Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When Alvin Seville opened his eyes on what he thought was a regular old Thursday morning, he was very confused to find himself looking at blue bed sheets instead of his red ones. He frowned, slowly rolling over and looking at the next bed over. 

His red bed. A lump laid underneath the covers, facing away from him, tufts of slightly dark blonde hair sticking out at funny angles. 

Alvin got up out of bed and went around to his bed, staying calm, because there was no way he was seeing what he thought he was seeing. There was just no way. 

He came face to face with…himself. 

Blinking erratically, Alvin shook himself by the shoulder. As he did, he noticed he was now wearing a dark blue long sleeved pajama shirt. He shook the person in the bed harder.

“Ugh…what is it, Alvin?” They mumbled, eyes opening. There was a moment when both pairs of their wide eyes locked, and then… Simon went flying out of the bed.

“What–what the–” Simon uttered, frantically picking himself back up. The two brothers slowly circled each other, and as he realized what had happened, Alvin found his voice.

“What–what in the f–f–f–Freaky Friday did you do to me?!” Alvin asked, outraged and struggling to not use bad words. 

“I don’t know!” Simon cried. He took a long breath to try and calm himself. “Okay, let’s just…think. We were fine when we went to bed last night, weren’t we?” 

“Yeah, as far as I know.”

“Okay, so it’s probably just–” Simon cut himself off, freezing, his eyes going to the size of dinner plates. “W-Wait, um…there was this invention I was messing around with yesterday…but I don’t think it would’ve–”

“Something weird did happen yesterday.” Alvin suddenly remembered. 

Simon blinked, his face going horrified. “Please, please tell me it wasn’t a random fainting spell.” 

“Uh, yeah, actually, it was.” Alvin winced. 

“Tell me exactly what happened.”

“I was just sitting at the kitchen table, pretending to do my homework but actually playing on my phone. Then, for just a second, I felt like I was being electrocuted or something, and then I blacked out.” He frowned, bringing a hand up to rub at his forehead. “I bonked my head on the table kinda hard. I’m surprised it’s not bruised.”

Simon ignored his comment. “You woke up shortly after, feeling off? Like something wasn’t right but you just couldn’t put your finger on it?” 

“Uh, yeah. Exactly.” 

“Crap,” Simon whispered, nibbling on his thumbnail. “That is…not good.”

“Simon, what did you do?” 

“Where exactly at the table were you sitting?” Simon asked him suddenly.

“In the corner spot closest to Dave’s. On the window side.” 

“...Dang. Okay, I think I know how this happened.”

“Okay, shoot.” 

“You’re not gonna like it.”

“I already don’t like it. Just tell me what happened.”

“Okay, so, I was messing around with this new device I’m working on. It’s supposed to be, in essence, a teleportation device. It’s supposed to deconstruct matter and spontaneously recreate it in another location. But I haven’t been able to get it to work. It was really giving me a hard time yesterday, so I may have, uh…lost my temper.”

Alvin’s eyebrows rose. “Okay, that doesn’t really explain much.”

“I threw it on the ground, and I knew I had zapped myself, but nothing really happened, so I thought I was fine.” 

“Wait, so, how did this affect me?” Alvin asked, not understanding. 

“It had to have zapped you too.” 

“How?!” 

Judging by the look on his face, Alvin definitely was not going to like whatever Simon was about to say next. “Um…I think the beam must’ve bounced around on a bunch of reflective surfaces in my lab, and eventually…went down through the air vent.”

Alvin’s eyes widened. “There’s an air vent right above the dining room table.”

“Yup. Sure is.” 

“So you’re saying this happened because your machine happened to go off and the beam happened to find its way into the air vent and it just happened to come out at the exact same place I was sitting?” 

“Yup. Sure did.” 

Alvin chuckled, sounding bitter but amused at the same time. “Remind me to go outside the next time we have a thunderstorm. I might get struck by lightning.”

“Don’t you mean remind you not to go outside?” Simon asked, raising a brow.

“What? Heck no! I want superpowers, dude.” Alvin grinned. 

“If that superpower is being dead, then yeah, sure, have at it.” Simon quipped. 

“Anyway. So, your device obviously made us switch bodies. Is it supposed to do that?” 

“No. If it had worked correctly, it should have made our whole beings swap positions. Minds and all.” 

“How come it didn’t work?”

“I don’t know. But for whatever reason, it seems to have just switched our consciousnesses.”

“Okay, well, what are you waiting for? Just go get your device and switch us back. Easy peasy.” Alvin shrugged like it was nothing.

Simon bit his lip, chuckling nervously. “Well, see, here’s the thing. I sort of, uh–”

“Don’t tell me you broke it.” Alvin deadpanned, his shoulders deflating in dread. 

Simon popped his lips, not saying anything.

“You broke it?!” Alvin asked incredulously, throwing his arms out. 

“I definitely broke it.” 

“Well, then, what the frack are we supposed to do about this?!” Alvin burst, finally grasping the weight of their situation. “Tell me you can rebuild it.” 

“Well, I mean, yeah. Eventually. But, I, uh…did a real number on it. I’m gonna have to order some new parts, and put it back together from there.”

“How long is that gonna take?” 

“I-I never fully assessed the damage. I don’t know exactly what’s broken and what isn’t, what I already have or what I have to order. I’ll make sure to do that.” 

“Dangit, Simon, this is bad,” Alvin whispered harshly. “What are we supposed to do until then? We can’t go to school like this!” 

Simon opened his mouth to reply, but as if on cue, Dave’s voice rang through the house.

“Boys! Time to get ready for school!” 

Alvin and Simon cringed at each other. Alvin nervously called out. “Y-Yeah, we’re up! Thanks Dave!” 

Alvin lowered his voice back down to a whisper. “This is not happening. We need to lock the bedroom door, grab some snacks, water, and a bucket to pee in, and lock ourselves in your lab until this is over.”

Simon cringed in disgust. “First of all, gross. Second, that would never work. Dave knows how to get in my lab.” 

“What?! You let him into your lab but not me?” 

“He made me, alright? Insisted that he needed to be able to get in there in case I hurt myself or something. And, besides, he doesn’t abuse it like I know you would.” 

Alvin put his hand to his chest, feigning hurt. “Oh, I am wounded.” 

“Whatever, Alvin.” Simon dropped it, shaking his head. “I…don’t think there’s anything we can do right now.”

Alvin’s eyes widened, and he took a shocked step backwards, only to suddenly make a mad dash for the bathroom mirror. He was really unhappy to find Simon’s face staring back at him. He was really hoping everything that happened was just another weird dream of his. No such luck. 

“I’m sorry, Alvin,” Simon said grimly. “This is happening.”

“We’re really going to school like this?” 

“What choice do we have?” Simon shrugged. 

“Alright, alright, fine. But we’re not gonna tell anyone, right?” 

“Definitely not. Dave would kill us both if he found out.” 

Alvin pinched the bridge of his nose. “Oh, man. This is gonna be rough.” 

“Yup.” Simon agreed. Then he eyed Alvin up and down. “And it’s already off to a rough start. You forgot your glasses.”

“I did?” Alvin asked, turning and looking at the mirror again. He noticed the mirror’s fuzziness this time, as well as the lack of blue frames on his face, which was Simon’s. “Shoot, I did. You’re telling me that from now on, the moment I open my eyes for the first time every day, the very first thing I have to do is put on your stupid glasses?”

Simon rolled his eyes, and it was weird for Alvin to see himself doing something so Simon-like. “You make it sound way worse than it is, but yes. Just until we’re switched back.” 

Alvin hopped down from the vanity to go back for the glasses, and Simon followed. “Yeah, but you said so yourself last night, who knows when that will be. Your machine’s totally ruined.”

“Yeah, it is, but we’ll get it figured out. I’m sure it’s– watch it!”

Simon seized Alvin by the arm and yanked him sideways, narrowly keeping him from running face-first into the bathroom door frame. 

“Sorry,” Alvin mumbled, shaking his head. Simon kept a hold of his arm, guiding him as they walked. “Jeez, do you always get this dizzy without your glasses?” 

“Pretty much.”

“This is an outrage. I feel intoxicated. How do you live like this?”

Simon snorted a laugh, shaking his head as he pulled Alvin along. “Again, you’re making it sound worse than it is. Just hold still.”

Simon slipped the frames on Alvin’s face, and he blinked as his eyes adjusted and the world became clear again. 

“Better?” Simon asked.

“Much, tha–” Alvin gasped loudly, his hands flying over his mouth in horror. “Simon!”

“What? What’s wrong?” 

He hadn’t been able to see it before without the glasses. “Your hair! My hair! What’d you do to it?!” Alvin asked incredulously. 

“Wha–nothing! I didn’t do anything!”

“You look like you stuck a fork in an electrical outlet!”

“I didn’t! What are you going on about?” 

Alvin grabbed his hand and ran back to the bathroom. He forced Simon to look in the full-length mirror they kept next to the bathtub. 

Simon’s eyes widened. “What the heck?” 

“I told you!”

“What the–why is it so fluffy?!” Simon asked in disbelief. He ran his hands through and over it, trying to smooth it down, but it remained sticking up in every single possible direction. 

“Stop that, you’ll make it worse.” Alvin demanded, pulling Simon’s hands back. “I don’t understand, I swear I–” 

Alvin came to a realization, and glared at Simon.

“What?” 

“I tried to put gel in it last night, but you were totally hogging the bathroom.”

Simon blinked. “Uh…” 

“Simon!” Alvin scolded. “How many times do I have to tell you people, my hair has a mind of its own! I have to look after it correctly, or else it goes and does stuff like this!”

“I lost track of how long I was in the shower, okay? Don’t yell at me!” Simon shot back. 

“I wouldn’t be yelling if you would just listen to me!”

Suddenly Simon just burst into tears, taking off running back across the hall and into their bedroom. Alvin remained where he was, dumbfounded. He hadn’t even realized he was yelling. Had he really been yelling? 

Alvin groaned, rubbing his temples with both hands. Today was gonna be a long day.

He too headed out of the bathroom and into the hallway, only to find Theodore standing there, a confused look on his face. 

“Theodore!” Alvin yelped, surprised. “Didn’t, uh, didn’t see you there.”

His heart started to race; Theodore must’ve been listening to them, and that wasn’t good. Theodore couldn't know about their little switcharound. He couldn’t keep a secret, and then Dave would find out, and then they’d both be in big trouble. But could they keep up the charade and believably act like each other? Who could tell? 

“Sorry, just waiting for the bathroom,” Their little brother shrugged nonchalantly. Then he frowned. “Were you two really fighting about Alvin’s hair? And then you made him cry again?” 

Alvin rushed to defend himself, remembering a second too late that he currently wasn’t himself. “Again? I do not–” He stopped himself, clearing his throat. Crap, crap, crap. You’re blowing it already, Alvin! Get it together! “-I do not make Alvin cry.” It felt wrong referring to himself in the third person. But he’d have to get used to it, he guessed. 

“But you do. Sometimes.” Theodore glared, raising a brow. 

Alvin squirmed under his glare like an earthworm on hot pavement. He never cried that easily during a fight with Simon. “Maybe once or twice. But, you know, that’s why I’m on my way to apologize to him. So, you know, I-I better go do that. Bye, Theodore. I’ll see you in a bit.”

He turned away to head to the bedroom, mentally cursing to himself. If Theodore wasn’t onto them before, he probably was now. 

He found Simon curled up in the teepee, sniffling and hugging himself. “I’m sorry, Si, I didn’t mean to yell.”

“No, don’t be sorry,” Simon sniffled, mopping his tears away and running his hand under his nose. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I-I never freak out like that when someone’s mad at me! What is wrong with me?!”

“You're not you anymore, Simon, that’s what’s wrong.” Alvin offered him a hand, and Simon took it. Alvin hauled him back to his feet. 

“Well, you don’t freak out like this when people yell at you either!” Simon argued without thinking. When Alvin didn’t say anything and just led him back towards the bathroom, Simon frowned at him. “Er…do you?”

“Who? Me?” Alvin asked, as if there was a possibility that Simon was speaking to someone else. He scoffed, pointedly looking away. “No, of course not.”

“You sure?” 

“I-I mean…maybe sometimes. I don’t know. I feel everything too deeply, Simon. We all know that. I guess I’ve had years to figure out how to control it, and you haven’t.”

Simon frowned. This information disturbed him. “Alvin, am I always that quick to yell at you? Do I make you feel this way?” 

Alvin stopped in his tracks, turning to him. “What? No!” 

“Well, I just did. Or, you know, you did, as me.” His eyes started to fill again. “Aw, Alvin, I’m so sorry–”

“Simon, Simon, just stop, alright?” Alvin gently grabbed him by the shoulders. “Look, we don’t have time for this right now. We have to get ready for school, and then we actually have to go to school and survive the day. We’ll talk about this later. Now, come on, we have to do something about that hair.”

“But I wanna talk about this now!” Simon whined without really meaning to, as Alvin grabbed his hand and dragged him back to the bathroom. 

“Too bad!” Alvin shot back, hauling him back up onto the stool and sitting him in front of the mirror. “Now sit and don’t move.”

Simon crossed his arms and pouted, but did as he was told. It took a lot longer than Simon thought it needed to, but after Alvin combed his hair out, and then smeared a ridiculous amount of hair gel in, he finally stood back and admired his handiwork. 

“That’s the best I can do in the time frame.” He murmured, turning on the sink and washing the gel off of his hands. 

“It looks fine, Alvin. Come on, we better go and get dressed.”

It was a good thing they had both woken up early, otherwise they’d be late already. They headed back to the bedroom, and proceeded to stare at their respective sections of the closet. They looked at each other, clearly sharing the same thoughts. 

“Um…what exactly do we wear?” Simon asked. 

“How about this: I’ll put on my red clothes and you put on your blue clothes to see how it looks. Like an experiment.” Alvin gasped, covering his mouth. “I did not just say that.”

They kept talking as they started changing their clothes. “Don’t feel bad. I can’t say knight in sharm–knight in charming–sharp in farming–knife in sharming harmor–charming–arming–”

“Alright, alright, don’t hurt yourself.” Alvin said, giggling.

“That’s so frustrating!” Simon growled. “Knife in sharming iron. Ugh!” 

“Don’t bother, man, trust me, I’ve tried.” Alvin grinned, laughing a little harder. “What, did you think I was faking it?”

“Honestly, yeah.”

“Why would I fake that?” 

“I don’t know, I thought it was one of those dumb things you do ‘cause you think it’s funny.”

Alvin frowned, slightly offended. “Well, aren’t you just a little ray of sunshine?” 

Simon was about to snark back, but stopped short when he got a look at himself–or Alvin, rather, in his body–in a tattered red hoodie with an obnoxiously large A on the front, and a matching red ball cap. It was the most horrible sight he’d ever laid eyes on. 

“This is the worst day of my entire existence.” Simon whined. He looked down at his own blue outfit, and while it didn’t really bother him to look at, it definitely bothered him to look at the mirror in front of them and see himself, in Alvin’s body, wearing his blue outfit.

He had to blink back tears again. “Ugh, gosh, this feels so wrong.”

“I agree.” Is all Alvin could say in response. He looked down at himself, frowning, then glared at Simon. “Who would’ve thought I looked so horrible in blue?” 

“You look horrible?! I look like a kid on Halloween dressed up like a stop sign that someone vandalized!”

“Okay, okay, let’s not freak out.” Alvin reasoned. “Experiment conclusion? We both hate these looks.” 

“Yeah. I can’t look at myself while you have me dressed like that.”

“Same goes for me.” Alvin replied dryly. “So, we’ll have to switch.” 

Simon groaned, his shoulders sagging. “I don’t want to do that either!” 

“Do you have a better idea?” Alvin asked genuinely. “‘Cause I’m all ears.”

Simon went and dug through their closet, unconsciously tossing clothes, shoes, and other assorted things in every which direction. He saw something that caught his eye. 

“Oh, here! What about these?” He held up their matching black outfits that were used in a handful of music videos and other such random projects. 

“Sure, those’ll work great. If you want Dave to lock us up in the loony bin for the rest of our childhood.”

“We’ve done weirder things. And at least these match, so they won’t feel weird.”

“Simon,” Alvin said, crossing his arms and giving him a look. “We do not need to give people even more reasons to ask us questions. Or Dave more reasons to send us to therapy. Just wear the red clothes, it’ll be fine.”

Simon growled, throwing the clothes back into the closet and shutting it without putting anything else back inside. “Fine. But I am not happy about this.”

“Well, good thing that was never the objective.”

Simon glared, sticking his tongue out. Alvin’s mouth twitched in a smirk. 

When they had changed their clothes again, they both looked in the mirror strangely again. 

“Thoughts?” Simon asked Alvin, even though he was pretty sure he could predict what Alvin was going to say.

“This is such a mind distorter.” Alvin said, squinting at his reflection, adjusting the blue frames on his face. “It still feels odd, but it also doesn’t at the same time. It’s odd in a different sense. It’s not a brutal shock to look in the mirror, or at you, or me, I guess, but I look down and I’m wearing the wrong colour.”

“Yeah,” Simon agreed, frowning at his reflection as he adjusted the cap on his head. “Yeah, that sounds about right. I want to hate this, but I don’t, not really, and I hate that.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I hate that I know the term ‘mind distorter.’ Where the heck did I pull that out of?” 

“Yeah.” Simon murmured, not really listening anymore, studying himself in the mirror instead. Only, it wasn’t himself. He forced himself to look away, turning back to face Alvin. He felt the pressure of tears trying to surface again, but he willed them back. 

“This sucks. Today’s gonna suck. Everything about this just sucks. Everything is so wrong. I feel like a computer trying to run the wrong operating system.” 

Alvin nodded, lips pressing together in sympathy. “I know, pal. I know. But it’s temporary, remember? We’ll work together to fix your machine, and then everything will go back to normal. We’ll get it figured out.” 

Just like that, Simon’s downward spiral was stopped. He inhaled and released a big breath. “Yeah. Yeah, we will. Of course we will.” 

Alvin didn’t say anything else as they both grabbed their school backpacks–barely remembering to grab the opposite bags as they normally would–and left their bedroom, hopefully ready to face the music. 

“When did you become so calm and rational?” Simon asked while they were walking down the stairs.

“When you decided to build a machine that switches peoples’ consciousness and thought, hey, why don’t I use my poor brother as a lab rat, even though he never signed up for any such position?!”

“For the last time, it was an accident!” Simon hissed. He changed his tone quickly. “A-And I’m starting to think the switch goes a bit deeper than consciousness.”

“What do you mean by that?” 

“Well, and it kills me to say this, not only am I in your body, I’ve also been acting an awful lot like you since this all happened. It isn’t intentional at all, it just happens.”

Alvin’s eyes fluttered away for a moment, blinking. Then he slowly nodded. “Dang. Yeah, I guess that goes for me, too. I don’t really mean to, it just…happens.”

“Yeah, exactly.” Simon agreed. “Because you’re using my brain now instead of your own. Our consciousness is switched, yes. But my sub conscious feelings and behaviors are all still there for you to use. All the physical hardware is the same. Just a different consciousness is at the controls now.” 

Alvin rubbed his forehead. “Oi, I can barely wrap your big brain around all of this.”

“Yeah, I’m giving myself a headache already.”

“I bet.”

The rest of the morning was brief. Since they took so long getting themselves sorted out, once they got downstairs, they were rushed through a quick breakfast, and then after grabbing their lunchboxes, it was already time to leave. Other than waving goodbye through the office window, they didn’t see much of Dave. An important business call, Theodore told them. That was probably for the best. It meant they were walking to school too, which was also probably for the best. While they did often chat about whatever on their walks to school, it wasn’t completely out of the blue for them to walk in silence, especially on a Thursday morning when everyone was already tired after the events of the week. After a chaotic morning, Simon and Alvin both needed the calm walk. 

When they got to the school yard, Theodore quickly left to go find Eleanor, saying something about needing to return her coloured pencils, leaving Alvin and Simon alone. 

Simon inhaled and released a long, tired sigh. “Well?” He asked Alvin, turning to him. “We ready for this?” 

“Nope.” Alvin answered without hesitating. “Not even a little bit.”

“Cool. Me neither.” Simon agreed. “Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Needless to say, the school day was weird. 

Alvin and Simon both shared the same first class of the day, which was History with Miss Smith. Despite having to keep up the charade that they were perfectly well and themselves, they sat at their regular desks, which they didn’t think would be a problem, except that Miss Smith seemed to be a little grumpy this morning. 

“Did you two switch desks?” She asked before the bell rang, frowning at them. 

The two brothers shared subtle worried glances.

“No, ma’am, we didn’t.” Simon replied, shaking his head at the same time as Alvin. 

Miss Smith seemed ready to let it go, until Brittany opened her mouth. 

“You totally did,” She frowned at Simon, who she, understandably, believed was Alvin. “You never sit in the middle.”

Simon glared back at her, feeling an ugly attitude beginning to grow out of nowhere. “I guess I got tired of sitting next to you.”

“Good. I don’t want to sit next to you either.” She quipped back with a smirk. 

“Great.”

“Awesome.” 

“Perfect.” 

“Wonderful.” 

“Amazing.” 

She couldn’t come up with another word, and dropped it after that, glaring at her History textbook. Simon put his hands on his temples. 

“What was that?” Simon whispered to Alvin next to him. “She isn’t always this annoying, is she?” 

“To me? Yeah.” Alvin nodded with a guilty wince. “I don’t know what it is about that girl, but she has a way of getting under my skin.”

“That’s just great.” Simon groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Sorry.” Alvin said genuinely.

And then there was roll call, where Alvin remembered only a second too late that he was supposed to be pretending to be Simon, and they both said ‘here’ when Miss Smith called Alvin’s name. 

“Look at that, suddenly Four Eyes is so stupid he forgot his own name! Who saw that coming?” Derek insulted relentlessly, making the entire class erupt into laughs. 

Alvin attempted to cover it up with a cough, and Simon just ignored the comment, but it still took most of the class for their faces to finally cool off. 

That being said, class itself was long and boring. Alvin and Simon were gone as soon as Miss Smith confirmed they could leave. Thankfully she didn’t pull the ‘the bell doesn’t dismiss you, I do’ nonsense today. 

“That sucked, right?” Simon groaned to Alvin in the hallway afterwards.

“I agree, the material was bland,” Alvin agreed, nodding. “But it wasn’t the worst. I could actually stay awake!”

“Congratulations. I couldn’t.” Simon murmured through a yawn. 

“Yeeeah, I usually can’t during Miss Smith’s classes. Either that, or I sit there with all my pent up energy and drive her crazy. That’s usually toward the end of the day, though. She’ll probably scream Alvinnn! at you.” Alvin explained, mimicking Miss Smith’s high pitched voice. 

“Great.” Simon grumbled as he shut his locker, Alvin doing the same. 

“Hey, you know it’s bound to happen. Whether from her or someone else, it’s gonna happen.”

“Why?” Simon whined.

“Beats me. I’m starting to think my life is secretly a TV show, and that’s the running gag. Could even be the name of it.”

“No one would watch that.”

“Um, hello?” Alvin drawled, before letting his voice drop to a whisper. “You literally made us switch bodies! And now we have to figure out how to live like this without anyone knowing! That’s world class entertainment.”

“Well, whether your life is a TV show or not, I don’t want to get yelled at in front of the whole class.”

“It’s fine, you’ll get used to it. You likely already are, ‘cause, well, y’know…”

“I’m you. Yeah, I’m painfully aware of that. I just won’t misbehave, so then she won’t yell at me.”

“Yeah, let me know how that goes.” Alvin snickered. “Anyway, I still need the rest of your schedule.”

“Oh yeah, sure.” Simon pulled out his phone, now in Alvin’s red case so people didn’t go around asking them why they were using each other’s phones. They had switched around their school supplies in their backpacks as well. “There, sent.”

Alvin took out his now blue phone as well, just as it buzzed with the text message. “Got it, thanks.”

“Do I have yours?” 

“Yeah, I sent it last night.” 

Simon rolled his eyes. “‘Course you did.”

Alvin squinted at his phone. “AP Chemistry next, huh? This should be fun.”

Simon’s heart and stomach dropped to the core of the earth. “Crap!”

“What?” 

“I have a test in AP Chem today!”

“Oh.” Alvin said, his eyes widening as he realized what exactly that meant. “Oh, oh no. That’s–That’s not good.”

“No, not at all.” Simon looked around in a panic. “Shoot, what do we do?!”

The first warning bell for their next class rang above them. 

“Oh my gosh, this can’t be happening!” Simon groaned, pulling at his hair in frustration. 

“There’s no choice, Si, I’ll have to take the test. What room is it in?” 

“What? No! You’ll fail it and tank my grade!”

“Can you retake it if you’re absent?” 

“Er…no.”

“Well, then, I’ll just have to wing it. Can you tell me anything before I go?”

“Uh…” Simon stammered for a second, flustered. “I-It’s on acids and bases. pH and all that. It’s multiple choice and numerical response, so you can guess on some of them if you need to. You’ll need the graphing calculator.”

“Okay. What room?”

“Ugh!” Simon growled, hating that they literally did not have another choice. He couldn’t retake the test if he–or Alvin, in this crazy circumstance–was late, either. “It’s in room 208. Now get going! Don’t be late!”

“I’ll do my best!” Alvin hollered at him, halfway down the hallway already. 

“You’d better!” Simon replied, shaking his head as he watched himself run around the corner and out of sight. Well, hopefully he could convince Dr. Drew to let him do something for extra credit. 

“Alvin!” A certain female voice called, instinctually making Simon roll his eyes. 

“What is it, Britt?” He asked her, only half paying attention as he looked on his phone to see where he was supposed to go next.

“You have exactly two minutes to get to class, or else you’re in detention for the rest of the week.” Brittany sneered, glaring and crossing her arms.

“First of all, you can’t send me to detention. Second, yeah, exactly, so why are you bothering me when I’m literally here trying to get to class?” 

“Because you should’ve been there already!” 

“Why? I still have two minutes.”

“Just get lost, Alvin!” 

“Alright, alright, I’m going.” Having finally figured out where he was supposed to go–Miss Smith’s again, great–he headed to the next classroom over. He’d just crossed the door threshold when the final bell rang. 

“You just have to cut it that close, don’t you, Alvin?” Miss Smith quipped.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Simon shrugged, taking his own seat again. 

She rolled her eyes at him and muttered something about kids these days, before grabbing a stack of papers off of her desk and standing up.

“Everyone put your books away,” She instructed the class. “And your calculators. I need to make sure all of you can solve linear quadratic systems by substitution without the use of your graphing calculators, so you’re writing a pop quiz.”

The whole class collectively groaned and made a fuss, and while Miss Smith yelled at the class to be quiet, Simon almost panicked too. But he’d literally taken this math class already. It was just algebra. Even while equipped with Alvin’s brain instead of his own, he could do it. He was sure of it. 

Spoiler alert: he could not. 

The stupid thing was literally only five questions, but no matter how long he stared at them, he just couldn’t remember the steps he was supposed to follow. He chewed on his pencil, bounced his leg, doodled on his test paper in the hopes it would turn into something math related, pulled at his hair, and chewed his nails down to the quick, but nothing worked. By the time the bell went to end class and start lunch, he hadn’t been able to write anything that would even remotely resemble a correct answer, and he was ready to scream, cry, hit something, throw something, and everything in between, because he was Simon, he knew this stuff, but now he didn’t. He gave his paper to Miss Smith and scurried out of there like his tail was on fire. She was bound to comment on how horribly he’d done, and, well, Simon didn’t want to hear it. 

He marched down the hallway towards the AP Chem classroom, ignoring all of the other students pouring into the hallways. Annie called to him, trying to show him something on her cell phone, but he ignored her and kept walking. He had about sixty seconds before he completely blew his top; he didn’t have any time to waste. The moment he caught sight of his own blue hoodie down the hallway chatting with Kevin, he quickened his pace, and snatched him by the arm as soon as he was close.

“Come with me.” He gritted out, dragging Alvin along and ignoring his surprised yelps.

“Hey, what gives?” Kevin asked. 

“Uh, Kev, I’ll catch up with you! J-Just, y’know, apparently something else needs my attention, so, uh, yeah, but I’ll see you soon!”

“No, you won’t.” Simon denied.

“Where are we–” Alvin was cut off by Simon shoving him into a janitor’s supply closet. He followed and shut the door behind them. 

He threw his backpack on the ground in anger, and then all the emotions he’d been suppressing for the past couple minutes hit him like a truck. He started pacing around and screaming in pure, hot, ugly frustration. 

“I absolutely hate being you! I hate your useless brain! I hate everything! I hate this! I hate you!”

Alvin stood back, crossing his arms and frowning. “If you hate me so much, then why’d you drag me in here?” 

“Because I can’t handle you and your stupid emotions! It’s too much! If I don’t let them out, I’m gonna explode, and no matter how much I hate you right now, you’re still the only person I can talk to!”

Alvin dropped his attitude, sounding nervous now. “About what? Simon, what happened?”

Just like that, Simon burst into tears. He collapsed against the closed door behind him and slid down to sit on the floor, his whole body shaking with loud cries and sobs. Evidently, he surprised Alvin with his reaction. It took him a minute to speak again. 

“Simon.” Alvin said again, sounding genuinely scared. He came and sat next to Simon, putting an arm on his back in a lame effort to comfort him. “Buddy, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?” 

It took Simon a minute to control the ugly cries forcing their way out of his chest. He wasn’t really successful, but kept trying. 

“I-I’m not a genius anymo-o-o-o-ore!” He finally managed to wail, his voice dissolving back into sobs. 

“I…what?” 

Simon took another minute to get himself under control. He sniffled wetly, using his red sleeve to mop all the snot and tears off of his face. 

“I just took what should’ve been the easiest math quiz of my life, and I completely failed it.” He explained, his voice thick with emotion. He stood back up, and Alvin followed, watching as he resumed pacing around the room. 

“Oh. Oh, jeez.” Alvin said, surprised.

“The thing was only five questions, and I couldn’t figure out a single one! It was the worst!” 

“I-I mean, at least it was only a quiz,” Alvin offered, trying to be helpful. “It won’t count for a big chunk of your grade. Or, uh, my grade, I guess.”

“What–are you se–this isn’t about the freakin’ grade, Alvin! I couldn’t care less about your stupid grades! It’s about the fact that I’m supposed to know this stuff, and now I don’t and it sucks and I hate everything!” 

In a fit of rage, he grabbed the first thing he saw off of one of the shelves and hurled it at the wall with all of his might. Thankfully, the bottle of whatever it was didn’t break, just bounced harmlessly to the floor, but still, Alvin flinched and shrank away. 

Good to know he’s still got some of his temper, Alvin thought. “Simon. I-I know this is the last thing you want to hear right now, because you’re angry and frustrated, and I’m not saying you’re not valid for those frustrations, ‘cause you are, but seriously, man, you can’t just be throwing whatever you can find to throw in here.”

Simon sighed, long and tired. “Yeah, I know. Sorry.” 

“Anyway, Si, you did say it yourself, while our consciousness is switched, all the hardware is the same. I’m not good at math, so, unfortunately, for the time being, neither are you.” 

Simon tensed suddenly, remembering something. “Wait, what about the AP Chem test? How’d you do?” 

Alvin pressed his lips together in a thin line, looking away. “Uh, heh, you know, I don’t think that’s really important right now–”

“It is to me. Spit it out, Alvin. How bad did you fail?” 

“I, uh…didn’t,” Alvin said finally, his mouth twitching in a guilty half-smile. “I got a B.” 

“What?” Simon asked, eyes widening. “H-How did–you’re not–what?!”

“I’m surprised as you are,” Alvin said honestly with a shrug. “It was the strangest thing. One minute, I had no idea what I was looking at, and the next, I just…did.”

“Oh, you rotten, slimy– you stole my genius!”

“Hey, I didn’t do it on purpose!”

Simon looked up at the ceiling, letting out a loud and dramatic groan that ended in him sobbing again. Not knowing what else to do, he threw himself at Alvin, forcing him into a big bear hug. 

“Woah–’kay.” Alvin murmured, awkwardly patting Simon’s back as he buried his nose into his shoulder. “Uh…there there, Si, it’ll be okay.” 

“Nothing about any of this is okay!” Simon cried, letting him go and pacing around the small room again. “We need to fix this. You need to use my brain to fix this, because I can’t use the one I got anymore, and–and I hate it! I hate being you!”

“I don’t particularly relish the thought either, Simon.” Alvin replied, cocking a brow at him. 

“I–We– Someone, whoever, I don’t care who, need to get to work on getting the machine fixed. I know! I can call those guys at the university who helped me out a while back, they’re much better suited to be getting that monstrosity working again–”

“Simon!” Alvin finally snapped. He stepped forward and pushed Simon so his back hit the wall, just hard enough to startle him. “I can’t understand a single word you’re saying. Just take a breath, alright?” 

“How can I take a breath when my entire world is crumbling around me?! Alvin, I don’t have my intellect!” His body tensed, and his breath left him in a strangled gasp, as if he just realized the true weight of that statement. “I-I don’t…I don’t have my intellect.” He whispered, horrified. 

“Simon.” Alvin said again, his voice hard and firm. His hands were still planted on his shoulders, gently holding him in place. “Look at me. Look here. Take. A. Breath.”

Simon did, and it was strange to see his own face looking at him so firm yet worried at the same time. He took a few hard breaths, and after a few more tries, he managed to loosen up the growing tension in his chest. 

“Listen.” Alvin demanded, his voice still firm. “You’re right, you might not have your intellect anymore. But you have me, and I have your intellect. It hasn’t gone anywhere, Simon. I’ll still be able to use it in the meantime, and then after, you’ll get it back.”

“You might not be able to use it the same way I could.” 

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But mark my words, Simon, you and I are going to figure this out. Soon. But it’s not gonna be right now. Heck, it might not even be today. So, in the meantime, we are going to have to make this work.”

Simon blinked away more tears, looking away stubbornly. He didn’t want that.

“Look at me, look,” Alvin commanded again. “This is gonna be messy, and hard, and confusing, and trust me, I hate it too. When’s the last time I passed a chemistry test?”

Simon’s chest panged with guilt; among all his panic, he hadn’t realized how Alvin must be feeling. This was difficult for him too. 

“But amongst all the chaos, we need to be each other’s rocks.” Alvin said, his voice going softer. “Or else we really will lose ourselves.”

Simon blew out a long, sad sigh, before resigning and nodding. It was far from ideal, their situation still sucked, but, nonetheless, they would get each other through it. And they would remind each other that those precious parts of themselves that felt totally gone, really weren’t gone at all. They were just being used by someone else. Temporarily. It was all temporary. They would fix this. Eventually. 

They couldn’t right now. But that was okay. They would be okay.

“Come here, Si.” Alvin murmured, gathering Simon into a proper hug. Normally, hugs weren’t a very effective way to soothe him, in fact they only did the opposite, but since he was in Alvin’s body now, he easily relaxed into the squeeze. 

Alvin said the exact words he had been thinking just a second ago. “We’re gonna be okay, Simon.” 

Hearing Alvin say it, he just might be able to bring himself to believe it. 

“Yeah.” Simon agreed quietly, his voice raspy. 

He felt calm enough to pull back, sniffling and smearing the dampness off of his cheeks and eyes. 

“Blow your nose, kid.” Alvin said with a teasing smirk, passing him a tissue. Simon smiled slightly, doing as he was told.

“I…I’m sorry I freaked out so bad. You…you’re right.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Alvin shook his head. “I’ve been there. Literally. Who am I to judge?” 

Simon chuckled quietly. “Yeah, true. Thanks. For…being here.”

“Yeah.” Alvin nodded like it was nothing. They exchanged shy smiles, before it started to feel a bit awkward and Alvin had to break the tension. 

“How about we go get some lunch, yeah? You’ll feel better, and I’m starved.”

Despite how cruddy he was feeling, some food sounded amazing. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Alvin and Simon left the janitor’s closet, and not a moment too soon; the musty smell was starting to bother them. The halls were empty, and after grabbing their lunch boxes, they decided to spend what was left of their lunch hour outside. It was a beautiful sunny day, and that was where everyone else was too.

“Do you think this is gonna be weird?” Simon asked as they slowly made their way towards the doors to the courtyard. 

“It’s already weird.” 

“No, I mean, this. Hanging out with our friends. Like this.”

“Look, pal, you can do whatever you want, but I’m not hanging out with anyone. I just want to stare at my phone and zone out for as long as I possibly can.”

“That…actually sounds really nice. Can I join you?” 

“Yeah, duh. It would feel weird if you didn’t.” Alvin grinned, managing to make Simon smile back, despite everything. 

Once outside, they settled down underneath one of the trees in the courtyard. They both started nibbling on their lunches and scrolling on their phones, ignoring everything else happening around them. While Simon found that his brain latched onto the videos of funny cats and hilarious epic fails really quickly, the same couldn’t be said for Alvin.

“This is not entertaining.” He finally declared, turning his phone off and stuffing it into his pocket in frustration. 

“Oh, yeah,” Simon said absentmindedly. “I usually just read during lunch. There’s a physics textbook in here.” He gently bumped his temporary backpack, Alvin’s black one, towards Alvin. 

“How dare you?” Alvin asked incredulously. “I don’t do physics. I sure as heck don’t waste my lunchtime reading about physics!”

“Yeah, I know, but you aren’t you anymore, Alvin, you’re me.” He looked up from his phone and cocked a brow at his brother. “Didn’t we literally just have this discussion?”

Alvin visibly deflated, sighing heavily. “Yes, yes we did.”

He grabbed the fat, heavy physics textbook and flipped to a random page, sadly and boredly starting to skim through it, not expecting any of the content to grab him. But oh boy, did it ever. For the next fifteen minutes or so, Alvin was lost in the magical world of physics. When the first bell went to signal their next class starting soon, Alvin didn’t even move. When Simon gathered his things and stood up, stretching his arms over his head, Alvin still hadn’t moved. 

“Alvin.” Simon called. “Come on, it’s time to go.”

“Just five more minutes!” Alvin whined, not bothering to look away from his book. His eyes were big as dinner plates behind their spectacles, moving a mile a minute. “I’m learning about forces and fields! Who knew this stuff was so fascinating?! A planet, a magnet, and an electric charge can all exert forces from a distance! It’s remarkable!”

“I’m leaping for joy, Alvin.” Simon deadpanned. “You can read more later. We have to get to class.”

“Fine, fine, alright.” He sadly closed the textbook and put all of his things back into his temporary blue backpack.

“So, what kind of nightmare do I have to face now?” Simon asked Alvin as they got up and started heading inside towards their lockers. 

“If my memory serves me right, I think we all have art class together now.”

Simon tensed slightly, because that would certainly not be good, and he figured he’d better confirm for sure. As he pulled out his phone to check and Alvin put his stuff away, Theodore approached his locker as well. 

“Oh, hey!” He greeted them with a small wave, grinning brightly. “Haven’t seen you two in a while, where’d you disappear to?” 

“Nowhere.” Alvin and Simon both managed to answer at the same time, sending each other semi-dirty looks after. 

Theodore made a face. “Well, at least you’re in agreement, I guess.”

“Do we all have art class together right now?” Simon decided to just check with him instead. 

“Yup. Just like every other Thursday for the past month.” 

“Ugh. Great. This won’t be fun.” Simon whispered to Alvin. 

“Maybe it won’t be so bad, we don’t know yet.” Alvin whispered back. “We can’t draw a conclusion until we have all the necessary information.” 

“Stop talking nerdy to me. No one cares.” 

Alvin snickered, hiding his giggle behind his hand while Simon rolled his eyes. Next to them, Theodore raised a brow. 

“What’s so funny?” 

“Nothing.” 

“What’s up with you two?” Theodore asked out of nowhere. 

“What?!” Alvin stammered out, startled. He fumbled and dropped his phone while Simon seemed to choke on his own spit. 

“You’re being kinda weird.” Theodore pointed out, sounding equal parts weirded out and concerned at the same time.

“Who?” Simon asked, playing dumb.

“You. And him. Both of you.” Theodore frowned. 

“We’re being weird? Really? I don’t think we’re being weird. Do you think we’re being weird?” Alvin rambled, looking at Simon.

“Nah, not at all.” Simon played along, shaking his head. 

Theodore’s exasperated frown seemed to deepen. “Then why do you keep whispering all the time?” 

“Oh, that? We’ve always done that.” Alvin fibbed. 

“I don’t think so.”

“Pretty sure we have.” Simon agreed. 

“Ugh, whatever, I give up.” Theodore rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you guys in class.”

As Theodore turned away and headed off down the hall, Alvin and Simon shared a nervous look. 

“We need to get better at this.” Simon murmured. 

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s not panic, and just try to make it through the rest of the day.” They both gathered all the stuff they needed and headed off in the same direction Theodore had. 

They didn’t realize until they actually got started that they would have to work on each other’s projects now. The project was a large grid drawing of their favourite fictional character. Since he’d been playing through a Super Mario Bros. game the week they were picking their drawings, Alvin had picked a colorful cartoon picture of Mario and Luigi to draw. He was already about halfway through the linework. Simon had picked a picture of Hiccup and Toothless from the second How to Train Your Dragon movie, and while he’d printed the reference image, gotten it scaled properly, and had drawn all the grid lines, he hadn’t actually started drawing anything yet. 

“You haven’t even started yet? Isn’t this due in a week or something?” Alvin asked, squinting at the big sheet of paper that was completely blank except for the faint gridlines. 

“I’ve been trying,” Simon replied. “But I keep having to throw them out and start again. I think that’s my tenth sheet of paper.”

“Did you try picking a different character?” 

“Yeah, but I haven’t been able to find any.” 

“Alright, well, maybe I can work with this.” Alvin said, frowning at it thoughtfully. 

“I hope so. I certainly couldn’t.” 

Turns out, Alvin couldn’t either. 

He didn’t understand how a grid drawing could possibly be so difficult. It was literally just copying another picture, one square inch at a time. But nonetheless, every time he tried to draw, the lines were off somehow, and he would have to erase it and try again. Only to repeat the process again and again. After twenty grueling minutes, he’d gotten absolutely nowhere, and Alvin was ready to rip the paper to shreds and leave without ever looking back. 

“I can’t. I give up.” Alvin declared sharply, pushing away from the table and walking away in a frustrated huff. Before Simon could intervene, Miss Kate had already beaten him to it.

“Simon, what seems to be the problem?” She asked genuinely. 

“I can’t do it.” Alvin repeated, sounding defeated. “I keep trying, but no matter what I do, the lines are always off.”

“Simon, it doesn’t have to be perfect.” 

Alvin frowned, raising a brow at her. “Yes it does, that’s the whole point. We’re creating a replica of the image we picked.”

Miss Kate obviously didn’t know how to respond to that. “Uh, w-well, yes, but it doesn’t need to be exact. It’s still your own unique piece of art.”

Alvin frowned harder. “Not really.” He couldn’t help but argue.

Miss Kate sighed, gently shaking her head, at a loss of much else to say. “Just do your best, Simon.”

She turned and went back to her desk, and Alvin subtly glared at her back as he went and sat back down next to Simon. He slid down in his chair, hunching back, crossing his arms and pouting. 

“‘Do my best’ she says. What kind of garbage advice is that?” 

“She’s just trying to help.” Simon pointed out quietly, focused on his drawing. 

“I know that, but telling me to do my best is not awfully helpful. I’m already doing that. It just isn’t good enough.” Alvin looked over at Simon. “Hey, this is your territory. Help me out here.”

“Just take a break and try again in a bit.”

“Does that work?” 

“Sometimes. Not really. If all else fails, ask Theodore to throw jelly beans at your face.” 

Alvin choked, managing to cough and laugh at the same time. “I’m sorry, what?” 

Simon smiled, shrugging and shaking his head. “I dunno, it worked the last time.”

“Uh, okay, I’ll keep that in mind.” 

Simon set his pencil down, shaking his hand out, and sat back, admiring his handiwork. 

“What do you think?” He asked, sliding the drawing over to Alvin. He had finished all the basic linework of the cartoon. 

Alvin’s eyes widened. “It…Simon, it looks great!”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Simon agreed, oddly proud of himself. “This is fun. No wonder you guys all like art class so much.”

“Yeah, and no wonder you hate it so much.” Alvin said dully. He scratched at his chest with a grimace. “I’m getting itchy.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Simon sympathized with a wince. “But class is almost done. It should calm down soon after that.”

“It better. This blows.” Alvin grumbled, scratching at his neck now. 

Miss Kate hollered for everyone to start cleaning up and putting all their supplies away, and then, finally, the bell rang. 

“One more class, then we’re home free. We got this.” Simon said in the hallway, nudging Alvin’s shoulder. 

“I sure hope so.” Alvin said, scratching at his arms now. His face suddenly lit up. “Hey, we have gym next! That’s not so bad, right?”

“I guess not.” Simon said, nodding. “For once the idea of gym class doesn’t completely and totally repulse me.”

“Hey, what do you have against gym class?” Alvin asked, offended.

“It’s tiring. I’m already tired all the time, I don’t need gym class for that.” Simon explained. “Although, I am starting to see what you were talking about earlier. I was feeling antsy back there.” 

“I could tell. You wouldn’t stop fidgeting with your pencil and bouncing your leg.”

“Really?” Simon frowned. “I didn’t even notice.”

“Yeah, that’s likely gonna happen a lot.” 

“Fun.” Simon said sarcastically as he grabbed Alvin’s gym bag out of his locker. “Ugh, does this mean I have to wear your gym clothes?” 

“Yeah, what’s so bad about that?” 

“When was the last time they were washed? Before or after the Stone Age?” 

“Oh, shut up.” Alvin snapped, swatting Simon on the head, making him giggle. “That’s a fresh set. You’ll be fine. Let’s just go and change before Dobkins kills us.”

Neither Seville brother knew exactly what to expect. But gym class turned out to be the most memorable part of their day.

First, Alvin quickly learned that Simon was in way worse physical shape than he looked. He barely made it two laps around the school’s outdoor running track before he had to stop and calm the oncoming asthma attack. Simon, meanwhile, was having a ball, and was even having a race and a trash-talking match with Derek. Trash talking wasn’t something he usually excelled at with anyone other than Alvin, but the insults just kept coming without his control and soon enough Derek was chasing him off the track and onto the field. As he avoided Derek’s grasp shockingly easily, he realized that where he would normally feel fear in a situation like this, Simon was filled with a strange giddiness. While it was unfamiliar, he wouldn’t go as far as to call it unpleasant. It wasn’t even long before Coach Dobkins snapped for them to stop horsing around and get back to their laps. 

Next, they started their soccer drills, which was where Alvin normally excelled, but now being equipped with nothing but Simon’s utter lack of skill and coordination, he couldn’t have possibly struggled more. He was the slowest to wind the ball around the cones. He missed every single goal. During the goalie drills, all he accomplished was bruising his knees and elbows as he leaped and tried to catch the ball, only to land on his face as the ball hit the net behind him. Eventually, he got so frustrated, he kicked a soccer ball in a screaming fit of rage, only for it to bounce off a nearby tree and hit him square in the face. 

As he fell flat on his arse and the entire class burst into laughter, Coach Dobkins pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily, before approaching Alvin. 

“I wish I could be more sympathetic, but you had that one coming, Seville.” He quipped as Alvin peeled himself off the ground, holding his nose and blinking tears away. “Are you alright?” 

“Great.” Alvin ground out. 

“I don’t see any blood. You’re probably fine. Get up, walk it off, you can sit down for five minutes if you need to.” He said boredly, before turning and shouting at the class to stop laughing and get back to work. As Alvin slowly started to pull himself up to a stand, a blurry red figure came up and assisted him. 

“Hey, you okay?” Simon asked as Alvin managed to stand on wobbly legs. 

“Wonderful. Why can’t I see?” 

“Uh, the glasses. Hold on, here they are.” Simon mumbled, stepping away for a moment. 

“Oof, they’re all bent out of shape. One sec.” Alvin heard the frames creaking under Simon’s grip as he carefully molded back into their proper shape, mumbling something about how it was a good thing they were his flexible ones. 

“Hurry up. I’m getting dizzy.”

“Easy, don’t bark at me. You’re the one who threw a tantrum.” He said, handing Alvin the glasses.

“Don’t you even talk to me!” Alvin snapped, swiping the glasses away and putting them on, ignoring the dull ache that was still present in his nose. 

“What? What did I do?” Simon asked genuinely. 

“Are you se–this is all your fault! I can’t even run a freakin’ lap anymore! Seriously, how do you function like this? Cheesy is better at soccer than you are!” 

“Okay, are you done?” 

“No. I hate this, I hate you, I hate being you, I hate everything about this.”

“I know, pal. We’ve had this conversation already, remember?” 

Alvin paced around for a few minutes, breathing in and out, and slowly, the burning anger and frustration dissipated. 

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. You’re right. I…I’m sorry.” Alvin said, stopping and puffing out a heavy, exhausted sigh. 

“It’s alright.” Simon assured him, shaking his head. He nodded for them to go sit in the bleachers. 

“So, that bad, huh?” Simon asked gently as they walked. 

“Yeah. This sucks. I-I’m Alvin! I’m supposed to be good at this stuff!”

Simon, knowing exactly how Alvin felt, squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. “It’ll be okay.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I said so myself. Still. It just…sucks.”

Simon gave his shoulder another squeeze before he had to release it so they could sit down. He decided it might be better to change the subject. 

“How’s your face?”

“My nose still hurts, but it’s getting better.” 

“Are you nauseated or dizzy? Any sensitivity to light?” 

“No, Simon, I’m fine.” Alvin said, rolling his eyes and throwing him a teasing smirk.

“Okay, okay. Just checking.” Simon chuckled. 

“I, um…thanks. For sitting with me. I’m sorry I insulted you.” Alvin apologized again.

“It’s okay.” Simon reassured him. “It’s nothing I didn’t say to you earlier.” 

“Yeah, that’s true.” Alvin snorted. 

Suddenly Coach Dobkin’s angry voice rang through the air again. “Red Seville, get back out here! You’re not injured!” 

Simon rolled his eyes. “Red Seville? Did this guy not get the memo that we have real names?” 

“Apparently not.” Alvin chuckled. 

“You gonna sit this one out?” Simon asked, standing up and stretching his arms. 

“Yeah. He doesn’t seem to care, and if I go back out I’ll probably just get smacked in the face again, and I’ve had enough of that for one day.” 

“You’d better be careful, you’re wearing my face now.” Simon smirked. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Alvin shook his head, playfully sticking his tongue out. “Go on, git. They’re waiting for you.” 

“Wish me luck!” Simon yelled as he turned and started heading back towards the soccer field.

“You don’t need it!” Alvin hollered back, before sighing and planting his hands behind him, leaning back and resting. 

Watching himself play soccer from the stands was…strange, to say the least. Just like everything else about today. As Simon carried his entire team on his shoulders, stealing the ball and making an epic goal every chance he got, Alvin did feel a sense of longing for that energy again, but then he saw the big smile on Simon’s (Alvin’s?) face whenever he scored another goal and decided maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing. Simon was clearly having a lot of fun. 

Right up until Derek came up out of nowhere and shoved him into a dandelion bush. 

“Oh, that jerk!” Alvin hissed under his breath. He got up and started running for Simon, because while apparently Derek must’ve found out about his pesky dandelion allergy, Simon certainly hadn’t. The poor guy was about to be very confused. 

Unfortunately, just like Alvin had feared, Simon hadn’t even been able to get out of the bush before he started sneezing like a madman, violent and loud.

As Derek burst into mocking laughter, Alvin took a second to angrily throw a pebble at the back of his head.

“Ow, hey!” Derek protested. 

“What’s the matter with you, huh?!” Alvin asked incredulously. “Don’t you know he’s allergic to dandelions?” 

“Uh, no, I didn’t, but that makes it even funnier.” Derek said, giggling and smirking rudely. 

“Smalls, give me five laps around the track.” Dobkins demanded, coming out of nowhere. Derek protested loudly, but Coach ignored him, addressing Alvin instead. “Seville, can you take care of him?” He asked, indicating Simon, who had climbed out of the bushes by now, but was still barely able to get a breath in between sneezes.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” Alvin said absentmindedly. He took Simon by the wrist, dragging him off the field and back towards the school. 

“Dude, what’s happening?! Achoo!” Simon asked, turning his face away as he sneezed for the umpteenth time. “You need to call someone! Achoo!”

“I’m not calling anyone, Si, you’re fine.” Alvin laughed, shaking his head. “This happens all the time. It’ll quit in a minute.”

“All the ti–what are you talking about? You never told me you were allergic to– achoo!- dandelions.”

“Okay, so maybe not all the time. It has happened before, though.” 

“When?” 

“I don’t know, not any time recently, I guess. I’ve gotten better at avoiding them.” 

“You couldn’t have told me this before Derek shoved me in the bushes?!”

“Hey, wise guy, I can’t predict the future, alright?” 

“Achoo! Alvin, it’s not stopping.” 

“Yeah, ‘cause the pollen is all over your skin and clothes. You need to shower and change, and then I have some Claritin you can take. You’ll be fine.”

“I sure as heck don’t feel fine!” Simon cried, his voice now wet and thick with congestion. “My throat feels itchy. Am I swelling up? I feel like I might be swelling up. Look at me. Am I swelling up?” He yanked at Alvin’s hand to get him to turn around and look. 

“Would you stop freaking out?” Alvin snapped, yanking his hand back. “I’m telling you, it’s not that severe. You just need to get out of those clothes.”

By now, they’d reached the doors to the school. They headed inside and went straight for the boy’s locker room. Once there, Alvin shoved Simon towards one of the shower stalls. 

“Go on, get in there. Unless you want to keep sneezing your brains out.” 

“No, wait. I want the allergy meds first. My throat still feels funny.” Simon said, gingerly rubbing at his throat. 

“Ugh, fine.” Alvin with an irritated eye roll. He went and grabbed his gym bag, rummaging through it. 

“Any chance you have an epi pen in there too?” Simon asked. 

“No, cause I don’t–or you don’t need one. You’re not gonna swell up, Si, I promise.” 

“You can’t promise that. Allergies can change over time.”

Alvin stopped looking for the allergy pills for a moment, rolling his eyes, fed up with Simon and his paranoia. “You’re right, what would I know? It’s not like it’s literally my body you’re in. Oh, wait!” Alvin said, waving his hands dramatically. 

“Okay, okay, I don’t need the theatrics.” 

“I’m just saying, I know what I’m talking about. You’re just anxious, Simon. Once you have a shower and put on clean clothes, you’ll feel better. Can you just trust me? Please?” 

“Alright, alright. Do you have the pills or not?” 

Alvin made a triumphant noise as he finally found the small blister pack of pills. He popped one out and broke it in half, handing it to Simon and then handing him his water bottle. He quickly swallowed it with a sip of the water. 

“How long does this stuff take to work?”

“Beats me.” Alvin shrugged unhelpfully. “Now go. Here’s your shower stuff.” Alvin tossed him a travel sized bottle of shampoo, one of conditioner, and one more of body wash. 

“Seriously?” Simon asked, juggling the bottles in his hands and raising a brow at his brother. “You keep all this in your school gym bag?”

“Yup.” 

“Why?”

“For emergencies. Just like this one. Can’t be walking around with my hair looking like that.” Alvin said, pointing up to Simon’s messy mop of hair. 

“You’re a nutcase.” Simon said, rolling his eyes dramatically.

“You know it.” Alvin smirked, and opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off by Simon’s loud sneeze again. 

“Dude, go.”  

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going.” Simon said, heading into the stall and closing the curtain behind him. 

“Have fun.” Alvin called to him, just because he could. 

“Shut up.” 

Snickering, Alvin took his own clothes, which were actually Simon’s, and quickly changed. There wasn’t going to be enough time for them to make it back to class at this point. Not that he was complaining or anything.

When his bag was all packed back up, he parked himself on the bench and mindlessly scrolled through his phone while Simon finished his shower. After several minutes, Alvin heard the water shut off, and suddenly Simon’s head of dripping wet hair popped out from behind the curtain. 

“Hi.” Alvin greeted him.

“Please tell me you have a towel somewhere.” 

“Oh, yeah, sorry.” He grabbed the rolled up red towel out of his bag, as well as his other set of clothes, since apparently he’d forgotten to give him those too. 

“Is this thing clean?” Simon asked, frowning skeptically at the towel. 

“Yes. Jeez, Simon, do you think I’m some kind of animal?” 

“Uh…”

“Don’t answer that.” 

Shaking his head, Simon disappeared back behind the curtain to dry off. He came out a couple minutes later, dressed but still toweling his hair. 

“I suppose this means you have to do this hair again.” Simon asked through the towel. 

“Look at you learning things!” Alvin joked. He patted the bench next to him, standing up. “Come on, I’ll be quick about it.” 

Simon sat with a pout, and Alvin got to work gently drying and then combing his hair out.

“You haven’t sneezed yet, so you must be feeling better.” Alvin said as he carefully mixed his signature hair product concoction in his hands: an eighth of gel, and a third of mousse. He started smearing it in Simon’s damp locks. 

“Yeah, a bit, I guess.” Simon shrugged. He tried to shrink away when Alvin tried to swipe his bangs up. 

“Quit your squirming!” Alvin scolded. 

“What are you doing?!” 

“Ugh, we’ve been through this a million times, Simon. The last step of my after-shower hair routine is swiping my bangs up at seventy eight degrees. For volume, and to keep them out of my eyes. Now, hold still.” 

Simon did as he was told, though he stuck his bottom lip out more. Finally, Alvin got the look he was going for, and they packed up the rest of their stuff. The bell finally rang, and the brothers left before the locker room could fill up. 

“I guess we get to go home now, huh?” Simon asked as they made their way down to the hall and to their lockers. 

“Really?” Alvin asked, squinting at Simon’s watch on his wrist, and frowning at it when he couldn’t read it right away. Finally he gave up and checked his phone instead. “You need a digital watch.” 

“You need to learn how to read a clock like a normal person.” 

“Nah.” Alvin shook his head, chuckling when Simon rolled his eyes. Then he gently nudged his shoulder. “But hey, look at us! We survived the day!” 

Simon snorted. “Yeah, barely. Just by the skin of our teeth.” 

“We only had several breakdowns. Could’ve been worse.”

“Yeah, yeah, I guess that’s true.” Simon nodded. 

“I don’t know about you, but I want to run outta here like my tail’s on fire.” Alvin said with a smirk. 

“Race ya.” Simon challenged, and suddenly they were off like shots down the hallway, Simon not caring for once that they weren’t supposed to be running in the halls. They got to their lockers and frantically stuffed their backpacks, slamming their lockers shut and running towards the doors before most of the other students had even made it out of class. They were so close they could smell it, just about home free–

“Alvin Seville!” An angry voice called. 

Chapter Text

Both brothers came to a screeching halt, turning to face the voice that had hollered at them. It was Miss Smith. Of course.

Simon nearly forgot he now had the role of Alvin Seville, until the actual Alvin Seville smacked him on the shoulder.

“Uh, yes, Miss Smith?” Simon asked. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” She asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. 

“Um, h-home? ‘Cause, y’know, the school day is over now? Right? I didn’t hallucinate that?” 

“You’re not going anywhere, young man. Not yet, anyways. You have detention with me.” 

Simon nearly choked. “I-I do? For what? What’d I do?” He looked at Alvin, and narrowed his eyes into an icy glare when he saw the guilty look of realization on his face. 

“Don’t get smart with me, Alvin. You know exactly what you did.”

“Um, actually, Miss Smith, I-I don’t–”

“I don’t want to hear your excuses. Now get to detention. Simon, you run along.” 

Alvin, to his credit, did try to rescue him. “Excuse me, ma’am, if I may interject–”

“You may not!” Miss Smith snapped, making them both flinch. “I said run along, Simon. Detention is done at four o’clock. Alvin will be available then.”

“But Miss Smith–” Alvin tried again. 

“Now!” 

The brothers parted ways; clearly they didn’t have a choice. As he followed a grumpy Miss Smith, Simon sent Alvin a questioning glare because he still had no idea what the heck was going on. Alvin sent him an apologetic wince, mouthing I’m sorry, before they had to turn the corner and leave his view. 

Well, that just wasn’t going to work for Simon. No way he was serving Alvin’s detention without at least somewhat of an explanation. 

“Miss Smith, may I use the restroom first?”

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Fine, but make it quick.” 

Simon dived into the boys’ bathroom before she even finished talking. He quickly pulled out his phone and angrily punched out Alvin’s number. No way this was actually happening.

“Hi.” Alvin answered meekly. 

“Talk. Now.” Simon demanded.

“Alright, listen, it was an accident, okay? I just knocked over a couple bottles of chemicals! How was I supposed to know they were gonna start a fire?!” 

“You started a fire in the chemistry lab?!” 

“...yeah. Just a little one, it didn’t set off the fire alarm, but, uh…yeah. There was definitely some damage to the wall.” 

“Are you kidding me?!”

“I promise it was an accident.”

“Oh, gee, thanks, Alvin, that really helps the fact that I have to go do detention for your screw up! I’ve had a horrible day, Alvin! I want to go home!”

“I’m sorry! But we weren’t supposed to be switched like this! I was supposed to just do my detention like I do every other time!”

Simon stopped, taking a breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t really be mad at Alvin. Them being switched wasn’t his fault. None of this was ever supposed to happen. 

“Wow, I can feel you hating me right now.” Alvin quipped. 

“I…I don’t…” He trailed off, not knowing what to say. “I-I’m just upset.” 

“I know, I know. And I’m so sorry, Simon, really, I am. I promise, if there was a way I could take your place, I would. But I don’t think there is. So…yeah. This is happening.”

Simon decided, he’d already said it several times today, what was once more? “You know what, nevermind. I do hate you.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” 

“You’d better.” 

“Oh, here! Leave your backpack outside the classroom. I’ll take your stuff home.” 

“What? Why?” 

“Just do it.” 

“Fine, whatever.” 

“Cool. Uh, you should probably go. Miss Smith tends to get even more mad when I can’t even make it to detention on time.”

“You’re unbelievable, Alvin.”

“I know, I’m sorry. ‘Kay, love you, byeeee!” 

Simon hung up, shaking his head and grinding his teeth hard enough to hurt. How rich was this? He didn’t even do anything wrong and yet he was the one being forced to stay at school for a whole extra hour. 

But, he couldn’t do a single thing about it. He finally just clenched his fists and stomped off towards the cafeteria for detention. He left his backpack outside the room like Alvin asked, making sure to take the book he was reading first. 

Detention turned out to be…not completely awful. The book he grabbed didn’t end up doing him any good. He couldn’t seem to get his brain to concentrate, and he must’ve read the same paragraph ten times and still had no idea what it said. He finally folded his arms on the table and put his head down, propping the book up to avoid being seen and getting in trouble again. Evidently, gym class must’ve worn him out, because he was abruptly pulled out of his snooze by the overhead bell. 

He startled for a moment, yawning and quickly rubbing the sleep out of his eyes before looking at Miss Smith, who was absorbed in her own book. He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. 

“Yes, Alvin, you can leave now.” 

“Finally,” Simon couldn’t help but mutter under his breath. He headed out, and was so relieved when they actually let him leave this time. The walk home was brisk and refreshing, and before he knew it, he was home. 

He walked through the front door, listening, finding it quiet. 

“Helloooo? Anyone home?” Simon called. 

“Hi.”

“Wah!” Simon yelped, jumping. Suddenly Alvin appeared on the stairs, peeking out from around the corner. “Where’d you come from?” 

“Nowhere,” Alvin shrugged. “Uh, stupid question, a-are you still mad at me?” 

“Huh? Oh, no. I had the walk home to cool off. You’re fine.” Simon waved him off, shaking his head.

Alvin sighed in relief, coming out of his hiding place. “Okay, good.” 

They moved over and hopped up on the couch as they talked. “How can I be? It’s not your fault we got switched. It's technically mine, if anything.” 

“It wasn’t yours either, Si, it was just a freak accident. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.” 

Simon didn’t really believe that, but he chose not to dwell on it. “Well, anyway, could you at least let me know beforehand if there’s any more detentions I have to serve for you?” 

Alvin chuckled awkwardly, bringing a hand up to rub at his neck. “That was the only one. I-I’m sorry, Simon, just, you know, with everything else going on–”

“You forgot about it. It’s fine, Alvin, it was bound to happen. You’re forgiven.” Simon said genuinely. 

“Cool.” Alvin nodded, smiling in relief. “But, uh, I still felt really bad, and I promised I’d make it up to you, so I did your chores and your homework for you.” 

“You did?” Simon asked, brows going up in surprise. That explained why Alvin wanted to take his books home. “Wait, we had homework? I don’t even remember.” 

“It was just the worksheet on the textbook pages we read in History class. Don’t worry about it, it’s done now.” 

“You weren’t obvious about it, were you?” 

“Nah, Miss Smith will buy it, for sure.” Alvin waved the question off like it was nothing. “So now we’re free for the whole night! I want to go to the skate park, you should come!”

“Uh, yeah, sure, why not?” Simon stammered, a little caught off guard. He’d been expecting to be doing homework and chores the moment he got home, like always. “Where’s Dave and Theodore?” 

“Theodore’s at the girls’, Dave’s working.” Alvin answered, nodding to the music room behind them. 

“Did he finally get over his writer’s block?” Simon asked hopefully. It had been an entire painful week of Dave trying and failing over and over to get a new song started. 

“Yep. Now he’s completely hyperfixated. He probably doesn’t even know we’re home. Come on, let’s see.”

The brothers hopped off the couch and made their way to the music room, exchanging devious smiles. This was one of their favourite things to do. 

They peeked inside, and there was their dear old dad, wearing his trusty noise cancelling headphones and slightly hunched over the desk, fiddling with the music on his computer. 

Simon opened his mouth to yell first, but Alvin beat him to it. “Oh, DAAAAVE! We’re HOOOOOME!” 

As usual, Dave didn’t move a muscle. He was in a trance. Simon and Alvin both shared a look, stifling their giggles. 

“Hey, Dave, I failed my math test today!” Simon hollered. 

“Dave! I only got a B on my chemistry test today!” Alvin yelled, making them both crack up. 

“I started a fire in that same chemistry lab last week!” Simon shouted, bursting into another round of giggles. Dave most likely knew about that already, but still, it was funny to pretend while he couldn’t hear them. 

“I’m not Simon!”

“And I’m not Alvin! One of my inventions screwed up and now we’re stuck in each other’s bodies!”

Still, Dave hadn’t heard a single word, his focus never shifting away from the work in front of him. It didn’t even look like he had blinked. Simon and Alvin shared a good laugh, before Simon finally shook his head and pressed his lips together. 

“Dang, this might be the worst I’ve ever seen him.” 

“Yeah, I know. I almost feel bad for the guy.” Alvin said. He went up and gently tapped Dave’s leg, and just like they both knew he would, he totally freaked out, headphones and keyboard going flying while the computer mouse bonked Alvin on the head. 

“Simon! Alvin! How many times have I told you boys not to sneak up on me while I’m working?!” He scolded them angrily, getting himself sorted again. 

“Sorry, Dave, but we’ve been screaming at you for several minutes already.” Alvin pointed out, crossing his arms. “Anyway, our homework and chores are done, so we’re going to the skatepark.”

“Okay, sounds good, have fun.” Dave mumbled quietly, uninterested, slipping his headphones back on and focusing back on his computer screen. 

Alvin and Simon left the music room, shaking their heads. 

“I feel so loved.” Alvin said dryly.

“Same.” Simon snickered. 

“Anyway, let’s go grab our boards! I am pumped!” Alvin jumped in excitement, then ran up the stairs. 

“A-Alvin? You do remember what happened in gym class today, though, don’t you?” Simon reminded him as he followed. 

Alvin stopped for a moment, his shoulders visibly deflating. “Yes, I do. Why do you ask?” 

“I’m just saying, you know, don’t forget that you aren’t as athletic as you used to be. Try not to get carried away.”

“Me? Carried away? Never.” Alvin quipped with a smirk. 

“I’m serious, Alvin.”

“I know. Don’t worry, Simon, I’ll be careful. Besides, you may not be good at soccer, but at least you’re okay at boarding, right?” 

“I guess.” 

“I can work with that. Maybe I’ll even make you better!” Alvin said, flashing a confident grin that looked strange on Simon’s face. 

Simon puffed out a nervous sigh; while the Alvin part of him was excited to go to the skatepark too, the remaining Simon part of him had a bad feeling about how this was gonna go. 

They grabbed their boards and helmets, and made their way back out front, where a certain female chipmunk in green decided to scare the living daylights out of them before they even made it to the sidewalk. 

“Howdy, boys!” Eleanor greeted them, rolling up on her skateboard out of nowhere. Alvin and Simon promptly screamed, jumped, and nearly punched each other in the face all at the same time, while Eleanor burst into laughter. 

“You seriously need to stop doing that.” Simon told her breathily, holding his chest. This was far from the first time this had happened. 

“Yeah, you’re gonna put someone into cardiac arrest.” Alvin agreed, also holding his chest.

“Gee, I don’t know,” Eleanor shrugged, suppressing the last of her giggles. “I sure get a kick out of it. Besides, it’s part of my charm.” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Alvin said, rolling his eyes. 

“You guys headed to the skate park?” Eleanor asked. 

“We were, but I might have to go back inside and find a clean pair of undies.” Simon quipped, making them all laugh. 

“Well, you have fun with that, Alvin. In the meantime, I’m gonna join you. It’s way too nice out here to spend all afternoon inside.” Eleanor declared, looking up and letting the bright afternoon sun shine on her face. 

“Yeah, sure, no problem.” Alvin said without thinking. 

“Awesome. Let’s roll.” She nodded, quickly strapping her helmet on and rolling away on her board. The boys strapped on their own helmets. 

“You do realize this means we’re gonna have to keep our cover now, right?” Simon couldn’t help but point out to Alvin.

“Yeah, so? We’ve already been doing it all day.”

“Just saying.” Simon shrugged. They got on their boards and rolled off down the street towards the skatepark. 

Simon wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but he was shocked how quickly he felt the difference between skateboarding in Alvin’s body versus his own. His balance was better, he could get the board going way faster, and he could steer it a lot easier.

Alvin noticed a difference too, except in the opposite direction. A fact he quickly made Simon very painfully aware of.

“Why is this so hard?” He complained almost immediately. “I can usually do this in my sleep!” 

“Hey, keep your cool! Eleanor might hear you.” Simon hissed. She was way ahead of them by now, but still, he didn’t want to risk having to explain their situation to her. 

“It’s rude to talk about people behind their back, Alvin!” Eleanor hollered behind her with a fond smile. 

“Sorry!” Simon called back with a wince. He glared back at Alvin. “You need to calm down.”

“Easy for you to say, Taylor Swift, you’re not having any trouble.”

“You’re right, I’m not, but neither are you, it just feels different ‘cause you aren’t as good as you were before. You need to take a few minutes to get used to it, or else you’re not even gonna enjoy yourself. You’re just gonna get frustrated and throw another tantrum.” 

Alvin weakly glared back, but his eyes drifted away because he knew Simon was right. 

“Well, do you want to explain this to Eleanor when she asks why we’re being so weird? ‘Cause I certainly don’t.”

“Alright, alright. You’re right. I…I’ll be cool. I’ll try not to get frustrated.” 

“Good.” Simon nodded. A cruel idea flashed in his mind, and he smirked, leaning over and nudging Alvin with his elbow. “Loosen up a little, Alvin. Don’t be so uptight.” 

If he had a dollar for every time Alvin said those words to him, or some variation of them, he’d be a rich kid. And if looks could kill, he’d be dead as a doorknob. 

“Oh, I hate you.” Was all Alvin could whisper in response, though his mouth twitched in a fond smile. Simon laughed, because he was helpless not to, and pushed at the ground underneath him, catching up with Eleanor. Alvin attempted to do the same, and though he wasn’t as successful, he just told himself he was still going to have fun. It was fine. Everything was fine. 

And it was, honestly. For a little while. Alvin did as he was told and took it slow, taking the time to get more used to his newfound lack of skill on a skateboard. But as he got more comfortable, he started trying to do the harder tricks he could normally do fairly easily, and when he couldn’t land them, well, it was no longer fine. His patience was wearing thin. The skin on his poor knees and elbows was starting to wear thin, too. He couldn’t remember the last time he wiped out this many times while out on his board. But, nonetheless, no amount of bruised knees or elbows were going to stop him. He was still the one and only amazing Alvin, awesome rockstar, master heartbreaker, and, most importantly, pro skater. He could still do this. 

Even if Simon had kinda forgotten about him by now. He and Eleanor had hardly said a word to him since arriving at the park, because while Alvin was still getting his bearings, Simon had figured out how to do a bunch of fancy tricks almost instantly. Eleanor got excited and did some tricks of her own, and then asked Simon to do more, and that was the last Alvin had seen of him. He was a little annoyed, but whatever. He had this.

As he scraped himself off the pavement after wiping out yet again, he watched with wide eyes from across the park as Simon leapt up and slid down the longest railing in the park, effortlessly holding his balance and–

Alvin’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Simon, still on his skateboard, jumped to the railing next to it, slid the rest of the way down, wobbling slightly but still keeping his balance, and landed in a spin, hopping off of his board. The park wasn’t that crowded today, but nonetheless, everyone present burst into cheers.

“Yes, yes, yes! Alvin, you did it!” Eleanor screamed excitedly. “Dude, that was awesome! Double high five!” 

They double high fived, and Simon was wearing a big giddy smile, the biggest one Alvin had seen on him all day. And, well, Simon might as well have ripped his heart out and thrown it in a blender. 

Alvin hadn’t even been able to land that trick. The day the accident happened and they got switched, he had been so close, but he just couldn’t seem to land his board correctly on the second railing without wiping out. Here Simon went and landed it like it was something he did every day. 

Alvin suddenly felt a multitude of emotions, all in a big rush. He was angry at Simon, not only for landing the stupid trick he’d been working on for weeks, but for getting distracted and ditching him. Then he felt guilty, because he couldn’t possibly be mad at Simon for that. He did it to him almost every time they went to the skatepark. Eleanor made it hard not to, because she loved this sport just as much as he did, and Simon just…didn’t. She was the one who gave him the idea for that new trick. He was wrought with burning jealousy. He looked at that same pair of railings Simon had just slid on, and it crossed his mind that he should go try it too, because if Simon could do it, so could he, but then his bruises decided to throb and remind him that he most certainly could not. 

Then he was so unbelievably devastated, because he was the one and only Alvin Seville, except he wasn’t anymore. He didn’t have his amazing talent for skating anymore. His favourite thing to do in the entire world, he was no longer good at. Who was he, then? 

Not Alvin. Not technically Simon. He was a sick, messed up blend of the two, the freak result of an invention gone so horribly wrong. He was no one.

Logically, that wasn’t true, Alvin reminded himself. But the thought was still there, and suddenly he needed to be anywhere but here. 

He wanted Simon. He wanted that arrogant chipmunk in the red hoodie and the big flashy A, because that was him and he needed him to catch him and bring him back down to earth before he floated away and forgot who he was forever. But then…he saw how much fun that guy was having, surrounded by admirers and soaking up all the attention like a sponge, and decided, he couldn’t get in the way of that. He grabbed his board and helmet, putting his head down and making his way out of the park, making sure to avoid Simon and the crowd around him. 

He wasn’t really aware of the world around him as his legs automatically walked him in the direction of home. He didn’t even hear when a certain voice tried to get his attention, or when whoever it belonged to finally just ran up to him instead. A pair of hands gently grabbed his shoulders.

“Alvin? Hey, you okay?” 

Alvin gasped quietly. Suddenly he was looking right at him. Himself. Worried blue eyes locked onto his own. He blinked, squinting, his chest feeling tight. 

“Hey, hey,” Simon murmured softly. He kept one hand on Alvin’s shoulder, squeezing gently, using the other to take Alvin’s hand into his own. He squeezed tightly. “Feel me squeezing your hand. Concentrate on the pressure. Feel the ground beneath your feet. Look at me.”

The grounding was working. While Alvin was starting to feel mostly physically normal again, there was still that dull but noticeable pressure of anxiety in his chest, no doubt stemming from those dark thoughts he had dared to let himself think back in the skatepark.

“You with me?” 

Alvin nodded, and Simon seemed to read his mind. “Who am I?” 

Alvin’s mind blanked for a second. That was not the question he’d been expecting. “Uh…Simon?” 

“Yeah. So that makes you Alvin.”

He knew that was technically still true. But it sure as heck didn’t feel true. He didn’t know how else to word it, so he just said it. “Simon, I-I don’t…feel like...”

“I know, pal, I know.” Simon nodded in understanding, pressing his lips together. “But listen, remember what you said to me after the chemistry test this morning?” 

“That feels like a lifetime ago.”

“I know. I know how lost you feel, Alvin, trust me, I do. But those parts of you that feel gone, like your love for skateboarding, and sports, aren’t. I promise, they aren’t. I have them, just for now, and when this is all over, you’ll get them back. You will, I promise you.” 

Alvin blew out a heavy, exhausted sigh, rubbing his eyes behind the blue glasses sitting on his face.

“C’mere.” Simon whispered, gathering him into a tight squeeze. Alvin appreciated it; it helped to ground him the rest of the way. But then it made him notice the aching in his knees and elbows again. 

Simon was the first to pull out of their hug. “Are you okay?” 

“I think so.” Alvin answered quietly. 

“Are you hurt?” 

“Uh…maybe. How’d you know?” He didn’t have any additional holes or grass stains on his clothes. 

“Lucky guess.” Simon smirked slightly, making Alvin shake his head. 

“Come on, let’s get you home. I’ll help patch you up.” Simon told him, putting an arm around his shoulders and guiding him towards home. Alvin didn’t always care for it, but today, he leaned into it, inhaling deeply and slowly releasing the breath. He sure was lucky to have Simon around. Somehow, he always knew exactly what he needed, even in bizarre situations like this one. 

He could only concentrate on his breathing while his brother took him home. 

Chapter Text

A little while later, both brothers were at home, in their bathroom, with Alvin sitting on the edge of the sink in his boxers while Simon helped him clean up his wounds. He was a lot more scraped up than he had originally thought; while his knees and elbows were the worst, his hands, chest, back, and shoulders were scratched too. 

“Would you quit squirming?” Simon told Alvin for the umpteenth time. 

“Your hands are cold!” Alvin whined. 

Simon sighed heavily, rewetting the washcloth in his hands and wringing it out before gently swiping it over the scrapes on Alvin’s upper back. Luckily, all of his injuries were only superficial, but still, Simon didn’t want to risk any of them getting infected. 

“I distinctly remember telling you not to overdo it.” Simon couldn’t help but remind him. 

“I wasn’t trying to,” Alvin defended himself. “But, you know, this isn’t even my fault, if you think about it. You’re the one with a temper on you. Am I just automatically supposed to know how to control it?” 

Simon released a defeated sigh, feeling a pang of guilt in his chest. “No, I guess not. You’re right, I’m sorry.”

He finished tending to the wound on Alvin’s back, coming back to his front. He got started on treating his poor hands, gingerly washing off the dirt and debris, then wrapping them in a thin layer of gauze. He felt the pang of guilt again; nothing got to him more than seeing one of his brothers get hurt because of something he could’ve prevented. He could feel Alvin’s eyes boring into him. He could tell there was more Simon wanted to say.

“Simon, talk to me.” Alvin urged him gently. 

Simon finished wrapping Alvin’s other hand, putting the roll of gauze back in the first aid kit, and took a long, calming breath, because he was not about to have three meltdowns in one day. No way. He met Alvin’s blue eyes, which was always a weird experience, because it felt like looking in a mirror, only backwards. His brows rose behind his glasses, saying again, talk to me. 

“I-I just…I feel bad. I shouldn’t have ditched you back there.”

“Aw, Simon, don’t feel bad. I would’ve gone overboard and hurt myself anyway.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Neither do you.” Alvin argued, not harshly. Simon looked away again, shame colouring his eyes. 

“Still…you needed me, and I wasn’t there. If we’re going to get through this nightmare, then we need to lean on each other, we’ve established this already, and still, I wasn’t there. I shouldn’t have been so careless. I’m…I’m so sorry, Alvin.”

“Simon, you were having fun. You don’t need to apologize for that.”

“When I landed that trick today, you were heartbroken.”

“What? I was not.” 

Simon raised a brow at him. “Sure, that’s why you left ready to bawl your eyes out immediately after. That was just a crazy coincidence, right?”

“Okay, okay. In the moment, yeah, it sucked. I’ll admit that. But it’s like you said, it’s only temporary. Honestly, now I’m just hungry and sore. I promise it’s fine.” 

“I shouldn’t have done that to you.”

“Simon. You didn’t do anything to me. You probably didn’t even think you were gonna land it, right?” 

As they kept talking, they jumped down from the sink, and Alvin started putting his clothes back on. 

“...No, not really. I didn’t even know exactly what it was. Eleanor just saw the rails and went ‘do that cool trick you’re working on!’ and I just went. From there it was just…muscle memory? I guess? I don’t know. It sure was strange, anyway.”

“It was fun though, wasn’t it?” Alvin said with a smirk, his head popping out of his blue hoodie. They turned and started making their way out of the bathroom and down the stairs. 

“Uh…”

Alvin rolled his eyes dramatically. “Si, I told you, I’m not upset anymore. You can say you had fun.” 

“Are you sure? ‘Cause you freaked me out back there.” Simon told him genuinely. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes. I had my moment, but I’m fine now. Really. Don’t worry about it.” 

“Okay. If you say so. ‘Cause…you’re right. It was a lot of fun.” Simon said with a shy smile. 

“Yeah?” Alvin teased, nudging his shoulder. “How did it feel?” 

“It felt amazing!” Simon relished with a bigger smile, waving his hands around dramatically. “I was on the top of the freakin’ world!”

“I bet you were,” Alvin chuckled. “You stuck the heck out of that landing.” 

“Yeah! And, hey, maybe this means you’ll be able to land it too, once this is all over.”

“Yeah, I hope so. I’m sure not landing anything while I’m stuck over here.” Alvin murmured, looking down at his wrapped hands and wiggling his fingers. 

Simon nodded, opening his mouth to reply, but the doorbell rang right as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Theodore appeared out of nowhere, running for it, carrying a small bundle of cash in his hands.

“Pizza!” He yelled excitedly. 

While he answered the door, Alvin and Simon frowned at each other. “We’re having pizza tonight?” 

“I guess so,” Simon shrugged. “Dave must still be working.”

“Of course,” Alvin frowned bitterly. “But, who am I to argue with pizza?” He finished with a pleased smile.

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” Simon warned, lowering his voice to a whisper as to not be heard by Theodore, who was still paying the pizza guy. “You might not like pizza as much as you used to anymore.” 

“Uh uh, no way.” Alvin shook his head, crossing his arms stubbornly. “This thing already took skateboarding from me. It will not take pizza.”

Simon didn’t argue with him, because he had that look on his face that said he wouldn’t be taking arguments anyway, but still, he had that same feeling he did before they had gone to the skatepark. This wasn’t going to go well.

Unfortunately for Alvin, he was right again. Since Dave was still working away, they just turned the TV on and ate in the living room, flicking through the channels until they landed on a random Disney movie they all kind of liked. With each bite of the slice in his hands, Alvin grew more disappointed. Normally, eating his favourite food was a genuine pleasure, something that he could always count on to bring him joy, even after a crappy day like this one. But now, it did…nothing. He could tolerate it, but he didn’t love it anymore. He tried to push past the feeling, but once he finished the first slice, he knew he wouldn’t be having seconds. 

“That’s it. I’m done.” Alvin murmured, shaking his head in disappointment. He didn’t even feel like finishing the crust, which was normally his favourite part. He held it out to Theodore.

“Here.” He told him boredly. 

“Cool, thanks Simon!” Theodore squealed excitedly. Alvin grabbed his empty plate and left the living room in a huff, and when Simon determined Theodore was too focused on his pizza and the movie to ask him about it, he quickly followed him, taking his half eaten second piece of pizza with him. 

“That’s it,” Alvin repeated stiffly after putting his dirty plate in the sink. He spoke in a lower voice to, once again, avoid being heard by Theodore. “That’s it. I’ve officially had it with this day. I have had it, I tell you! It’s not bad enough that I can’t skateboard anymore, but now I can’t have pizza either?! I can’t. I can’t do it.”

He jumped down from the counter, and when his eyes landed on the pizza he was still eating, he gave Simon a look. “Really?” 

Simon snickered around a mouthful of pizza. “What?” 

“Did you bring that in here just to taunt me?” 

“What? No,” Simon mumbled, taking another bite. “I’m hungry.” 

“Yeah, me too, but apparently you’re some kind of uncultured swine who doesn’t like pizza, and now I’m the one stuck dealing with it.” Alvin told him, his voice with a slight bite to it.

“I tried to tell you.” Simon shrugged. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Alvin shook his head. “Anyway, I’m going upstairs to hide in my bed. I can’t take this anymore.”

“Have fun. I’m finishing this pizza.” Simon said mindlessly, heading back to the living room. Alvin just rolled his eyes and shook his head as he started climbing the stairs, because Simon was definitely being sarcastic. Right?

Wrong. 

As he would soon learn about ten minutes later, when he would hear the sounds of little chipmunk feet clambering up the stairs at record speed and disappearing into the bathroom, only to be replaced by awful ralphing. 

Alvin scrambled off of his bed, dashing across the hall and to the bathroom door. Those weren’t Theodore’s footsteps he’d heard, which meant it had to be Simon. 

“Simon? You okay in there, buddy?” He called uselessly. 

“Peachy.” Simon barely managed to croak, before retching again. Alvin winced painfully, but then a little lightbulb went off in his head, and he waited for the heaving to stop before he spoke again. 

“Si, can I come in?” 

The toilet flushed, and then came Simon’s croak again. “I guess.” 

Alvin went in through the doggy door, closing it behind him, and found Simon wrapped around the toilet, half sitting up and half sprawled on top of the stepstool they kept there. His red cap had been lost somewhere, and his face was a pale shade of green. 

“Any chance you have a breath mint?” Simon asked sheepishly, smacking his lips in disgust. Alvin got started on getting him a glass of water, and as he did, he asked his question. 

“How much pizza did you actually have?” He hadn’t tried to sound so accusatory, but it did anyway. 

“I…don’t even know,” Simon said, near tears. “I wanted more, so I just kept eating more.”

“I thought you were joking, you nitwit!” Alvin said, not harshly, but maybe a little exasperated. He handed him the glass of water. “I can’t stomach more than two pieces. I can never even fit anymore than two pieces, usually. Were you not full after two?” 

Simon rinsed his mouth out first, before carefully swallowing a sip. “I definitely was. But it was so good, I didn’t want to stop. Why am I so stupid?”

Alvin snickered weakly, trying to lighten the mood. “Oof. You sounded a little too much like me just then.”

Simon managed a weak annoyed smile. “Shut up.”

They exchanged quiet laughs, before Simon spoke again. “I don’t feel like I’m gonna be sick anymore.”

“Okay, that’s good.” Alvin reached a hand out and helped Simon to his feet. He wobbled a bit, but found his balance. “You wanna go lay down?” 

Simon nodded wordlessly, looking completely drained and exhausted. “I think I’ve had it with this day too.” 

“Yeah, I feel that,” Alvin agreed, pressing his lips together in sympathy. “When this happens to me, I have some of Jeanette’s homemade ginger tea. You want some? It’ll help settle your stomach.”

“Sure. Thank you.” 

“No worries.”

Simon went over to their bedroom, while Alvin went downstairs and prepared Simon’s tea, making a cup for himself as well. He wasn’t usually much of a tea drinker, but he felt like he needed it after today. Before he headed back upstairs, he switched the TV off, as it looked like Theodore had also eaten a bit too much pizza and was now fast asleep. Then, when he took a moment to stop and listen, he could just barely hear Dave’s soft snoring coming from the music room. While it wasn’t as good as his bed, at least the poor guy was letting himself rest now. 

When Alvin came back into their room carrying the two steaming mugs of tea, he found Simon laying on his back on top of his covers, his eyes closed. 

“Si?” Alvin whispered. “You asleep?” 

“Huh? No.” Simon turned his head a little to look at him. 

“I’ll put your tea here.” Alvin said, placing the blue mug on top of the nightstand, keeping the red one for himself out of habit. “It’s still too hot.”

“Thanks.”

He climbed up on the bed with Simon, holding the hot mug in his lap. The heat felt nice on his injured hands. “You feeling any better?” 

Simon shrugged, uninterested. “Maybe. Sorta. I dunno.” He reached up and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. As per the norm, Alvin could read him just a little too well. 

“What’re you thinking about?” 

“Everything,” Simon sighed deeply and tiredly, his voice wrought with raw emotions. “How did I get us into this situation, Alvin? How could I have been so…so stupid and reckless?” 

“Hey, hey,” Alvin frowned. “Simon, this isn’t your fault. It was an accident.”

“I never should’ve invented that stupid machine.”

“Well, you did, and this happened.” Alvin snapped, maybe a little too quickly, making Simon look at him. “Keyword there. Happened. Past tense. Which means, unless you plan to slap together a time machine as well, there isn’t anything we can do to change it. It sucks, Simon, I know it does, but playing the blame game doesn’t help either of us.”

Simon rolled over and sat up, leaning on the pillows next to Alvin. “But this…this is bad, Alvin! Really, really bad. I-I might not be able to fix it. I’m not the same person who built that device.”

“So I’ll be there to pick up the slack.”

Simon tensed in surprise. “I…Alvin, I can’t ask you to do that. This is my mess. I should be the one to clean it up.”

“You just said you might not be able to fix this by yourself. Simon, you need me. And I need you. Until this is over, I’m not going anywhere. So, let’s not cry over spilled milk, alright? We just need to keep pushing forward and working together.”

“I don’t understand. Why aren’t you mad at me?” 

Alvin’s brain short circuited. “What? Why would I be mad at you?”

“‘Cause I did this to you!” Simon snapped as he stood up, his voice shaking with guilt. “You left the skatepark in a daze because you had no idea who you were! I saw it! Your entire sense of self was gone because I made one stupid mistake and took it from you. Me! I did this.” 

Alvin’s shoulders deflated. “Simon.”

Simon covered his mouth and pinched the bridge of his nose, sniffling hard as he strained every muscle in his body to keep himself from bursting into a puddle of tears for the third time that day. He collapsed back down onto the bed. “I…I’m sorry, Alvin, I’m so sorry, I should’ve been–”

“Simon.” Alvin said again, setting his tea down and scooting over to sit next to him. “Listen, I’m not mad at you, and you don’t need to be sorry. It was just a crazy freak accident, Simon, and it wasn’t anyone’s fault. There’s nothing you could’ve done.”

Simon took a few calming, wobbly breaths, because as much as he hated it, realistically, he knew Alvin was right. Alvin gently squeezed him around the shoulders in an effort to comfort him, and though he tried not to react because he knew he didn’t deserve it, the squeeze helped to relax and ground him. Curse Alvin’s body and its apparent need for mushy-gushy hugs. 

Simon sniffled, running his hand under his nose as he leaned his head on Alvin’s shoulder, and released a tired sigh. “I still don’t feel right about asking you to help me fix this.”

“And my point still stands. I know you think you can, Simon, but you can’t do this on your own. Let me help. And, besides, I want to get us back to normal just as bad as you do.” 

“You sure?”

“Positive.” 

Simon couldn’t help but release another tired sigh. A part of him still wished Alvin was mad at him. At least that would make sense. 

“...and I still hate myself for causing this.” 

“You didn’t cause this.” Alvin argued gently. 

Simon opened his mouth, ready to argue right back, but Alvin beat him to it.

“But…yeah. I know how you feel.”

Simon nearly started. But then, it made complete sense. Making stupid mistakes was kind of Alvin’s area of expertise. 

Simon turned to look at him. “So what do I do about it?”

“What you’ve been doing. You feel it when you need to, and then you keep going anyway.”

Simon couldn’t help but let his shoulders sag in disappointment. “But I’m tired of doing that.” 

“I know, pal, I know. I’m sorry.” Alvin whispered genuinely, gently squeezing his shoulders again. “But I’m here for you, and together, we’ll figure this out. Everything’s gonna be okay.”  

Simon felt that pressure building behind his eyes again, but he willed it away this time. He didn’t deserve Alvin’s patience. He squeezed Alvin’s hand in a lame attempt to return the gesture. 

“Thank you.” He whispered, voice thick, because he genuinely could not come up with anything else to say. 

“Yeah.” Alvin murmured, nodding in understanding. 

Wanting to stop talking about this before he could start crying again, Simon shuffled backwards and threw himself back against his pillows.

“I am so tired.”

Alvin peeked at his watch. “Hey, we still have a couple hours until it’s time for bed. Did you want to bring the spare TV in here and watch Dagarack?” 

“Uh…y-yeah! Yeah. Sure. I’d like that.” Simon managed a small smile.

“Great!” Alvin slid off the bed. “I shall be back with the portable television device.” He said in a dramatic voice. 

He left, disappearing down the hall. After he did, Simon couldn’t help but shake his head and let out a watery chuckle. There were definitely days when Alvin nearly drove him to complete and total madness. That was a given. But then there were days like today, where amongst his crazy, ridiculous, upside down world, Alvin was the one and only constant he could count on. 

He didn’t understand why Alvin was being so patient and forgiving with him. Not in the slightest. But, nonetheless, he sure was grateful.

Chapter Text

They both ended up falling asleep halfway through the movie. Then, Simon was suddenly very rudely yanked from his slumber by a certain scary dancing clown. 

Well, not really. But holy nuts, the dream sure felt real. He was a gross, sweaty mess, and his heart was about to explode out of his chest. He sat up in bed, looking over, and there was Alvin, peacefully dead asleep, and clinging to Simon’s arm. A little ticked that Alvin went and saw a movie he knew he wasn’t supposed to, and now he was the one stuck having nightmares about it, Simon decided this just wouldn’t do.

He yanked his arm harshly out of Alvin’s grip, thinking that would wake him up. It didn’t. While Simon cringed in disgust and scrubbed the drool off of his sleeve, Alvin just rolled over and hugged the pillow instead. Simon raised a brow at him in a brief moment of confusion. Was he really that heavy of a sleeper?

“Alvin, wake up.” Simon tried again, shaking him by the shoulder. 

“Why yes, Princess Maya, that’s a lovely dress you’re wearing…” Alvin mumbled sleepily. 

“Alvin!” Simon hissed a bit louder, shaking him harder. 

“Five more minutes, mommy.” Alvin shoved him away, scooting over and falling back asleep like nothing. 

Simon growled under his breath, his patience wearing thin, before looking over and noticing how close Alvin was to the edge of the bed now. Why he chose to do what he did next might’ve just been because of his current irritation with Alvin, or it could've been his newfound impulsive nature and love for practical jokes. It was probably a combination of both. Nonetheless, he raised both hands and shoved his pesky brother off of his bed. 

Alvin hit the floor in a tangled fumbling heap of limbs and blankets. 

“Wha-what?! What happened? I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it, I want my lawyer!” 

Simon burst into giggles, not caring that Alvin was clearly gonna hear him. His head of mussed and staticky hair finally popped out of the blanket he was tangled in. 

“Dude, did you just push me out of bed?” 

Simon snickered behind his hand, unable to help himself. “Maybe.” 

“What gives?!” 

“Payback, that’s what.” Simon shot back, but without any bite to it. 

“What’d I do?” Alvin asked as he threw the blanket back onto the bed and straightened himself out. 

“You know you weren’t supposed to see that clown movie, Alvin.”

Alvin froze. “Uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Then he frowned. “Wait, how do you know I saw it?” 

“Look at me. I’m sweating bullets, ‘cause Pennywise the dancing clown–” Simon imitated his high squeaky voice. “-just chased me through…a haunted mansion? Or a mall, maybe? I don’t know. Somewhere.” 

“Oh, crap, really?” 

“Yeah. And I think you’d better see a shrink, pal. Or maybe an exorcist. It can’t be normal to have dreams like that all the time.” 

He was joking, because they both knew he’d tried that already, and it didn’t pan out so well. Alvin snickered, but rubbed at his neck guiltily. “Jeez, that bad, huh?” 

“It felt so real!” Simon breathed, astounded. 

Alvin winced. “Yeah, they usually do, unfortunately. I’m sorry. I deserved that rude awakening.”

“It’s whatever,” Simon shrugged, yawning quietly and sliding off the bed. “We still need to brush our teeth anyway.” 

Since they had both fallen asleep still in their clothes, they quickly changed into their PJs and headed across the hall to the bathroom. Theodore had made it to bed at some point too, they saw, and they assumed Dave had too, since all the lights had been turned off for the night. 

They got to the bathroom and both used new toothbrushes, because they utterly refused to use each other’s, but it somehow seemed wrong to use their own as well. 

“I seriously cannot believe we have to do this all again tomorrow,” Simon groaned in despair as he rinsed his mouth. “I might fake being sick so I can stay home.”

“First of all, Dave wouldn’t believe you. He never believes me when I say I’m sick anymore,” Alvin pointed out, also rinsing out his mouth. He took a careful breath in. “Second, um, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that.” 

Simon raised a brow. “About what?”

Alvin sat down on his vanity stool, nodding for Simon to do the same, which meant there was a possibility of this not being a short conversation.

“So, I’ve been thinking.”

“Uh oh.” Simon couldn’t help but quip. 

“Shush, you.” Alvin told him, waving a teasing hand. “So, I’ve been thinking. Today was a really lousy day for us.”

“Clearly you haven’t been thinking long, ‘cause that’s the understatement of the century.” 

“I said shush.” Alvin waved at him again. “Anyway. What I was thinking was, as hard as today was for us, and getting used to this new arrangement, I was thinking, you know, maybe tomorrow doesn’t also have to be. Maybe you and I need to change our perspective on this.” 

Simon frowned, pursing his lips and tilting his head. “What’re you getting at, Alvin?” 

“I’m saying that maybe we should stop trying to be the people we were before, and embrace the people we are now. Let’s enjoy these new qualities we do have instead of being upset about the ones we don’t have anymore. ‘Cause they aren’t gone, right? They’re just in a different place. We didn’t get to it tonight, but once we get around to fixing your device, everything will go back to normal. So why not have fun with it in the meantime? You know, since we’re already here.”

Simon was very confused. “I don’t get it. You got really upset at the skatepark today. And in gym class. And tonight, when you found out you don’t love pizza anymore.” 

“Yeah, I know. But I also loved being able to pay attention in class, and reading about physics, and talking with Kevin about the chemistry test, and, you know, it actually wasn’t the worst thing being able to do my homework when I got home. And you had your tough spots too, but you enjoyed art class, right? And gym class? And skateboarding?” 

“I…yeah, I guess.”

“All I’m saying is that we should just make the best of this. It only sucks if we choose to look at it that way.”

“Yeah, I see what you’re saying,” Simon allowed. He didn’t continue, not sure how to say what he was thinking. 

“But…” Alvin pushed gently. 

“I-I just…you make it sound like it’s easy. But we’re so different, Alvin. We’re literally polar opposites. If there were some overlap, maybe it would be better, but we have literally nothing in common.”

Alvin shrugged, his mouth twitching in a smile. “I think that’s what keeps it interesting.” 

“Well, you would.” 

The words slipped out before Simon could realize what exactly they implied. He froze, praying it would go over his head. It didn’t. Alvin frowned. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“I-I just–”

“Are you saying this is harder for you than it is for me? ‘Cause…I mean, well, it isn’t a competition, Simon. It’s been a tough adjustment for both of us.” 

“I know that! It’s just…you gotta understand, Alvin, I…” He took an uneasy breath. “I-I’m nothing without my intellect. Not having it anymore is…really hard for me.” 

“Simon, that’s not true.” Alvin argued immediately, shaking his head. “And, even if it were, which it isn’t, you’ll get it back, remember?” 

“Yeah, I know that. I-It’s just…” 

He still didn’t know how to arrange his words. 

“You…got a downgrade.” Alvin put it together. 

“Alvin, I–”

“So, wait, hold on,” Alvin shook his head, waving his hands, getting worked up. “Are you saying that this change is harder for you because…you don’t have any admirable qualities anymore? That I don’t have any admirable qualities?” 

“Alvin, that’s not what I meant!” 

“Then what did you mean?” 

Simon prayed he could stop this before it escalated any further. He spoke slowly, thinking his words out carefully. “I just meant that…my intelligence is what’s most important to me. It’s what I pride myself in the most. All I’m saying is that your qualities are not the same things that are important to me. Because we’re so different. But you’re right! It isn’t a competition of who has it worse. So, um…yeah.” 

Like the coward he was, he avoided Alvin’s eyes, because he couldn’t bear the thought of looking at them and possibly seeing the hurt he might’ve just inflicted on him. He hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings like this. He had to fix it. 

But Alvin still wasn’t saying anything. The tension in the air was so thick, he was sure it could be cut with a knife. 

“Could you…say something? Please?” Simon whispered. 

Alvin released a quiet sigh. Simon dared to glance at him; he had shifted to face away from him now. “So you don’t want to be me.” 

“I…Alvin, we’re just different. That’s all. I promise I don’t mean it in a bad way. We’re still family, and I still love you. That could never change.” 

He went quiet again. Simon thought about what he’d said a few seconds prior. 

“Are you saying you do want to be me?” Simon asked.

“Well…yeah.” 

There was no way. This made no sense. “But…you always tease me and make fun of me for being such a nerd!”

“Yeah. I…I’m not proud of it, but…I think I do that because I’m…jealous. Of you.”

“What?” 

“Oh, come on, Simon.” Alvin threw him a look. It was harsh, just for a moment, but then it turned to something…genuine and soft. “You’ve accomplished more in your years than most will in their entire life. Some day, you and your mind are gonna change the world. You’re gonna move mountains. You…you could do anything. You could go anywhere. And yet…here you are, putting up with me and my selfish arse. How lucky am I to have someone so special?” His eyes were full of genuine awe, and Simon still couldn’t believe this was happening. 

For a moment, Alvin just stared at him with that look, and for that entire moment, Simon forgot they were switched. He saw his brother. The guy who was so arrogant, so full of himself, and still, somehow, so unbelievably sweet. “Simon Seville, you are extraordinary.”

Simon’s heart leapt to his throat. Of all the things he expected Alvin to say…this wasn’t anywhere on the list. He had no words. 

Blinking back tears, Alvin turned to face away again. “Really, Simon, how the heck could I not want to be you?” 

He sniffled, blinking viciously, and even through the shock he was feeling, Simon managed to hand him a tissue. 

“Sorry,” Alvin mumbled, swiping at his eyes. “I’ve been…holding onto that for a while.” 

Simon let him have his moment to collect himself, and after a minute, he took a wobbly breath and spoke again. 

“So, while the initial adjustment still sucked, I realized that…I can finally have a taste of what I’ve been really wanting for so long. For once, I get to be brilliant. Even if just for a minute, I still get to be…extraordinary. Maybe I’m selfish for that, but…I’ve looked up to you for so long, I-I just want to…make a difference. Like you.”

Simon felt like he’d been stabbed in the heart.

“Listen, Si, I know I don’t do a good job of telling you, or showing you, or whatever, and I will be better from now on, but…I’m really really proud of you. And I’m so proud to be you. I-It just…kinda hurts that you can’t say the same about me.” 

“Alvin,” Simon uttered, his voice breaking. “I am proud of you.” 

“Then why aren’t you proud to be me?” 

“I am. Alvin, you are extraordinary.” 

Despite his tears, Alvin managed a scoff. “Not like you.”

“It’s a multidimensional term.” 

“Simon, what could I possibly have that you don’t?” Alvin asked genuinely. “You’re the entire package. You’re good at everything.” 

“I’m not.” Simon denied. “Listen to me, Alvin. You’re probably right, I could probably go anywhere and be doing just about anything I want to. It is something I’ve thought about. But do you wanna know why I haven’t?” 

Alvin shrugged a shoulder, nodding. 

“Because I don’t have the courage to take a risk like that. But, you…Alvin, you are the single bravest person I’ve ever known. I envy that about you, I always have. You’re right, I may be smart, I could have the potential to change the world, but I promise, you are the only one here with the guts to actually do it. You…You’re a genuine force of nature, Alvin. You could do anything you set your mind to.”

Alvin’s brows rose, his face going slack in shock. The look made a sad lump rise in Simon’s throat again. Was Alvin really that surprised that Simon really did admire him?

“You really think so?” He murmured softly. 

“Absolutely.” Simon agreed, nodding gently. “You don’t need to be a genius to make a difference in the world, Alvin. You’ll make all the difference. I know you will.” 

Alvin hugged him unexpectedly, and Simon melted right into it, squeezing him tight. 

“Thank you.” Alvin murmured sincerely. 

Simon wanted to reply, but he was too busy concentrating on keeping himself from bursting into tears.

All these years, he felt so underappreciated by Alvin. The guy’s pride was just too big. Simon had made peace with that a long time ago. But to hear all this, that Alvin had really admired and looked up to him all this time, even if he was too proud to say it, was…magical. He was sure Alvin was feeling something similar. Simon felt guilty for that, but…what could he say? Expressing emotions and sentiment had never been his strong suit. But Alvin knew now. That was all that mattered. 

“So…you say you envy my bravery, right?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Well, you don’t have to anymore,” Alvin reminded him gently. “It’s all yours to play with now.”

Simon gave a watery chuckle. “Yeah. I guess it is.” 

“So my qualities are important to you.” 

Simon breathed a guilty sigh. “Yeah. They are.” 

He wasn’t ready to, but Simon pulled back from their hug. “I’m really sorry, Alvin. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I guess I just…didn’t realize that I really do admire you. A lot. That’s…really crappy of me and I’m really sorry.” 

“It’s okay, I get it.” Alvin said genuinely. “I know I can be a lot. And you weren’t totally wrong. It isn’t easy admitting you admire someone who’s so different from you.” 

Simon cracked an awkward smile. “Yeah, I guess.”

“But, hey, at least you guys are never bored, right?” Alvin flashed a big goofy smile, trying to lighten the mood, and it worked, making Simon laugh. 

“Yeah, that’s true.” He agreed. 

“But, see, this is what I was getting at. These qualities we admire about each other, we have for ourselves now! How cool is that?” Alvin said with an excited grin. “And I don’t know about you, but I’m so ready to take my new super-brain out for a test drive tomorrow.”

Simon chuckled. “Be careful. You don’t have a license to drive it.” 

“Oh, shut up! I do too!” Alvin shot back. With quiet laughs, the brothers hopped down from their vanity stools, stretching and yawning. 

“I’m also so ready for bed.” Alvin quipped through a yawn. 

“Yeah, me too.” Simon murmured as he stretched. They headed back into the hall and towards their room. 

“So, um…we’re cool, right?” Simon had to make sure.

“Yeah, definitely.” Alvin said honestly. “We’re good, Simon.” 

Simon couldn’t help but sigh in relief. “Good.” 

“Except for the part where you pushed me out of bed. That wasn’t cool.” Alvin glared at him with a teasing smirk.

“Hey, you said it yourself, you deserved it. And you did. Why’d you watch that stupid movie, anyway?” 

“‘Cause it’s fun to be scared!” Alvin reasoned. “I watched it with Kevin and Cheesy. They just about peed their pants. It was so funny.” 

“Even when they give you nightmares like that? You watch them anyway?” 

“It’s worth it.” Alvin grinned. 

“I beg to differ. Especially for that movie.”

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad.”

“I don’t like clowns.” Simon said with a shiver. 

“There are worse movies.”

Simon rolled his eyes, knowing full well what Alvin was about to say. “Chucky was not that scary.”

“Don’t speak of him!” Alvin snapped, making Simon laugh.

“Alright, alright, fine.” Simon chuckled, shaking his head. 

They were quiet for a moment, before Alvin reached out and playfully nudged Simon’s shoulder. “So, are you gonna do something with your newfound daredevil-ness tomorrow?” 

“Maybe,” Simon shrugged. “We’ll see. I-I just…I don’t know, Alvin. I’m not so good with change.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Alvin said, giving Simon’s shoulder a brief squeeze. “But it doesn’t have to be something big. And, hey, I bet it will be like the skatepark. Once you get into it, it should feel natural.” 

“Yeah, I hope so.” Simon agreed. The two brothers approached their beds and frowned at each other. 

“I guess it would look pretty weird if we’re caught sleeping in the wrong beds.” Alvin pointed out. 

“Yeah, probably.” Simon agreed reluctantly. He proceeded to climb into Alvin’s red bed, and Alvin climbed into his blue one. 

“Hey,” Alvin called to Simon while they were getting settled under their covers. 

“Hm?” 

“Tomorrow’s a new day, and we’re making the best of this thing now, right?” 

Simon grinned, nodding. “Definitely.” 

Alvin grinned back, and held a hand out. They did their super-secret bro handshake, before settling back under their blankets. 

“Goodnight, Simon.”

“Night, Alvin.” 

Chapter Text

The next morning went a lot smoother than the one before. Today was the day Alvin and Simon were starting with fresh attitudes. Or, at the very least, they would try to. There was still no way to tell how the day would go. Better than yesterday, they hoped. 

Alvin and Simon were down for breakfast in no time flat, and as usual, Theodore had beat them to the kitchen. The house was filled with the warm, welcoming smell of his baking, which was far from uncommon in their household, even in the wee hours of the morning on a school day. If there was one thing they knew about Theodore, it was that he always, always kept an extra batch of cookie dough handy in the fridge. You never know when we might have a cookie emergency on our hands, was his reasoning. 

Presently, their little brother was on the counter, staring at the toaster in hungry anticipation as it toasted his bagel. When his was done, he made two more, and then they all sat at the kitchen island to eat. 

“Happy Friday! How’d you guys sleep last night?” Theodore asked casually.

“Great! For once.” Alvin answered with a grin.

“Lousy,” Simon grumbled. “I kept having dreams about that stupid clown.”

“I tried to tell you, Alvin.” Theodore frowned at him. 

“Yeah, I know, I should’ve listened.” Simon said, biting into his bagel a little more aggressively than necessary and throwing a glare Alvin’s way. He pointedly avoided his eyes, smirking to himself. 

“What’s the day look like for you guys?” Theodore asked them. “Alvin and I are supposed to get Miss Smith’s math quiz back today.” 

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Simon muttered, rolling his eyes. 

“We’re going over the AP Chem test, then doing the lesson for the next unit.” Alvin told them. “Should be interesting.”

“What’s the next unit?” Theodore asked curiously. 

Alvin blinked. He had no clue. “Uh…” 

Thankfully, Simon saved him. Sort of. “Isn’t it the one about therm–thermo–Thermos? Thermodee…something.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration when he couldn’t say the word he was looking for. 

“Thermodynamics. Yeah, that’s it.” Alvin said, snapping his fingers. 

“What’s that mean?” Theodore asked, cocking a brow. 

“The study of the relations between heat, work, temperature and energy.” Alvin answered, frowning at himself and shaking his head, because he had no idea how he knew any of that. 

“Oof. Sounds way too hard and complicated.” Theodore frowned. 

“Hopefully not,” Alvin shrugged. “Where’s Dave?” 

“He got up and made our lunches, then went back to bed.” Theodore answered. His head drooped down, and his voice went sad. “I feel bad for him. He’s been working so hard.” 

“Can’t blame him for pushing himself so hard now that he’s finally back in the groove.” Alvin pointed out.

“Yeah, after that bout of writer’s block, he’s probably way behind.” Simon agreed. 

“Yeah, I guess,” Theodore allowed. “Still. I wanted to do something nice for him, so I got up early and made a batch of his favourite Gingersnap cookies. Oh, and I made him this!”

Out of nowhere, he pulled a piece of bright green construction paper with a message scrawn on in big, colourful letters. Thank you for all you do for us, Dave! We love you and hope you have a great day! Love, Theodore. Underneath it was Theodore’s semi-messy drawing of the four of them. He wasn’t the best artist by any means, but nonetheless, it was the sweetest and most adorable little drawing they’d ever seen. 

“Aww, Theo, that’s so sweet.” Alvin told him, touched. 

“Yeah, pal, my teeth are about to fall out.” Simon joked with a lighthearted smile. 

“Do you think he’ll like it?” Theodore asked them, suddenly sounding nervous and self conscious. “I didn’t have a lot of time, so it isn’t my best work–” 

“Theodore, don’t worry about a thing. He’s gonna love it.” Alvin reassured him. 

“Great!” Theodore grinned. He passed them his drawing and pencil case full of his coloured pens and markers. “Here, you guys need to sign it too!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the oven dinged, and he practically leaped with excitement the way he always did whenever he was about to pull something yummy out of the oven. Alvin and Simon chuckled fondly, doing as they were told and scribbling their names onto the drawing. 

“I love this kid.” Alvin whispered to Simon, low enough so Theodore didn’t hear.

“Me too.” Simon replied back with a smile. 

Theodore placed the cookies out on the stovetop to cool off, and he tenderly placed the note with them, before it was time for the boys to gather up their things and make their way out the door and head off to school. 

When Theodore ran upstairs to grab something he forgot, leaving Alvin and Simon alone, Alvin turned to his brother.

“Hey, you okay?” Alvin asked him genuinely. Simon looked mildly uneasy, which anyone else might not have noticed, but it was a lot easier to read someone while they were wearing your own face. 

Simon shrugged one shoulder, adjusting his temporary black backpack on his shoulders. “Just…I don’t know. Nervous, I guess. I’m still not sure about this.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Alvin nodded, pressing his lips together in sympathy. “I know it’s still hard. But just remember what we talked about, okay? We will literally lose our minds if we only focus on the negatives of this. There’s too many of them. But there are positives. Even if they’re a bit harder to see, they’re still there.” 

That was true, Simon supposed. He puffed out a sigh, resigning. “Yeah, alright.”

“Silver lining, right?”  

“Yeah. Yeah. Silver lining. It’ll be fine.” Simon told himself with just a smidge more confidence, but still not sounding completely sure.

“I found it!” Theodore hollered as he ran down the stairs, stumbling and nearly falling on his face, but barely managing to keep himself upright. “I’m ready to leave now.”

“What’d you forget?” Alvin asked as he held the front door open for Simon and Theodore before leaving himself and closing it behind them. 

“Me and Eleanor are making–”

Before he could stop himself, Alvin interrupted him. “Eleanor and I.” 

Theodore frowned, annoyed, while Simon hid a snicker behind his hand. “You and Eleanor what? And it’s rude to talk over people, Simon.” 

“I-I wasn’t–nevermind. My bad, sorry. Go ahead.” Alvin stammered, at a loss for words. As Theodore went on about his and Eleanor’s sewing project for their Home Economics class, saying something about how it had to be done with Periwinkle coloured thread, and he saved the day because there was none left at the store, but he happened to have a spool at home, Simon leaned over and bumped Alvin’s shoulder, giggling. 

“Silver lining, right, Alvin?” He whispered with a smirk. He wasn’t worried about Theodore hearing him; he’d finished his talk about the spool of thread and had put in his earbuds by now. 

“Silver lining.” Alvin agreed stiffly, trying to shake it off. 

But Simon couldn’t resist bringing out the big guns. “Never thought I’d see the day where you’re correcting someone else’s grammar. Let’s capture the moment!”

Before Alvin could swat it away, Simon managed to snap a picture of the dumb look on his face. 

“What–no! Give me that phone! Give it!” 

Simon burst into laughter and ran off as Alvin angrily chased him down the street. He ended up chasing him all the way to the front school yard, and while Simon was ready to keep on running, Alvin finally had to stop and put his hands on his knees.

“Okay, fine, that’s it, you win.” He wheezed, no longer caring about getting Simon’s phone. “But, real talk, dude, you need to start working out or something. This is crazy! I can’t breathe!”

“Chill out, Alvin, you’re fine.” Simon rolled his eyes. “Besides, I’m not in bad shape. You are just in freakishly good shape, ‘cause you do soccer, and karate, and baseball, and skateboarding, and all this other stuff. You might not believe me when I say this, but most normal people do, in fact, get tired when they run that far.”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” Alvin also rolled his eyes, still huffing and puffing. “But the difference really is crazy.” 

“Yeah, it is. I’m liking it, though. I guess there really are positives to this.” 

“See? And you didn’t believe me.” Alvin pointed out with a shake of his head and a fond smirk. He had managed to catch his breath, and they were walking up the path and into the school now. 

“Well, there sure aren’t going to be any positives for me this morning.” Simon said dully. “Miss Smith is probably ticked at me for bombing that math test yesterday.” 

“Yeah, she might be,” Alvin allowed, sighing. “But try not to let her get to you, Si. She doesn’t like me, so she picks on me. Just ignore her.” 

“Yeah.” Simon said, nodding. He wasn’t quite sure yet how true that actually was, because everyone knew Alvin had a habit of over exaggerating things, and Miss Smith didn’t really pick on him too badly yesterday. He was about to find out, he guessed. 

They had a few minutes before class started, and the girls came and met them where they were loitering by their lockers. 

“Morning, guys!” Jeanette greeted them with a smile, Brittany and Eleanor following her. 

“Morning.” Alvin and Simon chorused, immediately throwing glares at each other.

“Where’s Theodore?” Brittany asked boredly. 

“Somewhere. We beat him here, I guess.” Alvin shrugged. 

“Oh, hey,” Eleanor piped up. “I forgot to thank you knuckleheads for ditching me at the skatepark yesterday.” She told them with a lighthearted smile. 

Alvin and Simon shared a horrified look. They had completely forgotten about her yesterday. “Oh, jeez, Ells, we’re so sorry–” Simon started to apologize, but she waved him off.

“Chill, dude, I’m kidding,” She said, giggling fondly. She walked in between them as they all started to head towards Miss Smith’s classroom. “But, still, that was a little weird. You’ve been busting your tail trying to land that epic trick for weeks, and then when you finally do, you bail? What’s up with that?” 

Heat rushed to Simon’s cheeks. He didn’t know what he was supposed to tell her. “Um, heh, well, you see–”

“And you,” Eleanor continued, turning to Alvin. “What happened to you yesterday? You ran out of that place with your little tail between your legs like a wolf was after you.” 

“Nothing happened,” Alvin shrugged. “I just…had to run home to use the bathroom, if you must know.” 

“They have bathrooms at the skatepark.” Eleanor reminded him, frowning skeptically. 

“I don’t like those.” Alvin said honestly, shaking his head in disgust. 

“Besides, Dave had texted us to go home for dinner anyway.” Simon piped up, figuring that was a feasible lie. 

“Ahhh.” Eleanor nodded. “Too bad. We’ll have to go again sometime soon.” 

“Definitely.” Simon agreed. He had actually enjoyed being at the skatepark yesterday, and he’d had a great time hanging out with Eleanor. 

They got to Miss Smith’s classroom and settled in for another long and boring history class. After morning announcements, and a couple of other housekeeping items, Miss Smith went around and collected the homework worksheets from the day before. When Simon handed his finished worksheet over, she looked surprised, and took it slowly, frowning at it before throwing him a skeptical glare. 

“You actually did the homework this time, Alvin?” She asked. 

“Yes, Miss Smith.” Simon nodded, lying without thinking. It wasn’t technically a lie, because Alvin had indeed done it for him, and it looked like it too. Still, Simon couldn’t help but squirm under her look. He slunk back in his chair. 

“You didn’t do anything like pay your brother to do it, did you?” She asked with a smirk, thinking for sure she’d have him there.

“What? No!” Simon answered incredulously. He didn’t know if her crabby attitude had anything to do with the math test he failed, but nonetheless, he was offended. 

“I would never–” He stopped and fake coughed, catching himself. “Simon would never do that for me, first of all. Second, why’s it so hard to believe I did the homework? It’s right there.”

Alvin, bless his heart, tried to jump in and save him, waving his worksheet around. “Miss Smith, here’s my worksheet.” 

She held a hand up to silence him. “You know exactly why, Alvin.” She answered Simon, narrowing her eyes. “And if you give me any more attitude, you’ll be doing a lot more homework than a worksheet all weekend.” 

Simon wanted to bite her head off. She wasn’t happy when Alvin didn’t do his homework, but apparently she still wasn’t happy when he did do it, either. What more could she possibly want from him? It didn’t make any sense at all. 

But, Simon knew full well he was already in trouble with her about the math test, so he just bit his tongue and gritted his teeth, nodding wordlessly. 

He waited until she was across the room chewing out Derek before looking over at Alvin. “What the heck is her problem?!” Simon hissed, in disbelief. 

Alvin winced guiltily. “I don’t know, man. I’m sorry. You just have to ignore her.” 

Simon rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He didn’t know how he was supposed to do that, with her being so unreasonable and downright childish. But he didn’t have much of a choice, he guessed. The last thing he needed was more trouble. He had enough going on as it was. 

After she collected the homework, Miss Smith put on a video for them to watch. Normally, Simon didn’t have a problem staying awake during Miss Smith’s history videos, but today, it was literally the driest thing he had ever watched in his entire life. His eyelids started to droop less than five minutes in. 

Miss Smith must’ve been feeling extra grumpy today, because at one point, she stopped the video and turned the lights back on to scare him back awake. 

“Alvin!” She snapped from her desk. Purely on instinct, Simon jumped out of his skin.

“What, what?! I’m awake!” He stammered. The class erupted into mocking giggles yet again, and Simon slunk back in his chair, hiding his red hot face under the brim of his hat, wanting nothing more than to just crawl into a hole and die. 

“You want to tell the class what you were dreaming about?” Miss Smith continued to taunt him. 

“Nope.” Simon mumbled. 

“Then figure out how to stay awake and watch the video like everyone else.” She said firmly, resuming the video and turning the lights back off. 

Simon didn’t respond, instead focused on pushing back the burning pressure behind his eyes. He would not have any breakdowns today. Silver lining, he told himself. Positives. That’s what we’re doing today.

Alvin was not making that an easy task for him. 

“Hey.” He locked eyes with Alvin, who was giving him a concerned look. He gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze, which Simon appreciated. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Simon nodded, sniffing once, taking a deep breath and quietly releasing it. 

Ironically, he couldn’t focus on any of the rest of the video, because he couldn’t stop thinking about how wrong he’d been all this time, and how horribly right Alvin had been. When she wanted to be, Miss Smith really could be a bully. Simon felt like the worst brother in the world. 

As soon as the bell rang, he was out of there, knowing Miss Smith wasn’t going to stop him, since it was Friday and she wanted to get through the day just as much as they did. He had just made it to their lockers when Alvin caught up with him.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked genuinely, placing a concerned hand on his arm. 

“Sort of.” Simon shrugged. “Uh, can we talk in here?”

He stepped up into his locker, and Alvin nodded and followed, shutting the door behind them, checking to make sure it wasn’t locked. It wasn’t always convenient being short little chipmunks living in a human world, but Simon didn’t mind this part of it. With the door closed, the lockers were a surprisingly private place to talk.

Of course, despite Simon being the one to ask him to talk, Alvin was the one to speak first. “I’m really sorry about her, Simon. I was–”

“No, no, don’t.” Simon shut him down, shaking his head. “I…I’m the one who should be sorry. You were right, Alvin. You were right about everything. She is a jerk, and she does pick on you, and she does humiliate you in front of the whole class, and you’ve been trying to tell me for years but I never listened, even though I was there and it was happening right in front of my freakin’ face, I still never listened.” He choked up against his will, because even though he knew that realistically, it wasn’t the end of the world, it still wasn’t right, and Alvin had spent all this time trying to tell him that, but Simon just ignored him. He felt terrible. 

“Simon, it’s okay,” Alvin reassured him, shaking his head and stepping forward to gently place his hands on his shoulders. “Really, it’s okay. It’s not like she was doing it to you. Heck, you’re her favourite kid in this entire school. You had no reason to believe me.” 

“Your word should’ve been enough.” Simon said without thinking. When Alvin’s face lit up like a Christmas tree, he paused, his eyes going wide. 

“Uh…” Simon stammered. 

“Nope! You already said it! No backsies!” Alvin teased, poking Simon in the gut and making him laugh despite the tears in his eyes.

“Of course, I’m kidding. Sort of.” Alvin added with a smirk. “But, don’t feel bad, Simon. It’s alright. I forgive you.” 

Simon sighed. He didn’t understand how Alvin could possibly have this much forgiveness for him. It was just one of the many things about him that made no sense, he guessed. “Thank you. But, still…we should do something. It’s not okay for her to treat you like that, Alvin.”

“Yeah, I know.” Alvin agreed, nodding tensely. “She never listened to me before, but maybe I could try talking to her about it now. She actually likes me now. Since, you know, I’m wearing your face.” 

He framed his face with his fingers and made a funny face, managing to get another laugh out of Simon. Alvin always knew just how to cheer him up. 

“Yeah, maybe.” Simon agreed with a smile. Suddenly the overhead bell rang, alerting them that they only had two minutes to get to class on time. 

“Shoot, we gotta go!” Alvin said, quickly shoving his way through the locker door and back out into the hallway. Both he and Simon frantically grabbed their books before shutting their respective lockers. Before he took off to the AP Chem room, Alvin turned to Simon.

“Are you gonna be okay for math class?” Alvin asked him, that concerned look coming back. 

“Hopefully.” Simon shrugged. 

“Well, if she rips into you again, text me SOS, and I’ll be here to show her a thing or two.” He told him, holding his fists up and imitating a fight stance. 

Simon blew a raspberry and giggled. “Yeah, right. I’d pay good money to see that.” 

“Oh, come on, I could take her.” Alvin boasted, some of that signature Alvin confidence shining through his very non-Alvin body. It was strangely endearing. Was it possible Simon actually missed Alvin and his proper arrogant attitude? As if yesterday and today hadn’t been crazy enough. 

“No, you couldn’t.” Simon told him with a fond smile. “Now, go on, git. You’re gonna be late.” 

“Nope, I’ll make it!” Alvin declared confidently. He took off halfway down the hallway, before stopping and turning back to Simon.

“Seriously, though, text me if you need anything, alright?” 

“Alvin, you’re sweet, but I’ll be fine.” 

“Promise?” Alvin pushed. 

“Alright, alright, I promise. Now shoo!” 

He flashed a bright smile, before turning and running the rest of the way down the hall and eventually disappearing around the corner. 

When he was gone, Simon clutched his math books to his chest and inhaled a massive breath, releasing it loudly. Was he ready for this? Could he handle himself in there without Alvin? 

He was about to find out.