ft. juno:
THE LAST THING JUNO WANTED was to make alex uncomfortable . he knew that at some point he would have to talk about his childhood if he wished to have a good relationship with someone , because those kind of things aren’t meant to be kept a secret . not when the press could always find reasons to dig up old news . but it was one thing to open up in front of a good friend or in front of a lover , and another to do it in front of a whole class in university . ❝ i’m sorry for making this hard . i don’t mind talking to you about it , but i would rather not share what happened during my childhood with all the class . ❞ he explained , realizing that no , he really wouldn’t mind telling his whole dramatic story to alex , despite his overall fear of rejection .
❝ we could try to talk with people our age or older and then compare their childhoods with the way children are now ?? ❞ juno asked , feeling back already . their project barely started and he was already a pain in the ass for alex . biting down on his lower lip , juno ran a tattooed hand through his hair , eyes stopping over the list . he didn’t want to do a theme that someone else already picked , mostly because there was always a possibility for the two projects to look alike , but he didn’t plan to insist on picking the nude theme if alex clearly didn’t want it . ❝ night sounds good . ❞
frankly, it was heartwarming to know that juno did not mind opening up, despite them being complete strangers. they could stick with the theme they had initially decided on, or they could scrap it and go for ‘night’ instead. “it’s okay,” alex said sincerely, “you don’t have to apologise for anything. ” alex’s eyes perused their list once more, his lips pursing in deep thought. juno’s idea of comparing childhoods from different ages was a great one.
“we could do something with toys, too? i don’t know where we’d get vintage toys, though — ah, there’s, um, my grandpa... he’s got an attic, i’m sure i can find something there.” pulling out a scrap paper from his well-worn bag, alex began jotting down notes. “we could even do a combination of night and childhood. i think it’s easy to piece those two themes together.” he smiled up at juno, “it’d be cool to interview older people. a photo with a backstory gives it more colour, you know?” fearing that he had spoken too much (he got excited), alex chewed down on his bottom lip, flashing juno a sheepish smile, “what do you think? if it’s not your cup of tea, we can do something else.” this wasn’t a one-man job, he had to remind himself; he had gotten so used to working alone that his brain was automatically churning out ideas that were tailored to his tastes.












