"I'm about to make a hard decision," Finn said, taking a long sip of his drink as he looked around the dance floor where a camera panned Jade dancing to the music with Zeth and Alex.
"Are you going to come out of the closet?" Draco asked while reaching across and under the bar, grabbing a bottle, already drenched in sweat from filming his part on the bar.
"I don't even know if I'm gay. Sometimes I like women physically and mentally, but I am physically and sexually attracted to men and..." He frowned when he saw Draco pouring himself a martini with his mouth wide open and his tongue out, "Hey! Draco, we agreed you would not drink," Finn said and took the bottle and the martini from him, "No sex nor alcohol. Do you want to have a relapse?"
"But it's a special night!" The vampire pouted, "Fine. Thanks for worrying, I guess. Anyway, are you going to come out of the closet then?”
"Yeah, I'm coming out, but from the band," Finn said.
"Are you nuts?!" Draco asked, way too loud as always, "Finn! You almost killed yourself just to audition a third time! You sold your scooter and spent all your savings to pay for a ticket and fly all the way from Hawaii, alone, to be a part of the band, you've worked so hard and you're going to let it all go?"
"I think it's about time," Finn put his water on the bar and leaned against it, "I've been thinking about it for a long time already. People don't love me now, they'll love me less if I come out of the closet, and I don't have a ship that girls love like you and Alex."
"Alex and I are just friends," Draco shrugged, watching as his werewolf friend swept Jade into his arms and spun around as Zeth and some girls cheered around him.
"You sure?" Finn asked, "Alex cares a lot about you all the time even though he knows nothing can hurt you."
"Don't change the subject, sushi roll," Draco grabbed his friend by the shoulders and shook him so hard Finn almost thought his eyes would pop out, "You've bent over backwards to be in this band! You can't just walk away!"
"You're making me dizzy! Let me go!" Finn said, and Draco stopped shaking him.
“Sorry, I got carried away.”
"God! I just can't handle this anymore!" Finn put his hands on his face, and rubbed his forehead afterwards, "No one takes me seriously, everyone interrupts me all the time, even some girls told me I'm the least important member of the band! A decoration."
"But you are our friend, family even!" Draco said and put his arm around Finn, "You can't give up now. Plus, you're my best friend! After Alex... And Frank...” He put his finger on his chin, stepping back, “And Zeth but he and I have known each other for thousands of years and grew up together in The Titan... The thing is! You and I are very close, and I don't know what I would do without you! You know almost everything about me and I know everything about you!"
"Tell me when my birthday is," Finn lowered his eyebrows and Draco gulped with his eyes wide open, blinking slowly, turning left, then back at Finn.
"I'm bad with dates and, you know... Nobody remembers their friends' birthdays!" Draco laughed nervously.
“Your birthday is on March the 3rd, according to your accounts because January and February did not exist in your time.” Finn frowned.
"That doesn't count because you, Zeth and I visited Baphelise to ask her about the constellations and she gave us the answer," Draco rolled his eyes, "I don't even remember that Baphelise said that Zeth’s birthday is technically on August the 22nd!” Draco then turned red and swallowed hard, "Well, but that doesn't count because maybe the witch used a spell and tattooed it in my brain! Besides, I doubt you know when everyone's birthdays are!"
"Frank: October 7th, Alex: July 22nd, Everett: May 25th," Finn looked at Draco with fury in his eyes, "When is my birthday, Draco Von Stroker?"
The vampire looked to the right and then to the left with his lips pursed, his arms swinging.
"You're a self-righteous, workaholic Virgo so... Someday in August?” Draco poked a very serious Finn on the cheek, "The twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth?"
"Fuck, Draco! My birthday is the first fucking day of September!" Finn covered his face with his hands, "They say that we Virgos always come to this world to suffer indifference, but the stars crossed the line with me."
"Hey! Who cares if you were born under the constellation of the virgin, the crab, the fish or the drunken walrus? What matters is forging your own destiny!" Draco patted him on the back, "You can't give up just because you think horoscopes influence your life, we actually have a song about that, don't we? Does 'I Just Wanna Be Myself' sound familiar to you?"
"I don't want to give up, but people don't want me in the band," Finn replied, "I have never felt like I am good enough to be with you. Have you heard yourself sing? Have you heard Zeth?!"
"Well, Zeth is on a whole other level," Draco shrugged, "Do you remember the concert in Rothland five days ago? When Zeth got stuck in his dressing room because a truck parked next to the door? I had to sing his parts for the first three songs! It was the worst concert of my life!"
"It was your best concert," Finn grunted, "It was your time to shine. You sang all of Zeth's verses perfectly! Even the new song!"
"Oh I'm never singing Zeth's part on 'Call Me Your Monster' ever again," Draco shivered.
"Oh, shut your mouth," Finn dismissed. "You sang it perfectly. I don't understand what you're complaining about."
"Yeah, but I don't have Zeth's rock power! He doesn't even try, and I even had to bend over to sing his part without running out of breath! Plus, his voice is raspy and mine isn't, so I ended up with a sore throat!" Draco shook his head. "That sounded awful. It was like 'StrIp nOw, wEaR mY cUffs And bEnd dOwn!' all shaky, and I hated it! And we told you to sing it yourself because your voice is more of the, you know, Fall Out Boy type. But you didn't want to."
"People dislike me enough, I'm sure they would have said I sounded horrible, not 'adorable' like you." Finn rolled his eyes. "You two are pretty much the pillars of the band, indispensable and irreplaceable. You and Zeth didn't know you needed Everett until you met him. Alex and Frank are the only two legitimately chosen, but what am I? Am I the sixth member you didn't need? Am I the member chosen out of pity?"
"You're our friend," Draco said, turning Finn by the cheeks to meet his eyes, "And you can actually hit higher notes than Zeth, but you never want to do it live."
"If we're all friends, tell me why you're the only one who knows that I like boys and maybe girls? Shouldn't everyone else know?" Finn evaded eye contact again. "Aren't you supposed to tell your friends everything?"
"And why don't you say anything?"
"Because Zeth would say it would ruin our career!" Finn yelled.
"Please! You know Zeth isn't like that! He even said he’s bisexual in Jade's interview! Monster Mash is about being yourself, and you know it."
"Bisexual isn't the same. There's still a degree of heterosexuality to it. I don't even know if I'm bisexual or just confused-sexual."
Draco lowered his eyebrows and slapped Finn on the back of the neck.
"Ouch! What was that for?!"
"If no one knows," Draco began, "It’s because you don't want to tell. I only found out because you were drunk and told me in Shanghai! You know no one will judge you if you come out. But you will be judged if you leave the band."
"That's not the only reason I want to quit," Finn turned over his shoulder to see Frank. A camera was filming him moving his lips, following the lyrics of the song.
"Already know you're a foe, I’m gonna treat you as such. So please don't stay in touch, I’m done. Boy!" Frank was surrounded by girls who danced to his beat while a cameraman moved around them, and another filmed Everett carrying a girl bridal style behind him.
"I can no longer stay close to someone without wanting to shout that I love him," Finn clenched his fists when he saw girls laughing, with some trying to undo the Velcro on Frank's stripper outfit to leave him only in his bowtie and hammock briefs.
"Do you like Frank?" Draco asked, and Finn grunted.
“When you admit you like someone, you usually don't turn to see who you like! You look to the other way!"
“The other way?” Draco said with a low voice, turning right, “Who else is around... Egor calling someone on the phone... A blonde girl in heels who is giving Jade an ugly look... An inflatable sex doll that only God knows where it came from... Glitter Joe... Alex or... Zeth...” Draco widened his eyes and slowly turned to see Finn again, who was already blushing, “Oh My GOD!” Draco started making orangutar noises and giving gentle slaps to Finn’s bicep repeatedly, jogging in his place, "You like Zeth?!”
“Shut up, you idiot!” Finn lowered his head, whispering.
“Why didn't you say so?! He's bisexual! He surely will say yes!"
“Can't you see he's in love with Jade?!" Finn clenched his teeth, "Whatever. You don't know what it's like to love someone in secret."
"Oh, trust me, I know," Draco said, looking over his shoulder to see Alex pretending to fuck the sex doll, "We have more in common than you think, Finn."
"I need some air," Finn said, standing up and stretching, "It's probably best if I go alone, don't you think?"
Draco watched Finn walk up on stage and slide through the curtains.
Surely, he would go out through the back door.
"Hey, Draco," Frank said, with a tall girl with fluffy yellow hair by his side. She was wearing impossibly high aqua blue heels, and a dress with a sea wave print, very pompous and bombastic. "Have you seen Finn?"
Draco turned around and looked the girl up and down, cocking his head.
She looked quite familiar.
"I know you, don't I?" Draco pointed to the girl's yellow-painted lips, "One just doesn't forget that smile so easily."
"You met me at a concert here in Terdel County, meet and greet, but I was not in drag," the girl said, blinking a lot with long, voluminous lashes.
She was a Drag Queen.
Oh! Draco felt stupid for not noticing.
"I came to complain for not bringing the gay men of the school.” She said, “Everyone was excited to be a part of this and to support Finn. I am sure all of the followers of my fanpage, Doll-Finn in case you are wondering, would be ecstatic to meet the handsome and delicious Finn Seamons."
"I already told you, it was my mistake," Frank replied, blushing. "I was supposed to help Finn with the lists, but I was... Spying on the rival band."
"Oh, don't even mention them!” The Drag Queen made a face, “I don't like Mr. Woody Woodpecker and his slaves!"
"Hold up," Draco waved his hands like a castaway asking for help. "You're saying Finn actually has fans?"
"Don't you know that the community, especially gay men, are his biggest fans?" the Drag Queen flipped her hair dramatically behind her shoulders. "He's been an idol since he was a lifeguard. My fan page has plenty of pictures and videos and edits of him, and more than five million followers."
"Wait, wait, what? Finn really has fans?" Draco blinked a lot.
"Obviously!" the Drag Queen rolled her eyes. "Haven't you noticed that many of Finn's fans are gay men?"
"To tell the truth, I didn't know," Draco put his finger to his chin, looking at Frank, who was nodding as if they were both thinking the same thing.
"Do you think there are enough paychecks to bring a few more guests to the club?" Frank asked, and Draco jumped a little in place, clapping his hands.
"Fuck the paychecks!" Draco jumped and backflipped, like in his prime parkour years, turning to look at Finn’s biggest fan. "I'll give my paycheck as long as you bring all the people you know... Umm, what's your name?"
"Call me Doll-Finna, I came up with the name because I love, adore and need Finn Seamons to breathe!" She said.
"Can you tell your followers to come over? Do you think there are some here in Hollow Woods?" Draco looked at Doll-Finna with hopeful eyes, and she immediately pulled her phone out of her purse and typed fast.
"Of course there are Dolfinns here, but I want to go on stage and have Finn dance for me in front of everyone."
"Deal," Draco rubbed his palms together. "You're an angel that fell from heaven, and you're going to save this group from breaking up."
"What do you mean by breaking up?" Frank asked.
"If Doll-Finna helps us, you won't have to worry about that, buddy." But Draco stared at Zeth dancing with Jade and Alex, "Or at least I hope it's enough to keep him in the band."