Page 111 of The Frog Prince

Alwin panted hard, every breath causing stabbing pain in his broken chest, but the lethargy and sickness he had felt from the poisoning had lessened a little.

He was still here somehow, and when he reached, he couldn’t hear the echo of the well in his head anymore. That background hum of magic was completely gone, an aching hole left in its wake.

Noise began to filter back in; gasps of shock and surprise all around them.

Gentle hands turned him over on Otto’s knee, cupping his face to raise it into view. Searching blue eyes ran over every inch like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

“Alwin?” Otto asked again, nervous and unsure. “Is that you?”

Alwin frowned, but it felt different from what he was used to. Something tickled over his forehead.

A thumb traced a path along his jaw right in front of his ear, continuing on to the curve of his neck, where it stopped, worrying the skin like he was attempting to rub something off. Alwin could feel the vibration of his fingers trembling.

“Otto?” he said hoarsely, barely audible. His tongue felt thick in his mouth, like it no longer fit.

Otto didn’t hear him, the pads of his fingers mapping out the features of Alwin’s face. It felt completely foreign, the skin dry but not uncomfortable, the sensitivity dulled. He felt as if he had a towel covering his face while the rest of his skin still breathed.

It felt suffocating, and he reached to push whatever it was off, finding nothing but smooth skin that grew wet from his touch.

“What?” Alwin asked.

Otto caught his hand in his, turning it over in wonder. It was the same as before. He laid a reverent kiss to Alwin’s palm, eyes closing. “It is you.”

Alwin croaked in misery, not understanding anything.

Otto’s eyes shot open, eyes moving all over him. “Where does it hurt the most?”

Alwin shook the question off. “What happened?”

Otto looked at his face for a few more moments, mouth opened like he was searching for words. Instead, he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his mouth.

Alwin gasped as soon as their bruised and beaten lips brushed, the pleasure of it warring with the pain as his eyes fluttered shut. Otto took his top lip between his own, their mouths slotting perfectly into place, and Alwin’s entire world shifted in a second.

He ripped their mouths apart, his eyes springing wide and meeting Otto’s, his heart drumming in his ears.

“Yes,” Otto answered his unasked question.

Alwin shook his head in denial, tears filling his eyes at last and spilling down his temples. “No.”

“Yes, Alwin. It’s real,” Otto said softly, catching his tears and wiping them away. “I don’t know how, but your face…”

The curse was broken? At last?

“I…I…”

Alwin couldn’t draw breath, his throat and chest too tight.

Otto hushed him, pressing their foreheads together. “Breathe. Just breathe. I’ve got you, no matter what. Don’t be scared.”

Alwin couldn’t stop crying, eight years’ worth of tears flooding from his eyes. Relief, grief, sadness. It felt like shedding a second skin.

“You love me,” Alwin said.

“Yes.” Otto didn’t even pause. “How could I not?”

“I gave up parts of myself along the way,” Alwin said, looking down at his hand. “I’ll never be fully whole for you.”

Otto frowned at him. “You were always whole to me, Alwin. Frog or prince, I fell in love with both.”