He… he didn’t want to face his parents. At least, not yet anyway because he felt that he was severely unprepared for what he would be bringing…

First off, the fact that he was openly gay (and did not regret this at all), because boy he would be shattering their hopes and dreams of him carrying the surname forward.

Well, he technically would, just not in a biological way if that made sense.

So instead, to while away the time until the dreaded family dinner that Addy and Thea were setting up at the old family home, he decided to take Guillermo Marceliño along for a little tour… well, the best he could manage anyway… around Mistralton.

“Remember how we talked about visiting each other’s home towns? Well, I know you absolutely do not want to go to yours, so… here we are. This is my original hometown.”

Even if they both knew that Fortree was their forever home now, at least.

“Over there? Well, that was where me and Victor Wexler had ice cream… you know how I was banned from eating sweet things while I was a kid? Well, thanks to him I realized that my parents were just… literally overreacting!”

He then pulled the other man along, pointing out things as they took an erratic route through the city.

“Over there’s the open field where I would see Thea waiting, watching the people play soccer… little did I realize it was kris flynn-edwards she was actually waiting for. And then, one time, bam, they just left!”

Maybe it was his older sister taking the first bold step that made him follow… not literally in her path, but on his own.

“And then, and then over there by the tree by the roundabout… that was where me and Addy got our lunchboxes mixed up quite a few times. I accidentally got her nice little bento and… well, I’m pretty sure she had a field day with my lunch.”

He couldn’t help but reminisce about everything that happened, all those years ago. It was literally taking a walk down memory lane at that point.

He was sure that the other man knew how he… didn’t want to talk about his parents as much as the other did, but since his own sisters had insisted, well…

Curse him for being too nice!

“…your sisters should totally meet mine. I have a feeling Addy and Maria are going to like, vibe. A lot.”

---

theme — reminiscence
sleep score — 400 (409 wc)

He had to fight down the nervousness rising inside him, because holy fucking shit, he had to dig deep to find the courage to say what he really wanted to say—them running through Mistralton was like, him literally delaying the inevitable.

He could already feel the Beautifly settling in his stomach out of sheer nervousness… if his nerves didn’t kill him, maybe him throwing up out of fucking nerves would!

Looking over at his partner, who asked him what the matter was, he replied with this mysterious smile and shook his head.

But deep inside, though, he was pretty much batshit losing it because his nerves were starting to kill him!

“Alex? What’s the matter?” he heard Guillermo Marceliño ask him, and he had to white lie a little just to reassure him that everything was fine, everything was peachy, nothing was wrong.

(Hopefully his sweaty palms didn’t give him away!)

Sometimes, it was hard when you were head over heels in love especially when you were trying to fucking propose and get your nerves over with before the family dinner in a few hours!

“Are you sure you’re fine? You look pale,” he added quietly.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine, love, just… nervous.”

“Why’s that?”

“Honestly, after I left all those years ago, I’m pretty sure my parents disowned me. Or they forgot about me, and, and—” he rambled, before he saw his better half gesturing for him to crouch down.

“What is it?”

He then got an affectionate noogie from the other man!

“Wha—hey!” he yelped, before feeling his cheeks burn.

“That’s for worrying about nothing, you idiot. C’mon, I’m sure your parents aren’t going to chew you out,” he cackled.

---

theme — love
sleep score — 600 (283 wc)

All too soon, he would feel his phone buzzing—to a message from his younger sister, Addy.

“You know… Addy and Maria would totally get along. I can already see it, you think you can get in touch with your younger sister and ask her how she’s been or anything?” he continued, diverting as he had to check what the message was about.

He felt his insides clench a little, considering that it was now time for them to head to his family home, as the dinner had already been set up and they were almost ready.

“B-before we head back, though, I…”

“What?”

Silence came from his direction, as he was internally struggling; trying not to cry, or scream, or run away as fast and as far as possible because he could feel that he was going to regally fuck this one chance up again! Hell, he could already taste the bile in the back of his throat no thanks to the gastric acid flaring up inside him whenever he got fucking nervous.

“Love, what is it? Don’t leave me hanging!” the other man chided, looking up into his face—with the stare of truth.

Shit, he hated it when he was plied with that look! He had to bite the nerves down, he had to bite the nerves down…

He then decided to throw his reckless bravado to the wind, before quietly grabbing Memo’s hand.

“Memo. O froggy prince of mine.”

“Yes, what is it, bird princess?”

“Hey!”

“I was teasing, I was teasing! Lighten the mood an’ all. Sorry.”

“Alright, frog prince,” he began again; knowing that it was now or never for his chance to step up to the plate and be open about his feelings (as it was usually Memo who was open, not him).

“I’ve actually wanted to ask you something. For… for quite some time now.”

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theme — stepping up
sleep score — 800 (313 wc)