Work Text:
Faggot
A single word, filled with disgust and followed by laughter. A week earlier they had still been friends, had been since they could barely stand really, and Alex had thought nothing of being honest with his good friend about why it was Alex was attending prom alone.
Thankfully he hadn’t been truly honest, hadn’t told him about the crush he’s held for weeks. Months even, if he’s honest. No, all he had admitted to his best friend Kyle was that he knew that he was interested in men, and there was no way Jesse Manes would accept one of his perfect masculine sons - even Alex with his eyeliner, and jewelry, and nose piercing - being gay.
Apparently neither could Kyle.
Alex had wondered if he hadn’t seen Kyle since then was just end of the year shit, or if it was something more. When Kyle and his jock friends walked by, he’d learned the truth.
Come back here, Fag. I got a question for you. About your boyfriend.
Alex didn’t look back, pushing past some girls that flipped him off, heading out of the room, leaving the music and the lights behind with Kyle and his friends close on his heels. Liz being one of them, following with them though she is tugging at Kyle’s arm and somewhere in the back of his mind he can hear her telling him to stop but he doesn’t care. Not right now. He can’t stand there and put up with this.
For a moment the world is a whirlwind of pain and hatred, voice swirling around them, and then his fist is connecting with Kyle’s jaw. All of that pain and anger welling up within him and released in that blow. There’s pain and then someone is getting between them, pulling them apart, pulling Alex back.
“You okay?”
Michael. Those soulful eyes looking so worried, pained, and his family behind him, seeing this all. Liz telling Kyle off, and the jocks laughing about it, and them standing there and all he can hear, all he can think, is that Kyle is going to make another comment. About his boyfriend.
Except Michael isn’t.
Michael isn’t Alex’s boyfriend and he probably never would be, but Alex knew that he had crushed on Michael for months now, thinking about what it would be like to kiss him, to hold him close and not let go. Only around Michael did he ever feel peace, feel that the world wasn’t as painful and dark as it was with Jesse Manes’ abuse, and a world where he’s expected to be one person when he’s someone else entirely.
Is he okay? No. He’s not okay, and he doesn’t think he’s ever going to be okay. He knows he absolutely won’t be if he doesn’t get out of here before he clings to Michael and gives Kyle and his douchebag friends more ammo against him. Against Michael.
Moving to brush past Michael, leaning in close as he does, using his body to hide the truth from the others as he moves past him.
“Music room.”
It’s all he says as he keeps going, storming off as he jerks his tie loose, pulling it free from his collar with the hiss of fabric against cloth and tosses it away, not looking back as he goes.
When the door to the music room opens nearly fifteen minutes later, despite hoping that Michael would realize what he was asking of him, Alex’s hands are still in fists as he turns to face the door from the shadows of the still darkened room. His cheeks were flushed and his knuckles red, and he just stood there in the light from the hallway, tense and waiting for his world to fall apart more as the music from the auditorium poured down the hall and offered a backdrop as much as the brilliant light. This could be everything turning back on him. It could be anyone at the door.
Yet he can see the light off those beautiful curls, the beautiful lines of a body he knows well having studied him time and again in class and around town. Staring at Michael, braced, waiting to see what he has to say before he reveals himself, reveals how he’s been crying and knowing that while the darkness of the room hides it from his face, he won’t be able to hide the way it will come through in his voice.
“Music room does not answer the question, you know.”
All that anger and pain that seemed to fill Alex’s body just kind of disappears in that moment. Laughter bubbles up, hysteria tinging the tones as he covers his mouth with both hands, trying to hide the anxiety driven sound of his giggles.
“I’ll take that as a not okay then,’ Michael says, stepping into the room. The door partially closes behind him, leaving them cast in shadows and dim light as Michael closes the gap between them, moving until he’s standing close enough that Alex can see the color of his eyes, despite the lack of light. “Are you hurt?”
Alex stares at Michael, his hands still covering his mouth, almost pressed together in prayer. He manages to shake his head though, glancing down and back up just as quickly. His eyes close, darkened lashes brushing against skin illuminated by the glaring fluorescent light from the hallway. Slowly he lowers his hands, tongue brushing over his lips as he tries to find words, to say something. Anything.
“If I knew my friend was going to treat me like that in front of everyone, I would have asked you to be my date and have given them a reason to treat me like that.”
They weren’t the words Alex was considering but then they were out there, and he’d said it and now he’d just have to live with the result of being honest with Michael.
The words got an arched brow as Michael edged closer to Alex. “Is that because you wanted me to be your date, or because you know I’m likely to give them a show?”
“I don’t give a damn what they see or know, Guerin. I care about you.” The words are fiercer than Alex meant to them be, anger and pain and the needs of a boy who has told himself no for the sake of others. Alex is sick of denying himself what he wants. “All I wanted was to dance with you,” he admits.
The corner of Michael’s mouth quirks as he glances back over his shoulder towards the lit hallway. The sound of the prom filters down the hall, the rise and fall of voices counterpointed by the the pounding of bass and the soft overtones of the melody. Slowly his gaze comes back to Alex.
“Well technically we’re at prom, and there is music so what’s stopping you?”
Before Alex can even respond, Michael moves in and takes his hand. Lifting that hand and guiding Alex into a twirl before pulling him in close.
“You know if you had asked me, I would have said yes,” he murmurs, sliding a hand around Alex’s waist as they begin to sway with the music they can barely hear. “I was hoping you would.”
“You could have asked me!” For a moment his free hand rests on Michael’s neck, fingers brushing through the curls at his neck.
Michael gave him a look, brow arching.
“What? What is that look for?”
“If I had asked you, and you weren’t ready to say yes then maybe I wouldn’t get another chance. If I had known it would take you clocking Kyle before you got the balls…”
“Michael!”
Both of them laughed though and Michael released Alex’s hand to slide both arms around his waist as Michael leant in to rest his brow against his.
“Think we can get inside and get a prom photo taken before they close up shop?”
Alex’s entire face lit up at that question, loving how intimate it is, so close, whispering to one another as their bodies swayed in unison. Not even caring about the music anymore. Only caring about the way Michael smelled, the sound of his voice, the heat of his body close. Even the brush of those perfect curls against Alex’s brow.
For a moment he closes his eyes, savoring the moment. Even if this was all they had, Alex realized it was more than he ever thought he’d have with Michael.
“I think we can. I mean, if you want one.”
“It’s one of two things I want,” Michael murmured.
Before he could even ask, one of Michael’s hand moved to cup his cheek as Michael’s mouth claimed his. The kiss was heated, sweet, and something that Alex had dreamt about every night for a year. A kiss that promised as much as it took as Michael’s thumb ran along Alex’s cheek, stroking tenderly as the kiss broke.
“Come on. I want to get a picture so we can get to the Crashdown before everyone else does.”
“Wait, we’re going to the Crashdown?”
Stealing another tiny kiss, Michael stepped back though his hand took Alex’s. “Of course. Isn’t that where everyone goes after prom?”
Alex’s fingers tightened on Michael’s, stroking his thumb over the back of Michael’s hand. “Yeah. Yeah it is. Let’s go.”
Michael gave Alex a wink and a grin and headed for the door and back to prom. Kyle and jocks and expectations be damned.