Another uneventful week went by. Donnie's life hadn't really changed much, now that he had to go to counseling. It wasn't really an annoyance anymore, either. Hell, he was glad to get out of class three times a week just to sit in a quiet room and... Open up. Slowly he was becoming more trusting of both Aiden and Derek, too. Things were still a little weird, but it wasn't so bad. Not anywhere near as bad as he had originally thought. Though, that might have had to do with the fact that he really had begun to open up... To Derek, at least. After their weird little meet up at the park. Derek seemed to calm down some. He didn't seem to flip auto-pilot on either, during their sessions. Donnie could tell that Derek was trying to open up, but was failing miserably. Donnie had a hunch about that, too. Maybe it was because there was someone else in the room? Maybe Derek could only open up with Donnie around. If anything, as consolation for the things that Donnie had said originally. It felt like a long shot, but this weekend, Donnie was going to see if his hunch was in fact correct.
So, when the next weekend rolled around, the two decided to meet at the park again. This time, though, they met in a more secluded area by a small, calming brook that gently flowed throughout the length of the park itself. It was fairly well shrouded with willow trees and tall, unkempt grass. Donnie often went here when he needed to get away from friends, family, and other aggravations. He hoped that Derek would feel more at ease here, too. Hell, if Donnie did, then he was sure anyone else could feel comfortable at this spot, as well.
As usual, Donnie arrived first, but he didn't have to wait long for Derek to arrive, which was nice, for a change. The two met up, gave each other a curt nod, and didn't speak until they arrived at their final destination. Donnie had to initiate the conversation. "I like this a lot more than sitting in a cramped room at school," he commented, picking up a few pebbles before absently tossing them into the water, watching the ripples form and enjoying the sounds the rock hitting the water made. "Yeah. I like it better, too." Derek took one of the pebbles and did the same. His eyes were glued to the flowing water, ignoring the fact that Donnie was stealing glances at him. The two stood quietly again as the minutes passed, tossing pebble after pebble into the water below.
"You seem a lot more quiet than before. You okay?" This time Donnie's gaze lingered on Derek's face as he asked his question. Probably not the best way to push the conversation along, but why not get straight to the point? He was curious.
He watched Derek shrug, and frowned deeply. "Dude, come on. You've gotten way mellow. It's starting to weird me out." Sure, Derek still threw snide remarks his way during school hours and made an ass of himself, but that outer shell seemed to be cracking and breaking away, slowly but surely. He seemed less impressed with himself lately. Maybe Donnie was the only one that could see it? Or maybe he was just imagining it all...?
"Just... Don't feel like being an ass." Derek shrugged again, and rolled his eyes when Donnie gave a dramatic gasp. "The almighty Derek, not wanting to be an ass? Holy shit, the world is going to end, isn't it!?" The sarcastic comment got Donnie a swift punch in the arm, and he gave a dull 'ow,' before chuckling. "You asshole," he hissed through smiling lips. "Looks like you need some more practice with not being a dick, man. Hasn't your mom taught you not to put your hands on other people?" Donnie had expected another punch, but instead he watched Derek shift awkwardly. He was back to staring at the water. "Alright, that's enough. I'm done with this shitty piss poor Derek." Donnie grabbed Derek by the shoulders and forced the other to turn and look him in the eye. "Dude, come on. You on your period or something? Wake the hell up! I miss that fiery smart mouth Derek. Where's he at?" Another shrug. Donnie gave him an annoyed look. "Okay, if we're gonna do this, let's do this." Donnie fell back onto his rump and took a sitting position, taking Derek down with him. "So, what's up, then? You gonna tell me what's wrong, or are you just gonna keep on moping like a girl?" ... Maybe he should be a little nicer. "Listen, this is gonna sound really dumb, but... You know you can talk to me about anything, right? I mean, yeah, we haven't hung out a lot or anything, but I... I kinda dumped some pretty embarrassing stuff on you last week and you didn't go and blab to everyone. At least, I don't think you did. So... I trust you. I just want you to know that you can trust me, too, so... You know... Whatever's on your mind..." Donnie's voice trailed off and he sat silently, picking at some of the grass growing around the two of them. He let the silence stagnate, before finally, he heard a deep sigh.
"I was just thinking. About stuff. Mostly the stuff you told me."
"... You've been thinking about the stuff I told you?" Derek rolled his eyes at Donnie's tone. "Don't feel too flattered there, pretty boy. But yeah. I was just thinking. And... You know... I was wondering, you wanna go do something, tomorrow? I mean, not like a date, cause you're the last thing I'd stick my dick into, but I think it might be fun. Go into the city and hit up a club or something." Derek could clearly see the confusion on Donnie's face. He rolled his eyes again. "Just a simple night out. I need to get out of here for a while and have some fun. Get a little buzzed, dance with some chicks, maybe slip one of them a quick one in the bathroom... Just for the night, y'know? And I'm tired of doing shit like that with my friends since they're annoying a hell. I thought it might be kinda... Fun, to go with you. Plus! We'd get a shit ton of those dumb ass 'togetherness hours' out of the way." Derek could tell the wheels were turning in Donnie's head now. He was really hoping that Donnie would agree to this, because... Well... Alright, he hadn't been telling the whole truth, to begin with. Donnie was still in the dark about most of what Derek really had planned. Yes, they were still going to go to the city, and yes, they were still going to go to a club... But this club was a little... Out of the ordinary. For the two of them, at least.
"Uh, yeah, okay, I guess."
Donnie's reply snapped Derek from his thoughts of their potential plans. It took every ounce of will in his body not to smirk like a mad man. "Awesome. Welp. I gotta jet. I'll swing by your house to pick you up, then? I'll be there at... Eight. And remember, look your best, yeah? We'll be out to impress." Derek snickered inwardly as he got to his feet. He ignored Donnie's calls and confused questions, and simply headed off towards home.
Donnie was left sitting there, confused. "We'd only just got here! At least stay for a little while longer..." He mumbled, watching Derek's receding back. "What the hell....!? Bipolar weirdo..."
Unfortunately for Donnie, the next night came all too quickly. The more he thought about Derek's cryptic invitation, the more freaked out he got. Was Derek going to make him some part of a freakish cult? Was he going to punk Donnie? Sucker him into doing something completely insane, stupid, or embarrassing, and then spread it all over the school? No. He had to calm down. Calm... Down... The wrestler took a few relaxing gulps of air in, and slowly let them out. Closing his eyes for a moment, Donnie let his mind clear of all doubt, and opened them again, before going back to looking at himself in his full-length mirror. No time to second guess this. Just concentrate on finding something to wear.
Just as Derek had said to do, Donnie dressed up. Or... Had tried to.
After going through his closet and changing at least four times, Donnie settled on a neutral polo shirt, dark jeans, his converse, and a bomber jacket... Was that weird? Looking everything over once, twice, and then three times, he shook his head. God, it was awful! He wanted to change, again, but before he could even make a move to do so, he heard someone laying on their car horn outside his house. The teen rolled his eyes and threw a glance out his window. Of course. Derek. No time to change now!
Grabbing his phone and wallet, Donnie left his room, and, before leaving the house, said goodbye to his parents, who were both sitting in the living room, watching television. Or more accurately, sleeping.
Donnie approached Derek's car and slid in, shutting the door behind him, and buckling his seat belt. All the while, Derek was still honking his car's horn. Donnie stared at him as the seconds ticked by before smacking the other in the back of the head. "Enough! Jesus, man, you wanna wake up the whole neighborhood!?"
"Your neighbors go to bed this early?"
"Just drive!" Donnie groaned, throwing his hands up in annoyance. Derek snickered and peeled away from Donnie's home, and off towards their destination.
The drive into the city consisted of loud, ear splitting music, icy wind, cigarette smoke, and Derek's awful singing. God, this was how Derek got from place to place? In this crappy car? Blasting this awful music and keeping all of the windows open, even thought it was freezing outside?? And then there was his awful smoking habit that caused the car to stink to high heaven. Donnie couldn't believe how many cigarette butts were on the floor of this car. He noticed all of the burn marks around the interior, too. God, did he just snuff these cigarettes out anywhere? That was... Gross. When Derek finally did park out front of their destination, Donnie nearly flung himself from the automobile, dusting himself off and sniffing his shirt, making sure he didn't smell like stale smoke and God knew what else.
"Dude, you really gotta do something about that car of yours. It's seriously gross in the--" As Donnie spoke, he turned to look at Derek. Instead of seeing Derek, though, he caught an eyeful of where they were going to spend their night. He was at a loss of words, to say the least. "What the hell is this!?" Donnie jabbed a finger towards the club, looking from the building, to Derek, and back again.
The 'club' had a ramshackle appearance, and would have blended easily with its surrounding buildings up and down the street.... If it hadn't been for the huge, gold writing slapped across the front reading 'DIVAS!' Lights flashed, rainbow flags flew a little too boldly, and loud dance music and cheers and delighted screams of all kinds flooded out onto the street from within.
With murder in his eyes, Donnie quickly strode around the car and shoved Derek against the cold metal, getting up into the other male's face. "Why did you bring me here," he seethed, trembling hands balling into fists. Derek's eyes widened at Donnie's behavior. He looked mad. Really mad. Genuinely mad. He threw his hands up as if to wave a white flag. "Woah woah woah, dude, take a chill pill. Let me explain myself before you beat my face in." Reluctantly, Donnie took a step back, but his gaze was still tainted with sheer anger... And now, with pained curiosity, too, if that was what one could even call it. "I thought a lot about what you had told me. I mean, that you think you're curious or whatever it was... That you think you might be gay. Some shit like that. So, I thought... Why not take you to a gay club! I mean, if anything, it'll give you a taste of the... Gay life... I think? I dunno. Maybe you'll meet a dude. You'll hit it off. Talk about manly shit... Compare dicks... Run your fingers through his chest hair... Shit, I dunno what gay dudes do. But you know what I mean. If anything, you'll learn a thing or two, right!? What harm is there in that?"
Donnie didn't seem to be taking this situation so lightly. Derek pursed his lips, steeping in the awkward silence. Shit. Maybe he should have told Donnie about this idea before coming to the place...
"Dude, come on, just give it a shot, okay? It'll be fun! We can dance, drink, hang out with some cool people... I hope..." Donnie let out a loud groan. He gripped his hair and moved to lean against Derek's car. "God... Why couldn't you take me to a place that at least sounded a little manlier!?"
"Hey, hey, hey! You don't think I tried? Moby Dick sounded like a huge, creepy innuendo, The Wild Side West sounded... Too adventurous, The Stud Bar sounded weirdly kinky, The Crib sounded like a pedophile's wet dream and Aunt Charlie's Lounge sounded Dirty, mentally and physically, so don't you go talking to me about trying to find a good one by name alone, okay!?" Donnie paused in his pained movements before slowly turning to look at Derek. "Did... Did you really do research on these clubs?" Derek's face seemed to redden slightly, and he let out an annoyed grunt. "Yeah, so, what of it!? I wanted to choose a good one... I guess...? It was harder than I had originally thought, too. They give these places some weird names, man, and ever single website is impossible to deal with." He sighed. "Honestly, all of these sound... Unique. Eventually I just closed my eyes, moused over the list, and clicked on whichever my mouse landed on. Divas was the one it landed on, so that was the one I chose." Donnie finally managed cracked a bit of a smile as he listened to Derek's story, and that caused Derek to sigh with relief. Cool. No fight would break out, then. For once, he didn't want that to happen.
But now, he had to do was actually get Donnie to go inside.
As much as Donnie hated this situation, he had to admit... It warmed his angered heart a bit to know that Derek had put in this much time and effort into doing this... For him, of all people. It was weird. Endearing in a way. So he wasn't a complete jackass one hundred percent of the time. Derek had taken the time to plan this whole thing out, in hopes that it would help Donnie figure out who he was... He couldn't just crush this whole plan before even giving it a chance. And who knew... Maybe they would have... Fun... ?
"Fine. Let's go in."
Derek beamed. "Awesome. But first, here, take this." He shoved a flat piece of plastic Donnie's way, and reluctantly, he took it. "What the hell? A fake ID? Derek, we could get into so much trouble for this..." Derek snorted, rolling his eyes. "You'll only get into trouble if you tell someone it's a fake ID, dumb ass. Just play it cool and everything'll be fine. Now come on." Grabbing Donnie by the sleeve, Derek dragged him over to the entrance. The two males flashed the uninterested bouncers their 'ID's, and were allowed entrance almost immediately. Now, that was easy. "See, I told you! We probably didn't even need those stupid things to begin with!" Derek chirped happily, "Now let's have some fun, eh? Go find yourself a man to smooch! Just... Make sure I'm not around for that shit, ok? I don't wanna see you getting carried away with some crazy hairy bear or some shit." Donnie raised his eyebrows at Derek, looking at him as if he had just spoken another, dead language. "... We're going into a gay club, Derek. I'm sure there will be a lot of same sex couples kissing, idiot. Better get used to it, and fast." Derek gave him a questioning look, and Donnie simply pointed to the scene they were walking in on - bright, flashing, multi colored lights, loud music, and all sorts of men dancing extremely close, and of course, some of those couples were indeed kissing. Donnie chuckled darkly and gave Derek a hardy pat on the back. "Looks like we're both out of our element." And with that, Donnie left Derek to fend for himself.
Unlike Derek, who looked like a lost, frightened puppy now that he was lone, Donnie headed over to the bar and asked for a simple glass of seven up. The bar tender complied, though not without giving Donnie a confused look. Who came to a club and didn't partake in any drinking? A responsible person. Donnie knew that Derek would most likely get drunk, and someone had to drive the two of them home. So, Donnie sipped away at his drink and watched the people in the crowd dance and cheer and dry-hump each other into submission. All in good fun.
As he sat there, he was surprised by the fact that there had been a few guys to actually approach him and offer him a drink, or a dance, or to simply sit and chat. He turned the drinking and dancing offers down, but enjoyed talking to a few of the guys that were willing to actually sit and stay for a while. None stayed for too long, though, as he had expected. Some left to dance, and some left with friends. The interactions were starting to warm Donnie up to this place. Maybe it wasn't so scary, after all.
Half way through his drink, Donnie spotted a ragged, sweating mess escape from the throngs of hyped up dancers. It was Derek. It seemed like the guy had already done too much partying, and they'd already only been there, what, ten minutes? The dark haired male stumbled up to the bar and managed to perch himself up onto a stool next to Donnie. He nearly collapsed, letting his hot face relax against the cool wooden surface that was the bar. "Looks like you're having fun," Donnie commented with a smirk, taking another swig from his beverage. "So... Many... Horny... MEN. I was almost eaten alive out there!" Donnie almost choked on his drink. "Oh and you think they're all after you?" He snorted, giving Derek an amused eye-roll. "Believe me, they're not. They've got cuter things to do... Much cuter." Derek glared at him and said nothing. Instead, he turned his attention towards the bar tender. He ordered a drink Donnie had never heard of. Then again, Donnie didn't really know much about alcohol, or different kind of drinks in general. Most people would be surprised by that fact, since he was supposed to be one of those drinking, partying types, as 'popular' teenagers usually were, but he wasn't all that into that kind of thing. Donnie watched as Derek downed the first drink, and promptly ordered two more. They must have been strong drinks... Or maybe he just drank them way too fast, because he could already tell they were kicking in. "I'm... I'm gonna go dance, damnit!" Derek got to his feet, albeit shakily, as he announced his 'plan.' Donnie shrugged. "Okay. Have fun."
"Ohh, no. You're coming with me, pretty boy." Donnie raised his brows. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. You're coming with me. We're going to dance! You're the reason why we came here anyway, so you gotta dance, at least for a little while. Now come on!" Derek grabbed Donnie by the wrist, and before Donnie knew it, he was getting swept off his feet.... Sort of. He barely managed to set his glass down before stumbling after Derek and finding himself in the middle of the mess of people. Dancing... Wasn't his thing... But, by the looks of it, people were just... Having fun. Whether they could dance or not. Derek's dancing was awful... Almost as awful as his singing, but he was still having a good time. Smiling some, Donnie slowly began to sway and bounce about to the music, finally able to join in and enjoy himslf and.... And before he knew it, he was letting loose and dancing, too.
Many drinks, and hours of dancing later, the two stumbled out of the club, laughing and panting and looking like a couple of crazy, sweaty teenagers. Which was, well.... Pretty accurate.
"Man, I'll admit, that was pretty fun." Donnie was finally ready to admit it, wholely and completely. He did have a good time, which, he hadn't been expecting at all. Derek slapped him on the back and smiled broadly. "See?" He slurred, giving Donnie a crooked smile. "Told ya iiit'd be funn! You juss... You juss had to trust me, man."
"Right," Donnie agreed, rolling his eyes. "We did have fun. You were right. Weird idea... But pretty cool. Dare I say.. We might have to come again?" Derek nodded in agreement. He seemed to be slipping in and out consciousness now that the two were out of the club and the excitement was starting to dissipate and the adrenaline was no longer pumping. "First thing's first. I should probably get you home. You're drunk as hell, man." Wrapping one of Derek's arms around his neck, and one of his own arms around Derek's mid section, Donnie was able to get the two of them to Derek's car. He dug the keys from Derek's pocket and slipped him into the passenger's seat once the car was unlocked. After buckling him in, Donnie got into the driver's seat and did the same.
The drive home was less... Exciting than the trip into the city, to say the least. Donnie made sure the windows were closed, and the heat was on. Music was playing softly. Relaxing music. Not that face-melting crap that Derek had been listening to. And, Derek himself was a lot quieter. He had taken to napping almost the entire trip. Lucky Donnie got to sit in silence as he drove. Didn't need Derek distracting him, anyway. Now that would be bad... And would most likely have resulted in a ticket.
The two rolled back into town in the early hours of the morning. Donnie had to force Derek awake to get his address home. With a bit of trouble, he finally got the information he needed, and, after tapping it into his phone, got quick, easy directions to Derek's home. Donnie parked out front once the two had arrived, and instead of getting out, he sat there in silence, waiting for Derek to come to once again. Once he did, Donnie looked at the other and gave a soft smile. "I don't mean to be mushy, and you probably won't remember this tomorrow morning, but.. Thanks. Tonight was pretty fun. Weirdly enough, I think this was just the thing I needed." Derek, who had sobered up only slightly, just shrugged. "No problem mann," he gurgled, waving a clumsy hand at Donnie's words. "Well... I guess I should jet. My parents are probably worried..." His mother, at least. Donnie's mom was always worried, and he knew she didn't like going to bed not knowing where he was. Hopefully she wasn't forcing herself to stay up waiting for him. The thought alone worried him. The sooner he was home, the better. Donnie unbuckled his seat belt before moving to open the car door. Something stopped him, though. Held him back from leaving. It was Derek.
Looking over at Derek, Donnie's eyebrows raised quizzically. Derek's hand was clinging to his sleeve again. "Dude, you better not puke on me." Derek shook his head. "No... No puke... But... There's one more thing... I waanted to... Doooo... Before you, um.. Leave.. C'mere," he mumbled, pulling Donnie closer. Giving yet another eye-roll, Donnie leaned in closer. "What? Finally going to tell me a secret, maybe? Since, you know, I haven't gotten the chance to pick your brain yet." He watched Derek shake his head no. "Just.. Shh... One... More thing.." Donnie watched expectantly as Derek managed to pull himself closer. The space between them was slight, but Donnie didn't even notice it. He didn't notice how close their faces were, either...
Until Derek smashed their lips together with the force only a drunk man could muster.
[[The Squid: :3 Smoochin'. And, a song! I'm going to try to add song more often... I'm bad at picking and choosing songs, but whatevs. I'll put stuff up that I see fits. x3 But yeah, hope you guys liked this weird ass chapter~ Oh yeah, and! The song is 'Kickin' In' by my bby Adam Lambert. :D]]