Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A seventeen-year-old boy laid in the dark on his bed, his laptop perched on top of his blankets, its dim screen the only light in the room. Roxy Music’s debut album spun on his record player at a low volume so as to not wake up his parents. His sweaty bangs hung in his face and he pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose as he tried to concentrate on his writing. What’s a good rhyming word for sad…? Dad? Writing angsty poetry was hard.

Just as he began to draft line two, a Discord notification popped up. He fucking hated Discord, but it’s what his best friend Nick used, and God, was he way too into it. Why Nick would drop 100 pounds a year on Nitro was a mystery to him. He clicked on the Discord notification and read it:

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Hey, Nigel. Do you want to play on our Minecraft server?

Nigel sighed and typed back.

nigelferry: it’s 3 in the morning.

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Okay? Do either of us sleep?
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Play Minecraft with me.
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Please.
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Please.
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Please.
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Please.
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆* is typing…

Nigel groaned to himself. Nick was his best friend and he loved him to pieces, but GOD he could be annoying.

nigelferry: FINE.

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Please.
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Please.

nigelferry: I SAID FINE.

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Yay :3

Nigel saved his Tumblr post as a draft before opening up Minecraft. His angsty poetry would have to wait until tomorrow…

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Can we VC :3

nigelferry: nick it’s 3am my parents are asleep

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Okay and ?
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: My outfit for picture day on Thursday is so cute. I will have to show you.
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Also I invited someone new to our server…
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Are we vcing

nigelferry: who did you invite to our server…?
nigelferry: no we are not vcing

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Ugh
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Warren. You know him, right?

Nigel’s brows furrowed as he thought about Warren. He was incredibly popular already only because he was some hotshot American exchange student. Girls commented hearts all over his Instagram posts when literally all he did was play the guitar with his shirt off. So what he knew the riffs to some Led Zeppelin songs? Who fucking cares! He was like 4’2 and looked like a fucking rodent.

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Nigel???

nigelferry: i thought i told you i hate him
nigelferry: he’s so fucking full of himself and thinks he’s better than everyone else just because he listens to frank zappa and works out

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: That’s not true.
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Besides, you invited Andy to our Minecraft server and I hate Andy. He’s a proper twat.

Nigel sighed as he clicked on Minecraft to see if it was loaded yet. He joined his and Nick’s server, “Virginia Underground”, the name taken partially from Roxy Music’s “Virginia Plain”, of course, and the other half taken from “The Velvet Underground” because Nick was obsessed with them and would have waterboarded Nigel had he not let him include a reference to them in their server name.

Another Discord notification popped up and Nigel clicked on it:

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: I’m in so just chat with me on there ^-^

Nigel thought about Andy as he closed out of Discord. Yes, Nick was right that Andy had a very short fuse, but it was partially Nick’s fault because he was so goddamn annoying. Besides that, Andy was a really nice guy. He was super funny and supplied Nigel with cigarettes. Plus, Andy supported Nigel’s poetry a lot better than Nick, who had never liked nor reblogged a single Tumblr poem he’s created. Nick’s excuse was that it didn’t really go with his fashion blog, but somehow grainy 240p photos of Brian Eno from the depths of hell did?! Brian Eno wasn’t even hot.

The Minecraft server finally loaded and Nick started excitedly typing paragraphs in chat. Nigel replied back, multitasking between looking around at the map to see what had happened since the last time he played. Nick’s cherry wood mansion and farm had looked to triple in size. Warren had built a very ugly house out of birch wood. Not even planks. And Andy… well, his half-built dirt house was still there.

diorbates: Andy’s house is ruining the aesthetic of our map.
nigelferry: what aesthetic
diorbates: Do you want to go look for axolotls with me?
nigelferry: sure

Nigel wasn’t sure why Nick needed axolotls, considering he had about fifty-six cats in his pink Barbie-looking mansion, but he couldn’t think of anything better to do. So, they played Minecraft until Nigel’s alarm clock went off three hours later, and then he realised he was going to be absolutely fucked by the time he got to school. They didn’t even find any axolotls. And, Nigel still needed to finish his daily poem for his forty-three followers.

His life was so fucking difficult for no reason.

Chapter Text

Nick got to school after Nigel did, as per usual. He watched as he stood at what was dubbed the “smoker’s corner” with Andy and smoked cigarettes. Nick felt a pang of jealousy as he observed. He used to be the one smoking cigarettes with Nigel, but he’d been replaced by that… thing. Nick didn’t know what was so appealing about Andy; he was just some angry dumbass.

“Hi, Nick.” The American accent snapped Nick out of it and he turned and said “hi” to Warren. Warren’s gaze followed Nick’s and laid on the small group of people smoking and vaping, although Nick was unsure if Warren knew that he was specifically eyeing Nigel. “Smokers, huh? Do you smoke?”

“Used to,” Nick murmured.

“Oh, so you stopped. Good. That shit’s disgusting, and really bad for you, too,” Warren said. “You’ve got to take care of yourself, man. That’s why I…”

Nick tuned Warren out as he observed Nigel. He was smiling and having fun with Andy, but it looked a bit… forced. Maybe he was reading too much into things. Maybe Nigel was using Andy for cigarettes, similarly to how Nick used grown men online for money and Discord Nitro.

Yeah, so Nick was an entrepreneur of sorts. It was easy when you were as androgynous as he was. All he had to do was crossdress and send pretty photos of him with his face half-covered with a sweater paw, and plenty of voice notes with him doing a little “uwu” voice. And if he got bored, he just blocked the other person and said something about how it was really uncomfortable for him, being neurodivergent and a minor.

“You should go vegan.”

Nick snapped out of it, “Huh?”

“You should go vegan,” Warren repeated. “Or vegetarian. It’s pretty easy. It’s a great lifestyle, man. I can bring you lunches and stuff if you want. Save you the money so you can use it on your… what’s it called, the fucking app you use with the old guys you talk to Lou Reed about.”

“Discord?”

“Yeah,” Warren said.

“I already have a way to pay for that,” Nick replied. He glanced back at Nigel, thinking about how pissed off he would be if Warren sat with them at lunch. “And… I don’t know, I think I’m okay, Warren. Thanks for the idea, though. Let’s talk about something else. Oh, did you pick out an outfit for picture day tomorrow yet…?”

-

Nigel and Nick walked to lunch together, chatting happily. Nick could tell Nigel was about to collapse at any moment and so was he; he supposed that’s what they both got for staying up until five in the morning. But, he could tell Nigel would have anyway, as he ranted about trying to write a poem about his feelings and how he was trying to understand them and understand himself.

Nick just nodded, unsure of what to say. Nigel was a terrible poet, and Nick wanted to support him, but God, he was not going to reblog something that genuinely read, “Where is my god / The god that lets me hear / The god that drives my car / The god that's in my ear.” Nick wasn’t sure if Nigel actually believed that something like that was any good or if he just did it for his tiny pool of Tumblr followers, who no doubt only followed him for the daily 951 queued Roxy Music images. Nobody cared about how everyone was getting it but Tumblr user nigelferry, whatever “it” was. Girls? Guys, even? Nigel claimed he was straight, but Nick had a laundry list of reasons to doubt him.

Nigel and Nick reached their table. They both nodded their heads to Roger Taylor, a shy little punk guy who always sat on the other end. Roger simply looked up from his tray, his eyes drifting from Nigel to Nick, before he blushed and looked down again. He seemed like a nice guy.

Nigel went back to blabbing about his emo poetry again, but Nick stopped him as a screech escaped him as he saw his beloved seat was taken. “Oh, yeah,” Nigel spoke up. “Andy’s going to be eating lunch with us now.”

Nick screamed again.

Chapter Text

Nigel finally finished up his daily poem, although it was a day late. It pissed him off; it was the first time in months since he missed a day. But, he was also proud of himself. His poem, entitled “Feelings R Good” for aesthetic reasons, was so raw, so vulnerable, about all the pain he felt, the shame he had…

Nigel had sent the Tumblr post to Andy Taylor via Instagram and received a thumbs-up reaction. He had also sent it to Nick, who left him on read. A few hours after, Nick made sure to let Nigel know that he had posted on Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, etcetera about his picture day outfit. “I know you have already seen it, but the photos I took are really good! You’ll love them. I can’t wait to see what you wear tomorrow, Nigel. <3”

Nigel went to his Tumblr and saw Nick’s clothing posts. He was a fantastic photographer and made his bubblegum-pink ensemble look very aesthetically pleasing. And… he had 12 notes already. Nigel frowned and went to his masterpiece, “Feelings R Good”. Only two notes…

Two notes?

He clicked on it. A like AND a reblog from someone named “thethrillofitall”... Nigel recognised that instantly as a Roxy Music song title and clicked on this person’s blog. It was a standard Roxy Music blog as well as the occasional photograph. This person had a great eye. He wasn’t sure how their blog slipped past him as they followed him but it wasn’t mutual, so he decided to follow them back.

A notification popped up in Nigel’s inbox. It was from them. “thanks for the follow, i love your blog x”

Nigel sent back, “thanks, i have no idea how i missed yours. yours looks great. i like your photographs.”

From them: “aw, thanks! i like your poems!”

Nigel spent hours talking to Tumblr user thethrillofitall, about poetry and photography, about Roxy Music and some other musicians, about being in school. He learned that, like himself, Tumblr user thethrillofitall was also seventeen and English. Her name was Gaia and she lived in Sunderland. So close, yet so far…

He felt like they clicked already. Their conversation gave him such a high that Nigel decided to post his poem onto his Instagram story so that all of his classmates could see his genius. He went to bed that night feeling happier than he had in a long time.

-

Nigel wasn’t sure how he forgot about picture day, considering Nick was raving about it since the start of school. Most high schoolers cared about things like school dances or parties thrown by the popular crowd, but Nick only gave a fuck about picture day, Halloween, and drama club. He was hoping he would get to be with Nick to take photos, but Bates and Taylor were unfortunately nowhere near each other in the alphabet. They still stood by each other, however, before their inevitable separation would occur.

Nick lingered by Nigel’s side for as long as possible, chatting with him about some of the people he had been networking with on Pinterest or whatever, before the other two Taylors of the school, Andy and Roger, joined them. “I saw you posted your poem online,” Andy spoke up, interrupting Nick and causing him to sneer. “On your Instagram story, I mean.”

“Yeah,” Nigel said. “Someone gave me the confidence to. I’m really proud of that one.”

“Are you?” Nick asked, dryly, right as Andy simply gave Nigel a slow nod. Nigel looked between his two friends.

“Yeah, I am,” Nigel retorted. “Hi, Roger, by the way.”

“Hi.” Roger’s voice was barely audible as he glanced at his fellow Taylors, before he looked over at the pink man in front of him. Nigel observed how Roger seemed to slowly take in every inch of what Nick was wearing. “I like your outfit.”

“Oh, mine?” Nick said. He smiled, sweetly. “I like yours, too. It looks very nice on you.”

“Yeah, Roger, you look great,” Andy agreed. Nigel took a closer look at what Roger was wearing. He was normally your textbook punk: leather jacket, scuffed-up pants, pins everywhere, hair all spiked and hairsprayed to hell, but today he sported a lovely blue dress shirt, a black suit jacket, and black dress pants. Roger cleaned up very well, even Nigel had to admit…

“Thanks.” Wait… was Roger blushing?

“You know, you always sit at the end of the lunch table,” Andy said. “Why don’t you actually sit by us at lunch?” Nick scoffed.

“You’ve sat at our lunch table for one whole day,” Nick replied.

“And I’m going to again today. You should join us, too, Roger,” Andy responded, before gently punching him in the shoulder. “Don’t be one of those kids that just scrolls through their social media the whole time. Come on, we’re cool. Well, two of us are, anyway.”

Nick scoffed again and Nigel began to realise that maybe the Andy and Nick hatred wasn’t so one-sided after all. But… why didn’t they like each other…? “You’re both pretty cool,” Nigel interjected, preventing a fight from starting. “Yeah, Roger, you should sit with us.” He wondered if having Roger join them would prevent the Nick and Andy fights, although yesterday was mostly Nick looking at his Instagram while Andy talked about guitars and things.

In response, Roger looked up at Nick again, who was once more scrolling through his phone. A second later, someone called for everyone to get into groups based on the initial of their last name, making Nick sigh. “Well, I’ll see you three at lunch. Warren’s joining us, by the way.”

As Nick walked off, Nigel felt himself fill with rage. Clearly this was just Nick getting back at him! Andy spoke up again, “Warren? Isn’t that the American transfer student? Isn’t he… popular? Friends with Simon Le Bon and all those people?”

“Who?” That was from Roger. The comment made Nigel laugh. Roger gave him a look of confusion.

“Warren. He’s the American transfer student. He posts a lot of guitar-playing videos on Instagram. He’s gained a lot of traction, but I think it’s because he’s supposed to be handsome or something, not because he’s actually talented,” Andy said, a bit smugly.

“I don’t have Instagram,” Roger stated.

“Oh,” Andy replied. “Well… okay, then I guess you wouldn’t know him. But, you know Simon, right? Think of Simon, but insufferable, short, buff, and plays guitar.”

“Who is Simon?”

“How do you not know Simon? He’s Twitter and TikTok famous. Basically.”

“I don’t have Twitter,” Roger murmured. “And what’s TikTok?”

“Kinda like Vine,” Andy said. “Well, the videos are fifteen-seconds instead of seven, and there’s a lot more dancing girls, but it’s basically the same.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Er… do you even have a phone, Roger?”

“No.”

-

After pictures were over, Andy and Nigel took their brand new technology-challenged friend to their lunch table, where Warren and Nick already sat, eating… salads? Nigel also noticed that the seats once again changed. Nick and Nigel used to sit across from each other, and yesterday Andy had taken Nick’s seat, so Nigel sat by him and Nick sat in Nigel’s seat. Now, Warren was sitting in Nigel’s seat and Nick sat beside him. Nigel sighed.

Andy sat across from Nick, leaving Nigel to sit across from Warren. Roger stood there, awkwardly, before deciding to sit by… Nick? Everything about this was fucked up.

Everyone sat in silence, before Warren spoke up. “You guys should go vegetarian. I just got Nick to. It has a lot of benefits, you know, like…”

What the hell.

Chapter Text

Nick had been vegetarian for about a week, and he was quite enjoying it. Things at the Taylor-Taylor-Taylor-Bates-Cuccurullo lunch table also seemed to balance out well, partially because half of the time Warren wasn’t there, and Nigel was doing a strangely magnificent job at playing the leader. Roger was starting to warm up to them, although he was still insanely bashful and quiet, and Andy was becoming less and less of a cunt.

“You know, we should hang out after school sometime,” Warren said. “I got invited to a party. You guys like to party?”

“No,” Roger murmured, at the same time Andy said, “Yeah!”

“We aren’t exactly the kind of people who get invited to parties, Warren,” Nigel said.

“Well, I don’t see why not,” Warren replied. Nick gave him a look of disbelief, Andy furrowed his eyebrows, Roger stared down at his tray as he awkwardly prodded at his peas, and Nigel opened his mouth to say something, but didn’t. “I mean, Nick’s pretty popular, right? You got a lot of likes on your picture day selfie. It was pretty cute. And I mean…” Warren looked between Nigel and Andy. “...Well, Roger’s got the punk thing going. That’s pretty cool.”

Nigel raised an eyebrow as he glanced at Nick. Nick shrugged in response, and Warren continued talking, “Anyway… come on, partying is good for you. You get to meet girls. Or guys. I’m not judging.” Warren stared directly at Nigel.

“I’m straight, thanks,” Nigel said.

“Me, too,” Andy said, without anyone asking.

“Well, not all of us are!” Warren wrapped an arm around Nick, protectively. Nick glanced at Warren. He supposed Warren wasn’t wrong, but he hadn’t exactly shared with him the nuances of his sexuality.

“Us? What, are you in that?” Andy joked, a grin on his face.

“Yeah.” Andy’s face fell and Nigel quirked an eyebrow again. Nick was surprised, too, but he didn’t let on. Nick looked over at Roger to see how he reacted, but he was still playing with his peas. “What? Come on, you shouldn’t assume anything. You know, I personally believe that nobody’s 100% straight or gay. Everyone likes a little bit of something about everyone, right? I identify as pansexual myself, but-”

“Wrong!” Andy huffed. “Also, pansexual? You fuck pans?”

“No, that’s ridiculous,” Warren said, before laughing. “I will fuck anyone as long as they consent, though.”

“So, what? You’d fuck me?!”

“Eh, you’re kinda… let’s just say you’re not my type.”

Andy’s mouth was agape. Nigel looked both strangely amused and like he wanted to throw something at Warren. Nick didn’t know how to feel. He glanced over at Roger again, seeing he was still swirling his peas around, only this time he was blushing as he did it.

Warren spoke up again, “You know, Roger, those peas probably have a lot of preservatives and shit in them…”

-

Warren (warrencuccurullo) added you (x.nickbates.x), Nigel (nigelferry), and Andy (andytaylor42069) to a group chat.

Warren: Does anyone follow roger on here? I looked him up and only found the queen guy……
Warren: Also, nigel, I thought your last name was taylor? Why is your user nigelferry?

Andy: Roger doesn’t own a phone!

Nigel: it’s a reference to bryan ferry of roxy music.

Warren: Well, that would have been nice to know…...
Warren: Simon’s address: [xxxxxx]

Nigel: and how are we supposed to get there?

Warren: Cars. Public transportation. Walking…..
Warren: See you all there!

Nigel (nigelferry) added you (x.nickbates.x) and Andy (andytaylor42069) to a group chat.

Nigel: right, so… do either of you actually want to go to this party?

Andy: YES!

You: I guess, but I’ll have to put together an outfit. You two better dress nicely, too…

Andy: Or what?!

Nigel: we will, nick, we promise.
Nigel: well, i guess i’ll pick you both up. but i have a curfew.
Nigel: see you all around six-ish, i guess?

Warren (warrencuccurullo) sent you a DM.
Warren: What kind of straight guy puts another man’s last name in his Instagram username?
Warren: I have really good gaydar, you know. And it never lies. Nigel is a closet bisexual. You see it, right?

Nick tossed his phone aside and went to pick out an outfit.

-

Nigel picked up Nick, first, and then they went to get Andy. Nigel was wearing leather pants, a white dress shirt with the top few buttons unbuttoned, and a black leather jacket. Andy was wearing a plain black shirt, a black leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up, and black pants. Nick layered a black dress shirt on top of a red one and cuffed his black pants so that the geometric pattern underneath was visible. His face was decked out in makeup and he looked like he was about halfway to being a drag queen. Nick was content with his outfit as well as Nigel and Andy’s.

They decided to stop to get some chips before going to the party because, according to Andy, “It’s not cool to be on-time.” For once, Nick agreed with him. The three of them had a surprisingly good conversation.

They arrived at the party exactly fifty-nine minutes late. “Hello, lads! It’s good to see you all here,” a chipper man of about 6’2 greeted them. This was no other than party host Simon Le Bon: their school’s own little microcelebrity and probably one of the most popular kids there. The only real difference was Simon was one of the only “popular kids” who was actually kind to everyone, even though he didn’t regularly make his rounds between all the little cliques and friend groups. He was wearing a striped white-and-black shirt topped with a tan blazer, with a rose in the pocket, as well as some dressy black pants and a belt. His hair was spiked up and Nick noticed that he had recently put in blonde highlights. Nick also noticed that Simon was sporting some eyeliner, and damn, did he look good in it… not that he didn’t always look good.

“Let’s see if I can remember your names,” Simon murmured. “Okay, well, you’re Nick, obviously. And you’re… Nigel, is it? And you are…”

“Andy,” Andy replied, already annoyed.

“Right, right!” Simon paused. “Nigel, were you the one who posted that poem on your Instagram? The one about… being sad and wanting your… dad, was it?”

“You saw it?” Nigel asked.

“Everyone’s seen it, basically,” Simon stated. “It made the rounds with a lot of people. Warren showed it to us.”

“Ah…” Nigel replied. “I was pretty proud of that poem.”

“Good,” Simon responded. “It’s good to be… artistic. Anyway, can I get you boys a drink or something to help you relax?”

“Just give me something strong, Simon,” Andy replied.

“Er, I’m driving, so I’ll just have… water,” Nigel murmured.

“Do you have any champagne?” Nick asked. Simon laughed.

“Champagne? Come on, this isn’t a dinner party!” Simon grinned. “But, I’ll whip up something special just for you, Nick.” He winked, before walking off. The three boys then exchanged glances, unsure of what to do.

“Let’s go have a cigarette,” Andy said. Nigel nodded and Nick followed along as the three of them moved over to the side. Andy took out a box of cigarettes, handing one to Nigel, before offering one to Nick. “You want one?”

“Yes, please,” Nick said, trying not to sound too desperate as he took a cigarette. Andy placed one between his lips and lit it before passing the lighter around.

“Whoa. Not only are you guys all smoking, but you’re doing it indoors.” An American man of average height approached them, wearing leather pants and a leather jacket that was unbuttoned with nothing underneath, as if he was trying to show off as much skin as possible.

“You want one?” Andy asked Warren, to which he laughed.

“Definitely not. I gotta take care of myself, man,” Warren said, before smirking. “There’s only one way to look like this. Nick, I thought you said you stopped smoking.”

“I did, but-”

“Come on, man…” Warren sighed. Simon appeared a moment later with three red cups. He handed one to each man. “Hey, Simon. Did you find her?”

“Oh, yes, I did. Come on.” Then, Warren and Simon left, chuckling to each other about something while the remaining three men smoked and drank in their corner.

-

One hour later, Nick was in that corner all alone. Someone had offered Andy some “goodies” and he managed to convince Nigel to do some with him. They went off to the bathroom and hadn’t come back. So, there he waited…

“Hello.”

Nick nearly jumped at the voice, barely audible over the music blasting on the speakers. He turned and saw Roger, holding a drink. “You’re here?” Nick asked.

“Yeah,” Roger murmured. “I guess I am.”

Nick didn’t question how Roger received Simon’s address or got to the party. He smiled at him and invited him into his little corner. “So… are you enjoying yourself?”

“Not really,” Roger admitted. “This isn’t my crowd.”

“What is your crowd, then?”

“Shows, clubs,” Roger murmured. “Specific ones. There’s this underground one that puts on shows every Friday, usually from punk or goth groups.” Roger looked down at his shoes, momentarily, before looking back at Nick. “Normally they start around now… the venue’s not far from here. Do you want to… maybe check it out?”

“Yes, let’s get the fuck out of here. Oh, let me text Nigel and Andy first.” Nick opened his phone and sent a quick, “have a good night, i’m off to do something else!” text to their group chat of three before he slid his phone back into his pocket. “Lead the way, Roger.”

And that was that. Nick and Roger left Simon’s house and went off to a punk show. Just guys being guys…

Chapter Text

Nigel felt like a corpse as he awoke. His eyes were still pressed tightly closed; he could already tell they were heavy and it would hurt to open them. He felt coldness all around him and it was as if all the emotion had been drained from his brain.

Then, the memories came flooding back. Drinking. Doing lines. Dancing. Talking to… really pretty girls? Did that happen or did he dream that one?

Maybe not. He definitely felt a warm body on top of him, their head nuzzled on his shoulder and their arms around him. Nigel decided to open his eyes and peered around. Fuck. He didn’t go home last night. He was in someone’s bathroom… and the potential girl on top of him was just Andy, who was DROOLING ALL OVER HIM.

“Get the fuck off of me!” Nigel pried Andy off of him, who just let out garbled, angry noises. Nigel groaned as he finally disposed of the smaller man in the bathtub, before he got up and out of the bath. He turned on his phone, scared to see what he would find.

Saturday, 14 September, 7:09

12 Missed Calls.

Mum: Where are you?! (+4 more…)

[Twitter] You have 33 new notifications.

[Discord] Gaia: goodnight, nigey xx

He sighed. So, he would have a lot of explaining to do to his parents. But… what the fuck was happening on his Twitter? And when did he and Gaia get so comfortable with each other?

Nigel rubbed his forehead. He looked down at Andy. It was tempting to be a bad friend and leave him there, considering Andy was the one who got him into this predicament. But… he decided not to. “Wake up,” Nigel said, sharply, shaking Andy.

“Fffuuuccckkk oooffffff.”

“Wake up, come on, we need to get your ass home.”

“Fffuuuccckkk oooffffff!”

Nigel sighed. Well, he tried. “Fine. I’m leaving you here.” He then exited the bathroom, and promptly ran into Simon Le Bon.

“Well, well, well. Hello there,” Simon said, a sly look on his face. Nigel furrowed his eyes, noticing some bright pink marks dotting his neck. “You look a bit hungover. Do you want me to make you breakfast or something?”

“No,” Nigel huffed. “I have to get home.”

“Aww, come onnn!” Simon called out as Nigel began to leave. “Okay, see you at school, then.” Nigel ignored Simon as he exited his house and looked for his dad’s car. He found it, got in, and drove home.

Well, partially home. He stopped at a gas station and pulled into the parking lot as he thought about how he was most definitely going to get all of his electronics taken away when he got back to his flat. So, he decided to sate his curiosity ahead of time and look through his notifications.

From his mum, generic panicking. Nothing too bad. However, on Twitter…

Holy shit. His poem was BLOWING UP…

…

Okay, he was being made fun of by all of the popular kids. Great.

He then switched to Discord. Gaia and him exchanged usernames about four or so days ago as she found it more convenient than Tumblr. He skimmed their conversations. Just drunken flirting… and she was flirting back…

Oh.

Gaia: if you show me what you look like, i’ll show you what i look like. okay?

nigelferry: fine, but it’s nothing special lol
nigelferry: 1 attachment

Nigel eyed the photo of himself. It wasn’t bad, surprisingly. It looked like it was a mirror selfie, taken in someone’s bedroom. His hair was a bit of a mess, but other than that, it was fine. And… he had a real genuine smile.

Gaia: awww, you’re really cute!
Gaia: 1 attachment

Nigel leaned forward into his phone as he observed Gaia’s selfie. It was her from the shoulders up, taken with her front camera as she smiled, seeming a bit nervous. She had a heart-shaped, nearly perfectly symmetrical face, and her peachy skin seemed to glow. Her dirty blonde hair was parted to the right, gorgeously wavy and hairsprayed to perfection. Her hazel eyes looked almost cat-like, framed with some light eyeliner and deep brown eyeshadow on her top lid. Her nose was cute and button-shaped, and her lips were nice and full and looked oh so kissable, especially with the tinted pink lip gloss she was wearing. Nigel also couldn’t help but notice her bare shoulders and collarbone were on display, and unfortunately, seeing just that much of her made his teenage heart race…

nigelferry: holy shit, you’re fucking beautiful.

Apparently, he didn’t hold back.

Gaia: really…?
Gaia: hey… just out of curiosity… what do you look like without your glasses?

nigelferry: 1 attachment

Gaia: oh, wow.
Gaia: i mean, you’re so adorable with your glasses, but without them? you’re insanely attractive.
Gaia: like… if we lived closer, i’d be all over you.

Nigel scrolled back up to his glasses-less selfie and eyed himself. Huh… maybe he should get contacts.

He closed out of Discord, feeling smug, before opening Instagram. He didn’t have any notifications, but he decided to check it anyway. Nigel refreshed the page, seeing…

Nick and Roger?

“x.nickbates.x: had a lot of fun seeing some local bands and making new friends with rog last night! x

He swiped through the photos. Nick and Roger. Roger. Nick and Roger and girls. Nick. Nick and girls. Band. Nick and Roger. Roger. Video of Nick and Roger singing and dancing together.

Well, at least this was someone Nigel could stand…

He sighed and drove home, preparing to face the wrath of no Tumblr for a month.

Chapter Text

It had been nine days since Simon Le Bon’s party, and Nick could not be happier in life. He and Roger had become very close to the point where he managed to convince him to join the costume crew in their drama club with him. Nick was going to rope Nigel in with him, but since he got his phone taken away, he wasn’t allowed to do anything fun. So, now it was just Nick and Roger, alongside a girl named Caileigh who was stuck in 2009, and a guy named Fergus who was one of the most generic men in the world. Sometimes a guy with actual taste in clothes named Dave Gahan showed up, but he was usually off doing other things. Nick had no idea what those things were, but he didn’t care to know.

Oh, and Simon Le Bon was here, too. For some reason, being the lead role in the fall musical wasn’t enough, and he needed to give his input on all of the fashion choices. The fall musical, by the way, was Les Misérables, and Nick was working very hard to try and stitch together a decent outfit for Éponine Thénardier, while guiding Roger and telling him what he was looking for as Roger had never seen a musical in his life. Even though Caileigh and Fergus were working on finding clothes for the male cast, Simon decided he’d rather look through the girls’ clothes with Nick and Roger.

“Oooh! Look at these!” Nick glanced up from rummaging through the dresses with Roger to see Simon holding up a pair of black, glittery stilettos. “Aren’t these fabulous?”

“Nobody in Les Mis wears those,” Nick droned. “Simon, quit fucking around and help us.”

“Oh, come on, lighten up a bit. Have some fun.” Simon sat down on a bench and began putting on the stilettos. Nick rolled his eyes, but deep down, he was thankful he was FINALLY wearing some damn shoes. For some reason, Simon had a penchant of having no shoes OR socks on whenever he could… it was disgusting.

“What about this?” Roger pulled out a dress and showed it to Nick. Both Nick and Simon looked over.

“That could work,” Nick said, right as Simon groaned, “That’s ugly.” Simon and Nick looked over at each other. Simon said, “You really think that’s cute?” right as Nick said “It’s not the most appealing thing in the world, but it fits her role.” Nick huffed, before speaking again, “It fits the character. Roger, go set that aside, we’ll consider it.”

“That’s so not cunt,” Simon said, before sighing. He then went and stood by Roger as they looked at dresses.

“...Cunt?” Roger asked. “Isn’t it a good thing to not be a cunt…?”

“No, cunt is like… slay.”

“Slay?”

“Roger-” Simon rolled his eyes, before gently patting his head. Roger didn’t look too thrilled about the situation. “Oh, hold on.” Simon pulled out an off-the-shoulder, white, lacy dress. He held it against himself. “Aww. This is cute, but I think I’m too tall! Nick, where’s the taller ladies section?”

“Simon, if you want to find clothes for yourself, go to the men’s room,” Nick grumbled as Simon approached him, putting the lacy dress against him.

“For someone who looks as androgynous as you are, you aren’t very accepting. But, this could fit you.” Nick glanced at the dress. It was gorgeous and he would definitely wear it, but he wasn’t about to play dress-up with Simon when he was supposed to be working. “Go on, try it on, Nicky.”

“Don’t call me Nicky,” Nick hissed. “And, I’m here to work. Not play around.”

“This isn’t work. You’re not getting paid to do this,” Simon remarked. He then went back over to Roger, “This would probably fit you, too, but I don’t think this is your style.”

“Yeah,” Roger mumbled, before giving some mischievous little grin that Nick had never seen before. “I’d rather see Nick in it.” Simon swivelled around on his stilettos, nearly falling over. Nick raised an eyebrow, trying to pretend like he wasn’t about to start laughing, especially because Roger looked genuinely concerned. Simon then paraded back over to Nick, dangling the dress in front of him like it was a cat toy.

“Go put it on. I’ll find something cute for Éponine Thénardier while you get changed.” Simon smiled and Nick sighed, before taking the dress. He went over to the girls’ bathroom and closed and locked the door.

Nick carefully peeled off his own outfit, thankful he went more simple today with a leather jacket, leather pants, and a cute shirt. Nothing he would get upset about if they accidentally fell off the hook and touched the floor. Although, the girls’ bathroom was much cleaner, so it wouldn’t be too big of an issue.

He stepped into the lacy dress. It was cute, but showed off so much of him. His shoulders and collarbone were perfectly on display, as well as most of his legs and arms. Nick sighed and put his shoes back on, before going back out to the girls’ area.

Nick held back a groan as he saw that Simon was not doing what he said he would, and was instead stripped down to his underwear, slipping into a dress of his own. However, it wasn’t all bad… Simon was rather attractive-looking with his muscular form on display.

And then Nick’s eyes flickered to Roger. He couldn’t stop staring at him as Roger began undressing as well, holding his own dress. Holy shit, he was more muscular than he looked with all of his clothes on.

Nick began to either feel insecure or bisexual. He wasn’t entirely sure.

“There he is!” Simon let out as he pulled his black dress on. It was way too tight for him and looked like it was about to burst at the seams, but Nick didn’t say anything. He watched as Simon sat down again, putting his stilettos back on. “Aw, Nick, you look so cute.”

“Yeah,” Roger agreed, taking off his jeans. Nick’s eyes widened.

“Hey, Nick, can you take a video of me for my TikTok?” Nick peeled his eyes away from Roger, finally, before nodding at Simon. “Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Nick replied, before clearing his throat. “Er… sure.” He went over to Simon and got his phone from him. “What are we doing?” Simon explained his TikTok idea to Nick: he was going to take five three-second clips of him and that was it. It was vague, but easy enough for Nick.

The song Simon chose was some horrid electronic pop song. Nick wasn’t enjoying himself as he took the videos of Simon posing and acting “slay” or whatever. Afterward, Simon went and got the phone from Nick, viewing his TikTok. “Yep. The hoes are going to love this.” Simon went over to Roger and showed him the TikTok. Nick observed him, seeing he was now wearing a cute, plain orange dress that went down to his mid-calf. It was very form-fitting and sleeveless, although Nick wasn’t sure it suited Roger. Still, he looked great in it…

“I don’t get it,” Roger said. Simon sighed and smiled at him.

“That’s okay, Roger.” Simon patted his head again and Roger gave that same uncomfortable look. “Well, I think we have our dresses for the dance on Friday at least, eh?” Nick didn’t reply. Roger scratched his head. “Okay, girls, let’s get back to work, then.” Simon walked back over to the dresses, before pulling something out, “What about this?”

Nick furrowed an eyebrow at the dress, “Simon, do you even know anything about the musical you’re starring in?”

-

Roger and Nick walked to the bus station together. “So, school dance on Friday…” Roger turned and smiled at Nick. “Are you going?”

Nick laughed, before scoffing, “No. I don’t do dances.”

“What if I go with you?” Roger said. “If it’s awful, we can go see another show again. Nigel and Warren can come, too.”

“Nigel’s grounded,” Nick murmured. “And… I’m not sure it’d be Warren’s ‘scene’.”

“Well, I’m fine with just you,” Roger replied, still smiling. “So, see you at the dance Friday, then?”

“Fine,” Nick replied. “But, you better wear something nice.”

“Of course.” Roger paused, a thoughtful look appearing on his face. “Nick, can you explain Simon’s TikTok to me? I didn’t get it.”

Chapter Text

Nigel sat in the library on the school computer, checking his Discord and his Tumblr as Nick yapped on and on to him about something. “Oh, yeah, your mum said you can come to the school dance with me on Friday.”

Nigel paused from messaging Gaia about the newest poem he was working on, “What?” He turned to Nick and frowned. “Since when do you care about school dances? Since when do I care, Nick? What are we going to do, stand in a corner and drink non-alcoholic punch and think about how single we are? Come the fuck on.”

Someone on a computer across from them shushed them. Nigel gave them a look. Nick let out a loud sigh.

“I’m going with Roger,” Nick began, “and if it’s boring-”

“Roger?” Nigel smirked. “Oh, really?” His face then fell, “I’m not being your third fuckin’ wheel, Nick!”

“Well, Warren will be there. And, maybe we can get Andy to come.” Nick then gave Nigel a look, “Third wheel? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Roger asked you to the dance. Why am I going to be there if you’re on a date?” Nigel shook his head and went back to texting Gaia.

“It’s not a date,” Nick responded. “And, as I was saying, before you so rudely interrupted, if it is boring, we’re going to leave and go to this underground punk-goth club. You saw my Instagram post the night of Simon’s party, right? That’s where they went. If you’re so tired about being single, there’s a bunch of cute girls there… who the hell is Gaia?”

“Girl I met on Tumblr. She lives in Sunderland and likes Roxy Music, among other things. And, she likes my poems.”

“Uh huh,” Nick said. Nigel looked at him, seeing he was reading their Discord conversation. “Do you even know what she looks like?”

“Yeah, she sent me a photo of herself.”

“Let me see.”

“What?”

“Let me see. She could be catfishing. You have to look very closely to make sure it isn’t faked or something,” Nick said. “Believe me, I know the signs.”

“What, have you been catfished or something?” Nigel glanced at Nick. “Look away.” Nick did as he was told, while Nigel looked for Gaia’s photo.

“Something like that,” Nick murmured.

“Okay, you can look now.”

Nick leaned in, observing the image. Nigel watched him, scanning his face for any reaction. “Holy shit, you’re fucking beautiful,” he said, mocking Nigel’s reply. Nick then spoke in a girl’s voice, “Really? Hey, just out of curiosity, wh- Nigel, come on, I was reading that!” Nick hissed as Nigel turned the computer screen away from him.

The person across from them shushed them again. Nigel and Nick both gave them a look this time. They seemed to widen their eyes, meaning… Nick was scary-looking and Nigel wasn’t?

“Oh, damn, who is she?” Nigel and Nick both turned to see Simon Le Bon. Nick let out a sigh.

“Hello, Simon,” Nick replied. Simon ignored Nick and instead shoved Nigel aside, scrolling down.

“What the fuck, Simon!” Nigel hissed.

“Dude, this girl called you attractive and your reply was ‘L-O-L thanks’?! Come on, that’s not how you talk to girls!” Simon gave Nigel a look. “You know, you are beautiful. Even more so without those glasses. If you just, I don’t know, dressed a bit better and were more confident, you’d have girls all over you. You should come to the dance on Friday. I can set you up with someone.”

“I don’t need you to wingman me. I still haven’t forgiven you and your friends for shitting on my poem all over Twitter.”

Simon blinked. “I didn’t even realise that happened. I’m sorry. But, that’s part of art, you know. You put yourself out there and sometimes people critique you. Not everyone’s going to get it.” He shrugged. “Well… goodbye. My TikTok by the way, Nick: people love it. Thanks for your help.”

Simon walked away and Nigel turned to Nick. “You’re helping Simon with TikToks now?”

“Er… just one. He asked me during drama club when we were getting costumes.”

Nigel sighed, before going back to texting with Gaia.

-

Nigel skipped his maths class and Andy his history class to sit in the boys’ bathroom. They smoked cigarettes by the window, cracking it slightly. Nigel was blabbing to Andy about the school dance, complaining that it was so unlike Nick to even want to dance in his own bedroom, and now he wants to go just because some random guy asked him…

“You sound jealous, Nigel.”

Nigel furrowed his eyebrows, “What?”

“If there’s one thing I noticed about you, it’s that you’re the jealous type,” Andy sighed, leaning against the wall. “About Nick getting more recognition for you for his art and nobody caring about your poems, about Nick and Roger being happy together, about Nick being friends with Warren… etcetera.” Andy shrugged. “You should just be happy for him, you know. Nick’s an annoying twat, but…”

“I’m not jealous. I just don’t think it’s good for him to bend over backwards for some guy he just met.”

“Like you’re not fawning over some girl the same way?” Andy teased. Nigel nearly flinched at Andy’s statement. “I’ve noticed you texting her when you have your phone. You should ask her to the dance.”

Nigel sighed. “Well, Andy, she doesn’t exactly go here.”

Andy paused. “...Where does she go?”

“Somewhere in Sunderland. I don’t know. We only started talking about… a month ago, somewhere around that,” Nigel admitted.

“Sunderland’s hours away.”

“I know.”

“Is this girl even real, Nigel?”

Nigel scoffed. “Yes, she is! You can meet real, live people on the Internet, you know!”

“Whatever,” Andy murmured. “There’s plenty of girls here, you know.”

“Not any that are interested in me.”

“You don’t exactly talk to any,” Andy replied. “Hey… you know, your poem that you posted, the feelings one, it DID get some retweets. It wasn’t all bad. I retweeted it. If you keep posting them, then… who knows. And, if you keep doing it, I think those popular assholes will lay off. Do you have any other poems done?”

Nigel nodded. “I’ll show it to you.” He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a slip of paper, before starting to unfold it.

“No, I don’t want to see it.” Nigel paused, watching Andy, who placed his cigarette in between his lips and took out his phone. He handed it to Nigel. “There. Sign in and put it on your Twitter.”

“Thank you.” Nigel took Andy’s phone from him and logged in, before beginning to compose a Tweet, reading off of his sheets of paper. He began typing:

Hole in the Mud (poem)

I am the flame the burns beside your window pane
You blow me out
You don't give a damn about goo
What do you do?

He continued onward, going until he hit the character limit. Then, he replied to it, making a thread, until… “[Instagram] Kitty: see you there!!” Nigel paused. “...Kitty?”

“Oh, yeah, she goes to school here,” Andy said, “She’s sort of a mix between a nerd and a rocker, kind of like you. I’m taking her to the dance on Saturday.”

Nigel sighed and went back to tweeting his emo poetry.

Chapter Text

After the costume crew’s meeting, Nick went out with the unlikely group of himself, Roger, Simon, and Warren. They were all getting new outfits for the dance, with Simon telling everyone he’d pay for everything. Where the hell he got the money from, Nick had no idea, but he wasn’t going to turn down being bought free clothes.

The theme, by the way, was “Out of this World”. Nick was tempted to go shop in the women’s section and do a Barbarella cosplay, but he didn’t think anyone besides Nigel would get it, and Nick would probably get told off for dressing too much like a slut.

Nick, Roger, and Warren all stuck together in the fancy department store that Simon took them to as they were all about the same height. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to dress for this theme,” Roger admitted. “Can I just wear a regular suit and then a coloured tie or something…?”

“That’s what I’m doing.” Warren sighed. “Britta’s going to be wearing white, so I’m just matching my tie to her dress. Should we go to the ties, then?”

“You two can do that,” Nick replied. “I’m still looking.” Warren walked off and Roger hesitated, before following behind. Nick continued going through the selection of men’s blazers. Most were plain black. There was the occasional one that was a nice colour or had something unique about it, but nothing perfect for dancing through space or whatever.

Nick paused as his eyes laid on a glittery-as-fuck, purple blazer and pants. This was it. He went off to the dressing room and tried it on. It was a perfect fit! Nick swivelled around, admiring his reflection. All he needed was some dramatic makeup and he was dance ready. Nick took some selfies and then he exited the dressing room, looking for his mates so he could show them his outfit.

He found Warren and Roger carding through a rack with multicoloured ties. Nick eyed them all, wishing he could take all of them home, but he fought back the temptation. Instead, he picked a shimmery gold one to go with his purple.

“Wow,” Warren stated. Nick looked up, seeing Warren looking at him with great amusement and Roger viewing him in simple curiosity. “That’s going to turn some heads.” Warren then picked up a purple tie. “Roger, this one matches Nick. You should get it.”

“Okay,” Roger replied, before looking at the price. “Oh. No, I can’t, this is too expensive.”

“Aw, Roger, it’s okay,” Nick stepped towards his friend, gently placing an arm on his shoulder. “Simon’s wallet can handle it, I’m sure.” He smirked.

“My what? Oh, Nick, you look fabulous!” Nick, Roger, and Warren all turned their attention to Simon, who was wearing his own new suit: a metallic, gold one. “What are you two lads getting?”

“Ties,” Warren said, while Roger mumbled. Warren continued, “Roger’s afraid you can’t afford this.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Simon replied. “Okay, I’m going to get changed out of this and then we can pay for this and go.”

“I’m right behind you,” Nick called, before following Simon. The two went into two own separate changing rooms, with Warren and Roger waiting outside. After they got changed out of their suits and into their regular outfits, the four of them made their way to the checkout area. Simon made some small talk with the cashier, including some light flirting, which made Nick roll his eyes. He glanced around them and something caught his eye.

Nick briefly separated from the group and grabbed a bottle of hair bleach. He figured he would need to touch up his blonde hair eventually. Nick looked over the other hair care products, before his eyes lingered on something new… He decided to grab a couple of bottles of red hair dye as well, before going to join the group again.

“There’s money on it,” Simon mumbled. Nick rolled his eyes. Of course Simon’s card would be declining now.

“Call your bank,” Warren sighed.

“They close at one, Warren.”

“Really…?”

“Simon, I can buy the ties if you want to buy our suits,” Nick spoke up. He fished out his wallet, “It’s not a big deal.”

“Hold on…” Simon got on his phone, fiddling with something. He then tried his card again. Finally, it worked. “Great!” Simon then glanced over at Nick, “Hair dye? Did you want me to buy that, too?”

“No, I’ve got it,” Nick replied. Simon, Warren, and Roger stepped aside, with Simon handing everyone their respective bag, minus Nick’s. Nick paid for his bleach and dye and then Simon gave him the bag with the suits.

“Thank you, Simon,” Roger said.

“Yeah, thanks,” Warren echoed.

“Thank you,” Nick said, finally.

“Oh, it’s no problem at all,” Simon replied, grinning. His smile then faltered. “Wait, Nick, should we have bought something for Nigel? He’s going, too, isn’t he? And… what about that other guy you’re friends with? What’s his name…? Andy?”

“Andy’s more of Nigel’s friend. He and I don’t get along, so I don’t know if he has a suit or anything,” Nick muttered, before shrugging. “As with Nigel… he’s grounded, so he wouldn’t be able to go out shopping, anyway. I’ve talked with him plenty about the dance; he’s aware of the dress code and said he should have something.”

“Okay,” Simon said, warily. “Wait… grounded? How old is he?”

“Seventeen.”

“I thought so… People get grounded at age seventeen?” Simon exhaled, deeply. “Do you guys want to get something to eat before I take you all home?” Nick, Warren, and Roger let out various answers of affirmation. “Does anyone have a favourite place to eat?”

“I’m fine with anything, so long as it’s vegetarian,” Warren replied. Nick nodded in agreement.

“Do you have a favourite place, Roger?” Simon questioned.

“...McDonalds,” Roger responded. Nick cracked a smile and Simon laughed.

“Well, they have that new plant-based thing now, right?” Simon replied.

“I’m not going to McDonalds,” Warren retorted. “Their food’s pumped up with shit that’s insanely bad for you, man. Think of all the…”

After Warren finished his six-minute-long rant, Simon nodded, thoughtfully. “Okay, McDonalds it is, then.”

Chapter Text

Roger walked into the school gym, holding his ticket and school ID. He stood in line wearing a plain black suit and his grape-coloured tie. He decided to put extra care in his appearance, wearing a bit of eyeliner and a touch of blush. He felt strangely nervous as he waited in line, glancing around at all the other people his age playing on their phones and chatting with their dates.

Soon, he reached the front, and handed his ticket and ID over to the student government member tending the table. She made some small talk with him, told him about all the rules and how if he left there’d be no reentry, etcetera. She finished with a “Have fun!” before handing Roger’s school ID back to him. He entered and decided to go have some refreshments while he waited for Nick, Nigel, and Andy.

Roger approached the refreshments table, seeing the “punch” was being made by mixing some carbonated beverage with what looked to be regular fruit juice. He didn’t say anything as he took a cup as well as some random cubes of cheese. Roger sat down at a table, watching the couples filter in and get to dancing.

Roger switched between spacing out and staring at the door as he sipped on his drink. It tasted fine, he supposed. Was it worth the extreme price that he had to pay for a dance ticket? Probably not, but he supposed they had to pay for all the decorations somehow. The whole room was purple-and-blue, with glowing planets and stars hanging from the ceiling. There was even a fake UFO.

Then, there he was. Nick Bates. His sparkly suit was a bit eccentric, but it suited him rather well. The gold tie added a nice offset, too. His chin-length blonde hair looked perfect as always, brushed and hairsprayed to perfection. He was wearing more makeup than usual, looking a bit like a silent film star.

Nigel was there, too. He was wearing a white blazer with grey pants and there was some eyeliner visible on his eyes underneath his glasses. As they entered the area, Roger got up, and walked towards them as they began walking to get food.

“Hi,” all three of them said, simultaneously.

“You look nice,” Nigel said.

“You do, too,” Roger replied, before looking at Nick. “And, so do you, Nick.”

“Thank you,” Nick responded.

“Hey, lads.” The three looked to see Warren there, with a girl on his arm. She was your typical, conventionally attractive girl, with shoulder-length, flowy strawberry blonde hair, and a short, flowy, powder-blue dress. Her eyelids were painted with glittery eyeshadow that matched the dress and she wore salmon-coloured lipstick. “This is Britta. She’s my date. Britta, this is Nick, who I’ve told you about. That’s his best friend, Nigel, the poet. And, that’s Nick’s boyfriend, Roger.”

“Boyfriend?!” Nick stated, right as Roger blushed and stammered, “We’re not dating.”

“You’re not? Oh, well they’re just on a date, then.”

“This isn’t a date,” Roger retorted, as Nick replied, “We’re going together as friends.”

“Hi,” Britta said, in a bored, high-pitched Brummie accent. She raised an eyebrow at Nick’s suit, before looking at Nigel. “Oh, are you the sad and want your dad guy?”

“Yes, I wrote that,” Nigel replied, before sighing. Britta smirked and shared a look with Warren, who looked equally amused. Roger was confused.

“Okaaaaay,” she replied in a sing-song voice. “Oh! Come on, Warren, let’s go talk with Sophie and Adam.” Britta pulled Warren away and he waved.

Nigel took a sip of his punch, looking between Nick and Roger, annoyed. “What was she talking about?” Roger asked.

“Some of the popular kids think my poems are funny,” Nigel huffed. Roger nodded.

“Let’s sit down and eat,” Nick suggested.

“I was over there,” Roger gestured to his table, where his three cubes of fancy cheese and empty cup still were. The three of them made their way to Roger’s table and sat down. He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck as he looked between Nick and Nigel. Normally Nigel started the conversations, but he seemed annoyed…

“Oh, there’s Andy,” Nick brought up, his tone flat. He narrowed his eyes. “Who’s the girl he’s with?”

“Some girl named Kitty.” Nigel spat the name as if it was poison in his mouth. Roger turned and looked. Sure enough, there she was: a short girl wearing a glittery Victorian-esque black dress, looking like a teenage Siouxsie Sioux.

“Oh, Kitty,” Roger said. “She goes to that club that we go to sometimes. She’s nice.”

“Are you not going to wave them over, Nigel?” Nick spoke up again.

“No.”

“Okay…”

“Uh… do you guys want to dance or something?” Roger questioned.

“Sure,” Nick replied. “Come on, Nigel.” With that, the three of them made their way to the dance floor. The song playing was some generic pop song. Roger recognised it, but he honestly couldn’t tell a lot of the modern pop artists apart…

“This isn’t even one of her good songs,” Nigel sighed. Nick raised an eyebrow.

“Nicki Minaj has good songs?”

“Yes, Nick. Don’t be so stuck up.”

“I’m moreso shocked that you like her,” Nick admitted.

“I’m a very complex person, Nick.” As Roger and Nick stood there awkwardly, Nigel began to dance. Roger watched him. “Come on, lads. You wanted to dance. Get into it.”

Roger attempted to dance along to the song while Nick continued to stand there. Nigel gave Nick a look, before taking Roger by the hands, dancing with him. Nigel then began to sing, making Roger smile and Nick wince.

Nicki Minaj segued into Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” causing Nigel to sing louder and hold more closely onto Roger. Roger couldn’t stop smiling.

“Their music selection is awful,” Nick murmured. “I’m going to talk to the DJ.” He walked off as Nigel continued dancing and singing with Roger.

“Nick’s such a music snob,” Nigel confided in Roger. “He’s probably going to request they play ‘Femme Fatale’ and then throw a hissy fit when they say no. I love him, but he is too confident that the world revolves around him and him only.”

Roger nodded. Soon, Nick came back. “We’ll see if they actually play any of them,” he muttered. “We should go get our pictures taken.”

“Okay,” Roger agreed. Nigel let go of his hands as the three of them went over to the backdrop with the photographer. It was a rather boring backdrop, with some curved lines and a few small stars, planets, and glitter pieces.

The photographer greeted the three of them and said something about how handsome they all looked, before instructing them how to pose in a highly heterosexual way. Well, the photographer didn’t say that, but it’s clear that’s what he wanted…

Afterward, Nick and Nigel began swapping phones (apparently Nigel’s mum caved in for her son and gave him his phone back, but Roger wasn’t even sure why he got it taken away in the first place) to take photos of each other and with each other. Roger was even given each phone to take Nick and Nigel pics. It was fun. And, they got done just in time for David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”. The three ushered to the dance floor and Nick finally let Roger dance with him while Nigel butchered Bowie with his shit singing in the background.

It was over all too quickly as it was followed up by yet another very generic song. “Ed Sheeran, really?!” Nick hissed.

“Yeah, I need a drink,” Nigel murmured, before the three went to sit back down. They talked for a bit about school, girls, and music. As the music gradually got worse, the three agreed they were bored, and ready to go to the underground club.

“I’m going to use the bathroom, first,” Nick said. “I’ll meet you two outside later.” Roger and Nigel left and stood outside.

They didn’t say much at first, before Nigel offered Roger a cigarette. He took one and they smoked together. “The moon’s pretty,” Nigel commented. “It looks like a smile with its crescent shape.”

“That’s one way to look at it.” Nigel and Roger turned around, seeing Warren. “Hey, did you two know the moon landing was faked?”

Roger stared, blankly, as Nigel said exactly what he was thinking, “...What?”

“Yeah, the moon landing was faked,” Warren replied. “Don’t be dumb. Think about it.” As Warren shared his conspiracy theory, Nigel and Roger looked at each other in disbelief. Was he fucking serious?

“Aren’t you supposed to be dancing with your girlfriend or some shit?”

“We’re leaving. Going to a party,” Warren said. “You guys want to come?”

“...No.”

“Suit yourself.” Soon, Britta appeared, giggling and taking Warren’s arm as they walked off. Shortly after, Nick appeared.

“Nick, did you know Warren thinks the moon landing was faked?” Nigel asked.

“What?”

“Yeah,” Nigel replied, before relaying Warren’s rant. Nick narrowed his eyes.

“I doubt he was being serious,” Nick mumbled as Nigel took his phone out.

“Whatever. I’m tweeting about it.”

-

Nigel drove all three of them to this club and they went in. They looked like a couple of glam rockers or new romantics, one of the two, in a sea of punks, goths, and other visibly alternative-looking people. He peered at a flier, seeing that tonight a femme-fronted queer punk band was the headliner, with another band dubbed only as “emo” opening for them. Nigel knitted his eyebrows: queer punk he could get behind, but emo...?

Nick and Roger were talking about something as Nigel strayed behind, taking in the scenery of the club. There wasn’t anything too special about it; it just looked like an unfurnished basement. No decorations on the wall or anything… He detected the familiar sound of Charli XCX’s “365” playing through the speakers and nodded his head along.

Nigel looked around, seeing what kind of people were at this club. It was mostly gorgeous girls and boring-looking twinks. He turned to Roger, interrupting whatever he and Nick were on about, “Is this a gay club, Roger?”

Roger hesitated. “No,” he replied. “There’s a lot of LGBT people who come here, but it’s not a gay club.”

Nigel let out a hum, before glancing back over at Nick and Roger. He didn’t care enough to tune into their conversation. Nigel decided to pull out his phone, instead, seeing Gaia texted him.

Gaia: have fun at your club xx
Gaia: 1 attachment
Gaia: genie says hi!

Nigel couldn’t help but smile at the photo Gaia sent him. She was laying in bed, her dirty blonde hair messy and curling in her eyes. Her right eye was closed and it looked like a bit of a wink, but Nigel assumed it was because of the hair. The photo showed her from the stomach up, wearing a cute, lacy black tanktop, that showed off her, erm, features. Laying on her neck was a dusty brown-and-gray tabby cat, with light green eyes. Nigel noticed that this tabby cat had a small, white patch of fur on their chest.

Nigel texted her back:

nigelferry: beautiful!
nigelferry: and the cat’s pretty, too.

He smirked. He was getting pretty good at this.

Gaia: aww, im blushing.

nigelferry: i wish i was there to see it.
nigelferry: 1 attachment
nigelferry: here’s a photo of my best friend nick and i at the dance.

Gaia: HOW DOES HE DO MAKEUP BETTER THAN I DO
Gaia: you’re both so handsome!
Gaia: what about the other guy you went with? roger?

nigelferry: 1 attachment
nigelferry: here we are.

Gaia: your friends are so cute, i’d love to meet them
Gaia: we should video call sometime… are you doing anything tomorrow?

Nigel flinched. A video call…? He frowned, his cheeks tinted pink as he slipped his phone back in his pocket. He was very lucky Discord didn’t have “read” messages.

“You alright, Nigel? You look sick,” Nick replied, looking over at his friend.

“Yeah, I’m fine. When is this supposed to start?” Nigel murmured.

“Any minute now,” Roger responded.

As if on cue, the “emo” band walked on stage. Nigel squinted. Those had to be four of the ugliest men in the world. This was going to be bad...

Chapter Text

Nick laid in his bed, crying. He was able to convince his mum that he was sick for the past few days, so she let him stay home. He couldn’t stop recounting the events of the past few days, thinking about how something so perfect turned so terrible.

Roger and Nick were becoming so close in a way that seemed so different and special from how Nick and Nigel were friends. Through drama club and going to shows every Friday and occasionally on Saturdays, Nick felt they were forming a truly magical bond. Nick hated to dance, but Roger made him love it. The Saturday night following the dance, he wondered if things would be different since Nigel was there.

And, it was, in the best way possible. They danced so much closer together, faces nearly touching, their eyes meeting… Normally you don’t dance that way to punk bands, but there was some sort of romantic charm that this girl-adjacent band had.

Roger walked Nick home that night so that way Nigel wouldn’t get in trouble for missing curfew again. They smiled and talked together, happily, about anything and everything. The two reached where their paths diverged and stood there in silence for a minute, just grinning at each other.

“I had a lot of fun tonight,” Roger spoke. His voice was quiet, but it sounded so loud and clear against the deafening silence of the night.

“Me, too,” Nick replied. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Roger responded. Silence.

Nick broke it this time, “I want to kiss you.”

“Okay.”

So, Nick kissed Roger. His lips were soft and he tasted like the school punch. Their lips fit together perfectly, like two puzzle pieces. It may have been the most romantic kiss that Nick had ever had, underneath the moonlight and all. It was like he was in his own coming-of-age film…

It only lasted a few seconds, though. Underneath the street lamps, Nick could see Roger was bright red. He couldn’t help but laugh lightly at the other man.

“Good night,” Roger muttered. “See you at school.”

“See you at school.”

They departed and Nick went home, calling out to let his mum and dad know he was there, before he went up to his room. He posted all the cute photos of he, Nigel, and Roger onto Instagram, tagging Nigel in the proper ones. Then, he went to bed.

There was nothing worth noting on Sunday, except Nigel called him while they played Minecraft, worrying that Gaia wanted to video call him. Nick had a genius idea, “Just get her to join our Minecraft server and the three of us can call and play together before you video call. Or, you can video call her when I’m at your house with you.”

“Okay,” Nigel replied. “Maybe we can hang out on Friday or something. Oh, also, Nick, I’m getting contact lenses!”

Monday was a standard school day… ish. Lunch seemed strange. Warren wasn’t there and Nick knew it was because of Nigel’s Tweet about him that was gaining traction, claiming Warren was a moon landing conspiracist. Nick didn’t really give a fuck. He assumed Nigel and Andy would have been joking about it the whole time, but instead, they were both strangely quiet… perhaps tired. Roger also didn’t talk at all. He didn’t even look at Nick.

Nick ended up running into Roger in the hallway later that day while Nick was on his way to the bathroom. Roger, on the other hand, had his bag with him, as if he was leaving early. “Hey, where are you going? You okay?” Nick asked him.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Roger replied, staring at the floor. “Just leaving early.”

“Ah,” Nick responded, “You’ll be missed at our costume crew meeting.”

“Yeah…”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Nick watched as Roger looked up, glancing around the empty hallways. He took a step close to Nick and Nick felt his heart thumping. He grinned, and let out a playful, “hi.”

“Nick… I’m not gay.”

Nick froze, his eyes widening. “Huh?”

“I’m not gay. I’m not… into you...”

Nick’s heart broke.

Roger continued, “...And, it bothers me a lot that you keep telling people we’re together. We’re just friends… or… I thought we were, but…” Roger stepped back. “It’s weird. You’re weird. I think I need a break from you. Some distance…”

“Huh? Roger, I haven’t told anyone we’re dating!”

“That’s not what everyone has been saying,” Roger mumbled.

“Who is everyone? I thought you didn’t talk to anyone outside of our friend group.”

“I have friends, Nick. More happens in my life than what you see,” Roger retorted. He sighed. “I… I just need some space. Okay? I’ll talk to you again when I’m ready.”

“Roger-” Nick watched in shock as the other man left. Everything in his body felt broken, as if the heartbreak was seeping towards everywhere else in his body. Nick had no idea he even had a crush on Roger. If anything, that kiss was just an experiment. But, it looked like he was definitely head-over-heels for his new friend, and now he was heartbroken.

Nick went into the bathroom. He took longer than usual, crying his eyes out in one of the stalls. When he came out, his eyes were all blotchy and his eyeliner was ruined. He scrubbed his face clean and went back to class, pretending like everything was normal.

Nick skipped the costume crew meeting as well. He went home, barked a “FINE” at his mum when she asked how school was, and then went into his room. For the past three days, he rarely left his bed, choosing to stay in his room and bawl his eyes out while listening to Japan’s “Quiet Life” on vinyl, finding solace in David Sylvian’s unintelligible vocals. The end of his and Roger’s friendship was more painful than any breakup he’d ever gone through.

Chapter Text

Nigel rang the bell to Nick’s home, waiting for either him or one of his parents to answer. He ran his free hand through his hair, feeling apprehensive. Nick hadn’t been at school all week nor had he texted Nigel back, both of which were already concerning, but the fact that he had not posted on Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, or Instagram was even worse… for Nick standards, anyway.

Nigel stood on Nick’s doorstep, lightly swinging a pink gift bag full of goods that he brought to cheer Nick up. Nick’s mum opened the door, instantly flashing a smile at Nigel, “Hello, Nigel. Oh, you’re not wearing your glasses! You look lovely.” She paused, “How are you doing, dear?”

“Yeah, I got contacts, thanks… and, I’m doing well, thank you,” Nigel murmured. “Um… I was just coming to check in on Nick. He and I were going to make plans for him to come sleep over at my place today, but he’s been gone. Is he… okay?”

Nick’s mum sighed. “Well, he’s been saying he’s sick, but… I think he’s covering for something. He’s… clearly heartbroken. I think it’s a girl.”

A… girl? “Ah,” Nigel responded. “I… well, is it okay if I come in? Try and cheer him up? I brought some stuff for him in case it was something like this.”

“Of course, dear. Oh, and you know, if you want to stay the night, you’re more than welcome to. I’ll make a little bit of extra food for dinner just in case.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Bates.” Nigel stepped in, taking off his shoes before he went to Nick’s room. He thought about how interesting it was, the way his and Nick’s parents were. They were both only children, yet had such different upbringings. If Nigel was “suffering from heartbreak”, he would be told to suck it the fuck up and go to school anyway.

Nigel reached Nick’s door. He raised his hand to knock, but hesitated, as he heard the familiar sound of David Sylvian howling, “Oh, my! FALL IN LOVE WITH MEEEEEeeeeee.” over and over again, with some quiet sobs in the background. Nigel felt his own heart sink. He had known Nick for years and seen him go through nearly every emotion, but had never heard or seen him cry.

Nigel sighed and knocked on the door, anyway. The crying paused and the music was turned down just the slightest. The boy on the other side of the door half-whined, half-croaked, “Whaaaatttttt?!”

“Hi, Nick. It’s me, Nigel. Can you open the door, please? I brought you something.”

There were a few moments of silence, before there was the sound of shuffling. The doorknob turned, slowly, and the door creaked open as Nick revealed himself. Nigel had to contain his shock. Seeing Nick without makeup was already weird, but now his eyes were all puffy and droopy, as if they were sinking into his skull. His blonde hair was a disheveled, unbrushed pile on his head. He was wearing a white shirt with some sort of illustration on it and shorts, something that would make Nick sneer if he saw any of his friends wearing something similar. Despite his appearance, at least Nick still smelled great, meaning he was still somewhat taking care of himself, at least.

“You got contacts,” was all Nick muttered.

“Yeah, I did,” Nigel replied. “I missed you. Can I come in?” Nick rubbed his eyes and stepped aside. Nigel entered and closed the door behind them. He sat on the foot of Nick’s bed. Much to his surprise, Nick sat directly beside him, leaving only a few inches behind them. Nigel went to open up the bag he brought, but instead Nick gripped him in a hug. Nigel set the bag aside before hugging his friend back, letting him hold him for as long as he needed to.

Two whole songs on the record played before Nick let go. He sighed. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Nick,” Nigel replied, smiling softly at his friend. “Um… do you want to see what I brought you?”

Nick nodded and Nigel grabbed the bag, before handing it to Nick. He watched as the man began carefully taking out things, the first being a container of strawberries, followed by a variety of strawberry-flavoured candies. “I tried to buy every strawberry thing I could find.”

“You didn’t have to,” Nick muttered, before taking out a small pink-and-white “strawberry cow” plush as they were dubbed. He then looked back in the bag at the last remaining item and sighed, “Nigel…”

“What?”

Nick took out the copy of The Cure’s “Three Imaginary Boys”, “I know you don’t have the most money in the world. You spent so much of it on me already, including a record…”

“Well, you’re sad, pink is your favourite colour, and you like The Cure,” Nigel replied, as if it was nothing. “Come on, let’s shut off Japan and… well, if you’re sad, should you really be listening to sad music? Do you want to listen to Roxy Music or something?”

Nick frowned. “No,” he mumbled. “It’ll just remind me of…” Nick looked up at Nigel and sighed. “I guess I have a lot to tell you.”

“I’m here to listen.”

-

Prior to eating dinner, there was a lot of platonic cuddling in silence. Afterwards, Nick and Nigel decided to watch a film in the sitting area. It was some weird foreign thing that Nigel didn’t quite follow, but he was happy to support his friend. The two then went back up to Nick’s room, Nick munching on his strawberries while Nigel went through his records.

Instinctually, Nigel started at “R” for Roxy Music, but then remembered that nope, that’s off-limits today. He began making his way from R to A, but didn’t look for long. Nigel pulled out a record with a girl on it posed in front of a dressing-room mirror, facing the camera wearing dramatic makeup, a blue dress, and a sash. “Nick?” He turned, showing the record to him, with a smirk on his face.

Nick paused his chewing. He swallowed and sighed, “Okay, Nigel, I like some pop music, so what? What kind of queer would I be if I didn’t listen to our queen Chappell?”

Nigel laughed, before going to put “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” on the record player. He then went over to Nick, sitting across from him. “Hmm… we should do makeovers.”

“Okay,” Nick mumbled. Nigel got up and dragged Nick into his bathroom because his parents gave him the master bedroom of the house for some fucking reason and then started going through his makeup.

Nigel sighed, “Did you seriously bring your strawberries in here? Stop eating them for two seconds.”

“You know I love strawberries!”

“That’s why I got you them, but come on, I need to do your makeup, now.” Nick set aside his nearly-empty tub of strawberries, before Nigel continued looking.

“Wait.”

Nigel paused, “What?”

“The other day I bought more bleach, forgetting I had some,” Nick began, opening up some of his drawers. “And… I have some red hair dye.” His eyes lit up. “Let’s dye our hair red.”

“Holy shit, that’s like… six bottles of bleach and four bottles of dye. How do you forget you’ve bought stuff that many times…?”

“Well, to be honest, I’ve always wanted to match hair colours with someone. Who better than you?”

Nigel laughed. “Okay. Sure. Let’s do it.”

A couple of hours and many records by pop artists that Nick was ashamed of liking later (Nigel teased him over the fact that he owned every single Lady Gaga album) and Nigel and Nick both had red hair and full faces of makeup. Nigel and Nick took dozens of selfies and were spinning Chappell Roan again, doing the “HOT TO GO!” dance together in a giggly, happy daze.

Nigel collapsed onto Nick’s bed with him once they both reached the peak of their adrenaline rush. “My Kink is Karma” was playing far too loudly as they both giggled over nothing together. Nigel wasn’t sure how Mr. and Mrs. Bates hadn’t yelled at them yet.

“I’m still really sad,” Nick spoke up after a moment. “But, you make things better. I’m glad I have you. You mean the world to me, Nigel.”

Nigel glanced over at Nick. Nick made a mischievous face at him before speaking again, “Simon and Gaia are right. You look attractive as hell without your glasses.”

“I feel like a whole new person now,” Nigel replied. “Like… I shouldn’t even be called Nigel anymore. Maybe I should go by John instead.”

“John? John Ferry?” Nick teased. “Hmm. I do think that suits you. John.”

“And what about you, Dior Bates? Is that still your pseudonym for the internet?”

“Sometimes,” Nick said, before sighing. “I hate the name Bates. I’ll think of something better later.” He smiled. “Thanks for spending the night with me, …John.”

“Of course, Nick.” John grinned at his friend, who softly smiled back. He watched as Nick’s eyes drifted down his face, before settling on his lips, his green gaze intent on them. John quirked an eyebrow, smirking. “Don’t you think you’ve kissed enough straight men already?”

“Oh, shush!” Nick rolled his eyes, before looking away. He then got up from his bed, making his way to his bathroom.

“Where are you going, Nick?”

“To get my strawberries!”

John just laughed.

Chapter Text

Nick waited at the smoker’s corner for John on Monday, feeling pretty content about himself with his pretty red hair. He was dressed very cutely in a grey-purple button-up shirt topped with a long, red blazer, along with some black pants.

It was about ten degrees out and there was a light breeze. The sky was dark with clouds already and Nick hoped it didn’t rain on him while he was waiting for his friend. Some of the orange, red, and yellow leaves were starting to fall, and Nick thought to himself about how it was already nearly halfway through October… It seemed like just yesterday school started. Now, he was going to have to think up a Halloween costume…

Nick’s attention was caught by a tall man moving towards him, a slight smile on his face. John was wearing a grey sweater, blue jeans, and he had a red bandana around his neck. Had it not been so bright, it would have matched his hair. His hair, speaking of, looked to be styled slightly different than normal, as if he put some hairspray in it so it wouldn’t hang in his eyes…

Nick’s eyes widened the tiniest amount. John… was wearing eyeliner. And… was that… blush?! Lip gloss?! He had to fight back a smile. He was liking this brand new personality.

“Hello,” John said as he finally approached his friend, pulling out his cigarettes and handing him one. “I take it you like the makeup?”

“Absolutely,” Nick responded. “You’re finally as stylish as I am. Nearly. Lighter, John.”

“Here.” Nick took the lighter from John, before his friend hummed to himself. “I decided it would be fun to experiment. I like the glam period, anyway. So… why not?” He paused, “I talked about having a bit of a style change with Gaia a lot. We… have been talking a lot. She… really wants to call me.”

“So you’ve mentioned. Like I said: just invite her to our Minecraft server and then the three of us can call together,” Nick said, sighing. “Oh, hey. You should stay after school with me today for drama club, if they’re fine with it. Costume shit should all be finished, now, and if not, I don’t know what the hell they were doing while I was gone. So, they’re just rehearsing for the musical next week.”

“What’s the musical?”

“Les Mis.”

“Oh, that’s fun.”

“I think it’s a bit boring,” Nick murmured. “They always pick some popular garbage. They should put on something nobody’s ever done before.”

John thought for a moment. “Do they have James Bond plays?”

-

Lunch was back down to Nick and John. Roger moved tables completely and Andy was now sitting with Kitty and her friends. John told Nick that he had been eating at that table when he was gone and that he didn’t quite fit in over there. John didn’t elaborate as to why, but he did say, “None of them know what Roxy Music is. When I played them ‘Re-Make/Re-Model’, they just stared at me. Three of them started talking halfway through it. I can’t believe Andy would date a girl with friends like that.”

“Oh, so they’re official?” Nick asked as he gingerly nibbled at his overly greasy slice of cheese pizza. It was so good, yet so bad at the same time. Part of him was beginning to miss Warren and the food he brought him, even though he knew he’d never get Warren back after John’s whole “flat earther” tweet, or whatever it was.

About that tweet… John had already began gaining some notoriety at school with his shitty- er, creative poetry that he was now posting onto Twitter weekly (he just picked his favourite of the dailies that week and then put it out there for his school friends), but this whole making fun of Warren for whatever the fuck it was gained him even more. And this time, it was… positive? It didn’t look like it did much, seeing as girls still fawned over the gorgeous American transfer student, but at least people thought John was funny now or something?

“Looking good, Nigel!” Nick snapped back to reality as Simon Le Bon passed by him and John with a couple of girls and guys following behind him. “Good to see you’re back, Nick.”

“Hey, wait, Simon,” Nick called out. Simon murmured something to his henchmen/clique members/whatever before they dispersed. He stopped at Nick and John’s table. “I was wondering if John- that’s what he’s going by now instead of Nigel- could attend this week’s meetings with us. I mean, I figure there’s not much to do, and-”

“You don’t have to ask, Nick. I trust you,” Simon said, smiling a bit. “If anyone else gives you shit, let me know, okay? And hey, this reminds me… we’re having a party after our second performance on Wednesday. You know, since there’s no school Thursday or Friday for the whole… end of the quarter thing, I don’t fucking know. It’ll be all the drama people and everyone’s allowed a plus one… you should bring John along. I feel like he’d fit right in.”

Nick noticed how Simon’s eyes kept lingering on John, studying his face with a sly look in his eyes. John looked back at him, blankly.

“We’ll be there,” Nick replied.

“Good! See you after school, lads.” Simon walked off to the popular people table and Nick looked back at John.

“We’ll make sure you’re home before curfew this time,” Nick said, dryly. John rolled his eyes at him.

-

Nick and John didn’t have a lot to do. They just sat in the audience and watched the cast rehearse their lines, pretty much. So, Nick sat there, telling John about all the people that were in drama club, as if he hadn’t heard about them already…

“Simon’s got the lead, as per usual. Well, sometimes he doesn’t get it. Occasionally, Andy does. But, Andy still has an important role. He’s playing Javert as you can see…” Nick pointed out Andy McCluskey, a curly-haired Scouser with his arms folded as he watched the current scene go on. A girl with wavy brown hair leaned against him, almost possessively. “Julia and Andy started dating recently and they’re almost always together. They’re a typical teenage couple… can’t keep their hands off of each other, even at times like these.”

There was the sound of a chair squeaking. Nick and John turned around to see a familiar face. “Hello, Dave,” Nick said. “Good to see you.”

“Hey, Nick,” Dave replied, “Last week was hell without you. Le Bon’s such a cunt. I like your guys’ red hair. Suits you well.”

“Thanks,” Nick replied. “This is John, if you didn’t know.”

“Nice to meet you,” Dave responded.

“Nice to meet you.” John echoed, before turning his attention to the actors on stage. “Is this all we do for two hours, Nick?”

“Well, we could go into the dressing room to inspect the costumes or something,” Nick replied. “But, this is basically it.”

John sighed. “You know, I should get into acting. What’s the next play going to be?”

“I’ve no idea…” Nick raised an eyebrow as he turned to face John, “Since when are you an actor?”

“I could do it. It looks easy.”

“I’m sure you could, John.”

Chapter Text

The week with Nick and the drama club was okay. John didn’t talk to much of the cast besides Nick and Simon. For some reason, Simon seemed keen on befriending John. He wasn’t sure why, but he wasn’t opposed to it, he supposed.

Now, it was the weekend. Most of the time, the weekend was blissful and meant John could spend all of his time writing emo poetry and heterosexually fawning over Bryan Ferry. But, instead, he was staring at his Discord DMs. He went against what Nick said with calling Gaia and him in a group and was just going to call her alone. She agreed to just a voice call while they played Minecraft, but it was still… nerve wracking.

John groaned. He thought about how Andy had told him not to worry about it because, come on, it’s not like you guys are dating or something. I mean, John, you’re not seriously going to date a girl on the Internet, right?! That’s so stupid. Online relationships are ridiculous...

Yeah. John’s just friends with this gorgeous girl who understands him better than anyone else in the whole entire universe. He hopes she knows that, too.

He clicked the voice call button and listened to the Discord call sound, before she picked up. “Helloooo?” Gaia’s voice filled his ears. It sounded more Irish than English to John, which threw him off a bit.

“Uh, hi,” John replied. “It’s me. John.”

“Yes, John. Hello. It’s me, Gaia.” God. She sounded proper Irish. John furrowed an eyebrow. “Okay, so… are we going to play Minecraft together, then? I haven’t played in years, I’m probably going to suck arse at it if I’m being quite honest with you.”

“Ah, yeah, let me just send you… the stuff,” John murmured as he looked for the information about his and Nick’s “Virginia Underground”.

“Okay!” There was a sniffle and a soft ‘meow’ from Gaia’s end. “Shush, you. Sorry, my cat’s a clingy little fucker.”

“That’s alright,” John replied, a tiny smile on his face. “I sent you all the stuff. Let me know if you can get in.” John then entered the world himself.

“Virginia Underground? What’s that mean?”

“Virginia from ‘Virginia Plain’ by Roxy Music, of course-”

“Of course.”

“-and Underground because my friend, Nick, likes the Velvet Underground.”

“Oh, VU, eh? I’ve always thought they were a wee bit pretentious,” Gaia responded. John didn’t say anything. As much as he liked to joke about Nick’s snobbish behaviour regarding The Velvet Underground and other bands, John was no better, and he, too, greatly enjoyed some Velvet Underground. “Ah. I’m in. Oh, Jesus, I see a very huge house. All pink and shite. Is that yours?”

“No, that’s Nick’s.”

“Oh, hello, Warren Cu- Cuccu- how d'ya say that?”

“Cuccurullo? Did you find his house?”

“No, he’s online. I’m going to type to him in chat.”

John sighed, loudly, as messages began to appear on his screen.

gaiacpl593h: hi warrencucurullo
warrencuccurullo: Hi, gaiacpl593h. You left out a c in my name
gaiacpl593h: sorry! are you and john friends?
warrencuccurullo: Who?

John rolled his eyes and typed.

nigelferry: i go by john now instead of nigel.
warrencuccurullo: Oh.
warrencuccurullo: Sure, gaia. John and i are great friends
gaiacpl593h: great!
gaiacpl593h: hey warren, what kind of music do you like?

John sighed again. “Something wrong?” Gaia asked.

“No,” John lied, knowing this was about to be a very long game of Minecraft.

-

John and Andy showed up to the second night of their school’s production of Les Mis. Alongside Andy was Kitty and her gang of goth girls: Chelsea (John wasn’t sure why she was allowed in the “clique” considering the most goth thing she listened to was Billie Eilish), Raven (her real name was Everleigh and she liked to pretend she was a vampire), Suzy (or Suzanne, who hissed at people [John was sure there was more to her than that but the hissing was his main takeaway]), Ronnie (or Veronica, who worshipped Robert Smith like he was some sort of God), and Ruta (the only normal one). John sat on the end, with Andy beside him, and then Kitty beside him, and then the goth girls in some random order. He didn’t care to pay much attention to them. He wanted to talk to Andy, but Kitty was taking up most of his attention…

John sighed. Maybe Andy was right and John was overly jealous of his friends. I mean, he should be happy that Andy had found a girl who he seemed head-over-heels in love with. Sure, he spent most of his time with her and her friends now rather than with John, but that’s standard couple stuff… and he knew Andy didn’t get along with Nick… still wasn’t sure why, but…

Ew. Did Andy and Kitty just kiss? Publicly? In a school theatre?

God, John needed a drink. He took a long slurp from his bottle of Pepsi…

His phone then vibrated, reminding him he needed to turn it off. He looked at the notification, feeling puzzled:

[Instagram] Simon (simonjclebon) wants to send you a message.

Um. Okay? John clicked on it.

Message request from Simon (simonjclebon).

Simon: See you at the party xx

Umm… Ooookaaaaayyyy?

John texted back, “see you.” He then got a Discord message from Gaia, “have fun partying! xx” John sighed. What’s with all the damn internet kisses from everyone?! He turned his phone off and slid it in his pocket, taking another swig of his Pepsi as he waited for Les Mis to start.

-

The first half of the show was done and now it was the intermission. John glanced over at Andy, seeing he was talking to his beloved Kitty, holding her hand and rubbing his thumb over the back of it. Yuck. John pulled his phone out, seeing he had new Instagram messages.

nick!: i am so bored without you.
nick!: you’re still staying after for the party, right?

John typed back, “of course”, before he decided to go to Discord and reply to Gaia. He sighed as he stared at her message. Their voice call was fine, but it was ultimately a bit boring. Ever since then, Gaia kept casually mentioning wanting to call again, this time maybe a video call, but God, John did not want to do that AT ALL. He didn’t know why, but he was not feeling it in the slightest.

johnferry: thanks, gaia. musical is fun to watch so far. there are some really great actors in our school.
johnferry: i think i might try out for the next one. what do you think?

“Hey, John.” John glanced up, seeing Andy was holding a Pepsi bottle up. “Ruta, Suzy, and Ronnie just got back from the concession stand. They noticed your drink was gone. They got you a new one.”

“Oh.” John took his drink and put it in his cup holder, taking his empty bottle and putting it beside it in his seat. He leaned forward and made sure to smile at Ruta and Ruta only, “Hey, thanks!” Ruta then nudged Suzy, who leaned forward as well and smiled at him, waving as she said “you’re welcome!” John noticed she had a tongue piercing. He nodded, a bit awkwardly, before leaning back in his chair. Then, the lights began to dim again…

-

The rest of the musical was highly entertaining. All of the cast came out and bowed at the end, including the behind-the-scenes people, which meant John clapped with extra enthusiasm when Nick appeared on stage. People then began to clear out and John followed, deciding he’d enter the auditorium again once everyone left.

Andy and John talked a bit as the goth girls all began to leave one-by-one. Kitty still hung onto Andy’s arm, despite him paying attention to John. “You know, John,” Andy said. “We should all hang out sometime. You, me, Nick, Roger, Warren… Maybe we should go, like… bowling or something.”

“Bowling? What?” John laughed, lightly. “You want to hang out with two people you hate?”

“Yeah, have a guys night out, I don’t know, maybe we can all put aside our differences or something,” Andy said. “Anyway, I’ll see you around. I’m going to take Kitty home.”

“Okay, bye. See you. I’ll… pass the idea onto Nick,” John mumbled. He waved to Kitty and Andy, before going back into the auditorium, seeing it was virtually cleared. John went onstage and went backstage, looking around. Everyone was gone…

He texted Nick, “where the hell are you?”

Nick replied, “dressing rooms” John put his phone away and went to the men’s dressing room. He pushed open the door and everyone in the room turned to look at him. There wasn’t much to see, just a lot of shirtless, sweaty guys in front of mirrors, along with Nick sitting on a couch, turned away from all the men. How respectful.

A couple of the guys greeted John, but most ignored him. He said “hello” in response, before sitting by Nick. “Everyone looked lovely in their costumes,” John stated. “You have a great eye.”

“Thank you,” Nick said. “I guess after everyone gets all cleaned up, we’re going to go to Simon’s house. Are you driving me?

“Yeah, I suppose so,” John murmured. “Want to go outside and have a smoke before we leave? I don’t understand the point in hanging out with a bunch of sweaty lads.”

“Alright, let’s go, then.” The two of them went outside and stood in front of the school, smoking cigarettes and talking. John mentioned Andy’s “guys’ night out” idea to Nick and he laughed for way too long. “Well, I don’t like Andy, Andy doesn’t like me or Warren, you don’t like Warren, and Roger hasn’t spoken to me in… let’s see… fifteen days, so I don’t think that’s a possibility.”

“Well, Roger doesn’t have to be there,” John said, before sighing. “Although, he should. It’s about time you make up. You weren’t telling people you two were dating, anyway. I think that was Warren doing that. You remember at the dance, right…?”

Nick nodded. “Yeah, and Simon’s talked to me about it… did I tell you that? When you weren’t here, he asked me about Roger and I’s relationship, and if I was okay…” Nick rolled his eyes. “I did fuck up by kissing him, though, didn’t I?”

“Didn’t you say he said that you could?”

“Well, I asked him, and he said ‘okay’, but I guess that isn’t quite yes, is it?” Nick sighed before taking a long drag off of his cigarette. “Maybe I should apologise, but… I want to give him space.”

“Space from what is the real question.”

“Hey, lads! Oh, look at you, smoking on school property.” Nick and John turned around, seeing a bunch of drama kids filter out of the building. Simon and Warren(? What the hell was Warren doing here? He wasn’t a theatre kid!) were stopped behind them. “Mind if I have one?”

“Oh, not at all,” John replied, before hanging Simon a cigarette and a lighter. Warren looked thoroughly unimpressed, but he still stood there. “Hey, perfect timing, actually. You guys know Andy Taylor, right? He wanted us to have a guys’ night out with him and Roger and all go bowling or something.”

“Sounds great,” Simon replied, right as Warren said, “Sure.” Warren then paused, “Wait… I thought Roger and Nick…”

John watched as Nick shot Warren a glare. He continued, “...were no longer boyfriends.” Someone didn’t get the memo.

“Warren, we were just friends!” Nick hissed.

“You know, Nick, I bet I can rope Roger into this if Andy can’t.” Simon quickly interjected, smiling. “Anyway, come on, let’s get going. I don’t want to be late to my own party…! Speaking of which, I’m actually having a birthday party on the 27th! It’ll be my house, 7pm. I better see you guys there!”

As Simon walked off, Nick huffed. “That guy throws too many goddamn parties.”

“I know. But, I guess it gives us… or him… something to do.”

-

John drove Nick and himself to Simon’s home. He turned on his phone, checking the time, “We can only stay for about an hour and a half and then I need to get home.”

“An hour and a half?” Nick checked his own phone, “John, your curfew is midnight. Why do we need to leave at 10:30pm?”

“I don’t want to push it,” John said, before sighing. They went inside Simon’s house. It seemed so familiar, yet so foreign… Someone called out telling them to come to the living room. John and Nick made their way there.

Everybody was already laughing and chatting. Nick sat down on a sofa and John joined him. He looked around at all the drama people, not recognising most of them. He tried to remember Nick’s descriptions of everyone, but he was struggling.

Simon entered the living room with many bowls of snacks. He said a quick “hi” to John and Nick, before exiting again. John grabbed a bowl of cheesy crisps for himself and Nick, eating while he listened in on the conversation happening. Something about someone’s ex boyfriend’s small dick…

Simon kept running in and out with snacks, before he began supplying drinks. And not just any drinks: alcoholic drinks. John sighed to himself, before he got out his phone, “I’m going to tell my mum I’m staying the night with you, Nick.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I’m drinking. I can not blend in with these theatre kids sober.”

“Come, sit on the floor, guys,” Simon said to John and Nick. John raised an eyebrow before he and Nick joined the rest of the drama kids on the floor. He grabbed himself a beer and opened it up, taking a long drink. “Slow down, Johnny.”

“It’s just John,” John murmured, continuing to listen in on the theatre kid conversation. “Simon, are we just going to sit here and chat all night?”

“Oh, I guess we can play a game,” Simon said. “Hey, anyone want to play a game?”

“Let’s play Truth or Dare!” A girl with a blonde, pixie cut said. A few people chimed in their agreements. “Someone finish their drink and we can use it as a spinner…”

John obliged, chugging his beer. “Here you go.”

“Thanks, new guy. What’s your name?”

“John. John Taylor.”

“You’re pretty cute, John.”

“Thanks,” John said, smirking to himself a bit. Everyone gathered around in a misshapen circle and the blonde girl put the bottle spinner on the floor. She spun it and it swiveled all the way around, landing on the guy next to her.

“Truth or dare?” She asked him.

“Dare.”

“I dare you to… text your ex.”

John sat back and watched, drinking as the bottle spun around and around and around and around. Eventually, the bottle landed on Nick. “Truth or dare?” A cute girl asked him.

“Er… truth,” Nick mumbled.

“Are you a virgin?” Some of the girls giggled. John rolled his eyes.

“No,” Nick replied. Some drama kids started screaming, begging Nick for details, details, details... “There’s not much to talk about. I was probably too young. It was boring.”

“Boring?!” There were some jeers and ecstatic chattering. John just continued drinking, one after another… Then, he watched as Nick spun the bottle to ask someone something… the game felt like it was going on forever and ever, and not once had it landed on John. It hadn’t landed on Simon, either.

“Why don’t we play something more exciting?” Simon spoke up, as if he read John’s mind. “Like, Seven Minutes in Heaven, or something.”

“Um, I don’t want anyone touching my boyfriend,” Julia spoke up. Someone else agreed with her that she would rather die than touch Andy McCluskey, to which she sneered.

“Okay, guys, calm down. I mean, you can… stare at each other or something,” Simon replied. “Let’s play this instead. Okay, who wants to go first? Anyone? Who didn’t get to do a truth or a dare…? Why not you, Dom…?”

Some random guy named Dom, apparently, went first. He spun the bottle to get his match, but then complained that the person wasn’t a “gender of interest”. There was then bickering about it for five minutes or something, before the rules were declared that everyone would get ONE PASS and that’s it. So, he spun again, and it landed on someone else…

John felt like he was about to pass out.

After Simon led them to their own personal room in his house (who knew how many that man had), the bottle spinning continued with the person who sat to the left of Dom, that person being Julia. And, of course, the bottle didn’t land on Andy but on a girl named Tessa, so she passed, and then started complaining again when it landed on some girl with awful 2009’s raccoon-hair, before she decided she and Andy were leaving.

John opened up another beer. He wasn’t sure what number this was. “You need to slow down,” Nick murmured to him. He ignored his friend.

Then, it went on again, with a girl named Anita, who ended up with some guy named Bryce… and then, some person went off with Warren… John was starting to feel dizzy as he watched this bottle spin around. At some point, a very ugly guy passed on Nick, to which Nick leaned to murmur in his friend’s ear, “I wouldn’t have slept with him anyway!” John laughed, perhaps a bit too loudly.

Luckily, Nick ended up with that cute blonde who wanted to start Truth or Dare. Simon led them to their own personal haven and John sighed to himself, feeling lonely. Now Simon Le Bon was all he had left, and…

“You want to spin it, John?”

“Huh?”

“Go on,” Simon said. “You didn’t get to go in Truth or Dare. You want to spin the bottle? See who you get?”

“Yeah, okay.” John inspected his options from the remaining group. The girls left were all gorgeous and he’d be more than okay doing anything with any of them. He smirked to himself, before spinning…

It landed on a really ugly guy. Even if John wasn’t straight, there would have been no way. “I’m passing, sorry mate.”

“No worries, mate.” John sighed and spun again and he watched, intently, waiting, waiting...

It slowed as it got nearer to him and he worried that it would land on himself. John laughed at the thought. Luckily, it didn’t land on him, but on the person sitting beside him. That person being…

“Looks like you’re going with me, eh?” Simon smirked, before standing up and offering John a hand. John took it, stumbling a bit as he got on his feet. He wasn’t that drunk, he didn’t think, but he was starting to feel something. “By the way, you guys might want to pause until someone gets back. They shouldn’t be long, I don’t think. Then you can just take the bedrooms people already used.”

John snorted at the phrasing as Simon wrapped his arm around him and walked off with him. “We get the best spot in the house,” Simon told him as they walked up the stairs and into a room. Simon held open the door for John and he entered. It was a nice, sleek master bedroom, and looked relatively normal save for the posters of musicians and models on the walls. John paused in front of one of David Bowie.

“This yours?”

“Yes, it’s in my room.” There was a fluffy sound and John turned around, seeing Simon was sitting on his bed. “Come on, John. Sit by me~.”

“Okay.” John walked over to Simon’s bed, taking his seat. The other man smirked at him, gently tilting his chin to face him.

“You know, I was hoping you’d get me…” Simon’s voice was low and there was a shift in the way he was looking at John. John stared back, blankly, watching as the other man seemed to get closer and closer…

Wait.

They were playing Seven Minutes in Heaven.

John landed on Simon.

Now they were in his bedroom.

Oh.

Right.

Yeah.

John watched as Simon inched closer and closer and he could feel his hot breath on his face. John knew he should say something, tell him he was straight or something, but he was busy looking at Simon’s eyes. Boy, were they pretty, and so were his eyelashes. He had very, very nice eyelashes. And, very nice eyebrows, too. And such pretty lips…

John grabbed the back of Simon’s head with one hand and his chin with the other, kissing him with full force. It wasn’t exactly heterosexual, but it was okay, because John had a couple of beers. Plus, Simon was really hot, and John was also really hot, and everyone else in that drama club circle was really not hot (except Nick and Warren… wait, did John really think that?) so it made sense for them to kiss each other, because, well, they’re really hot.

Yeah.

Let’s just say that they were in there for longer than seven minutes.

Chapter Text

Nick walked home that night with a group of girls from drama club, including Emmaline, the girl he got to make out with for seven minutes straight. It was pretty fun. According to Simon, John was feeling sick and was going to stay the night at his house. “Just sober him up for me, please,” Nick said.

Simon’s response? A cocky, “Oh, I will.” Weirdo.

The next day, Nick woke up and checked his phone. He saw he had quite a few Instagram DMs as well as a vague Twitter notification about “hey, check out your friend John’s Tweet, it’s blowing up!” Nick assumed it was just some poetry thing as that’s what it usually was and decided to check his DMs first.

Emmaline: I had fun ruining your lipstick last night. Lets do it again xoxo

Nick scoffed. Terrible pickup line…

Warren: TOLD YOU.

That got Nick to raise an eyebrow. He replied, “told me what, exactly?”

Last but not least…

Andy (andytaylor42069) added you (x.nickbates.x), John (johnferry), Warren (warrencuccurullo), and Simon (simonjclebon) to a group chat.

Andy: Ok, who wants to go BOWLING???

Warren: Nothing i love more than touching balls

Simon: Lol!
Simon: Yas let’s go bowling queens x

Nick shook his head. Time to see what John was up to on Twitter… He opened the app and went to his page, seeing his most recent Tweet…

johnferry: “I’M BISEXUAL”

Okay then.

Chapter Text

John woke up, that same fuzzy feeling in his head the night after Simon’s first party. He felt someone holding him and opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was someone’s shoulder and neck, dotted with marks of various colours. The memories began flooding back to him and he knew who this was even before he pulled away and looked at his face.

“Good morning,” Simon said, sleepily, his bangs hanging messily in his face. He had a soft smile and the light from his bedroom window created a beam across his face, illuminating his crystal blue eyes. “Did you sleep well?”

“Uhh, yeah.” John sat up and rubbed his face, Simon’s blanket falling off of him and exposing his bare chest. He looked down at himself, seeing that he was exponentially more marked than Simon was, and sighed. How was he going to explain this to his parents?

“What’s the matter, Tigger?” Tigger? He unlocked a nickname?

“I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to my parents,” John murmured. “I mean, I don’t think they would care, but it’s mostly the fact that I told them I’d be at Nick’s house. I don’t want them to think I lied to them or that something’s going on between Nick and I.”

Simon laughed, lightly. “You did lie to them, though. Hold on. I’ve got a scarf you can wear. Let me go get it and the rest of your clothes.”

“Okay.” John watched as Simon pushed the blankets off of him and got off of his bed. He shamelessly admired his form, checking him out and secretly wishing he slept without boxers on…

Simon exited his room and John felt mildly self-conscious, wondering if Simon’s parents would be back yet… John took his phone off the charger from Simon’s nightstand and checked the time, seeing it was only 7:15. He narrowed his eyes at the notification on his screen, saying he had… 112 new Twitter notifications?! John clicked on it.

His heart dropped instantly, and his face turned bright red. John’s “I’M BISEXUAL” Tweet, which he posted only eight hours ago, was already his most popular. Most of the things were quote retweets, most of which said things along the lines of either “Yeah, you’re friends with Nick Bates, we know” or “Nobody cares, Mister ‘Feelings R Good’.”

Two replies stood out to him in particular. One was from Warren: “I’d hit that, too” with two pictures of Bryan Ferry attached. A bunch of crazed girls from school replied to Warren, asking who this handsome fellow was. John scoffed. If this is how Roxy Music spread around his school, he was going to kill Warren and then himself… in Minecraft, of course.

The other reply was also Bryan Ferry related, but this time screenshots of his posts tagged with things that all revolved around either wanting Bryan Ferry so bad or John saying various vile things starting with “I’m straight, but…” God, he was always bisexual, wasn’t he?

That wasn’t what concerned John about the reply, though. What did was that someone managed to link his Tumblr account, which only two people from school knew about, to his Twitter account, which only people from school knew about. And that person was…

Gaia.

Fuck.

“You alright?” John looked up from his phone to see Simon came back, holding John’s clothes, neatly folded. He went over to John and kissed his cheek, before handing him his clothes. Simon then glanced at John’s phone, “Oh, I saw that. Honestly, valid. Bryan Ferry’s kinda hot. I’m not really attracted to him, though. Let me go get you your scarf.” Simon kissed John’s cheek once more, before going to his dresser and opening the drawers.

John put his phone back on Simon’s nightstand and held his warm (warm? Did Simon wash and dry his clothes…?) clothes on his lap. He watched Simon, admiring how muscular and gorgeous he was. Simon looked up, smiling at John, “See something you like?” He walked over to John, handing him the scarf, before kissing him on the cheek. “John, I want to ask you something.”

“Hm?”

“Did you… how long have you known you were bisexual, John?”

“Um, not since last night. But, looking at that Bryan Ferry thing… I guess I’ve always been. Just… heavily in denial.”

Simon started laughing and John couldn’t help but chuckle along. “That was pretty gay, John,” Simon said, before smirking at him. “You came to the conclusion you were bisexual because of a blowjob, then. How… interesting.”

John blushed. “Um… yeah. Simon, uh… is this a one-time thing?”

Simon quirked an eyebrow. “Doesn’t have to be. Why?”

“If it’s not, you should… probably meet my parents,” John murmured. That made Simon laugh even harder than before. John wasn’t sure what was so funny.

“Oh, you’re serious?” Simon chuckled again. “Wait, you’re not one of those people that thinks just because you do something sexual with someone it means you’re dating, right? Because that’s kind of very toxic, John. Although, I wouldn’t be opposed…”

“Huh?!” John scoffed. “No! I’m just saying I don’t want to keep lying to my parents that I’m with Nick when I’m not. They’re… kind of strict about certain things.”

“I’m just teasing you, Tigger, come on.” Simon planted another kiss on John, this time a brief one on his lips. “Anyway, what do you want for breakfast?”

After breakfast, John took a shower, realising he smelled bad, before he told Simon he needed to get home. Simon asked for a goodbye kiss and John obliged. The two made out for a couple of hours before John finally went home.

“How was being with Nick, sweetie?” John’s mum asked. He smiled.

“It was great, we had fun. Also, two things: on the 25th, I wanted to know if I could go bowling with him and a couple of other friends,” John began. “Um, there’s Andy, who you’ve met. Then there’s Nick’s friend, Warren, and also my new friend, Simon. Simon would be picking me up so you could get to meet him. Also, Simon’s birthday is on the 27th, so I was wondering if I could go to his party. I might end up staying over if it gets late. And, I might stay with Nick if we’re out late bowling. Is that okay?”

“You’ve been going out a lot,” John’s mum commented. “But, as long as your grades are still good, I don’t see why not. I’m happy you’re making new friends…” She paused. “Is that your scarf?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“Okay. I don’t think I’ve seen you wear it before.”

“Trying a new look. Okay, thanks, mum.” He then went off to his room, ready to spend the rest of his four-day-weekend off of school doing absolutely nothing… except writing more emo poems.

Chapter Text

Most people didn’t understand Simon Le Bon. Yes, he was (semi-)famous on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok and yes, he was super sexy-hot-cunty-slay-the-house-boots-down-Houston-I'm-deceased and popular and his parents had a lot of money, but he was SO MUCH MORE than that.

For Simon’s popularity, while he was well-loved on social media, only a fraction of his followers came from school. For some reason, every high school fic/movie/TV show writes about there being ONE popular clique who RULES THE SCHOOL and is SUPER BITCHY AND MEAN but there’s actually usually 500 different “popular kids” and it’s hard to keep up with them all and shit. While Simon was well-known by most of his fellow popular kids, he was not as well-loved as he was on social media, and there were a few reasons why.

First of all, the big glaring one: Simon’s bisexual. Somehow, people still don’t know what that means and think it either means one of three things: straight but “quirky”, gay but desperately trying not to be, or horny. The third thing was true for Simon, but the first two were nonsense. He was a pure bi queen. Unfortunately, most other popular kids refused to acknowledge that, and the only fellow popular kids he was close with were people who wanted to leech off of his microcelebrity status or girls who wanted to treat him as their cute “gay best friend” fashion accessory. Simon didn’t mind the girls, actually; they were cute, fun, had good taste, and Simon was a sucker for gossip and bitching about people. As for guys, let’s be real, a lot of popular guys are really fucking ugly for some reason and Simon does NOT hang out with ugly bitches.

Another reason Simon was not seen as equal to a lot of his popular kids was because he was one of those people that liked to talk to everyone. It was mostly accidental as Simon simply didn’t know how to shut up and talked to everyone by default, but even muttering one wrong word to the right person really sinks your popularity, you know. Unless you’re Warren Cuccurullo, then nothing you can do sinks your popularity, because you’re sexy and American, even though you think the moon landing was staged, have 1000 conspiracy theories about 9/11, and are 3’2 or something.

Oh, Warren. That was Simon’s one genuine fellow popular kid connection. He was a fucking WEIRDO and that doesn’t even cover the tip of the iceberg, but Simon had a strange love for him.

But, this isn’t about Warren. This is about Simon.

Finally, a lot of popular kids frowned upon Simon because, well, he was a theatre kid. There’s no sugar-coating it: theatre kids are fucking annoying. Being even mildly associated with them RUINS your status with any group. Even the “losers” hate theatre kids. But, Simon loved to act, and his fellow actors/actresses accepted him and showed him love in a way nobody ever had.

For the most part, anyway. The girls and the theys (+ just literally every non cis man [-Nick]) loved Simon Le Bon. But, holy fuck, he didn’t know what he DID to evoke the wrath of his fellow men. Okay, not all of them hated him, but some were again, ugly bitches, and he hated ugly people and did not associate with them. Actually, maybe Simon just hates ugly men. That or all girls are hot as hell. Probably both.

The first person that came to Simon’s mind was his sort of rival actor, Andy McCluskey. They were both choir kids and theatre kids and Simon really respected Andy. Andy was a huge fucking nerd and a bit pretentious (Simon was surprised he and Nick were not best friends due to their whole “wow I love the Velvet Underground so much and I love kissing Lou Reed’s ass every chance I get” thing), but still insanely talented and generally cool. But, he and his whole group of friends, including his absolute babe of a girlfriend, thought Simon was a total twat! Simon wondered if they thought he couldn’t hear them snickering about him whenever they all came to drama events, but fuck, it was confusing.

Speaking of people who talked about Simon behind his back, there was also Dave Gahan, one of the fellow choir/theatre kids, as well as a punk/loner/supposedly a drug dealer. Simon had a love-hate relationship with Dave. He thought he was sorta cool, but sometimes Dave could be a dick. On Dave’s side, it seemed to be solely hate, however, even more so when his friend Alan Wilder was around.

Sigh… Alan Wilder. God. He’s your typical child prodigy/band kid. He originally played the flute but switched to percussion after he got hooked on cigarettes. With certain people, he’s quite polite, but with others (such as Simon), he’s a total PRETENTIOUS ASSHOLE. To make things worse, he’s bright as fuck, meaning when he burns you, he fucking BURNS you. Simon pretended to not give a fuck about most things, but damn, Alan was cruel. Simon was nearly certain it was because he was one of those guys who felt insecure about Simon being bisexual. It was obvious that Alan was deep inside a glass closet and desperately wanted Dave up his ass (too bad there’s a stick in there), and his constant jabs at Simon didn’t help him, especially because 90% of them involved him complaining that Simon was nothing more than a shallow, pretty boy…

Pretty boys. John Taylor. Dreamy sigh. We’ll get to him later. For now… Nick Bates.

There was so much that Simon thought about Nick that it was overwhelming. He was a diva. That’s all there was to it. Well, maybe he just was because Simon knew how to push his buttons. It was easy to: Nick was kind of… no, not kind of, he definitely was a huge control freak. Otherwise, he seemed pretty calm and collected…

That’s how he was at school, anyway. There was a side of Nick that he was hiding and Simon only knew because he was hiding a side of himself, too. Long story short, Simon likes to play DND with some of his fellow theatre kids. And… his character may or may not basically be a furry. And Simon may or may not have a secret “dogboy” identity online. Aaaanddd… he may or may not be in a mutual Discord server with someone who goes by Nick or Dior (the preferred name) who posts selfies with their face obscured who looks (based on the half of their face Simon can see and how Dior’s hair looks) exactly like Nick. This is also how Simon knows Nick is not cis, as Dior describes their gender as “whatever”. Or, of course it could be a persona. It’s a lot to unpack, I know.

Anyway, back to John Taylor! Simon didn’t know a lot about him except that he was Nick’s gloomy, artistic friend. He had had classes with John and he always seemed charming, even if he was highly oblivious to it, and also quite nerdy. But, GOD, as soon as he changed his style… it was like something happened. In the best way possible. Simon was always strangely attracted to him, but it’s like the attraction went through the roof. And, through his and John’s newfound, er… special friendship… he was learning more and more about him and crushing harder and harder on him…

Crushes. John. Nick. Roger. Both Simon and Warren could smell the gay on him a mile away. He wondered what was up between him and Nick. But, Simon had a plan to get them back together… as friends, he guessed. What better way to do that than a friendly group outing?

Oh, yeah, the group outing of bowling, suggested by Andy. That guy exists, too.

Chapter Text

Nick’s days were back to being mundane following the conclusion of Les Mis. He was back to normal school things and anticipating nothing for a couple of weeks until the winter play was announced.

Well, not entirely true, he supposed. There was the bowling outing, Simon’s birthday party, and then Halloween. But, he didn’t really care about the first two. Sure, it was always nice to hang out with John, and Warren was quite a character and a fun friend, but that was the extent of it.

Speaking of John… he wouldn’t stop complaining to Nick about Gaia, now, saying it was unbelievably creepy she found his other social media. “Well, John, you have the same exact handle for your Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr,” Nick murmured as the two stood at his locker. He fiddled with the combination lock, before opening it up. “And, it’s obvious she thinks quite highly of you.”

“‘Thinks quite highly of me?’ We’ve only known each other for… let me count…” Nick glanced over at John, seeing him count on his fingers. He raised an eyebrow.

“You keeping track of the days on your fingers says a lot,” Nick muttered as John said, “We’ve known each other for about a month and a half.”

“What?” John huffed as Nick swapped out what books he was carrying. He glanced at the floor. “There’s an envelope by your feet. Is that yours?”

“Hm?” Nick bent down, picking up the pastel pink envelope. He flipped it over. Sure enough, his name was on it, written in all caps. “I guess someone slipped a letter in my locker. I didn’t realise people still did that.”

“Maybe it’s Emmaline,” John teased as Nick closed his locker. Nick rolled his eyes.

“I hope not. She was fun to kiss, but quite boring to talk to.”

-

Nick sat in his maths class, bored. He didn’t want to hear about dividing quadratics anymore. When the fuck was he ever going to use this? He sighed, staring down at his textbook, the page covered in doodles of David Byrne.

Nick reached into his bag and got out the pink envelope from earlier. He decided to open it up and read it:

Nick,

I have been thinking a lot and I wanted to apologise to you. It was unfair of me to blame you for what other people said about us. You mean a lot to me and I miss having you as my friend. Can we make up?

-Roger

Nick stared at the note. It was short and sweet and did the job, but he couldn’t help but long for something more. He was unsure of where the hell he would even find Roger, considering he had no idea where he moved to, and unfortunately, there was only one person he could think of that seemed to know where everyone was at all times…

Nick sighed as he got out a sheet of paper and ripped it in half, before ripping it in half again. First he got a letter in his locket and now he was passing notes during class. It was like he wasn’t even living in the modern era.

The note made its way to Simon, who opened it and read it. He turned and smiled at Nick, mouthing something. Nick cocked his head and Simon, being the idiot he was, began to whisper shout, “I’LL SHOW YOU-”

The maths teacher made her way over to Simon, before she took the note from him. Luckily, she wasn’t one of those who read notes out loud. Instead she just sighed, rolled her eyes, threw the note in the recycling bin, and went back to teaching. She was definitely one of those who knew she didn’t get paid enough for this shit.

After class, Simon approached Nick, “Hey, Nick!”

“Hello.”

“So, Roger,” Simon said. “He’s probably with the other punks. They usually just hang out behind the school. I’ll show you.”

“I know where that is,” Nick cut Simon off. “I’ll find it.”

“Oh, are you sure?”

“Yes, thank you. See you tomorrow.”

Nick walked off, texting John that he would either be late to lunch or not at lunch as he left the building. He sighed to himself as he walked around the school, looking for a herd of black, leather-clad Brits with spiky hair, patches, and pins. Perhaps Nick should have let Simon guide him, but he knew that the loners weren’t exactly receptive to Le Bon. He didn’t blame them, though…

He spotted a small group leaning against the building, smoking and vaping… mostly vaping. Among them was Roger, who had a cigarette in between his lips as a girl laid against him, her head on his shoulder. A pang of jealousy ran through Nick, but he decided to make his way over.

The group stopped chattering as Nick got closer. They all turned and eyed Nick, as if they were scrutinising his white dress shirt, baby blue blazer, and elegant white scarf. Some of them seemed amused and others seemed like they were disgusted by the THEATRE KID entering their territory.

“Hi, Nick,” Dave greeted him, a girl of his own leaning against him. Nick observed the girl, not recognising her. She looked… too old to go to this school. But, Nick didn’t say anything.

“Hello,” Nick said. “Roger, I got your letter. Can we talk?”

“Yeah,” Roger replied, before nudging the girl off of him. She removed herself, before she went over to lay on another girl. Wow. Punks were cuddly. Roger put out his cigarette on the pavement, before he stood up and walked towards Nick. “You look nice,” he said as the two began walking off to somewhere more private.

“Thanks.” They crossed a field on their school grounds and sat at a picnic table. “Er…”

“I’m sorry,” Roger spoke up. “I was being immature and insecure and a bad friend. But, I want to be friends again. I miss you and like you a lot.”

Nick paused. “It’s okay,” he replied. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. Um… but, yes, let’s be friends. Just friends.”

“Well-” Roger stopped himself, before nodding. “Okay. Friends. See you tomorrow, Nick.”

“Are you going to eat lunch with John and I again?”

Roger thought for a moment. “Yes. I’ll be there.”

Nick beamed. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

-

The rest of the week was nice. Roger finally sat with Nick and John again, and Andy and Warren were both back to joining on occasion. Even Simon was there sometimes.

On Friday afternoon, Nick was greeted by Roger, Andy, and Warren coming to his parents’ flat. John told Nick that he was going to introduce Simon to his parents, so they were going to meet them at the bowling alley. Nick’s mum was kind to his two new friends (Warren had been over to Nick’s house a few times prior to this) and made them all dinner before they left. It was interesting having three other people join Nick and his family for dinner, but their conversation went well.

Andy drove with Warren sitting in the front seat, much to his obvious dismay, and Nick and Roger sitting in the back. A Sex Pistols song played softly on the speakers. Warren was rambling about something that nobody cared about. Nick couldn’t help himself from continually glancing over at Roger. Sometimes, he caught the other man looking back, before they both looked away.

They got to the bowling alley and parked. The group went inside and met with Simon and John. Nick rolled his eyes as Oasis’s “Champagne Supernova” played over the speakers. Out of all of the fucking Britpop they could play… He huffed, hoping he’d hear some Pulp later to make up for this shit.

“Hey, lads! Let’s go get our shoes and then bowl a couple of games,” Simon said. Nick’s heart dropped.

“No.”

Everyone turned around. Simon raised an eyebrow and laughed. “Sorry, Nick, what was that?”

“Bowling shoes are UGLY. I am NOT wearing them,” Nick hissed.

“Oh, well you kind of have to wear bowling shoes to bowl.”

“Then, I guess I’m watching,” Nick murmured. Everyone exchanged confused and amused glances, before the group of six men went to the counter. They were given five pairs of shoes and then went to their lane.

Nick inspected the area as Simon, John, Warren, and Andy chattered amongst themselves. It was your typical bowling alley: beige walls, 80’s looking arcade carpet, and tacky paintings that were like bowling equivalents of those sandwich topping pictures they put up at Subway. Nick noticed there was a disco ball hanging from the ceiling, which was cute. The neon pink-and-blue lights reflected nicely off of it.

Nick sat down in a booth and looked up at the screen. Warren, who set up the game, chose a “disco” theme, which Nick supposed was fitting for the bowling alley. The order of the bowlers went John, Roger, Andy, Simon, and then Warren. As John, Andy, and Roger sifted through bowling balls, Warren got up and went to order food. Nick was surprised he didn’t go on some rant about how everything was going to be deep fried.

“Champagne Supernova” trickled away and One Direction’s “One Thing” began playing on the speaker, to which Simon began ecstatically singing along at full volume. Nick scoffed and rolled his eyes, but he had to admit that Simon was a good singer.

“One Direction? Really?” John teased, before walking up to the lane and rolling his ball.

“Yes, John, I’m a Directioner for LIFE!” Simon exclaimed. “2 whole pins, John. Good job.”

“I’m just warming up,” John replied. He then knocked down 5 more, for a score of 7.

On Roger’s first turn, he got a 5, and then a spare. “Well, you know what they say,” Andy said to nobody in particular. “You’re either good at bowling or you’re good at sex!” Roger blushed, before Andy picked up his ball and went. He got a strike.

Simon also managed to get a spare with 3 and 7. While the four men waited for Warren’s return, they talked. Metro Station’s “Shake It” started playing and Simon wouldn’t stop singing. “This is LITERALLY one of the worst songs ever fucking written, Simon!” John hissed.

“It’s so fire, what are you talking about?!” Simon said, dancing around and singing loud enough for the whole entire group. Roger was still blushing and rubbing the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed, but there was a stupid grin stuck on his face. Andy was surprisingly chill, dancing and laughing along as well, and Nick noticed his enthusiasm was rubbing off on John. Nick didn’t remember the last time he’d seen him so happy…

Warren came back with some french fries, chicken tenders, fried pickles, and six drinks. Nick was shocked that he was buying meat products, but then he saw him hand a wallet to Simon. Of course he was buying everything again. Nick picked up his drink and watched as Warren bowled. He got a 3 on the first frame and then his ball went straight in the gutter. “Well, you know what they say,” Warren began, a smirk on his face. “You’re either good at bowling or good at sex!”

“Whatever,” Andy murmured, right as Simon and Warren began doing the whitest of white boy raps to Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back”. Nick ate his fried pickles, sipped on his Coca-Cola, and watched the five men. Simon was constantly being dancy and singing along to every single song. Warren danced with him, too, but sometimes he sat by Nick and chatted with him. John hung around Simon a lot of the time. Roger stood there awkwardly, clearly embarrassed by Simon’s antics. Andy, thoroughly annoyed by the “bad at sex” jokes as he got his third strike in a row stuck mostly with Nick, strangely enough.

The final scores were John with 149, Roger with 112, Andy with 184, Simon with 111, and Warren with 41. The six of them took a selfie in front of the bowling scores, even though Nick didn’t do anything.

“There’s a pool table in the arcade,” Warren said. “Let’s go play pool so Nick has something to do.” Nick was more interested in the arcade, but he obliged. The six men took their drinks to the arcade area and found the pool table. The teams were Warren, Nick, and Roger against Andy, John, and Simon. “You break, Nick.”

“Okay,” Nick replied, before barely hitting the cue ball.

“That’s okay, Nick. You’ve got this.” Warren put the cue ball back and Nick tried again. He failed. Warren kept giving him chances as Andy, John, and Simon laughed at him. Roger looked greatly amused and Nick could tell he was trying not to smile. “Come on guys, it isn’t funny,” Warren replied, laughing through his words. “Okay, Nick, I’ll break.”

Warren, Nick, and Roger were solids. Andy, John, and Simon were stripes.

The game of pool went by quickly, solely because Warren was apparently really fucking good at pool and when it was finally his turn again, he got five balls in in a row. Roger was also pretty good. Everyone else was kind of okay, but Nick was utterly shit. He got one ball in and it wasn’t even his own team’s.

Warren, Nick, and Roger won. Warren asked Nick to take a photo of him and Roger in front of the pool table. Nick felt mildly insulted that he wasn’t in the image. He didn’t even tell Warren that Simon photobombed the image by flipping off the camera behind him.

Finally, Nick could be alone with his arcade games. He went to go play Asteroids and fucking KILLED. He probably used ten quid worth of arcade tokens on it. Time passed by too quickly. “Nick, it’s time to leave,” John said, appearing behind him.

“I’m busy!” Nick huffed.

“Dude, the bowling alley’s closing in like ten minutes, don’t be a dickhead.”

“I’m BUSY- AAAHHHHH!” Nick let out a literal screech as John picked him up and threw him over his shoulder. He swung his legs awkwardly, trying to pretend like he didn’t like it when John carried him. The six of them left the bowling alley.

John put Nick down as he went off to Simon’s car with him. “See you at my birthday party! 7pm, Sunday! Don’t forget! Dress code is… fabulous!” Simon called. Everyone exchanged goodbyes. Nick sat in the back of Andy’s car with Roger.

“I think Simon and John were fucking in the bathroom,” Warren spoke up.

Andy huffed. “No. John’s not gay.”

“He’s bisexual, Andy.”

“Yeah, but he’s not… he wouldn’t do that.”

“Yeah, he would.”

As Andy and Warren bickered over Simon and John’s sex lives, Nick felt something soft nudge his arm. He glanced up and over at Roger, seeing him hold a furry red bunny plush. “I won this in the claw machine,” Roger replied. “Do you want it?”

“Sure,” Nick mumbled, before taking the bunny. He looked at it. It was a bit fucked up looking, but cute.

“Hey,” Warren spoke up. “Are you two dating again?”

“We never were dating. We’re just friends,” Nick replied. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that. But, yeah, Roger and I are friends again.” He turned and smiled at Roger, who smiled back. Nick’s heart fluttered and he subconsciously squeezed the bunny a bit out of happiness.

Nick got home and deyassified himself, before flopping on his bed. He put his new bunny friend with his millions of other plushies, including his strawberry cow from John. The red bunny didn’t fit in with his pastel pink aesthetic, but that was okay, because it was a special gift from a special person.

Nick checked his social media before bed, seeing Simon and Warren had both tagged him in new posts. Warren’s was just the bowling photo (Nick laughed to himself thinking that Warren probably didn’t want Simon’s middle finger on his thirst-trap filled Instagram feed), captioned with “You’re either good at bowling or you’re good at sex.”

Simon’s, however, started with a picture of him and John, posing cutely, their heads touching. He swiped to find the bowling photos and saw that Simon took a photo of Nick deeply focused on Asteroids without him realising as well as a photo of Nick thrown over John’s shoulder.

Nick swiped back to the start, before he realised something interesting. Something… colourful. On Simon and John’s necks. He laughed to himself. Who knew Simon was John’s type?

His laughing quickly ceased when he got two notifications back to back: “Gaia (gaiacpl593h) started following you.” and “Gaia (gaiacpl593h) wants to send you a message.” Nick clicked on the second one, cautiously.

Gaia: Hi, Nick. It’s Gaia! John told me you know about me.
Gaia: Who’s Simon?

Nick snorted and typed out a snarky reply, “ask your boyfriend.” before he hit send and turned off his phone, going to bed for the night.

Chapter Text

John had stayed at Simon’s house the night after bowling and the following days. He had gotten to know Simon’s parents and his fifteen- and twelve-year-old brother pretty well. Normally, John liked spending his weekends alone, writing poetry and whatnot, but he was strangely enjoying becoming close to Simon. It was like an escape in some ways.

John got to meet even more of Simon’s family for his family birthday party. Apparently, Simon shared a birthday with his dad, so it was a pretty big celebration. Around six o’clock, Simon’s parents and brothers left to who-knows-where, leaving Simon to prep for his party. John, of course, helped.

After all the red-and-gold decorations of the party were set up, Simon and John picked out outfits to wear. John liked that he and Simon were the same height solely because it meant John was able to steal things from Simon’s wardrobe, which had far more fashionable and expensive clothes in it than John had. Simon seemed more than thrilled to let the other man wear his clothes and John noticed he seemed to take pride in dressing him up. For Simon’s birthday party, Simon dressed John in a white dress shirt, leather jacket, leather pants, a fancy black belt, and fingerless gloves. Simon wore a white dress shirt, a black blazer with white-and-red flowers embroidered on it, and black dress pants. The two then went into Simon’s bathroom and gave each other full faces of makeup.

“Too bad your lipstick will get ruined later,” Simon teased, kissing John on the lips. John kissed back. After a brief moment, Simon pulled away, “Later. Not now.” There was a ringing of the doorbell and Simon got up. “Oh, I bet those are the girls. C’mon, Tigger, come meet my friends.”

Every single time for the next hour and a half or so that someone entered Simon’s flat, John was dragged along to meet them and say hi. He got to meet Simon’s popular friends and “girlfriends”, remember some of the theatre kids, and also say hi to some arts and music students. Warren, Andy, Roger, and Nick all also showed up together, but John didn’t get to talk with them much, as Simon pulled him along everywhere he went.

Soon, the festivities started. Everybody sang “happy birthday” to Simon and he blew out his candles. After the guests all ate cake, Simon began going through his presents. As he did, John felt his face flushed. Since he had been with Simon in his house the past few days, he forgot to get him something…

But, that was okay. It seemed like Andy and Warren forgot, too. John was surprised that Nick and Roger were the two that remembered out of their entire friend group. Nick got Simon some sparkly ass accessories and Roger got Simon a record from some punk girl group. Simon seemed the most appreciative of Roger’s group as he began rattling on about it for far too long and people began tuning him out.

Afterwards, there was drinking, dancing, and party games. John stayed mostly with Simon and the girls, not bothering to talk to Nick or anyone else. He enjoyed finally having the attention of pretty ladies and them throwing themselves all over him. It was also nice to be praised for his poetry and be applauded for his vulnerability and creative genius for once instead of being shaded on Twitter…

But, eventually the high of the girls and the booze wore off, and John excused himself to go be alone in Simon’s bedroom. He plopped down on his bed and laid down, feeling exhausted…

John turned on his phone and saw he had a few new Instagram followers on his account, now named “john_taylor_” because that was the most creative thing he could come up with and he wasn’t keen on Andy's idea of “johntaylor42069”.

He sighed as he looked through his new followers, seeing Gaia’s name there. She apologised profusely on Discord to him, saying she didn’t mean to step over a boundary and that she had made a mistake and that she just wanted to be friends with him again and she missed John and talking with him about life and music and whatever and that maybe they should voice call or something to talk more about it and maybe make up… John rubbed his forehead as he thought about her.

John then received a text from his mum, telling him to have fun and stay safe, but that she expected him back home tomorrow because he’s been gone too much and she and John’s dad are worried about him and want to know he’s okay and all of that… He replied “okay” before he set his phone aside. John then let his eyes close, feeling so tired…

“John?”

The room was pitch black when he was shaken awake. John rubbed his eyes and looked at the shadowy figure in front of him, who was no doubt Simon. Simon chuckled, “You just messed up your eyeliner.”

“Oh.” John sat up as Simon flicked the bedside lamp on. Simon then sat beside John, snuggling him. John let himself relax against the other man as Simon wrapped his arm around him and ran his fingers through his hair. “What time is it?”

“Eleven-ish,” Simon said. “I was going to wake you up earlier, but you looked so peaceful. I planned to before Nick left, but he slipped away without me noticing.”

“Is anyone here still?”

“No,” Simon replied. “Just us. Want me to take you home?”

“No,” John murmured. “Unless you don’t want me here. It’s okay if you don’t… I’m sorry I didn’t get you a present.”

Simon chuckled, before pecking John on the lips. “You being here is the present, Tigger.”

“That’s so fucking cheesy.”

“It is, isn’t it? To be honest, I stole that from Warren. That’s what he said to me.”

“Sounds like Warren.”

“Mhm. He’s… special.”

The two of them cuddled in silence for a bit. They eventually got more and more touchy, before that promised “lipstick ruining” session began. Later, John did end up giving Simon a “birthday present”, by “blowing out” his “candle”. Afterwards, they took a very platonic shower together in order to wash the hairspray out of their hair and take off their makeup, before they cuddled to sleep.

Chapter Text

Today was gay Christmas aka Halloween aka Nick’s favourite holiday. He and John hadn’t planned a costume like they usually do, so Nick was going with the old reliable vampire get up. He put on a suit and cape, a black bowtie, put black hair chalk in his hair and proceeded to tease and hairspray it to death, put in one of his many pairs of plastic vampire fangs (don’t ask why he has so many), created a fake trail of blood down his lip and mouth, and used makeup to make himself look as dead inside (but also glamourous with too much eyeliner and overfilled eyebrows) as possible.

Nick’s mum and dad both gave him a look as he left and took the bus to school. Then, everyone there stared at him as well. He rolled his eyes. Did nobody know what day it was?!

Finally, the bus stopped near Nick’s school, and he got off, walking in the cold to the smoker’s corner. His face fell as he saw John smoking a cigarette, CLEARLY NOT WEARING A COSTUME. Nick took out his phone. Sure enough, it was October 31st! Halloween…!

Nick marched up to John, “Where’s your costume?” He said, right as John let out a, “Hey, Nick.”

“Well, we haven’t really talked about Halloween,” John murmured.

“We don’t have to always twin costumes,” Nick replied. “And, yeah, we haven’t, because every time we talk, it’s you talking about Gaia or Simon.”

“Or you talking about Roger.”

“But mostly you talking about Gaia and Simon…” The two friends were speaking in flat tones, but they were smiling at one another, enjoying their banter. “How are things with them, by the way?”

“Simon and I are still pretty good friends, as you know,” John said. Nick raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. “I accepted Gaia’s apology and now she’s keeping her distance a bit. We only make small talk now. No more Roxy Music, no more David Bowie, no more poetry, no more selfies…” John took a long drag off of his cigarette. “And how are things with Roger and… I don’t know. Whatever you do on Discord.”

“Roger and I are just friends, as we always have been,” Nick mumbled. He thought about how to reply to the second question. Nick’s Discord kitten adventures were, as always, fruitful. He was currently manipulating five guys at once. But, John didn’t want or need to know that. “Discord is Discord.”

“Yeah, Gaia made me join a glam server with her, and it’s just fifteen-year-olds talking about sex,” John huffed. “And, the only glam they talk about is glam metal, not any of the actual good shit.”

“You’re… going to find a lot of that.”

“Well, what kind of Discord servers are YOU in?”

Nick paused. “Hm.” Mostly just ones for autistic people, gay people, catboys etc., fashion, makeup, or vtubers. But, John didn’t want or need to know that. “Nothing you’d find interesting.”

“...Why not? We have plenty in common, I’m sure there’s something.”

“I’m not in any music ones, to be honest.”

“Let’s make one, then,” John said. “A glam ROCK server. That way, I can talk about Roxy Music somewhere nonstop, and you can talk about, uhm… fucking… what is it, the blonde girl from Japan.”

Nick narrowed his eyes. “His name is David Sylvian.”

“Whatever.” John took another drag off of his cigarette. “Me. You. Anyone else who wants to join. Library. Lunch. Discord server. Glam rock. Called… Virginia Plain.”

Nick sighed. “Okay, sure. Although, does everyone in our friend group need to watch…”

“Yes. Because they’re all going to make Discord and join.”

“...Okay, then.”

-

And so there they sat: Nick, John, Roger, Simon, and Warren on library computers, with Andy looking over Roger’s shoulder. Nick was guiding John on how to create a server as well as telling Warren and Roger how to create an account. Simon was apparently the only one capable of using a computer without help.

“Okay, I made it. What channels should I add?” John asked.

“Set up the rules and a verification system,” Nick replied. “You can use Carl-bot for verifying and then when people agree, they can get a role.”

“Oh, I’ve seen those. How do I make roles?”

“Scroll up. Now, click the server’s name and go to server settings. Then, go to roles…”

“Ah. Okay. I think I’ve got this. Should I add some pronoun roles and stuff, too?”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Roger spoke up, “Nick?”

“Yeah, Roger?” He glanced at Roger’s screen. “Yep, that’s the Discord website. Now, click register.”

“Er… Nick, I don’t have an email.”

“Go to Gmail and make an email.”

“How do I get to Gmail?”

“Go back to Google and Google Gmail…”

Warren interjected, “Is warrencockandballs a good username? You said everyone on this website talks about sex, right?”

“That’s stupid,” John hissed, right as Andy replied, “That’s brilliant.”

“Fine, how about warrencockandballtorture?”

“Hey, if you six don’t quiet down, you’re going to need to leave,” an incredibly elderly library lady said, before eyeing Nick. “Costumes are against the school dress code.”

“Er… actually, it isn’t. I checked,” Nick huffed.

“I’m going to call someone down here,” the lady threatened.

“Okay,” Nick said, dryly. The lady walked off at a snail’s pace, before the group turned back to their computers. Nick sighed as he pulled out his school agenda, flipping to the dress code page, while trying to give Roger instructions.

“What a kinphobe,” Simon muttered. John laughed. Nick raised an eyebrow.

“Simon, who taught you that word?”

“Um… I’m on TikTok, Nick.”

“Oh. I guess that’s true,” Nick muttered. He then raised his eyebrows again. Before Nick could ask “what side of TikTok are you on?!”, Andy interrupted him: “What’s a ‘kinphobe’?”

“Like a homophobe but for kinning,” John replied. “I bet I have to explain that to you, too. So, kinning is basically when you identify as something non-human, or like, identify as a character. For example..”

“Nick, can you please help me make an email?” Roger pleaded.

Nick sighed, “Andy, please help Roger make a damn email.”

“I just got DMed by a mod in the Minecraft Discord server telling me to change my name. I’m telling them no,” Warren announced.

“Nick, are you a vampire otherkin?” Andy said. “‘Cause that’s stupid.”

“No,” Nick grumbled, lying through his teeth. “John, invite me to our damn server.”

“They just kicked me,” Warren said. “Have you guys read 1984? Because this is just like that.”

“What’s wrong with otherkin people, Andy?” Simon questioned.

“I thought they weren’t people,” Andy retorted.

“I’m joining the Lofi Girl server now,” Warren announced. “Surely they won’t censor me.”

John set Nick the server invite. Nick sighed at the state of the server. “John, what the hell are you doing…”

“What?!” John huffed.

“The fucking Lofi Girl server kicked me immediately. This app fucking sucks ass,” Warren hissed.

“Okay, you need to all leave.” The library lady was back, and a member of administration was with her. The group of boys became a chorus of grumbles and eyerolls, while Roger looked more than happy to leave. “That’s the boy who is wearing a costume.”

“Sir, you need to take that off,” the administrator said.

“It’s not against the dress code,” Nick said, showing the administrator the school handbook. “Look.”

“There was an announcement made yesterday that there will be no Halloween costumes allowed.”

“It’s Halloween? I didn’t realise that was today,” Andy said.

“It’s the same day every year,” Simon responded, flatly.

“How do you know this is a costume? Maybe I just dress like this,” Nick replied.

“Why aren’t you wearing a costume, then, Simon?” Andy asked.

“I hate Halloween. Gets in the way of my birthday week,” Simon grumbled.

Nick would’ve said something sarcastic about Simon’s birthday week, but alas, he was busy. “Don’t talk back to me, mister,” the administrator warned.

“How am I talking back?”

“That’s it. You’re getting detention.”

“What the hell?” Simon spoke up, defending Nick. “Detention for what? You can’t just make up rules.”

“You get detention, too, mister. Actually, all of you do. For making a scene in the library.”

“Oh, great, we’re the fucking Breakfast Club,” John grumbled in Nick’s ear. Nick had to bite back a laugh. They were all six handed detention slips, before the administrator walked them out of the library.

“This is fucking bullshit,” Andy hissed.

“Well, hey, now you can work on your Discord server in detention,” Warren spoke up. “I’m going to join the Rock and Metal Community Server next. They have to like my username, right?”

“Nobody likes your fucking username, Warren,” John snapped. With that, the bell rang, and they all dispersed, going to their respective classes for the second half of the day.

-

Nick narrowed his eyes as he walked into detention. Since he is a genius, he hid his phone inside his suit jacket and lied to the attendant about having one. John did the same thing. So did Warren, although Nick wasn’t sure where he hid it since he wasn’t wearing anything beside his shirt and jeans. He decided not to let his imagination run wild.

“Okay, there’s no way four of you don’t own a phone,” the detention clerk exclaimed.

“No, Roger doesn’t have a phone,” Andy spoke up from drawing on the desk he sat at. “He doesn’t even know how technology works. I had to teach him to make a Gmail account today.”

“Alright. Go sit down.”

Besides the six of them, there were five other people there. Nick recognised none of them, although he was pleased to see three of them were in costume… or two of them. The girl with the cat tail might not have been wearing a costume.

“Alright, everyone, be quiet,” the detention monitor boomed. “Looks like this is all of you. You’re going to start by reading over the student handbook…”

-

Detention didn’t end soon enough. Nick overestimated how easy it’d be to slip his phone out of his suit pocket, so he did not end up working on that Discord server. He did, however, peer at Warren joining random Community servers and getting kicked because of cock and ball torture. “I guess I’ll have to change my shit to frankzappalover or something,” Warren muttered.

John and Simon walked off together and Andy in another direction. Warren waved goodbye to Nick, before Roger went up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. “Hi,” Nick said. “Sorry that we got you in detention.”

“That’s okay,” Roger said. “Do you want to go trick-or-treating together…?”

“Oh?” Nick was caught off-guard by the question, but slowly nodded. “Er, do you have a costume…”

“I have face paint at home,” Roger said. “Do you want to come over and help me figure out what to be?”

“Oh, sure,” Nick replied. “Yeah, let’s go.” Roger nodded and the two sat and waited for the bus together. They chattered about school and Discord, with Roger asking more about the app. Nick pulled out his phone and logged out of Discord to show Roger how to use it and find him some public servers on third-party websites to join.

They were silent on the bus. Nick offered one of his Airpods to Roger so they could listen to music together. Nick let Roger pick the album. Siouxsie and the Banhees’s “Spellbound” started playing as Roger handed Nick his phone back, the tune drowning out the noise of the other passengers on the bus.

They got off right as “Night Shift” started and Roger led Nick down the pavement and through a neighbourhood. “This is me,” Roger said, handing Nick his Airpod back. He let Nick inside and Nick looked around, curiously. Roger’s parents had a nice flat.

Roger showed Nick to his bedroom. It was small, dark, and punk posters covered the walls. Nick noticed that Roger had each and every poster of his in white frames, which contrasted nicely with the rest of the room. “Here’s all my makeup.”

Nick looked through Roger’s makeup, seeing a few eyeliner pencils, some barely used foundation, concealer, and blush, as well as a face painting set that looked like it could be found at whatever England’s equivalent of Walmart is. “Let me see your wardrobe,” Nick said.

“What…?”

“Your wardrobe, Roger. To coordinate an outfit.”

“Uh… well, it’s there.” Roger gestured to a wardrobe. Nick got up, an eyebrow cocked as he opened it and looked through it. Mostly just casual wear… Nick sighed.

“I’m just going to turn you into a zombie,” Nick replied. “Then, we’ll both be undead together.”

“Okay, cool.”

It didn’t take long for Nick to turn Roger into a glamorous punk zombie. He took a selfie with him when they were done. As Roger and Nick left Roger’s bedroom, they ran into Roger’s parents, so Nick got to meet them. They were relatively normal, nice people. It made Nick wonder how Roger ended up being punk…

The two took the bus again as per Nick’s suggestion to go to a rich people neighbourhood so that they could get decent candy. They used their school bags to hold their candy. It was a lot of fun being with Roger and ringing the bell to random people’s flats, but what Nick enjoyed most was all the old people thinking he was a girl and then getting shocked when he said “Thank you” to them in his unusually deep man voice.

After a few hours, they went back to where Roger lived. They sat in Roger’s bedroom and Roger ending up giving most of his candy to Nick, before Roger invited him to stay the night. Nick agreed, his heart fluttering at the thought of a highly platonic evening with his close male friend. The two watched horror movies together, with Roger telling Nick he’d hold his hand so he didn’t get scared. But, in the end, it was Roger who kept shielding his eyes, begging Nick to tell him when it was over…

Afterwards, Nick went to shower. Roger didn’t own any pajamas, so he ended up loaning Nick a shirt and a pair of shorts as Nick refused to sleep in just boxers, because, well, that’s not very fabulous, he needs silk robes and slippers, damnit. But, he supposed Roger’s normal clothing would do… At least it was a Blondie shirt, with a very fabulous picture of Debbie Harry on it.

“Hey, Nick?” Nick reentered the room and looked at Roger, sitting on his bed.

“What?” Nick asked, before going over to sit by him, leaving plenty of space.

“Do you want to cuddle?”

Nick’s heart skipped a beat. He had to stop himself from smiling like a teenage girl. “Abso… I mean, yes. That’d be nice.”

“Okay. Come here.” Nick watched as Roger laid down and got under the blankets. Nick joined him, and the other man wrapped his arms around him, spooning him gently. “Good night.”

“Good night.” Silence filled the air and Nick stayed awake for far too long as he felt Roger’s unusually strong arms holding him. He stared into the darkness, having very heterosexual thoughts. Before he knew it, his eyelids were dropping, and he let sleep overtake him.

Chapter Text

Hey, there! Are YOU a fan of glam music? Come join Nick and John’s “Virginia Plain” server! There’s a lot of cool stuff in it that you’ll see once you agree to the rules. (Rules include but are not limited to: don’t be a discriminatory asshole, no self-promoting, no NSFW topics, post in the correct channels, no spam, keep sensitive topics in the vent channel.) Did you agree to them? Great.

Blip. John clicked on the DM he received from “warrenzappa42069”: “Why’s there a no NSFW rule?”

Sigh.

First, let’s go look at the roles. There aren’t that many. First, there are pronouns roles, including awesome pronouns such as he, she, they, and/or other. You can select multiple if you’d like.

John then got another DM, this time from “andytaylor42069”: “There are OTHER pronouns?”

Then, there are some ping roles: general pings, announcement pings, listening parties, server event pings, Question of the Day pings, Song of the Day pings, Album of the Week pings, and partnership pings. There are also roles for being okay with DMs, if people need to ask to DM, or if nobody can DM. There’s another for if you’re okay with friend requests. Next, there are the very important roles of choosing whether or not you’re a minor, because grooming is bad and you have to watch what you say around the kids, okay? (Ignore that both admins are 17.) Finally, there are some colour roles, including but not limited to Country Life Green, Aladdin Sane Orange, and Japan Red.

johnferry: nick, isn’t the album called “adolescent sex?”

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: I am NOT having a role called ADOLESCENT SEX RED in our server.

There’s not much to look at under this “Basics” category besides those two… actually, why don’t you look at the introductions channel? Admin Nick has decided to manually verify everyone, so in order to get in, you need to introduce yourself… why don’t you write something? If you’re struggling, feel free to look at the other introductions we have so far:

johnferry: hey, everyone. my name’s john and i’m one of two admins of the “virginia plain” server, along with nick. i am 17 (born 20 june), from birmingham uk, and use he/him pronouns. my favourite band of all-time is roxy music and i will be talking mostly about them in this server. i also really like james bond films.

nick ♡: Hey everyone, my name is Nick, I use he/him pronouns, am 17 (8 June), and from Birmingham UK. I’m John’s co-admin and best friend. My favourite glam artist is definitely David Bowie, but I love some others, too, like The New York Dolls and Japan. A lot of people have actually told me I look like David Sylvian when he was younger! Besides those bands, my favourite band is The Velvet Underground, but I also like stuff like The Beatles, Kraftwerk, Talking Heads, and Grace Jones. Besides music, I love arts, film, and fashion. I look forward to getting to know everyone!

andytaylor42069: i’m andy

warrenzappa42069: Hey all, my name is warren, and i like t. rex and frank zappa. Dm me to ask for my instagram (used to have it linked in this intro but an admin made me remove it because that’s self promotion apparently)

You might be wondering where two other characters’ intros are. Well, one hasn’t joined the server yet because he hasn’t given John nor Nick his Discord, and the other still hasn’t quite figured out how to navigate Discord servers. That’s okay, though! Let’s move on in our journey through this server.

Here are some of the general chatting channels. There’s a general chat, an art and photography channel, a books and TV channel, a fashion channel, a games channel, a memes channel, a pets channel, a vent channel, and a bots channel. They sure are very active for how tiny this server is. It looks like in the general chat that there’s some discussion about some library worker being a bitch. In art and photography, someone has sent some of their poetry because poetry is an art, and another person many photos they took. In books and TV, someone has went on a James Bond tangent. The fashion channel is filled with photos of someone’s very expensive closet, as well as them definitely not begging for attention by sending a blurry selfie captioned with “People say I look like David Sylvian, but I don’t really see it…” The games channel is filled with discussion about Minecraft, and the other four channels are… empty.

Here’s another category, dedicated to MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC! There are about 10000 channels here for virtually the same thing. I’m not going to go through them. Oh, but we could see what the Song of the Day and Album of the Week are! The Song of the Day is “All I Want Is You” by Roxy Music and the Album of the Week is “Adolescent Sex” by Japan, which there is a listening party for next Saturday, by the way! Nick has decided to be a good friend and force- I mean, introduce his pals to this great group.

That’s pretty much the server. Thanks for joining! Tell all your friends!

Chapter Text

Things had been going well. John and Simon were still relishing their friends-with-benefits situation, things between Gaia had gone back to normal once she joined Nick and John’s “Virginia Plain” server, and now, as per Nick’s invitation, John was invited out to the park with him for a picnic. Of course, this meant John had to pick Nick up, but he didn’t mind.

“Auditions for the play are next week,” Nick said to John as he drove the pair of them to the park. “Are you still thinking of auditioning?”

“Yeah,” John replied. “What play is it?”

“The Importance of Being Earnest.”

John nodded. “Alright. You’ll help me practice my lines, right?”

“You only need to do that if you get into the play,” Nick murmured. “And, considering you’re a beginning actor… you know what? Yes, I’ll help you.”

“Well, I have to prepare, Nick,” John muttered. “I’m taking this very seriously. I think I could be a great actor.” He paused. “Gaia also gave me the idea that I should go out to a poetry night somewhere locally and read my poems. Would you support me in that?”

“...Sure,” Nick said. John didn’t have to look at him to know he was speaking through gritted teeth. He smiled.

“Thanks. And, hey… if I don’t get into the play, I’ll join you and Roger on costumes. Maybe we can rope Andy in as well…” Nick let out a sigh, but didn’t say anything.

The two reached the park. John parked the car and they got out. Nick carried the picnic basket and the two walked around, looking for a place to sit. They picked a lush, green area, underneath some trees with a perfect view of the canal by the park. John helped Nick set up the picnic blanket and they sat down.

To no surprise, the food choice was all vegetarian: fruit and veggie plates, crackers, cheeses, some pre-made sandwiches, plus a carton of juice and two glasses. John was greatly amused by the fact that Nick brought actual dishes from home for their picnic, but he didn’t comment on it. Nick handed John a plate and they got themselves food before John poured the drinks. They began eating in silence.

After a while, Nick spoke up, “John?”

“Yes, Nick?”

“I actually brought you here because… I need to tell you something.” John blinked at his friend. He observed Nick’s facial features to see if there was any indication as to what direction this conversation was about to go, but he only wore that same, blank expression.

“Okay. Well, go on.”

There was a bit of silence. Nick shoved a strawberry in his mouth, minus the green bit, chewing thoughtfully as he stared down at the blanket. John took a long sip of his juice. It tasted like a mix of mango, pineapple, and orange. He watched as Nick got some weird wide-eyed look, as if he was a scared puppy. “Er… Well…”

“John, I don’t know what I am, but I’m definitely not a man,” Nick began. “Nonbinary doesn’t feel right and genderfluid doesn’t feel right and there’s too many damn terms and none of them are the correct ones. But, I use all pronouns, and I would like it if you could switch between them for me. I know this might take some adjusting, but when we were making that server, introducing myself as merely a ‘he’ made me realise that I needed to stop hiding this part of me from you. So… that’s it.”

John stared at Nick. He noticed that the red dye in his hair was slightly faded, making his locks appear more of an orange-red colour. Nick was wearing a full face of makeup today, his contour darker than usual and his blush a more pigmented shade than John had seen before. John also noticed that he added tiny wings to his eyeliner. It took everything in John to keep from saying something about how unsurprised he was.

“Thank you for telling me, Nick,” John replied. “I will support you in this the best I can. I still love you, you know.”

Nick smiled, a tiny bit. “Thank you. Can you… help me come out to other people?”

“Sure. Who else are you coming out to?”

“Er… my parents, the rest of our friends, maybe the drama club…” Nick scratched his cheek. “Or I’ll just post something on Instagram.”

“Whatever is most comfortable for you,” John replied. Nick gave John a grin and they went back to eating, mostly in silence, just enjoying each other’s company. Afterwards, they went to go on the swing set, getting on it in perfect time so that the seats weren’t taken by some pesky eight-year-olds. It was a lot of fun, until John had to go throw up by a tree.

“See, that’s why you pace yourself when you eat,” Nick stated, flatly, before sneering at him. “Don’t ruin your shoes.”

“Oh, shut up."

-

John had spent the past few days going over the lines of “The Importance of Being Earnest”. He wanted to be prepared for the auditions in a few days. He had told Simon, who seemed a bit amused, and simply gave him a “good luck”. John was happy that Simon didn’t seem like the competitive type.

Or so he thought. A notification appeared on his phone when he was definitely doing his work and nothing else in English class, specifically a text from Simon. “Hey, Tigger x Meet me in the S-hall bathroom. We need to have a talk.”

Oh, God. Normally, the texts read something along the lines of “meet me in this bathroom ;) xxx”, but never with anything else added. John slid his phone in his pocket and after receiving permission, he went to the bathroom.

He pushed open the door to the men’s room and saw Simon there, smoking a cigarette with the window open. “Hi, Tigger,” Simon said, softly. “C’mere. I want to talk to you about something.”

John walked over to Simon and was offered a cigarette and a lighter. He took it, taking a drag off of his cigarette as he handed Simon his lighter back. He noticed a somewhat troubled look in the other man’s eyes. John swallowed. “Uh… what’s this about?”

“There’s something I need to tell you,” Simon said. “Something… about myself.”

A moment of silence. “Uh… okay?”

“There’s a side of me that you don’t know about, John.”

“Uhhh… okay?”

“Promise me you won’t run away?”

John stared at Simon. “Er… okay?”

Simon blinked, seeming a bit displeased. “Well. So… there’s a reason I haven’t joined your Discord server and that’s because, well… on Discord, I’m kind of… a different person. Someone more true to myself.”

“Oh. Well, Nick’s the same way, I think,” John said. “So, it should be fine.”

“No! No, no, no…” Simon sighed, before looking around. “John, I… I’m…”

“What?”

“I… Let me just show you.” John watched as Simon pulled out his phone and tapped on it for a while. He then put something in front of John. John skimmed over the screen, an introduction for a Discord server where someone named Charley proclaimed they were a proud bisexual polyamorous dogboy with ADHD.

“Who is this?” John said, looking up at Simon. “Why am I looking at that?”

“That’s me! I’m Charley,” Simon explained. “One of my middle names is Charles, right? Charley is a nickname based on that. It’s a bit of a long story of how I got it, but…”

“Oh.” John blinked. “So you like dressing like a dog in your spare time. Is that it?”

“...Um. Well… sure, yeah, let’s go with that.”

John frowned. “This isn’t a weird kink, is it…?”

“Oh! God, no, it’s just a matter of dressing up and gender stuff, yeah,” Simon mumbled. “I promise I am not into pet play. At least… I haven’t tried it, but I don’t think I’d like it.”

John scoffed. “Okay, well I am not doing that with you, thanks.” Simon rolled his eyes. “Is that it? You’re a… proud bisexual polyamorous dogboy with ADHD?”

“Yeah. Are you… does this bother you?”

“I think the polyamorous thing bothers me the most, but no, I’m not really bothered.”

“What’s wrong with poly people?!”

“Nothing,” John said. “So… does this mean I’m not your only… sexual partner?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Simon replied. “I thought you knew that.”

“I wasn’t aware,” John muttered. “Well, thanks for telling me.”

“What, did you want to be exclusive, John? Because if you do, I’m more than happy. I like you the most out of all of them, you know-”

“No, no, it’s fine,” John said. “I’d better get to class now. Um… see you at lunch tomorrow.”

“Yeah, see you! Oh, and don’t forget auditions!”

“I won’t. Good luck, Simon.”

“Hey, you too!”

With that, John left and went back to class. Two whole confessions within the span of four days. One totally normal and one… well, I guess it could have been worse. Although, now that he knew Simon had multiple prospects, he supposed this meant one good thing…

John opened up Discord and sent a text, “hey, gaia. what are you up to later today?”

Chapter Text

Today was the big day! For John, anyway. Nick was being dragged by him into the auditorium after school, where he was given a sheet to fill out before auditions began.

“Oh, hey, Nick,” Emmaline greeted Nick as he followed John. “Are you trying out?” Her voice was high-pitched and saccharine sweet. It wasn’t how she usually sounded, which made Nick wonder if she was putting on a front to get his attention or something. It was hard for Nick not to roll his eyes at her.

“No,” Nick replied, before gesturing to John. “Here for John.”

“Oh, John… hey, you were at the party after our last show, right?” Emmaline squinted. “Yeah. You were the really knackered one.” John and Nick stared at Emmaline and didn’t say a word before they went to go sit down.

Nick watched as John filled out his form. Name: John Taylor, Previous acting experience: None, Contact information: [email protected]…

Nick yawned. He watched as Simon Le Bon made his way to sit in the chairs in front of John and Nick. “Hi, Tigger! And Nick.”

John looked up for a split second and then replied in a bored tone, “Hi.”

“Oh, wow, you’re taking this pretty seriously, hm?” Simon smirked, before glancing at Nick. “Are you joining the play?”

“I’m here for emotional support,” Nick mumbled. He glanced back over at John’s paper. Eye colour: Brown, Hair colour (please indicate whether natural or dyed): Dyed red, Other talents: Can sing and play bass… “Really?”

“Huh?” John looked up and at Nick. He squinted. “What?”

“Can sing.”

“Yes.”

Nick laughed, dryly. “Alright.” John furrowed his eyebrow before going back to filling out his form.

“I didn’t know you were a singer, Tigger. I sing, too,” Simon said.

“He mostly plays bass,” Nick replied, seeing as John was preoccupied with either filling out his form or ignoring Simon… or both.

“A bassist? I’d love to hear you play some day, Tigger.”

Nick raised an eyebrow at the pet name being used three times in a row. John had zero reaction as he got up and went to the front, putting his paper in a stack. Shortly after, Simon followed, but John managed to sit down without running into the other man again.

“Something going on between you two?” Nick asked John. John shook his head. “Alright…” He watched as John pulled out his phone and opened Discord. John started texting Gaia about how he was about to start acting. Simon came and sat back down and glanced at John, before scrutinising Nick.

“Your hair looks good when it’s more orange like that,” Simon said, casually, before looking at John. “Are you going to redye your hair, Tigger? I can help you if you want.”

John said nothing. A moment later, the drama instructor, Mrs. Stalder, began calling out names and roles to read from. John and Simon get up and went to the front, grabbing papers with lines on them.

As Nick was left alone, he began to think about how to come out to his family and friends. Should he come out to his parents first and get it out of the way? Or should he tell his friends so he has a support system? Nick sighed. He decided to occupy himself by playing a Discord activity that Gaia introduced him to: Farm Merge Valley. It was definitely steered towards Facebook moms in their 40s and older, but Nick was already obsessed. It was like cocaine to him, not that he’s ever done coke, because he’s seventeen and why would he do that?

Soon, the actors came on stage. Nick put away his phone, watching. The ones that usually did pretty well did well. Then, John came on stage. His acting was subpar. Nick yawned as he watched him. The scenes ended and everyone was instructed to look at different lines… Nick went back to his Farm Merge Valley and the cycle continued…

John was definitely not getting casted at anything. Not if Mrs. Stalder had any brains. Usually she did, but Nick was a seasoned theatre kid and had seen people picked just because they’re good looking enough times in his years… Okay, no, he hadn’t, because he never had gone to auditions because he didn’t give a fuck, but based on how boring some conventionally attractive actors he had seen were, he assumed that was the case, anyway.

After they were over, Simon asked John if he wanted to hang out, to which Simon said “no thanks, Nick and I have some stuff planned”. Simon raised an eyebrow.

“John, this isn’t about…?”

“About what?” John said, dryly. Simon looked at Nick, as if he was a child and Simon and John were trying and failing to covertly discuss their plans to divorce in front of him.

“You know,” Simon replied, softly. John stared. Simon rolled his eyes, before grumbling, “Me being poly, John.” Nick was zero percent shocked.

“I told you, I don’t care,” John retorted. “We’re just fucking, Simon. I’m not your boyfriend. Come on Nick, let’s go.” And just like that, the child of divorce left with his male mother and walked with him to his car. Nick watched as John got in, lit a cigarette with the windows still up, and drove off. Nick rolled down his window a couple of centimetres and John gave him a look.

“So, are you in a sour mood because of Simon?” Nick asked, quietly.

“No, I’m just fine,” John mumbled. “He’s just very self-absorbed. I’m glad he’s polyamorous, anyway. Now I can go back to talking with Gaia how I used to.” He paused. “Her eighteenth birthday is on the 16th next month. She told me she has some money saved up and is thinking about visiting.”

“Oh... that’s… nice.”

“Yeah. Don’t know where she’d stay, though…”

“Well, Simon’s flat has a million bedrooms…” Nick joked, dryly. John gave him a look. “It was just a joke, John.”

“Right. Well…”

“Where are you taking me, anyway?”

“Your home.”

“I thought you said we were going somewhere.”

“I lied to get Simon to go away.”

“Oh.” Nick blinked, before looking at John. “You’re… not actually bothered by your… er, what should I call him in relation to you? Fuck buddy? You’re not actually bothered by him being polyamorous, are you?”

John scoffed. “First of all, Nick, we’re not having actual sex, it’s just a lot of-”

“I don’t want the details, John. I can use my imagination… if I wanted to, anyway.”

“Right. And like I said, no, I’m not bothered. It’s better when things are casual, anyway, aren’t they?” Nick looked up at John again. It took everything in him not to say something about “how would you know, John, it’s not like you’ve ever had a girlfriend… or boyfriend, since you’re, you know, bisexual…”

“Right,” Nick mumbled as John turned down his street. In a few moments, John pulled into his flat. “See you at school tomorrow, mate.”

“See you, mate!” Nick got out of the car. He sighed as he walked up the steps and to his door. He unlocked it, before going in.

“Hi, honey! How was John’s perform…” Nick’s mum narrowed her eyes, “Nick, honey, you smell like a box of cigarettes!”

“It was fine, mum. Cigarettes are some of the theatre kids’ faults, don’t worry. I’m not smoking,” Nick mostly lied.

“They don’t sound like good influences,” Nick’s mum murmured.

“Don’t worry, I’m not getting into any trouble. Anyway, I need to do my homework. Talk to you later, mum.” And with that, Nick went to his room. He flopped on his bed and ignored his homework, instead opting to play more of the world’s greatest casual farming puzzle game, Farm Merge Valley.

Chapter Text

The rest of John’s week had gone pretty well. He and Gaia were back to close friends status and flirting with each other regularly. She was fully aware of his “situation” with Simon and did not seem to care in the slightest. Plus, John also managed to pick up a cute girl named Winona who was part of the popular crowd and one of the theatre kids and fucking around with girls was a lot more fun than with Simon.

Speaking of Simon, he and John had just finished making out in the men’s room in one of the stalls. “Right,” Simon said, as he pulled off of John, breathlessly. “Let’s go look and see if we got cast in the play. After you fix your lipstick, anyway.”

“I don’t carry makeup around with me,” John murmured, “so I guess I’d just better take it off. You should, too.”

“Should what?”

“Take my lipstick off of your lips.”

“Oh. Heh.” John and Simon kissed one last time, before John unlocked the stall door and the two left. They looked in the mirror and readjusted their appearances before walking out and to the auditorium.

There was a small group of people looking at the list. They slowly dispersed and then John went to look with Simon. At the top of the list: “Jack Worthing: Simon Le Bon.” “Oh, nice, Simon, you got the lead!”

Simon beamed. “I did, didn’t I?” The two skimmed down the list, seeing what else there was. John noticed that his other special friend got the role of Miss Prism, but he wasn’t on it. “Well, it’s a bit of a smaller cast than usual. I’m sure you’ll get on one of the other two. Now, did you want to sign up for one of these things? Here.”

Simon handed John a pencil and he looked for the costume list. There were already some people signed up: Emmaline Minogue, Caileigh Averus, Roger Taylor, Fergus Lawson, and Nick Bates. John wrote his name underneath Nick’s, before handing Simon his pencil back. “More people than usual,” Simon noted. “Emmaline, huh? She’s usually a sound girl.”

“I think she has a thing for Nick,” John said. “But… he’s not interested in the slightest.” Simon laughed.

“Good, based on what I’ve heard, she’s a bit… crazy,” Simon muttered. “Most girls in drama club are, anyway. That’s generally why I don’t mess around with them. Speaking of messing around…” Simon smirked as he eyed John. “Want me to take you home with me?”

“Sorry, but my parents got tired of me going out all of the time and want me to stop going out so often,” John replied. “They say I need to focus on school more.”

“Oh…” Simon blinked. “Well, I can give you a ride to your house, then. Better than taking the bus, right? You know, traffic’s really bad… I’m sure your parents would understand if you were home kind of late.” Simon winked.

“I drove myself,” John said. Simon sighed.

“Fine, John, I’ll blow you in your car in the school parking lot, I guess,” Simon replied. John furrowed an eyebrow.

“What? Oh… wait, was that you flirting with me…?”

“Yes. Now, come on. If you move your car to the parking lot by the pool, nobody’s there, usually… Hurry up before all the sports people start coming in and out of the building. You walk really slowly for someone with legs as long as yours…”

-

The next day, John got to meet the other people on the costume crew. He remembered Caileigh from Simon’s birthday party due to her… um, very outdated scene hair, fingerless pink gloves that went to her elbows, checkered belts that she doubled up on and wore incredibly incorrectly, black tie with random graphic shirt, ripped black pants, Doc Martens that she no doubt spent a couple hundred quid on, and random bracelets that covered up half of each of her forearms. Looking at her was like looking in a time capsule.

There was nothing noteworthy about Fergus. He was a boring looking, pasty brunette guy who looked like he was possessed by a Victorian ghost. If he wasn’t so ugly, perhaps he could’ve been in Oasis, and that really says something considering how they look. (John is Team Blur, by the way, but he’d never admit that he listens to Britpop sometimes.)

Then, there was Emmaline, who kept eyeing Nick while he was explaining to them what to do for the new people on costumes. Her hair was a blonde pixie cut and she had three piercings in each ear as well as a lip ring. She looked like she never went outside with how pale she was, but the freckles dotting her cheeks and nose added some depth to her skin. She wore far too much eyeliner, but somehow made it work unlike Miss 2009. John wondered if Emmaline wore only long-sleeved turtlenecks or if that’s all he’d ever seen her wear. She also sported a silver crucifix necklace, but who knows if she actually believed in God or if she just wore that. John hoped it was the former; his formerly Catholic upbringing made it so he bristled at the thought of someone using their Lord and Saviour as a mere fashion accessory.

Roger and Nick were on costumes, too, but you should already know plenty about them, and if not, go to Google (or Pinterest if you’re classy) and type in “Roger Taylor Duran Duran 1980s” and “Nick Rhodes red hair” and you’ll find more or less what they look like. (Although, the author typed in “Nick Rhodes red hair” into Pinterest and it showed him a bunch of pictures of how Nick looked in Arcadia…) Feel free to also go back and read Chapters 1 through 22.

“Since there are six of us, we’ll split in groups of three,” Nick said. “I always pick the girl costumes, so that’s what I’m doing. I would prefer it to be John, Roger, and I working on the girls’ costumes while you three do boys’, but whatever works for you is fine. I think one new person should be on each group just for balance.” Nick gestured to John as his token “new person”.

“Nuh uh,” Emmaline butted in. “I don’t trust three MEN working to look for girls’ costumes. I’ll be with you, thank you very much. Only because, well, sorry Caileigh, but I dress a bit better than you.” Caileigh gave an awkward thumbs up.

“So, am I taking John, or…” Fergus began.

“No,” Nick huffed. “John is with ME.”

“I’ll go,” Roger offered.

“NO.” Nick glared and folded his arms. “Emmaline, you stay with Fergus and Caileigh.”

“They have no taste. And like I said, boys picking out outfits for the girls-”

“You’ll help them have taste,” Nick retorted, before looking at John. John noticed a bit of unease in his eyes before he cleared his throat. Nick then looked back at Emmaline, “And, for your information… I’m not a boy.”

“Oh,” Emmaline said. “Well, are you a girl?”

“No.”

“See? So you need my help, then.”

“No,” Nick hissed. “You know what? For the sake of this, I’m a girl. All of you use she/her for me when we’re working on costumes. Anyway, John and Rog, let’s get to work.” Emmaline’s jaw dropped. Nick swiveled around and went into the girls’ dressing room. Caileigh made her way into the boys’ dressing room as Fergus followed behind, before John and Roger joined Nick side by side in the girls’.

John looked around. It looked like every other generic room in the building, except there was a wall of mirrors with a shelf, plenty of wardrobes, and an open door which led to a one-person bathroom. Racks with clothes had been dragged into the room.

“Okay, so, I wrote down ideas for each character and got each actress's dress and shoe size. Here.” John took the list from Nick and scrutinised it, before he watched her go over to Roger and give him a list.

“Nick…?” Roger said, shyly.

“Hm?”

“So, are you transgender? I just want to make sure I refer to you properly.” Nick smiled at Roger’s question.

“No,” Nick replied. “I mean, technically yes. I use all pronouns. I don’t really identify as anything just yet, I guess I’m just… queer. Although, I suppose during costume crew, I’m a girl, now.” Nick laughed to herself and Roger nodded.

“Okay,” Roger replied. “Please correct me if I slip up.”

“It’s okay, Roger. Just don’t call me a man or boy or anything because then you’d be incorrect,” Nick muttered. “Anyway, John, start looking. Let’s all start finding something for Gwendolen. Don’t pick something ugly, she’s the love interest, she has to look good… Let’s make Tessa feel pretty…”

John was mostly silent as he looked through everything, but he listened to Nick and Roger talk. Roger asked her about her gender identity and how she knew and all of that. They then went on to talking about Emmaline and Nick complained about how clingy Emmaline was and how she texted Nick far too much after Simon’s stupid party even though all they did was make out for seven minutes straight… Roger blushed at this and let out a simple, “What?”

“We played Seven Minutes in Heaven,” Nick replied. “It was a spin-the-bottle type thing where you get ‘trapped’ with the person you land on. I landed on her. We went off and made out for seven minutes. Pretty tame compared to… some other things I heard.” Nick laughed a bit before she went back to looking through the dresses. “She messaged me on Instagram after the fact and won’t stop messaging me. She is… far too into me. Which would be fine, if she wasn’t so boring to talk to and clingy.” Nick sighed. “Enough about my love life. How’s yours, Roger? Do you have any crushes or anything?”

“No,” Roger mumbled, looking down at his feet. John raised an eyebrow.

“Really? Some of those punk girls are pretty cute. Do you not like any of them?”

“No.” Roger glanced back up. “Um… what about you, John?” John stared at Roger, seeing the desperate want to get the spotlight off of him in his eyes. John let out a sigh as he thought of what to say.

“Um, I have some sexual partners,” John replied.

“Two.” Nick laughed. “Although… are you about to make it three?”

“Who’s the third?”

“Gaia.”

“Oh.”

“Wait, in the Discord server?” Roger asked.

“I’m surprised you remembered that,” John murmured. “Uh, yes. She’s turning eighteen in December and might visit. She has a job, works at a Tesco’s, has been saving up a lot of money and says she has enough to take the train and come stay… not sure where she’d stay, but…”

“Tesco’s?” Nick laughed. “How much money can you possibly make at Tesco’s that allows you to take a cross-country trip?”

“Nick,” John scolded his friend as if she were a child, before he narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “Gaia’s smart. She has a good head on her shoulders… She manages her money quite well.” John glanced at Nick. “Unlike you, who spends it on shit like Discord Nitro.”

“Hey, I don’t buy that, people buy it for me,” Nick retorted.

John raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah. I have… friends.” Nick shrugged. “It’s what happens when you’re in a lot of servers.”

“I’m only in yours,” Roger said. “I think I’ll ask for a phone for Christmas and then maybe I’ll use Discord more and join more.” Nick beamed again.

“Please do, Roger, the Internet is a fabulous place,” Nick said as she sifted through dresses.

“No, it’s not,” John grumbled.

-

An hour and a half passed and John drove Roger and Nick home. Before that, they stopped to get ice cream, a reward paid for by Nick for their hard work. They sat in the parlor and ate it while they talked about school and the play. Nick filled Roger in on all the drama club lore, much of which John knew he had been told multiple times but couldn’t remember.

John dropped Roger off at his house first. As soon as he got out of the car, Nick looked over at John, “I planned how I want to come out to my parents. I think I want to do it before the break. That way if things don’t go well, I can spend the break with Simon or Roger or you. Is that okay?”

John nodded. “Yeah,” John said. “I think your parents will be supportive, though. But… if not, you might want to lean on Roger or Simon. I think your identity would… confuse my dad.”

Nick sighed. “Maybe.” She paused and looked at John. “We need to redye our hair.”

“I don’t think I want to,” John admitted. “I think I want to go back to natural. Maybe with some blonde highlights.”

“Mm. Maybe I’ll go back to blonde, then.” Nick paused, “Can you ask your parents if I can come over this weekend? They don’t want you going out, but that doesn’t mean I can’t come over.”

“...Okay. I will.” John pulled into Nick’s driveway. “Here you are. See you at school tomorrow, Nick.”

“Bye, John.” Nick smiled at John and he smiled back. She then got out of the car and went up the steps to her door. John pulled out of the driveway and went home, planning to spend the rest of the day balancing homework with texting Gaia.

Chapter Text

Andy was your average teenager. Pretty normal kid with normal interests and hobbies and grades. Sorta. Teenagers nowadays don’t really shred the guitar anymore nor do they listen to cool glam and rock bands from the 1970s.

Well, most don’t. He’s luckily found five others that do one of those two things: John Taylor (listens to glam and rock bands), Nick Rhodes (listens to glam and rock bands), Warren Cuccurullo (does both), Roger Taylor (listens to glam and rock bands), and Simon Le Bon (listens to glam and rock bands). Andy wasn’t sure how the hell John managed to have Nick as his best friend because, well, it should have been him instead, and he didn’t know how Warren or Simon ended up in this “friend group”, but he didn’t question it, even though he thought Warren was a total asshole. Simon was okay at least and Roger was a nice guy, although really shy. Nick was a priss and Andy would never like him, even though they’ve had their nice moments (or, moment at the bowling alley as they bonded over being the only two who weren’t enjoying themselves). But, even though Andy wasn’t super close to anyone else in this group, he had John, and John was all he needed.

Or, would be, but he’d been pulled into a different group. He had been going to same schools with his girlfriend, Kitty, since the two of them were eight-years-old and they had always been polite acquaintances. Andy always thought of Kitty as a really bright girl, even if she went from a total stereotypical nerd to a Siouxsie Sioux clone as soon as she turned fifteen. They never really talked, but at the beginning of this school year, they were assigned partners for a project in English class and clicked so unbelievably well. Within six weeks, they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

However, this meant that Kitty dragged Andy to meet her friends, rather than her meeting his. Andy had suggested it to Kitty, but she always said that she already knew Nick through being a former theatre kid (later on she would say the same thing about Simon) and Roger through mutual friends so there wasn’t anything to learn. Plus she always told him, “Why would I want to get to know Nick and Warren if you hate them and why would I need to get to know Roger if you don’t even know anything about him?” So, it was just Andy meeting Kitty’s friends.

The first one he was introduced to was Veronica, also known as Ronnie. Andy was told that Ronnie is “nonbinary” and uses “they/she pronouns”, but he didn’t quite know what that meant, so he stuck with calling her a girl because he knew what that was even though he couldn’t quite tell if Ronnie was even born as one. Andy learned that, like Kitty, Ronnie was incredibly smart and nerdy. She wanted to go to America after she graduated to work for NASA. Andy’s first thought to that was, but why go to the shithole that is the USA? Why not stay here? Americans hate gay people! But, he didn’t say anything.

Andy noticed that Ronnie dressed less goth and more “smart casual”, but still in all-black. Her hair was a ginger mullet and looked unbrushed, although it was probably on purpose. He also learned that Ronnie was into both goth bands and new romantic bands, like The Cure, Roxy Music, Visage, and The Sisters of Mercy.

The next goth girl (or person because Ronnie was… not a girl? Andy spent that whole first lunch period trying to silently figure it out in his brain) to sit down at the humble lunch table of darkness and doom (because that’s what goths like) was Suzanne or Suzy for short. Andy was starting to wonder if everyone had a nickname. She scared Andy a lot upon first impression because holy FUCK, why was she LITERALLY THE COLOUR WHITE? She had a black shag haircut with straight-across bangs, white hipster glasses, wore far too much eyeliner and black lipstick, and dressed like every other goth girl in the universe. Andy was told that Suzy was really into reptiles, especially snakes, and even though she was goth, post-punk was her favourite genre. The list of bands he was given that she liked were Siouxsie and the Banshees, Talking Heads, Magazine, and Wire.

Next was Ruta, who actually looked… relatively normal. She had pretty, bronze-coloured skin and hazel eyes, and the exact same haircut that Suzy did. The only makeup she wore was some eyeliner with thin wings, pink lip gloss, and very long, wispy false eyelashes. She dressed like your standard teenager (in all black of course) minus the septum ring she had and the… dog collar? Andy had… many thoughts about that. She said she was more into “romantic goth” music like Miranda Sex Garden and the Cocteau Twins, whatever the hell that meant….

After Ruta was Chelsea, who… wasn’t even goth. Yes, she wore all black from her sweaters to her skirts to her fishnet tights and gloves and her Doc Martens, as well as her chokers and chains, but Andy was pretty sure that goth was a music-based subculture (that’s what his girlfriend told him, anyway) and he was also pretty sure that Billie Eilish, Halsey, and Mother Mother weren’t goth. She had a shoulder-length bob with, you guessed it, straight across bangs, and wore glossy red lipstick put on to hide her cupid’s bow, as well as thick black eyeliner and far too much of that other makeup you put on your face (Andy didn’t know what it was all called) to make herself look white (but not as white as Suzy). However, things made sense as near the end of Chelsea’s introduction, she said, “Oh! And I’m Ruta’s girlfriend.”

Last but certainly not least(?) was Raven, who looked like a ghost white version of Wednesday Adams and dressed pretty casually with a black jacket, black lace top, black jeans, and black boots. She also wore vampire fangs because, well, she was an actual vampire, or so she said, which meant that if Andy wanted, he could use her neopronouns for her…? What the fuck is that, exactly? He didn’t ask. He was still confused as to what a nonbinary was. Her favourite goth bands were The Cure, Bauhaus, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, aka everything you’d get if you went to Google and typed in “goth bands”.

Andy did not learn a whole lot hanging out with the goth girls. Suzy liked to hiss at people and Ruta liked to jokingly say to Chelsea that she was being “really straight”, to which she’d always reply “but I’m bisexual!” Apparently, Andy was the only straight one there: Kitty and Chelsea were bisexual, Ronnie and Suzy were pansexual, Ruta was a lesbian, and Raven was… omnisexual? Huh? He didn’t ask because he was preoccupied with cringing every time he heard the word “pansexual” because he kept thinking of Warren. Suzy then called him out and began hissing at him like a cat and he panicked trying to explain.

“Oh, Warren,” Chelsea said, before nodding her head. “Yeah, the American?”

“He’s hot,” Ronnie said. “Lowkey, I would smash.”

“No, me too,” Suzy replied, before the girls, minus Kitty and Ruta, all giggled. Kitty just turned and gave Andy a half-smile.

Besides her weird friends, dating Kitty was pretty much paradise. Andy did have to hang out with the goths far too often, but that was okay because it meant he got to be with his beautiful, intelligent, hilarious, artistic, etcetera girlfriend. Their relationship was already going two months strong and showed no signs of stopping…

…except for the fact that Kitty had got accepted to university in Berlin in Germany and had her heart set on going there, but Andy was sure he’d figure out that whole… thing... whenever they got to it! As well as whatever nonbinary and omnisexual meant.

Chapter Text

Nick was riding on the bus to get to John’s house, two bags in hand: one full of hair colour removal and dying supplies and the other full of clothes, makeup, hair styling products, and other essentials for having a sleepover with their best friend. While they were on the bus, they worked on Canva, making a coming out infographic to match their aesthetic. Slide one read “hey everyone! I have an important announcement to make… I’m genderqueer and use any pronouns!” and Nick was currently working on using slides 2 and 3 to explain their identity and why they didn’t have a set one. They were already daydreaming of all of the text on the infographic being done so they could add all the bows, glitter, and sparkles everywhere.

The bus came to a stop and Nick looked out the window. Finally, they were near John’s neighbourhood. They got out, thanked the bus driver, and then began their short and agonising walk to John’s parents’ flat. Wearing nice shoes came with an awful lot of pain…

Nick reached the door to the home and knocked on it. There was some sound and then John’s dad opened it. He peered at Nick and their black, faux fur coat, leather pants (that had been bought PRIOR to the vegetarianism), and dress shoes. “Hi, Nick.”

“Hello, Mr. Taylor,” Nick said.

“Nigel’s in his bedroom,” Mr. Taylor said, before opening the door so Nick could get in. Nick stepped into the room and took their shoes off before delicately placing them on the rack.

“Thank you,” Nick replied, before heading down the hall and to John’s room. They heard faint, familiar-sounding pop music playing and had to stop themself from letting out a laugh. They listened for a moment more before knocking on the door.

“One second,” John called out from the other side. There were some muffled walking sounds before the music stopped. Nick heard more muffled noises before the door was opened. “Oh, hey, Nick.”

“Were you listening to Lana Del Rey…?”

“No.” John raised an eyebrow. “How do you know what Lana Del Rey sounds like?”

Nick rolled their eyes. “I don’t live under a rock, John. I can’t believe you own a Lana record.”

“What’s so bad about Lana…?” John grumbled. He left the door open and went back to sit on his bed, typing away at his laptop. Nick entered and set their bags down.

“So, when do you want to dye our hair?” Nick asked. John looked up. He shrugged. He then went back to typing. “Another poem?”

“Yes,” John replied. “I’m working on a new one, but I just finished one not long ago. Do you want to read it before I post it to Tumblr and Twitter?”

“I…” Nick decided to sit on John’s carpeted floor. “Why don’t you read it to me? Out loud?”

“Alright,” John said, before clearing his throat. “You’re a good-looking man. You rise with the sun. You’re good with a gun. You turned me around. You’re good in bed. You’ve a good looking hand. Go to the head of the class. You’ve got a heart of glass. You're always in disgrace. I fit with you. I like the things that you do. You're a good looking man. You’ve a good looking hand. You've a heart like a moon. In your room with a view. There's never room for two.” John looked up. “It’s called ‘Mansman’.”

After a moment, Nick let out a soft, “hm.” John stared at them, before going back to typing.

“There’s an open-mic night on Wednesday at a local club,” John said. “I could read some poetry. I’m thinking of reading Feelings Are Good and 2:03.”

“Which one’s 2:03?”

“The one about being raised Catholic.” Nick stared at John. He huffed. “Where is my god. The god that isn't here. The god that's only love. The god that's disappeared. Where is my god. The god that's everywhere. The god that looks so good. That god that's on the air… do you remember, now?”

“Yes. The one that’s in your ear and drives your car.” Nick nodded. “I remember that one very well. I didn’t get the connection to Catholicism.”

“That’s okay,” John murmured. “Although, I thought it was obvious. Gaia definitely understood it. She likes that one.” John paused typing and looked up. “If she visits, can she stay at your house?”

“What?”

“I know your parents are very laid-back,” John replied. “Can you just ask them if our friend who transferred schools and is visiting can stay at your house? Please? I can pay you back, put a good word in with Roger or someone for you.”

“Yes, John, I would love to be set up with a straight man, thank you,” Nick said, dryly.

“You’re not a man anymore,” John retorted. “Now, you can date him.”

Nick thought for a moment. “Well, the thing is, because I was born a man-”

“You’re not a man, Nick. Quit being transphobic,” John said, before sighing. “Want me to ask him if he’s into nonbinary people?”

“No,” Nick mumbled. “He only wants to be friends. We’ll only be friends. That’s it.” Nick sighed. “Can we get the red out of our hair, now?”

“Fine.” John closed his laptop again. “Come along to my bathroom…”

-

Many hours and boxes of hair colour removal product and brown hair dye later and Nick was back to platinum and John had brown hair with blonde highlights in. The highlights were a bit strange-looking as Nick was desperately trying to paint around strands of bleached hair, but they were there, and very sort of beautiful.

“You know, John, you got to see all the pop shit in my records at our last sleepover,” Nick said as they sat on John’s bedroom floor with him, enjoying some biscuits that his mum baked. “You should let me go through your records. See what you’re hiding.”

John stared. “No.”

“Please? Come on, I won’t make fun of you.”

“You will.”

“John…” Nick gently placed their hands on John’s, taking them in theirs. “If I tell you I like Lana Del Rey, will you let me?” John stared at them. “Okay. What if I tell you that I am fully aware that the song you were listening to was ‘Cola’ off of her ‘Paradise’ EP?”

John sighed. “I’m surprised you caught all of that. I always listen to that song… very quietly,” John mumbled. “Fine. You can look through my records. But… don’t say anything bad, you twat.” John playfully punched Nick in the arm and they scoffed at him, before he got up and brought his tub of records over. There was far too much hyperpop and female manipulator pop music for Nick’s liking, but they said nothing.

Until they found… It.

Nick slowly pulled the record out, their eyes wide, their hands shaking as they examined the white cover with a collage including a blue motorway. They watched as John rolled his eyes and let out a loud groan, crossing his arms. “Nick, that is a spectacular album, and I swear to-”

“You listen to fucking Radiohead, John?” Nick exclaimed, before laughing. “Wow! Between this and the Lennon records… wow, you’re a true male manipulator. What am I going to find next, Weezer?”

John groaned. “Give me my fucking record box back.” Nick smacked away John’s hand and began sifting through them at record (pun intended) speed. Surely enough, John owned not only “The Blue Album”, but “Pinkerton”.

“You will NEVER live this down,” Nick said, softly.

“Fine, then I’m going to tell everyone at school that you listen to Katy Perry, even her garbage albums.”

Nick’s eyes widened. “Please don’t.”

“Then keep your mouth shut.”

“Fine.”

-

It was 2am and Nick and John were still up. So, they did the obvious thing: plan a Discord video call. As John’s laptop softly hummed with the sounds of the ringtone, Nick sat in his bed, eating even more of his mum’s biscuits.

Soon, the person on the receiving end picked up. Nick observed what he was looking at: a girl from the shoulder up with wavy brown hair, brown eyes, and no makeup on, wearing a lilac sweater. Behind her was a white headboard leaning against an indigo wall. There was a poster behind her bed, but Nick couldn’t make out what it was. “Hello?”

“I thought you were from Sunderland, Gaia?” Those were Nick’s first words to her. “Your accent sounds incredibly Irish.”

“Irish?” Gaia blinked, giving Nick an unimpressed look. “I’m Northern, mate. You’re Nick, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Nick replied. “Sorry. I didn’t introduce myself well, did I? Hello, Gaia. Nice to see and talk to you properly.”

“Hi, Gaia. You look lovely,” John butted in. Gaia smiled.

“Thanks, John. You look handsome,” she replied. “I love the blonde highlights. They look really good. Did you get bored of the red? You only had it for about a month.”

“I wanted to get rid of it before it turned orange,” John stated.

“Aye,” Gaia said, making Nick smack their lips. She eyed them, curiously. “So, Nick. You’re a theatre lad… lass? Person? What term would you like?” Nick stared at Gaia in shock. “Sorry, I noticed you have all pronouns set in your Pinterest and Tumblr and Discord, so I assumed that-”

“Oh. I do?”

“Yeah. Why? Is it a secret?” She laughed. Nick sighed.

“No,” Nick replied. “Er… stick to the neutral ones, please.”

“Alright, person.”

“Well, I don’t like person.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“Well, I-” Nick sighed and shook their head. “No, go on, it’s fine.”

“I forgot what I was talking about.”

“I also forgot.” There was a pause.

Gaia cleared her throat, “Do you guys want to play some Minecraft?”

“Hell yes,” Nick said, as John said, “I don’t-”

“Okay, sure,” John murmured. Nick was already on the floor, grabbing their laptop from their bag and plugging it in. For the next few hours, Gaia and John chatted slash flirted, while Nick tuned them out, locked the fuck in.

At around 8am, they let out a screech, and it woke John up and there was a girlish “Ah!” from his laptop. Nick didn’t even realise they fell asleep. “Oh, sorry,” Nick murmured.

“What is it?” John said, groggily.

“Nothing.”

“You woke me up, come on, has to be something…” John sighed. “It’s okay Nick. Please just tell me.”

“I found axolotls.”

Chapter Text

Roger was enjoying being a part of the costume crew, for the most part. He liked being around Nick and John, but Emmaline was very… demanding. She insisted for all of the meetings that groups were picked by using straws rather than what Nick wanted so that everyone in the costume crew would “get to know each other better”, but everyone knew it was only because she had a crush on Nick…

Roger didn’t mind. When he was with Nick, it gave him a chance to get closer to her, and when he was with John, it gave him a chance to become better friends with him. Well, mostly… Simon still liked to butt in and if Nick and John weren’t working together, Simon and John tended to mysteriously vanish for long periods of time.

Roger also ended up becoming friends with some other people who worked backstage in drama. His two main friends were Tom Bailey and Joe Leeway: a gay couple who mainly worked on the stage lights. They both told Roger about this band that they were in with three other people and talked a lot about music with him. Supposedly, a girl Tom used to date was in the band with them, too, but they broke up and she was kicked out, so they needed a new saxophonist. Roger did not know how to reply to that.

One afternoon, Simon, John, Emmaline, and Roger were working on looking for boys’ costumes. After another one of Simon and John’s disappearing acts, Emmaline told Roger she was done working early. Roger decided to check the girls’ room to help Nick, but it was empty, so he went backstage in search of him or Joe or Tom. Unfortunately, he had no luck, so he decided to sit against the wall with one of the only pieces of technology he owned: a noble pink DS Lite.

Roger spent a good chunk of time taking care of his cream-coloured labrador retriever named Sunny before somebody sat by him. He looked to see a blonde individual in an all white ensemble and smiled. “Hey, Nick.”

“Hi, Roger,” Nick replied, before leaning closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. “Do you like to play video games?”

“Some,” Roger said. “This is one of my favourites.”

“Nintendogs?”

Roger’s eyes lit up, “Do you play Nintendogs, too?”

“Well, I have Nintendogs + Cats for my 3DS,” Nick replied. “I never had one of the original DSes.” Nick watched as Roger’s digital puppy ran around. “What’s the GameBoy game you have in the bottom slot?”

“Oh, it’s Pokemon LeafGreen.” Nick smiled.

“I love Pokemon! What’s your favourite generation?”

“Uhhh… probably the third. I have Pokemon Ruby, too,” Roger said. “What’s yours?”

“Five and six,” Nick said. “They have my favourite Pokemon, too. I like Cinccino and Sylveon.”

“I like… um… Bulbasaur.” Nick chuckled and Roger smiled at her, confused. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Nick replied, before leaning more into Roger and watching him play Nintendogs. “Do you have anything besides this DS? Like a 3DS or a Nintendo Switch…?”

“I have a Wii.”

“A Wii,” Nick repeated. “Uhh… I meant something we could use to play on together. If you had a 3DS or a Nintendo Switch, you could play games with me. I mean, I could try to find an original DS online, but I’m sure they’re expensive…”

“Oh. Um…” Roger shook his head. “Just the DS. But, you can borrow my DS if you want to play on it.”

“No, Roger, that’s okay, I have my own,” Nick replied, playfully. “I actually came over here to ask you something. John’s going to an open-mic thing tonight and reading some of his poetry. It’s at the same club that those goth and punk shows are put on… It starts at six but we’re going to go at half-past five. Simon, John, Warren, and I are going to get dinner beforehand. Do you want to come along?”

“That’s actually quite a coincidence. I was going to go, anyway. Tom and Joe- do you know them? Their band is playing at that tonight.”

“Yes, I know them,” Nick responded. “I know everyone. If you need me to refresh you on the dynamics of the drama club, let me know, Roger. Tom and Joe are relatively normal, well… no, they’re not, nobody here is normal, but besides the thing with Tom’s ex being a despicable character, their record is pretty spotless.”

“Despicable…?”

“A TERF.”

“What’s that?”

“A trans-exclusionary radical feminist.” Nick let out a long sigh. “They believe trans women aren’t women and are ruining what it means to be a woman. A bunch of bullshit. But, Tom’s cool, and he broke up with her as soon as he found out or so I’m aware. He’s kind of like you; he doesn’t use a lot of social media besides maybe checking Instagram once or twice a month, so he isn’t in the loop as to what people post about. Joe’s the same way. It’s not a shock that you’d get along with them.” Nick smiled. “So, what’s your little dog’s name?”

“Sunny. She’s a Labrador Retriever…” Roger talked to Nick about Nintendogs until it was time for everybody to go home. Roger walked with Nick to John’s car. He noticed Warren walking with Simon to his. Roger didn’t even realise Warren was at the drama club activity with them…

Nick let Roger sit up front. John talked to Roger about the open mic thing and his poetry. He told him all about how he’d been writing poems for years and Gaia encouraged him to share his poetry in public. Roger nodded, thinking about Gaia. He only knew about her from the Discord. She and Nick played some farming game together a lot, although it was never while Roger was online, so he didn’t join. Roger knew that Gaia had an extensive record collection and a very fat cat named Genie, after a Bowie track. Roger also knew that, like himself and John, Gaia had “Country Life Green” as her role colour. Roger’s favourite colour was actually blue, but he wasn’t interested in the Sparks album that the colour was picked from.

Soon, the car reached McDonalds much to Roger’s excitement. John parked and the three of them got out of the car. Simon’s car arrived a second later and then Warren and Simon got out. Everyone went inside and ordered food, except for Warren, because why would he subject his fit body that he worked so hard on to a vegan burger and fries from McDonalds?

The five of them sat in a booth with John, Simon, and Warren on one side and Nick and Roger on the other. They chatted about life and school and things. The conversation ended up on Discord and quickly broke into two as Nick told Roger about the farming game she played with Gaia.

Nick got out her laptop and let Roger sign into his Discord on it. She then showed Roger how to start an activity by himself in the gaming channel. Roger opened up “Farm Merge Valley” and Nick watched him for a bit, giving him some pointers on things. Nick then got on her own phone and joined the activity and the two merged until Warren, Simon, and John finished eating.

Roger was somewhat relieved when the merging was over as he found it a bit boring, but he was happy to support his friend. He followed her and John back to John’s car and they went to the club. It reminded Roger of the night after that dance, although this time he was thankful he was dressed adequately and not in a suit. However, maybe suits wouldn’t have been so bad because Nick wouldn’t stop complaining in the car about what Simon was wearing.

“He has sandals on. In November,” she hissed to nobody in particular. “Plus, the cargo shorts and the ‘I eat asbestos’ shirt with neon green impact font are horrible. Your… friend, whatever the hell he is, has zero taste in clothing, John. I have no idea how he’s popular.”

Soon, the car reached the club. Once again, Simon, Warren, John, Nick, and Roger all entered together. They all stood near the stage while John went to sign up. “There’s only one other person so far,” John said as he approached them. “One of you is recording me, right?”

“Yes, of course, Tigger,” Simon replied, before winking. “How could I not?”

Half an hour later, the show was starting, the first act being Joe and Tom’s band. Roger watched as they set up the stage with synthesisers, congas, drums, xylophones, and amps. They began to play and Roger couldn’t help but move along to the music. It was some strange type of post-punk music that was both experimental and danceable.

Next was some comedic act. A few people around Roger laughed and he was slightly amused, but it wasn’t too terribly funny. Following the routine was another band, this one being a silly-sounding synth pop group that would have blended in perfectly with how cheesy and bubble gummy their songs were. After that was a girl on the ukulele playing a song she wrote for her boyfriend. She was a good singer, but there was nothing too remarkable about it.

Roger was intrigued by the next act as he saw Andy and Julia from drama appear on stage alongside five other people. They billed themselves “The ID” and were kind of like a slightly worse, slightly more commercial version of Kraftwerk, but they were still pretty good. Roger danced along to them as well.

After that, John took the stage. He cleared his throat, “Hello, everyone, I’m John Taylor, and I’m a poet. I’m here to read a few of my poems. This first one is called 2:03 and it’s about being raised Catholic.”

Nick let out a soft sigh beside Roger and he heard Warren chuckle, softly. Simon gave them both looks, as if he was their father or something.

John then began, “Where is my god? The god that isn't here. The god that's only love. The god that's disappeared.” Roger was intrigued. John’s tone and cadence made the poem sound almost like a song. He wasn’t sure why Nick looked like she wanted to shoot herself or why Warren was clearly trying not to burst out into giggles.

“Where is my god? The god that's everywhere. The god that looks so good. That god that's on the air. Where is my god? The god that lets me hear. The god that drives my car. The god that's in my ear.” Okay, Roger could admit that this seemed a bit random and almost as if John consulted RhymeZone.com to help him out, but it wasn’t… terrible.

“Where is my god? The god that's in her boots. The god that's in this food. The god that's only good. Where is my god?” Pause. Applause. “Thank you,” John said into the mic. “This next one is the first one I wrote entitled ‘Feelings R Good’.”

Nick sighed again. Warren let out some strained wheeze. Simon jabbed him with his elbow. “I feel, I feel, I feel and I feel good, it's understood,” John began. This time, the poem sounded a lot sadder, but still with the same amount of urgency. It would have made a good emo song. “I hurt, I hurt, I hurt and I'm here alert, feeling the hurt.”

“I'm sad, I'm sad, I'm sad and I want my dad, I want my dad. I'm ashamed, I'm full of shame, I'm full of shame and it's not mine, I won't take the blame.” Roger blinked. He was starting to think that John’s poems were maybe a little bit too deep for him, or something. He wasn’t sure what to think. “I feel, I feel, I feel and I feel good. It's understood. These feelings are good. These feelings are good. These feelings are good. These feelings are good…”

Silence. Applause. Warren yelled, “Hell yeah!” John smiled and bowed.

“Thank you. This is the last one of the night. It’s pretty short,” John said. “It’s called ‘Mansman’.” He cleared his throat and looked down at his shoes, before looking up and into the crowd. “You’re a good-looking man. You rise with the sun. You’re good with a gun. You turned me around. You’re good in bed.”

Hm. This one was… not good. “Is this an open-mic exclusive? I would remember something this gay,” Warren mumbled.

“Shush, you’re ruining my video,” Simon retorted.

“You’ve a good looking hand. Go to the head of the class. You’ve got a heart of glass. You're always in disgrace. I fit with you. I like the things that you do,” John continued. Roger glanced at Nick. She looked bored out of her mind as she sipped on the orange juice she got from the bar. “You're a good looking man. You’ve a good looking hand. You've a heart like a moon. In your room with a view. There's never room for two.”

Silence. Applause. “Thank you all so much, you were great,” John said into the microphone. More applause. John left the stage and reentered the crowd. A girl with an acoustic guitar got on stage and began fiddling with the microphones.

“Tigger, did you write a poem about me?” Simon asked. John nodded, slowly. Simon smiled, gently. “That was… sweet. But… some of those lines were so… strange.”

“It’s just art, Simon. Sometimes I just write things without meaning them,” John stated. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“Yeah, I did…” Simon and John chatted together. Warren turned to Nick and Roger.

“John is a horrible poet,” he mumbled. Nick gave a small nod.

“I don’t think so,” Roger replied. “I think there’s probably a lot of meaning behind it that we don’t know.”

“You’re very kind, Roger,” Nick said, smiling at him. The girl on stage then said something and everyone turned to look at her. She started to play. The guitar-playing was good, but she sang exclusively in cursive. “She’s ruining Billie Eilish,” Nick sighed. “I’m going to go use the bathroom. I’ll be back.”

Nick left. Roger noticed that at some point, Simon and John were gone, too. He stood there with Warren, alone. Before he knew it, it was over. All the acts had played. Roger clapped and awkwardly waited alongside Warren.

After a moment, Warren spoke up. “You know, Roger, it’s okay to be gay.”

“Huh?”

“It’s okay to be gay,” Warren repeated himself. Roger furrowed his eyebrows.

“I know,” Roger said.

“Is there a reason why you’re pretending to be straight, then?”

“...What?”

“I see how you look at Nick.”

“I’m… I’m not gay,” Roger stated.

“You are gay,” Warren replied. “Or, at least not straight.”

“I’m…” Roger frowned. “How do you know?”

“I can tell,” Warren responded. “Trust me.” Roger didn’t say anything and Warren smirked. “Yeah. You’re a little queer, aren’t you? That’s okay, Roger. You know, we’re in a gay club. There are plenty of boys here who would be down to kiss or experiment with you, I’m sure.”

“I don’t…” Roger sighed, rubbing his forehead. He was struggling to find words, so he said the only thing he could think of, “This isn’t a gay club and, and… I don’t want to experiment with strangers!”

“Oh, well I could kiss you, if you want?” Roger’s jaw dropped.

“What?!”

“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun,” Warren replied. “Just a quick kiss, huh? And if you don’t like it, then you can know you’re straight. No pressure, of course, but I would be more likely to believe you.”

“Well, I’ve kissed a guy…” Roger blushed, before thinking. Would it even count if Nick wasn’t a guy and knew that she wasn’t? He didn’t know, so he added on a mumbled, “sorta.”

“Maybe he wasn’t the right one.” Roger didn’t say anything.

“Fine, you can kiss me,” Roger muttered. Warren leaned forward and kissed Roger on his lips. It was brief but… kind of good? Sort of? Roger couldn’t tell. He enjoyed when he kissed Nick far more, but Warren was definitely a better kisser.

“So? Are you gay?” Before Roger could reply, Nick came back. She looked annoyed. Roger noticed her makeup was nice and touched up.

“Don’t go into the men’s room,” Nick murmured. “We’re going to be here for a while.”

“What?” Roger said, right as Warren started laughing. “What’s so funny?!”

“You innocent little man,” Warren replied. “Well, you two have fun. I’m going to go bag a babe.” Warren then leaned close to Roger, whispering in his ear, “Don’t be afraid to flirt with Nick. He’s very receptive.” Warren then walked off.

“You’re blushing,” Nick pointed out.

“Yeah, it’s hot in here,” Roger mumbled.

“Want to go outside and have a cigarette?” Roger nodded and he left with Nick. The two stood outside, smoking together while they waited for John and Simon to get back. Soon, they came out, alongside Warren and some girl. Warren and his girl walked off somewhere.

Roger noticed Simon and John were both red-faced and sweaty as they stood with Nick and Roger, smoking cigarettes of their own. “So, did you guys like my poems?” John questioned.

“Yes,” Roger and Nick replied, one of them sounding neutral and the other sounding bored. Roger continued, “It sounded like you were singing them as songs, almost.”

“I’ve thought about making songs with my poems,” John mumbled. “What do you guys think?”

“Would… you be singing...?” Nick asked.

“Yes.” Nick blinked before letting out a soft hum. “Maybe not. I’m not a great singer.”

“Well, I can sing, John,” Simon spoke up. “It could be a… collaborative effort. Me on vocals and you on bass.”

“Aren’t you a drummer, Roger?” Nick asked. Roger nodded. “If you like John’s poems, who knows. Maybe you can join his… endeavours.”

“That would be fun! We could form a band,” Simon replied. “Anyway, it’s getting late. We should get going…” Simon eyed John and he laughed to himself.

“Um, yeah, Nick and Roger, I’ll take you both home and then I’ll see you in a bit, Si.”

“See you, John…” Simon’s voice was a bit flirtatious as he walked off to his car. John walked with Roger and Nick to his. This time, Nick sat in the front seat, and Roger in the back.

As Nick and John talked to each other, Roger curiously eyed Nick. She was very pretty in her all-white outfit and it was rather impressive that she was able to not get a single drop of orange juice on it. He wondered to himself about her favourite Pokemon and what they looked like. Roger had only played games from Generations I, II, and III, so Cinccino and Sylveon must have been newer. He also wondered how Nick’s Nintendogs pet. Nick had told Roger that she had a Shiba Inu named Charlotte in the game. It was cute to picture.

Time passed far too quickly as John pulled into the driveway of Roger’s parents’ flat. “See you tomorrow at school, Roger,” John said.

“See you tomorrow,” Roger echoed. “Bye, Nick.”

“Bye, Roger.” Roger got out of the car and went up the steps and into his flat. He greeted his parents and told them about his night, before he went off to his room. After doing his homework, he went back to playing Nintendogs, and got enough points to adopt a new dog: a beagle which he named after Nick.

Chapter Text

John’s parents were slowly letting him go out more. Slowly. He could tell they still weren’t thrilled by it, especially when his mum said things at dinner like, “You know, you’re always going to Simon’s flat. You’ve invited Andy and Nick to stay over here… why not him?”

John paused eating his soup. He looked up, between his mum and his dad, both of which were waiting for a response. “I… I don’t know, his parents have a much bigger flat, I guess.”

“Oh, are you embarrassed to bring him over? A true friend wouldn’t care about something like that, Nigel.”

“What? No,” John replied. “No, I’m not embarrassed. I know he wouldn’t care, it’s just…” John shrugged and went back to eating. His mum smiled sweetly at him, before placing a hand on his shoulder.

“You know, Nigel, your dad and I love you,” she said. “No matter what.”

John paused eating again as pink tinged his cheeks. Oh. “She’s right,” his dad chimed in, making John furrow an eyebrow.

“I’m… Simon and I are just friends,” John mumbled.

“Okay, sweetie,” John’s mum spoke, softly. “Oh, Nigel, you never told us about how your open-mic performance went… and what about drama club? How are you liking it? Have you made any new friends…?”

-

As November slowly but surely dwindled away, John felt himself growing closer to his friends, but further apart from his parents. That conversation at dinner wouldn’t get out of his head. Should he come out to his parents? Would it even change anything if he did? John wasn’t sure and he wasn’t about to ask anybody around him. He felt like Simon would just tell him yes without thinking, that Roger and Andy would have little-to-no input being straight men, and he knew Nick already had enough on his plate thinking about coming out to his parents and, well, the whole entire school. Maybe John should just email his drunken bisexual Tweet to his mum’s work email and that would solve everything…

Instead, he opted to take a small step: invite Simon over to his parents’ flat to stay the night for once. The other man seemed excited at the offer to see John’s parents again as he hadn’t said hello to them since they met. They made plans and after drama club one day, Simon drove John back to John’s flat. John would have rather been the one driving Simon, but Simon insisted on taking his car, probably because it was very nice and expensive and Simon was not the type to get dropped off at or take public transport to school…

The two of them talked about theatre and school in the car. It was mostly John listening to Simon ramble, as John was busy being anxious about… he didn’t know what. Simon pulled into the driveway soon enough and he got out, before going over to John’s side and opening his door for him. John smiled and thanked him before he got out. The two walked to the door and John unlocked it.

As they entered, John’s mum enthusiastically went over to Simon and greeted him. “Oh, Simon, it’s so great to see you again. How have you been? Nigel has told me all about how you got the lead role in your school play…”

John felt his face flush as his mum talked excitedly with Simon. He seemed pretty happy to be talking to her about school and acting. The topic switched to Simon talking about going to a university for drama after he graduated and John watched the faintest flicker of doubt spread across her face.

“Well, I better let you two boys get to your homework, hm?” John’s mum said, looking between them with a smile. “Dinner will be ready soon. I’ll call you when it’s done.”

“Thanks, mum,” John replied. He said ‘hello’ to his father before he went off to his room and Simon did the same. John watched as Simon looked around once they stepped inside, clearly entranced by all of the posters of glam, punk, pop, and rock icons of the 60s and 70s. John went over to his records and sifted through them, before pulling out the old reliable Roxy Music debut album. He put it on while Simon continued to look around.

“So… homework?” Simon asked, a smirk on his face as he flopped on John’s bed. John laid beside him.

“No, I usually procrastinate,” John admitted. Simon laughed and scooted closer to John, pulling him against his body.

“That’s not good,” Simon murmured as he reached up and brushed some of John’s hair out of his face, before kissing him. The two passed the time making out until John’s mum called them down for dinner. They got up and John turned the record off, before they left and went to the dining room.

John sat by Simon across from John’s mum and dad. After everybody got their food and the tea was poured, John’s mum began talking to Simon again. “So, Simon, you want to study drama after school? At what university?”

“Oh, just the University of Birmingham,” Simon replied. “I’ve already been accepted and toured it. It’s quite a nice school.”

“That’s lovely,” John’s mum replied, although once again, John could tell that a lecture about how that’s not a very valuable degree unless you want to work as a Starbucks barista was running through her head. John glanced at his dad and could tell he was thinking the same thing. “I think our Nigel here was planning on going to art school, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” John murmured. His mum smiled, softly.

“Where at, T- John?” Simon asked, before elegantly shoveling more food in his mouth.

“Birmingham City University,” John mumbled.

“Oh, so we’re right by each other!” Simon said, before smiling at John.

“That’s so nice,” John’s mum said. “I am so glad you two are friends. John has never had an easy time making friends, it’s been him and Nick mostly until he met you and Andy. Are you friends with Andy and Nick, too?”

“Nick, yes, but I don’t know Andy that well,” Simon replied. “He seems nice.”

“They are sweet boys,” John’s mum continued. “You as well, Simon. Oh! About drama… are you two learning a lot working together?”

“Yeah, it’s great working with John and Nick and them on the costumes when I have time,” Simon began, “and I also have a lot of fun with my fellow actors and actresses. I feel like I am getting better every day and I know the payoff will be nice in the future…” Simon rambled on and John’s mum continued talking to him about drama before asking him about his other interests. John’s dad slowly began to chime in as well. John listened in silence to Simon talk about acting, singing, and boating. He half-listened as he ate his food.

“Do you have a girlfriend at all, Simon? Or a boyfriend? Partner?” John choked on his food before grabbing his tea and taking a long sip. He felt eyes on him, but he didn’t dare to meet anyone’s gaze.

“No, I don’t,” Simon replied, laughing lightly. John continued drinking his tea until it was gone. He stared into the empty cup, before pouring himself some more. John went back to tuning out Simon and his parents as he stared at his reflection in the copper-colour liquid. His lip gloss was smeared…

“Nigel plays the bass. Did you know that?” John looked up at his dad.

“I have been told that,” Simon replied. John glanced over at Simon and saw his blue-eyed stare on him. “I’ve never heard him play. But, I’d like to…”

“He seems quite shy about it,” John’s mum spoke up. “He’s very hesitant to play it in front of us, but sometimes we hear him. He’s quite good.”

“He’s definitely a jazz bassist,” John’s dad added. John blushed and looked away.

“Oh, that sounds great,” Simon responded. “You should play something for all of us, T- John.” John glanced at Simon and shrugged. “Not very chatty today, are you?” Simon teased.

“He’s usually pretty quiet at dinnertime…” John went back to half-listening to his mum. She then began talking more about John to Simon, about his love for James Bond films and how he used to like playing wargames, but stopped recently.

“Well, I knew about the James Bond thing,” Simon replied. “John, you know there’s a board game club at our school? Sometimes some of the theatre gals and I get together and play some tabletop games, too. You should join us.”

“Oh, you would love that, John. Maybe it’ll get you to meet more friends…” John didn’t say anything. Time was moving far too slowly…

Once it was over, John and Simon went back to John’s room. Simon flopped on John’s bed and John went back to his box of records, but Simon spoke up, “Hey, Tigger. Why don’t you play me something on the bass, instead?”

John paused. “I’m really not that good, Simon.”

“I doubt it. Come on. Please?” John sighed.

“Fine.” He went over to the corner of his room and plugged in his amp and got out his bass. John set everything up, “What do you want to hear, Simon?”

“You know what I like,” Simon said, laying on John’s bed in a “draw me like one of your French girls” way. “Go on, Tigger.” John stared at Simon as he looked at him with bedroom eyes, a light smirk on his face. He peeled his gaze away before playing Simon the first thing he thought of: Roxy Music’s “Virginia Plain”.

When it was over, Simon clapped, “That was great, John!” He smiled at him, “I mean it. Don’t be so embarrassed. You should sign up for the school talent show in April.”

“I don’t know,” John mumbled. “Um… yeah. That’s it, I guess.”

“Aww,” Simon whined, “Johnnn…” His eyes lit up, “Have you written any bass lines for your poems? You said you were thinking about making songs.”

John blushed, “Um. No.”

“That’s a shame,” Simon replied. “Well, if you don’t want to play anymore, you don’t have to.”

“Thanks,” John said. “Maybe some other time.” He put his bass and amp up before going over to lay by Simon. The taller male snuggled him and pulled him close again.

“What do you usually do for fun at home, Tigger?”

“Write poems. Listen to music,” John mumbled. He nodded in the direction of his action figures. “Used to make model figures like those guys, but it’s been years since I’ve done anything with them…”

“Have you ever played Dungeons & Dragons, Tigger?” John laughed as he looked over at Simon. “I’m serious.”

“Once with Nick years and years ago,” John replied. By years and years ago, he meant four. “Why?”

“I love D&D,” Simon said. “You should play with us sometime.”

“Who is us?”

“Me, Caileigh, Tanya, Aspen, Phoenix, Bee, Christie, Sveta, Melissa, Bri, and Kai. That’s our DND group.” Simon and John stared at each other for a while. John was confused.

“Who… are these people?”

“All from theatre,” Simon said. “So, Caileigh as you know is on the costume crew. Tanya does sound, Aspen does props, Phoenix does props…” John listened as Simon went through all of the people, before he pulled out his phone and showed John each and everyone of their Instagram accounts to ‘refresh his memory’. “You should join us for DND. Then, I won’t be the only guy there. You can invite Nick, too, she can meet more nonbinary people. Or is she transgender…? Emmaline told me that she randomly came out and said she was a girl for the sake of costume crew…”

“I don’t think Nick is anything,” John replied. “Well, he’s everything and also nothing. He’ll be officially coming out soon.” John shrugged. “I don’t think he likes the term nonbinary, but he also doesn’t like the term genderfluid. He just… exists. I guess you’ll see.”

“I just want to be respectful,” Simon responded, before snuggling John again. “Tigger… you seemed so embarrassed at dinner. Why?”

John sighed. “I don’t know. I’ve been thinking a lot. I’m not out to my parents and not long ago they made a comment about how they love me for who I am, as if they already know I’m bisexual or something.” He shrugged. “The thing is, would I need to come out to them? What difference would it make? Why does it matter whether or not I explicitly tell them I’d like to date a man as much as I would a woman or person of other gender or not…?”

“I get it. I felt the same way,” Simon replied. “Really, I just told my parents so they knew I wasn’t completely gay. You do whatever makes you comfortable, John. It’s your identity and nobody else’s. You’re the one who decides what to do with it.” Simon kissed John on the cheek. “By the way… I heard Gaia’s visiting us all soon. Her birthday is on what day, again?”

“The sixteenth.”

“The sixteenth. It’s coming up,” Simon mumbled. He took John’s cheek in one hand and gently pet his hair with the other. “Maybe she can come the week before and see our play.”

John laughed. “She’s already missing a week of school just for this, I don’t know if she’d want to miss another.”

“She can stay with me if she does. Only if she does.” Simon smirked. “She seems cool based on what you tell me.” He sighed. “I guess I still need to join the server, huh?”

“Yes, you do.”

“Well, when Nick comes out as nonbinary, I’ll come out as a dog, okay?” John laughed and Simon joined him. After a moment, the laughing ceased, and Simon let out an, “I’m serious, John.”

“Oh,” was all John said.

Simon hugged John tighter and kissed his hair. “Do you want to watch a James Bond film, Tigger?”

“Absolutely.”

Chapter Text

It was December 8th. Warren’s eighteenth birthday. He could finally do what he wanted to for years now…

He got on his phone.

He opened Google Chrome.

He typed in “Onlyfans”.

He made an account.

He started his brand new career.

Chapter Text

It was finally the week of the school play. Once again, Simon was throwing another party, and Nick was pretty thrilled about it considering it would be their first time dressing more femininely for a long period of time. They had packed one of their fancy dresses that they bought for old man manipulation purposes as well as plenty of makeup so they could get dolled up in Simon’s bathroom prior to partying.

The first night of the play, Nick sat with Roger and John backstage in case of costume emergencies, but the second night, John dragged Nick and Roger off to the audience. “I talked to Caileigh and she said she can handle everything,” he said. “My parents, Andy, and all the goths are there. Let’s go sit together.”

“Goths?” Nick’s curiosity was piqued.

“Yes, goths.” The three of them made their way over to where Mrs. and Mr. Taylor were. Nick also noticed Andy and a girl beside him. Introductions were exchanged and Nick learned the girl was named Kitty.

“Wait, you used to be on the costume crew,” Nick said. Kitty nodded.

“Yep,” she replied. “Too much drama, so I left. Hi, Nick. Glad you remember who I am.” John then went to sit by his mum, who sat by his dad on the end. Andy went to sit by John and Kitty by Andy and Roger by Kitty. Nick sat by Roger. Soon, other goths appeared: first was a girl named Raven, followed by a girl named Suzy, and then two girls named Ruta and Chelsea who seemed very couple-like, and then a person named Ronnie.

Nick didn’t talk much to the goths at first, but they were intrigued by the Raven character who sat by them. Well, her outfit was boring and her makeup wasn’t as exciting as goth makeup usually was, but the realistic, expensive-looking vampire fangs attached to her canines were. “Raven,” Nick spoke up, getting her attention. She turned and blinked at them, an unamused look on her face. “I love your fangs.”

“Thank you, Nick,” she said, before leaning forward, showing them off. “It’s not every day I receive a compliment like that. Mortals aren’t as drawn to my vampiric charm as they used to be.”

“You’re a vampire?”

“Yes, I am,” Raven replied, boredly, before sighing. “I am.”

Nick lowered their voice, “I am, too.”

“Is that so?” Raven smiled. “My. We’ll have to get more acquainted then, won’t we?”

-

The first part of the play was great. During the break, Nick talked to Raven more about their shared vampirism. They talked about how they dealt with the sun and their cravings. Nick noticed Roger listening in at first, looking incredibly confused, but at some point he turned to talk to Andy and Kitty instead.

“Nick, are you going to this party of Simon Le Bon’s?” Raven asked. Nick nodded.

“Are you?” Nick questioned. Raven nodded.

“We-” Raven gestured to the other goths- “have been extended an invite via Kitty who received one from John who, of course, got one through the guest of honour. John was allowed only one plus one, we were told, but we’re all each other’s plus ones. It’s an easy system to rig when someone’s not specific.”

“If he says anything, you can be my plus one,” Nick said. “And… Kitty can be Roger’s. Everyone else might have to go home.” Raven was not amused in the slightest at Nick’s joke, or she did not get it.

“Very well,” Raven replied. “What do you think of this… play, by the way? Oscar Wilde, is it? I always found his work to be rather charming…”

-

Eventually the play was over. Simon did a great job and Nick clapped extra loudly when he came on stage at the end, although it still wasn’t loud as Nick was not good at clapping very loudly with their fragile, petite hands. Everybody got up and left the auditorium. Nick stood with John, his parents, Roger, Kitty, and Andy, and made conversation while the other goths went off to do… whatever.

After John’s parents left, Andy was the next to speak, “I guess Kitty and I will see you at Simon’s flat. Bye, guys.”

“Bye,” John, Roger, and Nick all said with varying levels of enthusiasm. John then looked between Nick and Roger, “I’m going to go find Simon and congratulate him before we leave. You two have fun doing… whatever.” John went off. Roger looked puzzled.

“Are we not allowed to congratulate Simon?” Roger questioned. Nick sighed.

“Well, depending on how long John’s gone, we’ll see if he’s actually congratulating him,” Nick mumbled. Roger still looked confused. Nick decided not to elaborate. “So… What did you and Kitty talked about? You looked like you got along.”

“Yeah, she used to go to that club a lot,” Roger said. “She told me about how she’s going to go to university in Berlin and that she is enjoying being with Andy. I talked to her about you and your Discord server. She said she will see if everyone in the group wants to join with her. Apparently, Kitty is quite fond of that Farm Merge Valley game as well…”

Nick chuckled. “I’m glad that’s what you talk about in regards to me.”

“Well…” Roger shrugged before smiling. “I don’t know. She said she might think about giving costumes another chance. Apparently she used to date a guy named Eli who was part of it who wasn’t the nicest…”

“I have no idea who that is.”

“Well…” Before Roger could continue if he was even going to, John was back.

“Let’s go, ladssssaaaaand Nick,” John said. He began leaving the building and Nick and Roger followed behind. They went to John’s car and got in, before being driven to Simon’s place.

Nick let Roger sit up front and they sat in the back, checking their social media. Evidently Roger’s marketing worked well because every single one of the goths already joined the Discord:

ƙιƚƚყ 🐈‍⬛: Hello, my name’s Kitty, I’m 17 and from England. I’m more into goth than glam but I do like some like David Bowie (but who doesn’t like Bowie)

Ronnie: i’m ronnie, i use they and she, i’m 17, and my favourite bands are roxy music, the cure, and the sisters of mercy. feel free to dm but don’t be weird about it

𝕽𝖆𝖛𝖊𝖓 ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ: Greetings, I am Raven, I use she/her and vamp/vamps pronouns (I’m vampire otherkin), and am seventeen years old. I enjoy a lot of music from the 70s and 80s, specifically goth groups, but I am willing to listen to anything you recommend to me.

Ruta: hi my name is ruta i use she/her and am 17

chelsea 🌙🔮: heyyy i’m chelsea and i just turned 18, i’m bi, and from birmingham! i’m goth too and also ruta’s my girlfrienddd <3

Suzy: I’m Suzanne or Suzy, 18, English, she/her.

Suzy’s introduction ended with three paragraphs about her hobbies and music taste that Nick couldn’t be bothered to read. They gave the goths all their roles and then said hello to them in the general chat. They then put their phone away and listened to Roger and John talk about… Bryan Ferry.

Soon enough, John reached Simon’s flat, although he beat him to it. So, the three of them sat in John’s car with the windows down and smoked cigarettes while they waited. It didn’t take long for Simon’s car to roll into the driveway and for him to get out alongside Warren. The three of them exited and went into Simon’s flat, Nick holding a bag in which they put their clothes in.

“Simon, I’m going to borrow your bathroom for a bit,” Nick replied.

“Go ahead,” Simon replied. “There’s one down this hallway on the left, one down there on the right, one upstairs-”

“I’ll just use this one, thanks.” Nick walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind them. They pulled out their dress: a poofy, pastel pink ensemble that went just about their ankles. It had a lot of white lace, including a lacy collar with a red gem on it. They changed out of the blazer and pants they were currently wearing and stepped into the dress and looked at themselves in the mirror. They were so beautiful.

Nick then got out their makeup. They removed the light eyeliner they did and started putting on pink-and-orange eyeshadow, before putting the eyeliner back on, this time with bolder strokes as they added eyeliner wings big enough so they could fly away if they wanted to. They put applied some bold contour and blush to highlight the feminine parts of their face, before adding a cute red lipstick on top.

Nick smiled at their reflection in the mirror and twirled around. They were such a pretty thing.

After twirling around several times, they began taking selfies. They then left the bathroom and went back out to the living room. Roger was the first to notice them. Nick watched as he blushed, his eyes slowly making their way from the collar of Nick’s dress all the way down to their expensive shoes. Nick tilted their chin up, a smirk on their face as they sat by Roger, who was sitting on the floor by John, who was sitting by Simon, who was sitting by Warren.

Simon was the next to look, “Damn, Nick, you look hot.” John looked next.

“Oh, you’re gorgeous, Nicky,” John said. “That dress looks good on you.”

“Yes, Nick, very sexy,” Warren echoed. “Although maybe I shouldn’t say that, considering I’m eighteen and you’re, you know, a minor.” John scoffed and rolled his eyes, while Simon stared at Warren.

“Wha-?” Simon furrowed an eyebrow.

“Yeah, it’s problematic,” Warren replied. “Now that I think about it, you’recringe, Simon. You’re wrong for that.”

Simon stared at him, before stating, “Says the one who thinks 9/11 was a computerised simulation. Anyway, John-” Warren shook his head, laughed, and made some sort of gesture at Simon to Nick and Roger, as if to say look at this absolute idiot who believes in 9/11, before he got up and went to the kitchen.

“Hey!” Nick looked up to see Kitty and Andy. “I joined your Discord server, Nick. It’s very cute. I love your outfit, by the way.”

“Yes, I saw, and thank you,” Nick said. Kitty sat by Roger and Andy sat by him. Simon greeted them and invited them into the conversation. Nick listened in. They were talking about Lou Reed. Nick cleared their throat. It was time for some they/themsplaining…

Soon, Raven and Suzy showed up and sat with the group as well. Apparently, the other three goths did not want to attend the party. The first thing Raven asked Simon for was a glass of red wine, not the cheap beer he had. He scoffed, saying he wasn’t going to get a bottle of wine for one person.

“Nick will share with me,” Raven replied. “So will Suzy. That’s three.” Simon looked unamused, but he went off and got a bottle of wine and a bag of red cups.

“I’m not getting glasses,” he stated, before sitting by John and holding him close again. Raven sighed and opened up the bag of cups, before pouring some for herself, Suzy, and Nick. Nick thanked Raven for their drink before they sniffed the liquid, like a typical snobby wine connoisseur or something. They then began sipping on it, going back to their conversation with John and Simon about… they didn’t know what they were talking about anymore.

Like all drama parties, someone then said they were getting bored and wanted to know if they were going to do something. “Truth or Dare” was suggested, like it literally always was. Luckily, someone complained, and then Emmaline said they should play “Seven Minutes in Heaven” again. And, like last time, John chugged his drink and offered it as a spinner. Nick heard Kitty silently murmuring something to Andy, to which he replied, “I would never do that, I promise.”

“Hey,” Emmaline spoke up. “Why don’t one of the new girls go first?”

“Fine,” Suzy replied, before spinning the bottle. It landed on… Emmaline. Suzy skipped her and she seemed greatly offended. It made Nick chuckle a bit. She got a guy on the props crew named Elijah and Simon showed them off to their room. The game continued and Nick watched, boredly.

Some pretty girl landed on Roger and decided to take him away. Nick felt a pang of jealousy as they were shown off to their room. Kitty then went next and landed on… John. She said something to Simon about how they didn’t need a bedroom and would be fine just socialising somewhere for seven minutes straight…

Nick sighed and continued drinking. “Are you alright, Nick?” They turned and looked at Raven and nodded. “I sense otherwise.”

“Alright, Nick, your turn!” Simon handed the bottle to Nick. They spun it and watched it go around and around, before it landed on Emmaline.

“...No,” Nick huffed. She looked greatly offended. Nick didn’t care. They spun it again and got…

Andy?

Nick and Andy exchanged looks of equal shock and disgust. “Alright, do you two need a bedroom, or-”

“NO!” Simon was taken aback by the unified exclamation and showed Nick and Andy to a sofa in a windowsill in one of the ten million hallways in his flat.

“Have fun,” Simon mumbled as he walked off. Nick set a timer for seven minutes and checked Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Discord, and Tumblr. Andy opened up the window and smoked a cigarette. Nick ignored the urge to ask for one as they entertained one of their Discord clients and sent them a picture of their legs. Andy didn’t ask Nick what they were up to.

Soon, the timer went off and the two walked back to Simon’s living room. Most people had returned and it looked like they had switched to either dancing to the Charli XCX record playing or were playing board games on the floor or couch. Nick sat beside Roger, who was playing Catan with John, Simon, and Kitty. John and Simon seemed to be in a heated trade deal…

“Did you have fun?” Roger asked him. Nick scoffed.

“Even if Andy was single, I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole,” Nick murmured.

“Likewise,” Andy retorted. Nick glanced at him, seeing Kitty was playing with his greasy ass mullet. Ew.

Nick watched the five of them play their game and took a photo of them playing just to have. After a bit, they felt a tap on the shoulder. “Would you like to go look at the moon with me?” Raven asked. “I try to look at her every night. On Sunday, there will be a full moon.”

“Maybe werewolves will come out,” Suzy said, dryly. Simon looked up, curiously, before going back to attempting a trade with John. Nick raised an eyebrow. John took his nerd shit too seriously. Roger and Kitty seemed as invested in the trade as John and Simon were.

“Okay, let’s go,” Nick said. They got up and followed Raven out of Simon’s flat and they stood in his front garden, staring at the moon. A few other people were gathered outside as well, drinking and talking. Raven got out a pink vape and took a hit off of it. She offered it to Nick.

“It’s strawberry watermelon flavour,” she said. “It helps me with my cravings. It was so hard not to bite that boy when we were kissing.” Raven smiled. “Even if you don’t want a hit, you can smell it. They smell good.”

“No thanks. To either,” Nick replied. “I don’t vape. I smoke.”

“Oh, well that’s quite bad for you,” Raven responded, before taking another hit off of her vape. Nick rolled their eyes as they went back to staring up at the moon. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

“Gorgeous,” Nick replied, before taking out their package of cigarettes. They got one out and lit it up. Raven coughed.

“I hate the smell of those,” she said, before taking a few steps away. “I’m sorry.” Raven paused. “I noticed that you do not like Andy.”

“I don’t,” Nick responded.

“Why’s that?”

“He’s an asshole.”

Raven nodded. “Very well. He likes Kitty, so I have to like him. Although, between you and me, I believe she’s breaking up with him soon.” Raven frowned. “She doesn’t want to have a long-distance relationship in university and wants to be able to be free to do whatever.”

Nick glanced at Raven and raised an eyebrow, “Haven’t they only been dating for a few months…?”

“Yes, but you know how feeble-minded teenagers are,” Raven replied, before laughing. “I am sure I’ll never see Kitty again after I graduate. I feel like she’s going to cut us all off. She’s always been a bit… flighty.”

“Uh huh…” Nick murmured. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s alright,” Raven said. She paused before speaking again, “Are Simon and John together? Suzy fancies John a bit, so I am asking for her sake.”

“Er, well, they’re quite close and casual,” Nick mumbled, before thinking about Suzy. “I’m not sure Suzy would be John’s type, if I’m honest.”

“And what is John’s type?”

“Uhhh… girls that look like supermodels and guys that look like…” Nick thought for a moment, “...glam rockers.”

“Oh,” Raven said. “Hot girls and pretty guys.”

“Yeah.”

“I see,” Raven replied. “I suppose I’m not shocked. It fits him. He looks far too conventionally attractive, like he was made in a factory. It’s quite scary. I like my people with imperfections.” Raven took another step towards Nick and they watched her nostrils flare at the smell of their cigarette. “It’s why I could never date someone like you, even if you’re another vampire. You’re far too perfect-looking.”

“Why, thank you…”

“That’s not a good thing. It’s boring,” Raven said, before sighing. “But, I’m sure it pays off, doesn’t it?” A group of girls squeezed past Raven and Nick. Nick caught the tail-end of a conversation of one saying that she didn’t even get the chance to do anything with her Seven Minutes in Heaven partner due to him being gay. Raven laughed. “Well, you’re in luck, then.”

“Huh?”

“That’s the girl that was with Roger,” Raven stated. She gently touched Nick’s cheek, before taking a hit off of her vape. “The full moon… is a time for manifestation, release, and celebration…”

Nick tuned Raven out as they began to overthink what Raven had just said to them.

-

The party was dying and John was still playing Catan with Simon, Roger, and Kitty. Andy had left with Suzy and Raven. Simon and John were now doing another trade deal that seemed to be taking a million years. John was drunk off his ass and Nick assumed that Simon and Kitty maybe shared something special together, considering both of their eyes were red and Simon kept giggling at everything while Kitty kept losing her train of thought, minus the fact that she kept saying she was starving even though she had eaten an entire bag of crisps all by herself. Roger kept looking at Nick, awkwardly. Nick felt like their eyes were glazing over.

“Okay, I’m going home,” Roger said, as Simon and John decided to solve their trade deal by making out. “Do you want to walk with me to the bus stop, Nick?.”

“Oh, I should get changed back into my clothes,” Nick began.

“No. You be the beautiful bitch you are,” Kitty said. “If you’re even real. Are you guys real? Am… am I real?” Nick watched as she looked at Simon and John. “Simon, do you have any more crisps…?”

Simon pulled away from John, “Hold on, I can take you guys home. I just have to finish something.” He went back to making out with John.

“...That’s okay,” Roger said, before getting up. “Come on, Nick.” The two then left Simon’s flat and walked together to the closest bus stop. They talked for a bit about the play and the party. Roger told Nick about how much fun he was having and that he’s glad he signed up.

“It’s weird that this semester’s almost over,” Roger mumbled. “And then after this one, we graduate.” He glanced at Nick. “Are you going to university after school?”

Nick nodded. “I’m going to Birmingham City University,” they said. “I’m studying film. I might do a double major and go for arts or fashion as well… probably arts because I already know enough about fashion. What about yourself, Roger?”

“I’ll be there, too,” Roger replied, a smile on his face. “Studying music.”

“Nice, so you, John, and I will be in the same place,” Nick responded.

“What about Andy and Warren?” Nick laughed.

“I don’t know anything about Andy nor do I care to ask,” Nick admitted. “As for Warren, I think he has chosen a… special career path.”

“Special career path?”

“Yeah,” Nick mumbled. “The day he turned eighteen, he made an Onlyfans account. I think that’s what he’s planning to do for a living.”

“What’s an Onlyfans?”

“Porn,” Nick stated. “He’s doing porn.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

The bus then came and Nick and Roger got on. They sat together and Nick got out his phone. They let Roger pick the music they listened to. Roger chose Roxy Music’s “Avalon”. It was just like being with John…

The two sat in silence. Roger’s stop came first. He said goodbye to Nick. “See you around,” Nick replied. They watched as he left and put in the earbud that was once in Roger’s ear in theirs. They listened to the ending of “The Main Thing” as the bus drove off.

Nick got home and their parents were asleep. They went into the bathroom attached to their bedroom and stared at their reflection with a smile. Still so beautiful…

Nick took off their makeup and changed into their night time robe before doing their skincare routine. They turned off the light and laid in their bed, scrolling through their phone aimlessly as they thought about Roger… He probably wasn’t actually gay and just uninterested in the girl he was paired up with. Sometimes girls could be vain, and if Roger was gay, surely he’d tell Nick, right? Right…?

Nick sighed as they tossed their phone aside and decided to finally get some rest.

Chapter Text

The things you do for love. John was worried about ditching a class because he knew there’d be severe punishments if his parents found out, but he didn’t want Gaia to have to take so many modes of public transportation alone after she was already on a train for four hours… so now Simon was sitting in his car, waiting to receive a text message from this girl he had never talked to or seen at 10am on a random ass Tuesday. Not only that, but this girl was staying at Simon’s flat. Perhaps Simon was a fucking idiot, but he was head over heels for John and would be willing to do damn near anything for him.

Gaia: i’m here. at the main entrance.
Gaia: /1 attachment

Simon peered at the photo. This was one pretty girl.

Simon: Getting out and walking to you now
Simon: /1 attachment

Great. Now they knew what each other looked like.

Simon got out of his car and walked into the train station. It didn’t take long before he spotted a girl with wavy dirty blonde-ish hair that went slightly past her shoulders. She had black, cat-eyed eyeliner, light grey eyeshadow, red-tinted lip gloss, and some light blush on her cheeks as far as makeup went. Her outfit consisted of a sky blue turtleneck jumper, a high waisted black skirt that went to her mid-thigh, and then long, black boots that went over her knees. They looked to have heels, so Simon assumed she was probably at least two or three inches shorter without them. She made eye contact with Simon and flashed him a big smile, before walking over to him.

“Hello,” she said, her voice a thick Northern English accent. “I’m Gaia.” She held her hand out to shake. Simon peered down at it and her, thinking she was probably around 5’8, which meant she’d be 5’5 or 5’6 without the boots. John was going to tower over her.

“Hello,” Simon replied, before shaking her hand. “I’m Simon. Er… I guess I’ll take you to my place so you can drop off your stuff and then we’ll get you some lunch and go to school. I don’t have any classes with John, so you won’t see much of him, but-”

“Oh, that’s alright, he told his parents about me and he said I’m free to go home with him after school and then back to your flat,” Gaia interrupted. Simon nodded, slowly. “Alright, so where are you parked, then?”

“Um, I’ll show you.” Simon walked with Gaia in silence before he showed her to his car. He helped her get her suitcase and bag into his trunk before he opened her door for her. She got in and Simon went over to the driver’s side, letting out a long sigh before he got in. “So, Gaia. I know nothing about you, really… um… what do you like to do for fun…?”

“Paint, write, journal, scrapbook, pottery, play violin, listen to music, crochet, knit, play with my cat…” Simon listened to her list off things as if she was annoyed or out of breath. He felt a tinge of annoyance. Was she unable to fake her enthusiasm? Simon was. “What about you, Simon?”

“Singing, acting, fencing, boating,” Simon mumbled. “Stuff like that.”

“Fencing and boating?” Gaia laughed. “You’re not one of those posh wankers are you?”

“No,” Simon let out, knowing damn well that he probably was. “Um, what kind of music do you like, Gaia?”

“Glam rock, art rock, art pop, sophisti-pop,” Gaia said. “Roxy Music is my all-time favourite, but you probably know that already. I’m sure John talks about me.”

“Sometimes,” Simon said, wanting to make sure this bitch knew that she was not constantly on John’s mind like Simon was. Simon shook his head, trying to calm his brain and quell his mean thoughts. Gaia was no threat. She was just a mutual friend…

“He talks about you quite a lot,” Gaia replied. “Says you're his fuckbuddy. I also hear that you identify as a dog. Or, well, I assume. He asked me if I knew anything about dog boys and vaguely said a friend of his is one, but I can’t imagine Nick or Andy would say they’re something so silly. No offense to you, mate.”

“None taken,” Simon snarled through gritted teeth as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. Okay, nevermind. Fuck this bitch.

-

John sat at lunch with Nick, Roger, Andy, Kitty, and Raven apprehensively. John had one empty seat to his left and another to his right with Andy next to one of the seats. Kitty was across from him with Raven next to her, leaving Nick directly across from John and Roger beside him. He was so excited, yet so scared.

Then, he saw Simon enter with a girl about four inches shorter than him. John’s jaw dropped at the sight of her perfect hair and perfect makeup and perfect skin and perfect body. She got closer and closer before she spotted John and smiled, showing off her teeth. They were excellent for a British person’s teeth. John got up from his seat, grinning back, before Gaia moved faster towards him. She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him tightly in a hug.

“John!” She squeaked, happily. “Fucking finally!”

“Yeah,” John said, breathlessly, as she squeezed all the air out of him. He glanced at his friends. Kitty and Andy both smiled at him, as if they were happy he was meeting her. Nick, Raven, and Roger looked bored. Simon wasn’t even looking at them. John felt embarrassed for making a scene in the cafeteria and patted Gaia on the shoulder. “Um… you can let go now.”

Gaia let go and John sat back in his seat, while she took the one in between him and Andy. John meant for Simon to sit there, but it looked like he had taken the one on the end. Oh well. Gaia unzipped the bag she had and pulled out a sandwich of some kind. She took a bite before looking around at everyone. “Alright, so we have… Roger, Nick, um… I don’t think I know you-”

“Raven. Pleased to meet you.”

“Raven, …”

“Kitty.”

“Kitty, uh… Andy, is it?”

“Yep.”

“Then John of course and I already met Simon,” Gaia said. “I’m Gaia, the girl from Sunderland. It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.”

“Sunderland, huh?” Andy said, “I have family near there. I was born in Northumberland.”

“Oh, really? Not far then…”

-

Simon wasn’t sure what the point of any of this was. Gaia was just following him to all of his classes and sitting there, boredly. She doodled in her notebook or reviewed notes for what looked like her own schoolwork. Why couldn’t John just have asked if Gaia stayed at his house and shadowed him at school…? Sure, Gaia would have had to sleep on John’s sofa, but did it matter if she was going to be there anyway?

Simon kept thinking back at lunch. John never smiled at Gaia the way he smiled at him or looked at him the way he looked at her. He gripped his pencil when he thought about it. He didn’t want to be the jealous type, but… he was worried. He didn’t want Gaia to be his competition… Simon sighed to himself. He was sure it was all in his head; surely John thought of her as only a friend and wouldn’t go for some girl that he met on the Internet who did all the things Simon already did but worse.

Simon felt his arm being nudged. He looked over and saw Gaia offering him a piece of strawberry gum. He smiled, mouthed “thank you”, and took it. Maybe she wasn’t so bad. Maybe he was just villianising her in his head because, well… he was in love with Nigel John Taylor. Dreamy sigh.

Although, Gaia did reduce his dog boy side down to a “silly identity”. Ugh. Strong words from someone who uses Tumblr dot com in this day and age.

“Simon, please quit chewing with your mouth open.”

“Sorry, miss,” Simon mumbled, before reluctantly shutting his mouth. If only his brain would shut off, too…

-

School was finally over and John was waiting outside for Gaia and Simon. He scrolled through his Tumblr, admiring images of Bryan Ferry. He was so damn fine. John needed him so bad…

“Whatcha drooling at, John?” John watched as Gaia leaned and looked at his phone screen. “Oh my God, that’s our wife!” John laughed before putting his phone up and standing. He looked between Simon and Gaia, the former of the two stepping towards him and kissing him on the cheek. Hm. That was new.

“Hey, Tigger,” Simon said. “Uh… I guess I’ll see you around. Have fun.” He nodded to Gaia and John, before walking off to his car. John watched, feeling a sense of longing.

“Tigger? Cute nickname.” Gaia’s words broke John out of his thoughts. He turned and grinned at her. “Off to your flat, then?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

-

Simon ended up not going home. Instead, he called someone he had never expected to call and went over to his flat. He met his kind parents and went to his room. The two sat on his floor, played Minecraft, and talked about Gaia and John.

“Do you think they’re more than friends?” Simon asked, sighing.

“No, just friends,” Nick replied. “If John decides to ever be more than friends with her, he’s an idiot. She’s done some stuff that’s creeped him out quite a bit and he’s been annoyed with her on more than one occasion.” Nick glanced up at Simon, meeting his gaze. “I would think John knows you like him and it’s pretty obvious he likes you, too. I think he’s just… scared to be in a relationship. He’s acted all cocky and such since he went from being Nigel to being John but underneath that, he’s a very insecure, shy guy. It’s just a front he puts on.”

“I know,” Simon replied. “He shares so much with me when we’re alone. He’s very vulnerable around me and I quite like that. We have a good thing going on. He just… Well, I told him I was polyamorous at one point and I think it scared him. But, the thing is, I’d be happy being exclusive with just him. In fact, ever since he started doing that, I went back to just being friends with the other girls I was with and have had him as my sole partner. And, really, I’m just as happy if not happier with things that way. I really, really, REALLY like him. In fact, I think I probably love him. I’ve never felt so strongly connected with someone as with him.” Simon sighed. “I don’t know…”

“Just tell him how you feel, Simon,” Nick said, softly. “What’s the worst he could say?” Simon watched as he smiled at him, before looking down at his laptop, “Oh, shit!”

“What?”

“A Creeper just blew up part of Warren’s house.”

“Who cares,” Simon said. “I mean, I love Warren, but his house was fucking ugly. His taste in design is so bad, I’m surprised he’s not straight.” Simon watched as Nick laughed and nodded, before he stared at Simon’s shirt which had many shocked cats on it and pink, glittery letters that read “Lesbians eat WHAT?!”

“Nick, come on, this right here? This is real fashion,” Simon spoke up. “You know what? For Christmas, you’re getting a shirt like this. You’re going to fucking love it.”

“Jesus Christ,” Nick muttered, before looking back down at his laptop screen. Simon sighed and looked at his, seeing a Creeper appear and blow up the corner of the dirt house in front of him.

“Oh, fuck!” Simon let out.

“What?”

“A Creeper just blew up part of Andy’s house.”

“Fuck Andy and his stupid fucking dirt house,” Nick said with a loud, exasperated sigh. Simon was unsure if it was actually about Andy and his dirt house or if it was about the threat- er, blessing of a graphic shirt for Nick. Either way, he didn’t say anything and went back to looking for a sixth pet wolf for his beautiful home.

-

John was having so much more fun with Gaia than he had with anyone in a while. His mum and dad seemed thrilled that he had a girl over, although they made him keep his door slightly open. They danced to the first four Roxy Music albums together and then collapsed on the floor, out of breath. Afterward, they played Risk while listening to “Siren” and “Manifesto”.

John went to go put “Flesh and Blood” on, but Gaia stopped him. “Holy fuck, it’s nearly time for supper, innit?” She sighed. “I better get back to Simon’s flat. We can continue Risk and Roxy tomorrow… this game takes way too fucking long, I forgot. But, it was really fun, and I’m glad I got to see you, Tigger.”

John froze at Gaia using Simon’s nickname for him. “Yeah, it’s been nice,” he mumbled as he slid “Flesh and Blood” back into the sleeve. He turned around and smiled at her. “Okay. I won’t touch our game of Risk. Actually, do you want me to drive you back to Simon’s?”

“Nah, that’s alright, I better get used to the Birmingham buses if I’m planning on going to uni here,” Gaia said. John raised an eyebrow.

“You’re… planning on going to university here?” Gaia smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, thinking of getting a Media and Communications Degree from the University of Birmingham,” Gaia replied. “That’s part of the reason I came here, actually. I’m seeing if I like the city. It’s pretty much how I convinced my parents to let me go. I’m actually taking a tour of the uni on Saturday.”

John nodded. “Well, alright. Um, cool,” he said, awkwardly.

“Anyway, I better leave… hey, wait,” Gaia said. She looked at John, a smirk on her face. “You never played anything for me on your bass.”

“Oh. Well, what do you want to hear?”

“Some Roxy, of course!”

“Oh, okay, okay.” Gaia sat on John’s bed and watched him as he got his amp and bass set up. He then played her the bassline for (want to guess what it is…?) “Virginia Plain”. Afterward, she got up and cheered, hollering and clapping. John felt himself blushing as he put his stuff away. “It really wasn’t anything that special.”

“Ah, nah, John, you’re a fantastic bassist.” John turned around and there Gaia was. He jumped a bit from shock. John looked down at her: he was about half a foot taller than her, give or take. She was so tiny… Gaia let out a soft sigh and wrapped her hands around John again. He hugged her back. “I’m so fucking happy we get to meet. This may sound stupid, but I felt a connection to you even when we only had been talking for a few days. This is like a dream come true.”

“Definitely,” John replied as he hugged her back. “You mean a lot to me, Gaia. I think you understand me better than anyone else in the whole world.”

Gaia laughed against John’s chest, before looking back up at him, a grin on her face and a twinkle in her deep blue eyes. “I feel the same exact way,” she breathed. A few seconds later, she pulled away. “Okay, bye bye, Johnny. See you tomorrow at school. Don’t forget to post your daily poem.”

“Wait, let me walk you to the door…”

-

Gaia came home right before dinner. Simon let her in and introduced her to his parents and younger brothers. They all sat together while Simon’s dad was finishing dinner and talked. Simon was amazed by how good Gaia was at vaguely lying to his parents about her being a close friend of John’s who she used to go to school with and was visiting the city for a tour of the University of Birmingham this Saturday.

After dinner, Simon helped Gaia find her room again. She went to take a shower and Simon went off to his own room. He checked his Instagram and saw that she had followed him on there. He requested to follow her back, hoping she’d accept soon so Simon could stalk her profile out of total not jealousy.

Simon checked his TikTok and Twitter while he waited to see if the bangers he posted were getting a good amount of traction. Sure enough, they were. He was so fucking funny and hot.

Simon then started texting John, asking how things went with Gaia. The two texted for a while, before Simon got the notification that Gaia accepted his follow request. Yes… Simon then switched between stalking and texting, although there wasn’t anything interesting on Gaia’s Instagram. Just records, fashion, cats, and photography. It was like Nick’s but without all the cuntserven. Also, no selfies or pictures of John Taylor… perhaps this was a good sign.

Soon, John told Simon he was going to bed and Simon sent him a selfie and a “Good night Tigger xoxo” message. Simon got a selfie and a “night xx” back. He smiled, sent one flirty last text, and then put his phone on the charger and went to bed. Things were looking pretty good in his favour.

Chapter Text

While John was busy doing whatever with Gaia, Nick had other worries. She was going to finally come out to her parents this weekend and then the whole school via an Instagram post. She had started officially coming out to small groups within the theatre department and everyone had been quite accepting of her, which made her happy.

At lunch, Nick shared her pretty little Canva infographic with Roger and Simon (as John and Gaia went off school property to eat somewhere and Andy was back sitting with the goths). “It’s so… colourful,” was Roger’s initial comment.

“Oh, a pronouns page,” Simon pointed out. “That’s a good idea…” Simon nodded. “This is a great little graphic, Nick. It explains your gender very well.”

“Yeah,” Roger agreed.

“Thank you both,” Nick said. “You know, the three of us should hang out today together after school since John’s off doing… whatever.”

“Definitely,” Simon replied. “What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know,” Nick murmured. “What about you, Roger? Do you have any ideas?” Roger shrugged.

“Hm… I know! Let’s go shopping! My treat,” Simon replied. “Nick and I can make you over, Roger.”

“Uh, okay,” Roger replied.

“Is Warren coming along?” Simon asked.

“I think he’s been busy making… content,” Nick mumbled, before she remembered something that should have been very obvious. “I need to talk to him, so I’ll ask him when I see him later.”

“Oh, alright,” Simon replied. “So, for clothing stores…”

-

Nick and Warren met in the men’s bathroom during class. “Hey, Nick,” Warren said. “What did you want to talk to me about, exactly?”

“Well, Warren,” Nick began. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something very important.”

Warren folded his arms and smirked, “You don’t have a crush on me, do you?”

“What?! No!” Nick huffed. “I’m- I’m genderqueer, Warren. I use all pronouns.”

“Cool,” Warren replied. “I’m pansexual, you kn- oh, wait, you’re seventeen. Nevermind.” Nick frowned at the implications. “Was that it?”

“Yes,” Nick replied. She didn’t feel like inviting Warren out to go shopping anymore.

“Cool,” Warren said. “You should consider taking estrogen, by the way. You’d probably look super sexy.” Warren left. Nick let out the loudest sigh known to man. Back to class, she supposed…

-

After school, Nick and Roger got into Simon’s car. They had decided on going to a vintage thrift store that Nick liked that had affordable yet stylish clothes. Sometimes there were good records, too.

The three entered and went off to the men’s section, Simon parting ways to find something that fit his tall ass while Nick and Roger looked through stuff meant for people of a normal height. It was mostly Nick looking through clothes while Roger watched her, but she didn’t mind.

Nick found some cute patterned jumpers, but nothing she desperately needed to have. Roger said he liked one that Nick found with blue-and-white stripes, so Nick held onto it for him, before she told Roger she was going to the women’s section. Roger said he was going to look for records, so they went separate ways.

The girls’ clothes were already much better than the men’s. Nick found gorgeous satin blouses, one in indigo and one in white with lace decals on the collar, and the jumpers had much cuter patterns on them then the men’s. There were also some lacy lingerie things, but Nick wasn’t quite bold enough for that… nor did she know if it’d even fit her properly.

“Hey, girl.” Nick looked up to see Simon, his hands on his hips. “Did you find anything? Oh, let me see. Cuuuute!” Simon inspected Nick’s finds. “Wanna go look at dresses?”

“Yeah, sure,” Nick said. The two of them went off to the dresses, Simon staying by Nick. It seemed like he was more interested in picking something out for her, which made sense, she supposed. Nick found a cute pink dress that she really liked from some company called “Zip n Dash” and Simon went off with her to make sure it fit. Sure enough, it did, and she looked absolutely stunning in it. Nick decided she would get it along with Roger’s jumper and her two fancy blouses.

Nick and Simon then met up with Roger. As Simon looked with Roger through the records, Nick looked at the miscellaneous items. There were some random books, patterned plates that were no doubt someone’s precious heirloom at one point, unlabelled bottles of perfume, tiny animal collectibles, a typewriter, board games, very edible-looking Barbie clothes…

Wait.

Nick went back to the board games. Something caught her eye, although she was only half-paying attention. But, soon enough, she saw it again: a blue box with a cartoon princess on it. It was a board game entitled “Pretty Pretty Princess”, captioned with “the classic jewelry dress-up game”. She took it off of the shelf and inspected the back. Within seconds, she decided this was the best board game ever made and she needed it NOW.

Simon and Roger found Nick again and they both eyed the box she had. Nick noticed Roger was empty-handed, while Simon held the Doors’ debut album in his hand. “What is that, Nick?”

“A board game,” Nick said, holding up the box. “We should play it together.” Roger showed no reaction. Simon leaned forward, smiled and nodded.

“Definitely,” Simon replied. “Let’s go buy our things and then… go to your place, Nick? Listen to some Doors and become some princesses?”

“Absolutely.”

-

After a quick stop to get some boba tea, Simon, Roger, and Nick were sitting in Nick’s bedroom. Simon put the Doors’ debut on Nick’s record player and Nick set up “Pretty Pretty Princess”. It was a simple game: it was turn-based and players spun to decide how many spaces they moved. I don’t really feel like explaining the rules, so here’s an Instagram reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHrfu_iScSz/?igsh=OXY1MzZobGgwNjI1

“Okay, what colour do you guys want to be?” Nick asked. “I want to be pink.”

“I’ll be blue,” Simon replied. “It matches my eyes.”

“I’ll be purple,” Roger responded.

“Who’s going first?” Nick questioned.

“It’s your game, so you go ahead,” Simon said. Roger nodded in agreement. Nick spun the spinner. She got a three and took a necklace. Next was Roger, and then Simon. They played the first few turns in silence, listening to the music as they became princesses. Simon took random video clips, saying he was going to edit them into something for his TikTok. Nick wasn’t sure how well “Pretty Pretty Princess” would do as a fifteen-second clip, but she didn’t say anything.

After the first track played, Nick spoke up as she flicked the spinner, “So, what do you two think of Gaia?” She sighed as she got a three, landing on the Cursed Ring space. Fortunately for her, she already had it, along with the pink necklace she wore on her neck.

“You already know,” Simon replied as Roger spun a one. Roger picked up a necklace and put it beside his bracelet on the floor. “Roger, the clothes are for wearinggg. Come on, Rog, be a pretty, pretty princess!”

“Okay,” Roger said, sheepishly smiling as he put on his necklace and bracelet. Simon smiled at him as he spun a three.

“Much better,” Simon said as he landed on the ‘put one back’ space. “Fuuuck.” He took off his barely-fitting ring and placed it in the center of the board, before going back to playing with the game piece earring that he clipped over the earring that he already wore. The plastic bracelet on his wrist jingled as he did. Simon sighed, “Okay, Roger, your turn. What do you think of Gaia?”

“She’s nice,” was all Roger said as Nick spun a three. She picked up a bracelet and put it on.

“That’s it?” Simon asked as Roger spun a three. Roger shrugged as he relieved Nick of her Cursed Ring. “Come on, Roger, you’ve ought to be more opinionated.” Simon spun the spinner and got a necklace. He picked it up and wore it as a headband.

“Can you be careful with that? I don’t want it to break,” Nick mumbled, before spinning a two. Nothing happened as she already had a necklace.

“It’s not going to break,” Simon retorted as Roger went. He got a one, landing on a ring space. Roger awkwardly put it on before passing the spinner to Simon. “Well, Roger, to catch you up to speed, Gaia’s staying at my house even though she’s with John all the time, she’s shadowing me even though she only cares about John, and I am deeply in love with John and want her to know that she needs to not even think about pursuing him, but I don’t know how to tell her that without being rude.” Simon landed on the earring space. “‘Pretty Pretty Princess’ is going to take forever, isn’t it?”

“It’s entertaining,” Nick replied as she went. She picked up a ring. “Great, all I need is an earring. I’m going to bring this to our next drama club gathering.”

“Oh, good, and then we can play this instead of Truth or Dare or Seven Minutes in Heaven,” Simon said. Roger went, landing on the bracelet space. “I do enjoy some teenage fun, but everyone’s so uncreative with the questions, and John’s really the only person I want to kiss now…” Simon flicked the spinner, sighing.

“As soon as Gaia’s gone, you should tell him,” Nick replied as Simon landed on the ring space, acquiring his last piece of jewelry. Simon passed Nick the spinner before either taking selfies or more clips for his TikTok. “He reciprocates your feelings. I know it. He tells me everything.”

“He tells me everything, too, except for how he actually feels about me, it seems like,” Simon mumbled as he watched Nick move her game piece to the “put one back” spot, smirking as Nick tossed her ring into the center of the board. “Well, enough about that. Does Roger have a crush?”

“No,” Roger replied, spinning and moving his piece to the necklace spot. He frowned as he played with the Cursed Ring that he had on his finger.

“No? Hey, I don’t think you wear the Cursed Ring,” Simon responded, before spinning.

“What do I do with it-” Roger’s question was cut off as Simon landed on the “put one back” space.

“Fuuuuuuckkkkk meeeeeee,” Simon groaned as he threw off his necklace bandana. Nick frowned.

“Be careful with my shit, Simon, that’s vintage,” she hissed as it was her turn again. Nick sighed as she landed on the Cursed Ring space and watched as Roger delicately slid it off of his finger and handed it to Nick. “Thank you.”

Simon started talking about something as Roger spun the spinner. Nick tuned him out, Simon’s crush question to Roger making her think. She watched as Roger picked up an earring and apprehensively clipped it to his ear. Nick and Roger made nervous eye contact and Roger smiled at her, shyly, as Simon began complaining about Roger having the jewelry pieces and how he better not win the damn game.

The turns continued as Simon talked and Nick continued on-and-off staring at Roger. She watched the way his lips moved as he replied to Simon. Nick couldn’t stop thinking, thinking, thinking, hoping that Roger was queer in some shape or form. If that was the case, that meant there was some hope for the two of them, right?

“Hey, diva, get out of daydream land, it’s your turn.” Nick looked up at Simon and blinked twice, as if to snap herself out of her thoughts. “What are you thinking of, anyway?”

“Oh, nothing,” Nick mumbled as she spun the spinner. She moved two spaces onto the “put one back” spot and took off her bracelet, putting it in the center of the game. Nick stared at her ring and her necklace… this was going to take forever, wasn’t it…?

“Oh, come on, have a heart to heart with us,” Simon said as Roger went. “It’s just us two.” Roger moved to the bracelet spot, one place away from the crown one, and Simon let out a loud gasp. “Oh, thank FUCK you didn’t land on the crown.”

Nick laughed. “You take this far too seriously.” Simon gave her a look as he spun the spinner.

“Look, Nick, do you want to be the pretty princess or not?” Simon joked(?) as he picked up a necklace and wore it as a headband again, finalising his jewelry collection. “You need to get your head in the game.”

“This is all just chance, Simon.” Nick flicked the spinner, landing on the crown spot. Too bad it didn’t do anything…

“No, it’s all in the flick of your finger…” Simon began talking about random shit while Roger went. He smiled at Nick and Nick chuckled as Simon rambled. Simon then got on the “put one back” space, “GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!!” He tossed his necklace headband away.

There was a gentle knock on the door as Nick spun, “Yeah?” Nick called out as she landed on the ring space and sighed to herself, longing for a piece of jewelry she didn’t already have.

“Is everything okay in here?” Nick’s door opened slightly and she watched her mum poke her head in as Roger spun the spinner. He moved and then Simon went.

“Oh, everything’s fine, mum, Simon just gets competitive,” Nick replied.

“Sorry,” Simon responded as he moved his pawn to an earring space. “I’ll keep it down.”

“Okay.” Nick’s mum blinked as she watched her child spin the spinner. “What is this you’re playing?” Nick landed on a bracelet space and smiled to herself as she put it on.

“Pretty Pretty Princess,” she replied, nonchalantly, as Roger went.

“...Which is…? What? What are you doing?” Nick explained the rules to her mum as Roger put his earring back. Nick’s mum nodded along, softly. Simon flicked the spinner and landed on the Cursed Ring space. Nick watched as he paled, his eyebrows shooting up in unamusement as she handed her cursed ring to him. “Oh, cute. Sounds… fun.”

“Yeah, it is,” Nick said as she spun the spinner, waiting for her mum to leave. She landed on the crown space.

“Well… I’ll let you three boys get back to it again. Have fun.” Nick’s mum left and shut the door as Roger went. Nick, Simon, and Roger exchanged glances.

“I can’t believe I have the fucking Cursed Ring,” Simon let out. “This game is rigged.” He took the spinner and flicked it.

“No, you’re just bad at it,” Nick said, dryly. Simon scoffed as he landed on the “take any” piece and put his necklace headband back on.

“One of you take this fucking ring for me. Please. I can’t do this anymore!” Simon made fake sobbing noises as Nick landed on the earring space, finally collecting her last piece of jewelry. “You bitch. Do not win. You, too, Roger. This means everything to me. Think of my TikTok audience. It won’t be as fun if I don’t win…”

On Simon’s next turn, he landed on the crown space and went onto another rant about the Cursed Ring. Nick and Roger just listened, trying to hide their amusement. Eventually, Roger took the Cursed Ring away from Simon, and he went on some “oh thank God, life is so sacred and blessed”, etc. tangent. Nick burst into giggles and Simon laughed along with her.

Then, Simon got the Cursed Ring again and let out a loud, “FUCK MY LIFEEEEEEE.” Nick couldn’t stop laughing. She could barely breathe. “Okay, Nicky, calm down, this isn’t worth dying over, I- GOD. FUCKING. DAMNIT.” Simon groaned as he took his necklace headband off. But, the next turn Nick got Simon’s Cursed Ring, and he went back to a state of joy. He also got his necklace back on his next turn.

As the sound of the Doors faded away, Roger took the Cursed Ring from Nick. “Nick, why don’t you play us some princess music now?” Simon requested as he flicked the spinner.

“Alright.” Nick got up and carefully took Simon’s record off the player and put it back into the sleeve.

“Okay, it’s your turn. Can I go for you?” Simon called out as Nick began sifting through her records.

“Roger can,” Nick replied, before taking out a black album with four men on it. She went to her record player as she heard the spinner flick. She turned to make sure Roger was moving her pawn, not Simon, before going back to putting the record on.

“NOOOOOO!” Simon let out. Nick turned around to see Roger grinning and approaching Nick. In his hands were the princess crown and the spinner.

“You won,” Roger said. “You’re the pretty pretty princess.” Nick beamed as Roger put the crown on her, the opening notes of Kraftwerk’s “Europe Endless” playing in the background. Roger flipped the spinner so Nick could eye herself in the mirror. She smiled at her reflection and how she looked with all her plastic accessories. Nick was indeed a pretty, pretty princess.

“Okay, I’m done having a meltdown,” Simon called out. “Selfie time, girls.” Roger went to put the spinner back and Nick walked over to Simon, standing on his left. Roger stood to Nick’s left and Simon held up the camera. “Ready…?” They took about sixteen photos before Simon asked Nick if she would take some video clips with Simon to finish up his TikTok. Nick was in a good mood, so she agreed.

The three of them chatted while Simon edited together his clips and created a TikTok, Kraftwerk’s “Trans-Europe Express” album playing softly in the background. Simon finished up the TikTok, and showed Nick and Roger. It was like a mini soap opera. “I don’t get it,” Roger replied. “Why is it so…”

“It’s okay, Roger,” Simon said. “Who wants to go get ice cream?”

“We just got boba t-” Roger began before Nick let out a, “I could go for some ice cream.” She smiled and nudged Roger, who shrugged, smiling back. “Okay,” Roger agreed.

“Hell yeah,” Simon replied. The three of them cleaned up the board game, finished listening to Kraftwerk, and then left. Nick couldn’t remember the last time he had so much fun. Maybe John having Gaia to occupy him was a good thing…

Chapter Text

John was having a lot of fun with Gaia. They were already so close, but meeting her in person just made them get closer and closer. He couldn’t believe that it was already Saturday and she would be going home tomorrow… It made him sad. At the same time, however, John missed his friends. Simon posted photos of himself, Nick, and Roger on Instagram playing some board game, and while it did look a bit stupid, John wished he was there.

However, he was with Nick now for another reason. Gaia and John were going to go out again in the afternoon after she was done with her university tour, so he decided to hang out with Nick beforehand. And by hang out, he meant have lunch with Nick and his parents and then sit in the living area with all of them because Nick had something he wanted to tell his parents.

Nick’s mum and dad sat on the sofa opposite of the chair that John sat in. Nick’s mum looked apprehensive, while his dad looked unamused, eyeing John accusingly. John looked away, pretty sure that Nick’s dad was getting the wrong idea of what this meeting was for. Luckily, he was either about to be greatly relieved or disappointed.

“Mum, dad…” Nick began. “For a long time, I’ve known I was not like other kids my age. And, a few years ago, I realised why that is. I’m not a boy or a girl. I’m something in between. I’m not sure of the right word to describe it, yet, but all this means is you no longer have a son anymore. I’m just your child. That’s all.”

Nick’s mum and dad stared at him. “Is that it?” Nick’s mum said.

“Yes,” Nick replied.

“Okay, honey,” his mum said, before giving him a small smile. “This might take some time for me to get used to, but I still love you.”

“Thank you, mum. I love you, too,” Nick said, before looking at his dad.

Nick’s dad sighed, “Okay.”

“Okay…?” Nick asked.

“It’s… It’s just like your… makeup thing,” Nick’s dad murmured. “I don’t understand it and I think it’s a phase. But, okay. If your mum wants to encourage it...” Nick’s dad stared at John, “I’m just glad you’re not dating him. That’s what I thought this was about.”

Nick’s mum rolled her eyes and nudged her husband, “Oh, come on. John would be a lovely boyfriend for Nick.” John laughed, awkwardly.

“Trust me, neither of us are interested in each other in the slightest,” John said.

“Yeah, don’t worry,” Nick replied. “If I do end up dating someone, I will tell you two, I promise. Thanks for being accepting…”

“Of course, honey. Your dad and I will always love you, no matter what,” Nick’s mum responded. “Is there anything else you two need?” John looked at Nick and Nick looked at him, before looking back at his mum.

“That was all I had to tell you,” Nick replied. Nick’s mum smiled, before getting up and hugging her kid. He hugged her back.

“I love you so much,” she mumbled.

“I love you, too.” John watched the tender moment between Nick and his mum, before he chatted with his parents a bit longer. Nick then got up and motioned for John to follow him. The two went off to his bedroom and sat down, listening to records and talking.

John talked about Gaia in depth and recapped all the events that happened between the two of them in the past few days. They’d gone shopping, seen all the (few) cool things in Birmingham that there were, had many meals together, and a lot of bonding sessions with one another. “She’s a great friend,” John told Nick. Nick nodded.

“I’m glad you two are good friends,” Nick replied. “It’ll be fun to attend uni with you, her, and Roger.”

“Yeah,” John responded. “Speaking of Roger…?” Nick sighed, loudly, and John tilted his head. “Wait, what the hell happened…?”

“So, at the drama party, when Raven and I left to go look at the moon,” Nick began, confusing John. He remembered… none of that happening. “Well… we overheard some girl saying that nothing happened between her and the guy she got in Seven Minutes in Heaven because he told her she was gay. And… Raven said it was the girl with Roger. So…” Nick shrugged. “I don’t know…”

“Hm,” John let out. “Have you asked him?”

“No,” Nick grumbled. “He already told me he was straight. I feel like if he is gay, he will tell me at some point.” He sighed. “Well. You’ve talked about Gaia. How are things with Simon?” John shrugged. “Really? He talks about you a lot. He’s clearly very fond of you, John.”

“Yeah…” John trailed off. He sighed.

“You can’t pretend you aren’t all over him when Gaia isn’t here.”

John didn't say anything. He glanced at Nick. “That reminds me. I want to hear about this Pretty Pretty Princess game of yours.”

-

Later that evening, Nick had an unexpected dinner date with John, Gaia, Simon, Roger, and Andy. They all went to some vegan restaurant, with Gaia saying she’d treat everyone. The six of them sat in a booth with Gaia, John, and Simon on one side and Andy, Roger, and Nick on the other.

Nick sifted through his salad while Gaia talked about her trip touring the university and her plans to become a journalist. Every once in a while, he glanced up at her and tuned in to the conversation, but he was mostly ignoring her. The conversation seemed to be mostly between Gaia, John, and Andy. Simon looked either annoyed or nervous as he ate his sandwich and Roger was entranced in his vegan chicken nuggets.

“What about you, Nick?”

Nick looked up at Gaia. She laughed. “What do you want to do in university?”

“I’m thinking of doing a double-major,” Nick replied. “First, film, and then maybe also an arts degree. Fashion was a consideration but I’ve pretty much already got the hang of that.”

“Oooh,” Gaia said. “I heard your friend Warren is doing some film of his own.” Nick let out an amused scoff and Andy and John burst into laughter.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nick mumbled. “He’s a special one, that one…”

“Oh, hey, Nick, do you want to share the good news?” John asked. Nick blinked. “With your parents and what happened when I was at your flat…?”

Nick’s eyes lit up, “Oh, yeah. I came out to my parents. They were… accepting, more or less.” Simon, Roger, and Gaia gave various congratulations and Nick smiled.

“Came out as what? Gay?” Andy asked.

“First of all, I’m bisexual, not gay,” Nick said, leaning forward to meet Andy’s gaze. “Second of all, I came out as bisexual when I was thirteen. They didn’t care. Today, I came out as genderqueer.”

“Genderqueer…?”

“I’m not a boy or a girl,” Nick began. “I use all pronouns. I’m not sure what term best describes my gender yet.”

Andy sighed. “I don’t get it,” he admitted. “But this reminds me… one of Kitty’s friends is nonbinary and another said she was something called… omnisexual. What does that mean? Also, how can someone be a they…?”

“Easy. I’ll explain it to you.” And Nick did. He treated Andy like a child with the explanations and it worked rather well. Nick felt his relationship with Andy improve slightly. Maybe Andy wasn’t so bad…

“That all makes… sense, but it seems like too many labels for the same thing,” Andy mumbled. Nick shrugged and nodded. “Well, I’m glad you’re… queer… and not like, otherkin or something.” Nick narrowed his eyes.

“What if I was?” He asked. Everybody looked at Nick. Roger looked confused (he probably didn’t even know what “kinning” was even though he was there for John’s explanation), John and Simon showed zero emotion, Gaia looked concerned, and Andy looked to be deep in thought.

“...I don’t know,” Andy said. “Just… please tell me you don’t think you’re Lou Reed or something.”

Nick laughed. “No. I’m just a vampire.”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense,” Andy mumbled before going back to eating. Nick narrowed his eyes.

“What’s that mean?”

“It just does,” Andy replied.

“I mean, personally, you’re the whitest person I’ve seen in my life,” Gaia added. Andy agreed. John and Simon couldn’t hide their amusement and Nick sighed.

“Hey, we’re all English, you should know I can’t control that…”

-

It was 9:30pm by the time everyone left. John took Gaia back to his parents’ flat, wanting to spend some time with her before she left tomorrow. As much as he liked Gaia and wanted to be there, John was unsure if he would be able to get up before her train departed at 8am.

The two of them crept into the flat, being sure not to wake John’s parents as they went to his room. They sat on his floor, John watching Gaia doodle some bugs. She already had a ladybug and a monarch butterfly on the page and was now working on an inchworm. “So, what do you think?” John asked. “Of my friends.”

“I like them quite a bit,” Gaia replied. “Andy’s pretty cool, although a tiny bit clueless. Simon’s quite kind, even if his dog thing is strange. Nick and I get on pretty well, I would say, and his sense of humour is the exact same as mine. Roger’s quiet, but I’m sure that’ll change if I get to know him better.”

“Roger still doesn’t talk to me much and he’s been a part of this… group… with me for about three months now,” John responded. “But, he’s nice. They’re all nice. I’m glad you like them.”

“Yeah,” Gaia replied. “I do like them.” She looked up at John. “I don’t have a lot of friends back home, so it’ll be nice that I’ll be starting with a handful of them. Although, I’ll have to find some girls to hang out with, I’m sure.”

“Nah, you have Nick,” John said, making Gaia laugh. He joined in with her.

“Hmm,” she said. “I guess.” Gaia set down her pencil and leaned back, resting her back against John’s bed. She looked around his room and John admired her. The blue floral dress she wore suited her perfectly. It was a bit plain, but she looked gorgeous in it. There was some powder blue eyeshadow on her eyes that matched, highlighted by some white eyeliner. Gaia looked back at John, “What are you looking at, hm?” A smile played on her lips and John couldn’t help but smile back.

“You’re just so…” He let out a long sigh, his expression faltering. “Gaia… you mean a lot to me. I know I keep saying it, but I mean it. Nobody understands me like you do and nobody gets me like you do. I… really like you.”

“I like you, too.” Gaia patted the floor beside John’s bed. “Come here…” John moved to sit by Gaia and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, before resting her head on him. “Hm… you smell nice.”

“Thanks. You do, too.” John wrapped an arm around Gaia and pulled her closer. He rested his chin on top of her head. John inhaled, deeply, smelling her floral perfume. His grip tightened on her. He never wanted to let go…

John glanced down at Gaia and watched as she looked up at him, their eyes meeting. She gave him a grin and he grinned back. John felt her lift a hand and put it on his face, touching his cheek, tenderly. “Is this okay?” She asked.

“Yeah,” he replied. John moved one of his hands to play with her hair. “Is this okay?”

“Mhm.”

They sat there in silence for a while, looking at one another and delicately touching each other. John’s heart was beating so loudly that he thought it was going to burst. A sick feeling pooled in his stomach. Could this feeling be…?

“Gaia…” He mumbled, cautiously, her name barely audible.

“Hm?”

“Can I… kiss you?”

Gaia giggled, sounding blissful and a bit childlike. “I never thought you’d ask.” John tilted her chin up and pressed her lips to hers, kissing her gently. They were so soft and she tasted of mango, probably from the smoothie she had earlier. The two pulled away, but not for long. Soon, they kissed again, this time more passionate than before. For the next few hours, they were inseparable.

-

Nick was about to go to bed that night, before a text message appeared on his screen. He blinked at it, before letting out a sigh. Well, now he was awake.

“congratulations”, he sent. Nick meant it, but he also didn’t. He was glad that things were going well for John, but… it seemed like his friend was making really rash decisions.

Nick navigated to his other messages and clicked on Simon’s name. He didn’t know if Simon stayed up past midnight, but he was willing to try. Nick texted him: “How are you doing?”

Read, 01:09. Nick watched as the three bubbles popped up on the screen, “Hey, Nick! Fine. Can’t sleep. Ready to get rid of Gaia and then finally tell John how I feel about him.” Another message: “Why? Did you want to talk about something?”

Nick frowned and sighed. “Yes, but this is better done in person. Is there any chance you’re available?”

Simon: “What? Now?”, “Yeha, I can come over”, “Yeah* lol”

Nick: “Okay, I’ll let you in”

Soon, Simon was sitting on Nick’s bed with him. “Okay, so… What’s wrong?”

Nick sighed. “Uh…” He rubbed his forehead. “Did Gaia not… say anything when she got home?”

Simon blinked. “She seemed pretty happy, that was it.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s rather annoying, the fact that I had to stay up to let her in. It was her last night at my flat, the least she could’ve done was tell me she’d be gone for so long or, I don’t know, showed up at a reasonable hour.”

Nick nodded, before letting out another loud sigh. “Simon…”

“What?”

“They’re dating. Officially.”

A thick silence filled the air. Simon let out a laugh.

“What…? Who?” Simon said, before looking at Nick. He wore an overconfident smirk, but Nick could see in his eyes that he already knew the answer before he told him.

Unfortunately, Nick couldn’t bring himself to tell Simon. He wanted him to come over so that way Simon could hear from Nick before anybody else and would have someone there to comfort him, and also partially because he didn’t want Simon to confess his feelings to John and end up in a worse situation than this one, but now… Nick felt sick. “You know who.”

Silence.

“No…” Simon murmured. Nick couldn’t tell what Simon was feeling as his face fell. He looked confused, shocked, hurt, angry, and sad all at the same time. Simon let out a dry laugh. “Why… no…”

“Yeah,” Nick mumbled. Simon just looked at him. “I’m sorry.” Nick watched as Simon laid back, his head hitting his pillow. Nick laid alongside him. He watched as Simon stared up at the ceiling, intently, as if he was trying to bore a hole in it with his blue-eyed stare.

Tears fell from Simon’s eyes. Nick reached out and wiped them. Simon let him. They laid there in silence. Eventually, the crying ceased, and Simon wiped his own eyes. “This is just ridiculous,” he mumbled. “I… I don’t get it. I don’t get him. Why…”

“Believe me, I feel the same way,” Nick murmured. “I want to be happy for him, but when it comes down to it, Gaia’s a stranger. She knows nothing about him and he knows nothing about her. It’s like I’m losing my best friend.”

Simon turned to Nick and nodded, “Yeah. Exactly. It’s like we’ve lost him.” He sighed. “I hope we don’t lose him. Especially not to her. She’s so…” Simon furrowed his eyebrows. “When I picked her up, one of the first things she did was call me a posh wanker. And then, she made fun of me being a dog boy and called it stupid. Two insults, back to back.

“Plus, the shadowing was a bit annoying,” Simon continued. “I thought she’d probably just do it day one and then bugger off, but she kept coming to school. For no reason. And, you know, as soon as something happened where she could be away from me, she was. She showed up to dinner late half of the time and fuck, you already know I had to stay up until nearly 1am for her.” Simon looked at Nick. “Now that I think about it… it feels like not only Gaia was using me, but John was, too. This feels like some fucked up ploy. I’m so… I can’t fucking believe it, Nick.”

Nick nodded, processing what Simon said. “I understand,” Nick replied. “Now that I think about it… she’s a bit full of herself, isn’t she? She’s so… blunt… in the Discord server. Very demanding…” Nick sighed.

“Yeah,” Simon replied, although clearly he didn’t know because he still hadn’t joined the server. “Now, I’m just pissed off. I fucking… I can’t believe it, Nick. What the fuck.” He shook his head. Nick moved closer to Simon and hugged him. He watched as the other man looked down at him, before… he kissed him? It was a damn good kiss; Nick could taste the rage in it. But, it didn’t last long. “Fuck,” was all Simon mumbled.

“That was good,” Nick echoed. In a flurry of teenage emotions and hormones, he added, “Kiss me again.” Simon obliged and the two launched into a kissing session, before ending up much closer than the two ever imagined they would get. It was a strange way to seek comfort, but the two thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

About half-an-hour later, they laid on top of Nick’s covers, sweaty and tired. “That was… good?” Nick said. “But, weird. Let’s not do that again.”

“Yeah,” Simon replied, before looking over at Nick. “I’m lucky to have you as my friend.”

“And, only my friend,” Nick retorted. Simon scoffed and nodded, laughing lightly. “We both have our hearts set on other people, let’s keep it that way and… remain friends.”

“Oh?” Simon smirked. “Who do you like? Roger?” Nick nodded. “Well, why haven’t you asked him out?”

Nick sighed. “It’s a long story…”

“Go on,” Simon said. “We’ve got time to kill before you-know-who goes back to Sunderland. I’m all ears, Nicky.” After recounting all the events, from after that first party of Simon’s to all the underground shows to the dance to kissing to costume crew to the makeup to the rumour, Simon stared at Nick in shock. “You know what? I might not be able to get with my bitch, but I’m going to get you with yours.”

“Simon-”

“No. This is how I’m coping.” Simon thought to himself. “I’m going to plan… a New Years Party.”

Nick shook his head. This dude and his fucking parties. But, Nick wanted to be supportive… plus, a tiny part of him was desperate to have a wingman. Nick wanted to be with Roger so badly… he could only hope that the other man secretly felt the same way.

Chapter Text

Simon had felt extremely gloomy the past few days for obvious reasons and it was obvious to everybody around him. But, today was Christmas, so he tried to put on a happy face for his parents, brothers, and extended family members. He did feel a bit better than usual, considering his plus one was there for moral support, and he kept grinning to himself thinking about how they would react to the present Simon got them.

Simon got mostly records, clothes, money, and gift cards. Nick got him an exclusive Bowie Record Store Day Release from a few years ago. It was his favourite present that he got.

Now, Nick was opening up the gift Simon got them. Nick gave him a look as they were handed the gift, a small smile on their face. “You really did get me a shirt…”

“Yes,” Simon said. He watched as Nick carefully undid the wrapping paper, being sure to fold where Simon had folded, not tearing the paper in the slightest. Nick then held the shirt up and laughed. It was a shirt that had half of the Talking Heads’ “Remain in Light” cover of it and then David Lynch’s “Eraserhead” on the other half that read “Eraserheads” at the top in the album font. “Do you love it?!”

“Actually… yes. I do.” Nick laughed again and Simon hugged them.

“Merry Christmas, Nick.”

“Merry Christmas, Simon.”

-

Warren liked Christmas. He got cool stuff. But the coolest thing he did that day was make some seasonal videos for his Onlyfans. It turned out one of Andy’s goth friends was more than willing to help him create some festive content. And by God did the bitches love it.

He also finished up making and sending a special present to John. A very, very special present. Nobody breaks his buddy Simon’s heart and gets away with it, bitch.

-

Roger, too, got mostly records, gift cards, and money. He never asked for much. He was happy with what he got.

This year, however, he asked for one thing. One specific thing. He researched brands and models and prices and everything at the library. When his dad brought him one last gift, a small, wrapped box, he knew he had got it.

Roger smiled as he carefully took the bow off and opened up the box. He couldn’t stop grinning as he saw it: his brand new phone. Roger got up and hugged his parents, thanking them profusely. He could finally talk to Nick and all of his other friends whenever he wanted!

-

All John really wanted to do on Christmas was talk to his girlfriend. Luckily, he was able to sneak away and video call her. She was clearly drunk, but he didn’t mind. In fact, John loved hearing her flirt with him so boldly.

John, however, noticed that not everyone was so fond of showering him in attention. Nick and Simon had both been texting him significantly less and Nick seemed to be mostly ignoring him on Discord. John missed his friends, but at the same time, couldn’t they be happy for him? Someone finally liked John and wanted to date him and all he got was radio silence as support.

A Twitter notification interrupted Gaia’s intoxicated ramble. John looked at his phone, seeing he had a whole lot of new notifications. Curiously, he tuned out his girlfriend, deciding to take a peek…

What the fuck? “Hold on, Gaia, I’ll be right back.”

“Ohhhhhhh okayyyyyy,” Gaia slurred. “I’m gonnaaaaaa…” She slurred the rest of her words, before adding a, “byeeeeeeyaaaaaaa.” John smiled at her and returned the farewell, before hanging up.

John clicked the SoundCloud link being passed around Twitter, turned it up, and listened. There was a drum machine, before the familiar sound of somebody shredding the guitar started. “Hey, this is Warren C here,” a voice said. “This one’s for Mister J Taylor. Listen up, bitch!”

John’s face paled as Warren began rapping over his shredding. What the fuck?! What kind of diss track was this?! John hated to admit it hurt, but it was… strangely good…?

That was, until Warren began insulting Gaia. It was one thing to poke fun at John, but his girlfriend?! How dare he! John felt his face hate up in anger, before he picked up the phone, sending an angry text message. Warren was NOT going to get away with this…!

-
Guess what Andy got. Records! Money! Gift cards! He also got to hang out with his beautiful girlfriend, Kitty, and her family, after she hung out with his.

The best gift of all, however, was John telling him he wanted to write a song with him this weekend… er, demanding he write a song with him this weekend. Finally somebody wanted to put his guitar skills he had been showing off on Instagram to use!

-

Nick’s parents were always understanding of anything they did, especially when it came to supporting broken-hearted Simon at a Christmas event. Besides, it wasn’t like Nick was at Simon’s all day. Nick spent most of the day with their parents and other family, went to Simon’s for a couple of hours, and then came back in time for supper.

After everybody was gone and Nick helped clean up, their mum and dad stood with them in the kitchen. “Nick,” their dad began. “Your mum and I have one present left to give to you. Come out to the living room.”

“Oh! Okay,” Nick said. They followed their parents and sat on the sofa. They looked around, expecting to see a box of some sort. “What is it?”

“Close your eyes,” Nick’s mum said as their dad got up. Nick closed them. “Put your hands over them.” Nick did as instructed. “No peeking.”

“I’m not!” Nick said, before he felt his mum’s hands on top of theirs. They laughed as their father’s footsteps receded. “What is it?”

“Patience, child…” Their mum said, softly. Soon, they heard their father’s footsteps again. “Okay, keep your eyes closed, but hold out your hands.” Nick felt their mum take her hands off of theirs. Nick slowly held out their hands, cupping them together as their eyes were squeezed shut. They felt something be placed gently in their hands, like a little ball of fur…

“Okay, you can open them.” At the sound of their dad’s voice, Nick’s eyes shot open. A gasp escaped them at what they saw. In their hands was indeed a little ball of fur, black and shaped almost like a perfect circle, with tiny, rounded ears, and big, green eyes.

“Hi,” Nick said, their voice nearly a squeal as they beamed at the kitten in their hands. They moved to place it on their lap and watched as it got comfortable, before yawning. “Awwww. What’s their name?”

“Her name’s Alice, but you can rename her if you wish,” Nick’s mum responded. “That was just the name the shelter gave her.”

“No, no…” Nick shook their head, gently stroking the tiny pile of fluff on their lap. She purred, loudly. “Alice is a spectacular name for this kitty. She’s so friendly.”

“She’s a darling, isn’t she?” Nick’s mum replied. “And she’s all yours, love.”

“All mine…” Nick sighed, happily. They watched as Alice closed her eyes, the purrs ceasing as she began to slowly fall asleep. Now to think of a name for her Instagram account…

Chapter Text

Andy brought himself, his amp, and his guitar to John’s flat the Friday after Christmas. He had no idea what made John decide he wanted to make some music with him, but he was pretty excited to. Andy was thrilled to finally be a part of something with someone. Sure, the lyrics would definitely be ass, but it didn’t matter if a pretty face like John’s was singing them.

He knocked on the door and was surprised at the speed at which it was opened. John was standing there with some serious RBF. Andy’s eyes widened, before he smiled at his face, “Hey, John! Are you doing alright?”

“What do you think?” John said, before inviting Andy in. Andy quirked an eyebrow, before it dawned on him.

“Oh. Did you and Gaia break up…?”

“What? No,” John replied. Andy frowned, both at John’s tone and the fact that he was still dating a girl who lived on the other side of the fucking country and saw once. John’s face and tone softened. “Sorry. You… must not be paying attention to Twitter.”

“I hate Twitter,” Andy responded. John shrugged and smiled.

“Yeah, it’s a cesspool,” John murmured. “Well… Warren made a song. Come to my room, I’ll play it for you.” Andy nodded, picking up his amp and walking with John to his room. He set his things down before he and John sat on John’s bed. Andy watched as John booted up his laptop before going to SoundCloud. He searched up Warren Cuccurullo and sure enough, there was a song that came up entitled… “Wannabe Bryan Ferry”. Andy laughed and John let out a sigh. “You won’t be laughing in a minute,” he warned.

“Oh,” was all Andy said, before John hit play. Through the tinny laptop speakers, a drum machine played, before there was some shredding of a guitar.

“Hey, this is Warren C here,” Warren’s voice said through the speakers. “This one’s for Mister J Taylor. Listen up, bitch!” Andy stared in disbelief as Warren began rapping. It was absolute garbage. But… the lyrics were actually hilarious. Who knew Warren could come up with so many metaphors related to how bad John’s poetry and acting was? It was hard for Andy to maintain a straight face, especially when John kept looking over at him and staring.

Then, in Verse 3, Warren moved on to dishing on Gaia. He began calling her a chronically-online man-stealer, which Andy didn’t quite get or find that amusing. However, the line of “the only pussy you can get is in Sunderland” made Andy giggle, which in turn made John scoff. “Sorry, but… it’s true,” Andy replied. John frowned.

“No, it’s not,” John replied. “Don’t forget Winona and I had a thing going. She just wouldn’t let me do anything because I didn’t own any condoms.”

Andy raised an eyebrow, “Um, well, you could have bought some. There’s not exactly an age restriction on condoms… and they’re pretty easy to hide.” Andy paused. “Who is Winona again?”

“Shut up and listen to the song, Andy.” Andy rolled his eyes at his friend’s behaviour as he listened to the last verse with John. This one was more general and a “you don’t appreciate the friends that you have or the people that love you” verse. Andy glanced at John, who was staring at him again. He wondered what Warren meant by that…

Then, the chorus of “you’re a dumbass talentless bitch” repeated again. Finally, Warren’s diss was over. “So…” Andy began. “Did you bring me here for us to write a diss track back?”

“Yes,” John said. “I already have a lot written.” John got up and got a notebook, before bringing it and giving it to Andy. Andy looked at it. Something something you have no brains so you think with your dick which is probably why you think the Earth is flat and the moon landing was fake also you’re American etc. The lyrics were not as good as Warren’s, but they were probably as funny.

“Do you think this will hurt him?” Andy replied. “I mean, the last bits of his song where he talked about Gaia and you only caring about yourself was a low blow. You have to hurt his feelings a bit, John. Come on.”

John sighed. “I don’t have enough dirt on him for that, Andy.”

Andy thought for a moment. “You know the theatre kids,” he said. “And, they hang out with Simon, which means they probably know a thing or two about Warren by association or something. Is there a theatre kid you can persuade to give you information?” He watched as the wheels turned in John’s head.

“Nearly all of them like Simon, though,” John replied. “And, the ones who don’t like him mostly don’t like me or they don’t know shit about Warren.”

“There has to be someone,” Andy responded. “Like… what about that blonde girl? The one that had a crush on Nick?” John’s eyes widened.

“What? Emmaline?”

“Yeah, her.”

John frowned. “Maybe, but… if I ask her for help, Nick’s going to be pissed at me.” Andy sighed.

“So what? Weren’t you telling me about how Nick has been basically ignoring you since you got with Gaia?” Andy narrowed his eyes. “Besides, he doesn’t have to know. Do you want this diss track to actually do some damage or not? Warren’s going to take you talking about his cock as a compliment and I can’t help but think that if he didn’t give a fuck about the conspiracy theory call out before, he will now.”

John groaned, “Andy, Nick is my best friend. Just because I’m not talking to him doesn’t mean I can’t do something like that…” He thought for a moment. “I have an idea. You dig through his Instagram and I go through his Twitter. We’re bound to find something…”

Andy shrugged, feeling both disappointed and a bit relieved. He was disappointed because, well, there was no way this was going to be anything as good as Warren’s diss, but relieved because even though Andy didn’t like Nick, he admired that John was true to his friend, even though Andy should have been given the title of best friend instead…

Andy and John found nothing. It turned out Warren was strangely normal. There was one Tweet about the moon landing from a year ago, but no new information. Andy and John decided to shift gears and make an instrumental instead. It ended up sounding pretty good, like a mix of Chic and Robert Palmer’s music, but 500 times better. As the kids say, they were cooking.

Once the instrumental was finished, John looked up at Andy. The smile that had been on his face the entire time they were working vanished. “Wait.”

“What?” Andy asked.

“There’s one prominent platform that Warren uses that we forgot to look at.”

Andy stared at John. John stared back. Andy felt himself turn ghost white as realisation dawned on him. “No.”

“Oh, yes,” John replied. Andy grimaced.

“I’m not spending money to subscribe to his Onlyfans just to make a diss track,” Andy muttered.

“Yeah…” John agreed. “Well, we can still make fun of it.” John picked up his notebook and thought to himself.

“Wait,” Andy spoke up. “There has been a falling out in the goth girl group. Apparently, Suzy made a video with Warren, and…” Andy leaned forward, whispering in John’s ear about some of the things they explored. John cringed. “Yeah. The goth girls broke apart because of that. I guess you can write about that.”

“Cool,” John said, mumbling, before writing a line about (prepare for the reason why the author’s note exists) Warren pissing on goth girls as a career. He stared at it. “Okay. Let me try rapping this…”

Andy mentally prepared himself before John began white boy rapping. It was so bad yet somehow still kind of fire. Key words: kind of. He supposed it would work for their funk-rock track.

John finished up, before the two decided to combine the instrumental with the words. It sounded… well. Imagine “Some Like It Hot” by The Power Station with John Taylor rapping over it. That’s what it sounded like. Was it better or worse than what Warren made? Andy and John both seemed to think it was better as they finally decided to record their masterpiece entitled “Wannabe Frank Zappa” because, well, they are very creative.

John and Andy listened back, nodding along to it. They added some final touches to make the track shine, before John and Andy made their own SoundCloud accounts. “Wannabe Frank Zappa (feat. Andy Taylor)” by John Taylor was now free for the world. Andy and John posted about it on their Instagram stories and Tweeted about it.

It was so on.

Chapter Text

It was New Year's Eve and Nick was more than happy to spend it at Simon’s house with Roger and Warren… as well as Simon’s parents and brothers for once.

Nick’s parents sent her off with a bottle of champagne and a kiss. She desperately wished she could have taken Alice along with her as the two were already attached at the hip, unfortunately cursing Nick with insane millennial cat parent behaviour as she now referred to her darling kitten as her “furbaby” and “daughter”. But, she just brought herself and a bag of essentials, the champagne tucked away in it.

Nick knocked on the door and was greeted by Simon’s mum. “Ah! Nick!” Mrs. Le Bon beamed. “Oh, your dress is utterly fabulous. I think pink might be your colour, dear.” She led Nick inside and Mr. Le Bon said hello to her. The three of them talked for a bit before Nick got out the champagne present. Mr. and Mrs. Le Bon showered Nick in compliments, before Mrs. Le Bon said that Simon was in his room.

Nick went to Simon’s room and saw Warren, Simon, Roger. Her eyebrows raised as Simon got up to hug her. She noticed that he was wearing a tail and was purposefully moving his body so it looked like he was wagging it. Nick hugged back. This must have been Charley, his dog boy side.

“Hi, Nick!” Simon said, before pulling away. Nick watched as his brown tail continued to “wag”. “I’m so happy you made it. Come sit with us.”

Nick sat down on the ground in between Simon and Roger. She noticed a bowl of crisps in between Roger and Warren. “Roger was about to show us his new phone,” Simon replied.

“Oh, you got a phone, Roger?” Nick beamed. Roger smiled back, before pulling it out. Nick’s smile faded as a look of confusion spread across her face. “...It’s a flip phone?”

“Yeah,” Roger replied. He opened it up and showed Nick. “Look. I got Instagram and Discord on it.” Nick watched as the Instagram icon appeared on the screen, taking up the whole entire thing. “I haven’t made an account yet. I was hoping you could help me.”

“Yeah, sure, Roger…” Nick trailed off. She looked at Simon and Warren. Warren looked greatly amused. Simon was scratching one of his “ears”. Nick turned back to Roger and watched as he continued showing her his apps. He opened Discord and said that it was rather difficult to use, but he was still having fun on it. Roger showed Nick a server for The Clash that he joined that hadn’t been talked in in four years. Nick just nodded along.

“Hey, have you guys streamed ‘Wannabe Bryan Ferry’ yet?” Warren spoke up. “It’s now on Apple Music and Spotify, as well as SoundCloud and Bandcamp. And, I’m working on a new track called ‘Feelings Are Bad’. I was originally going to call it ‘Feelings Are Gay’, but I didn’t want it to seem like I was using gay as an insult. I care about my homosexual brothers and sisters, you know.”

“Right,” Simon said. “Yeah, ‘Wannabe Bryan Ferry’ is… fine. I’ve heard John’s track, too. It’s alright.”

“Simon, it’s more than just fine,” Warren replied. “This is the greatest rap battle Birmingham has ever seen. Hell, that England’s ever seen. When’s the last time a rapper from England has made any decent music? UK Drill sucks more dick than John does… Well, actually, I guess he’s not sucking anyone’s dick anymore. But, that’s besides the point...”

Nick tuned Warren out as he talked about his brand new rap career. Warren’s guitar-playing was pretty good on his diss track and that was about it. As for John’s diss track, well… The instrumental was shockingly well done but John needed to retire as a vocalist before he even started being one. Nick sighed to herself before she glanced at Roger fiddling with his phone. Roger was immersed in a game of Brick Breaker.

Roger finally lost the game and then put his phone away. He looked at Nick, gave her a tiny smile, and then looked back at Simon and Warren. Nick tuned back into their conversation just in time for Simon to start listing off his online enemies from schools in other cities. Some guy named Tony, some guy named Mark, some guy named George… Nick had no idea Simon was hated so much.

“Anyway, enough of that,” Simon said. He glanced at the clock. “We have just over three hours to kill before the year is over. Let’s not spend it bitching about boys.” Simon sighed. “Nick, did you bring anything fun with you…?”

“I brought some makeup, my 3DS, Nintendo Switch, laptop, ‘Pretty Pretty Princess’, ‘UNO’, and ‘Candyland’,” Nick replied. “Plenty of fun things.”

“I could go for some ‘UNO’,” Warren said. “And, a drink or two or five, Simon? Of alcohol.”

“I thought you don’t drink, Warren,” Simon replied.

“All this talking about men made me thirsty,” Warren responded. “Plus, it’s New Years Eve. And it’d be funny to see Roger drunk.” Warren smirked and Nick glanced at Roger as she got UNO out from her bag. Roger stared at the floor, blankly, probably not even paying attention.

“Okay. I’ll be back.” Simon took off his ears and tail before walking out of his bedroom. Nick shuffled the UNO cards before she dealt seven to everyone. Nick looked at her cards: a Yellow 6, two Red 3s, a Red 2, a Red Skip, a Red 9, and a Blue Reverse. Horrible.

Soon, Simon was back with plastic cups, a bottle of vodka, and a container of orange juice. “I got a great idea,” he announced as he set the drinks and cups down by Warren. Warren took a cup and unscrewed the vodka, adding far too much into it as Simon reattached his dog tail and ears to his human body. “Let’s make this a drinking game.”

“Sounds fun,” Warren said, before pouring significantly less orange juice in his cup than he did vodka. Warren then put the cup in front of Roger, before he made another drink with the same uneven proportions.

“Yeah!” Simon sat down, excitedly, before opening his phone. “I’ll look one up.” Warren gave a full cup to Nick and she took a sip. The strong taste of vodka with the slightest tinge of orange juice hit her taste buds. Nick frowned. This was strong shit. “Okay, so we all take a drink to start. When someone draws two, they take a drink. Draw four, you take two drinks. If you are skipped or reversed, you take two drinks. If you claim a false UNO, you take three. And, whoever wins gets to nominate someone to take three drinks. Also, I think if you have to draw a card, you should take a drink, too.”

“How big is a drink…?” Roger asked.

“Like… a drink,” Simon replied. “Fill your entire mouth with it. How’s that?” Warren handed Simon his drink and he demonstrated, before swallowing and frowning. “God, that does not taste good. Well, I took my drink. Your turn, lads… and others.”

Nick decided to take another drink. It wasn’t good, but she figured that the more she drank it, she’d probably get used to it. She noticed that Roger made a face and Warren showed absolutely no reaction when they swallowed their drinks. “Well, Nick, it’s your game, so why don’t you go first? Flip the top card for us. And then Roger can go second, then Warren, and then I.”

“Alright,” Nick said, before flipping over the card. It was a wild card. Nick decided to get rid of one of her Red 3s. Roger played a Red 2. Warren followed with a Red 4, before he began talking again.

“You guys want to know what crazy thing I learned?” He began as Simon played a Red 9. Nick played her own Red 9. The game continued onwards as Warren spoke, “Lincoln and Kennedy both have seven letters. Oh, I have to drink now, huh?” Warren took a drink before drawing a card. “Do I keep drawing and drinking if I can’t go?”

“You know what? Yes,” Simon replied, clearly bored of whatever tangent Warren was about to go on. “Drink, Warren.” Warren ended up taking three drinks before he played a Green 2 on top of Roger’s previously placed Wild Card.

“Anyway,” Warren continued as Simon set down a Green 2. “Lincoln and Kennedy both have seven letters. Both presidents were elected to Congress in '46 and later to the presidency in '60.” Now it was Roger’s turn to drink as he drew cards. “Both assassins, John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, were born in '39 and were known by their three names, composed of fifteen letters. Booth ran from a theater and was caught in a warehouse; Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.” Roger ended up taking four drinks before he finally placed a Red +2 on top of the pile. “Oh, can we stack?”

“Yeah, go on,” Simon said, boredly. Warren put a +4 on top and Simon scoffed. “You can’t stack a +4 on top of a +2.”

“What? Yeah, you can,” Warren replied.

“What’s stacking?” Roger asked.

“You can’t,” Nick replied. Warren huffed and retracted his +4 before he drew 2 cards and took a drink. “Stacking means if your opponent plays a +2 or a +4, you can put a +2 or a +4 on top of it. It keeps going until nobody has a +2 or a +4 anymore. At the end, you draw how many cards were played. So, if Warren played a +2 on top of yours, Simon would have had to draw 4.” At the end of Nick’s explanation, Simon played a Yellow 6, and Nick sighed. She took a drink before luckily pulling a Wild card, “The colour is red.”

“I don’t have a red,” Roger mumbled, before drinking and drawing cards. It was hard for Nick not to laugh as he winced every time he took a drink.

“Anyway,” Warren spoke up. “Where was I? I’m just going to start over. Lincoln and Kennedy each have seven letters. Both presidents were elected to Congress in '46 and later to the presidency in '60.” Roger played a Wild card and changed it to Yellow, before Warren played a Reverse. Simon took two drinks and Roger played a Yellow 5. Nick sighed as she had to draw again. “Both assassins, John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, were born in '39 and were known by their three names, composed of fifteen letters.” After two drinks, Nick played a Yellow +2 and Simon took a drink as he picked up two cards. “Booth ran from a theater and was caught in a warehouse; Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater. The colour is now blue. The assassins were both Southerners. Both of the presidents' successors were Democrats named Johnson with six-letter first names and born in '08.” It got back to Nick and she took two drinks before she played a Blue 1. She was starting to feel fuzzy already…

“Both Lincoln and Kennedy were particularly concerned with civil rights and made their views strongly known. Both presidents were shot in the head on a Friday and in the presence of their wives,” Warren continued on. “Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy who told him not to go to Ford's Theatre. Kennedy had a secretary named Evelyn Lincoln and she warned him not to go to Dallas. Both Oswald and Booth were killed before they could be put on trial.” When it got back to Nick, she played a Blue Reverse and Simon took two drinks. Roger then played a Blue Reverse and Warren took two drinks.

“And your point is?” Simon said, flatly, as Nick began drinking and drawing again. She was lucky it was only one before she set down a Blue 3. Roger then played a Green 3.

“Just really makes you think, doesn’t it?” Warren asked as he played a Red 3.

“No,” Simon muttered, before playing a Red 7. Nick played a Red 3 and then Roger had to draw again. “It’s just a coincidence.”

“You know what else is a coincidence?” Warren said as Roger slapped down a Wild and proclaimed ‘yellow’. “I don’t have yellow!”

“Is that a coincidence?” Simon teased as Warren began drawing. Warren laughed and let out a ‘quiet’. Four drinks later, he placed a Yellow 7 down.

“Anyway, as I was saying,” Warren said as Simon put a Yellow 6 on top of the pile. “9/11-”

“No.” Simon scolded as Nick played a Yellow 9. Roger played a Yellow 5 and then Warren was back to drawing. “I know. What are your guys’s New Years’ Resolutions?”

“New Years’ Resolutions aren’t worth a damn,” Warren huffed as he smacked down a Yellow 3. Roger played a Yellow 5 and then it was Nick’s turn to draw. “Most are just forgotten. If you’re going to do something, just do it. Don’t wait until the fuckin’... start of the year or whatever.”

“Well, I have a personal goal for next year,” Roger spoke up. Nick noticed there was a slight slur to his voice, but she was too preoccupied with drinking to say anything. “So, I’ll work on that.” Nick placed a Red 5 down after two drinks and then Roger began drinking and drawing.

“Oh, do tell, Rog,” Simon said. “Well, when you’re done with that.” Simon smiled and Warren laughed. Four drinks later and Roger set down a Red 3. “How many times have you all had to refill your drinks, now?” Simon teased, before Warren skipped him. “Hey-!” Nick then played a Red Skip and Warren a Blue Skip. Once again, Nick had to start drawing…

“Well, it’s a secret. My goal,” Roger replied. “But… I’ll update you all.” One drink later and Nick set down a Blue 3. “This is my first time drinking, actually…” Roger placed a Blue 4 down.

“Oh, is it?” Simon smiled. After Warren’s turn, he placed down a Blue 9. “Uno!” Nick began drinking once more. Two drinks later, she placed down a Red 9.

“Mm, tell us, Roger,” Nick mumbled, her words feeling foreign on her tongue. The way she talked sounded strange to her and she laughed at it. “I wanna know… your secret…”

“I promise I’ll tell you,” Roger said. “I’ll tell you first, Nick. Okay?” Roger took a drink before he drew and played a Red 8.

“Why don’t you tell all of us, right now…?” Warren replied as he went. “New Years is dumb, like I said…” Simon took a drink, drew, and placed down a +4.

“UNO! Green,” he announced as Nick took two drinks. Very quickly, things were starting to blur together as it seemed all the alcohol finally caught up to Nick. She knew what was happening but also didn’t as she giggled at everything and said random stuff that she forgot she said as soon as she said it.

After what seemed like forever and also five seconds, Warren was the first one to get rid of all of his cards. He made Nick take 3 drinks. Nick, Roger, and Simon then continued. Nick was having a lot of fun, although at one point, everyone kept skipping each other and Nick began drunkenly taking two drinks even when she wasn’t the one being skipped, including when she played the skip. And, Roger played a +2 for Simon at one point, and Nick took two drinks as well as two cards off of the pile. It sent Simon into hysterics and he threw his cards onto the floor as well as knocked over the whole deck and nobody could remember what the last card played was nor could Simon pick his cards out of the mess. UNO was no more.

The group of four friends managed to figure out how to put cards in a box before they laid on the floor together like a pile of kittens. “My cat Alice is soooo perfect,” Nick drawled, Roger laying beside her with their fingers intertwined while Warren laid diagonally from her, the hair on their heads touching. Simon had his head resting against Nick’s side and she pet his dog ears and human hair. “She’s so small and little and cute and tiny. She’s a black cat, too, which is the best kind. We listened to Japan’s ‘Gentlemen Take Polaroids’ and Blondie’s ‘Eat to the Beat’ albums together and her favourite songs were ‘Swing’, ‘Nightporter’, ‘Slow Motion’, and ‘Union City Blue’. Oh, and ‘Taking Islands in Africa’. That was her favourite. Did you know that that was a collaboration with Ryuichi Sakamoto? He’s in Yellow Magic Orchestra. They’re just fabulous. Have you guys seen the movie ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence’? He acts in it. Also, Ryuichi Sakomoto made a song for it with David Sylvian called ‘Forbidden Colours’...”

“I heard that guy’s racist,” Warren spoke up. Nick stared at Warren.

“You hear a lot of things,” Nick huffed.

“I hate racism,” Simon mumbled. “It makes me so sad.”

“Me, too,” Roger replied. “I like Japan’s ‘Quiet Life’ album.”

Nick giggled and opened her mouth to perhaps say something she shouldn’t, but Warren cut her off, “Who the fuck are Japan anyway?”

“Oh, you have to know Japan,” Nick replied. “They made ‘Quiet Life’.”

“Roger just said that.”

“No, the song ‘Quiet Life’.”

“How does it go?”

“That’s the one where he says ‘boys’,” Simon replied.

“Here, I’ll play it on my phone,” Nick responded before she sat up. She opened up her phone and went to Spotify, before typing in ‘qjietlife japan’. She clicked on the album and played the opening track.

A few moments later, Warren spoke up again, “What the hell is this guy even saying?”

-

Soon, it was 11:59pm. Simon and Warren had both drunk themselves to sleep on Simon’s bedroom floor. Roger had managed to work the remote to Simon’s TV, so he and Nick stood in front of it as they watched a countdown.

Roger and Nick counted down to midnight together and shouted, “Happy New Year!” Simon let out a snore. Roger turned to Nick and beamed, outstretching his arms. Nick attempted to step over Warren’s sleeping, mostly-nude body, but tripped and knocked over Roger, landing on top of him instead.

“Fuuuck, sorry,” Nick muttered before she rolled off of Roger. He gave her a nervous grin.

“It’s okay. It was a good New Year’s hug,” Roger replied. “Now, we can have a New Year’s cuddle. C’mon.”

“Okay,” Nick said, giggling. Roger trudged over to the lightswitch in the room and flicked it off, before he laid onto Simon’s bed. Nick laid beside him and felt Roger cover them with a single blanket. Roger spooned Nick, resting his head in her shoulder.

“Good night, Nick,” Roger replied. “Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year.”

Chapter Text

John’s winter break was over and he was back to school before he knew it. Not a lot had happened. A new Warren track entitled “Feelings Are Bad” had dropped and it was terrible. John didn’t think he was going to continue with this feud. “Wannabe Frank Zappa” did get great reception, far more than either of Warren’s tracks, but unlike Warren, John actually wanted to go to university and do something with his life, so he was prioritising school.

The first day back, John met up with Andy to smoke outside before school. Andy had filled him in on all the goth girl drama and how Kitty now didn’t associate herself with the rest of the goths. John assumed as much; she had left the now dead “Virginia Plain” Discord server and all of her goths followed suit… minus Raven, who was supposedly friends with Nick now.

John took a long drag off of his cigarette. He missed Nick and couldn’t believe that they were ignoring him just because he had a girlfriend now. John had expressed his concerns to Andy, who was surprisingly good at comforting him, until he pointed out that it was kind of stupid for John to date some girl halfway across the country who he had seen in person once. John didn’t get the big deal. What’s so bad about Internet dating and why does Nick care so much?

Next, John’s mind drifted off towards Simon. All John and Simon were doing was making out with each other and getting handsy. It wasn’t anything serious. Simon said so himself when they first started the whole ordeal. Besides, Simon was polyamorous. Even if he wasn’t, he was extremely charming and funny and sexy and could get anyone he wanted… John felt a pit form in his stomach as he thought about him.

The sound of footsteps snapped John out of it. He looked up, er, down at the man approaching him, a small, black object in his hand. If John wasn’t feeling so moody, he would’ve smirked as he realised what it was.

“Morning, Roger,” Andy said.

“Hey,” Roger replied. He opened up his flip phone and pressed a few buttons as he talked, “I just got Instagram. Can you guys tell me your usernames? I would like to follow you?”

“You have… Instagram. On that?” Andy gave a light laugh, almost like a giggle as Roger nodded, before he turned his phone around. “Wow. That can’t be easy to navigate.” Andy paused. “Nick got a cat?”

“Yeah,” Roger responded. “I don’t really like cats if I’m being quite honest, but she seems pretty happy about it.”

“Oh, I’m more of a cat person, too,” Andy replied. “Oh. My Instagram. It’s andytaylor42069.” Roger stared blankly at Andy for a second, before he slowly nodded and began typing on the flip phone’s tiny ass keyboard. Each key made its own uniquely annoying plastic noise.

“I followed you,” Roger said. “Okay, John. What’s your handle?”

“Oh, er, it’s trusttheprocess, no spaces,” John replied. He watched as Roger awkwardly typed. “Roger, how are Nick and Simon doing?”

“They’re doing well, I think,” Roger responded. He glanced up at John, a small frown on his face. “I noticed you weren’t at Simon’s New Years Eve party. I thought it was maybe because you don’t get along with Warren. Was I… wrong about that?”

John sighed. “I guess Simon and Nick aren’t happy with me because of my new girlfriend.”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense,” Roger murmured, before going back to typing.

“Makes sense?”

“Yeah.”

“What do you mean it makes sense…?” Roger finished typing, before he shut his phone and slid it into his pocket. The gaze he gave John seemed strangely judgy.

“Um…” A blush filled Roger’s cheeks, “I don’t know if I should be telling you this, but-”

“No, tell me,” John interjected. “If it’s something affecting my friendship with Nick and Simon, tell me. They won’t tell me.” Roger hesitated, so John continued, “I won’t tell them you told me. I promise. Andy won’t either.”

“I won’t what?” Andy said, looking up from his phone. “Sorry, Kitty’s texting me. Complaining about… well, you know.”

“Don’t worry about it, then, focus on your girlfriend,” John mumbled. “Go on, Roger, what is it?”

“Uh…” Roger rubbed the back of his neck, before glancing around, as if to make sure nobody was close enough to hear them. “Well, Simon has a pretty big crush on you, you know. It’s pretty obvious.”

Andy laughed, before glancing up from his phone. “John knows that. He’s not stupid.”

“Oh. Well-”

“Thanks, Roger,” John murmured. “Um… Class is about to start, isn’t it? We should get going.” Roger said goodbye to Andy and John before leaving. John and Andy put out their cigarettes before walking to the entrance of school.

“You did know that Simon was into you, right…?” Andy questioned.

“Yeah,” John lied. “You act like I’m thick in the head or something.” John paused. “Andy, if you were in my position, would you have chosen Gaia over Simon? Don’t use online dating for your reasoning.”

“Well…” Andy thought for a minute. John anticipated his reply as they walked through the hallway together. He glanced over at Andy, watching various expressions fall over his face as his mouth opened and closed and contorted into frowns and cringes.

“Come on, Andy. What, do you not like Gaia or something? Nothing you can say can hurt my feelings.”

“We both know that’s a lie, John,” Andy mumbled. “I mean, I guess I can see why you like her, but… she’s not my type of person. It’s kind of like with Nick. But… yes, if I was in your position, I would have chosen Simon over Gaia. I guess the easiest explanation as to why is… well, maybe dating someone you’re so close with isn’t the best idea. It just ruins a friendship if it goes bad. But, you and Simon were already intimate.” Andy shrugged.

John frowned, before sighing. “Everyone says that, but-”

“If we were back at the beginning of the year when you had no prospects and I suddenly confessed to you that I wanted you, would you have said yes?”

“What? No!”

“Yeah, because of the bond we have, right? Of being just friends?”

“No, because you’re straight and I’m not attracted to you.”

“Okay, what about Nick?”

“I’m not attracted to Nick.”

“You’re missing the point.”

“There is no point,” John huffed. “I’m going to my class now. See you later, Andy.”

“See you at lunch, John.” Andy paused. “You did realise Simon had a crush on you, right…?”

“Bye,” John said, before ducking into his English class.

Chapter Text

“Andy, please don’t make me sit with them. Please!”

Andy let out a loud sigh, “You have to get over yourself. It wasn’t that big of a deal, was it?” He turned and gave Kitty a soft, supportive smile as she clung onto him, their arms interlocked. “It’s just Raven, after all. It’s not like the other goths are there.”

“God, quit calling them goth,” Kitty hissed. “They’re a bunch of posers. Wearing black and liking Bauhaus and The Cure doesn’t make you goth. It’s so much more than that.”

“Look, Kitty, I want to sit with my friends,” Andy retorted. “If you don’t want to, then you don’t have to. But, I promise it’ll be okay. It’s just Raven.”

“Fine. Whatever. Just don’t expect me to talk to them.” Kitty and Andy made their way over to the table where Nick and Roger sat across from Simon and Raven.

“What side of the table do you want to sit on, dear?” Andy asked.

“I don’t care,” Kitty grumbled.

“Sit by Simon, Andy,” Raven replied. “That way Kitty doesn’t have to look at me because the Gods know I don’t want to look at her.” Andy swallowed a lump in his throat. How bad was the goth drama…? Andy sighed to himself before he sat by Simon. His girlfriend sat by him, slamming her lunch tray on the table before she began playing with her mashed potatoes. “Always so dramatic, that one.”

“At least I don’t pretend I’m a fucking vampire,” Kitty hissed under her breath. Raven let out a scoff.

“That’s enough of that,” Andy spoke up. “Anyway. How were your guys’ breaks?”

“Too short,” Simon replied. “Is John not sitting with us anymore?”

“Well, I would think he would, but…” Andy shrugged. “He’s a drama queen, I guess. Honestly, I get you and Nick being annoyed with him. Gaia’s annoying. He should’ve gone for you instead, Simon.”

“I’d rather not talk about that,” Simon responded. “He’s just some guy. It’s not worth dwelling over. I’ll get over it soon enough.” He paused, “How are things with you two?”

“I’m going to go take a piss,” Kitty announced, before getting up. “Hopefully I don’t run into Warren and Suzy.” She stormed off. Andy let out a groan.

“I don’t know what her problem is,” Andy said. “Is it really that deep? Sure, that’s a gross kink, but they’re adults, right? Right?! She never gets mad about anything and now she’s acting like a child. I wish you guys would just make up.”

“Mm, I don’t associate with Suzy anymore, either,” Raven stated. “I’m afraid that pornography is a very toxic and problematic profession and engaging in it goes against the fundamental principles of being a goth. It’s not about what she’s into, Andy, it’s about how she expresses what she is into..” Raven sighed. “Anyway, what were we talking about before Andy got here? Oh! The winter dance at the end of this month…”

Andy listened to the other three individuals discuss the upcoming dance and their last dance of the year. It was going to be a “winter wonderland” theme, which wasn’t particularly creative, but he supposed it could be worse.

A moment later, Kitty was back. Andy turned and smiled at his girlfriend, who was still pouting, before he realised that she had brought someone along with her. John went to the other side of the table and sat by Nick. Silence overtook the group.

“Hi, John,” Simon spoke up after a few moments. “How was your winter break? I heard your song. You’re a pretty good bassist.”

“Thanks,” John replied. “My break was fine. How was yours?”

“Fine…” Andy watched as Simon’s gaze drifted to Nick. Nick glanced at John.

“We were talking about the dance,” Nick responded. “I know you don’t like dances, but are you going to go?”

“If you guys are, then sure,” John said. “You’re my friends. Nothing will ever change that… right?”

“Of course not,” Simon murmured. “Oh. Are you auditioning for the next play, John? It’s Alice in Wonderland.”

John scoffed. “Yes, I am. Your theatre department isn’t very creative.”

“Well, I think you can suggest things, although it’d have to be a musical for the spring,” Simon mumbled. “And, there’s no guarantee it’d get picked.”

“Damnit,” John murmured. “Well… Can I write my own musical?”

Simon stared at John, blankly. “Uh… you’d have to write it in three months, John.”

“It won’t be that hard,” John began. “It’ll be a James Bond musical.” That made both Andy and Nick laugh. “What’s so funny?”

“Licensing exists,” Nick said. “And, a James Bond musical? That’s…”

“No, no, I have ideas,” John replied. “Okay. Maybe we call it something else. And… we can write our own song for it. Here. I already have a plot in mind. James Bond goes to Siberia…”

“Nobody wants to hear about your James Bond RPF, John.”

“Huh? My James Bond RPF- I do not write RPF, Nick!” John then furrowed his eyebrows. “Nick, James Bond isn’t a real person.”

“What’s RPF?” Roger asked.

“Real person fiction,” Simon, John, and Nick all answered in near unison. They all exchanged looks, before Nick spoke up, “Like, fanfiction. Although, you don’t know what fanfiction is, do you?”

“Um, no.”

“Let’s keep it that way,” Nick mumbled.

Kitty let out a groan. “Why would you even have this conversation? RPF is problematic. Writing about a real person doing… whatever is wrong on so many levels.”

“Well, I think it depends,” Nick replied.

“Yeah, Nick, tell us about your RPF,” John teased. “How is your David Sylvian x Reader going, huh?”

“I haven’t written that in years, John!”

“David Sylvian x Reader?” Simon asked. “I might want to read that. Just kidding. John, you should listen to Japan. I bet you would love Mick Karn’s basslines.”

“I am familiar with his bass work, yes,” John said, right as Nick spoke up with a, “He’s a closet Japanist.”

“No! I do not listen to- okay, fine, yes, I like them, but I’m not like you, who is a total freak about them.”

“Yeah, you’re a Roxy Music freak,” Simon butted in. “There’s an absence of Roxy Music fanfiction on AO3. You should fill the void.”

“With Bryan Ferry x Reader,” Nick added.

“With B- hey, wait, Simon, how do you know about there being a void of Roxy fanfic on AO3?” A smirk spread across John’s face and Simon shrugged.

“What, can I not do some light reading from time to time?” Simon mumbled. “Besides, it’s funny looking through the tags of bands. You would not believe what kind of ships people come up with.”

Simon, John, and Nick discussed their fanfic while Roger looked between them, utterly confused. Andy felt hot breath on his ear, before a soft voice almost like a purr sounded around him, “I hate your friends. We are not sitting here for lunch again.”

Andy turned and looked at Kitty, a frown on his face. “They’re just being silly,” he muttered back. Kitty frowned. “Besides, you made me sit with your friends all the time and I didn’t like most of them.”

“What?” Kitty glowered, “This whole time you hated all of my friends and you never told me?!”

“I didn’t say that-”

“You’re ridiculous,” Kitty huffed, before getting up and leaving. Simon, John, and Nick stopped talking as they watched her storm off, before she came back to retrieve her tray of food. “What are you cunts staring for?” She then left.

“Well, I guess I should go after her-” Andy mumbled.

“No. Stay,” Raven replied. “She’s just being moody. It’s because of the dissolution of the group. She’ll come back around, Andy.” Raven smiled at Andy and sighed to himself. “Now, tell me more about this David Byrne x Lou Reed fanfiction. I’m utterly intrigued.”

“Yeah, what’s it called?” Nick asked, badly pretending he wasn’t interested in the slightest.

“I didn’t read it. But, what I remember from the tags, it was pure smut,” Simon began. “I don’t like reading that kind of stuff, nor am I attracted to either party of the ship. Plus, authors get too creative for my liking…”

Chapter Text

Nick got home that day, greeted by Alice, who cried at them as if she hadn’t seen them in years. “I know, poor baby,” Nick mumbled as they picked her up and set her on their shoulder, steadying them with their free hand as they rummaged through their school bag. Alice loafed, kneading Nick’s shoulder and puncturing their silk, vintage blazer with her tiny claws. Nick did not care.

Nick stared at the piece of paper. It was a permission slip for a school trip to the aquarium. They weren’t sure why a bunch of adults and near-adults needed to go to the aquarium in the middle of their last semester of school, but whatever. Nick set it on the coffee table along with a pen for their parents to sign when they got home, before they took Alice into their room. Nick set Alice on their bed and put on Talking Heads’ “Remain in Light”, before they laid down. Their baby kitten walked onto them and rested on their chest as they pulled up AO3, searching for David Byrne/Lou Reed fanfiction for… research purposes.

After reading, Nick decided to scroll through the Japan (UK Band) tag. They found an unfinished David Sylvian/Reader (male, for the record) fic entitled “Forbidden Colours” that hadn’t been updated in two years. It had sixty-one chapters, twenty-four comments, and nine kudos - the sign of what was basically AO3 royalty. Nick sighed, before sitting up, making Alice meow pathetically. “I’m so sorry, baby, but I have something to do,” Nick spoke to her, before kissing her head. They then got out their laptop and opened up Microsoft Word, scrolling for what seemed like an eternity. It was time for Nick to bring it back.

-

School went by extremely slowly as it usually did near the start of the semester. Roger, Nick, Simon, Raven, and John began planning for the dance. Nick had not seen Andy nor Kitty since Kitty’s little outburst in the lunchroom. “Who are you taking, John?” Raven questioned over lunch one day.

“Huh?” John asked. “Um, nobody. My girlfriend lives in another area of England and I doubt she wants to visit just for a school dance.”

“Oh,” Raven replied. “Well, Simon and I are going together and I assumed Nick and Roger would go together. I wouldn’t want you to feel left out.”

“You and… Simon?” Nick watched as some sort of expression spread across John’s face, perhaps… disgust? “Er… are you two dating?”

“Definitely not, he isn’t my type in the slightest,” Raven said. “Besides, wolves and vampires… It’s outrageous.”

“I’m just a dog,” Simon replied, bashfully.

“Right, well, vampires and canines, how about that?” Raven sighed.

“Well, I don’t need a date,” John said. “I had plenty of fun last time without a date. I’ll be fine this time, too.” John glanced at Nick. Nick raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Nick asked. John sighed.

“Nothing.”

“Okay.”

-

Evidently, it wasn’t “nothing”. Near the end of school, Nick went to one of the mens’ rooms to take their daily smoke break and a text message from John flashed onto their phone: “we need to talk.” Nick scoffed.

“Are you breaking up with me?” They sent back. John thumbs-down reacted their message. Nick rolled their eyes.

“no. meet me in the bathroom in M hall.”

“I’m already in the A hall bathroom having a smoke, you come here.”

“okay, fine.” Soon enough, John was there. He went over to where Nick was and got out his own packet of cigarettes, before he took one out and lit it, “Nick. Be honest with me when I ask you this and don’t tell anyone else I asked you.”

Nick gave John a blank stare. “Okay?”

“Does Simon have a crush on me?” Nick scoffed at John’s question.

“You have a girlfriend, what do you care?” Nick mumbled as they finished off their cigarette and put it out on the bathroom wall, before chucking it out of the window. “Is that seriously what you wanted to ask me?”

“Yes, because I had no idea,” John replied. “So, tell me: Did Simon seriously like me this whole entire time before I started dating Gaia.”

There was a long pause. “I don’t know why I’m surprised,” Nick mumbled. “You are the most oblivious man I’ve ever met in my entire life.”

“What?!”

“The answer’s yes, Simon was, no is totally into you,” Nick replied. “But, it doesn’t matter. He’s getting over it.”

“I-” John let out a sigh. “Really? Simon liked me and you didn’t tell me.”

“Because it’s obvious?”

“How is it obvious?! We were screwing for fun!”

“Yeah, but the whole point of a friends-with-benefits is they’re a friend,” Nick asserted. “You don’t exactly do boyfriend stuff with your friend.”

John rolled his eyes. “What ‘boyfriend stuff’?”

“Well, you both met each other’s families,” Nick began. “You’ve stayed at his house multiple times, hell, you stayed there for nearly a week once. Or was it the entire week? Either way, far too long. He showed you off to everyone, acted quite possessive of you. And, when you took offense to him being polyamorous, he called it off with all of his other flings and was exclusive to you. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. You were practically dating without the label.”

“Wh-” Nick watched as John’s cheeks reddened ever so slightly, something that never happened. “I have to go. Here, you can have this.” John took his cigarette out of his mouth and handed it to Nick. Nick gingerly took it from him as John left the bathroom, running a hand through his hair.

Nick sighed to themself before shrugging and putting the cigarette between their lips. They frowned. Whatever brand John bought was absolute shit, but it made sense. He never good taste in much of anything, besides music…

Maybe Nick should write a Bryan Ferry x Reader oneshot for John. Maybe he should write him a Mick Karn x Reader one. Yeah. Now that’s how you get your friend deeper into a band that you both like.

Chapter Text

January passed by deathly slowly but insanely quickly at the same time. The dance was already in a few days. Soon, auditions for the next play would be announced, and then it would be Valentine’s Day, and then there would be that aquarium trip, and then the play would happen, and then the semester would be half over. Life was passing John by.

He sighed as he sat in the front seat of Simon’s car and thought to himself as his three friends and Raven chatted around him. John was, indeed, going to the dance alone. There would be no skipping out on it to go to a goth/punk gay club (as much as Roger said it wasn’t a gay club) this time. But, maybe it’d be okay. Nick hated dancing, so John could just dance with Roger again.

John thought about Valentine’s Day, next. He was planning to send Gaia a love letter in the mail along with having something delivered to her. It would be pretty cute, he thought. It was nice not to be single on Valentine’s Day for once, but somewhere in the back of John’s mind, he wished it was under different circumstances. Every year, the school did something where you could pay to anonymously (or not) have a card and either candy, flowers, or a plushie delivered to someone of your choosing by the student council. It was stupid and cheesy, but John always hoped that one day he would get the chance to send someone something like that… who wasn’t Nick.

Simon braked sharply and it snapped John out of his thoughts. “Oops!” Simon laughed.

“You ran a stop sign,” Nick scolded.

“It’s okay, nobody was coming,” Simon replied. “I’ve never done that before, anyway. There’s a first for everything, it seems like.” John watched as Simon briefly glanced over at him, “What are you thinking about…?”

“Valentine’s Day,” John said. “You know how the student council has that thing where you can have cards and shit sent to them if you pay them?”

“Oh, yeah, what about it?” Simon asked.

“You’re sending me one, right?” Nick spoke up.

“Yes,” John mumbled. “I don’t know. Just thinking about it.”

“I’ll send you one, too, Nick,” Simon replied. “I’ll send you all one.”

“I don’t like those things,” Raven said. “I don’t like my learning time being interrupted by some honours student coming in to throw overpriced candy and flowers and whatever at random people. But, I appreciate the sentiment, Simon.” Raven sighed. “Valentine’s Day is a made-up holiday, anyway. Love should be celebrated all year round.”

“All holidays are made up,” Simon stated. “But, I won’t get you anything, Raven.” He paused. “Do you not celebrate Halloween?”

“Of course I celebrate Halloween! Don’t be ridiculous, Simon,” Raven replied. “Halloween is- you missed your turn.”

“I’m taking an alternate route,” Simon muttered as he went to make a U-turn.

It took far too long for the group to reach the fancy ass department store that Simon wanted to go to. John honestly probably already had clothing that could fit “Winter Wonderland” because what else do you wear for that other than white or silver, but free clothes were never a bad thing, he supposed.

As they entered the store, Raven and Nick went to the women’s section together while Roger went to the shorter-than-average men’s section and John and Simon to the absurdly tall men’s section. John looked through blazers with Simon, not talking to him at all. Sometimes, he glanced up, and studied Simon’s face, before Simon would look up at John with his blue-eyed stare. After far too many instances of this happening, Simon said, “You keep staring at me.”

“I, uh… noticed that your blonde highlights are gone,” John mumbled.

“Oh. Yeah,” Simon replied. “I’m back to natural. For now.” Simon eyed John’s hair, “You still have your highlights.”

“Yeah. I do,” John murmured. He sighed as he picked out an off-white blazer and thought about what Nick had said not long ago, about how he and Simon were basically boyfriends before John started dating Gaia. Ever since then, he kept thinking about how oblivious he was and now… he didn’t know if he should address the situation or if that’d make things worse.

John opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut off by the sound of footsteps. He quickly shut it as he turned and saw Roger with a baby-blue dress shirt and white pants. “I found something, but it’s very expensive, Simon,” Roger said.

“It’s okay, Roger. Everything here is pricey. I’ll buy whatever your heart desires,” Simon replied, before shooting the smaller man a smile. “I found something, too. I’m going all white. What about you, John?”

“Yeah, same,” John mumbled as he showed Simon what he got.

“Are you not wearing pants, John?” Simon teased.

“Er… I guess I’ll get some.” John found a matching set of pants. The three men then went to the women’s section in pursuit of Nick and Raven. John spotted Nick wearing their dress while Raven held hers. Nick’s dress was almost the same exact colour as Roger’s blazer, with a puffy white layer underneath and a semi-transparent type of fabric on top of it. Raven’s was an all-black, lace dress.

“Uh, Raven, you’re wearing black?” Simon asked.

“Yes. And you’re wearing white,” Raven noted. “Well, being opposites is matching in a way, is it not? But, that’s besides the point. Isn’t Nick stunning in her dress? I think she’ll be the prettiest one there.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Simon murmured. “Yes, Nicky, you’re absolutely gorgeous. Okay, lads, let’s go try our clothes on and then we can check out.” Simon, John, and Roger walked to the mens’ changing rooms while Raven and Nick walked back to the girls’. John put his suit on and then stared at himself in the mirror. He looked the same as he always did, he supposed, just wearing white. But, it fit, so it was okay.

John changed back into the clothes he had on before. He left the fitting room and went outside, seeing Simon and Roger both modelling their outfits for Nick and Raven. Simon paused as he looked at John, “You’re not going to show off for us, …John?”

“Er… I guess not,” John muttered. “I wasn’t aware that was happening.”

“Oh. Alright!” Simon paused. “Well, how do Roger and I look?”

“Good. Very handsome.”

“Thanks,” Simon and Roger both replied. Simon continued, “Let’s go change and then I’ll buy us this. Think of where you guys want to eat after.”

John turned to Raven and Nick as Roger and Simon walked back to the fitting rooms. “I don’t want to make Simon pay too much,” Raven replied. “I generally go for a nice, bloody steak, but anything prepared like that costs a kidney here in Birmingham.”

Nick winced. “Er… yeah,” was all they said. “Uh… We went to McDonalds last time.”

Raven let out a long sigh. “Hm. I guess I could drink a smoothie and pretend the chicken nuggets are some willing soul’s flesh that I’m tearing into.”

“Are vampires cannibalistic?” John asked.

“No,” Nick and Raven replied in near unison. Raven continued, “Just a way to satisfy my craving. Between the smoothie, my vape, and the chicken nuggets, I’ll feel properly normal. Oh, Nick, this reminds me. Earlier I spotted some cute pink-tinted heart-shaped sunglasses. It isn’t normally my style, but I see the potential in twinning with you. Shall we get Simon to buy us them?”

“Yes,” Nick responded. John watched as Raven smiled at them, before stepping forward and hugging Nick. She pressed a kiss to their forehead.

“Off I go. I’ll be back shortly.” Raven walked off, leaving John and Nick to stare at each other for a moment.

John spoke up after a second, “Raven vapes?”

“Yes,” Nick replied, their voice dripping with annoyance. “It’s the worst thing about her. Plus, she doesn’t like me smoking near her and always goes, ‘that’s so bad for you, you know’.” They shook their head.

“At least I don’t have metal in my lungs,” John mumbled, shaking his head. A second later, Simon and Roger appeared beside them, before Raven came back with two pairs of sunglasses.

“Simon, please purchase these for Nick and I. We are going to match to cement our close friendship,” Raven said as she handed Simon the sunglasses. He peered at them before nodding.

“Cute,” Simon said. His eyes then lit up. “Hey, we should all hang out at my place after the dance and make friendship bracelets!” Nick and Roger nodded while Raven let out another one of her overly intricate responses, using twenty words from the eighteenth-century to say ‘yes’. John didn’t react. “Okay, give me all your stuff so I can pay for it.”

Simon led Nick, Roger, John, and Raven to the counter. He gave the cashier all of their stuff and she began scanning it. John watched as she and Raven exchanged standoffish glances with each other, before he realised that their cashier was Ruta. “Hi, Ruta,” John said, trying to be polite.

“Oh, hey, Nigel,” Ruta replied, dryly. John furrowed his eyebrow.

“It’s John, actually.”

“Is John a nickname for Nigel?”

“It’s my middle name.”

“Huh.” Ruta mumbled.

“Don’t be rude to my friends just because you don’t like me,” Raven responded, coldly.

“I genuinely forgot,” Ruta stated, pausing folding some of the clothes for a second to stare at Raven. “I don’t dislike you, Raven. All that fucking goth drama was just… tiring.” She sighed, before scanning the pink glasses and throwing them in a random bag. Ruta gave Simon his total and then he whipped out his card, a sly smile on his face.

“Check this out guys; I have tap to pay now!”

“It declined.”

“What? Let me try inserting it…” Simon inserted his card and inserted his pin, before the card reader made some little chime. He took his card out, “I guess I don’t have tap to pay.”

“Do you want a receipt?” Ruta asked.

“Er, I can just have it texted to me.”

“We have email, not text.”

“Okay, fine.”

“What’s your email?”

“[email protected]. That’s spelled C-H-A-R-L-E-Y-T-H-E-P-U-P. Two seven. At. G-M-A-I-L-”

“Yeah, thanks,” Ruta murmured, giving Simon a look.

“You wear a literal dog collar, Ruta,” Raven scoffed.

“It’s a fashion statement, not a kink.”

“It’s not a kink!” Simon huffed. “I’m just a dog boy.”

“Okay,” Ruta said. “Really? Do your fellow popular kids know about that?”

“I don’t give a damn. May I have our purchases, please?” Ruta handed Simon the bags. “Thanks.”

“Have a nice day,” Ruta droned as the group walked off. Roger let out a quiet “you too”, to which Nick smiled at him.

“Okay, where are we eating?” Simon asked.

“McDonalds,” Nick and Raven spoke. Roger beamed.

“Okay, vampires and gentlemen, off to Maccies we go!”

Chapter Text

It was Friday night and Nick was finishing applying the final touches to her dance outfit in the mirror. She felt stunning in her dress, although she had recently thrifted some white heels for the outfit and already knew that her feet would hurt like a bitch soon enough. At least she was six feet tall now, she supposed.

Nick finished blending her white, shimmery eyeshadow with the baby blue shade she already had on. She set down the brush before she picked up her eyeliner and applied it expertly, making sure it was visible and bold, but not so big that her eyeshadow job was covered up. Nick then picked up her tube of pink lip gloss and put it on, before applying a tinge of blush to her cheeks. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror before she took approximately 17 selfies.

Nick left the bathroom and a pile of fur greeted her, meowing enthusiastically. Alice stretched out on the floor and Nick picked her up, nuzzling her nose to hers. “Hi, baby,” Nick said. “Does my beautiful baby girl want to take a photo with her mum?” Alice let out a pathetic mew, almost like a squeak. “Okay, let’s take some photos.”

Nick and Alice served face together for a couple dozen selfies before Nick set her down. Alice then curled up on Nick’s shoe while Nick scheduled a post on her furbaby’s Instagram captioned “Being pretty with Mama. :3”

“Okay, baby, you can’t sleep on my shoe. Come on.” Nick picked up Alice and walked with her down the stairs, clinging onto the rail as she tried to navigate walking in heels. The price you pay to be a sexy bitch.

“Nick!” Nick’s eyes widened slightly at the sound of her mum’s voice, filled with pure shock. She stopped in living room before her mum walked up to her, tilting Nick’s head down as she beamed at her child, “You’re so beautiful, darling.”

“Thanks, mum,” Nick said, smiling from ear to ear. She then caught eye of her dad looking over at her, unimpressed. Nick’s smile dropped, slightly. There was then a knock at the door. “Oh, I’ll get it.”

Nick went over to the door and opened it, seeing Roger. “Hi-” She began, before she was cut off.

“Oh, hello! Roger, yeah? Come on in!” Nick’s mum said from behind her. Roger blushed a bit, before Nick moved aside, letting him in. “Oh, look at you two matching. Let me take some photos. Let’s have you stand… oh, by our house plants over here.”

Nick set Alice down on the sofa before she was ushered with Roger by her mom to go over to the plants. Nick tried not to laugh as Alice hopped off of the sofa and began scuttling her way over to Nick. “Okay, kids, smile…!”

Two photos were taken before Alice crawled onto Nick’s shoe again and began screaming at her. “Oh, Alice, you little angel,” Nick’s mum said as her child picked Alice up. Roger threw an unamused side eye at the kitten. “Oh, let’s take a photo with Alice, too. Smile…!”

After a few minutes of Roger being bombarded with questions and compliments from Nick’s mum, Nick told her mum that they had to go. “You two have fun!” Roger and Nick then left, walking to the bus stop together, with Roger holding Nick’s hand solely to help her walk in the heels.

“You look pretty,” Roger spoke up as they sat together at the bus stop, the sun falling behind them and turning the sky orange. Nick smiled at him.

“Thanks,” Nick replied. “I hope this dance is better than the last.”

“Why do we even go to dances if we don’t like them?”

“I don’t know.”

Before Nick and Roger knew it, the two were walking into their school gymnasium together. They each got a plate of fancy cheeses and crackers from the refreshment stand as well as the weird punch that they had last time. The pair of them sat down together as “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry played in the background. Nick looked around, taking in the gym’s winter-themed decorations. It was a bit boring.

Soon, they were joined by three other people: Simon and John wearing all white and Raven wearing all black. Raven had her arm interlocked with Simon’s and was leaning against him. “Greetings,” Raven said. “When are we going to dance? The music might be horrible, but we may as well get our money’s worth. Even though Nick hates dancing.”

Nick sighed, loudly, as everyone stared at her. “Fine, let’s go dance.”

The five of them made their way over to the dance floor. Raven and Simon actually danced with each other rather enthusiastically while Simon serenaded her with each pop song that played. John danced by himself and Roger and Nick generally stared at each other and talked.

A slower song came on and the lights dimmed. Nick watched as Raven and Simon assumed the slow dance position. A conventionally attractive girl in a teal-gradient dress with flowy, ginger hair, pinkish skin, and far too much lip filler approached John. Nick recognised her as Winona, John’s former fling. She watched as John and Winona started dancing with each other, talking as the song played.

“Nick…?”

Nick turned to Roger. “Hm?”

“Should we dance? I know you don’t like to, but… if we’re not, I think we should get off of the dancefloor.” Nick stared at Roger for a moment, observing his blank expression. She hated to dance and couldn’t tell if Roger genuinely wanted to or if he was just being nice. But, she figured she might as well not make things awkward with asking… Nick nodded.

“Okay. Um… how do you want to do this?” Roger said. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable doing the… you know.” He gestured to Simon and Raven and then John and Winona, all dancing the same way: the man’s hand on the girl’s waist while the girl had her hand on his shoulder, with their free hands holding.

“I’m fine with that if you are,” Nick murmured. “I don’t know how else to dance.”

Roger smiled a bit. “Okay. Um…” He gently placed a hand on Nick’s waist and then took her right hand. Nick’s breath hitched a bit as she placed her left hand on his shoulder. “Nick, do you not like dancing or do you simply not know how to?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said you don’t know how else to dance. Maybe you’d like dancing if you knew how.”

Nick scoffed, “No, no…”

“What about rollerskating? That’s kind of like a dance.”

“I don’t have the balance for that.”

“Well, if we went as a group, you could cling onto someone.”

“Hmph.” Nick was trying so hard to hide the smile that played on her lips as she and Roger danced. It was a bit silly as she now towered over him and doing this slow dance to this unknown song in high heels felt so foreign, but it was strangely enjoyable… despite the fact that it was still an awful fucking dance. But, at least Nick got to wear a dress that she didn’t have to pay for.

The dance ended and Roger immediately let go and stepped back, “I’m going to go sit back down.”

“I’ll come with you,” Nick replied. “I’ve had enough dancing for one night, anyway.”

“Did you at least enjoy it a little bit?” Roger teased.

“Only because it was you I was dancing with, Roger,” Nick replied. He gave her a slight smile. The two walked back over to their table and Nick munched away at gourmet cheese slices like a little rat. Roger then began talking to Nick, asking her questions about Instagram and if he would give her pointers on how to take a good photo to post.

“I’d like to take one of all of us for my first Instagram post,” Roger explained. Nick nodded, before peering out into the crowd.

“Well, it may be a bit. Raven and Simon look like they’re having a lot of fun,” Nick said. Raven and Simon were still dancing with each other and laughing. About a foot away, John and Winona were… still talking. John’s cheeks were slightly pink and he looked embarrassed. “We can go get our photos taken at whatever display they have this time.”

“I think it’s a white background with white fluff,” Roger said.

“Sounds about right,” Nick grumbled. She watched as Roger got up and went to stand before Roger offered her his hand. Nick took it and the two got up before walking over to the line for the photos.

“Cute dress,” a girl said to Nick in passing.

“Thanks,” Nick replied, beaming.

Soon, Roger and Nick made it to the front and the man with the camera greeted them happily, before staring at Nick for many seconds too long. She felt his judgemental stare probing his face and down her neck. Roger’s grip tightened on her hand. The man with the camera eventually told Roger and Nick to pose how they wanted, which was potentially code for, “I don’t know what you are so I don’t know if this is gay or not so I’m going to be a lazy fuck even though there are queer kids everywhere in this damn high school.”

Nick posed normally, smiling politely for the camera. She felt Roger’s hand snake around her waist again and pull her closer. Nick tried to pretend like it didn’t affect her. The cameraman stared for a moment more, before taking the photo. They were each given a copy of it before they went back to their table.

“I’m sorry if that was uncomfortable,” Roger said. “I wanted to make that guy uncomfortable. What a cunt.”

Nick smirked, “You’re right about that. It’s okay, Roger. I doubt you could make me uncomfortable.”

“In that case… want to dance again?” Nick let out a laugh, but Roger spoke again before she could reply, “I’m kidding.”

“Good, because the answer’s no.”

Roger and Nick sat and chatted. Eventually, Raven and Simon came back to join them. “You two danced together,” Simon said, a bit of a purr in his tone. “How cute.”

“I hated it,” Nick muttered. Simon laughed.

“Well, it seems John might be having the most fun.” Raven gestured back to the dancefloor, where John was now… dancing with a different girl? Nick raised an eyebrow. She didn’t recognise her. Nick looked back at Simon and Raven, seeing Simon was incredibly unamused.

“How peculiar,” Simon droned. Nick had to bite back a smile; it was like Raven was speaking through him.

“Well, he is a pretty boy, isn’t he?” Raven murmured. “It makes sense that he’d be so popular with the girls. Although… I wonder how Gaia would feel about this.”

“Yeah, I wonder.” Nick watched as Simon and Raven exchanged a look, a twinkle in both of their eyes. She felt partially bad because, well, John was her friend, but on the other hand… this unspoken endeavour could be rather interesting.

“I can go get John,” Roger spoke up. “I wanted to take a photo with you guys anyway. And, we can take a photo together at the actual photo thing. I hate the camera guy, though.”

“Yeah, sure, Roger,” Simon replied. Roger nodded before getting up. Simon then looked at Nick, “What’s with the camera guy?”

“Looked at me weird,” Nick mumbled.

“Oh. So Roger’s a bit possessive, hm?” Simon smirked, before his face fell. “Wait. That’s gross. That’s a grown man.”

“No, weird as in…” Nick sighed, “Clearly I’m not born a woman and I’m wearing a dress.”

Simon scowled. “Well, fuck that guy. You know what, I’ll wear a dress next time, too. I look great in them.”

“Really?” Raven asked. Simon nodded.

“Oh, yeah.” Simon glanced up, a small smile appearing on his face. Nick turned her attention to see Roger and John. “Hi, John. Seems like you were having fun.”

“Yeah, I guess,” John said. “I like dancing. Winona and her friends are nice. Anyway, who’s taking the photo?”

“Well, I don’t know how to send or receive photos yet, so can I take one on my phone?” Roger questioned. Everyone let out various agreements and they moved to find a place to take a photo. Nick watched as Roger got out his flip phone and held it up to take an image. Nick tried hard not to burst out laughing as she saw the selfie preview; it was reminiscent of one of those YouTube videos that people would say was filmed on a potato.

“Cool,” Roger said, before putting his phone away.

“My turn!” Simon exclaimed. He then took far too many photos of the five of them. “Yes queens, we are EATING! Okay, let’s go talk to the asshole cameraman. If he does anything transphobic, I’m going to beat him up.”

“Maybe don’t, we don’t want you thrown out of school five months before you graduate,” Raven said, sighing.

“Fineee.” The group of friends went back over to the photo line. First, Simon and Raven took a photo together, before Nick, John, and Roger joined them. The cameraman seemed unamused by Nick’s presence. Nick noticed all of her friends taking turns shooting brief glares at him. It made her smile all the more genuine; she was so thankful for them.

“Okay, let’s get out of here,” Simon said. “Want to go back to my place and make friendship bracelets and watch a film or something?”

“James Bond,” John replied, quickly. Nick let out a laugh.

“Yeah, just let me go to the bathroom first,” she replied.

“I’ll come with you,” Roger said.

“I’ll use the unisex one, Roger, it’ll be okay.”

“I still want to go with you. Just in case.” Nick gave in to Roger with a nod and walked off, not missing the smiles on all her friends’ faces as they went.

The two of them entered and were blinded by the lights. It was like a fucking psych ward. Nick rubbed her eyes, before seeing someone familiar. She wasn’t going to say anything to him, but she noticed that his eyes looked red and puffy and that he was frantically wiping them. “Andy… are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Andy mumbled.

“No, you’re not,” Nick replied. She frowned. “What happened?”

Andy sighed, “Kitty broke up with me.”

“I’m sorry,” Nick responded. “That’s awful.” She paused. “Um… do you want to come with Roger and I to hang out with Simon, John, and Raven and make friendship bracelets and watch James Bond films?”

“...What?”

“I said-”

“No, I heard you,” Andy said. “That’s just… so random.”

Nick shrugged. “Sort of. Anyway… do you want to or not?”

“I… don’t know.”

“Okay, Roger and I can ride with you to Simon’s. It’ll be fun, I promise.” Nick watched as Andy and Roger exchanged a look, the latter of the two smiling a bit, before she disappeared into the stall.

The three of them left the bathroom together and Nick got a text from Simon saying they were in the parking lot. They went to meet them and saw Simon and John smoking cigarettes while Raven sucked on her vape. This one was blue.

Nick joined John in leaning against Simon’s car before she pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. She listened to Raven talk about the moon, saying that a waxing crescent was reminiscent of growth and new beginnings. Andy stood on the other side of Simon and Roger on the other side of Nick. After Raven’s little witchy tangent, she looked at the group of men and Nick, “All five of you smoke…? That is HORRIBLE for you.”

“Well, at least I’m getting my cancer the all natural way and not using a metal flashdrive,” Simon retorted.

“Whatever, wolf boy.”

Andy frowned and turned to look at John, Nick, and Roger. “I feel like we’re in a Twilight movie,” he mumbled.

John let out a dry laugh, “This is not what Twilight is like.”

“Um, I’ve watched the movies, John. I think I know.”

“Yeah, well I’ve read the books and watched the movies.”

“That’s not something you should brag about.”

Nick rolled her eyes as she chuckled to herself. She glanced at Roger, seeing a smile on his face as well.

After the smoking/vaping and bantering session, Simon and Raven went to Simon’s car, John to his, and Roger, Nick, and Andy to Andy’s. They all made their way to Simon’s house where they put on the first James Bond film and made each other friendship bracelets. Nick gave John a red-and-grey one, Raven a black-and-purple one, Roger a blue-and-green one, Simon a yellow-and-pink one, and Andy an orange-and-white one. The ones she got in return were a pink-and-red one from Raven with letters that spelled out “vampire” on it, a purple-and-white one from Simon with letters that spelled out “sunshine” on it (“Get it, Nick? ‘Cause you’re a vampire! Ha ha ha!”), and then a rainbow one from Roger with random moon, sun, and heart charms on it. Andy couldn’t figure out how to make a bracelet without it breaking and John was too invested in James Bond to make anything.

Once the film was over, Nick took off her makeup and put on some clothes she borrowed from Simon, before she went to a guest room with Roger and Raven. The three of them got under the covers and cuddled together with Nick in the middle. “Vampires don’t sleep, of course, but you two have a good night. I’ll lay here and picture the music video for ‘Lovecats’ in my mind,” Raven said, a yawn escaping her. She fell asleep three minutes later.

“Good night, you two,” Roger said.

“Good night, Roger,” Nick replied. “Good night, Raven.” Raven mumbled something in her sleep in response to which Nick laughed, before closing her eyes and snuggling closer to Roger.

Chapter Text

John had a lot to think about following that dance. He switched between Winona and her gorgeous, popular friends for his dance partners, although he didn’t enjoy it too terribly much. It just reminded him of how his girlfriend lived on the other side of the country.

Already, being in a relationship was feeling more lonely than being out of one. Gaia made John call her every single Saturday so they could see each other and act like they were with one another, but he was growing to hate it. As she told him about how she made friends with a new girl at her job, John felt himself slowly spacing out.

“You never told me about the dance.”

“Huh?” John’s eyes flickered back to Gaia. He studied her face, gorgeous and pixelated, a look of admiration on her face.

“Tell me about the dance,” Gaia said. “What did you guys do?”

“Danced.”

“...And?”

“Uh…” John shrugged. “Afterwards, we all went to Simon’s house and watched James Bond. Some of them made friendship bracelets, so I got four.”

“Who was part of this group again?”

“Nick, Simon, Andy, Roger, and Raven.”

Gaia thought for a moment. “Who was your date to your formal, then? Everyone else is dating someone, yeah?”

“Well, Andy and Kitty broke up,” John said, before pausing. He supposed he could… lie to Gaia. It was harmless, anyway… “So, I guess Andy and I were… dates? But not really because he’s straight and was sad the whole time.”

“Okay, well, can I see the friendship bracelets?” John nodded, before he reached over for the bracelets on his nightstand. He showed Gaia all of them and explained who made what: a red-and-grey one from Nick, an orange-and-black one from Simon, a blue-and-white one from Raven with “007” on it, and then a red-yellow-blue-and-black one with star-and-jewel charms on it from Roger. “Okay. So, I take it Roger’s is random, Raven’s is James Bond, and Simon’s is because you’re Tigger, of course… but Nick’s?”

“He just chose my favourite colour and one of his,” John replied. He paused, before glancing at Simon’s bracelet. Simon hadn’t called him Tigger in a while, but was Gaia right about the colour palette?

“Does he still call you Tigger?” Gaia asked, as if she read John’s mind.

“Er, no.”

“Good. That seemed a bit too… friendly.”

John blinked, “We’re just friends.”

“Yeah. I know,” Gaia said. “I just want to keep it that way.” She then leaned closer to her camera, smiling. “You know I love you, right?”

-

The second John and Andy entered school on the first Monday of February, they both looked around at the halls, unamused. Pink, red, and white decorations hung everywhere. Andy let out a sigh. John patted his shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Andy. We can stick this out together.”

“Oh, did you and Gaia break up?”

“No. She just lives across the country. I’m starting to feel very lonely, if I’m being quite honest…”

Andy didn’t say anything.

-

Lunch was filled with the usual suspects plus Warren. Roger, Nick, John, and Andy sat on one side of the table and Raven, Simon, and Warren sat on the other. The entire cafeteria was hearts and streamers and posters telling people to GO VISIT STUDENT COUNCIL AND SIGN UP TO GET YOUR CANDYGRAMS NOW!!! YOU CAN ALSO BUY FLOWERS OR A RUBBER DUCK FOR SOME REASON!!! THEY TOTALLY ARE NOT TRIPLE THE PRICE WHAT YOU COULD GET AT A CONVENIENCE STORE!!! SUPPORT YOUR SCHOOL SO THEY CAN PUT ON MORE MEDIOCRE DANCES!!! John was very overwhelmed by the whole thing and kept spacing out.

Roger brought up something for once, but John was too out of it to notice. He found himself staring at Simon and thinking of the bracelet he made for him. John actually had on the four bracelets he received, now, and they made a lovely clicking noise as he absentmindedly turned the beans on his tray to mush with his fork. He thought about the colours and wondered if it truly represented Tigger… John really missed being called Tigger. He missed all of the affection and attention that Simon gave him… it was a lot better than what he got from his girlfriend. He shouldn’t think that, though…

“So, would John be my date or Andy’s?”

John snapped out of it. He furrowed his eyebrows at Warren’s words, “Huh?!”

“For the couples’ skate,” Warren said. “Roger thinks we should all go together.”

“I don’t think I’d like it,” Nick replied.

“I’ll pay for you, like I said,” Roger stated. “Would you like to come with us, John? It’s this Saturday from 8 to 12.”

“8 to- like, 12AM?!” John spat.

“Yeah.”

John sighed. “Um, sure, I guess. I don’t know. All this couple stuff makes me feel really lonely. I wish Gaia lived closer.” Simon and Raven exchanged a bored look, before Nick and Simon exchanged emotionless ones, and then Nick and Roger concerned ones. Warren just sipped on a protein shake that he brought from home for some fucking reason, before licking his lips far too slowly and sensually. John frowned.

“Well, you don’t have to go, although I can’t imagine Andy and Warren would have fun coupling up,” Simon joked.

“Ew,” Andy replied. “Well, I don’t really know if I want to couple up with a guy anyway.”

“Okay, then you can skate with me and Simon can skate with John or Warren,” Raven offered. Andy thought about it for a bit, before nodding, slowly.

“I’ll take Simon,” John responded, quickly. Simon gave John a look, not a trace of emotion on his face. John stared back at him. A horrible thought then crossed his mind, but… actually, maybe it wasn’t such a bad one…

“Well, I know women,” Warren said. “Don’t worry; I won’t bring Suzy. I know you’re not fond of her, Raven. I’ll bring Elania instead.”

“Who the fuck is Elania?” Simon asked.

“She goes to another school. Don’t worry about it.”

-

johnferry: hey, gaia!

Gaia: Hey, love!! How was school?

johnferry: good, how’s work?

Gaia: Great, Bella and I are becoming close friends. She’s going to introduce me to more of hers.

johnferry: nice, it’s good to hear you’re making some friends
johnferry: speaking of friends, i have a question

Gaia: I really wish you would just ask the question instead of saying “I have a question”.

johnferry: sorry.
johnferry: anyway, what do you think of poly people?

Gaia: Ummmm what??
Gaia: Polyamory is just cheating with extra steps
Gaia: Why are you asking…?

johnferry: curious

John sighed as he put his phone away. Well, there goes that idea.

Chapter Text

Simon was still thriving online, but his popular kid status had been slowly tanking due to the fact that he now spent most of his time with Raven as his chosen girl best friend rather than the groups of girls who only wanted him as some sort of homosexual accessory. He didn’t care, however, he had never felt freer and happier in his life… minus the fact that he was still sulking over John Taylor, who kept making things worse because he wouldn’t SHUT UP about his GIRLFRIEND living on the OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY, as if he didn’t do that to himself.

Today was couples’ skate day, meaning Simon and John would be holding hands for far too long together. For some reason, the rule was you had to be holding hands with your partner the entire time. Simon didn’t know how he was going to conduct himself; he wasn’t known for being subtle about anything ever. Raven was also a little bit of a devil on his shoulder about the whole thing, too; she was mostly a sweetheart but ever since the dance, she had been encouraging Simon to see how breakable Gaia and John’s relationship was because, “it’s a bit absurd to be dancing with other girls like that when you’re being courted, is it not?” Raven seemed to think John was still struggling from some closeted biphobia or something like that; Simon wasn’t so sure. But, he might do some gay flirting later, who knows.

For now, Simon was getting ready to go out with everyone before rollerskating. It was Warren’s idea; apparently his date, Elania, liked antique stores, so they were going to go to one. Simon dreaded thinking of how Warren knew girls from other schools, but he wasn’t about to ask him. Instead, he was busy putting the final nail in his popular kid coffin aka clipping in his dog ears and putting his tail on. Simon was dressed pretty casually today otherwise with some jeans and a tank-top among other accessories, so it seemed like a perfect time to debut his dog self.

Simon walked downstairs and both of his parents glanced at him. “You’re not going out like that,” his dad said. Simon opened his mouth to bicker at him, before he replied, “It’s February. Put a coat on.”

“It ruins the vibes of my outfit, dad,” Simon said, huffing.

“Why are you dressed like a dog?” Simon’s twelve-year-old brother, Jonathan, spoke up.

“This is who I am,” Simon replied, folding his arms.

“Just take a damn coat, Simon,” Simon’s dad grumbled.

Simon opened his mouth again, but his mum cut him off, “Charley, what if your car breaks down? You’re going to be cold. You don’t have to wear the coat, just take it. And, maybe a jumper, too… You’re going to freeze in a tanktop.”

“You forget that I run hot,” Simon said, before grabbing a coat off of a nearby rack. “Okay, I’m off. Love all of you. Even you, you little rascal.” Simon shot a grin at his unamused baby brother. His parents returned his ‘love you’s’ before Simon went outside and drove off, first to pick up Raven since she lived nearby.

Raven got into the passenger’s seat and Simon’s eyes widened, “Your hair’s down for once.”

“Yes, trying something new,” Raven replied. “I think I might change my style. I fear I dress far too casually. I’m thinking of going Victorian, but it will be quite an investment.”

“I have some shirts and necklaces I can give you,” Simon said.

“Thanks, love, but you’re a 6’ tall man and I am a measly 5’3,” Raven responded, sighing lightly. “I might be interested in the necklaces, however. Anyway, where are we going?”

“To pick up your date and then to meet Warren and his whatever at an antique store.” Simon punched Andy’s address into his phone before he handed it to Raven. “Can you give me directions?”

“I certainly can try.”

“You just read the screen.”

“I know how it works.”

Raven and Simon chatted for a while until they reached Andy’s home. Raven said she would go to get him. She got up and walked to Andy’s doorstep, holding a parasol to shield herself from the sun. Simon watched as she rang the doorbell and was greeted by Andy a second later. The two walked together to Simon’s car. He was mildly surprised when they both got in the back seat rather than one of them taking the passenger’s.

“Um,” Andy uttered.

“What?” Simon replied, putting in the address for the antique mall in his phone.

“You have. Dog ears.”

“Good observation, yes,” Simon responded. “I’m a dog boy.”

“Uhhh. Yeah, I think this has been mentioned,” Andy mumbled.

“So, Andy, as my date, I feel as if we should get to know each other better,” Raven replied. “In a purely platonic sense. Despite you dating Kitty, I feel as if she never really told any of us anything about her lover…” Simon listened to Raven and Andy chat on the way to the antique store. They seemed to get along very well.

At one point, however, they exchanged birthdays: Raven was born on the 4th of July and Andy on the 16th of February. Raven then gave Andy an analysis about him being a Pisces and what it meant, before she told him about what her being a Cancer meant. “What about you, Simon? Would you like me to tell you about your sign?”

“I don’t really believe in all of that,” Simon admitted.

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Everything I read tells me I’m a raging slut just because I was born in October. I mean, I am a raging slut, but the two aren’t related,” Simon mumbled.

“Ah, you must be a Scorpio, then.” Raven then told Simon what being a Scorpio meant anyway. “This means the three of us are all Water signs! Phenomenal…” Raven then went on a tangent on what that meant… Simon was hating himself for starting to believe in astrology solely because of what some girl in the back of his car was feeding him.

Simon’s car pulled into the parking lot of the dinky little antique store, next to John’s. He saw John, Roger, and Nick all having a smoke by a nearby tree. Raven let out a soft sigh. The three of them got out of Simon’s car and joined John, Roger, and Nick by the tree. Simon inspected their outfits: all relatively casual, minus Nick who went with a black dress shirt and black dress pants… although Simon supposed that was casual for Nick’s standards.

“Heyyy,” Simon greeted them all, before standing by Nick and pulling out a package of smokes. He placed a cigarette between his lips as all of the friends said ‘hello’. Simon lit up his cigarette and took a drag off of it, before looking around. What a boring part of Birmingham they were in… “What are you three talking about, hm?”

“I’m telling Nick that rollerskating isn’t as bad as they think it is,” Roger replied. Simon watched as Nick gave Roger a look that told him that they didn’t quite believe him. The tiniest smile was on Roger’s lips.

“Yeah, it just takes practice is all,” Simon mumbled as he watched Raven and Andy from a foot or so away. Andy was… smelling Raven’s vape? “I like to go roller skating sometimes and race kids around.”

“Race… kids around?” John questioned.

“Yeah, like find seven-year-olds and race them and win.” Simon raised an eyebrow. Now Andy was using Raven’s vape. He watched as a cloud escaped Andy’s lips, before he burst into a coughing fit. “Raven kept talking about zodiac signs in the car. She might be onto something.” John scoffed and Nick nodded a bit. Roger didn’t react. Simon smirked, before calling out, “Hey, Raven, Roger wants to know about his zodiac sign!”

“Oh?” Raven tucked her vape away before she walked over to the group. A look of disgust spread over her face. “Oh, God, your cigarettes… Ugh, fine, Roger, what’s your zodiac sign.”

“I don’t know,” Roger mumbled.

“When’s your birthday…?”

“April.”

“I need a day.”

“26 April.”

Raven nodded, “You’re a Taurus. You like stability and routine. You’re very logical, patient, steady, and calm, but can be stubborn. Since your ruling planet is Venus, you have a love for beauty, and therefore once you find something you love, you take it to the extreme. However, this can be bad as you might let it overtake you or can’t see the bigger picture as you’re too focused on smaller details and therefore can’t see the full potential of things. That’s your basic personality.”

“What about for love?” Simon said, smirking. Raven chuckled.

“Oh, I don’t need to know about that…” Roger murmured.

“No, I want to hear! Quit being stubborn. This is just like Raven said…”

Raven took another hit off of her vape, “Well, Taurians have very strong feelings. When they fall in love, it takes forever to fade away and they immerse themselves in it. However, they’re not particularly expressive, and prefer to share their love with people through actions rather than words. They’re very loyal and will always try to work things out with their partners.”

“Awww,” Simon cooed. “What signs are they compatible with?”

“That I don’t know off the top of my head,” Raven replied, before getting out her phone. “Let me consult my device… and, just know that astrology is merely a suggestion and not set in stone, don’t date someone just because the stars predict certain signs belong together, alright?” Raven paused. “It looks like Taurians get on best with fellow Earth-signs and Water signs.”

“So any of us could get with Roger except for John and Nick.”

“Again, it’s just a suggestion, I’m sure if Nick or John wanted Roger, they could have him,” Raven said, before winking. “It’s because Geminis tend to be more sporadic and carefree. But, again, anything’s possible. It does say…” Raven paused to giggle, “that Geminis and Taurians DO have a lot of fun together in the bedroom, at least.”

“Oooooh,” Simon teased. He looked between all of his friends. John was clearly trying not to laugh his ass off while Andy looked unamused. Roger looked uncomfortable and Nick showed zero emotion. “What’s it say for a Scorpio and a Taurus in the bedroom?”

Raven quirked an eyebrow, before looking back down at her phone, “Extremely compatible.”

“Okay, do Scorpio with everyone now, please.” Raven scoffed.

“Hey, guys!” Simon turned his attention to Warren and… holy shit. That woman had to be in her mid-to-late twenties. Elania was a conventionally attractive blonde girl, dressed head-to-toe in sexy designer clothing. She had to have been a good half-a-foot taller than Warren, but she was also wearing heels. “What are you talking about?”

“Uh, nothing, really. Let’s go inside,” Simon said, before putting out his cigarette. Warren and Elania went in first and Simon couldn’t help but check out Warren’s eye candy. Raven and Andy then followed, before Nick, Roger, John, and Simon.

Right as they walked in, there was a glass cage full of historical figurines of people, some of them… fucking. Simon stared at them for a bit, before Warren and Elania began scrutinising them. Typical Warren. Simon followed behind his other friends as they walked through the store.

There were some nice things. Nick stared up at the chandeliers and all the lamps in awe and made notes about each one of them, like a stereotypical gay person. John sifted through the vintage games, trading cards, and action figures, like a fucking nerd. Roger was there. Andy inspected some electronics with Raven, before they looked at glass figurines. Raven pointed out a glass swan and Andy offered to buy it for her, but she told him that he was not allowed to spend money on her.

Simon’s area of interest was some of the Zippo lighters they had. Andy and John browsed them with him while Nick squatted on the floor to look at the CDs and records that the antique place had. Raven pet Nick’s hair while she inspected the rest of the group. “You’re messing up my hair, Raven.”

“Sorry, Nicky,” Raven paused, before going to look at the lighters. “Some of those are rather nice.”

“Mhm,” Simon replied. “I think I’m going to buy one.”

“Me too,” John responded. “I like that one.”

“That one’s cool. I like that one. Andy, don’t let anyone turn the case.” With that, Simon and John walked off to the counter to pester the woman working there. Simon noticed she had a tiny old lady dog in a dress behind the counter.

The woman went to open the case for Simon and John. They got their respective lighters and then paid for them. Andy came and watched them, curiously. John and Simon paid for them and stepped to the side, discussing their new purchases right as Warren and Elania went up to the front, Warren buying a sculpture of an… appendage… and Elania getting one of three nude women touching each other. Interesting.

They all then left and planned to meet up at, you guessed it, McDonalds to eat. Warren went on some tangent to Elania and she just nodded along, bored. Simon had no idea if she could even talk. Warren didn’t even introduce her to them…

Simon got in his car, with Andy and Raven in the back. “Is Elania a prostitute?” Andy’s question made Simon burst out laughing and they had to wait before he was able to start driving.

“Alright, queens, let’s go ROLLERSKATING!”

Soon, the group met up at the couple skating event and all paid their rates and for skates and protective gear. The rule was simple: you had to be holding hands or dancing with your “partner” at all times. Easy enough.

Simon took John’s hand and led him to the rink, following Raven and Andy who were behind Roger and Nick. Nick was nervously dragging their skates along the floor as they gripped Roger’s arm with both of their hands, pressing it against their chest to put their weight onto him. Andy seemed a bit uncoordinated as he held hands with Raven, but she would gently steady him as they entered and gave him soft words of advice. John seemed to know was he was doing, surprisingly, which was good for Simon because he did NOT come there to fuck around.

“We Got the Beat” played over the speaker as John intertwined his fingers with Simon, guiding him as they skated in circles. “What do you want to do, Charley?”

“Charley?” Simon repeated, smiling a bit.

“Yeah, I see your ears on,” John said. “You’re Charley right now, aren’t you?”

“Oh, well… I just use Charley as an alias online,” Simon replied. “I’m Charley and Charley is me. Just different names for the same person. Like… John and Nigel.”

“Well, I’ve always been one or the other,” John replied. “I am not ever going to be called Nigel ever again.”

“I think it’s a cool name, but you’re right, John does fit you better.” Simon watched as Raven and Andy danced together on their skates, while Nick kept clinging to Roger, a permanent cringe stuck on their face as Roger grinned from ear to ear. Simon sighed. “They are literally my OTP. They need to kiss already, damnit.”

“Agreed,” John mumbled. “Roger’s either straight or leading him on.”

“You heard what Raven said about him being a Taurus,” Simon stated. “I think she’s spot on.”

“Ugh, enough of that zodiac shit.”

“What, you don’t think you’re whimsical or carefree or compatible with Roger in the bedroom?”

“Ew.”

“What’s Gaia’s sign? December, right?” Simon paused. “She’s the same thing as Warren, isn’t she…?”

“Uh… probably. She was born December 16th.”

“Let’s go ask Raven about your compatibility.”

“I-” Simon led John over to where Raven and Andy danced. Andy and Raven were both enthusiastically chatting, smiling, and laughing with one another.

“Hey, Rae!” Simon said. “John and I were curious about the compatibility between a Gemini and a Sagittarius.”

“Oh? Well, let’s wait for a boring song to come on,” Raven stated.

“Okay. Wanna dance, Tig- John?” Simon asked.

“You can still call me Tigger,” John replied. “Yeah, sure.” Simon moved to dance with John and sang to him. John sang back. His singing was really bad, but Simon didn’t care. It was fun. Sometimes he caught snippets of Raven and Andy talking to each other (it seemed like it was mostly about the fellow goths) or laughing, and occasionally he peered past John’s shoulder and saw Nick still clinging desperately onto Roger as they skated around. Where were Warren and Elania? Who fucking knew…

After many, many songs, Raven spoke up, “Alright, let’s all go take a break and get some water. I’ll look up your Gemini-Sagittarius compatibility for you.”

“Okay, great!” Simon beamed as he led John out of the rink, Raven and Andy following behind. Andy informed the three that he would go get the waters and some snacks while they sat at a table. Simon peered back out into the rink, seeing that Nick was now only skating with their arm interlocked with Roger’s. They were slowly but surely improving!

“Gemini and Sagittarius… work pretty well together,” Raven said. “They have the same needs and wants in relationships, although this says that they may struggle with long-term relationships as they both lose interest quickly when they get bored.”

“So you can bang Warren,” Simon teased John. He let out a loud scoff.

“You’re a Gemini, then,” Raven replied. “I only know this because everyone around knows that Warren started his… career... the day he turned eighteen.” Raven sighed, before her eyes lit up. She got back on her phone and began looking at something. Raven then frowned.

“What?” Simon asked.

“Oh, nothing. I looked up something for signs of two friends of mine who would be a cute couple… astrology is just a mere suggestion, anyway.”

“Oh, what are your friend's signs?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Raven responded, right as Andy came back with a drink carrier with four waters and a plate of mozzarella sticks. “Thank you, Andy. I get dehydrated so easily…”

“Yeah, I’m sure. Must be hard to find mortals to feed on, huh?” Andy replied. Simon could not tell if he was being sarcastic or not. “The mozzarella sticks are for all of us to eat.”

“We just had Maccies,” John responded.

“Okay, I’ll eat your share,” Simon replied, before taking a mozzarella stick and dipping it in sauce. He popped it in his mouth, eating like a dog would. “What’s the moon phase tonight, Rae?”

“A waxing gibbous,” Raven responded. “On the 12th, it will be full again.”

“Let’s hang out on the 12th. You and I.”

“Okay, sure, Simon, I’d love to watch you howl at the moon.”

Raven, Andy, and Simon finished the mozzarella sticks and they all hydrated so they wouldn’t diedrate before they made their way back onto the rink floor. Roger was still helping Nick. Simon finally spotted Warren with his girl, holding her tenderly as she towered over his short ass. John and Simon went to the middle of the dance party with Raven and Andy as “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” began to play.

“Oh, yes! This is a BANGER!” Simon said, taking John’s hands and dancing with him as he sang with him. The two got very into dancing, spinning each other around, blissfully unaware of everybody around them.

Then, the worst thing happened. Simon slipped and fell, landing on his ass. In an attempt to break his fall by pulling him towards him, however, John was instead pulled towards Simon and landed on top of him. A few people crowded around John and Simon, asking if they were okay, to which both men insisted they were fine. John crawled off of Simon and got to his feet, but Simon laid there, staring at the ceiling. “I just need a minute,” Simon murmured.

“You can’t lay on the rink,” John sighed, before offering a hand out. “Come on. I have something I need to talk to you about, anyway.” Simon pursed his lips together, before taking John’s hand. He got up and the two left the rink.

Simon and John spotted Warren and Elania and went over to them. “Hey, guys, we’re just about to leave,” Warren replied.

“You never even introduced us to Elania,” Simon pointed out. Warren laughed.

“Oh, don’t worry about who I am,” Elania spoke, her voice a rich, velvety purr. She smiled a bit, “You two boys are cute. Have a good night.” Warren and Elania walked off and Simon turned to John, who shared the same expression of disbelief that he did.

“She’s a pornstar,” John said, right as Simon said, “She’s a prostitute.” The two paused, before shrugging and sort of agreeing with each other.

“Okay, well, let’s go to the bathroom and talk,” John replied.

“And not here?” Simon asked.

“No, it’s private.” Simon rolled his eyes.

“Fine.” The two went to the bathroom, which was surprisingly empty. “What?”

“Simon…” John sighed, “Do you have a crush on me?”

Simon scoffed, “Excuse you? You have a girlfriend. Why the fuck do you want to know?”

“Because,” John began. “I just wanted to let you know I had no idea and… I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You didn’t know?” Simon narrowed his eyes. He shook his head and sighed, “Whatever, John. It’s fine. I don’t care. You’re with Gaia now.”

“Yeah, but…” John frowned. “I can’t help but wonder if things would have been different.”

“Would they have been?”

“I don’t know. Simon, I…” Simon stared at him, expectantly, but John didn’t reply. He watched as John ran a hand through his hair, before he took a step forward. Simon felt a hand on his chin, before John pressed his lips to his. Instantly, Simon’s instincts kicked in: he kissed back, passionately, before pressing John against the wall.

After making out for far too long, they pulled away, their faces flushed as they gasped for air. Simon felt John’s hands shake as he held Simon’s face, a strange look in his deep brown eyes. “Charley, I…”

“I’m not going to be your secret side slut, Tigger,” Simon murmured.

“But… you’re poly,” John mumbled.

Simon laughed. “What? Do you want to date her and me?” Simon smirked. “Tigger… I might be open to the idea of dating multiple people or dating people who are dating other people, but I’ll be damned if I share you with that bitch. I’m sorry, but I don’t like her. I know you two are happy with each other, but I’m not going to let you have her and me. Unless you break up, we’re just friends. Okay?” Simon pressed a kiss to John’s cheek, teasingly. “Now, let’s get back to skating.”

“Right,” John replied. “Right.” The two then left the bathroom, before going back to the dance floor as if nothing had happened. Raven and Andy were still yapping away while Nick and Roger had evolved to where Nick only needed to grip Roger’s hand with all of their might. As far as their friends were concerned, nothing had happen.

A smirk played on Simon’s lips as he thought about it while singing Marvin Gaye to John. Unlike John, he wasn’t an oblivious bastard. He knew there were huge cracks in John and Gaia’s so-called “highly compatible” relationship and he knew that this was going to create a much bigger one… John would be back in his arms soon enough, where he should have been from the start.

Chapter Text

It was the week of Valentine’s Day. Nick didn’t really think about it because, well, he agreed with Raven that it was kind of silly to pick one day to spend far too much money on love when you can do that all year. He wasn’t completely opposed to it, he guessed, but…

A member of Student Council interrupted Nick’s maths class. Nick already felt a smug smile form on his face as he waited for his name to be called. “Nicholas Bates?” Nick raised his hand and the Student Council member went over to him. He had… four whole cards and a rubber duck! A record-breaking number!

Nick sifted through them: one was from John, one from Raven, one from Roger, and one was from Simon. The rubber ducky was labelled as being from Roger. Nick looked up and saw Simon smiling at him. Nick smiled back and mouthed a ‘thank you’, before Simon blew a kiss. The Student Council girl then called Simon’s name and gave him… eleven, along with a bouquet of flowers. Simon still had it, apparently.

Nick opted to not focus on class to open his things. John’s was first: “Happy Valentine’s Day, Nick. Thanks for being my best friend. -John xx” There was some candy included in the card.

Next was Raven’s: “I hate this holiday but I love you and I know you love your sweets. Enjoy the fangache. Yours truly, Raven” A cat and a vampire were drawn on the card next to Raven’s name. Candy was also inside.

Then, Roger’s: “Happy Valentine’s Day! -Roger” Short but sweet, like the candy and the teal duck in a shark costume.

Finally, Simon’s: “You da baddest bitch in the whole school. None of these theys, shes, or hes sparkle like you, baby girl. -Simon Le Bon x :) <3” Nick shook his head as he bit back a smile. Simon gave him candy, too.

Nick put all of his cards and candy in a special spot in his backpack. When class ended, he walked over to Simon and hugged him, “You’re ridiculous. Thank you.”

“You’re the baddest bitch in the whole school,” Simon replied, before the two laughed together. They then left and saw Roger waiting outside of the door. “Oh, hey, Roger! Nick and I got your Valentine’s goods. Thanks, mate!”

“Oh, no problem. I got both of yours,” Roger replied. “Hey, Nick, I wanted to tell you something. Can we go talk?”

“Yeah,” Nick responded.

“Cool,” Roger said. “We might be late to lunch, Simon.”

“No worries, have fun talking.” Simon said, before smiling at his friends. He hugged Nick and then Roger. “See you later.”

Roger and Nick began walking, before they left the school building. “Where are we going?” Nick asked.

“The picnic tables behind the school,” Roger replied. “It’s always pretty deserted.”

Nick nodded. “Alright.” The two walked in silence to the tables, before Roger sat down on one side and Nick at the other. “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“My secret,” Roger replied. “I’m ready to tell you.”

Nick felt a surge of excitement race through him. He hoped it was what he thought, “Okay.”

Roger breathed in, deeply. “So… you might remember when I told you I wasn’t gay.” Nick felt his heart skip again as he nodded. “Well… yeah. I… kind of am. I don’t know why, but I’ve always been kind of ashamed of it. I know my parents and all of my friends would never care, but… something inside of me wouldn’t let myself come to terms with it. But, then you came out, and seeing how much happier you are… I knew I had to do this. So…”

“Thank you for telling me, Roger,” Nick replied.

“Wait, I… wasn’t done.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Okay. I don’t… know how to explain this, so I’m going to potentially embarrass myself,” Roger said. “Um. Well… I have always felt a bit confused about you, Nick. Then, you kissed me and I realised… I like you. A lot more than a friend. But, I was scared because of this. And then, when you came out… of course I am okay with you being who you are. But, I don’t see you as a man. I don’t see you as a girl. I just see you as Nick. And… When I think about it, I just get more and more confused because I thought I had it figured out that I was gay, but… I have no idea what I am and you’re my only point of reference, really. So… The confession isn’t that I’m gay, I guess, it’s that I’m… not straight.”

Nick felt as if he had a sunburn as he stared at Roger, trying to process everything. Roger kept looking between Nick and out in the distance. Nick’s heart was racing as he tried to form a proper response. After a moment, he spluttered out, “Roger, what are you trying to say? About-”

“I have… feelings. For you. That friends don’t have for other friends,” Roger said. “I know it’s not a very romantic way to tell you, but…”

“No, no,” Nick replied. “I feel the same way.” Roger let out a sigh of relief, before he grinned.

“Good,” Roger said. “Um. So… I’m going to need to take this slowly, okay? But for now… do you want to be my Valentine? We can go out and do something on that day.”

Nick nodded, beaming. “Yes. Absolutely.”

“Okay,” Roger replied. “Let’s go back inside. We don’t want to keep the others waiting.” Nick nodded and got up with Roger. The two began walking, before Roger paused. “Wait. Nick.”

“What?”

Roger sighed. “I… I changed my mind.”

Nick’s heart sunk. “Oh, that’s… okay.”

“I wasn’t done,” Roger replied. “Sorry, it’s taking me a while for me to collect my thoughts. I…” He let out another sigh. “Raven was right with her astrology bullshit. It pisses me off.” Before Nick could react, Roger stepped forward, wrapping his arm around Nick’s waist and pulling him toward him. Roger reached his hand up, gently running his fingers through Nick’s hair before pulling him into a kiss. Nick kissed back, as he placed his hands on Roger’s shoulders.

The kiss was lengthy but still wasn’t long enough. Roger and Nick pulled back for air, both blushy and beaming. “I’m sorry for not asking first,” Roger said. “I hope that was okay.”

“You never have to ask to kiss me,” Nick replied.

“Well… there is something I need to ask you, though…” Roger responded. “Do you like being called girlfriend, boyfriend, or partner better? And… do you want to be mine?”

Nick giggled, “Yes, Roger, I’ll be your partner.”

Roger let out a sigh of happiness, “Well, in that case… can I kiss you again?”

“I just said you didn’t have to ask.”

“Fine, then I won’t.” And once more, the space between them ceased to exist as these two hearts melded into one.

Chapter Text

Roger stayed after school with Nick that day. John and Simon were auditioning for the play and he decided to watch their auditions with Nick and Raven. Roger figured it would be a good time to tell them his secret as well as share that he and Nick were now an item. He still had to figure out how he would tell Andy and Warren (and if he even wanted to tell Warren), but he would think about that for another time.

John was a terrible actor, but Simon was excellent. After their audition, the five of them went out to get ice cream. Roger wasn’t sure about how he felt about confessing his secret in a public place, but he figured it could have been worse. Not a lot of people were there, anyway…

“So…” Roger began. “I need to tell you all something.” Everyone gave their attention to Roger and he cleared his throat, before continuing. “Well… I don’t know what I am for sure, but I’m not straight.” Simon, John, and Raven all exchanged glances, before letting out various supportive replies. “Also, Nick and I are dating.”

John’s jaw dropped and Raven clapped her hands together, excitedly. Simon screamed. The underpaid teenage workers behind the counter gave him a look. “Sorry,” Simon said. Simon, Raven, and John all then began clamouring all at once, smiles on their faces as they asked for details, details, details…!

“Is it really that exciting…?” Roger murmured, bashfully.

“I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS TO HAPPEN FOR THE PAST SIX MONTHS!” Simon shouted, as Raven and John both let out a very loud “YES!!!”. The staff gave Simon another look and he scoffed, before folding his arms as he sat back in the booth.

“Are you going to tell Andy, love?” Raven questioned.

“Yes, but I have to think of how to,” Roger mumbled.

“Just tell him. He won’t care,” John said. “In a good way I mean.”

“Maybe you can tell him on his birthday,” Simon replied.

Roger blinked. “You shouldn’t make someone else’s birthday about yourself. Besides… is he even doing anything?”

“Well, I’m throwing him a party the day before his birthday,” Simon said.

“I thought he didn’t want a party,” John murmured.

“He said he didn’t want a huge one and this one will be just us! Including you, Nick. Andy said you can come to it. And, since it’s not his birthday, you can tell him you’re… not straight and dating Nick!” Simon beamed.

Roger didn’t say anything and neither did Nick. Simon went back to talking about drama club and John joined in. Roger felt a soft hand on his free one and turned to look at Nick. He gave her a smile before intertwining their fingers together.

-

On Valentine’s Day after school, Roger and Nick took the bus together downtown. Roger felt pretty underdressed: he was wearing the same thing he always wore (jeans, his leather jacket with all the band pins on it, a plain shirt, and dress shoes) while Nick wore a long, puffy, frilly pastel purple dress. The two sat on the bus together, listening to Yellow Magic Orchestra’s “Solid State Survivor” album on Nick’s phone, while they held hands. Roger didn’t tell Nick what he had planned, but she didn’t seem to mind. He could tell that she was pretty content just being with him, a soft smile on her face as she kicked her legs back and forth.

“This is our stop,” Roger said, as he gently nudged Nick. She nodded and got up with him, pausing the music before she put her AirPods in their overly decorated case. Nick put her phone in her bag and Roger offered to carry it for her. She laughed a bit before accepting as the two got off the bus together, hand in hand as they thanked the driver before they began walking.

“So, this is the first part,” Roger began. “I have been thinking about this for a long time and I think I need a style change. I’ve always liked the new wave fashion more and I listen to that type of music more than I do punk and have for a while, so… I know how much you love to shop so I was wondering if you’d help me pick out some new clothes. I’d be more than happy to buy you some as well.”

Nick chuckled, “Absolutely, Roger.” They stopped in front of a vintage thrift store, “Oh, I love this place! I go here all the time.”

“It’s great, isn’t it? Let’s go look at what there is.” The two went inside and to the men’s section. They sifted through the hangers, talking about clothes. Nick wasted no time with picking up things and putting them against Roger to see if they would fit. She found tons of outfits for him as well as some accessories, although Roger wasn’t sure if all of the funky ties that Nick picked out would be his thing. Roger supposed that he could give them to her if it didn’t work out at least.

Roger and Nick went to the dressing room together. He noticed how polite she was, not looking at him while he changed into each outfit, but Roger did notice the occasional glance she stole of him and how they always lasted far too long and ventured far too many places of his body… but he didn’t mind.

Nick also took many photos of her boyfriend, applauding how attractive he looked in every single outfit. She also kept kissing his face. “This style looks good on you,” Nick purred. “You should wear this one out of the store… the light grey of the suit jacket goes nicely with my dress.”

“You think so?” Roger said, before leaning forward and briefly kissing Nick on the lips. It was hard for him to keep his hands off of her.

“Yes, although… there is one thing missing.” Roger watched as Nick grinned. “Can I put eyeliner on you?” Roger nodded, smiling softly. He handed Nick her bag and watched as she rummaged through it, before she pulled out an eyeliner pencil. “I’m glad we’re near the same height. Look up…”

Soon, Roger’s eyeliner was done. Nick told him how handsome he was and took more photos of him before she kissed him some more, the two on the verge of a makeout session. “Not in a dressing room, please,” Roger mumbled, before Nick sighed.

“Fiiine,” she said, still beaming. “Okay, let’s buy you your clothes.”

“Oh, did you not want to buy anything?”

“No, I think I’m fine. I suspect you’ll be spending enough money on me later on, anyway.”

Roger gave Nick a little grin, “That’s true.” The two then went to the cash register and checked out. Nick offered to pay for some of Roger’s stuff, but he refused to let her. The two left the store with three bags of clothes after Nick cut the tags off of the outfit that Roger was wearing.

They took the bus back to Roger’s flat and talked with his parents for a bit before they went up to Roger’s room. Nick helped Roger go through his old clothes and he made a pile of things to donate. The two got on the bus again and dropped off Roger’s donations before going to the second mystery location.

“Somewhere for dinner, I presume?” Nick asked.

“Yeah,” Roger replied. “With plenty of vegetarian options.”

Nick grinned at Roger. He watched as she leaned forward as if to kiss his cheek, but she stopped herself. “No, it’s okay. You can,” Roger said. A second later, he felt her soft lips on his cheek, before she squeezed his hand. Nick offered an earbud to Roger once more and the two finished listening to “Solid State Survivor”, before Lou Reed’s “Transformer” was next. Nick’s loving gaze to Roger during “Perfect Day” didn’t go unnoticed and he made sure to return it back to her.

The two reached their stop and Roger walked Nick to the vegan restaurant he made a reservation at. Nick got a small pizza for herself while Roger got a vegan hamburger and chips. They talked about school, their future plans, their friends, and their identities. As they talked, Roger’s flip phone buzzed in his pocket once… and then twice… and then a third time…

“Sorry, I don’t know how to put this thing on silent yet,” Roger murmured. “I don’t even know if it has a setting.”

“Roger, it’s okay,” Nick said. “What is the notification? I won’t be offended if you look, love, it’s okay.”

“Let me see.” Roger fished his flip phone out of his pocket and opened it up. “Discord… Someone joined the Virginia Plain server. They also friended me and sent me a message that says ‘Hi, Roger’ followed by multiple exclamation points…”

“Did they do an introduction?”

“Let me see…” Roger clicked, struggling to navigate Discord on the flip phone’s tiny screen. “Oh, yep.”

“What’s it say?”

“It says, ‘Hello, everyone!’ There’s an emote. I can’t see what it is. Um, it says, ‘My name is Charley and I’m an eighteen-year-old boy slash dog from England. I love glam music; David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Roxy Music all changed my LIFE’ - a bunch of exclamation points. Uh, it also says, ‘Some things you should know about me is I have been diagnosed with ADHD, so please be patient with me. I’m also proudly bisexual and polyamorous!’ More emotes… I can’t see what they are.” Roger looked up and saw Nick smiling, softly.

“That’s Simon,” Nick replied. “Charley is his online name.”

“Oh…” Roger paused. “Oh, that makes sense. The dog boy thing. I still don’t know what that means.”

“Er… long story short, he’s connected to dogs in a way,” Nick responded. “I can’t tell you in what way because I don’t know the nuances of his identity. But, Simon’s pretty open, I’m sure he’d be open to you asking him.”

“Alright.” Roger put his phone away. “Nick… can you tell me about you being vampirekin… and Raven?”

Nick nodded. “Yes, of course. So, basically Raven and I identify as vampires. We do so in the same way pretty much…” Nick explained her identity to Roger as they finished eating, before their waiter came over to tell them about the live band playing in the basement of the restaurant. Roger asked Nick if she wanted to go watch and she said yes. They went down to the basement and much to their surprise, they saw Tom and Joe on stage. Nick didn’t dance because of course she didn’t, but Roger did, happy to support his friends and their excellent music.

After the band was done, Roger and Nick talked with Tom and Joe, and Roger told Tom and Joe about his discovery of his sexuality and shared that he and Nick were dating now. Nick suggested that the four of them should take a photo together for Valentine’s Day. Roger asked if he could also take one on his flip phone. The three of his friends said yes before Tom began applauding Roger for having a flip phone because he’s a fucking hippie and hates the Internet, etc.

Roger and Nick walked to the bus station together before going back to Roger’s house. Nick asked if she could stay over with Roger and he said yes with zero hesitation. The two snuggled together in Roger’s bed, watching some weird film on Nick’s phone that he liked and that Roger… tolerated. They then kissed and cuddled before bed, Nick falling asleep in Roger’s arms.

Chapter Text

Andy was finally eighteen-years-old! Well, tomorrow he was. He usually spent his birthdays with his family and had a typical birthday celebration, but for some reason, Simon wanted to throw a celebration for him. Andy was pretty sure that the celebration was more so for Simon rather than himself, but he didn’t complain. It was nice to have friends who wanted to do something for him.

He arrived at Simon's house and knocked on the door. The door was opened and Andy was greeted by a woman who introduced herself as Simon’s mum. Andy exchanged introductions and was invited inside to meet Simon’s dad and younger brothers, before he heard some excited footsteps thundering down the stairs.

“Hey, Andy!” Andy was taken aback by Simon hugging him so tightly as he wagged his tail, before pulling away. Andy eyed Simon’s dog ears, unsure of what to think about them.

“Hi,” Andy replied, thinking of what to say next. His train of thought was interrupted by Simon grabbing his hand and leading him away.

“Celebration’s in my room,” Simon responded. Andy didn’t say anything as he walked up the stairs, his hand still in Simon’s. Simon finally let go and opened his door, letting Andy in.

“Happy birthday!” Andy looked to see Roger, Nick, John, and Raven sitting on the floor around a chocolate cake with some unlit candles in it. Everyone had some sort of present by them. Andy took the empty spot in between John and Raven and Simon took the spot in between Nick and John.

“So, what do you want to do first?” Simon asked. “Cake or presents?”

“Uh… we can eat first,” Andy replied. Simon nodded, before getting his lighter out. Andy watched as he lit up all… twenty candles? Someone was good at counting. Raven, Simon, John, Nick, and Roger all sang “Happy Birthday” to Andy, before Simon ecstatically told him to make a wish.

I wish… for a very normal school year, Andy thought to himself, before blowing out the candles. His friends cheered and clapped for him, before Simon began taking out all of the candles. Andy watched as he expertly cut it into six slices, passing one to each person.

They began eating before Simon spoke up, “So, any grand plans on your actual eighteenth birthday?”

“Just spending time with my siblings, parents, and other relatives,” Andy replied as he took a bite of his cake. “It’s just another day, really.”

“You’ll be an adult, though,” John said. “Things will be different.”

“Will they?” Andy murmured. “I don’t think they will be.”

“You can buy cigarettes and alcohol!” Simon spoke up.

“I already do that,” Andy said.

“Not legally.”

“That’s true…”

“What are you going to do after you graduate, Andy?” Roger asked. “I don’t think I’ve asked you that.”

“Not sure,” Andy mumbled. “I already play with some local musicians, so maybe I’ll focus more on that… alongside an actual job of some sort.”

“Why haven’t we been invited to see?” Simon questioned.

“I don’t think the music genre would be your thing.”

“You could work at my parents’ restaurant with me,” Raven chimed in. “I do it as a part-time job. You could be a waiter… or a dishwasher… maybe even a chef.”

“I didn’t know your parents owned a restaurant, Rae,” Simon said.

“Indeed,” Raven replied. “It’s one of those high-class ones that charges you fifteen pounds for a meal that could only make a mouse full. My mum’s from Spain, so she likes to raise the prices abnormally high because it’s authentic or something.”

“You’re Spanish?” Andy asked.

“Yes,” Raven responded. “Anyway, Andy, if you want a job, let me know. I can put in a good word. Not that my parents don’t already know who you are.”

“Thanks,” Andy said. “I might take you up on that.”

“Wonderful,” Raven replied. “Now that I think about it… what are the rest of you planning to do after we graduate?” Andy finished his cake while everybody chattered about future plans. Raven asked John about Gaia, saying he must feel so happy that soon she’ll be permanently in Birmingham. Andy noticed the displeasure spreading across John’s face and he felt himself frown. Did he seriously already fall out love with her? He should be thankful that he has a girlfriend and somebody who loves and cares about him…

Andy’s brain went off on a sad teenager spiral as he thought about his beloved goth girl, or his former beloved goth girl. They were so good together… Andy thought they would have lasted forever, gotten married, had kids, etcetera, but something happened. But he didn’t even know what happened! Everything was perfect until the goth clique fell apart and then it seemed like so did Andy and Kitty. But why?!

“Andyyy, do you want to open your presents…?” Simon’s voice snapped Andy out of his thoughts.

“Oh, yeah,” Andy said. “You know, you guys didn’t need to get me anything. I wish you hadn’t, honestly.”

“Oh, come on, everyone says that, but they don’t ever mean it,” Simon teased. “Everyone, pass your presents to Andy…”

Andy picked up the smallest gift first. It looked to just be an envelope with a card inside. “I didn’t know what to get you, so I hope that suffices,” Nick said. Andy gave Nick a small smile; he still didn’t like him but he appreciated that he got him something, even if it was just a card.

Oh… There was money inside. And, a pretty good amount. “Thanks, Nick, I’ll use this wisely.”

From Roger, John, and Raven, Andy got some records by bands he liked, and from Simon… a shirt with a fucked-up looking mouse and bags of cement with some blue lightning in the background with “I EAT CEMENT” on it. “I got Nick one, so you get one, too,” Simon explained.

“Uhhh… thanks?” Andy said. “Thanks, Simon. It’s… very you.”

“I knew you’d like it!” Simon smiled. “What do you guys want to do now? Play a game or something? Actually, Andy, you can pick.”

“Uhhh… we can just play UNO or something?” Andy suggested. He watched as Roger, Nick, and Simon looked between each other, the latter two smiling slightly. “What?”

“Nothing, just remembering something funny,” Simon said. “I’m okay with UNO. Is everyone else fine with that?” There was a general murmur of agreement, before Simon got out the UNO deck. The six of them played for quite a while, chatting about school, music, and their love lives.

“Oh, by the way, Andy, um…” Roger began, nervously. “I’m not straight. And Nick and I are dating.”

“Cool,” Andy replied.

John won first, followed by Andy, then Simon, then Raven, and then Roger basically let Nick win because he felt bad for his partner who had roughly thirty-three cards. Afterwards, many photos were taken for social media (none for Andy’s, however, because he didn’t care), and then Andy drove Raven home.

“Raven, can you be honest with me?” Andy asked after a few moments in the car.

“Of course. What is it?”

“...Do you know why Kitty broke up with me? It seemed all out of the blue, we were perfectly happy, but the second her friend group falls apart, she got all… I don’t know. Something changed with her and then she broke up with me with no warning. I told her that I didn’t want that, that I wanted to fix whatever was wrong, but she told me that it was too late…”

Raven sighed. “No, Andy, I don’t. She’s always been rather short with people. Although, I will let you know that she planned on breaking up with you before she moved to Germany anyway. Something about having a fresh start for university… it’s not shocking that she used what happened with Suzy and Warren as a means to cut us all out of her life.” Andy glanced at Raven, who was gazing thoughtfully out of the passenger window. Her gaze flickered towards him for a brief second, before she looked back at the scenery and continued speaking, “Don’t take it personally. I know it hurts, but don’t dwell on it too much. She’s not the greatest and… you deserve a lot better. You’ll find someone a lot better.”

“Thanks,” Andy murmured, before looking ahead again. “You never mentioned what your plans are for university, by the way.”

“Radiography at Birmingham City University.”

“That’s… so interesting.”

“It is rather fascinating,” Raven began, “and, hopefully pays enough that I’ll be able to get out of the hell that is Birmingham, no, England after not long.” She paused, “Andy, where did you say your family was from?”

Andy pulled into the driveway of Raven’s flat, “Northumberland.”

“Northumberland,” Raven repeated. “Sounds intriguing. Do you ever visit?”

“Usually on holidays.”

“Holidays,” Raven mumbled. “Alright, well… Have a lovely birthday tomorrow, Andy. Enjoy adulthood. Toodles!”

“Too-? Er, bye,” Andy muttered as Raven got out of the car. He watched her walk up the driveway. He thought to himself as he observed Raven with her hair down, wearing a long, frilly dress… Was she changing her looks?

Andy pushed it to the back of his mind as he drove off and back to his house, thinking about the records he got from his friends, wondering what he should listen to first.

Chapter Text

There was one good thing happening in John’s life: he got into a school play! Sure, it might have been as a jury member, a non-descript role with barely anything to do with “Alice in Wonderland”, but still, he was a part of it. It also meant he got to spend more time with Simon and watch him act…

Speaking of Simon, John couldn’t stop thinking of their heated kiss that they shared not long ago when they were rollerskating. He hadn’t told anyone because, well, how would they react? Andy was dealing with his own form of heartbreak and John could tell that he wanted to punch him in the shoulder and go on some rant about how he should be so happy with Gaia etcetera whenever John talked about how lonely he was. John knew that if he told Nick that Nick would be beyond disgusted with him. As for Roger… John would have liked to think of Roger as his friend, but the two barely talked. The guilt was clawing at John and he knew he would have to tell someone at some point, but who…?

Well… only half clawing at John. Simon was not the only person he thought about kissing. John wondered about going off with Winona or one of her friends at the dance. But, at the same time, he still loved Gaia! Would it be so wrong if he loved multiple people? He already knew what Gaia would say about it. She was taking things pretty seriously and already planning to visit again when she had her spring holiday, which was, of course, the week before John’s… Gaia expected John to tell his parents that she and he were dating so she could stay with him and shadow him this time, but… where would he even start?

God, it was a nightmare. John wanted to be a good boyfriend and he did treasure his relationship, but…

“Greetings.” The chilling sound of Raven’s voice snapped John out of it and he turned and looked down at her. He noticed that Raven was starting to actually look a bit like an actual goth: she had started wearing her hair down and doing dynamic goth-type makeup. She had also been wearing dresses and accessorizing with crucifixes and the like rather than dressing all casually. John’s inner former Catholic child bristled. “Nick and Roger were wondering if you were going to join us for costume meetings.”

“Yes, I will. I don’t have much to do… Is that… happening now?”

“Yes,” Raven replied. “You look troubled, John. Is something on your mind?”

John paused. He looked at Raven for a moment, thinking. John couldn’t tell Andy or Nick and he didn’t think Roger would have anything to say. Plus, Raven would see things from a girl’s point of view, wouldn’t she? “Having some relationship… not issues, but…”

“Oh, well, I am good with matters of the heart, despite having few of my own,” Raven spoke up. “We can go somewhere private and I can listen to your troubles, perhaps give you some advice if you would like, although not mandatory. Sometimes it is just nice to have someone to listen.”

“Uh… yeah, sure,” John said. “Just… promise you won’t tell anyone? Not even Nick or Andy?”

“Oh, dear,” Raven replied. “Yes, I promise, but forgive me, I can’t help but be worried about it considering you don’t want your two closest friends to hear?”

“They’re just…” John sighed. “They don’t like Gaia very much and don’t want to hear about it and would be less than thrilled.”

“Alright, well, let us go,” Raven said. “Hm. I know just the spot. Follow me…” John took one last look at the scene of Winona as Alice and a girl named Kim as the White Rabbit before he exited the stage with Raven. She led him out of the auditorium and into some room and up a long flight of stairs. They then went into another room. It was dark.

“Where the hell are we?” John murmured.

“Above the stage. Now, go on. What ails you, John?”

John took a deep breath. He asked Raven what she knew about Gaia and she told him it was next to nothing. He spent the next half-an-hour or so telling Raven everything about his and Gaia’s romance starting from their meeting, as well as his previous fling with Simon, and then all of the inbetween feelings.

After the matter, Raven paused. “Well,” she said. “Do you want my input or were you just getting that off of your chest?”

“I want your input,” John replied. “Are my feelings valid? What should I do?”

“Well, it was not great to kiss somebody else in this relationship, especially since you said Gaia is not fond of polyamory,” Raven responded. “However, you might want to rethink things and weigh them. Would being monogamous make you happier if it’s just with her? Is it worth waiting that long for her to come to Birmingham? Would it be easier to be with Simon since you are both polyamorous?”

“But, if I dated Simon, I don’t think I’d want him to date other people,” John spat out. Raven stared at him.

“Would you want to date other people with him?”

“I don’t know. I only did it because he did.”

“Wait, I thought this was just a fling.”

“I- yes, it was, but-” John cut himself off as he had to think about his feelings.

“Do you want me to be… brutally honest?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think you like Gaia,” Raven stated. “I think you were lonely and clicked well with her and mistook those strong feelings of friendship as feeling in love with her. I think she perhaps gave you something that neither Nick nor Andy could. And, seeing as you have never been with someone, you took the first opportunity you were given without thinking about it. But, that’s how teenage hormones work, I suppose.”

John paused. He stared at Raven. “Great, thanks,” he murmured. “Well, I’m ready to help you, Nick, and Roger with costumes, now.”

“I’m sorry if I offended you, I’m merely being honest,” Raven replied as she held open the door for John. He left and followed her back down the stairs as she continued, “I take great pride and consideration with my romances and many people our age simply do not. Love is complicated, but only because people act so… strangely when dealing with the matter at hand. It can be so beautiful and blissful when treated properly.”

“Well, then why are you single, then, Raven?” John spat, dryly.

“Because men are generally idiots and I’m too shy to talk to women and those of other genders that I’m attracted to.”

John didn’t say anything.

Working on costumes with Nick, Roger, and Raven was fine. They found some nice clothes, before John was called back to the stage. Some annoyed fellow cast members told him that he couldn’t just wander off without telling anybody, but Simon jumped in to defend him with a lie. Much to his surprise, Emmaline also backed him up, making John want to tell her that nothing she could do could make Nick like her, but he didn’t say anything.

When John got home, he thought about what Raven had said to him about his and Gaia’s relationship. She was definitely wrong, right…? About most things, anyway… Maybe the hormones thing was true and he was just touchstarved from not having his girlfriend around. Surely that would be fixed when she visited him…

At dinner, John decided to tell his parents that he was dating her. They seemed supportive, although a bit skeptical. Then, he told them about her plans to visit again and asked if she could stay at their flat. The main concern was where she would stay. “Uh, I could sleep on the sofa and she can sleep in my bed?” John suggested.

John’s mum narrowed her eyes. “Like you’re going to stay there, Nigel,” she huffed. “I know how teenage boys are.”

“Oh, come on, he’s nearly an adult,” John’s dad retorted. “Who cares if his girlfriend stays over for a week. I already expected that you and her were dating the first time she came over. I’m sure they’ve done things we don’t know about already, and there’s nothing you can do to prevent more of it, Jean.”

John listened to his parents bicker a bit, before he let out a loud sigh. They both turned to look at him. “Okay, Nigel,” John’s mum began. “Just… give us some time to think about it.”

“Alright,” John said. “Wait, one other thing.”

“What is it, love?”

“I want to be called John, not Nigel.”

Chapter Text

Nick and Roger’s relationship was going excellently. Nick had recently told Warren the two were dating (to which he said “I know” very ominously), so the entire friend group now knew about their relationship. Even Gaia knew, and she was threatening- er, suggesting that she and John go on double dates with Nick and Roger when she visited in the spring. It was a cute idea, but Nick wished it was with anybody besides Gaia and John. He still didn’t understand why the two were dating, but whatever.

As February dwindled away, Nick realised it had been three whole weeks since he and Roger started dating. “I think we should go forward in our relationship,” Roger suggested.

Nick quirked an eyebrow, “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Roger said. “Let’s tell our parents.”

Well, that was not where Nick thought that was going. “Shall we tell yours or mine first?” Nick replied.

“Well… mine may or may not have been asking about you when I talk about drama club and they may or may not have suggested you come over for supper,” Roger replied. Nick laughed.

“I can absolutely do that,” Nick said. “Let me text my mum and then we can go.”

Nick and Roger said goodbye to Raven, Simon, and John before leaving. They walked to the bus stop together and did the usual routine of listening to whatever album Roger picked on Nick’s phone. Today, Roger picked a Peter Gabriel album that Nick had never listened to, but he still found it enjoyable.

The two got off at the stop closest to Roger’s flat and walked together, hand in hand. They reached the door and went inside. Roger’s parents greeted them both and asked about school. They went upstairs and did their homework. Nick kept getting distracted by Roger’s presence and continuously distracted him with kisses.

Afterwards, they listened to records, sat on Roger’s floor, and talked. “Nick?”

“Hm?” Nick looked up at his boyfriend, who laid on his back, staring at him. He smiled at how cute he was and crawled towards him, kissing him on the cheek. Roger smiled.

“You’re autistic, right?” Nick’s eyes widened, slightly. He wasn’t expecting that question.

“Er… yes?”

“Okay,” Roger replied. “I thought so. I mean, you’ve mentioned it. I might do some research to help understand and support you better.”

“Oh, well, you can just ask me about anything,” Nick responded. “There’s a lot of misinformation online and neurotypical people thinking they understand autism but they really don’t.”

“Oh,” Roger said. “Interesting.” He paused. “I’ve seen those online autism tests. When I hung out with the punks, they all sat around and took them one day. It was quite fascinating.”

“Did you take one?”

“No. Should I?”

“It might be fun.”

“Okay, sure.”

“I’ll pull one up on my laptop.” Nick moved to get his bag and opened it up. He got out his laptop, before sitting by Roger. Roger watched him as he typed in his computer password, as if it was utterly fascinating. They looked up an autism test and Nick set the laptop in front of Roger. “I’ll take this on my phone, too.”

“But… you already know you have autism?” Roger said as he began reading and answering questions.

“It’s still fun. It’s like we’re bonding,” Nick replied. He pulled up the same test on his phone and began taking it. Nick occasionally glanced over at Roger, seeing perplexed or concerned looks on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like the wording of some of these questions,” Roger mumbled. Nick chuckled softly to himself as he went back to his test. Some time later, Roger spoke up again. “Yeah, I’m not autistic.”

Nick finished up his test as well, “I still am.” He showed Roger and Roger looked at the screen, confused.

“How’d you get so many points then?” Roger asked.

“The more points you get, the more likely you are to be autistic.”

“Oh. Oh.”

“What?”

“I got a higher score than you did, Nick.”

-

Roger and Nick sat across from Roger's parents for dinner. Nick noticed that they specifically made a vegetarian option for him, which made him pretty happy. Roger’s parents mostly asked Nick about school and about his future plans, mainly why he chose a film degree and the like. It was going pretty well.

“Nick and I have something to share, by the way,” Roger spoke up.

“What’s that?” Roger’s dad asked.

“Um. We’re dating.” Roger’s parents exchanged a look, before smiling.

“We kind of figured, love,” Roger’s mum responded. “But, it’s good to hear.”

Roger let out a sigh of relief. Nick reached for his hand under the table and held it. Roger turned to him and gave him a smile.

“Speaking of, do you need any condoms or anything?”

Roger turned bright red.

-

Nick ended up staying the night. He offered to help Roger’s parents with cleaning dishes, but they just told him and Roger to go have fun. They went back up to Roger’s room and Roger asked Nick a million questions about being autistic, before they watched Siouxsie and the Banshees videos for hours on end.

The two cuddled in Roger’s bed and kissed for quite a while, before Roger pulled away, “Nick, I’m a virgin.”

“Yes, I know,” Nick replied. “We don’t need to do anything you don’t want to.”

“I mean, I want to later, but not now.”

“That’s fine. We’re taking things slowly, aren’t we?”

“Yes. I like that.”

“I do, too.”

The makeout session resumed, before Roger let his lips wander to Nick’s jaw and neck. So much for taking things slowly…

Right as things were getting good, Roger stopped. “Nick?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s one other Siouxsie and the Banshees video I forgot to show you. Can I show you?”

Nick chuckled. “Uh… yes. Go ahead.” Roger beamed, before Nick handed him his phone again.

Chapter Text

John’s parents finally caved in to letting Gaia stay in their home. Sure, he had to endure many insufferable… talks, but anything for his girlfriend, he supposed. In just a few days, she’d be in his flat for nearly an entire week, following him around school and his home.

But, he had more important things to worry about. Like… what to wear on a school field trip to an aquarium? He stared at his clothes for far too long, before deciding to throw on his usual formal wear topped with a scarf. John supposed he didn’t need to look too glamorous while looking at fish… he wasn’t Nick, after all.

John drove to school and then met up with his classmates where he was supposed to. He skimmed the lists to see which bus he was supposed to be on… John found Andy and Nick on one list, but his name was nowhere to be seen. He looked at the second list and surely enough, there he was… along with a Cuccurullo Warren. John frowned. It looked like he’d be browsing Tumblr the whole trip…

John got onto the bus and found a seat. He pulled out his phone and fished in his pocket for his earbuds before realising he forgot them. Great. John sighed to himself before opening Tumblr, some highly tasteful Bowie pictures popping up on his feed. He scrolled through the photoset, looking respectfully, before he heard a voice, “Hello, John. May I sit by you?”

A confused look filled John’s face as he put his phone away, looking at Raven. “Uh. Sure. I… didn’t see you on the list.”

“Did you forget my actual name is Everleigh?” Raven asked as she took a seat by John. “That’s okay, sometimes I forget yours is Nigel.”

“Yeah, I did forget,” John murmured. “...Why do you go by Raven, anyway?”

“Easy. I hate my name,” Raven replied. “And, I like Edgar Allen Poe as well as The Stranglers, so… Raven it is. Anyway… Gaia will be here next week, won’t she?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting…” Raven hummed, “Did you give any thought to what I said?”

“Yes, and… I think you’re wrong.”

Raven smiled, softly. “Okay, Tigger. Or… is that a Simon exclusive?”

John sighed. “It’s catching on, I think. You can call me Tigger, I don’t care.”

“It’s rather cute.” She paused as a school faculty member came onto the bus and began shouting some shit about basic procedures. The faculty member then took attendance. Soon, the bus began to move and people began to chatter noisily about stupid shit because what else do you do on a bus?

John watched as Raven reached into her bag and pulled out a copy of “House of Leaves” to read. He went back to Tumblr, this time seeing a picture of Mick Karn, and… holy FUCKKK. John frowned at the screen. What the hell was Nick doing to him? He let out a sigh before Raven’s voice filled the air, “He’s very handsome, isn’t he? I prefer Richard, though.” John didn’t say anything.

The bus got to the aquarium and the two of them exited together. “There’s Nick and Andy!” John felt Raven excitedly grab his hand and pull him along, where he met his two friends. Andy was dressed in casual winter wear while Nick, to no surprise, was glittering in a gold ensemble and an insane amount of makeup. Raven let go of John’s hand and began to excitedly talk to her two friends.

Shortly after, Simon and Roger showed up. John raised his eyebrow at Simon’s shirt that read “If fishing was easy it’d be called your mom”, before he let out a chuckle of shame. “Oh yeah, Tigger, you like my shirt?” Simon spoke up, interrupting Raven, Andy, and Nick’s mystery conversation. “I got it off of the internet. It was some weird website and I’m pretty sure I got my identity stolen ordering this, but it’s fine, because this shirt is a banger…”

“Banger? I hardly know her.” John turned to see Warren had entered the conversation. Simon and Warren laughed like a bunch of children together before they started talking about their own thing. A moment later, a faculty member told everyone to shut up in a nice and professional way, before explaining to them aquarium etiquette, etcetera…

Every group was given a map before they went inside. The first exhibit was filled with penguins. John watched as two Gentoo penguins cared for a baby one, a tiny ball of fluff in a nest of pebbles. He heard the soft click of a camera beside him and looked to see Nick holding one. Of course she brought that rather than using her phone camera...

John glanced to his other side, seeing Andy and Raven gently trailing their fingers along the glass to get the swimming penguins to follow them. Roger watched the penguins, a completely neutral look on his face. Simon and Warren kept pointing to them, saying “that penguin looks like you”, “well, THAT one looks like YOU!”, and so forth.

The group travelled through the aquarium, mostly looking at different kind of fish. It was more or less the same thing: Nick taking too many photos, Andy and Raven doing whatever (at one point Raven began reading all the signs to everybody), Roger contemplating all the species of sea life, John contemplating all of his life decisions while he stared at the fish, and Warren and Simon insulting each other alongside Simon saying “that fish is locked in” or “that fish is tweaking”. When they got to the shark pond, Nick, with her favourite animal being sharks, let her autism shine as she told Roger and Raven about all the different kinds of sharks, while Andy, Simon, and Warren listened to her tangent…

…and while Raven and Andy… HELD HANDS?! John stared in disbelief. He supposed Andy had a type. Orrr it could have been totally friendly…

“Let’s take a photo together by the sharks,” Nick said once her infodump was over. Nick set her phone up on some fancy holder thing and set a timer as the seven of them crowded together for the photo. Everybody posed relatively normally, besides Simon, who puckered up his lips and held up a peace sign.

After the photo was taken, Simon began talking, “We should go to the beach sometime. And, not one here, an actual nice beach. Spain has nice beaches. We can go swimming and boating. A lot of times if you boat out somewhere like that, you can see dolphins and things.”

“I think you’re the only one of us who can afford to go to Spain,” Andy said, right as Raven replied, “How on Earth would we get to Spain?”

“I don’t like swimming,” Nick replied. “Or the ocean.”

“First of all, I could take you all for free,” Simon huffed. “Planes, Rae. And… you just said sharks are your favourite animal, Nick!”

“That means nothing.”

“I thought you were a cat person,” Warren spoke up.

“I do love cats and my precious baby kitten, but sharks are my favourite animal.”

“Are we done with the sharks?” Andy asked. “I want to look at the clownfish.”

“You think a clownfish is cooler than a shark?” Warren asked, right as Simon said, “Andy, you lowkey look like a clownfish.”

“Huh?!” Andy spat. “No, I don’t.”

“Yeah, you do, come here.” Simon and Warren walked off, with Andy and Raven reluctantly following behind. Nick gave once last look of longing to the sharks before she and Roger joined hands, following the group, alongside John.

They reached the clownfish area and Andy joined Simon and Warren’s “that fish looks like you” bullshit, with Simon still informing everyone of each fish’s mental state. Raven departed from Andy and called John over. “Would you like to hear some fun facts about these fish?” She questioned.

“Go ahead,” John replied.

“Okay.” Raven began reading to John about clownfish. He listened to her talk about the “mutualism” between clownfish and sea anemones. But, he couldn’t help but zone out as he stared at the fish, thinking of Gaia… He wished she was there right now, so he wouldn’t have to feel like the seventh wheel in this friend group…

John’s gaze darted back to Warren, Andy, and Simon. He admired the way the lights from the fish tank illuminated Simon’s blue eyes and cast light across his features. John’s gaze drifted across him, his eyes lingering on Simon’s lips as he said the words, “That clownfish looks like he would lose his wife and all but one of his kids in a shark attack before his said kid grows up and gets abducted by scuba divers and forces his dad to travel across the ocean to look for him.”

A hand with long, black acrylic nails waved in front of John’s face. John snapped his attention back to Raven. She stared at him with cold, red(? contact lenses, John supposed) eyes for far too long. John spoke up, “What?”

“I’m surprised you haven’t taken any photos,” Raven began. John quirked an eyebrow, wondering why she would say this, before she continued, “I’m sure Gaia would love to see the fish.”

“Oh. I didn’t think about that.”

“Of course,” Raven said, a smile playing on her lips. John frowned. He was starting to dislike her…

The group travelled through the rest of the aquarium, viewing a variety of fish alongside seastars and jellyfish. At one point, Simon said that a plant looked like John, to which he pointed at a blue-grey starfish with very wavy limbs and said that it looked like Simon. “No, I’m locked in,” Simon said. “That starfish is tweaking.”

“Will you quit saying that?” Nick huffed. “That makes actually no sense. A fish can not be ‘locked in’ or ‘tweaking’. They barely have brains.”

“Kind of like you, Simon,” Warren spoke up.

“Nuh uh…!” Simon whined. “I’m so locked in… I’m fishmaxxing and aquariumpilled…”

“Stop it, you’re confusing Roger,” Nick hissed.

As the group went through the otter and rainforest exhibits of the aquarium, things went back to being relatively normal. Simon stood with Raven and Andy as she read off everything and Warren had walked off with some girl from their school. Nick took a million photos of things and Roger observed the habitats, that same thoughtful expression on his face. And John… Well, he was left to his own thoughts as he watched the otters play with each other, all so cute and happy…

The last part of the aquarium before the gift shop was the 360 water tunnel. John took some photos of Nick and Roger at Nick’s request, before the two held hands and walked around. Raven and Andy stood together, pointing at everything as they made normal comments about the beauty of the fish. John stood alone, before he felt someone gently brush their hand against his.

“You should come on a summer holiday with me sometime,” Simon said. “The oceans are so beautiful and you can see stuff like this without the glass around you.” John looked at Simon and watched as he gave him a smile. “So, Gaia’s visiting again, I hear…”

“Yeah,” John replied. “In just a few days.”

“That’s nice,” Simon responded. “Then you won’t have to be lonely anymore, hm?”

“Yeah…”

Simon gave John another smile before he wrapped his arm around him, giving him a brief side hug before he walked over to Raven and Andy. John walked to Roger and Nick, the latter of the two giggling about something.

“Oh, hey, John,” Nick said as the couple turned to look at him. “Pretty fun field trip, hm?”

“Yeah, it was nice,” John replied. “Are you ready to go to the gift shop?”

“Sure, let’s go.” John watched as Nick and Roger exchanged the look of love, before Nick called out to the rest of the group. The six of them left together and went to the gift shop, where John bought absolutely nothing because it was insanely overpriced.

The group split up as they got back onto the bus, although John knew that they would be reunited as it would be lunch time when they got back. Raven sat by John again, reading “House of Leaves”. They didn’t talk to each other throughout the bus ride, but Raven’s presence kept making John rethink everything that she said to him as well as John’s feelings on the field trip. A pit filled John’s stomach as he started to think that maybe, maybe Raven was right…

Chapter Text

Nick decided to make a late night run to Tesco’s. His parents were both asleep and there were no more strawberries in the fridge and his ass NEEDED strawberries to function. If it wasn’t for strawberries, he would have probably been an alcoholic or abused some other substance… which reminded him that he would need to ask Simon to buy him more cigarettes soon.

A tired employee greeted Nick as he stepped in. He gave them a polite nod, before grabbing a hand-held basket. He didn’t really need one for a single item, but he liked to hold them and swing them around. Nick walked through the nearly empty store to the produce section, before he laid eyes on the perfect container of strawberries. Nick reached out to grab them, but his fingers touched with someone else’s, and he pulled away, instinctively.

“I’m sorry-” Nick began as he looked up, observing the senior citizen in front of him. Nick’s jaw dropped. Those tired, blue eyes, that unmistakable arching of an eyebrow, the long, flowy brown hair… The facial hair was, of course, different, but it was sparse enough that Nick could still tell who this was. His heart skipped a beat, a flicker of confusion clouding his mind as he wondered what a native Londoner who resided in America was doing in a Tesco’s in Birmingham at near midnight… But, it didn’t matter. The fact that they were both here right now, staring at each other after the fateful touching of fingers upon that container of strawberries… This was…

David Sylvian sneered at Nick, “You look like a fa-”

Nick jolted awake, gasping for air as sweat dripped across his face. He looked around at the posters in his room, specifically eyeing the one of an “Obscure Alternatives” outtake, David sexily laying in a “draw me like one of your French girls way”, his fluffy blonde hair perfectly falling across his face as he served absolute cunt. Nick usually felt horny if he stared at this poster for too long, but this time…

Tears escaped Nick’s eyes as he got up, getting his laptop. He opened it up, sniffling as he found his David Sylvian x Reader document and began to write. It was time for David to cheat on Y/N with Yuka Fujii.

Chapter Text

Sunday. 12:02pm. Raven had told the Virginia Plain server that the moon phase tonight would be a waxing gibbous. Her witchy self was the only thing keeping the server alive, even if the only glam artists she liked were Bowie, Japan (because of Nick), as well as Slade for some fucking reason. Why did some random goth girl give a shit about Slade, John didn’t know. He wondered if Andy and his weird love for hard rock and metal had something to do with it…

A train stopped a few feet away from John. He watched as the people filed out before he saw her, his perfect girl with her perfect hair and her perfect body, wearing a short plaid dress hemmed with lace that was as short as it could go without being promiscuous. John smiled and called out to Gaia, before she ran towards him, hugging him and kissing him passionately. John returned the kiss as he held her close, feeling a sense of relief wash over him.

“I missed you,” Gaia said. “It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you.”

“Only about three months,” John replied. “Come on, let’s go get some lunch. You must be starving.”

“I’m sooo hungry. Can we go to that place we went to last time…?”

-

Gaia and John sat in a vegan restaurant, Gaia telling John all the drama with her coworker friends as well as some friends who were attending the same university that she found that she had been texting. It was mostly relationship drama. John kept spacing out.

“Well, your turn.”

“Hm?” John looked up at his girlfriend, who was taking a bite out of her mystery burger as if she hadn’t eaten in a decade. “I’ve told you everything there is to know over call. Nothing exciting happens in Birmingham, really.”

Gaia shook her head as she chewed, before swallowing. “You said Nick and Roger are dating and that Kitty and Andy broke up. Also, you never told me what’s up with Simon and Raven.”

“What’s up with Simon and Raven…?”

“They were dates for your dance and also that rollerskating thing.” John felt his breath hitch as he thought about skate night. “What are they? Boyfriend and girlfriend? A situationship? Fucking? Come on, John.”

“I don’t ask about those things,” John murmured, his cheeks tinging red as he thought about… His face began to burn and he took a long sip of his watered-down Pepsi before continuing. “They’re just friends. Simon isn’t Raven’s type.”

“Yes, he is.”

“No. He’s definitely not.”

“She said she likes people who aren’t conventionally attractive. Plus, they both have fake names and are far into playing dress up. And, they are obsessed with the moon. Does Warren actually think the moon landing was faked, by the way, or is he just… crazy?”

John stared at Gaia as he tried to process everything. “First of all, Simon’s incredibly attractive. Second of all, what? Third of all, both. Warren’s a fucking nutcase.”

Gaia scoffed. “You think Simon’s incredibly attractive?” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t see it whatsoever. I can’t believe you two used to sleep together. But, I guess it’s in the past, because the only one you’re sleeping with now is me.” She smiled, triumphantly. John let out a dry laugh. “Yeah, so, what’s with the whole being a dog boy and being a vampire?”

“I don’t question it,” John said. “I just let them live their lives and be happy. Besides, Simon’s dog thing is kind of cute and Raven’s vampire thing is strangely charming.” Gaia gave John a look. “What?”

“I just got here and you’ve complimented your friend’s appearance twice.”

“So? That’s normal. My friends are all pretty good looking,” John said.

“Yeah, then why is it always Simon, never Nick or Roger or Andy?”

“Because we’re talking about Simon,” John replied. “Roger’s proper fit. You should see him without his shirt on.”

“You’re so gay,” Gaia said, grinning sideways as if the slight homophobia(? John realised he had no idea what her sexuality was) was a pet name. He didn’t care, though. It solved the current issue.

Just as Gaia was about to speak again, John’s phone buzzed. “Who’s that?” John lifted up his phone, seeing Simon had sent something to their Instagram group chat dubbed ‘Bad Bitches of Birmingham’. John clicked on it as Gaia leaned over the table, watching what he was doing. “A… furry convention? What?”

“Yeah, I guess,” John replied. “It looks like this will be a group outing for May.”

Gaia frowned. “You’re… a furry, John?”

“No,” John replied. “But Nick, Raven, and Simon all are. So, I’d go to support them.” John paused. “I’ve been to a few cons with Nick, anyway. The furry community is pretty creative and accepting.”

“Oh.” Gaia paused. “How is Nick a furry?”

“She has a fursona and part of a fursuit,” John began. “She has a head, arms, and a tail. They’re all really well made, except the tail I think Nick just bought and dyed herself. Wanna see?”

“I… guess?” John sent a text to Nick, saying Gaia wanted to see her fursona. A second later, Nick read it and then sent the reference sheet of a very New Romantic-themed fennec fox fursona named Rhodesia. John showed Gaia and she took his phone from him, squinting. “This looks like David Sylvian. Oh, God, and the name.”

“The name?”

“Rhodesia.”

“Yeah?”

“Have you not heard that song?” Gaia said, handing John’s phone back to him before huffing. “It’s a Japan song. Jesus Christ, I can’t believe I have to do your friend’s job for him. I know Nick’s forcing Japan down your throat, you’ve been reblogging photos of Mick Karn… I don’t get what you see in him, Steve’s the only remotely attractive one in the band really, but better Mick than David…” Gaia went on her tangent as she pulled her phone and wired earbuds out of her bag. She plugged them into her phone, before handing one to John. “Let’s listen to ‘Rhodesia’, then, and fuck up my Last.fm scrobbles. Christ.”

As the reggae-type instrumental filled John’s ears, he struggled to see what the problem was. He stared at Gaia, looking at him boredly. John didn’t care for the song, but it had a good beat, he supposed.

Then it happened.

“Oh,” was all John said.

“Yeah,” Gaia huffed, putting her phone away before she stared at John’s place. “Are you going to finish your chips, by the way?”

“Er… yeah. But… you can have some.”

Gaia smiled. “Thanks.” She reached for several of John’s chips to put on her plate, before dipping one in ketchup. “Oh, that reminds me of something funny Tess and I texted about…”

-

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: I hope you know I’m going to change Rhodesia’s name. I’ve been trying to find the perfect one for her
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: I was going to shorten it to Rhodes, but that works better as a last name…
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Anyway, I figured I’d let you know so you can tell Gaia to stop breathing down my neck!

johnferry: okay?
johnferry: what do you mean breathing down your neck?

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: I mean messaging me about it and accusing me of shit!

johnferry: i didnt know she was doing that.
johnferry: ill talk to her

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: Good
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: See you two at school tomorrow

johnferry: you too.

-

After a rather normal dinner with his girlfriend and his parents, John talked with Gaia about accusing Nick of mystery things. Gaia said she would apologise to Nick for saying she was a David Sylvian apologist even though Gaia thought David Sylvian was an ugly bitchass whore with an awful singing voice. John didn’t say anything in response to that.

The two of them watched some James Bond films in John’s bed before they played a game of Risk while listening to Roxy Music. “John?”

“Hm?”

“Why don’t we ever do anything I want to do?” Gaia questioned. “It’s always stuff you want to do.”

“Well… you’re visiting me? Besides, we call all the time.”

Gaia gave John a look, “We’re a long-distance couple. Calling once a week is nothing. If we were in person, we’d talk every single day.”

“Okay, fine, then we can do things you want to this week,” John replied.

Gaia smiled. “Great! Let’s talk to Roger and Nick about a double date, then. I found a cute ice cream parlor right by a book store. There’s also a nail place nearby, so maybe Nick and I can get our nails done while you and Roger do whatever it is men do.”

“Sure, that sounds fun,” John responded. “It’s your turn, by the way…”

-

*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: /1 attachment
*⋆ 🎀 𝓃𝒾𝒸𝓀 🍓 ⋆*: You’re paying for everything.

John clicked on the photo, looking at it while a sleeping Gaia drooled on his bare chest, mumbling something in her sleep. It was a screenshot of Gaia’s apology, as well as her asking Nick if she and Roger wanted to go on a double date where Nick could get her nails done with Gaia.

John sighed.

johnferry: fine

Chapter Text

The lunch table on Monday consisted of the following: Roger sitting on one side, Nick to his left, Simon to their left, and Warren to his left. On the other side sat Raven with Andy to her left, John to his left, and then Gaia to his left. Ugh.

Nick prodded at the homemade lunch that Roger made for them (he had started providing food to his partner by using the power of the Internet to look up nutritious and delicious vegetarian meals) while everybody talked amongst themselves. They were desperately trying to pretend that Gaia hadn’t virtually yelled at them via text about the name of their fucking fursona that they named at age thirteen, after a song that Nick hadn’t even listened to until about a year ago as they were a fake Japanist and avoided listening to “Obscure Alternatives” as long as possible because, well, they heard that it sucked (and it kind of did).

For some reason, Warren was chatting up Gaia as they never really got to talk, and for some reason, Gaia was really… getting along with him? Nick was sure it was probably that American charm and Warren being conventionally “hot” or whatever. Okay, Nick actually did think Warren was hot, but they would never date him. He’s too full of himself and there could only be one full of themselves person in any of Nick’s relationships and that would be them.

“So, are you going to see ‘Alice in Wonderland’, then?” Simon’s question snapped Nick out of their thoughts and they looked up and around at everyone in the table. Andy, Roger, and Raven all looked bored out of their minds, while the other four seemed to be somewhat entertained… although John and Simon might have been pretending.

“Yes, definitely!” Gaia replied. “Oh, and I suppose I can help with the costume crew as well.”

“Uhh, we have everything taken care of,” Nick jumped in. “You can just… enjoy your boyfriend’s… acting.” John was ass at being a non-descript jury member.

“Oh, I will,” Gaia said, nudging John slightly with a smile on her face. He looked up and grinned back, a purely genuine, love-filled grin that made Nick think that maybe their relationship wasn’t hopeless. “By the way, Nick and Roger, are we still on for tonight?”

“Tonight?” Roger asked.

“The double date,” Nick said, sighing lightly. “Yeah, sure. I look forward to going to a… what was it, a bookstore?”

“An ice cream parlor and then a bookstore and then we’re getting our nails done, Nicky,” Gaia replied.

“Don’t call me Nicky,” Nick grumbled. “Yeah, great.”

“Rae, we should get our nails done,” Simon spoke up.

“Oh, I don’t know if I want to pay that much for them to put black nail polish on me,” Raven murmured.

“I can pay for it,” Andy replied.

“Ooooh, triple date maybe,” Gaia said. “Hey, Warren, do you have a girlfriend? Maybe we can make it a quadruple date…”

“No, I don’t like all of those strings,” Warren responded.

“Strings…” Gaia murmured. As she asked Warren a bunch of pointless questions, Nick zoned out again, taking a delicate bite of their overly fancy yet extremely delectable salad. They felt Roger grab their hand and intertwine their fingers and turned to smile at him. Nick couldn’t wait until this date bullshit with John and Gaia was over…

-

Nick sat with Roger and Raven in the crowd of the auditorium, cuddled up against Roger while Raven was reading Stephen King’s “Misery”. Nick was half-watching the performance of “Alice in Wonderland”, half-watching Roger play Pokemon Black. Nick had both Pokemon Black and White, so they gave a copy to Roger to see how he would like it. Roger seemed to be thoroughly enjoying it as he tried to catch a Munna.

A moment later, some of the lights flickered back on. Nick sat up, yawning, right as Roger caught his Pokemon and named it “Siouxsie”. Raven sighed softly to herself as she slid a bookmark in her book. “I wish you luck on your date, my dearest,” Raven murmured.

“You too,” Nick replied.

“Hm?” Before Nick could tell Raven that that was a habitual reply, Simon, John, and Gaia had made their way to find them. “Greetings, Simon. Are we ready to leave?”

“Yes, but just a reminder that there will be another party on Friday after the final production day of Alice in Wonderland,” Simon mentioned. “I hope to see all of you there!”

“Oh, definitely,” Gaia replied. “See you all tomorrow!” Raven and Simon bid the group farewell before they left, arm in arm as Simon forced Raven to skip along with him. Nick laughed to himself. “Okay, so who’s ready to go get some ice cream?”

Roger gave Nick an uncertain look, before they nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

“Okay! This will be so much fun!” Nick stood up, Roger taking their hand. They watched as Gaia took John’s hand, intertwining their fingers as they left the auditorium together, Nick and Roger close behind. They all walked to John’s car and Gaia sat up front while Nick and Roger sat in the back. The sound of a King Crimson song that Nick couldn’t recall the name of filled their ears.

Gaia and John talked amongst each other as John drove to the ice cream parlor. Nick couldn’t help it; they were still annoyed with Gaia. Less than twenty-four hours ago, she was harping onto them about being up David Sylvian’s ass and idolising him and his awful behaviour. “How could you listen to a band with the N-word in one of their songs?!” You literally fawn over John Lennon with your boyfriend, shut the FUCK UP!

Nick felt Roger gently take their hand in his and turned to look at him. Pure concern was all over his face as he mouthed, “you okay?” Nick nodded, softly. Roger gave them a gentle smile as he rubbed the back of their hand with his thumb. A wave of calm washed over Nick.

The four reached the ice cream parlor and went inside. Nick got strawberry ice cream while the other three all got chocolate. They all sat down and ate, before Gaia spoke up, “So… Nick… your whole vampire thing.”

Nick raised an eyebrow, “What about it?”

“Uh… why do you call yourself a vampire? Seems a bit silly.”

“Oh, hey, Nick, that reminds me,” John interjected. “I… uh… I really am starting to like Japan!”

“Great,” Nick replied. “I knew you would; Mick Karn’s bass-playing is superb.”

“I think you got my boyfriend to have a crush on him,” Gaia said, before sighing. “I don’t get the appeal. Steve’s the only remotely attractive one.”

“Yeah, you’ve mentioned,” Nick murmured. “We all know you hate Japan, you don’t need to get into it.”

“I don’t hate them, I just think they’re vastly overrated,” Gaia responded. “If you want to listen to a pretentious, moody band with an asshole singer that’s actually good, you should listen to The Smiths.”

Nick felt a surge of rage through their body as they worked to quickly finish off their ice cream. Once more, Roger’s hand found theirs, and they felt a brief sense of peace as John and Gaia talked about The Smiths, because Nick’s best friend and his girlfriend are apparently a duo of miserable, pretentious, female/male manipulators.

At the bookstore, Nick and Roger broke away from John and Gaia. Roger was looking at the music magazines, picking up a punk one by some indie publisher. He flipped through it while Nick talked to him, trying to quietly fill Roger in on why they didn’t like Gaia because Nick simply couldn’t take it anymore. “Why are we doing this, then?” Roger asked.

“Because I want my nails done for free,” Nick answered.

“...It’s not free just because someone else is paying for it, Nicky.”

“Well, it’s not me, and it’s not you,” Nick murmured. Roger gave him a look before they went to the front, Roger holding the punk magazine for himself and one about Blondie for Nick. Soon, Gaia and John met up with them, Gaia swinging a reusable bag that had to have been filled with at least four books.

They put their items in the trunk of John’s car before they walked to the nail salon. Roger politely talked to Gaia, asking her what kind of things she read. “Just about anything and everything,” Gaia replied. “One of the books I got had a Netflix series based on it. It’s about these girls who become friends through shoplifters' anonymous meetings…”

Nick, Gaia, Roger, and John reached the nail salon as the conversation switched to Roger telling Gaia about some punk bands. They stopped talking as Gaia and Nick were escorted to get their nails done. John and Roger sat near them, with Roger continuing the conversation by explaining the history of riot grrrl to Gaia, who listened, intently. Nick smiled a bit as they listened to their lover talk.

Soon enough, Nick now had black-and-pastel-pink stiletto nails and Gaia had lilac-coloured almond nails. Gaia took a photo of their nails together for her Instagram. The four of them then went out to a Chinese place for dinner before John dropped Nick and Roger off at Nick’s flat.

Nick and Roger sat with Nick’s parents and talked about what they did that day. They listened, supportively, although Nick saw their mum visibly wince when they showed off their nails. The two then went to Nick’s room with Alice, reading their magazine while they listened to Lady Gaga’s “The Fame”.

“Do you think Gaia will actually listen to any of the bands I recommended to her?” Roger said out of the blue. Nick glanced up from the picture of Debbie Harry that they had definitely not been salivating over for the past three minutes.

“We’ll see, love,” he muttered. “You know, we can listen to some of those girl punk bands together.”

“Really? I don’t know if you’d like it. I know you’re not fond of punk.”

“Yeah, well girl punk is probably better than boy punk. Like Siouxsie and the Banshees.”

Roger smiled, nodding at the mention of his favourite band. “Okay. Well, to ease you into ‘riot grrrl’, I think I’ll start with Le Tigre. You might know some of the songs already, Simon said a few trended on the TicTac app… Then, maybe we should go to The Julie Ruin, because the lead singer, Kathleen Hanna, also formed that band…”

Chapter Text

Things with Gaia were going pretty well. The more she was around John, the less he felt annoyed with her. Sure, he wished he could have some space, but he knew he would go back to missing Gaia as soon as she left.

For the first night of “Alice in Wonderland”, John’s parents, Simon’s family, Gaia, and Raven sat in the crowd. Nick and Roger were present as well, as part of the costume crew. Afterwards, they all went out to eat for some big celebration. The parents sat at one table while John, Gaia, Simon, Raven, Nick, Roger, and Simon’s two younger brothers shared another table. It was mostly Simon yapping while everybody else listened, but it was a nice outing.

The second night, it was only Gaia and Raven. They went out with Simon, John, Nick, and Roger for dinner again at some local place. The conversations were more open-ended, although John could tell that Gaia was still tense around Simon. Simon, however, seemed like he didn’t care anymore. John wondered if Simon was over him…

Finally, it was Friday, the final night of the production. John sighed softly to himself as people clamoured around before the show. Nick and Roger weren’t there; this time they sat in the crowd. John felt anxious as he walked around in his jury member costume. This would no doubt be the busiest night.

“Don’t worry, Tigger,” Simon said as he came up behind John, gently patting his shoulder. “You’ve got this.”

John felt his heart flutter in a totally normal way, “Thanks.”

“No problem, king.” With that, Simon walked off. John sighed, softly. Someone went around, telling everyone the show would be starting in only two minutes.

John listened to the show go on backstage. Before he knew it, it was his turn to enter. He said his few lines with confidence. John thought he did pretty well. Just as quickly as it started, it ended. John went and bowed with the cast, before going back to the dressing room to change out of his clothes.

“See, you did great, Johnny.” John looked over at the slightly sweaty, shirtless Simon in front of him. His gaze drifted downwards for a second, before he snapped it back up to Simon’s eyes. “You know, since you’re graduating, you’re free to cast your vote on the final musical. You can come in any time and talk to Mrs. Stalder about it. Who knows; maybe we’ll do a James Bond one.” John laughed, dryly, as Simon pulled his top on. “Do you need a ride to my partayyy? You’re going to be there, right?”

“Oh, I drove,” John said. “I’m taking Gaia and Nick and Roger along. We’ll be there.”

Simon’s smile faltered a bit, “Oh, yeah. Right. See you there, Tigger.” Simon grabbed his things before he exited the dressing room. John followed shortly after and saw Roger, Nick, and Gaia waiting together for him.

“Hey! You did great,” Gaia said, embracing her boyfriend as she placed a kiss on his cheek. “Like always. So, are we going to this party?”

“Yeah, let’s go to my car,” John murmured as the four of them walked to his car. Outside, Raven, Simon, and Andy all gathered under the moonlight, with Simon howling like a wolf. John glanced at the moon as he passed. Sure enough, it was full.

“I thought he was a dog, not a wolf,” Gaia grumbled, scoffing as they passed.

“Canine,” Nick added, his tone sharp.

“Canine,” Gaia muttered. “So, what do people usually do at these parties?”

“Get drunk,” John said, at the same time that Nick said, “Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

“Oh, God, yes, I need a drink,” Gaia exclaimed. “Seven Minutes in Heaven? I’ve never played that game. Sounds fun! Is it as cute as it sounds?”

Nick scoffed. “No. You spin a bottle and it lands on someone and then you go in a room for seven minutes to make out or fuck or whatnot.”

Gaia frowned, “Who lasts seven minutes?”

“A lot of men.”

“What? Ew, Nick, you’re not, like…?”

Nick scoffed, “John, unlock the damn car, please.” Despite the group being a few feet away from the car still, John did as instructed. He watched as Nick hastily grabbed Roger’s hand and basically dragged him to the back of John’s car.

“What’s his problem?” Gaia mumbled as she walked alongside John. A distant, human-like howl sounded as they reached the car. John got in, rolled his window down slightly, and lit up a cigarette. He took a long drag before driving off to Simon’s.

The four reached Simon’s and went inside. As per tradition, they walked to the circle beginning to form. John watched as Gaia sat by Warren and he frowned, lightly, before sitting beside her. Nick muttered something to Roger and John watched as Roger sat by Andy, who was by Raven, who was sitting on the other side of Simon. John sighed to himself as Gaia got herself a beer, hastily popping it open before she began to chatter to Warren. John reached for one out of habit, but felt a smack on his hand. “Uh, you’re driving us home, are you not?” Gaia scolded.

John frowned. “I guess that’s right, yeah,” he mumbled.

“Cheer up, love. I’m sure watching me drink is just as fun as drinking. I’m a pretty funny drunk!” Gaia giggled as she chugged far too much of her drink. “So, this Seven Minutes in Heaven thing?”

“Uh, why are you so eager to play a game where you make out with other people?” John huffed, rage burning inside of him.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m just going to use it to socialise with new people. I’d never cheat on you.” Gaia gave John a sweet smile, her lip gloss smeared slightly. John eyed her beautiful lips, chewing on his own before she turned back to Warren and Simon.

“Okay. Seven Minutes in Heaven, I guess. Bottle spinner, anyone?” Simon asked, boredly. John watched as Gaia finished off her beer in one swift chug before handing the empty green bottle to Simon. “Well, that’s interesting.” Simon sat the spinner in the middle and explained the rules to everyone. “Gaia, since you’re our newbie, do you want to go first?”

“Oh, no thanks,” Gaia said. “Let me get a bit drunker.” Some people giggled and made remarks to each other. “I think Raven should go first.”

“Oh, me? Really?” Raven sighed. “Well, alright.” Raven reluctantly spun the bottle, her black nails clinking against the surface. It landed on a random girl and Raven shrugged, deciding to go off with her. Simon showed them to their room and then the game continued…

John watched as the bottle spun around and around. Gaia got drunker and drunker, giggling with Warren and Simon about who-knows-what louder and louder. Nick, Roger, and Andy talked amongst themselves on the other side of Simon. John sighed, hoping someone would land on him just so he could get away. Even beside his girlfriend at a party, he felt so alone..

John spaced out and before he knew it, the bottle pointed directly at him. “Uh… I guess we don’t need a room.” John looked up and over at Roger.

“Yeah. We don’t.” Simon told John and Roger to have fun as they walked off to another part of the flat. The sound of Gaia’s gleeful, drunken voice exclaiming that it was her turn filled his ears. John wished he could’ve stayed to know who she would go off with, but he guessed that wasn’t happening.

John set on a timer on his phone for seven minutes as he sat with Roger. He watched as Roger opened up his pink DS, right as a couple appeared from a bedroom, both sweaty and laughing. John stared them down as they left, before he opened up Tumblr, beautiful Bryan Ferry greeting him. He sighed, softly.

Once John’s timer went off, he went back to the main room, seeing all of his friends were gone and some stray people were now drinking and eating. A game of Cards Against Humanity was taking place. John decided to go out and have a smoke.

As he stepped out, he saw three familiar figures staring up at the moon, two smoking and one vaping. John made his way over, hearing something about how the full moon heightens your emotions. Nick and Andy turned around, before Raven joined them, “Greetings, John.”

“How was it with the girl?” John asked.

“Oh, I never play those games properly,” Raven replied. “Why would I kiss a stranger?”

“‘Cause it’s fun?” John muttered.

Raven let out a noise of disgust, before Nick spoke up, “Where’s my boyfriend?”

“Inside.” John watched as Nick stamped out his cigarette before he went in. John looked between Andy and Raven. He paused, a moment before speaking up, “Is something going on between you two?”

“No,” Andy said, before Raven let out a, “Why, that’s…! Preposterous.”

“Okay.” Andy and John smoked in silence, while Raven hit her vape. John’s phone buzzed after a minute, “[Instagram] Roger Taylor: Hi , John. Gaia is in the bathroom downstairs. We think she is sick. Nick and I can take the bus home if so.” John sighed, “I have to go check on Gaia.”

“Farewell,” Raven said. John gave a polite wave before walking back inside. Right as he stepped in, he glanced back at Raven and Andy and saw Andy wrapping his arm around her.

John walked around downstairs, trying to find Nick or Roger so they could tell him WHAT bathroom Gaia was in considering there were about 387. But, his quest was uneventful, so he ended up going to each bathroom, knocking, and calling out, “Gaia?”

A strained voice behind one let out a, “John?”

“Yeah. Are you… okay?”

A loud sniffle. “...No.”

“Can I come in?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want you to see me like this.”

“Gaia…” John sighed. “I bet it’s not that bad.” She didn’t reply. John let out another sigh, “I’m coming in.” He turned the knob and entered, before closing and locking the door behind them. John froze at the sight in front of him.

“I said not to come in,” Gaia spoke, her speech slurred as tears rolled down her face. Her perfect makeup and hair was completely ruined as she sat by the tub, her legs brought to her chest. John didn’t react for a moment as she stared at him.

John went over to Gaia, wiping away her tears and smoothing out her hair, “Why are you crying? Did something happen?”

“I… I don’t know,” Gaia mumbled. “I just… John, do you love me?”

John paused, confusion crossing his face, “I-? Y-yeah, yeah, I love you. I love you a lot. What… what’s going on?”

“I don’t know, I just think… I feel like things are going badly between us. Like… I don’t know.”

“...I…” John sighed, before shaking his head. “Gaia, you’re very drunk. I don’t think that…”

“No, John, I-”

“Yes. You’re wasted,” John retorted. “Come on, let’s clean your makeup up and then go home. You’ll feel better after you sleep.”

“No, John, no…”

“Come on…”

“Stop it,” Gaia hissed. She swung her hands around wildly, “Stop touching me, stop telling me what to do, stop doing… you… you don’t listen! You don’t…” John froze, watching his girlfriend burst into sobs. He didn’t know what to do.

“Gaia, please…”

“I know what you did, John! You don’t love me!” Gaia said in between cries, before she gasped for air, as if she was drowning in her sea or tears.

“What are you talking about?”

“You KISSED Simon!”

John felt the colour drain from his face, “No I didn’t! Who the hell told you that?! They’re a liar!”

“Raven did,” Gaia spat. “She told me everything that you told her.”

John scoffed, “Oh, yeah, really convincing, the best friend of someone actively trying to get with me and ruin what we have told you that when you’re insanely drunk and vulnerable. Gaia, doesn’t this seem-”

Gaia took her hands off of her face, “John, just shut up! Get… get out!”

“What?! You don’t seriously believe her, do you?!”

“I-” Gaia stammered. “I don’t know what to believe, but you’re… really pissing me off right now! So just… leave!”

“You know what? No!” John sighed, “Gaia, I love you and I know you don’t believe those lies. And if you do, well… whatever you think, this is best talked about when you’re sober. Please, just… let me help you clean up and let’s go home.”

“No!”

“Gaia, please-”

“I said NO!”

John frowned, “Fine, I can leave you alone for a bit, but I’m going to come back.”

“John…” Gaia’s expression of anger turned to sadness. John watched helplessly as his girlfriend started crying again. He got back down in front of her and reached out to touch her, but she spoke again, “I cheated on you. I kissed someone else.”

John flinched as if he had been stabbed. He didn’t know how to react. So, he didn’t. “Let’s get you cleaned up and go home,” he murmured for the thousandth time. And, they did just that. In a little bit over an hour’s time, John laid in his bed with a drunken, sleeping Gaia, spooning her while he played with her hair and stared numbly into the dark. John didn’t know if he hated himself, Gaia, or the universe more for playing this sick joke on him. At least this would hopefully make for some good poems.