that Betty was at the party tonight. She looked happy and seemed to be flirting with someone new. While Charlie wasn't entirely over their breakup, he was glad to see her happy. 

Alex finally located and used a washroom that was not occupied by teens trying to have sex or teens that had imbibed too much alcohol. His encounter with Bryce had sobered him up a little bit, and he was starting to calm down after his brief but terrible meeting with Winston. On his way back to find Charlie, he saw a few of his friends. Zach and Chloe were at the piano. Zach was playing, and Chloe was singing. She actually had quite a lovely voice, and it was nice to Zach actually happy for once. He smiled and nodded in their direction. Zach returned his smile. 

Clay and Ani were sitting with a bunch of punk rock kids around a bong. Alex shook his head in disbelief but figured if anyone needed to lighten up a little, it was those two. It was a good thing Justin wasn't here, or he'd probably lose his shit. 

Alex saw Charlie in the distance, chatting with Luke at the bar. But directly blocking his path to Charlie was Winston. 

"What the fuck do you want Winston?" Alex spat, still irritated by the stunt Winston had played during Paranoia. 

"Are you here with him to make me jealous?" Winston answered Alex's question with another question. 

"He brought me here, but we're just friends. Why do you care? Aren't you in love with Monty or whatever?"

Winston winced. It was obviously a sore topic for him. 

"Alex, can we talk?" Winston pleaded. 

"We have nothing to talk about. Now, will you let me pass?" Alex finished. Winston moved aside, looking crushed. He had messed up the one good relationship he had by continuing to talk to Monty.

Alex was done with the party. He had tried to have fun, and unfortunately, the universe conspired against him. 

"I either need another drink or to leave," Alex announced when he reached Charlie and Luke. Charlie noticed he had sobered considerably on his trip to the washroom and his expression had darkened considerably.

"I thought you were having fun," Charlie asked, thinking back to the Alex who had been giggling with Luke.

"Yeah, running into my ex, not once but twice, was fun. Oh and Bryce Walker is passed out in the upstairs washroom FYI." There was an edge to Alex's voice that Charlie had come to recognize when the other boy was getting upset.

"Well, you know I can set you up with another drink," Luke offered. "You still have six more drinks to try." 

Alex appeared to consider this, but Charlie stepped in, "I can take you home."

"I think I'll regret that choice less. Sorry, Luke, I'll have to finish your menu some other time."

"Anytime Alex." Luke beamed. If it was possible, Luke was almost more cheerful than Charlie. It was a refreshing change from his own friends who tended to live on the more cynical side of life.

Alex quickly texted Jessica to let her know that he was leaving.

Alex (10:45 pm): I'm out, going home with Charlie.

He didn't get a response, but as Alex glanced around the room on his way out, he spotted Jess, making out with Diego. 

They hopped back into Charlie's SUV. Alex noticed Charlie was quieter than usual. 

"I shouldn't have forced you to go to the party," Charlie said solemnly. "I hope it didn't ruin what was otherwise a fun day."

"Manipulated, yes. Forced, no. I could have said no. Being there reminded me why I hate parties." Alex remarked, "But that isn't your fault. If I hadn't been sobered by the sight of Bryce Walker, pale, sweaty and wasted in the upper washroom, I was well on my way to the same fate. Luke doesn't mess around with those drinks. They were strong."

Charlie chuckled, "Yeah, I should have warned you."

"You can make it up to me, though." Alex smiled, softly. While he was sobered, he wasn't sober, resulting in a breach in the fortress he had been trying to build to keep Charlie out. 

Charlie smiled back, "Anything."

"I never did eat supper, so I'm fucking starving. I know for a fact that if I don't get some food in me, I will regret the party even more than I do right now. Do you think we could pick up some McDonald's or something on the way home?"

"Deal. It is the least I can do." Charlie couldn't stop himself from smiling and looking over at Alex, who met his eyes and didn't look away for once.

Maybe this night wouldn't turn out so badly, after all , Alex thought as they drove away.  

Chapter Text

Late night, Post-Find Your Drink Party, Four Weeks until Prom

Charlie drove them to the nearest McDonald's, and they pulled into the drive-thru. 

A voice came through the speaker, "Welcome to McDonald's, What can we get for you tonight?"

Charlie whispered, "What do you want?"

Alex ordered from the passenger seat, speaking loud enough for the clerk to hear, "Uh can I get a 10 piece chicken McNugget Meal, supersized with a diet coke, 1 BBQ Sauce, 1 Sweet and Sour. Two McDouble and Two Apple Pies."

Charlie's mouth gaped at the sheer amount of food. Alex shrugged and mouthed silently, "What?"

"Anything else?"

Charlie spoke this time," And a Big Mac Meal, with a bottle of water."

The clerk repeated back their order and gave them their total. Charlie paid at the first window, and they waited for their food at the second. 

"Hungry?" Charlie chuckled, "By what you ordered, you'd think you were high and had the munchies."

"I don't think I ate much at the beach, so the last real meal I ate was the breakfast smoothie my mom made me this morning. Wait...getting high was an option? I thought it was an alcohol-themed party?" Alex questioned, his eyes narrowing, "Hold on, how do you know about the munchies?"

Charlie just laughed, amused at the stream of questions that tumbled from Alex's perfectly formed mouth. He was definitely a little drunk and given the amount of food he'd eaten that day, it was not surprising to Charlie.

Not noticing that Charlie hadn't answered his questions, Alex continued "I sometimes forget to eat, and I almost never get McDonald's. My mom is a bit of a health nut. She'd be freaking out right now if she knew what I just ordered."

The clerk passed Charlie the two drinks and a large bag of food. 

Alex rubbed his hands together excitedly and started to eat fries while Charlie drove them to a park where they sat at a picnic table for a midnight meal. It was a clear night and their meal was illuminated by the light of the full moon. It might have been romantic had they been eating different food. 

Charlie was finished eating his Big Mac and fries long before Alex had made it through the large amount of food he ordered. He offered Charlie some fries and chicken nuggets, and when he got to the apple pies, Alex passed one to him and said, "I ordered this one for you."

"Thanks, that was nice of you," Charlie accepted the pie, smiling.

"I don't even know if they let you order just one?" Alex mused as if he'd made a very profound observation. Charlie couldn't help but laugh at him. 

"What is so funny?" Alex asked, more innocently than Charlie had ever heard from the other boy. Gone was the cynical edge that usually accompanied Alex's voice. 

"You. You are funny." Charlie stared into Alex's eyes, the eyes he sincerely thought were beautiful when he first complimented them on the open mic night. They were equally stunning tonight, and it was all Charlie could do to stop himself from reaching out and touching Alex's face and repeating his error from that night.

Alex didn't break eye contact for a moment, and Charlie could swear he felt something pass between them. Alex then looked down and smiled shyly and put his hand over Charlie's and slurred a little when he replied," Thanks. You know, you're a good person, Charlie. I was suspicious of you because you are a jock, but you're a good guy."

Charlie felt his heart skip a beat when Alex's hand rested on his,  Was this really happening?  He looked back over to Alex and noticed the other boy suddenly seemed very sleepy.

"Ok, let's get you home," Charlie begrudgingly removed his hand from Alex's, standing up and offering it to the other boy to help him up. He took it and allowed Charlie to lead him back the hand to the SUV.

They rode in relative quiet as the combination of the alcohol with the copious amount of food Alex had consumed was making sleepy.

They had been listening to Charlie's very Top 40 playlist when Alex made a face and asked, "What are  we listening to?" 

"Uh, Katy Perry?" Charlie replied, fairly certain a glib remark regarding his musical tastes was coming.

"You really do need me to curate you a playlist..." Alex drawled sleepily.

"You should. I'd love to expand my musical tastes."

Alex nodded, closed his eyes and rested his head against the SUV's window. Charlie wasn't sure Alex would remember this offer later. He couldn't help but notice how peaceful the other boy looked with his eyes closed. 

When they made it to Alex's house, Charlie helped him to the door and made sure that Alex was able to get in. 

"Thanks for not giving up on me, Charlie," Alex thanked Charlie sincerely, lips curling up very slightly in a small half-smile.

Charlie smiled, "Thanks for giving me a chance."

Alex's half-smile grew to a full smile as he gazed at Charlie one last time before turning and entering his house. Charlie was so giddy he didn't know if he'd be able to sleep when he got home. He didn't want to get his hopes up because he was afraid that maybe he imagined Alex's mutual interest. What if it was the alcohol? Whatever his misgivings, he drove home feeling more hopeful about his chances of winning Alex over than ever before.

Less than Four Weeks until Prom

Alex was not expecting the reception he received on Monday when he arrived at school. It wasn't the first time he'd been the centre of attention at Liberty High. He had endured the stares of his fellow classmates when he came back to school after his suicide attempt. More recently, Alex was the centre of negative attention after his public breakup with Winston. Of all the ways he could have chosen to come out, shouting at Winston in front of the entire cafeteria wasn't exactly how he imagined it. In fact, he had never really imagined he'd need to come out until it was happening. 

This was different. People were smiling at him. Random people he'd never met were giving him high-fives as if he had won some sort of competition. As Alex high-fived them, he met their eyes with an awkward, confused look, that said,  What the fuck?  As Alex walked through the halls, he was definitely starting to wonder what was going on and was looking increasingly perplexed. Tyler walked with him and seemed equally baffled. 

"So you are telling me nothing happened at that party?" Tyler asked as they walked through the halls.

"Nothing that would merit this level of positive attention. I mean I was kind of mean to Winston again but other than that nothing public," Alex shrugged. He could see people looking at their phones and smiling at him.  What the actual fuck was going on?

"And you had zero fun at the party?" Tyler confirmed.

"I mean, it was a fucking party, what do you think?" Alex replied, slightly irritated, although not at Tyler but at not knowing why people seemed to be paying attention to him. 

They ran into Jessica in the hall. "Have you seen Luke's Instagram post?" she asked, directing the question toward Alex. 

"No, you know I rarely go on Instagram," Alex replied tersely. 

"Look," Jessica thrust her phone towards him.

Alex inhaled sharply when he saw the Instagram story announcing 2019's Prom nominees. 

"What the actual fuck…?" Alex cursed quietly as he stared at the post. 

Prom nominees 2019

Jessica Davis

Zachary Dempsey

Chloe Rice

Charlie St. George

Alex Standall

Diego Torres

Alex kept refreshing the story to see if he was just seeing things. His palms were clammy, and he felt like he was in a weird dream that he couldn't seem to wake up from. 

"Looks like you are in the running for prom king," Tyler stated the obvious. 

"This can't be happening," Alex said in disbelief, "I wasn't even planning on going. Is there a way to remote in, like people do for the Oscars when they can't attend?"

"You have to go," Jessica stated. 

"Oh like I  had to go to that fucking party this weekend? No. I don't have to go. I don't have to do anything. How does this even fucking happen? Don't you have to be popular or something to get nominated?"

"No, I think it only takes one person to nominate another and like 25 signatures," Tyler explained.

"So you're telling me someone nominated me and managed to get 25 people to support that nomination?" Alex chuckled, finding the whole surreal situation funny, "This is fucking unreal. I'm going to kill whoever nominated me. It's friends off if I find out it was any of you." He looked at them both pointedly.

"I've got to go, see you later," Jessica announced, making her exit swiftly.

As they walked to class, Tyler asked," What are you going to do to campaign?"

Alex stared back in disbelief, seemingly both shocked that Tyler would dare to ask him the question and also shocked that people actually campaign for these things. He was only able to express this in one word that seemed utterly inadequate, "Campaign?"

"Yeah, like posters, Vote for Standall and the like. I could do some headshots.." Tyler's voice trailed off.

"Do I really look like someone who gives a shit if they win Prom King?" 

Tyler seemed to look him up and down and shrugged, "I mean no, but who knows? You don't even want to give it a try?"

Alex just rolled his eyes in response. 

"I guess that is a no," Tyler noted, nervously.

"I just want to make it to the end of senior year without any more drama. Come on, let's get to class." Alex finished, picking up his walking pace. Tyler increased his walking speed to catch up. 

Charlie wasn't surprised to see his name on the nomination list. He was surprised to see Alex's, though. He had considered nominating him but wanted to see if it would happen on its own. And so some mystery benefactor had nominated Alex. But it would all be for nothing if he couldn't convince Alex to go to Prom. 

Now, if only he could figure out how to get Alex to spend more time with him. While the party hadn't exactly gone as Charlie would have predicted, what happened after the party gave him hope. Alex had been slightly intoxicated, but it seemed that it was just enough to soften his hard edges a bit. Charlie wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or just that Alex was starting to give him a chance, but his heart was lifted with the hope that things were moving forward. He liked Alex. What began as a stupid bet had already grown to so much more for him.

He happened to have Spanish with Alex first that day. He was already in class when Alex stormed into the classroom in a very un-Alex fashion. He seemed on edge, mildly irritated and definitely confused. He looked accusingly at Charlie. All Charlie could think was  Oh shit what did I do now?

"You… you... "Alex sputtered, trying to get something out. His eyes were on fire. 

"I what? What did I do?" Charlie asked, wide-eyed and utterly confused.

Alex took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down. He passed Charlie his phone, and Charlie saw that it was open to Instagram where the list of Prom nominees was.

"You?" was all Alex managed to spit out. 

"No, I…I didn't do this. I don't know who did."

Alex rolled his eyes and breathed, "Good because if you did, I'd fucking kill you." He did seem to calm again knowing Charlie wasn't responsible, but that didn't change the fact that Alex Standall was fucking scary when he was angry. 

After a few minutes, Charlie dared to say, "You know, you might have better luck finding out who nominated you if you stop threatening to kill whoever did. Just saying…"

"Thanks for the tips," Alex drawled, eyes rolling again.

Spanish class passed relatively uneventfully, but Charlie's heart sank as it was back to Alex, not talking to him. He hoped it was a brief blip, due to his apparent anger over his prom king nomination, but even that didn't bode well for Charlie's future plan to take Alex to Prom. Diego couldn't have picked a more challenging person for Charlie. 

Meanwhile, Luke was giddy. The race to Prom was on. He was getting tons of reactions to his post, revealing the six candidates. Knowing that none of Alex's friends would nominate him and wanting it to be a fair bet for Charlie, Luke put Alex's name forward for Prom King. It was surprisingly easy to get 25 signatures of support. He guessed the students of Liberty High liked an underdog. Diego would kill him if he found out, so Luke vowed to himself he wasn't telling anyone that he was behind Alex's nomination. Beyond that, Charlie was on his own.

By the time he posted the results to his end of day poll, Alex Standall was in second place only to Zach Dempsey for prom king.  Wouldn't that be interesting if they won?  Luke thought to himself. It wouldn't be good for Charlie, but would undoubtedly be interesting.

Alex met Tyler after school in the yearbook room. Tyler was sitting on one of the high stools looking at the viewer screen on the back of the camera. 

"You wanted to show me something?" 

"Oh hi Alex, yeah," Tyler said, looking up from his camera. He took out his phone and showed Alex Luke's latest Prom Poll. 

Just like this morning, Alex stared at the post, rereading it to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. But the more he read it, the more it confirmed exactly what he thought he was reading. 

1. Zach Dempsey
2. Alex Standall
3. Charlie St. George
4. Chloe Rice
5. Diego Torres
6. Jessica Davis

"Un-fucking-believable," Alex exclaimed.

"I think with some light campaigning, you could win this," Tyler observed. 

"I don't want to win. I don't want light fucking campaigning," Alex spat, "And I still don't know who fucking did this."

"Is this really something to get so upset about?" Tyler probed, "Like what are you scared of Alex?"

"Being exposed? I don't know. I don't know why I'm getting so angry about this," Alex collapsed into the chair beside Tyler. He sighed, and his eyes looked a little sad and defeated.

"Maybe you are scared you'll lose? And before you interrupt me and say something, hear me out. It's easier to say you never wanted to win. I think you are just saying it so that if you lose, you can say you never really wanted it anyway."

Alex glared at him. It was always easier for him to hide behind his anger or humour. But when push came to shove, Tyler was right. While he didn't want to win, he also didn't want to lose either.

"Ok Tyler, light campaigning. No fucking headshots though."

Tyler smiled, "But you've got such a pretty face, very marketable. Have you ever considered modelling?"

Alex rolled his eyes, "Don't push your fucking luck, Ty."

Tyler laughed, "Ok, no, headshots."

While Tyler yammered on about his campaign ideas, Alex texted Charlie.

Alex (4:01 pm):  sorry i lost it on you this morning. coffee on me this week?

Charlie was excited when he saw the text. Maybe he was making progress. He almost wanted to make Alex wait for a response. But that lasted about three minutes before he impatiently texted back. 

Charlie (4:04 pm):  no worries and i'd love to get coffee this week

Alex (4:06 pm):  friday after school?

Charlie (4:08 pm):  sounds great

Charlie smiled and felt like Friday after school couldn't come fast enough. 

Chapter Text

The week seemed to drag for Charlie as he couldn't wait for his coffee date with Alex. He wasn't even sure if it was a date. Still, he was reasonably sure that he was building things up in his mind, but that didn't change the sense of anticipation that he felt leading up to Friday. Alex explained that Friday was one of his nights off from actually making people's coffee, so that is why he couldn't meet earlier. The only saving grace was the fact that they had a class together, and thanks to Diego's rapidly developing relationship with Jessica, Alex occasionally turned up for lunch. 

On Tuesday, Charlie noticed that Alex seemed more relaxed around him. It was like he had been the night of the party but without the aid of alcohol. He smiled more and made sarcastic quips that were funny instead of biting and protective. Charlie started to relax, as well. He realized that he had become tense around Alex because of all the different times that Alex had rebuffed his advances. It was refreshing and also intoxicating. To say that he was taken would be an understatement. There was a bit of cognitive dissonance. After weeks of hard rejection, it was sometimes hard for Charlie to reconcile this new version of Alex. He didn't know if he imagined it, but he swore Alex was flirting with him.

On Wednesday evening, he received a text message from Alex. 

Alex (8:07 pm):  i made you that playlist i promised. Given your love of pop music, i kept it on the lighter side musically. Here it is:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0IxjcC0fSnqswRVeU6FS3L

Charlie just stared at his phone for a few moments in shock. He remembered Alex saying he'd make him a playlist. Still, Charlie honestly didn't think that Alex would follow through with it seeing as he'd been halfway to passing-out when he made the promise. 

Alex had named the playlist  Curated for Charlie. Charlie's stomach did a little flip, and even though he was alone in his room, he chuckled, a broad smile plastered on his face; He couldn't stop smiling. 

Charlie (8:13 pm):  thanks, looking forward to listening to it

Alex (8:15 pm):  some of the songs are a bit dark, but you might appreciate that given your recent break-up

Alex (8:16 pm):  I think I listened to some of these songs a lot in the past month  

Ah yes, a reference to both of their recent break-ups. Based on the number of texts Charlie was receiving from Alex, he wondered if Alex felt nervous about sending him the list. 

The list was intriguing. It was only ten songs and about 40 minutes long. It definitely wasn't as light as what Charlie usually listened to, but he liked it. Not that he was hard to please music-wise; he tended to enjoy most music. But what made this list special is that Alex made it for him.

There were songs he'd heard before and bands and songs he'd never heard before. But what struck him most is that they all reminded him of Alex in some way. Maybe he was reading too much into it, but Charlie picked out something in almost every song that reminded him of Alex. Lyrics like hard to be soft, tough to be tender reminded Charlie of Alex's seemingly difficult time opening up to him.  I did not react, I settled my grievance by crafting a mask pointed at the fact that he was hard to read, and that was on purpose.   You Wouldn't Like Me seemed intentionally self-deprecating.    And Charlie secretly hoped that  I Can't Get You Out of My Mind was about him. He felt a little bit like Alex was trying to communicate things that he found difficult through his choices of songs. 

Charlie had probably listened to it twice before deciding to text Alex back. He knew if he had sent Alex something this personal, he'd want to know what he thought right away.

Charlie (10:36 pm):  i really enjoyed that. thanks for sharing 😊

Alex (10:37 pm):  i'm glad. there is hope for you yet

Charlie (10:38 pm):  my musical tastes are salvageable? 😉

Alex (10:38 pm):  sure

What was that supposed to mean?   Charlie thought. Sure? He didn't know how to respond and typed and deleted and retyped a few different messages before another one came through from Alex.

Alex (10:40 pm):  ur turn

Charlie (10:40 pm):  my turn? 😳

Alex (10:41 pm):  did i stutter? make me a playlist i will like

The request made him nervous as Alex had pretty much already slagged his musical taste. And the tone was really demanding? But Charlie was competitive and saw this as a challenge.

Charlie (10:40 pm):  i'll see what I can do :)

While Charlie was usually very confident, Alex's passion and musicality intimidated him a bit. He thought back to how Alex had been able to pick out the right key and somehow already knew how to play  Yesterday by the Beatles even though Alex had set him up to fail that night. What Charlie was struggling with was the ' i will like'  part of the request. It was easy for Charlie to slap ten songs he liked on a list.

After a few hours of struggling, Charlie decided he'd try to sleep and work on the list tomorrow. Even though technically, it was already the next day, he noticed it was 1:40 am. As Charlie lay in his bed, not sleeping, he decided to abandon any hope of pleasing Alex in favour of creating a list that communicated a message. This was similar to what Charlie figured Alex had done to develop his playlist. To do this, he just thought he should listen to Alex's list one more time. By 2:40 am, he had the theme of every song written down and felt as though he could sleep. 

On Thursday, Charlie was very tired from only having had 4 hours of sleep the night before. He had dark circles under his eyes and decided to skip showering in favour of 30 minutes more rest, so his hair was decidedly dishevelled.

"Dude, did you just roll out of bed?" Luke greeted him enthusiastically. 

"Uh yeah… is it that obvious?" Charlie replied.

"Well you are still dressed better than some of the staff, but your hair and the dark circles suggest that you didn't sleep much last night. Hot date?" Luke teased Charlie. 

"Hardly. Just stayed up too late." Charlie was being cryptic and hoped Luke wouldn't see right through it. 

"St. George, you have the bedtime habits of an elderly person, with all that early to bed, early to rise crap you are always spouting. I call bullshit. Something was keeping you up," Luke called him out.

Charlie sighed, "Ok, I'll tell you, but you have to promise not to talk to Diego about it."

Luke's face lit up, almost too excited, "Ooh let me guess it is about Alex."

"How? Am I that easy to read?"

"Like a fucking open book, man. But Charlie, never change. It is one of the best things about you. And all this week at lunch, I caught you stealing glances at him. You are falling for him," Luke grinned as if this was the best thing ever.

Charlie smiled at his friend's enthusiasm, "Maybe. So he sent me a playlist last night, and now he wants me to make him one. I stayed up until almost 3 trying to make one, and while I have an idea now, I still haven't come up with anything I'm confident to share."

"Awww you really do like him," Luke teased, "He is still polling well. He's maintaining the second place for now, but that cute little campaign Tyler's started for him is closing the gap between him and Dempsey."

"Campaign? Like posters and such?"

"Yeah, it doesn't happen every year but some years when there are many equally matched people in the running it happens. Zach isn't doing anything. So far it is just Alex and Chloe that have posters up."

"I'm really surprised Alex would campaign at all." 

Luke shrugged, "He is the dark horse, but from the way he's been rolling his eyes at Tyler lately, I'd gather Tyler is the one behind the campaign."

Charlie had seen the two different posters. The first said, "ALL STAND FOR KING STANDALL" and it had a crown in the centre. He chuckled a bit at that play on words. The second was a more straightforward poster, done in the style of those Keep Calm Carry On signs. They said, "Keep Calm, Vote Standall for Prom King." 

"Well, Dude, you've slipped to fourth since Chloe started campaigning."

"I don't think it matters if I win though. I mean, I like winning. But the bet was only that I could make anyone Prom King, so I think I still win if Alex wins." Charlie's expression was a cross between tired and 

"Hey, don't underestimate a power couple like Zach and Chloe. That will affect voting. People like to vote for a couple."

"I know. Luke, I'll be honest, I don't even know if I care about winning the bet, even if it means doing whatever Diego and I agreed to."

Luke just laughed, "It sounds like winning Standall is more important to you than anything else. Dude, you sacrificed 3 hours of sleep to  make a playlist   for him?" 

"I know, I know. I'm pathetic."

Luke grinned giddily and slapped Charlie on the back, "I don't know, but I'm here for it." 

Charlie spent most of his Thursday evening crafting his list for Alex. They weren't all songs he'd typically listen to, but there were enough songs in the list to represent him. When he was done, all the songs on his list connected to Alex's songs in some way. He was a bit nervous to send the list off to Alex. He was confident that Alex probably wasn't going to like it. Chances the playlist would drive Alex away again? Charlie figured there was a 50% chance. But it was a chance he was willing to take it.

He composed the text, deleting and rewriting it numerous times before he was satisfied. His fingers shook a little, and there were butterflies in his stomach as he pressed send. 

Charlie (9:07 pm):  i made a list. I hope you like it.  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6P5Tjf5Sc7yjkeEAovPXdY

Charlie collapsed onto his bed. He was breathing heavily as if sending the text had required the same amount of energy as going for a jog. His heart pounded in his chest. He was anxious as to what Alex would think of his list despite the fact he had set his expectations really low. Charlie would be lucky if he got any sleep that night. 

Alex was sitting playing his guitar quietly when he heard his phone vibrate on his bed. He ignored it, opting to continue to play until 9:30 pm, the time his parents decided was his cut off as far as playing. Alex, being a typical teenager, was often on nocturnal, and his parents needed to set some boundaries so they could sleep. His phone vibrated again letting him know that it was time to put his guitar away. 

It had been a tiring week, at least as far as Alex was concerned. It started with finding out someone had nominated him for prom king, something he still thought was some kind of cruel joke. Later in the week, his exhaustion came from having to pick between different posters designed by Tyler to help him campaign for said nomination. He racked his guitar, grabbed his phone and laid down on his bed. When he opened his messages up, he smiled when he saw it as Charlie who had texted him. 

Charlie (9:07 pm):  i made a list. I hope you like it 😊💗🎶 https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6P5Tjf5Sc7yjkeEAovPXdY

Charlie's use of emoticons rivalled that of a teenage girl, not that it was a bad thing. Still, it certainly wasn't what Alex expected. Alex had made a lot of false assumptions about Charlie simply based upon the fact that he was a jock. Charlie had always been friendly to him; he was nice to everyone. Even so, Alex had initially been suspicious of Charlie's sudden interest in him, thinking it was something that his friends put him up to. The more time he spent with Charlie, the less he felt that or rather, the less he wanted to think that. Alex wanted this to be real. As much as he'd tried to avoid it, he was starting to feel something for Charlie.

He put on his Bluetooth headphones and clicked on the link to open the playlist. Ten songs, just like the one that he had sent. A brief glance and he noticed- no Katy Perry. It seemed he'd taken Alex's direction to try to make something he would like to heart. Alex had set the bar pretty low in his mind based on his brief experience listening to Charlie's music on the night of the party. He figured, like his list, it was best to listen to it in order, so he turned the shuffle off and pressed play. 

Alex felt a slow smile creep on his face as the first song played. It was an older song, but he recognized it. And if Charlie chose this intentionally it was pretty clear how he felt about Alex based on the first few lyrics: 

Here we go again

I kinda wanna be more than friends

So take it easy on me

I'm afraid you're never satisfied

The second song seemed to mirror the second song he had put on his list, and he noticed that this pattern continued for the whole list.  Clever boy, Charles,  Alex thought. Some of the songs were very Charlie. Alex groaned audibly when the song Charlie picked to mirror  Can't Get You Outta My Mind by the Ramones came on. It was  Can't Get You Out of My Head by Kylie Minogue, and the song couldn't be more Charlie. 

Alex rolled his eyes and muttered, "Seriously, Charlie, Kylie Fucking Minogue." 

They had been Taylor Swift earlier, but Alex kind of liked Taylor Swift, even though he'd never admit it publicly. The theme was apparent in most of the songs. Charlie liked him. Alex knew that before listening to the list, but Charlie hadn't held back and his song choices weren't exactly subtle. Based on the picks, Charlie also had taken the that i will like part to heart. Alex half wondered how he found some of the songs because there was one song by an obscure Canadian 90's alternative rock soloist. From a quick google search, Alex noted the song didn't even make it on international charts. The song thematically matched his pick in this list for that position. Ironically, the song Alex chose was also from a Canadian band, but more well known, having hit international charts. Alex admired the fact that Charlie had dug kind of deep for the songs, even if it wasn't he figured it wasn't remotely what Charlie listened to regularly. Remembering how nervous he'd been when he sent his list, Alex texted Charlie as soon as he'd finished listening to the playlist once. 

Alex (10:10 pm):  not bad, Charles, not bad

Charlie (10:11 pm):  u liked it?

Alex (10:11 pm):  mostly… but Kylie Fucking Minogue… seriously charlie

Charlie (10:12 pm):  she's an icon, a legend

Alex (10:12 pm):  sure, sure. i think i'd rather listen to Katy Perry

Charlie (10:12 pm):  really? 

Alex (10:13 pm):  well neither would be better but if i had to choose

Charlie (10:13 pm):  noted. i was expecting you to hate it more

Alex (10:14 pm):  i was pleasantly surprised. still on for coffee tomorrow?

Charlie (10:15 pm):  can't wait

Alex (10:15 pm):  me neither

Alex almost didn't send that last text but decided what the hell. He pushed play to listen to the playlist one more time before going to bed. He didn't even skip the Kylie Minogue song. There was something special about someone crafting a playlist for another person, and Alex was still blown away that Charlie had thoughtfully mirrored his list. The simple act of listening to the list was sending a pleasant buzzing through his body. His stomach had the now-familiar butterflies that he was now consistently getting every time he saw Charlie. Alex almost felt like he was high on something and was unsure if he'd be able to sleep. But exhaustion won, and Alex drifted off to sleep, softly smiling as his breathing slowed into a restful sleep. 

Three weeks until Prom

After what had felt like four weeks instead of four days, after school on Friday had finally arrived. Charlie and Alex walked the short distance to Monet's together after school. 

When they walked up to the counter, the barista, Sheri Holland, greeted them.

"Hey Alex, what can I get for you?" 

"Hey Sheri," Alex nodded towards Charlie, "What do you want? It's on me."

"Hot chocolate, with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles," Charlie answered, flashing his winning smile at Sheri.

"And you?" Sheri eyed Alex.

"My usual." This answer provoked an eye roll in Sheri and Alex was now grinning. Alex paid, and as they stood and waited for their drinks, Charlie nudged Alex, "So what is 'the usual'?"

"You'll see." Alex wore a shit-eating grin. 

About five minutes later, Sheri had finished both of their drinks. Charlie's looked like a regular hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles. Alex's, on the other hand, was fascinating. The drink appeared to be a pink-brown colour and came in a tall milkshake glass. At the bottom of the glass, there were three or four maraschino cherries. There were stripes of what appeared to be white chocolate syrup along the sides of the drink. It was topped with whipped cream, three cherries and four sour patch kids, a red, an orange, a yellow and a green one. The surface seemed to be lightly sprinkled with what Charlie could only assume was sugar. 

"Uh, what is that?" Charlie's eyes were bugging out of his head a little, rapidly moving up and down, examining the drink as if he was trying to figure it out for himself. 

"It's my signature drink—the Searcher. White chocolate cherry blended coffee drink. It has two shots of espresso and is topped with sour patch kids and the sour sugar that they are coated with. In sophomore year, I decided I would try every drink on the menu, and by the summer after Junior year, I had done it. When I interviewed for my barista job, the owner was impressed with my knowledge of the menu, and after I had worked here for three months, he let me create my own drink. I called it the Searcher because I called myself that once."

"Are you?" 

"Am I what?"

"A searcher?"

"Aren't we all searching for something? I think we all are," Alex answered, taking a sip of his signature drink.

Charlie's lips gently curved into a smile, and he nodded, "Yeah, I think everyone is."

They sat quietly for a few moments, pondering the very existential question Alex had saddled them with, "Woah, I didn't mean to go that deep." Alex smiled and continued, "So I'm curious about what your process was to create that playlist. It sounded almost nothing like anything we listened to in your car that night."

"Before I answer, did you catch what I did with it?"

"I think so. Each song on your list related somehow to the song in the same position on my list. I thought it was pretty clever."

Charlie nodded, proudly, "I'm not sure I want to share my secret."

"Come now. There is no way you knew who Edwin was before you made this list."

"Ok ok ok… so once I figured out a theme of a song, I'd use Spotify's search function to find related songs and then I'd listen to them to see if I liked it and also whether you'd like it." 

"Interesting…"

"Is the magic ruined now?"

"Hardly. But I kind of want you to make me another list."

"What?"

"I mean, there are what, three songs on here that I would call 'Charlie' songs, even though I don't know you very well." 

"Which three?" Charlie challenged. 

Alex cocked his head and recited without needing to look at the list, " Delicate, by Taylor Swift, I  Like Me Better - Lauv and  I Can't Get You Out of My Head - Kylie Fucking Minogue."

Charlie was both amused and impressed, "You have them all memorized already?"

Alex blushed, "Uh, I may have listened to it more than once." He tried to hide his face behind his ridiculous drink.

"Ok, I'll bite. I'll make you another list. I won't hold back this time. But I seem to remember you held back a little too, to make your list more… accessible to me. So you need to make me a new list too, and don't worry about 'keeping it light'" 

"That only seems fair," Alex laughed. 

The air seemed heavy to Charlie like you could cut the tension between them with a knife. He was having trouble keeping himself from staring at Alex, his red lips as he'd gently applied suction to the straw, his cheeks dimpling slightly as the cherries periodically interfered with his ability to drink the liquid through the straw. He longed to look into his blue eyes, uninterrupted and yet could not stop himself from shyly looking away should he make eye contact too long. 

Alex was the first to speak again after another short silence, "I also caught the not so subtle theme."

It was now Charlie's turn to blush, and he chuckled, "Yeah, that is probably the most 'Charlie' thing about the list. I don't tend to hide how I'm feeling or at least not to people I care about."

Alex considered this, "Yeah, you'll have to forgive me for rejecting you so much. You have to understand I have lots of reasons not to trust people's intentions. My past two relationships were less than good on the trust front. I thought you were messing with me like this was some sort of game to you. I still don't know why you like me."

Charlie felt a little guilty about the bet and considered telling Alex, but when he went to open his mouth, Alex continued to speak, "I want to get to know you better. But I also want to take it slow. Winston and I... things moved very quickly, and I regret not getting to know him better."

"That sounds fair. Outside of drinking signature beverages, listening to and making music, what do you like to do for fun?" Charlie asked, so happy he momentarily forgot his guilt over the bet. 

"I like to play video games," Alex replied.

"Me too. What types?"

"I've been working my way through Dragon Age Origins. I used to play a lot of first-person shooters, but my Dad doesn't let me play them anymore since my attempt. Nevermind that the games had nothing to do with it," Alex rolled his eyes dramatically. 

Charlie eyed Alex mischievously, "Well, you could always come over to my house to play sometime. I have a few first-person shooters. As long as it doesn't get you in trouble or me in trouble."

The other boy's eye's lit up. "Sweet. It's a date."

Charlie raised his eyebrows, "A date? I thought we were taking it slow?"

"Well, I think that still means we can go on dates and hang out or whatever. And we are actually going to play videogames. 'Videogames' isn't code for anything, Charles."

"Yet," Charlie teased, which incited another eye roll from Alex.

"You underestimate my love of a good first-person shooter," Alex rebutted. 

They continued to banter for a while. Charlie was enjoying the flirting and would take slow over the outright rejection he had been getting at first. Charlie watched as Alex fished the last of the cherries from the bottom of his drink. He had finished his hot chocolate a while ago. 

"Do you need a ride home? My SUV is just parked at the school."

"That would be nice, but I get to pick the music." 

Charlie sighed, "I guess. So would you have let me pick if I hadn't included Kylie Minogue on your list?"

"Maybe. But only maybe."

They both laughed as they made their way to Charlie's SUV. Frankly, Charlie didn't care what Alex played for him as long as he could spend time with him. The only dark thought that kept creeping into his head was about how all this started. He'd have to tell Alex eventually why he began to pursue him, and he couldn't help but think from his conversation today that this would just be another thing that would break his trust. As they got to his vehicle, Charlie looked over to see Alex smile at him and decided he'd figure out the best way to break it to him later. Alex chose a Joy Division album for their short ride to Alex's house. Charlie parked in front. 

"Thanks for the coffee."

"You drank hot chocolate, " Alex laughed and grinned at Charlie, "I owed you. I'll try to be less of an asshole in the future."

Charlie just smiled. 

"Let me know when you want to do videogames."

"Will do."

"See you later." Alex seemed to be stalling, but eventually exited Charlie's SUV and made his way to his house. 

Charlie felt like he was in a dream as he watched the older boy enter his house. He could hardly believe the difference a few weeks made. If only he could figure out how to not ruin it by being honest about the bet.

Chapter Text

True to his word, Alex was decidedly nicer to Charlie the next week at school. He called it nicer, but if you asked any of his friends, Alex's behaviour was downright flirtatious. It wasn't one-sided either; Charlie was returning the affection. Alex let Charlie walk him to all his classes. They had increased the amount of time that they were spending together, eating together every day at lunch. When they thought no one was looking, they would make excuses to touch each other, letting hands brush or legs touch when they sat next to each other at lunch. But true to wanting to take it slow, it didn't go beyond that. To Alex, it seemed like time passed differently. When he was with Charlie, time flew by, and it was almost like there was never enough time. His evening shifts at Monet's seemed to drag. It was only Wednesday, and they had decided to meet for their videogame "date" on Friday. Alex was studying in a rare moment alone in the library when Jessica ambushed him. 

"Hey stranger," Jess greeted him, as she took a seat across from him. 

"Hey?" Alex sensed she was after something.

"So what's the deal with Charlie?" She asked, in a hushed voice. 

"What do you mean?" Alex eyed her suspiciously. 

Jessica rolled her eyes, "Oh please, Alex, you think none of us hasn't noticed both of you playing coy with each other?"

"We're taking it slow," he answered, returning his attention to his books, not wanting to answer any more questions. 

"Since when do you take it slow?" Jess accused. 

"We took it slow both times we were together if I remember correctly," Alex retorted.

"Well, you didn't want to take it slow the first time and didn't really have much choice either time. And you didn't pump the breaks with Winston."

"And maybe that was the problem with that relationship. Well, some things are better when you take your time. I'm enjoying actually getting to know Charlie before getting too serious."

"I don't know it just seems weird. You just usually make the first move."

Alex's lips parted slightly, the words  No I don't  almost slipped out, but he'd made the first move with both Jess and Winston. Fuck, he hated it when Jess was right. 

"Who says I'm not going to make the first move?" Alex smiled, "I mean even if I wanted him to, at this point I feel like I scared Charlie enough at the beginning combined with the fact that I asked him to take things slow, the ball is in my court. And technically, Charlie made the first move a long time ago." 

"You seem happy." 

"I am," Alex confirmed as he watched Zach walk into the library, seemingly on a mission. Alex watched as Zach scanned the room, found and made their way towards them.

"Exactly the person I was looking for," Zach said, looking at Alex. Zach was smiling, but it was his somewhat fake, annoyed smile. Alex knew that look. Zach was angry, and he wanted something. 

"What do you want, Dempsey?" Alex asked flatly.

"Oh, it isn't what I want. It is what Chloe wants. You see, she is pissed that you are leading Luke's stupid prom polls. She wants you to drop out of the race." Zach's voice had that edge it got when he was angry.

"I don't know if I can. Someone nominated me without me knowing and I never had to accept the nomination…" Alex's voice trailed off. 

"Dude you are campaigning!" Zach exclaimed, "You have posters with cute slogans on them."

"Just… a little? It wasn't my idea. Tyler practically insisted." Alex replied in a small voice, a little scared by the way Zach was looking at him. 

"Tyler? Tyler?" Zach repeated, his voice becoming slightly louder than appropriate considering they were in a library. "Your friend who will practically jump when you say jump, and you are saying that you had nothing to do with it."

"I mean, I told him he could, I guess," Alex shrugged.

"Do you know what you are doing to me?" Zach asked, his voice and face looking visibly pained. "Chloe looks tough, but she has a least one minor meltdown a week, usually when that stupid poll comes out and tells her that she is still second to you. A person that, I'm pretty sure unless I really don't know you, has no interest in winning."

"Dude, I don't know what to tell you."

"Find a way to lose, I don't know. Just know you are indirectly cockblocking me. I haven't had sex in weeks."

Jessica scoffed, "TMI, Zach."

Zach stormed off, leaving Alex looking perplexed and Jessica looking mildly annoyed. 

"Chloe has been insufferable lately," Jessica confirmed after Zach was gone. 

"How is this my problem?"

"I mean you could at least tell Tyler to back down with all the posters."

"Yeah…" Alex hesitated.

Jessica gasped and chuckled, "Are you fucking kidding me? Alex Standall actually wants to win prom king?"

"I don't know if I care about winning, but I have to say as someone who has never really been popular, it doesn't feel terrible knowing enough people support me that I'm in the first place. But I'll talk to Tyler, make sure he doesn't put any more posters up."

Jess chuckled, "You have to admit, it is kind of funny that you are inadvertently cockblocking Zach."

"I know. The past month has seemed like some sort of fucking weird-ass dream."

"So fucking weird," Jess agreed, and they both made a lame attempt to go back to studying. 

Winston was used to blending into the background. He was thankful that it was finally Thursday as Thursday was almost Friday and that brought him a few days closer to graduating from the hell hole that was Liberty High. Winston had thought things couldn't get any worse than the dealings of a bunch of entitled rich kids, but he was wrong. Public school was the cesspool that everyone warned him it would be. As much as he loved fashion and being able to express himself through his expansive scarf collection, Winston missed the simplicity and aesthetic of everyone wearing crisply tailored uniforms. 

Nothing had gone right this year. From hooking up briefly with Monty, to changing schools to try to get closer to him only to find out he'd been arrested for sexually assaulting Tyler. While Winston couldn't support that kind of behaviour, he still felt terrible for Monty. He felt awful for him, so he started writing Monty letters and Monty replied. Winston guessed there wasn't anything better for him to do, especially since he was sitting in protective custody as the nature of his charges quickly made it unsafe for Monty to be in the general population.

Then Tyler introduced him to Alex. At first, the three of them frequently hung out together. Winston sensed that Alex might be interested in him, but when he tried to make a move, Alex told him he wasn't gay. But shortly after Alex said this, he kissed him, and this led to their very hot and heavy two weeks. Winston really liked Alex, or at least he really enjoyed making out with him. Unfortunately, he'd been stupid enough to continue to write to Monty, and Alex happened to find one of the letters. And maybe if the message had been platonic, he might have had a foot to stand on. But it wasn't, and Winston knew he had been in the wrong. He felt terrible for what he'd done at the Find Your Drink Party and thought he deserved what Alex had done. Winston knew he'd made the wrong choice when Monty stopped writing him back. But that was neither here nor there. He wasn't done trying to get Alex back. Maybe it was stupid, but Winston felt like he needed to try again. Alex was the only thing that had gone right in his time at Liberty and given his current situation "gone right" was definitely a stretch.

Winston felt the urge to use the washroom, and a feeling of dread washed over him. Public restrooms were the worst. He'd even gone so far as to drive himself home at lunch to relieve himself, but there was no time. He selected the middle stall and proceeded to do his business. He zoned out for a moment but was rudely interrupted by two loud guys entering the washroom.

"Dude, Charlie's going to win the bet!" Winston recognized the voice as Luke Holliday's. 

"Only if he can convince Alex to actually go to Prom." That was Diego Torres's voice. 

"Well, Alex has a whole campaign. You think he'd skip out on Prom after actually trying to win Prom King?"

"I don't know, he's so hot and cold it is hard to tell. But Charlie's…" and Diego's voice trailed off, and Winston couldn't hear what he said after that. But that was interesting. Charlie, had some sort of bet on Alex winning Prom King? That is fucked up. He had to tell Alex. If he could even get Alex to talk to him. Well, it was worth a try. Maybe public washrooms weren't so bad after all. Winston immediately dismissed this thought with a shudder. Public bathrooms were still the worst.

Two Weeks Until Prom

Alex woke up early on Friday. It was 5:00 am, entirely too early to be awake but here he was not sleeping, thinking about where his evening might go. It was like waking up on Christmas morning, knowing that you'd need to wait another four hours for your parents to wake up. Except that he had more like 10 hours to wait until his date with Charlie. He sighed, rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. An indeterminate amount of time passed, and he looked at the clock, and it was now 5:21 am. Fuck. He considered getting up to play his guitar, but his dad would probably kill him for waking up the whole house. He decided to put his headphones on and listen to the playlist that Charlie made him. He'd never admit to Charlie how many times he'd listened to it. Something was comforting about it. He drifted off to sleep as Taylor Swift's  Delicate  played. The next time Alex awoke, it was his alarm going off, letting him know it was time to get ready for school. 

Alex's classes seemed to be twice as long as usual. The only points of brightness were Charlie's random texts to him throughout the day. 

Charlie (10:10 am):  i'm excited about tonight

Alex (10:12 am):  me too

Charlie (10:15 am):  it's only 10:15 am… is the day dragging for you too?

Alex smiled and felt his heart swell at Charlie's candidness.  

Alex (10:17 am):  fuck yes

Charlie (10:19 am):  oh good, it isn't just me 😊

Lunch came, and Alex ate with Charlie and Tyler today. He figured now was as good a time as any to ask Tyler to scale back the campaign. He didn't want to hurt Tyler's feelings, but he felt he owed it to Zach to at least try. 

"Hey Ty, you know those posters you've been putting up?" Alex started.

"Yeah, people love them, Alex."

"Most people."

"Are you saying that you don't like them?"

"No, I mean I told you they were ok in the first place."

"Then what is it? Just spit it out Alex, you don't normally beat around the bush like this."

"Well, could you scale back on the campaign?"

"Zach talked to you, didn't he?" Tyler seemed slightly angry now.

"He did. Did he talk to you first?"

"Yeah and I basically told him to back off. Alex, if you win, you'll be the first non-jock male to win prom king in years, and I guess I stan that."

Charlie was sitting quietly chewing his sandwich. Alex noticed the conversation seemed to be making him uncomfortable, but he dismissed this observation and returned his attention to Tyler. 

"I know, Ty. Me winning would really be sticking it to the establishment, wouldn't it?" Alex smiled and continued, "But I'm friends with Zach too, just maybe don't put as many posters up, ok?"

"If you insist," Tyler sighed, resigning to his friend's wishes, "But I don't like it, and I'm not taking any of the posters that are already up, down."

The rest of lunch passed quickly, and as it ended, and since Charlie's class was on the opposite side of the school from where Tyler and Alex had class, Tyler walked with Alex to their class. 

Tyler smiled and nudged him as they walked, "You really like him, don't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Alex asked and smiled gently. 

"You don't seem to be trying to hide it, so yes? But I really like Charlie. I think he's good for you. He seems to soften your sharp edges, but at the same time, he seems strong enough to take you at your worst."

"Thank you?" Alex wasn't sure if that was a compliment, but he knew Tyler meant well. Tyler had stuck with him through some of his darkest times and knew what his worst was and was still friends with him.

Tyler just smiled as they both entered the class and sat down.  

Alex's last class was his guitar option with Mr McLeod. They were working on classical quartets, but Alex kept messing up. His focus was all off. Unfortunately, he was paired with the three most insufferable sophomores in the class.

"Alex, you are supposed to come in on 4."

"Where is your head today? Earth to Alex."

And typically he'd lash out at them, but today they were right. 

"Sorry, I'm not here right now." 

"Well, our performance is on Monday, so get your shit together before then." 

Alex just nodded silently, "I'll be right back." 

He asked Mr McLeod if he could go to the bathroom and from there he texted Charlie.

Alex (2:50 pm):  we are meeting right after school, right?

Charlie (2:55 pm):  yes? why do you ask?

Alex started by texting  i'm trying to pass the rest of my guitar class in the bathroom because I can't concentrate for long enough play my guitar and I fucking hate the children that I'm in a group in  but he struggled to be as open as Charlie, so he settled on the abridged version.

Alex (2:56 pm):  just making sure this class can't end fucking fast enough

Charlie (2:56 pm): 😉

A few moments later, Alex's phone vibrated again. 

Winston (2:57 pm):  Can we meet for coffee?

Alex rolled his eyes. Had he not made himself clear at the Find Your Drink Party that he wanted nothing to do with Winston? 

Alex (2:57 pm):  no

Winston (2:58 pm):  please, it's important

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious. What could be so important that he wanted to meet? Fuck, when had his life become some sort of lousy teen movie where he had not one, but  two  people interested in him?

Alex (2:59 pm):  i'm busy tonight

Winston (2:59 pm):  with charlie?

Alex (2:59 pm):  maybe, what's it to u?

Winston (3:00 pm):  i don't trust him

Alex (3:00 pm):  u don't know him. i don't trust u

Winston (3:01 pm):  what about tomorrow?

Against his better judgement, Alex figured he'd entertain Winston's request, at least for 15 minutes.

Alex (3:01 pm):  i work tomorrow but if u want to drop by my break is at 3

Winston (3:01 pm):  see u then

Alex waited in the bathroom until about five minutes before class ended. He felt like a coward, but he didn't want his inability to focus or play well today to ruin his mood before heading off to the date he'd been looking forward to all week. 

He entered class, and one of his group members commented, "So you decided to rejoin the living?"

"Fuck off," Alex replied reflexively. "I'll have my part down for Monday."

"You better," a different group member threatened. 

The bell rang, and Alex walked as quickly as his legs could take him, carrying his guitar case towards the parking lot where Charlie said he'd meet him. 

His mood lightened when he saw the taller, blonde boy leaning against his SUV waiting for him.

"Ready?" Charlie asked, opening the trunk so Alex could throw his guitar in.

"Am I ever." Alex sighed, entering the passenger side.

"Tough class?" Charlie asked, concerned.

"You could say that. We are working on a quartet, and I couldn't concentrate. It doesn't help that my group members are fucking children. But the end is nigh. Nothing an afternoon of video games won't wash away."

"Indeed," Charlie agreed, and they made their way to Charlie's house. 

Charlie's house was lovely. It was slightly larger than the house Alex's family lived in, but it wasn't a mansion. 

The house seemed empty. "Your parent's home?" Alex asked, looking around. 

"Parent," Charlie corrected. "My mom, uh, she passed away when I was 13."

"Oh, Charlie, I'm sorry to hear that." Alex reached out to put a reassuring hand on Charlie's shoulder. 

"It was cancer and it's ok," Charlie paused, before saying, "Well, it's not ok, but I guess I'm ok with it not being ok now if that makes any sense?"

Charlie led them to his living room.

As he followed Charlie, he replied, "Yeah, that makes sense. I wish I could be ok with not being ok." Alex sighed as he sat on the couch.

Charlie poured them a couple of sodas and brought out a giant bag of Sour Patch Kids.

Alex's face lit up," You remembered my favourite candy."

"I did. There are also some Doritos if you start craving something salty. So what do you want to play?"

"Anything I'm not allowed to play at home. Shooter games."

"Ok, well I have quite a few of the Call of Duty Series. Hunt: Showdown, which is a pretty tough game."

"I think the last COD game I played was Call of Duty WWII. I really like history, so I liked it more than the modern games."

"So that eliminates COD Modern Warfare?"

"No, I'll play it, really any game where I get to shoot at stuff."

"Maybe we'll start with the game you are familiar with and work our way to the most recent release so you can make up for lost time."

"Deal." 

They played Call of Duty WWII for a bit. Alex was a little rusty, but slowly but surely his muscle memory came back. It was exhilarating, and not only because he was doing something slightly forbidden but because he was sitting very close to Charlie on the couch. They were sitting close enough to each other that their bodies were touching. Alex felt like he was high. The combination of the high intensity of the first-person shooter game, the physical contact with Charlie, the sugar from the sour patch kids and the caffeine from the soda was intoxicating. 

After a particularly intense round, Charlie looked over at him, his eyes glowing. Alex felt the urge to kiss him. He thought back to his conversation with Jess, and he'd be lying if he hadn't fantasized about this exact moment numerous times over the past week. The ball was in his court. He closed his eyes and leaned his head toward Charlie's face. Alex could feel Charlie's breath, and he was expecting Charlie to close the gap, and join in the kiss, but seconds that felt like an eternity went by, and he was left hanging. Feeling momentarily insecure, he muttered, "What the fuck, Charlie?" 

Charlie pulled away. He wore a visibly conflicted expression.

"Before this, whatever this is, goes any further, I need to tell you something. It has been eating away at me since we had coffee and I know it will probably ruin everything, but after you mentioned how you have trust issues based on your past relationships, I feel I owe it to you to be upfront with you."

"Spit it out, Charlie," Alex urged, the suspense was killing him. 

Charlie sighed, and Alex swore he saw Charlie's mist up a bit, "So I think this is one of the dumbest things I've ever done. But after Betty broke up with me, I wasn't in a great place, and Luke, Diego and I got really high on some edibles." Alex nodded, a little surprised as Charlie had struck him as too straight-laced to be into that.

"Go on," he encouraged.

"Ok so we are really high, and I bet Diego I could make anyone Prom King. And he challenged me on it saying that he'd pick a person and I'd have to make them Prom King." Charlie looked away like he didn't want to see Alex's face as he confessed this.

"And Diego picked me?"

"Yeah," Charlie's voice cracked, "But then I really started to like you, almost immediately. Actually, I think he picked you because I told him I thought you were handsome. I've been thinking of calling the whole thing off for weeks now, but my stupid pride and competitiveness kept stopping me."

Alex had no words. It was a stupid bet, but Charlie seemed so sincere, and the fact that he was telling him meant he was willing to lose everything, to be honest with him. No one had ever done that with him before.

"Alex? Say something." Charlie pleaded. Alex could tell Charlie was on the verge of tears but wasn't letting himself cry.

"I think you should take me home," he said flatly, voice void of emotion. Inside, was turmoil but he wouldn't let Charlie see that. 

"Ok," Charlie agreed, head hanging low. Alex couldn't look at Charlie either. He felt like he'd kicked a puppy, but Alex needed time to think, to make sense of the mixed feelings he was having.

They rode in silence to Alex's house. As soon as they got to his house, Alex left Charlie's SUV as quickly as he could. So quickly that he forgot his fucking guitar in the back of Charlie's SUV.

But Alex didn't notice until Charlie was long gone.  Fuck.

Alex slept poorly that night. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened the day before. Alex wanted to stay in bed all day, but unfortunately, he had to work. And he still hadn't texted Charlie to ask about his guitar. He showered and readied himself for his shift. He was working with Sheri today which would help. Sheri always managed to cheer him up.

His shift at Monet's actually passed pretty quickly. Before he knew it, Sheri was nudging him. 

"Alex, it's time for your break."

Right as she said that to him, Winston walked through the front doors of the cafe.

"Fuck…" Alex muttered under his breath.

"What's he doing here? During your break? I thought you were into Charlie now."

"It is a long story. Actually, I totally forgot I told Winston to meet me here on my break."

"And why did you tell him that?" Sheri raised her eyebrows, "Standall, I was there for round one with him, and he isn't good for you. Yeah, he's hot as fuck, those cute fucking scarves and those hazel eyes and that smile. But dude, what he did to you was so dirty. You deserve better."

"Thanks for the pep talk, Sheri. For the record, I wasn't thinking of starting anything with him again."

"Oh just making sure. Just in case you got distracted by his cuteness."

"Ouch Sheri, you think I'm that shallow?" 

"I don't know, you seem to have a thing for pretty boys?" She teased and then fucking winked at him as she poured some steamed milk into a double shot of cappuccino.

He walked over to the table Winston was sitting at and sat down.

"You have 15 minutes, less if I don't like what you have to say," Alex stated, face stony. 

"Charlie has some sort of bet on you, that you'll win prom king. I just thought you should know."

"I know." Alex sighed.

"You know?" Winston looked surprised.

"Yeah, I guess he beat you to telling me. Guilty conscience, I guess." Alex replied, with a slight sadness note to his voice. 

"Did you see the most recent Prom Poll?" Winston asked, changing the subject, his phone already open to the poll. 

"Nah, I'm not really paying attention to that shit," Alex lied. It wasn't totally a lie. He'd been so distracted yesterday by what Charlie had told him that he hadn't gone on social media at all yesterday. 

"You're first...again." Winston showed him his phone.

1. Alex Standall
2. Chloe Rice
3. Zach Dempsey
4. Jessica Davis
5. Diego Torres
6. Charlie St. George

Alex shook his head, "I can't fucking believe it." He found it interesting that Charlie was in last now. Alex wondered why.

"Do you have a date?" Winston asked, his voice hopeful. 

"A date?" Alex asked, eyes confused. He was taken aback by the question. 

"To prom?" I mean you probably should go, Mr Future Prom King," Winston teased, flashing Alex a dimpled smile. 

"No, I don't have a date," he shook his head, avoiding making eye contact with Winston.

"Well, keep me in mind. We can go as friends or whatever. No pressure."

"I uh… got to get back to work," Alex said, avoiding answering Winston's question. 

"Cool and uh Alex, let me know about Prom."

"Uh sure, I'll let you know," Alex stammered. What was wrong with him? Sheri was right, it was like his brain fucking melted when pretty boys were around, and his cloudy mixed feelings about Charlie and the bet had momentarily quelled the side of him that would have told Winston off. Alex didn't want to go with Winston, and he was pretty sure he'd just given him the wrong idea. Fuck my life,  Alex thought.   

Chapter Text

"What's wrong, Alex? Why aren't we sitting with Charlie today?" Tyler asked at lunch on Monday. 

"I don't want to talk about it, Ty," Alex sighed. He was back to staring at Charlie from across the cafeteria again. Sometimes he'd catch Charlie staring back, shoulders hunched and uncharacteristically glum-looking.

"Ok, it's just that you said you really liked him on Friday and now you're like the Ice Queen or king or whatever."

While he didn't want to talk about it, seeing the gentle invitation from Tyler to speak softened him a little, "Charlie bet he could make anyone prom king. Diego picked me. Charlie told me on Friday. Right after I tried to kiss him."

"Ouch… but wait Charlie told you about the bet?" Tyler clarified.

"Yeah, that is why I'm confused. Charlie was honest with me. I've never had anyone be upfront like this before. I always find out later and never from the source."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't fucking know! Oh, and to make matters worse, Winston asked me to prom, and I didn't say no."

"Holy shit, Alex." Tyler gasped, "Wait, Winston asked you to prom? When?"

"He came by Monet's on my break on Saturday. I think he wanted to tell me about the bet, but I already knew. Don't worry, I didn't say yes, and I don't want to go with him, but now I'm pretty sure he has the wrong idea. So that's what's wrong," Alex leaned back in his chair, frowning.

"Maybe you should talk to Charlie," Tyler suggested.

"And say what?" Alex said. 

Tyler stared back at Alex and shrugged.

"See, you don't know what you'd say either," he noted.

"No, I don't. But can I give you some advice?"

"Sure, I mean. I literally don't know what I'm going to do so another perspective would be great."

"He cared enough to tell you. If he really wanted to win the bet, he would have just kissed you back and led you on, and you would have found out from Winston the next day."

"Yeah, I know that is what I've been going over in my head over and over this weekend."

"I mean, the bet is stupid, but without it, he might have never, you know, taken an interest?"

"True. Ty, he looked like he was going to cry when he told me, and I just left. Or rather I got him to take me home." Tyler noticed how pained Alex's expression was.

"Maybe you should give him another chance."

Alex just shrugged and stared sadly at his half-eaten lunch.

Tyler hated seeing Alex like this. He really liked Charlie and had hoped for a different outcome to the boys' videogame date. Tyler had an idea and knew it was a long shot given that Charlie's was in last place on the Prom Poll. Alex had told him to stop campaigning for him, but that didn't mean he couldn't campaign for someone else.

As Tyler thought this, he saw Charlie stand up and start walking towards them. He was carrying Alex's guitar. They both watched Charlie weave awkwardly through people with the guitar until he finally made it to them.

"Your guitar?" Charlie said, his mouth curving up into a slight smile, but his eyes were sad. 

"Thanks," Alex replied, nodding but remaining expressionless.

"See you around, Alex." Charlie walked back and sat beside Luke, casting what Tyler could swear was a longing look in Alex's direction.

"Not this again," Luke shook his head, "Earth to Charlie."

"Yeah… I'm here." Charlie muttered, still staring in Alex's direction.

"Are you though? Look I know Standall's cute and all but dude, Sad Charlie is not a good look for you."

"Why'd you even tell him?" Diego asked, looking puzzled, shaking your head, "I mean, you were set to win."

"Because I knew if I didn't tell him and he found out from someone else, there was no hope of a future for us."

"Oof you've got it bad for Standall," Diego commented.

"Well, the bet's off, Diego. You win." Charlie sighed.

Diego chuckled, "Dude, you don't have to do this."

"No, I do. I made the bet, and I'll do what I said I'd do if I lost. Part of me is glad I made it. I don't think I would have gone after Alex otherwise and even if I ruined everything, I regret nothing. Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all."

"Oh man, you are talking in dead poet quotes now? You definitely got it bad." Luke put his arm around Charlie in an attempt to comfort his friend.

"Alex, it is your group's turn. Let's see what you've got!" Mr McLeod exclaimed. 

Alex wasn't ready, but he was more focused than he was on Friday. He had brought his guitar home for the weekend intending to practice. But after leaving his guitar in Charlie's SUV, he couldn't bring himself to ask Charlie if he could come to get his guitar over the weekend. So the last time he'd played was his terrible attempt on Friday, that had led him to hide in the bathroom. 

"Don't fuck this up, Standall," one of his group members said to him under their breath.

They played the Minuet from Mozart's Symphony 39, and aside from a few minor errors, the overall performance was good. But Alex wasn't the only person that had some practising to do. Each of them had messed up at least once. 

"Not bad," Mr McLeod noted, "You all could use a bit more practice before Wednesday night's concert to polish it up. Ok, class, everyone needs to keep on practising. Remember, we'll start with the group performances and then you will present your solos. Another reminder, each person only gets two tickets to the concert, come collect your tickets from me on your way out. Monet's isn't that big, and we wanted everyone to be able to have a chance to get tickets. Oh and if you give your tickets away, don't come crying to me or worse have your parents come to cry to me when they can't come to the concert."

Alex grabbed his tickets and left class before anybody in his group could talk to him. This time he remembered his guitar. He wasn't going to make that mistake twice.

When he got home that afternoon, he practised the Minuet for a bit but wasn't feeling it. Plus, he didn't really care that much about the group performance. Alex might have if he liked his classmates more, but they were dicks to him most of the time so fuck them he thought. He still needed a song for the solo portion of the concert. Alex considered Birdsong but remembered that Mr McCleod wanted him to do something more personal. He pulled out a piece he'd been working on and started playing with the chords on his guitar, occasionally pausing to write them down. Alex's thoughts kept wandering back to Charlie. While he hated the whole bet thing, despite it all, he liked Charlie and the fact that Charlie had come clean to him made him  want  to trust him. Hours passed as he composed his song, his focus only interrupted when his mom knocked on his door.

"Come in," Alex called towards the door. 

"Hey sweetheart, you ready for dinner?" Carolyn leaned her head into her son's room and smiled affectionately at him.

"Uh, sure. Just want to finish this section." Alex grabbed his pencil from his music stand and marked another bar of music.

"What are you working on?"

"New song for my solo performance at my final concert."

"Final concert? Can we go? When is it?" The words tumbled out of her mouth, excitedly.

"Woah, woah, woah, slow down. It is Wednesday. I have two tickets if you and dad want to come." Alex avoided eye contact with his mother, knowing what was coming next.

"And when were you going to tell us? Your dad's working, but I can make it. I'm off that day."

"Uh, I'm telling you now?" Alex shrugged, "Sorry, I've been a bit distracted lately."

"I noticed. Everything ok?"

"Yeah, I mean I think they will be."

"Good," she rested her hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze, "Don't take too long, you don't want your dinner to get cold."

Alex spent a moment recording the last few bars he'd been working on. At that moment, Alex realized that Charlie had inspired this song. He wanted to talk to Charlie, see if there was any way they could move forward. In his mind, the only sticking point was the bet; if Charlie was willing to abandon the bet, Alex could trust him. He wanted Charlie at the concert to hear the song.

Alex (6:31 pm):  come to my concert Wednesday? I'll meet you at the doors at 6:45 pm to give you a ticket.

Alex threw his phone on his bed and went downstairs for dinner. He didn't want to see if Charlie texted him back yet. The churning turmoil that Charlie's confession had set off inside him changed from disappointment to a slight feeling of hope; the heaviness Alex felt all weekend lifted a little. 

Charlie was surprised when he received the text message from Alex. Pleasantly surprised. The weekend had been rough, but he felt like he'd done the right thing. Charlie texted him back right away.

Charlie (6:32 pm):   see you then.

Perhaps he was reading too much into the text, but the wheels in Charlie's mind started turning. Despite everything, he still wanted to ask Alex to prom. He had an idea, but he'd need some help to pull it off. He sent a text to the one person he knew could help him pull this off if he'd even agree to help.

Charlie (6:45 pm):  i need your help… with alex

Zach (6:46 pm):  you want me to help u? you and ur stupid bet is really fucking with my love life. why should I help u?

Charlie (6:47 pm):  help me because u want Alex to be happy? r u busy tomorrow night, so we can meet to discuss?

Zach (6:50 pm):  yeah i'm free, but st. george i'm not agreeing until i know ur plan

Charlie (6:51 pm):  thanks Dempsey, u you won't regret this

Zach (6:52 pm):  that wasn't a yes St. George

Charlie (6:53 pm):  i'm confident it will be tomorrow

Zach (6:54 pm):  fuck you St. George

The next evening, Zach came over to Charlie's house, and Charlie explained the plan. 

Zach shook his head, "I don't know Charlie, don't you think Alex might be embarrassed by that?"

Charlie shrugged, "I guess I feel like I don't have much to lose at this point."

Zach nodded, "You are such a fucking romantic St. George. Fine, I'll help. I mean, even if it does embarrass him a bit, I'm getting him back for this stupid prom king shit and the meltdowns I've had to talk Chloe through. We need to go to my place though to grab what we need. And you are going to need to talk to Mr McLeod; this isn't an open mic night."

"Thank you, Dempsey. You won't regret this."

Wednesday, Charlie approached Mr McLeod. 

"I don't know Charlie, don't you think this might distract from the other performances?"

"It will be after you close the concert, not associated at all."

"I have to admit it is a bold plan. Ok, the romantic inside of me is winning. You have my permission."

Tuesday, Alex spent his whole lunch hour in the band room practicing the new song he finished writing Monday evening after dinner. While he wanted to talk to Charlie, he wasn't ready yet and spending time in the band room was the perfect hiding spot. Alex was so focused on practicing his songs that Tuesday flew by. 

Wednesday, Mr McLeod had gotten them excused from their afternoon classes so they could perform a dress rehearsal at Monet's. They played through the whole program once and then had some time to either go home or hang around for dinner. Before Alex knew it, he was nervously waiting outside Monet's with the ticket for Charlie. Charlie arrived punctually, as usual. 

"Hey Alex," Charlie smiled nervously, running one of his hands through his hair. 

"Hey here's your ticket and don't leave right away after, I think we should talk," Alex said, handing him the ticket. 

"Cool. Break a leg," Charlie chuckled, nervously, "At least I think that is what you are supposed to say before these things."

Alex raised his eyebrows, "Thanks? I got to go. See you after."

It didn't take long for 7 pm to roll around. Monet's was packed. Mr McLeod addressed the audience, "Thanks for coming tonight. This class had been busy preparing these pieces for months. So without further ado, I present to you the Liberty High Guitar Class 2019."

The quartets were first. Alex's quartet was first because Alex had insisted to Mr McLeod that he'd be first and last tonight. Alex nailed his part in the Minuet. Their performance wasn't perfect, but it wasn't on him. The rest of the children in his group didn't even make eye contact with him afterwards, and all Alex said to them was, "Good job." He could be the bigger person.

He watched the rest of the performances from backstage, peeking out to locate his mother and Charlie. Zach was there too, which was kind of weird, but he must have gotten the ticket from someone. Tyler and Winston were both taking pictures for the yearbook. It was hard to stand still. Alex felt the familiar excited nervousness wash over his body as he watched his classmates perform and prepared mentally to do so himself. After what seemed like an eternity, Alex heard Mr McLeod introduce him.

"Our last performance of the night should be a treat. Put your hands together for the talented Alex Standall." The audience applauded. 

"Hi everyone, tonight I'll be playing an original piece inspired by someone that came into my life fairly recently. It's called  I'll Take a Chance ," he announced, looking directly at Charlie. Alex was hoping Charlie caught that the song was inspired by him. He sat down with his guitar and took a deep breath before beginning. The song was written in a major key, giving it a lighter tone and the syncopation made the piece feel exciting. He tended to write songs in minor keys because most of the music he'd written had been on the sad side. It was a fun song to play, and Alex couldn't help but smile and tap his foot to the rhythm as he played. As quickly as it began, it was over. The song was five minutes long, but time seemed to pass much more rapidly as he played. As the audience applauded, he saw Charlie and Zach stand up. He smiled and bowed his head in appreciation, and when he looked up again, Charlie and Zach had disappeared. 

Mr McLeod got up to the mic, "Well that's our show for tonight. I'd like to thank the whole guitar class and Monet's for hosting this event. A couple of students not in the class approached me to have a few moments on stage. Zach and Charlie, the stage is yours."

What the fuck were Charlie and Zach doing?  Alex thought to himself. 

Mr McLeod went off stage, and approached a perplexed Alex, "Great job tonight! That is what I meant by putting something of yourself in your music. Uh, you should go sit in the audience for this I think." And then, even stranger than the fact that Charlie and Zach were now on stage, Mr McLeod winked at him. 

Zach sat down with a guitar. Alex knew Zach played, but he'd actually never heard him play. Charlie was up at the mic, "This will be quick, this little song goes out to Alex."

Zach starts playing  I want to hold your hand  by the Beatles. Alex shook his head and could feel the heat rise in his face. He remembered that Charlie had picked a Beatles song for the open mic he'd forced him to participate in. Alex smiled as he recalled the memory. This time, it appeared he was the one that was unaware of the performance. 

Oh, yeah, I'll tell you somethin'

I think you'll understand

When I'll say that somethin'

I want to go to prom with you

I want to go to prom with you

I want to go to prom with you

Oh, please, say to me

You'll let me be your man

And please, say to me

You'll let me take you to prom?

"So Alex, will you go to prom with me?" Charlie asked. The room was silent, everyone waiting for a reply. Alex was stunned. He was mortified. A look of horrified panic was plastered across his face, and all he could think was  What the actual fuck Charlie St. George?  His face was hot, and he could feel his heart pounding as if it was going to come out his chest. It almost felt like his airway was constricting, and it was too hot in the room, so he ran outside and ended up under the street light he'd rejected Charlie under but a month earlier. 

Alex rested his hands on his knees, and consciously tried to slow his breath. He saw Charlie jogging to catch up with him. He stood up and met Charlie's gaze, "Will you fucking leave me alone if I say yes?"

Charlie's piercing blue eyes were wide and hopeful, "Yes."

Alex smiled and teased, "Well, that won't do. I'd be sad if you left me alone."

Charlie looked confused, "Why did you run out?"

"So you'd have some idea of how fucking mortifying public promposals are. What about the bet?" Alex asked, abruptly, still trying to catch his breath.

"I told Diego on Monday it is off, so I lose," Charlie's voice was soft and quiet. 

"But what if I win…" Alex's voice trailed off.

"Then you win. I still have to do what I agreed to. I'm fine with it. Like I told you, the bet was stupid and I'd rather have a chance to see where things go with you."

Alex smiled.  "That doesn't make sense if I win, you should still win."

"Even if you win, the bet was that  I  could made anyone prom king and it is pretty clear that if you win it will have nothing to do with me," Charlie shrugged, and his eyes glittered, "Even though I've lost the bet to Diego, if you agree to go with me, I've already won."

"Ok, I'll go to prom with you," Alex smiled, "I mean, Winston asked me too, but I'd rather go with you. I think he was trying to sabotage your chances by telling me about the bet, and it might have worked, but you were honest with me first. That is something I've never experienced before, and I really respect that." 

"I believe I owe you a…" Alex interrupted Charlie by kissing him wanting to ensure that this time Charlie wouldn't be able to say anything to ruin the moment. Charlie's lips were soft and his skin slightly rougher due to his five o'clock shadow than Alex had imagined it would be. Alex reached his arms around the small of Charlie's back, resting his hands there, and Charlie reciprocated by pulling him closer. Alex once again felt short of breath, but this time it was due to Charlie parting his lips gently with his tongue and the deepening of the kiss. He could smell Charlie's shampoo, mint, mixed with his deodorant and an intoxicating musky scent that was unique to Charlie. Alex felt dizzy as weeks of built-up tension coursed through his body like he'd been struck by lightning. 

"... a kiss?" Alex finished, breathlessly. 

"Yeah… that." Charlie wore a wide grin that lit up his whole face.

"I don't want to look, but are people, uh watching us?" Alex looked down at his feet, shyly, his face visibly flushed.

Charlie looked over and saw a crowd of people who had left Monet's and were indeed watching them. "Just a couple," Charlie lied.

"I don't believe you," Alex replied suspiciously. 

"Then I guess you'll just have to look for yourself," Charlie smiled.

Alex looked over and saw the crowd, including his mother watching them. He shook his head and muttered under his breath, "Jesus Fucking Christ."

"Wanna get out of here?" Charlie asked, smiling.

"Please." Charlie grabbed Alex's hand and led him away from the crowd of onlookers. 

Rumours of what had happened at the concert spread quickly and soon all anyone at school could talk about was Charlie and Alex. By the end of the week, posters with #TeamChalex mysteriously appeared around the school.

"What the fuck is #TeamChalex?" Alex blurted out as they passed by a poster.

"Uh, I think it is referring to us.  Ch  from Charlie and  Alex.  Chalex."

"Well, that's dumb. Chloe's name starts with Ch too. How do people know it isn't referring to her and me?" Alex stated dryly.

Charlie chuckled, "I'm pretty sure after last night, no one is confused."

"Charles, I think you underestimate the average high school student."

"Or maybe you do?" Charlie teased, inciting one of Alex's signature eye rolls. 

Before they could say anything else, an incensed Chloe approached them and her voice came out loud and forced, "Alex, I thought Zach talked to you about campaigning!"

"He did. I told Tyler to stop. I have no idea who put these up. Up until a couple of minutes ago, I didn't know what Chalex was."

"Well it's fucking confusing is what. How will people know it isn't referring to us?" Chloe continued in a flustered fury.

"Charlie just thinks they'll know… because of last night," Alex gave an  I told you so  look to Charlie.

She ripped the poster off the wall, "There. No one will be confused now." As fast as she'd stormed in, she walked away.

Charlie and Alex exchanged an amused look as they watched Chloe tear down every #TeamChalex poster in her path.

One Week Until Prom

Friday, Luke was composing his Insta post with the results of this week Prom Poll: 

1. Alex

2. Chloe

3. Charlie

4. Zach

5. Jessica

6. Diego

Maybe people were confused as to who #TeamChalex was , Luke thought. He almost hashtagged the post with it but remembered he was supposed to be impartial. It was hard not to root for Charlie and Alex even though Charlie had already lost the bet. With one week until Prom, Charlie was back in the running for Prom King. Things had just gotten interesting with the race, and this is precisely what Luke lived for.

Chapter Text

Four Days Until Prom

Before the end of the school day on Friday, Chloe had removed every #TeamChalex poster in the school. By the end of the day on Monday, there were twice as many #TeamChalex posters. It was a losing battle. Ever since she was a little girl, she'd dreamed of winning prom queen, and these asshole guys were going to ruin her dream. At this point, she'd pretty much given up any hope of Zach wearing a crown with her. He was so blasé about campaigning and had basically flat out refused. Zach figured he'd be able to get by on his popularity, but apparently, that didn't matter much this year. At this point, she'd take winning even if it meant she had to rule with King Standall. Ugh, Alex Standall. She didn't understand the appeal really. Alex was nice enough when he wasn't having one of his outbursts, and he'd been friends with Zach since before they were together. At this point, she'd take any confusion over who was part of #TeamChalex. Heck, she'd go as far to cause the confusion. She made her way around the school and wrote on all the posters, Chloe X Alex = #Chalex.

As she was writing the last one, Alex happened to spot her, "What the fuck, Chloe?"

"Alex, I've dreamed of being prom queen since I was a little girl. You and St. George aren't going to take that away from me," Chloe stated firmly, hands on her hips.

"I've had people coming up to me asking me if I'd left Charlie for you."

"So let them think that. I want to win Alex. I'll do whatever it takes." She gestured aggressively at the posters, her eyes a little wild, "Who the fuck is putting all these up?"

"I don't fucking know," Alex shook his head, "I mean, I don't really care if I win, so you do you, Chloe."

"Thanks, Alex." Chloe smiled sweetly, the anger from moments ago disappearing as if it had never existed in the first place.

Having only spent lunches and every other spare moment together at school since Wednesday, Charlie and Alex agreed to meet after school to hang out together on Monday. The school had mostly cleared out, save for the few students sticking around to do various extracurriculars. Charlie was waiting for Alex in his usual spot in the Cafeteria.

"Hey, how was your day?"

"I can cross one more day off my countdown to never having this attend this hell hole, so in my eyes, it was a success. Although I have to admit, I think I like the school best when it is sort of empty like this."

Charlie laughed, "Well, that's one way to look on the bright side."

"That's me, Mr Brightside," Alex quipped sarcastically. Despite his quip, Charlie noticed Alex was in an uncharacteristically happy. "So I think we should do a redo of that videogame date."

"You do, do you?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, I really don't like where we ended it last time. And you were just starting to be fun to play against," Alex teased.

"Oh just starting to be fun? What is that?"

"Well, considering I haven't played in a while, I'm not sure how I was already better than you."

"Alex, sometimes you're a cocky bastard."

"Only when I know I'm good at something." Alex grinned, and it was Charlie's turn to roll his eyes. However, he had to admit that although he knew Alex wouldn't describe himself as a confident person, he found the times he was confident to be super attractive.

"Let's do it. My Dad already told me it was ok to have you over."

"Oh, you already asked to have me over? How presumptuous."

"Well, unless you don't want to?" Charlie back peddled, unsure as to whether Alex was joking or not.

"Charlie, I'm joking. Plus, I think I'm the one that was being presumptuous. I basically invited myself over."

They made their way to Charlie's SUV. Before starting to drive, Charlie put on the Spotify list Alex had made for him.

"You like the playlist?"

Charlie blushed, "Yeah and I thought you would prefer to listen to your own music instead of mine. "

"That is very considerate of you. I still want to hear your ultimate totally Charlie list. I don't want you to hold back just because you think I won't like something. If there isn't at least one Katy Perry song, I might not believe you've stayed true to yourself."

Charlie laughed, "Actually I already finished it, before our last videogame date. I considered making a playlist with o nly  Katy Perry songs but decided that I have broader tastes than that. Want to hear it?"

"For sure, I promise not to make fun of you...  too much  for your musical tastes. Scouts honour." Alex raised his hand as if he was taking an oath, eyes glinting mischievously.

"You don't strike me as the boy scouting type," Charlie remarked skeptically, while shamelessly queuing the pop music list that he'd named  Charlie's Ultimate Power Dance Mix.  He'd put it on shuffle and ironically the first song that came up was  Firework  by Katy Perry. 

Alex grinned and nodded, "Yes, this is exactly what I'd expect you to have on your list." 

Charlie started to sing along to the song, belting out the chorus along with Katy Perry. He looked over at Alex, who wore an expression that was a cross between pained and amused. 

"You'll never admit it, but you are secretly loving my  Ultimate Power Dance Mix."  Alex didn't answer but smirked in a way that made Charlie think he was right. 

"Hey, weren't you supposed to make me another list of "harder" music?"

"Yeah, I've been working on it. It is more difficult lately because I've been digging happier music lately." Charlie smiled, hoping that it might be him that had had a positive influence on Alex's mood.

"One last thing. How should I introduce you to my Dad?"

"I don't know how about 'this is Alex'? I don't know if we should overcomplicate this with labels at this point. I mean it's been three days. If you want to give him a bit more information, you could tell him we are going to prom together. Does he know you are bisexual?"

"Yeah, I told him a few weeks ago, and he wasn't surprised. He said my Eli Manning lock screen was a dead giveaway."

Alex laughed, "Yeah, my mom knows now too, but only because she and everyone at Monet's watched us kiss. For someone who likes to keep my private life private, I've done a shitty job when it comes to 'coming out'. First, with breaking up with Winston in public and then with kissing you out on the street after everyone followed us out."

Charlie laughed, "How did she take it?"

"Fine I guess, she just was happy that I seemed happy. I'm guessing she told my Dad, but he hasn't said anything. It isn't a conversation I'm looking forward to."

"Why not?"

"It is a long story, but let's just say that before my suicide attempt, my Dad was perhaps a little overly concerned about my masculinity. He got excited when I had male friends, even though they were totally toxic. He's been totally supportive since, but it is hard to forget how he was." 

"Ah, I see. Shall we, before my Dad wonders why we are just sitting in the SUV?"

As they walked into the house, Charlie's Dad greeted them, "Hey boys. I don't believe we've met."

"Dad, this is Alex. Alex, this is my Dad, Henry St. George."

"Nice to meet you, Alex." Henry smiled warmly, "You are staying for dinner, right?"

"Yes, I think so, Mr St. George." 

"Oh, call me Henry, Alex. Mr St. George is my father," Henry laughed, "We are having spaghetti and meatballs. Charlie's favourite."

"Do you need any help with dinner?" Charlie's asked, even though he was hoping his father would say no so he could spend more time with Alex.

"I think I'm good, Charlie. You boys go have fun."

"Ok, we're just going to go play some video games."

"Sounds good. I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything."

They made their way to the St. George's living room and relaxed into the couch, each grabbing a controller.

"So Henry St. George, eh? Names in your family sound so rich."

"Oh you think that sounds rich, his full name is Henry Francis Brixton St. George and mine is Charles Hayden Brixton St. George."

"Your kidding?"

"I can't make this shit up."

Alex laughed, "Well, shit. Anyhow, shall we play?"

"I think that we should play Call of Duty first and then since that game is so easy for you then maybe we should try Hunt: Showdown. I think you'll really like it."

"Whatever you say, I have a good feeling about my chances at winning either game."

They played a few rounds of Call of Duty, and while Charlie had improved, Alex still beat Charlie in two out of three rounds. They switched to Hunt: Showdown and Alex lost the first game because he was still figuring out the controls but then beat Charlie in the next two games. 

Alex looked smug which Charlie actually found kind of cute. He wanted to kiss Alex but was a little hesitant because Alex had told him he wanted to take things slow. But ever since Alex kissed him after the promposal, Charlie was feeling like he was getting mixed signals. They hadn't kissed again since Wednesday despite spending all their spare time together. Charlie moved closer to Alex on the couch so that his legs rested against Alex's. He's noticed Alex didn't move away from him but instead leaned back on the sofa, reaching his arms to rest along the back of the couch. Charlie couldn't tell if he was stretching or if it was one of those lame attempts at putting his arm around Charlie and he chuckled at the thought.

"What are you laughing at?" Alex asked, bringing his arms back down, resting his hands on his lap.

Charlie blushed and didn't want to admit what he was thinking.

"Come on, Charles."

"It was nothing, it was stupid." Charlie blushed again and avoided making eye contact. 

"I don't believe you,"

Charlie smiled, "Ok, I'll tell you. I was thinking about kissing you. And laughed because I thought you were trying that smooth move you always see teenage boys do in movies where they pretend they are stretching, but they are really trying to put their arm around the unsuspecting girl."

"Oh, you mean, like this?" Alex grinned and stretched his arms up and rested them against the back of the couch, behind Charlie at first, and then he let his arm drop around the back of Charlie's neck, letting his hand rest on the other boy's shoulder. Alex didn't break eye contact as he did this and Charlie wasn't sure if Alex knew what this was doing to him.

"Yeah like that," Charlie gazed into Alex's eyes.

"Are you still thinking about kissing me?" They were now sitting very close, close enough that Charlie could feel Alex's breath on his face.

"Maybe," Charlie looked down, sheepishly. Maybe was an understatement. More like definitely. He was definitely still thinking about kissing him. 

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Can I? I guess I was worried about going too fast."

"Um, I thought the very public kiss I gave you would have given you the impression that kissing was on the table. I mean I don't do that for just anyone."

"I just wanted to make sure."

Alex smiled, which melted Charlie, "I appreciate you asking."

"So..."

"Jesus Christ, Charlie, do you always talk this much? Yes, fucking kiss me, or I'll do it first."

"Well, now the mood is ruined," Charlie whined, in mock-seriousness, stalling a little knowing that he was probably frustrating Alex a little. He found it funny that Alex was the one that wanted to take it slow, but now he seemed less than patient about his pace.

"Fucking hell," Alex cursed and leaned in to kiss Charlie, slightly aggressively, nibbling a bit on his bottom lip. Charlie gasped. "You have my open permission to kiss me, so long as we are alone. I'm not sure I want to repeat our performance on Wednesday as a habit. I might have gotten carried away and forgotten where I was."

"Deal. But uh, may I point out that you initiated that kiss?"

Alex just rolled his eyes and kissed Charlie again, parting his lips slightly before Charlie pulled away.

"Uh, we aren't completely alone here, unless you don't mind getting interrupted by my dad."

"Oh right, that would be awkward."

"So are you ready for Prom?"

"Am I supposed to get something ready?" Alex asked a little unsure of himself.

"Well, do you have your suit? How are you getting there? That sort of stuff."

"Right, I mean my mom took me to rent a suit this weekend, and she chatted to me for a long time about boutonnieres? I'll be honest, up until recently, I really wasn't sure if I was going. So I haven't given it much thought. Although Chloe got me thinking about that stupid prom royalty thing."

"What about it?"

"Well, I don't care if I win, and Chloe has some sort of prom princess dream she wants to realize. I was thinking of getting Tyler to make some posters telling people to vote for Zach instead of me. I mean, it doesn't matter if I win anyhow. You lose your bet regardless. And I'll feel horrible winning knowing that I don't really care about winning, you know what I mean?"

Charlie nodded, "Well, I think that is pretty kind of you." The more Charlie learned about Alex, the more he grew to like him. While Alex` had a prickly exterior, he was turning out to be a big softie on the inside and Charlie really admired that about him. 

"Just before I met you, I saw Chloe basically resigned to using them to bank on people's confusion and vote her and me in as prom royalty. I think this is the least I can do. Also, I'm pretty sure Tyler's behind the #TeamChalex posters. He probably thinks he's exploiting some grey area since I told him not to put any more posters for me."

"That's pretty smart actually. I mean, I'm totally #TeamChalex."

Alex rolled his eyes and gave an exasperated sigh, paired with his signature half-smile, "You would be."

Charlie missed the eye roll and the sigh as he was too distracted by Alex's half-smile or rather the perfectly kissable lips forming the smile. This time Charlie didn't hesitate, acting on the open permission Alex had just granted him. Wanting to savour their fourth kiss, Charlie placed his lips lightly, almost chastely upon Alex's, the gentleness contrasting Alex's earlier more aggressive, frustrated kiss. It was passionate in its own way, mirroring Charlie's personality much like Alex's kiss had reflected his. He felt the other boy respond, running one of his hands gently through his hair as he moved to deepen the kiss, albeit more slowly, more controlled and more gently than before. Charlie felt a delightful tightness in his chest as if he'd just done a set of wind sprints in full football gear as Alex gave a very light nibble to his bottom lip. He noticed Alex liked to do this when they kissed and was growing to crave it. By now, he felt like his whole body was on fire, and he could only imagine Alex felt the same as when he reluctantly pulled away, he heard the other boy release a sigh, his eyes still closed, his skin flushed red as Charlie imagined his was too.

"I didn't want to stop, but I think having one parent watch us kiss this week is enough. I keep forgetting about my Dad."

"Yeah. Fuck, did videogames just become code for this?"

"Only if you want it to be." Charlie laughed, encouraged that Alex seemed equally taken by the kiss.

"It's hard to say what I like doing more," Alex's eye twinkled. 

"Watch it, there is only one correct answer to that. But I'm willing to 'play' another round or two for science." Charlie failed to commit the information that they weren't alone in the house to memory even though it was him who kept reminding them and started to lean in for another kiss, but before he could finish, he was interrupted by the sound of his father's voice, calling them both for dinner.

"Oh, you definitely owe me another round, Charles. For science. It's a good thing you are better at kissing than you are at first-person shooters."

Charlie's mouth dropped in mock indignation for a moment and then he beamed, "I can't argue with that."

Three Days Until Prom

Alex was surprised when he arrived at school on Tuesday and saw a bunch of new posters that said, "A Vote For Zach Dempsey is A Vote for Alex Standall." He'd texted Tyler the night before, and obviously, Tyler acted quickly. It wasn't exactly what Alex had had in mind, but it would do. Chloe beamed at him and actually ran up to him and gave him a hug. He was unprepared for it so to onlookers it probably looked like Chloe was hugging a stiff, mildly surprised board.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me. "

"Your welcome? I guess we'll see if it works."

"Are you riding in the limo with us? I guessed yes, but I didn't want to presume."

"This is the first I've heard of it."

"Oh Zachy was supposed to talk to you about it," she said, sticking out her bottom lip in a slight pout, twirling a bit of her golden blond hair between her fingers. 

" Zachy  was mad at me, but I'm guessing he'll be a bit better now." Alex hoped Zach would be better now. He'd been so hot and cold lately that it was had to keep track. 

"Well consider this your invitation, you and Charlie are invited to share a limo with me, Zach, Jessica and Diego. Oh, and Luke. Diego says Luke is his platonic life partner and as such is coming as well." Alex couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the 'platonic life partner' thing. But it was true. Jessica complained that it was sometimes hard to get Diego alone because of how much time Luke and Diego spent together. 

"Cool, I'll talk to Charlie, and see what he thinks." Alex thought of all the people that they might ride with and was surprised that he called so many people his friends. He hadn't forgotten about Ani, Clay Tyler and Justin. Although, he and Charlie would have to pick between the two groups as even though they likely could get a limo that could hold all of them, putting Justin and Jessica in the same limo would be a disaster waiting to happen. 

Alex texted Charlie during his first-period class. 

Alex (9:30 am):  Chloe just invited us to share a limo with her, Zach, Diego, Jess and Luke. thoughts?

Charlie (9:31 am):  sounds good to me

Alex (9:33 am):  I feel a bit bad about not going with Tyler, Clay, Ani and Justin, but honestly this way we both get to hang with our friends.

Charlie (9:34 am):  we'll see everyone at prom, I'm sure they will understand.

Zach was less than impressed when Alex ran into him at lunch hour. "You think I need your help to win?" 

"You told me to fix it so, since I can't drop out, this was the only way. And Chloe's happy now so what's your deal, Dempsey?"

"Chloe is happy?" Zach's eyes went wide with hope, "I'll take the injury to my pride. Thanks, bro!"

"Uh yeah, no problem," Alex said awkwardly, "So when were you going to invite me to share the limo,  Zachy ?" 

"Oh when I was sure you weren't going to steal my girlfriend," Zach teased, "All the posters had Chloe x Alex = Chalex."

"Dude, when did you become so insecure? I think I'm the last person you need to worry about stealing Chloe."

"I don't know, Standall. Luke's stupid prom polls must be getting to me."

"Seriously? I mean, I figured I was only first because I was the Liberty High equivalent of Boaty McBoatface, an amusing choice that people were only voting for because it was funny that the nobody Alex Standall was in first. Or worse, they were voting for me because they felt bad." 

"What the fuck, Alex? Boaty McBoatface? What are you on? And dude, since when have Liberty High Student had the sympathy for a pity vote?"

"Fair point."

"Let's never fight over something as stupid as prom king ever again." Zach put his arm around Alex, giving it a light squeeze.

"Deal."

"So you are riding with us in the limo, right?"

"I guess so, I mean you kind of smell." Alex teased.

Zach sighed, "Why am I even friends with you?"

"Hey, that's my line!" 

"Well, I know why you are friends with me. I'm handsome and charming."

Alex rolled his eyes, and returned playfully, "Fuck you, Dempsey!"

"Oh can dish it out, but can't take it?" Zach laughed, "We'll pick you and Charlie up at 6 pm?"

"Yeah, my place."

"Oh and watch Charlie, um he is super known for his hands."

"What the fuck, Zach?" Alex shook his head and walked away as Zach laughed.

One Day Until Prom  

When Luke posted his prom poll the day before Prom, he had to admit, he was a little disappointed. Those posters telling Alex voters to vote for Zach had worked well enough that Zach was now in second, his highest position since Luke had started doing prom polls two months ago. But if Luke knew anything about polling, it was that the polls often lied and that anything could happen come prom tomorrow. 

Luke wrote the following: 


Last poll before the big day! 

1. Chloe

2. Zach

3. Alex

4. Charlie

5. Jessica

6. Diego

May the odds be ever in your favour!

Chapter Text

Prom Night

"Alex, Charlie is here, I'm sure your hair looks fine, son. Don't keep your guest waiting too long or your mom will have time to show Charlie the next volume of childhood photos," Bill Standall called up to Alex, letting Charlie into the house to wait. 

Charlie chuckled, remembering the last time he'd spent time with Alex's parents. Alex had made the lamest excuse not to go to the party and Carolyn had thoroughly embarrassed him by sharing Alex's baby pictures with him.

"Hopefully my son doesn't keep you waiting too long."

"Thanks, Mr Standall or is it Deputy Standall?" Charlie said politely. 

"Only when I'm on duty, son. You can call me Bill."

Alex made his way down the stairs. He was wearing a navy blue suit, white, a white shirt with a small pattern, a black tie and shiny black patent leather shoes. "I see I made it down here before you started embarrassing me again with those fucking photo albums."

"Language, Alex!" Carolyn admonished her son as she came into the room, a DSLR camera hanging from her neck. Charlie noticed that Carolyn couldn't keep the smile from her face despite her disapproval of her son's choice of words. He thought Alex looked pretty sharp and it was nice to see him all dressed up. 

Charlie watched as Carolyn approached Alex and smoothed his collar for him. "Honey, you both look amazing. I love the tux and the bowtie, Charlie, very classic. I need to get some pictures before you leave."

Alex reluctantly agreed, and they proceeded to take a bunch of pictures together. Just when Alex thought his mom was done, she had them pose for a few more shots.

"MOM! Are you done taking pictures yet? They are literally waiting for us in the limo right now." Alex said impatiently.

"Oh, oh, I almost forgot! Just wait right here!" Carolyn ran to the fridge and returned holding two clear plastic boxes, each with a matching flower, a single deep red, almost burgundy rose.

"I got excited discussing boutonnieres with Alex over the weekend, and so I ordered two. I figured that way Alex would have one to give you Charlie, should you have given him one."

"Oh, uh I didn't know I was supposed to get him one." Charlie looked panicked like he'd made a significant gaffe.

Alex was mortified, a state that was becoming all too familiar to him. "Don't worry, Charlie, I assure you I don't care about a stupid flower." Noticing that his mother seemed to wince when he said 'stupid flower' tried to correct himself, "I mean it's a nice flower, I'm just saying I'm cool either way."

Carolyn carefully pinned the flowers on each boy's jacket. "Can I get one more picture? With the boutonnieres?" Alex gave an exasperated sigh but indulged his mother as she took a few more pictures of them.

"Well, behave yourselves, "Bill advised.

"We will Mr Standall, uh I meant Bill."

Alex, cheekily turned to and whispered to Charlie, "We will?"

Bill, having heard Alex gave him a stern, loving look as only a father could, "I'll see you there later for my chaperone shift."

"Bye Dad." 

"Have fun!" Carolyn called after the boys as they exited Alex's house as quickly has his parents would let them and his leg would allow.

Luke, Diego, Jessica, Chloe and Zach were already in the limo. It was big and fancy but it still barely contained the light pink tulle skirt of Chloe's dress. She was dressed just as one would imagine a wannabe prom queen would be. Jessica's dress was a more sophisticated one-shouldered black number, with a cubic zirconia encrusted belt for a bit of bling. Luke and Zach both had a classic tux that looked very similar to what Charlie was wearing. The only distinguishing difference was that they each had a different colour bowtie. Charlie's was black, Luke's was red, and Zach's was a pale pink that coordinated with Chloe's dress. Diego had opted for a patterned black and white shirt with his tux and tie.

Charlie noticed that the atmosphere was a bit tense in the limo. He figured it was because they were all nominated for prom royalty. It was pretty dumb come to think of it—all this drama over a stupid popularity contest that literally would mean nothing in about a month. 

"So are we just going to sit here in awkward silence all night? Prom is supposed to be a celebration. I know I can't wait to dance," Charlie said, looking over at Alex. 

"You're on your own, Charles. I don't dance."

Zach shook his head, "That isn't entirely true. I can recall giving you some excellent dance lessons before spring fling in Junior year. You weren't bad, and that was when you still needed your cane."

"Let's not speak of my cane, may it rest in peace," Alex said pointedly.  

"Yeah, you were pretty good at that dance," Jessica added. 

"Hey, let's not team up on Alex!" Alex interjected curtly causing Charlie, Zach and Jessica to break into laughter. They were met with a death glare from Alex, which didn't actually help them stop laughing. They all knew first hand that Alex's bark was worse than his bite. 

"So are you all ready to find out who will be crowned prom royalty?" Luke asked. Chloe looked back at him nervously. Diego and Jessica each gave Luke an almost identical, bored look that said  Seriously?  Which made sense, seeing as they'd both been in the last place for nearly the entirety of the time that Prom Polls were conducted. Alex and Zach looked disinterested like they didn't care anymore.

"I'm done with it. I think I have prom election fatigue if that is a thing," Alex commented, "Also I've been thinking about it and I don't know. It just seems problematic to me. I mean at one point in the past, the only two people in this car who would have been allowed to attend, Luke and Chloe."

"Leave it to Alex to give us a history lecture on the way to prom," Jessica stated flatly, rolling her eyes.

"What? We are all supposed to be friends, and this stupid prom royalty thing totally came between us. Doesn't that seem dumb? Like why is it so important to you to win Chloe?"

"I...I... "Chloe stammered, not able to articulate it. 

"Society tells us that we should want all this. The fancy expensive prom dress that I'll bet you've been saving every penny from your serving job at Rosie's to pay for. To win some popularity contest that nobody will remember in 10 years. Next year maybe even. I mean at least they made it so that it was prom royalty and not just a king and queen." 

"What the fuck Alex!" Chloe looked like Alex had murdered her dream with his little rant. Charlie looked over and Luke, and he seemed similarly pained. The boy loved following the drama of the race.

"What? You know I'm right. Jessica and Diego, it couldn't have felt good to be in last for weeks on end. Zach, you weren't talking to me for a while because I was, for whatever fucked up reason, in first place a lot of the time. It is all meaningless, and we acted like idiots because of it. All for a stupid plastic crown."

"Well, Alex, what do you propose we do?" Jessica, her voice had its distinctive edge, but to Charlie, she looked intrigued. 

"None of us should accept our crowns should we win. We dedicate them to the student body. Thank people for their support."

"No." Chloe said, "Fuck that, Alex."

"Come on, Chloe, you were willing to be prom queen with me to win. Think about that."

"You aren't as horrible as you think you are Alex," Chloe admitted, "There were a good number of disappointed girls that had been secretly crushing on you before they found out about you and Winston. Some of them still hope, although less now that you are with Charlie."

Alex nodded, "Even so. Why not flip this tradition on its head? We all get the first dance. Well, you guys can have it. I'll watch."

"I'm in," Jessica said, "This kind of stunt is right up my alley, and I never had a hope of winning anyhow. FML, right, Alex?"

Alex smiled and nodded.

Diego was the next, "Count me in. I'm with Jess."

"Well, you all know I'm with Alex. 100%" Charlie added his voice.

"Since none of you wants to win or can win, that leaves, Chloe and I. So why would we join in on this?" Zach asked, as he reached over to squeeze Chloe's hand supportively.

"To prove a point?" Jessica said, "I mean, it takes this kind of action to change outdated traditions like this."

Chloe was pouting, Zach trying to console her. After a few moments, a small voice emerged from her, "Can you give me some time to decide?"

"Take as long as you need," Alex said.

They were all silent for a few moments. Luke broke it, grinning as he appeared to be typing "This isn't the drama I predicted, but I'm here for it."

"Don't you dare post an Insta-story about this! We need it to be a surprise!" Charlie exclaimed, eyes wide, knowing his friend's weakness for sharing any juicy gossip on Instagram.

"I uh... I'll discard my draft." Luke sheepishly put away his phone. Everyone checked their phones to make sure Luke hadn't posted anything. Luke pulled a flask from the inside of his tuxedo jacket. "Anyone want to take the edge off?" He passed around his flask, and everyone took a swig of what appeared to be straight whiskey. 

Soon, they pulled up the venue. The prom was being held at a local golf course, and the prom committee had spared no expense in decorating. 

"Wow... this is nice." Charlie complimented. Tiny white lights hung around the room, giving it a magical quality. Everyone looked impressed at how fancy the venue looked. 

"Thank you. I'm pretty proud of what we accomplished." Jessica looked around, hands on her hips. 

 Alex scanned the room for Clay, Ani, Tyler and Justin who had come as a group to prom with Caleb and Tony in a separate limo. Alex had arranged that he and Charlie would sit with them for dinner. Locating them, Alex grabbed Charlie's hand and led him towards the table. Charlie pulled a chair out for Alex.

"I don't need you..." 

Charlie interrupted him, "It's what people do." Charlie noticed Alex relaxed after that, and they settled into their seats. 

"Ready for #TeamChalex to win prom royalty tonight?" Tyler joked. He was probably their biggest fan if someone could be a fan of a couple. 

Alex gave Charlie a look that said,  say nothing , and they both just smiled, and Charlie said, "Sure, Tyler." 

"Well we're all rooting for you," Tony added. 

"How did I get so lucky to be seated at a table of handsome men?" Ani looked warmly at both Clay, Alex and Tyler, "My skinny, sad boys are all grown up. You are all looking so hot tonight."

Clay shook his head, "I thought we'd agreed you'd stop calling us that."

"What about me?" Justin gave Ani his sweetest puppy dog eyes. 

She smiled, adding, "Oh, you already know your hot, Justin, with those puppy dog eyes and that damn smile. You look great tonight as well."

"Well, I've finally embraced my identity as a skinny, sad boy. Why fight it?" Alex noted, smiling at Charlie. 

Tyler, stating the obvious as he does, "You definitely don't look very sad anymore."

The food was delicious, a plated multi-course meal. They enjoyed each other's company briefly forgetting about the drama surrounding prom royalty.

After dinner, Charlie could see that Chloe kept whispering to Zach and looking at him and Alex. Charlie noticed that Alex received a text message. He didn't want to seem too snoopy, but he could see it was Chloe. He could see Alex roll his eyes, face look pained as she furiously typed back. 

He watched for Chloe's reaction as Alex pressed send. Chloe smirked and looked satisfied. Interesting. He wondered what that was about. Alex leaned over to him and whispered, "Chloe's in. Operation Prom Shake-Up 2019 is on."

Shortly after, Charlie watched Jess go up to the microphone, smiling widely at the crowd. "How's everyone doing tonight?"

Everyone clapped politely, and there were a few whoops from the crowd. 

"That's awesome. Well, it has the moment you've all been waiting for, and no one more than Luke Holliday, am I right?" Everyone laughed and cheered at her joke. "It is time to announce our prom royalty for this evening."

Principal Bolan passed her the envelope. 

"Thanks, Gary!" She laughed, breaking the seal on the envelope. 

"Your 2019 prom royalty are: Oh, this is interesting. It's a tie. Alex Standall, Chloe Rice, Zach Dempsey and Charlie St. George." 

Charlie could see that Luke was holding his camera, presumably capturing the moment for all his Insta-stories. As they made their way towards the mic to accept their crowns or rather to carry out Operation Prom Shake Up 2019, Chloe whispered, "What the fuck do we do now?" She looked like she was unsure as to whether or not to carry out the plan given two out of the three couples had won. 

"This changes nothing. Stay the course, remember what we discussed." Alex hissed back.

Chloe was the first person that addressed the crowd. People cheered as she approached the mic, after all, she was the captain of the cheer squad and admired by many in the school. She inhaled deeply, slowly exhaling, seeming to steel herself for what she was about to do. Chloe had the most to lose of the four of them as she was giving up her dream. "We want to thank you for voting for us. We all appreciate your support, but none of us can accept these crowns. The idea of prom royalty is outdated and only serves to fuel an unhealthy popularity contest. Speaking for myself, I'd tied up a lot of self-esteem and self-worth to winning the crown. I'd dreamed of it since I was a little girl and was willing to do almost anything to win. I didn't like the person I became when I was trying to win."

Alex spoke next, "I realize I represented all of you who never had a shot. I'm not sure who nominated me, but I'm pretty sure I was only the ballot because of a stupid bet that was made. Yeah, if it hadn't been for that bet, there wouldn't have been a 'dark horse' representing people like us. People that outwardly don't care about prom but still feel pretty shitty about the fact that they could never win. And I'll tell you, it felt pretty good to be in first or second almost every week, even though I felt like I didn't deserve it. Also, I don't deserve to win over Jessica and Diego or even any of you in the crowd." 

There was a brief shout from the crowd, "All hail, King Standall!" This was followed by cheers and laughter.

Alex smiled shyly and gave a brief and awkward royal wave as he stepped away from the mic, gesturing to Charlie to continue. "I'm the stupid person that bet I could make anyone prom royalty. It almost backfired and almost ruined one of the best things that has ever happened to me." He smiled softly at Alex. "The fact that I thought that my popularity was enough of a force that it could make someone win, well that's really stupid and toxic. This focus on popularity, a concept that really means nothing outside of high school and yet is the cause of so much strife, well it needs to stop."

Zach finished, "So that is why we can't accept these crowns. They don't mean anything, and they encourage toxic popularity contests that are arbitrary and mean nothing." Zach paused and looked over to Principal Bolen. "Let this be a challenge to the class of 2020 to come up with a new tradition to replace this one. So we'd like to invite everyone to join us on the dance floor for our first dance! We are all prom royalty tonight!" 

Zach passed the mic back to Jessica, who announced, "Crowns will be brought to the photo booth so everyone can have their chance to be king or queen!"

The DJ puts on a slow romantic song, and Chloe and Zach were first on the dance floor; Chloe getting her moment alone on the dance floor that she'd likely dreamed about since she was little. No crown, but like everyone else she could make that dream happen later. Jessica and Diego followed, grinning at each other as they started their dance. Charlie was surprised when Alex's hand firmly gripped his and led him purposefully onto the dance floor. Charlie gave Alex a twirl before, Alex grabbed Charlie's hip pulling him in close, resting his head upon Charlie's shoulder.

Charlie smiled, savouring the moment. He dreamed of this moment over the past couple of days, but the reality was proving to be far sweeter than anything he could have imagined. He sighed and took in Alex's scent and softly whispered in Alex's ear, "I thought you weren't going to dance." He could feel Alex's warm breath against his shoulder as they moved slowly to the music. 

He turned to look at Charlie as he answered, an amused grin forming on his face. "That was part of the deal. With Chloe. She made me promise I'd dance with you at least once." Alex's head gracefully moved back to Charlie's shoulder as if it were meant to rest there. 

"Ah, so this is all just part of the deal?" Charlie smiled broadly at Alex, noticing he looked almost blissfully happy. 

"Well, now that I'm here, I guess dancing isn't so bad." Alex smiled softly and looked longingly into Charlie's eyes for a moment before closing his eyes, returning his head to Charlie's shoulder. Charlie felt his heart swell, feeling Alex's head nuzzle him gently. Charlie guided them around the dance floor, letting Alex relax into his embrace. 

Alex leaned in again, his nose brushing against the nape of Charlie's neck, "Kiss me?"

"In front of all these people?" Charlie confirmed, remembering the conversation they'd had a few days ago. As they'd been dancing, the crowd had grown, and it was no longer the three nominated couples on the floor. 

"Please, before I change my mind." Alex closed his eyes, smiled leaning towards Charlie, closed the space between them to meet Alex's lips, and they kissed in time with the music as their surroundings seemed to melt away. For a moment, they felt alone, even though they were anything but. All Charlie could feel is Alex, his lips, his tongue, his hand resting on Charlie's hip gripping him a bit harder as if a failure to hold on tight enough he might fall or worse lose himself in the kiss, in the moment. 

The song they were dancing to ended, fading into a more upbeat number. They reluctantly broke apart, still facing each other, hands clasped. "We can go sit down if you like? Take a break?" Charlie offered.

"No, I'm good. Let's keep dancing." Alex smiled and released both his hands, starting to move to the music. For someone with such apprehensions about dancing, he had good rhythm likely from years of studying music. They danced for a while much longer than Charlie expected Alex to, but eventually, he did want a break.

"I need a break. I'm going to go sit over there," Alex told Charlie.

"I can come with you? Keep you company?"

"I'm good." Alex insisted, "Really, I am. Go have fun without me."

"Ok, if you insist." Charlie rejoined Luke and Diego on the dance floor. He looked back at Alex relaxing alone and smiled. He was having a great night.

Alex was surprised to find he was actually having a good time at prom. He had found an empty table to take a break from dancing. He found a new water glass and poured himself some water with ice from the jug at the centre of the table. He sat sipping his water, observing the crowd when Jessica sat down beside him.

She nudged him with her elbow and smiled fondly at him. "I'm proud of you. The plan, your little speech, well, shit. It warmed my little activist heart."

"I don't even know where that came from. It just wasn't fair. It never has been, and I guess I was tired of it." Alex continued to watch Charlie dance with Luke and Diego.

"Seems you've figured out what to do with that fiery anger you used to keep all bottled up until you'd explode."

"Maybe, I mean, anger can be destructive. Keeping it all bottled up was only hurting me, I know that first hand. I guess this is what Dr Ellman has always said about how anger can be used to motivate change." 

"Shit, It's been a good night, probably one of the best dances in my time at Liberty."

"You can say that again. We've seen some shit, haven't we?"

"Yep, and we always make it through. FML, forever?" Jessica put her hand towards Alex's. 

Alex covered her hand with his. "FML, forever." 

As they sat together for a bit, suddenly Cha Cha Slide came on, and every student started doing the same dance. It was a dance they'd all learned during the social dance unit in Phys. Ed. class every year beginning in Freshman year. Jessica looked at Alex with a devilish grin, stood up and extended her hand, "Come on, Alex! One last time."

"Just no. It was bad enough we had to do that dance every year. I don't need to relive it. "

She grabbed his hand, gave it a light tug and said, "Please?"

"Oh fine," Alex agreed begrudgingly, and they joined the mass of students all doing the same dance together. 

They danced for a bit longer and then they all went to have their turn at the photo booth—each of them taking pictures with the crowns. Charlie wore the small crowd and Alex the bigger one. They took some fun group shots using the many props that were provided.  Winston was in charge of running the booth, along with a few Juniors. When he saw Alex, he got one of the Juniors to take over and walked over to him.

"Can I, uh talk to you?"

"Sure," Alex agreed. 

"Uh, privately?" Winston asked quietly, eying Charlie nervously.

Alex looked at Charlie, who nodded at him, letting him know he was ok with it. They walked outside. 

"You look happy, Alex."

"I am."

"I just wanted to wish you well. I know things didn't end well between us, and I know that it was my fault. I don't know if I've ever owned that."

"Thanks. I hope you find someone who makes you happy. Don't settle. They are out there somewhere."

Winston nodded, looking a little sad. He almost turned to go back inside. He looked down, can I ask you one more thing, "Did you ever really like me?"

"Of course, I did. And without you, I wouldn't be where I am today. You unintentionally forced me out, but it was a good thing. Kind of like sometimes it hurts less to rip a Band-Aid off quickly vs slowly. As sore as I was about how we broke up for a while, I'm grateful for it now."

Winston smiled sadly, "Oh and one last thing: I regret my lame attempt to sabotage you and Charlie and the awkward invitation to prom that followed. I shouldn't have put you in that situation."

"I forgive you. I'm sorry, I never replied to you. I probably gave you false hope, and that was wrong. Well, I should get back. Goodnight, Winston."

"Goodbye, Alex."

Alex was happy to get some closure with Winston. It appeared that Winston needed it more than he did, but he was pleased he was no longer carrying around his pain from that breakup. 

The crew stayed until 10:30 pm, a half-hour before the dance ended so they could arrive at Luke's for the after-party he was hosting ahead of the rest of the student body. Luke had spent the day setting up for the party, and his house looked terrific. He had a similar set up for drinks as at the Find Your Drink Party and had rented a sound system. 

They were all hanging out in Luke's kitchen while Luke made them each play his little fortune-teller to choose their drink until he came to Alex. 

"Yo Standall, you still want to finish all the drinks on this fortune-teller?"

"Sure, although perhaps I'll pace myself better than last time." Alex smiled back at Luke.

"I believe in you, man!" Luke slapped Alex on his back before making him one of the drinks Alex hadn't tired and then made himself one. He held his glass in the air and said, "I propose a toast- to us, the class of 2019. We survived Liberty fucking High School! To surviving high school!"

"To surviving high school," they chorused.

They partied into the night, watching the sunrise. They would remember it as being one of the best nights of their life.

Epilogue- Graduation Day

It wasn't long until graduation day came. It was a sunny day, and the ceremony was to take place outdoors.

Diego and Charlie were still inside the boys change room getting ready and Diego was trying to talk Charlie out of withholding his end of the bet. "Dude, we all agreed the bet was stupid. You doing this is idiotic."

The door swung open, Alex coming in to hear the last bit of what Diego said, "Doing what?" 

"Your boyfriend is stubborn and refuses to drop the losing conditions of the bet we made."

"Oh, and what would those be?" Alex asked, amused.

Charlie blushed. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. 

"See, you can't even tell your boyfriend what you were going to do which definitely means you shouldn't do it. Alex will be mortified. Your father will be beside himself. Who knows, you might even lose that fancy football scholarship you got to Stanford."

"Charlie seems to frequently cause my mortification." Alex teased, "Now I'm definitely curious."

"Once, Alex. I mortified you once," Charlie corrected him. Both Alex and Diego ignored him.

"Ok, Charlie, I'll make you a deal. You show Alex what you were planning on doing in the boys' change room, and I'll consider the terms of your bet met."

Alex shrugged, "That seems like a good compromise to me."

Charlie begrudgingly accepted, "Fine. I know you are right Diego, I just hate to cop-out."

"You are not copping out, I assure you. We'll leave so you can get ready. Text Alex when you are ready for him," Diego snickered. 

About five minutes later Alex received a text telling him to come back into the change room. When he entered, Alex saw Charlie standing in the middle of the empty change room. He was completely naked aside from the hood that indicated he'd achieved honours, his shoes and some interesting black socks with rainbow unicorns on them. The only thing that was stopping Alex from seeing everything was the football Charlie was strategically holding in front of him.

Alex's jaw dropped, and he wasn't sure whether he should laugh or say something. 

"You have a weird look on your face." 

"Diego's right, oh god, this is priceless, but you can't fucking go out there like that. Not only would you embarrass me but your poor father. Charlie, what the fuck were you thinking?"

Charlie blushed and replied sheepishly, "Well, clearly, I shouldn't make bets when I'm high, but I'm a man of my word."

"You are. And I love that about you. Good thing Diego's a reasonable friend and you've now upheld your word in a much less public way. A much more legal way. I'm pretty sure going out there dressed like this is indecent exposure." Alex walked closer to Charlie, looking amused. He ran his hand down Charlie's bicep, interlacing his fingers when he reached his hand and leaned his head toward Charlie's ear and whispered, "You look pretty fucking hot though. I'm glad I don't have to share this view with the crowd."

Charlie gasped, Alex released his hand and walked towards the change room exit. "Now put your gown on. Jessica will kill us if we are late and miss her speech." 

Charlie dressed quickly and joined Alex in the hallway. "Come on Charlie, Diego's had already left to take his seat."

"Wait, Alex before we go out there, I just want to say thanks for giving me a second chance."

"I wouldn't have hesitated had I known I'd be blessed with that view of you," Alex joked.

"Isn't that kind of shallow?"

"Says the man who bet he could make anyone Prom Royalty?" 

"Point taken."

"I'm happy you made that stupid bet." Alex gazed lovingly into Charlie's eyes. 

"Me too." Charlie agreed, leaning in to plant one last kiss on Alex before they took their seats next to each other in the crowd. Alex really was all that and more than he'd ever imagined, Charlie thought, and while High school was over, they both had the rest of their lives to look forward to. Charlie would bet on it.