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⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧•• new day

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── .✦ THE NEXT MORNING, Freddie's eyes fluttered open and he found himself on the floor of his dorm, staring up at the ceiling. Tiredly, he pushed himself up on his hands and he sat up, looking around at the sunlit room, yawning silently. In his pocket was his phone, so he quickly reached in and pulled it out to find twenty missed calls from Ben, ten missed calls from Evie, a few missed calls from a few others and about a billion messages from multiple people, even his mother.

     Quickly, he clicked on the messages from Evie and he read through them as he stood up from the carpeted floor, sitting down on his bed sleeplessly.

Vee 👑💙

Freddie will you answer my calls?
Are you okay?
Please answer me
We're all worried about you
I'm worried about you
Why'd you leave?
Freddie?
Fred
FREDDIE

Ben just told me that you're asleep
on the floor and he couldn't get you
up because you were too heavy, I
hope you're okay ❤️

Hey, Evie, I'm sorry I
left like that, sorry I worried you.
I was just a little tired

Freddie sighed and turned his phone off, stuffing it in his pocket before he lifted his wrist, checking the time on his watch. It was about twenty minutes before his Chemistry class, so he jumped up and ran to his dresser to pull out his everyday suit.

     Once he had changed, fixed his hair a little and sprayed some cologne, he rushed out of the room and towards the stairs. On his way down the stairs, he passed an upset Doug, at first he didn't realise as he continued to rush down the steps, trying not to trip but he then abruptly stopped before turned his head to look over at who he thought was Doug, noticing that it was actually, indeed, Doug.

     He hesitated for a moment, scared about being late to class for the first time in his life but his friends mattered more, finding himself following after Doug anyway, "Hey, Doug, everything all right, bud?"

     Doug turned around and forced a smile on his face, nodding unconvincingly, "Hi, Freddie. Everything's good, yeah. I'm not skipping Chemistry... I have a dentist appointment..." Doug rambled, and Freddie chuckled, knowing he was lying.

     "You don't lie very well, do you?" Freddie smiled, and he stuffed his hands in his pockets as he watched Doug sigh in defeat, shaking his head in reply.

     "I'm not gonna argue with that. Just feelin' a little dopey, to be honest." Doug laughed momentarily at his joke before he looked to Freddie's rather fancy shoes with a heavy and sad sigh.

     "Hey, what's got you feeling dopey, huh?" Freddie asked, and Doug looked up from his shoes, thinking about how to explain why he was feeling that why without coming across as... well, dopey.

     "Uh, well... I may or may not have tried to ask a girl out, and she may have rejected me." Doug squeezed his eyes shut as he remembered how humiliated he felt asking her out just for her to tell him he was ugly.

     "Her loss, honestly. I don't know what to tell you other than you can do better than her, Doug. What made you like her in the first place, if that's not too painful to ask?" Freddie tilted his head, he was never this serious in situations such as being rejected. He wasn't exactly the comforting type, but he was trying his hardest, and that was all that mattered.

     "I thought she was pretty. You know Tia Rogers?" Doug winced at the mention of her name, he thought she was sweet, caring and kind like her mother, but he supposed she spent too much time being best-friends with Audrey to be at least respectful.

     "Oh, gotcha." Freddie sent him a tight-lipped smile, nodding as he realised how hurt Doug must be. He couldn't imagine asking out someone like Tia. The girl had a crush on Freddie when they were younger, it was extremely obvious but Freddie wasn't that interested in her so the girl resorted to gossiping about him, spreading lies with Audrey, that's why he wasn't so fond of his best-friend's ex-girlfriend.

     "Yeah... I'll get over it, can I just ask you a question?" Doug raised his brows at his friend, who nodded immediately, his expression comforting and friendly as he stared back at the boy, "Not to sound insecure or anything, but am I ugly?"

     "Doug... No!" Freddie shook his head out of disbelief, and he took a step forward, placing both of his hands on Doug's shoulders as he spoke in a serious tone, "Dude, you're so handsome. You shouldn't even think of anything like that, seriously, have you ever looked in the mirror? Properly?"

     "Now that I think about it, not really..." Doug winced at himself, knowing he hated looking in the mirror because of his extreme insecurities and body dysmorphia.

     "Look, everyone has a preference, some people are gonna find you to be beyond beautiful and others aren't, but don't let those who don't get you down, all right? It's their own negative mindset that they'll have to deal with for the rest of their miserable lives. And, to be completely honest, if I was a girl, I'd totally dig you, man." Freddie smirked playfully at Doug as the boy's eyes lit up, and he quickly pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, his mood now much happier than before. Freddie placed his arm around Doug's shoulders and pulled him back down the stairs towards their class that had already started, "Let's get to class before we're too late, I hate it when Fairy Godmother yells."

     They were approximately eight minutes late to class, but Mr. Deley wasn't that upset, he was more concerned if anything. He knew that after the Cotillion the day prior, some students were gonna have a hard time waking up for classes, so he was a little laid back which Freddie was grateful for.

     His eyes were on Evie as soon as he entered the room and his eyes stayed on her all the way to his stool on the other side of the table she was sat at. He wiped down his purple trousers from beside Chad, and he sighed as he stared at the paper in front of him telling him the instructions of a practical they were doing next week.

     "Did you enjoy your time on the toilet?" Chad whispered as Mr. Deley explained the next experiment and Freddie scrunched up his face, turning to him in confusion.

     "What?" Freddie stared at him, his hands on his knees as he furrowed his brows, and suddenly Chad's expression dropped with realisation and a hint of defeat.

     "Damn it." Chad punched his knee as he stared out the window, he was clearly irritated and Freddie just shrugged, unbothered enough to forget the situation entirely. Discreetly, his eyes drifted up towards Evie to find her jotting notes down in her cute little love heart notebook, her face full of concentration, causing him to smile.

He couldn't help it, her whole presence made him happier, she made him forget his parents, all of his stresses, everything. When he looked at her, he felt at home, he felt overjoyed. Evie was trying her hardest to concentrate on her school work, but she felt eyes drilling into the front of her face, so she looked up discreetly. Once she locked eyes with Freddie, she quickly looked back down nervously, causing Freddie to chuckle quietly, looking back down at his book.

     "What's so funny?" Chad whispered in a snarky voice, he seemed angry and frustrated and Freddie looked at him, a smirk playing on his lips.

     "Nothing of your concern."

｡･:*˚:✧｡

STROLLING THROUGH THE courtyard, Freddie remembered he recieved some messages from his mother, so he stopped in the middle of the field of grass and pulled his phone out from his trousers pocket, turning on his phone.

Mom

Honey, I'm coming to the school for a visit
Hope you're okay!

Honey? Answer me please
I'm worried.

Hi Mom, everything's fine
Been a little busy, see you soon

     Freddie let out a heavy sigh and shoved his phone back in his pocket when he felt someone jump onto his back, causing him to yelp loudly, "What the..." He turned around, and saw Mal. She wasn't who he was expecting but he smiled nonetheless, furrowing his brows slightly, "Mal, what's up?"

     "I just wanted to say thanks for coming to the Isle to help me." Mal sent him a small smile, placing her hand on his shoulder and her eyebrows raised in realisation, her mouth opening again to add something, "And thank you for standing up for me last night."

     "No, it's fine, Mal. As long as you're okay." Freddie pressed his lips together, sending her a tight-lipped smile. It was awkward for him, he never really spoke with Mal without Ben or Evie there. It was quiet for a moment, and Freddie was contemplating whether to just walk away but Mal opened her mouth again.

     "Oh, have you seen Evie? I didn't see her this morning." Mal placed her hands on her hips, tilting her head in questioning and Freddie nodded, feeling his phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled out his phone and saw his mother calling him.

     "She should be in Chemistry class, she stayed behind." Freddie smiled at her and walked away, accepting his mom's call and pressing the phone to his ear, "Hello?"

"Frederic, I'm trying to find you." His mother's voice could be heard through the other end, she sounded rushed and extremely nervous. Frederic nodded although she couldn't see, and he looked around the courtyard before raising his hand in the air towards his hectic mother.

She was across the field walking by a table of kids, including Doug and she noticed him, smiling wide before she took the phone from her ear. Frederic chuckled, ending the call and stuffing his phone in his pocket. He began to walk towards her and as soon as they got close enough for talking distance, Rapunzel opened her arms wide to embrace her son.

"I missed you." Rapunzel mumbled into his shoulder, feeling tears fill up her green eyes. It had been a while since they'd hugged, and she missed being able to be vulnerable in front of her son — the person she loved most, even more than her husband.

     "I missed you too." Frederic smiled, his arms around her shoulders and his head resting on hers. This was the first time his mother ever visited unexpectedly, and he was surprised to say the least, but he certainly wasn't complaining about. He loved her more than anything and anyone in the entire universe, she was the reason for why he was who he was on that day and every other day.

     He just wanted answers, and he promised himself he would receive them.

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