Chapter 9
Reggie forgot how to breath for a second as Carrie ran to try and calm her father down. But he realized Alex was shaking, his breathing shallow, “Hey, hey, baby, stay with me.” Reggie slowly lowered himself and his boyfriend to the ground, not paying Carrie’s dad any attention, “Come on, ‘Lex, I’m right here. Tell me five things you can see.”
Alex was still shaking, but his eyes were focusing more on the boy holding him, “Y-your eyes, your a-arms, y-your f-flannel, your face, y-you.”
“Four things you can feel.”
“Your hands, the floor, your jeans, your heartbeat.” Alex blinked a couple of times, eyes not leaving Reggie’s face.
“You’re doing really good, baby. Three things you can smell.”
“Your cologne.” His breathing started to even out. “The food Carrie bought. The mint you ate earlier.”
Reggie laughed softly, running his fingers through Alex’s hair. “Two things you can taste.”
Alex licked his lips, “The drink I had before the song and your chapstick.”
“And what can you hear?” Reggie asked softly.
“You.” Alex wrapped his arms around Reggie’s neck tightly, and when they looked up, they saw Carrie push her father into a side room before making her way to them.
“I’m sorry, guys. I need to deal with this.”
“Alex-“ the blonde cut him off.
“Go ahead. I’ll sit with Luke until you finish.” The guitarist rushed over a second later, having heard his name. He let Alex hold onto his arm and nodded at Reggie’s grateful smile as he led Alex away. Reggie got up, following Carrie to the other room.
Trevor was sitting with his arms crossed, raising an eyebrow when he saw Reggie come in with Carrie. “Carrie-“
“No, dad. For once, I want you to just listen to me. Reggie is in love with Alex. And no matter what you think, that isn’t wrong. They are perfect for each other, I know you saw that.” She pointed back toward the other room, “You saw the way Alex started to panic, just like you used to, and Reggie was able to calm him down in less than five minutes. How could you be against a relationship like that?”
Trevor sighed, “I’m not.” Carrie blinked, clearly reeling. “Look, Princess, I’m sorry. The label I have been working for- the old management there was homophobic. It was in my contract that I do not interact that community in anyway.”
Carrie nodded, arms crossed and tears in her eyes, “Fine then. I’ll move out.”
Trevor flew to his feet, “What?”
“I’m in love with Flynn!” She blurted out, the tears slipping down her cheeks. Reggie put his hand on her shoulder, and she reached up with hers and squeezed. “I’m not going to ask you to choose. I’m choosing for you. The only thing I ask is that you don’t tell Alex’s parents. Don’t out him.”
“Princess, you don’t need to move out.” Trevor knelt in front of his daughter, taking her other hand, “That’s where I was last night and today. I was meeting with a new label. You really think I don’t see the way you look at your best friend? It’s the same way I looked at your mother. The new label, they are much more accepting. They signed the contracts this morning to buy the rights to my music. From now on, you don’t have to hide who you are.” Carrie broke down at that, hugging her dad and burying her face in his shoulder. Reggie was about to leave when Trevor stopped him, “I am sorry, Reg. That you had to pretend for the sake of Carrie’s happiness. I should probably apologize to Nick, too. I assume he’s here?” Carrie nodded with a smile as she pulled back.
“I’ll go find him.” Reggie announced before hurrying out of the room. He found Nick and Dylan getting ready to leave, but he quickly sent them in, along with Flynn. Reggie made his way over to Alex next, pressing a gentle kiss to his boyfriend’s head. “Hey, baby. How you feeling?”
“Better with you here.” Alex smiled, pulling his dark haired boy into his lap.