Page 132 of Wherever You Are

But wholesome.

Honestly, I like being around both.

“They’re all in here.” Lily guides me toThe Fourth Degreelabeled boxes. “Lo will be here soon, and he might be more help. He’s read every issue about a million times.”

We tear open a couple boxes and flip through the comic, setting aside any with Sorin-X.

Ones without the character, Lily gingerly slips the issue into its plastic cover. “Are you going to read these?” She motions to the Sorin-X pile.

I place another issue on top. “What else would I be doing with them?”

“I don’t know.” She squints at me. “You don’t really read comics, not like Willow.” She notes, “You had no clue who Cypher was when you started working here.”

“Yeah, and none of the employees ever let me forget it.” I begin to smile, remembering how Willow tried to help me learn factoids about the New Mutants so our co-workers would stop giving me shit.Six years ago.I swig my energy drink to swallow down the nostalgia and say, “I’ve read New Mutants, by the way.”

Lily wears a giddy smile. “Because of Willow?” I love how supportive she’s always been of me and Willow, especially since she was there at the beginning of it all.

“Yeah, because of Willow.” I shake a comic back into the plastic sleeve.

“Which brings everything to Twitter.Gillow Engagementhas been trending all day, did you see?”

My stomach nosedives, energy drink curdling.

The headlines are pretty generic:

Willow Hale Gets Engaged! Check out Loren Hale’s New Brother-In-Law!

I prepared for press to be all over our ass, but I’m worried the amount of paparazzi interested in us right now could go from “Chaotic Good” to “Chaotic Evil”. I’d really love if my fame capped out here.

No more.

Lily continues, “Connor said you both made GBA Entertainment News last night too.” I pegged him as a daily C-Span viewer. The guy still reads thepaper.As in newspaper. Printed. In his hands.

“He watches entertainment news?” I say with cinched brows.

“That was my reaction.”

Maybe to check himself out. He is a narcissist.

I flip another comic, recalling other trending Twitter topics. “You also forgot aboutGarlow EngagementandWilson Engagement.”

Fans still can’t decide on a ship name, which are dumb anyway. Willow loves ships though and even owns Raisy, Coballoway, and LiLo merch. She’s too kind to play favorites, so she supports all three of our ship names too.

“Does all of this bother you?” Lily asks me. “You and Willow never talk to us about the media presence.”

Becausethey’rethe cause of our fame, and it feels shitty to complain when they’ve done a lot for us.

I shrug. “Being around you guys, it just comes with the territory, and we both kind of gradually stepped into it.” Thank God we weren’t thrown into the deep end at the start. If the paparazzi were all over me back then like they are now, I don’t think I could handle it.

I tilt a comic upside-down, the panel sort of backwards. Brown hair hangs in my eyes.Need a haircut.It’s starting to bug the fuck out of me.

My stomach is still in knots. And I know it’s not about my hair.

Paparazzi.

Coming home from the engagement in London was pure hell. Fans and media bum-rushed us at the airport, and I could barely see. Barely breathe. Rabid crowds, I’ve dealt with before, but for maybe the first time, the spotlight was centralized onme.

If I think too hard, I can still feel hands scraping down my arms. Tugging my body. Pulling at my shirt, choking me at the collar until Lo’s bodyguard shoved them away.