Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Where’s my lunch money, Hanson?”

Arin winced as the two school bullies slammed him into the lockers, scattering all the books he was carrying. I’m not going down without a fight, he thought as he grimaced and tried to stand up straight.

“Fuck off.”

Arin was tall for his age, but this asshole was taller, and beefier, and unfortunately there was no way for him to use his height to his advantage when he was currently crumpled on the floor. The bully had just kneed him in the stomach.

True to their promise, they’d come for him after school let out to extort money from him. His daily harassment hadn’t been stopped by any teachers so far, despite him bringing it up on multiple occasions, and at this point Arin had accepted that this was his lot in life. He was an anime nerd who drew incessantly and was obsessed with all things Japanese. He might as well have had a giant target on his back that read “Kick Me” in neon letters.

“What’s this? More of your dumb cartoons?”

One of them had picked up his sketchbook, which he’d dropped, and Arin cursed. He stood and tried to make a grab for it, but the other shoved him out of the way.

“Don’t touch that!”

The bully only laughed, and began ripping sheets out of his sketchbook. Goddamn it. He’d spent hours on those. Some of them were even coloured painstakingly with his precious Copic markers. And all he could do was watch, pinned helplessly to the lockers.

 “Yo, Brian.”

Dan, who had been watching this entire scene unfold while leaning against his locker, nudged his friend, who gazed stonily on while munching on a slice of pizza.

“You see that highschooler over there getting pushed around?”

Dan’s silent companion nodded, still munching.

“This looks like a job for the Cool Patrol.”

Arin wasn’t really sure how he would ever get out of this alive.

“Hey assholes!”

What he never expected was for a tall, gangly, boy in a leather jacket and ripped jeans to show up and rescue him.

A heavy metal guitar riff split the air, and the bullies looked around for the source of the insult and music.

Well, at least they’d stopped ripping his books apart. Arin looked over the sweaty, meaty arm currently holding him captive. This guy looked like he was made of sticks and angles, with an impressive mop of curls piled on top. Was he really about to take on the two school bullies? Probably either really brave, or really stupid.

“Leave him alone, dickwads.”

“Or what?” The bullies sneered, not moving.

“Or,” the guy (who Arin thought resembled a human Q-tip) cheerfully replied, “Brian here will smash your face in with his boombox.”

Who even has a boombox in this day and age?! Arin thought, but he looked over to the right a little, and there was another person - a sullen, hulking boy in a hoodie bearing two gold dragons. Arin recognised the Japanese kanji character on his chest. He was, indeed, balancing a giant boombox on his shoulder, blaring music. Arin briefly considered the possibility that this could be a terrible, pizza-induced dream.

Still, together, somehow, they cut an intimidating figure, although most of it was due to the hardened, icy blue stare of the senior with the boombox. He looked ready to kill a man. Arin was just glad this character was here to save him, and not rip his intestines out.

The bullies looked at each other, and seemed to decide that three-on-one wasn’t worth it for a few bucks, and let go of Arin, who immediately dropped to the floor.

"We’ll be back tomorrow, Hanson.” They glowered at the newcomers, then retreated, sulking.

“No you won’t!” called the lanky guy, watching them go.

Arin just sighed, head in his hands, and stayed curled up on the floor. They’d be back, and worse than before. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take.

“Hey, you okay, buddy?”

Arin lifted his head at the sound, stunned. That dude was still there, looking like the offspring of Alice Cooper and Animal from the Muppets. Up close, Arin could see his eyeliner, ringed around soft brown eyes that were looking at him kindly. The guy was giving him such a genuine smile it made Arin’s heart skip a beat.

Oh, shit, he’s cute.

He’d stretched out his hand to help Arin up. Arin had to shake his head to stop himself staring at the other boy, and gratefully took it, brushing himself off.

“Did… did you just get your friend to to play entrance music for you while you confronted some bullies?”

Animal Cooper shrugged. “Everything worth doing has gotta be done in style, am I right? Name’s Dan, by the way. This is Brian.” He leaned over and wiggled his fingers as Brian tickled them back, their own secret handshake. The other guy - Brian? - set his boombox down, and was picking up Arin’s discarded books.

Arin rubbed his shoulder and grimaced. That was going to leave a horrible bruise. “Arin.”

“Well, Arin, those motherfuckers ain’t gonna bother you no more. We’ll make sure of it.” Dan grinned proudly at him, as he laid a hand on Arin’s shoulder.

Yep. Pizza-induced dream. He couldn’t believe his luck. Two oddballs - who seemed really committed to the 80’s aesthetic - had saved his ass from bullies. He was still trying to process all this when Brian popped up beside them, having collected Arin’s things, and even salvaged most of Arin’s beloved drawings. Brian nudged Dan in the shoulder with a sheaf of them.

“Oh, thanks, Brian. Whoa, dude, did you do these?” Dan’s eyes went wide as Brian handed him the ripped up pages of Arin’s sketchbook.

“Uh, they’re not really that good, but-”

“Are you kidding? They’re amazing!” Dan gushed, flipping through the papers. Arin looked away, embarrassed.

“Thanks, I love drawing.”

Brian poked Dan again, who was utterly distracted. His head snapped up from Arin’s tattered sketchbook.

“What? Oh! Right! Band practice.” Dan looked back to Arin. “Wanna come with us? We’ll walk with you, in case those douchebags are waiting for you outside.” He pronounced ‘douchebags’ with a hard ‘d’, the Jersey way.

Arin blinked. His day was getting stranger and stranger. Well, it wasn’t like he had much on after school.

“Uh. Sure?”

“Cool!” Dan grinned. “Let’s go! My place. Well, my garage, anyway.”

Turns out those dipshits were waiting for Arin outside the school parking lot, but since he was being escorted today, they decided not to try anything. Arin heaved a huge sigh of relief, walking in between his new friends. Brian silently brandished a flick knife at them. Dan silently brandished his middle finger.

When they were safely out of the school, Arin spoke up at last.

“Thanks for doing that. Earlier. You didn’t need to.”

“No problem, man. I hate people like that. Fucking getting their rocks off bullying people smaller than them.”

Dan toted Brian’s boombox on his shoulder. Brian was still carrying Arin’s stuff, and held up a hand when Arin said, “It’s okay man, I’ll take those.”

“You sure?” He peered curiously at the older boy in the hoodie, turning to Dan. “Does he um… not talk? At all?”

“Oh, yeah.” Dan replied, fondly smiling at his friend. “He’s like Silent Bob. I guess that would make me Jay. Pretty accurate.”

They walked together, chatting about anime (where he learned Dan’s favourite was Cowboy Bebop) and music (where he learned Dan’s favourite was Rush), until they got to Dan’s garage. It was a dingy, bare room - racks of Dad’s tools along the walls, a bass guitar with a layer of dust on it in the corner, and a positively ancient computer on a rickety desk that looked like it was still running Windows XP.

Brian pulled out a beat-up keyboard and began to set up. Dan tossed his backpack carelessly on a nearby moth-eaten couch, inviting Arin to take a seat.

“You can just chill while we lay down some sweet tasty jams.”

Brian waved at a mini-fridge next to the couch.

“Brian says help yourself to the sodas in there.” Dan glanced at Brian with a surprised, but pleased expression. “Wow, he must really like you.”

Arin pulled out the remnants of his sketchbook and a pencil. He watched them, observing quietly as they began songwriting. Dan seemed to be able to interpret Brian’s mute gestures with ease. They must be really good friends. Arin began doing a little cartoon doodle of the two of them.

“What’s your band called?” He asked.

“Ninja Sex Party,” Dan answered, butt resting on the arm of the couch as he scribbled in a notebook. Behind him, Brian tested little riffs and chords on the keyboard.

“I’m sorry, what?” Arin stared at them.

“We’re Ninja Sex Party! I’m Danny Sexbang, and this is Ninja Brian.”

“Pfffft-” Arin held a hand to his mouth, trying to contain his giggles. “That… that’s fucking hilarious. I love it.”

He started to add a cape to the cartoon figure with big poofy hair, and a ninja outfit with the logo on Brian’s hoodie. Below the two little cartoon figures, he began doodling their band name in block letters, shading it.

“Wanna hear a Ninja Sex Party original?” Dan asked.

“Sure. Give it to me.”

“Dinosaur Laser Fight?” Dan looked at Brian, who nodded. “Hit it!”

Dan began to sing, and Arin had to admit, Dan had legit pipes. He chuckled when he heard the phrase “blow your mind to shit”. The lyrics had such cool imagery, and evoked such scenes in Arin’s imagination. Inspired, he began to sketch furiously. Soon his page was filled with many boxes, depicting tiny dinosaurs firing laser guns at each other, his hasty documentation consuming page after page of his sketchbook. He almost hadn’t noticed when Dan and Brian had finished the song.

“So? What do you think?”

“Could I… Could I hear that again?” Arin asked. The other two stared at him. “I just... I had an idea. Just trust me.”

Dan and Brian shrugged, and launched into Dinosaur Laser Fight once more. Arin used the opportunity to flesh out some of the scenes he’d rushed past in the first go, and by the end of the song, he had captured most of his ideas on paper.

Curious, Dan came over and plopped down on the couch next to him. When he saw what Arin had drawn, he goggled at the sketchbook, and then at his new friend.

“Brian, look at this!” Dan’s eyes scanned the page as he took in each little rectangle of drawing. Brian hovered over the edge of the couch, staring as well.

“It’s called a storyboard. I had this idea, like… do you guys make music videos at all?”

“I mean, we’ve filmed some stupid stuff with our friends before, but yeah, we have a Youtube channel.”

“It’s just, well, I animate things in my spare time, and I thought, if you guys haven’t done it already for this song, I could - “

“You animate stuff?” Dan gaped at him. Brian’s eyes darted back and forth from the sketchbook to Arin. “That’s like, pure wizardry, man.”

“Uh, yeah, I could show you some. Can I use your computer?”

Dan waved for him to go ahead. “Sure, but it’s a piece of shit, I’m warning you first.”

Arin pulled up his newgrounds page, and proceeded to show them his animations, starting with the recent ones he was really proud of. Dan and Brian had insisted on watching them all, even his shitty early works, hooting and hollering with laughter.

Finally, Dan wiped the tears from his face, gazing up at Arin with wonder and admiration, and said, “You’re amazing, Arin. You’d really do this for us?”

No one had ever looked at Arin like that, especially not with lovely, toffee-brown eyes, which looked even bigger lined with black kohl. No one had ever called him amazing, either. He gulped, and stammered, trying to say something modest, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. “I mean, yeah, you guys kinda saved my ass, I owe you one.”

“Nah, you don’t owe us anything.” Dan flipped through the illustrations again, back to the first page, and then he giggled. “Is this supposed to be us?” He pointed to the cartoon drawing of a fluffy-haired hero in a cape and a ninja waving a knife.

“Yeah,” Arin smiled sheepishly. “Hope you don’t mind.”

“Mind?? How cool is this, Brian? We’ve got fanart!” Danny bounced on the couch, excited as a puppy. “And an animated music video? This is the best.”

Brian pulled out three bottle of soda from the mini-fridge, popped them open with his teeth (Arin made a mental note never to mess with him) and handed one to each of them, clinking his bottle against the other two.

“To our new buddy, Arin.” Dan beamed at him, and Arin tried not to melt. “Dude, we should get you to make like, our logos and stuff, so we look all professional.”

“I’d... I'd love to.”

Dan held out his hand, and Arin took it, willing his heart rate to steady as Dan fixed him with a warm look.

“Then it’s settled. You are now Ninja Sex Party’s official graphic designer.”

Arin tried to resist the urge to pinch himself.

Chapter Text

The video ended up taking a several weeks longer than Arin had expected, since he was mostly the only person working on it, though he did manage to bribe his best friend Suzy into colouring for him. In return though, he’d agreed to let her practice her make-up skills on him anytime she wanted.

It became a regular occurrence for Arin to drop in on Ninja Sex Party’s band practice sessions, where he scrunched himself into the corner of the couch with his laptop and tablet, animating what felt like a million dinosaurs. He even brought Suzy by a few times, since she was helping him with the video.

It was a Friday. Dan and Brian had gone out to get dinner for them, while he and Suzy continued to work on Dinosaur Laser Fight. It’d been hours since they moved from their positions, though. Suzy stretched from her end of the couch, tickling Arin with her toes.

“I need a break. Let me practice contouring on you?”

Arin cracked his back a few times. Suzy winced at the noise.

“Yeah, okay. Time for a makeover!” he replied in his best Valley girl voice, wiggling his fingers and making Suzy laugh.

Suzy started to dig out her make-up bag, excited at the prospect of dolling up her friend. Arin marveled at the sheer volume of products she owned. She began applying foundation, skillfully carving out the curves and planes of his face with light and dark paint, sculpting cheekbones, jawlines and nose bridges until she was satisfied. She’d been getting really good at this, and had confessed that her dream was to be a make-up artist. He let her blend everything in smoothly, sitting as still as he could. It was almost enjoyable, having someone decorate you like this.

Until she started forcefully patting an enormous powder puff onto his face, that is.

“Suzy!” he cried, as dust clouded his vision briefly.

“Hey, it’s called beating your mug for a reason. Okay! That’s done. What colour lipstick?” She held up half a dozen tubes. He pointed to a dark red one.

“Excellent choice, sir. Goes so well with your eyes.”

He tried his best not to wiggle with discomfort when she applied eyeshadow and liquid eyeliner to his eyelids. Putting on fake eyelashes on yourself is difficult enough, but trying to adjust them onto someone’s eyelids with tweezers without hurting them is like attempting to defuse a bomb. Suzy’s clever fingers did the trick after agonizing seconds of anticipation.

“There we go. You’re a pretty pretty princess now.” Suzy snapped a photo with her phone to document her handiwork while he pretended to pose like a fashion model.

“Uh, excuse me, Suzy, I am a queen, not a princess.” Arin flipped his hair, hand behind his head as he pouted.

“Sounds like you’re a diva.” She rolled her eyes affectionately, as the garage door opened.

“Hey guys, we’re back. Asian food in the house!” Dan crowed triumphantly. “We got your dumplings, Arin, you better -”

Dan stopped short when he caught sight of Arin. His mouth dropped open. He quickly closed it and approached them.

“Suzy! You didn’t tell me you invited a friend over.” Dan knelt beside the couch and took Arin’s hand in his. “Hey there,” he purred in a low, seductive tone. “You come here often, good-looking?”

Arin tried not to blush, but he felt his face go hot. Suzy erupted into a fit of giggles.

“Dan, it’s me.” Arin nudged him.

“Well, hello, ‘me’.” Dan refused to drop the act, starting to slowly caress Arin’s hand. “You look mighty cute. What say you and I grab a couple of dumplings, get to know each other...” Dan was looking him intensely, making bedroom eyes at the painted boy. Arin had to remind himself to breathe.

Behind them, Brian made kissy noises, setting the food down on the coffee table. Suzy fell off the couch, cackling.

“Dan, seriously.” Arin squeezed his thighs closer together as Dan took Suzy’s now-vacated spot. Dan’s mouth was right by his ear. It was doing strange things to him in places he didn’t want to think about right now.

“Here, baby. Take my jacket. You look cold.” Dan stroked his bare shoulders, since Arin had only been wearing a tank top, and draped his signature leather jacket over Arin. He had to admit, it smelled, well, wonderful. It smelled like Dan. Arin secretly wanted to keep it forever. Might as well play along, right? He put on a flirty, breathy voice, trying to imitate Marilyn Monroe.

“Why thank you, that’s ever so kind of you.” Arin batted three pairs of fake eyelashes at Dan, and took the container of dumplings from him. “You play your cards right, and maybe I’ll show you my dumplings.”

Dan burst out howling and fell onto Arin, which he often did when Arin would make him laugh so hard he thought he might pee.

“Guys,” Suzy gasped from her spot on the floor. “Please. I’m gonna die.”

Dan grabbed his own pad thai, dropping the pretense at last to say, “Seriously, though, Suzy? That’s a fantastic make-up job. If we do more live action music videos, we should totally get you to do our make-up.”

“Absolutely. As long as you don’t forget the prawn crackers again.”

“That was one time!” Dan protested.

Arin gazed around at all of them - Suzy on the floor next to him assaulting said prawn crackers, Dan chowing down happily next to him, Brian drowning a dumpling in vinegar sauce - and felt such a wild fondness for them all. Dan and Brian seemed to enjoy their presence there, and all of them were becoming friends. The garage started to seem cosy, welcoming them to hang out after a hard day at school. Arin didn’t think he’d ever been happier.

Well, apart from that annoying crush he had on Dan, anyway.

Chapter Text

To Ninja Sex Party’s credit, they managed to record a pretty sweet version of Dinosaur Laser Fight using the school music room and mic equipment from their buddy Mark, who recorded himself playing video games for Youtube. It made animating a lot easier, and Arin found himself listening to the dulcet tones of his friend over and over as he drew frames of animation. Dan’s singing voice always made him smile, even on bad days. Dan looked so passionate when he sang, so in the moment, Arin found it hard not to stare open-mouthed during band practice at his friend.

Soon, it was done. Arin couldn’t have been prouder of it. His nerves jittered at the thought of officially unveiling it to his friends.

Meet me in the computer lab after school!! Big surprise, he typed into their group chat.

Waiting for the end of the day was pure agony. He couldn’t stop fidgeting, especially when the last class dragged on way after the bell sounded, and when it was finally over, he stuffed all his belongings into his bag and made a dash for it. Not wanting to keep Dan and Brian waiting, he rushed past the football field to get to the lab.

“Thought you could get away, didn’t ya?”

Two pairs of bulky arms had grabbed him, covered his mouth roughly and dragged him behind the bleachers.

Fuck. In his haste, he hadn’t spotted them at all. Just when he thought he’d escaped them, here he was again, being physically assaulted by these two knuckleheads. The larger one had seized him by the collar, shoving him against the bleachers, while the other picked up his bag and began rifling through its contents.

“You’re not getting my money, you assholes,” Arin retorted, and was rewarded with a punch to the gut. Pain shot through his midsection and he gritted his teeth, trying to breathe through it.

“Your little bitch ain’t here to save you this time, Hanson.”

Oh, Hell no. Arin saw red. Before he could stop himself, he hawked a loogey and spat. For a second, the guy just blinked stupidly, as a thick rivulet of saliva dripped down his face.

Then, he socked Arin in the face.

It hurt. It hurt so much Arin couldn’t even make a sound, not even to swear or cry for help. His left cheekbone felt like it was on fire, as burning pain spread through the side of his face. He gasped and tried his best not to cry, but he felt his eyes prick with tears and knew it was coming.

Then, out of nowhere, the bully holding Arin’s bag dropped it. An arm had snaked around his neck, seizing him in a chokehold.

“Brian?”

Brian did not release his grip on the bully, not even when his captive’s face was turning red with lack of oxygen. All he did was stare down the waste of space that had Arin his grasp with his piercing blue eyes. Just to hammer the point home, he pulled out his flick knife and held it dangerously close to his hostage’s face.

“Okay, okay, whatever, geez.”

Arin was flung to the ground like a discarded rag doll, and both bullies slunk off, defeated.

“Ninja Brian,” he croaked.

Brian rushed over, helping Arin up into a sitting position and leaning the boy against his chest. Already, Arin’s face was beginning to redden and swell. He had to take action now. In one swift movement, he swept Arin up, carrying him bridal style.

“What the- Brian! Put me down!”

Despite Arin’s protesting, it was the fastest way to get him to safety. Brian marched him to the computer lab, kicking the door open since his hands were occupied. Dan turned his head at the sound.

“Hey Arin! I - holy shit, what happened?!”

His excitement gave way to horror as Brian carefully deposited his battered friend into a chair.

“Got beat up,” Arin replied in a hoarse voice.

Dan looked over at Brian with wide, frightened eyes, who signed with his hands and mimed spitting.

"You did what?!" Dan cried.

Arin shrugged, and winced as the motion stretched a pulled muscle. "I mean, he did say something not so nice about you."

“I’ll go get ice from the school nurse and-” Dan started, but Brian laid a hand on his shoulder, and left the room. Dan turned back to Arin, biting his lip with worry.

“We thought it was weird you weren’t here after the bell rang, so Brian went to look for you, and, oh Arin, are you okay, does it hurt?” Dan babbled. He gingerly touched the bruised spot on Arin’s face, who hissed in pain and flinched.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. Man, your face looks terrible.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Pffft. You know what I mean.” Dan managed a small smile, but still his eyebrows were knitted together in a pained expression. “Are you okay?”

“I am now that Brian came to rescue me, like some damsel in distress.”

“I mean, you kind of were, Arin.”

Brian came back, holding an ice pack wrapped in a towel, and handed it to Dan, who pressed it carefully to Arin’s face. Dan was sitting so close to him, their legs touching. Arin caught a whiff of his scent at this distance - wow that wasn’t creepy at all - and Dan smelled like his leather jacket, like the laundry detergent of his Def Leppard t-shirt, like Dan. It was comforting.

“Is that better?” Dan asked in a soft voice, brushing strands of Arin’s hair out of the way of the ice pack, in a tender gesture that made Arin’s stomach flip. Arin privately thought that getting punched in the face was worth it to be nursed by Dan.

“Yeah. Thanks, Dan.”

“No problem.” Dan was still worrying his lip with his teeth with anxiety, not letting go of the ice pack. He looked at Arin with warm, brown eyes round with concern, and said, “I just… I just want you to be okay.” A tinge of pink spread across Dan's cheeks.

As if Arin couldn’t fall any harder for this idiot. He patted the hand that Dan held the ice pack to his face with, trying not to hold it there for too long.

“I’ll be okay, Dan.”

"Thank for you uh, defending my honour." Dan looked away from Arin, almost shyly.

Arin grinned. "No problem, princess." 

Mainly to get his mind off the pain, he fished a thumbdrive out of his bag, turned to the nearest computer and stuck it in, loading up the animation that had been months in the making.

“Anyway, I wanted to show you guys this.”

Arin held his breath, and pressed play.

The other two watched, rapt, eyes round with awe. Arin’s art style was so unique to him. Soft, squishy shapes that made everything so fluid, so dynamic, coloured expertly by Suzy of course. Dan laughed when he heard Arin’s random derpy dinosaur noises and laser sounds. He laughed even harder when he saw himself and Brian on the back of a huge purple dinosaur with a party hat in space. Arin thought he even saw Brian crack a smile, or at least the corners of his mouth were twitching upwards.

“Oh my god, Arin, that was incredible!” Dan exclaimed, bouncing in his seat. Brian slow clapped.

“That’s what they said.”

“Don’t you mean ‘that’s what she said’?”

“I’m equal opportunity Hanson.”

Dan grinned at him. “Nice. I like that. Dude, play it again!”

Arin did so, pressing play three more times as Dan made repeated requests to see it once more.

“This calls for a celebration,” Dan announced in a dramatic voice. “This calls… for pizza.”

Dan and Brian got Arin safely back to the garage, Dan never leaving his side once, insisting that Arin drape his arm over his shoulders while they walk.

“You’re wounded, man.”

“Yeah, I’m not like, back from a war, or something, you know.”

While Dan situated Arin comfortably on the couch, with a pillow under his back, Brian texted Suzy to come over, then ordered pizza on Dan’s computer. While Brian clicked away behind them, Dan sat next to Arin, long legs tucked under him, fretting over his injured friend. Arin felt Dan’s gentle fingertips acutely over his sore cheek, and tried not to turn any redder than he already was. He briefly entertained the notion of getting punched in the face again, just to have Dan touch his face like that more.

“Dan, I’m fine, seriously. See? The swelling’s gone down.”

“We should have come to get you,” Dan said, with much chagrin, twiddling his fingers with nervous energy. “We shouldn’t have let you walk alone. Then they wouldn’t-”

“Hey.” Arin laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder, and Dan stopped fidgeting. “It’s okay. Shit just happens sometimes, you know? Could’ve been worse. Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay,” Dan answered in a small voice, and did not sound okay at all.

It dawned on him then, just how much Dan cared about him. He’d never had friends like this, apart from Suzy, who always used to beat up their childhood bullies for him. No one messed with Suzy.

Speaking of her, Arin had to endure the fussing all over again when Suzy showed up and freaked out, as the boys filled her in on what had happened.

“It was incredible,” Arin told her. “Brian snuck up on one of them like a real ninja and threatened to stab him in the face with his knife.”

“Then he carried Arin away in his arms, like a knight in shining armour,” Dan added, and Arin elbowed him.

“I’m going to kill them,” Suzy declared flatly. “They’re going to die.”

Brian shook his head and pointed at himself.

“Not if Brian gets to them first.” Dan chuckled.

Thankfully, most of the pain had receded by the time the pizza came, and Arin was able to actually move his jaw to eat.

“May I have your attention, please?” Dan tinkled a plastic fork against the side of his glass of soda. Everyone looked at him. His posh voice gave way to something more heartfelt.

“Guys, I can’t thank you enough. When Brian and I started, this was just us making dumb songs about dick jokes.”

“You still do that,” Arin piped up.

“Anyway,” Dan carried on pointedly, “Arin and Suzy, thank you for helping us make this video a reality. For making our dreams come true. Working together creatively has been such a blessing. I’m so happy we met and became friends.”

“Awww, Dan, that’s so sweet.” Suzy beamed at him, squeezing his hand.

Arin didn’t say anything. He not only had trouble finding the right words, but now his throat seemed to have constricted with emotion.

So he leaned over and wrapped his arms around Dan, hugging him tightly.

Dan laughed, sinking into his friend’s embrace, patting Arin on the back. “Thank you, man. We couldn’t have done any of this without you,” he murmured in Arin’s ear.

Definitely worth being punched in the face for, he thought.

Chapter Text

“Hey.”

Arin tried not to move his mouth so much, since Suzy was currently painting it a deep shade of purple and applying glitter to it. “Hey yourself.”

She was squinting at him in a way that suggested she knew something, and couldn’t sit on it any longer. It was spooky - sometimes he felt like she knew him better than he knew himself.

“Danny’s cute, isn’t he?”

“I mean. Yeah. I guess. Why?” Arin shrugged in a manner he hoped came off as nonchalant.

Suzy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “You’re so obvious, Arin.”

“I am n - I mean, obvious about what?”

His best friend rolled her eyes. “Arin, I’ve known you since kindergarten. Seriously.”

“Okay! Yes! I think he’s cute. So what.” He threw his hands up.

“So tell him!” Suzy flailed, waving her make-up brush. Boys, honestly, she thought to herself. “Tell him you have a crush on him.”

“I do not -” he started, but the glare on Suzy’s face told him it was futile to continue in denial. “It’s not that easy! I don’t even know if he likes… you know.”

“Arin. He flirts with you all the time.”

Arin scoffed. “Does not. He’s just like that with everybody.”

“Not with me. Or Brian.” Suzy crossed her arms, with a triumphant smirk. “Who does he always walk home after school? Who does he always carry books for? Who does he always, always give his last dumpling -”

“Okay, okay! I get it!” Arin ruffled his own hair in frustration. “I don’t know how to tell him, though.”

Suzy grinned wickedly. “I have an idea.”

“Okay, Brian, we’re in position.” Suzy whispered. Brian was in the opposite bush to her, and they were well concealed within the shrubbery of Dan’s driveway. Brian had loaned Arin his boombox for the purposes of this gesture. Arin still thought it was a terrible idea.

“Guys, I’m not sure this is -”

“He loves this kind of stuff! Trust us, it’s going to work.” Suzy reassured him with a hiss.

“Okay, okay.”

Arin pressed play on the boombox, heart pounding in his ears.

Dan had been lying on his bed, already in his pajamas, re-reading his favourite book, The Last Unicorn, when suddenly the strains of a familiar song came in through his open window.

But whichever way I go

I come back to the place you are

Was that… Peter Gabriel?

Without a noise, without my pride

I reach out from the inside

It was.

He crossed his room to the open window, leaned out and looked down.

“Arin? Why are you dressed like a teenager from 1989?”

Arin was standing below his window, holding Brian’s boombox over his head, wearing grey sweatpants and Suzy's tan trenchcoat. Close enough. To be honest, Arin didn’t think he’d get this far, and now that he had, he had no idea what to do next.

“Are you… Are we… Oh my god, are you recreating a cheesy 80’s trope to confess to me?”

Nothing to do but go for it.

“Yep!” Arin shouted over the music.  

Dan stared, and then started to laugh so hard Arin was afraid he might fall out the window. There were tears in his eyes, as he covered his face with his hands, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing furiously.

“You absolute dork. I love it. Wait there.”

Dan disappeared from the window, and Arin quickly paused and set the boombox down before he dropped it, his arms aching from the strain. Dan emerged from his front door, and grabbed Arin into a huge bear hug, beaming ear to ear. He pulled away to gaze at his friend, still holding on.

“Oh, Arin. That was incredible.” Dan looked almost shy, as though he didn’t dare believe it was happening. “Do you… do you really mean…”

Arin kissed him before he could finish. It was soft, chaste, just to show Dan that yes, he did. He tugged Dan to him just a little closer, and his heart leapt when Dan slid his long arms around his neck, both their eyes closed.

“Oh, Arin," was all Dan could say as they pulled apart, foreheads pressed together. He sounded a little breathless, which was absolutely fine by Arin.

Suddenly, the bushes by them exploded. Dan jumped, and Arin held on tighter in a protective stance. He’d had completely forgotten Suzy and Brian were even there before they leapt out of the shrubbery. Suzy was whooping and cheering, and Brian was applauding.

“You guys!” Dan started to giggle, shaking in Arin’s arms.

“We knew you’d love this.” Suzy patted Arin on the shoulder. “I personally styled Arin.”

Brian rolled his eyes and raised his hands as if to say, Finally.

“Apparently Dan’s been pining for weeks too,” Suzy said, by way of explanation. Dan went beet red and tried to hide his face in Arin’s hair.

Arin gawked. “You can do the thing?”

Suzy tossed her hair. “What, like it’s hard?”

Brian tapped Arin to get his attention, then drew his thumb across his throat. He didn’t need to be a sign language interpreter to understand that one.

“Brian!” Dan spluttered.

Arin nodded solemnly. “I promise not to hurt him, Brian.”

“Let’s go grab a milkshake and leave these two lovebirds alone.” Suzy tugged Brian’s arm.

Brian pointed two fingers at his eyes and then at Arin.

“Okay, okay, I get it.”

Dan was still chuckling as he waved goodbye to them. “Do you, uh, wanna come up to my room?” he asked, smiling a little awkwardly.

Arin sniggered. “Wow, that was fast.” Dan smacked him on the arm.

“To talk! Plus, I’m still in my jammies. It’s cold.”

Arin sighed happily. “Yeah, we have kind of a lot to talk about.”

“We’ve got all night,” Dan reminded him.

“Yeah, baby.” Arin flexed a bicep. “I can go all night.”

Dan burst out laughing again. “Oh my god, shut up, Arin.” He took Arin’s hand anyway, and led him up to his room.

Dan’s room was exactly how he had pictured it in his head. Band posters covering every inch of the wall, stereo system surrounded by a fortress of every rock band CD known to man, probably, and a strange, earthy smell Arin couldn’t place. Organised chaos was the best way to describe it.

“Welcome to my room. And…” He patted the bed with a smug smile. “This is where the magic happens.”

Arin flopped onto it, looking up at Dan’s ceiling, noticing lots of little glow-in-the-dark stars and planets dotting it. Arin imagined a young Dan had chosen that, and it was endearing how he’d kept them until now. Dan piled himself onto the bed next to Arin.

“So um…” Arin began, staring at a tiny plastic Saturn, trying to will his heartbeat to stop doing the conga, “does this mean we’re… boyfriends?”

Dan leaned back on his elbows and smiled at Arin. “Yeah, I like that.”

“Does that mean… we can kiss?”

“Hell yeah it means we can kiss.”

“Can I kiss you now?”

Dan laughed. “Yes, Arin. You can.”

The other boy leaned over, nerves tingling. He’d already done it once. He could do it again. Arin closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Dan’s, for one long blissful moment. Dan was warm, and tasted faintly of soda. Dan made a small, happy moan against Arin’s mouth, and his legs would have buckled if he hadn’t been lying down. They pulled apart, gazing into each other’s eyes... until Arin couldn’t hold a straight face any longer and started to giggle, which set Dan off, and soon the both of them were falling onto each other, helpless with mirth.

They lay on their backs, holding hands the entire evening, talking about anything and everything (“Would you rather fight a horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?” “100 duck-sized horses, man, a horse-sized duck would be pretty scary.”) until it got so late Arin figured he might as well just text his mother to tell her he was at a sleepover with his friend, and then they continued like that until the wee hours of the morning.

By that point, they’d turned the lights off to admire the glowing stars on the ceiling, pretending like they were floating through space. Dan was cuddled onto his new boyfriend, who was absently petting his floofy hair. Arin rubbed his fingers around Dan’s scalp, listening to the contented murmurs Dan was making. Dan could have sworn he was made of soft butter.

“I’ve never been so comfortable in my life. I’m serious.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty comfy. Just one of the perks of dating me.”

Dan peered up at Arin through half-lidded eyes, while Arin tried to ignore the sensation of his heart melting. “What other perks you got?”

“Uh…I cook? I make some pretty mean eggs.”

“Oh really? Guess we’ll have to find out in the morning.” Dan waggled his eyebrows.

Arin snorted. “How do you like your eggs in the morning?” he said in a deep voice, and shot Dan the finger gun motion with both hands, which made the boy laugh. It was a lovely sound. Arin decided then to make it his life’s mission to make Dan laugh all the time.

“Uh, scrambled? Not burnt? Cooked by my boyfriend? I’m terrible at cooking. I can pour milk into Cheerios?” he offered hopefully.

Arin chuckled. “Consider it done, babe.”

“Oh, we’re at the pet name stage already, huh?”

“You know it.”

Dan yawned. “I’m super sweepies.”

Arin’s heart was currently in a puddle on the floor of his diaphragm.

“You wanna go to bed?”

“Yeah, I’ll go to bed now,” Dan mumbled.

“Alright, I’ll tuck you in.”

“Thank you, Big Cat.”

Arin pulled the blankets up around the both of them into a comfortable nest, resting Dan in the crook of his arm, against his side.  He stroked Dan’s curls away from his face as the other boy laid his head on Arin’s shoulder. Dan’s eyes were closed, and he had such an angelic look on his face Arin’s chest physically hurt.

Arin pressed a kiss to the top of Dan’s head, and started to drift off, but not before he heard Dan say, “Stay with me forever, Arin.”