Yeah I know i'm late on the JATP train. Honestly i started reading jatp fanfiction the day it came out but i just didn't feel like writing anything. And it felt good to have an abundance of fanfiction to read about a show you love. Now you would think i'd be writing about juke but i've had this prompt in my head for a long time and i needed to put it into writing or else i was gonna burst. Plus, Alex is so precious, this needed to happen. Enjoy!
"Dude, what's wrong?"
Reggie stared at a dejected Alex as he sullenly played a beat on the drums.
"Reg." Luke gave Reggie that said "let it be" but as adorable as Reggie was, he was a little slow.
"What? He looks like a sad puppy and—Oh, wait." Reggie looked towards Alex in sympathy. "Is today the day?"
"Is today what day?"
Julie popped into the garage ready for their afternoon rehearsal. Luke and Reggie looked at each other silently as Alex continued to pat his sticks against the drums depressingly.
"Guys?" Julie's eyes lingered on Alex, switching from confused to concerned quickly. "What's going on?"
The two not-sad boys walked over to Julie and pulled her outside of the garage out of earshot from Alex.
Luke sighed. "Today's the day Alex came out to his parents."
Julie didn't seem to get it completely so Luke continued.
"His parents are...pretty conservative. They weren't exactly the coolest when Alex told them he was gay."
Realization dawned on Julie as she finally understood. She's guessing Alex didn't have a very happy coming out party.
Reggie's eyes were cast down. "After he told them, they pushed him away. They were ashamed of him. They're relationship was never the same and then…"
"And then you guys died." Julie finished for him.
"Yeah."
They stayed quiet for a while as they allowed Julie to soak up the information. Alex was never accepted. He never knew if his parents still loved him. And he would never find out because he died before he could see them again.
Luke broke her out of her thoughts. "This day is always hard for Alex. We need to act like everything is normal so that he doesn't get even more upset. He'll be fine tomorrow, okay? Let's just start rehearsal."
"Okay." Julie gave a nod to the boys and walked around them to enter the studio.
After rehearsal Julie spent all night researching for a project that she just needed to do.
The next day all the boys are in the studio preparing for rehearsal. Reggie and Luke are tuning their instruments while Alex tightened some screws on his.
Julie came in with a projector, a white sheet and her computer in hand. "Set those down."
Alerted by her presence, the boys shot her a look as she walked over to plug the projector into the nearest outlet and face it towards a clear wall. Walking out to the wall, she taped the sheet on as straight as she could and took a step back to assess her work. Once satisfied, she moved the lightest couch to face the covered wall and plugged her computer into the projector. She looked expectantly towards the boys.
"Put your stuff away and come sit down." Breaking out of their momentary confusion, the boys shuffled to do what she said. By her tone, they knew she was telling, not asking.
Once their instruments were safely tucked away in the corner, Julie marched over to Alex and grabbed his hands, pulling him towards the couch and sitting him down dead center. The others followed in tow.
"Jules, what are you doing?" Alex asked. He seemed to be a little better since yesterday but she could tell he was still feeling a bit glum.
Julie, remote in hand, walked to the front of the room and stood before the boys with a light smile on her face.
"As you know," she started, "it's 2020 and things have changed." She pressed the on button on the remote and turned on the projector to reveal a powerpoint filled with many colors and flags and many different people wearing bright colored shirts. "Things have evolved since 1995. Ideals have evolved."
She pressed a button that moved the slideshow to the next slide. The slide showed a flag with all the colors of the rainbow.
"Alex." Julie spoke as her eyes locked on his. "This is the pride flag. It symbolizes each member of the LGBTQ community—lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, etc."
"There's more?" Alex asked, bewildered.
Julie just smiled at his amazement. "Just wait."
They went through the definition of each color on the flag. Julie even put the individual flags for each part of the community. She went especially in depth concerning pride month.
"There's...a whole month? For people like me?" Alex looked like he was going to explode from happiness with all the information he's receiving.
"Yep. It's in June and there are all kinds of parades and celebrations for you guys! I'll have to take you sometime." Julie spoke enthusiastically.
"I'd love that." Alex beamed up at the girl.
They dove into laws that protect and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. They also conversed about the famous people who have come out as a member.
"Drew Barrymore is bisexual?!" Luke exclaimed.
"Woah, that's hot." Reggie muttered.
Three pairs of eyes stared at him like he had two heads.
He held his hands up in defense. "What! It is!"
Julie just shook her head and continued. "Anyway…"
Julie went on to show some of the many shows and films that have included LGBTQ+ characters.
"Santana's coming out story was fantastic, Alex. We're gonna watch it together." Julie told him with a serious yet playful glint in his eyes.
"I'm all for it!" Alex returned her playfulness with two little finger guns.
She laughed at his awkwardness and turned to face the makeshift screen once again.
The last slide caught Alex off guard the most. It was a picture of his parents holding gay flags. It was from that application—or app? He didn't really get this whole modern technology thing. They were standing outside of an unfamiliar house that had a cross on the door. Both his mom and dad had wide smiles as they held up a rainbow flag.
The caption read "We love you son. No matter what."
Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as he read the caption over and over again in his mind. They loved him. They love him.
"Alex." Julie caught his attention. "Some people still don't accept you. But many people have. So many people have broken the social norms and stood their ground to make a place in this world for you. There will always be people who think otherwise but no matter what," Julie walked over and knelt down to grab her ghost friends hand, "you are accepted. And you are loved."
The tears free fell down Alex' face as he launched himself at Julie in a tight hug. They stumbled to the ground but Julie was laughing heartily so he paid no mind to it. He felt her arms circle around his torso as she returned the hug.
Alex, a sniffling mess, buried his head into the crook of her neck and spoke in a choked whisper. "Thank you."
His tears dampened the collar of her shirt but she didn't even notice as she squeezed Alex tighter against her. "Anytime and always."
Reggie and Luke joined in, piling on top of the two on the ground. They foursome laughed a teary laugh until their sides ached. Once each body was lying on their own spot on the ground, the laughter died down and the group was left in a peaceful quiet until—
"Can we watch a Drew Barrymore movie?"
A collective groan as a well as a high pitched "what?" was heard and Julie just smiled a happy smile.
Man, she loved her boys.
Okay guys you alr know wassup. CALL ME OUT ON ANY MISTAKES! I don't proofread. Plus it's 2 am and i have class at 9 lol. I hope i did alex and the lgbtq+ community justice. love y'all!