“Trav, you look so handsome!” mom said, smiling at me.
I gave her a small smile. “Thanks mom.”
I looked down at the tuxedo I was wearing. It was just a regular black tux. But I looked damn good in a tux.
I had taken some girly time on my hair tonight to make sure it looked good. I smiled at mom and hugged her, kissing her cheek.
“I’m going to go pick up Alex,” I said.
“Are you boys coming back to the house after the dance?” dad asked, coming out to the living room.
“Yea, I think so,” I said with a shrug.
“Alright. I’ll get pictures of you guys then, so don’t make a mess of yourself,” mom said sternly. She had already taken a billion pictures of me, and I was surprised she wasn’t demanding I bring Alex back here quick. My mom loved her pictures.
“I’ll try not to mom,” I said, offering her a small smile and grabbing the keys off the coffee table. “Bye guys!”
“Bye Trav! Have fun!” my parents called, waving to me as I left the house.
I got in the car and turned on my iPod before pulling out of the driveway. I took off down the road towards Alex’s house, nervous about seeing Collin.
“Author of the moment can you tell me: Do I end up, do I end up happy? We all have a story to tell,” my music sang.
“I sure as hell hope I end up happy,” I mumbled nervously as I neared Alex’s house.
I pulled into the driveway and shut the car off, taking a deep breath to try to calm myself. I checked my reflection in the mirror before getting out of the car.
I went up to the house and rang the doorbell. I waited nervously, trying to have a freaking panic attack.
The door opened and Mrs. Radke smiled at me. “Hello Travis!” she said brightly, stepping aside to let me in.
I instantly relaxed, glad it wasn’t Collin who had opened the door. “Hello Mrs. Radke,” I greeted, stepping inside and taking my shoes off.
She waited patiently for me to get my shoes off before leading me up the stairs and into the living room. I looked over and my mouth dropped open in surprise.
“Hi Trav,” Alex said shyly, blushing a little.
I forced my mouth to close and tried to remember how to form words. Man, if Gage thought Alex normally looked sexy, he would drown in his own drool right now.
Alex was wearing a white tuxedo that had light blue on it as well. His hair was lying perfectly on his head, and the blue in his tuxedo was making the blue in his eyes stick out. The lighting of the room made his golden hair seem to shine.
Gage would be proud of just how horny I was staring at Alex.
“Hi Alex,” I finally managed to spit out.
Alex came over to me. “You look really, really nice,” he said quietly.
“You look…holy shit,” I said, still in shock at just how god damned sexy this shy boy could manage to look.
“Bad holy shit or good holy shit?” he asked nervously.
“Good,” I said with a nod. “Definitely good holy shit.”
Alex chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. I hugged him back tightly, determined to make him happy tonight. I wanted to see that honest smile on his face again.
“Ahem.”
The sound of Collin clearing his throat had Alex and I pulling away from each other. I glanced at him, again thinking of Gage.
Collin was wearing a black tuxedo like me. He looked good, though nowhere near as good as his little brother did.
There was a pretty girl in a bright red dress standing next to him. Collin glared at me in hate before taking her hand and leading the girl over to the couch.
“Collin! Bri! Don’t sit down,” Mrs. Radke said, grabbing Collin’s shoulder. “Go see your father. You, Alex, and your dates. He wants to see you boys with your dates.”
“Yea, let’s just go show dad that faggot,” Collin growled in annoyance, flicking his gaze to me.
“Collin, I’m not afraid to ground you right now. You can just go sit in your room while your freshman brother enjoys the senior ball,” Mrs. Radke threatened. “Now quit being a brat. Get some maturity.”
“Come on Collin,” the girl, Bri, said nervously, tugging on his arm and leading him out of the room.
“Come on,” Alex said, taking my hand in his.
“Travis!”
We paused and faced Mrs. Radke curiously. She sighed and shook her head, offering me an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry about Collin,” she said.
“It’s okay,” I said, forcing a smile. It wasn’t Mrs. Radke’s fault her son was a complete prick. I had a feeling Collin had always been an ass.
Alex led me down the hallway to a bedroom. He paused and gave me a small smile. “I hope you don’t mind meeting my dad,” he said.
I shook my head and squeezed his hand. “I don’t mind at all!” I said honestly.
Alex opened the door and we entered the bedroom. Collin and Bri were standing at the edge of a bed that held a man propped up on pillows.
My heart sank at the sight of him. I realized that at one time, this man had probably had Alex’s golden blond hair and lightly tanned skin. He looked like he had been muscular and active.
But now, he was just lying there, his skin pale and his hair weak and graying. He was incredibly thin, and giving a weak smile at Collin.
He turned to face us and his lips twitched as he tried to smile wider. “Alex!” he said happily, his voice coming out rough-sounding.
“Hi dad,” Alex said, pulling me over to him. “This is my date, Travis.”
“Nice to meet you Travis,” Mr. Radke said.
“Nice to meet you too Mr. Radke,” I said, smiling at him politely.
“You kids better head out before you’re late to your senior ball. You both look so handsome,” Mr. Radke said, reaching out a shaking arm and gently stroking Alex’s cheek since he was the closest.
“Yea, we’ll head out,” Collin said, leaning down and kissing his father’s cheek. “Bye dad. Love you.”
“I love you too Collin. Have fun. And be good to your brother and his date,” Mr. Radke said.
Collin nodded and pulled his date out of the room. Alex leaned down and also kissed his dad’s cheek.
“Bye dad. I love you,” he said.
“Bye Alex. Have fun. And have patience with your brother’s homophobia. I love you kid,” Mr. Radke said, winking at Alex.
Alex chuckled softly and led me out of the room. We entered the living room and Mrs. Radke forced the four of us to pose for pictures before allowing us to leave.
“We’re driving up in my car Alex. I’ll meet you at the dance,” Collin said as he moved towards his car with Bri.
“Okay Collin,” Alex said before following me over to my car.
Alex and I got in my car and I turned on my iPod before pulling out of his driveway and following behind Collin’s car. Alex turned on the heat in the car since it was cold and we relaxed in comfortable silence.
“You’re dad is nice,” I said, just to break the silence.
Alex smiled softly and nodded. “Yea, he is. He’s really nice.”
“How long has he had lung cancer?” I asked.
Alex stared at me in surprise. “How did you know he has lung cancer?” he asked.
I nearly face-palmed myself. Oh yea. I forgot Alex wasn’t the one who had told me that. “Uh…Gage told me,” I said awkwardly.
“Oh,” Alex said, still looking slightly confused. “Well, he was diagnosed when I was three. It got really bad when I was four, and he never really recovered.”
I reached over and gripped his hand. “I’m sorry,” I said.
“It’s okay. He stays in good spirits,” Alex said, offering me a small smile. But his eyes were sad, and I wanted to change that. Hell, I would change that. Tonight, I would make him so, so happy.
“It’s been making me sad, ‘cause I can’t find a better way to speak the words I want to say to you. And know how I love you, know how I need you,” the music sang.
Alex squeezed my hand and I smiled at him, pulling into the parking lot of the place the dance was being held at. I parked and we got out of the car, going over to where Collin and Bri were waiting.
We went inside and handed our tickets over before going into a large room where a ton of kids were. Some were on the dance floor, dancing along to the music that was vibrating the room. Others were sitting at tables, talking or eating.
“We’re going to go find Josh and Erin. Come get me if you want to leave or something. And remember: I’m watching you two the whole night,” Collin said, the last part clearly directed at me. He gave Alex a one-armed hug before leading Bri into the crowd and disappearing from our sights.
“Want to go find your friends?” Alex offered, grabbing my hand again.
I nodded. “Sure!” I said.
We wandered around before I spotted Gav at a table. Alex and I went over and Gav smiled at us and waved enthusiastically.
“Hi Trav! Hi Alex!” he greeted joyfully.
“Hi Gav,” I said, sitting down. Alex sat next to me.
I looked around and frowned. “Where are Rose and Gage? And who’s Gage’s date?” I asked.
Gav shrugged helplessly. “Gage just texted me to tell me he was here. Rose went to go get him and his date and bring them to our table. I was just about to text you to see if you were here yet.” He sniffed and wiped at his eyes. “Aw Trav! My little Trav is growing up!” he cried dramatically.
“Aw, shut up,” I said, rolling my eyes and smacking his arm. “Although you’re looking pretty spiffy yourself.”
“Spiffy? You’re definitely gay,” Gav said, chuckling.
“Shut up!” I whined, smacking his arm again.
“Hey guys.”
We turned to greet Gage and I froze. First, at the sight of Rose. She looked absolutely beautiful. She was wearing a light blue dress and her hair was gently draped on across her shoulders.
Second, at the sight of Gage.
The tuxedo Gage was wearing made him look incredibly sharp and…well…sexy. Yea, there. I said it. If I didn’t know Gage, I probably would’ve been drooling at the sight of him. But I was using his personality to keep my thoughts from turning dirty.
He was standing next to Lyle, the kid he had fucked in the library. Lyle was fairly attractive. He was also a bit on the short side, though he still stood at least three inches taller than poor little Gage.
“Looking good Gagey!” Gav said, winking at him.
“I always am,” Gage said, sitting down with Lyle. Gage glanced at Alex and I and his eyes widened a little. “Holy shit. I think I just died and went to gay boy heaven.”
I pouted. “Hey! Alex is my date! Eye rape your own date!” I grumbled, putting my arm around Alex’s waist and sticking my tongue out at Gage.
“Fine. Then I’ll just eye rape you. Trav, you’re not looking bad yourself,” Gage said simply, taking in my appearance and smirking.
“Jeez, I’d hate to be your date,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Lyle laughed and shrugged. “We’re just here as friends. Gage was desperate so he asked me,” he said smugly, glancing down at Gage.
“Shut up before I fuck you so hard your legs fall off,” Gage said, not taking his eyes off me.
Gage finally dragged his eyes up to meet mine. He smirked and shifted so that he was sitting next to me. He leaned down, whispering so that only I could hear him.
“Take Alex out to dance soon. Then wait for my signal, and kiss him. Like I said; you’ll know my signal,” he said before going back over next to Lyle.
I glanced over at Gav and bit my lip. He had his arm around Rose and was talking to her happily. He paused and kissed her cheek, smiling at her with so much happiness I nearly felt sick. I had never seen him so damn happy before.
“Trav?”
I jumped and guilt slapped me as I looked over at Alex. My arm was still around his waist, and I wanted to just chop it off at that moment. I had my arm wrapped around Alex and my thoughts wrapped around Gav.
Lovely.
“Yea?” I asked, trying and failing to sound casual.
“I know what you’re thinking,” he said, his voice silent. “But I think we’ll have a really good time here together. I know we will! I don’t care if Collin gets mad at us. We’re going to have fun tonight. I want to see you smile. I…I want to make you happy.”
Oh my fucking god I just wanted to cuddle this kid to death. He was so freaking adorable.
I smiled softly at him. “I’m sorry Alex. You’re right. You and I are going to have a great time at this ball tonight,” I said with an affirmative nod.
“Come on Rose! Let’s go dance!” Gav said, standing up and offering his hand to her. His tuxedo made him look so attractive I could’ve just eaten him up. Literally.
Rose took his hand and the two disappeared onto the dance floor. I sighed and looked over at Alex, shrugging.
“A dance, kind sir?” I offered.
Alex smiled and nodded. “Yes ma’am.”
“Oh! Alex, your balls just dropped lately, didn’t they? Kissing Trav’s cheek in front of your homophobic prick of a brother, calling Trav a ma’am,” Gage said.
“Next he’s going to tell you to shut the fuck up,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“And he can,” Gage said with a nod, smirking.
Alex blushed and stood up. I copied him and grabbed his hand, pulling him onto the dance floor as the music played.
“I can’t believe he’s so trusting while I’m right behind you thrusting. Fionna’s got him on the phone and she’s trying not to moan. It’s a three way call and he knows nothing, nothing! Scotty doesn’t know!”
“Lovely song for a school function,” Alex said, working hard to be heard over the music. I felt bad for him. He was so quiet. He was going to lose his voice by the end of the night just trying to be heard.
“I was thinking the same thing,” I said, laughing as the song continued to play.
I looked over at the table and saw that Gage and Lyle had disappeared. I looked around but didn’t see them on the dance floor anywhere.
My heart began to beat a little faster as I realized that Gage was putting this plan of his into motion. It meant that soon, I would be kissing Alex.
“Trav, are you alright?” Alex asked, tugging on my sleeve to get my attention.
I snapped out of my terrified thoughts of screwing up the kiss, and forced a smile. “Yea! I’m just dandy!” I said, a little hysterical.
I cleared my throat nervously as Alex gave me a look that said he didn’t believe me. I wrapped my arms around Alex’s neck and smiled at him. He blushed and put his arms around mine as well.
“We’re gonna slow it down a little folks!” the DJ called.
The song shifted to Changed By You by Between the Trees. I rested my forehead on Alex’s, looking into his soft blue eyes.
I wanted to be in love with him. I wanted to be over Gav. But I knew I wasn’t. I knew it would take time. And the look in Alex’s eyes said that he was willing to wait.
“’Cause I am changed by you, the more I get to know you, the more I want you close to me! And I’ll take care of you. Please just say you’ll let me be whatever you need,” the music sang gently.
“Trav!”
I looked over curiously as Gav came running over to me, Rose trailing behind him. Gav stopped in front of me.
“Gage told me to tell you to get your ass in gear because you have about 30 seconds. Whatever that means,” Gav said with a shrug.
That was Gage Allen. Always inconspicuous.
Mentally rolling my eyes at Gage’s “signal”, I turned my attention back to Alex. My heart was thumping so loudly that I was afraid Alex would be able to hear it.
I leaned down slowly, giving him time to pull away if he wanted to. But he didn’t. Instead, he brought his face up to mine until our lips were meeting.
Alex’s soft lips felt amazing against my own. The kiss felt so…so right. So natural.
We pulled away from each other and Alex smiled that honest smile again. He rested his head on my chest and I wrapped my arms around him. I could feel his body trembling slightly and had nearly laughed considering the fact that my body was having the same reaction.
“Uh…Trav?” Gav asked nervously.
I glanced over at him. “Yea Gav?”
“That was cute and everything, and I don’t mean to ruin the night but…look over there,” he said, nodding.
I looked over and my face paled. Alex shifted and looked over as well. The color drained from his face. I kept my arms around him, not wanting to let him go. Terrified that he was about to be ripped from my arms.
Collin Radke clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white and began to storm over to us.
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A.N.- Wooooo excitement! And it's going to get a lot more interesting/intense. Their night is still young ;3