Chapter Text
Purchase your tickets for the L’Manberg High Prom today!
Dream scoffs as he passes under the multicolored banner, swinging his car keys absentmindedly as he walks. Sapnap, who’s lingering slightly behind, swats the keyring from Dream’s hand, much to his chagrin.
“Dude, stop. What’s up with you today?”
Dream shrugs and grabs the keys back, shoving them deep into the pocket of his neon sweatshirt. “Nothing. I just think this whole prom thing is stupid. Everyone’s getting all excited about one measly dance. Pulling all these big stunts, making a big deal out of nothing. Like why?”
George gasps from beside Dream. “What do you mean, ‘like why?’” It’s the biggest event of the year! It’s an American tradition!”
“Yeah, Dream, no need to be such a Grinch!” Karl pipes up from behind Sapnap, his hand firmly wrapped in his boyfriend’s.
Sapnap laughs. “I think that’s just for Christmas, babe,” he replies, to which Karl simply blushes and mutters something under his breath.
“Anyways,” George picks back up, smacking into Dream slightly as the group rounds the halls to their lockers. Dream jolts at the contact, and George blinks at him before continuing. “I think we should all go, especially you, Dream. We’re seniors now, about to go our own ways and all that. We deserve a little fun.”
Sapnap nods as he rummages through his locker, picking up various books and shoving them unceremoniously into his backpack. “I’m down. I’m already picking up tickets for me, Karl, and Q later.” Karl smiles at that and snags a random hoodie from Sapnap’s locker, slipping it on over his head and nuzzling into his boyfriend’s shoulder. Sapnap grins stupidly back at him. God, they were so mushy.
Dream turns his attention back to George, who’s now fiddling with the clout goggles resting on his locker’s shelf. “Where is Quackity, anyways?” he asks, itching for a change in subject.
As if on cue, a loud voice shouts through the school, “Did you guys miss me?” George smirks knowingly and presses himself against the wall, Dream quickly following suit. Not moments later, a dark haired figure, donning a blue beanie, barrels through the throngs of students around them and slams into Sapnap’s back, sending the two of them and Karl stumbling into the main hallway. Dream wheezes and takes a picture of the boys sprawled across the floor, making a mental note to text it to their group chat when he has the chance.
“Alex, you don’t have to take a running start anytime you see us,” Karl groans, rubbing his shoulder where it fell against the linoleum. Quackity just laughs and pecks Karl on the cheek, causing the latter to blush a furious shade of red.
“Sorry I’m so excited to see my two favorite people in the world!” he answers with a manic grin, smoothly reaching under Sapnap to spin in his lock’s combination. George lets out an indignant scoff at his words, and Quackity rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “My bad, my two favorite people and Dream and George,” he amends. George accepts the statement with a nod and slams his locker shut, turning back to face Dream.
“Don’t think I forgot about the prom thing, Dream,” he warns as the boyfriends to his left begin bickering. “You’re going to that dance.”
Dream chuckles and pats George on the shoulder, ignoring the slight tingles that shoot up his fingers at the brief contact. “Sure I am. I’m probably just going to end up playing Minecraft with Tommy and them that night, maybe work on a coding project or two. Nothing’s going to convince me to go to that awful event.”
George hums and turns away as the bell tolls, signaling the start of the day. “You’ll see, Dream. You’re going to prom, I know it.”
---
“I can’t believe George actually thinks he can get Dream to go to prom. Man’s as stubborn as they come,” Sapnap says, walking hand in hand (in hand) with his boyfriends towards the office. Quackity snorts in agreement and flips up the fold on his beanie with his free hand, adjusting his hair messily in a way he knows causes Sapnap’s heart to race.
“Yeah, and a complete nerd too. Unlike him, we’re cool and handsome and totally popping off at that dance,” Karl chimes in, giggling at his own words. Sapnap’s chest squeezes fondly at the sound, and he wonders for the umpteenth time today how he got so lucky.
Quackity grins. “We will be if we actually get to the place to get tickets. Like seriously, why did they put the booth the absolute farthest place from my last class? Hmm?”
Karl scrunches his nose like a bunny. “Oops, my bad. I’ll just tell the office people next time to rebuild the entire school to accommodate your schedule.”
Quackity laughs. “Would you? That’d be a big help,” he answers in a false-serious tone. Karl reaches across Sapnap to smack him, but Sapnap quickly drops Quackity’s hand to catch Karl’s mid-flight. After a very brief standoff, in which Quackity assumes a boxing position and repeats “You wanna go, pal? I can do the 180 kick-rat,” the boys resume their (admittedly very long) trek to the main office.
“Oh thank God,” Quackity says the moment they reach the wooden door. “My legs were about to fall off.” He dramatically sinks down the wall, yanking Karl slightly on top of him as he falls, which of course brings Sapnap along with him. They do everything together, after all.
“Q, we’re gonna be late if we don’t get going soon,” Sapnap reluctantly says after a beat. “Someone-” he looks pointedly at the boy below him- “turned us around the wrong direction and cost us a lot of time.”
Karl throws his hands up, quickly standing up and brushing off his jeans. “I’m bad with directions! And this school is big! You shouldn’t have listened to me!” His boyfriends laugh and jump up as well, Sapnap moving to open the office door with surprising speed (and valor, for he actually bowed and muttered “after you, my beloveds,” to Quackity and Karl as they entered).
The older lady at the front desk, who appears to be in her 50s or 60s, glances curiously up at the boys as they cross the threshold into the office. “Hello,” she greets the group simply. “How can I help you?”
Sapnap smiles and steps up closer to her, tugging Karl and Quackity along with him. “Hi. We’re here to buy some prom tickets.” The woman brightens considerably at that and leans forward.
“Tickets for you three and your girlfriends? Alright!”
Sapnap cringes awkwardly at that. “Uh, actually,” he rubs his neck nervously, “just three for me and my boyfriends here.” He points a thumb back to Karl and Quackity, the former raising his hand with a hesitant wave.
The office lady darkens and leans back again, crossing her arms defiantly. Sapnap knew that look. It was the “what are you all gay for?” look. The “how are you dating two guys?” look. The “what makes you think this is okay?” look.
“I don’t think that’s quite a good idea,” she states bluntly. Her eyes rake judgingly over the three boys, and Karl shamefully lowers his hand and ducks his head down. Quackity glares back at the woman with equal malice.
“Why the hell not?” he protests, jumping in before Sapnap has a chance to get a word out. “Why can’t I go to the dance with my two boyfriends here and have a good time? Huh? What the hell’s wrong with that?”
The lady narrows her eyes at Quackity’s language. “You just can't. It’s not right.”
Sapnap slinks back and gently caresses Karl’s hand, making room for Quackity at the front of the trio. Karl briefly smiles at Sapnap before returning his gaze to the patterned carpet.
“Right my ass!” Quackity cries out, smacking his hand emphatically on the counter. “You just hate gay people. You’re a homophobic old crone.”
Sapnap reaches a hand to tap Quackity on the shoulder, hoping to calm him down before he gets suspended or worse, but Karl tugs him back with a shake of his head. It was probably better to let Quackity continue than get in the way, anyways, Sapnap decides. There was no stopping him once he got started.
“I’m not homophobic,” the woman retorts, her eye twitching slightly. “We’ve already sold several tickets to gay couples here. We just don’t want to encourage an orgy in the middle of prom night.”
“A fucking orgy?!” Quackity shouts. Karl’s head snaps up at this, and he glances worriedly at Sapnap, who probably looks just as shocked. “Seriously? You think we’re just going to start up a threesome or something in front of everyone? That’s fucked.”
The office lady, who has started reaching for the phone on her desk, pauses. “What else are we supposed to think? Three boyfriends-” she spits out disgustedly- “getting all hot on the dance floor? You think that’s okay?” She makes a motion towards her phone again, probably ready to call in campus security to usher the boys out. Karl’s eyes widen as he frantically glances around the room, probably worrying about his spotless track record so far. Sapnap sympathizes with him.
Quackity practically spits on the woman. “Fuck you. You’ll sell tickets to gay couples, you’ll sell tickets to groups of guy friends, but when you combine the two, suddenly it’s so taboo? Huh? Fuck you. Fuck this entire place. Fuck-”
Sapnap leaps forward at that, dragging a still-shouting Quackity out the door as fast as possible, Karl hurriedly rushing out behind them before anything can escalate further. Once safely out of range of that god-forsaken office, Sapnap finally releases Quackity’s sweating hand.
“What the hell was that?” Sapnap blurts out. “You can’t just cuss out the office staff like that!”
Quackity scoffs and rolls his eyes. “She’s the one being a bitch! Who does she think she is, anyways, saying we can’t go to prom?”
“The one in charge of selling and regulating tickets,” Karl quietly pipes up. Quackity and Sapnap turn to face their other partner. Karl’s demeanor is noticeably different from when they first walked into the office. “She has every right to ban us.”
Quackity groans and rubs his face tiredly, the aggression draining out of him like a deflating balloon. “I just want to go to the prom with my boyfriends, you know? Have a fun time. Make memories. Not have a fucking orgy during the middle of a slow song.”
Sapnap nods, fiddling with one of his sweatshirt strings. His anger, which he was attempting to keep at bay during the entire heated exchange, was threatening to boil over. “I know,” he says in a scarily calm tone. “She’s fucked in the brain for thinking we’d do that. We’re literally just three normal guys.”
Quackity practically snarls. “Bitch can’t understand a poly relationship. She can go burn in the hottest part of-”
Karl sniffles from where he’s lingering, interrupting Quackity’s train of thought. “I-I have to go.” He quickly darts up and rushes away, red in the face, leaving a gaping Quackity and Sapnap behind.
“Should we go after him?” Quackity asks softly, his attitude a complete 180 from just seconds prior. Sapnap shakes his head reluctantly.
“No, he needs some time to himself. He’ll come back when he’s ready.”
Quackity nods and twists the beanie in his hand, which he apparently ripped off his head sometime during the fight. “I just hate this, you know? It’s 20-fucking-21, and we can’t even openly love who we love. What’s the fucking point of anything if we can’t be happy?”
Sapnap sighs and reaches over to grab Quackity’s hand, loosening the death grip on his hat. Quackity, exhausted from the earlier exchange and overwhelmed by the simple touch of his boyfriend, suddenly slumps down completely onto Sapnap. Sapnap gasps sharply before immediately moving to comfort his boyfriend, running his hand soothingly over the shorter boy’s back.
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispers, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Quackity’s head. “We all just need to calm down right now.”
“But there will be hell to pay later.”