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Word count: 1 837
Carefully you read the invitation again. It said costume party right here, but you still were not sure what that was supposed to mean. Did it mean full on costume, like walk up in a pirate costume, or did it mean a little make up or a mask and you were good? Would be a few vampire teeth enough or would you have to turn up with a cloak and styled back hair and long dark fingernails and old fashioned clothes and all these things? Not that you were going to go as a vampire, but just generally. For a moment you wondered how much hair gel it would take to make your hair stay flat on your head. A lot probably. You remembered the amount of hair gel it had taken Ray for the 'Ghost of You' music video to make keep his hair in an elegant 40s hairstyle. It had looked ridiculous.
You tangled your fingers in your locks. Due to the tiny curls' color, you had often been mistaken for Ray's sister. In the beginning it had been rather awkward for both of you, since you were only friends and your similar hair was pure coincidence. But by now, years later, you took it with humor and sometimes just played along with peoples assumptions.
You picked up your phone noticing that there was a message from Gerard in the group chat. You opened the chat since that was what you had planned doing anyway, intending to ask the others what they were going to wear to that costume party. You seemed not to be the first with that idea, since the message Gerard had sent was a picture of him wearing a full on vampire costume; white shirt, black vest, dark red cravat and cloak included. His hair was combed back, but a few strands were dangling into his forehead, allowing you the assumption that he had only used water. Well, with his hair water worked for a few minutes.
"Opinions?" was the caption under the picture.
You were typing 'so full on costume?' and watched as the others reacted to the picture.
"TEETH! and make-up" was Frank's immediate response.
"you need teeth," agreed Mikey.
"Got teeth, no worries" Gerard answered.
You sent your message and watched the little dots that indicated that someone was typing.
"Yup" came the answer from Ray.
"Yeeeeessss!" was Gerard's response.
"okay" you typed back and put the mobile aside.
It that was the case, you knew exactly how you wanted to dress for that party.
~*~
A few days later, you finally stood on the doorstep of the house where the party was taking place. Apart from Gerard no one had revealed their costumes yet. Judging by the people you saw through the window, it had been the right call to dress up properly and not only with a mask or a little make up. From where out here you spotted a clown, a giraffe and a fairy. Especially the fairy caused you to take a second look, considering it was a tall, hairy, bearded man in a pink tutu wearing fairy wings and a flower crown. A moment later the door swung open and you were let inside. It did not take you long to find Gerard, already knowing he would be wearing the vampire costume. Next to him stood someone you thought looked familiar, but it took a few seconds before you recognized Frank. His entire face was painted with the pattern of a skull. With that he wore a suit and his skeleton gloves.
"Woah, look at you," you laughed, hugging him after you had finally recognized him. His make-up was a lot more skillful than the one he had worn during the Black Parade Tour.
"I'm a corpse," he grinned, his teeth shining violet in the black light, "And what are you?"
"Take a guess," you grinned, quickly pushing an eye-patch over your right eye that you had not worn earlier to be able to see better.
"Oh my god," Gerard laughed, "I want to see Ray's reaction to that!"
That he wanted to see Ray's reaction to you dressed up as his Danger Days character Jet Star was no wonder. In the beginning you had thought you would maybe dress up as your own character since you owned the costume of the minor role you had played in the 'Na Na Na' music video. But then you had gotten the idea to play Ray' character instead. You already had the right hair and the rest was only a bit of shopping and sewing.
You talked to both of your friends for a while, laughing about stories they told you and pointing out other costumes. None of them seemed to have seen the fairy earlier on because when you showed them, they both could not stop laughing.
A few minutes later, Mikey turned up, wonderfully dressed as some roman patrician in a toga and sandals. He laughed a lot when he saw you dressed up as his bandmate and you secretly wondered if Ray would think it would be funny too, or whether he would be annoyed. But the others seemed pretty certain that he would love your costume.
Almost half an hour passed by, that you spent anxiously waiting for Ray and chatting with your friends, still discussing costumes and the best combination for fruit juices.
"I still like Banana-Cherry the best," you shrugged.
"No you can't! That's lame," Frank whined.
"Oh, no, take that back," you whined, "banana-cherry is the best combo out there and just because you need some five hundred different juices to like something doesn't mean everyone is as picky as you. At least I can go to every supermarket and get the ingredients there!"
"Uh, they've got a point," Gerard laughed.
Frank wanted to pout, already putting on his puppy eyes and pursing his lips a little, but then his glance fixed on something behind your back and he stopped, his eyes wide.
"Guys, guys," he patted Gerard's chest to get his attention, "aw man, this is good stuff right there."
You turned around curiously and were met with the sight of a very familiar bunch of wild curls. But the costume Ray was wearing was what knocked all breath out of you. Around his head was wrapped a red bandana, he wore a yellow t-shirt with a red-black flannel as a jacket and light blue, ripped jeans. You recognized the colors immediately. They had probably burnt into you memory until your dying day.
"You dressed up as each other," Frank wheezed.
You just stared at Ray, and he stared back at you just as surprised.
"Two idiots, one thought," you finally concluded and laughed, making him break into a grin as well.
"You make a good Jet Star, that's for sure," he complimented, patting your shoulder.
"You look pretty snazzy yourself," you laughed.
Ray's eyes flickered behind you, where his fellow band mates were crying tears of laughter at the two of you, wearing the clothes of each other's characters. Even Mikey was bending over in laughter, a rare, but welcomed sight.
"I think we broke them," you whispered to Ray, trying to ignore the realization how close you were standing to him, the same nervousness as always kicking in when you were around him.
"Ah, they'll be alright," he dismissed, "But we," he motioned between the two of you, "we should definitely hit the dancefloor like that."
You laughed, thinking he was joking, but a moment later he had grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the middle of the living room where a small crowd was already dancing to the loud music. A little helpless you were standing where Ray had let go of your hand, but apparently he knew what he was doing, because a moment later he took one of your hands in his and placed the other one at your side, pulling you a little closer to him. His body was warm and calmed your rapidly beating heart down a little. Together you were dancing to the music, slowly finding the courage to try out a few more moves that often resulted in breathless laughter from both of you.
In the beginning it had been a foreign feeling, being so close to Ray, feeling your bodies touch, sometimes by bumping hard into each other, sometimes soft and slow when he pulled you close to his chest. But now, a few songs later it felt like this, dancing with him, was where you were supposed to be.
You were out of breath from dancing and laughing, leaning against Ray's shoulder for support, him laughing quietly as well at the last, failed attempt at a new move he had tried, when suddenly the fast and cheerful music changed to a calm, romantic song. You were not sure what to do, assuming Ray would want to go back to the others, but instead he snuck his arm around your back and held you close. You felt your heart speed up again, and uncertainly you looked up at him. His brown eyes were glancing down at you, and when they made contact with yours, he smiled. A little hint of pink ghosted over his cheeks and you smiled back, knowing that you were the reason he blushed.
"And now kiss," a voice next to you whisper shouted.
Both your and Ray's head shot around in embarrassment. Frank was obviously thinking his joke had been hilarious, but you felt like you had been caught doing something forbidden. You should not fancy your friend. That was just not what your relationship with the band was built upon.
You did not notice the questioning look Ray gave Frank, Gerard and Mikey in the background who all nodded eagerly at his unspoken question. Too occupied were you by being embarrassed and a little angry at Frank, who had destroyed this wonderful moment.
"Frank Iero, this is most defe-"
Your words were cut short by the demanding pressure of Ray's lips against yours. Forget all embarrassment, forget your friends were watching, maybe even more people, forget you had just been angry at Frank. You just kissed back not giving it a second thought. Ray's hand, the one that had been holding yours, was gently placed at your neck and pulled you a little closer. Instinctively you reached up to his hair, wrapping your fingers in curls that felt very much like your own, but still a little different.
At the side, Gerard, Mikey and Frank all cheered.
"Finally," Gerard sighed, "this tension really started to annoy me."
Mikey nodded.
"For how long has this been going on? Since Three Cheers," he asked.
"At least," Frank giggled.
"Let's get some of Frank's fruit juice mix, and give those two love birds some alone time," Gerard suggested, glancing over his shoulder to the dancefloor, where Ray was still holding your securely in his arms.
"Be prepared to be amazed," Frank laughed, "Banana-Cherry, bah."